Posted on 11/18/2009 5:27:20 PM PST by neverdem
btt
Thank you for keepin’ it goin’ while I was out
VDH has the intellectual wherewithal, not to mention the audience, to help start rebuilding the intellectual foundations of American civil discourse (not just for conservatism, though that would be fine ...)
What I would really like to see, is VDH and others to start offering serious dissections of, say, the question of American budget deficits and debt, and the difficulties inherent in addressing them. It would be good to see him discuss potential solutions, whether offered by himself or by others.
The real reason why an Obama can even exist as president, not to mention get away with his idiocies, is because Americans no longer have a way to conduct rational discussions.
Rational discussion and debate, based on facts and realistic assessments of consequences, is the only way we're even going to have a chance of getting out of our many messes.... And we haven't got anything close to it now.
Yes... but what does that pattern look like? I'll tell you:
It looks exactly like what one would expect from a narcissist with a mental age of about 19. EVERYTHING Obama does, makes sense if you apply that standard.
The first three points are a product of his upbringing: these are the opinions with which Obama grew up. They're visceral beliefs, not rational ones. They're the sorts of beliefs that adults don't necessarily grow out of; but adults at least are able to moderate their impulses because they have a broader perspective on the world. Not so, with Obama, because....
The last two points are really just two facets of Obama's narcissistic personality. The narcissist -- especially a 19 year-old narcissist -- believes that it is enough for him simply to state something. All will recognize and bow before his superior wisdom
I think Obama's handlers have long understood this about him. They've been able to point him in the right direction, and manipulated the situations to get what they want out of him. But I believe that they've actually lost a large measure of their previous control over Obama since he's been president. The power of the man in the Oval Office is overwhelming, and Obama is enjoying the freedom it offers. His handlers can still guide Obama's destinations to some extent, but it's pretty clear that they've lost control over what Obama says when he gets there.
I was afraid you were not coming back! Seeing your ping was a nice surprise. That's an understatement.
How do you have a rational discussion with those who only espouse ignorance and that which is irrational? I'm sorry. They are either evil or stupid; maybe both. What do the rats propose that makes sense for the country as a whole?
I'm not talking about Obama's people ... I'm talking about "people" in general, who have nothing but buzzwords to work from, from both sides of the political spectrum -- left and right. When you've got that situation, the team with the better buzzwords wins -- which is a wretched way to run a country, I'm sure you'd agree.
What we need to re-establish, is a method of talking about issues that actually conveys information the vast middle of the electorate.
The hard left may never get over their shrieking. The "RINO-shouters" here at FR may never get over it, either. The goal would be to marginalize both extremes, because it is impossible to discuss anything so long as those groups dominate the debate.
To simply give up on the re-establishment of rational civil debate because the loud people are too loud ... that's not really an option, is it? It's just a surrender to the extremes.
The problem with that is the right is correct most of the time, with the exception of drug prohibition, IMHO. Most of the problems we have are initiatives that came from the left, i.e. either unintended consequences of labor or environmental laws or inadequately financed entitlement programs such as the Ponzi scheme called Social Security and Medicare & Medicaid.
When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging!
I would dispute that, actually. "The Right" as it currently stands, tends toward solutions that dehumanize whatever problem you care to name, when in fact many of the problems we're talking about, are really all about people. We generally look closely at the mechanics of the solution, while ignoring the actual problem for which the solution was created.
We deal with things like Social Security, Medicare, or whatever, as if they're just about money and such ... and we can strongly agree on the fact that they're badly bungled programs.
The problem is that we forget about the very real fact that those programs are about people, many of whom really do have legitimate needs. The reason the left has political traction with those programs, is that they acknowledge those legitimate needs, whereas we on the right tend to act as if they didn't exist. The vast political middle is inhabited by people who are interested in somehow addressing those needs.
Our challenge is to provide serious alternatives that are true to our (largely correct) conservative ideas, but don't ignore the human aspects of the problem. This isn't easy to do. Take Social Security, for example. Probably everybody recognizes the legitimacy of the underlying need it's supposed to serve: old folks need an income after they retire. As a government program it's about to fail. Unfortunately, "privatizing" Social Security doesn't seem like all that great a plan at the moment, when we're in the midst of a financial crisis brought about by the irresponsible behavior of the very people who would be managing the program.
The problem is that we on the right can't even discuss issues among ourselves at the moment -- there are too many entrenched single-issue factions out there, who will shout "RINO" at the slightest whiff of disagreement. Politically we are in a very bad way at the moment, as shown by our dismal electoral prospects.
Please add me to the VDH list.
Tolik has a dedicated VDH list. I don't.
I might find a VDH thread, or post it myself like this thread. When I do either, I look to see if Tolik was pinged about it. If not, I'll ping Tolik about it.
I'll add your name to my list for noteworthy articles about politics, foreign or military affairs, IMHO. FReepmail me if you want off my list.
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