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Two Views on the Cult of Personality Obama..
Posted by Duncan on January 20th, 2009
The first from Andrew Breitbart:
Conspiracy theories of America’s complicity in 9/11 dominated cocktail party discussions for eight tedious years. They couldn’t simply disagree with Bush. They had to ascribe evil to his motivations and make sure the whole world agreed on that flawed premise.
Yet, hating the president doesn’t mean one can’t still help out the country in a great time of need. But many went to foreign countries and demeaned it instead. Called those that disagreed with them rubes and hicks. The elitism of the celebrities against flyover country America could not have been more pronounced. They made a boat-load of movies that affirmed this narrow and patronizing world view.
And now they want us back.
We’re all Americans — NOW.
Here’s the jaw-dropping video..
MySpace Celebrity and Katalyst present The Presidential Pledge
Breitbart pretty much rips them a new one… and deservedly… the money quote here:
[As I was writing this piece, I received the following unsolicited email from a Big Hollywood reader: "Reminder to liberal celebrities: It's time to set your Fluctuating Patriotism Clock from "Hate America" to "Love America" on Jan. 20th. Remember, it's "Springsteen Ahead - Falwell Behind." Funny.]
Piles of crap dressed as political process
However, if you were to turn on HBO yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, or if you are to turn on likely any channel tomorrow, January, 20th, you’d think that Obama found the cure for Cancer, HIV/AIDS, and body odor buried in a Folgers can in his backyard.
The man has done NOTHING to warrant such a self-indulgent, over-the-top lovefest EXCEPT be born with a different name, “race”, and political party as W.
This is about the equivalent of celebrating the birth of your first child when you’re in 1st grade. Could it happen that soon? Probably not, so why celebrate it so damn early? Why not wait till the head at least comes out, eh?
Too true. They’re worshipping him, spending MUCH MORE than George W. spent, and it is all good, cuz it is The Obama™ Administration bring Hope and Change™ to the needy masses. And Obama himself doesn’t mind, which if he were truly about Hope and Change™, you’d think he’d lead by example after all….
January 20th, 2009 at 2:43 am
At about 45 seconds, I had to make a choice between shutting off the video or retching onto my screen. I chose the former…
I also thought Andrew’s finale was quite memorable in cutting to the quick:
Glad to read someone who’s not afraid to tell the naked truth about the emperor’s new outfit.
January 20th, 2009 at 11:53 am
These leftards don’t surprise me. They can fuck off and die and I won’t care.. What did surprise me is that shithead at 1:06 that pledges that he will consider himself an American instead of an African -American. I wish he would just move back to Africa if he is an afro-American.
January 20th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Due to my computer’s slow response to my attempt to pause the video, I had to endure about 1:25.
And I find myself fully agreeing with Breibart’s finale.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:34 am
Still…all in all, it’s kind of inspiring to see people so inspired, isn’t it? I mean, I hope they/we do work harder…it would be good. Whether you like Obama or not, he DOES inspire people.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:31 am
Terri,
Yes. He does inspire people. But that in and of itself is not always a thing to be praised. There are many people, great leaders even, who inspire people to do great things, and not so great things. There are leaders that can inspire people to jump off a bridge even. So for a man who has done little more than “inspire”, I think those of us who believe that what he has pledged to do is against our core beliefs of small government, not big government, free market solutions, not government bureaucracies solutions. Sorry, not buying this inspiration du jour. I give it 6 months and it is gone… just my feeling..
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Obama doesn’t inspire me. At all. Not one bit. I view his words and acts and actions with total skepticism and mistrust. I believe he is a hack; a far left whack job who is no leader, but rather a follower. But it’s not about me. It’s about the country as a whole. I am ashamed and saddened by the sheer numbers of stupid people who are inspired by the words from a man who has literally done nothing in his life.
I agree with Duncan: The inspiration will be gone before a yrs. over…the mere fact that Obama said, “We all have to work” will get old real fast among the liberals who love to not work. And I mean that in the sense of making real and honest and true personal sacrifices- not too many people of ANY political party are going to BUY into that.
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:10 pm
I also noted seeing the American flag all over the place…this bothers me to no end.
What? When Bush is President, the flag gets no respect? When Obama is President, the flag is popular again? Gee whiz. This tells me it is all about ME, ME, and ME and not about the country.
I’ve always flown the flag- even when the President (Clinton…) totally shamed me and made me sick to my stomach.
Love for country should rise above who it’s leader is. But that’s not the liberal way.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:37 am
Hello all! Ive been reading this blog for a while now, and decided to post to throw my two cents in. Quick background… I voted for Obama, and no, not becuase I am a “mindless liberal” who believes everything he says, but for reasons that don’t beling in a short intro.
(Sorry for the bio… but I felt like I should introduce myself before randomly posting on someones blog and I didnt see anywhere else to do it…)
That being said, I find this video to be incredibly annoying, and made me wince just looking at it. The blind obedience of some obama supporters is a shame to EVERYONE who gives a crap about the political process in America. Nothing pisses me off more than talking to some friends, asking them why they voted for Obama, and getting back as an answer no more than “becuase hes not G.W.”
Out of curiosity, I wonder what THESE people would have said if asked why they voted for Obama…
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:22 am
Bob,
Welcome to the discussion. A radio personality made an excellent comment yesterday that there is a difference between an Obama voter, and an Obama supporter. An Obama voter voted for him because they believed he was the best man for the job. An Obama supporter voted for him because they believed he is practically the Second Coming and can, and will, do no wrong, ever, ever, ever.
You sound like an Obama voter.
That being said, a family friend was all excited about the inauguration and the “Change” that was coming. My wife simply asked, what is it that you are hoping he’ll change? Their reply was healthcare and education. In other words, he’s gonna give me stuff. YAY! And now that we have a dependent class in the U.S., the powers that be will just continue to dangle the carrot of government entitlements in front of their faces for votes… awesome..
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Ha, I like that comparison, although I would say “follower” instead of “supporter.”
I must ask, however, why don’t you like the idea of universal health care? What about it doesnt appeal to you? I personally am squarely in the middle on this issue, so I am curious to hear your thoughts.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Bob,
I don’t like the idea of universal health care because it will limit my choices. I don’t want the government coming between me and my doctor. When the government gets involved, red tape and hang ups happen. I like to use Medicaid as an example. Old people who reside in nursing homes, who are poor, depend upon the program to pay for their so called “care”. It is concentration camp care; poor quality, lousy outcomes…nursing homes receive a fixed payment from the government and it is no where near enough to provide even mediocre care. Hence we see many problems: lack of quality, trained staff (nurse aides); poorly paid staff; rotten gross institution food; the cheapest supplies (diapers, bed linens and so on)…bed sores, infections, dehydration, malnutrition are just some of the very common problems associated with Medicaid facilities.
I also have the experience of seeing what happens when a government controlled health care system goes wild: Britain. People are given death sentences every single day over there by virtue of being forced to wait for exams, tests, treatments…
I do believe the government could help this situation by guaranteeing ACCESS to services and esp insurance coverages; and by removing any profit factors by which the insurance companies maintain. IOW- make them all non profit. Also, allowing people to do business with ANY insurance company regardless of what state (or country for that matter!) the company is located in…so, remove the typical for profit motives as well as regulate denial factors could help.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:28 pm
A lot of people up my way are Obama believers. Yes.
They act as though they have never seen or known of such a man who inspires them; suddenly they want to be patriotic and want to give themselves to this man. I almost got sick listening to a clip of a woman who stated she is so inspired by Obama that she pledges to give herself wholly, to him…she will be his servant.
WTF. The cult or what? I call it stupidity. And it’s dangerous. And it shows who is truly ignorant and who is not.
January 24th, 2009 at 4:01 am
Raven,
At the core I understand the soaring costs of medical care perfectly. Its obvious, after all, that doctors spend massive amounts of time, money, and effort improving their human capital to the point where they can be competent doctors. Therefore, either we PAY them to the level they deserve, or we get bad doctors, not to mention the complexity of the machines they use, medicines, etc, which is part of the argument I believe you were making against a universal health care program.
What I DONT get is what you are talking about… the insurance part of it. Do you really think that the government stepping in to regulate the insurers more will overcome the basic costs of medical care?
I guess what bothers me most about medical care is that, if you were looking at it PURELY economically, as if it was any other market, the cold hard reality is that the rich would get good care, and the poor would get far inferior care, because people would get only what they could pay for. However, of course EVERYONE demands the same level of medical care, no matter what the cost, and we have tons of regulations in place to ensure that is the case. So I don’t understand how the long-term “medical market,” as it were, can survive without a large ongoing government subsidy, such as universal health care, especially as the baby boomers all get older, further increasing demand (and therefore prices) for health care. And this is completely ignoring the insurance side of it, which makes it even MORE expensive. But perhaps I am missing something. Your thoughts?
(BTW, if this is not the place for a health care discussion, let me know where it should go and I would gladly move it.)
January 24th, 2009 at 7:58 am
Bob, you’re suggesting the government become THE INSURANCE. If you believe this will lower costs, I think you’re very wrong. Since when does the US Government lower costs on anything? Let’s be honest. Add the fact that these costs will be financed by working people’s taxes…the subsidy will be expensive.
Costs? How to lower them? Expect lower quality, across the board. Expect mid level practitioners to become the norm as we watch real doctors leave the profession (it’s already happening with Primary Care MDs); watch your chances of legal remedy decline once the government takes control (as the case in Britain, Canada, Netherlands, and so on); watch nurses leave the profession in higher groves than they already do now (because they get no incentive to stay, salary wise); watch for long waiting lines for simple ear infections and deadly cancers…
That is what will happen.
And, care rationing. Some say this is exceptable compared to what we have NOW. I don’t agree. ANYONE can get basic health care right now. It might be fiscally wrong- but people can and do seek care via ER visits for the ear infections and cancers- ER’s cannot turn people away for the most part.
Rationing, as Britain and other classy European nations have- is based upon age, disability, weight, lifestyle, disease. Many of the things we hold near and dear, such as personal freedom to live our lives as we see fit, will become reasons for care denial. I have no problem with consequences for behavior, but when it comes to health care, a government has no place meddling.
Go read this – and get in tune with the medical blogs. They present much more thought and discussion on these issues.
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/01/our-broken-health-care-system-should-we.html
January 24th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Bob,
Raven has put it very well, what ends up happening is reduced benefits for all, except the rich who will still be able to afford actual, real, good healthcare.
I have personally experienced a form of ‘universal healthcare’ when I was one active duty. TriCare Prime covers all active duty military members and their dependents, at no cost. One of the benefits of military service. When it was just me and my wife, and we were still young and didn’t need any medical work, it didn’t really matter. Once we had kids, things changed. The care my daughters began to receive was sub-standard. My first daughter was almost misdiagnosed with Turner Syndrome, when it was actually obvious even to my untrained eyes that she did not have it. My other daughter needed to see a pediatric orthopedist when we were in Oklahoma, but not a single office in the STATE of Oklahoma would accept Tricare Prime Insurance. I ended up going to Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital in Dallas, TX, which is a perfect example of a charity hospital that is top-notch on their healthcare. They are truly amazing, and they’re not government run.. imagine that…
Let me put it this way, had I stayed on active duty, I planned to switch my family over to TriCare Standard, which would have required me to pay a monthly premium and co-pay so that I could choose a doctor off base, as opposed to being stuck with the “free” ones on base who were giving my children poor care. I also saw cases of malpractice at other bases, but being that they were government doctors, nothing happened to them.
I am also afraid that we’ll end up with a two-tier system, like our public schools, which are failing IMHO. But if you have enough money left over from your local school taxes, you might be able to go and PAY for real schools privately, but more than likely not.
January 24th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Bob, I would also read Ron Paul’s book, Manifesto. Get it from your local library if you don’t want to buy it. But he does explain how government interference, and their support for those EVIL HMOs, has done more to complicate and make more expensive our health care system. I find it somewhat troubling that government interjects itself into matters, and when it becomes inevitably screwed up, the answer is more government interjection and interference. It is like a drug addict who treats his withdrawal symptoms by taking more of the drug….