Posted on 02/16/2008 8:18:03 AM PST by jdm
People mocked Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney for their religious backgrounds often during the presidential campaigns, but at least they never claimed to be on a mission to save the souls of Americans through government action. Oh, people accused them of wanting to do so -- to impose Southern Baptist or Mormon theology on an America that wants relentless secularism, but in point of fact both men gave stirring speeches on how their faith informs them personally but not their governance.
One campaign really has explicitly claimed to be on such a mission, however. Michelle Obama gave a speech at UCLA earlier this month in which she told supporters that her husband was the only man who could fix American souls -- if we elect him President first. Here's the transcript:
In 2008, we are still a nation that is too divided. We live in isolation, and because of that isolation, we fear one another. We don't know our neighbors, we don't talk, we believe our pain is our own. We don't realize that the struggles and challenges of all of us are the same. We are too isolated. And we are still a nation that is still too cynical. We look at it as "them" and "they" as opposed to "us". We don't engage because we are still too cynical. ...
Americans are not in debt because they live frivolously but because someone got sick. Even with insurance, the deductibles and the premiums are so high that people are still putting medications and treatments on credit cards. And they can't get out from under. I could go on and on, but this is how we're living, people, in 2008.
And things have gotten progressively worse throughout my lifetime, through Democratic and Republican administrations, it hasn't gotten better for regular folks. ....
We have lost the understanding that in a democracy, we have a mutual obligation to one another -- that we cannot measure the greatness of our society by the strongest and richest of us, but we have to measure our greatness by the least of these. That we have to compromise and sacrifice for one another in order to get things done. That is why I am here, because Barack Obama is the only person in this who understands that. That before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation.
It's hard to know where to start in with this speech. First, what evidence does Mrs. Obama have that the largest part of credit card debt goes to health care? Second, if she has seen the standard of living get progressively worse during her lifetime, she needs new glasses. The living standard of even those classified as poor now have per-person expenditures of the American middle-class of the early 1970s, according to the Census Bureau. Eighty percent of the poor live in air-conditioned housing, 43% of them own their own homes, and the average poor American has as much living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, and Athens. Only 3% don't own a color TV.
But it's the notion that only Barack Obama can save our souls that is the most offensive part of the speech, by far. Government doesn't exist to save souls; it exists to ensure domestic tranquility and provide for the common defense. If I feel my soul needs saving, the very last place I'd look (in the US) for a savior would be Washington DC or Capitol Hill. I'll trust God and Jesus Christ with my soul, and I'm not going to mistake Barack Obama for either one.
This, though, is the religion of statism distilled to its essence. Only a government can rescue people from the consequences of their own decisions. Only government programs can provide for your every need, and only government can use your money wisely enough to ensure that your needs get covered. Individuals cannot possibly manage to help their neighbors through their churches or community organizations, let alone encourage people to do for themselves.
And all you need to enter the statist Utopia is to sell your soul. So that it can be fixed.
No, thank you.
We can't have any mention of Jesus Christ in this country, but Barak Obama can stand up and claim to have the power to save souls and nobody bats an eyelash.
And so the decay and decline of America continues.
uh....my first impression was: what's George Soros doing there, openly supporting Hussein-Obama? He is supposed to be hiding in the shadows!
wonder what the price tag was for this event?
This Obama stuff is nuts.
The fools that can’t wait to attack Obama until after he wins the nomination will gives us President Hellary. Why point out his flaws before the RATS are stuck with him?
He is the worst of the two evils. Open your eyes.
Yeah, that was the point I was just trying to make about McCain.
Hillary's evil is still at the level of the rational - I may hate her guts, but I understand the witch.
This Obama stuff transcends the rational and enters into the irrational.
“He is the worst of the two evils. Open your eyes.”
Congratulations on the what I’m sure will be the stupidest post of the day (and possibly the week). Perhaps you were living under a rock for the 8 years that the 2 most evil, sociopathic people in the history of American politics ran the White House? What has Obama done that could be called evil when compared to the the daily works of the Satanic two-some?
Ping to read later
What has Obama done that could be called evil when compared to the the daily works of the Satanic two-some?
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http://trp.fileburst.com/TRP_2008.02.08_Larry-Sinclair-Interview.mp3
Barack Obama will require you to work (for change). He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism, that you put down your division, that you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zone, that you push yourself to be better, and that you engage!He is preceived as some sort of messiah by his supporters who appear to be mesmerized by his style, rather than the substance (what little is yet to be revealed) of his intentions to our nation. maybe you should read some of the data coallated in the Obama File.
Barack will NEVER allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed!
Obama is the latest model yet of the lib paradigm that only government can make your life for you. Hillary isn’t really saying anything different, but Obama is worlds above Hillary as a speaker. Hillary’s crowds know what she’ll deliver despite the grating voice. Obama’s followers have that rapturous look on their faces that only the completely deceived have. They love Obama. Despite the fact that the main thrust of Obama’s speeches are that Americans are too stupid to live their own lives. Obama/Big Government is needed to care for the poor fools who probably need help tying their shoelaces and wiping their posteriors.
What a quote. I wish I'd said that.
Very sensible. With McCain and even Hillary- we know what to expect. With Obama- it is something larger and more dreadful than we can imagine. What’s unsettling about this man- is what his candidacy is showing us about our country and where it really is- and where it could go...
“Americans are not in debt because they live frivolously but because someone got sick. Even with insurance, the deductibles and the premiums are so high that people are still putting medications and treatments on credit cards. And they can’t get out from under. I could go on and on, but this is how we’re living, people, in 2008.”
It’s never anyone’s fault when they dig themselves into a hole they can’t get out of. They’re always victims of circumstance and its up to Big Brother to pull them out. I swear, the more I hear this drivel, the more I wish time travel was possible; I want to go back in time when personal responsiblity still meant something.
“And things have gotten progressively worse throughout my lifetime, through Democratic and Republican administrations, it hasn’t gotten better for regular folks. ....”
And that couldn’t possibly be because big government bums like Obama keep telling people “Don’t worry about anything. The government will solve all your problems” with their fingers crossed behind their backs.
“We have lost the understanding that in a democracy, we have a mutual obligation to one another — that we cannot measure the greatness of our society by the strongest and richest of us, but we have to measure our greatness by the least of these. That we have to compromise and sacrifice for one another in order to get things done. That is why I am here, because Barack Obama is the only person in this who understands that. That before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation.”
One, we’re a Republic, not a democracy (and even if we were, charity at gunpoint isn’t a trait of a democracy).
Two, while it would be nice for us to care about others, we are not required too and the government is not in any way justified in making us care. We each make our own life, for good or bad, and we are not responsible for anyone but ourselves. Charity is good, but it shouldn’t replace personal responsiblity.
You Nailed It!
Over the years I've had some good friends in the "bankin' biz" who'll back up what you say. 100%.
The Obamas must’ve bought the DeLuxe edition of Tony Robbins’ Personal Power.
“Aren’t you the friendly newbie on the thread! Sorry for posting a blurb but I had something I needed to take care of and I tend to assume that posters to this forum will read the other posts in the thread and possibly do a little research on their own. BTW...I’m glad to know you’re the most experienced poster on FR. By the look of your signup date I think not! “
First of all, I’m not a newbie as I have been posting for much longer than you have. I just changed my screen name. Besides, even if I was new WTH difference does it make? Would it make my argument any less valid? I guess when you don’t have a sensible response you look for someones sign on date. Brilliant strategy. BTW, if you don’t like my tone, it’s just a response to yours.
” Are you an Obama troll? Where have you been when the abundance of articles have been posted on this forum citing his socialist, Marxist platforms, his $845 billion tax on Americans to support global poverty through UN administration, his wife’s comment that our souls need to be fixed, and the following quotes from Michele futher up the thread:”
Calling someone a troll is another thing a loser does when he cant counter an argument. If you check my posts you will see how ridiculous your accusation is. Obama may be a marxist, socialist, etc., so is Hellary. There is not an ounce of difference between them in policy. What makes Hellary wose is that she is a ruthless hatefilled witch who will stop at nothing to implement her policies. Obama is a harmless young mutton head who will get nothing done, Hellary is Stalin in a pantsuit.
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