Tuesday, November 25, 2008

A Quality Rant

A nice little article by Victor Davis Hanson.

I'm not really with him on the American male accent thing, though.

4 comments:

Jefferoo said...

I think he was subtly attempting to come out of the closet with that accent bit - clearly he doesn't hang out with very many straight guys. Other than that, good stuff - I disagree with some points, but I appreciate a good read. Thanks for posting it!

Midnight Oil said...

:)

Jim Fryar said...

That is quite thought provoking. The viciousness of the left at present tends to be caused by puerile minds and possibly a sense of 'they owe us'.

I think to some extent that this may be a reflection of the younger element coming in for the first time and their lack of familiarity with the basic courtesies that exist. Some of the same sort of thing happened among Paul supporters, but this was mainly manifested in a lack of respect for the rights of others to hold a different view. They were mostly a damn nuisance, not generally nasty.

The lack of any effort to pull either group into line and institute some sort of basic decorum is something I found disturbing.

I hope the author is wrong about the American accent thing though, I find it quite attractive.

Midnight Oil said...

You hit the nail on the head. Many on the left definitely have a sense that "they owe us." As my personal hero, Larry Elder, would say, they are victocrats. One of the most major problems of today's society is exactly that. The bailout of the auto companies is a prime example. They want their cut, just like the people who took out loans they couldn't afford, they are waiting with their hand out for Big Daddy Government to make it all better.

How is this different from a beggar on street who is fully capable of working, but due to poor choice relies, instead on tax payer money and government programs to bail him out. Everyone is just waiting for what they feel they're owed, victicrating and whining, instead of learning from their mistakes, taking some personal responsibility, making wiser choices and moving on.

I haven't been around long enough to say what the political viciousness was like decades back, but I can tell you that I am disgusted at the way this past election devolved all sides into not much more than name-calling mudslingers. Why bother with the facts, when it's much more fun and satisfying to superficially polarize the two candidates into the good vs evil camps. It's disheartening to me, how ready people are to treat serious matters like some superfluous hockey game, complete with foam fingers and fights breaking out in the audience.

When is this nation going to grow up?