Friday links! Alternative to what? edition

Now that our country has replaced its constitutionally-prescribed government with a liberal/socialist totalitarian state headed by a foreign Muslim, the Republican Party faces a tough choice. They can suffer the social ostracism, media persecution and periodic witch hunts that come with going their own way and standing on principle, or they can, you know, retire to one of their summer homes. The life of the rebel is not easy. In an America gripped by radical liberal social engineering, a few proud dissidents will hold their heads above the crowd, but many more will be cut down. Those who survive live as hunted animals, lapped at by a tide of conformity that has dragged this country further from its founding principles than ever in history. Frankly, the whole thing is sexy as hell. Like a less rapey Ayn Rand novel, the rebels who stand for conservatism move through a dystopia of groupthink and wealth redistribution. This Friday, we consider their habitat—a place we once dared call America.

Continue reading

Rand Paul and the art of authenticity

As our unhealthy fixation on Rand Paul continues to grow, we at Combat! blog are impelled to consider the other prong of his narrative prod: authenticity. Paul and his ilk are, by their own avowal and by media announcement, outsiders—folks who feel the same way you do about the shysters in Washington because, like you, they watch ’em from afar. It’s a reform year. Two big stories dominate the news: 1) the entire country being economically, politically and environmentally fucked plus we’re losing two wars, and 2) people who cannot necessarily articulate the specific elements of #1 blaming the dang government. The trick, if you want to get elected in 2010, is to make yourself part of story #2. Hence the popularity of Rand Paul and his father, Ron, whose views are extreme but whose personae are paradoxically that of the everyman. As Meghan McCain put it, “I can’t help but interpret the congressman’s cult-like, libertarian-leaning following as yet another indicator of a growing resentment of all people incumbent and in power in Washington.”

Continue reading