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I recently had lunch with a good American friend living in France. On the subject of the forecoming U.S. elections, he told me he was quite worried by the (apparent, alleged or real) rise of the Democrat potential nominee, Obama.Quite worried because — and I quote from memory:
"There's never been someone like that yet in America, either as a president or a candidate. That guy is a Socialist, and I mean that in the European meaning of the word. That's what's truly worrying."I hope my American readers — or what's left of them, after my far too frequent hiatuses lately — will weigh in on that (consider this an open thread), but I'll just add a couple of things before you get started:
- My friend has been a long time U.S. expat in France. He knows a full blown EuroSocialist when he sees one.
- I know how low the American Left can go1, but trust me: they still have to reach the depths at which the European style Socialists teem and crawl. It's always difficult to convey to an American audience the truly ghastly nature of these tax and control freaks because America never had to endure them at home (thank God for that) even though she consistently fought them abroad, and, well, Americans do tend to take Freedom for granted sometimes (bless you for that, though).
Unless you've lived under the rule of these totalitarians (at least in spirit, when not in name) their deep and distinctive blend of oppression, built upon centuries of "refinement" (blossoming with the French Revolution, that set both the modern standard and the roots of State terror and coercion of the citizenry) is truly hard to fathom (and yes, you can praise the Lord, for this particular ignorance is nothing short of bliss).
If you really must get an idea, try to picture it on a scale ranging from the soft-spoken Nanny state snakes — the Zapatero, Brown or Sarkozy2 — all the way to the fully formed hard-ass dictators and mass-murderers à la Pétain, Milosevic or Hitler3.
While you're contemplating that dire panorama, keep in mind that in all cases we're talking about regimes where the people fears the government — and never the other way round — and where the representatives and members of the apparatus, all the way to the top, can get away with just about any misdemeanors4.
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what's for dinner. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the decision."Well, there you have, in a nutshell, the difference between both sides of the Atlantic.
Europe has Democracy, all right.
Tons of it.
Comments
Comments thread (8)
3243 - Iwo Gina
Iwo Gina Maryland
Thank heaven you're back! I thought you might have been kidnapped and held for ransom by some secret arm of the French government!
3244 - Lady Cincinnatus
Lady Cincinnatus Ohio & Kentucky
As always D. Frogman, you've made a very timely reference with this quote..."Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what's for dinner. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the decision." Guess what will be the first target if we end up with B. Hussein Obama as President and a Democrat held Congress.
I give you the USA Today 2/27/2008 front page story..."Do you have a legal right to own a gun?" And by the second paragraph you'll see where they're going to target... "Nowhere is that divide more pronounced than in the gap between Americans' beliefs about their rights under the Second Amendment, and how courts have interpreted the law. "
Yes, they'll "interpret" that law right out of existence if they can. If that happens it will probably get ugly.
3245 - Iwo Gina
Iwo Gina Maryland
A bit off topic, but with your permission, DF, I'd like to post this:
www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed7/idUSN2744393120080227
which is a news release announcing the death of one of my heros - William F. Buckley.
Rest in peace, Mr. Buckley.
3246 - bpb
bpb
As one friend put it today, many of us "gun nuts" here in the states figure Billary was not expecting any competition . Obama surfaces and WHAM she gets sidelined from another comrad.
Living in NY, the far side of the state we never saw hide nor hair of her till her last NY Senate election. It was almost 2.5 years earlier she promised 200,00 jobs to the area. We have jobs but they do not pay anything near what was once here.
I'll just go home and load some ammo that will make me feel better for a spell!
bpb
3247 - TooTall
TooTall Utah
I have enjoyed watching the downfall of Hillery even though at this time it's not a completely done deal. However in common with DF's friend I wonder if we're not swapping a devil we know for one that we don't. Obama is so full of there'll-be-pie-in-the-sky-bye-and-bye type statements that no one really knows what to expect of him.
3248 - Proof
Proof Stockton, Callifornia, USA
Today is Alliteration Day!
Welcome Web Warrior! We worried in the West. (Way to wow the women!) : )
3259 - deltabravo
deltabravo
Well, FrenchFroggie, welcome back. Keep your powder dry and your powers of observation sharp. It's going to be a long long summer. Obamoron scares us because his many fans don't even know why they like him. His speeches are empty of anything but some hopeful drivel that someone else is going to have to pay for (surely not the glazed-eyed fans mooning over him in the audience.) He's promising us change, which sends his idiot groupies into fits of... well, fits. But when you think about it, developing septicemia is change also, but not a good one. He's kind of like Hitler with a smiley face. You might want to wait till after the election before you ever entertain the idea of moving here again.
3265 - nyexpat
nyexpat left coast
Michelle Obama Lives on somewhere above $700,000 US per year, and feels herself oppressed by American society, the poor dear. This certainly seems the appropriate attitude for the wife of a would-be socialist dictator. Fortunately she is so out of touch with the American public, particularly the "soccer moms" that actually work because they <em>have</em> to, I suspect she will wind up alienating many of them.