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Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:13:00 -0800 (PST)
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Subject: Re: Conservatives, don't despair
From: "la...@pivotforpower.com" <la...@pivotforpower.com>
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On Monday, November 12, 2012 10:25:00 AM UTC-8, unknown wrote:
> The mood among American conservatives is now one of apocalyptic despair.
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> Having convinced themselves that this election arrayed freedom against ty=
ranny, they now must wonder: Did their country just democratically vote in =
favor of tyranny?
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> On Fox News election night, BIll O'Reilly explained the meaning of the el=
ection: the "white establishment" was now outnumbered by minorities. "The d=
emographic are changing. It's not a traditional America anymore." And these=
 untraditional Americans "want stuff. They want things. And who is going to=
 give them things? President Obama. He knows it, and he ran on it."
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> O'Reilly's analysis is echoed across the conservative blogosphere. The (n=
on-white) takers now outnumber the (white) makers. They will use their majo=
rity to pillage the makers and redistribute to the takers. In the process, =
they will destroy the sources of the country's wealth and end the American =
experiment forever.
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> You'll hear O'Reilly's view echoed wherever conservatives express themsel=
ves.
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> Happily, the view is wrong, and in every respect.
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> America is not a society divided between "makers" and "takers." Instead, =
almost all of us proceed through a life cycle where we sometimes make and s=
ometimes take as we pass from schooling to employment to retirement.
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> The line between "making" and "taking" is not a racial line. The biggest =
government program we have, Medicare, benefits a population that is 85% whi=
te.
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> President Barack Obama was not re-elected by people who want to "take." T=
he president was re-elected by people who want to work -- and who were conv=
inced, rightly or wrongly, that the president's policies were more likely t=
o create work than were the policies advocated by my party.
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> The United States did not vote for socialism. It could not do so, because=
 neither party offers socialism. Both parties champion a free enterprise ec=
onomy cushioned by a certain amount of social insurance. The Democrats (mos=
tly) want more social insurance, the Republicans want less. National politi=
cs is a contest to move the line of scrimmage, in a game where there's no s=
uch thing as a forward pass, only a straight charge ahead at the defensive =
line. To gain three yards is a big play.
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> Whatever you think of the Obama record, it's worth keeping in mind that b=
y any measure, free enterprise has been winning the game for a long, long t=
ime to this point.
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> Compare the United States of 2012 to the United States of 1962. Leave asi=
de the obvious points about segregation and discrimination, and look only a=
t the economy.
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> In 1962, the government regulated the price and route of every airplane, =
every freight train, every truck and every merchant ship in the United Stat=
es. The government regulated the price of natural gas. It regulated the int=
erest on every checking account and the commission on every purchase or sal=
e of stock. Owning a gold bar was a serious crime that could be prosecuted =
under the Trading with the Enemy Act. The top rate of income tax was 91%.
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> It was illegal to own a telephone. Phones had to be rented from the giant=
 government-regulated monopoly that controlled all telecommunications in th=
e United States. All young men were subject to the military draft and could=
 escape only if they entered a government-approved graduate course of study=
. The great concern of students of American society -- of liberals such as =
David Riesman, of conservatives such as Russell Kirk, and of radicals such =
as Dwight Macdonald -- was the country's stultifying, crushing conformity.
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> Even if you look only at the experiences of white heterosexual men, the U=
nited States of 2012 is a freer country in almost every way than the United=
 States of 1962.
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> Obama has changes in mind that conservatives and Republicans will oppose.=
 He will want to raise taxes, he will want to sustain social spending at a =
permanently higher level, he has in mind new regulations over health care, =
energy production and banking. He'll win some, he'll lose some. To the exte=
nt that his wins prove injurious, future Republican Congresses and administ=
rations will struggle to undo them. That's politics: a contest that never e=
nds, and in which the only certainty is the certainty of constant change.
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> The Republican challenge next is to reassemble a new coalition for limite=
d government and private enterprise. That coalition must include Americans =
of all ethnicities. To assume from the start that only certain ethnicities =
will contribute, and that others aspire only to grab, is not only ugly prej=
udice; it is also self-destructive delusion.
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> People of all backgrounds want to create, save and contribute to society.=
 A party of the center-right should make them all feel at home, regardless =
of how they pronounce their last name, the complexion of their skin or the =
way in which they express love and build family.
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> The Roman Catholic Church deems despair a mortal sin. To abandon hope is =
to reject the reality of goodness and to forswear future action. The United=
 States is a great and good country, and it remains great and good even whe=
n we do not get all our own way politically. The United States is a toleran=
t and free country, which means that there are no "tipping points" beyond w=
hich it becomes impossible to correct mistakes.
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> Fifty years ago, Marxism was still a live intellectual force in British u=
niversities. Marxists taught that human society must inevitably evolve into=
 a socialist dictatorship of the proletariat. The great British conservativ=
e historian Hugh Trevor-Roper scoffed at this arrogance. He said, "When rad=
icals scream that victory is indubitably theirs, sensible conservatives kno=
ck them on the nose. It is only very feeble conservatives who take such wor=
ds as true and run round crying for the last sacraments."
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> We need more sensible conservatives. As for the feeble conservatives, the=
y should take a couple of aspirin and then stay quietly indoors until the t=
emper has subsided and they are ready to say and do something useful again.
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> http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/12/opinion/frum-conservatives-despair/inde=
x.html

The democrats won by pandering.  If both parties pander, there will shortly=
 be nothing left to pander with.=20

Mitt Romney wanted to be responsible, even though he was coming out of a mi=
llionaire's comfortable retirement.  He would have donated his salary.  He =
would have put on his green eyeshade and endeavored day and night and even =
weekends to turn this ship around before it hits the rocks ahead.  His wife=
 was worried that he would work himself into poor health for our country.  =
But his message never got through primarily because it was distorted and fi=
ltered by the liberal media.  They wanted Obama so they trashed Romney.

And people voted for more gifts from the government, transfers from those o=
f us who have earned assets to those who have earned NOTHING! =20

So now what?  We have an irresponsible child at the helm and the ship is st=
ill heading for the rocks. =20

Larry