Thursday, November 4. 2010
 Big lies, small lies, creative and manipulative "narratives," etc. are what much of politics is all about. We know that politics is a more humane substitute for war.
(We also know that, as virtuous souls, Conservatives always hold the high moral ground. Always.)
That aside, I am still puzzled by the shorthand of "Left" and "Right." It makes no real sense, as Wiki explains well.
If today people use those words nowadays to signify collectivism vs. individualism and freedom, why don't we use those words instead?
Jonah Goldberg notably dealt with these issues in his Liberal Fascism.
OK, but what about Adolf Hitler? Left or Right? This via Doug Ross:
"I have learned a great deal from Marxism, as I do not hesitate to admit. The difference between them and myself is that I have really put into practice what these peddlers and penpushers have timidly begun...I had only to develop logically what Social Democracy repeatedly failed in because of its attempt to realize its evolution within the framework of democracy. National Socialism is what Marxism might have been if it could have broken its absurd and artificial ties with the democratic order." -- Hitler to Rauschning, The Voice of Destruction, pg. 186
I found another one, too:
"It is thus necessary that the individual should come to realize that his own ego is of no importance in comparison with the existence of his nation; that the position of the individual ego is conditioned solely by the interests of the nation as a whole ... that above all the unity of a nation's spirit and will are worth far more than the freedom of the spirit and will of an individual. .... This state of mind, which subordinates the interests of the ego to the conservation of the community, is really the first premise for every truly human culture .... we understand only the individual's capacity to make sacrifices for the community, for his fellow man." Adolph Hitler, 1933.
Yes, he was just another messianic Leftist dictator with a zealous faith in governmental benevolence and altruism - at gunpoint. Just one amongst the number of Socialist mass-murderers of the 20th Century. I think Hitler would have argued against being part of any "Right."
Statist, collectivist people should be called that - or just called Socialist. People like me can be termed Constitutional-Conservatives-with-a-broad-Libertarian-streak. I guess it's no wonder people look for a shorthand for that, but "Right" doesn't fit.
So claims Ruffini. It makes sense to me. We're a center-right country, overall (except in my corner of it). A quote:
The act of yelling "realignment" after an election is getting tired and farcical after an unprecedented third wave in a row, so I'll resist doing it here. In the House, there was a tactical realignment, as seats Democrats held for personal reasons now give way to natural conservative Republican-held strongholds we'll hold for a long time. Attitudinally, the pendulum simply swung from the far left to the center. The President will be a Democrat, the Senate will be narrowly Democratic, and the House Republican, and the overall result will be all sides canceling each other out, e.g. centrism.
While not conservative per se, it is in one important sense: very little will get done. And that's a good thing.
Yep. The less they do to us, the better.
This one of my Sugar Maples is always bright orange in the autumn. Most of my others are always yellow, and some are in between. It's a mystery.
A spanking is what was administered to the Dems on Tuesday, minus (or not) the fun sado-masochistic eroticism. (Don't ever try to tell me that you've never had kinky thoughts.) Pic is from Vintage Spanking.
Still strange in CT - who won?
First they came for my Happy Meals...
"Soft tyranny"
TNR: The Gates Foundation's Delusional Techno-Messianism
GOP sweeps FL, wins Maine (!) governorship
Wins keep coming in
Harsanyi:
No matter what happens, for now, we can look forward to two glorious years of hyper-partisan acrimonious gridlock: Washington's most moral and productive state.
Gridlock is good.
Wherein Ace gets a taste of Politics 101
Opinion: Why Are Voters Only 'Angry' When They're Tossing Dems Out?
Well, who says it?
SDA: Bits you might have missed
Including Alabama
North Carolina: The strangest beast in all of politics
NRO: New York Wrap
As hopeless as CA
How did Harry Reid do it?
He won ugly.
Podhoretz: No time to celebrate- GOP remarkably sober at win
Us, too.
VDH on the O's press conf:
Obama was elected largely because of public furor over Bush/Iraq. The fawning media hid his socialist background. He ran as a centrist. The Wall Street meltdown wiped away the small McCain/Palin lead. Obama in his hubris took that flukish set of events and reinvented them into proof that he could deliver to the left a once-in-a-century EU-style socialist makeover of America. That effort polarized the country, stalled the recovery, and terrified the private sector into stasis. Obama, who was always himself given something (take your pick—Harvard admission, Harvard Law Review billet, Chicago Law School tenure offer, Noble Peace Prize, etc.) without requisite achievement, is thus stunned that the economy is not an animate Law dean whom he can hope and change into compliance. So naturally he is angry and has turned to almost everything in the past that worked: the race card, the get-out-the-minority vote card, the enemy Republican bad actors, the greedy rich takers, etc.. But now none of the old “them” bogeymen work; the more that tactic is tried, the more the economy stalls and the people get angry. It’s that simple. He can talk all he wishes, but until he offers fiscal responsibility, private sector encouragement, reassurance of adhering to singular American capitalism, and pro-jobs tax policies, he will continue more of these Orwellian, thinking-out-loud press conferences.
Wednesday, November 3. 2010
I love this stuff, testing your boat-handling skills against serious seas. I always loved to take my 23' cuddy cabin Sea Ox out after storms and hurricanes, for practice. The big following seas are the ones that frighten me. (h/t, Theo):
Image above stolen from Surber
Fred Barnes: The Republican Landslide
Wehner: Obama after the fall
Strange.
China's Christians: China could not silence 200 empty chairs in Capetown
Summary of governor's races.
CT's Tom Foley lost, by a Bridgeport.
Some Liberals Still Head Over Heels In Love With Obama
Being in love with a politician is a perversion.
Krauthammer: 'Obama Agenda is Dead,' 'He Tried a 2-Year Experiment in Hyper-Liberalism and the Country Has said No'. (Here's the good video)
Powerline: The trouble with California
Hopeless.
More attacks in Bagdad: Sunni vs. Shiite
Yes, they are mad about Gitmo and American Imperialism. Gotta bomb somebody, for Pete's sake, or your life will have no meaning.
Michelle: Moonbeam wins weirdest victory speech award
Sure sounds stoned. California is in good hands.
The Wrong Sort of Scepticism is a Crime against Humanity Says Penn State Prof
Sheesh. I'm a criminal against humanity. Shame on me.
Here. It affects the Congressional race and the Governor's race.
It's lawyer time.
My two cents are to echo Marco Rubio:
"We make a great mistake if we believe that tonight these results are somehow an embrace of the Republican Party," said incoming Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. A rising GOP star, Rubio seized his new role as a party leader and potential presidential candidate, casting the results as "a second chance for Republicans to be what they said they were going to be not so long ago."
Similar from Jay Cost:
This is not an endorsement of the Republican party, but much more of a rejection of the Democratic party, specifically the claims the Democrats have made since 1996 to be broad in its appeal and moderate in its policies.
Democrats built a congressional majority in 2006 and 2008 by persuading Bush voters to cross the aisle to support them, with an implicit promise of bipartisanship and moderation. The party under Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi did not deliver on that promise -- and thus they lost the support of these Republican-leaning districts.
Related, how does somebody please all the independent voters?
... for all the decisiveness of the independents' shift, this election hasn't resolved the most fundamental question facing the country: What should the role of government be in the 21st century?
Instead it has simply set up what figures to be a two-year debate over that question in Washington, and ensures that it will be a focal point of the 2012 election.
Thanks to independents—along with other crucial swing blocs, such as suburban women, blue-collar workers and retirees, all of whom also shifted toward the Republicans—the GOP now has the strength to stop pieces of the Obama agenda and, perhaps in some instances, roll it back.
Iraq and Afghanistan played little roles in the 2010 elections. However, President Obama will likely pay a price in 2012 for the withdrawal of US armed forces from Iraq. The Iraqis are already paying the price. The AP's Robert Burns reports:
The Obama administration could be overstating what U.S. diplomats can do to contain Iraq's ethnic and sectarian tensions without U.S. military forces, a State Department audit concluded Tuesday, raising fresh concerns about the planned pullout of American troops next year.
The auditors also questioned whether American diplomats who remain behind will be adequately protected against insurgent violence, and their report faulted Washington for its planning of the transition from a U.S. military-led mission in Iraq to one run by American civilians in 2011.
The audit's findings echo worries expressed by some U.S. defense analysts and former diplomats. They say hard-won security gains in Iraq could crumble if U.S. forces leave on schedule….
The report said the first six months of 2012 are likely to be "especially dangerous as extremists test U.S. resolve and Iraqi security forces' capabilities." It questioned whether the U.S. can meet President Barack Obama's goal of ensuring a safe work environment for remaining U.S. personnel in Iraq in 2012. "Security risks are expected to increase," the report said.
Brown over Whitman for governor and Boxer over Fiorina for US senator clearly mark the Democrat registration edge in California. To be charitable, it also marks the difficulty of a statewide Republican holding the base while appealing to other less conservative voters. To be less charitable, Whitman and Fiorina failed to connect emotionally with enough California voters, most often mouthing lackluster clichés that didn’t echo while allowing their opponents to paint them as self-serving corporate plutocrats. Also, the legacy of disappointment left by the Quibbleator governor weighed upon many voters trust of more promises from Republicans Whitman and Fiorina.
Continue reading "California Chooses No New Democrat Taxes"
Ohio returned to its Republican roots yesterday. It's the Heartland.
That's a decent excuse to post one more of my Ohio pics from 2 weeks ago - the new Paul Newman Field House at Kenyon College. Fantastic for such a tiny college. Kenyon is strong in swimming.
The story is that alumnus Newman offered Kenyon a blank check for new theater and auditorium facilities. Kenyon said "Thanks - but we're good with the old stuff we have." So Newman asked "Well, then what can I do?"
 Pic is Kristi Noem, gun-totin' Conservative who happily won in South Dakota.
Many races I feel good about (like Allen West and Dan webster in FL, Toomey in PA, etc), many I feel badly about (like Debicella losing in CT with a 50-50 result, and Sean Bielat's spanking by the horrible Barney). Angle was a lousy candidate, and it will be good fun to have Dingy Harry to kick around again. Summary of votes at RCP.
I enjoyed this from Gateway:
Racist, sexist teabaggers have elected Marco Rubio, Susanna Martinez, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Bill Flores, Allen West, and...
Still, Eugene Robinson says it's about race and Obama.
Pitiful.
From Chantrill:
In the end, of course, it doesn't matter whether President Obama is a socialist, a crypto-socialist or a liberal. From the point of view of the ordinary American it's a distinction without a difference. Faced with a problem, President Obama will always opt for a solution that makes government bigger and Americans smaller.
Unfortunately for the president and his grand plan to transform America, the majority of the American people believe that the solution to our problems is to make the American people bigger and the government smaller.
Former President Bill Clinton - who presided over his own first-term electoral catastrophe in 1994 and is thus something of an expert on Republican landslide wins - denied this election is a referendum on the Obama agenda. "It. Is. A. Choice," he said. "A choice between two different sets of ideas." Well, obviously it's a choice; the people are simply choosing to reject the Democrats' ideas. Mr. Obama quipped, "The big difference here and in '94 was you've got me" - a point on which all sides can agree.
More misc. links later if I can find time to clean up my tabs...
 My greatest disappointment was Barney Frank's easy defeat of Sean Bielat. I don't get it. I do notice, however, that the Maine legislature has flipped to Repub. That is remarkable.
Otherwise, this important warning at Pajamas - What Republicans Need to Do Now, subtitled If Republicans avoid over-estimating what this victory means and focus on the business of the American people, the gains of 2010 can be the beginning of a conservative resurgence:
Victorious Republicans should enjoy their election victory, but they should also understand it does not mean that the American people have bought wholesale into conservative political philosophy, as is so tempting to believe after a big election.
Tuesday, November 2. 2010
We will not be live-blogging, drunk-blogging, stoned-blogging, pajamas-blogging, nude-blogging, or otherwise reporting or commenting on election returns tonight.
Furthermore, we promise to post no profound statements about "what this election really means."
 Having some friends over late tonight for a couple of hours to watch the election returns.
We'll have a jolly time, regardless of the results. Richard Baehr advises me not expect too much.
All I want is a "restraining order," for now.
Mississippi floods are what maintain the delta. New Orleans itself is threatened by manmade river engireering - levees and canals.
It's the old Law of Unintended Consequences.
From Buddy -
ANY WONDER WHY CALIF. IS GOING BROKE?
California Academic Performance Index (API) California Access for Infants and Mothers California Acupuncture Board California Administrative Office of the Courts California Adoptions Branch California African American Museum California Agricultural Export Program California Agricultural Labor Relations Board California Agricultural Statistics Service California Air Resources Board (CARB) California Allocation Board California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority California Animal Health and Food Safety Services California Anti-Terrorism Information Center California Apprenticeship Council California Arbitration Certification Program California Architects Board California Area VI Developmental Disabilities Board California Arts Council California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus California Assembly Democratic Caucus California Assembly Republican Caucus California Athletic Commission * California Attorney General
Those are just the As. The rest are below the fold.
Continue reading "California state agencies"
With special reference to Dick Blumenthal, at Am Thinker
 I just voted. I enjoyed it.
This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land
Related: This Is America, Stupid! And it's not just the economy. It's the disrespect for the wishes of the electorate, who pay for everything.
The elite without a country
Sharpton: Blacks Unemployed Because Of Racist Republicans
Al should write for The Onion
Chavez Says Venezuela's Golf Courses Should Be Seized, Put to Other Uses
Chavez should write for The Onion, too.
Tina Brown beclowns herself
She could write for The Onion too.
Was stimulus Barack Obama's 'original sin'?
Slaughter at Baghdad Church- 52 Murdered Including 3 Priests During Al-Qaeda Siege , and Churches Set Ablaze
in Russia's Muslim Caucasus
These perps obviously need better jobs, social workers, teachers with better pensions, and more understanding. Or are they just still mad about Gitmo?
MAINE FAMILY ROBINSON’S Top Ten The Hell With It, I’m Outta Here Movies
Somewhat related: The houseboat on the Pawcatuck River
The ‘big dog’ in campaign spending. Unions.
Who's Afraid of Marco Rubio?
Marco looks like a star. They always go after the potential stars, drive up their negatives or break their legs.
Americans are about to give Obama a bloody nose. Why? He just doesn't share their core values
Young Voters Say They Feel Abandoned.
Pathetic.
Monday, November 1. 2010
This is what it's all about, from the admirable Rasmussen in the WSJ: A Vote Against Dems, Not for the GOP.
Voters don't want to be governed from the left, right or center. They want Washington to recognize that Americans want to govern themselves.
A quote from the article:
Central to the Democrats' electoral woes was the debate on health-care reform. From the moment in May 2009 when the Congressional Budget Office announced that the president's plan would cost a trillion dollars, most voters opposed it. Today 53% want to repeal it. Opposition was always more intense than support, and opposition was especially high among senior citizens, who vote in high numbers in midterm elections.
Repubs need to read the message carefully. Voters are rightly on guard and suspicious these days.
My chimney sweep was here at noon (to check my flue after my fire on Friday). As he was scoping out my chimney and sending his brushes and vision device up there like a colonoscopy, he commented "I hope we send a clear message to Washington tomorrow."
He is retired career USMC. He still lifts and runs every day, and it is obvious. Oorah. His son is a SEAL.
(He has a very good business going - at $150 per chimney, he was booked up solid from August through December, and does a second round in Feb. for heavy users. His preferred customers have multiple chimneys. Like a dentist, he sends out reminder postcards to his people each July to make appointments. He has a deer- and turkey-hunting cabin on 200 acres up in West Nowhere, NY, has a modest life and doesn't really need the money, so he uses his income to bring his entire family, including grandkids, on one-month European trips every June. He rents a big house with a cook and housekeeper in a different place each year, flies the the folks over and back whenever they can get free to come, and rents cars for them. Last year, he did Scotland. In past years he has done a Greek island, Tuscany, the Czech Rep., Sweden. This June he plans on Sicily, which I told him I felt was an excellent choice).
I said to this hearty, red-blooded American: "I think we will send a message, but who will be listening?"
Get your chimneys cleaned, Maggie's Farmers. We cannot afford to lose any readers in house fires.
More at Theo -
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