The nation awakens today to a grim day (although less grim than it might have been, as the late Senate races come in and the prognosis for a decent-sized GOP resistance looks much better). But America has endured worse. Here’s 12 ways I recommend that conservatives and Republicans prepare to face the next four years under President Obama (yeah, get used to that one):
(1) Oppose Obama, Not America: The absolute wrong way to react to life in the minority is … well, what we saw from too many people on the Left the past 8 years: calling everyone from the President on down to individual soldiers and Marines war criminals, parroting the propaganda of our enemies, exposing classified national security secrets on the front pages of the newspapers, and generally doing whatever possible to stymie the national defense and convince the nation and the world that America is the bad guy. We’re better than that. When Obama fails to act to defend America and its interests and allies, or violates the basic common-sense principles of national security and foreign policy, we will of course be unsparing in our criticism. But we should not emulate the Left; indeed, the day may even come when Obama needs defending from the Left for doing what needs to be done, and we certainly want to encourage him to take actions that provoke that reaction.
(2) No Chicken-Hawking: This is a corollary of #1: given his shaky draft history, Bill Clinton at times appeared afraid of criticism over deploying the military on grounds that he didn’t serve. We should never make Obama feel that he should blanch at defending the nation simply because he never wore the uniform (fortunately, on that score, Obama’s defining personality trait is hubris). We’ve had civilian leadership before, we’ll have it again.
(3) Don’t Question The Verdict: Was there voter fraud in yesterday’s election? Were there other shenanigans both legal and illegal? I’m sure there were, and others who follow those stories will no doubt be expanding on them in the weeks to come. Chronicling specific instances of misconduct is an important service – to expose the miscreants and their connections to the Obama campaign, to punish and deter and provide a basis for someday preventing a recurrence (although don’t expect the Obama era to see anything but massive resistance to taking even the most tepid steps against voter fraud). And likewise, of course, there is still plenty more to be examined in Obama’s fundraising, to say nothing of the untruths he told to get elected and the really shameful behavior of the media.
But fundamentally, he got more votes where it mattered and he won the race. Supporters of Gore and Kerry who refused to accept those realities in 2000 and 2004 ended up doing a lot of lasting damage to public confidence in our electoral system. The step of challenging the results of an election is a grave one not to be taken without serious evidence. Let’s not repeat their mistakes with conspiracy theories.
(4) Don’t Blame The Voters: Yes, it’s tempting to go off into the place where Democrats were fuming about “Jesusland” four years ago. And yes, Obama got a lot of votes for bad reasons or from vacuous people. Hey, there are a lot of stupid people in the world, and in America, and a fair number of them vote – they vote when we win, they vote when we lose. Winston Churchill was a great believer in democracy as the least-worst system of government, but he’s also the guy who once said that the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
For all that, it’s counterproductive to lose faith in the collective wisdom of the American voting public over the long term. Even when the public makes a mistake, it usually has a reason – and while electing Obama will be clearly shown over time to have been a mistake, the GOP also has some serious introspection to do about how we let things come to the point of giving the public a reason to do what it did. And we need to retain faith that rebuilding our party around the principles that have succeeded in the past, and adapting those principles for the world of the next decade, will win them back.
(5) Don’t Get Mad, Get Even: Yes, it’s a cliche, but unfocused rage goes bad places. There’s a lot of work to do to prepare the ground for the GOP to come back as it did in 1994, 1980, and 1966-68. The Left drew first blood on the Bush second term only a few weeks after the election, with the Bernard Kerik nomination. We’ll have a target-rich environment to work with as the kind of urban machine politics the Democrats have made famous comes to the White House, and we’ll have fun doing it.
(6) We Play For 2010, Not 2012: I’ll be writing up shortly my early thoughts about the GOP presidential field in 2012, and plenty of others will too. Do it, get it out of your system, come to the aid of the people who will make up future presidential fields, but whatever you do, don’t get into primary-season, my-gal/guy-or-the-highway mode again until we are through the 2010 elections. There will be a need in the party’s future for Palin and Jindal and Sanford and Huck and Mitt and all the rest; we’re all in this together.
(7) Prioritize: More on this later, but Obama and the Congressional Democrats are going to have a long list of issues they want to press, and we can’t stop all of them. The GOP needs to divide issues into four buckets:
a. Things we are prepared to go to the mat to stop
b. Things we want to force the Democrats to commit themselves to so we can take the dispute to the voters
c. Things, however modest, we actually think we can accomplish even with the Democrats in power
d. Things we want to propose as positive agenda items even knowing they’ll go nowhere, to lay out our own roadmap for the future.
(8) Watch Your Budget: We’re all going to have to prepare for tougher economic times, plus the burden of Obama’s tax hikes. Don’t overextend your own finances.
(9) Grow A Thick Hide and Get Your Taxes in Order: Joe Wurtzelbacher won’t be the last Obama critic to feel the weight of government intrusion for standing up to Obama. David Freddoso and Stanley Kurtz won’t be the last conservative journalists to have their investigations stonewalled and campaigns organized to drive them off the radio. And get used to being called a racist, as everyone who gets in Obama’s way is, sooner or later. Understand now that you will need to stomach all that and more, and you won’t get rattled.
(10) Buy More Life Insurance: Well, at least if, like me, you live or work in a city that’s a top terrorist target, and have roots too deep to leave. Our risk tolerance will have to go up.
(11) Pray: Well, this one speaks for itself. Pray especially for the unborn.
(12) Get On Living: Life is short and there’s more to it than politics. We’ll need committed activists, and as a whole our movement will need to be relentless – but thinking about politics too much is unhealthy, especially when you have a long wait ahead for any progress. For my part, starting tomorrow I’ll be back to doing more baseball blogging. Take a break whenever you need one, spend more time with your family. And teach your kids that every minute of life is worth it even when the world seems to have gone mad. Many generations before us have done so in tougher times than these.
You are pathetic, Crank.
This is pure fear-mongering at its most vapid.
Pray for yourself, not the unborn…
P.S – What, remember a few topics back when you guys were claiming that many “Wall Street types” were Liberal? Shouldn’t you be elated at this election, then?
I guess when Southern morons vote on Jesus and guns and win the day, they are “smart” but when a majority of people vote for postive change after the worst President in history, they are “dumb”…Oh, I get it now…
As a sometimes critic of the partisan route this blog had taken over the past year, I must say that I found this to be a post similar to the prinicpled blog we knew so well here. I am in agreement with nearly everything you say, but have one question.
You say that Obama being elected will be clearly shown to be a mistake. I understand you obviously disagree with his stance on the issues; we know that. Don’t you want to at least leave the door open that he could succeed? that he could be a great president? that he could be a decent president?
And I do not mean succeed in the sense of having some long list of liberal policies passed. I mean succeed in response to events, domestic or international. Succeed as a statesmen and return America to its standing as a beacon of light in the world and thus making the sell to new terrorist recruits that much more difficult. I guess you know exactly what is going to happen over the next 4-8 years.
My point is that no one knew 9/11 was coming when Bush was elected, and that shaped his presidency. Shouldn’t we wait to see how things unfold before you belittle the public by saying they made a mistake. What if the public was right and you are wrong? Is that possible?
I watched with my daughter last night, and while I align far more with McCain than Obama, I was inspired by the energy I saw in the faces of citizens across the country last night. I was surprised by the fact that I felt more hope (and I know that is probably a dirty word when connected to Obama) for our future than at any time in recent years. It is not based on the policies that may or may not come to fruition over the next 4-8 years; it is based on the idea that people still do clearly care about the direction of the country and still clearly care about who we are.
Why not hope Obama turns out to be a great president that makes our union stronger? He is president now; let’s give him a shot.
Though I do think #10 is terribly over-dramatic. I know that you do not see 9/11 as Bush’s fault (nor do I), but I also know that if there is a terror attack the same amount of days into an Obama administration, we will hear how it is all because of Obama.
But to have included that in your list is awfully disappointing, and I do not see how that is helpful in any way.
I assume you will be going out to buy more life insurance because you won’t leave NYC. If the odds of a terror attack have increased so much, do you not owe it to your family to move out of harm’s way?
I’m taking a “show me” attitude towards Obama’s ability to handle an international crisis. If he passes the test, so much the better for all of us. And as I’ll explain in the weeks to come, I’m not giving up hope that we can pressure him to keep more of the Bush Administration’s national security policy in place than his supporters or even Obama himself right now would like to believe.
I’m not giving an inch on his domestic agenda, though. It’s just bad all the way down and consists of things that can only harm us.
I really do not think we will see many changes in national security policy.
What a pile of unregenerate blather.
CW, I swore after 9/11 that we wouldn’t abandon NY. We have roots and family here. And there’s no such thing as a completely safe place (and that’s not just limited to terrorism).
But am I going to sugarcoat the fact that Obama is likely to follow policies that make us less safe? Hell no. Elections have consequences.
I generally agree with your assessments, especially #8. We should save our money, for if Barack and his enablers attempt to enact a new New Deal following the Goldman-Sachs takeover of our economy, we could also be in for a new Great Depression.
Soon will come the disappointments. First to be hit are those poor stupes who are “Tired of being poor,” and who expect Barack to take over their house and car payments. Next will be one of two groups: Either those like Bill Ayres, ACORN, and the readers of DailyKos who expect a 90 degree left turn, or those making up the vast majority of BO voters who think his elevation means the end of racial division, together with those pundits who believe that because he slid to the center during the campaign he will govern pragmatically.
His whole history is one of using and developing black resentment, and furthering “affirmative action” despite realizing intellectually that it is destructive of black initiative. This doesn’t bode well for pragmatism. On the other hand, he has shown himself willing to toss away any person no longer useful to his ambitions, only retaining his controller Michelle (for now) so it’s at least possible that he might be willing to throw away his past beliefs and policies.
But he loves them so dearly, and has clung to them against all reason. The belief in black exceptionalism was inculcated in young Barry by his mother, reinforced by his white grandfather, and hardly weakened by his confrontation with failed Luo society in Kenya. Is winning the Presidency enough to bring about an epiphany?
Well, I think a few of the later entries on the list are an overreaction, but I’d say the first 8 or so are a sound plan if you’re a Republican. One of two things will happen in the next two years. Either Obama will prove to be the pragmatic centrist he wasn’t able to convince me he was during the campaign, and will become highly successful and popular, or he will lay the groundwork for the GOP to rise from the ashes (as began to happen quickly after LBJ’s big win in 1964). Neither is the end of the world.
There was an article in the NYT Science section this week comparing the sense of humor of conservatives to liberals. The gist was that conservatives have better ones. One explanation given was that cons have a much better outlook on life and are generally more upbeat.
I would agree. Conservatives do tend to be more upbeat.
Until something happens that they don’t like, in which case they spew a bunch of self-serving spewdom. (points 3,4,8,9,and 11)
The other points are fine.
Nicely writ, Crank
A comment on the partisan nature of this blog. I haven’t been following this blog for long, but what exactly would you expect him to do in an election year, talk about conservatism in the abstract? What would be the point?
I found some of the posts to be persuasive – meaning not inaccurate, but subject to different interpretations – but never totally off-the-wall wrong and certainly better supported than many of the posts I’ve seen elsewhere. There were times when I wondered whether some of the arguments Crank made actually mattered to him personally or whether he was just putting them out there in case it might matter to undecided voters, but it wouldn’t have bothered me either way.
Good advice, especially #7. Issues worthy of going to the mat: Judicial nominations–NPR (natch) has recorded Obama from his Mein Kampf with respect to what he would like to do to the Constitution. National Security Corps–can anybody say “Sturmabteilung”? First Amendment–his notion of “fairness” also wafts off the odor of the Nazi. (Now, Obama is more of the Mao or Che mold than the Hitler, but his threats to our liberties are the same.)
“I guess when Southern morons vote on Jesus and guns and win the day, they are “smart” but when a majority of people vote for postive change after the worst President in history, they are “dumb”…Oh, I get it now…”
Are you high or are you just plain demented? This is a country that was founded on fairly high-minded values. Granted we haven’t always lived up to our ideals, but to call fellow citizens who happen (how subversive) to believe in GOD morons – that is just completely un-American verbiage and behavior.
This is meant only as a reality check, one which will doubtless be ignored by the poster who made that wholly ignorant remark that started my post, but recent surveys have indicated that 87% of Americans believe in God! And we ARE a nation where majority rules. So we are stuck with Barack Obama – at least for the next 4 years. And for all our sakes, I am praying that he does well. That is way more than any of you leftwing wingnuts ever did for President George W. Bush, the most unfairly maligned president of recent years.
Just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed the list. Sadly, I don’t think you’ve overreacted.
calling everyone from the President on down to individual soldiers and Marines war criminals,
Those of us who called ourselves conservatives and actually gave a damn about the Constitution grew sick of this kind of worshipful nonsense that turned the Bush administration into a cult. Crank, if the shoe fits, wear it. Bush set up gulags in Guantanamo Bay, and defined away torture with the complicity of his revolting henchmen in Congress. This process was helped most of all by the even more repulsive John McCain, who had been himself tortured in the North Vietnamese prisons — and allowed Bush off the hook in one of the most astonishing pieces of political kabuki ever seen in modern America. This is vapid self-pity, a willful refusal to look straight in the mirror. Without real introspection and a dedication to changing its grotesque flaws, the GOP will continue to become the marginalized party of the deep South and religious zealots.
“You are pathetic, Crank.
This is pure fear-mongering at its most vapid.
Pray for yourself, not the unborn…”
So, who is the fear being mongered to? The unborn themselves? Can they actually read this blog and have emotions like fear? But, I thought they weren’t sacred and didn’t deserve government protection, let alone able to use a computer? I’m confused.
Okay, seriously, if you want to be pro-choice (or anti-child), that’s your right. But it’s just as much my right to be pro-life. Please show us one thing, ONE thing, that convinces us that Obama is not a strong ally of the pro-abortion crowd. You can’t. His history strongly suggests that he will be strongly pro-abortion, which will cause more deaths to unborn children. So why shouldn’t I pray for those unborn children if I believe their death is tragic and wrong?
Article mostly rubbish. Our political elite class is the enemy of the American people. Our government is illegitimate. Our election process is a sham shot through with fraud. The GOP must be dismantled, it cannot be seriously considered as the vehicle for the restoration of the Constitution. European-American Homeland on the North American Continent. This article was written by an appeaser of the liberal fascists, in other words, a Republican.
Rob, a serious question: I would be interested in the list of things you will consider non-negotiable demands from Obama on those kinds of issues if you’re going to support his re-election in four years. Close Gitmo and release its inmates, for example? Obama’s going to have actual responsibility now for protecting us. You consider a lot of the Bush Administration’s national security apparatus to be things you could not do anything but denounce in the most serious terms. Which ones would cause you to turn on Obama if he fails to reverse them?
MVH, I never wrote anything I didn’t believe in, and generally I write what’s on my mind and feel like I have something to say about. Obviously there are things, notably McCain’s bipartisanship and moderation, that I’ve noted in argument that don’t really appeal to me personally, but that’s not exactly been a secret when I’ve done so.
As long as I’m at it, this seems as good a spot as any to post a prose-poem I composed last night. By the way, I have mailed it also to the President Elect:
O Great Day
If to your God you did pray then its to you He did say President Elect Barack Hussein Obama on this great day. We campaigned hard in love and war and of the good fight it matters not now whether wrong or right. Patriots we are when we strive and believe but give forth now the energy to the one that received. No opponent now from within will we find only from without comes a tempting mind. Amidst all that was said and all believed clearly did I say for whosoever I�ll pray. Now much more to perceive than just to say who the man is or may not be. Promises made for the sake of the vote now are not worthy for us to tote. More than likely made in vain already should we be free of the pain. He will do all that he can much like any other man. See I now by the face of his plan and hear in its voice praises to the Son of Man. Though prayed I from the other side in faces of hope and the tear in their eye find I the answer abides. Differences aside if united we stand not one foe gets by the strengthened band. Yet strong it must be in word and in deed and founded by a common seed. Yea to mean what I say needed I only to witness Election Day. Now President Obama has plenty to do and needs the support of me and of you. Remember we�re one and by our vote a great task is done. Now finish in a way so that all have won.
1) Decide the fate of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere in an actual due process environment. As the endless stream of defections of military prosecutors has shown, the process is simply a kangaroo court as currently constituted. All we have, at the moment, is allegations of wrongdoing; the government must do better than that. IF there is actual evidence that the detainees were engaged in activity against the United States, then, yes, imprison them and keep them there. If not, send them home. The “Close Gitmo and release its inmates” is a false choice, along the lines of “answer yes or no, have you stopped beating your wife?” Close Gitmo, yes, but “release its inmates” is a far different question.
2) Publicly announce an investigation into and end the practice of widespread, warrantless wiretapping. There is plenty of sworn testimony out there indicating the government broke the very generous bounds of FISA — and the current law under which these programs operate is demonstrably unconsitutional.
3) End the practice of “extraordinary rendition”. It’s unconstitutional and immoral.
Those are a start.
“The absolute wrong way to react to life in the minority is … well, what we saw from too many people on the Left the past 8 years”
Yeah, but it did work for them, or at least it didn’t hurt them.
Regarding #2, obviously the well-deserved chickenhawk label resonates with an entire generation of Republican politicians, pundits, and bloggers (particularly the host here) who have steadfastly refused or forgotten to rise to the defense of our nation in both it’s brightest and darkest days, not unlike their patron Saint Reagan, who bravely pretended to fight WWII from a Hollywood studio.
The tradition continues to this day among courageous young college Republicans.
And meanwhile, the search continues for the pussy gene seemingly prevalent for several generations now among military age males who vote Republican.
I am sad this morning…I feel weighted, heavy, fearful. But the bible call on all of us to pray for ALL of our leaders of this country…and that means regardless if they are left wing liberal illuminati or right wing conservative. So in addition to praying for the unborn, I will also pray for Obama and his advisers. The unborn do need praying for-don’t fool yourself…Obama is an abortion supporter, including partial birth abortions where the child is sometimes born alive. What kind of moran doesn’t research the facts before they speak t?
“I know that you do not see 9/11 as Bush’s fault (nor do I), but I also know that if there is a terror attack the same amount of days into an Obama administration, we will hear how it is all because of Obama.”
I rarely comment on blogs. I mostly lurk. But this post I had to comment on. If you think for one second that the blame will be cast upon Obama, you are delusional. Not only does the majority of the left blame Bush for 9/11, there is the contingent that ascribes complicity. I can guarantee that if we are attacked 8 months into an Obama presidency, that will be that “fault” of Bush as well.
To my comments above, I should add the following: I was considering voting for Obama up until the point he went with the second FISA amendment bill that essentially gutted that earlier law. As a result, I voted for Bob Barr; he had no chance of winning, but at least he wasn’t the lesser of two evils. In point of fact, Obama has gone along with much of the Bush Administration’s voting record.
MVH, I never wrote anything I didn’t believe in . . .”
No, please don’t think I was suggesting that. By “mattered to you,” I meant that I wondered from time to time, of all the things you found wrong with Obama, if some of those things you brought up were perhaps of a lesser concern to you -personally- than others, but that you nevertheless brought up in case it mattered to others. It was more a curiosity on my part, not a criticism at all.
And I hope you get some sleep yourself, as you must be exhausted from all this. Especially the 3-part integrity posts. They brought back some not-so-fond memories of typing term papers late at night in the Mulledy common room.
rs, you need to learn some history before you start calling names. President Reagan tried hard to get into the service during WWII and was refused because of eyesight problems. So he did what he could for the war effort, using the best tool he had to hand: his acting experience. Nothing chickenhawk about that.
From Rob:
“Bush set up gulags in Guantanamo Bay, and defined away torture with the complicity of his revolting henchmen in Congress.”
A person must be totally ignorant of history to conflate Gitmo with gulag. Further, you misconstrue the meaning of “kangaroo court,” a body of prisoners who try other prisoners. In other words, the “court” and the defendants belong to the same group.
As far as torture, here is what I earlier wrote for a newspaper: [lengthy]
Torture – Yes? No?
Water-boarding. In case you’ve been vacationing on a distant planet, water-boarding is a refinement of Chinese Water Torture developed to encourage terrorists to become copper’s narcs. It consists of convincing the subject that he is about to drown or suffocate, but without doing any physical damage or causing lasting pain. The CIA claim great success with gaining information that prevents attacks and allows the capture of other terrorists.
Big issue in the Republican Presidential Debates. Most candidates refuse to call it torture, leaving that designation to the agencies that practice it. Further, they generally say, if it works, use it.
John McCain, however, claiming expertise due to his military career and having actually been tortured, is more forthright. He says water-boarding IS torture, that it is illegal, and that it doesn’t work.
I say… Of course water-boarding is torture! The mere fact that it does no lasting damage is hardly the point. Mental torture is as painful in its way as the physical type.
I further say… Of course torture works! It’s sad but true that even the threat of physical or mental torture causes men to confess, break down, turn on their friends, become traitor to causes they hold dear. Some tough souls can withstand more than others, as McCain himself proved in Hanoi. But by all reports, water-boarding is so exquisitely effective that not a single terrorist has yet successfully resisted its suasions.
And I yet further say… Of course it’s legality is questionable! Although terrorists are definitely NOT protected by the Geneva Conventions, the US has signed the International Convention Against Torture which has, as far as I know, no exceptions for evil-doers.
And yet, Islamic terrorists haven’t hesitated to use the worst forms of torture–far worse than water-boarding–against both Americans and their own people. By the doctrines of an eye for an eye, of turnabout is fair play, of fight fire with fire–if you torture me, why can’t I return the favor?
But these matters always seem to concern others–people in foreign countries or distant cities. What if they directly affected you or me? What if it were strictly personal?
You get a call from a terrorist–or even a plain kidnapper–announcing that your child has been stolen, and is now in a box underground, with a six-hour supply of air. You must immediately fork over $10,000, and not tell the police.
So you meet with the kidnapper/terrorist, and while he’s counting the ransom you pull out your trusty 1911A1 and take him prisoner. Home you go, and tie him to a kitchen chair, then ask the key question
“Where’s my daughter?”
“I’m not talking. And if you don’t let me go she’s gonna die in five hours.”
So now you must choose. Do you…
A. Let him go and hope that out of gratitude he releases your daughter?
B. Turn him over to the police so they can bring him to trial in a year or so?
C. Tell your wife, “Honey, bring me the pliers, soldering iron, and a dull kitchen knife. Oh, and a big stack of newspapers for the floor.”
And to the kidnapper, “One more time–where’s my daughter?”
Per the above: Kos, Sullivan, and Greenwald, and many others, throw around smears and namecalling from the comfort of their computers on a whim. Many others do the same, but we can’t tell that they likely suffer from the same Napolean complex that the named individuals suffer (read: short, short, little and small).
The ‘pu$$y gene’ is most apt a phrase to use while anonymously calling people names from the serene surroundings of the dorm room (or, Mom’s basement).
Crank, well written.
Barr used to be my congressman. He was the guy who helped write the Defense Of Marriage Act. He voted for the patriot act. He supported FMA. Of course, that’s before he lost. Funny how one can take all sorts of positions when one has no responsibility for following through with them, huh?
Get ready for the next 12 months, something tells me we’re going to see lots of backtracking from the Obama promise machine.
Well, I see from “t’s” post the hate from the left didn’t end with thier victory…
…but anyway, thanks. Those are some good insights and words to conduct ourselves by.
This election went down to believability of the Big Lie verses a candidate that didn’t represent the whole of his party. We were dreaming, for defeat was most probably inevitable to whoever they ran against whoever we ran… The ghost of the legand of the myth of Mr. Bush was hard to overcome…, for now at least. History will add clearity to that as it’s done for other’s in the past. I just wonder why no one had the guts in the Grand Old Party to just stand up and say “Just a darn minute!” when the BS flew…
I think perhaps we might have won the thing if we’d stuck to just one or two issues and hammered away at them on that. I think the last two years alone should have done the trick. Change? They had already had it, hadn’t they? Yes, I do believe they had.
Good grief, the left is still slinging their hatred, based on the comments.
Good article. I agree with all points. See you in 2010!
IllinoisObserver,
I was talking about who Bush supporters would blame for an attack early in an Obama admin.
You think they would blame Bush?
When said that way, that makes sense.
I was looking at it from a leftist angle (And some MSM outlets). One of the major differences being that the right generally didn’t blame Clinton. We understood that this attack was long in the planning and execution and more than likely would have been carried out no matter who was in office.
I would also like to predict that the right will be much less hateful and vitriolic overall than the left has been towards President Bush (Chimpy McHitlerburton anyone? Think the right could get away with anything like that??) and Republicans (Celebrating Snow’s cancer and Cheney’s heart issues). Although I could be wrong and 8 years of hate and attacks may have some reprisal.
I do expect many a “told ya so’s!” over the next few years.
Not sure this is the right place for this comment, but one thing the country may quickly learn is that it didn’t dislike Bush simply because he was Bush; they disliked him because he was President. The Presidency has become an incredibly powerful office, more powerful than our Founders ever contemplated. You combine an already powerful office with a fired-up base that must be fed and paid off, international events that require strong executive response, and the result is a very muscular presidential administration. All those who despise Bush for how he expanded and supposedly abused his office must remember that Obama is inheriting the same office Bush expanded. And we know what power does to people.
Excellent article, Crank.
It is telling, I have to say, this strain of mean-spirited thriumphalism that some of your readers of the political left display. It can be revealing of a person’s character when he gains an position over others, or a title or any sort of advantage. We’ve all seen it; success frees some people to revel in their true nastiness.
It must be a liberating thing for them; in one of his novels Victor Hugo gave a character such a moment, when he had the character standing at the bow of a boat he had just deliberately wrecked, sneering and saying to himself, “I am a scoundrel!” Modern times have lost the melodrama but not the essence of the moment.
Like I wrote, the chickenhawk tag resonates here-you guys wouldn’t want to help the cause and submit a DNA swab to help us isolate that pussy gene, would you? Like most other right wing blogs, clearly not too many distinguished service records in anyone under 75 who comments here. I stand corrected on Reagan, however- compared to the Baseball Crank audience, he was the hero he only played in films.
I am pleased to learn that we can expect less hate and vitriol (did Palin have a laryngectomy?) from the right for the next four years. Limbaugh, Coulter, Savage, Horowitz, et al, signed off on that promise, right?
Excellent point, also, comparing our United States to terrorists with our illegal and immoral use of torture. You haven’t procreated, have you? The bar for good behaviour you set is a little low- we have enough serial killers and Goldman Sachs executives running around as it is.
What do you people think Ayatollah Obama will rename the USA: The People’s Republic of America or The Union of American Socialist Republics?
“There was an article in the NYT Science section this week comparing the sense of humor of conservatives to liberals. The gist was that conservatives have better ones. One explanation given was that cons have a much better outlook on life and are generally more upbeat.”
I did not read the article but it seems almost impossible. Perhaps conservatives are more upbeat. Seems hard to measure. It seems odd that if there are all these conservatives with great senses of humor there are so amazingly few that are actually funny. P.J. O’Rourke? Dennis Miller (a sham making $ off of the dirth of conservative funny men)? Anyone else?
The whining about how mean the posts from people glad that Obama won is amusing. For eight long years y’all practiced the fine art of the politics of “shut the hell up, we’re the majority party.” At every turn anyone who disagreed with the President or this administration was called anti-american or a commie or a terrorist-sympathizer. Y’all fricking piled it on at every turn. Now, when you’re on the downside, you go from bully to complainer. If you can’t take the mostly mild stuff here you are going to have a long road to hoe. You got stuffed like a Thanksgiving Day turkey last night. McCain, at least, was graceful, manly and eloquent in defeat (unlike the rabble he was speaking to). You should take a lesson from that perhaps.
You right wing nutjobs are pathetic and sad.
Thin skin. It’s another marker of the pussy gene.
McCain wouldn’t have gotten quite the beating he did had he conducted his campaign with the dignity of his surrender speech. Instead, he did his best “Abe Simpson on speed” imitation, and probably scared the shit out of most sentient parts of the American population, who didn’t want him anywhere near the nuke button.
Sadly, 99% of the people singing the praises of ‘obama’ know nothing of the man, nor his beliefs, his voting record, etc.. etc., etc. We truly will get the government that we deserve! I pray 4 mercy for us all.
Sadly, 99% of the people singing the praises of ‘obama’ know nothing of the man, nor his beliefs, his voting record, etc.. etc., etc. We truly will get the government that we deserve! I pray 4 mercy for us all.
Sadly, 99% of the people singing the praises of ‘obama’ know nothing of the man, nor his beliefs, his voting record, etc.. etc., etc. We truly will get the government that we deserve! I pray 4 mercy for us all.
The nation awakens today to a grim day
For about 46% of us, I suppose. For the majority of Americans, though? Not so much.
(although less grim than it might have been, as the late Senate races come in and the prognosis for a decent-sized GOP resistance looks much better)
I agree (no irony, I mean it. As I’ve said, I’m not a Democrat). The fact that the Dems didn’t get a filibuster-proof majority is damn good news. Couldn’t have worked out better, in fact. We’ll need gridlock, and lots of it, with a spending-minding chief exec.
But America has endured worse.
Damn straight! But now that that 8 year nightmare is over, I’m feeling better already. I have moderated hopes for Obama — a big improvement on foreign policy and curbing executive abuses, but probably a new kind of trouble on the economic front.
But he ain’t Bush, he ain’t Cheney, he ain’t Rove, he ain’t from the 21st Century GOP. No taint of Kristol or the Heritage Foundation or James Dobson or O’Reilly or Malkin.
A fresh start. Let’s see what comes, folks. Can’t be any worse than the past 8 years. Let’s give him a chance.
looks like GLUTTONS like you are worried enough to not have enough food, you right wing douche bags are nothing but a bunch of idiot pathetic close minded bigots SUCK AN EGG oh and tell Sarah Palin to just stop pro creating, the world does not need more ignorant worthless people like you
SUCK AN EGG
SUCK AN EGG
SUCK AN EGG
SUCK AN EGG
SUCK AN EGG
SUCK AN EGG
SUCK AN EGG
SUCK AN EGG
SUCK AN EGG
SUCK AN EGG
# 8 was the best and most laughable
“watch your budget ” TRANSLATION – because most of us Republican bigots are GLUTTONS we all have to watch what we eat and actually ONLY eat what is necessary, it will be devastating and very hard to control GLUTTONY but we are all just going to have to. As a matter of fact some of us will use
desperate measures for desperate times CRYSTAL METH so come on ya’ll Obama’s tax hikes for all us Republicans we might as well be METH HEADS so we don’t have to eat too much at least our death will be sooner than later.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA you people are TRAGIC
I am a DOUCHE BAG and PATHETIC CLOSE MINDED BIGOT
“A person must be totally ignorant of history to conflate Gitmo with gulag.”
A person must be totally ignorant of what a gulag actually is to fail to recognize that Guantanamo Bay is exactly that. The Bush Administration argued that no law applied to prisoners detained in Guantanamo Bay in Rasul v. Bush. From Wikipedia,
Even more broadly, “Gulag” has come to mean the Soviet repressive system itself, the set of procedures that prisoners once called the “meat-grinder”: the arrests, the interrogations, the transport in unheated cattle cars, the forced labor, the destruction of families, the years spent in exile, the early and unnecessary deaths.
Pretending that Guantanamo Bay’s prisoner treatment — perhaps especially after all of the vile Potempkin Village shows given only to appreciative conservative media outlets — amounts to anything other than abuse is absurd.
Of course torture works!
Right, which is why professional intelligence officers with substantial field experience in multiple wars came out against torture. It always interests me that the “ticking bomb” scenario is always the one that gets pulled out, and especially by those who have absolutely no idea how to do interrogations.
Well spoken, Crank.
Good god, you people are sick. I guess you just hate America.
I see from the comments that even after their candidate won, the left of this country are still into name calling and hate just because we love America AND God…sad day to be mocked for that! Thanks for sharing your insights!
Nice article, well put.
Obama wins. The same day all these complete lunatics come out of the closet.
I’ll go ponder the causation between those two things, if any.
As Dennis Green so aptly said: “They are who we thought they were.” It applies to some of the ugly commenters and it will come to mind a lot over the next few years. When an Obama voter who thought they were getting a “new kind of politician” acts surprised just shake your head and tell them: “They are who we thought they were.”
Yowza, the Daily Kos moonbats have descended on you Crank! Maybe they like baseball??
A well written article. Keep up the good work! And a message for the loonies………..Gitmo is going to stay open! MOUAHAHAHAHA!!!
Interesting to see so many of Obama’s senior staff commentiing here. Their combined IQ is lower than my home’s temperature.
The Republic is in good hands. I wonder when I will get my new car and mortgage payment?
Cheer up folks the DOW is down 10% in just two days. Think what Comrade Obama will bring us two years.
Interesting to see so many of Obama’s senior staff commentiing here. Their combined IQ is lower than my home’s temperature.
The Republic is in good hands. I wonder when I will get my new car and mortgage payment?
Cheer up folks the DOW is down 10% in just two days. Think what Comrade Obama will bring us two years.
Interesting to see so many of Obama’s senior staff commentiing here. Their combined IQ is lower than my home’s temperature.
The Republic is in good hands. I wonder when I will get my new car and mortgage payment?
Cheer up folks the DOW is down 10% in just two days. Think what Comrade Obama will bring us two years.
We want to be free! We want to be free to do what we want to do. We want to be free to ride. We want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by The Man! And we want to get loaded. And we want to have a good time. And that’s what we�re going to do. We�re going to have a good time. We�re going to have a party. �Obama staffer speaking under condition of anonymity, 2008
I mostly agree with your points, Crank. My concern is that they are too optimistic. Many things are happening which are beyond Obama’s control. He made too many promises getting elected. But, he will have no money to placate his followers. This vastly limits his options.
The financial bubble that the Democrats exploded in McCain’s face is turning into a world wide recession. The world economy won’t come back until America’s economy revives. Steve Forbes sees the US recession lasting for a least six months.
Almost everything that Obama wants to do, because he is a Leftist–like increasing taxes and the money supply, will lengthen the recession.
Meanwhile, everyone will be making demands of him. The Democrats who control Congress, now, have their leftist demands;–they want the check card plan to forcibly Unionize America, the “Fairness Doctrine” to kill Rush Limbaugh’s talk radio, to attach the assets in 401k’s and pensions to bail out Social Security, to hold war crimes trials for the Bush administration, etc.
There will be too many demands for even three presidents to follow through with. These Democrats in Congress will threaten whatever action that Obama decides to do first. Anything he attempts to do is likely to backfire on him, gaining him enemies and disilusioned followers.
The world is becoming more dangerous, because of this election. The lower oil price and the credit crunch is creating enormous stress in the Middle East. Iran, for instance, needs $60 a barrel oil to feed its people.
War is quite likely now in the Middle East, Latin America, Mexico and the Russian periphery. This is especially so if Obama says that America can no longer afford to be the world’s policeman. And he, then, cuts Israel off from military aid. This will create a power vacuum which Russia, Iran or some other power will rush into.
My links did not seem to follow the text.
Obama’s limitations are outlined in:
https://chizumatic.mee.nu/not_the_end_of_the_world
The dangers of world war due to a world recession and lower commodity prices are in:
https://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JJ28Dj07.html
That was a good point, we shouldn’t be like all of the left-wing illuminati who pointed the fingers at the right, just ignore them, and let them point their fingers at themselves in due time.
Unfortunately, Ms Know, the Left never take responsibility for anything, so they never point fingers at themselves, no matter how well deserved. Besides, they would never get voted into power again if they WERE accountable and the voters could judge them as the incompetents they are. This all about a dispute concerning what works in the world–and doesn’t.
The Left have very narrow interests and zealously protect privileged groups of voting blocks. They want power over you and me. They want to make our decisions for us; they think that they know better than we how to spend our money.
They will appoint a Financial Czar and a Technology Czar under the assumption that American business is waiting for a left wing Ideologue to tell them what to do. They will pour copious moneys into impractical projects. Look up the Carter Administration for examples.
They will ignore, if they ever knew, that it was the Congressional Democrat’s interference in the housing market which caused the financial meltdown. The Left’s pattern is to constantly interfere and produce inefficiencies in the economy; they call it social and economic justice.
They will use the European Union as their model; a place which has no growth, except in government jobs. A place that cannot defend itself.
The Left will say that poverty is good, but they will coin a special name for it. “Poverty has a lower impact on Nature,” the Greens will say. The Left are power greedy and totally arrogant.
They will tax the oil companies out of business for ideological reasons and use that as an excuse to nationalize them. These are total screw-ups who can’t even control their own lives.
Fortunately, this is not about the Left. It is about the millions of ordinary people, the dupes, who trusted the Mainstream Media and voted for Obama for irrational reasons. The dupes will not be on the sidelines; They, along with everyone else, will be hurt by Obama’s policies. Many of them are Social or Economic Conservatives who voted Democrat for illogical reasons.
Hopefully, the Republican Party will stop being centrist and offer the electorate a real Conservative choice. The hard times ahead will cry out for solutions. The dead, in America and Europe, in the Global War on Terror will cry out for justice and be denied. The Left will have the power and use it unwisely.
Let the electorate ignore the Media’s propaganda and vote accordingly. Let the Conservatives, who comprise 57% of Americans, vote people into office who will get the government out of the people’s faces and out of their wallets. Only then will the economy recover.
None of this will be easy; The Left will be fighting a holding action. The Left’s intransigence is why people have to die to effect change.