“It’s like a horror movie where the mummy stops chasing you and the werewolf starts.” – Lea, on moving from Bush to Obama
Heh. I said no sulking, and I hope this doesn’t violate. My beloved uttered this even before her feet hit the floor this morning, and I found it humorous.
For all of you beaten Costanzas looking for a soft-serve machine in which to cool your feet, I recommend National Review Online. You’ll find productive encouragement there.
I know you’re angry and disappointed. I’m angry and disappointed too. But I urge you to consider carefully the outlets you choose for these emotions. At the end of the day, this is about what Republicans do (or do not) currently stand for, and whether there’s an accompanying compelling vote-for-it narrative. (Hint: there isn’t.)
It is Republicans who deserve the wrath of your frustration. An old chestnut about standing for nothing and falling for anything occurs to me.
Congratulations, Mr. Obama. Please exceed my expectations.
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Tell, Lea, thanks for the laugh.
Lea is the Mistress of the Snappy One-Liners, is she not? The quote of hers that rotates in your sidebar cracks me up ALL THE TIME.
I like the way you ended this post. I, too, am hoping to have my expectations exceeded (and I suspect that my expectations are higher than yours where this man is concerned). It’s going to take more than just him, though – what we really need is a bit more cooperation and involvement on the ground, from people like us, to make things work. This is the first president who’s inspired me to get off the couch.
Here’s hoping the next four years will be better than the last four. I’m cautiously optimistic. And you’re right, Bo, the Republicans have only themselves to blame. The county has been telling them (via approval ratings among other things) for some time now that they were not living up to our expectations. They didn’t listen, so they got voted out. Thank goodness for democracy.
You know, watching the party in Chicago last night, I got the sense that the mantle has passed to the next generation. My generation. The generation that was born during the civil rights movement, but take race equality for granted. Here’s hoping the country can come together and take this historic step together. And here’s to hope that we’ll continue making progress and that it won’t take until the next generation comes into power for the gays and lesbians to secure equal rights.
I have to say that McCain offered a great concession speech. Here’s hoping he’ll go back to his real maverick ways, ways I’ve not seen during the campaign, and help be a uniter.
I am thrilled, however, that I’ll not have to see Palin as much anymore. She bugs the hell out of me. Yuck! Go back to Alaska and stay there. Please.
Man, I had a troubled sleep last night. I watched Obama’s speech earlier and all I could think of was Nuremburg 1934. I saw a very charismatic Leader throwing out “Yes We Can”s like “Seig Heil”s while the camera kept panning on teary-eyed women and an adoring mass mouthing those three words “Yes We Can.” It was just plain creepy. Then we have these Chairman Mao like posters of Obama circulating about and then Chuck Schumer with his talk of stomping out any remaining dissenting speech through an Orwellian “Fairness Doctrine.” Obama talking of raising up a Civilian National Security Force to rival the military. Talk of taking away the secret ballot for the good of the worker……GULP. Should I just shut up, hang a portrait of Obama over the mantle, and patriotically pay my taxes?
Intellectually I tell myself to stop being so freaking paranoid. Obama’s no Hitler. He’s not marching around in a para-military uniform with jackboots on. He doesn’t have a proto-Civilian National Security Force marching through town smashing out the windows of Republican owned businesses. He hasn’t really said he’s going to completely strip private citizens of their firearms. Maybe these worries just stem from fears imprinted on me by the Republican Campaign Machine….but then I saw Obama’s speech and the crowd reaction with my own eyes and the knot in my stomach remains.
A year from now we’ll know for sure and I pray to God that I can look back and chuckle at how an old man can still be overwhelmed by childish fears.
I’m with you Bob. History might not repeat itself exactly but it sure as hell does mimic. Many times in the past people never believed the “worst” could happen. The Bolshevik’s and Stalin. National Socialism and Hitler. Re-education and Pol Pot. Rwanda. I harbor no illusions regarding the capacity for evil lurking in the hearts of man.
One thing I do find interesting about the press and commentary i’ve heard today is that the same people who have been nothing but partisian obstructionists and Bush haters for the past 8 years suddenly expect us all to hold hands and sing Kum Bay Yah together because a “black”* man is now in office. The absolute “racistness” of that statement infuriates me. The man is a full blown Socialist and his policies (if enacted) will make the Jimmy Carter years look like Utopia.
I fear for the Republic.
*for real? Having a white parent, being raised exclusively by white folk, and attending Harvard and Columbia is what passes for “black” in 2008? Barack Obama is “whiter” than I am.
I also appreciate the way you’ve ended your post. Fact is, all we’ve got to go on right now is the fading rhetoric of fear coming from the Republicans who, faced with an shitty economy for which they were blamed, were basically stuck with and totally behind tons of ridiculously negative campaigning with not much of another message.
I voted for Obama because I do want to see a different direction, but I think it will not one we need to fear – the man has inspired a lot of people of all colors – but one where perhaps the conversation simply changes direction; I am eager to see what he’ll do and who he chooses as part of the team to get to work. I’m working on being cautiously optimistic. I think the signs are good.
Really, you guys? Hitler?
Step back a second, please, and remember that Hitler and the Nazi party operated from a platform of separatism and, well, insanity, driven mostly by fear and resentment about the state of the German economy after the first World War. The Nazis in general, and Hitler in particular, were looking for someone to blame rather than having a hard look at what the nation, with ALL of its citizens working together(because let’s not forget that nearly all of the Jews Hitler hated so much WERE, in fact, German citizens).
Never ONCE has ANYONE from the Obama camp said ANYTHING about singling people out; in fact, the rhetoric come from our new President-Elect has ALWAYS been about unity and cooperation. Had there been some nonsense about immigration and hysteria over illegal immigrants, I MIGHT be willing to grant you SOME of this, but as it stands, you get no concessions about any of this from me.
As someone who’s done some pretty extensive research on Nazis and the Holocaust (and the conditions leading up to it) – and I’ll happily offer up my credentials – I have to suggest that you’re REALLY overreacting with this comparison.
Match the U.S. Presidents to the top marginal income tax rates in effect during their presidencies.
A) George W. Bush
B) Barack Obama
C) Richard Nixon
D) Dwight Eisenhower
1) 35%
2) 39%
3) 70%
4) 90%
Answers: A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4
Which is the “full-blown” socialist? And which is most like a fiscal conservative? Obama is closer to the latter. I don’t remember anybody calling Nixon a socialist, full-blown or otherwise. Or Ike, for that matter.
Oh, and, Bo? Very gracious of you. You are a true gent.
Take heart in the fact that your candidate managed to get 47% of the vote after running the worst presidential campaign I’ve ever seen. And as a Democrat, I’ve seen two of the worst of them (Kerry ’04, Gore ’00).
Cheers!
I’m not saying Obama is just like Hitler but I’m seeing some similarities with the Cult of Personality surrounding both these individuals. Then there are the other concerns I already documented above.
No separatism you say? It wasn’t us who came up with the pejorative “fly-over country.” You’ll find plenty of insanity and separatism if you take the time to wade into the fever swamps of Daily Kos and MyDD. Maybe you think these bloggers don’t represent the party. Last I checked all the candidates went to the last KosCon to figuratively kiss Moulitsas’ ring. When the netroots childishly called on the candidates to boycott the Fox News debates they all complied. I didn’t see Obama rise above this insanity. Then there were the veiled threats about rioting in the streets if your guy didn’t win. Shady campaign contributions and rampant registration fraud on the part of ACORN. Yes, Obama talks of unity and working together, after all, he needed to sway independents to win the election. Conveniently Obama didn’t have to sully his hands because he had an army of fanatics to do it for him. Obama went to Joe the Plummer’s neighborhood for photo-ops and when Joe had the temerity to ask him an embarrassing question Obama’s fanatics dig up Joe’s background and plastered it all over the media. The message received loud and clear by the rest of us Joes is that you better not ask any questions Obama doesn’t like or you’ll get the same treatment.
I can’t think of them all now but there’s been a bunch of other shameful and sometimes scary behavior liberals have displayed during their 8 year temper tantrum.
Let me add one thing. I don’t believe Mrs. Chili or any of her liberal friends have anything but the best of intentions for this country. I believe that you are genuinely hopeful that the country as a whole can unite around Obama and create positive change. It’s not you that has me concerned but rather the fanatics. Where does Obama stand on all of this? I really don’t know. The next six months will give us some good indications. All I can do is watch and hope for the best.
I stand by my original statement! I’m just concerned about different things in the next four years.
I’m not scared there will be thugs in the guise of a government organization roaming the streets taking away our rights to free speech, to bear arms, etc.
I’m more concerned about Obama’s take on the economy. I think that will eventually be tempered by the reality that his fellow Democrats and their deep pocket campaign supporters are only going to allow so much distribution of wealth before they start withdrawing their support. (I.E. Kerry may have claimed to be a poor man’s candidate but it’s hard to do that from a mansion and the Kennedys aren’t living in the projects,either.)
As for the war… logistics are such that you can say tomorrow that we are going to leave and it’s still going to take a year. Otherwise, I think the vaccuum you create in that country be leaving too quickly would be catastrophic. I thought we should NEVER have started that war but once we were there, we didn’t need to leave before the job was done.
Yes, I do worry that cuts in defense will leave us vunerable. You are kidding yourself if you don’t think there are people out there who wouldn’t be happy to destroy us.
Several years ago, I saw a documentary on PBS that said the porn industry grew astronomically during the Clinton administration (it had to do with the administration refusing to prosecute). So, maybe other industries will see growth.
All: I always appreciate discussion and almost always participate, but this is going to be one of the “almost”s.
Many replies have occurred to me on this comment or that, but I simply haven’t the stomach for further political discussion right now.
Just sticking my head up to explain my silence. Please continue as long and as far as you would like.
Bob, thank you. I appreciate the acknowledgment, and I am pleased to continue the discussion with the understanding (and extension) of mutual respect.
I will not disagree with your assessment of the tactics of the campaigns. There is a lot to be ashamed of in the American political process, and sadly no one in recent memory (ever?)has managed to rise above this. Once, JUST ONCE, I’d like to see someone come in and refuse to be influenced by all the bullshit. If I remember correctly, Jesse Ventura tried to govern that way, but I didn’t follow his administration, so I can’t speak with any kind of authority about whether or not he succeeded. All I remember is that he was a straight-talker during his campaign, and I found that gloriously refreshing. Sadly, that kind of honesty won’t fly far; people don’t want to be told truths they don’t want to hear, and until we can stomach a leader who tells it like it is, REAL change will never happen.
I completely understand where you’re going with the Cult of Personality idea, and I agree. The difference between what I see Obama doing and what the Nazis did is that Obama is trying to unite the whole of the country – he even goes so far as to name some of us (here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrXkBuWNx88 – right around 3:10). The Nazis were rallying against an “other;” for them, it wasn’t about what can WE DO, it’s about what THEY’RE doing TO us. Obama is rejecting the idea that any of us is an “other.” The first time I heard him do this was the 2004 DNC keynote address, and I’ve been admiring his talent with inclusive rhetoric ever since.
Obama is trying (successfully, I think) to make people feel like they matter. He’s utilizing team-building strategies and making people feel like they can participate meaningfully in the greater community of the country – and it’s working (for me, at least). People want to feel like what they do is important. People want to believe that what they do makes a difference. I think, deep down, people WANT to serve. They want to be useful and productive. They want to succeed. Obama and his “yes we can” campaign is telling people all of that and more. Never in my life have I ever been so confident that the work that I do – as a teacher and an ally and a parent – is meaningful to the health and success of the NATION. Obama makes me feel empowered; he’s telling us that we don’t have to be a multimillionaire to be important and necessary. People who feel empowered are far more likely to get off the couch and DO something.
Fanatics of any kind scare me; though, I suppose one could call ME a fanatic (people have). If I am, I’m a very well-intentioned fanatic, though; I’m a fanatic for cooperation and compassion, for fairness and equality, and for justice and opportunity.
I’m not starry-eyed; I know that there’s a stupidly-slim chance that this euphoria is actually going to amount to anything (I AM a cranky Yankee, after all; cynicism is my birthright). I understand that the problems we face aren’t going to be solved by platitudes, rallies, and a couple of hours of community service. I also harbor a deep-seated and nagging suspicion that there’s precious little difference between the parties and that, before long, it’s going to be business as usual. Even with all that, though, I think that ANY improvement, however small, is a step in the right direction. “Getting better” is still getting better; even if the patient is still critical, at least he’s not getting any worse.
Do you believe me when I say that I’ve HEARD of Daily Kos, but I don’t read it, and I have no idea what MyDD is? I don’t watch ANY news shows, so I have no idea who’s righty and who’s lefty. I sometimes get a Jon Stewart clip emailed to me, but that’s about the extent of it. I’m a pretty independent fanatic, is what I’m trying to say here. I like to do a lot of my own thinking…
Porn is legal. Why would you prosecute a legal industry?
The only way I can make money in the porn growth industry, is if I write some very sexy code.
mabnyc – Apparently there are some standards that even the adult film industry had to adhere to. For example, some combinations of porn and violence were a no-no. The documentary was really more about the history of porn in the U.S. and focused on the regulated film industry – not the millions of talented amateurs that we have on the web today. It only mentioned politics in terms of how it influenced the development of the industry. It was an adult film-maker that specifically named the Clinton administration as the turning point for the business boom. The gist of it was the previous Bush administration had made it a priority to monitor the industry and prosecute infringements. So, naturally, this is not good for business. The Clinton administration chose not to make this a primary focus, which resulted in a more hospitable environment for industry growth. I don’t know what stance the most recent Bush administration took on the subject. I’m guessing it is more on the lines of his dad, though.
‘Seester – thanks for getting the humor
One piece of good news from Tuesday was California’s passing of Prop 8, the No Gay Marriage Constitutional Amendment. You know when the liberal state of California passes such an amendment that the vast majority of American does not support gay marriage. Both Florida and Arizona also passed Props. to ban gay marriage. Thank God for some sanity in America.
All: I will try to remain positive, and I encourage you to do the same.
I wish I found some of the concerns cited above more absurd. The fact is, my “that’s ridiculous!” threshold for what might happen in an Obama administration is quite high right now.
Nevertheless, he says he’s going to be everyone’s president. He gets a chance to start proving it in a little more than two months. I suggest that, both for your own daily well-being and in the interest of good manners, we all give him that chance. If he’s off the rails, then it will become apparent soon enough, and I’d estimate there will be perhaps 800 million skillion billion jillion zillion eyes gathering potential ammunition for the ’10 midterms.
There need to be even more eyes looking inward. Obama is a talented rhetorician, and there’s a good chance he’d have beaten a great Republican candidate who ran a smooth campaign. Perhaps we’ll find out in ’12, ’cause we damned sure didn’t in ’08. Republicans don’t credibly stand for anything right now. There is a hell of a lot of trust restoration to do, and it must be genuine.
I’m chewing on ‘seester’s ruminations on moderation of the more stringent social planks in the Republican platform. Of course I think it’s a great idea personally, and I’m thinking this ass-kicking might be severe enough to make it practical.
Pearl: The last number I saw was 52-48; hardly a reasonable number from which to extract “vast majority.”
I recommend you take what is obviously a great deal of energy you have on this issue and channel it toward helping the Republican Party locate its long-lost affection for small government.
Anyone who raises the specter of Hitler’s rise to power when discussing Mr. Obama is a sour grapes sore loser. However, since ad hominem attacks epitomize the GOP in general, I ain’t surprised.
Name calling and “attack dog” politics have been the hallmark of the GOP for quite a while. In my opinion that approach was a big part of this election result. The party has pandered to its worst elements for a number of years, and has no better way to advance its cause than slinging empty words and phrases: “liberal;” “tax and spend;” “socialist;” etc. After 8 years the country is embroiled in two useless and financially ruinous wars, has a staggering debt/deficit, and an economy in shambles. What did the GOP offer to make things better? More of the same. The lame duck president is scrambling around now to see how much further he can cripple the country’s environmental policies (citation in one of my recent posts). And the beat goes on.
Here’s my suggestion: Tell the religious right to returning to saving souls and helping the poor and give them a polite “no thanks” when they want a political role. Get rid of those pit bulls you call campaign strategists and get a few ideas going. Loudly and clearly tell the type of “supporters” you have largely catered to who carry monkeys with Obama sweater and such stuff to form their own party, you don’t want them.
Anyone who discusses Hitler in the same breath with the president-elect needs to take a hard look at themselves. Yeah, I did say “facsism” a while back, but it was to illustrate the useless impotence of others slinging around the word “socialist.” Labels, to me, are never indicative of sound underlying reason.
As for Bo, what a gracious host he has been through thick and thin. He’s the kind of Republican who can restore the party to “grandness.”
BO, I said a vast majority of America, not California. Where I live, in a red state, I would guess 80 percent would have voted yes for
prop 8. This is not my top issues at all. I was just looking for a bright spot.
Smaller government – I support that 100 percent. My Republican senator was just reelected and he is one of the biggest small government members of Congress. My other Republican senator is also a big advocate of more responsible spending and smaller government.
Bo, I’m loudly and enthusiastically seconding Gerry’s assessment of your stewardship, not only of this blog, but of reasonable and considered and polite discourse, and of our friendship. I love you.
Bo, I don’t by any means expect you to mediate between your commenters, and don’t know how you could, but I want to make an example of what I discussed above.
You have a commenter who uses the handle “Pearl.” This individual in my experience always uses phony email addresses, and is certainly not interested in dialogue. Along the way, “Pearl” has taken such exception to my views (expressed on my blog and elsewhere) that he/she/it has become vitriolic in attacking me “ad hominem.” I have consigned the comments from “Pearl” to spam, but occasionally read them before clearing my spam folder. Chili has also become a target of this venom.
This one was dated Nov. 2, and appears to be directed at a comment I left here.
“I love it. Don’t stop short, Chili has her head up your ass. I propose a 90 percent income tax for fucking LAWYERS.”
This individual doubtless carried a stuffed monkey with an Obama sweater to the polling station.
As for her recent comment on your post about “small government,” I take that to indicate she hasn’t followed the current administrations spending habits and attacks on personal freedom much over the last 8 years.
Regular readers may have noticed that I never comment during work hours, but I’m going to make an exception here in an attempt to head off what looks to me to be a percolating shitstorm.
Gerry: You’re right. I can’t mediate between commenters. I can enforce baseline standards of behavior, and given that I spent 13 years on Usenet, the standards in place are quite liberal. Pearl’s generally behaved herself here, and that needs to remain my basis for whatever “enforcement” decisions need to be made. It’s the slipperiest of slopes for me to start concerning myself with a report that she may have thrown a bartender through a plate glass window down the street.
One recommendation I do have for you is that if you’re going to send someone to the spam folder, keep that person there and give it no more thought. It’s surprising how much discipline it can require, and believe me, I’m speaking from personal experience.
Pearl: Doubtless you and I have at least a few things in common that make us angry. I also have little doubt that you and I express that anger in different ways. I’d invite you to consider working a little harder to find a path to friendly disagreement. Each of us has different strengths and weaknesses, in the conversational arena or in any other. (In case you haven’t noticed, each one of us is carrying some bucket of shit or another around with us. It’s called “being human.”)
There’s a hell of a lot to be said for picking the ideas apart, not the people, and when that gets too difficult (and it eventually will), walk away for a bit. There are a few regular online haunts of mine I’m avoiding for a day or three because I don’t want to be part of the Obamagasm, okay?
“You know we’re LIVING in a SOCIETY here!” – George Costanza
I appreciate everyone’s compliments on my behavior, stewardship, etc. I try. I don’t always make it, so keep your expectations reasonable or I’m certain to eventually disappoint you.
(I have edited this comment after further consideration, as well as requested and received advice. No offense was intended. I apologize for my indelicacy.)
435 House and 33 Senate seats up for re-election in 2010!
That’s pretty rich Gerry. Attack dog politics and lack of decorm has always been the hallmark of liberals. When was the last time conservatives showed up at a Hillary rally wearing “Hillary is a Cunt” t-shirts? When was the last time a municipality in a red state considered naming a sewage treatment facility after Bill Clinton? How many scurrilous movies were made about Bill Clinton while he was still a sitting President. How many times did conservatives gather outside Walter Reed Hospital and mock severely wounded Vets. Man, I could go on and on.
There are colossal assholes on both the right and the left.
Surely this assertion is uncontroversial.
It is uncontroversial. I still assert that “attack dog” electioneering is more a feature of the right than of the left.
However, my point was not that “liberals” are the possessors of some special virtue, but that “your mother wears army boots” is a style the “conservatives” could well afford to eschew when contemplating campaigns in the future.
Saw the following article this morning. It reminded me of this conversation. Apparently others see the historical similarities as well.
Georgia congressman warns of Obama dictatorship
By BEN EVANS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican congressman from Georgia said Monday he fears that President-elect Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist or fascist dictatorship.
“It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he’s the one who proposed this national security force,” Rep. Paul Broun said of Obama in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. “I’m just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may — may not, I hope not — but we may have a problem with that type of philosophy of radical socialism or Marxism.”
Broun cited a July speech by Obama that has circulated on the Internet in which the then-Democratic presidential candidate called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.
“That’s exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it’s exactly what the Soviet Union did,” Broun said. “When he’s proposing to have a national security force that’s answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he’s showing me signs of being Marxist.”
Obama’s comments about a national security force came during a speech in Colorado about building a new civil service corps. Among other things, he called for expanding the nation’s foreign service and doubling the size of the Peace Corps “to renew our diplomacy.”
“We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set,” Obama said in July. “We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”
Broun said he also believes Obama likely will move to ban gun ownership if he does build a national police force.
Obama has said he respects the Second Amendment right to bear arms and favors “common sense” gun laws. Gun rights advocates interpret that as meaning he’ll at least enact curbs on ownership of assault weapons and concealed weapons. As an Illinois state lawmaker, Obama supported a ban on semiautomatic weapons and tighter restrictions on firearms generally.
“We can’t be lulled into complacency,” Broun said. “You have to remember that Adolf Hitler was elected in a democratic Germany. I’m not comparing him to Adolf Hitler. What I’m saying is there is the potential.”
Obama’s transition office did not respond immediately to Broun’s remarks.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iRxZox4GFoIweckPDP1oRhKBlHOwD94CCDU00
Hat tip, John Derbyshire for the following:
The language at http://change.gov/americaserves/ that says:
… setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free …
Used to say:
… developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year …
Got that warm fuzzy yet? That’s 50 hours of community service REQUIRED by Mommy Government from your middle-schooler. (Oh, I know they’ve changed the language now, but the initial choice reveals volumes.)
Hitler was never democratically elected.
http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0403a.asp
Thank you for posting that link Mrs.Chili. It’s a good thing for everyone to understand how it was that Hitler rose to power and how the German population allowed him to do the evil things he did. We must always remain vigilant because I don’t believe for a moment that the same sorts of things couldn’t happen in this country. The last lines of the article you posted are particularly important to remember:
“…and a newly arrived observer was somewhat surprised to see that the people of this country [Germany] did not seem to feel that they were being cowed…. On the contrary, they supported it with genuine enthusiasm. Somehow it imbued them with a new hope and a new confidence and an astonishing faith in the future of their country.”
Bob, we can read that last paragraph in two ways. The section starts off thus:
The overwhelming majority of Germans did not seem to mind that their personal freedom had been taken away, that so much of culture had been destroyed and replaced with a mindless barbarism, or that their life and work had become regimented to a degree never before experienced even by a people accustomed for generations to a great deal of regimentation.
While we can certainly read the bit that you put up as a parallel to Obama-mania, we can read the bit that I put up as a description of the last eight or so years.
My point is that I’m not entirely sure that a comparison to Nazi Germany is fruitful or relevant. The history doesn’t support the argument.
I appreciate what you are saying and I’m not saying that I think Obama is going to be another Hitler. I’m just concerned about the Cult of Personallity thing.
George Bush has often been compared to Hitler by lefties and I pricked up my ears when I first heard the comparisons. I didn’t immediately shut down the conversation and declare Godwin’s Law. I take that shit seriously. I looked at Bush’s policies carefully and I didn’t think the comparisons to Hitler were valid. If Bush had adoring masses treating him like a rock star at his speeches no telling what he might have tried to do….heck, I’d probably have been nervous about him too.
As it stands, Bush hasn’t grasped dictatorial powers and there will be a peaceful change of government in January despite some of the fevered predictions from the left.
I will only judge Obama by his actions and at this point it’s premature.
Bob, I’ve come to really, REALLY enjoy our conversations here. Thank you!
I remember the first time I heard the Bush/Hitler comparison, and I, too, took a good, hard look at the evidence and concluded that some of my lefty compatriots were taking things too far. Were the policies they were citing good ones? No; I think that pretty much everyone can agree that things like the suspension of habeas corpus and the institution of things like torture and warrentless wiretapping were BIG missteps on the government’s part. Were there echoes of history in them? Perhaps; one of the first things that dictators and oppressive regimes do is rescind personal liberty and engender fear in the populous. Did these policies rise to the level that they deserved comparison to Nazism? No; and thinking people – even lefties – knew it.
I DO NOT agree that Obama has the Cult of Personality going; just yesterday, I commented to O’Mama that Obama will be our first “rock star” president. Despite my lefty leanings, I am still a Yankee at heart, so I, too, am cautious about that. The underlying message that I’ve seen coming from Mr. Obama, though, has always been one of cooperation and compassion and unity. I haven’t hit the “fear” button… yet. I’m willing to wait it out and see where it goes, all the while being vigilant against what can happen at the intersection of power and popularity.
WAIT! That should read “I DO NOT DISagree.” Sorry – I agree with your concerns, Bob; I just didn’t proofread before I hit “submit.”
Bob: Agreed. I’m not going to judge that rotten good-for-nothing socialist son-of-a-bitch except on his actions.
No, seriously, I really do hope he is better than I think, and I fully intend to give him a legitimate opportunity to impress me.
Mrs. Chili: I’m fascinated at how simultaneously close and distant you and I are.
You wrote:
Mrs. Chili: I’m fascinated at how simultaneously close and distant you and I are.
Me, too. Let’s talk more about it, please; working stuff out with you people is helping me to better articulate my own thinking…
who are you calling “you people?” 🙂
Why, I’m calling YOU “you people!” Wasn’t that obvious?