Why America Will Stay on Top (Paul Johnson Praises Sarah Palin, Tea Party)

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Saturday, March 5, 2011 | Brian M. Carney

[kristinn]

SNIP

I visited the 82-year-old Mr. Johnson in his West London home this week to ask him whether America has once again set off down the path to self-destruction. Is he worried about America's future?

"Of course I worry about America," he says. "The whole world depends on America ultimately, particularly Britain. And also, I love America—a marvelous country. But in a sense I don't worry about America because I think America has such huge strengths—particularly its freedom of thought and expression—that it's going to survive as a top nation for the foreseeable future. And therefore take care of the world."

Pessimists, he points out, have been predicting America's decline "since the 18th century." But whenever things are looking bad, America "suddenly produces these wonderful things—like the tea party movement. That's cheered me up no end. Because it's done more for women in politics than anything else—all the feminists? Nuts! It's brought a lot of very clever and quite young women into mainstream politics and got them elected. A very good little movement, that. I like it." Then he deepens his voice for effect and adds: "And I like that lady—Sarah Palin. She's great. I like the cut of her jib."

The former governor of Alaska, he says, "is in the good tradition of America, which this awful political correctness business goes against." Plus: "She's got courage. That's very important in politics. You can have all the right ideas and the ability to express them. But if you haven't got guts, if you haven't got courage the way Margaret Thatcher had courage—and [Ronald] Reagan, come to think of it. Your last president had courage too—if you haven't got courage, all the other virtues are no good at all. It's the central virtue."

[RedMDer]

if you haven't got courage, all the other virtues are no good at all. It's the central virtue."

Great words of wisdom there! And Sarah has that courage and the conviction of America's Greatness. Run Sarah, Run!

[Wonder Warthog]

"Though an Englishman, he understands America in the same way that Alexis de Tocqueville did."

That's high praise for the man. I'm currently re-reading de Tocqueville's books and continue to be astounded at the depths he sounded about the US culture and goverment.

Based on your comment, I'll have to give Johnson's work a look. I tend to avoid modern historians, because most of them are out and out Marxists.

[okie01]

I tend to avoid modern historians, because most of them are out and out Marxists.

Johnson, most assuredly, is not.

Glad you're enjoying de Tocqueville's work. It exudes such faith in America and its destiny.

[jla]

-

[Hoosier Catholic Momma]

He is definitely not one of those! His ‘History of the American People’ is a good read. I’ve read it twice.

I just recently bought a copy of ‘Democracy in America’ because I could never get through the library copy before I had to return it ;) Same with ‘The Fountainhead’ by Ayn Rand.

[Oztrich Boy]

That picture of a moose with Palin2012 on it, shows a moose with horse hooves not moose hooves which are split hooves like a cow or deer.

Yesterday I watched a rerun of MacGuyver where a MiG-25 was represented by an F-5 and you are complaining about hooves?

[sarah palin rocks]

Thanks for posting this awesome piece!

The brilliant and esteemed Paul Johnson articulates the way that I see Sarah. Sarah will be America’s Maggie Thatcher leading us to victory in 2012!

With a little help from her Tea Party friends! ;)

[maica]

If I need a smile I will imagine a debate between Sarah and Hillary.

Dynamism (some people say she should talk slower!)

versus

uh uh uh ya know uh uh

Hillary is a generation older than Sarah and looks it!

[Bigg Red]

...Sarah Palin. She’s great. I like the cut of her jib.”

&&&
Love it! I like it, too. (Have not heard that great expression in years.)

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Ping.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

[Paul Johnson's] concern with the human dimension of history is reflected as well in his attitude toward humor, the subject of another recent book, "Humorists." "The older I get," he tells me, "the more important I think it is to stress jokes." Which is another reason he loves America. "One of the great contributions that America has made to civilization," he deadpans, "is the one-liner." The one-liner, he says, was "invented, or at any rate brought to the forefront, by Benjamin Franklin." Mark Twains' were "the greatest of all."

And then there was Ronald Reagan. "Mr. Reagan had thousands of one-liners. " Here a grin spreads across Mr. Johnson's face. "that's what made him a great president."

Jokes, he argues, were a vital communications tool for President Reagan . . . "You don't get that from Obama. He talks in paragraphs."

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

[Paul Johnson's] concern with the human dimension of history is reflected as well in his attitude toward humor, the subject of another recent book, "Humorists." "The older I get," he tells me, "the more important I think it is to stress jokes." Which is another reason he loves America. "One of the great contributions that America has made to civilization," he deadpans, "is the one-liner." The one-liner, he says, was "invented, or at any rate brought to the forefront, by Benjamin Franklin." Mark Twains' were "the greatest of all."

And then there was Ronald Reagan. "Mr. Reagan had thousands of one-liners. " Here a grin spreads across Mr. Johnson's face. "that's what made him a great president."

Jokes, he argues, were a vital communications tool for President Reagan . . . "You don't get that from Obama. He talks in paragraphs."

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[Mind-numbed Robot]

The only area, as presented in this article, in which I question him is his statement that the era of big government as the solution to all ills started in the sixties with the Kennedys. I see it as starting in the thirties with FDR. He was responsible for the graduated income tax, social security, and all the New Deal government make-work programs. LBJ was more of the big government guy than Kennedy.

However, Johnson’s remark was more along the lines of a federal budget deficit as the driving force behind this and I don’t know, and am too lazy to research, the deficits under FDR. Johnson made exceptions for unusually events like WWII, so I guess the war years don’t count.

[the invisib1e hand]

Only one problem: information age has made nations obsolete.

[cynwoody]

The only area, as presented in this article, in which I question him is his statement that the era of big government as the solution to all ills started in the sixties with the Kennedys. I see it as starting in the thirties with FDR. He was responsible for the graduated income tax, social security, and all the New Deal government make-work programs. LBJ was more of the big government guy than Kennedy.

Then, of course, the income tax started under Wilson, another high-IQ moron.

It was Kennedy who authorized collective bargaining by federal employees. It has led to disaster, as Daniel Henninger wrote:

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy planted the seeds that grew the modern Democratic Party. That year, JFK signed executive order 10988 allowing the unionization of the federal work force. This changed everything in the American political system. Kennedy's order swung open the door for the inexorable rise of a unionized public work force in many states and cities.

This in turn led to the fantastic growth in membership of the public employee unions—The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the teachers' National Education Association.

They broke the public's bank. More than that, they entrenched a system of taking money from members' dues and spending it on political campaigns. Over time, this transformed the Democratic Party into a public-sector dependency.

[Obadiah]

I view Paul Johnson as the West’s Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

[Peter Libra]

From the text.

One of the great contributions that America has made to civilization," he deadpans, "is the one liner," The one-liner, he says, was "invented, or at any rate brought to the forefront, by Benjamin Franklin."

Certainly caused a chuckle at this end. Thanks for the post on this gentleman, whom I note from Wikipedia, received the Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush. Also Mr Johnson went against the "coventional wisdom" in defending Richard Nixon and the unfortunate removal from his office. This still rankles with some of us.

[Yaelle]

Wow, Paul Johnson. Why isn’t this everywhere? Here is a TRUE expert on America, a genius, and the American people have to listen to liberal talking heads on TV and not him??

This is exactly what I have been saying. The other qualities that anyone likes in ANY of the other potential candidates for 2012 are useless if they don’t have the cojones (OK, Mr. Johnson has more class than me and calls it “courage”) to EXPLAIN conservative, Constitutional principles to the American people, and to explain how these principles help EVERYONE in the country, no matter who you are.

And no one else but Palin has demonstrated this. These values do not change with polls. Everyone else seems to. When someone else has the deep, public conviction Palin has about the USA, call me. Right now, she is it.

[altura]

Thanks for this. Very interesting and I will definitely get some of this man’s books.