I can't see OWB (Our Working Boy) ever fully embracing OWS--just like with the Tea Party, whenever actual populism (populism in the sense of a movement that has the ability to get actual people as opposed to abstractions into action) emerges, it can never match what Rod expected/wanted it to be.
Back on his blog from 2003 or so on to 2007, Rod kept loudly predicting the eruption of Populism. But he was always sure that it was going to agitate for what he termed "the sweet spot", i.e. HIS sweet spot: economically liberal but socially conservative. You know, New Dealers wearing jackets and ties and all that.
Those of us (like Pauli, SiliconValleySteve, and I) who knew better tried telling him that he sure wasn't going to like Populism when it did emerge, because in the realm of America (as opposed to the realm his internal phantasms) it was always ever going to be either economically conservative (Tea) or socially liberal (Flea).
But don't worry about OWB's quandaries. Thanks to Bishop Finn, for Rod it is 2002 once again, and a chance to relive his journalistic glory days. As a dog returns to his vomit...
Man from K : Dreher must be reading Pauli's blog. He cribbed from your comment in today's output, now wishing for an OWS that includes the "blue collars" and the "lower-middle-class".
MFKS, yeah, this is the eternal quandary of the idealist. I know "politically homeless" people who are more of the garden variety, you know, the Radical Moderate, the Anarcho-Capitalist, the wilted Buchanan supporters. But none of them seem so utterly mournful to me than a Crunchy Conservative. I think it's a really bad mix of pseudo-intellectualism, undercooked food and cheap French wine.
The difference to me is understanding. I can understand what my Radical Moderate friend says, "both parties are bad, everybody sucks", and I can sort of empathize with it. I can even empathize with the Buchananites, again because I understand where they're coming from. But both those guys, along with the Anarcho-Libertarian are more likely to end up voting for the GOP candidate than the Crunchy Idealist who goes off and votes for Wendell Berry, a tobacco farmer who thinks electricity is bad for your health and who isn't on the ballot. Is this because the Hobbits in Lord of the Rings smoked and had small farms? That reason is as good as any....
I wonder... do some dogs enjoy eating their vomit? or do they just do it out of habit.
Dreher must be reading Pauli's blog. He cribbed from your comment in today's output, now wishing for an OWS that includes the "blue collars" and the "lower-middle-class".
I've always though it possible that Rod reads stuff here. But we've had his number for so long that you could be seeing the tail wag the dog, Pik. Watching Rod Dreher react to the latest news is kind of like lying half-asleep on the couch on Thanksgiving Day with the Clint Eastwood marathon playing on the tube. You're not certain you've seen this one before, but you're pretty sure of how it will turn out.
Isn't it great that we can see so much humor in this stuff without descending to cheap slurs like "tea-baggers"? I'm not sure we should call them "fleabaggers", although I thought it was clever at first.
Is "agreeance" like "agreement"?
ReplyDeleteI'm so down twinkles with this whole thing
ReplyDeleteRobert's Rules of Order are fascist.
ReplyDeleteOh Goody. Now Our Hero Rod Dreher goes all OccupyWallStreet.
ReplyDeleteLooks like someone is fishing for readers and relevance down there in St. Elsewhere, Louisiana.
Why oh why do I get his Twitter feed? Besides getting to see his awesome picture, that is.
Oh my gosh. Don't tell me, let me guess. The twinkles guy goes to Reed, right? And Reed students soooo represent the poor and downtrodden. ROTFL.
ReplyDeleteIs "agreeance" like "agreement"?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think so. At any rate, you'll get no arguance from me about it.
Kids today. Don't they know you gotta sell jazz hands?
ReplyDeleteBy the time we got to Wall Street / We were half a twinkle strong / And everywhere was the bong and the defecation....
ReplyDelete("Don't pinch it; it's copyright." -- Psmith in Leave It to Psmith)
I can't see OWB (Our Working Boy) ever fully embracing OWS--just like with the Tea Party, whenever actual populism (populism in the sense of a movement that has the ability to get actual people as opposed to abstractions into action) emerges, it can never match what Rod expected/wanted it to be.
ReplyDeleteBack on his blog from 2003 or so on to 2007, Rod kept loudly predicting the eruption of Populism. But he was always sure that it was going to agitate for what he termed "the sweet spot", i.e. HIS sweet spot: economically liberal but socially conservative. You know, New Dealers wearing jackets and ties and all that.
Those of us (like Pauli, SiliconValleySteve, and I) who knew better tried telling him that he sure wasn't going to like Populism when it did emerge, because in the realm of America (as opposed to the realm his internal phantasms) it was always ever going to be either economically conservative (Tea) or socially liberal (Flea).
But don't worry about OWB's quandaries. Thanks to Bishop Finn, for Rod it is 2002 once again, and a chance to relive his journalistic glory days. As a dog returns to his vomit...
-The Man From K Street
LOL, Man from K Street. Welcome back.
ReplyDeleteRe Bishop Finn, I have two words for the Rod-Man: Seraphim Storheim.
What a bloody hypocrite. Oh well, he's irrelevant; what does it matter anymore?
Man from K : Dreher must be reading Pauli's blog. He cribbed from your comment in today's output, now wishing for an OWS that includes the "blue collars" and the "lower-middle-class".
ReplyDeleteMFKS, yeah, this is the eternal quandary of the idealist. I know "politically homeless" people who are more of the garden variety, you know, the Radical Moderate, the Anarcho-Capitalist, the wilted Buchanan supporters. But none of them seem so utterly mournful to me than a Crunchy Conservative. I think it's a really bad mix of pseudo-intellectualism, undercooked food and cheap French wine.
ReplyDeleteThe difference to me is understanding. I can understand what my Radical Moderate friend says, "both parties are bad, everybody sucks", and I can sort of empathize with it. I can even empathize with the Buchananites, again because I understand where they're coming from. But both those guys, along with the Anarcho-Libertarian are more likely to end up voting for the GOP candidate than the Crunchy Idealist who goes off and votes for Wendell Berry, a tobacco farmer who thinks electricity is bad for your health and who isn't on the ballot. Is this because the Hobbits in Lord of the Rings smoked and had small farms? That reason is as good as any....
I wonder... do some dogs enjoy eating their vomit? or do they just do it out of habit.
Dreher must be reading Pauli's blog. He cribbed from your comment in today's output, now wishing for an OWS that includes the "blue collars" and the "lower-middle-class".
ReplyDeleteI've always though it possible that Rod reads stuff here. But we've had his number for so long that you could be seeing the tail wag the dog, Pik. Watching Rod Dreher react to the latest news is kind of like lying half-asleep on the couch on Thanksgiving Day with the Clint Eastwood marathon playing on the tube. You're not certain you've seen this one before, but you're pretty sure of how it will turn out.
lol, oh the irony: http://hotair.com/archives/2011/10/18/celebrated-redistributionists-discover-healthy-respect-for-private-property/
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great that we can see so much humor in this stuff without descending to cheap slurs like "tea-baggers"? I'm not sure we should call them "fleabaggers", although I thought it was clever at first.
ReplyDeleteHey, first we have to figure out what demands are:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gTeRU4tqk-alytT7MGl5KRzehJJA?docId=CNG.ea2d83b634da8ac0dda3193eefc51267.231
You're right, Pauli. The humor potential is endless. :)