[alessandrofiaschi]

[konaice]

Predicting the demise of #2, and wondering if we should welcome back the prodigal son, or berate him for taking so long.

[endthematrix]

"A Utopian scheme will always lead to failure and that failure feeds a pernicious defeatism and cynicism that leads one to blame everything except the obvious source of the defeat."

Like a trendy fashion, blame has been quite focused..."It's Bush's fault!"

[leadpenny]

"The Islamist-Nazi religious fanatics attacked the greatest city on earth, one of the most important physical beacons of Enlightenment liberal democracy, second only to the U.S. Constitution. And the best the Left could offer in protest was a flatulent sound so meek that it was drowned out by a single ant’s footsteps. "

Any questions, class?

(Mr. Lopez-Calderon may not be "pulling a Whittaker Chambers," but Whittaker Chambers would be proud of him anyway.)

[NCSteve]

Outstanding read. Thanks for posting it.

This guy is from my generation. At the point he turned left, I turned right. It is interesting to me that we meet again here in the waning days of a free American republic. He is one of the people who helped push us to the edge of totalitarian socialism. Maybe others like him will wake up before it is too late. Welcome back, Michael.

[mmercier]

Good post, I am late now but it was worth it.

[Alia]

This is a very startling article, wonderful to read, and thank you for posting it, rdb3.

The author and I share similar ages and experiences. Perhaps I was not a liberal, and because I witnessed all these same things WHILE I was living in the heartland of liberalism: The San Francisco Bay Area. This experience is what belied, to me, the teachings of the left. Those espousing the leftist agenda were very mean, self-absorbed people. As far back as the early 70s? Disagree or dare to discuss the left agenda, with a true believer? They'd come at you so fast with verbal abuse, shaming stick, and they'd tell all their friends about YOU. They showed me that civil rights and civility was not at all what they wanted.

As young as I was, this is what showed me clearly, these people were not about peace, discourse, open minds, dialogue, and the like.

I'm glad the author has seen the light -- it really is so much more liberating to be on this side of the political aisle, than the liberal side.

On this side of the aisle, you can actually stand FOR something. It's a far more honorable life, than the alternative.

[vannrox]

A man who has nothing which he cares about more than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the existing of better men than himself.

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse - A war to protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice; a war to give victory to their own ideas of right and good, and which is their own war, carried on for an honest purpose by their own free choice - is often the means of their regeneration.

[mvpel]

If he's not going to be mistaken for a blinkered, ivory-tower, dyed-in-the-wool leftist for the rest of his life, he's going to have to stop using pretentious words like weltanschauung.

[F16Fighter]

Great read...Especially for Jerry ;-)

In a nutshell:

[T]here was one troubling, recurring weakness about the Left that kept reappearing like termites, eating away at my [former-liberal] wooden edifice of arguments and premises: The Left offered no solutions....

The Leftist critics of America and the West sit in the most comfortable seat known to all – the seat of the critical critic, the cynic who destroys all but from the rubble offers no constructive alternatives. The Left tears but never builds.

[hosepipe]

Dear Micheal;
Nice metaphor (house of mirrors).. but really you must learn to edit your Opus'es down to about two(a few) hundred words.. Only the left is dazzled by bull sperm... Your words resemble shards of glass, true.. But you get a pass on this one..

Suggestion: Join in with Horowitz and his entourage and start throwing rocks at "the LEFTS'" mirrored halls.. You are either part of the problem or part of the solution..

[qam1]

Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.

Yes this Ping list is still active, it's just been slim pickings article wise for the last month or two

[Zechariah_8_13]

"The Left tears but never builds."

Bears repeating.

[GOP_1900AD]

That is some powerful writing. This guy needs to be promoted far and wide. Note in particular his personal experience with powerful Wahabbis. This is pure gold.

[ChadGore]

Every proud Republican should read this. Thank you for the post.

[ChadGore]

I love this line:

Turkish proverb: “When the ax first appeared in the woods, the trees said to each other, ‘well, at least the handle is one of us.’”

[Popman]

Bro, Excellent read

Thanks rdb3

[Popman]

The totalitarian mindset is malleable, so long as the new form retains the old totalitarian properties

Interesting comment.

I wonder if his new "house of mirrors" has taken on what new form if the following was his old framework?

I am returning to my roots as a liberal skeptic in possession of a Weltanschauung deeply rooted in the Scottish-English-American Enlightenment. Constitutional government is my wellspring and no greater one exists than the Constitution of the United States of America.

Not underestimating his conversion, but leopards rarely change their spots.

[PRND21]

Bump

[bellas_sister]

Definite bump for later