The Cat's Meow

We have lost the language. We no longer listen to each other, we only speak. As such, we do not hear what anyone else is saying. It’s become a problem worldwide. Arab hatred for Jews is based on a lie. The idea of ‘global warming’ was based on a lie. Democrats painting Republicans as racist is a convenient lie, as is the current campaign against ‘the rich’.

The templates are set. There is no escaping. We, on the right, have hardened our templates as well in response to the Left’s aggression. We ourselves have countered with lies. In this climate, how can mere words be anything but partisan? Our alienation from each other goes much deeper than words. It can no longer be solved by simply inventing new words and casting new templates.

Words and templates seem flimsy when seen alongside powerhouse emotion. Palestinians hate Jews. Democrats hate Republicans. Communists hate capitalism. The poor hate the rich. Words are the kindling. Once the fire is started, it can no longer be contained. More kindling will not douse it. We are already into the next phase: power.

As Tom rightly points out, the Left has been meticulously organizing since the 60’s. They’ve done so incrementally, taking tiny steps: at first it was casual Fridays. Now, they also have the power. They control the narrative. All we on the Right can do is counter with kindling. Truth has long since become irrelevant - economic theory, for instance.

The only way out is to ‘reset’ (sorry Hillary!). Something of such significance must happen as to be capable of blowing all previous assumptions away - bringing people back to basics; getting them to actually face each other again, and begin responding to others’ basic needs.

In the past, the only human instrument capable of bringing this about has been war. In war, ideologies are not of much use. All such armchair posturing is subjugated by the need to survive. Soldiers may even encounter situations in which they must depend (in one way or another) on the enemy for their survival. (Note: leaders seldom face this dilemma.) Life hangs in the balance, but at least you’re looking at the whites of someone’s eyes who is not you, and you’re almost bound to find that common thread (good or bad) that defines a human trait.

I hold that when it gets down to brass nuts, men will behave like men – with kindness and good will. It may take something calamitous to get us back to there.

NY-26 is an example of localized political pantomime. We’re seeing lips move, but we’re not actually there. It would be a mistake to characterize these (or any) voters as dumb (or easily led.) There is a reason for why things happen the way they do.

From this distance, it looks like the partisan shtick all over again with a twist: It seems to me that Republicans are even more hated than Democrats. Republicans are hated for being weak and not standing up to Democrats. They’re hated for reaching across the aisle; they’re hated for compromising. They’re hated for getting up and smiling broadly under the TV lights after having just betrayed some important principle, thinking themselves the cat’s meow.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Small Bits: On Israel

I’ve been writing about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for a number of years now. I’ve been going back and reading what I wrote back in the 90’s. Everything I’ve ever said about this is still true today. I just never thought I’d ever see an American president stick a fork and knife into Israel and hand her over to her tormentors.

Some say we'd have gotten along just fine without Israel. As one who writes, I know that we are a product of the Judea-Christian tradition. Virtually every one of our literary references and metaphors can be traced back to the Bible. It is so engrained in us – so much a part of us – most of us are quite unaware of it (it’s like the eye not being able to see itself). Knock all that foundation out from under us – and we become nothing.

What we hold now to be so terribly important would simply blow away, like topsoil blowing away with the wind. Don’t say Israel is unimportant – when, in fact, Israel is us. Why would you think this tiny sliver of a country is so hard fought?

Many of us take the family to a movie on Sunday afternoons. Try being compelled by law to attend public hangings in the market square on Saturdays instead. That seems to be the idea of civic duty in some quarters. (Though, these days, it seems to work out to virtually the same thing.)

“It’s not one world,” the late, great Paul Harvey used to say.
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President Obama attempting to dismantle the very basis of our legitimacy as essential actors on the world stage. This has very little to do with the terms we use to describe things. Terms are often interchangeable. It has become clear to me that two distinct narratives have emerged within our nation that are not necessarily compatible. In effect, we are at war with ourselves.

The things discussed in the Bible are often dismissed as no longer relevant because it was written at a different time and spoke to those people in terms that only they could fully understand. We no longer use the same terms or concepts to describe things. (Even today, we run into endless problems when attempting simple translation.)

Today, we often use metaphors we learned in 9th grade science class. Throughout the long and arduous evolution of language, reality has remained essentially the same. Even, despite knowing that the world is round, our maps remain flat. It matters not how we express it. What I’m trying to say is that language is but a thin veneer, and time-sensitive to boot. The cultural heritage of any given people runs much deeper.

Unfortunately, Muslim aggression - and Western aggression (or influence) - is and has been a historical fact. The bone of contention right now is Israel. If there were no Israel, we would have to invent it. We must deal with the aggression, not curse the bone.

As for throwing everything into the pot, to see which one will sink or swim, quite apart from what may or may not be in our own self interest - this too will not work. There is no such thing as peace at ground level or above. Peace is only possible six feet under.

As long as we live, we must always be prepared to fight. If we succeed in keeping the fallout confined to foreign shores, so much the better for us. Nations know instinctively that they must protect themselves. Some make the strategic decision to ride on the coattails of others who might possess the means to protect them. In doing so, they give up a bit of their sovereignty. Others build great armies. It still is not clear to me which of these Israel aspires to.

Time is roughly divided into two-thirds peace and one-third war. Peace is merely the absence of war. War can sometimes be held at bay by fear. Either way, the illusion of power plays a role. This is why great nations build great armies that stand idle two-thirds of the time. It is hardly a waste.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

How Bad Can It Get?

Okay, I get it! Back in 2008, when Bush and Republicans were sent packing, we thought it couldn’t get any worse. We had hit bottom, we were told. We ignored all the signs - the storm clouds gathering in the distance: questions about the birth certificate, grades, allegiances, past associations, past affiliations - all the warnings. We accused those who counseled caution of alarmism or worse. A new day was dawning after all. The new administration would bring the economy back, heal racist divides, solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, fix health care, lower the tides, etc. In fact, the new president was said to be able to walk on water. People would literally swoon in his presence. We referred to him as ‘the messiah'.

It didn’t take long for the veil to slip. We became concerned. We phoned and e-mailed our elected representatives in Washington. No response. We attended town hall events. No response. We marched en masse on Washington, hoping somebody would notice. No response. We voted…

At each juncture we were brimming with hope. Obama would hear us. He would change direction and pull us away from the brink. Instead America’s decline accelerated: jobs lost, inflation (though nobody is willing to admit it), mortgages underwater, ‘for sale’ signs sprouting like mushrooms, 401k’s drying up, dollar down.

Now we’re asking ourselves, “How bad can it get?” Plenty. Just look what’s happening over in Europe, in the Middle East, in S. America, in the Far East. Could all this be in anyway connected? I would have to say yes. All of it started right here at home. Anyone who fails to note the trench warfare aspect of what’s going on in Congress right now has their head buried in the sand. America is slipping.

And we’ve done it to ourselves. We haven’t done our homework. While we’re mindlessly humiliating grandmothers and cripples at our airports, we would never insist that our highest elected official produce all relevant papers.

Folks, we still don’t know who he is. And we’re growing increasingly suspicious. We leave things hanging to fester. Fact: North Korea and South Korea are literally - not technically - at war! China is at war with us. Iran is at war with us. Half the nations in South America are at war with us. The Left is at war with us. All have said so.

Which side is our president on? The answer gets murkier with each passing day. The implications are enormous. It’s the elephant in the room that everybody tries to ignore. It’s like trying to impose peace in the Middle East while one side refuses to recognize the other.

In a way I’m sorry that I shamed the Azulia Restaurant in Chennai into changing their menu that had a map of the Mediterranean region on its cover. It had left out the State of Israel. On my last visit there I noted that they had corrected the oversight. Now I realize it might well have been right in the first place. How much longer will they be printing maps with America on them?

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/