The concept of the American notion of a “meritocracy” is fading unless by a rapid reversal of fortune we rally ourselves from this self inflicted nightmare.
by Victor Davis Hanson
Now that the election is over, we are starting to see the contours of what lies ahead for the next four years. Here are some likely consequences from the Obama victory.
1. Barack Obama is not very interested in tax reform, deficit reduction, or curbing annual spending. He believes in big government, and the bigger the better. His tenure is not so much a repudiation of Reaganism as it is of Clintonism, and the whole notion of keeping the annual growth of federal spending at or below 2 percent, balancing the budget, and declaring the era of big government over. Going off the cliff would give Obama the extra revenues from across-the-board tax hikes on the 53 percent that can fund further expansions for the 47 percent in federalized health care, food stamps, unemployment, and disability insurance and in block grants to bankrupt cities, states, and pension funds. Gorging the beast always demands more revenue; and more revenue will always come from those who must “pay their fair share.” That is also a good thing in itself given the innately unfair compensation of the marketplace, which must be rectified by an intelligent, always-growing government, run by humane technocrats rather than grasping Wall Street speculators. In other words, why should we expect serious discussions on the deficit? When so many have so much less than so few, we have hardly begun the necessary “redistributive change.” That is facilitated, not retarded, by large deficits and the need for much higher taxes on the fat cats who did not build their own wealth.
2. One could make the argument that Barack Obama was the first president since Jimmy Carter to put daylight between Israel and the United States — both rhetorically and materially on issues such as settlements, the Netanyahu government, and disputes with the Palestinians. Yet Obama still received over 60 percent of the Jewish-American vote. That anomaly might suggest a number of things. For all practical purposes, the supposed Israeli lobby is now analogous to the fading Greek lobby — with similarly diminishing clout in foreign policy.
If Obama can still count on a strong majority of the self-identified Jewish vote, then he has established that U.S. policy toward Israel is largely freed from domestic political concerns. Diehard support for Israel now no longer rests with the American Jewish community, though it may come from evangelical Christians and from Americans in general who prefer to support consensual governments in their wars against authoritarians. [........] That may be a good thing for the melting pot of America, but it is most certainly a different thing as far as U.S. support for Israel is concerned — as we return to a pre-1967 relationship with a Jewish state that is increasingly on its own.
3. The traditional conservative antidote to Obamaism has fallen short. That is, the arguments of principled conservatives about the perils of big government, redistributionist economics, and diminutions in personal freedom seem for a majority of Americans to be outweighed by the attraction of government subsidies and entitlements. If there is going to be a check on Barack Obama’s redistributionist agenda, it will probably have to come from upper-middle-class independent voters and blue-state residents. Such Obama supporters may soon notice that the new federal and state tax rates, the envisioned end to traditional deductions such as those for blue-state high taxes and for mortgage interest, and means testing for most government services are aimed precisely at themselves. [.......]Blue-state elites do not yet believe the voracious Obama tax monster is coming for them, but it is — as they will see.
4. Barack Obama has successfully conducted a number of wars of hyphenated-Americans against the regressive establishment. When the Obama campaign asked supporters to check off which “constituency groups” they identified with but did not include “whites” or “men” among the options, or when the Reverend Joseph Lowery, who gave the 2009 inaugural benediction, can declare without pushback that white people are going to Hell, or when one totals up the Obama administration’s vocabulary of racial polarization (e.g., “nation of cowards,” “my people,” “punish our enemies,” “put y’all back in chains”) and collates the invective with that of the Black Caucus and the likes of MSNBC, then we are headed for a backlash analogous to that of the 1970s among the white working class. In the new racialist landscape, is it any surprise that Jamie Foxx can joke about killing white people, or that Chris Rock can call the Fourth of July “white people’s independence day,” or that Samuel L. Jackson can brag of voting along strictly racial lines, or that Morgan Freeman can equate opposition to Obama with racism, even as he reminds us that Obama is only half black?
Many of us had hoped that the phenomenal rate of intermarriage and assimilation had made the old racial rubrics anachronistic, if not irrelevant, but Obama has managed in brilliant fashion to resurrect them in terms of minority groups’ having grievances against the assumed white majority that does all sorts of awful things, from arresting children on their way to purchase ice cream to stereotyping people solely on the basis of race.
[.........]
5. In the new climate of “fat cats,” “corporate jet owners,” “pay your fair share,” “you didn’t build that,” and “1 percent,” the more Americans have, the more they are envious of those who have more. One might have thought that the technological revolution, in combination with the welfare state, had redefined poverty altogether in ways that the fossilized entitlement bureaucracy could hardly grasp. Certainly, a Kia, an iPhone, and a big-screen TV do not disqualify one from the menu of American entitlements. That today’s earner or recipient of $35,000 in wages or entitlements has better appurtenances — in terms of computer power, phone, and car — than the $250,000 earner of 30 years ago means little. The point is not that the modern iPhone gives the poor man access to more knowledge than the entire RAND Corporation had 50 years ago, but that the contemporary RAND Corporation has more access than what an iPhone can provide, leaving its owner in relative terms still poor. That today’s Kia is better in many ways than yesterday’s Mercedes matters little — it is still not today’s Lexus. One of the great lessons in the age of Obama is that wealth and poverty will always remain relative. Happiness is now defined not as having the basics I need, but as ensuring that someone else does not have more. Obama has successfully appealed to the oldest and basest of human emotions — envy and jealousy, masked with the notion of enforced fairness — and for now they trump even the human desire to be free.
Read the rest - Ripples from the Election
Tags: Victor Davis Hanson
The thug who attacked Steven Crowder has been identified.
Tony Camargo
@ Speranza:
just now catching up on this miserable story…liberal union racists expressing themselves…what a bunch of apes…did anyone stand up with this vendor?…if I were there I’d be in jail…
the sick irony is that the police unions cannot protect you and the teacher unions are rolling out stupid students at a record pace etc
Speranza wrote:
Have they announced the date for his Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony yet?
heysoos wrote:
They used real S.A. type tactics. Ernst Rohm would have been proud.
Good points. I think Obama abstracts and aggregates his work enough that the cause of a persons angst can’t be directed at Obama. Only to those people Obama puts the alinsky methods on. Scapegoats. The GoP isn’t smart or wise enough to punch its way out of that wet paper bag. They should take this next two years and just create an industry of running negatives against Obama and make him stand up to them.
@ Speranza: It’s a form of mob violence, hold the whole mob accountable. Lawsuit and liens for all if they can’t control their discourse.
darkwords wrote:
Bring a law suit against the thug Tony Comargo. Btw Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. is going to wind up one day like his father, in the need zone of some stadium.
@ Speranza:
‘hoffa’ junior never spent day one driving a truck or working in a warehouse. some ‘teamster’.
the rest of the teamsters missed that little soiree in michigan as they were at work delivering goods and packages.
A marine that probably shouldn’t be in a Mexican jail. All it takes is a personal interest from Hilary or Obama.
coldwarrior wrote:
I really would love to see “Hoffa,Jr.” behind bars.
@ darkwords:
But I am not sure why a person would travel with any type of weapon into a foreign country unless the foreign country provided it. Or at war.
coldwarrior wrote:
Trumka worked at a mine someplace for a couple of summers while going to college. After getting his law degree, he became a UMW official.
Most of the union leadership are frauds.
A DHS official that should be fired or made to trade places with the Marine above.
lobo91 wrote:
cant think of any who arent at this point.
A vote for Obama is a vote for violence.
A union member is violent like that because they are immersed in that type of culture. Coffee at the union shop involves a lot of illegalities.
Sarah Jessica Parker, the shoplifter, and the nobel peace prize. I suppose that is probably the least of crimes the nobel peace prize committee staff.
somebody should go to this guy Comardy’s house, bitch slap his wife and burn down his kitchen…because she was, like, you know, making his meals there for him…fair is fair
darkwords wrote:
It’s no different than traveling from one state to another within the US with a gun. You need to find out what the laws are where you’re going before you go there and make sure that you comply with them.
I make that point to every class I teach.
ISrael just needs to draw the line in the sand for western media editors. Recognize the right of israel to exist or be bounced from the UN.
All these obfuscation over slivers of land being so important is just a deception to massage the future battlefield in favor of low life muslims.
@ 19 lobo91:i boarded a flight with friends once. The husband tried to take a working souvenir lugar on board in his luggage. I don’t think his wife knew. Held up for 3 hours. Lost the souvenir. Looking back I think he was being deceitful. At the time I just thought he was stupid. He as a person with a higher ed degree.
Hello guys,
Just wanted to drop by and let you know that you are doing a great job and I still lurk and read as much as possible.
(Nic used to be linoleumknife, but I couldn’t get a password reset due to outdated email, lol.)
@ darkwords:
Some of the dumbest people I’ve ever met have advanced degrees.
@ lobo91:
They said on Fox this morning that he had done that and that he was told to declare it when he got there, which he did. That’s how they got him.
@ lobo91:
You’re not kidding. I have noticed with my own friends that the proportion of common sense, decency and work ethic have a negative correlation to the amount of time spent in a “higher learning institution.”
@ lobo91:
when I travel (here, inside the country), I always take my shotgun and a couple boxes of ammo…a few months ago I was stopped near Amarillo and the trooper asked if he could look in my trunk, not search, just look…I said sure and there was my Stoeger and antique Crescent single shot, breaches open just laying there…he liked the Stoeger…and I was on my way
WestTexasMike wrote:
email the blog for your password, i should be able to rest the linoleumknife profile.
WestTexasMike wrote:
Hey good to see you. Do you want us to switch your old nic to this email?
@ coldwarrior:
Thanks.
lobo91 wrote:
Aint that the truth!
@ Rodan:
Sure, why not? LOL, I did spend quite a bit of time cultivating an image with that nic.
@ Rodan:
@ WestTexasMike:
i just reset his password with his original nic.
gotta email it to him when emails us
Rodan wrote:
and grab me a double Stoli and Gatorade on your way back…thanks
mskelly wrote:
He asked people on the US side of the border, not the Mexican authorities. That was his mistake.
WestTexasMike
Change it to “Big Ol Sharp linoleumknife”
Much better……….. Thank you Admins.
Just sitting down for some afternoon coffee and I see that LK and Dorian are back.
*doing the Snoopy Happy Dance now*
linoleumknife wrote:
yinz bet!
@ Calo:
Yo Calo,
How have you been? I have been lurking for quite awhile. Life got real busy and I needed some time to breathe and collect myself. Married with children now! LOL
@ heysoos:
@ linoleumknife:
Fabulous!
What a nice surprise to see you here -- makes me feel all festive and whatnot.
@ heysoos:
Anytime you’re dealing with authoritarian regimes (like Mexico, Chicago or NYC) you have to be pretty careful about gun laws. There was an FFL dealer a few years ago who ended up spending time in a Mexican prison on a charge of smuggling ammunition into the country.
He was in El Paso for a gun show and decided to drive into Juarez to have dinner with some friends (this was before Juarez became a war zone). Unknown to him, when unloading his merchandise at the show location, he’d missed a single box of 9mm ammunition that slid under the seat of his SUV. They found it at the border. As I recall, he spent over a year in prison before being released.
ps
Coldwar etal,
Is there any way the blogmogracy can invite Ludwigged Out Van Quick Quack on the blog as a “guest poster”.
He can down load one of his rants and that would cheer myself and mstfk up for days at a time.
As long as he does not allow facts and common sense into the post it should be great fun for all.
Call it the “Commic Section”
@ Calo:
Glad to hear it.
It’s nice to be back.
@ taxfreekiller:
We might just do that!
@ lobo91:
Did he try to pay them off? Usually if you offer money, they drop charges.
@ lobo91:
my days of visiting Mexico are over, guns or no guns
Rodan wrote:
yeah, the old pre-paid fine…probably doesn’t work too well in the border areas…I’ve had to fork it over in Jamaica a couple of times
“is there no other way we can take care of this and avoid anymore trouble?”
Rodan wrote:
No idea. I don’t know the guy. I just read about it.
We are not sure of the how,what,when and stuff, but we have been down on the border ( for 100% sure on U.S. side) and we have been tracked by blood hound good small groups who have some very high tech shit they use as they move north from down south.
Once we talk loud bang pots and pans and let them know for sure we are not what they are looking for they break contact.
Do not think Obama nor Holder etal knows shit about what is going on down there , nor should any one think they give a rats ass.
Our BP guys just do not want to end up like Ramos and Compean for sure like Brian Terry.
@ heysoos:
That’s the way it works.
On topic:
VDH as usual is spot on. The biggest threat we face as a nation right now, IMHO, is debt and the electorate. We can fix our problems with an electorate that refuses to admit them, or with a debt that crushes all future growth and prosperity. It’s looking more and more as if America will need to take the junky route and hit ROCK bottom before we can fix things.
I’m not so sure that the average American today desires to be free. Fre of responsibility and worry, yes, but true freedom comes with both responsibility and worry. I don’t think the average American wants freedom at such a price.
@ linoleumknife:
PIMF: we can NOT…..
@ Iron Fist:
And there, as the Bard would say, is the rub. I think we are too far down the road that only severe pain and suffering will change it.
@ Iron Fist:
Freedom is a dirty word to lots of Americans. I have witnessed it most in my generation. People in their 20′s recoil at the phrase “individual rights”. I use it in arguments and they say that I’m a racist, or I hate poor people, or some such nonsense. When I try to engage the more intelligent ones, they claim that the “common good” overides the individual. I try to explain that is exactly what tyranny is, but there is no penetrating their fortress of intellect.
wow
like old home week here
LK, glad to have you active now
MikeA wrote:
LET. IT. BURN!
@ linoleumknife:
Sure it does…if you’re a Marxist.
Speaking of really important issues facing America:
@ linoleumknife:
This is partly the fault of the Right. For the past 20 years, they have ceded outreach to younger voters to the Left. Only one side gets told and that’s what people believe. Another problem is the GOP hasn’t pushed Individualism either.
But my opinions are in the minority on the Rightwing Blogosphere. Sadly I think it will take a 40+ state blowout loss to the Democrats in 2016 for the Right to get its act together.
@ lobo91:
The mindset is truly terrifing. They would take everything you have, burn you at the stake and salt the earth where you lived if it was for the “greater good.” All through the direction of someone else. Like a bunch of damn drones….
hmmmm
over at space.com there is a story about a new asteroid that zipped by between the earth and the moon at only 140,000 miles away
Hah!
suck it mayans
linoleumknife wrote:
Most of them couldn’t tell you the difference between the Constitution and the Communist Manifesto.
@ rain of lead:
Might as well. The Progressives have the upper hand the Right is dysfunctional and into excuse making.
Football playoffs are coming up and that is what is really important to me right now!
Rodan wrote:
heh…a man has to understand what’s important in life….
Go Cowboys!
@ Rodan:
Not to dismiss the failures of the Rebubs, but the most important battle is in education. Having recently, 10 years ago, come through the public education system, I can assure you that it is more than onesided. It is downright brainwashing, and that was 10 years ago! I graduated highschool damn near a full blown commie. It took 2 months in the oil field to fix that attitude.
@ linoleumknife:
there was a great quote about it being better to be ruled by psychopath than a lib
because sometimes the psycho will get bored and leave you alone sometimes but a lib will always be in your buisness because it,s for your own good
@ heysoos:
Hsssssss……! LOL, Texans all the way baby! :-p
@ lobo91:
No, but they know Che must be awesome because he is a cool revolutionary!
linoleumknife wrote:
This has been the Right’s BIGGEST mistake. They focused too much on Federal elections and not on School Board elections. That is where the Left’s power derives. Those small insignificant elections is what the Left focuses on. The Tea Party would have been better served focusing on School Boards.
The TV station finally got the video posted of the story I was interviewed for yesterday.
I guess this is my 15 minutes of fame…
//
@ Rodan:
Conservatives should have, the TEA Party was pulling the emergency break. It will be difficult to overcome many of the bad policies, expenditures and other decisions made over the last 20 odd years. Trying to reclaim some of the key vehicles; media and education will help, but it is probably too late to do anything effectively in the near term.
@ lobo91:
so,how long did it take them to get that 5 secs of air time?
rain of lead wrote:
About 20 minutes.
they should have cut out the DA and just let you speak
then gave out your ph# and web address
Hope and Change…from the same scumbag who brought you “here is how we conduct fraud during the election”…we now bring you to, “shut your mouth bi*&h, I will talk to whatever bi*&hes I feel like!” The progeny of Rep Jim Moran VA, Patrick Moran! A real man.
Democratic congressman Jim Moran’s son, Patrick Moran, has pleaded guilty to beating his girlfriend. The assualt outside a nightclub left Moran’s girlfriend with bloody nose and a fractured skull.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/congressmans-son-pleads-guilty-assaulting-girlfriend-bloodies-nose-fractures-skull_666179.html
Ruger 5.56 or Bushmaster 5.56…?
rain of lead wrote:
I wasn’t thrilled with the editing. They did run a caption with my name and the business name, but it was only up for like 1 second. I missed it the first time I watched the segment.
@ bluliner10:
fists, elbows and boots….smash his knees, kick in his face, break both elbows and pulverize his hands into mush…he’ll think twice next time…no need to shoot the idiot
@ heysoos:
Oh no, sorry, two thoughts into one post. One is on the scumbag Moran. The second is what do I buy before it is unavailable again.
bluliner10 wrote:
I see…but shooting the fucker outright is a good plan too…you fracture my skull, I pop a 9mm hole in yours….fair is fair
@ lobo91:
Yeah, I caught that. Wouldn’t want people to find a firearms instructor to teach them self defense. That would be bad for society….
////
@ heysoos:
CCW is next. Just a few additional administrative steps to getting a handgun from the Exchange. But buying a long gun or carbine is an easy day. Military ID, Orders and proof of my residence here. In out, no muss no fuss.
@ Rodan:
I think that the TEA party was thinking of throwing a wrench in the engine. Instead they should have confiscated the gas…..
bluliner10 wrote:
what a brave little shit he is, hitting girls.
a real man, his dad must be so proud.
@ linoleumknife:
The “knife” is back. Watch out! Now we got us a party!
@ coldwarrior:
Isn’t he one who’s son was caught advocating voter fraud as well and had to be removed from the campaign?
@ coldwarrior:
The Demonrats’ war on women continues at record pace.
@ bluliner10:
in the next few weeks I’ll have a pistol (new mexico)…after that I’m going full enchilada…gonna get a 20g auto loader and cut it down
@ Carolina Girl:
It’s not a real party till someone gets stabbed!
hitting girls is a learned behavior.
it is.
wonder what the old man is hiding.
@ coldwarrior:
He is the same ass that was caught on video discussing ways to conduct voter fraud. A true wonderchild, wonder what union he was auditioning for.
@ coldwarrior:
I grew up watching my father act like an ass. Thankfully it didn’t imprint on me. It does seem to be learned, but there are exceptions.
bluliner10 wrote:
he’s gonna cross the wrong person one day, guaranteed.
but hey, at least he didnt drown his girlfirend in an oldsmobile. then he would be senator!
linoleumknife wrote:
of course.
@ linoleumknife:
So far the union goons in Michigan have presented us with several viable candidates.
@ coldwarrior:
Beckel was just excusing the union thugs who tore down that tent and trapped a bunch of women and old people in it because the tent was “paid for by the Koch brothers.”
I’m amazed that those people can sit there next to him without punching him.
@ coldwarrior:
BTW, did Moron, er Moran, get re-elected?
coldwarrior wrote:
“just like your dad did”
J Hiatt
@ coldwarrior:
I would be afraid to find out. Ironically, while this story eluded the Yahoo news feed, the non-story regarding Sarah Palin’s son filing for divorce made the grade.
@ lobo91:
which is why i wont watch any show with that bloated asshole on it. he is such a worm.
Almost $17,000 raised for the hot dog vendor harassed by the union goons.
Poor media. They’re in a pickle now. How did they report all that non-TEA Party violence this year when they couldn’t be bothered to report the REAL union violence?* Is a puzzlement!
*not that they won’t try…..
bluliner10 wrote:
well sure, the palins are reality tv stars. see?
@ bluliner10:
The media will never pass up the chance to point out that Sarah is the worst mother in the world -- Susan Smith and Andrea Yates got nothin’ on her.
Carolina Girl wrote:
dunno. all i know is that in my district murtha’s second banana lost big and wont be back.
Carolina Girl wrote:
ignore and replace
coldwarrior wrote:
Fox would have a great opportunity to put on a counter to the Jon Stewart show featuring Gutfeld and Jim Norton. They’re witty and funny and unlike Stewart, they might throw some REAL news in the mix.
Beckle needs to go. It’s about time Fox learned that they can put as many libturds on the air as they want and it isn’t going to change anyone’s mind as to the conservative nature of the network, so how about they stop trying.
@ Carolina Girl:
That whole thing would not go down here in Texas. People don’t take to being bullied around here. In between Gladsby and the hotdog vendor I’m beyond disgusted. I’m actually in a union, closed shop for my profession, and I would stand up real quick if they acted that way. In fact I have already had a couple of instances here regarding my postitions and my refusal to keep quiet. Job protection goes both ways…
I love this blog, it’s my kind of place! Oh, to be fair, Yahoo did pick up on “gov’t travel micro economic development guru, Sen Melendez (D-NJ) had an illegal alien working as an intern!” Wonder if it was a ‘personal servant’ he picked up on his fact finding (hooker trips) to the Dominican Republic?
@ coldwarrior:
So many reasons to chair dance today!
@ bluliner10:
A sex offender to boot….
@ bluliner10:
And DHS was told to stand down on arresting the criminal until AFTER the election.
Later all…
linoleumknife wrote:
That’s a plus on a job application to work for a Democrat.
Carolina Girl wrote:
Just a coincidence, I’m sure.
@ linoleumknife:
The thing that pisses me off about the nature of my job: Even though Texas is a RTW State, I HAVE to join the union to work at my job. It is under federal jurisdiction and therefore a closed shop.
@ Carolina Girl:
It is amazing, somehow this guy had to get clearance to work in the Senate buildings, and this just came up…before/after the election…no matter…Palin’s SON IS GETTING A DIVORCE!!!!! What a shitty mom she is!!!!
bluliner10 wrote:
that is the FIRST thing that came to mind when i read the details on that story.
Sorry for my use of foul language. I saw something shiny and could not control rational thoughts.
bluliner10 wrote:
there is no such thing as foul language, just foul people
@ lobo91:
Democrat Job Opening
Wanted: A individual of low moral fiber; must be willing to break laws and lie as if it’s all you know. Bonuses for sexual deviancy, drug addictions and theft. Pay: as much as your stupid constituents will turn a blind eye to. Christians need not apply.
@ coldwarrior:
Yes, the tale looks a little different, but I suspect somehow they are still related incidents. A walking rolodex if you will.
@ coldwarrior:
Remind me….isn’t knowing employment of an illegal alien a CRIME?
But then, not paying your taxes is a crime…..if you’re on the right. If you’re on the left, both of them are a resume enhancer.
@ Carolina Girl:
Can’t figure who is more grating beckel or juan williams.
Carolina Girl wrote:
I’m sure Congress exempted themselves from that law, like most of them.
@ lobo91:
it’s the very best job in the entire universe if you play it right
heysoos wrote:
Of course. They’re the only people in America who are exempt from insider trading laws, too.
That’s how so many of them have become multi-millionaires while earning less than $200k a year.
lobo91 wrote:
the fact that congress has inside access to Wall Street and can trade accordingly might be a warning sign of mixed interests
heysoos wrote:
nahhhhh. not at all!
citizen_q wrote:
Alan Colmes!
Speranza wrote:
yeah…but he isnt a fake ‘tough guy’ like beckel.
@ 73 lobo91: Good job. No puppy for the camera? If someone was robbing my house and running away, I am still going to shoot them to protect my family. The thieves in this area like to re steal from the same property. The threat doesn’t go away just because they are running away.
citizen_q wrote:
Bob Beckel hands down. Juan Williams is at least a gentleman.
coldwarrior wrote:
He is a feret faced weasel.