This Side of the Rainbow - The Bitter Slipper

Today marks the 76th anniversary of the release of the Wizard of Oz.  Mark Steyn marked the occasion of the 75th anniversary as only he is capable, detailing the genesis of the film's hit number, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, embedded below.  As a kid, I always loved the Wizard Of Oz, and felt, growing up, I did not live in Kansas, or as Steyn put it: . . . in drab, dusty, cheerless, broken-down black-&-white Kansas.  I lived in Oz. The pace of technical innovation in this country was charging ahead starting in the 1960s and Tomorrowland was my favorite themed area of Disneyland.  But lately I have been more pessimistic, thinking that the underlying cultural conditions that allowed such technical progress were being rapidly eroded.  I have started to feel like the dreary Kansas of the movie is taking over America, because everything is politics, and politics is thin gruel for the soul.  And it makes me wonder about Dorothy.  What did she think when she got back to Kansas.

You clicked your heels and said "There's no place like home" three times.  The magic in those ruby slippers sure seemed sweet.  And now you're back in Kansas; but frankly after the technicolor splendor of Oz, Kansas isn't all that. There's chores and the farm and Auntie Em. . . and that's about it. Those ruby slippers seem a little bitter now, and maybe you want to be back in Oz. So this drink's for you Dorothy.

This drink takes off from the Ruby Slipper, linked above and seems a fitting drink for the age.

Bitter Slipper.  Ingredients:

• 3 oz. Crown Royal (or other slightly sweet whiskey such as Bulleit Frontier Whiskey)
• 2 oz. 7-up or lemon-lime soda
• 3/4 oz. of Grenadine
• 3 shakes of Angastoura bitters

Mix over ice in an old-fashioned glass, garnish with maraschino cherries.  Toast Dorothy.

A picture of the actual slippers from the movie.

Battle Hymn of the Republic - Memorial Day

I hope you are enjoying Memorial Day.  Take a moment to read Mark Steyn's short history of the Battle Hymn of The Republic and enjoy this video from Judy Collins.  The Civil War imbued the ideals of America with deeper meaning that Lincoln summed in the Second Inaugural address.  This song is one of the great songs to come out of that conflict.

What You Should Be Reading

• Mark Steyn, of course, because he nails the meaning of America in ways that we native born seem to miss.
• If you are a Christian, Dalrock (this and this), who seems to stand almost alone in fighting the feminist assault on the church.

It's the Culture, Stupid

Elections tomorrow are really only a rearguard action to slow the spread of the disease of leftism and its advance vermin of multi-culturalism and feminism in our society.  The attacks on all things traditional, including and especially the rule of law are intended to pave the way for leftist politicians with unlimited power to get away with ruling by decree because those laws are just "unreasonable." Like freedom of speech?  The left, in the guise of #feminism launches a campaign to mark some speech, #catcalling, as so offensive as to be in need of restriction.  Of course, it is only part of a larger scheme.  R.S. McCain explains:

You see? The whole point of the “catcall” video was to provoke conflict over a phony “issue” that is not really an issue at all. That is to say, everybody is anti-catcall, except those men who are actually engaged in this boorish behavior, so why is there an “issue” here?
Objectively, catcalling presents no cause for political controversy. Ah, but it does give feminists a chance to (a) demonize men, and (b) discredit any male commentator who attempts to dispute feminism’s authority to define what catcalling means as an “issue.” This is really about who controls the narrative, see?
. . .
Feminists can “win” arguments only if they are permitted to control the terms of debate, to decide what the issues are, to limit the parameters of discussion, and to disqualify critics who refuse to cooperate with feminism’s Orwellian thought-control project.

Fortunately, because of the racial content of the men depicted in the catcall video, there has been some blowback against feminism.  But that was only luck.  We lose the culture wars and then elections, when we allow the left to frame the debate.  Too often we win elections and the government still changes under our feet.

Mark Steyn makes that point regarding gay marriage:

In 1986, in a concurrence to a majority opinion, the chief justice of the United States declared that “there is no such thing as a fundamental right to commit homosexual sodomy.” A blink of an eye, and his successors are discovering fundamental rights to commit homosexual marriage.
What happened in between? Jurisprudentially, nothing: Everything Chief Justice Warren Burger said back in the ’80s — about Common Law, Blackstone’s “crime against nature,” “the legislative authority of the State” — still applies. Except it doesn’t. Because the culture — from school guidance counselors to sitcom characters to Oscar hosts — moved on, and so even America’s Regency of Jurists was obliged to get with the beat.
Because to say today what the chief justice of the United States said 28 years ago would be to render oneself unfit for public office — not merely as Chief Justice but as CEO of a private company, or host of a cable home-remodeling show, or dog-catcher in Dead Moose Junction.

Indeed, ballot measures to define marriage as between a man and a woman passed even in solidly Democrat California, but it made no difference.

So what's to be done?  The only way to fight back is to seize control of the narrative, to ridicule lampoon and shame the forces of cultural marxism, to call them out for the liars they are.

Rapes on campus? Sorry, you're a bunch of liars.  And who said you get to regulate sex on campus? And if your stupid statistics are true, why did you send your daughter to college, do you hate her?

Lena Dunham the spokesperson for her generation? Sorry, don't accept lectures from pedophiles.

Gay marriage? I find it disgusting to hear about men sticking their dicks in other men and most of you do too. Isn't that what gay marriage is about?

R.S. McCain continues with this great advice:

“Turn the camera around,” as Andrew Breitbart used to say. Instead of them demanding answers from you — “Look at this awful misogyny! Why don’t you denounce this misogyny? Is it true that you secretly hate women?” — you start asking them questions:

1. Who appointed you as Grand Inquisitor?
2. What is the basis of your authority to interrogate me about this? What difference does my opinion make?
3. When did Americans elect you as Our Moral Superior?
4. Where do you get the idea that I’m obliged to cooperate in this transparent political “gotcha” game you’re paying?
5. Why is it necessary that I answer your questions?
6. How much is the Democrat Party paying you to do this?

Indeed, because the whole point of the cultural marxism is to move the country to the left.  Because in a country founded on principles of limited government and liberty, traditional values are the bulwark of maintaining that form of government.  So the left seeks to destroy the values that preserve liberty, and this is why the culture ware is more important.

Sad to say, I am personally more comfortable with economics and policy, so I have left this topic alone for the most part.  The culture is not my forte, so I will most likely stick to my expertise on this blog.  But my growing understanding of the nature of framing the narrative by the left has dampened my enthusiasm for writing about the purely political.



 

Strange Bedfellows Say ACA and Defense Spending Incompatible

David Brooks and Mark Steyn aren't normally fellows that reach similar conclusions, but they have within days of each other, opined that the U.S. can afford entitlement spending, especially on healthcare, or current military spending, but not both.  Both commentaries are prompted by considering what the nomination of Chuck Hagel for Defense Secretary might mean.  Here is Brooks:

Medicare spending is set to nearly double over the next decade. This is the crucial element driving all federal spending over the next few decades and pushing federal debt to about 250 percent of GDP in 30 years.. . .As the federal government becomes a health care state, there will have to be a generation of defense cuts that overwhelm anything in recent history. Keep in mind how brutal the budget pressure is going to be. According to the Government Accountability Office, if we act on entitlements today, we will still have to cut federal spending by 32 percent and raise taxes by 46 percent over the next 75 years to meet current obligations.. . .Chuck Hagel has been nominated to supervise the beginning of this generation-long process of defense cutbacks. If a Democratic president is going to slash defense, he probably wants a Republican at the Pentagon to give him political cover, and he probably wants a decorated war hero to boot.

Mark Steyn is more entertaining, but reaches the same conclusions:

That’s why Obama’s offered him the gig. Because Obamacare at home leads inevitably to Obamacuts abroad. In that sense, America will be doing no more than following the same glum trajectory of every other great power in the postwar era.. . .You can have Euro-sized entitlements or a global military, but not both. What’s easier to do if you’re a democratic government that’s made promises it can’t afford — cut back on nanny-state lollipops, or shrug off thankless military commitments for which the electorate has minimal appetite?

Mark Steyn also agrees that Defense spending needs to be cut on the theory that it is not very effective at winning wars, despite the lopsided advantage in technology and material that America has.  I agree, actually, but as usual, the Administration is acting childish, proposing across the board cuts, so that all programs will limp along, spending money, but not delivering anything, because they have all been cut.  We need more big cuts to failed programs in Defense in order to save money for research and for programs actually working.  For example, in 2011, the Joint Tactical Radio System was cancelled, because defense planners bet against the market about the need for a software radio that could do everything.  See an excellent analysis at Ars Technica.

Ultimately, America is going to have to decide if it wants fewer soldiers and sailors, because the big bill comes from the cost of labor.  Defense isn't immune to the same analysis that face many other businesses.  Fewer soldiers mean we can't put boots on the ground again like we did in Iraq.  That may or may not be a good thing, depending on your point of view.  But we are going to have to live with toppling dictators, if we choose, but not controlling the outcome, like in Libya.  Rather than shaping the post-war landscape, like in Iraq.  Given the expense of the latter, one might argue that boots on the ground are a luxury we can no longer afford.  However, adversaries are going to notice, and it will change the calculus of world politics.  If you think America is the source of all that's wrong in the world, you might like that.  I think it will make the world more dangerous; but I also think we never thought hard enough about what force composition and programs were necessary for our national security strategy and ended up wasting a lot of money as a consequence.

Weekend Round Up

I'm closing out the weekend with a round up on a few issues that have captured my interest but were more than adequately covered elsewhere. First, Dan Cathy had this to say in an interview in Baptist Press.

"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that."

Of course, he was pilloried for this and was slandered for making "anti-gay" comments. KT notes that there is not a single sentiment about gays in that statement. Rahm Emmanuel famously stated that Chick-Fil-A does not represent Chicago values (see picture below.) The leftist diatribe and invective from elected officials reminds me of totalitarian regimes where punishment of businesses for incorrect thought is the norm. Mark Steyn, of course, hits it out of the park.

Meanwhile, fellow mayor Tom Menino announced that Chick-fil-A would not be opening in his burg anytime soon. “If they need licenses in the city, it will be very difficult,” said His Honor. If you’ve just wandered in in the middle of the column, this guy Menino isn’t the mayor of Soviet Novosibirsk or Kampong Cham under the Khmer Rouge, but of Boston, Massachusetts. Nevertheless, he shares the commissars’ view that in order to operate even a modest and politically inconsequential business it is necessary to demonstrate that one is in full ideological compliance with party orthodoxy. “There is no place for discrimination on Boston’s Freedom Trail,” Mayor Menino thundered in his letter to Mr. Cathy, “and no place for your company alongside it.” No, sir. On Boston’s Freedom Trail, you’re free to march in ideological lockstep with the city authorities — or else. Hard as it is to believe, there was a time when Massachusetts was a beacon of liberty: the shot heard round the world, and all that. Now it fires Bureau of Compliance permit-rejection letters round the world.

Sad but true.

Meanwhile, the flagging economy is both good and bad news. Bad news, because people are suffering. GDP growth fell to 1.5% last quarter and job creation is not keeping up with population growth as evidenced by the employment-population ratio. This means that those seeking first time jobs, like my son, and those long term unemployed, like friends of mine, are going to have a harder time finding work. The good news is that people have mostly given up on blaming Bush for the economic conditions and this may be what it takes to get Obama out of the White House and the Democrats out of the Senate so that sensible economic policy can be pursued. But its not a guarantee, the Republicans under Bush pursued some ridiculous policies that rightly got them broomed out of office. From The Hill:

The poll, conducted for The Hill by Pulse Opinion Research, found 53 percent of voters say Obama has taken the wrong actions and has slowed the economy down.

The overall Presidential poll numbers don't seem to be trending yet, but history shows that economic conditions have a significant, but not overwhelming effect on the election.

Meanhwile, Mayor Bloomberg, has carried the definition of the Nanny State to its logical and absurd extreme. Here is the actual headline:

Mayor Bloomberg pushing NYC hospitals to hide baby formula so more new moms will breast-feed.

Regulating breast milk production? Hizhoner has become self-parody. His obsession with everything relating to bodily health belies an underlying mental disorder.

Have a great week. I will be vacationing in San Luis Obispo later this week, so the blogging will be light after Tuesday.

If you don't toe the party line, Rahm will have to enforce some Chicago values on your business.

Quote of the Week

From Mark Steyn, again, speaking of Obama's lofty rhetoric compared to actual conditions on the ground and over the dam.

Take, for example, the attempt at soaring rhetoric: "That's how we built this country – together. We constructed railroads and highways, the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge. We did those things together," he said, in a passage that was presumably meant to be inspirational but was delivered with the faintly petulant air of a great man resentful at having to point out the obvious, yet again.

. . .

Beyond the cheap dissembling, there was a bleak, tragic quality to this paragraph. Does anyone really believe a second-term Obama administration is going to build anything? Yes, you, madam, the gullible sap at the back in the faded hope'n'change T-shirt. You seriously think your guy is going to put up another Hoover Dam? Let me quote one Deanna Archuleta, Obama's Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior, in a speech to Democratic environmentalists in Nevada:

"You will never see another federal dam."

Ever.

Welcome, Mark Steyn Fans

Since I am "reader of the day" on Mark Steyn's website, I have been getting a lot of new traffic. I would like to welcome my visitors and thank them for stopping by. Hope you peruse the content and check out what other San Diego tea party movement bloggers have to say.

How do you get to be "reader of the day?" A little shameless sycophancy in recommending Mr. Steyn for the Pultizer.

Mark Steyn Deserves the Pulitzer

. . . the Pulitzer Prize for commentary, but judging by past winners, that is unlikely to happen. His article in Commentary Magazine, "The Case for Pessimism" should win by itself, as it lays out the grave dangers to the nation due to the "red menace" as Mitch Daniels calls it. (Is it too late to get him to run?) Please read the entire thing if you are at all sympathetic to the goals of the tea party movement, it is intellectual ammunition needed for our cause. To be clear, I am not pessimistic, but still find his analysis to be penetrating. A few quotes.

The global reach that enables America and a handful of other nations to get to a devastated backwater on the other side of the planet and save lives and restore the water supply in a matter of days isn’t a happy accident or a quirk of fate. It is something that derives explicitly from our political system, our economic liberty, our traditions of scientific and cultural innovation, and a general understanding that societies advance when their citizens are able to fulfill their potential in freedom.

The United States is the only country in the world where a mass movement took to the streets in 2009 to say we could do just fine if you, the government, stayed the hell out of our pockets and the hell out of our lives. That fact, that populist refusal to be Europeanized, represents the best hope for this country. Those now-caricatured, much-maligned Tea Partiers moved the meter of public discourse significantly back in the direction of sanity. And that includes Barack Obama.

If we don’t turn this thing around by mid-decade, if we let China become the dominant economic power in a world where the Iranians are nuclearizing and where Russia is making whatever mischief it can, we will see something new in world history. Something terrifying. This will not be like the transition from Britain to America, from a crucible of liberty to its greatest exponent. This will be the greatest step backwards for the civilization that built the modern world and spread its blessings across the map. There will be no new world order. There will be no world order.

Exactly.