Posted on 11/22/2008 6:26:37 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
--Dear Conservative,
Yes, I know, these are times that try conservatives' souls. The sunshine soldiers left long ago, and we survivors are left to sit on the ground and tell sad stories of the deaths of our favorite theories.
I get a lot of calls from patients like you, still in mourning after the presidential election. Here is Dr. Greenberg's Rx for the political blues: Remember that the political pendulum swings back as surely as it did forth, this time after a long period when conservative ideas--and candidates--were in the ascendant.
It's that old Hegelian three-step: thesis, antithesis, synthesis. In short, things change. And isn't it a relief to be out of power for a change? You can almost feel the decompression.
Yes, we're still to blame for the economic tumult, the wars and threats of wars, all the troubles in the world but soon enough the grand disillusion with the next administration will set in on the usual fringes of American public opinion. It's already begun with the criticism of the president-elect's first appointments or even possible appointments.
Only weeks ago, some of these critics were his most fervent fans. Conspiracists may change their target; they remain conspiracists. Let's just do what we can to make sure we're not embarking on another eight-year hatefest, shall we?
That sort of thing grows tiresome. And repetitive. Only the name of the of the president changes. "WASHINGTON--A Republican congressman from Georgia said Monday he fears that President-elect Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist or fascist dictatorship "--Newsmax, Nov. 10, 2008.
Oh, please. The election results of 2008 are but the mirror image of those of 1994, which were going to change everything, too. All that's happened is that the pendulum has just swung an equal but opposite distance. Remember the surest observation to make at every turn in human affairs: This, too, will pass.
Patience is the best prescription. But if that doesn't work right away, try an aspirin and don't call me in the morning. We political medics have more serious afflictions to tend to, like the hubris sure to affect the victors. Happens every time.
When this sense of depression, too, passes--and it will--just remember to avoid its equal but opposite delusion: euphoria. It's even more hallucinatory.
In the meantime, consider a sip--only a sip, mind you, for medicinal purposes only--of single malt in the evenings. Never drink alone or for consolation. Good whiskey was made for celebrating with friends, not moping. Used for self-medication, it only prolongs the agony and makes a man eloquent only to himself.
A better suggestion: Pick up a volume of Epictetus: "Events themselves do not hurt or hinder us. It is how we respond to them that matters. We make ourselves miserable by fretting about things over which we have no control, while neglecting those things that we can control, like our reactions. Learn to distinguish between the two." That may be a loose translation, but you get the gist.
Another always relevant piece of counsel, author unknown: Win as though you were used to it and lose as if you liked it.
In short, let nothing you dismay.
And, no, I wouldn't turn to the Psalms just yet--not for any sorrow as ephemeral as the outcome of an election--except to marvel at their literary quality and their universal applicability when one needs a very present help in trouble. But be sure to use only the KJV brand. Accept no substitutes like the Revised Standard or some other generic version.
Save the Psalms for when you really need 'em--for some serious crisis. Believe me, one will come. It's the human condition.
Cheers,
Inky Wretch
1. We have nowhere to return from.
2. We need to rise up here and now and keep rising from there.
I know what yer saying yet I like to think I never left !.....:o)
We’re doing all the right things except educating the sheeple IMHO..... Disinformation and diversion of facts won this election.
The demographics are against this happening. It was a nice run. Freedom, self-reliance and personal responsibility are now alien and antiquated concepts. Unfortunaltely, we are going “collective”.....this is a natural bi-product of feminism and “oppressed” groups looking for a “savior” instead of looking to themselves. City dwellers, liberal women, illegals are “natural” socialists.
Argentina, a wealthy country a century ago, has never recovered from Peron.
Will it be the akin to the British and Canadian Tories? That is, will it be essentially identical to the Democratic Party.
Will it be a choice, or an echo?
This reminds me of the other night, when I heard Mor-ton Kondracke (on BOR) blaming GOP defeats on the Terri Schiavo affair and opposition to same-sex marriage. According to Mort, that’s why the GOP lost the “Youth Vote” that the Republicans never had, and that went up a whopping one percentage point this year. Conservatism, and the GOP, will come back into vogue when the “Youth Vote” (to paraphrase an old adage) takes a collective look at their post-inauguration pay checks...or their post-Messiah victory welfare checks, whichever come first.
yeah after a hellified bunch of financial depression in this country. Good luck with that.
Yeah. Add yeast, warm water, knead into a ball, place in covered bowl in a warm spot for 8 years before baking. (:^o)
bookmark
There’s a word in German: Untergang.
B.S.
Let the hate-fest begin with fervor and conviction!
If we return and are led by the clones of the past twenty years, he will surely stumble and fall again quickly.
Are you sure that young people read check stubs, or do they just cash what it says on the bottom line? Many are hoping for Oprah’s Choice to provide them with doctor and hospital care: shows how much they have yet to learn.
This must be what happened in your VA. I think it will be hard for Republicans to make any comebacks from VA to the north, and there is not a lot of territory left to carve out 270 electoral votes in the future.
You may be right, but don't forget that this is the age group whose denizens believe that they are immortal and invulnerable. That's why even those who could afford to don't purchase health insurance. First they have to get a job to have a pay stub to look at, or a check to cash (something that may be increasingly difficult under the Messiah). Assuming they are already receiving a pay check, they will definitely notice that it's shrinking, assuming that the Obama plan goes into full effect.
Can Americans overcome them, and defeat them?
As I posted on another thread, we have been here before. When Clinton took office in 1993 there were 256 Democrats in the House and 57 in the Senate. Those are almost identical to the numbers the DalaiBama will inherit next January.
Nonsense, we can adapt by changing tactics.
Conservatism can beat liberalism, we just have to transmit our ideas better. We can’t just expect people to become conservatives merely because we know its better than liberalism.
We will come out stronger than before, and this time we will keep the moderates at bay.
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