-
Has the IRS Already Seized Your Medical Records?
May 20, 2013 | 6 comments
-
The Grand Old Poseurs
May 13, 2013 | 72 comments
-
Obamacare Pimps Smear Lipstick on Another Pig
May 6, 2013 | 58 comments
-
Can One Iraq Vet Stop Obamacare?
April 29, 2013 | 88 comments
-
GOP at Fault for Obamacare Train Wreck?
April 22, 2013 | 106 comments
The Obama Watch
Obama’s Disdain for Democracy and Free Expression
It didn’t begin with the attempt to censor Google and it will get worse if the President is re-elected.
Last week, we learned that the White House has been pressuring Google to censor a video about Muhammad because it has allegedly incited violence in Libya. Google refused, but the very request is a useful reminder of the President’s disdain for the democratic process and the principles of free expression upon which it stands. It suggests that, even if his policies were not a catalogue of failure, giving him another term would constitute a clear and present danger to the republic. Time after time, given the choice between accepting the will of the people and clinging to his own agenda, he has chosen the latter. Again and again, given the choice between political expediency and freedom of speech, Obama has chosen the former.
Ironically, one of the most brazen examples of the President’s propensity to ignore the wishes of the electorate occurred just recently at the Democratic National Convention. I refer, of course, to the infamous floor vote that resulted in the reinsertion of the words “God” and “Jerusalem” in the Democratic-party platform. Obama and his accomplices belatedly realized that the absence of those words would be a liability during the final weeks of the election season, so they ordered their hapless convention chair to remedy the problem. But a funny thing happened when Antonio Villaraigosa tried to nail down these two seemingly innocuous planks to the platform — he couldn’t get the Democrat delegates to cooperate.
We have all seen the video. Villaraigosa called for a voice vote on the platform change, which required the assent of a two-thirds majority, but the delegates confounded him by responding with as many “no” votes as “ayes.” After trying twice more and getting the identical result, Villaraigosa issued an arbitrary ruling that conformed to the wishes of his party bosses rather than the clearly expressed preference of the convention delegates. Most conservative commentators have used this episode as an opportunity to highlight the increasingly militant secularism of the Democrat party, but this aspect of the vote is far less important than what the incident says about how Obama and his DNC stooges regard the democratic process.
The obvious legislative corollary is the process that produced Obamacare. In 2008, most voters were in favor of health reform, but very few envisioned anything resembling the intrusive, job-killing, regulatory monstrosity that Obama and his congressional allies had in mind. Indeed, when the voters realized what the Democrats were up to, they organized huge public demonstrations against it. They even put a Republican in the Senate seat formerly occupied by Ted Kennedy based on a promise to oppose Obamacare. These things meant nothing to Obama. He behaved as if the voters were so many dull-witted children and signed a health care “reform” law that still remains astonishingly unpopular with the public.
In addition to ignoring the will of the people, the story of Obama’s disdain for the democratic process includes active intimidation of organizations and individuals who dare to exercise their First Amendment right to speak out against his policies. In fact, his goons have recently gone so far as to threaten polling organizations that report surveys that fail to conform to the Democrat party line. Obama administration behavior toward the Gallup organization is an unsettling case in point: “Employees at the venerable Gallup polling firm suggested they felt threatened by Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod when he questioned the methodology of a mid-April poll showing Mitt Romney leading the president.”
Axelrod took issue with a Gallup survey that showed Romney leading Obama 48-43 percent, claiming that the pollster had used outdated sampling methods. Members of the Gallup staff were invited to visit the White House and explain the methodology they had used in their survey: “A Gallup official said in an email he thought Axelrod’s pressure ‘sounds a little like a Godfather situation.… I’d like you to come over and explain your methodology.… You got a nice poll there … would be a shame if anything happened to it.’” When Gallup declined to accept this gracious “invitation,” the Obama Justice Department suddenly revived an old, essentially dormant lawsuit against the polling organization.
This kind of behavior is no mere symptom of poor judgment created by the overheated atmosphere of an election campaign. Obama and his crew of thugs have been attempting to crush free expression since they took power. In the fall of 2009, during the debate over Obamacare, Health and Human Services Commissar Kathleen Sebelius launched a campaign of intimidation against the insurance industry by issuing a legally dubious gag order to 189 private-sector corporations. Through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which operates under the aegis of HHS, she directed all insurance carriers offering Medicare Advantage plans to stop communicating with their customers about the potential impact of “reform.”
Another attempt by the administration to crush dissent during the Obamacare debate occurred in August of 2009, when a post appeared on the White House blog encouraging Americans to snitch on their fellow citizens for circulating e-mails containing “fishy” information about the President’s evolving health “reform” initiative: “There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there.… These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.”
This email address was soon deactivated after Michelle Malkin and countless other conservative bloggers organized the “go flag yourself” campaign, in which Obamacare opponents bombarded the White House with e-mails reporting themselves as disseminators of “fishy” information. This did not, however, discourage the Obama administration from continuing to troll for information about ObamaCare heresy. They subsequently set up another site, ironically named “Reality Check,” that provided yet another contact address (www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/contact) to which Obamazombies were encouraged to send “feedback” regarding “what new misinformation is bubbling up online or in other venues.”
More recently, the administration’s fear of free expression resulted in the truly ridiculous “Attack Watch” site, which the Washington Post pronounced the “laughing stock” of the Internet. But the authoritarian impulse behind such efforts is not funny. Obama and his apparatchiks regard “small d” democracy as an obstacle that must be overcome in order to “fundamentally transform” the United States. Every time they are permitted to impose their agenda on the unwilling members of their own party, shove an unpopular program down the collective throat of the electorate or intimidate those with the temerity to disagree or even publish data and videos inconsistent with Obama’s policies, that obstacle erodes a little.
If Obama is permitted to remain President for another four years, the obstacle that now stands between us and the soft tyranny of the all powerful nanny state will become like Hadrian’s wall — a crumbling relic from a bygone era abandoned by the people who built it because they ultimately deemed its defense less important than other, ostensibly more pressing priorities.
About the Author
David Catron is a health care revenue cycle expert who has spent more than twenty years working for and consulting with hospitals and medical practices. He has an MBA from the University of Georgia and blogs at Health Care BS.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (85) | Leave a comment
More Articles by David Catron
More Articles From The Obama Watch
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/09/17/obamas-disdain-for-democracy-a
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
The Spectacle Blog
The #FreeKate Narrative Melts Down: Lies Exposed in Florida Teen Sex Case
Robert Stacy McCain | 5.25.13
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
H/T to National Review Online
ADVERTISEMENT
Martin kzovich| 9.17.12 @ 7:35AM
"Fair and Balanced" no longer cuts it for me. I want only the Truth not Pravda but what is real. I see this country is grave danger and I am sick of Fair and Balanced. You know I mean Fox. As for anyone else
the campaign should run against this media. People like Peggy Noonaa at best are fools and thus dangerous.
jothepro| 9.17.12 @ 8:07AM
Your point Martin?
TLP| 9.17.12 @ 9:01AM
I think that Martin makes an Excellent Point. To wit: Peggy Noonan couldn't help herself, in Yesterday's New York Post, with half of her Story - purporting to be about The Muslim's inability to Protect American Lives, and Interests, from his Fellow Muslims - Slamming Romney for having the Unmitigated Gall to come down hard on THE GUY SHE VOTED FOR, last time around.
I think that Romney should emulate what Gingrich did in the Primaries. There is nothing he can do, or say, that will keep This Press from calling him a Wierdo Cult Following, Rich Ccksckr, who's never Worked a day in his life or ever paid a Dime in Taxes. Or going after "His Fat Lazy Wife, who, when she's not Riding Horses like The Queen of Freakin England? She's running around, all over the place, FAKING that she's sick, or that she has Cancer."
Stop talking to them.
Don't go on Interviews.
Don't go on their Shows.
And, why the Fck would you take questions from these MFers, when their own Black Jesus Messiah - The One they've been waiting for - doesn't?
They are not your Friends.
They are your enemies.
You would be Wise to remember this, from now on.
Dogma600| 9.18.12 @ 12:28AM
Very wisely said!
Occam's Tool| 9.18.12 @ 11:32PM
By the way---the owner of the Chicago Cubs is spending $10 Million on getting Romney elected. I think I'll get me a Cubby baseball cap soon. Screw the White Sox.
John Navratil, TLP, G-d Bless guys.
(Why the hell did Romney not insist on ONE Conservative questioner, even a screwball like Bill O'Reilly?)
Aristocat| 9.17.12 @ 9:20AM
What is everything in the video is actually true?
Aristocat| 9.17.12 @ 9:23AM
Sorry, meant to say "what if" everything in the video is true? How many Americans have to die every time somebody tells the truth about the prophet? How many souls have been led to hell by following this insane religion?
Dave Williams| 9.17.12 @ 2:00PM
OK, chill....there is no such place as hell, and no survival of any part of the human being after death.
Bill8472| 9.17.12 @ 3:38PM
How do you know? Or do you just have faith that what you say is so?
Stkman| 9.17.12 @ 3:51PM
Wow Dave,
What a meaningless life you must have. I hope your not in the medical field in any way.
TLP| 9.17.12 @ 4:25PM
Go easy on him.
It's not easy being Smarter than everybody else.
TLP| 9.17.12 @ 4:23PM
It's a MIRACLE that you won the Contest.
You should buy mike 3/505 a Steak.
sickofit5| 9.17.12 @ 9:39AM
Spot on. There is nothing that he can say or do that will not be made an issue. It is time for scorched earth. They want to stay focused on the economy. Well, as long as he is in office he is a threat to our economy so therefore everything is in play. The tyranny described above could make a damaging infomercial. Where he is from, what we do and don't know about him are a threat to our economy and this country. There is so much there there it is mind numbing that this guy is polling like he is. (I realize the MSM roll in this) It is time for Romney to go off of the reservation. As Martin says, run against the media and their blatant support for this guy.
Alan Obama Fan Brooks | 9.17.12 @ 2:49PM
Will write it over 'n' over: you would have won in '92, '96, and '08 if you'd run better candidates.
Your wounds are self-inflicted.
Albertus Magnus| 9.17.12 @ 6:15PM
Perhaps so. But the Democrats can run Bozo the Clown and still win (as they did in 2008), and the Democrats can run a traitor and bribe taker and still win (as they did in 1992 and 1996). Candidates do not get worse then what the Democrats put up, but Democrats still win.
Bill8472| 9.17.12 @ 3:33PM
News agencies and publishers are well-known to be biased toward one side or the other. Peter Zenger is a historical figure whose notoriety used to be taught to even the youngest of schoolchildren. The First Amendment was originally intended primarily to protect freedom of the press.
Fox News, on its side of things, is just as "fair and balanced" as NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and all the others. All of them claim to be objective; none of them are. All of them are right within the mainstream of what freedom of the press and the First Amendment were intended to protect.
Personally, I'd give Fox News the edge on having left-wingers come on their shows and be regularly represented. You don't see that nearly as often in what is mistakenly but commonly called the "mainstream media."
John Navratil| 9.17.12 @ 7:53AM
Did anyone else see the Führerprinzip in Michelle's convention speech?
JP| 9.17.12 @ 8:25AM
I actually saw it in its infancy about 4 years ago. I can still remember her words -quite chilling. It oozed with fascist language:
http://lostintranslation.blogt.....rher.thtml
Von Mises Jr| 9.17.12 @ 8:55AM
These are great observations John and JP. The Fuehrer’s spokeswoman was really spooky. Her depiction of Barrack was very authoritarian.
The conduct of this regime since Day One has been reminiscent of Stalin and Hitler, their stated heroes. The intimidation and terror tactics, singling out groups and "atomization" of the masses is not an accident. As for the state, Mises summed it up:
“The state is a human institution, not a superhuman being. He who says “state” means coercion and compulsion. He who says: There should be a law concerning this matter, means: The armed men of the government should force people to do what they do not want to do, or not to do what they like. He who says: This law should be better enforced, means: the police should force people to obey this law. He who says: The state is God, deified arms and prisons. The worship of the state is the worship of force.”
Jack London| 9.17.12 @ 10:55AM
"The conduct of this regime since Day One has been reminiscent of Stalin and Hitler, their stated heroes."
Seig heil, comrade.
TLP| 9.17.12 @ 9:03AM
Fuhrerprinzip?
I'm guessing that means - Tits - in German.
John Navratil| 9.17.12 @ 11:16AM
TLP,
That would be "titten". I'm not sure where you assumed I had a fascination for breasts; I'm a leg man, myself.
However, if you haven't seen "Slaughterhouse Five", google Valerie Perrine. She played Montana Wildhack and looks a lot better than Hillary.
Jack London| 9.17.12 @ 12:18PM
I'd be surprised if you were a Vonnegut fan John – Slaughterhouse Five has long been a target for banning by your religious school boards, even quite recently.
John Navratil| 9.17.12 @ 12:46PM
Jack London,
F-off
Jack London| 9.17.12 @ 1:30PM
Ah – the intellectual response of the seasoned philosopher. So it goes.
TLP| 9.17.12 @ 4:30PM
Shut up, @sshole.
NOBODY gives a Sh*t what you have to say.
TLP| 9.17.12 @ 4:29PM
Valerie Perrine.
Now you're talking.
SMOKINFCKNGHOT.
Gotta go, now.
All of a sudden, I fell the urge to take a Shower.
Valerie Perrine.
Nice.
TLP| 9.17.12 @ 4:29PM
Valerie Perrine.
Now you're talking.
SMOKINFCKNGHOT.
Gotta go, now.
All of a sudden, I fell the urge to take a Shower.
Valerie Perrine.
Nice.
TLP| 9.17.12 @ 4:31PM
Oops.
Controse| 9.17.12 @ 11:25AM
Very big laugh coming your way from yours truly. Keep up the good work!
Aristocat| 9.17.12 @ 9:21AM
I'm sorry, what is "Fuhrerprinzip" ?
I don't speak German.
Al Adab| 9.17.12 @ 9:26AM
Leader principle.
TLP| 9.17.12 @ 7:35PM
It's TITS.
TLP| 9.17.12 @ 7:35PM
Remember the source.
Anthony| 9.17.12 @ 9:06AM
These are very scary days indeed, when an obscure filmmaker can be called in by the Obozo Justice Department for simply making a film about Islam.
Of course, this is all a ruse, perpetuated by the whores in the MSM. It's not a damn film that 20 people have seen, it's Obozo spiking the Osama football.
What's there not to get? The Ds have screamed for months,"'OBAMA KILLED OSAMA". The response was, " WE'RE ALL OSAMA'S, OBAMA".
Yet the whores in the media fail to connect the dots. Obozo, the Muslim Marxist is indeed a facist, as are all of his fellow travelers, including those in the media.
If Romney can't put a glove on Obozo and win this election, with all the things falling apart in America, the Rs are finished. Romeny had damn well wake the hell up and take it to this fraud of a president.
This election is about the fate of America, not Obozo, not Romney, or the damn political parties.
Revolution is in the air.
TLP| 9.17.12 @ 9:21AM
Dear Mr. Catron; Are you really surprised that this Creature has nothing but Disdain for Freedom of Speech? Do you see who he's looking at in that picture?
We're talking Ying and Yang, here. We're looking at the Black and White Cookie of Totalitarianism. Two Red Diaper Brothas, from Otha Mothas.
What he does, he does, because it's in his Blood.
Whether the Aids Riddled, Whore Chasing, Acoholic, Marxist Muslem, or the Communist Mentor was his Baby Daddy, it doesn't matter.
His Mother was an Atheist Communist Whore, and his Grandparents were Communist Scumbags.
Any questions, so far?
Why would a guy who has a following in the American Media who would give their Left Nut to have him use their Face, for a Toilet, just once before they die, have any Compunction about Lying through his teeth?
You've got NBC's Parent Company paying NO TAXES on $5 Billion in Profit, last year. Anybody wanna guess who's first in line with their Mouth Open, kneeling next to the Urinal?
ABC actually had an Office in the White House, for a while (I'm assuming that it was under his desk) and Andrea Mitchell, upon recieving her Free Vibrator, the other week, promptly took it back and asked for a Black one.
TLP| 9.17.12 @ 9:46AM
What happened at that Clusterfck of a Convention, was not the first time that the Dem with the Gavel told everyone to "Kiss my Ass".
Barney Frank did it all the time.
When you look at the utter Rabble at that thing? When you witness the Bizzaro World atmosphere, and listen to the Brave New World DOGMA, emminating from the Mouths of this Potpourri of Leftist Losers, and Race Hustling Poverty Pimps?
Again: Why would he care about TRUTH, when everyone he knows, is a Fckng Pathological Liar.
By Any Means Necessary.
If he though that Freedom of Speech was more than "Just Words?" he wouldn'ta had his Soviet Healthcare Meetings done Behind Closed Doors, instead of on CSpan, like he promised.
There would have been 5 Days - to read the Bill - before Voting on it (Late, on Christmas Eve) like he promised.
If he believed in Freedom of Speech?
Corey Booker woulda been Front and Center, instead of out back, behind the Woodshed.
If he's not gone on Jan. 22, then there won't be anything more to talk about, anyway.
The Visigoths will be Inside The Gates.
It'll all be over.
Al Adab| 9.17.12 @ 9:31AM
It goes much deeper than just free speech. The States, like NJ, WI, AZ and so on, which oppose centralist policy find themselves on the receiving end of increased regulatory scrutiny including fines, closure of businesses, power plants, etc. It may be the Chicago way to send in the goons to enforce the bosses edicts, but it certainly is not the American way.
StanAmSpec| 9.17.12 @ 1:32PM
That's whats truly frightening. He will bring Constitutional issues to the brink. The worst part? If we don't take the Senate, think of all the judges he'll appoint! Literally pray for the health of the conservatives on the Supreme Court.
I don't know what would have to happen for Congress to start de-funding programs or impeaching Obama.
sickofit5| 9.17.12 @ 9:44AM
How he is ruling is how he was raised. If Ryan and Romney are going to talk to the media any comments regarding this guy's policies should be framed in the context that he is ruling consistent with his upbringing and then define that for what it is. Obama and the dems have been defining them with impunity.
Petronius| 9.17.12 @ 11:06AM
It won't stop until we have nothing left to lose. It's too late to regain what we've already lost.
Who Knows?| 9.17.12 @ 11:07AM
Free speech restrictions?
First they came for the Jews and the gypsies. We all know what comes next.
The Chinese are famous for their patience, for their confidence in the long run. Muslims seems to be likewise vestal-virgins-in-heaven certain about their own future, since they are pure in their love of Allah and their enemies are so ungodly and full of excrement.
In America, the long run fight against freedom of speech, as well the others, has been going swimmingly, after many decades of stifling by public schools. Who really thinks---THINKS!!!---that the bulk of “graduates” of the whole “academy”, which long ago enveloped higher education---college is what used to be high school---aren’t deluded in THINKING they enjoy free speech?
How can one have free speech, when what comes out the mouth has, by and large, long ago been hard wired to be the “right answers” according to the collectivist’s creed taught in schools?
What a joke!
American society indoctrinates, ‘er civilizes, her newbies, for at least 18 years. Then, real reality MUST be lived in.
So, the rest of one’s life consists in UN-LEARNING much of one’s programming. And, most people for most of their lives BELIEVE they are speaking and thinking freely.
Poppycock!
Who Knows?| 9.17.12 @ 11:18AM
How much reflective awareness is going on?
“Criticism of theories is not another theory, but is their reflective awareness. To be aware of a view we must be aware of its falseness. Reflective consciousness is necessarily the consciousness of the false.” The Central Philosophy of Buddhism by T R V Murti page 209
The funny thing is, the progressives have it bassackwards.
“It is, however, possible to conceive of the progressive falling away of the hindrances that obstruct our vision of the real.” Ibid page 220
Face “free speech” facts---the hindrances are winning!
Ralph Novy| 9.18.12 @ 1:18AM
Uh-huh.
What absolute hooey.
I hope you were being "facetious."
Otherwise ... you're insane. Period.
Ralph Novy| 9.18.12 @ 1:22AM
Hmm.
Well, you're definitely "onto" something there, Who Knows?
However, it's a rather general "reflection" or "ruminative," rather than something that's politically useful and incisive at the moment.
Could you hone that edge a hair more, please?
LOL
Kwan| 9.17.12 @ 11:34AM
Obama and the Democrats have made it totally clear that they now understand that to achieve "social justice", "equality", and "fairness" freedom must be eradicated and a authoritarian central government must be installed. So when you vote for Obama this November you're essentially saying yes oh please Mr. Community Organizer Obama please remove all our freedoms, so that we can rectify the sins of slavery and deliver to Holder's people "social justice", "equality", and "fairness". Of course this is insanity no nation destroys itself over something that occurred hundreds of years ago, but this is what the Insane-o-crat Party has become.
Ralph Novy| 9.18.12 @ 1:31AM
Jeez.
How does one get it more ackbasswards?
How the hell do you see "social justice" and "equality" and "fairness" at odds with "freedom."
They're all part and parcel.
You've been led down some false "garden path" by some essentially pedophilic monsters to think otherwise.
By the way .... were any of YOUR ancestors slaves?
Answer "yes" and you might be entitled to weigh-in on this sort of discussion. Otherwise: shut up, you clueless, witless, racist punk!
Cats1cowboy| 9.17.12 @ 12:03PM
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to eat for dinner. Democracy is mob-rule. Democracy is half the population paying taxes to support the other half. Obama does not disdain democracy. He loves it. He espouses it with every breath. He disdains Our Constitutional Republic and Freedom.
Stan Redmond| 9.17.12 @ 1:55PM
You are wrong. Obama only likes democracy when the mob supports his Marxist agenda. Otherwise democracy be damned.
Ralph Novy| 9.18.12 @ 1:15AM
LMFAO.
That "mob" you so derisively dismiss constitutes precisely the "democracy" you implicitly endorse.
Think!
Ralph Novy| 9.18.12 @ 1:57AM
What the Sam Hill is THAT supposed to mean, Jeremiah?
Especially: Where the hell'd you get that crap about "half the population paying taxes to support the other half"?
Nowhere near true!
You've been lied to and eaten it up.
Spit it up now!
It's poison!
It's lies!
Duh.
Think about it.
Jeez, Louise.
Martin kzovich| 9.17.12 @ 1:07PM
Let me help a bit here. Fox News as ostensibly been the only Media outlet that even sometimes gives us the truth. Now I would say at best 50-50. Example one of their Middle East Reporters Palkot keeps on giving us the Obama lie about eh video. I think he should be required to wear an Obama button on his nose. But the greater point is that this guy who was taken in
could be anything including an Obama plant not withstanding the information from sources that contradicts Obama's lie about the video even from high echelon people in Egypt and Libya.
And watching Romney's statement and the so called question it was obvious for anyone with even a quarter of brain to see what was going on.
Those criticize Romney like
Peggy Noon are either scared or stupid or perhaps
in the tank for OBama. Peggy Noonan for me had very little going for her from the past now whatever cred she had are
gone. The real issue what the average voters sees in this most disturbing sitation.
Jack London| 9.17.12 @ 1:54PM
"Fox News as ostensibly been the only Media outlet that even sometimes gives us the truth."
You should stop right now - you have a fantastic career in stand-up comedy waiting.
Albertus Magnus| 9.17.12 @ 6:18PM
FOX is Gospel Truth when compared to the propaganda mills of NBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN. This ceased to be a debatable point many years ago. Face it, the alphabet "News" Networks are in the tank for Obama and anything Socialist.
Ralph Novy| 9.18.12 @ 1:12AM
100% false!
Don't like/trust the "ABCs" either.
But Fox takes the cake for mealy-mouthed deception.
StanAmSpec| 9.17.12 @ 1:26PM
"Obamazombies" personally prefer Obamatons, because they appear alive, but are apparently brain dead.
Stan Redmond| 9.17.12 @ 1:54PM
When has a Marxist ever supported free expression?
Ralph Novy| 9.18.12 @ 1:08AM
Since Marxism began, illiterate!
Riff Raff| 9.18.12 @ 11:37AM
Marxists have silenced (through death I might add) over 100 million souls on this Earth in the 20th Century alone (and the beat goes on...). These were not war casualties but were deliberate government mass murders committed by Marxists. Marxists have never supported free speech, political or otherwise, except for themselves to achieve a political goal. Your statement is rubbish. By any objective standard, Marxism is a crime against humanity, you illiterate boob.
Ghan| 9.17.12 @ 2:23PM
A bit off topic, but hopefully not too much.
I wonder if I could benefit from the opinion of such savvy a bunch of readers (and commentators!) as those of this journal?
My question is this: bearing in mind a) Obama's profound narcissism, b) the tendency of pathological narcissists to commit suicide when it becomes impossible to maintain the facade they rely on to sustain their ego, c) the certainty of major FUBARs if Obama is reelected, then (my question), what is the likelihood of an oval-office suicide (leaving images of heroic and misunderstood victim of bla bla bla) in the case of Obama reelection?
Or, as may well be the case, are my premise flawed?
Consider Getúlio Vargas, the Brazilian president who shot himself in 1954.
Here are some links:
http://www.history.umd.edu/Fac.....sMorto.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getúlio_Vargas
(Note: I am not saying that Vargas was necessarily a pathological narcissist, merely giving him as an example of a suicidal head of state)
Albert Constantine Jr.| 9.17.12 @ 3:20PM
I’m not sure to what extent the suicidal narcissists you inquire about are responsible for creating the facade under which they exercise their oversize egos. If that is the case, since he has been propped up by others his whole life (leading to his “You didn’t build that ‘ remarks, since his career is a result of Axelrod, Plouffe, etc) I doubt that the current POTUS has the ability to take responsibility or express the ultimate self criticism that suicide would entail. I think instead he would try to find a way to blame others (such as GWB) for all of his failure.
Stkman| 9.17.12 @ 3:57PM
Psychopaths like Obama do kill themselves from time to time, and when they do they take as many people with them as they can.
John Navratil| 9.17.12 @ 4:52PM
Albert Constantine Jr., Stkman,
I agree the Obama's arrogance will sustain him. Like Clinton, he will remain a darling of the left. Perhaps he will become embittered as Carter did. My only joy in this is that, as a relatively young man, he will live a long time as the worst President in living history.
As to Stkman's observation, we may yet set violence. I don't think he'd set his hand against someone - too much responsibility - but OWS gives us an idea of how he could foment rebellion. I have no doubt this man is evil enough to do so.
Jack London| 9.17.12 @ 5:46PM
Back to your bunker John. There's a good man.
Riff Raff| 9.18.12 @ 11:32AM
"Back to your bunker John. There's a good man," said the boy in the straight jacket.
PJ| 9.17.12 @ 5:56PM
Gnan,
Interesting point. I can not imagine Obama ever contemplating suicide given his dysfunctional personality. He would push the blame to someone else even while "Rome burns."
That said, I think there are grounds for Obama's impeachment & removal from office.
Ralph Novy| 9.18.12 @ 2:03AM
Ghandammit!
Either kill your ghandammit self or commit yourself.
You're not right in the head.
Best of luck, fella. Don't do anything drastic.
Martin kzovich| 9.17.12 @ 2:45PM
Let me correct one thing 50-50 chance for the truth is very generous now I would say perhaps 30-70.
The real point of all of this is the manipulation going on --the lies that make ALL OF OUR MEDIA Orwellian.--1984. The polls should be all thrown in the garbage. As far as I am concerned I want to make sure that Obama is soundly defeated along with anyone with a D next to their name. Then we can talk about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
ElGordo| 9.17.12 @ 2:55PM
Jimmy Carter lost Iran
.
Pres. Obama lost Egypt and Libya
.
Either Obama is naive about the Muslim Brotherhood or he wants them to take over the Mideast.
.
See O'Reilly's Super Bowl Interview of Pres. Obama on Youtube where O'Reilly warns Obama about the Muslim Brotherhood....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6HyXCHndmk
.
DID YOU KNOW THAT OBAMA GAVE THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD FRONT ROW SEATS AT HIS 2009 CAIRO SPEECH
.
THE FACTS PROVE THAT OBAMA WANTS THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD TO TAKE OVER THE MIDEAST
.
A VOTE FOR OBAMA IS A VOTE FOR THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
Ralph Novy| 9.18.12 @ 2:23AM
You're a dumb-assed liar who skips over huge chunks of history.
Don't do that!
Albert Constantine Jr.| 9.17.12 @ 3:10PM
The inability of the Left to allow criticism (and those who criticize them) to remain unattacked is on display here everyday, with the likes of Purp and his ilk. They conflate fact with opinion, set their own opinions as the truth and label any deviation from the talking points delusional, misguided or the result of a conspiracy by “corporatists” or whomever else they choose to demonize, when in fact they are projecting exactly what they do (or try to do) whenever they are given the opportunity.
Ralph Novy| 9.18.12 @ 2:25AM
Learn how to write English.
THEN write.
Poor.
Riff Raff| 9.18.12 @ 11:48AM
Novy, you obviously flunked English and probably every other class in junior high school, your apparent pinnacle of educational achievement. The posting by Mr. Constantine is grammatically correct, has no spelling errors, and expresses his views quite well. I suspect that you are mentally disturbed, because your grasp of reality is tenuous at best, and your arrogance and confrontational demeanor are clearly borne of some childhood emotional or physical trauma. Your worship of any and all things "Marxist," despite the clear and unambiguous historical record, is evidence of this.
Mistral| 9.17.12 @ 3:21PM
Well done david catron - you quote chapter and verse - they don't have a leg to stand on about this. POTUS is a camouflaged left wing dictator. Four more years of this illegal resident and USA is going to become a permanent banana republic. No wonder mahomaten militants enjoy taking America on now as they know it has become effete and toothless with him in charge - well he certainly brought "change" there.
Belianis | 9.17.12 @ 5:20PM
Should anybody be surprised? This is what passes for democracy in Chicago.
Marvin E. Fox | 9.17.12 @ 6:28PM
Belianis, Obama is not in Chicago. Obama is in Washington D.C., The entire Democratic Party and its Media are 100% helping Obama. The Party is a national Party operating throughout our Republic. If there were no Democratic Party, Obama could not be a national problem, just part of the Chicago problem. Vote against Obama and all of the Democratic problem makers in November.
Marvin E. Fox
Ralph Novy| 9.18.12 @ 2:29AM
Yeah, Marvin, they're ALL against you -- and they're coming for you TONIGHT!
Barricade yourself in your home and be prepared for a LIBERAL SWAT TEAM assault!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sheesh.
Knock it off!
Wake up!
That shit isn't real, OK?
Jeez.
Marvin E. Fox | 9.17.12 @ 6:12PM
Obama's Distain for Democracy, is a pretty good article. However, your title is a mirror image for every Democrat Administration in my 80 years. If Democracy's only principle, majority rule by the citizens of democracy; and, the common definition of democracy is the standard measure used for democratic action, there has never been a democratic administration in the history of our Republic. The present administration is only the least likely of all other administrations to begin a national democratic effort. The democracy, Democratic Party, has been attempting to gain public responsibility for the principles of republicanism for several generations. They have been successful by popular perception but not by their Party's political performance.
The definition of our Republic is its Constitution, all other definitions are false or incomplete.
Redefining our Republic as "our democracy" is false and becoming more ridiculous by the minute.
Marvin E. Fox
Ralph Novy| 9.18.12 @ 1:05AM
Wow, Marvin. You were in a coma during the 1950s?
AND the 1960s?
C'mon!
Get honest!
If you step back, take a breath and consider things carefully, you damned-well know that Lincoln and FDR far better represent how "republican democracy" works than corporate punk/shills like Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, the Bushes -- even Clinton.
Wake up!
Dogma600| 9.18.12 @ 12:33AM
The latest example of President Obama's disdain of free speech, no matter how vile it may be, is blaming the recent consulate attack in Benghazi on some anti Muhammad video and not on Islamic militants wanting to kill Americans. Instead our President, is making free speech the villain and sticking to that story in the face of significant evidence of a planned military assault on or near the anniversary of 9/11. Shouldn't a US President who's job it is to defend the US Constitution, get in front of the world and defend free speech? I think it's disgraceful, weak and reveals a lot about this guy in the White House.
Ralph Novy| 9.18.12 @ 12:59AM
"If Obama is permitted to remain President for another four years, the obstacle that now stands between us and the soft tyranny of the all powerful nanny state will become like Hadrian's wall -- a crumbling relic from a bygone era abandoned by the people who built it because they ultimately deemed its defense less important than other, ostensibly more pressing priorities."
Spoken clearly and merely as one who wishes to hear him/herself talk, not as a serious critic.
Go back to square one. Read. Think. THEN write.
Very juvenile, superficial piece, pal.
If you're encouraged by the roar of the troll crowd here, you'll be led down the wrong path in life.
Chomp on Chomsky, I'd recommend.
Mickle | 9.18.12 @ 4:12AM
All the numbers in his video come from an impeccable source: the president! Mr. Mason has White House URLs. It's dynamite.
Carroll | 9.18.12 @ 4:13AM
Most conservative commentators have used this episode as an opportunity to highlight the increasingly militant secularism of the Democrat party, but this aspect of the vote is far less important than what the incident says about how Obama and his DNC stooges regard the democratic process.
derfel cadarn| 9.18.12 @ 1:00PM
I do not know where you live,but I live in a constitutional republic not a democracy. Let me assure you do not wish to live in a democracy. It may be easier to call it democracy as a writer,but it is not correct.
John Navratil| 9.18.12 @ 1:30PM
derfel cadarn,
You are correct and incorrect at the same time. We do live in a constitutional republic with a representative democracy, however it IS a democracy which is a form of government in which the supreme power is invested in the people. What we are NOT is a direct democracy.