Dec 02 2008

Foolishness Of Hyperventilating

Published by at 9:50 am under All General Discussions

As I mentioned a few days ago, work is kicking my butt and my time to blog is limited. But I do want to make one observation about how Obama is playing the far right and far left to his advantage. Basically, we have a bunch of extremists on both ends of the political spectrum crying “wolf!” as they find small hints of Obama’s intentions and conflate them into cries of the “end of the world”.

The far right is especially susceptible to going overboard on Obama’s policies. So far Obama has really iritated the far left by being a retread of the left of center Clinton administration. One only needs to look at all the Clintonites now being tapped for top jobs to see Obama doesn’t plan to focus too quickly on radical liberal or progressive policies. Yes, he has liberal connections, but so far he has been more left of center than far left in his selections. And it has the far left simply enraged:

Do anyone of these chuckleheads ever consider that the reason the left has been so “angry” for the last eight plus years is that what we’ve said and what we’ve valued has been criticized, dismissed, sneered, condemned, denounced and our characters attacked? Of course not. And when the nation shows that they have awakened to what we’ve been saying all along and announced with their vote that they want to give the left a shot, we’re still criticized, dismissed, sneered, condemned, denounced and our characters attacked because we might like to see some people actually reflective of our values in office.

Take Obama’s statements on Iraq:

In announcing his choices of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to be secretary of state, Defense Secretary Robert Gates to continue in office and retired Marine Gen. James Jones to serve as national security adviser, Mr. Obama laid out a vision of an America whose global stature is restored and whose military, diplomatic and economic powers are balanced with one another and with “the power of our moral example.”

But he acknowledged that “grave” security issues, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, potential conflict between Pakistan and India, and the economic crisis, require immediate attention.

Mr. Obama said he hadn’t changed his mind about bringing most U.S. troops home from Iraq within 16 months but added he’ll consult with his military commanders first.

The members of his new team, Mr. Obama said Monday, “share my pragmatism about the use of power, and my sense of purpose.”

Basically Obama has pulled back from his long held position of a risky immediate withdrawal. And the fact that Iraq has authorized a long term agreement on US forces remaining there for 3 years is a clear indication Iraq has weighed in on the matter clearly and with purpose. The selection of Gates to stay on as Defense Secretary, given his strong opposition to a risky withdrawal scheme, underlines Obama’s moves (for now) to the center.

The problem the far right has is they are still screaming Obama is “An Extreme Flaming Liberal” and it appears so far he has clearly avoided making their case. As long as he continues in this approach it will be the far right that looks flaming extreme.

I recall how badly the left overplayed their attacks on Reagan. They tried to make him out to be the devil incarnate. The devil never appeared and the left looked stupid. The far right is poised to make this same mistake. The party of family values and the average American is a good conservative message. But it cannot be tainted with wild and unsubstantiated accusations. All it does is cement the opinion the GOP is full of hypocrites and extremists.

I like how Sarah Palin has been down in Georgia accepting the message of America’s choice and promising to work hard to earn back their trust. One way not to do this is to make wild claims regarding the choice of President that a clear majority of the voters chose. By attacking Obama you attack the judgement of these people. If Obama falters and demonstrates radical liberal policy views then the criticism can hit the mark. But as long as he is anything but that, the criticism simply reflects poorly on the critics.

The GOP needs to understand that when given the choice between two evils, they were not selected as the lesser evil. Pragmatism and respect for people who are not far right would go a long way to rebuilding the trust of the voters. Insulting their intelligence and choices will not lead to a resurgent GOP.

11 responses so far

11 Responses to “Foolishness Of Hyperventilating”

  1. ivehadit says:

    Yes, I agree that the right has not learned much since the clinton administration. clinton played them like a fiddle. He was the pitcher and they unfortunately became the catchers. If they would stop “catching”, obama would have no one to take the bait.

    It is time to hold close the truths we know about him. In due time they will emerge. And if they don’t, so be it.

    One thing I will say, all the shameless boundary violations a.k.a. intellectual dishonesty and lies, is naturally enraging. We lived with that rage for 8 years under bill clinton….and sadly, we will under obama, imho. In general, liberals cannot win on their ideas so they have to mask and obsfucate their true agendas. Most of their agenda will be done under the radar. Personally, I feel like America is being raped behind closed doors and no one cares.

  2. kathie says:

    Random thoughts:
    Actually I’m not really sure why Obama chose any of the people that he chose. He says he wants a multinational, kinder, gentler, moral foreign policy that we can all be proud of and these people represent that vision. Really!

    He wasn’t the President when we were attacked and 3000 people, innocent people lost their lives and the terrorists tried to bring this country to it’s knees. Most of the people he has chosen were in power then and supported Bush’s offensive policy. For instance, how Hillary will represent the United States any better or differently then Rice is not apparent to me. Will she have more stature then Rice, I don’t know how. Maybe these retreads are change and hope but their reputations belie that notion.

    So I don’t read much of what anybody has to say at the moment about either party. What ever Obama really believes or will do is not knowable yet. His picks are retreads, many corrupted by the Clinton administration, and we live in a completely different world then 8 years ago. To think that retreads will bring back a world of peace and prosperity that Clinton represented is bunk. That world doesn’t exist any more. Anyone who deals with terrorists and our financial crisis is making decisions with no blue print and will make choices, some positive and some with negative consequences, just like Bush did. Obama’s campaign promises are already passe, Presidents lead into the future, our future is uncertain.

  3. AJStrata says:

    Ivahadit,

    I agree. The moment Obama actually proposes a liberal policy I will jump on him with both feet. But not until then. People need to remember voters become emotionally attached to their selection when they win and do not take kindly to wild accusations. It becomes personal.

    Look at all us Bush supporters and how we reacted to the left and right trashing Bush!

  4. BarbaraS says:

    I’m sorry, AJ. I am definitely not far right and I am concerned about Obama. We do not know this man. We don’t know how he stands on any issue except abortion and guns and those two are against our beliefs. He also voted against anyone protecting their homes with guns. The liberal motif is to go somewhere safe but where is safe? He has now assembled his cabinet of 9/10 hasbeens only because he knows he can’t get his Chicago cronies through the senate.

    I will not give him the benefit of doubt but I will take a wait and see stance. I still hate that so many people were taken in by this charlatan. This pied piper. I have no faith that in a catastrophe he will come through for this country. It is inconceivable that this man was elected with the world in trouble as it is and getting worse. I think the terrorists will be more active knowing a pacifist is in office. I also have no faith that he will right the ecomony. I don’t think libs know how or even anything about economics.

    I still think Obama was bought and paid for by foreign interests. He is a puppet and we still don’t know who is pulling his strings. I stilll don’t understand how he got away with not being vetted with the basic investigations.

    After 8 years of hearing about McChimpybushhitler why should we give Obama a pass. I have no intention of coming down to the left’s level but I am not going to praise this man in any form or fashion period. I think he pulled every trick in the book, broke every law he could, took money from everyone he could whether illegal or not and was elected because he was black.

    The left are not gracious in either victory or defeat. The are childishly rubbing our noses in our defeat. They are still coming onto our sites and deriding us for our beliefs. Google has already started taking out the oppoistion and Eric Schmidt is on Obama advisory team. I think he has started his crap behind the scenes and will continue his crap behind the scenes. He will be a stealth president and get his policies through that way.

  5. MarkN says:

    I have only a few words to say: Poll numbers. Obama can read the polls and he is a smart pol. To go far left would be a disaster and Obama has the poll numbers to prove it. Next is cold hard reality. The Iraqis want us to stay, to betray them at this point in the war would also be a disaster. Obama can read the poll numbers on the Iraq withdrawal also.

    The time is coming when Obama will have to pass some far left pet project. Pro-Union laws (to get Honda and Toyota unionized) and carbon tax are two that come to mind. Then AJ will be all over Obama and so will I.

  6. Mike M. says:

    AJ, I’ll agree with you on this one, but purely on tactical grounds.

    It’s a lot easier to hit somebody for what he has done than for what he might do. Thus far, Obama has not done anything…except for the Holder nomination for AG. He deserves a sound thrashing for that – and hopefully, will get it.

    But the real pounding? Better to save the heavy artillery for when Obama makes the BIG blunder. Which he will.

    And at that point, he will be overextended and terribly vulnerable to counterattack.

  7. Terrye says:

    One of the things I most resented about the left and a lot of people on the right for that matter in the last 8 years, was their refusal to accept the choice the people made. They either said that they were lied to or robbed or betrayed or blah blah blah.

    I did not vote for Obama. I would not vote for him today if the election were held again. I can not imagine that I would ever vote for him…but so far he has been very careful about his selections and the things he has said.

    I think that maybe the financial crisis and a couple of high level CIA briefings forced him to face reality. But mostly, I think that Obama is an opportunist. He does not have a lot of hard and fast opinions about things, he does whatever he has to do to succeed. So far it has worked for him.

    I do think that the right has a tendency to go overboard sometimes. When they went after Clinton the way they did, they actually lost Congressional seats and Gingrich ended up resigning because he looked like such a hypocrite when his own affair was made public. That is the problem with Republic, they complain that Democrats get a pass {and they do a lot of times}, but then Republicans are all too often the ones who make such an issue of morality that even a few bad apples really do spoil the barrel. Over at Hot Air there was a post about whether or not the GOP should make an issue of stopping all gays from adopting…in the middle of a recession people do not want to hear about stuff like that. It sounds petty and mean.

  8. kathie says:

    I’m going to hyper something…YES, GEORGIA IN THE BAG BIG TIME. ONE FOR THE GOOD GUYS. I LOVE IT. THANK YOU SARAH!

  9. crosspatch says:

    I believe what we are most likely to see in the first 100 days is something like a comprehensive immigration bill. And it will probably be worse than the last Senate compromise bill that the House Republicans killed resulting in their losing a boatload of seats in 2006.

  10. ExposeFannyNFreddyNow says:

    I agree that the real test is yet to come but I don’t agree that Barry has done nothing as yet.

    He’s set a lot of dervishes in motion and that’s still something. They may play to his advantage or they may not. Time will tell. But any which way you cut it, the retro Admin he’s cobbled together is pure Machiavellian theater.

    Just consider the wedlock of Barry to Hillary with Rahm lurking in the woodwork. You can bet loyalties will be tested and the long knives will always be close at hand with all this “brotherly/sisterly lovin’” goings-on in the White House Rumpus Room. At the very least, someone could make a killing taking bets on who the kiddies will side with should conflicts conflate between “Mummy and Daddy Dearest”.

    Depending on how it plays out, America could be left holding the bag as this modern house of Medici plays political patty-cake for pole position in 2012. And yes. Re-election will be topmost on this Administration’s agenda, not America. Bet on it.

    He’s also committed America to the Gore world vision and itinerant agenda, as well as the “Fie on Evil America” agenda via Susan Rice as UN ambassador.

    They’re all “somethings”. We dismiss these opening moves as “nothings” at our peril not theirs.

    Something else to consider in the interim is who the go-to’s might be for Barry and Team Dem should an anointed Clintonite “not satisfy”, and how that might play on the loyalties in play and what direction a guy like Barry might take in the event of “experience” not showing its worth.

    As far as forsaking the far left goes, that’s tale more worthy of daytime soaps. They won’t dare retaliate, at least not until He does something really antagonizing, like not ending the War in Iraq posthaste as promised …. and then upping Afghanistan to the mix … plus Pakistan … with Iran as a stiff no chaser. And there’s still Chavez and the Ruskies playing, “Nyah, nyah, nyah” maneuvers down in the Carribean, and the whole question of Kim Jong-Il and his Chinese backers.

    One other thing to not lose sight of is how Banana Brain’s shell game with Waxman has conveniently “misplaced” the issue of Congressional hearings on the Dems part in the Fannie and Freddie fiascos. That should be kept on the front burner for Republicans.

    The whole issue of substantial payouts and golden parachutes to Dems and their complicity in the whole sub-prime meltdown still needs to be addressed and set right. Franklin Raines and Jim Johnson should be serving jail time, even Rahm Emanuel. And yes, Republicans had their hand to play in this but nowhere near the blatant sham that Dems foisted upon America in the name of “affordable housing”.

    This deserves an investigation the size of Enron but now that Waxman has been shuffled it’s conveniently “fallen through the cracks”. But it will be the fault of Republicans if it’s left there and the Dems are allowed to wash their hands of it.

    Burning Down the House
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RZVw3no2A4

    Dems in Their Own Words
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

  11. Terrye says:

    crosspatch:

    I agree and when they lose the hardliners will blame everyone but themselves.