Barack's big lie

Now he's done it... Barack has gone and told his first big lie, and it is a whopper:

The American people aren't stupid.

Anybody with half a brain knows how false that statement is and how easy it is to prove it. Who elected George Bush to be president? And did it TWICE? And did it AFTER he invaded Iraq and the deal had already gone sour? And now polls tell us that roughly HALF "the American people" support McCain/Palin?

Who is Barack trying to fool? Does he really believe that his drones are that gullible? Scary thought: maybe he really does! Maybe he really is just another politician... even if he may be "smarter."

And, maybe here is the scariest possibility: He actually does believe that "The American people aren't stupid." Even if only half are "stupid", it is very dangerous for a politician to presume otherwise.

The rest of the context for that quote:

"A bunch of heat started generating because people were thinking, `Why are we building a bridge to nowhere?'" Obama said to laughter from a packed gymnasium of supporters in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills. Some booed at the mention of her name.

"So a deal was cut where Alaska still got the money. They just didn't build a bridge with it, and now she's out there acting like she was fighting this thing the whole time," he said, jabbing his fist in the air like a boxer. He released his own ad in response to the GOP spot that says McCain and Palin are "politicians lying about their records."

At an earlier stop Monday in Flint, Obama said of the bridge claim: "I mean, you can't just make stuff up. You can't just re-create yourself. You can't just reinvent yourself. The American people aren't stupid. What they are looking for is someone who has consistently been calling for change."

See: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g-UQSWkkXyD_Javq_3RKXGziFB4gD9338MH00

Barack says "you can't just make stuff up." What planet/country has he been living on/in??!! Politicians of every stripe "make stuff up" ALL the time.

Barack says "You can't just re-create yourself. You can't just reinvent yourself." Now he is challenging and mocking a key part of The American Dream! Besides, doesn't he believe in the Christian concept of redemption?

Earlier he said that words have to mean something. I agree that they should, but the reality in America is that meaning is malleable and in politics words mean whatever anybody wants them to mean. Barack may in fact have a vision for a better world, but he will have to do a better job convincing people that: a) it really will be a better world for ALL Americans (and not just left-wing Progressives), and b) that he really does know how to get there and have the skills to follow through. Right now, he is struggling to convince even Democratic supporters that he can take on Palin, and has yet to make a good case to the rest of America.

He is doing quite a poor job of responding to Palin and missing the boat when he should be focusing on leadership and vision rather than mere damage control. Let Biden and the PR staff "correct the record" and do any negative mud-slinging. What he is doing now is simply playing the victim. Maybe that is what the choir wants to hear about, but that is not election-winning leadership.

And where is Hillary... AWOL... she knows better than to say even one negative word about Palin. Hillary is smart enough to deeply comprehend that McCain is the target. They probably both sense that unless they maintain strict neutrality, any conflict between them will escalate rapidly to thermonuclear proportions and that neither of them would survive. Besides, they both understand the meaning of the term "baggage."

Maybe the real point is that Barack Obama is taking Sarah Palin personally, and that is a huge mistake. Palin got all of the attention because Barack was coasting on "style" and not providing the media with enough substance to overcome the media fascination with whichever style-setter happens to come along on any given day.

Barack's biggest problem may simply be that his only experience of great value is as an outsider and community organizer, and it is not at all clear that this is what most Americans are seeking the most. Ronald Reagan ("The Great Cimmunicator") at least had a clear message of two goals: cut taxes and spend more money on defense. Barack's message is that he will change the way Washington does business, which is all fine and dandy, but that doesn't tell most people what they will get out of the deal. The Progressives are excited because they believe that Barack will pursue the Progressive agenda, but where does that leave the rest of America?

So, the great question remains: Are most Americans stupid? Or is it simply that most Americans deeply disagree with the agenda of "the other side"? Are we in fact simply a "nation at war"... with itself?

-- Jack Krupansky