Posted on 11/23/2004 1:04:10 PM PST by NZerFromHK
"THEY are like mules," a particularly cool bishop remarked the other day of progressives in the Catholic church. "They have no heirs."
Might this also be true of the deconstructionist Left in politics, with its conceivably sui generis progenitors traceable only back to the counter-cultural sixties and seventies? There's an argument to be made.
The re-election of George Bush, an unequivocally combative conservative, and the return of John Howard for a fourth term, suggests climate change in American and Australian politics rather than seasonal variation.
After fighting Bush with dedicated unscrupulousness throughout the presidential campaign, The New York Times tacitly conceded this in a front-page analysis of the election results. The author, Todd Purdom, concluded, "It is impossible to read President Bush's re-election with larger Republican majorities in both houses of Congress as anything other than the clearest confirmation yet that this is a Centre-Right country."
It is significant that the decisive issue in the US presidential election may well have been values. A shell-shocked Left has been trying to cushion the shock by qualifying these as "moral values", in the hope of blaming everything on fundamentalist Christians, whom we all, in the name of political correctness, naturally despise as ignorant, superstitious primitives.
But "values" stands comfortably and forcefully alone in the context of the American elections. It is a word that records a broad, belated popular rejection of the deconstructionist Left's insistent bluff, sustained for the best part of a generation, that only "values neutral" policies are valid.
As in our own election, where the sudden appearance of the Family First party, backed by the Assemblies of God church, startled the deconstructionist Left out of its wits, the religious Right in America did little more than tap the barometer.
In 11 US states where voters had the opportunity to consider constitutional amendments defining marriage as a union of a man and a woman, they supported it in even greater numbers than they did President Bush, to whom the 11 also gave a majority. Fundamentalist Christians cannot alone muster such numbers. The vote was a clear statement by a majority of all voters that values neutrality does not apply to marriage.
I'm not sure if values neutrality is the parent or progeny of political correctness. But I've noticed few, if any, accusations of homophobia being flung at opponents of gay marriage either in America or here. That's a welcome climate change.
Then there is the wonder that, in both countries, abortion has suddenly – virtually since the two elections – become a matter for public discussion, ending 30 years of oppressive silence.
Since the US Supreme Court brought down its Roe v Wade decision in 1973, the deconstructionist Left has ruled the matter closed. A woman is entitled to control of her own body. That's it.
Since 1973, however, science has deepened its knowledge of fetal life and established fairly closely the point at which uniqueness may be assumed. Debate on abortion in 2004 is undisguisably complex.
I think John Kerry suspected the existence of political climate change and dealt with it by running under an assumed identity. Rejoicing all his political life in being an advanced Boston liberal from the Ted Kennedy (deconstructionist) camp, Kerry fiercely denied accusations – accusations! – that he had been the Senate's most liberal member.
A peacenik since his youthful days as an anti-Vietnam War protester, and off-and-on about Iraq, Kerry strove – imprudently, since he proved incapable of looking or sounding the part – to present himself as a warrior who would prosecute the war in Iraq and the war against terror at least as aggressively as Bush (though, of course, more efficiently).
Complaisant hitherto about abortion and same-sex marriage, Kerry brandished a little uncertainty. Towards the end of his campaign, he gingerly introduced his Catholicism – seldom before displayed outside Boston – as an electoral asset. One Sunday in Florida he went to church three times.
Kerry's Democrats sweated blood and money to persuade young men and women to register to vote, believing the youth vote was overwhelmingly theirs. But on the day, much of the American youth vote found more interesting things to do than vote. (Similarly, Mark Latham tried and failed to score from comparison of his vigorous youth with Howard's doddery decrepitude.)
Kerry won a majority from voters under 29, but there seems to have been unpredicted leakage to Bush.
What the deconstructionist Left really needs to worry about, though, here as in the US, is the vote of today's under-18s – its heirs, if it has any.
Standing on a veranda with a bright six-year-old the other day, watching the rain fall, I was electrified to hear him say, "I'm not a mad greenie or anything but I just love rain."
We live in a benign climate when aesthetics and the senses win a few from ideology.
,,, "classical liberalism". For what I hate there's a word that's understood everywhere... "progressive".
There are rumours all over the net that he's toast now but I can't vouch whether this is true...
,,, yeah, for over a week I've been watching. I think his generals have said to him that Iran's backed down and they're next up for it.
Have you heard any news that KJI was overthrown in a coup? Read this on a Chinese-language dissident news site but I didn't trust the news (it sounded too good and too much like Debka). But then his portraits came down from everywhere in Pyongyang and confirmed by the Western MSMs. And it is true the PRC sent 30,000 to the border in October for no apparent reasons to the West (the Chinese reported that cost of rice in NK has risen to U$1.65 /kg with no famine, and large scale mutiny in NK wa reported - the PLA was ent there to prevent chaos in China's Northeastern side and in an attempt to put Kim back in power).
Thundebirds Are Go !
,,, I heard the posters/murals were coming down, that he wasn't being referred to as "beloved leader" and also heard before that the Chinese troops were sent to the border.
I'm glad that maybe things in practice are more common sense in Australia than a literal reading would make it seem. In America, it is generally assumed that common sense is now the exception rather than the rule, and that any regulation will be applied in a most extreme manner. Political correctness and a totalitarian mentality called "zero tolerance" have taken over our institutions. Little boys have been expelled from school for drawing pictures of guns or playing cops and robbers (drawing a picture of a gun and drawing a real gun on someone are the same thing, to our "zero tolerance" idiots). Girls have been expelled from school for having ear rings or key chains (ear rings or keys could have pointy things that could be used as weapons). Things have gotten insane. We may not have a nanny state, but we surely have a ninny state.
We are getting some of that problem, and it is of concern.
In particular while I think we have less of the zero tolerance problem in schools than the US seems to, it does happen on occasion - schools are among the most left wing of our institutions, and we do get some very odd decisions out of them. A six year old boy in one state has just recently been suspended for poking a six year old girl on the bottom - he was suspended for sexual harassment.
But generally speaking on the very important issues, things work pretty well the vast majority of the time.
,,, what a hoot! Thunderbird 2 was my favourite too. "FAB Virgil!!!"
"I'm not a mad greenie or anything..."
LOL
I really liked the spunky girl puppet, Penny I think her name was. Her space uniform was very chic for a puppet.
,,, but I'd never be seen dead in a pink Rolls with double wheels at the rear!
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