tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post7504467132371510688..comments2024-03-28T17:53:43.541-04:00Comments on DarwinCatholic: Reflections on a DefeatDarwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-77577864351928536472008-11-09T19:03:00.000-05:002008-11-09T19:03:00.000-05:00Hang on a minute. You have had eight years on a Re...<I>Hang on a minute. You have had eight years on a Republican Presidency. A person who was hailed as some sort of Messiah in the hard core Catholic Right</I><BR/><BR/>As a messiah? Please. Some people certainly claimed that Bush was a "historic" president, but no one presented him as the sort of light-worker and planet-healer that the hard core Obama followers think their idol is.<BR/><BR/><I>The economy is now in tatters. The US is embroiled in two expensive wars that they cannot get out of - Executive Power is at heights not seen since the Ancien Regime and respect for the Constitution has reached historically low levels</I><BR/><BR/>The economic situation has little to do with who was president the last eight years -- we have a business cycle in this country, we tried to buck it, and now we're paying the price. C'est la vie. Give it a year and a half and the economy should be on a good recovery path so long as Obama is smart enough not to keep too many of his campaign promises (tariffs, increased taxes).<BR/><BR/>Your claim about executive authority and the constitution being "in tatters" is either hyperbolic or shows little familiarity with history. Ever read much about executive authority during FDR's New Deal? They were throwing kosher butchers in jail for selling chickens for less than the government mandated price. There are a few disturbing trends in executive authority in the last eight years, but it's not anywhere near on the scale of FDR, Wilson, Lincoln and probably several others.<BR/><BR/>As for the wars, I suspect they're in the wind-down stage. They're expensive, but given how insanely rich our country is compared to its adversaries it's hardly going to break the bank.<BR/><BR/><I>I just cannot see how Obama can possibly do any worse.</I><BR/><BR/>Well, he could raise taxes and up tariffs during a recession -- worked well for Hoover, who was a pretty smart guy in his own right.<BR/><BR/>He could authorize "clone and kill" legislation resulting in an embryo farming industry that makes The Matrix took charming.<BR/><BR/>There are always lots of ways to make things worse. Who would have thought that Carter could make things worse after Nixon?<BR/><BR/><I>Is the tendency to idolise the "Conservative Movement" a breach of the First Commandment?</I><BR/><BR/>Idolize? Come now. It's a governmental philosophy I happen to think works best -- that's why I want to see its proponents reform their ideas in a workable fashion.Darwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-31141153219260943592008-11-09T17:43:00.000-05:002008-11-09T17:43:00.000-05:00Hang on a minute. You have had eight years on a Re...Hang on a minute. You have had eight years on a Republican Presidency. A person who was hailed as some sort of Messiah in the hard core Catholic Right<BR/><BR/>The economy is now in tatters. The US is embroiled in two expensive wars that they cannot get out of - Executive Power is at heights not seen since the Ancien Regime and respect for the Constitution has reached historically low levels<BR/><BR/>I just cannot see how Obama can possibly do any worse.<BR/><BR/>Is the tendency to idolise the "Conservative Movement" a breach of the First Commandment?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-34929273085073288442008-11-08T09:49:00.000-05:002008-11-08T09:49:00.000-05:00Can you be sure this is a center-right country? S...Can you be sure this is a center-right country? Seems like the country is a changin - as evidenced by the election. Perhpas it is the region from which you come that is center-right? Living in a dead-red state, I recognize that the majority of us, here, are center-right. But, once we leave our borders, it seems that the majority of this country is more liberal than we think - as evidenced by public opinions on social issues. For better or for worse, the majority of this country support civil unions of some sort, support abortion rights, and support affordable universal health coverage, and desire the separation of church and state. <BR/><BR/>Personally, I think that if the outgoing "conservative" administration had done a better job of acoomplishing its social agenda and making its case to the American public, perhaps we would not have seen a left turn this past November.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-35088059915217743792008-11-07T08:52:00.000-05:002008-11-07T08:52:00.000-05:00"We're going to see the left work hard to enable u..."We're going to see the left work hard to enable unprecedented election stealing, and to illegalize any attempts to stop the fraud."<BR/><BR/>What are you talking about? We already have the most unprecedented election comeback in Alaska tainted by turnout askew from the rest of the nation and even more so from Alaska's own history. If you believe the results, you have to believe that President Bush in 2004 was more popular than Governor Palin this year. Do you believe? <BR/><BR/>ToddAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-88220651731703863182008-11-06T11:17:00.000-05:002008-11-06T11:17:00.000-05:00Hey, Darwin,I'm a fair bit more pessimistic than y...Hey, Darwin,<BR/><BR/>I'm a fair bit more pessimistic than you about this whole thing. Yes, this is a center-right country, and yes what the Dems want to do would be unpopular, but I'm not sure that matters entirely.<BR/><BR/>I suspect that regardless of how much the GOP gets its act together, and regardless of how much the Dems overreach, it's going to be a lot tougher to take the Congress back than many of us believe<BR/><BR/>The reason is, I expect that the fix will be in. We're going to see the left work hard to enable unprecedented election stealing, and to illegalize any attempts to stop the fraud. We're going to see Communist-style subversion of the Democratic process on a national scale. We're going to see attempts to silence the people who speak against it. And we'll have the cheerleading media and Obama's smiling mug to make it all look good.<BR/><BR/>You said, "There's no question that Obama is a very smart guy, and I'm sure that he doesn't want to repeat Bill Clinton's mistakes by overreaching in his first two years."<BR/><BR/>The problem is, Obama won't write the laws. Congress will. What's he going to do? Veto their proposals even though he agrees with them? Keep in mind, this Congress is far more radical and partisan than the one Clinton had when he overreached. The current situation is truly unprecedented: We've got both the most leftwing President and the most leftwing Congress in history, simultaneously, even despite a right-leaning citizenry.<BR/><BR/>It could be that the Democrats and Obama will try to moderate their behavior, out of fear of what the citizenry will think, but given his Marxist/Chicago-machine background, I think we're more likely to see attempts to rig the system so that it doesn't matter much what the people think, and to use media control and silencing of dissent so that the people won't know what to think. We saw a little of that with ACORN this election. Imagine what they can accomplish with two years of absolute power.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-88124384185863214032008-11-06T10:40:00.000-05:002008-11-06T10:40:00.000-05:00One of my coworkers, a black man 50-something year...One of my coworkers, a black man 50-something years old, said, "I really didn't think I would ever see this."<BR/><BR/>The fact that Obama is black is obviously not sufficient reason to vote for him. It is, however, sufficient reason to call his election a great day for America.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-4093669359566280572008-11-06T09:18:00.000-05:002008-11-06T09:18:00.000-05:00Very good points all of them. I linked to you.On ...Very good points all of them. I linked to you.<BR/><BR/>On being 29 and figuring it was just a matter of time: <BR/><BR/>I'm 34 and I've always figured the same way. I think it's really important, though, to acknowledge that older Americans have a longer experience of relative color-sensitivity and a shorter experience of relative color-blindness. When you expect discrimination, you have different inputs into your moral calculus. (My own very liberal mom, who came of age in the mid-60s, told me once that interracial marriage was a bad idea, because society would not treat the children of those marriages justly.) <BR/><BR/>And there's a difference between "figuring it's simply a matter of time" and "expecting to see it in your own lifetime." I suspect that a lot of the celebration has to do with the latter. I mean, it's simply a matter of time till the next New Year's Eve or till my tenth wedding anniversary, but I'll still raise a glass to toast each when it comes.bearinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07953735060133330755noreply@blogger.com