Saturday, February 21, 2015

Does Obama 'Love' America?


Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani recently remarked that he wasn't sure that President Obama truly 'loves' America in the same way he (and presumably) others like him do. Giuliani, a Republican, is not regarded as one of those run-of-the-mill social and economic conservative Republicans or ultra Right Wing religious zealot types. In fact, he is usually seen as one of the few remaining moderate voices coming from the Right (what others on that side of political aisle refer to as a "RINO"---Republican In Name Only for their refusal to fully partake of the red Kool-Aid. Apparently, most of these "RINOs" opted for the more moderate "Purple Punch" brand of common sense politics that many on the Right have rejected which examines issues and people as they are, not the morally delinquent lazy hedonists or even the tried and true pinko commie perspective.

I don't know if I would agree with the former mayor's assessment of Obama, but I have noticed
his tendency to not to assert the level
of leadership one would expect for an American President (or for that matter, the skill set one would expect from someone in is position). Perhaps that stems from his lack of prior experience in either the real world or politics. I've noticed too that Obama always seems to be long of rhetoric (he still gives upbeat speeches with catchy sound bites ), but his follow through is almost always short on results. In fact, although he's nearly through his second term, I still can't get the images of his "world apology" tour from his first term out of my mind. Nor, it would seem, that I can easily forget seeing him refuse to put his right hand over his heart during a Pledge of Allegiance moment, or his stumbling over those Benghazi and "Operation Fast and Furious" cover-ups.

Of course there is also his blatant lying to the American People about the costs and affects of Obamacare, or his repeated and gross miscalculation of events in Iraq and Afghanistan, while hard selling an invasion of Syria to a reluctant American Public. Ultimately, he called for a reduction of US military strength to pre-World War II levels (yes, you read that right-pre WWII levels, when we were considered woefully unprepared even by those standards), and we still have no coherent plan for dealing with the Middle East, except if you want calling the terrorists everything but what they actually are and downplaying their threats a plan. At the same time, his repeated violations of his Constitutional authority when it comes to granting amnesty or his gutting much of the enforcement power of our border agents and ICE regarding illegal immigration.

Who can forget his ordering of then US Attorney General Eric Holder's office to sue the State of Arizona for enforcing existing US
federal immigration laws, and then, in a unprecedented move, allowing a foreign power--Mexico-- to join in the lawsuit? Speaking of immigration, Obama has opened the door to allow immigrants from the places like Syria and Iraq into the US while admitting that some could in actuality be terrorists (in fact, if these terrorists can be believed, they claim to already be here thanks to Obama. And as an aside, many conservative pundits claims that the Obama Regime is "full" of closet members of the extremist Moslem Brotherhood). Of course, he's gone the full Monty on surveillance and monitoring of US citizens, but I don't want to "drone" on. I will say, however, that if you're not on some government watch list by now you should be ashamed of yourself!

Then there was, of course, his bailouts of Wall Street for being "too big to fail" while denying ordinary American homeowners and small business owners the same chance at financial relief. Why did the already cash strapped US taxpayers have to bailout Wall Street for their bad business decisions which were largely based on greed? Why did he fail to act---even say anything---when some of this money when to pay overpaid executives additional cash bonuses while ordinary homeowners were losing their homes? I should add at this point that the American People--regardless of their political leanings---were very vocal in their opposition to these bailouts. We can't forget that the 2005 Supreme Court "Citizens United" mis-decision happened on his watch too. This allowed corporations to come out of the shadows and openly buy elections by removing all financial shackles on them in the name of "free speech" and affording them the same...actually greater...rights than flesh and blood human beings. Of course the corporate media, irrespective of Left or Right, soft-pedaled most all of any of this. It seems they could support or oppose the President's actions within limits by either downplaying or ignoring it or simply glossing over it like a can of Pledge.

For the record too, none of what Obama has done was to initiate or advance "socialism". I think those who advocate that arguement are guilty of either being misinformed or trying to throw everyone off the track. Obama is as far from actual socialism as he can get despite his alleged past associates. Socialism is about public ownership and control for the benefit of the people (Communism is where the State owns everything). I don't see weaker corporate power or Wall Street going away do you? I do see an America which have become an oligarchy. I do see an America with a nearly dead middle class while the top 1% own the majority of the nation's wealth--42% while the bottom 80% controls just 7%. I do see an income and wealth gap greater and deeper than at nearly any time in US history---something that wouldn't exist under socialism. This is a prelude to fascism plain and simple. Fascism borrows from the Left and the Right. While it varies from country to country, based on its history and traditions, the end goals is a ruling partnership between the political class and the most powerful corporations and financial elites. It usually starts with an oligarchy, and using a militarized Police State and some defined or undefined "enemy", gradually morphs into a fascist nation...for your own good of course.

So, back to the top---I don't know if I would fully agree with Mayor Giuliani's assessment that President Obama doesn't "love America" as perhaps he thinks he should. I think Obama does, in his own way, love America. The trouble, however, is that his America is not ours.


Rudy Giuliani: Obama 'Doesn't Love' America
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/19/rudy-giuliani-obama-love-america_n_6712428.html?1424356358

Rudy Giuliani: I Received Death Threats In Wake of Obama Comment
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/21/rudy-giuliani-obama-death-threats_n_6726772.html

How Unequal We are
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/10/03/334156/top-five-wealthiest-one-percent/

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