From The Washington Times
Op-Ed
July 19, 2008
PDF Format
[N]ext week, Sen. Barack Obama will visit Germany. If he has his way, the senator will turn the capital of Berlin into his own personal campaign prop. ...
Most disturbing is the presumptuousness with which the Obama campaign plans to assume the mantle of JFK and Mr. Reagan. In all likelihood, Mr. Obama will give a mea culpa on behalf of the American people for seven-and-a-half cruel years of Bush unilateralism. Hopefully, he can find a moment to press Germany and other NATO allies to step up their insufficient contributions to the war in Afghanistan. Last time I checked, Islamic terrorism poses an equally grave threat to Europe.
Obama may be charismatic and polished, but his politics are hardly the radical departure he claims to represent. His brief legislative record in Illinois and the U.S. Senate suggests a doctrinaire liberal. And though he recently has lunged to the center, most notably on guns, NAFTA, Iraq and wiretapping, Obama is conspicuously short on bold ideas that challenge his party's orthodoxy or the status quo -- in other words, ideas that entail political risk.
Contrast that with JFK's calls for huge income tax cuts and his challenge for Americans to reach the moon in less than 10 years; Reagan's willingness to withstand withering criticism of his desperately-needed supply-side economic vision; and Reagan's steady determination to wear down the Soviets through heavy defense spending, despite taunts equating his prized Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) with "Star Wars."
JFK and Reagan changed the course of history with their respective speeches in West Berlin. They advanced the cause of freedom at ground zero of the Cold War. An Obama campaign speech in Berlin would merely be a way to score political points on the cheap. As he dresses himself in the garb of JFK and Reagan, the American people are too smart to take the bait.
To View The Entire Article, Please Visit: http://www.washingtontimes .com/news/2008/jul/19/bewildered-by-barack/
July 19, 2008
PDF Format
[N]ext week, Sen. Barack Obama will visit Germany. If he has his way, the senator will turn the capital of Berlin into his own personal campaign prop. ...
Most disturbing is the presumptuousness with which the Obama campaign plans to assume the mantle of JFK and Mr. Reagan. In all likelihood, Mr. Obama will give a mea culpa on behalf of the American people for seven-and-a-half cruel years of Bush unilateralism. Hopefully, he can find a moment to press Germany and other NATO allies to step up their insufficient contributions to the war in Afghanistan. Last time I checked, Islamic terrorism poses an equally grave threat to Europe.
But either way, Senator Obama is no Kennedy or Reagan. Consider the Berlin speeches the two former presidents -- sitting heads of state at the time, of course -- delivered. ...
Obama may be charismatic and polished, but his politics are hardly the radical departure he claims to represent. His brief legislative record in Illinois and the U.S. Senate suggests a doctrinaire liberal. And though he recently has lunged to the center, most notably on guns, NAFTA, Iraq and wiretapping, Obama is conspicuously short on bold ideas that challenge his party's orthodoxy or the status quo -- in other words, ideas that entail political risk.
Contrast that with JFK's calls for huge income tax cuts and his challenge for Americans to reach the moon in less than 10 years; Reagan's willingness to withstand withering criticism of his desperately-needed supply-side economic vision; and Reagan's steady determination to wear down the Soviets through heavy defense spending, despite taunts equating his prized Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) with "Star Wars."
JFK and Reagan changed the course of history with their respective speeches in West Berlin. They advanced the cause of freedom at ground zero of the Cold War. An Obama campaign speech in Berlin would merely be a way to score political points on the cheap. As he dresses himself in the garb of JFK and Reagan, the American people are too smart to take the bait.
To View The Entire Article, Please Visit: http://www.washingtontimes .com/news/2008/jul/19/bewildered-by-barack/
1 comment:
Right on! Great article
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