Posse Incitatus

Praise our Lord and Savior, Barack Obama

Every now and then I like to put up a shocking headline just as an attention-grabber. In the unlikely event that there's someone reading Posse Incitatus for the first time, let me clear the air: The headlne is the antithesis of what I think of the O-man. I just used it sarcastically.

But the story doesn't end there. Many of us have been alarmed and appalled at the cult-like adoration and blind loyalty of so many Obama supporters. Indeed, the cult of personality surrounding Obama is eerily Third World-like, is it not? It is so over the top, in fact, that a well-known celebrity actually uttered those words in my headline (well, at least the "our Lord and savior" part).

Actor Jamie Foxx cut his brain fart during the recent Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles. Like so many Hollywood types, Foxx ain't exactly mensa material. But it's one thing to be of average intelligence and limited education and recognize your limitations (and therefore, be careful of what you say in public). It's quite another to throw caution to the wind and spout off with preposterous nonsense. Remember Honest Abe's adage about "better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt"?

The sad thing it, this does not shock me at all. It is just more of the same. Let's review the odious and ludicrous doings of Obama and his flock:

- The O-man's speech in front of faux Roman columns proclaiming that future historians will declare that his election was the moment "when the rise of the oceans began to slow..." and other such claptrap. 

- An American flag with the infamous Obama "O" in the blue rectangle in place of the 50 stars.

- Newsweek editor Evan Thomas stating:  "In a way, Obama's standing above the country, above -- above the world, a sort of god."

- Gullible airheads fainting at Obama rallies in the summer and fall of 2008.

- MSNBC gasbag Chris Matthews' statement that "I felt this thrill going up my leg" about Obama.

- New York Times token "conservative" David Brooks: "... I was looking at his pant leg and his perfectly creased pants, and I’m thinking, a) he’s going to be president and b) he’ll be a very good president.”  

This stuff is enough to make me sick. But like it or not, millions of Americans are all about emotion, idealism and imagery when it comes to choosing their leaders. You could try to persuade them with the best logic, economic theory and reality in the form of history, and it wouldn't make any difference.

I gave up a long time ago trying to argue with my liberal friends and co-workers. Because it's like speaking Greek to someone who doesn't understand it. The more I witness what's going on in our nation, the more I realize that the left and right are not just polarized, they are speaking, thinking and acting on two different planes.

The media has repeated ad nauseam that it's the fault of the Republican Party veering far right and being held hostage by the Tea Party types. But the fact is, it is the Democrat Party that has lurched so far left, JFK and even Lyndon Johnson would not recognize it today.

For all the talk about the GOP needing to be more inclusive and offering a "big tent," it is the Democrat Party that features the hard-core ideologues. (When was the last time a pro-life candidate spoke at a Democrat convention? And isn't it true the Democrats generally circle the wagons when one of their own is under attack, while the GOP is often quick to throw one of their own under the bus in the naive hope that the media and Dems will appreciate it and like them for it?)

We are in for some rough sledding the next four years. It would take all night to write about the many serious issues on which the two parties are not just in different areas of the map, they are in different universes. Jamie Foxx has done us a favor by underscoring the extent of Democrat delusion and dysfunction.

Pondering the view from the fiscal cliff

Wouldn't you know it: The mainstream media is out in full force putting pressure on Republicans to renege on their Grover Norquist-inspired pledges not to raise taxes.

True to form, the media parrots are marching in lockstep. If one of them has an original or contrarian thought, I am not aware of it. Remember how Drudge used to lump together media conglomorates in his headlines, e.g. "WASHINGTONPOST/ABC/CAPITOL CITIES/VIACOM/DISNEY/TIME WARNER"....et al.... (I probably didn't group the correct companies together, but you get the picture.)

Well, these days you could just as easily lump together the usual suspects in the old media: BRIAN WILLIAMS/DIANE SAWYER/WOLF BLITZER/SCOTT PELLEY/BOB SCHIEFFER/CAROL COSTELLO/GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS/BROOKE BALDWIN/SOLADAD O'BRIEN/CHARLIE ROSE...

These mental midgets knock themselves out breathlessly reporting on the latest Republican to defect (who is it now, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee?) and speculating about who might come next. They have an over-the-top sense of urgency about how crucial this is that we raise taxes lest we be hurled helplessly over the fiscal cliff, careening to a splattering end at the bottom. But not a WORD about the need to rein in profligate spending or reform unsustainable entitlements.

And nary a peep about what a minuscule amount of additional revenue would be raised -- an average of $82 billion per year over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. I am not counting the extra $127 billion over a decade they estimate would be saved in interest over the next decade as a result of the additional revenues. Ain't gonna happen! That would be like counting on my brother buying me breakfast on May 22, 2037.

In other words, letting the Bush tax cuts expire would raise enough money in 2013 to fund about eight days worth of spending. Over TEN YEARS, the added revenue would not be sufficient to pay for ONE of Obama's annual trillion-dollar-plus deficits.

The Republicans ought not to be led down this garden path, thinking that the media and Dems will love them if they agree to raising taxes. Because sure as I'm sittin' here, the Dems will promise to restrain spending in exchange for letting the Bush tax cuts expire, but won't keep their end of the bargain. It happened to Reagan in the early 1980s, and to Bush Sr. 10 years later.

The sequestration budget cuts will do more harm to the economy than higher tax rates, in my estimation. They could really wreak havoc in military communities as well as with companies that are government contractors.

But public pressure on both political parties to reach a deal will ratchet up dramatically if we allow ourselves to go over the cliff. The media will, of course, try to paint the GOP as obstructionists and blame them for the crisis, but the public's opinion of Congress is at rock bottom lows, so I don't see the Republicans being harmed much by this.

Maybe, just maybe, the Dems will be willing to bargain in good faith when it comes to reining in entitlement spending if the "cliff fall" is in the rear view mirror and the public lights a fire under them.

But as for the GOP agreeing in advance to raising taxes, well... just think of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what will happen.

It's a GREAT day for bread 'n' circuses!

I started composing a politically-related post the other day, but thought better of it. Why not give the politics a rest; let the post-election fallout settle, collect my thoughts some more, then revisit the topic next week or next month. Sometimes I THINK I have some helpful advice for the GOP and conservatives, then pessimistic realism creeps into my heart. It's a back-and-forth battle.

Today is an ideal Michigan fall day for sucking down suds, chowing some junk food and watching football. As I type (ca. 11 a.m. EST), it is 31 degrees with an 11 mph wind that makes it feel like 22 degrees.

At noon, Michigan plays at Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, which is perhaps 2 or 3 degrees warmer. At 3:30 p.m., the Michigan State Spartans play their final Big Ten game of a disappointing season at Minnesota. The Golden Gophers used to play in the Metrodome where the Vikings and Twins play, but now have an open air, outdoor stadium. The temperature in the Twin Cities now is about 17 degrees, with a predicted high of 30. With the wind, it will feel more like 18 or 20.

I'll be sure to do my "going through the motions" duty of walking for 25 or 30 minutes after I get done typing this post, and perhaps do a few bench presses or curls with my basement barbells.

These days, my exercise is not so much for conditioning as damage control. When one spends as much time commuting and sitting at a desk looking into a computer monitor as I do, cardiovascular exercise is a rare entity. By walking, climbing stairs at work and occasionally doing situps or lifting weights, I can at least give the ol' ticker a little workout and burn a few calories accrued from consumption of beer, hamburgers, french fries, Better Made kettle-cooked potato chips, pretzels and the every-so-often gigantic Chocolate Duet cookie or Bear Claw from Panera.

Don't get me wrong, here. I am not a lush who gets loaded every day, nor am I a glutton. No one would describe me as obese, but I do have some belly fat that needs to be whittled down, and I must guard against high cholesterol.  But every now and then, I like to let my guard down before returning to a semblance of discipline.

But anyway, back to the football...

The Michigan Wolverines-Ohio State Buckeyes rivalry was a big deal back in the 1970s-80s-90s, but has lost a lot of its luster in the past decade as OSU has dominated. Last year, Michigan beat the Buckeyes for the first time in seven years. Michigan has a decent team, but OSU is undefeated and playing at home. The Buckeyes are banned from playing in a bowl game due to getting busted for NCAA violations. Should be a good game, but I think OSU wins simply because Michigan is not impressive on the road against average or better-than-average teams.

Michigan State, which has lost five games by a total of 13 points, must win at Minnesota to qualify for a flea-bag bowl (one of those obscure things played at about 10:30 p.m. on a Tuesday night around Dec. 21 against another mediocre team or no-name squad). The only advantage to making it to a bowl game is it gives MSU's younger players two more weeks of practices to better prepare for their larger roles next season. Due to Minnesota having a horrendous offense (even worse than MSU's), and the Spartans boasting one of the nation's best defenses, I think the green-n-white gets it done today.

Interestingly, if U-M loses today, then loses in a bowl game (entirely possible, since the Big Ten is weak this season), it would finish at 8-5. If MSU beats Minnesota and then triumphs over some no name like Southwest Wyoming State (is there really such thing?), MSU would finish 7-6. Back on Oct. 20, U-M beat MSU 12-10 with a last-second field goal. Sounds about right.

Can't say that I will sit transfixed for 7 straight hours watching both games in their entirety (doubt my wife would permit it!). But I will take in more than my fair share. Oh, and, I just decided to make a quick run to Kroger to buy chili ingredients.

Chili on rice with some shredded cheddar cheese, a few cold brewskis, B1G football on the tube, and some political blogs and columns to read on my laptop. Ah, this is gonna be a great day. Feel like I've earned it.

The post-election blues are fast fading away as I look to the future. A day of relaxation does a lot of good. To paraphrase Bing Crosby, let it go, let it go, let it go...

 

Count your blessings and give thanks

Just got home from an enjoyable Thanksgiving gathering at my sister and brother-in-law's house. Happy to report that the food was incredible, and there were no political discussions during dinner. Post-dinner, my sister and I cracked a couple of Obama jokes with no one within earshot.

Actually, the conversation revolved more around movies, TV shows, sports and our family genealogy. My brother-in-law and I had a few side conversations about history, although we restrained ourselves from trying to get the others involved.

On this special day, let's not forget that gratitude is an essential prerequisite to happiness, and we all have plenty for which to be thankful.

Without listing everything (that would take WAY too long), here are a few of my key blessings: good health; freedom choose my own course and criticize political leaders without being punished; plenty of food and clean water; courageous and selfless members of the military who have fought for our liberty and continue to protect us each and every day; police and firefighters; a full-time job; family, neighbors, friends and good co-workers.

A sunny day in the 60s was another blessing for those of us in southern Michigan. Thanksgivings past have often been cold and dreary; sometimes there are several inches of snow on the ground. But today was gorgeous.

We may be unhappy with the presidential election results of a couple weeks ago, but we still live in the greatest nation the world has ever known. And if we put our minds, talents and energy to it, we can effect positive change to strengthen the conservative cause and take back our country. It's an uphill struggle, but this is definitely a nation worth fighting for.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Never lose sight of your blessings and the opportunities they provide.

 

 

Rice Ain't Nice

President Obama appears to be digging in his heels for U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, the person ostensibly in line to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State should Clinton decide to step down. And of late the liberal commentators have been saying, basically, "Our Rice is better than your Rice" (i.e., Condi Rice). 

Holier-than-thou Democrats are indignant that anyone should criticize Rice for going on the Sunday news shows and misleading the American public about the Benghazi attack. Obama showed flashes of anger in last week's press conference because, he alleged, Rice's critics such as Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham were trying to besmirch her reputation. He deemed that "outrageous." Oh, brother. Cry me a river.

What's really outrageous is that Obama can get worked into a lather defending a mediocre-at-best diplomat, but not show emotion about the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi or the many innocents — Muslims, Jews, Christians, atheists — who are slaughtered almost daily by radical Islamic terrorists. And wouldn't it be nice if the O-man could get as livid by the barbaric practice of infanticide (aka "partial birth abortion") as he does about senators who refuse to worship at the alter of precious Susan Rice?

In fact, Rice is not Miss Perfect as her leftist supporters often try to make her out to be. Columnist Dana Milank of the Washington Post (no conservative, he) had some very unflattering things to say about Ms. Rice's nonstellar track record.

In case you don't want to check out the column, a few highlights include Rice flipping the bird at the late diplomat Richard Holbrooke, a highly respected official; and reportedly engaging in shouting matches and hurling insults at colleagues. Shoot first is her reputation, and that's not a good rep to have for someone who aspires to be a diplomat.

Obama was over-the-top with his bluster and bravado in defending Rice, and it looks ridiculous on so many levels. First of all, anyone who is in the public arena has to accept the fact that criticism comes with the territory. Thin skins ought to grow up. 

Secondly, it makes Rice look like a wimp who hides behind the president. Certainly she is capable of defending herself (Heaven knows, she has frequently in the past, in a rather pugilistic fashion).

It has become clear over the past four years that the obnoxious ideologues in the Obama administration bristle with petulance whenever anyone is critical of their deeds or statements. This goes hand-in-hand with the runaway hubris that so often characterizes the man at the top.

It's going to be a long four years.

The Trailer Made Me Do It

Any other middle-aged Baby Boomers out there who recall the 1970s saying, "The devil made me do it"? Back in the day, you'd see goofy, gawky looking teens, shaggy hair, shabby jeans, reeking of reefer, wearing T-shirts emblazoned with those very words!

Well, fast-forward 40 years, and the liars in the Obama administration resorted to a laughable talking point about how a spontaneous protest stemming from an anti-Muslim movie trailer on the Internet led to a vicious attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans.

I had my doubts about that claim immediately, but didn't comment on this blog until the evening of Sunday, Sept. 16, a few hours after U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice was sent out to lie through her teeth on various Sunday morning talk shows. 

What did the president know and when did he know it? Were warnings ignored, and requests for greater security denied? Could the United States have sent an adequate rapid response force to quell the attack on the consulate before it was too late?

Why did the president cavalierly fly off to Los Vegas for a fundraiser the morning after the attack, knowing American blood was shed? Did former CIA Director David Petraeus lie to cover for his boss when he testified on Sept. 14? The FBI and CIA are investigating (Heck, the CIA is investigating the FBI.); congressional hearings have commenced, and various administration officials make vague references to the "intelligence community," the Pentagon and State Department. So much finger-pointing going on, someone might get poked in the eye.

During the sordid Monica Lewinsky mess (ca. 1998-99), I recall a critic of Bill Clinton saying he was "an uncommonly good liar." I am beginning to think the same thing about Barack Obama. Only Obama does it with a haughty, indignant attitude and a false bluster and bravado, as when he gave an overblown (and unintentionally condescending) defense of Rice during Thursday's presser, inviting critics to go after him rather than Rice.

Clinton's weakness was women, and that age-old male problem of his big head succumbing to his little head. Barack Obama's problem is an out-of-control hubris combined with incompetence — incompetence that leads to a tangled web of confusing, contradicting actions and statements, and desperate efforts to cover them up.

Bill Clinton famously said, "It depends on what your definition of the word 'is' is." Barack Obama and his spokespeople have obfuscated in a bureaucratic fun house of mirrors. 

And a rightfully cynical public thinks it is not just coincidence that Petraeus' affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, and subsequent resignation as CIA director were announced just after the election. And Obama claims he was notified of Petraeus' affair on Nov. 7, one day after his re-election. How convenient.

The Gen. John Allen entanglement with Jill Kelley, the woman who complained that Broadwell had sent her threatening emails, further muddies the waters. So does the fact that Kelley and her twin sister, Natalie Khawam, have serious financial problems. And the fact that both Allen and Petraeus wrote letters in support of Khawam in a bitter child custody battle she's having with her ex-husband. This whole thing may be the tip of the iceberg, especially when you consider that Kelley and Khawam are of Lebanese descent.

Meanwhile, the uber-hypocritical Democrats are chastising Republicans for "politicizing" the whole sad affair. In light of what went on during George W. Bush's administration, the hypocrisy is breathtaking. Pot, meet kettle.

Bottom line: Obama and his lackeys have weaved a tangled web of lies, and more will be revealed in the coming weeks. The second term curse, which plagued Reagan, Clinton and George W. Bush, also will take its toll on The One. (Further economic malaise is almost a certainty; a total economic collapse not out of the question.) But the Benghazi and Petraeus fiascos have kick-started the second-term woes far sooner than any of us would have imagined.

Let that sleeping dog lie ... NOT!

Maybe tomorrow night when I'm not so tired I'll tackle Petraeus/Benghazi. But I'm not up to it tonight.

So much went down on Nov. 6, that I keep mulling over various aspects of the election outcome. What follows are comments on a few things I didn't discuss in my long-winded post the other day...

- Mitt's "47 percent" statement. I don't think it hurt him as much as many believe. Voters know that all politicians say things in private (or what they THINK is in private) that they would never say publicly. (See "bitter clingers/guns/religion" by Obama). Besides, many of the millions who are surviving on government aid probably wish they could be self-sufficient but are aware of the economic illiterates currently in charge in Washington, D.C. These folks do want to work, and if they thought Mitt would improve the economy, they undoubtedly voted for him.

- Sandy & Chris Christie. I don't think the storm and Christie's effusive praise of the president helped Obama all that much either — not to the tune of 3 million votes. I seriously doubt that people who were not already inclined to vote for Obama suddenly switched to him because of seeing him hugging and consoling people on the Jersey shore. This wasn't 9/11 or Pearl Harbor, after all. That being said, did Christie have to be such a blatant brown-noser? It was nauseating.

- In the "hindsight is 20-20" department, I sure wish the Romney campaign would have advertised in Spanish on Univision, Telemundo, and Spanish radio stations. I'm not saying I like the fact that millions of people in this country don't speak English and our best way to reach them is en Espanol. I am just acknowleding you've got to play the hand you've been dealt. If the GOP had taken its case to hispanics in an effective manner, in a respectful way that made hispanics comfortable, it could have made paid huge dividends. Such a campaign could have reminded hispanics of Obama's failed economic polices, promised a course that would revive the economy, and castigated the administration for trampling on religious liberty with the contraceptive / abortifacient mandate. There was low hanging fruit here that was left unpicked.

- No war. It dawned on me that since Bush got us into two wars, and another Republican, Mitt Romney, talked tough during the campaign about not letting Iran develop nuclear weapons, many war-weary voters may have cast their ballots for Obama just because they thought he'd keep us out of war.

There. I hope that will clear the deck, and that I can put this nightmare election behind me. There's lots to talk about in the coming days, including Benghazi, Gen. Petraeus and the fiscal cliff. Stay tuned, Posse readers.

Veterans Day 2012

It is my usual practice to keep Veterans Day posts limited to a simple "thank you" for our service members and their families.

But this is an usual time.

The looming fiscal cliff will bring with it deep cuts in our defense spending.  These will render our military less mission-capable and leave American vulnerable to attack. 

Many people looked at Mitt Romney as the last chance to stop this.  I don't know if he could:  Weakening our defenses on the eve of war is an American tradition that goes back to 1789.  It's not going to stop now.

As I mentioned in my previous post, people don't change.  Not really, not in the aggregate.  Show me the most intelligent, urbane, tolerant, sophisticated collegiate professional and in a few minutes of questioning I will reveal the savage tribesman within.  Our taboos change, the tribal descriptions shift, but all the old hatred and emotions are still there.

I make no claim to be immune to this, by the way.  The difference between me and a refined liberal is that I know who I am - I do not deceive myself into thinking that I am somehow a better person than a Roman or a Viking.

Indeed, conservatives have - for the most part - embraced this part of them.  That is why so many enjoy sports, particularly those with a martial component.  We don't lie to ourselves:  we know exactly who we are.

The point is that as sure as the sun rises and sets, American will agree to massive defense cuts while expecting nothing bad to happen.  Given the choice of guns or butter, we will choose butter every time.  It is only when we are backed into the corner with no where else to go that we will (grudgingly) agree to spend money on armaments.

Some will point out to the growing distance between the military caste and the civilian world.  Yet this is nothing new.  A hundred years ago the Army was a tiny clique and the Navy was its own sea-based culture.  The deep thinkers of the time figured that city life and the development of railroads, steam engines and now the automobile had made people too weak and flabby to make good soldiers.

Some things never change.

The difference between then and now is that within the defense community there are thinkers that know what is going on.  Our planners know that we will be weak, that we will be caught off-guard and that we will have to improvise.  They know that we will be surprised and in so knowing, they ensure that the effect of that surprise will be minimal.  They know that the most important trait is flexibility.

Today I ask folks to keep in mind not only the veterans of today and yesterday, but the veterans of tomorrow.  I fear we will be calling on them all too soon.

 

Our Funereal Post-Mortem

When I logged on to compose this blog Friday night, I noticed my co-blogger had posted about the presidential election results. I made it a point not to read his post before wrapping this up so that his thoughts don't influence mine. I look forward to reading his take on this week's devastating developments.

Without further ado, let me launch into my catharsis...

I have had little desire to listen to radio talk shows or read blogs and news online since Tuesday. Frankly, it is just too painful. This kick in the gut feels like when you were young and your girlfriend dumped you. It was hard to take then, and it's hard to take now.

First of all, I now recognize that my tendency to extrapolate based on past results just plain doesn't work. Several times in this blog I mentioned results in Ohio in 2010 and Wisconsin during the Scott Walker recall election as reasons I thought those two states would be in Mitt Romney's column when the votes were tallied Nov. 6.

Ohio elected a Republican governor, Republican U.S. senator, and many GOP state lawmakers. Wisconsin kept Walker in power by a wide margin after enraged unions and leftists hurled everything but the kitchen sink his way because his policy was to rein in the greedy public sector unions. But both states went for Obama this past Tuesday.

Here in Michigan, we had a Republican governor from 1990-2002, and have one now (Rick Snyder). Our Legislature has been mostly Republican in the past 20 years. Yet we repeatedly elect Democrat U.S. senators. Our one Republican senator in the past 20 years, Spencer Abraham, was ineffective and got ousted after one term.

The factors contributing to election outcomes are many and varied. Someone like me who is not a political scientist must guard against oversimplifying. There's my mea culpa.

Some of the tried-and-true adages of past elections didn't hold true this time around. Such as, no president since FDR has been re-elected with an unemployment rate over 7.2 percent, and how can Obama possibly be re-elected when his approval rating has been below 50 percent for many months?

The expectations on voter turnout also turned logic on its head. Many of us anticipated that a much lower 2012 turnout for Obama than what he had in 2008 would be his death knell. Yet he was re-elected with 8 million fewer votes than four years ago. And even more mind-blowing, the Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan ticket garnered fewer votes than the lame John McCain/Sarah Palin ticket of 2008. Incredibly, 3 million Republican voters did not cast ballots! 

Did they think Romney was not conservative enough? Were some of them evangelicals who were turned off by his Morman faith? Or did many of them just succumb to cynicism, figuring it doesn't matter which party is in charge, they're all hopelessly corrupt, expedient, profligate spenders? 

I think there are several factors at work here. 

Barack Hussein Obama is such a radical outlier as presidents go, so far left and remote from the foundations and traditions of America, that even a liberal Republican like Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins would be hugely preferable.

But obviously, millions of people don’t see it that way. They’ve been propagandized by our school system, academia and a corrupt, partisan mainstream media. The schools don't teach history or economics very well, and far too many people are ignorant of our constitution. The popular culture has also been corrosive. What good does it do to try to convert someone who idolizes the vile Bill Maher but thinks George W. Bush is Hitler and Stalin to the tenth power? But I digress.

By now, it's almost a cliche: The Republicans need to reach out more effectively to women and Hispanics. They are too harsh with their demonization of immigration reform proposals, and idiots like Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock with foot-in-mouth disease are like bulls in china shops.

Okay, it's great to increase the number of intelligent and qualified female and minority GOP candidates — people like Mia Love, the black woman who ran for Congress in Utah; former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who both ran for office in California. But it's NOT okay to concur with the Democrats' misguided and damaging policies. In other words, don't pander to the gay marriage folks; don't concede that the government should pay for the birth control pills of a student whose law school charges $40K per year in tuition; and don't sign on to an immigration bill that could swamp this nation with entitlement-minded, nonproductive, non-English speaking people. Being led down these insidious paths simply alienates and angers the conservative base. You can pretty up the roof and second floor windows all you want, but if your foundation is rotting and decaying, it doesn't amount to anything.

Speaking of cliches, Rush Limbaugh now posits that it’s as simple as the makers vs. the takers, and the takers re-elected “Santa Claus” (i.e., Barack Obama and his fellow Dems who support an expansion of entitlements and the welfare state).

Granted, there are plenty of them in the Democrat Party, and plenty who love to bash the rich, who think the wealthy are not paying their fair share even though the top 1 percent of earners pay close to 40 percent of the tax revenues.

But let’s face it, there are many intelligent people and high achievers who are liberals and Democrats. Look at Silicon Valley, for example. Look at the universities, grad students, high profile lawyers and corporate CEOs such as David Geffen and the late Steve Jobs. These people are not lacking in motivation, work ethic, talent or intelligence. They have other reasons for voting Democrat: abortion rights, the environment, teachers’ unions, and perhaps a desire to redistribute wealth. The Republicans will never win them over by offering Democrat Lite!

Now let’s talk for a moment about the GOP candidate and his campaign. Negative advertising and the collaborative media effectively painted a caricature of Romney as the Monopoly dude with the top hat; Gordon Gekko on steroids; a greedy, self-serving job killer. The fact is, Romney gives a MUCH higher percentage of his income (literally millions annually) to charities than do the supposedly compassionate liberals. And turnaround experts like him save thousands of jobs (Staples is a prime example) even though they sometimes need to prune out the inefficient companies in the process. It's no different than weeding the garden. You can let the weeds grow in the name of "compassion," but in the process you'll choke off the useful things (vegetables, flowers, plants).

Was Mitt Romney the ideal candidate? No, but he would have made a great president. Unfortunately, he won’t have the opportunity to prove me right on that. In the music business, acting, sports and other fields, someone can be rejected, ridiculed and written off, and later come back to prove himself as consistently excellent. 

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team; Winston Churchill failed English class in grade school; even The Beatles were rejected in their early days. Alas, Mitt can’t go back to the well, even though our careening, wastefeul, spendthrift government needs him badly.

Romney’s campaign managers obviously were inept, advising him to avoid Benghazi in the closing days of the campaign, and not allowing Paul Ryan to take the conservative case to minority communities like he wanted to. They also should have had him going for the jugular in debates two and three, rather than think he could coast to victory.

This blog has admittedly been extremely long and somewhat rambling. I won’t deny that. But it’s because I am still trying to process what happened Tuesday, and what it means to our nation’s future.

Let’s cut to the chase: What’s the “takeaway”? Frankly, I am not sure, other than to say I think Rebublicans and conservatives need to do a better job of communicating their case, vetting candidates to avoid laying land mines like Akin and Mourdock, and emphasizing how Democrat policies are hurting everyday Americans.

Perhaps ours is not a center-right nation, as we’ve heard for so long. Perhaps the level of intellectual rot has penetrated so deeply in our educational system, and apathy has advanced so profoundly that millions get their “news” in the form of inane fare like “The View,” “The Daily Show” or Facebook.

And perhaps the statists and redistributionists inhabiting the halls of power in Washington, D.C., will wreck the economy so badly during the next 2 to 4 years, it will set up Republicans for decades. But I wouldn’t count on it.

My only advice is to keep fighting for the rule of law, promoting knowledge of history and the constitution, and supporting qualified conservative causes and candidates. I’ll try to do my small part with this blog, and I hope those who read the Posse will also pitch in. 

Make no mistake, we are behind the 8-ball bigtime. My wife is from Peru, and that beautiful, resource-rich nation has seen an economic resurgence in recent years. I wouldn’t rule out retiring there some day. And Canada beckons, too. But as of now, I am not giving up on the greatest nation in the history of the world and what Abraham Lincoln called “the last best hope of earth.”

Godspeed and good luck, everyone. Buck up, keep working hard and count your blessings. It’s about all we can do for now.

 

 

 

 

What I saw at the great debacle

Since the rest of the blogosphere is offering analysis of the recent election, I figured I may as well join in - particularly since I have not seen anyone else note these keen insights.

Here then are my three takeaways from Election Night 2012:

1.  Candidates matter.  Partisans get all worked up about policies, but the candidate is the single biggest component of an election.  The GOP has an odd habit of running duds.  I think we are now up to six Senate seats the GOP should have won but for an idiot being on the ballot.

It's not just the Senate, of course.  Michigan's former princess governor, Jennifer Granholm, had terrible approval numbers in 2006.  She was ripe for defeat.  Yet the GOP managed to find the most inept candidate they could in the person of Dick DeVos, a billionaire plutocrat who made his money in Amway and exported jobs to China.  Great choice, guys.

(Granholm's previous opponent was Dick Posthumus, leading to the joke that Granholm might have been beaten but the GOP kept nominating Dicks to run against her.)

2.  People are human.  That is to say, they make very human mistakes.  Abstractions like national debt, fiscal cliffs and pension liabilities simply do not have much hold in their imagination - and never have.

Throughout history, people have preferred to hear how they will get goodies today rather than putting them off for some unknown future date.  This isn't a "maker/taker" thing, it's a human thing.  Any candidate wanting to solve a non-immediate crisis has to be able to explain why it is in fact immediate.  It is very difficult to do.  Only a candidate with tons of other gifts can pull it off.

I highly recommend Winston Churchill's Second World War, particularly the first volume.  That war never needed to happen, and when it did, could have been over much sooner than it was, but for timidity and a desire to do as little as possible.

3.  The pendulum swings.  There are a lot of liberals who are convinced that they can lock in their gains and create the permanent majority that they crave, leading to perpetual one-party rule in a socialist utopia.  I have one word for them:  Canada.

Canada was totally owned by the Liberal party to a degree we in the U.S. cannot fathom.  And yet, a resurgent Conservative moment has taken control and is (slowly) reshaping the state.

Of course, Canada's Liberals also had the luxury of a properous southern neighbor and the post-war boom to support its policies.  We have neither.  Within a few months the bottom will drop out - sequester and fiscal cliff.  Obama has promised too much to too many and we are out of money.  Something will have to give.

In 2006, Granholm was reelected governor, promising that we would be "blown away" by her long-term plan for renewal. 

In 2010, the Michigan Republicans swept to total power, winning massive majorities in both chambers and controlling all other state elective offices.  The Dems hoped to retake the state House this week, but fell short.

Their last-ditch union power grabs also collapsed.

The point is that this too shall pass.

FOR THE RECORD:  I think the hurricane and Chris Christie's de facto endorsement swung the election away from my prediction.  This was a very, very close thing and Romney's post-debate momentum got stalled by a low-pressure system off the Jersey coast.  Christie had been looked at as a rising star, but he's dead to me.  Typical Jersey pol, looking out for number one.

At the precise moment when Obama's leadership and competence are in question, Christie runs out and holds his hand, telling the world he's doing great in a crisis.

Makes me want to send him a dead fish wrapped in a Springsteen album.