Posted on 07/06/2013 7:07:24 AM PDT by Dick Bachert
Rabbi Steven Pruzansky
(Rabbi Steven Pruzansky is the spiritual leader of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck, New Jersey.)
“The most charitable way of explaining the election results of 2012 is that Americans voted for the status quo – for the incumbent President and for a divided Congress. They must enjoy gridlock, partisanship, incompetence, Economic stagnation and avoidance of responsibility.
And fewer people voted.
But as we awake from the nightmare, it is important to eschew the facile explanations for the Romney defeat that will prevail among the chattering classes. Romney did not lose because of the effects of Hurricane Sandy that devastated this area, nor did he lose because he ran a poor campaign, nor did he lose because the Republicans could have chosen better candidates, nor did he lose because Obama benefited from a slight uptick in the economy due to the business cycle.
Romney lost because he didn’t get enough votes to win.
That might seem obvious, but not for the obvious reasons. Romney lost because the conservative virtues – the traditional American virtues – of liberty, hard work, free enterprise, private initiative and aspirations to moral greatness – no longer inspire or animate a majority of the electorate.
The simplest reason why Romney lost was because it is impossible to compete against free stuff.
Every businessman knows this; that is why the “loss leader” or the giveaway is such a powerful marketing tool. Obama’s America is one in which free stuff is given away: the adults among the 47,000,000 on food stamps clearly recognized for whom they should vote, and so they did, by the tens of millions; those who – courtesy of Obama – receive two full years of unemployment benefits (which, of course, both disincentivizes looking for work and also motivates people to work off the books while collecting their windfall) surely know for whom to vote. The lure of free stuff is irresistible.
The defining moment of the whole campaign was the revelation of the secretly-recorded video in which Romney acknowledged the difficulty of winning an election in which “47% of the people” start off against him because they pay no taxes and just receive money – “free stuff” – from the government.
Almost half of the population has no skin in the game – they don’t care about high taxes, promoting business, or creating jobs, nor do they care that the money for their free stuff is being borrowed from their children and from the Chinese.
They just want the free stuff that comes their way at someone else’s expense. In the end, that 47% leaves very little margin for error for any Republican, and does not bode well for the future.
It is impossible to imagine a conservative candidate winning against such overwhelming odds. People do vote their pocketbooks. In essence, the people vote for a Congress who will not raise their taxes, and for a President who will give them free stuff, never mind who has to pay for it.
That engenders the second reason why Romney lost: the inescapable conclusion that the electorate is ignorant and uninformed. Indeed, it does not pay to be an informed voter, because most other voters – the clear majority – are unintelligent and easily swayed by emotion and raw populism.
That is the indelicate way of saying that too many people vote with their hearts and not their heads. That is why Obama did not have to produce a second term agenda, or even defend his first-term record. He needed only to portray Mitt Romney as a rapacious capitalist who throws elderly women over a cliff, when he is not just snatching away their cancer medication, while starving the poor and cutting taxes for the rich.
During his 1956 presidential campaign, a woman called out to Adlai Stevenson: “Senator, you have the vote of every thinking person!”
Stevenson called back: “That’s not enough, madam, we need a majority!”
Truer words were never spoken.
Obama could get away with saying that “Romney wants the rich to play by a different set of rules” – without ever defining what those different rules were; with saying that the “rich should pay their fair share” – without ever defining what a “fair share” is; with saying that Romney wants the poor, elderly and sick to “fend for themselves” – without even acknowledging that all these government programs are going bankrupt, their current insolvency only papered over by deficit spending.
Similarly, Obama (or his surrogates) could hint to blacks that a Romney victory would lead them back into chains and proclaim to women that their abortions and birth control would be taken away. He could appeal to Hispanics that Romney would have them all arrested and shipped to Mexico and unabashedly state that he will not enforce the current immigration laws.
He could espouse the furtherance of the incestuous relationship between governments and unions – in which politicians ply the unions with public money, in exchange for which the unions provide the politicians with votes, in exchange for which the politicians provide more money and the unions provide more votes, etc., even though the money is gone.
Obama also knows that the electorate has changed – that whites will soon be a minority in America (they’re already a minority in California) and that the new immigrants to the US are primarily from the Third World and do not share the traditional American values that attracted immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a different world, and a different America. Obama is part of that different America, knows it, and knows how to tap into it. That is why he won.
Obama also proved again that negative advertising works, invective sells, and harsh personal attacks succeed. That Romney never engaged in such diatribes points to his essential goodness as a person; his “negative ads” were simple facts, never personal abuse – facts about high unemployment, lower take-home pay, a loss of American power and prestige abroad, a lack of leadership, etc. As a politician, though, Romney failed because he did not embrace the devil’s bargain of making unsustainable promises.
It turned out that it was not possible for Romney and Ryan – people of substance, depth and ideas – to compete with the shallow populism and platitudes of their opponents. Obama mastered the politics of envy – of class warfare – never reaching out to Americans as such but to individual groups, and cobbling together a winning majority from these minority groups.
If an Obama could not be defeated – with his record and his vision of America, in which free stuff seduces voters – it is hard to envision any change in the future.
The road to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and to a European-socialist economy – those very economies that are collapsing today in Europe – is paved.
For Jews, mostly assimilated anyway and staunch Democrats, the results demonstrate again that liberalism is their Torah. Almost 70% voted for a president widely perceived by Israelis and most committed Jews as hostile to Israel. They voted to secure Obama’s future at America’s expense and at Israel’s expense – in effect, preferring Obama to Netanyahu by a wide margin.
A dangerous time is ahead. Under present circumstances, it is inconceivable that the US will take any aggressive action against Iran and will more likely thwart any Israeli initiative. The US will preach the importance of negotiations up until the production of the first Iranian nuclear weapon – and then state that the world must learn to live with this new reality.
But this election should be a wake-up call to Jews. There is no permanent empire, nor is there is an enduring haven for Jews anywhere in the exile. The American empire began to decline in 2007, and the deterioration has been exacerbated in the last five years. This election only hastens that decline.
Society is permeated with sloth, greed, envy and materialistic excess. It has lost its moorings and its moral foundations. The takers outnumber the givers, and that will only increase in years to come.
The “Occupy” riots across this country in the last two years were mere dress rehearsals for what lies ahead – years of unrest sparked by the increasing discontent of the unsuccessful who want to seize the fruits and the bounty of the successful, and do not appreciate the slow pace of redistribution.
If this election proves one thing, it is that the Old America is gone. And, sad for the world, it is not coming back.”
The Problems We Face Today Are There Because The People Who Work For A Living Are Outnumbered By Those Who Vote For A Living.
"Blood running in the streets. Mobs of rioters and demonstrators threatening banks and legislatures. Looting of shop and home. Strikes and unemployment. Trade and distribution paralyzed. Shortages of food. Bankruptcies everywhere. Court dockets overloaded. Kidnappings for heavy ransom. Sexual perversion, drunkenness, lawlessness rampant. The wheels of government are clogged, and we are descending into the vale of confusion and darkness. No day was ever more clouded than the present. We are fast verging on anarchy and confusion. (George Washington in a 1786 letter to James Madison, describing the effects of fiat paper money inflation then ravaging America in the pre Constitutional period.)
"The annihilation (of the paper money) was so complete that barber shops were papered in jest with the bills; and sailors, on returning from cruises, being paid off in bundles of this worthless money, had suits made of it, and with characteristic lightheartedness, turned their loss into frolic by parading through the streets in decayed finery which in its better days had passed for thousands of dollars." (Contemporary writer, Breck, 1786)
"Paper money polluted the equity of our laws, turned them into engines of oppression, corrupted the justice of our public administration, destroyed the fortunes of thousands who had confidence in it, enervated the trade and husbandry, and the manufactures of our country, and went far to destroy the morality of our people." (Peletiah Webster, 1786)
"When the servants of the people are paid in something other than that which the people themselves produce, the roles of master and servant will be reversed." Thomas Jefferson writing in opposition to the early effort by "Friends of Paper Money" to foist an unbacked, fiat money system upon the people of the United States.
If you don't fully understand those warnings, let me know and I'll send along a full explanation.
> “Romney lost because he didn’t get enough votes to win.”
CORRECT.
> “Romney lost because the conservative virtues – the traditional American virtues – of liberty, hard work, free enterprise, private initiative and aspirations to moral greatness – no longer inspire or animate a majority of the electorate.”
WRONG.
Post-Election statistical surveys pinpointed by regional demographics that it was the old ‘Perot Bloc’, the blue collar mostly white working class that stayed home, rejecting Romney as they did G.W.H. Bush #41 years ago.
A sobering read. I still hold out hope that there may yet be more of us than there are of them..and that younger people are starting to grasp the magnitude of the problem and continue the fight. I’m not ready to have the epitaph written just yet. But we have some extremely tough fights on our hands to keep it from happening.
Yes, Romney lost because of the “free stuff”. But he also lost because the GOP establishment prefers to keeping control of the party over actually winning elections. Therefore, viable conservative candidates were carpet bombed into oblivion if they entered the race or simply intimidated out of running in the first place.
The end result, more conservatives stayed home on election day 2012 than the conservatives who stayed home on election day in 2008 because they couldn’t stomach McCain. And, that is exactly how the GOP establishment likes it. Allow the Tea Party and the grass roots to take over and the entire party establishment loses their power/control base. That’s FAR more important than things like freedom, the free market and self determination.
In each of the loosing elections I've heard the following phrase "I'll reach across the aisle" from the Republican candidates. When I hear that, I think of the word "Milquetoast", "RINO" and see a stealth Liberal/Progressive in Republicans Clothing.
No Romney lost, not because the Democrats bought the election (and they did buy a lot of votes), but because Romney's past caught up with him (RomneyCare and Gay Marriage). And the fact that these two belied his "conservative" message.
I see no mention of the widespread, blatant fraud carried out in key swing states.
Sounds like a reflection / projection of the majority of the electorate. (incompetent, apathetic, and irresponsible). We get the government we deserve.
What voter fraud ?
Says Eric Holder
“Romney lost because the conservative virtues – the traditional American virtues – of liberty, hard work, free enterprise, private initiative and aspirations to moral greatness – no longer inspire or animate a majority of the electorate”
wrong.
The electorate is starving for a leader who holds and champions these values
Romney lost because he was not articulate and inspiring about those principles.
He may be a good man and a good able leader, BUUUT
with rare exceptions, Mitt’s public persona is that of an insipid elitist milktoast from a strange secretive quirky religious cult who had no fire in the belly to lead this nation and who stayed constantly on defense
Mittens kept his mouth shut about Barry Benghazi when he had the chance to stand up for those dead souls.
NO RINO will be able to inspire with these values because they don’t hold them except as campaign slogans.
LOL... democrats are better at using these values as hooks and they don’t even believe in them
Obama also knows that the electorate has changed – that whites will soon be a minority in America (they’re already a minority in California) and that the new immigrants to the US are primarily from the Third World and do not share the traditional American values that attracted immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a different world, and a different America. Obama is part of that different America, knows it, and knows how to tap into it. That is why he won.
As long as this country continues to bring in 1.2 million legal immigrants a year, 87% of whom are minorities as classified by the USG, it will continue to descend into a third world country and tribal politics.
Yup. I have had my tag line up since the election. While the GOP has gained in the House, Governorships, and state legislatures, the inability to win a majority of the Presidential vote since 92 -except for 2004- is distressing. I suppose we could take some heart that the GOP would probably control the Senate if it weren’t for some terrible candidates, but ....does anyone really trust the GOP after the Rubio fiasco?
Republicans lost because they led the way in exporting our economy of jobs and factories to the rest of the world. Abandoned by the international interest corporations in search of world wide profits, our citizens turned to government. Those that rely on government vote for Democrats. Restoring American jobs will restore the voters who elected Reagan to vote Republican again. Success breeds Republican voters, unemployment breeds Democrats. Washington Republicans thought that by screwing Obama they would screw Democrats, instead they screwed themselves.
Romney lost because of massive voter fraud and the fact that the moochers, looters and inner city tribal parasites outnumber the producers. This country has gone from land of the free and home of the brave to land of the free stuff and home of the depraved. You are living in a dream world if you think otherwise. You would be better served spending your time and resources preparing for the horror that is coming.
Dick, your comments to this article included:
“Blood running in the streets. Mobs of rioters and demonstrators threatening banks and legislatures. Looting of shop and home. Strikes and unemployment. Trade and distribution paralyzed. Shortages of food. Bankruptcies everywhere. Court dockets overloaded. Kidnappings for heavy ransom. Sexual perversion, drunkenness, lawlessness rampant. The wheels of government are clogged, and we are descending into the vale of confusion and darkness...”(George Washington in a 1786 letter to James Madison)
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That Washington quote is inaccurate, at least to that reference.
That text does not appear anywhere in the letter that you cite;
and I am unable to find it anywhere properly attributed to George Washington.
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http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/constitution/1784/madison2.html
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I do see that some parts of of your attribution are there:
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Mount Vernon 5th Novr 1786.
“My dear Sir,...”
“...No Morn ever dawned more favorable than ours did
and no day was ever more clouded than the present!
Wisdom, & good examples are necessary at this time
to rescue the political machine from the impending storm.
Virginia has now an opportunity to set the latter,
and has enough of the former, I hope, to take the lead
in promoting this great & arduous work...”
“...Without some alteration in our political creed,
the superstructure we have been seven years raising
at the expense of much blood and treasure, must fall.
We are fast verging to anarchy & confusion!
A letter which I have just received from Genl Knox,
who had just returned from Massachusetts is replete
with melancholy information of the temper & designs
of a considerable part of that people...”
“...Thirteen Sovereignties pulling against each other,
and all tugging at the fœderal head,
will soon bring ruin on the whole;
whereas a liberal, and energetic Constitution,
well guarded & closely watched,
to prevent encroachments,
might restore us to that degree of respectability & consequence,
to which we had a fair claim...”
“...With sentiments of the sincerest esteem & regard
I am—Dear Sir Yr Most Obedt & Affecte Hble Servt
Go. Washington...”
Yes aprox 6 million working class whites sat home. 2016 is unlikely to be different. But by then I imagine we will be in total economic collapse or CW11 so it won’t matter.
OK, we all know what the problems are. The question is, “Can it be fixed?” If so, how?
It’s too easy to draw such conclusions offered by Rabbi Pruzansky in Patriot Thoughts and amplified by yourself in comments. Particularly if your in a position to deal with the artificial increasing costs of everything which have been created by socialist policies and its resultant regulations which run across the board. Unfortunately those conclusions are also being drawn by those in control of the apparatus of the Republican party who are in search of the most perfect “demographic”.
And that “perfect demograpic” is showing the way out of dependence on the system which created it. Not condemming those forced to rely on it
It doesn’t seem to dawn on advocates of these positions as costs contunue to increase that they are the result of endless edicts and thousands of pages of endless regulations restricting resources which is comming close to even engulfing those taking that position. But they have already engulfed those on limited incomes to the extent what sub assistance the maker of those increases offers namely the government are taken because of necessity.
In socialism it is the government and those who are in control of it but the powers that be in opposition can’t and didn’t even mention that word during the 2012 campaign and refuses to do so now.
I was never a Romney fan, but I voted for him and by the end of the campaign thought he ran it excellently. America as was founded is over, time for the new patriots to do what it takes to survive. Starve the beast whenever possible, overwhelm it when possible. We are a captured operation.
The status quo was the represented by both major parties on the ballot.
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