Erich Vieth is an attorney focusing on civil rights (including First Amendment), consumer law litigation and appellate practice. At this website often writes about censorship, corporate news media corruption and cognitive science. He is also a working musician, artist and a writer, having founded Dangerous Intersection in 2006. Erich lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his two daughters.
I wish someone could help me understand why common sense would lead an intelligent person to support Barack Obama. We are electing the President of the United States not merely voting for the next American Idol.
Let's take a close look at the caricatures being drawn of Obama in the cartoon. Are they mischaracterizations or accurate?
Socialist: certainly he is the most "left" voting of all in the Senate. His desire to deploy the machinery of government to redistribute wealth represents a step in the direction of "from each according to his ability and to each according to his need".
Terrorist: Obama is not a terrorist and has not recently called for the violent overthrow of our government. Perhaps under the influence in his youth of a member of CPUSA, Frank Davis, he may have been steeped in such rhetoric. Maybe in working with Louis Farakahn in organizing the Million Man March, he may have been indirectly endorsing the Nation of Islam's views on America, which were echoed in the Liberation Theology of Reverends Wright and Pfluger. He has the misfortune of gaining the endorsement of such world figures as the leader of the Iranian parliament, as well as leaders of Hamas, Hezbullah and Al Queda. These are not wellwishers for our nation or for any government not in total submission to Allah and Islamic Law.
The appearance of Che Guevara posters in Obama headquarters as well as the Obey the Giant Soviet style poster art of Shepard Fairey
http://obeygiant.com/post/obama#more-541
is creepy to the traditional American.
Just because Barack has been comfortable in the company of Ayers and Dorn, does not make him a "fellow traveler" or even a terrorist sympathizer. Nor does his toasting a respected Palestinian professor following his rants against the Jewish state of Israel make Obama an antisemite. It's just that these and other associations would render this candidate for the Oval Office disqualified for gaining admission to the FBI, Secret Service or other security sensitive positions.
Traitor: He has not had the opportunity to betray the US insofar as he has not been in charge of anything but his own campaigns! However, we will be entrusting a man of unproven character, who advocates an American vision of national socialism to lead us through a period of international and domestic turbulence. He may not be a traitor (yet) however, he is an unabashed appeaser, seemingly unable to discern a flawed worldview when presented by surrogate fathers, ie older men who embrace the ideologies of his biological and adoptive fathers. Those being Marxism and Islam. It would appear that the woundedness of his childhood abandonment, three times have produced a successful appeaser adaptation. This character has carried him far; however, it is a distinct disqualifier for the task at hand for our 43rd President.
The change that is being called for by this candidate may more closely resemble Mao's Cultural Revolution than what loyal liberal Americans have in mind. It is unfortunate that America's collective guilt over racism and slavery is seeking atonement at such a great price. It is unfortunate that the principles of multiculturalism, relativism and self denigration of traditional American values has gained such traction when they are most needed.