Classical Values :: Clinging to the complexities of blindly pessimistic elitism

June 03, 2008

Clinging to the complexities of blindly pessimistic elitism

I hate it when I forget my camera, and it happens too often. Anyway, yesterday I saw two bumperstickers on a car driven by a perfectly run-of-the-mill-looking Obama supporter, and unfortunately all I had was my cell phone's built-in camera. This is the result:

Unfortunately, there's no way to read either bumpersticker, but here's the top one:

It's a well-known MoveOn.org sticker, and if you're really into seeing them (which I doubt most readers are), there's a photo collage here.

The one at the bottom is simply a standard Obama 08 bumpersticker:

There is absolutely nothing special, radical, or unusual about the above. It is the standard, garden variety sort of mindset to be expected from Obama supporters. The man ran against Hillary Clinton by attaching himself to the most anti-war platform possible, and (according to nearly all pundits now) he has won.

Barack Obama is the antiwar candidate's antiwar candidate. This is a position into which he hopelessly cemented himself -- early and often -- and there is no escaping it now.

That is the main reason I think McCain will win. In this country, the warrior/hero mentality beats the anti-war/whiner mentality. (The martial virtues versus their cowardly pacifist antitheses.)

I don't know why it took a simple bumpersticker to remind me of such a basic, yet compelling contrast in character.

In addition to martial virtues, consider also the national character.

In Negotiate This! (pp. 75-76), famed negotiator Herb Cohen summarizes Alexis de Tocqueville's view of what it is about the American character that made Americans different:

There were three characteristics, he said, that he did not find prevalent in other peoples.

Number 1, we prefer issues that are pure and simple--framed in black and white.

Number 2, we are an almost blindly optimistic people, always upbeat and hopeful.

Number 3, we relate to and respect regular and authentic guys, those who come across as fallible and human.

Little wonder so many transnational progressives hate Americans.

If we assume the American character is still like that (which I think it is, notwithstanding the sustained attack on it) I think McCain wins.

Especially if his infallible opponents cling to the complexities of their blindly pessimistic elitist view, as they do battle with America's, um, " dominant paradigm."

posted by Eric on 06.03.08 at 07:25 PM

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Comments

I have quite a few neighbors with those MoveOn stickers, and they often inspire a smile.

The red ink fades from exposure to sunlight, and the black doesn't.

guy on internet · June 3, 2008 08:32 PM

Juan McCain is hammering O! in his speech. My man Juan!

dre · June 3, 2008 08:51 PM

"If we assume the American character is still like that ..."

There's the rub. I think that the predominant American character is still like that, but I may be wrong. I may be prejudiced because it more closely matches my own than does that of the tranzis.

How much influence do the coastal elites have, though? Is it possible that they might be able to punch above their weight? Could they winn out over the inhabitants of Bitterville?

I'm okay with McCain - he wouldn't have been my first choice, but we could have done a whole lot worse. And to those who complain that he isn't conservative enough, I have to ask, compared to Obama? I hope he fights a smart and agile campaign and hammers the O-man on every vulnerability he has - and he has so very many. There's no way Obama can honestly claim to fit into the American character you have postulated, and there's no reason he would consider he should, as it's alien to what he believes. Unfortunately he has so far displayed an astonishing facility for lying, and of course the press is in the tank for him.

Gonna be a tought battle. If McCain keeps his cool and stays smart he can win it, though.

Steve Skubinna · June 3, 2008 10:34 PM

You said: "the warrior/hero mentality beats the anti-war/whiner mentality."

Always remember Vietnam, Obama is the last hope for a lot of the 60's radicals. He's in with Bill Ayres, and the like that loathe every fiber that makes this country great. The only thing he sees, when he looks at the people in this country is gun toting, religion loving, miscreants.

And the people eat it up.

John · June 3, 2008 10:41 PM

Perhaps we need a new sticker ourselves, directed rather pointedly at transnationals both here and abroad.
"It's an American thing; you wouldn't understand."

I will update another saying, now that progressives have a "higher value," beyond mere patriotism. Transnationalism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Assistant Village Idiot · June 4, 2008 08:24 AM

You said: "the warrior/hero mentality beats the anti-war/whiner mentality."

not if the warhero can't make a speech, and the anti-warrior comes off speaking like a cross between MLK and JFK.

Anonymous · June 4, 2008 08:24 AM

The relatively recent existence of the frontier in American history is another factor - perhaps the major factor - informing the American spirit and its difference to the European one. The frontier spirit is one of self-reliance/independence, optimism/looking to the future, and problem solving.

Naturally it is fading as the frontier era recede into distant history. How to keep it alive is another question.

Brett_McS · June 4, 2008 09:02 AM

"Space, the final frontier."... The new space companies are carrying a lot more than the just the possibility for a new way to make money. They are the potentially the salvation of our national character. It is also why NASA is not the way.

Eric E. Coe · June 4, 2008 09:34 AM

I agree I totally agree.As a Hillery supporter,I intend to vote for McCain.

Allan Sheldon · June 4, 2008 01:47 PM

I agree I totally agree.As a Hillery supporter,I intend to vote for McCain.

Allan Sheldon · June 4, 2008 02:15 PM