The Collapse of a Rotten Edifice
Nemesis is always hot on the trail of hubris, across time and space, and the goddess has been particularly busy in destroying the carefully crafted images of Bono, John Edwards, Timothy Geithner, Al Gore, Eliot Spitzer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Anthony Weiner, and a host of others. What do their tax hypocrisies, sexual indulgences, and aristocratic socialist lifestyles all have in common?
Collectively, they represent a self-appointed or elected global elite that oversees, lectures about — in sanctimonious fashion — the ethical responsibilities of the redistributive state. Bono and his ensemble may be the highest paid rock group in the world, the most eager to shake a finger at Western governments on their moral duties to help the less fortunate. He is a pop icon always ready to fault the consumerist Western lifestyle. But Bono and his pals are quite determined to avoid Irish tax laws to ensure more of their hard-won capitalist profits so necessary to support their global lifestyles, at a time when their alma mater is broke and unable to fund its once ample entitlements.
Little need be said any more about Al Gore, his homes, his private jetting, his hyping Armageddon on his way to a billion-dollar eco-empire other than that he is a totem for a sophisticated, wealthy class of Westerners who find psychological penance for their own lavish lives by making others less fortunate feel miserable about getting up in the morning and driving to work or taking a hot shower. In that regard, his carbon credit/offset schemes were medieval indulgences to the core. “Crazed sex poodle” indeed — or so the masseuse claimed.
John Edwards built a mansion, replete with a 3,000 foot “John’s Room” playhouse in the compound’s inner sanctum, as he oversaw a University of North Carolina center with the pompous title “The Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity.” The more he posed with his cancer-stricken wife, the more he spun lies to hide his tawdry relationship, all subsidized by someone else’s money. The best that can be said of Edwards is that he was a classic parasite, who made millions off the productive state by honing his rhetoric skills before gullible juries. The more I heard him lecture us in 2004 about “two Americas,” the more I expected his mansion to end up in Dr. Zhivago fashion as a collective residence for the poor.
I confess I never understood Timothy Geithner’s tax schemes. As I understand it, the soon-to-be overseer of the IRS pocketed monies given to him specifically to pay his FICA taxes, while claiming his son’s camp as a business expense — all as a requisite to his contemporary lectures on the need for higher taxes to fuel the Obama redistributive state. (Note well that former OMD director Peter Orszag assured us that the soon to be $5 trillion in borrowing was necessary as he entered the revolving door of Citicorp.)
All I can say about Eliot Spitzer is that I never have watched his show except twice — when he reported on the sexual misfortunes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Strauss-Kahn. As another aside, why do elites bombard us with publicly funded messages about “safe sex,” specifically to use a condom and to be sure to know the sexual pedigree of our partners — as if the HIV epidemic is spreading solely among the ignorant and uneducated? It may be; but a better use of such funds would be directed at the nation’s governors: “Arnold, Eliot, please use a condom or do not visit prostitutes, given the danger of sexually related diseases spreading to one’s spouse.”
Arnold, of course, was a strange case; in the midst of his angry pushbacks against his opportunistic opponents in 2003 who were peddling rumors of his serial infidelity and more, he had already fathered a child by his live-in servant. What goes through one’s mind in such scenarios? I leave the possibilities to you the reader.
I wrote a cover story for the current issue of National Review on Strauss-Kahn, a sort of trifecta hypocrite: the socialist in a $3,000 room and $20,000 suit; the Frenchman on the barricades of race, class, gender progressiveness at best sexually using the immigrant, black, single-mom maid from Africa, at worse sexually abusing her; the IMF grandee dispersing someone else’s money to bankrupt socialist states from his itinerant perches at the world’s Sofitels.
Anthony Weiner was known as a sort of Kleon-like demagogue, who shouted down or ridiculed his opponents — haughty, self-righteous, full of hyperbole about the evils of conservatives, currently hot on the trail of Justice Thomas, in efforts to bring down a Supreme Court justice. Again, it is not the sexual weirdness, but the hypocrisy that does them in: the liberal-minded feminist on the sly sending dirty pictures to young women, while ridiculing those who claimed that the evidence suggested that he was sending dirty pictures to young women. Nemesis might have let Weiner be had he not insulted his accusers and claimed his own perversions were his own perversions, but once he took the attack-dog route and lied, she swooped in.
I omit the Obamas, but note only that Michelle Obama and her entourage, in very un-Harry Truman fashion, have a fondness for recession-era Vail, Costa del Sol, and Martha’s Vineyard amid the presidential lectures about spread the wealth, “at some point you have made enough money,” and the new financial Mason-Dixon line of the noble below $250,000 in salary, the demonized above.
Of course, we witness all these jarring disconnects amid a larger landscape of the collapse of southern European socialism, the tottering of the entire U.S. financial system as the Obamites trumped the Republican deficits and have piled up another $5 trillion in debt, the discrediting of the global warming fundamentalist religion, and the unsustainability of the redistributive welfare state.
What are we left with? The daily struggle to remember sumus homines, non dei — “we are just humans, not gods.” Whether Strauss-Kahn or Weiner or Gore, the common denominator is arrogance and a sense of exemption from the rules and protocols.
In a word, human nature as we understand it from the earliest observances of the Greeks. Be careful about lecturing others on their moral frailties. If one consumes well beyond what one needs, ensure that one pays one’s own tab and does not indulge on someone else’s money. Beware of Nemesis, an omnipotent, all-seeing deity that marks in her scrolls every pontification, every sermon we make and then collates such professions with our deeds — so eager to note the discrepancy. She is an unforgiving goddess, and perhaps a cruel one as well. I used to give her a prayer for exemption at her temple at Rhamnous.
In the end, we are left with the nobility of hard, physical work, the elemental reality of producing food, fuel, and durable goods, the distrust of fad and cant, the acceptance that we are fallible and age and will not get out alive. In comparison, the media hype, the D.C. apparchet, the eco cons and the high-life socialism are as nothing. “Know Thyself” and “Nothing Too Much” were written on the architraves of the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and for good reason, to remind us where we came from and who we were, and to shun excess — material, emotional, sexual. My grandfather’s (a man who at one time in 1936 housed 27 relatives in my present house) advice of 1970 to a smart-aleck, silly teenager still resonates to me: “Never sell this small piece of land, you may need it some day as a refuge from what you don’t wish to become.”
And then he got serious that July afternoon as we were walking toward the vineyards, and said, “Okay, boys, you run the water down the north 100 rows, and I’ll do the south 100.”
And so out we went…
Best Presser I’ve ever heard!
Will Breitbart open his resignation?
Doctor VDH;
What of a man who wants to show another person such an unimpressive “package”?
I confess I never understood Timothy Geithner’s tax schemes. As I understand it, the soon-to-be overseer of the IRS pocketed monies given to him specifically to pay his FICA taxes, while claiming his son’s camp as a business expense—all as a requisite to his contemporary lectures on the need for higher taxes to fuel the Obama redistributive state (Note well: that OMD director Peter Ozsag assured us that the soon to be $5 trillion in borrowing was necessary as he entered the revolving door of Citicorp).
Oh, that’s actually easy. He was just betting that nobody would check. When your income isn’t taxable, there has to be a careful check to see that you owe FICA that you didn’t pay.
The official Washington excuse is: An error in judgement.
The error they made was thinking they wouldn’t get caught.
Is it really “getting caught” when there are no consequences? As far as I know he’s sitting quite comfortably as SecTreas, raiding government pensions in order to get the Washington spending junkie his next hit.
democrat party of the rich.
Points taken and everything. But better a hypocrite than a true believer. There’s no deterring the latter.
These people are both.
I think your analysis is far too academic. Seems pretty simple. A lot of these men are just pigs. All of them are successful, and by the looks of it, have everything they could want including a beautiful wife and family. But yet they feel compelled to act out in this manner. Why? It all seems very strange to me.
Most of the wives of these pigs have proven themselves to be greedy pigs, as well. Weiner and his weiner must go. As should Geithner, Gore, Arnold, Edwards, Spitzer, Jackson, etc., etc… I am tired of all of this crap.
Certainly we shouldn’t just confine our judgement towards Democrats. I can think of a few Republicans who should go to. Let’s start with Senator David Vitter of Louisiana. Isn’t he the one that likes wearing diapers and being treated like a bad wittle boy? What a slimy creep. And the there’s Larry Craig who fortunately resigned sometime ago. Wasn’t he the one who enjoyed getting on his knees at airport restrooms servicing weary travelers? Gross! Talk about old troll.
The Gang Of GOP Perverts is certainly no better.
Before they come out on their moral bandwagon the GOP needs to get their own house in order. That should only take them the rest of their mealymouthed lives.
Is this the “I know you are but what am I?” defense? Very convincing.
I’m sure the Republicans will start cleaning up their act about the same time the Democrats do. Which is to say, never.
We need new blood. Where it’s supposed to come from, I don’t know.
AGREED 169%!!!! And I am glad to see at least one other person out there in the world who feels that way, because I was starting to feel very alone in all this.
Both parties have proven to be grossly corrupt and bereft of any morals or scruples. They are both so full of bad apples that there is really nothing left to salvage from either barrel.
We stand NO CHANCE AT ALL unless BOTH parties are utterly destroyed. I look upon 2012 with dread, as the Presidential choices at this point – BHO and Romney – are different from each other only in terms of degrees of unattractiveness. The choice seems to be between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.
SARAH PALIN/ALLEN WEST.
Vote for Palin…a winner, not a Weiner!
Bulls***.
Ensign was discovered years ago, but could not be forced out. Ahnold was outed in 2003, but he is a celeb in CA, so still got re-elected. He bears no resemblance to a Repub. His policies were those of a Dem. Repubs walked away from him years ago.
Today, no Repub congressman meets with a female lobbyist behind closed doors. There is not even a hint of impropriety allowed. The female lobbyists complain they do not have equal access because of this, although they do understand it. The most recent “scandal” was the shirtless Congressman, who promptly resigned when busted. No lies, no theatre, just resigned in disgrace. There was no defense of him by the Repubs.
Men will be corrupted from time to time. That’s just how it is. It is how we try to prevent it, and how we deal with it, that matters. The Repubs are getting it as right as they possibly can. “You do this crap, and you are out. Is everyone clear on this?!?” What the heck more do you want from them?
I no longer want to hear this moral equivalence between the Left and Right. There are no erection pics, no judges convicted of bribery serving as Congressmen, no tax cheats. Just look at the House Republican leadership. Boehner, Kantor, Ryan. Are these not truly upright, decent men? Repubs are as squeaky clean as people can hope to get, so shut up already. There just is no comparison between the Dems and the Repubs.
If we do not acknowledge when they are doing the right thing, give them credit and reward them by electing more of their stripe, then why should they care? Things have changed on the Right. They have cleaned up their acts. Get on board or shut up.
Beaner is drenched with guilt. He stood by for years and years without protest to the liberal excesses in both parties. We are where we are because he and men like him were COWARDS!
While the GOP is sleazy at times, too, at least they have the grace to resign when caught. Democrats not only refuse to step down, they are actually given standing ovations for raping underaged pages (Gerry Studds) and then they are reelected.
So true…
Isnt it funny how everytime a DEMOCRAT is caught, a big chunk of the “story” revolves around the supposed agenda of those questioning/revealing the details?
When has the press ever commented on the motives of a liberal ax grinder?
Which is worse? To have morals and fail to meet them, or to have no morals at all?
Me, I’d rather have to deal with someone who can’t always meet their own expectations, than someone who will happily stick the knife in and twist, and then sleep soundly in their beds.
The problem is that the idea of right vs. wrong being promulgated by these liberal hypocrites is twisted from the get-go.
Here’s your picture:
For the most part, Republicans take out their trash.
Democrats re-elect it.
Barney Frank and Gary Studds. Didn’t resign and were re-elected. Noted porcine, slobbering, groping drunk; murderer; traitor; cheat; Fat-Boy Ted Kennedy. Didn’t resign; re-elected until he finally died (I’m sure he’s still loyally voting for Dems). Rapin’ Willie Clinton. Didn’t resign; re-elected after accepting illegal campaign contributions from Chi-Com military. Killed Kathleen Willey’s cat! Don’t even try to claim equality among scandals with GOP. The fact that all these Dems see not much wrong with their behavior hardly seems like a ‘plus’ to me.
Not only was Gerry Studds not apologetic, he essentially said he was proud to have had sex with a 17 year old male subordinate page, and that the Baal worshipers of Massachusetts should reelect him. And they did for several more terms.
Congress didn’t remove him either. Congress slapped him on the wrist, giving him the lesser of two penalties.
Compare the reaction of and to Gerry Studs with that of Mark Foley, who didn’t have actual sex with underage male pages, but instead committed the more heinous act of sending sexually oriented text messages to an ADULT FORMER page (which was the biggest news story) and apparently also sent similar texts to underage male pages.
Others can chime in on the arrogance of Barney Frank, his lover’s involvement with Fannie Mae, his own responsibility for the real estate collapse, and his room mate’s operation of a prostitution ring. And Congress’s non-response. And the Baal-worshiping citizens of Massachusetts fondness for this man who should be chained up in Azkaban.
And then there is New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey, who appointed his secret homosexual lover to the position of NJ advisor on Homeland Security. McGreevey’s popularity went UP after the main stream media finally broke the news of McGreevey’s adultery, after the story had been circulating for several days on conservative blogs and radio shows. The MSM positioned the story not as one of an adulterous governor cheating on his wife, with a male, and abusing his power, but instead as one of prudish conservatives beating up on a courageous homosexual standing up for this healthy, wholesome, and normal practice.
Not to undermine your point, but last time I checked, Arnold WAS a Republican. It isn’t just the Dems who are being pointed at, as you seem to think. Though, in all honesty, there are just as many GOPers who could use a little come-uppance.
Bullshit.
There are not “just as many Republicans”. There are a few, and they should be gone as well.
As another commenter pointed out, “Republicans take out the trash. Democrats re-elect it.”
No Conservative has viewed arnold as a R for probably close to a decade..it was obvious to all that he was a back sliding dim married to the kennedy’s who he messed over repeatedly, just deserts for the k family
amen
The point is not that these men are pigs (which they are), but that they publicly lambaste the rest of us for being pigs (which, by and large, we are NOT) while ripping us off in the process.
If Weiner were not in politics, he would be just an ordinary flasher. If he had performed that activity in person, he would have been arrested by now. On the Internet, not so much, but it’s all the same thing.
VDH: Yup, your analysis is spot on. Our society also could be labeled a house of card or a nation ship of fools and either might be appropriate. So, is there any way out of this state of being that doesn’t involve blood in the streets?
VDH: you can’t answer that by yourself but our society, such as it is, might have to be prepared to deal with that condition. However, can our descendants deal with that result and still exist as Americans, as humans?
The contrast between your grandfather and the fallen idols of our political class is striking.
VDH is a straight forward and erudite commentator. His articles are so thoughtful and well reasoned. But, I don’t think there is any mystery here. Vanity, hubris, hypocrisy, and greed are nothing new as VDH notes. Its just that there seems to be so many more narcissistic thieving parasites infesting society these days.
As VDH states, its important to remember this: “In the end, we are left with the nobility of hard, physical work, the elemental reality of producing food, fuel, and durable goods, the distrust of fad and cant, the acceptance that we are fallible and age and will not get out alive. In comparison, the media hype, the D.C. apparchet, the eco cons and the high-life socialism are as nothing.”
– I am only surprised that you seem surprised.
Unfortunately if you’re a Democrat being a cad, hypocrite, relationship cheat, tax cheat, bribe taker, or race pimp doesn’t require you to resign from any office you might have obtained. The individual is not sacred or even very important to Democrats. Only someone’s membership in some larger group counts for anything. So why be surprised that bad behavior of an individual is ignored, minimized, excused, or fire-walled and compartmentalized in any number of convenient ways?
For Democrats everything is relative to group need and therefore negotiable. It’s all a question of optics and lighting. The silhouette is what matters, not something as archaic as what principles might have given rise to the form.
Well said, (and appropriately couched in terms of Plato’s cave).
It is why I maintain that the liberal elites are actually mentally unbalanced. It can only be one of two main kinds of disability:
1-Anyone who can spend most of their waking hours spinning speeches, proposing policies and crafting legislation aimed at curbing, restricting and limiting people’s behavior; while at the same time theselves indulging in such (or worse) behavior is performing a kind of mental slight of hand. It is a kind of psychological dodge or parry which neatly removes them from the equation they seek to apply to the rest of us.
My guess is that it is motivated by either guilt, greed, fear or envy. Guilt as in the case of Bono, who is trying to psychologically compensate for his vast wealth by saying “See, I do good deeds with my mone and fame, so its ok for me to have it.” Others like John Edwards just seem to me to be greedy egomaniacs, with very little conscience (maybe a kind of sociopath?) I think others are frightened by the chaotic, high-speed and sometimes unpredictable and unsettling behavior of humans in a free society. They want it for themselves, but not for those who do not think the way they do. They are in a sense the ultimate “conservatives” since they fear every kind of change. I think this is the root of the totalitarian impulse in human societies, which is why this breed of socialist-hypocrite is especially dangerous. Good examples are guys like Cass Sunstein and his ilk. Finally there are the envious, those who are driven by their resentments, usually rooted in feelings of sexual inadequacy, I suspect this is what drives Weiner.
The second group are to outright psychopaths. These would include George Soros and Al Gore. They are unable to form normal emotional bonds with other humans and instead are driven to dominate and control utterly as many humans as they can, (all if that were possible). So they construct vast and elaborate deceptions to help them further their demented schemes.
Either way the reign of these demented clowns will soon be done. We know (and they suspect) that they are headed for electoral doom next year. Nothing can stop it now. Obama is finished, and most of his cronies will go down with him. They will put up a spirited rear-guard action for a year or two, but their center will not hold. When it gives, the rest will flee like rabbits. And once the majority of Americans learn what they have been up to, it won’t be pretty.
However an important question will remain: How do we sensitive our population to recognize the signs of mental unbalance in an age of sophisticated image manipulation?
Most of the men mentioned here, as wells as many if not most men in high positions, are sociopaths. If I could I would make it so that, before anyone took a position of real power, such a person would have to pass a psych exam and prove they were not a sociopath/malignant narcissist or possessed of some other dangerous mental disposition.
And while we are at it I would make it law that before anyone can run for public office they would have to pass the same tests we require for new immigrants. I’d also make them have to take some basic econ classes, such as understanding the Lagher Curve.
The problem is that in our culture, with it’s cult of celebrity, to get to those levels in politics one has to ride the tight line between super thick-skinned and narcissist.
As for tests…hell, I’d be happy if any one of them could credibly explain a graph of supply and demand curves, such as explaining why minimum wage would create unemployment (I’m not saying don’t have one- just that I don’t think most of our congress can adequately understand the real pros and cons).
Oh- to the commentors stating that the republicans have their share of cads- this is true. However, at least with Republicans there is a much better chance the cad will end up resigning in shame or loosing their re-election bids. Dems seem to get a free pass each time.
I wouldn’t say that is true. Nancy Pelosi to her credit immediately came out and said there would be an ethics investigation. That’s pretty bad. Stick a fork in that Weiner, it’s done.
Regardless what you think of Pelosi, she handled the matter appropriately with the tools that are available to her.
pelosi, after a week of defending the, uh, appendage, came out to cover her own, uh, marximus gluteus and that of her plantation.
“Regardless what you think of Pelosi, she handled the matter appropriately with the tools that are available to her.”
They’re Democrats! Nancy Pelosi has absolutely no shortage of available tools.
And the Petulant Lefties are already whining, “Pelosi is throwing Weiner under the bus! She has no loyalty!”
To the Petulant Left, there are a few issues that it’s necessary to toe the line on — abortion, affirmative action, anti-Christianity; if a politician earns his chops by voting for those consistently, he can anally rape children to death in public, and the Petulant Left will defend him as “a little creepy, but a real fighter for the cause!”
Beg to disagree – Pelosi went only halfway with her call for an ethics inquiry… she should have insisted that Weiner resign. And the House Ethics charades accomplish nothing… isn’t Charlie Rangel still in office?
How about the POTUS be able to qualify for a “Confidential” security clearance?
Our present pResident would fail that test out of the box. No records? No attestation by neighbors and friends? SocSec number from RI? No passport records? No school grades nor recommendation letters by teachers or staff?
The lowest enlisted man in the armed forces faced more scrutiny before getting into the 1st technical school than the Commander in Chief. What’s wrong with this picture?
tom
Dear doctor,I am one of your Admirer (though from Italy)
Please, doctor, explain to me what, in your opinion, “Know yourself” means, if you can spare 5 minutes for one of your unknown guests.
God bless America and I love Her.
By asking the question. You have provided the answer.
Gylippus, thank you for your answer, but, yet I don’t understand. Does it means know your mind, your personality, your character, your personal history…or something more..something different..? If you can provide a clearer answer,
I will be happier..Thank you anyway, and God bless America.
We are a nation of about 310 million. Surely we need and can do better than the Weiner types inhabiting congress. Sociopaths like Weiner are attracted to DC like flies to dog poop. No disrespect to dog poop. Are we as a nation getting what we deserve ? Yes. Sad to say. What is your solution Dr VDH ?
KRC – the fundamental problem is that Power exerts the strongest attraction on those least worthy to wield it.
A potential avenue to explore for a solution: it should be considered by society as a whole to be shameful for a person to seek a lifelong career in elected public office. Perhaps even a law which states that anyone who has reached 15 years cumulatively in elected office (even if it was 15 different offices for terms of 1 year each) would be automatically barred from running for election for any future offices.
Just IMHO.
Good posts Stallion! I agree. What about going back to the old patrician system. Once the money is made and the estate is secured one would go into politics as a service to give back to the country some of the blessings received. I know it is nearly impossible to go back now that we even train public “servants” in universities… Save for the Final Judgment I see no solution to this. The objective is clear: we need to identify our betters and put them in power for a limited time. Democracy has become a Kakistocracy: the government of the worse.
BTW Great article by Hanson, as usual.
Unfortunately, I’ve reached the conclusion that there is now a significant number of Americans who would vote for Caligula if they could. And should he find himself in some sort of scandal, they would chide his accusers for interfering in his personal life.
Stallion – I appreciate your efforts at a solution. While you make a good point it is those in power who will not institute such change. So many capable people such as yourself contribute thoughts although unlike you fail to offer solutions . This also includes the author Dr VDH. Generalized, vague suggestions in the order of “we should all just get along” is meaningless. A complete melt down crisis of the economy will need to occur before the masses will wake up. Even then they will want a government official to take care of them, ie give me other peoples stuff and tell me what to do. The likes of Weiner depend on apathetic, amoral, dependent citizens to keep him in office. Palosi’s ethics investigation will be nothing more than a mechanism to gloss over Weiner’s corruption with -” it doesn’t rise to the level, nobody is perfect, lets move on, he is a victim too, he was so corageous to finally tell the truth, he already said he was sorry,” on and on in the finest of clintonisms and Kennedyisms. Rangle the corrupt tax evader who writes tax law for everyone else still has his job. Enough said. By the way nothing short of a mass march on Washington with pitchforks and 2nd amend equipment will make a difference at this point.
The extremely bright Dr VDH needs to offer more than insightful observations for both immediate as well as longer term solutions. He fiddles/writes while Rome burns. Otherwise he may just as well hide out in his central valley orchard. DR VDH – be a leader !
In the broadest of outlines we all know what needs to be done. Cut spening, cut taxes, roll-back the welfare state, educational reform etc. And there are probably many different approaches that would work.
The real problem is that our society is at a very dangerous tipping point. And we must accomplish something rarely attempted successfully: to re-take our sovereignty from an entrenced bureaucratic, technocratic and thug-o-cratic elite which controls many of the key institutions of national power and identity, without unleashing a wave of horrific violence or civil war. This will require precisely the right kind of leadership.
That is one reason why I think Sarah Palin is the perhaps the right leader for the times. As a woman, she will instinctively avoid courses of action that heigthen the probability of violence. But she will not shy away from the political and cultural battles that lie ahead. Either way the pressure and tension that the Left is creating by trying to push the nation towards a sociaist state must be released. For every action there is a reaction. They are bullying us and trying to stuff us into small boxes, to limit our actions, weaken our spirits and bind our thoughts. Really, it is the beginings of servitude. When the pushback gets channeled and focused, it will be ferocious. If its done right (first by revealing their destructive actions and great detail, particularly the deceptions, and second by letting the connections between their actions and their ideologies reveal themselves, rather than attacking the ideology directly. (If you do that, you trigger people’s defenses, and we want the centrists and moderate liberals to come to learn how their highest aspirations have been used to rob them of their freedom). It will be tricky because the new President will have to deliver the goods first, that is to demonstrate actual job growth and recovery in short order, so the counter-attack will have to be low key and gradual, letting facts slip out without overt accusations etc.
One we are galvanized and focused, and have tasted what we can do with our power and momentum, a lot of the rest will take care of itself. Some solutions will emerge organically, some things will take on a momentum of their own and we will not be able to control. That’s why we must always keep our values, our principles and our Faith front and center. They are all we have to guide us. It will be a bumpy ride, with many twists and turns. But we will prevail, I am certain of it. It will take more than a tawdry cabal of twisted souls to snuff out the flame of freedom that our ancestors first lit so long ago. We have been through much before this. In the grand scheme of things, we can easily brush these clowns aside. For they are creatures of the shadows, and the dank places of the Earth. They fear the light of day. All it takes is the will, some galvanizing leadership, and God’s good grace.
Figures Andy Sully is defending him.
He’s hoping the little Weenie will send him his own signed photograph of the appendage in question.
Great article, como siempre!
What ever happened to noblesse oblige, aside from the fact that it’s no longer in vogue?
Noblesse oblige: the obligation of those of high rank to be honorable and generous.
Unfortunately, it’s often used ironically in an increasingly decadent and cynical society.
Instead of having taken gross advantage of their privilege and wealth these men had taken noblesse oblige seriously — “to whom much is given, much is expected” (Luke 12:48) — their families would have been spared heartache and embarrassment and society would have been spared the gross spectacle of having to view their sordid and dirty laundry.
Sadly, these men have sullied our public discourse, they’ve brought dishonour on our public institutions, they’ve trashed a sacred trust, and they’ve ensured that young people will not be able to look up to them as examples of honesty, generosity, or public service. Unfortunately, I doubt if any of them will lose much sleep over their disgrace; if they’re awake at night, I imagine they’ll just count the gold bars in their bank accounts.
If you pay homage to the leftist propaganda machine, you don’t have to worry about accountability.
You have to worry about karma.
You have to be a complete imbecile to be a leftist and get caught in a scandal. Tony Baloney lied through his teeth, blamed others, said it was a frame up by wingnuts, said he was hacked….
John Edwards lived in “two Americas”, one where honor and integrity were merely trifling things and the other where he lied about them with impunity.
Barney Frank has never been made to come clean about the prostitution ring in his basement or his close ties to Fannie’s internal collapse.
Obama and Rezco, his and Michelle’s law licenses, Ayers, ….there is a pathway from the lack of accountability that leads directly to corruption.
Republicans, being held to a higher standard by BOTH constituencies, fair far worse when exposed.
Leftists being held to NO standard by their own, and, in fact often given great cover…are the new integrity welfare state. They are dependent upon the coverup and corruption in the media and their inner circles. The conspiracy of silence destroys their need for honor.
Nothing they do, say or promote gets examined…and therefore it becomes weak, corrupt and necrotic.
They are the permanent ethical underclass, living in a ghetto of no scruples. And, worst of all…it looks like paradise to them.
Exactly. That is the real legacy of the Clinton and OJ episodes of the 1990s.
Harry Truman once said that whenever he heard a man praying loudly, his first instinct was to go home and lock the smokehouse. The modern version of that is likely when one hears an elitist lecturing loudly, go round to his home and you’re sure to find him engaging in what he condemned.
Savage had a good one. “When I hear a politician say it’s for the children, I make sure my AR-15 is oiled and I have plenty of ammo.”
Someone else has said that we have the worst political class in American history. There was a time, not so long ago, that Democrats worried about fiscal integrity. Republicans have cooperated with raiding the public treasury for their own political careers. The fiscal state of the US has been undermined for the past 50 years and we now face terrible choices to save the country. If only Harry Truman could talk to Dwight Eisenhower this week, we would be confident that the problem would be solved. Alas, we have politicians like Anthony Weiner to cope with an existential problem.
Too many Weiners, and not enough tar, feathers, pitchforks, and torches.
VDH: nice wrap-up. You’d do well to list Michelle Malkin’s “Culture of Corruption” for a nice, almost-complete history of the current regime’s shenanigans too.
You are right, Culture of Corruption was a pretty exhaustive listing of all the bad players behind the scenes and out in front, at the current administration.
The war is on to remove from office people like Weiner, Geithner, Harry Reid. They need to be replaced with those that hold a more principled stance on government, people like Rand and Ron Paul, Gary Johnson, Tom Coburn.
It seems that everywhere the redistribution crowd is having problems. Kan in Japan, China’s Red elite princelings are getting ready to nationalize(steal) things again. The Chinese that are wealthy have been smuggling out cash so they can buy themselves and families a refuge in Canada, the US, and etc. Lordy it looks like the Republics are falling all over the place. Dictatorships, theocracies, and the rise of emperor’s. “I don’t care, just feed me and my family.” I fear the same old same old and wonder just how fragile our technology base is?
I’d be happy if both sides quit all the moral posturing and focused on solving our practical problems. The kind of moral purity we expect of our politicians does not exist in humanity – not in the average person, not in the exceptional person. That’s why politicians, pundits, and the press spend so much time playing Gotcha. It’s ridiculously easy to get score political points that way rather than actually doing a good job.
I’d be perfectly happy with a politician who had a drinking problem and screwed around on his wife if he a) kept his personal s**t to himself, b) balanced the budget, and then c) went away never to be heard from again.
And THERE is the crux of the issue with post-modern America. We want our results with no regard for the manner in which we receive them.
By corruption, by fraud, by deceit, by fiat….it matters not one whit. The moral relativist who wants “both” sides to stop “posturing” about things such as integrity, honor, truth and scruples.
Because, it is just “common knowledge” that we can expect no better and really don’t deserve better.
The current crop of leftist creepies have sold this for forty years. And we bought it by the boatload.
No sense fighting for better. The nasty strain of propagandists that oozed onto our landscape in the last half century have made barren the very soil. Bugs is probably a really good person…who just wants to “get on with it”…and forget all that “clutter” about actually caring how we behave as a people.
Maybe Bugs is right. There never was any hope or any change…no matter who is elected. And we couldn’t care less.
“leftist creepies”. I love it. Psycopathic adolescents are running our nation. Most of them have never had a real job that meant manual work.
Yes, maybe BUGS is right. Follow the historical trajectory. The pendulum may not swing back until they crown New York as Córdova, the western capital of the new Caliphate. Our “leaders” of all stripes certainly point that way.
Pray Israel really has the bomb.
So you are saying that it is perfectly fine to have a complete and utter liar in a national leadership position? The real issue is not the sexting, but the refusal to man-up, and blaming everyone else but himself. How can anyone trust anything this guy has to say?
…lol I thought he was referring to Newt !
As long as we continue to elect career politicians (pandering liars), nothing will ever get fixed.
But now the critics can say “He complains about the size of Edwards’ house while at the same time admitting his own house is big enough for 27 people to live in.”
I would venture to say (being completely unaware of the details) that John Edwards’ “John’s Room” at 3000sq.ft. equals or exceeds the entire home on the Hansen family farm.
I would be willing to bet that all 27 members of that household pitched in and worked hard. There were probably no free riders. John Edwards entire life has been a free ride. Hence, the label of hypocrisy. Also, are you really comparing an old farm house to a shrine of decadence called “Johns Room”? genius
I’m just curious I guess, but why can a President only be in office for 8 years, but senators and congressman/congresswomen stay forever? I for one think term limits is the answer.
There is a constitutional amendment that was passed after FDR that limits the president to two consecutive terms. In order to have some kind of term limit on congress critters you would also have to pass some kind of amendment.
Washington left after two terms. He set a precedent, which everyone understood and followed… until the Democratic demi-god FDR. They had to pass that Amendment, because FDR was the first who would not step aside. The “Progessives” never relinquish power. They prefer to die in office, like FDR and Kennedy. They have no honor, no shame. None.
The trappings of power have made it too comfortable and profitable to leave Congress voluntarily. If there were no ‘retirement benefits’, no health care premiums, no perks of office and no benefit of “Seniority” to usurp the equality of members in both houses, politicians would not make a career of getting elected.
We have allowed them to install automatic raises they can claim ‘We didn’t do anything…’ to enact. They made it automatic, and have to vote to stop them. {they just got another raise} They have millions of dollars to pay for their staff wonks. They are provided generous {BY SENIORITY} office space. They have the free postage provided by franking to ‘educate’ their constituents.
What reason is there to give all that up except to get to the trough of money from lobbyists? If they leave Congress, they get a personal raise if they desire, or can retire to the gentleman’s life of leisure. With benefits and a monthly check on your dime.
I vote for eliminating the ‘profession’ of politician. Second only to the oldest profession, with many similarities….
tom
You have hit on part of the problem. Politics attracts SCUM. I consider most politicians utter scum. Men and women who lie and pander for a living. Most of them are people who have not a single accomplishment in the real world. They are completely incompentent in their government jobs – we have no national budget, just soaring spending and debts. We have no control or oversite of our regulators.
The only way to limit the damage these scumbags can do is to limit the time they spend in DC. Term Limits for all.
Professor? Next time you pass by Nemesis’ temple, add a word for me in your prayer.
Professor Hanson — Astounding writing, as always. I have brain envy.
Yes, that’s it! Been searching for the right phrase to describe VDH: “brain envy” indeed!
It is interesting to see all of these things but the bottom line is nothing changes. Next week/month there will be yet another politician displaying his or her enormous stupidity. And we will all laugh and mock them.
But beyond the mockery and the outrage when will things change? More than anything this behavior, this attitude, this awesome insanity needs to change. It hurts the individual, the families, the organization and ultimately this nation. These individuals still remain in power, undiminished and unapologetic and still getting away with it.
Wiener will get up tomorrow and he will still have the moral and legal authority to create laws, make inane speeches and probably get re-elected. What does it take for this to become something of substance so that people will realize that this behavior has some real consequences.
I suppose Congress will have serious investigation on this matter and will seriously come up with a serious wrist slap which will have serious implications for absolutely nobody and everybody will seriously carry on as nothing had happened.
The rest of your writing here was good. This was sublime:
“And then he got serious that July afternoon as we were walking toward the vineyards, and said, ‘Okay, boys, you run the water down the north 100 rows, and I’ll do the south 100.’”
Look here the reality..
Communism\Socialism\Progressivism died in the last century. Killing near a billion human beings tends to do that.
All that are left are the conmen and jackals spouting the asinine ideas to the stupidest among us for their own power and enrichment.
All the good Communists are wearing Prada this century.
Liberals Exposed, In Every Way
Liberals are a sorry bunch. Since you can’t shoot ‘em, ya gotta love ‘em, sort of, and, it must be admitted they provide a much-needed entertainment factor, sort of.
You have to wonder what’s wrong with them, though. Lib politicians, especially, seem to have a screw loose somewhere when it comes to their aberrant sexual proclivities.
Whether it be the smarminess of Democrat Rep. Anthony Weiner, a story still growing, so to speak, the lustiness of Democrat Sen. Jumping Johnny Edwards or of hooker-loving Democrat Governor Eliot Spitzer, or the midnight truck-stopping of Democrat Governor Jim McGreevey, they appear unable to control themselves which, I guess, is what makes them Dem liberals.
The good news is that those pervs all reside in the New York area. The bad news is that there are any number of lib “celebs” out there with widespread audiences to whom they spew vile liberal opinion.
Demonstrating that a lack of decorum and class isn’t confined to lib-men, one member of the distaff side, Time reporterette, Nina Burleigh, famously said back in 1998, “I would be happy to give [Bill Clinton] a blowjob just to thank him for keeping abortion legal. I think American women should be lining up with their presidential kneepads on to show their gratitude for keeping the theocracy off our backs.”
Like I said, classy. (It’s not known whether Bubba collected his reward.)
Pols and oral sex aside, among the sorriest of all liberal celebrities, of sorts, is Bill Maher.
Sam Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, was once asked if he could punch someone famous who would he pick and quickly answered, “Bill Maher. It would be fun to lay that boy out. But I’d look like a bully because he’s so much smaller than I am. ” Joe/Sam’s sentiments are entirely understandable.
Maher, the least funny comedian on the planet who took up political commentary after a failed career as a stand-up comic, is notable in a variety of ways, none of them flattering. However, being an arch-liberal he gets away with doing and saying the most reprehensible things such as when he opined on Obama and the Gulf oil disaster.
Demeaning all African-Americans, the consistently foul-mouthed Maher ranted, “I thought when we elected a black president, we were going to get a black president. . . a real black president. I want him in a meeting with the BP CEOs, you know, where he lifts up his shirt where you can see the gun in his pants. That’s — (in black man voice) ‘we’ve got a motherfu**ing problem here?’ Shoot somebody in the foot.”
Racism is just fine when articulated by a lib. So, too, is misogyny, when the targets are conservative women. Grossly illiberal, intemperate, hypocritical slurs hurled at former Governor Sarah Palin and Rep. Michelle Bachmann are perfectly acceptable in Liberal World. Maher called them “two bimbos,” characterized Palin as “a t*at,” and Bachmann a “c*nt.”
Not a peep emanated from the nation’s preeminent liberal women’s spokeswomen at the National Organization for Women.
The déclassé Maher . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=4749)
I love hearing the recollection of your Grandfather’s advice. I wish you’d write more about growing up in California back then. I lived in Concord until 1970 (age 11), and moved with my family up to Oregon. I forever thank my dear departed father, who grew up in Visalia during the 30′s and 40′s, for moving us away from the East Bay Area.
“Nemesis, an omnipotent, all-seeing deity that marks in her scrolls every pontification, every sermon we make and then collates such professions with our deeds — so eager to note the discrepancy. She is an unforgiving goddess, and perhaps a cruel one as well.”
Nemesis must have a spectacular display of shock and awe waiting for Obama. He has laid his own traps of deception with more audacity that the most cynical of us thought possible. Perhaps Nemesis will balance the scale of audacity with the level of justice that we hope for.
brilliant, but melancholic. thank the almighty for my dad who hit the beach, not at normandy (my gratitude today to them and their families), but at okinawa and my many times great granddad who shivered at valley forge. when these folks finally leave us no out, i know from where i’ll draw my example, and hope.
BUT it has not collapsed.
The same people with their supporters and defenders in all civic institutions in the West, STILL have their hands on the levers of the social machinery. Not only officials of the State, but those with most influence on citizens and to whom the officers of the State go on bended knee for their attention: TV and Media/Hollywood. Institutions /members, by charter and interest story tellers/ purveyors of fictions. With their handmaidens in the educational systems.
They have no reasons to cede these powers to anyone for any reason. WHY should they? For “ethical” reasons ? For decency ? Because it’s the Law ? Ne oblivascaris THEY control the machinery of that Law. What they have done, and are still doing to fundamental Law, the Constitution of the USA published in the national language of the USA, presumably understandable to any literate citizen, provides daily evidence of their disrespect of that Law. AND of the citizens putatively protected from encroachments of the State in whatever guise.
Any clause in that document that demands of them, just make other law to confuse or abrogate the demands,e.g. LIMITS on their powers AND EQUALITY in Law of EACH Individual — nothing in that Constitution that Groups are Equal in Law (not named Legislators for nothing) In addition each Officer of The State swears on oath to Uphold and Defend that Constitution. Do you understand anything in the oath that Defense applies only to those parts to which they agree? OR do not personally consider “defective”?
BUT if the edifice is crumbllng, the onus is on the citizens who elect these persons again and again to continual and continuous disrespect rising to contempt of the voters who make the choices, actively or passively. The contempt habitual and accepted by those who elect OR appoint them again and again, knowing them to be predators.
The individual citizen has not only Rights, but with those Rights, Responsibilties to Defend and Protect the liberties for ALL, so dearly won by their progenitors and STILL defended by those who put their lives on the line in Law Enforcement, and Military.
I always thrill to the shrill cries of hypocrisy from authors like this. All wealth redistribution is bad, (unless it comes in the form of disproportionate tax breaks for the wealthy). Welfare is a cancer on prosperity, unless it’s (corporate welfare).
It is the trademark of a true hypocrite to dwell on the moral vacuity of other hypocrites while adding nothing of substance or originality to the public discourse. You see, calling the emperor out on his lack of clothes only works when you yourself are wearing some.
Written like a true naked jay bird.
Good job there Brett, what your cogent post lacked in truth and substance it more than made up for in stupidity.
Wow! Dr. Hansen has added nothing to the public discourse? Really? You are not only wrong but poorly read as well.
I debated responding to such a foolish post. In the end, I couldn’t resist.
WRT to your first paragraph, wealth redistribution is bad. Why? It destroys incentive and motivation. Why work for something when it’ll be given to you? It also ultimately becomes a tool of which ever party is in power to enact social agendas while bypassing the normal legislative process. This is elementary.
I think your calling VDH a hypocrite resides in your lack of education wrt history. VDH is pointing out that these roads have been trodden before. At the very least by the Greeks and Romans before us. He is exhorting us to remember that history and not make the same mistakes. It may be the essence of human nature to repeat our mistakes, but one can always hope that we learn something from past mistakes.. People like you clearly cannot.
BTW, thank you VDH for including the link to Kleon. I had forgotten about him. You saved me a google search.
“Disproportianate tax breaks on the wealthy.”
A better litmus test of liberal indoctrination one does not need. Oh, you mean because the top five percent only pay 60% of the tax burden, that’s disproportionate to the the bottom 50% who pay 2.7% of the tax burden. I see. So by ‘break’ you mean attempt to kill that goose that laid the golden egg then, yes?
Brett:
Dr. Hanson works a farm when he isn’t teaching college classes. He teaches his own classes, and doesn’t leave that to an adjunct or grad student.
What do you do that is of more substance than that?
And you have a problem with the wealthy? In case you haven’t noticed, so does Prof. Hanson, albeit coming from a different perspective than yours.
Let us not leave out the grand daddy of all political perverts, Teddy Boy Kennedy. Here is a man who not only was a serial philanderer but also a murderer who covered up his responsibility for a young woman’s death with his daddy’s millions. Thousands of Americanized politicians turned out by the thousands to pay tribute to this “Lion(Liar) of the Senate when he passed away and no doubt a massive public monument will be erected in his honor by the corrupt machine that he created and fed, the Boston democrat machine. O tempora! O mores!
Always a pleasure to read Mr Hansen.
Certainly, the Republicans can also be sanctimonious about the “redistibutive state.” They are always going on about tax cuts to the rich, while Warren Buffett pays a lower percentage on his income than his secretary and GE and Exxon paid no taxes last year. I suspect that as a large grower VDH benefits in myriad ways from the lack of a flat tax, which would be the fairest and most logical solution to the country’s financial woes.
A pox on both their houses; the Dems want to take my money and give it to the poor; the other side of the aisle wants to give it to the rich.
Exactly what part of personal property and the absolute right to the fruits of your own labor is elluding you? It sounds to me as if you think other people owe you something just because you feel they should give it to you. I hope that isn’t really what you meant.
There is so much wrong with your comment, I don’t know where to begin.
First of all, I do not have an absolute right to the fruits of my labor (my ex-wife gets first dibs). Seriously, how are you going to finance basic government functions like roads, defense, etc without taxes? Also a reasonable amount has to be used for medical care, unless you want to wheel grandma out to the desert to die as soon as she can no longer care for hereself and is insolvent (assume grandma has no immediate relatives to care for her).
Other people – including our government – DO owe me something. They’ve been confiscating part of my income for 37 years and putting it into the Social Security fund. Either they should pay my benefits when promised, or give it back to me with interest.
Elude only has one “L”
No, you are quite wrong. The Democrats don’t want to give your tax money to the poor; they want to take it and give it to the non-productive members of the society. This ensures that this sector of the population remains non-productive and even, increases the ratio of the non-productive.
The GOP want to reduce taxes, which allows the productive members (after all, only the productive have surplus)..to keep that money and REINVEST it in more productive industrial development.
It’s private enterprise that makes wealth. Not government subsidies and handouts. And to enable private enterprise to function, a govt must leave the wealth..in private hands.
I understand all that, but there are just too many examples of corporate welfare out there to ignore. Why does Warren Buffett pay less taxes as a percentage of income than his secretary? Why don’t Exxon and GE pay taxes when the rest of us have to?
Because Buffet doesn’t keep his profits in a sock in his dresser drawer; he INVESTS it into wealth-producing businesses.
Private investment is far more productive of wealth than is public ‘investment’. If the govt took all Buffet’s surplus and distributed it to the non-productive members of the society…those people who don’t work and consume all their income …then, the nation would have no acts of investment!
The poor, who are kept by redistribution..and the wealthy, who have all their investment money taken from them…means that there is no private money for investment into jobs, industries, research.
The state doesn’t produce wealth; it consumes wealth. Yes, a certain proportion of common wealth must be used for roads, minimal govt, defense etc..but the greatest proportion of wealth must be left in the hands of private citizens.
This money is then invested. Into banks..which loan out the money. Into industries and jobs. Into research and development. And far more efficiently than any govt…for in a govt..most of the money is used to fund the administrative bureaucracy!
I’m a little surprised that no-one has explained to Tom that corporations don’t pay taxes. Only individuals pay taxes. Any “taxes” levied upon corporations are passed on as added costs and operating expenses to the ultimate consumers. In truth, Tom, corporations do not pay taxes. You and I do.
I’m well aware of the double-taxation concept of corporate income, having studied economics under a disciple of Hayek. But the concept is too simplistic. Corporations have, over time, elected to be treated as “persons” under law. All persons are supposed to be equal in the eyes of the law. So to exempt them from taxes would be unequal treatment. The money to run government has to come from somewhere; my argument is that a disproportionate share is now coming from the schmoletariat (people who are neither very rich or poor). We are at the mercy of an essentially stateless elite who own and run our large corporations and much of our government, sheltering income offshore, who have corrupted public life, and do not send their young to our wars. The sorry joke is that many of them are not particularly competent at what they do, and so end up being net “takers” from society. Their record speaks for itself – look at the sorry mess they have made of their companies and the economy.
America should use Germany as a role model; it has a free market economy, relatively low pay for corporate officers (a special benefit for shareholders), an economy based on making stuff that the rest of the world wants, and a highly-trained, motivated workforce. Why is the workforce motivated? Because they aren’t thrown off the bus as soon as things slow down. A very large proportion of companies are privately held, and rather than fire workers during a downturn, they reduce hours. When orders start coming in again, they are quick to respond; the workforce is already in place.
Tom, in my view you have a point. Corporate welfare is more complex that simply giving them “subsidies.”
In modern America, and especially with this administration, the collusion between big business and government is larger and more pervasive than ever. This is a perverse irony because the people in power now are the ones claiming to be enemies of the rich, and friends of the little guy. They are first-class liars. GE is in deep with the Obama administration, and even wrote much of Obamacare, and GM is now government-run. Obama and the Democrats — and a lot of Republicans — have no problem with bailng out Wall Street and other entities; all that scolding of the “rich” they do is to misdirect the voters. Welcome to Chrony Capitalism and Corporatism writ large.
SO MANY GOOD CONTRIBUTIONS AND THEN SO MANY LIBS WITH THEIR HEAD UP WHERE THE SUN DOES NOT SHINE. THE LATEST EXAMPLES OF OUR LEADERS POLOOOOI AND WEINER AND OUT MYSTERY BOY “o”. LORD PROTECT US.
Your words give me comfort in knowing that as long as there are thinkers such as you, all is not lost.
Your parents and grandparents are to be thanked, you are obviouly a product of your enviroment.
Please never give up.
Great read, thank you.
Nemesis is like that Karma chick, what goes around, comes around.
(Although it may a generation or two to play out.)
Or maybe she’s like the Great Mother in Avatar.
“The Great Mother doesn’t take sides, Jake. She merely preserves the balance of Life.”
I think expecting anything of a higher moral nature from a Democrat is a little like expecting the mafia to give you a fair shake. Not going to happen unless it is an accident or they feel it might help them. Weiner will go only when the last Democrat steps on his last grip on power and kicks him into the abyss. I would say on Wednesday.
I think we’re past hubris and well into the “ate” stage now, with these weirdly reckless public officials. It takes an empire to produce such prodigies, and the disengaged citizens who shrug and tolerate them.
For me the problem is illustrated by VDH’s essay itself as well as by all the comments. It’s presented in the context of Nemesis, not absolute good and evil. It’s all in terms of D vs. R, liberal vs. conservative, etc. (Go ahead and search for the word evil on this page.) The culture no longer will accept an essay on those terms, and I assume VDH knows that. We can no longer be honest.
#22, Bugs said: “The kind of moral purity we expect of our politicians does not exist in humanity – not in the average person, not in the exceptional person.”, which I agree with; but, it doesn’t mean that the standard doesn’t exist.
You know what this means don’t you – unless there is a Christian revival (not church, not religion, but based on the person of Jesus Christ) there is no hope for our country or our culture. Assuming there is no revival we will see ourselves overrun by the likes of Islam, communism, political correctness, or whatever power-wielding group rules the day – just look at history.
God have mercy on us all.
www
Don’t be looking for any “Christian revival” anytime soon. The Christian churches have be busy prostituting themsleves to populist movements and ideologies for the past 50 years. Anything for a buck and promoting socialist government, has long become their mission. There is at least one church entity that I suspose, could be an exception….the Mormon folks to a great degree. Of course Harry Reid would not be such a Mormon example. :)
The simple truth is, liberals don’t really want to be liberals. Not really. It’s too much work, too much compromise of their lifestyles. So instead of acting like liberals, they force the rest of us to.
-They cheat on their taxes while demanding that the rest of us pay higher tax rates.
-They live in mansions and fly private jets while forcing green energy on everyone else.
-They complain that war is never justified when there’s a Republican in the White House, but when their guy is in the WH they’re more than willing to go to war for humanitarian reasons.
-They make movies like American Beauty and Reservation Road mocking people who live in the suburbs (because apparently we all need to go live in the inner city, which has been made into such a paradise by all of their welfare programs), and then they go home to their own gated surburban houses in Brentwood and the Hollywood Hills. And so on…
This is nothing new, of course: the higher-ups of the Soviet Union lived in lavish government-provided homes and vacationed on the beautiful Black Sea coast, while forcing their fellow Russians to live in misery for the sake of the common good.
VDH…..["Collectively, they represent a self-appointed or elected global elite that oversees — in sanctimonious fashion — the ethical responsibilities of the redistributive state."]
Sorry old chap! Nobody can justifiably point to those folks you list as the problem. The parents and grandparents, republican and democrats, of their generations are the ones who should stand up and take the bullets of condemnation. Of course Arnie is an exception in that, he is a product of the changing society he immigrated and assimilated into.
The so-called “Greatest Generation” spawned the ‘worst generations’ of today!
“I wrote a cover story for the current issue of National Review on Strauss-Kahn, a sort of trifecta hypocrite: the socialist in a $3,000 room and $20,000 suit; the Frenchman on the barricades of race, class, gender progressiveness at best sexually using the immigrant, black, single-mom maid from Africa, at worse sexually abusing her; the IMF grandee dispersing someone else’s money to bankrupt socialist states from his itinerant perches at the world’s Sofitels.”
but still not proven guilty, until a court demonstrate it ! and, sorry, he didn’t pay $3000 his room, but benefitted of a “bonus”, allotted to clients that have alreeady passed 10 nights in the hotel, in reality he paid between $500 to $600. Even NYP knew these details !
His $20 000 suit is paid by his rich wife, so, what else as a rumor?
What happened to your written French accent? It seems to come and go.
If Strauss-Khan’s “rich wife” paid for his $20,000 suit, what’s the rumor?
It’s a fact, not “a rumor,” that he was wearing a $20,000 suit paid for by his wife on whom he was cheating. ‘Makes him even more of a cad than if he’d paid for the suit himself.
BTW, “Marie Claude,” did Strauss-Khan pay $3,000/night before he got “a bonus”?
Anonymous, a foe? Make up your mind, there’s a fish to find !
and who care from where he gets the money, his wife didn’t rob anyone !
up to now, you don’t know if the facts are objective, or forged !
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/len-levitt/ray-kellys-french-connect_b_869070.html
While this column disdains conspiracy theories, we might point out that Kelly has been known to do a favor or two for powerful and influential people who he feels can be useful to him.
And one of those people — who has been especially useful to Kelly in the past — has a tremendous interest in Strauss-Kahn’s fate.
That person is Strauss-Kahn’s political rival, French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Kelly and Sarkozy? Hold on, readers. Don’t laugh.
I’m “Anonymous.” I forgot to affix my moniker. ‘Happens sometimes when I’m tired. (BTW, it was later than 6:22 pm where I live when I commented!)
Whether or not this was a set-up for Mr. Strauss-Khan is somewhat irrelevant to the discussion of Mr. Strauss-Khan’s loose morals and insistent sexually charged trysts. He’s a well-known serial sexual boor. If it wasn’t for his position and money, he’d probably have been arrested and charged for sexual assault a long time ago. He, obviously, thinks its some kind of honour to be groped and/or raped by him.
If I, apparently, “don’t know if the facts are objective, [sic] or forged,” then how do you? You say Strauss-Khan’s $20,000 suit was bought by his wife and that his 11th night in the $3,000/night hotel cost only $500-$600. Are these objective facts or forged?
Because know how Sofitel works, and for Ms Sinclair’s fortune, many reports were made prior DSK arrestation
Though he wasn’t known as a rapist, but as a womaniser !
Ah, to read the writ of a true classicist! Such elegant articulateness is so rare. How eternal. And thank the gods for Nemesis. In the end game, the left destroy themselves, or so I thought, but now reminded, I see tis just Nemesis at play.
Ostentatious and ineffectual.
“Know Thyself” and “Nothing Too Much” were written on the architraves of the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and for good reason, to remind us where we came from and who we were, and to shun excess — material, emotional, sexual.”
As I recall from my own limited study of the classics, one of the major offenses that could bring down the wrath of Nemesis in Greek culture was the sin of “hubris.” This is variously described as excessive or immoderate behavior, overweening pride, boastful, lying or arrogant behavior or humiliation of others for the sheer sport of it. Such excesses could result in the punishment by Nemisis, a punishment that was always peculiarly fitted to the offense.
The threat of Nemisis was intended to curb the abuse of power particularly in public men. To avoid the reach of Nemesis the ideal public man was modest, restrained, measured and possessed of a sense fo humility. This led to a promotion of the public good since such a man would put the needs of the state before his own. George Washington was often described as “completely lacking in hubris.” For that reason he was often compared to Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (519 BC – 430 BC), the Roman general who was called from his simple farming life to assume dictatorial power and save Rome from invasion by the Sabines and the Volscians. To everyone’s surprise he immediately relinquised his powers at the end of the war and returned to his farm. He was called to the dictator ship several years later to put down a rebellion and once again immediately laid down his powers after the crisis had passed.
There should be a bust of Cincinnatus (and Washington for that matter) in the office of every Senator, Congressman, cabinet official, Governor and of course the President.
Agree. Winston Churchill wasn’t such a bad guy either. There was a bust of him in the Oval office and the current occupant ordered it returned to the British embassy.
” . . . run the water . . .”
“And so out we went. . .”
Oh, that we might come too.
Back to a time when, though life was hard and far from simple, families largely remained intact and strong men and women fearlessly transmitted values to ‘smart-aleck teens’ . . . to a time when a piece of land could provide anchorage for a heart in need of refuge.
(seems I originally posted this in the wrong aisle :-)
Sir :
You plug away, admirably, day after day, building sentences and paragraphs, assembling them is some sort of sensible order, and usually falling just short of what you have in mind.
But, on THIS day, on THIS day, the labor paid off.
In the old days children were raised in little homes learning big lessons. Now big homes teaching little lessons.
The description of Anthony Weiner as “haughty, self-righteous, full of hyperbole about the evils of conservatives” reminds me of yet another figure, the man who did it, got away with it, and didn’t lose anything: David Letterman.
What’s an apparchet? I thought it might be a French version of apparatchik, but couldn’t find a definition.
My basketball coach told me that the squad who goes into the game “humble” usually wins.
I don’t see how Ahnold belongs here.
But I would add all of the high-tax plutocrats, Buffet, et. al., who want taxes raised but won’t make their own contributions to the Bureau of Public Debt. (Actually, I’m not sure about Buffet himself; I don’t recall if he refused any exemptions.) And of course, we have the poster boy, Michael Moore.
The reason the Republicans are more “honest” is because they have the MSM to jump on them, usually when it is too late to replace them on the ballot. To my understanding, it was this unequal coverage that gave the Democrats Congress last time around.
Dear Professor Hanson and Commentators: Thank you, professor, for your reflections on home from the Mediterranean, and thanks to your audience, whose members have written with trenchant thought and deep passion.
The vision of commentator #16, emmaliza, provides some light in a landscape otherwise full of darkness and foreboding. If I understand emmaliza, Americans might already have turned the corner, away from the collectivist nightmare, but can’t yet see it. Emmaliza’s argument is that Barack Obama’s unlikely, and in retrospect ridiculous, rise to the pinnacle of political power will one day be seen as at once the high point and the beginning of the end of the progressive, collectivist project in America.
The principle instrument of this (for now) imperceptible reversal is, according to emmaliza, the dispersion of electronic media. No central Ministry of Information can any longer manipulate and control access to knowledge and perspective. Push-back from the dinosaurs in the mainstream media is inevitable. But the decentralization will intensify; it is, finally, uncontrollable and unstoppable. Freedom finds a way.
I hope emmaliza is right, as I pray I live long enough to see Americans look back on these dark times, take the long view, and witness history render this verdict.
I just read this link, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aK6hBJoKSOEE, detailing what S&P said while down grading Mexicos credit rating to BBB+.
apropos of nothing. If I were a country my credit rating would be FFF-. Yet in theory I do have a positive net worth.
“The government’s inability to broaden the tax base meaningfully and address the many loopholes and exemptions in the tax regime weakens its capacity to contain fiscal pressures from diminished oil production — even if oil output declines more slowly than in recent years,”