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Comments Why 'Unite' is a Lie
by Gary Bauer
01/23/2009 Print This
In the aftermath of President Obama’s historic inauguration, media talking heads have assured us our new president will end the partisan bickering that has recently defined our politics. He will unite the country, and he will move the people to close ranks. Only the bitter and the bigoted will oppose the compelling programs of he to whom one prominent T.V. commentator referred as our nation’s new “ruler,” and the world’s.
But conservatives have not united around Obama, nor should they. What should unite conservatives is devotion to the conservative principles that will help our country, not devotion to the cult of personality.
During the inauguration, many in the media suggested that the absence of protestors among the crowd of nearly 2 million on the mall in Washington, D.C. was proof that all Americans have already united around Obama. But conservatives did not protest partly out of respect for the historic import of the moment, but also because conservatives value civility. Respect for others is a conservative virtue. Continued
Such graciousness can be contrasted with liberals’ vindictive and often violent reactions to defeat. Consider the arsons and assaults by same-sex marriage advocates across the West following the California vote to pass Prop. 8 preserving traditional marriage.
The Left’s sense of vindictiveness was on full display even as it reached the pinnacle of its success on Tuesday. Consider the prayer offered by Rev. Joseph Lowery, a portion of which read:
“Lord…we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around when yellow will be mellow when the red man can get ahead, man and when white will embrace what is right.”
Lowery’s prayer was only part of a larger culture of gratuitous ugliness evident at the inauguration. When President Bush and Vice President Cheney arrived on the Inauguration Dais, they were booed loudly and serenaded mockingly with “Nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, hey, goodbye.” All this underscores how the left often seems to get more enjoyment from tearing conservatives down than from lifting liberals up.
And it underscores that the country is not unified. How could it be? President Obama received the votes of 65 million Americans, which translates to only about 22 percent of the American population. In 2004, George W. Bush received the votes of 62 million Americans, which translated into about 21 percent of the American population. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t remember the media talking about the nation having united around its president then.
....
To put it another way, Obama’s message of hope resonated so deeply and broadly that it inspired to vote a portion of the electorate not seen since the election of…Richard Nixon. That’s right. A larger share of Americans voted in Richard Nixon’s first presidential win in 1968 (61 percent) than voted in the 2008 election (57 percent).
When the media insist that the nation has united around Obama, what they really mean is that they (the media) have. And now they can get on with their mission to, as Chris Matthews put it in a moment of candor, do everything they can to make sure Obama’s presidency is a success.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=30385
by Gary Bauer
01/23/2009 Print This
In the aftermath of President Obama’s historic inauguration, media talking heads have assured us our new president will end the partisan bickering that has recently defined our politics. He will unite the country, and he will move the people to close ranks. Only the bitter and the bigoted will oppose the compelling programs of he to whom one prominent T.V. commentator referred as our nation’s new “ruler,” and the world’s.
But conservatives have not united around Obama, nor should they. What should unite conservatives is devotion to the conservative principles that will help our country, not devotion to the cult of personality.
During the inauguration, many in the media suggested that the absence of protestors among the crowd of nearly 2 million on the mall in Washington, D.C. was proof that all Americans have already united around Obama. But conservatives did not protest partly out of respect for the historic import of the moment, but also because conservatives value civility. Respect for others is a conservative virtue. Continued
Such graciousness can be contrasted with liberals’ vindictive and often violent reactions to defeat. Consider the arsons and assaults by same-sex marriage advocates across the West following the California vote to pass Prop. 8 preserving traditional marriage.
The Left’s sense of vindictiveness was on full display even as it reached the pinnacle of its success on Tuesday. Consider the prayer offered by Rev. Joseph Lowery, a portion of which read:
“Lord…we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around when yellow will be mellow when the red man can get ahead, man and when white will embrace what is right.”
Lowery’s prayer was only part of a larger culture of gratuitous ugliness evident at the inauguration. When President Bush and Vice President Cheney arrived on the Inauguration Dais, they were booed loudly and serenaded mockingly with “Nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, hey, goodbye.” All this underscores how the left often seems to get more enjoyment from tearing conservatives down than from lifting liberals up.
And it underscores that the country is not unified. How could it be? President Obama received the votes of 65 million Americans, which translates to only about 22 percent of the American population. In 2004, George W. Bush received the votes of 62 million Americans, which translated into about 21 percent of the American population. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t remember the media talking about the nation having united around its president then.
....
To put it another way, Obama’s message of hope resonated so deeply and broadly that it inspired to vote a portion of the electorate not seen since the election of…Richard Nixon. That’s right. A larger share of Americans voted in Richard Nixon’s first presidential win in 1968 (61 percent) than voted in the 2008 election (57 percent).
When the media insist that the nation has united around Obama, what they really mean is that they (the media) have. And now they can get on with their mission to, as Chris Matthews put it in a moment of candor, do everything they can to make sure Obama’s presidency is a success.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=30385
