The Center Is Not Holding (From ISIS at Ramadi to riots at home, nothing is going right)

National Review ^ | 5/26/15 | Victor Davis Hanson

[markomalley]

“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” – W. B. Yeats, “The Second Coming”

Things are starting to collapse, abroad and at home. We all sense it, even as we bicker over who caused it and why.

ISIS took Ramadi last week. That city once was a Bastogne to the brave Americans who surged to save it in 2007 and 2008. ISIS, once known at the White House as the “Jayvees,” were certainly “on the run” — right into the middle of that strategically important city.

On a smaller scale, ISIS is doing to the surge cities of Iraq what Hitler did to his neighbors between 1939 and 1941, and what Putin is perhaps doing now on the periphery of Russia. In Ramadi, ISIS will soon do its accustomed thing of beheading and burning alive its captives, seeking some new macabre twist to sustain its Internet video audience. We in the West trample the First Amendment and jail a video maker for posting a supposedly insensitive film about Islam; in contrast, jihadists post snuff movies of burnings and beheadings to global audiences. We argue not about doing anything or saving anybody, but about whether it is inappropriate to call the macabre killers “jihadists.”

When these seventh-century psychopaths tire of warring on people, they turn to attacking stones, seeking to ensure that there is not a vestige left of the Middle East’s once-glorious antiquities. I assume the ancient Sassanid and Roman imperial site at Palmyra will soon be looted and smashed.

[markomalley]

VDH concludes: Whatever liberalism is, it is not working.

I disagree...it is working perfectly according to their plans. After all, one can't make an omelette without breaking eggs

[Biggirl]

VDH has it CORRECT. Thank-you VDH!

[Sherman Logan]

jihadists post snuff movies of burnings and beheadings to global audiences.

Anybody else remember just a few years ago, when "real" snuff movies were considered to be a myth?

[ClearCase_guy]

Meanwhile, the Obama administration has it in for Israel. Why, no one quite knows, given that the Jewish state is the only democratic and liberal society in the Middle East.

Indeed. A total mystery. But, if I had to guess, I'd say that the problem is that Israel is the only democratic and liberal society in the Middle East.

[LMAO]

Americans do have a sense that things are going wrong as reflected by lopsided wrong direction/right direction polls.

The problem is they are not sure what and why and who. There seems to be no opposition to any of this or leadership in getting us out of this mess

[nikos1121]

The most ironic and moronic thing is that whenever we go after ISIS, we are essentially on Assad’s side and Iran’s.

After the pull out, there was no good option for us...none.
The idiot in chief will never admit that.

For now, he’s doing the only thing he can do...fight politically, and let all the battlers fight it out. There is no way we should sacrifice our troops. Let these bastards consolidate then you annihilate them.

Yes, many many innocents will be killed, probably when you see Iran fighting in Syria.

Obama’s weakness has unleashed a firestorm that is yet to peak.

[doosee]

We argue not about doing anything or saving anybody, but about whether it is inappropriate to call the macabre killers “jihadists.”

We have effeminate weaklings running our government and even the highest level of the military. We are getting what 51% of the population deserves.

[LibWhacker]

The left is for whatever conservatives are against, and against whatever conservatives are for. Thus, it is happy to support savages who behead little girls, simply because conservatives are appalled by such barbarity. There is no more common ground between left and right, even on such basic things as good and evil. That’s how you know a major upheaval is in the offing. Everyone knows it. They feel it in their bones. imho.

[nathanbedford]

America Agonistes

America is in decline. An empire in decline is but a blink in time away from collapse. That America is in decline is unarguable. We are no longer the world's largest economy, China has seized the lead. We are no longer the world's unchallenged superpower, we are embattled in the Middle East, insulted in the Far East, disparaged in Europe, and despised in Latin America.

As a percentage of GDP our debt, whether calculated according to traditional reckoning of about $18 trillion or whether calculated including unfunded liabilities, ranks the US with Japan, Greece and the United Kingdom as countries flirting with the point of no return. At some time in the not-too-distant future that point is reached the credit markets will force the reform that we are politically incapable of doing for ourselves.

Declining diplomatic influence is a function of declining military power which in turn is the inevitable result of a disorderly balance sheet. America's burgeoning debts are the result of runaway entitlements, especially medical costs, which are compounded by Obamacare and a functional invasion of illegal aliens. Led by Barack Obama, the Democrat party has effectively staked its future on a policy of virtually unlimited entitlements with fiscal sobriety be damned except as defined by Victor David Hanson, open-ended borrowing to pay open-ended debts attached to ticking timebomb of interest rate explosions.

When the point of no return is reached interest rates will skyrocket, the debt will become unsustainable, interest payments will not be met, the economy will crash and with it the American century, the stability around the world afforded by America as world policeman, and basic decency at home. One is unmistakably reminded of the edict from Rome to its army stationed in England to pull stakes and go home leaving England to anarchy and invasion because the Roman Empire was moving from decline to disintegration.

One can only look at the policies of the Obama administration and conclude that this is what the transformation of America looks like and was intended to look like.

[jamaksin]

Well said - thank you. (Edward Gibbon was correct as much later Walter Kelly's Pogo was also.)

IIRC, Plato (The Republic) reminded us that after democracy comes tyranny - as in full display today.

[ProudFossil]

Indeed. A total mystery. But, if I had to guess, I'd say that the problem is that Israel is the only democratic and liberal society in the Middle East.

Two reasons for the mystery.

First, the weak Zero in the White House is a muslim and muslims hate Israel.

Second, the muslim religion demands that all infidels be destroyed. Since the muslim in the White House must see to the destruction of all infidels, Israel is an easy target since he can have the locals in the middle east do his dirty work for him.

What I fear is when he turns his attention to the 350,000,000 infidels here in the United States.

[Glad2bnuts]

Black people in general HATE Jews, Koreans and the Po Po. What is the wonder in Obama following the likes of Louis Farrakhan or Worldwide Islam. The funniest thing of all is that as black people join Islam, when it comes down to it, the Muslims of the ME think of them as second class Muslims because of their color.

[Psalm 73]

"Things are starting to collapse, abroad and at home."

Apparent to anyone that doesn't have their head in the sand - but if you're having fun and making money, there is no need to even consider the horror at hand.
There will be "wailing and gnashing of teeth..."

[CitizenUSA]

I think you can divide liberals into two camps. There are the hard core leftist leaders who know exactly what they’re doing, and then there are the willing dupes who mean well, believe the dream, and empower the leaders. I know I’ve met plenty of the latter, even professed Christians who turn a blind eye to the party of sin.

[Vince Ferrer]

Whatever liberalism is, it is not working.

Whenever I see progressives doing illogical things and ignoring the consequences, I don't think that progressivism is not working. Rather, I realize that their publicly stated goals are different from their real goals, and that society is still making progress towards their real goals.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks markomalley.