Monday, March 29, 2010

Political Messaging and The Damage Done


Late last night I posted about the FBI raids on some Militia camps in the Midwest, and in that post I explained I find it curious that while President Barack Hussein Obama was overseas on a "surprise visit" to our Armed Forces, the FBI conducted these raids.

I would like to be clear that when I posted my opinion with the information, I was not directly alleging that these Militia groups were innocent of unscrupulous behavior. Of course, they must be considered innocent until proven guilty, but I most definitely believe it is possible for these groups to be guilty of the charges brought against them, which include plotting to attack and kill law-enforcement officers as part of a plan to 'levy war' on the United States.

My concern as I posted this information last night was messaging. While timing is certainly critical in all law enforcement maneuvers, there is something (to borrow a phrase) fishy about the timing of these FBI raids.

We all remember the left's reaction to President Bush, standing aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln with a huge banner above him stating "Mission Accomplished," when there was so much work yet to be done to secure Iraq and begin helping the Iraqi people understand freedom and Democracy. While at the time the left's harsh commentary seemed out of line, in retrospect I think we can all acknowledge that the Bush administration was guilty of poor messaging.

Similar, yet not quite as severe, was the visual created by President Bush receiving information about the terrorist strikes on September 11, as he sat and continued to read "My Pet Goat," holding the book upside down. While the position of the book was not important, it again seemed to the left like bad messaging - as if he was never really in control, even though we all know we were truly blessed in having George W. Bush in office, as opposed to AlGore.

President Obama has been no friend to Christianity since coming into public office. By now we've all seen the picture of him in Muslim garb.

He attended Trinity United Church of Christ, a church that preached just as much (if not more) Marxist theory as Christianity.

In a move that appeared politically expedient, he left Trinity United before being elected president, and he and his family have not settled into a new place of worship since moving into The White House. As a few of our recent presidents have not attended services on a regular basis this normally would not appear out of the ordinary, but this was a man who attended his previous church for twenty years. Why the sudden lack of commitment?

Since being elected, President Obama has made what seems at times to be an extraordinary effort to be inclusive of all religions, and at times has acted almost in denial of Christianity's history in The United States. He made a speech for Ramadan in 2009 that seemed to address and cow to Muslims worldwide, as compared with President Bush's speeches that focused primarily on American Muslims and guests of America.

After (false) rumors swirled about The White House possibly having a "Holiday Tree" instead of a Christmas Tree, we ended up learning that through it all, there ended up being an ornament painted with a picture of Chairman Mao on this year's tree. However, the rumors paint the bigger picture, that of an anti-Christian agenda.

Throughout the year-long debate over the "health care reform," Tea Party Patriots and Conservatives have been painted by the Obama administration and the "mainstream media" as racists, bigots, homophobes, misogynists, and have been labeled with the crude nickname "teabaggers" by everyone from radical street liberals to MSNBC and CNN hosts.

In what I believe is an unprecedented display of arrogance, The White House, President Obama, and Congressional Democrats have made direct statements attacking American citizens, and in some instances associated one particular news outlet (Fox News) with a grassroots movement, all the while creating scene after scene of what they call "AstroTurf."

As I mentioned in last night's post, President Obama canceled a recent trip to his birthplace childhood home of Indonesia in order to send proper messaging about the "health care reform" legislation. Politically this was a wise move, and perhaps served him well in the long run since, due to much muscling, swindling, and a magic carpet ride - the legislation passed.

So when every headline surrounding this Militia event described a "Christian" Militia, and we have such an amazing history of political messaging from this administration, as well as concerns from the left over the previous administration's appearances during critical occasions, I simply ask...

These Militias are specifically labeled "Christian" by major news outlets.

These raids took place while President Obama was overseas doing something he should have been doing for the past fourteen months - showing good faith as the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces.

And, lest we forget, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has already issued warnings about "domestic terrorists..."

Coincidence?

More perspective via Memeorandum.

22 comments:

Left Coast said...

Awesome reportage, where are you finding the energy? LOL. I was so damned busy that I haven't been able to delve into this, perhaps I will link you tomorrow on your excellent piece....

Soloman said...

Rebel - Thanks!

I sat through O'Reilly and half of Hannity working on the first post.

The second post - Balance of Hannity, Greta, and then '24.'

I lose track of time, and only catch about half of what the shows are saying when I'm in a groove.

Even got a half-hour work-out in before all that! heh.

I had this post swimming in my head all day at work, so it was kind of easy. I wasn't completely comfortable with how open-ended I left my post last night, and I felt I needed to give some more definition as to why I drew my "coincidence" conclusion.

Most nights when I post, I end up with about 3-4 browsers open at a time, with a couple of them having 3-5 tabs (or more) open, digging for links, definitions, spellings... plus notepad open to copy/paste occasionally in case of a browser crash. I'm sure you know the drill...

I only get 1-3 posts a night usually, but I try to make 'em count!

spc said...

Great post- it reads like you had a thousand thoughts and you pulled on a string to get it to unravel. I just know there is so much more that could still be written into your post- good stuff man

John said...

my concern is how the left may spin this. Associate Conservative and Christian... Their plans were anything but Christ like!
And IMO closer to the activities of Bill Ayers and his group...

The Conservative Lady said...

Terrific post, Sol. I need to do some catching up with the news after a busy weekend, and I hadn't heard about this militia story. The Left is salivating over this stuff, I bet. Just what they need to make their point about the "violent" teabaggers.
Off subject: I left you an answer to your comment about the "American Revival". I hope you get a chance to read it.
Take care.

Woodsterman (Odie) said...

Now tell me the truth ... would you expect any less from this crowd ?

innominatus said...

Gotta agree with John above. This is hardly Christian conduct. They can call themselves Martians, but it doesn't mean they are. Likewise they can call themselves Christians, but it doesn't mean they are.

We all have a tale or two about a cop being a d*ck, but most of them are excellent people. Calling oneself a Christian while scheming to kill cops is pretty darned low.

I think most sensible people will recognize this difference and not fall for the Christian=Conservative=Psycho little game that is being played.

Pink Liberty said...

People who falsely claim to be Christians target police, and your response is to target the left. Then you include bizarre trivia about our President that has nothing to do with the practical problems facing our country. I think all of our energy would be better put to life and love, and getting our soldiers home from Afghanistan. I am not attacking Christians; that would mean attacking my family and friends. I'm not targeting conservatives either.

Endo said...

Nice post Sol, and I agree the timing of the message is almost as important if not more important than the actual message itself...

As to the loons themselves who were plotting to kill US citizens...I am less concerned if they were from the right or left, Christian or Muslim, and more concerned about the fact that both left and right try to politicize these idiots.


Time to grow up kids

Kid said...

Soloman, Yes, there's a lot going on out there. Not that I know what it is other than pure evil.

Soloman said...

ozzie -

Thank you.

Yes, and yes. I wanted to keep adding more thoughts... it's unbelievable all we've been through in the past fourteen months.

Soloman said...

John -

you echo a lot of my sentiment with your concerns about the association game.

Soloman said...

Hey TCL -

I did get your comment on the Beck Revival show. You've given me reason to think...

As I've mentioned before - you're spot on regarding the association game. Tonight Chris Matthews led with a segment including the Militia, Tea Parties, and that guy from the Southern Pov. Law Ctr. who has some outrageously partisan concepts.

Soloman said...

Odie -

By "this crowd," I assume you mean the media? Of course not - this is exactly what I expect.

Soloman said...

inno -

You give the MSM-viewing crowd more credit than do I, and you clearly underestimate the manipulative abilities of the left-leaning media.

Soloman said...

Pink -

This one will take two or three sections...

I've been trying really hard with you because you act as if you're interested in rational dialogue, but you've got to actually read my writing before you comment rather than making patently partisan assumptions.

Let's look at your comment and reflect to my post and analyze:

"People who falsely claim to be Christians target police"

I think this is the only part you got mostly right, but I'd like to make this point: Nowhere in my post did I call them Christians. I called them Militia. What I said (if you'd please read thoroughly and think for a minute) is that the media is labeling them as Christians.

Yes, the Militia called themselves Christians, and we will agree that their behavior is not very Christ-like. However, the media can easily call them Christian Militias, then associate them by proxy with the other alleged incidents (none of which has been proven true) such as threats, spitting, and use of epithets.

The media is not using the word "alleged" in its descriptions of these accusations from the left; they are reporting it as known fact. This is extremely problematic.

"and your response is to target the left.

Nowhere did I "target the left." What I did was analyze the messaging we have seen in this nation over the past couple of years from the majority of the media, as well as the current Congress and presidential administration.

"Then you include bizarre trivia about our President that has nothing to do with the practical problems facing our country."

Bizarre trivia... such as what? Part of the point of my post is that there is a clearly organized attack being made by the left upon the traditional Judeo-Christian values upon which this nation was founded. The other point I was making is that timing is extremely important, and that on the heels of the recent (and unsubstantiated) allegations made by Congresspeople, there becomes a very blurred line - seemingly by design.

In case you're not aware, the basic difference between Conservatism and Progressivism is the inclusion or exclusion of Judeo-Christian beliefs in society.

All people have a religion, even those who say they do not (such as atheists or agnostics).

The choice to have a personal religion - faith - makes Conservatives who we are, as we believe in God and see The Creator as Divine.

Progressives, on the other hand, do not see God as Divine. This is why many if not most Progs believe in "global warming" and tend toward more naturistic worship, which explains why we have Earth Day. For Progs, the idea is that Earth and nature are the divine and deserve the utmost respect, but you can not receive spiritual guidance or a moral compass from a tree or a river or a cloud. That is the purpose of God.

Barack Hussein Obama does not believe in God - at least not a Christian God. He either believes in an Earthly Deity like most Progs which is why he's big on "global warming," or he's a Muslim - and the Muslim faith at it's core does not teach with a moral compass, it teaches to kill all infidels.

I know I've rambled a bit, but this is a very important distinction that leads to the current and recent attacks on Tea Parties and Conservatives.

Soloman said...

So... back to directly dealing with your statement. I find it rather amusing that you use the word "bizarre" regarding the points I offer about the president, because in just fourteen months this is by far the most bizarre presidency in history.

Never in my lifetime, or in the history of America to my knowledge, has a president directly attacked citizens with mockery like in the video I linked. That's the most schoolyard, childish behavior I've ever seen from the man who is supposed to be the leader of the free world.

Never has the media gone so far out of its way to propogate the agenda of an administration. I don't care what you have to offer about Fox News - nothing they ever did will ever compare to Chris Matthews, Keith Olvermann, and Rachel Maddow's nightly talking points briefings. Huffington Post has a seat in the White House press room, for God's sake - and they're as blatantly left and pro-Obama as can be. ABC gave Obama free prime-time air to sell his health care package last year. Brian Williams of NBC was videotaped bowing to Obama. I could go on.

Final thought on this sentence - all of this has to do with the problems facing this country, because more than half of this country didn't want the health care bill as it passed, yet we were blatantly ignored and mocked by people who also have the nerve to call us racists and bigots, simply for having an opinion and wishing to express that opinion.

"I think all of our energy would be better put to life and love, and getting our soldiers home from Afghanistan.

I'll agree with you on that point. It's a shame Obama only gave the troops 6 hours in the middle of the night for a photo op, instead of hitting the ground and witnessing some of the efforts and improvements as President Bush used to do. But then, Bush believed in America's greatness, Obama clearly does not.

"I am not attacking Christians; that would mean attacking my family and friends. I'm not targeting conservatives either."

to be clear - I didn't say you were attacking either Christians or Conservatives.

I'd ask that if you're serious about a dialogue, you take some time and re-read the entire post again. If you wish to really understand what is wrong in America today, the post and this comment largely sum it up.
There is no more "but, Bush." He's been out of office for well over a year now. Democrats have had an overwhelming majority for all this time, yet they hardly got their own dream legislation passed... and the whole while they tried to blame the right as if the right had any power to stop them.

Open your eyes and your mind.

Soloman said...

WMUR -

I found the timing incredibly troubling, as I described.

I agree - the politicization by either side of any of this stuff is becoming disturbing, which is why I posted that Eric Cantor statement the other day. Look where that led just one day later.... and he had been completely silent about the threats that had been made on him.

Soloman said...

Kid -

If this Militia truly intended to act as alleged, then yes they are evil.

At the same time, the apparent attack on Conservatives by politicians and media - equally evil.

Kid said...

Politicians, media and 'others' is more what I'm talking about.

jay son said...

i real like your perspective on this and will be addressing this more at my site, as the story develops.

Soloman said...

thanks, j - I'll keep a watch out for a post from you, and let you know if I expand on the topic.

I don't know if you saw them but I did post 3 videos tonight... the first one is a great summary of the behavior of the left toward Bush, full-on Hitler posters, Kill Bush posters, and so on. The next two are a compare and contrast of the way the media portrayed the G20 compared to the Tea Party.

Take care.