Obama Presidency Would Be A Step Backward

National Review Online: Candidate's Dangerous Policies Are Straight Out Of 1930s And 1960s

(National Review Online)  This column was written by Thomas Sowell.

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Many years ago, a great hitter named Paul Waner was nearing the end of his long career. He entered a ballgame with 2,999 hits - one hit away from the 3,000-hit landmark - which so many hitters want to reach, but which relatively few actually do reach.

Waner hit a ball that the fielder did not handle cleanly but the official scorer called it a hit, making it Waner’s 3,000th. Paul Waner then sent word to the official scorer that he did not want that questionable hit to be the one that put him over the top.

The official scorer reversed himself and called it an error. Later Paul Waner got a clean hit for number 3,000.

What reminded me of this is the great fervor that many seem to feel over the prospect of the first black president of the United States.

No doubt it is only a matter of time before there is a black president, just as it was only a matter of time before Paul Waner got his 3,000th hit. The issue is whether we want to reach that landmark so badly that we are willing to overlook how questionably that landmark is reached.

Paul Waner had too much pride to accept a scratch hit. Choosing a president of the United States is a lot more momentous than a baseball record. We the voters need to have far more concern about who we put in that office that holds the destiny of a nation and of generations yet unborn.

There is no reason why someone as arrogant, foolishly clever, and ultimately dangerous as Barack Obama should become president - especially not at a time when the threat of international terrorists with nuclear weapons looms over 300 million Americans.

Many people seem to regard elections as occasions for venting emotions, like cheering for your favorite team or choosing a homecoming queen.

The three leading candidates for their party’s nomination are being discussed in terms of their demographics - race, sex, and age - as if that is what the job is about.

One of the painful aspects of studying great catastrophes of the past is discovering how many times people were preoccupied with trivialities when they were teetering on the edge of doom. The demographics of the presidency are far less important than the momentous weight of responsibility that office carries.

Just the power to nominate federal judges to trial courts and appellate courts across the country, including the Supreme Court, can have an enormous impact for decades to come. There is no point feeling outraged by things done by federal judges, if you vote on the basis of emotion for those who appoint them.

Barack Obama has already indicated that he wants judges who make social policy instead of just applying the law. He has already tried to stop young violent criminals from being tried as adults.

Although Senator Obama has presented himself as the candidate of new things - using the mantra of “change” endlessly - the cold fact is that virtually everything has says about domestic policy is straight out of the 1960s and virtually everything he says about foreign policy is straight out of the 1930s.

Protecting criminals, attacking business, increasing government spending, promoting a sense of envy and grievance, raising taxes on people who are productive, and subsidizing those who are not - all this is a re-run of the 1960s.

We paid a terrible price for such 1960s notions in the years that followed, in the form of soaring crime rates, double-digit inflation, and double-digit unemployment. During the 1960s, ghettoes across the countries were ravaged by riots from which many have not fully recovered to this day.

The violence and destruction were concentrated not where there was the greatest poverty or injustice but where there were the most liberal politicians, promoting grievances, and hamstringing the police.

Internationally, the approach that Senator Obama proposes - including the media magic of meetings between heads of state - was tried during the 1930s. That approach, in the name of peace, is what led to the most catastrophic war in human history.

Everything seems new to those too young to remember the old and too ignorant of history to have heard about it.

[ksjeff-2009]

The National Review is a relic of past times as well.

Perhaps an Obama presidency will begin to sweep away the foundations of the disasterous "Reagan Revolution" and all of the misery that it has brought the middle class since 1980.

[colvinatch]

More right wing *** from a totally discredited political movement... yawn.

[extremophil]

Good grief! CBS actually printed an article that is anti-Obama. I have to go sit down now......

NRO is absolutely correct, by the way.

[miriamt-2009]

Who is National Review? Who is CBS? Notice how CBS orchestrated the Obama Bashing Debate to embarrass him, and left and right, they are writing article to discredit him and embarrass him, and make him appear unworthy of our attention. But they are forgetting that one good thing has come from the Bush Era and that is that WE DO NOT TRUST THE MEDIA ANY MORE! This was the same media that helped Bush take us to the multiple wars, and has helped the Republican Machine completely brainwash the American Public to live in fear, and distrust, so that they could push through their own agendas. CBS is one of the worst, and in this case is trying to change the course of the election! But we all know better!

[miriamt-2009]

Who is National Review? Who is CBS? Notice how CBS orchestrated the Obama Bashing Debate to embarrass him, and left and right, they are writing article to discredit him and embarrass him, and make him appear unworthy of our attention. But they are forgetting that one good thing has come from the Bush Era and that is that WE DO NOT TRUST THE MEDIA ANY MORE! This was the same media that helped Bush take us to the multiple wars, and has helped the Republican Machine completely brainwash the American Public to live in fear, and distrust, so that they could push through their own agendas.CBS is one of the worst, and in this case is trying to change the course of the election! But we all know better!

[miriamt-2009]

Who is National Review? Who is CBS? Notice how CBS orchestrated the Obama Bashing Debate to embarrass him, and left and right, they are writing article to discredit him and embarrass him, and make him appear unworthy of our attention. But they are forgetting that one good thing has come from the Bush Era and that is that WE DO NOT TRUST THE MEDIA ANY MORE! This was the same media that helped Bush take us to the multiple wars, and has helped the Republican Machine completely brainwash the American Public to live in fear, and distrust, so that they could push through their own agendas. CBS is one of the worst, and in this case is trying to change the course of the election! But we all know better!

[Razzl]

Mr. Sowell is one of the many predictable fools laboring away in the propaganda fields of the right wing. As one who IS old enough to remember much of the history he alludes to, I can verify that he is simply rehashing in dishonest terms the old right wing resentment at the massive success of the New Deal, which broke the back of conservatism for almost 50 years and propelled America into modernity. Ironically, the one truly backward move in all those years under the Democrats was embracing militarism in foreign policy, and that''s the one mistake NRO and its neocon sponsors embrace for themselves going forward. And I trust it only takes having come of age in the last 5 years to see through the foolish fear-mongering that neocons like Sowell inject into all their rhetoric now hoping the public will suddenly fall back into their political arms for another round of world conquest. Ain''t going to happen--will you guys keep playing that tune when W is finally out of office?

[dewardbowles]

Senator Obama has run a campaign unmatched in modern American history. His ideas and dreams for America represent the future that we all want and hope for.

Rather than talk about the real issues like the wars, the economy, health care and illegal immigration, you chose to write an article supporting the politics of fear and hate of the past. Your article is nothing more than an thinly veiled attempt to promote Xenophobia, Homophobia and religious intolerance.

Senator Obama has my vote.

[taxguydave]

Double digit inflation? Double digit unemployment? They''re here right now, folks, thanks to the Republicans who have been in charge these past 8 years. Just because they changed the way that the numbers are calculated and presented doesn''t mean that gas isn''t $3.50/gallon.

[quatermass2]

"raising taxes on people who are productive, and subsidizing those who are not"

This a$$clown must mean "increase corporate welfare".

"Internationally, the approach that Senator Obama proposes - including the media magic of meetings between heads of state - was tried during the 1930s. That approach, in the name of peace, is what led to the most catastrophic war in human history. "

Never mind there''s no basis for such assertions - didn''t the "summits" between the US President and the Soviet Premier actually prevent the Colw War from going full-out HOT? Never mind - that would be relying on facts and actual history, not the bizzro-world distortions of neocon mini-Fuhrers.

[joyous88]

a step backward? , well, that is still about a mile forward when compared to the Neo Cons,


I''d vote Obama any day before I would want four more years of a criminal in the white house,

McBushCain supported everything Bush ahs done right along woth the turncoat leiberman (Liarman)

bunch of thieves

[kever58]

A step backward? You must be kidding! Anyone has to be better than what is in the White House now. A lie has gotten us into a war that we cannot get out of no time soon, gasoline is ridiculous, food is going up and people are losing homes and jobs. Just what would you do to make it all better?

Double digit inflation? Double digit unemployment? They''''re here right now, folks, thanks to the Republicans who have been in charge these past 8 years. Just because they changed the way that the numbers are calculated and presented doesn''''t mean that gas isn''''t $3.50/gallon.

Posted by taxguydave at 03:33 PM : Apr 29, 2008

Settle down now....no need to exaggerate to try and make a point. Inflation stands at 4.1% and unemployment at 5.1%. Same method they have always used to calculate it.

[vastr-wcon]

.
hussein is so devoid of creative thought he had to steal the campaign ideas of John Edwards on healthcare, poverty and nuclear proliferation and try to pass them off as his own; and he even has had to plagiarize the hollow platitudes that constitute his pompous gas-bag speeches. What a truly pathetic character!

The United States - and the world - have suffered greatly from having a president who has, essentially, been brain-dead from drugs and booze for most of his adult life and who totally lacked the knowledge and experience to handle such an important job. The running of the country and the setting of national policy has consequently reverted to a megalomaniac vice president, who never has been challenged by the "official" president, for obvious reasons.

One would think that Americans have had enough of this type of government. Apparently not - given the misguided interest by some in hussein.

The supporters of this low-IQ type, who is brain-impaired from extensive drug use and is equally lacking in knowledge and experience, should realize that they are repeating history. They should ask themselves one very important question: If hussein were, god-forbid, elected president, who would actually run the country? Who would be hussein''s Cheney? Would it be oprah or jeremiah "God Da''mn America" wright?

/

[crater7]

Who is the National Review? Who is CBS?
Posted by miriamt at 03:15pm;

THE NATIONAL REVIEW IS A MEDIA OUTLET THAT IS NOT AFRAID TO PRESENT THE FACTS, AND NOT GO WITH THE POLITICALLY CORRECT MEDIA TRENDS FOR OBAMA. "THE ABOVE ARTICLE IS RIGHT."

CBS, IS THE MEDIA OUTLET THAT ALLOWS YOU, AND ALL OF US TO EXPRESS OUR OPINIONS. WE HAVE READ YOURS.

GOD "BLESS" AMERICA. NOT "G D" AMERICA.

[heartlight3]

I''m getting more and more disillusioned with CBS. I used to really like this site, but lately it has been tilting more and more out of balance to the right. I keep coming back, hoping to see something that makes sense to me, but that is happening less and less often. I guess, I''ll probably give it up soon.

[glenncinca-2009]

Here''s just a brief reminder to those with short memories: The economy was doing very well, and gas prices were under control, until shortly after Congress was taken over by the Democrats. Before that, the Republican Congress, with Bush''s assistance, had quite nicely brought the economy out of a slump with roots that are traceable back to when the other Clinton was still in power. Now just imagine in 2009 and beyond, a Congress still Democrat controlled (likely), and Obama in the White House not putting any checks and balances on these idiots? If Obama were to actually get elected, 2009 might be a good time for Americans to move to Canada, or even France.

[jozy46]

I imagine that Mr Sowell of the national review to be some stuffy conservative white man who is afriad to let a black person into such a position of power. Afraid that he might lose some of his wealth by berating how the rest of us should live beneath him and his stahndard of living

[rwassel]

"THE ABOVE ARTICLE IS RIGHT."

Posted by crater7

You forgot to add "-wing trash" to the end of your statement.

[kman821]

This FOOL probably thinks the Bush adminstration has been a LEAP forward. Sorry, but the 1930''s cannot rationaling be compared to 2008, nor can the 1960''s! If he feels this is a serious opinion piece ... he needs to lose the absolutely lame baseball analogy!

[texasleogirl]

A step backward?
We couldn''t go any lower than where we are now. Who could be more dangerously reckless than Bush and Cheney? Obliously the editorials at CBS are a step backward with this type trash.

[tonyd_31]

A step backward? Who is this fool that wrote this garbage? Mr. Thomas Sowell sir, do you realize that this is Planet Earth? Today is Tuesday the 29th of April, 2007 (just checking to make sure you are coherent). With this country''s economy in disarray, trapped in an illegal war which we started, gas prices at over $4.00 a gallon, (I can go on and on...Hurricane Katrina, torture, our national reputation in shatters, KBR, the mortgage crisis, etc.) all under the grand stewardship of a man who stole the presidency and is not qualified to be the dog catcher, and this IDIOT who wrote this stupid article is saying an Obama presidency would be a step back? Sir, I must ask if you are for real? Charles Manson of the Helter-Skelter fame would be a step forward compared to the moron that occupies the Whitehouse now! Note to CBS online, stop allowing this ***!!

[tonyd_31]

Glenncinca, you obviously are the one with the short memory. If you think the problems started when the Dems won the majority then you sir, are about as misinformed and delusional as the rest of this right wing fanatics. It amazes (and saddens) me that you people are so out of touch with reality.

[tonyd_31]

I hope Obama wins (or Hillary) but I bet it will not be McCain and I hope all you rightwing fanatics move your sorry, delusional ***** to Canada but I am sure Canada or no ohter country for that matter will have you. In most of my travels abroad, American republicans are looked upon with disdain so good look finding some country to take you......Please Obama or Hillary, hurry and win and lets get rid of these retards!!

[lfitts1]

this commentary from the shmucks who think Bush is doing a good job--enough said

[it_oldtimer]

The proof is in the pudding, as they say. Just look at the end results.

Republican leadership has repeatedly produced enormous federal deficits due to a "borrow-and-spend" economic philosophy that depends entirely upon shifting the costs of current tax cuts for the wealthy on to future generations to pay, resulting in a significantly lower quality of life for the vast majority of Americans, as well as their children and grandchildren.

Democratic leadership has managed to balance the budget (and even produce budget surpluses) while significantly improving the quality of life for the majority of Americans.

It''s truly a no-brainer: the Republicans have served only the ultra-rich, while the Democrats have served all the rest of us.

The ultra-rich are such a tiny, tiny minority in this country (1%) why are we putting them ahead of the 99% of us that are the real working "backbone" of this country? Do the rich really need even MORE of an advantage than they already have?

Vote for the working people, not for the privileged few; vote the Democratic ticket.

[irliberal]

Here''''s just a brief reminder to those with short memories

Posted by Glenncinca at 04:49 PM

Ohhh the next eight years (at least) are going to be very unpleasant for you. LOL!

HILLARY 08! OBAMA 08!! (either one is just fine)

WOOHOO!

[neoconslayer]

vastr-wcon: who is this ''hussein'' you are talking about? OH, wait, that is Mr. Obama''s middle name, and since you are dishonorable, you feel that you are being clever by referring to him that way.
Maybe you''re just hurting because you can no longer call him N***** in public, which is what you want to do because it is what you believe.
I don''t know if Mr. Obama will win, but i won''t be making my decision based on the kindergarten-recess arguments that you are making.
Consider your logic: because the brain-addled Bush had a Cheney, now every president must be looked at through the prism of who will be his/her Cheney.
That is pathetically stupid.
IF this administration was tremendously successful, that might make sense, but since it isn''t, you''re making a fool''s argument.
But the real question is how smoking some pot in high school and early in college became, to quote you, "brain-impaired from extensive drug use".
What evidence of brain impairment can you demonstrate?
(As hard as this is for you to believe, disagreeing with you is NOT a mental illness.)
Oh, wait. Mr. Obama is a N- in your eyes, and you (especially YOU) know how THOSE PEOPLE really are!

The ultra-rich are such a tiny, tiny minority in this country (1%) why are we putting them ahead of the 99% of us that are the real working "backbone" of this country? Do the rich really need even MORE of an advantage than they already have?

Posted by IT_Oldtimer at 05:17 PM : Apr 29, 2008

I''m not saying that the 1% are entitled to special treatment...but sir, neither should they be scorned. This 1% you refer to (Warren Buffet for example) are those who provide jobs for the rest of us. I''m not sure that you understand that big corporations are given tax breaks for a reason. The less tax they pay...the more the company can grow whereby providing more jobs. And don''t you understand that the taxes that a corporation pays is eventually paid by us anyway in more expensive goods and services. Corporations have stock holders and they are not going to invest money in a company that doesn''t give them a good return. It easy to hate on "the big corporation" but where would we be without them?

[mcvet]

The last time I looked in a History Book, the Policies of the New Deal AND the New Frontier moved this nation ahead and did it with ALL of us making a move upward. Since we started buying into the concept of "Trickle Down" we''ve seen the Middle Class become almost non existent. That is just FACT and part of the HISTORY of this nation. Sieg Heil Bush

[bluestardad]

NRO IS PUTTING A FULL COURT PRESS ON OBAMA....

THAT MEANS THE ISRAELIS HAVE NOT GOT HIM IN THEIR POCKET...

HE HAS MY VOTE!

ANYTHING BUT MORE OF THE SAME!

AMERICA STAND UP OR SHUT UP!

[tommieofford]

I long for the past where one could turn on Cronkite
or any of the news shows and rely on the info given.

Now, the press reports anything as news, true or not,
just for the sake of ratings. Instead of pointing out all the errors of the Bush administration, the
press cowtowed to them to be part of the largest scam
in US history.

[jimzine]

You are so full of ***, you don''t deserve a response. Who''s payroll (Clinton) are you on, hmmm?

[glenncinca-2009]

TonyD_31:
You are the epitome of a wild-eyed liberal. Rather than engage in honest, thoughtful debate, you just devolve into shouting your worn-out slogans, such as "You people are so out of touch with reality". Just who are these "you people" that you refer to anyway? Are they the poor gap-toothed gun-toting hunters in Appalachia, or the mainstream Texans, or the religious Christians, or the suburban soccer-moms, or the small business owners, or Kansas farmers, or Wall Street executives, or just what? The reality is, you have no idea what you are talking about. Many wild-eyed liberals such as yourself are not only outside of the nation''s mainstream, but even out of the Democratic Party''s mainstream. That is why, come November, Obama, being so far left of center, doesn''t stand a chance against a moderate such as McCain. You wait - you''ll see, mark my words! Same thing happened to Kerry and to Gore, and they were nowhere near as radically left-wing as Obama!

[glenncinca-2009]

TonyD_31:
You must be on drugs. You said:

"A step backward? Who is this fool that wrote this garbage? Mr. Thomas Sowell sir, do you realize that this is Planet Earth? Today is Tuesday the 29th of April, 2007 (just checking to make sure you are coherent)."

Apparently, you lost a year of your life somewhere and you don''t seem to realize it. Maybe in your formative years when your brain was supposed to be developing.

[noloyalisti]

Yes, continuing running of the country by the white wing wackos (www.www) is progress! This is a perfect example of the vast right wing conspiracy (yes, my friends, the mainstream media are owned by the fascist war profiteering corporations), Swiftboating someone who stands for progressive change and hope for We the People.

[glenncinca-2009]

noloyalisti:

You don''t seem to realize that it was "We the People" who decided not to elect John Kerry. People such yourself always look for scapegoats rather than accept responsibility for your own failings. You delude yourselves into believing in conspiracies, plots, worn out slogans, and silly group labels as a way to compensate for your own sad mental deficiencies.

[elz523]

What is mind boggling here is that ANYONE would give these neocon fools any credibility regarding what is best for this country.

Mr. Sewell, what did you learn from studying the great catastrophe that our invasion of Iraq has set in motion? I''ll tell you what I learned... it is that people in this country are so very easily mislead.

We need powerful change to bring us back to where we once were! Who is going to deliver that?

[dmgenet]

More bile from the right. (What took them so long?) You mean because Obama is not a neocon-***-fascist with bunker & group think mentality and no critical thinking skills our great country will regress?

Please list the true successes of the Bush admin. I am sure the will be the ones that all neocons would list. Which are all the ones that 60% of the elecorate are p.o.''d at the Bush admin about. He failed his base electorate (''used them'' are the words) and definitely his social conservatives who really never liked him in the first place. Ptui on them all.

[rudy654-2009]

A step backward? I hope they don''t think what have has been a step forward!!

[elz523]

NRO IS PUTTING A FULL COURT PRESS ON OBAMA....

THAT MEANS THE ISRAELIS HAVE NOT GOT HIM IN THEIR POCKET...

Posted by bluestardad at 06:02 PM : Apr 29, 2008
+ report abuse

Very true. Israel deciding that they cannot twist Obama to thier will, and then the NRO deciding to go after him, follows like night to day.

You people do know don''t you that Thomas Sowell is a black man don''t you?

[dmgenet]

"A step backward? I hope they don''t think what have has been a step forward!!" Posted by rudy654 at 07:33 PM : Apr 29, 2008

Succinct and to the point. Perfect. Thank you.

[dmgenet]

Who cares what color the writer is or was. He''s wrong.

Who cares what color the writer is or was. He''''s wrong.
Posted by dmgenet at 07:44 PM : Apr 29, 2008

Well I think it does matter...since it seems that the term so loved by some (neocon) seems to be aimed at white people. Just think it''s interesting...

[joyous88]

A step backwards is the national review and GW Bush

a second step will backwards will be McBushCain

[j_davis_meeb]

-One of the painful aspects of studying great catastrophes of the past is discovering how many times people were preoccupied with trivialities when they were teetering on the edge of doom.

Boy I''ll say... things like do you wear a flag pin on your lapel?

-Protecting criminals, attacking business, increasing government spending, promoting a sense of envy and grievance, raising taxes on people who are productive, and subsidizing those who are not

Now with the exception of increasing spending on social services, I can''t find a single instance of Mr. Obama endorsing any of these other policies. Where did Mr. Sowell get his information? A quija board... a magic 8 ball perhaps? It seems like "Uncle Tom" Sowell is just making stuff up.

[joyous88]

neo cons are criminals

[elz523]

Well I think it does matter...since it seems that the term so loved by some (neocon) seems to be aimed at white people. Just think it''''s interesting...


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Posted by andersonk49 at 07:58 PM : Apr 29, 2008


I honestly don''t care what color the writer is. That is one of the great things about blogs, you only have ideas (and their presentation) by which to judge someone. The neocons would be just as wrong if they were green and made of cheese.

My guess is that the reason Sowell is bringing this message is because he is black and so the NRO thinks that due to the color of his skin that he brings some credibility with his comments.

[joyous88]

these are the same neo cons that turned the united states

into a backwards third world country,

our education is so bad that only Tirkey ranks below

us in understanding evolution, and that it is real.

our military is a shambles, falling apart, as is our

infastructure. Our health care system, the joke of the world, half the country has lost their homes.

Yep! and these loyal bushies are talking about barack obama as a step backwards,

losers