Politics and Culture

I respect Colin Powell and I hope that other conservatives don't try to now tear him down even while liberals are busy praising the man whom they thought was either complicit in Bush's lies when Powell tried to sell the world on the Iraq war or a dupe.

I also don't like to psychoanalyze people's politics, but it's easier than trying to unwind the logic in their endorsing arguments. In other words, unless these people give a good reason, I'll assume that they have an ulterior motive.

In general, many conservatives are suffering from the same malady that afflicted the Roman empire in the 5th century, the Byzantine empire in the 14th and 15th centuries, much of Europe in the twentieth, and chaste women throughout the ages: Tired of a long, defensive war and incompetent, often scandalous leadership, people stop fighting and think, "Ahh, maybe this Islam (Barbarian, Nazi, Communism, sexual liberation, etc. not making any kind of equivalence between them, of course.) thing isn't so bad, after all."

In most cases, conquests settle in and become permanent (certainly in one instance), but we can take heart in the example of medieval Spanish (not to be confused with their pantywaited modern decedents) who, having lost their whole peninsula, fought back for 800 years to an eventual victory. Let's hope it doesn't take that long to get rid of the Department of Education or socialized medicine.

Obamacons and their arguments:

First up is Doug Kmiec. His point is basically that conservative/moral failure in legislation and politics is good for conservatism and morality or, "A pro-choice president will save more unborn children."

Alternative explanation:

I'll say, instead, that Kmiec became friends with someone in his college whom he wants to impress, like the head of the English department or something.

Second, is Christopher Buckley, scion of the smartest man in American political history. In his now famous Daily Beast article, Christopher Buckley makes his...ahem...case for Barack Obama (He later claimed he was fired from the National Review, faux persecution being the first refuge of scoundrels).

A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget “by the end of my first term.” Who, really, believes that?

Yet, he believes that Obama will cut spending and lower insurance premiums?

On abortion, gay marriage, et al, I’m libertarian. I believe with my sage and epigrammatic friend P.J. O’Rourke that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take it all away.

The libertarian position on gay marriage is to have no government recognition at all and, on abortion, well, is Buckley still a Catholic? He's against murder, no?

But having a first-class temperament and a first-class intellect, President Obama will (I pray, secularly) surely understand that traditional left-politics aren’t going to get us out of this pit we’ve dug for ourselves. If he raises taxes and throws up tariff walls and opens the coffers of the DNC to bribe money from the special interest groups against whom he has (somewhat disingenuously) railed during the campaign trail, then he will almost certainly reap a whirlwind that will make Katrina look like a balmy summer zephyr.

I won't vote for McCain because he won't keep his campaign promises, but I'll vote for Obama because I hope he won't.

Alternative explanation:

Posthumous teenage rebellion. At least most kids have the decency to rebel while they're actually teenagers.

Colin Powell:

Colin Powell buys into the lie that McCain is more negative than Obama. Maybe, Powell doesn't like negative ads when they're true.

Powell prefers Biden to Palin. Fair enough. Maybe they can try the Iraq partition idea next year.

Powell is impressed with Obama's speaking abilities. Because that's what counts in the Army?

Obama is a "transformational" figure. Transforming us into what, favor-seeking socialists?

Alternative:

Powell was hurt by Bush. He's never said that he lied for Bush, but he may resent pushing an idea that was partially wrong, in retrospect.

Also, Powell may have never felt completely comfortable with Republicans.