I hope you are paying attention. This is a moment when, were we studying Greek tragedy, your professor would get that gleam in his eye as he stood in front of the class and inscribed the word “anagnorisis” in large letters on the blackboard. Anagnorisis–the awful moment of recognition when ignorance gives way to knowledge.
Take the issue of taxes. You may have wondered, as I used to wonder, why it was that Democrats were so keen on raising taxes. Did they really like shoveling all that dough into the Uncle Sam’s maw? Over the last couple of weeks, it has suddenly dawned on me, just as the nature of Oedipus’s unorthodox family arrangements suddenly dawned on him, that the reason Democrats don’t mind raising taxes is that they are perfectly happy to forego paying them. Take our new Secretary of the Treasury: a level-headed chap, it seems, but clearly one who has a cavalier attitude about forking over the right stuff in the designated quantities to the IRS. I sympathize with his attitude, but have to question the propriety of his now heading the organization responsible for collecting the pelf.
Of course, Geithner is not the only offender. There’s Tom Daschle, there’s Hilda Solis, there’s Charlie Rangel, there’s . . . Hey, it’s crowded up there at the top! And don’t forget about chaps like Christopher Dodd, who gets sweetheart mortgage deals because he is a Senator and then refuses to disclose the details of those deals. Have you tried that lately?
Here’s the fruit of this moment of recognition: everyone is equal before the law, except for Democratic lawmakers who are a little bit more equal than the rest of us slobs. That’s why, on courthouses across the country, the figure of Justice blindfolded is being replaced by a figure of Justice giving a sly little wink.
I don’t agree with libertarians on everything, and I don’t buy into the mantra that hard work and not-having create character necessarily.
But the liberal politics of the Democratic party are clearly the politics of spoiled children. This is ridiculous: to feel good about torture, you’d release one of the most dangerous people in the world today?
And definitely, the cheating on taxes thing screams volumes perhaps. I just wonder if some people are so scared of losing money b/c they can’t think of how to earn it again.
Too bad we couldn’t have nominated Bush as president for life. Then al-Nashiri could have been held forever without trial.
Yes, I realize that this idea is anti-American in its extremism…
But so what. The terrorists are trying to kill us!
I think anyone making laws or governing law should be held accountable for there actions, more so than those that have to live under there laws. I know there little chance of getting a politician to make a law to cut there own neck, but it would be nice.
Not paying taxes a huge fine and minimum 5 years with no parole. Basically any crime they should do the max time for the first offence without parole. They should also loose there job and be forced not to work in government ever again.
If they can’t abide by the laws they set they don’t need to be in law.
My birthday is September 10..I am offended by all of you who take up this issue.
Roger, please revise your column to conform to the facts so that ignorant people like Ashok are not led astray by your dishonesty.
Exhibit A from Ashok: “to feel good about torture, you’d release one of the most dangerous people in the world today?”
No, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is not being released. Charges were dropped…for now…but al-Nashiri will remain in custody, and will no doubt be charged again once detainees are taken out of legal limbo and into the world of law and order.
I know this is a legal technicality that may be difficult to grasp, but it’s an important one.
More honesty please…
Bush did many things wrong. But he did realize that there are people out there who really want to kill us. Obama says the words but his actions speak otherwise.
I did not vote for Obama but was hoping he would veer to the right after he got elected. Hopefully the public hoopla he has created over Guantanamo is not matched by backing down on secret intelligence gathering and assassination of known terrorists. If it is we will have a much larger 911.
I miss President Bush. He is one person who loves his country, not like the thugs we have in office now, who apparently won’t be happy until they run our country into the ground. I am sorry, Founding Fathers, that all of your hard work, blood, and sacrifice is being derailed by a bunch of thugs from Chicago. Obama’s team can’t even pay their taxes. They are unpatriotic, even VP Biden said so. He said it is unpatriotic not to want to pay higher taxes. Heck, they don’t even pay the ones they have now, never mind higher ones. Now Rahm Emmanuel is high-jacking the 2010 census, they are going to control it, instead of the Commerce Dept. The census isn’t supposed to be political,but all rules are off the table when it comes to Obama. I hope all of you nitwits who voted for Obama are happy now. “Useful idiots”, that is what Lenin called it.
We all knew this was going to happen. The lessons of 9/11 have too quickly been forgotten and it is probably going to take another episode, maybe even worse, to wake people up. We Americans simply don’t understand the nature of the enemy we face and our elites have more sympathy for our enemies than for their fellow countrymen.
As Bob Dylan said some 30 years ago, “there’s a slow train comin’”
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Who is John Galt?
We can talk and talk, but Obama’s going to do it his way; The only thing is, several poor average citizens are going to be sacrificed for Obama’s short-sightedness and incompetence. And it probably won’t be anyone who supports him.
And will he bring out more olive branches and ask for forgiveness then? Where’s the “mettle” Biden was pointing out?
I see anarchy before the end of the first term. Not too far from that now.
“…al-Nashiri is not your common or garden-variety Islamic terrorist. He is, as McCarthy notes, “among the very worst offenders ever prosecuted by any United States court, civilian or military.””
And that’s why Democrats let them off the hook. Makes perfect sense. Invertebrates in charge letting other invertebrates avoid prosecution.
10. Cybergeezer:
I agree his short sightedness will result in dead citizens. But they will be in major cities such as NY (although why the terrorists would want to harm the New York Times, the most treasonous entity in the country is beyond me), San Francisco etc. And there more Democrat voters will be killed than republicans.
Of course this is no comfort at all.
DOES ANYONE really think the Obamaskank cares about releasing this MURDERER of ths sailors of the USS COLE? The fact the this punk is a MOSLEM and ANTI-AMERICAN is what matters to the Obamaskank. Does anyone really think the Obamaskank cared about QUITENERDS,TOM THE DASS-HOLES, RANG HOS, OR SOLIS are tax cheats? He doesnt care-they are IDEOLOGICAL COMMIES, so the LAW doesnt apply to them. This guy makes the NIXON PLUMBERS UNIT look like a traffic ticket compared to a armed robbery. And the worse part is, Obamaskank isnt bright, if anything THIS GUY IS A COMPLETE IDIOT. Dont forget, when JIMMY CAR DUH was elected, the commie media couldnt tell us enough about his service under Hyman Rickover in the nuclear navy. The fact that CAR DUH didnt stay more than 5 yrs should have been a giveaway. Well, the warning signs with the Obamaskank have been there for anyone willing to look. Too bad too many Americans have become lazy and ignorant and the media has become a bunch of IDEOLOGICAL COMMIES, too lazy to see what communists and other leftists eventually do to them. We are already regretting this guy. The real key will come when its time to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Obama has the worst record for the first 30 days of a presidency EVER.
ILikeIke
Terrorists are trying to kill us? They did kill us. About 3,000 of us. Remember?
Apparently, Obama made some of his “ethically challenged” choices (see esp. Daschle & Richardson) mainly as a reward for their efforts on his behalf during the campaign.
First question on the (we’ve been told) elaborate and extensive vetting form used by Obama should have been…”Yave y’all got delinquent tax issues or have y’all got any graft & corruption stuff going on that has any teeth to it ?”
Here’s the fruit of this moment of recognition: everyone is equal before the law, except for Democratic lawmakers who are a little bit more equal than the rest of us slobs…
I’m still in shock from the days when a sitting President perjured himself in a both a federal and state case and didn’t suffer any of the penalities you and I might suffer. (a brief disbarment in the state of Arkansas and disbarment for ever arguing a case before the SC, but given his multimillion dollar adventures since leaving office, I doubt Clinton was ever going to “practice” law again.)
The Al Arabiya interview, his servile comments & representation of America, appalling…Diddling with the whole technicality of opening/closing guantanamo, making grandiose pronouncements, symbolic makework to appeal to the Lefty base. Diddling with the legal status of the detainees, somewhere between ridiculous and dangerous.
Screw Oedipus [literally and figuratively]. The Pavlov bell is ringing in the choir of sycophantic loons drooling for Obama and as the well of kool-aid runs dry…the blind man sees or rubs his eyes and tries to go blind again out of panic and fear when reality hits him smack dab.
I wouldn’t buy a used car from these hucksters.
This is why the left has made it critical to indoctrinate celebrities into their religion. With their ridiculous wealth and exposure, and that so many worship them-their shenanigans make what elected officials do seem palatable and easily forgettable by the general population. He only cheated on $180,000 worth of taxes? Meh, its not like he is going to rehab or has nude photos on the web…
This IS the worst start to a presidency ever, at least in my memory. Outside of president Obama’s lack of skill, accomplishment and class, the other reason it is going so poorly is all the built up bile and hatred the left has been emitting over the years. It has poisoned the room, the process and the system. Every new political event drops like a rock to the bottom and lands with a thud: the bottom of ethics, manners, honor and behavior. Tax cheat to head the IRS? Sure. Break every promise made? Not a problem. Do what is best for the country? Only if it happens incidently to my personal goals. We’re facing a crisis … what do we do? Well , we can’t waste this opportunity to advance our agenda…lets pig out and pay off everyone. Alrighty!
Our political class is entirely corrupt, broken beyond repair. The system is poisoned so badly it cannot heal itself. Once there is no money left, they will take out loans against any future money. Once they have stolen the future money, they will retreat to their gated compounds and guarded communities and feel no shame. None at all. You see the same bevaior in individual ‘out of control’ human beings. They empty the checking account and run up all the available credit. THEN they say “ops” and attempt to walk away from it.
Islamists hate liberals the most. They
only love them for being a tool to bring
the rest of us down. This could be any
combination of social, military and
anti-US factors.
Also every person I ever knew who claimed
to be happy paying higher taxes to further
the social good was a liberal voting tax
fraud. In their mind liberal equates
to incompetent sloppy government tax
enforcement.
The “elites” feel they are entitled. All animals are equal—but some are more equal than others. These arrogant citizens believe that they are self sacrificing and altruistic. Such individuals supposedly deserve a few extra breaks. The hoi polloi are under attack by the “elites.” They have every intention of becoming our benevolent dictators. We must not allow them to get away with their tyrannical aims.
Kathy L.:
I miss President Bush. He is one person who loves his country.
Yeah, right Kathy! George Bush, the only true American out of 300 million. The Beloved, Maximum War Leader and bringer of Democracy to those Freedom-Lovers still trying to kill us and where democracy wil root like it has in 5 interventions in Haiti! Maximum Leader! Who saved us all, and extra-special saved the wealthy the most with his Pork, contracts, lax SEC oversight, and tax cuts.
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As for not wanting the best possible people staffing jobs in Government”if they had any tax troubles like 1/4th of the American population has” – fine.
Extend that to anyone you want a great job from in other critical areas of in your family’s life. No pediatrician with any disputes with the IRS. No kids school teacher with any moral failings…no matter how good a job they do…better a bad teacher than that.
No firefighter near you that cusses should ever come to save your house if it is burning…A top lawyer defending you from a slip&fall scam at your business if he had a DUI 11 years before.
You don’t want a good general in Iraq …1st you want to see if any employed any illegals doing their home’s yardwork while they were in Iraq before, and you sure don’t want any leader whose wife just paid a housesitter straight cash. Chose your general from the remnant that pass “the important people being appointed moral criteria.
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McCarthy summed up the Anagnorisis moment that follows with sobering clarity: “If we go back to a September 10 way of doing things . . . we will get September 11 results.”
It’s not Sept 10th, but it is also not Sept 12th anymore with everyone in a panic about a very small attack as initiators of past conflicts go.
Nor did America settle into the day before Pearl Harbor thinking or the Day After the Day that Changed Everything Forever!! thinking for the next 60 years.
The country cannot endure on a permanent war footing for minor past crap like 9/11 or the memory of Jap torpedo bombers or the 1st Battle of Bull Run. You learn your lessons, take steps to defeat or neutralize the attacker, and get back to important things that cannot be neglected. (As Bush did, and many did) By allowing the “overriding urgency of 9/11 and the Iraqi WMD” go on for 5-6 years to exploit a political advantage while allowing the rest of our domestic and foreign policy matters go to crap.
#3
You do realize that the guy we’re talking about isn’t American, right? Since he isn’t a citizen, he doesn’t have any Constitutional rights and since he wasn’t a uniformed combatant, he doesn’t have any rights under the Geneva Conventions either.
People throw out any hippy-dippy idea, call it “American” and hope no one will notice that in order for something to be “American”, it has to be either dictated or implied by our Constitution, it can’t just be any old thing you find pleasing.
This reminds me of my worst divorce; acrimony before the alimony.
Then the bills start coming in and you find that you have no more credit or bank account. Then you’ve got to move fast before you’re locked out of your own house with no clothes.
The real problem is; This is going to last for four years. My divorce was better than this.
I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE UNDER OBAMA. i lived in france for 2 years and canada for 3 on business. 1) main problem is that it is impossible for a middle class person to accumulate any wealth. punishing tax rates and low pay provide for a near subsistence life with small houses, cars etc etc. 2) note that socialist health care is not the thing to fear. it was good at both places and not the thing the locals complained about. 3) in both locations your kid gets placed in a job at a very early age. adult education does not exist. it is not possible to move up in the system. 4) THE STATE IS ALL POWERFUL. the individual is meaningless. resistence is futile, a complete waste of time. private ownership of guns is gone. 5) women seemed to really like the nanny state while men did not. 6) government is everywhere, and involved in everything. simplest tasks take days and require expert help.
Syn: Awshit.
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS
Obameter tracks campaign promises. Change has not happened.
http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2009/02/our-ship-of-state-has-no-rudder.html
This is what I’m talking about, Roger:
Craig saying stuff like, “And that’s why Democrats let them off the hook.”
Craig apparently isn’t aware that al-Nashiri isn’t being “let off the hook.” He’s still in custody. He’ll remain in custody. And he will be prosecuted, probably convicted, and hopefully executed.
But you wouldn’t know that by listening to Roger Kimball….
As to venividivici’s assertion that the Constitution doesn’t apply to foreigners, even more ignorance. The Constitution applies to our government, dude! And if they can’t follow their own rules…..
25 I still live in France and have done so for 15 years, did you ever get really sick? Were you self employed? Because salaried workers have better health care than the self employed (thus I have better coverage than my husband so I insure our children), and the government workers have even better coverage! Did you know that the French hospitals love sick Americans because they bring in outside money( I do not understand that, but a local doctor explained that to me)? No there are some good things about socialized medicine, but not as many as the medical care that I recieved back in Minnesota, even though my parents were self employed, and I was mostly part time help at university…
oops I forgot otherwise you are right on target, although Sarkozy is putting up a good fight I hope he wins…then I’ll bring my folks here, as Obama and company scare me for the future…
“This is a moment when, were we studying Greek tragedy, your professor would get that gleam in his eye as he stood in front of the class and inscribed the word “anagnorisis” in large letters on the blackboard. Anagnorisis–the awful moment of recognition when ignorance gives way to knowledge.”
Yes it is.
The ignorance of Republicans is finally being displayed for all to see.
Let’s hope it’s not too late. Bush and the GOP have nearly destroyed us. I couldn’t be happier with President Obama.
#5 sean sarto – Hey, it’s not about you.
#6 Herb – He was referring to the part of the article about the new policy of closing GTMO, because of hand-wringing about torture. His point was valid. yours was not.
As to venividivici’s assertion that the Constitution doesn’t apply to foreigners, even more ignorance. The Constitution applies to our government, dude! And if they can’t follow their own rules…..
Yes, it applies to the relations between OUR government and its CITIZENS, not to just any random person.
We don’t have one world government yet, dude!
34. venividivici:
“Yes, it applies to the relations between OUR government and its CITIZENS, not to just any random person.”
This board is inundated with ignorance. Foreigners enjoy many of the same rights afforded to U.S. citizens.
Read, my friend, read. And turn off Limbaugh, Hannity, and Fox News. They’re frauds and they lie.
This board is inundated with ignorance. Foreigners enjoy many of the same rights afforded to U.S. citizens.
Legal resident non-citizens have many of the rights of US citizens. Foreigners who are terror suspects or who are deemed non-uniformed combatants don’t and that’s what we’re discussing, not people in the process of obtaining US citizenship through the normal processes. There are obviously many agitating to get them to have these rights, but they are not supported by the text of the Constitution in these efforts. But, the type of person making these arguments hasn’t been stopped by that before, so I doubt they will be now. Needless to say, I disagree with those who would grant the rights of US citizenship to just any old person who happens to live on the planet Earth.
The Stimulus Bill, as proposed, is NOT RECOMMENDED by the Congressional Budget Office, whose duty it is to study effects of Congressional legislation. And this group is not made up of a political group.
This Bill should not be passed until it can get approval from the CBO.
main problem is that it is impossible for a middle class person to accumulate any wealth. punishing tax rates and low pay provide for a near subsistence life with small houses, cars etc etc.
umm, sorry, I am a “middle class” person, got a nissan 4×4, a camping-van, a small business, a retired hubby, and we used to live in what you call “small houses”, but big enough to the french standards, small cars fit the streets narrowness of our old cities, and France’s size
adult education does not exist.
Wrong, you can restart an university cursus at any age, you got professional formation for jobs in industry, paid by your enterprise or the employment insurances, the thing is that you have to have the WILL to educate yourself as an adult !!!
it is not possible to move up in the system sorry, to contradict you again, my hubby started as a simple employe, gradually got into more responsability situations, became manager, general manager and president of societies, though he had to work hard, not 35 h/a week like in administration or state sponsored enterprises
private ownership of guns is gone.
sorry, my brothers own legally a few riffles
the rest of your rant is your personal appreciation, but I am entitled to think a bit more moderately
Did you know that the French hospitals love sick Americans because they bring in outside money
uh, really ???? I thought only the “poor” British come to France to get “operated”, cause of the long delays they have to wait for it in UK
Well, I am in the same situation as your hubby, though I have a second insurance like most of the Frenchs by now, cause the “Sécurité sociale” doesn’t pay for your whole healthcare, except for the indigents and the elders