During his press conference earlier today, we witnessed President Obama’s persistent habit of engaging in a form of political libel. When the president was asked about a possible government shutdown, Mr. Obama said this:
But it seems as if what’s motivating and propelling at this point some of the House Republicans is more than simply deficit reduction. They have a particular vision about what government should and should not do, so they are suspicious about government’s commitments, for example, to make sure that seniors have decent health care as they get older. They have suspicions about Social Security. They have suspicions about whether government should make sure that kids in poverty are getting enough to eat or whether we should be spending money on medical research. So they’ve got a particular view of what government should do and should be.
This is a particularly foolish slander by a president whose policies are leading to worse, not better, health care for seniors; whose profligate fiscal policies will eventually lead to deep and painful cuts in our entitlement programs; and whose presidency has coincided with a record 46 million Americans living in poverty.
During the Obama years, in fact, the ranks of America’s poor have climbed to levels unseen in nearly half a century. In addition, Obama was opposed to the 1996 welfare reform bill, which was arguably the single best policy reform to help poor Americans, and his administration has taken steps to weaken welfare work requirements. Yet the president feels like he’s in a position to lecture Republicans about caring for the most vulnerable members of the human community.
And leave it to Mr. Obama to level the charge that Republicans want poor children to go hungry in the very press conference in which he complains about “how much energy has been devoted in some of the media … to demonize me.” This is a variation of what psychiatrists refer to as projection.
But there’s more to it than simply that. This is a president who, when he’s not sermonizing on the importance of civility in public discourse, is accusing Republicans of being social Darwinists and members of the “flat earth society,” of putting their party ahead of their country, and of wanting dirty air and dirty water. He says Republicans want autistic and Down syndrome children to “fend for themselves.” He accuses his opponents of not simply being wrong but of being his “enemies.”
During the 2012 election, Obama’s vice president said Republicans want to put African-Americans “back in chains’ while Obama’s top aides and allies implied Governor Romney was a felon and flat-out stated that he was responsible for the cancer-death of a steelworker’s wife. For Obama, it’s not enough for the differences in politics to be based on an genuine difference in philosophy. He is always working to portray his opponents as caricatures, as cartoon-figures who don’t want to feed the poor or fund medical research. One might be excused for thinking that the president has a suspicion of honest debate and prefers demonization instead.
It appears as if Mr. Obama is determined to build on his already substantial body of work when it comes to intellectual dishonesty and moral self-righteousness. The president, already the most polarizing in modern history, thrives on creating an acrimonious political culture and exacerbating divisions in American society. He’s the perfect president to star in America’s current political circus.
Another case in point??? Its a flipping Op-Ed. Commentary from some columnist. Have in facts for us to review?
"It appears as if Mr. Obama is determined to build on his already substantial body of work when it comes to intellectual dishonesty and moral self-righteousness." n nan excellent summary of the situation. Obama's hubris is unbelievable.
I was raised as an Orthodox Jew, attended religious schools, and have as much knowledge as a rabbi. In graduate school, working on my doctorate in theoretical physics, I came to realize that basing one’s behavior on a concept such as God is irrational (that is, neither logical nor supported by any observations), and not necessarily beneficial. I rejected many of the rituals that I found inconvenient, but kept the moral teachings and beautiful rituals for the pleasure they gave me. n nOne thing I learned is that it is impossible to discuss religion with a believer. For example, there is no way one can convince a Catholic that one God is not three. Likewise, there is no way one can convince a Moslem to stop accepting rote statements from the Koran, but to try to think, analyze, and question the holy texts. n nWestern Civilization is based upon rational logical thinking and comparison with evidence and experiment. This duality, of logical thought starting from basic principles combined with evidence and experiment, is the basis of the rapid growth of prosperity and human happiness. Excessive adherence to religion interferes with this process (prosperity and happiness), although moderate adherence does not interfere. We are advancing towards better thinking and benefits to mankind. Better awareness of the deleterious effects of religion would speed the progress towards a more prosperous and happier future. n nOne of the unfortunate effects of religion is the changing goals from prosperity, satisfaction, and happiness to “getting a better seat in heaven,” to quote my dad. If people have a primary goal focused on heaven, then, of course, they will accomplish less in making people happier and more prosperous. We need to explicitly state our goals, and carefully think if we want to accept these goals. I tell my mathematics students to focus on the goal of the problem they are working on. The same is true with our daily living. n nUnfortunately, America and other Western countries are regressing. We are plagued with powerful irrational forces resulting in dangerous policies. Although many of us have rejected formal religion and monotheism, we have adopted attitudes similar and dangerous as strict formal religions. We accept uncritically statements made by our leaders. The lack of strong criticism is a hallmark of formal religion. This is a sad and irrational attitude, for every human being makes errors for which they need to be harshly criticized. The current American attitude is exactly the same as the attitude of formal religions, in spite of the nonexistence of a concept of God. n nDemocratic Party leaders are the priests of the new American religion, and the President is the prophet. If we study the founding of major religions, we will see the strong similarity with American thinking. One cannot challenge Democratic spokespeople just as one cannot challenge devout Catholics on their core beliefs. Republicans know this, and consequently refrain from direct confrontation with Democrats. There are many examples of this sad and unfortunate behavior by politicians and pundits. n nWhen confronted with a religious person with whom we disagree, we have two options. One is to avoid any discussion. This is the best course if possible, for it is impossible to get the other person to agree even to a partial extent to what we are saying. Compromise is impossible. On the other hand, if a confrontation is unavoidable, then we must be willing to fight as hard as we can for as long as we can for a total defeat. If the Nazis are determined to kill Jews, and if the Jew cannot flee and avoid a confrontation, the Jew must fight very hard for his life. n nGalileo realized he could not convince the Pope of his scientific ideas, and so decided to avoid any discussion by formally agreeing to the Pope. Professor Summers, former president of Harvard University, suggested research to examine women’s intelligence by comparison with men’s intelligence. American women, dedicated to the American religion, fought Summers bitterly, falsely saying he claimed women’s intelligence was inferior. Summers realized one cannot discuss issues with a religions person, and so opted to resign and leave the discussion. He could have stayed on, as he was a tenured professor, but choose not to fight realizing that any discussions are futile. n nAmericans who disagree with the new American religion of the Democratic Party do not have the option to avoid the discussion, just as the Jews in Nazi Germany did not have the option to lay low. We have to fight if we are to survive. The first thing is to realize that we have to fight. The German Jews did not realize the extreme danger they were faced with. Likewise, Americans do not realize the extreme danger liberalism poses to our great wonderful nation. If we are to survive as a people, the Republicans must learn to accept the necessity of direct confrontation without compromise with the Democrats. We must fully express our views, properly giving the assumptions, logic, and evidence. If they say Congress must hurry up and get something done, we must forcefully reject such suggestions for brevity, as thinking must proceed one step at a time, always being logical, checking with evidence, and being focused on our goals of prosperity and happiness. n
As a Catholic, I disagree with you, most of us know that there are not three Gods, many of us aren't sure there is One. But we too, find comfort in ritual, music, and tradition.. nAs my Jewish-turned-Methodist mother in law said, upon joining a Bible study, " I don't think I believe a word of it, but what the hell, just in case." She was in her 90's at the time, and still an ace card player. n
Wehner, portly propogandist and but only distantly familiar with truth, fails to show anything slanderous in Obama's remarks….. n n nwhich is not surprising coming from a creepy little political junior operative.
Obama doesn't know how not to lie. n nHe is not used to being held accountable for anything.
Becase he can always find TL's like Dub and TrollelA to defend his lies to the hilt.
why, aha, you're slandering me!
Right on, Peter! But President Obama isn't the only one to blame here. Why does the rest of America continue to enable this kind of childish behavior?
Because many of them have never grown up either. Behaving in a mature manner is sooo last Century.
Obama is the arsonist who points his finger at one of the victims and says to the firemen "He's the one that did this!"
why all this fuss about Obama.He is after all a legal elected rep.And as a ruler he is accountable to God even as YOU and I are.Let us first judge ourselves before we do for others