Double Talk

One thing about Barack Obama is that he says what "has to" to get elected. This is just old style politics with a national media who refuses to call him on it.

On a number of occasions, he has backtracked or flipped on issues. His claim that he wouldn't disown or disavow Reverend Wright anymore than he would have disowned his own grandmother was his most noteworthy flip. In another flip and within one day's span, he claimed he wasn't in the Church when radical statements were made and, then, announced that he was. One of his surrogates told the Canadians not to worry about NAFTA while he, Obama, was campaigning in Michigan and saying that he would either strongly renegotiate it or abandon it. He is on record as saying he would yank troops out of Iraq within 90 days. Yet, Samantha Power (Obama's former foreign policy adviser) told a foriegn press that he (Obama) plans to pull troops over a period of 16 months. He also backtracked on his claim of preconditions on talking to leaders like Ahmadinejad in Iran. On the domestic issue of teacher's pay, he "had" been saying he was for "merit pay" for well performing teachers. Now, he has abandoned that idea and is back to the traditional "Democratic" concept of raising pay across the board for teachers.

I could go on all day long with his either complete flip-flops or his not-so-subtle changes on issues. And they just don't stop. Yesterday was another example.

On 5/27 in this blog (See blog entry), I wrote an entry that provided a video where Obama, himself, laid out his plans to drastically "cut" our military spending. As part of that video, you can clearly hear him say "I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems". Yet, when he met with AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee), yesterday (See Text of Full Speech), he said the following:

"Our alliance is based on shared interests and shared values. Those who threaten Israel threaten us. Israel has always faced these threats on the front lines. And I will bring to the White House an unshakeable commitment to Israel's security.

That starts with ensuring Israel's qualitative military advantage. I will ensure that Israel can defend itself from any threat - from Gaza to Tehran. Defense cooperation between the United States and Israel is a model of success, and must be deepened. As President, I will implement a Memorandum of Understanding that provides $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade - investments to Israel's security that will not be tied to any other nation. First, we must approve the foreign aid request for 2009. Going forward, we can enhance our cooperation on missile defense. We should export military equipment to our ally Israel under the same guidelines as NATO. And I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself in the United Nations and around the world."

So, this begs the question: How can Obama "enhance" a missile defense system that he claims is "unproven" and which he plans to seriously eliminate or minimize funding for? This kind of thing reminds me of the comments he has made about talking to Iran. On one hand, he say he will "tough talk" Iran about their supplying of weapons and IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) that are being used to kill our soldiers in Iraq. On the other hand, he plans to high-tail-it out of Iraq. Isn't talking to Iran about Iraq and the killing of our soldiers a mute point if we aren't going to be there?

One thing "I know" is that "I don't know" where Barack Obama stands on anything. I can't believe this guy because I think he is "only" saying what each particular audience is expecting to hear. He says one thing while his team has a completely different concept of what will actually happen. That was true with his "econ" person, Austan Goolsbee, on NAFTA and with Samantha Power on his plans to pull out of Iraq. And, what he says on day cam be in direct contradiction to what he has said in the past; all depending on the audience, du jour, or how much heat he has gotten on some past statements. What's worse, .the national press is so "in love" with Obama and wants him to win, that they are have decided to "give him a pass" on all these flip-flops and rejiggering of his positions.

When it comes to policy, Obama's motto of "Change" is an absolute truth!