Posted by
Bert Chapman on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 7:49:51 PM
Barack Obama's presidential campaign has gotten tremendous mileage from promoting his vision of change. His campaign produces signs and bumper stickers promoting the soundbite "change we can believe in." This feel-good mantra has propelled him into the lead for the Democrats presidential nomination and, if he wins next Tuesday's Texas and Ohio primaries, will essentially give him a stranglehold on his party's nomination. The media and their leftist cohorts in academe, Hollywood, the liberal mainstream media, and significant chunks of liberal and, frighteningly, non-liberal public opinion are viewing him as a new messiah who will "redeem" America and America's place in world opinion from the purported depredations of the Bush presidency. Over the next few months we should ask Obama and his sycophantic hordes what kind of change they want to promote. We should particularly ask Obama and his messianic apostles if they are willing to change Democratic and liberal orthodoxy on a variety of issues. Here are some sample questions we can ask them.
Do you favor restricting abortion? Do you think homosexuality is a desirable behavior for society to encourage? Do you think marriage should remain between a man or woman or do you think homosexuals should be allowed to marry? If so, what economic and social costs do you see this expanded form of "marriage" creating?
What concrete policies do you propose to implement to reduce illegitimate births in our society?
Do you favor eliminating affirmative action and quotas in hiring and university admissions? Why or why not?
Do you favor placing increasing reliance on nuclear power as a means to deal with climate change and America's energy problems?
Are you willing to take preemptive military action to defend the American people and vital national security interests even if such actions are unpopular within you party or in significant sectors of international public opinion?
Do you really think we can negotiate with terrorists like Osama bin Laden or with hostile foreign dictators like Kim Jong-Il, Iran's Ahmadinejad, Cuba's Raul Castro, or Venezuela's Hugo Chavez who have no desire to genuinely resolve or mediate differences with the United States?
Who do you think should have greater freedom and legal protection in fighting Islamist terrorists: U.S. soldiers and intelligence agents or Al Qaida or Taliban terrorists? Explain your answer in detail.
Do you think English should be the official language of the United States? Explain why or why not. If not, do you think bilingual societies are desirable and do you think they promote greater national unity or discord?
What government agencies and programs will you eliminate or reduce in size to lessen the federal budget deficit? Especially non-military programs.
What specific steps will you take to reform Social Security and Medicare whose rising costs are a major reason for our federal budgetary problems?
What concrete steps will you take to reduce the national debt?
Do you favor school choice? Why or why not?
Do you favor improving the quality of health care by promoting greater individual responsibility and by allowing for greater competition in medical services? Why or why not?
Are you willing to consider the possibility that global warming is not as acute a danger as climate change alarmists have predicted and that it could have positive benefits? Does this week's report that the size of the Arctic icefield has expanded considerably cause you to critically question the views of global warming histrionics such as Al Gore?
What steps will you take to reduce farm subsidies? Will you allow Americans to import commodities such as sugar which cannot be imported due to laws written by protectionist sugar producers?
Do you believe it's possible that ethanol is not a viable solution to America's dependence on foreign oil and that the rush to produce more ethanol has resulted in unnecessary grocery price increases for Americans?
Will you appoint strict constructionists to federal courts who do not seek to implement their views into law or will you appoint rampaging liberal judicial activists such as those on the 9th circuit court?
I'm sure readers could contribute additional questions as well. Let's try these questions out on Obama and his apostles and watch their faces turn into anguish.