Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Barone: "The coming Obama thugacracy"

Here's Michael Barone - - -

"I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors," Barack Obama told a crowd in Elko, Nev. "I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face." Actually, Obama supporters are doing a lot more than getting into people's faces. They seem determined to shut people up.

That's what Obama supporters, alerted by campaign emails, did when conservative Stanley Kurtz appeared on Milt Rosenberg's WGN radio program in Chicago.

Kurtz had been researching Obama's relationship with unrepentant Weather Underground terrorist William Ayers in Chicago Annenberg Challenge papers in the Richard J. Daley Library in Chicago -- papers that were closed off to him for some days, apparently at the behest of Obama supporters.

Obama fans jammed WGN's phone lines and sent in hundreds of protest emails. The message was clear to anyone who would follow Rosenberg's example. We will make trouble for you if you let anyone make the case against The One.

Other Obama supporters have threatened critics with criminal prosecution. In September, St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch and St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce warned citizens that they would bring criminal libel prosecutions against anyone who made statements against Obama that were "false."

I had been under the impression that the Alien and Sedition Acts had gone out of existence in 1801-02. Not so, apparently, in metropolitan St. Louis. Similarly, the Obama campaign called for a criminal investigation of the American Issues Project when it ran ads highlighting Obama's ties to Ayers. ...

The rest of Barone's column's here.

I hope you pass it on to friends before Election Day.

Americans should know about what Barone, one of the smartest pundits around, is telling us.

Hat tip: BN

3 comments:

Ex-prosecutor said...

I agree with this post. However, I believe that the Republicans have brought all of this on themselves, and unfortunately, as the article points out, on the rest of us.

The first vote of my life was for Barry Goldwater and, since then, I have been a very dependable Republican voter and contributor. Since then, I have seen the Republican party shift away from long-time members such as myself. Former Senate majority leader Howard Baker was a moderate Republican, meaning that he was conservative on fiscal issues and moderate on social issues.

These days, the only way he could make it past the Republican primary in Tennessee is if two conservatives split the conservative vote. In fact, this happened in our last election to the benefit of the moderate candidate.

Senator Baker was known as the "Great Conciliator." Today, I see few conciliators in the Republican party, for the party would not tolerate positions taken by a present day Howard Baker.

I have make quick comparisons of the Republican party platforms over the past years. They are reflective of and responsive to the problems and issues of the time, including the cold war, Roe v. Wade, abortion and same-sex marriage. That of 1976 blisters the Democrats but would be an indictment of the current Republican party.

It may be that the issues and problems of our time make compromises much more difficult. However, the current Republican party has placed much greater emphasis on social issues and ignored the party's most basic beliefs, as set out in the 1976 platform, as to the role of government and individual rights.

In short, I want to be a member of the Republican party of 40 years ago.

Anonymous said...

My parents were 'Southern Democrats' which was a conservative voter. You want to talk about not recognizing your political party?

My parents are horrified by the current Democrats. They have nothing good to say about the current thuggery and outright lunacy of the leftists dominating the party. They would never vote for a liberal like Obama.

We never discuss politics outside the home. Being called a Racist in NC can happen for almost any comment.

Anonymous said...

My observation here in Northeastern NC is that the Democrats aren't giving St. Barack much support. The only place you will see lineups of Obama placards is in the "hood." You will find posters for Perdue, Hagan, and Cooper on most streets and roadsides, but the Obama signs are a rarity. I believe we'll see a considerable cross-over vote for McCain from the traditional White "Southern Democrats" that Archer05 mentions. If that trend holds nationwide, I think the Obots are in for a rude awakening. If that happens, stand by for the shouts of "RACISM."
Tarheel Hawkeye