The American Spectator

tj| 9.3.09 @ 10:36AM

Me TOOOOO!

S.C.| 9.3.09 @ 11:10AM

Tsk, tsk. You're on the list, Mr. Hillyer.

But you're in good company; I suspect I'm there as well.

Sean| 9.3.09 @ 11:15AM

Isn't that video a couple of months old? I agree with your comments, but wouldn't those comments have been more effective if they had been made back in January when this video came out?

Ran| 9.3.09 @ 11:54AM

When I took the Oath of Allegiance as a naturalized citizen, it was to "... support and defend the Constitution, and Laws, of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic ..." So Help Me God. I don't recall the line where I pledged to "serve the President."

Deborah D| 9.3.09 @ 1:07PM

Sean,

It is an old video, but it was just shown on Aug. 28th at a Utah elementary school. Scary and creepy and parents are p.o.'d. Here's the article:

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_.....id=5883011

Deborah D| 9.3.09 @ 1:12PM

What's that saying? It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission...let's see who's asking for forgiveness after September 8th and the Obama speech to the K-12 students.

Ken (Old Texican)| 9.3.09 @ 3:50PM

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Pete| 9.3.09 @ 3:52PM

Keep your kids at home that day...they face enough perils growing up without having some arrogant con artist try to brainwash them.

S.L. Toddard| 9.3.09 @ 8:05PM

"a disgustingly creepy piece of cult-of-personality pledge of allegiance to the person of Barack Obama"

A better man than me has already handled well the astounding spectacle of *Bush supporters* - of all people - feigning incredulity and outrage that a cult of personality was built around an American president:

I'm always amazed -- even though I know I shouldn't be -- at people's capacity simply to block out events, literally refuse to acknowledge them, when they are inconsistent with their desire to believe things. Do Nordlinger and the other National Review political experts really not know about this episode, obviously much more consequential than some admittedly creepy though entirely trivial moment in a celebrity "pledge" video:

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"According to the [Justice Department] OIG report released today, Angela Williamson, a deputy to Monica Goodling at the [Bush] DOJ, was intimately involved in her bosses' scurrilous hiring practices, attending interviews and often conducting interviews herself. Here's a sampling of the same questions that Goodling asked those being considered for political position:

Tell us about your political philosophy. There are different groups of conservatives, by way of example: Social Conservative, Fiscal Conservative, Law & Order Republican.

[W]hat is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?

Aside from the President, give us an example of someone currently or recently in public service who you admire."
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Prior to Goodling herself testifying before the House Judiciary Committee about her screening of prospective DOJ hires to make certain they were sufficiently devoted to serving George Bush, she shared with a Justice Department official this vow: "All I ever wanted to do was serve this president." And she didn't have a "secular mind." Even as Attorney General, Alberto Gonazles actually thought his "client" was the President. The entire DOJ was structured to ensure that its employees, including prosecutors required to act with apolitical independence, were what they called "loyal Bushies." Pledging "to be of service to George W. Bush" was the prime mandate of the Justice Department, which is why it was headed for his second term by Bush's most loyal servant.

Beyond the DOJ, huge swaths of the right-wing movement were devoted to an unprecedented veneration of George Bush. A whole industry on the Right was created to convert him into a warrior-deity, including truly creepy reverence books by National Review writers ( http://www.salon.com/opinion/g...../06/scary/ ). Some on the Right actually speculated that God intervened in our elections because he had hand-picked Bush to be our leader. Even Bill Kristol admitted that the GOP had turned into little more than a Bush-centered personality cult, telling the New York Times: "Bush was the movement and the cause." More than any single, discrete issue, what motivated me to begin writing about political issues was the warped climate of hero worship constructed -- by the Right and the media -- around George Bush as a "War President."

If you search long enough on the Internet, can you find examples of random people or vapid celebrities guilty of excessive Obama worship? Obviously. One can find virtually anything using those methods. But the personalized veneration of George Bush, particularly during his first term, was systematic and engulfing. It was the fuel that drove most of the abuses and transgressions of that era. The New York Times' Elizabeth Bumiller infamously confessed that asking hard questions of Bush was "frightening" due to the prevailing political climate. To read right-wing pundits proclaiming that such a sentiment would never be embraced by a conservative is really remarkable -- only because it's such a powerful testament to the ability of people to just forget and/or completely whitewash even the most recent history.

So inebriating was the Bush personality cult that DOJ aide Sara Taylor actually said this while testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee:

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"I took an oath to the president, and I take that oath very seriously," Sara Taylor said in answer to a question early in the hearing.

And right after a break, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) asked her if she was sure about that. "Did you mean, perhaps, you took an oath to the Constitution?" Leahy asked. It was a telling exchange.
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That, of course, was a distinction without a difference during the Bush years. Then there were the creepy loyalty oaths to George W. Bush which anyone wanting to attend his speeches were required to sign in order to be admitted. There were also those who were ejected from such events because of ideas they expressed that were critical of the Leader.

As for stomach-turning inculcation of American school children with unhealthy leader worship, nothing has surpassed -- or likely ever will surpass -- this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-y2QghS2gU

S.L. Toddard| 9.3.09 @ 8:05PM

It's even better in full, with the links available:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/g.....index.html

Dave Lincoln| 9.3.09 @ 9:16PM

Look, Mr. Toddard, I agree with you on a lot of things, but a Bush cult-of-personality thing to match this Obama crap? You are full of it on this one.

Even Bush's biggest supporters would just admit he was a likeable guy, a regular guy you might say, and one more principled than his predecessor (I would agree with all that). They did not worship him, if you recall.

Now, I think Bush was not a super-bright guy but intelligent enough, was not a conservative in most senses of the word, could not communicate his view even when it was right, didn't have a good understanding of the big picture, especially on immigration and gov't spending, and was a wimp like his Dad in that he liked to "reach across the aisle" and somehow thought the left-wing were just nice guys too.

In the meantime, the left-wing hated him, which really doesn't make a lot of sense, unless you figure they are so juvenile that it is just all about 2 close elections that they were bitter about. Bush did not fight for conservatism in most cases, so the left should have been satisfied to corner him in, as the right kind of did with Clinton for a while.

Bush was not the egomaniac that Obama is, by any stretch of the imagination, Mr. Toddard. You are getting your information this time from rectal extraction instead of the basic principles of libertarianism that you usual use (yes, not conservatism, libertarianism).

Marcel| 9.3.09 @ 9:17PM

Can't equate the two situations because of 9/11. It wasn't obeisance to George W.; people were afraid (justifiably) of being incinerated.

NO TROLLS!| 9.3.09 @ 9:21PM

Starve the Troll.

He's here because we starved him off another thread. He only seeks to insult and disrupt.

Starve the Troll!

S.L. Toddard| 9.3.09 @ 9:55PM

"but a Bush cult-of-personality thing to match this Obama crap? You are full of it on this one"

On the contrary, that the Bush cult of personality dwarfed the Obama one in all respects is clearly documented above. Unless you can find anything at all to equal the creepy religious reverence detailed in that article you've simply got no leg to stand on, Mr Lincoln. Click the link for the full article and peruse the titles and covers of the worshipful tomes produced by the Bush hagiographers at National Review and elsewhere. They are enough to make you gag.

And again - if that's not enough, there's this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-y2QghS2gU

It is truly revolting - a gang of sick-minded, servile sociopaths indoctrinating *children* into their twisted cult. They are *literally* worshipping an Icon of George Bush. It makes the Obama pledge video seem the height of rational normalcy in comparison.

Dave Lincoln| 9.3.09 @ 10:10PM

Toddard, I'm not gonna click on your silly link! I live in the real world, and I know what people thought of ex-President Bush over those 8 years. One you-tube video doesn't mean squat to me.

The Obama thing has gone way beyond that, even if the ONLY thing were his speaking to our government school children on the TV. What is that? It sounds closer to the goings on in N. Korea. Nothing like this occurs even in China in this day and age.

If you stay off the TV, Mr. Toddard, you will have a better big-picture view of things. (yes, I know you-tube is not the same as the TV and I am glad for you-tube for it's ability to counteract the statist MSM).

The president we have now is one sick puppy. Bush was a regular guy (granted, one who wasted a big opportunity for conservative causes, which makes me pretty well pissed at him forever).

S.L. Toddard| 9.4.09 @ 9:12AM

"Toddard, I'm not gonna click on your silly link!"

That is what people mean by "right wing echo chamber". Saying "I believe something that makes me feel good, and I will not even bother to find out whether it is true!!!"

Dave Lincoln| 9.4.09 @ 10:09AM

Take your link and shove it. I told you, there is no way in hell that Bush was an egomaniac, and compared to Obama he is a downright introvert and humble man. Get real.

JimP| 9.6.09 @ 7:06PM

I'm with you, Quin. I take the pledge. So help me, God.

NO Trolls| 9.6.09 @ 7:16PM

Dave, told you so: Starve the Troll!