Barack Obama’s speech in Ghana provided an unvarnished glimpse into the man’s soul. Dissecting the various themes running throughout the oration reveals a man chock full of contradictions, empty rhetoric, and most of all — himself. Missing an opportunity to plow new ground on pressing African issues, Obama contented himself to repeat “the same things about good-governance and responsibility that we’ve been hearing since the 1980s,” said a Kenyan political observer according to the Los Angeles Times. If politicians as diverse as Reagan and Obama deliver similar messages to African leaders, perhaps they should start listening. Nevertheless, Obama was long on talk and short on substance. Or, as the Kenyan said, ”It was just window-dressing.”
As in virtually every speech Obama delivers, a significant portion of this one was about Obama’s favorite subject. “I have the blood of Africa within me” has no more meaning than the American blood sharing his circulatory system, but for Obama it provides another opportunity for self-elevation. That his daughters have “slave blood” coursing through their veins is equally pointless, but was used by Obama to promote his stature when he lectured the nation about race relations. The man is incapable of addressing any topic without inserting himself into the first paragraph.
Would that Obama had stopped with the blood statement. Alas, the world was also treated to a history of his father’s and grandfather’s Kenyan experiences. Someone needs to tell Obama “it’s not about you!” But, sycophants rarely offer such confrontational counsel. Indeed, Obama’s advisers probably encourage him in the never ending cycle of self-absorption and egotistical expression. Even for politicians, Obama’s preening is setting new records.
Discerning Africans no doubt stifled guffaws when Obama admonished that “No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20% of the top.” America’s corporate tax rate stands at 35%, the second highest barrier to economic growth in the developed world. American business leaders who have just become aware of the relatively low cost of doing business in Africa must be making relocation plans. Lowering business taxes to 20% would create an economic boom of historic proportions in our fair land, but don’t hold your breath. Statists consistently apply static models to taxation theory, incorrectly believing that higher tax rates lead to correspondingly higher tax revenue. For a rebuttal of this error, see…California.
Obama is quite correct when he asserts that “Africa’s future is up to Africans.” Alas, his call for personal responsibility rings as hollow in Africa as it did in his inaugural address. Banking, business, and mortgage bailouts are the antithesis of Obama’s message. Giveaways saturate TARP and the stimulus legislation, shattering the notion of propriety and destroying any incentive to work hard and play buy the rules. Law-abiding, bill paying, self-reliant Americans are suckers in the age of Obama. World record setting deficit spending is the epitome of irresponsibility. Rarely has a President’s words been at greater odds with his actions. If ever we needed to pay attention to what our leader does and forget what he says, it is now.
Posted by Jerry Pomeroy in Fraud Watch, Obama Presidency