Obama's Speech, Freedom's View

He gave four speeches. The synopsis: I'm a regular guy; the Republicans are evil and screwed up; here's my favorite 29 Government programs; and I have a dream.

Every time Obama got specific, he got wrong. His worst parts were his feeble attacks on McCain on foreign policy. His best part was the end, no specifics, just hope and change and let's all work together for the glorious socialist future that awaits.

Some things stick out.

"So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first."

Squealing like a stuck pig. Country First is a great slogan for John McCain, that hits on biography and policy at the same time.

Obama has neither the background nor the positions to be the 'country first' candidate. Barack Obama is just an inexperienced empty-suit front-man for the same old tired liberal Democrat socialist policies that have cost people jobs, made America poorer, kept children less well educated, emptied our pockets through more taxes and bigger Government, litigated businesses to death, and harmed our national security.

Nobody is questioning your patriotism, Barack. We are questioning your lack of experience, your extremist friends (Ayers, Wright), your left-liberal positions (most Liberal Senator in the US Senate according to National Journal), your pathetic and poor judgment on issues like Iran and Iraq, your failure to know history, and your empty and phony campaign of hype. That's all - not your patriotism.

His claim that he would cut taxes for the middle class.

It's a phonyclaim built on the sophistry to making earned income tax credit welfare increases 'cuts' and taking credit for cuts Bush has already enacted. It is scary in that Clinton successfully ran on the same lie in 1992. We know that in the end Clinton dropped it and gave us a huge tax HIKE, but people might get fooled again. Obama is "paying" for this by pushing up tax rates for the rich past 50%, a level of income redistribution that will topple over and actually reduce Government revenue, while harming the economy significantly. He absurdly bashes Bush, while most of the tax cut he touts is already in place and enacted by Bush. All we have to do is make it permanent! The GOP should issue a challenge and opportunity - lead and get the tax cut passed and on Bush's desk to sign or veto. The Democrats have the Congress - surely they can pass it.

BUSH failed to respond to America’s challenges.

Other than that 9/11 thing, Bush tax cuts that turned around the economy, Bush taking on the need for Social Security reform (and the Congressional Democrats stopping it), the challenge of putting good men on Supreme Court (Roberts and Alito), No Child Left Behind, etc. Bush did fail to cut and run from Iraq when Obama wanted to. Bush also failed to close Gitmo.

He trashed the economy and criticized Gramm's "mental recession" comment.

Obama and the Democrats are poor-mouthing a growing economy as a way to scare people into voting for them. Fact: Economy grew 3.3% in the past quarter.

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=304816152498589

Even so, we were struck by Thursday's news that second-quarter GDP was revised up from 1.9% to 3.3%, more in line with boom than bust. The consensus estimate was for 2.7% growth. ... Since 2006, the economy minus the ailing housing sector has grown at an average 3.3% rate. Add housing back in, and GDP growth has averaged just 2.4%. So housing's collapse has cost us roughly 1% of GDP.

"Discredited Republican philosophy." Attacks the "ownership society". Calls it "you are on your own."

Basically, creating a strawman to attack, but in the process making clear that he really doesn't understand nor care for markets, even though he says otherwise in his "BUT" statements.

"It's time for us to change America."

America is the greatest country on earth, and it's time to change all that. Obama actually said that in a previous speech, and people should ponder the irony.

"An economy that honors the dignity of work"

We honor the dignity of work by keeping taxes low and Government out of the way of workers and employers. We honor the dignity of work with "Right to Work" laws and with a secret ballot for Union Workers, both of which Obama opposes. We honor the dignity of work when we offer choice for retirement to replace an outmoded Social Security.

Attacks John McCain for opposing ethanol

He sounded lame and false when attacking McCain on alternative energy and environment because he WAS lame and false.

Drilling is a stop-gap solution, not a long-term solution

We have more shale in Colorado then there is oil in Saudi Arabia! This man is seriously deluded and out-of-touch on this. We can and we should drill now, and it will pay dividends not short-term but for decades to come. His energy solution litany sounded a bit bipartisan, but devil is in the details. Earlier in the night, Al Gore did his litany and touted being 'free of fossil fuels'. Obama was far less ambitious - free of mideast oil. We only get 15% or so of oil imports from the mid-east, most of it comes from closer places - Canada, Mexico, Nigeria, etc. So it is in effect a proposal to lower our imports by about 2 million barrels a day in the next 10 years. Well guess what, we lowered oil imports in June by about a million barrels a day versus a year prior. Amazing what the power of price, supply and demand will do.

Obama's $150 billion on alternative energy like solar and wind? Will be a big boondoggle. CO2 sequestration is also a big boondoggle.

" safely harness nuclear power"
Sounds good except
1. We've been safely harnessing nuclear power for decades so it's no 'change' and not merely as bold as McCain's real change of actually building more nuclear power plants.
2. he has pandered to Nevada to oppose Yucca Mtn. It's a forked tongue promise.

“Eliminating programs that no longer work”

What has Obama done in the past to prove he will do this? A vital question for the debates? What programs don't work? And what programs have you voted to cut in the past? Non-defense ones?

Parents have to turn off the TV.

That rhetorical fluff, sounding off like Bill Cosby, got the biggest applause. Bizarre that he criticized small things elections and got applause on this.

McCain was willing to ‘muddle through’ on Afghanistan.

A Lie. Obama was lying about McCain on Afghanistan. In Dec 2006, McCain called for more troops in Afghanistan. In mid-2008, Obama came around to that position and then claimed he though of it first. Obama taunted McCain that he wasn't willing to follow Obama to his cave. Excuse me, Senator Obama, if you know where Obama is then why aren't you following him to his cave - NOW - and pointing him out to us?

Obama is all hat and no cattle on the war on terror. He is seriously unstable and wrong on this stuff and it is actually quite scary in a "What if a dumber and more naive version of Jimmy Carter got elected?" kind of way.

“Grasping at the ideas of the past.”

The rhetoric is fine, but Obama’s attacks on McCain’s Iraq policy are feeble.

“The party of Roosevelt and Kennedy.”

Yeah, a guy who gave half of Europe at Yalta and ignored the USSR threat and the guy who screwed up the Bay of Pigs. And why not mentions “Hostage Crisis” Carter and his terrible naive foreign policy?

Bush has squandered the legacy ...

Bush has squandered what legacy? The legacy of Carter that let Iran become a theocracy. Or the legacy of Clinton that did nothing to respond to the 1993 WTC attacks and theUSS Cole bombing, but got us in an unnecessary war in Serbia that now has given us some 'blowback'?

“I will end the war in Iraq responsibly.”

Thanks to Bush’s policies, we will have won the war in Iraq by the time Obama takes office, removing the possibility of the Democrats screwing up that war. Bravo, W!

“Never question my patriotism”

Judgment, experience, and proposals. You are wrong for America on all three, Barack.

Attacks the 2nd Amendment supporter with a crack about criminals getting AK47s.

A strawman argument and one that shows his weakness on the issue. Stop lying Senator and start explaining your support for banning handguns, including your support for the DC gun ban?

“hiring illegal workers”

Lament from a pro-amnesty pro-drivers-licenses guy. Republicans take note - Liberals win by sounding conservative!

“No fresh ideas, use stale tactics” ... attack them as “someone people should run from”

THERE ARE NO FRESH IDEAS FROM OBAMA! ITS THE SAME OLD SOCIALISM IN A YOUNG PACKAGE! That's why the stale old attack-the-GOP tactics.

What about the Bush and McCain cracks? All negativity. They attack Bush relentlessly and then are shocked that the Republicans dare to expose Obama’s radical associates, extreme views, and zero accomplishment record. The hypocrisy of policies and the audacity of hype!

He doesnt want a “Big election about small things”

Small things: Obama’s resume.

“When Washington doesnt work”

The big Obama Lie is the typical liberal lie that if only we send them more money, or rotate new people, we can fix what is broken. Wrong - the whole philosophy of big govt is broken. Power corrupts, and socialism is a prescription for poverty. If the people in DC have failed, fine, fire Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Congress. Get a Republican Congress in place.

“Something is stirring, ... this election is about you.”

“Enough to the politicians of the past” - Like Kennedy, Clinton, Biden????

“Moved families from welfare to work” (in the Illinois state senate)

It turns out Obama is taking credit for something he didnt do.

Cites his accomplishments in Washington. 3 bills that amount to Resume enhancement. Rove went after Biden on that item in a WSJ column. One bill was ethics reform, which did far less than it should; another was a feel-good non-controversial bill with Lugar to track nuclear materials in ex-USSR that was so unimportant it passed on a mere voice vote and was not reported on; and the third he actually did very little to help pass. RESUME INFLATION BY THE EMPTY SUIT!

“Our universities and culture are envy of the world.”

Especially professor William Ayers and Ward Churchill, eh?

He closes more positive. He sounds conservative with some nice rhetoric that means nothing fills the gaps between partisan shots and left-liberal policies.The positive message probably works for him. More BS and less liberalism will fool voters better than telling people what he will and won’t do.

A young preacher from Georgia. ... “America, we cannot turn back.” ... We must march into the future.”

Onward to Left-liberalism.

Yes, the future is tomorrow and the past is so yesterday, and the best parts of his speech are so ... meaningless ... which tells me that this speech might "work" if people don't think about the inherent contradictions in the speech and in Obama's overall campaign.

He denounces negativity in politics, yet engages in it as the core reason to vote for him.

He denounces the failures of the past, yet proposes to repeat failed past policies.

He calls on us to march into the future, but says no to the real solutions that can carry us there.