Posted on 03/19/2009 7:18:41 AM PDT by Tolik
A sitting President of the United States is "organizing a political organization loyal to him, bound by a pledge, outside the government and existing party apparatus. The historical precedents are ominous."
What is so ominous about an organization? Americans, Alexis de Tocqueville famously observed, "constantly form associations.... If it is proposed to inculcate some truth or to foster some feeling by the encouragement of a great example, they form a society."
Certainly, thousands of organizations seek to influence the political debate. There's Newt Gingrich's American Solutions or the left-wing People for the American Way, for instance.
Political parties are another example of an association, of course. Before, during and after political campaigns, the Democrats and Republicans promote their agendas. As legal entities, they have their own constitutions, their rules of business, their chairmen and officers. They have to be accountable to both the government and their members.
But there is a new organization on the political scene -- "Organizing for America," announced by President Barack Obama in late January but officially unfurled last weekend.
Obama describes OFA as a "grass-roots movement" but OFA is a "project" of the Democratic National Committee.
As Politico reported, OFA will take the 10 million person database built up by the Obama campaign "to mobilize support for the president's legislative agenda."
A visit to the OFA website reveals that supporters are not simply asked to sign up, they are asked to take a pledge. A pledge to support -- not the flag, not the constitution, not the country, not even the Democratic Party, but Obama and his "bold plan." OFA does not use the Democratic Party logo but the "O"-shaped logo of the Obama campaign in which the red white and blue of the flag are abstracted to soft pastel colors.
(Celebrities like Ashton Kuchner and Demi Moore did not wait until the official launch to "pledge to be of service" to Barack Obama, of course.)
You will not find any mention of OFA`s governing structure, their budget, their bylaws, or their officers at the OFA website. Donations to the website go to the DNC, but OFA is managed out of the White House. If you click on the comments button, you are taken to a link to the White House email.
Those who take the pledge are asked to "talk with people about the President's plan" and to "ask them to sign their names to the pledge" in support of Obama's policies.
So we have a Movement -- this is their term, not mine -- organized by, and loyal to, a sitting President. Pledge canvassers, armed with your name, will ask you to pledge loyalty to the President too. A president whose term has already become a permanent campaign, is signing up ground forces in a mass organization pledged to personal loyalty to their Leader.
Does anyone know of any historical precedents for this in the United States?
Did Mitch Stewart, youthful director of OFA, who asks Obama's acolytes to organize "neighborhood by neighborhood" study anything at school about Mao's "Red Guards?
How about Fidel Castro's "widespread system of neighborhood informers"?
Or Hugo Chavez's use of "neighborhood committees"?
Did Stewart learn anything about democracy at all?
Do any of Obama's pledged servants understand why a sitting president has no business creating and deploying his own supporters to help organize their neighbors?
Keep in mind that these acolytes have renounced any thought of questioning the actual policies of the maximum leader. Whatever he says, they are for it. They have given their word.
And they are coming to have a talk with you.
As Thomas Lifson wrote, "This is not the way a democracy is supposed to operate."
Has that line been crossed yet? When is enough enough?
It is very tempting to shrug off all of this as nonsense that won't work in America, and that to compare this with Hitler youth or soviet komsomol (communist union of youth) is a gross overkill. Hopefully so. But what history taught us is that it does not take too long to convert a nation of great achievements in science, literature, music, medicine, industry, etc, etc into a nation of "I just followed the orders" killers. I am talking about slide of Germany into a Nazism nightmare. Or take another nation, where a son ratting on his parents (who saved some of their food and seeds from expropriation) was proclaimed a national hero (Pavlik Morozov in the USSR). Do I think we are on the way? - NO, not by far. But we should remember that nobody is immune.
I agree that we must remain vigilant just in case Obammy somehow becomes successful.
I have been unable to verify that there is a pledge. I signed up at OFA and no pledge was offered, even as a box to check.
In the “profile” section, it does have a fill-in for “why I support Barack” but no pledge.
If anyone finds it, please post it.
Im not a racist but my German Shepard Labrador mix has some serious issues. When the knock comes to my front door I will be letting the dog out the side door.
You will be told exactly once to leave my property.
Do you think he will try to grow a Charlie Chaplin mustache like Hitler seems to have done?
LOL...I think Hitler did it first.
Maybe something was changed?
Check this out, they have screenshots of the pledge: http://sweetness-light.com/archive/obamas-very-creepy-pledge-project
LOL! Maybe so. But, I still loved Sir Charles in “The Great Dictator”.
Part of the goal of this movement is to compile a list of folks requiring “re-education”.
That will put you on the list.
I’m not saying you should do otherwise, however.
Chaplin introduced the mustache in 1914 and Hitler started wearing the same mustache after the start of WWI.
Rumor has it that Hitler first had a long mustache (see pic) but was ordered to trim it so it would fit inside a gas mask...and the Hitler toothbrush was born.
You can thank the American voting public and the mainstream”news” media, my FRiend. And the best[worse] is yet to come.
And what about those who stand against Hussein? We’ve already seen the White House attacks on Rush and Cramer. What will happen to the little, unknown types? Will their social security be taken away? Will their credit card company cancel them? Will they be denied a mortgage? Will they be audited by the IRS? And will anyone ever hear about it?
I will not be to friendly if one of these crazies come to my door....
When he runs for re-election he will be re[elected by a bigger margin that he was elected. They made fun of Hitler also. He was called”My Little Corporol “ by some. I cannot recal his nme. It was either Hindinberg [sp?] or Bismark.
I’m not.
Hitler was a demonic dynamo! Obama...not so much!
I spoke to Saul Alinsky years ago - he helped me solve an ethical problem. So I’m going to defend him just this one time - because much is done in his name that makes him look like a monster. But there was a strong ethical streak in him. He felt that being effective in the name of “good” was OK because he saw his tactics as those used by the powerless and innocent against the powerful and corrupt.
I don’t believe he would have been on the side of the powerful using these tactics against ordinary citizens.
And there might come a day when conservatives will need to use some of his tactics against a totalitarian left. So, that’s my one favor returned to a man who was kind to me over 40 years ago - there was goodness in this man.
And no, I have not made a point of reading all of his writings or studying him or anything - I’m just giving my personal impression.
And what about those who stand against Hussein? We’ve already seen the White House attacks on Rush and Cramer. What will happen to the little, unknown types? Will their social security be taken away? Will their credit card company cancel them? Will they be denied a mortgage? Will they be audited by the IRS? And will anyone ever hear about it?
33 posted on Thursday, March 19, 2009 11:10:48 AM by Oldpuppymax
To answer your questions:
1. ever hear of Joe the Plumber?
2. In all probability.
3. I would say yes.
4. Again I would say yes.
5. Most definately.
6. No. Only those that they tell and they like a group on this form when someone tells or post something about police misconduct will defend obama and ask them what they did to deserve it. Also they will tell them that they[ the auditee] hates government.
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