Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for January 20, 2009

Famous political quote: “everyone is entitled to their own opinion; however they are not entitled to their own facts”.

Why do I have Deja Vu about the last eight years.

Brilhante!

WOW! She sounds just like Barack Obama and his minions!

Nice going, Arelee. It being Inauguration Day, you just had to say that!

Reasoning is such a bore.

I wonder if there is going to be a run on brown paper sacs this afternoon … you know, so that all the haters can hyperventilate in unison after Obama is inaugurated.

Arelee says:

WOW! She sounds just like Barack Obama and his minions!

Arelee, could you explain how that observation was arrived at please.

JonD17 says: Arelee says:

WOW! She sounds just like Barack Obama and his minions!

Arelee, could you explain how that observation was arrived at please.

There you go again, JonD - asking for REASONING. There is no reason. There is only hostility. Not one of us = bad.

Way to go Arlee! Don’t let the hypnotized masses known as Obamanites get you down.

They are right about one thing, today is a historic day. Today is the day that America embarks on a new course one that will lead to a destruction of our soverignty as a nation, a stripping of our rights and freedoms, and the rise of a one world government.

Why is it that every whiny liberal assumes that Bush was the hero of every conservative? And that everyone who holds conservative beliefs worshipped Bush? Oh yeah, because that is what the media told them to think.

I am a strong conservative but am no fan of Bush. The truth be told Bush was the least of evils compared to those who ran against him. Obama on the other hand is truly terrifying. Having lived under his draconian ideas here in Illinois, I can tell you with 100% certainty that this country is in big trouble over the next four years. All you liberals can believe what he says in his speeches, but I can testify to living under his ideals and they are not in the best interest of this country.

As usual Americans were reactionary and choose to vote for Obama simply because he was not of the same political party as Bush, the majority of Americans never really looked at what he believes and now we will all suffer for it. I hope all you whiny liberals remember how much you love your god when he begins to show his true colors.

^ Oh, Leonard …

I applaud that you are proactive, but how can one have such a knee-jerk reaction to something that hasn’t happened yet?

Riddle me this, while you’re at it: how can you call out “liberals” for lumping Bushies, neocons, conservatives and the GOP together and not realize that differences exist in political ideologies affiliated with the “left”? Perhaps that brand of generalization is what you were told to think by the media?

And how can a legislator be both devoid of experience and draconian all at once?

BirishB,

I do realize that there are differences in ideologies in the left as well. Which is why I did not classify all Democrats as whiny liberals. In fact, the State Congressman for my legislative district is a Democrat and I have supported him and even volunteered to help get him re-elected. I do believe that it is possible to be Conservative while still leaning to the left in some of your ideologies (some being the key word). However, Obama is no such person. Not only is Obama not Conservative in anything he believes he actually leans to the farthest extremes of the liberal left in both thought and action.

As to you question of lacking experience and being draconian, I never said that Obama has no experience. He has tons of experience in destroying the rights of the citizens of the State of Illinois. Truth be told, he is as corrupt and liberal as our felon of a governor, the mayor of Chicago, and the rest of the Chicago liberal machine.

While still holding to Conservative ideals, I do work very hard to ensure that I judge each candidate by their performance and not simply their party. Obama, has proved over and over again here in the State of Illinois that he did not have the best interests of the citizens of Illinois at heart. If he could not put the citizens of Illinois’ interests first what makes you so sure he is going to put the interests of all Americans first?

It’s still a new era…let’s see how it plays out and support each other. See Mythical & Flo and Friends.

Thanks for your insightful comments LeonardWatson, you say so well what I feel today.

Char, I think your definition is a little too broad. Perhaps I can provide a slightly more distinctive definition while still leaving room for variations in personal ideoligies. Generally speaking liberal ideology supports large government, lots of government sponsored social programs, lots of government control in a peoples personal lives, and progressive thought on what are called the moral or ethical issues. Generally speaking conservative ideology supports small government, privately sponsored social programs, minimal government interference in peoples personal lives, and traditional thought on the moral or ethical issues. Of course, anytime one generalizes you inadvertantly lump things together that do not always go hand in hand, but I believe that these general definitions provide a framework for each school of thought. The truth is that most people are somewhere in between these two definitions with a preference or leaning more towards one or the other.

Leonard –

A liberal democracy is a constitutional democracy. A liberal democracy is one where rights are granted by a constitution and one that believes in a limited role of government involvement in individual lives (read = small government). This also applies to economic theory: a liberal economist (laissez-faire) believes in unfettered markets.

Conservatism seeks to preserve a historical precedent, whereas social conservatism seeks to preserve a perceived social order, usually founded in God or religious dogma.

The problem is the basic misunderstanding of these terms. What you describe are “left” and “right” political philosophies borne of the French revolution: those that sat on the left side of parliament wanted to form a new government based on radical ideas; those that sat on the right wanted to form a new government borrowing from the old traditions.

Additionally, there is no such thing as “traditional” and “progressive” thought on moral and ethical issues in a country that is yet to turn 250 years old. In actuality, our constitution would seem to support the idea that government has no role in these spheres (limited government involvement).

Leonard, then George W. Bush is a liberal? Except for the “progressive” part, you just described Bush to a tee.

Oh, and sorry for not bending to your will. :-)

BirishB: “In actuality, our constitution would seem to support the idea that government has no role in these spheres (limited government involvement).”

Unfortunately, as is often the case, those that claim to support limited government involvement seek the most.

she has a big butt in the last panel!

Whoever said I was a fan of Bush? As I have pointed out on several occasions Bush was not my idea of the perfect president. Just because I am a conservative does not make me a Bush fan. In fact, in a lot of instances Bush was very liberal, too liberal for my liking. With that said though, Bush was by far and a way a better choice for America than either Gore or Kerry would have been. Honestly, in this past election I would have much preferred to see Huckabee win the Republican nomination instead of McCain. Although, it really would not have mattered who ran against Obama because the media decided this election not the people.

I truly believe that if most of you took the time to honestly look at the mess that Obama and the rest of the liberal machine here in Illinois made, you would not have voted for him. The problem was that the media hid the truth and spun everything in favor of Obama, so that the average American did not have to think for themselves. Take a close look at the mess illinois is in. Thanks to Obama and his cronies our State is on the brink of bankruptcy, violent crime is on the rise, the average citizen has no right to protect themselves, and we are taxed to death (sales tax in Chicago is 10.25%), and that is only a small part of what Obama did for Illinois. You really think with a record like that America is in a better place with him at the helm?

I agree it was time to get rid of Bush, but to put Obama in was taking a bad situation and making it worse.

“Like, people, don’t get that right is right and left is left, and everything is too simple 4 them, Y’now!.. Yeah!.” G E N I U S Mr. Wiley, Pure Genius!!

Actually, Danae sounds like a minority of extremely vocal St. Louis Cardinal baseball fans who make daily blogs whining and ranting about how the Cardinals’ ownership is “cheap” and “doesn’t care about winning” just because the Cardinals won’t trade their top prospects for over-valued veteran players or sign a bunch of high-priced free agents this winter.

Cardinal Nation, whining section

I watched my country, the one I defended, die today, although the death throes may take awhile

ya know, Redskins, you can post that same message on as many comic pages as you want – I still say that you are the one losing out if you cannot at least wait for something to die before you pronounce it dead.

Methinks you are establishing the beginnings of a self-fulfilling prophecy …

Redskins,

I agree with you, except I refused to actually watch the dog & pony show. Today is a dark day in the history of America. In decades to come January 20, 2009 will be seen as the day freedom began dying in America.

All I can say is that maybe, just maybe, by the time the mid-term elections come along the American people will have been awakened from their stupor and will take power away from a democratically controlled Congress, effectively binding the hands of Obama. My only hope is that he does not do any irreparable damage before that time.

LeonardWatson-well spoken. Maybe the American people will realize that it was at the last mid-term elections, when Democrats obatained power, that the country began its down-hill slide. Instead, I am fearful that these same Democrats, who were in control the last two+ years, will blame the Republicans. Hard for ANY President to get anything accomplished when he is in the minority. I fear that if America does eventually come to this realization, it will be too late. BirishB-are you following me? Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean?

Cardinals fans about Don Denkinger. Diehard Gross Oleaginous Plutocrats will be whining about the end of profiteering and shredding the Constitution for a long time, too. But, you know what, they’re taking on water faster than they can bail like Poppy did on his crewmates and Shrub did on that whole Tejas Air Guard unpleasantness.

boozoothatswho-WHAT?!! If you are going to comment, at least make sense! Or did you let “Darwin’s monkey” loose on your keyboard?! Perhaps “Poppy” as you said, is your problem! BTW it’s “Popeye”!

LeonardWatson: “The problem was that the media hid the truth and spun everything in favor of Obama.”

Ajiggamawhat?!

Did you miss the media stories about Obama being a Muslim (he isn’t), that he wouldn’t pledge allegiance (he does), that he won’t wear a lapel pin (he does), that he is not an American (he is), that he’s friends with a terrorist (he’s not), that he agrees with his preacher 100% of the time (he doesn’t)?

You missed all those stories? Have you been under a rock?

LLeRay,

If you had read my previous posts you would have seen that Obama has had a chance already. He along with his whiny liberal socialists buddies have nearly destroyed the State of Illinois. Obama with his friends, Blagojevich, Daley, Durbin, Stroeger, et el. have made the State of Illinois a vast wasteland, filled with all sorts of horrors. Believe me the only good thing about Obama becoming president is that he will no longer be directly screwing up Illinois. The really sad part is that now he is going to do to America what he did to Illinois. I truly feel sorry for the citizens of this country and I apologize in advance for the damage a man from my home State is going to do to this country.

Blagojevich, et al, are not friends with Obama. And your evidence that Obama is responsible for the bleeep going on in Illinois is…?

danielsangeo,

Much of what you have just said remains to be seen.

Whether he will admit to being a muslim or not does not mean that he isn’t one. He may be or he may not be.

Refusing to pledge alligiance or wear a lapel pim, well he has shifted positions on a lot of things since the starrt of the campaign.

That he is not an American he still has not produced his birth origninal and certified birth certificate, if he has nothing to hide why not produce it?

He is friends with a terrorist, call it what you will but associating with Ayers makes him a friend of terrorist in my book.

He agrees with his preacher 100% of the time, no one ever said 100% of the time but the teachings of his “former” pastor are radical and anti-American, one can only sit under that kind of brainwashing so long before it starts to sink in.

Finally, my dislike of Obama is based on experience (I am from Illinois) not on what he or anyone else says. Time will prove me right, and when it does I hope you and the rest of decieved America will stand up and admit your mistake.

Why would he admit to being a Muslim or not? He’s not. He’s a Christian.

He has never refused to say the pledge of allegiance or wear a lapel pin. Just where ARE you getting your facts?

He has produced the necessary documents to prove that he is a natural-born American.

He is NOT friends with Ayers. If mere association makes him a friend of terrorists, then there are LOTS of friends of terrorists out there.

You further imply that his former pastor is radical and anti-American based on a few quotes culled from decades of speaking. How can you extrapolate that a few quotes that you deem “radical” and “anti-American” out to be the content of all (or even a great majority of) his sermons? You implied that when you said, “one can only sit under that kind of brainwashing so long before it starts to sink in”. Brainwashing? Really?

As for your waving of your “I’m a Illinoisan” credentials, you can’t make the comparison. Why? /SENATOR/ Obama is from the legislative branch and /PRESIDENT/ Obama is from the executive branch. He does NOT have the same powers, under the law, that he once had.

Time will prove you right? Probably like Bush saying that time will prove him right…

And besides. None of that really matters. The claim was that the media spun things Obama’s way. This is plainly NOT the case.

If the media treated McCain as they treated Obama, the Keating Five would be as currently well known as Reverend Wright is.

Burgundy2 says: Where’s Wiley and his bleeeping whistle?

Agreed. I think the biggest problem here is that people are upset that others are not bending to their will.

Me, personally, my will is simply a wish that people would think for themselves instead of buying what others tell them to think without question. Me, I like to think that I think for myself without any prompting. I don’t go to Daily Kos, I don’t listen to Air America, I haven’t seen a Michael Moore movie and I haven’t watched Al Gore’s movie.

Strange, isn’t it, that people assume that I get all my talking points directly from the Democratic Party, Hollywood, or whatever. That says more about the people doing the assuming than it does about me, I think.

But, then again, like Danae, I, too, am sick of people not bending to my will. And, with that, I’ll shut up and enjoy the comic. :-)

The age of reason will never arrive–don’t worry Danae, irrationality is deeply entrenched!

Wow ! 44 comments today, good job group, enjoyed both R & L sides. I agree with Danae, I hate it when people try to confuse me with facts.

James7344, after reading all of the posts here today, I realize how unreasonable my little request was.