Crazy on the Left and Further Left
I don't often read NewsMax. I don't have anything against them, I just have limited time and resources and rely a core group of news sites, blogs, and aggregators to gather information on a daily basis.
I rather wish I did read more frequently however, because if I did I might have been able to catch John L. Perry's column from yesterday, Obama Risks a Military 'Intervention' before it was sent down the memory hole. Clicking on that link will now redirect you to the NewsMax home page; Perry's column has also been scrubbed. The scathing response from the blogosphere—based upon what I've been able to cobble together from quotes on several sites—seems warranted. The simple fact of the matter is that author seems to have come unhinged, and for reasons perhaps structural to the site's editorial process, the column made it to print without a sanity check by the editors. While the number of people dissatisfied with Obama's foundering Presidency continues to balloon and his popularity erodes on a seemingly daily basis, we are a nation of laws, not a nation of mob rule and coups by military strongmen. We will have out chance to remove President Obama in 2012 as we have always removed bad Presidents, at the ballot box. There has only been one successful coup in American history, perpetrated by the Democratic Party and the Ku Klux Klan and allowed by a Democratic governor and President. Advocating to repeat such a disgrace as Perry apparently did is utterly unacceptable. NewsMax was right to yank a column that never should have made it to print, and should reconsider their relationship with Perry and what that association now represents. Update: It is also worth noting that Perry is not a conservative; his bio says he worked for both LBJ and Carter Administrations and Democratic Governor of Florida, LeRoy Collins. From further on the left, Gore Vidal laments the "fact" that Americans are just too stupid to appreciate the genius of Obama, and also suggests that a military coup is in America's future. Update: A statement from NewsMax:Here is the copy of the original Perry column in its entirety, as provided by a reader:
Statement from Newsmax Regarding Blogger
In a blog posting to Newsmax John Perry wrote about a coup scenario involving the U.S. military. He clearly stated that he was not advocating such a scenario but simply describing one. After several reader complaints, Newsmax wanted to insure that this article was not misinterpreted. It was removed after a short period after being posted. Newsmax strongly believes in the principles of Constitutional government and would never advocate or insinuate any suggestion of an activity that would undermine our democracy or democratic institutions. Mr. Perry served as a political appointee in the Carter administration in HUD and FEMA. He has no official relationship with Newsmax other than as an unpaid blogger.
Obama Risks a Domestic Military 'Intervention' Tuesday, September 29, 2009 10:35 AM By: John L. Perry
There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America's military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the "Obama problem." Don't dismiss it as unrealistic. America isn’t the Third World. If a military coup does occur here it will be civilized. That it has never happened doesn't mean it wont. Describing what may be afoot is not to advocate it. So, view the following through military eyes: Officers swear to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Unlike enlisted personnel, they do not swear to "obey the orders of the president of the United States." Top military officers can see the Constitution they are sworn to defend being trampled as American institutions and enterprises are nationalized.
They can see that Americans are increasingly alarmed that this nation, under President Barack Obama, may not even be recognizable as America by the 2012 election, in which he will surely seek continuation in office. They can see that the economy — ravaged by deficits, taxes, unemployment, and impending inflation — is financially reliant on foreign lender governments.
They can see this president waging undeclared war on the intelligence community, without whose rigorous and independent functions the armed services are rendered blind in an ever-more hostile world overseas and at home. They can see the dismantling of defenses against missiles targeted at this nation by avowed enemies, even as America’s troop strength is allowed to sag.
They can see the horror of major warfare erupting simultaneously in two, and possibly three, far-flung theaters before America can react in time. They can see the nation's safety and their own military establishments and honor placed in jeopardy as never before. So, if you are one of those observant military professionals, what do you do? Wait until this president bungles into losing the war in Afghanistan, and Pakistan’s arsenal of nuclear bombs falls into the hands of militant Islam? Wait until Israel is forced to launch air strikes on Iran’s nuclear-bomb plants, and the Middle East explodes, destabilizing or subjugating the Free World? What happens if the generals Obama sent to win the Afghan war are told by this president (who now says, "I'm not interested in victory"that they will be denied troops they must have to win? Do they follow orders they cannot carry out, consistent with their oath of duty? Do they resign en masse? Or do they soldier on, hoping the 2010 congressional elections will reverse the situation? Do they dare gamble the national survival on such political whims? Anyone who imagines that those thoughts are not weighing heavily on the intellect and conscience of America’s military leadership is lost in a fool's fog. Will the day come when patriotic general and flag officers sit down with the president, or with those who control him, and work out the national equivalent of a "family intervention," with some form of limited, shared responsibility? Imagine a bloodless coup to restore and defend the Constitution through an interim administration that would do the serious business of governing and defending the nation. Skilled, military-trained, nation-builders would replace accountability-challenged, radical-left commissars. Having bonded with his twin teleprompters, the president would be detailed for ceremonial speech-making. Military intervention is what Obama's exponentially accelerating agenda for "fundamental change" toward a Marxist state is inviting upon America. A coup is not an ideal option, but Obama's radical ideal is not acceptable or reversible. Unthinkable? Then think up an alternative, non-violent solution to the Obama problem. Just don't shrug and say, "We can always worry about that later." In the 2008 election, that was the wistful, self-indulgent, indifferent reliance on abnegation of personal responsibility that has sunk the nation into this morass. John L. Perry, a prize-winning newspaper editor and writer who served on White House staffs of two presidents, is a regular columnist for Newsmax.com. Read John Perry's columns here.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 10:12 AM
Comments
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overthrow_of_the_Hawaiian_Kingdom
Posted by: Jason Van Steenwyk at September 30, 2009 11:18 AM (+S8Kb)
http://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/static/pdf/newsmax-20090929-perry_coup.pdf
Sedition is an act of terrorism.
Posted by: James at September 30, 2009 11:27 AM (/vYfr)
Far too many people are swallowing the Perry and Vidal as coming from the right and left, when this coup talk is really coming from the left and further left. I wanted to make that clear.
Jason, Hawaii wasn't yet a part of the United States at the time. James, I have a copy from a reader that I just posted in the update.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at September 30, 2009 12:28 PM (gAi9Z)
Posted by: David at September 30, 2009 01:55 PM (dccG2)
I have seen this in several places-- shoot, I've _pointed this out_ in several places, when (possible trollish) folks come through and post about how Obama will set himself up as a dictator.
Main problem I have with the article is that it seems to be saying "oh, the US military will run all over the Constitution to save the country! See, they swear to defend the Constitution and the country!" Seems a little...um... off-kiter.
Posted by: Foxfier at September 30, 2009 02:21 PM (OtIqW)
Posted by: Don, the Rebel without a Blog at September 30, 2009 02:24 PM (tcrAf)
were not very well thought out or intelligent. He sounded more preachy than thoughtful and has
a lot to learn about the real world. Many very intelligent people like Gore Vidal believed in this fairy tale, so who is the dumb one?
Military coup?? Never happen. We the people will be Obama's undoing. Along with his pipe dream utopia influenced policies. Any of these policies which are passed into law, which I hope will be none, will be repealed.
Paul
Posted by: Paul Kanesky at September 30, 2009 03:17 PM (rCmYM)
I am quite comfortable concluding that Perry is a leftist because he worked in the department of Health and Human Services under Carter.
In other words, I think it entirely possible that Perry is yet another agent provocateur.
Or, he could just be an idiot.
Posted by: filbert at September 30, 2009 03:19 PM (oVl3l)
Please, just disavow this traitor from your movement and return to rational debate. He insulted the servicemen and women of this country by stating that they would break their oath to uphold the constitution. That is his true sin.
Posted by: Rob W at September 30, 2009 03:40 PM (L009T)
Posted by: barr at September 30, 2009 03:49 PM (5OEha)
It's kind of facile to suggest that because he worked for a Democratic administration, oh, 40 years ago, that he is a liberal. He writes for a fringe right website and his column is entitled "Right Angles."
You are really insulting the intelligence of your regular readers and I know you don't really believe he is "left."
Posted by: John S. at September 30, 2009 04:14 PM (X1rqU)
And for the record, merely writing for NewsMax is hardly proof of someone's political alliances. Dick Morris, Susan Estrich, Ed Koch, and Lanny Davis are all Democrats who write for NewsMax.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at September 30, 2009 04:42 PM (gAi9Z)
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at September 30, 2009 04:47 PM (gAi9Z)
But…he covers many points that are very high in the worries of many people in the U.S. some of them already proven true, some speculated at and others that are more worthy of being scare tactics than anything else.
But his premise of the Military being involved in or the method of salvation or revolution is wrong, and wrong-headed.
Now I can see ex-U.S. Military involved in coming back and running for office in their states or even national offices. I can see x-Mil joining organizations such as The Oath Keepers. I can see x-Mil coming back and setting up local militias, and going to Tea Parties and even speaking at them. I can see them going door to door getting out the vote to get Obama and the Democrats out of office.
I can also see as a last resort, mass resignations of Officers in our Military services.
But in the bitter end, if salvation or revolution is needed for the preservation and protection of this Republic, it will fall to each citizen to stand up, load up and march forward to do it.
Papa Ray
Central Texas
The Second Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances where all other rights have failed - where the government refuses to stand for reelection and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees. However improbable these contingencies may seem today, facing them unprepared is a mistake a free people get to make only once.
2009 Judge Alex Kozinski
Posted by: Papa Ray at September 30, 2009 04:49 PM (JpVJn)
http://archive.newsmax.com/pundits/archives/John_L._Perry-archive.shtml
It's practically fit to print on the Daily Kos!
Posted by: John S. at September 30, 2009 04:54 PM (X1rqU)
Really?
"So enough already of referring to the likes of Boxer, Pelosi et al as "liberals." That's the cover that Cold War communists operated under. It's the camouflage that today's inheritors of the Trotskyite philosophy relish.
How happy they must be making Joe McCarthy, posthumously.
It's time these Typhoid Mary carriers of this mutant virus of Trotskyism were understood for, and called, what they really are – leftover lefties who just can't say farewell to the Marxist god that failed the whole sorry lot of them."
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/11/10/130523.shtml
(I am not defending the guy, but he seems more blue dog than true blue...)
Posted by: jpeditor at September 30, 2009 05:17 PM (g5AOi)
TPM has the full text.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/09/full_text_of_newsmax_column_suggesting_military_co.php
Posted by: Kathy Kattenburg at September 30, 2009 05:24 PM (Tdz5k)
Posted by: Lipiwitz at September 30, 2009 05:33 PM (OX5qU)
Posted by: Neo at September 30, 2009 06:08 PM (tE8FB)
Out of the thunderous madness comes a single voice:
http://rightwingnuthouse.com/archives/2009/09/29/silence-equals-assent-why-pointing-out-conservative-lunacy-must-be-done/
This is a great blog posting. I happen to agree and appreciate the two party system. It ain't perfect but it's what we got and it needs to work.
Posted by: Lipiwitz at September 30, 2009 06:34 PM (OX5qU)
When will a single voice come from the thunderous madness on the left to attack the lefts insanity, including calls for Bush to be assasinated?
When will Lipshits decry Rep Greysons comments?
Rick Moran is the rights equivalent of John Perry.
Posted by: Steve at September 30, 2009 07:17 PM (2SRpL)
Posted by: Zelsdorf Ragshaft III at September 30, 2009 07:53 PM (qEAEW)
When can we expct the LEFT to distance themselves from like-minded nutjobs?
This is why I don't approve of what CY is doing here. The left will gladly accept the rights condemnaton of this, while defending people like Bill Ayers or Van Jones. Or Jimmy Carter, for that matter. All of whom are a lot more central to the modern left than Perry is to the right.
Posted by: Steve at September 30, 2009 08:33 PM (skt70)
What happens if upholding the Constitution requires them to go against Americas politicians? That is no longer a mere theoretical question.
>>"Please, just disavow this traitor from your movement"
Your demand would sit better if you had been here disavowing ACORN and Van Jones recently. Both were and are far more influential than Perry.
Posted by: Steve at September 30, 2009 08:38 PM (skt70)
Posted by: Spartan79 at September 30, 2009 10:14 PM (0IRlO)
Germane to this, military intervention is a very remote possibility. A trigger point being a much higher bar than what Obama has done so far. The Honduran situation a disturbing example of the leanings of our useful idiot in chief still does not mean he is going to invite Hugo Chavez to America to head the FBI, or take over Hillary Clinton's job. He "only" nationalized a few banks, two of the big three car manufacturers, don't hyperventilate...
What would trigger military intervention would be a direct attack on constitutional freedoms in the Bill of Rights, free speech, seizing private property, arresting individuals, all without due process under law for a citizen's political opinion. Maybe the bar would be as high as Administration officials ordering execution of Obama's opponents without using courts. Slightly less likely would have Obama leaving men in the field of battle without adequate support or defined mission for an extended time allowing US troops to be slaughtered on an altar of political sensibilities. A third reason maybe at 10% probability, looming, is Patrick Leahy's attempt to stack Federal courts with 60 odd new positions. That IS an attack on the constitutional checks and balances. Without State ok by 2/3rds majority I don't think this is constitutional. Unaccountable to anyone, appointed by radical progressives elected under a guise of being "moderate" this could trigger considerable angst in and out of the military.
It is important to remember all recent impost of this kind of government power on citizens stems from leftist socialist regimes, not right wing ones that support capitalism. It is also a point the author of this is not a well known mainstream proponent of right wing causes aka a Glenn Beck, or Rush Limbaugh. One only has to look at what John Kerry said about Vietnam's "re-education camps" to know draconian methods of dealing with political opponents never far out of mainstream leftist thoughts.
It is clear now his book "Dreams of my Father" was ghost written by Bill Ayers, which tears it for me, I will never be voting at even the local level for a Democrat again. Nor will I listen to "reasoned debate" from people working for, or linked to places like CBS, except in the vein of taking note of the lie of the day. This Olympics fling an indicator we are now governed by a corrupt, not to bright, quasi marxist leaning President whose IQ is even probably the lowest of all Presidents since Cleveland.
I look forward now to the W recovery Obama is going to give us. The second recession will be worse than this one, and longer, starting as Greenspan estimates, by late next year. This will inform American voters once and for all the failings of socialist policies. No amount of media-White House spin will mask it, clear examples of Obama administration corruption on top of it. Look for a rout of Democrats over the next two elections. Obama a one term wonder, lovingly referred to by a Sarah Palin type populist conservative as Carter II.
Posted by: Pat at September 30, 2009 11:53 PM (9/6KL)
Hey Pat, did Alex Jones send you? Wow, you are paranoid. It's quite "draconian" of you and people like you who refuse to recognize the American democratic process of the will of the American people. The will of the American people who have gladly embraced people who you categorize with your paranoid "Leftist" conspiracy theories. The American people who rejected you, period. I suggest you pack your bags and go live in a Socialist country for a while. When you return, you may have a better appreciation of your country you claim you're proud of and not be such a paranoid spoiled brat. Oh and for the record, Greenspan was one of the major factors as to why we have this recession so pick and choose who you idolize in your "Obama failure fantasies" more carefully. You and your right-wing draconian fascist GW worshipin' Palin idolizin' Glenn Beck followin' regimes may actually start winning elections again (if you manage to find someone who can actually lead).
Zelsdorf, you're always hoping "other" people are right. Can't think or take action yourself? You're not alone. In fact, most people like yourself are always waiting for "other" people. Keep waiting (but don't hold your breath). "The military option seems a bright light of hope" -- You're kidding me right? How about f##king DEMOCRACY as hope? How about finding somebody who can actually lead instead of whining about the Left and the mainstream media and all the other rants you throw thumb-sucking tantrums about? How about finding somebody who can win back the millions of votes you lost in the past 2 election cycles rather than obsessing over 70 year old "coup throwing" domestic terrorists and freakin' ACORN? How about having a leader that can win back the confidence of their supporters rather than a bunch of idiots on TV, radio and blogs? You talk a lot about revolutions and wanting to force some regime change but at least Ayers had the balls to do it.
Posted by: Lipiwitz at October 01, 2009 04:26 AM (bhNGz)
My favorite line is: "Dry hump squirt son!"
What a weirdo.
Posted by: brando at October 01, 2009 09:23 AM (IPGju)
But it says something about the other liberal readers here that they don't repudiate him, that they don't "disavow this traitor from {their} movement" as they want us to do with Perry.
Posted by: Steve at October 01, 2009 03:33 PM (rxQ0a)
Posted by: Epicurus at October 01, 2009 03:59 PM (4onRb)
http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=Perry&fname=John
Posted by: Foxfier at October 01, 2009 04:50 PM (OtIqW)
I notice that what you like to call "Reality" looks a lot like a really bad acid trip.
FYI, old people agree with the Republicans about the lefts health care plans. They must not have dropped the same acid you did.
Posted by: Steve at October 01, 2009 05:42 PM (50jiK)
Posted by: daleyrocks at October 01, 2009 06:28 PM (3O5/e)
Posted by: gc_wall at October 01, 2009 11:05 PM (9NiSa)
Disavow a traitor -- How about 60,000 batsh#t loonies who refuse to accept our democratically elected officials and keep talking Weatherman ideology of revolutions, coups and secession like...oh...lets say...tea-baggers and birthers? Round them all up and bring them before your death panels and make them pay the sentence of your right-wing ideology of justice. Just pretend they were all Liberals and then you'd care about treason.
Posted by: Lipiwitz at October 02, 2009 04:14 AM (bhNGz)
I mean, he's annoying, yes, and "trolling" for reactions, but seems to believe the garbage he throws......
Posted by: Foxfier at October 02, 2009 10:10 AM (OtIqW)
Actually, you did know one initial fact, that this column was in Newsmax. A right-wing publication.
Posted by: Barry at October 02, 2009 03:15 PM (HaPIL)
Posted by: Lipiwitz at October 02, 2009 06:49 PM (OX5qU)
Lippy - Why don't you alert CY when you plan on having a reasonable debate and stop throwing around childish insults and contentless comments? That would be fun to watch but I doubt you can do it - you haven't demonstrated the intellectual chops so far that I've seen.
Posted by: daleyrocks at October 02, 2009 08:04 PM (3O5/e)
Your debating skills are as dazzling as your English skills.
You might "throw a reasonable debate," or "offer a reasonable debate" or several other ways of phrasing whatever you're trying to say-- as it stands, your question is incomprehensible without corrections that can greatly change the meaning.
Posted by: Foxfier at October 02, 2009 09:21 PM (OtIqW)
Posted by: Lipiwitz at October 03, 2009 12:14 AM (bhNGz)
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