Open Bar – Your Worst Fears About Obama?
What are the things that concern you most about the Obama ascendancy?
As usual, this thread is open to other topics as well.
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Worst fears? I can only speculate on the wormy thoughts in the addled brains of Obama and his advisers..
My immediate fears are the union “card check” plan, restricting our ability to own and trade firearms, and squashing our 1st amendment rights. Fear? Because it is a probability, not simply a possibility.
As I have said before, Biden’s comment about the “crisis” we WILL face, is that it will be an internal crisis. Likely at the point where gun ownership on a wholesale basis is challenged as “necessary.” In an “external” situation, he would hardy require the support as he said will be needed for the “crisis.”
At this point I am not scared of Obama. Since nov. 5 he has seemed to be an ultra-compromiser, and he is so scared of losing public approval that he will do anything we (conservatives) want. He wants us to love him. So all we have to do is criticize him and he will rush to prove us wrong.
I’m okay with this arrangement. We get 4 more years of muddled Bush policies, and just have to put up with the occasional annoyance from Obama worshippers… But thank God they are all silenced now and aren’t complaining anymore. We come back in 2012 and clean up.
That’s my 4 cents.
* Weakness inviting a terrorist attack
* Fairness doctrine
* Appointing liberal judges
* Card check
* Gun control
* Amnesty for all illegal aliens
* Total collapse of the economy followed by…
* Government takeover of the economy
* Mandatory volunteer work
* Domestic “army” funded as well as the military
* Conservatism defined as a hate crime
* Conservative views defined as hate speech
* Making voter registration/voting fraud even easier
Good list, Civ.
My worst fear is that he crowns himself “Emperor” and nobody but us notices or cares. But if the country has already gotten that bad, then we are doomed anyways.
My more likely fear is that he and his liberal buddies are smarter than we think they are. In that case, they will continue with the small incremental steps towards socialism by throwing plenty of freebies at the masses to stay popular so that they keep control of congress for the foreseeable future and get Obama re-elected. Then he can turn up the speed and size of the changes and there is nothing we can do about it. Plus this scenario makes it highly likely that the GOP fails to get our act together for at least 4 years – typically we re good at reacting to large changes like Hillary Care )although we blew it on stopping the “bailout”), but we suck at stopping “small” things. And 8 years of Obama with a liberal dem congress means that Civ’s list is just a starting point.
So our best hope is that the libs try to move too fast. And regardless of what they do, we need to get the GOP straightened out – we need a focussed message (what are the top 3, 5 or 10 things that we would do once back in power?) and we need somebody who can articulate it. And maybe, just maybe, we – the conservatives – should pick that person versus letting the media and “open” primaries do it for us…
Re-education Camps
The Universities already have the curriculum. They just have to make it official.
Him proving every single thing we’ve said about him correct since the election, I suppose.
I sincerely hope that we’re wrong about him…because I really am fearful to think about if we’re right about his Marxist ass.
Freedom of Choice Act.
Everyone makes a big stink about our economy. And while our economy is very important to me, abortion is at the top of my personal list. I would rather my country be financially bankrupt than morally bankrupt.
latinchic, yes, I forgot the Freedom of Choice Act. That belongs on my list, too.
Top of the list? That The One is going to do something stupid and get a bunch of us killed. I guess that living in L.A. (i.e. a BIG target!) makes this come to mind. This might be the bluest of cities, but what does some half-educated goat herder with a suitcase nuke care about that?
Latinchic, you’re spot on about the morally bankrupt society we live in. As I’ve said before, I have a DS child and since her arrival on the planet, “thoughtful liberals” have consistently told me things like “don’t you know there are tests for those types of things”, “you pro-lifers really like sticking society with your retards don’t you?”, “your kid is a vegetable for all practical purposes”. A host of other things have been said but you get the gist of it.
Catie, that is appalliing! Give your daughter a huge hug from me. I’m sure she’ll bless many more lives during her time here than those morons will. Your story reminded me of right after we adopted our youngest (we had one bio & lost one before adopting). He was just a few weeks old and we were at a family event where my inlaws live, which was partially planned to welcome him. We had a slideshow going on my husband’s laptop, off to the side, and it had pics of our adoption trip, pics of his birthfamily, etc. I was standing there holding him in my arms and a “relative” who had been watching the slideshow turned to me and asked “so why didn’t she abort him?” I’m rarely speechless, but that did it. I have since thought of a million things I should have said, of course. And he doesn’t even have any special needs. I can’t imagine how many more idiots would have asked me that question if he did. God help our nation.
So, in keeping with the topic- my biggest fear is that we will slowly lose all connection to the things that are truly important. Instead of making it the government’s job to protect life, we will use the government as a means to protecting people’s feelings and convenience at all cost.
The cult of personality that surrounds Obama and his legions, which will make it very difficult for anyone to oppose him or his plans in any meaningful way. And new terrorist attacks on US soil after The One shuts down our more effective surveillance programs and is “tested” by our foes.
Lorione, do we share the same relatives? I am serious about that question. We adopted a little boy when we lived in HI and my husband’s grandmother said the same thing. I think it’s terrible that people think it’s okay to share things like that with us. I don’t know which one is worse-relatives or strangers. I am rarely speechless myself but in the beginning I found that I was, not so much anymore.
I would just like to say that I do NOT support the Freedom of Choice Act. Believe it or not all democrats(which I am a Dem) do not believe that anything goes. I am pro-choice, but I am anti-abortion. I do not agree with women who use it as a birth control. I do not think that abortion should be illegal, because the government should not interfere with my womb; however I feel that there should be limitations on the procedure. I do not believe in late term/partial birth abortions UNLESS there is documented medical evidence that the pregnancy will endanger the mother’s health/life. Other than the health risk, there is NO EXCUSE for carrying a child for 6 months and then saying, “oh well…I think I will get an abortion”.
This is one of the main reasons I am against the FOCA. With this act, it will lift all limitations on abortion and that is not right. It is bad enough to be in a situation to have to consider an abortion, but to have no restrictions or thoughts about it, is disgusting. I also do NOT agree with Federal money being used to pay for the procedure. I can be fair; if I can tell the Govt. to stay the hell out of my womb, I am in no place to ask for money so that the Govt. can help me with my womb. I just wish that the number of abortions would severely decrease and then maybe this issue would not come up as much. Get on birth control, or get educated, but running to the clinic every time you have sex is not the answer.
Lastly, I AGREE with the parent notification because any minor making a huge decision such as abortion, NEEDS an adult to help them through it.
NOTE TO FELLOW PARENTS: if your child is so uncomfortable coming and talking to you about things like this, then you need to open the lines of communication more. Kids are going to make mistakes, they are not perfect. BUT THE FED GOVT. SHOULD NOT FEEL THAT PARENT NOTIFICATION IS A BAD THING, so obviously there is a problem somewhere.
So there: MY BIGGEST CONCERN ABOUT BARACK OBAMA is that he will let abortion get out of control. Other than that he is pretty cool.
Good Day
@catie:
…I’m grabbing my baseball bat.
I have couple questions, Miss Carter. I hope you don’t mind. See, I’m glad you’re here, because I rarely find someone willing to rationally discuss this stuff. Most of the time, when the abortion discussion comes up, it devolves into name calling. So rarely do I get to truly understand the reasoning of those with whom I disagree. I’m hoping you can show me where I’m off on my logic here. So, first—you say that the government has no right to interfere with your womb. Do they have a right to interfere with your fist? Or would it be okay for you to use it to pound someone’s face? In my logic, your right to do what you want with your body works great until it interferes with the body of another person. At one time, we did not have the scientific knowledge we do now– but we now know beyond a doubt that a fetus is a separate person. Different DNA and everything. Second, regarding partial-birth- I would like someone to explain to me under what circumstances it would be healthier for the mother to deliver a dead baby than a live one. From what I understand, she delivers a second or third-trimester child either way. One way, the baby is alive when it fully leaves the birth canal, the other way, it’s not. Also, from what I understand, “health” of the mom can be loosely interpreted to be “mental health”– which in turn can mean simply that having a child right now would be stressful. Well, yeah! Lastly- you say there should be restrictions and it should not be used as birth control. Why not? If what’s in the womb is not seen as a person with intrinsic value, then why should it matter? And if what’s in the womb is a person with intrinsic value, then why make exceptions? Again– thanks for expressing logical arguments. I happen to be a big fan of Dennis Prager, who often says he values clarity over agreement.
I’m also a Dennis Prager fan, Lorione. You ask refreshingly-cogent questions that mostly answer themselves. There’s no intelligent way to stand on the other side of what you bring up, here. There’s only emotion-based tragedy that defends the nonsense behind statements like “I am pro-choice, but I am anti-abortion”, and “WOMEN THAT MADE A MISTAKE AND REALIZE THAT ABORTIONS SHOULD NOT BE USED AS BIRTH CONTROL BUT AT THIS CURRENT TIME CAN NOT TAKE CARE OF A CHILD SO WILL REQUIRE ONE [are really innocent people]“.
I’m sorry, but the caps, combined with the ignorance of these rants causes me to throw the ‘hysteria’ flag on the field. You can practically see the nostrils flaring from Miss Carter on this one. Yes, it’s great to have a free-forum of sorts, here, but that works both ways. You may declare your opinion (without abuse of good manners, ‘natch), but we then may declare ours. The readers will decide which ones are supported by logic, facts, and goodness, and which are ill-informed emotions in need of help of one kind or another.
I apologize for the use of caps. I was not screaming, nor am I ignorant. I used caps because some people tend to skim through things, so I always CAP what I want people to pay the most attention to. I understand that is improper internet etiquette, so I apologize. Abortion will always be something that the majority of people will never see eye to eye on. Some people are more passionate about certain issues than others. All I am trying to say is that in America we have choices and I appreciate that. I would hope that most people never had to make that choice, but the reality of it – is that some of us do.
I am not intending to make a fetus seem less important than anybody else. However it is my body and that is the way it should be treated. If one decided at 9 weeks of gestation to say “I don’t want this child; but since you are so concerned about it, you take it and place it in you and carry it and deliver it” – ridiculous right?? I understand adoption and taking responsibility for your actions, but I can’t get over the fact that this is my body and there is no way for you to take and raise my fetus – so why should your opinion matter??
And before anyone accuses me, I am not an advocate for killing children. I just respect the Supreme Courts ruling about the fact of when a fetus can or can not survive outside the body. This is why I am against late term abortions. I do not know of any medical reasons as to why a mother would not be able to deliver her child – all I said was that IF it were a legitimate reason…and mental stress is not good enough. I mean basically something severe enough to where the doctor would say “if you continue this pregnancy, you will die”. Like I said I do not know of anything that would apply to this reason – but if it were – the choice should be there.
I would like to say one last thing. I think the adoption laws in this country need to be revisited. There should be absolute secrecy for the parent that did put their child up for adoption – unless the parent wants the adoption to be open. My best friend’s mom unfortunately put her first born up for adoption – as she couldn’t care for her. She requested that her information be kept private but 19 years later she has a women banging on her door and basically harassing her. Her daughter could not accept the fact that she put her up for adoption but went on to have other children. She would not leave them alone and it got so bad that my best friend’s family had to move away. How did this happen?? She tried to explain her reasons, but the young lady would not hear of it. The mother felt bad enough for having to give up her child in the first place and then she must re-live it all over again. (I know this is a bit off topic but while I was here I wanted to express how I felt about that.)
The viability argument is an interesting one. On the surface, it has merits. Once a fetus can survive outside a woman, it should be given a chance to do so, but before then the mom is simply removing it–sounds logical enough, right? The problem is that the age a fetus can survive outside the womb is not an unchanging number. The age of fetal viability has continued to be declared lower and lower, based on our advances in medical technology. Preemies are being saved and are thriving and younger and younger ages. So what you suggest winds up defining the start of life not by any inherent qualities in that individual, but in the state of medical technology. So a 20-week fetus today might be considered too young to be given a chance at life, but a 25-weeker (who would have been left to die a few generations ago) is now seen as viable. That doesn’t seem right. I actually think it could one day be medically possible to transplant a 9-wk fetus into the womb of a woman who can carry but not conceive. We’re a long way off, but would get there a lot faster if the people who are “pro-choice” would put their money toward having that choice available. Frozen-embryo adoption is already a possibility for couples who don’t want to destroy their “unused” embryos after in-vitro. And don’t get me started on adoption laws- I’m already off-topic enough here :-).
Miss Carter, I appreciate your answering questions respectfully and devoid of mean-spirited sarcasm. I also have a question for you. You said:
“I am not intending to make a fetus seem less important than anybody else. However it is my body and that is the way it should be treated.”
I think this is the argument that many pro-choice advocates come down to, so I am particularly curious of it. Many of us pro-lifers believe that our body is our body and we can do whatever we want with it……until another body is inside us. Many of us who are devout Christians believe that our body is actually not our own, but God’s, and that we should be good stewards of it. So my question is….how is it that you came to the conclusion that your body is still your own even if you are pregnant with a child?
I hope I made sense!
I just want to say thank-you to those who share different views but can be respectful of others. That is one of the best things about this country, we can agree to disagree and not be punished for it.
To Lorione: I would like to offer a little background on myself so you can get a better sense of where I am coming from. I was pregnant at 16 years old. I had my son as a senior in high school once I turned 17. I considered an abortion, but felt that my child was just as needed in society as a married couple’s child is. I then had my next son at the age of 19.(and to all the bigots out there – no one is perfect so please do not judge. I had intentions on getting married to the man that fathered both of my children but he became a jerk, so my boys and I are better off without him. I was young, dumb, and in love.) Now if I was what people consider the typical pro-choicer, I would have said, “oh this baby is not going to get in my way – take me to the clinic!” But I didn’t. I accepted responsibility for the role that I played. However the father didn’t.
And that is also a concern about Obama – I hope he intends to put his foot down about child support, and dead beat fathers, because it is pretty ridiculous. So while we may disagree on the legal stance of abortion, I may be pro-choice but I am anti-abortion. I did not make that my first alternative. I made a plan for me and my kids, and I stuck to it. I have never regretted not getting an abortion; the only thing I regret was not making better decisions as a teenager, and protecting myself, since I thought I was old enough to have sex. As far as the viability thing, trust me having an abortion at 20 weeks should not even be an option. I see, sometimes in the phonebook, listings for abortion clinics, and some say “we do procedures up to 24 weeks”. What the hell???? That is 6 months and it makes me want to vomit. As you said, preemies are born and survive at 6 months. When I brought up that argument about viability, I was looking more at something like between 7-9 weeks of gestation. Not that it makes it right, but I have not heard anything about a 7-9 week fetus being viable. But like I said hopefully more people will prevent themselves from ever having to make this choice.
“A dem who actually believes in God! (sorry..that was my humor for the day..*smile*)”
“My life revolved around the life that I carried, so while I may say abortion should be legal, I am not the monster that most pro-lifers think that I am.”
Your surprise is understandable. But some of my dearest friends are Democrats. One of my favorite spiritual leaders, Billy Graham, is a registered Democrat though from what I understand he has voted across party lines in the past. I am also fully aware that no single political party has the market cornered on morality. In fact, I am not a registered Republican, but I definitely hold a lot of conservative viewpoints. One more thing: there are many, many pro-lifers that do not think you’re a monster because of the beliefs you hold. Many of us might challenge ideas, but not degrade the person. We challenge ideas (and ideologies), because ideas (and ideologies) have consequences and serious, long-affecting ones at that.
“The core reason why I do not vote republican is because they want limited government(which is not a bad thing), but want to control personal lives.”
Ok, I think I understand. (And if I don’t, please correct me if I’m wrong.) You don’t vote Republican because you feel that they are hypocritical. Let’s think about that for a moment. Could you provide an example?
“If the embryo/fetus can not survive out side of my body then I feel my body is just that – my body.”
Here’s where I think this argument breaks down: a baby, no matter at what stage of life development he/she is (1 week-2 years, or whatever) cannot survive by itself neither inside or outside of a woman’s body. This baby still needs our help, still needs our nourishment, still needs our affection, and still needs our care. It seems to me that we just have the priviledge and responsability to care for them until they can care for themselves.
I applaud you and respect the fact that you chose to have your children. That takes guts. Really, thank you. That takes setting aside perhaps dreams or goals you had in order to be responsable for them. But I would like to take the challenge further……even if a woman is not able to care for the child, I say to them: please, please, please let that child live. Even if it means that the woman would make the choice to give up her child, I’ll take abandonment over abortion any day of the week. Why do you think that women who do this are in torment about it for years as you told us with your story about your friend? Because having the child makes you appreciate the work it takes to bring a child to life. Life is so precious to God that He makes us remember it forever.
I work with teens and young adults regularly. I hear their stories all the time. The courageous ones who kept their children, and the heartbreak of those girls who chose not to. My heart goes out to both. But my heart aches more for the children who were not given the chance to live.
Let’s err on the side of life. Always. There are some fundamental things in life worth fighting for, and life is one of them.
I want to take a second (okay, probably more:-) to address a few thoughts of mine that Miss Carter’s comments have brought up. Basically, I think the worst thing we conservatives have going for us is that we let the liberals define us. Most of what Miss Carter says is pretty consistent with the picture the media and much of “mainstream” America has of us. They see us as judgmental, hypocritical bigots who want all the money to ourselves while we let poor people starve. There’s probably also some kicking of kittens involved too :-). Is anyone else horribly frustrated by that? How do we combat that without just sounding defensive? Now we have two, maybe three generations of people who see conservatives in that light, and it’s just a foregone conclusion: liberals are nice and love everyone, while conservatives are mean and selfish. Most of us know the facts- that there are bigots and hypocrites in every party, and possibly more of them on the liberal side. We know that conservatives are very giving of their time, talent and treasure-we just differ with liberals when it comes to how best to help others. We prefer that giving not be legislated. Now that the liberals are going to be in control for a while, how do we get the point across about who we really are and what we really stand for? I’m not talking about “converting” die-hard liberals. I’m talking about getting the message out to those who only believe what they do because they’ve been inundated with liberal talking points their whole lives. Some of them must be redeemable!
@Lorione, As a professor I see one area needing improvement: More conservatives need to go into academia and the arts. As it is now, people with conservative mindsets tend to gravitate toward the military or business. But if liberals control colleges, high schools, newspapers, arts funds, museums, web design firms, and production houses, it will be hopeless for conservatives. Where I teach now, I only know of one other registered Republican, and I’ve never met her; I just saw her getting eviscerated on the faculty listserv — mind you there are thousands of faculty members here because there are almost 40,000 students. That has to change, but it will take time.
Abortion is kind of like the immigration issue — those of us who are stubborn about maintaining a median position (I am pro-life 100%, but on immigration I support a pathway to citizenship at the same time that I support building a wall) have to accept the fact that fora like this website are not going to be places where we can explain our hybrid position ad infinitum. If you are a pro-choice conservative on this website, I think you have to cease and desist after two or three posts (at the most). When I post about immigration, I respond to the first flame and then move on. Otherwise you are, as Malkin says, “feeding the troll.”
Latinos4JohnnyMac: “More conservatives need to go into academia and the arts.”
I agree with this 100%, which is one of the main reasons I intend to become a teacher. It was Plato that said, “Give me the songs of a nation, and it doesn’t matter who writes its laws.”
I don’t feel it’s all-encompassing, but I certainly think there’s a lot of truth there.
@latinchic: Bravo!!! Not only another conservative, but a conservative Latina! Keep in touch as you move through the world of education: bronzepage@gmail.com. You can count on at least one Latino conservative ally! (You won’t have many). Good luck! And let me know where you are & what you will be focusing on! Maybe I can be of help. I am a professor out here in Los Angeles.
“More conservatives need to go into academia and the arts.”
I’ve been in academia for nine years – first as a grad student and then as a prof. It can be quite lonely here for a conservative.
Well, Mike, if you get really lonely, there’s always email. Feel free to contact me.
Thanks, Latinos.