We're Winning the Global Culture War!
An underlying theme of the spate of unexpected good news in the world is the emergence of a strengthening belief in the conservative principles of personal responsibility and self-reliance over the previously dominant liberal agenda of “the soft bigotry of low expectations”. Simply put, we’re winning the Global “Culture Wars”! The evidence is everywhere, if we only believe. I assume the skeptics will dismiss this possibility, so here is a brief recap of unexpected developments from the recent past.
1) Despite the best efforts of the voice of the ancient regime, the mainstream media, the Republicans defeated the Democrats and now control the Presidency and the Congress with unambiguous voter majorities. Long standing icons of the Left are rapidly falling. Dan Rather is a joke to the populace. The once feared Michael Moore got zero Academy Award nominations in that bastion of the left, Hollywood. Even that pariah of the left, Mel Gibson, got three nominations.
2) The citizenry of Iraq has seized the day, and voted for liberty from the oppression of Saddam. And while the details are yet to be worked out, even the Sunnis are talking about becoming a part of the constitutional process and rejecting the “insurgency”.
3) The people of Afghanistan are making a remarkable transition to freedom after 5000 years of autocracy. They are beginning to take control of their own destiny.
4) The Palestinians and Israelis are shaking hands as they try to seize the initiative to bring peace through justice to their war weary lands.
5) Given the helping hand of the United States Armed Forces, the hard hit nations of the tsunami zone are taking up the challenge of leading the rebuilding of their own countries, while old organizations, such as the United Nations, argue about arranging the deck chairs around the pool. By the time the French aircraft carrier finally reaches the tsunami zone, there will be nothing for it to do, as the Indonesians have chartered boats to ferry relief supplies to the hardest hit regions.
6) Even in that nexus of machine politics, the city of Chicago, the voice of reform is beginning to be heard. Who would have thought a democratic administration would take on the bleeding hearts and their champions, the trail bar, and would ask to hold accountable the brother of a “Victim” for his actions? The story may exist only faintly in the perception of the national audience, but the ramifications could be huge. The incident was a porch collapse in Lincoln Park that killed 13 young, promising lives. Clearly, there was a great deal of blame to go around. There were bad decisions by virtually everyone involved, including the city; except the poor taxpayers of the city!
The building owner contracted for an oversized porch in violation of the city building code. The contractor built that illegal porch without a building permit. The building inspectors were negligent in their inspections of other matters in the building. The occupants invited the world to join their oversized party. And, now the city alleges, one of the hosts is being asked to accept responsibility for his actions! He is accused of joining in jumping up and down on the overloaded porch, weakening the structure, and contributing to the disaster. His brother died in the collapse. He and his family ask, how the city can be so totally lacking in compassions! But the city stands its ground.
So the city is defending the taxpayers against becoming the big pocket cleanser of the guilty consciences of all involved. None of them want to bear their respective shares of the responsibility; the owner, the contractor, the building inspector, the occupants and the brother will now have to come to grips with the facts in a court of law. And the taxpayers may finally get a break from the costs of the “soft bigotry of low expectations“.
And now comes word that Mayor Richard Daley is embracing an end to crony capitalism. And while Daley’s old habits die hard, the reality of the situation is taking over and is hitting at the core of the supporters of the politics of victimization. Jesse Jackson Jr. is panicked that Daley’s actions with the city’s affirmative action program will open the door for it to be euthanized by the Republicans!
So in conclusion, we see signs of distress from the mainstream media, Democrats, Michael Moore, the Iraqi “insurgents”, the Palestinian terrorists, the United Nations, and the machine politicians of Chicago. Not too bad for a time frame of only three months since the election!
1) Despite the best efforts of the voice of the ancient regime, the mainstream media, the Republicans defeated the Democrats and now control the Presidency and the Congress with unambiguous voter majorities. Long standing icons of the Left are rapidly falling. Dan Rather is a joke to the populace. The once feared Michael Moore got zero Academy Award nominations in that bastion of the left, Hollywood. Even that pariah of the left, Mel Gibson, got three nominations.
2) The citizenry of Iraq has seized the day, and voted for liberty from the oppression of Saddam. And while the details are yet to be worked out, even the Sunnis are talking about becoming a part of the constitutional process and rejecting the “insurgency”.
3) The people of Afghanistan are making a remarkable transition to freedom after 5000 years of autocracy. They are beginning to take control of their own destiny.
4) The Palestinians and Israelis are shaking hands as they try to seize the initiative to bring peace through justice to their war weary lands.
5) Given the helping hand of the United States Armed Forces, the hard hit nations of the tsunami zone are taking up the challenge of leading the rebuilding of their own countries, while old organizations, such as the United Nations, argue about arranging the deck chairs around the pool. By the time the French aircraft carrier finally reaches the tsunami zone, there will be nothing for it to do, as the Indonesians have chartered boats to ferry relief supplies to the hardest hit regions.
6) Even in that nexus of machine politics, the city of Chicago, the voice of reform is beginning to be heard. Who would have thought a democratic administration would take on the bleeding hearts and their champions, the trail bar, and would ask to hold accountable the brother of a “Victim” for his actions? The story may exist only faintly in the perception of the national audience, but the ramifications could be huge. The incident was a porch collapse in Lincoln Park that killed 13 young, promising lives. Clearly, there was a great deal of blame to go around. There were bad decisions by virtually everyone involved, including the city; except the poor taxpayers of the city!
The building owner contracted for an oversized porch in violation of the city building code. The contractor built that illegal porch without a building permit. The building inspectors were negligent in their inspections of other matters in the building. The occupants invited the world to join their oversized party. And, now the city alleges, one of the hosts is being asked to accept responsibility for his actions! He is accused of joining in jumping up and down on the overloaded porch, weakening the structure, and contributing to the disaster. His brother died in the collapse. He and his family ask, how the city can be so totally lacking in compassions! But the city stands its ground.
So the city is defending the taxpayers against becoming the big pocket cleanser of the guilty consciences of all involved. None of them want to bear their respective shares of the responsibility; the owner, the contractor, the building inspector, the occupants and the brother will now have to come to grips with the facts in a court of law. And the taxpayers may finally get a break from the costs of the “soft bigotry of low expectations“.
And now comes word that Mayor Richard Daley is embracing an end to crony capitalism. And while Daley’s old habits die hard, the reality of the situation is taking over and is hitting at the core of the supporters of the politics of victimization. Jesse Jackson Jr. is panicked that Daley’s actions with the city’s affirmative action program will open the door for it to be euthanized by the Republicans!
So in conclusion, we see signs of distress from the mainstream media, Democrats, Michael Moore, the Iraqi “insurgents”, the Palestinian terrorists, the United Nations, and the machine politicians of Chicago. Not too bad for a time frame of only three months since the election!
P.S. - If Mayor Daley really wants to get the attention of his underlings and prove he is serious about reform. then he should institute a policy where any city employee convicted of vote fraud or electioneering on city time would lose all pension rights! That would get the payrollers attention! And it would be a big step toward the "De-Ba'athification" of city government.
Update 6:12 AM 2/10/05 - Mark Brown's column in this morning's Chicago Sun-Times offers another view into the disrespect of the payrollers for legal authority! It seems the suggestion has been made to install a statue of Ronald Reagan in the halls of the United States Congress (a superb idea!). It would replace a statue of an obscure, Irish politician who served as a senator from Illinois. He was most famous for challenging Abraham Lincoln to a duel that he would not fight when Lincoln appeared bearing broadswords. Why would we honor a coward in preference to the Liberator of Eastern Europe? Do you know more Poles live in Chicago than any city outside of Warsaw?
Update 2/11/05 1:16 PM -
The editorials in today’s Chicago Sun-Times furiously backpedal from Mark Brown’s opinion yesterday! Here is what they say…
The editorials in today’s Chicago Sun-Times furiously backpedal from Mark Brown’s opinion yesterday! Here is what they say…
“Pat Hickey should chill out. The other day the high school administrator lambasted state Rep. Robert Pritchard of DeKalb County for forwarding a resolution that one of the two statues representing great Illinoisans in Washington, D.C. -- the one depicting Gen. James Shields -- should be replaced with one of Ronald Reagan. Hickey, in outrage, claims this is a slur against the Irish and Catholics.
Shields emigrated to Illinois from Ireland about 1829. He became a force in Illinois politics, but he was peripatetic, first moving to Minnesota -- where he became a senator -- then to Missouri where he also ran for office.
Pritchard obviously didn't intend his resolution to be anti-Catholic or anti-Irish. But the statue of Shields was erected in 1893, and that of the other famous Illinoisan in the capital, temperance leader Frances Willard, was put up in 1905. It's been a century. Isn't it time for a change? "Reagan is the only president born in Illinois," Pritchard says, explaining his choice. "He did so much for the free world."
Pritchard's idea has merit. There are other candidates who could be considered for statuehood -- Adlai Stevenson, Everett Dirksen, Jane Addams, Ida B. Wells, Paul Simon. But Reagan -- who was half Irish, remember -- is a splendid choice, too.”
Shields emigrated to Illinois from Ireland about 1829. He became a force in Illinois politics, but he was peripatetic, first moving to Minnesota -- where he became a senator -- then to Missouri where he also ran for office.
Pritchard obviously didn't intend his resolution to be anti-Catholic or anti-Irish. But the statue of Shields was erected in 1893, and that of the other famous Illinoisan in the capital, temperance leader Frances Willard, was put up in 1905. It's been a century. Isn't it time for a change? "Reagan is the only president born in Illinois," Pritchard says, explaining his choice. "He did so much for the free world."
Pritchard's idea has merit. There are other candidates who could be considered for statuehood -- Adlai Stevenson, Everett Dirksen, Jane Addams, Ida B. Wells, Paul Simon. But Reagan -- who was half Irish, remember -- is a splendid choice, too.”
posted by MachiasPrivateer at 5:25 AM
2 Comments:
Glad to see Chicago is joining the rest of the world! (If only St. Louis would follow suit-we`ve been stuck in 1904 for 101 years!)
Great blog!
Glad to see Chicago is joining the rest of the world! (If only St. Louis would follow suit-we`ve been stuck in 1904 for 101 years!)
Great blog!
p.s. When are we going to be getting another Atmospheric Physics? There has been a lot of new Global Warming nonsense making the rounds!
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