Analysis for Critical Thinkers

“U.S. troops killed in deadliest month of Afghan war”
-Reuters

So it is no longer “Bush lied, kids died” – but why aren’t we hearing “Obama lied, Mama Cried?” That is because there are terrorists in this world intent on killing Americans and whether they be in Afghanistan or Iraq, President Bush knew that you can’t just surrender as then-Candidate Obama promised that he would do as soon as he got into office.

“Of course they’ve been immoral all along in how they have treated the people that they insure.”
-“Speaker of the House” Pelosi on a tirade against private insurance companies.

It is shocking to Pelosi that a private company seeks to be profitable. She intends to ensure that Big Government will be the ones to operate at a loss.

“But I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry”
-President Obama on the arrest of one of his friends, Mr. Gates after Mr. Gates was abusive to the police who responded to a possible burglary at his house.

No Mr. Obama, none of us would be pretty angry when the police respond to our house regarding a possible burglary in progress. We would likely thank the police for their diligence and perhaps write a letter of appreciation to them.

“…there’s a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That’s just a fact.”
-President Obama further trying to ad-lib his way out of another lack-of-teleprompter gaffe regarding the arrest of his friend Mr. Gates.

Please supply footnotes and references for your alleged “fact” Mr. President. The erroneous supposition that “everybody knows” something does not work for Critical Thinkers such as those here at Truth and Sense. Further, please explain what this has to do with the Gates arrest.

“Not more than a few weeks ago there were skeptics who weren’t sure that the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program would work. But I’m happy to report that it has succeeded beyond our wildest expectation.”
-President Obama regarding a program to use tax dollars to pay people to buy more fuel efficient cars.

Why, why , why are you giving my money to other people to buy something that they should just buy on their own?

“It’s still all Bush’s fault”
-Everybody defending the record smashing tax-and-spend policies of the current administration and Congress.

“We have to spend more money faster so we don’t run out of money”
-Vice President and oft-malaprop Joseph Biden on the currrent race to bankrupt the taxpayers of this country.

This policy of spending other people’s money without even reading the bills that you are voting on is the kind of thing that got so many mortgage holders in trouble once they found out that they would actually have to make the payments that they didn’t even know they had agreed to.

Critical Thinkers here at Truth and Sense do not put much value upon polls and approval ratings. Without even going into their accuracy, their importance is suspect as well. Critical Thinkers do not need to see what other people supposedly think in order to formulate a stance on an issue. Critical Thinkers use attention to detail and logical analysis as two of their major tools. 

Nevertheless, one must wonder what people such as President Obama – and those like him that put so much importance in what people think about him – must be thinking about his plummeting job approval ratings. Using third-party polls as the basis of your position usually leads to bad policy and then often, the politically fatal flip-flop. When then-Presidential-candidate John Kerry said  “I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it,” he seemed to wonder why every single voter from both sides of that issue could not be satisfied with him and his position(s).

Is President Obama frustrated that there is so much resistance to his plan for socialised medicine when after all – he offers the prospect of something for nothing? Sure, he likely has been willing to sacrifice the votes of those few whom he claims will be the only ones paying for the plan, but surely everyone else must love it, right? Perhaps people realize that there is no such thing as “something for nothing”. Perhaps people realize that even if you promise that only some faceless and nameless “evil rich” minority of Americans will be forced to pay the higher taxes, soon everybody will be paying more and more while getting less and less. Perhaps people do not want Big Government running yet another aspect of their lives. Or perhaps Americans by and large do not seek “something for nothing.” We may never know.

Does President Obama do things based on what he calculates will get him the most approval? Did he publicly insult the arresting officer of refusing-to-show-ID-to- the-police Henry Gates on the hopes that it would boost his Presidential Approval polls?

The big question is this. Does the President make policy based on his own principles, morals, Critical Thinking and analysis? Or does he base his course on his perception of the opinions of others? If he really thinks that socialised medicine is right for America, then may he fight for what he thinks is right. If he is merely trying to be popular though, he will wind up with muddled policy and incoherent positions and may well find that people like these things least of all.