Not one to shun from a fight, Camille Paglia is a dyed-in-the-wool liberal – that is not up for debate. But she remains intellectually honest, something the Obama-bots at Kos, TPM, MSNBC and CNN can’t fathom. Paglia, who still continues to support President Obama, has nothing but invective for Congress and the mishandling of healthcare reform by the administration. Here’s an excerpt from her Salon column, courtesy of The Corner.
Case in point: the administration’s grotesque mishandling of healthcare reform, one of the most vital issues facing the nation. Ever since Hillary Clinton’s megalomaniacal annihilation of our last best chance at reform in 1993 (all of which was suppressed by the mainstream media when she was running for president), Democrats have been longing for that happy day when this issue would once again be front and center.
But who would have thought that the sober, deliberative Barack Obama would have nothing to propose but vague and slippery promises — or that he would so easily cede the leadership clout of the executive branch to a chaotic, rapacious, solipsistic Congress? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom I used to admire for her smooth aplomb under pressure, has clearly gone off the deep end with her bizarre rants about legitimate town-hall protests by American citizens. She is doing grievous damage to the party and should immediately step down.
There is plenty of blame to go around. Obama’s aggressive endorsement of a healthcare plan that does not even exist yet, except in five competing, fluctuating drafts, makes Washington seem like Cloud Cuckoo Land. The president is promoting the most colossal, brazen bait-and-switch operation since the Bush administration snookered the country into invading Iraq with apocalyptic visions of mushroom clouds over American cities.
You can keep your doctor; you can keep your insurance, if you’re happy with it, Obama keeps assuring us in soothing, lullaby tones. Oh, really? And what if my doctor is not the one appointed by the new government medical boards for ruling on my access to tests and specialists? And what if my insurance company goes belly up because of undercutting by its government-bankrolled competitor? Face it: Virtually all nationalized health systems, neither nourished nor updated by profit-driven private investment, eventually lead to rationing.
Which is what Obama’s stated goals were during the election, a fact he lied about in yesterday’s “town hall” suckfest in New Hampshire. If Bush would have been caught so red-handed, it would be on the crawl on MSNBC around the clock, but since it’s Obama, nary a word. We all know Democrats want a single-payer system (except for Congress, of course), it’s no big secret. Per usual, the media is spending more time tackling those “middle class mobs” than calling officials to the carpet. Afflicting the afflicted and comforting the comfortable. Chris Matthews and company don’t know it, but their own treatment of the middle class over the last year is one reason for the anger displayed at these protests.
Paglia was dismayed by Sarah Palin’s original death panel remark, but she feels the Governor may have hit on something, the same nerve running through the protesters.
As a libertarian and refugee from the authoritarian Roman Catholic church of my youth, I simply do not understand the drift of my party toward a soulless collectivism. This is in fact what Sarah Palin hit on in her shocking image of a “death panel” under Obamacare that would make irrevocable decisions about the disabled and elderly. When I first saw that phrase, headlined on the Drudge Report, I burst out laughing. It seemed so over the top! But on reflection, I realized that Palin’s shrewdly timed metaphor spoke directly to the electorate’s unease with the prospect of shadowy, unelected government figures controlling our lives. A death panel not only has the power of life and death but is itself a symptom of a Kafkaesque brave new world where authority has become remote, arbitrary and spectral. And as in the Spanish Inquisition, dissidence is heresy, persecuted and punished.
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The Spanish Inquisition is an apt metaphor. It was, like many of the independent inquisitions, instituted by a secular authority as a political tool, under the auspices of a different stated cause.
In January, the Democrats had it all: control of the White House, both houses of Congress, and the support of the majority of Americans. A mere seven months later, they’re being angrily confronted at town hall meetings; their approval ratings are headed south in a hurry and generic polls now favor Republicans. And most astonishing of all it’s completely self-inflicted: the Republican party is rudderless and fractured and is not even a factor in this colossal meltdown. Simply amazing.
The shadowy figures would be scary if it were true, but it’s not. At this point, they are the ghosts of imagination. “Death panel” will be repeated so many times in deabte, people will begin to believe that there are death panels.
“Death panel” will be repeated so many times in deabte, people will begin to believe that there are death panels.
You mean “people” will use Leftist disinformation tactics to transform an untruth or a distortion into “common knowledge”? That a coarsening of discourse by one side has finally been followed by the other side using similar tactics? I’m shocked, shocked that that could happen.
You on the Left have shown us the way. Your success with these various tactics, leading up to the results of the last election, showed that they worked, and worked well. So now you on the Left need to learn to love what you’ve created since it has escaped your control.
JS you can think that but you ought to do some digging before you start saying the party is rudderless. Pence and Bachman are kicking particular butt.
Anyway what did Paglia expect? She says she is a libertarian, hence she should be totally cynical of politicians making grostesque promises. I love it, the otehr day I heard a guy say I voted for Obama christ I wish I could take it back. Do you all know how tempting it was for me to turn and look at him and say, gee you had a year to do the homework, and dig into the issues. You had a year to research this charlatan and instead like Barry O above you got sucked into the suckishness taht is Obama’s manipulated image. And now you not only got yourself into a pile of poo you dragged the rest of us who really didn’t want to play in your Rein Deer games into this pile of poo with you. Its all about being informed. When people see this bozo standing in front of foam columns making stupid statements anyone with a brain cell know is bullshit it should have caused the overwhelming majority of Americans to go, that guy is a lying weasel. But noooooo…..and now we got this. Death Care, Crap and Tax etc. etc. etc. And Rasmussen shows Obama’s polls at a new low.
Stephanie, I agree with you. It’s not like we didn’t have plenty of time to do our homework on this trainwreck of a presidency before the elections. Anybody with half a brain could see he was not much more than an inexperienced hack opportunist with way leftist ideals.
The bill is an imagination. It’s being pushed as the greatest thing since sliced bread.
You on the Left have shown us the way. Your success with these various tactics, leading up to the results of the last election, showed that they worked, and worked well. So now you on the Left need to learn to love what you’ve created since it has escaped your control.
It doesn’t mean we have to follow. Thuggery is often the bastion of those without a better strategy.
What’s gotten less attention was Palin’s comment about the need for restraint and civility at townhall meetings. We haven’t yet sunk to the level of the Left. Boldness does not require mud-slinging/
Oh for the educated, please don’t tell the unwashed masses who have to pay for all this crap to calm freaking down. I saw one thing that was over the line, some moron painted a Swastika on the sign of a congressman’s district office in Georgia. Thats about it. David again, who is beating people up? Obama’s thugs, so who should you point your calm cool fingers at? Them. The people I am sorry to tell you are sick and tired of this crap and tey are angry. A man on Cavuto last night said people yell when they feel they aren’t being heard. BEing calm and having a conversation, ala beltway bull will not work because it never works. The American people have been kicked and punched and stomped on for too long and you are sitting ehre saying they should be more like whom? Peggy I hate Sarah Palin Noonan? Sorry, that ship has sailed. When the left abused W so unreasonably they lost all right to be treated like rational adults. Gloves are off.
It doesn’t mean we have to follow. Thuggery is often the bastion of those without a better strategy.
It was a valid assumption on their part for the Left to assume that their opponents would be more civilized than the Left. But that still doesn’t excuse them for enabling a degrading of the discourse and unleashing the worst elements of both sides. I just don’t want to hear Leftists, now, after eight years of “Chimpy McBushilter”, whine about how unfair it all is, and “can’t we all get along.” Too late.
And where is the thuggery on the Right? What I see are plants and provocations designed to get a response that plays well on video. If anything, what we are seeing is the Left’s strategy being civilized and tamed, and even that is too much for those who think that just because the Messiah “won”, they should get everything they desire.
NI was only speaking to what should be done, not what is being done. I think the current course is more or less working, with some excess here and there that should probably be curbed. But otherwise, the grassroots are doing a pretty good job, all in all.
The anger expressed at the town hall meetings is entirely justified. It’s been stoked by comments from Obama that people who oppose his agenda should quiet down and step aside, and for his instituting a White House “tip-line” to alert the executive branch of individuals and groups who don’t want to buy what he’s selling.
When you try to prevent people from talking, they’re going to start yelling.
@ Stephanie-
Your comments about the elite and Paglia’s comments about the Gates incident:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2009/08/12/town_halls/print.html
bring to mind maybe a basic problem with politicians today. Too many go through school, directly to college, directly to politics without real-life experience. They have no concept of what the majority go through. They do believe they are above us all. The big Zero is the perfect example. He’s never had a real job. It has become a class issue. Of course they’ll treat us like peons, because that’s what they think we are. When someone like Sarah Palin surfaces, it’s such a rarity that she sticks out like a sore thumb. They have to smack her down and put her in her place. She doesn’t belong with them. She’s shoots moose. OMG. The reason they hounded GWB was because he didn’t fit the elite circle either. He stumbled over his words. How crass. THey way to smack someone down is to color them as being stupid.
Like Fritz mentioned, it’s overdue for a huge flushing. Too much shit has floated to the top. I’m pleased America is finally waking up. I believe they’ll get rid of a lot of it next year. The majority of America is working class. We don’t have time to fiddle with government issues. It’s not apathy, it’s not having an interest in spending time dealing with boring crap. Until now, when so many bastards have floated to the top they are threatening our very existence. Time to pull the lever.
Whooooossssshhhhh!
Hi Steph,
Yes, Pence and co. are doing well, but I’m referring to leadership, not the rank-and-file. Michael Steele has not been an effective leader of the RNC. Wanna-be leaders like Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney leave much to be desired. Where is the Newt of 2010? Who will lead the charge for the next Republican revolution? As we’ve seen, there’s much dissatisfaction out there, but I don’t believe the Republicans at present are poised to take advantage of it, apart from simply appearing as the lesser of two evils.
Then Gee JS lets go kill ourselves. Its been 6 months since the big O took office..don’tcha think it will work itself out? I do. Give them a break. A leader will emerge. Maybe someone who hasn’t even been thought of.
While it’s great to have hope, and let’s hope there are many Reagans and Newts in the G.O.P.’s future, I think we’re mistaken if we believe Congress or a different Commander in Chief can get us out of this mess, long-term. The only, real, long-term solution is reducing the power of the Federal government; getting back to the structure of the Constitution, before the income tax, and blatant abuses of the inter-state commerce clause. We, the People have to know our rights and remain vigilant and we have to elect state and local representatives who will fight back when the Federal goverment oversteps its bounds.
We can’t keep expecting the wolf to patch up the henhouse, no matter which party the wolf belongs to the temptation for corruption is often too great. We hens have to shore up the holes ourselves through our local governments. We need a state (Texas?) to stand up and say, we’re not taking any more federal monies for schools, we can do this just fine ourselves, thank you very much. We need a state (Montana?) to stand up and say, we’re not taking any more federal monies for roads. We’re going to have unlimited speed limits and pay for the roads with tolls.
Local, local, local.
I loved it for those few years when driving eastbound on I-90, you’d reach Lookout Pass and be greeted with a big sign on the Exit 0 overpass that included the words “Daytime speed limit: reasonable and proper”. As posters at the rest areas pointed out, that didn’t mean there was no speed limit, just that you were expected to adjust to the road and conditions. As I put it to a friend, you were expected to behave like an adult, because you were being treated as one.
It was a Libertarian Party activist who sued over getting a deserved ticket for reckless driving that caused the imposition of a speed limit. He argued that the law gave too much discretion to police officers in the field. That was when my suspicions were confirmed that Libertarian Party members were more interested in showing their ideological purity instead of incrementally pushing back against state encroachment.
David, there is a definite difference between thuggery and justifiable outrage. After reading this bill (yes, all 1,018 pages) this is justifiable outrage with at least 30 seperate portions that are a direct infringement on the American concept of liberty. We have fought revolutions for lesser things than this bill.
maybe we’re gonna need to jiggle the handle a few times to make sure this works. Don’t you just hate klingons?
When I was a kid we called them “dingleberries.” So I hate dingleberries!
Health care will be the dems waterloo.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090813/ap_on_re_us/us_health_care_protests
It’s not going to stop.
Go, America, GO!
For the first time in my adult life I’m proud… Oh, wait, forget I said that!
Just hearing Pat Cauddell on Hannity tonight, a Jimmy Carter Democrat going off on the Dems was enlightening. There is a certain air of populism in these protests that has never been seen before in the USA.
I like Pat. He seems to be a sincere guy. I don’t think he’s an idealogue.
He isn’t. He reminds me of Bartle Bull who was so outspoken about the shennanagins the Black Panthers were pulling in Philly during the last elections.
It’s impossible for me to believe they don’t get it. It has nothing to do with what’s in the plan, or what’s not in the plan, or if we’ve read it or understand it: We don’t trust them. They have the reverse Midas touch. Everything they touch turns to cr*p. We know no matter what the bill says now they won’t stop. They won’t stop until they run it into the ground, like everything else they’ve tried to do. They are not capable of taking this on and we are not going to let them.
They’re all like Thelma & Louise. Holding hands, screaming bloody murder and driving off a cliff into oblivion. We don’t have to let them take us with them, just because they’re too stupid to recognize a dead end road! Freaking lemmings!