Jul 01 2008
Obama’s “Patriot” Speech Illustrates All His Faults
I am going to fisk Obama today – he has had it coming for a long time. I am going to challenge the empty suit’s soaring and vacuous rhetoric on “Patriotism” to demonstrate why fancy words woven together in a nice cadence are meaningless without purpose and value against our challenges. Obama’s speeches have sunken to nothing more than rambling damage control, ways to pump his damaged image instead of actually taking on the challenges we face. So let’s begin:
On a spring morning in April of 1775, a simple band of colonists – farmers and merchants, blacksmiths and printers, men and boys – left their homes and families in Lexington and Concord to take up arms against the tyranny of an Empire. The odds against them were long and the risks enormous – for even if they survived the battle, any ultimate failure would bring charges of treason, and death by hanging.
And yet they took that chance. They did so not on behalf of a particular tribe or lineage, but on behalf of a larger idea. The idea of liberty. The idea of God-given, inalienable rights. And with the first shot of that fateful day – a shot heard round the world – the American Revolution, and America’s experiment with democracy, began.
Senator Obama, if you want to see the modern version of this get your butt to Iraq. For the last year Iraqi, US and Coalition forces have been battling the tyranny of Islamo Fascism. The Muslim Iraqis, once in league with the butchers of al-Qaeda, decided to take a chance and risk horrible retribution. And they too did not do this on behalf of a tribe or lineage, but on the larger idea that a democratic Iraq would be a better, less violent, less oppressive future than one run by Bin Laden’s thugs. And Iraqis paid for that choice by the thousands, at the hands of those same al-Qaeda thugs.
Today in Iraq you see, Senator, the continued echo of that shot heard around the world. And yet you have called for years now to snuff out that echo. You have demanded we abandon those freedom fighters in Iraq, even after we promised to stand by them. You Senator, have voted to stop funding the march of democracy you so hypocritically try to wrap around yourself now.
Those men of Lexington and Concord were among our first patriots. And at the beginning of a week when we celebrate the birth of our nation, I think it is fitting to pause for a moment and reflect on the meaning of patriotism – theirs, and ours.
Does the Junior (not even one term) Senator from Illinois not realize the current patriots for this nation fought and died and were injured in Iraq, fighting for our nation as well (as ordered by our President, as authorized by Congress, as continuously authorized each year by Congress, and as of now operating under UN mandate)? Why are you talking about Patriots in Lexington when we have Patriots in Baghdad, Fallujah, Mosul and Basra?
We do so in part because we are in the midst of war – more than one and a half million of our finest young men and women have now fought in Iraq and Afghanistan; over 60,000 have been wounded, and over 4,600 have been laid to rest. The costs of war have been great, and the debate surrounding our mission in Iraq has been fierce. It is natural, in light of such sacrifice by so many, to think more deeply about the commitments that bind us to our nation, and to each other.
What commitment have you shown, Senator Obama, to their cause? What commitment have you shown to make sure their sacrifices were not in vain? What effort have you laid out for them! All we hear from you is about how you will use the war to get elected. All we see around you are people who think and chant “God Damn America!” All we see around you Senator are people who bombed America, who were the same as the early al-Qaeda of the 1990’s, but doing it back in the 60’s and 70’s. What ‘patriotism’ are you demonstrating by allying with those who wanted (and probably still ‘want’) to destroy what these brave young men and women died for? You have not found the time in over two and half years to even go visit them!
Not only is it a debate about big issues – health care, jobs, energy, education, and retirement security – but it is also a debate about values. How do we keep ourselves safe and secure while preserving our liberties? How do we restore trust in a government that seems increasingly removed from its people and dominated by special interests? How do we ensure that in an increasingly global economy, the winners maintain allegiance to the less fortunate? And how do we resolve our differences at a time of increasing diversity?
Where did the Iraq war go Senator? You are not 20 seconds into your speech and now you equate sacrificing for your country with health care, jobs, energy, education, retirement. What do these things have to do with patriotism? Are you claiming the battle of Lexington was to secure requirement security? Where did you come up with that lame connection? Or is it your speech writers have gotten lazy and don’t even try anymore to connect your policy BS with the context of your overall theme. And what in the world are you babbling about when you say “the winners maintain allegiance to the less fortunate”? This is the epitome of vacuous speaking. The less fortunate where? How less fortunate? What new government program are you pondering now?
Finally, it is worth considering the meaning of patriotism because the question of who is – or is not – a patriot all too often poisons our political debates, in ways that divide us rather than bringing us together. I have come to know this from my own experience on the campaign trail. Throughout my life, I have always taken my deep and abiding love for this country as a given. It was how I was raised; it is what propelled me into public service; it is why I am running for President. And yet, at certain times over the last sixteen months, I have found, for the first time, my patriotism challenged – at times as a result of my own carelessness, more often as a result of the desire by some to score political points and raise fears about who I am and what I stand for.
Why is Patriotism all about Barack’s screw ups and image building? You know what the problem is with the debate today? You disagree with someone on policy, note how those policies could increase the danger to America, and they go off whining about you questioning their patriotism! Where is your answer to Senator Dick Durbin’s (Democrat) comparison of our troops to the Nazis Senator? Why are we talking about your image when the debate is about the comments YOUR PARTY have made about the men and women fighting on the front lines? Are you going to publicly apologize to General “Betray US” for the insult MoveOn.org levied against the man who turned Iraq from failure to success in one short year?
This is the problem with Obama. His smooth talking can’t cover up the lack of content, the self absorption, the skidding away from the tough issues. If the guy comes out one more time talking about him and his feelings I think I am going to throw up.
Click the image below (from Getty Images) to see whose feelings and sacrifices are paramount to this debate:
Here’s the bottom line Senator Empty Suite: what in the world do you plan to do in Iraq?! That’s all we need to understand, what is your commitment, what is your ‘read my lips’ pledge? What are you promising you will work night and day to do in Iraq sir? What is it you will sacrifice all to accomplish? Will you risk all to win now that it is within our easy grasp?
Or will you dodge and hem and haw? Obama – enough of the fancy speeches and exploring your inner whatever – what are you going to do if elected?
That is an easy one to answer he is a co sponsor of the Global Poverty Act.
Think LBJ’s War on Poverty on a Global Scale..administered by the ever efficient UN.
I don’t know what it is about this guy, but when ever he talks I just start getting sleepy, very sleepy. Think he’s running a jedi mind trick on us? He weaves and slides around like Stevie Wonder when he’s giving his speech, kind of mesmerizing. He speaks well and all but what he says just seems to bubble off into the back ground noise, just seems like his speech was written by a high school student trying to get the minimum amount of words in his essay. He’s all over the place, and really doesn’t pound home anything. And when he’s talking about American history he just seems so uncomfortable. Almost like it’s the first time he’s thought about it since grade school. Still pretty funny though that he feels he has to go out and try to prove to every one that he has some patriotism. When you have to prove something it takes away trust, he would have been better off ignoring this and trying to drown it out with concrete facts on what his plans are if he gets elected. But I guess when you’ve tied off your campaign to the anchor that are those bomb throwing 60’s radicals you’ve got to do something to separate yourself from them. This doesn’t do it, and I don’t think he will ever accomplish that separation.
Obama has the same problem that has plagued all Democrats who have run for the Presidency lately. That is that he cannot reveal his true agenda for, and feelings about America. Bill, Hillary, Gore, and Kerry were products of the 60’s counter culture, and for them the American brand of capitalism had to be neutered, the “military industrial complex” had to be dismantled, American power abroad had to be stunted, and the “rich” had to be cut down to size. Obama is simply their spawn.
He will continue to straddle, dissemble, obscure, avoid, use flowery prose to say nothing; hide his true agenda, deny the obvious, use pretzel logic and rewrite history. He is dependent upon the fact that a large portion of the electorate is so bought and paid for that they don’t care what he says, and another sizable voting bloc that wants the same thing he does-the end of American capitalism and American power.
“…today in iraq you see, senator, the continued echo of that shot heard around the world…” amazing. do you really equate mr. bush and his neocon friends ploy to open long lost oil fields to chevron and exxon and bp with the actions of patriots at lexington and concord who laid down their very lives to establish the freedoms that allow you to spew forth with this garbage??? holy hyperbole. you are one confused fringie.
” are you going to publicly apologize to general “betray us†for the insult moveon.org levied against the man who turned iraq from failure to success in one short year?” actually he did criticize move.on for that ad — even though it’s not his job to apologize for them. maybe you should have read the whole speech — if you expect to have an ounce of credibility. and for the record iraq is not a success based upon patreauses own words.
If I watch Fox news, I keep the remote nearby.
As soon as Obsama starts speaking, I instinctively hit the
mute button until he goes away.
Sometimes I think I should listen just a little.
I listen for a minute. Nope. Still nothing there.
Nothing there at all.
The phrase “total waste of space” was invented for this man.
Yeah Norm – Bush = patriot, you = idiot.
Pretty simple and elegant equation.
I agree gwood and I can’t tell you how much Obama’s thinking makes me want to shake the …. out of those utopians. The interesting thing is that America’s capitalism and power already take care of those who need help. Only they think it is their right to have more of the goodies. Remember what the Iraqi’s thought the American’s could do for them when we took down Saddam?
Think of what our world is going to look like when the denigrated capitalists put their money in the pockets and don’t share and the powerful say do it yourself. If the middle class and the poor think their life is miserable now, and those who have monetary choices don’t give enough now, just wait until gas is $7.00 a gallon, and Harry Reid has his wish that oil and coal is making us sick and there is nothing to replace it for 25 years. The scary thing is that the “I want what you have right now” crowd have no idea how miserable they are going to be when this country slides into a depression and they have nothing and no choices. We have a preview of coming events since 2006. The Dow is down another 100 points today. Gas is up 46%. How hunky doory is the future today?
So are Obama and Warren Buffet going to cure the sick, employ everyone, and cause the oceans to recede? My fear is that too many Americans believe that crap. Usually when we grow up we know that Santa is not real. But then we have to grow up first!
There are two kinds of patriotism under discussion, if you look at the extreme ends of the scale. There are people of all hues in between the two poles.
The first is “my country, right or wrong.” Even if it’s a complete disaster on some front and acts contrary to every precept of civilized behavior, you may be mad at it but you love it and defend it *as it is*. Based on a reserve of good faith and good will, you assume that it’s a goof up, an error, and, with others, try to work to fix it. You assume that we’re all on the same page because of shared values and common goals–America first, American exceptionalism, whatever you call it. You acknowledge there are no common goals, and usually point to innovations as the problem–we were more united at some point over an issue, then a group decided to buck traditional or common sense.
If you want, you can consider this a kind of group-think. We’re Americans, and when challenged by an outside group we stick together based on common culture, outlooks, and a shared appreciation for our country.
The second is “my country, when it’s right, and only tentatively when it’s wrong and that only because it can become what I think it should be.” Dissent is patriotism because the America you love isn’t the America that is, but the America that comports perfectly with your values and morales, a hypothetical America (making your love and devotion also conditional and often hypothetical). Since this is essentially a kind of narcissism–you love only yourself, as reflected in others–there’s no good will, only bad faith: any cock-up must be intentional, must be a reflection of underlying wrongness, of departure from the the values, your values, that you seek to implement. Otherwise the line between “us” and “them” wouldn’t be clear enough. We’re not all on the same page, and there are no common goals because some people are rooted in backwardness and don’t share your sense of empathy and your intelligence, your enlightened, progressive, forward thinking.
Obama loves America because of what he can make her, for the change he believes he can make in her, bringing her in line with his image. It’s like getting married because once married you can make the person a better mate, not the pre-marital dreck you met.
McCain in Hanoi realized how deeply he loved the American that was, and how he had not properly appreciated the America he had–not some America he could fashion. While he, too, would like to see changes, the love would remain in the absence of the changes. It’s like getting married because you love what the other person is, flaws and all, and while you’d like to see them improve, if they don’t, you still love them. And that love can grow over the years, even as you find more errors in their character.
This is also a kind of group think. When challenged by an outside group, people of this patriotic persuasion also stick together. However, since theirs is a moral and ideological vision, not a nation-state-based vision, this often pits them against other Americans and with those non-Americans who say the rights kinds of words, who have the “right kind of America” as their goal.
However the non-Americans have their own kind of cultural overlay, and often allow Americans to group with them full well knowing that they, the non-Americans, have their own interests, and not those of America, in highest regard. They’re friendly only when we’re pursuing their interests. Thus it appears that the second group of “patriots” are anti-American, because that’s often what the result would be.
The first group of patriots will usually want a strong America or an isolationist one: Both are normal reactions, fight-or-flight reactions, given a stressful (international) situation. The second will want to insist on a Bright, Shining Future, one in which we all live harmoniously, if we could just make a perfectly ideological and moral America–a future not because of some Deity intervening, but because we are our own deity, and all those people who want to yoke America will be buddies. They’re “evolved” (in a crippling warping of what Darwin meant) beyond fight-or-flight. Self-immolation and childlessness are the height of evolutionary readiness.
aj…typical fact free personal attack.
“…Remember what the Iraqi’s thought the American’s could do for them when we took down Saddam?” boy they sure did get fooled. they thought we wanted to help when we really only wanted their oil. actions speak louder than words.
Who is “we” norm?
Results speak volumes to your denial nor recognition of “any” progress in Iraq. They have, the first time in decades, a freely elected gov, that has a growing army/security force that is able to take control over more than just central bagdhad. The tribal leaders are fighting “with” us, not against us…against the “real” trouble makers in Iraq (AlQueda and Iranian/Sadr types.)
Despite it taking longer and costing more than anybody would have liked, the results are there. The fact that you refuse to acknowledge them is more telling about “you” than anything else.
Norm how can you be so incredibly stupid. It is obvious you don’t know the difference between the United States taking Iraqi oil and a private company bidding with a sovereign country. That country Iraq, has a choice. If they want to improve their oil output then they can find someone with the expertise to help them reach their goal. Who better then an American company. Maybe you would hire a company from Afghanistan. If you want to win you hire winners. But then what would you know about winners!
Kathie, the answer to your question is the debilitating yet little understood disease known as BDS. Lord knows we have yet to see the full impact of this mentally crippling virus and can only hope that it will impact the autonomous functions of breathing and eye blinking in the near future. Other symptoms include a complete detachment from reality (promises of utopia are readily grasped though) and shrillness and repetition of speech.
dc…
progress is not victory. you want to acknoledge progress fine. you want to call a single tactic meant to serve a stragegic goal a success? fine. but do not call iraq a success or declare victory…it shows a lack of understanding. and your comment regarding time and money speaks volumes. at what point in the last 5-1/2 years did we blow past the cost benefit threshold?
kathie…
wow…your comment is almost verbatim parroting of the white house talking point. dana perrino said; “…“iraq is a sovereign country, and it can make decisions based on how it feels that it wants to move forward in its development of its oil resources..†you said; “…the difference between the united states taking iraqi oil and a private company bidding with a sovereign country. that country iraq, has a choice…” are you two the same people? or do you just get all the talking point faxes?
what did the rnc tell you to say about this? condi rice said that the u.s. gov’t. was not involved in iraq’s no-bid oil contracts. then it turned out that actually the state department played an integral role in drawing up contracts between the iraqi government and five major western oil companies. i say actions speak louder than words.
should we go back to the beginning of this debacle when we protected the oil ministry and nothing else including large weapons caches? or should we re-visit mccains quote when he said we needed to get off foreign oil because; “…that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the middle east…” maybe you need to review the justification the neocon architects of this “war” used before bush even got into office. writing to clinton in ’99 they said regime change was necessary to…you guessed it…insure the flow of oil.
saying this war has oil as one of the root causes does not mean the u.s. government is going into the gas station business. that’s your simple-minded conception.
kuaiboy…bds is the blind cult-like following of incompetent un-ethical leaders.
Norm I don’t read talking points, life experience and a bit of logic inform me. You can protect something without stealing it. You can protect it for someone else’s benefit. Your marching orders, the dems think the Iraqi’s owe us their oil for all that we have given them. Who wants what?
kathie…
you can protect it for someone elses benefit…big western oil and no-bid contracts. do you really think no-bid contracts are the best way to benefit iraqis? where’s that bit of logic you just refered to? try using a little.