A Little Friendly Advice

Over the last couple of weeks, the nattering liberal pundit classes have been up to their eyeballs in well-wishing advice for the beleaguered president. If he could just repackage his message, if he could just talk over all the right-wing demagogues and get a fair hearing, on and on ad nauseam. This drivel is what for years has passed for "analysis" when discussing the foibles and failures of high-level Democrats. Essentially, they are telling their friends to stay firm on their course (read: socialism) in the same way they advise Republicans dumb enough to listen to move to the center (that is, leftward) if they want future success.

The problem is that this president doesn't need the media minions' supportive advice. He's already several steps ahead of them. His facile lying during and after the disjointed so-called State of the Union speech would have made Bill Clinton blush. If anyone believes that he was making any true effort to tack to the center in the wake of the Scott Brown humiliation, I have a bridge to nowhere to sell you.

First, his promises to consider safe nuclear power, drilling offshore, and anything else remotely resembling a move to the center, are as empty as a John Daly beer bottle. And the evidence of that is the false claim in front of Congressional Republicans that these have been his positions all along, when a treasure trove of previous quotes prove him wrong. His claim that he hasn't raised anyone's taxes by a dime is as disingenuous as his crowing about a spending "freeze" the amount of which is akin to attacking a flood with a medicine dropper. Even if what he says about taxes is technically true (so far), there's no doubt that he has every intention, starting with allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire this year, to allow increases. And it takes a great deal of chutzpah, which he has, to say that he's for tax cuts as he tries mightily to shove health care "reform" and "cap-and-trade" and their massive tax increases down our collective throats.

Defiance. This quality has served Democrats well over the years. The ultimate defiant character in the great American novel, Holden Caulfield, was lionized yet again this week upon the death of his creator, the elusive J.D. Salinger of Catcher in the Rye fame. Holden's edgy, rebel-without-a-cause persona may have been the template for the beat generation and later the hippies of the 1960's and 70's, many of whom are now advising or serving the erstwhile president. By acting defiantly in accord with their wishes instead of acknowledging the peoples' rejection of his radical agenda, Obama attempts to cast a self-righteous aura around him and by extension that agenda—how dare those mean Republicans oppose my perfectly reasonable proposals?

In the wake of Monicagate, Bill Clinton and his minions came out swinging against his enemies, eventually casting him as the victim. Unfortunately, the non-contrite, brazen approach worked. If Republicans let him, Obama will weave the same sort of web around them. Serial deceivers are very good at that.

At the onset of Year 2 of the great socialist experiment, the nation is still arguing about what this guy's intentions are and whether it's somehow un-American to root against him. Be assured that he counts on the patriotism of the average American to work to his benefit as he, Alinsky-like, spins his web of deceit in the language ordinary Americans want to hear. If people are not willing to scratch beneath the surface, which is not difficult to do with this president since there is so little under the veneer, then don't bet against Obama still pulling out of this nosedive before the November midterm elections. Underestimate his potential to do this, despite his apparent bumbling arrogance, at your risk. Understand that he does not want massive losses in Congress this fall only because of what it will do to him and his precious agenda, but that's enough to motivate him to pull out all the stops to prevent a reprise of the 1994 Republican revolution.

You can also bet that Obama's media minions will continue their damage control efforts even as their trustworthiness, as measured in a recent poll, hovers in the low to mid 30's while Fox News is close to 50 percent. What's disturbing, however, is that the gap isn't much larger. Some of the anti-Fox propaganda is apparently sticking.

The question is, after a year of a pure, unadulterated socialist power grab, are the American people truly starting to get just how dangerous this administration, this Congress and this president really are? A bit of friendly advice for our side—now's not the time to take anything for granted on that score.