Imagine yourself as a political consultant who’s received a call to come down to the Democratic Party headquarters ASAP. You are received in a conference room at which more than a dozen other political consultants are seated, all of them looking like they’ve just lost their pet dog. The big man at the head of the conference table wastes no words.
Big Man: “Hello X. I don’t need to tell you that Dave Weprin lost Anthony Weiner’s old seat and Kate Marshall got absolutely blown away in Nevada. The pundits are calling it an early indicator of how 2012 will turn out, which means if anything, that we’re doomed.”
X: “OK. But why ask me in here? It looks like you’ve got just about every policy adviser in the Democratic Party here already. What can I tell you that they can’t?”
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Big Man: “Well, I’ve been listening to them these past weeks and look where it got me. Nowhere. I’m desperate, willing to try anything. Even to listen to someone like you.” (Laughter from the other consultants. “Basically I want to know why we lost so badly and what it all means.”
X: There are three possible reasons why the voters turned against you in Weiner’s seat — and so strongly against you in Nevada. One, they don’t like your policies. Two, your policies are decent, but your messaging is bad. The third possibility has to do with the Ancient Mariner.”
Big Man: “Don’t talk in riddles, what do you mean?”
X: “The Ancient Mariner brought a curse on the ship in which he sailed by killing an albatross, which they hung around his neck, as a symbol of misfortune. Until the albatross was dropped they were all doomed. Obviously you guys thought Anthony Weiner was your albatross, so you dropped him. Only he wasn’t because you dropped him and still lost. So if there’s an albatross around your necks it’s someone else. Now who could it be?”
Big Man: “We can can’t change the policies because that defines the party. We’re stuck with that. That takes care of point number one. All the guys around the table think our messaging is wrong. But I don’t really believe that because we’ve spent hundreds of millions on messaging. I have the best messaging that money can buy and if there’s better, it doesn’t exist. So it’s not the messaging.
But if I understand you correctly there’s an albatross we aren’t dropping that we could. Are you talking about the President.”
X: “Oh no, he’s the Ancient Mariner, absent the remorse. The albatross … now wait — hear me out, the albatrosses are all the millstones he’s hanging around your necks by raising expectations. Look, he came into office running for Messiah. He promised to make the seas fall. Employ everyone in Green Jobs. He promised people “affordable health care” and presided over the biggest ‘stimulus’ in modern history. He predicted ‘recovery summer’. And nothing happened. But that doesn’t stop him. Just a few weeks ago he presented a “jobs bill” that wasn’t written before a joint session of Congress — and he asked for the joint session in which to present that nonexistent bill. The President doesn’t do small; he doesn’t promise little improvements. The President does only big. The Big Kahuna, the Big Score. Then he gives you the Big Zero.”
Big Man: “How would you do things differently.”
X: “He could have done humility from the start, like Winston Churchill, who came to office on the day the Nazis invaded France. But he didn’t promise to kick Hitler’s butt; that they were going to be in Berlin by Christmas. Good thing too, because forty days later he was evacuating the broken British Army from France and by the winter his voters were being bombed every single night.
“Between 1940 and mid 1942 he won not a single victory. But he anticipated this. He told the British people at the outset, not that the seas would fall, not that all his enemies would fall on their knees before his moral superiority, but that they would face ‘blood, toil, tears and sweat’.
He said to the people who elected him, ‘death and sorrow will be the companions of our journey; hardship our garment; consistency and valor our only shield.’ Heck, he promised them hell. There was nothing about going to the mountain; transforming the world, leading the nations. Churchill told them only that if they were very, very lucky, then they might survive. It was a hell of a thing for a politician to do.”
Big Man: “So these millstones are really unmet expectations that the President keeps hanging around the neck of the Party.”
X: “Right. And when the voters see Weprin and Marshall going along with this crap, what do they think? That these candidates are either playing them for fools or are the snake oil salesman’s assistants. What else would they think?
What the voters are looking to see is if the President can win one victory against the odds, pull off one small triumph against the darkness that just seems to be pouring over everything. They’re not looking for him to fix every problem, just to make a start. Not head off to the golf course and come back in a week’s time with another big speech.
We can learn from Churchill again, he focused on the little victories and dwelt on them lovingly. ‘Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning’. He knew how to keep up the fires of hope, not just to talk about it. But the President thinks differently. In fact the first thing he did was get rid of old Winston’s bust. He doesn’t do little victories; he only deals in the biggest transformations on the largest scale, in worlds without nuclear weapons, grand bargains, fundamental transformations of America. He doesn’t do jobs. For most of his life he never even held one.”
Big Man: “And your recommendation is?”
X: “Stop talking about the party’s program because it sucks. Tell the President that it would be good if he had started to sound humble, only it’s too late now. To don the mantle of humility suddenly would be too obviously fake. Your best messaging strategy is to shut up and do something useful and let other people talk about it.”
Big Man: “That’s asking for a lot. Our comparative strength is messaging and you’re asking us to forgo it.”
X: “I’m asking you to start governing for a change and stop campaigning. I see there isn’t a thing I’ve told you that you didn’t know already. Like everything else, you wanted the appearance of being open minded. But in reality you’ve made your minds up. Power on your terms or no power for anyone at all. My bill will be in the mail. Now that is a thing you can understand.”
Bravo Mr. Fernandez!
Any bets on party D acting on these reflections?
O’scorner: The markets are attacking.
“He said that while Greece is the immediate concern, there would be an even bigger problem if markets continue to attack Italy and Spain.”
“Barack Obama last night scorned the lack of leadership in the eurozone …”.
The End vs “the endgame”. S’appproche, Oui?
“‘In the end, the big countries in Europe, the leaders in Europe, must meet and take a decision on how to coordinate monetary integration with more effective coordinated fiscal policy.’”
…-
“Obama warns eurozone ‘endgame’ in sight as debt crisis threatens to engulf Greece”
“Barack Obama last night scorned the lack of leadership in the eurozone amid warnings that the ‘endgame’ for the single currency is ‘approaching fast’.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2037095/Greece-debt-crisis-Obama-warns-eurozone-endgame-sight.html
Or, eschewing Coleridge, they could jump off a high cliff into the sea like Gadarene swine.
Genius. Churchill is a great example and the fact that Obama sent back his bust is the perfect connection between the two approaches to leadership. Over here: humility and unvarnished warnings. Over there: unthinking arrogance and grandiose promises. Voters were sold a bill of goods in 2008 and it was partly because they wanted to believe in magic, and partly it was because few could imagine such grandiosity could exist unsupported by real merit: “there must be a secret plan! A stash! A pony in there somewhere!”. Well, no. So now we must all pay and pay, and our children likewise. Our only hope is, as Obama says, to “bend the curve.”. By rejecting him and all his works.
No wonder Erdogan has decided to seize the day.
Well said! It occurs to me that unmet expectations are also the real reason that Obama’s polling has fallen past GWB’s low point with Arabs, mentioned yesterday in “On the Boil.”
I read the Zobgy Poll PDF which located Arab dissatisfaction in the “Continuing occupation of Palestinian lands” and the “US’s interference with the Arab world.” But Obama has sided more with Palestine than any other sitting president and our “interference” under Obama no worse than under GWB.
Among Arabs, polling numbers for Obama and the US did shoot way up after Obama’s election. That the numbers are worse now a few short years later, even though the externals aren’t much different, suggests that Zogby wasn’t asking the correct questions for this president, this year.
I think the Arabs believed in Obama, as Obama believed in Obama, and many Americans believed in Obama, that he would (somehow) transform the world, but here we are and the world hasn’t changed for the better. Things aren’t that much worse, but they definitely aren’t better. Arabs, like Americans, suffer from the unmet expectations Obama created.
Now Obama might as well let the Pallies have their State, since the second most reliably Democratic constituency just went over to the Dark Side.
Of Jewish donors who donated to Mr. Obama in 2008, only 64% have already donated or plan to donate to his re-election campaign. Woooo! That’s quite a drop, from 80% to 64%.
Not to be outdone, in RENO — Fed-up Republican voters fueled Mark Amodei’s special election blowout victory Tuesday over Democrat Kate Marshall, keeping the 2nd Congressional District in GOP hands while shaking up President Barack Obama’s supporters.
In other news:
Justin Bieber spoke to Life & Style magazine about his affinity for ladies’ jeans. “I’ve worn women’s jeans before because they fit me. It’s not a trend; it’s just, whatever works, works.”
That’s what we gals in the flannel-wearing set have said all along.
What a surprise that this fate should befall a man whose only real legislative achievement was staving off the forces of decency for two years so that doctors and nurses could throw newborns into the trash to die.
One look at the Chicago slums he helped to create should have been enough to tell everyone, everyone where this would lead. A trail of failure and wreckage as long as the eye can see. And now he’s managed to destroy the press, decades of racial progress, and, thankfully, the alien-inhabited Democratic party.
If it wasn’t part of a bigger picture of the failure of the west and all mankind, you’d have to laugh. Oh, well. As they say, no cross, no crown.
Huxley, not that you’re wrong in anything you said, but it’s also the case that feelings of entitlement play a big role in these kinds of things. The riots in the late ’60s in America began about 2 weeks AFTER Johnson signed his signature civil rights legislation into law. And the student riots of the same era followed a decade of fantasy-based investment in U.S. higher education and adulation of the youth of the country. As soon as the boomers were told how wonderful we were, we took to reveling and tearing down what had been painstakingly built through blood, sweat, toil, and tears.
And those two societal impulses are what we’re seeing die before our eyes, if we’re lucky, at the hands of the Tea Party and the cosmic law of what goes around comes around.
Both Big Man and X should be reported to the snitch site ( http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/join-attack-wire-today ) post haste for even having a conversation as such.
White guilt is extremely motivational, read what it has wrought in Wisconsin:
http://www.ceousa.org/content/view/929/119/
Word has it that X’s predecessors in the room have recommended soft pedaling the Obamacare “achievement”, so maybe the messaging is not so successful. currently, trying to sell the small stuff that has already gone into play as the whole bill and attacking anyone who says that worse is to come is the game plan. What are opponents doing?
wait until adolph hears about the loss of weiner’s seat
now the dems will really turn on each other. hard to see obama seeking a second term; just serving out this term will be a stretch for him.
for some reason, i have been feeling more disposed towards mitt the last couple of days…
“Your best messaging strategy is to shut up and do something useful and let other people talk about it.”
That seems to be exactly the advice George W. Bush followed during his second term. I think it will stand him well in the long term, which is why his reputation is already on the rebound. But as a short term strategy, it’s a killer.
That hypothetical meeting you characterize might as well be held in a bunker, just after the news has come that there are no more panzer divisions left.
“for some reason, i have been feeling more disposed towards mitt the last couple of days…”
So have I, and it’s for a very good reason. Mitt truly has been stellar in the debates, much more polished and, dare I say, Presidential, than he has ever appeared before, much better than he looked in 2008. He’s spent the last 4 years well.
It’s too late. An economy the size of America’s doesn’t turn on a dime. If teh won flipped to a pro growth, pro business agenda tomorrow, it would be the end of the year before measurable change would occur. Late next summer before the voters would see the improvements. Next fall before unemployment got back under 8%.
None of the jobs shipped overseas will be coming back. New jobs will have to be created. That requires Business AND government co-operating. Right now the government is trying to get more milk from the cow. The cow is looking for greener pastures. You cannot milk a moving cow. Trust me on that, those of you who have never milked a cow.
You guys can talk up Mitt all you want. Mitt as the nominee will be the death of the Pubs. Mitt will never repeal Obamacare, never take on the TBTF, never take on our regulatory mess, never take on the entitlements, never drill for oil, never take on China, never take on the Norks, and never take on Iran. In short, Mitt will never do the politically incorrect things necessary to bring back the economy and restore order to the world. That’s why I won’t and millions like me, won’t under any circumstances vote for Mitt. Mitt would represent just a continuation of the same political oligarchy that bought us this fine mess.
Stoi/14: “You cannot milk a moving cow.” I hope you laughed as hard when you wrote that as I did when reading it. Thanks, it sums up a whole lot of what we’re trying to deal with.
The dialogues provide a nice literary device, putting to word the competing thought processes of a DNC think tank. The hand of the literary can be scarcely seen in the pause.
“Barack Obama last night scorned the lack of leadership in the eurozone”
So perhaps the first act of the new president in 2013 ought to be a request to return the bust of Winston Churchill. That ought to set the tone nicely and should be easier than rescinding ObamaCare.
We are more often treacherous through weakness than through calculation. ~Francois De La Rochefoucauld
Perhaps Obama returned the bust to discourage Churchill worship. After all, Churchill was the author of the Gallipoli campaign that was nothing more than a giant paper shredder chewing up royal Marines for eight months, and his big idea in World War II was to attack Germany from the “soft underbelly of Europe” (aka Italy), the deadliest campaign for infantry in Western Europe, where the Allies were still slogging it out in Milan and Genoa on the day Hitler put a bullet in his brain.
oh come on, Teresita, Obama thinks “Gallipoli” is some kind of Mediterranean pasta. You’re way overthinking Obama’s Brit-hatred, which is rooted in nothing more than his fathers Kenyan adventures. The personal always outweighs the political and the responsible with this sad clown.
Marie Claude, if you’re reading – looks like SocGen is going to fail soon, along with the rest of the French economy. Don’t feel singled out, we’re all going along for the ride sooner or later.
Insiders began bailing out of SocGen this morning – look for some kind of recapilazation/nationalization in the next few days. Maybe they can hang on a few more weeks, even – no more than that.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/socgen-shares-plummet-no-news
Barack Obama last night scorned the lack of leadership in the eurozone
Whatever happened to the new style of “leading from behind”?
1. Hush. Stop giving the Donks good advice. They may take it and hang around to steal more.
2. How many Senate seats do the GOP have a reasonable shot at in 2012?
3. Republicans stopped looking for the New Nixon, who was the Old Nixon, and started looking for the New Reagan. Democrats are still torn between looking for the New FDR and the New Kingfish (just with different race baiting) instead of the New Clinton.
Teresita said:
Wow, you managed to conflate two world wars there.
Do you actually understand the specifics of the Dardanelles campaign that resulted in the attempts at Gallipoli?
(A certain Admiral should have had a “Damn the torpedoes” attitude!) (Yes, the loss of three capital ships is bad, but victory was within their grasp.)
Fantastic, and so intuitively obvious. Unfortunately, as X indicated, it’s probably just too late for the administration to change tack.
Obama returned Churchill’s bust because of the poor way he ran the world wars? Uh…okay. Or maybe because Churchill was the devil incarnate to Obama Senior and his generation of post colonial African Marxist grifters and potentates.
If this long island story of ours is to end at last let it end only when each one of us lies choking in his own blood . . .
I tried to add to this conversation by posting perhaps one of the less famous but still dramatic Churchill quotes, but a site filter or a bad Internet connection swallowed it up.
Terresita – “and his big idea in World War II was to attack Germany from the “soft underbelly of Europe”…the deadliest campaign for infantry in Western Europe”
I don’t know because I am not a be-medaled armchair meddler of history but what little I do know suggests, soft underbelly aside, is that the allies pursued Africa Corp into Southern Europe as part of the ebb and flow of battle and forces tied up there were meant to thwart an invasion of the continent. Italy was a putative member of the axis and if war were to destroy everything in its path too bad for the fascists, none the less, the re-interpreters of history caterwaul at the bombing of Monte Casino, a small feat compared to what might have been the bombing of Rome or Paris. Sometimes you can choose whether to fight or not but you cannot always choose what terrain you end up in over the course of a battle. We can look back at the campaign of Southern Europe and say it was a bad idea with bad commanders like General Mark Clark, but like “what-ifs” posed in chaos theory, you cannot be sure that alternate the outcome would have been that much better.
“Barack Obama last night scorned the lack of leadership in the eurozone”
The scorner in chief has blamed GWB, the Tsunami, the Tea Party, and now Europeans. This world is just not good enough for The Won. Obama has made another blunder here as well, doesn’t he know that when it comes to righteous indignation that is a European franchise? Tsk tisk.
The left wing mind is extremely rigid. Its strength, and its ability to impose its will on others comes from this. It has a sort of sub-mind, which allows for some maneuvering and adjustment when absolutely necessary.
But mostly it functions by brute force and relentless persistence. Something that can’t tolerate any intellectual examination can’t function any other way. Obama is first and by a large margin a megalomaniac, second a leftist ideologue, but in no measure a flexible thinker or even a wily politician. And neither is anyone else in his crew.
Make Believe Media/22: agree with your skeptical response to Teresita/18 on Churchill’s warfighting chops. I am no mil historian but I’ve read a little about Churchill and Gallipoli and my take is, yes, he was always looking for some slashing brilliant stroke and yes, he liked to play sailor and soldier (but give him credit for helping to bring the Royal Navy into the 20th century). So maybe Gallipoli was completely misconceived; but what I read says it was a bold idea with promise, executed too timidly and then prosecuted pointlessly after the lines hardened. Like most of the decisions of WW1 generals. The Allies came ashore with the advantage of surprise against almost no resistance. But instead of taking the high ground and pressing on toward Istanbul they sat on the beach and made tea. Ataturk made his bones by rallying the Turks and getting artillery onto the beach. The Brits were exposed and trapped. And then they kept pouring troops into the meat-grinder. Was that Churchill’s fault? He took the political bullet for it. For the next 20 years nobody wanted to know him. Thank God he stuck around.
When I first read Wretchard’s article I thought that it might be a excerpt from his upcoming political fantasy novel.
On a more serious note; yes, the scenario he depicted is what needs to happen in the DNC (and perhaps the RNC as well.) The big questions are will it ever happen, can it even happen?
…Like everything else, you wanted the appearance of being open minded. But in reality you’ve made your minds up. Power on your terms or no power for anyone at all…
And that describes the problem in a nutshell.
KRB
Jerry Brown
Jimmy Carter
Walter Mondale
… all tried to sell lowered expectations, back in the day
(the ghost of Jerry Brown has returned as current governor of Kalifornia 30 years later, whatever one wishes to make of that, I suppose that the big wheel of karma keeps on turning bringing back every bad idea eventually, here come the six-inch wide neckties …)
In other news:
Justin Bieber spoke to Life & Style magazine about his affinity for ladies’ jeans. “I’ve worn women’s jeans before because they fit me. It’s not a trend; it’s just, whatever works, works.”
That’s what we gals in the flannel-wearing set have said all along.
Doesn’t the President also wear women’s jeans?
15. Unsk
“In short, Mitt will never do the politically incorrect things necessary to bring back the economy and restore order to the world. That’s why I won’t and millions like me, won’t under any circumstances vote for Mitt. Mitt would represent just a continuation of the same political oligarchy that bought us this fine mess.”
I’m afraid this is right, that millions do think this way, despite Romney having published intentions to do most if not all of the things people just “know” he will never do.
It’s like there’s a prom coming up and they’re saving themselves for Prince Charming.
As indicative of just how deeply into the Obamazoid tank the Grey Lady Down is, as of 1240P EDT Wednesday 14th Sept, go try and find any reference on the NY Times online front page to the stunning NY9 Rethug upset without resorting to an electron microscope.
W raises an interesting idea. Gutting this leviathan isnt going to be pretty. A LOT of people’s oxen will not just be gored, but will die screaming bloody murder. See what happened in WI when they took some of the sweets out of the union baggie? Multiply that by 50 states and 500 constituencies. Who ever takes on this beast best have balls of steel.
He will truly have no friends.
Sure seems like 1979 again. I just wonder if Rick Perry is the new Reagan.
@herb The idea is to do it all at once but the get the Feds out of the way and do it one state at a time. Those states that don’t… well remember, people do “vote with their feet” as they say.
Tee , Let’s see:
• Romney has waffled on Obamacare and refused to admit Romneycare was a huge whopping mistake.
• Romney supported the bailouts and has not said to my knowledge what he would do to fix the TBTF.
• Romney has attacked Perry on SS “Ponzi Scheme’ comment. Perry spoke the truth; Mitt couldn’t handle it and just had to pander to the media.
• Romney has a history of opposing tax cuts. Actions count. Campaign words not so much.
• Romney supported Obama gutting bondholder rights in the GM/Chrysler bailout.
• Romney has not laid out a plan to fix the economy in his stump speeches. Why not? Don’t give me some 160 page book available only on Amazon. Serious people tell the truth in their stumps speeches and sell their plans. Their don’t refer to their experts like Obama, or their treatise on Amazon. To sell the people, a President must be a able to define the problem with economy in simple terms and proscribe a solution in those same simple terms. Besides the inability to sell that plan simply, the principle reason Politicians won’t lay out their plans is that means speaking some uncomfortable truths, many of which will upset the fashionable set and the media.
As Herb @ 35 said ‘Gutting the Leviathan isn’t going to be pretty.” That means a whole lot of powerful, entrenched special interests need to as Herb said have their ox gored. Romney has a history of appeasing those same special interests. Why would we expect that to change? Romney is a perfumed Prince of the Castle. His whole political career has been compromising with/or protecting the special interests. Why go though all the pain, suffering and agony of storming the Castle just to install another Prince of the established Aristocracy that wants you to be banished to serfdom forever?
Gutting this leviathan isnt going to be pretty. A LOT of people’s oxen will not just be gored, but will die screaming bloody murder.
I’ve likened it to a minefield, fraught with unintended consequences when one program or another is tackled for downsizing or elimination. It’s not only going to require courage, but also cunning and subterfuge.
To do this right will also take time; “shock therapy” may sound attractive to many BC’ers, but it would be foolhardy except in cases of imminent collapse. The right balance between incrementalism (too little, and too easy to reverse) and draconian (resistance would be very high) has to be struck. The other challenge is that it requires ideological continuity. Since it will likely take more than two presidential terms to substantially reduce the federal government, the GOP, or other smaller-government third party, must field winning candidates to succeed an existing GOP president and Congress. Remember that G.H.W. Bush (Mr. “Kinder and Gentler”), killed Reaganism in less than four years.
At this point, I’d say bad news would be a successful primary challenge to Obama.
We’ve got Obama licked but it is possible a creditable Democrat could get the nomination.
But who? John Bolton did a great takedown in NRO of US foreign policy under Obama and by extension Hillary Clinton. I’d say we have her beat just on foreign policy although her domestic policy is not that far from the general Democrat line which is also beatable.
Any other Democrat we should worry about? This Manchin Democrat senator from WV has been willing to play RINO to get elected. Jerry Brown might try but is implausible. Other ideas?
Unsk @ 15 said:
“Mitt will never repeal Obamacare, never take on the TBTF, never take on our regulatory mess, never take on the entitlements, never drill for oil, never take on China, never take on the Norks, and never take on Iran. In short, Mitt will never do the politically incorrect things necessary to bring back the economy and restore order to the world.”
I agree with this analysis.
Thrasymachus @ 28 said:
“The left wing mind is extremely rigid. … But mostly it functions by brute force and relentless persistence. Something that can’t tolerate any intellectual examination can’t function any other way.”
Along this line, refer to the following as an example of how the Left deludes itself (the MSM at work):
http://www.tnr.com/blog/timothy-noah/94901/o-lucky-man
herb @ 35 said:
“Gutting this leviathan isn’t going to be pretty. A LOT of people’s oxen will not just be gored, but will die screaming bloody murder. … Who ever takes on this beast best have balls of steel. He will truly have no friends.”
We have to starve the beast. Socialism, Cold War legacy and old fashioned corruption are killing America.
Herb is correct. Whoever takes on this monster will be hated while he’s doing it. The MSM will rain lies, manure and defamation on the hapless patriot who dares to take on the beast. However, I believe Rick Perry has the balls and grit to do this. He’ll be hated as President but if successful, they’ll build a monument to Perry that’s bigger and better than Roosevelt’s.
Actual work and humility are not these people’s strong points. Their schtick is talk glibly, act like they know everything and blame everyone else when it inevitably fails. Doing what X suggests would be like Jerry Lewis trying to do “Hamlet”.
Has to be done from the top down and quickly. Legislatively.Chain saws and C4. Weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and rending of garments. A Biblical plague of Freedom. There may be some collapses but the fascist alternative is worse. See Argentina. Pre-Peron, it was the richest and most advanced country in SA.
One state at a time wont work. Too many things laid on from DC, too feeble a base in many of the states. Small battles would intimidate the state assemblies.
Do I think it’ll happen? nah.
herb @ 43 said:
“Do I think it’ll happen? nah.”
Socialism is a classic “monkey trap”. Hopefully we are smarter than monkeys. I hope we will let go of the banana in the gourd before we have our brains bashed in.
By all indications, as most of us know, we’re dealing with a psychologically unstable individual. To keep expecting him to change course, triangulate, move to the center a la Bill or realize his mistakes, is futile. I’m starting to feel sorry for the people who bleat pathetically “If he would only….” He not only won’t, he can’t. There is something broken in this man and it’s beyond repair.
America is not beyond repair.
Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) join Don Wade & Roma
Listen to this Dog and Pony Show out of Schakowsky:
http://www.wlsam.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.wlsam.com/Article.asp?id=2285433&spid=17424
Amazing, but an indication how folk are going to have to “run away” from Obama in 2012.
45. Lucy: I don’t want him to change, I want him to keep pushing the plane into the ground. I don’t want any chance for his reelection. Please Wretchard, stop giving him good advice, he might use it out of desperation.
43. herb: I agree, it has to be immediate and deep. It will take time for the changes to bear fruit and you want it ripening just before the next election. The logical step, to me anyway, is to eliminate the federal offices that state agencies can handle more efficiently. Eliminate the FEDERAL Department of Education which does not educate a single child and costs 49 billion. There certainly won’t be a lot of sympathy for a building full of lawyers (sorry sis). The three key moves are returning power to states, eliminating overburdonsome regulations on businesses and reforming taxes and entitlements. Yank that bandaid off and allow the wounds to heal before the next election cycle.
@45 Lucy:
I like your take. It’s like the touchy-feely types that get all weepy over the thugs in the prison system. “If only they had (blank) all would be well.” No, it’s not going to be well because anyone with eyes and brain can see they’re barely human beings. They don’t even exist in the same moral universe as the rest of us. They won’t change and the effort expended to make them change could be better used in other, more fruitful endeavors. That’s Barry in a nutshell. There’s no sense in hoping he’ll change because he won’t. Best just to get him the hell out of there and get someone else in there.
It could be done in 120 days. They’d never know what hit em. But its a fantasy.
27. Annoy Mouse
WRT soft underbellies …
It was political softness that the Brits saw.
And so it was: el Duce was ejected…
The new government surrendered to the Allies — all of them — particularly on the Eastern Front.
It was THAT surrender that triggered the Soviet advance to Kiev. Forget Kursk. The super debacle in the Summer of 43 was the Italian surrender.
The net effect: 1 Panzer Army deployed to Italy ( taking 1SS and 2SS away from the Eastern Front ) — so much for Germany’s strategic reserve. Then the loss of an entire Axis Army — which had to be replaced — pronto. Then the loss of an entire German Infantry Army — the fellows enveloped by the Soviet surge — unable to get back fast enough.
This was the decisive moment when the Russians went from barely hanging on — to a complete dominance in the East. Army Group South never recovered from the hammer blow — from a battle that was never fought. The Italians simply handed over their guns to the Russians — with no notice to the Germans.
This passes for common knowledge in Italy. However, it is suppressed in all Western and Soviet accounts.
So much for straight history.
38. Unsk
Romney’s whole political career, besides running for offices, is all of about four years, total. His plan is in pdf form right on his website. There are points on further domestic drilling, being tougher on China, reducing regulatory burdens, and plenty of other things.
He was Governor of Mass. when health care reform was a major state issue gaining momentum, and I lived there then. The state is wide open to immigrants and very liberal with benefits, often perfectly in sync. Romneycare as proposed by Romney might have had an effect on reducing overall state spending, and we’ll never know because Congress took that ball and ran away with it, adding dental, covering immigrants, raising the income thresholds for qualifying, and overriding vetoes. Predictable. Everyone knows what the problem is in Mass.; there is no sense in pinning it to any Republican.
A Ponzi scheme is illusory and fraudulent and designed to collapse. Social Security is a social program designed to provide a basic benefit to qualifying persons, indefinitely. I am sure that Rick Perry does, in fact, know the difference very well, but likes the punch of “Ponzi Scheme” to prove some point. And stands by it. That tells me, okay, he has balls, and he’s steadfast, and takes liberties with the “truth”, and that he just lost some potential voters…to what end?
herb @ 35 said:
“Gutting this leviathan isn’t going to be pretty. A LOT of people’s oxen will not just be gored, but will die screaming bloody murder. … Who ever takes on this beast best have balls of steel. He will truly have no friends.”
Gutting the leviathan also has the interesting side effect of defunding the left, as they subsist on the public dollar. A sufficiently motivated Tea Party backed new president could repeal JFK’s Executive Order allowing federal workers to organize. Shut down the federal dollars to the EPA, FDA, USF%WS & NASA for green and enviro games, and you neuter the greens. A rolling reorganization of cabinet departments will allow a complete house cleaning of all Obama appointees and hires. Of course you start with repealing ObamaCare, Dodd – Frank, Sarbanes – Oxley, and the Endangered Species Act
Immediately roll back spending to FY2007 minus the cuts above while repealing the 1974 Congressional Budget Act and you will end the perpetually increasing baseline as a congressional spending ploy. A cut will be a real cut rather than a decrease in an expected increase in spending every year.
The Gingrich led House blinked when they refused to defund the left. And they had the opportunity. Cheers -
#14 stoicheion
It’s too late. An economy the size of America’s doesn’t turn on a dime. If teh won flipped to a pro growth, pro business agenda tomorrow, it would be the end of the year before measurable change would occur. Late next summer before the voters would see the improvements. Next fall before unemployment got back under 8%.
None of the jobs shipped overseas will be coming back. New jobs will have to be created. That requires Business AND government co-operating. Right now the government is trying to get more milk from the cow. The cow is looking for greener pastures. You cannot milk a moving cow. Trust me on that, those of you who have never milked a cow.
I AM stealing the line about the cow. That said, it is actually worse for Obama [and us, not that he cares]. Consider. Let us say that you are Joe Kulak, hated business owner and employer. After 3 years of “regime uncertainty” trying very hard to become active “regime risk”, Teh Won suddenly proclaims that he loves businessmen, profits, and capitalism. And that he intends to craft policies to help businesses and impose them by Executive Order.
Are you, Joe Kulak, going to believe him when he says it? Not if you are smart enough to stay in business you aren’t. Are you going to believe it if he actually starts issuing those Executive Orders? I rather doubt it.
The going around settled law and the Constitution that is the hallmark of the Democrats does not disappear down the memory hole just because it would benefit the Left if it were so. Joe Kulak may not know Chinese history, or about the “100 Flowers Campaign”; but he is going to know that just as the Democrats have acted arbitrarily and outside the law before, that any magic Executive Orders would be more of the same. And that as soon as he does something that makes him vulnerable, that Obama and the Democrats can change the Orders at whim.
No one will start to do a bloody thing until they feel safe. And at the earliest that is going to be January 2013.
Subotai Bahadur
Well, in 2013 we have this to worry about:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904353504576567460396287134.html?mod=rss_opinion_main
and this:
http://joannenova.com.au/2011/09/major-drop-in-solar-activity-predicted-little-ice-age
(Well, that last one more long term, but we might be seeing some of the effects during the winter of 2012/2013.)
51/Tee & 38/Unsk
Romney would be a “Phillip Dru, Administrator” that would make Col. House proud…
41/Eggplant
There is no question about Rick Perry’s toughness for the task. The problem, which you don’t realize, is that he has no intention of doing so. He’s too much a creature of the globalist insiders, and will do their bidding on the truly big issues that are their priority.
If you do a little research into the Trans Texas Corridor you will find all you need to know about where Perry’s ultimate loyalty will lie.
That said, he is my second choice and I will vote for him, because of his good qualities, and because, despite all, there is always hope. However, I will do so with no illusions.
#43 herb:
“A Biblical plague of Freedom.”
As good as Stoicheon’s line about milking a moving cow might be, I’m giving this one even higher marks (no offense, Stoicheon).
Because for a leftist, that’s how a freedom surge appears.
Well done.
Every argument I’ve heard for Romney and against (any conservative’s name here) was used before in favor of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Same wrapper outside; same RINO goo inside.
If the GOP takes this freebie provided courtesy of the Tea Party volunteers and uses it to put RINO’s in the White House and as usual, all key positions of Congressional power, that will be at best a 2 year gig. Then there will be chaos, a third party, and something other than a two-party political environment featuring the GOP.
If Romney wins, he’ll be the last GOP leader for a very long time. The GOP nationally will fare worse than the near-non-existent GOP in California, which has been all about “compromise” and “moderation” ever since Reagan left office.
Arnie and Mitt – two of a kind – same lack of integrity – same results.
I’ve lived this. I know who Mitt Romney is.
Sorry, Wretchard but I mus disagree. The democratic party and Obama is not in any deep trouble this election season,or perhaps I should say Obam is not, regardless of what happens to the democrats. Consider: Obama needs only 270 electoral college votes to win. He can get that by winning 20 states with large populations (California, NY, Florida, etc;) that traditionally vote democrat.
He has plenty of money to spend, and can rely on the votes of the 45% or so of the population who work for the governement or depend on government largess to one degree or another. Add in overwhelming media support, and no scruples about cheating and I would say Obama’s re-election is assured. That being so, why does he need the democrats? On the contrary, they need him, or at least they need the money he can give them.
Since the topic has been covered will I just add my two bits. Watch out for the unexpected from 0bama and his cronies. Anything can happen because 0bama will not be challenged in by any democrat. 0bama is just too entrenched and powerful.
Also, watch out for the expected disguised as the unexpected. This would come in the form of more tax and spend “cram-down” legislation dressed as a something completely different. Watch out for 11th hour legislation (and the usually weekend mid-night sneak-ins). Watch out for the racial warfare or class warfare waged by proxy.
For the average Joe the European financial turmoil reduces the competition on the US dollar and makes for a good opportunity to sell into the rallies. Get into cash and gold. It is going to be a long 14 months.
Why Obama Is Losing the Jewish Vote
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904353504576568710341742174.html
Interesting article by Dan Senor
51. Tee
“A Ponzi scheme is illusory and fraudulent and designed to collapse. Social Security is a social program designed to provide a basic benefit to qualifying persons, indefinitely. I am sure that Rick Perry does, in fact, know the difference very well, but likes the punch of “Ponzi Scheme” to prove some point. And stands by it. That tells me, okay, he has balls, and he’s steadfast, and takes liberties with the “truth”, and that he just lost some potential voters…to what end?”
Let’s add a tad more truth while we’re at it shall we?
A Ponzi scheme is optional – if you’re stupid, like the suckers born everyday that seem to proliferate the financial and banking systems of this country, you get to “opt out” of it.
The difference between a Ponzi Scheme and SS is simple – you are “forced” by the government to participate in their Ponzi Scheme. No Choice.
British victories between 6/1940 (Dunkirk) and 10/1942 (El Alamein):
Battle of Britain (Aug-Sep 1940)
Defeat of Italians in Libya (Dec 1940-Feb 1941)
Liberation of Ethiopia (Feb-Apr 1941)
Suppression of Rashid Ali rebellion in Iraq Mar (1941)
Takeover of French Syria (Apr-May 1941)
First defeat of Afrika Korps (Nov-Dec 1941)
Also, while Gallipoli damage Churchill’s career for a while, he recovered and was back in the Cabinet by 1918. Then in the 1920s, he was Chancellor of the Excheque after rejoining the Conservative Party. (As he said at the time, “Anyone can rat, but it takes a certain ingenuity to re-rat.”
No Mo uro:
Thanks
@35. herb
W raises an interesting idea. Gutting this leviathan isn’t going to be pretty. A LOT of people’s oxen will not just be gored, but will die screaming bloody murder. See what happened in WI when they took some of the sweets out of the union baggie? Multiply that by 50 states and 500 constituencies. Who ever takes on this beast best have balls of steel.
Although it cannot happen, I’d love to see John Bolton as President. I believe he has those steely balls.