2009-02-24

Damn lies

I rarely take in much of what liberal blogs say these days. Some of it is intelligent but some of it is laboured and narrow focused. I've made it clear here on my blog about concerns I have about Obama's stimulus plan and that pretty much puts me at odds with many progressive bloggers and econ-bloggers.

But I have to say, there is something like a magnitude of difference between progressive blogs say and what the "Faithful 20%" super-conservatives go on about. Reading their blogs is sickening as they go on about Chairman Obama turning the US into America S.S.R. with his terrible, horrible no good stimulus plan and how he is going to completely wreck the economy with it.

I have been warning for years about the coming crash. Moreover, I have clearly identified the main culprits of the crash as being the Republican Party and their policies under Reagan, Bush 2 and the congresses they controlled (either partly or fully) during the reign of those two presidents.

And just to prove how nice and bipartisan I am, I'll say clearly that George H.W. Bush wasn't much to blame for this, and nor will I say that the Gingrich inspired Republican Congress between 1994 and 2000 is to blame for this mess. Moreover I'll also point out that Democrats under Reagan who helped create the national deficit are to blame as well for being stupid.

But when you look at the big picture, the main culprits are the Republicans. The Republicans ran up huge budget deficits and engaged in tax cutting voodoo economics for most of the period 1981-2006.

So when Obama starts throwing money left right and centre, the super-conservatives suddenly become all economically righteous, throwing out their pathetic chests and rattling their dull swords as they predict dire consequences for such fiscally irresponsible behaviour.

Irresponsible? To be honest they're probably right. Yet to ignore their own party's role in creating the dire circumstances the world economy is in shows up their hypocrisy and blind partisanship. From now on, any drop in the sharemarket, any rise in unemployment, any contraction in GDP, any rise in bankruptcies, can all be blamed upon Chairman Obama and his hand picked politburo in the White House, rubbing their hands in glee at America's downfall.

Intelligent conservatives would be more circumspect. They would pick holes in Obama's plans while acknowledging the damnable role that the GOP had in creating the mess in the first place. They would criticise the president without resorting to insults - not least until the president's poor record demanded it (something that progressives did to Bush).

And the sad thing is that, if things get really bad, we can probably begin to expect violence from these people. Even from some who call themselves Christians and who have drunk the super-conservative Koolaid. And they would participate in the violence with a clear conscience, motivated by the knowledge that they are fighting evil and protecting their liberty. Such is the beginnings of terrorism.

6 comments:

BLBeamer said...

I have to agree with most of what you say, but I'm not sure I would be as charitable with the progressives by saying they waited to insult G. W. Bush until his poor record demanded it. I clearly recall the insults beginning in the aftermath of the Florida recount, continuing during his inauguration and right on until the present day.

As for your charge about certain conservatives resorting to violence if things get really bad - that is at least one area where your limited experience with the US is showing.

When things were going well, all the violence (WTO in Seattle, etc.) originated from the left. Do you really think that if things get bad they will sit back contentedly petting their kitties?

I'm not one who thinks the fringe right is incapable of violence, but other than occasional lone wackos, I can't think of any concerted politically-motivated violent efforts on the part of the conservatives you identify. All the memorable violence has been committed by the left.

Magotty Man said...

You are absolutely right on (one of the main) the origin of the current crisis: Reaganomics. But how much a role did Thatcher play? And then Kohl's Germany abandoned Ordoliberalism as well. And don't forget Greenspan....

But now that we are here, getting out of it is an entirely different challenge.

BLBeamer said...

Of course not. I was not aware that they solved the anthrax attacks, but the OK bombing and black lynchings in the Jim Crow South were not perpetrated by your so-called "faithful 20%" of conservatives.

The OK bombings were perpetrated by a tiny fringe group. The Southern lynchings were perpetrated by your beloved Democrats. Were you not aware that the South was solidly Democratic from just after Reconstruction until the 1970's?

Was Lee Harvey Oswald a right-winger? Were the Weather Underground and Symbionese Liberation Army Republicans?

Your examples were silly. The WTO is fairly current. In my own state, leftists and anarchists rioted recently on Evergreen State's campus. They didn't riot because they wanted to reinstate G. W. Bush's policies. Were the recent Greek riots incited by conservatives? The list is long of other examples.

The evidence shows that it is leftists who are more likely to resort to violence than conservatives. That doesn't mean that I am in favor of the views of your so-called "faithful 20%", but I'd feel safer in a crowd of agitated conservatives than one of angry leftists.

Neil Cameron (One Salient Oversight) said...

Ku Klux Klan
1865-present
Conservative
Deaths: Countless

Timothy McVeigh
Oklahoma City Bomber
1995-04-19
Conservative
Deaths: 168

Eric Robert Rudolph
Centennial Olympic Park bombing
1996-07-27
Conservative
Deaths: 2

Bruce Edwards Ivins
Anthrax Attacks
2001-09-18 to 2001-10-09
Conservative
Deaths: 5

Jim David Adkisson
Knoxville Unitarian Universalist church shooting
2008-07-27
Conservative
Deaths: 2

----------
Let's check out the lefties.

WTO riots in Seattle
1999-11-30
progressive
Deaths: 0

Symbionese Liberation Army
1973-11-06 to 1975-04-21
progressive
Deaths: 1 (not including suicides)

United Freedom Front
1974-1984
progressive
Deaths: 0

Abdul Majid
1981-04-16
progressive
Deaths: 1

Black Pathers
1960s-1970s
progressive
Deaths: 1 (proven)

Black Liberation Army
1971-1981
Progressive
Deaths: 0 (proven), 13 (estimated)

Weather Underground
1969-1975
Radical Communist
Deaths: 0

---------

Result:

Conservative nutcases are better than lefty nutcases at actually killing people.

Lefty nutcases haven't done much in the last 20 years.

Conservative nutcases have dominated ideological terrorism in the last 20 years.

BLBeamer said...

The Klan is hardly a member of what you call your "faithful 20%". They have a handful of adherents today. They were founded by Democrats, for Democrats and in their heyday were nearly 100% Democrats. Their few remaining vocal members are clearly on the side of the left as far as their views on Israel, Islam and violence.

I have not read anywhere of Ivins' political views. The motives for his crime is unknown but he was clearly mentally unstable.

McVeigh and Nichols - to reiterate - do not represent your "faithful 20%".

Etc.

You threw down the gauntlet and said, "violence" not just "murder". You also said, "20%", not "lone wackos or fringe". Also, if you are going to limit to the last 20 years, then the Klan is down to zero, thank goodness.

I responded to what you wrote. Now that you seem to have revised your original wording, there is less to discuss.

Anonymous said...

Dang... this is some post. The going back and forth with BLBeamer here in the comments is interesting.

I really don't understand economics well and certainly not well enough within the context of our U.S. History to get into this.

I was quite shocked by the prediction of violence perpetuated by the conservatives. It is a bit strange to read your views of America.