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-Election 2012 |
An open letter to Obama voters |
2012-10-20 |
Matt Barber praises Americans willing to correct their mistake of 2008. Did you vote for Barack Obama in 2008? A lot of people did -- obviously. What a time. There's still room for improvement, but what a testimony to just how far we as a nation have come in terms of racial harmony, tolerance and diversity. Only decades earlier a man like Barack Obama -- a black man -- couldn't even drink from the same water fountain as a white man, let alone become president of the United States. A hundred years prior to that, and he may well have been counted another man's property. On Nov. 4, 2008, millions gathered at the ballot box to prove, once and for all, that, in large measure, we as a nation have healed from our disgraceful, self-inflicted wounds of racial abuse, bias and division. That we could elect an African-American to lead the free world is indeed a very good thing. We just happened to elect the wrong African-American. In life, we sometimes find that the idea of a thing is far better than the thing itself. As a boy, I once ordered, from a comic book, a pair of X-ray glasses that promised to allow me to see the bones beneath my hand (my motives were a bit more ignoble). The two weeks it took for the glasses to arrive seemed like an eternity. Once they did arrive, I ripped into the package and put them on, darting my head to-and-fro. It's difficult to express my level of disappointment. As I quickly discovered, the glasses merely formed a halo effect around objects, creating the illusion of transparency. I felt embarrassed. I got took. Barack Obama's presidency has been a halo effect. Like I did so many years ago, in 2008 America fell victim to false advertising. As the past four years have demonstrated beyond any serious debate, the idea of President Obama was far better than the reality of President Obama. We were promised the world. We were promised transparency; but we were sold an illusion. We got took. Indeed, during the 2008 campaign, a then-Sen. Barack Obama promised us that, if elected, we would look back upon the moment he took office and "tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth." That was the idea of President Obama. That was what many good, well-meaning people voted for. That was the hope offered and the change promised. That was not what we got. Though it's certainly not a comprehensive analysis, during the second presidential debate, Mitt Romney, in response to Mr. Obama's attempts to gloss over his mounting leadership failures, summarized a few of the big ones. While addressing an audience member who, perhaps like you, voted for Obama in 2008, Romney observed, in part, the following: I think you know better. I think you know that these last four years haven't been so good as the president just described and that you don't feel like you're confident that the next four years are going to be much better either. ... The president has tried, but his policies haven't worked. Recently, my wife and I attended an outdoor festival in central Virginia. Although the event was not political, there were people from both the Obama and Romney camps handing out campaign stickers and other items. I suspect that if a poll were taken, liberals out-numbered conservatives by about two-to-one. That's why I was so taken aback. Although we saw dozens of people wearing Romney stickers, we only saw one man wearing an Obama sticker. We walked up to a fellow with a gray pony tail, John Lennon glasses and Birkenstocks. He was wearing a Romney sticker. "Mind if I ask why you're voting for Mitt Romney?" I asked. "I assume you are." His reply -- and these were his words, not mine -- was short and to the point: "Because I refuse to be that stupid twice." Changing one's mind doesn't always reveal a tendency toward indecision. Sometimes, changing one's mind reveals a tendency toward wisdom. Matt Barber is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. He serves as vice president of Liberty Counsel Action. |
Posted by:Au Auric |
#7 PS: He is taking your money with no intention on trying to win a close contest, otherwise how do you describe his campaign? |
Posted by: swksvolFF 2012-10-20 14:49 |
#6 On Nov. 4, 2008, millions gathered at the ballot box to prove, once and for all, that, in large measure, we as a nation have healed from our disgraceful, self-inflicted wounds of racial abuse, bias and division. -and further proved that voting based on emotion and mis-placed guilt vice rational thought is dangerous in a representative democracy...I voted for the un-vetted, un-tried, smooth talking African-American slickster over the other guy but at least that proves I'm not a racist (puke). |
Posted by: Broadhead6 2012-10-20 12:54 |
#5 No, a good think is electing a capable leader of the free world. What we have now is 'not optimal'..... (more like anti-optimal). |
Posted by: CrazyFool 2012-10-20 12:23 |
#4 That we could elect an African-American to lead the free world is indeed a very good thing. "O's" leadership is lacking. As a result, the free world is more rather than less dangerous. |
Posted by: JohnQC 2012-10-20 10:57 |
#3 when a lying racist jackhole like John Lewis, living off past good, can lie about being spit on during their march to the capitol with Pelosi, despite all video and witness evidence to the contrary, and Breitbart's bounty on proof, it still is a hammer to be used. F*ck them |
Posted by: Frank G 2012-10-20 10:34 |
#2 Time to congratulate yourselves and quit allowing other to get power over you by beating you over the head with it. Posted by Procopius2k Jury still out on that one P2k. I'm postponing my victory lap. |
Posted by: Besoeker 2012-10-20 09:45 |
#1 Only decades earlier a man like Barack Obama -- a black man -- couldn't even drink from the same water fountain as a white man, Yes, that still is in living memory, but it's also well over a half a century in time. It's only been a country for about 224 years since the ratification of the constitution. It's over two generations ago. How about giving up the white guilt. We did something very few cultures and civilization have ever done in an historically amazingly short period of time. Time to congratulate yourselves and quit allowing other to get power over you by beating you over the head with it. |
Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-10-20 09:37 |