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William Owens Jr.: Obama’s speeches don’t talk much about history

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Column by William Owens Jr.

History is rarely reflected upon by Obama or included in his stump speeches unless it is biographical. Why? Obama thinks we need to redistribute wealth, and history has shown it does not work (just ask Eastern Europe). Should Obama cite Marx or any other socialist philosophers he subscribes to, history would be stacked against him. Instead, he is banking on the ignorance of the American people and cashing in on their emotions.

The rhetorical speeches of Obama vehemently promise more money to people rather than more character-oriented leadership in government. Instead of true vision, Obama offers handouts. Is change in our pockets what Obama really thinks we want, or is it character change that America needs?

There is no doubt middle-class families could use some form of financial relief to smooth out the rough edges, but it will not be tax hikes, nationalized health care, government-run education, or oil gushing through our streets that get “America back on track.” What will get America back on track, is the revival of the very virtues upon which our nation was founded, and not a repackaged version of Marxism.

Obama’s speechwriters must struggle to find support for his policies from the framers of our Constitution or the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. With so much talk about what is good for America, certainly he could quote some of our forefathers, such as James Madison who said, “We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government: upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”

The problem is Obama’s policies go directly against the individual freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the virtues ascribed to by our Founding Fathers. It is impossible for Obama to cite our forefathers without exposing his true disdain for their beliefs.

Obama cannot champion life, when he has sought to systematically destroy it through his votes on abortion. He cannot champion liberty, when his Marxist policies seek to strangle it. He cannot champion the pursuit of happiness when he is adamant on erecting roadblocks to the American dream.

Obama’s only approach is to convert free thinking people to government thinking people. The undercurrent of his oratory is not celebrating the ability of Americans to govern themselves, but rather a sales pitch on why we need more government to care for us.

Samuel Adams, the father of the American Revolution, said, “While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader. The greatest security from enslavement in a country is virtue or morality among the people.”

Tyranny is not an accident, it’s an incident, and it starts from within. It can only happen when citizens surrender what is rightfully theirs to an idea that they can subjugate self-government to the management of others. This is what Obama and the whole liberal movement does not want the American people to understand. Marxism garners better reception when it is wrapped up and packaged with the platitude of “hope.” The package may look good, but the tyranny inside is worse than a pipe bomb.

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