THE OBAMA INFOMERCIAL: SELLING OUT AMERICA? (Updated)
UPDATE: 10-29-08 MY REACTION TO BARACK OBAMA'S INFOMERCIAL
Like all made-in-Hollywood products, the production values were superb. However, the entire exposition can be summed up in the opening shots ... "[fade up on Sen. Obama on-camera]" "We’ve seen over the last eight years how decisions by a president can have a profound effect on the course of history … and on American lives." It should be acknowleged that decisions by a president can have a profound effect on the course of history ... and on American lives. "But much that’s wrong in our country goes back even farther than that. We’ve been talking about the same problems for decades … and nothing is ever done to solve them." We being the democrats and the Republicans who have collaboratively divided this country into a equally divided and polarized nation -- where the fringe elements of society are openly courted in order to provide that tipping point to political success. It is the influence of the corrupt politicians, special interests and these fringe elements which have made a mockery of our political system as they each fight for political and personal advantage. "This election is a defining moment. The chance for our leaders to meet the demands of these challenging times and keep faith with our people." But my problem is that I do not know or trust Barack Obama. When he says "keep the faith with our people," I am unsure if he means far-left radicals like Reverend Wright, Father Phleger, Louis Farrakahn, Rashid Khalidy, William Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, and Tony Rezko -- or people like me. I am unsure of what he has promised radical far-left groups to insure their support. Has he given the unions his promise that he will vote for legislation that eliminates the sanctity of a secret ballot when voting for unionization? Has he given his word to the far-left media sources that he will crack down on their greatest competition, talk radio and the Internet, with some sort of fairness doctrine. "[Sen. Obama to camera]" "Earlier this year, we already knew our country was in trouble. Home foreclosures, lost jobs, high gas prices … we were running a record deficit and our national debt had never been higher." "But then a little over a month ago, the bottom fell out." "What happened in the financial markets was the final verdict on eight years of failed policies. And we’re now going through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression." And here Barack Obama either shows his lack of understanding of the crisis or is disingeuously ignoring the fact that much of the current financial crisis can be laid squarely at the feet of the democrats with their policies of demanding that banks, under penalty of fines and prosecution, lend money to those least able to repay their obligations by relaxing loan origination criteria. In addition, demanding that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase these loans knowing full well that they carried a higher rate of default. Add to that the Administration's lax regulatory policy and the only conclusion you can draw is that both parties were complicit in the mess. "A few weeks ago, we passed a financial rescue plan. It’s a step in the right direction … and as president, I’ll ensure that you, the taxpayers, are paid back first." Nobody really knows if this was a step in the right direction. But what we do know is that the democrats demanded the bailout bill be larded with special tax breaks and pork for democrat interests for their support. A sign of things to come? Truth be told, if anyone knew the solution to this problem, the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department and others would have acted with swift and decisive remedies instead of dribbling out money and waiting to see what will happen. Today the Federal Reserve reduced the Federal Funds target rate to 1.0% -- exactly the same response used to cure the dot com bubble burst, and which set the stage for the current mortgage crisis as the global pool of money sought higher yields in mortgages -- and Wall Street complied. This is a pattern which we see being repeated today. I am not sure Barack Obama or even John McCain can put their finger on the political and financial causes of this mess, let alone make promises to resolve it. But what I do know is that Barack Obama's plan to increase the size of the government bureaucracy, increase taxes and enlarge our entitlement spending will drive this recession into a Hoover-like Great Depression. "As president, here’s what I’ll do: Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year. Give businesses a tax credit for every new employee that they hire right here in the U.S. over the next two years … and eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Help homeowners who are making a good faith effort to pay their mortgages, by freezing foreclosures for 90 days. And just like after 9-11, we’ll provide low-cost loans to help small businesses pay their workers and keep their doors open. None of that grows government. It grows the economy and keeps people on the job." Obama does not seem to know his own economic plan. First it was Americans making less than $250,000, then it was Americans making less than $200,000, and now it is families making less than $200,000 or $100,000 per married individual? Who knows? And in response to criticisms of welfare payments to those who pay no taxes, he has added "working family." Although one can hardly trust the final form of the legislation (yes, Congress still makes the laws, not the president). All of this other stuff is just words ... meaningless until you see the actual legislation. By the way, delaying foreclosure for 90-days does little or nothing if the person cannot pay for their home. Even at reduced rates and longer maturities, foreclosures are inevitable if you lack the cash flow to service your debt. Obama goes on to speak of education and one wonders if this is the type of radicalized activist education proposed and supported by Obama and his unrepentant domestic terrorist friend, Bill "the education professor" Ayers? I could continue, but it is pointless. Bottom line: until legislation is crafted and passed by both the House and the Senate, signed into law by the President and interpreted by the bureaucratic agencies -- it is all just a big guessing game. Nothing in this infomercial has changed my mind ... see for yourself For those who would like to see the video or read the transcript, it can be found at the Los Angeles Times. The same Times which is implicitly supporting the Obama campaign by refusing to release a video showing Obama hobnobbing with both foreign and domestic terrorists. <Link Source Here> Original blog entry ...
In anticipation of Barack Obama's prime time paid television infomercial ...
It is apparent that Barack Obama needs a tightly-scripted messaged played out in a controlled environment using TelePrompTers in order to become the messiah.
If we wanted such an individual to become the President of the United States, we should have simply turned to Hollywood to obtain the services of a competent actor and a great screenwriter like Aaron Sorkin to polish both his words and his public policy.
So why should we believe Barack Obama’s story? Especially since he is apparently a man who will say anything and do anything – and more importantly, deny everything to get elected.
I believe Barack Obama to be a Marxist-style socialist parading as a far-left liberal democrat. Oh, wait a minute, in today’s political environment, they are often the same thing.
Issue: The Defense of the United States
I believe Barack Obama is dangerously naive and lacking any fundamental diplomatic skills. He does not appear to be a man of his word and his positions are constantly changing. Hardly a man who can be trusted by our military and allies. Hardly a man that can stand up to those enemies who have a similar Marxist philosophy. Here is a man who openly fetes foreign terrorist (Rashid Khalidi) and domestic terrorists (William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn).
Issue: The Economy
I believe that Barack Obama’s views on the Marxist-like redistribution of wealth is fundamentally Un-American. Playing off a class warfare scheme to tax the rich to provide entitlements for the poor – for the sole purpose of buying the election is right out of the corrupt democrat playbook. I believe that his tax the rich, provide entitlements to the poor and significantly enlarge the size of the government will deepen this undeclared slowdown/recession into a real Hoover-like depression.
Issue: The Supreme Court
By his words, Barack Obama wants a Supreme Court that will support his key social and political philosophy, one that he recently described as redistributive. I want to see strict constructionists who rule on the Constitution as it was written, and not social activists who usurp the power of the legislative branch of government by making law from the bench; in many cases crafting law out of whole-cloth which is made possible only by the most tortured interpretation of the Constitution. It is likely that there will be two, possibly three, Supreme Court positions to fill in the coming four years.
Issue: The Second Amendment
By his words and actions, Barack Obama believes that you do not have the individual right to protect your own home against invaders using a weapon. He is virulently anti-gun. The basic problem is twofold. One, Barack Obama confuses crime control with gun control. And two, Barack Obama apparently supports the far-left notion that the United States should be disarmed, both militarily and personally. As a life member of the National Rifle Association (Patron Level), I remember and honor the words of our late President, Charlton Heston, “I’ll give you my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands.”
Issue: Tolerance
Although Barack Obama speaks of tolerance for both ideas and people, his behavior is to brook no dissent and engage in no discussion. Those on the far-left of the liberal spectrum are some of the most intolerant people on the face of this Earth. Witness how a simple man, “Joe the Plumber,” was investigated using government computer systems by either the campaign or its unaffiliated representatives. It is wrong to investigate fellow-Americans in order to neutralize their campaign message and to distract the American public from a politician who inadvertently ignited a firestorm by telling the real truth about his beliefs.
I certainly do not want to return to the days of Nixon and Clinton when the White House maintained an enemies list and that the operative policy was to reward our friends and punish our enemies. Especially since Barack Obama has mentioned that he would like to see a domestic civilian defense corps with all of the power of military. It is not seemly that a politician should consider this option and it certainly is not right in a free and open society.
Issue: Immigration
I believe Barack Obama will immediately move to legitimize all illegal aliens in such a manner as to encourage even more illegal aliens to enter our country illegally. This to satisfy those who believe that these illegal aliens will boost the union’s support of the democrats as well as producing a generation of solid democrat voters. I might add that most unions are left-leaning organizations and are becoming more like their European counterparts as time goes on. In California, we have seen our healthcare, educational, judicial, social and cultural infrastructure destroyed by hordes of poorly-educated, unskilled workers who poured across our borders to take illegal advantage of our hospitality. It is a fact of life that we cannot continue to support these unassimilated peoples when to do so means that our quality of life and our income is greatly diminished. Our goal is should be to help other nations to achieve independence and prosperity while building our own trade relations.
Issue: Racism
I believe Barack Obama is a racist that views everything through the prism of race and personal opportunity. To exploit the racial issues of our time for his own personal benefit. And to continue a long association with those of similar beliefs and who are openly racist and/or anti-Semitic.
How do I come to these conclusions?
By listening to what Barack Obama says when he is not “on message” and is speaking fairly freely – as he did before his fellow elitist friends in San Francisco when he claimed that there were those disillusioned people in American that continued to cling to the guns and religion.
From his 20+ year association and collaboration with a racist, anti-American pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, whom he used to regard as his spiritual mentor and others of his ilk such as renegade Catholic Priest, Father Phleger and the notorious racist and anti-Semite, Louis Farrakahn.
From his association with a PLO terrorist Rashid Khalidi and the unrepentant domestic terrorist William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn.
From his association with the Chicago political machine which is world-famous for its political corruption. Especially from his association with his convicted criminal friend Tony Rezko who is going to jail for political corruption and who assisted Barack Obama in purchasing his million-dollar mansion.
This is my opinion …
There will be some that say that I am racist because I do not support a black man for the presidency. My problem is not that I will not support a black man, but that I refuse to support this black man: a man of little or no experience, a man who is both telegenic and well-spoken – yet says absolutely nothing when he speaks, a man with dubious, to say the least, associations – and a man whom I cannot trust with my future and the future of my country.
This is not even an arguable position. There is no refutation of Obama’s lack of experience. There is no refutation of Obama’s unsavory associations. There is no refutation of the man’s own words.
So where does that lead us?
To supporting a candidate who I am sure will defend the United States from its enemies, both foreign and domestic. A man, who may not be as glib and polished as Barack Obama, but a man I trust – even though I do not agree with all of his policies – I trust McCain to do the right thing at the right time. He is a leader where Barack Obama has displayed no hint of leadership. He is a reformer where Barack Obama has “gone along to get along.” He is an advocate of bi-partisanship whereas Barack Obama is singularly focused on the democrat party. And he is a man of whom his Vice Presidential choice did not have to say that his election will spark a trumped-up international crisis and that the American people should support him even though his initial response to world events may be wrong.
With matters in Afghanistan and Iraq coming to a politically acceptable solution, with the pending conflict of Israel and Iran and with our possible need to intrude into the sovereign space of Pakistan to prevent further problems in Iraq – Barack Obama is the last person I want to see in command of our military. A military, I might remind you, that his party wants to cripple much in the same manner Bill Clinton crippled both our military and intelligence efforts.
Bottom line, Barack Obama is a lawyer from a “party of lawyers” who are trained to be able to argue both sides of the issue. Like Bill Clinton who believed that enemy combatants were criminals and should be treated as such, I do not want a President who can look evil in the face and claim that he sees some merit to his argument.
In the fight between good and evil, I believe Barack Obama to be a lawyer rather than warrior for the American way of Justice.
In closing, I only wonder what a man like John Wayne would say to an elite, effete snob who has second thoughts about his country and demands that we change to fulfill his vision about how things ought to be?
-- steve
As always, comments are welcome.
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“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius “A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell “Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar “Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS