Dorothy Rabinowitz is not surprised that ObamaCare is meeting resistance.
"Neither has she (Linda Douglass) seemed to entertain any second thoughts about the tenor of a message enlisting the public in a program reeking of a White House effort to set Americans against one another—the good Americans protecting the president's health-care program from the bad Americans fighting it and undermining truth and goodness."
"There was no such hand-wringing over the decline of civil debate, during, say, election 2004, when cadres of organized demonstrators carrying swastika-adorned pictures of George W. Bush routinely swarmed about, and packed rallies. There was also that other “breakdown of our media culture,” that will dwarf all else as a cause for embarrassment, the town-hall coverage included, for the foreseeable future. That would be, of course, the undisguised worshipful reporting of the candidacy of Barack Obama.""The president has a problem. For, despite a great election victory, Mr. Obama, it becomes ever clearer, knows little about Americans. He knows the crowds—he is at home with those. He is a stranger to the country's heart and character."
He seems unable to grasp what runs counter to its nature. That Americans don't take well, for instance, to bullying, especially of the moralizing kind, implicit in those speeches on health care for everybody. Neither do they wish to be taken where they don't know they want to go and being told it's good for them."Read the full article HERE
40 comments:
He doesn't understand the folks in America's heartland because he is not from there. It is an alien landscape to him. He was whisked to Indonesia as a preschooler, then sent to Hawaii to live with the grandparents when he was ten. I'm not sure who his friends were in Hawaii, but his college "friends" were Marxist professors and radicals, according to his memoir.
Yup, Opie, not exactly Andy Hardy Goes to College.
Obama is the perfected product of the 60's. He has always seen America's Capitalism as a giant cow just waiting to be slaughtered and fed to the hungry masses.
Obama's assignment is to promote the destruction of Capitalism and to prolong the Recession/Depression in order to guarantee Democrat power for a long damn time. Chicago machine politics.
Look how poorly Detroit has done economically for the past 30 years. Have the Democrats been thrown out yet?
We will become a national Detroit and Democrats will bring in food and handouts and medical care to "rescue" the millions of Poor.
This is uglier than I ever could have imagined.
Nickie alludes to an important fact of life in government. CRISIS justifies almost any tyranny. Laws are passed to "protect" the people in the midst of a crisis.
The destruction of the Constitutional system of government in favor of a the new Marxist system is simply to protect the public from all the social ills out there. The establishment of commisars (czars) in record numbers who are loyal only to the President help carry out his policies over even the objections of his cabinet insure that he can rule by fiat if he needs to.
Nickie is right. MAKE THE NATION, Detroit! Make everyone dependent on the government for their most vital needs - force them to need the government if necessary!
Obama is a dangerous man.
The piece by Rabinowitz is golden on so many levels. She nails the hard left. Obama is not unusual, in that none of them have ever understood America. They view America as some third world nation longing for order and a leader. They view the nation as less than ordinary, unexceptional. Thus, they misunderstand us ... again and again.
America at its core still is independent and wants to live free.
"Service in a holy order". I do love that perfect description of how not only Douglass, but also the rest of that sorry lot, view their posts.
This same bunch mocks real people of faith at every turn.
If we can survive and neutralize this crowd until 2012, we are going to get some serious laughs out of them.
I wish I had a short thought on this matter that would be acceptaple in a gentlemans argument. But I don't.
Our educators in our higher institutions are out of touch and will only teach out of touch ideals.
Blue coller words are the!@#$%^ don't understand what they are teaching.
My theory:
Marx was right about one thing. There is, and always be, a class struggle between the self-imagined elites and everyone else. The elites will change, but not their ego-projections and assumed right to rule.
The battlefield changes all the time. Right now this is a war of the elites on the middle-class, because the middle-classes always press upward on the flabby underbelly of the upper classes, encroaching on their specialness and attacking the fortress of bullshit that defends their claims to importance.
The problem now is that the elites are tissue-thin in every category...education, ambition, morals and courage. Snoot is their only weapon, and real equality is their worst fear.
Remember, the glib, droning buffoon in the Oval Office is one of theirs, not ours. If he's the best they've got, the times are changing fast.
LL, all the Czars scare me. It also gives congress 'clean hands' when it comes to ugly decisions.
DC, there's serious laughs now, but not unlike whistling past the graveyard.
I blame the schools, Starry.
When the true history of this sorry chapter is written, the educational community will be found to have been the vipers nest we ignored for to long.
Unfortunately, the self-imagined elites include the self-important mainstream media. That's a rash that doesn't seem to react to common sense cures.
Awesome read. Thanks Nickie.
At your service, Cbull!
JOTUS (Jagoff of the United States) is playing the class warfare game, but no one out here in the heartland is buying it, and that makes him and his evil minions pissy.
Right now, it's to a point where the more they spout their shit, the more stupid they look.
*doing a happy dance*
B&G, you are correct. The Democrats are upset that their power grab is becoming more and more obvious.
I haven't seen such larceny since Franco Harris faked that catch to rob the Oakland Raiders.
What time is the revolution?
"Fortress of Bullshit" ... Now that is a name for a blog.
And speaking of Rhod ... I've been thinking about what Rhod's aviator, shitar, or whatever it's called should look like. How about some old hippie on a bike (a "hot rhod", if you will)? Even better if it doesn't have a motor. Just a thought.
The thing is, no one has actually read these bills, which their are two of by the way. There is a house bill, which is where the majority of the conflict is coming from, and the senate bill, which is more in line with what the president had in mind when he was running for election.
Why are we shocked about this idea? Obama ran his election on the idea of change and how that he is actually doing what he said he was going to do we are freaking out!
I don't think most people in "middle America" have any idea what this bill is really about, but are more pushed by fear of what they don't know and don't understand.
While most of our representatives have not read this bill, many of their Aides have. Reality check guys, Aides are the back bone of your representatives, everything they know or understand is done by their Aides, not the representative! If you really want to know what the bill is about call your representative and ask for the CRS summary of both bills.
DC, Rhod took that from the text of my 1977 divorce proceedings.
PB, Reality Check guys are certainly not checking to protect MY reality. Political reality, more likely.
The post-election awakening of the great unwashed Conservative rabble has been, and will continue to be, a painful and uneven process. If anyone is anticipating a clear-cut victory with inspiring soundtrack and evil Democrats slinking off in a defeated muttering huff, it ain't gonna happen.
Obama rode the wave of change to victory. That wave may not set him gently upon the shore. At the moment he's defending an unknown and unseen bill to which he can attribute no end of goodies and sensitivity. I'll pay more attention to what he says when I can read what he's selling.
I quite enjoy your blog. Keep up the reasoned and intelligent blogging.
There is a lot of truth in what you say in your blog about the public's fear of Socialism.
Obama had (and has) quite a bit of political capital to spend in advocating new programs.
The alarms began going off when the House Cap 'n Trade bill was shoved through without debate and without a public airing. In fact, we were told that there was no time to spare (the earth was on fire) and that legislators must not hold up the process by reading what was being proposed. The promises of transparency and an online public access to any proposed legislation were ignored.
The initial emotional reactions were not to the bills as much as they were to the process. Now, cynicism is rampant. Trust in Obama's intent has been undermined and that genie ain't going back into the bottle anytime soon.
Shoving legislation through at breakneck speed may be the Chicago way, but this continued uproar may be a reminder to Rahm and Obama that they're not in Cook County anymore.
Sorry, Goomba. I knew I'd heard it before. Fortress of Bullshit was Plaintiff's Allegation Number 306. I also thought it was a good name for a compendium of Sting's political thoughts.
DC, I'm working on my avatar, if things go well enough next week.
PB, thanks for the obscurantist opinion.
News Flash. We don't elect a body of clerks.
..."the idea of change" is not a governing philosophy or a plan; it isn't even a policy. It defines nothing. It means nothing, except maybe a definition of Time. Defending it as the will of the people is ridiculous.
What the hell is "middle America"?
Any administration which has at least four different legislative proposals for the same issue, and the leader is defending his unpublished legislative proposal against questions about a totally different proposal is either incompetent or devious or stupid.
PS:
The House Bill all along has been a parachute flair to illuminate the terrain. They packed it with all the fanatical stuff to see...
A) Who was paying attention
B) How much people would tolerate
C) How much they could conceal, and
D) To provide an opportunity for Obama to reject radicalism, to
appear moderate and pragmatic and to get a framework leading to single-payer.
I agree with some of what you are saying. Many years ago, I read this book, The Dysfunctional Congress, or something to that affect. The reality is, unless something is pushed, and hard, nothing gets passed of any substance.
Congress, as a whole, is its own downfall. There are so many bills, so many issues, so many committees, that nothing gets done.
I would hazard a guess that Obama, having been a member of Congress himself, understands that unless he is pushy, nothing he wants will get through.
Now, regarding the passage of the Cap'n Trade bill, how is that any different than the passage of the Patriot Act? But, the fact is, Obama is not condoning debate on the bill, he is in fact advocating it. And, whether something is televised on CSPAN or not is, unfortunately, not something, I think has control over. He was speaking to presidential transparency. (Some things do need to remain confidential.)
Finally, let's remember who actually drafted these bills, while Obama tells Congress what he wants, it is ultimately at the discretion of Congress how to draft these bills, not the president, which is why Obama supports the Senate version over the House's. This isn't 1970, we need not fear the spread of communism, and neither do I believe Obama see's himself as a communist or socialist if you will.
I'd probably be happier if he was an idealogue of some kind...socialist, communist, etc, which would give scope, rationalism, parameters and something like loyalty to his thinking.
Instead he's an alienated man with a sense of righteousness; a sense of grievance and injustice, combined with a novel view of "rights" and an eagerness to use the power of a vast state.
This is worse than ideology, it's fecklessness and caprice dressed
up as compassion and virtue. His pose of humility isn't humility, it's clever, disarming self-mockery.
When a man seems so perfect, the alarms should go off. He's very dangerous.
By the way, if you haven't read "The Anatomy of Revolution" by Crane Brinton, it's worth your time as a political blogger.
Cap-Trade and HealthCare can barely be called hope & change legislation. Like the stimulus funds, they're political paybacks to patrons, unions, and cronies.
Example: If health care changes force the entire industry to operate under Government control (which they surely will), the entire industry will be under control of public sector labor unions. Big Labor, with absolutely no need to even pretend to respond to free market forces.
Example: ACORN gets billions of dollars to stimulate the floundering US economy? Chicago politics.
Poli Blogger,
Appreciate your discussion here, but ... to say that Obama is advocating debate is, in fact, laughable. He pressed congress to get the whole health care "Fortress of Bullshit" ... 1000 pages and all ... passed in three weeks. He was absolutely trying to squelch debate and diminish sunlight on this issue.
What's the hurry and the emergency? At least we can understand the need to monitor terrorists via the Patriot Act. However, Obama argues, incredibly, that fixing health care is the key to getting our economy going. Huh? Does he really believe we are that stupid? He said it in public, so he must.
You seem like a nice but naive person. The issue in congress is not the process (with apologies to poli sci majors), it's the people and the ideas.
You mention how we need not fear the spread of communism b/c this isn't the 1970s. But a cursory study of history or recent headlines will confirm that authoritarian rule of one form or another is always on the prowl. The free must remain vigilant to stay free.
I'm also troubled by the easy acceptance of a legislative system so bloated, complex and engorged that the people we elect to run it rely upon a legion of clerks to explain what they're supposed to know on their own. This is beyond parody. It isn't government of the people, it's paint-by-numbers.
I'm getting more used to the F of B. It works.
F of B in Greek is "dailykos"
One more reasons why I love this blog.
Just because my ideology does not match yours does not make me naive. In fact, I have worked in a congressional office and understand how the system works better than most.
Obama did not push the bill because he was hoping no one would notice, as Bush did with the Patriot Act, but because he knew that without putting fuel under politicians feet they would do nothing but sit on the issue. If he was so afraid of debate, why be vocal in Town Halls and with the Press?
We condemn him for pushing legislation that we elected him to push, but when he actually does what he says he was going to do we call him a communist. I'm sorry, but this is crap and you know it. The spread of communism was laughable during the 70's as it is laughable now in the 21 century.
It is just as laughable as believing we live in a democratic nation. Even our forefathers knew the masses were ignorant, which is why we don't a true democracy.
Our country is at no risk of becoming socialist, just like there is no chance of Sarah Palin becoming the next president of the US. Give me a break. I'm not naive, I'm realistic. History has in fact shown us that our fears are our demise, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan (USSR Afgran). Its a manifestation of our government that has only cost us dearly.
Something about working in a "congressional office" has this effect on people.
You're arguing with yourself about communism, PB. Anti-anti-communism died in 1989, along with Carterism. All the important debates have moved elsewhere.
I'm happy you learned some elementary Hamiltonian ideas about the perils of democracy.
What can I say about your last paragraph? You gotta be joking. Are you sending these comments from another decade?
When do we start arguing about Lamarckism?
"It is just as laughable as believing we live in a democratic nation. Even our forefathers knew the masses were ignorant, which is why we don't a true democracy."
We're a republic. I have a realistic view of a pure democracy's pitfalls, but I have no lack of respect for the ignorant masses. Their collective wisdom and strength can shake the world.
I guess I'm most saddened that someone has experienced the workings of a congressional office and still come away comfortably using the term "ignorant masses". It must have been quite an office.
Twist my words to suit your needs. that is the reality here. The fact is, most people have no idea how out system works. You have no idea the kinds of people that I had to work with. Maybe I've come away with a cynical perspective, but the reality is, most people have no idea how Congress works or how laws are really made, or the work that goes into drafting these bills.
People need to be aware that they don't know everything or at least don't understand everything. It is that stand point that is elitism, whether you like it or not.
How many of you have actually read both these bills, but you stand here commenting on what you've read about them or heard. That is what I mean by ignorant. Admitting you don't know something isn't always a bad thing, you may find you actually learn something.
Ouch. Now, THAT kid is on the fast track to punditry.
a) you don't know what I know
b) errors and gaps in my knowledge are your fault
c) elitism is stupid people who think they're smart (no argument from me)
d) publishing actual sections of the bills is not enough (?)
e) you only learn something by admitting that you don't know something
Some epistemology...
Who are you Rhod...who are you really?
Lamont Cranston?
Oh, is that an existential question? I left my gallois cigs, beret and turtleneck on the bus, but I can Sarte and Heidegger the hell out an issue without them.
Whattaya say? Shall we talk?
No, actually, I wasn't being existential. I was being silly...I'm taking everything too seriously and your profile is blank. I appreciate your opinions, even if I don't really agree with everything. thanks for keeping me on my toes.
Thank you, PB. Very gracious of you. I play a bastard at Nickie Goomba, but not in real life. You're willing to fight, and I always respect that.
Good luck always,
R
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