Category — Barack Obama

Oprah has seriously damaged her brand.  After years of preaching empowerment to women, lots of them are wondering why Oprah wouldn’t want a guest like Sarah Palin. However, according to Oprah, nobody even thought about inviting Sarah.  And if you buy that whooper, Oprah says:

At the beginning of this presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates.   

Come on, Oprah, you know very well that your brand is YOU.  When you endorsed Barack Obama, you threw the entire franchise behind it.  The idea that the show is somehow separated from you and your personal decisions is laughable. And judging by the comments on your web site, the majority of your fans aren’t buying it either. Hat tip: Instapundit

“All I know is that I am not a Marxist” - Karl Marx 

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.” - Groucho Marx

Conservative radio pundits and some of their callers, along with a few bloggers, have described Barack Obama as a “Marxist. ”  If  by “Marxist” they mean that Obama’s politics are a brew of socialism, authoritarianism and radical egalitarianism, they’re right.  But I see no evidence that Obama believes in violent overthrow of our capitalist system, or in any of the real complexities Marxism aims at the stupid, the envious, the unbalanced, the power-mad and the credulous. 

True, the Black Liberation Theology of Trinity United is infested with Marxist class dynamics and socialism; it offers up some Marxian and Neo-Marxist musings on the subject of consciousness, hermeneutics, violence as means, and an entire honey bucket load of dialectical excreta.   But I doubt that Obama is a BLT believer; its spurious but powerful demands for charity and sanctioned humility compete with his personal vanity, his insight, and his desire for the good life.  We will not see Barack Obama in any real egalitarian arrangement.

As for Marxist orthodoxy, it’s difficult today to find any political philosophy, Left or Right, which doesn’t incorporate some of the prejudices, social values and processes which shaped the pseudo social-science built by Karl Marx.  Some hard, utilitarian market-love adored by conservatives is, in ways, Hegelian/Marxist.  It’s impossible to define or isolate Marxist “thinking” as the sole property of Marx.   

That’s because so little that Marx wrote about, or formulated, was actually original or creative; it consisted of pages of intellectual theft, and the elaboration of ideas and concepts broadcast by his predecessors, collaborators and contemporary superiors, among whom the primary concerns were human liberty and dignity.  The elements of “Marxism” were everywhere before Karl Marx grew his first beard.     

His ideas floated atop an age of rationalism, where eventually Darwin and Freud would add their own gears and wheels to the “scientific” study of mankind.  That Marx’s clockwork absurdities, his  observations and predictions have survived at all into our age of deconstruction is puzzling.  A lot of it is simply obvious and mundane, while its emotive theorizing and puffery continue an egalitarian road blazed by Rousseau, and the communard, utopian silliness of thinkers as far back as Plato.  

The reason I doubt that Obama is a Marxist is that Marxism has fallen on hard times and Obama is no consumer of the second-rate.  Marxism appears in a few places, like shiny scales dropping from a rotting fish - leftist riffraff, for example, who gorge on the lard of weirdo capitalism, then show up to protest in mass-marketed fancy-dress, and assert their devotion to a dead, 19th century socialist failure and crank. Laughable.  

You can also find Neo-Marxism in that intellectual burger joint, Critical Theory,  where brainy work is found for otherwise unemployable socialist academics. Critical Theorists question everything, including Marxism, except the dialectical process which makes Marxism possible.   Hello? Why?  Because without it, Critical Theory would be 100% charlatanry rather than just 99%. 

No, Obama is worse than a Marxist.  He’s a modern “progressive”,  a clever, wildly ambitious believer in the ever-progressing good society.  He believes that group life is a process, and that he’s going to have something to DO with it!  In his world, nothing can be left alone to develop, mature or even regress on its own.  He’s interested in YOU, and that should scare the hell out of you.    

When you hit the ballot box this November, consider what kind of people you want running the country.  Do you want the candidate whose friends make-up rumors about Sarah Palin’s Down syndrome child?  Or perhaps you want the candidate whose former party chariman was gleefully cheering on hurricane Gustav because of its potential impact on the RNC?  Of course, he’s not really sorry about it, just sorry he got caught:

“One doesn’t anticipate that one’s private conversation will be surreptitiously taped by some right-wing nutcase,” said Fowler. “But that’s the nature of what we’re dealing with.”

That’s “change” the White House and American people can live without.

The Palin pick is interesting on a number of levels.  Tactically, it was a brilliant stroke.  McCain undercut any Obama bounce from the DNC quite nicely.  He took advantage of the media’s natural love of “buzz” and gave them a fresh target to work on for a couple of news cycles.

Strategically, although it blunts arguments about Obama’s lack of experience, it was absolutely necessary.  Don’t get me wrong, Palin has more executive experience than Obama and Biden put together, but my guess is the general public won’t view it that way.

But how much does experience matter in this election?  The inexperience charge has been floating around Obama since he first started running.  Hillary Clinton couldn’t make it stick.  And McCain wasn’t making much headway either considering that Obama leads most polls and is competitive in some unusual states.  So, why can’t anyone make this point stick?

In Clinton’s case, I don’t think anyone really gave her presidential credit for Bill’s Oval Office tenure.  That left only 2 Senate years difference between the two and a much weaker argument for her. 

Personal experience isn’t the problem for McCain.  The American people’s experience with the compassionate conservative, AKA George Bush, and a badly damaged GOP brand is.  If your perception is that the GOP experience hasn’t been good, you’re much more likely to give a fresh, inexperienced guy a shot.

And that’s why McCain had to shake up the race.  Status quo picks like Romney or Pawlenty weren’t going move the needle.  When you’re ahead, you have the luxury of picking a Biden to run out the clock.  Picking Palin (or something similar) and seizing a reform agenda was smart and necessary when you’re playing catch-up.

End of the speech…Barack delivers it well, but what exactly will he deliver?  No idea! And that’s why I think he’s still got problems.

10:56 PM “So many lives to mend..” but no thoughts on how to do it.

10:55 PM Outdoor venue not doing a thing for me.  Heard it wasn’t great for JFK either.

10:52 PM Barack has too big of a sense of himself.  He really believes he’s Abraham Lincoln. A little humility wouldn’t hurt.

10:49 PM McCain has no record to run on?  If Barack has a record and qualifications to run on, why can’t any of his supporters list them?

10:48 PM “We all put our country first”….Says the man who described himself as a “citizen of the world” in Germany.

10:46 PM  “The times are too serious”…so says the man with a Greek temple in the background who was running a concert at his convention earlier.

10:45 PM Flip-flop alert…”end the war responsibly”?  He said he’d start pulling troops out when he enters office.

10:43 PM I will say that if Iraq wants us gone, we should leave.  They’re ultimately responsible for their country’s well being.  However, no denying Iraqi PM is playing political games.

10:42 PM  Not following McCain/Osama link..how did McCain not get bin Laden?

10:40 PM But how does throwing money at these programs encourage individual responsibility?  The bigger the net, the less responsibility one has.

10:37 PM Health care for everyone with big tax cuts?  How does that work?

10:35 PM Tax cuts for businesses/95% of Americans while investing $150 billion dollars in clean energy?  How does that work?

10:34 PM End oil dependence? Like we can snap our fingers and do that?

10:32 PM Why didn’t the Democratic Congress reward small businesses with tax breaks?  They’ve held Congress for 2 years now.

10:31 PM Finally some specifics?

10:30 PM I am my brothers keeper…sounds like big taxes to me.

10:29 PM Very average speech…just a big list of gripes so far.

10:28 PM Fortune 500 profits make jobs.

10:39 PM Shrink government?  Does anybody buy that?

10:35 PM Stadium was a bad idea.  They could have rocked the house indoors.  Feels a bit dead.

10:26 PM You’re on your own?  Has Barack seen the slate of social and welfare programs we fund?

10:25 PM The real gamble on Social Security is letting the politicians squander it.

10:23 PM  Has Obama seen the latest GDP numbers?  Revised upward significantly…Maybe Phil Graham was onto something.

10:22 PM McCain votes with Bush 90% of the time?  Dick Morris makes a great point about the number of bills commending high school football teams.  A very misleading stat by the Obama campaign.

10:20 PM Lot’s of grievances so far, but no specifics on fixes yet.

10:19 PM First Bush reference.  Are people buying the idea that McCain and Bush are synonymous?

10:18 PM How can we be one “American family” if half the family speaks Spanish? Of course, we all know which half Obama thinks should learn the other side’s language.

10:17 PM The Obama kids are cute.

10:16 PM The only “spirit” Kennedy embodies is Scotch.

10:15 PM Does anybody really believe the Clinton’s want Obama to win?

10:14 PM “Yes we can chants!” are pretty feint.

10:12 PM Barack finally takes the stage.  Maybe my expectations for crowd noise are too high?  Just not impressed.

10:10 PM I guess that was a picture of the “typical white” people grandparents.

10:07 PM Look at Barack’s Illinois state record on law and order issues.  It’s a horror show.

10:02 PM Obama video clearly trying to make the case he’s an American.

10:00 PM Fox not providing coverage of speakers on the stage now. Dick Durbin seems animated though.

10:56 PM Oprah with diamond studded Obama sunglasses?  I’m sure we can all relate. LOL

9:54 PM Love the Britney Spears references.  So much for escaping the celebrity albatross.

9:52 PM Another half hour till the Messiah?  Uhgh!

9:50 PM Obama repeating Kennedy’s outdoor acceptance speech.  Why am I thinking somebody who copies so much history will never make any of his own.

9:48 PM No specifics in Barack’s speech.  No surprise there.

9:43 PM Kucinich latest Democrat unable to answer why Barack is experienced enough to president.

9:38 PM Hurrah!  A picture of the Messiah entering Invesco!

9:37 PM Colmes says Obama right about prosecution of the Iraq War.  What about Obama’s opposition to the surge?

9:35 PM Lanny Davis says McCain is a conservative.  What’s he smoking?

9:33 PM Lanny Davis talking about “wrong direction” feeling in the country.

9:30 PM I tried watching the PBS coverage, but it was way to0 biased.  Fox News FTW!

9:28 PM It’s dead.  There is zero energy on the field.  I wonder if they overreached with the large venue.

9:27 PM Wonder if the shots during Obama’s speech will be different?  You can’t even see the Barack temple.

9:25 PM  Biden says America sucks.  Everyone’s being “knocked down”.

9:23 PM Biden makes a surprise visit.  Must be there to warm them up.

9:21 PM Did Mayor Booker just say he wasn’t aware of Barack’s public statements?  Yikes!

9:19 PM Newark mayor says the energy level is high.  The live shot behind him looks like everyone is sleeping.

9:17 PM Considering creation of my own Barack Obama Buzzword Bingo game.  How many times do you think he’ll say “Bush” and “change”?

9:13 PM Another hour before Obama hits the stage?  Not sure I’m going to make it.

9:08 PM  Saw Stevie Wonder earlier.  Hope Republicans avoid the Democrat’s Hollywood circus atmosphere.

9:06 PM  Could Al Gore have been less inspiring?  I’m surprised I’m still awake.

Barack’s delusions of grandeur know no bounds.  After stealing from Reagan, Kennedy, and a host of other presidents, now he’s stealing the backdrop for MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech on the Lincoln Memorial:

And although he’s familiar with the backdrop, designed by Britney Spears’ set designer (honestly, I’m not making that up), did he ever actually read it?  Dr. King asked us to judge people by the content of their characters, not their skin colors.  So, although I know I’m suppose to be amazed by the fact that he’s black and that we’re “making history”, it’s still his inexperience and far left policies that make him unfit to be president.

Update:  Barack’s speech will address–Yawn!–”Change We Can Believe In”.  Never saw that one coming.

Protesters denied access to attorneys, forced to march in leg shackles, ACLU charges

The ACLU issued a stinging rebuke to the Denver Police Department Wednesday, alleging that the department may have violated laws and constitutional rights of protesters arrested outside the Democratic National Convention.

In the letter, obtained by RAW STORY, the ACLU revealed that the police refused those arrested access to attorneys. Police did not let detainees use phones unless they posted their own bonds, and even failed to provide shoes, in one case marching a protester into court in bare feet and leg shackles, according the ACLU. [snip]

The horror of it all, the ACLU in tears, get out the compassion kit. These passionate patriots, protesting the Donks and their insufficiently fascist socialist policies merely exercised their civil rights. They’re just carrying on the time-honored tradition of rioting to get one’s way, poor waifs.
These bozos are hell bent on destroying the Constitution with the the ACLU enabling them. The only civil rights considered are theirs, everyone else’s be damned. What they don’t like is getting the very police treatment they wish to inflict on the rest of us through a change in government “style.”

An improvement to the show: truncheons on noses and foreheads in the evening. Remember how worried the idiots were that the powers were going to unlimber a “crap cannon” on them; one that would loosen their bowels uncontrollably. Just what is needed for these situations.

Nothing more than asymmetrical warfare; that’s how they treat it, tender them what they desire. The only fools left then will be the ones inside the convention.

Don’t believe this is the Donk direction?

Is America Ready To Send its Political Opponents to Jail?

That is why it’s particularly troubling that the Obama campaign has filed a criminal complaint against the people behind an ad being run that links Obama to avowed terrorist William Ayers.

Per Ben Smith’s Blog at Politico:

It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time Bauer has called for criminal investigations and prosecutions into donors to independent groups critical of Obama, including one supporting John Edwards and another supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton. His words did have the effect of scaring their donord and consultants, but haven’t yet appeared to result in any prosecution.

So it appears to be a standard stratgy of the Obama team to threaten their political enemies with prison for being disrespectful of Obama. This is a tactic that is reminiscent of third world countries like the ones the Obama relatives are involved with in Africa.

Not to mention the Socialist countries of the Soviet Bloc and the fascists demonstrating outside.

Somebody please tell Maureen Dowd that we’re voting for a president and not the Grammy’s:

And Democrats have begun internalizing the criticisms of Hillary and John McCain about Obama’s rock-star prowess, worrying that the Invesco Field extravaganza Thursday, with Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi, will just add to the celebrity cachet that Democrats have somehow been shamed into seeing as a negative.

The celebrity glitter surrounding Obama just adds, correctly in my opinion, to the notion that he is not a serious candidate.  Maybe some Americans want George Clooney running the country, but I don’t believe the majority do.

Democrats are worried.  Not panicked just yet, but I suspect they have some Obama buyers’ remorse.  McCain is saddled with an unpopular incumbent, a damaged party brand, a slow economy, and support for an unpopular war.  With those headwinds, Barack Obama should be up by 10 points.

But not to worry says Nancy Pelosi.  A new wave of voters not reached by traditional polling will carry the day.  I think we’ve all heard that one before.

Paul Begala says that Democrats are just too darn nice.  They need to attack more.  He even claims to have written it on his Obama contribution check.  This argument seems strangely familiar from the last campaign—something about swift boats if I recall.

Begala does prove one thing–you can always count on a Democrat to be wholly convinced of his own virtue and goodness.  Obama could claim that McCain was the spawn of Satan himself and people like Begala would still claim Democrats need to get tougher.

And speaking of swift boats, I attribute Obama’s problems to being a John Kerry clone with less experience.  Only liberals put effete liberal after effete liberal on the presidential ticket while expecting different results.

You have to wonder why he started this whole mess?

Well, let him live with it!