Alert & Aware...& THINKING!!
"If We Didn't Want to Take it from Bush, Why Should We Be Expected to Take it from Obama??"
~~By Grail Guardian
____________________________________________________
I Demand More Than Your Vote: I Want Your Mind!
I want, no make that need, you to join me in supporting a critical nationwide movement. This Wednesday, October 29, 2008, Senator Barack Obama has purchased half-hour blocks of programming on NBC, CBS, and Fox News Channel. His intent, I firmly believe, is to use Neuro Associative Conditioning (NAC) and Ericksonian Hypnosis to subconsciously influence millions of voters to “pull the lever” for him on November 4th whether they want to or not. We must do everything possible to stop the American public from watching.
As GRL pointed out last Sunday in the The Past Week roundup for October 12-18, there is substantial evidence (pdf file) that Obama is using hypnosis techniques to win supporters any way he can. Please take the time to read at least the majority of the linked pdf file; I know it is extremely long, but it is important and explains in great detail what I cannot in this limited space. After you read it, forward it to all of your friends. I don’t care if they are McCain die-hards, PUMAs, or part of the Oborg. Everyone needs to read this information, and while I know it sounds somewhat over the top, I hope to convince you why this is so important.
So let’s talk a bit about Neuro Associative Conditioning (NAC). Many years ago, in my youth, I was a student of one Anthony J. Robbins. Robbins. There have been rumors on the web for months that Senator Obama is a protégé of Robbins. For those of you that have somehow managed to avoid his influence, is a world-renowned master of psychological operations (Psy-Ops) in the form of Ericksonian hypnosis, NLP, and his own form of this, which he calls NAC. He is a trainer of athletes, movie stars, businessmen, and politicians. Tony is best known for his famous Fire Walking seminars, where he used to teach ordinary people to walk across 2,000+ degree coals in their bare feet. His methods are quite powerful; I have done it twice myself, and have seen literally hundreds of others do the same. Robbins twist on NLP (see pdf file for a description of NLP) is what he calls Anchoring. This involves using a physical unique gesture to link to the feelings you create using NLP and hypnosis. Robbins teaches that you can use anchoring to link the feeling of calm, centered energy and power you feel just before Fire Walking so you can access them at will simply by repeating your unique gesture. Or in Obama’s case, you can link the anchor to the subconscious message you’ve imbedded in your subject’s mind using Ericksonian hypnosis. The pdf file goes into great detail about how this is done, but for simplicity’s sake, all you need to know is Obama’s main unique gesture is this (look at his right hand):
So why, you might ask, is this seemingly innocent hand gesture so important in Obama’s quest to seize control of our nation? Simple; it is designed to make you remember a message that he has implanted (or at least tried to) in the depths of your brain to vote for him on November 4th. He has been using this gesture for months, but the true success of NLP and NAC is in repetition. The more you see it, the deeper it is embedded and the stronger the subconscious response becomes. On Wednesday, Obama wants to use this half hour to ensure that everyone in America who watches will vote for him when they are triggered by their own action of picking up a pen to cast their vote. (And of course, there is always time to embed future instructions about what to do after the election.)
I’m sure by now the skeptics and Obama supporters are laughing their heads off, but admit it; just a little tiny part of you somewhere is wondering if there might just be something to this. That’s the rational part of your brain trying to battle the non-rational subconscious that’s been NAC’ed. You’ve been programmed to go against your own instincts, and while NAC is very powerful, ultimately the brain you were born with is more powerful if you can only release it. The less emotional you are when the programming is done, the less likely it is to “take”. That is exactly why the Obama campaign spends so much time trying to whip you into an emotional frenzy. That’s why he gets people excited with race-baiting and misogyny (although with the misogyny he’s taken a big gamble that he can pull this off without offending women, which I believe he lost; he’s playing on a centuries-old core societal instinct that men are more powerful and important than women and using that belief to agitate the masses into behaving badly against women). For those of you who’ve wondered why the mainstream media have been so pro-Obama, think about it; who has been more exposed to his speeches, his gestures, his patterns, his hypnosis techniques than those who are paid to watch his every move? Why do you think Obama touches people (especially reporters) so intimately? He’s using touch as part of his hypnosis! NAC is all about using sights (gestures and symbols), sounds (slogans like “Yes, We Can” and “Change You Can Believe In”), and intentional touch (when possible) to link your message deeply.
If you’re still skeptical, stop and ask yourself one simple question: Why would Barack Obama scramble to buy up Prime Time TV slots just 6 days before the election? Even MSNBC seems to recognize the unusual and historic implications of this move:
Short political spots have been the traditional way for politicians to communicate with voters. But a prime-time, sitcom-length commercial would provide Obama an opportunity to make a closing argument to the entire country.
“It’s a luxury to be able to afford that kind of communication,” said Tad Devine, a Democratic media consultant who was a senior adviser to John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign.
If Obama was far ahead as the polls indicated 2 weeks ago when he purchased this time, why would he need to make this unprecedented TV buy at the 11th hour? Why not radio; it’s much cheaper? Why not print ads; also less expensive? The answer is simple – he needs a visual media in order to convey his message. He needs the power of television to plant his subliminal messages and anchor them to the visualization of holding his thumb and forefinger together (as if holding a pen), so when Americans go into the voting booth they will trigger his message within their own subconscious when they grasp a pen to cast their votes.
In case you think I’m the only one that’s noticed this, commenter Hal at Uppity Woman’s blog observed:
A friend has satellite TV in West Virginia and wrote to me that there are, not one, but two channels in the lineup with 24/7 Obomber propaganda.
Now, why would that be? For starters, Obomber and Axelrod are so damn scared that no one has lost WV and won the presidency that they are swamping the Mountaineer state with nonstop ads and pissing off people of that little state in the process.
Before making all these compliments of FOX, you must realize that Rupert Murdoch never met a greenback that he could resist. Whether you call it “good business” or not, Murdoch OWNS Direct TV.
He OWNS a network that will broadcast Obomber’s informercial right before the World Series starts.
Repeat lies often enough and they’re the accepted truths.
I would add to this to say that Obama feels the people of West Virginia need more programming than the rest of America. As far as Fox, it is obvious that Obama has used NAC on Bill O’Reilly –remember the knee touching?– and probably several other reporters and owner Rupert Murdoch (normally a conservative, but uncharacteristically supporting Obama this time through). And they are even delaying the start of World Series in order to accommodate “That One”.
So I am supporting a movement started by NoHillaryNoVote:
I am sharing this idea on several blogs this week where others are not supporting Obama.
For the record:
I am a PUMA in northern VA
I am a Black woman
I am a registered democrat
I am one of the voters who supported Hillary Clinton in the primaryAND I am not voting for Obama-Biden.
I am so tired of hearing about Obama spending big bucks to run his infomercial on October 29th by trying to blanket mainstream television airways.
I think we need to begin to promote a “Turn off Obama-TV” on October 29th. I say – Do NOT Listen to or Watch Obama’s 30 minute commercial on October 29, 2008. Obama thinks he can MAKE us listen to what he has to say by spending all that money in order to have his commercial on several networks at the same time. We do NOT have to listen. We do NOT have to support this gimmick.
Let’s all participate in: “Turn Off Obama-TV” that night. On October 29th for that specific 30 minutes: Push mute – Turn down the sound – Change the channel – or Turn off the television. Do not listen to any more of Obama’s hot air, false promises or his lies about McCain-Palin.
INSTEAD for that 30 minutes do something else with your brain cells — (here’s a few ideas)
Watch a different tv program
Watch a DVD or video
Listen to the radio
Listen to a CD
Read a book or magazine
Play a board game
Surf the web
Watch YouTube videos
Call a friend on the phone
Play a video game
Write an email to a friend
Work on one of the word games or word puzzles in the newspaper
Play the piano (or instrument of your choice)
Do some exercising
Play a card game
Work on your family’s scrapbooks
Bake Halloween cookies or cupcakes
Work on your favorite hobbyBetween now and Oct 29th – Let others know that you are choosing NOT to listen to & to NOT watch Obama’s commercial. And encourage others to join in a national response to this media effort.
Please join me by choosing to turn away from Obama’s efforts to control the outcome of this election by spending so much money on a one night media blitz.
Tell all your family & friends to “Turn Off Obama-TV” on Oct. 29th!!
I wish there was a more radical way that I could make Americans understand the importance of not watching this program. My hope is that most of America is so sick and tired of the election that the concept of watching another solid half hour of a politician droning on for 30 minutes will just plain turn them off naturally. But if there is even one single person that you can influence in your circle of family, friends, and co-workers, please urge them to stay away from this broadcast. If they are already an Obama supporter, they don’t need to hear more of the same. If they are against Obama, they don’t need convincing. If they are undecided, ask them to read a transcript of the program on Thursday, or read a recap. And I cannot emphasize this enough: DO NOT PUT LINKS TO THE BROADCAST ON YOUR WEBSITE! If you want to share details, do it with printed words. As many PUMAs have noticed, reading Obama’s speeches leaves one quite confused as to why the masses are so enthralled with him. The words themselves have little or no meaning. He rarely answers questions that he is asked (except in the disastrous case of Joe the Plumber), and has a strange speech pattern that lulls one into a hypnotic waking-sleep trance. This is NLP at its best, and Obama at his worst.
In these final days of the election, it’s important to use every tool at our disposal to stop the overthrow of America. Please spread the word; feel free to link to this article, pass the pdf file around, and most importantly discuss this as a proven scientific process. Anthony Robbins has made millions of dollars using NAC, and Barack Obama hopes to use it to take over America.
UPDATE Posted 10/31 by GRL
Oops. Noted infomercial producer Anthony Sullivan declared the whole extravaganza a ‘flop.”
TV’S TOP AD STARS PAN BAM
By SALLY GOLDENBERG
Last updated: 11:11 am
October 30, 2008
Posted: 3:56 am
October 30, 2008Two leading infomercial stars agree: Barack Obama’s half-hour self-promotion last night was a flop.
“I don’t see enough smiling. Doom and gloom totally,” said Anthony Sullivan, one of the biggest names in infomercial history.
“I feel depressed right now,” added Sullivan, an Englishman famous for his infomercials touting the Swivel Sweeper and Smart Chopper. The only thing saving Obama, Sullivan said, was when the candidate appeared live at the end speaking at a rally in Florida.
“I think it needed it. I was about to throw myself through a window because it was depressing,” Sullivan said.
He and AJ Khubani, who has produced infomercials for 25 years, said Obama also fell short of offering solutions to the dire problems he laid out.
“I didn’t see a payoff. Classic infomercial is you show the before and you show the after. I didn’t see the music or the crashing waves of the Pacific,” Sullivan said.
He joked the producer “needs a spanking” for lacking optimism.
Khubani said: “Every infomercial lays out common problems, whether it’s a flabby belly or acne, and then it gives a solution. In this case the solution is Obama.”
But Obama didn’t pitch the product – himself – convincingly enough, he argued.
“We always spend much more time on the solution than the problem and he did the opposite,” Khubani added.
Filed under: Current Politics | Tagged: AJ Khubani, anchoring, Anthony J. Robbins, Anthony Sullivan, Barack Obama, Bill O'Reilly, CBS, David Axelrod, Direct TV, Ericksonian Hypnosis, fire walking, Fox News Channel, infomercials, Joe the Plumber, John McCain, MSNBC, NAC, NBC, Neuro Associativew Conditioning, Neuro Linquistic Programming, NLP, NoHillaryNoVote, Obama satellite TV channels, Obama's body language, Obama's gestures, Psy-Ops, PUMA, Rupert Murdoch, subliminal messages, Tony Robbins, Uppity Woman, West Virginia, World Series
I am a bit skeptical about this but you have a good point; I always wondered why his slogans (”Change We Can Believe In?”) seemed to be recursive nonsense but were repeated endlessly by Obama people like they were profound wisdom, which they obviously aren’t. Maybe you are on to something here.
As someone who became certified in hypnosis (American Board of Hypnotherapy) and attended an advanced seminar in NLP….I think we ARE onto something!!
GRL
Grail,
Thanks for the information. I certainly won’t be watching his spiel. What I WILL do in that time period is try to finish “The Obama Nation” by Jerome Corsi. It was given to me as a gift by another family member who is also a rabid Obama hater and I’ve been reading it in snatches when not otherwise occupied.
Unlike the commenter above, I’m not the least bit skeptical. It could explain why there are so many uhs and ahs before he makes a statement. I’ve always wondered why a person with his eduction has such poor verbal skills. You’re correct – the dull monotone and the droning of his speech is enough to put one to sleep. Perhaps this is the purpose of it.
The rapid conversion of Bill O’Reilly after he interviewed Obama has puzzled a lot of people. The knee touching and hand gestures fall in line also. It is more than scary to think this might make it to the White House. If this should happen, he’ll be giving long speeches every day to keep the faithful indoctrinated.
I’ll see that everyone I know is made aware of this new danger to their minds and do my utmost to keep them away from their television at that time.
Thanks again for the enlightening.
I never intended to watch , I already cant stand him, but I do beleive he is using NLP and hypnosis techniques. Lawyers learn it all the time to use it on and pursuade juries and judges .
Yes thank you very much,
What you have offered is very valuable information in fighting
this menace and enemy, well trained in these manipulative techniques of deception.
In ancient Greece this was known as sophistry. The Sophists worked for the oligarchy as does Obama, the candidate of Goldman Sachs, Soros and the hedge funds.
Bandler & Grinder when they were first developing Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) developed something called the Meta Model. The Meta Model was a therapeutic that consists of a questioning system designed to take a client out of what ever limiting trance they may be stuck in.
The meta model is a deconstruction device, that if consciously employed can help to stop brainwashing. Questioning, constant questioning, is vitally important, and if you remember that, you have in itself the tools necessary.
For every word that Obama says, every nominalization, like hope or change, think of a series of questions, to which any answer would allow cross examining, to then cross examine that question, etc…
Of course we do not have the luxury of a press that would do as such for us, but we must in ourselves create an immunity and resistance to what is a rape and violation that Obama is undertaking against people through his rhetorical/hypnotic skills.
Whatever you’re onto, you’re off of your rockers. Hypnosis? Mind control? Mysterious gestures? If Obama is controlling me with his right hand and the ‘recursive’ phrase “Change we can believe in,” then what’s McCain doing to you with that smirk and “Country first?”
Get your heads out of your asses–seriously. I don’t care who you vote for (although for the record, I think Obama is by far the stronger candidate) but really. Is your understanding of the real policies and issues this country is dealing with so thin that you have to base your objections on science fiction?
Leibniz08,
You are correct about the questioning – rational thought is the enemy of the trance state. Questioning is mandatory, which is why I believe most PUMAs are immune to Obama’s techniques.
And you are also correct about the rape angle!
captainkickstand,
Have fun watching, Ozombie!
GG
Enjoy your board game, conspiracy nut! Or will you be ‘doing some exercising?”
Interesting how everyone with a thoughtful, considered political opinion that differs from yours is a ‘zombie’ and you and the rest of the Illuminati (Paganpower, et al) have some kind of lock on the truth that’s obscured for the rest of us. Please, by all means, lead me to the light.
“Firewalking” demystified: http://skepdic.com/firewalk.html
[...] Your Vote, I Want Your Mind” Posted on October 29, 2008 by Texas Hill Country From Insight Analytical I want, no make that need, you to join me in supporting a critical nationwide movement. This [...]
I intend to watch this fraud, because I’m voting tomorrow morning (and it ain’t for TehPrecious). I’ll let you know if I’m converted.
Actually, I most likely will watch the World Series. because in truth, I cannot tolerate his speech patterns and his halting, and dropping the final syllable of his sentences (sort of like hoping you can finish his thought for him). Why are they criticizing Gov. Palin for dropping her “G’s” ? It’s only one letter. It’s not as if she were hoping you’ll finish her word for her, is it ?
To repeat myself – in case anyone hasn’t already heard it: I saw his Supremeness before he began his run for the White House. He didn’t speak the same way he does now. To be fair, there was only a small prepared speech – no teleprompter. Just cue cards.
It was a town hall meeting. Not his best arena. But he refused to answer questions r/t the gas crisis, he pushed off the questions about his support of funding of the Iraq occupation. In fact, a Gold Star Mother asked about his plans for withdrawal, and he merely thanked her for her “sacrifice” and said since he was only a freshman senator, he didn’t have a plan as “no one would listen to me”.
He was only trying to convert students to his “plan to reconstruct the student loan program”. I guess he thought people would listen to a freshman senator about the student loan program. Or maybe he was already sucking up to the students, hoping to indenture them to him via lower student loan interest rates.
I decided that day that I wouldn’t vote for him ever again. (yes, I had voted for him for the Senate) He had rigged the Illinois primary and then the general election process (by opening up sealed divorce records of his chief opponents) and the Republicans ended up running Alan Keyes against him. Yes, that Alan Keyes – from Maryland.
Thanks for this info, Leslie!!
Not only will I not watch the ObaMessiah tomorrow night, I don’t watch him now either. The only time he wasn’t able to pull that smooth talkin’ Tony Robbins bit was when he was at Saddleback Church–I never heard so many “ums” and “hmmms” in my life. (Must’ve been the atmosphere he wasn’t used to.)
captainkickstand,
If you believe what it says at that link, then try this:
Light up your barbecue grill (you have to use either wood or charcoal, not a gas grill)
Let it burn until the embers are glowing red hot
Stick your hand on the embers and see what happens
Have fun at the emergency room!
Leslie,
It won’t work on you. You won’t be triggering the anchor (by holding the pen between your index finger and thumb). Plus, you already have a skeptical attitude towards him and you question what he says. Most PUMAs will be immune, but it’s not worth the risk if you aren’t in an early voting state. Besides, I wouldn’t want your ears to bleed from having to hear his voice…
GG,
A very interesting post, and I agree there are definitely speech tricks/manipulation techniques employed in the art of deception and distraction by Obama. I can NOT tolerate Obama’s speeches.
Listening to him while I was doing something else has created such an aversion in me that I cannot force myself to watch him or listen to him.
My response has been so visceral, I haven’t been able to explain it, but this confirms to me that it isn’t ‘what’ he is saying, but how he says it, that I find personally disturbing. I compare the irritation I feel to that of listening to cats fighting or a baby crying, and have been somewhat in dispair because I’m basically irrationally incapable of listening to him when he speaks. It started during his speech about Rev. Wright and has only gotten worse during the debates. I’ve been watching debates for decades and nobody has made the mute button more irresistable than Obama.
No I wouldn’t watch Obama if you paid me. And I have already voted for McCain. But I’m going to link this article as a must read.
Jim Jones lives again – in the Obama cult of personality. This certainly explains a lot.
Look at TIME, Nov. 3 issue, page 34-5….the picture with the Joe Klein article. It’s an excellent illustration of how the group can be hypnotized…I found it truly scary. Of course, I’m old enough to remember the power hungry Adolph Hitler.
Spirit,
I sincerely hope you don’t have to live through that experience again, but Hitler did use techniques similar to those Obama uses. If you remember him, you have some idea of what a danger we are facing now, but think Hitler with modern technology backing him. Truly chilling.
What is a much more logical explanation is that Gen. X and Y. for the most part wanted a new generation of leaders. Not the older boomers and not the politicians who’ve been around forever and get bitter because a newcomer kicks their ass.
I am highly educated (PhD), no I am not a victim to hypnosis, and like so many of my other highly educated friends, in professional jobs, we are concerned. We think Obama did a much better job in responding to the crisis than McCain and frankly, on a personal level, this old man’s smile, gives me the shivers. POW or not, that’s over 40 years ago. We live in 2008 now and we need to look at the future.
I have all ready voted, McCain/Palin, but have no interest in watching this phony whatever his (GAG) charms.
dodito, thanks for just one more bit of proof that Obamabots are not only sexist but ageist. If an “old man’s smile gives you the shivers you are definately a prime candidate for the Obamacult. Your own bigotry pre-condidtioned you.
So wait, dodito is ”ageist’ because he doesn’t like Senator McCain’s ‘old man’s smile,’ but Kathy isn’t racist when she freely admits that it’s not the substance of Senator Obama’s remarks that bothers her, but the ‘way’ he says them (the black way?).
“My response has been so visceral, I haven’t been able to explain it, but this confirms to me that it isn’t ‘what’ he is saying, but how he says it, that I find personally disturbing. ”
Let’s try the grill experiment together, GG; we can get together somewhere and plunge our hands quickly into a bed of coals and ashes for about the length of one of those mincing footsteps firewalkers take. It will probably hurt more than firewalking since a person’s hands are typically not as thick-skinned as the soles of the feet, but we’ll be fine. Did you read the link I posted, or any of the other scientific critiques that exist about firewalking?
Let me ask you this: if you’re looking for an infiltrator, or a Manchurian candidate, which of the two candidates was in fact under the complete control of an enemy (Communist) power for more than five years? What did they do to him in that time? Is McCain a secret Vietnamese communist? Where are the records of his time in the Hanoi Hilton? Why did he come home and abandon the wife who had stood by him during his captivity (family values?) in exchange for a woman twenty years his junior who was the heiress to a fantastic fortune? Why does he keep using the recursive phrase, “my friends?” Is he trying to control my mind?
Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?
IA,
You must be doing something right. The bobots are here. You’ve got them frightened and they’re restless.
So much so that captainkickbutt is playing the race card again. Save your breath and your fingers, cap, we’re on to that trick now. Obama has set race relations back 30 years, and you don’t intimidate us any longer by pulling that card out everytime you’re faced with the truth.
The Obama campaign would have to pay me to watch. I am holding out for my own bailout package — don’t even want a trillion bucks, a coupla million will do.
GG, this is one of the best articles I’ve read this election season. It just makes sense. I do seem to remember that Bill Clinton mentioned some mentoring by Tony Robbins way back when. I thought nothing of it and assumed it was for motivational purposes to combat campaign fatigue. But The One has taken this beyond the pale. I am a Reagan Democrat. I voted for McCain/Palin this week. I was so angered by the treatment of Hillary by Obama and the DNC that I never listened to or watched any of his speeches. I hope you post your article on every blog and send to every media outlet today.
dodito,
If you aren’t lying through your teeth, then explain to me why you support Obama after picking one of the most entrenched Washington insiders there is for his running mate? Let’s face it, Obama may be younger than McCain, but he has a self-admitted history of drug use (that may still be going on for all we know since he won’t release medical records) and he smokes tobacco actively. Biden’s got just as good a shot at becoming POTUS by default as Palin does, yet I don’t remember you complaining when he picked Joe Credit Card (aka Joe Sexual Harassment’s OK).
Captainkickstand,
I’ve personally walked across 20 feet of 2000 degree coals and watched literally hundreds of others do it (of course after hours of preconditioning the mind to do so). No water, no sweat. And the one thing that Robbins tells you repeatedly is the stupidest thing you can do is walk across the coals quickly to “move fast enough to avoid getting burned”. If you rush you risk falling, which will jar you out of your mental power state and get you burned quite severely. No one at a Robbins firewalk rushes; you are trained to walk at a normal, deliberate pace.
If you think it’s so easy, let’s go ahead and give it a try. I’d do it with you, because I’ve used NAC to anchor the necessary state of mind to a unique physical gesture. You would end up in an emergency room with third degree burns.
You can debate the merits of firewalking all day long (Robbins no longer does them due to the cost of insurance), but it is totally not the point (as you well know). The point is that you have been manipulated into supporting someone who you know absolutely nothing about, and you like it!
John McCain was exposed to torture for 5 years. Barack Obama has been exposed to Socialism/Marxism/Communism for 47 years non-stop! Which do you think has the stronger influence? Oh, wait. I know the answer to that! The one you’ve been told to believe.
You are a member of a sad, pathetic cult. Nothing you say has any significance whatsoever while you are under it’s influence. Your sole value right now is as a pawn for evil, so no one that is not a member of that sick cult gives a rat’s ass what you have to say!
Lee:
Who’s frightened? I’m neither ‘frightened’ of the future nor trying to intimidate you?
I am pointing out that the prevailing level of intellectual curiosity here seems so low, the understanding of issues so superficial, that you’re resorting to caricatured attacks to make your case.
Who’s afraid? Not me; I’ve watched Senators McCain and Obama speak. I’ve read their policy positions and kept track of the reporting on both of them. I’ve made my choice, and don’t dispute the validity of yours.
The only fear I see is coming from people who are afraid to watch a man speak because he’s going to take control of their minds by wiggling his right hand. Are you that weak-minded? Really?
I’m also not restless, but what I’m discouraged about in this campaign is the endless caricaturing and distorting of positions and people that’s on display all over–on television, in blogs, and in the papers and magazines.
And no one’s innocent of it, not even the candidate I prefer. Governor Palin is unprepared, but I don’t think she’s stupid. She did tell a half-truth (maybe a quarter-truth) about her opposition to the ‘Bridge to Nowhere,’ but who cares. Senator McCain’s service to the United States is admirable. (oh, and as a side note, notice that when I refer to the Republican’s VP candidate, I like to use her title and not go immediately to the familiar ‘Sarah’ like so many others do. Isn’t it sexist when a man gets a title and a woman is referred to by her first name?)
Senator Obama is not a secret Muslim socialist black-power hypnotist who will seize control of your minds if you catch a glimpse of him on TV. Do you realize how silly you sound claiming these types of things? Why resort to this? There are all kinds of reasons not to vote for him:
1. he wants to keep the scheduled repeal promise for the Bush tax cuts (this is not the same thing a raising taxes). If you’re making more than a quarter-million dollars, you might not like this, although interestingly, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, two of the most fabulously wealthy people in the world don’t seem to care.
2. he favors opening diplomatic relationships with countries we consider ‘enemies’ like Iran and North Korea. While his thinking has evolved and he does not, in fact, want to invite Iran’s president over for bocce on the White House lawn, he does plan to initiate diplomatic discussions at the appropriate level as a means of reducing tension without resorting to the saber-rattling and brinksmanship of the Bush administration.
There are two reasons. Personally, I like both those ideas, and others, so I’m voting for Senator Obama. I am not voting ‘against’ Senator McCain, who is not really the same person as George W. Bush.
I realize it’s more complicated to look at the race this way and it’s much easier to vote against the hypnotist, but try it. Look at the issues. It makes the news make that much more sense.
[...] Insightanalytical warns about watching the Obamathon tonight – this is a very interesting psychological perspective: If Obama was far ahead as the polls indicated 2 weeks ago when he purchased this time, why would he need to make this unprecedented TV buy at the 11th hour? Why not radio; it’s much cheaper? Why not print ads; also less expensive? The answer is simple – he needs a visual media in order to convey his message. He needs the power of television to plant his subliminal messages and anchor them to the visualization of holding his thumb and forefinger together (as if holding a pen), so when Americans go into the voting booth they will trigger his message within their own subconscious when they grasp a pen to cast their votes. [...]
Apparently these techniques, so perfected by Obama, has proved to be very effective … the latest victims? The Australians:
http://aussienewsviews.blogspot.com/2008/10/americans-beware-australian-internet-to.html
actually boys and girls Obama doesn’t even truly have to uses “hypnosis” tv in itself is hypnotic. Everything from your breathing to your metabolism goes down when you are watching tv. Infact that is why so many of todays’ video games are so addictive, designers often times uses light sequences that increases feel good neurotransmitters and people will play longer. I haven’t watched “tv” in about a year, don’t get me wrong i watch dvd’s of tv shows, but the reason i have to buy them is because i don’t really apy attention. Right now i have my tv playing but i’ve only looked at it once or twice in the last few minutes. So i don’t think it is so much hypnosis on obama’s part but the fact that he already has a suggestive open audience.
Another technique i’ve seen during this election, but have never talked about less i sound nuts is that media seem to have been using subconscious technique they uses in the 60’s and 70’s to get you to buy popcorn or soda, what they have found out is that suggestions or commands don’t work but if you ask a question it causes the subconscious to be come anxious so in the desperate search for an answer start begins and if you can supply and answer the subconscious is is more than happy to take it. So while “go buy a coke”Didn’t necessarily work, Flashing “Are you Thirsty?” sent the most people running for the concession stand. And is also why i would become so livid when i saw questions like ” is hillary clinton hurting feminists by not dropping out” on various web sites.
I think the saddest part is that people including my self don’t pay alot of attention to the way we ares studied continually, most of times just to get us to buy things or for more sinister means. It rages from using the color orange to make you leave a fast food resturant quicker, or why they show fabric softeners commercials during the soaps, to knowing that blacks trust preachers and black professionals and then using those people to conduct the Tuskeegee institutes syphilis studies. And while no one infected these men with syphilis they did prevent them from getting treatment.
I think the smartest things to do is be vigilant, know yourself, know who you are, and know what you believe in. MLK wasn’t lying when he said if you stand for nothing you will fall for anything. the human mind is strong, no one can hypnotise you into doing anything you don’t want to do without the powers of sedatives and hypnotics and that won’t happen unless obama becomes president.
I’m not sure about the hypnotism, but i do know obama is wonderful at manipulatition. twisting bill clintons words to make him sound racist, was ingenious. Why? because he knew the clintons would never be abe to prove otherwise and there are very few blacks who are not going to start screaming racism when everyoen is. As an african american i am particial to blacks, but i’m not stupid. I love to see blacks acheive, but obama didn’t do that, he cheated. and he lied. tonight i’m going to boycott obama’ss bs, not because i’m afraid of him, because of his powers of suggestion, but because frankly I”m sick of him. And i hope that after nov 4 i n never have to set eyes on his arrogent form again. If he does oh well.
After this reading this article i’m kind of disappointed. Since the primaries i’ve wanted to do a poll on obama supporters and non supporters and see if there was in correlation to that and how much tv they watched. But i thought i would be laughed at. Ohh well. Great article though.
kgirl1028,
You are right on the money about TV – I couldn’t agree more! I, for one, would love to read your article about the correlation between TV and Obama supporters. I encourage you to research it – knowledge is power, and the more we know the better we can prevent this type of thing in the future.
GG,
I read the .pdf in its entirety when it was first posted on the web. What struck me even more than the explanation for Obama’s use of the anchor was the reason for his sing-song speech cadence. Someone, somewhere, nailed it:
da dum, da dum, da dum… BARK!
da dum, da dum, da dum… BARK!
The reason for his slow initial delivery is to get you hanging on his every word, even attempting to complete his sentences yourself. That’s the bait. Then comes the hook, “you will vote for me”, but you don’t realize that nothing he’s said makes sense. It’s the WAY he said it that sucks you in.
The pictures above are actually not a good representation of the anchoring gesture. It’s usually far more like someone wielding a pen and usually done close to a flat surface to make the connection to writing.
That may be an explanation for the overwhelming pressure on Obama supporters to vote absentee. Few absentee voting sights facilitate electronic voting. Our own county site has five booths for paper-ballot voters and one electronic machine.
Earlier this week there was a tape released of an interview Obama did in 2001. Please, PLEASE compare the total disparity in speaking style between this interview and his speeches. The proof of Obama’s use of hypnosis techniques is there to hear in the fundamental change of his speech pattern. No one could listen to that tape, then a current speech and come away believing the .pdf you linked to is untrue. It’s just not possible.
Creeper,
I have listened to the 2001 audio, and you are right on the money. Every nuance of Obama’s planned speeches are choreographed down to the minutae. That’s why he sucks so bad when no teleprompter (wouldn’t surprise me if the prompter has reminders to do the gestures, either) is present, and why he is such a lousy debater.
Obama has been groomed to fill an acting role, and that is his claim to fame; he can act! That is all he is doing, and if you don’t believe that you are not using your rational mind. You’ve been NACed!
This is really less of a warning than an attempt to point out what Obama & Co. are doing. This is all one big Hollywood-style performance. Axelrod et al are counting on us preferring watching the Oscars to taking the time to bother to discover the truth. The more likely you are to watch TV, play video games, gamble, etc. – the more successful these techniques will be. Don’t watch the movie, read the book! It has a much better ending…
A poster named Bob over at Logistics Monster made a good point….remember when all the Sinclair TV stations ran the Kerry Swiftboat production?? SAME IDEA, no??? Only Obama’s will be way more subtle…and dangerous.
GRL, I am also certified in hypnotherapy. This is real. No one should underestimate what Obama is up to.
I advocate for all of us to watch Pushing Daisies tonight at 8
http://edgeoforever.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/watch-pushing-daisies-tonight/
We may make a numbers point with the rating
No! Don’t watch Pushing Daisies! He can get you there, too, remember? The more television you watch, the more susceptible you are to NAC!
Also, I can testify to the lulling to sleep effect his speech has on me.
I did consider once voting for him and I listened to his Iowa speech – that pretty much did it for me. I don’t expect much from political speeches and my brain has a pretty good self-protective tune-out function from anything irrelevant to me.
But with Obama I experienced something different than say, the revulsion of listening to Bush. It was unpleasant enough to turn me off completely. I remember posting at the time that I was the only one not supporting him BECAUSE OF HIS SPEECH. To my surprise, several people chimed in (it was still legal on that forum at the time)
You know what turns me off? People who would rather watch Pushing Daisies on commericial television and spin fantastic tales about a man who can control them with his hand if they watch him on TV than participate actively in their own democracy. By all means, skip the Obamamericial–read a book isntead! Here’s a recommendation: The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by the late Carl Sagan.
Oh, and the “American Board of Hypnotherapy?” Please.
http://www.abh-abnlp.com/enrollABH.htm
I’m sorely tempted to go ahead and provide my credit card number and the $115 to prove that I, too, with a few mouse clicks, can be certified by the “American Board of Hypnotherapy,” just like insightanalyical and abycat. But like Joe the Plumber, I don’t make $250,000 a year and with the value of my retirement fund likely taking a dive (Thanks, Mr. President! Thanks, Senator McCain!) it would be an expensive thing to expose this foolishness for what it is (as much as I would like to “proudly display the official seal of the ABH on [my] wall.”
Thanks for posting this, Grail Guardian. I’m half way through the PDF and it is quite an unsettling read.
I have never been able to stand to hear Obama’s voice, let alone try and understand what the heck he is saying. I usually read the transcript and don’t find anything that makes any sense to me. I have better things to do than to listen to “more of the same” from a fraudulent candidate who was selected by the DNC.
captainkickstand
And we would need to worry about what turns you off because???
How are your opinions even relevant to this discussions – beyond proving the tactics of your ilk?
How ironic though that you can spout slogans about active participation in their democracy to people whose votes were robbed….I wonder how Carl Sagan would feel about that.
captainkickstand…when I took the course 16 years ago, I met with a certified trainer for 10 weeks and had to pass a stringent exam, both written and actually creating and applying hypnosis techniques with subjects unknown to me. (The name has expanded to include NLP.)
I did some work for free–weight loss and helping cancer patients before I decided that I preferred not to practice because I felt I needed to have more training in counseling to fee completely comfortable using hypnosis. It is THAT powerful a tool.
You misrepresented the Board site….you can enroll as a member but that does NOT give you certification from the Board….That is only available IF you have completed study of their course or another approved training course. You just don’t pay them and get a certificate! Believe me, I know! I sweated the course with the teacher I had. If anything, the levels of certification have become even more stringent.
***
For those uncertified, membership means:
NLP Associate Level
The Associate Level is offered to those who do not yet have a Certification from a recognized NLP institute but would like to keep abreast of the latest information and training.
NLP Associate Practitioner Level
A. Duration of Training: Minimum of 120 hours of training in the basics of NLP patterns taught by a Certified Trainer, or a certified Master Practitioner under the supervision of a trainer. There is no requirement at this level for in-person attendance at a training.
B. Demonstration of ability to identify the following basic skills, techniques, patterns and concepts of NLP and to utilize them competently for self change.
NLP Practitioner Level
A. Duration of Training: Minimum of 120 hours of training in the basics of NLP patterns taught by a Certified Trainer, or a certified Master Practitioner under the supervision of a trainer.
B. Demonstration of ability to identify the following basic skills, techniques, patterns and concepts of NLP and to utilize them competently with self and with others.
[...] can’t speak to claims that Obama might try to hypnotize his audience in his infomercials tonight. I’m just anti-propaganda, and what is a half-hour commercial but a lot of [...]
I was returning home from voting (Nobama) today and heard interviews on NPR with voters – I think in Missouri. One of the people said he lides the “way obama talks”. As I recall, he didn’t exactly say what obama was saying, just the “way” he talks.
It reminded me of this thread. I yelled at the radio. “WTF does he ever say that you remember besides Hope and Change?” Some others were more ready to recall what teh precious said. They weren’t all necessarily pro-bama. Not by a long shot.
Did I say:
I VOTED !!!
Woo Hoo ! !
and my hand did not fall off my arm when I voted for a Not Obama !
So i wonder how many Pumas are left handed?
Hey, looks like I already qualify as an ‘associate practitioner.’
I was in high school once, and college, and know what happens when ‘no in-person attendance’ is required.
And I’ve already hypnotized myself into believing your sci-fi fantasies makes sense.
Uh-oh . . . it wore off. I still think it’s silly. Maybe it’s not as powerful a tool as you think?
Next comment from you in this vein and you’re gone….First time I will have ever done it, because I like to hear all views.
If you read the info, you’d know that the Associate level applies to “self” use…not with others.
Furthermore,
NLP Associate Level
The Associate Level is offered to those who do not yet have a Certification from a recognized NLP institute but would like to keep abreast of the latest information and training.
You are on notice…
Whether people choose to believe in the document’s findings or not, it’s absolutely a fact that entire Obama’s campaing has been designed about emotions. His entire messaging is designed to bypass logic. CHANGE, HOPE, CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN — these words are not about reason, they are about feelings. Thet are tools to get the votes, without going into factual dicussions.
I saw your posts right after I finished writing mine on the key aspect of this election that so many people fail to realize or choose to ignore: it’s no longer about choosing between Republicans and Democrats, but rather about choosing between our democratic system as we know it and a totally different state.
It’s all about paying attention to the facts — something that Obama’s emotion-targeted messaging tryes to avoid at all cost:
http://drslogan.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/nov-4-your-county-your-call/
[...] What’s going to happen tonight, is all about Southern California, North Hollywood, and specifically, Tony Robbins! [...]
drslogan…that’s a great post….I loved your phrase “unclogging” the sink….
Another thought is Obama may have a personality disorder…Narcisstic…
Check you tube
Obama personality..
drslogan,
It warms the heart to start seeing so many non-PUMA posts spreading the word about what Obama and crew really are about!
Kay,
Oh, yes! Obama suffers from severe NPD. If you doubt it, just do a web search on “Obama NPD”. One of the articles you’ll find is this one, which sums it up quite nicely:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/the_enigma_of_obama.html
Wow, I didn’t read this article until today, but I was saying for a few days that I hoped people would not watch the infomercial as I feared there may be something subliminal going on. I agree with the analysis of his earlier interviews. I heard the one on the radio the other day from 2001, and while it sounded similar to Obama’s voice, if you had told me it was someone else I would have believed it as he sounded nothing like he does now.
His droning manner of speech also gets to me. During the debates, his blabber-mouthery got old real quick and both myself and my wife couldn’t really follow much of what he said, it was so disjointed. Our 16 month old daughter became fussy a few times while Obama was speaking which we found amusing/interesting.
Another thing I’ve noticed is how Obama changes the inflection of his voice depending on what situation he is in. Sometimes he sounds like the polished proper enlish college professor, at other times he gets “southern” or “ghetto” with his inflection. Just more evidence of being a fake and a panderer. So many people don’t trust him and are unsure of who he is, and the reason for that is that he has no idea who he is.
drslogan,
Thank goodness others see the danger to our country under an Obama administration. If only the MSM would wake up and really report the truth instead of just repeating what their corporate leaders tell them to say. But then, if they did they would be out of a job. I feel that most of the so-called reporters actually believe the garbage they feed us each day.
I agree with IA, the kitchen sink analogy is right on, only I would include the sewer pipe also.
I hope there are enough drslogans out there to help us tip the scales on November 4th. Wake up America !! This is our country up for grabs.
Grail —
I’m eager to read the report about NAC. I’ve always said since his speech at the 2004 Convention that Obama is MESMERIZING, not inspiring.
And when I personally feel “entranced” by someone, I run from them as fast as possible.
Let’s all keep in mind that great quote from the “Maltese Falcon” at the end of the film when Sam Spade is on the verge of taking the rap for Brigid. I’ll paraphrase: I won’t take the rap for you because every part of my being wants to.
I won’t vote for Obama because every part of me wants to except my gut which leaves me with a huge feeling of dread when I envision a Obama presidency, and my brain which can’t rationalize his discrepancies and affiliations.
Perhaps because women are generally more intuitive, we feel it stronger and why so many PUMAs are committed to defeating him.
…has a strange speech pattern that lulls one into a hypnotic waking-sleep trance. This is NLP at its best, and Obama at his worst.
Is that why he constantly uses “uh uh uh” and “I…I…I” instead of pauses when he speaks? I thought those were just very irritating ways to buy time as he thinks of what to say next.
Like others here, I found him so irritatingly difficult to follow, with his statements being so choppy and split up by “uh uh uh” and “I…I…I,” that I tuned him out long ago. Perhaps that tuning out of Obama is why I’ve not succumbed to becoming an Obamabot? I mean, like the PUMAs, of which I suppose I’m one, I’ve read his statements and speeches but I don’t listen to him. So, I know what his (non?)messages are but, unlike those who’ve actually listened to him deliver them, I’m not impressed by them.
Obama’s Presidential Portrait Already Chosen??? (See here) (Why Bother With More Debates or Having an Election??)
http://insightanalytical.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/obamas-presidential-portrait-already-chosen-see-here-why-bother-with-more-debates-or-having-an-election/
Another interesting way to look at him….
More on his body language here…follow the link near the end of the piece…GRL
At the minimum for people who won’t take the time to entertain that “hypnotic” techniques are being used by Obama.
You don’t understand what hypnosis is; it’s not Hollywood where a hypnotist gets you to act like a chicken. Hypnosis gets you into a blank state and then allows for power of suggestion through cognitive association.
This is just my layman’s understanding since I had it done on me during Gestalt therapy sessions for trauma during my childhood. A psychologist can “draw” things out of you by watching your body language while you talk, for example, when talking about some painful memory of the seeming present, glances to the left indicate an association to your PAST, and glances to the right indicate an association to the FUTURE.
Extrapolating from Grail’s assertion then, Obama focuses his gaze to the right as a powerful subconscious message that HE represents the future, his words represent the future, despite what those actual words consist of. Am I understanding this correctly, GG?
Natural health/alternative therapies are based on the belief that certain parts of the body correspond to certain emotions contained with the psyche (i.e., the mind/body connection). Your liver, is the organ associated with anger; your lungs are associated with grief. Depending upon your ailment you can ascertain what psychological underpinning is “causing” your illness. This is partly the basis for Asian treatments that have been used for thousands of years.
So, for example, if you have sciatic pain in your right hip, you are having a problem with feeling a hypocrite about moving forward in life. Your job as a patient is to figure out what that particular issue pertains to, which leads to health.
Most people are so out-of-tune with their own bodies and minds that they are easily manipulated. When patients are in a fearful state they are willing to try anything, take any medication just to make the pain or problem go away. What people fail to understand is that Natural health and proactive alternative therapies force people to take responsibility for themselves.
It is because of these beliefs that I have “felt” there is a deep disconnect within Obama, not because he is Black. These types of “psychic” connections supercede anything as superficial as Race. It is like when you look at a psychotic (i.e. Charles Manson) and know that there is something “off” about them.
And like I said, I believe that most women get this about Obama because of being more intuitive, and most men don’t — ala the Progressive Dude Nation. There is something very eerie about the disassociation young women have about a candidate that openly alluded to his female contender being “on the rag” when he was questioned about his policy’s own weaknesses. But, they also didn’t grow up with these types of comments being made on a daily basis to comment upon their performance.
sorry for the rant here, but I get so tired of people’s close-mindedness in general, and especially the lack of willingness to entertain alternative thoughts by people who are supposedly LIBERAL.
Grail –
Just one more thing, and then I’m reading the article. Unbeknowst to many, Chicago is a hotbed of New Ageism. And many have tried to explain Obama’s greatness by using the New Age code words that he radiates a higher state of vibrational energy. It is possible as well that Obama got more information on manipulative techniques from Oprah who is a big follower of New Ageism. Oprah, however, does not to my knowledge follow natural health/alternative therapies. If she did, she would be seeking other remedies for her problems with hypothyroidism, because thyroid medication can actually make your problem worse (like a lot of pharmaceuticals do).
And one question, who wrote this report?
That is just what I alluded to earlier in the week (maybe here, maybe somewhere else). That when people are so fearful about their future, their finances, their safety, their children’s education, the possibility of war or running out of food, or health, or fuel,
they will look to the first person who captures their imagination. And Obama did it in 2004 at the Dem Convention in Boston. Even I, who do not like him or trust him, said to a friend, “That man will be president some day”.
Little did I know how he would trash the Clintons, the Democratic Party, and the Consitution all in one fell swoop to do so.
thanks, FembotsForObama
Fembots,
You are correct about the future association tactic. Perfect example of how this technique works.
As far as who wrote the article, I have to admit that I have not been able to find the specific author’s name, only that it was written by “Anonymous” with assistance from Dr. Will Horton. It appears to originally have come from a site called Penny Press. I can tell you that it is dead-nuts on as far as research and content, and whomever wrote it is no amateur.
Fembot, no argument on the power of the mind-body connection, but I don’t think the connections are as simply outlined as you indicate (sciatic pain=anxiety about hypocrisy; right glance=thinking about the future).
Why is there something sinister about a person who’s articulate, clear-spoken and thoughtful? I know we haven’t been used to that in the last eight years, so maybe it sounds a little weird.
As I’ve said repeatedly in this forum, there are lots of good reasons to pick one candidate over another, but some silliness about long-distance mind control through your TV set is not really one of them.
I’m certainly not trying to suggest that anyone vote for anyone other than who they want to, but I am discouraged at the tendency among some in this country to see any candidate other than the one they want as illegitimate. Not for nothing, but there’s clear evidence that the Bush campaign used unethical (if not illegal) tactics against McCain in 2000 and basically stole the 2000 election with the collusion of the Supreme Court. But even I accepted President Bush as the chief executive of the country once he was in office.
There’s my ‘one more comment.’ Ban away!
Captain, your comment to me was the least insulting of the comments you posted.
The thing is, there are many sites that are anti-Obama for various reasons. You just happened to catch one of the postings where we are discussing what we deem the Obamamania on a more metaphysical level.
We ALL are deeply aware of the issues and policies of both candidates and political parties. And are baffled at how the Democratic Party chose to select for us the most unqualified candidate in history for our nominee, especially after what this country has had to endure the last 8 years with a Bush II presidency.
It’s a damn shame that the Democratic leadership did this because so many people are really hurting and need Democratic policies. But here’s the rub, millions of Democrats are switching to vote for McCain for various reasons (protest to the Party, threat of an authoritarian socialism government, etc.) and even millions more are pledging to just not vote for POTUS at all or third ticket.
The polls have been skewed to favor Obama, and the mainstream media has been complicit in slanted reporting because they are becoming a dying dinosaur in the media field. The polls are just now starting to reflect the real fact all along that this country is more divided than ever. The exit polling from CA and CO is showing that Obama is closer to losing this election than was previously portrayed. If you don’t believe me, check out Hillbuzz for more info.
Healthy skepticism is natural, and of any party, should have been encouraged by our own Democratic Party! The fact that it is not, makes me shudder.
See, this is where I call “bull$h!t”, captainkickstand. You said:
But here’s the thing: You (Obama supporters) can’t argue every solid point we make about Obama’s inexperience, his illegal campaign contributions, his sleazy associations, his Socialism, etc. and then make a statement like this when we try to examine why people are so taken in by such an obvious charlatan!
And of all groups, you cannot accuse PUMAs of being rigid in our choice of candidates, because we have all changed our candidate at least once during this election season. Some of us started out as Clinton supporters, others as Edwards supporters, and some were even Obama supporters. Now we’ve become McCain supporters, Palin supporters, McKinney supporters, Nader supporters, and even Barr supporters. You are the one that is rigidly clinging to your candidate above and beyond all reason! God forbid someone should show you a solid reason why Senator Government no longer deserves your support. And that, in and of itself, is an issue worth investigation whether you can see it or not. This whole election has been “not right” or “a bit off” from the get-go, and we want to know why. I firmly believe this is the reason why otherwise intelligent and reasonable people are bitterly clinging to their candidate like he is the messiah. You don’t have to agree with me. But it is certainly no more outlandish than your theory that a man that has never done anything beyond running for President in his entire life, and may or may not even be Constitutionally eligible to hold the office, should be elected because he’s promised us change and hope.
But see, there’s another one. In what way is he ‘constitutionally ineligible?’ Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. He has released his birth certificate, state records are clear and his birth was announced in the local newspaper. There’s no credible evidence to the contrary. Interestingly, a similar spurious charge was brought against Senator McCain because he was born outside the U.S., in the Panama Canal zone.
While the Constitution declares that only a ‘natural-born citizen’ can be present, there’s no clear definition of what that means, nor any precedent in case law. So even if Senator Obama was born in another country, and again, there’s no credible evidence that he was, he would still be as much a natural American citizen as Senator McCain.
I can answer every point, but I can’t take the time. I will say this; no one’s perfect and every candidate is going to have skeletons. I do trust the media to expose the biggies; they love to sell papers and what would sell more than a major scandal? The fact that no one is making money by exposing any of this stuff suggests that there’s nothing out of the ordinary to find.
About the inexperience: one could argue that no one’s really ready to be president, that there’s no experience one could have that predicts the demands of that job. Biden, McCain, Obama and Palin all have different qualifications and different experiences that they would bring to this job. So did all the candidates in the primaries.
I did a lot of soul-searching before choosing to support Obama in the primary; just on the basis of policy positions, for example, there were things I liked better about Senator Clinton. But consider this: if she had been elected president, at the end of her first term it would have been 32 years since a Bush or a Clinton didn’t have a key to the White House. It’s starting to sound a little like dynasty, isn’t it? Or some kind of Shakespearian drama, with families warring for the crown.
I have my logical and rational reasons to support Senator Obama; I like his policy ideas. Yes, I also have my emotional ones. There’s a symbolic facet to the presidency; he’s the face of the country and I want someone up there who makes us look good again. I want our president to go to other countries and gain their admiration. I’m not saying McCain can’t do that although I don’t think Governor Palin can. There’s a person without good preparation for the job. Say what you will about how Obama’s elitist; at least he and John McCain understand the dynamics of international affairs, even if they would approach them differently (which is another part of my rational reasoning).
It’s one thing not to understand those complex issues, or know a lot about them, as Governor Palin doesn’t seem to. It’s another thing entirely to not even be curious about them. She seems like a good governor in a lot of ways–interesting that she’s become so divisive, because I read a couple of people say early on that she was actually pretty willing and able to work across lines.
So, anyway, there you have it. A quick commentary from someone who’s not in thrall, understands the issues, isn’t in the grip of some Svengali-like power and is going to vote for Obama anyway.
This has been an interesting conversation. Thanks for your comments, everyone, and thanks for hosting, IA.
Grail,
Its seems to me that Obama ran these commercials because his target audience, those ambivalent enough to be still undecided, are most likely to be watching the tube at 8 because they can’t think of anything else to do, let alone who to vote for. In don’t see this as an attempt to hypnotize anyone. And really, NoHillaryNoVote’s first suggestion to do something else with your brain cells for 30 minutes is just to watch a different tv program? Thats not change, thats more of the same.
These hypnosis techniques that Obama is using, Did Bill Clinton also make use of them? Did you approve then? And if he did, why didn’t Bill try to teach some of these techniques to Hillary? That might have helped her “find her voice” soon enough to beat Obama in the spring.
captainkickstand,
Could you possibly be more cynical? That is the freaking problem! This is not about money, it’s not about personal gain, it’s not about power for me (and most PUMAs); it’s about the US Constitution and the future of Democracy! The true question of Obama’s eligibility (IMO) lies in the fact that he has (by his own admission) held citizenship in other countries (UK and Kenya). That means he has the potential for mixed loyalties, and that is what the framers were trying to avoid when they wrote Article II (again, IMO). There is also the issue of his Indonesian citizenship (via his adoption by Lolo Soetoro) to muddy the loyalties issue. As if to prove my point, when Obama was sued by Phillip Berg rather than simply provide the requested documentation and making the issue disappear instantly, Obama hired a high-priced attorney and challenged Berg’s standing to file the lawsuit. He never even stated that he was never an Indonesian or Kenyan citizen – all he did was refer to the *fact* that all those claims had already been debunked. Not in my mind.
As far as equating Obama’s Foreign Policy experience with John McCain’s, get real! This is a man that made so many FUBARS on his “Magical Mystery European Tour” that it makes the head reel! Not the least of which was to insist on holding his German speech in front of a monument dedicated to the Prussian aggression towards and seizure of Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark, which could arguably be cited as the ultimate cause of WWI and WWII – so let’s not even go there!
Jesse,
As much as it goes against my better judgment to respond to you, I will in so much as to confirm that both Clintons have used Anthony Robbins as a consultant. But neither were anywhere near as good a study as Obama has been. Bill is better at it than Hillary, but he relies more on his natural powers of persuasion, which have served him well all of his life. Hillary seems more resistant to trying others’ techniques (IMO). Perhaps it is ego, or maybe a lack of belief in the powers of NLP/NAC (as demonstrated by captainkickstand) – I cannot say for certain. I can only say I have never observed Hillary using anchoring or pacing; she seems to rely more heavily on content to win her point, which may have contributed to why she lost the primary.
As far as beating Obama, you might want to check out the article linked in another thread over at Logistics Monster. It is quite illuminating.
http://logisticsmonster.com/2008/10/30/obamas-american-socialism-decades-in-the-making-part-iii/
Yes, I am being that cynical, or perhaps that idealistic. It seems to me that this is the essence of capitalism and the free market in action. People, publishers, tv executives, magazine and newspaper editors–they want to make money. If there was credible evidence for any of these spurious accusations that he’s ineligible, they would have published it, if for no other reason than it would be a gold mine. Even Fox News can’t find it. And c’mon; be honest. The UK thing is really a little silly. UK Citizenship because Kenya was still under colonial control or something like that? That’s a stretch. Regardless of whether he had dual citizenship as a child, he’s still a natural-born United States citizen. He produced the documents. But who can blame for challenging a frivolous lawsuit by someone who had no standing to file it? What did you want him to do; invite Philip Berg over to dinner to fondle his birth certificate? It’s an affront to anyone’s dignity as well as the dignity of the political process.
As far as foreign policy experience, if all you have as an example of a FUBAR is the manufactured monument controversy, a) it doesn’t seem to have been that big a deal to the German people, except the right wing:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/20/europe/berlin.php
and b) he didn’t ‘insist’ on speaking there. He wanted to speak at the Brandenburg gate (apparently bowing to the political reality that everyone has to worship Reagan) but Angela Merkel didn’t want him to. Apparently that site has unpleasant associations, too, with the Cold War. I might suggest that Germany should tear down some of these monuments to their aggression if they’re so painful, but it’s not for me to say. I admired him for going abroad. It shows that he’s aware of the rest of the world, and interested in it, especially compared to Governor Palin who got her passport what, like last week?
Should we go FUBAR for FUBAR? What about ‘bomb, bomb Iran?” I’ll stand by my statement that, even as a joke, that is one of the most irresponsible things I’ve heard come from a politician’s mouth. But see, I’ll give Senator McCain a pass on that, until people start pretending that some minor thing that Senator Obama says or does proves him unfit. Then it’s got to come out, because we’ve all got to stop pretending that anyone can be in the public eye for months or years on end and not do something stupid.
That leaves us with Hillary Clinton, whose ‘treatment’ a lot of readers and posters here seem to object to.
Hear this: anyone who claims to have supported Hillary and is now planning to vote for McCain is not putting ‘principle before party,’ they’re abandoning both ‘principle AND party.’ Clinton and Obama are pretty close in terms of policy; Clinton and McCain are worlds apart. I like Clinton and think she would have made a good president. If you ask her, she’ll tell you: vote for Obama. I actually don’t think she was mistreated by the party, but regardless, both the Clintons have been at this for a long time. Choose your cliche: they know the rules, they know politics is dirty, and they’ve buried their share of bodies, too. The primary system is what it is, and Obama won it. All the candidates agreed not to campaign in Michigan and Florida–personally, I think that was stupid and that New Hampshire is just a little prissy about this ‘first in the nation’ stuff but again, that’s the way they chose to do it.
So I’ll say it again: vote for whoever you want. Support whoever you want. But let’s drop the fiction that anyone who doesn’t agree with you is somehow a ‘zombie.’ Please stop pretending that you’re in possession of some special knowledge that somehow, all the people whose job it is to dig stuff up on other people can’t find. Please stop pretending that anonymous articles on the Internet are proof of some shadowy conspiracy that only you can see, like in They Live. You read on the internet that Obama’s not a natural-born citizen; now read on the internet that he is:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/citizen.asp
All this kind of rhetoric does is poison the well of citizen participation in this country.
Hey, can I ask you this?
I noticed that you’re moderating me now; fair enough. Your site, your rules. If you choose not to post that one, no hard feelings and you have my word I won’t mention it if you’ll do this:
Go on record with a post–before election day–outlining some things that Obama can do, if elected, that will cause you to revise your opinion of him. If you do, I’ll comment with a similar list of things that Senator McCain can do if he’s elected.
I’m sincerely curious to know what it would take to change your mind.
Me too.
Happy Reformation Day, ladies.
I’ll even toss in a freebie into your treat bag, in the spirit of the season. How bout: “Hey Barry, you stingy douchebag, give some of your campaign loot over to municipalities to help pay to verify the loads of suspect signatures that Acorn is turning in.”
See? wasn’t that hard. And I’m voting for him.
captainskick…I’m not monitoring you…some of these longer posts seem to get stuck in spam….I released it as soon as I saw it….so there was a delay….
As for a list of things Obama can do to sway me….I have none.
And I’m too busy to even speculate, because it would be a waste of time for me. I have no trust in him at all…
Simple answer: Surrender himself to the closest Super Prison with the evidence of all the crimes he and his cohorts have committed. And yes, I know that will put Hillary in the slammer, too. So be it. Commit the crime, do the time.
This election season has been a huge awakening to me (and many, many others) about the true nature of the American political machine. You both seem to have some innate intelligence, so I issue this challenge to you:
Have the courage to take a truly critical look at your candidate, your Congressional leadership, your party, and your own beliefs. Look at them with the same critical eye you use to look at George W. Bush – that’s what did it for me. Remember, we started out on the same side of this debate! I think W. is a total disgrace to this nation and a criminal, and that’s really what started the critique for me. I could not reconcile Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid’s refusal to consider impeachment of George W. Bush. I began to question things, as did most Americans. The difference is, when I looked for answers all I found was more questions. You found your solution, Obama. I would suggest that this was the easy way out. I know because I’ve taken it before. Vote for the liberal – they’ll make everything OK again.
I voted for Bill Clinton, and I had money in my pocket. He said all the right things, so when he started to crumble I overlooked Monica, Whitewater, Vince Foster, the last minute pardons – all of it. Now, in retrospect, I realize that I was far too generous. Just like they planned.
I supported Hillary Clinton for both her Senate runs, and I was a rabid supported for her Presidential bids. I ignored all the opposition (Democrat and Republican) and called it CDS (and most of it was, but not all). Now I have read much the evidence available online, and while I still respect much of what both Clintons have done, I can also see that they were part of the problem and are not the solution. (See Diamond Tiger’s post – it’s an eye opener!)
I have said this repeatedly, but I’ll say it again in simple language: I do not support John McCain for President. He is merely the least offensive option available at the present, thanks to the manipulations of the Democratic party which quickly eliminated all contestants except Obama and Clinton, then shoved Clinton aside ion their zeal to foist their Socialist agenda on America. Yes, I said it – Socialist. The Democratic party is Socialist. Perhaps it’s members are not (voluntarily), but you pretty much have to be in denial to say that is not where George Soros and friends are headed. And if you cannot see that Obama, Clinton, Pelosi, Dean (and his brother), Barney Frank, Ted Kennedy, et al are in league with Soros then I will indeed say a prayer for you because you are too far gone for recovery.
I respect John McCain’s service to this country, I believe he is willing to cross the aisle to accomplish things, and I believe him when he says he’ll be a one term President. That’s about it, really. That’s the most I have to say for him, and that’s a far sight more than I can say for any Democrat right now. Or any other Republican. Except for the one person I truly support in this election; Sarah Palin.
Save your crap about her inexperience, etc. I truly do not care! She is a real political outsider. She has successfully stood up to corruption within her own party. She calls ‘em like she sees ‘em. These qualities are worth more than all the other crap combined. She’ll have advisors and pundits up the wazoo to support her if McCain should die. They all do. Please don’t suggest that you are so naive to think that Obama, McCain, Biden, or any other politician makes their own decisions all the time. There’s too much at stake for that, and their handlers won’t allow it. Which brings me back to Palin. She has shown she is able to shake free of the handlers and state her own opinion. And no, I may not agree with her on issues, some of them crucial ones, but I do have trust in 2 things:
1. Palin has consistently proved that she will do what’s right despite her personal opinions. She refused to deny equal rights to gay state workers despite her own religious and moral beliefs because it was not Constitutional. Those are important words for me.
2. We will be one her. You, me, Democrats, Socialists, Moderates, Republicans, PUMAs, Greens, Independents – in short, everyone. None of us are willing to let her waltz into office and have the control we afforded to Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, or any other President since (and including) FDR. And that is how it should be! Sarah Palin will bring out the best political watchdogs this nation has seen in years! We will call her on every mis-step and error. We will call her butt on the carpet so fast it will make heads spin! That will not happen with any other current candidate. America will vote, then go back into our national coma. Palin is the best we have to offer because she brings out the best (and worst) of us as citizens!
Anyway, my challenge to you stands. Take a long, hard, serious, uncritical look at your candidate. And I am not just challenging captainkickstand and Jesse – I am challenging each and every American. This is the most important election this nation has ever held. Not because an African American may be elected as POTUS for the first time. Not because a woman might end up in the West Wing for the first time. Not because we are on the verge of a Depression and the worst financial crisis in nearly 100 years. Not because one political party could hold all 3 branches of government. Not because of hope, change, or the end of the Iraq War. Not because George W. Bush will finally be swept out of office. Not because this has been the most bitterly contested election in memory. Because the future of this Republic will be decided.
Think long and hard about why it is you love this country. Think about the Constitution. Then think about the “powers that be”, the political parties, and what they have done to us. Think about what they want to do to us once elected. I will steal a line from the classic movie Network because it says it all: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”
I, for one, will not be going away after Tuesday. Nor will I be returning to my own political coma. I am awake now, and aware. I have broken free of the political Matrix, and will be vigilant about ever returning to it (and before you say it – no, I am not “the One” any more than Obama is). I suggest you do the same.
Grail Guardian,
Great piece !! Regardless of who wins this election, we should hold their feet to the fire. Elected official only get by with their shenanigans because we let them. If nothing else, this election cycle has shown us the things that can be accomplished if we all work together. The problem in the beginning was that we let Howard Dean and Donna Brazile get too far along in the corruption of our party before we woke up. When we did there was not much we could do about saving the party we loved, We don’t have to settle for what they have to offer. We’ve got to fight for our Constitution because it is in danger of being taken away from us by a nobody johnny come lately who has been able to brainwash a part of the electorate who never really think for themselves.
Shades of Elmer Gantry !!!!! We cannot let another charlatan get by with his song and dance about Utopia.
Keep up the good work Grail Guardian. I agree 100% with everything hyou said.
I would have liked to have seen Pelosi and Reid push to impeach Bush as well. His crimes and misdemeanors were higher than anything President Clinton dared. Sadly, though; with the razor-thin majority in Congress, it wasn’t politically possible. Also, a lot of Democrats (among them Senator Clinton) would have been exposed as complicity for voting to give Bush the authority to go into Iraq. I like to think, but I don’t know if I entirely believe it, that most of them voted for the Iraq force resolution to show unity and strength and protect themselves politically; we shouldn’t forget how dangerous it was in 2002 to appear ‘weak’ or even, deity-of-choice forbid, ‘un-American.’ Remember ‘freedom fries?’
Okay, IA; I’m disappointed that you didn’t at least try to rally to the challenge; your response was pretty unambiguous, GG. I assume you mean Supermax prison, like the kind where the Unabomber and the first WTC bomber are being held for their natural lives. That seems a little unlikely, but yes, you answered the question and a deal’s a deal. Here are some things John McCain can do if elected that will cause me to revise my opinion of him (and let me reiterate for the record, that I have a lot of respect for Senator McCain and am not voting ‘against’ him):
1. Set a clear, achievable (yet pressing) goal for the country to substantially reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and completely eliminate dependence on foreign oil, at least for gasoline. We need something like Kennedy’s ‘ten years to the moon’ challenge, albeit something with more scientific validity. I’m not entirely opposed to offshore drilling, but that needs to be a small part of the solution; we need a federal mandate for automakers to increase fuel efficiency of their fleets, investment in alternative energies, and real calls on Americans to give back by changing their habits, particularly driving habits.
2. Create, in his administration, a position for a meaningful science advisor. This person, office, agency or board should be committed to explaining the scientific consensus to the President and should be free of political partisanship and ties to industry, particularly those industries who continually challenge the scientific consensus on the human impact on climate change. The jury’s done deliberating on that one, and McCain knows it, which brings me to:
3. Call for the reintroduction of the defeated McCain-Lieberman bill to cap CO2 emissions. This was a good example of the Senator working across the aisle; it’s not his fault contrarian scientific outliers hired by industry lobbyists and Senator Inhofe scuttled it. He knows this is needed, and he also knows the big-business base of the Republican party doesn’t like it. Time to be a maverick. It probably won’t be popular with Governor Palin, but hey, that’s what being a maverick’s all about.
4. Speaking of Governor Palin: McCain should immediately stop the Bush practice of pandering to religious conservatives and reject the teaching of creationism and so-called ‘intelligent design’ as scientific alternatives to the theory of evolution. Jury’s returned a verdict on that one, too.
5. Promise to oppose any attempt to amend the constitution to outlaw flag-burning or define marriage. Not that I’m in favor of people burning flags (that synthetic fiber they make them out of in China really smells!) but it’s not something to amend the constitution for.
6. Push for a solution to ensure universal health care coverage. I don’t care how he does it, so long as no one has to say, “I can’t afford to go to the doctor.” That’s a disgrace.
7. Support tying the minimum wage to the cost-of-living.
There are more, I suppose, and probably things I haven’t even thought of. I also know I’ve left big areas (immigration, for one) untouched. And I won’t set the bar that high–even one or two of these would make me reconsider my ideas about a McCain presidency.
Hey, have fun on the fourth!
Oh and one more thing: I’m right with you on holding our elected officials’ feet to the fire, regardless of who wins.
captainkickstand,
You said:
Do you mean like Joe Biden? Again, I have to ask Obama supporters to get off their high horses about the Iraq vote, since he picked a running mate who supported it.
Hillary said:
http://clinton.senate.gov/speeches/iraq_101002.html
It’s one of the reasons I supported her. And you are right; it would have been political suicide for a Senator from NY to vote against the war at that time. I wish more Obama supporters would recognize that.
I generally agree with your point #1. Just curious – do you feel Obama has done this? I don’t.
I would say that #2 could be achieved using an existing post and filling it correctly, but again I have no real qualms here either.
Obviously #3 has a strong chance of happening.
You lose me on #4. Sorry, but evolution is just as big a fairy tale as creationism. If you look past the “accepted” scientific evidence, it’s pretty clear that applying Darwin’s theories about finches to all species is pretty bogus. If you haven’t read it yet, I suggest the book Forbidden Archaeology by Michael Cremo & Richard Thompson. If your point is that the truth should be taught to our children, then I agree with the theory. Let’s just remember that truth can be somewhat fluid, especially when it comes to human history. I would like to see all possibilities taught in schools. Remember, there was a time when mathematicians would have told you that Pythagoras was the be-all, end-all and physicists would have said there’s nothing more accurate than Einstein. (Except, of course for Einstein himself, who wasn’t so sure.)
#5 again finds us in disagreement. Legislation comes from Congress, not the Executive branch. Get that nut-job Pelosi and her poodle Harry Reid to agree not to try that. Besides, Constitutional Amendments take more than even a bill passed by Congress and signed by the President. The States must ratify as well, so I don’t think your concerns are grounded there.
This is where Obama concerns me: the Constitution. I don’t believe he understands it or respects it. To the contrary, he intends to eliminate it. By way of evidence I give you the lawsuit by Phillip Berg. If Obama wanted to prevent a Constitutional crisis, he should have supplied the requested documentation. There was and is no legitimate reason not to. He could have saved everyone a lot of time and aggravation by turning his documents over to the judge. If they’re legit – it’s over, all other lawsuits are dismissed, and the taxpayers are saved big $$ in times of need. Instead, he basically admitted that Berg was correct by hiring an expensive attorney to obfuscate and move for dismissal on standing – which in essence is saying that citizens of the US have no standing when it comes to obeying the Constitution. Obama has muddied the waters now, leaving us open for legal challenges against our country having a valid government and Constitution.
http://www.newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin84.htm
#6 I agree is absolutely necessary, but it won’t happen with either McCain or Obama. We’re just screwed for at least 4 more years on that one.
#7 I can agree with in theory, but I fear it may also allow for abuse considering that the COLA may be in a bit of jeopardy with the current economic crisis. I’m not an expert by any means, and you may be right, but I’d want to see a few details before anyone supported that. Sorry, but I don’t trust our legislators anymore. They’ve all proven themselves to be corrupt and self-serving. (See Wall St. crisis and Bailout bill.)
And “feet to the fire” is an absolute must for me for all elected officials from here on out. We have allowed our country to be hijacked and corrupted by simply being too complacent and lazy in our lives. As our founders would tell you, democracy is not a form of government, it is a way of living. We have taken it for granted, and are on the verge of losing everything because of our own hubris.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It seems we’re really not as different as the politicians would have us think. We all need to remember that, especially on November 5th.
Yes, Biden would have been a better example than Clinton of a politically-expedient vote for the Iraq war for my purposes. I don’t like to think of myself as on a high horse regarding senators voting for the Iraq resolution; while I wish there was more courage demonstrated, I think it’s clear that lots of people voted for that resolution hoping and believing that it alone would cause Saddam Hussein to give in.
Regarding the energy independence goal; neither of the candidates has done that, but neither of them is yet speaking from the bully pulpit and is really in a meaningful position to do so.
The role of good consensus science being used to advise policy has taken a big hit in the Bush White House. It’s one thing to oppose limits on CO2 emission for economic grounds, but the White House hasn’t done that; instead, they’ve tried to frame their objections as a conflict between ’sound science’ (theirs) and ‘junk science’ (the overwhelming scientific consensus).
As far as evolution, as long as we both recognize that creationism is a fiction, we’re in close enough agreement. I’m not familiar with that book, but I’ll check it out. There’s a lot that remains unknown about evolution, but Darwin’s central tenet of species change over time is generally accepted. He was wrong about a lot of stuff; for example, giraffes don’t grow long necks because they stretch to reach the high leaves.
Finally, yes, Congress makes the laws. And it’s true that a legislator in a tiny district might suffer more for a principled stand on some of these silly, wedge-issue amendments and therefore be a little more reluctant to speak out. But again, the President speaks from a high perch and can take a firm stand about these regressive ideas. He can promise to veto.
Seven hours until the polls open in the east. Game on!
Holding their feet to the fire sounds great, but the recent track record of that happening is not great. Hopefully that gets better, but…On top of that, the Bush policy of denying problems into submission worked well for them and, of the four candidates, I can most imagine a Palin administration continuing that style of government. That and, unlike your gal Hillary, she is not ready on day one. If elected McCain needs to make sure she’s not just cramming for the exam.
Appoint her Assistant Secretery of State, White House Press Secretary, whatever, but get her some real experience. Heck, if she still doesn’t know what the Vice President does on a daily basis, the role’s an open book. I don’t care about her campaign wardrobe, don’t have a problem with her getting a nutjob cop fired, and i like that style of big oil socialism that she experimented with up there in Alaska. But she’s not ready to be president.
Either Obama or McCain would have the distinction, more than anyone else lately, of having defeated both the democrats and republicans to win the election. Both would have an opportunity to either separate themselves from the influence of the 2 parties to enact some real change, or to run toward their party’s base. Again, of the four candidates, I think Palin has the most flag-burning, gay marriage banning(feel-good gun banning for the dems) base pandering potential.
I agree that the Infomercial was a flop. Too mushy to grab an undecided voter.
Did I just see a McCain Ad that asked me if i’d fly with a pilot who had never flown? Really? You’re asking me to fly Air McCain?
“Here is my attitude: I think people passing a law against people wearing sagging pants is a waste of time,” Obama responded. “We should be focused on creating jobs, improving our schools, health care, dealing with the war in Iraq, and anybody, any public official, that is worrying about sagging pants probably needs to spend some time focusing on real problems out there. Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants.”
So thats a NO on a belt-wearing amendment? Pushing it back to the states? Not even a presidential commission? No tax rebates for belt-wearers???
Surely, PUMAs, this is common ground.