Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
As I'm sure you're all aware - such is America's endless fascination with the minutiae of European politics - here in Britain our Conservative party is holding its annual conference.
No, no, I jest: you could care less and so, as it happens could I. That's because I really can't imagine that there have been many periods in history where the sayings and doings of those inside the political "bubble" have had quite so little relevance to what's actually happening in the real world outside.
Here we are with the entire global economy about to fall off a cliff. And what was my beloved Prime Minister doing the other day? Why only lecturing us about our wanton overuse of plastic bags in supermarkets and threatening government intervention if we didn't swiftly mend our ways.
It feels like the Duchess of Richmond's ball on the eve of Waterloo - everyone grabbing their final dose of glorious unreality before the great, inevitable conflagration.
Except the analogy's not quite right: at least before the battle of Waterloo, one could at least have confidence that the man about to face down tyranny (in the form of Napoleon) was a half-way competent strategist and tactician. One doesn't get that sense at all with any of the men leading the free world today.
And nowhere does this apply more than US politics. Obama has been a disaster, that's a given. But what's very nearly as disastrous - and I sense this confusion and despair and growing frustration in almost every US column I read on the subject - is the GOP's ongoing failure to find a truly credible replacement.
I don't mean the "finding a guy who can beat Obama" part: that's easy - even I could fulfill that role and I'm not even technically eligible. No, what I mean is a candidate who understands to the very core of his (or her, Sarah) being that we are about to enter a post-political age in which the old rules of corporatism and special favors cannot apply. The kind of person least qualified for this job is a professional politician - which is why I can't help but raise my eyebrows whenever I read someone criticizing Herman Cain on the grounds of his lack of political experience. To my mind, that's one massive point in his favor. By the same token, no one could be less suitable for the job than Mitt Romney - so typical of that complacent political class which JUST DOESN'T GET how much the world has changed. Beyond that, though, I really can't say who'd like to see going in to bat to save the free world in 2012. Quite possibly no one who has thrown their hat into the ring so far: and that's a problem.
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Jun '10
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
Do you suppose the dinosaurs knew the meteor was going to hit a year in advance of the big smash?
Jun '11
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
There is, Jame, a very real chance that we do not make the perfect selection when we deny Obama a second term.
We will, however, win the Presidency and the Senate.
At that point, the wild card will be this: does the base stay energized and activated? Does the base continue to hound the Central Planners and Rational Administrators on both the Left and the Right?
Once again, it's time for the phrase "We, the People" to mean something.
Jul '11
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
And yet you do not see a possibility of a Paul presidency...
I think it will be the Pauls and the Cains of this world that CAN make the changes needed, not the Romneys' of the world. But we all marginalize them, and then ponder who will save us?
Mar '11
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
As an ex-pat I still have a passing interest in UK Politics, so I was aware of the Conservative conference :-)
I watched Mr Cameron on the Andrew Marr program, Sunday (Americans will have no idea what that is, but it is the UK equivalent of a Sunday talk show - and much better). I thought Mr Cameron was quite impressive - wonderfully fluent and eloquent, on top of all the facts - in striking contrast to Mr Obama off the teleprompter.
It's true that Mr Cameron is the UK version of a Rino squish, but he is doing a pretty good job of getting the UK out of the hole that Mr Brown dug. He's no Margaret Thatcher, for sure, but I was struck by how much further the UK is along the path to sanity, and how much better is the UK political class than here in the US (it's a low bar).
As we have discussed in other threads, Mr Cain is not ideal (he made an unfortunate error over Mr Perry's stone this weekend), but he may well turn out to be our Reagan - the only one of the bunch that is close.
Edited on Oct 3, 2011 at 11:39amMar '11
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
Sorry, one more thought. The syphilitic camel can be the next President and, as VDH has pointed out, the USA will come roaring back.
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
@barkha Every time I flirt with Ron Paul, he goes and does something stupid like say we shouldn't have executed Al Awlaki. Yeah, sure I guess this makes him a man of unbending principle. But it also makes him the kind of libertarian who doesn't understand that there's nothing less libertarian than being dead because some terrorist in Yemen has encouraged a Fort Hood style massacre and your President hasn't intervened on a point of moral principle.
Apr '11
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
I tend to liken our political times more like the last years of Louis XVI's reign. The political and economic systems which seemed to work before have led us into a path that ultimately leads to disaster, but those in power believe they have too much to lose to change things in order to avoid that end.
Nov '10
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
michael kelley: There is, Jame, a very real chance that we do not make the perfect selection when we deny Obama a second term.
We will, however, win the Presidency and the Senate. · Oct 3 at 10:36am
I wish I were as optimistic--and I hope you're right, Michael--but the power of the GOP to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory never ceases to amaze me. I'm just not at all convinced that this thing's a done deal. Not at all.
Exactly. When Paul's right, he's very very right, but when he's wrong, he skeers me.
Nov '10
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
Jul '10
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
This can be more Pollyanish only if there were sunflowers and moonbeams coming from it.
Do you mean to imply that now Al Awlaki is dead, there will be no more terrorism?
I have this bridge I've been meaning to sell, perhaps you can find me a buyer...
Jun '10
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
Michael Tee
This can be more Pollyanish only if there were sunflowers and moonbeams coming from it.
Do you mean to imply that now Al Awlaki is dead, there will be no more terrorism?
I have this bridge I've been meaning to sell, perhaps you can find me a buyer... · Oct 3 at 3:35pm
I don't think nominating a candidate who is to the left of Obama on foreign policy is the formula for success in '12.
Apr '11
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
Darn, Delingpole, Ricochet, the Telegraph, the UK and the world are lucky to have you.
Everyone owes you a deep debt over your battle with the warmists.
Some cajones with an affect to back it up. Watch that Sarah business, it almost rises to a faux pas around here.
Well, wouldn't it be ironic, hell far more than ironic, if the slavation and cajones are provided by a woman?
That rises to a leap of faith. Faith, a strong suit of Palin and her supporters.
Jul '11
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
@Delingpole - Paul does have a point on Awlaki. And he is not the only one to speak of it (Glenn Greenwald?). Don't get me wrong, if I was face to face with Awlaki - I would kill him myself. But I wouldn't then turn around and pretend that there was nothing illegal about it. Greater good is a moral slippery slope. If we had to send drones to kill Awlaki, we could have charged him (in a court of law) as a traitor in absentia, then all would be fair game. But that was not done in this case. The administration won't even try those already caught - but the world cheers of Awlaki death. How many years before we are like those women in Palestine dancing in the streets the day 9/11 happened? Majority does not rule, hence we are a republic. Your arguments against global warming hysteria are sound not due to the overwhelming support for them, but because they are true. The point is not that he did not deserve to die, but a precedence is set here. American citizens can be killed overseas by drones. Should we do the same to serial killers?
May '10
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
James, I agree that none appear up to the task - but at this stage I don't know who would be. Hopefully, whoever wins will rise to the occasion. The things he or she will have to resolve/improve however are amazingly daunting.
Apr '11
Re: Who Will Save Us in Our Darkest Hour?
James Delingpole:
what I mean is a candidate who understands to the very core of his (or her, Sarah) being that we are about to enter a post-political age in which the old rules of corporatism and special favors cannot apply. The kind of person least qualified for this job is a professional politician - which is why I can't help but raise my eyebrows whenever I read someone criticizing Herman Cain on the grounds of his lack of political experience. To my mind, that's one massive point in his favor. By the same token, no one could be less suitable for the job than Mitt Romney - so typical of that complacent political class which JUST DOESN'T GET how much the world has changed.
Romney's career was built on turning around companies in ways that often involved bitter fights with unions and local governments. As a governor, he was free of corporatist scandal. His jobs document does not involve corporatist solutions. What do you base your claim that he does not understand the problems of corporatism? Is it 100% Romneycare, do you have other grounds, or was this just hyperbole?