Saturday, April 19, 2008

Obama, man of the left

Barack Obama apparently had a miserable time at Wednesday's debate against Hillary Clinton. I say apparently because I didn't watch it - I'm taking the word of dozens of others who did watch it and came to that conclusion. I don't watch these Democratic debates on the grounds that life is too short; I am too easily irritated by both Obama and Clinton and I wind up yelling idiotically at the television. So I let others do the dirty work for me and then read up on their gibberish afterwards.

I did subsequently watch some clips of the most talked about episodes. The left had a fit because the media folks who are supposed to be running interference for Obama actually asked him questions about Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers, and his 'cling to guns and religion' statement. I'm not sure why these issues are considered off limits by the left, except as relating to their opinion that we should all just kneel and bow before Obama, at least until he's been elected. To criticize him in any way apparently marks those of us who do as racists. But it's important that we get to know as much as possible about the man because he is basically a blank slate, a national figure for only a few years, and one who's accomplishments are, to put it mildly, slim. So it's telling that, after having refused to throw the racist, America-hating Reverend under the bus, and after refusing to apologize for his condescension to the hillbilly rubes who embrace guns and religion, Obama refuses to condemn even so despicable a character as Bill Ayers. Ayers was a terrorist whose actions led to people's deaths. He is unrepentant and in fact only sorry that he did not cause more destruction. But Obama actually came close to defending Ayers the other night, claiming that Ayers was an 'English professor' - as if being a member of academia excuses his past actions. Obama then explained away his association with Ayers by claiming he was only eight years old when Ayers was setting bombs - again, like that matters. So, as I said, this is telling because is shows Obama to be so saturated with leftist academic thinking that he sees no need to apologize, or even explain himself. As with Wright, Obama doesn't really see what the big deal is - after all, in the circles Obama has always travelled in, Ayers is a respected figure. This is another episode that makes it clear that Obama simply has no understanding of ordinary citizens.

And so the left had a fit, as it was clear that Obama handled all these questions about his associations badly. But how about the way he handled the policy questions? His answers on taxes were incoherent. To begin with, both he and Hillary claim they will raise taxes on the rich (.i.e. those making above $200,000) - this, as we head into recession. Now, if an university student taking his freshman economics class recommended raising taxes in an economic environment like we are currently in, he'd receive an 'F' and be told by the professor to consider another line of work. But it gets better. At first Obama claimed he had pledged not to raise taxes on those making less than somewhere between $200,000 and $250,000. Then he said he would raise the payroll tax. When it was pointed out to him that this went against the pledge of a few minutes before, he said he'd raise the payroll tax anyway. But his answers on the capital gains tax was the one that really took the cake. After conceding Charlie Gibson's point that lowering the capital gains rate led to increased government revenues, and increasing it led to lower government revenues, he still claimed that it must be done in the interest of 'fairness'. So Obama believes that taxation is a good in and of itself - that sticking it to the rich, regardless of the negative consequences, is not only 'fair', but a positive good. The man is a socialist, through and through.

His answers on guns were no better. Claiming to support a constitutional right to own a gun, he twisted himself into knots trying to explain away his support of the D.C. gun ban, saying that local communities could somehow limit that constitutional right. He now claims that the 1995 questionnaire he filed before running for his first political office, the questionnaire that says he supports a ban on the manufacture, sale, and possession of handguns, was filled out by someone on his campaign, not himself, even though his handwriting appears on it.

That Obama is a man of the far left can no longer be denied; there is simply too much evidence supporting that conclusion, and none to refute it. Given his pathetic performance the other night, that he is an empty suit when it comes to public policy would also be a fair conclusion; that he is dishonest when it comes to explaining his past actions (his above answer regarding the questionnaire, the claim that he wasn't aware of some of Reverend Wright's more objectionable statements, etc.) would be hard to argue with. That he would be the most radically left-wing person ever nominated to run for president by one of the major parties, of that there is no doubt.

Despite the media's aid and abettance, the general public will come to these same conclusions over the next few months and, in November, Obama will lose in a landslide.

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