"I had nothing to do with them."
If I had asserted in one of my autobiographies that I chose my friends and associates carefully and people began to examine the character of my friends and found nothing but thieves, terrorists and racist demagogues, I might be tempted to disclaim them also.
The thing I find so amazing, however, is how easily Barack Obama denies the persons with whom his ties are deep, meaningful and long-standing. How easily does Obama abandon his friends! Is there no such thing as loyalty in that crowd? Perhaps it’s a natural lack.
Many observers find Obama's associations terrifying and they should. But his reactions (besides the all-purpose racist cudgel) to any controversy stemming from these associations are even more terrifying—and more indicative of Obama’s character.
At some point in the given controversy regarding any of the individuals/organizations he will deny knowing them and/or for what they stand. He will turn on any and all allies when the alliances become politically inconvenient. Observing this, however, Obama’s supporters will shrug their shoulders and keep on believing.
It’s almost as if Obama and those who choose to put their faith in someone so demonstrably faithless "know" something that we don’t.
"Perhaps it's a natural lack."
After all this time, he still talks well (probably the most natural car salesman I've ever seen), but there is absolutely nothing there.
I don't think I've ever seen such an empty soul.
Posted by: Paul Gordon | October 14, 2008 at 01:45 PM
"But his reactions (besides the all-purpose racist cudgel) to any controversy stemming from these associations are even more terrifying"
It's not just associations. Obama collapses under the slightest pressure, abandoning supposedly cherished beliefs, people or policies at the first hint of opposition.
Jim Geraghty says that every Obama promise comes with an expiration date. But the "date" is, whenever it no longer suits him.
Half-white kid from Columbia needs enough street cred to solidify the black vote? Trot out Jeremiah Wright. (Recall that the African American polls in 2007 were still often split 3 ways -- until word of TUCC got around -- and, admittedly, it didn't help for Bill Clinton to toss out that Jesse Jackson comparison.) Need to swing back to the middle? Dump him. Ditto Pfleger, Ayers, Rezko (all for different reasons, but all because they might inconvenience him.) If I was picking someone to back me in a tight spot, I don't think I'd pick Barry.
Need to run to the left of hawkish Hillary? Promise "no militarization of space!" Need to run toward the middle: "I strongly support missile defense!" (which necessarily involves the militarization of space....)
Need to get votes in your Chicago district (well, you really don't need to, when you disqualify the opposition on technicalities, but anyway....), rail against redlining. Need to re-assure the rest of America? Talk about personal responsibility. (Pressure a bank to make a risky loan? Me? Never!)
How long do you think his vaunted middle-class tax cut will last? As long as Bill Clinton's? Remember that cornerstone of the '92 campaign? Remember April of '93?
"I've never worked harder in my life than I have trying to get you people that middle class tax cut; but Bush lied to us; the economy is in much worse shape than he said; there's just no way we can make it work; I'm so sorry; I've never worked harder in my life (did I already mention that?), but it's just not possible, and it's not my fault."
I'm guessing the words will be identical in April of '09, but the accent will be just a little less Southern.
And that's fine. I ain't looking for Santa Claus. But it doesn't bode well for any tough decisions that may come down the pike.
Posted by: notropis | October 14, 2008 at 02:25 PM
I think there's some "wink, wink" going on btwn Obama and his former friends. They'll draw back without much fuss because they want him in office. They're gambling they know the real Obama.
Posted by: MTheads | October 14, 2008 at 03:07 PM
"I think there's some "wink, wink" going on btwn Obama and his former friends."
That's possible, but his former friends may be in for a surprise.
I know that if I had a buddy that said, "Don't worry, I'm only pretending to be a spineless chameleon" -- I'd worry.
Posted by: notropis | October 14, 2008 at 03:25 PM
Ms. Juliette, the cock yet has to crow thrice on Senator Obama's morning. When it does he will find himself without any of his friends to catch him as he faints in his defeat.
Posted by: Jay | October 14, 2008 at 03:56 PM
Mentally, I'm geared up for the Second Coming of Carter.
The gnawing comes in with the child videos, the Dish Network channel, and the piece in the English textbook.
Do the words "personality cult" seem appropriate?
Posted by: C. Smith | October 14, 2008 at 04:12 PM
He used them on his way up the ladder. Now they're dead to him. What a guy.
Posted by: Pasadena Closet Conservative | October 14, 2008 at 08:17 PM
"I'm guessing the words will be identical in April of '09, but the accent will be just a little less Southern."
I couldn't agree more, except he will find a way to write tax credit checks to folks who don't pay any taxes. You can bet on his belief in income redistribution. He will take from tax payers to give to non tax payers. That's at the foundation of his tax plan.
Posted by: Someday | October 15, 2008 at 08:55 AM
Great post and great site you have!
Would you like a Link Exchange with our new blog COMMON CENTS where we blog about the issues of the day?
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Posted by: Steve | October 15, 2008 at 10:56 AM
I am voting for Sen. Obama, but I am realistic and mature enough to know that he is a POLITICIAN and is indeed flawed and will ultimately disappoint in some way.
I did ( and still do) like Sen. McCain and I am saddened by his choice of VP ( not her personality) and the way he has run his campaign.
The thing is I wish people would finally say something that has proven true throughout the campaign season; Sen Obama has run a 21st Century campaign, and Sen. McCain ( and for that matter Sen. Clinton) have run a 20th Century campaign.
Cultural issues are important and religion has its place in life but people want to believe that things can improve ( change) and get better.
I enjoy your blog and really appreciate the informed responses SOME of your commentors make, but its over...just relax and enjoy. The world is has already been severely compromised by 8 years of outdated thinking. WELCOME TO THE FUTURE.
Posted by: THE EL | October 15, 2008 at 04:43 PM
its over
Did I sleep through November 4?
just relax and enjoy
You're using some pretty loaded language there. Men who didn't get it used to say a woman should "lie back and enjoy it" when she is raped.
Is that what your candidate intends to metaphorically for the country? Just asking.
Posted by: baldilocks | October 15, 2008 at 07:58 PM
WOW????
I mean where did that come from? RAPE? Are YOU SERIOUS?
But I understand, you're defensive and think I'm implying that what is happening ( the campaign being lost by Sen . McCain) is being forced upon you and you should "relax and enjoy it".
This campaign is not only about a political party changeover and an idealogical turnover this campaign is changing the fundemental idea of what it means to be an AMERICAN. Am I only considered an AMERICAN if I agree with you on every fundemental issue?
Relax and stop being such an idealogue.
Conservatism has some very valid points ( small government, fiscally responsible governing etc.) but in its truest purest sense, it has never been acheived. And in fairness neither has the pie in the sky doctrines of some liberals.
But more to your point, if anyone has been raped its been the AMERICAN people who have lost REAL dollars $$$$ during this financial turmoil. Not by a candidate who wants to improve our country.
Posted by: THE EL | October 15, 2008 at 08:53 PM
Sen. Obama underplays his lack of experience by playing up the role of advisors he will utilize when elected... and then downplays examination of his friends, colleagues and advisors in the same breath as "irrelevant."
And so, so many people don't seem to notice.
Si-igh.
;o/
Posted by: Wry Mouth | October 15, 2008 at 10:51 PM
Oh, my, my, my...
First, Juliette, when I saw the three "I don't know him!" I thought you were talking about another triple denial. :)
Not sure where THE EL is coming from; is it that "realistic" and "mature" voters choose Barry? Or is is that "realistic" and "mature" voters choose POLITICIAN[sic]s? As opposed to whatever McCain is? A bitter, crazy, PTSD old man, perhaps?
Oh, I'm sorry. Barry ran a "21st century campaign," while Mac ran a "20th century campaign." Er, sorry, but what's the fracking difference? Barry used IM while Mac used email??
Whoops. Silly me, now I get it! "[P]eople want to believe that things can improve (change) and get better."
Oh, my stars and garters, how could I have BEEN so foolish!? All I needed to do was believe that things can improve (after all, all change is an improvement, just ask Woodrow Wilson and Jim Crow, or the 18th Amendment to the Constitution!). Silly wabbit. Trying to call a light cruiser a destroyer (DDX) was pretty silly, too. Change .does not equal. better.
THE EL has some major cognitive dissonance echoing 'round that alleged brain. First he says "his campaign is changing the fundemental[sic] idea of what it means to be an AMERICAN," then he asks "Am I only considered an AMERICAN if I agree with you on every fundemental[sic] issue?" Weelll, according to THE EL Juliette, meself, and many others aren't "AMERICAN," since we don't follow in lock step with the fundemental Folk Concept of the Leader Barry.
Then he accuses Juliette of being an idealogue[sic]. BTW, "EL", it's ideologue.
Finally, "EL" whines about Americans who have been financially "raped," yet refuses to finger the genuine perp: Barry "ACORN" Obama, Barney Frank, and company. Clue, holmes: which two notable political leaders tried to address the Sallie Mae/Freddie Mac issue several years ago? McCain and George Dubya McHalliburton. Which notable political leaders opposed said attempts at reform? Barney Frank, the CBC, and various hangers-on.
Posted by: Casey | October 16, 2008 at 01:42 AM
Your post is one more reason why reading your blog is an exercise in thought. I do not support Obama because of his politics, but I also think that if he abandons his friends for the sake of political expediency ("It's just business"), is interesting.
Either he has really grown up, or it is just business and when he gets in the White House, it will be back to business as usual. We cannot afford that mistake.
Posted by: Cricket | October 16, 2008 at 06:12 AM
Obama abandoning his terrorist "friends"--is not a compliment we can pay to this man. It's scary to see him jump ship whenever necessary, and he and his lefty illuminati friends could be running our country shortly. That is not interesting.
Posted by: MNotaro | October 16, 2008 at 09:35 AM
If Obama abandons his "friends" so easily, which he clearly does, then it bodes ill for the country as a whole. He believes in nothing except his own advancement and will forsake us all for his own self-interest. It's not even that he has a lust for power. That would at least be understandable. No, it's as if he expects the Presidency to be some journey to self-actualization. Well, it isn't. If elected, we will bear the brunt of some hard lessons that he should have learned years ago--that international relations are not like machine politics in Chicago, that some people really do hate us and want to kill us, no matter how sweetly you talk to them, and that the buck really does stop at the desk of the President. Meanwhile, he'll obliviously continue on his mystical journey, the fate of the nation be damned.
EL, what new ideas has Obama had that can't be found in Great Society programs of 40 years ago, or the New Deal of 75 years ago? It's all the same stuff, tax the productive ("Joe the Plumber") and give it to the unproductive, increase the intrusiveness of government into our daily lives, and kiss foreign rear ends in the hope that they'll like us (at least LBJ and FDR didn't do that). McCain may not be my ideal candidate, but at least he follows the Hippocratic Oath: first, do no harm.
Posted by: waltj | October 17, 2008 at 05:43 AM
Abandonment? Learned at home. Abandoned by his father at age 2.
Posted by: RKV | October 17, 2008 at 03:23 PM
"I, I vas neffer in Chairmany 1933-1945 at all effer."
Posted by: Bleepless | October 17, 2008 at 06:05 PM
That's the elitist way. If you're not part of their group, or they don't need you, they will abandon you. How can the liberal illuminati explain a man who abandons his associates for the sake of an election? Makes you wonder if he'll abandon the country too?
Posted by: Xpressions | October 20, 2008 at 04:14 PM
I can't help i just have to post on the blog that is closed for posts... sorry!
But that is a great observation! How funny is that that the right, who claims that the left liberal illuminati are social are using a great social phrase to further their agenda. I'll just leave it at that but that's hilarious!
Posted by: EW | October 23, 2008 at 12:16 PM
I think i caught a tinge of conspiracy theory there. But really any liberal illuminati like Obama or anybody else are going to end up having to deny some friends and supports. But i am not sure this is just a liberal issue. I am sure McCain has his "friends" that he would like to forget or keep under the rug. After all they are politicians, right.
Posted by: EW | October 23, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Having just discovered this blog, I followed the link to your post on Judas. Wow. You're officially a Must-Read for me now. That Judas post is brilliant. Thanks!
Posted by: kj | November 07, 2008 at 09:03 AM