2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

[Kepler]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

while the point is exaggerated ("chosen ones", etc) I've found that the general attitude that smart people ought to be prescribing allowable behaviors to the masses 'for their own good' is a very common one in academia. The condescension is palpable.

I think part of it is I've been out of academia so long I have trouble remembering it actually exists.

In any case, the other side has its own brand of dumb condescension:

 

[Priceless]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

Perhaps you've never "met" them...there are more than a few around...



http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...92876696550.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop


Also, I refer you to the PPACA, which prescribes "allowable loss ratios" and says that only certain specified health insurance plans can be offered starting in 2014. You really don't think that saying "these plans and only these plans" can be sold is not an elite strangling innovation in the name of their superior knowledge?

That's ridiculous. Everyone knows the proper role for a regulator is to help businesses skirt, or even break, the law in exchange for a lucrative job when they leave government service. Guess he missed the memo.

 

[Rover]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

Let's agree to agree.

I don't agree with that.

 

[Old Pio]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

Reagan also did quite a bit of what Obama does: let the other side get too far ahead with their rhetoric, then come in as the voice of moderation and move the ball a bit. That's something that maddened liberals about Reagan and now it maddens conservatives about Obama. Both were called duplicitous because of that, when it was more a case of good political judo. And both were also "fortunate" to be opposed by overconfident pols who continually fell into the traps they set.

Both were also called empty vessels. I recall during the Reagan years I was amazed that anyone could fall for what was "obviously" just an actor's good reading of somebody else's well-written screenplay. Righty water carriers have tried to repeat that meme about Obama (all the teleprompter silliness, etc) though it hasn't stuck as much. The people that seems to resonate with are the ones who hate Obama anyway. Or perhaps that was the case with Reagan, too -- I certainly loathed him.

Finally, the affection each inspired was mocked as a religious spell by opponents. For all Pio's snarlings about "The One," there has never been such a cult of adoration in American politics as the Cons' thirty year hard-on for Saint Ron.

All these similarities are all the more funny in that the two are turning out to be almost identical presidencies: charismatic figures who inspire some, arouse the blind hatred of others, take the country from bad times to better times, benefit from the comparison to the complete failure of the prior president, and leave the country with an immense debt.

Ronnie never referred to himself as "The One." The far more influential MSM were hardly in bed with Reagan the way they are with His Wonderfulness. The notion that Reagan was an "empty vessel" is the kind of thing that produced erections on the left but was hardly the case. The guy had been a national political figure since '64 and his famous speech for Goldwater. Two terms as governor of California, a candidate for the Republican nominaton and a nationally syndicated commentator for years. Only those reading the latest screed "proving" that Alger Hiss was framed wouldn't have noticed. As we have learned since he left office, Reagan was hardly the dunce portrayed by his enemies, who continue to tout the significance of academic acheivements while making excuses for the unwillingness of His Smartness to release his transcripts. And I don't snarl. I purr.

 

[Bob Gray]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

Ronnie never referred to himself as "The One." The far more influential MSM were hardly in bed with Reagan the way they are with His Wonderfulness. The notion that Reagan was an "empty vessel" is the kind of thing that produced erections on the left but was hardly the case. The guy had been a national political figure since '64 and his famous speech for Goldwater. Two terms as governor of California, a candidate for the Republican nominaton and a nationally syndicated commentator for years. Only those reading the latest screed "proving" that Alger Hiss was framed wouldn't have noticed. As we have learned since he left office, Reagan was hardly the dunce portrayed by his enemies, who continue to tout the significance of academic acheivements while making excuses for the unwillingness of His Smartness to release his transcripts. And I don't snarl. I purr.

It is fascinating how they try to make Obama into the Democrat's Reagan, and Obama seems to try to hint at that a bit himself at times.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

For all Pio's snarlings about "The One," there has never been such a cult of adoration in American politics as the Cons' thirty year [infatuation with] Saint Ron.

Who is being quoted here?

this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth. This was the moment -- this was the time -- when we came together to remake this great nation

No "cult of adoration" here at all, eh? oh, and how have those promises worked out so far? oh, I forgot, someone else's fault. Never mind.

 

[geezer]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

You guys have all seen the "Obomney 2012" morphed picture floating around Facebook? It kind of sums up my feelings on this election.

 

[Priceless]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

Yes, Obama is the one people compare to Christ all the time.

Of course, there is only one Jesus Christ.
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=2c7_1173547096&start=14" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Do you suppose they've updated the cardboard cutout and chant at Obama now?

 

[Kepler]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

It is fascinating how they try to make Obama into the Democrat's Reagan, and Obama seems to try to hint at that a bit himself at times.

Hopefully the bar is not that low.

I assume if Obama gets a second term he won't wink, wink, nudge, nudge, guffaw, guffaw his way out of an impeachable offense.

But hey, The Actor was a genius, let's all remember...

 

[bronconick]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...er-law-petitions-not-certified_n_1455184.html

Here in Michigan, we've got a petition to repeal the Emergency Manager law going to the Court of Appeals (also divided between "republicans and democrats" despite being "apolitical" on the ballots) because the Republicans on the state board couldn't agree to certify it because the "Font is too small on one portion."

Needless to say, this is idiotic. And I'm someone that would vote against this petition in November.

 

[Kepler]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

Fairly topical discussion of conservatism.

How a reform that "is not at all out of step with the institutions and ideas of our time", in McCarthy's words, should shock "conservatives" is an interesting insight into the intellectual collapse of the right. Reforming institutions to keep them in step with reality is Burke's definition of conservatism.

The McCarthy link is also worth reading (with a very skeptical eye).

 

[Old Pio]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

Hopefully the bar is not that low.

I assume if Obama gets a second term he won't wink, wink, nudge, nudge, guffaw, guffaw his way out of an impeachable offense.

But hey, The Actor was a genius, let's all remember...

Will somebody please explain to me why actors are good enough to give reach-arounds to any Democrat wanting to occupy the WH, but not good enough to occupy the WH themselves. Especially an actor who had been overwhelmingly elected to two terms as governor of our biggest state, as compared to less than one term as a Senator from our most corrupt state.

 

[Rover]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

Ronnie never referred to himself as "The One." The far more influential MSM were hardly in bed with Reagan the way they are with His Wonderfulness. The notion that Reagan was an "empty vessel" is the kind of thing that produced erections on the left but was hardly the case. The guy had been a national political figure since '64 and his famous speech for Goldwater. Two terms as governor of California, a candidate for the Republican nominaton and a nationally syndicated commentator for years. Only those reading the latest screed "proving" that Alger Hiss was framed wouldn't have noticed. As we have learned since he left office, Reagan was hardly the dunce portrayed by his enemies, who continue to tout the significance of academic acheivements while making excuses for the unwillingness of His Smartness to release his transcripts. And I don't snarl. I purr.

Ronald Reagan didn't know who he was during his last term in office. While that's no fault of his own, I think your need to relive a time 3 decades ago is clouding your judgement a bit. Close your eyes, and repeat over and over again "the 80's are over....the 80's are over....the 80's are over"

 

[Old Pio]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

Ronald Reagan didn't know who he was during his last term in office. While that's no fault of his own, I think your need to relive a time 3 decades ago is clouding your judgement a bit. Close your eyes, and repeat over and over again "the 80's are over....the 80's are over....the 80's are over"

What the. . .?

 

[Kepler]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

I think you broke him.

But he's right in a way... the 80's aren't over.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

"Blue collar Democratic voters, stuck taking depressing 'staycations' because they can't afford gas and hotels, are resentful of the first family's 17 lavish vacations around the world and don't want their tax dollars paying for the Obamas' holidays, according to a new analysis of swing voters," reports the Washington Examiner's Paul Bedard

quoted in WSJ.


also quoted there:

, CBS News reports that "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday had a terse response when asked what should be done if the solicitation of prostitutes is a recurring problem at the Secret Service: 'Hire more females.' "

Maybe we need another thread, "News of the Absurd" or something like that?

 

[Priceless]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

quoted in WSJ.

Here's the original story.
A very interesting question might be: when are these Republican pollsters going to release results of the polls, not just a few comments intended to embarrass the president? Are these people going to vote for Romney? I'm curious.

also quoted there:

CBS News reports that "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday had a terse response when asked what should be done if the solicitation of prostitutes is a recurring problem at the Secret Service: 'Hire more females.' "

Maybe we need another thread, "News of the Absurd" or something like that?

You realize the first person to make that claim was Republican Susan Collins, right?

Not that it makes it any less ridiculous, but it's not just out of touch Harry Reid who thinks that way.

 

[DisplacedCornellian]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

Will somebody please explain to me why actors are good enough to give reach-arounds to any Democrat wanting to occupy the WH, but not good enough to occupy the WH themselves.

Umm... because giving good hand jobs does not qualify you to be president? I mean, come on, even you can see that Surely you've received an old-fashioned in your day. Was that person qualified to be president?

 

[Old Pio]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

Umm... because giving good hand jobs does not qualify you to be president? I mean, come on, even you can see that Surely you've received an old-fashioned in your day. Was that person qualified to be president?

Not while I was grabbing my ankles, like Clinton and His Oneness. You guys are every bit as obsessed as you suggest I am. 30 years later and Democrats (primarily Jimmy Carter and the first Governor Brown) are STILL asking themselves "what the h*ll happened?" They both had publicly expressed their desire to have that "second rate" actor on the ballot. Well, they got him.

Anyone who says "Honey, I forgot to duck" under the circumstances in which he said it, doesn't need any spin doctors to burnish his image. I'm still moved when I think about Tip O'neill in Reagan's hospital room, holding the president's hand, on his knees praying, with tears streaming down his face. Two tough old Irishmen. We could use a little more of that.

 

[Old Pio]

Re: 2012 Elections - Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death....

I think part of it is I've been out of academia so long I have trouble remembering it actually exists.

In any case, the other side has its own brand of dumb condescension:

David Huddleston is one of my all time favorite character actors. Here's a more recent clip. Please don't give in to the temptation to dismiss it as sentimental and mawkish. It's a little long but touches on important values. BTW, it's my understanding both guys in this piece actually earned the medals they display.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyZ9b4My6NU