The Lone Elm

Trojan Horse Video

I love YouTube. This video done in Australia really hits my funny bone and made me laugh.

Election Reflections

Well, while I am disappointed, I can't say I am surprised about the electorate's decision to send the Republicans a message, with the result that the Democrats now control both the House and the Senate.  However, I think it would be a big mistake for the liberal arm of the Democratic party to think that it now has carte blanche to implement its radical policies.  The key reason that the Democratic party gained control is because they put up moderate candidates.  The most obvious rejection of the moonbat wing of the party was the resounding decision of Connecticut voters to send Joe Lieberman back to the Senate, despite his running as an Independent.  And Lieberman claims that he intends to remain a Democrat, presumably to counterbalance the more whacky aspects of his party's inclinations.

So, what particularly interests me is the psychological issues that underlie the voice of the people.  I am particularly impressed with Gagdad Bob's dissection, hat tip to The American Thinker. To quote:

"So a national opinion poll -- including an election -- doesn’t necessarily provide much in the way of objective information about objective circumstances, but subjective data about how it “feels” to be part of a historical group at a particular time. In fact, deMause turns the presidential approval rating on its head. He doesn’t believe that it actually measures approval but disapproval about how effectively or ineffectively a fantasy leader is “containing” the public’s anxiety. Since the group is largely driven by fantasy, it naturally follows that they will look for a leader who can reassure them about the world and diminish their anxiety."

Thus, the public has lost confidence in the administration, including the "leader" -- President Bush.  The President's failure is closely tied to the corruption and failures exhibited by the Congress, and in my view, the President's lack of strong moral leadership to identify such behavior as unacceptable -- note that he was quite able to state the clear moral standard relative to the rogue nations of Iraq, Iran and North Korea, and at that point had far stronger support.