Conservatives are blasting Obama’s 2nd Inaugural Address as radically liberal, but was it?
Here are the most liberal sentiments Obama expressed:
-Gay people should be allowed to get married
-Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are good things
-Women should get equal pay for equal work
-We should do something to address global warming
-Fighting two painful wars for the last 10 years was not good
I was at the inauguration and I didnt find the speech liberal. The above sentiments do not seem liberal to me, they seem sane and widely held by the majority of americans.
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“Liberal” and “conservative” are arbitrary labels now that haven’t reflected what those words actually mean for a long, long time. As are the terms “Republican” and “Democrat”, but we all realize it in that case. I never met a republican that was against democracy, or a democrat that thought being a republic was a bad idea (not that we really are either, but that’s a different rant).
The painting looks like an airport to me, maybe an airport on Io. It seems Io is often referred to as “tiny Io”, and next to Jupiter I suppose it it, but it’s actually bigger than our own moon.
I invite you to read my blog post entitled “A Tale Of Two Inaugurals.” For me, the key problem with President Obama’s speech is his call for “collective action”. It’s a phrase that sounds nice, but it is predicated on the fallacy that collective action is pursued to obtain shared goals.
As a conservative, I agree with every single one of your points. I suspect that we would disagree, though, on the actions that should be pursued to achieve them. But I do agree that in the context of the speech, which was light on specifics (totally appropriate for an inaugural address), the points he raised should not have been objectionable on their face to conservatives (except for the gay marriage one, for which I am in disagreement with most conservatives).
I read your post. I disagree with your negative opinion of “collective action”: that the goal of the leader is obtained through “coercion of the citizenry”; and that “from the perspective of Democrats, the citizens exist to protect the ability of a leader to define and obtain ‘collectivegoals'”. I, and the vast majority of people, believe that for at least some issues collective action is necessary. And this inherently involves group decision making, and compromise. Are not Republican-supported issues like defense of marriage laws, or anti-drug laws, or censorship laws collective action? The only difference is which issues we care about enough to invoke collective action. On social issues, abortion / gay marriage, the Democrats are the ones against collective action!
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and for offering an interesting counterpoint. Perhaps in the future I can take the time to make some distinctions a bit clearer. I am certainly in favor conserving the system set up by the Founders which allows for change through the democratic process. The President has every right to rally support for a cause and to work through the mechanisms provided in our system. I hope this is the path he chooses.