First, I’d like to remind everyone that just because we have a president who may not agree 100% with our politics doesn’t mean we should devolve into the antics that were mainly displayed by the left over the last eight years.
Second, my thoughts.
Well, I’d have to say I was confused at times. Some reasons were mildly humorous. Like when I turned on the Hulu stream and suddenly heard it compared to Princess Di’s funeral. Umm, okay. I don’t remember people partying and dancing. Or when I posted that I sure hope there were no environmentalists in DC today.
But, in the spirit of patriotic dissent*, I was quite confused by some of Obama’s words.
Lately, it seemed like Obama was backing off of the farther left policies he supported during the campaign. Given that elections have consequences, I wasn’t that upset by many of them even if I didn’t personally support them. With his past, anything that’s not far left is an improvement. In this speech, he seemed to back to talking the talk of massive government.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short.
He called anyone who said his plans were too broad cynics and said they had short memories. He embraced big government and asked people to keep faith in that, as well as faith in relying on each other for charity. It’s a little hard to support individual charitable efforts when everything is going to fuel the government. But apparently that concept is lost.
Yes, Obama threw a bone out to saying that markets generate tremendous wealth, but if government removes most of the incentives, then there will be no more wealth to tax.
It’s hard to say whether this was just an exercise in lofty speeches again knowing that most of the people watching weren’t really going to follow through and look closely at his policies. It’s entirely possible considering he won the election that way. However, he’s also promising an end to false promises, so he might try to deliver. But then again, promising an end to false promises sounds nice and hope-y change-y.
I think what surprised me most is that he did a specific message to the Muslim world. It wasn’t just a message, he started out announcing that he was talking to the Muslim world. I don’t mind what he said, but the way he opened that paragraph kind of struck me as odd.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.
Will it stoke more of the “not a citizen” attitudes? I think that’s a fair concern, and if he wants an end to petty politics, there’s no reason to keep promoting that kind stuff.
I know this isn’t terribly insightful, but after watching the campaign, I don’t think there’s much of a point in trying to analyze it. As Jim Geraghty says, everything Barack Obama says has an expiration date. It could be in 4 years, or it could be tomorrow morning. You never know.
*Though I did reminded Farrah that dissent was only patriotic during the last eight years. Now, I fear, it may go out of fashion.
No mention of an Assualt Weapons Ban. Let’s hope his colleagues learned a valuable lesson about gun control and will avoid waking Ted Nugent.
All in all, I have to say that I prefer President Obama to President Bush or President McAmnesty.
I would expect a very detailed policy statement like that in an Inauguration speech. State of the Union, maybe. (Or rather, his first address before a joint session of Congress since it’s not really considered to be a State of the Union address for those newly sworn in.)
Check out the now official White House website. Making the Assault Weapons Ban permanent is spelled out there in black and white.
That’s not at all unexpected. But again, as Jim says, all of Obama’s statements seem to come with an expiration date. For us, it will be interesting to see which expires first, his new found respect for the Second Amendment or his full support of gun control.
We should be prepared to fight the political battle if his new Second Amendment love is the one to go first, but we shouldn’t let our guard down in the event he doesn’t make a fast move.
Dissent won’t merely fade from fashion; it will now be considered treason.
Dissent will still be fine. The lunatic left will quickly grow disheartened with Obama when he doesn’t try to imprison President Bush, and finally admit that the Roswell incident really involved aliens.