Steven Crowder Debates Lee Camp On Tea Party Versus Occupy Wall Street

Here is the full debate.



Here is another video with his comments on the debate.

Beck: If the Tea Party Supports Gingrich Over Obama 'It Must Be About Race' ; Breitbart Rails Against Beck

First, here are the words from the horse's mouth.



Does Beck have an alter ego or something? One of sensibility and the other of insensibility? This is an outrageous comment!  He is feeding the liberal media. Beck needs to stop giving liberals fodder with such an irresponsible and fallacious comment.  To think that Gingrich believes in progressive policies just as Barack Obama does is preposterous.

One difference between Obama and Gingrich that I can think of right off the bat is Obama signed into law Obamacare and Newt has vowed to repeal Obamacare.

Second, now you can listen to Breitbart as he gives beck a tongue-lashing.  And, deservedly so IMO.



I have to say I am surprised to find out about this feud between Andrew Breitbart and Glenn Beck.  It is sad to see two conservatives having so much animosity toward one another.

I found this spot-on quote from Stacy McCain, the Master of Conservative Bloggery  via the Big Dog Conservative Maestro, Bob, from over at The Camp Of The Saints.

From The Other McCain: 

While I have defended Beck against his critics in the past, his recent antics certainly lend credence to the claims of those critics who call him a "rodeo clown." I perfectly understand his assertion that Gingrich and Obama are different flavors of progressivism, but to say that the only reason Tea Party voters support Gingrich is racism? C’mon: That’s ridiculously irresponsible.

While I am not a model of dispassionate discourse, Beck’s emotionalism makes him a dangerous political ally. It is difficult to distinguish between his principles and his mood.

This comment hits the nail on the head.  

Bob also posted this quote from Andrew Patrick: 

…He has adopted the Garafalo argument, hook line and sinker, for no better reason than to needlessly disparage those who might favor Newt Gingrich for the GOP nomination. Principled conservatives can argue over whether Gingrich is really one of us or not. But to pretend that his proposed policies differ in no significant way from Obama’s is to argue something demonstrably false. Gingrich may not be a Tea Partier; he cannot be an Obama Democrat.

That Beck has so tiresomely elided these differences indicates how erratic a tribune he has become.

Last, I recommend that you go over to Bob's Paradise of Conservative Blogging to see a quote of a scenario on our Founding Father James Otis which is apropos and may shed some light onto the whole Beck fiasco.   Maybe Beck should insert foot into mouth?  

MIni Eagle Freedom Links -Coca-Cola Christmas--12-13-11

I have decided to do a series of Mini Eagle Freedom Links this week since I have been feeling fatigued. Probably partially due to my having a Vitamin B12 deficiency.  I'm working on remedying that.  I still get a little dizzy but thankfully not near as much as before.  Still waiting for results from my colonoscopy and endoscopy.  It still hurts when I breathe.  Not quite as bad as it was, thankfully. I am heading to the ENT doctor on Thursday to find out whether the tube that was in my throat during my surgery is what has caused my throat problems.  I am very thankful that I am in the process of fixing my medical issues and that I am feeling better than before.  The month of December seems to be flying by very quickly. Is everyone ready for Christmas?  Got all your holiday decorations up and presents wrapped?  Still shopping for that special person?  I still need to put up my Christmas tree and decorations.  Have you been watching any Christmas movies?  I hope everyone is enjoying this Christmas season.

*American Perspective* - A Plot To Undermine The Right To Bear Arms - Fast and Furious 

_It Don't Make Sense_  - The Capital of Sex Exploitation 

A conservative Teacher - Fear and Doubt are Enemies of Success and Advancement - A Defense of Capitalism and Free Markets 

A Patriotic Rottweiler - Reasons Not to Vote Democrat 

Bread Upon the Waters - Global Warming Scare Dying Death of 1,000 Cuts 



Don't Tread On Us - The Culture Of Corruption 

Left Coast Rebel - Ron Paul Highlights from the December 10, 2011 Iowa Debate 

Zilla Of The Resistance - DhiMITTude 

Woodsterman - Social Security or Ponzi Scheme? 

What Does The Prayer Really Say? - A Reading Tip - Priests Falsely Accused: The Facts, The Fraud, The Stories 



Western Hero - It's Not a Free Marketplace...

TOTUS: Conservative Political Commentary - OWS and The Tea Party 

The Observatorium - Whodathunkit? 

The Conservative Lady - Obama Says Work Hard and You Can Get Into the Middle Class 

The Camp Of The Saints - Bob's Musings: Come Fly With Me 



Conservative Hideout - Limbaugh Destroys Obama's Attempt To Channel Teddy Roosevelt 

DaTechguy's Blog - Q & A From The Santorum Conference Call Yesterday 

Sentry Journal - I'm a little confused...

Atlas Shrugs - Muslim Police join 500 Muslim students in demolishing church 



My Daily Trek - California rewarding illegals, encouraging crime 

Why I Am Catholic - The Most Consistent, Pro-Freedom, Pro-Constitution, Pro-Life Candidate in the Race

Reaganite Republican - Gingrich: 4.2% Unemployment - That's My Credential 

Allied Liberty News - HOME - Dierks Bentley 

Nonsensible Shoes - White House Miffed as GOP block La Raza Ambassador Nomination 

Eagle Freedom Linkarama

Instead of doing my Eagle Freedom Links today I have decided to do something a little different.  This is partially due to my not having enough time to do my links and due to my health situation.

John from Sentry Journal has posted an important message that Judge Napolitano had for the Occupy Wall Street Protesters.  The only thing I disagree about is Judge's implication that if people are for the defense of our nation when there is an imminent threat or even a perceived imminent threat to our freedom and people are for defending those threats by having wars in those countries which threaten our freedom that that makes a person anti-liberty or anti-freedom.  What would have happened if we had ignored Hitler?  I would equate the threat of Muslim extremists with that of Hitler.

The Lonely Conservative highlights some good aspects of Herman Cain's 9-9-9 Plan.  Overall I like his plan but I do have concerns with starting a new tax, a national sales tax.

Atlas Shrugs informs us that Con Ed is will evict the Mosqueteer. This is great news!  The Ground Zero Mosqueteer is a deadbeat who has failed to pay back loans, back taxes and pay his rent.  He tried to get taxpayers to foot the bill but thank goodness didn't get what he requested.  The man obviously needs to find a new line of work, one where he can pay his own bills.

The Daley Gator lets us know that the Nazi Party has endorsed the Occupy Wall Street Protest.  I have seen evidence of anti-semitism at the protest.

Not too far from where I live here in Pa we had a steel bridge stolen.  Your probably thinking how did someone or someones steal a whole bridge.  I thought the same thing when I first heard about this.  Yes, really a whole bridge was stolen.  Apparently two brothers used a blow-torch to steal the bridge and scored over $5000 by selling the scrap metal from their thievery.

Leaders of 20 Catholic organizations have signed a letter which was sent to both Congress and the Obama administration which declares that Obamacare needs to be reformed in order to protect conscience rights.  Thanks for standing up for everyone's conscience rights Catholic organizations.  This HHS mandate needs to be changed because it is against our religious liberty and civil rights.

More Than 2000 Military Chaplains Say "No" To Homosexual "Marriage"  

There is no such thing as homosexual "marriage".  It is against the natural law.

Christian students at Messiah College react to Frances Fox-Piven's address.   I couldn't believe what she actually admitted about the Tea Party at the end of the video.

Matt of Conservative Hideout shows a video showing a great moment in civil discourse.  The Tea Party meets Occupy Wall Street.  The way Occupy Wall Street protesters react shows just how much they truly believe in "diversity" and "tolerance".

A Catholic friar calls Catholic politicians who do nothing to stop abortion "liars"  I love it. Go Fr. Gregory Coiro, O.F.M.Cap!!!  He called out "Catholic" politicians who don't vote like Catholics at all.  Keep on speaking up Father.  I'm behind you 100%. 


Ann Barnhardt responds to a death threat.  Her response is pure gold.  May God Bless her and keep her safe.  
 The Conservative Lady shows us that Obama knew about the troubles with Operation Fast and Furious earlier than Holder has admitted knowing of the fiasco.  Eric Holder is either a liar or is utterly incompetent, or both.  He's probably both.  He needs to resign.  


I am having my surgery tomorrow so I won't be around the next few days.  Have a great week, my friends. 


I will leave you with Ron Paul's powerful pro-life ad. 





H/T The Blaze 

This is Great! - 'The Tea Party is not Racist'

H/T TheSharkTank1

Rick Santorum Says that Maxine Waters is a “Caricature of what’s wrong with Congress, she is vile.”

Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum discusses topics such as the military conflict in Libya, regulations, Obama, energy policies, and Obama's bypassing Congress, with Steve Malzberg. He also responds to this outrageous comment which Maxine Waters said "I'm not afraid of anybody. This is a tough game. You can't be intimidated. You can't be frightened. And as far as I'm concerned, the 'tea party' can go straight to hell."  


I guess this type of rhetoric falls right in line with what Democrats call the "new civility".  Geesh... Progressives are so hateful.  




Rick is spot on! 

Sen. Rand Paul On S&P Downgrade: Blaming the Tea Party is like blaming fireman when he puts out the fire

Rand Paul is spot on!

Samwise comments on WSJ and McCain Calling Tea Partiers Hobbits

McCain and WSJ are right - we hobbits love the tea party! -- A brief comment by Samwise

Now that the default deadline has passed and the debt ceiling has been raised again, I think it is safe to weigh in on something that was said recently without the risk of causing trouble for anyone. I just want to say that the Wall Street Journal and Senator McCain are right - Hobbits and the Tea Party go together. The Tea party is just filled with us hobbits, and we hobbits love the Tea Party. They may have thought this association was insulting, but we are proud of it. CONTINUED 

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Returns To D.C. To Vote Yea; Debt Ceiling Bill Passes House

I think it is wonderful that Gabby Giffords returned to Washington D.C. so that she could cast her vote for the debt ceiling bill.  Welcome Back Rep. Gabrielle Giffords!!! She has had an absolutely amazing recovery. God Bless her on her continued healing.  Whether you like the bill or not her miraculous recovery and her having felt such an obligation to return to D.C. to cast her vote for this bill is what America is all about.  Here she is being given a standing ovation on the House Floor.

\

H/T HotAirPundit

The Debt Ceiling Bill has now passed through the House.  The Senate will be voting on the bill tomorrow. I don't have much of the details on the debt deal at this point in time but from what I have heard so far I have mixed feelings on the debt deal, debt bill. Here are some of the details: 

-$2.8 trillion in deficit reduction with $1 trillion locked in through discretionary spending caps over 10 years and the remainder determined by a so-called "Super Committee.

-The Super Committee must report precise deficit-reduction proposals by Thanksgiving.

-The Super Committee would have to propose $1.8 trillion in spending cuts to achieve that amount of deficit reduction over 10 years.

-If the Super Committee fails, Congress must send a balanced-budget amendment to the states for ratification. If that doesn't happen, across-the-board spending cuts would go into effect and could touch Medicare and defense spending.

-No net new tax revenue would be part of the special committee's deliberations.

Let's just say that I'm skeptical of this whole Super Committee and what their recommendations are going to be.  Thank God for the Tea Party. If it wasn't for the Tea Party there probably would not have been any meaningful spending cuts, if cuts at all, in this debt ceiling deal. The Tea Party held the establishments' feet to the fire. This is just one step at the beginning of the Tea Party representatives and senators journey to bring back principled, limited government to Washington.   

Is This What Progressives Mean by New Civility?

If it is, I don't want anything to do with it. Yep, I don't want any parts of their version of "civility" at all.  Progressives showed up in Wisconsin (and other places) by all appearances looking like adults but acted totally out of character for adults.  These "adults" had to be wearing some costumes or something because these peoples' actions and words were more in line with that of a 4 year olds words and actions.  They acted more like irrational beings having a temper tantrum, who didn't know how to act like civilized human beings, as if they were raised in an alternate uncivilized society.  Here are examples of progressives coming unhinged, acting like childish brats who aren't able to have their way, shouting vulgarities, who are shouting absurdities acting both nuts and angry while trying to disrupt a tea party gathering.

Why do these loons insist on crashing our Tea Party?  Do you see tea party members go and try to disrupt pro-union or progressive events? I don't think so.  Conservatives act like mature adults while progressives act like whiny children. 


This man acts like a 2 year old. 


Language Alert!  This video has profanity and displays what is wrong with the entitlement mentality of the Left.  And, the Left wonders why we call them unpatriotic? This is what happens when one is led to believe you can have your cake and eat it too. 


This video is of liberals acting like unhinged lunatics.  How immature... 


Beck has some thoughts on the above incidences of outlandish behavior.  He asks Are we Americans or are we turning into monsters? 

Union Sexual Vulgarity and Assaultery

Here are two angles showing a union thug assaulting a Tea Party protester. Then, the policemen lets the union thug get away.  I hope the policeman is reprimanded for dereliction of duty.






Now, we have a video showing a union thug making a 'tea bag' threat against a Tea Partier.




These children need to be given a time out for all their tantrums.  They need to be taught a lesson in responsibility.

H/T Breitbart 

George W Bush on Tea Party -- 'I See Democracy Working'

We The People Have Spoken

Yesterday all across the country we the people spoke and loud and clear with our votes and repudiated Obama’s big government policies. There was a tidal wave which ousted Democrats who voted for initiatives that were diametrically opposed to the will of the people. In my state of Pennsylvania we voted in Pat Toomey to the Senate and Tom Corbett as our next governor. There were many great wins across the United States including Marco Rubio in Florida, Kirk who was elected to Obama’s old senate seat in Illinois, Rand Paul in Kentucky, Lt. Col. Allen West in Florida, and Nikki Haley in South Carolina. We ousted quite a few who were past due retiring such as Rep. Dingle, Sen. Feingold, Rep. Grayson, and Rep. Pomeroy. Unfortunately, there were some losses in California, in the land of liberal loons. These people who voted for Boxer and Brown must be enamored with higher taxes, less opportunities, high debt, and high unemployment to elect Jerry Brown and re-elect Ma’am Boxer. It is highly disappointing that Nevadans would vote for Harry Reid who single handedly has destroyed Nevada’s economy. Both the Tea Party and the GOP must now begin working to repair the damage that Obama’s radical policies have caused America. This is a time for hope, for optimism, for there were many constitutional loving Americans who were elected last night who will help this country get back on track. God Bless America!

Michael Johns on the Tea Party

H/T New Zeal

Vote For Christine O'Donnell -- The Right Candidate at the Right Time to STOP the Obama Agenda

Christine O'Donnell is the right candidate at the right time for Delaware and our nation at this time. She has answered the rumors - the myths - on her website and I am posting her responses to her critics below.  I would rather have someone who has had financial struggles, had to deal with real life issues, had to work hard to get where she's at today, than a person who has been handed pretty much everything on a silver platter.  People complain about her having had financial issues.  I say, so what?  So have many people and that shouldn't disqualify a person from entering public service or from entering politics.  We are all human and we have all made mistakes in our past.  Mistakes, especially admitting your mistakes, is no reason for a person to be disqualified from serving in the political arena.  IMO, that is a breath of fresh of fresh air and I would rather have a person like Christine O'Donnell representing me than the likes of those who are self-serving bureaucrats serving in Congress today.

Here are Christine's counters to the myths:

MYTH: Did not get college diploma


■FACT: Americans are struggling and I understand those struggles, because I’ve also faced difficult times, but in the end, I persevered. It took me over ten years to pay off my tuition bill. As a result my diploma was delayed. As FOX News, the Wilmington News Journal, and numerous other media sources have confirmed, I have a degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University and am a very proud alumna.


MYTH: Not a Delaware resident

■FACT: While some individuals might try to intimidate me to get out of the race, I will never back down from what’s right for Delaware citizens. During my 2008 campaign, both my home and campaign office were vandalized, broken into, and files were stolen. Threatening messages were left and nasty names were scrawled across my front door and porch. For security reasons, I simply do not want my Delaware home address made public this time around.


MYTH: Lost home in foreclosure

■FACT: Over the last few years, the American real estate market crashed and many families were faced with tough decisions. Contrary to what others are saying, I was lucky to survive this economic turmoil and my home was not foreclosed upon. My home was privately sold in 2008 through a realtor and private mortgage company, not a public foreclosure.

Here is verification of the sale:


Citimortgage - Confirmation of Final Mortgage Payment -

MYTH: Owes money to the IRS


■FACT: The following is an excellent example of our bloated government and the need for a simplified tax code in America. The IRS says the erroneous tax bill was a “computer error.” During my previous campaign against then Sen. Joe Biden, I was audited by the IRS. After a long appeals process; the issue was supposed to have been wrapped up this past spring. Yet, in March, rather than a letter finalizing the appeals process, I received an erroneous tax lien claiming I had not responded to their previous correspondence. The IRS admitted the letter was a mistake, issued a Certificate of Release of Federal Tax Lien on May 19, 2010 and chalked it up to a “computer error.” The remaining balance was paid in full on May 16, 2010.

Here is the document proving the release of her federal tax lien:


Certificate of Release of Federal Tax Lien -

IRS Phone Call Transcript:


IRS Call Transcription -

The following document shows that Christine was complying with the IRS during the appeals process. This proves that the lien was erroneous and a “computer error” since you can’t get a tax lien placed on your home while under the appeals process (especially one you sold 2 years ago).  


IRS Compliance -


Now, here is Christine O'Donnell on the issues:

She is believes jobs are created when freed from both excessive taxation
and bureaucratic red tape.
She believes terrorism is an act of war and that terrorists should not enjoy the privilege of constitutional rights which are in fact rights granted to American citizens.
She is against the excessive taxation of the American people and is pushing for a simplification of the tax code.
She is pro-life and believes in protecting the sanctity of life at all stages.
Christine supports a market-based approach to energy solutions that will keep competition high and energy prices low.

Christine believes our country was founded on core values of faith, family and freedom and will fight to defend those values. Will always fight for maximum choice for parents about where to educate their kids, including private, parochial and charter schools or in the home.


She believes unrestrained government spending is eroding our freedom, destroying our economy and ceding our sovereignty to foreign debt- holders like China.

Christine believes in accountability. She denounces corrupt pork-barrel politics, including earmarks, and will fight for increased transparency and performance information for every Federal program.

She believes that the solution to the healthcare crisis is less government meddling in the doctor/patient relationship, more competition in the insurance market and more choice for families about their health plan.

 Christine is a strong supporter of 2nd Amendment rights, and this has earned her an “A” rating from the NRA.

Regardless whether some of us have some reservations or not about Christine O'Donnell as a candidate we need to put things into perspective and remember what our priority is this election cycle, to defeat the Obama agenda.  I had some reservations about Scott Brown but I supported him because I knew he would be better than the other candidate who was tied at the hip with Obama and his policies. WE must all step up to the plate and work together to defeat Obama and the Obama agenda.  Every freedom loving conservative should be standing in line to support Christine O'Donnell so that we can stop and eventually reverse Obamacare, whereas her opponent Chris Coons supports Obamacare, the Obama agenda, and is a Marxist who supports excessive taxation and spreading the wealth.



Christine O'Donnell is the right candidate at the right time. Let's all support her so she can win against the Coons, the candidate in Delaware who is out of touch with the American people, supports high taxes which will lead to higher unemployment, wants to rob from the job creators and stifle their means to create employment to those who need jobs, and he wants to continue keeping the underprivileged reliant on the government.


PLEASE SUPPORT CHRISTINE O'DONNELL FOR U.S. SENATE IN DELAWARE ALONG WITH OTHER FREEDOM LOVING CANDIDATES AND TOGETHER WE CAN STOP THE OBAMA REGIME!!!

STOP STARK NOW!! -- Chris Pareja NEEDS SIGNATURES!!

From RightKlik via Left Coast Resistance:

ACTION ALERT: STOP STARK NOW! Help Chris Pareja!

                                                                 Pete Stark is one of the most vile, hateful, incompetent left-wing statists this country has ever had to put up with. He is a truly disgusting man whose values (or lack thereof) are an anathema to 90% of the people in every corner of this country.


Recent videos from a town hall meeting in Pete's congressional district show that Pete's constituents are finally fed up. But to overcome the power of incumbency, Pete Stark's constituents need our help!

If we don't act immediately to help the people of CA-13, the people in Pete Stark's district will not have a serious alternative to Stark on the ballot in November. Currently Pete is only opposed by one person, Forest Baker (R), a candidate who does not appear to be running a serious campaign.

Forest Baker's campaign webpage is just that: a page. No links, no contribution button, no social media, no videos...no color! The page is monochrome! If you google hard enough, you can find a campaign Facebook page, but there's nothing serious there either.

Thanks to Michelle Malkin, we now know there's a serious candidate who is ready to run against Pete Stark, but the window of opportunity to get on the ballot is closing fast! Chris Pareja is a Tea Party independent who is working hard to get the 9,500 signatures he needs to get on the ballot. Friday is the deadline!


Chris Pareja explains:

"The signature collection team did an awesome job this weekend. Many people are sun burnt and tired. We collected 1305 signatures, which is awesome, but we still need 7500 more valid signatures by Friday. If you believe in miracles, please pray for one."

I'm sure Chris Pareja would prefer to get a few hundred extra signatures to buffer against the legal challenges that would surely come from Stark and his allies if Pareja only gets the bare minimum number of signatures.

I urge all bloggers who read this to put up a post to draw attention to Chris Pareja so he can get the signatures he needs.

Spread the word through all social media avenues.

Friends, we can make this happen...but we have to act now!


Pareja on Facebook

Chris Pareja on Twitter

Pareja's campaign website

Chris Pareja for Congress:

510.342.0226


Pete Stark: "I wouldn't dignify you by peeing on your leg"


Pete Stark: "The Federal Government can do most anything in this country."

Pete Stark: Refusing to hire illegals might be unconstitutional.

Pete Stark: Sending kids to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement.




"There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit."


— Ronald Reagan


H/T Left Coast Resistance

The Ruling Class Vs. The Country Class

America's Ruling Class -- And the Perils of Revolution

By Angelo M. Codevilla

As over-leveraged investment houses began to fail in September 2008, the leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties, of major corporations, and opinion leaders stretching from the National Review magazine (and the Wall Street Journal) on the right to the Nation magazine on the left, agreed that spending some $700 billion to buy the investors' "toxic assets" was the only alternative to the U.S. economy's "systemic collapse." In this, President George W. Bush and his would-be Republican successor John McCain agreed with the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama. Many, if not most, people around them also agreed upon the eventual commitment of some 10 trillion nonexistent dollars in ways unprecedented in America. They explained neither the difference between the assets' nominal and real values, nor precisely why letting the market find the latter would collapse America. The public objected immediately, by margins of three or four to one.

When this majority discovered that virtually no one in a position of power in either party or with a national voice would take their objections seriously, that decisions about their money were being made in bipartisan backroom deals with interested parties, and that the laws on these matters were being voted by people who had not read them, the term "political class" came into use. Then, after those in power changed their plans from buying toxic assets to buying up equity in banks and major industries but refused to explain why, when they reasserted their right to decide ad hoc on these and so many other matters, supposing them to be beyond the general public's understanding, the American people started referring to those in and around government as the "ruling class." And in fact Republican and Democratic office holders and their retinues show a similar presumption to dominate and fewer differences in tastes, habits, opinions, and sources of income among one another than between both and the rest of the country. They think, look, and act as a class.

Although after the election of 2008 most Republican office holders argued against the Troubled Asset Relief Program, against the subsequent bailouts of the auto industry, against the several "stimulus" bills and further summary expansions of government power to benefit clients of government at the expense of ordinary citizens, the American people had every reason to believe that many Republican politicians were doing so simply by the logic of partisan opposition. After all, Republicans had been happy enough to approve of similar things under Republican administrations. Differences between Bushes, Clintons, and Obamas are of degree, not kind. Moreover, 2009-10 establishment Republicans sought only to modify the government's agenda while showing eagerness to join the Democrats in new grand schemes, if only they were allowed to. Sen. Orrin Hatch continued dreaming of being Ted Kennedy, while Lindsey Graham set aside what is true or false about "global warming" for the sake of getting on the right side of history. No prominent Republican challenged the ruling class's continued claim of superior insight, nor its denigration of the American people as irritable children who must learn their place. The Republican Party did not disparage the ruling class, because most of its officials are or would like to be part of it.

Never has there been so little diversity within America's upper crust. Always, in America as elsewhere, some people have been wealthier and more powerful than others. But until our own time America's upper crust was a mixture of people who had gained prominence in a variety of ways, who drew their money and status from different sources and were not predictably of one mind on any given matter. The Boston Brahmins, the New York financiers, the land barons of California, Texas, and Florida, the industrialists of Pittsburgh, the Southern aristocracy, and the hardscrabble politicians who made it big in Chicago or Memphis had little contact with one another. Few had much contact with government, and "bureaucrat" was a dirty word for all. So was "social engineering." Nor had the schools and universities that formed yesterday's upper crust imposed a single orthodoxy about the origins of man, about American history, and about how America should be governed. All that has changed.

Today's ruling class, from Boston to San Diego, was formed by an educational system that exposed them to the same ideas and gave them remarkably uniform guidance, as well as tastes and habits. These amount to a social canon of judgments about good and evil, complete with secular sacred history, sins (against minorities and the environment), and saints. Using the right words and avoiding the wrong ones when referring to such matters -- speaking the "in" language -- serves as a badge of identity. Regardless of what business or profession they are in, their road up included government channels and government money because, as government has grown, its boundary with the rest of American life has become indistinct. Many began their careers in government and leveraged their way into the private sector. Some, e.g., Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, never held a non-government job. Hence whether formally in government, out of it, or halfway, America's ruling class speaks the language and has the tastes, habits, and tools of bureaucrats. It rules uneasily over the majority of Americans not oriented to government.

The two classes have less in common culturally, dislike each other more, and embody ways of life more different from one another than did the 19th century's Northerners and Southerners -- nearly all of whom, as Lincoln reminded them, "prayed to the same God." By contrast, while most Americans pray to the God "who created and doth sustain us," our ruling class prays to itself as "saviors of the planet" and improvers of humanity. Our classes' clash is over "whose country" America is, over what way of life will prevail, over who is to defer to whom about what. The gravity of such divisions points us, as it did Lincoln, to Mark's Gospel: "if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand."

The Political Divide

Important as they are, our political divisions are the iceberg's tip. When pollsters ask the American people whether they are likely to vote Republican or Democrat in the next presidential election, Republicans win growing pluralities. But whenever pollsters add the preferences "undecided," "none of the above," or "tea party," these win handily, the Democrats come in second, and the Republicans trail far behind. That is because while most of the voters who call themselves Democrats say that Democratic officials represent them well, only a fourth of the voters who identify themselves as Republicans tell pollsters that Republican officeholders represent them well. Hence officeholders, Democrats and Republicans, gladden the hearts of some one-third of the electorate -- most Democratic voters, plus a few Republicans. This means that Democratic politicians are the ruling class's prime legitimate representatives and that because Republican politicians are supported by only a fourth of their voters while the rest vote for them reluctantly, most are aspirants for a junior role in the ruling class. In short, the ruling class has a party, the Democrats. But some two-thirds of Americans -- a few Democratic voters, most Republican voters, and all independents -- lack a vehicle in electoral politics.

Sooner or later, well or badly, that majority's demand for representation will be filled. Whereas in 1968 Governor George Wallace's taunt "there ain't a dime's worth of difference" between the Republican and Democratic parties resonated with only 13.5 percent of the American people, in 1992 Ross Perot became a serious contender for the presidency (at one point he was favored by 39 percent of Americans vs. 31 percent for G.H.W. Bush and 25 percent for Clinton) simply by speaking ill of the ruling class. Today, few speak well of the ruling class. Not only has it burgeoned in size and pretense, but it also has undertaken wars it has not won, presided over a declining economy and mushrooming debt, made life more expensive, raised taxes, and talked down to the American people. Americans' conviction that the ruling class is as hostile as it is incompetent has solidified. The polls tell us that only about a fifth of Americans trust the government to do the right thing. The rest expect that it will do more harm than good and are no longer afraid to say so.

While Europeans are accustomed to being ruled by presumed betters whom they distrust, the American people's realization of being ruled like Europeans shocked this country into well nigh revolutionary attitudes. But only the realization was new. The ruling class had sunk deep roots in America over decades before 2008. Machiavelli compares serious political diseases to the Aetolian fevers -- easy to treat early on while they are difficult to discern, but virtually untreatable by the time they become obvious.

Far from speculating how the political confrontation might develop between America's regime class -- relatively few people supported by no more than one-third of Americans -- and a country class comprising two-thirds of the country, our task here is to understand the divisions that underlie that confrontation's unpredictable future. More on politics below.

The Ruling Class

Who are these rulers, and by what right do they rule? How did America change from a place where people could expect to live without bowing to privileged classes to one in which, at best, they might have the chance to climb into them? What sets our ruling class apart from the rest of us?

The most widespread answers -- by such as the Times's Thomas Friedman and David Brooks -- are schlock sociology. Supposedly, modern society became so complex and productive, the technical skills to run it so rare, that it called forth a new class of highly educated officials and cooperators in an ever less private sector. Similarly fanciful is Edward Goldberg's notion that America is now ruled by a "newocracy": a "new aristocracy who are the true beneficiaries of globalization -- including the multinational manager, the technologist and the aspirational members of the meritocracy." In fact, our ruling class grew and set itself apart from the rest of us by its connection with ever bigger government, and above all by a certain attitude.

Other explanations are counterintuitive. Wealth? The heads of the class do live in our big cities' priciest enclaves and suburbs, from Montgomery County, Maryland, to Palo Alto, California, to Boston's Beacon Hill as well as in opulent university towns from Princeton to Boulder. But they are no wealthier than many Texas oilmen or California farmers, or than neighbors with whom they do not associate -- just as the social science and humanities class that rules universities seldom associates with physicians and physicists. Rather, regardless of where they live, their social-intellectual circle includes people in the lucrative "nonprofit" and "philanthropic" sectors and public policy. What really distinguishes these privileged people demographically is that, whether in government power directly or as officers in companies, their careers and fortunes depend on government. They vote Democrat more consistently than those who live on any of America's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Streets. These socioeconomic opposites draw their money and orientation from the same sources as the millions of teachers, consultants, and government employees in the middle ranks who aspire to be the former and identify morally with what they suppose to be the latter's grievances.
Continued

Sarah Palin: Mama Grizzlies

Krista Branch: "I Am America"

I heard about this song and video on the Glenn Beck program today.



H/T Hopenchangery

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