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Obama, a True Ideologue
Critics who paint George W. Bush as a man blinded by ideology should consider the hermetically sealed worldview of a certain Democratic senator from Illinois.
It is a common complaint from George W. Bush’s critics that he is an “ideologue” or even the “most ideological president in history.” His critics, including the Democratic presidential contenders, often have argued that he ignores empirical evidence, whether about foreign policy or science, in order to maintain his devotion to predetermined and deeply held philosophical beliefs.
So shouldn’t pundits be wary of and be on the lookout for politicians who disregard the facts, overlook inconvenient evidence, and plunge ahead with their philosophically fixed plans, impervious to the real world? Well so far they seem utterly unconcerned that Barack Obama has racked up a fairly consistent record of doing just that.
Let’s take free trade. Obama’s own advisors and the overwhelming majority of economists agree that free trade agreements have created millions of jobs and benefited us both economically and diplomatically. Yet Obama advocates a new era of protectionism. He falsely tells crowds in the Rust Belt that NAFTA has cost us jobs (actually we have gained 26 million jobs since it was signed) and is responsible for untold economic distress. Ah, but you say, he doesn’t really mean that — this is not really ideology run amok, but pandering. Perhaps.
Well then, there is health care. Both he and Hillary Clinton favor enormously expensive national plans which to one degree or another would require coverage and put the government in the position of subsidizing and regulating private insurance plans. However, we know now from empirical evidence in Massachusetts that these plans don’t result in universal coverage and are horrendously expensive. California’s Democratic-controlled legislature abandoned its idea for universal coverage because it simply cost too much. Does any of this affect Obama’s thinking? Apparently not.
It is the same story on tax policy. He likes the idea of increasing the capital gains tax. He does not much care for factual data demonstrating beyond any reasonable doubt that increasing the capital gains rates will decrease revenue. Rather, he has, dare we say, an ideological goal in mind: make the rich pay more, even if it costs the U.S. treasury money. At least he is honest about this one.
Foreign policy is no different. He and other Democrats criticized President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for ignoring the facts on the ground in Iraq for years which indicated the country was descending into civil war. Yet since the military and political successes resulting from the surge have convinced even former war critics that real progress has been made, has Obama acknowledged the new facts and adjusted his views? Not quite.
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Jennifer Rubin is PJM's Washington, DC, editor. She also blogs at Commentary’s Contentions.
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61 Comments
1. Ed Wallis:J. Rubin makes excellent points here and argues them with reason and common sense.
That’s my only problem: The Democrats’/Liberals’/Leftists’ ideological blindness forces them to project their own faults onto others (see: “ideologue”).
It is a wonderful article, and I do hope it persuades others not yet convinced, yet I remain skeptical…sigh!
Jun 9, 2008 - 2:32 am 2. Boris:WTF? You complain that Obama is an ideologue and then throw every right wing talking point at him.
“Bush was skewered for revealing that he did not read the newspapers, sure fire evidence, the critics said, of his unwillingness to get facts unfiltered by his staff. But then we learn from Obama’s aide: “One cardinal rule of the road is, we don’t watch CNN, the news, or MSNBC. We don’t watch any talking heads or any politics.”
Are you saying that you don’t know the difference between news and “Talking heads” and “politics”? Really? Well, there’s your problem.
Jun 9, 2008 - 3:35 am 3. Benson:When a man of John Kerry’s integrity can come within a whisker of being elected president, reason and common sense have to have already suffered massive trauma. Like commenter Ed Wallis, I doubt that admirably clear prose like Rubin’s will change any minds.
Jun 9, 2008 - 4:11 am 4. David Thomson:“…nor concern those who are convinced that he represents an entirely new approach to politics. Perhaps it should.”
Where is Richard Hofstadter when you truly need him? Postmodernism underpins Barack “Barry” Obama’s movement. Facts are of little value. The ideology promoting “change” is all that matters. Obama is probably the most anti-intellectual major presidential candidate in the last hundred years. Nobody else comes close. It is also very fair to compare the followers of Obama to fascists. One is supposed to possess near blind faith in the great leader.
It should also be noted that George W. Bush reads countless reports every morning of his life. He doesn’t need to read newspapers because his staff puts together the really important stuff in his morning briefings. Few people have hundreds, if not thousands of advisors, at their beck and call.
Jun 9, 2008 - 4:30 am 5. venividivici:Are you saying that you don’t know the difference between news and “Talking heads” and “politics”? Really? Well, there’s your problem.</i
WTF does it matter WTF the difference is? They said they don’t watch either.
WTF? You complain that Obama is an ideologue and then throw every right wing talking point at him.
It’s only a “talking point” if you can’t prove it empirically. WTF, don’t you know the difference between “talking point” and “empirical fact”? Well, there’s your problem.
Jun 9, 2008 - 5:07 am 6. Bill in New York:Not since Ross Perot has a politician stood before the American people and showed them a pie chart of where the money was being spent… and then had the courage to look them in the eye and say, “For the sake of your children and grandchildren, sacrifices will be required by EVERYONE” if we intend NOT to be the generation that lost the freedom that was given to us. The only “ideology” of Obama that is consistent (like others, Democrat and Republican) IS pandering… for their own political gain, period.
Jun 9, 2008 - 6:50 am 7. GM Roper:To believe that Obama can bring about substantial change without relying on any facts on the ground is truly an “Assault on Reason.”
Well done Ms. Ruben! Damn well done!
Jun 9, 2008 - 6:58 am 8. Roboc:There are no challenges in an echo chamber. Barry’s voice is soothing and calming. No need to listen to anyone else. It would ruin the mood he’s created for himself.
Jun 9, 2008 - 7:29 am 9. Bobby McGill:Obama’s free trade stance is one of the few things I don’t like about him. If he takes the election then I hope that is one of the first promises he breaks.
Bobby McGill
Jun 9, 2008 - 7:31 am 10. test » Blog Archive » Obama, a True Ideologue:[...] a True Ideologue Ben Keeler wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptCritics who paint George W. Bush as a [...]
Jun 9, 2008 - 7:43 am 11. Freddie Funky:” Has the failure of European diplomacy (to which the U.S. deferred) to curb Iran’s nuclear program impacted Obama’s thinking? ”
Ignoring years of careful multilateral negotiations to have direct one on one talks with foreign leaders is the ultimate “Cowboy” move. Without a meaningful threat of some type to bring to the discussion any one on one would just be wasted time. What makes Obama think that would happen? Ahmadinejad views Obama as an Apostate – which won’t make for easy negotiations? It would be funny as hell to have Cowboy Obama ride in to save the day and make Iran stop threatening Israel. Go cowboy Obama !
Jun 9, 2008 - 7:45 am 12. cfbleachers:So why does all of this ideological inflexibility and aversion to facts not bother the same pundits who pleaded with Bush to pay attention to the real world? It is not hard to figure out why. When the outcome is to its liking (e.g., pursuing withdrawal from Iraq) the mainstream media is second to no one in ignoring inconvenient evidence. It is not surprising then that Iraq has largely disappeared from the front pages of most major newspapers.
Because, Jennifer…(and I think the world of you) of you.
And me. And everyone like us. We point at propaganda, we point at the rape of our information stream. We point at the leftist distortion of truth. We point at their spitting upon a public trust. But we never take the next step. We won’t press the attack, organize it into a larger movement, insist that we won’t settle for lies and say “Oh, those darn leftists, you know how they are!”.
They have shaped the image of Republicans (or anyone who isn’t a far leftist…ie, see what they did to Joe Lieberman and most recently to Bill and Hillary). They shape the issues, distort the facts, revise the history.
Walter Cronkite turned the Tet Offensive into a military loss. The NYTimes tried to turn the Afghanistan offensive into a “quagmire” after three weeks. The BBC, Reuters and the AP tried to fake photograph and distort their way to demonizing Israel.
Dan Rather and Mary Mapes cheapened network “journalism” with known fake (but, “true”) documents.
We point at individual battles…they organized for war against the truth.
It was the DEMOCRATS (William Cohen and his five pound bag, Albright, Sandy Berger, Al Gore, Bill Clinton…and ALL their senators and kings’ horsemen) who detailed how Saddam Hussein was the greatest threat to mankind. Who was a threat to pass off killing agents, (chemical, biological and possibly nuclear)to terrorists…and who argued for and voted in regime change in Iraq. They did this based on the intelligence that the ENTIRE WORLD voted on in resolution after resolution. But, now…somehow…the ONLY one who was ’stupid’ enought to believe it and act on it…was President Bush?
When we sit idly by and merely tsk-tsk the actions of liars, propagandists, seditionists and feel we have done enough by pointing at them, we fool ourselves.
When we take the trembling hand of a coward and allow him to lead us…we get exactly what cowards reap. Appeasement. Capitulation. Weakness.
Jimmy Carter, perhaps the greatest coward to ever hold the Presidency…how did that work out for us in Iran? 444 days of abject humiliation and a Keystone Kop comedy of helicopters bumping into each other. A weakened defense and a national malaise. Gas lines. Double digit interest rates. Were we “liked” any better?
How did appeasing the North Koreans work out for us on their nuclear ambitions and “believing” them with our “dialogue” tactics?
How did it work out for the Cambodians when we tucked tail and ran from Viet Nam without looking back at the mass murder the enemy lay waste to on the ground behind us?
How did the Bay of Pigs turn out when we tucked tail and ran?
The surge is working…and yet we still reach out for the trembling hand of an appeaser to lead us…because we will not stand in unity against narrative based upon a framed lie. We find it much easier to point at it from the sidelines. I’m as much to blame as anyone.
We have allowed the liars and cowards to own our information stream for 40 years. To dominate it. To shape the issues and revise the history. The blogosphere, Fox News and talk radio try to fight back, sure. But not in any organized fashion. And if we don’t care enough about the truth to fight for it…maybe we don’t deserve it.
Jun 9, 2008 - 8:46 am 13. RW:Excellent article citing some clear example of how not just a position but a deeply felt approach determines the outcome of an action.
Obama has surely done that in the instances cited, as well as his ever shifting dialogue requirements with Iran, his refusal to grant human status to babies who survive an abortion and clearly his associations over decades with people that if were the case on the right would be automatic disqualifier for even seeking higher office let alone Senate or President.
If one has been on the Board of Directors with the Federal Building in Oklahoma, done speaking engagements with same, or had Timothy McVeigh host your first fundraiser for the Senate, would that even remotely be possible.
Of course not. But forget all that. Praise Obama!
Jun 9, 2008 - 9:19 am 14. Dave II:Obama’s “hermetically sealed worldview” (love that line!) can be seen in several examples, some of which are entirely PERSONAL:
One, the biggest glaring example is his lack of going to Iraq in the past 2.5 years! That, and his lack of communication with Gen. David Petraeus is more than just a little telling…it’s almost scandalous! (Contrast that with McCain who has been there 8 times…3 since the surge began, alone.)
Second, his “hermetically sealed worldview” shows up in his personal life:
-self-identifying with his FATHER’s family and race, and denying his own white heritage, as seen so well in his book “Dreams of My Father”.
-20 years in a church filled with anti-American rhetoric (”That’s not the Rev. Wright I knew…”)
-17 years involved with convicted slumlord “Tony” Rezko (”this isn’t the Tony Rezko I knew.”)
-13 years relationship with William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, the unrepetant TERRRORIST bombers, at who’s home Obama had his political coming out party in 1995.
So it goes that, if Obama finds it POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT, he will KEEP relationships you and I would find troubling (not wanting “facts” to confuse the motive involved) and NOT KEEP relationships or not go to places that might conflict with his worldview.
Actually, as far as his thin resume and life experiences can attest to…his WHOLE “hermetically sealed worldview” has been nothing BUT an ambitious quest to become President! Certainly, he has fostered his own self-identity to include those things which are an advantage in the political arena, and discarded the “baggage” that he feels was of no use or an actual DISADVANTAGE in the Chicago area he chose to arise from. And, give him credit! It has worked marvelously for a state senate seat, a Senate seat from Illinois, and now the Democratic nomination…….but as a PRESIDENT????
NO, not a chance, no thank-you!
Jun 9, 2008 - 9:20 am 15. Believer:Tremendous job done here.
I was going to say I’d like to see at least one or two good ads hammering Obama to come from this.
I still would. But add a few more from “cfbleachers” comments as well.
Short and repeated blows to the fragile candidate. The Dems can pick up the pieces November 5.
Jun 9, 2008 - 9:55 am 16. John Moore:Obama indeed seems to have a worldview shaped by the leftist educational institutions he attended and his years of work as a black identity activist in Chicago. He is truly a dangerous man – a Marxist in all but name, with a charming personality and a rhetorical gift similar to that of Adolph Hitlers (yes, he was a very persuasive and outstanding speaker- we just don’t know it because he spoke German). Only a gifted orator can take the marvels of America, subtly tear them down in every speech, and then rebuild them with “hope” and “change.”
Sadly, the media will support him even more fiercely than they supported the fabulous and anti-American John Kerry. Obama’s oratorical excellence will be constantly in the news, while his many, many gaffs – indicative of his lack of depth – will be completely ignored.
Jun 9, 2008 - 10:09 am 17. AWOL Civilization:The claim that President Bush is blinded by ideology is as ridiculous as the charge that he is a “Christian fundamentalist” etc.
Please check out my article on the Obamamite cult:
http://awolcivilization.com/?p=162
Jun 9, 2008 - 10:25 am 18. Alo Kievalar:If our choice is between Obama and McCain, Obama wins hands down….he is light-years above and beyond McCain for the Presidency.
Anyone who has the superb command of the English language that Obama does, who has the delivery skills of a master rhetorician and who is nearly inspirational in attitude and forthrightness, has my vote.
McCain is a master too – a master of stating the obvious, someone how laughs at his own “jokes” and who is devilishly clever at putting audiences to sleep. He reminds me of Howdy Dowdy.
Obama’s Achilles heel appears to be his “inexperience” in world affairs. I don’t see how anyone with any international experience can possibly say that. I currently live in the Middle East and I can tell you that he is currently the most popular American, bar none, among the denizens of the “Arab street”.
McCain is a nice man. He is to be commended and admired for his military service and his ghastly experiences as a POW. But he is not what we need at the moment. He just isn’t.
Obama means business…..that’s my bottom line with him. McCain doesn’t quite get it – it’s all somehow beyond him is the feeling I get.
Jun 9, 2008 - 10:39 am 19. rvastar:————————
In short, facts don’t matter.
When have facts ever mattered to Marxists?!?
It’s really quite easy to understand:
Obama is a quasi-Marxist.
Marxists are liars.
Therefore, Obama is a liar.
For all the quasi-Marxists out there, whether they be in elected office or sitting at a desk at the Times or screeching on Kos, it’s all about 1) picking a narrative, with accompanying slogans, and 2) sticking with that narrative, come Hell or high water!
The narrative they’ve chosen for Iraq is as follows:
Bush Lied! People Died!
600,000 Iraqis Dead!
Abu Ghraib!
No WMDs!
Endless War!
Halliburton!
Nothing, and I mean NOTHING is going to convince them to alter that narrative. Aliens from space could arrive tomorrow, hover over Iraq, bathing the entire country in Peace and Happiness Beams, thus ushering in a perfect Utopia; and the Western Marxists would simply do what they always do when the dissonance between the facts and their narrative becomes too “uncomfortable”…
They’ll simply stop talking about it.
Want to know how you can tell when the Marxists realize that the narrative is in danger of becoming a liability? It’s really easy…they’re statments get shorter and shorter and shorter…until finally, silence.
Remember global cooling? Yeah, me neither.
Remember global famine? Yeah, me neither.
Remember ozone holes? Yeah, me neither.
Remember Reagan’s warmongering? Yeah, me neither.
Remember how welfare reform was going to lead to street riots and human catastrophe? Yeah, me neither.
Remember how tougher sentencing wasn’t going to help decrease criminal activity? Yeah, me neither.
Remember how “concealed carry” laws were going to turn the US into the OK Corral? Yeah, me neither.
Remember Cindy Sheehan’s “absolute moral authority”? Yeah, me neither.
Remember the Down Street memo? Yeah, me neither.
Remember Gunga Dan’s “fake-but-accurate” memo? Yeah, me neither.
Remember Bush the Idiot after Lurch’s college grades were released? Yeah, me neither.
Remember Reid and Pelosi aping for the cameras every other day after Nov. 2006, screaming about the “quagmire”? Yeah, me neither.
Make no mistake: these people want the US to be defeated in Iraq. The reason they want us to lose is because 1) they will be able to hang the loss around the neck of the Republican party for 50+ years, and 2) it will substantially weaken the US’s ability to set the world’s geopolitical tone…and by extension, substantially strengthen the UN’s ability to do so.
Plain and simple, folks, this is TREASON…actively working to weaken your own country in order to benefit another government (i.e. the UN).
We have allowed the liars and cowards to own our information stream for 40 years. To dominate it. To shape the issues and revise the history. The blogosphere, Fox News and talk radio try to fight back, sure. But not in any organized fashion. And if we don’t care enough about the truth to fight for it…maybe we don’t deserve it.
Well said, cfbleachers. I made basically the same point in the recent thread $8 Gas a Good Thing? I Don’t Think So. An excerpt:
The time for being nice is over. The time for “turning the other cheek” is over. These people are dangerous…they need to be confronted with, smacked in the face with, and made to eat their lies and falsehoods…IN FRONT OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC! And winning elections is not going to make one bit of difference, because as cfbleachers stated, they control the information stream…as long as we allow them to do so, we allow them to dominate the narrative that the American people are fed about their own country.
A concerted effort needs to be made to develop an ORGANIZED, NATIONAL media alternative to the Marxist State Media. Look at how they are already driven to absolute hysterics by Fox News…simply for the offense of affording non-Marxist viewpoints an equal amount of time.
Fox and Rush are a good start, but we need alot more.
Jun 9, 2008 - 10:39 am 20. Sandra M:Working backwards, Joesph Stalin said “it doesn’t matter who votes; it matters who counts the votes” Election day poll watchers will be necessary because the Obamamaniacs
Connecticut’s Secretary of State said there is no voter fraud in Connecticut. Some college students found 5,000 votes by people long dead. Fox News has an ongoing story on this led by Eric Shawn. I think the email address is voterfraud@foxnewslcom.
Columnists, bloggers and people posting comments to columns, and people emailing their friends are doing a terrific job.
We need Internet Ads like the famous “I voted for it before I voted it against it” of 2004. That’s a job for the 527’s. A great TV ad posted on Youtube will be shown endlessly on cable. So far, veteransfor freedom.com has put a calendar on Obama 881 days since he’s been to Iraq the last time I looked, and they asked why he hasn’t yet met with General David Petraeus, which he will now have to do or face an updated ad from them.
Newt’s DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW delivered 350,000 signed petitions to the Congress, and they’re aiming at a million petitions. I don’t know how many signatures capitolconnect has gotten, but this will be a grass roots campaign and victory. Neither Obama nor McCain is with us, so we the people will have to persuade McCain to see the light on global warming. Obama? He’s what the Russians called a “watermelon” green on the outside and red on the inside.
The biggest waste of time and energy is “waiting” for the political campaigns to give us marching orders. Hillary was defeated in part by the idiots running her campaign. Obama has a smarter campaign but in aid of ideas I find odious. (Google Odinga Obama)
Jun 9, 2008 - 11:15 am 21. The Conservative Pulse: The GE — Let’s get it on, Pfleger to return June 16th, and more at The Liberty Preservation Alliance:[...] that Senator Obama is a inexperienced left wing ideologue and Jennifer Rubin at Pajamas Media provides the evidence. [Source: Pajamas [...]
Jun 9, 2008 - 11:18 am 22. Mike:Hey Alo Kievalar, you said “Anyone who has the superb command of the English language that Obama does, who has the delivery skills of a master rhetorician and who is nearly inspirational in attitude and forthrightness, has my vote.”
Jun 9, 2008 - 11:21 am 23. Bird:Did you hear him last Thursday? he could not get his point across without sounding like a blabering idiot.
He did’nt sound like he had a very good “delivery skills” to me.
He sounded more like polatician that cannot speak a clear thought without a teleprompter.
If McCain or bush has gaffed like that it would be on the news 24/7 calling them idiots.
Follow closely, Boris:
“One cardinal rule of the road is, we don’t watch CNN, the news, or MSNBC. We don’t watch any talking heads or any politics.”
Note the second half of the first sentence “we don’t watch CNN, the news, or MSNBC.” It is this sentence which reflects what the Obama camp avoids–in addition to the talking heads and politics–”the news,” which is the part–still with me?–that applies. To put a bow on it for you, the Obamites knock Bush for avoiding the news media coverage, yet they profess to do the same.
Reading comprehension–the mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Jun 9, 2008 - 11:29 am 24. Dave II:“I currently live in the Middle East and I can tell you that he is currently the most popular American, bar none, among the denizens of the “Arab street”.”
Alo, you don’t say if you are American, but this is not exactly a ringing endorsement for Obama. It’s pretty well known here that Hamas is all for Obama too. Gee…why am I not surprised?
Actually, it’s not reported much here (no surprise!) but Obama is really more Arab-American, NOT “Black” or “so-called” African-American, so his support among Arabs is VERY understandable.
“Mr. Obama is 50% Caucasian, that from his mother. What those who want Mr. Obama to write history by becoming “America’s first African-American president” ignore is that his father was ethnically Arabic, with only 1 relative – a maternal grandparent, ethnically African Negro.
That means that Mr. Obama is 50% Caucasian from his mother’s side, and 43.75% Arabic, and 6.25% African Negro from his father’s side.
The question no one wants to answer – particularly Mr. Obama and his supporters, is, “Why do you think he has an Arabic name? Why does his father have an Arabic name? Why does every ancestor on his father’s side have an Arabic name?”
The answer is obvious: They have Arabic names because his father’s side of the family tree is Arabic.
Need proof? Research the Kenyan records for yourself. You will find that his father was officially classified as “Arab African” by the Kenyan government.”
And even MORE undereported is this tidbit:
“Researching his roots reveal that on his father’s side, he is descended from Arab slave traders. They operated under an extended grant from Queen Victoria, who gave them the right to continue the slave trade in exchange for helping the British defeat the Madhi Army in southern Sudan and the Upper Nile region. Funny how circular is history; now the British again face the Madhi Army, albeit this time Shiite, not Sunni, as in nineteenth century Sudan.”
Read the full article here:
http://www.icallbs.net/blog/index.php/2008/02/17/obama-an-arab-american-liar/
As for his “superb command of the English language”…really? Maybe with a teleprompter, but without one Obama is coming up with so many gaffes… we now have “Obamaisms”! See the video’s:
ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI5Eo9OMSgU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbpWonUzlrc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ro-El7WaYQ&feature=related (this one is LOL funny!)
But really, who cares if he is black, arab, white or can’t speak without a teleprompter?
The man is simply a far-left Marxist, and dangerous for America!
Jun 9, 2008 - 12:06 pm 25. cfbleachers:The great irony of the Democratic nomination process has been that in an election year in which the public is supposedly fed up with extreme partisanship and ideological extremism, the Democrats selected the most liberal member of the Senate, who averts his eyes when confronted with data that does not match up with his ideological convictions. This does not seem to bother his media fan club, nor concern those who are convinced that he represents an entirely new approach to politics. Perhaps it should.
1)”Frank” Marshall Davis, an early mentor, was a member of the Communist Party USA, his writings are littered with rants against America
2) Saul Alinsky, a mentor and sought out advisor wrote books on how to inflitrate the “common man” and get him to buy into the Radical extremism of Marxist revolution
3) James Cone, the author and proponent of Black Liberation’s manifesto, was inspiring blacks to take up a Marxist flag and make it their own.
4) Jeremiah Wright, more than just a spiritual advisor and mentor…was a father figure, inspiration and someone to be emulated…someone who embraces and shouts from the top of his lungs the venom and bile of anti-Americanism and anti-Israel rhetoric of James Cone and Louis Farrakhan.
5. William Ayers and Bernardine Dorhn are the proto-typical “tear down the system” anti-American Revolutionaries…inspired by Marxism and devoted to an anti-free market, hatred of capitalism.
6. Otis Moss, Rev Meeks, Father Pfleger, Sam Graham-Felsen….devotees of an anti-American ranting, Chomskyite hatred of America and Israel, extremist tear down the system mentality.
7. The late Edward Said, Rashid Khalidi, Ali Abunimah, Tony Rezco…raging voices against America and her warm relationship with Israel.
8. Robert Malley, Tony McPeak, Brzezinski, Lake, Power…are Carter redux team that holds a particularly vile and venomous outlook on Israel and America’s warm relationship with her.
At what point are we going to view extremism as extremism? At what point are we not going to be shouted down and peer pressured into silence…when the “wrong type of patriotism” is wearing a flag on one’s lapel or holding one’s hand over one’s heart for the National Anthem, but the “right type” of patriotism is the Che Guevara poster, the communist flag in the Chief Blogger’s bedroom, and the blog site filled for two months with anti-Jewish hatred and bile?
When do pull the Socialism Soft Sell out into the sunshine and call the question? When do we stop pleading for straight answers and start demanding them? We already know that the Deadwood media and their complicit supplicants in academia are going to continue to play the game of “Marxism in masquerade”. The sycophants in Hollywood will continue to help the cause of leftism in camouflage.
How many more signs and signals do we need to begin to recognize we are fighting for truth and we are losing?
Jun 9, 2008 - 12:40 pm 26. Believer:And remember folks, the Fairness Doctrine – anything but fair – has the support of Dems – who control Congress.
And I just heard Obama favors it too. No surprise there.
Just get ready to say goodbye to Rush, Laura and all those we love if O. is elected.
Jun 9, 2008 - 12:53 pm 27. JT the Bee:Nice article from this money manager on how Obama will sign the entire Pelosi/Reid’s economic plan into action: http://www.greenfaucet.com/hanlons-pub/obama-it-s-the-small-stuff-that-will-really-hurt
…how awful would THAT be? As this guy said, we need a veto over those two.
Jun 9, 2008 - 1:07 pm 28. Alo Kievalar:To: Mike —-> No comment
To: Dave II
“Alo, you don’t say if you are American, but this is not exactly a ringing endorsement for Obama. It’s pretty well known here that Hamas is all for Obama too.”
—> Hillary is also “all for Obama”. By your logic then, Hillary is at the very least sympathetic to Hamas. I’m surprised she hasn’t started wearing a burka.
—> Am I American? Lemme answer that by referring you to a sound video for your enjoyment and let you decide for yourself if I’m American…and thanks for the video URLs you sent me. (
(By the way, if you look quick, you can catch a glimpse of me in this video):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=shbFlT9MRGU&feature=related
Alo Kievalar…chillin’ out
Jun 9, 2008 - 1:27 pm 29. Alo Kievalar:“Somewhere” in the Middle East
To Mike:—-> No comment
To Dave II:
“Alo, you don’t say if you are American, but this is not exactly a ringing endorsement for Obama. It’s pretty well known here that Hamas is all for Obama too.”
—-> Hillary is also “all for Obama”. By your logic then, she’s at the very least sympathetic to Hamas. I’m surprised she hasn’t started wearing a burka yet.
—–>Am I American? Since you were so kind as to refer me to some videos for my enlightenment, lemme do the same for you and you can decide for yourself if I’m American. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shbFlT9MRGU&feature=related
(By the way, if you look quick, you can catch a glimpse of me in the video..but you gotta look quick).
Regards,
Alo Kievalar…chillin’
Jun 9, 2008 - 1:35 pm 30. Thomass:“somewhere” in the Middle East
Alo Kievalar:
“Anyone who has the superb command of the English language that Obama does, who has the delivery skills of a master rhetorician and who is nearly inspirational in attitude and forthrightness, has my vote.”
In a hypnotic sort of way. I agree he sounds good live. So read the transcripts afterwards. He doesn’t make sense and/or say anything that makes sense…
Seriously….
That and a month later he’ll do the opposite of what he sorta implied he was set to do a month ago… in a mesmerizing speech… as good as Lincoln’s… pfft…
Jun 9, 2008 - 2:32 pm 31. Dave II:Alo-
Jan and Dean…good one…so you’re American!?
Jan Berry was a genius…too bad he crashed his corvette.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LTf2MehizWI&feature=related
As for Hillary being “all for Obama”? Well, what do you expect? She’s gotta toe the party line and be a good girl to have any chance in 2012. And I’m sure many of her hardcore supporters will do what she says and vote Obama…but not NEARLY all.
We’ll see how it goes in Denver and how much she campaigns for Obama in the fall…my guess it will be minimal and slight after the convention.
Jun 9, 2008 - 3:14 pm 32. Believer:Obama was once ACORN’s attorney. They’ve recently been involved in fraudulent voter registration.
Obama has fought stricter laws to prevent voter fraud.
Don’t put it past him to be up to his elbows in dirty stuff. He’s ruthless. And if he doesn’t win – God help us if he pulls what his “cousin” did.
Wipe his face with all the filth he’s connected with from now til November.
Jun 9, 2008 - 3:44 pm 33. Boris:“Reading comprehension–the mind is a terrible thing to waste.”
Are you people really this dim? Bush doesn’t read the papers ever and that’s equal to Obama not watching televised news and politics and talking heads on the road. Well, it’s your delusion.
Jun 9, 2008 - 7:15 pm 34. venividivici:Are you people really this dim? Bush doesn’t read the papers ever and that’s equal to Obama not watching televised news and politics and talking heads on the road. Well, it’s your delusion.
Oh for Christ sakes, newspapers and TV news are staffed by people who went to the same schools. Pretending like there’s a difference is delusional.
Boris, you really think highly of yourself, but here’s a tip: You shouldn’t.
Jun 9, 2008 - 7:32 pm 35. Joe:Alo… I think your response to the article somehow missed all the points and even pandered to the traditional conservative viewpoint of an Obama supporter (ie someone who only cares about form and not substance). I suggest reading it again and then doing a point by point response. THAT would impress me and would lead to a more serious conversation on this board about the merits of your political beliefs.
I would really enjoy such a response as you seem to be the only Obama supporter on this board who is willing to stick around and respond.
Jun 9, 2008 - 9:52 pm 36. Just say no to FOX:As a person uncommitted to a political party. The talking points the author makes have little substance. He states A majority of economists agree. Then some don’t. He argues 26 million new jobs. Don’t give me some data. How many jobs were lost? How has it affected economic growth?
As far as healthcare is concerned we need reform. This system only works if you don’t get sick. Sorry to the doctors, drug companies, and insurance companies who benefit and their trickle downs. If it’s broke fix it.
What is wrong with restoring the original and legal method of taxation. Based on the Constitution and Supreme Court. We are supposed to be taxed on our profits (capital gains) not our labor(income). When you pull off a Band-Aid it hurts at first.
Our foreign policy is not working. We must force Iraq to step up. It’s obvious pandering when you argue pullout time. That will be done as safe as possible no matter the administration. The fact is we need to be out of Iraq “surge” or not. It’s a unjust war that is costing lives and trillions. There is nothing wrong with diplomacy. And if Iran does not come around we have the technology to take out their facilities.
Time for progressive politics.
Jun 10, 2008 - 7:46 am 37. Just say no to FOX:rvastar….. what a rant.
what are you people? What do you want? Really.
Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour tradition, where tradition refers to various religious, cultural, or nationally defined beliefs and customs. It is difficult to define the term precisely because different cultures have different established values and, in consequence, conservatives in different cultures have differing goals. (Some conservatives seek to preserve the status quo or to reform society slowly, while others seek to return to the values of an earlier time, the status quo ante).
Jun 10, 2008 - 8:01 am 38. James Everitt:The Man That Would Be King Lyrics
Another secret for ya
I’ve been told if you want to make it in this game
You got to have the luck
You got to have the look
To make what I quite like to make it through the night
My heart beats slow fast, I dont feel right
With a sleight of hand I might die
What about you over there?
Don’t you think I care?
Well I know you know I know you know I know
And to the man who would be king
I would say only one thing
And to the man who would be king
I will say only one thing
la la la-la-la-laa la la la-la-la-laa
I lived my dreams today
And I have lived it yesterday
And I’ll have lived it tomorrow
No don’t look at me that way
Well I heed the words you say…
But my heart has gone astray
I watched friendship slip away
But it wasn’t s’posed to be that way
I lived my dreams today I lived it yesterday
And I’ll be living yours tomorrow
Anything else to say?
I lived my dream today I lived it yesterday
And I’ll be living yours tomorrow
So don’t look at me that way!
What’s about you man, Nancy my dear
What’s about you man, Nancy my dear
What’s about you man, Nancy my dear
What will you do when she comes here?
Oh she’ll kill me
Oh, I don’t wanna kill me
And to the man who would be king
I would say only one thing
And to the man who would be king
I would say only one thing
la la la-la-la-laa la la la-la-la-laa
Perish the day when they heed what you say
They’ll take you away if they don’t like what you say
They don’t like what you say
So come what may but I’ll never stay
I’ll never stay
Jun 10, 2008 - 8:43 am 39. rvastar:rvastar….. what a rant.
Thanks!
And what an empty response!
And what a truly original screen name!
what are you people? What do you want? Really.
I want this country to return to it’s primary founding principle – i.e. limited government.
The true greatness of our country is that at the time of it’s founding, it represented the first steps in what I consider to be the ultimate achievement in human history: namely, getting the arbitrary power of gov’t off of peoples’ backs so that they could be left alone to pursue their own sense of purpose and happiness.
The very nature of govt – ANY GOVT – is to try to acquire more power and more control over its citizenry. Power craves power. And regardless of all the magical thinking that is going on in the West right now…that somehow, things are just naturally supposed to resemble some perpetual replay of the 1990s…we are in no way safe from the prospect of our governments’ being turned against us by those who are convinced that they’re just “doing what’s best for everyone”.
The US Constitution shouldn’t be viewed as a document that delineates the powers of govt…it should be viewed as a document that constraints the powers of govt.
But all of sudden, far too many people in the US (and Western Civilization overall) seem Hell-bent on putting everyone’s neck back in the govt yoke!
I want this country to return to some semblance of reality and rationality when it comes to entitlement spending.
Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid currently require a payroll tax of 15% per individual – by 2050, these two programs ALONE will require a payroll tax of burden of nearly 34% per individual. That’s 1 out of every 3 dollars earned – just to pay for TWO entitlements! And that isn’t even counting the rest of the individual’s federal tax burden. When all’s said and done, more than 50% of the average person’s income will be going to the federal govt in the form of taxes!
But, hey!…at least that monstrosity of unelected, unaccountable govt bureaucrats will only have control over such trivial things as our access to health care and the money we’re going to live off of when we retire. And while we’re at it, please, by all means, let’s just ram another gigantic entitlement poker up our a$$es by adopting Obambi’s universal health care scheme!!! I mean, why worry about silly facts like the utter impossibility of paying for this in the long-term – it’s what “feels” right! And we all know that in the post-modern world of Lefty bleeding-heart do-good-ism, “feeling good” is all that matters, right?
What’s to worry about?!?
What do I want? Simple. I want people to wake up to the inevitable consequences of placing more and more power in the hands of govt!
It’s a unjust war…and if Iran does not come around, we have the technology to take out their facilities.
Please…enlighten us all as to the mental gymnastics necessary for someone to state that attacking Iraq was “unjust” while attacking Iran would be justifiable.
As a person uncommitted to a political party.
Thanks. I needed a good chuckle!
Jun 10, 2008 - 10:22 am 40. Believer:I’m in a hurry this AM for an appt., but re archives of last month:
5/24 – Open Letter to Senator Obama on Iran – to refresh my memory about something, and found:
Ardeshir Dolat’s link to his blogspot (now down?) but it linked to this:
gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/05/sunni-imam-allah-will-send-american.html
a “p.s.” at the bottom of last comments by “bg” says a billion dollars from Qaddafi to Farrakhan for “votes” and more — I found interesting…
Jun 10, 2008 - 10:59 am 41. Ed Wallis:“rvastar,”
Don’t be so harsh on poor “no2Fox”…after all, the line “It’s a unjust war…and if Iran does not come around, we have the technology to take out their facilities is almost an exact quote from The Obamboozler himself.
So, what else could you expect from a True Believer?! Heh.
Jun 10, 2008 - 11:03 am 42. Just say no to FOX:Screw you Ed. Don’t you dare tell me what I am.
Rv.
The patriot acts.Wire tapping ect. Iraq is unjust because we invaded a sovereign nation under the guise of terrorism. The are rulers all over the world who are not “good people”.
Iran only if they attack our allies or us.We might not belong in Afghanistan. We will learn the truth in 20 years.
And the foundation this country was built on? The country was built on slavery and slavery alone. Without slavery the ideals of our great founders would never have born fruit. And 50% of my earnings already go to taxes. But some services are needed.
If you wanna look at spending look at borrowing. We have to start cutting spending by not borrowing and find our heads then cut taxes.
You can’t acquire wealth through slavery and Jim Crow then cut off the people whose blood it was acquired from. Unless your honest about it and say you were conquered now deal with it. And I dare them. Oh yeah you don’t think the points you mentioned yourself are enough for a change in policy. Your right laughter is good.
Jun 10, 2008 - 12:52 pm 43. rvastar:So, what else could you expect from a True Believer?! Heh.
I know, I know…and until it became clear to me that Obambi was actually going to secure the presidential nomination of one of our two major political parties, I was also able to laugh off the gullibility and naivete of people like JSN@F.
No more. The Democrat Party just nominated a Marxist to be President of the United States!
And there is a very good chance that this Marxist will actually WIN…because the MSM (Marxist State Media) is doing absolutely everything in it’s power to hide who this person actually is from the American public!
Control of our country’s destiny is being stolen from average citizens by a cadre of unelected elites who control the flow of information and are using that control to uncritically advance a quasi-Marxist political ideology – advocating wholesale wealth redistribution; situational ethics that change according to your preferred grievance-group affiliation; ever-increasing govt control over personal finances, health care, energy policy, environmental policy, AND ON AND ON!
For example, whenever the MSM is forced by reality to report on the problems in our nation’s school systems, do you EVER see the blame placed where it should be – at the feet of utterly failed LEFTIST social policies? Like cradle-to-grave welfare, which destroys the home work ethic that helps to fashion a child’s school work ethic? Or excessively focusing on the “rights” and “needs” of a minority of failing students, which is ultimately detrimental to the majority of more successful students? Or neutering disciplinary standards to the point that it’s the teachers who are criticized when they defend themselves from violent student attacks?
NO! Instead of an honest look at any of these – PLUS MANY MORE – problems, the American public is force-fed the standard Leftist “One-Two”…
And they get away with it! Because there’s no way to effectively counter the message on a national level.
The only good news is that at least the public is aware of the Leftist slant in the media. As more and more average Americans begin utilizing the Internet for information gathering, I think that we’ll see the Leftist grip on information control lose more and more ground.
The real question – and danger – is how much damage can the Left do in the 20-30 years that it will take to reach to something approaching “information parity”?
Jun 10, 2008 - 1:25 pm 44. rvastar:The patriot acts.Wire tapping ect.
ALL affirmed by the Democrats that you vote for, “uncommitted”.
Iraq is unjust because we invaded a sovereign nation under the guise of terrorism.
weird…usually you marxists say it was for oil. Oh well.
Question: so invading Afghanistan was also “unjust” in your view – since we did so “under the guise of terrorism”?
If you wanna look at spending look at borrowing. We have to start cutting spending by not borrowing and find our heads then cut taxes.
Soooo…we shouldn’t cut spending by spending less…we should cut spending by borrowing less.
Brilliant!
The country was built on slavery and slavery alone.
“Well, folks, that’s the end of our broadcast day. Join us again tomorrow: same demagogue time, same demagogue channel!”
In the fall, enjoy voting with your grievances and “hurt feelings” rather than your intellect, “uncommitted”.
Jun 10, 2008 - 2:18 pm 45. Truth:The book on Afghanistan is still open. We belong there if we weren’t lied to by the Administration. The Republican deceive the American people by cutting taxes for the wealthiest while borrowing from the FED bank(private bank for profit)and foriegn govt’s. This affecting the dollar negatively. And has to be paid back. That is not responsible spending.
You said “I want this country to return to it’s primary founding principle – i.e. limited government.”
You can choose to ignore certain factors and use comedy to take the attention off the fact. Slavery was the oil of the early U.S. Almost every commerce had a hand in it and benefited from it. I just want to know what primary founding principles are o.k.
No hurt feelings here I’m just not in denial. No tomorrow tune to the “truth I want to hear channel”.
Jun 10, 2008 - 3:44 pm 46. Ted:Obama is Chauncey Gardener in the Peter Sellers movie, “Being There”.
Jun 10, 2008 - 3:44 pm 47. rvastar:The Republican deceive the American people by cutting taxes for the wealthiest
Wow! I didn’t know I was wealthy…along with EVERYONE ELSE I KNOW who’s taxes were decreased by the Bush tax cuts.
Woo-hoo!!! I’m rich!!!
That is not responsible spending.
But creating universal health care is? When the federal govt isn’t able to fund the entitlements already in place?
You can choose to ignore certain factors
Kinda like you ignoring every FACT I posted about the looming entitlement trainwreck?
It’s OK, Truth or JSN2F or whatever you want to be called as you switch screen names in order to give the appearance that more than one person agrees with your “arguments”. You’re a Marxist…ignoring reality is what you people do.
…and use comedy to take the attention off the fact.
No, the comedy is used to highlight your stupidity.
Slavery was the oil of the early U.S.
Nice slogan. Did you learn that in Post-Modern Marxism 101, too?
Now back it up with F-A-C-T-S.
No hurt feelings here I’m just not in denial.
No, what’s wrong with you is called “indoctrination”.
No tomorrow tune to the “truth I want to hear channel”.
What frequency does Obama Command broadcast on? Do you ever have to adjust your tin-foil hat?
Now, hasn’t your RSS feed registered another hit for “Obama” yet? Isn’t there some kind of “max response limit” that the campaign instructs you not to exceed before you move on to your next propaganda assignment?
Jun 10, 2008 - 4:26 pm 48. Ed Wallis:“No2Fox”: “You can’t acquire wealth through slavery and Jim Crow then cut off the people whose blood it was acquired from. Unless your honest about it and say you were conquered now deal with it. And I dare them.”
WooHoo!!! My WHITE – not “rich and privileged”…or “typical” – family arrived in the 20th century to America. And we are not the only ones who have nothing to do with slavery.
No2Fox, your VictimAdInfinitum mentality is pathetic. Bleed elsewhere, you loser.
Jun 10, 2008 - 4:47 pm 49. Just say no to FOX:Ed blacks can put on there best suit and they will still be black. Your white family came here white with there own identity. I am a winner in this game of life sorry by whatever measuring stick you use. You have been blindfolded pal. your cattle to me.
Jun 10, 2008 - 5:30 pm 50. venividivici:And the foundation this country was built on? The country was built on slavery and slavery alone.
If the “foundation” of the country were slavery, the South would have won the Civil War. That’s the only logical conclusion one can make on the topic. Are you so unacquainted with logic that you can’t even see that simple line of reasoning?
Jun 10, 2008 - 6:03 pm 51. Ed Wallis:“No2Fox,”
I think by “there” you mean “their,” and by “your cattle” you mean “you’re cattle.”
The latter merely demonstrates the device commonly used by liberals/leftists to dehumanize individuals to a group identity, to rationalize such barbaric thought and behavior as yours.
Wow. Keep ‘em comin’, kid…or maybe just stop diggin’ yer hole…it’s only growing deeper.
Jun 10, 2008 - 7:13 pm 52. Smokey:I totally agree with rvastar, doubled and squared.
Is that clear enough for the pathetic Odumbo worshippers?
Jun 10, 2008 - 7:45 pm 53. Truth:“Yawn”.
A
Research by Brookings Institution economists William Gale and Peter Orszag underscores the extent to which the design of the tax cuts has relied on budget gimmickry. They found that in the 1990s, the practice of having tax cuts appear to expire — that is, of enacting tax cuts ostensibly scheduled to expire after a few years when the intention and likely actual outcome was to have the tax cuts become a
permanent fixture of law — was employed on a modest scale. The practice exploded, however, with the 2001 tax-cut legislation.
Gale and Orszag, citing CBO data, show that at the start of 2001 the cost ten years down the road of extending all tax-cut measures in law that had a temporary status was $22 billion. By contrast, if the temporary tax-cut provisions in place today are all extended, their cost in ten years (i.e., in 2014) will be $431 billion.
The Administration has engaged in ongoing efforts to obscure the ultimate costs of its tax cuts. These efforts are reflected in the Administration’s current budget, released in February 2004. The budget shows deficit figures only over the next five years, which obscures the likely growth of the deficit in the second half of the coming decade under the Administration’s proposals, with the large deficits driven in significant part by its proposal to make the tax cuts permanent.
In addition, in its current budget, the Administration proposes new tax-advantaged savings and investment accounts that feature striking timing gimmicks. As a result, this proposal raises revenue over the first five years. But the proposal would cause increasingly large revenue losses after that. The proposal ultimately is likely to cost the equivalent of $35 billion a year
B
Washington funds much of its current imbalance by borrowing from Beijing the dollars the Chinese have earned selling consumer goods to America. Almost all of this borrowing from China is through the sale of US Treasury securities – $347 billion as of November, 2006. Americans have to worry that in some future confrontation, Beijing might threaten to sell some of these highly liquid notes, driving up US interest rates overnight.
But China’s emergence as the global factory also has implications for US trade policy. Much of China’s surplus is a product of Chinese companies importing parts from Taiwan or elsewhere that are then assembled and exported to America. This role as the global-manufacturing middleman enhances Beijing’s influence throughout Asia. Thailand or Indonesia need China now more than they once did. Beijing’s recent aggressive pursuit of preferential trade agreements throughout Southeast Asia further draws these nations into the Chinese economic orbit.
Moreover, the emergence of China as both producer and consumer has meant that China, not the US, is now the largest trading partner for a number of American allies, including Japan, South Korea and Europe. As a result, Washington has relatively less influence over these governments on a range of issues.
c
The McClatchy newspapers report that in the proposed Status of Forces Agreement being negotiated with Iraq the United States is asking for (among other things)
* 58 U.S. military bases (approximately 28 more than currently exist)
* U.S. control over Iraqi airspace up to 30,000 feet
* immunity from prosecution for American military personnel
* immunity from prosecution for U.S. private military contractors
* granting the United States the power to determine if a hostile act from another country is aggression against Iraq
So far the Iraqi government has rejected the agreement as proposed and negotiations continue. Once an agreement is reached the Bush Administration plans to sign it as an Executive Order and does not plan to ask the U.S. Senate to ratify the agreement.
However, the U.S. Congress could challenge the President on this by making it clear that no appropriated money could be used to fund these military bases or pay for the private military contractors. Whether Congress has the backbone to do so is another matter.
If something similar to this proposed Status of Forces Agreement is finally approved, it will be disastrous for the United States. Any American presence in Iraq, particularly a significant long-term military presence, will only serve to generate increased anger and tension in the Middle East. Even if a political breakthrough is achieved by the Iraqi government, and there is no indication to think that such a breakthrough will happen, sectarian violence will continue for many years to come in Iraq. Americans will continue to be targets of the many extremists that remain active there. There simply is no way that we can remain in Iraq for the next five or ten years without continuing to incur significant casualties. The American people do not want continued casualties. They have had enough.
John McCain, like his Bush/Cheney forebears, likes to paint a rosy picture of how thing will be in Iraq in the coming years. He assumes that in a year or two the political situation will improve so much that there will no longer be significant U.S. casualties. But just as Bush and Cheney were wrong (”we’ll be treated as liberators”, “mission accomplished”, etc.) so too will John McCain be wrong. And our brave American military will have to pay the price for John McCain’s imperialistic adventure.
Few Americans learned in school that slaves were about half the workforce that built the White House and the U.S. Capitol. A slave named Philip Reid supervised construction of the Statue of Freedom hoisted atop the Capitol dome in 1863. Such revelations rightly disturb our view of important symbols of democracy and remind us that slavery is at the foundation of our nation’s history.
Well-known bastions of American capital also have the institution of slavery at their foundation.
Railroads utilized slave labor to lay rail. Tobacco firms used slaves in the harvest. Southern utilities used slaves to construct oil lines. Mining companies used slaves to process salt and coal.
The unpaid productivity of these slaves was converted into corporate income and wealth that still sustains many companies today. Slaves were denied not only wages but the opportunity to buy property, build companies and pass assets on to future generations.
Many people know the expression “40 acres and a mule,” but don’t know it was a false promise. In 1865, General Sherman issued an order providing homesteads to freed slaves. But President Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s successor, overrode the order and gave the land back to white Confederate landowners. Instead of 40 acres and a mule, freed slaves got brutal sharecropping and segregation.
The descendants of slaves continue to find their ability to jump on board the asset-building train impaired. Fault lines laid long ago forged a vast and enduring wealth gap between white Americans and African-Americans. In 1998, the median net worth of white households was $81,700, while the median net worth of African-American households was just $10,000. The homeownership rate among white families is 74 percent, while for African-American families it is just 48 percent nationally, and much lower in some local areas.
If the foundation of the Capitol was dug and laid by slaves, and some of America’s most successful corporations have profits from slavery in their early capital formation, perhaps the story we tell ourselves about the creation of all wealth needs to be examined and those invisible foundation stones be brought into the light.
Slaves weren’t poor because people of African heritage are lazy. They were poor because the laws of the land prohibited them from getting paid for their work and from owning assets.
In generations since, structural obstacles have continued to impede black asset development. African-American homeowners are often subjected to discriminatory and predatory lending practices that unfairly inflate their mortgage costs and rob them of the home equity that so many Americans draw on for college, business start-ups and retirement. Insurance companies are only now coming to acknowledge that for many years they charged African-American customers unjustifiably higher rates than whites. After World War II, the GI bill and Veterans Administration helped almost exclusively white families to become homeowners.
When black farmers filed their historic lawsuit against the Department of Agriculture (DOA) in 1997, DOA investigators presented damning evidence of decades of discrimination: 84 percent of the white applicants had their loan applications approved, while only 56 percent of the black applicants received loans. The result was that black farmers lost their farms at more than triple the rate of white farmers.
I am only stating the Truth
Jun 11, 2008 - 8:20 am 54. Rob Crawford:Anyone who has the superb command of the English language that Obama does, who has the delivery skills of a master rhetorician and who is nearly inspirational in attitude and forthrightness, has my vote.
What a horrible reason to vote for someone.
Jun 11, 2008 - 9:08 am 55. Ed Wallis:Alo Kievalar, There was someone else in the 1930’s who had “superb command” of another language, had “delivery skills of a master rhetorician” and who was “nearly inspirational in attitude and forthrightness.”
Wanna tell us all now that that person would have had your vote, too?!
Jun 11, 2008 - 11:12 am 56. Bobby McGill:I would go with “pandering” on free trade. And I anticipate a further run to the left on that particular issue in the general. He is hurtin’ for certain in the blue-collar, Joe 12-pack vote (Won’t be surprised if he comes out against Budweiser jobs going to the Belgians) and he has to find some way to penetrate that demographic if he has a shot at garnering their support.
Bobby
Jun 12, 2008 - 4:59 am 57. Alo Kievalar:http://www.idlewordship.com
To Ed Wallis, Rob Crawford et al.
Oh, piddle,twiddle. You’d think that someone called Osama was running for office, not Obama.
I’ve never seen such a sanctimonious, hysterical bunch of ninnies recoil at the thought of a black US president. This foaming at the mouth, this pulling of the hair out by the roots is harming your cause more than you can imagine.
Like it or not, in the modern world, appearance, posture, delivery etc. does count….a lot.
Our 3 most remembered Presidents all had the qualities of a movie star. Kennedy because he looked like one, Reagan because he was one and Obama because he speaks like one – they all have or had a “heroic” cast to their persona.
McCain, of course, IS a true hero in the simplistic sense of that word. I don’t minimize his service and sacrifice.
But the fact is, he doesn’t come across as a LEADER. He comes across as a nice, ageing man…….and that just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Washington DC long ago took on the mantra of a Hollywood, the Hollywood of the East coast……(and you know how vicious Hollywood can be….ruined lives, drugs, fantasy, the whole bit).
It long ago ceased being the torch-bearer of ancient Athens.
The truth is, I’m an apolitical person. In the end, I don’t care who wins the Presidency. I’ve never voted and I don’t think I ever will.
Why? Because I think the presidency is an overblown position. It may be the most powerful office in the world…..but it is a REACTIVE position. That is to say, for several generations at least, presidents have reacted to events….very seldom have they instigated events.
As far back as the Vietnam War, the Iraqi “War” (there’s a reason I’m using scare quotes here but I won’t go into that here), Social Security….you name it, the US president simply reacts.
In other words, events OVERTAKE the presidency. Events are now too large for even a US president to have anything but the most minimal affect on them.
That being the case, it doesn’t matter who is President.
Did you hear Obama’s speech recently at the Jewish lobby event? My God, I thought I was listening to Golda Meier !! Jerusalem the capital of Israel and so on…?
They’re all saying the same thing…..they have no choice. So it’s all a bunch of hot air as are the comments in this blog.
Sorry to ruin ur day.
Go listen to some Jan and Dean and chill out.
Jun 12, 2008 - 10:43 am 58. Ed Wallis:“I’ve never voted and I don’t think I ever will.” – Alo Kievalar
…err…well…THANKS for showing all of us just how worthless your political analysis prattle is.
Jun 12, 2008 - 4:21 pm 59. Ed Wallis:OH: Did I forget to mention? :
“In other words, events OVERTAKE the presidency. Events are now too large for even a US president to have anything but the most minimal affect on them. That being the case, it doesn’t matter who is President.”
THANKS for showing us all your POWER OF BEING SO IRRESPONSIBLE.
…or would that be simply IGNORANT?!?
Jun 12, 2008 - 4:47 pm 60. history of presidents:[...] including the Democratic presidential contenders, often have argued that he ignores empirical evidhttp://pajamasmedia.com/blog/obama-the-ideologue/President&39s DayHistory of the Holiday The original version of the holiday was in commemoration of [...]
Jun 13, 2008 - 8:11 am 61. Commentary » Blog Archive » Flotsam and Jetsam:[...] knew he won’t admit error, is an ideologue, and isn’t moved by new facts (other than poll numbers), and now we learn his organization [...]
Aug 4, 2008 - 4:32 am