Thomas Sowell: The right to win

[avatar4321]

http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2008/11/19/the_right_to_win


Among the many new "rights" being conjured out of thin air, a new one seems to be a "right" to win.

Americans have long had the right to put their candidates and their ideas to a vote. Now there seems to be a sense that your rights have been trampled on if you don't win.

Hillary Clinton's supporters were not merely disappointed, but outraged, when she lost the Democrats' nomination to Barack Obama. Some took it as a sign that, while racial barriers had come down, the "glass ceiling" holding down women was still in place.

Apparently, if you don't win, somebody has put up a barrier or a ceiling. The more obvious explanation of the nomination outcome was that Obama ran a better campaign than Hillary. There is not the slightest reason to doubt that she would have been the nominee if the votes in the primaries had come out her way.

As the election approached, pundits warned that, if Obama lost, there would be riots in the ghetto. We will never know. But since when does any candidate have a right to win any office, much less the White House?

The worst of all the reactions from people who act as if they have a right to win have come from gay activists in the wake of voter rejection of so-called "gay marriage," which is to say, redefining what marriage has meant for centuries

continued at link


The right to win. This applies only to liberals it seems.

[Kathianne]

:clap::clap: Consider the plight of the Palestinians. Same sort of problem on a grander scale. They turn down the establishment of two states back in 40's, though they had been unsuccessfully operating without a government in the area prior to that, no established state wished to annex them.

Israel is established, in terms of states, becomes increasingly successful. A series of wars, started by the Palestinians and 'allies', (btw, same allies that didn't wish to have them part of their established states), result in loses. Each time Israel gains territory and strength.

Even when repeatedly handed ways to better the lives of the people, the Palestinians keep choosing positions that have kept themselves in dire straits. Through the UN and other international coalitions it seems that the winner needs to be punished and the loser indemnified.

It brings to mind how much this thinking is interjecting itself into our society:

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDQ0ZjM5YzIyMWFjZWQ0Mzc0OTAwNTFkODEwZWE1Mzg=


Failure Is Not an Option
Today it seems the grossly incompetent and inefficient must be preserved at all costs.

By Victor Davis Hanson

We all remember the advice about failure we received from our parents and teachers. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” “Learn from your mistakes.” “Failure breeds success.”

The common theme was that some sort of failure in life is inevitable. It is a wake-up call for reflection — and should prompt needed change. Our character is not just built from success, but during setbacks as well.

But now Americans seem to think such folk wisdom is obsolete. First came the $700-billion bailout of the financial industry. Such a one-time federal guarantee was perhaps necessary to restore liquidity for the failed banking system, but it sent a terrible message....