Why Bill Clinton got it wrong on the Tea Party Movement
"The point Bill Clinton is missing is that the danger doesn’t come from right wing ‘anger.’ The anger is just a byproduct. The voices he hears from the Tea Party crowds aren’t threats; they’re warnings. The real peril is coming from somewhere else: the demographic decline in industrial world working populations, the increasing cost of energy and the international movement in the factors of production. A whole generation of failed policy from both parties is coming to a head and it probably means that the welfare state, the European Union and by consequence the Chinese economy are heading for a cliff."
More:
"But perhaps the most unremarked thing about the Tea Parties is that they’re not calling for a repeal of the Constitution but for its enforcement. They are the complete opposite of what Clinton thinks they are; an affirmation, not a call to create 'a different country' that Clinton congratulates himself in attaining. And that may be an advantage. If the world descends into a prolonged and tectonic crisis,the one clear advantage that America will have going into it is a clear and widely shared sense of the legitimacy of its foundational principles. That may not seem like much, but if a crisis impends a widely shared sense of legitimacy will be among the most precious things in a planet gone awry."
Read the rest at Belmont Club .
Thanks, KA-CHING!
More:
"But perhaps the most unremarked thing about the Tea Parties is that they’re not calling for a repeal of the Constitution but for its enforcement. They are the complete opposite of what Clinton thinks they are; an affirmation, not a call to create 'a different country' that Clinton congratulates himself in attaining. And that may be an advantage. If the world descends into a prolonged and tectonic crisis,the one clear advantage that America will have going into it is a clear and widely shared sense of the legitimacy of its foundational principles. That may not seem like much, but if a crisis impends a widely shared sense of legitimacy will be among the most precious things in a planet gone awry."
Read the rest at Belmont Club .
Thanks, KA-CHING!
Good article.
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When I heard Clinton's comments, I remember laughing because he missed the point. These people are rooted in the Constitution. They are calling for a reading and a an abidance by the document. The article did a nice job of capturing that.
Kurt
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Clinton misses the point for a living.
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Kurt,
You might want to add this Thomas Sowell quote to the end of my reply of a few minutes ago, after "Clinton misses the point for a living." It's one of my all-time favorite quotes, and I've been tempted many times to use it in reply briefs. So far, I've resisted that temptation.
"Among all the dichotomies of our times -- doves and hawks, liberals and conservatives, elites and masses -- there is one that seems especially crucial: the distinction between those who focus and those who blur.
"When people blur, it is usually either because they are not capable of focusing or because a sharp picture of the issues would make their case collapse. Currently the blurrers are riding high."
--Thomas Sowell, Forbes, "Lies, Damn Lies, and Blurs" May 31, 1999 (toward the end of Clinton's second term)
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Not only have I added it as a comment, it is now a post. Brilliant. It applies in politics, business, life. . .
Thanks.
Kurt
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