What Obama Says vs. What He Does

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By Thomas Sowell

In order to fully appreciate Thomas Sowell's latest op-ed, we must read these lines from his piece two weeks ago:

What [Obama is] trying to do is to create an America very unlike the America that has existed for centuries-- the America that people have been attracted to by the millions from every part of the world, the America that many generations of Americans have fought and died for.
This is the America for which Michelle Obama expressed her resentment before it became politically expedient to keep quiet.

It is the America that Reverend Jeremiah Wright denounced in his sermons during the 20 years when Barack Obama was a parishioner, before political expediency required Obama to withdraw and distance himself.

The thing most associated with America-- freedom-- is precisely what must be destroyed if this is to be turned into a fundamentally different country to suit Obama's vision of the country and of himself. But do not expect a savvy politician like Barack Obama to express what he is doing in terms of limiting our freedom....

Just as magicians know that the secret of some of their tricks is to distract the audience, so politicians know that the secret of many political tricks is to distract the public with scapegoats.... Barack Obama's escapes from his own past words, deeds and associations have been escapes worthy of Houdini.

Like other magicians, Obama has chosen his distractions well. The insurance industry is currently his favorite distraction as scapegoats, after he has tried to demonize doctors without much success....Obama even gets away with saying things like having a system to "keep insurance companies honest"-- and many people may not see the painful irony in politicians trying to keep other people honest. Certainly most of the media are unlikely to point out this irony.

And here excerpts from his current article:

What Obama Says vs. What He Does

The most important thing about what anyone says are not the words themselves but the credibility of the person who says them.

The words of convicted swindler Bernie Madoff were apparently quite convincing to many people who were regarded as knowledgeable and sophisticated. If you go by words, you can be led into anything.No doubt millions of people will be listening to the words of President Barack Obama Wednesday night when he makes a televised address to a joint session of Congress on his medical care plans. But, if they think that the words he says are what matters, they can be led into something much worse than being swindled out of their money.

One plain fact should outweigh all the words of Barack Obama and all the impressive trappings of the setting in which he says them: He tried to rush Congress into passing a massive government takeover of the nation's medical care before the August recess-- for a program that would not take effect until 2013!

Whatever President Obama is, he is not stupid. If the urgency to pass the medical care legislation was to deal with a problem immediately, then why postpone the date when the legislation goes into effect for years-- more specifically, until the year after the next Presidential election?

If this is such an urgently needed program, why wait for years to put it into effect? And if the public is going to benefit from this, why not let them experience those benefits before the next Presidential election?

If it is not urgent that the legislation goes into effect immediately, then why don't we have time to go through the normal process of holding Congressional hearings on the pros and cons, accompanied by public discussions of its innumerable provisions? What sense does it make to "hurry up and wait" on something that is literally a matter of life and death?

If we do not believe that the President is stupid, then what do we believe? The only reasonable alternative seems to be that he wanted to get this massive government takeover of medical care passed into law before the public understood what was in it. Moreover, he wanted to get re-elected in 2012 before the public experienced what its actual consequences would be....There are lots of people in the Obama administration who want to do things that have not been done before-- and to do them before the public realizes what is happening....

What Barack Obama says Wednesday night is not nearly as important as what he has been doing-- and how he has been doing it.

[End of Sowell's essays.]

And the White House wonders why so many people have already lost the trust they had in thier candidate last November; they wonder why some people bristled at the question originally given to teachers to ask after they made thier children listen to today's speech: "Now, What can we do to support the President?" The White House withdrew that question from the rubber-stamped lesson plans, but it tainted the intentions of the noon-day address. Don't get me wrong. I was not overly concerned about today's speech (though our school did not show it due to logistical issues).

Today's speech was innocent enough if one only considers it "words," and as President I think he is entitled to speak to kids about inspirational themes as he did today... but it is tomorrow's speech parents need to worry about. It will be just as charming, and millions of child-like followers will be asked to "support" him after he pulls the last rabbit from his hat.

Last November, Obama sold his goods as "Change You Can Believe In. Belief takes trust...and that's lacking. One thing is for sure: He does not promote change we can THINK about, because he doesn't want America to think about what's really changing. He just wants us to clap at the end of his act.
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