C-SPAN: P,J. O’Rourke – Roasting President Bill Clinton

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Ederik Schneider

Source:The New Democrat 

Well P.J. O’Rourke once again giving me plenty of material to work with. Only this time there isn’t a damn thing that I agree with on, somewhat disappointed about that, because I do see him as an intelligent real Conservative or Conservative Libertarian. Let’s start with President Bill Clinton, I realize he used the name Bill Clinton over and over to the point that I almost felt dizzy from drinking a glass of Sprite that was spiked with a bottle of Bourbon or something. But it sounded like he was talking about Bernie Sanders or Dennis Kucinich, or Carl Marx, someone really radical on the Left, at least in America.

I realize that before Republicans and the Far-Right learned of Barack Obama and even knew the man existed, Bill Clinton was considered the devil to them. The Satan of Satan’s, because he was a Baby Boomer from the 1960s, who believed in freedom for other Americans and not just Christians and very wealthy Anglo-Saxon Southern Protestant men. That America was for Americans and not just a group of us, but for all Americans and that freedom both economic and personal freedom was for all Americans. Which for the Far-Right, you might as well be arguing for making Satan’s birthday a national holiday or something, because of how evil and Un-American that sounds to them.

Okay, here’s a good one, the conservative idea of freedom. Hum, freedom for who and what you do you mean by that? Would be my question, because unless you are talking about Barry Goldwater from back in the day where the term Goldwater Conservative comes from, that was later followed by the term Conservative Libertarian that is accurately used to describe former Representative Ron Paul’s politics and his son current Senator Rand Paul, if this is what you’re talking about, great I agree with you that this is real freedom. Big government out of the wallets and personal lives and it’s coming from Conservatives.

But if you’re idea of freedom is freedom for you and the people who tend to agree with you and even look like you and have the same religious beliefs as you and live their lives the way you do, but for everyone else freedom is doing what you approve of and not the freedom to be an individual and live individually and if you do you risk jail time or even prison time, then no. This is not freedom and you are not talking about limited government, but serious limited freedom. The right to live the way others approve based on their religious and moral beliefs.

Just to go back to President Bill Clinton for a second, he was truly seen as a devil by the Far-Right of the GOP and perhaps Satan himself in the 1990s. Not hated as much as Barack Obama today, but Wild Bill represents everything that the Far-Right the Traditional Values Coalition thinks is wrong with America. The Baby Boom Generation that P.J. O’Rourke is from and the 1960s. And they believe America has been going downhill ever since the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s where Americans regardless of racial, ethnic, cultural, geographical or religious background now feel free to live their own lives and if everything Americans have gained more freedom ever since.

The whole statism issue the last thirty-years or so, hasn’t been coming from the center-left in America. But from the Far-Right and people who want to impose their moral and cultural values on the rest of the country even through law. “Get big government out of our wallets, so we can stick it in the bedrooms and the rest of the homes of free adult free-thinking Americans”. That real statism that is in America, but it is coming from the Far-Right, not center-left Liberals like Bill Clinton and others. Yes the Left and the Democratic Party has a nut house and their own statists, but so does the Right and the GOP.

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Ian Robertson: British Take on The Tea Party

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Rik Schneider

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You know in some ways Barack Obama is the luckiest politician at least executive in America because of his so-called opposition. In many ways with the opposition that President Obama gets, who needs friends and allies. Without the Tea Party in 2010, Democrats probably would’ve lost the Senate back then. I mean Senate Republicans picked up six seats that election, but they needed ten to win the majority and the Tea Party cost them Delaware, West Virginia and Colorado. So that would’ve put them very close and with better Senate candidates, maybe they pick up two other seats.

Without the Tea Party and Mitt Romney, President Obama probably loses the election in 2012, because of the situation of the economy that was barely growing and with unemployment still over eight-percent. Very similar to President Jimmy Carter in 1980 who of course lost to Ronald Reagan in 1980. So Barack Obama owes a lot of his political success to the people who hate him the most in America, the Tea Party. Without them he’s probably teaching law at some snobby Northeastern or Ivy League school, or in Chicago right now.

So in many ways the President should be grateful for the Tea Party and giving them Christmas cards this year and perhaps even donating to their groups. And telling them “hey without you, I would probably be stuck in the private sector with some boring job right now. So I’m just grateful for you for being as nutty as you are, which has allowed for me to continue as President of the United States and piss you off whenever I get the opportunity, like with immigration. And I hope you are around for at least the end of my administration.”

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The Newsroom: Jane Fonda & Sam Waterson

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Derik Schneider
The Newsroom - Jane Fonda's joke_ Jesus and Moses play golf

Source:Jarrod Lorch– Hollywood Goddess Jane Fonda, guess-starring on HBO’s The Newsroom in 2012.

“Jane Fonda as Leona Lansing on HBO’s The Newsroom tells a joke about Jesus and Moses playing golf.”

From Jarrod Lorch

Keep in mind, I’m not a regular viewer of The Newsroom. Actually, all I’ve seen from this show, is what I’ve seen from YouTube. (Thank God for YouTube) But what I took from this video, is pre-hard news, The Newsroom was basically a soft news, tabloid news show similar to Hard Copy and unfortunately a lot of what CNN is doing now. “This is what is hot in technology. This is who this celebrity is seeing now and thinks about this. This is what this celebrity is now in jail for and wore to that awards show”.

The Piers Morgan show is now off the air (maybe there is a God after all) and that is what it was about until Piers decided he was going to compete with MSNBC and all ten of their viewers and compete for viewers on the Far-Left in America and use their rhetoric and speak for their issues and policies. But that show didn’t do well under the soft-talk format or the so-called hard-talk and hardball politics format. The show died like someone being dropped from a plane a thousand feet in the air with a parachute that doesn’t open and work.

And what was going in with The Newsroom was nothing serious really. All that happened was the driver of the show so to speak the anchor was falling asleep at the wheel talking about technology and tabloid news all the time. And they got a real producer with a real news background played by Sam Waterston, Charlie What’s His Name, (I don’t think that’s his real last name) and they changed the format and the Will McAvoy character played by Jeff Daniels became a real news anchor of a real news show. And the rest is history.

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Woohoo Kitty’s: Video: Howard Beale: It’s The Individual That’s Finished

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Ederik Schneider

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This post was originally posted at The New Democrat on Blogger

I’m not sure you can understand the movie Network, without understanding the 1970s. Either through living through that decade, which I did the last four years of it, not much to go on, or reading about it, watching documentaries about that decade, or talking to people who lived through that decade and remember the whole decade or at least most of it and are knowledgable about it. Network was about contemporary media and now the news media was becoming more tabloid and if anything has moved much further in that direction ever since, but it was also about the 1970s and the cultural depression that Americans were going through, really that whole decade.

As far as Howard Beale’s commentary about the individual being finished, I agree with him to a certain extent, but I would put it differently. Americans traditionally have been very individualist and big believers in individualism. Even our Far-Left believes in a certain level of individualism. Americans have a tradition of wanting to be happy and achieving happiness for themselves and their families. Not wanting to be dictated to on how to live and what it means to be an American. Being able to achieve their version of the American dream and not feeling the need to conform to society. That in many cases is gone now.

America has moved away from being that rugged individualist society where we as people go out to make a good life for ourselves and be ourselves as individuals, to now becoming a society that is about fitting in and being one of the crowd and like everyone else. Our culture and lifestyles now are a perfect example of that with so many Americans now sounding like so many other Americans with so many cliché’s and catch phrases becoming exactly that, because they are used so many times. Because we have so many people who talk like so many other people, without much of an ability to think and speak for themselves. So they talk like other people.

For me as both a liberal and individualist, I always want to have that be those things. And not find myself in a position where I need to listen to other people simply so I know how to talk and communicate. Not just the words I use, but how I use them and what my body language is telling other people. I want to be me the individual and be that one person for everyone else to see. Whether that person is considered, well awesome (speaking of cliché’s) by everyone else. Because at least I’ll know who I am and that I’m still a person, an individual and not a member of any group.
Individualism

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Real Time With Bill Maher: Bill Maher on U.K. Conservatives

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Rik Schneider

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Source:The New Democrat 

The main difference between a British Conservative and an American lets’ say classical Conservative, for any of you on the Right who is offended by the word real, is that the British Conservative looks like an FDR Progressive. They are conservative really only in the sense that they are to the Right of the British Socialists in the Labour Party and other social democratic parties in the United Kingdom. The classical Conservative in America, is exactly that and what I would call a yes a real Conservative. Not someone who wants big government out of the economy so they can stick it into Americans personal lives and have government tell us how to live what they would call a moral life.

I think a better comparison or debate would be the differences between a classical Conservative and an Neoconservative or in America Christian-Conservative. The Conservative Libertarian vs. the Neoconservative who questions personal freedom and should Americans have personal freedom in a free society or not. Which is a dumb question, I mean seriously what good is a free society and freedom in general without personal freedom. Things like the Right to Free Assembly, Free Speech, Right to Privacy, property rights, the ability for people to make their own financial and personal decisions.

So here are some of the differences between a classical Conservative, people who I respect, but certainly don’t agree with on everything and Neoconservatives who, well, lets just say they have a constitutional right to their beliefs and values as well.

The classical Conservative wants big government out of our wallets and bedrooms. As I suggested earlier, the Neoconservative wants big government out of our wallets at least to a certain extent, but as long as we are spending our money the way they approve of. Once we start spending money on things they disapprove of, like movies and music they see as immoral, than they stick big government into our wallets and pockets and try to punish us for what we do with our personal lives.

The classical Conservative believes in Freedom of Religion. The Neoconservative believes in Freedom of Religion for Protestants and perhaps other Christians. But that “Islam is not a real religion, but a political philosophy and therefore doesn’t deserve the same constitutional rights. And that Muslims if they are from another country, should be sent home or locked up, because they are Un-American”.

The classical Conservative believes in the Right to Privacy. Again goes to getting big government out of our wallets and homes. The Neoconservative doesn’t and sees the Right to Privacy as a threat to our national security and preaches security and morality over liberty.

I could go on, but hopefully you have better things to do. I know I sure do and besides would like to save the rest of my material for future posts. But Conservatives in America, again real or classical depending on your sensitivity, are Conservatives, or Conservative Libertarians. Conservatives in Britain are really only conservative in comparison with Socialists over there. The real debate is not between the Tea Party and British Conservatives. The real debate is between Conservatives or Conservative Libertarians in America, vs. Neoconservatives and the Christian-Right.

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HBO: Video: Real Time With Bill Maher: Bernie Sanders Standing Up For Socialist Values

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Erik Schneider

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This post was originally posted at The New Democrat on Blogger

At risk of sounding simplistic, there’s a reason why we live on a planet with somewhere around a hundred-eighty countries or so and not live on a planet with no countries, but with one huge central authority in charge. Because we have different populations, people’s, cultures, values and everything else all over the planet. And what works in one country or even in a block of countries, might not work somewhere else with a completely different economy, with different resources, responsibilities, threats, populations and everything else.

My point is that U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and his supporters, the social democratic-left in America lets say, have a tendency to say, “this is how it’s done in Europe with government doing so much for their people and everything else. It seems to work there and their people love it. Which is why should adopt that economic system here and do it the European way”. Apparently unaware, or ignoring the obvious facts that Europe and the states there are completely different societies. That for one thing don’t even have to worry about their own national defense, because America is responsible for it.

Americans tend to be rugged, individualist, free, wanting to be able to make their own decisions and live their own lives. And in many cases hate to have to take any public or even private charity. And when they do, they tend to see that as some type of failure and have let themselves and their families down. Europe is the complete opposite of that and if anything love taking public assistance from their government and would riot if the government were to cut their public assistance. And freak out about having to pay for their own childcare out of their pocket and not taxes and actually have to take responsibility for themselves. And this is just an example of the culture differences.

Americans figured out a long time ago, well most of us did, our Socialists are still late to this dance, or still at the door, or not even there yet, perhaps sitting out the dance that there’s a limit to what we want government to do for us. That instead we want to be free as possible to take care of us as much as possible. And then if we run into financial trouble, like being out of a job and just lost our savings as part of that result, then we would want to be able to take public assistance in the short-term until we can get ourselves back on our feet. With a good job that gives us the freedom to do those things.

That’s the main difference from a liberal democracy, a liberal society the free society that the American Founding Fathers, the Founding Liberals wanted to create for America. And in the last two-hundred plus years we’ve worked as a country to improve our society so as many Americans as possible have that freedom to manage their own lives and Europe. Which is the opposite of that where they want to be taxed to the point where no one is completely free to take care of themselves. Because they believe when they move as a national unit, they move better with no one being too rich or poor and moving together.

So when Bernie Sanders Social Democrats say that, “Europe does it this way, so should we”, they are comparing Massachusetts with Texas. What is done in Massachusetts, is not wanted in Texas and vice-versa. Both states have figured out an economic system and government that works for them. But that doesn’t mean it will work for everyone in the country. Americans like being able to have the freedom to make their own decisions and you need your money in order to do that. Europeans at least in many cases see that as selfish or materialistic and would freak out and even riot if their government’s forced them to take responsibility over their own lives. Just some of the differences between America and Europe.

Democratic Socialist

Democratic Socialist

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The Daily Caller: Video: HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher: Senator Bernie Sanders Sneers at Americans For Not Demanding European Style Social Benefits

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Rik Schneider

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This post was originally posted on The New Democrat on Blogger

What is lost in this whole America vs. Europe socialism vs. what I call real liberalism and others call classical liberalism debate, is the economics and economies of both. Well in America’s case at least a country, Europe together and united and I’m talking about the European Union west of the slavic states, especially Russia would be a monster economy and superstate. But take Germany out of the picture, and we are talking about mid-size to fairly big economies in developed countries. Compared with America which is a superstate and super sized economy and the only superpower in the world.

You want America to spend more on social insurance and have that Scandinavian or Anglo socialist sized welfare state and that means spending a lot less on national defense, as far as the American military budget. And that means pulling troops and resources out of Europe and sending them home. And telling those socialist states that are supposed to be so rich while America is so poor, “hey buddy, get off your fat lazy asses and go defend yourselves! Because America is pulling out of you socialist utopias and going home to try to build their own”.

Not! Wrong! Try, try, try again, not going to happen. We pull out of Europe and Europe will freak out over the nightmarish thought of, “of no! We’ll actually have to defend ourselves and learn how to shoot guns and fly planes and drive tanks! Hell we might even have to defend ourselves and have real militaries! The cruelty of it all! Those Americans are meanies!” Or perhaps something stronger and in a different language or in several different languages. I would love for America to pull out of Europe and go home to rebuild America. Not create that King Kong size welfare state, but rebuild our collapsing infrastructure and public schools.

America can’t defend the world, we no longer can afford to do that or have to do that since we are the only superpower in the world and you have other large developed countries like Europe as a single entity and Japan that can afford to defend themselves. Let alone create a socialist sized superstate where personal responsibility and initiative is essentially outlawed. Because big Uncle Sammy is now in charge of at least our economic lives if not personal lives as well. If you were to include the nanny state and what people on the New Left want to do about the media. What they call democratize, is really about nationalization and state control of the media.

America a liberal democracy full of initiative and individualism and creates new things and freedom for different people everyday. Europe a socialist collectivist society where those values are considered selfish and materialistic. And what Europe is now learning with their debt and deficit situations and with so many states either in recession or barely growing, like France is that they can’t afford to be as socialist as they want to be as well. And they are scaling back what their central government’s do for their people and perhaps scaring the hell out of them by having them actually, now get this, take responsibility for their own lives and welfare. A hellish thought for a lot of Europeans.

Angry Socialists

Angry Socialists

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Monty Clift Online: The Misfits (1961)

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Erik Schneider

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Source:The New Democrat 

Similar to River of No Return, The Misfits is a very entertaining and good movie, but certainly not a great movie. The writing is pretty cheesy even for the 1950s and early 1960s and especially for a movie that is an action/western movie. But is has a good plot and a great cast. With two women that are essentially drifters, at least in Marilyn Monroe’s case who is just recently divorced and not knowing where she is going from there. And they meet two cowboys in a diner played by Clark Gable and Eli Wallach and find that they have things in common and decide to get together.

Marilyn Monroe’s character doesn’t have a place to stay and the Clark Gable character invites her to stay with him as a guest at her ranch and she more than keeps herself busy there and does a lot of work on the cabin really, a small cabin on a decent size lot of property. And Clarks’s partner in the movie played by Eli Wallach tells him that there are available horses up to be rounded up, brought back and sold, but they need another man to do the job. And they take the girls played by Marilyn and Thelma Ritter to a rodeo to find their man and that is where they get Montgomery Clift character to help them out.

Marilyn as usual is as sweet and adorable as can be and plays someone who wouldn’t step on nat if you gave her thousand-dollars to do so. Clark Gable plays a veteran cowboy who is exactly that living the cowboy lifestyle and making his living rounding up horses and cattle. Eli Wallach plays a very similar character as Clark and Montgomery Clift plays a drifting cowboy along for the ride just looking for work. Thelma Ritter plays Marilyn’s friend and tries to warn her about cowboys and how they live. Marilyn being somewhat lost, just looking to find her way and to be useful.

The Misfit

The Misfit

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Josh Glass: The Newsroom: The Tea Party Explained

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Derik Schneider

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Will McAvoy with an interesting explanation of the Tea Party. I would put it differently because similar to the Left in America, where I am on the center-left as a Liberal and New Democrat, the Tea Party is a very diverse movement of Americans. You have the Rand Paul win, the Conservative Libertarians that Senators Jeff Flake, Mike Lee, Ron Johnson and Representatives Justin Amash and Walter Jones are part of in the House. And then you got neoconservative Far-Right in the Tea Party as well. Neo-Cons like Rick Santorum and Michelle Bachmann, who are very hawkish when it comes to national security and not fans of personal freedom. And then you have the Christian-Right as well.

I think a good comparison of the Tea Party, would to look at Richard Nixon’s Silent Majority coalition of the late 1960s and early 1970s. That was made of Progressive Republicans, Republicans who weren’t in favor of big government. But who believed in things like environmental protection, public education and workers rights. Or look at the Reagan Coalition of the 1970s and 80s, that had Barry Goldwater Conservatives, people who are like those members of Congress that I mentioned earlier, that Ron Reagan was also part of. And then you have the Christian-Right as part of this coalition as well. People who were simply used for their votes, but who politically Reagan didn’t have much in common with.

One way to view the Tea Party is as an actual party. A melting pot of different political groups. Or look at it like a stew with all sorts of different ingredients that by themselves might not seem like much, but them together in one package and then you have a coalition big enough to make a real difference in politics. But what these groups have in common is that they believe that government is too big and spends too much at least as it relates to the economy. Do not like American intervention oversees other than to defend America. And depending how far to the Right, drunk or high they are, question whether Barack Obama is a Christian, an American citizen and born inside of the United States and view him as a Socialist.

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Daniel Kobayashi: Network (1976) Ned Beatty: ‘The World is a Business’

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Ederik Schneider

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Source:The New Democrat 

“The world is a business”, scary thought at least from my perspective that business’s and corporations, as well as government’s, not trying to sound like a Socialist here, but government’s at least to a certain extent are in the business of making money as well. Whether it is for their country or their own personal interests, depending on the country. And everything that government’s and private enterprises do around the world has something to do with money. Where to invest, what to invest in, how to pay their bills, who to hire and how many people to hire, how to pay for their employees and at what costs.

These are all decisions that government’s make as well and what the Howard Beale character was saying in this movie played by Peter Finch, is enough. That we the people so to speak shouldn’t take that anymore and have more freedom over our own lives and not be dictated to by corporation’s. That we watch too much TV, don’t read enough, aren’t educated enough and that we need to do is to standup and fight back and not see so many companies turn into so few with all the mergers. Which weakens competition when their aren’t as many companies in business. And what the Ned Beatty character was saying, “you’re messing with the forces of nature”. Meaning the forces of business and he wasn’t going to allow for that.

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