Wednesday, June 20, 2012

“Obama Will Lose” Omen No. 472

Back in September 2010 (LINK), I wrote an article predicting how the left would react to the pending failure of Obama. I said that when the left knows things have gone wrong and they’re going to lose an election, they whip out the sour grapes. Specifically, they start writing articles telling us that “it’s impossible for anyone to govern!” Well, we have achieve grapedom.

As I said before, liberals are big on defense mechanisms, and their favorite defense mechanism when their candidate fails is the old idea that “nobody could do it.” Indeed, every time one of their leaders fails at something, they rush to warn us that this had nothing to do with their beliefs, it was because the thing was simply impossible – often couched in terms of “this is impossible because democracy allows Republicans to obstruct us.”

And when their Presidents fail utterly, they really step it up and we are treated to a whole slew of articles lamenting the fact that America itself is ungovernable. Carter gave us the clearest example of this. When it became obvious that he would fail, liberals everywhere started writing articles about how America was too big to be governed by one man, and how the ancient presidency just wasn’t up to the task of running a modern country. It really infuriated them when Reagan proved the doomsayers wrong.

With Obama following the Carter plan to the letter (hyperinflation, gas price problems, no jobs, soaring debt, falling currency, war in Afghanistan, crashing poll numbers), it was only a matter of time before the media decided that the problem wasn’t Obama, it was that America itself is ungovernable. Enter the Washington Post and an article obnoxiously titled:

“Can any president succeed in today’s political world?”

Of course they can, they just can’t succeed when they are doing stupid things. And Obama, like Carter, does stupid things. Obama had the House and a supermajority in the Senate. He could have done anything if he had the political leadership skills to simply outline what he wanted. But he didn’t. The failure was his own with an assist from the genuinely stupid ideas of his party. It wasn’t the result of some inherent defect in our system. But that won’t sooth the Washington Post. Here’s what they blame his failure on:
Consider this: We are in the midst of more than a decade-long streak of pessimism about the state of the country, partisanship is at all-time highs and the media have splintered — Twitter, blogs, Facebook and so on and so forth — in a thousand directions all at once.
Ok, stop right there. This the same paper which said to run the Republicans over when the Democrats had the majority. Apparently, partisanship wasn’t a problem for them then. Pessimism isn’t a problem either because policies work on their merits, not on the hopes of the people who implement them. As for the media “splintering” why would that matter unless the Post thinks the only way to achieve anything is to force groupthink on the public?

Now watch them flip this around:
Layer over the constant stream of news with the fact that Twitter, blogs and cable television turn every slip of the tongue, misstatements or gaffe into a mountain — “the private sector is doing fine” being a prime, recent example — and it’s clear that the idea that the president can drive the hourly, daily or weekly message of his choosing feels outdated. The bully pulpit may still exist, but it’s far less bully than it once was.

That’s especially true not only because the fracturing of the media makes it hard to push a clear message but also because roughly half of the American public doesn’t want to hear the message (whatever it is) because it is of the other party.
Wrong. Notice that the first problem is the inability to reach the public because there is no single all-powerful (liberal) media telling people what to think, somehow that makes it impossible to govern. But then they flip that right around and whine that all these blogs and twits brainwash the public. How can the public be lost in a splintered media wilderness on the one hand, but simultaneously that splintered media can exploit any story and brainwash the public on the other? Then we flip it over one more time and finish with no one being able to get a message out because the media is splintered again. Consistency, thy name ain’t liberal.

The problem here is that liberalism fails, but liberals don’t want to believe it. So instead, they scratch their heads trying to figure out what could have possibly gone wrong. And the only answer they can come up with, before they start talking about betrayal, is that the whole system stinks. Good grief: “I can’t bowl a 300 game, so bowling must be flawed.” Yeah, that makes sense.

Look for more of these articles for a while and enjoy them while they last because they will soon give way to the bloodbath phase as our liberal friends start to tear each other apart. In fact, we’re already seeing the preliminaries on this as the West Virginia delegation and Hillary Clinton are saying they won’t go to the Democratic Convention. It’s going to get ugly(er), so grab your popcorn and enjoy the show!

53 comments:

Tennessee Jed said...

it is good to be back after three days in the wilderness of a broken hard drive. Amazing how the computer has become a necessity anymore. While picking up a new iMac yesterday, I had Limbaugh on and he had seized on this same issue. The whining coming out of the left is amazing. Old media types truly lament the days when they absolutely controlled the info. flow. It is never, never their ideas that are wrong. Obama is particularly bad with the "whining" !

StanH said...

Liberals are petulant children, no matter their age. When they don’t get their way, they resort to their inner child, and whine. Look for the gnashing of teeth from the left to become unbearable - - but great fun.

T-Rav said...

Someone said that this is the last stage in defense of a leftist before the media jumps off the bandwagon completely. I certainly hope so. Either way, this in itself doesn't infuriate me, it just makes me laugh. What would infuriate me is if, after this hackery, the Post tries to claim that it is a thoroughly impartial news source.

BevfromNYC said...

This just in: Obama granted Holder's request for Executive priviledge in regards to the Fast & Furious documents. It looks like the contempt of Congress vote will go forward this morning.

So, this means that the WH will allow documents of our covert military actions to the world to flood out like a waterfall, but not honor a request from Congress to turn over documents relating to their actions within the US.

rosey said...

The marxist left have always followed a "failed dogma" that has always tried to regurgitate itself as something new. Their ideology and failures are so well documented in history that all we have to do is look to the "fossil record" (i.e., history of failed and collapsed utopian dictatorships) to prove their impending political death. They are all political zombies walking around saying they live, but are not registering a pulse (with the American public). They will get more vicious and ugly before they take their rightly place is the dust bin of history.

tryanmax said...

Andrew, I was just mulling over this same topic the other day and, while I agree that Obama is likely to lose because he's overplayed his hand, I also think the Democrats have made quite a winning strategy out of the "ungovernable" meme. Pretty much all of the bloated extra-constitutional barnacles that comprise the majority of government today--regardless the party of the president signing them into law--are leftist/liberal/progressive creations. If the country is ungovernable, it is largely because of the alphabet soup of agencies micromanaging everything from light bulbs to lobsters. The Democrats can't manage the monster they’ve created, but it is still their pet.

This sets them up to make a pretty good case that they are better to lead the leviathan since they love it and Republicans hate it. Plus, this forces any remotely conservative politician who makes it to the White House to govern at least somewhat against his own principles and, more importantly, those of his base. Even Reagan is still criticized simultaneously for having done too much and not enough about big government. This, of course, has mellowed as more Republicans recognize that he did what he could and Democrats have had to reluctantly embrace him for the good he brought to the country. But not everyone can be Reagan.

rlaWTX said...

If every other standard (jobs, debt, GDP etc) had remained exactly the same since the day TOTUS took office, Holder himself would be enough to refuse a second term to this administration.

As for the Dems.I think they have a whole pool-ful of sharks and they just keep jumping them!

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, I'm glad you're back too! We missed you!

I have not seen this level of whining from the left since Carter honestly. I think it's amazing and I can't wait for the next phase where they start ripping each other apart. Normally, they wait until after the election, but this time I suspect it will happen sooner.

AndrewPrice said...

P.S. Folks, I'm sorry I'm running a little late today.

Writer X said...

Totally predictable. Great post, Andrew.

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.

Jen said...

"Layer over the constant stream of news with the fact that Twitter, blogs and cable television turn every slip of the tongue, misstatements or gaffe into a mountain..."

The first thing that came to my mind is look what happened to "Attack Watch". LOL! What a joke.

Jen said...

It's also the same ol', same ol' worn out playbook. But that's okay, we know it from cover to cover.

Actually, it's getting kinda boring, and there just isn't that much of a challenge (my opinion).

As for whiny children, yeah, it's like the children who lose a game, and want a "Do over". A "do over" until they win that is.

AndrewPrice said...

Stan, So true. Liberals love to whine when they don't get their way. And this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. So I say stand back and watch them explode! :)

Unknown said...

Andrew: Unogovernable was originally a stage show that the Democrats and other liberals first ran on Broadway as their liberal policies caused the City of New York to deteriorate. The show had a very long run, until the lead part was turned over to a certain Rudy Giuliani. The show closed, though they're doing a revival of the show starring Auntie Bloomberg. The show was so successful until Rudy came along that they decided to make it into a national roadshow.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, This doesn't infuriate me at all, it makes me laugh. This is the MSM trying to explain a failure they can't explain. Soon they will realize they were betrayed by Obama.

T-Rav said...

Bev, it's easier to understand once you accept the fact that the military is an evil institution bent on oppressing the Third World. And you don't want the goings-on of evil institutions kept secret, do you?

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, That's amazing isn't it? They don't care about protecting the military, but they do care about protecting Holder's rear end.

I hope the Congressional vote goes through.

rlaWTX said...

this made me laugh - so I'm sharing...

http://pjmedia.com/andrewklavan/2012/06/18/i-oppose-barack-obama-because-hes-black/?singlepage=true

AndrewPrice said...

rosey, Welcome! I think you're right. Marxism has failed every time it's been tried and it's failed in horrific, spectacular ways. But rather than admit the failure and reassess their beliefs, they just keep finding excuses for why it wasn't really tried or why it was betrayed or why the country they tried it in was wrong for some reason ("too many peasants" etc.).

I think this is part of the same instinct, to pretend that their failure was the result of something other than their ideas.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, That's an excellent point. The Democrats have created a mess by trying to run everything. Everything they've touched has resulted in negative unintended consequences. And their entire governing philosophy is based on the idea of fixing the problems they have created. I actually don't think that was intentional, but it's a fascinating byproduct.

And you're right that this puts them in the position of being able to claim they are uniquely qualified to fix the problems they've created because they are the ones who have tried already to fix the problems and now have special knowledge.

BevfromNYC said...

LawHawk - You are absolutely correct. "NYC - The UnGovernable" played for a very long time. But Auntie Bloomberg (or Benito Bloomberg as I like to call him) has solved all of our fiscal and crime problems and has moved on to our personal appearance. Oops, crime is up 4%...

AndrewPrice said...

By the way, the free promo is going incredibly well. I'm at No. 8 on the free book list with over 15,000 copies given away so far.

T-Rav said...

To tell the truth, I was sort of expecting this move by Obama--of course he's not going to tell Congress the full story, or let them pressure any of his subordinates into doing so--so I didn't see the executive privilege thing as a big deal. But, I see a bunch of people saying that the POTUS can only invoke executive privilege on documents he was advised of or briefed on. If true, then Obama either doesn't know the rules of privilege--which is a bit odd for a constitutional law professor, one would think--or he knew about the details of F&F from the beginning and has a really big reason for wanting to keep aspects of that operation secret. I guess this is a big deal.

Anthony said...

Great post. I expect the Democrats will lose in 2012.

As in 2008, the unpopularity of the incumbent makes victory a certainty for the opposition party unless they make a stupid mistake, and Romney is a disciplined campaigner.

It will be interesting to see who the 2016 Democratic candidate is (I will be surprised if its Clinton).

DUQ said...

Andrew, You were right! LOL! I knew you would be though. This is so much fun to watch. Soon they'll start arguing, then fighting.

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, I agree. Holder is enough even without the rest. But the rest is there too.

I like the shark tank analogy and they are smelling blood.

AndrewPrice said...

Writer X, Thanks! I agree, it couldn't happen to a more deserving group!

T-Rav said...

Anthony, my guess would be Cuomo in 2016. Not because he's all that great, but because I don't know who else the Dems have to run.

AndrewPrice said...

Jen, Agreed, there isn't much of a challenge anymore. The Democrats follow the same tired plan every time and get the same results every time. And now that conservatives are getting wise to this and have stopped kowtowing, the Democrats have real problems.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, I remember that too about New York. After years of failure, they claimed that somehow New York was broken and in decay and could not be governed. Then along came Rudy. The left whined about his tactics, but within a couple years, NYC was again the apple of the world. Now his tactics are being tried everywhere to great effect.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, That's true, the military is clearly evil intent on taking everything over to build an American empire. . . for some reason.

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, Klavan is hilarious and he's very good at cutting to the point.

Here's your link: LINK

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, "Benito Bloomberg" LOL! It fits. Yeah, I'm glad he's solved all of NYC's problems so you all can now get to work fixing the huge drink crisis.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, I did too. I can't see him not protecting Holder because his future and Holder's are so closely tied together.

AndrewPrice said...

Anthony, I agree. The Democrats will lose unless the Republicans do something truly stupid and Romney's not the type to do anything stupid.

AndrewPrice said...

DUQ, It was easy to predict because it happens so often.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, I think it will be Cuomo too. All signs point to that.

T-Rav said...

Andrew, and now the apple is rotting courtesy of Mike Bloomberg. What a moron.

ScyFyterry said...

And Holder has been voted to be in contempt. Once again, Barack Obama is historical.

T-Rav said...

Yep, contempt vote. Next stop: a full vote on the House floor.

Regarding my comment from this morning, apparently the privilege invocation comes from something called "deliberative process," in which administration members are allowed freedom of communication with each other but not anyone on the outside, depending on the sensitivity and legality of what's being discussed. So, invoking executive privilege doesn't necessarily mean Obama knew all about F&F. But I think he did.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, Bloomberg is a total moron. And he actually thinks he has a chance at being president? Give me a break.

AndrewPrice said...

Terry, He should be held in contempt. I'd like to see him jailed too. Impeached would be nice EXCEPT I think that would be an unneeded distraction at a bad time.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, That's right, there is a privilege for the deliberative process, though the left has challenged this for years whenever the Republicans invoked it.

And no, it doesn't mean that Obama necessarily knew, but there's a lot to suggest he did.

ellenB said...

Andrew, Excellent prognostication as usual! This is what I've come to expect from you. :D

Pelosi said today Congress could have arrested Rove any time. I wonder if they can arrest Holder?

ellenB said...

rlaWTX, Thanks for the link! I needed the laugh!

AndrewPrice said...

Ellen, You're welcome! It's all part of the price of admission!

She's a dingbat, but she's right on this. It's my understanding that Congress can ask the Federal Marshals to enforce their contempt citations. I haven't looked into it specifically, but that's what I'd always heard.

Elite Harvard Professors said...

Andrew, Andrew, Andrew

You are once again inundating us with exactly the type of pedestrian common sense found on the blogosphere that the Washington Post is warning us about.

There is of course no contradiction here. In order to have a diverse grouping of opinions that geneerate the creative and thoughtful approach necessary to ensure that the country prospers fairly one must of course have a solid background environment upon which those thought processes can take place.

With a singular controlled media of professionals trained at the Harvard Kennedy School of government we can correct erroneous ideas in order to ensure that the populace conentrates their attention on those issues that really matter.

Why if just anyone could write whatever they were thinking about then no really useful ideas would ever come forward through the morass of unwashed insight. Soon everyone would think whatever they liked and then the public could be easily manipulated into memes that are detrimental and dangerous to free thought.

Truly independent insightful ideas can only come from people who have been trained in the proper methods of thinking and who know the expected evaluation of political memes. That is what we are for.

AndrewPrice said...

Oh, you guys are back! LOL!

Listen elite Harvard Professors, common sense is good for you. You should give it a try sometime!

But you know, that's exactly what this WashPo article is about, they're whining about the loss of power by the small elite who run the MSM because they want to control what the great unwashed believe.

James Carville said...

Andrew

Think of it this way...

Collecting the data, doing the research, analyzing the facts and coming to an informed consensus.... man that's a lot of work, you have to earn that baby....

See if you let us tell you what to think why that is truly Free Thouhgt.... give it a try sometime... Let Jon Stewart tell you what to think and you'll have a lot of free time on your hands to enjoy your free thoughts

AndrewPrice said...

True James, true. It's easier just to believe that things you fail at are impossible. LOL! Such an effective strategy!

AndrewPrice said...

By the way, the book has made it to Number 5 on the free list now 22,705 downloads. Amazing! :)

Jen said...

Alright, high-five! :)

AndrewPrice said...

Thanks Jen! There's a couple hours left. I'm hoping it makes it to number 1, but I doubt it. I'm amazed Amazon gives away so many free books that four other books did more business over the last two days. Wow!

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