Posted on 03/05/2011 7:43:20 AM PST by harpu
Eminent historian Paul Johnson on Sarah Palin, the tea party, and 'baddies' from Napoleon to Gadhafi.
In his best-selling history of the 20th century, "Modern Times," British historian Paul Johnson describes "a significant turning-point in American history: the first time the Great Republic, the richest nation on earth, came up against the limits of its financial resources." Until the 1960s, he writes in a chapter titled "America's Suicide Attempt," "public finance was run in all essentials on conventional lines"—that is to say, with budgets more or less in balance outside of exceptional circumstances.
"The big change in principle came under Kennedy," Mr. Johnson writes. "In the autumn of 1962 the Administration committed itself to a new and radical principle of creating budgetary deficits even when there was no economic emergency." Removing this constraint on government spending allowed Kennedy to introduce "a new concept of 'big government': the 'problem-eliminator.' Every area of human misery could be classified as a 'problem'; then the Federal government could be armed to 'eliminate' it."
...snip...
"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."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
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."
I wish I shared his optimism.
He’s wrong. There is a rising population of idiot leftists and anti-America immigrants.
There is no limit to stupidity and what it can accomplish. Stupidity can destroy 1000X more than what genius can build.
Examples are all around us. Some of it, though, IMHO, isn't stupidity. There are a lot of deliberate acts going on that appear stupid to someone who actually wants the country to prosper. I think we have many in elected office on both sides of the aisle right now who want to see the USA fail.
We`re going to know whetther America is going to survive the next decade on Election Night next year. I wish = shared that optimism too.
I just hope it’s not too late to do something about it. Laffer has written on this subject quite a bit regarding the demographics of our aging population and how that will affect future earnings and GDP. It’s not a very rosy picture under the best of circumstances. Add all the smothering debt and it really gets ugly.
There are ordinary citizens (and non-citizens residents) who want the USA to fail. These are mostly rich spoiled brats who think they will be protected as members of the elite ruling class. The rest are poor dumb kids who believe everything their leftists teachers tell them and think it makes them “edgy”, “trendy”, “hip”, and “smart”.
Forget about the polls. There are a large number of leftist idiots who keep their beliefs hidden until election day and these filth are all around us. The USA WILL die of this infection. It is beyond anyone’s ability to treat or cure.
Sorry but it is too late. Prepare for war, poverty, and death. There won’t be anything remaining in the future.
A lot of that is the "herd" mentality. There's a large percentage of the population who just don't take the time to know the good from the bad. I've decided to take on Liberals whenever and wherever they spew this blather. I know I likely won't change their minds, but casual observers with the herd mentality just might see the flaws in Liberal logic. Most people still have some common sense. If you expose the hypocrisy, lies and myths most people will begin to see through the fog.
“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.”
Agree with you, I’m not very optimistic. The problem is that thought and expression have been dumbed down as recent generations have been indoctrinated with liberal group think by our so-called educational system and the popular media. Critial thinking is in critically short supply.
I think so, too. I've been seeing this coming for a very long time. I bought a 70 acre farm 10 years ago and have been preparing for the inevitable ever since.
Spot on. The dumbing down of America has been very well documented. It's deliberate and it's been going on since the 1930's.
“The dumbing down of America has been very well documented. It’s deliberate and it’s been going on since the 1930’s.”
One particularly insidious thing about this dumbing down process is that it gives rise to an unquestioning mind set that assumes that “if we’re doing it for the people” then there are no adverse consequences to liberal policies. Again, the so-called educational establishment and the popular media are notably guility of practicing this form of intellectual dishonesty.
I tend to agree with this man. All this gloom and doom defeatism needs to stop, regardless of who predicts what or what prices rise.
Exactly, the left never builds anything, only destroys. Confiscates; subjects to stay in power; destroys human accomplishment and will; and continually lies to cover this up. They are the enemy of all Free Men and emissaries of the great deceiver.
So why dont you end yourself now?
I tend to agree too. But I wonder. What happens if the SC upholds Obamacare?
The following statement by Sir Winston Churchill, upon leaving office as Prime Minister in 1945, was prophetic for Great Britain, and as it turns out, the United States and the world:
"I do not believe in the power of the State to plan and enforce. No matter how numerous are the committees they set up or the ever-growing hordes of officials they employ or the severity of the punishments they inflict or threaten, they can't approach the high level of internal economic production achieved under free enterprise. Personal initiative, competitive selection, and profit motive corrected by failure and the infinite processes of good housekeeping and personal ingenuity, these constitute the life of a free society. It is this vital creative impulse that I deeply fear the doctrines and policies of the socialist government has destroyed. Nothing that they can plan and order and rush around enforcing will take its place. They have broken the main spring and until we get a new one, the watch wil not go. Set the people free. Get out of the way and let them make the best of themselves. I am sure that this policy of equalizing misery and organizing society--instead of allowing diligence, self-interest and ingenuity to produce abundance--has only to be prolonged to kill this British Island stone dead."
Bravo!
“That he how hath no stomach to this fight, let him depart...”
We must fight on!
Valley Forge, Bastogne, Chosin, and Fallujah come to mind....
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