Elites: Influential prophets of doom
Here’s a little advice for America’s aristocratic critics: a little less hypocrisy, a little more appreciation of your good lives, and maybe the rest of us will listen to you a little more.
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By Victor Davis Hanson
realclearpolitics.com
Scolding Americans for our various sins is proving popular among an elite group of self-appointed moralists.
Take well-meaning environmentalists who warn us that our plush lifestyles heat up and pollute the planet. To listen to former Vice President Al Gore or New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, we must immediately curtail our carbon emissions - or face planetary destruction.
Scolding Americans for our various sins is proving popular among an elite group of self-appointed moralists.
Take well-meaning environmentalists who warn us that our plush lifestyles heat up and pollute the planet. To listen to former Vice President Al Gore or New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, we must immediately curtail our carbon emissions - or face planetary destruction.
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The Gloves Come Off?
by Victor Davis Hanson
I think the new combativeness coming out of the White House will only increase — given growing unhappiness over increased joblessness, the omnipresence of old Clinton-era attack dogs, new public doubts that vast new government programs are really the answer to what was in part a government Freddie- and Fannie-inspired crisis, and, especially, the sheer novelty of anyone questioning the messianic Barack Obama. For nearly two decades in local, Senate, and presidential races, Obama's signature speeches and rhetorical tropes — someone else left a mess; "they", "some," and "others" have created false choices; spending more money saves money; the "Make no mistake about" and "Let me be perfectly clear" formulas; I am not your traditional politician; hope and change to the rescue — have won the public over. But if they don't this time, then someone must pay?
I think the new combativeness coming out of the White House will only increase — given growing unhappiness over increased joblessness, the omnipresence of old Clinton-era attack dogs, new public doubts that vast new government programs are really the answer to what was in part a government Freddie- and Fannie-inspired crisis, and, especially, the sheer novelty of anyone questioning the messianic Barack Obama. For nearly two decades in local, Senate, and presidential races, Obama's signature speeches and rhetorical tropes — someone else left a mess; "they", "some," and "others" have created false choices; spending more money saves money; the "Make no mistake about" and "Let me be perfectly clear" formulas; I am not your traditional politician; hope and change to the rescue — have won the public over. But if they don't this time, then someone must pay?
posted by jillosophy at 7/30/2009 09:34:00 AM
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