[lbryce]

Twentieth-century liberalism is a victim of its own success: it gave us longer and more prosperous lives, in turn putting tremendous pressure on social services and pensions. The result is the fragmenting coalition Edsall points to.

(My emphasis)Though he places part of the blame for the blue civil war on Republican-backed austerity measures, Edsall admits that demographic shifts and outmoded ways of delivering social services also played a role.

Obviously this Edsall character has a seriously convoluted case of liberalism of his own, putting part of the blame for the blue-civil war on Republican-backed austerity measures. Well, that's the first, most insidious symptom of liberalism gone amuck, blaming "Republican-backed austerity measures (or to put it in Liberal-ese, they didn't want to increase expenditures as much as the Democrats demanded).

First of all, Edsall errs egregiously when he gives credi for the American cornucopia we've enjoyed within the past nearly hundred years to liberalism. I don't think it's at all liberalism as much as it is capitalism.

The other point I want to make is that I'm wondering if ever in history has a president like the current foreign-born resident-squatter at 1600 Pennsylvania effected social, economic change for the worse of course,in such short time, so rapidly, so precipitously as he has done. Edsall, as the dye-in-the-wool liberal that he is, is of course going to give liberalism credit for all the wonderful things about American society, an argument I wholeheartedly disagree with.

But instead of putting the blame to the end of Liberalism where it sorely surely belongs, at the feet of Zero with his mammoth nearly unserviceable no ceiling budget profligacy, he blames it on Republican frugality and their dastardly plan to eviscerate, destroy America through the feared austerity route.

Liberalism failed because the money ran out, because it was an ideologically, morally (pun definitely intended) bankrupt philosophy not much different than what Communism, Bolshevism was. There is nothing about Liberalism that made America one iota better, morally, economically, certainly not politically.

[freekitty]

Don’t buy it. What they are saying is communism is alive and well while liberalism was all a front for it.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Twentieth-century liberalism is a victim of its own success: it gave us longer and more prosperous lives..."

Longer, more prosperous lives came about in spite of, not as a result of, 20th Century liberalism.

[Little Ray]

Unfortunately, its replacement is going to the “Red Model,” as in Communist. Or maybe Black, as in Fascist. Not that there is all that bit of a difference.

[reg45]

The problem with Socialism is that, eventually, you run out of other people's money.

-- Margaret Thatcher

[Art in Idaho]

BTTT.

Excellent summary and spot on. I wish everyone in America truly understood this. Education is the key. We have a lot of work to do.

[cripplecreek]

Too many part time allies living together in a permanent camp.

Learn to exploit the cracks people.

[randita]

The reversal of liberalism will come at the state and local levels. As the money runs out, fiscally conservative local and state governments will cut costs to balance budgets and pass laws to create positive economic conditions for job growth.

Liberal governments will borrow money and raise taxes rather than cut costs and end up driving the productive people and businesses out of their states. In addition, by offering a filet mignon of social services to residents, they will attract takers and further burden the tax payers that are left.

Several states with GOP governors and legislatures have rescinded state income taxes. Several others are considering it.

Conservative run states are going to see economic booms in the next few years, while liberal run states are going to be heading toward serious financial meltdowns.

At some point, this will be clear enough for all to see and so drastic that the differences cannot be lied about or demagogued.

[Noumenon]

“They had a choice, all of them. They could have followed in the footsteps of good men like my father, or President Truman. Decent men, who believed in a day’s work for a day’s pay. Instead they followed the droppings of lechers and Communists and didn’t realize that the trail led over a precipice until it was too late. Don’t tell me they didn’t have a choice."

"Now the whole world stands on the brink, staring down into bloody hell, all those liberals and intellectuals and smooth-talkers… and all of a sudden, nobody can think of anything to say.”
--Rorschach – from The Watchmen

[DustyMoment]

Yesterday dyed-in-the-wool Democrat Thomas Edsall responded to Via Meadia‘s take on blue model collapse. In his response he struggles mightily with the bluer angels of his nature, calling our take “apocalyptic,” but in the end admits that 20th-century liberalism is in serious trouble: Dozens of city and state public employee pension plans are on the verge of bankruptcy—or are actually bankrupt—from Rhode Island to California; in 2010, a survey of 126 state and local plans showed assets of $2.7 trillion and liabilities of $3.5 trillion, an $800 billion shortfall. The national debt exceeds $16 trillion.

The result is that the different power blocks that make up the Democratic base are trampling each other in a rush to grab the last rents of the dying blue system:

Not sure what the agenda is, here, but I don't believe that anyone at the NYT is declaring liberalism is, essentially, on life support. Centuries of history are simply being repeated as America faces its dramatic tailspin into irrelevance due to the actions of a gutless Congress, gutless SCOTUS and, most of all, a corrupt communist POTUS.

Our government is out of control and in disarray. There is only one way to fix this problem and restore America to its once proud position as "the shining city on a hill." Rebel. We can't fix it at the ballot box; we can't fix it by writing our elected gutless wonders in Congress; we can't fix it through legal action. Rebelling is the only way we can hit Ctrl+alt+del and attempt to restore America to the Representative Republic envisioned by the Founders. Short of that, the only other option is for the red states to secede.

[blueunicorn6]

Jerry Brown says California is fine now. I think they are getting ready to send some of their surplus to the federal government to help them out.