No man who has once heartily and wholly laughed can be altogether irreclaimably bad.
Thomas Carlyle
Rerunning the Election of 1980 or 1936?
As I heard Ann Romney complain about critics of Mitt's campaign, suggesting the campaign is hard and that we critics aren't being constructive. Cry me a river.
This blog has repeatedly provided constructive criticism, but let's point out that many of the problems faced by the campaign have been predictable and/or self-inflicted. I have pointed out for several months I expected the Obama campaign to go negative and Romney's wealth in combination with Obama's class warfare rhetoric was entirely predictable. The obvious defense is a preemptive strike (releasing an independently attested abridged version of tax returns}; for a while, I thought perhaps he was engaging in a risky strategy of luring Democrats like Reid to make reckless allegations he could publicly ambush and swerve them, but I've been constantly beating the drum that Romney could not afford to allow Obama to define him or make Romney play on Obama's home court, with the reelection campaign's mainstream media allies, forcing the Romney campaign to play defense.
Let's point out a few points:
- Fortunately for Romney, Obama is also highly predictable. I have pointed out in several posts that Obama is emulating FDR's political and political strategy his talking points e.g., blaming free enterprise for the great recession/depression. Romney should have anticipated a 1936 rematch. among other things, Romney should be be well versed in Depression economics, the failures of Keynesian policies (e.g., Von Mises, Higgs, etc.) For an alternative perspective, Romney should look at failures in Fed policies, taxpayer exposure because of government guarantees and failures in preexisting regulation including the Fed. I would point out the Dem financial reform failed to deal with the actual users of TARP funds. There was no post audit of government's failures in the economic tsunami. Instead the Dems engage in an unsustainable, instantly obsolete patchwork, a poor substitute for free market competition.
- One of the most predictable things has been Obama's ritualistic Bush-bashing. It was inevitable that a desperate Obama would attempt to tie Romney to Bush's economic policies. I've been beating the drum for some time now Romney needed to be prepared to throw Bush under the bus, to distinguish his Presidency apart from GW Bush, to identify himself as a reformer, to criticize Bush's spending record, unfunded medicare expansion, government crowding out private sector growth, promote various economic liberty reforms, etc.
- Romney will not win by default; the clock is not his friend, he needs to do more than remind people of a weak economy and his own resume; he must expose Obama's statist agenda, the historic failures of planned economies, Obama's failure to embrace free markets and free trade, how class warfare tax hikes narrow the tax base and impair economic growth, and how excess government spending crowds out private sector growth and hiring.and a 59-point plan overwhelms most voters:he needs a simpler message
- given voters' economic security concerns, Romney needs to reassure those looking for safety-net programs in a difficult economy means-testing will ensure long-overdue government reform is not made on the backs of lower-income beneficiaries
- Mark Alexander has also made a comparison with 1936 and FDR
"Tell President Obama I'll call back, I'm playing tennis"- British PM David Cameron. A perfect rebuke to The (Unprofessional) One's own insulting rebuke to the Israeli PM's visit when Obama left the meeting to eat dinner with the family
For the record , I would channel my inner Clint Eastwood if Obama ever called me. I would turn down any invitation to the White House or job with his Administration, I do not like Cameron's fawning over a second-rate American politician.
"Piss Christ" is Back
Andres Serrano won a $15K prize backed in part by the unconscionable National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency) for taking a photo of a crucifix submerged in a vial of his own urine in the late 80's. He has 10 prints, one currently on display in a midtown NYC gallery as part of a career retrospective.
The contrast to the reaction in Islamic countries over a film NOT backed by the US government is striking, I suspect this "artist" will not try to extend his provocative works to include historic Muslim figures.
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
ZZ Top, 'it's Only Love'
