The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Contrary To The 2008 Campaign? I Think Not

Posted on | April 7, 2012 | 15 Comments

by Smitty

Via Power Line, Jay Cost at The Weekly Standard perceives a tension, which I may help him resolve, emphasis mine:

This is why Obama does not care if his attacks are unfair, untrue, unoriginal, unseemly, or whatever. He has only one goal: The state of the union stinks right now, and I must keep that stench off me.
So were you outraged by Obama’s smarmy remarks about the Supreme Court? Too bad, he does not care. He is not after your vote. He is after the vote of the fellow in the middle of the electorate, who may never have even heard of Marbury v. Madison, but certainly knows about $4 gas. If Obama can get that guy to direct his anger at somebody else for the next seven months, then he wins reelection. This week the fall guy was the Supreme Court. Next week it will be John Boehner or Big Oil or whomever. Really, it does not matter so long as it is not the president.
This runs contrary to the very premise of the Obama candidacy from 2008. Remember, he had little experience in national affairs, but that was supposed to be a great thing because Washington, D.C. had not corrupted him with its brand of divide-and-conquer gamesmanship.

Contrary, sir? I think not. The apparent tension is resolved by what appears to be a timeless bit of Ruling Class wisdom: people are sheep.

The entire Progressive Project is rooted in this assertion. #OccupyResoluteDesk is just the culmination of a century-long bladder load down the back, while claiming precipitation:

The survey result that one in four Americans strongly approve of this golden shower of malarky underscores the point: large numbers of people exhibit sheepish behavior, at least for a time.

That the Ryan budget, which isn’t vigorous enough in reforming the problem, in my opinion, is a case in point: a rational entry into what is far too emotional a discussion.

The difference between the Left and Right is that the Left grasps the fundamentally emotional nature of the national discussion. It is irrelevant, for example, that a rational view of the Trayvon Martin tragedy would encourage caution and a thorough investigation before reaching a conclusion. Shag that. There is tremendous power to be gained from playing the raaaaace card early. Fret not that those pesky facts and meddling bloggers will overturn the narrative; the emotional hit is the important part.

Or so the Left thinks. The sheep aren’t capable of the intellectual reflection necessary to see through this demagoguery. And so you have the spectacle of BHO delivering a speech that could have rolled smoothly off of the lips of Chavez or Castro, if either of those thugs were in the habit of permitting the kind of political dialogue enjoyed in this country.

I don’t think Barack Obama, the flock-head of the Left, is capable of evolving his weltanshauung to encompass the idea that the American people are rational. And so he’s going to ride the sheeply theory into his political grave.

Update: Power Line brings Alexis:

A man’s admiration of absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him.

Update II: linked at BPI Campus, a Lefty blog, in what amounts to a cute format.

Category: Barack Obama

Comments

15 Responses to “Contrary To The 2008 Campaign? I Think Not”

  1. DaveO
    April 7th, 2012 @ 10:28 am

    The People bought Hope and Change, and it’s best to help them choke on that theme, daily. Eventually, like  a kidney stone, it will pass – but The People need the lesson.

  2. Tennwriter
    April 7th, 2012 @ 10:57 am

    This is how I feel about the Establishment and the Romneyites.  Problem is, they don’t seem capable of learning.

    Some think you can’t push Conservatism and the Truth because that means some folk will have to have a realization of ‘oops’.

    While it is certainly true that no one, see the Obama supporter or the RINO, wants to admit they made a mistake, we cannot move forward otherwise.

    So, faint heart never won fair damsel.

    It is clear that anyone who supports Obama or The Establishment Ch0ice This Cycle is making a huge mistake.  And so is anyone who did it before.  Unless they are supporters of the Current Mess.

  3. Dandapani
    April 7th, 2012 @ 11:28 am

    Is this the Change they Hoped for? Millions of lost jobs, $4 going to $5 gas, trillions in debt.

  4. SDN
    April 7th, 2012 @ 11:32 am

     Which is precisely the reason to vote for Obama when Romney is confirmed as the nominee: the People haven’t gotten it nearly good and hard enough.

  5. Charles Martel
    April 7th, 2012 @ 11:44 am

    Why do you call Obama #OccupyResoluteDesk?

  6. smitty
    April 7th, 2012 @ 11:55 am

    #OccupyResoluteDesk explanation.

  7. richard mcenroe
    April 7th, 2012 @ 12:11 pm

     Come on, dude, Portman is going to turn this thing AROUND!  Why, he hardly put the “Bush wrecked the economy” meme back on the table at ALL!

  8. Charles Martel
    April 7th, 2012 @ 12:21 pm

    Umm………..OK.  Thanks.

  9. John Higgins1990
    April 7th, 2012 @ 12:34 pm

    “And so he’s going to ride the sheeply theory into his political grave.”
    .
    May he take the MSM with him.

  10. Bob Belvedere
    April 7th, 2012 @ 1:30 pm

    The trouble is: so many in the Mushy, Don’t-Pay-Attention-Much Middle are like excessive pot smokers: they’re short-term memory is blown.

  11. richard mcenroe
    April 7th, 2012 @ 1:44 pm

     That’s why the MittMeg attack strategy works in primaries.  The mush get stirred up by the last commercial they see and vote on impulse.

  12. Adobe_Walls
    April 7th, 2012 @ 2:04 pm

    Another minus to Mitts relentless (and scurrilous) negative attacks. If we think republican primary voters are sick of being bombarded with attack ads what about all the disinterested independents who’ve never considered voting in a primary. They’ll vote against Romney just for harshing their mellow while they were watching dancing with the stars.

  13. Adobe_Walls
    April 7th, 2012 @ 2:09 pm

    Nah, they’ll just switch to reporting how the raaaaacist right denied the first black president his rightful place  in history.

  14. Morning Feature – We the Sheeple? (Ask Ms. Crissie) | BPI Campus
    April 8th, 2012 @ 7:34 am

    […] Smitty in VA; more head than heart; aloof and out of touch; like his colleagues in the faculty lounge. […]

  15. S H
    April 8th, 2012 @ 8:24 pm

    1 in 4 don’t really buy it all. 1 in 5 are progressive leftists doing the actual rain chant. They’ve only convinced another 5% onto their side.