The Spinal Tap 11 reference.
Obama's Convention - Yuval Levin
But even as he said this he persisted in the dominant trope of this convention—and, it seems, of contemporary progressive thought: the jump from the sheer fact of human interdependence to a defense of every federal program in precisely its current form. It’s the liberal welfare state or the law of the jungle, and no other alternative is imaginable. This mental gesture—which simultaneously offers an excuse for ignoring the imminent collapse of the liberal welfare state and for ignoring what conservatives are actually saying and offering—really deserves to be thought through. It is a fascinating indicator of the contemporary Left’s intellectual exhaustion.
The offensive theme was, however, far more ably developed, and it seemed to be the only part of the speech that the president really cared about. It was in part an outgrowth of the same self-righteous progressive error—of the sense that the Republicans are offering radical individualism and a cold and selfish you’re-on-your-own philosophy of government. And to this extent it was answered by a very revealing display of the left’s tendency to collapse all of society—all that stands between the individual and the state—into the state.
Transcript: President Obama's Convention Speech
We don't think the government can solve all of our problems, but we don't think the government is the source of all of our problems — (cheers, applause)This is just one of many straw man arguments in the speech, but typifies the whole attitude. Since the Republicans assert that the government causes, or makes worse, many problems in our society, let's just say that Republicans think that government is the source of ALL of our problems.
These dishonest arguments inevitably lead to the false choice: Either accept the artfully packaged big government solution, or else face the dog-eat-dog, law of the jungle, every man for himself, radical individualism and heartless capitalism of the Republicans.
