The Europeanization

As expected, the Europeans are all over BHO. I don't think they've ever endorsed the result of any US election so strongly. It is to be expected, of course, as this term of presidency will usher Europeanization upon the US.

The prospect of letting socialism take full credit for the purpose they've championed so long is intriguing. I suspect it will require more than simply waiting for it to happen, though. When things start rolling, they will not rest on their laurels. They will have explanations, excuses, rationalizations, accusations and calls to noble sacrifice ready for anyone that questions the consequences of Marxism.

But - could the false alternative of mysticism and collectivism be suffering a temporary setback? Might there be room for the unknown ideal? If another philosophy will once again take the place of Marxism, it will be the one that offers the strongest case against it. I'd rather not have religious Republicans be that opposition.

The Europeans are losers just looking for anyone to offer a rationalization for the mountain of suck they have constructed for themselves. If they're happy with us, it's only because they get to point at us to divert blame for their own incompetence. See? It's not my fault you're neck deep in problems... America is doing it too.

As for the rest, I think that this is very much about what kind of opposition, if any, will arise. I've already heard three Republicans - Paul Ryan, Karl Rove, and one other who I can't recall the name of - mention "free markets" and attribute the Republican failure to their getting away from free markets. Unfortunately, I've also heard one of them in the same breath talk about health care in terms of "making it affordable" and then fail to draw the connection to that. Alan Colmbs then rightly pointed out that this was in fact the Democrat position. His intent was to point out that the Dems weren't so Leftist after all, but in fact he was wrong - the Dems are Left - it's just that the Right is also Left.

Without a proper philosophical foundation, it's impossible to go all the way without stumbling on the way.

"The genius of the hole: no matter how much time you spend climbing out, you can still fall down in an instant." (Max Payne 2)

Any non-Objectivist will inevitably sanction the initiation of force. No matter how reasonable they may seem, they can spend a lifetime advocating nothing but good policies only to suddenly grasp for a loose rock and fall right back down.

On another note, we already have one full unit of Europeanization coming your way: http://myrhaf.blogspot.com/2008/11/here-it-comes.html

I just watched Bush's little speech. He, in the same breath, said both capitalism and regulation were good.

Sigh.

The only thing this will accomplish is to taint capitalism with his administration's crummyness (caused by its abandonment of capitalism) while at the same time sanctioning "more regulation" as a solution, rather than the cause of the problem.

The man is an ass. He is in a clear position to know that the problem was caused by government entities (Fannie/Freddie) meddling in the market and yet he blamed "speculation" and "unwise investors," as if the private, unregulated part of the market were to blame.

He is the very personification of what is wrong with the Republican party and the sooner he goes, the better. All the recent talk in the Republican party about how their failure was due to them abandoning free markets and small government (true) is useless if people like him continue to muddy the waters.