In one of the most galling attempts in history to politically reposition a failing presidency, President Barack Obama and his Hyde Park, Chicago Progressive machine handlers have launched a new propaganda campaign meant to absolve him of any blame where the failure of his administration is concerned. Instead the “Obamanation” is attempting to branding “Congress” and the “political system” as the culprits. Forget about hope and change. Forget about any dreams his Father may or may not have had. This is audacity at its most egregious.
Throughout his political career Mr. Obama has been no stranger to the practice of throwing once crucial-now dispensable allies “under the bus.” We first saw it with Bill Ayers and Rev. Jeremiah Wright. He then graduated to tossing whole demographics in his continued failure to address specific campaign promises to activist groups, i.e. anti-war groups, gay and lesbian groups, Black advocacy groups, community organizing groups, etc. Now, those who have put their careers on the line for his agenda – whether it was for Obamacare or for the failed stimulus – find themselves in the President’s opportunistic crosshairs. Mr. Obama is throwing his Progressive and Democrat allies to the wolves in a transparent and insincere attempt to tack to the center.
As reported in The Hill:
“In what at first appeared to be another of the president’s almost routine trips to an advanced battery manufacturer, Obama came out firing, saying that ‘what we’ve seen in Washington the last few months has been the worst kind of partisanship, the worst kind of gridlock.’
“‘And that gridlock has undermined public confidence and impeded our efforts to take the steps we need for our economy,’ Obama said. ‘It’s made things worse instead of better.’
“The president added what was unmistakably a new economic theme and reelection message: ‘There is nothing wrong with our country. There is something wrong with our politics.’”
In a failed attempt to invoke the spirit of the TEA Party movement, Mr. Obama added,
“...the public suddenly realized...we are going to have to get engaged. And if you agree with me – it doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican or an independent – you’ve got to let Congress know. You’ve got to tell them you’ve had enough of the theatrics. You’ve had enough of the politics. Stop sending out press releases. Start passing some bills that we all know will help our economy right now. That’s what they need to do; they’ve got to hear from you.”
It is stunning that Mr. Obama and his propaganda team believe that the American people are so completely devoid of any capacity to “remember”; that they believe they can rewrite or completely abolish recent history right before our eyes.
In 2009, during what were supposed to be open “conversations” about the contents of Mr. Obama’s almost trillion dollar stimulus package, The Wall Street Journal reported:
“The top congressional leaders from both parties gathered at the White House for a working discussion over the shape and size of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan. The meeting was designed to promote bipartisanship.“But Obama showed that in an ideological debate, he’s not averse to using a jab.
“Challenged by one Republican senator over the contents of the package, the new president, according to participants, replied: ‘I won’...
“With those two words – ‘I won” – the president let the Republicans know that debate has been put to rest Nov. 4.”
In 2010, during the hotly contested congressional debates surrounding the creation of Obamacare, Mr. Obama was silent on the issue of bipartisanship and the right of the minority to be considered, even as then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (P-CA), considered “deeming” major legislation “passed” to move Mr. Obama’s social justice agenda forward.
Most recently, Mr. Obama exposed his administration’s complete lack of management skills and his absolute lack of leadership ability by storming out of a debt ceiling negotiation daring the House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor (R-VA):
“Cantor said he asked Obama if he would consider allowing two votes on the debt ceiling to give leaders more time to negotiate additional budget savings while avoiding a calamitous default.“‘That’s when he got very agitated, seemingly, and said that he had sat there long enough, and that no other president – Ronald Reagan wouldn’t sit here like this – and that he’s reached the point where something’s got to give,’ Cantor said, describing the president’s reaction.
“‘He said to me, “Eric, don’t call my bluff. I’m going to the American people with this,’” Cantor said.”
Mr. Obama has consistently and without fail blamed everyone but himself for everything that has shed a less than twinkling light on his presidency. The economy? Bush’s fault. Terrorism? Bush’s fault. The Afghan War? Bush’s fault. Entitlement insolvency? Bush and the Republican’s fault. Debt? Bush’s fault. Trillion dollar deficits, even as Mr. Obama’s deficit spending totals equal the total of all deficits from all presidencies combined? Bush’s fault. It wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to believe that he blames air-balls and missed putts on Mr. Bush as well.
Now, in an attempt to deflect any critical spotlight on his “I voted present” presidency, Mr. Obama is trying to place blame for his lack of leadership and his glaring managerial ineptness on Congress:
“‘The last thing we need is Congress spending more time arguing in D.C.,’ Obama, grasping for an aggressive message amid economic turmoil, said to applause from the crowd at a Holland, Mich. plant.“‘What I figure is they need to spend more time out here listening to you and hearing how fed up you are. That's why I'm here.’”
No, that’s not why Mr. Obama was there. He was there to once again sell a polished line of rhetoric, chalk-full of hollow promises, to a vulnerable and captive crowd in an effort to manipulate their emotions for his own political gain; to facilitate his Progressive agenda for our nation. Barack Obama is the proverbial snake-oil salesman who, in the end, gets run out of town by the people who have come to realize they have been fleeced; sold a bill of goods that left them worse off than before his arrival and poorer for the experience.
It reminds me of a scene in the movie Trading Places.
The plot centers on a flip-flop storyline. Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Akroyd), is suddenly and unexpectedly transitioned into a street dweller from a successful commodities broker. Reciprocally, Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy), street dweller, is flipped into a commodities broker. This is done to facilitate a $1 bet; a clandestine societal experiment conducted by their unethical employers Randolph and Mortimer Duke, owners of the commodities trading firm.
In one scene, set in Winthorpe’s former office (now Valentine’s), Winthorpe is found planting a cadre of illegal narcotics into what used to be his desk, doing so in the hope that he might falsely expose Valentine as a drug dealer, therefore recapturing his rightful life and livelihood, attaining vindication. Of course, the scheme backfires and Winthorpe is branded a fallen golden boy and drug dealer by all, further condemning him to his unlikely position.
In a later scene as he is frantically trying to explain his bizarre circumstances to his club buddies and his former fiancé, now arm and arm with a former colleague, his former fiancé says, quite angrily, “Nobody wants to buy your drugs here, Louie!”
This is exactly how I feel when I see Mr. Obama trying to manufacture ire against a Congress that he, himself, manipulated for his personal and political gain. I see Mr. Obama as Winthorpe, falsely accusing Valentine (Congress) of being a drug dealer (the exclusive cause of our nation’s current problems), all the while knowing full well that he is, in fact, the guilty party.
It makes me want to scream out, “Nobody wants to buy your drugs (promises and excuses) here, Barack!”
But then life isn’t a movie, and even if it were, this story wouldn’t be a comedy.
Frank Salvato is the Executive Director and Director of Terrorism Research for BasicsProject.org a non-profit, non-partisan, 501(c)(3) research and education initiative. His writing has been recognized by the US House International Relations Committee and the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention. His organization, BasicsProject.org, partnered in producing the original national symposium series addressing the root causes of radical Islamist terrorism. He is a member of the International Analyst Network and has been a featured guest on al Jazeera's Listening Post and on Russia Today. He also serves as the managing editor for The New Media Journal. Mr. Salvato has appeared on The O'Reilly Factor on FOX News Channel, and was featured in the documentary, “Ezekiel and the MidEast ‘Piece’ Process: Israel’s Neighbor States.” He is a regular guest on talk radio including on The Captain's America Radio Show, nationally syndicated by the Phoenix Broadcasting Network and on NetTalkWorld Global Talk Radio catering to the US Armed Forces around the world. Mr. Salvato is also heard weekly on The Roth Show with Dr. Laurie Roth syndicated nationally on the USA Radio Network. His opinion-editorials have been published by The American Enterprise Institute, The Washington Times, Accuracy in Media, Human Events, BigGovernment.com and are syndicated nationally. He is a featured political writer for EducationNews.org and is occasionally quoted in The Federalist. Mr. Salvato is available for public speaking engagements. He can be contacted at contact@newmediajournal.us
