Eugene Robinson - article is one big lie

I was reading today's op-ed piece by Eugene Robinson in the State Journal Register and had to comment.

Mr. Robinson is a typical liberal talking head that loves to opine about the failures of the Republican Party and Republican members of Congress, the President (provided, he is a Republican)and refuses to acknowledge any Democratic involvement in any thing.

This despite the factthat Congress has been controlled by the Democrats for the past two years.
So in order to be fair to Mr. Robinson, I will go through his article pointing out every single mistake he has made, and when I agree with him, I will.


Issue One:

Mr. Robinson starts out by stating that since the President was elected "...The Republican Party has presided over massive, out of control spending, converted a federal budget surplus into a half trillion deficit and looked the other way while Wall Street's greed and stupidity turned the hallowed free market into scorched earth."

Ok, I have to stop here and address the issues. First he incorrectly stats that "SinceGeorge W. Bush became President..." implies from that moment up to the current date and time. Mr. Robinson knows that is incorrect. The Democrats have controlled both the House and the Senate for the past two years. Knowingly writing something that is incorrect is a lie.

In addition, he falsely states that we had a budget surplus, which is in fact wrong and Mr. Robinson knows it. There never was a budget surplus, that so called surplus was a result of accounting trickery that has been used for quite some time. In all fairness though, both parties have played that game and they are both at fault for the misleading statements of asurplus.

This may be semantics here, but Mr. Robsinson states that the deficit is half a trillion dollars. That is also FALSE. According to the Wall Street Journal Market Watch dated October 14, 2008, the federal deficit is $455 billion. That is still $45 billion short of Mr. Robinson's statement. That is a 10% mistake, or should I call it something else?

Mr. Robinson further states that the Republicans in Congress looked the other way while Wall Street's greed ran unchecked. I seem to recall that Chris Dodd, Barney Frank opposed any additional oversight on the biggest fiasco of them all, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. I found it a convenient item left out of Mr. Robsinson's article. In reality the Republicans asked for additional regulation and oversight to no avail. However, I will concede they did not do enough; that does not excuse the fact that the Democrats who have been in control of Congress for the past two years have not done a damn thing.

Ok, let us move on.


Issue Two:

Mr. Robinson further states "Can any Republican candidate claim with a straight face to represent the party of small government? For that matter, can any Republican candidate plausibly explain what the party is supposed to stand for these days?"

Just because the President has made some stupid choices in bailing out failed banks that should be allowed to fail, just because the Democrats in Congress want to pass another round of social engineering masked as an economic bailout, just because we have some of the most inept economists running the Treasury department, does not represent the entire Republican Party and Mr. Robsinson damn well knows it.

Here he is talking out of one side of his mouth criticizing the President for taking this action and out the other complains it did not happen fast enough and does not go far enough.


Issue Three:

"It's pathetic to hear right-wing talk radio blowhards try to associate Barack Obama with "radical" or "socialist" views when a Republican administration is tossing aside "Atlas Shrugged" and speeding reading "Das Kapital".

No, I will tell you what is pathetic, it is the complaining from left wing socialist liberalslike Mr. Robinson who want their cake and eat it too. President Bush has made some of theworst decisions a President could make as it relates to this bailout; but the problem here is the Democratic machine wants to pass it, and bitch about it at the same time. Ala, step forward Mr. Robsinson.

By passing this legislation and allowing the government to take a financial stake directly in banks, is a huge leap forward on the trail to socialism, and that is exactly what Democrats like Mr. Robinson want; they just want to pin the inherent problems of that failed system on someone other than themselves.


Issue Four:

"The question isn't whether some kind of drastic, frankly socialistic measures are needed to save the American economy, but which ones.."

What utter hogwash. There has not been a single case of socialism working in the entire world and Mr. Robinson knows that. He, like so many of today's modern day Stalinists, believe that they are so smart, so all knowing, that it is not the model that is the problem but how the socialistic model is "implemented". There have been people far smarter than Mr. Robsinson try, and they have all failed.

You will never convince him of that though.

I could continue to pick apart the rest of Mr. Robinsons article, but doing so literaly is making me ill. I cannot believe that someone can honestly sit there and spew forth such utter nonsense and keep a straight face. Well now that I think of it, his picture is definitely not that of a straight face, more like a smirk an "aha got one over on ya didn't I?".

I will agree that the leaders of the Republican Party, including John McCain have made a mess of the party and for that I cannot forgive them; the President, while honorable and I believe honest has made far too many critical mistakes that have led me to look forward to the end of his term.

I was not, and am not a John McCain supporter, I am however a supporter of the free market, a supporter of supply side economics and a believer in the American spirit and dream. I believe in lower taxes, I believe in a slimmed down and efficient federal government that stays out of peoples homes, lives and businesses unless such intrusion is absolutely necessary to the safety and welfare of society at large. I believe in allowing businesses to operate in such a manner that they can be an effective member of society without all the red tape that the current system requires.

I have no doubt that Mr. Robinson loves his country, but he has a tendency to stretch the truth, refuse to acknowledge that the Democratic Party is as much at fault as the Republican Party, and he has, at times, flat out lied.

I cannot lend credence to someone who is so willing to obfuscate the truth for political expediencey.