Posted on 08/09/2010 12:30:39 PM PDT by HushTX
I recently made the statement “stop blaming Obama.” While it’s true that many continue the “Blame Bush” mentality, resorting to their tactics does little to fix the problem and is akin to a child hitting another kid because “he hit me first.”
Before you get up in arms, let me clarify.
I am not saying they are not at fault, and that they have not done many damaging and outright idiotic things. By no means am I claiming that Obama is the messiah with a small m, or that those who still support him are part of a steadily shrinking minority. I certainly am no fan of President Obama, and am more than happy to acknowledge that the actions he is taking are in direct opposition to my views and beliefs. But blaming him is not the answer. Not if blaming him is all we do.
When President Bush was in office, the left was engaged in a cacophonic display of Bush Blaming that set my blood boiling. I would be lying if I said I was in favor of everything that the former President did while in office, but the common response was idiotic and juvenile, and it served no purpose but to make noise. The truth was, as much as the left hated to admit it, they were responsible for the election of a President they hated. Sure, they might not have voted for him, but did they vote at all? And if so, did they push their party to provide a candidate who had a hope of winning the election? More than that, they allowed previous Democratic candidates on various levels to anger the American populace to the point that a Republican was able to take the White House two terms in a row. The problem was summed up many times as people were not voting “for Kerry,” but they were voting “against Bush.”
I think that is what happened in this past election. Instead of a candidate that was electable, the GOP pulled the same failed tactic that was used by the Democrats in the two elections prior. Many people were not voting for John McCain, they were voting against Obama. I was one of those people. We knew that Kerry could not win for that reason, but we fell victim to the same flawed approach.
Review of media coverage from the primaries leads me to believe that McCain was the Republican candidate the media- that is, the left- wanted. Some people have voiced that they were gladly believed he wouldn’t win the primary over his competitors, and were surprised that he did. McCain successfully rode the wave of media preference to the nomination, and let the media give Obama the win in the Presidential race.
The problem does not stop there, however. Americans are so content to rely on the TV news coverage to tell them how things are. There is a pandemic of political ignorance infecting our country that was brought on by laziness and dishonesty amongst the common voting public. People don’t want to follow politics because it’s uncomfortable, it’s dirty and ugly. It’s complicated, and who can really understand what’s going on anyway? That is the root of the problem.
It is easy for me to say that Republicans are at fault because they vote in RINOs and keep their candidates in office for too long, but that is a lazy approach and gives the left a pass. Responses to my previous discussion of this topic have shown me that it also puts me in an uncomfortable proximity to the left, which is precisely the reason I chose to return to this topic so quickly.
President Obama is the Commander in Chief. The buck stops there, so to speak. In the end, he is ultimately responsible for the actions of his cabinet and is the one who signs legislation or, if he sees fit, vetoes it. So when something is passed by Congress, we can easily attribute the fault to President Obama. I don’t think this is inappropriate. I think it is insufficient.
An excellent example is the “Health Care Reform Bill.” Congress and the President pushed ahead with it, riding the mandate of an underwhelming minority. Against the wishes of the American people, they passed the bill, despite having no idea what was in it. They are responsible for the travesty, but blaming them for it is insufficient. As November draws near, we need to do more than blame them, we need to work against them. All of them. It will take a voting majority to kick out the incumbents who are passing legislation that threatens our liberties and our well being. It will take an overwhelming majority to destroy what has been built. Casting blame is insufficient. We need to build a voting bloc that will remove the cancer from the body politic.
Talking to other conservatives about the problems with the Obama administration does about as much as the mental masturbation of the Democratic Underground website. Surrounding yourself with people who think like you and agree with you, then telling them that Obama is a threat to America solves nothing. Instead, those who want to destroy the liberal hold on government should be active in pursuing such ends. This means not limiting discussion to sites such as Free Republic or Evil Conservative Radio. Use your Facebook, your Twitter or whatever other social site you have to share relevant news articles or personal reflections. Rebuttal of fallacious claims by Obama supporters is also imperative. Every time you reach out to those who are on the fence, or enter dialogue with those who do not understand the problems we face currently, you take on the responsibility I am referring to. It goes beyond blame and becomes personal accountability.
I did nothing to support John McCain during the last Presidential Election. I couldn’t bring myself to do more than vote. But then, I did nothing to dissuade my peers from voting for Obama. I was content to believe it was their choice who they wanted to vote for. While the state I live in was only part of the equation, I still accept partial responsibility for Obama’s election because, like so many others, I stayed quiet and just let everyone do what they wanted. And then I blamed Obama when he started the nonsense we’re all frustrated with today.
But that is not enough, so I am trying to reach out to my fellow conservatives and encourage you all to stop blaming Obama and put more effort into defeating him and his cronies in the coming elections. Don’t let the administration get away with this idiotic and dangerous lawsuit against Arizona. Don’t content yourself with griping when he leads Congress to pass legislation that progressively introduces socialism into our economy and society. Educate your peers and face the opposition head on.
So while I say “stop blaming Obama,” I really mean “start opposing Obama.” He may be at fault for all the things we dislike about his administration, but it is not his fault he is in office. He only cast one vote. It was the rest of his supporters- a support base that is shrinking daily- that put him there. Now is when you have to bring these things to peoples’ attention, and if all we do is cast blame then we fortify them in their positions because liberals respond the same way conservatives do to that sort of thing. They block it out and ignore it. It is time to quit whining. It is time to quit bitching to our friends. If we really want to do something about it, we need to open doors and cross bridges we would normally avoid. Some of my best friends are liberal, and it drives me crazy. But I love them anyway, and while it is hard to address this kind of topic for fear of creating rifts, it’s my job to respond when something I disagree with is brought up. If I don’t, it is my fault that they continue to hold what I consider flawed beliefs. The same goes for every single person who is “blaming Obama.”
I came dangerously close to supporting Obama through my previous rant. What I said was taken as “it’s not his fault,” and a “he’s done nothing wrong” diatribe. I cannot abide that. I truly feel that we have brought this mess upon ourselves, but I erroneously focused my frustration on conservatives and Republicans, when it is really everyone in the country that I believe is responsible. I know conservatives don’t support the liberals who are damaging our stability and chipping away at our security and liberties. But I worry that we simply aren’t doing enough to challenge the status quo. In the end, I just don’t want us to become what we consider the left, a bunch of people who whine when things don’t go our way.
The same goes for liberals when they don’t like the people who hold office. Quit bitching and do something about it. But really, I don’t want you to be active. I just want you to quit bitching.
I feel the need to apologize for my poorly written and flawed previous address of this issue. I need to stop with the “Five Minute Rants” I love so much, and put more into bringing these things to light. I deserved every sling and arrow that came my way, and cannot disagree with any of the assessments my peers made of my initial argument. Special thanks goes to the no nonsense hard asses at Free Republic, because they did to me what I would have done to anyone else who posted the weakly constructed crap I foolishly offered up. I feel that my message was lost because I didn’t paint a fair and honest picture of the issue.
Hopefully my point is clearer now.
BTW, here's a thumbnail of my wife and me with Sarah:
The three of us talked together for about 35 minutes a couple months ago. I strongly agree with her and what she stands for and wish he the best success on the front she is clearly gifted to fight.
That was cool, now what town do you live in?
I was thinking of taking up a new hobby...Stalking. /s
Ever notice my tag line? ;)
I’ve also made no secret of the fact that I bought a small farm in central Kentucky in October of 2008, closed in summer of 2009 and moved my stuff out there in June of 2010.
And these recent articles can give you a feel from how I see the future based on the past:
http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2563601/posts
I’ve seen this coming for my entire adult life, and ESPECIALLY in the last five years. It started when the US went completely off gold in the Nixon years. But to be clear, I see this as international in scope. If this isn’t the precursor to Ezekiel 39, it would be difficult to imagine what would be.
That was in Seattle.
Well today is your lucky day.
I get enough of the left coast here in the San Francisco Bay area.
Wish you lived somewhere nicer, like Palm Beach.
I was really looking forward to meeting you. /s LOL
I haven’t heard of Sarah coming to the Bay Area but would love to see her.
I hope she “You Betcha’s” all the way to the White House.
This may sound wishy-washy but I see both of your points of view. FR is exactly the right place to have this debate IMO.
Plus, I strongly support whatever Sarah wants to do. I must withhold judgment on whether I’d vote for her for President until all the candidates are known but I think that’s true for most thinking people. Blind loyalty doesn’t work out so well; see Obama. But I really do like Sarah’s courage and fight. We’ll see how her political future plays out.
Fight on, FRiend. :0)
There is a big enough difference between saying "some of you" (caution) and "most of you" (danger) but when you turn it into "all of you," watch out. No one likes to be painted with a broad brush, accused of something and found guilty for no reason.
"One or two FReepers are loony."
"A few FReepers are loony."
"Some FReepers are loony."
"Most FReepers are loony."
"All FReepers are loony."
See the difference? There are some who wouldn't even like the first sentence written above because we're all partners in a common cause. The more generalized you get, the more danger there is.
I imagine my primary failing, then, is that I assume people who are not described in a criticism will not take offense.
But that's not what you did. You described all Americans as being a certain way, and that's where the lack of communication came in.
I resemble that!
Or all of them....sometimes, erh, or at one time or another...
Absolutely correct, and had someone else done the same I would be just as pissed off.
I will endeavor to be more careful and less of a lazy writer. It is far from my goal to insult or attack our fellow FReepers and active conservatives, so hopefully I can avoid doing so in the future.
Don’t take things here so hard.
We’re fellow travelers in the same hand-basket bound for hell.
One way or the other, things will get better.
They -have- to.
I refuse to give up that tiny shred of hope.
[mainly because it’s all that stands between me and ‘the laughing academy’]
Well, we’re all on the same team - so let’s work to defeat Obama’s minions at the polls in November!
Tally ho!
AMEN!
And after this fiasco, I’m going to stick to posts that mock libtards and leftwhacks.
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