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| Home Front: Politix |
| The dark side of Obamamania |
| 2008-02-28 |
| Robert Sibley, Ottawa (Canada) Citizen The late political philosopher Michael Oakeshott is not widely known. He should be, because what he said about politics is worth considering as Obamamania sweeps the United States. Many people seem to see an Obama presidency as the cure for the social and political ills of American society. Journalists covering his campaign describe the adulation of the crowds and supporters as akin to a religious revival. . . . Politics is not something from which we should be saved, any more than life is an illness in need of a cure. As Oakeshott put it, politics is not "an encounter of dreams," a "jump to glory," or the means for making people better. This attitude probably has few adherents nowadays. Many assume the function of government is to serve our wants and desires. Some even think it's the government's obligation to improve our lives, make us healthy. Oakeshott thought people should behave like adults, take responsibility for their behaviour, and accept the consequences of their actions. Such a disposition places a restraint on attempts to use politics for grand social engineering schemes. Oakeshott certainly wouldn't have thought much of a political program based on slogans as mindless and banal as "change we can believe in." |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #8 You mean other than its parallels with the rise of nazism (only this time it is 'hugs without arms'). All they need is an incident - wait when is the DNC convention and what did they say/threaten it would be like? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2008-02-28 16:36 |
| #7 Oakeshott thought people should behave like adults, take responsibility for their behaviour, and accept the consequences of their actions. That's not what has been taught in our schools, argued in our courts and politics, or observed in the culture since the 60s [with the exceptions usually discovered in Red Country]. It's also why the opposite behavior rationalization which has been adapted is ultimately a terminal threat to any real republic, which is predicated upon human free will and its consequences. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-02-28 11:32 |
| #6 Capsu... Concur, but a "Win-Win" either way, I'd say. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-02-28 11:15 |
| #5 Besoeker, NBC, CNN and the rest of the crew are "politely reporting" her demise, but the obituaries are all written and ready for publication. I don't doubt that the beasts campaign doesn't have at least one more nuclear option, but I think they must realize whatever it is is too toxic to her campaign to survive. Unless the media is as monumentally wrong as they were in 2004, about noon on election day, when they were already plotting out the assignments for the next three days of news cycles featuring President Elect Kerry, the SS Clinton goes props up in the next ten days and slips under the waterline. Don't get me wrong, I want then to slug it out for another month or so, but when Nancy and Harry start telling her to surrender, her super delegates will be paddling out Hillary's floating luggage to meet the "Good Ship Obama-pop". |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2008-02-28 11:11 |
| #4 "Politics is not something from which we should be saved, any more than life is an illness in need of a cure." Are you sure? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2008-02-28 10:06 |
| #3 Don't count the Hildebeast completely out. Obama |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-02-28 10:01 |
| #2 Well, when people ask what are his accomplishments, he sits on the verge of his biggest right now... Sometime in the next week a stake is going to be driven clear through the vampiress and out her back. It can arguably said he went up against the political equivilant of the NE Patriots and is now running out the clock on "Ms. Inevitable". He did it in a fairly savvy, out manuvering her machine. No small accomplishment. As Dennis Miller said, "He has everything but my vote". |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2008-02-28 09:50 |
| #1 Are there really enough retards in this country to elect this asshole? I'll be really disappointed if they do. |
| Posted by: Albert Phomomble6021 2008-02-28 09:28 |