you'll love this

[Red Steele]

Pretty good read, from what I was able to skim through.

Trys to show the "why" of the tea party emergence, and how the Democratic party has been hijacked for generations by the progressive elite, with help from RINO's.

THanks for posting this, Bruce.

See, I knew that you had the good stuff...you have just been bogarting it.

[Samnospam]

your article describes two groups, the bipartisan ruling class and the masses. your statement that the other group is driven by bigoted hate leads me to believe you've bought in to progressive thought about why it must rule over the masses. from your postings I don't believe you buy into the authors divisions. he describes you perfectly as a progressive, but I don't think you view the ruling class as bipartisan. you see rather a progressive ruling class, a business class that oppresses the masses, and the ignorant racist masses that progressive need to rule over. IMO

[Red Steele]

I think that it is always hard to look into the mirror and to see yourself plain and true. I think this article that Bruce posted expains the tea party movement, and also the appeal of Sarah Palin better than I have ever seen it detailed. I am not sure , either, that Bruce grasps the group he is in.

THe original progressives, from over a hundred years ago, thought that they were going to rule over a increasingly better educated, more capable group of Americans, and thus  they advocated for direct election of US Senators, and also of the POTUS.  Now, generations later, they have realized that this education of the masses never happened in the way they envisioned. and they have elitest views that they want to govern with. Not that I am totally against smarter people doing the legislating. I am not a fan of Sarah Palin, and/or the dumbing down of America. But I approach things from the view of a businessman and a capitalist .

I think this is why the article is subtitled "the perils of Revolution".

The very changes that the progressives fought so hard to implement generations ago, are what empowers these new Senate candidates, like Christine Odonnell for one, that really are not even capable of holding down a job.

[johnaa]

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/prepare-for-betrayal155.html

snip-

The revolt, then, is in high gear. It's not the first time, and it won't be the last. The governed have long been very unhappy about the government, and they periodically wake up and seek to change it. It's been some 16 years since the last go-round of such revolutionary sentiment. It is arguably stronger today than it was back in 1994.

The good aspects of this have nothing to do with political outcomes, despite what people believe. The political environment focuses the mind on important issues like freedom, economics, culture, power and its uses, and the role of the state. As they debate with their neighbors, follow election coverage, listen to the candidates, and watch the process, people learn and study and, most importantly, think and rethink.

If you begin with a skeptical attitude toward the government, watching and thinking can lead to a radicalization and ultimate embrace of a consistent opposition to government involvement. This is why election season always ends up creating a huge flood of new libertarians who buy books, feel the inspiration to get active (perhaps for the first time), and dedicate themselves to reducing the power of the state in whatever way they can.

If American politics can be said to contribute anything to American culture, it is this educational aspect that stands out. The elections focus the mind and lead people to a new consciousness. Ideally, that consciousness would dawn without politicians and elections and all the apparatus of the season. And yet people are busy in normal times, dealing with regular life; it is the very urgency of the election that gives rise to the concern in the first place.

You might as well know right now, however, that the Tea Party, no matter how successful it is at the polls in November, will certainly betray the party of liberty. There are several reasons for this, but the fundamental one is intellectual. The Tea Party does not have a coherent view of liberty. Its activists tend to be good on specific economic issues like taxes, spending, stimulus, and health care. They worry about government intervention in these areas and can talk a good game.

[Samnospam]

I think those progressives wanted senators and the president directly elected by the people as a way of weakening the states that stood in the way of a more powerful central government.  

[Samnospam]

Munger's partner in crime says shut up and enjoy your cake! http://www.omaha.com/article/20100924/MONEY/709249917 Buffett to taxpayers: Get over your anger Taxpayer anger against President Barack Obama and Congress is counterproductive because policy makers took measures including deficit spending to stimulate the economy, billionaire investor Warren Buffett told CNBC. Advertising “Sentiment has turned very sour in the last three or four or five months,” the chairman and CEO of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said in an interview broadcast Thursday. “I hope we get over it pretty soon, because it’s not productive,’’ Buffett said. “We will come back regardless of how people feel about Washington, but it is not helpful to have people as unhappy as they are about what’s going on in Washington.”

[bruce MN]

Is your nose itching? You've cmoe to mind for me twice this morning. First time whe I recalled this post of yours about the forming of the Republic, while reading this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/opinion/24chernow.html

And later when I read this about a couple of books that I have read..actually long ago... and knowing for sure that you have read one of them (and hopefully the other, as IMHO everyone should):

-- There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

[johnaa]

 Have you seen the Doonesbury's about Buffett twisting the arms of fellow billionaires for some charity scam.???? 

[johnaa]