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| Peggy Noonan: Do the Obamas understand America? |
| 2008-02-22 |
| Are the Obamas, at bottom, snobs? Do they understand America? Are they of it? Did anyone at their Ivy League universities school them in why one should love America? Do they confuse patriotism with nationalism, or nativism? Are they more inspired by abstractions like "international justice" than by old visions of America as the city on a hill, which is how John Winthrop saw it, and Ronald Reagan and JFK spoke of it? Have they been, throughout their adulthood, so pampered and praised--so raised in the liberal cocoon--that they are essentially unaware of what and how normal Americans think? And are they, in this, like those cosseted yuppies, the Clintons? Why is all this actually not a distraction but a real issue? Because Americans have common sense and are bottom line. They think like this. If the president and his first lady are not loyal first to America and its interests, who will be? The president of France? But it's his job to love France, and protect its interests. If America's leaders don't love America tenderly, who will? And there is a context. So many Americans right now fear they are losing their country, that the old America is slipping away and being replaced by something worse, something formless and hollowed out. They can see we are giving up our sovereignty, that our leaders will not control our borders, that we don't teach the young the old-fashioned love of America, that the government has taken to itself such power, and made things so complex, and at the end of the day when they count up sales tax, property tax, state tax, federal tax they are paying a lot of money to lose the place they loved. And if you feel you're losing America, you really don't want a couple in the White House whose rope of affection to the country seems lightly held, casual, provisional. America is backing Barack at the moment, so America is good. When it becomes angry with President Barack, will that mean America is bad? * * * Michelle Obama seems keenly aware of her struggles, of what it took to rise so high as a black woman in a white country. Fair enough. But I have wondered if it is hard for young African-Americans of her generation, having been drilled in America's sad racial history, having been told about it every day of their lives, to fully apprehend the struggles of others. I wonder if she knows that some people look at her and think "Man, she got it all." Intelligent, strong, tall, beautiful, Princeton, Harvard, black at a time when America was trying to make up for its sins and be helpful, and from a working-class family with two functioning parents who made sure she got to school. That's the great divide in modern America, whether or not you had a functioning family, and she apparently came from the privileged part of that divide. A lot of white working-class Americans didn't come up with those things. Some of them were raised by a TV and a microwave and love our country anyway, every day. Does Mrs. Obama know this? I don't know. If she does, love and gratitude for the place that tries to give everyone an equal shot would seem to be in order. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #18 And remember, Jimmah was flummoxed by the Iranians, Ronnie was not. |
| Posted by: regular joe 2008-02-22 22:42 |
| #17 You only notice it now because there's nukes involved. Iran's been a relative backwater country for the past 32 years. As a regional power, it's a failure. Who are its allies now? Venzuela? Cuba? Certainly none of the other nations in the Gulf. Economic power? The Russians want cash up front. The Chinese aren't exactly jumping in to rescue Iran's petroleum industry. Its trade is, if not strangled, severely limited. It's not been a problem until recently. It's been a nusiance. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2008-02-22 22:08 |
| #16 But we were able to clean up his (Carter's) mess in less than four years, even w/a massive malaise hangover. And the Iran mess is all OK now? |
| Posted by: GK 2008-02-22 18:25 |
| #15 Geez cheer up guys. Yeah the American public are ready to take a flying f**k at a rolling doughnut just like we did in 1976 and wind up w/a one term loser like Jimmah. But we were able to clean up his mess in less than four years, even w/a massive malaise hangover. |
| Posted by: regular joe 2008-02-22 17:58 |
| #14 today the gubmint gives not a shit about the citizen. It never did. That's why the foundeers demanded a Bill of Rights. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-02-22 17:24 |
| #13 The Golden Era of America is not over, just yesterday, we set a new standard for missle accuracy. The real problem is that today the gubmint gives not a shit about the citizen. Many things point to this. The Kelo vs. New London decision, the open borders in spite of increased crime and vagrancy, and the collection of formerly available land by the federal gubmint for what ? We don't matter to them because they are elite. Just ask them, and all the matters is our vote. Notice how little attempt to assure that every vote is a live person voting once, and counted once ? Ever notice how crimes are committed by politicians or their minions, yet no one goes to trial or jail ? The only way to right this is to stand as one. We must put our regional differences and religious differences behind us, and support one man, one team, and step on the elite. We must destroy the MSM who will always be our nemisis and the tool of the elite. After all, the elite own the MSM. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2008-02-22 17:18 |
| #12 "Maybe the golden era of America is over." I'm sure the pessimists at the end of the Roman Republic felt the same too. However, the overall record of the Empire would prove them wrong. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-02-22 17:03 |
| #11 "Maybe the golden era of America is over." Good call. Economically, the postwar boom was over by the late 1970's. It's just taken this long for people to start admitting it to themselves. It doesn't help that both parties have tried to sell the lie that if you vote for them, they'll magically make it 1954 all over again - and forever. There will always be opportunities, and if we have as free a market as possible, we'll be better than most nations, but the great postwar prosperity that everyone thought was how America would be forever will never return. Neither party can make it so. No combination of policies can make it so, without the government forcing one group of citizens to pay extortionist fees for goods/services produced by another. So we must do the adult thing and adjust. Besides, what is great about America isn't some imagined guaranteed income security. It's freedom, both in terms of rights, and in terms of the economic freedom afforded by a free market. Those who think otherwise don't really get what "America" means. Better to have a little less creature comfort and have to worry a bit about your income and retirement but have a relatively free market, than to have the government force you (through regulatory pressure) to pay a lot more for a good or service so that your neighbor can avoid the horror of having to spend mental energy worrying about whether they'll have a job or pension in ten years. Down that path lays certain ruin. |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2008-02-22 16:10 |
| #10 Reminds me of the Salt and Peppa Show (the wife watches vh1, ugh). When sharpton was having his big rally in louisiana, S&P decided to load the the family and head to jena to 'rally for blacks'. So the 2 rich gals and family load up on their tour bus and leave their exclusive neighborhood to go rally. It was shortly before this episode was aired that ABC posted a story debunking the meme. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2008-02-22 15:52 |
| #9 When Michelle runs her mouth it reminds me of Jocelyn Elders. Problem is, if Barak wins, it'll be harder to fire a First Lady than a Surgeon General. |
| Posted by: GK 2008-02-22 15:40 |
| #8 Oh, and in case you still believe that all the people who vote in our elections are Americans, check this out - Kennedy sings in Spanish |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-02-22 15:33 |
| #7 I wouldn't go so far as to take my marching orders from Limbaugh but I do believe we are screwed at least for the next four years. The decline started with Bill Clinton. I was surprised to see it so soon after Reagan. It was a kind of moral degeneration combined with globalism. People thought it was OK if Clinton had an affair with an intern as long as the cheap plastic crap from China kept flowing. The rot has continued since then and I don't see it stopping any time soon no matter who gets elected in November. This has become a country where corporate bottom lines are all that matters. As one who believes in capitalism I might not see the problem with that except that these are no longer American corporations but global conglomerates. The products are no longer made in America. Even the workers are no longer necessarily Americans. The voters aren't either. The products are made in China. Even if it's an American product like a hamburger chances are an illegal alien from Mexico cooked it for you. Even the union members are not necessarily American anymore which may explain why they're able to endorse Obama. How long can this continue before the great American middle class is forced to accept third world conditions? Maybe it's our own fault. Maybe we've gotten too fat and lazy, too hypnotized by the TV. Maybe the golden era of America is over. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-02-22 15:29 |
| #6 Right, Peggy, "So many Americans right now fear they are losing their country, that the old America is slipping away and being replaced by something worse, something formless and hollowed out." Something without borders. Something withour manufacturing. Someplace where a foreigner, George Soros, has backed the three remaining candidates with millions of dollars, yet I am restricted to $4,600 per candidate because I am a citizen. Some place where the CFR holds the strings to the three remaining candidates and would force a North American Union in spite of what the real owners of America want. Some place controlled by the elite. You know the elite. The royal families of the politically corrupt. Those who never sweat. Those who know what's best. Those who need a village to help raise a child. Face it folks, we have lost it for now. How can we get it back ? My best suggestion is to take marching orders from a single source, like Limbaugh. We would need Limbaugh to instruct us who to vote for, for each district, and each state. Without it, we are scattered in the wind, and the elites will always out manuver us. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2008-02-22 12:11 |
| #5 Somehow, I don't think he Fixed! |
| Posted by: Ebbusoling Sinatra5390 2008-02-22 11:41 |
| #4 Obama is successful because he has no history to hold against him (no pesky votes, no race baiting, nothing). Plus he's handsome and articulate. I do believe his bubble will burst prior to the general election though. His followers are creepy and cult-like and he has no resume and for the job of President we should expect more even if the Democratic Party doesn't. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-02-22 11:13 |
| #3 That's the great divide in modern America, whether or not you had a functioning family, and she apparently came from the privileged part of that divide. And, despite Noonan's description of the Clintons as "cosseted yuppies" Bill Clinton clearly came up on the underprivileged part of that divide. I believe we'd be a better people if more of us were reared on the "privileged" side of that divide, but not be cause it is really so privileged, but because the other is so frequently tragic and produces results like Bill Clinton. But as long as the "privileged" side produces co-dependents like Hillary, I don't see it as determinative of much except human happiness. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-02-22 10:44 |
| #2 Obama is so successful because he is the first black politican who is white enough to attract whites. So he has maybe 90% of the black vote. No big deal when blacks are a 13% minority. It just means he has a lock on about 1 out of 8 voters. Most black leaders have appealed to blacks by being confrontive with the white majority. They remain minorities. Like Bill Cosby and a few others, Obama chose to "rise above" the race issue. Even though I hate his sicko left-wing ideology with a passion, I can't help loving the man. He's beautiful, articulate(in prepared speeches)and includes us white folks in a positive(though indistinct) image of the future. Michelle sounds old-order black leadership. Bad news for him. He needs to dump her right quick, or at least muzzle her. She's poison to his newfound relation with majority whites. Somehow, I don't think he will hush her up. |
| Posted by: Tholush Squank4616 2008-02-22 09:41 |
| #1 It's like The Jeffersons are running, except Obama is Weezy and Michelle is George... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-02-22 09:10 |