Posted by
CW on Friday, February 13, 2009 5:16:25 PM
A favorite question in political interviews these days is, “Do you hope Obama succeeds?” Rush Limbaugh has been blasted by the left-wing media for answering truthfully that he hopes Obama fails, a claim that he reiterated and expanded upon on his radio show today. His comments will certainly re-ignite the indignation of his left-wing foes and even some on the right who have taken to sing-songing that they hope Obama succeeds so that they can appear to be above petty politics.
My own contention is this: it’s a dumb question. The reason it’s dumb is because the answer depends upon how you define “success.” Whether or not something is a success should be determined based upon what the original intent was, right? For example, if you’re a magician trying to pull a rabbit out of your hat but instead you pull out a chicken, the trick was a failure from the magician’s point of view even if some people still thought it was a good trick.
When we evaluate our desire for Obama to succeed, first we have to look at his intent. What is Obama trying to do? Well, it should be abundantly clear to everyone by now that he is trying to move this country in a leftward, more socialistic direction. The “stimulus” bill alone shows where Obama’s true priorities lie. Taking advantage of the panic mentality brought on by our financial crisis he’s hurried to pass a bill that contains tons of spending for pet democrat projects and government expansion but that has very little in the way of stimulating tax cuts. Furthermore, his co-opting of the census shows, not surprisingly, that he plans to govern in the same way he rose to power: through slick political maneuvering. Brace yourselves for more such maneuvering as he addresses the issues of illegal aliens and congressional representation for the District of Columbia, just to start with.
So if you’re asked, “Do you hope Obama succeeds?” don’t confuse Obama’s definition of success with your own. Like Limbaugh, I define success for the U.S. to be the preservation of the principles and systems that have made this country the great nation that it is: Individual liberty, adherence to our brilliant constitution, strong national defense, fairness in our justice system, and respect for the rules of democracy. As Obama strives to “change” all that, no – I do not wish him to succeed.