Where Did These Guys Come From? The Origins of Obamism [Victor Davis Hanson]

pajamasmedia.com ^ | December 23, 2009 | Victor Davis Hanson

[junta]

The toxic word to all that VDH mentions is “Responsibility.”
These creatures of the self loathe the word and the concept.
But most respectable conservatives do not want to destroy the Left they want to make a living catching the crumbs and so this wonderful tool will sit idle while all the time we have to digest idle speculation about abstract polemics.

[Interesting Times]

VDH gets to the heart of the matter. Thanks for the ping.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Love VDH, but even he is operating under the assumption that when we sicken of this totalitarian regime, we'll just be able to trade it in.

I assure you, that will not be the case.

Absolutely right! They have fought too long, most of it under the radar, and too hard to not hold on to it now. They have been seeding the path to success for several years by using groups like ACORN to sign up illegal and phony voters, voters still on the rolls, and they will be adding more. If that somehow fails they will then go to the courts and have as many recounts as it takes, "finding" new votes along the way, to eke out a victory.

If that fails, or if pre-election polls show the likely hood of losing, there will be a crisis requiring federal intervention with martial law or somesuch.

We are no longer in the realm of politics as usual.

[dennisw]

VDH and Charles Krauthammer are two giants who are always right....except for minor things

[CPT Clay]

Amen

Bookmark this thread!

[The Pack Knight]

I'm actually trying to figure out what he means by "19th-century liberalism." I'm assuming he's referring to the liberal movement of in early 19th century Europe which was largely a reaction to the Napoleonic Wars and their aftermath.

I usually think of it as "18th century liberalism", though, particularly in the American context. The traditions that informed liberalism in the 19th century were largely set forth by 17th and 18th century thinkers like Locke, Smith, and Kant. The United States had, of course, adopted this tradition in the late 18th century, and it continues to serve as its first and greatest expression in the world.

I'm hoping he isn't talking about late 19th century Progressivism, which is where modern American "liberalism" has its roots. I'm pretty sure he isn't, though - Hanson is pretty Euro-centric in his history and knows the difference between liberalism and progressivism, so I'm pretty sure he was referring to the 18th-early 19th century thought that forms one of the foundations of modern American conservatism.

[rockrr]

Unfortunately I took his meaning to be the latter. It is uncharacteristic of VDH to be so imprecise in his verbiage and is the reason for my unease. Either way (and thank you for defining them so well) it presents a troubling (mis)characterization of players and events.

Classic Liberalism hasn’t devolved into a mess and there is nothing noble about Progressivism.

[cookcounty]

In the 1920's, Progressivism gave us Recall, Referendum and Initiative, in many states. Which many conservatives consider good things.

Though from a pure Republican point of view (and this is Free Republic), these were not steps forward.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

If you mean that “The Divine One” and his apostles will not voluntarily surrender their offices, then I agree that there is a good possibility that this will be so. It is time for Americans to start thinking about “keeping their powder dry.” The coming election will be a good test. If it is as corrupt as I think it will be then the current crowd will maintain power signaling to the rest of us what must be done.

[rockrr]

The cynic in me sees them as anti-ethical shortcuts to good governance. The pragmatist in me recognizes them as as a natural reaction to poor governance. In an ideal world where we actually looked past the immediacy of our own interests and elected representatives who possessed integrity none would be necessary.

Unfortunately it is far from an ideal world.

[Tolik]

Yes, and I’d like to add Sowell and Steyn to VDH and Krauthammer. Rush also. And Prager. It’s hard to call Jonah Goldberg a giant, but he stepped up very strongly lately.

From the tier of last knowns, Bill Whittle is amazing. He writes less and speaks more lately (PJTV) - and that makes FR posts of his videos much less popular - many freepers prefer reading over watching.

All IMHO of course

[b4its2late]

Hanson’s so good at what he does.

[wintertime]

“19th-century liberalism.”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Personally, I call these people the “19th century Utopian Progressives”.

[jazusamo]

Excellent article!

Merry Christmas, All.

[Blind Eye Jones]

“It took messianic narcissistic Barack Obama to expose the full extent of the mess that a once noble tradition of 19th-century liberalism had devolved into. Only he could have rammed it down the throats of the American people, and when he is done, we will suffer, but also sicken of it for quite a while.”

America has been moving to the left for quite a while now and this may be the culmination of years of effort. 19th-century liberalism looks optimistically toward truth and freedom — universities wouldn’t ban funding for Marxist profs because they might have some truth to impart and people should have the freedom to pursue the truth — thinking that these are noble goals. What it failed to realize is that the Marxist prof was actively conspiring against 19th-century liberalism, capitalism and democracy. (Frankfurt School, Marcuse, etc.) On top of that, the Marxist prof was actively recruiting for his cause within the student body. The parable here is the story of the frog swimming the scorpion across the river. The frog does so because he naively thinks the scorpion won’t kill him. In the same way liberalism believes that Marxism has, like itself, the same noble ideals and that it won’t seek liberalism’s destruction — especially, after liberalism has been so kind and good to it by allowing Marxism to be taught on campuses. The scorpion does kill the frog (because that’s what scorpions do) and Marxism will kill liberalism because that’s what Marxism wants to do. The logic of their nature determines it. In the frog and the scorpion parable the scorpion dies and maybe Marxism will usher in its own death and destruction — a nuclear nightmare scenario of civil war comes to mind. Marxism is like a virus that becomes more active at certain times and then recedes into a dormant state. It’s like a cold sore on the body politic but that cold sore can change and becomes more virulent if the body is weaken. Liberal democracy and freedom needs constant vigilance and was expressed a long time before.

[TEXOKIE]

bumping your post 8

[zot]

Thanks for the ping.It remains to be seen whether America will ever be free of the results of Obamaism.

[metesky]

Good column. VDH bump.

Merry Christmas, T and thanks for all you do around here.

[BroJoeK]

"I wish I knew the answer to this mess - I do not. I have prepared as best I can for the the natural consequence of 0baminism - the collapse of civil order. I won't say how or to what extent because I know that we are being monitored. I also decline to say how I will react should a state (or my state) rebel for the same reason...

"...Keep your powder dry..."

It is senseless to hint darkly of violence or illegal revolt, when nothing like that is going to happen -- certainly not at this point.

Indeed, as of today, the most likely future scenario is something along the lines of repeating the mid-term elections of 1994 under Bill Clintoon. Then voters rose up, asking Republicans to restore fiscal sanity, bury Hillary-care, and begin investigating the Clintoons' misbehavior.

And as of today, the numbers for November 2010 look even better than they did a the same time in 1993. So there is plenty of reason for optimism.

We will see no violence, no revolt or secession by Conservatives. So forget about "keeping powder dry" for that reason. What you really need to do is purchase long lengths of rope -- with which lasso your neighbors and drag them to the polls next November. ;-)

Merry Christmas!

[RaceBannon]

If that’s what you believe then you aren’t paying attention.