The Extinction Burst

Before the 2008 election, I told my wife that I think the real reason that the media was completely tossing aside even the pretense of objectivity was that it was - to me - obviously an "extinction burst."

Consider the following:

1) The continuing daisy chain of newspaper/newsmagazine failures
2) The utter failure of liberal talk radio
3) The declining ratings of the alphabet networks, CNN and MSNBC
4) The ascendancy of Fox News
5) The enduring popularity of conservative talk radio
6) The rise of the dextrosphere and the already peaked popularity of the sinestrophere.
7) The repeated best-selling success of conservative books - not just on current topics, but re-examining political history as well (e.g., Liberal Fascism).
8) The calamitous decline in union membership outside of government.

Put them all together and what do you have? The end of the ability of the Left to completely control the narrative, to hide inconvenient truths and to pretend that opposing views are without merit or that they even exist.

I believe that the media understood very well that 2008 would be the last presidential election in which they had as much influence as they did. So they had no incentive to pretend they were objective any longer. After all, most of them wouldn't even have jobs by the time the next election rolled around anyway.

By 2012, it is very likely that neither Time nor Newsweek will even exist as print magazines. The NY Times may or may not be putting ink to paper, but even if it is there will be far fewer copies to circulate. Air America has already gone silent. Etc., Etc.

The Leftists in this country have controlled political conversation in this country for generations now. That monopoly has effectively ended, and now their agenda is being shredded daily by Glenn Reynolds' "Army of Davids" who are pointing out that the emperor has no clothes, and in fact, never really did.

So the Democratic Party had no choice but to go "all in" after the last election. From ObamaCare to Cap-N-Tax to Card Check, every liberal wet dream is on the table.

They thought "we've only got one more shot to get this through, so we've got to jam as much through as possible RIGHT NOW." They know they're not likely to get another bite at this apple for a very long time to come.

Because not only have they lost control of the message, they've run out of money. Federal and state budgets are exploding across the country as the inevitable result of decades of liberal mismanagement (see California) and the extraordinarily high cost of government union workers (see GM and Chrysler for examples of where this is heading).

The appetite for, and the ability to fund, the expansion of government is over for the foreseeable future.

We just can't afford it. Democrats knew the debt bomb was ticking, but this recession and their own irresponsibility in passing the stimulus plan, sped up the countdown timer far faster than they had planned. The Tea Party movement was a completely unanticipated development which is why they were left floundering when it took off so suddenly. They never saw it coming, and it left them angry and sputtering ineffective, inaccurate and inane responses like "Nazis," "racists," and "unAmerican."

Time has run out. The steady flow of money and muscle from their union allies is quickly drying up, and that will affect the Democratic Party's ability to remain competitive. (And why they reacted so vehemently to the recent Supreme Court decision allowing corporate participation in elections.)

The Leftist agenda will always find a way to come back eventually. That totalitarian impulse isn't going to go away. It never really does as there are always people who seek to use the heavy hand of government to control other people's lives. But if it gets defeated now, it's going to have to go underground for a long time. And the actions of the Leftists for the last few years proves that they know it too.

What TEA Partiers and Sarah Palin Have In Common

Republicans were sensing momentum earlier in the summer, but events of
the August recess -- specifically, the town hall meetings in which
opponents of the Democratic health care reform plan have turned out in
force -- have changed their view. "This month has opened our eyes,"
says one plugged-in House aide. "We're seeing real people who are fired
up who weren't engaged before -- the first time we've had a popular
movement that could really benefit us electorally."

That's the take this morning from Republican House members talking about their prospects in the upcoming 2010 elections. Both Democratic and Republican insiders are talking about the effect of the TEA Party movement, and there's widespread agreement that it's generally bad news for congressional Democrats.

"I think what's going to happen is Obama's going to be fine, and the
Democrats in Congress are going to get their asses kicked in 2010,"
says one Democratic strategist who prefers not to be named.

It's only the middle of August and the TEA Party movement is already making itself felt deep inside the halls of Congress. That's why you're seeing people like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi ratcheting up their rhetoric against the grassroots who are spontaneously rising up across the country. They're genuinely scared. (They're whistling past the graveyard with regard to the potential impact on Obama, but that's a discussion for another day.)

In mid-term elections, the president's party generally loses seats in Congress as there is generally some pushback against the agenda of an incoming president - no matter what his party is. But this year has been exceptional in that conservatives have taken to the streets, a virtually unheard of phenomenon, early and loudly within months of him taking office. Reid and Pelosi may publicly be dismissing TEA Partiers as "rent-a-mobs" carrying swastikas who only show up at the behest of insurance companies, but privately they understand its true grassroots nature.

This is the second time in less than a year that genuine grassroots enthusiasm from the other side of the aisle has thrown Democrats for a loop, and they are returning to the only thing they really understand: demonizing the opposition. The first instance was the vice presidential nomination of Sarah Palin, and I don't think I need to remind anyone how the Left continues to hound her even today. The fire she lit under the conservative base briefly pushed McCain over Obama in the polls and struck fear into the hearts of Democrats. So they responded with the most vicious smearing of a politician in recent memory, with the active assistance of the mainstream media which has since admitted that they took sides against her.

Even in the last few days, Palin has had an impact on the ObamaCare discussion by forcing the Senate to drop the end-of-life counseling from its version. A recent headline proclaimed that "Sarah Palin Defines the Health Care Debate." When was the last time that the vice presidential candidate on a losing ticket was able to make her voice heard a year later with nothing more than writing a few paragraphs on her Facebook account?

TEA Partiers should look forward to more hate-filled diatribes to be directed their way from both Democratic officeholders and the mainstream media. Like Palin, they will be dismissed as stupid and ill-informed. They will be accused of being tools of nefarious corporate interests and hating poor people. Can you remember an effective opponent of Leftist ideology who they didn't say these exact same things about? There hasn't been an original thought in the Leftist playbook for decades: they go after all their opponents the same way.

But TEA Partiers should take every sling and arrow which is thrown at them with pride. They should recognize that the greater the insults being hurled at them, the closer they are to the mark. There's another saying from the bomber corps that TEA Partiers should keep in mind:

You only take flak when you're over the target.

Sarah Palin, TEA Parties, Democrats, Leftists, 2010 Elections, Congress, Nancy Pelosi

On the Wrong Side of the Racial Divide

Michael Lind published a piece asking "Are Liberals Seceding From Sanity?" in which he argues for the "big tent" approach to the Democratic Party. His argument, naturally, is pure condescension to Southerners who are simply the products of having been economically repressed and so woefully uneducated for so many years. They couldn't possibly hold conservative beliefs because they are worthy of being held: no, they are simply misinformed because those dumb folks don't know any better.

In the course of chastising his fellow liberals for mocking and abusing Southerners, Lind commits his own sins. But I will, at least grant that - unlike his liberal brethren - he doesn't descend into the usual "they're just a bunch of Nazis" trashtalk. But even that's not what's significant about Lind's piece. What's most striking is how he points out over and over again how the socially conservative attitudes and beliefs of Southerners are so very similar to those held by blacks and Latinos.

Yet the Leftist punditry never criticizes blacks and Latinos for being pro-Life or anti-illegal immigrant. And if they ever did, they certainly wouldn't ascribe those beliefs to the evil and racism they ascribe to Southerners. Why? Because blacks and Latinos are on the politically correct side of the racial divide in this country.

For all the claims of tolerance and equality that the Left puts forth, they are neither tolerant and they do not truly believe in equality. Look at the arguments that Lind puts forth for why Southerners believe the things they do: they're just dumb folks who don't know any better. So, by corollary, he is also saying the same about blacks and latinos. The difference is that it's OK to call a white man evil and racist, but political correctness doesn't allow the same outrageous demonization of minorities.

Besides, it's not their fault that they share the same beliefs. Unlike the white man who is evidently fully responsible for his own beliefs, minorities cannot be held to the same standards. Evidently, they're just not capable of being enlightened the way that white men can be with the right effort. Just try to square that assertion with the belief that "all men are created equal" and that a man should be judged on the "content of his character, and not the color of his skin." Go ahead. I dare you.

The truth is that Leftists will tolerate pretty much any belief from the minority community so long as they continue to vote "properly." We've seen what they really think of minorities every time one of them "gets off the plantation." Just ask Clarence Thomas, Condeleeza Rice, Thomas Sowell, or any number of other minority conservatives how tolerant and open-minded Leftists really are.

As soon as a minority expresses a non-Leftist thought, all those racial epithets which were supposedly off-limits suddenly become socially acceptable once again: so long as you direct them at the right people, of course. The excuses vary, but the reality is that the racial animus (and anti-Semitism) is never far from boiling to the surface. It only takes the slightest provocation to bring it out, as they have proven time and time again.

Leftists view themselves as benevolent caretakers of minorities: not as their equals. Just let the liberal elitists tell you brown people what to think and when to think it. They'll tell you what causes to take to the streets for and which ones are simply "taken out of context." You brownies just aren't smart enough to think for yourselves, so turn over your free will to the current group of Leftists in charge. Free will is intolerable in a minority. It must be crushed through swift and immediate ridicule and scorn lest other minorities get the idea that it is acceptable to hold an unsanctioned, independent belief.

For the Left the world is quite clear. If you don't agree with them and you are white, then you are an evil racist. If you don't agree with them and you are a minority, then you are a race traitor or even worse. But if you're a minority and are willing to vote for their latest socialist endeavor, then you get a nice pat on the head and a condescending smile...just like the family dog who sits up and begs when offered a treat.

Personally, I'd rather you hated me to my face than treated me like a pet. At least when you hate me, you are forced to acknowledge the free will I have exercised as a fellow human being. If I allow you to treat me as your pet, then I am denying my own humanity. So, to all minorities across the country, I ask: are you a free-thinking human being or are you happy being a Leftist lapdog?

Democrats, Leftists, Racism

But Don't Dare Call it AstroTurfing

Barack Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress can't seem to find enough people to get out and hit the streets in support of their government takeover of health care, so now they're advertising on Craigslist to hire them instead.

But remember that it's the TEA Partiers who are supposedly the ones who are "AstroTurfing," right? Not the Leftists who are actually paying people to do the work that no Americans are willing to do voluntarily. I guess it's a good thing that Obama's disastrous economic policies have put so many people out of work. Otherwise they wouldn't have anybody willing to do their dirty work at all.

AstroTurfing, Democrats, Barack Obama, Leftists, ObamaCare