After watching months of really curious and often times pathetic campaign rhetoric coming from the field of Republican hopefuls, I've concluded that they are campaigning against President Barack H. O'Blama (pronounced: O-Blame-a). According to the stump speeches and the silliness I've seen in the 729 Republican debates this O'Blama fellow is quite a bad President. In fact, he is the worst President in the history of the country-maybe the history of any country. Here are some examples.
Generally speaking he is a "failed" President. He is a socialist. He is the most radical, liberal President in our history. He has raised taxes. He hates capitalism. He doesn't understand business. He wants us to have European socialism. He hates America. He is soft on immigration and doesn't protect the borders. He apologizes to other countries for America. He is a Muslim. He is Kenyan. He has destroyed jobs- on purpose. He sides with terrorists. He is an "appeaser" who likes our enemies. He is a "divider". He is trying to start a class war. He won't protect Israel. He is "threatening". He wants to take every one's guns. He is aloof and unengaged. He is a micro manager who meddles in industries. He nationalized health care. He's put more people on food stamps- in fact he wants you on food stamps instead of working. He's gutting the military. He has too many regulations......................Wow! You name it, and that S.O.B. did it. What a horrible President.
I concluded they have to be talking about President O'Blama because they couldn't possibly be talking about the real President. The real President is Barack H. Obama. Same initials- different guy! Let me give you the facts about the real President, compared to this fictional O'Blama fellow. Please understand, I have some issues of my own with the real President, but they are nothing compared to the over-the-top shenanigans of this made-up President the Republicans are campaigning against.
Charge: Radical/Liberal. Not even close here. President Obama is moderate, no where close to a socialist. I'd bet most who repeat this rant couldn't give a correct definition of a socialist. He is so moderate that he often infuriates his own party who have urged him to move much further to the left. If you honestly look at his policies, you will see a consistently centrist agenda. The Republicans have just moved so far to the right, they don't recognize the center anymore.
Charge: He raised taxes. Total falsehood. Obama has not raised taxes. It just didn't happen! In fact his leadership provided tax reductions for 98% of the people in the country. The only tax hike he is proposing is to slightly increase taxes on millionaires and billionaires. 72% of all Americans want the same thing. Americans and American corporations are paying the lowest tax rates in generations.
Charge: Hates Capitalism/Hates Business. The real President did criticize some businesses (mostly the Banking sector) for unethical and predatory practices- the same practices that caused the financial crash of 2008. And he criticized those who outsourced of millions of jobs overseas, while hiding their profits. Oh, he did say they should pay their fair share. Doesn't sound Un-American to me. Look at the stock market- nearly doubled since he took office. Look at corporate wealth- profits at all time highs. Nearly all forward looking trends in business are up. If he hates business, please do it some more.
Charge: Sides with Terrorists/Failed Foreign Policy/Won't Protect Israel/ Apologized for America. You can lump all this nonsense together under the banner of Foreign Policy. Foreign policy, in my opinion, has been his strong suit. The speech in Cairo was not an apology. He told the world that America would support freedom and democracy in a different way. He specifically told the Middle-Eastern people that we would stand behind them- not occupy their countries. What happened? The Arab Spring happened. In the last year, three Arab dictators have fallen (Tunisia-Egypt-Libya) and a fourth is near (Syria). He successfully engaged other countries in common support, so the U.S. doesn't have be the world's sole policeman, or even the lead policeman. On Israel, his policies are exactly the same as previous Presidents including the last three Republican Administrations run by the two Bush gentlemen. Further, the real President has eliminated more terrorist leaders (through smart use of military assets) in three years than President Bush did during his eight years in office. The real President is winning the war on "terror"- and he is doing it without deploying hundreds of thousands of troops, and spending hundreds of billions of dollars, in the process. You have to admit that invading Middle-Eastern countries hasn't worked out too well.
Charge: Food Stamp President. The Obama administration has not changed one word in Food Stamp eligibility. We have a high number of recipients because the Recession that began in 2007 put so many more people in poverty. Gingrich pontificates about replacing Food Stamps with paychecks and believes it is an "inner city" (read: minority) issue. The facts are that over 70% of recipients are white and nearly 70% of FS recipients are working. The problem is an economic system that favored the top 1% while more working class folks become poorer. Obama did not do this- the previous administration and the whole myth of "trickle down economics" ushered us into this mess. The real President has pretty clear about wanting more jobs and how to create them, but the Congress has stopped almost every initiative.
Charge: He's wants to take every one's guns. There has not been word one from President Obama on this issue and certainly no legislation or programs remotely associated with this mythical complaint. It's all part of creating a false image that can be used to scare people.
Charge: He meddles in private business- or alternately, is uninvolved. I admit he was responsible for "meddling" in the automobile industry. His "meddling" saved it and got General Motors back to being the largest auto maker in the world, again. Romney's idea was to let the whole industry go bankrupt. ( Incidentally, Romney has the same idea for the Home Foreclosure crisis)You might also lump the the Affordable Health Care Bill in this category. "Obama Care" as they call it, is anything but a government take-over. It relies almost entirely on private insurance companies to provide coverage. A boon to them. There's a mandate for sure- just like every state has a mandate for auto insurance. The merits are debatable, but it's hardly a government take-over.
Charge: He is destroying jobs. Each of the opposition candidates have said in one way or another that we have lost jobs because of Obama. The simple fact is that our economy has added jobs the last 23 months straight-amounting to over 3.4 million jobs. The employment picture would be much better if the public sector hadn't lost so many jobs in the last 18 months. Public sector jobs are: teachers; police; firefighters; and other public employees. This happened mostly at the state and local level in states controlled by Republican Governors and Legislatures. Even so, 8 million jobs were lost under President Bush- so this is a favorable comparison. The opposition complains that government regulation under O'Blama is the reason for slow growth, but Obama has instituted fewer regulations than Bush did his first 3 years in office.
Charge: Soft on Immigration. President Obama has stationed more guards on the southern border and deported more illegal aliens than President Bush ever did.
Charge: He's a Muslim/ He's a Kenyan. I heard a woman say this to Rick Santorum (on TV) last week and Santorum didn't even flinch or correct the woman. This is an outgrowth of a deep-seated level of racism, in my view. For obvious reasons (skin color) some people just have to cast O'Blama as un-American- the other. It is a disgusting part of our political rhetoric and just has to stop. There is no debate here. The facts are clear. He is an American and he is Christian. End of story!
I believe there are enough areas of legitimate disagreement, in fact some deep philosophical disagreements, for the candidates to debate without making up a fictional President to go after. The problem is that we have become so accustomed to vitriol and falsehoods that we accept them as factual, with outlandish statements washing over us without question.The other obvious problem for the opposition is that when you really examine the facts, Obama's record isn't so bad. Let's insist these guys who want to be President treat our collective intellect with a bit more respect. Opinions can vary, but facts are facts. Let's insist they stop running against O'Blama and deal with President Obama and the real issues. This election is too important to conduct it on Fantasy Island- and we are too smart to let them.
Thanks for looking in.
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