Monday, November 12, 2012

Why Charles Cooke despairs

And why I despair as well:

But, consider this: A president of the United States just ran a reelection campaign based on the promise of government largess, exploitation of class division, the demonization of success, the glorification of identity politics, and the presumption that women are a helpless interest group; and he did so while steadfastly refusing to acknowledge the looming — potentially fatal — crisis that the country faces. And it worked.

Please read Cooke's essay.

The part that sticks in my throat isn't that a candidate that I oppose won. That happens a lot.

What makes me despair is that Obama this time was no Manchurian Candidate. We knew exactly who he was, and exactly what he had (and had not) done. All of the facts were on the table. He is a grossly incompetent president, no more than a demagogue.

I would have been appalled that anyone voted for him.

I really think we have turned a corner, and I don't think there is a return, in the long run. We will have some limited victories in the future, hold back the tide a bit, but in the long run we are heading for socialism and economic collapse, which are merely different stages of the same process. And what will emerge from that collapse will be very ugly.

The question is: what should conservatives do?


15 comments:

  1. Stop pandering to evangelicals, stop making deplorable and ill informed proclamations about human sexuality or the female body and distance yourselves entirely from groups who would ignore any social issue in favour of asking whether the President of the United States was really born in this country. The image the conservative movement paints through its tacit endorsement is embarrassing to the rest of the world.


    First Time Caller (Calling Again)

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  2. Secede?? 20 states made petitions.

    http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/11/white-house-website-deluged-with-secession-petitions-from-19-states/

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    Replies
    1. Secede?? 20 states made petitions.

      Go ahead. The states that consistently vote conservative the most are also the states that receive the most net federal dollars. Their economies would collapse without regular infusions of cash transferred from those blue states you seem to despise.

      Delete
    2. No, 20 states did not make petitions. Assorted idiots in 20 states signed an internet petition.

      Boo

      Delete
  3. in the long run we are heading for socialism and economic collapse

    No, you aren't. The trouble with much of the world is that the rich have too much power. That is the cause of growing inequality, which is very bad for the economy because the rich don't spend enough money in their own economy. They hoard it offshore, like that fraud Romney does, or they let investment bankers use it to create speculation bubbles all over the world. The rich (and that includes you, Egnor) should be taxed at a higher rate, and the revenues of that should be used to improve the lives of the less fortunate. For example by making high quality education available to more people. That is the only way to turn America back into a nation of producers. You should look at 'socialist' countries like Germany and the Netherlands as examples of net export countries that produce high quality stuff and make education affordable. And produce the best soccer.

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  4. The GFC of 2008 was due to the excesses of certain elements of the well off (Wall Street and investment bankers amongst others) and had nothing to do with the less well off.

    So Conservatives should stop trying to punish the poor and reward the rich. Unearned income, such as dividends and capital gains, should be taxed at the same rate as earned income, not at a reduced rate (which had allowed Romney to pay tax at a rate of around 13% on his million plus income (and even then, he'd forgone deductions to pay more tax than the law demanded - to avoid a bad 'look').

    Romney was promising to slash spending, particularly welfare. If he'd been elected, and if he did what he promised, he would have precipitated a double dip recession, as David Cameron did in Britain in 2010' pursuing similar policies, which would have been a disaster for the less well off again. And the economy. And the government's fiscal position.

    So Obama's reelection was entirely sensible.

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  5. I am a Canadian but when the US cough Canada (and the rest of the world) gets a fever. Now the US has got pneumonia

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    Replies
    1. Pepe,

      Yeah, you're right. That must be the reason why the Australian government has just been forced, reluctantly, to call a Royal Commission to enquire into the coverup of child abuse, mainly by the Catholic Church.

      Delete
    2. The Australian Royal Commission on child abuse is welcomed by the Catholic Church:

      "Catholic Cardinal George Pell believes that the Royal Commission will clear the air and uncover the truth."

      "Public opinion remains unconvinced that the Catholic Church has dealt adequately with sexual abuse. Ongoing and at times one sided media coverage has deepened this uncertainty. This is one of the reasons for my support for this Royal Commission."

      http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/336732

      Delete
  6. I love the third comment posted to the link to Cooke’s essay. “Let it burn”. That’s the Republican’s governing philosophy when they don’t have control. They’ve tried to make things a shitty as possible for the last four years in the hopes of gaining power; let’s pray they don’t do the same for the next four.

    I’m all for red states seceding, and I would support the construction of an alligator filled moat and electric fence.

    -KW

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  7. There is clearly only one option left for you. Go Galt! Do it now! And take all your likeminded fellows with you. That'll teach us a lesson! Of course in the real world there's no such thing as a perpetual motion machine and you'd all be reduced to subsistance farming, but it would sure show us. It would SHOW US ALL MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

    Boo

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  8. Hi Dr Egnor,

    It's a pleasure to read your blog, but I strongly urge you to disable comments. Their quality seems to lessen in descending order of appearance.

    cheers, Adam

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    Replies
    1. Adam,

      The comments, even yours, are one of the main reasons for reading a blog. I don't bother reading a thread if there aren't any comments. Unless, it's something that's personally important to me.

      Delete
    2. @Adam:

      Many of the comments are indeed execrable. But I like freedom of speech. Let's hear them out.

      One of the reasons I fight so passionately is that I read the comments on this blog and others, and I want to stop these people.

      Delete
  9. "I really think we have turned a corner, and I don't think there is a return, in the long run."

    You're looking at it the wrong way. In the long run liberals always get what they want. They always have. The corner you speak of was turned a very long time ago and we've, as a nation, been getting more and more liberal ever since. Think about it, in the post-war era, what liberal cause hasn't succeeded? How has society become less liberal, overall?

    Face it, politics has become nothing but controlled envy and if you control the envy of the majority you win the elections. Humans are inherently envious living in a brutally unfair world and that is a potent combination for manipulation. The majority doesn't feel rich, social issues aside, they don't. Obama has successfully identified that feeling to them as a lack of fairness, he's spoken about this many, many, times. He's also successfully identified the source of that lack of fairness to them as the Republicans. He said "vote for me it's the best revenge" and the majority voted for it. Even if things get better the rich will still be rich and everyone else won't be but they'll feel as though drew some blood. Despite little movement on the fairness front they'll have had their bit of vengeance which they were told was totally justified.

    Conservatives need to learn to deal with that.

    Jario

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