[bpmartyr]

Warming Up to Obama's Message of Hope and Change
Larry Elder
Thursday, June 12, 2008

For Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, the stars certainly seem aligned.

Seventy percent of Americans consider the economy in a recession. Two-thirds consider the war in Iraq a bad idea. A new Gallup Poll shows Obama leading presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain 46 to 44 percent. And the ratings for "American Idol" fell 10 percent. Given all this, plus a swooning, pro-Obama media, what's a Republican to do?

Guess it's time to look on the bright side, and find something positive about the possibility of a President Barack Obama.

I called Margaret, a Republican friend who lives in Chicago. Do me a favor, I asked her, and attend a prayer service at St. Sabina -- the church led by Father Michael Pfleger. YouTube star Pfleger, as a guest of Trinity United Church of Christ, called Sen. Hillary Clinton a white supremacist, resentful of the ascension of Barack Obama. Pfleger yelled that Clinton felt entitled because she felt, as he put it, "I'm white!" He also preached that any white person with a "401(k)" or a "trust fund" needs to surrender it -- presumably to blacks -- or consider themselves part of the problem. Rumor had it, I told Margaret, that Rev. Jeremiah Wright was expected to attend St. Sabina's upcoming prayer service.

She agreed to go. Take a Bible with you, I suggested, so no one will think you're a reporter. And should security refuse to let you in, scream, "I'm black!" Now, she's white, but still …

At St. Sabina a security team did, indeed, stand in front of the church, warily eyeballing newcomers. They stopped Margaret, despite the Bible in hand. She was about to scream as security shooed her away, "I'm black! I'm black!" But, she admitted, she was afraid that they would think she was deranged and call the authorities.

"Mission aborted," she dejectedly e-mailed me. But she did go back to the church after-hours, and sent an attachment of photos of her dog with the church in the background. Cute dog.

Don't feel too bad, I told her, because I find myself warming up to Obama's message of change and hope. To lift her spirits, I offered a few examples.

Obama rejects the Bush my-way-or-the-highway "cowboy" foreign policy. Obama repeatedly said he wishes to meet with enemy/thug leaders without preconditions. But wait!

He now says only if he decides to meet in the first place. And if he decides -- to which he may not -- he'll do so without preconditions. And if he decides not to, his decision will have been made without preconditions, unless, of course, he decides to meet after all -- but only without preconditions. And if he decides not to meet, he'll make that decision without any preconditions, just as he would make the decision to meet without the precondition of no preconditions. But if he decides to meet, without preconditions, he'll do so solely when, where and if he decides to -- without preconditions.

That's change.

Unlike President Bush, who "neglected" the Israeli/Palestinian peace process until the waning days of his administration, Obama intends to immediately get on it. Last week, he told America's Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) -- America's leading pro-Israel lobby -- that he supports a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as the sole, undivided capital of Israel. (The Bush administration, currently in negotiations with the Israelis and Palestinians, hasn't taken a position on this thorny issue, preferring the parties to negotiate between themselves.) After Obama's statement, the Palestinians immediately cried, "Foul!" and said there would be no discussions with that stipulation! Hamas, the Palestinian terror group, called him no different from Bush. Thus, with this demand, a President Obama threatens to derail talks from the very beginning. But wait!

The next day, Obama said that, well, "obviously" the issue of Jerusalem should be decided by the Israelis and Palestinians -- adopting the same position as "cowboy" Bush.

That's hope.

On deterring Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, Obama accused the Bush administration of "saber rattling." Obama's Web site calls for aggressive diplomacy, but mentions nothing about a military option. But wait!

He told AIPAC, "Let there be no doubt: I will always keep the threat of military action on the table to defend our security and our ally Israel."

What about Iran's Revolutionary Guard? When Sen. Clinton voted to declare the Revolutionary Guard a terror organization, Obama criticized her, and deemed the vote irresponsibly militant. But wait!

He told AIPAC that Iran's Revolutionary Guard is, indeed, a terror organization. So why did he vote otherwise, and attack Clinton? Well, said Obama at the time, it was an unnecessarily belligerent move. But apparently, now they are terrorists because, well, it isn't as belligerent to say so today as it was to say so yesterday.

That's more hope and more change. So, I told Margaret, here's hoping you find this hopeful. If not, I'll change it.

[Nole1]

Hmmm, more Democratic flip-flopping. The guy is an empty suit with no thoughts/ideas that are his own. He reads the speech, then when there is backlash from the speech, claims it was either taken out of context or he's being attacked unfairly.

He's right - it is unfair. But only because he's so green and naive. Not because he's black.

[Squeaks4ver]

my fav obama excuse is.... *insert name* is not the man i knew for *insert number of years*

[justing]

we should all be glad bush cant get a 3rd term.

[Nabisco]

Originally Posted by justing

we should all be glad bush cant get a 3rd term.

That's all kinds of ignorant. People fail to realize he was pretty popular during his first term. I'm not saying he's been an excellent president by any means, but the whole "Hate Bush" thing is getting a little rediculous. You should have voted for the other guy four years ago.

[justing]

im not much of a political person, however, bush has a mountain of fu*ckups on his plate. So, i welcome any change.

He Mishandled Katrina horribly. I think the guy he appointed to headup that mess actually had no experience, some horse trainer guy or something. the worst natural disaster in usa.

9/11-worst terrorist attack on usa. cant blame that on Bush, and enuff has been said on that topic.

Iraq war justification- I believe recently his former press secretary came out and said that the justification to go to war was purposely manipulated. His words, “political propaganda campaign”. And in fact there are no ties to 9/11 to Iraq.

i can probably go on forever, the Iraq war, enviromental policy, Patriot Act, other countries do not respect him. this guy has found a loophoop around most constitutional rights, not to mention how to legally torture people and hold them without trial. Im at a loss how people like this guy? Oh, and about the i should of vote thing, dont forget im from florida. We dont count so good here.

[RenegadeRows]

I heard they can't find Obama's birth certificate.

That means he can't become president... right?

If there's no proof he was born in the USA...

[Iron Warrior]

I haven't heard him or any other mainstream politician propose ideas that me go "Wow ! I gotta vote for this candidate". He talks a lot but he says very little. I'm tired about hearing of health care. It's not a big issue to me.

[Squeaks4ver]

Its not that they cant find it.. he wont disclose it. But in all fairness.. he doesn't have to. The only reason why he should is because his camp started the "McCain wasn't born in the USA" thing and he had to produce his birth cert. to shut people up

[Squeaks4ver]

Originally Posted by justing

im not much of a political person, however, bush has a mountain of fu*ckups on his plate. So, i welcome any change.


If you ate steak every day of your life.. and someone offered you poop.. would you eat the poop just because it was different lol.


He Mishandled Katrina horribly. I think the guy he appointed to headup that mess actually had no experience, some horse trainer guy or something. the worst natural disaster in usa.

Actually.. state governments are first to respond to any and all issues like this. The state was late to even get their act in gear.. about 3 days late to be exact. Feds only come in at the request of the state.

9/11-worst terrorist attack on usa. cant blame that on Bush, and enuff has been said on that topic.

True. Next topic.

Iraq war justification- I believe recently his former press secretary came out and said that the justification to go to war was purposely manipulated. His words, “political propaganda campaign”. And in fact there are no ties to 9/11 to Iraq.

There is going to be a big flood of information after Bush dies.. and I would almost bet to say that we will find that Israel, the CIA and other international orgs. fed this information to the USA and the UK. Though even Saddam's own generals thought they had all these weapons. I will say.. he could have just said that all the broken UN resolutions was cause enough to go in and i think most of the nation would feel better about it.

i can probably go on forever, the Iraq war, enviromental policy, Patriot Act, other countries do not respect him. this guy has found a loophoop around most constitutional rights, not to mention how to legally torture people and hold them without trial. Im at a loss how people like this guy? Oh, and about the i should of vote thing, dont forget im from florida. We dont count so good here.

He was the number one man to stunt the economy of his own nation to infuse the notion of "global warming" or an enviromental scare Its an international move to allow other start up nations catch up to the western world. Rich nations ( who are the cleanest because when you are rich you can actually worry about bulldingy stuff like the French Flooferflogger sex home.) Always makes me laugh that the USA is looked down upon for not doing enough to save the earth by signing on to this or that international bill. We go above and beyond what those bills usually call for anyway... at our own economic down fall.

"torture" as you call it... works. Too bad we cant tickle torture.. but.. i think to scare one to save thousands.. is a pretty good deal. But then again.. if a liberal was in office you would not hear a thing about torture ( though it would still be going on) they would just call it a "tool".

As for Florida ( my home state) my vote counted lol.. as the saying says... bust the deal.. face the wheel! Democrats don't count if they break their own law lol.

[Nole1]

Hmmm - I'm from Florida - my vote counted just fine.

Katrina response was not Bush's doing - whether a success or a failure, it wouldn't have been his to claim. The first person to get some blame is the Mayor of NO and the GOV of LA - they didn't act as Katrina was approaching to evacuate people in nearly the appropriate fashion. Had they done so, we'd have been talking mainly about structural damage and not lives lost. Then as mentioned, even after it hit, LA response was poor. Yes FEMA screwed the pooch on it, but they were handed a bowl of **** soup and fork to eat it with.

Torture works. I suppose you'd rather have a happy comfortable terrorist (withholding info) and potentially lose a couple thousand innocent people because we didn't splash some water in his eyes, nose and throat.

[Reaper329]

Originally Posted by Nabisco

That's all kinds of ignorant. People fail to realize he was pretty popular during his first term. I'm not saying he's been an excellent president by any means, but the whole "Hate Bush" thing is getting a little rediculous. You should have voted for the other guy four years ago.

I did vote for the other guy 4 years ago and 8 years ago I actually voted for the winner.

Bottom line is Bush has set the country back. I dont know how McCain or Obama will do, but at this point most will be an improvement.

In terms of his popularity in his first term, more like his first 2 years. People started to realize the struggles of Iraq were far beyond what was imagined and with no exit strategy, his popularity faded

[Reaper329]

keep something in mind with katrina, yes state governments respond first and they screwed up, no doubt. However, look at the money given from our own government in comparison to other nations who helped, and we can see the federal governments interest in a major domestic crisis

[Nabisco]

Originally Posted by Reaper329

I did vote for the other guy 4 years ago and 8 years ago I actually voted for the winner.

Bottom line is Bush has set the country back. I dont know how McCain or Obama will do, but at this point most will be an improvement.

In terms of his popularity in his first term, more like his first 2 years. People started to realize the struggles of Iraq were far beyond what was imagined and with no exit strategy, his popularity faded

I agree that he hasn't focused on some key domestic issues. And I'm in no way touting a "Bush is Great" flag. I do believe, however, that he is getting blamed for a lot of things that aren't his fault. The economy isn't in a recession, people have just woken up and realized they can't buy EVERYTHING they want, boo freaking hoo. Bush wasn't the only one advocating the Invasion of Iraq, plenty of democrats were too. Do I believe his key General's screwed the pooch on their strategy? Yes, I believe the first few years of the war were poorly executed and even more poorly planned. But do we really lay that on his shoulders? To some extent, yes, because the buck stops with him.

Now I agree that the government in general has failed New Orleans. The fact that there wasn't a HUGE federal undertaking to replace homes and rebuild a historic area while Congress men and women still add pet projects costing hundreds of millions of dollars to appropriation bills confounds me.

I just don't like when people tout the "Bush is responsible for all the country's issues!" crap.