Spring Break
Shoot the hostage
Dan Fitzpatrick
Issue date: 7/2/08 Section: Forum
Ba-bump. Ba-bump.
After Wright came a barrage of Obama associates who didn't seem to know their place.
Tony Rezko, the recently convicted fat cat who has helped raise money for Obama since his Chicago days? Hope you like the taste of pavement, buddy.
Rev. Michael Pfleger, the Hillary-bashing, race-baiting priest and friend of Wright? Adios.
Jim Johnson, one of the guys in charge of vetting Obama's vice president choices (who also happens to be one of those mortgage-exploiting CEOs Obama likened to viruses)? Don't worry, I'm sure you can get the tire tracks off that suit somehow.
But it's not just people Obama keeps cutting out. It was October when he made his principled stand against the dangerous jingoism of flag lapel pins, but because the controversy over his refusal to wear one never totally faded away - and because, as Obama told Time in May, "People have been handing me flag pins" - he has gone back to wearing a flag pin on his suits. You see, not even Obama's own statements are safe from the chopping block.
Last fall, Obama stated that if his Republican rival opted for public campaign financing, he would do it as well. But now Obama has changed his tune because he can get much more money for his campaign if he sticks to private financing. There's certainly nothing wrong with private financing, but I thought it was usually seen as a bad thing for politicians to give up their principles to make an extra buck.
In the same way, Obama stopped criticizing the "special interests" after the big money started showing interest in him. The Washington Post noted that Obama "now refers respectfully to unions as the representatives of 'working people' and says he is 'thrilled' by their support."
Obama, in 2004, called to end the United States' embargo of Cuba; in Miami last August, he supported the embargo. Decriminalization of marijuana, the success of the surge in Iraq, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act courts, support for North American Free Trade Agreement, Israel, businesses that hire illegal immigrants, the D.C. gun ban - Obama has changed his position on each issue, every time out of political expediency.
After Wright came a barrage of Obama associates who didn't seem to know their place.
Tony Rezko, the recently convicted fat cat who has helped raise money for Obama since his Chicago days? Hope you like the taste of pavement, buddy.
Rev. Michael Pfleger, the Hillary-bashing, race-baiting priest and friend of Wright? Adios.
Jim Johnson, one of the guys in charge of vetting Obama's vice president choices (who also happens to be one of those mortgage-exploiting CEOs Obama likened to viruses)? Don't worry, I'm sure you can get the tire tracks off that suit somehow.
But it's not just people Obama keeps cutting out. It was October when he made his principled stand against the dangerous jingoism of flag lapel pins, but because the controversy over his refusal to wear one never totally faded away - and because, as Obama told Time in May, "People have been handing me flag pins" - he has gone back to wearing a flag pin on his suits. You see, not even Obama's own statements are safe from the chopping block.
Last fall, Obama stated that if his Republican rival opted for public campaign financing, he would do it as well. But now Obama has changed his tune because he can get much more money for his campaign if he sticks to private financing. There's certainly nothing wrong with private financing, but I thought it was usually seen as a bad thing for politicians to give up their principles to make an extra buck.
In the same way, Obama stopped criticizing the "special interests" after the big money started showing interest in him. The Washington Post noted that Obama "now refers respectfully to unions as the representatives of 'working people' and says he is 'thrilled' by their support."
Obama, in 2004, called to end the United States' embargo of Cuba; in Miami last August, he supported the embargo. Decriminalization of marijuana, the success of the surge in Iraq, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act courts, support for North American Free Trade Agreement, Israel, businesses that hire illegal immigrants, the D.C. gun ban - Obama has changed his position on each issue, every time out of political expediency.
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