Republicans Label Barack Obama as “Dangerous”
Published in Die Welt
(Germany) on 9 June 2009
by Uwe Schmitt (link to original)
Some accuse him of having failed already; others bemoan his “national self-hate.” Republicans are freely airing their frustrations about Obama. They’re even castigating him for his latest visit to the Near East and Europe.
“Bring an end to this false prophet,” actor Jon Voigt cried out in referring to President Obama Monday evening while addressing 2,000 spellbound Republicans. “Bring and end to this oppression that is ruining our country.” There were cheers and applause for the actor speaking at the most important Republican fund-raiser of the year when he said he was ashamed of his President. “We’re becoming a weak nation,” he continued. And a bit later, he called upon the other featured star speaker of the evening, Newt Gingrich, to adopt his words as a Republican battle cry in 2012.
People can easily ignore the political ruminations of Jon Voigt who, were it not for his estranged daughter Angelina Jolie, would be leading a really sad existence in the pages of America’s tabloid press. What Newt Gingrich has to say, however, carries weight in a Republican Party that is frantically trying to re-invent itself since its drubbing in the 2006 and 2008 elections.
Just like Dick Cheney and radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, who also claim to speak for Republicans, he may not be the freshest face in the crowd, but Gingrich is without doubt interested in running for President in 2012.
Newt Gingrich opened his speech that evening by claiming that Barack Obama, who currently enjoys a 60-plus percent approval rating, had “already failed.” This, because he nationalized the automobile industry, banks and insurance companies, as radical leftists always do.
But the most reprehensible (and among American voters the most promising) accusation is that Obama is demoralizing, weakening and damaging America. His speech in Cairo and his trip to Europe, according to Gingrich, were the most recent examples of his desire to destroy America with self-hate.
Even prior to Obama’s trip, the conservative Heritage Foundation was sarcastically referring to the “Obama Doctrine” of never missing an opportunity to confess America’s sins. “He has raised the art of national self-hate to new heights and appears to enjoy castigating the mightiest nation on earth in front of its critics, especially foreigners. He eats humble pie in front of dictators like Kim Jong-il and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and makes the dreams of America-haters come true with his humility. America can only win friends through its strength. Even the Germans need reminding who’s boss: they should stop their massive investments in Iran that only serve to strengthen a regime that has threatened to wipe Holocaust survivors off the face of the earth.”
Simpler characters, like Oliver North, hero of the Iran-Contra affair, are even more blunt: Obama’s “grand apology tour,” he says, is just proof that Obama is desperate for affirmation, regardless of the cost to the country. America is surrounded by implacable enemies. “That's because bin Laden ‘gets it’ and Mr. Obama doesn't,” North wrote. Newspapers warned that an Obama visit to Dresden and Buchenwald would create a moral equivalency between genocide and the necessity for bombardment. The Boston Herald longed for “the clarity of Ronald Reagan who left no doubt about what America stood for - and what it was willing to fight for.”
The Republican message is simple: Obama endangers America by closing Guantanamo, by currying favor with militant Islam and by the impulse to confess America’s supposed sins. Former Vice-President Dick Cheney has already prophesied another terrorist attack against a weak and defenseless United States; it’s almost as if he longs for it.
The most genteel criticism came from the renowned conservative theorist Robert Kagan when he compared Obama with the unfortunate idealist Woodrow Wilson. Obama’s strategy, as outlined in his biography, is based in his assumption that other countries acknowledge the good intentions and moral purity of other nations, especially the United States. Wilson was also received by cheering crowds in Europe in 1918. It remains to be seen whether Obama will also suffer the same miserable failures.
“Bring an end to this false prophet,” actor Jon Voigt cried out in referring to President Obama Monday evening while addressing 2,000 spellbound Republicans. “Bring and end to this oppression that is ruining our country.” There were cheers and applause for the actor speaking at the most important Republican fund-raiser of the year when he said he was ashamed of his President. “We’re becoming a weak nation,” he continued. And a bit later, he called upon the other featured star speaker of the evening, Newt Gingrich, to adopt his words as a Republican battle cry in 2012.
People can easily ignore the political ruminations of Jon Voigt who, were it not for his estranged daughter Angelina Jolie, would be leading a really sad existence in the pages of America’s tabloid press. What Newt Gingrich has to say, however, carries weight in a Republican Party that is frantically trying to re-invent itself since its drubbing in the 2006 and 2008 elections.
Just like Dick Cheney and radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, who also claim to speak for Republicans, he may not be the freshest face in the crowd, but Gingrich is without doubt interested in running for President in 2012.
Newt Gingrich opened his speech that evening by claiming that Barack Obama, who currently enjoys a 60-plus percent approval rating, had “already failed.” This, because he nationalized the automobile industry, banks and insurance companies, as radical leftists always do.
But the most reprehensible (and among American voters the most promising) accusation is that Obama is demoralizing, weakening and damaging America. His speech in Cairo and his trip to Europe, according to Gingrich, were the most recent examples of his desire to destroy America with self-hate.
Even prior to Obama’s trip, the conservative Heritage Foundation was sarcastically referring to the “Obama Doctrine” of never missing an opportunity to confess America’s sins. “He has raised the art of national self-hate to new heights and appears to enjoy castigating the mightiest nation on earth in front of its critics, especially foreigners. He eats humble pie in front of dictators like Kim Jong-il and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and makes the dreams of America-haters come true with his humility. America can only win friends through its strength. Even the Germans need reminding who’s boss: they should stop their massive investments in Iran that only serve to strengthen a regime that has threatened to wipe Holocaust survivors off the face of the earth.”
Simpler characters, like Oliver North, hero of the Iran-Contra affair, are even more blunt: Obama’s “grand apology tour,” he says, is just proof that Obama is desperate for affirmation, regardless of the cost to the country. America is surrounded by implacable enemies. “That's because bin Laden ‘gets it’ and Mr. Obama doesn't,” North wrote. Newspapers warned that an Obama visit to Dresden and Buchenwald would create a moral equivalency between genocide and the necessity for bombardment. The Boston Herald longed for “the clarity of Ronald Reagan who left no doubt about what America stood for - and what it was willing to fight for.”
The Republican message is simple: Obama endangers America by closing Guantanamo, by currying favor with militant Islam and by the impulse to confess America’s supposed sins. Former Vice-President Dick Cheney has already prophesied another terrorist attack against a weak and defenseless United States; it’s almost as if he longs for it.
The most genteel criticism came from the renowned conservative theorist Robert Kagan when he compared Obama with the unfortunate idealist Woodrow Wilson. Obama’s strategy, as outlined in his biography, is based in his assumption that other countries acknowledge the good intentions and moral purity of other nations, especially the United States. Wilson was also received by cheering crowds in Europe in 1918. It remains to be seen whether Obama will also suffer the same miserable failures.
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