A long time ago, I read about the treatment some people in the United States received in the leadup to and early days of World War II. Those were the people who saw, earlier than others, the threat Hitler and Mussolini posed and decided, on their own, to speak out (and in many cases, go abroad to fight) against it. They were quietly labeled as "premature anti-fascists" and viewed as little more than Communists -- because at that point, nearly all of those opposed to fascism were Communists.
I am reminded of that today as I look around and I see so many liberals suddenly coming to the shocking realization that several of the things conservatives have been saying for a decade or more just might be true. And instead of admitting that the (the liberals) might have been wrong, they seem to be toying with the same sort of twisted logic that came out of the Roosevelt administration.
A lot of people -- not all conservatives, but mostly -- have always said that the Clintons are not motivated by lofty principles, but pure, base self-interest. That they will say and do anything, abandon any principle, jettison any person, repudiate any action, that furthers their ends -- and those ends are acquiring and keeping political power. We were denounced as kooks and hate-mongers and accused of being part of some "vast right-wing conspiracy" for saying these things.
Well, now the Clintons have discovered a new obstacle in their way, and it's someone who has won the hearts and minds of a hefty portion of the Democratic Party (as well as quite a few non-Democrats). But Barack Obama has the misfortune of trying to win the presidential nomination in the year that Hillary Clinton has chosen to make her last stab at glory (let's be realistic here), so he must be destroyed. And destroyed in the way the Clintons do best -- by treating him like any other political enemy. By treating him like -- of all things -- a Republican.
The mask has been torn away, the scales have dropped from the eyes of many of the Clinton's supporters, and they find themselves moving as fast as a First Lady under Bosnian sniper fire to distance themselves from their former heroes.
Likewise, a large number of us have said for decades that Communist regimes are bad things. That they tend to brutally oppress their own people, and they are eager to conquer liberate other peoples and share with them the glories of totalitarian dictatorships, freeing them from the dreary burdens of liberty and freedom and choices and prosperity. For that, we were scoffed at and mocked and condescended to and written off as paranoid kooks.
Well, all of a sudden a vast many people have drawn the connection between the oppressed and occupied and enslaved people of Tibet with the fact that the people doing the oppressing and occupying and enslaving are the Communist tyrants of China. And they are coupling that with the notion that this summer's Olympics in Beijing are a chance for those decrepit old Commies to put a big, shiny smiley face on the jackboots they use to keep not only the Tibetans down, but their own people as well -- and also use to threaten the people of Taiwan, Japan, and most of their other neighbors.
Oh, the shock and dismay.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: "welcome to the club, folks." Only this time, please don't punish us for being right too soon about these things?




Comments (14)
I agree that Bill and Hill ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Bob | April 12, 2008 7:22 AM | Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
I agree that Bill and Hill are "not motivated by lofty principles, but pure, base self-interest. That they will say and do anything, abandon any principle, jettison any person, repudiate any action, that furthers their ends -- and those ends are acquiring and keeping political power." On the other hand, I don't see them as essentially any different from BHO, a ward-heeling Chicago politician, who toes the same liberal line and courts the same liberal voting blocks (unions, teachers, minorities, pro-abortion women, etc.), as nearly every other Democrat politician in recent memory. Just because, as Joe Biden said, he's "clean" (meaning, I think, good looking), articulate, and is able to spin platitudes ("the audacity of hope") into gold, doesn't make him any more honest or otherwise superior to the Hill-Billy duo.
1. Posted by Bob | April 12, 2008 7:22 AM |
Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
Posted on April 12, 2008 07:22
2. Posted by jpm100 | April 12, 2008 9:51 AM | Score: 0 (2 votes cast)
Criticism of China isn't an awakening against Communism.
Actually China is on the outs with some Leftists for embracing capitalism. They are also on the outs with other Liberals because Bush is pro-China relations.
2. Posted by jpm100 | April 12, 2008 9:51 AM |
Score: 0 (2 votes cast)
Posted on April 12, 2008 09:51
3. Posted by JPS | April 12, 2008 10:22 AM | Score: -9 (9 votes cast)
What freedom of choice do we have left when corporations are leading the rest of us to the meat grinder? Your right wing only serve one purpose, and that is not a reasonable or ethic way of distribution of wealthness,the purpose of maintaining themselves richer than when they came to this world and to do that they already bought enough to keep brainwashing voters.
3. Posted by JPS | April 12, 2008 10:22 AM |
Score: -9 (9 votes cast)
Posted on April 12, 2008 10:22
4. Posted by SShiell | April 12, 2008 10:40 AM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
" . . and that is not a reasonable or ethic way of distribution of wealthness.
Brought to you by your local Communist party - the party without a clue but who are more than willing to steal to get one!
4. Posted by SShiell | April 12, 2008 10:40 AM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on April 12, 2008 10:40
5. Posted by MJ Freeman | April 12, 2008 11:20 AM | Score: 5 (7 votes cast)
JP said:
"Your right wing only serve one purpose, and that is not a reasonable or ethic way of distribution of wealthness,the purpose of maintaining themselves richer than when they came to this world and to do that they already bought enough to keep brainwashing voters."
Us "right-wingers" are so often characterized as either cold-hearted capitalists, or knuckle-dragging fundamenlists. It saddens me that so many on the liberal side of the aisle don't seem to understand that conservativism is a highly developed and profoundly thoughtful ideology that champions individual liberty coupled with personal responsibility. The ideals of the left, if not checked, will ultimately lead only to tyranny and oppression as our "Big Brother" federal government takes over more and more aspects of our personal lives and individual decisions.
Most left-wing ideologues could not debate their way out of a wet paper bag.
5. Posted by MJ Freeman | April 12, 2008 11:20 AM |
Score: 5 (7 votes cast)
Posted on April 12, 2008 11:20
6. Posted by Allen | April 12, 2008 11:31 AM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
JPS, you asked, "What freedom of choice do we have left when corporations are leading the rest of us to the meat grinder?"
Take a long look in the mirror, and ask yourself what you, yes YOU, can do to improve your life. What freedom of choice do I have when the gov't taxes me, and then gives that money to some lazy ass, on welfare, that keeps turning out kids, and each kid has a different father?
The small (mom & pop) industries have more people working for them than the corporations do.While both political parties have some good ideas, they both have some bad ideas. But the US has always had people who know what personal responsibility is, and a lot of left wingers just don't understand that.And if I manage to have a couple of extra dollars in my pocket, why should you, or anyone else, who is too damn lazy to improve yourself, feel you deserve some of my extra money?
Answer that one in a intelligent way if you can.Also, JPS, I'm not a right winger or left winger, just an average white American who is getting more pissed off every day.
What choice do I have when my tax money is spent giving illegals benefits?
Did Bill Gates have a choice when he came up with Microsoft? What about Steve Jobs with Apple computer? They did do something to better themselves, and the list can go on.
6. Posted by Allen | April 12, 2008 11:31 AM |
Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Posted on April 12, 2008 11:31
7. Posted by jp2 | April 12, 2008 11:42 AM | Score: -8 (10 votes cast)
"Only this time, please don't punish us for being right too soon about these things?"
So brave and wise Jay... but who "punished" you? I have a feeling that this is more fake oppression. Sort of like the time you claimed people plagiarized your work and then provided no links or evidence of the said crime.
Also, classy comparison of fascists, communists and Clintons. I think you have read too much Goldberg.
7. Posted by jp2 | April 12, 2008 11:42 AM |
Score: -8 (10 votes cast)
Posted on April 12, 2008 11:42
8. Posted by 914 | April 12, 2008 11:48 AM | Score: 3 (5 votes cast)
"I think You have raed to much Goldberg."
And I think You are full of shit.
8. Posted by 914 | April 12, 2008 11:48 AM |
Score: 3 (5 votes cast)
Posted on April 12, 2008 11:48
9. Posted by Brian | April 12, 2008 11:54 AM | Score: -5 (11 votes cast)
Seeing the coming threat of Hitler is equivalent to seeing the "truth" about the Clintons? Once again, Jay, you Godwin'd your own thread before it even got started.
By the way, Bush just admitted that in 2006 we were failing in Iraq, but he lied to the American people about that fact to keep spirits up. So look around and you'll see so many conservatives suddenly coming to the shocking realization that several of the things liberals have been saying for years just might have been true.
Well, better late than never, and "welcome to the club, folks." Only this time, please don't punish us for being right too soon about these things?
9. Posted by Brian | April 12, 2008 11:54 AM |
Score: -5 (11 votes cast)
Posted on April 12, 2008 11:54
10. Posted by Laura | April 12, 2008 1:39 PM | Score: 1 (7 votes cast)
that is not a reasonable or ethic way of distribution of wealthness
Please prove, making sure to take into account the last 100 years of American and world history, especially including the massive economic gains in Africa thanks to legislation that Clinton signed and Bush expanded, that there is a limited supply of "wealthness." Next, prove that someone is forcibly preventing you from accessing it.
Good luck.
10. Posted by Laura | April 12, 2008 1:39 PM |
Score: 1 (7 votes cast)
Posted on April 12, 2008 13:39
11. Posted by cirby | April 12, 2008 5:52 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
"the massive economic gains in Africa"
...from AGOA III and IV, mostly, since the first version of the bill would never have made it past Clinton unless you gave him a couple of interns to distract him first...
11. Posted by cirby | April 12, 2008 5:52 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on April 12, 2008 17:52
12. Posted by Laura | April 12, 2008 7:10 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
since the first version of the bill would never have made it past Clinton
True, but I give him at least a little credit for it. He could have vetoed it and didn't. :-)
12. Posted by Laura | April 12, 2008 7:10 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on April 12, 2008 19:10
13. Posted by Jay Tea | April 13, 2008 1:02 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
jp2, two points:
1) I didn't say I had been "punished," but that the premature fascists were.
2) OF COURSE I can't point to sites that plagiarized me. The three or four times I've caught them, I've managed to either get the thief to take it down, or the host to shut it down. That last one took a little more effort, so I still had the bookmark handy -- even though it was no longer valid.
I only mentioned it to show a bit of sympathy with Pilgrim -- who now also can't show any proof that he was plagiarized from, either, because he succeeded in getting it taken down. Because that's how it works, you moron.
J.
13. Posted by Jay Tea | April 13, 2008 1:02 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on April 13, 2008 01:02
14. Posted by Jim Addison | April 13, 2008 5:56 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
I'm thinking public schools.
Or maybe Engrish is your second language?
14. Posted by Jim Addison | April 13, 2008 5:56 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on April 13, 2008 05:56