The Roots of Obama's Rage (30 page)
Read The Roots of Obama's Rage Online
Authors: Dinesh D'Souza
So one great threat posed by Obama is that in weakening America he will jeopardize the security and stability that America provides not only for its own citizens but for the world. Then there is a second threat that Obama poses to his own country. America is currently the world leader, but it is faced with serious competitive challenges from leaner, hungrier nations like China and India. The economic balance has tipped in favor of these countries; they are growing five times faster than the United States. Chinese cities are bigger, newer, and glitzier than anything in America today. Also, China and India have larger populations and this too has economic significance. Since China has more than three times the number of people that America has, even if the Chinese per capita income only rises to one-third that of the United States, China will have a bigger GNP than America. At current rates, the Chinese economy will overtake that of the United States in a few decades. The American era will be over and, if history is any guide, it will never return.
What are we going to do about this? Here we are at a fork in the road. We can either draw from the wellsprings of American strength and get about the business of competing in the world, or we can give up on the American dream and lapse into a second-class position as indeed Britain eventually did. If Obama has his way, America would look a lot like Obama’s father wanted Kenya to look: government-run peasant cooperatives rationing land and natural resources in order to enjoy a modest self-sufficiency.
Recall Obama’s granny outlining for him the simple life in the village before the white man came. Each family had its own hut. The men tilled the land and the women drew the water. The boys learned to throw their spears and the girls learned to grind millet. The elders watched over everything and made all the rules. I understand the appeal of growing up in a simple, settled society, because I grew up in one. We didn’t have all the problems of modern life. But then we also didn’t have basic amenities that most people today take for granted. Equally important, there is very little mobility and opportunity in settled societies. That’s why so many people from the old country would be thrilled to have a chance to move to the United States. Consequently I understand Obama, but I don’t sympathize with him. In fact, his warped ideology really scares me. His vision for America may be therapeutic for his psyche, but it is a ridiculous one for America in the twenty-first century. The dream of the two Obamas is not the dream that I want for America. Obama’s dream is actually an American nightmare.
It’s time to act. Yes, we need change, and this time the change we need is to change the man in the White House. America isn’t the rogue elephant: Obama is. It’s not a matter of putting him out of his misery; it’s a matter of putting him out of our misery. We also have to get rid of his team of sycophants and enablers. I am thinking of Harry Reid, Chris Dodd, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank: the entire liberal Democratic menagerie. Do all these enablers, or even his own private staff, know who Obama really is and what his goals really are? I suspect they do not, because Obama’s philosophy derives from his own unique experience. So they are, in a way, dupes of Obama and of his translation strategy; this would make Obama a true loner. But it makes no difference. The sycophants and enablers are the ones who are clearing the path for this Pied Piper, and we had better get rid of the whole crew before they take us off the cliff.
More than this, we need to ask ourselves how we got into this situation. We need to reexamine what it is to be an American. This means we must no longer respond so lethargically to the competitive challenges we face. Ronald Reagan once noted that the American national anthem is the only one in the world that ends with a question: “Oh say does that Star Spangled banner yet wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?” Only we, through our resolution and through our action, can answer that question.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
T
his book could not have been written without the love and care of Dixie and Danielle, my two pillars of support. Dixie reads all my stuff and is also the original source of the rumor that I am actually the “front man” for her ideas. I have to remember this when I am invited to a friendly “let’s sort this out” dinner at the White House; she can be my food taster. Harry Crocker, my editor, championed this project from the start and went with me when I kept changing my mind and direction. Mary Beth Baker did the editing that makes my work flow so well; if at any time it doesn’t flow so well, direct all complaints to Mary Beth. I am also grateful to my research assistant, Gregory Hirsh-man, who finds time to work with me when he is not playing tennis for Stanford or doing genius-level math or applying for the Rhodes Scholarship. I wish to thank Stan Guthrie for his critiques of the manuscript and help with editing it; Stan provides the level-headed, outsider perspective that every writer needs. Peter Marsh is an inspiration and a friend and his support, through the Peter Marsh Foundation, was indispensable to this project. With Pete comes B.J. Marsh, who doesn’t have a foundation to her name, but is certainly a lot more attractive than Pete. I also appreciate the useful suggestions of Andrew Accardy and Byron Van Kley. I am grateful to Ed and Caroline Hoffman, Spencer Masloff, Andy Mills, Larry Taunton, and John and Carol Saeman for their assistance in my work. My regular breakfasts with Ed McVaney are a constant source of ideas and suggestions, and several of those are reflected in this book. In fact, a single line by Ed launched me on the right path with regard to my subject. I’d also like to thank “Engels.” He has been with this project from the beginning, even helping to shape the original idea. I call him “Engels” because he sometimes jokes that as a team we are like Marx and Engels. Some individuals who have helped me with this book have asked that their names not be used; they are worried they might attract the unhelpful scrutiny of the Obama administration. “Trust me,” says one of them, “You don’t want those guys coming after you.” As you see from these pages, I am not waiting for them to come after me; I am going after them, and with the greatest weapon of all, the truth.
his book could not have been written without the love and care of Dixie and Danielle, my two pillars of support. Dixie reads all my stuff and is also the original source of the rumor that I am actually the “front man” for her ideas. I have to remember this when I am invited to a friendly “let’s sort this out” dinner at the White House; she can be my food taster. Harry Crocker, my editor, championed this project from the start and went with me when I kept changing my mind and direction. Mary Beth Baker did the editing that makes my work flow so well; if at any time it doesn’t flow so well, direct all complaints to Mary Beth. I am also grateful to my research assistant, Gregory Hirsh-man, who finds time to work with me when he is not playing tennis for Stanford or doing genius-level math or applying for the Rhodes Scholarship. I wish to thank Stan Guthrie for his critiques of the manuscript and help with editing it; Stan provides the level-headed, outsider perspective that every writer needs. Peter Marsh is an inspiration and a friend and his support, through the Peter Marsh Foundation, was indispensable to this project. With Pete comes B.J. Marsh, who doesn’t have a foundation to her name, but is certainly a lot more attractive than Pete. I also appreciate the useful suggestions of Andrew Accardy and Byron Van Kley. I am grateful to Ed and Caroline Hoffman, Spencer Masloff, Andy Mills, Larry Taunton, and John and Carol Saeman for their assistance in my work. My regular breakfasts with Ed McVaney are a constant source of ideas and suggestions, and several of those are reflected in this book. In fact, a single line by Ed launched me on the right path with regard to my subject. I’d also like to thank “Engels.” He has been with this project from the beginning, even helping to shape the original idea. I call him “Engels” because he sometimes jokes that as a team we are like Marx and Engels. Some individuals who have helped me with this book have asked that their names not be used; they are worried they might attract the unhelpful scrutiny of the Obama administration. “Trust me,” says one of them, “You don’t want those guys coming after you.” As you see from these pages, I am not waiting for them to come after me; I am going after them, and with the greatest weapon of all, the truth.
NOTES
1
Richard Cohen, “Who is Barack Obama?”
Washington Post
, July 20, 2010; available at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/19/AR2010071904224.html
[accessed August 2, 2010].
Richard Cohen, “Who is Barack Obama?”
Washington Post
, July 20, 2010; available at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/19/AR2010071904224.html
[accessed August 2, 2010].
2
Nick Pisa, “Barack Obama’s Lost Brother Found in Kenya,”
Telegraph
, August 20, 2008; available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/2590614/Barack-Obamas-lost-brother-found-in-Kenya.html
[accessed August 2, 2010]. See also, David McKenzie, “Behind the Scenes: Meet George Obama,” CNN, August 22, 2008; available at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/22/
bts.obama.brother/ [accessed August 2, 2010]; and Dinesh D’Souza, “George Obama, Start Packing,” September 22, 2008; available at:
http://townhall.com/columnists/DineshDSouza/2008/09/22/george_obama,_start_packing
[accessed August 2, 2010].
Nick Pisa, “Barack Obama’s Lost Brother Found in Kenya,”
Telegraph
, August 20, 2008; available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/2590614/Barack-Obamas-lost-brother-found-in-Kenya.html
[accessed August 2, 2010]. See also, David McKenzie, “Behind the Scenes: Meet George Obama,” CNN, August 22, 2008; available at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/22/
bts.obama.brother/ [accessed August 2, 2010]; and Dinesh D’Souza, “George Obama, Start Packing,” September 22, 2008; available at:
http://townhall.com/columnists/DineshDSouza/2008/09/22/george_obama,_start_packing
[accessed August 2, 2010].
3
Dinesh D’Souza, “Obama and Post-Racist America,” January 28, 2009; available at:
http://townhall.com/columnists/DineshDSouza/2009/01/28/obama_and_post-racist_america
[accessed August 2, 2010].
Dinesh D’Souza, “Obama and Post-Racist America,” January 28, 2009; available at:
http://townhall.com/columnists/DineshDSouza/2009/01/28/obama_and_post-racist_america
[accessed August 2, 2010].
4
See, e.g., Jeffrey Jones, “Blacks More Pessimistic Than Whites About Economic Opportunities,” Gallup News Service, July 9, 2004; available at:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/12307/blacks-more-pessimistic-than-whites-about-economic-opportunities.aspx
[accessed August 2, 2010].
See, e.g., Jeffrey Jones, “Blacks More Pessimistic Than Whites About Economic Opportunities,” Gallup News Service, July 9, 2004; available at:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/12307/blacks-more-pessimistic-than-whites-about-economic-opportunities.aspx
[accessed August 2, 2010].
5
Hamil Harris, “From Tavis Smiley, love and criticism for Obama,”
Washington Post
, March 24, 2010; available at:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/from-tavis-smiley-love-and-cri.html
[accessed August 2, 2010]. See also, Michael Eric Dyson, comments on MSNBC, January 11, 2010; video available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA3oqycCBvQ
[accessed August 2, 2010].
Hamil Harris, “From Tavis Smiley, love and criticism for Obama,”
Washington Post
, March 24, 2010; available at:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/from-tavis-smiley-love-and-cri.html
[accessed August 2, 2010]. See also, Michael Eric Dyson, comments on MSNBC, January 11, 2010; video available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA3oqycCBvQ
[accessed August 2, 2010].
6
Kathleen Wells, “A Conversation with Cornel West,” February 23, 2010; available at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-wells/a-conversation-with-corne_b_472853.html
[accessed August 2, 2010].
Kathleen Wells, “A Conversation with Cornel West,” February 23, 2010; available at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-wells/a-conversation-with-corne_b_472853.html
[accessed August 2, 2010].
7
Barack Obama,
Dreams from My Father
(New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004), 29–30.
Barack Obama,
Dreams from My Father
(New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004), 29–30.
8
David Remnick,
The Bridge
(New York: Alfred Knopf, 2010), 239.
David Remnick,
The Bridge
(New York: Alfred Knopf, 2010), 239.
9
See, e.g., “Barack Obama’s Speech on Race,”
New York Times
, March 18, 2008; available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/us/politics/18text-obama.html
[accessed August 2, 2010].
See, e.g., “Barack Obama’s Speech on Race,”
New York Times
, March 18, 2008; available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/us/politics/18text-obama.html
[accessed August 2, 2010].
10
James Fallows, “Obama on Exceptionalism,”
The Atlantic
, April 4, 2009; available at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2009/04/obama-on-exceptionalism/9874/
[accessed August 2, 2010].
James Fallows, “Obama on Exceptionalism,”
The Atlantic
, April 4, 2009; available at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2009/04/obama-on-exceptionalism/9874/
[accessed August 2, 2010].
11
Frantz Fanon,
Black Skin, White Masks
(New York: Grove Press, 2008), 91.
Frantz Fanon,
Black Skin, White Masks
(New York: Grove Press, 2008), 91.
12
Barack Obama,
The Audacity of Hope
(New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006), 11.
Chapter 2Barack Obama,
The Audacity of Hope
(New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006), 11.
1
“Newsweek Editor Evan Thomas: Obama is ‘Sort of God,’” June 5, 2009; video available at:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/06/05/newsweek_editor_evan_thomas_obama_is_sort_of_god.html
[accessed August 2, 2010].
“Newsweek Editor Evan Thomas: Obama is ‘Sort of God,’” June 5, 2009; video available at:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/06/05/newsweek_editor_evan_thomas_obama_is_sort_of_god.html
[accessed August 2, 2010].
2
Barack Obama, Inauguration Address, January 20, 2009,
www.msnbc.com
.
Barack Obama, Inauguration Address, January 20, 2009,
www.msnbc.com
.
3
Barack Obama,
The Audacity of Hope
(New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006), 9, 25. See also, Barack Obama, speech at the Democratic National Convention, July 27, 2004; transcript available at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19751-2004Jul27.html
[accessed August 2, 2010].
Barack Obama,
The Audacity of Hope
(New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006), 9, 25. See also, Barack Obama, speech at the Democratic National Convention, July 27, 2004; transcript available at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19751-2004Jul27.html
[accessed August 2, 2010].
4
Obama,
The Audacity of Hope
, 204; Barack Obama,
Dreams from My Father
(New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004), 154.
Obama,
The Audacity of Hope
, 204; Barack Obama,
Dreams from My Father
(New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004), 154.
5
Jonathan Alter,
The Promise
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010), 63.
Jonathan Alter,
The Promise
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010), 63.
6
Bernard Goldberg,
A Slobbering Love Affair
(Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2009), 24, 26. See also, Mark Morford, “Is Obama an Enlightened Being?”
San Francisco Chronicle
, June 6, 2008; available at:
http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-06-06/entertainment/17120245_1_obama-s-presence-new-age-black-president
[accessed August 2, 2010].
Bernard Goldberg,
A Slobbering Love Affair
(Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2009), 24, 26. See also, Mark Morford, “Is Obama an Enlightened Being?”
San Francisco Chronicle
, June 6, 2008; available at:
http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-06-06/entertainment/17120245_1_obama-s-presence-new-age-black-president
[accessed August 2, 2010].
7
Maureen Dowd, “Spock at the Bridge,”
New York Times
, March 1, 2009; available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/opinion/01dowd.html
[accessed August 2, 2010]. See also, Jacob Weisberg, “Only Connect!”
Slate
, January 23, 2010; available at:
http://www.slate.com/id/2242223
[accessed August 2, 2010].
Maureen Dowd, “Spock at the Bridge,”
New York Times
, March 1, 2009; available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/opinion/01dowd.html
[accessed August 2, 2010]. See also, Jacob Weisberg, “Only Connect!”
Slate
, January 23, 2010; available at:
http://www.slate.com/id/2242223
[accessed August 2, 2010].
8
Cited by Bernard Goldberg,
A Slobbering Love Affair
(Washington, D.C: Regnery, 2009), 135–36.
Cited by Bernard Goldberg,
A Slobbering Love Affair
(Washington, D.C: Regnery, 2009), 135–36.
9
David Remnick,
The Bridge
(New York: Alfred Knopf, 2010).
David Remnick,
The Bridge
(New York: Alfred Knopf, 2010).
10
Obama,
Dreams from My Father
, xvi, 220. See also, Jon Meacham, “On His Own,”
Newsweek
, August 22, 2008; available at:
http://www.newsweek.com/2008/08/22/on-his-own.html
[accessed August 9, 2010].
Obama,
Dreams from My Father
, xvi, 220. See also, Jon Meacham, “On His Own,”
Newsweek
, August 22, 2008; available at:
http://www.newsweek.com/2008/08/22/on-his-own.html
[accessed August 9, 2010].
11
Richard Wolffe, Jessica Ramirez, and Jeffrey Bartholet, “When Barry Became Barack,”
Newsweek
, March 31, 2008; available at:
http://www.newsweek.com/2008/03/22/when-barry-became-barack.html
[accessed August 2, 2010].
Richard Wolffe, Jessica Ramirez, and Jeffrey Bartholet, “When Barry Became Barack,”
Newsweek
, March 31, 2008; available at:
http://www.newsweek.com/2008/03/22/when-barry-became-barack.html
[accessed August 2, 2010].
12
Thomas Pakenham,
The Scramble for Africa
(New York: Avon Books, 1991).
Thomas Pakenham,
The Scramble for Africa
(New York: Avon Books, 1991).
13
Chinweizu,
The West and the Rest of Us
(New York: Vintage, 1975), 3; Aimé Césaire cited by Frantz Fanon,
Toward the African Revolution
(New York: Grove Press, 1967), 72, 166.
Chinweizu,
The West and the Rest of Us
(New York: Vintage, 1975), 3; Aimé Césaire cited by Frantz Fanon,
Toward the African Revolution
(New York: Grove Press, 1967), 72, 166.
14
Edward Said,
Culture and Imperialism
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993), 22; Albert Memmi,
The Colonizer and the Colonized
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1991), 52; Aimé Césaire,
Discourse on Colonialism
(New York: Monthly Review Press, 2000), 33, 41.
Edward Said,
Culture and Imperialism
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993), 22; Albert Memmi,
The Colonizer and the Colonized
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1991), 52; Aimé Césaire,
Discourse on Colonialism
(New York: Monthly Review Press, 2000), 33, 41.
15
Frantz Fanon,
The Wretched of the Earth
(New York: Grove Press, 1963), 76; Walter Rodney,
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
(Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 1982).
Frantz Fanon,
The Wretched of the Earth
(New York: Grove Press, 1963), 76; Walter Rodney,
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
(Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 1982).
16
Said,
Culture and Imperialism
, 55; Michael Omi and Howard Winant,
Racial Formation in the United States
(New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986), 72.
Said,
Culture and Imperialism
, 55; Michael Omi and Howard Winant,
Racial Formation in the United States
(New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986), 72.
17
Chinweizu,
The West and the Rest of Us
, 3; Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, “Three Women’s Texts and a Critique of Imperialism,” in Henry Louis Gates, Jr., ed.,
Race, Writing and Difference
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 196), 262.
Chinweizu,
The West and the Rest of Us
, 3; Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, “Three Women’s Texts and a Critique of Imperialism,” in Henry Louis Gates, Jr., ed.,
Race, Writing and Difference
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 196), 262.
18
Kwame Nkrumah,
Neocolonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism
(New York: International Publishers, 1965), ix–x, 239.
Kwame Nkrumah,
Neocolonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism
(New York: International Publishers, 1965), ix–x, 239.
19
Karl Marx, “The Future Results of British Rule in India,” in Shlomo Aveni, ed.,
Marx on Colonialism and Modernization
(New York: Doubleday, 1969), 94–95, 132–34; V. I. Lenin,
Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Capitalism
(London: Pluto Press, 1996), 17.
Karl Marx, “The Future Results of British Rule in India,” in Shlomo Aveni, ed.,
Marx on Colonialism and Modernization
(New York: Doubleday, 1969), 94–95, 132–34; V. I. Lenin,
Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Capitalism
(London: Pluto Press, 1996), 17.
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