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The Obama Watch
Imperial Hypocrisy
You can’t say we weren’t warned ahead of time.
You can’t say we weren’t warned ahead of time about Obama’s globalist and controlling tendencies.
As candidate Obama explained in a campaign speech in Portland on May 18, 2008, it would be tough for him to get together with the world’s leaders and establish international controls on human behavior if we continue to carry on with our individualistic hankerings to eat cheeseburgers and drive things that are twice as big as the SmartCar.
“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times and then just expect that other countries are going to say okay,” he proclaimed. “That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen.”
By Obama’s definition of U.S. “leadership,” we get a seat at the table with the world planners if we bow to their demands in terms of what we buy and how we live, if we downsize in accordance with their centralized planning, if we admit our gluttonous faults and send reparations for all the effluence and global warming that our materialistic successes have caused over the past century.
At the White House, however, it’s a different picture. Instead of guilt, global consciousness, and keeping the thermostat at an earth-friendly 60 degrees, it seems that Obama likes it hot at the Executive Mansion.
“The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket,” reported the New York Times on January 29. “There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat.” ”He’s from Hawaii, OK?” explained Mr. Obama’s senior advisor, David Axelrod. “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”
Al Gore should calculate how many extra polar bears are likely to drown if Obama keeps it hot enough for four years to grow orchids in all 132 rooms of the White House, plus the 35 bathrooms.
It’s the same with food. We’re supposed to cut back while Obama is jetting in Wagyu steaks from Japan. The good stuff, the result of cattle bred for generations to be genetically predisposed to intense marbling, goes for $300 a pound.
For the accompanying vegetable, the First Lady has a knack for simultaneously maximizing her carbon footprint while picking out the perfect bunch of politically correct kale. Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank described one such trip:
Let’s say you’re preparing dinner and you realize with dismay that you don’t have any certified organic Tuscan kale. What to do? Here’s how Michelle Obama handled this very predicament Thursday afternoon: The Secret Service and the D.C. police brought in three dozen vehicles and shut down H Street, Vermont Avenue, two lanes of I Street and an entrance to the McPherson Square Metro station. They swept the area in front of the Department of Veterans Affairs with bomb-sniffing dogs and installed magnetometers in the middle of the street, put up barricades to keep pedestrians out, and took positions with binoculars atop trucks. Though the produce stand was only a block or so from the White House, the First Lady hopped into her armored limousine and pulled into the market amid the wail of sirens.
The whole thing reminds me of when Forbes ranked the allegedly egalitarian Fidel Castro well above Queen Elizabeth in personal wealth. Castro responded by threatening a lawsuit.
About the Author
Ralph R. Reiland is the B. Kenneth Simon professor of free enterprise and an associate professor of economics at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (81) | Leave a comment
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stephanie| 11.23.09 @ 6:35AM
these people make me sick. Almost three years and counting.
Alan Brooks| 11.23.09 @ 11:45AM
But what a relief the RINO is gone.
Besides, you are underestimating Obama's astuteness-- as you did Clinton's.
RINO fools me once, shame on him;
fools me twice, shame on me.
But (and there's always a 'but'), on election day in November of '12 you will see. Care to wager? no, you are conservatives/rightists, and that sort of betting is in bad taste.
Alan Brooks| 11.23.09 @ 11:51AM
okay, Bush:
he was dealt a bad hand and he meant well.
However, you can say the same concerning Carter. Bush wasn't a wuss like Carter, but they had one thing in common...
they had bad hands that they played badly-- and in Vegas nice guys finish dead last.
Today has the same zeitgeist as '93, sadness that a George Bush botched it up, but a hope that the damage wont be permanent.
Ken (Old Texican)| 11.23.09 @ 1:18PM
Yeah oh Swami...I shall "wager".
In fact, I have already ... Helping found T.E.A.M. AMERICA, ( www.myteamusa.org ) I have wagered it all.
Whyile you sit there and bellyache, I'm working to find good candidates across the country and lining up backing for them.
Obama is not "astute" by any measuring stick. The man cannot even construct a declarative sentence without a tele-prompter. There are two reasons for that.
1. One must couch one's lies very carefully to stay on "false message". Remember one lie must lead to more lies to support it.
2. He cannot speak a declarative sentence without hems and umms.
The man got the "perfect storm" to be elected. We here all know the components.
To you rinowhiners out there, I have a message:
Lead.....Follow...or shut your cowardly mouths the hell up.
You guys will be "fooled" until the day you die....and meet your Creator.
S.L. Toddard| 11.23.09 @ 1:52PM
Going by T.E.A.M. America's theme song (below), I'm not sure it's going to win too many conservative hearts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZdJRDpLHbw
Margie| 11.23.09 @ 1:59PM
S.lithering L.iar Toddard lives up to his name today, tomorrow, and always.
S.L. Toddard| 11.23.09 @ 2:07PM
Quick FreeMan - tattle on Margie! She is "name calling" again!
Alan Brooks| 11.23.09 @ 3:59PM
In this Toddard and I are allies.
The candidates Texican admires are decent people, but that's what makes then unelectable. Today you get RINOs and unstable conservatives (and I admit I am a uc) such as Sanford. Did you read that he is up on 37 counts of ethics violations? Cripes. And I read articles this morning on California, it will be a decade or more before it digs itself out of the hole it's in. Plus there's at least 4 or 5 million illegals in California. They are never going home.
Adding it all up, it looks good if you are a commie, bad if you are any sort of a conservative who wants to conserve anything in the first half of the century. After 2050? Ask the real swami, Newt, and his futurist pal Toffler. I CAN however, Tex, predict that solid conservatives cannpt get elected OR cannot govern as conservatives if they are elected in such an era of flux.
Politics is the art of the possible, not the Impossible. Even Palin is not a magician; in fact as soon as she were to be elected to something (she might run for governor of California-- a great steppingstone to POTUS-- if she really tried to play her cards right), she would have to completely compromise with any and all bureaucratic potentates.
You think I don't like Bush? wrong; I don't detest him as I detest Carter. I feel sad Bush messed up, this decade has been a messy, nasty one, that only a sadist could enjoy.
And when did I EVER say I am an optimist? Not for years. But if you like pleasure and excitement, the future is yours.
Decency and virtue? Wrong era.
And BTW, Tex
Alan Brooks| 11.23.09 @ 4:09PM
... the reason Todd and I are allies is that I think he knows that the GOP is no longer a conservative party but rather an anti-conservative one. Now, if you are right wing, such as a radical conservative, an unpredictable person, that's a different ball game; but if you are sincerely conservative then ask yourself: what does the GOP conserve anymore?
Worse, perhaps it isn't their fault, maybe the stomach churning change Toffler predicted is coming in the next decade.
Some like it hot.
But nobody's perfect.
Alan Brooks| 11.23.09 @ 4:17PM
"[snip] would have to completely compromise with any and all bureaucratic potentates...."
Above is the key, even a manly-man such as Schwarzenegger can't deal with bureaucrats!
He isn't the Terminator, he is the Worminator.
S.L. Toddard| 11.23.09 @ 6:07PM
Ken Old Texican (aka K-Ol-T .45) - what do you think of this piece about Texas, the Alamo and some other stuff. What's your take:
"SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—It’s good to be in Texas. To a European like me, Texas is why we came to America. It’s a huge state, but more important, it’s a state of mind. It is a fount of freedom and imagination. For most of the inhabitants of America’s two coasts, Texas is worse than flyover country. Texas represents everything they hate about America: Texas is big, loud, white, Republican, Christian; it produces fossil fuel, its citizens drive big cars that use up a lot of fuel, they eat a lot—starchy, fatty foods—they carry guns. The so-called elites in the Bagel, inside the Beltway, and in El Lay turn Orlando Furioso whenever the word “Texas” comes up. They see it as a stronghold of religious fundamentalism, homophobia, racism, sexism, and mindless patriotism. And now Texas is tainted through its association with George W. Bush and the neocons who conned him, two disastrous unnecessary wars, bank bailouts, and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Mind you, I loved the place the moment I set foot on its soil. It was my first time. And I walked straight to the Alamo.
Here’s a bit of historical background from Professor Taki of the University of Texas: In 1846, ten years after the Alamo, President James Polk took office with the intention of seizing all Mexican territory between Texas and the Pacific, including California. He sent General Zachary Tailor to grab land north of the Rio Grande, provoking a shoot-out with Mexican troops. War was declared by Jimmy Polk (I call him Jimmy because I once slept in his family bed in Virginia, hence the familiarity) and he invaded Mexico. A bit like looking for WMD’s in Iraq 157 years later, but what the heck. Although the Mexicans fought bravely the Gringos prevailed, and in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico gave up—get this—all claims to Texas and what is today California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, Wyoming, and New Mexico. No wonder Mexicans are known to mug Gringo drunks and steal their wallets. They feel entitled. And now to the Alamo. It’s the American Thermopylae and San Antonio’s prime attraction. Texas being Texas, there are two of them. The real one and that of John Wayne. The real one and its walled-in, landscaped grounds are a green oasis in the heart of busy downtown San Antonio. The city of 1.2 million was built around the old Spanish mission known as the Alamo. All that remains of the original fort are the church and part of the walls of the convent. The guns used to repel Santa Ana are there, the same guns which were turned against the gallant defendants once the Federales had overrun the outer walls. When John Wayne came down to shoot his film, he realized the original mission was no good. You couldn’t very well have Mexican troops in plumes charging up through skyscrapers and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, which surround the real thing. So he went out to the desert some fifteen miles and threw up the Hollywood version. It outdraws the original by three to one I am told.
I loved the Duke’s movie, but then I love all lost causes. President Monroe had given up any claim to Texas during Mexico’s war of independence from Spain, the latter giving permission for some 300 Americans to settle there. The new Mexican government went along with it and the new Texans swore allegiance to Mexico. Which in a way is like swearing allegiance to Brussels. The Gringos were too pro-U.S. and General Santa Anna marched on San Antonio with 2,500 troops to teach them a lesson. 189 Americans, most of them recently arrived, decided to fight in the Alamo. Santa Anna’s troops were tired and had obsolete weapons. The Gringos were sharpshooters and had better cannons and arms. After a 13-day siege, the Mexicans breached the north wall of the fort and in a 90-minute fierce hand-to-hand battle every defender was killed. William Travis, of South Carolina, died early on from a bullet to the head. James Bowie of Tennessee died in his sickbed, fighting to the last with his famous Bowie knife, no one knows how the great David Crockett fell, but fall he did. 600 Mexicans died, one, Jose Maria Torres, while raising the Mexican flag after tearing down the Texan banner. His hand was still on the flagpole when Santa Anna came in to review the massacre. One slave, one Mexican, and a few women were allowed to go free and spread the word. Remember the Alamo became the slogan for the Mexican-American war that followed ten years later. Santa Anna died a pauper, and not a billionaire, probably the only Mexican president (as he became later) to do so, .
The names of Bowie, Travis, Crockett and the rest are all carved on the monument in front of the mission. They are all Anglo-Saxon and German names, with two Hispanic ones. In the speech I gave to the Rockford Institute, I mentioned the fact that they died in vain, because they were fighting for Texan independence, not for the Union. If Texas was independent today it would be an even greater state and far richer than it is. In fact I would move there tomorrow and even wear a ten gallon hat and date a cheerleader. But it was not to be. Like Britain in the EU, Texas is being slowly strangled by the socialist monster of DC."
from takimag
jack| 11.23.09 @ 6:45AM
how does a person whose only job in life was as a community organizer become the most powerful person in the world? It happens with an uninformed public who spend most of their life in front of electronic games or tvs.
we can only hope this lunatic drives the entire left circus of a cliff
1FreeMan| 11.23.09 @ 6:49AM
Obama can do whatever he likes. He is a star. He is The One! He better ride the gravy train while he can. The rest of the country has had abot enough. This will not be a two-term president. When his term ends the stories of greed, corruption and lawlessness that will come out will set a new standard... about as low as you can go. Chicago-BANG-BANG-politics, as usual.
Appleby| 11.23.09 @ 6:58AM
The only way you can be warned is ahead of time.
stephanie| 11.23.09 @ 11:02AM
And it was ALL out there for the citizens to see.
They were blinded by their hatred for W and refused to see the "warning signs".
Louis Jenkins| 11.23.09 @ 7:14AM
Dr. Mr. Reiland:
I fail to understand the point of your article. This one is preaching to the choir. Everyone who posts here is painfully aware of what the Messiah and Chief does, has done, and they can reasonable predict what he will do. Should we expect anything different? His is a politician's dream, and he has raised "Do what I say, not what I do" to new heights. Get ready for more, three years to go.
Melvin| 11.23.09 @ 7:24AM
Not that long ago before becoming a Senator Obama literally didn't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of, (until Chicago politics and cronyism came to the rescue.)
Funny how becoming a politician always seems to change one's financial status doesn't it?
Humility doesn't seem to be in the character of Mr. & Mrs. Obama.
Robert Rosencrans| 11.23.09 @ 7:25AM
Although Barack Obama lies with ease about many things, he spoke several truths during the campaign.
I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody.
Barack Obama
I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.
Barack Obama
In America, there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world.
Barack Obama
People of Berlin - people of the world - this is our moment. This is our time.
Barack Obama
The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them.
Barack Obama
We need to steer clear of this poverty of ambition, where people want to drive fancy cars and wear nice clothes and live in nice apartments but don't want to work hard to accomplish these things. Everyone should try to realize their full potential.
Barack Obama
The problem is he also lied during the campaign.
I don't take a dime of their [lobbyist] money, and when I am president, they won't find a job in my White House.
Barack Obama
I can make a firm pledge, under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.
Barack Obama
hunter| 11.23.09 @ 7:37AM
Look at Zimbabwe, its on the web, Cathy Buckle writes a good article every week. Zimbabwe is a exact image of where this country is heading with rocket Obomba express speed. He wants to take this nation to the depths of 3rd world countries. So that the elite like Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe President) and he can rule as dictators, beings they are the only enlightened, and entitled ones on the earth. Look up Zimbabwe by Cathy Buckle
Shamus| 11.23.09 @ 7:42AM
Children in grade school are shown propaganda lauding Obama. Does this mean that Obama plans to stay in office past 2017?
JamesJ| 11.23.09 @ 7:55AM
Louis Jenkins, its called therapy
Pingback| 11.23.09 @ 8:13AM
Twitter Trackbacks for The American Spectator : Imperial Hypocrisy [spectator.org] o links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Louis Jenkins| 11.23.09 @ 8:23AM
Therapy? For whom? If kicking a hornet's nest and getting stung is good for arthritis, then I guess so. Ain't saying that this doofus' term in office doesn't make me appreciate what we had, but I was an unfortunate prophet. Or like Paul Revere, the "Socialists are coming!" Problem is, a lot didn't understand or even care what was being predicted, and they voted wrongly! I hope they enjoy licking their wounds, and they can lick mine too.
"...where people want to drive fancy cars and wear nice clothes and live in nice apartments but don't want to work hard to accomplish these things." I couldn't agree more. I've foresook this way of living all my life and believe that frugality is a safe way to live. Ben Franklin made a lot of sense. Too bad the Messiah doesn't do the same. I get bent outta shape when I see people living beyond their means, then declare bankruptcy when the rubber hits the road. Gypsies in the palace. I have no pity for their ways.
Mattled| 11.23.09 @ 8:42AM
I think Louis Jenkins has it right. We appreciate what TAS does and I have been a fan of Mr. Tyrrell's since the mid 90's----when we had a competent RNC leader, Haley Barbour, and a way to speak above the Felonious Media.
We had GOP-TV and it absolutely gave the right message in terms of vision and American Greatness.
Articles like this are ----filling space? WE knew who he was. Like a post I just read from ATR. We need to get a media plan, a PR plan to speak above the MSM---they have the knives out for ANYONE Conservative.
What's the plan Mr. Steele? The liberals are mind-numbed robots and Obamabi can NEVER do wrong. It's the Independents and Moderates and mid-life 40-ish Democrat (like my sisters during the Clinton era) who still believe in God, Independence and American Greatness.
My sisters, once Dem voters---all three---are now Republicans when they saw the Clinton Admin fall apart in '98 with seedy semen strained dresses and beret-wearing intern stories. If it wasn't for Drudge, we would have never known that story as Newsweek sat on it
TAS, and others like it, need to coordinate with RNC, Heritage etc. etc.----I am more involved than ever before and have already warned my spouse that no one is safe from me----including the Obama delegate friend and the in-laws.
What's the plan?
Otis, my man!| 11.23.09 @ 9:06AM
Why do I suddenly hear the theme song to "The Jeffersons" playing in my head?
Klabautermann| 11.23.09 @ 1:50PM
Turn down your thermostat. Follow the leader. He is setting an example of frugality. I know Michelle wears those $540 Lanvin sneakers (or were they clown shoes?), but she does make significant sacrifices. Instead of the $5,950 alligator manila clutch she opted for the $875 VBH patent leather clutch. Even though the VBH spokesperson insisted it was the alligator clutch the spokesperson was eventually made to see the light.
Jay Pitsby| 11.23.09 @ 9:36AM
Hey Appleby, aside from the fact that a warning after the fact is really no warning, Obango types invariable walk up to victims of train wreaks just so they can appear to be helping when all they are doing is mocking you for not taking their advice that you should have know about if you would but hang on their every word.
Ken (Old Texican)| 11.23.09 @ 9:39AM
Mattled, Louis
You guys are precisely on point!
Good article...if one likes repetitive elevator music.
How about an article here on amspec about which States have a "closed" primary so we can start recruiting conservatives on the Republican side.
Look guys, The Republicans HAVE the right principles and planks most of us could agree on.
We just gotta' get the right candidates nominated for the general elections.
The Toddards and Reds and other "cranks" will do whatever meaningless things they do, regardless.
I suggest each of you go to the main GOP website and read the platform planks for a refresher.
We just need candidates with the courage of their, (and our), convictions. http://judgeroy.wordpress.com
Rmm| 11.23.09 @ 10:52AM
Old Texican
Good advice, if it were plausible.
Here on the Left Coast, we reside in a district of foaming-at-the-mouth Libs. I feel like the lamb circled by a pack of wolves. The only vote I have is with my feet,when we can leave, and maybe move back to Texas.
stephanie| 11.23.09 @ 11:12AM
Start packing Rmm. California is a gonner.
Texas is the one place that is calling me too.
We now live 3 hours south of obama town (DC) and the stence is strong even here. The rabid democrat dogs are around us here as well, though not quite as bad as the left coast. Good luck!
dan| 11.23.09 @ 10:15AM
funny how these ghetto creatures, as if their is any other way to describe these two haters of america from chicago, love living large on our dime.
But isn't this the type of payback that race hustlers like jackson, sharpton and wright have preached all along.
Or is it merely animal farm come to life, when the pigs who copndemned the lifestyle of the farmer end up living better than the farmer
S.L. Toddard| 11.23.09 @ 10:15AM
"By Obama's definition of U.S. "leadership," we get a seat at the table with the world planners if we bow to their demands in terms of what we buy and how we live"
Liberals want America to have a seat at the global-government table. Neoconservatives want America to have the command seat (i.e. an imperial throne) at the global-government table. Conservatives want nothing to do with that table, and want America to govern itself and no one else.
melvin| 11.23.09 @ 10:20AM
And who would you want to sit at the command seat?
stephanie| 11.23.09 @ 11:16AM
That's right Toddard. America is the best country in the world to live in, that's why we have so many illegals, and to remain so, it needs to be a soverign nation, not a part of the the global pack.
1FreeMan| 11.23.09 @ 12:26PM
Ah, the Obama apoligist posting his one-world government AGAIN. People, please read this crank's post carefully: This idiot wants us to "sit" at the table where forigners "tell" the US how to govern, what resources they can use and how to use our labor, resources and technoology to prop up the world. Then this nut-job will be thrilled when his one-world leader proclaims Allah as the only true religion and ouotlaws Christianity. Where will our Constitution be? Forgotten as non-relevent in face of the one-world court. Toddard is now officially a subversive attacking the USA. Where is the FBI when you need them?
S.L. Toddard| 11.23.09 @ 1:12PM
I would ask everyone to "read this crank's (FreeMan's) post carefully" - he has quite literally got everything wrong.
Your stupidity, FreeMan, is remarkable. I don't want America to have a seat (command or otherwise) at the global governance table - I "want nothing to do with that table, and want America to govern itself and no one else". I am also not an "Obama apologist" - I am an Obama critic who believes (and who has stated numerous times) that Obama should be impeached.
I can't tell you how much time I must waste explaining the most rudimentary points in the simplest language possible for the educationally-challenged. It is tiresome, to say the least.
1Freeman| 11.23.09 @ 10:07PM
Don't be fooled by the lies of this crank. Take a few moments anr read just a few of this idiots posts. Once cornered like a rat he pretends to be something other than the drooling liberal he is. He is a paid shill attacking this board. Toddard, how about you try and serve this country instead of attacking it???
S.L. Toddard| 11.24.09 @ 7:21AM
"Toddard, how about you try and serve this country instead of attacking it"
In a free republic the citizenry does not "serve" the government - the government serves the citizenry. You seem to be a rather stupid person, Freeman, so I'm going to explain this to you until you understand: I have been arguing for months and months here in favor of small government. Not surprisingly, almost no one here agrees with me that we should have small government. You see, instead of a small government, most "conservatives" here want HUGE government. Most "conservatives" here want the sort of massive leviathan state necessary to lead, rule over and police the entire world. This is because I am a "conservative", and they are liberal globalists.
Margie| 11.24.09 @ 12:53PM
It is revealing that Toddard's reply to you shows that he equates serving your country as "serving the government."
he cannot fathom that a man would be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice by laying down his life for his fellow Americans so that we can stay safe and continue being a free country. Men and women like you, who volunteer and are brave and proud to serve. No, he in fact despises you, insults and demeans you, and this reveals his true character.
Typical Leftist.
No conservative!
S.L. Toddard| 11.24.09 @ 5:27PM
"It is revealing that Toddard's reply to you shows that he equates serving your country as "serving the government."
Unsurprisingly, Marge has it backward again. *He* equated "country" with "government" when he accused me of "attacking" "this country" when I attack the gov't. I merely refuted his claims using his language.
"(S)he in fact despises you, insults and demeans you, and this reveals h(er) true character.
Typical Leftist."
Margie| 11.23.09 @ 2:08PM
Way to twist it, O S.lithering one.
Liberals want FORTRESS AMERICA.
That would be YOU!
S.L. Toddard| 11.23.09 @ 2:53PM
You poor, poor woman.
By "Fortress America" (and I have to explain this to you because you are generally unfamiliar with a great number of the words you use) Ken refers to non-interventionism. Liberals have always - and still do - stood *against* non-interventionism. Liberals are notorious busybodies - they cannot stand it that other people in other places might be living in discord with Liberal ideals. That is why a Liberal in Massachusetts cannot stand it that a conservative in Montana has as many hunting rifles as he pleases. It is why a Liberal in New York cannot stand it if students in Georgia prays in class. It's why a feminist at Harvard will break out into hives if the people of Alabama decide they want no abortions in their state. It was Liberals who pushed to insinuate America deeply into the affairs of Europe - and *conservatives* that argued against. You should be able to discern the truth of this in the very words themselves: *conservatives* fought to *conserve* America's traditional policy of non-interventionism, expressed so eloquently by George Washington in his Farewell Address, and adhered to (to varying degrees) from his presidency on to the Progressive Era, which was initiated by the ideological forbears of today's Progressives. It was Liberals who argued that America should "make the world safe for democracy" and *conservatives* who argued that America should look to her own Republic. It was *conservatives* who argued for non-interventionism against the Liberal Woodrow Wilson. It was *conservatives* who argued for non-interventionism against Liberal FDR until we were attacked, and then they went all-in (non-interventionists believe wholeheartedly in defensive war - just not aggressive war).
As the GOP embraced former Trotskyites and Liberals in the name of anti-communism, the GOP drifted Left and abandoned the default conservative (and American) non-interventionist foreign policy. I understand that you were 100% ignorant of these facts, and that you remain ignorant of them even now, because you won't believe what I've told you.
Nevertheless, it's true.
Non-interventionism is the antithesis of Liberalism - Liberals believe it is the proper role of our Government to precipitate progress and transform society - both at home (through social programs etc) and abroad (through foreign aid and, when that doesn't work, war). Conservatives traditionally believed the opposite. Non-interventionism is merely consistent conservatism - we believe gov't does more harm than good, and that this principle doesn't stop at the water's edge. We believe in small government - and no small government can rule over, lead and police the world, or build nations out of thin air. Non-interventionists are simply conservatives who adhere to a conservative foreign policy rather than the policy of Liberal Wilsonian Interventionism, which both of today's Liberal parties (the Democrats and Republicans) embrace.
Margie| 11.23.09 @ 3:09PM
You will remain a poor, poor man.
Liberals are the old 1960's Flower Power generation all grown up now and running things in Washington, D.C.
They are also in their ivory towers bad-mouthing America and wishing for Utopia, while preaching Bring The Troops Home! That's right, pull out like we did in Nam. The Hippies are running the asylum. They want Fortress America too. And you want more of the same.
S.L. Toddard| 11.23.09 @ 3:35PM
I'm sorry, Marge, but you're simply incorrect. Liberals do not want "Fortress America". Do you know of one prominent Liberal who wants to seal our borders, bring all of our troops home from all over the world and end foreign aid to every nation? Of course not.
And please, Marge, don't forget that it was Liberals who pushed us into Vietnam - a Liberal project that ended the way all pie-in-the-sky Liberal projects do: in abject failure. Much like the Liberal nation-building projects in Iraq and Afghanistan will.
Our culture - democratic, free - is not the product of our constitutional republic. Rather the converse is true: our constitutional republic is the product of our culture. Not every culture is conducive to democracy, the cultures of the tribes of Afghanistan being particularly poignant cases-in-point.
Margie| 11.23.09 @ 8:47PM
Not sure what you're trying for with all of your talk but it seems to me that no Party, no Person, no Any Thing is good enough for you. You find fault with everyone and everything around you. You obviously despise real conservatives. Worse, you try to redefine conservativism by insulting and demeaning them. As you can see, you're losing. What's wrong with Sarah Palin? What's wrong with Mike Pence? They aren't non-interventionists. That's what. Get with the program. Join the real world and fight with us instead of all the phony nonsense.
bill carson| 11.23.09 @ 10:18AM
I note with interest the above comments saying the Obama will be a one term president. Don't bet on it! During the 2012 election campaign the people will be told that they're racist for making a failure out of the first black president (sorry to Bill Clinton!). That may be the issue, not the rejection of all the stupid ideas and shopping trips. It will be very difficult to throw those two out of the WH. At a minimum, we better do all we can to upend Congress so that he is unable to get a bill out after 2010.
dan| 11.23.09 @ 11:21AM
bill
better to be labeled a racist by the leftiests and the blacks than to sit by and watch the messiah destroy america.
But as we have witnessed over the years, the charges of rac ism have long been the ploy of the jackson, the sharptons, the wrights and the naacp.
When they throw around an empty charge it has not meaning and falls on deaf ears.
That is except for the lame stream media when racism is still the currency they ply in to protect their leftist invention infesting the oval office
Louis Jenkins| 11.23.09 @ 10:56AM
Another example of imperial hypocrasy:
"On the eve of Saturday's showdown in the Senate over health-care reform, Democratic leaders still hadn't secured the support of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of the 60 votes needed to keep the legislation alive. The wavering lawmaker was offered a sweetener: at least $100 million in extra federal money for her home state.
And so it came to pass that Landrieu walked onto the Senate floor midafternoon Saturday to announce her aye vote -- and to trumpet the financial "fix" she had arranged for Louisiana. "I am not going to be defensive," she declared. "And it's not a $100 million fix. It's a $300 million fix."
Votes for Sale with your promised tax dollars. And they ain't cheap!
Margie| 11.23.09 @ 1:28PM
Like Rush just said: Mary Landrieu, possibly the biggest prostitute ever and she's bragging about it.
Margie| 11.23.09 @ 11:08AM
It is clear that Obama is a vessel for ignoble use. 1Tim. 2:20&21;. It isn't surprising to hear more of his hypocritical behaviors. Like Algore with his insane preachings against leaving a "carbon footprint" and then he leaves probably one of the largest by his hypocritical behavior~I read about his heating bill at his home as well.
But we all know the Left and Liberalism is a mental disorder and the danger is that by continuously electing and reelecting these people we become their "subjects" because the behave as dictators because they despise the Constitution and the rule of law that we have in this great Republic.
So what do we do?
READ Old Tex's post.
We must work to make sure conservatives get backed nominated and elested in the Republican Party.
As Sarah Palin said on Rush's show, she believes in the planks of the Party. We have a 2 party system and we have to work with what we have. This is what I have been saying and will continue to say. We cannot afford to not vote at all, or vote third party. It will give us Obama II.
No more throwing stones and fighting amongst ourselves~~ let's get working!
Rmm| 11.23.09 @ 6:08PM
The thing is Margie,they may look good on the outside, but.........you get my drift.
Each candidate must somehow be vetted first so
they don't pull the chameleon flip-flop once in office.
We just were overdosed and blind-sided by this
pathetic tactic. I'm tired of pols who make a living duping the constituency.
Margie| 11.23.09 @ 9:02PM
Hi Rmm,
I see you're in Calif. I'm in NJ~~ so we have similar situations. Well, we just rooted out the worst Gov. here (Corzine), and I thought it wasn't possible. Many cried that he is a RINO, oh no!
Well, he is not the perfect conservative, he is not Sarah Palin, and he's no Ronald Reagan. BUT! Now we have a Republican "atmosphere" we can work with, and there will be conservatives within we can work with, and it is at least hopeful. It's a relief. He has good points. NO Democrat would have. He is tough on crime, a former state prosecutor, and we could use him. We'll see if he'll cut taxes. Realistically since we have a 2 Party system, a vote for the Democrat was out of the question, and a no vote would not have helped get him elected.
That's my take. Do your best, and then let God take care of the rest. He is anyway.
Pingback| 11.23.09 @ 11:21AM
The American Spectator : Imperial Hypocrisy | americantoday links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Betts | 11.23.09 @ 11:36AM
Gosh, I just HATE it when that happens! Running out of certified organic Tuscan kale! I think I need to meditate, call my shrink and take an Obamacare-prescribed Zoloft. My goodness, how does Michelle do it? She always looks so put-together, too! It's nice to know there's people in The White House we can ALL relate too. This is CHANGE we can believe in! Bess Truman's meatloaf was so square.
Jim Hlavac | 11.23.09 @ 11:41AM
So "let them eat cake"? eh Obama?
Well, to those who say we are preaching to the choir here -- no, it is more like a think tank - -for none of us has all the ideas to get out of the mess we are in. Our job here is to give anecdotes and talking point, facts and figures, logic and reason to go defeat the enemy within.
To those who cry defeatism: have you badgered your liberal friends today? Yes, badger. To the point of borishness. I do. Every day. Every time I see them I jump to political discussion of the absurdity. A constant attack against the entire rotten system about which they seem to know nothing. And when they complain, I quote their dear leader: "We should all be politically involved and community organizers." Ok, so I am an organization of one, no, an Army of One! -- and I tell my politics hating liberal loving buddies "Hey, I'm from the People and I'm here to help you." They wanted everything a political issue? Washington should do everything? OK, let's talk about it, ad infinitum, until the liberals are screaming in the streets. I don't care any more.
So, don't worry that Liberals are not reading this site -- take the ideas you get here -- and then go attack a liberal with them -- full bore - full court press -- give them no respite from their own mush. Let them defend it. Let them storm out of the room and say "ah, I don't want to hear it anymore." Then email them, write them, call them, and invite them in for round two.
For the only way, truly the only way, to stop it is to convince our friends and family of how they are bamboozled and wrong. And to slowly win them to our side. The mess is 70 years in the making, it will be a generation to get out of it -- for how do we dismantle it all? That's the goal. So badger away my fellow Americans -- for they are badgering us. And the best defense is a good offense. Take heart, take heed, take aim.
Alan Brooks| 11.23.09 @ 11:53AM
RINO fool me once, shame on him;
fool me twice, shame on me.
Ken (Old Texican)| 11.23.09 @ 1:46PM
Pardon the copy/paste from above.)
Yeah oh Swami Brooks...I shall "wager".
In fact, I have already ... Helping found T.E.A.M. AMERICA, ( www.myteamusa.org ) I have wagered it all.
While you sit there and bellyache, I'm working to find good candidates across the country and lining up backing for them.
Obama is not "astute" by any measuring stick. The man cannot even construct a declarative sentence without a tele-prompter. There are two reasons for that.
1. One must couch one's lies very carefully to stay on "false message". Remember one lie must lead to more lies to support it.
2. He cannot speak a declarative sentence without hems and umms.
The man got the "perfect storm" to be elected. We here all know the components.
To you rinowhiners out there, I have a message:
Lead.....Follow...or shut your cowardly mouths the hell up.
You guys will be "fooled" until the day you die....and meet your Creator.
OOPS! Shame on youall.
Margie| 11.23.09 @ 7:57PM
Alan. Do stop with the RINOwhining!
We've got one country. Two parties. We do the very best we can and let God take care of the rest. The Republican Party is our best bet. It's foundation is right. Find conservatives in your area and back them. We all have to do this or we'll lose again.
You don't fool me. I know you don't want Obama II.
Now don't start whining again.
No! more! whining! :^)
Oldefarte| 11.23.09 @ 12:48PM
Otis stole my thunder----it's a George & Weesie %%%%%MOVIN' ON UP TO THE EASTSIDE%%%%% moment now occurring at the White House daily!
philhoey| 11.23.09 @ 1:01PM
And if Laura Bush had done this??
Tim| 11.23.09 @ 1:16PM
Der Kommissar's in town, uh-oh!
geraldstephebs| 11.23.09 @ 3:05PM
S.L., did I hear you say the word "impeach"?
Please accept my apology for being rude to you last week.
Gerald Stephens
Hartford, CT
Richard Baker| 11.23.09 @ 5:39PM
The Kenyan's arrogance and his Communist/National Socialist ideas are hastening the day of the 2nd American Revolution. It will be the producers vs the leeches. Bet your money on the producers.
Charles Martel| 11.23.09 @ 5:40PM
Given their now legendary skills at protocol, I'm sure the Obamas are jetting in some more of that fancy Wagyu beef for the upcoming state dinner with the prime minister of India. That'll impress 'em.
+++
Ken (Old Texican)| 11.23.09 @ 6:25PM
Hello Newcomers,
Toddard = "crank"
Just chuckle and scroll. He is a one stringed violin.
Fortunately for him, he had at least one ancestor with enough testicular fortitude to "catch the boat" and "intercede" in North America.
So,
The Toddards of the country are sorta' like the people who move to Colorado for the beauty...then say to everyone else..."Don't move here and ruin everything. I'm here now. I snuck in. You can't".
See folks, Toddards and Reds simply cannot understand the simple story of "Cain slaying Abel".
They just can't. If they had been standing there while Cain was busy killing his brother Abel, the cowardly twits would have turned their backs, swelled up with self righteousness, and would have said: "Am I my brother's keeper?"
God did answer that question some four thousand years ago, bye the way. He Sent Cain into eternal exile.
sigh!
He obviously sent the Toddards into exile here at Am Spec.
Heh!
Margie| 11.23.09 @ 9:20PM
They're in Exile on Main St. now. The sidewalks all around them are filled with people whose voices they are trying to quench but they're failing miserably.
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philfl63| 11.23.09 @ 11:18PM
Obamugabe can go f**k himself. I will eat what I want, drive what I want, and keep my thermostat on whatever GD setting I want.
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