Questioning Obama’s Patriotism
John McCain had many failings as the Republican Party’s nominee for the presidency in 2008. Foremost among them was his attempt to play politics in an honorable and chivalrous manner. His grand old approach to competition allowed his opponents to exploit him ruthlessly and dispatch him quickly on election night.
McCain’s decision to keep his word and accept public financing for the campaign — while Barack Obama broke his own promise to do the same — made the senior senator from Arizona’s defeat a likelihood. Yes, there is great truth in the old cliché that “money is the mother’s milk of politics.” Should one candidate concede a $740.6 million to $84.1 million spending advantage to his foe, then such a loss is inevitable.
Another major error on McCain’s part was his refusal to expose the endemic weaknesses of the political left, specifically the cynical attitude they possess towards their countrymen and their florid contempt for diversity of opinion. Over the years, Democrats have become acutely aware that a pervasive lack of patriotism is a major impediment to electoral achievement. Due to their paladins regarding the United States as being a racist, sexist state — one whose history can be summed up with the single word “oppression” — it is not immediately evident why any of their number would make for a suitable commander in chief.
The Democrats are very fearful that the general population will one day fathom the enduring connection between bad leadership and sanctimonious, alienated guiltists running the country. Thus, they have turned the act of making known their dearth of patriotism into the commission of a hate crime. Senator McCain, always keen to impress a mainstream media that once pretended to admire him, readily played their game. He proclaimed: “Let me be very clear. I am not questioning his patriotism; I am questioning his judgment.” In the vernacular of political correctness, this means: “My hands are on the table and I am assuming the position.”
Yet McCain’s protestations made little difference to his enemies. They rightly took his civility for weakness. They resurrected the issue in the fall as often as they could and applied the label “McCarthyist” to those who tell the truth about the Democrats’ take on America’s past. Here we see, once again, that there is no hope and change behind the mantra of hope and change.
These counterattacks were initiated under the auspices of persuading the rest of us to ignore the giant seven-foot rat — which embodies the political left’s feelings for their country — as he salivates and menaces our public square. Character assassination awaits any conservative who dares to illuminate the malignancy of the pseudo-liberal worldview. This strategy proved worthwhile because most of us on the right are too timid to call a rodent a rodent even as it gnaws off our toes.
The case of Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann was a cautionary tale. Mrs. Bachmann, while speaking to Chris Matthews on his television show Gutterball, stated, “I’m very concerned that he [Obama] may have anti-American views. That’s what the American people are concerned about. That’s why they want to know what his answers are.” Matthews, ever the partisan Democrat and by far the most devout of Barack Obama’s biased media protectors, referred to this banal statement as “an extraordinary claim.”
Well is it? Of course not. Given Obama’s career, his words, the tone of his autobiography, and his associations with ardent America-haters like Father Michael Pfleger, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Frank Marshall Davis, and William Ayers, Bachmann’s words were intuitive and anything but extraordinary. That Obama deems America — in its current configuration — a spurious venture appears to be about as controversial as believing that water is wet.
The left is so concerned about having professional journalists, but could care less when it comes to national security.
Oh, please! Frank Marshall Davis did not hate America. Are you falling for AIM’s falsehoods?
Hopefully these numbers are not allowed to fade from public consciousness: “a $740.6 million to $84.1 million spending advantage.” News reports are now referring to The One’s “overwhelming mandate” and that is false. Even with his spending onslaught, he won 55% to 44%. He also pushed his race (half-Kenyan) to make everyone with black or brown skin feel they were somehow winning by electing him. In his current charisma onslaught, reminders of the truth of the numbers is important. It is wonderful (overdue!) that a “black” President has been elected, but that should make him humbled by the honor, and careful not to abuse it.
Here we are in game seven of the 2009 world serious between the US Yankees and the Islamic Hate Sux.
It’s the bottom of the ninth with the Hate Sox up by one run and the bases loaded with two outs and a full count on the Sux’ power hitter.
The Yankees pitcher is looking tired and the manager calls for a new pitcher from the bullpen.
The US Yankee fans fall silent with anticipation as the new pitcher emerges from the bullpen,its 14 year old prodigy from the 2008 little league world champs; Barry Soreto.
Soreto jogs to the mound and after a brief conference with the catcher rosins up his hand and faces off against the Sux’ power hitter who has gone 6 for 7 with 3 home runs in this serious, Soreto winds up after checking first base and here’s the throw, a fast ball and the batter swings and its a ……….We now interupt this broadcast with breaking news from our nations capitol…
“They rightly took his civility for weakness.”
Civility? That’s just the beginning of it. John McCain is a politically correct whack job. He is obsessed with pleasing the “elites.” The odds were strongly against the Republicans once the Arizona became their standard bearer. Moreover, I am now glad that Obama won the contest! McCain is too anxious to prove that he is a maverick, a “true profile in courage.” He is a back stabber. Barack Obama therefore seems to be the lesser of evils. McCain is not particularly trustworthy even on matters pertaining to the CIA. After all, Lindsey Graham is one of his major advisors. McCain recently also appears inclined to share the left’s belief that our war against Islamic nihilism “only gets them angrier.” I doubt very much if he would pick anyone better than Leon Panetta.
BHO has said many times that he’ll “fundamentally” change America. Given this one can only deduce that he doesn’t like America as it is. Question: If one does not like his country, is he/she patriotic? BTW he didn’t say fundamentally improve – he said change.
Patriotism is WAY overrated. We need problem solvers.
America was founded on the principles espoused by John Locke and Adam Smith. Those political and economic philosophies made this nation great through an unprecedented unleashing of human potential. The Founding Fathers were very clear in stating that our rights do not come from the state. Obama and the Democrats would like very much that we forget that little detail of our history. Obama and the Democrats are very much anti-John Locke and anti-Adam Smith. They are working very hard to re-establish the supreme state and at the expense of individual liberty and the natural rights of man. Their challenge has been to surreptitiously erode and undo the blessings America’s founding fathers bequeathed upon us. In reality, progressives and their desire to dictate how others should life their lives are about as retrogressive as you can get.
Does this hostility to our founding principles translate to anti-Americanism? I would say yes and to those who howl in protest a that conclusion, my only response can be that the aroma of boiling frog is getting stronger and stronger every day. It’s a tragedy that so few recognize it for what it is.
The parasites are beginning to overwhelm the host. We are at the tipping point. Which way will it go?
The election was bought in many ways. Of course there’s the huge discrepancy in campaign money. And then there’s also the government giveaways like free health care, tax “rebates”, etc and the promise of more giveaways to activist groups like ACORN, SEIU, la Raza, etc.
But all of that still only got Obama so far. Ultimately it was widespread economic fear that helped sell Americans on the idea that a big government would protect you from the ravages of the free market. That’s an extremely dangerous idea that is, as the author says, Anti-American, but is the classic stepping stone to less liberty and more government, both of which stop economic growth dead in their tracks.
He seems to dislike everything most Americans are fond of. If judged by the company he has been keeping all his life, well … no need to elaborate.
May we live in interesting times.
Bernard Chapin takes my breath away with this essay. It should be required reading in every classroom.
“Should one candidate concede a $740.6 million to $84.1 million spending advantage to his foe, then such a loss is inevitable.” Remember McCain-Feingold? John reaped what he had sown, proving the folly of his own big government regulatory program thinking. He wasn’t the victim, but the perp.
It is hard to determine the real Obama, as the one we are presented with now is a well scripted Manchurian Candidate. We would have a better indication of the true man if we were allowed to read his earlier, pre-political writings (college papers?). The Ayers-penned Dreams book doesn’t qualify.
Now and then we saw the “real” Obama through his comments on the campaign trail – such as the nasty desparagement of “bitter” gun clingers. His off the cuff remarks are the ones that show his truer feelings. While I believe he doesn’t hate America, he despises most Americans.
Quite well reasoned. Obama’s appointees started out decent, so as to assuage the moderates and conservatives, are now looking farther left: Melody Barnes, Hillary, Panetta and the awful Eric Holder. (That Hillary is now considered a “hawk” shows how far left the Democrats are, yet the media says the GOP must regroup?)
Anyway, 1/20/09 will be a VERY sad for anyone who believe in American Exceptionalism and is thankful for Pres. Bush keeping us safe. For those fools you describe here, it will be a glorios day as their Savior is coronated and we can once again be “loved by the world.”
Let us pray…
The issue will resolve itself into how many American citizens can be killed at one time. Obama will sic the San Francisco Police Department after them and ask for forgiveness at the UN. Anyone offering beheading and suicide bomber insurance protection?
Who would dare question ANYTHING about the Lord Obama? But, in fact, EVERYTHING about him should be questioned!
He has concealed everything about his past, his birth certificate, his medical records, his college transcripts, his legislative records and his undergraduate thesis. There can only be one reason; he’s hiding something. The media refused to do it’s job. The media is willing to accept as gospel everything Obama says, including whatever blather he spews about his patriotism.
what former president are we going to compare him to? Hugo Chavez, Kim Jong Il, Teddy Roosevelt…
I don’t mind if America changes, as long as it doesn’t impede my pursuit of happiness. America has always changed,and there is always someone lamenting the fact that the old life as we grew up with it, is going away. from the Indians lamenting the fact of the loss of the great herds to the cowboys and the closing of the old west. yup pardner it will be historic next Tuesday, and we do wonder what comes next. one mans poison is another mans meal.
This column is further evidence of the vacuous talent of right wing writers. You are all like lemming following their instincts jumping off the rhetorical clift. Four year from now I suspect that you will be committing suidcide as Obama is relected
The Obamanation is a racist that truly hates America! His fundamental changes means moving this country to a socialistic system, destroying our rights and freedoms as well as trashing the constitution. The man has no honor,ethics or credibility. No does he have decency, given his lack of respect to George Bush. At least Bush kept us safe and out of harm’s way for 7 long years and understood what means to stand up to values and the American way.
Obama’s hubris behavior flies in the face of every American; I find it insulting and he denigrates us all.
“John McCain had many failings as the Republican Party’s nominee for the presidency in 2008. Foremost among them was his attempt to play politics in an honorable and chivalrous manner.
BWAAHAAAAAHAAAA. Honorable…..Chivalrous.
So…do crazy people know that they’re crazy?
Thank the Anglo Saxon that this nation is what it is today, and other ethnicities can attain sophisticated status instead of living in cardboard shacks and fending off machete attacks in the Sudan.
Obama shall be synonymous with disaster in the not too distant future. I’m betting it’s going to take years of legislation, a lot of hard work and cash to recover from this disaster.
john from cinncinatti: I don’t mind if America changes, as long as it doesn’t impede my pursuit of happiness. America has always changed, …
True, change is inevitable. However, our schools used to be better, crime rates lower, liberty less obstructed, etc. We do posses more cell phones, are more diverse, pay more taxes, have more debt, more illegal immigrants, more corruption, …
Obama is a globalist, not an American patriot. Many (most?) of those (politicians, media, educators, etc.) on the left are also globalists. America will greatly miss George W. Bush, who could give a rat’s ass what France, Venezuela or China thought of his decisions and policies. In his parting speech last night, President Bush acknowledged that he had made mistakes, but also stated that throughout his two terms he had always done what he believed to be in the best interests of the American people. President Obama will have no such conviction, and therefore will not always govern from the perspective that America’s interests should be paramount. As a result, brace yourself for appeasement of foreign governments/interests and complicity with foreign governments/interests in policy decisions that will affect America’s standing and status in world affairs for generations to come. In short. prepare to be embarrassed to be an American.
Yet McCain’s protestations made little difference to his enemies. They rightly took his civility for weakness.
Even some of McCain’s friends (like me, kind of a friend, anyway) took his civility for weakness.
And you sensed that McCain’s remarks were a somewhat forced civility that didn’t come naturally to him or was something some advisor had advised
Character assassination awaits any conservative who dares to illuminate the malignancy of the pseudo-liberal worldview. This strategy proved worthwhile because most of us on the right are too timid to call a rodent a rodent even as it gnaws off our toes.
I find the Left’s attempts at character assassination pathetic. The fact that they work (with the assistance of entrenched media and the blogosphere, see Sarah Palin) I find tragic.
Mrs. Clinton’s approaching confirmation…
The Hildebeest told those wimps at her confirmation hearing this week (in no uncertain terms) that foreign donations to her husband’s foundation would stay in place & exactly as they are. Dominatrix redux, Hillary & Nancy. Those mild protestations from the comm. chairman, John Kerry, ridiculous.
Barack Obama’s fake dance with patriotism is symbolized by his whole shtick with the flag pin. First, he declares it some kind of artificial symbol and he prefers the real deal, not outward appearance. He gets a lotta flak, then he puts it on to speak to some Veterans’ group.
I’m not into flag pins myself as (necessarily) demonstrative of patriotism, but I found his whole dance with that poor pin disgusting. (Although it gave a look into his “thinking”)
“Change”, Obama style, is reconfiguring the United States of America from the bottom up and loading it down with kinds of concepts that have the founders spinning in their graves.
Obama won by a large margin and no doubt his overwhelming financial resources played a part. His wife clearly stated she doesn’t like America as it is and so does his spiritual mentor. All of this is well known.
SO the answer is people want change. And Obama will give it to us. Whether it will be good or bad change is yet to be seen. Many who voted for him have an idea of change in their minds that is different than what will actually happen.
SAF, that ‘large margin’ is in the electoral college, not the actual votes. A few percent is not a mandate.
Many who voted for him are fictional or long-dead. They care little what happens.
Foremost among them was his attempt to play politics in an honorable and chivalrous manner.
——————————
Are you kidding me? Toward the end 100% of McCain’s commercials were totally negative.
Paul – Indiana:
It was a large margin by the standards of the previous 4 elections (because of third party candidates Clinton never got over 50%). No one questions his win. And no one questions the democratic win in the house and senate. They are going to do what they want and that is swing the country left. Just because you are a socialist doesn’t make you unpatriotic.
There is an old saying in business. If you own 51% of a company you really own 100% and so it is here.
Clinton was soundly repudiated in 1994 by loosing both the house and senate. If Obama turns out to be a debacle we can be sure of the same results in 2010.
Steve P….I don’t know, why don’t you answer that for us? Are you crazy or just faking us out by posting like you are?
30. ThinkingPerson: Don’t bother talking to Steve P, vivo or Pat J, things are slow over at Kos so they are trolling around in the PJM forums.
Democrats are not patriotic. There. I said it. Patriots hail their country’s ideals and achievements. Further, dissent can be but not necessarily patriotic especially if the opposing side’s argument trashes the Constitution, demeans its heroes and history, is non-judgmental towards foes and ideologies hostile to the Bill of Rights… This is multiculti-babble, and Dems are w/out a doubt the multiculti crowd!
Watch out Washington DC!
Al Gore will be attending the inauguration.
Its called the GOREABLE WARMING EFFECT!
America, land of the marching morons.
The need to discuss his patriotism (lack of) always reminds me of the wag-question: “Have you stopped beating your wife?”
The fact that the question continues to be raised answers it clearly.
Can we now accept that the issue has been clarified? He does not possess normal American patriotism (libs, go ahead and scream and roll on the floor now because I said “normal”–).
Can we now move beyond that and begin dealing with the next question: How are we going to deal with the 48 monthly installments now required of these United States of America since we now have an unpatriotic president who does not like our Constitution, does not admire our nation’s achievements and heritage and thinks the Chinese infrastructure is better than ours?
Even with LBJ, I knew I had a president who had the country’s best interests at heart. Now I will have neither a president nor a first lady. Too bad the first half black president couldn’t have been a half black American president.
Patriotic? If you have to ask the question, the answer is obvious.
Ann141-Sorry you do not possess the patriotism you claim the PE doesn’t have as well. Your statements are subjective and negative. True patriots stand for America and all its people, not just some. It is, after all. Country First, and the majority of the country spoke.
By their deeds you shall know them.
After 1/20, FISA ops may be patrolling these boards, hmmm?
I wish our new president good luck. Our nation needs to do well.
Considering the company he has kept these last 20 years, I will be hoping for the best while buying more ammo.
Well that’s all fine and dandy for you people to question the patriotism of the new President, and for that matter those he is appointing to the top positions of his government. But let me take this oppertunity to remind you of the simple fact that all men are destined to die sooner or later. What does it matter if you die at the hands of a sucessful Islamo-facist attack on their sworn enemy the United States or die from cervical cancer 10 years from now? What differance, in the grand scheme of life, is it if you live the next 15 years trying to feed what’s left of your family, or you drive around in your always new eco-friendly Asian car?
Get a grip.
If you survive, consider the challenges and opportunities that will come our way after the ‘One’ is done, and gone.
He does not possess normal American patriotism (libs, go ahead and scream and roll on the floor now because I said “normal”–).
Typical of some phony, lofty Hahvard perspective, the PE might well find such patriotism as servile or puerile or, somehow, beneath his intellectual level.
True patriots stand for America and all its people…
The only way he could “stand for” me is to perform the duties of the office laid out in Article II and stay out of my hair as I pursue my “happiness”.
Barack’s 300,000£ Ride is a little discouraging already.
Plus $150 million or so on the inauguration “festivities” in tough economic time.
Very un-Lincolnesque, the guy with whom this PE keeps trying to identify himself.
“The parasites are beginning to overwhelm the host. We are at the tipping point. Which way will it go?”
I believe we crossed the threshold on Nov 4 and given the left’s advantage of media, academia and demographics, it will not be possible to recover. The left will use its overwhelming political power to ensure they retain that power, just like all socialists before them.
Barack Obama is more patriotic than every single poster on this thread – including myself.
Obama could have had a lucrative career in any field of endeavor, and he decided to make himself a public servant, and devote the next eight years to serving the American people.
Those of you questioning his patriotism are welcome to state your case, but you are not going to convince anyone. You have no facts to back up your rhetoric – as usual. Patriotism is much more than you think it is, and informed Americans realize this, and understand that Obama does too.
I am happy to agree that Obama does not have what passes for “normal” patriotism among the GOP. He is far too intelligent to be so short-sighted.
Peace.
DS
Obama’s mother was a person of the world, his father was not American. He spent his first school years in Indonesia. The very years American kids are learning the Pledge of Allegience, the National Anthem, American history, etc. It was rather disturbing that he didn’t put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem,(picture with others such as Clinton and Richardson doing so). His excuses for not wearing the flag pin and then wearing it when it was politically advantagous and the cancelling of the Pledge of Allegience at a rally are other examples that have lead me to question his patriotism. Twenty years attending a church the preaches “God Damn America” and close association with domestic terrorists add my concern that Obama does not know what being an American is really about.
Obama could have had a lucrative career in any field of endeavor…
Really ? I’ve not seen much evidence of particularly sterling accomplishments to this point in his 48 odd years. (unless you consider voting “present” in the Illinois legislature and hardly voting at all in the US legislature as accomplishments)
His lucrative career as community organizer was, ultimately, so personally discouraging that he boogied off to Hahvard.
Was defending his (legal) client ACORN an accomplishment ? I missed that one…
I am happy to agree that Obama does not have what passes for “normal” patriotism among the GOP. He is far too intelligent to be so short-sighted.
Here’s an inkling (more than an inkling
) of that “élitist” attitude I just mentioned.
@42
Obama does not historically practice the phony patriotism of flag pins and photo ops. He is willing to play along to get by, but his patriotism is demonstrated in his substantive actions, not by some flag waving.
The pledge of allegiance has been un-American since the moment the word “God” was added. Our country needs leaders who will take charge and make America better – not fools who will credit God with their successes or failures.
Real patriotism means fighting for the ideals that American was founded upon, and protecting the Constitution. There is no doubt that Obama will do more for the cause of authentic patriotism than his predecessor.
DS
Obama is an inevitable phenomena – we are in the beginning of the Fourth Turning, where the Boomers and their dogmatic commitment to altruism via the State have assumed the power positions in our society. They have an late boomer/early gen-x field commander to bring the crisis to a head. There is nothing we can do about it. Simply prepare, and try not to get clobbered in the stampede! Sometime in the next decade or two, this crisis shall pass and we will gradually favor individualism over the state. When the Gen-X generation assumes the power positions, all will be right again – remember, we are the independent generation who bore witness to our parents’ divorces; who left us alone after school to forge our own non-dogmatic senses of self.
@43
tanstaafl,
Obama has been a public servant as a community organizer and elected representative for some time. These are not “lucrative” positions – they are where the real work of making America great occurs. Obama took the time to get a quality education in the law, so he could contribute more effectively to improving our nation.
Obama’s patriotism has nothing to do with “élitist” attitudes. Patriotism means more than military action – a patriot is someone who vigorously supports and defends their country in all spheres.
Questioning Obama’s patriotism is fine – but again, show me the evidence. I see none provided here.
DS
Real patriotism means fighting for the ideals that American was founded upon…
What do you mean with this grandiose statement…?
Ensuring a small, limited federal government which “The Founders” were absolutely obsessed with ?
Or
Expanding the office of President and perverting the tools of government in order to use exective power to “spread the wealth around” and other highly unconstitutional notions ?
America was founded on one, simple “ideal”, to wit, that rights and liberties do not come from government and, as a corollary, that government exists only to protect “God given” (liberals, shudder now) rights & liberties (one aspect of protection is ensuring the common defense)
I have never heard Barack Obama address this basic (founding) Truth of American government.
I come to this site for journalism untainted by the cultural and political beliefs of most media outlets. With respect, this piece does not offer this. I am no fan of Barack Obama or the Democratic party, but the clear conservative bias in this piece does our side no credit. Let’s leave the biased ideologically influenced writing to the New York Times.
John McCain was a flawed candidate in many respects. The claim that he was “nicer” than Obama and that is why he lost wreaks of the excuses we heard from Democrats when their candidates lost against George W. Bush. McCain ran plenty of negative ads, he just declared certain areas off-limits for unknown reasons. He, and his campaign, were also too inarticulate to launch attacks on Obama’s feelings for the USA.
Declaring a presidential candidate unpatriotic is too blunt and instrument and would have backfired amongst the electorate. However, McCain proved time and again that he lacked the ability to mount a nuanced articulate attack during the campaign.
Secondly, McCain would have gladly dropped out of the public financing system had he been able to raise more money than it offered. Obama’s financial edge was not due to McCain’s honesty or because McCain honored his commitment but because many Republicans weren’t sure why they would open their check books to someone that acted a lot like a member of the opposing party. Obama’s mistake was promising to take public funds in the first place. McCain knew he’d take public funds and tried to trap Obama into doing the same. McCain was right to attack Obama’s reversal but we shouldn’t pretend McCain stayed in the public financing system out of honor or that McCain lost the fundraising battle because he played by the rules.
John McCain is an honorable man but was a horrible candidate. His personal politics are not aligned with the beliefs of most Republican voters and he compounded this with poor campaign strategy, worse execution, and a lack of personal discipline. In sum, I feel he let down those voters who entrusted him with the Republican nomination. We should have known what we were getting on immigration and populist grandstanding but he should have honored his nomination and ran a smarter campaign that honored the beliefs of the party he was supposed to be representing.
7. vivo:
Patriotism is WAY overrated. We need problem solvers.
——————————————-
stupidity reigns supreme, apparently
“Obama could have had a lucrative career in any field of endeavor, and he decided to make himself a public servant, and devote the next eight years to serving the American people.”
How do we know B. Hussein Obama could have had a lucrative career in any field of endeavor? Did he have good grades in college? We don’t know. Did he have any significant accomplishments? If you discount his getting into elite schools — competent black’s are heavily sought after — and his getting elected to political office — he won on technicalities and by timely leaks on his opponents — then he has none. Has he written influencial books? Only two self-serving autobiographies, which only sold after the media “made” him.
In fact, B. Hussein Obama is the most unaccomplished, inexperienced and unqualified President-elect in the history of the United States. I think he’ll be a disaster for the country, and the world.
…a patriot is someone who vigorously supports and defends their country in all spheres
Oh. That would be someone who sits in Reverend GodDamn America’s congregation for 2+ decades. And only abandons his surrogate Daddy, finally, when the sh!t really hits the fan.
Or someone who characterizes Pennsylvanians as bitter clingers (to guns & religion) before a group of rich San Franciscans.
Maybe somebody who’s all over every side of every issue, depending on which audience he’s addressing.
Or someone whose wife categorizes Americans as lazy and “complacent”, or, as Michelle ungramatically put it, “complacents”
Got a ways to go before this PE earns the kind of r-e-s-p-e-c-t that you’ve so slavishly granted him.
HOPE & DOUBT ABOUT THE PRESIDENT-ELECT
Enough of the cult of personality and pretending to be President. Time to get serious.
http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2009/01/hope-doubt-for-president-elect.html
“It was rather disturbing that he didn’t put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem,(picture with others such as Clinton and Richardson doing so).”
I grew up in a military family, and, while we were taught to put our hands over our heart for the pledge, we were never taught to do so for the National Anthem. I never knew you were supposed to; we were just taught to stand for the National Anthem. So, I don’t think this means someone is not patriotic, because I guess you’d think I wasn’t either. Unless, of course, combined with other things you mentioned.
But, I’ve never felt that Obama has respect for our men and women in uniform. I know that they want us to THINK he does, and so that’s why we hear about Michelle going to visit military families, etc., and I’m sure they will schedule a lot of photo ops in the future with the military because, well, re-election starts now and he seems to be desparately trying to seduce people to his side who may not have been for him before.
But, my feeling is he and Michelle see the military the same way that other Democratic did (I forget his name) who suggested that people only join the military because they’re not smart enough to do anything else. And, it really saddens me that someone like that will be in charge of the military.
I think people should be allowed to think whatever they want about this country, and the feelings that Michelle has are not uncommon among black Americans. But, I want the president and First Lady to be the number one patriots in the country, the country’s number one fans. Despite his failings, I never doubted that with Bush; I think he would die for this country to protect. I don’t know about Obama.
@47
tanstaafl,
Have you ever read the text of the Constitution and Bill of Rights? God is nowhere to be found.
Here’s the preamble:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Patriotism means honoring the founding document of this Nation. These are the ideals: Justice, domestic Tranquility, common defence (sic), and general Welfare.
All of these ideals have been abandoned under Bush. Obama intends to change this.
Peace.
DS
Democratic did (I forget his name) who suggested that people only join the military because they’re not smart enough to do anything else…
John Kerry, November 2006
“Education — if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well,” said Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat. “If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
No peace with you DS, until you learn to think independently of the BS and stop relying on grandiose, empty platitudes for your arguments.
(besides which, even your “peace” is phony
adios for the nonce
@53
Carolb,
On what basis do you question Obama’s commitment to the USA?
Really, as far as military service goes, it is hard to argue that the best and brightest seek out military occupations. Recruiters can’t even meet their quota of high school graduates because of how little respect Bush has had for the armed forces. Who wants to sign up for endless deployments?
DS
Kevin: sure hope you are right. As a Boomer myself let me say, however, that boomers, or at least the liberal ones, do not really believe in “altruism via the State”. They they are just opportunists and spoiled brats. Top that off with the fact that thet are not all that bright. If they really understood what Obama and Co. was really up to and understood the consequences to their own lives, they never would have voted him in. This is not because they care about the country, this is because they only care about themselves.
The “Obama boomers” are too self centered and ignorant to understand how America got to where it did in the last half of the last century an they are to narcissistic to stave off America’s decline. At any rate, these boomers are not the true power behind the Democrats; the real power behind the throne is a mixture of American and international socialist and tranzi elites. They view America as the chief obstacle to their goals and will destroy her at all costs. That goal is world government under an entrenched elite.
I am afraid that even 5 years of these jackels in power will ruin this nation as a major power or even as a “first world” nation.
If you want to see our future look at leftist oligarchies such as Mexico or Brazil (or poerhaps now the UK).
I fear that the apogee of America has occurred in my lifetime. We in for seep humiliation and decline.
There will have to be a major cultural awakening in this country if this fate it to be averted. The sad thing is that we have brought this upon ourselves. It need not have been.
seep =deep
@56
tanstaafl,
I see you have no arguments left. What’s wrong? Did you run out of talking points?
You can call the Constitution itself “grandiose, empty platitudes”, but that just puts you in the same camp as Bush. It’s just a piece of paper, right?
You are no patriot, Bush is no patriot, and my “Peace” is much more real than Bush’s “war”.
Peace.
DS
#2 Kaleokualoha wrote:
“Oh, please! Frank Marshall Davis did not hate America. Are you falling for AIM’s falsehoods?”
I’ve read his history, completely. He was a CPUSA member and also published a porn novel about his sexual escapades. This was a man who had a profound influence over Obama. Next to his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, Frank Marshall Davis was the most influential man in his life at a most vulnerable age.
Frank Marshall Davis did not like America and its traditional values and founding documents.
Don’t laugh at this. From my personal, decade long (1977-1987)sojourn as an aspiring academic Marxist, I know these people on the Left like the back of my hand. They consider America the enemy. If that sounds like a simplistic reductionism, well tough shit. It’s the truth. While I did not hate my country, at the time when I was a Marxist I was trying to see if the capitalist system could be tweaked into a new kind of “third way” that avoided the pitfalls and problems of Soviet Marxism-Leninism and stagnant Euro-socialism. When I finally realized that it could not be done and that the utopian telos of socialism was a chimera, I gave it up.
I will not be intimidated by the accusations of “McCarthyism.” These people do not impress me and they don’t intimidate me. Because I know the doctrine and scripts they work from, they don’t cow me. People like me who left the Left know how widely and deeply burrowed they are into our institutions of influence. They are like a virus that has gone into our civilization and works with great subtlety to take over the host.
David S,
The rest of the Constitution gives form to how the Founders envisioned the society of Americans. The rights of the people are defined and the extent of government and its limits are defined. Don’t pick and chose parts of any document that happens to support your views. A little intellectual honesty is in order here.
Plus, the rights of the people are not granted by Government. They are granted by our Creator. When Government takes steps to circumvent or abnegate those rights, the people have the right to replace that Government.
Take a good hard look at what the Left would like to do with that document and the particulars contained therein. I think most of the people here on this thread know exactly the items the Left would like to redefine, reinterpret (via a “living Constitution” school of jurisprudence), or declare anachronistic.
It might be useful for you to define patriotism before accusing Obama of not being patriotic. Most of you seem to equate it with being for your politcal beliefs. If you are not on my side you must be unpatriotic. These are the same name calling tactics kids use on the playground.
The Department of Health and Human Services is offering free internet prostate exams an January 20th at 12:00 P.M. If you go to http://www.Obama‘sHealthPlan.org, turn on your web cam, drop your pants and place your posterior over the key board, you shall be given this free exam. You will have to be patient, since the turnout is expected to be large, This offer shall not be repeated. The results will be emailed to you.
fred: “Plus, the rights of the people are not granted by Government. They are granted by our Creator. When Government takes steps to circumvent or abnegate those rights, the people have the right to replace that Government.”
The Creator? Since when does God step in to defend your rights? God only granted you the ability to breathe, eat, produce waste, replicate, and die. If you want more “rights” than that, you got to to earn them yourself or agree to buy into a government that will “sell” rights to you in exchange for your tax dollars. But good luck securing any “rights” without buying in. In this world, you gotta pay to play, and the Creator either can’t or won’t do a thing about it.
David S.
‘Obama does not historically practice the phony patriotism of flag pins and photo ops.’ You do know that your Messiah plans to wear the flag pin in his official inauguration photo, don’t you?
Robert Hurley: “It might be useful for you to define patriotism before accusing Obama of not being patriotic.”
Robert, you and I both know that their definition of patriotism is putting a sticker on your car, waving a flag, screaming “Socialism!” at people who think differently, and blindly following your leader like a lemming over a cliff so long as your leader happens to be a Republican. Essentially, patriotism to them is the act of turning off your brain.
Some of the posts here in support of BHO are breathtakingly naïve and dare I say – Stupid!
@62,
fred,
The rest of the Constitution gives form to how the Founders envisioned the society of Americans. The rights of the people are defined and the extent of government and its limits are defined. Don’t pick and chose parts of any document that happens to support your views. A little intellectual honesty is in order here.
I didn’t really think posting the entire text of the document was necessary. It’s not hard to find it on the internet. I was rebutting the notion that ‘God’ plays any role in patriotism. No dishonesty at all.
Plus, the rights of the people are not granted by Government. They are granted by our Creator. When Government takes steps to circumvent or abnegate those rights, the people have the right to replace that Government.
I too have read the Declaration of Independence, and find it uncanny how near to King George the current occupant has grown. We can replace the government, but until that day, the Constitution is how we define our rights in this nation. Agreed?
Take a good hard look at what the Left would like to do with that document and the particulars contained therein. I think most of the people here on this thread know exactly the items the Left would like to redefine, reinterpret (via a “living Constitution” school of jurisprudence), or declare anachronistic.
I don’t really think you’ve done a very good job articulating your point here. What exactly do you think the “Left” has in mind, and why do you disagree with their interpretation?
I have taken a hard look at what the Bush administration would like to do with the Constitution, and it scares the crap out of me. ‘Police state’ is the term that keeps coming to mind.
Peace.
DS
What is the definition of patriotism anyway? Is it wearing flag lapels, putting made in China “support the troops” decals on your vehcle, or my country right or wrong?
To me patriotism is love for one’s country even knowing and accepting that your country is not perfect. To me patriotism means fighting for the ideals this country was founded on and living up to them.
#18
YOU POOR, MISGUIDED, LIBERAL FOOL…..
David S:
‘I have taken a hard look at what the Bush administration would like to do with the Constitution, and it scares the crap out of me. ‘Police state’ is the term that keeps coming to mind.’
That’s a pretty brazen charge. Please give us one example of a ‘police state’ action the President has taken. And sorry, the FISA courts ruled yesterday that the eavesdropping was entirely legal, even if one party is a US citizen.
#18
If we Conservatives are lemmings, how can you justify the blind, zombie-like devotionj for a man you know absolutely about….???? again, you poor, misguided liberal fool….you’ll follow “the Messiah” over the precipice.
#18
A minor correction…”for a man you know absolutely NOTHING about.
What was so telling about Obama was his refusal to put his hand over his heart during the playing of the National Anthem, yet in his Houston campaign office, there was that Che Guevarra flag proudly displayed: http://urbangrounds.com/2008/02/12/barack-flag-problems/
When he’s the Commander-in-Chief, and the National Anthem is played, is he going to stand there like that cynical idiot in the picture, while everyone around him is in attention, either saluting the flag or the civilians with their hands over their hearts? Overseas, when the National Anthem is played in the military base movie theaters, we all stand up immediately(kids and spouses alike as well as non-military, local National guests of members) and show our pride and respect to our flag.
And, don’t forget when he was in Germany this past summer, during his European rock tour — how he insulted the U.S. military and the brave men and women who are fighting for the defense of the free world. Obama decided to go work out at the gym, rather than visit the wounded troops at nearby Landstuhl Hospital because photographers were not going to be allowed in the hospital during his visit. He wanted a photo op with these war-injured soldiers, but when he didn’t get his way, his true colors came out. Obama is all about show.
I respect the flag and the office Obama will hold, but I have no respect for him, the person, and a main reason is because, to this day, he still is mocking the U.S. Constitution, which is our Law of the Land. It will be too late before we find out the truth, which is that he is not a natural-born U.S. citizen. What a slap on all our forefathers, law-abiding people (including immigrants) and people who died for this country.
Obama is no patriot; he’s an elitist charlatan and a hypocrite. And the mainstream media and America are giving him another pass.
@72
Retep,
“Please give us one example of a ‘police state’ action the President has taken. And sorry, the FISA courts ruled yesterday that the eavesdropping was entirely legal, even if one party is a US citizen.”
Police state:
“a political unit characterized by repressive governmental control of political, economic, and social life usually by an arbitrary exercise of power by police and especially secret police in place of regular operation of administrative and judicial organs of the government according to publicly known legal procedures”
Presidents don’t often take action directly. They delegate, so here is a Presidential action along with a few bonus points for his Administration. What is most pernicious is to see that the court appointments made by Bush will cause long-lasting damage to our liberties.
After signing a postal reform bill called H.R. 6407, the “Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act,” President Bush issued a “signing statement” that declared his (Bush’s) right to open the private mail of American citizens without a judge’s warrant.
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/baldwin/070109
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:H.R.6407:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061220-6.html
Bush Administration® runs warrantless-surveillance program, set up outside the court system. FBI abused privileges.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081503497_pf.html
SCOTUS just shot a massive hole in the fourth amendment courtesy of Bush Administration® justices. Warrantless searches now okay.
http://fe11.story.media.ac4.yahoo.com/news/us/story/ap/20090114/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_evidence
Arbitrary exercise of power by police… in place of regular operation of administrative and judicial organs of the government
This is precisely what the Bush Administration® has been doing for the past eight years. The Unitary Executive is all about the police state. You only asked for one example – if you come back and want more examples, I will refer you to your search engine of choice.
Just because a court ruled something legal at one time, doesn’t mean it will stay that way. Our courts have a long history of correcting past errors (and of making new ones), and I anticipate that once Roberts and Alito depart, the court will regain some measure of grounding in the Constitution again.
Peace.
DS
I cannot remember a single instance of Obama expressing pride, love or simply respect for America and her people, except in the most superficial and perfunctory manner. Every speech is a variation of “this place sucked until I came in.” I noticed this as early as late 2007.
And why not? He freely admits that without a sense of crisis he cannot ram his change down our throats. A happy, independent middle class is the last thing the left needs. That is why liberals have talked down the economy every day since 2001 when we had stellar growth and just about 5% unemployment for much of the time.
That is why an average recession is elevated to the Great Depression II.
I believe many people voted for Obama out of self-pity. They like to wallow in victimhood because it makes them feel that they are entitled to free stuff.
You can also call it decadence.
David S., you are full of it. You are misrepresenting the essence and omitting the details of these cases. Warrantless searches are NOT “ok now”. That´s fearmongering. You have no idea what a police state is.
There’s no question about it. President Elect Obama posesses, in my view, not a patriotic bone in his body.
His core believes only in self. Self aggrandizement. Self interest. Self adulation.
He desires wealth at any cost. Power at any price.
He has told so many lies. Said so many things he knew to be untrue that at this point in his life, concepts like honesty, integrity, honor and country are, to his very marrow, alien ideas that have no place in his self centered little world.
Through some ironic, ignoble, ignominious twists of fate, cursed cosmic tumblers have for this ethically challenged little character clicked into place. And present a clear and present danger to the United States of America.
Mister Obama, sad to say, stands diametrically opposed to everything America traditionally has stood for; from freedom to independence to religious tolerance. He eschews the second amendment like it is some unwanted, unnecessary vermin; an anachronism whose usefulness has long since disappeared. His supports the freedom of speech only when it speaks well of him.
It appears to everyone who is close to him that he views his duty to protect and defend the nation from people and nations that want to destroy us in a cavalier, uncaring sort of way. Proof of this is his stated objective to deemphsize the importance of having the most technologically advanced fighting force in the world. He wants our military to be no stronger than any other. His nomination of Leon Pinetta is proof that the days of the CIA uncovering terrorist plots before they happen are over.
Much like totalitarian tyrants of the twenties, thirties and forties whose warped visions of themselves and disasterous objectives left in their wake a path littered with pain and destruction, President Elect Barack Obama has captured the imagination of a majority of well-meaning, innocent, yet hopelessly naive Americans.
Only when these pitiable souls see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts the damage to this great country that this great communicator is capable of, will they realize that electing him President was a mistake of biblical proportions.
On Tuesday, January 20th, when Barack Obama places his right hand on the bible and swears to preserve, protect and defend this country from all powers foreign and domestic, he’s lucky he doesn’t have a lie detector attached to his chest. For no President Elect in the history of this great nation has ever stood there posessing hardly a measurable amount of genuine concern for his country.
Never before have so many freedom loving people depended so much on a man who cares about protecting and defending them so little. When it really counts, I’m afraid Barack Obama is the President you won’t be able to count on at all.
As usual the rabid right confuse patriotism with nationalism.
I read several blogs and the only place I see president-to-be-Obama described as a Messiah is in right leaning blogs. You do not find that language in the progressive/liberal blogs.
I’m a demo. conservative. But I voted for Bush and am proud of his performance since 911. How the media treated him has been a disgrace. That’s why i will wait till Obama does something wrong, or at least does something, before screaming in fear and pain about what he represents for the fate of the Nation. Get some gel soles
@75
888,
“When he’s the Commander-in-Chief, and the National Anthem is played, is he going to stand there like that…?”
Perhaps, but probably not, now that people made a big fuss about it. If you think about it, the whole process harkens back to fascism and world war 2…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute
“Obama decided to go work out at the gym, rather than visit the wounded troops at nearby Landstuhl Hospital because photographers were not going to be allowed… Obama is all about show.”
Thanks for mentioning that. Let’s clear things up:
“We have longstanding Department of Defense policy in regards to political campaigns and elections,” Pentagon spokesperson Elizabeth Hibner told me. “We informed the Obama staff that he was more than welcome to visit as Senator Obama, with Senate staff. However, he could not conduct the visit with campaign staff.”
After being told this, the Obama campaign announced yesterday that it had decided it was “inappropriate” to make the visit as part of a campaign trip.
It’s unclear how Obama could have made the visit at all, given the Pentagon’s directives. No Senate staff was on the trip, and the Obama camp says they received the Pentagon’s directives on Wednesday, after they were already abroad.
Bottom line: We’re not seeing any issue here at all.”
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/pentagon_confirms_that_it_told.php
I respect the flag and the office Obama will hold, but I have no respect for him, the person, and a main reason is because, to this day, he still is mocking the U.S. Constitution, which is our Law of the Land. It will be too late before we find out the truth, which is that he is not a natural-born U.S. citizen.
I don’t know why this is still so important. It has been debunked thoroughly.
“There is not one shred of evidence to disprove PolitiFact’s conclusion that the candidate’s name is Barack Hussein Obama, or to support allegations that the birth certificate he released isn’t authentic.”
And that’s true no matter how many people cling to some hint of doubt and use the Internet to fuel their innate sense of distrust.
http://www.politifact.com/media/img/graphics/birthCertObama.jpg
“Obama is no patriot; he’s an elitist charlatan and a hypocrite. And the mainstream media and America are giving him another pass.”
I would much prefer to have a President that respects the Constitution, and shuns the Flag, rather than the reverse. Any person worthy of being called a patriot would have to agree. Until Barack Obama proves that he does not respect the Constitution, I see no reason to question his patriotism. Perhaps he is an elitist charlatan and a hypocrite, but so far the evidence says otherwise.
Peace.
DS
Liberals/Democrats cannot be patriots for they do NOT stand for what this country was founded on.
Right to Freedom of Speech? Democrats offer up the “Fairness Doctrine”.
Right to Bear Arms? Democrats want to stop average Americans from owning them. Witness the explosion in gun sales since Obamas election.
Right to Free and Open Elections? Yeah right. Witness Blago’s pick and Caroline Kennedy. There’s your “choice”. BTW…Were the Black Panther’s outside that voting place on electon day ’08 in Illinois ever convicted of anything? Nope.
Right to Freedom of Religion? Democrats offer you Freedom From Religion
Right to Privacy? Yeah right! That is until Obama signs the “Free Choice Act”. Of course free choice = for the union bosses to “free”ly see your vote (can any liberal spell intimidation??). There go the working mans rights in the toilet.
Support for our troops? Hardly. Read the posts on other articles here and see the venom they hold for the troops holding terrorists at Gitmo. More concern for the animals there than for the safety of American citizens at home.
Liberals show themselves to be the most closed-minded, simpletons amongst us. Patriots for the USA? Hardly. They seek to “change” what doesn’t serve them and the rest of the downtrodden be damned.
So the next time a liberal Democrat here posts their “patriotism” thoughts here, know what you’re dealing with. They say one thing and then vote (a la Obama) another.
Actions speak louder than words. Pelosi, Reid, Frank and Obama. ‘nough said.
WE have many different definitions of patriotism. I think Obama is a patriot in his own way. A patriot shouldn’t be dissed for criticizing his or her country or for wanting to improve it.
HOWEVER: There is no shortage of leftists who really, truly do hate this country. They claim to have higher ideals than the rest of us – ideals that they will never negotiate or compromise for any reason. These people do NOT love the country despite its faults – they hate it because of its faults. Of these people it can be accurately said: they will never love this country until it matches the vision of perfection they carry in their minds. That vision is invariably one of a socialist or communist country. These people are no better than the theocrats whom they frequently criticize.
Our task as fellow citizens is to avoid confusing honest, critical patriots with genuine America-haters. Difficult as we find it to give our ideological opponents the benefit of the doubt, we must do so if we hope to keep our country functioning politically and socially.
79. Rachel Peepers:
Correctomundo: a la Clinton.
@78
El Gordo,
Coffee County, Ala., sheriff’s deputies found amphetamines in Herring’s pockets and an unloaded gun in his truck when they conducted a search following his arrest. It turned out that the warrant from neighboring Dale County had been recalled five months earlier, but the county sheriff’s computers had not been updated.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, said the evidence may be used “when police mistakes are the result of negligence such as that described here, rather than systemic error or reckless disregard of constitutional requirements.”
Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas sided with Roberts.
In a dissent for the other four justices, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the ruling “leaves Herring, and others like him, with no remedy for violations of their constitutional rights.”
The implications are pretty clear. As long as the police can find a way to plead negligence, they can game the system all they want. The 4th amendment is not ambivalent:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
A warrant that was recalled 5 months prior is no warrant. Square peg, round hole – the Constitution got reamed.
Welcome to the Fascist Paradise GWB’s grand-daddy dreamed of….
George Bush’s grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany.
His business dealings, which continued until his company’s assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act, has led more than 60 years later to a civil action for damages being brought in Germany against the Bush family…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar
These folks won’t be discouraged by the failure of GWB – they understand the example that Adolf set, and don’t plan on repeating that mistake twice.
Peace.
DS
Really? What Patriotism? It is a Lefty we are discussing!
fred,
Kaleokualoha will go on to claim he’s the son of Frank Marshall Davis.
He conveniently showed up on an off-road racing forum some time ago to make the same argument that his father “did not hate” America.
Strangely, he went away when the subject of his writings as “Bob Greene” came into discussion.
Tidbit of info here to share:
http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/275493.php
Total BS, David S.#82. If Obama wanted to visit ANY troop, wounded or not, he, as a UNITED STATES SENATOR, with or without his campaign staffers, not only CAN visit, but, as a matter of obligation and respect to the people he will be commanding, SHOULD visit. McCain has been overseas many times over the years, during campaigns or not, and greeted and visited troops in the hospital. That’s a standard thing to do for all visiting US Senators and Congressmen to do…if they cared to do it.
I remember Democrat George McGovern in Bahrain years ago coming over to us and shaking everyone’s hand and greeting ALL the Americans because he was just a nice, friendly, caring guy. And last year, I was in Korea when Bill Richardson was there and he was greeting the forces and saying hello to the Americans (Democrats and Republicans alike). No, these patriots went out of their way to acknowledge the troops, unlike Mr. Obama, who only wanted a photo op. By the way, here’s a good YouTube video where even McGovern says Obama is too radical http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/10/now-this-is-bad-even-george-mcgovern.html .
As for Obama’s proving he’s a natural born U.S. citizen, he still has not done that. That’s why “a growing majority (are) worried over (Obama’s) eligibility” http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=84990 including people from his own state of Illinois. And also, that’s why there still exists those lawsuits around the country and some that have reached the Supreme Court that Obama’s team of lawyers are vigorously fighting, rather than simply obliging the law by furnishing the proof that he is, indeed, a natural-born US citizen.
Like I said, Obama is an elitist, hypocrite charlatan, and America is giving him a pass.
I was rebutting the notion that ‘God’ plays any role in patriotism.
That’s not the idea, sweet pea.
“God” likely knows shinola from patriotism.
The inspiring principle of those who wrote the Constitution and, previous to that, the Declaration of Independence is that each human being’s individual rights have nothing to do with government providing them but, rather, that they are “inalienable”. That means that they are yours as a function of simply being. (even you)
Those rights would be, primarily, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
B. Hussein Obama (or no President) has nothing to do with the status of anyone’s “rights”, beyond configuring a government that “ensures” those rights. Being President should be somewhat boring, not being a rock star to the brain dead.
The citizen was never intended to serve the state, it’s the other way around.
Anyway, B. Hussein Obama has already reneged on his sworn #1 priority to get that ole boy, Osama bin laden. And some of the tax stuff will have to wait. And maybe he’ll keep in place (calling it something else) some of that
Nasty interrogation stuff that may have actually been working for 7 years or so
That should send some more Leftoids up a tree.
Where they belong.
David S., I know what you’re going to say, if you watched the McGovern YouTube video — i.e., McGovern isn’t saying Obama is too radical. Okay, McGovern is saying that the initiative which will do away with secret union balloting is radical.
But, not surprisingly, Obama supports this initiative that will allow the unions to railroad workers into voting the way the union wants them to, rather than allowing the workers to vote freely in the privacy of their voting booth. That’s un-American, undemocratic, unpatriotic, and radical. That’s not a change America wants because it’s the first step to totally destroying our democratic process in this country. Let’s not let it happen.
Ohmygosh, B. Hussein Obama has given himself
4 long years to close Guantanamo
You know, the base in Cuba where some 255 guys still remain (many of them “hardcore” like the 911 “mastermind”) over whom you phony hand wringers have been having a pretend hissy fit for, literally, years now ?
Where somewhere beteen 7% and 11% of those already released (that would be those whose own countries would take them back and/or not torture them once they got home) have gone back to looking for infidels to slaughter ?
Mr. Chapin may want to reconsider ADM Blair. He was the first Assitant Director of Central Intelligence for Military Support. He is well aquainted with the intelligence community. Furthermore, ADM Blair brings to the job an understanding of the intelligence consumer. All too often intelligence is done for other intelligence organization and not the warfighter or policy maker.
GW Bush – He may have helped put us in economic depression, but remember he kept us all safe from attack by foreign nations and terrorists and helped liberate noble, freedom-lovers!
Herbert Hoover – He may have helped put us in economic depression, but at least he kept us all safe from terrorist evildoers and foreign attack. And he helped save many noble foreign freedom lovers.
Fidel Castro – He may have put the Cuban economy in the toilet for 50 years, but he kept Cubans safe from crazy terrorists out of Miami blowing our planes and people up. He saved us from imperialist invasion. And he helped spread the message of liberation and progress to noble oppressed freedom lovers all over Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean with our beloved hero Cuban troops.
Leonid Brezhnev – By almost every measure, Leonid made life outside the Ruling Elites pretty miserable save for what trickled down. But that is not important. What is, is that he kept Mother Russia safe from evildoers and terrorists and revanchist enemies of democracy-loving socialist peoples everywhere. History will rank him right up there with Comrade Stalin – for whatever else he did, he kept us safe…The Bush Doctrine to liberate noble freedom lovers at point of gun is but a later perversion of the Brezhnev Doctrine – “When forces that are hostile to socialism try to turn the democratic development of some socialist country towards capitalism, it becomes not only a problem of the country concerned, but a common problem and concern of all socialist countries.” Which Uncle Leonid lovingly applied, mainly with tanks, to liberate his freedom-loving wards in Czechoslovakia in 1968 and in 1979,the democracy and progress hungry noble Afghani communists attempting to end Islamic fundamentalism and free women of their Burquas…
Eliot Spitzer and Rod Blagojevich – At least they kept NYC and Chicago safe from terrorist attack. The history books will note that and celebrate their greatness in the One Thing that Matters in a leader. That is, Since Everything Changed – in the minor military attack of 9/11 conducted by 19 unlawful enemy combatants. Thanks, Blago…and hoping someone gives Eliot a freebie
***********
As unlikeable as John Kerry was, and I believe he did dishonor his uniform and I didn’t vote for the guy…..he made a great point in 2004 about terrorism.
He said that terrorism was a risk that comes with civilization, That there will always be a certain level of it, but it poses a minor risk to citizens. And no threat to the continuence of the nation and it’s current Constitution. The greater risk, he said, would come from a nation or its leadership so distracted by the small threat of a handful of violent extremists that they ignore all the other critical business a superpower must do. And result in causing far more destruction to America, its economy, its military, and its laws – than terrorists could ever do.
Obama was elected, and the Republican Party was reduced to the status of tainted Chinese milk outside a few states where the majority of the inhabitants believe Man once rode around on Dinosaurs God didn’t want in the Ark.
The reason is voters lost confidence in Republicans from their neglect of everything but the minor Islamic threat and rewarding their donors with tax cuts and pork. Obama was elected to try and help restore America, and the People’s government – to better days. So Obama, likely unelectable in any other time – will be given all sorts of time and chances to repair all Bush neglected, or just f#*ked up.
The Left declares “police state” because the government reserves to itself the ability to snoop in on the communications of jihadis, terror support cells, and other elements in the global jihad.
Want to know why they are terrified of this?
Lynne Stewart. That’s why. This Communist piece of sh*t was passing information and communications from The Blind Sheik to his comrades in jihad outside the Big House. They caught her, and the Left does not like this one bit. The Left KNOWS THAT IT IS IN LEAGUE WITH THE ISLAMIC RADICALS, and it fears being caught in collaboration with the scum.
I will tell you two rights that the Left wants to abrogate, redefine, and abnegate, David S: the 1st and 2nd Amendments. In the case of the 1st Amendment, the Left wants to allow creeping speech codes, like campus political correctness, into the wider discourse we are having about Islam. As for the 2nd Amendment, what planet are you living on? Were you just dropped in from Saturn? Continuously the 2nd Amendment is challenged in every conceivable way by the legal connivance of the Left. Just look at Obama’s voting record in the Illinois legislature on the subject of the 2nd Amendment.
I’ll tell you how dangerous the Communist swine are. At hundreds of rallies, here and in Europe, Leftists of every organization join in with their Muslim allies in calling for the Jews to be put in larger and more ovens. Folks, our Western Civilization is under assault from this filth of an Unholy Alliance of these degenerates.
Take your “Peace” salutation and shove it up your a$$.
(61) FRED WROTE: “Frank Marshall Davis did not like America and its traditional values and founding documents.”
RESPONSE: This is untrue. He rejected some heretofore “traditional values,” such as racism, but strongly supported the founding documents. Edgar Tidwell, whom AIM’s Cliff Kincaid cites as “an expert on the life and writings of Davis,” wrote:
“Although my research indicates that Davis joined the CPUSA as a “closet member” during World War II, there is no evidence that he was a Stalinist, or even a Party member before WWII. Further, to those attempting to make the specious stand for the concrete, there is no evidence that he instructed Barack Obama in communist ideology.
Frank Marshall Davis did NOT believe in overthrowing the USA. He was committed to what the nation professed to be. For him, communism was primarily an intellectual vehicle to achieve a political end-a possible tool for gaining the constitutional freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for ALL Americans.” (See http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/Kaleokualoha)
Mr. Chapin:
“In the president-elect’s vision, we only will become a great nation if we alter ourselves into becoming another nation, one that precisely matches Obama’s desires and expectations.”
I don’t know if that holds true for the fellow who claims to have been born in Hawaii, but that’s a pretty good description of the Left’s general version of patriotism.
Rather than love America for what it is, and forgive it it’s wrongs, they seem to would rather love what THEIR subjective version of America would be, and they despise it for failing to meet their standards.
Actually, I think Mister Obama will probably be the most, if not the only, patriotic Leftist in the country…nothing like having it “given to you” to cause you to love what you make of it.
The rest of the Left will increasingly excoriate him for his failure to make America all things for them.
You can see it happenning already…
“Obama has been a public servant as a community organizer and elected representative for some time. These are not “lucrative” positions – they are where the real work of making America great occurs.”
ROFLMAO.
As distinguished from all those parasites who:
1. Look for, find, produce, and refine oil and other resources that power modern civilization,
2. Invent and improve computers and communications facilities to amplify every aspect of business and make exchanging ideas orders of magnitude more efficient,
3. Discover the scientific knowledge on which these things depend,
4. Teach everyone how properly to observe and reason to make all of the above possible,
5. Farm land, and improve yields generation after generation, in order to feed everyone who does 1-4.
I could easily extend this list to a thousand items of genuine greatness and still not find it necessary to include the parasites, rabble rousers, power lusters, and sob sisters to whom you allude.
When O talked about “bitter people clinging to their guns and religion” it told me everything I needed to know. If you say someone is “clinging” to something, you use that word because you don’t think they should have whatever they are “clinging” to. And generally, people cling to things probably don’t need or should have them. Clinging has a very negative conotation to it. He doesn’t think people should have guns or bibles. That’s going to be one big heck of a “Change”. Speaking of change, it’s a good thing he printed up a gazillion of those signs, we’re gonna need em.
‘As with all leftists, Obama regards America’s principal enemies as being the politicians in the opposition party.’
…
‘In the hopes of clarification, let me state with absolute certainty that the reason we should question the political left’s patriotism is that they are not patriotic.’
Do you mock yourself, or can such contradictions truly go unnoticed as you write them?
‘They probably did not think their prospects for aggressive action could improve any more than they had on November 4, but now will be pleased that Christmas — or what may soon become known as “Western Incineration Day” — is coming a second time this year.’
I stand corrected. Those with such a level of paranoid delusion cannot be expected to recognize, or even understand, their own hypocrisy.
Since 1972, The Democrat Party has placed its success ahead of America’s.
Obama is really going to f*** things up. Our enemies are salivating at his weakness. Joe Biden was right- our enemies WILL begin testing Obama after Jan 20. They are anxious to know just how much they can get away with. I fear the answer is- pretty much everything.
75. 888:
Good example of a “patriot” going berserk.
79. Rachel Peepers:
“He has told so many lies. Said so many things he knew to be untrue that at this point in his life, concepts like honesty, integrity, honor and country are, to his very marrow, alien ideas that have no place in his self centered little world. ”
Perfect description of GW Bush.
BTW, according to you, only right-wingers are patriots. I’m glad I’m not one.
80. John:
“As usual the rabid right confuse patriotism with nationalism.
I read several blogs and the only place I see president-to-be-Obama described as a Messiah is in right leaning blogs. You do not find that language in the progressive/liberal blogs.”
They are BIG in name-calling. Rabid and creepy.
Vivo….Have you ever noticed how liberals are the first ones to name call as in “tin-foil hat”, “truthers”, etc. Guess that escaped from under your obvious liberal filter? Funny how you can’t counter balance any points made here by the “rabid and creepy” (my, my vivo…did you just name call?) crowd about liberals lacking patriotism by their willingness to take away basic American freedoms. So Vivo…how do you feel on the liberal left enacting the “Fairness Doctrine”, the “Free-Choice Act” and taking away the average American’s right to bear arms? Do tell. Oh, and without the name-calling please.
I don’t even think the guy from Kenya is Obama’s father. I think his real father was Frank Marshall Davis, and that is why they had such a strong rapport. For a proud black man,how many times did you hear Obama mention his Kenyan grandmother during the campaign? Did you hear anything about her at all? Did you see her at all? She is coming over to attend some of the Inaugural festivities. It will be interesting to see how much access the media has to her. Rahmbo went to Africa recently, maybe to tell her to keep her mouth shut. She had previously said that she witnessed Obama’s birth in Kenya. I am interested in what this lady has to say.
Personally, I think McCain should have taken off the kid gloves and gone for the jugular during the campaign. I wanted him to. Nothing should have been off the table, especially Rev. Wright. It is fine and noble to be a gentleman, but in this day and age, it just doesn’t fly. Pres. Bush also took the high road many times during his Presidency. I guess one can take solace in knowing that you haven’t gotten into the mud with pigs, but look what happened. Our country has fallen into the hands of thugs, crooks, socialists, communists, and terrorist sympathizers when Obama was voted into office. I hope there is something left of our country to salvage after 4 yrs of this.
Re: (#8)
Right on! You hit the nail squarely on the head.
The question is not if Obama is unpatriotic – it is self-evident that someone who wants to upset the foundations of a country is unpatriotic.
Barack Obama has given plenty of evidence that he does not like the country or its culture, especially the parts that need “fundamental change”, which include the constitution. HE SAID SO. I´m sure he also said the opposite at one point, as he often used to tell audiences what they want to hear. But the pattern coming from him, his wife and his buddies is clear: America sucks and needs to taken to the woodshed. And he will remodel it and stick us with the bill.
Doesn´t “a clean break with our troubled past” sound ominous enough to warrant a few questions? Obama is nothing more than an elected official. He is supposed to be the caretaker of our institutions and our culture. He doesn´t own the place and he better start showing some respect.
He also has been explicit about his strategy to divide and conquer, the need to create a feeling of perpetual crisis and despondency. That is exactly what the left has done to get in power in recent years. And now they are going to do everything they falsely accused Bush of doing: be partisan, politicize everything, use all levers of power to extend your control over the economy, undermine trust in elections, the courts and the markets, undermine social institutions, set people against people (race, class, sex and victimhood), indoctrinate and mobilize the young.
Think that´s unfair? Tough luck. Obama has also questioned the patriotism of McCain (”Which country?”). Pelosi has questioned the patriotism of the House GOP. Biden has questioned the patriotism of people who do not like tax hikes. If these jerks can talk like that, I can do it too.
Bush has shown nothing but patience and goodwill with the people who smeared him as a fascist. By comparison, Obama is a thug. The Right has not shredded the constitution. The left has always been open about the need to do exactly that to get over the quaint notion of limited government.
Kevin (#45):
Trudat!
FACT: Obama is a corrupt collectivist politician. FACT: At least half of America, those who voted for him, are delusional and have been corrupted by subjectivist and socialist idea’s. FACT: The MSM, including FOX, are brain-dead halfwits. FACT: Unless America embraces the virtues of reason, laissez-faire capitalism, and the defense of individual rights, then the USA is indeed in her last days. FACT: I will NOT be watching the inauguration orgy over the messiah’s swearing in as President, or as I like to call him: Jimmy Carter part II
As far as I am concerned about the hysteria surrounding B.H.O., it stands in clear contrast to the examples of Caesar Augustus and King Canute.
When Caesar Augustus heard that the Roman Senate decreed that he is a god, he remarked, “What am I supposed to do when
someone prays to me to cure his gout?”
The other dealt with King Canute, and his desire to put syncophants in their place. The scene is he was taken to the sea shore, and commanded the tide not to come in. Well, I’m not sure if they got the message, but Canute wasn’t king
much longer after that.
Trudat!
A picture of the guy who just last week stated that this federal government is the only entity capable of fixing this economy through massive spending and entitlement programs.
(I think Obama supporters might have a long wait for the house & car payment checks to start arriving in the mail. Maybe the $500.00 checks to individuals who pay no federal income tax at all (something like 40% of the working population) will arrive sooner.)
Obamessiah: Let’s keep it real, ain’t no big deal
Goodness. The bots get really freaked when the obvious is stated about their boy.
Its a bit early for people on the right to be condemning Obama. As one “on the right,” as least as perceived where I live, this “the sky is falling” “Obama is ruining the US” piece is a bit much. The Right has about as much credibility with voters as a five time cheating spouse going out for the night saying “don’t wait up”.
I am wary of Obama. But his appointments (other than Panetta) seem to be decent ones for the democrats. Not perfect but decent. His reluctance to speak out on Gaza while not in power was sound and professional.
But Obama isn’t the one that spent us into insolvency, appointed Paulson and watched for 8 years as a “far sale” sign was hung out on capitol hill.
It wasn’t Obama’s head of the FDIC (who has escaped any blame for reasons that elude me) who indifferently wacthed as federally insured banks sucked up risky debt paper.
It wasn’t Obama who sat by as US companies went offshore to duck US taxes.
And it wasn’t Obama who told us how great it was that we could buy cheap tennis shoes while our manufacturers and their payroll and property taxes were fleeing offshore.
McCain didn’t lose because of money: he lost because he had no message and no conviction except “trust me, I’m a good guy.” He never put himself “out there” for a political cause while in the Senate (oops, other than restricting First Amendment rights in McCain Feingold). With a bow toward his Vietnam days where he was magnificent, he didn’t come close to connecting with voters in 2008.
8 years of Bush’s cronyism, indifference to huge deficits, congressional corruption, and systematic alination of a large percentage of voters who wanted more competence and fewer vacations, Obama seems to be a relief–even to me.
I think Obama is going to be more surefooted than his early detractors think. He does not want to be a failure.
The right should muzzle its tendency to howl for 6 months. Lets give him a chance and stop whining for a while.
It wasn’t Obama’s head of the FDIC (who has escaped any blame for reasons that elude me) who indifferently wacthed as federally insured banks sucked up risky debt paper.
Barack Obama had been serving in the US Senate for 3 years leading up to the dénouement of financial chaos.
(but wait, where has Barack been during most of his US Senate tenure ? out campaigning…)
Watch this video, must see tee vee
The Community Reinvestment Act that led to banks sucking up the risky debt paper etc. and giving people 105% home loans (loans that the inimitable Barney Frank now admits “should never should have been made”) was passed under Bill Clinton in 1995.
Barack defended ACORN, allegedly, one of the organizations that pressures banks to make loans to all these individuals who have blissfully walked away from their financial commitments.
“Barack Obama had been serving in the US Senate for 3 years leading up to the dénouement of financial chaos.”
Yeah, and your point is…? Obama was elected in 2004 and seated in early 2005. Short-sighted partisians like Michael Moore were ludicrously unfair when they blamed Bush for not finding bin Laden and stopping 9-11 in 8 months after Clinton sat on it for 8 years.
Now Moore’s mirror images on the right points to Obama’s mere presence in the Senate for 17 months before the meltdown begain in August 2007 as proof of…what?
If he was out cmapaihgning, he certainly wasn’t as responsible as the people power-lunching in D.C with Denny Hastert was he?
I voted for Bush twice: I detested Kerry and Gore. Its no fun for me to admit that Bush had the SEC, FDIC and more machinery to control the out of control speculation at his fingertips. And you want to equally blame some state senator who was in federal office for 17 months?
The CRA is indeed a problem, but no where did Bush or a republican majority act to modify or control it. The CRA enacted under Carter did not cause what happened in 2007. Excesses of its intent certainly did, but just who was in power to control those from 2000-2008?
Obama’s defense of ACORN hardly means he supported risky bank practices, anymore than Bush’s support of the US army means he supported Abu Grahib. Again, where was the FDIC and SEC? Where was Bush? Oh I forgot–at the ranch, looking down from 15,000 feet at Katrina and letting Hastert & Co milk congresional control.
Real responsibility means admitting when our people were wrong. They were. They became the bumbling incompetents and crooks we elected them to replace.
96rinLA,
The pornography disinformation against Frank Marshall Davis is just as heinous as the political disinformation. Further, it suggests that those making such false accusations may be projecting their own libidinous psychological disorders onto Davis.
Frank Marshall Davis wrote a pornographic novel under the pseudonym Bob Greene, one chapter of which is devoted to the protagonist and his wife having sex with a thirteen year old girl, according to a British website (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/2601914/Frank-Marshall-Davis-alleged-Communist-was-early-influence-on-Barack-Obama.html) on 24 August. According to the British website, “Mr. Davis (writing as Greene) explains that although he has “changed names and identities…all incidents I have described have been taken from actual experiences.”
In a same day report citing the British website, “Accuracy In Media” (AIM) reported that Edgar Tidwell, an “expert in the life and writing of Davis” confirms that Frank Marshall Davis wrote “Sex Rebel: Black” as a semi-autobiographical novel. Despite Tidwell’s expert opinion that the novel was SEMI-autobiographical, AIM’s Cliff Kincaid escalated accusations against Davis by first claiming he was a sex pervert (http://www.aim.org/aim-column/obamas-red-mentor-was-a-pervert/) in their 24 August report. (Kincaid falsely attributed the “pervert” claim to the British website.) On 14 October, AIM again escalated the charges by claiming Davis was an “admitted child molester” (http://www.aim.org/aim-column/was-a-communist-obamas-sex-teacher/).
There are at least four distinct disclaimers that indemnify Frank Marshall Davis from literal attribution of this novel:
a. According to dictionary.com, “identity” means “condition or character as to who a person or what a thing is: a case of mistaken identity.” Changing name AND identities means changing names AND other “condition or character as to who a person or what a thing is,” which may include biographical data such as age.
b. “Taken from actual experiences” does not mean they are accurate representations of actual experiences. It only means they are based on actual experiences.
c. Edgar Tidwell, the expert on the life and writing of Frank Marshall Davis, says the book is “semiautobiographical,” which (according to dictionary.com) means “1. pertaining to or being a fictionalized account of an author’s own life. 2. pertaining to or being a work of fiction strongly influenced by events in an author’s life.”
d. Further, scandalous memoirs such as “Sex Rebel: Black (Memoirs of a Gash Gourmet)” have been a literary genre for centuries. According to Wikipedia, such fictional novels are allegedly factual, but are largely invented. The title, alone, qualifies it as a “scandalous memoir.”
In an honest evaluation, any of these disclaimers should protect the author from literal interpretation. The combination of all four should provide absolute protection from any culpability. Unfortunately, Davis’s accusers are dishonest. Like Mike Nifong, the disgraced ex-D.A. in the Duke lacrosse case, their campaign to demonize their target ignores exculpatory evidence in their reckless rush to judgment. In order to smear Barack Obama through guilt-by-association with Frank Marshall Davis, they are virtually lynching Davis by grossly misrepresenting his character and influence. Such misrepresentation may be symptomatic of the accuser’s own psychological disorder, indicated by projection of the accuser’s own pedophilic fantasies onto the author.
In “Sex Rebel,” Davis’s Bob Greene (not unlike Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert) hesitates at a pubescent girl’s sexual invitation, but foolishly relents. Like “Lolita,” Davis’s faux foreword is written by a Ph.D impersonator who details the psychological significance of the memoir. Like Nabokov, Davis wanted to write under a pseudonym to shield his reputation, but felt compelled to reveal his authorship. As a result, however, Davis has been posthumously accused of pedophilia, while “Lolita” is “considered by many to be one of the finest novels written in the 20th century.” In 1998, it was named the fourth greatest English language novels of the 20th century by the Modern Library,” despite also being initially dismissed as pornography, according to Wikipedia.
This deliberate misrepresentation is only the latest in a long series of falsehoods by AIM professional prevaricators. Their “specific misrepresentation” is documented at http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/Kaleokualoha/gGxdvX. I invite any person of integrity to refute my evidence against any of these AIM lies. If AIM had authentic evidence of Davis’s radical influence, they would not need to fabricate such evidence.
For objective articles on this issue, please see http://wxxxnews.blogspot.com/2008/10/sex-rebel-black.html and http://iamthelizardqueen.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/the-national-enquirer-wingnuttery-and-autobiographies/#comment-5904
Obama’s mere presence in the Senate for 17 months before the meltdown begain in August 2007 as proof of…what?
Firstly, Obama was seated in January 2005, which adds up to 32 months before August 2007
Secondly, you recall that, as Senator, Barack Obama received
3rd most of any Senator in contributions from Fannie & Freddie
Thirdly, you need to watch the video I linked, the testimony of F&F supporters & supporting Congresscritters, given your issues* with financial protocols under GWB.
(*I have issues too, like the rather wanton expenditures of the past 8 years, just for the record)
“The CRA is indeed a problem, but no where did Bush or a republican majority act to modify or control it.”
Bush and McCain are both on record as wanting to rein in the excesses of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac years ago. They were blocked by Democrats and some Republicans who were also getting campaign contributions from those agencies – BO himself was one of the largest recipients.
There is an excellent article foreshadowing the current mess, published in *2000* (!) explaining how CRA was largely dormant until the Clinton administration.
http://www.city-journal.org/html/10_1_the_trillion_dollar.html
Check out what Ace is reporting at
acedotmudotnu
“Obama’s Mulling His Own FEMA”…
PE-BO has been hugely irresponsible in recent weeks proclaiming the ongoing horrible-ness of our economic lot and how we will all need to make further sacrifices.
I’m not sure if sacrifice includes the new £300,000 Barackmobile or the $150 million party next week(GWB’s inauguration festivities cost $40 million and the entrenched media howled as to how that $ could be better spent), but, typical of democrats, it’s do as I say, not as I do.
I consider that the pessimistic economic outlook on the part of the President Elect is a further subtle grab at the power and autonomy of individual Americans, fear mongering, for purposes of creating larger dependencies on “the state”.
If I have a problem with egregious spending under GWB, I’d say that Barack Obama proposes to double down on that. If you consider that actual government sponsored policies contributed mightily to the current economic situation, and I do, I can’t imagine that further government policies (spending to get us out of this mess) will be remedies.
They may, however, remedy any further Constitutional limits on size of government and restrictions on powers of taxation granted in that document.
(two things to correct, I guess the CRA was passed under Jimmah C and Barney Frank’s fairly recent comment was that those bad loans “should never have been made”. Barney & his boyfriend at Fannie Mae were big proponents of all those loans at the time)
Thanks for the article at City Journal.
Boston-based Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America. Chief executive Bruce Marks has set out to become the Wal-Mart of home mortgages for lower-income households.
The CEO of the recently melted down Washington Mutual bank also said he wanted to become the Wal-Mart of home mortgages.
Community organizer types and banker types, all competing to be the wal-mart of the mortgage industry.
Even if all the CRA-related loans marketed by nonprofits were to turn out fine, the CRA system is still troubling. Like affirmative action, it robs the creditworthy of the certain knowledge that they have qualified by dint of their own effort for a first home mortgage, a milestone in any family’s life. At the same time, it sends the message that this most important milestone has been provided through the beneficence of government, devaluing individual accomplishment.
The relationship between federal bureaucracy interference, the tightening of CRA under Clinton & all that has been spawned in banking & lending.
Tangled webs and unintended consequences.
If Obama was a patriot he would…
~stand up for freedom of speech = NO Fairness Doctrine (ie forced liberal bias to a country that has already shown they dislike liberal venues)
~stand up for workers rights = NO Employee Free Choice Act (ie forced unionization)
~stand up for the Americans right to bear arms = no crazy gun control laws
~stand up for the unborn Americans = no public funding for abortion clinics and taking away parental notification laws
~stand up for our Armed Forces = no dismantling of the Pentagon, FBI, CIA or underfunding to achieve the same. No underfunding new technology for the troops.
~stand up for a free and open election = no using strong arm tactics to win elections anymore
~stand up for state’s rights = If the voters of Prop 8 in California didn’t vote it in, don’t go around the people and disregard their choice no matter what the Hollywood pigheads (ie Tom Hanks) direct you to do.
As soon as Obama does these….then and only then will he show patriotism.
vivo “Patriotism is WAY overrated. We need problem solvers.” – This tells me everything I need to know about you and other Obama followers, patriotism being overrated. As for problem solvers, you can’t solve a problem unless you know what it is, what its causes are, and most importantly, what it is you’re trying to accomplish. You need patriotism for the last. You have just really defined yourself with that unpatriotic posting.
David S – The Declaration of Independence declares that people are endowed BY THEIR CREATOR with certain unalienable rights. This document is the purpose statement of the Constitution and a statement of the basis for our revolution. It’s what the country is all about. The founders were VERY religious men. So, yes, God is in the Constitution, as the Declaration of Independence is the reason for the Constitution.
Your contempt for the Creator is typical of the left. It goes along with your own lack of patriotism. How does God give us these rights? He gave us a sense of right and wrong and a clear list of do nots. He provides a Higher Moral Authority, without which, only the powerful determine what’s moral or not. His principles are those upon which the founders established our Constitution.
I give credit to God for my blessings, and I assume the blame for my failures. You have a problem with humility? It makes for a better person, does it not? Such also makes for better leaders. They give credit to others, and shoulder blame themselves. It’s a Divine principle that works in the rest of life. It’s the opposite of leaders who hog all the credit for things, and blame underlings for failures. This process is also called in today’s vernacular as, “throwing them under the bus”, something Obama is really, really known for.
To others – Finally, I am sooo tired of the meme that Obama would be highly successful at anything he put his hand to. His heading of the CAC was a complete failure. He wasted $100+million with nothing to show for it. Nothing. In the private sector, he’d never hold another job. The MSM put forth this lie about his giftedness. Pubs are always portrayed as stupid and Dems as brilliant. The results always show otherwise. Dems are just better politicians, because they lack scruples.
125. ThinkingPerson:
126. Marc Malone:
I respect your patriotism and I’m glad you feel that way. What I can’t stand is the belief that other countries don’t count and your country is isolated as if it was the only one in the Universe. And the flag waving, pin wearing and other superficial symbols that all they conduce to is dividing human beings. Patriotism works better in the Olympic Games, the soccer World Cup or when your country is attacked.
Obama doesn’t know what patriotism is. He has no fortitude, and he’s afraid to make a decision. He is only where he is based on his chosen race. He could have chosen white instead of black. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear and you can’t make a president out of a wimp.
This person shall be the weakest president ever.
Vivo….Quite the opposite! Knowing that my country is strong enough to come to the aid of the world in need makes me even prouder. No way do I want America to be isolated! The more milquetoast America becomes (ie less patriotic and proud) the less we want to spread our prosperity and knowledge around the world. Without the US there would be no UN. Without the US there would be no Red Cross. Be proud (patriotic if you will) that you live in a country that has the resources to HELP the world not be a part of the problem. Why is that wrong?
Obama is so patriotic that he’s been to all 57 States!
Gary Rosen:
Yes to be sure McCain may have been “of record” against further expansion of the CRA–in 2005. Big deal. That’s it? “of record?”
But McCain never did more than that. He never went out out a limb against the tide like Churchill or even Nixon when 90% of the newspapers were howling for him to stop the bombing of Vietnam. Where is the courageous speech, the risky stance? There is none.
McCain certainly didn’t suggest in his campaign that fewer people ought to be buying houses.
His weak comment had the duration of a soap bubble–this from someone who had been in the senate for decades and found time to pass McCain Feingold. Yet you somehow feel that Obama who had been there less than three years is beyond redemption because he didn’t do what no one else did.
The plain fact: the Republican majority liked being at the trough and it hurts me to say it. But we all know its true. The GOP appointed head of the SEC and FDIC were either asleep of incompetent.
Nitpicking Obama’s record for what he didn’t do when no one else did either is beneath us. Its unfair to Obama. Its also a bit late given it all happened under a GOP president and congressional majority from 2000 to 2006.
Consistency may seem like the hobgoglin of little minds to philosophers, but its called fairness in most other situations, and is needed for objectivity in most.
#128 Cybergeezer:
” He is only where he is based on his chosen race. He could have chosen white instead of black.”
Hold on,man, That’s a bum rap. Obama can no more change his race than you or I can. He is what he is.
Now the fact that he seems to exclusively identify with his African heritage, while dismissing his loving White maternal grandparents as:
“Typical White Person(s)” gives me some misgivings.
He could very well validly claim to be both, the best of both.
Our man Tiger Woods showed,(yet again), how THAT hole should be played…
But then what can you expect of a chap whose father was little but a memory to him…if even that? The tree still bears the scar of the woodsman’s axe, even if it be centuries old.
And if the fellow who claims to have been born in Hawaii has been given a “pass” by those who should know better, then the fault lies FAR more with they than with him.
The bottom line though, is who GAS what coat of paint he’s been sprayed with? What really matters is what has he made of the hand that was dealt him…and how he’s done it.
THAT’S the American Way…and 45 years ago, Doctor King eloquently reminded us of that.
“You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear”
Sure you can…explain America. We were the socio-economic refuse, the religious whack-jobs and the despised minorities of at least two continents.
Look at us now.
And if hat isn’t proof enough…look at Australia.
Consistency may seem like the hobgoglin of little minds to philosophers, but its called fairness in most other situations, and is needed for objectivity in most.
Barack Obama throughout the campaign demonstrated rather glaring inconsistencies.
One example was gun control/2nd amendment. First, he said he agreed with the Washington DC ban on private ownership of guns in the home. Then, when the Supreme Court ruled the DC ban unconstitutional, Obama found a “Constitutional” right to keep private guns (not in a dismantled condition, as the DC ban required) in the home. (the law was stupid in the first place, oh, you can keep guns in the home, but they have to be kept in little pieces ! brilliant)
His stance on NAFTA seemed to be all over the map, depending on which audience he was addressing. At one point when Obama was saying it had to be re-negotiated, one of his people (David Alexrod ?) told Canada not to worry about that position, Obama didn’t mean it.
Iraq ? He faithfully held to the Leftoid mantra that Iraq was an abject failure, repeating it over and over. Then he acknowledged in an interview with Bill O’Reilly that the surge had been a “resounding success”.
Huh ?
Even some in the entrenched media, after he’d won, said they really hadn’t much of clue what he stood for. (I have one little clue, weak Americans needing a Jabba the Hutt style federal government)
I repeat(since you seem unwilling or unable to appreciate this) Barack Obama PAC’s received some of the biggest Fannie & Freddie payouts of any Senator, as the housing débacle was unfolding. He did nothing to stem that tide, why would he ? They were contributing handsomely to him.
Barack Obama, on a number of topics (grandma a racist ? toss her under the bus ! can’t ever abandon Reverend GodDamn America ! out you go, JWright ! ) demonstrated a rather ad hoc, pragmatic inconsistency throughout the duration of his nearly 2 year run, depending on what looked good to do at a given moment in time.
He wears a mirrored suit, and all you clones out there can see reflected what you wanted to see reflected. You’ve declared him, uh, uh, smooth and brilliant, yet you’ve never been privy to his academic performance at columbia & harvard because he wouldn’t release his transcripts.
He may do ok, given the reality check of some of the information of which he’s been apprised since Nov. 4.
He may even find that he has to be, you know, even more inconsistent on many topics he blithely spouted about during the campaign. He’s already backtracked on “getting” bin laden, immediately closing Guantanamo, some of the tax stuff, oops, he may keep some of those interrogation procedures in place when it comes to “terrorism”.
Now that the democrats control the legislature & the executive, expect to hear a lot less complaining about big government usurpation of individual rights.
Most of you people will go along with anything your party foists & proposes, When it’s your team abrogating your “rights”, you say, have at it, willingly walking to slaughter like good Useful Idiots.
Your party knows what sheeple you are and exploits it every day.
For the record, the Emerson quote is …a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
tanstaafl,
Now that the democrats control the legislature & the executive, expect to hear a lot less complaining about big government usurpation of individual rights.
Actually, they are already recasting the ‘usurpation of individual rights’ as ‘sacrifice or the good of the country’ in exeplary Orwellian fashion. Mussolini would be quite proud – ‘Everything for the State; nothing outside the State’, not even your choice of light bulb.
Reportedly, Eric Holder (Obama’s choice for Attorney General who played such a big part in the disgusting Clinton pardons) indicated in his confirmation hearing last week that he supports renewing the part of the Patriot Act that allows the FBI to seek records from businesses, libraries and bookstores as the policing agency investigates suspects in this country !
For years we’ve seen news agencies and opinionists rail against the expanded power of the FBI to search such records. But, now with Obama’s AG announcing in his confirmation hearing that he agrees that the FBI should have this power, all anti-Bush administration voices are silent on the matter that had them so exercised for 6 years.
Where’s the Outrage ?
I can’t believe I am being “out right winged” even here. But Tannstafl, the issue isn’t “whether we took a few liberties with our female party guests. We did.” Oos. Sorry, wrong movie.
The issue isn’t whether Obama has taken inconsistent positions: of course he has. So has everyone else in American politics. Even Ronald reagan was against taxes before he raised them in California. Obama’s past inconsistencies on the campaign trial do not make 8 years of GOP graft, incompetence and outright idiocy preferable. Thinking that it might be is why the GOP now calls itself a minority party.
I was worried about Obama. I’m still worried about Obama. I detest Bill Ayres. But to start criticizing Obama’s patriotism again after being smacked in the election is more akin to a banana republic’s perrenially angry mobs that won’t settle down after an election that what we ought to have in the US. Its like “those people” who could never stop carping about Bush after 2000 and we finally named them as sufferes from BDS. Its not good form to mimic them. Or those people that lived to hate Richard Nixon.
Obama won. He deserves a chance. A brief moratorium on bitter suspicious assaults on his motives and his past. That is in the past. If he’s going to screw thngs up he’ll soon give you lots to talk about that’s new not old.
Oh, PS: I’m not sure you’re using the full Emerson quote made a lot of difference, when my shorter form was just fine.
PPS: Its fair is it not to say that neither you nor I caused this: the GOP allowed this to happen: they made Obama possible. They destroyed the perception of the GOP as anti-spending, anti-deficit and anti-big government and the only issue left appeared to be who was better at running it. And then they (Hastert, Bush, et al) lost that one too. And offered us a 60′s re-tread with no track record that inspired much trust. 8 years and the GOP couldn’t nurture a single successor that appealed to the voters and had t settle for McCain. Unbelievable. That’s why we elected a President that no one knows much about. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has retired happy and wealthier. The rest of us, perhaps not so much.
But to start criticizing Obama’s patriotism again after being smacked in the election is more akin to a banana republic’s perrenially angry mobs…
I heard largely negatives about this country emanating from the Obama sub-text. Very little about what this nation is and what its people have achieved and a lot about how this nation needs to “change”, Obama style. Near as I can tell, the change he envisions is to use the tools of the federal government (especially taxation) to bring about something he calls fairness. (Obama, of course, is the sole arbiter of what this version of fairness looks like.)
Basically, he failed as community organizer and wants to use the bigger venue of the federal government to accomplish those goals, to try on a larger scale. He seems to see the job as tweaking the nation, Obama style, not serving the people and the nation.
As I said, he might be getting a slight reality check that such meanderings aren’t really the job of a US President.
He most offended me when he used the woman who raised him (mom was gallivanting in Indonesia, dad essentially disappeared when he was 2) as an example of a “typical white person”, relative to some stupid incident in Hawaii when she was approached by a black man on the street. Add on his characterization of some Americans to San Francisco élites (his real identity group, élites) and his wife’s comments as to lazy and complacent and “mean” Americans, and you’ve got people who sing to pessimism, not optimism, when it comes to this country and its people.
Perhaps these people will learn on the job, the adulation & king & queen thing will sway them into less arrogant and hostile worldviews.
I’m not sure you’re using the full Emerson quote made a lot of difference, when my shorter form was just fine…
The word “foolish” is key to the meaning of the aphorism.
@90
tanstaafl,
“The inspiring principle of those who wrote the Constitution and, previous to that, the Declaration of Independence is that each human being’s individual rights have nothing to do with government providing them but, rather, that they are “inalienable”. That means that they are yours as a function of simply being. (even you)
Those rights would be, primarily, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
B. Hussein Obama (or no President) has nothing to do with the status of anyone’s “rights”, beyond configuring a government that “ensures” those rights. Being President should be somewhat boring, not being a rock star to the brain dead.”
I’m glad we at least can agree on this. It’s a start.
“The citizen was never intended to serve the state, it’s the other way around.”
Here there is room for argument. We each bear some obligation to serve the state, even if the purpose of the state is only to secure our life, liberty and happiness. If no citizens served the state, it would cease to exist, and to perform the function of safeguarding these rights. The state and the citizenry must serve each other to succeed.
Anyway, B. Hussein Obama has already reneged on his sworn #1 priority to get that ole boy, Osama bin laden. And some of the tax stuff will have to wait. And maybe he’ll keep in place (calling it something else) some of that
Nasty interrogation stuff that may have actually been working for 7 years or so
Just wait and see. There is no point in getting all upset now about how Bush screwed up. Obama hasn’t been sworn in yet.
That should send some more Leftoids up a tree.
Where they belong.
Yes, sometimes it takes a climber to get the job done. I’ll be nice enough not to share my thoughts on where wingnuts go when they die.
Peace.
DS
During the Bush years, neocons tried to use the power of government to further the well-being of the wealthy and corporate elite. How is that more patriotic than Obama trying to use the power of government to further the well-being of the rest of the country? Are the people who don’t own multi-million dollar homes somehow less American?
129. ThinkingPerson:
” Be proud (patriotic if you will) that you live in a country that has the resources to HELP the world not be a part of the problem. Why is that wrong?”
Nothing wrong with being patriotic or proud. But you said it there: “a country that has the resources”. That’s why the USA helps other countries: because it has the resources, not because of patriotism. Good will, but there is a quid pro quo: capitalism is always at work. Nothing wrong with that either.
We each bear some obligation to serve the state, even if the purpose of the state is only to secure our life, liberty and happiness.
You’ve been well conditioned in the government schools.
You see yourself as a citizen of the Republic in a far different way than I see myself as a citizen of the Republic. The growth of government, this “only the federal government has the resources to fix the current economic débacle” (paraphrasing PE-BO just last week) is diametrically opposed to anything the founders worked for in drawing up our Constitution.
Everything in the domestic arena into which the federal government has infused itself with rules & regulations in my lifetime…medicine, education, the social structure, business…has spiralled downward directly as a function of that interference. Business has whole divisions dedicated to not offending some obscure government regulation. This has led to a semi-paranoid “watchdog” mentality and a decline in natural, common sense (self) controls. Public education is especially egregious, where the withholding and granting of federal funds has come to be tied to stupid things, meeting arbitrary parameters on paper etc. No child left behind is a good example of this kind of idiocy. In medicine, all the programs & rules and regulations inspire cheating and graft, at every level of the medical system, from your doctor’s office to elaborate surgeries. My God, many doctors (when they’re not prescribing useless, albeit expensive, tests or filling out paperwork:) ) now spend a lot of their time figuring out new & clever ways to indulge in Medicare fraud !
We the People have abdicated responsibility and assigned it over to the national government, and those individuals have gladly grasped onto an extension of their Power and a concomitant diminishment in our own. Very few of us in recent decades have even been exposed to the notion of our freedoms and responsibilities under the Constitution. Some cynics might say this was intentional, thanks to your government schooling.
Also thanks to that schooling (actually conditioning) our people seem to have lost all standards of behavior. “right & wrong” have come to be a matter of your opinion about them, or so you’ve been taught.
Now, it is the Democrat solution to our government inflicted woes that government spending & interference grow to a scale unimagined (and unthinkable) to the nation’s Founders.
Something hasn’t worked ?! Do more of it !
This final massive growth of the federal government amounts to the destruction of our philosophical premise as a Republic, the last nail in the coffin. One of those founders said…(I paraphrase
…”If you screw up this experiment in freedom, this Republic that exists to serve The People we’re gonna be significantly PO’ed after all the crap we’ve been through with King George !”
…However, while we’re talking, let me get this straight… you’ve all got your shorts in a knot over the fact that Obama’s choice for AG wants to keep those “fascist” Patriot Act powers in place that allow the FBI to find out your preferences in reading material & business records…? (for the record, “you” would likely never be a target of those inquiries)
(you know, provisions and powers of the Patriot Act that have been re-upped twice since its passage, even by the Democrat majority Congress?…the stuff Liberals have been screaming about in print & all over the Internet for 6 long years ?)
You’re all screaming and yelling about these ongoing “fascist” moves on the part of the federal government…
Right? Right?
#139 GaryB: during the Bush years, the Bush administration tried to push freedom, democracy and prosperity throughout the world. The administration also did everything in its power to keep you and all your delusional friends safe from domestic and international terrorists.
“The wealthy and corporate elite” are those who bankrolled Obama’s $650 million steal of the White House, his continuous mocking of the U.S. Constitution, plus his disgustingly lavish inauguration in the height of a recession, knowing full well millions of people have lost a sizable share of their retirement savings and investments in the meltdown the Democratic party (Carter, Clinton, Dodd, Frank) caused.
The rich and powerful in this country are not the Republicans. They’re the elitist, hypocrite, arrogant Democrats and the liberal establishment that Obama is beholden to.
These phonies will destroy (are destroying) this great country of ours and brainwashing our children. And one thing they can’t blame on Bush is the loss of morality in this country — that prize goes to the Dems alone. There is no one as sick, immoral and America-hating as those in the elitist, liberal establishment.
@141
Violations of the Constitution are no less egregious if committed by a Democrat.
Repairing the damage done by Bush will take time, and I am willing to be patient for a little while and see what Obama can accomplish.
Peace.
DS
Vivo…Yes, the US has resources to share with the world and because it DOES so, that in my estimation involves Patriotism. We don’t OWE the world anything contrary to what some would believe. We help because we’re a damned great country (smell my patriotism there?) and it’s in our nature to be generous to those less fortunate or in need. Other countries with resources (Russia, many S. American countries, many African nations, many Asian countries) do NOT help at any level approaching ours. They never have and I’m willing to guess they never will. If it were all pure capitalism at work, we never would have sent aid to so many underprivileged countries. They are always takers, not givers. Well, unless they’re offering up their orphans for celebrities to adopt that is.
@142
888,
during the Bush years, the Bush administration tried to push freedom, democracy and prosperity throughout the world.
That doesn’t appear to have gone according to plan.
The wealthy and corporate elite” are those who bankrolled Obama’s $650 million steal of the White House, his continuous mocking of the U.S. Constitution, plus his disgustingly lavish inauguration in the height of a recession, knowing full well millions of people have lost a sizable share of their retirement savings and investments in the meltdown the Democratic party (Carter, Clinton, Dodd, Frank) caused.
Actually, Obama had the most grassroots funding of any President in history, and has been quite respectful of the Constitution, particularly in comparison to the current resident. Nobody gives a crap about your carping on the inaugural. Consider it a down-payment on the stimulus.
The rich and powerful in this country are not the Republicans. They’re the elitist, hypocrite, arrogant Democrats and the liberal establishment that Obama is beholden to.
Either you don’t live in the same country the rest of us do, or you are just completely dishonest. I guess it could be both.
These phonies will destroy (are destroying) this great country of ours and brainwashing our children. And one thing they can’t blame on Bush is the loss of morality in this country — that prize goes to the Dems alone. There is no one as sick, immoral and America-hating as those in the elitist, liberal establishment.
Actually, you’re wrong here, too. Bush has proved time after time that Republicans can be more sick, immoral and America-hating than any Democrat ever could. The loss of ‘morality’ in this country is not a Democratic initiative. However, I don’t expect you to be able to see this through your myopic filter.
Obama won because he was the best man running for the job. Bush won because the Supreme Court was stacked in his favor, and his GOP buddies ran the vote tabulators.
Keep up the bloviation on campaign donations. Millions of donors gave what we could afford, building Obama’s funds from the grassroots.
Peace.
DS
David S, there’s no point in responding to your yakking points or trying to educate your befuddled and highly washed brain. You are Daily Kossack talking points, personified.
Hint: (oh, why try) The bulk of Barack Obama’s $650 million campaign war chest didn’t come from you “grassrooters”. After all, you’re the people in such desperate personal financial straits (due to your lousy decision making) that you’re waiting breathlessly with outstretched hand for all the free lunches The One™ has promised you !
BTW, I remind you (oh, why try) another of Obama’s reversals of position was saying no to public financing after saying he would accept it.
You are the quintessential foot soldier in the New World Order’s army of Useful Idiots.
#145 David S….I’m going to take the liberty of popping a tiny hole in your inflated, arrogant, liberal ego David….
Your words…”Bush has proved time after time that Republicans can be more sick, immoral and America-hating than any Democrat ever could. ” Okay, now let’s see some proof. I want to see proof of Bush’s “sick, immoral and American-hating” that you allude to. Easy to throw out words David. Here, I’ll show you how easy it is…Obama has never shown his Patriotism! See how easy it is to throw out generalities David? Now…Proof?
Your words…”Millions of donors gave what we could afford, building Obama’s funds from the grassroots.” Yeah right. There’s absolutely NO PROOF that Obama’s war chest was build on the paltry pittance of small time donors. For all we know a few thousand could have given millions. He never has provided a list of donors remember? Seems you’ve bought into that fairytale easy enough eh?
David, truly, you have been on Obama’s campaign website far too long. The only saving grace for you is that now you can see that all of the hype about Obama is truly that. The MSM wouldn’t tell you, but now you’ve allowed a bit of fresh air into that cobweb of untruths. Grab on to this opportunity David. Not all of the uninformed will be so lucky.
@147
TP,
Bush’s sick, immoral, America-hating acts. Where do I start? Warrantless wiretaps, Terri Schiavo, Abu Ghraib, signing statements, water boarding, economic collapse, regressive taxation – shall I go on? There is a laundry list of sick, immoral and America-hating acts by Bush. If he is not tried as a war criminal, justice will not have been done.
http://www.rense.com/general80/imor.htm
http://www.onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1185.shtml
Just let me know if you are still having trouble understanding why most of the world considers Bush a criminal. I noticed you didn’t have any proof or evidence to offer for your own case.
As far as donors to Obama, it’s easy to find info on his contributors. You might want to note that there are 2.5 million donors (or more), and that most of them gave less than $200. I can vouch for my own paltry contribution of $22.77, the only political donation I ever have made.
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/donordemCID.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00009638
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2008/reportersblog/2008/09/obama_camp_breaks_own_record_b.html
You are welcome to try popping a hole in my ego, but that will require you to offer facts and proof of your position. Care to try?
Peace.
DS
Obama is 1000 times more patriotic than most of the right-wing knuckledraggers who would blindly follow Bushco straight to hell at the expense of the Constitution and the rest of mankind.
David S.
Isn’t this fun? These folks are so fond of calling us Kossacks (I guess that means readers of Daily Kos which I never read.) Their fondness of Bush is almost neurotic. That Right wing koolaid must be pretty damn tasty.
@150
Pat J,
There is much entertainment value here, true, but it is hardly consolation for what they have done to America. I always thought the GOP koolaid was bourbon – nasty stuff, but very hard to give it up once they got the habit. Also makes them think themselves wise, handsome and popular, in spite of the objective reality.
There are really two GOP factions now – those who drank the koolaid and believe Bush was sent by divine providence, and those who are appalled at the others for being so dense.
Peace.
DS
I think Obama does at some level love this country. I just think it falls way down the list. First is, well, Barak Obama. Second is, let me see, yeah it’s himself again.
When this arrogant narcissist preaches that we need a new Declaration of Independence so that we can all trash our principles and values and adopt his, I think that tells you enough about where he is coming from. If he thinks that will play for long, he is in for a big lesson.
In the end I will judge Obama on what he does. But the cringe inducing self importance of this guy is going to make it very hard to ever want to be anywhere near him or his supporters let alone support him.
@152
Dave,
I think if you took the time to read the Declaration of Independence, in the context of the GWB administration, you would understand what Obama was trying to convey. America has drifted, and we need to get back on course before it is too late.
Obama has already demonstrated his love for this country in his conduct through the presidential transition, and in his history of public service.
I commend you for withholding judgement until the facts are in. You may be surprised at the ability of our new Commander in Chief.
Peace.
DS
Tell it like it is, Bernard! I am tired of hearing even hosts on talk radio and Fox News giving Obama the benefit of the doubt in terms of his intentions. Like many a college freshman I teach, Obama may THINK that socialism will solve our problems. He wants to transform our country to the way “it should be” to quote Michelle who quoted Saul Alinsky (whom Obama praised in print). Obama’s view is radically different from the view of the founding fathers. And unless he has a conversion, I will not support him and will question his patriotism. Don’t let the display of the flag fool you.
David S is just another GOD hating leftist who wants to make America into france. He thinks this would be just great…
Live with it.
@154
He wants to transform our country to the way “it should be” to quote Michelle who quoted Saul Alinsky (whom Obama praised in print). Obama’s view is radically different from the view of the founding fathers.
The founding fathers understood that the USA would grow and change, and they designed a document that allows that to happen within a broad framework. Americans have always aspired to improve their country. Abolitionists fought slavery for decades. Suffragists fought misogyny for decades. There is a long history of improvements made in the USA, helping “to transform our country to the way “it should be” to quote Michelle”
Would you really prefer a world in which the USA stopped transforming? What if the 13 colonies hadn’t transformed our country into what they thought “it should be”?
America is a place of change. It comes steadily, and also in fits and starts. Obama’s view is the same view as the view our founders had. It is a view that sees value in risk and change, and a spirited determination to improve. Our founders were revolutionaries, patriots, outlaws.
Obama knows far more about the founding fathers than you think.
Peace.
DS
It’s obvious to me that Clinton isn’t the radical she was in the 60s – she’s more of a war hawk/patriot than most Dems.
And btw, this country is still definitely a racist and sexist state – and most of it is coming from the left.
@157
this country is still definitely a racist and sexist state – and most of it is coming from the left.
Well, half right is not too bad. The country is still racist and sexist, but it ain’t coming from the left:
One example
another…
I could go on at length, but I am more interested in what you think indicates that the racism and sexism comes from the left. Care to share?
Peace.
DS
Obama ‘loves’ America in the same sense that a pedophile ‘loves’ his victims.
@159
Bush ‘loved’ America in the same sense that your cellmate ‘loved’ you, Pee Wee.
Peace.
DS