In the Algonquin where the Round Table met
[Image Source]
I sent the following email to my "roundtable" friends in New York:
Dear Friends,
While wishing you Bon Apetit, I send you my posting "The Existential Crossroad" at my blog Reclaiming Beauty which I think relates to Jim's analogy of liberalism bursting its bubble.
I think we are already seeing the cracks, or the bubble hitting some brick wall, or nail, to continue with the analogy.
My business is in observing visual cues. I found both Obama's and Hillary's expressions revelatory these few days, where I say:"I listened to Obama's and Clinton's various speeches and interviews these past few weeks, and one thing that struck me was how tired they looked."I think Clinton and Obama, the world leaders of liberalism, are exhausted. I don't know why that is explicitly, but existentially, I think they are tired of the lies and the failed promises that they presented to Americans as expedient paths for establishing their ideological changes. Whatever they say is now such a stretch from the truth that this burden, or this conflict, is showing in their very bodies.
Netanyahu, on the other hand, started with the humility of a sincere person. He put himself, and his political life, on the line by coming to the US to literally beg Americans to stop the devil's pact with Iran. Yet look at him as he presents his position, which I describe as "forceful, strong and convinced." And finally, he won at the Israeli elections, despite the odds.
I don't know how much of a bubble this is bursting, but I think, in unexpected ways, the truth is beginning to come out of the cracks, and liberalism's promises are showing up as the failures they are.
But I take this a step further and write that this is more than political, but existential:...we are now at an existential crossroad. Obama's and Clinton's inner conflict, their deal with the Devil, can be seen in the way they present themselves (or the Devil projects himself in them), Netanyahu's visit to America, his subsequent win, against all odds, at the Israeli elections, are the signs we should be paying attention to. We are faced with the consequences otherwise.So it is not enough to merely observe. We have to react, and act, as well. I think that is where our "round table" can garner its force and strength, and its ideas. The challenge is to prepare the way, and to be ready for the burst.
Kidist
Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat