The Ostrich Party

Joe Nocera is a columnist at the New York Times, he's a business commentator for NPR, and he's a former Newsweek editor...

He's not a poster child for the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.

Today he took to the pages of the Gray Lady to offer sharp criticism of Paul Ryan's plan. He calls Ryan's "wrongheaded," "mean-spirited ," "absurd," and says it will make "health care far less affordable for millions of people."

BUT...

He praises Paul Ryan (very sparingly) and suggests that we can no longer afford to dismiss serious proposals for Medicare reform with a patellar reflex kick, even if those grody, gross, nasty, disgusting conservatives are at the negotiating table.

To my ears, that sounds like fairly reasonable left-of-center advice from a loyally progressive point of view.

But Nocera's op-ed is not nearly shrill enough for the professional left. Here are some of their reactions:

Paul Krugman, NYT:

...while some people are still trying to praise Ryan for starting a useful conversation, the reality is that he’s totally unwilling to let facts enter the debate. Look at his exchange with Ezra Klein over health care costs: this is not the sound of a sincere, open-minded guy.

Hullabaloo:

This is the new columnist for the NY Times, not some windbag blogger. And he's spouting the most shallow analysis of the current Medicare debate possible. And, sadly, it's probably going to have an influence on the way the Villagers see it.

No More Mister Nice Blog:

...the Republicans will never negotiate in good faith. You can't show them numbers demonstrating that their assumptions are wrong, because their numbers can't be wrong -- the God of the Free Market would not forsake her people. Either that or the God of the Free Market would not forsake anyone who did not deserve to be forsaken. They don't negotiate from our reality -- the one we think of as everyone's common reality. They're completely faith-based.

Washington Monthly:

"Nocera wants to give Ryan credit for noticing problems with [Medicare]. But that’s not just overly generous, it’s also setting the bar for seriousness way too low."

Comments at The Mahablog:

Dear Joe Nocera,

Would you start a serious debate with the economic terrorists who held your family hostage at the point where they tell you that no matter what you offer, the starting point is the your Grandparents are [f*ckng] goners?

If the zealots of the hard left insist on keeping their heads deeply buried (or if they choose to cannibalize anyone from their camp who dares to treat conservatives like human beings) that's their prerogative. But it's time for them to get out of the way and let the adults get down to business.

America The Conservative

Today Gallup released new poll results that show that America is still overwhelmingly conservative. A summary of Gallup's findings:

• In the nation as a whole, Americans are about twice as likely to identify as conservative as they are to identify as liberal...
• Conservatives outnumber liberals in every U.S. state.
• Only in the District of Columbia do liberal identifiers exceed conservative identifiers.

And yet...

Our liberal president, formerly the most liberal member of the Senate, is lurching to the statist left, again.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is now at the top the list of the U.S. Senate's most liberal senators.

And the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives is one of the most liberal congresscritters in the land.

Democrats do not flinch in their quest to acquire undiluted statist power for the liberal left.

But Republicans are reluctant to respond to the demands of the voters by offering a clear alternative. Rather than diminish the size and scope of the state, many of the darlings of the Republican establishment and their admirers in the GOP punditry would prefer to water down the conservative movement.

Republican good ol' boys shy away from the conservative label and call for compromise even before negotiations begin. They call for a self-imposed unilateral truce on difficult issues. They offer to help their self-declared enemies. They praise the opposition.

They want a clear and easy path to power.

The unmitigated liberal statism of our federal government is not a reflection of the values of the citizens of this country, but of the power-greedy ruling class of both parties and the cowardice of the Republican party.

Discussion: Memeorandum

X-posted

Left-Wing Hate vs. Conservative Principles

Some especially astute observations from R.S.M:

While there are parallels between Left and Right, however, it is an error to assume that Left and Right are perfectly analogous. The most successful Republican president of the 20th century was Ronald Reagan, who was accepted by conservative True Believers as one of their own. And the worst Republican presidents of the 20th century were Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon, both of whom embraced liberal policies to the consternation of True Believers. Meanwhile, the most successful Democratic president of the past 50 years, Bill Clinton, succeeded only because he was willing to abandon many of the liberal policies favored by his party’s True Believers.

The passions of True Believers are necessary to, but are not sufficient for, political success. Obviously, it helps if the True Believers believe in things that are actually true. An irrational hostility to “moneyed interests,” pursued as a matter of principle and policy, can never result in economic prosperity. Nor will Code Pink-style pacifism result in sound foreign policy.

[snip]

The Democratic Party’s True Believers have watched the rise of the conservative Tea Party movement, which has shown the same capacity to organize discontent that characterized Team Obama in 2008. Given that kind of fired-up grassroots enthusiasm to work with, if the Republican Party can field attractive candidates, supported by competent campaign teams, the era of Hope and Change will suffer a serious setback in November.

At some level, the Coffee Party people sense this impending disaster, and it fills their hearts with Fear and Loathing.

Read the whole thing here.

Tweeting for Victory

Twitter is a powerful tool. You make friends quickly, learn as much as your brain can absorb, and exchange ideas with everyone from your next door neighbor to Glenn Beck and Karl Rove.

If you haven't tried it, or if you haven't gotten the hang of it, get on board. You're missing out.

Building on yesterday's blog post, here are 22 tweet-ready healthcare factoids and sundries. Spread the word!

• 83 million would lose private health coverage under House Dem plan http://tr.im/83Mlose

• Obama's Health Plan will cover 12 million illegals http://bit.ly/9F9BF

• Rasmussen: Independents oppose ObamaCare by almost 2:1 http://tr.im/sRYG

• Among those currently insured, 84% are satisfied with their healthcare. How many will be happy with ObamaCare? http://tr.im/sYr5

• WHO ranked the US #1 (out of 191) for being responsive to patient needs, including timely treatments & choice of doctors http://tr.im/sXD6

• Obama Slipping. Approval Rating on Health Care Falls Below 50% http://tr.im/HealthCareFail

• Alliances In Health Debate Splinter http://tr.im/sTJH

• Great gaffe of truthiness #13: Obama admits ObamaCare will create inefficiency http://tr.im/tgPw

• Obama says: "Government-run health care with higher taxes [is] wrong" http://tr.im/GovtWrong

• Wow! Obama: "I won’t sign any health-care bill that adds to the deficit" Do you believe in miracles? http://tr.im/sZlO

• BHO tells us he wants us to have the same sort of "public plan" Congress enjoys. Very misleading http://bit.ly/2H6V9y / http://tr.im/VIPcare

• Why Congress Is Exempt From Public Health Insurance (in a word: hypocrisy) http://tr.im/sWLz

• There's an attending physician on call exclusively for Congress, & Congress enjoys VIP access to Walter Reed & Bethesda http://tr.im/VIPcare

• Give Democrats the same health care they want to force on us: http://tr.im/VIPcare

• No Democrat Co-Sponsors to resolution requiring them to use the "Public Option" they seek to push on America http://tr.im/HR615

• Obama's healthcare rhetoric: promises, promises but bill adds to deficit, rations care & funds abortions (via @JimDeMint) http://tr.im/td8y

• Reducing waste will account for 1% of ObamaCare "savings." 99% will come from reducing patient care http://tr.im/BitterPill

• ObamaCare would be the same as government takeover - and that would lead to worse care http://tr.im/OCare

• "If we’re able to stop Obama on [healthcare] it will be his Waterloo. It will break him" http://tr.im/Obamaloo

• Democratic & Republican governors subject Obamacare to heated criticism http://tr.im/tcsn

• Voters Reject Obama's Healthcare "Reforms" http://tr.im/sYr5

• Four Big Myths About Socialized Medicine: http://bit.ly/YO9mT

See you on Twitter!

Liberals' Primitive Understanding of Fairness

To say that leftists and liberals are primitive in their thinking on issues relating to equality is really giving them more credit than they deserve.  Even primates demonstrate a more sophisticated understanding of equality than do liberals.  Primates understand that merit should enter into their calculations of fairness, and they reject the idea that slackers should get special treatment:

"Brosnan and de Waal conducted four tests, each including two sessions of 25 trials, on pairs of female capuchins. The researchers first gave study monkeys the low-value rewards of cucumbers in exchange for tokens. Then, they measured the study subjects' responses when the higher-value reward -- grapes -- were given to their partners for exerting varying levels of work effort.

"'We showed the subjects compared their rewards with those of their partners and refused to accept a lower-value reward if their partners received a higher-value reward,' says Brosnan, 'This effect is amplified when the partner does not have to work for the reward.'

"The researchers recorded a 95 percent completed exchange rate with the subject monkeys during the equity test, in which both subject and partner received cucumber as the reward for the same amount of work. The completed exchange rate fell to 60 percent during the inequity test, in which subjects observed their partners receiving grapes for completing the same amount of work. A further decrease to 20 percent of completed exchanges occurred in the effort-control test, when partners received the higher-value reward for less work."

Liberal human beings apparently aren't quite as clever as their capuchins counterparts.  Not only do liberals tend to ignore merit in their calculations of fairness, they actively dismiss the issue of merit when it is brought to their attention. If you tell them you believe in a system of merit-based rewards, they will tell you that you have exposed an intellectual flaw and that you are clinging to an unhealthy psychological defense mechanism.  For an example of this line of thinking, consider the recent work of  liberal egalitarian researchers John Jost and Jaime Napier of New York University as reported on livescience.com:

"Individuals with conservative ideologies are happier than liberal-leaners, and new research pinpoints the reason: Conservatives rationalize social and economic inequalities.

"Regardless of marital status, income or church attendance, right-wing individuals reported greater life satisfaction and well-being than left-wingers, the new study found. Conservatives also scored highest on measures of rationalization, which gauge a person's tendency to justify, or explain away, inequalities."

Okay, I see.  If conservatives are happier, it's not because they're psychologically healthier, it's because they are happily delusional.  Here's more:

"The rationalization measure included statements such as: 'It is not really that big a problem if some people have more of a chance in life than others," and "This country would be better off if we worried less about how equal people are.'

"To justify economic inequalities, a person could support the idea of meritocracy, in which people supposedly move up their economic status in society based on hard work and good performance. In that way, one's social class attainment, whether upper, middle or lower, would be perceived as totally fair and justified.  

"If your beliefs don't justify gaps in status, you could be left frustrated and disheartened, according to the researchers, Jaime Napier and John Jost of New York University. They conducted a U.S.-centric survey and a more internationally focused one to arrive at the findings."  [emphasis mine]

Wow...now I understand.  Conservatives are happy because their worldview is contaminated with the idea that it's okay if slackers aren't quite as rich as hard workers.  Liberals' hearts are heavy because they are burdened with the understanding that even lazy people deserve the best things life has to offer.  Liberals know that the idea of meritocracy is a big fat piece of capitalist propaganda.

"'Our research suggests that inequality takes a greater psychological toll on liberals than on conservatives,' the researchers write in the June issue of the journal Psychological Science, 'apparently because liberals lack ideological rationalizations that would help them frame inequality in a positive (or at least neutral) light.'"

The truth is apparently almost too much to bear.

Setting aside the sarcasm, here's my take: Rational, healthy societies allow their citizens to reap the rewards of their good decisions and to feel at least some of the stinging consequences of their bad decisions.  This allows people to learn and grow.  The idea that we should use the force of government to ameliorate perceived inequalities is dangerous and destructive.  When we get to the point where we're using the virtually unlimited power of the Imperial Federal Government to "even the playing field," the government becomes a tool of the envy mongers.  Then we have to hear people like Obama say things like "It's not that I WANT to punish your success...but I'm going to do it anyway.  This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you, buddy"

[Yes, I know those aren't Barry's EXACT words.] 

More

Peeved monkeys reject unequal pay on the job

Tennessee Woman Accuses Farm of Favoring Foreigners

You can't make this stuff up: Biden says Obama Made A Mistake By Not Consulting Feinstein Over His CIA Pick.

Richardson's Lies Have Finally Caught Up to Him: Libs are dropping Richardson like a hot potato. 

How Will Dems Govern On Their Honeymoon?  Some very good advise for Democrats...I'm not sure I want them to listen.

Republicans Happier than Democrats

The Palliative Function of Conservative Ideology

Words that deserve wider use...like collywobbles, fubsy  & sesquipedalian.

Senators Turn Burris Away at Capitol

Online Surveys & Market Research

Recommended Reading

Conservatives are Happier Because They Hate Everyone

Dogs Grasp Inequity

Limbaugh Fires Back at Powell

Reid: $700 billion bailout not working.  So...the bailout of the finanical industry is failing, but the bailout of the auto industry is a great idea?  Can you predict what Reid will say next?  How about this: “I actually did vote for the $700 billion before I voted against it.” 

Global Warming is clearly a looming threat: Snow brings Las Vegas a touch of winter.

RightKlik is under the weather...will be back with a vengence tomorrow.

Palin: The Next Chapter

I like Sarah Palin. She has good values and great courage. I've been impressed with what she has been able to accomplish in Alaska. She has shown that she will do what's right, even if it is inconvenient, and even when it requires confrontation with her own party. Unlike a senator from Arizona who will remain nameless, Palin is a maverick for all the right reasons.

Palin's ability to energize the conservative base is quite impressive and her natural political talents are outstanding. Conservatives will not soon forget what she said at the RNC: "...Here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people." The way Palin delivered those words was very inspiring, and it was obvious that she meant every word. She declared war when she gave that speech, and she stoically paid the price when "those reporters and commentators" came at her with all their slings and arrows.

Palin will be a tremendous asset to the conservative movement for many years to come. Early next week, Palin will be travelling to Georgia to campaign on behalf of Georgia Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss. This is good news. I think it shows that Republicans know they need to reach out to the conservative base. I think it also shows that Repulicans are ready to put Palin's talents to good use where they are most likely to helpful. If there is anyone who can help turn out the conservative base, in a close race, in a red state, where conservative turnout is likely to tip the scales, Sarah Palin is the one.

Having said all that, I don't think Palin is ready to lead this nation, and I doubt that she will be ready in four short years. Palin has the experience, knowledge and intelligence to take the lead on some issues (such as energy policy), but she is not prepared to lead on issues such as macroeconomics, the supreme court, and foreign policy. Palin needs to take time to cultivate her thinking on a wider range of issues.

Palin also needs more time to hone her communications skills. Yes, the way Palin was treated by the likes of Charlie Gibson was patently unfair, but the media aren't going to stop being unfair. If Palin is ever going to take a position of national leadership, she must learn to deal with the media more effectively. When I first saw Gibson's hateful and cowardly interview, I cringed...but not just because Gibson was such an arrogant snob. Palin was obviously nervous and very intimidated. At that point, I realized Palin is not ready to be the leader of the free world (just imagine Palin vs. Putin).

Could Sarah Palin be the next Margaret Thatcher? Possibly. But Palin is still very young. Conservatives need not waste her talents and jeopardize her potential to make great contributions to the conservative movement by pushing her back into the national spotlight before she is ready.

Palin in 2020?

More

Palin back on the stump

Change is Changing (article of the day)

Giving Thanks for Self-Reliant Americans

An extraordinary fact about the universe: its basic properties are uncannily suited for life.

GOP Failure 2008: The Take-Home Message

Leftists, moderates and RINOs, in their deep compassion for conservatives, and in their sincere wish to see the conservative movement thrive, have made numerous "helpful" post-election observations.  To provide an example, I quote the words of Mort Kondracke. "In recent years, Republicans have let right-wing talk show hosts whip the GOP base into frenzies...that have branded the party as troglodyte."  Translation: If conservatives would stop subjecting themselves to brainwashing by cave-dwelling radio talk show hosts, they would see the light of day and would begin to promote a more enlightened, progressive agenda.  If that weren't so insulting I'd say "nice try."  

Ignoring the voices of the conservative base is exactly why the GOP is in so much trouble.  Despite the objections of the most conservative Republicans, the GOP nominated Maverick McCain, and as we all know, this experiment with moderate conservatism was a complete failure.  For principled conservatives, the take-home message from Election 2008 is very clear. "The challenge is not to water down the conservative message, but to beef it up, even while making it more persuasive to those who are skeptical."

More:

Civics Quiz:  Are you more knowledgeable than the average citizen? The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking this quiz was 49%; college educators scored 55%.  Can you do better? 

Obama supporters: not always the brightest bulbs on the tree.  (An amusing, but disturbing video)

It was the namby-pamby, con-lite sell-out that did us in.

Why should Nevada care about the automakers?  What the media in Harry Reid's territory have to say...

The Testosterone Crisis

Lessons Learned from Election 2008

Don't listen to the leftists, moderates and RINOs.  They would have us believe that seismic changes in U.S. demographics, reflected in the results of this month's election, portend doom for conservatives.  If conservatives don't become less conservative, they will become increasingly irrelevant and eventually go extinct. Or so it is said.  

Our genuinely concerned friends on the left also tell us that as America becomes less white, less religious and increasingly unlikely to be married, the future of conservatism is becoming grim.  After carefully analyzing the results of the election, I have been unable to reach the same conclusion.  Yes, as the winner of the election, Obama did well with several demographic groups. Obama received particularly strong support from voters under 30 years of age and nonwhites.  But McCain, despite being handicapped by an ailing economy and a failing GOP, did well with whites, voters over 45 years of age, and people who make $50,000 per year or more. Among college graduates, Obama and McCain were statistically tied. 

Let's get to the bottom of all this and look at the popular vote.  Obama got 66,882,230 votes, McCain got 58,343,671.  These results hardly suggest that America has become overwhelmingly liberal.  58,343,671 voters said "thank you but no" to vacuous promises of leftist hope and change.

As we look to the future, remember that among the 58 million people who voted for McCain were members of the conservative base (including yours truly) who thought that both Obama and McCain were too far to the left.  I held my nose when I voted for McCain.  Many like me (probably millions), stayed home. If we want more conservatives to stay home, we should take the advice of the leftists, ignore the base, and promote candidates who are even less conservative than McCain.

Conservatives have a lot of work to do, but with a team of 58 million (give or take a few), the task is not insurmountable.  Moving forward, the first and most important task will be to energize the base.  If Republicans rally behind a real conservative (not a moderate), this task will be accomplished.  But isn't it too soon to give up on moderate Republicans?  Glad you asked.  Consider this: Obama the leftist liberal got 89% of the liberal vote and 60% of the moderate vote. McCain the moderate conservative got 78% of the conservative vote and 39% of the moderate vote.  My question to Republicans...with success like that, who needs failure?

Michael Steele describes the situation well. "True, the country has changed and our party must adapt. However, it is wrong to believe we must change our principles or become conservative-lite. After all, the voters did not suddenly become liberal..."

More:

Exit Polls

Should Congress Have a Cao?

Piracy Then and Now