Folks have increasingly drawn parallels between the Carter and Obama administrations, few of these complementary to either.
Let’s take a look for something instructive in all of this.
We noted yesterday in conversation with the Marin left that as disastrous as Carter’s domestic policy was, his foreign policy took the cake (and provided his undoing). Steven Hayward in The Age of Reagan notes that, “Carter came to be regarded as the American Neville Chamberlain, not so much for his appeasement of foreign adversaries but for his..incapacity to perceive and act according to the geopolitical realities of the moment. ....his public rhetoric on foreign questions and his key appointments - rhetoric and personnel being two main pillars of foreign policy - were so deficient that it is understandable that he inspired such a harsh reaction.”
Most of us recall Carter’s missteps (no, we are not referring to his filing a UFO siting with the Air Force, or his clubbing to death a rabbit). But all of us have just been smacked by those of BO.
What is unique to both of these men is this - the co-suffering from a severe case of self-delusion. This is the single key to understanding parallels between these two failed leaders. It is the key to understanding especially, Obama.
We return for a moment to Silent Cal; if he was known for anything, it was honesty, integrity and incorruptibility. From Bob Sobel’s book, Coolidge - An American Enigma, Coolidge “recognized the dangers of self-deception the office could engender.” Quoting Coolidge now from that book, “It is difficult for men in high office to avoid the malady of self-delusion. They are always surrounded by worshipers. They are constantly...assured of their greatness. They live in an artificial atmosphere of adulation and exaltation which sooner of later impairs their judgement. They are in grave danger of becoming careless and arrogant.”
Of course things have played out as Coolidge would have predicted (if he had know the players). The Coolidge rule applies to Chicago pols and Senators just as well as to presidents. This is why we could state with certainty even in the primary that BO’s primary weakness, his Achilles Heel, was a lack of judgement. It was obvious. He had demonstrated that repeatedly and for reasons Coolidge has highlighted. He continues to do so.
So Obama's simply being Obama. We’re not sure how he got elected however. Curious. Can’t find a sole who pulled that trigger. And all those Hope & Change bumper stickers here in Marin County? They seem to have been pilfered.
Robert Craven
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Keep It Simple
Democrats’ malfeasance triggered the crisis; BO’s statist agenda has prolonged it. Earlier, the masses didn’t quite get it. Now they do (although BO doesn’t know that).
Now what? Key of course - principle vs pocket book. If you believe as our nursery friends do that government control of free enterprise and a forced re-direction of financial resources by a selected few, is best, then of course you do what they do - vote that way, for the left party line, or we might say, what was the party line.
If instead you are concerned primarily with pocket book issues, then you look to remove the encumbrances major employers claim are responsible for their hoarding of cash, for their refusal to add to their payrolls. Your agent in this task may be the so-called Tea Party types, or perhaps others yet apparent. You really don’t care who or which, just that it is done.
Once that happens the recovery will take form. We all know the steps. First, stop the killing, stop the harm. That is for November. Next, build a stop gap (kill the health heist, reverse stimulus, iron in tax cuts). That is for 2011. Then finally, resurrect the Republic. That is for 2012.
Robert Craven
Now what? Key of course - principle vs pocket book. If you believe as our nursery friends do that government control of free enterprise and a forced re-direction of financial resources by a selected few, is best, then of course you do what they do - vote that way, for the left party line, or we might say, what was the party line.
If instead you are concerned primarily with pocket book issues, then you look to remove the encumbrances major employers claim are responsible for their hoarding of cash, for their refusal to add to their payrolls. Your agent in this task may be the so-called Tea Party types, or perhaps others yet apparent. You really don’t care who or which, just that it is done.
Once that happens the recovery will take form. We all know the steps. First, stop the killing, stop the harm. That is for November. Next, build a stop gap (kill the health heist, reverse stimulus, iron in tax cuts). That is for 2011. Then finally, resurrect the Republic. That is for 2012.
Robert Craven
Monday, September 20, 2010
Mosque Sham
Noise takes up the airwaves, verbiage the printed page. It’s all big business naturally but ninety percent is - no surprise - garbage.
Take the mosque bit. When the soaps are off the air, why not? It’s become tabloid. Big $. What a waste.
Actually, this mosque deal has nothing to do with freedom of religion or tolerance. It’s a matter of decent respect for sensibilities. The authors of 9/11 hyped the same “faith” the proposed mosque celebrates. We all know that. That should be enough. Stop the noise.
Not so fast, just one little problem.
BO’s obsequious posturing to Muslims, his insipid and mindless appeasement of this “religion” is truly repulsive but that is what the slum lord Feisal Abdul Rauf is counting on (oh, you didn’t know he was a slum lord?). And that’s what's given life to this thing.
During a visit to the home place the other day we saw a full page ad in the Fresno Bee, a whole bunch of folk - grocers, salesmen, truck drivers, all together in a big family pic, all smiling and in the type below telling us readers just what great Americans they really are.
The only differentiation between these and their more militant cousins is measured in degrees of aggression. They all go by the same book. (The grocers just don’t have the xxxx’s to shoot us, yet.) That’s the book that calls for a reordering of society, the complete merger of church and state, by force if necessary. With the exception of Turkey, all other Muslim countries are run by the Koran, that is, by the teachings of one Mohammed, a 6th century butcher (who in his spare time enjoyed life as a pedophile).
No problem for Obama. In his official statement on the occasion of Ramadan Obama praised “Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings . . . (its) great diversity and racial equality” and “American Muslims’ . . . extraordinary contributions to our country.” This is nonsense. Conrad Black reminds us, “Islam has done nothing to advance justice or any version of progress or tolerance, and Obama, like Condoleezza Rice, is regularly denounced by the official outlets of leading Muslim countries in ethnic slurs that would embarrass Bull Connor and Lester Maddox.”
Too much!
Let’s get Obama to shut up, cut the noise and in so doing get this mosque sham put to bed.
Robert Craven
Take the mosque bit. When the soaps are off the air, why not? It’s become tabloid. Big $. What a waste.
Actually, this mosque deal has nothing to do with freedom of religion or tolerance. It’s a matter of decent respect for sensibilities. The authors of 9/11 hyped the same “faith” the proposed mosque celebrates. We all know that. That should be enough. Stop the noise.
Not so fast, just one little problem.
BO’s obsequious posturing to Muslims, his insipid and mindless appeasement of this “religion” is truly repulsive but that is what the slum lord Feisal Abdul Rauf is counting on (oh, you didn’t know he was a slum lord?). And that’s what's given life to this thing.
During a visit to the home place the other day we saw a full page ad in the Fresno Bee, a whole bunch of folk - grocers, salesmen, truck drivers, all together in a big family pic, all smiling and in the type below telling us readers just what great Americans they really are.
The only differentiation between these and their more militant cousins is measured in degrees of aggression. They all go by the same book. (The grocers just don’t have the xxxx’s to shoot us, yet.) That’s the book that calls for a reordering of society, the complete merger of church and state, by force if necessary. With the exception of Turkey, all other Muslim countries are run by the Koran, that is, by the teachings of one Mohammed, a 6th century butcher (who in his spare time enjoyed life as a pedophile).
No problem for Obama. In his official statement on the occasion of Ramadan Obama praised “Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings . . . (its) great diversity and racial equality” and “American Muslims’ . . . extraordinary contributions to our country.” This is nonsense. Conrad Black reminds us, “Islam has done nothing to advance justice or any version of progress or tolerance, and Obama, like Condoleezza Rice, is regularly denounced by the official outlets of leading Muslim countries in ethnic slurs that would embarrass Bull Connor and Lester Maddox.”
Too much!
Let’s get Obama to shut up, cut the noise and in so doing get this mosque sham put to bed.
Robert Craven
Thursday, September 16, 2010
HIGH NOON
Most of us recall the western classic, “High Noon.” The sheriff (Gary Cooper) is about to leave office just when a gang of toughs ride into town. He could leave but he waits to face the killers. All his friends and all the townspeople who supported him during his years of keeping them safe, slowly abandon him. In the end, he walks alone to meet the killers because someone had to.
George Bush’s strength and character were reflected in a 20 minute speech of Jan/07 that announced a new initiative designed to win in Iraq. He had no support for that decision, not State, not the Pentagon, not Congress, not the foreign policy establishment, not the Joint Chiefs, not Gen Casey, not Centcom commander Abizaid, not Condy Rice. Yet that day the President wasn’t looking for affirmation. He knew what was right, what had to be done and he did it because someone had to.
This makes this decision a profile in courage. As Charles Krauthammer reminds us, “The surge...effected the most dramatic change in the fortunes of an American war since the summer of 1864.”
A year ago we praised Bush for his decency and his dedication to his country. We re-visit that topic this pm. Those that continue to demonize Bush and in Pavlovian fashion condemn his presidency demonstrate a lack of scholarship, a weak hold on reality. What they do illustrate is a matter of association and party sympathy, not reasoning and examination. They diminish themselves, not Bush, in the process. In trying to belittle him, they merely reveal their own littleness.
Bush kept us al Qaeda-free for 8 years (9, now that Obama has adopted the Bush security apparatus wholesale). Here in Marin the lefties who are protected from dangers, simply conclude that there are no dangers. And of course they were the most hysterical over interception of phone calls, the other efforts to thwart slaughter. Hysterical yes, even though they were the beneficiaries. This second great achievement then is also the number one function of government - to protect its citizens. Nobody on 9/11/01 believed there would not be another such attack on American soil. Thank you Sir.
Finally, when we consider the Bush administration juxtaposed aside that of Obama, it is no wonder so many have come to reconsider the leadership of this fine man, just as they did the administration of Truman, and Truman the man and for similar reasons.
We yearn do we not for the corruption free, honest Bush governance? And we are grateful for the end of nuclear processing in Libya, for Dr. Khan shut down, for Syrians out of Lebanon, for pro-US governments in Europe, good relations with China and India, the miraculous act of strengthening relations with east Asian democracies without upsetting the Chinese, two good Supreme Court judges, unswerving support for Israel, the Medicare prescription drug benefit, and finally the universally acclaimed world AID’s initiative.
Yet it is not these but the courage of decision making for which George Bush will be remembered. Equipped with a moral compass he exercised his just and rightful authority in a way that deserves every American’s recognition and respect.
He defiantly did the right thing. That is what distinguishes his presidency.
Robert Craven
George Bush’s strength and character were reflected in a 20 minute speech of Jan/07 that announced a new initiative designed to win in Iraq. He had no support for that decision, not State, not the Pentagon, not Congress, not the foreign policy establishment, not the Joint Chiefs, not Gen Casey, not Centcom commander Abizaid, not Condy Rice. Yet that day the President wasn’t looking for affirmation. He knew what was right, what had to be done and he did it because someone had to.
This makes this decision a profile in courage. As Charles Krauthammer reminds us, “The surge...effected the most dramatic change in the fortunes of an American war since the summer of 1864.”
A year ago we praised Bush for his decency and his dedication to his country. We re-visit that topic this pm. Those that continue to demonize Bush and in Pavlovian fashion condemn his presidency demonstrate a lack of scholarship, a weak hold on reality. What they do illustrate is a matter of association and party sympathy, not reasoning and examination. They diminish themselves, not Bush, in the process. In trying to belittle him, they merely reveal their own littleness.
Bush kept us al Qaeda-free for 8 years (9, now that Obama has adopted the Bush security apparatus wholesale). Here in Marin the lefties who are protected from dangers, simply conclude that there are no dangers. And of course they were the most hysterical over interception of phone calls, the other efforts to thwart slaughter. Hysterical yes, even though they were the beneficiaries. This second great achievement then is also the number one function of government - to protect its citizens. Nobody on 9/11/01 believed there would not be another such attack on American soil. Thank you Sir.
Finally, when we consider the Bush administration juxtaposed aside that of Obama, it is no wonder so many have come to reconsider the leadership of this fine man, just as they did the administration of Truman, and Truman the man and for similar reasons.
We yearn do we not for the corruption free, honest Bush governance? And we are grateful for the end of nuclear processing in Libya, for Dr. Khan shut down, for Syrians out of Lebanon, for pro-US governments in Europe, good relations with China and India, the miraculous act of strengthening relations with east Asian democracies without upsetting the Chinese, two good Supreme Court judges, unswerving support for Israel, the Medicare prescription drug benefit, and finally the universally acclaimed world AID’s initiative.
Yet it is not these but the courage of decision making for which George Bush will be remembered. Equipped with a moral compass he exercised his just and rightful authority in a way that deserves every American’s recognition and respect.
He defiantly did the right thing. That is what distinguishes his presidency.
Robert Craven
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Those Pesky Facts
Millions were taken in by Obama. We all suffered. What’s the flip side? Can we gain anything at all from this experience?
Well, we know that on a national level the Dem party organization will move from extreme left, towards, but still far from, center. Fine. That was an easy one to predict.
But what about the average chatterer? One would venture something like this: “Well, sure, these guys won’t pull that trigger again; they’ve seen how Obama even got into their pockets.” Sadly, that’s not likely to happen. Lefties are impervious to lessons, facts, history, never being quite able to associate the burnt thumb with the match.
Take “stimulus.” Some of us knew it was a sham the day it was announced. By definition, it cannot work. For example, unemployment never hit double digits in any of the 12 months following the stock crash of ‘29. Unemployment peaked at 9% two months after the Oct/29 crash, and then headed downward. From Thomas Sowell, “Unemployment was down to 6.3 percent by June 1930, when the first big federal intervention occurred. Within six months, the downward trend in unemployment reversed and hit double digits for the first time in December 1930.” But of course. Where in the heck do the left think the money comes from?
Or how about the deficit “inherited” by BO? Again, facts (and in this case, the Constitution) are pesky critters. It was the Dem’s who controlled both houses before BO became president. President's don't make legislation. The deficit BO inherited was created by the Democrats, including Obama himself who did absolutely nothing to oppose spending. He was one of the biggest of the big spenders. Oh, that. The problem with Bush is that he did not veto enough of this nonsense.
Or how about regulation? Naturally, if Bush had simply regulated the financial markets we would have been saved, say our nursery pals. He tried to do just that. In 2004 the WH made a hard push to regulate the hazardous practices of Fannie & Freddie. The Dems, led by Frank, Pelosi, Obama and Rangel defeated this effort (guess why?). The result - ground zero.
Even now, the chatterers remain contentedly naive, willfully blind. Their messiah claims that his health plan is a winner. The facts are as follows: 1) Health costs, as reported by BO’s own Ctr for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will go up $1000/yr for a family of 4 in 2019, as a result of this heist. 2) Last week, health insurers asked for premium increases of up to 9% solely because of the health deal. What? 3) Hey! Didn’t BO say that we could all keep our coverage? The administration now admits that 51% of all employees and 66% of workers in small businesses will have their current plan changed in three years as a result of this scam. (Most of the left are still oblivious to the fact that health was only a means, not an end at all, but then that is another topic.)
Robert Craven
Well, we know that on a national level the Dem party organization will move from extreme left, towards, but still far from, center. Fine. That was an easy one to predict.
But what about the average chatterer? One would venture something like this: “Well, sure, these guys won’t pull that trigger again; they’ve seen how Obama even got into their pockets.” Sadly, that’s not likely to happen. Lefties are impervious to lessons, facts, history, never being quite able to associate the burnt thumb with the match.
Take “stimulus.” Some of us knew it was a sham the day it was announced. By definition, it cannot work. For example, unemployment never hit double digits in any of the 12 months following the stock crash of ‘29. Unemployment peaked at 9% two months after the Oct/29 crash, and then headed downward. From Thomas Sowell, “Unemployment was down to 6.3 percent by June 1930, when the first big federal intervention occurred. Within six months, the downward trend in unemployment reversed and hit double digits for the first time in December 1930.” But of course. Where in the heck do the left think the money comes from?
Or how about the deficit “inherited” by BO? Again, facts (and in this case, the Constitution) are pesky critters. It was the Dem’s who controlled both houses before BO became president. President's don't make legislation. The deficit BO inherited was created by the Democrats, including Obama himself who did absolutely nothing to oppose spending. He was one of the biggest of the big spenders. Oh, that. The problem with Bush is that he did not veto enough of this nonsense.
Or how about regulation? Naturally, if Bush had simply regulated the financial markets we would have been saved, say our nursery pals. He tried to do just that. In 2004 the WH made a hard push to regulate the hazardous practices of Fannie & Freddie. The Dems, led by Frank, Pelosi, Obama and Rangel defeated this effort (guess why?). The result - ground zero.
Even now, the chatterers remain contentedly naive, willfully blind. Their messiah claims that his health plan is a winner. The facts are as follows: 1) Health costs, as reported by BO’s own Ctr for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will go up $1000/yr for a family of 4 in 2019, as a result of this heist. 2) Last week, health insurers asked for premium increases of up to 9% solely because of the health deal. What? 3) Hey! Didn’t BO say that we could all keep our coverage? The administration now admits that 51% of all employees and 66% of workers in small businesses will have their current plan changed in three years as a result of this scam. (Most of the left are still oblivious to the fact that health was only a means, not an end at all, but then that is another topic.)
Robert Craven
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Look Ahead
We all know what happened, the why and the how. That’s done. Let’s look ahead.
We have witnessed a tragedy. We ask those who contributed, to inflict no further harm. Primary results seem encouraging, yet lame duck radicals can still do a lot of harm. For these we can only hope they muster some strength of character.
Next, we must repair the damage. To accomplish that we need to reduce uncertainty, that key factor which has retarded a recovery. That is, restore a sense of reason; as Yuval Levin of National Affairs declares, restore some “...predictability where the Democrats’ hyperactive liberalism has created a crushing sense of uncertainty that has kept employers from hiring and investors and consumers from spending.”
Levin means that we need to kill the health legislation (families and businesses unsure of future expenses), that we need to iron in the Bush tax cuts. This is the first step.
Finally, new leaders will sculpt a resurrection. We told our family at the annual picnic in April not to worry. We meant it. One taste of extremism is enough for most Americans. A return to liberty, a regeneration of self respect and optimism as a nation, cannot come too soon.
Robert Craven
We have witnessed a tragedy. We ask those who contributed, to inflict no further harm. Primary results seem encouraging, yet lame duck radicals can still do a lot of harm. For these we can only hope they muster some strength of character.
Next, we must repair the damage. To accomplish that we need to reduce uncertainty, that key factor which has retarded a recovery. That is, restore a sense of reason; as Yuval Levin of National Affairs declares, restore some “...predictability where the Democrats’ hyperactive liberalism has created a crushing sense of uncertainty that has kept employers from hiring and investors and consumers from spending.”
Levin means that we need to kill the health legislation (families and businesses unsure of future expenses), that we need to iron in the Bush tax cuts. This is the first step.
Finally, new leaders will sculpt a resurrection. We told our family at the annual picnic in April not to worry. We meant it. One taste of extremism is enough for most Americans. A return to liberty, a regeneration of self respect and optimism as a nation, cannot come too soon.
Robert Craven
Friday, September 10, 2010
Off The Ship
See that guy standing in the middle of what used to be a trailer park after the big one that came out of nowhere? That’s your everyday liberal, deer-in-the-headlights. But it’s a free for all for the politicians; they’re not deer but rodents, rats leaving the ship in droves. Too much.
Most of us knew early on that bo’s agenda was bunk. Perhaps so did many of his fellow politicians, only keeping their fingers crossed. It didn’t work. Witness the mad rush to get as far away from this guy and as fast as their little feet will carry them. Take the health heist. From Kim Strassel in today’s WSJ, discussing the retreat, “Alabama Rep. Bobby Bright's ad explains he voted against ‘massive government health care. South Dakota's Stephanie Herseth Sandlin boasts she voted against the ‘trillion-dollar health-care plan.’
"But the prize," Strassel continues,"goes to former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes vying to get his old job back: Not only is ObamaCare ‘financially devastating,’ it is ‘the greatest failure, modern failure, of political leadership in my lifetime.’”
Hah!! Excuse us, but this is truly entertaining!
And not only the health heist; most of this bunch now realize that the “stimulus” was phony, that cap & trade is an expensive sham, etc. Again from Strassel's article, “‘I voted against Nancy Pelosi's energy tax on Hoosier families,’ explains Indiana Rep. Joe Donnelly in an ad, echoed by North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre and Pennsylvania Rep. Jason Altmire. And the yes votes are rushing to argue that all they were really voting for was ‘renewable energy.’”
It was just this last April at the family picnic when so many fine folk there expressed the concern that our country might be changed forever through Obama, that, as best summarized in a WSJ editorial, “Democrats purposely used the recession as a political opening to redistribute income, reverse the free-market reforms of the Reagan era, and put government at the commanding heights of economic decision-making,”and that this might work, that we saw something else. Take heart dear cousins.
We secured an anchor that day. We knew that this country would be alright, that the ship would right itself, that we were not destined to become another Greece, that the far left will remain what they have been past years - abnormalities.
Looks like we were right.
Robert Craven
Most of us knew early on that bo’s agenda was bunk. Perhaps so did many of his fellow politicians, only keeping their fingers crossed. It didn’t work. Witness the mad rush to get as far away from this guy and as fast as their little feet will carry them. Take the health heist. From Kim Strassel in today’s WSJ, discussing the retreat, “Alabama Rep. Bobby Bright's ad explains he voted against ‘massive government health care. South Dakota's Stephanie Herseth Sandlin boasts she voted against the ‘trillion-dollar health-care plan.’
"But the prize," Strassel continues,"goes to former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes vying to get his old job back: Not only is ObamaCare ‘financially devastating,’ it is ‘the greatest failure, modern failure, of political leadership in my lifetime.’”
Hah!! Excuse us, but this is truly entertaining!
And not only the health heist; most of this bunch now realize that the “stimulus” was phony, that cap & trade is an expensive sham, etc. Again from Strassel's article, “‘I voted against Nancy Pelosi's energy tax on Hoosier families,’ explains Indiana Rep. Joe Donnelly in an ad, echoed by North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre and Pennsylvania Rep. Jason Altmire. And the yes votes are rushing to argue that all they were really voting for was ‘renewable energy.’”
It was just this last April at the family picnic when so many fine folk there expressed the concern that our country might be changed forever through Obama, that, as best summarized in a WSJ editorial, “Democrats purposely used the recession as a political opening to redistribute income, reverse the free-market reforms of the Reagan era, and put government at the commanding heights of economic decision-making,”and that this might work, that we saw something else. Take heart dear cousins.
We secured an anchor that day. We knew that this country would be alright, that the ship would right itself, that we were not destined to become another Greece, that the far left will remain what they have been past years - abnormalities.
Looks like we were right.
Robert Craven
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