September 25, 2009

Obama and the Last Hurrah of Liberalism

By Steve McCann

Sometimes in the history of a nation what appears to be an action that could lead to long term disaster may, in fact, be its long term salvation.  A case in point: the election of Barack Obama as President and the Democrats in full control of the Congress.  To be certain the far left domination of government was not a situation to be wished for but in a perverse way one that was necessary.


Over the past fifty years, regardless of who was in the White House or in charge of Congress, no one has been able to halt the incessant spread of left-wing radicalism in our institutions and the uncontrolled spending and growth of government.  When a President as accomplished as Ronald Reagan was unable to do so it is apparent that no future Republican President or Congress, short of major national catastrophe, will ever be able to fully turn back this tide as they cannot overcome the apathy of the people and the hostility of a partisan media, entertainment establishment, academia and federal bureaucracies.   

A long as the American people remained largely disengaged the damage done to the society as a whole and to the long term financial health of the country was unknown to the vast majority of the population.  This indifference has begun to show some change as the reality of the nation's future comes into focus, but that reality has started to come to the fore only as the result of the policies being perused by a far left government.

Today, thanks to a confluence of two factors, the opportunity exists to reverse the course we have been on and change the political power structure in the country. 

The first:  the emergence of alternative news sources to once and for all break the stranglehold of the dissemination of news by the traditional outlets dominated by the left.

The second:  The election of a radical left-wing President and a Congress controlled by the same radical element of the Democratic Party.

President Obama is an offspring of the 1960's radical movement.  He has spent most of his life surrounded and tutored by members of this group.  He is the culmination of the ideal stealth candidate able by his gift of rhetoric, race and good timing to ascend to the office of President.  The left found, as Joe Biden put it "a clean and articulate" nominee with surface charm and charisma able to fool enough citizens into voting for him.

A trait common to those on the far left is an inability to have any humility; there is an intense conviction of superiority both intellectually and in their capability to rule the masses.  The true believers are incapable of hiding their philosophy and, once elected, are convinced that nearly everyone does or should share their dedication to the power of a central government.  Those that do not conform will be demonized.  These extremists will move heaven and earth to achieve their ends regardless of any long term consequences and cannot avoid shouting from the rooftops what they are doing as tribute to themselves.

The determination of Obama and the Congress to exploit the financial and economic crisis in order to pass their radical agenda has had the effect of kicking over the rocks and exposing for all to see the undermining of the social and fiscal foundation of the nation by the left-wing radicals in Congress, the Administration and within many of our institutions.

Would the country be as aware of the following if not for an extremist government in power in Washington?  Acorn and the "community organizer" groups have been revealed to be nothing more than corrupt partisan hacks exploiting the poor and the taxpayers.  The unions and their leaders exposed as power hungry ideologues with no interest in the long term well-being of their members.  The mainstream media's willingness to lose all credibility with the vast majority of the public with its not so subtle cheerleading for their preferred politician has become obvious to all.  The Democratic Party, at one time the self-declared defender of the little guy, has openly declared war on small business and capitalism.  The Democratic members of Congress have been revealed to be indifferent to the voters, incapable of reading bills and fully in the pockets of liberal special interests groups

Further the Administration has blithely declared a tripling of the national debt over the next 10 years as if it were immaterial.  President Obama has championed "health care reform" and a "carbon tax" in an attempt to control the day-to-day lives of the American people.  There are now 32 advisors (czars), to the President, most being left-wing ideologues, with the power to implement his agenda, none of whom have been approved by the Senate.

While the readers of the American Thinker, viewers of Fox News and the listeners to Rush Limbaugh may be expected to be aware of these factors, now with the backdrop of unfettered spending, the high jobless rates and the potential for national bankruptcy more and more of the general public has become aware of the radical nature of the present government.

President Obama and his Party have failed to understand the basic character of the American people and the many polls taken over the years showing this to be a right of center country.  They further underestimated the power of the alternate media before they had an opportunity to silence it.  While the timing may have been there to have to have a "moderate" Barack Obama elected President, the timing to turn the United States into a bastion of socialism was not.  The infiltration of the various institutions by the left has not been in place long enough to change the character of the majority of the population and the use of the strategy of guilt to intimidate the American citizens has run its course, it has been overused.

To date the damage done has been considerable, but it is not irreversible.  In essence Barack Obama and the Congress won their offices too early in the history of our nation to achieve all their objectives;  by doing so and overreaching this left wing government has given the country an opportunity to awaken from its 50 year slumber and repair the foundation.  Only a radical Presidency and Congress could have achieved this before it was too late.  The only questions that remain: will the aroused and more knowledgeable populace continue to be aware and elect those that will make the changes necessary and will we as a nation take advantage of this potential reprieve? 
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