Barak Obama is a fine looking, well spoken man. His presentation is so sincere, so believable, his manner so presidential that I am not surprised at his popularity in spite of his accomplishments – or should I say lack of accomplishments. I will not repeat his resume as community organizer and short term Senator during which time he mostly voted “present.” I will not rehash the list of 2008 campaign promises he failed to accomplish. I will not remind the reader that his first four years produced no measurable improvement in the worst economy since the Great Depression. A track record is of no consequence to a man who looks and sounds as good as Barak Obama.
And he does sound good. If you know nothing of his policies and their historical record of failure, you can swoon with the rest of the 53% who wanted four more years of him. But for anyone with a modicum of sense and a perspective that includes more than two minutes of history, this President’s speeches are unbearable. There is no good way to explain the disparity between what the man says and what he has done (or not done.) He is either a pathological liar or he has a severe mental disability which causes him to disregard the requirements of logic and morality. I don’t think he is disabled.
He makes sweeping statements about his vision for America that sound good, yet his meaning is hidden behind the lovely words he uses. For example, he claims to want America's position in the world arena strengthened. A review of his policies leads to the conclusion that by strength he means likability. He actually said, in a rare moment of clarity, that he believes we can talk our enemies into better relations. That sounds wonderful, but it is disconnected from the realities of a modern world fraught with ancient religious fanaticism. There have been radical Islamists since Mohammad invented the religion. The difference now is the tools they have at their disposal. On camel back with a sword, the radical jihadist was no threat to civilization at large. Armed with box cutters that granted access to 747's, they shook our very foundations.
Similar disconnects inhabit his domestic policies. His opening remarks included the statement that, "We bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution." Only a blind deaf mute who lives under a rock could have missed the fact that the Constitution has been under attack by this President since before he was elected. The hottest current battle is his open assault on the Second Amendment in the aftermath of Newtown. But there is also his arrogant ignoring of Constitutional requirements to reveal his regulatory schedule (see Tsunami Warning.) There was his First Amendment attack on religious liberty when he tried to force the Catholic church to pay for employees' birth control. Then there is his apparent disregard for the separation of powers by which the Constitution gives certain duties to Congress and he feels at liberty to subvert.
A theme Obama carried throughout his speech was "we the people." He said that, "The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few." And yet virtually all his actions privilege the few. He is most egregious in his abuse of his position, jetting about the globe for junkets and family vacations spending millions of taxpayer dollars on his and his family's entertainment. Doling out "stimulus" money to those who supported his campaign (think Solyndra) privileges the few. Thwarting attempts to learn the truth about his administration's behavior (think Benghazi or "Fast and Furious") privileges the few. Excusing outright illegal activity of his associates (think Timothy Geitner) privileges the few. One must wonder who "we" is to Obama.
I could go on, but I must stop for the same reason I couldn't listen to the whole speech; this is what this President does to me: he makes me crazy. His words don't mean anything, or rather, his words mean something different to him than to the reasonable man listening to him. Jesus' brother James said, "Let your yes be yes and your no, no lest you fall into judgment." Barak Obama is tumbling headlong into judgment by this standard. Speaking in the context of the verbal gymnastics former President Clinton employed, Rush Limbaugh used to say, "Words have meaning." It is impossible to judge the meaning of the golden words in bowls of silver delivered by our President. I hope that in four years enough of us will be tired of it to elect someone who simply says what he means and means what he says. What a relief that will be.
Clair, are you really intending to:
ReplyDelete1) assert that 53% of your neighbors do not have even a modicum of sense, or a grasp of history beyond 2 minutes?
2) maintain this assertion while admitting that you only listened to half of the speech?
3) Cite Rush Limbaugh while making an argument for the integrity of spoken words?
It's easy to cite your sources these days. I'm surprised that you would put forward some of these (strong) claims without doing so.
Without those citations, this seems like it barely qualifies as a hyperbolic rant.
That type of writing is the last thing I would expect from you (and maybe the last thing this country needs right now). -Daniel
Daniel:
Delete1) Yes
2) Listened to half; read the entire transcript
3) You may not like what Rush says, but you must agree that he says what he means and mean what he says. There are few politicians of any party who can match that.
Perhaps the heat of your disagreement with my premise blinded you to the very specific examples I did cite (though not in APA format.) As you say, checking background is easy today, so I don't "cite" every example I mention because a doubtful reader has only to Google the topic and verify my stand. If you have specific questions regarding my examples, ask, and I will gladly provide the links for documentation.
I am surprised that you would not expect this "type of writing" from me. Perhaps you have not visited the site regularly enough to know that this is precisely the type of writing I do. As for the timing, I think it this kind of honesty is long overdue. Real debate almost never happens in the public forum anymore because of political correctness or fake concern for "tolerance." This is not a "hyperbolic rant." A rant, yes; I admitted that in the beginning. But hyperbolic means overstated; that it is not.