Talkleft, in commenting on the disillusion among some in the Left with Barack Obama’s frequent changes in political position, provides an example of why I described his candidacy in an earlier post as largely driven by a cult of personality. The problem, says Talkleft, is that BHO was really selling himself, and not a political program, to the electorate. Now that his changes in policy position are so clearly in evidence, some are beginning to realize that ill-concealed fact. Not that it will matter. Talkleft writes:
How does anyone know what Obama really believes or, even more problematic, what beliefs he’ll decide are worth expending political capital on once he’s elected?
We don’t. I think that’s a direct consequence of his having campaigned on generalities like change. People who are unhappy with the current state of affairs just assumed he is on the same side of issues as they are. Since Obama wants change and they want change, they assumed they are all on the same page — like one big happy progressive family. There’s just no way to know that. …
It’s the bait and switch we hate and it makes Obama a tougher sell now. He wasn’t honest with us. He promised reform and a new kind of politics and is relying on the same old Washington play book that’s been in use for decades.
It’s not fair to accuse BHO of a “bait and switch”. The hook was never concealed and even the worm was always labeled as fake. For anyone who was prepared to listen, Obama was always brutally honest to his audience. In his book, the Audacity of Hope, Obama was aware of the vast untapped market for dreams. In fact he knew that selling his audience anything less would be bound to disappoint them.
I am new enough on the national political scene that I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views. As such, I am bound to disappoint some, if not all, of them. Which perhaps indicates a second, more intimate theme to this booknamely, how I, or anybody in public office, can avoid the pitfalls of fame, the hunger to please, the fear of loss, and thereby retain that kernel of truth, that singular voice within each of us that reminds us of our deepest commitments.
It’s a remarkable paragraph, one which captures the excitement of salesman who knows he can close the big deal if only he glides over the fine print. It’s hard to blame Obama, already aware of his audience’s eagerness to believe, for failing to volunteer the messy details. There was no deceit. BHO’s loyalties have been unswervingly for himself and if the customer asked him no questions he would tell them no lies.
Obama’s genius was to understand that many of his supporters needed him more than he needed them. Lemmings need the seashore much more than the seashore needs the lemmings. He could think of it as providing a necessary service. The NYT quotes one man dismissing the complaints of the disaffected Left by asking ‘where are they going to go anyway’?
Illusion, like hope, springs eternal. Eventually there are regrets but never until it is too late. The most common words of regret in any language are probably “but I thought that …”. Some cynic once wrote that it isn’t what you don’t know that hurts you, but what you know that ain’t so. He should have added there are some misfortunes which are caused not by failing to get what you want, but by getting it. Stephen Sondheim ’s lyrics capture the situation perfectly.
Don’t you love farce?
My fault I fear.
I thought that you’d want what I want.
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don’t bother, they’re here.
Tip Jar.
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41 Comments
1. Ledger:I believe that Obama is using the “Pet rock fad” style of crowd psychology to put himself in power.
He cares nothing for his constituents and feels free hoodwink them when it is convenient.
His victims are fleeced and then swept under the rug (or under the bus).
Unfortunately, some of Obama’s contributors now have caught on to his con-game and they are not happy.
Background of the Pet Rock Fad:
Pet Rocks were a 1970s fad conceived in Los Gatos, California by advertising executive Gary Dahl.The first Pet Rocks were ordinary gray pebbles bought at a builder’s supply store and marketed as if they were live pets. The fad lasted about six months, ending with the Christmas season in December 1975. During its short run, the Pet Rock made Dahl a millionaire…A “Pet Rock Training Manual”, with instructions on how to properly raise and care for one’s newfound pet (notably lacking instructions for feeding), was included. The instruction manual contained several commands that could be taught to the new pet. While “sit” and “stay” were effortless to accomplish, “roll over” usually required extra help from the trainer.
See: Pet Rock
Dahl, an advertising executive from Los Gatos, California, conceived the idea of selling rocks to people as pets, complete with instructions. The 1975 fad only lasted about half a year, but that was enough to make Dahl a millionaire… In 2000, Dahl won the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, the San José State University sponsored competition that awards authors for crafting particularly bad “purple prose.”
Dahl is the author of Advertising for Dummies, part of the popular …for Dummies series.
See: Gary Dahl
Jul 13, 2008 - 2:13 am 2. Tom:There is still a potential Credentials Committee challenge and floor fight at the Convention.
Obama has not lived up to his promise to retire Hillary’s debt ;so all bets are off .
Jul 13, 2008 - 3:23 am 3. Fortinbras :: Belmont Club » Don’t bother, they’re here :: July :: 2008:[...] Belmont Club » Don’t bother, they’re here BHO’s loyalties have been unswervingly for himself and if the customer asked him no questions he would tell them no lies. [...]
Jul 13, 2008 - 3:57 am 4. Lifeofthemind:Now that is interesting. Obama is a form of perfection. It appears that the man has never actually fulfilled a single promise he has ever made. Has he ever accomplished anything? This is like the plot of Wag the Dog.
Jul 13, 2008 - 5:03 am 5. fred:I agree with Dick Morris’ assessment of Obonga: He will move to the center in the general election, but upon assuming office in January he will govern from the Left. John Bolton and Dick Morris have this guy spot on: his true positions and thinking are his earlier expressions of ideas and policy. His voting record marks where he is. Let me list the Marxist/Communist influences in his life. These are the people who have had a profound effect on how he thinks, and in his books he credits their views and approves of them.
1. His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham. The Marxist anthropologist who dug Third World Communists.
2. His biological father, the sperm donor, Barack Obama, Sr., who was a member of Kenya’s Communist Party and whose position paper for how the leader of Kenya, his patron, ought to organize its economy. Right out of Marxist-Leninist theory. Barack Jr. one day would write approvingly of his biological father’s program for Kenya.
3. His step-father, Sotero, was an Indonesian Communist before that party in Indonesia was overthrown in 1965. In order to survive, he ditched his Communism and got with the Muslim program. Tellingly, Stanley Ann strongly disapproved of his going to work for oil companies.
4. THE BIG ONE: Communist Party USA member, and poet, Frank Marshall Davis, Barack’s “mentor” during his adolescent years when Barack was attending the Punahou Prep School in Honolulu.
5. A coterie of Marxist/socialist professors he gravitated towards at Occidental College and Columbia University. He admits this in his autobiography.
6. American Communists/terrorists, William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn.
7. Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Fr. Fleger. Both Marxist clerics espousing Liberation Theology.
Jul 13, 2008 - 6:30 am 6. Teresita:Fred: I agree with Dick Morris’ assessment of Obonga: He will move to the center in the general election, but upon assuming office in January he will govern from the Left.
This was true of Bill Clinton from 1993 until 1995, but the Gingrich Revolution put the damper on that. It will be true for 2009-2011 until the Republicans get control of the Legislature, assuming they do.
Jul 13, 2008 - 7:30 am 7. Thingumbob Esquire:It seems to me that the new Janus face of the evil lessers is just this fretful predicament: Do we choose a McChicanery or to be an Obamanation?
Jul 13, 2008 - 7:35 am 8. Richard:Teresita,
From your lips to God’s ear.
Best,
Richard Moorton
Jul 13, 2008 - 7:36 am 9. F:Wretchard:
Great post! Thanks. F
Jul 13, 2008 - 8:21 am 10. fred:Teresita,
I don’t see the Republican Party recovering/rebuilding by 2011. Because the Left dominates education, media, academia, and much of the legal profession, alternative ways to rebuild at the grassroots will have to be found. For those under the age of 40, the narrative/worldview which dominates is one shaped by progressives/socialists/Marxists.
The “Reagan Democrats” – which were mainly made up of the Depression-WWII Era generation – are dying off in huge numbers and have been for some time. Those replacing them – the under-40 kiddies – overwhelmingly do not vote for Republicans. My generation – The Baby Boomers – is sort of split 50/50. The younger Boomers (which I am aged at the leading edge of)tend to be more conservative than the Older Cohort of Boomers.
I strongly believe that the one place where socialism/Marxism has not been definitively discredited is here in the United States. The vast majority of the kids do not even know what it is, since it has been repackaged under different names, and broken down into very specific movements and policy positions. The balkanization of socialism has been done in order to avoid the problem of the entire network being stigmatized. Back in the early eighties, when I was on the Left, the concept of “coalition building” was emphasized, and we were strongly encouraged to avoid identifying who we really were. So, many millions of people who think of themselves as “liberals” or “progressives” do not know that they are part of a larger movement galvanized by Marxists. The totality of this polity would be easily recognized in Eastern Europe. Here, most people do not recognize it. But at the end of the next four years they will come to see it. I believe most in the Middle Muddle, who voted for Obonga, will repudiate it and never go back. But it is going to take pain and disillusionment for us to get there.
Most people do not see and act pro actively. They don’t see the subtle things until the subtle things morph into onerous consequences. This is how it always has been. After eight years of intense hammering of GWB and Republicans on the MSM, the vague, general memes endlessly repeated in their multiple permutations of negativity, have had effect.
It really takes a lot to undo all of that damage.
Jul 13, 2008 - 8:42 am 11. Gordon:Wretchard–the ‘cynic’ you mentioned was actually Will Rogers: “It isn’t what we don’t know that gives us trouble, it’s what we know that ain’t so.”
Jul 13, 2008 - 8:53 am 12. james wilson:Baltasar Gracian–
Jul 13, 2008 - 9:56 am 13. bill-tb:Make people depend upon you; it is he who adores who makes a divinity. The wise politician will see to others thanking him rather than needing him.
Obambi reminds me of a genuine Marxist ‘post turtle’.
Jul 13, 2008 - 10:19 am 14. Paul:It’s amazing how Journalists on the left, like Lisa Miller, write juxtaposed articles and positions on how they would like to see the world versus reality and how they want their distorted view to shape and become reality.
Jul 13, 2008 - 12:39 pm 15. Eggplant:For example she positions the current pope as being out of touch with common catholics as a position against faith for secularansim, of which her favorite political O’bama is gifted for popularism.
This is fraudulent Journalism at best. Cardinal Rattzinger now Pope is a Liberation Theologist on the left with the same position on illegal immigration as Obamma and McCan’t. The left is journalistically watching the paint dry on the Electoriate.
“Lemmings need the seashore much more than the seashore needs the lemmings.”
Brilliant prose!
moonbats = “lemmings with wings”
Jul 13, 2008 - 12:42 pm 16. Zenster:Obama’s genius was to understand that many of his supporters needed him more than he need[s] them.
Much as with Islam, this goes to the core of Leftism’s dire need to believe in something. With communism deftly discarded onto history’s scrap heap and global warmening being called into doubt—though nowhere near loudly enough—you had better believe that many liberals are betting their organic, off-grid farm on Obama.
As I have noted before, Obama will pivot like a jeweled Swiss movement on anything, repeat anything that will get him one more vote or another dollar. Were it not so obvious, Obama’s lack of principles would be appalling. Instead, that which is so stupifying is the gullibility of those who can watch this would-be-emperor stroll buck naked towards the throne without batting an eye.
Jul 13, 2008 - 1:10 pm 17. Zenster:“Lemmings need the seashore much more than the seashore needs the lemmings.”
Mebbe so but that don’t mean the sharks are unhappy about it.
Jul 13, 2008 - 1:14 pm 18. NahnCee:Can we see McCain scratching his fingernails across a blackboard as an attention-getting device signlling that he’s prepared to go after the sharks? We already know he’s got the blood-curdling war stories to tell the other guys during the shark hunt.
THanks to Dubya, the shark’s been whittled down to size, so we won’t have to worry about going back to get a bigger boat.
Jul 13, 2008 - 1:32 pm 19. Crisco:fred,
I’m not sure where you got you’re information about those under 40 but I would remind you that most of those under 40 that you dismiss as “overwhelmingly don’t vote repub” are the “kids” that grew up under the great Ronald Reagan and remember what and who a real conservative is. I’m 50 and many like me are just dissallusianed with what the republican party has become…democrat light. There are plenty of conservatives that are not real excited about our choices.
One other point. Those Reagan democrats were mostly from the south. The south is still very conservative……and Bush won…… twice. The Democrats won in 2006 and have ZERO to show for it. They may do well this time in the senate and congress but I think its going to be very very close for the presidency and McCain may pull it off. Personally I’d just as soon see the democraps pull it all off so all of their whining and corruption can be fully exposed. They will have no one to point the finger of blame at but themselves like they have so famously done to President Bush.
Jul 13, 2008 - 1:39 pm 20. Doug:And the Supreme Court/Laws of the Land will be irreparably decimated.
Jul 13, 2008 - 1:48 pm 21. Bill Bradley:None of this chatter actually matters.
Although as a Democrat, I am sure you are deeply outraged …
Jul 13, 2008 - 2:34 pm 22. Doug:Democrats certainly do know about outrage:
—
2 million angry Democrats reject Obama
Money raised by PUMAs also doesn’t go to Obama’s campaign or the DNC coffers.
Bower also pointed to polls indicating shrinking support for Obama.
“CNN did a poll at the beginning of June that showed 1 of every 5 Clinton supporters would not vote for Obama.
Well, just one month later that’s now 1 in 3.
So we’re getting our numbers up and we’re growing strong. And if the DNC’s not worried about us, then they’re clueless as to this movement.”
They also credit Obama with helping their effort.
“In the last two weeks we’ve seen Obama go back on his campaign promises – FISA, campaign finance, especially the Iraq war,” Bower said.
“There is a movement afoot,” Bower confided. “It hasn’t hit the ground yet, but we want to target down-ticket Democrats who have been complicit in the DNC’s dealings these past few months. You’ll probably be hearing more about that soon. Some of Obama’s original supporters are leaving him. Eight super-delegates left Obama this week. People are realizing Obama will be a dead weight to them and that’s why these eight delegates have switched back over to Hillary’s column. And I’m expecting there’ll be more to follow.”
Jul 13, 2008 - 3:01 pm 23. wretchard:“He’s only the presumptive nominee.”
Personally I don’t think Hillary can realistically expect to regain the nomination. That would split the Democratic Party so badly there could be riots in Denver. It’s more likely that she’ll use her tame rebels to pry the vice-Presidential nomination from Obama. BHO, for his part, must be calculating whether he can afford to have her — the ultimate loose cannon and rival for authority — aboard the good ship Change.
By running to his Left, Hillary is keeping Barack from wooing centrist voters from McCain. Simply by threatening her rebellion Hillary is locking BHO into a an unmaneuverable course almost like the battleship Bismarck in its final hours.
Jul 13, 2008 - 3:24 pm 24. whiskey:Fred, the actual demographic numbers show your assertion false.
I’ve blogged about it in detail here.
Bottom line: There are 8 million more seniors than youth, seniors vote the highest level (75% vs. under 50% for youth), and want vastly different things than youth.
Youth are in the market for mates and jobs and social status, so they adopt various elite attitudes. Seniors fear crime the most, so they want tough on crime attitudes and care less about being called “racist.” They vote a LOT more because public policy matters a lot more to them.
America is older, poorer, and more frightened. “Change” is not something older people want. Neither is “hope.” This is reality, read my post, it’s all based on Census Bureau stats.
As for people in their late 30’s and 40’s, they have houses, mortgages, and families. They are not willing to give up their cars, houses, etc. to save the planet, polar bears, etc. Neither are they willing to have more Affirmative Action which hurts the declining white population to benefit Blacks and Latinos. [The unspoken reality is that racial bloc voting hurts Dems, since there are more middle and blue collar whites than there are Blacks (13%), Hispanics, and tragically hip "whiterpeople" and College Kids.]
The baby bust had a lot of consequences. Among them, the death of the youth culture and the aging of America. When Barack Obama notes that there are more Black men in prison than in College, most of America, older, more vulnerable, is fine with that reality. They’d like more Black men in jail or prison, because it gets them more physical security, which is their highest priority. They’re not 20-something “immortals” figuring they can run or talk their way out of any confrontation.
Jul 13, 2008 - 3:37 pm 25. Mike Force:I can’t see HRC accepting the Veep spot. A loss in November almost assures that Clinton would get the nomination in 2012. She will have 4 years to play to the Left while gradually moving to the center as election 2012 nears. A lot of people are choking on the Kool-Aid, not to mention the fact that it gets harder and harder to pull the Elmer Gantry routine the closer we get to November. It’s definitely a bit of a crap shoot for HRC, but I’m betting she’s an all or nothing gal.
Jul 13, 2008 - 3:58 pm 26. NahnCee:We could start a write-in campaign for George W. Bush.
The evil you know being preferrable to the evil you don’t …
Jul 13, 2008 - 5:19 pm 27. fred:whiskey,
I read the material at the link you provided. Damn good work, and I appreciate it. I don’t mind being wrong one and being corrected.
My question is: How to account for Obonga’s popularity in the polls? Does it mean that many people in the Middle Muddle have been intrigued with him? I still think that among younger people (under-40) he is very popular and that many of these people have accepted the MSM view of the projects of GWB. I worry about the will of the nation to fight and prevail in a war. I really do. The nation, as it is now, could absolutely not tolerate the kind of casualties and failures we experienced in the second world war. Hell, a fair proportion of our own people even obsess about killing and interrogating the enemy!
The other thing is that the Democratic Party tends to experience political gains during times when the nation is anti-war, like it is now.
Something is afoot. I’d like your take on it.
Jul 13, 2008 - 5:44 pm 28. Doug:Tasteless and Offensive
Jul 13, 2008 - 8:50 pm 29. Eggplant:Wretchard said:
“By running to his Left, Hillary is keeping Barack from wooing centrist voters from McCain. Simply by threatening her rebellion Hillary is locking BHO into a an unmaneuverable course almost like the battleship Bismarck in its final hours.”
I still believe it’s possible that Hillary recognizes the national threat that B. Hussein represents and is doing what she can to prevent his victory in November. It is an interesting question whether she is motivated merely by the cynical desire for personal political power or by patriotism.
Jul 13, 2008 - 9:44 pm 30. jerry:If you are looking for a literary parallel to Obama you need to go no further then Elmer Gantry. He loved doing the evangelist thing. Here is another similarity between literature and life that ought to disturb; deep down Gantry was a believer and so is Obama.
Jul 14, 2008 - 7:30 am 31. Roderick Reilly:A lot of fascinating points brought up. The most intriguing to me is “fred”’s assertion that the left is heavily camouflaged by being decentralized and embedded (my words, but his thoughts, I do believe). I find that to be an excellent observation. Like vampires, the Left doesn’t like the light, does it?
This agnostic knows enough about the biblical Devil to note that no ideology better fits the Devil’s role and cunning methods than the Western Left does today. Whether He/It manifests itself as PETA, the Right-To-Die movement, ANSWER, La Raza, ACORN, Father Pflegle, or what-have-you, He/She/It is trying to make us take a bite of the apple, and succeeding more often than not.
Jul 14, 2008 - 9:51 am 32. Alexis:Wretchard:
It appears you’re suggesting that Senator Obama is a joker in the deck. People are accustomed to seeing “Democrat” or “Republican”, seeing red or black (or blue), with the normal four suits of cards. Jokers are different, and their value depends upon the rules of the game.
I think some people want to vote for the joker in the deck precisely because voting for a sure thing doesn’t appeal to the excitement of a gamble. Never mind that the house almost always wins. Never mind that slot machines are called “one armed bandits” for a reason. For those who desire the excitement of the unexpected, Senator Obama delivers that sense of surprise.
He appeals to a zeitgeist that feels, “We don’t know whether he is one of us or not, but there’s a chance he really is one of us. So let’s spin the wheel.” I think of Senator Obama as a chance some people can believe in.
Jul 14, 2008 - 10:03 am 33. Jay:Those of us oldies that have defined contribution pensions are getting scared of the economy. My CREF account (a well run conservative stock fund) was down 11%. I am not retired as yet. My wife has never had a job since we married 42 years ago and watches the propaganda on the nation news and is not worried. But she thinks that her “frugality” is all that we need to manage are old life while my daughter’s husband thirsts for the inheritance. Well we have to pay of gas, water, electricity, food an medicine etc.
Jul 14, 2008 - 1:57 pm 34. Eggplant:A leftists government elected by the very rich, the blacks and kids will destroy our lives.
The children of old parents who love and respect their parents will not be happy about their parents becoming poor. Few will be getting fat from the government but some will and will help their parents. But many people will be in the situation that the Germans were in after WW1. But Americans do not have a culture of war for power and profit that the German middle and upper classes had before WW1.
So I ask the bloggers here: who will conquer the US?
Jay asked:
“So I ask the bloggers here: who will conquer the US?”
I’m a lousy prophet. A year ago, I thought the Presidential election was going to be Rudy Giuliani versus Hillary Clinton.
I suspect the “North American Union” (the economic union of Canada, the US and Mexico) is probably unstoppable. The United States will continue to exist within the North American Union as Germany exists today within the European Union. The dollar will go away and be replaced with the “North American Dollar/Peso”. The transformation of our present dollar to this future currency will allow the United States to payoff its enormous debt at 5 cents on the dollar. Unfortunately American citizens will have their total worth reduced to 1/20 of their original value at the stroke of a pen. Also, old US federal government obligates like Social Security and Medicare will go away (many of the elderly will get the Black Pill). America’s status as a Super Power will be blurred by our unification with Canada and Mexico. America’s ability to act on the international stage will be limited by our ability to secure agreement with either Mexico or Canada.
America’s future political orientation is difficult to predict. The old party labels of Democrat versus Republican are almost meaningless. Better labels are:
1) Moonbat (irrational left wing)
2) Rationalist
3) Neofascist (cynical, hard-right wing)
The moonbats are poised to gain power through B. Hussein. However they are incapable of holding power by their very definition, i.e. they’re irrational. The neofascists are waiting expectently because the
pendulum will swing their way after the moonbats make
a mess of things. After the neofascists take over, literally anything can happen (we could all end up dead from radiation poisoning).
Things will deteriorate more slowly if the moonbats are stopped and the rationalists retain power. Unfortunately we’ll still end up as part of the North American Union, just fewer people will have been murdered or starved to death getting there.
Again, I’m a lousy prophet.
Jul 14, 2008 - 3:18 pm 35. NahnCee:Gee, does that mean that Canadian taxpayers will be supporting *us*? Will the Canucks and Messicans also pay towards our Big Boy Toys and defense systems?
Jul 14, 2008 - 4:09 pm 36. Kirk Parker:“there could be riots in Denver.”
Well, that’s certainly never happened before.
Jul 14, 2008 - 4:30 pm 37. Eggplant:NahnCee said:
“Gee, does that mean that Canadian taxpayers will be supporting *us*?”
Years ago when I lived in Germany, I was told the Germans were going to abandon the Deutsche Mark and replace it with a currency that was partially controlled by Italians and Spaniards. I replied that such a prediction was utter nonsense. The Germans had been forever scarred by the hyperinflation of 1923 and would never relinquish control of their currency to foreigners….
Jul 14, 2008 - 4:35 pm 38. Eggplant:NahnCee also asked:
“Will the Canucks and Messicans also pay towards our Big Boy Toys and defense systems?”
Perhaps after the Third Conjecture goes to its logical conclusion the demand for Big Boy Toys will be significantly reduced along with the world’s population.
Jul 14, 2008 - 6:00 pm 39. NahnCee:Oh, I think as long as there are gonads there will be a demand for Big Boy Toys.
Jul 14, 2008 - 9:54 pm 40. Jay:It is hard for Americans to conceive of the chaos that will result when the credit bubbles burst and our savings are destroyed. We are not the docile nation of Japan.
Jul 15, 2008 - 6:56 am 41. Zenster:Jay: So I ask the bloggers here: who will conquer the US?
I can only offer up the closing paragraphs of Abraham Lincoln speaking about “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions” in his
Address Before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, llinois on January 27, 1838. Few American politicians have ever delivered unto its people such enduring and prescient vision.
——————————
Their’s was the task (and nobly they performed it) to possess themselves, and through themselves, us, of this goodly land; and to uprear upon its hills and its valleys, a political edifice of liberty and equal rights; ’tis ours only, to transmit these, the former, unprofaned by the foot of an invader; the latter, undecayed by the lapse of time and untorn by usurpation, to the latest generation that fate shall permit the world to know. This task of gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty to posterity, and love for our species in general, all imperatively require us faithfully to perform.
How then shall we perform it?–At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it?– Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!–All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.
— Abraham Lincoln —
Jul 22, 2008 - 1:03 pm