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October 29, 2005The Art of the Painless CoupPeggy Noonan wrote a piece yesterday in the WSJ that made many people unhappy - some found it defeatist, some found it reminiscent of Jimmy Carter’s “malaise” speech, some found it downright paranoid and semi-hysterical. I found it to be none of those things. My impression, as one Long Island Irish Catholic Girl reading another, was that Noonan is on to something, but she’s not quite there with it. Perhaps that is because the next step to “there” is a step any successful and credible public figure would be very cautious about taking - it is a step toward the Eternal, toward things seen and unseen. To take such a step is to risk reputation and a life-time of work. I don’t blame her for not taking it. I however, am not a successful and credible public figure, and I have no reputation to risk. Like Groucho, I have no wish to belong to any club that would have me, and so I can dare to walk where Ms. Noonan could not. Noonan expressed her belief that, subconsciously, Americans are wandering through their days with a sense of things being, “Off the tracks and hurtling forward, toward an unknown destination.” Everything…A sense of unreality in our courts so deep that they think they can seize grandma’s house to build a strip mall; our media institutions imploding…Senators who seem owned by someone, actually owned, by an interest group or a financial entity. Great churches that have lost all sense of mission, and all authority. Do you have confidence in the CIA? The FBI? I didn’t think so. A sense of unreality…yes…and illusions, too. Some might argue that what is coming “off the tracks” are the easy illusions of 20th century America: The perhaps naive notions that our elected leaders actually seek office to serve the public good. That the press is interested only in presenting the truth, no matter what. That our courts are peopled with lofty higher beings and geniuses who know better than the rest of us. That our churches are both safe havens and by-ways to heaven. There was a time in America when all of those statements would have been accepted at face value. In our nation’s babyhood we believed and we trusted all the parent figures - the governments, the courts, the press, the churches. Now, past infancy, we have come to look upon those institutions with the glare of adolescent angst. We’ve observed enough to understand that those in authority over us are not the paragons of perfection we’d so looked up to as toddlers. We see them flawed, weak, seducable, wholly human and fallible, and like good adolescents who have caught Mom and Dad lying or stumbling drunk, we at first sneered about it and gave some voice to our sense of betrayal. Now, we’re merely numb. Since our “parents” in these authoritative roles have proven themselves to be mere creatures, and not heroes, well, we’ve turned up the volume on our ipods, buried ourselves in our trendy lambskin coats and shut our doors to them. Our older siblings are observing this behavior with a measure of satisfaction. I am not talking about our cousins across the Atlantic. I mean the “elites” whom Noonan writes have decided to find their “seperate peace” in all of this. She writes: You’re a lobbyist or a senator or a cabinet chief, you’re an editor at a paper or a green-room schmoozer, you’re a doctor or lawyer or Indian chief, and you’re making your life a little fortress. That’s what I think a lot of the elites are up to. Here is where I think Noonan falls a little short. These elites are not simply milling about waiting for “the next chapter of trouble.” I think in too many cases, they - like troubled eldest siblings, the “First Children” who have never quite gotten over the subsequent additions to the family - have been actively fomenting chapter after chapter of trouble, for some 40 years. They are complacently building little fortresses, but they are doing so for a reason. Having written all of these chapters of trouble, they are feeling quite confident that their story is solidly structured, and they are ready for the dénouement they have planned. The anticipation of their surprise ending is making them almost giddy. The ending, of course, is the coup d’état. Believing that the rest of us, now disillusioned, are no longer clinging to romantic ideals of honor, or truth or nobility, these always-restless First Children, devoted to deconstruction, believe they are about to take down the presidency, the churches, the “old” government and even the “old” media. They expect to put into place something “brand new.” But believe me when I tell you what they are building is older than dirt. And up from it. Which is why they will need their fortresses. Castro lives in one, too. They’ve been practicing all of this, by the way, perfecting the Art of the Painless Coup so thoroughly that most ordinary folks do not even realize what has occured. Over the past 40 years these hyperactive First Children have been pulling off small scale coups with varying levels of success. They managed to deconstruct the academies, so that education is less a broadening of knowledge than a narrowing of perspective. They have deconstructed the liturgy to insist that a pantomime in clownface is a vast improvement over 2000 year-old sacrament and liturgy. They have deconstructed government by constructing something so huge and unweildly that nothing coming out of it is reliable or dependable, and almost no one is accountable, either. They have deconstructed the press to the point where the truth of a story is less important than how it may be framed and spun. They have deconstructed the idea of fascism to mean “those democracies in Israel and America” rather than the freedom-suppressing regimes which surround them. And all the while they have been busily pulling things apart, they have kept the rest of the family distracted with the television, with the radio, with the cinema - any or all of which have instantly been called into service whenever someone got a little bored and looked around, wondering what these kids were up to. “Abortion?” said Aunt Sally, “Abortion is a terrible thing!” Suddenly every news story is about the grim circumstance of illegal abortion. Suddenly sitcoms are showing the way. “Well, if Maude had an abortion…maybe sometimes it’s a good thing…” “Free love,” sputtered Uncle Jim, “it’s immoral! It’s damaging to the family!” Suddenly every film hero or heroine is having free, uncomplicated, undamaging sex, and flashing some gratuitous T and A at Uncle Jim in the process. “I dunno,” he smiles to Aunt Sally as he settles back, “maybe it’s not all that bad…” Except that Aunt Sally, having been spoon-fed her enlightenment by media overrun with these busy First Children and their co-horts, is not around to hear him. She has taken off her bra, taken the pill and several dozen lovers, she has “found herself,” lost her children and moved in with her newest partner, Charlene. They own cats and attend drum circles. They protest whenever possible, because a good protest can validate almost any life-choice by pinpointing and naming an enemy, and declaring that enemy an oppressor and a villain, even if that villain is liberating men, women and children and trying to create a safer world. “An illusion!” They shout. “There is no liberation, there is no safer world, there is no nobility, no honor, no truth! All lies!” I will spare you the part where they strip down to their birthday suits and dance around, their sagging, pendulous breasts swaying out of sync with the drums. The First Children applaud Aunt Sally. They love the distraction she causes as they work feverishly on their coup. I think Ms. Noonan’s sense of things being “off-kilter,” is her own gut understanding that the painless coup is near, and perhaps she is not quite sure what might be done to prevent it. Well, one way to prevent the coup is to be utterly fearless and authentic in pronouncing the things we believe. Pope John Paul II made enormous headway against the Painless Coup which had gone so far as to turn our beautiful churches into bare concrete monstrosities (ready-made for quick-conversion into temples to secular reason) and he managed to reclaim the liturgy and renew appreciation for the Eucharist by repeating the truth over and over, with the reminder, “do not be afraid!” Thus so, we must repeat, over and over, that while illusions may well be all around us, some amorphous notions, like honor and freedom and truth, are still real. They are not just real, they are Eternal. We must repeat again and again that America’s honor is no illusion. Imperfect as it may be this is still the land to which - in large or small ways - every free nation owes its current liberty. This is the nation that has routinely sent its idealistic young men off to foreign lands, to die there, not for empire, not for real-estate, but for the protection and advancement of that unseen thing that is freedom, the strengthener of the human spirit, the burnisher of human potential. First Children and their motley co-horts aside, this is still the nation to which millions of creative or industrious person wishes to come, it is the nation to which the oppressed call out for rescue and relief. We must repeat, over and over, that the American Presidency is, like a papacy or a monarchy, larger than the person who occupies the office, and it is noble. The American President freed slaves when too many would not entertain the notion. The American President has carried the big stick used to overthrow tyrants and bullies both foreign and domestic. The American President has put his airmen to use to keep his vanquished enemies in Berlin from starving in a brutal winter, he has used his navy to bring aid after tsunami. The American President has dreamed great space voyages into reality, has opened closed markets, has encouraged a people to tear down walls. The American President has envisioned tens of millions of people raising purple fingertips to the sky, and made it so. We must repeat, over and over, that Liberty is the means by which we created creatures are meant to live and to grow and be. That Liberty lives in the Truth. That Liberty lives where people can speak freely, without fear of injury or reprisals. That Liberty lives only when the press is free and unencumbered - when it is detached from events instead of entwined in them. That Liberty lives when people refuse to be intimidated into silence or acquiescence, whether in the workplace or within the community. That Liberty is the fragile thing that diminishes whenever one refuses to acclaim it for oneself. In between all of those repetitions, we must do something else, if we are to stave off the Painless Coup. We are going to have to turn away from our distractions - the television, the radio, the magazines, the talkshows, the films, the fashions, the escapist entertainment, even the internet. We will have to turn away from these empty things - to make them smaller in our lives, where they and the popular culture now loom so large - and we are going to have to get quiet. A good musician knows that music is not created only by playing notes, but by understanding the spaces between the notes, and their value. Just so, it will not be enough to simply repeat what is true - if that is all we do, it will only add to the din - there must also be silence, in which to do our other, more powerful work. It is a cacophony of noise that fuels so many illusions, and allows those “chapters of trouble” to be so deftly written. The overstimulation of our senses has severely dulled our internal sensors. We have lost our bearings and our boundaries so profoundly that we are no longer guarded, interiorly, against scam-artists and tricksters. We have to get those bearings back - to find our centers and get back in touch with our “gut instincts,” which are there for a reason. And the way to get back to the center - to our center, our “gut” - is through prayer and meditation and contemplation. Prayer has power. No force can stand against it. Not even the force of a generation bearing down and driving hard against everything that came before itself. It is true that there are many illusions in the world. And on the world stage there stride some masters of the sleight-of-hand and the misdirection - you can recognise them because they are all of a mind, and of a piece, and they are all working different parts of the same trick. But if you can recognise a trick for what it is, you can prevail against it. And this is where the Eternal comes in - the things seen and unseen, which I mentioned earlier. An illusionist, no matter how masterful, is still peddling an illusion. He has nothing behind him but his crossed fingers. Prayer is no illusion, and one needn’t be a master to tap into its tremendous force. Even a novice may use it, although one does get stronger with practice and growth comes, for prayer is never stagnant. Aunt Sally has no idea how disposable she is, or how her raised consciousness has been a mere means to an end, another illusion. In the coming denouement, she and Charlene and poor old, befuddled Uncle Jim will be equally expendable, or useful only for keeping the lines straight. They will all be outside the “fortresses” of the elites, with the rest of us, if the Coup is permitted, if the First Children achieve their goal. So, it is time for the rest of us to turn off the ipods, shed the lambskin coat and come out of our self-imposed exile, ready to do battle. Things are indeed messed up and off-kilter. But no matter how much our parent figures in the government or the courts, or the churches or even the few grown-ups left in the press may embarrass us or disappoint, they’re still ours. They belong to us, and the bond is forever. And it is time to get busy. Even Sr. Lorraine thinks so! http://theanchoressonline.com/2005/10/29/the-art-of-the-painless-coup/trackback/ 28 Responses to “The Art of the Painless Coup” |
October 29th, 2005 at 6:32 am
Thanks, Anchoress. Prayer is the strongest force in the world, and right now I feel like I am in the midst of a world gone mad. I’ve just recieved my copies of the Gospels from the Ignatius Study Bible. There will be much material for prayer and meditation there.
October 29th, 2005 at 7:30 am
“I however, am not a successful and credible public figure, and I have no reputation to risk.”
Nothin’ Left to Lose is just another name for freedom.
You’ve been striking the Principalities and Powers v. Flesh and Blood note for a while. Let those with ears…In a real coup, the Aunt Sallies will be the first to go, protesting all the time they’re not like the rest of us provincials.
October 29th, 2005 at 8:25 am
Hear the Word of the Lord.
Gospel of Mark, thirteenth chapter.
Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many…(vs 5,6)
Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death… (vs 12)
If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them…(vs 20)
So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time… (vs 23)
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away… (vs 31)
Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come… (vs 33)
What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch’”!(vs 37)
Blessed be the Word of the Lord.
Many through the past years have stated our country needs a spiritual revival. Some have attempted to bring that about through TM, some through Bhuddism and other Eastern beliefs. Our country is currently enmeshed in a resurgence of pantheism.
Government schools are teaching our children that there is no God, and that Christianity is only a pipe dream. Because there was never any divine motivation for our existence. We came about by a haphazard unexplainable catastrophic event so many millions of years ago.
Our media is wallowing in pantheistic relativism; informing us, “if it feels good do it.”
Yes, it is time for those who believe to stand up and be counted. Jesus said whoever refuses to acknowledge Him in public; He will refuse to acknowledge before His Father who is in Heaven.
Bless you Anchoress for reminding us to look to the Creator.
October 29th, 2005 at 9:13 am
One of your best, ever.
I too, read Noonan’s piece and felt, that she ‘wasnt quite there’ yet.
In fact, a bit of reflection, never hurt anyone. A bit of national refection, never hurt, either.
“We have to get those bearings back - to find our centers and get back in touch with our “gut instincts,” which are there for a reason” is a hard truth- because as social animals, we are inclusive and communal by nature.
It is only those that are paid agitators, for example, that wish to keep and deepen that unnatural divide. They, and only they, agitate the impressionable into that which is completely against our nature- those divisions that would keep us from growing as a nation.
The commuunists are a recent testimony to a society that forced ideology on it’s people.
It didn’t, in the end, work for them and it won’t work now, over here.
October 29th, 2005 at 10:51 am
In this excellent post you have just clearly stated why my husband and I decided to return to church after a 15 year abscence. We finally realized that there is something very big and very wrong eating away at our very existence. It is time for us to stand tall and strong and shout our beliefs and our commitments. I am ready to fight for good and God.
October 29th, 2005 at 11:10 am
When we witnessed the death and funeral of John Paul II, we watched as millions came to realize that we were losing something that was unusual in our world of today. The First children as you call them were of course also there to spout of dissent, to try to show that this was a man out of sync with their modern world, but they were shouted down by the sheer wonder of this man’s life. The sheep will always need a shepherd and we have many sheep and too few shepherds. As we watch the First Children go out to attack anyone, no matter the facts, we begin to see how they are out to destroy anyone that stands in their way. We are not witnessing something new, only something more visible and bold. Satan has decided to become more visible with his lies because he was not winning against the Carmelites in prayer in their convents. He saw the priests falter and believed it was the time to attack. He saw hatred and unleased his legions. I have believed for a while that we need to return to the prayer of St Michael that use to be part of every mass. Yes, we need prayer and we need to pray for warriors to come to protect us from the legions and from the darkness in our soul, the log in our eye, the things we do and the things we fail to do. I just completed “Four Witnesses” by Rod Bennett about the early church so I have this perspective in mind as I read your post. If the legions had their ways, you would be hauled out like the early Christians for views like this and tortured at their pagan altar. Yes, things are rough today, but we are only called to stand up, not yet to become martyrs. We risk hurt feelings or anger. We may even risk changes in our comfortable lives. But watch the Passion of the Christ and see what He has done for us and then seek Him out to send us St Michael in this, our time of lazy need.
October 29th, 2005 at 11:37 am
There’s an extensive discussion of the Noonan column over at ChicagoBoyz; I just linked you in the comments.
October 29th, 2005 at 12:22 pm
A most righteous and inspired piece! I agree that Noonan’s stuff was half-baked but important to get out nonetheless (something she seemed to admit.) You’ve picked up on two threads that she missed that are critically important : the roots of all this in the 60’s counterculture (and everything it spawned), and the remedy in a return to what is eternal and true.
Your initial comments (about the video) made me think of John 8:43-45 - an antidote to the nihilism that Satan (aka Jacques Derrida, Peter Singer et al) has inspired and unleashed with glee:
“Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!”
It’s the hallmark of the evil one that what is true is turned to what is untrue by a niggling focus on the small flaw and via the lawyerly twisting of words to obscure their unspeakably larger meaning. (e.g., Bush as terrorist and U.S. as evil are drawn from very narrow truths - mixed with a passel of lies - about the inevitable imperfections in a larger force for good.)
Recall that the snake in the Garden won his argument with Eve on the definition of the word ‘die’ (Genesis 3:4). Once that small beach-head of credulity had been established, all untruth became possible. I believe we are merely witnessing the crescendo of that lie - the necessary seed of its ultimate failure and capitulation when Christ returns.
October 29th, 2005 at 12:23 pm
I share your respectful appreciation of Peggy Noonan, and specifically her latest WSJ essay. Your response/expansion of the essay’s theme only reminds me why I never miss a Noonan essay or your column.
October 29th, 2005 at 1:39 pm
What every blogger wants to be when they grow up.
The Anchoress….
October 29th, 2005 at 2:38 pm
“our educated and successful professionals”
When you consider the ages of these
“first children” you will realize that
they grew up totally “Disney-fied”.
I am old enough to remember the fairy
tales I was read before “Disney”
took hold. The tales from the Brothers
Grimm, the fables of Aesop meshed into
the teachings of the Bible’s old and new
testaments. Both taught us that there
is true evil in the world and that there
are people out there who will lie to us
and take advantage of us. Disney began
the downplay of these truths and many of the Grimm and French fairy tales
were rewritten to reflect “just be nice to everyone and they will be nice to you” and “deep down most villians are
nice” etc etc.
Understand that after the WWII and the
horrors of the Third Reich and the barbarity of the Japenese, parents who
had been in fear for years wanted to erase fear. Sadly this desire fell just
when the rise of Communism was being warned of. Recall the speech by Winston
Churchill to our Congress in 45or46 when
he coined the phrase “Iron Curtain”.
This fear of fear allowed America to
plug their ears and close their eyes while the open mouths spewed the wonders
of Communism/Socialism.
Many of the “our educated and successful professionals” that Noonan is writing of are amassing their fortunes by knowing how the real world
works. Their hypocracy is that many of
them continue to create and support the
institutions of education, the “entertainment” industry (who has
more fortresses than the Hollywood/Music elites?) and the policies and lies of the Left knowing
that it is what is driving all “off the rails”.
As long as the NEA controls the education of our children they will not
be prepared.
I applaud GW for continuing to use
Communism as a comparison to the ideology of Militan Islam. I only worry
that those under 35 probably don’t know
what he is talking about. The new
Clooney movie “Goodnight and Good Luck”
is out to be sure they are confused and
to give the LSM some credibility.
Recently Clooney said “only a few”
Communists had inflitrated the Government. This is from a man who has several “fortresses”.
Think this Halloween weekend is perfect
time to begin “scaring our children”
and not with ghosts and goblins.
Terrific post Anchoress. Sometimes
when poor health slows us down our mind
is free to really work thought out.
October 29th, 2005 at 3:02 pm
I think, Anchoress, you have stumbled over the that wide gulf that separates men of the world from those of us who are ‘aliens and sojourners’ (1 Peter) in the world. For the men of the world, there is no truth in them, while we are lovers of the Truth.
From 1 John: Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world.
Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever. Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. Thus we know this is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of our number; if they had been, they would have remained with us. Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number.
October 29th, 2005 at 4:07 pm
Anchoress,
If this is what you produce when you are too tired and weary to comment, I’d be terrified to see what emerges from your pen when you were alert and enlivened….
You are correct that we are watching the death throes of the 60’s counterculture. The birth wasn’t pretty and the death is downright ugly. It’s lost all the culture and now all that’s left is the “counter”. They are, when it comes down to it, counter everything.
But, as JPII said so often, be not afraid. Truth and virture and honesty and reality have always won against the nihilistic forces. In the end, nothing cannot conquer God’s creation.
October 29th, 2005 at 5:42 pm
Amen Anchoress, Amen. Never has the silence of Perpetual Adoration been needed in America more than right now.
October 29th, 2005 at 8:42 pm
Anchoress, Great piece! I did read Peggy’s column (as I do weekly) and it gave me pause. I do agree with Peter. The silence of Perpetual Adoration is needed now, in America, more than ever. I’m signing up in my parish this week. Only prayer can bring down the “forces for bad” at work in this world.
October 30th, 2005 at 12:03 am
Interesting piece. I read Noonan’s piece the other day and thought “here it comes”. Every time things change, life changes, it seems people see ominous things. People made the same noises before the french revolution, before and during the war for our freedom. Fully 60% of the Americans thought fighting for independance was stupid, and could only bring bad things. But humanity survived. God survived, even when those icky heretics started preaching the inconcievable- that there were on ways to God than the Pope. Things haved frequently “gone off the tracks”- what that really means is that things change, life changes. But sometimes, just sometimes, going off the tracks has led to good things. Different isn’t always bad. Sometimes growth is good.
October 30th, 2005 at 2:11 pm
The Art of the Painless Coup
One thing leads to another:…
October 30th, 2005 at 3:46 pm
[...] did Wilson go to Niger in 1999? “Just resign!” (updated) “Just give in!” The Rodney Dangerfield Economy The GOOD NEWS of Iraq Random Hits Charles always was daft “Iwrite like you!” David Brooks Channels Dick Meyer? When Bush offered the Judicial Olive Branch… The Art of the Painless Coup Dr. Sanity on the Couch It is always dangerous… Despite??? Just Spite? The Hillarian defense This is getting silly, now Heads exploding? Drudge Siren Up Egad! Buster, again. Harriet, Bring the Cannoli! LA Times and the World of Possibilities [...]
October 30th, 2005 at 7:27 pm
Wow, what an article Anchoress!
I think one of your best ever. If this is what you produce when you are tired I’d like to see what pearls of wisdom you sow when your energy is revived.
You are too tired, too often these days,
I cannot say I don’t worry, and whilst I, like others, bathe in the sunshine of your warmth, when I read your article I cannot help but worry that this sort of exertion drains you too much.
Don’t be upset with me, I am being mother hen again…
Be that as it may, I grew up with communism, and as Sigmund Carl & Albert quite rightly said, it is pure evil.
Members of my family have died for the freedom that others enjoy today, and for my part I will fight for that right of Liberty ’till my dying breath.
Complacency in our society for preserving that freedom of speech and thought, has to be resuscitated into a positive energy to sustain and preserve that which allows us to hold the Liberty in the palm of our hand.
Our prayer is the strongest protection we have, but it is a protection that should be wrapped in word and deed. A protection which in itself should be shared with others less fortunate, who may not be able to voice their thoughts so freely.
The blogosphere is the perfect place to encourage that circle of protection. And let others share with each other, that being interested in politics and being interested in other worldly matters, does not preclude us from expressing our deep faith in the Lord, and the freedom to simply be, as we are, and for what we are - loyal and free.
November 1st, 2005 at 2:01 am
Yes, yes, YES! Prayer is the answer! To all Catholics out there, I say, Remember Fatima. The ONE prayer recommended above all others is the Rosary. Pray it every day. If enough of us do so, we will see miraculous changes.
Think I’m a raving lunatic? Consider the world-wide political front. Everything is in place for the various wars in the Middle East to explode into World War III; everything, as Peggy Noonan points out, and our own Anchoress expands, is in place for a coup that will do the unthinkable: Bring down this country. It’s a frightening picture, but it’s not the only one; it’s just the only one the media wants you to see, to scare you into giving up hope and letting the Commies and Islamofascists have their way. On the other side of the coin is the revival of Christianity. Despite the scandal of the predator priests, more and more people are converting to Catholicism. They are converting in droves because they are tired of faith that changes with the weather, so to speak. They are coming to understand the deeper meaning of the Bible verse that says that God is “the same,yesterday, today, and tomorrow,” and they are looking for that continuity.
More and more people are pulling their kids out of public schools and home-schooling them, to be sure they get a REAL education instead of just learning how to “feel good” about themselves.
And in China, that last bastion of anti-religion, the underground Catholic Church—the TRUE one, still faithful to the Pope, despite national law—is GROWING. Even members of the Politburo belong. The true Church has even been allowed to come into the open.
The seeds of both outcomes are there. Which way will the scales tip? It’s up to us. Say those daily Rosaries and watch the miracle come to pass.
November 3rd, 2005 at 5:05 pm
[...] This is very troubling and compelling stuff. This is part and parcel of the Painless Coup. [...]
November 8th, 2005 at 2:03 pm
[...] It is also red meat for the extreme left. Is it a call for coup? A call for revolution? Discard Bush and Cheney, and you still have three more years of Republican Administration - unless you are planning to utterly discard the constitution, as well. Which wouldn’t surprise me. [...]
November 11th, 2005 at 5:01 pm
[...] Oh. My take on the speech? From what I have read of it, a good start. About damn time. More needed. Daily. There is a whole painless coup that needs thwarting. [...]
September 13th, 2006 at 9:45 am
[...] All this time, we thought it was about something. Now, we realize, all this hate is about nothing but them, and what they want and their childish angst. It is about the delay to the coup they had in place and their frustrations at having to wait and in some cases, rebuild. [...]
September 14th, 2006 at 1:41 am
stepanie,
Just a reminder regarding the French Revolution. The first revolution in France was taken over by the Committee of Twelve who initiated the Reign of Terror who infamously drug France through a bloodbath. After another revolution ended their rule, the replacement, a corrupt government ran France to the brink of disaster, followed by The Emperor Napoleon and the rape of Europe. Revolutions don’t always mean a happy ending.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:43 am
Anchoress,
A manificant essay
September 24th, 2006 at 9:13 am
Eagerly Anticipating the Coup
I think there are those who are nervously bouncing up & down, impatient for the coming of an eagerly awaited event:
April 6th, 2007 at 11:26 am
[...] between Pelosi and her Democrats and the President and we’re all in the crossfires. Is this the painless coup I predicted a while [...]