Posted on 11/10/2012 12:06:51 PM PST by Steelfish
NOVEMBER 10, 2012 Why I Despair The central problem is that America, knowing Obama, gave him a second term.
By Charles C. W. Cooke
An apocryphal tale tells of an American who claimed to own George Washington’s axe. “Three times,” he exclaims, the axe has “had its handle replaced, and twice had its head replaced!”
This is a joke that has been rendered in more serious form by philosophers throughout the ages — perhaps most famously in Plutarch’s Life of Theseus – and it may be time now to consider it in relation to the United States. People and countries change, as they must.
But, as with Washington’s axe, to change too much is to invite the possibility not merely of alteration, but of replacement. Predicated, as it is, on an established set of principles — rather than merely on geographical or racial fact — America could presumably reach a point at which it could no longer usefully be called America. How close to that point are we?
I was born in England in 1984, two days before Ronald Reagan was elected to a second term. As a small child, I watched the Space Shuttle take off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. I had an Apollo 11 lunchbox.
With varying levels of awareness, I saw the United States defeat Communism, come to Kuwait’s aid in 1991, and rise to hyperpower status. During the 1990s, I watched in awe as Silicon Valley revolutionized the world.
Once, my father told me that the difference between the average Briton and the average American was that a Briton looks at a man driving a Ferrari and thinks, “What a b*****d,” while an American thinks, “I’ll be him one day.” This my father considered a great virtue — as do I. By the time that...
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Maybe they were intermittently replaced with the originals.
Or to quote the great philosopher, Gomer Pyle, "Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
Great read, although I cannot despair. I'm pessimistic about the future of this country, but my hope lies elsewhere. America, as great and exceptional as it is, is not the ultimate answer. I'm waiting on a certain carpenter turned king who will, when he is ready, provide the only true and lasting government for mankind.
So do I. We are Argentina now.
Hell you find some on here with the same "bastard" attitude towards other's material possessions.
To Hell with the despair, cynicism, apathy, and defeatism. The time for redress is now.
All you punks willing to abandon the Country, the Constitution, our children’s future can go straight to Hell.
Great article. Loved it. I look forward to reading every single article from Victor Davis Hanson and Daniel Greenfield. Truly magnificent minds and awesome writers. Is the single, black mother of three in that government housing in Chicago reading their articles? She wouldn’t even know where to look for them. The first rule of rhetoric is to “Remember the audience”. We sit around and moan about how stupid the Democrat voters are. “Can’t they see the mess they’re making?” probably not, but they still vote. I want that vote. I want to take that vote away from the Democrats. And saying they’re stupid doesn’t get their vote. Who do you know that describes them self as “stupid”? They may not think they’re brilliant, but they think they’re clever or “street smart”. OK. Let them think that. I still want their vote.
“If you understand yourself and you understand your enemy, in one hundred battles, you will never be defeated.”
I disagree.
What has happened in the last two decades is different from anything before.
We are exporting JOBS.
Jobs.
Jobs which had been held by, and done by Americans. So many millions of jobs, have been exported.
All of those jobs, now are done by foreigners.
Therefore a lot of Americans who used to do those jobs, are out of work.
Money is flowing out of the country.
This is a gigantic fail. In every way.
We must turn it around now.
Bring back American jobs, and close the US to unlimited imports.
Now.
The despair is going to be in the hearts, stomachs, and heads of those foolish enough not to prepare just a little. Freepers are some of the most aware people I have (met).
There are plenty of warnings that times are a changing.
We had an exceptionally crappy week. My father in law and sister in law dead on the same morning. And a major mistake made by my son. And I think there was an election or something.
So what is there to do?
I’m canning fish. Not too many, but it brings my total up to 37 pints. And I have 52 quarts of venison and elk canned. I’m getting prepared. If you are wondering at how I can bring home enough meat to can some the answer is easy. I marched out into the King’s forest and took what I needed.
This is indeed a time to despair. The only thing - barely - between absolute statism and a semblance of freedom was the putative conservative majority on the USSC. Kennedy was a bit of a wild card, but he came through on a number of significant decisions. The duplicity of Roberts has demonstrated that the USSC is lost and will be for a generation after Obama gets to replace at least one of the remaining conservatives on the bench. With McConnell and Boehner indicating surrender with their every action or inaction, all three branches of government are now in the thrall of the statists, all cheered on by a corrupt and self-indulgent Fourth Estate. Yes, miracles do happen. And it will take one for America to pull back from the precipice. The question is, does America deserve to be saved from its own folly?
That flag out front is flying for a certain submariner.
Move forward, soldier on.
We all die someday.
/johnny
You won’t ever get the vote of the Obamaphone “lady”. The illiterate slum trash is unreachable. Try to get the vote of the college educated, who won’t read this article either, and won’t bother to look, and if by any chance they read it, (I linked it for some of them on my Fakebook page), it would offend them, I guess.
There are fundamental differences in play here. In the past when America was down, we had leaders who at least wanted America to recover and prosper. 0bama is not an American, having been raised in a muslim culture in Indonesia. His goal is not for individuals to prosper, in fact that is the antithesis of his marxist philosophy, which is wealth redistribution.
His main goal is the destruction of America, not recovery.
I thought 2010 was hard. 2011 beat that. Looks like 2012 is in the lead with 2 months 2 go. Yeah, I get mad (and banned), incoherent, sad. But I'm still sucking air.
Thank you for posting such an outstanding article, Steelfish. It is dark and depressing—but these are dark and depressing days.
/johnny
What was once America has arguably entered the point of no return, degenerating from being the greatest democracy the earth has ever known, to a petty, corrupt and thugish 3rd world socialist state ruled by a de-facto godless one-Party dictatorship. Bereft of morality; bereft of initiative; bereft of hope. May God have mercy on us.
But have an anti-depressant handy with a glass of Scotch as a chaser :(
Welcome to prepper life! Don’t forget to stock up on food other than meat, ammo & guns and water. Think about how you will survive with out your furnace, any electricity, or gasoline.
Right now, I've got a hole in my heart the size of Texas. It will mend. I just have to live through it and not be too obnoxious to those around me.
/johnny
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