THE AWAKENING

Always delighted to find opinions which articulate what we consistently inspire to communicate, Two-Fisted is honored to republish this comment by someone named CF Bleachers found at PajamasMedia. The number and poetry of clarifying points made by Bleachers is astonishing. Read on. Embrace fully one's awareness of the political environment. This will be a bumpy even dangerous ride we have ahead of us. Prepare thyselves.

JENNIFER, BACK IN OCTOBER, I wrote this response to one of Roger Kimball’s articles. I went back to survey my thoughts from that period to overlay them on today’s landscape. Roger had written about Chris Buckley leaving the reservation…(Ann Althouse had done the same), Andy had long ago left the reservation and I responded to Megan McArdle when she drifted into the Obama camp).

(At one point, I even remember a lovely Jennifer Rubin wondering aloud whether the gifted political orator and chessboard master was actually going to govern from the center, I hope it is not impolitic or discourteous to mention it)

Begging your permission, I would like to revisit my thoughts written to Roger and see how they overlay in today’s landscape.

In point of fact, Roger, I assume you do not disagree at all with what Christopher Buckley finds appealing in Sen. Obama, neither do I.

He displays a soft temperament, is at times inspiring with his delivery of ideas, soothing and calming in demeanor. Anyone who disputes this is unable to continue in the quest for principled disagreement.

We tend in this country, to overcompensate away the deficiencies of the last guy in office. Nixon was sort of brooding and had dark corners, Ford was affable and light. But Ford was portrayed as a clumsy oaf, so Carter was the nuclear engineer. But Carter was limp and cowardly, and Reagan was brave and heroic. But Reagan was sleepy, cowboyish and dim, Bush Sr. was erudite and gentler. But Bush, Sr. was a wimp married to his grandma, and Clinton was dashing and bold. But Clinton often ruled by polls and plebiscites and spent time chasing his tail literally and figuratively, (some of which he put on the payroll), so we closed the last chapter with the current President Bush, married to a sweet librarian and not leading by watching polls but rather, destroyed by them. Going it alone was a mantra, a badge of honor. Perhaps, most importantly, this President Bush, in a war of words…most often fought on a battlefield between his brain and his tongue.

So, the most eloquent speaker, who appeals to the “world court of opinion” and prodded on by a media in his pocket and not on his watch…will “cure” the ills that have befallen us.

What Christopher chooses to ignore, are all the signs of what we will have to cure in the next election. He glosses over them as if they are invisible. That is what surprises most, that is what deadens the heart and chips away at the soul.

Christopher is clearly brilliant enough to see and chooses instead to avert his gaze. The thuggery and mean-spririted henchmen who do the dirty work, keep clean the hands and the image of “first class” comportment. The abject slander heaped upon opponents, comes not from the mouth of the candidate…but from the bellowing rage of his campaign.

The crushing of dissent by teams of lawyers, calls to action and “in your face” aggression come not from written directive, but from the planning committee seeking to choke off relevant inquiry. Clearly, Christopher cannot be so mesmerized as to wash this grime away with a simple wave of the hand. He has fallen for the image and he has been distracted by the persona.

So far, up to this point, I’m ok with what I had written. I believe we had not yet seen the degree to which dissent would be ignored, unwelcome and crushed…utilizing Pelosi and Reid to cram down legislation with an in your face attitude of “We won”…many people, including Clive Crook were still holding fast to the belief that principled dissent would be received with open arms.

I love liberals, Roger…as I suspect you do. Many of them surround my daily life. But I despise leftists. A liberal is ruled by compassion, a leftist by deceit.

A liberal wants to try a different approach, a leftist wants to replace the system.

A liberal believes in fair play and honest disagreement, a leftist believes in hiding the truth and crushing dissent.

A liberal believes you may have a point, a leftist believes there are no points other than his.

A liberal says this country is great, but can be greater through dialogue. A leftist believes some other country is great and this country makes him puke.

A liberal wants equality for all persons regardless of gender, color or creed, a leftist wants class and racial warfare.

A liberal wants to take the poor and give them a chance to be rich, a leftist wants to take the rich and make them poor.

Here is where my overlay given today’s facts needs closest examination. Are we in the midst of a compassionate liberal agenda or does it contain the venom and windpipe crushing brutality of a cramdown of leftism? Does it gain height by stepping on the necks of principled dissenters? Does it seek elevation via the digging of trenches for those on the wrong side of class warfare? Does it seek racial warfare through name calling (cowards)? Does it seek to attack the wealthy and make them poor…in order to gain parity, but not equality? Does it seek to mask the truth…suggesting that newly created problems are “inherited”?

And if it does these things, does it suggest that the implementation of this new system is not classic liberalism, but entrenched leftism? I leave that to others to decide, but in forecasting the differences…I certainly wanted to see how this played out.

The liberals are gone, Roger. The leftists have consumed them. I love the liberals, I despise the leftists. What Christopher cannot see…is the leftist magicians on stage, not with their trinkets hidden up their sleeves…but dangling from them in plain view…and daring us to shout out what we see….because, if we do…they will scream that we are racist and paranoid and not nuanced enough to appreciate the trick they are about to pull.

And if a brilliant and informed man like Christopher Buckley can be taken in by the sleight of hand, what possible chance does that leave for those who stand to vote the difference in this election? I’m afraid this magician’s show will make many of our fondest liberties disappear. For that, we will all pay the price of admission.

That price, it appears…comes in the trillions.