Friends, the candidacy of RFK, Jr. for the Democratic nomination for president got me to thinking about just how far the dastardly Dems have sunk since their glory days, and whether yet another Kennedy can resurrect them. That's the subject of my latest article, kindly published by the good folks at American Greatness:
https://amgreatness.com/2023/04/10/a-return-to-camelot/
In other news, postmortem analyses of the GOP loss in the State Supreme Court race in Wisconsin are ongoing, and pro-choice Republicans are blaming pro-life Republicans. The backlash to the Dobbs decision certainly was a factor, but consider how massively the Republican candidate was outspent! That implies that the good guys lost simply because the bad guys were more organized, motivated, and ruthless. What else is new?
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/apr/9/whos-to-blame-for-republicans-loss-of-wisconsins-s/
Two recent stories should give us pause about the Dems' much-ballyhooed devotion to "democracy". First, several prominent Dems are calling on the Biden Administration to ignore a recent federal court ruling about abortion...because they don't like it. This comes on the heels of a wave of leftist criticism of the Supreme Court and repeated suggestions that it has lost all "legitimacy". Second, the Dems and their fellow travelers in the media reacted with howls of outrage when two members of the Tennessee House of Representatives were removed from office for staging a raucous demonstration on the House floor. It now appears that those same representatives will be reseated. I fear this will send the message to Dem upstarts that they can behave any way they wish in a legislature that they don't happen to control, and Republicans may not have the gumption to restrain them. In other words, Democrats seem to believe that the "rules" of democracy just don't apply to them, and that bodes ill in more ways than one.
In a rare bit of good news, the COVID public health "emergency" is finally being terminated, with the consent of our Dear Leader Joseph R. Biden. That's nice, but I'm still waiting for the COVID fascists to be held accountable for their outrageous conduct from 2020 to present. No doubt I'll be waiting a very long time!
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/joe-biden-resolution-covid-19/2023/04/10/id/1115689/
Finally, as President Biden seeks to torpedo any and all Republican efforts to impose spending discipline in D.C., and as Republicans show no ability or willingness to go to the mat to ensure that such discipline is enforced, our deficit is rising once again to perilous heights. Increasingly, it seems we can neither get our fiscal house in order, nor keep interest rates low, nor tame inflation, which makes one wonder how long our surprisingly robust economy can hold out with all these crosswinds hitting it full force.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/cbo-debt-spending/2023/04/10/id/1115675/
Dr.Waddy from Jack: Well, presumptuously and self consciously Kennedyesque "Beto " ORourke fluffed. RFK Jr. would probably run as the savior of the planet and there is alot already not to like about that. Let's see, JFK was elected by a miniscule, probably robbed margin. RFK carpetbagged his way into a usually safe dem NY Senate seat.Deified JFK Jr casually edited a magazine entitled George: say what?.Who ouside of frivolous Martha's Vineyard types would buy such dreck?Edward? 'Nuff said. The old man was a bootlegger and an appeaser in 1940!Where's da beef with these swells?
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: If even half of what Seymour Hersh wrote in The Dark Side of Camelot was true, then RFK and JFK were both sicko voluptuaries. They weren't just philanderers, they were pervs and they deeply disgraced the dutiful Secret Service Agents they tasked with concealing their gregarious antics. They displayed potentially catastrophic recklessness and disdain for their admiring publics along with terrible disregard for the sublimely graceful and dutiful Jacqueline Bouvier.Most of us would never have imagined it then. but a general sense of it, short of the appalling details , is now common knowledge.
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Jack: Surely RFK Jr. derives much power from his connections and I guess for some the Kennedy name still has pathetic appeal. But "Camelot" is dead; it was a fleeting, diaphanous vision. Saw some intriguing commentary today to the effect that Ca.Gov. Newsome's recent foray into the despised real America is actually a
ReplyDeleteclever play for the VP nomination. "See, I'm no radical, I can "relate" to the uhh, common people; I speak their language, you betcha! "As VP. he would be poised both to take over if Pino Biden were to fail and to be the nominee in '28. I would think him a stronger candidate than RFK Jr.
Dr.Waddy from Jack: I've heard intelligent people opine that government overspending can go on indefinitely provided tax increases can be worked. I know nothing about economics; do you think this view is plausible?
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: I think it certain that the american left has long since resolved to use any methods which work, to get its way. This episode is exemplary of its tiresome, reflexive resort to preaching and threatening and was to be fully expected by the those in the Tennessee who dismissed juvenile delinquents for their disgraceful, freely chosen behavior. Back in office, should they presume to have prevailed and make haste to flaunt it in ways contrary to the standards of decorum integral to principled, courteous legislative procedure, let them be slapped down again.Don't lose heart Tennessee; you can strike a telling, lasting, exemplary blow against american leftist incipient totalitarianism in this instance.
ReplyDeleteJack, I see that the Kennedy mystique holds no allure for you! I think their charms are greatly exaggerated too, and their good judgement even more so. Be that as it may, JFK represented a far more benign version of leftism than we are forced to deal with today. That's something to be nostalgic about, I suppose... And that's a good point that Beto is the new iteration of the Kennedy phenomenon. Had he not been a Texan, he might have gone far. I suppose he still may, someday, if Texas falls to the barbarians at the gates.
ReplyDeleteNewsom may be running for VP, but I think the whole Democratic Party is in something of a holding pattern, assuming that, even if Biden officially runs, his capacity to be president or the presidential candidate can't be counted on. I would guess Newsom wants the top job, sooner or later.
Can overspending continue indefinitely? I'm no economist either, but I have my doubts. The rich have a lot of pull in D.C., and their willingness to subsidize political idiocy has limits, and their ability to move their money overseas can't be ignored either. Tax increases can and will buy us time, but they won't eliminate the long-term need to get our house in order. The current profligacy may be more viable than most conservatives think, mind you. It may be decades before the piper has to be paid.
I agree: Tennessee had a chance to put the Left in its place and punish those who chose to violate democratic norms, but it sure looks like the "Tennessee Three" are going to be rewarded for their insurrectionary ways, not punished. It will be interesting to see if they repeat their offense, just to press their advantage...
Dr. Waddy from Jack: JFK was a bonafide WWII hombre. He promoted a good natured quasi gym class style of "get with the program, 'This is the New Frontier!'" idealism bearing little resemblance to effete wokeism. The Kingston Trio song "New Frontier" exemplifies it eloquently. The PeaceCorps did much good as did the space program he championed. RFK's assault on organized crime was courageous. But . . . the sophomoric down side of both of them does their memory much regretable disgrace.
ReplyDeleteJack, did the Peace Corps get much attention at the time? Did it meaningfully change how the world looked at the U.S.? It seems like a geopolitical pinprick to me, but maybe I'm just a crusty old cynic! Okay, there's no "maybe" about it...
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: In the U.S. the Peace Corps got lots of attention. It exemplified the youthful "vigah" and idealism JFK and RFK extolled. When one considers how it all swiftly soured in the '60's, a healthy cynicism is once again shown to be a prudent stance. I don't remember perceiving that the Peace Corps enhanced our standing in the world. But aside from exciting some quasi Stalinist anxiety over espionage, it didn't do any harm.
ReplyDeleteRight. Teaching Bangladeshi urchins to read won't do any harm, for sure -- unless they read Marx, which they probably will.
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying the news media in those ancient times actually harped on "good" news? (I put that in scare quotes, since no such thing seems to exist nowadays, and thus I presume the existence of good news is mostly mythical.)