The Co-candidates
When USA Today reported that Romney supporters were deliberately tuning out the published polls showing him falling ever further behind Barack Obama observers should have seen it as a warning that one the pillars of American political legitimacy was about to collapse.
A shared belief in the unimpeachability of certain institutions is the keystone of political legitimacy. The most obvious example is the electoral process and the courts. The media — along with associated institutions like the academy and Hollywood — are lesser, but similar examples. If the public don’t ‘believe’ in their judgments then all hope for a suspension of the political season until the next campaign are lost.
Maybe even the phrase “next campaign” is obsolete. Today’s campaign never ends. Harlan Ullman, writing a guest editorial for the UPI says that modern political campaigns never come to a halt. The United States has now entered the era of the ‘perpetual campaign’. It is all spin, all the time.
This is disorienting to an older generation whose standard of truth was that “it’s in the papers” or “it’s on TV”. In those days the media had the aura of automatic truthfulness. That reputation is now sadly tarnishd. Even the movies are now regarded as propaganda. A new film arguing against domestic oil production — like this anti-Fracking movie — turn out to be partly paid for by Middle Eastern potentates. What has it come to when you can’t even trust your favorite actor? If we “wake the f*** up” are we still in Kansas?
Christopher Horner in a forthcoming book titled The Liberal War on Transparency argues that lies are now big business. Honesty has served its purpose for liberals. Having used it to defeat their enemies to come within sight of what they believe is a permanent majority they now have a vested interest in spin and secrecy.
Now that transparency threatens liberals’ use of government and other taxpayer-financed institutions, it is a problem to rein in; we’ve started asking questions and obtaining embarrassing answers, meaning the wrong kind of people are using transparency laws to the wrong ends. Other voices have also entered the political debate. Thanks to transparency and a more engaged public the liberal agenda is being impeded, and passage of laws they disfavor is made more likely. So the threat liberals now see is not misuse of public institutions, including publicly funded universities, a key ally in designing and expanding liberal government. Instead, the threat is exposure of how these institutions are being used, and the ability to spread the word of these abuses far and wide …
This book relates my own experience and the experience of others with this campaign to deny access to information about the activities of government, to bar access for those people viewed as a threat to what one character repeatedly called “the cause,” just one of many causes liberals use government and academia to advance. I relate these experiences to expose how liberals are trying to stop us from seeing what else they are up to, and how to take them on.
Douglas McKinnon, writing for Investors.com put it succinctly: “the media are a real threat to security”. How could that be? The reason, as Lord Acton a 19th century British politician might have put it is that “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The media/academic/entertainment complex now jointly wields with the liberal left an enormous amount of power. And as per Acton it is now almost inevitably corrupt.
The media is part of the political system now; part of the spoils game too and sadly, part of the process of putting in “the fix”. The unavoidable consequence of this is that beneath the smokescreen of the formal Presidential election the media is also running for re-election just like any other candidate.
The institution that has been called the Fourth Branch of Government wants a new mandate. And though it will get one even with a Romney victory, it get a far bigger one under Barack Obama. The media is not on the ballot, but they are the running mates of Barack Obama in a much more meaningful sense that Joseph Biden.
Maybe it would be better to group the media companies into parties so that if the one party wins, the associated ticket of media entities getting the highest number of votes gets 70% of the access by law and the losing media ticket 30%. That would make the press no more honest than most politicians. But like politicians at least you could remove them from office every four years.
Belmont Commenters
How to Publish on Amazon’s Kindle for $2.99
The Three Conjectures at Amazon Kindle for $1.99
Storming the Castle at Amazon Kindle for $3.99
No Way In at Amazon Kindle $8.95, print $9.99
In a similar vein to this post:
ABC has a series called “Scandal”
http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/scandal/video/PL55126743/_m_VD55187870#http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/scandal/video/PL55126743/_m_VD55187870
The show is about a team of operatives and lawyers whose job it is to cover up the scandals of powerful politicians and their freinds and families, so that they might continue governing unimpeded.
I refuse to watch this show because of the disgraceful presmise. It is of a piece with the sentiments experessed above by Wetchard.
And the doctored clip of Romney and Ryan? Words fail me.
I don’t get it – am I supposed to change my vote because of the most recent poll? I understand the psych-ops effect on the weak-minded undecided voters, but I can’t imagine that a Romney supporter would vote for Obama because “The One” is ahead according to Rasmussen.
It’a not news it’s information warfare. Been saying that for decades.
Since campaigning never ends, doesn’t the British system of having the PM, President in our case, meet publicly with the opposition to publicly defend his policies make much more sense? It would be a lot more entertaining at least?
The US media is an embarassment. Why on Earth would Romney agree to having a debate where the moderators are already in the other camp? He should insist on direct debates, Lincoln – Douglas style with impartial moderators who would only keep time and propose subjects. Not, “Mr Romney, the President has been making great progress on rebuilding our economy and will solve all the world’s problems if only given another term. How does your vision for America differ?”
How about, “subject: Free enterprise of Socialism: which makes most sense for America and why?” And have ONE topic per debate so it could be fully discussed and not a battle of sound bites.
And for God’s sake spare me the “boxers or briefs” bullcrap. Who cares?
It is of a piece with the sentiments experessed above by Wetchard.
Uhhh . . . I didn’t mean to imply that these were W’s sentiments. I meant that he was making points that the ABC show relates to, if obliquely.
Ezra Levant of Canadian Sun News regularly talks about “The Media Party” and their habit of broadcasting only the news that fits their agenda. They hide news that doesn’t fit their agenda. The Media Party operates in Canada and the U.S. and in the U.K., for the leftist camp. I assume it operates in other Western countries and has a similar agenda.
I guess that PJM, Hotair, Sun News, Fox News and other outfits or blogs represent “The Non-LSM Party”. Apparently to every Media Party there’s an equal and opposite reaction, the consequences of which are as yet unknown.
I remember reading about old time reports like Jimmy Breslin who routinely bellied up to the local New York bars to hang with guys in the neighborhood. These guys started out as beat writers and worked their way up. Now we have people like Barbara Walters who go on the view and pretend to expouse on current politics all the while retreating to their multi-million dollar penthouses filled with millions of dollars in art.
I have no problem with talking heads making money but it just seems to me that the more money they made the further they got from their audience. In the movie The Insider, we get to see how Mike Wallace, the man and not the journalist deals with a moral dilemma. When he had his chance to “speak truth to the man” he sided with corporate lawyers. Then again when Westmoreland sued him and CBS, Wallace revealed that he had serious depression and admitted to Morley Safer that he contemplated sucide.
Funny how journalist have no problem “sticking it to the man” when the man doesn’t have good lawyers or boatloads of cash. Unfortunately, my opinion is that it’s really all our fault. Someone is watching them. Just like print and TV media keep airing Kim Kardishian, a woman who’s claim to fame is having a sex tape “leaked” to the internet. Who watches these people. Not me, but a lot of people are and apparently they vaule their opinion…or at least like to watch them have sex.
I keep saying, if you think what the Internet has done to the mainstream media is something, wait until you see what it does to mainstream politics!
This is why the pre-Cold War arrangement of two or more dailies in each major town, each representing a distinct political view, was so much healthier for the republic. After Watergate, the media started fancying itself as the “fourth estate.” They are careful not to use that label anymore, but they saw the opportunity to grasp power after 1973, and they’ve been riding the tiger ever since. Now the urban mono dailies (as Mark Steyn calls them) are dying along with the brief hold on power. The press should be partisan. It should bicker. There should be no monopolies on information.
It seems to be also very disorienting to a new generation of voters as per Martha Irvine of AP:
“What a difference four years can make. In 2008, college campuses were filled with campaign posters and political rallies _ and frenzy. Remember “Obamamania?” This year, it’s difficult to find a college student who’s truly excited about the presidential race.”
http://tinyurl.com/8crfv35
Maybe she’s on to something …meaningful.
SF
Sadly, watching the above clip, I wasn’t even surprised. I caught myself just sighing. I was speaking with a good friend of mine who is very active for Republicans (I’d rate myself actively engaged, but she puts me to shame). We got on the topic of the deep running anger simmering below the surface at the lies and more damn lies – there are times when I have to back away from the radio, the tv or the computer because I get these surges of anger. However, the upshot of that is it makes me more determined to take ‘em down through the ballot. I’m also finding my teeth are starting to hurt from grinding….
Today’s campaign never ends
I love campaign, especially French campaign, but sometimes you’ve just got to put a cork in it
10. Knight1
There are millions of us feeling the same way.
Washington DC and neighboring counties are about the one place where houses are worth more than they were in 2007. It’s an area where per capita income has grown while the rest of the nation struggles. We work for them. They are bad bosses. They make fun of us to our faces. We should go on strike.
In 2008 I described the “DC Power Circuit” to my Democrat friends when they wanted to talk politics. The DC Power Circuit includes Politicians, Lobbyists, big business, big banks, Big Bureaucracy, the Government Unions, Trial Lawyers, Academia (Ivy League especially) and, of course, the Media. They are jealous of their power. They favor the creation of Cartels run by the Power Circuit (Obamacare is a Cartel). It is interesting that Romney — who would only bring some competent management to the operation — is seen as such a threat. It shows how reliant on incompetence they’ve become.
I call the process at work endoltment. They are not born dolts. For them becoming a dolt requires an ongoing act of will. They individually aspire to join an elite where endoltment has spread like a zombie virus, leaving the whole class believing they are the enlightened ones. To maintain the illusion they must ignore contrary evidence — and isolate contrary opinion. They must insult their own intelligence before they insult ours. That “dirty trick” video may well be them hearing what they want to hear and seeing what they want to see — and not for the first time (that day, even). Endoltment is a progressive process. It requires those who suffer from the progressive dis-ease to spread it. When the entire world has achieved endoltment they believe their minds will be at peace — and, of course, at large and in charge.
From Commentary:
“Media Shocked GOP Hasn’t Conceded”
[reference is to a story in Politico]
“For the media to declare the race over and to start covering the campaign from the frame of reference of whether Republicans are coming to terms with their inevitable defeat takes media bias to new levels of self-parody.
Make no mistake about it: having to cope with this level of distorted coverage is a handicap for the Republicans. A docile and adoring press is a major asset for President Obama, and anyone who doesn’t think it has helped him hasn’t been paying attention. But when journalists start pushing the envelope in the manner of this Politico story, it ought to worry Democrats. Media bias only works to the advantage of liberals when it is done in a manner that can be represented, however falsely, as objective. Once liberal scribes start jumping the shark, as they have done in this case, it discredits the entire enterprise. More to the point, it helps feed a backlash that can both anger and motivate conservatives to greater efforts.”
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/09/25/media-shocked-gop-hasnt-conceded-liberal-media-bias-romney/
“The United States has now entered the era of the ‘perpetual campaign’. It is all spin, all the time.”
Campaigns have limited lives; when politics is something that is indulged in between peacefully making a living and a life. When the legitimacy of the political system breaks down [How many here believe that it is quite possible that either the results of the election will be falsified, the election stands a chance of being cancelled, or that the Left may well refuse to yield power if they lose? Or that there are two very different legal systems for those favored and those disfavored? Your trust in the legitimacy of the political system is not complete, which means its illegitimacy has to be considered part of the equation. ], the struggle for power becomes constant and it is a war. The means will more and more closely approach the brute force approach that precedes the establishment of a political system. Pure Power is the means, and the goal.
Most of the people I know have long accepted that this election is but a turning point on a very long and dangerous road.
Subotai Bahadur
On Fox News they showed a shocking bit of manipulation last Sunday. I believe it was MSNBC that showed a dinner conversation in which Mitt Romney was talking to a small group of people. Mitt was saying that it was absurd to believe that there would ever be peace in the Middle East.
Shocking! Romney does not belive in Peace!
But what they did not show was Mitt then going on to say, “Therefore, it is absurd for us to keep pressuring the Israelis to make concessions. The answer is American strength and support of Israel. And eventually perhaps the Palistinians will realize that they want peace, too.”
This is not mere incompetence. This is studied, planned, deliberate corruption. TV news should not have the same degree of veracity as a car commercial.
But last night I had a pleasant surprise. A lady, a neighbor, came to my door taking a survey as to who I would vote for if the election was held today. I said “Did you notice the bumper stickes on my cars?” She said she had not. I told her they were Romney stickers and that was who I was voting for.
After a bit more chatting I told her I was interested in volunteering to drive people to the polls on election day. She said she knew that the local Republican HQ had been receiving inquiries. She asked if I was willing to just carry people locally or over the whole county. I said I would be willing to go anywhere and do it all day. She thanked me and gave me a “Don’t Tread On Me” medallion.
In 2008 I saw a number of Obama signs in people’s yards around the neighborhood, including some in locations that surprised me, given the apparent affluence of the homes. This time I see none at all. I see a very few Obama bumper stickers. I see plenty of Romney signs and bumper stickers.
This may turn out like Iraq, people. Even if the forces of evil do triumph in the end we will have had a Great Awakening. Next time I see my neighbor perhaps I’ll ask her if she owns a gun and wants to go do some shooting at the local pistol range.
dla @ asked:
“I don’t get it – am I supposed to change my vote because of the most recent poll? I understand the psych-ops effect on the weak-minded undecided voters, but I can’t imagine that a Romney supporter would vote for Obama because “The One” is ahead according to Rasmussen.”
The MSM’s goal is to so utterly demoralize conservatives that they will tune out the whole political process and allow Obama to win by default.
In terms of being demoralized, they’ve succeeded with me. However I will definitely be voting for Romney in November and urge everyone else to do the same!
Also, don’t believe the nonsense that the polls are wrong. Gallup and Rasmussen are reliable polls. Those polls indicate that Romney is in trouble. I knew that we as a nation were in serious trouble when no viable Republican candidates could displace Romney during the primary elections. It was obvious from the beginning that Romney didn’t have the horsepower to take on a demagogue like Obama while bucking the vile MSM.
There is only one tiny silver lining in this dismal picture: It’s dead certain that in the next 4 years TSHTF. In fact, it’s probable that the TSHTF within one year (maybe within 4 months). The “silver lining” is that whoever gets elected President has the honor of being captain of the Titanic and receiving the blame. It’s no wonder that no one but Romney was able to win the Republican nomination. All the competent guys wanted nothing to do with process until after TSHTF.
All this election really boils down to is the flavor of excrement after the TSHTF, i.e. Will it be horse, pig, human or platypus excrement? What ever it is, we’re going to have big heaping mouthfuls of it in a matter of months.
p.s. It’s interesting that the stock market collapse due to Lehman Brothers occurred at precisely the right time to insure McCain’s defeat. It’s also interesting that QE-3 guaranteed that the stock markets would not collapse prior to the general election. The collapse of the stock markets was supposed to be the ultimate insurance against Obama’s reelection. Is the Fed/PPT actively manipulating the markets to bring socialism to America?
The MSM and their pols (Dem respondents +9%, etc) have now boxed themselves in, and have no choice but to rachet up the Obama agit-prop to Eleven.
Because imagine if, after all these polls, Romney still wins. (As I dearly hope and is still quite likely.) One imagines that there could be something akin to a physical reckoning in their future, as millions of Americans would not be able to escape the reality that they (MSM) have been Democratic soldiers full stop. And willing, not to “spin”, not to “exaggerate”, not to “report selectively”…. but to LIE, forthrightly and unashamedly, as NBC has LIED, both with the Zimmerman tape, and now this Romney-Ryan rally. Lie. LIE. Flat out LIE to us. With full malice aforethought.
(The idea that they could actually be setting us up for violence and racial and civil unrest by the shock to the system they will be fully responsible for bringing about, by selling millions of Americans a false reality about the state of the campaign, is a whole other ball game entirely. Shall I even mention the under-bus throwing of the entire right of free speech when it comes to jihadists, both Islamic and Progressive?)
For these reasons alone entirely, the MSM cannot afford to see a Romney victory happen. They are down too deep, and there is no coming back. So it will just get worse and worse over the next five weeks, and more and more of us will turn our backs on them for the rest of our lives, quite likely.
And voting this November, not “against Obama”, not “for Romney”, but against these putrescent corrupters of vast swaths of our media, these so-called “journalists” et al, would be doing a world of service to Western Civilization as a whole.
Just clicked over to the Pat Caddell (Jimmy Carter’s pollster, FWIW) video that was posted a few minutes ago. It’s well worth watching.
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/09/28/video-the-media-have-become-an-enemy-of-the-american-people/
I don’t get it – am I supposed to change my vote because of the most recent poll?
Many, it seems, derive a sense of power and validation for having cast their ballot for the winner. Policies and politics has little to do with their choice. Many independents openly declare their satisfaction for having voted for the winning candidate.
Mark Twain (Following the Equator, 1897):
“The old saw says, ‘Let sleeping dogs lie.’ Right. Still when there is much at stake it is better to get a newspaper to do it.”
(And don’t forget, Twain was at one time a newspaper reporter, so he’s speaking from experience.)
RWE @ 16 said:
“In 2008 I saw a number of Obama signs in people’s yards around the neighborhood, including some in locations that surprised me, given the apparent affluence of the homes. This time I see none at all. I see a very few Obama bumper stickers.”
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area which is insanely liberal. In 2008, almost everyone had an Obama bumper sticker on their car. As of right now, Obama 2012 bumper stickers are very rare in the Bay Area. Of course, this does not mean that Romney is winning in the Bay Area (Unfortunately, Obama will win in Northern California by a landslide). It only means that Romney is such an unpopular candidate that he could not defeat a President who is arguably the least competent to hold office since James Buchanan.
Our choices are Bozo the Clown versus Captain Kangaroo. Truth to tell, I wish Captain Kangaroo was alive and running because he’d be a better option than either Obama or Romney.
It’s strange that there are plenty of patriots willing to risk their lives fighting against the Taliban but there were no competent/patriotic politicians willing to defeat Obama.
“). It only means that Romney is such an unpopular candidate that he could not defeat a President who is arguably the least competent to hold office since James Buchanan. ”
bullsh@t
+1 Andrew X
The lib media complex has been setting the country up for a head-on collision with reality for a long time…But reality always wins in the end.
They’ve created not just a crisis of legitimacy, but the continuum of their agitprop has crossed the Rubicon to ruin the world outside their power-mongering fantasy construct.
They have collectively proven to be the enemy of the lives, liberties, properties, and happiness of the American people and I hope to see the day when each and every one of the f*&ers is relegated to wallowing away the remainder of their meager little lives in the very gutters they intend for us. Penniless and powerless.
They have proven that there is no depth they are unwilling to plumb in service of their political partners. I suspect that they will continue to double down on their BS in increasingly desperate hopes of keeping reality at bay for just a little longer. In so doing they will work overtime to drag us all even deeper into the depths of their mire.
A pox on their houses.
I hope they fail.
The mainstream media are lost to us, as are most of what Codevilla called the ruling class. Somehow or another, we have got to take it all back – against the wishes of the new aristos -
http://www.ncobrief.com/index.php/archives/ruination/
No matter how long it takes. Otherwise, the grand and wonderful American experiment dies.
”The media is part of the political system now … ”
”The US media is an embarassment.”
I ask again: when did ”media” become singular (ditto for ”data”)? And since it is clearly still a collective noun—referring to more than one form, eg movies, radio, etc—what if you’re only talking about a particular one?
”For example, a movie is one example of a communications …. (what?)”
Or if you do need a plural: ”Movies, radio, newspapers, magazines, and email (fill in the verb here, please) how humans communicate over large distances.”
Who decides these things? Where one day I wake up and read ”data is …” and ”media is …”?
What the hell is this!!!???
PS: and bless you, Sgt. Mom!
Eggplant #22:
“It’s strange that there are plenty of patriots willing to risk their lives fighting against the Taliban but there were no competent/patriotic politicians willing to defeat Obama.”
That’s because you are allowed to shoot the Taliban. Also bomb, rocket, shell, and strafe them. If you had to talk them to death while allowing them to lie all they want, and that was all, fighting them would be much less popular.
That reminds me, I need to get that order for an M-1 off to the CMP.
Why the hell do people keep drinking from the poisoned well? Whining about the enemy press does no good if you keep paying the rat-bastards! Ditch your cable/dish if they won’t give you a legacy media-free package. Stop buying the damn newspapers. Get off your duff and find your own news. Support the new media that you find to be worth supporting. Put the state news service behind you and don’t look back. Read books. Exercise. Build a doghouse and plant a container garden. There’s plenty of objective news at your fingertips, and there are billions of exciting, fulfilling, worthwhile things to do which don’t require you to pay the salaries of liars, racists, bigots and thieves.
RWE @ 28:
“… need to get that order for an M-1 off to the CMP.”
Do it quick. All the “Correct Grade” M-1s are sold out.
Off Topic: Apparently the USAF is going to consolidate X-37 operations exclusively from Kennedy. One would think Vandenberg to be a better place for doing black work. Maybe the USAF wants to utilize all of that surplus Shuttle capability? Is it possible that they want to close Vandenberg? That doesn’t follow since they still need to shoot Minutemen and D-5s at Kwajalein.
RWE & Eggplant – To misquote Patton “OpSec, OpSec, toujours Opsec” (Operational Security). Don’t tell ‘em what you have or what you’re gonna get, unless they have need to know.
4. SpeakEasy “The US media is an embarassment. Why on Earth would Romney agree to having a debate where the moderators are already in the other camp?”
Good question. My theory is that a secret agency has been blackmailing candidates ever since the Kennedys ruined democracy. It’s a way of keeping them honest (and obedient) until someone decides what to do with this planet. Therefore Romney can’t go his own way, or he’ll end up scandalized out of the running. His buddy Paul Ryan would help see to that, or perhaps an old “girlfriend” would suddenly recall an affair that they had… Better yet, let’s make it a boyfriend…
Eggplant #30:
I just heard about the X-37. And it would not be from KSC since there are no operational launch pads there at present; it would launch from the Cape. Landing could be at either KSC or CCAFS, and which one was used would depend if there was anything dripping out of it on landing.
As to why they would want to concentrate on the lower azimuth orbits, I do not know. It may even indicate a desire to get up to GPS or GEO altitudes, which I guess they could do with a DIV Heavy if not an Atlas V, but why I have no idea. But in reality you can fly over most of the interesting areas of the Earth from the Cape anyway, with an inclination of up to 57 deg with proper precautions. But then we do not know what the X-37 is doing when it is up there. It may well be nothing but a test program. And they say that using the Cape for both launch and landing would be cheaper.
There is no “excess Shuttle capability” at KSC, unless you mean the VAB, and there is no particular reason to use that building for the X-37. I think the Shuttle orbiter processing facilities all have planned uses. We have places not far from the runway where we could put the X-37 if it landed at CCAFS; suitable places at KSC are fewer and further away.
Perhaps they saw the movie “Marooned” and thought it was really cool?
Gordon @ 26: “What the hell is this?”
I just wanted to give you a kudo on your post. Absolutely right: we’ve been misusing plural and singular with lots of words, including “auditorium” (when was the last time anyone talked about “several auditoria”? “Media” is particularly abused. I think your closing line should have been “What the hell are this?” to really drive home your point. (sarc)
RWE, it was my understanding from visiting the Cape that the Air Force has their own VAB across the river from the civilian side. The VAB that was built for Apollo was huge, but the Air Force VAB is also pretty big.
As for Romney versus Obama:
I saw Romney speak the other day in my town. Stood in line with many like minded people. Just before I arrived, listening to the radio squawk about Romney being down to Obama 53-43 in Ohio (Quinnipiac poll).
1) Ohio has a Republican governor, John Kasich
2) The Republicans have a majority in both houses at the State House
3) One of two of our Senators is a Republican
4) The Republicans hold the majority of seats in the House Congressional caucus from Ohio
And yet, Obama is up by 10 points in the polls. Yes, 10 points. Obama didn’t poll that far ahead in 2008 when he was much more popular.
My guess is that the weighting is false and they all know it. Sometime close to election day they will start to use true weightings, but by then who knows what the attitude will be.
500,000 names have been purged from the voter rolls in Ohio this election, with 200,000 from the rolls in Cuyahoga County, Democrat stronghold.
And yet, Ohio is favoring Obama in the polls. The smell of disbelief is strong.
wretchard – 10 years ago I would have never thought we would have to include our own inside the threats to the nation but here we find ourselves. Can we even step back from the brink without massive loss?
Subotai – Greetings from Texas.
[Raises hand] Me for one. Those who do not have not been paying attention or may be frightened. Kim Du Toit described what has happened to the dependent classes in his essay on what has happened to the American Male. {Google it = The ………… of the American Male}
It is evident that we now live in a Corporatist state for a while. Dismantling it will be a generational job.
Gallup had Carter up by 6 at the end of October. Reagan won by 10. That was after the campaign’s only debate.
Reagan faced a similar media bias but in a day when the media held more sway. They were less unreasonable then, so people had less reason to doubt every word they said. But Reagan must have known what he was dealing with, since it had been palpably present since at least the Nixon-Kennedy years.
What Reagan did was talk over the media, directly to the American people.
Look for Romney to keep things on the quiet side and try to do that during the first debate.
The following point is not dependent on whether you agreed with John McCain’s proposed policies on specific issues or even on whether or not you thought he would make a better President than Barack Obama.
Four years ago the Democrats set a new low in deliberately soiling the political marketplace. By comparison the Clinton campaign of “Boxers or briefs” was the good old days, as clean and innocent as the Music Man era of band concerts in gazebos and Ladies Auxiliaries zealous campaigns to achieve beauty through azaleas.
McCain tried to run above and in contrast to that tide of filth in the hope that America would see him as the decent embodiment of traditional virtues. It did not work. Without the media he could not get his message out. Obama Girl and the No Sex for Republicans videos set the tone, and America did not reject the Democrats for doing it. Significant numbers of conservatives, some induced by agent provocateurs, joined in ridiculing the GOP candidate and either stayed home or cast a 3rd party vote.
This year I think that possibly, with the Good Lord willing and the wind in the right direction, the Democrats jumping the shark may have a different result. The efforts to portray Barry and Mooch as glamorous have a past sell date desperation quality. The kids are either embarrassed by Mom and Dad’s fascist hippie fantasies or can’t play politics because Mom and Dad have told them to go out and find a job. The conservatives may not be happy with the results of the primaries but the responses sound more like reasoned analyses of how the system has been corrupted, largely by the Left, and grim determination to act in accordance with an old Navy motto.
“The Best We Can With What We Got.”
Tonight I attended an event that was a pep rally/reunion for people who have ever worked for a major metropolitan daily paper in a major Southern city in the U.S. that is going from daily to three-days-a-week publication as of September 30th and has fired a high percentage of the editorial and production staff because the owners are no longer making profits greather than 20 cents on the dollar. Many I spoke with railed against the owners — out-of-town; a family of multibillionaires — but said not a word of the issues we frequently write about here — the double standard they apply to the Left and the Right, their role as amplifier for Democratic Party talking points, etc. They made no connection between their financial (out-of-work) predicaments or those of the rest of the MSM, and their reporting of current events. They seemed to have not a bit of self-awareness — that they are playing a leading role in the undermining of a republic that, even considering its well-documented historical misdeeds, helps keep our world from becoming more Hobbesian than it already is.
I have tried to disregard the polls too many times. They are amazingly accurate. We can all fantasize that there is a bias/conspiracy/fraud involved with polls, but every polling organization depends on accuracy and credibility for their survival.
Mitt Romney may lose this election, people. I hope the polls shift before election day, but I can’t imagine what Romney would do to accomplish that. The time to start panicking is now.
I find I’m not really disgusted with Obama. I’m disgusted with the over 50% of my countrymen who are responsible for his being in power.
Mick
“The polls….are amazingly accurate.” Think Presidents Dewey, Dukkais and Kerry might disagree with you there a bit, Mick. As would McGovern and Mondale given that the polls gave them no warning of the size of the freight trains that ran over them on the way the largest electoral victories in the history of the Republic. All my life the polls have slanted to the Dems for most of the campaign and then like clockwork tighten up as the election draws near. Funny. They get “accurate” at the end. And then everyone is amazed how “accurate” they are.
BTW Thanks for you concern, troll.
If the election process takes an ugly turn in the near future, I think those in the media who participate in bombast and character assassination against their “enemies on the (right or left),” may not fully understand that they become “leaders” in whatever cause they espouse.
If the conflict later turns white hot, I hope they understand that they are phosphorescent and they will glow in the dark.
They are sky lining themselves.
17. Eggplant
p.s. It’s interesting that the stock market collapse due to Lehman Brothers occurred at precisely the right time to insure McCain’s defeat. It’s also interesting that QE-3 guaranteed that the stock markets would not collapse prior to the general election. The collapse of the stock markets was supposed to be the ultimate insurance against Obama’s reelection. Is the Fed/PPT actively manipulating the markets to bring socialism to America?
Gee whiz, Egg, I dunno. What say we ask Justice Roberts? Methinks he knows lots about unexpected coincidences.
Monkeyfan @ 24: “… reality always wins in the end.”
Absolutely! And easily forgotten, especially by a bunch of partisans who look no further than the next news cycle.
Re ras743 @ 39 — I had a parallel experience a few years ago with the staff of the evening paper (How quaint that now sounds!) in a nearby city. A few of us engineers had sought an audience with the newspaper staff to provide them with background on a significant issue for our industry & community — and found it was like trying to talk to one of the less-favored farm teams for the Young Communists. Yet this at a time when the public was voting with their feet where that newspaper was concerned; the paper was losing circulation & money, and those staffers were on the way to losing their jobs. Still, the only course of action those staffers could see in the face of reality was to double down on what was already failing for them.
Let’s not waste too much time on media bias. 90% of the population has already tuned them out. Just look at circulation figures or audience figures. The only product that wants to advertise on the Alphabet news programs these days is Depends — because the small remaining audience is disproportionately incontinent old coots.
“Having used it to defeat their enemies to come within sight of what they believe is a permanent majority they now have a vested interest in spin and secrecy.”
Nailed it.
This is why the argument with a leftist that “you wouldn’t like it if the tables were turned!” never works — they’re arrogantly sure that their death grip on Power will never be prised off, and they feel like we, the “Enemy,” deserve to get it good and hard. In their alleged minds, we’re just political criminals; of course THEY’RE never going to go to jail! how Absurd to even suggest it.
So: Appeal to reason? out. Appeal to justice (the Real kind)? out. Appeal to fear of tables being turned/blowback? out. Appeal to consequences? HAH. What consequences? The “Ruling Class” doesn’t need to fear any consequences. AS we have seen the last several decades, only Republicans get those.
I’m all out of ideas. Anyone else got something? I guess we could throw “Indian Love Call” by Slim Whitman on the turntable and make their heads explode. . . .
And today, the NYC marxist rulers voted unanimously to make “blasphemy” or indeed, anything “upsetting” to the moslem nutters ILLEGAL. Yep, that’s a heckler’s veto on free speech! Pam Gellar’s ad denouncing JIHAD — in NEW YORK CITY, yet! — is now illegal.
Anyone else fed up to the back teeth with this stuff?
Subotai,
Count me in as one who feels quite certain that one of your three outcomes for this election will happen. The falsification one is, for me, the most likely. The polling showing Romney is losing is battlespace preparation for an outcome most thinking Americans wouldn’t believe.
The economy is in horrible straits and even the very questionable government numbers show this clearly. However, Rasmussen today said that in his polling the Democrats he talks to simply don’t believe it. One has to wonder what color the sky is in their world. How can they NOT see it?
@22. Eggplant
“Our choices are Bozo the Clown versus Captain Kangaroo. Truth to tell, I wish Captain Kangaroo was alive and running because he’d be a better option than either Obama or Romney.”
I’m very unhappy that my only choice in opposition to the fraud that is Obama, is a liberal Republican named Romney. I have experience with a RINO named Arnold in California, who came in under the “common sense, business savy, moderate Republican” banner when Democrat Gray Davis was recalled. Arnie was the California’s GOP establishment’s “great hope”. However, in office he was what he had always been, a man in love with himself, and of course policy-wise, a Kennedy Democrat in all but name only. (His second year, he hired all of the Democrat operatives from Davis’ office, and purged the few conservatives in his office that he had carried over from the campaign.)
I KNOW Romney is going to push the GOP further left, or perhaps split the party. He’ll be as disastrous for the National GOP as Schwarzenegger was for the now nearly non-existent California GOP.
That said, I’ll crawl across cut glass to support Romney, and urge every Patriotic American to do likewise. Whatever Romney may be, opportunist, Mormon Bishop, or liberal left-of-center politician, he’s a friggin’ SAINT compared to Obama.
Romney’s election means that there’ll be rough waters ahead, maybe even a full-blown economic depression next year. Obama’s reelection, on the other hand, means the end of the Constitutional republic – I kid you not. The USA will be so broke within two years, taxes will be sky high, the economy will collapse, and our national security will be in high peril. Obama’s re-election means genuine “want” and starvation in the USA, and a major war within 3 years, probably resulting in dead Americans on American soil in large numbers, for the first time since the Civil War.
There is no other choice than Romney. It’s an automatic decision, unless you have your bunker ready, and are willing to kill off all comers including extended family to protect your “stash”.
I know that I sound ludicrously dire, but not only is American spending at least 1/3 more than it takes in every year, it’s INFLATING THE US CURRENCY by even a higher margin. When the dam cracks, and $Dollars are refused for payments internationally, then comes banana republic style inflation. Then the American economic engine slams to a halt.
This has never happened in American history. This has never before in history happened to a world power the size of America. (No, the USSR, WWII Germany, Japan, and other recent powers, were NEVER in the same league as the modern USA economically.) There has been NO OTHER economic power the likes of America since perhaps mercantile England ruled the waves. But even that comparison fails, as England had to contend with other European powers.
When America fails, the world fails. When the “full faith and credit” of the US Government is gone, it will not be easily recovered. Obama is deliberately destroying everything that America has been for over 200 years. Give Romney the chance, at least to preserve whats left and perhaps by providence, even restore the fortunes of the American republic.
O.S.
Why the very real possibility of a 0bama win when it seems that Romney should win by a landslide… Look at recent news from Florida, over a Million plus dual registered voters from the Deepest Blue east coast, keeping the East Coast Blue and swinging the “swing State” blue too! Mexifornia is another state that has had massive exodus, mainly to Red State economies… What do you think will happen there??? Maybe those pollsters know something the rest of us do not! 0bama should have all already been run out of town but even with the death of 5 Americans directly tied to his Administration’s actions there is barely a noise coming from Congress who is simply happy to sit back and receive their outlandish perks and pay while the rest suffer Depression era unemployment, the rest of the Depressions is simply being held at bay by massive money printing which everyone, both in the Fed and Wall Street knows won’t last forever, Yes the Elite’s are jockeying for position at the cost of America Life blood! We are very much in the Model of Germany right after WWI, it will come crashing down and the Progressives are just moving the furniture around till it does, 0bama it sounds like with all the Muslim infiltration (especially the close association of Muslim Brotherhood operatives to Hillary and 0bama himself (see recent High school to College life)) in the Whitehouse and the Pentagon that Islam may be able to ether score major military victories around the world (if 0bama is re-elected) to capturing the UN (fugitively speaking) with 0bama’s help. We Are In Very Dire Times, the collapse will come and go before anyone even knows what happened and too late to save anything!
@15. Subotai Bahadur: “Most of the people I know have long accepted that this election is but a turning point on a very long and dangerous road.”
A prediction: Romney will win in a landslide – with pockets of resistance. There will be widespread evidence of voter fraud and intimidation. The administration will attempt to use the lame duck period to further its agenda. There will be some short-lived incidences of violence.
To “win the peace”, voters with camera phones need to be prepared to record whatever they witness or say in any interview or interaction. They must make plans to line up volubly and physically behind their newly elected representatives. They must organize to conduct media campaigns – letters, tweets, videos, email and voice mail messages – to ensure that every medium is inundated with fact-based commentary and evidence. They must plan to stop buying products or services that are linked to progressives and must advertise those decisions (pour encourager les autres). They must develop public and frequently updated lists of media personalities who report opinion as fact and distort the truth. Plus plenty more perfectly legal, demoralizing activities, I haven’t thought of.
The big plus with politics all the time is that now it is everyone’s right and business to make sure that democracy prevails.
Mick & Tarnsman – Polls have a possibility to be accurate, as long as people are willing to tell what is on their mind.
There is always the possibility that those who see the imminent danger, dependency of the public on ‘free stuff’ paid for by others, are no longer speaking. Perhaps they have “set their jaw in a mean aspect” to face danger with resolution and determination.
Some folks get eerily quiet when they have been pushed too far.
Ditto that sentiment, the libs have demonstrated a severe tendency towards thuggery. No sex for Republicans? I dated a woman once who turned out to be a cheap whore, when she found out I voted for a Republican she couldn’t believe it. She dumped me. Just as well, she didn’t want to have a relationship with somebody who thought that it was irresponsible to write checks for more than you had in your checking account and I didn’t want to have a relationship with someone who practiced state fascism as a sex pollster. It worked out OK in the long run.
I personally believe that a lot of people have been fired for their “unconventional” political beliefs. Think “The View”. How many people do you think told pollsters that they weren’t going to vote for the Nazi Party? People are afraid of thugs and they are afraid of the Gestapo arm of the Democratic Party called the IRS. I think most Americans live in terror of their government. Exception; minorities, prostitutes, and gay supremacists.
A previous poster noted that we are in for a long slog. I second that. The best we can do in our life time is purge state religion from our schools and institutions. If we can’t do that then the Werewolves will have to do what they do.
gee, luv the new automatic spam box. nice touch.
Eggplant #30:
Well, the real answer on X-37B seems to be rather mundane. I looked at the database I built for the Air Force and the X-37B was launched from the Cape twice (as of Sept 2011). Also doing landings at the Cape means it will be cheaper than landing at VAFB – fewer personnel and less transportation requirments. After they proved by the landings at VAFB after flying over unpopulated areas that they were not going to put the X-37B into someone’s living room they can be confident that they will not do so at the Cape.
David #35:
The Air Force has no VAB. The Titan vertical processing facility was torn down years ago. The Titan Solid Motor Assembly Building is now used only for payloads and upper stages. The Titan SMARF, a bigger version of the SMAB, is still not tall enough to stack an X-37B on top of an Atlas V. NASA is planning to use the their VAB to process Atlas V boosters with manned spacecraft on top, as well as their proposed new Space Launch System.
Old Salt #47 and Eggplant #22:
I voted for Romney in the primary last election. He was not my first choice this time. But I see at least some evidence that the Romney of today is not the Romney of 2008. He is a very intelligent man who I think has traveled the same route that led me to conclude he was not radical enough for today. Unlike Obama and the Clintons, he is not a Kardashian Kandidate, who depends
on being famous for his income. Mitt has said that there are things he has to do, and if that means he is one term President he will be satisfied; I believe him. In contrast, Obama has acted only to preserve his future employment.
Lord only knows what Obama will do if he loses, but he’ll be around making pronoucements to the other village idiots for decades. Unfortunately, if Mitt loses he will fade quietly into the background rather than say, “We are as mad as hell and are not going to take it any more!” and then lead The Resistance. I have thought from the beginning that we need a Plan B.
As for the polls, Rush said the other day that Gallup Poll historically was the 18th most accurate oen in predicting election results. And does anyone recall those recent (i.e., year 2000 and 2004) election results that were so different from what the polls showed that the Dems were saying there had to be fraud – and in voting, not in polling?
49. Anglo-Saxon
“A prediction: Romney will win in a landslide – with pockets of resistance. There will be widespread evidence of voter fraud and intimidation. The administration will attempt to use the lame duck period to further its agenda. There will be some short-lived incidences of violence.”
You’re such an optimist. My expectation is that Romney will win handily. Sometime between the election and the inauguration a significant event will transpire domestically that will serve as a pretext for martial law. Martial law will serve as a pretext to delay the inauguration . . . indefinitely. Martial law will become the new normal. At that point the Department of Love can go into high gear, shielded by the already functional Department of Truth.
Face, meet boot.
Demagoguery, ballot stuffing, voter fraud and shameless propaganda are democracy. We just don’t like which side happens to be doing it better nowadays. Unfortunately it is worse than that. Much worse.
I had been hoping that Obama would be the denouement of the liberal delusion but there is scant evidence that even the scent of any change in popular attitude is in the wind.
The MSM doesn’t even bother to hide or excuse its role as a Democrat party organ. The journalists and editors don’t care. The advertisers don’t care. And the public doesn’t care. I’m convinced that Obama could mutilate a puppy on the steps of the Supreme Court and it wouldn’t change his poll numbers by 1 percent.
This is the incoming Harvard freshman’s required reading list this year:
A More Perfect Union, Barack Obama
Whistling Vivaldi , Claude M. Steele
Choosing the Color of My Collar, David Tebaldi ’10
Every Asian American I Know Is Smart, Frank H. Wu
Who Is the Surgeon? , Chris Barrett, GSAS ’12
Psalm, Wislawa Szymborska
Everything you need to know about identity politics. Which groups are in. Which groups are out. Not much on individuality or critical thinking but then again the collective doesn’t need either.
If you’re a conservative you’re an oddball. If you’re conservative and Catholic you’re probably a target. Tocqueville saw it right away. The strength of American democracy, and its best chance of surviving, lay in mediating institutions. Communities of interest planted squarely between the government and the people where those who felt threatened or aggrieved could gather and rally opposition to the overreach of the law.
Have more family dinners. Enjoy the wine and the companionship. Sneak a little Vivaldi and Bach onto your kids’ smartphones. Introduce them to Caravaggio and Bernini. Nothing will defeat the liberal delusion faster than the extended family.
To add some perspective.
Post print communications outlets are relatively new. Each brought a surge of power when still new and shiny. Examples:
1. Today the motion picture industry is failing…while on-line systems are in ascendance.
2. Cost always goes down. When cost of communicating (and entertaining) goes down, it becomes more accessible, breaking the power of the major content suppliers, and thus limiting anybodies ability to monopolize the message streams. If you want to spend the time, a single individual can use relatively inexpensive CGI technology to create a feature film. Historically every town had a band box and local volunteer band. Probably very low quality, but it was a training ground for upwardly talented. The recording industry killed low quality…you could buy the best for a few bucks, and have it in your library. Now the music industry has huge barriers to entry. The barriers are under duress.
3. Advertising, of any sort, creates its own need. The Coke(tm) and Pepsi(tm) wars are examples well known by all. The brands no longer need to create name recognition or brand loyalty, but they must defend their existing market space, so they must advertise to not loose ground.
4. Political parties still campaign with individuals, advertising at each level as they can afford. This is passe. What a SMART party will do is start an ongoing advertising program…even to the point of sponsoring TV shows, touting (teaching) the parties ideals and selling the ticket, with less emphasis on the man. This will drive libs crazy because it reduces the power of sex appeal and cool, and increases the value of ideas.
ta
#42- I have been thinking for a while that the constant screeching of class envy and hate the rich and successful by the media jackals is at some point going to turn violent. These fools in the MSM are going from dumb to aiding and abetting anarchy and chaos, just like they did in the Middle East.
Tamquam, I want this guy gone with a capital ‘G’ like, yesterday, if at all possible. Ideologically speaking, he’s a freeking monster.
But I have never and will never buy into this “martial law” type scenario, and remember, we’ve been hearing it for three years… whoops, make that TEN years now, ’cause the Kossacks et al were saying it about Dubya since, like, forever.
I posit to you that, assuming the election results are not in doubt, the Secret Service would simply not allow it. A Supreme would undoubtedly inaugurate the new President, and the Secret Service would simply tell Mr. Obama that they would be escorting him out out the White House on the afternoon of the 20th (at the then current president’s discretion), and that would be that.
Say that doesn’t happen. Maybe Obama has SO earned their loyalty that they will literally become his Royal Guard, overturning 220 years of American history in doing so, ’cause they (Secret Service) just LUV this guy SO much! (hah). Then what? You think the military will stand by him, the rank and file of the FBI, a single state government, anybody? And no one even has to get violent… I say people would (legally speaking), simply ignore him full stop, and obey lawful orders of the new president. (Remember, you don’t even need a Supreme to swear in a President, LBJ was sworn in on an airfield by a Texas district judge.)
And in the end, you know that the still armed (ever more armed, thanks Obama) American people would never allow it. Period. And THEN it would be by ANY means necessary, but it would not stand, and everyone knows that up front.
So it wouldn’t happen. Might make a great thriller though, I’m surprised it hasn’t been written yet. If anyone can come up with a plausible scenario that assumes Obama has enough armed, willing, and LOYAL TO THE DEATH military and civilian officials and the skill to deploy them, let’s kick it around, just for fun, but I say it’s utterly impossible….. exactly what I said to the people on the left who where saying it four years ago.
The American left knows that they would lose when it comes to out right force, that’s why they are masters of power ‘by other means necessary’, if you will. That makes them no less dangerous, but this particular scenario is just a non-starter.
57. Andrew X
I agree 100%. If the American constitutional system of government was so fragile and easy to knock over as some people claim then America wouldn’t be worth a pinch of coon shit and Americans would have deluded themselves for 200 years.
But the American system is not fragile. Americans may have deluded themselves to believe that “breaded” shrimp is a good thing, but your belief in the strength and Constitutional foundation of the American system of government is not a delusion.
The political system has been weakened by endemic corruption. Ballot stuffing and voter fraud is not part of democracy. Crony capitalism is corruption. It can’t be eliminated but it should not be tolerated. The Department of Justice is anything but.
American government may be sick right now but I believe (and I am unanimous in this) that Martial Law or an American Dictator is about as likely as Barney Frank marrying Clint Eastwood.
Dan (Fake but Accurate) Rather dates back to the golden age of the trusted TV journalist. Look what we got for trusting him.
Old Salt @ 47 said:
“… I’ll crawl across cut glass to support Romney, and urge every Patriotic American to do likewise. ”
As you’re crawling across that cut glass, look behind you and you’ll see me crawling along as well. Romney must win or it’s national ruin.
Old Salt also said:
“There is no other choice than Romney. It’s an automatic decision… … not only is American spending at least 1/3 more than it takes in every year, it’s INFLATING THE US CURRENCY by even a higher margin. When the dam cracks, and $Dollars are refused for payments internationally, then comes banana republic style inflation. Then the American economic engine slams to a halt…. When America fails, the world fails. When the “full faith and credit” of the US Government is gone, it will not be easily recovered. Obama is deliberately destroying everything that America has been for over 200 years.”
These are wise words and true in all respects. Obama and Bernanke are leading our nation to ruin. Why is the MSM chearleading these people? Has their socialist ideology so blinded them that they can not see that we’re walking off of a cliff?
RWE,
I’m mindful of epignosis comment about OpSec but everything I know about X-37 comes from the open literature. X-37 is very interesting. From my perspective, there’s two possible slants concerning X-37:
1) It’s a technology program intended to keep alive the reusable thermal protection technology developed for the Shuttle along with the hypersonic guidance and control.
2) It’s a new low orbit satellite system enabling changes in orbital inclination by dipping into the atmosphere.
It’s interesting that the NRO recently handed NASA two old unused KH-11 satellites for conversion into astronomical telescopes. That tells me the NRO either has no money to launch the old KH-11s (likely explanation) or they have a technology that makes the KH-11 obsolete.
Related news:
http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/industry/259305-omb-tells-contractors-once-again-dont-issue-layoff-notices
The folks over at Lockheed-Martin have been getting layoff warnings concerning sequestration. Supposedly these warnings are required by law. Why is Obama telling the defense contractors to disobey the law? Is this some sort of half-assed attempt to claim that sequestration isn’t going to happen? How do you know when Obama is lying? When his lips are moving…
60. Eggplant
RWE,
I’m mindful of epignosis comment about OpSec but everything I know about X-37 comes from the open literature. X-37 is very interesting.
I might be mistaken Egg, but I don’t think epignosis was addressing the X-37.
60. Eggplant
Related news:
http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/industry/259305-omb-tells-contractors-once-again-dont-issue-layoff-notices
The folks over at Lockheed-Martin have been getting layoff warnings concerning sequestration. Supposedly these warnings are required by law. Why is Obama telling the defense contractors to disobey the law? Is this some sort of half-assed attempt to claim that sequestration isn’t going to happen?
He doesn’t want 20,000 folks unemployed (or notified of same) in the Northern Virginia area the last weekend before the election. Might cause the general election outcome to be shaded by truth. It could also affect all sorts of other elections (senate, governorships, congress) to be drawn in the same direction.
Of course, he is telling contractors who comply with the law that if they comply with the law and notify their employees of future lay-offs, they may get no future contracts from an Obama government. But since Obama lies out of both sides of his mouth, he could just as easily punish those contractors who don’t report out their layoffs as violating the law for not reporting (as he requested them to do).
Guess which ones would be selectively prosecuted? Those who gave to Republican candidates. DUH!?!?
Chicago baby, Chicago!
#45 beverly
“I’m all out of ideas. Anyone else got something?”
With all due respect, how you frame the problem determines the solution set available. There are implied parameters in how you laid out the problem. In short; TWANLOC can do anything, legal or illegal, constitutional or unconstitutional, violent or non-violent …. and our side is restricted to only legal, constitutional, non-violent means. Under no circumstances are TWANLOC allowed to actually face consequences for what they do; nor is the topic even an acceptable part of the political discourse. You are functionally still defining TWANLOC as being loyal countrymen who really are part of “us”.
When they do not believe in the rule of law, or the government limited by the Constitution, or non-violence; to frame the problem as we have done guarantees their victory.
They will not believe in Freedom of Speech for all, until they face the same restrictions we do. They will not believe in the rule of law, until they experience the same differential applications that we do [OK, that might be a stretch for their Nomenklatura because they take a Leninist approach to the law.]. They will not restrict themselves to non-violence, unless they face the same violence that the law abiding citizens do.
They are close to absolute, permanent power. If the election happens, and they win by hook, crook, or seizure of power; the constitutional republic is over. Look at the problem through that framing.
#57 Andrew X
We will disagree on the probabilities. I note that coup d’etat is not something mystical or difficult. It is a science, and there are working textbooks out there. You don’t need the entire alternate command and control structure. All you need is enough to block select C4I nodes. Those who control the forces and staff positions to do that are generally at the O-5/O-6 level. If you hold control of them for the critical period, you have power.
It is easier than before in this country because most of the alternate power centers have been cut out of the direct command loop. Most chains of command for important operational matters run to the White House, units today are used to having the chain of command jumped from above. Further, there is no segment of the Executive Branch whose devotion to the rule of law or the Constitution can be assumed. The freaking Social Security Administration has SWAT teams and is buying masses of ammunition. Finally, the media can be assumed to back any such move 110%. Alternate media, such as ours, will not be available until work arounds are put in place. We have much to learn on that score from the “Arab Spring”.
YMMV, and probably does. Hell, I hope I am wrong, but we have learned of the futility of Hope in the last few years.
Below is the optimistic scenario. It will be worse. Remember, to TWANLOC we are the enemy and deserve to be eradicated.
http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/what-i-saw-at-the-coup/
Subotai Bahadur
Concerning my comment in #17 about QE-3 and Bernanke using his influence to boost Obama’s chances at getting reelected. The following link is interesting:
http://www.businessinsider.com/rosenberg-core-capex-orders-recession-2012-9
This was the stockmarket crash that everyone saw coming and were assuming would collapse Obama’s reelection chances. Many economists were baffled after Bernanke invoked QE-3 because QE-2 seriously debased the US dollar but had no significant impact on employment.
There’s no mystery concerning QE-3.
Bernanke would have known about the 13% collapse in durable goods before he invoked QE-3. Bernanke’s action only delays the stockmarket crash by a month or two. Bernanke has further debased the US$ in order to insure Obama’s reelection.
Never mind my comment.
egg @ 64: Bernanke would have known about the 13% collapse in durable goods before he invoked QE-3.
hmmm.
well, even presuming that it’s independent of the election cycle, it’s unfortunately in his job description to worry about full employment. say that were not true, and his ONLY statutory (such as it is) duty were to stabilize the currency – no, not even that, stabilize the *banks*. is the worry that he (or anyone) would then do so at the expense of labor? but does he even now worry about labor employment numbers, or also salary levels? if so, he’s CERTAINLY been giving priority to the banks, not the currency, and not labor, that is if you judge from results.
but if the fed OFFICIALLY didn’t care about labor, would he even need QE-3 right now? at first glance, I think not. or would he judge that it threatens the banks, his primary (only) responsibility, if employment fell further?
… I’m sure Mr. Obambus hasn’t a clue about any of these, other than what one of his advisors tells him, such that he then goes out and misquotes it. but I wonder also about Mr. Romney, and his different (?) corps of advisors. for that matter I wonder what I’d say, if they asked me.
Josh @ 66.
It’s understood that the markets are rigged through PPT manipulation and traditional technical analysis means zip. Disclaimer aside, the following chart is of interest:
http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/8476/screenshotdnd.png
A stock market collapse would have saved this election. That was about to happen but I suspect Bernanke has nipped it in the bud through QE-3.
Concerning the Federal Reserve’s responsibility. The following is the legal basis:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/12/225a
“The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Open Market Committee shall maintain long run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with the economy’s long run potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.”
QE-2 demonstrated that money printing did not increase employment while debasing the value of the US dollar. By launching QE-3, Bernanke violated the Federal Reserve mandate to ” promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices”.
Bernanke launched QE-3 to keep his patron Obama in office.
#2 dla It is part of the cover for vote fraud.
#6 stevesmith Who are the owners of the media that they are unconcerned with profit?
#8 el baboso they are not dying as long as owners are willing to finance their losses.
#13 hdgreene your concept of endoltment corresponds to me concept of cultural stream. Modern Liberalism is a cultural stream detached from either logic or reality. To those endolted in the stream it makes perfect sense.
#22 eggplant Doesn’t that imply something about who controls the Republican Party?
#24 monkey fan reality only wins our when the socialists run out of other people’s money
#25 sgt mom the media arde property which is owned. To take it back requires either government expropriation (but I repeat myself) or a serious financial commitment.
winslow @68:
True, true…But a good ‘ol insurgency can help reality along quite smartly.
Tip #2: Actively cut off their money supply.
i.e. Make them work for it by turning easy money into harder assets (Lead, brass, copper, and steel).