THE OBAMA OF 2004 VS THE OBAMA OF 2016…

So let’s step into our 'Wayback Machine' and travel back in time to that nostalgic time just before then-Senate candidate from Illinois, Barack Hussein Obama, arrived on stage at the Democrat National Convention in 2004.  And then thanks to that which would become in time his piece of never-leave-home-without-it equipment, that being his ever-present teleprompter, it was a much younger Barry “Almighty” that proceeded to wow the crowd with his artificial oratory and set the stage for his presidential run which would come just a mere four years later.

Now, finally nearing the end of his presidency, thank God, Barry once again graced the stage of the DNC in an effort to promote the next Democrat presidential hopeful known affectionately here on these pages as, Hitlery.  But the America that Barry addressed earlier this week is one that has become very deeply divided, and not only along racial lines, but also across political lines and even within the political parties, much more so than it was back in '04. And by comparing his words then to his word choice today that fact becomes all the more stark.

It was in 2004 that Barry spoke like a uniter, far from the divider that he has turned out to be, and like he has for most of the eight years he has spent in office.  It was back then that what we heard from the younger Barry that which was a far cry from we’ve come to hear from the older. It was then that he said, "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America, there is the United States of America."  And he would then go on to say, "There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America -- there’s the United States of America."

But the Barry of 2016 bears very little resemblance to the Barry of 12 years ago.  Because, you see, the Barry of 2016 concedes to the divided America he himself helped to create saying, "I see Americans of every party, every background, every faith who believe that we are stronger together -- black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; young, old; gay, straight; men, women, folks with disabilities, all pledging allegiance, under the same proud flag, to this big, bold country that we love. That's what I see. That's the America I know!"

And when Barry addressed the crowd back in 2004, his goal seemed then to appeal to his "fellow Americans, Democrats, Republicans, Independents."  That would seem to be a far cry from how it was earlier this week when he addressed a specific group when he said, "Hello, Democrats!"  And it was in describing this current election that he even went so far as to declare that it is the "contest" between the left and the right that "pushes our country forward."  Not like before when he said there's no left, no right, only the U.S.A.  But, as they say, that was then and this is now.

Then-Senate candidate Barry was backing John Kerry-Heinz and praised him in similar ways as he did Hitlery. What he didn't do then was bash the opposition, which is another difference in his two speeches. Because Barry was on the attack this time around, railing against Donald Trump at mockery level:  "You know, the Donald is not really a plans guy. He’s not really a facts guy, either…"America is already great. America is already strong. And I promise you, our strength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump."  So is Barry saying that he’s a facts guy?  Really?

And, of course, it wouldn't be a Barry “Almighty” speech without taking advantage of the situation to knock around the Republicans to the greatest extent possible.  Barry said, "But what we heard in Cleveland last week wasn’t particularly Republican -- and it sure wasn’t conservative. What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision of a country where we turn against each other, and turn away from the rest of the world. There were no serious solutions to pressing problems -- just the fanning of resentment, and blame, and anger, and hate."

Meanwhile, outside the convention center during the latest rousing speech from Barry, it was essentially his America that was on full display for all to see.  Or at least all that his many friends in the state-controlled media saw fit to air.  Disgruntled Democrats were busy burning American flags (and sometimes even themselves), cursing Hitlery, breaching the wall around the building (yes, they had a wall), shouting "Black Lives Matter," and condemning white privilege. They considered it their revolution, their new occupy moment.

And Barry, from the safety of a highly-secure podium, spoke as if nothing was wrong.  He said, "That is America. Those bonds of affection; that common creed. We don’t fear the future; we shape it. We embrace it, as one people, stronger together than we are on our own. That’s what Hillary Clinton understands -- this fighter, this stateswoman, this mother and grandmother, this public servant, this patriot -- that’s the America she’s fighting for.”  The truth is that our country is spirally out of controlled and plummeting toward the deck that is rapidly approaching.

And Barry went on to say, "So this year, in this election, I’m asking you to join me -- to reject cynicism and reject fear, and to summon what is best in us; to elect Hillary Clinton as the next president of the United States, and show the world we still believe in the promise of this great nation."  How about we get together and reject the blatant dishonest portrayal of what is actually taking place in this country.  Like our failed economic policy, our failed immigration policy and our failed foreign policy.  We have to be smart enough not to elect Hitlery as our next president.

So at some point during my many trips around the blogosphere that I happened to stumble across someone who suggested to me that I search out Mr. Malcolm Muggeridge.  And it was in so doing that I ended up finding something that after I first read it I found the need to re-read it because it was something that could not have more accurately defined much of what I see every day taking place right before my eyes. And I thought, how profound. It was something written by Mr. Muggeridge and included in his Vintage Muggeridge: Religion and Society. 

And I was so taken by what I was read that I thought it important enough to pass it along to those who, like myself, may be unfamiliar with this man.  We are allowing the destruction of our country to take place and far too many of us have absolutely no desire to even raise a finger.  And we are now on the verge of throwing away that which may very well be our very last opportunity to salvage what’s left of our country.  If we do elect Hitlery we will have totally abandoned our responsibility to future generations.  Mr. Muggeridge’s words, I think, seem almost prophetic. 

Mr. Muggeridge: “So the final conclusion would surely be that whereas other civilizations have been brought down by attacks of barbarians from without, ours had the unique distinction of training its own destroyers at its own educational institutions, and then providing them with facilities for propagating their destructive ideology far and wide, all at the public expense. Thus did Western Man decide to abolish himself, creating his own boredom out of his own affluence, his own vulnerability out of his own strength, his own impotence out of his own erotomania, himself blowing the trumpet that brought the walls of his own city tumbling down, and having convinced himself that he was too numerous, labored with pill and scalpel and syringe to make himself fewer. Until at last, having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction, he keeled over--a weary, battered old brontosaurus--and became extinct.”