The Day After

“In victory, you deserve Champagne, in defeat, you need it.”
Napoleon Bonaparte

With that in mind the hangovers this morning must be biblical in scale.  For many in this country this is a day to pick up the pieces and to pick our collective heads up off the floor.  We have elected a leftist as the next President of the United States.  Perhaps we do get the kind of government we deserve.

A few observations:

First it was nauseating this morning to see pundit after pundit and host after host on Fox, MSNBC, etc. fawning over the great thing the US has done in electing a black man President.  There is nothing inherently good in this.  In fact feeling that it is good a “black” man was elected is the opposite of what those promoting a color blind society and better race relations have pushed for.  The office should be filled by the one with the best experience, ideas, and ability.  To introduce the race of the candidate as making him or her somehow a “better” choice only reinforces the negative feelings of many on the issue of race.  It is a step in the opposite direction of what we were supposed to be going for.

Second, this election may prove a watershed in a way largely ignored.  That is the rising tide of a socialist mindset over multiple generations of Americans.  Increasing numbers of Americans are looking to the government for the solutions to their problems.  It is a mindset and attitude reinforced by generations of indoctrination in government schools.  A large percentage of Americans now view it as a right to be provided with such things as housing, employment, health care and even childcare.  They see the nanny state which takes care of them in exchange for their freedom of choice as a positive development.  There are those of us who see that kind of state as a living nightmare along the lines of George Orwell’s 1984.

The recent economic crisis has only highlighted this desire for the government to take charge.  The howls of protest from a large percentage of Americans over the bailout were completely ignored by the government.  This same federal government that knows that all it has to do is get us used to state intervention and we will simply bend over and take it time and again until even those who hate it begin to expect it.

Third, facts have little bearing on elections.  Everything from Obama’s highly questionable associations to his “spread the wealth” Marxism to the recent revelation of his desire to “bankrupt” those building coal powerplants were ignored by the masses which it turns out, are asses.  In a free society such as America has possessed these things should have sent a shudder up the collective spines of the electorate and made a pariah of Obama.  Instead they buried their heads in the sand, hated George Bush and pulled the trigger.  The problem is that this time the electoral bullet was pointed at their own heads, and they did not even know it.

von Rum

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To Hell In A Handbasket

Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Obama, Americastan.

As bad as that?  Who knows?  Despite my cynicism and utter lack of faith in the judgment of the American people even I did not think they would ultimately fall for the foolishness of Obama.  I was mistaken, we are that stupid.

Were these other men monsters to begin with?  No, none of them was.  They all expressed a deep concern for the well being of their people and sought to improve their lot in life.  The economy was their greatest concern.  That and being sure that everyone had their fair share.

Then things got ugly.   I will not make this a history lesson beyond this.  Many in the past have made themselves out to be the savior of the common people from the the fat cats and greed.  I know of no instance in which those who said they wanted to help did not in the end do boundless harm.

The electorate of the United States have made a decision that I pray will not come back to haunt them terribly.  Those of us who’s views are more conservative and traditional can only pray that not too much damage is done and that some sanity rises from this farce.

Perhaps most of all this is a betrayal of those in uniform that serve us so well under such difficult circumstances in such an imperfect and hostile world.  To place them in the hands of such an utterly unexperienced and naive commander in chief is an insult to them all.  They deserve better than this from the people they defend.  Von Rum cannot help but feel that the men and women of our armed forces have been ignored at best and at worst used as pawns in this game for the White House.  We can only hope that cooler heads around this semi-Marxist will prevail.

Should this blog continue look not for mercy upon either party in this.  They both got us into this state of having elected a man who represents the opposite of so much that America has always stood for.  A pox on all their houses.

von Rum

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Hail Ceasar and the Hat Trick!

Well if the past two days are not interesting to you politically then I suppose nothing I can insert here can tickle your innards.

On Thursday night we had the Triumphal Procession of The Chosen One in Denver. It was, for all its pomp and spectacle something that Gaius Julius Caesar would have engineered to gain the support of the plebeians in Rome. It was well planned, well rehearsed, very well delivered and well nigh completely devoid of substance.

Obama has become the master of condensing the least thought into the most words. It is as though the campaign was based on the idea that if one repeats the words change and yes we can enough, people will become immune to facts.

This is perhaps one reason that Obama decided he was not up to the challenge of facing McCain in a series of town hall meetings. In a forum in which he would have to seriously answer questions and debate the details he would be lost.

That being said McCain pulled a hat trick of sorts on Friday morning by nominating Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice-Presidential running mate. It was a broadside against the standard operating procedure of Washington politics. Whether it works or not remains to be seen.

Funny thing is that Obama’s campaign of all things jumped on her inexperience. She is younger than Obama yes, but that is all they really have. She has held executive positions as both a town mayor and has challenged and overthrown the established Republican governorship. Only a true character and a very strong woman could have conceived and carried out such things. As governor she is Commander in Chief of the Alaskan National Guard as well as running the many services and departments of that vast state. Compared to her Obama may as well drop the inexperience tack right now. He has not a leg to stand on.

All in all things could really interesting here. A true socialist and an old political hack on the democratic side verses an old line republican liberal and a new guard conservative on the other side. The whole thing might be worth a drink after all.

von Rum

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Three in the gate

Now that we have three candidates in the starting gate, let’s see where we go from here. First there is the now completed Democratic ticket of Obama-Biden. Then there is the yet to be announced Republican ticket of McCain-(whoever). I suspect the whoever will be Mitt Romney but that is a semi-informed opinion only.

What is somewhat more informed is this. Either way we are screwed. Not that I wish to sound cynical, though in today’s political climate to sound otherwise is to be the poster child for naivety. This is the best electoral system money can buy.

As the Democrats flirt with self destruction in Denver the Republicans have, despite the many misgivings about McCain welded themselves into a cohesive unit for the election. One hears endless blogging and punditry over the Clinton supporters who are threatening mutiny over the primary elections. The fact that Hillary was not picked for the VP position is only heightening the tension.

How much of this is actually the Clinton group preparing to decamp and support McCain and how much is media driven sensationalism is anyone’s guess. I daresay there are enough disgusted Clintonites to create an issue and perhaps even turn an election.

With Biden on board though, anything could happen. The Senator from Delaware has for decades had a recurring bout of foot in mouth disease. The fact that he now has the most public stage of his career only increases worries in the Democratic camp about their pick.

With no room for slippage Biden seems almost doomed to do or say something that can damage or derail Obama. That is perhaps a sign of how desperate Obama is. He critically needed to show that his campaign had someone on board with some age and experience. The ability to have a conversation without simply repeating the phrase “change yes we can” till people faint was perhaps a reason too. If nothing else Biden can talk. Whether that helps the Democrats in the long run is up for grabs.

You have to say this for McCain. The man never quits fighting. A year ago he was considered dead in the water and foundering. Now he is the Republican nominee. Such are the vicissitudes of politics.

With McCain though there are pitfalls as well. His age is actually no issue, though one will be made of it. More disturbing is his recently emphasised Cold Warrior mentality. The Soviet Union is dead. The foreign policies that sustained us from 1945-1991 will no longer do. There is vast room for improvement there. I have not doubt that national security will be job number one McCain. I wonder though will it be a short sighted security.

So the way I see it we have an Obama victory and the constant retreat of America on all foreign fronts as well as the coddling of Islamic revolutionaries throughout the Middle East. Domestically we will probably see the unrestrained growth of government programs with no fiscal responsibility. This has the net effect of handing China the mortgage to the United States.

With McCain we have a far more robust foreign policy. Unfortunately it may be so robust it creates for us conflicts with Russia which are in no way in our national interest. Again the net effect of that is to strengthen China. Domestically, probably more of what we have seen with some emphasis on a better energy policy. At least McCain has a chance of getting the other side to go along with him.

All in all the next two and a half months may be a grand time to bring back that grand old Czech song popular on the eve of the Munich debacle ,”Roll out the barrel”.

I have a feeling we will all be a couple of drinks behind come November.

von Rum

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