Thursday, September 17, 2009
Constitution Day
Constitution Day
The basis of our form of government, the document our President has called "fundamentally flawed" and spawned the longest continuous democracy (democratic republic) in modern history.
In their wisdom, the founders crafted not a "pure" democracy, which would be little more than chaos, but a republic that, with it's "warts," has produced a society to which people the world over long to come and enjoy the freedoms, economic, financial, political and social, protected by those words and ideas 222 years later.
Even as some detour around the methods of amendment built into the document to circumvent the protections embedded therein, we continue to honor the strength of that document, the the foresight and wisdom of the men who pondered, debated, fought for, gave their lives and fortunes and ultimately wrote these sacred words.
"We are all in the same boat on a stormy sea and
we owe each other a terrible loyalty." - G. K. Chesterson
Labels: Barack Obama, Constitution, democracy, Republic
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Time to come down off the "high"
With the election over, journalists, pundits, commentators, most politicians and most importantly, the President-Elect, Barack Obama, have all begun to scale back the rhetoric. These professionals, for the most part, understand there is an important distinction between campaigning for political office and holding that office.
The words, thoughts and ideas expressed in a campaign are idealistic, crafted to appeal to a candidate’s constituency’s hope and dreams. A political candidate also knows the rhetoric of campaigning will rarely become policy. Therefore he or she must scale back the expectations of their constituencies otherwise those who carried them to office will turn on them when they realize their idealized hopes will not be attained, or at least to the degree they were led to believe during the campaign.
To his credit, President elect Obama began lowering expectations in the final week of his campaign when it became clear that barring unforeseen and hugely inaccurate polling, he would most likely become this nation’s 44th President. The difficulty for Obama is that most of the constituency he has courted, the youth vote and the wealth envy vote, do not understand the difference between campaigning and governing.
Political candidates have since the beginning of politics promised far more than they can deliver. In the form of government in this nation, that fact is inherent in our Constitutional Republic. You see, this is not a democracy, despite the misguided belief perpetuated by the educational system and the media.
Sadly, the constituencies of President-Elect Obama have drunk the “Kool-aid” of “Change” and truly believe that their candidate and our soon to be President will enact all that he has promised. Many remain in “campaign mode” ravenously attacking anyone expressing ideas and opinions even slightly different from their own. They look for attack and disparagement in even the most benign of comment.
Their youthful idealism and expectations, their lack of understanding of the American political process, will lead them to disillusion and disappointment. At the same time, their inability to tone down their rhetoric and attacks will serve only to alienate them from both those who may agree with them as well as those who don’t.
Their friends, families and fellow employees will all soon tire of the constant argumentative attitude and newly empowered political groupies will soon find themselves not only disappointed in their expectations, but distanced from those who would have otherwise been there for them when they finally realize their candidate cannot fulfill the all promises made and their government has failed them despite their hope for change.
"We are all in the same boat on a stormy sea and
we owe each other a terrible loyalty." - G. K. Chesterson
Labels: Barack Obama, Constitution, democracy, dictatorship, government, politics, Republic, voting
Friday, October 31, 2008
Change, Obama's positions vary minute by minute
As recent news events and the current political cycle has demonstrated, disgusting images of anyone on the left are hate speech and those committing such acts must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Arguments, ideologies and even general statements that differ from the leftist “party line” are deemed at their core racist, intolerant, disgusting, lies and without basis. Even when it is shown that those statements are rooted in fact backed up with quotes and even recordings showing the statements to be factual.
Barack Obama was only 8, so the story line goes, when Bill Ayres committed his heinous acts, there for he cannot be held responsible, I can accept that. But Obama was in his 30’s when he sat on committees and boards with Ayers, conceding to and helping to promote Ayres views of America while accepting Ayres help in launching his own political career. The Obama campaign would have us believe the candidate barely knew Ayres.
For 20 years Obama sat in the pews of the Chicago Trinity United Church while Jeremiah Wright spewed hate for the principles of America and directed that hate towards 74% of Americans who are white. Obama counseled with Wright and calls Wright his spiritual mentor. Yet during all that time Obama claims he knew nothing of the racist views and hatred espoused by Wright. When confronted with it, Obama conveniently threw his mentor of 20 years “under the bus.”
Now the story line goes that it was 7 years ago when Obama made statements of support for PLO spokesman Rashid Khalidi calling Khalidi his "friend and frequent dinner companion." That was so long ago and now the Obama campaign spins out, “he does not share Khalidi's views.”
Of course, he didn't mean "spreading the wealth" when he said those words so clearly to Joe "the Plumber" Wurzelbacher. What he really meant was tax fairness.
He doesn't promote or support socialism or Marxism. But, as stated in a 2001 interview, equal outcome for all is desirable and even, in his view, a basic societal right that the US Supreme Court has failed to ensure. According to Obama our nations highest court failed to "break free from the essential constraints" of our Constitution. Therefore the Constitution itself is, in his view, fundamentally flawed and should be "thrown under the bus."
The Obama campaign dismisses the socialist characterization of such statements as a "distraction." The spokesperson says Obama was speaking of the "civil rights movement – and the kind of work that has to be done on the ground to make sure that everyone can live out the promise of equality" and "has nothing to do with Obama's economic plan."
Excuse me. His 2001 statements are fundamental to his current tax and wealth redistribution policies.
I recently heard Obama campaign spokesperson Bill Burton excuse a statement by the candidate as inconsequential because it occurred 2 weeks previously. Next we’ll be told to forget what was said in the previous sentence because it just didn’t happen that way.
So we are required to make excuses for and accept a new story line a day for candidate Obama who refuses to defend at face value even one of his controversial stands. If we fail to accept his views we are characterized as racist, intolerant, dysfunctional and without merit.
I suppose in an Obama administration free speech will still reign as long as it mirrors their party line. If not, you may well end up in an gulag, Obama style.
"We are all in the same boat on a stormy sea and
we owe each other a terrible loyalty." - G. K. Chesterson
Labels: Bill Ayres, Constitution, gulag, Jeremiah Wright, Joe the Plumber, Joe Wurzelbacher, Marxism, Obama, PLO, Rashid Khalidi, socialism, Supreme Court