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‘The Old Man’s Tree’ and ‘The Boy’s Tree’
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Campus Scenes
Obama as a Faded Poster
For young adults, a lost opportunity — not that he was going to give them one.
President Obama spoke in three college towns last week: Ames, Iowa, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Charlottesville, Virginia,. In his nomination acceptance speech, Congressman Paul Ryan described the recent college graduate, unemployed, living at home, looking at the faded poster of then Senator Obama from the 2008 election on his wall. I don’t know who is more foolish: college students coming to hear President Obama and applauding him when their siblings who are college graduates are sitting at home doing nothing, or President Obama trying to sell his record to college students.
The President made much the same pitch of about 30 minutes at all three stops. Notably, he took no questions. We can only imagine what bright, objective, student editors might have asked him.
The Economy: The President stated that “[w]e knew that solving our biggest challenges would take more than one year, or one term, or one President.” An enterprising student editor might have asked him about how this comports with his February 2, 2009, statement that “if I don’t have this done in three years, then there’s going to be a one-term proposition.” And a student editor might have asked about why another four years would improve the lot of young graduates who currently have a 50% unemployment rate.
Energy: The President argued for an “all-of-the-above” energy policy, for renewable resources, for less foreign oil, for an energy plan not written by the oil companies, for new fuel standards for cars. He stated, “[W]hat’s extreme about the idea that instead of giving $4 billion a year in tax subsidies to oil companies that are making a profit every time you pump gas — it makes more sense to keep investing, using that money to invest in homegrown energy sources that have never been more promising.” A student editor might have asked him about his rejection of the Keystone pipeline, about his Administration’s slow or non-existent permitting of oil and gas leases on federal lands, how subsidies given to oil companies are different from subsidies given to companies in other industries about which he makes no complaints, how a profit for selling gas is a bad thing, how much the Federal Government profits from the taxes on a gallon of gas, why he and his EPA oppose “homegrown energy sources” such as coal and natural gas.
Immigration: The President argued for his suspension of the rules affecting young, illegal immigrants: “[I]it doesn’t make sense for us to tell young people who have grown up in America, who have pledged allegiance to the flag, who have understood themselves to be Americans, who want to serve in our military or attend our universities, that somehow because their parents were undocumented, they should be sent back to countries they’ve never even heard of. That’s not who we are as a people.” A student editor might wonder whether such sons and daughters of illegal immigrants had never even heard of the countries of their parents’ origin, and whether they have not in fact returned on a number of occasions to their home countries. (The DHS policy recognizes brief absences abroad.) An editor might wonder about people who understand themselves to be American but who, although knowing their illegal status, decided to remain after they became adults. An editor might have asked the President what he understood “the rule of law” meant when his policy waives, rather than enforces, the laws of Congress. And an editor might have asked about the President’s response to the impact on college students and graduates of an expected competition for jobs of up to 1.7 million such young adults.
Health Care: The President declared that Obamacare had allowed nearly seven million young people able to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans. An editor would have commented to the President that this seven million consists of unemployed young adults (or employed by employers who do not provide health insurance), who are fortunate to have at least one parent who is employed by an employer who provides health insurance. An editor might have asked why the age of 26 had been selected as the maximum age, and if the President had considered, given the current economic conditions, extending the maximum age from 26 to 28 or 30 or higher. A student editor might also have asked the President: “If the government can require a health insurer to insure a 25-year old, who may be married and have children and not living with his or her parents, then would the government consider requiring a health insurer to insure the unemployed 55-year old parent of an insured 25-year old — until the parent was eligible for Medicare?”
A student editor might also ask him of his promises that we could keep our insurance if we liked it, keep our doctor if we liked her, and all of the uninsured would be insured.
Education: The President touted a tax credit for up to $10,000 paid for college tuition. An editor could observe that such government financial aid gives colleges a license to raise their tuition by equivalent amounts.
As to the administration of student loans, the President declared, “We fixed the student loan system that was giving billions of dollars to banks as middlemen.” An astute student editor would respond that the word “fixed” was inappropriate since the system was not broken, that the President had eliminated many jobs in banking, and that he had displaced the private sector in favor of the government. The President could be asked to look at the larger perspective, namely, that the Federal Government is itself playing the role of middleman when it takes tax dollars from individuals and companies and then sends the money back — after it has siphoned off large sums for administration.
Contraception: The President exclaimed his success in having Obamacare provide “free” contraception. He did not mention abortifacients or sterilization. A student editor could ask why the President, a former professor of constitutional law, believed it was “fair” to require private employers to provide contraception in the face of their deeply held religious beliefs. The editor could also inquire: “If contraception decreases the perceived risk of pregnancy resulting from sex, and this produces an increase in sexual activity, and there are quantified failure rates for various methods of contraception, then doesn’t government-mandated access to contraception increase the rates of pregnancy?” A student editor could also ask, “Your Administration has said that contraception saves insurers money because it is less costly than pregnancy. The death of an individual saves health insurers money. What is your Administration’s position on reducing health care for patients consuming too much?”
Afghanistan: The President told his audiences that he had ended the war in Iraq as he had promised and that he was on track to end the war in Afghanistan. Aside from the fact that he was fulfilling some campaign promises, he did not say why this would be of interest to a college audience. For example, a smaller military means fewer jobs. A student editor could ask him whether he was appealing to young people’s abhorrence of war. Was he saying that a drawdown in troops would end the exposure of their generation to combat deaths and injuries? Was he saying that he was indeed worthy of having received the Nobel Peace Prize? The editor may comment that the President may be ending American involvement, but he could not unilaterally “end the war” and the editor could cite that the Afghan war would continue without American troops. The editor could then ask what provisions were being made to protect Afghan women so they could study and work and travel and fulfill their dreams — in the face of the continuing “war on women” made by the Taliban.
Same-Sex Marriage: The President stated he was opposed to amending the Constitution to prevent gay couples from marrying because people should be allowed to marry whomever they love. A student editor could ask about the costs of providing benefits to new dependents of federal military and civilian employees and retirees, and the costs in the private sector for the same — totally unrelated to their original purpose of assisting married couples with children. A student editor could also ask whether the President could articulate any principled difference between a gay couple who loves each other and want to marry and a polygamous group who love and want to marry.
Finally, a good student editor might ask President Obama about the things the President chose not to discuss, among them:
- Doesn’t the 50% increase in the national debt during your first term mean that we and our children will be paying interest to China for the rest of our lives?
- Doesn’t the failure of the Democrats to change Medicare and Social Security and Medicaid mean that there won’t be Medicare, Social Security or Medicaid, “as we know it” — or in any other form — in another 10 years?
- Does the President believe in the bankruptcy laws? His auto bailout (for just two of the many auto companies) evaded bankruptcy procedures, depriving creditors of their legal interests, and terminating contracts with car dealerships, rendering tens of thousands of employees unemployed. His home foreclosure initiatives have delayed the inevitable bankruptcies, stretching out by years the recovery in the home market.
- Does the President have a vision for space exploration — a vision that would excite the imagination of young people and use the talents of the people who have been educated in science, engineering and mathematics? His current plan guts the space program.
We can wonder if the President will sit for interviews with astute, bright, critical student editors during this campaign.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (76) | Leave a comment
More Articles by James M. Thunder
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http://spectator.org/archives/2012/09/05/obama-as-a-faded-poster
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Appleby| 9.5.12 @ 6:28AM
The President [Dear Leader] knows full well that all he has to do is generate a Really Kewl Chant, and lead the room full of students in it every time anybody starts asking these inconvenient questions. Personally I suggest "Gimmee More!" Or just "Gimmee! Gimmee! Gimmee!" Hey, it worked for him last time.
Darin| 9.5.12 @ 6:47AM
Those who will not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it. Sadly, too many college students are likely in this category.
TLP| 9.5.12 @ 7:21AM
Looking at this Story, and thinking about this Puke's Election Startegy, I was reminded of Hitler's Germany. (Wierd, huh?)
The Nazi's, like all Far Leftist Ideologies, concentrated on The Young. Those great Minds full of Mush. (Hat Tip - Maha) They filled their heads with "NEW AND IMPROVED" whatever they were selling them. "We tried it their way."
Hope and Change.
"Those that came before us were OLD, and we're out of Ideas. They were only for The Rich. They sat around, living off the Fruits of YOUR Labours, and enjoying the Finest Food and Drink, while YOU toil long hours for little pay, and have NOTHING to show for it."
They go for the Old. Hitler made the same Promises to Germany's Elderly, as Black Hitler does to our's. Promises to Rescue them from the Opposition that, "If they have their way? They will let you Starve, naked, and in the dark. I will give you the Respect that you have earned."
The young new German Leader was a Great Orator, and he held the people in the palm of his hand, with his Promises of a New Germany.
In the end, everyone in The Middle had been either Killed or Captured, and all that was left was Children and Old Men. And then Germany was gone. Everything that made it Great, was in Ruin.
Once upon a time, there was a Great Nation.
Once upon a time, Lord Acton warned the world of the Dangers of Good Men doing nothing.
Seek| 9.5.12 @ 2:20PM
Nazism is collectivism of the Right, not the Left. I'm sick of this silly dittohead meme that Hitler and his top brass were "Leftists." They were nothing of the sort. Nazis and Communists always have loathed each other and have gone to war at every opportunity.
Nick| 9.5.12 @ 2:50PM
It's not a meme, Seek. It's called history. Look it up.
Try starting with Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism.
(Although, I knew that Mussolini was an extreme leftist long before his book was published. Because I study history.)
Purp| 9.5.12 @ 2:54PM
Jonah Goldberg? A historian? No wonder you're misinformed .. hahaha - why not Glenn Beck - he's just as much a "historian" ... Go learn something.
Mussolini was a socialist and then flipped just the opposite to fascist - that is historical fact.
Oh, and NAZI, has socialist in the name because socialism in Germany did not have the reputation that it has in this country. Most Germans were social democrats and it was Hitler's way of being less "scary" ... at least until he had power.
Kind of like Romney/Ryan keeps trying to hide their real selves.
JD| 9.5.12 @ 3:09PM
Socialism and fascism are not opposites. They are identical except that fascism attempts to deceive the public into believing that the private sector retains control.
Purp| 9.5.12 @ 3:31PM
Nice spin, doesn't work. IG Farben and Kruppwerks - ever hear of them?
JD| 9.5.12 @ 4:09PM
It's funny how you think that evidence that proves you wrong is proving you right. You're truly invested in the lie that modern Democrats' fascism is actually "too much free market", aren't you?
Nick| 9.5.12 @ 5:14PM
"Blah, blah, blah, belch!, blah, blah..."
Don't try to act like you know anything about history, Burp.
Everyone knows the depth of your ignorance.
JD| 9.5.12 @ 3:08PM
The Nazis did oppose a group of people called "communists", but that hardly makes them "right-wing".
There is no "collectivism of the Right". Collectivism is Leftist. By Definition. Period. The Right loathes collectivism, while the Left uses collectivist language to justify all it does.
The Nazis were Leftists, in spite of all Leftist efforts to redefine them since. The problems you Leftists have are:
1. Not wanting to own past consequences of your policies.
2. Not wanting to own the agendas of groups that might use leftist means to achieve goals you dislike.
TeaPartyNow| 9.5.12 @ 5:06PM
There is no collectivism on the right? So, all of those speakers, Mitt Romney, and Paul Ryan just spontaneously got up at the RNC and spoke, right? The right with all of its medias biases is all sticking together collectively, but isn't actually collective. The right will remain silent on social issues collectively as long as Romney/Ryan are their leader, or until they get a conservative leader, but the right is not collective.
The right is every bit as corrupt and collective as the left is today. It is merely a different flavored kool-aid that the right drinks. But the death of the American Peoples' traditional freedom is all the same with left and right. In fact the right today is progressively collective. In 2008 Mark Levin opposed McCain. Now, he worships the far more liberal Romney/Ryan.
The right hates collective despotism in the left. It does nothing but build more collective despotism among its own ranks.
TLP| 9.5.12 @ 3:32PM
National Socialist Party.
That sound LEFT to me.
But then, I'm not a Dumbass.
TLP| 9.5.12 @ 3:35PM
National Health Care?
Vegetarian Leader?
Sounds like a Leftist to me.
Heck, if he was alive, today?
He'd be introducing The Muslim.
Instead of The Rapist.
Rhoetus| 12.23.12 @ 3:28PM
Communism, Fascism, Naziism and Socialism are leftist by their history, actions and tactics - otherwise the Nazis are a straw man to smear any opposition to the Left. These labels [ Left & Right] are just semantics really as Totalitarianism is evil regardless of any claimed "good intentions".
Pecos Pete| 9.5.12 @ 6:49AM
I wonder if King O will sit for an interview with any editor/reporter who is not a sycophant? He, and his czars, will not answer any question that could be construed as requiring a factual answer. They will hem and haw, and then issue corrections the next day should they say anything that might be construed as critical of King O and his policies.
For example: Mr. President, how are your policies reducing the price of household energy, gasoline and food?
Von Mises Jr| 9.5.12 @ 9:47AM
He cannot even risk an interview with the MSM these days. He was forced to give himself an "I" for incomplete since he could not give himself a "B+" without howling laughter or the "F" he deserves.
He will not take questions from the students since some Economics Major that read Hayek might ask "if energy executives are not allowed to make energy decisions, didn't Hayek teach that government must pick winners and losers?"
If questioned about immigration from a Math Major, might he ask "if you don't know if the current population of illegal aliens fit your mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive requirements of under 30, in school or the military and free from a criminal record, how could you possibly know when the borders are wide open and we don't even have a fixed sample?"
benny havens| 9.5.12 @ 8:08AM
President Goodie Bag is into a full sprint. Let’s see whom is he selling to for their votes.
1. Seniors. The Republicans are gutting Medicare.
2. College students. Reduced student loans.
3. Women. Free contraceptives and more abortions.
4. Unions. Free healthcare.
5. Blacks. Free money.
6. Gays. Marriage made in DC.
7. Hispanics. Amnesty and open borders.
8. Muslims. No support for Israel.
9. Farmers. Corn subsidies.
10. Environmentalists. No coal, no oil, no nuclear.
Darin| 9.5.12 @ 9:08AM
1. But Medicare and Social Security will blow up within 20 years.
2. Just don't ask about a job.
3. Because Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton are Democrats.
4. It's free because we take it from those who earned it.
5. See number 4.
6. We'll change the definition of marriage, but don't ask about changing the definition of dependent (for taxes) to include pets, cars, etc.
7. Since you're too stupid to get into the country legally.
8. Please just cut off our heads last.
9. Cause burning food for fuel makes so much sense during a drought.
10. Also no heat and no power.
Purp| 9.5.12 @ 3:04PM
1. Wrong. But you go with it.
2. Nothing new about new graduates. Was happening long before Obama
3. what?
4. Pay it back, don't slam the door behind you.
5. same as 4
6. uh, over 50% okay with it, equality for all.
7. Wanna pay $5 for a head of lettuce?
8. nonsense
9. Republican support it.
10. the Sun will comfort all.
Way too easy.
spike59| 9.6.12 @ 6:05AM
purpie, if it's way too easy, how did you manage to FAIL it in such an epic fashion? perhaps because you're an IDIOT?
DTOM| 9.5.12 @ 10:12AM
Could we please recognize this lie:
Free contraception is NOT free. It is paid for the health insurance that Obamacare mandates that you get from your employer or buy for yourself.
YOU pay the contraceptive costs with your premiums.
Contraception is free exactly like the new car your insurance company buys you when you wreck the one you have insured is free.
It is NOT free! No one else is even paying for it! They have just taken the price tag off of the little bottle of pills or coat hanger or whatever and added it to the insurance bill you or your boss has to pay.
Let's not get bamboozled here, please!
DTOM
Poppakap| 9.5.12 @ 11:57AM
Thanks for the cogent and timely reminder.
TLP| 9.5.12 @ 1:57PM
You needed a reminder?
Purp| 9.5.12 @ 3:27PM
Emergency room care is not free either - we all pay for it. But with Obamacare, everyone pays their fair share toward healthcare.
I might add that Emergency is THE most expensive care and far outweighs the $70/month or so for contraceptives. Far more expensive.
I agree - let's not get bamboozled. Obamacare requires insurers to spend 80% of the premiums collected on HEALTHCARE, not advertising, CEO pay and other stupid things that don't help our health. Most insurers spend no more than 70% and some much less on healthcare - so the free contraceptive and some coverage care is supported by the difference between 80% on healthcare dollar vs. 70% or less today. Since we spend 1/5 of our GDP on healthcare, that could be some 30-50 Billion dollars more to be spent on healthcare - ergo free contraceptives, etc.
Don't get bamboozled.
DTOM| 9.5.12 @ 4:54PM
You don't know much about business either. Look at any publicly traded company in any domestic business and you will find that none of them have fixed costs less than thirty percent. Most are closer to forty percent.
So when Obama's minions declared that insurance companies have to spend 80% of their revenues on direct care costs they made it absolutely certain that private firms could not remain in the health care insurance business, even the non-profits would find themselves operating at an annual loss of 10%.
That 80% you are so happy about means only one thing! There will be no private health insurance in this country for anybody! Not for you or me, not George Soros, not for Harry Reid not anybody - you just can't run a business on that thin of a margin.
But Purp, you are ignorant of this basic fact - so you believe Barry every time he turns that empty chair in your direction and tells you that you can keep your doctor. Just so long as your Doctor is WebMD.com!
What you don't know could fill the seven seas,
what you do know wouldn't fill seven mustard seeds...
DTOM
Purp| 9.5.12 @ 3:00PM
1) they want to
2) increased Pell grants
3) women's right to their own bodies
4) Nonsensical
5) Racist blather
6) All men are created equal - no?
7) Welcoming immigrants, punish employers who hire illegals.
8) Wrong
9) Republicans will not change that.
10)Clean coal, American oil, nuclear go ahead.
This is too easy ...
TLP| 9.5.12 @ 3:36PM
That's because you're too stupid.
spike59| 9.6.12 @ 6:06AM
'This is too easy ...'
-------------------------
babbling nonsense usually is; actual thinking requires actual effort
Louis Jenkins| 9.5.12 @ 8:55AM
Let's understand that Obama wants his old base back. That's why he goes to colleges and universities to spill his spew to the minds full of whatever, everything but what matters. The same hokie dokie will not work amongst the older, wiser people. The communists, socialist, Fabians, are among us working their poison into our very souls. The communistic educational upper and lower crust have the children, at least those who attend public schools and higher education. It is fertile ground ripe for the sewing and the harvest. There may be a few independent thinkers among those millions of children and young adults (The Wall), but they are few and far between. Mr. Thunder, I like your last name, but while factual, the article is singing a lost hymn.
Dave Williams| 9.5.12 @ 9:33AM
Young'uns are moved by their hearts, not their brains, so they will ALWAYS go liberal. There is nothing Romney can do to win them over. Fortunately, they're also pretty apathetic about politics, so we can just hope that most of them stay home.
DTOM| 9.5.12 @ 10:07AM
Until they get mugged or can't find a job - which is now...
DTOM
TLP| 9.5.12 @ 1:59PM
"If you're under 30, and you're not a Democrat?
You have no Heart.
If you're over 30, and you're not a Republican?
You have no Brain.
Purp| 9.5.12 @ 3:30PM
You think it's a brainy move to elect a man that knows nothing but how BAIN taught him to slice and dice a company for profit?
THAT is his sole qualification for being President - from Romney's own mouth.
TLP| 9.5.12 @ 3:37PM
And, what was the Community Organizer's "Qualifications"?
DTOM| 9.5.12 @ 4:55PM
TLP!!!!
What ARE Barry's qualifications? What ARE they?
He hasn't learned a thing in 3.5 years...
Swing away!
DTOM
TLP| 9.5.12 @ 7:32PM
I like you.
spike59| 9.6.12 @ 6:07AM
you really didn't expect purpie to have an answer, did you?
Cat Shot| 9.5.12 @ 9:44AM
Does anyone believe a student in today's dumbed down, leftist run indoctrinating centers would be capable of conceiving of such questions?
DTOM| 9.5.12 @ 10:14AM
Actually, they get hungry just like anybody else - bored a lot quicker, too.
Poppakap| 9.5.12 @ 11:58AM
Yes, they're called College Republicans and College Libertarians.
DTOM| 9.5.12 @ 12:27PM
Poppa;
I am not one to write the kids off yet. A lot of them are a lot smarter than they get credit for.
Also the school of extremely hard knocks has been very successful in enrolling, reaching, and teaching the "millenials." Our little president is not doing anywhere as well with them this time around.
Have faith, brethren!
Don't Tread On Me!
TLP| 9.5.12 @ 2:02PM
Remember that these kids have had 12+ Years of Liberal Indoctrination.
Methinks you're Faith in these Indoctrinees is misplaced.
Here's hoping I'm wrong.
Purp| 9.5.12 @ 3:30PM
So what happened to you?
TLP| 9.5.12 @ 3:40PM
I went to School before all of this Bullshit came about.
Obviously, you came along in school, much later.
Which is why you're so FCKED UP in the head.
TeaPartyNow| 9.5.12 @ 4:50PM
You're cute, for a liberal. Poor dumb little TLP falls for it every time, doesn't he? I hope that you are one of the liberals who works in the private sector, if there are such things. That kind of a sense of humor is wasted on real democrats.
DTOM| 9.5.12 @ 5:01PM
TPN -- Hey! Snap out of it! You are sitting in front of the mirror.
You are the liberal stooge-troll. TLP is not - he's a fairly dynamic conservative who you'd do well to stay away from - you might poke your eye out!
DTOM
Bob Grant| 9.5.12 @ 5:12PM
Perp,
Reading Huffpo pieces does not an education make.
Butch| 9.5.12 @ 6:00PM
Not all of them, TLP. I sheltered my kids in Lutheran and Catholic schools, then private colleges, both affiliated with churches. They got zero left-wing indoctrination. Plus, I raised them as Rush babies. They are conservative through and through, but they are a minority.
TLP| 9.5.12 @ 7:34PM
God Bless You.
I mean that.
CforUS| 9.5.12 @ 10:08AM
We allow our educators to inject their political beliefs into the classroom on a daily basis from kindergarden to graduate school. Why on earth would we expect anything less from our children after years of brainwashing? Taught to believe the government has the answers to all problems, when we make bad choices it's either someone else's fault
CforUS| 9.5.12 @ 10:24AM
or we get bailed out by or kind and generous elected officials. This is telling our kids that they "deserve" the free money from our government by virtue of being an American (oops, I forgot, you don't even have to be an American to get the free money).
TeaPartyNow| 9.5.12 @ 4:44PM
The American People have zero sense of responsibility as to their own governments.
DTOM| 9.5.12 @ 5:02PM
Sure - keep telling yourself that troll-dolt!
spike59| 9.6.12 @ 6:09AM
but, fortunately we have the Democrat convention to declare that we all belong to the government, right?
Who Knows?| 9.5.12 @ 10:30AM
I think, while Paul Ryan’s “faded Obama poster” quip will continue to be one of the standouts of the GOP convention, the most outstanding and useful speaker was Dirty Harry.
It took me a day or two, but after absorbing the aftermath of Hurricane Eastwood, it dawned---
Clint was the BEST thing about the GOP convention.
Think about it---
How many YEARS and how many classic MOVIES with Clint do we have in our national storehouse of memories?
Even though his classic performance was only seen live by a few million people, my guess is that as time passes, more and more of us will recognize what a one of a kind gem it was.
My main point, though, is this—
For the vast majority of voters, say those 30 or older, most of whom have probably seen most of his flicks, via Blockbuster or theaters or what have you, this man is firmly ensconced in their programmed brains. Is short, he has heft, so when he dissed Obama---especially the empty chair---he plucked a deep “chord” in many people’s mind.
Here’s a simple proof---what percentage of people have a favorable impression of Eastwood? Close to at least 80% of movie viewers, I’d say.
So, when he SPEAKS---he has to get through the clutter in many Obama supporter’s minds, and make them wonder.
Which ain’t good for BHO!
Poppakap| 9.5.12 @ 12:04PM
It's called the power of culture. One of the main reasons the GOP hasn't dominated electoral politics since the 60's is because too many GOP operatives have tin ears with respect to culture. Culture is a powerful agent of influence and conservatives ignore this truth to their collective peril. In other words, removing ourselves from US culture only makes us insular and less likely to be relevant to demographics outside of the GOP's historical groups.
TeaPartyNow| 9.5.12 @ 4:41PM
Poppakap (inyowass) your last sentence describes why Romney will lose. Romney has made radically right promises, while putting forth zero argument as to why they are a better way for America to go. Romney just comes off as incompetent. In the republican platform for instance, he promises a constitutional amendment making abortion illegal. But in his rhetoric, there is never one word on abortion, or any other cultural issue.
Romney promised school choice in his RNC speech, but never talks out loud about there being any problems with our schools. It is a failure waiting to happen, todays GOP.
I think Romney/Ryan wants to lose, so the can keep back seat spending.
DTOM| 9.5.12 @ 5:04PM
TPN
Go back to bed - your batteries are wearing down. Your grammar is approaching the low quality of the little President's - he can't get his subjects and predicates match either...
Kwan| 9.5.12 @ 10:42AM
It's the old 'How Can We Fool Them Today Strategy'. Like every good con-man Obama tells us all about the great things he's going to do for America, and then enacts Marxist fifth-columnist policies that accomplish the exact opposite of what he has promised. Once these people seize total control of the nation there will be no Constitution or rule of law but whatever dictates are issued from Obama's throne room.
PHILLIPBERNAL| 9.5.12 @ 11:07AM
I think that the greatest difficulty we face is getting Americans to understand that the President does not provide us anything other than inspired leadership and national pride. It is not his job to give opportunity. He does not give or create jobs (other than his coat-tail riders). It grieves me to witness the welfare mentality exhibited by so many Americans and the expectation that the President is a shaman who will solve all of our problems. That same attitude exists regards government in general. Heck, the Democrats led off their nominating convention with that silly theme. Can we shake this attitude that Uncle Sam is our sugar daddy who will provide for all our wants and needs? If we can not rid ourselves of that paradigm, we will not thrive and prosper in greatness as the United States of America. We will be destined to just survive day to day as does a Mexico or some other banana republic.
Poppakap| 9.5.12 @ 12:08PM
While I agree strongly with your sentiments, the POTUS does more than stand as a figurehead. POTUS sets a political agenda and drives, via the bully pulpit and moral suasion, a national conversation on policy to which Congress responds one way or another.
Darin| 9.5.12 @ 1:04PM
While true, Bush was NEVER afforded this attitude during his 8 years. Everything was (and still is) Bush's fault. Sorry, but Obama doesn't get a pass. If Bush was to blame for 5% unemployment, Obama is to blame for 8% unemployment. If Bush is to blame for adding a trillion in debt over 8 years, Obama is to blame for adding 5 trillion in debt over 4 years. If Bush can be attacked for 30 rounds of golf in 8 years, Obama can be attacked for 100+ rounds of golf in 4 years.
TeaPartyNow| 9.5.12 @ 4:33PM
Most of the right has a welfare mentality today. They continue to look to their governments to provide a recovery for America. The right, along with the left have their hands out. The right for freedoms' fantastical, effortless return. And the left just for straight up money.
Derek Leaberry| 9.5.12 @ 1:49PM
The President would do well to offer tattoo subsidies for our young. It would appear that tattoos are more vital to American youth than a job.
Seek| 9.5.12 @ 2:18PM
Obama is a highly calculating politician, and for that reason, may well be re-elected. I wouldn't underestimate him. He got himself elected in 2008; what makes anyone think he can't be re-elected? If there are high black and Hispanic turnouts, that's a bad sign. We need a high white turnout for Romney to win. Of course, few people even on the Right have the guts to make such a point.
Derek Leaberry| 9.5.12 @ 3:00PM
Right. Every one point uptick in white support for Romney is equal to at least five Hispanic points that Obama might gain. Unfortunately, most Republicans are too dense or brainwashed to understand that.
TLP| 9.5.12 @ 3:41PM
"What makes anyone think he won't be re-elected?"
He has a RECORD.
MK48| 9.5.12 @ 3:46PM
A lieing record....................
TLP| 9.5.12 @ 7:36PM
You really need a Spell Check app.
MK48| 9.6.12 @ 10:13AM
It's my IE site....................
TeaPartyNow| 9.5.12 @ 4:29PM
So American Spectator is going to dwell in the house of hate from here on out. Thanks, but no thanks. Keep your heads up your butt AS. Don't go positive until you've let all hope for victory die away.
DTOM| 9.5.12 @ 5:05PM
So you are leaving, now?
You will not be missed.
DTOM
spike59| 9.6.12 @ 6:11AM
don't let the door hit ya where the dog shoulda bit ya, dumbass
Rhoetus| 12.23.12 @ 3:32PM
Rules for Conservatives @
http://www.saveamericanow.us.com