“Everyone will go to school, everyone will have a job, everyone will be equal, no one will exploit or be exploited… and all those who oppose this wonderful vision will be crushed” — from Amerika
In case you are still looking for a reason to vote for Barack Obama, here are a few more (from various news sources):
“If Obama loses it will spark the second American Civil War. Blood will run in the streets, believe me,” Erica Jong, author of the 1970s feminist bible Fear of Flying
“It’s a critical time, but I have faith in the American people. If they prove me wrong, I’ll be checking out a move to Italy. Maybe Canada, I don’t know. We’re at an abyss …” Susan Sarandon
“If Obama loses? Well, that Wednesday after election day, anybody … any activity in your life that involves black people, it’s not going to get done. If you’re at the airport? No one’s going to get your bags.” Chris Rock
“Some people said they would be so angry it would be reminiscent of the [1960s] riots — that is how despondent they would be.” Bev Smith, a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host
So there you have it folks, something new in American politics: Vote for my guy or suffer the consequences. We want reconcilliation, we want to work together, we want to move this country forward in a bipartisan manner… and will agree to do so if you submit to our terms.
If not…
By the way, if McCain loses? Well I suppose we adults will just have to suck it up and support our new president because THAT is in the best interest of our country.
Country First!
I have now heard at least three versions of the Obama “tax cut” threshold. The Obama campaign has told us:
Wait a week and it will probably go down to $100k.
If it goes much lower, only people who currently pay no income tax will get a “tax cut”… so if you pay income tax today, your money will be handed to someone not paying income tax … nope, nothing socialistic about that.
Oh, by the way… I heard one campaign rep point out that the “tax cut” would not necessarily be in the first year or two, that it likely will not happen until later inan Obama first term.
Hey, if you elect me I promise that by the end of my first term we will eliminate all income tax, that 10 yeqars from now when I am out of office we will be independent of foreign oil (oh wait, Obama already made that promise), and that we will eliminate all disease of any kind by the year 3,000…. vote for me!
A hypothetical that may not be as out there as it sounds. This hypothetical is applicable to either extreme, left or right, but in reality we are closer to a “left” scenario today.
It begins with the free press, the media, and the power bestowed upon them by the 1st Amendment. In 1887, Lord Acton warned that “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
What greater power is there than the ability to influence and mold the ideas of an entire nation through the uncontested definition of truth.
We have depended on the press in the United States to wield this power honorably, to follow standard principles of journalistic ethics that include truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability.
They have let us down.
The foundation of our hypothetical is that of free press openly supporting the candidacy of one party over another without any veil of objectivity or impartiality; doing so in a manner that leads many to believe that opinion is fact and interpretations are truths. With this powerful base of support, essentially unchecked, the road to a one-party government is well paved.
Paving a road is no guarantee that people will willingly follow the path laid before them. There need to be signs pointing the way, and there must be a steady erosion in the confidence of the people in their government.
War is an easy target for the press. We saw it in Vietnam, and we are seeing it in the war on terror. There were mistakes made in Iraq, there are mistakes being made in Afghanistan. There were also mistakes in WWII, WWI and just about every other war. The difference here is, unlike in WWII, a deliberate suppression of good news and amplification of bad news.
The economy. We have been told for months that the economy is bad and we are in a recession. Interesting that the press is reporting that we are entering into a recession following this real economic crises… I thought we were already in one.
Truth is we were not in a recession, truth is the economic crises was caused by failures on the part of both parties, truth is we have been depressed about unemployment rates, interest rates, wages, etc. that were as good as or better than previous “successful” administrations because we were told that the economy was bad. It could be argued that telling folks the economy is bad changes spending behavior for people and businesses and leads to a bad economy.
So the press has pointed the way. We need change. The world is worse off than eight years ago. The economy is worse than eight years ago. There’s the path to prosperity. There’s the path to peace. Follow that path and all will be well.
So now we have a paved road and signs pointing the way, both courtesy of a “free press”.
But who will lead us down that path?
We already know that the leader will come from the party that is not in power, how else could we ensure the change that is so needed.
What if that leader, chosen through exceptional political skills and charisma, has ideas, ideals, and goals forged into a core set of values through years of exposure to far left principles that would normally be shunned by the vast majority of Americans, and yet are welcomed through him.
How could anyone not be influenced by years of sermons, discussions and advice that points to a country where rich white people have oppressed those who have not been fortunate enough to have inherited a legacy of wealth, where the idea that we are raping the world to feed our thirst for oil is accepted as truth, where it is clear to all around you that the United States is evil and we need to make reparations to those we have oppressed both within and beyond our borders. How could anyone not be influenced by these ideas when exposed to them since early childhood, surrounding himself with those who reinforce these ideas as truth even as he launched his political career.
And with this core set of values, a talent for weaving words into a cloak of hope that most eyes can not penetrate, and the absence of voices in opposition to his claims of a hopeless country waiting for a new direction, waiting to be lead from despair, he will be accepted as the one who will lead us down that path.
In our hypothetical, the press is unchecked, the House and Senate are controlled by one party with enough votes to suppress dissenters, the Supreme Court of our land will be stacked with far left justices because none can stand in the way of their confirmation, lower courts will be ideologically stacked for years to come, and the president has a view of the world that defines diplomacy in a way that acknowledges the wrongs committed against our enemies who could be our friends if only we reached out a helping hand…
In this world, an alliance with oil rich countries such as Iran, Venezuela and now potentially Cuba could be viewed as more valuable to our country than friendships with countries such as Israel.
In this world where Obama knows what is best for the American people, what’s best for the world would not be far behind. Peace through alliance with the powerful makes more sense than war through alliance with those who are hated.
Inconceivable? It would not be the first time that a charismatic leader obtained power through words alone, crushed all opposition and changed the course of a country and the world.
And who is going to stop this?
The press? Sorry… no more interviews for you if you ask tough questions or paint the administration in a bad light. in fact, we will have a “Fairness Doctrine” that will ensure the press is being “fair”.
Congress? Sorry, veto proof and filibuster proof for at least two years.
The Supreme Court? Sorry, too busy rewriting all the outdated parts of the Constitution.
The people? Sorry… new voting registration laws and immigrant fast tracking to citizenship has assured the Democrats of government control for generations to come.
Yeah, none of this could really happen. The United States will last forever. It would be impossible for one party to take over the entire government and lead us down a path of sweeping change that would alter the path of our great country forever, not as long as we have a free press warning us and protecting us from …
Ah, right.. the free press… oh well.
Folks… be careful what you believe. Do not believe what you hear, for they ARE only words. Words can be used to make you believe that which is not true. Truth lies in actions.
Folks… be careful what you believe. Do not believe what you hear, for they ARE only words. Words can be used to make you believe that which is not true,
Truth lies in actions.
Truth lies in patterns of behavior.
Truth lies within those whose actions we give credibility through friendship and association.
Barack Obama is giving a speech right now where he is telling us that through him we can once again be a country that the world looks to as a beacon of hope. He wants you to believe we are not.
Barack Obama is telling us we have not sacrificed enough and need to sacrifice more to legitimize the war on terrorism. And he will ask us to sacrifice and we will do so willingly.
Barack Obama is telling us he will end the war in Iraq, He is ready and willing to take credit for the vistory which has already been secured, and we will believe him.
Barack Obama is telling us he will give our troops the equipment they need and the benefits they deserve although his own party is planning a 25% cut in military spending. We will believe him because he tells us it is so.
Barack Obama is telling us he will go through the budget line by line and eliminate programs he says we don’t need. Even though line item veto does not exist, we believe he has the wisdom to decide what is best for us and the power to make it so, because he is Barack Obama.
And as he stands before this crowd and promises us more sacrifice, more cuts in programs, more taxes, and tells us we are hated in the world… the crowd cheers wildly at the sound of his voice.
Just words… no actions… no accomplishments… just words.
Check out this interview of Joe Biden by WFTV’s Barbara West (which has led to the Obama/Biden campaign punishing WFTV for this “unprofessional” interview):
As the interview goes on, Biden gets more and more irritated. Biden responded to legitimate questions with talking points and indignation about being asked these questions.
I actually think there were opportunities for follow up questions, but I suppose there was the risk that Biden would have stormed off in a huff. Some observations..
When Biden said “We haven’t paid then (ACORN) one single penny to register a single solitary voter”, would like to have heard him explain the approx $800k the campaign paid to ACORN
Would like to have heard how Biden can draw an equivalency between McCain speaking at an ACORN event and Obama being a trainer for ACORN, being an attorney for ACORN, giving money to ACORN and benefiting from ACORNS illegal tactics.
Great questions on spread the wealth around, Marxism and socialism, totally blew him away. Would have liked to hear Biden explain how it is a “tax cut” to write checks to folks who pay no income tax. Although it was enlightening to hear that Bush’s ta cuts have spread the wealth around from middle class families to the rich… I didn’t know we have been writing checks to “rich folks”.
Biden loves to quote “facts” and statistics with such authority that he actually sounds like he knows what he’s talking about. Unfortunately, later when the facts and stats are proven wrong, it’s too late, the lie is already a reality to those who heard his words. A good example was his debate with Palin where he was flat out wrong on so many of his assertions. I think his assertion that 1% make over 21% of the income in America might fit into this category. Of course, you won’t hear him tell us what percent of the income tax the 5% of Americans he and Obama plan to tax currently pay. Oh, and if you really believe it will only be the top 5% getting a tax increase, you must be new to politics.
About Biden’s assertion, when he didn’t realize the press was listening, that the world will test Obama because he’s new on the scene, Biden followed the campaign spin and tried to change the meaning of what he said to a more general statement that whoever is elected will be tested. That is clearly not what he said, that is clearly not what he meant. Would like to have seen him pressed more on the response, but I doubt he would have responded anyway. Amazing that he actually was able to spin this so far around that now his statement was supposed to have meant that Obama is much better prepared to deal with any crises that surfaces than McCain. Well… let’s listen to what he actually said:
Sorry Joe, we marked your words as you suggested. Your spin appears to be an outright lie. You were clearly pointing to the world testing Obama with a GENERATED CRISES with the intent to TEST THE METTLE of Obama. Not a crises because of our economy. Not a crises because of dangers around the world. A CRISES THAT WILL BE GENERATED TO TEST OBAMA. You said it and I believe it.
Why does Biden keep insisting we were not greeted as liberators in Iraq. was there an insurgency subsequent to the liberation? Yes. But that does not change the fact that we were greeted as liberators. That also does not change the fact that the Iraqi’s are better off without Saddam. But it is popular to rewrite history these days.
These folks look pretty damn happy, from CBS news:
How about these folks:
Remember this guy?
Condi Rice on the liberation:
A search on Saddam Crimes on YouTube finds videos I will not post here showing some of the methods used by this ruthless dictator… I thought Biden and Obama were all about helping oppressed people, or does that only apply if a Democrat is in the White House.
So were there big problems after the liberation? Yes. But that does not diminish the liberation. Sad that the American people are being purposefully mislead to believe we failed in Iraq. Again, there were failures in Iraq, but we did not fail in Iraq… every war has failures, mistakes, setbacks… but in the end… a simple question senator… are the Iraqis better off today than they were before the US liberated the people of Iraq?
Biden also conveniently forgets, as is his job as Obama’s shill, that Obama would have pulled troops out of Iraq a year ago BEFORE the security issues were resolved and that it was McCain who pushed for the “surge” that now has us in a position to win in Iraq and withdraw our troops confident we leave behind a place that is better than before. I suppose that’s irrelevant to a man who wanted to just split the country into three new countries and leave.
At about 4:25 of the video, you can see Biden can’t believe he’s really being asked these questions…
Kudos to the WFTV reporter who had the guts to ask real questions.
There was a time in this country when we supported our candidates for president and vice president, disagreed with our neighbors or friends perhaps, but respected each other’s right to do so.
Now I’m not going to make believe I don’t have a strong opinion and voice it here, but I don’t attack people personally, at least I believe I haven’t. That might change a bit in this post.
But the folks in Hollywood, the ones with those big megaphones that allow them to voice their opinions in a way that almost everyone can hear them, they’ve gone way too far.
You want to support Obama? Good for you; that’s your right and I respect your decision… I believe you are wrong, but you have that right.
But some of these loons in Hollywood, the folks that want me to watch them on TV, go to theaters, buy their DVDs, some of these folks have crossed the line, and not just by a few inches.
You can’t call the person I support for president or the person I support for vice president the things they have been called them without essentially saying you believe I’m an idiot.
I can watch a movie or some silly TV show where the “star” disagrees with me, no problem. But if my reaction to that “star” is anger because of the memory of how terrible they behaved towards my candidate, no way I can relax and be entertained. The result, there are some folks who I will never be able to watch any movie, any TV show, and play, heck even any commercial with them in it and I would go so far as to say that any company whose product they endorse can forget about getting a dime from me too.
I’ll be compiling my own list over the next couple of weeks; might share it here. First on my list is one of the “stars” of a show I enjoy watching with my son: Heroes. Well, that show is off my list now thanks to this young <censored>, Hayden Panettiere, who has no clue and owes John McCain, a true American hero who has done more for this country than she can ever hope to accomplish, an apology:
Watching this video again… grrrr… I won’t say what I’m thinking.
A piece of advise: dump the cheerleader, save the show.
Others come to mind, some who I wouldn’t watch even if they supported McCain since they have no real talent, like Pam Anderson. Matt Damon, talented guy, but an idiot who believes dinosaurs walked the Earth 4,000 years ago.
Some, like Ellen, are not so bad, they just don’t really appear to know all the issues. For example, Ellen is opposed to Palin because Palin is opposed to gay marriage, yet she is not opposed to Biden who also is opposed to gay marriage. So is that really why she doesn’t like Palin or is she just trying to steer votes Obama’s way? Which is fine… but let’s try to be intellectually honest about it.
Again… support your candidate, even have an intelligent discussion on why you think the other gut would be bad for the country, but vulgar personal attacks… well, I suppose most of these folks wouldn’t be actors if they actually could form an intelligent, cohesive argument without a staff of writers.
