And I think the idea that you can just kind of demolish your entire inheritance and it will still be an advanced Western society, is at best, an open question. And some of these — some parts of the Western world, are beginning to pass the point of no return on this, I think.
MR. DRISCOLL: Time magazine ended 2008 by Photoshopping incoming President Barack Obama into the second coming of FDR, even letting him keep FDR’s jaunty cigarette holder. Newsweek began the following year by declaring that “We are all socialists now.” Recently, my former colleague at Pajamas Media, Richard Miniter, declared in Forbes that, “Obama is not the new FDR but the new Gorbachev, a man forced to preside over the demise of a political system he desperately wants to save.”
Any bets as to how that’s going to play out?
MR. STEYN: Yeah, I think that’s — I think that would be very sad if it were true. And in fact, I put him — I’m not even sure I would give Obama that much credit. When somebody does things — has a consistent pattern of behavior, I think it’s too easy to attribute it to incompetence or stupidity; and that you have to say, in the end, this is what he wants. This is the America he wants.
He’s a grubby Chicago ward heeler. So he has the worst aspects. He’s a strange combination, Obama. He has all the worst delusions of the American faculty lounge, combined with the grubby political thuggery of old-school political machines. So if you combine University of Chicago general aesthetic with Democratic Party of Chicago political muscle, you get a very unattractive combination.
And I think he did think that he was going to be the — a transformative president. The assumption of all his early speeches when he’d be — you know, when somebody was talking — that Summit of the Americas, or whatever it was, and somebody was talking about the Bay of Pigs, and he said, oh, you know, I was three months old then, give me a break.
It’s like he takes a Pol Pot view on this, that this is year zero. January 2009 is year zero in American history. And so I don’t — I think in a sense, it’s giving him too much credit to portray him as a kind of inept Gorbachev figure, the man who reformed his country out of existence, because I think in a sense, Obama is not that — Gorbachev, a certain level, was a profoundly stupid man and an even more stupid man today, by the way. And I don’t think — I think it’s giving — I think it’s taking too benign a view of Barack Obama, even to credit him with that.
MR. DRISCOLL: And, Mark, last questions. We’re just about a month away from the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Where does America stand? Does it have a future? And what should the people who buy your book do to help strengthen its future?
MR. STEYN: Well, I think it’s very sad this approach to the anniversary of 9/11. An early chapter in my book talks about the building site that is still the World Trade Center. The Empire State Building was put up in eighteen months during a depression. We can’t replace the World Trade Center in a decade.
So 9/11 was something that Al-Qaeda did to us. 9/11 was something that America’s enemies did to us. The ten year hole in the ground, we did to ourselves. And that is the monument to American sclerosis that I worry about; that we were not able to muster the will.
You remember — I’m sure you got it, because you were on the Internet back in those days as I was — we were all getting tons of emails of cartoons showing — showing the World Trade Center being built as a sort of set of knuckles with the central finger extending itself –
MR. DRISCOLL: Um-hum.
MR. STEYN: — up into the sky, as the super-tall World Trade [Center] — flipping the bird — flipping the finger to Al-Qaeda and all those naysayers. And in the end, we didn’t do that. What a great cartoon.
And people eventually stopped e-mailing it around, because after two, three, four months, three, four, five, six years, it’s not funny anymore. Why can’t the superpower put up a building? Because in the end, it’s all about the zoning board and the regulations and getting it past the planning committee. And I think this — I think this is what’s so difficult.
In a sense, Obama galvanized the issue, because simply by being such a divisive figure and so unlike any other American president before him in his political disposition, he, in a sense, put a hard face on American sclerosis. Otherwise, I think, we would have just sort of declined into arthritis.
The great thing about him is that he attempted to accelerate American decline and spurred the Tea Party in response. And that’s the one hope for America, that there are still enough Americans who say, you know, to hell with you. We are not going to decay. We are not going to decline. We are not going to seize up. But we are going to — we are going to reverse this.
You don’t have a movement like that in Iceland. You don’t have a movement like that in Bulgaria. You don’t have a movement like that in Greece or Portugal. We still have a movement like that in the United States. And that’s the best hope for the future.
MR. DRISCOLL: We’ve been talking with Mark Steyn, the author of the brand new book After America. It’s published by Regnery, and available from Amazon.com, your local bookseller, and at Mark’s website, Steynonline.com, where you can buy a copy autographed by Mark Steyn.
And Mark, thanks for stopping by today.
MR. STEYN: Thanks a lot, Ed. Always a pleasure.
(End of audio)
Transcription by Penina Wolicki
Mark Steyn is Canada’s most valuable export!
Riots arson and looting have spread in London on the 3 rd night of mob violence.
The riots tonight spread to the cities of Birmingham, Leeds and Glasgow.
At least in Glasgow the arsonists are not burning down the pubs.
The police are using Twitter, Blackberry and Facebook records to track down the rioters and the companies are cooperating with the police.
People around the world are seeing this escalating violence and may be rethinking any travel plans to London for the Olympic Games next year.
What a disaster and the Muslims have nothing to do with it and the Muslim areas in London,Birmingham and Leeds are peaceful.
oh, so the muslims had nothing to do with? why in the video I watched on YouTube, did they move from “No Tax, Free, Free” chants, to “Allahu Akbar, run you f*ckin cowards” and “Free, Free, Palestine”?
In the footage, quite a number of plainly Arab (by their dress code) and Muslim in general, men were seen yelling, cursing the police, and chasing the cops.
What a disaster and the Muslims have nothing to do with it and the Muslim areas in London,Birmingham and Leeds are peaceful.”
Of course the Muslim areas are peaceful. You don’t loot and burn the houses and shops of your fellow Muslims, that’s what the dhimmi’s are for!
Really? Really? Really? Has a bookstore ever been looted? Really?
Your comment needs more “reallys.” But here you go. And this bookstore with a blog was none too happy to be in the crossfire of London’s looters yesterday.
Nice jazz! Thanks!
Steyn calls them “Eloi” and ” metrosexual elite”. I just call them parasites.
In any rational and free society they should be known as “targets” and “corpses.”
I am in favor of both your terms. These are most appropriate.
I’ve been investing in precious metals. Brass, and lead!
I too have been saying it for some time…Ammunition is the precious metal of the future.
Adding steel and pig poop to your portfolio could truly diversify your investment strategy.
May I suggest O. F. Mossberg and Sons Inc., and Hodgdon Inc; RCBS or Hornady.
And don’t go “short”.
Actually, I only listen to Rush’s program when Mark is guest hosting. He’s 10 years younger than Rush – if Limbaugh ever decides to step down, I hope Steyn can have run of the show for at least a few years.
‘I hope Steyn can have run of the show for at least a few years.’
You really think we’ve got a few years ?
What incredible optimism
You’re due a major life adjustment,coming soon.
Steyn calls them “Eloi” and ” metrosexual elite”. I just call them parasites.
I agree. At least the Eloi were innocent and good-looking.
Urban leftards are the worst of both – Elois in productivity, and Morlocks in appearance and nature.
And our “Eloi” probably don’t taste as good.
23.40 Witnesses in Ealing say restaurants and a Tesco have been looted for alcohol and cash by a mob 100-strong. A man told the BBC cars have been smashed and set on fire. There are unconfirmed reports the local shopping centre has been set on fire.
23.25 BBC’s Sangita Myska reporting police are calling Lavender Hill area of Clapham, South London, a “no go zone.” Dozens of masked youths are arriving in cars for looting. Police are said to be heavily outnumbered, lacking riot equipment and telling locals to “get out the area”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8687177/London-riots-live.html
The BBC is now calling for the Army to be deployed to control the violence
The BBC ! wants the Army on the streets of London—good idea–declare Martial Law and issue live ammunition with ROE to shoot looters and arsonist.
The presence of 100+ man mobs at least provides an excellent rationale for “normal capacity” 20 and 30 round magazines on my assault rifle, not that I needed that.
Hot burglary in the US is rare for a reason in the US.
If you’re looking to blog comments for original wit, well…..you might as well look to McDonald’s for their Prime Rib.
Bah, was supposed to be a comment to 10.
I like to think of conservatives as witty, clever, and original… except, that is, for the intellectual giants who insist on using those worn-out and juvenile invectives: libtards and leftards. Where are we exactly, 5th grade?
We have a war of ideas raging around us, but some of us are shooting blanks.
I like to think of liberals as unseated and removed from the levers of power whenever and wherever possible. I’m glad you think of us sometimes too, Mark.
A lefty friend who raged at me in emails and in person through much of the Bush years, whom I’ve maintained a sort of truce with since about 2007 — possible only since that corresponds with the Dem Congress takeover and subsequent Immaculation of the Once — stormed out of a private gathering this weekend in a huff after much clever use of terms such as wingnuts, teabaggers, and other examples of the new, civil tone your comment is, er, concerned with.
My friend is indeed a rabid ideologue, but he’s not stupid — he knows the whole hopey-changey house of cards is imploding and that this raging war of ideas you speak of is one his side is losing, and badly, and this has him madder than ever.
I shudder to think what the words President Palin would do for his blood pressure but the well-being of this nation is infinitely more important. Conquering the storm, air-lifting Marxism deep into the wilderness – perhaps, hopefully, forever — is crucial to our survival.
Mark sounds like a leftard seeking to use the ‘civility’ card.
Any conservative who thinks maintaining polite discourse wins leftists over is a fool, and the reason that conservatives always lose to the left-wing agenda.
He’s right, though. There’s no reason to use silly invectives like libtards and leftards when we have perfectly good English words like fools, idiots, and morons.
The last 2 minutes was brilliant where Steyn described the value and reasoning of the Tea Party in checking the Socialist wishes of Obama.
The New World Order: Changing The Conversation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLF_i8CbwHQ
“Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.” George Washington
The New World Order: Changing The Conversation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLF_i8CbwHQ
anyone else having trouble with the audio? Both the widget and the downloadable versions are only ~6 min long….
Hi Sid,
If you right click and save a copy of the audio to your HD, it should download the entire interview. I just tried it myself, and worked fine. But as I said, we should have a transcript of the entire interview online tomorrow.
Ed
I just tried to d/l the 19 MB version and only 6 MB came through. But the entire lo-fi version (6 MB) downloaded fine. I tried the 19MB version about an hour ago and only got 1MB. Windows XP SP3, FireFox 5.0.
I couldn’t stream it through Firefox, but now I’m streaming it through IE & it appears to work fine.
would that be the “brilliant” 5.0 version which turns an otherwise stable and reliable system into a volatile reboot-in-waiting?
There is a war but it has never been about ideas.
It is profit, market share, arbitrage, and derivatives. Left / Right mean nothing to these groups…they see the right and left wing as a means to an end, with willful ignorance making their job much easier.
The greatest shifting of wealth in USA was during the great depression, it is happening again while preoccupation with Socialism / Fascism hysteria focuses everyone attention.
16 Trillion dollars was loaned out by FEDS from 2007-2009…nobody knows where it went or who received it…but nobody should ask questions…lest we upset the Gods of our Money markets.
A stock market crash and a national credit downgrade as great publicity for a book? Well, maybe, but there have been better. Obama’s book tour ending in November of 2008 was pretty good too, but there were even better.
Adolph Schickelgruber had terrific PR, and a tour that began in the Rhineland, ran through Austria and the Sudetenland, then Poland, Norway, Holland, Belgium…. the list goes on and on. He had lots of people just dying to read his book.
As did Mohammed in the tour of his book in the 620′s. And that was before the papyrus-back edition, too.
I’ll agree you’re up there, Mark. It’s a really good try. But ya gotta know when you’ve been outclassed.
No matter whether I try to stream or download, I never get more than the first 15 sec. of intro music. What am I doing wrong?
I’m rendering out a YouTube version which should be online later tonight. Hopefully that will play on your system.
Just noticed that others have had similar trouble and tried Ed’s suggestions, to no avail. I don’t even get a download option when I right click, I get “Open link in new tab” “…new window”, etc. Still only between 3 and 16 sec. Dang, I’d love to hear this interview.
as it gets harder and harder to take the working class’ $$ and give it away to
the privileged leisure class, more and more violence will result. this entitled bunch in charge will try one idiot scheme (voter fraud, fairness doctrine, etc.) after another, and each time causing more and more hatred. all the while spurred on by our monarch wannabe, maybe hoping for a chance to declare martial law and not have to ever have another election? the socialists/marxists are starting to really believe they will lose the next election, bigtime. it only takes a few visits to a variety of random websites to see that the worm is turning. i read something the other day that i had long since forgotten.
the largest well armed standing army is still the American hunter; and, they are mostly right wing … whatever, and a large % are veterans. it wouldn’t even be a contest. thank God and our forefathers for the 1st and especially the 2nd Amendments to the Const. countries w/o gun rights, you may be really screwed. guns are easy to get for illegal purposes. he!!, we’ve even got some high up government officials here that will sell bad guys some serious military hardware. kypd.
Good music, great interview, fantastic blog. Thanks!
Don’t the Brits kind of deserve what they got? I mean, like, they gave up their girls, their guns, and their G0D?
Seriously, is anybody ready to divide this country yet?
I tried proposing the same question on Townhall a while ago and got back one response that said, “If we do that we’ll be giving them (the liberals) exactly what they want.” (God, no one can claim that jarheads exist only on liberal blogs.) And I suppose this is why I prefer Pajamas. Far better, well thought-out discussions and some pretty darn smacking writers. And at least a modicum of tolerance for libertarians–definitely not found at Townhall.
If people truely held the conviction of their beliefs, they would be all for creating a better world for themselves by splitting up the country and needn’t bother themselves with convincing others that they are wrong in order to reassure themselves of their own righteousness.
I’ve lived in very large and very liberal cities all my life and have learned one lesson well: You cannot convince a liberal of ANYTHING. They are incapable–read me well, INCAPABLE!–of modifying their beliefs. Its just the nature of the beast.
And I pose to you all that a belief that a country is stronger because it is large is gravely in error. A country is strong when its people share a culture and general consensus on how they should be governed. That is something to fight and die for, not supporting a media system and large portion of a public whose belief system does nothing but demonize pretty much everything you hold dear: morality (the very word makes a liberal tremble with anger), self-responsibility, self-control, the enlightenment, the scientific method, western culture, freedom of speech, freedom to bear arms, freedom of religion (but only if you are a Christian), even democracy itself has come to be looked at with suspicion by the left, and–of course–patriotism.
In fact, there isn’t a single aspect of this country’s foundations that the left hasn’t demonized. Why would anyone defend a person or care about them as you would one of your countrymen when they wish to do nothing but undermine the lessons, values and culture taught to you by your parents based in a very old culture that you grew up loving and admiring?
Meanwhile, give the liberals exactly what they want: a world of their own. Watching what happened then would be nothing short of delicious.
This is extremely interesting to me. I agree with just about everything you say and yet I’m on the opposite of the political spectrum. Indeed, so much of what’s wrong with this country has to do with failures to believe in morality, self-responsibility, self-control, the enlightenment, the scientific method, and freedom of religion for all. However, I see these failings so pronouncedly in Republican leaders, in Tea Party rhetoric, and in corporate misbehavior. It is really a wake-up call to me to hear someone making the exact same complaints about left-wing beliefs as the complaints I make about right-wing beliefs.
Well, I hope I’m not gate-crashing by commenting here — was following a link passed along by a conservative friend.
There is a famous (already) picture on the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph of some young White guy obediently taking his clothes off at the command of some big buff Black guy who is looming over him.
Spot the Eloi. Trick question — it’s BOTH! The White guy lacks the means, the legal right (he’d go to jail for it) and the will to defend himself. The Black guy can only stick people up — that’s not a productive skill and one that will end as soon as the booze, drugs, and junk food make him too ill to stick people up. Blacks are also only 2% of Britain’s population, should the White natives decide to simply kick them all out there is not much they could do about it. It is not as if Blacks are native to Britain or have any claim upon it.
Both victim and victimizer are Eloi. Morlocks await, but recall those folks had technology (but no food). It would seem Enoch Powell was correct.
@DonM wrote–”Mark Steyn is Canada’s most valuable export!”
As a Canadian who reads Steyn’s brilliance daily on his excellent website etc, I would write, ” Mark Steyn is Canada’s most regrettable and unfortunate case of brain drain.”
While Mark inexplicably finds time in his busy schedule to shake up Canadian dolts and censors at times, I am glad he is enjoying so much success in the U.S. I just hope his intelligence and insights will assist your great country with its great people. I agree with Mark that the “free world” needs a healthy America not a bankrupt or weakened nation.
Your gain is our great loss.
Note- His website is understandably full of book promotions etc and is not in its usually informative and entertaining state. I will order After America today.