It is no secret to anyone paying attention that President
Barack Obama projects a narcissistic and arrogant style in his public
communications. He often says, “It’s not about me,” knowing full well that in
his oratory, it’s all about him. He uses the first person singular pronouns
more than any speaker I’ve heard. He relates incidents from his past very
often, as though only he has ever experienced such things. Yet much of his past
remains hidden. He speaks of transparency, but rules a secretive domain.
The Obama personality cult – his idolization by not only his
associates, but also the mainstream media, is reinforced every day. The network
news and liberal cable outlets exercise a startling degree of selective
reporting and non-reporting that betrays their willingness to abandon
journalistic standards to serve the messianic figure they worship, i.e., Barack
Obama.
He insists on taking personal credit to a degree that far
exceeds the standards of past presidents. His willingness to pile lie upon lie (e.g.,
falsely accusing Mitt Romney of “outsourcing” jobs) makes Bill Clinton look
like Honest Abe. He recently claimed credit for inspiring the Lexus hybrid,
which was actually begun in 2004.
The president has bragged about killing Osama bin Laden in a
way that would have embarrassed Dwight Eisenhower, architect of D-Day, and
George Washington, victorious general of the American Revolution – and probably
even General George Patton.
Media Research Center,
which documents media bias, lists numerous instances of liberal “news” outlets
singing the praises of the great, god-like, amazing Obama. In fawning (MRC’s
word: slobbering) over the president, they throw journalism to the winds. And
further, they either under-emphasize, ignore or distort anything that might be
a serious question about Obama’s policies.
MRC elsewhere notes
that the morning shows totally ignored the House of Representatives’ vote to
repeal Obamacare, and the network news barely mentioned it, and with obvious
disdain. CBS News decried the “cost to taxpayers” of dealing
with the issue, a cost which is completely irrelevant, since it is incurred
regardless of what business the House is considering. If you want to complain
about the cost of doing House business, how much do you suppose it cost the
taxpayers to pass Obamacare, in terms of paperwork, House session time, secret
meetings, bribery sessions, etc.?
(In terms of government costs, taxpayers are charged
overwhelmingly for programs, activities, and propaganda that are destructive to
them and to our country. But such is the nature of government, at best a
necessary evil.)
Journalists used to feel responsibility for holding
government to honesty, and honestly questioning its many questionable things.
They felt a responsibility to the citizens to report the news accurately and
comprehensively. Now, they appear to think that their main responsibility is to
make Obama look good, and go on about how ignorant conservatives must be to
express distrust or dissatisfaction toward the government. Quite a turnaround,
but many today are too young to remember a time when journalists seemed to feel
accountable to the public. Now they are accountable to liberal politicians and
write largely to impress one another.
While the Obama personality cult may seem harmless enough,
it is a sign of dangerous tendencies. With the kind of adulation the president
surrounds himself with comes the temptation for him to feel above everything else.
He demonstrates that he considers himself above the Constitution, and above the
other branches of government, and the states by usurping power on a level not
seen since FDR. The history of his administration is one of continual power
grabs, massive over-regulation, large expenditures of public funds in “green”
projects doomed to failure. Bailouts and takeovers will be a large part of his
legacy, but he will be mainly remembered, I believe, for blaming his
predecessor for practically everything since the Vietnam War.
All the main dictators we know of built a personality cult,
enforced by secret police, and resulting in death and destruction to citizens.
Obama’s hasn’t approached that level, but the same temptations are present for
him. The end result is paranoia and collapse. Consider Saddam Hussein, who
reportedly could not sleep in the same bed two nights in a row for fear of his
enemies. Or Nicolae Ceausescu, dictator of Romania, who was executed, along
with his wife, on Christmas Day 1989, following a popular uprising against his
brutal, wasteful, and murderous regime. Or Benito Mussolini. Or Muammar Gaddafi.
What fate do we suppose awaits the likes of Hugo Chavez?
America
has accomplished something very important and rare in world history: the
peaceful transfer of power. Americans hate political violence, and have
developed ways to peaceably accomplish political objectives, particularly a
trusted election system. Many people are tired of politics of any kind, and try
to insulate themselves from it. Thus they risk their freedom, because
behind-the-scenes events are proceeding that chip away at our individual
liberty. Too often, we see only that which immediately and personally affects
us and do not consider the long-term effects and unintended consequences.
It is sad that our political system has come to encourage
kicking the can down the road on important issues that are apt to rise up and
do great damage at any time if left unattended. Thus we have unending borrowing
and spending, and an economy based too much on debt and consumption instead of
saving and building. We are content to leave this to experts who are unwilling
to acknowledge, let alone face, economic realities, but are content to pat
themselves on the back and present themselves as great personages, while
presiding over undeniable decline. This can and must be changed
The 2012 elections promise to be a turning point such as we
rarely see. We will turn one way or the other, either to Marxism or else a “return
to normalcy” of some kind that will stop or slow these dangerous trends.
Democrats will never change the course we are currently on, but will give us
ever-increasing debt and ever-decreasing freedom. With Mr. Romney, we can put a
stop to this decline and start rebuilding our economy and our future. Even if
Mr. Romney wins, citizens must stay engaged and keep the attention on the true
issues, not distractions.
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