Posted on 05/27/2008 11:16:52 AM PDT by Tolik
When Barack Obama talks about avoiding the "money culture" and the lifestyle of suits and big houses, there is nothing per se wrong with such a call to public service.
By the same token, he makes many fine points in his frequent recitals of U.S. history in which the Underground Railroad, the freedom riders, women suffragists, and icons of the civil-rights movement figure prominently.
The problem is different and twofold: First, in almost every allusion to our collective past there is mention of reform and protest, all of it needed of course. But after a while, whether inadvertently or not, our only heroes become those who found the system wanting and took it on. Yet there were many other elements of the system that are responsible for our current freedom and prosperity, and plenty of wonderful Americans outside of social activism.
At some point as he continues to offer us primers on our past, Obama should also include men and women of genius who were not social activists, whether an Edison and Bell, people of action and courage like Lewis and Clark or Lindbergh, political figures such as Teddy Roosevelt, and military heroism at places like Gettysburg, the Meuse-Argonne, Okinawa, Chosun, or Hue.
Otherwise the aggregate effect is Carteresque — more lectures about the old gloom and doom, and more reminders that the unique Americans of the past were only those who followed paths of activism — not surprisingly like those claimed as well by Obama himself.
Second, this is especially important for Obama who now emerges out of Chicago and Illinois politics onto a national stage, and must shed dubious figures like a Wright or Ayers, who clearly are on record as seeing their country as largely pathological.
When one combines Michelle's "pride" speeches and asides about a "mean" country, and Obama's own call for more "oppression studies" in our schools, then the need to remind Americans of concrete examples of our exceptionalism, of good works, and of men and women of singular accomplishment becomes even greater.
Otherwise by summer, each time he evokes American history, millions of Americans are going to wince, tired of either a sermon from a very materially successful person on the evils of, well, being very materially successful — coupled with the same old, same old race/class/gender take on American history that leaves out much of what was good and noble and led to our own fortunate circumstances.
And it doesn't help that the once forgotten Carter of the past is no longer building houses for the poor, but once again quite prominent on the political scene, de facto shilling for Obama, meeting Hamas and Syria, and in his 1970s-mode once more lecturing the world on the misdemeanors past and present of his own wonderful country, while quiet about the felonies of repugnant others.
Let me know if you want in or out.
Links: FR Index of his articles: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=victordavishanson
His website: http://victorhanson.com/
NRO archive: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp
Pajamasmedia: http://victordavishanson.pajamasmedia.com/
American History ping
I still want to know how we became a “57 states” country, because I missed it.
I wish Bush made same gaffe now: it’d be hilarious to watch the firestorm from press laughing at him. But Obama is immune.
Dr. Hanson forgets that Mr. Obama knows all, sees all and hears all. There is no correcting him - because he won’t allow it. He KNOWS everything; and what’s more, he’s correct on everything.
Don’t believe me? Ask Michelle, she’ll tell you.
This one sentence justifies the whole post. Thanks for the ping.
His hope campaign preaches ‘hopelessness’
BTW, I’m a proud member of the ‘Money Culture’! A real live small business owner finding a need and filling it! A Maker not a Taker!
BHO cannot change Hauser’s Law anymore than he can change the law of gravity. If the fall brings on bad tidings, the progressives are gonna need a lot mor ‘Boxers’ to work harder, cause I’m finally gonna take that long vacation.
Collectivism be damned!
There’s a reason that the airlines tell you to put your oxygen mask on first!!
Ford had ripped conservatives all year long, and barely survived a challenge by our champion, Ronald Reagan. It went all the way to the convention. Ford was a weak president, who had seen communists advancing even in Portugal and Italy. He was for the ERA and abortion, and named the human curse JP Stevens to the Supreme Court. The much despised Nelson Rockefeller was his veep, but Ford gave the nod to Bob Dole at the convention, proclaiming the Kansas buzzard to be a conservative.
After Ford said that Russia didn't dominate Poland in a debate with Carter, the press turned. Ford started getting great press. He got a fawning portrayal and cover in Newsweek the week of the election. The press was rooting for a close race and got one, because their was no difference in the two candidates. Plus, they were a little dubious about Carter and his appeals to the southern white vote. Carter barely won.
McCain cannot possibly generate the hatred among the press corp that a real conservative would. Their animosity will be half baked. Plus conservatives have no champion to pine for. And Obama has a very divided party. The Dems are ripping each others guts out on DU and the press blogs.
It's going to come back to whether Pennsylvanians can hold their nose and go with Obama. That's the one state McCain can genuinely swing.
It must have something to do with hanging out with John F'n "57 varities" Heintz Kerry.
Let Obama hold forth. There's a fine line between a groove and a rut. He and his crowd will bring everyone to the saturation point on ‘I hate American’ that much sooner. Time for the pendulum to come back soon.
Leftist only care about history when it fits their “narrative” of great activists and revolutionaries fighting against the evil establishment. There is important stuff there, to be sure, but what about all the great military heroes, inventors, business leaders and innovators, etc. They don’t enter into the picture for leftists unless they can be sneered at or worse. Not surprising that Obama only talks about activist history - I’ll bet he doesn’t know anything about any other heroes of US history.
Check out this awesome video:
.
The same kind of terrorists who did this
support Barack Hussein Obama
Never apologize for them
Never appease them
Never forget
http://www.frugalsites.net/911/attack/
Well he certainly doesn't know much about the land east of Lincoln's birth...that's for darn sure.
I still want to know where the hell states # 51 - 57 ARE because there might be some exciting business and economic opportunities, unless they are all the downtrodden, hopeless, depression-ridden, ‘mean’ kind of states that the Obamas describe as #s 1 - 50.
It appears that his only visible skill is oratorical art. Getting through the Chicago machine implies some skills in the behind-the-door schmoozing. I can see nothing else.
I link this link to his “new” Works & Days blog since it’s directly to his most recent post:
http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/
She sounds just like Mao's wife Jiang Qing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Qing
Jiang Qing was the harpy b!tch from hell, the leader of the "Gang of Four."
Stop looking..all the new "states" and important customers are in China.
Oh, thanks! I had that page bookmarked, but they changed format, apparently. So, I was wondering where is the new stuff. Thank you!
Comrade Barak called for “oppression studies?” OMG, we’re drowning in the already.
Our once proud Smithsonian has them wall to wall, however that august institution rejected tens of millions of dollars from self-made multimillionaires who wanted to build an American Dream exhibit, extolling the opportunities we have.
According to Willie Brown, well-regarded black ex-mayor of San Francisco and ex-speaker of the CA legislature, “the press is covering for Obama.”
Willie, an old Dem, had excellent press, but nothing like the fawning lying coverage B. Hussein gets.
Obama doesn’t know American history so it’s not going to happen.
Obama limits his historical arena to those whose interests are most represented in the Democrat Party today. That is his fault, not the focus on protest and reform and liberty, but limiting that focus to very narrow set of participants and issues, as if those are the only issues that matter. The Democrat Party would like us to remember the civil rights workers, and those who rioted at Stonewall, and those who protested Vietnam. They'd rather not have us remember those who rebelled against too much government power, and those who fought for individual liberty and dignity. Those omissions are far more egregious than the haloed one's failure to recall Round Top and Pointe du Hoc. He can easily remedy those omissions at his next presser, but will he mention "the city on a hill", no taxation without representation, and James Travis's letter to free dom loving people? Not if he wants to remain consistent with his Marxist view of American history. Someone should tell him that even scholars like Christopher Lasch and Eugene Genovese have seen the light and recognized the failure of their marxist god.
The MSM know he is an empty suit and expect to manage him as sock puppet.
~~Barack Obama
From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.
~~Karl Marx
Oprah trained and financed.
He’s all sophistry, FRiend.
Whew!
I think you're on to something.
Jiang became part of the Gang of Four.
Let's see, there's Michelle, Rev Wright, Bill Ayres, and...Rezko ?
Vulgar Marxism or cultural Marxism? Cultural Marxism is still very much alive.
sophistry - the proper term for his platform.
I hope we never find out just how p-whipped Barack is!
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