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The More Things Change . . .

Here we are 33 years later, and . . . the economy is a mess, an election year is heating up, a liberal president is once again complaining about high gas prices beyond his control while promising a massive alternative-energy program; while seeking to mitigate radical Islamic anger through apology and to ease America into a new, less exceptional world role, as Iran threatens to destabilize the Persian Gulf, Russia seems increasingly bellicose, and Israel senses a U.S. tilt away from it.

All that is missing is the cardigan sweater, and another warning that “We’ve learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose.”

New on The Corner. . .


COMMENTS   27

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centrist_centrist
   02/24/12 12:23

“We’ve learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose.”

Easily wiser than anything ever muttered by the last five Presidents.

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   02/24/12 14:19

Maybe so, but piles of material goods sure make it easier to bear the emptiness of a live with no confidence or purpose.

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Jay Arthur
   02/24/12 15:43

Unfortunately, we don't seem to have learned that government programs cannot fill the emptiness, inspire confidence, or instill purpose either, but instead only makes the ennui worse.

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   02/24/12 12:26

Obama at Notre Dame, 2009:

"Too many of us view life only through the lens of immediate self-interest and crass materialism; in which the world is necessarily a zero-sum game."

Warning KOS link ahead as my citation:

External Link 

Now, I must shower. For a very, very long time....

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cooper
   02/24/12 12:28

I've said since almost the beginning of this administration that Obama was the worst president since Carter. Now he has become him.

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   02/24/12 12:31

What is missing is a Republican challenger that consevatives can be excited about.

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jerzeycalendars
   02/24/12 12:40

WOW, yet another fantastic stretch of reality by Hanson....the yoga is obviously doing wonders for him.

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 JimS
   02/24/12 12:40

We're also missing a killer rabbit:
External Link 

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BostonMike
   02/24/12 12:45

Actually all that is missing is another Reagan to come in and save the day.

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Dr. J.
   02/24/12 12:49

All that is missing is an opposing candidate that can articulate conservative ideals in an optimistic and convincing manner.

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   02/24/12 12:50

You write that Obama is "seeking to mitigate radical Islamic anger through apology". This has never happened. It is a right wing myth. Do you have a link? If internet betting were legal, there might be $10,000 riding on this question, as your likely nominee would say.

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   02/24/12 15:30

I take it that you never actually watch the news. Say two days ago?

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fgdilly
   02/25/12 04:49

Two days ago, President Obama apologised to the President of Afghanistan for some Koran=burning by US soldiers. Now, where are my 10 grands?

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   02/24/12 12:53

Let's hope we get the same election outcome as we did all those years ago.

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   02/24/12 12:53

Now we get to live what would have happened 33 years ago had there been no leader such as Ronald Reagan and no sane Democrats around.

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   02/24/12 13:09

Mr. Davis Hanson fails to explain which of the four current Republican candidates is the second coming of St. Ronald Reagan, who, by the way, could not meet the current purity tests being imposed on the candidates if he were running today as the same candidate he was in 1980.

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   02/24/12 13:35

I've got a cardigan around here somewhere. Should I send it to the White House?

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   02/24/12 13:57

Yet conservatives want a sweater vest with crucifix in the White House.

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   02/24/12 15:30

Nice non-sequitor. Did you think it up all by yourself?

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george scoresby
   02/24/12 13:43

Bang on, Victor. But there is no Reagan in the wings.

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