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Public comment welcomed as election approaches

Posted 5/31/12

To The Editor As we are entering into the national presidential election campaign, I was pleased to see our North Country citizens (from all stripes) exercising their First Amendment rights and …

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Public comment welcomed as election approaches

Posted

To The Editor

As we are entering into the national presidential election campaign, I was pleased to see our North Country citizens (from all stripes) exercising their First Amendment rights and pitching their arguments as to who is the best candidate for 2012. This is what it’s all about.

There’s so many issues to discuss and debate this election, and like others, I too have many opinions. However, I would like to begin somewhat narrowly by asking voters to please just not fall under the spell of the false talking points about our current President. You cannot make an informed decision based upon false talking points and lies.

Therefore, I’d like to endeavor to separate a few of them out. I begin by referring to the famous proclamation that Mr. Ted Nugent made last month when he said that if Obama is re-elected, it would be such an unthinkable catastrophe that he (Ted) would “either be dead or in jail”. Ted went on to say that Obama leads, “a vile, evil, American hating administration, wiping it’s a** with the Constitution.”

It somehow became an article of faith on the Right that Obama is the most extreme president in American history. Although, when they say that, I think what they really mean, is he’“tall.” Yes. That’s it. That’s what makes this president so different from any other we’ve ever had up to now.

He’s “tall.”

There’s more. Newt Gingrich called Obama, “the most radical, leftist president in history.” Senator Marco Rubio called him “the most divisive figure in American history.” Michelle Bachmann said, “Obama is the most radical president we have ever seen in the history of the country”. John Bolton said, “Obama just doesn’t care about national security.” My question is how can the same guy, Barack Obama, make these people feel that America has changed so completely, and yet, make liberals feel like it’s barely changed at all? As Bill Maher recently quipped , “We haven’t lost our freedoms. I’m pretty sure the only things President Obama has killed is Osama Bin Laden, and Donald Trump’s last shred of dignity.” If Obama were as radical as they claim, here’s what he would have already done: Pulled the troops out of Afghanistan, given us Medicare for all, ended the drug war, cut the defense budget, and turned Dick Cheney over to the Hague. Instead, here’s what Obama actually did.

He cut taxes and spending. If you look at a graph for the growth of federal spending under Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, and Obama, Obama is at the very bottom. He didn’t go on a spending spree. He didn’t break up the “too big to fail” banks. They’ve only gotten bigger. That’s not what liberals wanted. That’s what conservatives wanted.

At the 2008 Convention, Sarah Palin chanted “Drill, Baby Drill”. Under Obama, there’s more drilling than ever. That’s not what environmentalists wanted. That’s what conservatives wanted. Obama spent most of last year conceding the Republican premise that government needed cutting. That’s not what progressives wanted. That’s what the Tea Party wanted.

The Dow was at 7,949 when Obama took office. Now it’s over 12,000. Corporate profits are at their highest ever. Not only has no representative of the Obama administration ever showed up at your door asking for your guns, but individual gun ownership in this country has actually increased exponentially under this president. That’s not what gun control advocates wanted. That’s what the N.R.A wanted. I know.

Facts can be terribly inconvenient to one who thinks with his gut, and emotions, instead of with his head and his heart. If President Obama is a socialist, then he’s a lousy one. So, the question remains, how can conservatives be so unhappy with Obama, when so many liberals are unhappy with him?

Do they think that they got coal in their stocking? I wanted single-payer health care, a carbon emissions bill, increased education spending. If conservatives get to carry around all of this outrage, over, you know, me getting all this stuff, shouldn’t I have gotten it?

So, I propose, why don’t conservatives please just admit it. This isn’t about what Obama “is.” It’s about what they need him to be, because hating him, is what gets them up in the morning, and it’s the cornerstone of the Romney 2012 election campaign.

Leland Farnsworth, Massena