Posted on 02/20/2009 11:45:38 AM PST by EternalVigilance
"Obama is a radical communist and I think it is becoming clear. That is what I told people in Illinois and now everybody realizes it is coming true. He is going to destroy this country and we are either going to stop him or the United States of America is going to cease to exist." - Alan Keyes
Video available at the link...
Alan Keyes left the Republican Party in total disgust last April 15th. He's now affiliated with America's Independent Party, a Reagan conservative party which was founded by FReepers including myself last June, and which is already the third-largest party in America based on voter registrations.
Obama survived, I think?
Against Keyes? You must be dreaming.
Against Keyes? You must be dreaming.
Wake up. Obama is president, Keyes is ???
MODERATOR: Would you please assess where the U.S. stands diplomatically? Do we have a bad reputation now?We all know Keyes won that debate. He did a better job defending the Bush policy than the administration did at the time. Problem is, he didn't win the election because no one was going to beat Barack Obama. The media (and fellow forces of evil) made sure of that.OBAMA: Well, I think that this administration has not been very good at what's been called the exercise of "soft power." You know, all of us recognize and reserve the right of the United States to exercise its military power in the national interest and for our national security--but we also have to recognize that a lot of our power comes from our ideals, our belief in freedom, our belief in democracy, our belief in the ability to work things through in a manner that comports with whatever frameworks of international law that have been shaped. And I think that, unfortunately, this administration has tended to be dismissive of any international efforts--and in his campaign, I think you witness it with a general disdain for, quote unquote, "globalism." In some cases, this is just a function of us trying to have conversations with our allies so that we can move more effectively.
KEYES: See, I think the great problem is that you cannot give a soft response to a hard threat. It would be kind of like trying to meet a bayonet with a spaghetti noodle. And it's not going to help the people of this country to survive.
After 9-11, we were faced with a hard threat. We had lost thousands of people, and we had to move aggressively. The belief that Afghanistan was enough is a belief based on a failure to understand the global infrastructure of terror--so that you deal with the threat that has hit you instead of with the threats that will hit you later if you neglect to preemptively move against their bases of support.
It is precisely in order to create a situation in which maybe people who would be otherwise supportive of this bloodthirsty threat will respond a little better to your overtures that you move with decision against regimes like the Iraqi regime that had shown itself disposed to support terror, to fund terror, to be part gleefully of the global infrastructure of terror--and to act against them before they have the opportunity to act against you.
Ergo, my position that he didn't destroy Obama.
I would love to be able to mark the circle next to Alan Keyes’ name. I did vote for him in a primary. If the US does not get men (or women) of his caliber in office, we’re doomed.
You asked roamer_1 to prove that Keyes beat Obama in the debates. The proof of that is well established.
To address the other matter of "destroying" Obama in the election: I assert that no one could have beat him, given his unfair advantage. The media gave him "rock star" status early on. The man then rode that wave to the White House--despite being a lowly state senator just five short years ago.
This is obvious to everyone.
What does that have to do with debating skill?
It is you that needs to wake up. Obama didn't win- Republicans LOST. Obama is not there because he is all that. Had the Republicans given Keyes, or any other Conservative HALF the exposure they gave to Palin, Obama would not be there now.
[...] Keyes is ???
Right.
I need to make no case. It is you that supposes Obama's arguments to be superior. It is you that must prove them.
I will not only be happy to defend Keyes against whatever you might imagine (because, in fact, it must be imagined), I will do so casually, without needing to strain at all.
Yes, Keyes.
True dat, sho nuff.
Why hasn't he ever come close?
Doesn't that strike you as...somehow meaningful?
Ergo, my position that he didn't destroy Obama.
So a rock-ribbed Conservative was unable to beat a far left Liberal in bright blue Illinois, with the added duress of being begged in by the corrupt and defamed local Republicans with just 90 days to go, and hitting the ground cold in a strange state. Gee, Who'da thunk it?
How does that bear on his debating prowess? What does that prove against his arguments?
Keyes has come closer than any other Conservative has (2000).
Since Reagan, why hasn't a Conservative won a Republican primary? Why hasn't one come close? Doesn't that strike you as meaningful?
It does strike me as meaningful, and it is why I am no longer a Republican (and why Keyes is no longer a Republican as well, I would suspect).
I disagree completely. Any Reagan Conservative would have given him a run, and probably would have won handily. Had the Moderates in the Republican party ceded control to the Reaganites before the election, there may well have been coattails too.
Sorry, I should have been clear. I was talking about the 2004 Illinois Senate race. It was stacked for Obama by the Illinois media. Polls already had Obama beating every possible opponent after Jack Ryan dropped out (who was going to lose to him anyway).
These folks rewrite history now, as if the race was Keyes’ to lose. There was no opportunity for anyone but Barack Obama to win.
I see, and agree with you. Thanks for the clarification.
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