Barack Obama's Self-Acknowledged "Blank Slate"

Perhaps you remember Barack Obama's statement in his book Audacity of Hope:

I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views."

Tony Blankley writing for Townhall.com today examines this curious proclamation and pairs it with Obama's inaugural speech:

Run-of-the-mill politicians try to hide their duplicity. Only the most gifted of that profession brag that they intend to confound and confuse the public. Such an effort is beyond ingenious; it is brazenly ingenuous.

Blankley asks "What are we to make of the following dismissive assertion by Obama?"

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

I thought Obama's mention of "petty grievances," childish things," and "wornout dogmas"was astonishing. Certainly he could only view Conservative "grievances" as petty. Our vehement dislike for his admiration for distribution of wealth? Not so petty. Or "healthcare?" Not so petty. Don't touch mine. Or "tax reform." Not at all petty. He didn't let us in on what he views as petty, childish or wornout, but we know it had nothing to do with Democrats. Blankely looks at "petty grievances, childish things and wornout dogmas" and names them for what they are from the lofty perch of the Democrats: our hard fought for conservative values - low taxes, free markets, small government, and says:

I believe that Obama intends to craft a new nationalism, using the disassembled timber of our traditional values to build a new, more collectivist and less individualistic ship of state. The planks will look vaguely familiar, but the ship will be quite different. It is as if he would disassemble the warship Old Ironsides and build with its timbers a collectivist's ark.

This is an excellent article. I hope you will read it in it's entirety: Obama's Collectivist Nationalism