So far I haven't been all that impressed with Ahnold and am rather skeptical about what kind of governor he'll make. But the more I see of this kind of garbage:
The more of an Ahnold guy I become.
Meanwhile yesterday the Minneapolis Star Tribune dredged up one of the favorite liberal canards of the 90's to explain the results of the recall:
Schwarzenegger is the latest successful product of the anger industry that now runs American politics, although it's a mystery what so many people are so angry about. Society's real have-nots tend not to vote, and when they do, as in Tuesday's election, tend not to vote for candidates like Schwarzenegger.
It's pretty easy to infer just who the Strib is talking about here, although they don't come right out and say it. Yes, it's the angry white males again. Apparently they're back and they're angrier than ever. Or should I say we're back?
Funny thing is that most of the white males in the social/political circles that I run with are rather cheerful fellows. Oh sure if you're around Atomizer after he's just watched another fruitless Luis Rivas at bat, you might catch a few choice invectives but overall we're a pretty mellow lot. If you're really interested in where the anger and hate is coming from these days you might want to turn your gaze leftward.
The fun continues:
In modern terms, it's people who believe (often mistakenly) that they've made it wholly on their own and that, except for government's interference, everyone would follow their example. Government, thus, joins a lineup of villains that includes immigrants, terrorists, liberals and other bogeymen who conspire to take away the essence of American success.
Did you breathe the air today? The air that the government helped make cleaner? See you didn't make it wholly on your own did you? How dare you criticize welfare!
The Strib's assertion that if you drive your car on a road built by the government or take the mortgage interest deduction on your taxes you have no business questioning the size of transfer payments is ridiculous. Nearly everyone acknowledges that there is a role for government. It's the size and cost of the role that is the matter of debate. The point is not whether we do it all on our own but that we all should have to do at least SOME of it on our own and not rely on the government to do it for you. The government need not be the villain, but it usually isn't the hero either.
Interesting also that the Strib chooses to link terrorists, immigrants, and liberals together as enemies in their straw man construct of the mindset of the "angry" voter. Does this in any way reflect reality? And of course the paper uses the term immigrants without bothering to include the descriptive prequel illegal, implying that these "angry" voters want to stop immigration completely and send "all them fereigners" home.
Finally, do the Strib editorialistas really believe that terrorists are just another bogeyman in the right's fabricated lineup of villains? While such a belief might go a long way to explain some of their prior opinions, it is disheartening to think that the horrific realities of 9/11 would have so quickly faded from their collective memory.
UPDATE: Mitch Berg at Shot in the Dark rolls up a newspaper and whacks this Strib editorial upside the head as well.
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