I promised myself that I would not move into my “occasional political musings” this election season until after the
conventions were over. Well, the speeches in Charlotte and Tampa are done, and now I feel that there are some things that I have to say…
President Obama is not a Liberal Socialist who believes that capitalism is inherently unjust… that would be me.
President Obama is not a dangerous globalist who wants to dismantle the myth of American Exceptionalism… that would be me.
President Obama is not a “Robin Hood” who wants to re-distribute money from the wealthy to the poor… that would be me.
President Obama is not a radical egalitarian who believes that it is the government’s role to make sure that all people have an equality of opportunity and equality before the law… that would be me.
President Obama is not a radical peacenik who believes that if we are going to have a military, it should primarily be used to create the conditions for peace… that would be me.
President Obama is not a Religious Liberal who believes that there is truth and wisdom to be found in almost every religious tradition… that would be me.
President Obama does not believe that the profit motive has ingrained greed as the primary value of our capitalist society… that would be me.
President Obama does not believe in a radical government takeover of the entire healthcare system, moving beyond single payer to a National Health Service… that would be me.
President Obama does not want to take away all of your guns… that would be me.
President Obama does not want to build a world government… that would be me.
President Obama does not believe that the Iraq War was caused by corporations who wanted to increase their profits with lucrative government contracts… that would be me.
President Obama does not believe that all state sponsored college education should be tuition free… that would be me.
President Obama does not believe that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are being used as Friedmanite economic scams on developing countries… that would be me.
President Obama does not want to reinstate the draft… that would be me.
A few short years ago, President Obama would have been thought of as a Republican-leaning moderate. Now, the rhetoric is that he is a crazy Liberal Socialist… and I, as an actual crazy Liberal Socialist am more than moderately offended. Now, unlike many of my friends on the left, I have never been confused about President Obama’s moderate Republicanism, so I have not suffered the disappointment that many others have. As far as I can tell, President Obama has been exactly the kind of President he told us he would be… a Keynesian economics war hawk with a predilection for equality and a moderate stand on civil liberties. Not what I would ideally want in an occupant of the Oval Office, but considering the options…
And that is the point… I’m not trying to say anything bad about President Obama… I’m just tired of people confusing him for a Liberal Socialist. It demeans what it means to be a Liberal Socialist.
For that would be me…
Yours in Faith,
Rev. David
I was Marxist Socialist, a member of the party, and still have my red membership card.
Barak Obama was a member of the New Party, ran on it’s platform for the Illinois State Senate, and won.
One can’t be a Socialist outside the discipline of a party. That’s what we believed.
…..and, respectfully, those of us who are not progressives will disagree slightly with you, and suspect, based on the commander-in-chief’s spoken statements, written words, and publicly viewable actions, as well as your own…that perhaps both of you are. Which, in this free country, is permissible. It does help the public, though, to be honest about one’s convictions. I respect you, for example, for being honest and straightforward about yours. There are those out there, however, who think the president was less than honest years ago about his. Whether that’s entirely true or not is not really for us to decide. We have our opinions, though.
Some good thoughts, as always, David. Thanks.