Wednesday, April 21, 2010

What I intend with these essays.

These essays will express my views on several current political topics. There is no claim that my views are either original or that they are better than any other’s point of view. Other persons may well disagree with my views, or opinions, and that’s very proper. Some might suggest, or demand, that my views must not be expressed, and that will not happen, my views will be expressed one way or another.

My views are non-violent and my fervent hope is that our current political unrest be resolved at the polling place, during elections that shall happen, hopefully, during President Obama’s term of office. Violence has no place in politics yet we must never let violence be used against us. If there is to be violence, then it must be initiated by those who support President Obama or who work directly for him.

My concerns are many about President Obama. These concerns begin with Obama being unlike any other president we’ve ever had. Obama is an American president who bows to other heads of state, who bows to even the Mayor of Tampa, for goodness sakes. Americans were taught in my youth not to bow to others, to our God yes, but not to man. Americans who received honorary awards from other countries have sometimes bowed or curtsied to, say, the Queen of England, and been strongly criticized for doing so. President Obama bows to the Japanese Emperor and our press says nothing. Why is that? Now he bows to the Chinese Prime Minister! Why?

That said, while Obama is claimed not to be a Socialist, he also asked early on that we judge him by the people surrounding him, by his associates, by those he nominates to high federal office. A former appointee, Van Jones, is a self-confessed Communist, Bill Ayres, a known Socialist( He claims to be a communist with a small c), as is Ayres’ wife, others in his administration praise Mao the tyrant, so if Obama is not a Socialist, some close associates and appointed high federal employees certainly are. On that basis alone, I count Obama as preferring Socialism over American Capitalism.

Still, Obama said on coming into office that he would remake America and he is trying awfully hard to do so. FDR made significant changes to our society, with Social Security, payroll withholding tax among them, even though he was somewhat checked when his NIRA program was largely negated. LBJ brought in Medicare, a program of long lasting impact, with all its later enhancements. Carter gave away a vast national asset in order to be fair. Wilson thoroughly segregated our military to satisfy his own twisted sense of racial superiority and he’s now considered a model president, by Obama’s supporters, who worked for world peace, perhaps; Wilson was a damned racist as was his SCOTUS appointment in 1914.

So, Obama has a ways to go before his actions alone overwhelm what has been changed before him. And, in my opinion, Obama’s working very hard to reach that abysmal goal. Prior to Obama, we were still America and survived some mediocre president, some good presidents, some with good heart but poor judgment, and some great presidents. All were American presidents, generally following accepted American traditions and acting in what they each may have thought was the best interests of this country.

I am not certain at all that President Obama is acting in America’s best interest that he is instead acting to make us more equal to whatever his world view is. Maybe Obama wants America to be like the European Union and less like that “Shining City on the Hill!” Personally, that magical city has always seemed pretty good to me.

My inspiration for this effort include the desire to see others express their own personal view on our society, our political life today, our way of life as Americans, which I feel are under great pressure from the efforts of the Obama administration.

Too many American citizens in the past avoided involvement with our political life except when we vote and America’s percentage voting is low by some standards. Yet what defines us as Americas is our Constitution, not our ethnic heritage, not where we were born, for many of us, but what that that document describes as our rights and our form of government. We can give up our rights as a people if we do not exert our rights as citizens and demand that those rights not be subverted by government.

The TEA Party rallies that began in 2009 provide hope that we Americans are ready to actively participate in our political process. While we are not a democracy in the purest sense, our country has always acted in a way to bring about a representative form of a federal republic, in a most democratic manner.

The TEA Party rallies are my inspiration as was the Federalist Papers and the earlier Cato’s Letters. However, my effort cannot compare even remotely favorably to either the Federalist Papers or Cato’s Letters.

The statements or claims about President Obama I’m making in these essays are based on statements made by him or his supporters yet I shall not provide detailed support and references for my use of those statements. If someone wishes to dispute my interpretation of President Obama’s statements or actions, have at it.

Lastly, if a particular topic is not present in one of these essays, it can only be that the topic has yet to be addressed and likely will be in the future. This effort is very much a work in progress, an Aegean Stable of essays.

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