The Obama Nation
Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, by Jerome Corsi
(Click for Amazon book review)
Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, by Jerome Corsi
(Click for Amazon book review)
BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:
If
you've ever listened to conservative Talk Radio's and wondered, "Where do
they come up with this stuff?", well, this book is it. There are other
sources, but this book is one of the key source materials for attacks on Obama.
That's because the author, Jerome Corsi, wrote the anti-Kerry book that
provided the fodder which killed Kerry's candidacy. Corsi co-authored
"Unfit For Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John
Kerry", which dominated the presidential campaign in 2004. Corsi and the
conservative Talk Radio hosts were hoping for another knockout blow with this
book in 2008. "Obama Nation" failed where the Swift Boat attack succeeded
for three major reasons.
First,
Kerry was susceptible to the Swift Boat attack because it attacked his
strength: Kerry based his campaign on his military service and "Unfit for
Command" diminished the importance of his service. "Obama
Nation" attacks Obama primarily for his associations: like Rev. Wright;
Bill Ayres; Tony Rezko; and Saul Alinsky. But Obama didn't base his campaign on
his associations, so the public viewed this attack as peripheral to the
campaign.
Second,
Kerry failed to respond to the Swift Boat attacks, while Obama promptly
responded. Yes, each of the "guilt-by-association" attacks on Obama
dominated the news for a week -- but then they faded away. Kerry's attack
should have done the same -- but Kerry never responded, so it never faded away.
Kerry ignored the Swift Boaters until it was too late. Obama learned that
lesson, and responded to each attack with a substantive speech in which he not
only explained his side of the story, but also changed his behavior to address
the attack (e.g., he quit Rev. Wright's church).
Third,
the "Swift Boat" attack rang true at its core, while the "Obama
Nation" attack did not. Neither attack was literally true -- both of
Corsi's books distorted the facts and presented both candidates in the worst
possible light. But the subtext of the "Swift Boat" attack was that
Kerry answered questions about his Vietnam record with shades of truth, and by
extension Kerry answered every question with shades of truth. That core attack
felt true to the public. The subtext of the "Obama Nation" attack is
that Obama's associates are corrupt, criminal, and/or anti-American, and by
extension that Obama's presidential administration would be corrupt, criminal,
and/or anti-American. That just did not ring true to the public. The title of
the book is a play on the term "abomination" -- Corsi says that
Obama's presidency would be an abomination of corrupt criminal anti-Americanism
-- and the public simply rejected that opinion.
*
* *
Ok,
so what are the specifics of the "Obama Nation" attack? Anyone
reading campaign news in the summer and autumn of 2008 is familiar with most of
them:
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*
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Corsi
makes sure to emphasize that he has a PhD, by saying so on top of every
even-numbered page. But his emphasis begs the reader to question the academic
standards that Corsi employs in this book -- alas, those standards are pretty
low. In a normal opinion book, non-academic standards are acceptable -- but
because Corsi claims his PhD as his primary credential, he then should apply
academic standards.
The
most important academic standard is to use "primary sources," which
means citing original speakers. A "secondary source" means, for
example, citing a newspaper article which cites the original speaker. A
"tertiary source" means citing an opinion piece based on newspaper
articles. At OnTheIssues, we try to use mostly primary sources (speech
transcripts; book excerpts; and so on) and sometimes use secondary sources; but
we never use tertiary sources unless no other sources are available.
OnTheIssues does not claim to live up to academic standards -- but Corsi does,
but routinely cites tertiary sources.
For
example, on pp. 199-200, Corsi associates Obama with Father Pfegler, whom Corsi
labels "a Radical Catholic Priest." The evidence of Pfegler's
radicalism is cited from "TheCapitalFaxBlog.com, a well-read Chicago
blog." Citing a blog is fine for casual conversation, but not for a
PhD-level work. Hence the reader feels misled by Corsi's mixing of academic
credentials with non-academic citations. More importantly, the reader wonders
why Corsi did not investigate enough to find the original speaker -- and must conclude
that at best, Corsi was too rushed to do research, or at worst, that Corsi
could not actually locate the original material.
*
* *
Overall,
this is an important book because the "Swift Boat" attack was so
successful. (But few people actually read that book either!) The primary
readers of both attacks are the strongest anti-Democratic partisans. The rest
of us will hear the details through conservative Talk Radio hosts endlessly --
even after the 2008 election!
--
Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, September 2008
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Click here for 48 full quotes from Barack Obama in the book The Obama Nation.
OR click on an issue category below for a subset. |
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Abortion
Opposed legislation protecting born-alive failed abortions. 1997: opposed bill preventing partial-birth abortion. |
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Foreign Policy
Dressed in Africa in traditional garb, not "Muslim attire". Global Poverty Act: spend 0.7% of GDP on foreign aid. |
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Health Care
CDC estimate: a half million would follow Obama's AIDS test. Include everyone who wants insurance in national pool. |
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Homeland Security
Goal is a world without nuclear weapons. A New Beginning: seek world with no nuclear weapons. |
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Principles & Values
Father's car crash death may have included alcohol. Father had wife in Africa when he met and married Ann Dunham. Father left family for Harvard education. Father's upbringing was Muslim, although never religious. Visited Africa 3 times; 1986, then 1992 & 2006 with Michelle. Father had 3 or 4 wives; Barack has at least 5 half-siblings. Father came to US on student airlift; JFK funded 2nd airlift. Mother named "Stanley Ann" because grandfather wanted a son. Many attribute mother's marriages to being anthropologist. Lived with grandparents in Hawaii over mother in Indonesia. No madrassa, but was introduced to Islam as a child. Apocryphal story: race awareness began with skin-bleach ad. Nicknamed "Barry the O'Bomber" in prep school basketball. OpEd: Racial angst from paternal abandonment, not injustice. Would be first president to have extended family abroad. Neighbor Bill Ayres admits 1970s violent radicalism. OpEd: Distances himself from 1970s radical Bill Ayres. Obama worked in same community as Saul Alinsky. OpEd: Obama implements Alinsky's ideas of radical change. Used community organizer skills as State Senator. Handpicked as successor by retiring State Senator. 1995: Participated in Million Man March. Tony Rezko: large contributor & active member of campaigns. Headed "Project Vote!" in Chicago in 1990s. Ally Tony Rezko indicted for kickbacks from Gov. Blagojevich. Tony Rezko helped Obama buy home in prestigious neighborhood. Obama's Trinity Church is based on black-liberation theology. Moved to & attended church in neighborhood he was organizing. Segments of Wright sermons were "caricatures of the church". Just words? "I have a dream," Just words?. Borrowed "Just Words" speech from Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick. Don't take a chance on me; take a chance on your aspirations. Borrowed "Yes, we can" slogan from Cesar Chavez 1960s UFW. Photographed without hand over heart during national anthem. OpEd: Themes of "hope" and "change" has numerous antecedents. OpEd: Behind "hope & change" rhetoric lays radical views. |
Click for quotations from other sources by:
The
above quotations are from The Obama Nation
Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, by Jerome Corsi.
Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, by Jerome Corsi.
