John David Dyche: "U. S. Culture Is Decadent And Decaying." That About Sums It Up.
Republicans need a leader like England's Cameron
By John David Dyche
The bond between Great Britain and the United States has long been called a “special relationship.” President Obama sometimes seems determined to demote England among our allies. but from royal weddings to Premier League soccer, from the BBC to The Economist, and from Simon Cowell to Ricky Gervais, Americans apparently have an insatiable interest in the nation from which this one emerged.
Consider, for example, England's place in the dramatic entertainment that is currently popular in its former colonies. “Downton Abbey,” perhaps the most popular series in English television history, just finished a fantastic first season on American public television. It brilliantly portrays the rapidly changing social situation in England before World War I.
In cinema, “The King's Speech” is deservedly earning extraordinary acclaim at America's innumerable film award programs. It powerfully depicts King George VI overcoming his speech impediment as Britain heads into World War II.
Perhaps these productions are popular here now because America's present position is much like England's was then. Having been the world's premier economic and military power after vanquishing Napoleonic France and through the Victorian Era's Pax Britannica, England was in decline. The sun was slowly but surely setting on its empire.
America is economically enfeebled by debt, much of it held by a rising and increasingly aggressive China. We depend on the unstable Middle East for our energy supply. The limits of U.S. military power are apparent from prolonged struggles against primitive Muslim extremists.
U. S. culture is decadent and decaying. A paralyzed political system appears incapable of the bold, bipartisan action the dire circumstances so clearly demand. Future historians may wonder, as John F. Kennedy did of England, why America slept as the storm clouds gathered.
Today's Britain is far ahead of America in facing up to undeniable harsh fiscal and social realities. Last year's elections forced a coalition of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, and the unlikely alliance has functioned fairly well.
Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron promptly produced an austerity program of the sort America desperately needs. Cameron confronts critics from his own party in implementing his “Big Society” agenda to reduce government's writ and return power to the people.
He has also courageously declared state multiculturalism a failure. “We need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years,” he says, “and much more active, muscular liberalism.” Cameron advocates that all immigrants learn English and all schools teach “elements of a common culture and curriculum.”
Republicans could use someone like the articulate, intelligent and telegenic Cameron to combat the statism and cultural indifference of Obama and congressional Democrats. As the GOP begins its quadrennial rite of picking less than the best possible presidential candidate, few plausible prospects are on the horizon.
Most Republican contenders carry politically fatal flaws. Mitt Romney is synthetic; Newt Gingrich is burdened with political baggage; Sarah Palin is too polarizing; Mike Huckabee is too closely connected to the Religious Right; Ron Paul is unelectable; John Thune lacks passion; and Haley Barbour is too cartoonishly Southern.
But there may be a potential continental Cameron among a trio of current or former governors: Indiana's Mitch Daniels, Utah's Jon Huntsman and Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty.
Daniels calls debt the new Red Menace, says “big change requires big majorities,” and says Republicans will “need people who never tune in to Rush or Glenn or Laura or Sean,” prominent right-wing radio talkers. His call for a “truce” on social issues while addressing fiscal ones has created considerable controversy.
Huntsman, a wealthy Mormon like Romney, is unknown nationally and politically moderate. Some conservatives consider him tainted by association with Obama, having served as ambassador to China until recently resigning.
Pawlenty looks a little like Cameron. He boasts a blue-collar background, built a solid record leading a “blue” state and deftly bridges the gap between economic and social conservatives. A populist, Pawlenty says the GOP needs “to be the party of Sam's Club, not just the country club.”
We can still slow, if not altogether stop, America's slide. To avoid England's fate from the last century, we must find brave and visionary leadership like England's today.
John David Dyche is a Louisville attorney who writes a political column on alternating Tuesdays in Forum His views are his own, not those of the law firm in which he practices. Read him on-line at www.courier-journal.com; e-mail: jddyche@yahoo.com.
Editor's comment (to JDD): Wonderful piece. I don’t know much about Cameron, but I agree wholeheartedly with your analyses. We are on the same page, though I’m NOT enthused about TPaw. Another point: Barbour has a race issue!
By John David Dyche
The bond between Great Britain and the United States has long been called a “special relationship.” President Obama sometimes seems determined to demote England among our allies. but from royal weddings to Premier League soccer, from the BBC to The Economist, and from Simon Cowell to Ricky Gervais, Americans apparently have an insatiable interest in the nation from which this one emerged.
Consider, for example, England's place in the dramatic entertainment that is currently popular in its former colonies. “Downton Abbey,” perhaps the most popular series in English television history, just finished a fantastic first season on American public television. It brilliantly portrays the rapidly changing social situation in England before World War I.
In cinema, “The King's Speech” is deservedly earning extraordinary acclaim at America's innumerable film award programs. It powerfully depicts King George VI overcoming his speech impediment as Britain heads into World War II.
Perhaps these productions are popular here now because America's present position is much like England's was then. Having been the world's premier economic and military power after vanquishing Napoleonic France and through the Victorian Era's Pax Britannica, England was in decline. The sun was slowly but surely setting on its empire.
America is economically enfeebled by debt, much of it held by a rising and increasingly aggressive China. We depend on the unstable Middle East for our energy supply. The limits of U.S. military power are apparent from prolonged struggles against primitive Muslim extremists.
U. S. culture is decadent and decaying. A paralyzed political system appears incapable of the bold, bipartisan action the dire circumstances so clearly demand. Future historians may wonder, as John F. Kennedy did of England, why America slept as the storm clouds gathered.
Today's Britain is far ahead of America in facing up to undeniable harsh fiscal and social realities. Last year's elections forced a coalition of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, and the unlikely alliance has functioned fairly well.
Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron promptly produced an austerity program of the sort America desperately needs. Cameron confronts critics from his own party in implementing his “Big Society” agenda to reduce government's writ and return power to the people.
He has also courageously declared state multiculturalism a failure. “We need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years,” he says, “and much more active, muscular liberalism.” Cameron advocates that all immigrants learn English and all schools teach “elements of a common culture and curriculum.”
Republicans could use someone like the articulate, intelligent and telegenic Cameron to combat the statism and cultural indifference of Obama and congressional Democrats. As the GOP begins its quadrennial rite of picking less than the best possible presidential candidate, few plausible prospects are on the horizon.
Most Republican contenders carry politically fatal flaws. Mitt Romney is synthetic; Newt Gingrich is burdened with political baggage; Sarah Palin is too polarizing; Mike Huckabee is too closely connected to the Religious Right; Ron Paul is unelectable; John Thune lacks passion; and Haley Barbour is too cartoonishly Southern.
But there may be a potential continental Cameron among a trio of current or former governors: Indiana's Mitch Daniels, Utah's Jon Huntsman and Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty.
Daniels calls debt the new Red Menace, says “big change requires big majorities,” and says Republicans will “need people who never tune in to Rush or Glenn or Laura or Sean,” prominent right-wing radio talkers. His call for a “truce” on social issues while addressing fiscal ones has created considerable controversy.
Huntsman, a wealthy Mormon like Romney, is unknown nationally and politically moderate. Some conservatives consider him tainted by association with Obama, having served as ambassador to China until recently resigning.
Pawlenty looks a little like Cameron. He boasts a blue-collar background, built a solid record leading a “blue” state and deftly bridges the gap between economic and social conservatives. A populist, Pawlenty says the GOP needs “to be the party of Sam's Club, not just the country club.”
We can still slow, if not altogether stop, America's slide. To avoid England's fate from the last century, we must find brave and visionary leadership like England's today.
John David Dyche is a Louisville attorney who writes a political column on alternating Tuesdays in Forum His views are his own, not those of the law firm in which he practices. Read him on-line at www.courier-journal.com; e-mail: jddyche@yahoo.com.
Editor's comment (to JDD): Wonderful piece. I don’t know much about Cameron, but I agree wholeheartedly with your analyses. We are on the same page, though I’m NOT enthused about TPaw. Another point: Barbour has a race issue!
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