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July 18, 2008 Beyond The Blame GameBy Christopher ChantrillWhen things go wrong for the Ins the Outs make hay deploring the "mistakes" of the Ins. Then the Outs get in and the game starts all over again. Right now we are in the middle of a perfect storm of "mistakes." There's the mortgage meltdown, the food crisis, the gasoline price spike, the IndyMac bank failure, Obama's flip-flops, and the granddaddy of them all, the prospect of a $5 trillion meltdown at mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Oh, and there's Bush's war in Iraq. Who's to blame for all this? The answer is that it all happened on Bush's watch, so it's his fault and the fault of the Republicans in Congress. But wait! It's not Republicans who have been delaying on reform of the mortgage giants; it's not Republicans who have been sluicing ethanol subsidies at American farmers; it's not Republicans who have resisted development of oil and nuclear power for thirty years. It's the other guys! Maybe Republicans are only to blame for the bubble of easy money in 2002-03 and the miseries of "Bush's war." But those are the rules. When things go wrong on your watch, you are to blame. There's another thing. Republicans are also to blame for global warming even though it's been getting cooler ever since President Bush was first inaugurated in 2001 at the height of Solar Cycle 23. The respected Dr. James Hansen of NASA has properly called for an auto-da-fe of oil company executives. There's a lesson here. Unless you are a Democrat backed up by willing accomplices in the mainstream media, you'd better forget about winning at the blame game. Aside from the tactical advantage of the media echo-chamber, Democrats actually believe, despite all the evidence, that bold persistent political experimentation, of the kind that kept the United States in a Great Depression for ten agonizing years, really works. Even when their experimentation goes wrong they can always find a scapegoat and perform a ritual sacrifice, because, as everyone knows, the blood of a virgin really helps to fructify the crops in a in the planting season. It's odd that those who pridefully insist that God has no place in the public square are so eager for sacrifice. But at least they demonstrate an admirable consistency in their world-view. If you believe that most people are helpless victims, then it makes complete sense to haul in a bunch of oil-company executives at the first sign of trouble in the oil market and blame them for everything. Then you sit back in your inquisitorial chair behind your imposing committee rostrum and hum a couple of bars of the Billie Holiday classic: "Comes OPEC (Nothing Can Be Done)." You'd be right, of course. It's always true that it will take 8-10 years for oil exploration to make a difference in virgin territory, whether it's 2008, or 2001, or 1997. Of course established offshore fields lying dormant off California are something else. Republicans and conservatives have a different agenda. We don't believe in helpless victims; we believe in vigorous problem-solving. We believe that when things go wrong you look for people who will set to work and do something about it, and not spend six months holding hearings about it. When a hurricane hits, you need someone like Lee Scott of Wal-Mart to tell his employees:
Imagine that! Here's a corporation so evil that it is not safe to allow it to prey, like a man-eating tiger, on the helpless consumers of Chicago, Illinois. Next thing you know, Wal-Mart will be offering free Spanish lessons to store managers at stores serving areas with a large Hispanic population. Some of you readers are probably already on the next page. You are saying: "That's all very well for Wal-Mart." They have an interest in solving problems and in delegating authority down to the lowest level. When you get things done and solve little problems before they turn into big ones, it increases profits. Politics is different. Politics is all about finding the issue that will rile up your supporters and demoralize the opposition. A politician cannot build a career on sleeping dogs and problems solved before anyone gets up in the morning. Yet sometimes the stars are in alignment. Sometimes you can do the right thing by pushing a controversial issue, riling up your supporters and dividing the opposition. Drill, drill, drill. Drill even if a President Obama gets all the credit two years from now. Ronald Reagan said that it's amazing what you can get done if you don't mind who gets the credit. Christopher Chantrill is a frequent contributor to American Thinker. See his roadtothemiddleclass.com and usgovernmentspending.com. His Road to the Middle Class is forthcoming.
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Comments
Well done, Mr. Chantrill!
Reagan was rephrasing the words of someone who no doubt was a hero to him, and should be to all Americans: General of the Army George C. Marshall. His quote: "There is no limit to the good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit."
This is why the position some are taking that says, in essence, "let the Dems win because they will screw things up and run them into the ground so bad and so fast that the electorate will run back to us" is in my estimation an abrogation of duty as a citizen. We need to pursue the best interest of our Republic regardless of which party is or gets in the power positions.
In my little corner of Virginia, it is my observation that most folks are just so busy with work, family, church, and other activities that they don't have time to read about and (more importantly) think through issues other than superficially. They therefore let someone else (with an agenda) tell them how issues affect them and the country. I believe the most effective (maybe only effective) counter to this situation is found in person-to-person interaction. Ask starter questions when an issue comes up to gauge where the other person is, and then without confrontation present the truth as you know it. Truth sets us free, and there are a lot of folks all around us slogging through life in shackles.
Posted by: jp | July 18, 2008 09:52 AM
Well done, Mr. Chantrill!
Reagan was rephrasing the words of someone who no doubt was a hero to him, and should be to all Americans: General of the Army George C. Marshall. His quote: "There is no limit to the good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit."
This is why the position some are taking that says, in essence, "let the Dems win because they will screw things up and run them into the ground so bad and so fast that the electorate will run back to us" is in my estimation an abrogation of duty as a citizen. We need to pursue the best interest of our Republic regardless of which party is or gets in the power positions.
In my little corner of Virginia, it is my observation that most folks are just so busy with work, family, church, and other activities that they don't have time to read about and (more importantly) think through issues other than superficially. They therefore let someone else (with an agenda) tell them how issues affect them and the country. I believe the most effective (maybe only effective) counter to this situation is found in person-to-person interaction. Ask starter questions when an issue comes up to gauge where the other person is, and then without confrontation present the truth as you know it. Truth sets us free, and there are a lot of folks all around us slogging through life in shackles.
Posted by: jp | July 18, 2008 09:52 AM
Schumer's comments were the hight of "talking down the ecomony" as he & others accused Mr. Bush of doing in 2000. His reckless and irresponsible comments have done incalcualable damage, yet he will not pay a political price for this. As you say, the MSM is there to back these dangerous fools up. If a Republican had said this, Waxman would be holding hearings, and McCain would have called for his/her resignation from Congress.
Posted by: A. DiPentima | July 18, 2008 10:35 AM
Hmmm?
Christopher Chantrill writes:
"Even when their experimentation goes wrong they can always find a scapegoat and perform a ritual sacrifice, because, as everyone knows, the blood of a virgin really helps to fructify the crops in a in the planting season.
It's odd that those who pridefully insist that God has no place in the public square are so eager for sacrifice."
.
It seems as though you understand far more than you let on Mr. Chantrill.
Posted by: Mike O'Malley | July 18, 2008 01:14 PM
Great piece, Mr. Chantrill! At a time when democrats are indeed playing the blame game by pointing fingers at the speculators. A Senate bill actually named; "Stop Excess Energy Speculation": what a waste of taxpayers time and money. And let's don't forget the San Francisco liberals who actually have on the ballot the naming of an area sewage plant after none other than the pres. of the United States; GWB. If the voters of CA had any dignity, these guys would be out of jobs in Nov. when the ballot comes out!
Posted by: Buddy | July 18, 2008 01:18 PM
If somebody sees President Reagan on the horizon please let me know. Is there anybody similar to him? Hey, where are you hiding? Come out.
Posted by: Leon | July 18, 2008 01:23 PM
Buddy,
Actually when you think about it, W actually does a pretty good impression of a sewage treatment plant. He takes their excrement, treats it well, and sends it back out in usable form.
Sometimes I wish he would back up his intake pipes and spew their stuff back at them instead of patiently accepting it. But then I think that this is his way of turning the other cheek according to his beliefs.
Naming the site after him is perfectly in keeping with their state of psychological development...still in the anal stage of mental childhood. Sadly, they probably think they're being quite shrewd...which makes it a tragic comedy.
Posted by: jp | July 18, 2008 02:52 PM
At the risk of sounding too reality based, it should be Fannie and Freddie haven't "melted down".
Here what has happened:
Housing is in a recession
Some idiot ex Fed govenor says they are insolvent. Panic sets in. Has anyone looked at who had huge short positions?
This followed a report from idiot analyst who said the GSE's need $75 biliion in new capital.
The regulator says that they are adequately capitalized and then notes that no one will actually care.
A run starts on the stocks
The Fed and Treasury introduce proposals to calm the markets.
The media takes this and turns it into a "meltdown"
In Global Warming fashion, It's "settled" that the GSE's need a $5 trillion bail out.
Posted by: American Thinker Fan | July 18, 2008 05:12 PM