March 24, 2012
More than a Political Narrative
Back in college, it was a matter of some classroom literary discussion that relativist thinkers still went about their daily lives as if they believed something to be true. (True enough, it appeared often to be that they deserved tenured sinecures that allowed them freedom to ruminate.)
To broad readers of conservative political commentary, this sort of peculiarity feels like cognitive dissonance, especially in Rhode Island. The world is crumbling around us and the sense is that we must flee to cover, and still people behave as if partial turn of the key will open the door. From the town level to the national level, the sense of leaders' message is that some minor technocratic tweaks will be sufficient to set things right.
In my view, RI's pension reform was a spectacular example, erroneously capturing the imaginations of even those on the right.
Yet, we read (and agree with) the warnings of Mark Steyn:
"We are headed for the most predictable economic crisis in history," says Paul Ryan. And he's right. But precisely because it's so predictable the political class has already discounted it. Which is why a plan for pie now and spinach later, maybe even two decades later, is the only real menu on the table. There's a famous exchange in Hemingway's "A Place In The Sun." Someone asks Mike Campbell, "How did you go bankrupt?" "Two ways," he replies. "Gradually, then suddenly." We've been going through the gradual phase so long, we're kinda used to it. But it's coming to an end, and what happens next will be the second way: sudden, and very bad.
And so, one wishes to believe that Rick Santorum's new video is much too like the latest eerie prime time series to be other than a laughable dramatization of a political message:
Here's the thing: Our society encompasses a range of experiences. For some people, some families, some towns, Santorum's prognostications will prove understated. For others, especially among the upper classes who make up our upper crust of decision makers, the lives of the lowly are already akin to televised fiction.
A deeper problem, one supposes, is that the remedy ultimately does not require an active fix from Washington or the State House, but the determination of people to turn their own communities around and the realization that the first step is to get distant politicians out of the way.
"Which is why a plan for pie now and spinach later, maybe even two decades later, is the only real menu on the table".
That says it all. The philosophy of brainwashed "Yes We Can" America. The demagoguery of the Gracchi, Robespierre, Marx, Lenin and Jerzyk.
Like the RI pension crisis nothing will be done until we hit the edge of collapse.
With Debt-GDP already at 103% I give it 5-10 years. No way 20.
In the video, At the moment that the narrator says “sworn American enemy,” Comander in Chief Barack Obama’s image replaces the conservative Iranian president’s face on a television screen.?
The best that conservatives have to offer ?
"conservative Iranian president?"
What does that even mean?
Posted by: brassband at March 24, 2012 4:15 PMMr/Miss Brassband
In the video, At the moment that the narrator says “sworn American enemy,” Comander in Chief Barack Obama’s image replaces the conservative Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's image on the screen.
Got it !
Posted by: Sammy in Arizona at March 24, 2012 6:11 PMWhy do you consider him a conservative?
Does he support limited government?
Low taxes?
Rolling back excessive regulations?
Is he a strong supporter of religious freedom?
Individual rights?
Posted by: brassband at March 24, 2012 7:01 PM"Why do you consider him a conservative?"
A troublemaker might say "he's pretty good on abortion and sodomy".
But I'm not a troublemaker, so I won't say it...
Posted by: Tommy Cranston at March 24, 2012 8:11 PMI heard what he said about homosexuality at Columbia.....what's his position on abortion?
Posted by: brassband at March 24, 2012 8:21 PM.what's his position on abortion?
Posted by brassband at March 24, 2012 8:21 PM
A lot better than most "Catholic" Democrats:
"Legal abortion is now allowed if the mother's life is in danger,and also in cases of fetal abnormalities that makes it not viable after birth (such as anencephaly) or produce difficulties for mother to take care of it after birth, such as major thalassemia or bilateral polycystic kidney disease"
".Legal abortion is allowed only before 19th week of pregnancy"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Iran
Posted by: Tommy Cranston at March 24, 2012 9:06 PM"Why do you consider him a conservative?
Does he support limited government?
Low taxes?
Rolling back excessive regulations?
Is he a strong supporter of religious freedom?
Individual rights?"
Brassband, I'm officially drafting you to serve on the Republican party platform committee.
... what? Darn. The Tea Party says they have first dibs on you.
Posted by: Monique at March 25, 2012 11:31 AMMonique --
You don't need me....just cut and paste!
Posted by: brassband at March 25, 2012 1:37 PMWait until HusseinCare hits. You ain't seen nothin yet. Your "spinach" and "pies" will be doled out "as the secretary sees fit." As stretch Pelosi said "We have to pass it so we can see what's in it". Liberal politics today in the USA.....coming very soon to a (Providence) plantation near you.
Posted by: ANTHONY at March 25, 2012 11:20 PM