As we close in on the first actual voting in Iowa, with actual voters, now just a few weeks away, I would like to register a few cautions.
I have addressed the limitations of polling before, but here want to say something about the use made of them by the chattering classes. Keep in mind that in a nation like ours, there are two wild card entries in every recurring scramble for power that we call elections. Those two wild cards are: 1. The voting public and 2. The chattering classes — those who would shape and mold public opinion.
It is not the case that the voters do whatever it is they will do, and the chattering classes simply comment on it. No — every election is a sumo wrestling contest between the electorate and those who would steer the electorate beforehand. Into this latter group I would place newspapers, cable networks, campaigns, superPACs, television pundits, authors, and ahem, bloggers.
The candidates are the counters in the poker game. The poker players on opposite sides of the table are the people and the elites. The candidates are those who may occupy the offices after the election, and so it is that we come to believe that this is where all the power is. We see what happens when we cash the chips in, and this is not insignificant. But the real game is earlier.
I am leaving out of this analysis the un-elected functionaries who make up the teeming population of our vast and illegal administrative state. I haven’t forgotten about them, but am simply leaving them out of this discussion for the time being.
There are any number of overlays to put on top of an election, and many of them are valid. But it is easy to see the clash between those who are voting for Candidate A and those voting for Candidate B. But I think a more telling contrast is to see the clash between those who do the voting and those who would shape the voting.
For example, now that it looks that Ted Cruz has a shot at taking Iowa, the hit stories about him are starting to appear. My point is that these stories are not just “appearing.” It is not the case that stories float into your Facebook feed from nowhere. These things are launched — from one group toward another. I do not mean from one campaign to another (although that happens also). I mean that the ruling elites want to exercise prior restraint over the choices on every ballot in every election. The roster of candidates that the rabble believe they should be able to select from is a slate with a much greater breadth than what we usually get. When an “unacceptable” candidate starts getting traction (as I believe we are seeing with Cruz), it is not long before you start seeing political freak outs.
The narrowing of options is usually brought about by the chattering class gatekeepers. I am talking about those who work in the tops of skyscrapers up and down our two blue coasts.
In order to extricate ourselves from the soft despotism that is swallowing us up, there will have to a be a series of (at least) three major battles. The first is the obvious one — I believe it was Sam Francis who named them the Evil Party and the Stupid Party. The second is the battle that needs to be joined in overthrowing the administrative state — the kind of people who prosecute ranchers under terrorism laws. And the last is what I have been addressing here — the people who vote and the people who try to teach them what votes are acceptable.
Ignore those people. If you live in Iowa, go to the caucuses with the full intention of being naughty.
I would be interested on your thoughts in this article from Mere Orthodoxy which compares Cruz and American Evangelical Politics in terms of Shakespearean characters.
http://mereorthodoxy.com/the-undead-religious-right-why-i-cannot-support-ted-cruz/
I’d second what Seth asked, could you address that article? Obviously there’s some stuff to pick at in his analysis, but some of those examples of Cruz’s opportunism felt like having a flag in church and singing the national anthem during communion. To put it generously.
Confused. Cruz would be my “nice” pick.
Nikki Haley’s recent behaviour reveals that it’s possible for a party to be both Evil and Stupid simultaneously.
Haha. Says the guy supporting Trump (a pro abortion Clinton funder).
cause republicans have done so much to prevent abortion…
Abortion rates are at an all time low since RoevWade. Republican states have major restrictions. Republicans are responsible for all the pro life Scotus judges. What are you talking about?
I live in Iowa and will be attending the caucuses on Feb 1. I wonder if there would be any benefit to explaining the differences between a caucus and a primary. A caucus is handled in more of a meeting format with any candidate having a spokesperson to explain to the others why theirs is the best person. It’s a time commitment that requires the candidate to make relationships with the voters and the captains of his or her caucus goers. There’s a lot of horse trading that goes on and a consensus second choice (think Rick Santorum last time… Read more »
Just curious, how is the voting done? In a normal election I go to the polls, mark the candidate I want, feed it into the machine, then I go home. Is a caucus more of a time commitment for the voters? Do they have to be there for an extended period of time? If so, how long?
As a proud Iowan, I fully intend to do things not approved by the Ministry of New-Think.
Thanks for pointing out that the members of the temporary government have a relatively small share of the power in the American system. The press and the permanent government are their masters, and ours.
Says the guy supporting the reality TV star who is on the news 24-7.
I don’t actually want Trump to be President.
Intriguing, though I actually had theories in that direction.
There’d be benefits to a Trump presidency. There are probably more benefits to a scenario where Trump is the clear favourite but Clinton gets into office instead.
What if there’s no apparent conspiracy and Clinton wins?
Reagan is purportedly the greatest president from the Right.
Perhaps Obama is the greatest president FOR the Right.
Any benefit to greater contrast and reaction against the left if Clinton wins honestly*?
*As honest as a Clinton is capable
Tough call. Anything that radicalizes the Right, that helps people feel betrayed and lied to by the entire system, is an improvement in my opinion. But a presidency that shifts the Overton window back to the right a little means my children will be older when the inevitable conflict comes… though it means more people are likely to keep their faith in the soundness of America.
Hah. You campaign more for a guy you do not want to be president than anyone I have ever met.
I think it’s important that Trump be the clear favourite, which reports so far suggest he is.
You want a reality TV star a big funder of Hillary CLinton to be the favourite. Cool.
I love it that Trump supporters think they are the independent thinkers. Trump is a reality TV star and celebrity who gets more press coverage than all the other candidates put together. Haha.
Sure, and that’s a lot of his appeal: he openly despises the press and has been able to say things that no one else could say. The Trump phenomenon has been very good for the right, and all the other Republicans, Cruz especially, have had to move rightwards to keep up with him.
On the one hand, a Trump presidency might give us more time to prepare for the coming war. On the other hand, it might put Christians back to sleep thinking the system is still sustainable and represents their interests.
Haha. I love that you think you can see two things:
1. The US is going to collapse
2. Trump (a reality TV star) is going to help things.
Do you realize how absolutely insane both of those predictions are?
No! Please inform me.
Ok. 1. You realize there are endless scenarios this country could have other than civil war? Here are a few. Option A: the US just continues down the mushy road of liberalism, our economy stagnates (like Japan) and our religion becomes less consistent or organized (like Africa). This is not a good option but not what you are suggesting. Option B: The US moves rightward. There have been plenty of times in history where there are religious revivals (e.g. Great Awakenings 1,2, 3 etc) and then there is the fact that deeply religious people tend to have much higher birth… Read more »
Becoming like Japan isn’t an option because America has too many non-Japanese people. Becoming like Africa is possible, but not without a war. The Great Awakenings certainly didn’t result in society moving rightward. Society moving rightward is a possibility. The current government moving rightward is not a possibility. Thus, war. Socialism is merely the acute manifestation of America’s chronic illness, known under various names such as “liberalism”, “classical liberalism”, or “democracy”. Electing Trump won’t fix anything — the problems the USA and its subjects have cannot be fixed by voting. He’s attacking some of the right targets, though, particularly the… Read more »
Haha. Yeah, the only possible result of our current situation is civil war. You are Nostradamus. And for someone who neither supports trump or thinks he will fix anything, you do quite a bit of campaigning for him.
By the way, in addition to attacking the press, he is attacking every freedom loving conservative in the Senate (e.g. Paul and Cruz). Trump is a reality TV star and a product of the press. His whole bit has been media created. He is not winning in spite of the media but because of them. Think about that for a while.
All presidential candidates are reality TV contestants and products of the press.
No….. you are mistaken (as usual). Trump is a TV star of the Apprentice. That is a reality TV show on NBC. None of the other candidates are reality TV stars.
The train is fine.
Haha. You are back to the idea that no outcome other than your wild prediction is possible.
You realize your confidence is insane right?
It’s OK. The train is fine.
The train is not fine. the US has plenty of problems. Your predictions are bat bleep crazy.
How is the presidential race different from a reality tv show?
Seriously? You think there is no difference?
Well production value for one.
Conspiracy theorists kill me. If the whole system is that rigged…. you would not know it.
What conspiracy?
Can Obama run again somehow? Or are you talking about Michelle?
These days every president is a reality TV star.
After Nicky Haley, can there be any doubt that it’s the “Evil Party” and the deceitful other “Evil Party”?
The sooner Christians free themselves from the voting paradigm, the more capable they will be of morally and intellectually leading society toward more God-honoring attitudes and behaviors. To stop voting and begin focusing more on actually adding value to the lives of those around us (which of course voting does not), all in the name of Christ, would allow us to serve as an example to the lost souls around us who don’t understand the fallibility of man and the corrupting influence of political power. We can show that true social justice does not come from filling in a bubble… Read more »
Social justice can only come about as Christians fulfill the Dominion Mandate first pronounced by God in the Garden of Eden. That includes taking dominion in all areas of life, including the political realm. This can be done by voting, running for office, declaring to the government what it means to rule in a Godly manner and proclaiming to those who govern the need for repentance and belief in the saving work of Christ. Government is to protect the governed from evil, and only God can properly define what evil is. Therefore those who govern will also be judged as… Read more »
It’s theoretically possible that conservative Constitutional reformed Christians could take over the government and move it toward a minimal “nightwatchman” role (still not the ideal, but 95% of the way there in my opinion), but we know that the likelihood of that happening is so small that we might as well considerate it nil. I hate to repeat the cliche, but it’s like trying to infiltrate the mafia and turn it into a charity. It is a hopelessly corrupt and Satanic institution. So why waste time trying to fix it? Why not substitute all the time we spend worrying about… Read more »
Leaving out only the fact that Jesus of Nazareth is The Archon which is, by the way the preeminent political position in the history of ever. And the Archon said to go make disciples of all the nations. I challenge anyone to show me a discipled nation whose laws and public policy do not reflect the gospel of Christ. He also said by the prophet David that he was sitting at the right hand of the Father until all His enemies were His footstool, (he only has enemies on this planet as far as I know), and He said occupy… Read more »
It all depends on what you mean by “civic activity.” Above I stated the importance of Christians engaging and adding value to their communities and churches. That’s meaningful civic participation, far more meaningful than filling in a bubble.
Ben, since you blog more than you vote, you might consider “freeing your self from the blogging paradigm”.
Then you could use your ” God-given abilities to find and meet needs.”
That would be “true kingdom living,” would it not? ; – )
But blogging isn’t meaningless. Are you saying what Doug does is meaningless? Does blogging not add value in some way to those who read it, even if they disagree?
“Ben, since you blog more than you vote,….”
Who is the subject of the above line? ; – )
Anyway:
Ecclesiastes 12
13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
Cruz is not a natural born citizen plain and simple. Vote Rand.
Down with the Bureaucratic Party.