Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

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Thursday Thoughts

The election season is moving, several weeks early, into the farce stage. Back during the Clinton-Lewinski scandal days I recall thinking that if you went into a Hollywood studio with the Clinton story line tucked under your arm, proposing to make a TV-movie-of-the-week, they throw you out for the sheer absurdity, not to mention implausibility, of the plot. It brought back to mind Malcom Muggeridge explaining why he gave up satire at Punch magazine--real life had become so comical (Archbishops saying things like "Long live God!") that it was impossible to do satire any more.

So this week we are treated to Hugo Chavez auditioning for a guest host slot (or news network anchor position--watch out Katie!) on Saturday Night Live by holding up a Noam Chomsky book at the UN--what a hoot. With oil prices plummeting, Chavez may have to watch his household budget a bit. Meanwhile in New Jersey, a scandal-plagued Democratic Senate candidate is slipping steadily behind the Republican in the polls. Where have I seen this movie before? How soon until New Jersey Dems dust off the Torricelli option? What was that Marx said about history repeating itself first as tragedy, and then as farce? Or maybe we should repair to Edna St. Vincent-Millay’s great line, "History isn’t one damn thing after another--it’s the same damn thing over and over again." At least it seems to be over on the Left.

Discussions - 13 Comments

How is Blackwell doing in his gov race? Must be the "same damn thing?"

I read that the GOP plans to spend 90% of its "war chest" on negative campaign tactics. There is a fresh, new approach!

Yeah, well I read somewhere that you’re a communist. Why don’t you go to Cuba, comrade?

Thoughtful, yet provocative. Amusing, yet with a hint of irony. Shades of "I know you are, but what am I?" but obviously from a chronologically advanced source.

I was encouraged to hear that Charle Rangle and Nancy Pelosi blasted Chavez today. Although politically expedient for them, it didn’t take away from the good feelings generated by hearing Americans defend their president. I would hope that the Republicans would do the same if the situation was reversed.

That said, I can’t help but honestly compare people like Chavez and Ahmanejihad (something like that) to Hitler; I’m sure his rantings at the League of Nations went much the same. In the West we simply aren’t sure how to react to what we consider such obvious lunacy/idiocy, and as such we let this guys go around ranting and raving. I think our best bet would be to deny them a soap box and treat them like the nuts they are; Imagine how different things might have been if no one took Hitler seriously from the beginning?

And 90% Fung? How do they pay their staff?

Yeah Andrew, if we’d just ignored Hitler, he would have gone away. Great plan. Anyway, I don’t see how it’s an accurate comparison- Hitler wasn’t actually rabidly anti-American like Chavez and Ahmanejihad are, and he also had an extremely powerful military at his disposal- something those two do not.

Is the NPR report I heard true that Chavez received a standing ovation at Cooper Union? How far we have come from Lincoln’s address there!

Man, Chavez picked the wrong week to audition for SNL.Enter text description

Actually, Phil, he didn’t have a very powerful military at the beginning, which was my point. The Czechs had one of the largest armies in Europe when the powers that be allowed Hitler to annex most of it; he later did the same with Austria. It wasn’t until Poland in 1939 that the German war machine was really mobilized. He didn’t begin rearming Germany until 1934. Despite reintroducing conscription to Germany and militarizing the Rhineland, the Olympic Committee gave the ’36 Olympics to Berlin. This gave Hitler a worldwide audience. Look it all up sometime, Phil, Germany could have been stopped time and time again but Europe treated Hitler like one of their own rather than a madman who should be ignored or killed. Which is why I compared him to Chavez and Ahmanejihad - because they clearly have ambitions for the regions they live in and although they don’t have the military capacity to do anything yet, they are both focussed on acquiring the ability to carry out their plans.

If no one took Hitler seriously, they would not have just given up the Czechs’ territory or Austria. Hitler would have had to actually invade with his third-rate, Treaty-of-Versailles-army, and most historians believe he couldn’t have won a military victory.

Oh, ok, now it all makes sense. Thanks for clearing that up! You obviously know a lot more about history than I do!

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