1. Environmentalists: Let’s start with the most obvious. Environmentalists more than any others on the left have exposed themselves during this administration. They have turned a blind eye to everything Obama has done because they don’t care about the environment, they care about electing leftists. In fact, it’s gotten so obvious that even the left-friendly Politico has noticed.
Consider the BP spill. Had the BP spill occurred under Bush, there would be an enviro-palooza going on right now in the Gulf with dope smoking hippies and celebrities as far as the eye can see spewing out hateful statements about Bush. But with Obama in power, we hear nothing but silence. Actually, that’s not quite accurate. We have heard from environmentalists, just not what we should have heard:
So Obama continues Bush’s evil policies and suddenly those policies become acceptable? And Obama fails utterly to get a grip on the BP disaster, but he gets a free pass? And for anyone who thinks Obama has just been a victim of circumstance in the BP disaster, check out this lengthy attack on Obama’s mismanagement of the BP crisis by Rolling Stone: Click here. It’s eye opening about the lies and failures of Team Obama. . . too bad “environmentalists” apparently can’t read.• Last week, a dozen environmentalist groups bought a full page ad in The Washington Post to thank Obama for putting a hold on an Alaskan oil drilling project.
• Sierra Club chairman Carl Pope recently said, “President Obama is the best environmental president we’ve had since Teddy Roosevelt.”
And, of course, this isn’t the first time the enviro-left has been silent in the face of Obama continuing evil Bush policies. While American environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund got down on their knees and praised Obama’s Copenhagen adventure, the rest of the world was saying things like:
So the lesson is simple. Whine when the Republicans do something. . . anything, but turn the whining into praise when leftists do the exact same thing.• “Progressives worked their heart out for a guy who has gutted one of the most progressive ideas of the last century.”
• One European diplomat called Obama’s plan “a shitty, shitty deal.”
• The UK Independent called this “. . .a historic failure that will live in infamy.”
• The African delegation complained that this deal “condemns their continent to a century of devastating temperature rises.”
2. Guantanamo Bay: Do you remember how Guantanamo Bay was destroying America’s reputation? In fact, you might remember there were rallies, articles, protests, lawsuits, etc., all aimed at undoing this thing that we were told was worse than Hitler’s concentration camps. Well, Gitmo is still open for business. Moreover, Obama has tried repeatedly to take away even the legal rights that Bush gave the prisoners there. So what does the left say now? Nothing. They’ve gone silent. Once again, they whine when Republicans do something, but don’t make a peep about the same (or worse) thing when Democrats do it.
3. War: Iraq was evil. Evil Bush was planning to attack Iran. Evil Bush was killing civilians in Afghanistan -- he was using drones, "a war crime." Protests, whining, tears in bongs everywhere. Now Obama is in charge. We’re still in Iraq. We’re still in Afghanistan. Obama has expanded the use of drones, killing more civilians than ever. He’s dropped bombs on Pakistan. And the left says. . . jack. Nada. Zip. Even Code Pink has gone on to protest the Israelis because they see nothing wrong in the US anymore.
4. Influence Peddling/Lobbyists: The Democrats almost can’t say the word Republican without attaching words like “lobbyist”. In fact, they created whole foundations to point the finger at Republican connections to lobbyists. But Team Obama is riddled with lobbyists and influence peddlers, as are the staffs of every important Democrat in Congress. Favors have been handed out to special interests, access and jobs are routinely sold, and the influence peddling is at its most intense point since the Gilded Age. Yet, nary a peep from these leftist groups.
5. Medical Coverage for the Poor: Evil Republicans and greedy doctors once prevented 43 million Americans (34 million if you exclude illegals) from getting health insurance. The horror. This is a crime worse than anything Hitler did. But along came Obama, and he passed ObamaCare, which Team Obama itself estimates will leave 22 million Americans (31 million if you count illegals) without coverage. And the left says, “thanks Obama for giving us universal coverage.” Anyone see a problem with that?
6. Medicare: For decades now, AARP and their fellow travelers have put out the message that the Republicans want to destroy Medicare. Now Team Obama proposes $500 billion in cuts from the one trillion dollar program, and AARP not only does not object, they actually put out ads claiming this will be good for seniors?
7. Illegals: The evil Bush people were deporting thousands of illegal aliens back to Mexico. This was a crime against humanity of epic proportion. . . except of course when every other country does this, including Mexico. Since Obama took over, he’s stepped up the number of deportations dramatically. And the left says. . . nada. Indeed, according to the left, Arizona is the bad guy for enforcing the same law Obama is enforcing.
8. Whistleblowers and Open Government: The Democrats routinely criticized the Republicans for having closed door meetings, for not releasing records, and for failing to protect whistleblowers. Now Obama has had more closed door meetings than Bush ever did, can’t seem to release a document except by court order, and has criminally pursued more whistleblowers that Bush and Clinton combined. And the left says. . . well, nothing.
I can go on and on: free speech groups stopped complaining about Muslim efforts to pass criminal bans on anti-religious speech, the ADL stopped complaining about anti-Semitism, black groups are fine with the racist attacks on black politicians who challenge favored Democrats, consumer groups stopped complaining about Chinese goods, unions suddenly love Obama’s Bush-created trade policies, no one seems to care about Obama’s non-handling of the Nashville floods (what floods?) or his mismanagement of the Haiti crisis, and suddenly no one on the left comments on the betrayal of Tibet, Obama’s continuing evil Bush policies in South America, North Korea, the Middle East and Iran, the sleaze and sex scandals coming out of Democratic ranks, the use of the federal treasury as a piggy bank for big-corporate America, etc., etc., etc.
The silence is deafening.
In each instance, Obama has done the same that the left whined about for years. And in each instance, Obama’s conduct has been met either with total silence from leftist “activists” or even praise.
What this tells us is that the left’s words are not to be taken seriously. Their membership in various causes is nothing more than a front to support leftist Democrats. Nothing they tell us about their goals can be trusted.
Thanks Barack for clearing that up for us.
Well, here's another something that Obama's doing exactly like Bush - Rasmussen poll has Obama's approval rating at 42%.
ReplyDeleteBTW - Did anyone watch "the speech" last night? I tuned in just as it ended. I thought that he would at least speechify for 45 minutes, so I was no hurry. The only new news to come out of it was how short the speech was.
Bev, Yep, he's doing that like Bush too.
ReplyDeleteI thought about watching the speech, but frankly couldn't get myself to care. He's screwed up badly and this was just another attempt to pass the buck. This was too little, too late. And if the rating were poor, which I suspect they were, then it's just more evidence that the public has tuned him out.
Nice article. The silence is deafening. I keep waiting to hear these groups with their usual "America is evil" garbage but they never show up anymore. It's like they all vanished the moment Obama took power. Want to bet they'll be back the moments the Republicans grab any part of the government?
ReplyDeleteMega, Of course they'll be back. And if the Republicans only have one house of Congress, they'll find a way to claim that it was only that house of Congress that was responsible for whatever it was. Because that's what this is about -- attacking Republicans and defending Democrats. That's the number one goal. Protecting whatever is purely a secondary goal if doing so will hurt their Democratic friends.
ReplyDeleteGood Article Andrew.
ReplyDeleteIt occurs to me that maybe the usual suspects aren't complaining because they are embarrassed about Obama and his failures and don't want to feed into the right side.
The same thing happened when Bush was in office. The right was embarrassed about the exorbitant spending and some other incredibly stupid positions Bush took. If only Bush had stepped up to the plate and fought for our side, the Republicans wouldn't have sat out the last election or the one before.
Fortunatly for us, we have a stupid vain elitist for a president. Kind of hard to defend this fool. Also kind of hard to get behind his policies when a fifth grader is smarter.
Totally agree. Where are the nuts who followed around Bush and hounded Republicans everywhere they went? ObamaPelosiReid are doing the same damn things and these groups aren't saying a word. They have no shame.
ReplyDeleteJoel, I'm sure that's part of it. But the difference is that these groups claim to be nonpartisan. If you check out any literature put out by groups like the Sierra Club or the ADL or AARP, they claim to be "nonpartisan" and that their sole goal is to advocate for whatever issue it is they were formed to address.
ReplyDeleteThat's why their behavior now is so hypocritical. Their silence has shown that they are less interested in whatever issue it is they claim to represent than they are in protecting Democrats. It would be like AAA saying "we don't have a problem with reckless driving" whenever a Republican gets caught driving recklessly, but pounding any Democrat who gets caught. If you really are not partisan, then you don't change your beliefs to suit the behavior of whoever is in charge.
As for the comparison to the right, the people who remained silent on the right were by and large party people who were caught between party loyalty and principle. I don't recall pundits or advocacy groups remaining silent. In fact, a great many conservatives were attacking Bush openly as early as 2004. I've got notes for an article about Bush that I've never written where I've collected a steady stream of aggressive criticism from rightist beginning in 2004 and just getting louder and louder with each passing year. And I can tell you that I personally knew conservatives who were upset with him as early as mid-2000.
Ed, Shame is not a trait that the left possesses. They are firm believers in the ends justify the means, and that kind of thinking precludes shame.
ReplyDeleteIf you spend any time at HuffPo, you would understand why they won't go after Obama. They are still holding on to the mantra that Obama had to take on so much more that any President has ever had to take on ever in the history of this country, that they will not hold him accountable for anything. These are also the same people who are members of Code Pink, MoveOn.org, Sierra Club, AARP, etc. Of course these groups also may be really embarrassed to show their faces because they were all out front and center actively using their organizations names to get him elected. Damage control for their own organizations...
ReplyDeleteBUT, I'm guessing the Chris Matthews' tingle has subsided after last night's speech
Bev, That's just an excuse. They simply don't criticize Democrats unless they are "conservative Democrats." And even then, the kinds of criticism they get is largely for show. They save their bile for Republicans or other "evil" people.
ReplyDeleteBev, Re the link. . . nice find! Neither Olberman nor Matthews sounds thrilled with Obama's speech. But then what do you expect, there was nothing Obama could say because he's got no plan, no policy, and he's trying to fake his way through this whole thing with falsified anger, falsified tough guy speech, and fake pronouncements of "I will part the black seas and the flow will end. . . now. . . wait, now. . . no, now."
ReplyDeleteThey're very worried that Obama is losing the public on this -- polls actually show he's already lost the public on this and they're getting angrier.
(Here's a working version of the link: Click Me.
As Ben Franklin said, "lie down with dogs, rise up with fleas." The only question that remains is, which is the dog? Obama or the leftist media?
ReplyDeleteLawhawk, They can give each other flees, and they'll get rabies from the activists.
ReplyDeleteI'll agree a bit with Joel - it is harder to complain when it's your own side doing it. That's why I'm super-glad we didn't elect McCain. He'd be doing a lot of the same junk, and we'd be sitting here, silently, annoyed, but not really sure what to do about it.
ReplyDeleteThat said, great article, Andrew, and it is stunning. But it's not surprising, and it just makes me sick for what passes for the media anymore.
Andrew,
ReplyDeleteFor the left it is about power. Nothing more. They use the same fracking play over and over again.
If it is one of theirs – they will ignore the subject as long as possible then give the person the benefit of doubt. If that doesn’t work that person is thrown under the bus. He was an exception. An outlier. A spy. It does not reflect upon our policies or us. Then close ranks.
But if it is a conservative.
Holy hell!
They paint with as a broad a brush as possible. If they don’t find something they make it up. Then claim ALL conservatives, ALL Americans, All males, pick a group are: racist, sexist, stupid, uncaring.
So…when did you stop beating your wife? If you’re against this one regulation then you’re against ALL gov’t. Why do you hate the military? Oy.
Rinse, wash, and repeat – as loud as possible.
And it works. Tedious, annoying and obvious though it is – it works.
CrispyRice, Excellent point about McCain. I've thought that myself. I have no doubt that McCain would have done most of the same things Obama has done, and we would have taken the blame.
ReplyDeleteI do think conservatives would have been much more vocal about it, but that wouldn't have helped us in the end.
Ponderosa, First, nice use of the word "fracking." :-)
ReplyDeleteSecondly, you are 100% right -- that is exactly the playbook of the left. And people (including establishment Republicans) have been falling for this for years. I'm glad though that the right is finally reaching a point where we simply won't accept this anymore.
I think the days of allowing a double standard are over. And people who continue to try to use those double standards, like the MSM, are showing a devastating loss in credibility in the polls.
Too much BSG.
ReplyDeleteWhat scares me is the FDR -precedent.
The unemployement rate didn't get below 14% in his first 8 years. But he managed to be re-elected in '36 and '40. Many still consider him a hero.
Different times, no internet. I know.
Still we ended up with BO and the Dems in control - and HC 'reform'.
"...and the more the plans fail, the more the planners plan." - RR
Ponderosa, I can understand the concern, but I don't see the situations as comparable.
ReplyDeleteFirst, in the 1930s, there was a real belief in socialism the world over. It was the "new" theory and everyone was trying it. It seemed to be working in Russian and Germany, and it was very popular here. Obama's leftism is discredited all over the world today.
Moreover, at that point, we were a different people. Americans were more agrarian, they were more trusting of their governments, there was no way for them to break through the media clutter. Back then, the unemployed were uneducated laborers who had no prospects except getting help from the government. Today's unemployed are more likely to be middle class, educated voters who know that restricting free trade and raising taxes will hurt them, not help them.
Also, the Democrats were a different party. The Democrats were patriotic and populist. They had a strong party machine that could hand out jobs, and control newspapers union and churches, and they controlled the South completely. None of that is true today. Today they are an elitist group that disdain most of what America stands for, disdain American institutions, and are more interested in tribal spoils than they are in helping "the masses."
Also, Roosevelt wasn't a coward trying to put in place theories that he was afraid to espouse. He struck people as a strong leader (much more so than the isolationist Republicans) who knew what he was doing and was ready to move the country forward. Obama is none of that. He inspires no confidence.
Ditto what Ponderosa said! This is the same song and dance for forty years, this has been the plan of ‘60s radicals since they oozed out of the mud at Yassgars Farm. They moved away from the frontal assault, to the subversive, take over from within, become the establishment…here we are.
ReplyDeleteI was in college during Carter, and this was when I first started to question the counter culture, and really seeing the hypocrisy of the left, as I was one. The same thing happened with that clown, it was a hush across the land with the radicals. “Tricky Dick,” Ford was a bumbling fool, Reagan’s gonna blow up the world, total silence for the Peanut, let me tell ya that guy was a misery index. By the end of the ‘70s I was conservative, I was healed. We all grew up, they stayed in college, but now we finally have the chance to get rid of these creeps.
Always remember Carter gave us Reagan!
Stan, I was never part of the counter culture, but I see it in hindsight. I'm amazed how often Democrats and other leftists (especially foreign dictators) get a free pass from the left, and how savagely they attack people on the right for the same thing (or much less).
ReplyDeleteI find it particularly funny how much they hated Reagan and kept telling us how everything he did was going to kill us all. . . and now that it's all work out as anyone with any sense should have known it would, they claim that these were their ideas.
It really angers me. I'm just glad that people have stopped accepting the double standard.