October 13, 2010

The Center Cannot Hold

Unexpectedly%20Obama%20Motto.jpg
Illustration from Serr8d's Cutting Edge

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

-- Yeats

Of all people Time’s Mark Halperin, tool and fool and formerly full-time Obama pegboy, writes, "The White House is in over its head, isolated, insular, arrogant and clueless about how to get along with or persuade members of Congress, the media, the business community or working-class voters."

The phrase "White House" is used here as a beard for "Obama" since it is clear that there is nothing to the White House that is not Obamaesque. Indeed, the use of code is becoming all the more prevalent now that this one man disaster is about to break over "his" party like a sewage tsunami of epic proportions.

In the backwash there will be expectations of Obama "triangulating" and scuttling crabwise and widdershins towards "the center." Even now various contractual pundits are filling their online and on-air blatherfests with this foolishness simply because they have nothing else to say. Only the shabby history of the Clinton debacle informs them.

The chances of a "move to the center" on the part of this preening narcissist are exactly zero. It's not about governing. It's not about the "Democrats." It's not about what is "good for America." It's about none of those things and precisely about.... the Seinfeldian nothing. It's about the big zero, President O, who will do what he set out to do, fulfill his own internal vision of his "destiny."

And in that vision what is good for O is what is bad for America. It's not really that the current desk jockey in the Oval office is incompetent. He's not. He's always gotten exactly what he wanted through a clever triangulation of his own interests, the personal interests of others, and dullness of others so besotted with leftist pap that if they don't hate the country that gave them everything, have little use for it.

Riding on a wave of peri-geriatic guilt from the baby-boomers of a paler persuasion, the mountebank and bounder has bounded straight into a job that lets him, at long last, indulge his passions for self-aggrandizement and misrule. This man is a hater, a wrecker, and a racist.

To think he will "move to the center" like the fawning lapdog that was Bill Clinton is to misread him utterly. The center does not hold him. He's a creature of edge cities, off-brand cultures, and twisted ideas. What he loves is the abyss. He is the man that is an island. He has no part of the main nor is there any heart for the heartland within him. There is no American soil between his toes, only the ever shifting sands of some Hawaiian beach.

The persistence of the birth certificate controversy has its roots not in some existence or non-existence of some document, but in the very real sense of most sensible people that this American has no America in him at all. He is not of this continent, nor is he from the American grain. Like Peer Gynt's onion you could peel him to the innermost level and find only nothing where the core should be. The only thing contained in that sphere, if it could be measured, is the spite and contempt for the country that one can smell oozing from every pore and informing the tone of every word.

This man hates the culture that produced him and with reason. Far from reining him in, the coming destruction of the Democrats only frees him to get his hate on in a more direct and unrestrained manner.

Elected under the cloak of being a "uniter," this is a man whose one central wish is to disassemble the Constitution and the United States at the same time. When the oath was given, his heart said, "destroy, dissolve, and leave defenseless the Constitution of the United States, so help me Me."

He doesn't need the congress to go on. He's the commander in chief without an anchor or a center. He can do quite enough all by himself.

Depend upon it.

Posted by Vanderleun at October 13, 2010 7:20 PM
Bookmark and Share

Comments:

HOME

"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

I reckon he'll dare the Republicans to impeach him. It's the only possible policy goal he has left with a chance of being accomplished. It will give the media something to focus The Narrative on.

He's bombed the system. In just two years he has overseen the slathering on of layer upon layer upon layer of complicated, legalistic wrenches in the machinery of the Republic. Socializing Healthcare and Manufacturing (all of it. Look at OSHA/FTC/IRS rules for next year) were just big ticket items that had to be done publicly. The real damage is being done administratively. Oh, and the debt... never forget we are a pauper nation how. Which we'll be rudely reminded of the second it appears we MIGHT try to do something about it...

Expecting the Republican establishment - which, make no mistake about it, will still be in the saddle at least another election cycle - to aggressively and effectively counter the Obama Programmed Attack is worse than wishful thinking.

Welcome to interesting times.

Posted by: TmjUtah at October 13, 2010 8:16 PM

But how do you really feel, Gerard? :-)

I'd like to downplay or dismiss what you have to say, but the evidence from the White House makes it hard.

Watching a clip of Bill Clinton being heckled a few days ago reminded me of _his_ narcissism. His flash of anger at the mention of Monica's name and his self-praise over balanced budgets (conveniently leaving out that said budgets balanced only because of the 'Pub takeover of the House in '94) brought back just how truly unpleasant Clinton can be. Yet knowing what I know now, I would far rather have had him or Hillary in the White House for the past two years.

Posted by: bfwebster at October 13, 2010 8:48 PM

Widdershins. Now there's a word that'll give a fella some embarrassing giggles.

Posted by: Andy at October 13, 2010 8:51 PM

What culture shall we say produced him? He was raised by three fellow travelers to be a fellow traveler. But even for his small odd family he has expressed less love than ambivalence. For America he is not even ambivalent.


Posted by: james wilson at October 13, 2010 9:40 PM

Obama, as bad as he is, is just the symptom of the problem, Obama voters. Once Obama is gone the same willfully ignorant voters will just wait for the next mountebank to tell them they can have whatever they want in large doses and the rich will pay for it, and be punished in other ways.

The commie-libs have detached all meaning from words and elevated feelings and intentions above reality. Therefore, 80% of people fell they are good drivers yet the aren't. Obama voters deny they are functional communists, socialists, and fascists because they don't like those words but that is what they demand for their vote. "I'm not a communist, I just want to equally spread the wealth of others."

Us conservatives will win in November and when that doesn't produce unicorns and candy half of the new voters will give up on politics until someone promises to bring hopeandchange.

These nit-wits elected Carter, after they'd seen LBJ. They elected Clinton after they'd seen Carter. They elected BO after they'd seen Clinton. Obama voters are angry at Obama and don't accept any responsibility for ignoring the warning signs of doom or ignoring the persistent consequences of leftism.

Of course, I could be wrong and the Republicans could be strong and focused and avoid currying favor with the 95% of D.C. around them. (cue the flying monkeys.)

Posted by: Scott M at October 14, 2010 2:36 AM

serr8d (who did the graphic) would have appreciated a link.

Regards,
Ric

Posted by: Ric Locke at October 14, 2010 7:20 AM

I didn't know. I'll certainly put one in.

Posted by: vanderleun at October 14, 2010 8:30 AM

Nitpick and orthographical national socialism, Geraldusz:

"Reigning" should be "reining", from "rein", the thing you put on a horse to restrain it.

I await the correction of this common mistake with baited, confound! bated breath.

An excellent piece irregardless (hohoho).

[Unbait thy batedness Ferenc! ]

Posted by: Fearless Ferenc at October 14, 2010 9:27 AM

"Tsunami of Sewage" ... a luvly insight.

Yuss, with their Pied Piper behaving like a deer in the heatlights,
those sanctimonious sophists inside the Beltway have stopped talking.
It's like the silence of the lambs, sensing the knives.

tmjUtah's assessment of the establishment GOP is on target.
In point of fact, 'change' is inevitable .. but it cannot be elected,
as our revolutionary POTUS has learned the hard way.

There is a caveat, however remote, over the next two years.
The rejected messiah, the trapped animal who is still CINC.
The madness of King Barry, who occupies world's mightiest throne
resting on nothing but his own arse. Remember what Nicky said...

"It is necessary to take such measures that, when they believe no longer,
it may be possible to make them believe by force.
-- Machiavelli, The Prince


Posted by: Robert at October 14, 2010 9:35 AM

I'd be surprised if this piece of vapidness, so fixated in his hate, doesn't lose it totally one of these days and end up in a straitjacket -- and being impeached. Another great piece, Gerard.

Posted by: LT at October 14, 2010 12:37 PM

But just remember that "Law Enforcement" are his enablers. They will do WHATEVER he says. And the Perfumed Princes and Princesses in the military will do so as well. We are NO LONGER a nation of laws. We are instead a nation of thugs with guns. Be sure to thank your local "Law Enforcement" appropriately for the OUTSTANDING job they have done!

Posted by: Mark Matis at October 14, 2010 1:59 PM

There are no easy answers. Obama, while filled with every bit of hate and distate for this nation as depicted in this post, is still only capable of what the people will allow. There is a reckoning coming, one no one wants, which is why we have all let it go so far and for so long.

fearless ferenc is hysterical, irregardless of his nitpickiness.

Posted by: T.L. Davis at October 14, 2010 2:38 PM

Far from reining him in, the coming destruction of the Democrats only frees him to get his hate on in a more direct and unrestrained manner.

"Obama Will Rule By “Executive Order” After November Election"

http://www.uncoverage.net/2010/10/obama-will-rule-by-executive-order-after-november-election/

and

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-staff-strategy-20101007,0,1052079,print.story

It's like he's trying to box himself in the way Andrew Johnson did. May history repeat itself but with better results.

Posted by: Don Rodrigo at October 14, 2010 2:51 PM

The obama experience is "vulgar" writ large.

Posted by: Charming Richard at October 14, 2010 3:06 PM

I was, an hour ago, at a rally for TX Gov. Perry. He spoke and then it turned into a meet-and-greet function. When I talked to him I mentioned my state senator (Steve Ogden) had pledged to work hard to move legislation through our state legislature to convene an Articl V constitutional convention for the purpose of adopting a binding mandate for a balanced budget; I wanted to know what he thought of this and whether he thought 2/3 of the states would back this. He said there wasn't any doubt at all that this could be done given the mood of the country. I'm not sure I support this - yet. It is on my mind. A moment before I asked my U.S. Rep. John Carter, in attendance, what he thought of the idea. He is for it. He is quite the conservative; for getting us out of the U.N. and the U.N. out of the U.S. Interesting times indeed.

Posted by: John Hinds at October 14, 2010 4:19 PM

T.L. Davis writes, "Obama, while filled with every bit of hate and distate for this nation as depicted in this post, is still only capable of what the people will allow."

I would beg to differ. In a very real sense he is only capable of what the Secret Service will allow.

Posted by: vanderleun at October 14, 2010 5:11 PM

Hey, Thanks! for the linky.

The idea for that particular image came from a 'Request for Graphic' by Ric Locke. Wasn't exactly what he'd requested, but it's what developed.

Plus, I'd had the logo left over from a pre-election effort that wasn't nearly as satisfying, and needed revisiting.

Posted by: serr8d at October 14, 2010 5:15 PM

"...only capable of what the people will allow."

The people? The PEOPLE?!! With respect, the oft cited "People of the United States"
could not agree that today is Thursday.

Mutt: "Fifty million lemmings can't be wrong."
Jeff: "Yes, but they jumped off a cliff in 2008."
.

Posted by: Robert at October 14, 2010 5:38 PM

Oh yes, The One will give ample room to his mighty fury... especially since he will realize on November 3 that there's, relatively, little time left for him to complete his campaign of destruction.

All of a sudden, I feel like I want to listen to La Marseillaise once again...

Posted by: newton at October 14, 2010 9:22 PM

Just in passing, the Presidential Protection Unit of the USSS can in no way be considered
one of the 'checks and balances' of the Federal system. They correctly have one single-minded
obsession, and don't care Shinola about Constitutional precedence.

Us old guys remember the dark days of Nixon's Watergate crisis. Tricky Dick was a popular
CINC, and considerably stressed. With tension peaking, JR Haldeman and Alexander Haig
manned the White House ramparts.

As the clocks were striking thirteen, Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger issued a contingency
plan for emergency deployment of the 82nd Airborne Divion to Washington, DC, and
instructed the JCS to accept no orders that did not derive from the Chain of Command.

For those who were around at the time, as I was, this was a by-god ominous move.

Just sayin'...


Posted by: Robert at October 15, 2010 7:45 AM

I only hope that after the votes are counted on November 2nd, I can break out a very large sign that says 'Thank You Obama For Giving Us Our Country Back- Unexpectedly!!'.

Posted by: Uncle Jefe at October 15, 2010 9:18 AM

And just a note to any Dems who may read this.

You can't say you weren't warned. Repeatedly.

Posted by: Glenn at October 15, 2010 9:30 AM

Bravo Gerald,bravo.

Posted by: Thud at October 15, 2010 1:07 PM

Ever wonder when watching him on tv what the hell happened to put him in office? And ever wonder how supposedly intelligent people (like journalists suppose they are) can talk about him with a straight face?

When he speaks all I hear is "Flibberty Jib on the bippety bop" and I wonder "how are things in your town?"

Posted by: Ralph at October 15, 2010 8:05 PM

Robert-

Facts probably right, timing possibly less so.

From "http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/1-505pir.htm"

The 3rd Brigade deployed to Washington, DC in May 1971 to help local and federal officials in their efforts to keep demonstrators from disrupting the daily operation of the Government.

May 1971, almost no one outside D.C. had heard of the White House plumbers unit. Indeed, it wasn't until June 16, 1972 that most of us even knew of the Watergate complex. It took a long time after that for TSTHTF, and for most of us to learn what a creep Nixon really was.

Scary stuff when we had a paranoid in the Oval Office. What we have now is even worse, and even scarier.

May God have mercy on us all.

Posted by: Cowboy Dan at October 15, 2010 9:30 PM

I would remind everyone that, like Clinton before him, those swept into positions of Bureaucratic power by this administration will remain behind even if Obama is swept from office in disgrace.

Posted by: Mark at October 15, 2010 10:44 PM

Cowboy Dan,
The following from Wikipedia is incomplete, but accurate as far as it goes. I was there...

"During President Nixon's last days in the White House during the Watergate crisis, when the President's mental stability was doubted by some, Schlesinger is thought to have instructed the Joint Chiefs of Staff to check with him before carrying out any of Nixon's orders regarding nuclear weapons. He also drew up contingency plans for an emergency deployment of the 82nd Airborne to Washington D.C. in the event of Nixon refusing to step down in the event of impeachment and usurping of the marines.[2] According to Paul Nitze, writing in his autobiography, Schlesinger wanted to resign during this time but could not bring himself to do it. When asked why, Schlesinger replied to Nitze that he was concerned Nixon's aides, particularly Alexander Haig, may have contemplated initiating a military coup to retain Executive power."

Posted by: Robert at October 16, 2010 8:45 AM

Robert-

So that's TWICE the 82nd was set to enforce whatever in D.C? Wow!

I was a long way from D.C. in those days and knew only what I read in the papers or saw on TV. Who knew what evil there really was in the hearts of some men?

I don't know why, but the comment I added a day or two ago never made it to the blog. I don't think I broke any rules. I certainly hope not.

Posted by: Cowboy Dan at October 19, 2010 1:47 PM

Scott M. said:
"Obama, as bad as he is, is just the symptom of the problem, Obama voters. Once Obama is gone the same willfully ignorant voters will just wait for the next mountebank to tell them they can have whatever they want in large doses and the rich will pay for it, and be punished in other ways."

The problem as I see it is that in our culturally impoverished age--as so many baby boomers completely neglected to pass down to their own children the wisdom, traditions, religion, fables and even fairy tales that they themselves had grown up with--too few people have ever even heard the story of the golden goose.

You do remember that one, don't you? It was one of Grimm's fairy tales. The goose lay a golden egg every day, but the people got greedy and, thinking they could get all the eggs at once, killed the golden goose and opened it up. Well, if you've raised chickens--or even if you just have an atom of common sense--you know that it doesn't work that way. So now all the people had was a dead goose--and no more golden eggs ever.

The goose, of course, is our capitalist system--which is now being enthusiastically killed by the Leftists. "Tax the rich! Tax the rich some more!" Tax the rich, confiscate their wealth, until there is, in fact, no more wealth remaining. No wealth to be invested, to build with, to create jobs.

When you try to "spread the wealth around," all you spread is poverty. But by golly, we'll be equal, all right: We can all be miserable together. Which would suit little Barry just fine--since all he really wants is to punish us, knock us down. This explains the otherwise puzzling phenomenon of why he pursues policies that hurt "his own people," African-Americans, worst of all; it was never about pulling UP those at the bottom; it was only ever about knocking DOWN those who've achieved success.

But little Barry is so blinded by his own hatred that the part of his brain that might channel some common sense is cut off. He doesn't see that when you knock down the successful, you kill the very means by which the poor could help themselves up. You kill the golden goose.

You can bet that little Barry, with his commie mommie, disappearing dad, and Muslim stepfather, growing up in Indonesia until his mom dumped him with his grandparents in Hawaii, who in turn dumped him with commie/pervert Frank Marshall Davis, never heard the tale of the golden goose. Like the daily classroom ritual of reciting the pledge of allegiance, the tale was just one more thing that was totally ABSENT from his formative years.

Posted by: Kathy from Kansas at November 2, 2010 10:26 AM

Thanks! for the amazing webpage! A master plumber earns more in some areas than others.
Although the

BLS doesn't provide separate statistics for apprentices, journeymen and masters, the state-by-state

averages for all plumbers can provide a useful benchmark.

Posted by: houston master plumber at September 10, 2012 2:27 PM