Politics

‘Us’ Vs. ‘Them’

Sep. 5, 2012 12:39pm

Monica Crowley, Ph.D., is a Fox News Contributor, host of the nationally syndicated “Monica Crowley Show,” and the author of What the (Bleep) Just Happened? The Happy Warrior’s Guide to the Great American Comeback.

Last night, Michelle Obama took the stage and delivered a speech meant to rally the Democratic faithful and to humanize her husband.  After nearly four years of his presidency, it does seem odd that she still has to humanize him. That’s usually something that more unknown challengers must do. But the perception of Obama as an aloof, distant, egotistical narcissist has been growing, so Michelle was dispatched to paint a warmer picture of him. If Team Obama is worried about THAT at this late hour—as well as worrying about their base—they know they’re in trouble.

For what it was, Michelle’s speech was solid, and she certainly knows how to deliver. It was a home run, the same way Ann Romney’s speech was a home run last week. But one short paragraph has become the definitive theme of the speech, because it rings so outrageously false. She said, “I love that for Barack, there is no such thing as ‘us’ and ‘them’ — he doesn’t care whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or none of the above. He knows that we all love our country. And he’s always ready to listen to good ideas. He’s always looking for the very best in everyone he meets.”

Team Obama may actually see things that way, but it’s extremely detached from reality.

The ONLY thing Obama has done since taking office is divide on the basis of ”us” vs. “them.” He and his team have divided Americans by class (by incessantly slamming the “1%,” “millionaires and billionaires,” commanding them to do their “fair share,” etc).

He has divided by race (see Joe Biden’s recent comment, “They’re gonna put y’all back in chains”).

He has divided by age (attempting to scare seniors by falsely and dishonestly suggesting that the Republicans’ Medicare reforms would toss grandma off the cliff, and by giving away the store to college kids on student loans).

And he has divided by gender (ginning up a completely bogus GOP “war on women.”)

As far as Michelle’s comment that Obama “doesn’t care whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or none of the above,” and “he’s always ready to listen to good ideas…,” Obama hasn’t met with the GOP in over a year, scolded them on Day One of his presidency with “I won,” told a Democrat who had voted against the stimulus, “Don’t think we’re not keeping score, brother,” and once referred to “punishing our enemies.”  Not exactly the warm n’ fuzzy Barack Michelle was desperately trying to paint.

And as far as “listening to good ideas,” he blew off his own deficit reduction commission, Simpson-Bowles, as well as Paul Ryan’s budget reform ideas and disregarded moderate Democrats’ ideas to carry out health reform more slowly and with GOP buy-in (see: defeated Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln and her pleas to Obama, which fell on deaf ears).

So: Michelle can try all she wants to resurrect Obama’s 2004 image of a guy who said “there’s not a red America or a blue America,” and she and other Democrats can try to invoke his 2008 image of the transcendent guy sitting above petty politicking and business-as-usual. But after nearly four years of division, distraction, and destruction, not many people are buying that sales pitch anymore. It’s old, it’s tired, and like his radical redistributionism, it’s done.

Comments (19)

  • rightwingwacko
    Sep. 5, 2012 at 10:28pm

    Everyone who draws a paycheck pays 7.65% tax to social security and medicare that is matched by the employer so 15.3% is gone before you see the check. Add to that for those who pay Federal income tax (53% of us) it is another chunk gone. Then you have to consider state and local taxes along with all the hidden taxes (i.e. gas tax, cell phone, 911 fees, etc.) You get left with just a little bit and all the government agencies get more and more. How much is enough? Please all you Progressives out there please tell me what my fair share is….I don’t get section 8 housing, Wic, food stamps (Ebt/Snap), Medicaid, S.S.I. disability, free cell phone, discounted internet. I pay for my own stuff and apparently a lot of others as well. I happen to be a survivor. How many of you will make it when the hard working taxpayers go on strike? The tipping point is near and Atlas is going to shrug. ” I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.” John Galt

    Report this comment

    rightwingwacko  
  • Imademybiz
    Sep. 5, 2012 at 8:34pm

    Wango,
    I am so sick of hearing this crap about the 99%. The so-called 99% dosen’t exist, it is a made up fairy tale by the left. I’m not a millionaire or a billionaire, but don’t include me in what’s left over. Only 47% of your so-called 99% pay taxes, I do pay all of my taxes. So you boneheads should be called the 47%’ers. The other 52% of us hard working tax payers will just continue to laugh at your ignorance.

    Report this comment

    Imademybiz  
    • The Third Archon
      Sep. 5, 2012 at 9:00pm

      Actually, that statistic is a dead wrong piece of Rightist propaganda that I’m not surprised to see you willingly swallowed. The CORRECT statistic is that ~47% pay FEDERAL INCOME TAX–but with STATE and MUNICIPAL taxes (income, property, sales, etc.), FAR more than that number actually PAY TAXES. But by all means, continue to only see what you want to see and what is convenient for your preconceived beliefs. It’s far easier, after all, to be ideologically lazy, than to actually USE your human capacity for REASON.

      Report this comment

      The Third Archon  
    • The Third Archon
      Sep. 5, 2012 at 9:06pm

      I also love how you can’t even keep your proposition internally consistent within your own comment–first you say “Only 47% of your so-called 99% pay taxes” then in the NEXT SENTENCE, you imply the EXACT OPPOSITE, and if it wasn’t ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that you were completely clueless as to your OWN STATISTICS, you finish by saying “The other 52% of us hard working tax payers…”

      Not that it would be any better EITHER way, since you are misinformed as the actual tax figures (supra)–that’s NOT the figures for ALL TAXES, just (more-or-less) FEDERAL INCOME TAXES.

      Report this comment

      The Third Archon  
  • PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
    Sep. 5, 2012 at 7:58pm

    Thanks Monica…you’re one the the stellar conservative women who can artfully and truthfully articulate conservative principles and values with gusto and a warm smile. Like your style. God Bless

    Report this comment

    PIGSWILLNEVERFLY  
  • The Third Archon
    Sep. 5, 2012 at 6:18pm

    “He has divided by race (see Joe Biden’s recent comment, “They’re gonna put y’all back in chains”).”
    Because Confederacy sympathizers don’t vote Republican?

    Report this comment

    The Third Archon  
  • The Third Archon
    Sep. 5, 2012 at 5:29pm

    “Last night, Michelle Obama took the stage and delivered a speech meant to rally the Democratic faithful and to humanize her husband. After nearly four years of his presidency, it does seem odd that she still has to humanize him. That’s usually something that more unknown challengers must do. But the perception of Obama as an aloof, distant, egotistical narcissist has been growing, so Michelle was dispatched to paint a warmer picture of him. If Team Obama is worried about THAT at this late hour—as well as worrying about their base—they know they’re in trouble.”
    And yet he continues to lead Romney in the electoral projections. Man, Romney must be a REAL tool if everything you say about Obama is true.

    Report this comment

    The Third Archon  
  • MadAsHeII
    Sep. 5, 2012 at 5:10pm

    The theme, Us Vs. Them in kind of disingenuous, since Us has become Them. Obama wants to rule with a dictator style, but so does Romney. Romney along with the RNC has taken our voices away from all Presidential races, in every state, in every Presidential Primary run, from this day forward. Does this not concern anyone here on this site?? Do all of you just have blinders on and earplugs in? This is being talked about in many places, but not here.

    Report this comment

    MadAsHeII  
  • ConservativeFirst
    Sep. 5, 2012 at 4:52pm

    I am so glad to know that I wasn’t alone when I heard “Me”chelle utter those words. I immediately thought of the 2010 election when Obama had an interview with Univision Radio and commented “if Latinos sit out the election instead of sayin, we’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues…….

    The speech came through loud and clear as one big lie…. Of course, what could we expect from a party that chooses Debbie Wasserman “the liar” Schultz as the head of their party……?

    Report this comment

    ConservativeFirst  
  • Lucifers Hammer
    Sep. 5, 2012 at 4:10pm

    Well that’s okay. Because it is Us vs. Them. The time has come to stop blaming Obama for everything…and instead hold responsible all those who voted for and support him. They are the cancer that needs to be eradicated to save liberty, freedom, individualism, success and the American way of life.

    Just like the motto was “never forget” for the atrocities committed on 9/11, we must never forget what Obama has done to the US, nor can we forget those who made it possible. They must be held accountable for their complicity in treason.

    Report this comment

    Lucifers Hammer  
  • lostnewyorker
    Sep. 5, 2012 at 4:04pm

    Wango your rebuttal is incoherent! Monica is a brilliant conservative unlike the media people that represent the democrats.

    Report this comment

    lostnewyorker  
  • Wango
    Sep. 5, 2012 at 3:22pm

    There are so many words to describe Monica Crowley – almost smart, willfully obtuse, arbitrary, hypocritical, egomaniacal, shrill, unaccountable, illogical, and the one that probably hurts her the most, almost pretty. (Yes, vanity thy name is Crowley. The plasticine hairdo is a dead giveaway.)

    But this article has so much dissembling and double standards embedded in it that to dissect it would take longer than the article itself. I’ll give just one example – MC cites the “class warfare’ of calling attention to income inequality of the 1%, which be definition units 99% of Americans. And yet she prefers to pit 50% the country against the other 50% – a complete double standard and wildly disingenuous.

    Trust me, Monica, you’re better off when you;re shilling for O’Reilly. At least his standards are so low you can’t disappoint that audience. When you step out on your own, well, you just look childish and uninformed.

    Report this comment

    Wango  
    • WindyDualism
      Sep. 5, 2012 at 5:20pm

      WangDang
      But she reaches 10 million more than you. Does that suck for your little world or what. Thought you were describing Hillara for a minute. It really is all about Wang vs her huh?

      Report this comment

      WindyDualism  
    • nomsain
      Sep. 5, 2012 at 5:31pm

      Well, Mr. Pretty Boy Wango,..I read the same article and the incidents she describes are in the public domain and can easily be researched and proven TRUE. This leaves only your comprehension skills in question. It would appear that you got only as far as your grade school reader before you had to drop out of school.

      Report this comment

      nomsain  
    • The Third Archon
      Sep. 5, 2012 at 9:18pm

      @WINDYDUALISM
      Audience size does not equate to intelligibility–Hitler held an entire nation captive with his words. That did not make what he said any more truthful, moral, or laudable. Besides, the majority of the world is fools, and fools are easily duped.

      Report this comment

      The Third Archon  
  • Whistleblower
    Sep. 5, 2012 at 1:39pm

    Is President Barack Obama being blackmailed ?

    http://illinoispaytoplay.com/2012/09/01/is-president-barack-obama-being-blackmailed/

    Report this comment

    Whistleblower  

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