Hating The Rich
Are you a rich person? You know, one who is a millionaire or worse? OK, you might just be a hundredthousandaire ($250 K and up), but that's just too rich for some people "I do think at some point you've made enough money" (Barack Obama, 29 April 2010). Obama himself is a multi-millionaire who shows no signs that he "has enough," but it's different for him (which is why he will never have to rely on Obamacare, but you will).

"Now, unfortunately, right now this is getting demagogued (sic). A lot of folks think it's an easy way to score political points is by trying (sic) to act as if there's a 'them' and an 'us,' instead of just an 'us.' And I’m always suspicious of politics that is (sic) dividing people instead of bringing them together. I think now is the time for us to come together." (29 September 2010, video at gatewaypundit)

Obama was supposedly talking about illegal immigrants above, and yes, if Bush had made those verbal mistakes, we'd never hear the end of it, but let's not live in the Bushy past, as Obama is so prone to do. Obama uses the "us vs them" meme to distraction and for distraction. He does this when it comes to race, when it comes to religion, when it comes to his wars (formerly known as Bush's wars), and when it comes to income. Especially, it seems, when it comes to income.

The rich (the non-Obama rich) are evil evil evil people who have made so much moolah that it should be taken away from them by force. Think Castro. No, not the new, unstable Castro who says silly things like, "Cuba's communist economic model doesn't work." I'm talking about the old Fidel, who said things the left loves like, "It is impossible for peaceful coexistence between the exploited masses of Latin America and the Yankee monopolies...as long as imperialism exists, international class war will exist between the exploited masses and the monopolies." (outline to the International Organization of Journalists, January 1962, cited in The Secret of Fidel Castro by Servando Gonzalez). Castro hated wealth so much that he made sure that those on the top rung of the ladder had no money and those on the bottom rung could never make it to the top rung because the top rung didn't exist.

But what if you aren't rich? What if you're that group that no one ever talks about: the people who make and sell things that only the "rich" can afford like luxury homes, cars, boats, electronics, clothes, vacation packages, exercise equipment, food. If, at some point, the "rich" doesn't have as much money as it used to, your company may shut its doors (you're not too big to fail). Don't think it can happen? There were still rich folks during the Great Depression, yet somehow there wasn't enough money to support expensive cars like Cord, Pierce-Arrow, Stutz, Peerless (even Cadillac almost went under). Not all rich people lost their wealth in the Great Depression. Some just wanted to be cautious with their money until the markets stabilized. And some didn't want to be seen as the evil, heartless, uncaring rich.

Speaking of Bush, you surely remember all of this talk about Bush's "tax cuts for the rich?" It wasn't a tax cut for regular, hard-working, wage-earning folks. Nope, just for the rich. Why, then, is Obama proposing to let the Bush tax cuts expire, but only for the top 2% of wage earners? Was he lying about the Bush tax cuts only being for the rich, or did he actually see the other 98% of Americans who benefited from the tax cuts as rich, too? What exactly does Obama mean when he speaks?

(art by W. D. Stevens)

But Obama is a smart guy and he's got the Old Media behind him. Together, they've continued the drum beat of blaming Bush for the economy, racial tension, global warming/cooling/stasis, and shower mold. And the Blame Bush Business works, at least in my slow-to-grasp-concepts home state: "60% in California Blame Bush for Poor Economy, 35% Blame Obama." (Rasmussen Reports, 10 October 2010)

Obama also demonizes Wall Street, the financial zombie that controls our lives and sucks our blood (the government hates competition). After all, it's the Republicans who are in the pocket of Big Business. If you believe this, you need to grow up. It's not that it's not true (it is), but the Democrats are just as cozy in that pocket. Just look at Obama and his advisors' ties to the companies that got sweet bail-out deals. "People tend to associate Republicans with Wall Street, but the truth is, it's the Democrats that are in bed with the Street. And that's certainly true with Obama. He's been in bed [with them] from the beginning. And that was crucial to his victory. Without Wall Street's initial support he doesn't have credibility...No doubt about it. Without Wall Street, Obama would not be in power today." (quoted by Charles Gasparino, Huffington Post, 11 October 2010)

To use a financial term that may offend some readers, the bottom line is that when the Democrats demonize business, they're dividing, to use Obama's words, "a them and an us." When he says "I think now is the time for us to come together" he means it's time to stop differing with his agenda. Cut it out, you Tea Partiers. No more, you conservative minorities. That's enough, you veterans and gun owners. Stop it, you seniors who are the first to see their benefits cut under Obamacare.

Obama should just come right out and say, "You're either for me, or you're against me"; he's already saying, "You would think they should be saying thank you." (fundraiser speech, 15 April 2010, reported on ABCNews)

Thomas J. Clement