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2008-11-05 Home Front: Politix

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Posted by Mike 2008-11-05 09:39|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11129 views ] Top

#1 Mike, I believed in making converts.

I stopped talking to AB for nine months or so because he thought it was useless.

We just had eight years of a republican that believed in crossing the aisle and the essential goodness of his opposition. They'll possibly put him on trial somewhere for that.

And we ran a candidate who agreed with the Democrats on a lot of big issues more than he did the republicans. From global warming and immigration to Campaign Finance Reform. (How'd that work out, btw?) Oh, and who tried to run against Bush despite both him and Bush being in agreement about being further to the left than the republican mainstream on all the issues I've talked about.

It didn't work.

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2008-11-05 10:25|| 2008-11-05 10:25|| Front Page Top

#2 NOT THE END OF THE WORLD

...but clearly visible from here.

Posted by Besoeker 2008-11-05 10:33|| 2008-11-05 10:33|| Front Page Top

#3 Is it too much to ask that the wind be blowing in the right direction when Israel goes down?

Hmmm we're broke - try and get money out of the US electorate for that clean-up -

HEY - mebbe that's the environmental clean-up Dear Leader was alluding to in his national civilial corps?

Posted by anonymous2u 2008-11-05 10:39|| 2008-11-05 10:39|| Front Page Top

#4 As usual, Steven DenBeste's essays are logical, sequential, and well thought out. His words are somewhat reassuring. I think that he is right about the left will be disillusioned and angry once they realize that their utopian dream will not come to full fruition.

However, I believe that the damage to this country will be major. A lot will depend upon how moderated democrats, like Hillary react to the openly Marxist agenda that the left will push.

Who will Obama put in his cabinet? US Attorneys? Sec Def? He will have court appointments. Those appointments will be there for a long time. The agenda of the radical left will be pushed. It will be hard to undo it.

Indoctrination by the left will continue and pick up in our universities.

And now the big fly in the ointment. The US is bankrupt. Last month we appropriated almost a trillion dollars in a bailout scheme that the public did not know about. Obama's dream will sink the economy. There is not the revenue to pay for his grand economic plan. Our enemies hold our treasury notes.

I think that it will be the economy that will sink the Obama Dream.

Both the republicans and dems have sucked at the trough so long that they consider it business as usual. Now that the dems control the govt, the decline will accelerate.

This is a time for stout hearts. Take care of your family, your friends, your community. Nobody else will. It is going to be one hell of a ride.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2008-11-05 10:50|| 2008-11-05 10:50|| Front Page Top

#5 Holy shit! Steven den Beste!!!

His writing on arab politics and some other foreign stuff really got me into socio-politics. He introduced me to Jacksonian America... which I guess is where I am today.

An grown-up way of looking forward. I'm with him.

Posted by Anon4021 2008-11-05 10:50|| 2008-11-05 10:50|| Front Page Top

#6 Good article and good comments. I think Obama's a one-term President for pretty much the same reason Den Beste does. That is assuming Conservatives don't get filled with anger as they did under Clinton. Even when justified that kind of anger just drives people away.

Posted by rjschwarz 2008-11-05 10:50|| 2008-11-05 10:50|| Front Page Top

#7 Not the devil incarnate? I'm not so sure but regardless, he will have political payback, and the rest of us will have hell to pay.

Posted by Thealing Borgia 122 2008-11-05 10:51|| 2008-11-05 10:51|| Front Page Top

#8 TFSM: Please take what I am about to say in the spirit of friendship in which I offer it.

Do not give up on persuasion. Simple unfocused rage will not get us anywhere. Persuasion does not mean compromising on principle, it means approaching the wavering, disillusioned members of the opposition (when they start wavering and dissilusioning here in a few months) in a way that gets them to agree with us and join our side. Grumbling and grouching and insulting won't do it.

Posted by Mike 2008-11-05 10:52|| 2008-11-05 10:52|| Front Page Top

#9 Watch the Russian! Watch the Russian!

Posted by Besoeker 2008-11-05 10:53|| 2008-11-05 10:53|| Front Page Top

#10 As I was thinking last night, this is only halftime...gotta think long term.

Posted by swksvolFF 2008-11-05 10:57|| 2008-11-05 10:57|| Front Page Top

#11 Sorry I can't agree with the relatively positive spin. The country is now Center-Left -- and it's still lurching that direction. America has passed the point of return.

The schools, media, and culture have created too many non-rational minds; most can't be reached, let alone converted.

Borders. The infiltration will continue at a renewed pace and our culture will become even more unrecognizable.

Obama's victory has now institutionalized corruption -- the voters preferred an obviously corrupt politician -- declaring it no longer matters.

Posted by Captain Lewis 2008-11-05 11:02|| 2008-11-05 11:02|| Front Page Top

#12 Is it too much to ask that the wind be blowing in the right direction when Israel goes down?

I would imagine that Israel will take out the bulk of the ME main population centers if they think they're going down. At least I hope they would. Might teach the surviving gomers a lesson.

Posted by Shotle Brown9884 2008-11-05 11:10|| 2008-11-05 11:10|| Front Page Top

#13 When the Day comes, I would hope that at least one of Dimona's eggs is laid in Gaza.

Posted by RWV 2008-11-05 11:24|| 2008-11-05 11:24|| Front Page Top

#14 Wishful thinking. My guess is that Israel will dither and give in to massive colonization by Palestinians. "Israel" will persist but it won't be a Jewish state any longer. And the triumphant crowing will be echoed by the black nationalists here as well as muslims all around the world. Along the way Europe will go majority muslim in 15 years or so, at a guess.

Posted by lotp 2008-11-05 11:27|| 2008-11-05 11:27|| Front Page Top

#15 Several foreign bloggers have commented on the effect of Obama's foreign policy.

Here is one of them

The interesting thing is that an African blogger is predicting the same reaction from African dictators.

Al

Posted by Frozen Al 2008-11-05 11:33|| 2008-11-05 11:33|| Front Page Top

#16 My guess is that Israel will dither and give in to massive colonization by Palestinians

You don't really understand us, do you lotp?

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2008-11-05 11:47|| 2008-11-05 11:47|| Front Page Top

#17 I dunno, y'all dithered and dithered when it came to letting Syria have Lebanon as its own personal human shield for attacks on Israel, why should the next step in the process be any different?

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2008-11-05 11:59|| 2008-11-05 11:59|| Front Page Top

#18 Israel has about three months to strike Iran before the air traffic of Americans leaving Iraq becomes so thick they can't risk passing through it.

Posted by Darrell 2008-11-05 12:06|| 2008-11-05 12:06|| Front Page Top

#19 Israel has about three months to strike Iran before the air traffic of Americans leaving Iraq becomes so thick they can't risk passing through it

Two months before Obama orders the USAF to intercept and shoot any Israeli plane heading to Iran.

Posted by JFM">JFM 2008-11-05 12:09|| 2008-11-05 12:09|| Front Page Top

#20 I'm with Mike all the way! Conservatives managed to overcome tremendous odds after the sixties and seventies through just such tactics as Mike and the author recommend. Are we really at more of a disadvantage now than we were then?

And we have one tool now that we didn't have then: the internet. We talk to each other and support each other, and we're all onto the mass media game. In fact, I was a Clinton supporter back in the day. Discussing politics and reading the wide variety of opinions on the internet made it impossible for me to sustain my belief in my former ideas. I was no longer dependent on a limited amount of information filtered by the Dan Rathers of the world. In fact Steve den Beste, the author of this article, was particularly influential in getting me to understand transnationalism and its relation to the war on terror. It would have been highly unlikely for me to have read him before the digital age.

There are a lot of logical, well-intentioned, but misinformed people out there that can be convinced through reasonable discussion combined with having events show you to be right over time. Let's get out there and do the hard work of winning back voters, one American at a time. In our two party system, one party's high point is usually the start of the other party's comeback. Let's try and keep the pendulum from swinging too high during its leftward swing, and then be ready to give it a good shove the other way when the time is right. People of faith know that God works in mysterious ways, and skeptics know the same about Fate or Time, so let's have a little self-confidence and do what needs to be done.

Please? ;-)

Posted by ryuge 2008-11-05 12:23|| 2008-11-05 12:23|| Front Page Top

#21 I think that the real damage that has been done - possibly irreversibly - is to the US process for selecting a President. Obama's victory has validated the following approaches as being not only permissible, but actually rewarding - or even vital:

1. Creating a campaign funding approach that encourages illegal contributions, and makes it impossible to account for who is funding a candidate.

2. Setting a standard that pertinent biographical and historical information - such as college transcripts, passports showing (or perhaps not showing - if holder was using a passport of another nationality) travel to prohibited destinations - is permissible to conceal.

3. Establishing ground-level canvassing operations - orchestrated by a centralized interstate entity - that systematically engages in racketeering to carry out massive voter fraud.

4. Cultivating an environment where unfortunate non-professionals - ordinary citizens who have the misfortune to be identified while exercising an opportunity to question, challenge, or criticize a candidate's stand on a controversial issue - face systematic shredding of any semblance of privacy or confidentiality of any information stored in government records.

All in all, I fear that the 2008 Presidential campaign set a new standard that will used as a fundamental baseline, from which ever more outrageous conduct will germinate.

Obama is living, breathing proof that if you lack the fitness to earn the Presidency you can make up for it by sufficiently aggressive thuggery.

I was thinking today about where I would fit Obama's ascendancy to the Presidency within my spectrum of "painful tragedies that the entire United States has had to endure".

I started my list:

1. The US Civil War
2. Slavery
3. World War II
4. The Great Depression (possibly soon to be rechristened "The First Depression")
5. The attacks of 9-11
6. The seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran
7. The influenza (Spanish Flu) outbreak of 1918

At Right about this point, I started considering that I was "getting warm" as far as inserting Obama into the list. But - I then figured that the tragic phase really has not yet transpired. So - we will just have to give Obama time to put his imprint of the national character.

I have a really bad feeling about the future that awaits the US in 2009 and 2010. The threats that America will face will not necessarily originate from anything that Obama did - but we will have to respond under Obama's leadership. He does not impress me as someone to instill confidence during a crisis.

Posted by Lone Ranger 2008-11-05 12:27|| 2008-11-05 12:27|| Front Page Top

#22 I agree with a lot den Bese says. I enjoyed his "USS Clueless" until he quit writing there. I also need to comment on something that one of the Powerline writers said: that Obama is President of ALL the United States, and deserves our support (and prayers) in that position. I agree with that to a point. As long as B.O. follows and respects the Constitution, and the legal structure of the United States as it currently stands, he will have my grudging but full support. If he crosses the line, however, and begins doing things that are against the Constitution of the United States, he will become my enemy, regardless of the position he holds. I'll give him a fair hearing, but I won't stand for tampering with the guarantees of individual freedom in the Constitution. We'll also have to watch the Democratic congress as they attempt to circumvent the Constitution with things like the "Fairness Doctrine" and other unConstitutional bullsh$$.

Colorado elected a second Democratic senator yesterday, mainly on the strength of his showing in the Denver metro area. We now have two (D)s. That won't stop me from hounding them into the ground if I feel they've stepped out of line, and the Denver Post/Rocky Mountain News is going to get quite sick of my letters.

Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot 2008-11-05 12:34|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/] 2008-11-05 12:34|| Front Page Top

#23 In the meantime, let the GOP house cleaning begin in earnest. Today. Let's build on the new blood we have and expand it. The one demographic that heald strong for the GOP was the working middle class. Throw off the RINOs and get back to Reagan's coalition of Middle America, and do not get in the way of the Dems hanging themselves.

Posted by Rex Mundi 2008-11-05 12:46|| 2008-11-05 12:46|| Front Page Top

#24 It has started already!

Medvedev: Russia to deploy missiles near Poland
By STEVE GUTTERMAN, Associated Press Writer Steve Gutterman, Associated Press Writer 54 mins ago
MOSCOW Russia will deploy missiles near NATO member Poland in response to U.S. missile defense plans, President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday in his first state of the nation speech.

Medvedev also singled out the United States for criticism, casting Russia's war with Georgia in August and the global financial turmoil as consequences of aggressive, selfish U.S. policies.

He said he hoped the next U.S. administration would act to improve relations. In a separate telegram, he congratulated Barack Obama on his election victory and said he was hoping for "constructive dialogue" with the incoming U.S. president.

Medvedev also proposed increasing the Russian presidential term to six years from the current four, a major constitutional change that would further increase the power of the head of state and could deepen Western concern over democracy in Russia.

The president said the Iskander missiles will be deployed to Russia's Kaliningrad region, which lies between Poland and the ex-Soviet republic of Lithuania on the Baltic Sea, but did not say how many would be used. Equipment to electronically hamper the operation of prospective U.S. missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic will be deployed, he said.

He did not say whether the short-range Iskander missiles would be fitted with nuclear warheads and it was not clear exactly when the missiles would be deployed.

"Mechanisms must be created to block mistaken, egoistical and sometimes simply dangerous decisions of certain members of the international community," he said shortly after starting the 85-minute speech, making it clear he was referring to the United States.

The president said Georgia sparked the August war on its territory with what he called "barbaric aggression" against Russian-backed South Ossetia. The conflict "was, among other things, the result of the arrogant course of the American administration, which did not tolerate criticism and preferred unilateral decisions."

Medvedev also painted Russia as a country threatened by growing Western military might.

"From what we have seen in recent years, the creation of a missile defense system, the encirclement of Russia with military bases, the relentless expansion of NATO, we have gotten the clear impression that they are testing our strength," Medvedev said.

He announced deployment of the short-range missiles as a military response to U.S. plans to deploy missile-defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic former Soviet satellites that are now NATO members.

Speaking just hours after Obama was declared the victor in the U.S. presidential election, Medvedev said he hoped the incoming administration will take steps to improve badly damaged U.S. ties with Russia. He suggested it is up to the U.S. not the Kremlin to seek to improve relations.

"I stress that we have no problem with the American people, no inborn anti-Americanism. And we hope that our partners, the U.S. administration, will make a choice in favor of full-fledged relations with Russia," Medvedev said.

Tension in Russian-American relations has been driven to a post-Cold War high by Moscow's war with U.S. ally Georgia.

On the financial crisis, Medvedev said overconfidence in American dominance after the collapse of the Soviet Union "led the U.S. authorities to major mistakes in the economic sphere." The administration ignored warnings and harmed itself and others by "blowing up a money bubble to stimulate its own growth," he said.

Medvedev said the president's tenure should be lengthened to six years to enable the government to more effectively implement reforms. He said the term of the parliament also should be extended by a year to five years, and that parliament's power must be increased by requiring the Cabinet to report to lawmakers regularly.

The proposals were Medvedev's first major initiative to amend the constitution since he was elected in March to succeed his longtime mentor Vladimir Putin.

Putin, who is now prime minister and has not ruled out a return to the Kremlin in the future, has favored increasing the presidential term.

___
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081105/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_medvedev

Posted by Almostout 2008-11-05 12:47|| 2008-11-05 12:47|| Front Page Top

#25 Lone Ranger, add to the list our own birth. The American War of Independence was a long painful experience. The war in the southern colonies was for all intents and purposes a civil war in its own right. It took a major adjustment for many to admit they had to give up on expecting justice from the King and crown for which up till then they held as family. Benjamin Franklin and his son, a royalist, never reconciled and the latter joining thousands of Tory Crown Loyalist in departing the newly independent nation.

From that period, the words of Gen. Nathaniel Greene - "We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again."

Posted by Procopius2k 2008-11-05 12:47|| 2008-11-05 12:47|| Front Page Top

#26 Folks, Republicans have only themselves to blame for this:

Bush was obviously blindsided by the mortgage meltdown and that was huge. It was like Pearl Harbor or 9/11. No Republican president should ever let the donks put him in that position again without at least screaming bloody murder beforehand. And you gotta watch 'em. You cannot underestimate their corruption and cynicism. And don't try to tell voters how it all started with Jimmuh Carter and the Community Reinvestment Act because, sadly, they won't understand. There wasn't enough time to make them understand.

Republicans need a candidate who is younger, who looks stronger and, yes, sexier on TV. It's sad but true. A full head of hair helps and it's better if the hair isn't white. Vitality helps. Maybe I'm describing Mitt Romney or maybe Sarah Palin. I ended up with a lot of respect and admiration for McCain. I believe he really is a heroic figure who sacrificed more than most people can even imagine. But you just can't put a beat up old man against the likes of Bill Clinton or Barack Obama with all their sex appeal and charisma.

Republicans need a conservative candidate in 2012 but one who is also personable enough to appeal to moderates and independents.

Republicans need to clean house. I believe most voters see them as being just as crooked as Democrats, if not even more so. They all had the faces in the trough.

And, personally, I'd would prefer a candidate who is alarmed like I am about sending our money to China and Soddy Arabia and who can propose some realistic remedies. I understand about globalization but these people are our enemies. It's foolish and dangerous to pretend otherwise.

I'd also like a candidate who will raise hell about the border and forget about amnesty. Republicans lost California because they allowed it to be overrun with illegal aliens. I noticed that Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico also went blue. Once the Hispanics become settled and prosperous it may be possible to convince them to vote Republican. But that will take years, generations. In the meantime aliens vote Democrat and they made conservative voters believe that Bush and McCain are crooked.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-11-05 13:19|| 2008-11-05 13:19|| Front Page Top

#27 Israel has about three months to strike Iran

We don't have to strike Iran. Between Mugambi's economic policy (looting the middle class on behalf of the proles)---which will bring on a Depression relating to the "Great" the way WWII related to the "Great War" and his environmental policies, the price of oil will keep dropping. Not just Iran, but Arab oil ticks as well, will no longer will be able to bribe their subjects and oilless neighboors into complacency. Arabs especially, are going to fight each other like a pack of starving dogs over a bone. Iran will do slightly better---they're a real Nation rather than a pack of tribes pretending to nationhood---nevertheless social order will colapse and with it any threat of a concerted action against Israel (we may have to retroactively abort a few thousand Paleos and Leb Shias in the interium).

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2008-11-05 13:23|| 2008-11-05 13:23|| Front Page Top

#28 Good point g(r)om - however there is that thingy about nations, when in dire straits, tend to do dire things in the name of national unity.

Posted by Rex Mundi 2008-11-05 13:34|| 2008-11-05 13:34|| Front Page Top

#29 Ebbang: Something to take note of: Proposition 8 (the marriage definition) passed in California because conservative Blacks and Hispanics voted for it. There are people in the "Democrat" demographics who are with us on at least some major parts of the conservative agenda. We can swing 'em over to our side. It may be sooner than you think.

Posted by Mike 2008-11-05 14:02|| 2008-11-05 14:02|| Front Page Top

#30 "Republicans need a conservative candidate in 2012 but one who is also personable enough to appeal to moderates and independents."

Schwarzenegger would be ideal, were it not for the "natural-born" restriction.

Being the governor of a state as blue as California (his term limited to 2010) ought prove he qualifies for the "appealing to moderates" part. But of course an amendment would be required beforehand. I don't think many liberals would be opposed to it either so it might pass.

Posted by Gravise Jones8452 2008-11-05 14:28|| 2008-11-05 14:28|| Front Page Top

#31 Schwarzenegger would be ideal, were it not for the "natural-born" restriction.

Didn't seem to effect the last guy.

Posted by Besoeker 2008-11-05 14:30|| 2008-11-05 14:30|| Front Page Top

#32 We'll see, gromgoru. The Saudi and Gulf royals are quite well diversified in their investments. They need oil revenues to pacify the younger generation, though. As far as knowing Israel, I've been there and done business there - including with the defense establishment. But you all have changed a lot in the last 20 years and not for the better.

Posted by lotp 2008-11-05 14:36|| 2008-11-05 14:36|| Front Page Top

#33 Actually, him being the illegitimate son of Malcolm X, Obama qualifies for "natural-born" even if he was born in Kenya.

My favorite conspiracy theories cancel each other out in this case.

Posted by Gravise Jones8452 2008-11-05 14:38|| 2008-11-05 14:38|| Front Page Top

#34 I believe denBeste is prescient in his analysis and projection.

His thoughts on what will happen are some of what my realistic fears are.

I hope we're both wrong. Both for the sake of Israel and Afghanistan.

Posted by Anon4021 2008-11-05 15:36|| 2008-11-05 15:36|| Front Page Top

#35 I want Schwarzenegger in the Senate.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-11-05 16:32|| 2008-11-05 16:32|| Front Page Top

#36 The Democrats were desperately in need of a charismatic leader. They saw their hope in a needy man, a narcissist who portrayed himself as self assured, eloquent and authoritative and had sex appeal. It was love at first sight and they set on to polish him as their candidate. In this relationship the Democratic Party became the co-dependant of the narcissist Obama. They needed someone to shine so they can bask in his splendor. And Obama needed them to fulfill his delusions of grandiosity. This is how codependency works. It is a sick symbiosis of two needy parties. Behind every successful narcissist, there is always a co-dependent.

When the co-dependent and the narcissist team-up the result can be catastrophic. Now we have folie à deux. The delusional belief of the narcissist about himself is transmitted and shared by another needy, but ostensibly smart person. The codependent validates and encourages the narcissist's delusion. As the result, the narcissist becomes bolder, more assertive, more authoritative and more confident. The partnership of the narcissist and the codependent dons their delusion with the mantle of credibility. The codependent will then do everything to persuade others as well. The narcissist's cause is himself. The codependent will champion that cause. By recruiting others, they find validation for their own belief about the narcissist. Soon the folie à deux becomes folie à trois, then folie à quatre, and when you are a presidential candidate and are followed by a hoard of journalists and cameramen, before you blink there will be folie à plusieurs (madness of many). Recent psychiatric classifications refer to the syndrome as shared psychotic disorder.

The masses of people have no first hand knowledge of the narcissist, but they jump on the bandwagon thanks to a very human trait, misnomered as herd mentality. They reason, how can so many people be wrong and satisfied by this fallacy blindly join the cult of personality worship.

From Understanding Obama

Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2008-11-05 18:06|| 2008-11-05 18:06|| Front Page Top

#37 "The US is too large [big] and too strong to destroy [defeat] in just 4 years. Or even in 8..." > YEP, WHICH IS WHY THE ISLAMISTS + ALIGNED ARE PRAGMATICALLY GOING AFTER STATES OTHER THAN AMERICA.

Radical Islamism is going all-out to de facto destabilize iff not destroy the present Eurasian and World Order, NOT RIGHT AWAY BUT OVER TIME,starting in ASIA VEE RUSSIA, CHINA, INDIA whom coincidentally are also not only NUCLEAR POWERS/STATES = REALIST SOURCES FOR PROCUR ADVANCED NUC/MILTECHS, ETC RESOURCES BUT WHOM ARE ALSO GEOPOL COMPETITORS TO [future] DESIRED GLOBAL ISLAMIST ORDER.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2008-11-05 20:38|| 2008-11-05 20:38|| Front Page Top

23:57 OldSpook
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