Posted on 09/20/2011 2:23:03 PM PDT by neverdem
In re-reading yesterday’s speech by President Obama, several things stand out.
The first is its crass distortions. In his remarks in the Rose Garden, the president said, “If we’re not willing to ask those who’ve done extraordinarily well to help America close the deficit … then the logic, the math says everybody else has to do a whole lot more: We’ve got to put the entire burden on the middle class and the poor.” As others have pointed out, the top 10 percent of earners pay nearly 70 percent of all income taxes and the richest one percent pay more than 30 percent of their income to the federal government, while the average worker pays less than 14 percent. In addition, almost half of the public do not pay any income taxes at all. This is known as a progressive tax system. Now, one may argue the wealthy should pay even more than they do in taxes – but to pretend not embracing Obama’s plan would place the “entire” burden on the middle class and the poor isn’t “math”; it’s a massive distortion.
The second notable thing about Obama’s speech is its insight into the president’s state of mind. Obama has a deep, almost desperate, need to portray himself as the opposite of what he is. This appears to involve more than simple political considerations. Obama has an unusual capacity to conceive of himself in a way that is at odds with reality. And so the most profligate spender in history warns the rest of us about profligacy and not placing a debt burden “on our children’s shoulders.” The man on whose watch America amassed more than $4 trillion in debt says, “Washington has to live within its means.” The president whose stimulus package was among the most wasteful and ineffective in history insists we have to “go through the budget line-by-line looking for waste.” The same individual who ridiculed Speaker Boehner for his “my way or the highway” approach then threatened, in the very same speech, to issue a veto unless he got his way. And the man who professes solidarity with the poor has seen poverty increase each year of his presidency, with a record number of people (46 million) now living in poverty. If that weren’t enough, Obama also wants to reduce the tax benefit for charitable giving.
Then there’s the fellow who lectured us yesterday about fighting for the middle class “as hard as the lobbyists and some lawmakers have fought to protect special treatment for billionaires and big corporations.” This admonition comes from the same fellow who presides over a White House that inappropriately pressured the Office of Management and Budget to approve half-billion dollars to a company, Solyndra, which wasn’t deserving of the money and has now gone belly up. The reason the money was fast-tracked and funneled to Solyndra was because its chief investor, George Kaiser, is a significant fundraiser for Obama. Kaiser, by the way, is a billionaire.
What Obama is acting out is similar to a phenomenon we sometimes see among ministers. It isn’t simply that they avoid sermonizing about areas they themselves are failing in. They actually portray themselves to their congregations as mastering the very sins that beset them. Cynicism and hypocrisy are obviously at play in these circumstances — but often something more complicated is at work. These people have a compulsive need to cover up their vices by trumpeting an imaginary set of virtues. At some point this habit – to view oneself in a way that is utterly divorced from, and even the opposite of, reality – can become unsettling.
A third thing that stands out in Obama’s speech was its undiluted, rank appeal to class envy. The president is clearly hoping to win re-election by running hard against millionaires and billionaires, which is a (silly) political strategy. But that political strategy is anchored in a political philosophy, one that views wealth creators as people for whom the rest of us should have animus. More than that, they deserve to be punished because they are successful. People may do well –but the job of the federal government is to make sure they don’t do too well. That is a near constant sub-text of the entire Obama presidency. Rather than encouraging wealth creation, Obama has attempted to make it a badge of dishonor (except for rich people who support his campaign, in which case they are given a pass). None of this is surprising, given the intellectual milieu in which Obama spent his formative years.
One senses yesterday’s speech was Obama Unplugged, the real deal, the man in his essence. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t impressive. But it was authentic.
Besides talking heads, when are GOP office holders going to make those points?
Before you condemn Obama do a “Google” on symptoms of cocaine use.
I am waiting for Oaf-bama unhinged. Waiting for a Howard Dean moment, a photo of him completely UNCOOL with spittle coming from his nasty mouth.
That will be something to see!
And here I thought his odd behavior was the result of Hopium withdrawal. Learn sumpin' new every day.
Unplugged?...Obama? No, he’s plugged in alright. Only he’s the receptacle and his handlers are busy getting him ready for others to jack in to that bullsh*t.
Or...Perhaps do a “Google” on the symptoms of absolute power.
They include contempt of the law and arrogance.
bump for later reading
“We’ve got to put the entire burden on the middle class and the poor.”>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Yes, thats exactly what Obama will do , destroy the middle class. He must destroy the middle class to bring forward his Utopia...the same was accomplished throughout Europe in the 1920s and 1930s.
Its all here, a good read:
Barrack Obama, The Quintessential Liberal Fascist:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html
I know he doesn’t write his own speeches. He just repeats what his handlers give him. But I wonder which dope smoking, never held a real job, a$$hat writes this crap and expects us not to laugh.
I could care less. It's performance that counts, whether under the influence or not. Winston Churchill supposedly drank heavily.
"So Grant gets drunk, does he?" queried Lincoln, addressing himself to one of the particularly active detractors of the soldier, who, at that period, was inflicting heavy damage upon the Confederates.It'e entirely besides the point. If Obama was sober as a judge, he would still be LBJ and Carter on steroids."Yes, he does, and I can prove it," was the reply.
"Well," returned Lincoln, with the faintest suspicion of a twinkle in his eye, "you needn't waste your time getting proof; you just find out, to oblige me, what brand of whiskey Grant drinks, because I want to send a barrel of it to each one of my generals."
” The president is clearly hoping to win re-election by running hard against millionaires and billionaires, which is a (silly) political strategy”
That’s not so silly, really. It’s pretty much the basis of most community organizing.
I've rubbed elbows with judges at parties where the smoke was so thick you could get high by inhaling and nose candy was being passed around like party favors. We had a state AG that had trouble keeping her car between the white lines (beer goggles)...
Regards,
GtG
PS Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!
“...Look at his eyes. He thinks he’s a real wise man...”
Flo and Eddie, from the song, “Another Pop Star’s Life”
Yep. It was summer, 1978 in Oakland Cty, MI. My friend Scott (RIP) turned 18 that day. I was already 18 (of age back then)...
We were recruited by members of the local Rotary’s to work as volunteers for the outing at a private club. This was before Caddyshack...Man, those guys were pigs but they were cool to us. We got to play 18 ourselves AND drink, smoke and drive the carts all over hell’s half-acre. We ran into a few of our YMCA basketball coaches who were drinking all day...Judges from various districts, lawyers, cops, business owners and other residents of note...shooting dice, craps, Black Jack, women...I had, in my ‘71 Skylark, one of our old coaches, me and Scott and some older bimbo smoking really good gold. It was great.
Now, thirty-some years later, I’m convinced that the world hasn’t changed so much.
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