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 ...
That is not the question and I have explained that twice now.
People often state it this way, but it misses the all-important fact that those principles were the product of a particular culture.
The re-election of Barack Obama was only on a surface level a political victory. Much more fundamentally it was a victory in the culture war.
Cooke seems to be nostalgic for America as it once was, a land of economic opportunity, limited government and civility. But these characteristics too, were simply by-products of a certain culture.
Coy but clear?
Don’t play that game with me, TE.
Pretending you thought I was talking about gov corruption is playing games.
You are absolutely right! Western civilization on a Judeo-Christian basis.
"We are no longer a moral people. The US constitution only works for a moral people."
That's it right there, in a nutshell.
I’m sitting here with the TV on and I am totally disgusted. I am watching CBS News Sunday which I never watch. But today I’m just too lazy to change the channel, even though the clicker is within a long reach. The bears they show at the end are beautiful. Even Sally Field may have convinced me that the Lincoln movie might not be all that bad, since I’m sure somehow those Hollywood libs will have placed a lib spin on who Lincoln and the Mrs. were. Yet then my good mood changes, when hearing what’s his name, Ben? Stein talk about the election, the GOP and how in the next election the GOP needs to run a candidate like Obama. I can’t tell you what adjectives he used to describe Obama because I have never ever thought of Obama as Stein described. Something about charismatic, yada yada yada. I think he is confused, Obama is a disingenuous obvious liar who people believe because he says what they want to hear, not what he actually believes. The the ad for the movie The Sessions or The Sex Surrogate comes on. The movies in the 70s were often agenda ridden crap which is what this sounds like. All I can say is I really fear for our country. And those bears they showed wandering a remote area somewhere in the USA, at the end of the show, are lucky they are bears and don’t have to bear the delusional ridiculousness of humans.
Very well put. I still am reeling from this shock.And then I wonder how Romney must feel having spent $25k in the purchase of fireworks to celebrate what how thought was a sure-fire win. I keep asking how do you educate the un-educatable? the brainwashed? the brain-dead? and how do you get women to think like men?
Sorry, I missed that. Maybe too subtle, maybe I was up past my bedtime, maybe not enough coffee. In any event lets call it a draw and drop it.
Regards,
GtG
PS I hope you're still on my side because in the coming four years we'll need all of us pulling together.
I agree totally!
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