Monday, May 19, 2008

The Real Obama

Lately, there have been a lot of rumors circulating around about the racist, Islamo-fascist, stuck up, too black, not black enough, inexperienced terrorist Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. Oh, wait, maybe that isn't really who he is. Let's take a look:

Barack Obama isn't now and never has been a Muslim. Obama's father, who left after he and Barack's mother divorced when Barack was 2, was raised a Muslim but was not practicing. In Obama's 5 year stint in Indonesia as a child, he attended one school run by Muslims (not a madrassa), where Muslims comprised a majority of the student body and for two of those five years attended another School run by Catholics. Essentially his mother was just trying to get him into the best school possible and wasn't concerned about the religion of the students or faculty at these facilities. Barack Obama began his professional career working with Churches as a community organizer and is a Christian. Even so, I don't recall the Constitution requiring a person to pass a religious test in order to be President. I don't recall Muslims being forbidden from running for office? That being said, why doesn't anyone make a big deal about Obama's half sister being a Buddhist or John McCain's adopted daughter being from Bangladesh (Formerly Eastern Pakistan), a Muslim country.

He has no Experience: Barack Obama has spent more time in elected office than Hillary Clinton and also more time than George Bush had spent prior to him becoming President. Although, I will be the first to admit that George Bush's lack of experience is painfully obvious and has had disastrous consequences. Bush had 5 years experience as a State Governor, Hillary has served in the U.S. Senate for 6 1/2 years and Obama served in the Illinois State Senate for 8 years and has been in the US Senate for 3 1/2 years for a total of 11 1/2 years of experience.

Obama is a member of the following committees: Senate Foreign Relations Committee with 30 year Incumbent Richard Lugar of neighboring Indiana, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Hilary would contend that her time as first lady counts as "experience" but I used to date an artist and that doesn't make me a painter.

Racist: One paragraph ago you thought he was a Muslim terrorist but as we all know he attends the Trinity Church of Christ on Chicago's south side. This Church had a preacher who, like many preachers in black churches, gives sermons inspired by current events and issues. He says things like America has historically been racist, that white people have more opportunities than black people, that laws have been put in place which targets blacks and that we have stuck our noses in places where it didn't belong and some people have taken exception to that among other things, none of them false. Again, this was Obama's preacher, who isn't running for President, who said these things, not Obama himself.

Obama is half white. His mother was a white lady from Kansas. From the age of 10, he grew up with his white grandparents in Hawaii. He attended Columbia University and was president of the Harvard Law Review. He eats arugula salads; with the exception of him joining a Polka band, you can't get any whiter than that. To say he is racist against white people is simply ludicrous.

If he was forced to vote yay or nay on the Iraq War, he would have caved in and authorized the attack on Iraq: Yet another fallacy. On October 2, 2002, the day Congress authorized the use of force; Obama spoke at an anti-war rally in Chicago condemning the actions of Congress and his fellow Democrats such as Hilary Clinton who voted for the war. He was against it then and is against it now. How good was McCain's judgment and experience on that issue?

He is an elitist: Being educated and not eating 5 Big Mac's a week doesn't make you an elitist. Eating 5 Big Macs a week and not getting the connection between who is running this country and the price of gas, makes you an idiot. Getting into Yale based on your fathers legacy, dodging Vietnam with your fathers political clout makes you an elitist, declining the offers of over 600 glamorous law firms all over the country offering huge salaries but turning them down for less money to work for a firm dedicated to civil rights, voter rights and helping out the people in poor neighborhoods and registering them to vote does not make you an "elitist".

He won't recite the Pledge of Allegiance: Wrong, he does say the Pledge of Allegiance and places his hand over his heart when doing so. He doesn't put his hands over his heart when saying the national anthem but any third grader or fan in a football stadium will tell you that it isn't required. He also doesn't wear a flag pin but neither does Hillary or McCain. I fail to see how a one inch by one inch flag pin made in China proves your patriotism.

He is related to Saddam Hussein: Barack Obama isn't related to either Saddam Hussein nor the late King Hussein of Jordan, an American ally or anyone with the last name Hussein. His middle name is Hussein which is derived from the Semitic word "hasan" meaning good. "Barack" is also derived from a Semitic word meaning "blessed" which appears often in the Hebrew Bible, 62 times in Genesis for example.

Will raise your taxes: If you make over $200,000 per year, then sure, he may restore your tax rate to what it was in the 1990's, one of the most prosperous times in our history. As an Illinois Senator, Obama was responsible for providing over $100 million in tax cuts to working families while expanding early childhood education programs.

He is Liberal: As opposed to someone who thinks the poor should pay all the taxes, that diplomacy is only a last resort after war fails, that thinks the earth is more than 10,000 years old, that thinks teachers make too much, that this is a nation for the corporation by the corporation as opposed to for the people by the people, that subsidies for corporations who export jobs and avoid taxes is sound fiscal policy, that we should bomb people who don't agree with us, that rich people are having a hard time right now and need tax cuts, that the Iraq war was necessary (for Exxon to obtain record profits), that our trade deficit and weak dollar is a good thing, who thinks only people who wear flag pins are patriotic, that by torturing people you will always get the information you are looking for an it will be accurate and inspire other countries to treat our prisoners with compassion, that eight year olds should be able to buy automatic weapons, that companies who give loans to homeless people need to be baled out by the government but the people who can't pay their mortgages are deadbeats, etc. Then yes, thank Buddha, he is liberal.


Oh, and if Clinton fails to get the Democratic nomination, it's not because of sexism, it's because she didn't get as many votes. Ya, we get it, white, uneducated, rednecks in red states won't vote for a black guy but they aren't going to vote for a Democrat in the general election anyway.

4 comments:

Fractalman237 said...

Barack not Muslim. Even if he does not have Muslim beliefs, he was raised Muslim. Furthermore, the only person who can say, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Barack does not have any Muslim beliefs is Barack. Unfortunately, he has already proven that we can't trust his word.

Barack has little experience. This is quite true. Hillary has over 2x the amount of professional experience as he does. Don't believe me? Read my blog posts on the topics (i.e. Hillary's experience and Barack's experience).

Racist. Barack, allegedly, attended a church for over 20 years whose preacher tought hate, racism and anti-American sentiment. Barack has admitted to this. Thus, it is difficult for me to believe that Barack does not also share some of the same sentiments. Again, the only person who can say, without a doubt, as to whether or not he is racist is Barack. And again, we cannot trust his word. I have a few posts on this topic too.

Barack voted against the Iraq War. Sure. So what? He was a member of the Illinois State Senate. His word/vote had little to no effect on the decision to go to war with Iraq. So, his stressing "I was against the war from the start" doesn't really mean anything. So was I. What say did I have in the situation. None. Thus, my opinion doesn't count.

Elitist. Most presidential candidates can be accused of this. It's a "don't care" for me.

Patriotism. The notion of patriotism is much more important than the Pledge of Allegiance. I hate to sound like a broken record, but only Barack knows his level of patriotism. As for the reast of us knowing, only time will tell.

Related to Saddam Hussein. That's a ridiculous claim. He's no more related to Saddam than I am to King David.

He'll raise your taxes. One thing's for sure . . . we need to pay off the national deficit somehow. If that means raising taxes, so be it. Especially if it means making the billionaires give up more of their income.

He's liberal. Yes. Plain and simple. His voting record proves that much. I don't like either extreme. That's why Hillary has my vote.

Patrick M said...

I'll be easy on you today. I have a question: What will Obama do (domestically) if and when he becomes President? I'm still fuzzy on that one.

Toad734 said...

Frac:

Maybe you didn't read what I have written, he wasn't raised a Muslim, that's the point. White people from Kansas who live in Hawaii generally don't raise 10 year olds as Muslims. He doesn't even remember his father. Of the 5 years he was in Indonesia, he attended schools run by both Muslimas and Catholics. I assume that finding a Catholic school, or a shool with no Muslims in it in Indonesia is about as easy as finding a Muslim School in Iowa. His mom and his moms parents were the constant non-muslims in his life and they were the only constants. To say he may have a little better understanding of Islam than Clinton or McCain is fair but he has never been to Meca or been a practicing Muslim. That is a fact.

Again, I dated a Painter but that doesn't make me an artist. If you marry an airline pilot it doesn't mean you know how to land an F-18 on an aircraft carrier. He has more experience in an elected office than Hillary.

Barack's preacher never said anything racist. Name one time where he said he hated white people, that all white people had small penis' or that white men can't jump or what ever. Saying that laws have been tailored to target blacks isn't racist, its a fact. Hillary Clinton has never been called a nigger, that is a fact. America has continually invaded other countries, installed western friendly governments who exploited and repressed their people all to benefit us and make us money. Someone finally took exception to that and retaliated, that is a fact. That isn't anti-American per say. "God Damn America", sure it sounds anti American but what was he saying, he was saying God Damn the American government for bringing us 9/11. 9/11 didn't happen in a vacuum. It wasn't justified but it was a reaction to our actions.

War: if McCain and Hilary are going to talk about Judgement and calls at 2am they better have the record to back it up. They don't, Obama does. I was downtown that day he gave his speech. He knew the war was bullshit. Sure, he was in a better position than the other two to be against the war but I am sure there were plenty of state senators who have always been pro war.

Elitist: Agreed. If you think you can run the most powerful nation in the world, you had better think or know that you are better than anyone else. I don't want the schmuck I see passed out at the bar running the country I can assure you of that.

Thats fine if you prefer Hilary, she's a viable candidate. You don't have to like Obama but just don't believe the bullshit like he's really a Muslim. He cant be both Muslim and radical black Christian.

Toad734 said...

Patrick:

-Hire more teachers
-Invest in early childhood education
-Invest in older deteriorating schools
-Try to get parents more involved with their childrens education
-Invest in Nuclear power
-Close tax loopholes so Corporations can't incorporate in the Camans or elsewhere
-Provide tax incentives for companies who hire employees in the US
-Tax the shit out of people who close factories here and move them over seas.
-Teach abstinence but also sex education and make protection available
-Assume good faith to abortion protestors
-Keep abortion safe and legal
-Stop spending 12 billion per month in Iraq and spend it here
-reinstate the tax rate for people who make over $200,000 to the rate it was in the booming economy of the 90s which will raise 150 billion dollars
-Apply affirmative action to poor, rural, white college applicants
-Put caps on farm subsidies which go towards major corporations (I wish he would eliminate them)
-Will favor alternative sentencing and rehab as opposed to jail
-Will expand drug courts and help people with substance abuse problems as opposed to just throwing them in jail.
-Provide free college for students with B average in H.S regardless of income.
-As Illinois Senator he cut taxes by over 100 million for working families with Children
-Also made it mandatory that the Police tape confessions of murder suspects
-Wants to raise fuel effeciency standards
-Wants to find a way to stop sending all our money to Middle East for Energy.
-Has voted YES to eliminate oil and gas subsidies
-Will protect national parks and wilderness areas.
-Will enforce environmental and labor provisions in trade aggreements
-Will reword NAFTA to make it more favorable to us and include labor provisions
-Will enforce safety standards of Chinese made products

To name a few

Does that help?

So, how does McCain plan to ruin the country?

Actually, I know McCain will be better than Bush even though he's a flip flopper.