Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Mark Steyn: Rive gauche
National Review Online ^ | Saturday, March 07, 2009 | Mark Steyn

Posted on 03/08/2009 6:26:54 AM PDT by kellynla

National Journal's Stuart Taylor becomes the latest sophisticated analyst to notice the moderate bipartisan centrist in the White House is behaving very oddly. Or as Mr Taylor's headline puts it:

Obama's Left Turn

What left turn? He's chugging in the same direction he has since he decided to become a "community organizer". His budget is entirely consistent with his voting record as a US Senator, his state politics back in Illinois, his friends and political mentors - and even, as the late Dean Barnett noticed in February last year*, his non-teleprompter campaign rhetoric:

Virtually every time Obama deviated from the text, he expressed the partisan anger that has so poisoned the Democratic party... At one, point when addressing what we have to do for the economy, Obama ad-libbed, "The insurance and the drug companies aren't going to give up their profits easily . . . Exxon Mobil made $11 billion this past quarter..."

Obama's shot at Exxon Mobil's profits is strikingly disingenuous. He seems to be implicitly saying that the healthy earnings are good news for Mr. Exxon and Mr. Mobil, who will promptly stash most of the profits underneath their obviously outsized mattresses... Barack Obama is far too intelligent to not realize that many of the school teachers and union workers and working moms that so often people his more elegant speeches likely have an interest in Exxon Mobil's profits either from their retirement plan's portfolio or their union's holdings or their own investments that they actively manage...

Worse still was the threat to take away the profits of the drug and insurance companies. Perhaps Obama thinks that the drug companies will continue to develop life saving therapies out of benevolence, and that their employees will happily take the pay cuts that will accompany the loss of profits.

Ah, well. As it turns out, corporate profits don't seem to be such a pressing problem anymore.

The other day I was speaking with some chaps who'd attended a David Brooks speech shortly after he joined The New York Times, and in the course of the event he was asked if his relations with the Times crowd were a bit awkward, him being a conservative and all. And he supposedly replied that no, they get along fine because "I look like them."

That's what a lot of these smart guys thought when they saw Obama: "He looks like me. I can imagine myself sitting across from him at dinner and enjoying it."

Whereas Dean Barnett talked like Sarah Palin marinated in a vat of chowder for a year and a half. Nevertheless, Dean looked past Obama's tailoring and "temperament" (elite-speak for "cool"), and listened to what the guy was saying.

As for Stuart Taylor, he still doesn't quite get it:

The house is burning down. It's no time to be watering the grass.

If only. The house is burning down. And Obama's soaking the neighboring buildings in Exxon-Mobil's finest. Fortunately for Mr Taylor's fit of the wobbles, the alternative to the Obama Fire Department is a GOP "dominated by such hard-right conservatives as Rush Limbaugh". Twenty-five million people listened to Rush last week. Millions of them have listened to him for 20 years. That makes them "hard-right" extremists.

Whereas being one of a few thousand who listened to Jeremiah Wright every week for 20 years makes you a mainstream moderate.


TOPICS: Editorial; Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: amateurhour; obama
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-23 next last
With double digit inflation, double digit interest rates and double digit unemployment by 2012, Hussein will be another Jimmy Carter..."one & done!" We can only hope & pray that we still have a United States of AMERICA to vote in!
1 posted on 03/08/2009 6:26:54 AM PDT by kellynla
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: kellynla

The people who put The Messiah in the WH do not believe he is the Marxist he said he was. The do not beleive him when he says the US and our Constitution are “fundamentally flawed”. The do not believe he means what he says about income redistribution. Or, they believe he means any one else’s but their income redistribution. They believe the national debt, which is already an order of magnitude beyond what it was under Bush II (and which the demrats claimed would indebt future generations of Americans) is now perfectly fine as long as it appears they will get access to other people’s money. They do not believe that Islamo terrorists mean it when they say they will convert, enslave and/or kill all infidels.

All The Marxist Onada and his demrat cronies have to do is say what their brain dead voters want to hear and they will get elected. It also helps when demrat pols are corrupt, immoral, kill young women in pursuit of a philandering tryst (Ted Kennedy) and are otherwise dysfunctional.


2 posted on 03/08/2009 6:49:52 AM PDT by dools007
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kellynla

Hopefully in 2012 his chickens come home to roost...


3 posted on 03/08/2009 6:51:44 AM PDT by lexington minuteman 1775
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dools007
"do not beleive him when he says the US and our Constitution are “fundamentally flawed”."

That was the one eye opening statement that should have sent shivers down the spine of every American. Well, for those that were thinkers, it did but the rest of the voters either ignored it or were unaware of the statement.

4 posted on 03/08/2009 7:08:04 AM PDT by Old Badger (After this sorry election, boy do opportunities abound!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: kellynla

It doesn’t appear the community organizers divert. In otherwords, the ability to think is about nil.


5 posted on 03/08/2009 7:21:28 AM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kellynla

I guess the Democratic really believes if they put in a person that doesn’t understand how things really work in the world; it’s okay. In their fantasy land somehow things will work out to their advantage. In other words; no body will notice because appearance is everything.

God help us.


6 posted on 03/08/2009 7:32:01 AM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kellynla

(elite-speak for “cool”), OMG, help us all. Remember all the cool people in school. Not much there except looking the part.


7 posted on 03/08/2009 7:34:44 AM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kellynla

And the 44th president “wrote” a kooky racial book about his deadbeat commie lovin father.


8 posted on 03/08/2009 7:55:09 AM PDT by junta (Not even respectable mainstream conservatives can save liberalism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dools007
he says the US and our Constitution are “fundamentally flawed”.

I missed that one. Do you have a link to the source? Thanks

9 posted on 03/08/2009 8:01:48 AM PDT by Veto! (Opinions freely dispensed as advice)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Veto!
he says the US and our Constitution are “fundamentally flawed”.
I missed that one. Do you have a link to the source?

HERE's one version on YouTube.

10 posted on 03/08/2009 8:19:47 AM PDT by Oatka ("A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves." –Bertrand de Jouvenel)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: kellynla
"He looks like me. I can imagine myself sitting across from him at dinner and enjoying it."

He and the rest of the 'rats (and willing accomplice rinos) have ALWAYS looked like socialists to me. Their dinner would be the chunks that I'd blow if I sat down to eat with them.

The house is burning down. It's no time to be watering the grass.

He and the 'rats have lead us down a dark alley. It's no time to stop and pet them.

11 posted on 03/08/2009 9:02:25 AM PDT by PGalt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PGalt

Whenever I sit across the table with Leftist, I always get a chance to use the; ‘You want higher taxes, then write your own check to the IRS, they will gladly take it’


12 posted on 03/08/2009 9:11:19 AM PDT by iopscusa (El Vaquero. (SC Lowcountry Cowboy))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: iopscusa

I’ve done that many times myself and it WORKS every time. They either shut up or you quickly get to essence of the socialist philosophy of the person you are speaking to.

GRRRREAT reminder! Thanks.


13 posted on 03/08/2009 9:23:16 AM PDT by PGalt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: kellynla

I like the point Steyn makes that if you’re a Rush Limbaugh listener you’re a “hard-right” extremist but Obama can listen to Jeremiah Wright every week for 20 years and he’s called a mainstream moderate.


14 posted on 03/08/2009 9:40:34 AM PDT by fullchroma (I want my country back.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kellynla
Twenty-five million people listened to Rush last week. Millions of them have listened to him for 20 years. That makes them "hard-right" extremists. Whereas being one of a few thousand who listened to Jeremiah Wright every week for 20 years makes you a mainstream moderate.

Brilliant point!

15 posted on 03/08/2009 10:11:42 AM PDT by FormerACLUmember (When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kellynla

I wonder how many of our news people still get tremors in their legs when they hear the name of The One.


16 posted on 03/08/2009 10:31:19 AM PDT by Shery (in APO Land)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lexington minuteman 1775

“Hopefully in 2012 his chickens come home to roost...”

Touche’!!


17 posted on 03/08/2009 11:19:12 AM PDT by aquila48
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Veto!

The Messiah said it at least twice during the campaign. If you use “Obama says the Constitution and America are fundamentally flawed” as your search basis it will turn up. It works, I tried it. You’ll have a bunch of choices. I clicked on the youtube site.


18 posted on 03/08/2009 11:19:59 AM PDT by dools007
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Old Badger

I expect brain dead demrat voters to be oblivious. I am, however, amazed at the number of conservatives who failed to become aroused when The Messiah made that comment. McBipartisan McCain, of course, said nothing. And where are the conservative political ads running the clip over and over? No where!!!!!!


19 posted on 03/08/2009 11:25:23 AM PDT by dools007
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: kellynla
ZIP! BAM! BOOM! In an off-hand quickie written for The Corner Mark Steyn is absolutely brilliant!
20 posted on 03/08/2009 11:38:30 AM PDT by Rummyfan (Iraq: it's not about Iraq anymore, it's about the USA!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-23 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson