The goals of Obama and the Left: tyranny, coup, or business as usual?
Freud spent a lot of time wondering, “what do women want?” And on this blog we’ve also spent a great deal of time—and no small number of posts and comments—on the modern-day version: what does Obama want?
There are other questions that go along with that one: what part of his agenda will he actually be able to accomplish, whatever he may want? And by what method? And how can we best go about thwarting those of his intentions we deem to be bad for this country and its future?
I’m not about to tackle all of that right now, although you’re free to try in the comments section. But I noticed these issues coming up once again during the last two days, in the comments section of this thread. So I’ve decided a little clarification of my point of view is in order.
As I wrote here:
I’m not predicting a coup””I’m not predicting anything, exactly. I’m describing something I see, and I believe the idea is to grab as much power as possible, by whatever means possible, as long as possible, and drag the country further and further to the Left, whether the people want it or not. I have no idea how successful this effort will be, but I think it is real, and I think it needs to be resisted.
Several commenters in the thread focused on the difference between some of the terms used: “coup,” “tyranny,” “power grab.” And, although I have not suggested that Obama is advocating the first, I have indeed used the latter terms in reference to what I believe are his plans.
There is a difference between a coup and tyranny, and although sometimes the two go together. A coup is sudden, and it overthrows a government rather than merely morphing it incrementally from one thing to another.
Obama is already in power; no coup is necessary for him to remain there, at least for the next few years. If he tried to stay in power past his term through some sort of extra-constitutional means, I suppose at that point it might be considered a coup. But future election fraud that benefit the Democrats currently in power, while a distinct possibility, does not come under the definition of “coup.” And it is the latter that I believe he (and many other Democrats on the Left) has in mind. I also observe that there is a certain amount of evidence for that belief (the attempt to take over the census, the reliance on ACORN, the push for motor-voter without proof of citizenship, and perhaps later the granting of amnesty to illegals).
Every now and then on this blog, for the sake of an interesting discussion, I have highlighted or quoted other the words of other people who have predicted some sort of coup by Obama. But such an event has not been the focus of my own predictions or thoughts. But while I do believe that Obama is bent on maximizing the number of liberal Democrat voters by hook or by crook, and maximizing his own power and that of the Left in general, that’s not a coup, nor do I believe (or have ever said I believed) in the idea that he’ll suspend elections.
The best summary of what I think is here, in a post entitled “Tyranny and Obama: success or failure.” I have used the word “tyranny” quite often in reference to what I think this administration (and Reid and Pelosi) have in mind. But not all tyrannies are alike, nor do they all come to power through coups.
On reflection, I’m wondering whether there might be a better word for what I’m trying to describe than “tyranny,” a term which has multiple definitions. But I haven’t been able to come up with such a word so far. The definitions of “tyranny” that I’m thinking of in terms of Obama are the following:
—a government ruled by a tyrant who uses his power oppressively or unjustly
—a government wherein the rights and Liberties of the people are violated at will by those in power
—-as used in the phrase “tyranny of the majority”
Some of the definitions of the word “tyranny” involve cruelty and absolute power. I am not asserting that Obama is planning those things at the moment; I don’t think he is drawing up plans for a Gulag or killing fields. But I am asserting that he is bent on violating our liberties in order to consolidate his power and that of his supporters, and that he has no reservations about being creative about going around the constitution (czars, executive orders, cooking the election rolls) if he can get away with it.
As for cruelty and absolute power (or Gulags or killing fields), they’re not necessary for tyranny, although they are always a possibility for the future. It is a question of degree, and it is sometimes the case that these things have a tendency to grow over time once a person or a group gets more and more power. That is why we must be on guard at the first signs of an administration that wants so badly to circumvent the safeguards in our constitution, such as freedom of speech.
Remember that what the Nazis appeared to be when they came to power is not what they were ten years later. The tyranny they so clearly implemented grew and built over time. Nor did they come to power through a coup. Everything Hitler when he first to come to power was strictly legal (see the latter part of this post). Again, don’t get me wrong—I do not see Obama as Hitler. I see him much more as a Chavez wannabee, a smoother and seemingly more erudite (although I believe Obama’s erudition is merely a veneer) version.
That does not mean any of this will happen. It does not even mean that Obama’s goal is to go every bit as far as Chavez has, or will. But they are birds of a feather—and such birds are birds of prey, and the line from one to the other is a continuum.
Most predators pick on the weak or the injured. I believe that, although in earlier times this country was strongly inoculated against the tyranny of someone such as Chavez or Obama, we are now in an enervated state and more susceptible to their enticements. This weakness has been coming on for decades, due to an abandonment of teaching about our own country—its culture, values, and history, as well as its foundations and goals—as well as a lack of critical thinking.
That does not mean that we will not succeed in restoring these things, and combating whatever tyranny (soft, hard, or in-between) the current administration might attempt to implement. There are some encouraging signs that the public is catching on, perhaps in time.
But we need to remain on guard. It is important to remember that, just as a layperson cannot always tell from looking at a photo of a creature in its embryonic stages exactly what sort of animal it will become, it is difficult to predict the form tyranny will take, or how successful it will be in tightening its grip. That is why we need to be aware of the early signs, and to take them seriously.
Excellent, thought provoking post, Neo-Neocon.
The very best book for any member of the dread & evil Neocon Cabal is: “Reflections on a Ravaged Century” by Robert Conquest (Norton, 2000). Last I checked it’s still very much(Thank God!)in print. It has no close peer as to it’s meditation on the horrors and follies of the 20th Century by our greatest living modern historian. Read it, if you haven’t already, and you will find much to raise the hairs on your neck re: our current shipwreck.
I keep it tucked close to my dog eared copy of Sowell’s “The Vision of the Anointed”. Both great men are colleagues at Hoover.
Neo,
Excellent post.
For what its worth, I think the distinctions youve made in it needed to be stated.
Perhaps its my own mental quirk, but while I find it easy to join a cause against the kind of power grab/political hegemony the Obama-ites are attempting, as such is well described by Victor Davis Hansen , I’ve had a harder time with the idea that we must all head for the bunker because a coup (as youve defined) is coming.
The distinction, for me at least, is an important one.
As for Tyrrany the Meriam-Webster definition includes the following:
Sounds right to me.
One of the problems I’ve noticed is that the small government anti-Obama people have a difficult time explaining what they are FOR. Some clever people need to come up with simple slogans that don’t sound jingoistic and uncaring and yet make old-fashioned American values sound terrific.
I love the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, but it doesn’t convey a message that is positive.
I mention this because large masses of people who fear the future need to be at the polls and able to STOP the Black Panther/Acorn-types from stealing the elections. Right now, pro-liberty Americans can take back their country legally, but only if elections are fair.
In Chicago, we have a one-party government. There is absolutely no opposition to the Daley Machine. Individual wards can change aldermen, but all elections are won or lost during the primary. This is America’s near-future if we don’t get the small government people elected in the next election.
Right now, Chicago is rapidly going bankrupt and so is the State of Illinois. I can’t predict what will happen when we can’t pay for police and fire departments. It won’t be pretty. And without public schools, I guess we’ll have roaming herds of bored children looking for trouble. Once my cousin was attacked by a pack of vicious eleven-year-olds so I know they can be quite dangerous.
In the more distant future…yes, we are definitely on the road to a hard tyranny with advanced medicine denied to elderly people, Soviet-style schools (but without the math), and crushing taxes for anyone who makes a decent living. I believe the U.S. will break up if this future comes to pass. It’s interesting that a few months ago a Russian predicted that the U.S. would soon fall apart. And here I am, already talking about it. Did this Russian know something that we should know?
Re the Secretary of State program to cheat in elections a la Minnesota and Ohio, some leader needs to get on this. Right now, I’m just a follower. I need someone to plan the time and place to confront the corrupted Secretary of State, and I’ll be there, along with other tea partyers.
tea partier?
Both versions look misspelled.
I think that Obama’s desire for control will become more evident as the adulation subsides. The man cannot take criticism from outside and is incable of self criticism. I’ve read today some comments that Europe was not included in the final group of negotiators in Copenhagen. He definitely knows how to throw people under the bus when he no longer needs them, but some day the space will be all used up. Who knows what will happen then, but I predict some sort of fireworks.
I must admit that I am surprised at how the Democrats are ramming the health care bill through in spite of strong public opposition. I always thought politicians placed high priority on reelection. Maybe they believe the media will cover for them.
Promethea: “Don’t Tread On Me” IS a POSITIVE message.
The nautical reference in my pseudonym involves occasional long drives from The Heartland to The Chesapeake Bay. I often use that time to listen to CDs of college courses. The best such course I have ever heard is from The Teaching Company, entitled “Utopia and Terror in the 20th Century.” Highly recommended.
Wretchard meditates on the process in the most chilling terms I have seen:
http://pajamasmedia.com/richardfernandez/2009/12/19/year-end-thoughts/
“It would come upon the West relatively quickly…”
NeoConScum . . .
For you and me, “Don’t Tread on Me” is a positive message. But the liberals I know think that small government conservativism means abandoning innocent children, impoverished homeless crazy people, unfortunate selected minorities, and people who suffered from bad parenting, forcing them to starve to death or die horribly from an untreated disease.
Even if the economy hits bottom, the brain-dead liberals will blame capitalism, Big Pharma, Evil Corporations, etc. So, we need some catchy slogans to make our position clearer.
To a liberal, “Don’t Tread on Me” means that you are selfish or evil.
The greatest danger lies in the federal judiciary, which is designed to be anti-democratic. This is where a revolution in our understanding of the Constitution could take place without any hope of redress. I think our Adjunct-Law-Professor-in-Chief will see the opportunities, especially if the courts will justify overreaching (and heretofore illegal) regulation coming out of the Executive Branch.
The Court has let down the country before, with catastrophic results. The relevant example here is probably Roger Taney’s work in Dred Scott, which overturned the previous constitutional order by invalidating the states’ rights to regulate (and ban) slavery as well as the political balance established by the Missouri Compromise.
I’d forgotten about the ACORN and the Census. That does make it seem like a long-term well-thought plan. Although it could just have been about filching a few billion and guaranteeing him a 50 state win in 2012.
Promethea: NOTHING, Nada, Nyet, Nein..is going to matter one whit to the Left-Lib true believers. They’re not able to critically think, grasp, reason or deduce. Don’t, for Gawdsake, waste 2-minutes fretting over how to ‘Sell’ to them. They have a malignant mental disorder.
Its not the true believers that can be won over- a few maybe. The ignorant masses are the ones that need to be woken up. I suggest right now we should be harping about that $100,000,000,000 a year Clinton pledged to give away to fight global warming- over $300 a year per American. Global Warming may actually be their weak point if the trends continue with cooling. We need to mock the dems on this-and keep on mocking them.
Debt and the collapsing dollar-we need to be ahead of the curve and point out what is going to happen with all this debt.
Look at this article about the Chinese and our debt. I think we are about to be in a world of hurt…
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/print.asp?id=423054
Maybe we have another year or two but we cannot go on spending money like this. Also, if you point out that is over $1300 a year for a family of four it hits home better. (apx $333 per person per year) That is probably not counting on any taxes the EPA is likely to levy to generate CO2- though they probably not call it a “tax”.
NeoConScum . . .
I’ve given up trying to get to the Left-Lib true believers, but we still need to get rational people to be willing to oppose the election fraud, census fraud, and other frauds to come.
Did Obama do another BOW in Copenhagen? Or is this just some courtesy thing? http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2009/12/18/o-bow-ma-finds-someone-bow-copenhagen
I just watched Obama’s Copenhagen speech. He becomes ever more dictatorial in his presentation. He literally wants to dictate what is the truth, it is in his tone and body language. This is the essence of all tyrants: they are the very opposite of humility towards the Truth. ‘My Will is Truth, My Will be done’.
Climategate and Obama seem to go together: both are arrogant, (self)deceiving rebellions against the Truth.
“…the small government anti-Obama people have a difficult time explaining what they are FOR.”
That is undoubtedly true. Some Republicans can’t even articulate their party’s fundamental philosophies. They’ve even allowed the Dems to co-opt the word “liberal.” We’ve been coasting along politically for so long that the differences between the parties have been lost in the mists of time. No one’s really had to articulate them.
I’m a classical liberal who voted independent all my life. I may sound like a “dangerous right-wing radical” now, but I’m not unsympathetic with populist ideas; I would have voted for JFK had I been old enough. I cried like everyone else when he died. I voted for Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, Gore, Dole–hell, I even voted for Obama for Senator. Like most people, I’m a mixed bag.
Also, like most Americans, I voted for the personality–not the policy. Who knew what the hell the underlying political policy was? Maybe 20 guys in university poli-sci departments and their students. A few wackos on campus who were fashionably Red. They’d get a job and grow out of it.
It wasn’t until 9/11 that I took the time to study up on the matter. I couldn’t understand why some Americans actually thought we had it coming. At that moment, I realized how clueless I was.
This is the fundamental difference between the two parties: economic policy. That’s it in a nutshell. The Left is a product of the French Enlightenment and the Right is a product of the Scottish Enlightenment. Every other attitude and policy devolves from that key idea. To condense it into a metaphor: the Left wants to give you someone else’s fish so you can eat today; the Right wants to teach you how to fish so you can feed yourself for the rest of your life.
These beliefs have profound ramifications insofar as our civic responsibilities and obligations–even personal freedoms–are concerned. Read Hayek, Von Mises, Bastiat, etc.
The Republicans should go back to the basics as set forth in the Constitution: to limit the size and role of the government, to re-establish the Constitution as a protector–not oppressor–of the citizen, to lower taxes and allow people to keep more of what they have earned, and to defend the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic. That would be a winner.
Oh, boy. Yet another must-read Belmont Club thread:
Year end thoughts
Quoting Lord Monckton:
(Emphasis mine.)
Promethia hits the nail on the head. One must scrutinize our blue cities, states, entities, satrapies, and enclaves such as Chicago, Cleveland Heights, Ann Arbor and San Fransisco if one is not living in one, and endure them is one is (or move).
The structures of republican government and an independent judiciary remain there, but good luck fighting city hall, or even getting an answer from the b@st@rds.
jon baker,
Regarding using climate change: Perhaps we need to point out that Obama is hurting our standing in the world. We no longer stand for democracy, human rights, freedom. We now stand for plutocratic world government in which we owe Sudan for its genocide. We stand for whining brats who think making a poster and flying to Copenhagen is more important than building a better mousetrap. We stand for the sickest form of masochism.
How about some posters of The Won in stars and stripes with a big Kick Me on his rear surrounded by Chavez, Achmadinejad, Greenpeace “warriors,” etc. ready to fulfill his request. Does anyone really believe that the people of Tuvala will provide the world with new energy technology? Are the Europeans now enduring freezing temperatures going to turn down their thermostats or let some smart grid do it for them when a UN crook gives the order.
Going on to the next step: According to Joschka Fischer, it was US intervention that prevented a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan. It was the US that stooped the genocide in the Balkans. It was a phone call from Colin Powell that cooled down Spain and Morocco after lots of EU handwringing when these countries were getting nasty over Parsley Island (a hunk of rock off the Moroccan coast that is home to a few goats). It was the US that allowed South Koreans to develop and export Hyundais instead of Kim statues. It was the US that stood against the USSR, resulting ultimately in the shutdown of filthy Eastern European factories that really were killing trees.
Give me the Kick Me sign right now. I feel a bout of masochism coming over me.
Oh, I forgot to mention our stupidity in sending war ships to Indonesia to get water to the tsunami victims while Germans were bragging about sending used winter sweaters and grief counsellers. Sorry for that, World. Please kick a little harder next time.
Promethea Says:
Also,
I think one example of what promethea is talking about occurred when the GOP took over Congress in 1994. There was the promise of the “Contract with America,” and Newt Gingrich was speaking often of converting the “welfare state” into an “opportunity society.” I’ve always liked the language of “opportunity”, and I think most Americans would react to it as being a uniquely American trait.
I think we need to juxtapose the language of “opportunity” and “freedom” with that of “dependence” and “government power grab.”
Also, (and heres something a lot of people here may disagree with), I think we can score some points by acknowledging a few areas where government is needed (i.e. limited assistance to what Reagan called the “truly needy,” namely the elderly poor, children, the disabled, etc), while stressing that this assistance: (a) should be strictly limited; (b) should be subject to means testing; and (c) should be aimed at getting those who truly need such assistance off of it to greatest degree possible.
It seems crystal clear to me what Obama wants. He has been surrounded and coached his entire life by Communists and has given no indication of thinking differently than they do.
I believe they are in the early stages of a socialist/communist transformation of our government. No one need fear re-election with SEIU and ACORN in place. Everything they do and say fits right in. Propaganda is rampant. Read David Horowitz.
Promethea…Then, you and I are on the same page. A place where continual, consistent, never-take-a-break information and pressure needs to be applied for regular folks, including the millions of young airheads who voted for The One, is ALL the Pork, Grift, Payoffs, Bribes, etc. WITHIN THOSE 2000+PAGES by the billions. Total , relentless exposure is necessary. It’s beyond loathsome and shocking.
While I am note ready to head for the bunker , I agree there is much to be concerned about.
Here’s an excellent New York Post article that makes that point very well. Its actually from a former Obama supporter, Michael Goodwin, who has come to have a change of heart about Obama. He says he now fears for his country.
(On the positive side, I beleive there are many former Obama supporters who, like Goodwin, have also changes their minds.)
Great quote:
“President Barack Obama burst into a meeting of Chinese, Indian and Brazilian leaders to try and reach a climate agreement in late Friday negotiations in Copenhagen.
Chinese protocol officials objected to Obama’s presence in the meeting, according to a senior administration official, who said that the president didn’t want the leaders negotiating in secret.”
So, he burst in on their meeting, unannounced and uninvited, and made three more “friends” for the USA.
This sounds like a scene from The Black Adder, but with none of the comedy.
From this one astounding fiasco we can surmise that the leaders of the world have recognized that a realignment of the major powers has taken place and the USA is now nothing more than second tier, if that. Nothing good will come from this.
NeoNeocon wrote ” I’m describing something I see, and I believe the idea is to grab as much power as possible, by whatever means possible, as long as possible, and drag the country further and further to the Left, whether the people want it or not.”
Bingo. Give that lady a cigar.
This is why they’re ramming as much legislation through as fast as possible.
Here in Loudoun County VA, the Democrat majority on our Board of Supervisors just did the same with environmental legislation. Long story short, they turned a small federal grant into a 30 year plan complete with mandates for conservation and all. They hired a consultant for $250,000 to write a monstrosity of a bill. A bunch of us objected at the public hearing, but it did no good.
We’ll fight tooth and nail to vote them out in 2011, just as we are the Dems in Congress next year and BHO himself in 2012.
With Chevaz and Hitler, they did use “legal” means to increase their power, but they also had the thugs in the streets to confront anyone who opposed their will. To my knowledge, the citizens of each of these countries were not armed as are Americans and it is not clear how Americans will react if the SEIU/ACORN thugs start systematic “brownshirt” tactics.
I Stand For Freedom 4 nights week at my Freedom Corners in MD and PA displaying signs to provoke Americans to face what is happening to our country. To date, the street active members of the Patriots Corner Club have not had any serious situations; yes, we have been called everything under the sun, but so far the cowards will not face us. However, if I am attacked, as was Mr. Gladney in St. Louis County, they will pay a price unless they put me down. In Germany few people reacted since it was not their group that was been attacked as in Pastor Martin Niemé¶ller’s poem, “They first came for the ____, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a ____, then they came for the . . . ” I know Americans are apathetic; we have 8 or 10 active members out of out 146 in the club, but a spark can set off something the government did not intend.
On December 1, I was with my Navy Jack, DONT TREAD ON ME flag, at Capitol and 1st Streets on the east side of the Capital. I began a Stand at 7:30 while waiting for the expected TEA Party people to show up for a rally at the near by Senate office buildings. I was surrounded by the Capitol police after 2 1/2 hours of my presence there, just after the rally meeting time had passed. The police assured me I was legal, but kept asking me questions about why I was there and how many I was meeting. Just suppose that the bus loads of people that I was expecting, but which didn’t show, actually did, saw I was being “harassed” and surrounded the police, who in turn called in reinforcements. Since a TEA Party group had sponsored the event I was waiting for, one could assume that tweets, text messages, pictures and the like would go out about the situation and how it developed. As in most situations like that, something could easily happen to provoke the people or the police and a “riot” could break out. That would go out via the Internet and a response like the 1999 Tennessee Tax Revolt could start and expand since there is a lot of frustration now over Congress ignoring the will of the people. If that occurred, that national apathy would evaporate immediately, in my opinion. We do not take too kindly to government running roughshod over our freedoms and constitutional rights. Maybe we will lose our freedoms by an unrecognized thousand cuts against us, but I hope not.
You can join us at patriotscornerclub.ning.com for ideas and support on what you can do between TEA Parties; we are taking back out nation . . . one corner at a time.
J.L. said, “limited assistance to what Reagan called the “truly needy,” namely the elderly poor, children, the disabled, etc), while stressing that this assistance: (a) should be strictly limited; (b) should be subject to means testing; and (c) should be aimed at getting those who truly need such assistance off of it to greatest degree possible”
No, not the federal government or even local government. Charity is best handled by private charities, religious charities, or individuals. The feds are too big, too impersonal, too detached, too easy to scam. Local charities are most likely to get the help where it needs to go and to end it when it is no longer needed.
Stop by any local charitable organization. Look in to what they offer and what connections they have to other charitable organizations. I think you’ll find a plethora of organizations willing to give a hand up to those who are willing to pull themselves up with the help offered. If people have drug or alcohol problems, they have to get clean before anyone can help them. AA and other organizations are there to help them. There is no dearth of charity in this country. There are too many people who are not ready to exert the effort necessary to help themselves.
I’m an unemployed cabinetmaker. Its likely that I will never again work as a cabinetmaker, something I’ve done for the past 10 years…who will hire me for $20 hr…when they can hire an illegal for half that? Not only that, they won’t be forced to pay health insurance either…nor will they have to pay taxes…so where is the incentive to hire me to work?
I didn’t turn to the government beyond unemployment assistance…I went to local charities as they do far more efficiently than the government ever can. Addtionally, I actually get treated as a person…something that Maryland just can’t do. I would dearly love to work in someone’s shop building cabinets, but I think that industry is dead…
Neo,
There is an interesting interview with Nat Hentoff at
http://www.rutherford.org/Oldspeak/Articles/Interviews/oldspeak-Hentoff_2009.html
It begins: “I try to avoid hyperbole, but I think Obama is possibly the most dangerous and destructive president we have ever had.” – Nat Hentoff
Neo writes, “But we need to remain on guard.”
The time for that is past.
We need to act.
Inertial stasis-remaining on guard-is not what these desperate times require.
George Walton,
Interesting interview with Nat Hentoff. I’ve always liked Hentoff because he’s always been hard to categorize, politically. And always a fighter for individual rights and liberties… so it is quite telling that he’s alarmed of Obama’s actions.
And he’s not what one might call a “knee-jerk” ideologue. Note his comparision of Obama with Bush: