Where The Action Is

SteynOnLine ^ | 3/7/2014 | Mark Steyn

[Valpal1]

People keep asking me whom I favor for the 2016 Republican nomination. I politely demur — and not just because it's almost three years till Election Day, and at this stage in the 2008 cycle I'm not sure I'd ever heard of Barack Obama. As a resident of a New Hampshire township with more than 37 people, I don't have to seek out presidential candidates; they're there at the inn and the general store and the diner and the Grange. I've seen enough next-presidents-of-the-United-States for several lifetimes: Phil Gramm, Pete Wilson, Bob Dornan, Elizabeth Dole, Orrin Hatch, Gary Bauer, Lamar Alexander, Tom Tancredo, Tommy Thompson, Alan Keyes...

Would it have made any difference to the country had any of these fine upstanding fellows prevailed? Or would we be pretty much where we are anyway? Aside from a trade agreement here, a federal regulation there, I'd plump for the latter. You can't have conservative government in a liberal culture, and that's the position the Republican party is in.

[Valpal1]

Read the whole thing. Depressing but accurate.

[madprof98]

I read the whole piece in National Review. Given where they are these days, I can’t believe they printed it - or keep Steyn on the roster. There is almost nobody telling the truth about where our country is headed these days, largely because so many “conservatives” want to go there too. It’s a blessing that Mark Steyn is still willing and able to speak out.

[posterchild]

I recall seeing what looked like a homemade ‘Obama for president’ bumper sticker in 2005 but that was in Cambridge, MA.

[goldstategop]

America is liberal. White conservatives are a dying breed in this country. I don’t see any role for the GOP other than to act as a caretaker for future Democratic administrations. We want to be like Europe. The America as we knew it was buried for good in the last presidential election.

[thecodont]

Didn’t Breitbart say “Politics is downstream of culture”? Steyn argues that liberals (progressives) spend more energy changing the culture and conservatives more energy on changing officeholders.

Who has control of our culture now?

At a fast-food restaurant today, I ate lunch next to a trio of people who didn’t appear to be employed in an office setting or employed at all. Two women and one man, late twenties or early thirties. One of the women (in language salted with profanity) described her family and her relations with them. “Two of my relatives [cousin? uncle?] became Conservaahhtivvvve” (she drew out that last syllable with a cross between a hiss and a groan). She said they had regular, responsible jobs. Her contempt for them was on full display.

These are BO’s people.

And those others she dismissed so easily are paying her way through life.

[goldstategop]

Someday, we might be able to see Obamamania for the fad it was.

We’re settling down to become a softer and bigger version of Pierre Trudeau’s Canada when the Liberals ran the place there.

[Slings and Arrows]

Steyn ping.

[JLS]

Mark Steyn ping.

Freepmail me, if you want on or off the Mark Steyn ping list.

Thanks for the ping Slings and Arrows.

[elhombrelibre]

Andrew Fletcher (1653 - 1716) - “Let me make the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.”

[A CA Guy]

Which is why Mark Levin says they can’t help themselves and that is why we need the Liberty Amendments.

[gusty]

The difference is that Canada remained populated with mostly with Canadians over the years, while our country has become “We are The World.” Demographics are destiny. In 2012, if Romney had the same voter demo as Reagan, he would have won a landslide. The depressing thought is that despite all our yelling about who is a RINO or who is the great Conservative, it might not mean anything but mental self pleasure. With the way our voting population is truly, none of those we champion can win. Cruz in 2016, loss. Christie in 2016, loss. See it might not matter. We are doomed.

[Travis McGee]

We are in a period of mass social delusion.

This is often seen in decaying empires in terminal decline before their collapse, which is why I wrote this short story, FWIW.

Link to the full-text Free Republic thread.

[Travis McGee]

Our Quisling 'Rats and GOPEs could not get their way with the American electorate, so they slyly agreed to import a new one.

[spodefly]

Culture trumps politics — which is why, once the question's been settled culturally, conservatives are reduced to playing catch-up, twisting themselves into pretzels to explain (including in the pages of this magazine) why gay marriage is really conservative after all, or why 30 million unskilled immigrants with a majority of births out of wedlock are "natural allies" of the Republican party.

When you put it like that, it does seem pretty stupid.

[spodefly]

Time marches on, basically ... especially when sociocultural dynamics are unhindered by any adherence to natural law, biology, ethics, morality, etc.

[saminfl]

There is almost nobody telling the truth about where our country is headed these days, largely because so many “conservatives” want to go there too.

The problem is too much time has passed since the 60's punks deliberately changed our culture. They embraced drugs (today even elementary school kids are users), promiscuity, eschewed marriage in favor of shacking up and even worse, disparaged our founders and our history. I am not sure American history is even taught today. If so, it is a really distorted version. There aren't enough people around today to even tell that our culture before that was patriotic, didn't consider drugs commonplace and respected our history.

[bitt]

depressing but true..

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Paradox]

and at this stage in the 2008 cycle I'm not sure I'd ever heard of Barack Obama.

I used to work sometimes in DC, and had close contact with many high up government types. Would attend a few parties...

By this time in that election cycle, I KNEW Obama would be the nominee, and I was pretty sure he was going to be President. The talk and Buzz was all about him, even from more "conservative" types.

I remember warning people here, whose hatred for Hillary made them prefer the relatively unknown Obama over her. They though surely Whatshisname would be easy to defeat. I had heard and seen otherwise. Watching this debacle slowly unwind was nauseating.

[cripplecreek]

Steyn argues that liberals (progressives) spend more energy changing the culture and conservatives more energy on changing officeholders.

Unfortunately we've willingly given the culture to the left rather than seizing our rightful place in it. "Bravely" retreating is still just retreating.

I had the opportunity to speak with CL Bryant last month about Black History month. We agreed that fighting against black history month is a losing proposition. Instead we as conservatives of all races should seize our rightful place in black history with praise of men like Calvin Coolidge and Frederick Douglass. At some point, the fixation on the black part will fade and we can morph it into American history month.

Another thing I do is faithfully take part in a serious survey of television viewers (Viewers Voice). It gives me a choice to support more family friendly and educational television while downgrading the crap.