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Life Cycle of the Movement
Submitted by Jon Henke on Sun, 11/09/2008 - 22:53
Right Wing News asks whether this Scott Adams Dilbert comic might be a "Comment About the Incoming Obama Administration"...
I wonder if it might not apply more to the conservative movement over the past 40+ years. It looks like planning for the second week is already underway.
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Comments
The Obama Administration
I've been listening to a lot of the Obama supporters, and I have to say that he's not going to be able to keep from letting them down. He might be intelligent, but there's no way to pay for all of the proposed programs without raising taxes, unless he wasn't to continue the legacy of deficit spending. I'm sort of waiting for his fans to turn on him.
a big part of Obama's appeal
... was that he was not George W. Bush. On that front, he has already succeeded in the eyes of many.
In addition, he already has hundreds of executive orders and bills targeted for rolling back. The federal ban on funding stem-cell research, for example, will be lifted within days of the inauguration.
There will be enough early activity, I think, to placate his supporters and buy time to work on the thorny issues that will require a lot of real work -- such as withdrawing troops from Iraq or overhauling the health care system.
Obama's anti-drilling exec order
Obama's anti-drilling exec order Is opposed by 66% of Americans if you go by the exit polls that CNN did in the election.
It wont take long for Obama's extremist positions to take him away from the millions who voted for 'change' but not THAT particular brand of it.
I hate to sound cynical
But gas prices are down, so I think very few will care too much about offshore drilling now. If they shoot back up, then it will become an issue again.
I agree that with so many things to be rolled back, the capacity to alienate a lot of voters is there. If Obama is astute, he'll give with one hand while taking with the other.
Reality
Is already hitting Obama like a frying pan to the forehead.
-He won't withdraw the troops from Iraq anytime soon
-He won't get a deal on universal healthcare
-He won't be able to cut taxes
None of the "big ideas" of the campaign. He's already downplaying expectations. The next sound you hear will be"things were soooo bad because of Bush that they can't be fixed anytime soon . . ."
And this $700 billion "bailout " is growing by the day. Managing the stampede of industries demanding rescue will be a full time job.
Bush is still POTUS
Considering that BHO doesn't become the President for another two months, I think it's a little dumb to be putting so many expectations on him right now. Considering that Bush still has the power, he's the one that should be fixing all this stuff - which he can't, because he's incompetent. Besides that, you're right that the Obama administration will use the Bush screw ups to get out of their promises, but if you think that this will translate into people turning against him, then I think you underestimate how much all of our current problems are blamed on Bush. The Bush failures give him a little bit of a free pass.
I didn't put these ridiculous expectations on him
he did.
Why would he make such promises? Isn't he a sittng US Senator with access to the state of current affairs? You're not saying his promises to the people were lies, are you?
Reagan had a very tough economy when he took over from Carter. Inflation, stagflation, the misery index, hosteges in Iran, weakened military, cold war. I don't recall him lowering expectations.
don't think he was smart enough to.
and this economy is significantly worse. our debt is significantly worse.
and Volkher solved the stagflation, at the cost of Carter's presidency.
You don't have to be smart to lie to the people
Reagan took over with a 13.5% inflation rate and a 7.2% unemployment rate.
Obama starts with less that 5% inflation rate and a 6.5% unemployment rate.
Looks like Reagan took over a very bad situation.
Are you saying that Obama wasn't aware of the the current economic situation when he made these promises as late as October? Or are you saying he did know, and lied, like he did to McCain about public finance?
-Obama promised a tax cut for 95% of Americans whether they currently pay taxes or not.
-He promised health care for the 40 million uninsured Americans
-He promised to immediately withdraw from Iraq.
He won't do any of these things, even though he has majority in congress.
Reagan broke the Numbers
Bush broke the numbers
clinton Broke the numbers
Bush II tried to break the numbers, but the economists called bull.
I'm sorry, but the only one who has been straight about inflation was Carter. And we all saw where that got him!
http://www.shadowstats.com/
health care will continue to be revenue neutral, so it will get done. tax cuts are revenue positive, if targeted correctly, so it will get done, and withdrawing from iraq, which he promised in about two years, will happen, as it is revenue positive.
I'm hoping we get some science investment, but after the latest AIG bailout, I'm not too optimistic.
Maybe we can get a constitutional amendment
and Carter could run again!
I'm so nostalgic for those days . . Ted Kopel coming on everynight to tell us which day of the hostage crisis it was . . a 13 % mortgage . . .that general feeling of malaise.
But, the great ones only come around once in a generation.
At least he's still around to "help out" with the middle east.
oy, good lord no!
now is not the time for an idealist like carter.
I'll take realpolitik anyday.
the arc for plans Dilbert describes is experienced by leaders
from both partties, except that I can't think of many projects that Bush administration pursued besides Iraq war, NCLB, and privatizing social security. Obama was elected for his many project proposals and its easy to imagine any and all being stymied. This excerpt from Krugman's new column fits with the theme of Dilbert cartoon:
"About the New Deal’s long-run achievements: the institutions F.D.R. built have proved both durable and essential. Indeed, those institutions remain the bedrock of our nation’s economic stability. Imagine how much worse the financial crisis would be if the New Deal hadn’t insured most bank deposits. Imagine how insecure older Americans would feel right now if Republicans had managed to dismantle Social Security.
Can Mr. Obama achieve something comparable? Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama’s new chief of staff, has declared that “you don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste.” Progressives hope that the Obama administration, like the New Deal, will respond to the current economic and financial crisis by creating institutions, especially a universal health care system, that will change the shape of American society for generations to come."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/opinion/10krugman.html?_r=2&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin.
The part I found most interesting is Rahm's quote:
“you don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste.”
Naomi Klein's interesting thesis just needs a small tweak to be applicable to how current economic crisis could help usher in major progressive initiatives like universal healthcare.
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Socialism
http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine/the-book
Will conservatives second week of planning include serious proposals for addressing a crisis like healthcare? I find this site interesting to read, but lacking a focus on policy, which is what your party will need to come out of the wildernesss.
When did Rahm say that??
It's rather important, as he's had changing duties, and might have meant oh, about ten different things about that.
I, along with most entrepreneurs and certainly detroit, currently favor universal health care, as it seems to be the only solution on the table. If you, as a Republican, can provide a more marketbased solution to keeping costs down (aka make sure we aren't spending most health care dollars denying care, and giving us an economy that isn't 10%+ health care spending) i'd love to hear it.
Rahm's position is not a policy position, and thank god! too many ties to wall street.
"You don't ever want a crisis
"You don't ever want a crisis to go to waste; it's an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid. In 1974 and 1978 we never dealt with it, and our dependence on foreign oil never changed."
That's the full quote, pulled from a blog, but I haven't been able to find a source for it yet.
awww... shit, it was about energy?
never , ever would have guessed that!
Thanks muchly. It seems pretty clear he's not speaking in the general case.
New York Times Article
“You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste; it’s an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid,” Mr. Emanuel said in an interview. “In 1974 and 1978 we never dealt with it, and our dependence on foreign oil never changed.”
Link
Should have kept looking before posting ...
Obama Voters: Kiss your Retirement Savings Good Bye!!
Good luck to all of you stupid folks who voted cheerfully for your OBAMA NATION.
As we speak here on this blog...Nancy Pelosi and and the dems are discussing (right now) to take your retirement savings and spread it around. Their excuse to take your savings will be to shore up Social Security...in other words why should you have more than others that didn't work for it
There goes your American Dream....YOU VOTED IT AWAY FOOLS. You that have 401Ks and the like should be very afraid....most of you cannot even get any of it until you retire and so there is no way for you to protect it...KISS IT GOOD BYE!!!
uhm. duh? y'all are real fucking stupid
if you truly thought you could have two wars, a recession in wages,. and cut taxes.
Boomers are hit bad.
But hey, 401k's were Reagan's program, and they're basically full of shit. Roth IRAs are fun! Go Roth!
Yeah because Social Security is sooo much better!
You are such a Marxist tool. It is good have you you around to show what is fundamentally wrong with the left.
and you, my dearest friend,
are not the one buying doubloons for free! They pay me to take them! What about me cheering Roth IRAs indicates that I exactly like Scoial Security? NADA.
Yay free money!
I swear, strategy is lost on you... a small jot of security allows for the taking of more risk.
Because tyour side has helped to destroy the market!
What with your bad mortagage loan entitlement scam that has finally come home to roost and the bailout mentality that started with Chrysler in the late 70s. We will soon be waiting for the next big government scam, nationalized health care, to blow up in our faces. Free money indeed, except it will be the taxpayers fleeced and then raped, while big money socialists like Soros are laughing in our faces.
so you're in favor of burning greenspan at the stake?
what a coincidence! me too!
see "the mess that greenspan made" for more details.
My side is advanced liberalism, for what it's worth, and it is expressely not about destroying the free market, but making it possible at all.
Eric Hoffer
In 1951, Eric Hoffer wrote a book called "True Believers." In that - he suggests that every great cause goes through 3 stages - movement, business and racket. It's time to identify our cause and begin the movement again.
http://dangerousintersection.org/2008/09/01/what-eric-hoffer-tells-us-ab...