Bill's Notes

I did it! I paid my property taxes without dipping into savings. It took a little juggling, and got a little lean last month, but I managed to get it done. Since that's by far my largest bill of the year, it's nice to know I managed to save money and get that bill paid. It helped that property taxes went down this year. Onward and upward.

As you probably know, once the political parties change, everybody switches sides in their arguments. One obvious contradiction of BDS victims was that George W. Bush was stupid beyond belief, but also part of a vast conspiracy to create a fascist government, destroy our liberties, and install a permanent GOP dictatorship. Some bloggers I know (who've commented here) questioned whether we'd have elections in 2008. Of course, they've conveniently forgotten this.

Anyway, one thing I'm committed to is not developing a similar ODS and I am going to try to maintain a consistent viewpoint — that is, apply to Obama what I applied to Bush. For one thing, it's intellectually honest. And another thing, I simply don't have the time or emotional energy to spend the next four years of my life hating a president.

Where was I ... one thing I've noticed in some of the righty blogs is this same depiction of the incoming president as an evil leftist mastermind AND an incompetent empty suit. Um, he can't be both. It's one or the other.

You know what? I think our whole culture, left and right, has a severe hangover from the 20th Century. We're afraid one or another of the ghosts are going to return from the last century and gobble us up. Left and right just point to different ghosts.

Gotta give credit where credit is due. One big reason I left the Democrats was the absolute humorlessness* ... you will believe in this, and that, and that, and you will not question this or that or that. You will check your testicles at the door and your penis must remain soft at all times. You know, that sort of thing. The Republicans and the Conservatives just seemed to be having a better time.

So imagine my surprise when I see this thing and I gotta say, it does a good job of poking fun of a trend of humorlessness on the right.



The Left can have the power — but they can't be funnier. They have a long way to go, but if this data point begins a trend, we may face a Humor War in this country. Bring it on, I say!

* Yes, I am aware that many comedians have been poking fun at the right for years. But they're rarely funny; usually, it comes across as the cool kids making fun of the nerdy kids in school.

PIJM*: "There were only two reasons for vote for McCain. One, you're very rich. Two, you're ignorant."

Me: "Isn't it ignorant to accuse someone you've just met of being ignorant?"

PIJM: "Not if you voted for McCain. Where do you get your information? Do you read books? Or do you just listen to Rush Limbaugh and talk radio?"

Me: "Ultimately, I think political choices boil down to a question of epistemology."

PIJM: "What does epistemology mean?"

Me: "I'm not going to tell you."

PIJM: "Are you saying I'm ignorant?"

Me: "No ... you just haven't done the reading."

* Person I Just Met.

Man, that was a rough week. And looking like it's not going to get better soon, either. I've also managed to flip my sleep cycle, so now I've just gotten up and it's one in the morning and I've slept seven hours. Have some decisions to make ...

UPDATE: I got back to bed and managed to sleep another four hours -- I feel great and back on a normal human's sleep cycle. For some reason, my body keeps trying to tell me we work the night shift, but we don't.

And I made that decision. Gonna put the SOB on a mountain top, Spartan-style. (Nah, I'm kidding. I'll do the civil thing.) I asked myself what would Jesus do? And the answer was, "Freak out and turn over tables." :) Then I prayed and didn't get an answer at all, which I usually interpret to mean, figure it out.

So where do we conservatives go from here? After a devastating, if unsurprising defeat, we need to go back to fundamentals. In the next few months, we need to identify our best strategic choices for the future — determine where our opportunities are, and where we'll have to bite the bullet. Here are some suggestions:

1. Get the emotional stuff out of the way as soon as possible. Vent frustration, yes, but don't let it take over, like those who developed Bush Derangement Syndrome did.

2. Avoid blame. Pointing fingers at each other or individuals is ultimately counterproductive. We need to avoid blame, avoid excommunications, and instead move forward on re-establishing our social and policy positions. Re-state what is valuable, and jettison what is not.

3. Clean house. This is different from blame, because it focuses entirely on behavior. In the past eight years, where have we gone wrong? What could we have done differently? An honest housecleaning will go a long way. Did we fail on leadership, principles, incorrect assumptions, poor-decision-making, or communication? Did we fail to confront bad policies? Did we implement bad policies? Why have we failed to persuade 52% of the electorate to vote for our candidate? An honest assessment of our situation, without recourse to blame or anger, will help us regroup. The key is to learn from our mistakes.

4. Deal with President Obama. Like it or not, he's our next president. We need to see where our opportunities lie, and what is the best way to deal with him. Bill Clinton, for example, moved considerably rightward in his terms, and Obama has already moved rightward in his campaign.

5. Pressure Obama on his leftist positions, lavishly reward, and even give him credit, for any movement to the right. The constant carping about Obama's "flip-flopping" is counterproductive to our cause. For one thing, the man is inexperienced and needs some time to revise his positions. Recently, for example, he changed his Website from saying he wants to require community service for middle schoolers and high schoolers to encourage community service. It was a quick, almost instinctive revision — and a good thing. Let's call any movement to the right "wise" and "mature," and reward his flexibility of mind. We shouldn't do anything to make him dig in his heels. If he moves rightward, we shouldn't howl how he's stealing our ideas, but indeed, go along with the fiction that it's his idea. Anything can get done if no one care who gets the credit.

6. Pick and choose our battles. Let's not fight over everything. The key is to keep Obama within a normal range of political options and away from any Alinsky-style radicalism. If he wants to reward his Chicago buddies, he should be able to through cash, not by imposing it on the country, if you follow. Better to fund a few community groups than allow some kind of sweeping socialism to engulf the country.

7. Encourage any conservative instincts. Remember, Obama wants to be a great president, and in most cases, conservatives have the facts of life on our side. (Bottom line is the facts of life are conservative.) Obama, strangely enough, has some conservative instincts — witness his focus on family and hard work. We need to act in a way that allows that conservative side to grow stronger. (That is, avoid the Clinton Derangement Syndrome that caused GOPers to howl when Clinton was doing what we want. It's like the GOP had to have the credit for the idea — who cares who gets the credit, let's get what we want.)

8. Know when to shut up. Sometimes, politicians need to beat up on the other guy while stealing his idea. Let 'em do it and smile about it later. Have a little sophistication.

9. Be open. It's possible, hard to believe, but possible, that the Democrats have some good ideas. Let's be willing to explore the ones that obviously aren't false, even if they weren't invented here. Knee-jerk reactions aren't helpful.

10. Pray. God is in charge. It doesn't mean things will work out -- no one here gets out alive, anyway. Pray for the country, for our leaders and for our people, that we made keep what's valuable in our traditions, and improve where we can.

I write this more in sadness than anger. I think 52% of the American people have made a tragic, and possibly suicidal decision, and have been played for chumps. Not all of them; some voted responsibly for Obama. But many of those 52% have gotten caught up in a dangerous cult. To add a little nuance — President Elect Obama is not to blame for this. The suckers would've followed any Pied Piper.

This video is crazy, banana republic-style crap, and it's not the only example. It's probably the shape of things to come. Fortunately, most of the obama-suckers live in cities, which leaves the rest of the country to us.

My favorite new button: "I'll keep my liberty, money and guns. You keep your change."