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I'm just a regular American citizen, admittedly on the conservative side, and this headlong rush to elect Obama is mystifying to me.
It's not that I don't grasp liberalism - I may not agree, but I "get" it. It's the conservatives supporting Obama that have me flummoxed. I sincerely invite you to tell me why.
I think the discussion is important, and on my part, I promise to be civil about it. That doesn't mean I won't tell you why I think he's wrong for the country, but I'm not inviting you here to flog you mercilessly. I want to hear your reasons.
I want to know why you don't think his associations and alliances matter. I want to know why his record on abortion doesn't bother you. I want to know how, if you are a fiscal conservative, you're voting for a candidate who plans massive increases in entitlements and has had no problem getting pork and earmarks for his state.
I want to know what eclipses the legitimate concerns most conservatives have about him. I don't see it. I'm not a pundit, I'm not an expert on politics - I just don't understand, and it frustrates me.
If you're liberal, I get why he sounds so good to you. It's not that you're not welcome here, but I really want to hear from people who supposedly share my principles.
Anyone? Please comment.
Showing posts with label election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label election. Show all posts
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Simple Advice This Election
Here's a startlingly anomalous political blog post. I won't mention a candidate's name even once.
Times are tough all around. We’re watching unemployment grow while our 401(k)’s shrink. We’ve got a temporary respite from insanely high gas prices, but can’t trust they won’t shoot up again. Most of us aren’t economists or financiers, so we don’t know which way to turn with what little investments we have left. We’re angry about the bailout. We feel betrayed by our government.
Red state, blue state, Democrat, Republican, right, left. Doesn’t matter. Set aside the labels for a few minutes. We need to think about what is best for our country.
Do you have a job? Is there someone higher up in the company – preferably the owner, if it’s a small business – that you trust? Someone who won’t pull any punches or sugarcoat issues? If so, count your blessings, and if you haven’t voted yet, ask for a couple of minutes for a private conversation.
Don’t ask how they’re voting. Don’t mention the election.
Tell them you’re concerned about this economy. Ask them where they see the company in a year or two. You may be reassured that your job is safe. If so, does that mean others aren’t? Ask. If things don’t look good down the road, ask why not.
You trust this person. If they bring up this election, listen.
Imagine millions of other Americans asking the same question of their bosses, and getting the same answer. What does that mean for your family, your community - even the whole country?
Then imagine millions of Americans not asking . . .
If you think everyone should be having this conversation, encourage your friends and family to get the same scoop where they work. We all want what’s best for this country. We all want informed and thoughtful voters, don’t we?
Lawyers are taught to never ask a question unless you already know the answer. I’m not a lawyer, and I didn’t even stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I think I know how a lot of those conversations will go – if they happen.
As promised, I didn't mention any candidate by name.
Times are tough all around. We’re watching unemployment grow while our 401(k)’s shrink. We’ve got a temporary respite from insanely high gas prices, but can’t trust they won’t shoot up again. Most of us aren’t economists or financiers, so we don’t know which way to turn with what little investments we have left. We’re angry about the bailout. We feel betrayed by our government.
Red state, blue state, Democrat, Republican, right, left. Doesn’t matter. Set aside the labels for a few minutes. We need to think about what is best for our country.
Do you have a job? Is there someone higher up in the company – preferably the owner, if it’s a small business – that you trust? Someone who won’t pull any punches or sugarcoat issues? If so, count your blessings, and if you haven’t voted yet, ask for a couple of minutes for a private conversation.
Don’t ask how they’re voting. Don’t mention the election.
Tell them you’re concerned about this economy. Ask them where they see the company in a year or two. You may be reassured that your job is safe. If so, does that mean others aren’t? Ask. If things don’t look good down the road, ask why not.
You trust this person. If they bring up this election, listen.
Imagine millions of other Americans asking the same question of their bosses, and getting the same answer. What does that mean for your family, your community - even the whole country?
Then imagine millions of Americans not asking . . .
If you think everyone should be having this conversation, encourage your friends and family to get the same scoop where they work. We all want what’s best for this country. We all want informed and thoughtful voters, don’t we?
Lawyers are taught to never ask a question unless you already know the answer. I’m not a lawyer, and I didn’t even stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I think I know how a lot of those conversations will go – if they happen.
As promised, I didn't mention any candidate by name.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Taking "Community Organizing" to the National Level
When Obama takes the stage for his victory speech, will he thank Saul "The Red" Alinsky? Probably not, but he should.
For the unfamiliar, Alinsky's "Rules For Radicals" is the bible of community organizing. Alinsky's ultimate goal was the overthrow of the capitalist system - to take power from the "Haves" and give it to the "Have-Nots". Obama has learned the principles, taught them to others, and he and the left have successfully taken Alinsky's tactics to the national level.
Look at America today. The subprime and foreclosure crisis. Wildly fluctuating oil prices. The meltdown on Wall Street. All gasoline to long smoldering embers. People with grievances against the system have increased exponentially due to the economic crises we're facing. And with the anger is a loss of confidence in the American economy and its institutions - not just the people running things, but the entire system. And according to Alinsky, a country is "ripe for revolution" when “the masses of our people have reached the point of disillusionment with past ways and values. They don’t know what will work but they do know that the prevailing system is self-defeating, frustrating, and hopeless They won’t act for change but won’t strongly oppose those who do.”
Whether by chance or design, circumstances converged to create chaos, just when there happens to be a candidate poised to exploit it. Obama has been given the perfect opportunity to complete a stealth socialist revolution, and he and the Democrats are capitalizing on it.
Consider a few examples of the tactics described in "Rules for Radicals", and their real life application - by no means an all-inclusive list.
"The threat is usually greater than the thing itself." When listening to Obama speak, it'd be a good drinking game to have a shot whenever Obama references the Great Depression. On second thought - forget I said that. I'd hate to be responsible for a slew of alcohol related deaths. Reagan was "Morning in America" - Obama is "Mourning in America".
"Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules." Consider what ACORN is doing with the thousands of fraudulent voter registrations in multiple states. The rule is they must turn in every voter registration, even if potentially fraudulent. They're just following the rules, and in the process, creating chaos in the election system.
"If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counterside." Right now, voter registration fraud is a negative. But these irregularities are likely to result in increased vigilance by election personnel. This scrutiny will ultimately be characterized as voter suppression, lawsuits will be filed, and ACORN will have its martyrs.
"Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have." Obama parades masses of supporters whenever possible, from renting a stadium for his convention speech, gathering 100,000 in St. Louis, or now planning a victory party a million strong in Chicago. What else is this but a display of his power, an essential element to creating fear in his opponents? What if against all odds, it doesn't turn out to be a victory party - what will those million people do then?
"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it". George Bush, anyone? If there is any clearer example of this tactic, I don't know what it is. The left has maintained a steady drumbeat of accusations against George Bush, but let's get real. In my estimation, Bush is a decent man - not much of a limited government conservative, by any means - but one who wanted to do right by his country. Our soldiers are not dying in Iraq on the whim of a madman bent on world domination. We didn't go into Iraq for oil. Bush didn't lie - he based his decision on faulty intelligence, shared by many other world leaders. 9/11 was not an inside job. The present economic crisis has its roots in events prior to the Bush administration. (Ask a liberal sometime exactly what Bush is supposed to have deregulated that made this crisis inevitable - but don't hold your breath waiting for an answer.) I may disagree with him on policy, but I don't think he's the personification of evil incarnate. But Bush is the target, no question. An easy target - having commenced with an unpopular war and bungled its execution - and he has been effectively "frozen". Hence, the never-ending efforts to tie McCain to Bush. There hasn't been a comparable effort to tie McCain to anyone else. Obama has a panoply of questionable alliances, but the power of attacks is diffused by the numbers. Tying Obama to a Congress even more unpopular than Bush, is again less effective, as the target is an institution - and of course, one with which McCain has a longer tenure.
This isn't to say there haven't been elements of Alinsky's tactics used by the Republicans, but in no way as effectively as Obama and his camp. Rove's got nothing on Obama. Barack's a pro and he's been at it for a long time.
Will understanding how Obama won (assuming he does) give us the key to find a way to take our country back? I don't have an answer for that, but I hope I've provided some food for thought.
(And if McCain ekes out an unlikely win, I'll take my crow with Chardonnay, please.)
For the unfamiliar, Alinsky's "Rules For Radicals" is the bible of community organizing. Alinsky's ultimate goal was the overthrow of the capitalist system - to take power from the "Haves" and give it to the "Have-Nots". Obama has learned the principles, taught them to others, and he and the left have successfully taken Alinsky's tactics to the national level.
Look at America today. The subprime and foreclosure crisis. Wildly fluctuating oil prices. The meltdown on Wall Street. All gasoline to long smoldering embers. People with grievances against the system have increased exponentially due to the economic crises we're facing. And with the anger is a loss of confidence in the American economy and its institutions - not just the people running things, but the entire system. And according to Alinsky, a country is "ripe for revolution" when “the masses of our people have reached the point of disillusionment with past ways and values. They don’t know what will work but they do know that the prevailing system is self-defeating, frustrating, and hopeless They won’t act for change but won’t strongly oppose those who do.”
Whether by chance or design, circumstances converged to create chaos, just when there happens to be a candidate poised to exploit it. Obama has been given the perfect opportunity to complete a stealth socialist revolution, and he and the Democrats are capitalizing on it.
Consider a few examples of the tactics described in "Rules for Radicals", and their real life application - by no means an all-inclusive list.
"The threat is usually greater than the thing itself." When listening to Obama speak, it'd be a good drinking game to have a shot whenever Obama references the Great Depression. On second thought - forget I said that. I'd hate to be responsible for a slew of alcohol related deaths. Reagan was "Morning in America" - Obama is "Mourning in America".
"Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules." Consider what ACORN is doing with the thousands of fraudulent voter registrations in multiple states. The rule is they must turn in every voter registration, even if potentially fraudulent. They're just following the rules, and in the process, creating chaos in the election system.
"If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counterside." Right now, voter registration fraud is a negative. But these irregularities are likely to result in increased vigilance by election personnel. This scrutiny will ultimately be characterized as voter suppression, lawsuits will be filed, and ACORN will have its martyrs.
"Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have." Obama parades masses of supporters whenever possible, from renting a stadium for his convention speech, gathering 100,000 in St. Louis, or now planning a victory party a million strong in Chicago. What else is this but a display of his power, an essential element to creating fear in his opponents? What if against all odds, it doesn't turn out to be a victory party - what will those million people do then?
"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it". George Bush, anyone? If there is any clearer example of this tactic, I don't know what it is. The left has maintained a steady drumbeat of accusations against George Bush, but let's get real. In my estimation, Bush is a decent man - not much of a limited government conservative, by any means - but one who wanted to do right by his country. Our soldiers are not dying in Iraq on the whim of a madman bent on world domination. We didn't go into Iraq for oil. Bush didn't lie - he based his decision on faulty intelligence, shared by many other world leaders. 9/11 was not an inside job. The present economic crisis has its roots in events prior to the Bush administration. (Ask a liberal sometime exactly what Bush is supposed to have deregulated that made this crisis inevitable - but don't hold your breath waiting for an answer.) I may disagree with him on policy, but I don't think he's the personification of evil incarnate. But Bush is the target, no question. An easy target - having commenced with an unpopular war and bungled its execution - and he has been effectively "frozen". Hence, the never-ending efforts to tie McCain to Bush. There hasn't been a comparable effort to tie McCain to anyone else. Obama has a panoply of questionable alliances, but the power of attacks is diffused by the numbers. Tying Obama to a Congress even more unpopular than Bush, is again less effective, as the target is an institution - and of course, one with which McCain has a longer tenure.
This isn't to say there haven't been elements of Alinsky's tactics used by the Republicans, but in no way as effectively as Obama and his camp. Rove's got nothing on Obama. Barack's a pro and he's been at it for a long time.
Will understanding how Obama won (assuming he does) give us the key to find a way to take our country back? I don't have an answer for that, but I hope I've provided some food for thought.
(And if McCain ekes out an unlikely win, I'll take my crow with Chardonnay, please.)
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Who matters, who doesn't?
Just one citizen's take on Obama's alleged alliances and associations, and whether they're important or not.
Franklin Raines
A Washington Post article quoted Raines saying he was receiving calls from the Obama campaign. Once it became a campaign issue, Obama denied it. In this case, I can easily see Raines as just a disgraced former executive exaggerating his influence, puffing up his importance. I suspect calls were made. His immediate predecessor at Scammie Mae, Jim Johnson, was associated with Obama's campaign. Johnson could have deferred to the more recent experience of Raines and suggested the call (or calls). Ultimately though, based on the flimsy evidence, McCain played overplayed his hand on this issue.
Bill Ayers
Should we care about a washed up old terrorist? Yes.
With Ayers history and radical views, it was at best poor judgment and/or ignorance on Obama's part to let Ayers have any part in his state senate campaign. At worst, Ayers was promoting Obama's campaign because he recognized a kindred spirit. While we can't judge candidates entirely by the people who merely endorse them, it is fair to judge candidates by the people they seek out for support.
Plus there were some very questionable "reforms" promoted and funded by the Annenberg Challenge and the Woods Foundation. The educational press and the campaign dismiss them as perfectly mainstream. But have we not seen, time and time again, educational doctrine that conflicts with our values?
ACORN
Make up your mind, Senator Obama.
On one page of your own website, it says "I've been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career. Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it, and we appreciate your work.”
Elsewhere on the site:
Fact: Barack was never an ACORN community organizer.
Fact: ACORN never hired Obama as a trainer, organizer, or any type of employee.
Fact: ACORN was not part of Project Vote, the successful voter registration drive Barack ran in 1992.
ACORN "smack dab in the middle of it but "not part of". Obama aligns himself with ACORN and their goals on one page of his own website. On another, he throws them under the bus. Does this remind anyone of ....
Reverend Wright
Crop Circles. Missing socks in the dryer. Area 51. Those multiplying wire hangers in my closet. McCain's dismissal of Wright as an issue in this campaign. All mysteries we may never be able to explain.
Since McCain won't do it, allow me.
Twenty years.
Twenty years.
Twenty years.
Reverend Wright paints America as an ugly, racist, evil society, bent on oppressing minorities at every turn. He has made vile and fantastically paranoid accusations against our government. For twenty years, Obama sat in the pews. Damn right I care that Obama soaked in Wright's hatred and divisiveness on a regular basis for twenty years.
I simply cannot fathom how the despicable rhetoric spewed by Wright is compatible with being a spiritual mentor and advisor to a future President of the United States. But Obama left Wright's church, you say? No amount of eloquence summoned up by Obama now erases twenty years of absorbing the hate and bile.
Did I mention Obama and Wright go back twenty years?
Others?
I don’t know enough yet about some of the other names tossed around. I’m working on learning what I can. But for those who don’t have the time, I strongly suggest at least keeping up on the Investor’s Business Daily editorials. I opened my blog asking everyone to read these and pass it on, and I think it bears repeating. We really need to think about what we’re getting into with Obama. I happen to be an unabashed free-market loving fiscal conservative, but even if you are not – maybe you just always vote for the Democrat – think long and hard before pulling the lever next to the D this year. Please.
Besides - trust me on this - with McCain, you’re pretty close to getting a Democrat anyhow. He wasn’t my choice in the caucus this year. Not my second choice… Not even my third. I liked him better than Huckabee though. McCain has driven us conservatives up a wall for the last few years – Try him, you’ll probably like him.
Franklin Raines
A Washington Post article quoted Raines saying he was receiving calls from the Obama campaign. Once it became a campaign issue, Obama denied it. In this case, I can easily see Raines as just a disgraced former executive exaggerating his influence, puffing up his importance. I suspect calls were made. His immediate predecessor at Scammie Mae, Jim Johnson, was associated with Obama's campaign. Johnson could have deferred to the more recent experience of Raines and suggested the call (or calls). Ultimately though, based on the flimsy evidence, McCain played overplayed his hand on this issue.
Bill Ayers
Should we care about a washed up old terrorist? Yes.
With Ayers history and radical views, it was at best poor judgment and/or ignorance on Obama's part to let Ayers have any part in his state senate campaign. At worst, Ayers was promoting Obama's campaign because he recognized a kindred spirit. While we can't judge candidates entirely by the people who merely endorse them, it is fair to judge candidates by the people they seek out for support.
Plus there were some very questionable "reforms" promoted and funded by the Annenberg Challenge and the Woods Foundation. The educational press and the campaign dismiss them as perfectly mainstream. But have we not seen, time and time again, educational doctrine that conflicts with our values?
ACORN
Make up your mind, Senator Obama.
On one page of your own website, it says "I've been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career. Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it, and we appreciate your work.”
Elsewhere on the site:
Fact: Barack was never an ACORN community organizer.
Fact: ACORN never hired Obama as a trainer, organizer, or any type of employee.
Fact: ACORN was not part of Project Vote, the successful voter registration drive Barack ran in 1992.
ACORN "smack dab in the middle of it but "not part of". Obama aligns himself with ACORN and their goals on one page of his own website. On another, he throws them under the bus. Does this remind anyone of ....
Reverend Wright
Crop Circles. Missing socks in the dryer. Area 51. Those multiplying wire hangers in my closet. McCain's dismissal of Wright as an issue in this campaign. All mysteries we may never be able to explain.
Since McCain won't do it, allow me.
Twenty years.
Twenty years.
Twenty years.
Reverend Wright paints America as an ugly, racist, evil society, bent on oppressing minorities at every turn. He has made vile and fantastically paranoid accusations against our government. For twenty years, Obama sat in the pews. Damn right I care that Obama soaked in Wright's hatred and divisiveness on a regular basis for twenty years.
I simply cannot fathom how the despicable rhetoric spewed by Wright is compatible with being a spiritual mentor and advisor to a future President of the United States. But Obama left Wright's church, you say? No amount of eloquence summoned up by Obama now erases twenty years of absorbing the hate and bile.
Did I mention Obama and Wright go back twenty years?
Others?
I don’t know enough yet about some of the other names tossed around. I’m working on learning what I can. But for those who don’t have the time, I strongly suggest at least keeping up on the Investor’s Business Daily editorials. I opened my blog asking everyone to read these and pass it on, and I think it bears repeating. We really need to think about what we’re getting into with Obama. I happen to be an unabashed free-market loving fiscal conservative, but even if you are not – maybe you just always vote for the Democrat – think long and hard before pulling the lever next to the D this year. Please.
Besides - trust me on this - with McCain, you’re pretty close to getting a Democrat anyhow. He wasn’t my choice in the caucus this year. Not my second choice… Not even my third. I liked him better than Huckabee though. McCain has driven us conservatives up a wall for the last few years – Try him, you’ll probably like him.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
No, Really, You Can't
Obama crowds chanting “Yes, we can” is positively Orwellian. What Obama’s platform really tells the American people is “No, you can’t”.
No, you can’t handle your own healthcare decisions properly. The Feds can do it better.
No, private enterprise can’t develop renewable energy solutions on its own. The Feds need to subsidize it.
No, states can’t balance their budgets anymore. The Feds are here to rescue you from your irresponsible fiscal policies.
No, Americans can’t overcome prejudice and discrimination. The Feds will make you.
No, employees can’t be trusted with secret ballots in union elections. You can’t do the right thing unless you have a union representative looking over your shoulder.
No, American communications companies can’t provide broadband for all by themselves. The Feds can better determine how our wireless facilities are best utilized.
No, employers can’t pay their employees a fair wage. The Feds will decide for you what an unskilled, inexperienced worker should be paid.
No, you can’t possibly comprehend credit card disclosures or the terms of a home mortgage. You’re too stupid. The Feds are there to make sure it gets dumbed down for you.
No, employers can’t fairly consider employee requests for time off. The Feds are there to make sure you get the time for anything the Feds consider fair.
No, you can’t provide appropriate pre-school and other learning opportunities for your child. The Feds have to help you.
No, states and local school districts can’t solve their own problems. No, the Feds know best, from hundreds or thousands of miles away, their bureaucrats can solve the problems in your child’s classroom.
No, you can’t provide for retirement on your own. The Feds are there to make you do it.
I don’t think Obama gives the American people and American business nearly the credit they deserve.
No, you can’t handle your own healthcare decisions properly. The Feds can do it better.
No, private enterprise can’t develop renewable energy solutions on its own. The Feds need to subsidize it.
No, states can’t balance their budgets anymore. The Feds are here to rescue you from your irresponsible fiscal policies.
No, Americans can’t overcome prejudice and discrimination. The Feds will make you.
No, employees can’t be trusted with secret ballots in union elections. You can’t do the right thing unless you have a union representative looking over your shoulder.
No, American communications companies can’t provide broadband for all by themselves. The Feds can better determine how our wireless facilities are best utilized.
No, employers can’t pay their employees a fair wage. The Feds will decide for you what an unskilled, inexperienced worker should be paid.
No, you can’t possibly comprehend credit card disclosures or the terms of a home mortgage. You’re too stupid. The Feds are there to make sure it gets dumbed down for you.
No, employers can’t fairly consider employee requests for time off. The Feds are there to make sure you get the time for anything the Feds consider fair.
No, you can’t provide appropriate pre-school and other learning opportunities for your child. The Feds have to help you.
No, states and local school districts can’t solve their own problems. No, the Feds know best, from hundreds or thousands of miles away, their bureaucrats can solve the problems in your child’s classroom.
No, you can’t provide for retirement on your own. The Feds are there to make you do it.
I don’t think Obama gives the American people and American business nearly the credit they deserve.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Adding my voice
Up until the election, I hope to provide links and well-reasoned arguments to deter people from voting for Obama. After the election, I may be drinking heavily.
I'll begin with this series at Investor's Business Daily:
The Audacity of Socialism
While there are most certainly hyperbolic elements to these editorials, I think the facts contained bear serious consideration.
I'm perfectly open and forthcoming about who and what shapes my political worldview, and I think Obama has been less than honest. And no wonder.
I'll begin with this series at Investor's Business Daily:
The Audacity of Socialism
While there are most certainly hyperbolic elements to these editorials, I think the facts contained bear serious consideration.
I'm perfectly open and forthcoming about who and what shapes my political worldview, and I think Obama has been less than honest. And no wonder.
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