Friends, the domination of American politics by captains of industry and Big Business is nothing new. President Calvin Coolidge more or less wore it as a badge of honor back in the 20s. Well, politicians' reliance on corporate sponsorship and largesse is far greater now than it was then. My latest article, therefore, asks the question: can Speaker Mike Johnson, who appears to be a man of faith and of principle, manage to govern in the national interest, or will he succumb to the temptations of The Swamp? I explore a case study in this classic dilemma.
In other news, Nikki Haley has built up a head of steam lately and is trying to solidify her newfound status as the obvious Republican alternative to Trump. What does it matter, you ask, when Trump is so far ahead? Well, maybe it doesn't. Then again, Trump's legal problems are only beginning, and no one can be absolutely sure that he will survive the full onslaught of our so-called "justice system".
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/nikki-haley-ron-desantis-ad-buy-iowa-new-hampshire
Dr.Waddy from Jack: Churchill, an organically political bloke, said it best, I think:"democracy is the worst form of government until you consider all the others". What a catacomb of seemingly counterintuitive humbug and cynical surrender to the maxim " that's just the way it is" our polity is. We who are not directly involved in the institutional machinery are certainly in the byzantine mix as we make our wishes known to those who represent us. But what could serve us better? I like Speaker Johnson very much so far but this next 12 months will be a maelstrom manifesting a brutal test of the tactical skills of all who lead. Imagine trying to form common cause with people who are expected to bring home the goodies from the apparently bottomless trough but also to vote fiscal restraint! Its been rightfully characterized as art and as blood sport. The incipiently totalitarian antiamerican left, having pledged undying fealty to" by any means necessary" has no qualms about employing unprincipled expedition and dictators like Pelosi. Speaker Johnson's House constituency still has a conscience and he must do combat on the floor with those who have none. So far, he appears to be a cool character.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Though I am all the way for Trump, should it not work out I would rejoice to see Haley become President as I would DeSantis. Gads, what enormous , perhaps unprecedented personal pressure DJT and his family have endured at the hands of the vicious and ruthless antiamerican left. He must have guts of granite; I'm his age and can just imagine the turmoil which has been his everyday fare since he dared to insolently task the totalitarians in 2015.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Mao was murderously antipathetic to business in a culture extremely well suited to self serving personal enterprise. History shows how catastrophically wrong he was. Coolidge was right and still is. Sensibly regulated free enterprise has worked blessed prosperity in the US. The antiamerican left sneers at this reality and if it gained the totalitarian power it seeks would work only injustice and misery.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Re: yesterday's magnificent march in DC for support of Israel and Jewish civilization; I see a lately perhaps somewhat reformed CNN nevertheless could not refrain from a snide cut - "thousands marched to support Israel". Uhh, it was MANY MANY thousands, as the pictures they broadcast illustrated. I would not stoop to watch MSNBC or any of its antiamerican left fellows but I'm sure they did CNN much better in denigrating this signal event. I hope a similar throng of American liberal Jews are "waking" to the realization that the dem party countenances, enables and sometimes embraces neomarxist antisemites.It is easy to predict what their future would be if these incipient totalitarians were to achieve the dictatorial power they seek. Marx, Hitler and Stalin are the exemplars in the appalling present repropagation of this ancient anathema.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Saw a very germane comment appended to an American Thinker article and I didn't want to forget it: "Jews are the only indigenous people the left does not support". Surprise, surprise that! The far left is the spawn of Jew self hating Marx after all.
ReplyDeleteRAY TO DR. NICK AND JACK
ReplyDeleteI would like to wish the both of you a very nice Thanksgiving, followed by a very nice Christmas, and a Happy New Year 2024.
Ray and Dr. Waddy from Jack:Same to you. These holidaysand the music,art and tradition which attend them are among the glories of our western civilization. Best wishes and fasten your seatbelts for the rocky road ahead this year.
ReplyDeleteJack, I don't envy poor Mike Johnson in the least!
ReplyDeleteJack, I'm all for capitalism, but what we have now is state capitalism or crony capitalism, in which government controls the playing field and tilts it in the direction of those who grease the wheels of "democracy" as we've come to practice it. it's a pretty ugly system and not entirely fair or open or competitive. It would be wonderful to try genuine free enterprise for a change, just to see what wonders it might achieve.
Jack, Europeans are indigenous to Europe, last time I checked, and the lefties don't much care for them either!
Thank you, Ray! Happy Thanksgiving to you as well! May your turkey be as plump as your wife. Nay -- plumper!!!
Dr. Waddy from Jack: But didn't we get a test of mostly free enterprise in the US from approx. 1870 to 1940 and didn't it manifest alot of injustice? If the Feds hadn't gotten the owners to finally give unions a chance, would the owners ever have allowed anything beyond the very minimum in pay and benefits?
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Europe: Now lets be "reasonable". Neanderthals were the first humans in Europe and they were displaced by the Cro- Magnons who are the progenitors of the present denizens of that subcontinent. I therefore announce the 10,000 BC Project, the purpose of which is to expunge all trace of consequent "Western Civilization". Westminster Abbey will be deconstructed and a capacious cave excavated on the site. The statues in Parliament Square will be summarily sunk in the "wild and wasteful ocean". No Neanderthals in Britain you say? Ah but the Normans, descended from the Cro-Magnon usurpers. . .
ReplyDeleteHmm. I can't say I'm very knowledgeable about federal protections for the unions. It's true that the height of the union movement in this country was in the 40s and 50s...and that coincides with a period of great economic advance and a more even distribution of wealth. A correlation is not causation, however...and even in those days we had a lot more "free enterprise" than now, in the sense that federal interference in the marketplace was much less prevalent than today, and government was, at all levels, much smaller. So what exactly constitutes "free enterprise", then? I would also point out that the period 1870-1940 was a time in which the average worker achieved an immense improvement in his standard of living, despite the general absence of union protection.
ReplyDeleteJack, I agree that the Neanderthals have had a tough time of it and probably deserve to become a "protected class". If we can't find any of them to protect, then perhaps we could at least throw a bone to those with capacious foreheads?
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Tommyrot! Imagine feigning membership in a protected class. No, because it is unthinkable!
ReplyDeleteJack, I would say that almost EVERYONE in a protected class is "feigning" these days. They're pretending to be oppressed, when they aren't, and asserting their entitlement to preferential treatment, which is equally imaginary!
ReplyDelete