I didn't read Dreams From My Father, nor did I read The Audacity of Hope. Not because there is nothing of value between the hard covers-- certainly Dinesh D'Souza found value in pouring over the pages-- but I have built my image of Obama based on his actions rather than his (rather, his ghostwriters') carefully crafted syntax.
And what an image I have. It's truly telling when the President of the United States cancels 62% of his daily intelligence briefings in 2011 and 2012, including the briefing the day after the American Consulate in Libya was attacked, which resulted in the U.S. Ambassador and three other Americans murdered, so that he could attend a Las Vegas fundraiser for his reelection campaign.
It's telling when the President uses the full force of his power to create and pass the destructive health care law that gives the government control over one-sixth of the private sector, yet neglected to meet with his "jobs council" (the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness) that he established in January of 2011. He let the council expire in January of 2013, after the organization only met four times in two years (but he did manage to hit the links 33 times within that same time frame).
And it is telling when Obama's own ATF sold 2,000 guns to suspected criminals thought to be linked to Mexican drug gangs in an effort to trace those guns as part of an investigation of the violent cartels, which came to light tragically when two such guns showed up at the scene of a shootout that killed a U.S. Border Patrol agent. Meanwhile Obama's own IRS doggedly investigated Catherine Engelbrech, an American citizen who did the unthinkable and submitted applications for tax-exempt status to establish her own conservative organizations:
In December 2010 the FBI came to ask about a person who'd attended a King Street Patriots function. In January 2011 the FBI had more questions. The same month the IRS audited her business tax returns. In May 2011 the FBI called again for a general inquiry about King Street Patriots. In June 2011 Engelbrecht's personal tax returns were audited and the FBI called again. In October 2011 a round of questions on True the Vote. In November 2011 another call from the FBI. The next month, more questions from the FBI. In February 2012 a third round of IRS questions on True the Vote. In February 2012 a first round of questions on King Street Patriots. The same month the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms did an unscheduled audit of her business. (It had a license to make firearms but didn't make them.) In July 2012 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration did an unscheduled audit. In November 2012 more IRS questions on True the Vote. In March 2013, more questions. In April 2013 a second ATF audit.
In both situations we are asked to believe Obama when he says he knew nothing. For the President of the United States, the contrast could not be more stark: what is and what is not worth investigating.
And with daily congressional hearings unveiling more and more dirt under the White House Persian rugs, we only need to wonder what's inside the closets. Rarely are blood-stained hands caught the first time.
Though many Americans believed that Obama was a danger to our country pre-2008 elections, the "I told you so" has lost muster when lives have been lost and billions stripped from the economy while "low information" voters carry on about the surprising "Dancing with the Stars" finale. The "I told you so" crowd should put its efforts to speak loudly and carry a media stick-- speak now or never. Just Google "NSA Utah Data Center."
Speak on, Americans. But actions still speak louder than words.
