A reader (Donald Gately) wrote Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit and said this:
I consider myself a libertarian/conservative. Like many people of that bent, I was uncomfortable with Bush when he was nominated. But Al Gore’s increasingly-erratic behavior during the 2000 election made me hope Bush won.
Once Bush won, and it became clear that the Florida democrats were trying to steal the election, I became something of a Bush loyalist. Throughout his first term, I took note of all the really horrible things that were said about him, saw that a large portion of the left would rather see Bush fail than see America succeed, and was alarmed by the complicity (and often, participation) of the MSM and mainstream Hollywood. It wasn’t far into his second term that I succumbed to Bush Fatigue, due to his inability to make the case for his foreign policy to the American people, and his inability to find the veto pen. He has truly been a terrible steward of the Republican brand, and because of this, the Conservative and libertarian causes are suffering.
I’m no fan of McCain , but as I dislike Obama (and love Palin), I’ll be pulling the lever for McCain in November.
This is surely small of me, but if Obama wins, I plan on giving him as much of a chance as the Democrats gave George Bush. I will gleefully forward every paranoid anti-Obama rumor that I see, along with YouTube footage of his verbal missteps. I will laugh and email heinous anti-Obama photoshop jobs, and maybe even learn photoshop myself to create some. I’ll buy anti-Obama books, and maybe even a “Not My President” t-shirt. I’m sure that the mainstream bookstores won’t carry them, but I’ll be on the lookout for anti-Obama calendars and stuff like that. I will not wish America harm, and if the country is hurt (economically, militarily, or diplomatically) I will truly mourn. But I will also take some solace that it occurred under Obama’s watch, and will find every reason to blame him personally and fan the flames.
Obama’s thuggish behavior thus far in this election cycle – squashing free speech, declaring any criticism of his policies to be “racist” (a word that happily carries little weight with sensible people these days), associating with the likes of Ayers, Wright, and ACORN – suggests that I won’t have to scrape for reasons to really viscerally dislike Obama and his administration. And even if he wins, his campaign’s “get out the vote fraud” activities are enough to provide people like me with a large degree of “plausible deniability” as to whether he is actually legitimately the president.
I’ve seen a President that I am generally-inclined to like get crapped on for eight years, and I’ve seen McCain and Palin (honorable people both, despite policy differences I may have with them) get crapped on through this election season. If the Democrats think that a President Obama is going to get some sort of honeymoon from the folks who didn’t vote for him, as a wise man once said: heh.
Glenn responded:
I understand where he’s coming from, but . . . . Well, it makes me sad to think that this is where we are. Personally, if Obama’s elected I intend to give him a chance and weigh him on his actions, not his party. But I agree that he’s not likely to get much of a honeymoon — except from the press, which has been giving him one for about a year already.
Sorry Glenn. You’re dead wrong. This is where we’ve been for a long time, thanks to the ground rules set by a venomous leftwing MSM and blogosphere attack dog.
They’ve been tirelessly working as part of Obama’s campaign staff to get him elected; using their world-wide forum for propaganda smears against McCain, Palin, and anyone who dares to bring up Obama’s glaring character flaws. They gave Clinton a break during all of his felonies, including treason. Monikagate and the subsequent wag-the-dog tactics were distractions.
The press in this country took a sharp left turn in the 60’s and never looked back. They’ve been waging a war against America ever since.
Obama’s actions, associates, and socialist leanings for the last 20 years should have already convinced you.
Another Instapundit reader (James Racicot) writes:
Just a further comment on the thread regarding the reception that Obama will get after the elections:
With all respect to Simpson’s anchorman Kent Brockman: I, for one, welcome our new Socialist Overlords.
A democrat President, a democratic Congress and perhaps, a filibuster-proof senate is all the public needs to hold the entire Democratic Party apparatus fully and completely accountable for the next few years. It’s a good thing! As a frequent reader of “right wing” blogs (and less frequent commenter), I look forward to hectoring from the sidelines, opposing for the sake of opposing, and generally making an ass of myself. Hell, the KOS kids seem to have a ball these past few years: all the fun with none of the responsibility.
I agree completely with your commenter Gately: It is exhausting having to defend the actions of a President simply because the hatred on the other side simply doesn’t allow any meaningful discourse.
Maybe the internet was never meant to be the great coming together of opinions (a “Beer Hall” rather than a “Town Hall”). Maybe the Right started this thing with the full-scale assault on Clinton during the Monica scandal. Maybe…but at least there were terms of that declaration of war that had some merit.
In any case, I hope the enormously popular KOS/Huffington Post and other lefty blogs have the fuel to continue on after November 5. What in God’s name will they have to talk about? I predict their chief role will be to defend Obama from a media that will wake up November 5 feeling that they’ve come off a bad drunk and turn their focus on the only game in town.
Good luck KOS kids…you’re going to need it.
There’s one thing in Racicot’s comment I disagree with:
A democrat President, a democratic Congress and perhaps, a filibuster-proof senate is all the public needs to hold the entire Democratic Party apparatus fully and completely accountable for the next few years.
The trouble with that is the American public has a very short memory and attention span to boot. They don’t hold anyone accountable. If they did, Clinton, Gore, and Reno would be under Leavenworth.
They need to think of the consequences beyond their wallets and realize that the other domestic and foreign policies combined, will affect this country for generations.
Reader Eric Akawie emails:
I plan to take a different tack than Donald Gately, should Obama win the election. I think conserv/atarians should “perceive the Obama Administration as damage, and route around it.”
That is, fight against Government power, without focusing on who is weilding it, and rebuild our non-Governmental institutions to get done the things that need to get done.And perhaps we’ll learn the lesson you tried to teach in the run-up to the Patriot Act – Don’t give John Ashcroft any power you wouldn’t want to see Janet Reno wielding.
Link to Instapundit article: http://www.pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/archives2/025673.php
I wouldn’t trust Janet Reno under any circumstances.
Give the people you entrust with national security the ammo necessary to do the job.
A Soldier on the battlefield should not have to call up a JAG REMF to ask permission for a pre-emptive strike against an enemy lying in wait.
I don’t envsion Obama getting the keys to the Oval Office, but on the ouside chance it happens, I will be at the forefront, doing everything possible to raise hell during the brief tenure of the ‘Socialist Overlords’.