Too late for Obama to turn it around? (Is it Kosher, to actually find Camille Paglia inspiring?)

The Clinton propaganda operation, still known as Salon. ^ | 09/09/09 | Camille Paglia

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Starting in paragraph 5, Ms. Paglia sounds more ... Republican, more aware of American liberties, and frankly far more ready to stand up and say so, than just about anyone the GOP has out there.

Decide for yourselves:

(full article at the link) I'm really not trying to be subversive here. I realize she's a liberal. A democrat.

But she's written a homerun here:

[A message]

It was as if Democrats live in a utopian dream world, divorced from the daily demands and realities of organization and management.

Democrats or progressives or what ever la la term the Commies want to describe themselves today are wholly unhinged from the real world people actually live.

[Army Air Corps]

This passage was a nice barb.

But affluent middle-class Democrats now seem to be complacently servile toward authority and automatically believe everything party leaders tell them. Why? Is it because the new professional class is a glossy product of generically institutionalized learning? Independent thought and logical analysis of argument are no longer taught. Elite education in the U.S. has become a frenetic assembly line of competitive college application to schools where ideological brainwashing is so pandemic that it's invisible. The top schools, from the Ivy League on down, promote "critical thinking," which sounds good but is in fact just a style of rote regurgitation of hackneyed approved terms ("racism, sexism, homophobia") when confronted with any social issue. The Democratic brain has been marinating so long in those clichés that it's positively pickled.

[datura]

The term “progressive” is the equivalent of the “secret handshake” used between members of the Democratic Socialists of America.

This woman is NOT one of them.

[floozy22]

Having said all that about the failures of my own party, I am not about to let Republicans off the hook. What a backbiting mess the GOP is! It lacks even one credible voice of traditional moral values on the national stage and is addicted to sonorous pieties of pharisaical emptiness. Republican politicians sermonize about the sanctity of marriage while racking up divorces and sexual escapades by the truckload. They assail government overreach and yet support interference in women's control of their own bodies. Advanced whack-a-mole is clearly needed for that yammering smarty-pants Newt Gingrich, who is always so very, very pleased with himself but has yet to produce a single enduring thought. The still inexplicably revered George W. Bush ballooned our national deficits like a drunken sailor and clumsily exacerbated the illegal immigration debate. And bizarrely, the hallucinatory Dick Cheney, a fake-testosterone addict who spooked Bush into a pointless war, continues to be lauded as presidential material.

Here's the part where she sounds like a typical shrieking liberal. It almost seems like two different people actually wrote this article.

[TorahTrueJew]

I agree with her on Newt Gingrich and Bush. Newt is Mr. Global Warming, Pelosi is a fine speaker, Arne Duncan is a great secretary of Education, Al Sharpton is a wonderful spokesperson, and Obama’s speech to children was wonderful..... I wish he’d retire....

[VRWCRick]

“Why has the Democratic Party become so arrogantly detached from ordinary Americans? Though they claim to speak for the poor and dispossessed, Democrats have increasingly become the party of an upper-middle-class professional elite, top-heavy with journalists, academics and lawyers (one reason for the hypocritical absence of tort reform in the healthcare bills).”

This part of the column hits the heart of the problem with the Democrat party, elitism and arrogance. They aren’t interested in the “poor and disposessed” except to use them as dupes and pawns to get power for themselves! The same is true of the rest of their agenda. The whole “health care debate” is really about more power for government as is the global warming superstition based “cap and tax” bill. The objective of these are not improvement of health care or the environment, but rather are to transfer a huge about of power and money to the elites in Washington.

Camille Paglia, even though she is liberal, is a damn good writer, and this is one of the best columns I have seen written by her. I expect this column will be mentioned by Rush Limbaugh and other talk shows tomorrow.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Gotta agree - when she slips into leftist-speak, her IQ seems to evaporate.

That section seems devoid of intelligence to the point of seeming almost like copy/paste leftwing boilerplate - deliberately stuck in there so other democrats would still invite her to parties.

I think... Sarah Palin should publicly invite Paglia to switch parties. :)

[jocon307]

Camille Paglia has not “forgotten where she comes from”. She understands, and respects “ordinary people” far better than many others who are in the top tiers of our society. And by those in the top tier I definately include many “conservatives” and Republicans. La Noonan for example.

[floozy22]

I also agree with her on Gingrich, and W disappointed us in many ways...but he kept us safe for 8 years.

VP Cheney is a patriot, who loves his country and has served it with class and dignity. Her mini screed on him seems to come right out of DUmmieland.

[TorahTrueJew]

W destroyed the Republican party and gave us Barack Obama..... how does that keep us safe?

Cheney on the other hand is my favorite politician... He is the only person in Washington I have ever seen actually debate someone and actually had some guts....

[kalee]

I have posted Paglia columns in the past.

[bigbob]

I think Paglia really epitomizes the classic liberal. While we may disagree at times, it is clear she is a great thinker and gifted with common sense and objectivity that is woefully lacking in the vast majority of partisan idealogues.

[Vendome]

I don’t care if you disagree with Camille or other Democrats but, her writing style and acerbic tone combined with poetic prose.... well, the next time I am in New York I would love to buy her a drink and listen to her.

Her writing style is fascinating and does make you stop and think.

Good read and now I will go smoke a cigarette wishing I could listen to her, in person, cut down my position and take aim at her own side.

She would be a fascinating person to meet.

[Vendome]

if you have ping list for Camille, I’m in.

I love her writing. She is very fascinating.

[Vendome]

ah, come on! Read it!

She really is brilliant, even if she is on the opposition.

Just a fun read.

[AZLiberty]

Camille Paglia is channeling Victor Davis Hanson and Mark Steyn tonight. She’s on fire!

[floozy22]

W destroyed the Republican party and gave us Barack Obama..... how does that keep us safe?

I believe W damaged the Republican party and yes, to an extent gave us Obama. His administration's inability to defend itself against 8 years of 24/7 attacks only strengthened our enemies and political opponents.

But there's plenty of blame to go around when assessing the damage. There has been a leadership vacuum in our party since Reagan left office.

The Democrat party doesn't need real leaders, since it's philosophy requires chaos. But our party desperately needs vision and leadership.

My dream ticket for 2012 is Cheney/Palin. Never happen, but nice to think about.

[Tirian]

I second that opinion.

Her article is thoughtful and thought-provoking, a stunningly honest evisceration of the left .... and frankly, many of her criticisms of the GOP are right on as well. I made contributions to the GOP in the last election, and the most visible effect to date is a growing pile of GOP junk mail that does little to infrom or inspire ... “send more money” seems to be the bottom line.

[Cecily]

Don’t forget, “Hillary has some great health care reform ideas.” He had a love-in with her too.