DennisMansfield.com

Obama's historical/economic comparison dillema...Herbert Hoover or FDR?

  As the comparisons of Presidential transitions inevitably unfold with each passing week, prior to January 20th, 2009, we are often "asked" by the media whether the Bush/Obama transition will go down in history as one of the most civil and best executed. It should be all of our hope that it will set the standard for other future Presidential transitions to match and mirror.

But my deeper question is: which past Administration will Obama's actually reflect?

 

Dems love to present a comparison of current economic times with FDR's entrance into national politics. GOP-ites tend to use the same comparison...but not in a favorable light...

It would do us all well to remember that, like the Obama Presidency, the Herbert Hoover Administration's difficult times came directly as a result of the crash of '29. He essentially came INTO the Presidency in the first months of the national hard times...and his four year Administration attempted many government-birthed economic stimuli to move the nation along. Sound familiar? Herbert Hoover was a believer in greater government involvement, not unlike Barack Obama. Hoover was no conservative.

I wonder if President Obama's Administration, like President Hoover's, will be forced to deal in any way possible with what their predecessors (Coolidge/George W) gave them...or better yet, NOT be able to deal with those problems...

Hoover had his inevitable Honeymoon - even during those days, Obama will have his. The greed and avarice which brought about so much of BOTH economic downturns had/has its own tiger by the tail.  Hoover was ultimately unable to put a government-issue saddle on that tiger...

Yet, the tiger tired...FDR ultimately experimented in his tiger-training, even more creatively with his GI-issued chair and whip. 

He built much of the New Deal on the Hoover's governmental involvement.

So, are we watching President Barack "Hoover" Obama prepare to be sworn in or Franklin Delano "Obama"? Your thoughts? 

Den

Un-President-elect? Will a female dentist from Mission Viejo, Ca wipe off the smile of Barack Obama?

Many in blog-ville are aware of the failed lawsuit by Mr. Berg to force Sen. Obama to show his legal birth certificate and once and for all, show that he was born an American citizen...and not a Kenyan.

From Snopes to Urban Legend to ad infinitum....the postings show a marketed and similar trend: nothin' doing.

But something different this way comes...from Mission Viejo, Ca of all places. A lady Dentist with an attitude...and a JD...and a client of unususal dimensions: Ambassador Alan Keyes, American Independent Party nominee for President. Just happened, by the way....

And only in these days of blogs, can we go directly to the hometown paper of the hometown hero (for the Right) and show what she's saying.

Apparently, the game is on....again. Hmmm....

Gimme your thoughts; I'd love to hear 'em.

Den

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November 16, 2008 by MissionViejoDispatch.com

    A Mission Viejo dentist filed a lawsuit Thursday asking the Sacramento County Superior Court to prevent the State’s electors from casting votes for Barack Obama in the Electoral College. If successful, the injunction would last until the Secretary of State exercises due diligence to obtain proof of Obama’s “natural born” U.S. citizenship.

    Dr. Orly Taitz has a dentistry office at LaPaz and Chrisanta, claiming thousands of satisfied clients, but she has also been a licensed California attorney since 2002.  Taitz joined Ramona attorney Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation in filing the Writ of Mandate Petition in the Sacramento County Superior Court.  The pair is representing former Reagan appointee, Ambassador Alan Keyes, who was a 2008 presidential candidate for the American  Independent Party. 

   The complaint by Taitz asks the court to prevent the Secretary of State from certifying the election until proof is shown that Obama is a “natural born U.S. citizen, and that he is not a foreign citizen of Kenya, Indonesia or Great Britain.  It names Obama, Biden, the Secretary of State, and California Democratic electors as defendants.

    Taitz’s client, Keyes, says he is pursuing the matter because, “I and others are concerned that this issue be properly investigated and decided before Senator Obama takes office. Otherwise there will be a serious doubt as to the legitimacy of his tenure. This doubt would also affect the respect people have for the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. I hope the issue can be quickly clarified so that the new President can take office under no shadow of doubt. This will be good for him and for the nation.”

    The issue is not new. The complaint states that 17 other federal and state lawsuits are pending regarding Obama’s citizenship.  There have also been cases challenging John McCain’s “natural born” qualification since he was born in Panama while his father was on military assignment.

    Taitz requests an expedited hearing process, stating any actions taken by Obama after inauguration would be illegal and void if it was later determined he was not a natural born citizen of the U.S.  The twentieth amendment to the federal constitution provides for succession of a president-elect who does not qualify.  The vice president-elect would act as president until a president is qualified.

    Barack Obama has refused to allow access to his birth certificate.  The Governor of Hawaii has also refused to release Obama’s birth certificate or describe its origins.  Taitz alleges that Obama’s paternal grandmother has affirmed she “was in the delivery room in Kenya when he was born August 4, 1961.”  Even if Obama was born in Hawaii, his U.S. citizenship was relinquished when he became a citizen of Indonesia  in or around 1967, according to Taitz, which would also disqualify him under the U.S. constitution. 

    Obama is defending himself in another citizenship case by claiming the plaintiff in that action is an ordinary citizen and therefore lacks standing to bring the challenge.  That matter was being reviewed by the US Supreme Court.  In the Taitz case, the plaintiffs are not ordinary citizens, but a 2008 presidential candidate, his vice-presidental candidate, and a California elector.

    Ms. Taitz contacted California Secretary of State Debra Bowen (Dem) on October 25 requesting an administrative hearing. Bowen has since failed to take any steps to confirm Obama’s citizenship, leading Ms. Taitz to file suit seeking injunctive relief to prevent any California electoral votes from being cast for Obama.  Click here to view the court document.

 

Was the Race really about race, afterall?

Right now the Electoral Count is 207 for Obama, 135 for McCain....and the major media is a bit too orgiastic for my tastes. The talking heads keep über-mentioning Obama's ethnicity (race)...but we were told over and over again that race was not to be an issue, weren't we?

Hmmmm....

So, more to come, I suppose, but what happens should the numbers go for McCain?

Election 2008: Last thoughts....or thoughts that last?

America is either a very sickly country at the end of its "good run" or..... it's full and complete strength is about to be shown in ways that no man or woman can yet know on this election day.

On this blog I've argued that the 2008 cycle would be the best election that I've seen in my lifetime.

(And you gotta believe that means something to me, as I was a year-old babe on my daddy's shoulders waving to show I liked Ike in 1957's Inaugeral Parade in DC, was four years old when the nation went all the way with JFK - if only Marilyn Monroe truly knew the signifficance of THAT motto - was a young boy, then a teen, then a grown man, then a dad and now a grandfather as I saw each election from LBJ to W to now.)

And this election is the best of them all.

The reason is not becasue we "hang fearfully on a thread of civility" as such clashing opponents vie for the White House, et al. Candidate X wins and woe is me....Candidate Y wins and the palm branches are layed before his colt.

None of that. It's not about personalities, but about worldviews espoused by many, many people (above and beyond mere candidates).

It is the best election because it has CLEARLY brought out the true differences in America.

No longer are we a culture of sleep-walking political zombies. What we believe matters and we HAVE to express it. What we hold dear, like marriage (or not) and babies (or not) and low taxes and military aid and education and prison reform...are all on the table for discussion and direction.

We won't be able to do it all...so WHAT will we do? What are our top priorities? Marriage? God and country? Money? Individual liberty?

By and large this Election Day (and the days that cascade off of this momentous day) may tell us whether we'll have "last thoughts" about America as she was....or whether those new thoughts by an unproven visionary may be "thoughts that last".

Then again....

I'm betting McCain's election will postpone this deep discussion for 4 more years...and it will continue to benefit the nation greatly as the new Obama-fired goal-plants gin up the machine to illuminate the next great series of debates for 2012.

The REAL Reality of the Bradley Effect

In 1982 I was involved in the CA Governor's race, supporting George Deukmejian (then the AG) against LA's Mayor Tom Bradley.

The race looked like a "sure thing" for Bradley, having outdistanced the AG by almost 10 points in the polls....clear down to the end. 

But something happenend on the way to the "sure thing'...it didn't happen. As people entered the polls, they just simply didn't vote for the candidate they had given a thumbs-up to in front of their friends, family and most of all, polling companies.

It was highly implolite/impolitic to NOT publicly support Bradley, a black candidate.

So, why would ABC news waste time by running a news article a week ago about the Bradley Effect? Why now?

And why would Tom Brokaw and Charlie Rose distance themselves during this last week from a clear knowledge of (and implied support for) Barack Obama?

And, other than having the money to do so, would the Obama Campaign purchase a national "roadblock" (same long-playing commercial on a whole host of networks, all at the same time)?

Something is happening that may not be beneficial to Obama with two groups; the swing voters and the Bradley-ites.

Obama may in fact receive a Gore-like majority of votes nationwide, but it remains my call that the Bradley Effect will deprive him of the key edge votes in the states he needs most. With California's Prop 8 (No Gay Marriage) bringing out EVERY CHURCH CONGREGATION possible, California could quietly be lost to Obama from both the culture war AND the Bradley Effect.

Just as 1982 was not 1952 and the argument among political sophisticates, then, was that America was above the "race" issue; 1982 is removed from 2008 and the lingering suspicion may well remain that we are, in fact, not that removed....

Watch the on-going wierdness of the mainstream political talking fronts: McCain's chances of winning are real because Obama's chances of losing are directly connected to this awkward truth of American anonimity: people are only real when they make their final decision by voting.

Go ask ex-Governor Bradley...oh yeah, that won't work....

Den

Obama as the Anti-Christ?

I was driving home this evening, talking with a friend on my cell phone about the condition of America, as we face the Tuesday elections.

He's a bright man, a father and a follower of Jesus. We talked about the condition of America - from  a conservative Christian evangelical perspective. Though he didn't say it, you could almost hear him think: "Man, what if Obama gets elected on Tuesday? What it do to me and mine? Why is God asleep?"

The not-so-subtle undertone is one that implies: "This guy's worse than we could EVER have thought Bill Clinton would or could be. Maybe he's the Anti-Christ!!"

Maybe he isn't. Maybe he is.

And what if he is? Hang on to that thought for a second...

Then I arrived home and went to my mailbox. I openend up my non-political mail (if I could find it in the mountain of US Senate and US Congressional candidate mailers) and read this from a Christian travel agency: "The economy is in shambles. Radical Muslims are trying to kill us. Belief in God is being ridiculed. What the heck is going on?"

Hmmm...well, maybe something so cool that we have no idea right now.

Back to the Obama-as-the- anti-Christ thing: What if the absolute worst thing that can be thought of an Obama Presidency DOES come to be? (Same sex marriage, national health care, international banking taking over America and financial numbers being issued to people, blah, blah, blah...

So what?

Here we stand. Here God is.

The truth is that like an intergalactic gravity that pulls and pushes stars and planets, God's determined actions will occur.

There is no fear. There is no "oh my God" when God acts. It's as simple as getting up the next day and serving the living God in a very dead world. The contrast has never been so complete.

Now what if the doomsayers are wrong?

Well, we've got a Democrat President with a kinda-funny name for the next four years.

Sort of puts it in perspective, doesn't it?

Den

PS: My money's still on McCain/Palin...why else would Tom Brokaw and Charlie Rose say last night on PBS that they don't  really know what Sen. Obama believes....sounds like they're making a possible exit strategy for Tuesday night, late, when he implodes. Do they know something we don't?

If so, pretty impotent anti-Christ, tee hee.

President-elect Obama

What an interesting group of Transition Team members who have made their way to Senator Obama's camp.

As you watch the movement of media folks interviewing ex-Clinton Adminsitration aids, as they move efforlessly about DC in an affected fashion that says to all, yet no one in particular " I am important, I am soon to be in power" please remember that power is an elusive thing.

In his book "Arrogance of Power" Anthony Summers borrows and summarizes a quote that says, in effect: You only have power as long as others THINK you have power.

So these final two weeks will see sashshaying about DC and TV by a bunch of folks who think they have (or will have) power. Young (and middle age), social climbers who often worry about things we in the hinterlands never even give much of a moment's notice to: Sushi and such, social standing and invitations to certain key dinners, being seen on Capitol Hill - being self important and self-absorbed.

Thomas Dewey's name may mean little to those young (and older) self-important media reporters, staffers and Hill rats...but Harry Truman knew his name...and it wasn't President-elect Dewey.

John McCain watches and remembers the torture and hell of his years in POW captivity (of course noted by the young polticos of the left with an "Isn't he a great hero and patriot, but hell no to him in the White House...). he remembers Thomas Dewey's rage against Truman. He was alive then.

Unpopular Harry Truman won.... and John McCain will win.

He will out-last these folks, because regular people see him for who he is and support him.

And like Dewey on the morning after the election Obama will rise to the voices of reporters being stopped by those young (and old) Obama aids telling the press, "The President-Elect has not awakened yet"...only to be told by some Fox News reporter: "Tell the President-Elect that he just had the 2nd shortest Administration in history, behind Thomas Dewey..."

Watch and see.

Den

Powell's endorsement of Obama

This is no surprise and Sec. Powell is no hero.

He has often been the recipient of GOP support and military advancement. His action is as much against McCain as it is for Obama. The Palin comments are simply all too easy cheap shots.

If there were no WMD during his watch, though he sold them to us ...could his support of Sen. Obama have much the same credibility?

You tell me.
Den

Grandparents and good goals achieved....like becoming President?

Grandparents can have a deeply felt impact on their grandkids, long after they are gone, can't they?

This is a photo of my Grandpop, John J. Maguire, helping me when I was but a wee pup...his impact on me lasted waaaay beyond the visits we had together over the years.

From his point of view, I'm certain I was just another grandkid...one of many...but from MY point of view, Grandpop was all I could hope for. Smart, funny, very successful and gloriously bald. (much later the appreciation was added...)

As Grandpop made a deep and lasting impression on me in the  50's and 60's...and I was even able to introduce him on his deathbed to my fiancee in the summer of 1977...I began to think over the weekend of how proud Barrack Obama's grandfolks must be of him. For a couple seconds, forget about politics, forget about the sour economy...even forget about the mocking that conservatives make of him (which grieves me).

Here's a guy who beat several US Senators, a former First Lady and the party influence(s) of her husband, an ex-President to win his Party's nomination to the Presidency.

And he never had a Dad to help him get there. Wow. It's pretty amazing. Grandparents? Yep.

And he had a belief that all of us are able in America to achieve anything we set our mind upon.

That's the type of hope we need to give to all of us, isn't it? Audacity of hope? No.

Wonderful hope...from others to us...from us to our grandkids and others.

Den

PS: And this past January, I became a grandfather. I took the title "Grandpop"....wonder why?

(He's a precious little guy...and he's able to do anything in the world...if he believes it is possible.)

Why do War Hero-Candidates of the GOP seem to wimp out?

Much has been made of this past week/weekend's  Palin Punch-fest against Senator Obama.

I find it interesting that Sarah Palin is being painted as a sort of Warlike Wac with an M-16...charging up today's equivalent of San Juan Hill (Saint O Hill?).

Well, maybe she SHOULD charge up that hill. Afterall, Senator McCain seems to be refusing to do it; he's starting to act like the year is 1996 and he's Senator Bob Dole, nominee of the GOP. That race was a pathetic nice-guy handshake challenge....

For McCain to stand above the fray may in fact be their strategy, but let's not take it too far.....

Palin seems to be picking a fight with Obama daily...and he's reacting....he's actually reacting.

What would the stakes look like, though, in the final debate of the Presidential Campaign if John McCain took off the gloves and pulverized Barrack Obama...I mean, if he beat him like a rented mule....what would it look like?

Red meat for his red states? Yep and a clear line of distinction for those in the purple states.

Could it be, though, that his handlers are fearful of a menacing backlash against McCain and in favor of Obama? Well, maybe around the metrosexuals of Sensitive-ville, but heavens NO around people who WANT to be given a reason to vote for McCain.

Right now this Viet Nam War Hero looks like a tired photocopy of a photocopy...of a WWII War Hero: Bob Dole.

So, while we wait, let's start a new thing.....

Den