Also according to Ye Olde NYT, 81% in Poll Say Nation Is on the Wrong Track.

But wait. Saying the country is on the wrong track can mean any number of different things.

While the story says this “unhappiness presents clear risks for Republicans in this year’s elections,” and offers some anecdotal evidence to back up that claim, surely a lot of Americans—specifically, the Republican ones—worry that the country is headed in the wrong direction precisely because of stories like this one:

Bullhockey.

You said “why bring it up” ?  Hopefully not as bait to get you biting and snapping, but then I’ve been guilty of worse I’m sure.

Seriously, any post is like a chum line trailing out behind the boat, R. Smith the hungry shark. You have been on a rant and rave excursion lately.

Beyond that, I said his speech was “brimming with irony”. I meant it literally. There was no special subversive political message to speak of, just an observation.

By the way, I think there was an excellent probability he had the disease then, which makes his words eerily prophetic.

Also, he was a partyline conservative.

You should be the first to admit that support for civil rights is bipartisan, and entirely consistent with the finest attributes of conservative thinking, just as it fits equally well or better with liberal thinking as well.

The fact that he was out ahead of the curve was not anti-conservative. It was a reflection of his vision and his character. He was very much the partyline conservative.

Weak try.

If his religion is a non issue, why bring it up?

If you don’t know whether or not he had a disiese, why bring it up?

He was obviously NOT a party line conservative. His early support for civil rights put him ahead of both party line libs and conservatives.

and there are no phoney words, just phoney people. That’s the one point you did get right.

R.Smith,

You gleefully if not entirely viciously misinterpreted every single thing I said:

1) Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease. The Mayo Clinic site says usually 7-10 years. He died from end stage Alzheimers, meaning he had been stricken for quite some time.

It is entirely within the bounds of possibility he had it at the time he made the quote. Since it is difficult to diagnose, you don’t get officially diagnosed until the memory loss is sometimes quite significant.

2) I never said he was “ashamed” of his religion. Only noted the irony in his Jewishness, and my sources that he was Jewish are dubious. Plus, regardless if he was or not, does not make him any more or less anti-Semite. 

Big non-issue. You picked up on that part well enough.

3) I didn’t say anything at all to dismiss Snow.  The fact that Heston quoted him underscores Heston’s conservative credentials, not Snow’s link to Bush.

What does that have to do with Bush ? Only that Heston was a partyline conservative, nothing more, and nothing at all not common knowledge or open to question.

4) Your rant on intellectualism has nothing to do with what I said.

I was quoting Heston himself, in turn quoting a conservative author within a specific context which Heston elaborated on.  Are you saying conservative intellectuals are vain narcissistic phonies ? No, I think not. Doubt it anyway.

You just needed the excuse to go off on a rant about intellectuals.

My point was that Heston was bending definitions himself in the service of ideology.

4) The fact that Heston kissed a black chick and supported MLK is good, yet not as earthshaking often made out (pun intended).

If I kiss a black chick, will that make me Moses too ? (just asking) (prolly make me the devil)

It does lend credence, like his stand on the 2nd Amendment, to him having strong character. I’m not saying he was either right or wrong, only that he had strong character, and that is a part of his legacy.

He came out for civil rights early on and he made gun rights a cause celebre. Oh wait, I’m using “phony” words. Sorry. He made gun rights a big deal.

5) I don’t remember Omega Man. Some of his acting was kinda wooden to be honest. I do remember Soylent Green, more for the movie than for Heston.

He was fantastic in those religious epics though. Ben Hur he be.

From 10 Commandments: “So let it be written. So let it be said.”

Well, since that “senile” quote was written 10 years ago...long bfore the onset of oldtimers disease, that pretty much renders the “irony” moot.

I could accuse Ed of being senile and, one day, he likely will be. That doesn’t make such a criticism honest today.

Jewish? Never heard that one. Maybe you’re thinking of Rock Hudson. There’s nothing in Heston’s background that would lead me to believe he would be ashamed of his religion. Moses and Ben Hur were both jewish roles.

Heston marched with King and was the first big name star to make out with a black chic on screen in The Omega Man.

And dismissing Snow’s remarks because he would ultimately work for Bush betrays that not so centrist core that we keep hearing doesn’t really exist. Snow is a bright guy. if you disagree with him, fine, but there’s no need to whisper “Bush...Buush...Buuuuuuush” to discredit what he says.

As for intellectuals...that’s what’s great about being one. They’re like artists. Anybody can be one just by proclaiming themselves to be. Since there are no standards. If you get enough idiots to proclaim something intelletual, than POOF! it is! Just like art.

And rounding up idiots is easy because the heart of intellectualism isn’t truth or knowledge...it’s image and vanity.

That Charlton Heston speech was brimming with irony.

“I serve as a moving target for the media who’ve called me everything from “ridiculous” and “duped” to a “brain-injured, senile, crazy old man.” I know, I’m pretty old, but I sure Lord ain’t senile.”

Altzheimers, the disease that killed him, is premature senility.

“drew an analogy between singling out the innocent Jews and singling out innocent gun owners, I was called an anti-Semite.”

Some say he was Jewish but concealed his identity in an early era Hollywood, where such was common. Not sure that was true. Might not have been Jewish.

“new anti-intellectual theories regularly twisted on us—foisted on us from every direction. Underneath, the nation is roiling.”

He quoted “The End of Sanity,” Martin Gross - true enough, but who is to say what is “anti-intellectual” and what is not ?

“As columnist Tony Snow wrote:”

Later to become press secretary Tony Snow, the same guy.

10 Commandments and Ben Hur were great epics. He was excellent in Ben Hur. Great in 10 Commandments too but upstaged by the incomparable Yul Brynner as Ramses.  Planet of the Apes was not one of my favorites.  Goofy men in rubber suits speaking platitudes.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/charltonhestonculturalwar.htm

Larry makes a good point, although I see it as much deeper than just our innovativeness. (is that a word? is NOW)

We’ve been hammered for the better part of a decade by outlets like the NYT’s on how much we suck as a nation. We’re racist, we’re ignorant, none of the hip countries like us, none of the despotic dictatorships like us, we’re fat, we’re greedy, we don’t daily sacrifice a chicken at the foot of the Al Gore statue that not every town has yet erected. It’s the ol’ “hearts and minds” strategy only with a twist. To defeat the hated Bush, we must first crush the hearts and minds of the country.

Plus...it’s the height of cool to be depressed and cynical these days. Cynicism indicates intellectual depth, or at least a good substitute for same.

Ironically, the 80% number is roughly the same as the number of people who no longer trust those who are telling us how much we suck...the media! As well as those who think congress also sucks.

Bush is actully doing pretty good by comparison with around 33% approval. If he’d knock the snot out’ve a White House pressie, I bet he’d break 50% within 10 minutes.

We don’t feel like we’re headed in the right direction because no one knows what direction we’re headed in. There’s no unity of purpose...just a bunch of hyperactive brats all paddling in their own direction too busy hating each other to notice the falls are getting way too close. Not that it would matter because half the paddlers refuse to even admit the falls exist.

And if these people (pundito’s) were half as smart as they like to think they are then they’d know how stupid it is to make such predictions. It was only 5 years ago that people were saying the exact same thing about the democrat party.

So we sit here and pout...like house pets...fed, fat, plenty of squeeze toys but utterly miserable because we can see the outside dogs having a ball thru the window but realize we no longer have the courage to step out the door and join ‘em.

Maybe master will bring us home a treat to help us forget how pathetic we’ve become!

Yes of course we’re on the wrong track, but the reason has little (if anything) to do with political parties. In other words, the problems that I see are everyone’s fault on both sides. As a nation we are not thinking right.

We used to be innovative leaders. Things—namely industrial & technological developments—would happen here first and then other nations would later catch on.

But unfortunately our focus lately has been on how to emulate OTHER countries. I can cite specifically the baseless new trend of getting our kids to perform just as well as the Vietnamese, at mathematics. (Question: Why?) The are many other examples too.

“We need to be more like...”

Its this type of thinking that put us on the wrong track. We’re going downhill fast. A bunch of lazy followers is what we are.

Bill,

Wrong. Firstly, I don’t think most Dems blame Bush for everything, but he has more than enough mistakes notched into his belt, so I can’t see why anyone would want to defend him either. What has he done right ? Roger is 50/50 meaning Bush was right half the time. I find that exceeedingly generous.

Secondly, the Dems have NOT been in control of Congress the entire time. They did not come into power until late in Bush’s two terms, so the Reps had the keys to the Emerald City for most of that time. Neither party has enough majority to ignore the other on any but the most partisan of agendas.

Where was Pelosi ? Like any freshman Congress, she came on like gangbusters initially, with the 100 tasks or whatever the heck they called it, but most of them faded into bleak reality. A few were passed.

Right now, it is too close to an election to see much progress on anything other than the most imminent and urgent threats requiring the utmost leadership.  Congress is united in at least a show of force on the subprime crisis. No one quite sure what that will translate into. It is Congress we are speaking of after all.

It would be easy to think I oppose Bush on most everything since he is the president, and if he did not cause these problems all by himself, he can certainly use his leadership to do something about them.

However, we must be realists. A lame duck president can only do just so much.

Much of the opposition to Bush, if just and realistic, should be for past mistakes, and should be directed at ill advised policies that Republicans are still reluctant to part with, regardless if they never worked.

Bush can not wave a magic wand, not this late in his presidency. However, the Republicans could abandon misfortunate policies like “unfettered markets” and “no regulations” and “no EPA, no FDA, no FAA, no FEMA, no nothing...”, but I don’t see any evidence that is happening.

You are right Bill. We should not blame the president. We should blame the whole sorry lot of them, but we shouldn’t forget who set the stage for all this debacle (and yes, I realize some problems date all the way back to Clinton if not before).

Why didn’t we handle it back then ? Well, it didn’t melt down during Clinton’s term, for one thing. Rightly or wrongly, all this happened on Bush’s watch. You should not blame him for things he is not capable of fixing but you should watch the policy decisions very closely.

The Dems keep blaming Bush for - well, everything - but specifically for things like the cost of gasoline, the subprime mortgage meltdown, the subsequent credit crunch, the current economy, increasing unemployment, etc.

Interestingly, the Dems have been in control of Congress during the entire period that all of these things have transpired.  Congress wield the legislative and therefore regulatory power, not the Pres.  Wherefore has been Madame Pelosi and her party, who promised the “most honest, most ethical and most open” Congress ever?

Too busy investigating which baseball players got their bums needled with steroids to investigate and regulate the mortgage lending industry or enact meaningful legislation encouraging alternative sources of fuels or alternative energy?

Ah yes, but the crumbing economy and impending recession is entirely the fault of Republicans…

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