Unca Darrell

February 26, 2019 / Henninger's thumbnail history of . . .

. . . the transformation of Democrats into socialists.

The Democratic left re-emerged in the 1960s and ’70s, pushing the party outside political and cultural norms with street protests, antiwar marches and . . .

January 20 / Oh happy day!

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA is no longer president of the United States. And . . . 

Now to NOVEMBER 8 / Closed: Unca Darrell will vote for . . .

. . . one of the worst human beings and presidential candidates in American history, Donald John Trump. Here's why: 

JULY 26 / Good thing we have a Nobel Peace Prize laureate . . .

. . . in the Oval Office to sort out these problems.

From The Economist of July 23:

[Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,] is fast destroying . . .

JULY 22 / "I alone can fix it," sayeth . . .

. . . Donald John Trump in his acceptance speech. In context, “No one knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.” 

Okay, class, for your mid-term examination, reconcile Mr. Trump's statement with:

The theory of limited government embodied in . . . 

JULY 22 / "I alone can fix it," sayeth . . .

. . . Donald John Trump in his acceptance speech. In context, “No one knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.” 

Okay, class, for your mid-term examination, reconcile this statement with:

The theory of limited government embodied in . . .

. . . the United States Constitution, as expressed through the tri-partite structure of the federal government and the shared sovereignty of the federal-state system. Pay particular attention to the word alone.

Classic principles of liberalism (in the good sense of the word), with particular emphasis on consent of the governed and the rule of law.

Reaganism, with particular emphasis on the question of whether government is the principal engine of human advancement, a barrier to human advancement, or something in between. 

Any concept of mental health you may wish to define and advocate, with particular emphasis on whether this statement is better evidence of healthy self-confidence or narcissistic personality disorder.

Barack Hussein Obama, with a comparison a Mr. Trump's and Mr. Obama's theories of presidential power.

You may open your blue books. Good luck.

 

JULY 5 / Henninger on Brexit

Brexit is shorthad for "government is the problem." 

JUNE 1 / The national Democrats abandoned Texas in . . .

. . . 1972, and Texas returned the favor, with 2.3 million votes for Richard Milhous Nixon and 1.2 for George Stanley McGovern, precursor of the progressivism of today's national party.

Yet Democrats, the traditional party of 20th-century one-party Texas, easily swept statewide elections. Uvalde rancher Dolph Briscoe was elected governor after having dispatched a red hot McGovernite progressive -- Frances "Sissy" Farenthold -- in the Democratic primary. This bit from his excellent 2008 memoir recalls the political dynamics of that volatile year.

I went to the national convention in Miami as an uncommitted delegate, but I also was a vigorous opponent of Senator McGovern's candidacy. I opposed McGovern for several reasons. I was upset by . . .

 

MARCH 31 / "Trump Is Obama Squared"

THIS IS THE HEADLINE of Bret Stephens's excellent Tuesday column in The Wall Street Journal. Snips:

Donald Trump is Barack Obama squared. Not as a matter of rhetorical style, where the president is glib and grammatical, while the developer is . . .

MARCH 21 / Back in aught-eight a Houston campaign office . . .

. . . for presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama posted a Cuban -- not an American -- flag on the wall. Superimposed on the flag was the iconic image of mass murderer Ernesto Guevara, "Che" to his admirers in dorm rooms, faculty lounges, taxpayer-financed offices of Acorn and other "community" organizations, and other hard-left precincts.

 

For the Obama campaign, this visual gaffe was a problem. The candidate's hard-left ideology was to be gauzed over, not boldly advertised. The truth had to be . . .