Come for the Politics, Stay for the Pathologies



Saturday, August 22, 2009

Who Let the Dogs Out?

President Obama has again promised to ram Obamacare through, telling a radio show caller: "I guarantee you, Joe, we are going to get health care reform done."

So, call in the mad dogs when you need them.  MSM, of course, is already on board, ensuring that any opponents are painted as angry white racists, Nazis, ditto heads, idiots or all of the above.

The first dog pack: religious leaders to persuade their flocks. So Obama addresses a  multidenominational group of pastors, rabbis and other religious leaders who support his goal to remake the nation’s health care system. He told them:

“I know there’s been a lot of misinformation in this debate, and there are some folks out there who are frankly bearing false witness,”

According to a NYT article on the session:

President Obama sought Wednesday to reframe the health care debate as “a core ethical and moral obligation,” imploring a coalition of religious leaders to help promote the plan to lower costs and expand insurance coverage for all Americans.

“I need you to knock on doors, talk to your neighbors. I need you to spread the facts and speak the truth,” he said.

So now,  if you disagree, you’re breaking the 9th commandment? You’re a sinner? And immoral? Not bad for a guy that hasn’t had time to find a new church to attend.

On another front, as reported by the WSJ,  he clarifies who the real enemy is:

"Early on a decision was made by the Republican leadership that said, 'Look, let's not give them a victory and maybe we can have a replay of 1993-94 when Clinton came in. He failed on health care, and then we won in the midterm elections, and we got the majority.'"

What happened to “It’s not about me”, Mr. President?

And meanwhile, in hopes of tying up another opposition front,  House dogs Waxman and Stupak issue “letters” that look more like subpoenas to the CEO’s of Insurance Companies who aren’t on board with Obamacare. In the letter they’re asked to provide salary and perk data for the highest paid employees and board members, as well as information on conferences and events they sponsored and details on various lines of business.

Most of this info can be obtained in the SEC filings of these  publically held companies (available on-line). But  they’re just too complicated for a Congressman. They can’t even  read or understand the  bills they vote on, how can we expect them to go through a 10k? Besides, this isn’t about actually obtaining information. It’s a government backed, politically motivated fishing trip intended to intimidate insurance companies into backing socialized medicine. Isn’t that illegal? It used to be.

(As an aside, Neil Cuvuto has an amusing response to the honorable Representatives.)

What do all of these anecdotes  have in common? They demonstrate the depths to which Obama is willing to plumb in order to get his way. And he and his progressive cronies are pulling out all the stops. The Alinsky Rules For Radicals handbook is getting dog-eared. Especially the chapters on “Of Means and Ends”, and “Tactics.”

On whether the ends justify the means,  Alinsky counsels:

“The man of action views the issue of means and ends in pragmatic and strategic terms…He asks of ends only whether they are achievable and worth the cost; of means, only whether they will work.”

and later:

“The means-and-ends moralists, constantly obsessed with the ethics of the means used by the Have-Nots against the Haves, should search themselves as to their real political position.” pp 24-25, Vintage Books 1989 edition

I take that to mean, by any means possible. Which explains the appearance of the dogs of August, and the tactics they are unleashing:

An obviously non-religious man cynically tells the religious leaders of the country that his health care is a moral imperative?  Rule number 4, page 128

Accusing Republicans of personally going after him, of wanting him to fail? (Wait a minute, wasn’t that Rush Limbaugh? ) Does the President forget that he has both houses of Congress? He doesn’t need even one Republican to ram this down our throats. But better to demonize the opposition. Why? Because it works. Rule number 13, Page 130. 

Intimidating non-cooperative Insurance Companies? Rule number 8 and 9, page 129.

Establish a snitch White House site for people to report “fishy”  facts about Obamacare? Rule 1,3,9 and 13.

You might want to read the whole book. Every community organizer of any stature has memorized it.

In the mean time, try to stay in the shade and away from mad dogs.