Posted on 11/12/2012 7:28:26 AM PST by Kaslin
Barack Obama ushered in Americas first large-scale experiment in personality-cult politics. The experiment continues apace. Obama got reelected because he enjoys a degree of personal popularity disconnected from his record. No modern president has ever been returned to office with employment figures and right-rack-wrong-track numbers as poor as those Obama has achieved.
Obama couldnt run on his record, which proved to be no problemAmericans didnt vote on his record. According to exit polls, 77 percent of voters said the economy is bad and only 25 percent said theyre better off than they were four years ago. But since six in ten voters claimed the economy as their number one issue, its clear this election wasnt about issues at all.
The presidents reelection is not evidence of a new liberal America, but rather of the illogical and confused experience that is infatuation. For multiple reasons, Americans continue to have a crush on Barack Obama even after his universally panned first term. No longer quite head over heels, theyre at the I know hes no good for me, but I can change him phase. Whatever this means, it surely doesnt suggest conservatives would be wise to move closer to policies that arent even popular among Obama supporters.
Why isnt soul searching underway on the left? When the personality at the center of the cult leaves the stage in four years, Democrats will own his results without the benefit of his appeal. We cant know quite what a second Obama term will bring, but if his first term is an indication, theres little reason to expect his party will be crowing. The fiscal cliff is here but a whole landscape of steep drops comes next: the economic cliff (over which lies a possible double-dip recession), the Obamacare cliff (over which lies an unprecedented bureaucratic behemoth), the Iran cliff (over which lies a nuclear bomb), and so on. A precipice in every direction and a president whos given us no reason to presume he can steer clear. Have Democrats stopped to wonder what initiatives theyll have to defend when the dust settles in 2016?
Already Obama has signaled hes continuing policies that dont meet the moment. Theres the assurance of more taxes, of course. But thats not all. On Friday, citing ecological concerns, the administration closed off 1.6 million acres of federal land in western states from planned oil shale extraction. An American energy boom lies in wait underground and Obama is determined to keep it there. Abroad, the groundwork is being laid to offer Iran a fanciful grand bargain in an effort to halt its work on a nuclear weapon. Think Russian reset with fanatical theocrats.
Perhaps Democrats are confident purely because of their stance on social issues. But as a tactical matter (principle and ideology are a different question), is doesnt make sense for Republicans to fret over the culture and identity wars that have transfixed the left. Gay marriage as a presidential issue is off the table. The November election showed the future of that question lives at the state level, which is both a popular and conservative approach. Obama himself has said hell do nothing about it nationally. Multiple polls taken this year show opposition to abortion is at least as high as its been in 15 years. By 2016, the new class war will surely have wound down after Americans see that making the rich pay their fare share didnt solve everyone elses problems and in fact created new ones.
On immigration reform, of course conservatives should act. That was true before Obamas reelection; its now inevitable. In the next four years, serious Republicans will offer policies aiming to give foreign workers a path to citizenship. Leaders like Marco Rubio have already gotten a brilliant head start.
It is in the nature of personality cults to fail at most things beyond generating and disseminating propaganda. This inability is the result of two things. First, the personalitys popularity is not results-driven. Since adoration hasnt been earned by achievement but by the advent of charisma, why kill yourself trying to get results. Second, few people are willing to candidly critique the personality at the center of the cult, so there is little chance of course correction. None of this bodes well for Barack Obama. And for the countrys sake, lets hope its wrong.
To effect a revolution in American politics, you have to set parameters that successors will be compelled to heed. FDR implemented programs that at least produced identifiable results before revealing their unsustainable flaws. Bill Clinton had no problem declaring the age of big government over because Ronald Reagan had ushered in a prosperous era in which this was so. What part of the Obama agenda will resonate when isolated from the Obama phenomenon? Its too soon to say, but not too soon wonder.
“Would you agree that the level of this lesson was more appropriate to a “6th or 7th grade class?”
I do agree, and even maybe at a lower grade. These are language skills and that translates to the ability to think. Add this to horrible approaches to math (severely limiting the ability to perform at a higher level), and a decidedly leftward cant to history, it is less than surprising the state of the electorate.
Wish you the best. As a teacher where you are....
What? They will just blame it on the Republicans. Did the R's ever say the partisan D's passed the health care bill, the stimulus, the GM bailout, Dodd Frank, all passed by the partisan D's. R's had nothing to do with any of these onerous bills we all will suffer under but the R's will take the rap.
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