PrintMay 5, 2008
Obama: check out Abraham Lincoln's respect for the people!
"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts."
- Abraham Lincoln
We are finally getting some of the real facts about Barack Obama, and the American people can be depended upon to draw the right conclusions. For a very long time, the media was so enraptured by the Obama glow that it was blinded to anything as mundane as reporting facts. His speeches were hailed as mesmerizing and his message one of messianic deliverance. MSNBC'S Chris Matthews described the phenomenon as the "Obama swoon" and confessed that he felt weak-kneed in the candidate's presence. If not the second coming of the Savior, Obama was heralded as at least the second coming of JFK. Chris Cillizza, Washington Post political journalist, pronounced in a CNN interview,
"Well, you know...that in the Democratic party, people have been waiting for the next JFK. If you are looking for the next John F Kennedy, I believe he[Obama] is it."
Then came a few Chicago journalists who dared to question Obama about his ties to the indicted influence peddler Tony Rezko, and the candidate was stunned. After only eight questions, he stormed away from the reporters. What happened to the unconditional adoration? Obama is avoiding candid encounters with the press now that some are asking the tough questions. In fact, it's been a few weeks since he's had a "press-avail" and he has turned down repeated requests to debate Clinton after the last debate in which questioners grilled him for the facts. He even submitted a 64-page complaint with the Federal Election Commission, trying to prevent $700,000 worth of television commercials to be aired in Indiana for Senator Clinton even though Obama's campaign is outspending Clinton's by millions. Unlike Lincoln, Obama would prefer that the people not know.
The Obama glow dulled considerably when ABC released the video footage of Obama's mentor and spiritual guide, Jeremiah Wright, spewing lies and hate for the U.S. Obama changed his explanation of his relationship to Wright at least nine times: he never heard the outrageous comments, the Trinity Church is not really controversial, questions about Reverend Wright are a distraction, the offensive statements were a rarity, the good pastor was no worse than Obama's white grandmother, rejecting Wright would be rejecting the African American community as a whole, the clips were taken out of context, and Wright's spectacle at the National Press Club was a revelation that shocked Obama into finally severing ties.
Of course, the most devoted Obama disciples believe every one of the conflicting rationalizations, but the American people don't. They recognize politically motivated maneuvering. A recent Rasmussen survey found that,
Apparently Obama is misreading not only American voters as a whole but African-American voters, who reported that they disagree with Wright by a 64% to 12% margin"Just 30% of the nation's Likely Voters believe Barack Obama denounced his former Pastor, Jeremiah Wright, because he was outraged. Most-58%--say he denounced the Pastor for political convenience... Only 33% of voters believe that Obama was surprised by the views Wright expressed at Monday's press conference. Fifty-two percent (52%) say he was not surprised."
Since Obama could have repudiated Wright and not disowned all African Americans, many Americans suspect that his twenty-year relationship was based on shared values and views. In fact, Rasmussen reports that fifty-six percent (56%) of the respondents say it's at least somewhat likely that Obama "shares some of Pastor Wright's controversial views about the United States." Twenty-six 26% state that it's Very Likely Obama holds such views.
The Rasmussen Report demonstrates that Americans may be swayed by charisma and charm for a time, but if they are given the facts, they stop swooning and start thinking. Abraham Lincoln knew it and respected the basic wisdom of American voters. Lincoln also had it right when he said, "You may deceive all the people part of the time, and part of the people all the time, but not all the people all the time."
Time is up on this one.
Time is up on this one.
