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Are We in Revolutionary Times?
National Review ^ | 6-15-2012 | Victor Davis Hanson - Commentary

Posted on 06/15/2012 7:50:51 PM PDT by smoothsailing

June 15, 2012

Are We in Revolutionary Times?

Victor Davis Hanson

Legally, President Obama has reiterated the principle that he can pick and choose which U.S. laws he wishes to enforce (see his decision to reverse the order of the Chrysler creditors, his decision not to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act, and his administration’s contempt for national-security confidentiality and Senate and House subpoenas to the attorney general). If one individual can decide to exempt nearly a million residents from the law — when he most certainly could not get the law amended or repealed through proper legislative or judicial action — then what can he not do? Obama is turning out to be the most subversive chief executive in terms of eroding U.S. law since Richard Nixon.

Politically, Obama calculates that some polls showing the current likely Hispanic support for him in the high 50s or low 60s would not provide enough of a margin in critical states such as Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado, or perhaps also in Florida and Virginia, to counteract the growing slippage of the independent vote and the energy of the clinger/tea-party activists. Thus, what was not legal or advisable in 2009, 2010, or 2011, suddenly has become critical in mid-2012. No doubt free green cards will quickly lead to citizenship and a million new voters. Will it work politically? Obama must assume lots of things: that all Hispanics vote as a block in favoring exempting more illegal aliens from the law, and are without worry that the high unemployment rate hits their community among the hardest; that black voters, stung by his gay-marriage stance, will not resent what may be seen as de facto amnesty, possibly endangering his tiny (and slipping) lead in places like Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. And because polls show overwhelming resistance to non-enforcement of immigration law, Obama also figures that the minority who supports his recent action does so far more vehemently than the majority who opposes it. Time will tell; but my gut feeling is that his brazen act will enrage far more than it will delight — and for a variety of different reasons. As with all his special-interest efforts — the Keystone cancellation, war-on-women ploy, gay-marriage turnabout, and now de facto amnesty — Obama believes dividing Americans along class, ethnic, gender, and cultural lines will result in a cobbled together majority, far more preferable than a 1996 Clinton-like effort to win over the independents by forging a bipartisan consensus.

Economically, why would we formalize nearly a million new legally authorized workers when unemployment is approaching its 41st consecutive month over 8 percent — especially when Democrats used to label 5.4 percent unemployment as a “jobless recovery”? Here in California, the slowing of illegal immigration, due mostly to the fence and tough times, has led to steep wage hikes for entry-level and farm labor, and given a little more clout to Americans in so-called unskilled-labor fields. In other words, it really is true that the real beneficiaries of border enforcement are low-paid Hispanic-Americans and African-Americans who become more valued when they are not competing with virtually unlimited numbers of illegal-alien workers.

When you collate this recent act with the class-warfare rhetoric, the “punish our enemies” threats, the president’s and Eric Holder’s serial racialist statements, the huge borrowing, the national-security leaks, the takeover of health care, the push for redistributive taxes, and even the trivial appointments like a Van Jones, Anita Dunn, or Armendariz, you can fairly conclude that Obama most certainly did not like the way the United States operated for the last 30 or so years, and has tried his best, through hook or crook, to change America in ways that simply were not possible through legislative or even judicial action. Give the president credit. He has thrown down the gauntlet and essentially boasted: This is my vision of the way the new America should work — and if you don’t like it, try stopping me in November, if you dare.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Extended News; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2012; bhofascism; bhotreason; cwiiping; democrats; donttreadonme; elections; govtabuse; liberalfascism; nobama2012; obama; obamatruthfile; tyranny; vdh; victordavishanson
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To: Tench_Coxe

Nope, not liberal. Maybe a j*ck*ss for trying to be funny on my introduction. I a CCW conservative through and through. Well CCW until the boating accident. Never did replace those guns.


61 posted on 06/16/2012 9:35:47 AM PDT by Old Yeller
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To: DTogo
now replace all references to the King and the British with 0bama, and it would still read true...
62 posted on 06/16/2012 10:02:49 AM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: Chode
Exactly!

Next question: what are We the People going to do about it?

63 posted on 06/16/2012 11:55:06 AM PDT by DTogo (High time to bring back the Sons of Liberty !!)
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To: DTogo
depends on what happens in November...
64 posted on 06/16/2012 1:00:07 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: Travis McGee
If Obama wins in November, he’ll go the full Hugo Chavez.

Considering Hugo Chavez appears to by dying of cancer, that might not be all bad. ;-)

65 posted on 06/16/2012 2:58:38 PM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: smoothsailing

Where to start... San Fran, Chicago, NYC or DC?


66 posted on 06/17/2012 5:41:25 AM PDT by Leep (Enemy of the Statist)
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To: smoothsailing

This will be a bloodless revolution. Obama has taken over already, he craps all over the laws and Congress and does whatever he wants. The outrage against him is limited in scope and generally only seen on websites like this. The mask of anonymity is wonderful isnt it? People should have risen up and marched on DC long ago and demanded Obama step down. Now he grants amnesty for basically all illegals here, and it hardly registers with the average citizen. To be honest they probably have no clue that he even did this. Next, Obama will figure a way to let these people vote and get him re-elected and all that will happen is that people will bitch and complain on the blogs.

People have to feel pain before they do anything. If the economy crumbles, the lights go out and people can’t get food, then we will see blood in the streets, anything less than that not a thing will happen.


67 posted on 06/17/2012 5:44:19 AM PDT by eak3
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To: TheCause

It will boil down to this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLrrBs8JBQo


68 posted on 06/17/2012 5:51:36 AM PDT by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal The 16th Amendment!)
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To: Tainan
"The founding Fathers would be firing muskets by now"...

Hell, they would be finished by now.

69 posted on 06/17/2012 6:00:59 AM PDT by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal The 16th Amendment!)
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To: GingisK

This is the most important election in the lifetimes of nearly all Americans.


70 posted on 06/17/2012 6:05:21 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued (Obama and Company lied, the American economy died)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...

Thanks smoothsailing. Victor Davis Hanson:
Legally, President Obama has reiterated the principle that he can pick and choose which U.S. laws he wishes to enforce

71 posted on 06/17/2012 8:12:51 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: EBH

I agree. Our Republican leaders are essentially impotent. Let’s face it. We’re on our own.

I believe the root of all of it is the basical moral decline of this place. The love of power, thus the reason for abortion, the love of lust, thus the reason for the pushing of homosexuality, the disdain for authority and a LACK of love for the Creator, the LUST for what other’s have, jealousy, envy, etc. — and therefore, changing the laws in that regard — these are all such ridiculous things — just mere human vices — definitely NOT necessary for our survival — yet these issues keep people voting Democratic when they know full well we are in a total economic tailspin.

The immoral public does not want to be controlled, they want WHAT they want WHEN they want it — and they want to wallow in constant pleasure without having to face any consequence for it. They want what others have, yet they don’t want to work for it.

The ROOT of this — whatever it was — whatever kindled this all — I don’t exactly know if we can point to any one thing - is the root of our destruction.

But let’s face another thing — this country could have put it down years ago — but Americans looked the other way and tolerated all of this. We allowed it. We refused to stop it. We could have EASILY stopped it — because its proponents were weak. But we didn’t. We chose instead to be “tolerant.” Now we’re tortured by it.


72 posted on 06/17/2012 8:23:13 AM PDT by LibsRJerks
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To: EBH

I agree. Our Republican leaders are essentially impotent. Let’s face it. We’re on our own.

I believe the root of all of it is the basical moral decline of this place. The love of power, thus the reason for abortion, the love of lust, thus the reason for the pushing of homosexuality, the disdain for authority and a LACK of love for the Creator, the LUST for what other’s have, jealousy, envy, etc. — and therefore, changing the laws in that regard — these are all such ridiculous things — just mere human vices — definitely NOT necessary for our survival — yet these issues keep people voting Democratic when they know full well we are in a total economic tailspin.

The immoral public does not want to be controlled, they want WHAT they want WHEN they want it — and they want to wallow in constant pleasure without having to face any consequence for it. They want what others have, yet they don’t want to work for it.

The ROOT of this — whatever it was — whatever kindled this all — I don’t exactly know if we can point to any one thing - is the root of our destruction.

But let’s face another thing — this country could have put it down years ago — but Americans looked the other way and tolerated all of this. We allowed it. We refused to stop it. We could have EASILY stopped it — because its proponents were weak. But we didn’t. We chose instead to be “tolerant.” Now we’re tortured by it.


73 posted on 06/17/2012 8:23:23 AM PDT by LibsRJerks
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To: LibLieSlayer

Talk talk talk - nobody is going to do a dang thing about it and you all know it. Obama can do whatever he wants - whenever he wants. Americans talk a decent talks at times but when it comes down to it everyone is too lazy to bring about real change.


74 posted on 06/17/2012 9:40:25 AM PDT by silentknight
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To: redgolum
We are near the end of the democratic phase of our empire. The next is either break up, or tyranny.

Or, perhaps the unlikeliest, a move toward being a republic.

75 posted on 06/17/2012 10:12:28 AM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: Dead Corpse
It’s the only way we’re getting out of this.

I pray that you are wrong, but the likelihood that you are correct increases daily.

76 posted on 06/17/2012 1:04:36 PM PDT by Semper Mark (Oh. Who's being naive, Kay?)
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To: hosepipe

Sure, whatever you say.

But be careful, and take heed. There are Maoist types who hope for American patriot types to become violent—they foolishly advocate for it, not understanding the worthlessness and self-destruction in their most basic ideas.


77 posted on 06/17/2012 2:19:08 PM PDT by reasonisfaith (Why do you seek the living among the dead? (Luke 24:5))
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To: OneWingedShark
It is possible, but has never happened in history.

The cycle is Freedom, Republic, Democracy, Tyranny, then (at times) a revolt and back to Freedom.

The most stable phase is tyranny (rule by the unelected few). The most unstable is democracy. We are in democracy right now.

78 posted on 06/17/2012 2:56:54 PM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: Tench_Coxe
The nutballs, traditionally, are lefties. If Obama wins in November, you'll most likely see 160 million potential "nutballs".

In my mind that's preferable to seeing 160 million sleeping sheep, under the stealth Democrat, Romney.

79 posted on 06/17/2012 3:20:48 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: CrazyIvan
Without exception the people who would act on or promote illegal and violent means to change government are either leftists or just kooks who have no political identity.

I can think of a few American radicals who would have disagreed with that statement 236 years ago.

80 posted on 06/17/2012 3:25:54 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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