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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
March 13, 2009
/ 17 Adar 5769
Rush Limbaugh is not the problem
By
Diana West
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Forced to the ramparts to defend Rush Limbaugh against spurious, low-down attacks from the Obama White House and assorted Obamedia, conservatives, in their understandable zeal to defend a salient voice of conservatism, are letting the real enemy slip away unnamed. Who would that be? The answer is George W. Bush, whose stealthy political legacy stands as taking what is popularly known as "conservatism" on a disastrously leftward lurch.
A shocking statement, maybe. But I came to believe long ago at some point after the insipid limpness of former President Bush's theories of world democracy, delivered in his second inaugural address, had sunk in that it most likely would have been better for conservatism, and therefore the country, had John Kerry won in 2004.
To be sure, it would have been a long, possibly dire four years. But four Kerry years of rampant liberalism would likely have invigorated the right. Eight Bush years of rampant compassionate conservatism have left it confused and feckless. Post-Bush, conservatism small government, low tax, strong defense and country-proud conservatism isn't resonating as a concept partly because of its champions: conservatives who simultaneously claim George W. Bush as their own.
I started picking up on this conservative confusion as the Obama cabinet began taking shape, and a number of conservative commentators responded by praising the Clintonian retreads (Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel) and Scowcroftian non-cons (Robert Gates, James Jones) amidst the new administration. Indeed, there was a strange rapture on the right over what many touted as the "centrist" Obama cabinet evidence, I maintain, of conservative disorientation over the shape and span of the political spectrum itself. Only if the right has shifted left might the Obama cabinet be labeled "centrist." Such ideological dislocation is the result of two Bush terms of ever-expanding government, still-open borders, nation-building galore, politically correct policies toward "extremism," and, of course, the Bush rush to socialize the U.S. economy all of it tagged with the "conservative" brand.
The resulting chaos crisis, in fact is exactly what President Obama, our new collectivist-in-chief, has seized on, not in order to change America's direction, but to accelerate its leftward motion. It is the degree of continuity with Bushism that most conservatives completely miss.
I tried to explore this continuity between 43 and 44 last week, when writing on the Churchill bust that President Obama recently returned to the British, an act that symbolically disavows a lion of the West. Understanding the symbolism is somewhat complicated, I wrote, because of the fact that even as George W. Bush may have retained the Churchill bust and other knickknacks of Western civilization, the 43rd president did more to break with such legacies than perhaps any previous president.
Yes, upon attack by Islamic terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, Bush ordered our armed forces to fight the undefined "war on terror" and "extremism." But Bush was first and always an internationalist, a globalist, with no patriotic calling, for example, to stem the massive illegal Hispanic influx that has transformed large swaths of the United States into a Third World, Spanish-speaking culture. In countless ways, President Obama is merely extending and expanding policies initiated by his predecessor. From securing the border, which neither man has considered a priority, to securing a Palestinian state, which both men have considered a priority, to a shared belief in bailout packages that are nationalizing the economy, a neutered lexicon with which to address Islam, and the legalization of millions of illegal aliens, there is in both leaders a transformational impulse, intensified and recognized as radicalism only in Obama's case.
President Obama, meanwhile, is trying to camouflage himself in the confusion. Last week, following an interview with the New York Times aboard Air Force One, President Obama telephoned the reporter at his office to elaborate on the president's answer to what was apparently a shocking question: Was he, Obama, a "socialist"?
"It was hard for me to believe that you were entirely serious about that socialist question," Mr. Obama told the reporter, who wrote: "He then dismissed the criticism, saying the large-scale government intervention in the markets and the expansion of social welfare programs had begun under his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush. 'It wasn't under me that we started buying a bunch of shares of banks," Mr. Obama said. 'And it wasn't on my watch that we passed a massive new entitlement, the prescription drug plan, without a source of funding.'"
So true. But drawing on the mantle of George W. Bush should be no shield against charges of socialism. Having massively expanded the government and massively intervened in the economy, Bush checked his capitalist credentials long ago. For Obama, this really is smoke and mirrors time. Going for the grandest illusion of all, he then told the New York Times: "We've actually been operating in a way that has been entirely consistent with free-market principles."
Excuse me while I pick my jaw off the ground. Everyone knows or should know that putting more and more of the government in charge of more and more of the economy is entirely inconsistent with free-market principles. This means that the president's statement to the contrary is what is known as a big lie. Repeat it enough, and people believe it. President Obama, of course, only has to say it once: George W. Bush, the Republicans, they started this whole thing; since they represent "conservatism," that must make him Mr. Free Market.
Confusing? Only so long as George W. Bush retains conservatism's stamp of approval, thus stun-gunning conservatism. The resulting paralysis is what keeps a lot of the Obama hocus pocus going even when the ruse is so obvious. Not to mainstream media reporters, of course; they're hopeless. But conservatives, I'm afraid, are in denial.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
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