The Manchurian Candidate - Barak Hussein Obama Style

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Two Clubs, a friend of mine who is much more eloquent and articulate in expressing his thoughts than I am. This post came about a conversation we were having as we do frequently about the President. I mentioned that my mother always said President Obama is the Manchurian Candidate. Two Clubs agreed but for different reasons. I asked him to write a blog post and he agreed to write one. Here it is.


The Manchurian Candidate, written by Richard Condon in 1959, is a great piece of pulp fiction. Originally set in the post-Korean War era, this taught political thriller establishes the idea of a foreign government using a brainwashed individual as an unaware political assassin. The story is slick and compelling. To a culture that is deeply paranoid, with delusions of the world being against them, this was a can’t miss concept. So well received was the concept that Hollywood made two films based on the book and the premise was accepted into the common lexicon for conspiracy buffs everywhere. The idea of an unaware sleeper agent being used as a political assassin has been a common narrative since the book was first published. But what if The Manchurian Candidate was real? What if, instead of the candidate being brainwashed, it was the common man who were brainwashed and the system was the one targeted for assassination?

Fast forward almost 50 years, to the 2008 United States presidential election. Front and center was a fresh young face, challenging an associate of the old guard for the Democratic Party nomination. Barak Hussein Obama was a progressive’s dream. A mixed-race community organizer, who worked his way from nothing to something. A man with a sharp intellect and a gift of oratory that would make Dale Carnegie blush, Obama was building a machine that would carry him to the top of the Democratic ticket.

During the 2008 presidential election campaign cycle Obama tapped into the hearts and minds of progressives and conservatives alike. He spoke eloquently of the once greatness of America, reminding us all of what the United States can do when we put our collective might to task. He spoke of how he was going to take America back to a time when we met challenges head on and were world leaders at all we tried. He hinted at a new New Deal, sending progressives into a tizzy and hoping for the future. Obama spoke of the needs of the nation, especially the poor, and how a national health care program was not just a desire for many, but a necessity for much of the nation. He spoke of renewal and rebuilding the crumbling infrastructure of a once proud nation. He pointed to a new green economy that would bring new high paying jobs and make America a leader again. Obama saw the same challenges that most Americans were experiencing and was willing to speak to the issues in a way that made the voters believe a politician was on the same page as them. He tapped into the pain and suffering that Americans were feeling and used that as his platform for election. Progressives and liberals believed in his rhetoric and flocked to the polls, giving Obama a convincing victory and what was supposed to be a mandate for change.

Change, the Obama campaign slogan, took little time to kick in. Almost as soon as he was sworn in the planning that pushed him past the Clinton machine began to fade. He continued to say the right things, giving progressives hope, but his actions began to show his hand. The liberals, hoping for a reincarnation of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, were left with mouths agape as Barack Obama transformed into Ronald Reagan. The only thing missing was the Brylcreem-infused pompadour and a case of dementia. All of a sudden the new president developed a love for the free market and tax cut for the wealthy friendly. Obama’s major accomplishments have all leaned in a particular direction, usually right toward banks or big business.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, while having some tax breaks for the middle class, was a wad of free cash for any business that had a government contract in place waiting for appropriations to take place. This was not a long term solution to any problem, but a quick PR rouse to cover the movement of money out of the government coffers and into the pockets of business.

The Making Home Affordable plan was a colossal failure. The banks got a whack of cash and the little guy lost their homes. All that money put out there for loans to keep people in their homes was used in other vehicles and the foreclosures continued, unabated.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been a boondoggle of epic proportions. The whole issue was supposed to be about providing health care services to 42 million Americans who do without. Instead of an actual discussion about the issues that are hurting health care provision and driving up the costs, it instead turned into a debate about insurance; how to and who would provide this insurance. Lost was the escalating costs and the broken system. Found was the way to funnel more money to the profit centric insurance industry.

Bush era tax cuts were identified during the campaign as target for progressives. Obama promised to eliminate these tax cuts and develop a more equitable system. When the chance to drive the final nail into the heart of the tax cuts came along, Obama blinked and instead agreed to extend the cuts for another two years, at a cost of $400 billion a year. At a time when the country is staring a record debt in the face the president gave in on Republican demands for an extension of unneeded benefits to the top 1% of Americans. This isn’t adding more to our debt, this tax cut is transferring wealth from the poor to the rich. Make no mistake, this money will be paid for. Unfortunately it will be paid for by your children, your grand children and great grand children.

At the very same time of extending Bush tax cuts, Obama promised to invest heavily in education, to meet the “sputnik moment” of this generation. In the first year he attempted to do that, but in the subsequent years all of that good will was washed away as spending cuts to education have been made on the backs of students. It will be ever increasingly difficult to respond to the “sputnik moment” when graduate students, those egg-heads who develop new technology and cure diseases, can’t afford to complete their education thanks to the reduction in Pell grants.

These are just a few examples of the outcomes of Obama “wins”. This is why I question his identity. Barak Obama masterfully campaigned as a Democrat but in reality is a Reagan Republican. He is an intelligent fellow, without doubt, so there is no way possible that he can say his negotiating tactics are representative of his intellect. No one with a brain and a left leaning agenda starts negotiations on the Republican side of every issue. There is no reason a progressive would give on these important issues when you have a majority in both the House and Senate. There is no reason to drag out important legislation when you can ram it home, like Republican presidents have done in the past. There is no reason to turn your back on the base that got you elected and could easily re-elect you in 2012. There is no reason, unless you are The Manchurian Candidate for the Republican party and are out to kill the Democratic party and all progressive movements in the United States.