Election view by Steven Den Beste - November 4, 2008
Not the end of the world (Z's comments, too...)
It's easy to let yourself go in despair and start thinking things like "We are well-and-truly xxxx'd" or "This is the worst of all possible outcomes". But it isn't true. (yes, it is; considering the other outcome would have been Obama losing, this IS the worst of all possible outcomes.)
I think this election is going to be a "coming of age" moment for a lot of people. They say, "Be careful what you wish for" and a lot of people got their wish yesterday. And now they're bound to be disappointed. Not even Jesus could satisfy all the expectations of Obama's most vocal supporters, or fulfill all the promises Obama has made. (I'm very sure Jesus could, but that's beside the point. The rest is absolutely true....how many times did we try to tell Americans "be careful what you wish for?)
I think Obama is going to turn out to be the worst president since Carter, and for the same reason: good intentions do not guarantee good results. Idealists often stub their toes on the wayward rocks of reality, and fall on their faces. And the world doesn't respond to benign behavior benignly.
But there's another reason why: Obama has been hiding his light under a basket. A lot of people bought a pig in a poke today, and now they're going to find out what they bought. Obama isn't what most of them think he is. The intoxication of the cult will wear off, leaving a monumental hangover. (And this pig never DID have lipstick on)
And four years from now they'll be older and much wiser.
A lot of bad things are going to happen during this term. But I don't think that this is an irreversible catastrophe for the union. I've lived long enough to absorb this basic truth: the US is too large and too strong to destroy in just 4 years. Or even in 8. We survived 6 years of Nixon. We survived 4 years of Carter. We even survived 8 years of Clinton, God alone knows how.(Well, terrorism and Iran's nukes could give us a run as far as surviving 4 years, but I'm hoping this guy's optimism is right)
The President of the United States is the most powerful political figure in the world, but as national executives go his powers are actually quite restricted. Obama will become President, but he won't be dictator or king, let alone deity. He still has to work with the House and the Senate, and he still has to live within Constitutional restrictions, and with a judiciary that he mostly didn't appoint. (He didn't get that senate majority but he's already planning to overturn Bush's stands on stem cell and gobal warming and he can slide those right by.....facts aren't important to these people; WE know embryonic cells haven't worked as other stem cells have but this is about abortion, isn't it, not stem cells, "got to kill those babes".......he also belongs to the group of nonthinkers who don't find it odd that NO invitations to the big Bali Warming convention went to those who do NOT feel this latest warming is mostly caused by humans! THAT's open minded, right? AGENDA, this is all agenda..not thoughtful decisions based on ALL the information..that's scary)
The main reason this will be a "coming of age" moment is that now Obama and the Democrats have to put up or shut up. Obama got elected by making himself a blank slate, with vapid promises about "hope" and "change" -- but now he actually has to do something. Now he has to reveal his true agenda. And with the Democrats also having a majority in both chambers of Congress, now the Democrats really have to lead. And they're not going to do a very good job of it. It's going to be amusing to watch. ("amusing" isn't the word I'd use, but it'll be interesting, that's for sure!)
And the people who fell for the demagoguery will learn an invaluable lesson. (they deserve it)
Oh, the Democrats try to blame failure on Republican filibusters, of which there will be many. But that's always been a factor in our system, and many people believe it's an important check on government excess. The tradition in the Senate is that it is supposed to be a buffer against transient political fads, and the filibuster is a major part of that. (this is why I begged obama voters to please consider voting for the Republican senator or congressman...when did Americans stop believing in checks and balances?)
If the Democrats go all in, and change the filibuster rule, then they'll have truly seized the nettle with both hands and won't have any excuses any longer. That's why they won't do it. It's their last fig-leaf. But even with the filibuster rule in place, they'll be stuck trying to deliver now on all the promises implied, or inferred, during this election. The Republicans can only filibuster on bills the Democrats have already proposed.
And it ain't possible for the Democrats to deliver what's been promised. Gonna be a hell of a lot of disillusioned lefties out there. A lot of people who felt they were deceived. A lot of people who will eventually realize that the Obama campaign was something of a cult. Disillusionment will turn to a feeling of betrayal. And that will, in turn, convert to anger. (What a mix; heartbroken conservatives and disillusioned lefties..)
In the mean time, Obama and Congressional Democrats will do things that cause harm, but very little of it will be irreversible.
I would have enjoyed watching lefty heads explode if McCain had won. But we're going to see lefty heads exploding anyway; it's just going to take longer.
In the mean time, those of us who didn't want Obama to be president have to accept that he is. And let's not give in to the kind of paranoid fever dreams that have consumed the left for the last 8 years. Let us collectively take a vow tonight: no "Obama derangement syndrome". Obama is a politician. He isn't the devil incarnate. (Ya, I know..."don't say it, Z!") So what are the good sides of what just happened?
1. It is no longer possible for anyone to deny that the MSM is heavily biased. The MSM have been biased for decades but managed an illusion of fairness. That is no longer possible; the MSM have squandered their credibility during this campaign. They'll never get that credibility back again. (Even the Washington Post admitted it today!)
2. Since the Democrats got nearly everything they hoped for in this campaign, they'll have no excuses and will have to produce. They'll have to reveal their true agenda -- or else make clear that they don't really have any beyond gaining power. (Their true agenda is to make America mediocre, "America doesn't deserve to be the world power..")
3. Every few decades the American people have to be reminded that peace only comes with strength. The next four years will be this generation's lesson. (So, WE know we have no strength left when obama's in power....how long will it take for Iran to find out? Oh, that's right, they already wrote congratulating obama on their luck...I mean HIS luck, sorry.)
Now, a few predictions for the next four years:
1. Obama's "hold out your hand to everyone" foreign policy is going to be a catastrophe. They'll love it in Europe. They're probably laughing their heads off about it in the middle east already.
2. The US hasn't suffered a terrorist attack by al Qaeda since 9/11, but we'll get at least one during Obama's term.
3. We're going to lose in Afghanistan.4. Iran will get nuclear weapons. There will be nuclear war between Iran and Israel. (This is the only irreversibly terrible thing I see upcoming, and it's very bad indeed.)
5. There will eventually be a press backlash against Obama which will make their treatment of Bush look mild. Partly that's going to be because Obama is going to disappoint them just as much as all his other supporters. Partly it will be the MSM desperately trying to regain its own credibility, by trying to show that they're not in his tank any longer. And because of that they are eventually going to do the reporting they should have done during this campaign, about Obama's less-than-savory friends, and about voter fraud, and about illegal fund-raising, and about a lot of other things.and
6. Obama will not be re-elected in 2012. He may even end up doing an LBJ and not even running again. (Z predicts he will be impeached in ...3 years..Yup, I do. There is NO WAY he can survive while not living up to ALL the HOPE AND CHANGE he promised...he'll have angry people to face who'll make Bush haters look like Bush lovers)
One last thing: I'm not saying I'm happy with this outcome. I would much rather have had McCain win. But this is not the end of the world, or the end of this nation. We've survived much worse.And now we need to show the lefties how to lose. Our mission for the next four years is to be in opposition without becoming deranged. (This will be difficult!! no..downright impossible)
UPDATE: One other good thing: no one will be spinning grand conspiracy theories about this administration's Vice President being an evil, conniving genius who is the true power behind the throne. (I'll take 'evil and conniving' as long as 'genius' is part of it....with biden, we only have the 2 two....oh, and DUMB) and I still think his first paragraph was right...we really ARE "well and truly XXX'd"z
z
