President Obama’s greatest talent seems to be his ability to
infuriate his opponents. The latest example is the campaign speech
he gave in Roanoke, Virginia last weekend. In that speech he
declared, “If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that.
Somebody else made that happen.” The Wall Street Journal
opines that, “This burst of ideological candor is already
resonating like nothing else Mr. Obama’s said in years.”
Of course, Obama’s explanation of how success happens is absurd,
but that’s only part of the story. Also interesting are the
motivations and consequences of his remarks. His view is much more
than wrong, it is insulting, infuriating, and demeaning to a large
portion of the populace.
Obama’s supporters may agree with the views he is expressing.
His words may make them more enthusiastic in their support for him,
make it more likely they will donate to his campaign, and show up
to vote in November.
On the other hand, do those words cost him any votes? Those who
are incensed by what he says probably weren’t going to vote for him
anyway. When the people who are already angry enough to vote
against him get even angrier, are there any consequences? Is he
increasing the population of voters who are livid, or is the impact
simply redundant?
Coaches tell their professional sports teams to measure their
words when talking to sports reporters. They tell them not to say
disrespectful things about their upcoming opponents, and not to say
something that will end up on their opponents’ locker room bulletin
boards. Providing extra motivation for your opponents is never a
good idea.
There is a vast difference between Barak Obama’s public persona
and his true nature. In other words, his public persona is a fraud.
An inherent problem with a fraud is that it is not easy to sustain
in the long run. There is a constant tension between the reality
and the fraudulent image. An old adage says, “The truth is easy to
remember.” The corollary of that is lies are hard to remember. Like
bubbles, the truth tends to rise to the surface. What we saw in
Roanoke is the real deal Obama. Now and again Obama actually
delivers on his promise of transparency.
There is a degree of internal logic to Obama’s world view. In
his Roanoke speech he said, “There are a lot of smart people out
there — there are a whole bunch of smart people out there.” In
other words, there’s no real difference among individuals,
therefore, incomes and wealth ought to be equal.
Getting our arms around Barak Obama’s worldview is extremely
difficult for those of us who don’t share it. We ask ourselves, how
can anyone believe such things? But believe it he does, and the
rest of us need to recognize that fact.
Obama is well known for his frequent use of argumentum
strawmanium. He makes up grotesque caricatures of his
opponents’ policy positions. Included in his Roanoke speech was,
“There are some things, like fighting fires, we don’t do on our
own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their [sic] own fire service.
That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires.” Does he not
recognize how insulting and condescending that sounds? Who in the
world advocates having his own free-standing fire department? No
one is that stupid. It speaks volumes about his opinion of his
audience’s intelligence. Being talked down to that way is not a way
to win friends and influence people. Obama is incapable of dealing
with his opponents’ real arguments, so he describes them in absurd,
cartoonish ways. It’s pathetic.
Barak Obama is unquestionably the most divisive U.S. president
in modern history. People I never would have suspected have
expressed to me an intense resentment and anger about what he has
done to the country they love. Two wonderful ladies I know, both
age 85, have for the first times in their lives become politically
energized. I’m pretty sure neither one of these fine ladies have
had this much political anger in all of their lives. I don’t think
they are isolated examples. In November we will learn just how many
voters share their feelings.
