The ‘Shining City Upon a Hill’ Becomes a ‘Common Community on a Plain’
posted at 7:49 am on June 4, 2009 by dougpowers
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President Obama’s long-awaited speech to the Muslim world in Cairo has concluded, and he had some great, pro-America stuff:
We cannot escape our destiny, nor should we try to do so. The leadership of the free world was thrust upon us two centuries ago in that little hall of Philadelphia. In the days following World War II, when the economic strength and power of America was all that stood between the world and the return to the dark ages, Pope Pius XII said, “The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions. Into the hands of America God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.”
We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on earth.
Oh, sorry, that was from Reagan’s “Shining City Upon a Hill” speech he gave as California Governor to the first ever CPAC in 1974.
Obama said this:
“Given our interdependence, any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail. So whatever we think of the past, we must not be prisoners of it. Our problems must be dealt with through partnership; progress must be shared.”
A “Shining city upon a hill” has become a “Common community on a plain.”
But America did get a good shout-out from Obama:
The dream of opportunity for all people has not come true for everyone in America, but its promise exists for all who come to our shores – that includes nearly seven million American Muslims in our country today who enjoy incomes and education that are higher than average.
Given the horrid economic destination the U.S. is being driven to, it sounds like our last, best hope to make a living might first be to convert to Islam.
I won’t go into the “we should seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons” part. No matter what your opinion of Obama, this kind of talk is reckless fantasy and dangerously naive.
A transcript of Obama’s entire speech is here. You be the judge.
Obama did offer passages where he defended America, and some of it was eloquent, but at the same time, the way Obama frames his “defenses” of America makes him sound Tina Turner telling her friends, “Yeah, there’s that, but he’s a pretty good provider and not a bad cook either. You just need to get to know him!”
And call me crazy, but I’m not comfortable with somebody who is on a quest to find “common ground” between free nations and theocratic governments where women are oppressed, human rights are nonexistent and homosexuals are hanged (and the anti Prop 8 crowd voted overwhelmingly for the man who’s trying to find “common ground” with these countries? Is “common ground” on this to only half-hang gays?).
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Unless he is nominating a Supreme Court Justice who happens to think that being a Latina woman makes her more wise than a white person.. Then it’s okay.
DaveC on June 4, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Excellent observation.
And this may sound like nitpicking, but this annoys the hell out of me:
On education, we will expand exchange programs, and increase scholarships, like the one that brought my father to America, while encouraging more Americans to study in Muslim communities. And we will match promising Muslim students with internships in America; invest in on-line learning for teachers and children around the world; and create a new online network, so a teenager in Kansas can communicate instantly with a teenager in Cairo.
After claiming not to want to elevate one group over another, he’s singling out Muslims for special treatment? Would he ever promise internships exclusively for Jews? Christians? Hindus? “Non-believers”?
Moreover, the American government did not provide his father with a scholarship – it was done by private citizens, in Kenya and the U.S.
And don’t they have email, gmail, or twitter?, If they don’t I would imagine it’s because their governments forbid it. What on earth is he babbling about?
On economic development, we will create a new corps of business volunteers to partner with counterparts in Muslim-majority countries…
Why all this affirmative action for “Muslim Majority” countries? What about, say, Hindus in India? Why is he dividing us by religion? Indeed, why is he legitimizing the concept of a “Muslim World”?
Buy Danish on June 4, 2009 at 8:58 AM
Mediocrity = Obama’s “vision” for America.
Lowered Expectations = Lowered Expectations.
Imagine if Eisenhower had told the massed troops in England on 4 June 1944 that he only expected a few of them to reach the beaches at Normandy, and that so long as they tired, that was all that really mattered?
coldwarrior on June 4, 2009 at 10:05 AM
Its good. Now we can all have a proper conversation about the ‘Muslim world’ and the ‘civilised world’.
Maybe he has just accidentally done the civilised world a favour.
YiZhangZhe on June 8, 2009 at 7:24 PM