I think
Neo is on to something here:
This is one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen online—a movement to repeal the 22nd amendment. You know, the one that limits a president to two terms.
Think it can’t happen here? Think again. These people set up this group on Obama’s inauguration day. I’m fairly certain it’s a very small movement now. But this can grow, depending on how much money they get to spread their message. It’s a move for Zelaya-style “democracy” in this country.
Who’s really behind it? You can bet your bottom dollar it’s not the group they themselves describe
In my profession, the key to understanding people is to pay much more attention to
what they do rather than to
what they say. The degree of correlation between the two is the measure of the person. And further, it is a well-known truth that the best (and essentially the only) predictor of
future behavior is
past behavior.
Obama has left a minimal paper trail. What we do have is a very carefully manufactured persona whose primary purpose appears to have been to obscure the
"real" person. It is quite amazing, really, how Obama attempted to hide his real thoughts and feelings about quite a lot of things (e.g., his habit of voting "present" so as not to be held to any particular opinion on most matters).
People are generally bewitched by his mellifluous words and soothing style of speaking, but the key to Obama has always been his
actual behavior. Who has he actually associated with and for how long? What has he actually chosen to spend his time on? What does he actually choose to comment on and what does he ignore? (Don't listen to the words he is saying, note the fact that he is saying something about a particular event--e.g., that he chose to immediately meddle in the Honduras' presidential ouster; but to keep quiet and not to meddle in the Iranian stolen election).
Victor Davis Hanson compiles some of the most egregious examples of the disconnect between what the Democratic Messiah says, and what he does:
I don't think it has occurred to the divine ones that the administration now is at odds with the sort of ideology and attitudes Obama himself espoused on the campaign trail.
They call for patience and for confidence in Iraq — and not, in prior Obama-like fashion, dismiss our chances while demanding a strict and rather rapid timetable to get out.
They ask for understanding about renditions, tribunals, Guantanamo, intercepts, wiretaps, and Predator missile attacks as complex issues — and not, in prior Obama-like fashion, dismiss these necessary tools as Constitution-shredding authoritarianism.
They ask for patience on jobs — and not, in prior Obama-like fashion, pontificate about a "jobless recovery" when jobs and growth were far better.
They reassure us that missile defense is insurance against North Korean lunacy — and not, in prior Obama-like fashion, dismiss such investment as needless militaristic provocation.
They ask for latitude about the definition of what is a tax, what defines unemployment, and how we calibrate deficits — and not, in prior Obama-like fashion, blast obfuscation while promising "transparency."
They reassure that their planted questions, the favoritism shown some journalists, the refusal to release White House visit logs, and the arbitrary firing of inconvenient auditors are nothing new — and not, in prior Obama-like fashion, charge government intimidation and suppression of thought.
They ignore corruption in the Democratic-controlled Congress, cater to lobbyists, are not bothered by the tax improprieties of their major cabinet appointments — and do not, in prior Obama-like fashion, demand an end to executive malfeasance.
I know this is old-story politics, but two things are different. One, never has the gap between pre-presidential and in-office behavior been so wide (heaven and earth really are quite distant), and, two, the past promises of utopia have so conditioned a mesmerized media that they don't realize their own complacency in allowing an administration to use whatever means they chose for professedly exalted ends.
And, by the way, if you do listen to Obama's rhetoric, then before you swoon in ecstasy, notice how
self-referential and fundamentally narcissistic everything he says is. It is always about
him first and foremost. His lovely words are fluid in both form and substance; and he has perfected the art of
postmodern demagoguery.
But the whole point of
postmodern rhetoric is to obscure and hide the truth or reality. You can hide behind such rhetoric ("it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is" for example), but the key is to watch the behavior.
Obama's behavior has been extremely consistent--consistently leftist and socialist; consistently supportive of thugs and dictators; consistently an example of the 'end justifies the means'.
Don't think
it can't happen here; it is happening as we speak; and half our population is aiding, abetting, and loving it.
UPDATE: Likewise, don't listen to what the left
says their ideas and policies will do; look at what those ideas and policies actually do (and have done) in the real world:
[Political Cartoons by
Chuck Asay]
