At the commencement ceremony at Ohio State University today, Obama told the graduates:
“You’ve grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that’s at the root of all our problems. Some of these same voices also do their best to gum up the works. They warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave and creative and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can’t be trusted.”
“We have never been a people who place all of our faith in government to solve our problems. We shouldn’t want to. But we don’t think the government is the source of all our problems, either. Because we understand that this democracy is ours — and as citizens, we understand that it’s not about what America can do for us; it’s about what can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating but absolutely necessary work of self-government — and Class of 2013, you have to be involved in that process.
But we have placed all our faith in government to solve our problems – and we have the programs to prove it: Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and the latest, Obamacare. Obama doesn’t think the government is the source of all problems; he lays our problems at the feet of Capitalists.
Those voices that the Class of 2013 has been listening to have been quoting no less than the Founding Fathers themselves:
“I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” Thomas Jefferson, 1816
“Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppression of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.” Thomas Jefferson, 1816
“The republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind.” Thomas Jefferson, 1790
“We are all Republicans – we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.” Thomas Jefferson, 1801
“Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it; and this I know, m lords, that where laws end, tyranny begins.” William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, 1770
“Freedom and not servitude is the cure of anarchy; as religion, and not atheism, is the true remedy for superstition.” John Burke, 1775
“If men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences that can invite the consideration of mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may led, like sheep to the slaughter.” George Washington, 1783
“The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, and perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” George Washington, 1789
“The happiness of society is the end of government.” John Adams, 1776
“Fear is the foundation of most governments.” John Adams, 1776
“Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom; and a great empire and little minds go ill together.”
“All government – indeed, every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act – is founded on compromise and barter.” John Burke
“In no country perhaps in the world is law so general a study [as in America]. This study renders men acute, inquisitive, prompt in attack, ready in defense, full of resources… They augur misgovernment at a distance, and snuff the approach of tyranny in every tainted breeze.” John Burke
“The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.” John Burke, 1784
“People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.” John Burke, 1790
“Caesar had his Brutus; Charles the First his Cromwell; and George the Third [“Treason!” cried the Speaker] – may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it.” Patrick Henry, Speech on the Stamp Act, House of Burgesses, Williamsburg, Va., May 29, 1765
Have the students at Ohio State University ever heard these words? What works are those who cite the Founding Fathers “gumming up?” Let’s mark a few more of Obama’s words today:
“We have never been a people who place all of our faith in government to solve our problems. We shouldn’t want to. But we don’t think the government is the source of all our problems, either. Because we understand that this democracy is ours — and as citizens, we understand that it’s not about what America can do for us; it’s about what can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating but absolutely necessary work of self-government — and Class of 2013, you have to be involved in that process.
Lesson No. 1: We’re a federated republic, not a democracy. Secondly, we are not a self-government; we are a representative government. If it’s not about what America can do for us, then what’s been happening that past five years or more?
“You’ve been tested and you’ve been tempered by events that your parents and I never imagined that we’d see when we sat where you sit — and yet, in spite of all this or perhaps because of it, yours has become a generation possessed with that most American of ideas: That people who love their country can change it for the better. For all the turmoil, for all the times you’ve been let down or frustrated at the hand that you’ve been dealt, what I’ve seen — what we’ve witnessed from your generation — is that perennial quintessentially American value of optimism, altruism, empathy, tolerance, a sense of community, and a sense of service.”
I’m old enough to be a parent of one of those students. I never imagined that a child of mine would not be taught the words of the Founding Fathers, that they would be taught multiculturalism, pluralism, and Communism. I never imagined that their speech would be curbed by political consideration or that a President of the United States would bow to foreign potentates.
Most importantly, I never would have imagined that they’d be taught that the country needed to be “changed for the better” or that “better” meant depriving them of their private property, their right to freedom of speech and to bear arms, or their belief that America is the greatest country in the world.
“Consider that today, 50 ROTC cadets in your graduating class will become commissioned officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. (Applause.) A hundred and thirty of your fellow graduates have already served — some in combat, some on multiple deployments. (Applause.) Of the 98 veterans earning bachelor’s degrees today, 20 are graduating with honors, and at least one kept serving his fellow veterans when he came home by starting up a campus organization called Vets4Vets. And as your Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of all of you. (Applause.)”
Did Obama understand that the applause was for the cadets and veterans, not for him? We’re proud of our military. But what mission has he sent them on? To protect American interests or Chinese? To serve the cause of freedom for America or to prepare the path for a global caliphate? To die for liberty and freedom? Or just to die?
“Consider that graduates of this university serve their country through the Peace Corps, and educate our children through established programs like Teach for America, startups like Blue Engine, often earning little pay for making the biggest impact. Some of you have already launched startup companies of your own. And I suspect that those of you who pursue more education, or climb the corporate ladder, or enter the arts or science or journalism, you will still choose a cause that you care about in your life and will fight like heck to realize your vision.”
Consider that the education majors will be going on to teach Common Core, a standardized program designed for the lowest common denominator of educating, ensuring that future citizens will be educated only for the task they can perform for the community and nothing more; certainly not to become informed citizens and voters.
“There is a word for this. It’s citizenship. And we don’t always talk about this idea much these days — citizenship — let alone celebrate it. Sometimes, we see it as a virtue from another time, a distant past, one that’s slipping from a society that celebrates individual ambition above all else; a society awash in instant technology that empowers us to leverage our skills and talents like never before, but just as easily allows us to retreat from the world. And the result is that we sometimes forget the larger bonds we share as one American family.”
There’s a word for Obama’s idea of “citizenship”: communism, where individual ambition is discouraged, property ownership is outlawed, parental rights are severely limited, and wealth is redistributed from those who earned to those haven’t.
“But it’s out there, all the time, every day — especially when we need it most. Just look at the past year. When a hurricane struck our mightiest city, and a factory exploded in a small town in Texas, we saw citizenship. When bombs went off in Boston, and when a malevolent spree of gunfire visited a movie theater, a temple, an Ohio high school, a 1st grade classroom in Connecticut, we saw citizenship. In the aftermath of darkest tragedy, we have seen the American spirit at its brightest.”
When Hurricane Sandy struck New York City and the Jersey Shore, what we saw was N.J. Gov. Christie hugging Obama. What we saw in West, Texas came from citizens, not the government, with cameras. What we saw in Boston was a Saudi Arabian talking to the older brother bomber, Tamerlan. What we didn’t see were many citizens in Boston because they were in lockdown. What we saw in Newtown was a very strange young man who should have been institutionalized. What we saw at the Sikh Temple in Wisconsin was an example of the kind of White supremacist ex-military man Obama wants us to fear (who mistook the Sikhs for Muslims and killed himself in the end), rather than the Islamic extremists who set off two bombs at the Boston Marathon.
“We’ve seen the petty divisions of color and class and creed replaced by a united urge to help each other. We’ve seen courage and compassion, a sense of civic duty, and a recognition we are not a collection of strangers; we are bound to one another by a set of ideals and laws and commitments, and a deep devotion to this country that we love.”
Not exactly. Yes, we’ve seen a white supremacist kill innocent women and children in a temple. We’ve also seen the Black Panthers intimidate voters in Philadelphia. We’ve read books about a new educational agenda that will emphasize “white privilege” and enlarge upon white guilt.
“And that’s what citizenship is. It’s at the heart of our founding — that as Americans, we are blessed with God-given talents and inalienable rights, but with those rights come responsibilities — to ourselves, and to one another, and to future generations. (Applause.)
Just don’t try to invoke God’s name in a public place like the steps of the Supreme Court, a high school graduation (Obama did it; but then he thinks he is God, so it’s okay) or football game, or at a town meeting.
“Now, if we’re being honest with ourselves, as you’ve studied and worked and served to become good citizens, the fact is that all too often the institutions that give structure to our society have, at times, betrayed your trust. In the run-up to the financial crisis, too many on Wall Street forgot that their obligations don’t end with what’s happening with their shares. In entertainment and in the media, ratings and shock value often trump news and storytelling.”
We feel especially betrayed by those Wall Street institutions who gave enormous donations to Obama’s presidential campaign.
“In Washington — well, this is a joyous occasion, so let me put it charitably — (laughter) — I think it’s fair to say our democracy isn’t working as well as we know it can. It could do better. (Applause.) And so those of us fortunate enough to serve in these institutions owe it to you to do better every single day.”
Once again, we’re a representative republic, not a participatory democracy. People just don’t have the time for it in a country this big. Incidentally, Obama’s had five years. Just when does he plan to begin making it “better.”
“And I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we can keep this idea of citizenship in its fullest sense alive at the national level — not just on Election Day, not just in times of tragedy, but all the days in between. And perhaps because I spend a lot of time in Washington, I’m obsessed with this issue because that sense of citizenship is so sorely needed there. And I think of what your generation’s traits — compassion and energy, and a sense of selflessness — might mean for a democracy that must adapt more quickly to keep up with the speed of technological and demographic, and wrenching economic change.”
What does he want the graduates to do? Walk up and down the streets of their towns and cities wearing sandwich board signs that say, “I’m a citizen”? Does he want turn them into a militia of sorts, armed with a box of tissues, a package of crackers, a teddy bear, and a Hallmark card to make anyone who’s having a bad day feel better?
“I think about how we might perpetuate this notion of citizenship in a way that another politician from my home state of Illinois, Adlai Stevenson, once described patriotism not as “short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” That’s what patriotism is. That’s what citizenship is. (Applause.)
A good citizen goes to work (or school) every day, doesn’t break any laws, earns their salary, pays their bills on time, saves for the future, and teaches their kids right from wrong. When there’s a problem, the good citizen lends a hand – or money, or donates blood or food. The good citizen keeps their home and yard or apartment in good repair, curbs their dog, and goes home at night to be with the family and do whatever it is they want to do. More conscientious, energetic citizens do go out to town council and planning meetings to keep an eye on the riff-raff we’ve elected. Others would rather stay home and help their kids with their homework. It’s a free country.
“Now, I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I’m not going to offer some grand theory on a beautiful day like this — you guys all have celebrating to do. I’m not going to get partisan, either, because that’s not what citizenship is about. In fact, I’m asking the same thing of you that President Bush did when he spoke at this commencement in 2002: “America needs more than taxpayers, spectators, and occasional voters,” he said. “America needs full-time citizens.” (Applause.) And as graduates from a university whose motto is “Education for Citizenship,” I know all of you get that this is what you’ve signed up for. It’s what your country expects of you.”
George Washington didn’t believe in partisanship, either. But Karl Marx was before his time. He hadn’t heard of collectivism and wouldn’t have approved of it if head. He knew how the Pilgrims’ experiment with collectivism turned out. He didn’t believe in giving a man’s earnings to someone else. Neither did Abraham Lincoln.
“So briefly, I’ll ask for two things from the Class of 2013: to participate, and to persevere. After all, your democracy does not function without your active participation. At a bare minimum, that means voting, eagerly and often — not having somebody drag you to it at 11:30 a.m. when you’re having breakfast. (Laughter.) It means knowing who’s been elected to make decisions on your behalf, and what they believe in, and whether or not they delivered on what they said they would. And if they don’t represent you the way you want, or conduct themselves the way you expect, if they put special interests above your own, you’ve got to let them know that’s not okay. And if they let you down often enough, there’s a built-in day in November where you can really let them know it’s not okay. (Applause.)”
There used to be an old joke: “Vote early and vote often.” Just what sort of message is Obama sending the Class of 2013, anyway. Too bad he didn’t give this advice to the Class of 2012, especially about giving the thumbs-down to special interests; Mr. Special Interests himself, taking money from Big Oil, Big Health Care, and Big Energy, would have lost.
But participation, your civic duty, is more than just voting. You don’t have to run for office yourself — but I hope many of you do, at all levels, because our democracy needs you. And I promise you, it will give you a tough skin. I know a little bit about this. (Laughter.) President Wilson once said, “If you want to make enemies, try to change something.”
Yeah. Just try to revoke the 16th (Income Tax, which was a Wilson amendment) or 26th (lowering voting age to 18) amendments to the Bill of Rights. Good luck with that.
And that’s precisely what the Founders left us — the power, each of us, to adapt to changing times. They left us the keys to a system of self-government, the tools to do big things and important things together that we could not possibly do alone — to stretch railroads and electricity and a highway system across a sprawling continent. To educate our people with a system of public schools and land-grant colleges, including The Ohio State University. To care for the sick and the vulnerable, and provide a basic level of protection from falling into abject poverty in the wealthiest nation on Earth. (Applause.) To conquer fascism and disease; to visit the Moon and Mars; to gradually secure our God-given rights for all of our citizens, regardless of who they are, or what they look like, or who they love. (Applause.)”
To conquer fascism? This from the man who juts out his jaw just like Mussolini as he nationalizes health care, education, and energy? A man who supports minimalist transit villages where people will live in small, cramped apartments and won’t be able to travel anywhere except by government transportation? A man whose bureaucracy has installed water regulating meters on our homes to monitor how much water we use? Whose plan is to usurp all private open lands and place them under government jurisdiction?
“We, the people, chose to do these things together — because we know this country cannot accomplish great things if we pursue nothing greater than our own individual ambition.”
Who (other than Obama) said anything about choosing to do these things together? The greatest kind of “team” there is, the bureaucracy, is notorious for accomplishing nothing great and making sure no one else does, either. Rugged individualism is what made America great, not rugged bureaucracy or rugged collectivism.
“Unfortunately, you’ve grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that’s at the root of all our problems; some of these same voices also doing their best to gum up the works. They’ll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave and creative and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can’t be trusted.”
Ah yes, we’re hearing voices and we should reject them. The only voice we hear and should reject is Obama’s. He’s leading the first generation of the 21st Century down the primrose path, as the cliché goes. You can ignore us, but we won’t stop speaking the truth or sounding the alarm about tyranny. That was what the Founding Fathers mandated and passed on to us.
“We have never been a people who place all of our faith in government to solve our problems; we shouldn’t want to. But we don’t think the government is the source of all our problems, either. Because we understand that this democracy is ours. And as citizens, we understand that it’s not about what America can do for us; it’s about what can be done by us, together, through the hard and frustrating but absolutely necessary work of self-government. (Applause.) And, Class of 2013, you have to be involved in that process. (Applause.)”
And when the Class of 2013 discovers just what a difficult job running our monstrous, bureaucratic government is, they’ll beg for the help of Obama’s successors with tears in their eyes instead of cutting the size of government in half and doing things for themselves. He’s counting on you, Class of 2013.
“The founders trusted us with this awesome authority. We should trust ourselves with it, too. Because when we don’t, when we turn away and get discouraged and cynical, and abdicate that authority, we grant our silent consent to someone who will gladly claim it. That’s how we end up with lobbyists who set the agenda; and policies detached from what middle-class families face every day; the well-connected who publicly demand that Washington stay out of their business — and then whisper in government’s ear for special treatment that you don’t get.”
That’s just an out-and-out lie. The Founding Fathers did NOT trust us. They did not trust anyone given power, least of all someone like Obama. They did not trust the government; that’s why the Founding Fathers, with James Madison in the lead, wrote The Constitution – in order to limit its powers because a government with power can be trusted to do only one thing; enslave the people who voted them in.
“That’s how a small minority of lawmakers get cover to defeat something the vast majority of their constituents want. That’s how our political system gets consumed by small things when we are a people called to do great things — like rebuild a middle class, and reverse the rise of inequality, and repair the deteriorating climate that threatens everything we plan to leave for our kids and our grandkids.”
When a vast majority of constituents want a free ride, it’s up to a small minority of lawmakers to defeat such a quest. Our political system got consumed by small things when it embraced bureaucracy instead of democracy. As for the “deteriorating” climate, don’t listen to those sinister voices that are telling you the world is coming to an end. Numerous administrations have had to relabel the environmental “crisis” from global cooling in the 1970s to global warming in the 1990s to the present-day “climate change” because there’s basis in their supposedly scientific theories. Yes, there is Plastic Island. There’s no denying that pollution existed. Very disgusting, it is, too. But the world coming to an end?
By the way, there isn’t going to be anything to leave your kids and grandkids, because you parents and grandparents are about to be divested of their retirement savings. You won’t make enough money to leave anything to your children and grandchildren because you won’t be allowed to accumulate wealth. Save the planet for your grandkids? They won’t be able to see it because they’ll be alternately locked away in their minimalist cubicles at work and minimalist mini-apartments in the communes. In any case, they’ll be too hypnotized by latest technological entertainment to get a permit to hike in a forest at least an hour’s ride away by train to see a daisy they won’t be allowed to touch.
“Class of 2013, only you can ultimately break that cycle. Only you can make sure the democracy you inherit is as good as we know it can be. But it requires your dedicated, and informed, and engaged citizenship. And that citizenship is a harder, higher road to take, but it leads to a better place. It’s how we built this country — together.”
Class of 2013, what Obama what you to do is break the country, not the cycle. The political cycle will go on as it has always done. The road, by the way, will be harder because it will be narrower. But you won’t have a car, so don’t worry about it.
It’s the question that President Kennedy posed to the nation at his inauguration. It’s the dream that Dr. King invoked. It does not promise easy success or immediate progress — but it has led to success, and it has led to progress. And it has to continue with you.
“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” Kennedy said. I remember his speech, even though I was very small. But that’s exactly what Obama has you doing – asking what your country can do for you.
“Which brings me to the second thing I ask of all of you — I ask that you persevere. Whether you start a business, or run for office, or devote yourself to alleviating poverty or hunger, please remember that nothing worth doing happens overnight. A British inventor named Dyson went through more than 5,000 prototypes before getting that first really fancy vacuum cleaner just right. We remember Michael Jordan’s six championships; we don’t remember his nearly 15,000 missed shots. As for me, I lost my first race for Congress, and look at me now — I’m an honorary graduate of The Ohio State University. (Applause.)”
That’s darned right. Progressivism is incremental; it’s the boiling the frog experiment. Obama doesn’t want you to give up building that prison wall around yourself. The kids from Shanghai, China know. They’re all into glittering, modern cities where they don’t really have to labor, as the peasants in the countryside do. There’s no sense in voting, because there’s only one political party. There’s no sense in protesting. Look at what happened in Tianamen Square.
George Washington’s enemies remembered every single battle he lost. The people only remembered his victory. As he traveled from Philadelphia to New York City for his inauguration, the man who didn’t want to be king was greeted by grateful citizens throwing flowers in his path during his entire journey through New Jersey.
But Obama is being disingenuous and dishonest to the Class of 2013. This modern world does not tolerate mistakes. They don’t take them lightly and do not accept those who make them. Pres. Richard Nixon basically made a mistake. A really bad one, but that was it. He was nearly impeached. It depends on who makes the mistake. Pres. Clinton had the bad taste to entertain Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office. Other than being disbarred, he suffered no serious consequences. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney made an awkward gaff about binders full of women. Although it was only a blunder, not even a bad joke, he lost the election and America lost a potentially great president. Instead, we got a president who advises college graduate to only listen to his side of the story.
“The point is, if you are living your life to the fullest, you will fail, you will stumble, you will screw up, you will fall down. But it will make you stronger, and you’ll get it right the next time, or the time after that, or the time after that. And that is not only true for your personal pursuits, but it’s also true for the broader causes that you believe in as well.”
You’ll be fired. Trust me.
“So you can’t give up your passion if things don’t work right away. You can’t lose heart, or grow cynical if there are twists and turns on your journey. The cynics may be the loudest voices — but I promise you, they will accomplish the least. It’s those folks who stay at it, those who do the long, hard, committed work of change that gradually push this country in the right direction, and make the most lasting difference.”
We’re skeptics, not cynics. Cynics are people who attribute all actions to selfish motives which, unless I’m mistake, Obama referenced several times in his speech. Skeptics are doubters who believe the certainty of knowledge cannot be attained, such as the efficacy of wind turbines.
“So whenever you feel that creeping cynicism, whenever you hear those voices saying you can’t do it, you can’t make a difference, whenever somebody tells you to set your sights lower — the trajectory of this great nation should give you hope. What generations have done before you should give you hope. Because it was young people just like you who marched and mobilized and stood up and sat in to secure women’s rights, and voting rights, and workers’ rights, and gay rights — often at incredible odds, often at great danger, often over the course of years, sometimes over the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime — and they never got acknowledged for it, but they made a difference. (Applause.)”
Common Core will do an excellent job setting their sights lower. Mom didn’t need a political platform to gain her equal pay in 1945; she just went in there and told the bosses, I’m doing the same job as the male reporters; give me the same pay or I’m out of here.” And they did. There are rights and there are licenses. There’s no doubt as to the right to vote or have workers’ compensation. But the “right” to abortion? The “right” to gay marriage? Workers in unions who don’t want to be actually have no rights. Funny thing about these rights is that they just don’t seem very civil.
“And even if their rights were already secured, there were those who fought to secure those same rights and opportunities for others. And that should give you some hope.”
Redundancy; the signal that it’s time to stop talking.
Where we’re going should give you hope. Because while things are still hard for a lot of people, you have every reason to believe that your future is bright. You’re graduating into an economy and a job market that is steadily healing. The once-dying American auto industry is on pace for its strongest performance in 20 years — something that means everything to many communities in Ohio and across the Midwest. Huge strides in domestic energy, driven in part by research at universities like this one, have us on track to secure our own energy future. Incredible advances in information and technology spurred largely by the risk-takers of your generation have the potential to change the way we do almost everything.
Obama and his cronies are the ones who infected the economy in the first place. The commuter bike is an “incredible advance in technology?”
“There is not another country on Earth that would not gladly change places with the United States of America. And that will be true for your generation just as it was true for previous generations.”
Why wouldn’t they? We’re having fire sale, fueled by the burning of the Constitution. We could hang a sign at the Statue of Liberty: “Open for looting.”
So you’ve got a lot to look forward to, but if there’s one certainty about the decade ahead, it’s that things will be uncertain. Change will be a constant, just as it has been throughout our history. And, yes, we still face many important challenges. Some will require technological breakthroughs or new policy insights. But more than anything, what we will need is political will — to harness the ingenuity of your generation, and encourage and inspire the hard work of dedicated citizens. To repair the middle class, to give more families a fair shake, to reject a country in which only a lucky few prosper because that’s antithetical to our ideals and our democracy — all of this is going to happen if you are involved, because it takes dogged determination — the dogged determination of our citizens.”
He’s a liar. He hates the Middle Class and says as much in his bio, “Dreams From My Father.”
“To educate more children at a younger age, and to reform our high schools for a new time, and to give more young people the chance to earn the kind of education that you did at The Ohio State University, and to make it more affordable so young people don’t leave with a mountain of debt — that will take the care and concern of citizens like you. (Applause.)”
He means to indoctrinate more children at a younger age through Common Core, and lower the educational standards so that those who fail won’t feel like failures. Children will be tracked, just as they were in the Soviet Union, for certain industries and jobs, and nothing more. Studying subjects such as English literature, Latin and Greek, and even higher Mathematics will be part of history; which children won’t be studying at all.
“To build better roads and airports and faster Internet, and to advance the kinds of basic research and technology that’s always kept America ahead of everybody else — that will take the grit and fortitude of citizens.”
To build better roads you won’t be allowed to drive on, to build airports you won’t be allowed to fly out of, and to build a faster Internet that can track you are and what you are doing before you can shut the government snoops down. Grit and fortitude? Or just plain chutzpah?
“To confront the threat of climate change before it’s too late — that requires the idealism and the initiative of citizens.”
Not to mention gullibility
“To protect more of our kids from the horrors of gun violence — that requires the unwavering passion, the untiring resolve of citizens. (Applause.) It will require you.”
It will require them to – what? Surrender their firearms? Surrender their only means of protection against government incursion? If the Class of 2013 really wants to protect their children from horrors, they’ll refuse to allow ghastly video games into their homes (via that faster Internet Obama promised) such as “Doom.”
“Fifty years ago, President Kennedy told the class of 1963 that ‘our problems are man-made — therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants.’ We’re blessed to live in the greatest nation on Earth. But we can always be greater. We can always aspire to something more. That doesn’t depend on who you elect to office. It depends on you, as citizens, how big you want us to be, how badly you want to see these changes for the better.”
Only Obama just got through telling the Class of 2013 that it’s selfish to be as big as they want. There’s a telling line for you, though. “It depends on you, as citizens, how big you want us to be, how badly you want to see these things change for the better.” How big we want the government to be?! Yes, you tell them, future Obamaheads that you want a huge government, so big that our debts will never be paid.
“And look at all that America has already accomplished. Look at how big we’ve been. I dare you, Class of 2013, to do better. I dare you to dream bigger.”
We see how big the government has become. We dare the Class of 2013 to make it even bigger. That’s not a dream; that’s a nightmare straight out of George Orwell’s 1984.
“And from what I’ve seen of your generation, I’m confident that you will. And so I wish you courage, and compassion, and all the strength that you will need for that tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.”
From what we’ve seen of this generation, we could sell them the Brooklyn Bridge for a buck.
“Thank you. God bless you, and God bless these United States of America. (Applause.)”
Wasn’t that just swell of Obama to ask God’s blessing for the Class of 2013 and the United States? Well, we’re not going to leave the last word to Obama; not in this blog, not ever.
“The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosophers, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful.” Edward Gibbon. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. [1776-1788].
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