The Triumph of the Therapeutic
Let us hope that the Republicans avoid the teary-eyed, drippy stories that almost all these Democratic speakers insist on inflicting on us: in this Oprah world, one would think that there is mass starvation, depression, and general mayhem. In every introduction, we hear that the speaker to come was poor, deprived, and a multifaceted victim. Not since reading the Attic Orators has one heard how horrible life has been to such heroic figures, who nonetheless somehow ended up in such a cruel country with big salaries, enormous homes, and influential jobs.
On Satellite Radio’s Potus station, they are playing clips of conventions long past, and one simply does not hear a Truman, Stevenson, or Eisenhower indulging us with tales of their own brushes with cruelty, illness, death, poverty, etc. and how only their own character allowed them to survive their absolutely singular experiences.
Eloquent Distortions
Did Clinton in his speech tonight really think that Reagan ending the Cold War was part of a 25-year long foreign-policy catastrophe, while his own record of doing nothing much about the World Trade Center bombing, Khobar Towers, the attacks on East African embassies, and the USS Cole in bin Laden’s serial path to September 11 was inspired leadership?
I don’t recall Clinton signing a Kyoto Treaty, or giving $15 billion for AIDs relief in Africa, or passing universal health care, or going to the UN or Congress to bomb Serbia, so why attack Bush on such similar topics?
Biden’s speech drew praise, but in candor he was almost on the verge of constant tears and right on the crest of an hysterical wave. And when he talked about McCain’s integrity, I almost choked—given Biden’s past complete fabrications about his nonexistent coal-mining family, serial plagiarism, and crudity when interrogating Supreme Court Justice nominees. Remember this was a politician who once boasted he would like to run for Vice President with McCain and is now accusing McCain of poor judgment, again from someone who voted against Gulf War I, and then flipped several times on the second Iraq war, and then pontificated about his bankrupt plan of trisecting Iraq.
Why evoke Georgia and Obama—when Obama had a three-strike-out response: 1) initially both sides were equally at fault; 2) then go to the UN and find resolution; 3) then suggest our taking out a genocidal dictator was equivalent to Russia attacking a democracy.
And why would Biden evoke timelines as proof of Obama’s wisdom on Iraq? It only reminds us that Obama wanted all troops out by March 2008 that would have ensured defeat. The only reason why there is a discussion of timelines at all is due to General Petraeus’s success in stopping the violence. The present plan is Petraeus’s; the notion that an Illinois Senator had any input, influence, or effect on it is ludicrous.
Hubris to Nemesis: Obama and his Temple
Why and how did McCain catch up? Let us count the ways: the disastrous European victory lap of Obama’s; the uninspired professorial pontificating to Rick Warren; the deer-in-the-headlights serial responses to the Georgia crisis; and the McCain ads that were as cleverly effective as they were derided as childish by outraged liberals.
But perhaps the greatest consideration is Obama’s Hellenic hubris, which is different than simple arrogance. Hubris is a sort of fit, a haughtiness steeped in delusions of grandeur and divinity that takes over a weak individual, and soon encourages recklessness and overreaching (atê), all culminating in ruin and divine retribution (nemesis).
Go figure: Obama/Oedipus goes to Berlin. There he speaks in front of a grandiose Victory Column commemorating Prussian arrogance (after begging in vain to have a JFK/Reagan presidential moment at the grander Brandenburg Gate). He reviews American sins, revises the history of the Berlin Airlift, and claims (falsely) he’s the first black high official Germany has dealt with before. Then to hysterical applause from 200,000 Berliners, eager for subsequent free music and beer, he prances home, convinced that this was a success rather than an Apollonian trap.
Meanwhile an Ethel in Tulare turns on the TV and sees thousands of Europeans (who habitually make fun of her country) applaud Obama—and makes the logical assumption that they apparently think he is one of them, rather than one of us.
Next, drunk with pride, Obama thinks that such a losing paradigm (again, really a warning from the gods) apparently was not only successful, but will work again in Denver. So he transfers his speech to an outdoor forum, where tens of thousands of raving fans can watch him apotheosize in front of a faux Doric temple and accept nomination.
Isn’t there one sane person on his staff who can stop this divine madness, a single henchman who can whisper in his ear as puts on his golden crown not Vero possumus (”Yes! We can!”), but as was true of returning heroes during Roman Triumphs—”Respica te, hominem te memento” (”Watch behind you; remember you’re just a man!”)?
The Democratic Ball and Chain
Many readers have written asking why I have given up on the presently constituted Democratic party, at least at the national level (I vote consistently for my local Democratic Congressman Jim Costa). I think a lot of us might call it the ball and chain effect.
There was a time when Republicans were weighed down with a lunatic fringe. I remember as a boy those pink letter-ads that would arrive in the mail, listing prominent Americans from Earl Warren to George Marshall as “reds” and “commies.” The poor Republicans had to deal with John Birchers who were convinced fluoride was a communist plot to sterilize, a la Dr. Strangelove, virile American males. And while the Democratic South was the bastion of Jim Crow, there was a live and let live attitude on the part of too many Republicans about matters of racial separatism that hurt the Party of Lincoln.
But now it is the Democratic Party that drags around a clanky, rusty ball and chain. Ayers and Rev. Wright are typical, not exceptional, furniture in the left-wing study of the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton hugs the race-hustler Al Sharpton who was deeply involved in lies, riot, and racism. The vicious Cindy Sheehan and Michael Moore, just a few years ago, were courted by Democratic politicians as useful idiots to bash George Bush. And so on.
Why wouldn’t Obama have problems?
We are surprised that Obama, in an ideal Democratic year, is running neck and neck? But why so?
The man has only three years of experience in the Senate; yet in that brief window he has managed to be acclaimed its most liberal member. Every northern liberal—Humphrey, McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis, Kerry—since the centrist JFK simply has not won general elections. Now Obama, who only shed Ayers and Wright when forced to by popular outrage, has picked whom?
Yes, another northern liberal with the third-most liberal ranking in the Senate. Neither can appeal to red-staters on the basis of centrist positions, or past military service (I think this is the first election that a Democratic ticket did not have either a President or Vice President that had been in the armed services, at least since the 1940 ticket of Roosevelt and Wallace ; compare the heroic service of a George McGovern or Lloyd Bentsen), or executive experience in the business world or as a governor. Given all that, it is surprising not that Obama has not capitalized on a Democratic year, but rather has not already blown it altogether. Bottom line: what got Obama here was fluff; apparently what must finish the race is not more fluff; ergo…?
Obama’s Dilemma
Obama now has hinted that he won’t hope and change his acceptance speech (a sort of damning admission ipso facto that his prior fluffy orations were, well, fluffy). But the problem is that ‘hope and change’, the teleprompter, and the Rev. Wright cadence, mixed up with white guilt, African-American pride, and weariness with the Clintons got him here. If he is wonkish, then he is not different from better informed wonks in his party; if he is an attack dog, then he is not the transcendent healer; the Clintons are gone (but not forgotten). In other words, to win Obama must do something unaccustomed to what got him here. He may, but I suspect he won’t and will instead sound like a saner John Edwards.
I was watching Sen. Obama speak on the stump the other day. After the hope and change mantra, he walked around the stage, unsure, and with Dan Quayle’s cartoonist spiraling eyes. The audience was baffled, a sort of collective quiet ensued: “You mean this is what all that uproar was about?”
Stanley Kurtz
I was surprised to see the Obama people call Stanley Kurtz “a slimy character assassin,” “smear merchant,” etc. for trying to figure out exactly what former terrorist Bill Ayers and Barack Obama were doing in their tandem distribution of foundation monies to various community action groups. Chicago’s Milt Rosenberg evening radio program is hardly a forum for extremism, but a reflective evening of cultural discussion. The very notion that a Presidential candidate’s staff would urge his supporters to call a radio show and disrupt and complain about a guest is Orwellian.
I know and respect Stanley Kurtz. He has a Harvard PhD in anthropology and is a meticulous scholar and a soft-spoken, circumspect journalist. He is engaged in legitimate inquiry and trying to find textual support for a nebulous relationship involving the possible next President. Obama should welcome the scrutiny, urge full release of the archives, and then in a professional manner seek to refute Stanley’s conclusions. Their present reaction is not merely shameful, but will prove counter-productive.
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101 Comments
1. Anton:“Isn’t there one sane person on his staff who can stop this divine madness”, ah but no one listened to a Cassandra! After all, valid criticism is a distraction and will be answered will a legal challenge if not dismissed as a distraction.
Aug 27, 2008 - 10:10 pm 2. Dennis:One of the best articles I’ve ever seen on the convention and the Obama campaign. I wish there were a way to get this into the hands of every voter! Excellent stuff.
Aug 27, 2008 - 10:11 pm 3. Dan:What exactly is an “Apollonian trap?”
I read Bullfinch’s mythology repeatedly as a kid? But I’m not recalling to mind what such a “trap” resembles or consists of.
Aug 27, 2008 - 11:17 pm 4. Pops in Vienna:Doc Hanson,
I enjoyed reading your observations. I hope the Messiah and his high IQ veep will be able to bamboozle the Russians, the Iranians and terrorists as easily as nearly 50% of the american public.
With NATO being a Potemkin treaty how does this pair intend deal with a very aggressive Putin who has threatened Poland, Ukraine and Moldova? Today, Russia has put NATO on warning that the Black Sea is Russia’s private lake. Will brilliant speech making and perhaps a little crying make it all better?
Aug 28, 2008 - 12:35 am 5. steve:As always, a great post.
Aug 28, 2008 - 12:47 am 6. RuleTopia:I just finished Jonah Goldberg’s book and the parallels are scary. The attack on Kurtz, threatened suits and strong arm tactics against the Ayers ad, racist slurs, tructh distortions and the rest are indicative I believe of what we can expect should Sen Obama be elected.
The problem with Obama is not his political miscalculations, his lack of experience or even his hubris. The problem is the democratic platform. Higher taxes and more bureaucracy will not bring prosperity to the average American. A weaker military and an acquiescent foreign policy will not make us safer. More abortions, fewer executions of murders, and self-loathing won’t give us the moral high ground.
That’s why the Democratic presidential candidates always pretend to be conservative Republicans come election time.
Aug 28, 2008 - 1:01 am 7. John:I’m delighted to see Prof VDH ask the hard questions, nobody else seems inclined. Did anyone else notice that the MSM paid more attention to the frozen Big Foot hoax than they gave to either the Edwards affair, or to Ayres, or Rezko, CAC, or, more recently, Obama’s multi-flipfloping on almost every issue? This man has at least three positions on everything. Rev’s Wright and Father Michael “Reparations” Pfleger … have been neatly disposed of, all seems forgiven on that score, these are no longer newsworthy. And the position held by the Pro-Choice Dems on infanticide (medical care to babies who accidentally survive the abortion procedure) doesn’t even rate as a blip on anyone’s radar. Why does every aspect of the Obama man leave a bad smell in the room?
Meanwhile, the real issue every American faces daily is the high cost of gasoline. Whoever said “we can’t drill our way out of this mess”, wasn’t an oil man. We can drill our way to oil market prices in the more affordable range of $50-60 oil. Heck, I’d be happy with $80 oil. As someone in the business, I have great respect for T. Boone Pickens, however I think that sly old fox may have a different agenda as he tries to sell us wind turbines. Nothing I have ever read tells me that a wind driven generator will ever produce enough power to pay for itself. They are that expensive. Can anyone spell ‘government handouts’?
Thank you Dr. Hanson for your, per usual, astute observations.
Aug 28, 2008 - 1:52 am 8. Pajamas Media » Obama and His Temple:[...] Read the entire story here. [...]
Aug 28, 2008 - 2:17 am 9. RJ:For me this is easy to understand. The Democrats are female, the Republicans male: Take care of the crowd, versus take care of the individual; make everything you want a “right” versus earn what you can so you can get and do what you want. Symbolism versus substance.
Of course the Republicans have drifted too far into Democratic thinking: Enter seduction.
Hysteria and flattery vie for your votes. Common sense has been run out of town on a rail!
I have fears about this Oracle Speech from Obama on the date and history his people want to shove into our field of view.
Tragedies always seem to have these roses hiding vicious thorns within their beauty.
Then again, what is drama?
Aug 28, 2008 - 2:38 am 10. Pat:Perhaps Mr. Obama’s temple, like Berlin, is not mere hubris. Consider:
“At a mass meeting, thought is eliminated. And because this is the state of mind I require, because it secures to me the best sounding-board for my speeches, I order everyone to attend the meetings, where they become part of the mass whether they like it or not, ‘intellectuals’ and bourgeois as well as workers. I mingle the people. I speak to them only as the mass.
“The masses are like an animal that obeys its instincts. They do not reach conclusions by reasoning.”*
Adolph Hitler said this to Hermann Rauschning (see Rauschning, The Voice of Destruction, New York, Putnam’s, 1940).
If Mr. Obama understands this, then it’s time for lambs to the slaughter…
Aug 28, 2008 - 2:43 am 11. Herr Morgenholz:From the close-ups I’ve seen in the video now circulating, that temple is actually, apparently, a mockup of the White House. I can see the McCain ad now: Visuals: Obama in Berlin, the seat that says “President” on his plane, and Obama on the White House “set”. Voiceover: Ready to play make believe–Not ready to lead.
Devastating.
Aug 28, 2008 - 2:45 am 12. Gary Ogletree:The Doric columns at Mile High also bring to mind the antebellum mansions of the cotton aristocracy. We will have the image of the Messiah taking over the Massa’s big house. Great fun, but it also negates the need for the victim industry and its heroic, verbose and well compensated leaders.
Aug 28, 2008 - 3:22 am 13. Judy, NYC:your eyes will boogle out. your brain may swell from trauma. this could cause your head to explode. i got hives. it’s today’s nyt online. i can only think some psycho nutcase (my apology to nutcases) held staffers at gunpoint demanding a front page of messianic devotion, or they’ll blow up macy’s. it’s just too weird and scary to think an editor did this. what’s the point of asking hard questions anymore, especially the ones to which we know the answers. all the same, here’s one. will there even be an election?
Aug 28, 2008 - 3:48 am 14. David Thomson:The frightening fact remains is that Barack Obama is a “man of color.” He is being graded on a curve by many guilt tripped white voters. These folks desperately want to prove they are not racists. In their way of looking at the matter, Obama gets a high grade merely for showing up. Joe Biden even blurted out about his being so “clean.”
Aug 28, 2008 - 4:39 am 15. Sissy Willis:Responding to white guilt is the single most important challenge to the John McCain campaign.
Re that “divine madness,” that “haughtiness steeped in delusions of grandeur and divinity that takes over a weak individual, and soon encourages recklessness and overreaching (atê), all culminating in ruin and divine retribution (nemesis),” in Michael Ledeen’s timeless plea, “Faster, please”:
Obama has a dream
Aug 28, 2008 - 5:18 am 16. crossover:Great Post!
Aug 28, 2008 - 5:20 am 17. Emily:Our new Vice President-Mr. Biden campaigns have always had the backing of all the major credit card companies from Delaware-Companies that charge 18-36% percent shark loans that have nearly bankrupted this country.
Now they tell us only the rich are going to pay more taxes- Yes Myrtle, ‘Rich’ are considered small business owners bringing in $250,000 per year with a $25,000 dollar profit. And guess who will pay for the Universal World Health Care?
Biden has alway wanted ‘no bankruptcies’ allowed on credit card debt.
Welcome to all the future ‘CHANGE’ in America!
Excellent article. I thik most Americans must be getting their news from alternative sources outside of the MSM since Obama’s past and history, e.g. his links with Ayres, the partial abortion/infanticide issue, Biden lobbyist connections, etc. are simply not being covered. When Americans lose faith in being properly informed by journalists who have become cheer-leaders instead of reporters, it feeds into the perception that Obama is a media creation. THis is working against him now.
Aug 28, 2008 - 5:31 am 18. elixelx:Doctor Hanson; I fully agree with you that Obama is an Oedipus (except of course that he “loves” his father and “kills” his granma–in itself an interesting psychology!–) but I humbly suggest that, in giving a great soliloquy about hope and change, and yet being paralyzed when it comes to positive action, Obama more exactly brings Hamlet to mind!
Hamlet, you remember, talks and talks and talks about doing something to avenge the betrayals visited upon him, and in the end is surrounded by the death of ALL his nearest and dearest and finally his own. That’s the road this half-baked Hamlet is taking America down!
There is something rotten in the state of Illinois; can any good come out of Chicago?
Aug 28, 2008 - 5:41 am 19. Don:Actually the Hellenic backdrop for the Ueberbama looks more like the hellenic inspired architecture so beloved by the Fuehrer. He used such props to great effect at the party rallies and in his plan for a “new” Berlin” . . . Hubris is the proper term, for a candidate who feels his followers should feel “entitled” to whatever their betters will give them.
Aug 28, 2008 - 6:01 am 20. WR Jonas:Perhaps he will enter on a sedan chair with a dozen celebrity bearers and dancing maidens throwing flowers at their feet. That would be a spectacle that television could really exploit.
Aug 28, 2008 - 6:18 am 21. Judy, NYC:crossover: joe biden voted for the debt till we die revised bankcruptcy bill. for, not, against. for. so don’t worry you’ll get paid. apparently, biden can’t pass a bank building without crossing himself.
Aug 28, 2008 - 6:39 am 22. Saltherring:I am extremely disappointed in Sen. Obama’s choice of Joe Biden as his Vice Presidential running mate. Oprah would have been much more appropriate choice for America. After all, governance and leadership are all about ‘feelings’, aren’t they?
Aug 28, 2008 - 7:06 am 23. TLM:Tonight begins Act II of our modern day Greek tragedy masquerading as a presidential election, Act I being the long primary season where the Democratic champion was selected for eventual self-destruction. This time, Obama is taking the play to new heights, oblivious to the irony of trash-talkin’ America in front of a “Temple of Reason”, as a commentator calls it. And for the Democratic Party leadership, no apparent concerns at this point in the plot. They continue to rely on the crowd’s propensity to hysterical adulation of their Hero, to hide his obvious flaws. The rest of us just see the painted plywood Greek facade that sets the stage, and a young vacuous demi-god riding a wave of irrationality, about to break on the shore.
What goes through the minds of these people in the crowd when they see Biden, a six term Senator, caught up in the moment, gushing effusively about someone he previously derided as a naif, while trying to avoid a complete emotional breakdown himself? Or a Hillary Clinton trying to influence her maenads and redirect their ire away from Obama toward McCain? At the Berlin speech, I assumed the crowds were mouthing “Wir wollen unseren alteren Kaiser zuruck” while Obama was spouting his platitudes. In Denver, I don’t know. Must be a similar mindset. They truly believe they have just nominated the next JFK, and hope to remake the myth without the tragedy.
Act III? November 5th, or thereafter? We’ll see. Either way, it appears to be a losing proposition for the Democrats. Fortunately, we have VDH’s writings to keep us all sane as we watch this tragedy unfold.
Aug 28, 2008 - 7:19 am 24. TLM:“Perhaps he will enter on a sedan chair…”
Or on an ass, Messiah-like, with the same accoutrements. They have crossed over to an alternate universe where there are no limits to their collective stupidity.
Aug 28, 2008 - 7:25 am 25. goy:– I don’t recall Clinton signing a Kyoto Treaty…
Victor, technically I believe Clinton did in fact sign the Kyoto Treaty on 11/12/98. But the case illustrates your point even more completely:
1. His utter failure of leadership was evident in his inability to get Congress to ratify the treaty.
2. His utter disconnect with reality – as well as his utter disregard for the sense of the American People he pretended to serve – was made manifest by the Senate’s unanimous rejection of the document, or anything remotely resembling that document, to which he’d put his signature.
Aug 28, 2008 - 7:38 am 26. Minerva:Actually, the stadium is appropriate; it is the first Obama Bread and Circus.
Aug 28, 2008 - 7:48 am 27. Publius:One of the most underreported inside stories of last night was John Kerry’s knifing of John McCain on a brightly lit stage.
McCain refused to attack Kerry in 2004, and vehemently defended him against the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth – both of which actions outraged Republicans.
So Kerry pays his friend back with the most personal and intense attack on John McCain’s character and judgement we have yet seen.
Kerry is a human weasel.
We should thank God in heaven we dodged a Kerry presidency.
Aug 28, 2008 - 7:49 am 28. Myth Guesser:Could the “Apollonian trap” be a reference to Icarus?
Aug 28, 2008 - 7:51 am 29. Nick B:Everyone keeps saying that we are witnessing an “historical moment”.
From my vantage point, all we’re seeing is an “hysterical moment”, where Obama the Messiah lectures blubbering masses from his perch among the Greek columns of his plaster temple.
Pass the whiskey.
Aug 28, 2008 - 7:53 am 30. Hugo Williams:I was surprised to see the Obama people call Stanley Kurtz “a slimy character assassin,” “smear merchant,” etc. for trying to figure out exactly what former terrorist Bill Ayers and Barack Obama were doing………
Really? You were?
Aug 28, 2008 - 7:55 am 31. always right:Professor,
The speeches you have so rightly critized were intended for specific targeted audience consumption, i.e., liberals (most Democrats).
In this election cycle, the Dem side had finally truly believed themselves ’speak for the majority’. Any dissenting views was labeled as far-right attack dogs or worse.
I still have more faith in the common sense of ordinary American voters. I just don’t have high ‘HOPE’ for these people after Nov Obama’s big loss.
Aug 28, 2008 - 8:04 am 32. ApplePie:Gee – I’m a mensa too – but you don’t need a very high IQ to see the empty toga (suit)forced upon Democrats by Howard Dean, Donna Brazile and the other DNC bigwigs.
Guess it is just a coincidence that the first AA nominee is giving his acceptance speech on the anniversary of MLK famous speech. Especially since the DNC planned the convention well over one year ago…..
Aug 28, 2008 - 8:13 am 33. Dodgeblogium » VDH on the Dem Convention:[...] pithy observations abound and amuse. Worth the read, even more so than his normal fare. read more | digg [...]
Aug 28, 2008 - 8:15 am 34. Andrew Ian Dodge:I wonder if there are going to be any torches or ivy wreaths around. The justification of the who temple thing is hilarious.
Aug 28, 2008 - 8:18 am 35. Nomennovum:Re “What is an Apollonian trap”?
I believe this is in reference to James T. Kirk’s defeat of, and subsequent casting into the void, the Greek god Apollo by showing Apollo that man no longer had use for paternalistic deities demanding fawning submission from needy children.
And a heavy phaser barrage on the Sun god’s ass helped too.
Aug 28, 2008 - 8:22 am 36. RJ:How about the unspoken? Prior to this evening’s grand speech, those of us who actively use the web have realized others seem to easily venture onto the stadium’s field with their cameras, showing us the stage, etc. in days prior.
Tell me, how do the Democrats and the Secret Service intend to protect Obama from those who would seek to harm at such a venue?
Tragedy always seems to come with dark questions: Why would such a thing happen?
Frustration is said to be inversely proportional to satisfaction. So close…
For a campaign that is said to be beyond and above race, why are we to be aligned with Dr. King at this point? Would evil lurk at such a meeting?
For Obama and America, I hope this fear of mine is just a passing where this thought becomes one of many, much like watching a flock of geese fly to warmer climes.
Then again, how many others have pondered such a dark possibility? I wonder why… My sense of personal narcissism or energies rooted in Greek tragedy?
This void beckons prayer to one’s God(s), no?
Aug 28, 2008 - 8:22 am 37. Concerned Citizen:I think I’ll pull out my copy of William Shirer’s “Berlin Diary” to better understand Obama.
Aug 28, 2008 - 8:27 am 38. Wolfi:And I still want to know exact numbers of the voting. What the …? To start with counting and then suddenly to swich to the acclamation? wow. WHY? What are they hiding from us? I want to know at least:
1. how many voices Obama didn’t get,
2. how many voices has McCain got (this one from Hawai was so sweet),
3. how did Illinois voted (and why after the second attempt it was still unclear? Was Obama’s state AGAINST OBAMA?).
CAN SOMEONE HELP ME HERE? WHERE CAN I FIND THE INFORMATION?
Aug 28, 2008 - 8:30 am 39. Wolfi:Someone blocks my post to you.
Aug 28, 2008 - 8:32 am 40. Insufficiently Sensitive:Those faux-Doric columns are more an attempt to mimic a particular building in Russia, but that whole stage set is worthy of Leni Riefenstahl. Hubris indeed.
Much more attention should be directed to the Obama campaign’s attempt to choke off the airing of the Stanley Kurtz investigation into the Obama-Ayers symbiosis. Nothing is more indicative of the Democrats intentions of suppressing the First Amendment at any occasion that benefits them politically. And nothing is more deserving of a solid rejection at the polls, though the Obama-funded, Acorn-inspired hordes of ‘voters’ are programmed in exactly the opposite direction.
Aug 28, 2008 - 8:41 am 41. TexEd:I hope Dr. Kurtz does not give up under the pressure. Hussein was not perfectly vetted (Wille had years in Little Rock to block/erase his evil paper trail). Hussein has had much less time and, probably, never saw the need for. My bet is that the campaign to block Kurtz has little to do with Ayers. Ayers/Obama had millions of dollars of Annenberg money to spend in Chicago. Some of the money had to go to crooks, black racists, anti-Americans and other nasty people.
Aug 28, 2008 - 9:03 am 42. Ron Kean:Another “paper” issue. Where is Hussein’s undergraduate thesis. He majored in international relations so his paper will shed some light on his thinking. We will probably never see it, not because of what it says, but, in my view, because it was plagiarized. His professor might have known but who on a left-wing Columbia faculty would have blown the whistle on a “clean and articulate” black student?
Let’s hope Dr. Kurtz finds something!
The attack on Kurtz reminds me of the attack on Corsi.
Obama wants to ban a radio program and a book.
After all is said and done, does anybody really know Obama?
He’s quick to go 180 on friends and positions. This we know for sure.
So who can believe anything he says?
Aug 28, 2008 - 9:07 am 43. George Best:The fact Michele Obama would be first lady should be enough for anyone to vote for McCain.
The dishonest evil that exists in the Democratic leadership continues to out do itself. They dont care about the country and its people, they care about their own personal wealth and status.
Obama has to inflate the hype and keep the attention on the delivery and not the substance of what he says as long as possible in order to win. The stadium speech is just the latest example. Its working.
Romney for VP!!
Aug 28, 2008 - 9:10 am 44. goy:- Was Obama’s state AGAINST OBAMA?
If so, and that sentiment is repeated in the general election, don’t look to the Democrats to recognize that as a sign of Obama’s monumental lack of qualification for public office.
Gore’s home state could have handed him the election in 2000. Knowing him best, they collectively decided instead that he wasn’t fit to serve as President. Democrats studiously ignore this fact. They prefer the fantasy that the election was “stolen” from him in Florida – all evidence to the contrary.
The hysterical resentment engendered by that false “knowledge” is at the core of the Bush Derangement Syndrome (thank you Dr. K.) that has given us the current political landscape. It drove the Democrat Party over a cliff, where it rolled to a stop as the Anti-Bush Party, which willingly erased any remnant of credibility it might have retained from FDR’s, Truman’s, JFK’s, LBJ’s… or even Clinton’s (claimed) legacy. And worse, it transformed the overwhelmingly Democrat-registered Fourth Estate into full-time operation as an unabashed Fifth Column.
Aug 28, 2008 - 9:13 am 45. Golden Greek:I’m a first generation American Greek – for Obama to use a Greek temple setting is an outrage. He couldn’t even carry my fig leaf!
Aug 28, 2008 - 9:26 am 46. maninthemiddle:Rather than accept an invitation to have a representative at the show, the campaign chose instead to attempt to silence free speech. Perhaps because what Kurtz was presenting was factual.
If one disagrees on the pertinence of what Kurtz was saying, the free speech methodology is to counter the opponent with vigorous debate – not silence them.
This is becoming an obvious trend. A subset of MoveOn recently said it would send letters to Republican donors threatening legal action if they continued to donate.
Obama general counsel Bob Bauer yesterday sent a second, demand prosecution style letter to the Justice Department, attacking Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons for funding the Ayers attack ad – despite the fact that the ad is by all accounts factual, and has met all standards of acceptable campaign legal minutia.
This is not a singularity. This is a strategy. Mr. Bauer had previously called for criminal investigations and prosecutions into the donors to independent groups critical of Obama, including one group supporting John Edwards and another Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Again – one can agree with the ads or not. However, this effort suppress speech is not acceptable in a free society.
This, along with turning community volunteering by school kids into a mandatory multi-billion dollar, government funded, bureaucracy, should bring warnings to any cogent person – unless they are fans of the Hugo Chavez style of democracy.
Aug 28, 2008 - 9:31 am 47. Joshua:I’m 46 with a great family and two teenagers. I have a great career and a good education. I bought my family our dream home 2 years ago. My company was aquired by our biggest competitor 1 year later. I was downsized in the process. I went back to work at a 40% pay cut. I have more bills than income. The real estate market crashed and I’ve lost the $100,000 I put down on my house as equity. I can’t sell the house because the market is flooded with foreclosure bargains. We’re down to the last few thousand of our life savings in trying to keep our head above water. My wife travels 11 hours by car every 3 months to take care of her ailing mother and grandfather for a few weeks. I can’t afford the travel expenses or gas but family is still the center of our lives.
Which brings me to my point, Barack Obama can offer me nothing to remedy my current reality. It’s not good or bad, it just is. I’m not going to die or starve (I can stand to lose a few pounds anyway), my family and friends won’t let that happen. There is a higher power and it is not Barack Obama. I can’t call my situation suffering because I don’t know what suffering is (although my parents did struggle through Jimmy Carter’s mess). John McCain knows what suffering is, and as imperfect as he is, at least he can admit it. The way I see it, God loves me so much he wants a closer relationship with me, and right now, we’re having long and intimate conversations, sometimes moment by moment. When somebody like Barack tells me they have all the answers for my life, and they serve it up in a nice slick package, I’m old enough to realize how utterly immature and arrogant they are. I live in America, that is all the hope and change I need!
Aug 28, 2008 - 9:36 am 48. schnargley:At our dorm, we are going to have a toga party to celebrate the Obama surge!! Free beer, like in Berlin. This is all sooooo coool! It’s like, we are taking over!
Aug 28, 2008 - 10:01 am 49. John Bailey:And tonight playing the part of Leni Riefenstahl is the Main Stream Media…
Aug 28, 2008 - 10:07 am 50. Bmoon:Reflecting on your provocative thoughts, Victor, I was reminded of this passage from Christopher Lasch’s seminal work, “The Culture of Narcissim” where he defines part of the narisstic personality that pervades our times and culture today, especially in this election reflected in the Democratic Party’s antics:
“Although the narcissit can function in the everyday world, and often charms other people (not the leats with his ‘pseudo-insight’ into his own personality,)his devaluation of others, together with his lack of curiosity about them, impoverishes his personal liofe and reinforces the subjective experience of emptiness. Lacking any real intellectual engagement with the wolrd, notwithstanding a frequently inflated sense of his own intellectual abilities- he has little capacity for sublimation. He therefor depnds on others for constant infusions of approval and admiration.” (pp.85)
Aug 28, 2008 - 10:13 am 51. Clytemenstra:If we give both FDR a pass because he was Under Secretary of the Navy from 1913 to 1920, and Herbert Hoover because of his war time experiences bringing humanitarian aid to Europe during WW I (not to mention his experiences during the Boxer Rebellion), the last Democratic ticket that lacked any military service was Smith and Robinson in 1928; and the last GOP with none was Harding and Coolidge in 1920. Of course when those men were young enough to serve, there was not much need for military service.
Aug 28, 2008 - 10:16 am 52. misanthropicus:“Apocolocyntosis, or The Pumpkinification of (the Divine) Caliph Husseinus” is a damning historical text about the American Caliph Husseinus 1st., written by Seneca the Younger, a historian and philosopher of well-known scientific integrity.
The text describes this crude & vain American Caliph Hussein’s hystrionics & follies (the title plays upon “apotheosis”, the process by which dead Roman emperors were recognized as gods; “Apocolocyntosis” is in fact Latinized Greek, sometimes transliterated “Apokolokyntosis”, meaning “Pumpkinification” or “Gourdification.”
The work traces the awful dees then death of Husseinus, his ascent to heaven and harsh judgment by the gods, and his eventual (and well-deserved) being re-routed to Hades for eternal torments. Along his text Seneca aptly describes the American Caliph’s arrogance, incompetence, vanity and overall superficiality, his extravagances and eventual fall from grace.
For ground-shaking, authentic pic of Caliph Husseinus’ defication in his temple, @ “Right Werds, Korrekt Speech”, then Video: Behind the Scenes at the Building of the Greek Temple of Obamis.
Aug 28, 2008 - 10:32 am 53. TurfMonster:(Apocolocyntosis, story in development)
” – I don’t recall Clinton signing a Kyoto Treaty…
Victor, technically I believe Clinton did in fact sign the Kyoto Treaty on 11/12/98. But the case illustrates your point even more completely:”
Clinton signed, you are correct. The Senate then rejected it 95-0.
So much for popular support for Kyoto.
Aug 28, 2008 - 10:57 am 54. Joe Buzz:I truly hope that it doesn’t start raining. Folks may pull their togas up over their heads and it would end up looking like a KKK rally.
Aug 28, 2008 - 11:10 am 55. Minerva:Apollonian Trap = Star Trek’s “Who Mourns for Adonais?” — Looks like Obama borrowed Apollo’s set! Don’t buy the Lincoln Memorial columns/MLK speech comparison…
Aug 28, 2008 - 11:13 am 56. The Wide Awake Cafe » Obama: It’s Greek to Him:[...] that the man who believes he is the one who can lower the seas would demand such perfection on his acceptance day. It’s a way of escape from the imagery of the loathed American flag pin to something more [...]
Aug 28, 2008 - 11:56 am 57. When conventions were fun… | The Anchoress:[...] they get so emboldened that they figure they can attack us on our soil.” Clinton didn’t push the Kyoto treaty, either but people forget [...]
Aug 28, 2008 - 11:57 am 58. Bmoon:…or a scene from Braveheart.
Aug 28, 2008 - 12:07 pm 59. DavidN:I have been constantly surprised by this election cycle, mostly on the Democratic side of things. I thought for certain that Obama would just run into a Hillary buzzsaw that never really materialized. I felt certain that Hillary would choose Obama as her running mate, and imagined that they would be unbeatable, especially with all of the negative press that Bush has gotten (some of it deserved, some of it…well you know). When Obama overtook Hillary, lengthened his lead, and didn’t appear to be fading, I felt certain that he would be unbeatable too, especially given the mountain of cash that he’d raised, and that he was likely to raise in the future. Now it turns out that Obama isn’t raising as much money as his advisers thought he would, and the poll numbers are running effectively even with McCain. I always pretty much ignore polls: they seem designed to show that Democrats are winning any election, whether they are or not. I can’t remember being told by a poll that a Republican was leading an election, only to have the actual election turn out in favor of the Democrat. The opposite (Republicans overcoming polls to beat a Democrat) happens regularly. Not only that, but Obama is running considerably weaker than anyone would expect: everyone imagined that with McCain expressing support for the war, and being so closely tied to President Bush, he’d be behind by 10-15%. Not so, he’s running even, and that usually means a Republican wins the election. Strange.
Aug 28, 2008 - 12:12 pm 60. goy:- the campaign chose instead to attempt to silence free speech. Perhaps because what Kurtz was presenting was factual.
Let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is a SITTING SENATOR threatening to use the power of the GOVERNMENT, i.e., the DOJ, to silence a private citizen!
That this citizen has done nothing more than ask to scrutinize the professional record of a presidential candidate is beside the point. Furthermore, the fact that Obama completely bypassed the FEC – which is where a complaint of this type would normally go – shows us just exactly how carefully the First Amendment would be protected under an Obama administration – at least with respect to criticism of his regime.
TurfMonster – if you read my entire post on the Kyoto signature, you’ll see that I pointed that out. Less obvious though was the fact that the Senate unanimously rejected Kyoto BEFORE Clinton signed it, which shows just exactly how much respect Clinton had for the will of the people he pretended to serve.
Aug 28, 2008 - 1:21 pm 61. Ron Kean:DavidN
I remember a 15 point lead in Newsweek after Obama’s European tour. Then it vanished overnight maybe illustrating the dishonesty and favoritism.
Did someone cook the books, then get cold feet and reverse the stats?
Newsweek has lost credibility as have many newspapers and TV news networks.
It’s how they word the poll. I guess.
Aug 28, 2008 - 1:36 pm 62. Al Fin:You good folks obviously haven’t gotten your minds right yet. Learn to just go with it. Let the forces of hope and change carry you away. We owe to ourselves after waiting so long for us to show up. Now we’re here, so we don’t have to wait to change.
Aug 28, 2008 - 1:57 pm 63. Minerva:Obama and the Temple of Doom.
Aug 28, 2008 - 2:18 pm 64. TLM:Vlad the Impudent Putin tries to sway the American electorate, claiming his war with Georgia was engineered by the U.S. Government to help the Republicans. Well, his statements might influence Generation Obama — those ignorant of KGB propaganda tactics — but are unlikely to impress the rest of us. Putin seems to be worried by the thought of a McCain presidency. And, after watching the brainwashed masses flocking to a nobody candidate, he must assume blatant propagandizing actually does work on some Americans, so it’s worth a shot.
Aug 28, 2008 - 3:06 pm 65. Patrick Harris:I remember one JFK was quite willing to start WW3 to stop Russian missiles being installed on Cuban soil.
Aug 28, 2008 - 3:33 pm 66. George:Putin is, for the purpose of fairness, following suit.
Please don’t give me all that crap about the NATO missiles in Poland, Ukraine etc. being just for defensive actions.
“John:
I’m delighted to see Prof VDH ask the hard questions, nobody else seems inclined. Did anyone else notice that the MSM paid more attention to the frozen Big Foot hoax than they gave to either the Edwards affair, or to Ayres, or Rezko, CAC, or, more recently, Obama’s multi-flipfloping on almost every issue? This man has at least three positions on everything. Rev’s Wright and Father Michael “Reparations” Pfleger … have been neatly disposed of, all seems forgiven on that score, these are no longer newsworthy. And the position held by the Pro-Choice Dems on infanticide (medical care to babies who accidentally survive the abortion procedure) doesn’t even rate as a blip on anyone’s radar. Why does every aspect of the Obama man leave a bad smell in the room?
Meanwhile, the real issue every American faces daily is the high cost of gasoline. Whoever said “we can’t drill our way out of this mess”, wasn’t an oil man. We can drill our way to oil market prices in the more affordable range of $50-60 oil. Heck, I’d be happy with $80 oil. As someone in the business, I have great respect for T. Boone Pickens, however I think that sly old fox may have a different agenda as he tries to sell us wind turbines. Nothing I have ever read tells me that a wind driven generator will ever produce enough power to pay for itself. They are that expensive. Can anyone spell ‘government handouts’?
Thank you Dr. Hanson for your, per usual, astute observations.”
What scares me is that nobody on either side ever pursues the idea that we actually have over 2 TRILLION barrels of oil available within our borders that require no drilling….
Aug 28, 2008 - 4:03 pm 67. Javelin:Funny how the people who constantly mumble about Messiah as a preamle to their next Obama smear usually were the ones who acted like Bush was God’s own candidate? Or the ones who lecture us on hubris find nothing hubristic with McCain ramping up Bush’s War on (don’t say Islamic) Terror to an all inclusive War on Evil?
Aug 28, 2008 - 4:36 pm 68. Ron Kean:What’s it all about Al Fin? Is it just for the moment we live?
I don’t want change. I like it the way it is. We’re winning and the economy is up.
Surprise! A lot of people are happy. Is that disappointing?
The thing about Obama is that he’s written nothing and his buddies hate America.
McCain can fire his staff. Obama? I don’t think so.
Aug 28, 2008 - 4:54 pm 69. Seeker’s Jar :: VDH goes Greek on DNC 2008 :: August :: 2008:[...] (Victor Davis Hanson) does a right good skewering of “The Coronation”, with numerous classical references, such as the Attic [...]
Aug 28, 2008 - 4:55 pm 70. Kiseta50:I remember the 60s, I lived in a communist country, and we had to listen to Radio-free-Europa , just to find out the truth around us. Looks like BO would not mind if we did not found out the truth about him and his liberal friends. I hope that in my lifetime I will not have to stay in the dark, my children and yurs, should think about the future,because this country deserves better.
Aug 28, 2008 - 5:15 pm 71. Minerva:Doc likes films. Did he ever see The Warriors?
Pauline Kael likened it to Seven Agaisnt Thebes!
Remember the “Cyrus the Great” scene where he addresses the mob:
“Can you count, Suckers!? Can you dig it, Suckers!?”
Aug 28, 2008 - 6:53 pm 72. rope a dope:Ha George,
Are you referring to shale oil and coal liquefection? 2 trillion barrels is a conservative estimate. Saudi Arabia has roughly 300 billion barrels.
Scenario: Nuclear power plant cleanly replaces 3 coal power plants. Coal liquefaction plant is built nearby using the power plant for a heat source. Coal going to 3 replaced plants produces oil at roughtly $35 a barrel(with 0 pollution). The arguement for this was lost 20 years ago because $30 a barrel for oil was considered obsurd. Same power plant also creates hydrogen effeciently to heat the coal and to use as an alternative source. Its been 35 years since we have had a new nuclear power plant built in the US. Shale oil is even eaiser to convert.
Alternative fuel scenario: government stops subsidising corn ethanol(the least effecient crop to use to make it), and we no longer have to pay for the net loss the process takes with tax dollars(as well as relieving food prices). Ethanol is now forced year-round into our tanks without a choice by the US government, also lowering our gas milage substantially as it is not as efficient as gasoline. We can grow sugar cane and beets that yield up to 10 times more ethanol then corn for a much lower cost(10 times more efffective and costs the same or less then corn to grow, go figure). We have plenty of areas these crops can be grown in the US without harming any food supplies, for less money, with no taxpayer subsidies.
Wind power is a farce, it is completely ineffective other then when backed by a coal power plant. Solar power is finally reaching an affordable level with the newer thin-film technologies that will be emerging in a few years greatly lowering the cost of panels. Hyrdogen is hopelessly inefficient unless there are more nuclear power plants to help produce it. Our government, both parties, do everything possible to ensure we have a energy crisis. Just as any local state D.O.T. does everything they can to ensure we have traffic. Proper traffic light timing and road design would do more then anything new CAFE standards could hope to achieve for pollution and fuel mileage.
Our lack of an energy plan makes me sick. Pickens smells grant money though, just as any ‘alternative energy’ policy with grants will make Al Gore a billionaire….Although CNG is feesable and now in use. I think all government-owned vehicles should be required to run on it.
Aug 28, 2008 - 7:12 pm 73. TurfMonster:Goy, I guess that’s what I get when I try to read so many good responses in such a short time – I rushed through them a little too quickly. I’ll try to be a little more careful in the future!
Javelin: Funny but the only people who claim that “Bush was God’s own candidate” are the ones who trot out that straw man to knock down. I didn’t know anyone at the beginning of his presidency who had that attitude, nor do I know any now, either. But, perhaps I am mistaken, so why don’t you provide us with a source that shows that this claim is true?
Aug 28, 2008 - 8:22 pm 74. njcommuter:Kurtz isn’t a character assasin.
He’s a muckraker.
Aug 28, 2008 - 8:33 pm 75. TLM:Watching Obama’s acceptance speech tonight you come away thinking this man has the ambition, temerity and pragmatism to be president, lacking only the experience, and a track record that proves he is the political moderate he claims to be. His mentors at Harvard and Columbia did him a considerable disservice by steering him to Chicago to start his political career. Without creditable evidence to the contrary, his two decades in that city are the only window we have into his political soul. If the Dems lose this election, and I hope they do, they should be sorely chastised for encouraging young politicians-to-be to pass a Leftist litmus test before accepting them into the Party hierarchy. All the speeches in the world cannot change his past. And in the end, his past will betray him.
Aug 28, 2008 - 9:12 pm 76. Hubris to Nemesis: Obama and his Temple « Count Us Out:[...] http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/conventional-nights/ [...]
Aug 28, 2008 - 9:27 pm 77. Nancy Reyes:Here in the Philippines, the local news has long assumed Obama was already elected,probably because they watch CNN and read the NYTimes.
But I was amused when they sent a local correspondent to Denver and found most of the Filipino community were planning to vote….Republican. Why? Because a lot of US Filipinos are members of the military, others because of the prolife position of McCain.
So one cannot assume the immigrant or Asian vote is for Obama, who rarely mentions the years he lived in Indonesia or his loving Indoy stepfather…
Aug 28, 2008 - 10:42 pm 78. RJ:I just sent a note of thanks to Director Sullivan of the US Secret Service for doing an outstanding job of protecting candidate Obama during last nite’s speech. As far as I am concerned, his agency was the true winner at Invesco field. There’s one section of our government that seems to work correctly! Damn fine job!
Aug 29, 2008 - 3:10 am 79. John:@ George and rope a dope:
You are both correct about coal-oil extraction and shale-oil extraction. I worked for the company which held the patent for the shale extraction process and we were very successful in getting high quality oil from western shale for around $30.00 per barrel. Unfortunately, Saudi oil could be bought for less than $20.00 at the time. It was not economically feasible to pursue R&D, so the idea was dropped. Now that it IS feasible, we find ourselves restrained by government regulations. I trust McCain and a Republican Congress to push for some relief, Obama simply doesn’t know enough, or understand enough, to make an intelligent decision on the subject and there won’t be time to educate him sufficiently to get any tangible results in time to help our country out of this hole we are in.
American voter need to get over the idea that a lawyer in Congress can make good decisions about technical issues they are not equipped to handle. I think Republicans understand this and are willing to let business and industry do the dirty work. The Dems are so enamored with keeping it ‘green’ that they have effectively bound our hands behind our backs,,, this needs to stop.
Aug 29, 2008 - 3:26 am 80. A classicist take on Obama — Cranach: The Blog of Veith:[...] Victor Davis Hansen, riffing on Obama’s prop of a classical temple for his big speech, shows how a knowledge of ancient literature and history can help us understand contemporary politics: Why and how did McCain catch up? Let us count the ways: the disastrous European victory lap of Obama’s; the uninspired professorial pontificating to Rick Warren; the deer-in-the-headlights serial responses to the Georgia crisis; and the McCain ads that were as cleverly effective as they were derided as childish by outraged liberals. [...]
Aug 29, 2008 - 4:17 am 81. John:Incidentally, the only voice I’ve heard lately with any common sense about the energy crisis is from the black-sheep Republican, Newt Gingrich. Newt has been vocal with his “Drill Here, Drill Now” for months. This is a plan that has always made good sense to me, and not just because I’m in the business.
Isn’t ironic that he was basically drummed out of Congress for the same sin that Slick Willy Clinton got a pass on?
Aug 29, 2008 - 5:43 am 82. fgmorley:VDH:
“Isn’t there one sane person on his staff who can stop this divine madness, a single henchman who can whisper in his ear as puts on his golden crown not Vero possumus (”Yes! We can!”), but as was true of returning heroes during Roman Triumphs—”Respica te, hominem te memento” (”Watch behind you; remember you’re just a man!”)?”
This insanity in the public is a consequence of the education that people have been getting for around 40 years or more. All anyone has to do is reflect upon the sea-change in our culture since the late ’60’s. Check out the art, music, cinema, television, etc. and compare. What used to be considered crap is now hip, or avante garde, or just plain politically correct. Most of us, and I include myself, have become complacent and enabling.
If Obama is elected then 50% of us might as well bend over and kiss our lifestyle, values, our country, and our ass goodbye.
Aug 29, 2008 - 8:06 am 83. fgmorley:“Javelin:
Funny how the people who constantly mumble about Messiah as a preamle to their next Obama smear usually were the ones who acted like Bush was God’s own candidate? Or the ones who lecture us on hubris find nothing hubristic with McCain ramping up Bush’s War on (don’t say Islamic) Terror to an all inclusive War on Evil?
Aug 28, 2008 – 4:36 pm”
Apparently you never read the Congressional take on “Bush’s war”. I’ll include some facts for you and your amnesiac friends:
Our invasion of Iraq was not based on a public relations drive; it was based on Public Law 107-243, otherwise known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq, passed by the 107th Congress in October of 2002 . (Herein referred to as the “Authorization”.) It passed the House with a vote of 296 to 133 (by 69%) and the Senate with a vote of 77 to 23 (by 77%), including 58% of Senate Democrats. In short, it was overwhelming; it was bipartisan; and it was law.Except for the argument that he won it.
For further elucidation I’ll refer you this substantive and factual article, which completely refutes the bogus accusation that this was Bush’s war.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/08/who_lied_about_iraq.html
In case you have haven’t figured that one out–Yes sir, we have won the Iraq conflict unless your boy Obama comes in and surrenders. And that would be exactly what he has been saying, lo these many months.
Aug 29, 2008 - 8:48 am 84. Paul M Hupf:Dr. Hanson:
An excellent summation. Thank you.
Aug 29, 2008 - 9:17 am 85. Minerva:Tina Fey will open SNL as Gov. Palin!
Aug 29, 2008 - 9:31 am 86. Why One Should Immerse Oneself in the Ancient Classics « This Is Life!: Revolutions Around the Cruciform Axis:[...] 2008 by Benedict Seraphim Because only a classicist, such as Victor Davis Hanson, could give analysis like this: Why and how did McCain catch up? Let us count the ways: the disastrous European victory lap of [...]
Aug 29, 2008 - 10:03 am 87. view from afar:not a mock up of the white house but of the Lincoln Memorial, to commemerize(sp) MLK’s speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. At least that was the explanation by French television last night…how dare Obama compare himself to a great mna like MLK, how dare he. the only thing the two have in common is that they both have dark skin…
Aug 29, 2008 - 12:38 pm 88. kay:I’m seeing an actual plan for real oil production in here so I’ll chime in. Another idiotic idea I hear from ‘environmentalists’ is NO OIL at all, how ridiculous. They think oil is some sludge that somehow gets turned into diesel and fuel.
Oil is:
-all plastics, from carpet to shoe strings to elastic thongs
-lubricates every machine that makes every single product(including of course the machines to make other machines) on this planet, every gear, every electric motor, every windmill, every solar panel
-is required for every single piece of merchandise on planet earth to ship anywhere
-is all oils and lotions and 99% of make-ups
-heats half of every house(and again allows the machines that heat it to work-as well as makes all electricity possible)
-is responsible for 95% of the content of every pair of Crocks and every i-pod
-asphalt
actually I may as well list it the other way. Without oil, you would be completely naked in a forest with absolutely nothing then what you can pick up and make with your hands. Gotta love it when some moron in a Prius with an apple sticker on the back pontificates about how evil oil is….
Aug 29, 2008 - 4:20 pm 89. kay:Oh and John, It is scary how much actual information is kept from the general public, to the fact that we have over 600 years of oil in this nation alone that is relatively easy to get(that we know of). I’ve never any other type of information stymied from the public, except other then when REAL scientists discuss the absurdity of MMGW.
Aug 29, 2008 - 4:24 pm 90. kay:And the reason a paper cup will hold water…. Oil.
Aug 29, 2008 - 4:25 pm 91. Javelin:fgmorley,
We are in this war against Islamic terrorists and jihad, so we allie with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, and even Sudan, bastians of Islamic fundamentalists and in Pakistan’s case, the cradle of the Taliban, to fight the one non-Islamic bad guy in the Middle East. Saddam was at least a counterweight to Iran and his own psycho Shiites. I could care less about your legalese. War has to be declared by Congress only, and when people who claim to be originalists ignore this, I feel dread.
It was the wrong war yet most of the right was screaming for blood from the day it was first proposed. I supported the “Surge” cause I felt we should win since we already were in too deep to lose. But we set up a shariah constitution that will devolve into the usual Muslim tyranny as soon as we pull out. I am not heartened. Look at Afghanistan, the problem is far deeper than Al Qaeda.
Aug 29, 2008 - 4:59 pm 92. msnthrop:VDH please put yourself to imagining what America will be like four years from now with John McCain at the helm, or God forbid he dies. What do you imagine our country to look like with either one of the Republican nominees in charge?
Aug 29, 2008 - 7:45 pm 93. “Obama’s Hellenic Hubris” « Poppypundit:[...] 29, 2008 · No Comments Victor Davis Hanson reviews the imperial trappings of Obama’s Berlin speech and his DNC acceptance speech at Mile-High Stadium, and is moved to [...]
Aug 29, 2008 - 7:58 pm 94. RJ:Taking out Saddam of Iraq and attempting to establish a democratic governance was a good idea (see Israel); however, the execution of the plan to do so was not as smart as it should have been. Thus, I am not so quick to throw Javelin under the bus.
Were the lawyers in Congress and the Pentagon responsible for decisions insofar as how we went after Mullah Omar, the Taliban, and Osama in Afganistan?
Fighting with one hand tied behind your back is not really smart, it’s cocky. Going into a war more worried about “civilian” causalities than wiping the enemy’s energies off the face of the earth is not much different than tying that hand, now is it?
Yea, counterinsurgency, green beret/seals, cultural sensitivities, fourth generation warfare, the new world; yada yada doo.
Smart bombs, up armored Humvees, being polite to prisoners, handing out money to those who claim your bombs hurt their families (and feelings of self worth); being so sensitive you don’t chase after bad guys (like Al-Sadr) through Islamic cemeteries; not fighting on religious holidays so as not to offend the general population…more like a police action than a war machine, no?
Then again, when I see our local cops try to recruit new police officers they seem to dwell on their SWAT, quasi military forces during every television commercial, don’t they?
Confusion? How do we go about making changes? Lawyers with guns? Lawyers with words and guns? Who shot Liberty Valance?
The Democrats have two lawyers on their ticket, while the Republicans have a warrior and a “frontier” mom as candidates.
The Dems cry out for victims (ambulance chasing in it’s highest form?) to be their soldiers, while the other team says “let’s get the job done now!”
Meanwhile, that great culture of “mustache men” keeps pretending they need one hand dirty..one hand clean in the 21st century; along with “protecting” their women from we infidels.
Are the Russians onto something here?
I see the picture of Nicole and her Pussycat Dolls singing: “Don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like ME?”
Some reality tv show we’re living, right?
Aug 30, 2008 - 5:23 am 95. jp:Kay…”without oil, you would be completely naked in a forest with absolutely nothing than what you can pick up…” For all of the Liberals that keep us from drilling for our own oil, I wish that they would read this. Of course with the Dems they wouldn’t accept it. And for all of the people who have said of Obama “the Emperor has no clothes”, it is also part of that equation, though with his almost total lack of experience to be President, not the complete story by any means.
Informed of McCain’s VP selection, a senior official with the Obama campaign questioned Palin’s executive experience. Huh?
Recently one blog noted that ACORN had been able to find 75,000 new voters in a county (Cuyahoga County, Ohio) that already has 200,000 more registered voters than adults, according to the Census Bureau. This is the state where the democrats passed the new law to allow same day registration and voting on Election Day, no ID required.
Palin as McCain’s VP pick certainly seems to be a popular choice, with many Hillary supporters saying they will join McCain. Way to go. I wish that in answer to BO’s smear about ‘how many houses does JMcC have’, that McCain would do an ad saying ‘my wife inherited some houses, no part of which were paid for by Rezco’.
Aug 30, 2008 - 12:15 pm 96. Ron Kean:Javelin,
Congress gave Bush the authority to wage war. They voted to let him decide. It was legal. Ask your Senator.
Our kids go to school and learn math, reading and writing. We go to shops and listen to personalities on the radio.
Because of President Bush’s decision, the same goes for people in Iraq and Afghanistan. They’re free now because of him.
Perfect? No. Can everything change tomorrow? Yes. But for now, through a window of opportunity, 50,000,000 people can build free countries whereas before, Saddam, Uday, Quesay, Taliban, Al Qaeda…yikes!
Good luck to us all.
Aug 30, 2008 - 8:27 pm 97. Javelin:McCain said at the Saddelback Event that he would meet Evil everywhere and defeat it. If that isn’t some juvenile kneejerk comic book response then what is? Considering evil is part of the human condition that none of us is free from, isn’t that ultimately a call to tyranny or mass suicide? You can’t eliminate all evil any more than you can’t eliminate all pollution unless we all go extinct.
Aug 30, 2008 - 9:41 pm 98. RJ:Now, Dr, Hanson, lecture us about McCain’s hubris and arrogance.
Javelin, I tried to keep from aiding others in throwing your sorry ass under the bus, but now,after suggesting McCain’s remarks on chasing Evil were a “juvenile kneejerk comic book response” and that his “hubris and arrogance” was just too much for you to bear…
Allow me to open the door as others kick your stupid being into a reality where you might find some truths.
To wit: McCain belongs to a very special club where its members from time to time gather and revisit the real hell they experienced. Each has had to respond in his special manner then and since. Not all have succeeded to reach some manner of normal.
McCain went on to where he is today. Could the same be said for me, or perhaps you? I’m not so sure (for me).
McCain knows what freedom is and what some facets of evil are. I would expect him to go after evil that he knows and detests.
Does he know of every kind of evil? I doubt it, but if he were told of a new evil and he found it worthy, I am sure he would go after it, just like I think going after your ass might be worthy of me and the others of this list who have responded!
Are you the kind of person who stands at the fork in the road and always, always argues to the person about to make a directional choice that he is a jerk who doesn’t know what he is doing?
Maybe you are the evil? Projection. Cowardice. Fear. Castration anxieties? Deep inside you do know.
I’ll go with coward. Or stated another way: I must go down a dark alley where evil might lurk with either McCain or you; who do I choose?
It will never be you.
However, if I saw your sorry ass being ground up via our bus, I just might be the first to run to you and offer immediate aid, life saving aid if possible. (Without guilt driving me)
Nor would I be worried about you and your lawyer suing me later!
I too have kneejerk reactions to certain realities of life experiences.
Javelin,buy a blow up doll and talk at it! You’ll be in total control…and in love!
Or wait for your Cherry 2000.
Aug 31, 2008 - 6:56 am 99. Leon Ives:I am in awe of such intelligent people such as Mary Grabar and many who comment on her website. I guess what really inspires me is to see such intelligent people who are both smart and have a great deal of common sense. One thing I can not figure out is how so many far-left liberals can be so intelligent and yet so ignorant when it comes to judging political leaders. Well, they really are not leaders, but they occupy high level positions that have a very serious impact on our country and our lives. And, I said intelligent people, but did not say smart and common sense. Anyhow, here is a question I would ask all of you.
How can so many intelligent people be deceived by someone like Obama based on mere words and no deeds? Can they truly believe he is capable of managing and leading America – one of the most diverse, powerful and prosperous countries in the world. Is it because the main stream media as helped promote the agenda of those ultra-liberal within the Democratic National Committee? Is it the enormous financial backing of those in the shadows, such as George Sorros? After all, the conservative Christians make up the majority in America. Perhaps that is part of the problem. Has conservative America given up? Are they being lazy by not getting involved, even when it comes to voting? What events lead Obama to be where he is today, the DNC’s nomination for President with millions of supporters?
Aug 31, 2008 - 4:03 pm 100. Ron Kean:Dear Leon,
I was a Democrat once. I had long hair and marched in the late 60’s.
Later, I used to get angry at people and argued that Carter was good even thought interest rates were at 21% for a home!
I had never met or talked to a Republican before. I thought they were all cold fat old men like Mr. Potter in that Christmas movie.
Little mattered except to oppose them. It’s just blind stubborn prejudice. Think of all the intelligent otherwise sane people who didn’t object to killing Jews or blacks.
Sep 1, 2008 - 6:05 am 101. glc:Dear Victor Davis Hanson,
You’re brilliant.
Love to digest everything you write.
And you’re right.
Obama is arrogant. I believe he is dangerous for this country. Very.
Sep 4, 2008 - 11:26 am