Article Contributed on: 7/31/2008 5:47:51 PM
Recent knocks on Barack Obama have been;
He's arrogant:
as far as I can tell this is based on a spliced quote "This is the moment . . . that the world is waiting for," adding: "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions." As appeared in the Washington Post. The full quote "It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It's about America. I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions." Seems to directly contradict the notion that he's arrogant.
He talks a lot but offers nothing:
If you believe this you are lazy. If you are relying on what you catch on the news or the front page of a paper to decide who you are going to cast your vote for, you are a disgrace. Don't take for granted the freedom and the privilege of living in a country where you have a say in choosing the next President of the United States. Darn near everyone has a computer, use it! Obama has deeply detailed plans for all his policy positions.
He's a celebrity:
Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, popularity is not a bad thing. The President's role includes being an ambassador and a dignitary. Obama's recent trip abroad proved that the world would respect a leader like him. Despite what the neo-cons say, the rest of the world does impact us.
He acts like a messiah:
That's quite a compliment really. Let's face it, he knows how to motivate others. He knows how and what to say to get people excited and motivated to work. People seem to like him. I have not seen any shrines devoted to him however.
He is treated with kid gloves by the media:
Where did I hear this? It was all over the umm, you guessed it, the main stream media! Kind of hard to be easy on a guy when you are criticizing the media coverage of him as being too positive.
He is only successful because of "liberal white guilt:"
This is laughable. No, he's been successful because he is skilled and he has worked hard and shrewdly to gain support. "Liberal white guilt" is a charge righties make to keep from having to actually think. It's easier to just dismiss political opponents than contemplate why they do what they do.
Has no experience/hasn't accomplished anything in his political career:
It's no secret he doesn't have a ton of legislative experience. But he's had more than Hillary Clinton. He's had more than or close to President's past such as Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower to name a few. That being said in his short career he has made accomplishments and shown a real ability to bring people together who don't usually agree. One of his greatest achievements a state Senator, a piece of legislation to record all police interrogations that nobody wanted. Democrats and Republicans didn't want to be seen as impeding the police and being soft on crime. The police department didn't like the inference they needed to be video taped. Obama showed them all how it benefited the police and would help the DA put away more criminals. A video taped interrogation provided the defendant no room to accuse officers of abuse or violation of rights. It worked too. As a United States Senator he was instrumental in getting real ethics reform passed in his first year. He also co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to round up loose nuclear material in the former soviet republics. Besides, do we want an entrenched politician anyway? How long does it take for a legislator to figure out how government works and how it could be better?
He's a "socialist!":
This is the oldest canard in the book. Look, there was a time, during the Guilded Age when a handful of people controlled the vast majority of wealth, before there were child labor laws, worker and tenant rights, there were socialist in this country. It appeared then, that unfettered capitalism was impeding the liberties and protections of our Constitutional rights. From that oppression came socialism. Trust busting, (see Teddy Roosevelt), and labor unions were implemented by the government. Famous socialists include Jack London, Francis Bellamy, Katherine Lee Bates (author of America the Beautiful, ever heard of it?) Francis Bellamy (author of The Pledge of Allegiance, ring a bell?) Hellen Keller, Jack London and Colorado's own Mary Harris (Mother) Jones. I'll leave this topic for another time, but those who are quick to dismiss socialism today forget that women couldn't vote, child labor laws were non-existent, any labor law was non existent! And as a result, millions of Americans suffered while quite literally, only a handful prospered. Which is the track we appear to be on now. Many of us would agree the fruit of the 19th Century socialist was honorable and worked out quite well. However, the right's use of the word "socialist" is supposed to conjure up images of Mao Tse Tung and the Soviet Union. Don't worry folks. Your assets will not be seized, your businesses not confiscated. You will have a choice in who treats you medically, more than the private sector allows for sure, under any Democrat's health plan.