This past week, my wife and I had dinner with an old friend we hadn‘t seen in many years. To shield his identity, we‘ll call him ‘Ted‘. Ted is a life-long Democrat (although now claims to have re-registered as an Independent) and has spent most of his life actively campaigning for Democrats (and even a few Republicans). Ted is also an educated man, a staunch Union supporter having spent a good part of his life fighting for workers rights; and he’s an ardent Obama supporter. Our friend Ted is a Vietnam Veteran and a truly great person….
Upon arriving at the restaurant, we were greeted by Ted and ushered to our booth. After the handshakes and hugs, we sat and began a pleasant discussion; mostly catching up on events, happenings and future plans. It wasn’t too long thereafter, that politics were brought up. Now, prior to arriving at dinner, I had promised my wife that I would not bring up Obama (or politics in general). I (being a staunch Conservative) am normally the only one representing the Conservative argument at the holiday gatherings and she knows that discussions lead to debates which lead to disagreements and ultimately hurt feelings; never a pleasant thing at friendly functions.
Once the political discussion began and after several minutes of normal back-and-forth discussion, Ted made a startling proclamation. Ted admitted to being a “Socialist” and said he believes in Nationalizing the banking system, healthcare and a number of other institutions……(immediate silence fell upon the table and the discussion was over).
On the way home from dinner, my wife and I both sat in silence, mentally digesting what it was that we had just heard from our friend. Once we were able to regain our thoughts, I commented to her that I (strangely) had a new-found respect for Ted. Respect for admitting what it was that he really stood for. Ted answered the very question that had been bothering me ever since the election of Obama. I have been struggling over the reasons why this man was elected. Obama clearly had (and still has) no experience to be President of the United States. Obama ran (and got elected) on a message of mindless tripe (Hope and Change). While campaigning through a neighborhood (with cameras rolling), Obama admitted to a family man that he (Obama) was a wealth re-distributor! These are not issues or positions you are supposed to win elections with…not in the United States of America….but he did. The uneducated youth are easily swayed, so understanding the Obama youth vote was simple to do, but, how (I often wondered) could the educated supporters of Obama (like Ted) have selected this man? When Ted announced that he, himself, was a Socialist, it all made sense.
American socialist Norman Thomas once said, "The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of ‘liberalism’ they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without ever knowing how it happened." It appears that Norman Thomas was more correct than even he could have ever imagined.
(sigh)….Goodbye America, you were strong while you lasted.