Michelle Obama: Barack is the only man who can “heal” this nation and “fix our souls”
I just got done listening to the most disturbing speech of this campaign season, and it wasn’t given by any of the candidates, but by the wife of the Dem frontrunner for the nomination: Barack Obama’s wife Michelle. It was given two weeks ago at UCLA. Captain Ed provides a partial transcript:
In 2008, we are still a nation that is too divided. We live in isolation, and because of that isolation, we fear one another. We don’t know our neighbors, we don’t talk, we believe our pain is our own. We don’t realize that the struggles and challenges of all of us are the same. We are too isolated. And we are still a nation that is still too cynical. We look at it as “them” and “they” as opposed to “us”. We don’t engage because we are still too cynical. …
Americans are not in debt because they live frivolously but because someone got sick. Even with insurance, the deductibles and the premiums are so high that people are still putting medications and treatments on credit cards. And they can’t get out from under. I could go on and on, but this is how we’re living, people, in 2008.
And things have gotten progressively worse throughout my lifetime, through Democratic and Republican administrations, it hasn’t gotten better for regular folks. ….
We have lost the understanding that in a democracy, we have a mutual obligation to one another — that we cannot measure the greatness of our society by the strongest and richest of us, but we have to measure our greatness by the least of these. That we have to compromise and sacrifice for one another in order to get things done. That is why I am here, because Barack Obama is the only person in this who understands that. That before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation.
She also asserts in the speech that Barack Obama will “heal” this nation.
The Captain debunks many of Mrs. Obama’s arguments, but his best point is this one:
But it’s the notion that only Barack Obama can save our souls that is the most offensive part of the speech, by far. Government doesn’t exist to save souls; it exists to ensure domestic tranquility and provide for the common defense. If I feel my soul needs saving, the very last place I’d look (in the US) for a savior would be Washington DC or Capitol Hill. I’ll trust God and Jesus Christ with my soul, and I’m not going to mistake Barack Obama for either one.
This, though, is the religion of statism distilled to its essence. Only a government can rescue people from the consequences of their own decisions. Only government programs can provide for your every need, and only government can use your money wisely enough to ensure that your needs get covered. Individuals cannot possibly manage to help their neighbors through their churches or community organizations, let alone encourage people to do for themselves.
And all you need to enter the statist Utopia is to sell your soul. So that it can be fixed.
No, thank you.
This is, in a nutshell, the radicalized, stripped-bare-of-the-platitudes version of any speech you’ll hear her husband make. America sucks, we’re not “sacrificing” enough for each other, our souls need be “healed,” and the only man who can do it is … Barack Obama. He is the “only man” in the race who has dealt with the toughness of the “streets” as a “community organizer.” Go here to listen to the speech, and Hugh Hewitt’s commentary in between clips, where he takes her to task for everything she asserts. The whole segment is about ten minutes long, but please, please, listen to it – and send it on to your friends, family, anyone who is even remotely interested in this election.
YouTube has clips from her UCLA speech – it’s the one where she spoke alongside Oprah and California First Lady Maria Shriver.
For anyone on the fence about whether or not to support Barack Obama, this speech should throw up red flags and have the alarm bells ringing. But, some might say, this is his wife speaking, not him. Bzzt: With all due respect, get a clue – as I noted earlier she’s saying the same thing Barack Obama does when he speaks, only he does it in platitudes and pretty words, all the while also promising to “heal this nation.” This is something our eventual nominee, John McCain, understands:
I do not seek the presidency on the presumption that I am blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need. I seek the presidency with the humility of a man who cannot forget that my country saved me.
What an absolutely startling contrast to how Barack Obama and his wife view his own candidacy.
I used to think that the GWOT was the primary reason the Republican nominee should be trusted over a Barack candidacy, but now I’ve just added another big reason: because the Republican nominee doesn’t believe he’s God.
Related reading: McCain’s cleverly hammering Barack Obama on his prior pledges to use public financing for the general election, a brilliant strategy, as explained by James Joyner:
It’s incredibly clever of McCain to take this stance. If Obama accepts, it would seemingly level the fundraising playing field, taking away what would appear to be a huge advantage. If he doesn’t, McCain can hammer the Democrats for hypocrisy and being beholden to special interests — while simultaneously claiming that he’s being “forced” to do the same in order to compete.
The Nutrootians are upset over this, and predictably want Obama to break his campaign pledge. After all, no one but “beltway insiders” care about this sort of thing anyway – at least according to them. Translation: No one will notice, Senator Obama, if you decide to go back on your word.
Advantage: The Mc.
Update 1: Read how the Obama campaign is trying to finesse their way out of Obama’s campaign pledge. Too funny.
Update 2: Tigerhawk has a good write-up on how McCain is playing the punditocracy like a fiddle on this issue.
Categories: Disturbing News, Election '08, Elections, President Obama
Anybody remember “Tommy” by The Who?
Kinda eerily familiar ring to the Big O Messiah eh?
by Severian on Feb 16, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Is it my imagination or are the Obama supporters starting to get creepily like the Ronulans? Not quite as derranged, but just as fanatical in a weird religious kind of way?
We’ll know for sure when the Truthers start wearing Obama buttons I guess.
by Severian on Feb 16, 2008 at 1:00 pm
It’s interesting how we treat the spouses of presidential candidates. On the one hand, we don’t pay much attention to what they say because we know they will be pure cheerleaders. On the hand, we pay close attention to what they say since we know how close spouses are to the candidate (kind of like an open window to the candidate).
I really don’t know what to make of Michelle Obama’s speech. I know she STRONGLY believes in her husband’s message and candidacy. But I think she got so wrap up in her belief that she just let loose with comments that would alarm some people. I for one think that Congress would impeach a President that turned into a pure theocrat (and GWB Jr is not a pure theocrat) whether religious or “statist”. And I firmly believe Senator Obama is not going to go down that road. Yet I don’t like what Michelle Obama said. Methinks Senator Obama needs to bring her back into the fold for awhile.
by T-Steel on Feb 16, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Obamassiah: Healer of Nations, Fixer of Souls
Women faint around him, and his message of hope and change are moving the mountains of Clinton inevitability. Now his wife tells us that he is the only one that can “fix American souls”. We have lost the understanding that…
by Right Wing News on Feb 16, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Obama: Fixer of Souls?
NewsBusters.org – Exposing Liberal Media Bias
Women faint around him, and his message of hope and change are moving the mountains of Clinton inevitability. Now his wife tells us that he is the only one that can "fix American souls".
We have…
by Blog-o-Fascists on Feb 16, 2008 at 5:30 pm
[...] The New York Times is calmly calling on Obama to keep his pledge. Ben Smith says Obama will make an agreement with McCain to abide by the same rules, but doesn’t say what the rules will be. Sister Toldjah has an approving write-up, also quoting McCain taking a shot at the near-messianic rhetoric of the Obama campaign: I do not seek the presidency on the presumption that I am blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need. I seek the presidency with the humility of a man who cannot forget that my country saved me. [...]
by Plumb Bob Blog » McCain Fires First on Feb 16, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Obamassiah: Mender of Broken Souls
Women faint around him, and his message of hope and change are moving the mountains Clinton inevitability. Now his faithful wife tells us that he is the only one that can "fix American souls". We have lost the understanding that in a democra
by Halo's re/Feeds on Feb 16, 2008 at 5:42 pm
The speech is disturbing, and one may take some comfort that it was delivered by a spouse and not an actual candidate. But parsing the words to determine what she really meant, or if she misspoke, is a fool’s errand.
The heart of the speech is a glaring example of what is wrong with modern liberalism (aside from their bizzare belief that socialism somehow extends human freedom). It’s that whole “rendering unto Caeser” thing. Government is not responsible for our souls, or for our happiness, or for any state of mind we find ourselves in. If we want an all encompassing body of law that covers every aspect of life and guarantees salvation, there’s always sharia.
But the real issue is that a state cannot concern itself with individual salvation and not tend towards totalitarianism. Michelle ought to examine just how her ideal government can possibly balance individual freedom with all that soul repairing.
by Steve Skubinna on Feb 16, 2008 at 7:55 pm
This week, radio talk show host and conservative blogger, Hugh Hewitt has been playing excerpts of Michelle Obama’s speech at UCLA on February 3. It is not the first time I have heard or seen her speak on TV or radio. Hewitt’s reaction is that the tone of Mrs Obama’s speech is quite negative as to the country and our people. I have to agree here. I have drawn the same conclusion from previous speeches Mrs Obama has made. If her husband is viewed as being hopeful and optimistic, his wife’s words come across (at least to me) as negative and angry.
Make no mistake about it. Michelle Obama is an impressive figure. She is obviously bright, attractive, and has an effective speaking presentation. Yet, like her husband, I wonder if her listeners are really stopping to analyze her message. To me, Mrs Obama is an angry woman who has some pretty negative opinions about her country and our people.
In the UCLA appearnce at Pauley Pavilian, Mrs Obama went through a litany of all the things that are wrong with America. Much like John Edwards, she complains about the inability of everyday people to obtain health care, insurance, and this and that, as if we were living in Bangladesh. I have heard her make these complaints before. At UCLA, she also complained that Americans are walling ourselves off from each other (I am paraphrasing). According to her, we fear and distrust each other. I found myself wishing that she would have gone deeper into this theme. Who specifically was she referring to? Was she really saying that white people fear and distrust black people-or vis-versa? If that is what she means, then it might be worthwhile to spell it out and let’s have a discussion or debate on that topic. But, alas, she let it hang. After all, she was getting so many cheers from the young audience, that she didn’t need to take it any farther than that….but she did, informing the audience that “our souls are broken.”
Really?
Then, of course, Mrs Obama told her audience that the only person who could turn things around in this country was her husband, Barack Obama-then led the crowd into the old demogogic chant of “Yes, we can, Yes, we can, yes, we can!”
I should concede here that many listeners on the left have commented very approvingly of her speech, but those on the left generally do enjoy hearing the negative points of America, so that is hardly surprising.
If we need to dig deeper into Barack Obama’s words and look beyond the soaring oratory (which we should), I think we need to do the same with the prospective First Lady. Her message seems to be very much like that of John Edwards; the negative thesis, the negative tone, what’s wrong with our country, class envy, and so on. Michelle Obama may come across as inspiring to many, but to me, she seems angry, with a rather negative outlook on our country. It reinforces my concern that there is a hidden agenda behind the Obamas’ vision for America.
gary fouse
fousesquawk
by gary fouse on Feb 16, 2008 at 9:10 pm
[...] Its important to clarify that while we mention theocracy, that isn’t the biggest qualm. It has to do with the audacity of a statement claiming such ridiculous and offensive religious overtones that are complete falsehoods, or as Bill Clinton would say, "fairy tales." It is also important to disqualify the excuse that was his wife, and not him that said this. Sister Toldjah does a good job on this. For anyone on the fence about whether or not to support Barack Obama, this speech should throw up red flags and have the alarm bells ringing. But, some might say, this is his wife speaking, not him. Bzzt: With all due respect, get a clue – as I noted earlier she’s saying the same thing Barack Obama does when he speaks, only he does it in platitudes and pretty words, all the while also promising to “heal this nation.” This is something our eventual nominee, John McCain, understands: [...]
by feeds.Kingerick.com » Blog Archive » Obama: Fixer of Souls? on Feb 17, 2008 at 2:07 am
Obama: Swoons, signs and wonders. Is he the Saviour of America?
Admittedly this is one of those stories that I want to file under “What the Hell!” or “stranger than fiction”.
But then again, nothing - or at least very little - in American Politics it really so unbelievable or implausible as to be…
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[...] Sister Toldjah delves into the mystical powers of B. Hussein, as put forth by his wife [...]
by Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup — Pirate’s Cove on Feb 17, 2008 at 10:00 am
Evita Obama in “Don’t Cry for Me South Chicago”
EVITA OBAMASally Vee sent me a URL to Hugh Hewitt’s commentary on Michelle “Evita” Obama’s latest. The woman is on an ego trip. I’m quick to tell you when I disagree with Malkin, well, here I agree! She links to Captain Ed w…
by The Pink Flamingo on Feb 17, 2008 at 6:45 pm
The Obama Messiah Phenomenon also Known as Obamessiah
Photo courtesy of the Obamamessiah website
I heard some Barack Obama campaign people today making a point of pointing out that Obama is making a point of speaking to the issues in his latest speeches. This is in reaction to the allegations from the Cl…
by Blue Star Chronicles on Feb 17, 2008 at 11:09 pm
[...] Michelle Obama: Barack is the only man who can “heal” this nation and “fix our souls” [...]
by Neocon News » Obama on policy instead of platitudes, mostly. on Feb 17, 2008 at 11:32 pm
OK and in the debate last night moderator asks each when in your life were you the most tested? Obama says growing up with a single mother. Like he’s the only one this makes him so special? No moment has tested you since then – in your adult life? He seems to really resent his childhood and mother.
This guy is stuck in adolescence.
by AF on Feb 22, 2008 at 9:20 pm