Is socialism dying?
It's a question that would hardly have been asked in those days just after Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. After all, to those who had paid attention, he had run (and won) as a far left ideologue, a genuine socialist.
That hardly seems evidence of liberalism being out of favor.
But making sweeping promises and being able to deliver them are two distinct things. And it turned out that Obama couldn't deliver the goods. In fact, after the euphoria of electing a supposedly post-racial, post-partisan, transparent and highly skilled orator as its President, the country began to realize that it had done anything but.
For the new administration started slow and sluggish but demonstrated that it wasn't at all interested in conciliation or teamwork. Indeed, the most controversial and divisive zealots were put into positions of bureaucratic power. Government was carried on in secret. Deal-making, coercion, distortion of facts, blame, and demagoguery via teleprompter became Obama's rules of engagement.
The President, freed from having to curry favor from voters or the press, arrogantly turned on both.
As a candidate, Barack Obama played various roles but the fawning press refused to report his hypocrisy and inconsistency. They actually helped him in his various disguises. But when elected, the masquerade was over. He was Planned Parenthood's man after all. And he wasn't going to protect marriage. His religion wasn't Christianity but a mix of new age mysticism, Jeremiah Wright-style liberation theology, and deep respect for Islam. He didn't bother to go to church. American exceptionalism he sneeringly rejected -- he was President of the world. And so he hit the road on his apology tours, going out of his way to denigrate America, disrespect our allies and cravenly suck up to our enemies.
And when he was back home, the socialism he always held dear was also let out of its box: buyouts, bailouts, takeovers, spending like a drunken sailor, and ambitious schemes to shove whatever policies he wanted down the American gullet.
It was irresponsible to the max. The schemes just wouldn't work. There wasn't the money. It was a bizarre form of madness too -- so openly mad that the laws were written in secret, withheld from politicians who were expected to vote on them anyway. The bully pulpit was losing its power, so long-winded and uncertain and gaffe-prone was Obama without his teleprompter and so harebrained, sing-song and irritating was the man even when he had its help, that he opted instead to just be a bully. He scowled, threatened, pointed his nicotine-stained finger and got his way with timid Democrats -- after then giving them presents for seeing things his way.
But when the health care fight began to reveal these things in all their dishonor to the American people, something turned. The nastiness, the absurdity, and the tyranny which is "Obama liberalism" was rejected. Utterly rejected. His disapproval ratings reached record lows as did those of other Democrats and RINO incumbents. There were tea parties, editorial page revolutions, viral video clips -- even lifelong Democrats joined the chorus of boos.
But, most significantly, the opposition wasn't just about health care. It wasn't even about Barack Obama alone. No, the opposition to the administration's brand of liberalism was more about a resurgence of common sense -- in morality, economics, and national interest. Patriotism experienced a rebirth as did a strong desire to "throw the bums out" who had given us a government that, even before Obama, overtaxed us but left us under-represented, uninspired, unproductive and unprotected.
Socialism hadn't worked in Europe. But it was hanging on to the reins of power and still hoping to win back the unconverted and disillusioned. But then Barack Obama came and tried to outdo Europe in the socialism department. He wanted more than a bigger government, more even than a Nanny State under Democrat control. He wanted socialism on a grand scale including a new international order (as he told the West Point cadets just days ago) and the domination by government of private industry, private property and even such aspects of private life as religious conscience and expression.
And he is no incrementalist. He wants these things now. And he wants them bad -- so bad that even the devastating opposition now arrayed against him will not make him change his mind or his timetable.
If Obama fails (and it looks increasingly likely that he will), the cause of socialism even in Europe is in grave jeopardy. The stage on which his collapse has been enacted is too big. His aching ambition and pompous sense of destiny did what liberals had always feared -- he showed the public way too clearly what the goals and
the spirit of liberalism really were. And therefore their rejection was dramatic and, quite possibly, permanent.
Is socialism dying? If so, it can blame no one more than its most fervent fancier, Barack Obama.
Tony Campolo Dissin' Israel Yet Again
Mark Tooley reports on one of the latest anti-Israel escapades involving leftist "evangelicals" Tony Campolo and Lynne Hybels.
They don't even try to hide anymore.
Laura Bush has a new book out, one in which she not only admits her hopes that abortion remains legal but also her favoring the legalization of same-sex marriage. It's a very sad and ugly thing. For holding these positions means that Mrs. Bush is turning her heart away from the barbaric murder of preborn boys and girls as well as turning her heart away from the order of creation established by Almighty God.
I don't see how the president's position and popularity can survive the oil spill. This is his third political disaster in his first 18 months in office. And they were all, as they say, unforced errors, meaning they were shaped by the president's political judgment and instincts.
Don't worry about seeing that new film "Nightmare on Elm Street," former lieutenant governor of New York Betsy McCaughey can catch you up on a much more frightening story.
Earlier this month while in Brussels, Vice President Joe Biden told the European Parliament that while “some American politicians and American journalists refer to Washington, DC as the ‘capital of the free world’ … it seems to me that this great city, which boasts 1,000 years of history and which serves as the capital of Belgium, the home of the European Union, and the headquarters for NATO, this city has its own legitimate claim to that title.” How revealing.
In the United Nations, Egypt votes against the United States 79% of the time. Yet it receives $2 billion annually in U.S. "foreign aid." Yes, that's two "capital B" billion dollars.
New York Post columnist John Crudele has pointed out the outrageous fraud of Team Obama listing in its "jobs created" category census workers who only worked an hour or two. In fact, it's worse than that. Many of these workers are released after a very short time (a few days, even a few hours) and then "re-hired" -- and each time they return they're listed as another new job created!
Ben Watson is a recent friend (made through Facebook) who is involved with a Christian outreach that I think some of you might find of interest. I certainly do.
Sri Carmichael at the London Evening Standard tells us that former British Prime Minister has just landed a nice gig as a "strategic adviser" to Khosla Ventures, a California company that bankrolls businesses looking to profit from technology that reduces global warming. The job will pay Blaire a minimum of £700,000 a year for opening doors through his influence, prestige and international contacts.
Why Are These Particular Baby Dolls Inappropriate for Kids?
After reading this story from the Virginian-Pilot, it seems that all of Norfolk, Virginia is aghast and infuriated about what was done to the students of Oakwood Elementary School.
Is socialism dying?
In a surprisingly candid piece, Michelle Boorstein reports for the Washington Post on the Democrat's retreat from their much-vaunted "faith outreach."
After beginning the evening in prayer, the Vital Signs team members who had assembled for last night's P.A.L. Night (Prayer, Action and Letters) watched this 5-minute video clip for a few helpful pointers. True, everyone there was a letter-writing veteran but the clip is a very effective inspiration and help.
...Let me begin with a quick recap of the last several weeks. 1) The Omaha World Herald published a pro-life op/ed piece of mine which drew a lot of attention. Historically, the newspaper has been anything but positive to my entries but there has been a few changes at the top there. This was the second op/ed of mine they published in the last couple of years.
If you want to see a liberal pundit go ballistic, raise the matter of Barack Obama's being (at least for a time in his past) a Muslim. The explosive ire that results will not bring any facts to the question. But that isn't considered necessary. The virulence of the resultant outrage is, by itself, designed to end all speculation.
When it comes to fashion statements allowed by government schools, we know that Che Guevara, droopy pants, death-head tattoos, Barack Obama, gangsta rap shirts, cleavage and gaudy bling are generally okay.
The letter reads like a conservative manifesto both in its honest analysis of the government school's lousy performance and in its rousing call for school voucher programs as one of the ways to help fix the problem.
Parents need to become aware and concerned "that there is a concerted effort to target public schools in every community. Homosexual activists openly acknowledge that this is a top priority. And it's easy to understand why: They realize that if they can capture the hearts and minds of the next generation, they will have settled the debate over the kinds of values that are going to direct the future of this country...
Calderon and Washington's Democrats Got It Despicably Wrong
It was a scene Saudi women’s rights activists have dreamt of for years.
Of all the ideas that a CEO can have, is the most dangerous one the idea that his main objective should be to generate profits for shareholders?
At a party a couple of weeks ago I had a talk with a couple of guys who specialize in computer security management for the U.S. government. What they told me about worms, viruses, professional hackers, computer vulnerability and more was scarier than a Hitchcock movie -- and a lot more real.
