Barack Obama Faces False Choices
Reader Comments
LOOK OUT AMERICA
Phil Berg / Andy Martin Updates
Jump to Comments
November 10 - We The People Foundation will release an Ad in the USA Today regarding this very topic and in support of Phil J. Berg, the man behind Berg v Obama. It will actually run the entire week of November 10th.
November 17th - Phil Berg & Robert L. Schulz (Founder & Chairman of WTP) will hold a press briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
November 18th - Andy Martin’s case: Martin v Obama will be heard on this date in Honolulu, Hawaii.
December 1st - Barack Obama has until this day to release his original long birth certificate from “vault” (located in Honolulu, Hawaii) to the court.
If or when this occurs, Phil Berg will then have to submit a response.
December 15th (or perhaps 13th), the Electoral College meets to vote for the next President of the United States.
January 6th, 2009 - The new Congress will be sworn in. The Democrats obviously have a comfortable majority, but it will not be available to have a say about this birth certificate drama.
In the meantime, SHOULD the SCOTUS find that Barack Obama isn’t eligible—those who knew this fraud will deserve punishment and the Democrats will pay a heavy price.
real news
Congressman Warns of Obama Dictatorship
Monday, November 10, 2008 6:44 PM
Article Font Size
WASHINGTON — A Republican congressman from Georgia said Monday he fears that President-elect Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist or fascist dictatorship.
"It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he's the one who proposed this national security force," Rep. Paul Broun said of Obama in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. "I'm just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may — may not, I hope not — but we may have a problem with that type of philosophy of radical socialism or Marxism."
Broun cited a July speech by Obama that has circulated on the Internet in which the then-Democratic presidential candidate called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.
"That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it's exactly what the Soviet Union did," Broun said. "When he's proposing to have a national security force that's answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he's showing me signs of being Marxist."
Obama's comments about a national security force came during a speech in Colorado about building a new civil service corps. Among other things, he called for expanding the nation's foreign service and doubling the size of the Peace Corps "to renew our diplomacy."
"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set," Obama said in July. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."
Broun said he also believes Obama likely will move to ban gun ownership if he does build a national police force.
Obama has said he respects the Second Amendment right to bear arms and favors "common sense" gun laws. Gun rights advocates interpret that as meaning he'll at least enact curbs on ownership of assault weapons and concealed weapons. As an Illinois state lawmaker, Obama supported a ban on semiautomatic weapons and tighter restrictions on firearms generally.
"We can't be lulled into complacency," Broun said. "You have to remember that Adolf Hitler was elected in a democratic Germany. I'm not comparing him to Adolf Hitler. What I'm saying is there is the potential."
Obama's transition office did not respond immediately to Broun's remarks.
© 2008 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Issues Now Matter
I hope citizens, media and Barack Obama all focus less on labels and pursue change by focusing on the issues our country faces now and in the future.
Obama excels at nuanced approaches
Obama is a pragmatist with liberal leanings, but I think that a great many of us voted for him, despite his relative inexperience, precisely because he's shown a knack for critical thinking and nuanced analysis of complex issues.
When I first heard his name and looked him up -- I'm not the most politically engaged person, so this was about two years ago -- I discovered his "Call to Renewal" keynote speech for a Christian interfaith group devoted to community service. (Fancy that.)
What impressed me about this speech was that he was challenging his party's modus operandi regarding religion in politics -- refusing to discuss religion except in terms of where it shouldn't be preached, which ceded all discussion of religion and God to right-wing evangelicals.
He said, first, that it was possible for progressive to discuss their own beliefs as public figures, and indeed it was necessary to do so, so that the evangelicals wouldn't be able to falsely smear them. (Looks like he still has learning to do on that front.)
He said, second, that while freedom of religion is a vital part of the constitution, that religious faith plays a vital role in shaping the ethics and inspiration of many Americans. That MLK and Lincoln used religious language and God to frame important truths and arguments because it helped make these arguments accessible to people for whom God is meaningful. That one CAN invoke God without forcing God on people who believe differently. (See below.)
Third, Obama pointed out the vital role of religious communities (like the one he was addressing) in helping those in need from Katrina victims to at-risk youth to AIDs victims to the poor. Churches help take care of people. They should be praised for that. So to that extent he recognizes the value of faith-based initiatives.
However, he also noted the vital importance of separation of Church and State, in keeping religion from DICTATING law, and vice versa.
I've noticed a subtlety about Obama that demonstrates this perfectly. He ends speeches with "God bless you, God bless America" -- a prayer, a wish, born of his own Christian faith. But when he speaks of America as an institution, he speaks of America, the UNITED STATES of America, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all... but he doesn't include the McCarthy-era revision to the Pledge of Allegiance "Under God" (most people don't seem to realize that is an addition). That would be to declare America as a Christian nation, as opposed to simply invoking his own God's blessing for the country he loves -- shifting religion to the official, rather than personal level.
That's a subtlety I bet most people miss, and it speaks to the way Obama looks at sticky and volatile issues.
I don't think we have to worry about him falling into black versus white mentality. He can't. He's a mutt!
"IDEOLOGICAL RIGIDITY" ?
Is that the same as accepting Eternal Truth, Absolute Morality and Perfect Justice? I think it might be - that being the case I don't feel there's much chance of Obama following that path.
After all, he is a relativist, opportunistic facile thinker who believes in "progressive morality" and a god based on personal perceptions. Not much "rigidity" in any of that crock of mush...
No Johnny, I think you can rest assured of his "..persistent experimentation." You know, when your view of life and the world is entirely subjective, no objective compass showing moral north - Well, then all you're really able to do is stumble around in the fog of "bold , persistent, experimentation". Now, all you Obamatrons be sure and hold hands so you don't get lost.
False Choices
Jack,
I have been reading your blog throughout the election season. Interesting and provocative as always. As you point out, the president-elect seems to have a torrent of advice being directed toward him. I hope he wisely avoids nearly all of it and relies on the wise counsel that got him this far.
The economy is way down, we are at war, my wife is looking for a job, my 401(k) is acting likes it's 1999, and I am still wondering how I'll pay my younger daughter's tuition next year but, all of the sudden, it seems like a great and exciting time to be alive.
Keep up the good work.
