In September of 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama did an interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. While it was a risk, inasmuch as Obama does not speak as well extemporaneously as with a teleprompter, it was a strategically sound move. The Fox audience might have been more hostile than most, but they didn't have instant feedback, so this didn't much matter. The issue at the time was would he rise to the occasion? – and he did. Although O'Reilly didn't hardball Obama (to this day, the commentator hasn't figured out that this president is a Marxist), he wasn't easy on him, either.
One of the talents Obama has that goes along with his ability as a speaker is his power of persuasion. There are historical figures both heroic and notorious who have possessed this. It is also something your average street hustler has in spades. This is probably one of the reasons Obama has cultivated such a dedicated inner circle despite the fact that he has few other attributes or redeeming qualities, and cannot forge genuine personal relationships (as is typically the case with malignant narcissists).
In this one-on-one with a critical journalist, the necessity for coming off as well as possible was evident. While O'Reilly's viewers are anything but flaming liberals, neither are most of them hardcore conservatives. I would wager that a substantial number among them wound up voting for Obama based largely upon that interview. So few people back then had even heard the words "Obama" and "Marxist" uttered in the same sentence, and it would be a long time before they would consider a connection there.
At any rate, what I found interesting about the 2008 O'Reilly interview was Obama's demeanor, such as when O'Reilly challenged him with questions like "So you're going to pull out and let the Islamic fundamentalists take them [Iraq] over?": These issues O'Reilly kept bringing up were annoying distractions. There was an impatience there, but very restrained. I could see it in his eyes: But you don't understand, Bill. I am the culmination of the dreams of generations of American communists. We're finally going to get our 51 percent, and there will be no turning back. We'll be in power for the duration.
If there's anything of which regular readers of this column are aware, it's that I firmly believe that socialism, in addition to being antithetical to all things American, is manifestly evil. By extension, those who dedicatedly advance socialism are in service thereof, whether you put evil in a secular or religious context. As such, I have developed a very low opinion of the national Republican leadership, which has been corrupted by big-government elitism and incrementally adopted aspects of socialism.
In short, they sold out.
All of which adds up to a lot of evil in Washington. In its corruption and dedication to its malignant agenda, and with the complicity of the establishment press, the Obama administration has infused more socialistic policies into American government than any other. The chief example, of course, would be Obamacare. Last week, in a blatant affront to the First Amendment, they forbade Catholic military chaplains to weigh in on the administration's burgeoning feud with the Catholic Church over provisions in Obamacare which would mandate that church institutions subsidize contraception. This is direct government interference in a religious doctrinal issue.
Aside from its ever-increasing fascistic leanings, the proclivity of this administration for subverting the Constitution is more than just illegal and immoral; it's twisted and evil. Among instruments of government, the Constitution really is a beautiful thing. What they are doing to it, and to America, is analogous to taking a box cutter to the Mona Lisa or a sledgehammer to Michaelangelo's "David." I am also reminded of when the Taliban gained power in Afghanistan and blew up priceless, ancient Buddhist temple statues, citing them as heretical.
Perhaps it is Obama's affinity for Islam that compels him in these Luddite pursuits, but I disagree with those who claim that he's a closet Muslim. I don't believe that Obama has any real religious or spiritual leanings to speak of, because I believe that he's always seen himself as a quasi-deity. People such as Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (who has vowed to stand against the Catholic Church on the Obamacare issue despite calling herself a "devout Catholic") and other luminaries on the left worship nothing but power.
And as they work toward transforming America into some B-movie dystopian futureworld, it is our lot – and our responsibility – to fight them with all we have. They're going to call us extremists, then radicals and finally enemies of the state; just bear in mind that much of their power is illusory. A great deal of it is magnified through the prism provided by the press, and there are still far more Americans who oppose their grand design than support it.
Remember this as the proverbial excrement gets closer to hitting the fan.