Unconventional Wisdom

Archive for the ‘presidential race’ Category

The spectre of 1932…

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How a loss of faith in politicians and democracy could make 2012 the most frightening year in living memory

I saw this Daily Mail article courtesy of Instapundit. Ouch to those running for President in the Republican primaries next year. It’s almost very pessimistic:

Sadly, there seems little point in looking across the Atlantic for inspiration. In 1932, President Herbert Hoover, beleaguered by rising unemployment and tumbling ratings, flailed and floundered towards election defeat.

Today, Barack Obama cuts a similarly impotent, indecisive and isolationist figure. The difference is that in 1932, one of the greatest statesmen of the century, the Democratic politician Franklin D. Roosevelt, was waiting in the wings.

Today, American voters looking for alternatives are confronted only with a bizarre gaggle of has-beens, inadequates and weirdos, otherwise known as the Republican presidential field. And to anybody who cares about the future of the Western world, the prospect of President Ron Paul or President Newt Gingrich is frankly spine-chilling.

I was watching FOX News today and there was a panel talking about all the GOP candidates. This piece doesn’t mention Mitt Romney, but certainly he’s in the description of all candidates. What one member of the panel discussed was that it seemed as if Republicans are looking for an alternative to Romney and that’s an issue he needs to address soon. Especially if it turns out that Romney will eventually gain the nomination in spite of Republicans looking for anyone but Mitt!

The rest of the article takes aim at the environment of Europe in the early 1930s. The Great Depression started here in the states and eventually made its way across the Atlantic into Europe. Perhaps the economy of those days were more global than I would’ve thought. In some ways the European economy was inter connected and in some ways the American economy was interconnected with Europe.

Anyway this column seeks to draw parallels between 1932 and 2012. Comparing the various world leaders of that time 80 years ago with those of 80 years later. Some of these parellels are spooky and unfortunately almost seems hopeless as indicated by the excerpt above about our own current Presidential race.

Time will only tell if this assessment is correct. You should read the whole article for the history lesson!

The last post of 2011 crossposted from It’s My Mind! :P

Written by Levois

January 1st, 2012 at 12:06 am

Mitt Romney Gets His Own Name Wrong

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[VIDEO] This is a clip from last nights GOP presidential debate. Marathon Pundit got him good for this one!

YAY!!! This isn’t a cross post!

Written by Levois

November 23rd, 2011 at 11:44 am

Instavision: A Libertarian Moment in the GOP?

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[VIDEO] Since Rep. Ron Paul ran in the 2008 Presidential Race on the Republican side I’ve often pondered this subject. In that party the Conservatives had to find the right standard bearer and that turned out to be Ronald Reagan. There is still a need in the GOP to find that conservative standard bearer.

Still, I do wonder if now is the time for a Reaganesque figure for Libertarianism. If you believe that this nation needs to head in a direction that allows for less government and more liberty I would say now is the time. It does seem however that such movements takes years before eventually they do gain some success or even the Presidency or even solid control of either of our two major parties.

All the same Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit talks to former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson on this very subject. Do you think this nation is ready for mainstream Libertarianism, however that should be defined?

Written by Levois

October 8th, 2011 at 11:36 pm

Perry vs. Romney: Fact-checking Last Night’s Debate

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American Rattlesnake on the immigration positions of Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. According to writer Gerard Perry an edge will go to Romney on his immigration position. This is all based on last night’s GOP presidential debate that aired on FOX News Channel.

Written by Levois

September 23rd, 2011 at 10:23 pm

Watched the FOX News/Google GOP debate…

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[VIDEO] Very informative. Santorum went after Perry on immigration. And it seems the two front runners – Perry & Romney – went after each other hard. So here is Gov. Perry and Romney going after each other in the vid above.

Written by Levois

September 23rd, 2011 at 12:00 am

Obama confronted after town hall by ‘tea party’ activist

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I hear the President is engaged on a bus tour of the Midwest riding around in expensive coaches. These two Tea Party activists confronted him about comments made by his tactless Vice President Joe Biden:

An Iowa “tea party” activist, Ryan Rhodes, confronted Obama after the event to speak to him whether Vice President Joe Biden during the debt-ceiling talks in Washington compared tea-party affiliated lawmakers to terrorists.

Rhodes first brought up the question during the town hall and then approached the president afterward and the two got into a heated exchange.

He complained to Fox News afterward that Obama had not addressed the question whether Biden actually made the remarks. Reports at the time had another member of Congress, Rep. Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania, actually saying the word “terrorists” and Biden agreeing. But the vice president’s office denied that Biden ever used the term.

“He just denied it. He said the vice president didn’t make any of those assertions,” Rhodes said. “If he doesn’t want to even admit what was on TV nationally — all over the place — then how can you have a conversation?”

Obama also faced criticism during the event from Emily Neal of Decorah, who openly questioned his negotiating skills with Republicans and asked whether the president had abandoned liberals in the healthcare and debt-ceiling fights and in extending the Bush-era tax cuts.

The president responded by saying that the political reality of governing had forced him to make choices.

You can watch that [VIDEO] below

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Written by Levois

August 16th, 2011 at 12:38 pm

MSNBC Staff: No one can beat Obama

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Via Newsalert!

Written by Levois

November 3rd, 2010 at 4:54 pm