Pajamas Media

90 Comments

1. Catherine Brueckner:

That’s it? Your total justification for wanting us to vote for McCain is that you don’t think Obama has enough experience? What is so valuable about political experience? Many great presidents had less political experience than Obama (Lincoln, for instance). Must all of your politicians be well compromised before they can be president? I’m only interested in hiring a president with wisdom, compassion, intelligence, a brilliant education and solid, rational plans for the country. Obama’s experience so far of swimming in the cesspool of Washington is quite sufficient to know the waters. More is neither necessary nor even desireable.
My worry is the damage already done to our nation by presidents with less ‘experienced’ brain-cells.

Jul 3, 2008 - 2:50 am 2. Seth Levy:

This is weak. Not the arguments presented, but the fact that just as the article gets into the heart of the matter, it says bring out your credit card if you want to keep reading! Are your advertisers not paying this site enough? In the future, could you please put a disclaimer stating the following is an excerpt or something along those lines? It is like being invited to see a movie and then saying pay for your ticket halfway through. Thanks.

Jul 3, 2008 - 2:55 am 3. David Wynn:

I’m sorry, with out defining what experience is required for running for the White House, all the experience argument comes down to is saying Obama sucks without any real underpinnings.

Yes, we know that Obama has spent less time in the Senate than McCain… so? Have older presidents been more effective in the Oval Office? Ended more wars? Passed more keynote legislation? Protected our international interests more effectively?

Unless you give me something concrete as to why less experience with the political process I’ve grown increasingly disillusioned with is a bad thing, I’m just not gonna buy it.

Jul 3, 2008 - 4:15 am 4. Sissy Willis:

Weak, indeed, from a much-admired defender of the American way. I hate to see my heroes falter. There are many arguments to be made against Barack Obama’s potential presidency, from character and ideology on down, but Mr. Hewitt offers only his inexperience, tacked onto the end of an essay long on telling the kids how great they are and short on substance.

“You have already profoundly shaped the debate over climate change”? Give me a break. If young people worship at the altar of Al Gore & Company, it’s because of their having been brainwashed into believing their elders are ruining “the planet,” and only those with the correct intentions can save it.

Jul 3, 2008 - 4:44 am 5. Bill in New York:

This is a poorly disguised liberal’s attempt to promote Obama by presenting this as the opposition’s only valid argument why he shouldn’t be President. The liberals think people are stupid. While young voters may be naiive, they are not stupid. It’s only a matter of time before they see through the smoke screen of “hope” and see the real agenda behind the pretty face and smooth delivery (hopefully before the election, but if not, certainly after).

Jul 3, 2008 - 5:21 am 6. Amphipolis:

1) What is a President responsible for?

2) How would Obama better fill these responsibilities than McCain?

Jul 3, 2008 - 5:59 am 7. dan:

Forget it – there is no reason to appeal to people who see their own apotheosis in Obama. The fact is, Americans have been sundered from their traditional roots by the 1960s preoccupations – never mind that Obama’s candidacy proves they have (1) won, and (2) there is therefore presumably no need to obsess over them anymore. Obama’s inexperience isn’t seen as an issue because these people themselves – these young or otherwise voters – have no concept of the various aspects of reality in which one might require some expertise – rather than mere sentiment – to master. Moreover, they have no actual understanding, beyond vague sentimental propositions, of foreign cultures or actual governments, and so have no basis upon which to assess their behavior. Why? Because it is discouraged in a pincer movement: no need to learn dates and military and political history, this is just rote memorization; besides, even if you tried to learn these cultures you’d only be applying your own prejudices, which are impossible to rid yourself of, and probably make yourself vulnerable to fascist temptations.

I could go on but it’s obvious the above posters, who represent well the mentality of those who will vote Obama, aren’t interested. The bottom line is this: the president of the United States of America is the chief foreign policy officer and the head of the armed forces. He also administers executive agencies and appoints judges. He has the veto. That’s pretty much it. By far the most important roles he plays, because they are virtually his alone, are his foreign policy and military primacy. In that regard we’d have a person whose only foreign policy credential is to have been the most or one of the most consistent in lambasting the Bush Administration. In fact, the bulk of his actual propositions consist in merely ripping on Bush and the Policies or Politics of the Past. Of course, Bush is not running again; McCain is self-evidently not Bush. With respect to actual questions of the nature and intentions of other nations, Obama simply parrots the “it’s out fault” line, as if these cultures and countries many times older than our own have no character or will of their own – which is complete bullsh!t. Basically Obama represents the exact ignorance, naivete, and hostility that they themselves are and express, and there’s no use hoping to educate them, even in a spirit of good will and openness, at this late date. I know, I’ve been trying for 7 or 8 years, and they (1) don’t want to listen, and (2) aren’t interested in learning themselves, unless of course it’s in the pre-approved discouse of Said, Zinn, the post-war French generally, and other assorted shallow intellectual celebrities.

It is worth observing at this point that, just as the royalists stridently warned that the giving in to revolutionary liberalism would end in the destruction of the state – and witness France’s steep decline since largely on the basis of its political and moral chaos – at some point the conservative “we’re doomed!” mantra does come true, for the reasons they point to, and this election might be a big signpost on the way to that unfortunate triumph.

Jul 3, 2008 - 6:00 am 8. Dean Kolbinsky / Thnis isn't the whole article !:

Obama will win and America will be the worse for it. There is no doubt that the Globalist movement will win out. It is consistent with the misguided values of the secularists. We have transitioned into a world of tolerance over truth, fluff over substance, feelings over facts, image over text, short term expediency over long term stability, porno over decency… Lord knows… it goes on and on. The Truth has become a lie in the hearts of self-serving mankind. Don’t be deceived.

Jul 3, 2008 - 6:15 am 9. Dean:

Yes… what Dan said.

Jul 3, 2008 - 6:18 am 10. huxley:

Hugh — I enjoy your radio show and, usually, what you have to say and how you say it, but this is a vague, condescending piece. If I were a young Obama supporter, I would be annoyed and dismiss you out of hand.

Jul 3, 2008 - 6:31 am 11. ~Paules:

Mr. Hewitt,

You have missed the point badly. It’s totally natural for young people to be idealists. Obama’s strength, by his own admission, is in allowing others to project their convictions onto his blank-slate persona. He encourages people to see in him their own highest aspirations. It’s a neat trick, but Obama is no idealist. He’s a magician who uses rhetoric to disguise his political ambition. Young people are easily taken in because they lack the cynicism that comes with age and experience. I think any effort to dissuade them from the fantasy will be counter-productive. They will learn the hard way when Mr. Obama is revealed as just another politician. I expect to get jumped on for my comments. But that will only serve to make my point.

Jul 3, 2008 - 7:11 am 12. Peter Verkooijen:

Awful, condescending crap. This piece is so bad, it almost makes me want to vote for Obama.

And please stop using the weak ‘Obama is not ready’ argument! Are you implying he will be ready eventually? In 4, 8 years perhaps?

Obama is unsuitable to ever be President, because he’s an anti-American marxist muslim-sympathizing demagogue.

Jul 3, 2008 - 7:20 am 13. view from afar:

DEan you paraphased dan beautifully, thank you.Paules you are right, any one in politics is a politian, and Obama is the worsty kind, for the reasons you mentioned

Jul 3, 2008 - 7:47 am 14. Larry J:

That’s it? Your total justification for wanting us to vote for McCain is that you don’t think Obama has enough experience? What is so valuable about political experience?

What about Obama’s real life, non-political experience? Does he actually have any? The President is also known as the Chief Executive. Does Obama have any executive experience at all, in any area, that would prepare him to head the Executive Branch of government? Another duty of the President is Commander in Chief of the armed forces. While being a veteran isn’t a requirement of being President, it doesn’t hurt. What does Obama know about the military? Does he have any experience at foreign relations as related to diplomacy? Or, to make it simplier, does he have ANY experience at all?

From my perspective, Obama is an empty suit. While he meets the minimal constitutional requirements for the presidency, that’s about all he can claim on his behalf.

Jul 3, 2008 - 7:55 am 15. The Conservative Pulse: McCain adjusts staff for general election, evangelicals coming around to support McCain, and more at The Liberty Preservation Alliance:

[...] Hewitt has published his “A Letter to a Young Obama Supporter”. [Source: Pajamas [...]

Jul 3, 2008 - 7:59 am 16. Ellen K.:

Am I missing something? This article is an EXCERPT, people. THose who are complaining it is incomplete might want to read the whole pamphlet.

Jul 3, 2008 - 8:00 am 17. Dave II:

“Senator Obama’s success is a testament to the country’s long, uphill struggle to deliver on the promise of the Declaration of Independence’s radical statement that all men are created equal.”

What a bunch of BS! Hugh, I’m sorry…I’m a fan, but you just stepped in it BIG TIME with this crap.

Obama’s success is CLEARLY (if one bothers to look at his election history) a testament to GAMING the system, bare-knuckle Chicago-style…getting your QUALIFIED opponents DISQUALIFIED and running unopposed, getting your behind-the-scenes money men sweetheart deals to expedite your rise to power, getting the flawed caucus nominating system within the Democratic party to win over delegates, getting the DNC to SELECT you over a candidate who had MORE primary votes and having them award you delegates you didn’t even win, getting the media to not vet you properly BEFORE the primary season…and then STILL drag their feet on MANY unanswered questions and potentially explosive allegations, getting the DNC to move their “headquarters” to Chicago BEFORE the convention, need I go on???

There are SO MANY reasons not to vote for Obama, and you hit on clearly (as the comments attest to) the WEAKEST ONE, which is his lack of experience. Young people DON’T CARE about his lack of experience! Period!!!!!

Of course, going into any of the really MAJOR reasons, like his abysmal Marxist voting record, his
tendancy for voting “present” or not voting at all, his back-tracking on stated positions like campaign financing, FISA, and even Iraq, his plethora of dubious, racist, terrorist, and convicted friends and associates, his hiding facts and misleading statements about his past and formative years, his 20-year association with a racist church and pastor, well…you get the idea…

THAT would require someone to THINK a bit more than just be stroked with the flattery of their idealism or their energy! You do the “millenials” a DISERVICE when you condescend to their shortcomings or even their strengths. Treat them like the “grown-ups” they want to be seen as…and they may just surprise you! They are not stupid…even though Obama has managed to pull the wool over the vast majority of their eyes, that is true for many of their parents as well.

Hopefully, the 4 months we have until the election will open up some people’s eyes to the con-man and sham Obama really is…but your “pamphlet” will hardly do the trick.

Jul 3, 2008 - 8:29 am 18. Mabel:

I hope the American people wake up but after 8 year of an uncharismatic leader (and I like Bush)people are starved for a leader that makes them feel good…young people are the worst. They have very little life experience…are very idealistic and if in college, they are being brainwashed by academia.
Obama is the worst kind of politician in my opinion. Completely unprepared, silver-tongued and hypnotizing so you won’t notice his lack of qualifications and oportunistic as hell…he reminds me of the guy who gets the job because he inflates his resume and sweet talks his way to the position only to dissappoint when he can’t perform.

Jul 3, 2008 - 8:52 am 19. J.G.:

Dear Mr. Hewitt,
Nice letter. The bottom line is that I don’t want a president who possibly suffers from PTSD and has flip-flopped on so many major issues – at last count it was around the dozen – to cozy up to the Republican right-wing, evangelical, war-is-good-business, nut cases that it is getting to be an embarrassment to the human intellect.

To the young people out there, if you don’t believe in the concept of peace and humanity, and instead want continual war and have Americans killed for American corporations that have their headquarters overseas and don’t pay American taxes (or at least their fair share), go ahead vote for McCain. But please don’t have any children.

PS: Mr. Hewitt, your appearance on last week’s George Stephenopolis was also very embarrassing. You knowledge of the facts are astoundingly defective.

Jul 3, 2008 - 8:54 am 20. Xanthippe:

Very disappointing article, and I’m not paying $6 for the rest of it – despite being a fan of Hewitt’s and not one of Obama’s.

Jul 3, 2008 - 9:11 am 21. Judy R:

If you really think Obama is not “the one” and don’t want to vote for McCain, it’s simple–write to superdelegates before the August convention and ask them to support Senator Clinton. No nomination is official before the convention in Denver. https://www.lobbydelegates.com/

Jul 3, 2008 - 9:45 am 22. Increase Mather:

Here is a prediction you can take to the bank: Obama will be a complete disaster as POTUS.

Big media is throwing a coronation; this new “king” couldn’t think his way out of an open paper bag.

Executive experience, zero; military experience, zero; administrative experience, zero; far as I can tell he was a legacy admitee to Harvard, and an affirmative action admission to law school. Like to see his LSAT score.

Barry is a disaster waiting to happen.

Jul 3, 2008 - 10:11 am 23. huxley:

Yes, it’s true. This article is an excerpt–as it says in the brief italicized at the top. I assumed that it was the usual dispensable biographical info in PJM articles that I usually skip over, and I skipped over it.

If you follow the link to the pamphlet, you discover, as Xanthippe did, that it costs $6.00 to read the entire article, which makes the whole exercise so dumb I can hardly believe it.

After such an unpersuasive excerpt, why should anyone–particularly an Obama supporter–pay money to be lectured on the folly of voting for Obama?

Jul 3, 2008 - 10:12 am 24. Kim Zigfeld:

I think it’s most interesting to ask Obama supporters a simple question: “What could you learn about him that would change your mind?”

And they can’t answer, because there is nothing, just like nothing could change the mind of a Jim Jones supporter, not even toxic Kool Aid.

No matter what they might learn, they would simply say McCain probably did worse and nobody is perfect. That’s why the Democratic party hasn’t reelected an elected president with a majority of the popular vote since World War II while the Republicans have done it four times.

Jul 3, 2008 - 10:44 am 25. fred:

Comments like “J.G.’s” above prove the points that “Dan” and others have laid out clearly. My initial reaction to Hugh’s editorial/letter was, “Is that all there is?”

But first let me address “J.G.” and then move on to the comments I have about Hugh’s letter. J.G., when I was an undergraduate (1978-82)student at the University of New Hampshire, which was after I had served a three-year enlistment in the Army, I moved into the Left’s orbit of political thought. Even prior to becoming a Marxist, I had – and I still do have to an even deeper degree – humanitarian instincts, themselves the product of a solid and deep Catholic education. I was an economics major and was exposed to both classical liberal capitalism and Marxist economics. My minor was in philosophy, and I began to study both the classics of the Marxist tradition and the Frankfurt School of revisionist Marxism. I continued to study philosophy after college as a Jesuit seminarian at Loyola of Chicago (BTW I know Barack Obama’s neighborhood, as I did volunteer work on the South Side). After leaving the Society of Jesus I went on to Boston College to get my M.B.A. in Finance. Married, and settled in to my career. I left the Left in 1987. The evidence of socialism’s failures, deceptions, and my own intellectual forays into neuroscience and psychology convinced me that utopian thought is a serious error. I am painting in very broad strokes my evolution, in order to make the case that I am not a war-loving, anti-humanitarian cynic.

Barack Obama is a man with deep connections with Marxist and Communist/Socialist thought, beginning with his mother and his biological father, who was a Marxist economist and a member of Kenya’s Communist Party. Young Barack in the past expressed an enthusiastic embrace of his father’s dreams and ideas. You have to then go in search of how to fill that in, so that you can appreciate where he is coming from. His high school mentor was a black poet named Frank Marshall Davis, a member of the Communist Party U.S.A. This had a profound influence over young Barack, so much so that during his days at Occidental College and then at Columbia he made it a point to take classes from and become friends with Marxist/socialist professors. What does this convey?

J.G.’s comments are a politely contrived insult to those of us who do not agree with Barack Obama. That has been the tactic throughout the campaign: to label those who don’t vote for him, will not vote for him, disagree with his voting record, and disagree with his policy prescriptions and advisers as some kind of moral reprobate or hayseed. Many people from the side of the political spectrum I have now evolved towards genuinely do try to listen to what young people are saying, as they express the enthusiasm for Obama that often attends young idealists. Some of us have already been there, J.G. 1976, when I was 21 and just out of the Army, was the first year I was eligible to vote – and I was enthusiastic about Jimmy Carter. And because I became a Leftist I voted for him again in 1980, when most of my college classmates voted wisely for Ronald Reagan. They learned the lesson that the Carter years had taught. Most of my generation, the younger cohort of the Baby Boomer generation, voted for Reagan. And Jimmy Carter, himself a man of the Left, is actually not as Far Left as Barack Obama is. We now have a similar stealth candidate: the outsider who is trying to appeal to both the weariness of the nation and the enthusiasm of the young idealists. Most of my generation and nearly all of the WWII generation – mostly lifelong Democrats – voted for Reagan. Foreign policy disaster and domestic economic crises precipitated this change. The nation was saved. The economic progress that gradually set in took inflation way down and resulted in tremendous job creation and capital investment. Was everything perfect? No. But compared with what the 1970’s were like, the difference was rather stunning.

I do not think Hugh Hewitt did a very convincing job in his letter to the young people. I’m not sure most of them will listen to us, who have been there and who, I think, had a better all-around intellectual formation and education than the current crop. I am not at all convinced that getting a degree from Harvard University anoints one as a wise and prescient human being – Harvard and other Ivy League schools have rampant grade inflation and intense ideological indoctrination.

But, if there was one human being I would prize having just a few hours of his time, it would be Barack Obama. I would talk with him about our common journey into Marxist thought – and why I eventually moved away from it and out of it completely, for reasons both intellectual and also based on my experience of the Left in a personal way.

I don’t think he’s been very forthright and honest about who he really is and what the substance of what he thinks. Most socialists I knew thirty years ago were never comfortable with my style of honestly wanting to talk with people about socialist theory and economics. They were more interested in the tactics and strategies of burrowing into institutions in order to participate in the Gramscian “long march through the institutions.” I was more interested in the truth, and in academic issues of how one could, as a socialist, counter the very formidable and serious arguments coming from the Right in those days. I took them seriously, which was why I wanted to become a theologian/philosopher trying to find a “third way” between classical economics of capitalism and the classical Marxist economic theory. I found no way out of the dilemma and in fact I found compelling reasons for changing my mind that socialism would bring about a more moral human being. That was and is a serious epistemological error that is glossed over in academia now.

So, Hugh, while I agree – up to a point – that experience is an important criteria for being suitable for the office of POTUS. But, my reasons for not deeming Barack Obama the right man for the go much farther afield and have to do with his ideas, who he associated with as he grew, and his policy prescriptions. Plus, his knowledge and understanding of economics is woeful.

This is a man who, if he were applying for a federal job that required a security clearance, would be denied a security clearance. His Communist father. His Marxist anthropologist mother. Frank Marshall Davis. His coterie of association with Marxist college professors. His association with William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn. And so much more. This is not a man suitable to be the Commander in Chief of our armed forces and have access to all of the nation’s top secrets, past and present.

I do not trust that he would maintain a robust deterrence posture vis-a-vis The Islamic Republic and other totalitarian regimes. I have seen him flip-flop on so many issues in recent months. He ran as a man of the Left in the primary, and now he is trying to package himself as a man of the Center heading into the general election.

No, to our young charges who may be bright, but have lacunae in their educations, I would say: do not be surprised that in four years you will realize that we learn our most valuable lessons in life from our failures.

Jul 3, 2008 - 10:52 am 26. Believer:

I’ll join the chorus of voices. This was a HUGE disappointment.

Young people believe this guy is the real deal. That he’s different.

You have to show he’s as dirty and skilled a politician as any on the scene. The facts deliver. He’s been swimming in the cesspool of Chicago politics for decades. He’s covered with the stuff.

Show how he ruthlessly took one office (destroying others along the way – including children of divorce) only to jump to the next higher one. Manipulating others to take credit for others’ years of work (thank you Emil Jones).

Show how he and his wife (she’s guilty too – the hospital) and political friends (Rezko’s disastrous housing – Grover? Parc) are the worst offenders when it comes to truly caring about the poor. They’re in it for themselves, to fatten their wallets and nothing else.

Show them he’s a phony. There’s plenty of material there.

Jul 3, 2008 - 11:06 am 27. J.G.:

To Fred: I loved reading your response to my feedback. Very impressive.
I’m an immigrant, a Vietnam veteran, a humanist, a democratic socialist and I practice Buddhism. I also have post-graduate degrees. You are wrong about Obama. And besides that, at this time in our country’s history I would vote and campaign for Homer Simpson before I would vote for any Republican. The Republican party has been hijacked by the neo-con, right-wing, evangelical (including many catholics), military-industrial elite. They evolved into the American Fascist party. (Go ahead and get the definition of fascism.) Not that I agree with everything that Obama says or stands for, but he towers over any – and I mean any – right-wing Republican who is in office today.

And experience means nothing if the man who would be president has PTSD and would do anything to hold the office. McCain is from an American warrior family, and he is disturbed because he did not become an Admiral in the US Navy like his father and grandfather. Besides, Custer had experience too.

You would be more of a universal thinker if you were not influenced by devout, orthodox, Catholic doctrines.

Gotta go. Have a nice 4th of July Holiday weekend.

Jul 3, 2008 - 11:48 am 28. fred:

J.G.

The facts about Obama’s background – who his parents were, who his influences were and are, and everything else – are indeed true. I made nothing up. I would be similarly alarmed if a Republican had these in tow. These things have been out there for many months. The reason why his supporters do not know them are not difficult to arrive at: a media that will not do due diligence on the man, supporters who are not interested, and supporters who do know these things but will not speak of them because they approve of them.

The director of his official weblog site, Sam Graham-Felsen, a recent Harvard graduate, is an open Communist. The young man was an open Communist at Harvard.

Your denial is not my fault. You choose it and embrace it. Hey, if it works for you and fits your worldview, who am I to question it? As for your assessment of McCain, I was not aware that you are privy to his private medical/psychological jacket at Bethesda Naval Hospital. If you are, you are in violation of several federal statutes regarding the privacy of medical information.

Jul 3, 2008 - 12:12 pm 29. Believer:

I’m glad Fred gets to what is the real disqualifier.

I can only hope everyone – young and old – soberly considers it.

Jul 3, 2008 - 1:00 pm 30. John Samford:

I go nonverbal;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRiiZ5M0_TQ

Look who shows up at the 1:15 mark. He was in South Africa about the time that video was shot.
Co-ink-see-dink? Your guess is as good as mine.
Check out the couple at the 2:18 mark.

I pity the young. They still have to find out the hard way.

“Fools say that they learn by experience. I prefer to profit by others experience”*
*
_Otto Von Bismarck

They young ones will discover that Gracie was right. When the ‘truth’ turns out to be lies, all the joy within you dies. Be there for your young ones for they will need someone to love. It might keep them from getting warped like the flower types of the 60’s did.

Jul 3, 2008 - 1:43 pm 31. Next93:

I agree, this is weak. You didn’t mention the fact that his positions are disasterously niave. He’s an unapologetic Marxist bent on a set of policies that amount to enconomic and military suicide. Given all this, I’d say his relative inexperience is actually a saving grace; if he’s elected we at least can hold out the hope that his implementations will be as inept as Carter’s were. You should have spent this space tring to convince the younger voter to look past the rock-star image and empty plattitudes.

Jul 3, 2008 - 2:22 pm 32. J.G.:

Fred:
During the 1960’s it was said that Martin Luther King was a communist. In those days everybody was a communist and now we have to look under our beds for terrorists.

Look, even if Obama had studied communism, socialism, conservatism, liberalism, and all the other “isms” out there, good for him. It means to me that he’s had a good, liberal education. The kind of education the kids of today need to be somewhat enlightened.

Gotta go to. My wife and I are attending a gay wedding. Have a good 4th.

Jul 3, 2008 - 2:28 pm 33. Roy M:

Still an Obama supporter (kind of). Somehow Hewit didn’t convince me.

Seriously, I expected more when I saw the author. Not much to say about this so I’ll ask a question?

What IS the difference between a pivot and a flip-flop?

Jul 3, 2008 - 2:36 pm 34. lee:

President Lincoln did not have lesser “experience” than Barrack Obama, political or otherwise. He spent considerable time as a lawyer, a member of the Whig party, an officer in a anti Indian militia, just at the top of my head. He attempted to run his own shop / business if I recall correctly. Lincoln was a thoroughly self made man and one of the few presidents who could actually boast a humble origin.

To be fair, it’s not only “young Americans” who (for some preplexing reason) who dismiss concerns over Obama’s lack of experience by pointing out Lincoln’s perceived inexperience. But American youth are particularly vulnerable to this kind of half truth. This is the segment of the population that will say the Civil war was fought over slavery and confuse the Korean war with the Vietnam war.

California, which is portrayed as this blue state of enlightment and tolerance (snickers) is host to some truly clueless teens. In a battle of wits or trivia I’ll bet a B student in rural Virginia would CLEAN out their proverbial clocks.

Jul 3, 2008 - 3:10 pm 35. Dave Surls:

“And besides that, at this time in our country’s history I would vote and campaign for Homer Simpson before I would vote for any Republican.”

Homer would probably be a better choice than any candidate the Dems have ever offered.

Jul 3, 2008 - 3:13 pm 36. RAN:

A ‘pivot’ has genuine future potential – from a very real change of mind or priorities. A ‘flip-flop’ is pure opportunism – born of ideological confusion and an inability to commit.

Hugh H: Sir, with respect, your excerpt – article should have ended with a reminder that the full letter is available from the New Pamphleteer.

Fred: I’ve not read the full letter yet. My take on Obama is that he is dangerous. His intentions, though well-meant and honest, are delusional. He obviously knows nothing of history or of economics.

Further, he is dangerous because he is weak. When off Axelrod’s hollow, beguiling script, he tends to want to be ‘Commander of Chief’ of the ‘57 States’ and bring ‘change’ because uh, um, change is necessary to move forward. [The embarrassment in office now at least knows what he believes and can 'inarticulate' it clearly.]

Finally, Obama is dangerous for the company of advisors who will surround him. The majority of the ones we’ve seen are old Clintonistas with a few more miles on the odo, and a few are moonbats. So much for ‘change’.

Jul 3, 2008 - 3:32 pm 37. Dave Surls:

“What do you say to a young person who supports Barack Obama for president?”

I told you that smoking crack would destroy your brain!

Jul 3, 2008 - 3:40 pm 38. Roark:

Here’s my “letter” to young any young Obama supporter: You are my enemy.

Jul 3, 2008 - 5:20 pm 39. fred:

J.G.,

Hope your holiday weekend went well. I just want to say that Martin Luther King, a man I admire, was not a Communist. Obama might be, but more likely he is some sort of revisionist Marxist. He is even further to the Left than my neighbor state’s senator, Bernie Sanders, who is openly a socialist. Obama’s voting record is not a secret. It’s there for all to see. I know what his thinking is in economic matters, and it is not at all good for America. Look, I studied Marxism in all its variants. I accepted the irrefutable evidence of history that socialism is a failure everywhere it’s been tried. I know why it failed and why it fails.

The young people who overwhelmingly support Obama are not armed with the kind of information and experience that would lend wisdom to their vote. The mainstream media is not providing it. Their educations have not provided it, which is one fundamental way in which I disagree with Hugh’s optimistic interpretation of them. And my experience is that many, maybe most, will not listen to people like me explain why voting for Obama is a mistake. They are going to have to learn from experience. This will be a painful lesson for them, because they will know that their choices have imposed great crises upon the nation and may even cost millions of human lives in Israel, the Middle East, and Iran. Their poor decision will put into office a man and a coterie of Soros’ picked advisers who will greatly harm our economy. And this will likely put the Democratic Party in the the political hinterland for at least two generations. Look, I’m a registered Republican (and only one since 2003)who was a lifelong Democrat. Yet, I think what Dean and Soros have done to the Democratic Party will wreck it as a viable check on the other party. A stronger, more mature Democratic Party will compete and make the Republican Party stay on its toes too.

We have arrived at this moment because of the Gramscian “long march through the institutions.” The kids enthralled with Obama have been prepared for this moment by their teachers, their professors, and the media. Truthfully, there is not much we can do to overturn the momentum of this direction. You might be able to peel away a few of the kids by pointing out how he really is not the pure knight he sells himself as, but overall this is a phenomenon that is more akin to a faith rather than a rational process.

Bottom Line: The vast majority of these kids never served in the military. They were told, relentlessly, that America is an imperialistic bully and deserved the wrath of the shaheeds (never mind the fact that throughout 1,400 years of Islam’s history it has murdered over 270 million human beings and that for most of that history there was no United States of America). These kids never had to sacrifice the way that prior generations of Americans had to. The historical narrative in their heads does not square with the one I have in mine. They don’t know the world as I’ve come to know it. Real evil exists and this country, while not perfect, is indeed fighting the good fight against a vicious, determined enemy – THE OLDEST SURVIVING TOTALITARIANISM. History, going forward, will throw ice water in their faces.

Jul 3, 2008 - 6:47 pm 40. Lisa:

Fred,

After reading David Horowitz’ “Radical Son” and Whitaker Chambers’ “Witness”, your words ring so true. Unfortunately, we are on a collision course with disaster. You can see it, I can see it…sigh

Jul 3, 2008 - 8:21 pm 41. Rob:

Fred, thanks for your input. Word of advice, don’t feed the lefty troll.. J.G’s only purpose here is to wind you up, logic and reason, critical analysis aren’t his domain. I appreciate your efforts to convey your informed opinions, and I agree hard lessons will be taught, truth is it’s harder to reach young adolescents today when they’re too busy playing with their portable gaming consoles.. amongst other things..

Jul 3, 2008 - 8:26 pm 42. Pope Linus:

J.G.:

You would be more of a universal thinker if you were not influenced by devout, orthodox, Catholic doctrines.

Not too condescending, eh? Well, we can expect no less from “progressives” who are certain they know better than everyone else. Only those who study Buddhism like you are universal thinkers I suppose…even those Buddhist monks who burned down Assembly of God churches in Sri Lanka, I wonder?

They evolved into the American Fascist party. (Go ahead and get the definition of fascism.)

No, I’m curious to hear your definition of fascism, since it apparently includes a significant portion of this country, and the party of Lincoln. No idea that Mussolini was forever a committed socialist with a soft spot for Marx, eh? Since fascists are as much central planners (that’s the dictionary definition of totalitarianism) as socialists, I’d direct your ire at the collectivists in the Democratic party. But wait, that would require admitting you’re wrong.

Jul 3, 2008 - 9:04 pm 43. John Samford:

What IS the difference between a pivot and a flip-flop?

A pivot is done while on your feet. A flip-flop from a supine position.
Think about it.

Jul 3, 2008 - 10:09 pm 44. John Samford:

http://www.answers.com/topic/fascism

n.

1. often Fascism
1. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
2. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.

The definition is rather vague. It is better to look at the history of fascism.
It is fitting that the name of an authoritarian political movement like Fascism, founded in 1919 by Benito Mussolini, should come from the name of a symbol of authority. The Italian name of the movement, fascismo, is derived from fascio, “bundle, (political) group.

Mussolini was the leader of the Italian Socialist party. They bumped him out, so he started a ‘new’ Socialist party. The Fascists. It is another form of Socialism. I’m using socialism as it was defined by it’s inventors, which is a condition where the party controls the means of production AND distribution. In doing so it indirectly controls the state. So whoever controls the party, controls the state, which makes it inevitable that ANY socialist government becomes a dictatorship. Historically, this is always what happens. Look at Chavez today.
Technically, socialism is the road to tyranny, since a tyrant is a despot that used a democratic system to seize power.

President Bush is NOT a Fascist. If he refuses to leave office this January, then he will be a tyrant. Still won’t be a fascist, since his government will NOT control the means of production and distribution. The US government DOES NOT practice censorship. It will try to keep it’s dirty little secrets, but that is NOT censorship.
The BDS sufferers think different but they are not rational actors.

Jul 3, 2008 - 10:26 pm 45. compugor:

Dan nailed it. Wake up America!

Jul 3, 2008 - 10:47 pm 46. Dave Surls:

“socialism…which is a condition where the party controls the means of production AND distribution.”

Kind of like the relationship between the Democrat Party and their slaves in the pre-civil war days.

Think I’ll take a pass on that concept.

Jul 3, 2008 - 11:09 pm 47. Rachel Peepers:

To Hugh Hewitt:

Your letter was wholly devoid of facts.

For your information,and for the information of Senator Obama’s educated and visionary supporters everywhere, I now list the good Senator’s five major accomplishments/qualifications in order of importance.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Sincerely,
Rachel Peepers
Sophomore at Northwestern University. Evanston, Illinois

Jul 3, 2008 - 11:32 pm 48. Dave Surls:

“Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.”–Ms. Messiah

Sounds to me like slavery is still on the agenda.

Jul 4, 2008 - 5:23 am 49. misanthropicus:

Warm air, Hugh – can’t you do better? After foolishly beating the drum for Romney, now when this amazing inflatable & holographic person Obama is hovering towards you, you lower the flag in tears.
It is wrong to address the millenials in liberal media’s crappy terms – flattery and unwarranted pity (it used to be Tom Hayden’s act raving about his son’s brilliancy – now you’re in a HuffPo state of mind, too).
Millenials are by no means smarter, more that or that than the precedent generations. They are not more brilliant and not more informed than their predecesors – actually, considering the easiness of aquiring information nowdays, they are less equipped for critical thinking than previous generations and they know less
(here I factor out ecological misticism, sexuality, tolerance, non-judgmentalism, cultural relativism, open-mindedness and electronic chatter proclivity). This is a serious reality colleges have for quite a while acknowledged, and the Millenials’ collective swoon for Obama confirms this “lack of critical spirit” situation.
As far as Obama’s qualities: my, he’s an operator, a total hologram! And to describe his rapid ascendance I’ll paraphrase late Sony Bono description of rock critics: “People who can’t write, writing about people who can’t sing, for people who can’t read anyway”.
Since Obama is a showman, I’ll replace “can’t sing” by “unfit for the job” and here comes the proper description of the circumstances which unfortunately (still) preside over Obama’s ascension:
“People who can’t write (liberal media), fawning about people unfit for the job, for people who can’t understand anything, anyway.” (liberals, lefties & Millenials, i.e.)
Wake up Hewitt!

Jul 4, 2008 - 6:00 am 50. Jim from Pittsburgh:

Why not just say that Obama is a Marxist?

Jul 4, 2008 - 6:43 am 51. NB:

I was born in ‘79 but many of the “millenials” are my peers so let me offer two reasons why this excerpt is terrible. First, your talking to a generation with a 30 second attention span. More than a few paragraphs and they’re going to stop reading which means they’ll get all your praise of them and no arguments against Obama. Second, they’re incredibly egocentric so you’re gonna have to point to direct affects on them. For instance, if you don’t agree with him he will label you a racist, if you are successful he will take up to 60% of your income, he will dictate how you can heat/cool your house, what vehicle you can drive, etc. etc. If you don’t engage the millenials in terms of how they will be directly affected they will assume that as supporters they won’t be affected at all.

It’s incredibly hard to convince these kids. Anyone with a modest knowledge of history sees how scary this guy is (and his wife) but again, the problem is this is a generation that doesn’t read. I know a lot of millenials and can’t name one who has read an entire book. On any subject. They are entirely swayed by charisma and screen presence and are used to worshiping media personalities with an abundant forgiveness for a total lack of substance. There’s simply no argument based in fact or evidence that can convince people in their early to mid twenties of just how dangerous this socialist, wannabe dictator, self-aggrandizing, self-proclaimed messiah truly is. It’s a very somber situation we find ourselves in and I fear that the ignorance of the younger generations will leave us all royally screwed.

The only hope I really have goes back to my attention span comment. I hope and pray that by the time November rolls around all these young people will have lost interest.

Jul 4, 2008 - 6:55 am 52. The Volt:

I’m a mid-50s curmudgeon but was drawn to the topic as my children seem to be leaning to BHO. I was hoping for some in-depth arguments but found myself trying to click on the little “2″ at the bottom of the page thinking there was more. Hugh, I’ve been a listener for several years and have to agree while your main thesis is right on it lacked sufficient support that the article if a student paper would get a D. Here are some other aspects of BHO that should cause pause before pulling the lever for him in November.
1) Naive solutions to complex issues – His statements that he’d meet with leaders of terrorist supporting nations with no pre-conditions. Similarly, his positions on economic, security, and environmental issues lack depth and fullness. Read the Senator’s web site position papers.
2) Marxist economic theology – every proposal of his has a theme of “from those who have to those who have not”. The “State” has all the right answers to all problems, if only we’ll join in a peoples union to bring change. Not enough cheap gas, the democrats support nationalization of the oil companies. Has been tried and was an abject failure, i.e. USSR.
3) Vacillation – From gun control to same sex marriage, he has, and still does say one thing to one group and another to other groups. A standard operating method used by politicians since Caesar.
4) Taxation Addiction – Similar to #2. His program proposals are based on significant tax increases to all classes. He likes the power of taxing. When tax revenues drop due to over taxation and the investment class stops taking risk, taxes rise on all classes as government desperate to fund pet programs scramble for dollars. He is against the gas tax holiday (very insensitive for a Democrat). Why? Because almost 60 cents of every gallon of gas is going into the federal government!
5) Judgment and associations – He seems to not have much wisdom when picking his associates. And one can’t help but have their attitudes and concepts influenced when you associate yourself in an intimate way with pastors, business associates, and other friends. And it appears he has made decisions on occupations based on a need to “punch the right tickets”. What types of individuals will he consider to be in his administration? Who will he appoint to the Supreme Court? And to whom does he owe his rise to power, and therefore will require favorable response?
So yes, inexperience is the box that holds the BHO candidacy, but it’s what is inside that is most concerning.
The Volt

Jul 4, 2008 - 7:10 am 53. HRPKathy:

Hillary made the ‘inexperience’ argument and we see how well it worked out for her. This is the wrong approach, especially with young people for whom ‘inexperience’ is an asset. They can argue that BHO isn’t ‘tainted’ with experience/cynicism – and admire his idealism. Really really bad approach.

If you want to argue against BHO – check out his nefarious connections and the perks he has awarded himself while in public office, his Northern Trust mortgage at 5.67% equaling a discount on his loan of over one hundred thousand dollars over the term of the mortgage. Meanwhile his own website supports the Dodd (under ethics investigation over a favorable mortage) and Franks bail out bill for lenders – is that connected? Why did Jim Johnson quickly exit from his campaign over his Countrywide Financial connections – to avoid further scrutiny – there is some there, there.

Or perhaps some investigation of Obama’s slumlord connections, his defense of Reznak when Reznak failed to provide heated dwellings for the poorest of the poor in southside Chicago will provide the voter with the recognition that this agent of change is the same old same old. Reznak, owned by Tony Rezko, enjoyed the benefits of taxpayer funds to the tune of $87,000,000, without any of the responsibilities in many ways thanks to Obama. Grover Park was a rat-infested, uninhabitable slum result of Mr. Obama’s housing plan.

No, Mr. Hewitt, if you want to discredit Obama, you must use his experience, not his inexperience. It’s what he IS that is truly frightening, not what he isn’t.

PS. I may agree that his heritage is frightening, but the kids to whom this piece was directed would REBEL against any argument about who Obama’s parents were. Really – anyone who knows or has been a twenty something should know that.

Jul 4, 2008 - 8:01 am 54. huxley:

Why not just say that Obama is a Marxist?

Because it sounds like nothing more than red-baiting.

I understand that if one traced Obama’s politics back, one would discover how influential Marx is, probably more than Obama himself realizes. But Obama doesn’t claim to be a Marxist and he doesn’t spout classic Marxist jargon. He does claim to support the free market albeit with government regulations and protections.

Furthermore, most young Obama supporters have no idea what a Marxist is aside from a term of abuse thrown about by conservatives.

If the aim is to dissuade young Obama supporters, calling Obama a Marxist or harping on his inexperience aren’t going to work. I doubt much will with them. I think the real focus will have to be appealing to the center of the country.

Jul 4, 2008 - 10:43 am 55. BMoon:

Not only is Obama “not ready,” he can never be ready to lead the free world until he ummm…”refines” his dangerous totalitarian, utopian, philosophy of government.

Afraid to say it, but the pampered, Sesame street generation raised by doting parents in a padded-universe “millenials” that mindlessly swarm to him seem equally unqualified to take part in a democracy of educated, hardworking, self-reliant morally grounded people.

Jul 5, 2008 - 7:30 am 56. Bill Perron:

Obama is a Marxist, so what ? We are already down the slippery slope of socialism. The young voter today has no idea about the concept of self reliance, and how could they, their socialistic teachers have bred them into mindless puppets. They have been taught they are entitled to have equality without effort. To have recognition without accomplishment. To be provided for by the state without concern. Obama is the fulfillment of the empty suit mentality. Personally I have provided for myself very well, so if these stupid jerks want Obama let them have him, and all the garbage he and his socialist brethren will bring with them. I will just watch and be amused as their ship rapidly sinks into historical example of just anothr failure to think about the consequences of actions. America will survive, Rome survived it’s collapse, at least it is still there, and this land will still be here, just take heed of the stupidity that runs rampant and prepare for your own survival.

Jul 5, 2008 - 3:51 pm 57. DisturbedEma:

This post takes me back. . .to my first voting for president experience. . .1992. . .and the same playbook applies today- for me the ‘moment” came when media coverage showed then President H.W.Bush wowed by the new scan abilities of the supermarket checkout. . .he was amazed AT how the clerks no longer had to punch everything in by hand. . . but it was presented in the usual “clueless old man/rich man” frame, and Bush looked like the King who had stumbled into his serf’s land. . .and was amazed by the little people. Being young and catered to, I of course jumped on the bandwagon for the Man From Hope (not really. . .he lied about that, he was froma town with a not so catchy name so he changed it. . .) and did exactly what I was told to do. . .dismiss everything that came out as the precursor to the non existent “vast right wing conspiracy” look upon all negative actions like deferred draft documents and fiscal misdeeds as “mud slinging” and kept my eye on the “Man from Hope”. . .and was resigned to my fate. . .I had ignored all evidence to show that he would lie under oath to save his illusion, that his wife would indeed find her inner Tammy Wynette, in order to win an office to use as a stepping stone for the now defunct run for office of President. . .and now, full circle, the time to disillusion the next generation of voters has come.

My 18 year old son is being urged to ignore the possible meaning of Obama accepting special interest money, and breaking his word about finances. . .his repeated troubles with his truth and his positions on race, the war and taxes. . .and therin lies the rub

What will happen if this person is elected? Who will have to accept the consequences of that action? I saw the error of my position too late, and have tried to balance my son’s Obama fever with some of the information about Obama’s failures in his political past. . .developers getting rich on the subsidy, while the housing falls apart, calling out his white grandma for her “racist” beliefs, but excusing the overt racism of people in his own camp, bad lenders who offer him and his wife an unheard of break on their home. . . all the while Obama and his supporters dance the same step- defensiveness, distance, disavow, digress, delude, the 5 Dstep that will lead to my son and his generation opting out of the political process. . .allowing career politicians to continue their “work”. . .

For the record, I was willing to give Obama a chance- I Myspaced all the potentials and invited them to answer my questions about their plans. . .only the Obama camp answered, and this was their reply-

I sent the unanswered questions to the Obama camp via myspace- you know, how he has no real plans for the things he speaks about so often, you know CHANGE, I get it, he wants change, but HOW? I want to know- here is the reply from “HQ”

Thanks for getting in touch Ema,
Another sad attempt from the right.
Obama HQ

To which I replied-
Niiiiice try, Sounds like business as usual- your comment will be posted for my students to see- thanks for your reply:)
Have a WONDERFUL day, oh, and you were wrong about my political affiliation as well. . . 0 for 2.

Yep- his people are now answering questions with personal attacks. . .politics as usual, quick, someone tell the Change guy that his people are lagging behind!!!

Jul 6, 2008 - 12:19 pm 58. John Samford:

Every Democratic candidate that has counted on the youth vote has LOST. There is NO evidence that Ohhhhh….BAMA will be any different.
The last two democrats to win were both southern governors who had solid, middle of the road records they could point to. So they were able to swing left to get the nomination, then right to get the vote.
SO they weren’t flip flopping, but swerving all over the road. Nothing 99.999 % of America hasn’t done a time or two. But when you are in the far left lane and make a sudden, sharp right turn people get up set. In some places they shoot at you. In politics, they call you a flip flopper.

Jul 6, 2008 - 12:26 pm 59. DisturbedEma:

Amazing what the phrase “after further review” can mean. . .in sports, it can mean that a touchdown will be ruled, or overturned. .. in politics, it means waffle or flip flop. . .sadly Bama has no trouble changing his mind every time the wind changes. . .my personal fav was the Jerusalem position. . .less than a day to distance!

Jul 6, 2008 - 2:36 pm 60. MIke:

I don’t know if the electorate is dumber or if the politicians are slicker, but I do know that, given the level of support this fraud (Obama) is receiving by our youth, the future of this country is screwed.

Jul 6, 2008 - 7:01 pm 61. J.G.:

To All of You: Fascinating discussion. I wish I had the time to read all of it. Some of you, especially Fred, sound very thoughtful and reasonable. Not that I agree with his reasoning. It seems I’m the only democratic socialist in the bunch. Maybe, the only person who believes in a democratic system that believes in a “we” society instead of a “me” society.

Fred, I’m a huge fan of Bernie Sanders. I hope you have a chance to listen to him every Friday morning on Thom Hartmann’s radio show, which I’m sure is available in your area. And Fred, your fear of having a terrorist under every bed is resulting in us (U.S.) becoming like them. We are better than they are, and we better show it by example not by military force and bullying. I’m also a big fan of George Soros, who supports many democratic institutions throughout the world and promotes democracy in countries who are less than democratic. By the way, every religion has its terrorist wings including Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, etc.; and Islam is not exception. Personally, I don’t believe in and oppose any religion or philosophy that wants to take us back to the middle-ages.

Please don’t blame the messengers (teachers,professors and media) for influencing those who support Obama.

Bottom line – all of you who think Obama is the anti-Christ, you are wrong and paranoid. You should be more fearful of a system where the government (Bush Administration/neo-con Republicans), the corporations (Halliburton/Blackwater/telecoms/oil companies/defense industries) and religion (Protestant-”end-of-timers”/Catholic-Opus Dei/Jewish-Zionists) share the same bed and ideology, continuous war.

Also, a recent poll of military personnel in Iraq indicates that most of our troops support Obama. I’m a Vietnam veteran and I’m a consultant to the national veterans organization that is helping veterans and their families throughout the country deal with their many neglected issues under this administration. All of the vets I know are for Obama.

Gotta go!

Jul 7, 2008 - 11:02 am 62. Dave Surls:

“continuous war”

Over the last hundred years the United States has fought four major wars (WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam) at a cost of around 600,000 American dead. That accounts for well over 90% of all U.S. war dead during that period.

In every case it was the “democratic” socialists who got us involved in those wars (Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson).

By way of contrast the evil Republican capitalists have NEVER involved this country in a major war. Not even once.

If you oppose war on principal, than supporting “democratic” socialism is insane.

Jul 7, 2008 - 11:33 am 63. George Baker:

Is experience important? Ask yourself this question.

Wouldn’t electing Obama as President be akin to putting a football player who has only played high school games into the NFL Super Bowl as quarterback?

Jul 7, 2008 - 12:32 pm 64. Dave Surls:

Make that “principle”, not “principal”

Jul 7, 2008 - 12:48 pm 65. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Hugh Hewit, et al.
RE: Indeed

“Indeed, he lacks even the barest minimum of life experiences needed for the job. Though his intentions will be good, his failure in the Oval Office is a near certainty because he is simply not ready – cannot be ready-to be president, and the failures that will certainly follow his taking the oath of office could – indeed, almost certainly would– devastate the country.” — Hugh Hewit

As it is written in the classic study of governance gone horribly wrong; I, Claudius….

“Let all of the poisons of the Earth hatch out.”

It’s going to be ‘interesting’.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[May you live in 'interesting' times. -- ancient Chinese curse]

Jul 7, 2008 - 1:23 pm 66. joeblough:

The pathetic kids who are boosting for B.Hussein have been so badly misled, undereducated and generally betrayed by the people who were supposed to have guided them to adulthood that it’s going to take a lot more than a few gentle word-to-the-wise type nudges to get them off the collision course they are on now.

We are well and truly screwed.

Consider this, the boomer generation, set up to inherit the last of the available decent public education, turned out to be so irrational as to squander much of the breath taking opportunity of the post war years and adopted unspeakably irrational approaches to life almost universally.

The education today’s kids have gotten was delivered to them by the boomers themselves, and was for the most part vastly inferior to what the boomers got.

Unless there is a vast, grass-roots conservative movement in the colleges that I don’t know about, I don’t see much hope without a disaster to wake people up.

I think we’re in a dark, dangerous place people.

Jul 7, 2008 - 8:43 pm 67. Pajamas Media » PJM Political 7/9/08: Now With A Fifth Of VodkaPundit!:

[...] talker Hugh Hewitt on his new pamphlet, A Letter To A Young Obama Supporter, published by Pamphleteer [...]

Jul 9, 2008 - 3:05 pm 68. gitrel:

Look at this in this way: are we going to stop voting for affluent white men as our presidents who instilled the values and beliefs that made the US great and the most attractive option for immigrants? and are we insatiate radicals who will vote for change in status quo? You choose.

Jul 10, 2008 - 1:26 am 69. Les Beal:

This is NOT the whole letter…it was edited to make it look like a weak argument.

Jul 11, 2008 - 6:21 am 70. Les Beal:

[This article is excerpted from a full-length pamphlet with the same name from The New Pamphleteer]

Why didn’t they print the whole article instead of just the lamest (though true) possible argument against Obama?

One wonders what they would have chosen to print if such a letter about McCain were to surface. My guess…a lot more…not just the lame arguement that he’s old.

Jul 11, 2008 - 6:25 am 71. Casey:

Didn’t change my mind one bit. (By the way, I’m a dog.)

This Dog is Voting For Obama
http://animalinternet.com/animatorial/view/this_dog_is_voting_for_obama/

Jul 11, 2008 - 9:31 am 72. Veritas:

Here’s the cold, stark, immutable, very non-politically correct bottom line:

Blacks who vote for Obama will do so primarily because he is black. They want a black man in the White House. They want to show that they can do it.

The left has been preaching to our black youth for years that they are victims, whether they believe it or not. Those who do believe it, consciously or subconsciously, now have the chance to prove (as much to themselves as anyone else) that they are not victims, but have become truly empowered beings. They want to feel better about themselves, so they will vote for Obama.

Whites who vote for Obama will do so primarily because he is black. They want a black man in the White House. They want to show that they are not racist.

The left has been preaching to our white youth for years that they are racist, whether they believe it or not. Those who do believe it, consciously or subconsciously, now have the chance to prove (as much to themselves as anyone else) that they are not racist, but have become truly enlightened beings. They want to feel better about themselves, so they will vote for Obama.

So, both blacks and whites are clamoring to vote for Obama not because he is the best choice to lead the country, but primarily because they want to feel better about themselves.

This is a reckless, narcissistic way to select a leader, and it will be bad for the country. In the end it is racist, we’ll all end up being victims, and we will have good reason to feel very bad about ourselves indeed.

Jul 11, 2008 - 10:22 am 73. DT:

Resume before rhetoric
Substance before symbolism

Obama is only about symbolism and socialism. If he has his way out proven successful free market society would be dissolved into nothing more that a two bit socialistic country.

“It’s the economy, stupid”

was a phrase in American politics widely used during the 1992 presidential campaign.
Today It’s Socialism Stupid.
This site is devoted to providing the general public with the basic understanding of different political entities and their historical success or failures.

With the two Presidential candidates separated by different ideologies; McCain believing in Free Market, Capitalistic principals, and Obama wanting to convert the Democratic Party to Socialism, This election is one of the most important elections this Republic has ever seen.

Obama says he wants change. He wants to take us in a new direction. Unfortunately that direction is Socialism.
History shows us that Socialism does not work and in fact has never worked. Most Socialistic governments have converted to Capitalism and/or have implemented Capitalistic strategies to improve there economies. As ecomonic numbers improve, so does quality of life.

McCain should embrace change as well. Change to remove and prevent any future socialistic schemes from diluting the successful strategies this country was built on.

We believe these United States were formed, developed and to this day benefit from Free Market based ideals. Our freedoms, success and lifestyles have been provided to us by the proven principals our fore-founders put into place over two hundred years ago.

Bottom line is that by implementing Free Market principals to socialistic ideology increases productivity. Adding socialistic principals to a free market based economy decreases productivity and forces all of us to be more dependent on the government.

Distribution of wealth, history has shown never worked and never will.

Jul 11, 2008 - 3:17 pm 74. MPAVictoria:

I really wish you right wingers would realize that just because someone is left of Atila the Hun does not make them a “Marxist” or a “Socialist”.

Jul 11, 2008 - 9:54 pm 75. Art:

Mr Obama reminds me of the Pied Piper who lured the children into the river and let them drown like the rats.

Mr Hewitt. Your asking $6 makes you look like a greedy, self serving Republican thus proving the left is correct about Republicans. If your interests are truly to defeat Obama, then you should whatever it takes to reach that goal. His victory will cost you a lot more than the few dollars you will make on your letter.

Jul 12, 2008 - 7:36 am 76. Tyro:

he lacks even the barest minimum of life experiences needed for the job.

I didn’t hear you worrying about this in 2000, when a man who was much less mature and with far less life experience and far less political experience was running for president. I suspect you’re being dishonest and don’t actually believe this argument. Many people don’t like it when you lie to them, even if your intentions are good. You’re lying about your reasons for opposing Barack Obama, here, and people are going to pick up on that.

Jul 12, 2008 - 9:38 am 77. Chris Kleinlein:

Mr. Hewitt-

I am a young Obama supporter. I heard your discussion of this letter on XM Radio (Channel- Potus 08), was intrigued by the concept, and began reading it with a very open mind. I was hoping that your argument would be so persuasive, as to make me consider becoming a full-fledged conservative. You made references on the show to the destructive nature of the Carter admnistration to the U.S. Economy. I was hoping to read a detailed point-for-point outline of why I should not vote for Obama this year based on a set of facts and refutations of Obama’s proposed policies. What I found instead was a partisan regurgitation of what Hannity and the rest of them are saying about Obama’s lack of experience. Since you’re basing your whole argument on Obama’s lack of experience and substance, I hope that you had the intellectual honesty to write a similar letter to the young supporters of George W. Bush in the year 2000. I somehow doubt that you did, but I wold have welcomed such a letter in 2000 when I cast my first wasted vote in a presidential election for Mr. Bush.

If I was an objective H.R. Manager designated to select the leader of the free world, and side-by-side, I was charged to review the resumes of the George W. Bush of 2000 and the Barack Obama of 2008, as a hard-core capitalist who expects competant job performance (which I am) I would choose the man with a lifetime of consistent, demonstrated success (Mr. Obama)rather than a lifetime of underachievement (Mr. Bush), given his huge financial and familial advantages, with sporatic glaring business failures, followed by a brief stint as “chief executive” of Texas, the state with the weakest governorship in the nation.

Jul 13, 2008 - 3:39 am 78. Mike:

This is a EXCERPT people, not the whole argument. Geez… how about paying attention to what is written (and to your candidate while you are at it!?)

Jul 19, 2008 - 5:21 pm 79. Mike:

George Bush had LOADS more experience than Obama when he became president. Do your homework people.

Jul 19, 2008 - 5:22 pm 80. fleur:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGeu_4Ekx-o

Any other era and obama would be a flash in the pan. But allowing immature kids to vote on something as critical as a presidential election is insane. maybe we need to go back in time to when one had to be a taxpayer in order to get the right to vote.
where are these kids parents> can’t they raise their children better than this> I was talking to a “millenialist” yesterday who was cheerfully yakking on about how “communism and socialism are NOT the same thing. one is bad, the other good.” Give me a break! I just told him that he was obviously the product of the leftwing american educational system and that his parents should have been teaching him not to believe everything those lefty teachers wre filling his head with.

Jul 26, 2008 - 8:15 am 81. Yoter:

Obama is a disillusioned bulls$$t artist, a Socialist with all the cures. God have mercy on us all if he’s elected. He’ll be worse than pyscho Jimmy Carter. I’m not a fan of McCain.

Obama’s polyanna attitude with a great speaking voice is what sells him.
I have two questions for him.
1. If terrorists created a mushroom cloud over an American city (maybe yours) what would he do?

2. If he came home and found someone in the kitchen attempting to rape his wife, and assuming he had a gun, would he wait until he slits her throat with a razor before shooting him?

Sorry, no antigun socialists . He wants to sit down with Alqaeda and talk. Remember the the video tape of the new reporter getting his head sliced off???
This is who he wants to negotiate with?

Common fellow Americans, stop watching American Idol and all the other stuff, pull your heads out of your butts and wake up!

My vote would be for Newt Gingrich or John Bolton.

Jul 26, 2008 - 8:34 am 82. grandma1:

I laugh as I read the arguments for BHO – none have any reasoned logic in them. They often end up in name calling: right-winger/neo-con, etc. My dad, a lawyer, used to always say: ad hominem – the weakest form of argument”.

As far as socialism goes: note that as Fred said – as Catholics – we are taught to share our material posessions – and we do – and through agencies like Catholic Charities much good has been done for society in the past 2000 years – but to force charity from those not charitable and gift it to those not humble does not work. If government sponsored social programs worked to better people’s lives I would support them – but more often that not – they do not. Those that do work – I do support – although I would still rather see the government out of it as forced charity creates resentment.

First – JG – on another note: as a Buddhist – why is there a universe? why is there something rather than nothing? (and I’m not looking for your response – just be intellecutally honest with yourself and set your mind to searching for the only plausible Truth).

Back to BHO- this is my quandry: I am a public school teacher (math!) and want to refine my responses to liberal baby-boomers…without increasing their wrath as I wait for job security (one more year). I am a young grandma via my college age daughter becoming pregnant (and not aborting: a direct quote: “I may have not turned out to be the best Catholic, but at least I knew that was wrong” – I guess, JG, you would see that as the result of too much restrictive orthodoxy?)
So, my husband suggests defending my position solely on that – but most are pro-aborts, too – I am not out to change minds in the school – rather not to lie and say I am not sure – this is an economic problem for me. Your advice will be appreciated.

Jul 26, 2008 - 9:26 am 83. Dizzy:

Some good comments in here. Specially the one by fleur. More truth to that than most people realize. Government schools are just as scary as radical Islam. Parents NEED to take a look at whats going on in their kids school.
As far as BO in office,its not even basic economics 101. ITS economics 1. DO the math folks and you’ll realize how utterly crazy it would be to have this man in office. We cannot afford him in any way shape or form. We’ve got to get out of debt not further into debt. Congress just stuck a little thing on the bottom of the last bail out bill that will allow them to spend another ONE TRILLION dollars. Hasn’t passed the Senate yet. But it will. Get Congress cleaned out. Pelosi and Reed and a mess of others have got to go and a few Republicans too. Support and vote for anyone who supports the Fair Tax and is for drilling for oil NOW.

Jul 26, 2008 - 11:07 am 84. Tim:

What we don’t need is a ” citizen of the world…” president. We need a United States President who puts the United States and its citizens ahead of everything and everyone else. We need a commander in chief with the experience to know what exactly that means, and when and how to project America’s power to protect our interests around the world. We need a president who understands the nature of the multiple threats against us through personal and professional experience over decades of service to America’s people from the love of country. Not someone who was nursed from the tit of socialism and fascism, not someone who was indoctrinated as a youth and young man with an ideology which condones any lies, deceit, mass murder of innocent people, decapitation of helpless, bound victims to execute their plan to conquer the world. (If you don’t believe me, read his book. Or read this link (http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2008/01/obamas_nation_o.html. )We don’t need a president who keeps company with known terrorists, not someone whose so called Christian church (and wife) screams hatred of American and its white citizens. We need an American CEO who is proud of American business, who won’t ruin our culture with unfettered illegal immigration, not someone who promises everything under the sun to everyone when there is absolutely no way to pay for “his gifts” to voters, not someone who so eloquently promises CHANGE but never details exactly who or what must change, or how this change is to occur, or how to pay for it. All of these empty words FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS ACCOMPLISHED NOTHING IN HIS LIFE, WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED NOTHING, WHO HAS NEVER LEAD MEN OR WOMEN IN A COMMAND OR LEADERSHIP SITUATION. HE RAN UNAPPOSED FOR HIS SENATE SEAT. Therefore he has never had to qualify his promises. The press is giving him a free ride, not demanding details through tough, probing, insightful questions. The truth is we know very little of whom he really is or what he believes in. However, what we do know (see above) should be enough to scare the hell out of every American who truly loves their country and thinks it the best nation this world has ever seen, and strives to put American first in everything, and doesn’t feel we need to apologize to or appease the rest of the world for doing so. WE DON’T NEED A PRESIDENT WHO APOLOGIES TO THE GERMANS OF ALL PEOPLE FOR AMERICAN ACTIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TO PUT DOWN TERRORISM. WE DON’T NEED A PRESIDENT WHO CARES MORE ABOUT WHAT OTHER COUNTRIES THINK OF US THAN WHAT HE CAN DO TO PUT AMERICAN FIRST, AND WHO WILL GIVE BILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS TO THEM TO SATISFY HIS SOCIALIST IDEALS. YOU’D BETTER BELIEVE THE REST OF THE WORLD IS PUTTING THEIR COUNTRIES FIRST. WAKE UP AMERICA, STOP BEING THE HERD OF SHEEP OR LEMMING FOLLOWING THIS FACIST PHILOSOPHY OVER THE CLIFF TO OUR RUIN.

Jul 26, 2008 - 3:01 pm 85. D.R.:

It doesn’t take much discernment to see that Obama is a world class fake and con artist. The recent incident regarding his written prayer published in an Israeli newspaper is not too hard to see through. Mr. “I’m a good Christian” knows that he is weak in that area and wants desperately to win over the evangelical voters. So, cleverly, he writes (or most likely had written for him) a prayer that makes him look like a real believer, a solid Christian, someone who is humble, trusts God, and wants only to be used by God. Anyone who has closely observed him or seen what his pastor/mentor of 20 years believes and teaches and his church of 20 years teaches should easily see that he is anything but those things. But, he writes the prayer, wording it perfectly (too much so, making it obvious!), sticks it in a hole in the Jerusalem wall, and then makes sure one of his lackeys gets it into the hands of a not-so-honest newspaper, to be printed, so all the world can marvel at the humility, integrity, faith, and devotion of the “messiah”! To make it even more clever, he can then condemn the fact that it was printed, saying it violated his privacy! So he comes across as shocked that anyone would do exactly what he arranged to have done, comes acorss (to the less discerning) as a dedicated Christian, and comes across as “wronged” by some jerk who dared to publish his private prayer. What a clever and dishonest con game! Any real believer would first of all not feel the need to write out a prayer and stick it in the wall used by Jews (who, lest we forget, deny the very Christ OBama claims to serve!). Any real believer would simply get on his knees before God, in private, not feeling a need to make sure everyone knew he was doing so. And no true believerr in Christ would feel the need to cater to Jewish voters to the extent of wearing one of those Jewish caps, knowing that Jews deny Christ as the Savior! Of course, Obama has every intent of convincing them and us that HE is the savior and apparentky even believes this nonsense himself. Never before has America been sold such a bill of goods by a presidential candidate. As a true believer in Christ as the only way of salvation (another fact that Obama denies, further evidence that he is a fake Christian), I can only put my trust in the Lord that He is still on the throne and that, of He gives us this dishonest and communist man as our “leader,” it is what is best for our nation spiritually. But I do pray and hope that Obama will be exposed as the charlatan that he is, so we will not have to endure the judgment from God of having this man as our president.

Jul 26, 2008 - 7:05 pm 86. Yoter:

Tim above
You hit the nail on the head. I think if BO gets elected there will be an uprising in this country like we have never seen. It may take time but real Americans will do it. Obama and company act offended when you question their patriotism. There’s no need to question it because they have none. From Pelosi to Reid to Kennedy and all the socio/communists in between, YOU ALL SUCK!

Jul 26, 2008 - 8:55 pm 87. Wayne:

It’s an excerpt,people. Presumably there is more meat in the published on paper version.

Aug 2, 2008 - 9:15 am 88. jrhode13:

People, for the sake of this good nation, wake up and see what’s going on here. You say Barack Obama is unqualified — do you remember, in the 2000 election, during a Gore/Bush debate, when the terrorist bombing in Yemen came up, Bush evidently didn’t even know where Yemen was! I remember the next day, our local newspaper had a cartoon in the editorials showing Bush pondering over a world globe. The caption had him saying something like “So where the heck is Yemen, anyway?” It was great fun, but it also drove home Bush’s incompetence, for a lack of a better word. Propaganda outlets beware: as the world becomes more computer savvy, those World War II propaganda tactics that worked so well for the Germans are not going to work forever. People now have many more outlets for information, and as they catch on to the trashy tactics being used by Republicans, the Republican Party will ultimately be the defeat of themselves. I really am far more concerned for the welfare of this country than I am for any party affilation. But when I hear people on the right wing, like the blogger I just heard on the Pajamas Media show on XM Radio poking fun at Obama’s efforts to set a goal of 1 million plug-in hybrids on the road in a few years from now, I just want to ask him, “whose side are you on?”. No, not Red or Blue, I mean American or Oil Company? Look…we all know, regardless of which side of the fence you’re on, that we need to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. We all know our country’s hooked on that stuff like crack. And our ‘crack dealers’ are the shady countries in the Middle East and Venezuela. We know we have to move away from that stuff. –And knowing that– how could a right-winger ridicule –anybody– for trying to set a goal toward moving away from that? Does that –not– tell you where their heart is? The nation that the Republican Party was given watch over in 2000 was robust, with balanced financial books — that’s a fact, no matter whether I like it or not. When we wake up again, after eight years of our country with Republicans at the wheel, we find that our deficit has not only went up a few TRILLION dollars, but that it has –DOUBLED–, –THOUSANDS– of soldiers have died in Iraq and still haven’t found the –WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION– , and even the price of gasoline has –TRIPLED– , and our economy is –TRASHED–. Oil man in office? Do I need to connect the dots? People, for our country’s sake, regardless of how you vote, PLEASE do your homework. It’s not just about your pocketbook, it’s about the future of this great nation.

Aug 6, 2008 - 11:34 am 89. Alex H.:

Why not Obama? The answer is simple: he’s a socialist.

That’s it. That’s all that needs to be said. Sound great, doesn’t work, and ultimately and inexorably leads to a denigration of freedom, and the denigration of humanity.

We’ve already gone down that road in the US, and it sucked.

Other countries have gone down that road, and its sucked. Every time.

The only thing that hasn’t sucked? Check out the Celtic Tiger, or the Estonian Miracle. Its no coincidence that those nations that have embraced socialism (such as Burma, once the breadbasket of asia, and the most educated country in asia) have turned into hellholes, and those that have embraced freedom in all its forms (see Ireland, and parts of US history) have zoomed ahead.

Aug 15, 2008 - 2:28 pm 90. BC:

Q1 : “Is Barack Obama anywhere near ready to be President of the United States in a time of war and economic uncertainty?”
Yes. Bush relied on a passel of Neocon con men, many of whom were members of the maliciously stupid PNAC for foreign policy advice and it’s been an unmitigated disaster. Unlike McCain, who’s already added pro-war Neocon Randy Scheunemann as his top foreign-policy adviser, Obama will bring on board people who aren’t fact-challenged fools whose idea of foreign policy is to put on a blindfold and then point a shotgun at maps of the Middle East and Latin America.

Q2: “And the second hard question: What if he’s not and he wins anyway?”
You might as well ask, “What if visitors from another star system decides to invade us and harvest us for food?” It’s a moronic question because if Obama doesn’t win, then the country will very likely have to suffer through another 4 years of bumbling, clueless leadership on foreign, domestic, economic and energy policies (for starters.)

Aug 24, 2008 - 1:30 pm

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