Rahm and Hagel Sittin' in a Tree K.I.S.S.I.N.G

I wrote this article, right after the 2008 elections—Like many of the articles I wrote in the early days of my blog, it is no longer available for download. I am re-posting it now because I will be referring to it in an upcoming article and I want people to have it as a frame of reference.

 Thursday, November 20, 2008

America your country is about to change radically, and quickly. Rahm Emanuel President-elect Obama’s incoming White House Chief of Staff; while speaking to the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council, a gathering designed to gauge corporate opinion on the issues facing the new administration, makes some rather revealing remarks.

Emanuel makes the statement; “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” In making that statement, Rahm is letting the lacy fringe of his Hegelian slip show. Emanuel went on to say; “This crisis provides for us the opportunity to do things that you could not do before”

Rahm Emanuel is espousing the philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, a nineteenth century philosopher who influenced the thinking and actions of men like Marx, Engels, Mussolini and Hitler. With these simple statements, Emanuel gives us an insight into the philosophy undergirding the style of government we can expect from the next administration, and maybe a little insight into how we arrived at this point in American history.

Hegel’s philosophy is based on what is called triadic structure by people smarter than myself. You have a thesis (idea), antithesis (competing idea), synthesis (melding of the ideas or solution) Noted Author of books for children Shel Silverstein offers a brilliantly simple illustration:

How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes

If you have to dry the dishes, 
 Such an awful boring chore, 
 But if you have to dry the dishes, 
 'Stead of going to the store, 
 If you have to dry the dishes, 
 And you drop one on the floor, 
 Then maybe they won't let you dry the dishes anymore.

To give you an idea of how Hegel’s philosophy was used by Marx and communism, I offer the following excerpt from “The Worldly Philosophers” by Robert L. Heilbroner, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1953, revealing the economic, political, spiritual, and social scope of the Hegelian Dialectic.

"Materialism by itself would reduce ideas to mere passive accompaniments of economic activity. That was not Marx's contention. For the new theory was dialectical as well as materialist: it envisaged change, constant and inherent change; and in that never-ending flux the ideas emanating from one period would help to shape another. "Men make their own history,” wrote Marx. But the dialectical--the changing--aspect of this theory of history did not depend merely on the interplay of ideas and social structures. There was another and far more powerful agent at work. The economic world itself was changing; the ultimate reality on which the structure of ideas was built was itself constantly in flux.”

Deft and covert hands utilized by minds that have formulated the ends before introducing the crisis often guide “Flux,” Hitler used his own Brown Shirts to spread chaos and violence throughout Berlin. He then offered himself as the solution to that chaos and when he was given the power to act by a compliant city, he simply ordered his men to stop spreading the chaos and violence. The denizens of Berlin being unaware of Hitler’s machinations, hailed him as a deliverer.

The reason the liberals have power today is the systematic application of the Hegelian dialectic. It was the economic crisis that swept the liberals into power. I submit that the crisis was cultivated by purposeful congressional inaction under the leadership of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

With the increasing success of the surge and a lack of bad news from Iraq, (notice how the war is almost completely off the radar) it was clear that they could not win the White House on the anti-war platform that propelled them to Congressional power in 2006, especially since they hadn’t kept the promises they made to get the majority in the first place. Not to mention an approval rating lower than that of President Bush. It should also be noted that Rahm served on Freddie Mac’s Board of Directors not long before the collapse.

Before the Democratic congressional takeover the economy despite the work the mainstream media puts in to persuade the public otherwise, was going along swimmingly. We had six straight years of economic growth an average unemployment figure of 5.2 % with a low of 4.1% and record highs on the Dow.

 This crisis began with the collapse of the GSEs, a collapse that could have been avoided if the Democratic congress had acted according to the recommendations made by the President as early as 2001 and dealt with Freddie and Fannie.

Facts compiled from the White House official website

2001

April: The Administration's FY02 budget declares that the size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is "a potential problem," because "financial trouble of a large GSE could cause strong repercussions in financial markets, affecting federally insured entities and economic activity."

2002

May: The President calls for the disclosure and corporate governance principles contained in his 10-point plan for corporate responsibility to apply to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  (OMB Prompt Letter to OFHEO, 5/29/02)

2007

July: Two Bear Stearns hedge funds invested in mortgage securities collapse.

August: President Bush emphatically calls on Congress to pass a reform package for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying "first things first when it comes to those two institutions.  Congress needs to get them reformed, get them streamlined, get them focused, and then I will consider other options."  (President George W. Bush, Press Conference, The White House, 8/9/07)

September: RealtyTrac announces foreclosure filings up 243,000 in August – up 115 percent from the year before. 

September: Single-family existing home sales decreases 7.5 percent from the previous month – the lowest level in nine years.  Median sale price of existing homes fell six percent from the year before.

December: President Bush again warns Congress of the need to pass legislation reforming GSEs, saying "These institutions provide liquidity in the mortgage market that benefits millions of homeowners, and it is vital they operate safely and operate soundly. So I've called on Congress to pass legislation that strengthens independent regulation of the GSEs – and ensures they focus on their important housing mission.  The GSE reform bill passed by the House earlier this year is a good start.  But the Senate has not acted.  And the United States Senate needs to pass this legislation soon."  (President George W. Bush, Discusses Housing, The White House, 12/6/07)

2008

January: Bank of America announces it will buy Countrywide.

January: Citigroup announces mortgage portfolio lost $18.1 billion in value.

February: Assistant Secretary David Nason reiterates the urgency of reforms, says, "A new regulatory structure for the housing GSEs is essential if these entities are to continue to perform their public mission successfully."  (David Nason, Testimony On Reforming GSE Regulation, Senate Committee On Banking, Housing And Urban Affairs, 2/7/08)

March: Bear Stearns announces it will sell itself to JPMorgan Chase. 

March: President Bush calls on Congress to take action and "move forward with reforms on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They need to continue to modernize the FHA, as well as allow State housing agencies to issue tax-free bonds to homeowners to refinance their mortgages."  (President George W. Bush, Remarks To The Economic Club Of New York, New York, NY, 3/14/08)

April: President Bush urges Congress to pass the much-needed legislation and "modernize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. [There are] constructive things Congress can do that will encourage the housing market to correct quickly by … helping people stay in their homes."  (President George W. Bush, Meeting With Cabinet, the White House, 4/14/08)

May: President Bush issues several pleas to Congress to pass legislation reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the situation deteriorates further. 

• "Americans are concerned about making their mortgage payments and keeping their homes. Yet Congress has failed to pass legislation I have repeatedly requested to modernize the Federal Housing Administration that will help more families stay in their homes, reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ensure they focus on their housing mission, and allow State housing agencies to issue tax-free bonds to refinance sub-prime loans." (President George W. Bush, Radio Address, 5/3/08) 


• "[T]he government ought to be helping creditworthy people stay in their homes. And one way we can do that – and Congress is making progress on this – is the reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That reform will come with a strong, independent regulator."  (President George W. Bush, Meeting With The Secretary Of The Treasury, the White House, 5/19/08)


• "Congress needs to pass legislation to modernize the Federal Housing Administration, reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ensure they focus on their housing mission, and allow State housing agencies to issue tax-free bonds to refinance subprime loans."  (President George W. Bush, Radio Address, 5/31/08)


June: As foreclosure rates continued to rise in the first quarter, the President once again asks Congress to take the necessary measures to address this challenge, saying "we need to pass legislation to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."  (President George W. Bush, Remarks At Swearing In Ceremony For Secretary Of Housing And Urban Development, Washington, D.C., 6/6/08)

July: Congress heeds the President's call for action and passes reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as it becomes clear that the institutions are failing.

Yet the mainstream press has laid this crisis at the feet of President Bush. And an ill informed public has swallowed their story hook line and sinker, just as the people of Germany took Hitler’s bait.

The teachings of Hegel have been fashionably debated, embraced and implemented by the “intelligentsia” for over a century, particularly the politically radical and those with a penchant for socialism and fascism as Mr. Obama admits he shares an affinity for.

As my liberal friends are so fond of saying: “follow the money.” When it comes to Freddie and Fannie ask yourself; how is it that Barack Obama received $105,849 in just two years from Freddie and Fannie? The only recipients of higher contributions from Freddie and Fannie, where Chris Dodd at $133,900 and John Kerry at $111,000 It took them many more years to get that much from the GSEs. All of the top three are democrats, in fact of the top #10, 7 are Democrats Hillary was #4 at $75,550 the first Republican on the list shows up at #6 Robert Bennett At $61,499.

Make no mistake; the Democrat party’s agenda is radical. They and those who agree with them will stop at nothing to remake this country into one that matches they’re thinking and as we on the right know, liberal thinking does not suffer conflicting ideas gladly. We already see the stifling of debate on issues like climate change and intelligent design. As the high priestess of liberal fascism Arriana Huffington demonstrates in this video. Tucker Carlson is stunned as Arriana proves his point. 

(Video no longer available)

Arriana Huffington gives the surest example of anti-intellectualism that one could hope to find. This is the spirit that permeates the left. The left knows that if they are going to be able to solidify their power they cannot allow any contrasting light to shine on their flawed notions. The policies enacted as a result of the left’s spurious assertions are, and will be the hammers used to close the shackles about the limbs of an unaware people.

Digital Publius