Your Assignment: Compile Obama’s Flip-Flops ( Patterico.com building a list)

patterico.com ^ | 7/7/2008 | Patterico

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

7/7/2008

Your Assignment: Compile Obama’s Flip-Flops

Filed under: 2008 Election, War — Patterico @ 7:11 am

[This post will remain bumped to the top through Monday. New posts will appear below. -- Patterico]

I want you to help me compile a full list of Obama’s flip-flops.

Leave a comment fully documenting one or more flip-flops. Links are critical. For maximum usefulness, I would like to see the following for each flip-flop:

1) Obama’s original quote, with a link.

2) His later flip-flopping quote, also with a link.

Here’s an example of what I’m looking for:

Flip: Obama says the health exception for late-term abortions has to be a serious physical issue:

I have repeatedly said that I think it’s entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions as long as there is a strict, well-defined exception for the health of the mother. Now, I don’t think that ‘mental distress’ qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term.

Flop: the health exception can include non-physical issues like mental diseases:

My only point is that in an area like partial birth abortion having a mental, having a health exception can be defined rigorously . . . It can be defined through physical health. It can be defined by serious clinical mental health diseases.

Video proof of a flip-flop is even better. Link that if you have it. I know there are videos like that out there. I want to know about all of them.

Maximum participation, people! If you do this well, I can bring it all together in a single, massive post that documents all of Obama’s flip-flops. In that post, I’ll credit each person who first documents a particular flip-flop to my satisfaction.

Now start documenting!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

fyi

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Should be a very interesting result....access to the Blog ....you will need to sign up I believe to post:

Your Assignment: Compile Obama’s Flip-Flops

H/T to Hot Air for pointing to this.....

[Grampa Dave]

I have an old computer with only an 80 hard drive. It doesn't have enought memory to store all of his flip flops.

However I will be glad to reference the list with my Obamination Flip Flop Collage:

Can Obama be trusted?-Obama’s promises of change can’t hide manipulations, political flip-flops.

"There appears to be no issue that Barack Obama is not willing to reverse himself on for the sake of political expedience. This is the change he promised , This reality of his so called change, shows him to be a typical lying liberal politician."

"You can be sure there will never be any clear answers from Obama on any critical issue. He is quite comfortable taking positions that contradict each other. Sadly, his inconsistent and dishonest positions are perfectly acceptable to his Obamabot cult members, who blindly follow him."

Instead of the change candidate, Hussein ObamaMessiaHamas, will be known as the Ooops Uh Flip-Flop Candidate, who couldn't tell the truth!

Quit your whining about my Flip Flops, Waffling and Lies, you God Loving, Gun owning and Bitter White Racist Patriots!

Damn Pajama Media. They won’t let me get by with my lies and flip flopping.

[potlatch]

Here are 5 at a site with links;

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/24/AR2008022402094.html

Special Interests
Public Financing
The Cuba Embargo
Illegal Immigration
Decriminalization of marijuana

[Dilbert San Diego]

I saw Dem. operative Bob Beckel on a talking head show, and he said that “flip flops” don’t matter, because all candidates, Dem. and Republican alike, move to the base in a primary campaign, and then to the center in a general election campaign. He said if we spend all our time documenting flip flops, we won’t have any time left to discuss the issues. He said there are plenty of these changes from McCain too, but that Dems. don’t want to contiunously discuss that.

[PhilDragoo]

[SC DOC]

[Grampa Dave]

Bobbie appears to be losing any sanity or reality, he might have had.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Nice...

[potlatch]

This has a link to a video of Glenn Beck discussing with Bobby Jindal how the media has ignored numerous flip-flops;

FISA, The Second Amendment, gay marriage, Iran, Iraq, Welfare reform, NAFTA, etc;

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/john-stephenson/2008/07/02/glenn-beck-media-ignores-obama-flip-flops-0

[LomanBill]

Flipper Flopper... or plain old manipulative liar?

Boxcar Barry learned from the best...

 

 

 Zbigniew "Darth" Brzezinski

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From the Stratra Sphere blog...here is a biggie:

Can Barrack Obama Survive His FISA-NSA Flip-Flop?

************************Excerpt ...comments at Link****************************

Published by AJStrata at 12:56 pm under 2008 Elections, All General Discussions, FISA-NSA

Barrack Obama is about to test the patience of his liberal base. Of his many flip-flops, none is generating more of a backlash than his surrender on the new FISA-NSA rules, which give Bush and the administration all they wanted, and more. This week the Senate is going to vote on the making the new FISA-NSA laws permanent for the next 6 years, and all indications are it will pass.

But Obama is facing an insurrection among is most ardent followers over this issue - and it could fracture his base:

The largest group on Obama’s own website now goes by the moniker: “Senator Obama–Please Vote NO on Telecom Immunity—Get FISA Right.” The group comprises 18,000-plus Obama-ites. Its membership is mushrooming. Most who join do so in frustration with their candidate for switching positions on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act bill, or FISA. Senator Obama at first opposed the bill that grants sweeping powers to the federal government to surveil its own citizens. Now, he says he’ll support a compromise version.

Note this post on Obama’s website from a self-identified former supporter who writes under the name “Terra.” It’s headlined, “I’m out.”

Obama needed his supporters to win the election. We could have done it for him, with him. His position on the FISA bill—destroying the 4th amendment—could lose this election for him because he cannot get his excited supporters to happily share the good news. It’s over. We would have gladly shared our support with any undecided voter. Now, we’re left with 3 choices… 1-disappointment, 2-McBush, or 3-not voting. I haven’t made up my mind, but it’s a close tie between 1 and 3. Regardless, I won’t be the enthusiastic supporter I once was. Sad, sad day.

This is not an isolated report, but one of many covering the shock, disappointment and anger at Obama for turning his back on an issue held dear to many on the far left.  First here:

Are we experiencing a genuine shift in Obama’s issue positions and campaign strategy, or just a self-perpetuating media narrative? Obama’s position on FISA does appear to represent a real capitulation.

The man is not even elected and he is backing down. That can only demoralize his base and create the valid impression the man does not stand for anything, he just panders to his audiences and says what he thinks will get him to the next stage on his quest for power. Second example here:

Obama’s recent rightward moves—concerning BushCo’s faith-based programs, and the FISA bill—have both been loudly justified by commentators who would certainly deplore them if it weren’t Obama who had made them.

The thinking goes like this: “Obama’s our guy, and he’s really cool, the candidate of ‘change,’ so we should cut him all the slack he needs, so he can get elected president. In any case, this recent stuff is not so bad. So let’s all lighten up—or else. Because he has to make such moves, or he will lose; and those who criticize him now are only helping the Republicans.”

That view is wrong on every count. Obama’s moves are notmerely pragmatic gestures, like Bill Clinton’s “Sister Souljah moment” (to which they’ve been compared). While “standing up to Sister Souljah” (!) was purely a theatrical display, meant to “send a message” to particular voters, these shifts by Obama have serious consitutional implications, regardless of his good intentions or hisrare skill at finessing what he’s done.

Another example here:

What Obama has done here is not a “refinement” of a policy position like he recently suggested concerning Iraq. It is an about face. Imagine how different next week would play out if the presumptive Democratic nominee was joining a filibuster on the floor of the senate, standing up for the constitutional rights of all Americans. The contrast between what would happen if Obama followed through on his promise, and what will happen if he doesn’t, is night and day.

Obama is facing a test of confidence with his liberal base, a segment of voters he must have to win in November.  But as Obama moves to echo McCain’s positions on many issues (Iraq comes to mind), there becomes no reason for the liberal left to get out and vote. None. Will Obama survive turning on his base and dumping them on one of the deepest held convictions, one they have long demanded ‘no compromise’ on? Let’s look at one more article today and a key observation:

In announcing his support for the bill, Obama said the legislation is “not all that I would want” but added that “given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay.”

That decision by Obama, which was widely seen by political strategists as an attempt to move to the ideological center, represented his first major break with the liberal left, a group that sustained him financially and organizationally throughout the primary season.

For Olbermann, as well as many on the liberal end of the political spectrum, Obama has backed himself into a corner. Regardless of how the FISA vote shakes out next week, they argue, Republicans will continue to paint Obama as soft on terrorism and not sufficiently prepared to safeguard the country.

Forget what the GOP will do, what incentives are left for his far left base to organize, donate and fight the fight when Obama has already capitulated? My guess is Obama will not survive this turn on his base. My guess is he has removed all reasons for the far left to even go out and vote, now that he has flipped on so many key issues to that part of the base. This is the neophyte in Obama, the untested and inexperienced candidate who started to buy into his own inevitability. In his mind he cannot make a mistake - which is the first step towards making some really big ones.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See #13...for a different opinion.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I want to hilight this entry at the Strata sphere blog:

Obama’s Going To Hurt Himself With All These Flip Flops!

*******************************EXCERPT**************************

Published by AJStrata at 8:18 am under 2008 Elections, All General Discussions, FISA-NSA, Iraq

Well, we seem to have discovered the ‘true’ Barack Obama - he is your classic ’say anything to win’ politician! During the primaries Barack Obama was the liberal candidate, he was far left’s candidate who would take their issues to Washington and make them relevant again! Here is some of what he said (or implied, or hinted, or led some to think) he would stand for this election:

1. Pulling out of Iraq, without any conditions and as quickly as possible. (Got him on video here in the last debate)
2. He claimed he would fight the new FISA-NSA rules enacted after 9-11 and resist immunity for telecommunications companies who supported the government’s investigations of possible (and actual - in some cases) terrorist cells plotting to kill Americans.
3. He clearly supported the DC gun ban law
4. He was opposed to NAFTA
5. He was considered a stalwart on a woman’s right to choose an abortion over birth
6. He was supposedly going to end the hold the Jewish Lobby has on foreign affairs, and give more credence to the Arab/Palestinian side.
7. He promised to use public campaign financing in the general election, demonstrating the principled value of public control of free speech.
8. He was supposedly against the death penalty - another liberal signature issue.

I once said Obama was like the Mirror of Erised, a fictional device in the Harry Potter stories which reflected the deepest desires of the person looking in the mirror. It was a trap, an image of hope that was, in reality just an enticing fiction.

Obama’s vague and vacuous position statements allowed many people on the far left to assume he was the most liberal candidate available, and that he would champion their causes.  It seems they were seriously mistaken.  In the last few weeks Obama has flip-flopped on all these issues and more - turning into an echo of McCain (and Bush as well) instead of a champion against the conservative policies that have been governing this country for over a decade now.

Here are the flop-flips Obama has done since vanquishing Hillary Clinton: who had an actual record of being a liberal stalwart:

1. Obama will be going to Iraq soon, and he knows he faces being handed over an Iraq on the path to victory - therefore he has begun equivocating on his plans.  And he knows he cannot pretend there is no risk to this victory by pulling out forces without any regard to what is happening on the ground. This reality has been explained to him by liberal news outlets in no uncertain terms - his current plans will be a disaster. In fact Obama was recently caught lying to either the Iraq government or the American people on his positions - we still don’t know which.
2. The other signature issue for the far left when it comes to George W Bush is their lame fear mongering that protecting America from attack is actually a front for listening in on the babbling lefties. Most of us find this fear mongering more humorous than scary (see here for an example), but when push came to shove the liberals expected their candidate to stand with them, despite the obvious blow-back that would come from tearing down our protections against planned attacks we know are underway because of a fear of unsubstantiated invasions of privacy. This was the acid test for the liberal standard bearer - and Obama threw them under the bus, not even promising to do a show-filibuster. But its not like this has not happened many times before from other Democrat leaders.
3. Disarming America is a big deal in the far left fevered swamps. And when the Supreme Court ruled to dump DC’s gun ban laws, you would think Obama would simply rail against the decision and stay vaguely neutral. But no, he actually changed his position (and damn near immediately, as I noted here) and supported the court’s decision! Is Obama a threat to ‘bitter’ gun owners or not? Who knows, but he clearly is misleading someone here (and maybe everyone). Here I posted on how he was supposed to be the centrist, but was talking far left behind the scenes.  Now he seems to be the far left candidate who is running full steam to the center, damn the primary voters (aka, dupes).
4. Obama’s opposition to NAFTA has melted into a pool of ambiguity and anger from the left.
5. And in what has to be the biggest blow-off to Hillary Clinton supporters, Obama has now taken up the centrist conservative position on abortion, restricting it’s use to address physical health risks to the mother:
   

   In an interview this week with “Relevant,” a Christian magazine, Obama said prohibitions on late-term abortions must contain “a strict, well defined exception for the health of the mother.”

   Obama then added: “Now, I don’t think that ‘mental distress’ qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term.”…

   Boy, all those pro-choice women supporting Hillary must be spitting mad now!

6. Another of Obama’s two-faced flip-flop-flip was on the matter of Jerusalem and whether it would remain the capitol of Israel. Again we have no clue what his views really are because he has made so many conflicting and vague statements.
7. Obama’s flopping all started with his reverse course on pledging to use public funding for his campaign - which irritated the liberal press no end who continue to try and control politics by limiting free speech of average Americans.
8. He has turned his back on the anti-death penalty plank of the liberal base.
9. And then we have some flop-flop’s, which are surprise positions no one knew Obama had, but mirror Bush policies - like supporting federal funds going to faith based institutions.  Though I am not sure America is behind sending their hard earned tax dollars to Rev Jeremiah “God Damn America” Wright.

All of this has destroyed Obama’s image as a principled stalwart of liberal causes. His ‘change’ mantra now reflects his ever shifting positions. The ‘change’ we will be getting is going from someone who says what he means, and does what he says, to someone who is a complete cypher on key issues of the day.

And the liberal base is noticing the demoralizing fact that Obama is more than an empty suite, he appears to be the ultimate panderer, like none other seen before in national politics:

New and Not Improved

Senator Barack Obama stirred his legions of supporters, and raised our hopes, promising to change the old order of things. He spoke with passion about breaking out of the partisan mold of bickering and catering to special pleaders, promised to end President Bush’s abuses of power and subverting of the Constitution and disowned the big-money power brokers who have corrupted Washington politics.

…

We are not shocked when a candidate moves to the center for the general election. But Mr. Obama’s shifts are striking because he was the candidate who proposed to change the face of politics, the man of passionate convictions who did not play old political games.

We have never seen a candidate abandon so many positions on so many fronts in such a short time. This is complete election ad fodder for McCain and the GOP, using demonstrable examples of Obama’s flightiness on key issues, his inability to hold any resolve, his inability to stand tall and strong on issues. If Obama has to face down threats in a contentious environment, all this has shown America is Obama would crumble into a mess of conflicted, confused and incoherent babble. That fact is now well established. As has been the news symbol for the Obama campaign - the flopping fish!

7 Responses to “Obama’s Going To Hurt Himself With All These Flip Flops!”

[pissant]

Flip: “I did not have sex with that man, Mr. Sinclair”.

Flop: “Larry, you studmuffin you, you make me feel like a natural woman”.

[InterceptPoint]

I am an experienced video editor and can easily knock out custom 30 second YouTube commercials that would support our cause.

For resources I have access to:

1. The audio versions of Obama's "The Audacity of Hope" which was read by Obama himself.

2. Pretty good graphics from Google image search.

What I also need and don't have is a good archive source (better than typical YouTube) of free video clips of Obama's more outrageous statements or verbal fumbles. I could also use some help finding the more damaging statements he made in "Audacity" since it would be nice to show the world what Obama really stands for in his own spoken words from the audio version of his book. And some good ideas for scripts would be nice.

So if anyone can help fill in those blanks it would be greatly appreciated.

[potlatch]

losing supporters;

[one of many [comments about his flip flops] covering the shock, disappointment and anger at Obama for turning his back on an issue held dear to many on the far left.]

Lol, you are already racking them up. As Grampa Dave said, they will clog up your computer. What's good is that Obama gets 'hot and bothered' easily, any bent cogs in his 'wheel' will be to our benefit.

Sadly, only we on the Internets 'see' all this stuff.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Well...that really sounds promising...I don't have much to offer ...there is a keyword flipflop someone set up for tracking purposes here on FR...

Would be useful for Idea Generation....

My intent here was simply to make the effort at Patterico known....

Maybe some folks on that Blog would also have access to serious video material.....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See #17....pinging Doug...he has contacts...