[Slonopotam845]

[COLOR="Blue"]
However, as I have pointed out numerous times, Obama's having remained in the congregation of this odious American-basher should have raised HUGE claxon-level alarm bells with every single American.

Why would Americans, particularly of the leftist persuasion, be bothered by Wright's statements, when they agree with them and say similar things daily? I just saw a poll released today that says among Democrats 50% support Obama and 42% support Clinton. Obviously Wright's comments don't bother them at all and many on leftwing blogs are singing this guy's praises.

Of course, among Republicans, Obama has 0 support. Anyone who claims that he appeals to Repubs is an outright liar. MSM has been peddling this lie for a while though.

Also, while I do not buy the "Obama is a Muslim" rhetoric, it's interesting to note that he chose a Pastor that is as close to an Islamofascist as a Pastor can be.

[LottiFurmann]

"That's not true. McCain gave Obama a pass - google it."

That's good strategy. Use the proper members of the group to attack, yet keep oneself marketable. Obama may not be a Muslim, but s sympathizer is still a traitor. After the primaries are over is the time to use that in the campaign.

[HedgeYourBets]

And Republicans who are villifying Obama like he was Satin and identifying him with the evil Muslims

Why do you insist on blaming this stuff on Republicans? You know very well the DEMOCRATIC Clinton campaign was caught red-handed "villifying" Obama and one of their staff members had to apologize and resign over it! And it's funny that most just call him a "Muslim" and to you that is "villifying." As I wrote in my other thread - it is you, as a Muslim, that should be mad at Obama's reaction to being called a Muslim.

How close is that? He gave an award to Farrakhan and supports Kadaffi for G-d's sake! He also blames 9/11 on us! Not to mention that he compares Israel to South African Apartheid. Is this not an Islamofascist cheerleader in the truest sense of the word? If I called him a dhimmi would that be a more accurate portrayal b/c he is supposedly a "Christian?"

[LottiFurmann]

http://www.victorhanson.com/articles...n031008PF.html

March 10, 2008Let Obama Be Obama
by Victor Davis Hanson
Tribune Media Services

Liberal Democrats from the North haven't had much success in recent presidential election — not Hubert Humphrey, not George McGovern, not Walter Mondale, not Mike Dukakis and not John Kerry. Democratic Southerners — Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton — have done quite a bit better.

Sen. Barack Obama, of Illinois, knows this history. So why does he think he can be the first Northern liberal Democratic president since John F. Kennedy edged out Richard Nixon almost a half-century ago?

First, there is no incumbent president or vice president running for the first time in over 50 years. Add a controversial war, an unpopular incumbent and a shaky economy, and you've got a wide-open race full of voters rethinking things as never before.

Second, as the first African-American candidate to seriously contend for either party's nomination, Obama offers Americans a sort of collective redemption at home and admiration abroad.

When Obama's wife, Michelle, stated that she had never been proud of America until her husband ran for office, she made explicit what seems to be the campaign's implicit contract: Vote for Obama and, at last, America, you can prove you are not a racist country and finally heal centuries-old wounds.

Many Americans are also tired of the flag-burning, embassy-storming and other virulent — and often violent — anti-Americanism broadcast into our homes from overseas. They apparently hope a young President Obama would recast the United States as a hip, likable multicultural society, marking an end to the stereotype of the U.S. as a stodgy white-guy superpower.

Third, and most important, Obama still continues to talk in platitudes of hope and change. His delivery is excellent and so far how he speaks rather than what he says is what has mesmerized crowds. Indeed, if Obama were honestly to articulate in any detail what he has stood for, then his long laundry list of new taxes and social programs might not be so warmly received.

There is surely a reason why various monitoring groups have given Obama an almost-perfect liberal ranking based on his Senate votes.

He favors re-negotiating NAFTA and threatening to raise some trade barriers, on the premise the United States cannot compete abroad — and that other countries won't follow suit and retaliate.

His version of the war on terror is largely a story of lost civil liberties and eroding the Constitution, not that we've done something right these past six years to prevent another 9/11.

He's spoken of the surge as a failure — not a success that has stabilized Iraq and paved the way for a downsizing soon of American troops there.

And he believes Iran has grown into a threat not just because of its desire to spread radical Islam, acquire the bomb, destabilize its neighbors and destroy Israel, but also in large part due either to our presence in Iraq or to our diplomatic failure to talk and engage with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In a broader sense, the pessimistic Obama theme is that elites have stacked the deck against the average Joe, who can't get a doctor, pay for his children's college education or pay his mortgage. Therefore, we must take back more income from the better-paid and hire a lot more people in government like Barack Obama to more wisely administer the money.

Obama's overall message — to the extent we know from cross-examination and position papers — seems very different from Bill Clinton's, who reformed welfare, advocated free trade, held the line on government growth and spending, advocated strong international engagement, and emphasized crime fighting. Indeed, at home and abroad it's more reminiscent of George McGovern's hoped-for changes.

The irony is that Obama really does offer a change — not just in matters of youth, race and eloquence, but also in that we have not seen such a leftish philosophy on the national scene in over a generation.

His handlers should let Obama be Obama — in the manner that true believers once demanded that handlers stop sugarcoating Ronald Reagan and instead let him make the case for his bedrock conservative beliefs.

Obama should now follow through on his promises of a new politics of candor and transparency, and use his magnetism and persuasive skills to make the detailed liberal case for more taxes on the wealthier for more government services for the majority along with trade protectionism as the proper antidote to our problems.

Who knows? Maybe today's indebted Americans really do want to move leftward toward a centralized European model. But the voters should at least be given the chance to understand fully in 2008 what they may well get in 2009 and beyond.
©2008 Victor Davis Hanson

[doctorzlo]

[COLOR="Blue"]It is simply beyond me how someone can have the gall to run for the US Senate, let alone win that race, and not have left the congregation years earlier.

That's a good point. We're now at an almost insane period in American history where a presidential candidate need not be patriotic, and not even pro-America.

And, as insane as it is to have someone like Obama being a front-runner for president, it's even more insane that a considerable part of the country agrees with him.

I suppose that the Obama crowd is similar to Israeli leftist Tali Fahima, who went to console the family of the Muslim terrorist who mass-murdered yeshiva students in cold blood. It's unbelievable, but people like that exist in droves both in Israel and in America.

Why would Americans, particularly of the leftist persuasion, be bothered by Wright's statements, when they agree with them and say similar things daily? I just saw a poll released today that says among Democrats 50% support Obama and 42% support Clinton. Obviously Wright's comments don't bother them at all and many on leftwing blogs are singing this guy's praises.

Exactly right. Leftists who hate America are actually delighted with Obama and his mentor.

I'm pretty sure that if they ever did a poll among people who would describe themselves as being ashamed to be an American, the percentage of those who intend to vote for Obama would be much, much higher than 50%.

And Republicans who are villifying Obama like he was Satin and identifying him with the evil Muslims and the evil blacks are going to have a long term surprise when they get 0% of that demographic. That's really what they wanted anyway.

The surprise is that blacks are so ungrateful to the Republican party -- and Bush in particular -- under whose presidency they made bigger strides forward than under any other administration. (Blacks at the highest levels of government, like Powell and Rice, highest black home ownership in history, highest percentage of college enrollment, etc).

As for Muslims, they have a very different agenda than most Americans, although their alliance with anti-American haters like the Reverend Wright (and Obama's Nation of Islam advisers) is to be expected.

Let's be honest - most blacks and Muslims turned their backs on the Republican party a long time ago. If I were the Republican candidate, I wouldn't waste any time or effort on a lost cause. Instead, the best move for Republicans is to try to rally the citizens who might actually cast their vote for a Republican candidate.

[doctorzlo]

Who knows? Maybe today's indebted Americans really do want to move leftward toward a centralized European model. But the voters should at least be given the chance to understand fully in 2008 what they may well get in 2009 and beyond.

Or you can vote for the war candidate and watch us spend another trillion without paying for it.

[tgs]

Clearly McCain is running on Bush's third term.

[Peptobismol]

Clearly McCain is running on Bush's third term.

CLEARLY McCain is far from Bush in a million ways and he was one of the first Republicans to criticize Rumsfeld and Bush's Iraq policy. He is more moderate than Clinton and light years more moderate than Obama. He has also proved that, like Schwarzenneger, he is willing to work with Democrats to get things accomplished.