President Obama's Demagogery

Huey Long was the "Kingfish," as he loved to call himseld, of Louisiana politics from 1921 to 1935. During that time he got a stranglehold on the state, as one biographer put it, using : "Patronage, in all its forms, deprivation of perquisites, economic pressure, political coercion in one form or another and now and then outright thuggery....Long commanded the intense loyalties of a substantial proportion of the population....Supporters came to believe that here was a man with a genuine concern for their welfare, not one of the gentlemanly do-nothing governors who had ruled the state for many decades.” Long had come to power by organizing the rural poor of Louisiana and he rode their point of view all the way to the US Senate, where he attacked Roosevelt's reforms as not being far enough to the left. FDR called Long "the most dangerous man in America." Long's attacks on the utilities industry and corporate privileges were enormously popular, as was his depiction of the wealthy as "parasites" who grabbed more than their fair share of the public wealth while marginalizing the poor. Long wrote and recorded a song that included these words : "Ain't no Standard Oil man gonna rule this state, Louisiana's gonna be run by little folks like me and you." ~~~~~ I was watching Barack Obama perform his unique brand of Black-Brother-and-Harvard-White demagogery this afternoon, speaking-preaching to a group of construction workers at a site near Washington, when it suddenly hit me - Barack Obama is the 21st century Democrat replica of Huey "Kingfish" Long. If you want to see the comparison for yourself, watch Sean Penn's powerful portrayal of Long in the 2006 film, "All the King's Men," the latest film version of Robert Penn Warren's 1946 Pulitzer Prize winning novel based on Huey Long's life. Read the novel. It is still one of the best American political portraits ever written. ~~~~~ Orrin Hatch's picture of President Obama and the Democrats echoes Long's style of political demagogery. Hatch this week told Newsmax that the Obama-Democrat refusal to negotiate with Republicans on the budget caused the government shutdown because they wanted it so they could blame Republicans for it. Hatch, the veteran Utah Republican, said Obama was the only president in his 37 years in Congress who has refused to engage with Congress to resolve a budget impasse. "Republicans think there's lots of room for consensus, but you've got to get the Democrats to talk to you....We haven't had the president engaged, he's the only president in my 37 years in the Congress who just hasn't engaged, and he wants his way above all things," said the Senate's most senior Republican and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee."This is a dark moment in our nation's history and our citizens have every right to be disappointed in their government....I don't see how you can help but blame the Democrats for not opening the door and talking to us," he said. Hatch explained that Republicans have offered a number of concessions to try to reach a budget deal, none of which were debated or even considered by the Senate Democrats. Among them, he said, is the proposal to delay Obamacare for a year, a proposal Hatch said was based on the view of the American people that the healthcare law is not "ready for prime time," and a concern that the program would be highly vulnerable to fraud. "Presidents should work with Congress to stop fiscal impasses like this. Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton all negotiated over raising the debt ceiling, and ultimately included budget reforms. President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich negotiated over the last government shutdown back in 1996," he said. "This president is unwilling to do it, the Democrats are unwilling to do it. They said take their position or leave, and they've basically wanted this shutdown so they can blame Republicans for it." He concluded : "This is a time for real leadership from the president and the Senate Democrats and once again, they're missing in action. The American people deserve better and I hope that they realize that it isn't Republicans that are causing this problem....Why wouldn't they be willing to sit down and discuss this with the Republicans and with the Democrats, too? There are some Democrats who are unnerved by all of this but they are rigidly forced to vote with the Democrat leadership which is not willing to negotiate, not willing to sit down, not willing to do anything. Frankly, it's very frustrating," Hatch said. ~~~~~ Dear readers, I do not compare Barack Obama to Huey Long lightly. Of course, Barack Obama is much more sophisticated, but his divisive, personal-attack style that sounds good to many, but is really a bombastic, cynical mix of half-truths, is extremely dangerous - especially at a time when America's demographic mix is changing, when the US economy is weak and jobs are scarce, and when he, a weak president, has deliberately ignored constitutional procedures and is governing by fiat. And because Barack Obama can turn on his "minority" persona at will to appeal to minority Americans who have been hit extra hard by recent economic conditions, he can generate a groundswell of supporters who are poor and believe they have little to lose and who think he is really interested in helping them, whereas his actions show that he is much more interested in amassing personal power. Why? Is he trying to form the semi-dictatorial dynasty in Washington that Huey Long formed in Louisiana? The majority of Americans and Republicans in Congress no longer trust the President to deal with them honestly. They no longer trust him to govern correctly. But, if he would at least stop his demonizing demagogery aimed at the Republican Party and all American conservatives,America could perhaps hope that Obama's goal is not simply the aggrandizement of himself but rather the welfare of America and Americans that is his job as President.