…early this morning. Went out, bought The New York Times, and instead of sticking to the travel section and the book reviews, I read some of the other pieces. How stupid I was!
The New York Times has its point of view; I appreciate that. Viva la diferencia! as my old pal Charlie used to say. Trouble is, through the various articles I read, there was nothing short of a vapid, pathetic, ignorance bandied about like so much high-minded civic righteousness. These sundry writings of today’s issue degenerated into a pablum of calls for allegiance to the state. That’s right, swearing fealty to the all-knowing, all-providing greatness of government, which is the only entity capable of solving perceived problems. Woodrow Wilson is invoked. Harvard scholars are quoted. Damn fools expound at length on the supposed merits of the premise that the citizen needs a higher purpose than his own goals. No, there are no instructions for making the official oath or public salute. They veil the essence in sweeter sounding platitudes than overt devotion.
Perhaps I awoke in another reality this morning. Or maybe not. Maybe America is no longer the land of the free to pursue their happiness, nor the home of the brave enough to deal with the failure if they don’t find it. America might have waned into a sort of half-life isotope of a society, only strong enough to kill itself while doing minor damage to others.
Consider the facts: A congress that wants to seize control of an industry to doll out benefits to less than 10% of the population. The same congress wants command of every tickle of energy produced. A President who strategizes politically to further his personal influence while soldiers die in the field. State governments littered with debt, most of which was incurred to pay-off (in one form or another) various reliable constituencies. Cities that harbor criminals from the law.
And this is the group to which the citizen is to prostrate himself before in the name of a higher purpose. What would that purpose be? King and country? Like it or not, the American who was once free now lives in the yoke of royalty put in place by his own hand. The citizen is fastening the chains about his neck, volunteering for servitude. Where there is service, there are the served. No greater a messenger than The New York Times is calling for more of this. Get your collar fitted while the really snazzy ones last.
And if you want to know where it ends, I can reliably say that it does not end. Tyranny is forever. When you turn your back, deny its existence, or placate it with tribute, tyranny will dominate you. Tyranny will start by taking your dignity, continue by destroying your achievement, and not stop until you are its slave.
Sound dramatic? Well, ask those who survived Soviet Russia or Mao’s China. They were told to find a higher purpose. They were told to make sacrifices. They were told there would be more for everyone if they only gave all they had. Stalin had his dachas as did the rest of the apparachniks while too many others starved. Mao had his dojo by the lake while bullets landed in the backs of the heads of less conforming people. Unfortunately, The New York Times doesn’t talk much about these kind of consequences. Maybe their writers and those Harvard dons have no knowledge of the reality of the uber-state. Maybe they live in a state of denial that doesn’t reach their lofty offices or leafy campuses. Sadly, the rest of us don’t have that option.
Or, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the average citizen is quite happy with bread and circuses (low interest loans and World Series Baseball as it is called today.) As George Orwell wrote at the end of 1984, “Winston loved Big Brother.”
I’ve been going to Popi’s for years now, sometimes stopping in for a drink at the bar, other times having an expansive meal with friends. Either way, you’ll find yourself in a friendly environment, hosted by people who truly care about your experience.
Last night, my wife and I were there with a dear friend, the three of us at a corner table, relaxing, catching up, and generally having a great time. After a trio of salads we moved on to the entrees. Our friend ordered the chicken marsala, which is pictured below:
My wife likes Popi’s crab cakes and ordered them as her entree, as can be seen here:
I’m a simple guy and last night was looking for hearty food. Thus, I decided to go with rigatoni bolognese, an old standby.
Add a few glasses of wine, lots of conversation, a great waiter, and it all comes to a fine evening out. Popi’s is the kind of place you think of when you want a quality italian meal in a setting where you feel like you belong. The staff is on point, the hostess keeping an eye out, and everyone else in the place is enjoying themselves. That feeling is contagious, which is why I keep coming back to this place. Sometimes my wife and I will stop in just for dessert and a drink at the bar.
The Bent Page 
One more straw…
Today I read Peggy Noonan’s regular piece in The Wall Street Journal. Normally I appreciate Ms. Noonan’s insightful and carefully crafted missives. Today was one more straw on the back of a camel’s back that’s about to break. You see, Ms. Noonan, like so many others, refers to the people in the current administration as “so bright” and also mentions that these dolts are led by someone who is also “bright.” Ahem. I beg to differ.
In the first place, the current US Administration has produced nothing successful in terms of domestic or foreign policy. They have recycled a mantra born of Marx, raised by Euro-socialists, and finally polished to high gloss by Hollywood, USA. Please, “spreading the wealth” policies aren’t ones created by “bright” people. They’re created by bitter, angry, envious, and dim people, ones typically bent on telling the rest of the country that the rules are to be obeyed except by themselves. Consider the results: consistent failure by any measure. Does the Euro-socialist have less debt and higher living standards? No. They’re invoice has come due and they’re scrambling with how to pay. Has the Middle East been mollified to even a minor degree. Sorry, no. Have the Iranians given up the quest for the A-bomb? Uh, not hardly. Has the economy snapped back? Not yet. Has China agreed to free-float their currency? Nope. Have the Russian laid off their former satellites? Nyet. Chavez taken a powder? No.
As for leadership by Ms. Noonan’s supposedly “bright” person, consider that he drops a list of demands before the prime minister of Israel and walks out for a meal. Is this the action of a “bright” man? No, this is the method of an angry, arrogant, envious, and pitifully dim man. He results to brute thuggery. Why? Isn’t this the one who is supposed to be so eloquent, so persuasive, so congenial? No, he is not. If he were “bright” as too many claim, he would not have had to bribe Congress and various constituencies to pound through his health care plan. He would have made appeals that gained support without the purchase price of billions. He would have been able to have a meaningful and productive dialog with another head of state. No, the Oval Office is not occupied by a particularly bright person. All evidence points to the exact opposite.
What the evidence also shows is that the “press” and many members of Congress and too many people in the public no longer have an accurate method of measuring the quality of those in high office. What passes for “bright” today is woefully below the mark. If you wear a snazzy suit, walk with a swagger, and wag your finger in moments of barely controlled hostility, well, you’re a bright fellow capable of leading a nation. Never mind that you’re a retread worn down to the cords the moment you stepped into the light. You look good through the soft-focus lens. Peggy Noonan said so. And that makes it true.
- Commentary
on March 27, 2010 at 10:40 am Leave a CommentTags: comment, health care, news, Noonan, Obama, opinion, politics, random, socialism, thoughts