Posted on 07/17/2008 12:39:19 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Earlier this year I had the daft notion that no matter who won November’s presidential election, Barack Obama or John McCain, the political rancor that’s divided the country since Bill Clinton’s administration—and exacerbated greatly by the immediate, pre-Iraq, pre-Katrina loathing of George W. Bush—would dissipate and people would no longer risk rupturing friendships by debating current events in Washington, D.C. After all, even economic conservatives like myself couldn’t deny the extraordinary charm of Obama, his ability to attract immense crowds populated by rhapsodic citizens of all ages and, perhaps most significantly, the first-term senator’s writing and rhetorical skills. On the other side, it was believable that Democrats wouldn’t be entirely apoplectic if McCain prevailed, since he’s a crusty old bird who’s unpredictable and would probably serve just four years.
How incredibly naive for as is now apparent, if Obama loses (unlikely, but not out of the question), especially by a small margin, there’s sure to be a firestorm from the Left that will make the Florida recount of 2000 seem like a student- council election. Obama, of course, is seen as—finally!—the president who will return the United States to the halcyon 1,000 days of Camelot when John F. Kennedy brought to the White House not only “vigah” but a sense of optimism.
Never mind that had Richard Nixon, with the shift of a few hundred thousand votes in key states, won the 1960 election there would’ve been disappointment among his supporters but no great surprise. It doesn’t matter that Kennedy was a hawk, a fiscal conservative and, as a surrogate for his father’s dashed ambitions, a rather grubby politician. All that changed when he was assassinated; and ever since then Democrats have tried in vain to recreate his (largely retrospective) charismatic leadership.
In my discussions with friends under the age of 30—including one of my kids—who are enthusiastically plumping for Obama, they continuously compare the “post-racial” candidate to the Kennedy brothers (the inspirational ones, not Teddy), exclaiming that a new dawn is coming to America. I find this fairly comical—although keeping those thoughts private, since I already have a list of professional enemies that could fill the Manhattan white pages—since what they know about the 1960s is gleaned from lefty professors or nostalgic parents.
Sam Anderson, in a June 22 New York article (“Raise High the Rafters”), in which he gives a “rhetorical analysis” of Obama’s upcoming nomination acceptance speech in Denver later this summer, traces the senator’s rapid canonization, as many have, to his convention speech in support of “droopy” John Kerry four years ago.
“In 10 minutes,” he writes, “America watched [Obama] rip off the rumpled suit of anonymous, mild-mannered state-senatorhood and squeeze into the gaudy cape and tights of our national oratorical superhero—a honey-tongued Frankenfusion of Lincoln, Gandhi, Cicero, Jesus, and all our most cherished national acronyms (MLK, JFK, RFK, FDR).” That Anderson doesn’t include Ronald Reagan in the pantheon is telling enough, but most of all, this guy isn’t kidding, saying that Obama has “justified much of the hype.” At least he was right about Kerry.
If a huge number of Americans really do believe this sort of unprecedented hyperbole, a McCain inauguration next January might actually result in mayhem. The rejection of a modern-day combination of Jesus, Lincoln, Gandhi and Cicero just won’t be tolerated. Already, despite some quibbles about Obama revealing his shrewd, if not uncommon, strategy of tacking to the center for the fall election—FISA, Iraq, the death penalty, gay marriage, etc.—even the devotees of Pied Piper Kos don’t believe for a second that once in office he’ll chuck all the “Yes We Can” jargon aside and assume the role of the world’s most respected leader, allowing Americans to travel abroad once more without fear of condemnation from morally superior Europeans.
The cover of Rolling Stone’s July 10 issue encapsulates the hysteria over Obama. Granted, that magazine has been in a state of unlamented rigor mortis ever since it left San Francisco for New York in 1976, hopping on the Jimmy Carter bandwagon. But as a cultural artifact it can’t be dismissed as merely owner Jann Wenner’s unquenchable star-f*cking. The cover is stripped of the usual headlines—no tease of a Rush or Eagles reunion—and simply features a beatific, Jesus-like photo of Obama (wearing an American flag pin) with a winning smile and closed eyes.
Inside, Wenner’s interview with the probable next commander-in-chief is stomach churning, a pastiche of music chatter and suck-up questions. Wenner, who’s often described as the quintessential example of a narcissistic Boomer, undoubtedly at one time dreamed of becoming America’s first “rock-and-roll president” (a baton he passed on, inexplicably, to Fleetwood Mac fan Bill Clinton in 1992). But as his personal baggage precluded a run for office, he’s a self-appointed kingmaker instead. Obviously, he has lots of company in that role—it could be, right now, there are more kings than peasants in the Democratic Party and media—but Wenner has no shame.
The magazine proprietor writes in his introduction about how refreshing it was that on the chartered 757 campaign plane (where he interviewed Obama) that there was no first-class seating, not even for the modern-day Cicero. No mention of carbon footprints, naturally. Wenner’s second question (which reminds me of a ’93 White House interview he conducted with Clinton in which he twice asked the grumpy president if he was “having fun”) was about Obama’s favorite songs by Bob Dylan. Americans will be captivated, and reassured, that the Chicago pol has the entirety of Blood on the Tracks on his iPod, as well as Howlin’ Wolf, John Coltrane, Elton John and the Stones.
No interview, even a softball one like this, in which Wenner concludes by telling Obama, “Good luck. We are following you daily with great hope and admiration,” would be complete without a meaningful discussion about Bruce Springsteen.
Wenner: “And you call him the Boss?”
Obama: “You’ve got to.”
The candidate goes on to exclaim, “Bruce” is, as Wenner might say, “the sh*t.” Less colloquially, Obama gushes, “Not only do I love Bruce’s music, but I just love him as a person. He is a guy who has never lost track of his roots, who knows who he is, who has never put on a front.” I guess Mr. Barack hasn’t given Springsteen’s poignant “Brilliant Disguise” many listens, since the wealthy singer bares in that song his mixed-up confusion in the wake of his first marriage’s dissolution.
Oh, and then Obama adds, “We haven’t actually met in person.”
As I’ve written before, I hope that McCain pulls off a minor miracle and becomes president next year; but if he doesn’t, I’m already resigned to an Obama presidency, which promises to be entertaining and intellectually stimulating, if very scary on the foreign policy and economic front. I’m just so relieved that Hillary Clinton won’t occupy the Oval Office (and probably won’t ever be invited for an informal chat) that I can live with the results. But as the hype among Obama’s media enablers builds and builds and builds, I don’t think my Democrat friends will be quite as sanguine should their man lose.
There will be riots, IMO, either way: If he wins, there'll be celebratory riots, as if a sports team had won the Superbowl or World Series. If he loses, the riots will make Watts, Detroit, Rodney King or the Zoot Suit riots of WWII look like a donnybrook at a family reunion. Buy more ammo...
I’m preparing a vast reservoir of high potency schadenfreude.
So?
Ah, I never knew how to spell that, thanks. I’ve always wondered what the English translation of Fascistischerschwarzmensch is, too.
Media celebrity is notoriously fleeting, even with the media working overtime to keep their candidate’s charm factor as high as possible.
Obama’s charisma will have faded badly by November, and he has nothing else. The Obama cult will be shocked, confused, and grief-stricken if their man loses.
Lock and load.
A minor miracle for McCain to win the presidency?
Absolute nonsense.
“Obamafuhrer”..
Agree. These college kids will look back someday and be grateful their parents (and grandparents) voted for McCain.
I agree as well. See my #5. B*O could be a laughingstock by November, though his shills in major media will ignore this and push the Camelot revival myth to the very last.
I'm not worried. I don't live in an affected neighborhood. Nor do I own a Korean grocery store.
A good spasm of riots will just ensure that the first black president will be a Republican.
I say: Bring it on.
This Nation is overdue for a Tree of Liberty refreshing, and I am tired of the leftist-pampering that “our” politicians have been engaged in.
Let the battle begin.
lol! Exactly! I'm not a huge McCain fan, but seeing Obamabot heads explode in fury all over the nation after an Obama loss is reason enough for me to vote for McCain (or more specifically, against Obama). Their crying, bitter fits of rage will be like sweet maple syrup mingling with melting butter on a stack of flapjacks. Mmmmm, I can taste it already, and it is satisfying and delicious.
I do disagree with the author's view of McCain only having a "slim" chance to win though. I think he's way off on that, but that's jmo, of course.
As far as riots, nothing Dem scum do will ever surprise me. I'm not surprised they're trying to elect a marxist even though many of them probably don't even know what a marxist is, and I won't be surprised if they riot either. Such is the life of useful idiots.
I’d be happy with that (Give me Alan Keyes!). And I go to college in the middle of nowhere with 24,000 acres of land surrounding us and few Obama supporters (there all in my or Bio major too). I’m pretty safe there.
This isn’t rule by insurrection. If that happens, then jail them. As many as it takes.
There was actually a fair amount of anti-GOP violence before the 2004 election and a great deal of effort by communists, liberals, and media collaborators to disrupt the election itself with bogus claims of fraud and “disenfranchisement.”
This never reached a level the media could not ignore, but JF’nKerry obviously did not attract the kind of rapturous, crypto-religious devotion that B*O has.
How it might go:
Mass media whores like Keith Olbermann will beat the drum for an Obama landslide right up to election day, regardless of any contrary data that may come their way. As the truth of a McCain victory begins to dawn during election day itself, the media will probably shift to whatever leftist claims of fraud they can find, incite, or fabricate. They will try to hype these claims into the theme for the whole election in an effort cover the failure of their own predictions.
This will only increase the grief and rage of the Obama cult if McCain wins. As libs and media-slaves, they will take it literally as the end of their world. I believe they will lash out.
On the other hand, B*O could actually win, in which case we are all up the proverbial creek as he packs the Supreme Court with radical judges.
More ammo?
Like I tell the other officers at the Parole office when they ask me about living in the “inner city”, “I’ve got enough to get more”.
“Their crying, bitter fits of rage will be like sweet maple syrup mingling with melting butter on a stack of flapjacks.”
Yum!
LOL! Half the democrats I talk to think he's a muslim and the other half of the democrats I talk to think he's a "hate-whitey" black militant (but some of them like that.)
That being said, I think it's less than 20% of the voters we'll have to deal with come November 5th, and when they stare down the guns I think it'll be a whole lot quieter than people imagine.
Obama is becoming a bore. Everything he says is scripted.
Is he hiding his real intentions or is he
just an empty suit?
He sounds like a “B” grade Green Bay WI. anchorman.
No one cares.
That is why we have a 2nd Amendment, my friend.
My fear (has been for a long time) is that a heavily Democrat congress will work with a Democrat president to legislate an INCREASE in the number of justices on the SCOTUS (like FDR wanted to do), so they take the SCOTUS from 9 to 11 or 13...and then Hussein gets to pick up to FOUR more justices.
The number of justices on SCOTUS is not determined by the Constitution, it is up to the other branches to decide how many justices sit on that body. I see the 'rats doing this to ensure liberalism on the bench for DECADES.
Actually, that is the ONE thing you do want to own. The Korean's stood firm in protecting their property and were given a pass by the authorities. But then, everyone was given a pass since the LAPD didn't bother to even show up.
I will never forgive the LAPD for being so derelect in their duties. They stood aside while watching the riot progress and innocent motorists get beat almost to death. There was NO excuse for not sending in the Police and National Guard ASAP!
I had to send my daughter out of the room, less she witness the real-time horrific site of so many destroying their neighborhoods and beating others senseless.
YOU really don't want that. Any reasonable person doesn't.
few riots but expect mass suicides /s
leftists are lemmings, they will all go over a cliff together
At least we will be able to enjoy the Lemmings’ Lament:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg-2DTLlDOM
I don't care who wins. I will work to make either of their administrations a complete failure. A successful administration by either of them could be the last real election in America. They have to fail and fail big.
Do you realize that any civil war fought by Americans will prominently feature mass artillery, horrendous air strikes, deployment of missiles, widespread use of flamethrowers (because they aren’t terribly hard to fabricate) and that it will leave many cities a burned out shell? The power grid will be down for years?
That literally millions of people would die, and that some of them, while liberal and possibly evil are your friends and relatives?
I think of this a lot. It may indeed come to this.
My liver may failing and I hope to be called home to God before it gets to this. Be prepared for war? yes. That is prudent at this point. But do not pray for it, nor wish for it.
You mean they might burn the Capitol?
“Let the battle begin.”
I won’t deny the appeal of this, but I have to side with Navy Vet. If nothing else, it would miss the real targets: Liberal moonbats and their media masters are not about to get their nuanced hands dirty or risk their precious white skins by doing their own rioting.
If they actually want violence, they will incite others to do it for them.
“leftists are lemmings, they will all go over a cliff together”
Promises, promises. I’m still waiting for all those Hollywood lefties to leave the country after the 2000 election.
Reginald Denny, He should have never stopped that truck.
The National Guard should have been there and they should have fired onto the rioting mobs.
What is it in the black psyche that brings on mass race based violence and killing and that their leaders seem to tacitly approve it by inferring a moral equivalence of Rodney King to Reginald Denny and South Central LA.
WANT it??? Of course not!
But, I do see it as inevitable.
Too many people in this Nation now see the gooberment as their foster parent, spouse, and/or general hammock. Too many of our “leaders” have discovered that the way to retain political power is to pander to the above citizens with the proceeds on my wallet.
The Second American Revolution/Civil War IS coming, and coming soon; I am very much afraid.
This Nation is worth saving - but saving it is going to be extremely costly in blood.
See #34
If it comes down to it, (and I don’t mean just putting down riots), the leaders/inciters of the rabble and/or the puppet-masters will not be immune.
Not only the Supremes. What appointed positions for William Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, George Soros, Daniel Granholm, Wrong Rev. Wright, THE convicted liar?
“Reginald Denny....”
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
He got beat so senseless he ‘forgave’ his attackers.
In the words of Rodney King...
“CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?”
Everyone is always talking about Obama’s risk of assassination if elected, but why hasn’t anyone mentioned the risk to McCain? All the serious anger over the lats 2 decades has come from the left it seems to me, and we know how irresponsible these people are when it comes to violence.
Koreans in Watts are going to be ready to go this time, I'll bet.
I think that patience has about run out with all of this from all sides. Riots break out, the rioters and looters maybe in for a very big surprise.
If indeed the nation is “overdue” then not “wanting that” is rather like not wanting chemo when the cancer is discovered. Don't confuse not liking with not wanting.
What bloody revolution? The liberals don’t want violence. How long would such a fight last? They’d pee their pants, cry and surrender. They aren’t willing to fight and die for anything.
The funny thing is, that the people who would be rioting are the same people who have worked all their lives to require that they be unarmed. Not real good at advance planning, those Donks...
BLOAT
I'd love to see the left explode into riots, and I'd love to see the good citizens of this country finally become fed-up enough to do something about it.
Sounds like threats and scare tactics to me
Sounds like threats and scare tactics to me
I stopped reading right there.
OOO... wiots! From leftist bedwetters?
By all means, please do because most “rioting” tends to destroy your own nest...a plus if it happens on some college campus.
it also further exposes the rioters as immature pouters wihich would create a large backlash....another plus.
So I have another reason to work for Bawhack Nobama’s loss.
Ever notice how SproingStinks fans are the biggest buttheads and assholes in any grouping of people? It’s like a surefire poker tell.
What a thoroughly planned and doted over little list. It's just as precious as Obama's prose.
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