As IF Times

link Ellison: Bachmann wants to keep women barefoot and pregnant | Minnesota Independent: News. Politics. Media..

Here we go.  As Congressman Bachmann begins to get traction in her quest for the Republican nomination, she also attracts the expected slings and slurs from her political opponents.  Of course, that’s expected.  What’s also expected is the level of discourse aimed at her from the left.

If you do a google search of  ‘barefoot and pregnant’ paired with Michelle Bachmann, the only reference you will find of that pairing is of Rep. Ellison’s remark.  So out of thin air, this learned gentleman makes a comment which has no relevance at all to the political discussion.   It’s as if he was still  in the 4th grade taunting her with ‘fatty fatty, two by four’.  This is somewhat reminiscent of the last set of elections in which candidate Christine O’Donnell was labeled a witch.

While this may be amusing to people with only at least average intelligence, it’s very alarming to think of the ramifications of these witty characterizations.  First, it says something about the accuser, but secondly, it says something even more frightening about their intended constituency.  It implies that the intended audience are idiots.

It implies that rather than confuse the audience with reasoned discussions of policy differences, they can be much more effective by characterizing their opponents in some cartoon-ish way because that’s the only way they can absorb a message.  Ellison of course is only carrying  on along the path well worn by another Democratic Congressman with a tenous grasp on sanity, the  recently deposed Alan Grayson.  He of the  ‘Republicans want you do die’  fame.  Let’s not forget the characterization of Republican Paul Ryan pushing old people in wheelchairs off cliffs.  It’s as if the left cannot gather support for complex issues from their base unless they can convey some simplistic imagery that will galvanize their troops.  Are they really that dumb?  If so, is it therefore not frightening to have the beneficiaries of their votes sit in office making public policy?

Getting back to Ellison, if he’s going to affix the ‘barefoot and pregnant’  label on Bachmann, he may have to peel it off his party buddy John Edwards who actually demonstrated his affinity to that philosophy.   We understand Ellison’s dilemma though.   To bring up the more scandalous accusations of tax cheater, liar, philanderer, demagogue, communist and just general dumbness would evoke people  from within his own party.  Better keep the slags in the imaginary world.

link Liberal Frankensteins – Victor Davis Hanson – National Review Online.

In my opinion, one of the best, succinct summaries of the malaise that affects free societies in our time.  Hanson points out the various big fibs and spurious policies that have been circulating since the end of World War 2.  Wrong headed policies that were pursued with the ‘best of intentions’ have grotesquely morphed into the cancer like manifestations of liberal thought threatening the very survival of free society today.  Unlike Al Gore’s version of how it’s all going to end, this article clearly illustrates the various prongs of stupidity that are surely pointing to the demise of free people.

At the root is the hijacking of the education system, which has veered sharply away from teachings of core values and absolute results to political brainwashing and elusive conclusions and questionable sensitivities.  This is one of the best lines from the article:

“…Modern university education has achieved the dubious result of turning out a self-described sensitive, caring mind that has never been more ignorant of the past and the present…”

While there are certainly voices that point out the insanity of what’s happened, they are vastly outnumbered by the endless cacophony of the delusional left.  Life so closely parallels George Orwell’s Animal Farm, that you can use the book as a roadmap for a glimpse of Christmases future.  It’s as if the people who gained the most from social and economic policies of the past 50 years are the people most likely to pursue policies that are the exact opposite of what brought success to them.  Paradoxically, the more obvious the failures of these policies are, the more ardently they are pursued and defended.  Unfortunately, those that make the most noise tend to get the most attention, regardless of how inane their viewpoints.   This is expected to appeal to young people, since their minds are susceptible to information of all kinds and they have yet to measure what’s told to them against the realities of genuine experience.  But how then to explain the ongoing ignorance of the older generation, those who should have passed the naive phase of their lives towards a more reasoned view of how things work?  Somehow, many in this group of aging hippies have never grown up.  There are many that have been allowed to live their lives in an extended adolescence.

As I have opined previously, there must be a self destruct gene that takes hold once a certain level of affluence is achieved.  If so, that’s sad.  It’s doubly sad when these people achieve positions of power and are then able to take others down with them.  They then bring their dubious logic and naive sentiments to impact public policy.  They somehow work their way to become political leaders and teachers or even worse, get a job on MSNBC.  The fact is, big political and social issues are not that interesting to young people.  Most are more consumed about their next Iphone than the next President.  For many, there is no direct link between what happens to them and what is happening on the big world stage.  They don’t have to worry about the big picture because things have always been benign for them.  It will be a severe shock when the adults stop paying the bills.