In 2008, many voters were disillusioned. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan dragged on and our economic future was in doubt.
In 2008, we did not have a clear picture of Barack Obama, a candidate who offered hope and change but little in the way of a specific agenda. A key factor in the campaign was Obama's appeal as the first Black American to have a good chance to be elected president. The fact that he was not well known, lacked meaningful experience and accomplishment was overlooked. That left it to the voters to fill in the blanks.
Fast forward to 2012: We now know what Barack Obama means by change. He has revealed his vision of government as the primary driver of the economy, responsible for its growth and direction and including a right to insure a "fair" distribution of wealth.
Barack Obama's views are rooted in his background. Those views were influenced by the historical injustices suffered by countries subjugated to colonial rule and by the hardships endured by Blacks in the United States. (See the movie "2016: Obama's America" narrated by Dinesh D'Souza).
I submit that Obama's views led him to be a community organizer and ultimately to seek the presidency. His views in large measure explain his "apology tour" in his first year as president, his persistent drumbeat for the rich to pay their "fair" share and other actions that he has taken.
Efforts to remedy past injustices are not new. In the last 100 years, the United States and other democracies have suffered many battles to liberate those countries where freedom was oppressed. In this country, we have made significant strides to insure civil rights and equal opportunity.
We have not yet completed the process; there is more to be done. But President Obama, acting in large part contrary to America's values, has not served us well. He was wrong to stress what divides us and not what unites us---wrong to instill an atmosphere of "us vs. them"---wrong to seek top down government solutions and not rely on the industriousness and ingenuity of the American people and wrong to sideline Constitutional principles and freedoms in his attempt to reach questionable ends.
By any measure, both domestic and foreign, we are in a worse position now then when Barack Obama first took office. If he is elected to a second term we can expect more of the same and very possibly worse.
In 2008, we did not have a clear picture of Barack Obama, a candidate who offered hope and change but little in the way of a specific agenda. A key factor in the campaign was Obama's appeal as the first Black American to have a good chance to be elected president. The fact that he was not well known, lacked meaningful experience and accomplishment was overlooked. That left it to the voters to fill in the blanks.
Fast forward to 2012: We now know what Barack Obama means by change. He has revealed his vision of government as the primary driver of the economy, responsible for its growth and direction and including a right to insure a "fair" distribution of wealth.
Barack Obama's views are rooted in his background. Those views were influenced by the historical injustices suffered by countries subjugated to colonial rule and by the hardships endured by Blacks in the United States. (See the movie "2016: Obama's America" narrated by Dinesh D'Souza).
I submit that Obama's views led him to be a community organizer and ultimately to seek the presidency. His views in large measure explain his "apology tour" in his first year as president, his persistent drumbeat for the rich to pay their "fair" share and other actions that he has taken.
Efforts to remedy past injustices are not new. In the last 100 years, the United States and other democracies have suffered many battles to liberate those countries where freedom was oppressed. In this country, we have made significant strides to insure civil rights and equal opportunity.
We have not yet completed the process; there is more to be done. But President Obama, acting in large part contrary to America's values, has not served us well. He was wrong to stress what divides us and not what unites us---wrong to instill an atmosphere of "us vs. them"---wrong to seek top down government solutions and not rely on the industriousness and ingenuity of the American people and wrong to sideline Constitutional principles and freedoms in his attempt to reach questionable ends.
By any measure, both domestic and foreign, we are in a worse position now then when Barack Obama first took office. If he is elected to a second term we can expect more of the same and very possibly worse.
Norm is much too "kind" in his assessment of Barack Obama. I say this due to the fact I have researched BHO since 2007, when he announced his run for the Presidency. If the American people would have "done their homework", Obama would have been an early exit from the dem primaries.
ReplyDeleteHad the media been fair and balanced, Hillary would probably be seeking re-election. Now of course, we cannot re-write history yet we can correct an error, or is it era? Norm states: "if" he is elected to a 2nd term, we can expect more of the same and very possibly worse. As we may think about Norm's thought, think also about the fact that during an election year, BHO issued the HHS mandate which of course drew vast resistence from the Catholic Church (70M people) as well as other religious organizations. So I conclude, if re-elected, Obama will be worse beyond any President, EVER, in the history of this country. The American people should also recall, the "open mic" comment made by BHO to the Russian Premier: "after the election I will have more flexibility".....to do what Mr. President? Yes, give this failed leader four more years and the USA, as we know, will be unlike anything we could imagine. Drowning in debt, a government led secular society. And yes, the mirror image of Greece only in our streets here in the USA.