What Are They Counting On?

In an explicit refutation of conventional wisdom, as the Obamanistas began to get stiff feedback and opposition from the public in response to their Leninist agenda, rather than trimming the sails and easing up to spend time building “consensus” (Latin for, “You gotta cover my behind and assure my re-election”) the Obama myrmidons have accelerated and appear to be heading for electoral obliteration. Sensible observers, me included, are prompted to wonder, sometimes out loud, “Why are they speeding up while steering toward the cliff?”

To be sure, the current vapid occupant of the White House hasn’t a thimble-full of the cynical political skills of the Xlintoon mob. What is especially noteworthy is that despite the monumental shortcomings of their appointed figurehead who has no demonstrable talents of any sort combined with his resume of, well, nothing, this Alinsky Brigade was able to stomp the starch out of the Dixie Mafia in 2007 & 2008. This is no insignificant accomplishment, given the epidemic of Arkanicide amongst Xlintoon foes and inconvenient allies.

So why are these cunning and ruthless folks engaging in folly such as going out of their way to irritate the masses?

The governing motive of the species homo politicus corruptus is the acquisition of power over homo sapien sapien by virtue of winning elections, and expanding that power and the wealth that accompanies it through winning the next election. Always.

To us limited government constitutionalist fogeys, it seems like this frenzied strategy has resulted in the Maoists overplaying their hands and awakening a sleeping giant who will exact revenge at the ballot box. Sober minded predictions for the upcoming election cycle range from “meaningful” losses for the Socialists and the Socialist Lites all the way to blowouts of biblical proportions. My personal favorite is for Socialists to lose 110-125 seats in the House and win only one Senate race. I didn’t say it was likely, merely that it is my favorite. Clearly to some the elections of November will feature the Socialists as the Egyptian Army pursuing the Israelites into the parted Red Sea.

Yes, but that is beside the point. While it is possible that there is an outbreak of anti-reality among the Leninists, that is a dangerous conclusion to reach given a century of uninterrupted growth of collectivist politics and policies. We might disagree with them and their malevolent theology, but they have been determinedly winning control of the culture since before Teddy Roosevelt. Their success rate approaches 100%. Still, the anti-Left electoral tsunami seems a foregone conclusion, yet the Marxists have nevertheless stomped on the gas despite the polls telling them to slow down, stop, and reverse direction. There must be something missing from our understanding.

There must be a number of fundamental premises, assumptions, and observations that would lead them to their conclusion that they can charge ahead against the will of the people and not suffer as a result.

While attempting to occupy the “mental” space of the fascist elites is a psycho-spooky misadventure, I have attempted to see things from the Alinskyite perspective to understand why they are doing something that strikes me as suicidal.

I have come up with at least nine different but integrated items. In reviewing these, please note that I am NOT stating them as truth or even likelihoods. Rather, I believe this is how the leftist brain cynically calculates the political climate of 2010.

9. The news and entertainment media are not only their subsidiary extensions, but still control most public discourse.

The Lamestream Media dinosaur diminishes itself on a daily basis. With each episode of the daily Dinosaur Extinction Watch we celebrate the gradual demise of the entire Alinsky Ministry of Information apparatus. What we fail to respect, and what the Obamanistas are counting on, is that for most Americans the LSM still defines the discussion, and successfully indoctrinates the electorate (or at least enough of them, for now).

Most of our fellow citizens are unwilling or unable to execute the responsibilities of citizenship, and are simply not paying attention. My wife scolds me frequently for being so critical of the ignoranti for being under informed, misinformed, or downright uninformed, stating that it just too much work for them and not everybody wants to be among the hyperinformed. She is right, it is too much trouble for most people who are going about the business of their own lives. But we know the results when a polity becomes self absorbed and ignorant. The majority of our neighbors prefer their news to be distilled into Info Mcnuggets that preferably they do not have to even gather or chew.

Yes, the LSM is losing influence every day, and in perhaps another decade will be irrelevant. But for now they remain the 800 pound gorilla. That is why they have to strike NOW. Their power is slipping away and they know it. There was no widespread information superhighway when Newt was leading the charge in the 1990’s. With each passing day the LSM’s Ministry of Information dominance becomes more tenuous. They had to risk the possibility that this is too soon and will result in a catastrophic (to them) blowback. Ready or not, now is their last chance and they are taking it.

The collectivists’ March Through the Institutions, a strategy devised by Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci in the 1920’s, has been perhaps the greatest political success of all time. It has resulted in the collectivists having a strangle hold of every social institution contributing to the formation and transmission of knowledge and values; courts, schools, churches, “news” media, and popular culture media. The collectivist mindset is ubiquitous. There are many among us who do not accept it, but we are the minority.

Government indoctrination camps still house and “educate” approximately 90% of the country’s youths. To paraphrase Neal Boortz;

If you send your kids to a Catholic school, you should not be surprised that they develop a Catholic mindset. If you send your kids to a Baptist school, they will develop a Baptist mindset. When we send our kids to government schools, why in the world would we expect anything other than they emerge with a collectivist mindset?

90% of our kids are inundated with politically correct self-esteem and dependency ideologies on a daily basis, and have been for decades. Many eventually grow up and become able to think for themselves, but the Maoists are betting that the number is not enough to threaten them.

Compare any Tea Party rally to a Rainbow Coalition rally and you get the point. Our side usually even leaves the location cleaner than they found it. We don’t get ruffled, we don’t get nasty, we don’t get violent. So, in their minds they have no reason to be afraid of us.

The Left knows we will follow The Rules of Decorum. They are under no such constraints. We saw this play out with Elena Kagan. Conservatives engaged in polite and meaningful discussions without being “mean.” Were the circumstances reversed the Left would go on a scorched earth campaign, because they are not polite. But conservatives would never “stoop” to the level of the collectivists’ practices of destroying the candidacy of constitutionalist jurors by whatever means necessary.

The collectivists understand the nature of the conflict while conservatives believe in a spirited debate about ideas, and that governance is a grand philosophical experiment. We would never think of “borking” one of their candidates. They would never think not to. When a committed Marxist like Darth Vader Ginsberg or some “wise Latina” racist is in front of them enough GOPers lined up to vote in favor of her rather than recognize that this was a hill worth dying on. When a genuine constitutional scholar is nominated, the Maoists’ long knives come out.

Because they understand that they are in a war for the soul and future of the civilization (even if the shooting has not yet begun), and honest jurisprudence would terminate their malevolent schemes. Conservatives are simply too polite to allow themselves this thought. The collectivists will do anything to win. They believe that conservatives won’t do much of anything because it is impolite.

Some years ago I was having a dispute with a colleague, and I went to my boss for advice. She identified the core of my problem. “[your female colleague] knows that her strongest weapon is that you are a gentleman and you won’t hit the girl. She will use your good manners against you until it doesn’t work any more.” She was right. And that pretty much describes the Left’s view of conservatives.

In my view there is no argument to premise that Western liberal governance, the American republic included, was founded on Judeo-Christian morality. Nor is it arguable that the general trend towards collectivism has paralleled the general trend away from Judeo-Christian orthodoxy. Recent Barna Foundation research reveals that a minuscule (and shrinking) component of the culture is devout. There may be a larger fraction that is “religious” but that assignation would include the overwhelming majority of traditional Protestants, a large sector of Catholics, and 90% of Jewry aligned with amoral “progressive” collectivist theology.

Everyone lives by some moral code. Mine is explicitly orthodox protestant Christian. For most Americans it is the moral relativism of “If it feels good, do it” or some variant thereon. Common virtues and the fruit of the Spirit are not relevant to our self-actualization.

Even among my putative fellow adherents there is a breathtaking lack of wisdom – or even comprehension of our tenets. At some points of contemplation it is not even clear to me that many of my fellow congregants possess even a basic level of reading comprehension. From innumerable “conservative” pulpits come sermons declaring secular governments to be the legitimate arbiters of justice in and virtue in social institutions. It is as though the expositors were incapable of synthesizing consecutive thoughts. Take, for example, the oft-cited passage from Romans 13.

13:1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God. 13:2 Therefore he that resisteth the power, withstandeth the ordinance of God: and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment. 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. And wouldest thou have no fear of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same: 13:4 for he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil.

I have heard it from our own pulpit that in effect, “Aha, obey the civil authorities because God says so!” Case closed. But wait, is not verse 3 to be included with verses 1 and 2, and verse 4 after that? If the passage is to be taken en toto, we must read with comprehension of the whole. Yes, Verses 1 and 2, command obedience to civil authorities. But verse 3 begins the description of a legitimate civil authority, and follows that with some more description of a legitimate civil authority in verse 4. By synthesizing the whole set of ideas, a legitimate civil authority is

1) one that is not a terror to good works but a terror to evil; 2) no threat to the righteous; 3) not bloodthirsty, 4) a threat to evildoers; 5) a source of support for the virtuous; and 6) an avenger against injustice.

If that is what a legitimate civil authority IS, then is what we have in America of 2010 a legitimate civil authority?

The Left can count on the fact that even most evangelicals have not thought through their mindless fealty to The Collectivist State.

Like most terrorist organizations, the collectivists make practice runs before inflicting their carnage on the innocent. The election of 2008 was such an instance for the Obamanistas. Thanks to the Perfect Storm they did not have to do much in the way of voter fraud, given the non-stop demonization of the outgoing President who had been “selected not elected,” and the GOP nominating the one and only candidate who would not campaign for himself and against his opponent, for the fascists the election was a good training run. Next time it will be for real.

Make no mistake about it, the radical Left knows how to do election fraud. They can throw the switch and bring out the dead, the alien, and the indolent to vote in numbers sufficient to swing almost every election within our borders. They are not encumbered by the niceties of election law.

The Obamanista hostility to fair elections (here or anywhere else, for that matter) is well documented. They can sleep soundly on the eve of elections knowing that in 36 hours they can dredge up or suppress huge numbers of ballots.

As the Culture of Death, the Left increasingly needs vote fraud in order to win anything. They do not reproduce (their birthrate is about 1/3 that of conservatives), they seek to kill off their unborn and infirm. In many cases crooked voting is all they have. But they have it real good.

In our celebrity obsessed culture, glitz and glamour (and hope and change) trump substance every time. Citizenship is hard work, requiring both diligence and concentration for a lifetime. The Obamanistas can rest easily that the typical voter has the self discipline and attention span of a house cat.

The Leftist establishment might recognize the reality of voter discontent about their sovietist agenda, but they remain confident in believing the discontent will diffuse in a month or two, certainly by this November, and they believe there is no way on earth it will remain riled up until Obama’s re-coronation in 2012.

They have to look back only two years for confirmation. The elections immediately following the financial melt-down of 2008 left virtually all the perpetrators in place. Why? In the polling leading up the election of 2008, the typical American voter was unaware that the Socialists controlled both the House and Senate. Even fewer knew the genesis of the problem. They only knew it was Bush’s Fault (at least that was partly true). Such is the attention span of the American Idol generation that they cannot even recall the results of the previous election.

The confidence the Left possesses about the electorate will change only when we fire them. The lessons of Jon Corzine, Martha Coakley, and Robert Bennett must be repeated ad infinitum until the world changes.

Nothing is quite so permanent as a temporary government program. In the case of entitlements, they never fade away, they only grow bigger, stronger, and more malignant. Perhaps the greatest source of optimism for the Alinskyites is that they believe the collectivist transformations they have inflicted will never be reversed, and that the coming electoral consequence will be temporary.

There might be something to this. Certainly FDR knew that his policies would result in a permanent and growing presence of the collectivist government in our lives, which was great because his party was and remains the Party of Central Planning. But FDR was a strategist, and knew that while the general curve would be upward, it would progress with fits and starts of varying pace.

We are definitely living in interesting times. While the welfare state has never shrunk before, it will and it must in the future. Whether by political means or the ruthless discipline of the marketplace, it will shrink. The only think not yet known is whether the shrinkage will be and orderly but contentious process or by paroxysm.

Recent research indicates that somewhere between 45-50% of the population pays no taxes. When you add in the number of people who are net beneficiaries of government largesse – geezers, Federal, state, ad local government employees, school teachers and administrators, contractors, welfare recipients of every stripe whether indolent, farmer, or manufacturer – the total number of people sucking at the government teat has got to be in the 70+% range. From their perspective as looters, the ever expanding central planning collective is a no-lose situation.

The tipping point towards dependency has been passed a long time ago. It explains why rent control can never be repealed: a lot more voters are tenants than landlords.

A recent lunch time conversation at work revealed the depth of the dependency mindset. Yes, I’m in the Federal civil service, so perhaps the experience is not representative. Since 1984 pensions for non-unionized Federal employees have been greatly privatized, with each individual’s retirement portfolio being determined by their own contributions to it. When the discussion turned to the probable upcoming Federal confiscation of private retirement funds, the opinion of the room was unanimously favorable (except me).

It’s not the Tipping Point any more, it is The Crashing Point. And the Crashees are faithful welfare state voters. The Obamanistas are counting on it.

The A#1 reason for Obamabot confidence is that their political opponents are Republicans. Primarily because the GOP leadership is a milquetoast collection of compromisers who believe in nothing at their core, any Obamanista setbacks will be despite the GOP, not because of it. Fortunately the primary opposition to collectivism is not a political movement but a philosophical and utilitarian movement.

If we are observing politics objectively, we would petty much have to conclude that watching leftists compete with conservatives is pretty much like watching the New York Yankees play the Bob’s Insurance T-ball team. It is no contest. Many Conservatives in general and certainly the GOP in particular – as our advocates -- bring to mind the old quip, “They never pass up an opportunity to pass up an opportunity.”

The Leftist have seen time after time that Republican politicians capitulate preemptively, repeatedly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. That which we laughingly call GOP “leadership” is embarrassingly in their shallowness, venality, and ineptness, including the befuddled Boehner and McConnell, the hopelessly tin-eared and apparently unprincipled Steele, the most recent GOP presidential candidate whose name is not worthy of uttering and who serves as every Leftists favorite “conservative” (because he isn’t, except for a month-long period every six years, coinciding with an upcoming election), and Mrs. Palin, whose active and enthusiastic support of her former running mate and other RINOs makes me doubt her political acumen.

Not since the untimely death of Lee Atwater has our side had a truly first class political strategist. Newt, when good, is very, very good. But most of he time he’s on the loveseat making googly eyes at Nazi Pelousy. Rove was cunningly amoral but wasn’t even a GOP strategist much less a conservative. He was a Bush family consigliore.

Fortunately for us the new movement is a leaderless groundswell. Its success will be in spite of the GOP, not because of it, and it may very well eclipse and absorb the party, evicting all the poseurs in the process.

There you have it. In their mind, the Obamanistas have nothing to worry about, so of course they are smiling and cackling. Come November their faces will remain essentially unchanged, but we will know then whether that expression is a sneer or grimace.

I rarely hope my analysis is way off the mark, but this is one time where I honestly hope and pray that what I am seeing from the electorate is genuine outrage that will be manifest in November.

Don’t forget the advice Obama gave to his relative in Kenya, Raila Odinga, over the phone when Odinga thought he might lose his electoral race for president back on 27 December 2007 - riot. I wouldn’t put it past him to try this here.

I am saving this. You need to get this to Rush and spread it around more. I think it could use a bit of tightening in places, but you are definitely hitting all of the major points.

Bravo. That's a very well done analysis of a question that's been haunting quite a few of us.

One of my pet theories can be boiled down to the phrase, "the glee of insanity". It's occurred to me over and over again that one of the reasons the Dems are mashing the accelerator as they rush toward the cliff, is that they're in an altered state of mind.

I've actually seen this in their body language and facial expressions - not to mention their words and deeds. They just seem so drunk with power, that they believe themselves to be invincible and immortal.

If they do any analyzing at all, I'm sure that the points you listed above figure large in that thinking, and do a lot to bolster their bizarre comfort level.

Good job on that piece. Hope you publish it somewhere besides FR.

I wish I could think this was just crazy talk, but somehow I cannot dismiss it. To think that this cabal was ruthless enough to kick the cap out of the Xlintoons, who were little more than mafiosi IMHO.

Good article. I’m starting to get a little concerned. I’ve seen a lot of articles like this, but no one has made an analysis that really makes total sense.

Do the DEMS know something we don’t know? If so, how are they able to keep it secret?

Will Obama declare martial law? Not very likely.

Are the DEMS in denial? Hard to believe.

Are they so idealistic they will sacrifice themselves for the cause? I don’t think so.

Their behavior doesn’t make rational sense. What’s going on?

“Are the DEMS in denial? Hard to believe.”

Denial is always hard to believe, for those who are not the afflicted.

Look at ordinary people with severe problems, drunks, drug addicts, people in abusive relationships. Think of how deep and thick and impenetrable their denial is. They either don’t think they have a problem at all, or they think their problem is something completely different from their real, actual problem.

This is where the dims are right now. They are deep, deep in denial and their co-dependent enablers in the media are right in there with them.

Good, stay put until Nov 3rd you nincompoops!

Excellent post! I may have to ask permission to repost this on my Facebook page! Very thorough and ALL points I have considered myself when looking at why the Progressives don’t seem worried in the slightest about this November. And frankly, I don’t think they are either.

Recently, I’ve even posted that I believed the Republicans would gain only 30-40 seats in the House (they need 39 to retake the House) and only 6-7 Senate seats (they need 10 Senate seats). I think they’ll miss both by a few seats. I think that’s the case for all the reasons you list above.

I’ll forgive your slightly harsh observation of Sarah at this point — who knows, it may turn out to be accurate. God knows we can only hope the “Republican” brand is subsumed into some new, real and useful Conservative entity that returns to a true Constitutional vision for our nation that our Founders would have recognized and related to.

Thanks for your post!

I might add one other observation — they could very easily be hoping for — or perhaps planning — an international incident of some sort. We have several “hotspots” that could go up at any moment, and we could get drawn in easily. The most obvious is the Israel/Iran situation. Iran cannot get nukes — and if they get or already have nukes, you can bet they will become aggressive — and we will be among their first two or three targets. There is also North Korea to consider — a Communist regime in their potential death throes that would love to take a bote out of the US (and China in their heart of hearts wouldn’t mind that either — while claiming they had NOTHING to do with it).... If the Progressives and particularly the Obamunist Regime know its coming or are planning it, that’s a huge “ace in the hole.”

>In short, what are they counting on?

Power isn’t just what you have, it’s what people THINK you have.

Alinsky playbook m’friend.

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