Messiah Denied

Have I got a treat for you! What is it? It’s Grade A, prime cut leftist anguish. An anti-Obama rant crawling with conspiracies and hand-wringing. Hmm good. More interestingly though, it shows us the problem Obama and the Pelosicrats will have in this election and it possibly portends an even bigger danger for them: civil war. All of this and more from a post entitled: “Dump Obama”!

Here is the “article” in question:

Dump Obama: more urgent than ever.

After all, a movement can be built around a candidate. That is what happened in 2008. There was a vibrant Obama movement, and when he revealed himself to be a corporate hack -- most egregiously in the healthcare debacle -- the movement was left high and dry. It had no solid principles, no organizational vehicle, no tactic, that was not dependent on Obama's leadership. Evidence of this was around jobs creation. After healthcare, unemployment was to be the "next big thing." When all Obama offered was a few more tax breaks for small business, the left had nothing to offer, nowhere to go.

And now Obama thinks he can spit in our eye with impunity.

Contrast this with 1968. McCarthy lost the nomination fight in Chicago. Kennedy died. The movement did not die. The anti-war movement did run up against its own limitations, not the least of which was lacking a plan that extended beyond Nixon ending the war, and a plan on how to move away from the campuses. So it then died. It was transformed into a strictly candidate movement -- the George McGovern movement in 1972 -- and it went down with him. But it did not die with McCarthy and Kennedy.

I’m not surprised that someone noticed that the whole time the Democrats were bashing Wall Street they were simultaneously doing its bidding with a vengeance, but I am surprised anyone on the left noticed. They usually accept the Democrats’ rhetoric and assurances of “good intentions” as enough. Not anymore?

In any event, this raises some interesting questions:

First, does this confirm the Democrats have lost the left? I think so. Another post at this website (Open Left) answers the question “what is the difference between Democrats and Republicans” thusly: “Democrats don't believe in their own policies, and don't want to talk about them. Republicans do.” That’s not love.

Secondly, what does this tell us about the success of the progressive takeover of the Democratic Party? The progressives spent billions of Soros dollars trying to take over the Democratic Party, doing everything from getting their own people into leadership positions to dominating the communications outlets that support them. If you believe the post above, all of their efforts got them nothing. I think that's mistaken. They did win the party, but they put their trust in the wrong guy, a guy with no experience, no intellectual curiosity, no actual ideology except unfocused anger, and no real interest in doing anything more than enjoying the perks of office.

Third, could this be the beginning of a reformation for the left? The left is in trouble worldwide because it has nothing to offer except spite. Indeed, leftism once boasted an impressive (if wrong) intellectual tradition, but that ideology has given way to factionalism. The modern left consists purely of whiny, hateful, self-described victims whose sole “ideological” concerns are to punish those they despise. To compensate for surrendering in the war of ideas, they now put their faith in leaders who they hope will impose their will, even as they aren’t willing to explain what their will really is. I’ve explained this before HERE and you can see it confirmed above. If the left were to abandon hero worship and replace it with ideas, then it might once again become a thriving ideology. But I don’t see that happening. For while this leftist whines about no longer putting all of their eggs in the basket of a single leader (a wise move), their lack of ideology requires it. How else do you implement something you are afraid to discuss openly and which is little more than a collection of grievances? Moreover, the reflex to put your faith in an expert to solve your problems is a personality defect that requires more than simply getting upset at your latest savior. Thus, they may be finished with Obama, but the next messiah is just around the corner.

All in all, this paints a grim picture for the Democrats. These people won’t be placated before November and probably not by anyone currently in power. Indeed, I’m thinking this may be the opening salvo in a new civil war. And if the history of leftist civil wars has taught us anything, it is to watch for purges, some terrorist actions (political and otherwise), and an attempt to destroy the village to save it.

Get your popcorn ready!