Do you hope he fails?
The day before Barack Obama was inaugurated as President, Rush Limbaugh was asked about his hopes for the new administration. His four-word reply: "I hope he fails." It's been nearly two months since then, and Limbaugh has explained his meaning several times, but I still hear it presented as though he wants our economy and/or the country to fail.
Hoping Obama and company fails is not at all the same thing as hoping the country fails. Granted, if you are of the mindset that Obama is The Messiah, the Pure and Perfect One, then sure, they are pretty much the same thing to you. But if you really think that Obama's failure necessarily means that the country fails, perhaps you need to better examine your beliefs and motives.
If you honestly believe that Obama's plans will be harmful not only to you, but to most everyone around you, and to the country as a whole, and you can credibly support those beliefs with historical and empirical evidence, not just one or two isolated anecdotes, then what in the world is wrong with hoping that those plans cannot be successfully carried out?
Now, I know that the analogy I'm about to pose, some will find offensive, even incendiary. (You have been warned.) But hey, was anyone censured for implying that the Bush administration was complicit in 9/11? I can't think of anyone. In fact, I can't think of anyone censured for publicly saying it outright.
I bring up 9/11, because I'm thinking of a situation that day. Did the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 hope their hijackers would succeed? Did any of those passengers say, "Well, I don't agree with them, but they're in charge now, and I hope they succeed because we need to get along"? Hardly. They surmised that the hijackers were attempting something that would be devastating to this country, and from the evidence we've been able to gather, they not only hoped the hijackers failed but considered it their solemn ultimate duty to ensure that failure. And thank God that they did.
So is it wrong to hope Obama fails with his plans for the country? Well, was it wrong to hope that George W. Bush failed? Apparently, a lot of people did hope just that. In fact, a number of people not only in Congress but within the entrenched executive bureaucracy actively worked toward making him fail.
Obama has made no secret that he wishes to remake this country, to take wealth away from those who hold it and "return" it to others. (You can only actually return money if it was wrongfully taken in the first place, or if the product that the money paid for has also been returned to the seller.) Obama also wants to severely restrict tax deductions for charitable gifts, but make up for it by offering government support to certain non-profit endeavors. (Rather than you giving your money to the charity of your choice, he gives your money to the charity of his choice. Hello ACORN, goodbye anything remotely conservative, libertarian, or religious right.)
Let me tell you a little story. When they were first married, my parents were struggling to get up into the middle class. Their first Christmas tree was cut out of a small scrap of cardboard and covered with aluminum foil. (Hey, they recycled way back then!) Now, 53 years later, I find myself lumped in with those evil rich people that have what everyone else deserves. But along the way, we took no handouts, cheated nor stole from no one, didn't operate on the shady fringes of legality (like Ted Kennedy's family did during Prohibition), didn't try to buy votes or favors with other people's money (as do many in every level of government), got education and other training when and where we could, delayed gratification when necessary, and generally just did the best we could with what we had. And I didn't get where am by being greedy, stingy, or conniving, or by winning any lotteries; I was generous along the way, even naively over-generous in a few cases.
I hope that didn't sound too much like bragging. If I actually thought that my story was unique, perhaps I would brag. But I'm convinced there are at least a million Americans who could tell you a similar story. So why should we be punished?
I have seen numerous situations where certain people quickly burn through significant amounts of cash, even tens of thousands of dollars, and yet have nothing at all to show for it when the money's gone. Or are even worse off after than before. Sometimes it was even my money they were burning through (see "naively over-generous" above). I'm not talking about people who worked hard and trustingly invested their savings with Enron or Bernie Madoff. I'm talking about people that think they don't need to really work as long as they can get someone else to support them in some way or another. And I'm talking about people who spend more than they can afford on things that wouldn't improve their life in the long run even if they could afford them. Particularly irritating are the folks who manage to be in both of those groups.
If anyone thinks that it's okay to forcibly take my hard-earned, carefully-saved money and redistribute it to others who put out far less effort than me, or were far more foolish than me, then yes, I certainly hope that that person and his plans fail miserably.
Hoping Obama and company fails is not at all the same thing as hoping the country fails. Granted, if you are of the mindset that Obama is The Messiah, the Pure and Perfect One, then sure, they are pretty much the same thing to you. But if you really think that Obama's failure necessarily means that the country fails, perhaps you need to better examine your beliefs and motives.
If you honestly believe that Obama's plans will be harmful not only to you, but to most everyone around you, and to the country as a whole, and you can credibly support those beliefs with historical and empirical evidence, not just one or two isolated anecdotes, then what in the world is wrong with hoping that those plans cannot be successfully carried out?
Now, I know that the analogy I'm about to pose, some will find offensive, even incendiary. (You have been warned.) But hey, was anyone censured for implying that the Bush administration was complicit in 9/11? I can't think of anyone. In fact, I can't think of anyone censured for publicly saying it outright.
I bring up 9/11, because I'm thinking of a situation that day. Did the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 hope their hijackers would succeed? Did any of those passengers say, "Well, I don't agree with them, but they're in charge now, and I hope they succeed because we need to get along"? Hardly. They surmised that the hijackers were attempting something that would be devastating to this country, and from the evidence we've been able to gather, they not only hoped the hijackers failed but considered it their solemn ultimate duty to ensure that failure. And thank God that they did.
So is it wrong to hope Obama fails with his plans for the country? Well, was it wrong to hope that George W. Bush failed? Apparently, a lot of people did hope just that. In fact, a number of people not only in Congress but within the entrenched executive bureaucracy actively worked toward making him fail.
Obama has made no secret that he wishes to remake this country, to take wealth away from those who hold it and "return" it to others. (You can only actually return money if it was wrongfully taken in the first place, or if the product that the money paid for has also been returned to the seller.) Obama also wants to severely restrict tax deductions for charitable gifts, but make up for it by offering government support to certain non-profit endeavors. (Rather than you giving your money to the charity of your choice, he gives your money to the charity of his choice. Hello ACORN, goodbye anything remotely conservative, libertarian, or religious right.)
Let me tell you a little story. When they were first married, my parents were struggling to get up into the middle class. Their first Christmas tree was cut out of a small scrap of cardboard and covered with aluminum foil. (Hey, they recycled way back then!) Now, 53 years later, I find myself lumped in with those evil rich people that have what everyone else deserves. But along the way, we took no handouts, cheated nor stole from no one, didn't operate on the shady fringes of legality (like Ted Kennedy's family did during Prohibition), didn't try to buy votes or favors with other people's money (as do many in every level of government), got education and other training when and where we could, delayed gratification when necessary, and generally just did the best we could with what we had. And I didn't get where am by being greedy, stingy, or conniving, or by winning any lotteries; I was generous along the way, even naively over-generous in a few cases.
I hope that didn't sound too much like bragging. If I actually thought that my story was unique, perhaps I would brag. But I'm convinced there are at least a million Americans who could tell you a similar story. So why should we be punished?
I have seen numerous situations where certain people quickly burn through significant amounts of cash, even tens of thousands of dollars, and yet have nothing at all to show for it when the money's gone. Or are even worse off after than before. Sometimes it was even my money they were burning through (see "naively over-generous" above). I'm not talking about people who worked hard and trustingly invested their savings with Enron or Bernie Madoff. I'm talking about people that think they don't need to really work as long as they can get someone else to support them in some way or another. And I'm talking about people who spend more than they can afford on things that wouldn't improve their life in the long run even if they could afford them. Particularly irritating are the folks who manage to be in both of those groups.
If anyone thinks that it's okay to forcibly take my hard-earned, carefully-saved money and redistribute it to others who put out far less effort than me, or were far more foolish than me, then yes, I certainly hope that that person and his plans fail miserably.
Labels: Politics
posted by Steve | 10:02 PM
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