Abraham Lincoln stated the core of the objection to Obama, when he described the work of a slave black woman, his initial speech on the Dred Scott opinion: “in her natural right to eat the bread she earns with her own hands without asking leave of any one else, she is my equal, and the equal of all others.” Obama would have to tell that slave black woman her labors too did indeed belong to “somebody else.” But she knew that to begin with.Regards — Cliff
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
One's Labors Belong To…
Here is another take on President Obama's Roanoke speech, by Johns Hopkins' Professor Ken Masugi, "Is This Progress?". Here is the final paragraph:
The more I delve into the conservative mind, among all the sloganeering of "freedom" and "liberty," the more I sense a hollowness. As if the conservative aspires to these things, but knows they don't yet have them.
ReplyDeleteSad.
I do have freedom. I do have liberty. And I am willing to share.
Obama isn't talking about "belongs." The conservative chattering class are falling all over themselves trying to wrap a banner of collectivism around Obama.
The problem is, the harder they stretch themselves, the more they betray the reality that they view the world much like a bedtime 4 year old, huddled under the covers, terrified of the "monster" under the bed.
Life is good, scaredy cats. There's enough to go around. Stop hoarding in preparation for the zombie apocalypse.
Jack, taking a nod to the national debt, and the Democrats' complicity with the Republicans to have created it in such massive proportions, the "enough to go around" is increasingly owned by not us, and "we the people" are increasingly of the "have-nots", and life is easy to see approaching "not good", and it's reasonable to be scared.
ReplyDeleteOf course, it's a bit over the top to imply slavery, as Cliff has done here. Perhaps in a similar way that its' a bit over the top for Barry to have implied Government owns it and us all.
The truth is not where you are stubbornly insisting it is. Maybe some years ago it might have been. But, today, our government is avowing its right to take it all, and they are acting to do so with alarming alacrity.
We need to vote in a better class of leaders. The present one has failed. (And by one, I mean the single party of Republicrats and Demicans).
Comedian Lewis Black cover the ground fairly well in this clip.
ReplyDeleteOur freeloading Romney campaign prop from NH, Mr. Gilchrist, takes it on the chin. I hope he has a sense of humor. ;v)
kad,
I will spend some time working on election finance reform, via rootstrikers.org, but I will not bother with third party development. I'd rather re-engineer "the wheel," than re-invent it.
Agree with Kad. Regardless of which party gets us there, we are rapidly spiraling toward a point at which the government is no longer the servant of we the people, rather, we the people exist to serve the government.
ReplyDeleteThe "hollowness" that Jack "senses" is quite real. The concepts of "freedom" and "liberty" are indeed made hollow by the "progression" of our society today. In nearly every facet of American life, we have ceded not only personal freedom...but personal responsibility in exchange for the elusive mantel of government provided security. It is a false beachhead to which we aspire as a society. We will have neither security nor freedom.
Frankly, where political parties are concerned, there is almost an imperceptible difference between the two. The significant battle seems only to be who can lay claim..and therefore boasting rights...to being "the savior" of American society. One need only look to the campaign slogans to see this.
Jack also speaks in riddles. For a sizable percentage of America, life is NOT good and there is precious little to go around. A lack of trust has infused much if not most of society, such that there is a growing siege mentality emerging throughout the land.
Good times are not in the offing....not without a tidal change in direction....much sacrifice.......and a forswearing of the philosophy of instant gratification.
Jack is correct in his assessment that the conservative chattering class are wrapping a banner of collectivism around Obama. The real conservative movement aspires to a much greater pioneer spirit the hallmark of which demands primary personal effort and responsibility for any progress or success in life. To that end, "I did it myself" is it's greatest mantra. I believe that is all that the founders desired.....the RIGHT to pursue happiness and prosperity......not to have it.....to pursue it.
I did see the Back In Black bit from the other night--laugh out loud funny as always. It's not just the finances that need reform--I think Louis was pretty clear on the lying part of it, too. Accountability would suit me for a start.
ReplyDelete