Today was a big day for the big man from Illinois who has been the center of speculation and scrutiny since inflammatory remarks on race and ‘evil American domestic and foreign policy’ made by his mentor and spiritual advisor, the wrong right-Rev. Jeremiah Wright became public fodder. And he blew it…big time.

When your pastor says such things after 9/11/01 as “America’s chickens are coming home to roost,” or, “not God bless America, God Damn America,” you have to go a lot further than simply disagreeing with those words, no matter how strongly. Especially when you are running for president of the very country that your preacher is calling on God to damn. It just wasn’t nearly enough.

Barack Hussein Obama is certainly a great orator, and while I have heard some pundits say that he said exactly what needed to be said, I have heard others say that he gave a great speech, but on the wrong topic. I personally feel that neither is true.

The speech was mediocre. I would by no means put him on the level of MLK, or even “second to only MLK,” as I heard one pundit say. This was a speech of rhetoric. It was a speech that went so far out of its way to please everyone, that it really wasn’t enough to please anyone.

Obama did start out strong, reciting the U.S. Constitution, "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union." How can you go wrong there?

He then went on to say, “The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate….” And he was right on the money with that.

And then he said, “Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice….” And again, he was right. The answer to the slave issue was/is in the Constitution.

But then things changed. Barack said that his campaign’s mission was to continue the march for a more just, caring, equal, and free America. Does he not realize that he is running for the highest office in America? Indeed, in the free world? I like the way Rush Limbaugh put it on his radio show today. He said something to the effect that Obama is not an agent of that change, but a product of it. I have to concur.

A little later, Sen. Obama said something that confounded me. Said he: “I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters.” He sounds as though he is bitter about this dual legacy. I am not really sure what good this does him in trying to solve, if you will, the problems with race and racism in America. What message was he trying to get across here? Or was this another attempt to appeal to blacks and whites? If so, I say it was far off target. For if he was trying to appeal to blacks by saying his wife had slave blood in her, that alone may have done it. However, the slave owners statement, in my estimation, would not appeal to black voters.

And if he somehow thought he could appeal to white voters by saying the blood of slave owners passed through his wife’s veins, well, today’s white folk are pretty anti-slavery; at least the greatest majority of us.

The Democrat front-runner then talked about the unconventionality of his run for president. He said America is more than the sum of its parts. That out of many, we are made one. That’s a nice thought, and quite honestly, I believe it. I think we have come far in the quest for equality among the races. However, I am not convinced Barack himself believes it.

Throughout the speech there were instances where I found myself waiting for him to say “So in your face, cracker!” Like this next part, “Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.” Just add an “in your face cracker” there, and the racial overtone becomes much more obvious.

And while we’re on this point, why, oh why, if blacks in America truly want to put aside racial differences, and not forget the past, but rather build a better future on the past, why do they insist on calling themselves “African-Americans?” I don’t call myself, nor do my white friends call themselves, Euro-Americans. We are simply Americans. Putting any kind of adjective before American simply worsens any division that already exists.

The would-be presidential nominee then goes on to address the Rev. Jeremiah Wright issue…well, sort of. He does say that he has “already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy.”

However, he also said that he could not disown Rev. Wright any more than he could disown the “African-American” community. Now, in my mind’s eye (or ear), this is telling me that Barack feels that the black community in this country still holds the incendiary remarks of Obama’s pastor to be truths. That this is the U S of KKK A, that the American government did start AIDS as a tool of genocide, that the aftermath of Katrina was a carefully orchestrated plan by “the man” to rid New Orleans, and indeed the Gulf coast, of black people. Anybody else get that uneasy feeling that this is what Obama is saying?

He also said that he couldn’t disown the disgraceful pastor any more than he could disown his own white grandmother (I told you: a little something for everybody). He then said that he had heard this particular grandmother express fear of black men as they passed her on the street.

He also described her as a woman who “on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.” That’s odd, he hasn’t cringed at Rev. Wright’s remarks even once, at least not that he has mentioned.

A little bit later, B. Hussein Obama say’s that, “We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country.” But then, what does the man do? You guessed it. Next came a history lesson of how racism in America’s history has unfairly treated blacks, and left many of them, such as Rev. Wright, bitter.

First, of course, he mentions slavery. This is a topic worthy of discussion, and it is certainly a permanent blight on the legacy of this country. He then mentions Jim Crow laws, Brown v. Board of Education, legalized discrimination, “where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments – meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white….”

Shhheww! I’m glad we didn’t need to “recite here the history of racial injustice in this country.” That could have been seen as being bitter about a past with which most of us had nothing to do. I’m sure glad he didn’t recite that history!

The great orator then goes on to explain that there is a similar anger in white segments of the community. That programs that favored blacks over whites, such as affirmative action, denied white people jobs and college admissions because the school or employer had to meet a quota, regardless of the applicant’s capabilities (or lack thereof). Obama said, basically, that situations such as these led to animus in the white community, and he was right about that.

He said that this anger is what sparked the “Reagan Coalition,” was the driving force behind the conservative movement in general, and also led to the catapulting of conservative talk radio, and there may be some truth to that, as well.

However, what Sen. Barack Hussein Obama fails to recognize, is that it has been the Republican party, not his, that has been the leader of reform movements to help the black community. As I mentioned in my last article, and as is stated in my upcoming book, (pardon the shameless plug), “Mr. Right Opinion-Unplugged and Unashamed,” available in late April/early May at: http://www.51756.authorworld.com/, it was the “Republican Revolution” of 1994 that brought about the most sweeping welfare reforms in our nation’s history. And those led to lower welfare rolls, and the lowest black child poverty rate in American history.

The only truly profound thing that I heard from this speech is that the welfare system has kept the black community in a cycle of dependence. I only wish that he had touched on that a little more, as it is his party that has kept that cycle in full spin mode for so many years.

The welfare reforms I mentioned earlier? By 2001, the Democrats in the halls of Congress were hard at work to reverse them.

Yes, there was a little bit for everyone in this speech. But I always say, when you try to be all things to all people, you wind up being nothing to anybody.

The Patriot Post
Founders' Quote Daily

"Strive to be the greatest man in your country, and you may
be disappointed. Strive to be the best and you may succeed:
he may well win the race that runs by himself."

-- Benjamin Franklin (Poor Richard's Almanack, 1747)

Reference: Bartlett's Quotations (177)

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Well, all I can really say about the latest economic news coming out of Washington is that I hope all the folks that voted in a Democrat House and Senate are happy with their new tax hikes. For they are about to see “the single largest tax increase in the nation's history” according to an article from CNSNews.com entitled “Congress Says Yes to Tax Hikes,” quoting House Republican Whip Roy Blunt.

Last week the House passed a budget blueprint that will raise taxes for all taxpaying households earning over roughly $32,000.00. The House and Senate both voted against making the Bush tax cuts permanent. In my judgment, they are missing the big picture in doing this.

I realize that the economy is currently tanking. Believe me, when it costs me $50.00 fill the gas tank (and no, I don’t have an S.U.V.), I feel the pain of a near-recession. However, I also remember that it wasn’t long ago that the Dow was at a record high. Remember that? Apparently, Congress does not. At least, not the Democrats.

Look, we are in the middle of two battle-fronts in the War on Terror. Iraq and Afghanistan are costing huge amounts of money. I know this. I also know that this will not last forever, and that you can’t solve national economic problems by raising taxes. Presidents Reagan and Bush forty-three have both shown us that the economy can actually improve with lower taxes.

The “trickle-down economics” of the Reagan administration proved that lowering taxes on those who actually create jobs helps to bolster their confidence, and encourages the creation of more jobs. The more jobs we have, the more income the federal government can generate. And the more jobs we have, the fewer the people that are on welfare, unemployment, etc.

This point seems to just go right over the heads of Democrats. And if they were honest about it, Democrats would tell you that they really don’t want to create jobs. The Democrat ideology is the fewer jobs we have, the more people must depend on the federal government to meet their basic needs. And the more people must depend on government, the more secure congressional jobs are.

It is a vicious cycle that keeps people in poverty, and offers Democrats job security. Conservatives believe in allowing, and really forcing, those who are capable of being self-sufficient to do so. The liberal mantra is just the opposite. The true way to get ahead in a liberal world is to have another baby so you can collect more money off the federal dime.

I know that sounds illogical, but it’s true. As I point out in my book, “Mr. Right Opinion-Unplugged and Unashamed,” which will be coming out in late April/early May, and will be available at: http://www.51756.authorworld.com/, the proof is in the pudding. Just look at an excerpt from the book, in an article entitled “Conservatives, Liberals And Welfare Reform:”

“Firstly, though, in order to see the truth on this issue, it is imperative to realize, and accept, that welfare reform is mostly the responsibility of Congress. While the president can sign or veto all legislation, it is ultimately Congress that crafts the laws which either move us forward, keep us stagnant or send us spiraling downward.”

From 1970-1995, poverty rates in this country remained high, and the welfare rolls continued to swell. And although they controlled Congress during all but three years of that period, Democrats did nothing to improve this situation by reforming the welfare system.”

In 1994, in what has been dubbed ‘The Republican Revolution,’ Republicans wrested control of both houses of Congress from the clutches of the Democrat party. This marked a new era in the annals of American legislative history.”

From 1994-1996, Democrats in Congress opposed this legislation. Eventually, however, half of congressional Democrats capitulated and the act passed. (Then) President Clinton, having already vetoed two previous versions of welfare reform and facing a reelection bid, signed the act into law.”

The results of the Republican-led reform proved that the conservative ideology was the true way to improve economic conditions for the impoverished. The reforms resulted in lower welfare rolls, higher employment for single mothers, and the lowest poverty rates for single mothers and black children in U.S. history. Yet Nancy Pelosi and her ilk want to return us to the “good old days.”

This reasoning defies all logic. Will we never learn from history? As the saying goes, those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it. And it looks as if we are in repeat mode.

The budget proposed by House Democrats last week will ‘foist a $683-billion tax hike on American families to fuel the Democrats' ‘reckless spending agenda,’ Blunt complained,” according to the CNSNews article.

While Pelosi maintains that the Democrat-proposed budget “values families and their economic future,” it is hard to believe. If they really valued families and their economic future, they wouldn’t be raising taxes on families that earn just $32,000.00 per year. Her rhetoric is absurd.

Another interesting little tidbit about this Democrat-controlled House of supposed Representatives is that the liberal House Democrats rejected a Republican-sponsored plan to place a one year moratorium on earmarks, a.k.a. “pork-barrel spending.” Now isn’t that interesting? Democrats say that Republicans are wasting money, and they are, yet the Dems won’t agree to forego pork barrel projects for one single year.

Further complicating matters is the fact that House Democrats want this 683 BILLION-dollar tax hike, and still they offer nothing in it to address the problem of Social (in)Security and Medicare insolvency that is looming large in the not-so-distant future. Hey, Nancy, what exactly are you all solving up there?

On Friday, the Senate also voted to raise taxes on the majority of Americans, while also shooting down a moratorium on earmarks. While Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) voted for the moratorium, Senators Clinton (D-NY) and Obama (D-IL), both of whom are running for president, voted against the moratorium, and thus for more wasteful federal spending.

Live it up, those of you who voted this Congress into power. And “ask not for whom the bell tolls, for it tolls for you!”

The Patriot Post
Founders' Quote Daily

"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang
separately."

-- Benjamin Franklin (at the signing of the Declaration of
Independence, 4 July 1776)

Reference: Our Sacred Honor, Bennett (29) and Respectfully Quoted

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Founders' Quote Daily is a service of The Patriot Post, the most widely
read conservative journal on the Internet. If you would like to receive
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The Patriot Post
Founders' Quote Daily

"To restore... harmony,... to render us again one people acting
as one nation should be the object of every man really a patriot."

-- Thomas Jefferson (letter to Thomas McKean, 1801)

Reference: 63 The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Ford Edition, 8:78

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Founders' Quote Daily is a service of The Patriot Post, the most widely
read conservative journal on the Internet. If you would like to receive
Founders Quote Daily, and this highly acclaimed Digest of news, policy and
opinion delivered FREE by e-mail to your inbox, link to:
http://PatriotPost.US/subscribe/