Eye on the Watcher’s Council

As you may know the members of the Watcher’s Council each nominate one of his or her own posts and one non-Council post for consideration by the whole Council. The complete list of this week’s Council nominations is here.

This week the Council welcomes two new members: The Provocateur and Mere Rhetoric.

The Colossus of Rhodey, “That ‘ol “kindred spirit” argument”

Hube comments on the failure of an anti-affirmative referendum in Colorado which seems to have foundered on the tried and true syllogism “Socrates was a man; all man are mortal; therefore all men are Socrates”.

The Glittering Eye, “A Prospective Obama Administration (Updated)”

In my submission this week I take a look at the upcoming Obama Administration through a movie prism.

Bookworm Room, “Reaching new demographics”

Bookworm weaves an observation with which I agree—that the Democrats are far from the programmatic party that its progressive wing imagines it to be—into a post on the need that the Republicans have to court Black and Hispanic voters. I think that the very couching of the argument leads to the solution: don’t over-generalize. Neither African Americans nor Hispanics are quite as monolithic a voting block as Bookworm appears to believe they are.

Mere Rhetoric, “Noted Democratic Shill Begs Nutroots Not To Viciously Attack Emanuel For Being Too Jewish”

I must admit that I find any attempt to paint Rahm Emmanuel as not pro-Israel, as the chap about whom Omri Ceren is complaining in his submission this week appears to be doing, rather puzzling. For goodness sake, the man served in the Israeli military.

Hillbilly White Trash, “The Great GOP Civil War”

Judging by this post I think we can conclude that Lemuel Calhoon is in the camp that believes that the Republican Party can improve its electoral fortunes by becoming more of a Southern rural party, a social conservative party. I don’t think that experience supports the claim.

Soccer Dad, “Overcoming idiocy”

I’d like to reassure Soccer Dad: at this point anyone who believes that white American voters are primarily motivated by race is simply unconvinceable. You can’t reason somebody out of a position they weren’t reasoned into in the first place.

Joshuapundit, “From The Beginning”

Joshuapundit sits in the ashes of the Republican electoral loss of last Tuesday and wonders how to move forward. The only advice I can offer is that any principle you don’t live by is not a principle you can be said to have in any meaningful way. There is no substitute for good governance.

Cheat-Seeking Missiles, “Valor and Patience”

Laer’s Veteran’s Day musings center around an email exchange his brother-in-law had.

The Razor, “Return to First Principles”

Scott, too, wonders how the Republican Party re-groups in his submission this week. Frankly, I don’t think you can build a political party based on anti-government libertarians and social conservatives. The social conservatives will inevitably gain control of the party’s institutions (as they now have) and find little common ground with the libertarians other than a suspicion of government. That’s not a formula for good governance.

The Provocateur, “Fraud, Corruption, and Power: What Our Bailout Tax Dollars Are Really Going To”

I agree with the thrust of Mike Volpe’s post which is summed up nicely with his title. Unfortunately, it’s politically necessary for the government to do something during the current financial crisis and I do think it’s possible that that something could be productive so long as it’s limited to dealing with the financial crisis. Unfortunately, what’s at present a financial crisis is now being billed as something it isn’t yet: an economic crisis. Hamhanded measures to fix a nascent economic crisis rather than a profound financial crisis is where the real mistakes will be made.

Rhymes With Right, “Something That Must Be Said”

Greg posts on freedom of speech, political discourse, and political opportunism.

Well, I’ve decided which posts I’ll vote for this week. Which posts would get your votes?

2 comments… add one
  • Hello Dave,
    Brief nit picking, sorry!

    Rahm Emanuel served as a civilian volunteer with the IDF, working in the motor pool at a base in the Golan and was not, strictly speaking, a serving member in the IDF. Such civilian volunteering is common in Israel, especially among some of the Orthodox girls who’s religious beliefs would preclude them from serving with men in a normal military situation.

    That said, his father ( an ex-Irgun member) lives in Israel along with other relatives, Rahm was named for a Lehi member who was killed in combat and he is a strong proponent of AIPAC with a solid pro-Israel background. I speculated on what this could mean here.

    PS: FTR, my entry this week had very little to do with the Republican Party or Conservatism as such and everything to returning to what I consider to be the founding principles of this country. Adherenced to these priciples and reverence for what the Founding Fathers envisioned for America, the things that have made it such a special place crosses part lines and labels…or it should.

    As a classicist, you would probably appreciate that I very much had the Roman Republic in mind, our direct ancestor.

    Regards,
    Rob

  • Thanks for the correction.

    I think the Whiskey Rebellion closed the door on some of those principles and many of the rest were killed during the Depression of the 1930’s or shortly thereafter. The remaining question is how we preserve a reasonable level of freedom and a reasonable level of growth with a federal bureaucracy that would have horrified the Founders.

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