Obama’s Playbook: Why He Keeps Saying Dumb Things
Prominent commentators have opined that Obama made an unforced error by wading into the Ground Zero mosque controversy. He upped the ante by putting forth a strawman about property rights and religious freedom, which are opposed by no one he’s lecturing. He dug himself a deeper hole when he tried to claim the next day he wasn’t expressing any view about the “wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there.”
His comments have made many on the right wonder why, after weeks of “No comment,” he would plunge in at all when no matter what he said he would alienate many. They’re even more puzzled why he would triple down and say he had no regrets over his comments. The answer is simple: he can’t help himself.
In part, his overweening vanity plays a role, of course. Long told by adoring sycophants that he’s the smartest man in any room, he feels compelled to weigh in and lecture mere mortals on morals. And, in no small part, his job drives him to make some comment on important issues of the day. The presidency has a large, inherent ceremonial aspect. But it goes deeper than that. His philosophy drives him to it.
His insistence that he is “no ideologue” is only a half-truth. In one sense, he’s right. As a pragmatist, he has no enduring principles. Like every pragmatist, “whatever works” is his motto. Still, it’s no accident that the foremost developer of pragmatism, John Dewey, was also a prominent pusher of progressivism. The two are close partners and always have been.
The key to everything Obama does is that he truly is a committed, 99-44/100ths pure progressive. That fact explains not only the content of his views but why he keeps stumbling over one controversy after the next. As Jonah Goldberg expressed it in Liberal Fascism, progressivism is “a totalitarian political religion,” and Barack Obama is one of its most faithful acolytes. He’s simply acting in accordance with his personal theology.
Unlike even semi-rational philosophies, progressivism is built on sheer fantasy. Other doctrines may make errors, some of them very serious, but most are built on at least some foundation of real-world evidence and logical analysis. Progressivism is one of the few that is actually anti-evidence and anti-logic.
That assertion is not a wild-eyed interpretation by a crazed right-winger. It’s the official view of progressive intellectuals themselves. Merging with its offshoot of postmodernism, progressivism holds that people are unable to grasp evidence first-hand or to be objective about its interpretation.
Postmodern philosophers from Hegel to Dewey to Heidegger, Herbert Marcuse, and Richard Rorty have said so. Their students and followers are just applying what they’ve been taught. Those individuals are the ones who shaped Obama, nurtured his education and careers, and helped get him elected.
But we needn’t rely on obscure philosophers or their abstruse writings for proof. Just read the comments of the majority of hard-core left-wingers. No matter what evidence is presented, no matter how things turn out when their wishes are followed, they continue to cling to their core beliefs and offer again the same ruinous recommendations.
What evidence, what recommendations, for example?
During the late 19th century J.J. Hill created the Great Northern Railway running from St. Paul to Seattle — and played a major role in developing the towns along its route — with no government subsidies. He stayed in business through very tough times and made a profit for himself, his investors, and millions of those who populated those towns.
By contrast, the political manipulators of the day got enormous subsidies and special privileges from Congress, justified on the basis of “moving the Nation forward into the future.” Their lines were poorly built and repeatedly went bankrupt.
In the early to mid-20th century, Herbert Hoover and FDR implemented progressive-inspired legislation that aimed left and more left, justified on the basis of “helping the Nation recover.” The result was the longest, deepest Depression in American history. By contrast, in response to the sharp, deflationary recession of the early 1920s, Warren Harding and Congress (ignoring Commerce Secretary Hoover’s advice) took almost no action, apart from cutting the federal budget in half. As a result, that severe contraction is barely remembered today because it was so short.
Later, progressive ideas gave birth to the Great Society legislation in the mid-60s, justified on the basis of “helping those most in need.” Among its other legacies, the U.S. is now saddled with a politically armor-plated $468 billion dollar public health care system — Medicare — that’s a major driver of our current economic woes and future anxiety. (Medicaid and CHIP account for an additional $285 billion.)
None of this — and examples could be multiplied manyfold — fazes progressives in the least. It doesn’t cause them to question the truth of their views. It doesn’t move them even to consider alternatives that might better explain the world around them or lead to better outcomes. They don’t, because their philosophy isn’t built on logical analyses of observable evidence; it’s built on a moral falsehood and an arbitrary moral imperative.
Progressivism, boiled down and applied to society, amounts to this: “There exists a large-scale social problem — a national need for growth, widespread poverty, many who lack medical care. When some people suffer, others have a collective moral obligation to help, no matter how those people got where they are. The government is the only one who can do something about large-scale suffering, and it has a duty to act.”
No evidence to the contrary, no moral argument about the values of thrift, prudence, and self-reliance, no legal discussion about constitutional limits, no contrary economic history or theory sways them in the least. Witness Paul Krugman’s columns. Or Eugene Robinson’s, or Ezra Klein’s, or dozens more. This is not reasonable disagreement around the edges. This, in more honest circles, is what’s known as devotion to dogma.
Barack Obama swallowed that dogma decades ago. It’s all he knows, all he lets himself know. So it should be no surprise that whenever there’s any big public issue Obama takes the progressive position. And, since progressivism is, at bottom, an alien philosophy opposed to all the core American values, it’s also no surprise that he winds up making trouble for himself so often.
Obama has to keep saying dumb things. The progressive playbook is the only one he reads.
(Cartoon by Michael Ramirez of Investor’s Business Daily.)
Exactly. And there can be no rational debate with progressives because of it. The denial of reality renders progressivism a psychological disorder.
“We must all put our shoulders to the wheel to push the American ship of state up the middle of the road”
~Barokeydoke Hubris Obozo~
I am sure too that many many Muslims must be cursing Brother Barry because his illadvised pronouncement on the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ has propelled Islam in to the spotlights glare and into the minds of many many Americans and others around the world who conveniently try to ignore it or to pretend that its benign and peaceful.
What effect will this have well consider that Muslims Worldwide pray in ancient ambiguous Arabic (seems that is the only language this paramount being Allah understands) and so most Muslims rely on the Imam to tell them what is happening in Islam and we all know how truthful Imams are ( are you listening Imam Rauf). In Islam asking QUESTIONS is strongly discouraged you might after all not like the answers. So Islam will not like the light being shone on it exposing it for the illogical, contradictory , violent, antisemitic, misogynistic, Arab supremacist CULT that it really is.
Why Obama keeps saying “dumb things?” Surely it’s not all that hard a question. He’s not terribly bright. Without a teleprompter, he can’t remember the elaborate, amphigorical rationalizations for his anti-freedom, anti-capitalism, anti-American policies.
“Evil is essentially stupid,” Robert A. Heinlein tells us in his novella Gulf. And Obama and those behind him are evil men.
“Evil is essentially stupid.” Great quote. I concur that these men — Obama and his people behind him are just that — Evil.
Great article, makes you wonder why the current president wasn’t revealed to be a pinko in the first place during the campaign (GOP bloodhounds sniffed Kerry out effectively in ’04)
Because Juan McCain was afraid to be called a RAAAACIST for disagreeing with the evil Obama and the evil men and women behind him. McCain was and is a wimp, who just wants to get along with evil Democrats, instead of standing up with the American people and fighting them. He’s too scceeered.
Mom in Wisconsin
I have a terrible memory except for things that strike me as extraordinary. Such was the case when John McCain said, at one of his 2008 Presidential campaign rallies and I’m paraphrasing here, “we have nothing to fear from Obama.” At the time it struck me as something extraordinarily stupid to say about a political opponent in the middle of a campaign and reinforced my opinion that the so called leadership of the Republican Party were, and still are in my view, a bunch of wimps.
It’s called “being black”. No one was willing to expose Obama as a pinko, because they didn’t want to be labeled a racist. Obama’s handlers, e.g., Soros, the Saudis et al, knew this when they chose Obama for their Trojan Horse. They knew the surest way to overrun America was to put a black man out front to do it. They knew America’s achilles heel was the threat of being seen as politically incorrect and racist. They studied what exactly would cause Americans to remain silent and look the other way as their country is being destroyed, and they correctly chose race as the overriding factor. So they found a non-black-looking black man to groom for the job. It’s working out marvelously, wouldn’t you say??
Many of us, college-educated, and especially those who came of age in the late ’60s, harbored similar ideas of “equality and fairness”. Then we grew up.
There are many who didn’t grow up as well. And the danger is, they are not only still harboring those ideas, they’re trying to implement them.
Equality and fairness of “Opportunity” are laudable, moral and constitutional goals that all of us, regardless of political affiliation, ought to be in favor of.
Progressives and liberals want equality and fairness of outcomes, which of course are not possible. Neither are they laudable, moral or constitutionally based.
We all bring different strengths to the game and it is incumbent upon each one of us to understand those strengths and carve out the life possible given those strengths.
Only in a free market economy with a government that promotes individual responsibility and liberty, can the vast majority of people achieve happy, meaningful lives not mired in poverty and destruction.
Sadly, there will always be those fringe cases where for whatever reason, individuals utterly fail to take advantage of the gifts such an economic/government system provides. What to do with these people is a separate issue from how the country as a whole should be structured and managed.
Progressives and liberals base their entire philosophy on addressing these fringe cases, assuming that those of us who worked hard and made something of ourselves did so at the expense of the so called “disadvantaged” among us. This is of course a silly argument not backed up by any objective review of the facts.
Unfortunately, this idea that poor people are poor only because other people are rich and that it is government’s job to redistribute the wealth generated by those who work hard to those who made and continue to make bad choices, is in fact an evil idea!
Assume that 70K/year is where the upper 33% tax bracket resides and income below 70K/year is taxed at just 20%.
Most progressives and liberals would agree that if Joe six pack who works 40 hour weeks at the auto plant to pull down his 75K annual income, chooses to buy food for his family, a car or a flat screen tv, it would be immoral for anyone to come take these things from him. These goods are just another form of the money Joe earns, which he voluntarily, without coercion, chose to spend on these items. The Progressives and liberals believe that Joe has been LUCKY and that he is only successful because some other human being is by definition POOR. They include Joe in the highest tax bracket and confiscate more money from him on a percentage basis than 70% plus of the rest of the population. I ask you, how is taking Joe’s money before he spends it any different than stealing his food, car or flat screen tv. Why should Joe pay 33% on income over 70K when Ron only pays 20% on his annual income of $69.9K? Presumably to provide Ron with goods and services he can’t afford that Joe can afford due to his higher income.
There are no rational economic, constitutional or moral arguments in favor of treating Joe differently than Ron on any level, including the tax rate he pays.
Yet history is littered with this kind of backwards, morally corrupt thinking that drove many economic/government systems to a progressive/socialist structure, all in the name of helping Ron, or the mythical poor person that success for one person breeds in another. These systems have all failed or are in the process of failing, see Europe in general and Greece in particular for the most recent examples. Yet we are rushing headlong down the same failed pathway.
Yes, many Americans are waking up to these facts and the reality that Obama is a committed progressive who, as Jeff points out in his article, is slavishly dogmatic in his belief in the progressive model and more importantly his belief that a free market and personal liberty are not just overrated, but actively dangerous.
I pray that enough of us have woken up and that we send these progressives on their merry way come November. Least you think I am a Republican hack, I include at least half of the currently elected Republicans in the House and Senate in the collection of life long politicians who must go.
Frankly, I take issue with the term”progressive”. Is that the pc term for Far Left Liberal, or Marxist? If it is, say so. And I agree with comment # 2. Obama is not particularly bright. If you listen to him when he is without a teleprompter, he sounds more like a middle school kid caught unprepared.
I take issue with the word “progressive” because they’re the most anti-progress people I’ve ever met.
Precisely, there is nothing progressive about progressivism. All their philosophies lead back to the way humanity has existed for countless millennia; nasty, brutish, and short. The real progressives were the Founding Fathers and their classical liberal philosophy which lead to sudden and continual growth of world GDP, intellectual prosperity, and average life spans. Classical liberalism empowers people to be the captain of their own ship, the plotter of their own destiny, and the decider of what path best benefits them in their situation. This drives a small group of busy bodies up the wall because it defies their immature notion that they know better than everybody else. The progressives think they have got it all figured out. If everyone would just fall into lock step and do as they are told then why, we could stamp out poverty, heal all the sick, abolish greed/profit/wealth, and eliminate all those that no longer contribute to the greater good. You see, they have a precise plan, and you must obey for the good of the collective.
Think about it… Taking away the secret ballot (card check) is called the “Free Choice Act”, Obamacare is called the “Affordable Health Care” act, or whatever… Everything progressives come up with has a really noble sounding name that ought not be questioned. Using the term “progressive” makes sense to them and was one of their first ideas.
When all you have is a hammer (government), then everything looks like a nail (government solution).
BHO is a simpleton of no-depth, and has a singular answer that comes in many flavors: a bailout, a program, a bureaucrat, a law, a system, a process, an executive order–for everything. There is no problem, no matter how large, nor small–be it social “inequality” or “climate change”….for when you are a messiah, then you act through your many miracle producing divinations and machinations and those are through the tentacles of government.
I agree with the comment about “fantasy”. Seems BO actually has no clue how the world works. And we are stuck with the staggeringly large bill for fantasy fixes that right from the get-go had no chance of working. They only make things worse. Galling that our country chose him.
I have wondered how Barack Obama even got the Democratic nomination for the presidency, not to speak of being elected President of the United States. He had no experience, his close associates were stinkers – the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, terrorist-communist Bill Ayers – his administration of the Annenberg Fund was lousy, and so on.
The GOP campaign was led by John McCain, an honest and brave man, but one who led a very weak campaign. His refusal to raise money, because he thinks it is immoral to spend money for political campaigns, doomed his campaign. I know because I worked in it. He did not even have headquarters in Washington, D.C.! (When I campaigned for Adlai Stevenson in 1956, the headquarters were an entire floor in an office building in Washington.) McCain’s headquarters in Montgomery County, Maryland, was a small apartment with two workers; we had to make phone calls from a lawyer’s office, who was able to let us use it on weekends.
He was elected because he ran against George Bush. Unfortunately John McCain bearly figured into the electorial equasion. There was nothing JMcC could do or say or spend change that. Really one does have to blame Bush… his narrow wedge-issue-driven election wins and major policy missteps (including keeping the housing bubble pumped up) yielded the Obama win.
actually Bawny Fwank and Cwiss Dodd short-circuited any and every attempt to deflate the housing bubble. and ther were a couple. get your facts straight next time.
Sorry dude, everybody – especially the Bush administration – was on that real estate gravy train. Frank and Dodd sure pushed it where it never, ever should have been; but you cannot make a case that the Bush administration couldn’t have stepped up fraud enforcement (e.g., the “liars mortgage”), used the SEC and FDIC to tone down the market, and dozens of other possible actions (all aside from Bush’s continual pushing on the Fed to keep easy money conditions). We were all swept up in the real estate bubble – and no one dared be the one to be blamed for popping it; the more introspection we have the more likely we can make better policy in the future.
But still, the root cause was the Frank-Dodd “a house for everyone” philosophy. Banks were threatened with prosecution for red-lining but they are way smarter than government bureaucrats and were not about to risk their own money just because the government demanded that they make stupid loans. So they figured out ways to lay the risk on others and found that they could make a ton of money doing it. Without the government – this doesn’t happen.
How was Bush on that gravy train? Bush and others warned of dire, if undefined consequences that would result if Fannie and Freddie weren’t reined in but Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, to name a few, all poo pooed the idea and proclaimed their absolute confidence that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were in sound fiscal shape. Then the bubble burst and, right on cue, Bush took the heat and is still taking it nineteen months into BHO’s presidency.
You don’t have any problem with that?
I’m no ardent fan of George Bush but the Democrats and their sycophants in Hollywood and the media do their best to besmirch this guy in every possible way, from early in the 2000 campaign right through his eight years in office and the tar, most of it undeserved, sticks to this day. Bush could do nothing right and cute little catch phrases abound, “Bush lied people died,” about sums up the bitter flavor. On the other hand, BHO can do nothing wrong; he’s struggling to get us out of the gigantic financial sink hole that is the Bush legacy and there are apparently a lot of fools out there who fell for this ridiculous premise and now cannot admit, even to themselves, that they have been and are still being duped.
All of President Obama’s weaknesses; his lack of experiences and his questionable associates, as well as numerous other “mistakes” made before and during his campaign were obligingly covered up by the mainstream media. If not for the media softballing Obama and playing Seek-and-Destroy with his competitors; Hillary Clinton and then John McCain, Obama never would have gotten elected.
And if they were covering him properly since he took office, showing all of his mistakes for what they truly are, his ratings would be even lower than the 43 percent he has now. Make no mistake, the media is taking an active hand in covering for President Obama.
President Obama was elevated to the Office of the President due to his narcissism, ambition, & lust for political power; however, he got through the channels largely with the help of Valerie Jarrett, a scum-sucking Chicago crony who elevated Obama to the position with the help of the MSM. Ironically, Barack Obama met Valerie Jarrett through his wife, Michelle Obama & have a long association through her. Michelle Obama was the catalyst. Read about it in Michelle Malkin’s Culture of Corruption book.
PAthena: In answer to your question: How did Obama get elected? How about putting the blame exactly where it should be: the MSM. They did NOT vet this guy. There were SO MANY ISSUES during the campaign that they chose to IGNORE and NOT INVESTIGATE. Think Wright, Rezko, Ayers. . . the list is exhaustive. ALL of these issues and more WERE investigated by Hannity, Rush, Levin, etc. but with the screaming of the MSM and the democratic sychophants, who could be heard?
I knew from the beginning what a creep this guy is. He denigrates and opposes everything that I hold dear which is AMERICA.
Obama will DEFINITELY go down in history as the WORST president that America ever elected. At the very least, Americans are starting to wake up to that fact.
Excellent commentary. But which brings us full circle: Since progressivism is almost cult-like or a pathology, mere elections will not cause them to cease and desist. They will never stop trying to destroy America. The author said it himself: “…is what’s known as devotion to dogma.”
Progressivism is anathema to American values, traditions, government and economy. What then is the answer to taking America back?
Porretto quotes, ““Evil is essentially stupid,” Robert A. Heinlein tells us in his novella Gulf.”
What this quote does is anthropomorphize “evil.” What makes more sense is, “Stupid is essentially evil.” Stupid is a universal human condition that permeates all our actions. There is no science without the ability to prove a statement false. As well, there is no human progress without the ability to keep the baby and throw out the bathwater. People must be able to reconsider their actions in light of their consequences quite regularly to determine if they are useful, moral, pleasant, etc. and to change them if necessary. Any rigidity makes change less likely. It is the illusion that we can predict the future that is one of humanity’s great stupidities. There are a series of steps that each person and each society must make before jumping into any pool. Look to make sure there is water in the pool, put your toe in to make sure you can tolerate the water temperature and jump in first before you expose your children to it.
Evil is essentially stupid because evil is inherently self-destructive. Sure, it’ll give you a thrill for a time, but you’ll soon reap the whirlwind.
=”liberal groups such as the ACLU, MoveOn.Org, SEIU, CREDO and ACORN.”
I think these are LEFTIST REVOLUTIONARIES whose purpose is to transform America into a COMMUNIST nation
it is time to call them for what they are
He upped the ante by putting forth a strawman about property rights and religious freedom, which are opposed by no one he’s lecturing.
Who is funding the Victory Mosque? Does the Constitution guarantee the right of Saudis to build monuments in America which insult the families of their victims.
“Does the Constitution guarantee the right of Saudis to build monuments in America which insult the families of their victims.”?
Probably not. But keep in mind that obozo went public long before the election about his dissatisfaction with the Constitution of the United States of America. He specifically stated his frustration with the fact that it prevented far more actions on the part of the government than it permitted. I would guess he’s frustrated that the Monumental Mosques can’t be commissioned and paid for by the government. (There’s another giant mosque going up in Tennessee.)
Great article. I have been trying to put my finger on just what is wrong with the President for months and I think this article goes a long way toward nailing it down. It isn’t any surprise that a twice abandoned child, who is raised by communists and decended on both sides of his family from marxists is going to be a closet marxist, the question is what is this modern sibolith called “progressive” and how close is that to direct allegance to our communist and fascist enemies abroad. Obama in a symbolic way has shown himself to be the long lost 20th highjacker, now finishing off the county the first 19 tried to crush. I suggest we as a Constitutional Republic proceed with that symbolic awareness if not it’s literal reality.
I have always contended that Christians should be ashamed of themselves in the face of liberals, and BHO proves my point.
Jesus admonished Christians to exhibit the ‘Faith of a Mustard Seed.’
Yet it is genuinly dificult to find Christians in todays society exhibiting such a level of faith. Many remain silent on issues fearing the reprocussions of socitey.
Not so Liberals.
In all things they demonstrate the “Faith of an Avocado Pit.” Proudly and Loudly.
In fact, they are so forthcoming they are often shocked when they find that you actually don’t agree with them.
It is truly shameful.
This guy may be intelligent as a lot of his supporters claim, but he seems to be afflicted with a very common academic flaw, stupidity.
Obama’s problem is his inexperience. He has no military or command experience. Has never ran anything. His only experience is the academia and leftist ideas. He is running on likeability for his dark skin and his youth nothing else!
“No matter what evidence is presented, no matter how things turn out when their wishes are followed, they continue to cling to their core beliefs and offer again the same ruinous recommendations.”
You know, I wish the obvious things were given more credence. But truth really doesn’t matter much anymore. For example, I offer you this . . .
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/23/stewart-fox-prince-alwaleed_n_692234.html
So tell me, with that evidence presented, who can reconcile the clinging notion that Fox is fair and balanced? Who can say that the spin stops at Fox and that they’re “looking out for you?” Anyone?
And yet you continue to follow blindly the manifest hypocrisy and manipulation of the Murdoch machine.
Betty,
*sigh* typical progressive neo-communist unable to hide your stereotyping and racism. Muslim automatically = terrorist.
hmm, not a terrorist here. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/18/saudi-prince-alwaleed-bin_1_n_426891.html
or here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Waleed_bin_Talal
And both of those sites are neo-communist like you.
Sorry, not in the market for red herrings today, Betty. Go peddle those old fish at HuffPo.
Excellent article.
There is an additional consequence to the progressive mentality that is not really covered in this article. Because a progressive is rooted in the abstract reality of government as a panacea, progressives naturally do not recognize any other philosphy/religion/political doctrine.
A progressive sees a man, and measures him as a tool for their use. Whether that man is black/white/Buddhist/Communist/Fascist/Capitalist doesn’t matter.When discussing a true progressive remember that.
Also remember that progressives use conflict to further their agenda. Nothing makes things easier for a progressive than people who willingly group themselves together under a common banner.
Man=Tool
Racism=Tool
Commonality=Tool
Religion=Tool
With those four things alone a progressive can do whatever he wants in our country by “changing his spots” to align those people under him. A progressive who lives for progressive goals is, biblically speaking, the serpent who tempts Eve in the Garden of Eden. All he/she needs to do is convince everyone that they “share their pain” and “common interest”. After that, the serpent may say whatever evil it wishes, so long as it does not overtly show hostility to its “friends”.
Unfortunately, I know of no preventive measure against progressives. The only means I know of in dealing with them is to confront them with stark reality and give them no quarter. Do not consider what they are telling you. Do not listen to their poisons.
With any luck that progressive who is begging you to be compassionate “for your fellow man” will eventually snap back to reality and stop with his illogical assumptions and ideology.
I hope this will help others begin to understand what kind of threat a progressive truly is.
-Zamir
I think many conservatives are confused about Obama. His is not unintelligent but he does unintelligent things. There are two mutually supporting tendencies for this. First, he isn’t well educated in the classic sense of the word. For better or worse early to mid baby boomers were our last truly educated group. Intelligence unsupported by an education leads to arrogance. Second, his fatherless background coupled with his hippyish mother and his African genetic heritage has made him a prisoner of his artificially constructed narrative. No matter what he observes or how much he wants to change he always returns to the narrative like junkie returns to drugs.
I have said from the early days of his Presidency that he is a classic neo-con in waiting but unless he can finally break free from his narrative he will continue to blunder along from embarrassment to embarrassment until some disaster befalls him or the country.
NOTE: If this is a duplicate, I apologize. PJM is not displaying my previous posting so here I am trying it again.
Excellent article.
There is an additional consequence to the progressive mentality that is not really covered in this article. Because a progressive is rooted in the abstract reality of government as a panacea, progressives naturally do not recognize any other philosphy/religion/political doctrine.
A progressive sees a man, and measures him as a tool for their use. Whether that man is black/white/Buddhist/Communist/Fascist/Capitalist doesn’t matter.When discussing a true progressive remember that.
Also remember that progressives use conflict to further their agenda. Nothing makes things easier for a progressive than people who willingly group themselves together under a common banner.
Man=Tool
Racism=Tool
Commonality=Tool
Religion=Tool
With those four things alone a progressive can do whatever he wants in our country by “changing his spots” to align those people under him. A progressive who lives for progressive goals is, biblically speaking, the serpent who tempts Eve in the Garden of Eden. All he/she needs to do is convince everyone that they “share their pain” and “common interest”. After that, the serpent may say whatever evil it wishes, so long as it does not overtly show hostility to its “friends”.
Unfortunately, I know of no preventive measure against progressives. The only means I know of in dealing with them is to confront them with stark reality and give them no quarter. Do not consider what they are telling you. Do not listen to their poisons.
With any luck that progressive who is begging you to be compassionate “for your fellow man” will eventually snap back to reality and stop with his illogical assumptions and ideology.
I hope this will help others begin to understand what kind of threat a progressive truly is.
-Zamir
Mr. Perren,
Outstanding analysis. It is obvious evidence and fact are of no consequence to progressives. I am continually amazed that the voting public repeatedly falls for their proposed solutions that predictably make things worse, not better. Look at what LBJ’s great society programs and war on poverty did to black families, once less prone to divorce and more extended than their white counterparts. The family unit has been completely ravaged with dire consequences. Progressiveism in action, yet they keep right on proposing more of the same.
It is intellectually lazy and bankrupt by any objective analysis. It says alot about Obama.
You wrote, “There is no science without the ability to prove a statement false.” I don’t know if that is necessarily agreed upon (or rather, I don’t know that people adhere to it despite their affirmation), because consider this “presently” accepted dogma considered true by so many: All life and matter has changed from one form to another over millions of years, beginning with Nothing. We can’t prove it false, we can’t prove it true, but according to top thinkers and leaders apparently we should teach this culture shaking statement as true science, and treat other equally valid, worldview models (such as Biblical Creation) as mythical dogmas. Another thing to think on is what has Evolution done for society, as important as it is claimed to be. It does one thing – undermines all religion, except its own.
Please research what science is and what a scientific theory is (it is not just an idea or opinion). You probably believe you are a conservative, but the entire stream of the article shows that you are progressive – unwilling to believe the facts in front of you because they conflict with your beliefs.
I feel the same way about you…
But surely, dear sir, you must also realize that you are a progressive as well, since you have been progressing since the very day you were born. Progressing toward what, you might ask? I shall leave that up to you to determine.
Was this supposed to be ironic?
Daverco, you want to know something interesting? Any time I take a shot at Darwinism on the internet I get the same paraphrased response. Isn’t that interesting??? Talk about academic freedom, huh?
This was in response to number 9. Jerry.
I would like to add that progressives truly believe that human nature has changed and if the conservative mind says “it hasn’t”, then the progressive mind says “well then, we will find a way to change it by any means necessary”. The progressive elites then step up to the table and begin the lecturing to we serfs and the hands on changing of human nature for our benefit. And it never works. James J. Hill knew that you can’t change Human Nature no more than you can make a cat bark and used it to the benefit of all, whereas Barack Hussien Obama does not understand this and keeps urging the cat along.
Fabulous. Both the article and the comments. What has helped me pinpoint my understanding into the head of Obama were these words:
“Progressivism is one of the few that is actually anti-evidence and anti-logic.”
And this comment by Francis W. Porretto: “Why Obama keeps saying “dumb things?” Surely it’s not all that hard a question. He’s not terribly bright.”
As for the first I found the same when having a “discussion” with my teenager. Evidence and logic are nowhere to be found.
As for the second, “He’s not terribly bright.” I believed this from early on about Obama and am now so pleased to see his “spell” is wearing off on so many. When the Bible speaks about an Antichrist, I am often puzzled how it will be that millions/billions will blindly follow someone based on their charisma, presence and/or leadership skills. But with Obama I have seen a glimpse based on the masses of people (around the world) blindly following this man when he least deserves it. My conclusion is that it has to do with deception.
I most agree with many ppl above that the term “progressive” shouldn’t be used in the way its being used… the proper science term for this ideology is collectivism. Collectivism or “hive mind” is what all leftwing nutter ideologies are about, be they nazism, communism, or any or mix and match game they play…. end run is it always revolves around the collective aka the state aka the massive central government aka the “hive mind”.
Progressive is a term much like liberal thats been hijacked and redefined to all hell and back. We should use science terms and refuse to used this propaganda twisted terms.
Progressivism is to progress is what pedophilia is to childcare.
Exquisitely succinct and on point.
Yours is much better, but here’s another one:
Progressivism is the harnessing of other people’s decent impulses to achieve twisted ends.
Very interesting perspective. The last paragraph, defines Barack Obamas’s goals in life..after graduating from a prestigious law school, what does
Barack do? He returns to Chicago and works for the poor helpless people in various capacities. This symbolism, in retrospect, defines Obama…
Excellent article.
Long told by adoring sycophants that he’s the smartest man in any room, he feels compelled to weigh in and lecture mere mortals on morals.
In such an environment (in which there is an endless supply of adoring sycophants and no wrong can be done), particularly when combined with excessive narcissism, human beings eventually self-destruct. Without someone around with enough backbone to say, “Mr. President, you’re wrong this time,” he will be compelled to speak and/or act on every issue, ever forsaking that which would serve him better. The problem for us, however, is that his eventual self-destruction may cause our destruction, too.
Progressivism may be sheer fantasy but progressive policies (or theft) can be implemented “successfully” from the standpoint of progressives and their clients (or dependents) up to the moment when the golden goose keels over. We’re almost there. Well, actually we are there except for the phenomenon of a goose staggering in circles after its head has been cut off.
Obama is a stupid ideologue and the product of a slick marketing campaign that packaged a lie. He is the product of Marxist parents who raised him as a Muslim and abandoned him to Marxist grandparents and a Marxist pedophile: see Frank Marshall Davis. They hid his associations with hardcore Marxists like Revred Wright, Farakan, and Ayres. They hid his school records and grades because they were very mediocre, revealed his ideology and probably his religion and raised serious questions about how he ever got into a supposedly elite institution like Harvard law school beyond the obvious affirmative action bias – and who paid for all of this. They hid the fact that he did not and could not write the books he became so famous for, but rather had Bill Ayres write them for him. They hid his anti-Jewish screed at Khalidi’s Chicago farewell. They hid his relationship with the felon Rzeko and his embrace of Alinsky and ties to the Alinsky crooks at ACCORN. They sold him as a American patriot, fiscal conservative when he is a hardcore Marxist who hates American ideals and has contempt for its people. His path is that of the classic hard left and the deliberately deceptive Muslim. He is the opposite of the straight-talking Bush. Whether he is a Muslim does not matter. He is certainly not a Christian; he is also not an American. He clearly does not like America except as a vehicle to fulfill his marxist utopian dreams, but that first requires crushing the unfair America that exists. All of this requires that he lie all the time about what he believes and who he is. He has clearly stated he is against the Constitution and has demonstrated repeatedly his unwillingness to live within our laws: the defrauding of the Auto company secured creditors, giving almost a billion dollars to Hamas, appointing Czars without Congressional approval or oversight, including a radical gay pedophile and many avowed Marxists. Appointing judges who will not uphold our laws, suing his own states, slandering the Supreme Court and attacking personally his political opponents. He is a great danger and a great evil. Particularly as he allows Iran to build a nuclear weapon. He will not defend America and if Israel is bombed out of existence he will simply call it a tragedy and say they had it coming to them and we can’t continue the cycle of violence. I wouldn’t be surprised if he said the same thing if America is attacked. Note the strange reactions to the Fort Hood shooting and the Time Square bombing. I believe he is putting this country at grave risk. When the Republicans recapture Congress – as they must this Fall – then we need to investigate this fraud and expose him and I would think there will be ample grounds for his impeachment. Perhaps it will be sufficient if he is stymied in fulfilling his Utopian dreams, but I doubt this will be enough to protect us. Evil must be fought everyday.
Thanks for your comment!
Typical unamerican racist bigot lies coming from the party of racists, bigots and extremists who are unintelligent to history like this writer writing bs after another like you. Typical denial of bigotry of racism but you act like a child caught in the act, deny it and when no one’s looking, you act and hang out with the bigots or closet racists on this site questioning this president’s faith and nationaility because they don’t want a black man as president also never showed this much distain when bush was screwing up our country since they’re too busy rewriting history in their unintelligent image.
Apparently you only open your mouth to subtract from the sum of human knowledge — when God was handing out brains you thought He said “trains” and asked for a slow one…
not racist at all…just the fact of who this man really is…quit drinking the kool-aid!
Save some space. We still have two more years to describe this “person.”
Thanks Charles, you need a nation-wide forum. You speak for me and untold thousands. We will not be denied in Nov. You Sir need to be heard.
With their long standing disdain of consumerism and guilt over excessive carbon footprints, progressives are no longer worried about the need to grow the economy. Now we must redistribute wealth in the name of equality. But they, as part of the elect, are still entitled to their privileged positions. So, there is no contradiction between the life advocated and the life they lead. Besides, if you skim a bit during the redistribution process, you are mearly getting back some of the excess of which you have been unjustly deprived.
Equality and liberty are incompatible.
Equality of OUTCOME and liberty may be mutually exclusive, but equality of opportunity and liberty are precisely the same concept, no?
Progressivism is like perpetual motion; It can be made to appear to work
by adding a concealed source of energy, or in the political case, money.
Progressives, like most mental defectives, can be placated by agreement
with and _limited_ adoption of their delusions; It is when their demands
grow too expensive, and their wish fulfillment fantasy fades away, that
they become desperate, and dangerous, like any addict denied their fix.
“like any addict denied their fix”
Or as Dennis Miller once put it in a different context and paraphrased, but seems to apply… “dangerous like a racoon on a garbage heap who has just had a flashlight shown on them.”
After the first paragraph, my mind took a conceptual leap. It does this usually the day after another night at a Holiday Inn Express. The leap it took won’t please many, but it is this:
“In one long election campaign and 19 short months, the American public has achieved parity with the Oslo-ean futilit of the Israeli public.”
Obama should be out on his ear by now, just as Oslo should be a dim memory.
Analyze That!
Dr. Helen linked to this article today. The article is titled, “The Intersection of Intelligence and Arrogance” and it contains an interesting paragraph. I get the impression the author was looking at a picture of Obama when writing it. It describes Obama perfectly.
Low competence, high arrogance. They’re dangerous. They don’t realize the limits of their ability and don’t have the good sense to ask for a second opinion. They may have been taught they were special early on, even though it should have been obvious that every kid on the team got an award. Hubris often equals being out of touch with reality. And this is often a result of unconditional praise and reinforcement. Kids who don’t have great powers of observation and reason too often believe the message that they’re special, just for existing. Nice for building self esteem, not for building leaders who can deal with challenges of business and anticipate the consequences of bad decisions. They can make a big splash early in their careers but they’ll usually flame out. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen and their unfounded self confidence can propel them far beyond their true abilities. Then, they can take the organization down unless they’re very lucky.
As noted above, the reason Obama keeps saying dumb things is that he is not very intelligent about the real world.
“I have wondered how Barack Obama even got the Democratic nomination for the presidency, not to speak of being elected President of the United States”.
President Obama is a product of the US Government; intelligence agencies worked closely with his parents, President Obama’s family worked at front companies for US intelligence services, while in Hawaii worked with several companies tied to Intelligence agencies, and through the rest of his / their travels continued to operate with those agencies in various positions.
This is no different that President Bush Sr. , who was also heavily involved with intelligence agencies, or other Presidents and high level politicians that received training and support from Intelligence agencies.
President Obama did not just fall into the presidency, he was groomed and placed into the spotlight with clearly defined agenda. He is no more Marxist or socialist than CIA / NSA / etc.
Voters need to let go of ideals and research their own government, see things for what they are.
What color is the sky in your world?
Rubbish!
His Options arent the only thing”limited”. If hes reading from Marx and Engels, his IQ must also be seriously limited.
At the early on 2008 I was told that one of the dem candidate spoke well, watch him…. I listened him often but his talk was a lawyerly one and not much clear substance to me. Then, there was a big tornado in the middle of country which caused 10-12 people got killed. He commented that a tornado killed 10-12 THOUSAND people …… As a common knowledge is that there has never been large tragedy with three or four digit number fatality in this nation for a long time other than 9/11,(let alone by tornado, either natural or man-made, and, if 10 thousand people died, that would be a small city gone! Big national tragedy indeed and the world would buzz about it! (careless comment? No. To be a President, you must be careful ) The damage by a tornado is awful, but fairly narrow range it hits and runs, and, of course it is a tragedy to see any people killed, but rarely over tens.
And his comment of 57 states(This,too. Not carelessness, but ignorance, not a person to want to govern the 50 states would say, I thought), then, his record of voting at the senate 60 some “Present” votes, neither, Yes or No. That showed to me he did not have ability to decide or judge, so many times and irresponsible. May be he had no time to go back to ask his operators what to vote?
Then, an interview with a minister who asked him when a human/person’s life begins(I forgot exact phrasing) his answer was wishy=washy (legally or biologically so many way to name, saying it was above his grade…….just like the comments on GZ mosque. There is a legal one, and, I have my own definition, too.
To me, he seemed not to have even common knowledge on daily life or experience, not concern about the Nation, the states and people closely, not having his own clear belief and principles, or clear opinion, obviously operated by his handlers back home turf. Otherwise, a man of his age, his educational background should have made himself able to show more articulate, clear, responsible messages.
Those ware BEFORE the election. It was a great surprise to me that he won! I felt almost same shock when OJ was declared not guilty. Well, McCain was not strong oponnent, but…..Not Obama, to me he was not qualified at all to be even a candidate.
But, too late now. He has been proving my judgement on him was right in the past year and a half, enough, Still wondering why so many people went GAGA about him. Geraldine Ferraro , one time VP candidate herself, said He was a candidate only because he was black(half), and, if he was a white, he wouldn’t be there. she was attacked and silenced by the left/dem/media. (Where is she these days?) I don’t like her but she was correct on this one.
Smart? No. Wise? No, no! But why so many people thought otherwise. Puzzle me to no end.
Dude, Obama’s playbook consists of:
1. Blame Bush
2. Cry racism
3. Utilize executive order (dictators order)
4. Preach transparency and accountibility for everyone but yourself
5. Hide all your records from the taxpayers
Mr Perren has an interesting viewpoint, but simply explaining these people as progressives really lets them off the hook for their odious philosophy.
The new notion of Ruling Elite explains them better. They simply want to rule us. They hold us in contempt and implement policies that are the best at controlling the unwashed. Ultimately, they want 2 classes: them and serfs (us).
And in the case of Obama, he is a hard-core Marxist. How else do you explain that every acquaintance and associate he has had in his life has been a Communist, Marxist, or radical of some sort. I find it unlikely that he has a conversion after swimming with the sharks for 47 years. “Progressive” doesn’t even get close to what he is.
The guiding philisophical framework that identifies and explains liberals and liberalism (as used by progressives/leftists) is Marxian ideology. Please read James Burnham’s “Suicide of the West.” The question of the century is why so many people are attracted to this ideology. For some it’s a path to power. Others are merely soft-headed. Herd mentality, soft living, rapaciousness, work avoidance, class-ism, snobishness, clanishness, envy, the reasons are many. Unfortunately the evil of liberalism is deconstructing America.
Marxism is a genius philosophy, perfectly suited to wannabe tyrants.
It tricks the rubes into volunteering for servitude…..in exchange for the privilege of watching the destruction of people who have achieved more than they are capable of achieving.
I once heard that it is impossible to be all three of the following: 1) intelligent 2) honest and 3) socialist. Think about it, I thought this was a good one.
I once heard that it is impossible to be all three of the following: 1) uneducated 2) dull and 3) unattractive. But I guess you’ve proven that wrong.
You have delusions of adequacy and the purpose of your life is clear — it is to serve as a warning to others….
The progressives have created the perfect foil as they can use Obama’s race and status as a protective class as both a sword and a shield. Disagree and you are racist. Challenge and you are racist. No one had the courage or ability to artfully expose the true Obama in 2008 due to terror of political correctness, which is the ultimate destroyer of free speech.
Maybe Obama is just another face of the elites – a softer, gentler face if you are a certain kind of minority or a Muslim, a harder, frightening face if you are something else. He is certainly the blank slate in some ways, in other ways a multiple political personality. Who knows, maybe the CIA got ahold of him young? Maybe ‘intelligence operative’ is Barack Obama’s real id.
Look people, the “Anointed One” makes his chess move’s and us babbling humans need to realize that the unbelieving conspiracy “heathen” understate the issues when they say that Obama is a radical. Alas, they know not the secrets we are all going to witness. The “Anointed One” is amazing, he takes the people at the highly efficient Post Office and sends them right over to the Student Loan Program. The “Anointed One” knows all. Twitter messages were machine-gunned to cell phones at mach speed. Facebook and MySpace groups spread across the Internet like digital fire. YouTube videos featuring celebrities ricocheted across the globe and into college students’ in-boxes with devastating regularity. All the while, the Obama mega-money-raising engine whirred on at high speed, until the result became inevitable: an unthinking mass of young voters marched forward to elect the “Anointed One.”
I am not surprised to hear these stinking lies about our “Anointed One,” it should be apparent to anyone that this was coming down the pike. I do have a couple questions about future process steps concerning these developments? When the “Annointed One” decides to start bar-coding everyone, will we get to decide if the mark is on our hand or forehead? Allot of people will prefer the hand, (especially women of course), unless your a porn actress or something along those lines. Also, my girlfriend was wondering if the Administration will be getting fashion advice from Hollyweird or the New York City crowd? We are both agree that the Administration “Maoies” as the “Anointed One ” so lovingly calls them,will be getting uniforms similar to the SS uniforms in Germany in WW2. With big letters abreviating “Barack’s Socialists.” So shall we start calling them the BS?c
I am my college professor’s favorite pupil. He calls himself a “philosophical progressive” (whatever that means) and he tells wonderful stories about Mao Zedong and how deeply spirtual it is to become a Progressive. He told us not to pay any attention to those horrible rumors that the Conservatives preach to us about Brother Mao’s murder of 60 million. I know it’s a lie, that’s what a girl on Facebook said. After all, President Obama had a Mao ornamate hanging fron the White House Christmas tree, right on cool. After learning all of these new political ideas, I went out and got the latest Che Guevara t-shirt. It is so rad. My professor went to Harvard like Obama did so I know he loves Che too. My professor said Hollywood helped to revive another leftist martyr but my uncle (who was in the Army) said Hollywood has dutifully churned out yet another cinematic agitprop paean and that I should read to try to discern why many supposedly democratic, civil libertarian liberals still swoon over this Stalinist mass-murderer. What ever that means, later dude.
I’ve been noticing lately a spike in the attacks on progressives by right wingers — what’s up with that? Progressives are to the Democratic party what Libertarians are to Republicans, and each tends to represent the ideal representations of the respective parties: progressives are for, well, progress in moving government and civilization at large forward, whereas Libertarians tend to focus on individual liberty and fiscal responsibility. Me thinks you guys bashing progressives have no clue what that philosophy is all about, or maybe even what “philosophy” really is.
Those are the stated intentions of “progressive” political strategists. They do not correlate at all with the real-world consequences of “progressive” policies.
Americans are a pragmatic people. Ideology bores us; we prefer to focus on results. Which is why, despite the Left’s unceasing attempts to divide us into special interests that it can pander to and play against one another, “progressive” political notions are rapidly losing popular esteem.
Intentions, you see, are no match for the laws of Nature. And history tells us quite plainly that those laws forbid us:
– to tax and spend ourselves into prosperity;
– to eliminate racism by instantiating it in the law;
– to encourage families by destroying the conditions for their survival;
– to strengthen the weak by pulling down the strong;
– to mollify sworn enemies by lowering our swords.
When “progressives” finally admit to that, they’ll have learned a real lesson. And they’ll cease to be “progressives,” as the term is [ab]used today.
FTFY
progressives are for, well, progress in moving government and civilization at large forward
Oh, gee, then I guess I should just do whatever it is you tell me will enable this wondrous result!
Did it ever occur to you that what you call “progress” may not actually be “progress” or that others’ idea of “progress” may differ from yours or that there actually is no such thing as “progress” at all, other than in a narrow, technological sense? Do you really think YOU or others who share your politics represent some progress over and above Socrates, who lived thousands of years ago? Puh-leeze. If I could bring Socrates back from the dead for an hour by killing every single Leftist alive today, I’d do it without blinking.
Me thinks that if you think that what progressives espouse is anywhere nearly analytical enough to be called philosophy that you have no clue what philosophy is. No philosopher worth his salt would ever ally with a purely political movement such as progressivism, since to do do would be to assume that all the questions of life and the universe were answered by one credo, which is exactly what the article here is saying is the fundamental flaw of Leftists. “Homo unius libri” as the Romans used to say. And boring to boot.
“If I could bring Socrates back from the dead for an hour by killing every single Leftist alive today, I’d do it without blinking.”
I’ll do you one better. I’d kill every conservative alive today to bring back Gary Coleman.
That’s not ‘better’.
Well,DUH!OF COURSE Obama keeps saying dumb things:He’s an idiot,a failure and a walking,talking,vacationing, ironical tribute to AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, and the stupidity of the American electorate.
“Obama’s Playbook: Why He Keeps Saying Dumb Things”
======================
Be nice! Obama is doing the best he can, even using his keeper’s teleprompter. You’ve got to admit that he reads his lines fairly well, even if he could not have written them himself.
HAHAHA.. BC attempts to make a correlation of ‘Progressivism’ and ‘Philosophy’ going hand-in-hand.
FYI: ‘Progressivism’ EXPANDS Government intervention in civilians everyday lives ‘for they know best’. $13 + trillion in debt and expanding..
As Obama/King Progressive espoused last Fall, ‘We will spend our way out of debt’. Yeah, the ‘progress’ made is so incredible I can’t even expand on ONE agenda he’d tackled. Not one.
I think the people doing a disservice to Obama are his advisers and speech writers. he needs some new ones. that’s why he keeps saying stupid things. you have the blind leading the blind
“…Obama takes the progressive position. And, since progressivism is, at bottom, an alien philosophy opposed to all the core American values…”
This is, as Frank Zappa once said, the crux of the biscuit. Progressivism is opposed to all the core American values, and Obama is (as is a majority of today’s Democratic Party) a dedicated Progressive. They are fundamentally opposed to the core values of America, and the vast majority of Americans who hold those values sacred and dear. This is what makes the Obama pledge to “fundamentally transform America” so ominous.
The Obama administration has shown no regard for the will of the majority since inauguration. In fact, it has shown nothing but contempt for those who would dare to disagree with the vision of “the anointed One”. This arrogance and unmitigated hubris has enraged the majority of Americans who strongly reject the “progressive” point of view. That majority is now enraged and engaged, and rightly so. Our Founding Fathers wisely provided us with the peaceful means for a correction of course in such circumstances. The danger lies in the possibility that the Progressives, now drunk with their temporary power, will not submit to the will of the people under the established rules.
We the People must be vigilant. It has come to light that massive voter fraud was perpetrated by Obama supporters in the 2008 primaries to make him the Democratic nominee. They don’t seem to have any hesitation to lie, cheat, steal, or defraud in order to achieve their goals. True to their hero, Saul Alinski, the end justifies the means. We cannot and must not allow the “progressives” to hijack our system and our freedom. We must step up and insist that the rules be followed to insure free and fair elections, or else we will become Venezuela, with Obama as our Chavez.
“Unlike even semi-rational philosophies, progressivism is built on sheer fantasy. Other doctrines may make errors, some of them very serious, but most are built on at least some foundation of real-world evidence and logical analysis. Progressivism is one of the few that is actually anti-evidence and anti-logic.” -Jeff Perren
That’s an out of context twist on progressivism. You make it sound like new ideas are impossible (or like it’s folly to try)
You know who else was progressive? The Pilgrims, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, The Wright brothers, John D. Rockefeller, Henry T. Ford, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jesus (just to name a bi-partisan list). They saw something possible that was “sheer fantasy” to people like you, but were they wrong in the end or crazy?
They won. Does that concern you?
“because i am not that intelligent, i have to have faith the national think tank behind all the political maneuverings is doing the right thing”
you are intelligent enough to know something is massively askew.
Trust your instincts. It’s not an IQ test. When you see the overwhelming deceipt, corruption and an irreconcilable disconnect between what ordinary people want and what is being forced upon you, you know that their goals are not your goals.
The “national think tank” of which you speak is a loose international criminal elite whose goal is to wield unchecked power over your life. To be able to do that, they have to destroy anyone who can challenge them. The primary target is the Middle Class in America.
Spell that Y O U.