Norvell Rose
Beware the actors' costume change
By Norvell Rose
"Distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes." ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Without getting into the underlying political persuasions of Mr. Thoreau, the noted writer/philosopher, I offer his simple but profound warning for the ages. It is a seven-word reminder of dangers as real today as when his book, Walden, was first published in 1854. And especially with regard to the Washington, DC of today — where the politics of fraud, deception and disguise are practiced with both craft and calculation — we must be cautious not to fall for appearances.
Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, plunging poll numbers, voter rebellion — what of it? Remember, with the committed Obamacrats, no matter what the public decries or demands, it's the same cast of characters who will simply try to fool us with new costumes. It's the same troupe of bad actors who will dress themselves in what they hope is more appealing, less threatening, wardrobe.
Given their candidate's loss in the Massachusetts special Senate election, the emperor and his court will now put on new clothes. It's not that that the emperor has no clothes, just different ones. But be not fooled — he is the same relentless ruler surrounded by his same cunning courtiers. The same arrogant elitist whose political instincts as well as his political handlers dictate an alteration in outward appearance. Their threads may be different, but when it comes to Constitutional governance, the Obamacrats' pretense will still be threadbare.
You can see the change of costume already underway. A day after Republican Brown defeated Democrat Coakley in the former kingdom of Kennedy, the White House began to pull back the curtain on its reworked political stage play. It's a slick bit of next-act theatrics, trying to mount a people-versus-the-powerful message they hope will resonate better with the American audience. But it is theater, nothing more.
President Obama told ABC News that Scott Brown's election showed "people are angry and they are frustrated." Press puppeteer Robert Gibbs told reporters that a series of upcoming votes would force members of Congress to show whether they're really on the side of the people or the side of the powerful. Ah, so now troupe Obama is slipping into more "feel your pain" populist garb. Or at least, they're trying it on for size and effect. Because at the same time, many in Obama's supporting cast, including media acolytes and brawlers, are donning the street fighter's wardrobe. Ah, the bloody shirt. They're viciously vowing an even tougher, more aggressive, more bloody battle to beat down opponents of the emperor's noble agenda.
In his election post mortem, Obama looked a little awkward in pseudo sack cloth and ashes, alluding with suspect sincerity to his own reputation for emotional distance from voters suffering in our troubled economy. "What they've ended up seeing is this feeling of remoteness and detachment where, you know, there's these technocrats up here, these folks who are making decisions," he said. Okay, so maybe he's wearing a little humble pie also, but it is carefully self-applied. Do I believe Barack Obama is a changed man because he is changing clothes? Absolutely not!
The change of costume strategy is simply that — a strategy. In no way does it represent a change of heart. It is all about style, not substance. Obama's attempt to ingratiate himself with a new guise. To outwit with a new outfit. But make no mistake, the President and his pack of performers still want to run the show. Health care. Banking. Energy. Housing. National security. Manufacturing. Sure, they may "pivot" to "jobs, jobs, jobs," but in their ill-fitting work boots and hard hats they're still all about central government control over the job market.
How many war movies have you seen where soldiers in one army try to dupe the enemy by donning the enemy's uniform? It's a classic bit of chicanery. Warrior as trickster. And almost every time, at least in the movies, the ploy works. Well, the national political drama being played out right now is indeed a war, but it's no movie. It's a very real, very frightening war for the soul of America and control of her people.
Let us not be suckered by whatever fashionable outfits the Obamacrats assume. These are determined, anti-capitalist zealots and cynical power-addicts who intend to destroy individualism as they institutionalize collectivism. And if they prevail, the people's costume — our uniform — may well become a plain gray suit. But you could bet that Obama and his elitist cast of characters would never be satisfied with dressing themselves down in such low-brow wardrobe.
Let me conclude by quoting another famous American author. As you read, picture the President now surrounded on the national stage by his supporting mob of mimics, foils and role players. See through their cheap new costumes they hope will fool you into believing that the people beneath them are anything other than two-bit actors. With my appreciation for the supreme irony of this closing quotation:
"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." ~Mark Twain
© Norvell Rose
January 21, 2010
"Distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes." ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Without getting into the underlying political persuasions of Mr. Thoreau, the noted writer/philosopher, I offer his simple but profound warning for the ages. It is a seven-word reminder of dangers as real today as when his book, Walden, was first published in 1854. And especially with regard to the Washington, DC of today — where the politics of fraud, deception and disguise are practiced with both craft and calculation — we must be cautious not to fall for appearances.
Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, plunging poll numbers, voter rebellion — what of it? Remember, with the committed Obamacrats, no matter what the public decries or demands, it's the same cast of characters who will simply try to fool us with new costumes. It's the same troupe of bad actors who will dress themselves in what they hope is more appealing, less threatening, wardrobe.
Given their candidate's loss in the Massachusetts special Senate election, the emperor and his court will now put on new clothes. It's not that that the emperor has no clothes, just different ones. But be not fooled — he is the same relentless ruler surrounded by his same cunning courtiers. The same arrogant elitist whose political instincts as well as his political handlers dictate an alteration in outward appearance. Their threads may be different, but when it comes to Constitutional governance, the Obamacrats' pretense will still be threadbare.
You can see the change of costume already underway. A day after Republican Brown defeated Democrat Coakley in the former kingdom of Kennedy, the White House began to pull back the curtain on its reworked political stage play. It's a slick bit of next-act theatrics, trying to mount a people-versus-the-powerful message they hope will resonate better with the American audience. But it is theater, nothing more.
President Obama told ABC News that Scott Brown's election showed "people are angry and they are frustrated." Press puppeteer Robert Gibbs told reporters that a series of upcoming votes would force members of Congress to show whether they're really on the side of the people or the side of the powerful. Ah, so now troupe Obama is slipping into more "feel your pain" populist garb. Or at least, they're trying it on for size and effect. Because at the same time, many in Obama's supporting cast, including media acolytes and brawlers, are donning the street fighter's wardrobe. Ah, the bloody shirt. They're viciously vowing an even tougher, more aggressive, more bloody battle to beat down opponents of the emperor's noble agenda.
In his election post mortem, Obama looked a little awkward in pseudo sack cloth and ashes, alluding with suspect sincerity to his own reputation for emotional distance from voters suffering in our troubled economy. "What they've ended up seeing is this feeling of remoteness and detachment where, you know, there's these technocrats up here, these folks who are making decisions," he said. Okay, so maybe he's wearing a little humble pie also, but it is carefully self-applied. Do I believe Barack Obama is a changed man because he is changing clothes? Absolutely not!
The change of costume strategy is simply that — a strategy. In no way does it represent a change of heart. It is all about style, not substance. Obama's attempt to ingratiate himself with a new guise. To outwit with a new outfit. But make no mistake, the President and his pack of performers still want to run the show. Health care. Banking. Energy. Housing. National security. Manufacturing. Sure, they may "pivot" to "jobs, jobs, jobs," but in their ill-fitting work boots and hard hats they're still all about central government control over the job market.
How many war movies have you seen where soldiers in one army try to dupe the enemy by donning the enemy's uniform? It's a classic bit of chicanery. Warrior as trickster. And almost every time, at least in the movies, the ploy works. Well, the national political drama being played out right now is indeed a war, but it's no movie. It's a very real, very frightening war for the soul of America and control of her people.
Let us not be suckered by whatever fashionable outfits the Obamacrats assume. These are determined, anti-capitalist zealots and cynical power-addicts who intend to destroy individualism as they institutionalize collectivism. And if they prevail, the people's costume — our uniform — may well become a plain gray suit. But you could bet that Obama and his elitist cast of characters would never be satisfied with dressing themselves down in such low-brow wardrobe.
Let me conclude by quoting another famous American author. As you read, picture the President now surrounded on the national stage by his supporting mob of mimics, foils and role players. See through their cheap new costumes they hope will fool you into believing that the people beneath them are anything other than two-bit actors. With my appreciation for the supreme irony of this closing quotation:
"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." ~Mark Twain
© Norvell Rose
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