Jewish World Review August 16, 2010/ 6 Elul, 5770
You've Lost America, Mr. President
By Arnold Ahlert
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| I was "one incident too early." On November 5, 2009, I wrote this for JWR's "sister site", Political Mavens:
"Barack Obama's presidency is effectively over. Strong words? Ask yourself this: what other president of the United States would have spent almost three minutes speaking at the Dept. of Interior before getting around to mentioning the fact that twelve soldiers had been killed, and thirty one wounded in a massacre at Fort Hood in Texas?"
Alas, most Americans let this travesty slide down the memory hole. Thankfully, like he has with so many other unpopular positions, Barack Hussein Obama has "doubled down:" his support of the Ground Zero mosque is game, set, match.
As I wrote in my previous column, the true intentions of the mosque builders were revealed when they turned down NY Governor David Patterson's offer of state land in return for re-locating the mosque away from Ground Zero. They refused. That this "factoid" was seemingly irrelevant to the president speaks volumes.
It is worth remembering this is the same president who belittled ordinary Americans for "clinging" to religion. I guess Muslims "clinging" to a location that infuriates the overwhelming majority of Americans is perfectly fine, even after it's been revealed for the rankly provocative plan it truly is. Ordinary Americans? They recognize a self-aggrandizing, holier-than-thou phony when they see one. They aren't fooled by a president who says that, "Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground"--only seconds before he reveals the total hollowness of that statement by saying he's fine with a mosque on top of it.
Some one must have told Mr. Obama it wasn't flying. On Saturday, he issued a "clarifying" statement: he wasn't commenting on the "wisdom" of putting a mosque in a particular location, but on the "right people have that dates back to our founding."
Baloney. Reasonable Americans aren't demanding anything remotely resembling a ban on Islam or the ability of its adherents to worship as they please. They're saying show some respect for American sensibilities, and don't build a mosque adjacent to the place where a national tragedy took place--one perpetrated in the name of Islam.
I have tremendous respect for the office of the presidency. That respect has gotten me and doubtless a lot of other Americans through some pretty tough times. And as much as I've disliked some of the people who've occupied that office, I've always taken comfort in the fact that, when push comes to shove, every one of those men, irrespective of political ideology, had America's best interests at heart.
No longer. For the first time in my lifetime, we have an alien in the White House.
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And that doesn't mean what some of you might think. For the purposes of this column, the "birther debate" is irrelevant. What I'm talking about is a man completely divorced from the American ethos. A man who is utterly clueless about what most Americans want, think or feel. The first president of the United States on the public record with the idea that American exceptionalism is nothing more than one item on a laundry list of national exceptionalisms--none better or worse than any other.
A man who will take America's side--only after he's concluded that it doesn't conflict with his larger worldview.
Sadly, we've reached a point where most Americans don't expect anything different. And why should they? This is a man up to his neck in meaningful associations with card-carrying members of the Hate America crowd--from boyhood mentor, communist Frank Marshall, and racist preacher, Jeremiah Wright, to Weather Underground terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernadette Dohrn, and other rabid leftists. This is a man who has stacked his administration with a roster of radicals dedicated to the idea that America is a nation of unrepentant bigots, racists and other low-lifes who must be whipped into "progressive" shape. This is a man who learned--and taught--the "Alinsky Method," a blueprint for the radical re-organization of America by stealth.
Why has the president doggedly kept entire parts of his life, from his early college years straight through law school, away from public view? Bet the farm it's because any paper trail from those years would reveal this president to be the Marxist/socialist radical that occasionally breaches the "teleprompted" facade he has so carefully erected.
Last Friday, the mask slipped once again. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to point a comment directly towards the Cordoba House builders explaining that, while freedom of religion is a sacred American value, their refusal to accept an alternative site on state land offered by the governor is very troubling. He could have called their bluff and said he stands with the overwhelming majority of Americans who find such a refusal appalling. He could have said that "cultural sensitivity" is a two-way street, and that it is about time self-professed "moderate Muslims" demonstrated their moderation.
But he didn't. And he didn't because, for this "citizen of the world," the idea of "putting America first" requires considerable effort. Quite frankly, this is astounding. There is no other position in government where the idea of being "reflexively American" is more important. There is no other man in the country with the unfettered power to put American men and women in harm's way. That fact alone requires unstinting loyalty to our nation, and an unbridled sense of patriotism.
Is that what Americans see when they look at Barack Obama? Or do they see a narcissistic, serial apologizer, a split-the-difference-with-our-enemies appeaser who golfs and parties--while America burns?
This president, along with his lap-dog media supporters, will continue to tell Americans that their anger and disgust has little or nothing to do with the shortcomings of Barack Obama. Everything wrong with the country is "someone else's fault," be it "racist" tea partiers, "fat cat" bankers, "greedy" doctors, "irresponsible" corporations, Republicans, or their favorite whipping boy, George W. Bush.
Sorry, Mr. Obama, no sale. You've done a grand job of alienating the majority of Americans all by yourself. And you know it too, or you wouldn't have "clarified" your position on the Ground Zero mosque twenty four hours after the "real you" revealed itself.
Perhaps someday we'll have someone in the Oval Office with a more jaundiced view of America than yours. I hope I never live to see it. And I fervently hope Americans remember exactly who you are when 2012 rolls around. We can probably muddle through two more years with a charlatan in the White House.
Heaven help America if it's six.
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It is worth remembering this is the same president who belittled ordinary Americans for "clinging" to religion. I guess Muslims "clinging" to a location that infuriates the overwhelming majority of Americans is perfectly fine, even after it's been revealed for the rankly provocative plan it truly is. Spot on.
