Once again, this is the most important election ever. If Obama is not defeated all kinds of awful things will happen. Have we heard this before? Yes. In 2008 the Family Research Council published a letter, ostensibly from the year 2012, warning voters in 2008 what would happen if Obama was elected. They made 34 separate predictions. They maybe, sort of, got half of one correct. What kinds of predictions? Quite a few have to do with the gays, which Obama was supposed to unleash upon us. Writer Libby Anne goes through some of these for us.
(1) The Boy Scouts no longer exist as an organization. They chose to disband rather than be forced to obey the Supreme Court decision that they would have to hire homosexual scoutmasters and allow them to sleep in tents with young boys.
(2) Elementary schools now include compulsory training in varieties of gender identity in Grade 1, including the goodness of homosexuality as one possible personal choice. Many parents tried to “opt out” their children from such sessions, but the courts have ruled they cannot do this, noting that education experts in the government have decided that such training is essential to children’s psychological health.
(10) One change regarding the status of homosexuals did not wait for any Supreme Court decision. In the first week after his inauguration, President Obama invited homosexual rights leaders from around the United States to join him at the White House as he signed an executive order directing all branches of the military to abandon their “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and to start actively recruiting homosexuals.
As a result, homosexuals are now given special bonuses for enlisting in military service (to attempt to compensate for past discrimination), and all new recruits, and all active-duty and reserve personnel, are compelled to take many hours of “sensitivity training” to ensure they demonstrate positive attitudes toward those with different sexual orientations and practices. Any one who seems hesitant or who objects is routinely passed over for promotion. In addition, any chaplain who holds to an interpretation of Scripture that homosexual conduct is morally wrong and therefore does not espouse “mainstream values,” is dismissed from the military.
As the author notes, they get partial credit for DADT. It was not in the first week after his inauguration, and they are not paying bonuses to gays or any of that other stuff, but this is as close as they come to getting it right.
(15) Congress lost no time in solidifying abortion rights under President Obama. In fact, Obama had promised, “The first thing I’ll do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act” (July 17, 2007, speech to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund). This federal law immediately nullified hundreds of state laws that had created even the slightest barrier to abortion. States can no longer require parental involvement for minors who wish to have an abortion, waiting period, informed consent rules, restrictions on tax-payer funding or restrictions on late-term abortions. The act reversed the Hyde Amendment, so the government now funds Medicaid abortions for any reason. As a result, the number of abortions has increased dramatically. The Freedom of Choice Act also reversed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, so infants can be killed outright just seconds before they would be born. States whose laws were overturned challenged the law in court but it was upheld by the Obama Supreme Court.
As the author notes, none of these things happened and abortion restrictions increased. The GOP also passed, or tried to pass some laws requiring large pieces of plastic and metal get shoved inside of women.
“(19) It is illegal for private citizens to own guns for self-defense in eight states, and the number is growing with increasing Democratic control of state legislatures and governorships.
Nope.
(20) Parents’ freedom to teach their children at home has been severely restricted. … The Supreme Court declared that home schooling was a violation of state educational requirements except in cases where the parents (a) had an education certificate from an accredited state program., (b) agreed to use state-approved textbooks in all courses, and (c) agreed not to teach their children that homosexual conduct is wrong, or that Jesus is the only way to God, since these ideas have been found to hinder students’ social adjustment and acceptance of other lifestyles and beliefs, and to run counter to the state’s interest in educating its children to be good citizens.
I believe the bill requiring this got stuck in committee.
(21) President Obama fulfilled his campaign promise and began regular withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, completing it in the promised 16 months, by April 2010. All was peaceful during those months, but then in May 2010, Al-Qaida operatives from Syria and Iran poured into Iraq and completely overwhelmed the Iraqi security forces. A Taliban-like oppression has taken over in Iraq, and hundreds of thousands of “American sympathizers” have been labeled as traitors, imprisoned, tortured, and killed. The number put to death may soon reach the millions.
Al-Qaida leaders have been emboldened by what they are calling the American “defeat” and their ranks are swelling in dozens of countries.
You would think they could have worked in something about the gays in this prediction.
(22) President Obama directed U.S. intelligence services to cease all wiretapping of alleged terrorist phone calls unless they first obtained a warrant for each case. Terrorists captured overseas, instead of being tried in military tribunals, are given full trials in the U.S. court system, and they have to be allowed access to a number of government secrets to prepare their defense.
Since 2009, terrorist bombs have exploded in two large and two small U.S. cities, killing hundreds, and the entire country is fearful, for no place seems safe.
Some guy did set his underwear on fire. Should they get partial credit on this one also?
(23) In early 2009, [Russia] followed the pattern they had begun in Georgia in 2008 and sent troops to occupy and re-take several Eastern European countries, starting with the Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. President Obama appealed to the United Nations (UN), taking the same approach he had in his initial statements when Russia invaded Georgia in August 2008: “Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full scale war,” and “All sides should enter into direct talks on behalf of stability in Georgia, and the United States, the United Nations Security Council, and the international community should fully support a peaceful resolution to this crisis,”
But Russia sits on the Security Council, and no U.N. action has yet been taken.
Then in the next three years, Russia occupied additional countries that had been previous Soviet satellite nations, including Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, with no military response from the U.S. or the U.N. NATO heads of state have severely condemned Russia’s actions each time but they could never reach consensus on military action.
And we wonder how Romney determined Russia is our worst foreign policy problem.
(27) Because medical resources must be rationed carefully by the government, people older than 80 have essentially no access to hospitals or surgical procedures. Their “duty” is increasingly thought to be to go home to die, so they don’t drain scarce resources from the medical system. Euthanasia is becoming more and more common.
Now this part is actually true (I lied earlier). Posting has been light on my part as I now run the hospital’s euthanasia service. Some of those old folks are tough and put up quite a fight, so I am usually too tired to post when I get home. Yet, comrade Obama has decreed they must die, so I do my duty.
Let’s see, Iran nukes Israel, gas at $7.00 a gallon, electricity prices tripled, where do I go next? Ahhhh!
(32) By the summer of 2009, the five-member FCC was controlled by Democratic appointees – including a chairman appointed by President Obama. The “Fairness Doctrine” became a topic of FCC consideration following pressure from Democratic congressional leaders who initially did not have sufficient votes to pass the measure. The FCC quickly implemented the “Fairness Doctrine,” which requires that radio stations provide “equal time” for alternative views on political or policy issues.
As a result, all radio stations have to provide equal time to contrasting views for every political or policy-related program they broadcast by talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Dennis Prager, Janet Parshall, Michael Medved and Hugh Hewitt, and broadcasters like Dr. James Dobson. Every conservative talk show is followed by an instant rebuttal to the program by a liberal “watchdog” group. Many listeners gave up in frustration, advertising (and donation) revenues dropped dramatically, and nearly all conservative stations have gone out of business or switched to alternative formats such as country or gospel or other music. Conservative talk radio, for all intents and purposes, was shut down by the end of 2010.
If only.
Mind you, if he gets re-elected he gets a second shot at all of this. The America we know will disappear. Bonus paid, artificially inseminated lesbians in our military could end up helping Iran nuke Israel while we gunless Americans won’t be able to afford the electricity to turn on the lights to see when the jackbooted government thugs come to collect all of our earnings because of the new tax increases. Or something. We cannot let this happen.
Be sure to vote.
And abortions will become compulsory, even for people who aren’t pregnant.
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/10/02/abortions-on-women-who-arent-pregnant-common-trope-anti-choice-movement
Evidently, some people hold the belief that women who are referred to hospitals for a D&C after a miscarriage are the subjects of some sort of “abortions on women who aren’t even pregnant” scam.
“”
Now this part is actually true (I lied earlier). Posting has been light on my part as I now run the hospital’s euthanasia service.
Do they get the glass of wine and the Disney nature movie first?
Why is there always this belief among the extra chromosome right that Iran is tied up with Al-Quaida? I guess that like the Cowardly Cajun, all those demons and subhumans look and believe alike.
“Why is there always this belief among the extra chromosome right that Iran is tied up with Al-Quaida?” (KM)
.
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Ironically enough, much of it seems to becoming from the “extra-chromosome(?)” LEFT, “On 16 February 2012, the US Department of the Treasury designated the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), Iran’s primary intelligence organization, for its “support to terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaeda and Al-Qaeda in Iraq… again exposing the extent of Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism as a matter of Iran’s state policy”.
“For almost 30 years, Iran has worked with leading terrorist groups, such as Lebanese Hizbullah and Hamas, to advance its interests in the Middle East and has provided these groups with training, funding and weapons. According to the US Department of State’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2010, released on 18 August 2011: “Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism…”
http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2012/07/iran-al-qaeda-byman
Earlier on, I’ll admit to having been concerned over what I perceived as some blatantly anti-Semitic (anti-U.S.-Israel relations) from the Brookings Institute, as I, like most sensible Americans, see such rantings as only possibly being motivated by a blatant bigotry toward Israel and the Jewish peoples.
Israel has been a stalwart ally of America since its inception. A 1978 incursion into what was then Rhodesia, which I took part in, was financed by South Africa, Israel, the United States, Belgium and Switzerland in that order. Even though that expedition was ultimately unsuccessful – the plug was pulled on our group when I suggested that “the way to defeat the insurgents in Rhodesia was to eliminate the white farmers” – at the time Rhodesia was “the breadbasket of Sub-Saharan Africa” and the white farms their produced well over 90% of the foodstuffs of that country. Eliminating (by moving them to other locales (like Australia, New Zealand, even North America) Rhodesia’s white farmers would’ve (by my calculations) eradicated upwards of 80% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population within two generations…and gone a long ways toward vanquishing the insurgencies in places like Rhodesia.
The importance of Rhodesia to the USA (at that time) was in blocking USSR procurement of needed metals like tungsten and molybdenum. Israel was a true and reliable friend in that case, as it always has been.
“Israel has been a stalwart ally of America since its inception.”
Just curious. Have they ever deployed any troops alongside ours? I have not been able to find an instance when they did so.
Steve
That’s a non-sequitor Steve, since we’ve fought alongside enemies, like the USSR during WW II…yes, we were enemies even BEFORE WW II, as President Coolidge correctly noted, “The success of a Command Economy ANYWHERE is a threat to market-based economies EVERYWHERE.”
Military relations between Israel and the United States have been extremely close since Israel’s birth, reflecting shared security interests in the Middle East.
The U. S. and Israel have cooperated closely in a number of areas of military activity. The U.S. underwrites some of Israel’s research and development of weapons, and has contributed significant amounts of money to Israeli defense projects such as the Merkava main battle tank and the IAI Lavi ground-attack aircraft.
The two nations also cooperate jointly on a number of technological development programs, notably the Arrow missile system and the Tactical High Energy Laser (also known as Nautilus).
The two countries regularly carry out joint military exercises together, including the biennial exercises codenamed JUNIPER COBRA intended to test interoperability between the two militaries.
In addition, the Israeli port of Haifa is the main port of call in the eastern Mediterranean for the United States Sixth Fleet, and Israel provides other logistical and maintenance support for U.S. forces in the region. The two countries also share intelligence and maintain a joint anti-terrorist working group. The United States has stored military equipment in Israel since the early 1990s.
Currently the ONLY active foreign military installation on Israeli soil is the American AN/TPY-2 early missile warning radar station on Mt. Keren.
I think the case for Israel as ally is overstated. I think of them as a client state. I think of allies as a country like the UK, Canada, France or the Netherlands that is actually going to deploy soldiers with us. To risk the lives of their own people to fight for a common cause. Working jointly on technical development is a commercial relationship. They let us use their port, like a good client state should. The thing that makes them unique is that they have nukes. On that basis, we should make a real effort to work with them and maintain a goo relationship. WE should also honor our commitment to them. However, we should not try to fool ourselves into thinking they will risk their soldiers in our cause.
Steve
The US did not have a mutual defense treaty with Israel until 1973.
Well, let’s see:
1. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg- No, not them. They were spying for Israels supporter at the time, the USSR.
2. Ah, the Lavon affair. No, they were trying to murder US diplomats.
3. The USS Liberty? Israeli Air Force units were deployed. Oh yeah, they were shooting at a US Navy vessel and machine-gunning survivors.
4. Jonathan Pollard? No, not him. I guess not David Tennenbaum either.
5. How about 9/11? The Mossad knew that was coming, and even sent a video team to New Jersey to film it. Uh, I guess their warning was lost in the mail.
6. Their information on Iraqi WMDs? Yeah, that’s the ticket.
I disbelieve #5.
Google some Mossad- 9/11 combos and look for any articles from Long Island Newsday.
Funny story, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Jonathan Pollard were all American citizens, just as were ALDRICH AMES, ROBERT HANSSEN, MARTIN JAMES MONTI and John (“Taliban Johnny”) Walker Lindh.
As for Dr. David Tenenbaum, he’s been dubbed the “Dreyfus of our Generation.” According to supporters Dr. David Tenenbaum was falsely accused of being an Israeli spy based solely upon anti-Semitic accusations from co-workers which the government has covered up under the pretense of national security.
“Dr. Tenenbaum has worked for the U.S. Army as a civilian engineer for over 26 years. In 1995, he created a program known as Light Armor Survivability Systems (LASS) to systematically upgrade the Army’s light armor vehicles because, as U.S. casualties in Somalia made clear, the light armor vehicles were not built for frontline combat in the modern era of urban warfare. While Dr. David Tenenbaum’s success and work ethic placed him on the upper management track, his career was effectively destroyed in February of 1997 when he became aware of the false accusations against him.
“Dr. David Tenenbaum’s ordeal began with a curious order from his supervisor to request a Security Clearance Upgrade from secret to top secret even though Dr. David Tenenbaum was only working on unclassified projects such as LASS. Later, when Dr. David Tenenbaum thought that he was being given a routine security clearance upgrade interview, agents from the Department of Defense suddenly accused him of being a spy and threatened Dr. David Tenenbaum with imprisonment if he did not take a polygraph. The ordeal turned into an outright nightmare when Dr. David Tenenbaum was shuffled into a windowless room with no recording devices where a polygraph examiner began shouting anti-Semitic epithets.”
Status of the Tenebaum case: Questionable.
But that’s not all, Jews have been instrumental in the U.S. since its very infancy. ”By 1776 and the War of Independence, there were an estimated 2,000 (mostly Sephardic) Jews (men, women and children) living in America, yet their contribution to the cause was significant. For example, in Charleston, South Carolina, almost every adult Jewish male fought on the side of freedom. In Georgia, the first patriot to be killed was a Jew (Francis Salvador). And additionally, the Jews provided significant financing for the patriots.
“The most important of the financiers was Haym Salomon who lent a great deal of money to the Continental Congress. In the last days of the war, Salomon advanced the American government $200,000. He was never paid back and died bankrupt.”
The problem with the Mossad and 9/11 claims is that they were invented by the 9/11 Truthers and Loose Change….every single one of their inane claims, from “the fires didn’t burn hot enough to melt the steel supports,” to “cell phones don’t work on airplanes,” has been debunked.
Here’s what they thought if Bush was re-elected.
Bush will invade at least one, and probably two new countries, most likely Syria and Iran. Thousands more Americans and tens of thousands of Syrians and Iranians will die.
As members of the National Guard and the Reserves fight successfully in the courts to overturn government stop-loss programs, the Bush administrations will “reluctantly” support a draft “in the interest of national security.” The draft will once again include loopholes that allow the rich and powerful to avoid service in dangerous locations, if they serve at all. The Bush daughters will not serve, nor will the children of 95% of the members of Congress who “reluctantly” vote for the bill.
Additional draconian measures will be added to the USA Patriot Act, further restricting the average American’s civil rights. Some of the provisions of the law will be secret, so the average citizen won’t know if he’s doing something wrong until he’s arrested, held without bail in a secret cell, and tried without a lawyer in a secret court. Kafka anyone?
One additional feature of the new and improved Patriot Act will become public knowledge. Not content with knowing what books Jane Q. Citizen checks out from the library or buys from the bookstore, or what Web pages she reads, or what her e-mail says, the government will assume the right to secretly read our snail mail, tap our phones, see what magazines we subscribe to (or can they do that already?), plant listening devices in our homes and cars, and use parabolic microphones to eavesdrop on our no-longer private conversations, all without the need of a warrant issued by a court (at least a non-secret court).
Reversing a pre-9/11 trend, Congress will legalize racial and religious profiling by law enforcement officials, surprisingly leading to the detention and harassment of a disproportionate number of Arabs, South Asians, Middle Easterners, and blacks on the one hand, and Muslims on the other. The government will dismiss the statistics the critics cite to prove discrimination as “mere coincidence.”
As the 2008 campaign approaches, Democrats will reject two fiery, progressive candidates in favor of a candidate with deep pockets and broad political connections, who is associated with the Democratic Leadership Council. This candidate will be pro-war (only not as much as Bush), pro-big-business (only with an emphasis on different businesses), pro-capital punishment (only with slightly more compassion), and pro-Israel (with no more pretense of even-handedness than Bush). He or she will lose a close election to Jeb Bush.
There’s a few more in there, some even came true.
It’s true that I regularly hear predictions for what will happen if the Republican wins that don’t come true, as well as predictions for what the Democrat will win that don’t come true.
While they were nuts about the police state stuff, they did get about 6 of them right, if you count it as oil at least $75/bbl. Still, I think the point holds. There is always someone claiming this is the most important election ever, and the world will end if we re-elect or elect someone.
Steve
Such predictions are made by people who don’t understand American politics.
The most hapless and hopeless Americans are those who insist on engaging in “Team Sports politics.”
The fact is that the Democratic Party is the MOST Corporatist Party of the two.
More abuses can be shuttled in under a Democratic administration than a Republican one. The ONLY Democrats who aren’t avowed Corporatists are the old-school Tammany Hall Dems, though they’re tainted by their earlier ethnic bigotries – the “original Democratic coalition of urban ethnic Catholics and Jews and Southern Democrats supported things like the Davis-Bacon Act, designed to keep migrant blacks from “taking big city jobs from Union workers by working for scab (lower) wages,” etc.
While such “Blue Dog Democrats remain appx 43% of the Party’s based, they do not control the Democratic agenda, any more than do Conservatives control the GOP’s agenda. The Corporatists are now safely in control of BOTH major Parties.
Barack Obama’s ran on hollow populist themes, but has governed as a diehard Corporatist, faithfully delivering G W Bush’s 3rd term….more bailouts, more “non-stimulating stimulus spending” and a strict adherence to the Bush Doctrine overseas.
Laura Logan of CBS 60 Minutes believes al Qaida and the Taliban are still to be feared:
The speech was more than provocative it was a warning to anyone who wishes to hear. She explained that the Taliban, al Qaeda and its proxies haven’t gone away and are in fact re-energized and coming back in force. Logan also informed the crowd that a “lie” is being propagated by the American government.
I predict that two days after the election results are certified, there will be predictions about what will happen if X, Y or Z is elected four years later. No one making predictions will be honest enough to divulge their sources — astrology tables, Nostradamus, the tea leaf reader around the corner, a tag-team seance featuring Harry Houdini and Edgar Cayce — and masses of Americans will run out to strip the shelves of antacids, ibuprofen and peroxide.