Posted on 09/02/2010 10:30:26 AM PDT by jazusamo
Sowell sees the national equivalent of a "perfect storm," a gathering of "dangerous forces (that) have been building .. . for at least a half-century."
Yes, he says, our great nation has weathered many storms. But, he quickly notes, so did the Roman Empire before it collapsed. "Is that where America is headed?" Sowell asks upfront. "I believe it is. Our only saving grace is that we are not there yet - and that nothing is inevitable until it happens."......
The Obama administration "is not the root cause of the ominous dangers that face this country at home and aboard," Sowell says. But "it is the embodiment, the personification and the culmination of dangerous trends that began decades ago. Moreover, it has escalated those dangers to what may be a point of no return."
"The ruthless and corrupt way this bill was forced through Congress on a party-line vote, and in defiance of public opinion, provides a roadmap for how other "historic" changes can be imposed by Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. What will it matter if Obama's current approval rating is below 50 percent among the current voting public, if he can ram through new legislation to create millions of new voters by granting citizenship to illegal immigrants? That could be enough to make him a two-term president, in which case he could appoint enough Supreme Court justices to rubber-stamp further extensions of his power."
"Just one year ago, would you have believed that an unelected government official, not even a cabinet member confirmed by the Senate but simply one of the many "czars" appointed by the president, could arbitrarily cut the pay of executives in private businesses by 50 percent or 90 percent?
Did you think that another "czar" would be talking about restricting talk radio? That there would be plans afloat to subsidize newspapers - that is, to create a situation where some newspapers' survival would depend on the government's liking what they publish?
Did you imagine that anyone would even be talking about having a panel of so-called "experts" deciding who could and could not get life-saving medical treatments? ... ...Does any of this sound like America?"
"People ask me all the time, "Rush, you'll tell us when it's time to panic, right?" I say, "Yeah, and it's not time to panic." But I have just finished a column by Thomas Sowell that strikes me as somewhat remarkable. There should not be any doubt with Americans interested in the truth about who Barack Obama is and what he represents, it's become clear, surreal clear. Dr. Thomas Sowell, a brilliant, accomplished man, a distinguished gentleman. When distinguished gentlemen, distinguished Americans such as Thomas Sowell think and write as he has in his latest column, it's time to stop gathering evidence about Obama's character and do anything within the boundaries of the law to stop his agenda." [2]After the midterm elections, it will be absolutely crucial that the projected conservative majority in the House (and possibly the Senate) act on Rush's words and truly "do anything within the boundaries of the law to stop his [Obama's] agenda"; so that our country does not slip past the "point of no return."
First, the US has gone through at least two more dangerous periods: that of secession and the Civil War through the end of Reconstruction in 1877, and from the beginning of the Depression in 1929 through the end of WW II in 1945.
In both eras, a combination of military, economic, and political challenges threatened the survival of the country. Yet we not only survived, but in the end, triumphed, and went on to new strength. I see no reason that we cannot do so again.
Second, our current predicament is primarily economic and financial, with a need for major domestic political and institutional reforms and a more serious approach to national security issues. Yet we remain immensely strong in military and economic terms, with an educated and energetic populace, and scope for reform and innovation.
Third, a significant slice of the country is now energized against the current administration and its policies. We are almost certainly on the verge of an exceptionally large victory against them in the 2010 elections, with a clear prospect of attaining full control of Congress and winning the Presidency in the 2012 election.
After that, we are in for a grim period of: long and intense conflict with the Left; a need for difficult domestic political reforms; significant national security issues; and, most urgently, a need to dramatically reduce federal spending and to spur economic growth through cuts in taxes and regulation.
With the locust years behind us, we must and can rouse ourselves and the country to confront the dangers before us. In doing so, we may again, as we have in the past, find that as a free people, we have strength beyond our expectations.
DITTO! Karl Marx's dream lives on because of this.
Am reading this book this week. Frightening is an understatement. November is a watershed, or maybe more appropriately, a Waterloo. Whether we on the right are Wellington or Napoleon remains to be seen.
So many problems...
Taking back Congress is but Step One...
What to do about a monolithic left media, which enabled Obama in the first place...
And the rot that has pervaded so much of our educational establishment....
And the entrenched incumbents who have so rigged the game that it is virtually impossible to get them out. The political class in Washington must be turned out of office, almost in its entirety.
I think that observations about the general decline of the electorate were starting to pop up with some regularity during the Clinton administration. The question was: What kind of people give 60% approval to a man who diddles interns in the oval office, obstructs justice and lies under oath?
The answer:
The same people who very nearly elected Al Gore. The same people who could nominate a man like John Kerry and give him almost 50% of the vote. The same people who are OK with the slaughter of the unborn for the sake of avoiding the unwanted inconvenience of having to be a parent. The same people who shrug when religion is marginalized by judicial fiat. The same people who tune in nightly or buy tickets to watch “entertainment” that mocks and ridicules the basic “values” that they allegedly hold dear. The same people who vote over and over to give more money to people who work to teach their children to despise their country, remain ignorant of their heritage and celebrate depravity while embracing irresponsibility. The same people who, when confronted by a concerted effort by a depraved minority abetted by a major political party to undermine a fundemental institution, decide that they should debate the finer points of the issue rather than taking to the streets in outraged protests and turning out the political enablers en masse at the earliest opportunity.
The Founders of this nation were in general agreement that only a moral people deserved or could maintain a free republic. They were right.
I agree to some extent but in those crises the objective was clear. In this crisis the objective is not clear. In my mind, the first objective is to limit the scope of the Modern American Presidency to that the founders intended. Neither Democrat or Republican politicians will want to do this. By letting the president make new laws through regulation, other politicians are able to shirk responsibility for the laws that enabled those regulations in the first place.
Take the EPA regulation of CO2 as an example. It was a Republicans who voted the Clean Air Acts through congress. Nixon and Bush I made the most far reaching changes. Yet Republicans today are able to point the finger at Obama for regulating CO2.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_%28United_States%29#History
when the wise Dr starts to become pessimistic, we have moved beyond simply circlin the bowl...
preparing for the 'whoosh'...
America — a great idea, didn’t last.
I can hear her yelling as she's being dragged off.. "it isn't Obama that's doing this. It's those damn RICH people who are to blame!"
Possibly.. but don't give up so easily. The POWER of belief is IMMENSE!
just a couple of black men talking
thing is though.........two men I respect more than most.
“Maybe we should sell everything and buy a nice mobile home.”
....cabin in the woods.
more truth to that than you know.
Instead, we need to need to make the case for limited government afresh and to think of not just old but also new ways to limit federal spending, taxation, and regulatory power. The coming financial crunch will help spur action in that direction if we make an effective practical case for limited government.
As for the Clean Air Act, I recall what the air quality was like when it was passed. I am in no doubt that air quality is better now, with improvements in public health as a result. While expensive and at times badly applied, the Clean Air Act has accomplished a worthy purpose.
Because the air quality problem was national in scope and crossed the borders of individual states, there was a legal and practical case for federal action.
While I do not think this situation calls for any optimism, I need to say the following.
Your fact, above, speaks volumes as to the status of the country in November 2008. Many of the people voted for Obama because he was black. Because he matched their skin color, or because his skin color matched previously discriminated against and thus protected people. Because they thought that electing someone black would show that the USA is not racist.
I believe that many of those same voters have realized their mistake. I believe we "had" to experience something like this in order to start to drive a deadly stake through the heart of political correctness. I do not know if the beast is dead yet. It is still writhing.
The USA depends on us. There are too many people fighting for the encroaching communism, including what people think of as the "media." We need to shout the truths from the rooftops, especially in November.
I was there before also. And yes, air quality is significantly better.
BUT....not only will the air continue to get cleaner with NO NEW draconian regulations, but sometime ago the CAA became little more than a socialist tool to beat down free enterprise and control the people.
Like most other bureaucratic regulatory agencies it became a monster that is eating us alive.
Listen to the left. Air quality is horrible and getting worse unless you give up more freedoms.
Interesting perspective. I find myself wanting to argue with you and find that I cannot.
Thanks for the insightful post.
“The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America . Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince.”
I am becoming a BIG Sowell fan.
This had been my thesis since the second Clinton election. We have people who are “Idolized and comatose” to the reality of our situation. That, in conjunction with a Leftist media, education and entertainment systems, foretell doom.
Something far bigger than politics will be required to save us. A spiritual awakening, or a catastrophe of epic proportion, which is possible in the near future.
How banana republic!
You sound like the mirror image of the Leftists drooling for “war crimes” trials for Bush and Cheney after 0bama won.
Which is why this is so scary...
At what point in time....should we hold them accountable to what they tell us?
I don't think "war crimes" are needed....but there's plenty of lying, cheating and stealing going on...that's criminal. And needs to be dealt with.
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