Posted on 09/09/2008 12:03:44 PM PDT by ikeonic
Why we should still like Ike and back Mac
From Chicago Magazine:
"He was a Democratic presidential candidate from Illinois, a celebrated orator and an intellectual running against a military hero at the time of an unpopular war. His political resumé was relatively short, and his appeal formed in part around his call for a change in the practice of politics in this country. Critics claimed he was an elitist, and Republicans accused him of being weak and naïve about America's enemies. He got crushed in the general election."
Coincidence? I think not!
Read the rest of the article here and the HuffPo reaction here
Ned Temko at the UK's Guardian says it's "All About Adlai":
..."for Obama, the decisive issue may not be Iraq, or universal healthcare, or energy policy. This time around, it's not even likely to be the economy, stupid. It will be all about Adlai."
Back in April, I discussed how Obama's mama thought so little of Eisenhower's America in the 1950s and how her revulsion to Ike and Kansas shaped the woman she became and the values she imparted to her son, Barack "Adlai" Obama.
Since April, I've discussed just how much I believe McCain is the second coming of Ike, the forgotten conservative. I believe modern day conservatives would do well to read this 1966 interview with Ike and read his thoughts on democracy, government, LBJ and the Great Society. Just as McCain surprised many conservatives when he revealed his true colors at the Saddleback Forum, I think they'd be surprised to find out Ike was no RINO either and was conservative to the core.
Don't believe me? Listen to these terrific quotes by Ike from that 1966 interview:
On the role of the federal government:
On welfare:"The centralization of power in Washington—when we talk about this, we must also consider the need to strengthen city and State government, to make it better. So you must argue for improvement in local government."
"These problems do exist—in health, education, welfare, and other things. They must be solved. But the closer you can bring the action to the local level—that is the best way to do these things."
On Democracy:"All Americans are concerned with real need-where people are not getting a proper education, are not being fed and clothed properly, but we are getting the feeling today that we are not just taking care of the needy, but that we are acting unwisely to the extent that we are actually using the Federal Treasury to encourage and reward laziness and malingering. I would like to see more efficiency in determining who actually are the needy, and who it is that just wants to get an easier living."
"In our welfare programs, an effort should be made to make sure that the needy have proper support. But the idea of temporary relief seems to be giving way to a new idea that hard work is not the way to make a living, that you should look to the Government to take care of you."
"How are you going to get ahead in the world? By hard work—that was always the American way. But now, no longer do all our people take pride in good work well done."
On Vietnam:"Our experiment in self-government is still going on today, just as much as when the Founding Fathers first conceived of our form of democracy, the American Republic. The older I grow, the more certain I am that only by education can we really save our form of government."
"Self-discipline is what we need. We must teach this across the board in the press, in the schools, at home, in the churches, in Government. It must be some kind of movement."
"Today, people scoff at the word 'crusade.' But a great force brought on the Crusades-a great belief. What we have to do in America is generate a great belief in democracy. One of the things it demands is respect for law and order."
"If we can achieve this self-discipline, this self-government, then all the rest of our problems will take car of themselves."
"I do not believe in 'gradualism' in fighting a war. I believe in putting in the kind of military strength we need to win and getting over with as soon as possible."
When his advice was sought several years ago, General Eisenhower said in effect: Don't delay. Don't procrastinate. If you are going to do this, then summon all necessary military strength, do what you must do quickly, and get it over with. Don't give the enemy time to build up his own strength, and disperse his military targets. But this advice went unheeded by the [Johnson] Administration. Now, General Eisenhower says, "the war has been going on too long, and something has to be done to bring it to an honorable conclusion."
Service, reform, peace, prosperity.
McCain is echoing everything Ike stood for and Obama is the egghead, elitist Adlai all over again.
It's time to take back our country and stop the earmarks and out of control federal government. Reform the federal government and return control to the state and local governments. Stop the runaway gravy train in Washington. The time is now and the cause is just. If you need further inspiration, look no further than the above quotes by Dwight David Eisenhower. If you want a President who puts you and this country above partisan politics and pork barrel spending, look no further than John McCain. He is a true Eisenhower Republican. Susan Eisenhower should be ashamed to be backing Obama. Her grandfather would be a strong McCain supporter were he alive today.
Join together, my fellow Americans... come to the aid of your country and Back Mac in 2008 just as we backed (and liked) Ike in 1952.
Boyoboy, is this news gonna be a shocker for those media folks who already have had their reservations confirmed for the inauguration ball!
I agree. And it looks like you and our friends from Ohio have done a great job for the McCain/Palin ticket.
Of course they will, it's just one of the routine things they do at every election. If Obama were to win 49 states they would claim Diebold rigged the vote machines in the one state he lost and demand a recount.
Ike was running against 20 years of Dimocrat rule in the White House, the FDR and Truman administrations. He promised to go to Korea to end the war. He ended it in a draw, not victory. He was the candidate of the Republican establishment, not a maverick or insurgent like McCain. During his administration, Eisenhower was charged with being “either a conscious member of the Communist conspiracy or a Communist dupe.”
Spengler is great
To be fair, IKE had health problems and mild Heart Attacks during his 2 terms.
He did the GOP a great favor by running again in 1956 even though he was unhealthy and stopped the DEMS from getting the POTUS that year.
And the thing that makes IKE a great American, was not his Politics, but the fact that he defeated the Nazi’s and saved the World.
Unfortunately the country has moved in Stevenson’s direction. Stevenson himself would be shocked by it.
McCain will win, though.
If I were running things, voters would need to pass tests proving they’re sufficiently educated to vote. And maybe they shouldn’t vote for a president until they’re old enough to be one.
"During his administration, Eisenhower was charged with being 'either a conscious member of the Communist conspiracy or a Communist dupe.'"You're quoting Robert Welch, co-founder of the John Birch Society. From Wikipedia: "Conservative writer William F. Buckley, Jr., an early friend and admirer of Welch, regarded his accusations against Eisenhower as 'paranoid and idiotic libels' and attempted unsuccessfully to purge Welch from the JBS." "Eisenhower never responded publicly to Welch's claims." Eisenhower ignored Welch, just as he ignored Joe McCarthy. Both were blowhards and idiots. You may want to reconsider your choice of quotes against Eisenhower.
You aren't too far off the mark. IIRC around 44,000 Americans died in traffic accidents last year, and just under 5000 Americans have been killed in Iraq in 7 years of war. Adjusted to compensate for the difference in the length of the time periods that works out to about 308,000 for 7 years against 5000 for 7 years, or a ratio of roughly 60 traffic deaths in the states for every military personnel death in Iraq.
That's certainly not to say that the death of every American in Iraq was a not an awful tragedy, most especially for their loved ones back home. But it does show the emphasis put on Iraq casualties by the liberals is a political gimmick and doesn't represent the true concerns of the Democrats who constantly emphasize those casualty figures as if they really cared about the brave, patriotic men snd women those figures represent. Personally, I think Obama and his sorry ilk would sacrifice ten times as many military personnel as have already died if it would guarantee them a win in Nov.
I may be off a little on those figures, but I don't have time to google them up right now and do the math, and I think I'm pretty close anyway.
I'd say he really was neither. Stevenson was no deep thinker. And he was too remote and ineffectual to be a very good politician.
Adlai was the kind of person who couldn't go after what he wanted. He expected it to be given to him. And he went through so many contortions thinking about what he really wanted and whether he was going about it in the right way, that he exhausted the patience of people who had to put up with him.
But Stevenson did have a style that impressed some people. And it was hard for him to take the low road very often, which also made him an exception among politicians.
My recollection is that statement about Eisenhower was first made in ‘American Opinion,’ the publication of the John Birch Society, by another writer than Welch (a person whom I met many years ago). Welch may have picked it up and used it himself later. If I have time, I will research my records.
My point was that Eisenhower was not universally loved nor thought to be a great, nor even good, president. Today, his administration is being reevaluated. I think he is generally considered to have been a good man and not incompetent as president, but not great, probably in the second or third tier of presidents.
An interesting point about Eisenhower is that although a military hero for his handling of thw war in Europe, he never served in combat.
Back in April, I discussed how Obama's mama thought so little of Eisenhower's America in the 1950s and how her revulsion to Ike and Kansas shaped the woman she became and the values she imparted to her son, Barack "Adlai" Obama.
"Revulsion" is probably too strong a word. She may just have been bored.
People will disagree about whether 60s rebels were right or wrong, but it's a historical question now. If you're happy with the 21st century, you might have felt constricted if you had to live in the 1950s.
So yes, Obama's mom was foolish and probably wrong about things, but we don't live in Ike's world any more. So maybe a little magnanimity towards the misfits of that era wouldn't hurt us now.
At the Dems convention PA Gov. Ed “fast Eddie” Rendell said Obama reminded him of Adlai Stevenson. I almost fell off the couch laughing when he said that because Stevenson, though well educated was a total doofus! One of Adlai’s most famous gaff’s was his public defense of his friend ALGER HISS.
That’s a bit disturbing on another level. Ike ended up being a disaster for the Congressional Republicans (aside from 1952, something for which McCain will not duplicate in ‘08). The losses incurred beginning in 1954 and crescendoing in his 6th year (1958) were so bad (the worst since 1936), it took 26 years in the Senate to recover from and 40 years in the House.
I don’t think that 1952 is a good comparison. The biggest flaw was that Ike replaced an unpopular incumbent of the opposing party.
It’s possible that the 1896 election (the first McKinley/Bryan race) is a better comparison, as unpopular President Grover Cleveland, while a Democrat, was closer politically to Republican McKinnley than fellow Democrat Bryan, whom he refused to endorse.
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