Typical leftist
By Carol Devine-Molin
web posted July 7, 2008
It was reported a few weeks ago that Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama warned his supporters that the election season might "get ugly", stating, "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun." That's tough talk from a guy who let's others do his dirty work. But then again, that's the modus operandi of Leftist candidates, isn't it?
Obama's "I'm above the fray" pretense is not going to hold up much longer. People nowadays are savvy to the machinations of politicos. When high profile surrogates such as Senators Jay Rockefeller and Jim Webb and former General Wesley Clark attempt to denigrate or devalue the military background and hero status of GOP presidential candidate John McCain, it doesn't look like they're offering up free-lance, off-the-cuff remarks. Rather, it looks orchestrated. Simply put, they're working in tandem with the Obama camp. The strategy of Team Obama has been fairly uncomplicated: Obama's surrogates get to wreak a little damage upon GOP presidential candidate John McCain, while candidate Obama generally has had the luxury of haughtily ignoring the ensuing kerfuffle.
But perhaps Obama has become overly confident that his camp won't come under withering criticism. True, the liberal mainstream media supports the Obama candidacy, and they're very unlikely to provide any insightful analysis on the maneuverings of Obama et al that shed bad light upon them. However, thanks to the Internet and talk radio New Media, all candidates are being subjected to increasing scrutiny. Frankly, Obama has been just a little too eager to have his surrogates lash out and impugn GOP presidential candidate John McCain, who has, in fact, been very careful and very circumspect in his comments about Obama. McCain has already demonstrated that he'll readily rebuke any of his surrogates that espouse remarks that he considers less than judicious. In short, McCain has been exceedingly gentle and fair with Obama.
The Politico recently asked, "Who's Smearing Whom?" The article stated,
"Contrast the absence of smears from the McCain camp with some of the outlandish remarks made by high-ranking Obama supporters. In April, West Virginia Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV said that because McCain "was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet," and "was long gone when they hit," the Arizona senator who spent five and a half years in a Vietcong tiger cage having his arms repeatedly broken didn't really understand the carnage of war. "What happened when [the missiles] get to the ground?" Rockefeller asked a crowd at an Obama rally. "He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues."
Rockefeller's comments about McCain were reprehensible, and Obama should have personally repudiated them if he's truly the "new breed" of politician that he's claiming to be. Moreover, if Obama was intellectually honest, he would acknowledge that it was camp Hillary and her surrogates that were issuing the "smears" against him, not Team McCain. But, since we're now in general election mode, it's much more advantageous for the Obama crew to demonize McCain. Obama and his surrogates are biting at the bit to shellac McCain, and they'll utilize any pretext at their disposal.
Recently on the CBS Sunday news program, Face the Nation, on the subject of John McCain, retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark said, "I don't think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president." Clearly, that's an incredibly churlish and dimwitted comment that totally ignores salient facts. Senator McCain is the ranking member of the Senate Armed Service Committee and a world renowned national security and foreign policy authority that would be able to walk into the role of Commander-in-Chief on day one. We're not only fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, we're doing battle against radical Islam on a global scale. In short, Senator McCain's credentials are impeccable in this wartime milieu.
Moreover, McCain is thoroughly committed to halting earmarks and pork-barrel spending, and to reducing the size of government, which is imperative in these difficult times. CNBC Host Larry Kudlow noted that "McCain is also good news for business and the stock market. He wants to cut the corporate tax and keep dividend and cap-gains tax rates low. He's tough as nails on restraining government spending and blowing up earmarks. On top of all this, he's a very strong free trader who knows America can compete with the rest of the world."
As to Senator Jim Webb's remark that military service "is one area that I would ask him [McCain] to calm down on", sure Team Obama has every reason to want McCain to shut up about his military service, because it speaks to his strength of character and represents significant experience for a commander-in-chief during these times of war. Besides, McCain's personal story of heroism trumps anything that Obama could ever say about himself. In contrast, Obama wants us to return to an era when terrorism was treated like a law enforcement matter. We're supposed to track down and serve these murderous thugs with subpoenas! Without question, Obama's poor judgment on issues of national security will get Americans killed.
The truth is that Obama's experience and resume are very thin. I often listen to talk radio and when Obama supporters are asked, "What are his accomplishments?", they can't answer for the simple reason that there's nothing in his resume that qualifies him to become president and commander-in-chief. Team Obama has been reduced to making silly attempts to denigrate McCain, which are sure to backfire. Obama is a less-than-adequate presidential candidate with far Left inclinations, who lacks authenticity and substance. This enthrallment with Obama that some seem to exhibit is a "cult of personality" phenomenon. 
Carol Devine-Molin is a regular contributor to several online magazines.