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The Obama Watch
Phony in Chief
When he gave that demagogic speech, in a feigned accent and style, it was world class chutzpah and a rhetorical triumph.
When President Barack Obama and others on the left are not busy admonishing the rest of us to be “civil” in our discussions of political issues, they are busy letting loose insults, accusations and smears against those who dare to disagree with them.
Like so many people who have been beaten in a verbal encounter, and who can think of clever things to say the next day, after it is all over, President Obama, after his clear loss in his debate with Mitt Romney, called Governor Romney a “phony.”
Innumerable facts, however, show that it is our Commander in Chief who is Phony in Chief. A classic example was his speech to a predominantly black audience at Hampton University on June 5, 2007. That date is important, as we shall see.
In his speech — delivered in a ghetto-style accent that Obama doesn’t use anywhere except when he is addressing a black audience — he charged the federal government with not showing the same concern for the people of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina hit as they had shown for the people of New York after the 9/11 attacks, or the people of Florida after hurricane Andrew hit.
Departing from his prepared remarks, he mentioned the Stafford Act, which requires communities receiving federal disaster relief to contribute 10 percent as much as the federal government does.
Senator Obama, as he was then, pointed out that this requirement was waived in the case of New York and Florida because the people there were considered to be “part of the American family.” But the people in New Orleans — predominantly black — “they don’t care about as much,” according to Barack Obama.
If you want to know what community organizers do, this is it — rub people’s emotions raw to hype their resentments. And this was Barack Obama in his old community organizer role, a role that should have warned those who thought that he was someone who would bring us together, when he was all too well practiced in the arts of polarizing us apart.
Why is the date of this speech important? Because, less than two weeks earlier, on May 24, 2007, the United States Senate had in fact voted 80-14 to waive the Stafford Act requirement for New Orleans, as it had waived that requirement for New York and Florida. More federal money was spent rebuilding New Orleans than was spent in New York after 9/11 and in Florida after hurricane Andrew, combined.
Truth is not a job requirement for a community organizer. Nor can Barack Obama claim that he wasn’t present the day of that Senate vote, as he claimed he wasn’t there when Jeremiah Wright unleashed his obscene attacks on America from the pulpit of the church that Obama attended for 20 years.
Unlike Jeremiah Wright’s church, the U.S. Senate keeps a record of who was there on a given day. The Congressional Record for May 24, 2007 shows Senator Barack Obama present that day and voting on the bill that waived the Stafford Act requirement. Moreover, he was one of just 14 Senators who voted against — repeat, AGAINST — the legislation which included the waiver.
When he gave that demagogic speech, in a feigned accent and style, it was world class chutzpah and a rhetorical triumph. He truly deserves the title Phony in Chief.
If you know any true believers in Obama, show them the transcript of his June 5, 2007 speech at Hampton University (available from the Federal News Service) and then show them page S6823 of the Congressional Record for May 24, 2007, which lists which Senators voted which way on the waiver of the Stafford Act requirement for New Orleans.
Some people in the media have tried to dismiss this and other revelations of Barack Obama’s real character that have belatedly come to light as “old news.” But the truth is one thing that never wears out. The Pythagorean Theorem is 2,000 years old, but it can still tell you the distance from home plate to second base (127 ft.) without measuring it. And what happened five years ago can tell a lot about Barack Obama’s character — or lack of character.
Obama’s true believers may not want to know the truth. But there are millions of other people who have simply projected their own desires for a post-racial America onto Barack Obama. These are the ones who need to be confronted with the truth, before they repeat the mistake they made when they voted four years ago.
COPYRIGHT 2012 CREATORS.COM
About the Author
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His website is www.tsowell.com. To find out more about Thomas Sowell and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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TLP| 10.9.12 @ 6:33AM
You're the best, Doc.
Alan Obama Fan Brooks | 10.9.12 @ 3:07PM
"Phony in Chief"
It would be different if Ryan were at the top of the ticket, but you run Romney the Rockefeller liberal for president and fob him off as some sort of a Reagan? What a game.
Curtis Rasmussen| 10.9.12 @ 4:57PM
Complete phony straw argument. There is no point responding to your drivel.
What is important, however, is that Obama is a serial liar and you're either too stupid or too bovine to realize it.
Controse| 10.10.12 @ 2:39AM
The only difference between Alan Obama, or whoever he is, Fan Brooks and a barking dog you can't see is the dog make more sense.
spike59| 10.9.12 @ 6:56AM
I keep hearing that 'the 2007 speech was covered by the media'...funny, I don't recall EVEN ONE news outlet mentioning that ObaMao LIED about the Stafford Act re: 'Katrina', or that he 'neglected to mention' that he voted AGAINST
Joellen| 10.9.12 @ 9:07AM
Spike it was covered, covered over by the likes of Matthews, Rather, Brockaw (I know I misspelled his name - dont care), etc. They've been covering for the Liberal/Progessives/Socialists for many many years now.
Mike G| 10.9.12 @ 10:19AM
So in this case, when the term "covered" is used, what is meant is that it was "covered up".
JD| 10.9.12 @ 10:54AM
CNN posted, for a whole day, a top-of-site headline saying "Right wing media digs up five-year-0ld Obama video, claims it was never covered, but CNN did cover it!" In the underlying article, which prevented comments, they link to a five-year-old article about Obama's Hampton speech. But the article doesn't mention the controversial aspects of the speech!
What a blatant lie, accusing "right-wing media" of lying when in fact they were right - nobody covered the controversial aspects of that speech until recently.
Appleby| 10.9.12 @ 7:26AM
I worked at an Education Board in the South, for a Black boss (in fact, I came from NY to work for him...a whole other story) whose job was to go to "historically Black" universities and help them clean up their acts, and it was very common for well educated and well spoken Black "educators" to speak the King's English during their meetings, but to speak ghetto patois during the breaks. Since I was brought up by a Mama who although she had not graduated from high school, insisted on proper English at all times, I found this astonishing. My boss, who was a candid and sensible man who had earned a Ph.D. in the 1950s at Columbia University -- no mean feat -- admitted that this was SOP for Black educators.
tankrtrash| 10.9.12 @ 7:39AM
Every time Obama opens his mouth, it's nothing but unmitigated bullsh*t. With his tag-team of sound-bite liars, Axelrod, Cutter, Carney and Gibbs spewing in all directions and providing cover and diversion under a poo-mist fog to a compliant media with the attention span a goldfish.
That was the beauty of last Weds. nite, Romney was able to wade through all that and expose the lying little prick for what he is.....a lying little prick.
Pecos Pete| 10.9.12 @ 10:35AM
Ooooooh. tankretrash ... a cloned Tim.
Pecos Pete| 10.9.12 @ 10:35AM
And, just like Tim, right on.
tankrtrash| 10.9.12 @ 2:37PM
Well Pecos.....I consider that quite a compliment, but would be willing to bet I'm a lot older than the infamous Mr. T
TLP| 10.9.12 @ 4:24PM
Infamous?
I'll take that as a Compliment.
C. Vernon Crisler | 10.9.12 @ 8:14AM
This is not entirely fair to Obama. It's true that he and other extreme leftists in the Senate voted against the bill, but that's because it had provisions for funding the Iraq war without a timetable. Most Republicans and Democrats voted for the bill even if it may have had poisonous riders. This is because no one -- other than extreme leftists or libertarians -- wants to be accused of voting against the troops.
Obama was a supporter of waiving the Stafford act but he couldn't support it in this particular piece of legislation. That doesn't mean he wouldn't have supported it in other bills.
Nevertheless, the fact that 80 senators from both parties voted for the bill shows just how despicable his claims were that America didn't care about blacks in New Orleans. Professor Sowell has it just right: "If you want to know what community organizers do, this is it -- rub people's emotions raw to hype their resentments."
spike59| 10.9.12 @ 9:24AM
"This is not entirely fair to Obama"
=============================
actually, it IS...he LIED about the Stafford Act-to call him anything less than a liar is to publicly swig the Kool-Aid
C. Vernon Crisler | 10.9.12 @ 10:26AM
I mean it is not fair to leave the impression that Obama opposed the waiver of the Stafford act, just because he voted against this particular bill. However, Sowell is correct in his main conclusion that Obama is a race hustler and phony, as most liberals are.
Von Mises Jr| 10.9.12 @ 11:11AM
Vern, I agree with spike and would add that we are not questioning the fairness of Congressional tricks where a poison pill is inserted, or in the case of Ryan on Bowles-Simpson who like Rand Paul has recently voted against a Bill since it does not go nearly far enough.
The point Dr. Sowell, and Rush made yesterday is that Obama chose the attack to demagogue the issue. It is one thing to perpetrate a lie through omission, it is quite another to do so through commission.
CJW| 10.9.12 @ 8:27AM
Like most lefty liberals, Obama believes, without any supporting evidence, that he is smarter and knows what is best for us. His phony accent shows his condescending belief and attitude.
Nancy in NC| 10.9.12 @ 8:40AM
The sad thing is the blacks in the audience don't even feel patronized. They find his actions OK regardless what he does, just because his skin color.
I've often said O could slay Michelle and consume her carcass, and many would still vote for him. There's just no excuse for stupidity.
TLP| 10.9.12 @ 4:25PM
Think: Pavlov's Dog.
Petronius| 10.9.12 @ 9:16AM
Dr. Sowell
The Truth never wears out with people who are rational and understanding. With the rest, it Never registers.
Al Adab| 10.9.12 @ 9:30AM
We should never be surprised that after we elected a community organizer, ie a street corner rabble rouser, that he governs exactly as what he is. There is no vision, no strategy simply the desire to manipulate the mob toward enhancing personal power. Would be dictators of all stripes develop these skills. Fortunately we have one last opportunity to correct our error and remove this wannabe from the halls of government. Should we fail to do so it is unlikely that the future will hold anything except a descent into Ceasarism.
JimH| 10.9.12 @ 9:31AM
The thing to remember about Obama is that he is not an African American as the term is commonly used and shares very little with them in terms experience. He is only half black, and that part Kenyan, not American. He spent much of the formative years of his life outside the US, in Hawaii and generally with the white part of his family; college education at Columbia and Harvard. I think BO has a bit of an identity issue and tries to establish his street cred with the brothers by using black dialect. This was likely the reason for attending Wright’s church where he picked up the pacing and rhythms used by black preachers when he is giving a speech.
Kwan| 10.9.12 @ 10:21AM
Using the Peter Principle (An observation that in an organizational hierarchy, every employee will rise or get promoted to his or her level of incompetence.) in regards to Obama we find that he reached his ultimate level of incompetence when he reached the level of "Community Organizer". After reviewing Obama's work as a community organizer in Chicago Byron York wrote an article for National Review Online dated September 2008 that prophetically said, "He’ll be the biggest, strongest organizer in the world. He’ll dazzle the country with his message of hope and possibility. But we shouldn’t expect much to actually get done." Actually York at the time didn't realize that Obama was a Manchurian Candidate with a hard-left agenda, that was determined to fundamentally transform the United States into a Totalitarian Socialist State.
Cat Shot| 10.9.12 @ 10:24AM
0-Bama might have been right - mainstream Americans might have cared more about the victims of Andrew and 9/11. Perhaps they they were put off by the Katrina victims raping, pillaging and shooting at rescuers.
Who Knows?| 10.9.12 @ 11:06AM
Thanks to Dr. Sowell!
Can you make phony baloney?
When baloney is phony meat, to begin with?
My uncle Ernie DID make baloney, hot dogs, and sausages. I got to work it the front of the factory, where he also had a meat market.
Ah, baloney, hot dogs---about the same: the least desired parts of the animals, lots of fat, and added grains, all mixed together with spices. Yum yum! The raw concoction is stuffed, under high pressure, into plastic containers, and cooked.
I’ll never forget this one guy. He’d had his brain damaged when the system blew up---half of HIS brains really was “tied behind his back”. And, my old man got to lay on me the bromide, “There but for the grace of God go you.”
Even THEN, I knew how rich that was. Ol pa never went to church, so God wasn’t part of his reality---maybe it was because his mother was a Jesus freak.
I also intuitively realized it wasn’t “the grace of God”, but some mistake made by some human that caused the machine to blow up.
Maybe Obama is the reincarnation of that “poor” fellah.
There sure is, these days, way too much phony baloney being made, especially in DC.
Oh, and don’t forget what a diet of such “food” brings.
Yes, baloney bodies AND minds, abound in 2012.
Alej| 10.9.12 @ 12:50PM
"Anyone who would retain his respect for law or sausage should not watch how either is made."
-Samuel Clemens.
Alej| 10.9.12 @ 12:51PM
"Anyone who would retain his respect for law or sausage should not watch how either is made."
-Samuel Clemens.
OregonBuzz| 10.9.12 @ 11:46AM
I'm always amazed when others seem amazed that the Liar in Chief lies. That's all he has to offer; constant, irrefutable prevarication. I'm amazed.
swimdog| 10.9.12 @ 12:00PM
In chapter VI of 'Mein Kampf', Hitler said it best, "The art of propaganda consists precisely in being able to awaken the imagination of the public through an appeal to their feelings, in finding the appropriate psychological form that will arrest the attention and appeal to the hearts of the national masses." Amazing how history repeats itself.
SYAsked| 10.9.12 @ 1:20PM
Thank you for the quote from the ultimate bad guy.
I see it applied, often, lately.
SYAsked| 10.9.12 @ 1:14PM
Told as many people as possible, as 'liar' is too popular among surrogates for our spendaholic, as they attack Romney.
JD| 10.9.12 @ 2:12PM
The Left often tries to dismiss truth as "old news" or good ideas as "old ideas". Neither claim impugns the accuracy, validity, or relevance of the thing being condemned, but the Left seems to hope that no one will notice.
Magnet21| 10.9.12 @ 2:20PM
Obama's followers can't handle the truth. They are all living in a web of lies.
chuck441| 10.9.12 @ 6:44PM
What comes to mind is the children's rhyme, "Liar, liar, pants on fire." If he never repents, may that be his epithet.
Barney Murrell| 10.12.12 @ 12:31AM
Support for Obama can come from unlikely places, such as Mitt Romney’s 2011 anti-Obama manifesto, "Believe in America;" which defines the GW Bush economy as follows:
Romney says Bush's recession (2002-07) "is the sharpest of any recession the United States has experienced since World War II…
• More than 6 percent of all jobs in the United States were lost.
• A total of 9.4 percent of full-time jobs disappeared, a percentage nearly triple the previous high of 3.3 percent set in 1981-82.
• The average duration of unemployment has risen to more than 40 weeks."
Mitt Romney admits most U.S. economic problems occurred before the Obama Administration, which means the excessive criticism is just political propaganda of the worst kind; i.e. exaggeration and prevarication.
So the question for the future becomes, is America better off now then four years ago? Well yes, according to a comment made by conservative Bill Kristol on a 9/23/12 Chris Wallace Fox News talk show when asked for a response to Obama's comment that it is hard to change Washington from the inside:
"KRISTOL: Well, I don't think it is, and I think the Romney campaign should explain that it isn't. And they need to focus on the next four years. I've thought this for months. If this election's just about the last four years, that's a muddy verdict. Bush was president during the financial meltdown. The Obama team has turned that around pretty well.”