Time’s so-called humorist, the columnist Joel Stein, wisecracked in the latest issue that the time for an American dictatorship is here. He began "Dictator of My Dreams" by praising New York mayor Michael Bloomberg for banning smoking in bars, which now "seems insane." He joked that it’s time for an Obama dictatorship, sick as liberals are of attempts at bipartisanship:
President Obama should probably get a little bit dictatorial up in here. He's the only person in the U.S. unaware that we elected him dictator, giving him both houses of Congress and the major television networks whenever he wants them. Instead of ignoring people's objections until they get socialized medicine and realize they like it, as England's leaders did, Obama is worried about seducing Olympia Snowe so he can say his health bill is bipartisan. Do you know how long it takes to charm people from Maine? They're uptight white people coated with a hard exterior made from other uptight white people.
While Obama negotiates on climate change, the Chinese government has forced China's entire tech industry to focus on energy efficiency, and soon we'll all buy Chinese products because they'll be far cheaper to power — and people can stay mad about poisoned babies and puppies for only so long. The lesson for Obama isn't that we didn't like George W. Bush because he bossed us around. We just wanted to be bossed around far, far better.
Stein and other news magazine regulars have gone from imagined horror stories about a Bush dictatorship to joking that we just need a more competent dictator. The problem with all this joking is it becomes a little difficult to discern just to what degree Stein is joking and to what degree he is seriously dreaming:
In fact, we need a dictator to do all kinds of things. I want a law making all Internet browsers' default setting block pornography and for that setting to be difficult, but not too difficult, to change. I want all alarm clocks, when they go off, to mention going to the gym. I think there should be limits on when you can sue, a ban on guns not used for hunting, parenting licenses enforced by social-services visits, more obstacles to post-first-trimester abortions and a European-size tax on gasoline. Soda should be sold in containers no bigger than 8 oz. People should pay for their garbage by weight. And their plane tickets.
Stein tried to get serious at the end, saying that mayors who crack down on your smoking or soda drinking are exactly what we need to force us into healthier social action:
Despite what you're thinking, I don't want to be the dictator. That's mostly because I'm already prone to bad haircuts. But also because instead of an actual dictator, I think what we need is to recognize that social mores require government nudges like the ones Bloomberg creates and Obama adviser Cass Sunstein advocates. We live in a connected age in which our liberties bump against one another. I know this is all easy to say since I'm not a smoker, a soda drinker or a columnist whom politicians listen to. But in an age of overwhelming choice, some dictatorial direction would help. Plus, then Obama wouldn't have to be on TV so much.
(HT: Cam Edwards)
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.
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What they can't get away
October 3, 2009 - 07:43 ET by notonmywatchWhat they can't get away with saying seriously, they say "as a joke".
We are currently trending 9 years from outrageous joke to law. For example South Park in 2000 joked about how insane it would be if pedos had "civil rights". The dems signed that into law this year.
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All Obama Needs is a mustache
October 4, 2009 - 21:35 ET by ptsonHey that gives "the dictator" enough time to grow a "Charlie Chaplin" mustache. Oops...bad... me.
Given the liberal belief in
October 3, 2009 - 08:11 ET by dscottGiven the liberal belief in Meritocracies where the smart people tell the dumb people what to do for their own good, he is being absolutely serious. The airing of his thoughts is meant to test the waters of public opinion. If there isn't any significant negative reaction, the liberals will feel it's safe to openly move for a dictatorship. This is the standard liberal trial balloon.
Well Joel, here's my reaction: Any attempt by you and your liberal buddies to seize control of the US government will result in a bloody civil war. There are 80 million people who own 200 million guns, guess who owns most of them? Go ahead Joel, just try it, it will be open season on liberals if you should ever attempt a coup d'état.
Admiral Yamamoto recognized the strength of America's Second Amendment and the character of it's people when he said, "You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be
a rifle behind each blade of grass." The Second Amendment was placed in the Constitution for a reason, to protect the People from those who would use Government for their own purposes and benefit.
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.
definition of a bad week
October 3, 2009 - 08:11 ET by jondelwicheLet's see:
The global climate calamity couple take separate jumbo jets to europe, leaving a single day "CO2 footprint" larger than most families would generate in a year.
Saturn , as a car company, appears to be going down in flames under our current govt leadership/GM ownership proxy plan.
The Sept job numbers were stunningly bad, yet plays to little press fanfare. Oh, for the W days when the press bemoaned the feeble job GROWTH numbers of 100 or 200k per month.
The IOC eliminates Chicago ASAP once the voting starts, thus the AWOL commander in chief loses there, while the news breaks of 260,000 more Americans losing their jobs last month.
David Letterman admits misbehaving on so many levels, yet this IS the late night guest Obama visited right before the Letterman scandal breaks... ..........and do ya think Palin may have received Letterman's venom because she perhaps "turned down" this creeps advances. You know, Dave might not be used to women saying, "no..."
How about some media questions of Dave: are your monologue zingers ever directed at women who rejected your advances?
Dictatorship? How about some leadership? How about a media that reports the news?
Just wondering........
Not joking
October 3, 2009 - 08:41 ET by BKeyserSubtle sarcasm Tim- but that's okay, I'll say it: He's not joking. Not one little bit. Daydreaming? Fantasizing? Putting his emails to friends and family in print? Yeah, all those things. But joking? Not likely.
obvious intentions
October 3, 2009 - 13:59 ET by jon_torlinHe might have been "testing the waters" with his wish list, but in reality, the left has already made their intentions known back when the African Kenyan began his rise to his empire. The signs were right there in front of anyone and everyone to see and a lot of people got it.
The ones that didn't get it are the ones who voted him into office, they did it under the guise of "hate Bush" and "I want to vote an African American(racist much?) into office" and my personal favorite "Hope and Change." All the logical and common sense reasons not to vote for him were thrown out the window.
So it goes back to what I've said before, I blame the American people for allowing this to happen and the subsequent actions since Jan 20, 2009, what I call "The Day the US Constitution officially died." Whatever happens to people who voted for him, such as losing their jobs because of the "stimulus" bill and so forth, I'm sorry, I have absolutely NO sympathy for. Buyer's remorse? TOUGH!
I also blame the Americans on the Republican side who thought Senator Insane was a better choice over the other Republican candidates, basically Bob Dole Part Deux. Choosing that guy was ridiculous.
So we are where we are. Hopefully we'll get the wake-up call and fix this, but quite honestly, until it happens, we're still on the road to hell.
-Jon
It just occurred to me that
October 3, 2009 - 09:39 ET by G. MayIt just occurred to me that this is the second tactic that leftists use to sugar coat their unpalatable ideologies - humor. The first tactic being redefining the language. Like a child that tries to excuse a disagreeable comment, leftists (Bill Maher is bad about this) will say "it's just a joke" when called on it. Fortunately, this only works on other children.
Perhaps this is the secret handshake of leftists. When he receives a critical response to his article, Klein can take the usual condescending leftist approach and make a smarmy remark about his critic's poor sense of humor. Then the adulatory e-mail will come in. You know the one - it praises the humor while seeing "truth". Credentials recognized, connection made.
Leftists are so afraid of being called what they are - leftists, socialists, communists, Marxists, liberals - that they recoil from these terms. Instead we get denial-worthy labels like "left-leaning" or the arrogant "progressive". This is because leftist ideology is such a proven failure on all levels that they rightfully have to pull an Amway and re-brand...or just say they were joking.
Could it happen?
October 3, 2009 - 09:58 ET by slickwillie2001There was serious discussion in progressive circles in the 1930's about whether America needed a dictator. A dictator it was thought could do what needed to be done, without the encumberances of a pesky Congress or Supreme Court. FDR himself and many in his administration were quite taken with Mussolini. One could see portraits of him here and there in Washington circles.
It's always the lefties that claim conservatives or Republicans want this, but that is classic projection. If fascism or a dictatorship ever comes to America, it will come from the left. I hope that when Republicans take back the Congress and White House, we can pass laws making what the Bamster has done no longer possible. Unfortunately, the establishment Republicans might decide that they like the power that the Bamster has given himself, for themselves.
Related, from last week: Beware the Stalin in Progressive Hearts: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com
Excellent read slickwillie
October 3, 2009 - 10:35 ET by ahusserTells what is really going on in a nutshell.
"Somehow, I told you so, just doesn't quite say it." Will Smith in 'I, Robot.'
Can we now say it or should we hide it
October 3, 2009 - 11:36 ET by Defector01Liberals love power, they love keeping it and they love to think they're the only competent people to wield that power. So dictatorship isn't bad, its just when a Rethuglican takes over the Presidency that the power is "corrupted" and could be a "Nazi like regime". But an Obama dictatorship would be hopeful and cuddly so its aok.
Bunch of idiots
I have only ever made one prayer to God, a very short one: O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it - Voltaire
Cuddly Dictators
October 3, 2009 - 15:44 ET by Sergeant ROCKFunny that liberals only look to uphold the Constitution when a Republican is in the Whitehouse. But as soon as they get one of their socialists in there, they pull out all of the stops to destroy it!
"I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
George Mason
"Joke" huh? Yeah,
October 3, 2009 - 20:11 ET by RR GOP"Joke" huh?
Yeah, right.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.
He who advocates
October 3, 2009 - 21:44 ET by TenebrousHe who advocates systematically depriving Americans of their inalienable, God-given rights, is no humorist. He is ignorant at best, probably a fool, and most likely a traitor.
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Random-jumbled-thoughts.blogspot.com
My response? 2nd Amendment to the Constitution
October 4, 2009 - 00:54 ET by R D HelmBLAM!
DRT.
Problem solved.
Any questions?
-Dave
The election of 2010 will be our last chance to save our republic. -Neal Boortz
Do you know how long it
October 4, 2009 - 10:27 ET by mamabearDo you know how long it takes to charm people from Maine? They're
uptight white people coated with a hard exterior made from other
uptight white people.
Hey!
Never mind that you just realized there was a state up here when you needed our senators' votes, Mainers are easy to charm-- As long as you aren't From Away. Anyone who's lived in Maine for two or more generations is okay in our book, no matter what color their skin!
;)
(disclaimer-- I'm From Away, so my opinions about anything related to Maine are almost certainly completely invalid)
Two thoughts for superficial Stein:
October 4, 2009 - 17:57 ET by BO STINKS"Despite what you're thinking, I don't want to be the dictator." We know it has nothing to do with haircuts, Joel. The real reason you don't want to be dictator is because you enjoy Nanny 'State' picking you up, burping you and changing your diedee for you. How could you enjoy mommy's attentions if you are the dictator?
"...or a columnist whom politicians listen to." This must be the understatement of the century as well as a comment that is soaked in false modesty AND disingenuous!
"How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!" Sam Adams
Stein is not joking.
October 4, 2009 - 21:44 ET by Pancho SanzaHe already believes, that outside of his NYC circles, the rest of the country is a herd of rednecks, racists, and uneducated Chris-chuns. Calling or pleading for a dictatorship would assure him that the rest of America would never, ever be able to obtain a modicum of upward mobility. My G-d. He is so transparent.
MSM: the suicidal suspension of reason and conscience.
Obama Maximus
October 5, 2009 - 08:08 ET by Sergeant ROCKSort of reminds me of the shows on The History Channel covering the Roman Empire.
"I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
George Mason