California Conservative

Foxnews.com has just posted the transcript of Sen. Obama’s acceptance speech. Now’s the time to dissect it and find out how often his rhetoric didn’t match reality. Here’s the first instance where rhetoric didn’t match reality:

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can’t afford to drive, credit cards, bills you can’t afford to pay, and tuition that’s beyond your reach.

I can’t argue that many have lost their homes. I can’t argue that home prices are dropping. But saying that “more Americans are out of work” doesn’t match the fact that we’ve had very low unemployment. It’s also worth noting that the reason why people “have cars [they] can’t afford to drive” is because the Democrat majorities in the House and Senate have obstructed legislation that would’ve increased domestic energy production.

If we want change, I’d suggest that we change the party that’s in charge of Capitol Hill.

Here’s one of the most intellectually dishonest statements I’ve ever heard in a political speech:

Now, I don’t believe that Senator McCain doesn’t care what’s going on in the lives of Americans; I just think he doesn’t know.

Sen. Obama doesn’t think that. It’s one of most despicable cheapshots I’ve ever heard, much less in an acceptance speech. While we’re on the subject of who gets it and who doesn’t, let’s explore that a bit.

When Russia invaded Georgia, Sen. Obama called for the Russians, who invaded a sovereign nation, and the Georgians, who were killed en masse, to both act with restraint. Sen. McCain called it a Russian invasion right from the start. Most serious foreign policy experts said it’s Sen. Obama that didn’t have a clue.

Sen. Obama said again tonight that he’d negotiate directly with Iran:

I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression.

Unfortunately, he also said that he’d invade Pakistan:

You know, John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but he won’t even follow him to the cave where he lives.

Sen. Obama’s foreign policy can be summarized like this: He’ll invade our allies and negotiate with enemies that want to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Does that sound like he gets it?

Speaking of getting it, let’s examine this statement:

As president, as president, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I’ll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America.

Sen. Obama was initially against drilling of any sort. Then he said he’d consider opening up a portion of the OCS. Doesn’t Sen. Obama understand that we don’t know which wells will tap a natural gas reserve and which will tap an oil reserve? Does he realize that some might produce both?

Sen. Obama says that he’ll “help our auto companies re-tool.” History tells us that Detroit was in awful shape when President Reagan took office in 1981. That’s why one of President Reagan’s first priorities was to cut capital gains taxes. Detroit’s in awful shape again. Unlike President Reagan, Sen. Obama has promised that he’d double the capital gains tax from 15% to 28%.

It doesn’t sound like he gets it with regards to tax policy.

This statement is the most intellectually dishonest statement in his speech:

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don’t tell me that Democrats won’t defend this country. Don’t tell me that Democrats won’t keep us safe.

FDR and JFK wouldn’t recognize the MoveOn.org/Code Pink version of the Democratic Party. In fact, they’d be sick to their stomachs if they were alive today. Sen. Obama can say whatever he wants but he isn’t credible. When Harry Reid declared that the war was lost, was that proof that Democrats would “defend this country“?

It wasn’t that long ago that Harry Reid told a cheering audience that “Just think what we just did 20 minutes ago in that room. We killed the Patriot Act.” Is that proof that Democrats are willing to “defend this country”? When Christopher Dodd, Ted Kennedy and Russ Feingold filibuster the Patriot Act reform legislation, is that the Democrats’ way of defending this nation?

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly and finish the fight against Al Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The only reason why we can talk about ending our involvement in Iraq is because the Surge worked. John McCain was right in advocating for it. Sen. Obama said it wouldn’t work, that it’d only make things worse. If not for the surge, there couldn’t be credible talk about finishing the Iraq war responsibly. If Sen. Obama had gotten his way, we would’ve left Iraq with Sunnis and Shia on the verge of civil war. We would’ve left with Iran financing Sadr’s militias in the south. We would’ve left with AQI controlling Anbar and the western provinces.

I said here that we shouldn’t send a toy messiah to do a man’s job. Thursday night’s speech didn’t give me a reason to change that opinion.

And I will restore our moral standing so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

This is typical liberal BS. America’s moral standing is still high because we’re the nation that liberated 50 million people. America’s moral standing is still high because we didn’t abandon our allies. America’s moral standing is still high because we didn’t attack an ally (Pakistan).

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain.

Lovely words. Too bad Sen. Obama’s actions don’t match his words. If he was serious about not following “this same partisan playbook”, then why did he vote according to MoveOn.org’s wishes on the Iraq war? If Sen. Obama was serious about not following “this same partisan playbook”, then why did he vote according to CODEPINK’s wishes on Iraq? Everyone knows that they’re among the most radical anti-war organizations in America.

So I’ve got news for you, John McCain: We all put our country first.

Sen. Obama, did you put your country first when you said what MoveOn.org, CODEPINK and other anti-war organizations wanted to hear during the primaries, then shifted your positions on everything once you were the nominee?

I’ve seen it in Washington, where we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans, and keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists.

Sen. Obama, is that the ethics reform that you promised to work with Sen. McCain on, then backed out on? Surely you remember that. It’s the time Sen. McCain sent you the letter saying he took you at your word about wanting to get something done. It’s the letter where he said he was glad you disabused him of thinking you could work work in a bipartisan fashion.

BTW, that ethics reform bill has more loopholes in it than Swiss cheese.

Here’s the most boneheaded line in the entire speech:

Washington has been talking about our oil addiction for the last 30 years. And, by the way, John McCain has been there for 26 of them.

Perhaps one of his speechwriters should remind him that his runningmate has been in Washington 36 years. OOPS…My mistake. He wasn’t really in Washington because he took the train home to Delaware each night.

When you put this all together, you’ll find out that Sen. Obama will increase taxes on small businesses, negotiate with Islamic terrorists and invade our allies. that doesn’t sound too bright.

Technorati Tags: Obama, Acceptance Speech, Foreign Policy, Pakistan, Iraq, Georgia, Iran, Russia, Tax Increases, Drilling, Natural Gas, OCS, Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Lobbyists, Ethics, Nuclear Weapons, John McCain, Gravitas, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

This entry was posted on Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 12:29 am and is filed under Author: Gary Gross, Economy, Election 2008, Energy, Environment, Foreign Policy, Iran, Iraq, McCain, Obama, Special Interests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.