The Speeches

The Democratic Convention is now over, fireworks and all.  I do not really pay much attention to speeches as I have often have said before, but I do look over the transcripts and see what was said.  So here is what I think of the speeches by both Biden and Obama.  Biden’s made me angry and Obama’s scared me a bit

The reason Biden’s speech angered me because he is either a liar, or I am the smartest man on this planet.  Here is what he said:

“Should we trust John McCain’s judgment when he says there can be no timelines to draw down our troops from Iraq. That we must stay indefinitely…Or should we listen to Barack Obama who says shift responsibility to the Iraqis and set a time to bring our combat troops home?”

Personally, I would trust the person who went to Iraq on several occasions, met with the military leaders, and based his decision upon that.  McCain did this, and Obama never once asked the recommendation of the commanders on the ground before coming up with his withdrawal plan.  But that is not even what angered me.  Biden’s following lines did.  First of all, McCain never said that we would be in Iraq “indefinitely”; he said we would be there until the commanders on the ground say the security condition is good enough for us to withdrawal.  That was his first lie.

The second part angers me even more.  The Democrats continue to tell the American people that we should shift responsibility to the Iraqis as if it is some grand idea that they came up with.  This has always been our mission. If it wasn’t, then why did I turn over the security to the Najaf Province to my Iraqi Army Battalion in 2006?  I am either a genius who just decided to do this on my own, or I was told to by my higher command based upon the criteria and standards we were monitoring from the time I set foot in Iraq.  I bet you can guess which one is true.  The fact is I was told this was our main mission in Iraq by General Casey as he talked to me and about 100 other MiTT team members.  He started this emphasis and now General Petraeus has done a great job fixing the overall security.

Biden also said John McCain was wrong and Barack Obama was right with regards to a timeline to withdrawal troops because of the recent agreement.  This is also very misleading to the American public.  We are able to withdrawal now because the security situation is better and the Iraqis are finally getting their act together on the political front.  Biden should stop pretending he or Obama have anything to do with our ability to withdrawal now.  Remember both Biden and Obama wanted to immediately  pullout of Iraq during our darkest hour, despite his comments that leaving Iraq in disarray would lead to a more widespread regional conflict.

Now on to the great motivational speaker, Barack Obama.

Once again Obama did not give any specifics on how he would implement any of his changes, but that is not unexpected in this type of speech.  He said he would end our dependence on foreign oil, which is very hypocritical since he is adamant against domestic exploration.  He also made a snide remark about McCain’s definition of rich as being $5 million.  McCain was joking and even said so during the Saddleback Forum…he also said it would probably be taken out of context and it was…by none other than Obama himself. 

But none of this is scary.  The scary portion was the following when he finally revealed what he means by change.

“It’s not because John McCain doesn’t care… It’s because John McCain doesn’t get it. For over two decades, he’s subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy – give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is you’re on your own. “Well it’s time for them to own their failure…It’s time for us to change America.”

First of all, a lot of what he said is not true.  Republicans don’t just want to give more and more to the rich.  They support lower taxes for everyone and less government intervention and programs…ie: limited government.  And in this country we don’t hope for prosperity to trickle down.  If you work hard, you are rewarded for it.  It has worked for the Obama’s.  Why does he want to change this?

What he did say that was true was that in this country you are on your own.  For the most part, this is true.  That is the basis of a capitalist system.  Our country offers every opportunity you need to succeed.  It is not the government’s responsibility to give you anything or ensure this success.  If you want to change this system, then you are talking about socialism.  And that, my friends, is scary.

Tagged as: biden, Obama, speeches