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Hillarysworld -> Obama and Congress -> "Obama's Image: What a Difference a Year Makes" (American Thinker 12/28/09)
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TOPIC: "Obama's Image: What a Difference a Year Makes" (American Thinker 12/28/09)
Sanders


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"Obama's Image: What a Difference a Year Makes" (American Thinker 12/28/09)
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December 28, 2009

Obama's Image: What a Difference a Year Makes

By Ed Lasky


Almost a year has passed since January 20, 2009 -- when the waters of the ocean no longer rose and America began to heal from the depredations of Republicans. Barack Obama has been our president for that long, and the people have started to wise up.

The light that shines on Barack Obama as president has reflected back an image that bears very little similarity to the iconic visage that floated above us all in 2008. Why has Barack Obama betrayed so many allies, broken so many promises, thrown so many pledges and people under the bus?

One simple aphorism (paraphrasing Winston Churchill) can explain it all. Barack Obama is no longer a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Much about his past remains murky, but faced with the need to govern, he has given the American people plenty of evidence of his nature...if only they will look.

Obama is a cynic wrapped in a hypocrite inside a bully.

This comes as a shock to many, who are dismayed to find that he is "just a politician," as Reverend Wright, Jr. (who knows him so well) called him back in 2008. But Wright was being all too kind and generous to his future former parishioner (Wright followed a long and ever-growing line of people trampled by Barack Obama's rise.)

But Barack Obama is far more than just a politician. We all swallow a lot from politicians; we know that many pander and narrowcast, changing their message to suit their audience. But Obama expressly campaigned as a man who would not do this. He was the candidate of hope and change -- he would bring a big broom to sweep clean the Augean Stables known as Washington, D.C. He called forth the better angels of our nature (hat tip: Honest Abe Lincoln, one of the truly honest politicians from Illinois) and tapped into a deep yearning for the rarest of the real things: an honest leader.

A cynic

Obama defined his campaign with high-sounding rhetoric that "[his] rival in this race is not other candidates, but cynicism." The line resonated and soon became his mantra.

He later asked us to fight cynicism and revealingly told us that cynics believe they are smarter than everyone else. To this it could be said that Obama knows what that is like.

Could there be anything more cynical than to look upon Americans as being too forgetful to remember all the broken promises Obama made?

These include -- but are not limited to -- a promise that there would be no health care mandates (there are); that he would take a scalpel to the budget and bring down the deficit (headed towards the stratosphere as he rewards his own special interest groups); and that he would end earmarks (his spending bills are polluted by them; he is, after all, a Chicago politician).

He promised to close Gitmo -- not a done deal, and like many deadlines he promised, no one is sure when or if this will happen.

He promised the end of partisanship, but he has stoked it to a roaring blaze with his refusal to work with Republicans. He promised to end our wars, but now he is sending more forces into Afghanistan.

He stated that he would fight the gay marriage ban, but instead he ended up supporting it, in effect, by defending the Defense of Marriage Act.

He promised the most transparent administration in history, but instead he imposes layers of secrecy and invokes executive powers to cloak his administration from scrutiny (e.g., his use of executive privilege to protect Desiree Rogers, his social secretary, from questioning regarding the WhiteHouseGate-crashers).

We were promised that if we passed the stimulus bill under Barack Obama's presidency, then the unemployment rate would drop below 8% by now -- and here we are, during Christmas season, cruising along at a solid 10% (17% if we include the underemployed and those who left the workforce because they saw no prospects of landing a job).

We were promised that the anti-Bush would restore respect for America around the world and bring international comity. Instead, he has alienated our allies and empowered our adversaries -- a dynamic that has brought all but zero benefits to America (very little cooperation in Afghanistan, on "climate change," or on Iran's nuclear program). While he may have snagged himself a Nobel Peace Prize, the leaders of the world are increasingly treating him, and America, with disrespect and contempt.

The betrayals are so breathtaking and widespread (all of his promises have an expiration date) that all one can surmise is that the ultimate cynic is the One who campaigned against cynicism.

We can sense that Obama is a cynic by referring back to his own definition: someone who thinks he is smarter than everyone else.

We have abundant evidence of this derisive attitude.
I think that I'm a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I'll tell you right now that I'm gonna think I'm a better political director than my political director.
Obama had the ego to think he was better than the key experts playing roles in his victory: He is apparently smarter than his policy directors and political directors, and he's a better speechwriter to boot.

We know how Obama feels about small-town Americans: They are bitter yokels who cling to guns or religion or antipathy towards people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment. But he has additionally demeaned a wide range of other Americans (doctors, cops, Special Olympics contestants, and many more, as you can see via the Insulter-in-Chief). And how many of us are the "typical white person" he derided in the not-so-distant past? Patriots who wear flags on their lapels? They are among the great unwashed.

We also know how Obama feels about people living in suburbia. He has no use for those people in the gray flannel suits. He said, in an un-teleprompted remark: "I'm not interested in suburbs. The suburbs bore me."

As Barack Obama has intoned, words matter.

More . . .
"


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Hillarysmygirl16


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Great article and so true

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Sanders


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While many people criticize Pres.Obama's personal nature, this author has solidly supported his arguments.  Hence, I thought it is a strong article.

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Optixmom


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Great article, but he left out a few layers that Obama is wrapped in:

Narcissistic Layer
Deadbeat wake-n-bake Collegian Layer
Sell His District's Soul so Wifey gets a raise Layer

He is like a smelly onion with all of his layers.

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Optixmom


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Optixmom wrote:

Great article, but he left out a few layers that Obama is wrapped in:

Narcissistic Layer
Deadbeat wake-n-bake Collegian Layer
Sell His District's Soul so Wifey gets a raise Layer

He is like a smelly onion with all of his layers.


Oh, and don't forget the:

"I have strong women in my life to thank for my success" coming out the frontside and "grandma is a racist" and "women's rights aren't important" coming out the backside Layer.

 



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Hillarysmygirl16


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Optixmom wrote:

Optixmom wrote:

Great article, but he left out a few layers that Obama is wrapped in:

Narcissistic Layer
Deadbeat wake-n-bake Collegian Layer
Sell His District's Soul so Wifey gets a raise Layer

He is like a smelly onion with all of his layers.


Oh, and don't forget the:

"I have strong women in my life to thank for my success" coming out the frontside and "grandma is a racist" and "women's rights aren't important" coming out the backside Layer.

 


Don't forget sell out my ghetto constitutients so my rich friends can become richer by expoliting them layer. 
How about Dirtiest player but pretends innocence layer 



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