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2c64cc4
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In 2013, Barack Obama's presidential campaign was fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for violating federal disclosure laws. An FEC audit of the 2008 records of Obama for America found the group failed to disclose millions of dollars in contributions and delayed refunding millions more in excess contributions.8 Excess contributions--sound familiar? But the FEC, you see, is a bipartisan group with an equal number of Democratic ..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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931284a
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The Clintons came to Washington poor and are now extremely rich. One may say that they came professing to do good and left making out very well. The Clintons now have a net worth exceeding $100 million and they control assets exceeding a billion dollars. What did the Clintons have to do to earn this largesse? According to the Clintons, nothing. There were no bribes involved or deals made. People just happened to give them money, and then fa..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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2f51b61
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In the case of Obamacare, leading members of the intellectual class produced the appropriately rigged studies to promote the racket. Then members of the Obama administration and liberal Democrats in Congress took up these studies as an irrefutable demonstration of the wonders of Obamacare. Finally anchorpeople and reporters lined up to amplify the falsehoods and complete the sale to the American people. Despite all this, the American people..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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c585247
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Gruber's confession came too late to stop Obamacare, but it has permanently damaged its reputation. Now the left hates Gruber, not because he lied, but because he told the truth. Telling the truth is a cardinal sin among thieves.
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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78f4411
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A NEW SCAM So progressive Democrats realized they needed a new and bigger scam. For two centuries they had oppressed and stolen from blacks and other minorities; now they had an idea for how to do it to the country as a whole. The new Democratic scam was progressivism, not the old progressivism of forced sterilization and support for fascism, but a new progressivism that turned blacks and other minorities into pawns in a grand larceny schem..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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e3abbd5
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Lincoln never defended rich people. His Republican Party was not the party of the 1 percent. Rather, Lincoln defended upward mobility--the right to try one's chances at moving up the ladder, at getting rich. Lincoln's Republican Party sought to remove government obstacles to that process. In his time the main such obstacle was slavery. Slavery, Lincoln knew, hurt the value of people's work because it placed them in competition with slaves w..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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7be70da
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For Alinsky, morality is a scam. Morality is the cloak of power. Activists appeal to the language of morality but recognize that it is a mere disguise. As Alinsky puts it, "Ethical standards must be elastic to stretch with the times. . . . In action, one does not always enjoy the luxury of a decision that is consistent with one's individual conscience. . . . You do what you can with what you have, and then clothe it with moral garments."13 ..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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c3ac4f7
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Today's Democrats in this sense are heirs of Jackson. They too appropriate resources from others and distribute them among Democratic constituencies, trading favors for votes. They too pose as the friends of those they are stealing from, justifying their confiscations as good for the victims and good for the country.
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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0861e45
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The full story, however, is told in Steve Inskeep's recent book Jacksonland, which I will rely on for my subsequent account. "Jackson managed national security affairs in a way that matched his interest in land development," Inskeep notes. "He shaped his real estate investments to complement his official duties, and performed his official duties in a way that benefited his real estate interests."16"
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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207916f
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Jackson was a ruthless con artist who became fabulously wealthy by trading on his political office. Sound familiar?
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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19cb381
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Alinsky's contempt for traditional morality can also be seen in the figure to whom he dedicated his book Rules for Radicals. That figure is the devil. Alinsky calls Lucifer "the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom." He goes on to say, "If there's an afterlife, and I have anything to say about it, I will unreservedly go to hell. Hell would be heaven ..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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75182c4
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Obama may be pretty good, but no one beats Bill and Hillary Clinton when it comes to omerta. Bill has to be literally caught with his pants down before he will confess that he got it on with Monica. To get a straight answer under oath from Bill, you need extreme linguistic precision, even to the point of having to define the word is. We are now getting the same evasions regarding inquiries about conflicts of interest involving Hillary and t..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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17b1d07
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In order to pressure the government to change its approach, however, Alinsky urged black activists to dress in African tribal costumes and greet government officials flying into Chicago from Washington, D.C. This action, he said, would dramatize the "colonial mentality" of the antipoverty establishment. I learned about this particular Alinsky caper from Hillary Clinton's Wellesley College thesis.18 Alinsky"
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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d9a2ba6
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But many southern whites were not under the racist hold of the Democrats. As they became more prosperous, these whites came to see the GOP reflect their beliefs in economic opportunity and upward mobility. They also found Republicans more in tune with their patriotism as well as their socially conservative views. Quite naturally, they moved over to a party that better reflected their interests and aspirations.
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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c19d4e4
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Blacks clearly didn't switch for reasons of race because the Democratic Party was, in the 1930s, the undisputed home of racism. It remained so until at least the early 1960s. (I say "at least" because I believe that modern progressive Democratic ideology remains infused with racism, although this racism manifests itself in a new way.) So many blacks switched reluctantly, because they knew they were leaving the party of Lincoln for the party..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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4125898
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Why did they do it? They did it because the Democrats promised them economic benefits. These benefits meant a great deal to blacks then living through the hardships of segregation and the Great Depression. Democrats offered blacks some of the same security that blacks had during slavery--in which the basic needs of blacks were met on the plantation--and blacks, during a desperate time, went for it.
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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919ff9a
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This was one of the most significant political transformations in American history. Long-term, it has proven to be a terrible bargain for blacks. They have remained the worst-off group in America, surpassed even by poverty-stricken immigrants who came to this country much later with nothing. The inner city remains a kind of Third World enclave in America, and whether or not blacks realize it, the Democrats intend to keep it that way.
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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2ed2503
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Yet counterproductive though the black shift of political allegiance has proven over the past seventy-five years, I cannot entirely blame black Americans for making it. They were under extreme economic stress. And they were conned by the artful pitch men of the Democratic Party. These pitch men said to blacks: you have had it hard enough in the past; now you deserve to be taken care of by the federal government. And many blacks figured: aft..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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4b5b0f5
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Alinsky remained, as he put it, an "outside agitator." He firmly believed that activists should not become part of the government. Yet ironically, Alinsky became the mentor to two figures, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who would learn from his techniques and then take them into the innermost corridors of power. Their"
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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75dea57
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Their expertise would not be as outside agitators but as inside power brokers. If Alinsky had survived, he could have taken justified pride for his role in being their guiding star, their Godfather. To a considerable degree, he was the one who taught them how to steal America.
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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fe9ff47
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Many years ago a college professor told me the story about the lion tamer and the lion. So here's the clever lion tamer, with his little twirling stick, and there is the lion, prancing obediently to the machinations of the lion tamer. Clearly the lion tamer is in charge. But, asked my professor, who is actually more powerful, the lion tamer or the lion? Obviously it is the lion. Why then does the lion do the bidding of the lion tamer? Becau..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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d2e81a3
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Now envision the same scenario as above, but this time Obama shows up on a white horse, dismounts, points a gun to my head, and compels me to share my sandwich. Now I have not done a good deed, since I only shared my sandwich under duress. I gave not out of charity but out of fear. The receiver is not grateful to me; why should he be? He knows that I didn't give voluntarily. So the free sandwich does not provoke a feeling of appreciation; i..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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83947d0
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Progressives may privately consider themselves superior, but they know they cannot include that claim in their pitch. Consequently they claim superiority by default. In a society where government controls things and distributes wealth, the power of the bureaucrat becomes predominant.
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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820c016
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So why does American health care cost so much? The main reason is that the person receiving the service is not the one paying for the service. Imagine if you could go to Safeway or Giant, fill your cart with food, and then have someone else pay for it. Obviously you would get all kinds of stuff you don't really need. Obviously the food chain would charge whatever it felt like, and you wouldn't care, because you would not be the one paying. ..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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4eff4e2
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Obamacare is a program designed to shift control of the health care industry from the private sector to the public sector, from doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies to the federal government. The program was sold by Obama feigning outrage over insurance companies refusing to grant insurance to people with "preexisting conditions." But this is the same as an insurance company not granting fire insurance to a guy whose house has alread..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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8e1d014
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This rip-off relied on a series of blatant lies. "If you like your health care plan, you can keep your plan." "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." "The average family will save more than $2,400 per year." "Health care costs will decline." "Health care premiums will go down." "Everyone in this country will now have health insurance." Even though Obama kept saying these things, none of them was true. These statements were simp..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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42e9e9d
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For progressives, Obamacare was a prize. The prize was control of the huge American health care system, representing virtually one-sixth of the whole economy. Obamacare put progressives in charge of more than 10 million doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, and technicians and support staff. Obamacare gave progressives control of more than five thousand hospitals and almost a million hospital beds. The system included hospitals and also d..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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93cb789
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In sum, progressives have set up a triangular alliance of envy--made up of academics, media types, and community and political activists--all seeking to broker the envy of ordinary citizens into economic and power gains for themselves. This coalition isn't perfect--as the Gruber example shows--but for the most part, it works. It works because the left controls the education sector as well as the megaphones that transmit political informatio..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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0cccf26
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Resistance to usurpation is possible provided the citizens understand their rights and are disposed to defend them.1 --Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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aa14951
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It is time to consider the seriousness of our situation. America has been governed by a highly skilled con artist for the past seven years. Another con artist, perhaps even more adept, is waiting to take his place. This is truly historic. We think we made history by electing the first African American president, and we're going to hear a lot about making history by electing the first woman. Despite all the hoopla, those are relative trivial..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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e269112
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These con artists are, just like their Boston counterparts, part of a crime network. This crime network is the Democratic Party, and its leaders are the progressives. For decades now the progressives have assailed theft in America, blaming it on the greedy capitalists. They have claimed a virtual monopoly on political virtue, declaring themselves the champions of justice and equality.
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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208d3c9
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Not only is that wrong, but the truth is the very opposite. The progressives are the real thieves, masquerading as opponents of theft. They are the criminals posing as the Justice Department. And they have, for the past seven years, actually controlled the Justice Department, turning it into an accessory of their crimes and an agency for going after whistle-blowers and crime fighters.
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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1ad0b0e
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Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Eric Holder, and Lois Lerner are all part of this crime organization, but so are hundreds of thousands of ordinary people, the envious, the resentful, the hateful, the entitled. These are the people who still have the Obama-Biden signs on their vehicles and are now eagerly anticipating Hillary. Together, they are "the criminals next door."
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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d5daf68
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By 2008, the entire banking and home mortgage lending industry had been corrupted by the left. It was hardly a commercial industry anymore; rather, it was a kind of progressive racket. And the racket came to an end when, first by the thousands, and eventually by the millions, the people who lacked the ability to pay back their loans stopped making their loan payments. This caused the panic of 2008, followed by the crash of 2008.
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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788d3a5
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Here's how that works. First, progressives develop their pitch. They take all the virtues of the wealth creators, such as creativity, frugality, hard work, self-discipline, self-reliance, innovation, and the aspiration to success, and redefine them as vices. Creativity and frugality, for instance, become greed. Hard work and self-discipline become materialism. Self-reliance becomes arrogance. Innovation and the aspiration to success become ..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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35a1443
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Alinsky profited handsomely from his rackets. Even Hillary Clinton notes in her thesis that while Alinsky spoke endlessly about poverty and disadvantage, he himself lived very comfortably, far removed from the people on whose behalf he allegedly fought.21
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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31747ff
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The progressive pretense is that these people, who have created virtually nothing, are actually the real creators of the nation's wealth.
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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8a084bb
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No wonder that Obama, Hillary, and other progressive crime bosses have no compunction about living high on the hog while continuing their dishonest pitches about fair shares, injustice, and inequality.
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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f193e34
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I find it amusing that progressives go on about "greed" and "selfishness" when they are the greediest, most selfish people of all. From the progressive viewpoint, Gates is a greedy, selfish guy because he has more than $50 billion and what can a man possibly want with that much money? (I'm reminded here of Obama's 2010 comment, made in the context of the financial reform debate, "I do think at a certain point you've made enough money.")12 T..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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4c0021f
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The progressives are right that there is no way Gates can spend $50 billion on himself. He can only eat three meals a day and wear one set of clothes at a time. Even his heirs can be provided for with a fraction of that amount. Gates actually knows this. He has vowed to give away most of his fortune to charity. Nor is he waiting for death to do this. He has already given away billions. He buys mosquito nets for people in poor countries so t..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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1b4a052
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Hillary saw that Bill also enjoyed the attention of the ladies. Satisfying these appetites seemed for Bill to be the height of his aspirations. In exchange for tolerating his affairs, he would be her lifelong pitchman, and she could accompany him as his "roadie" until he made it big--really big. Then, perhaps, it would be her turn. Hillary did have a pitch to make. She had to pitch Bill on this arrangement. And Bill was smart: he went for i..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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611cefd
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Yet Obama is able to get away with it because, for years prior to the theft, he has been convincing people that he is the great apostle of social justice. I am supposed to be "greedy" and "selfish" for possessing a sandwich and he is wonderfully compassionate for taking half my sandwich and giving it to someone else. Notice that, through this process, the recipient of the sandwich is grateful not to me but to him. He becomes the provider ev..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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6c87c27
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In fact, Obama is the one who gains the most from the outcome. His gain is not the mere half sandwich he took; rather, it is the allegiance of the fellow he is supposedly helping. That guy is now indebted to Obama, and more likely to vote for him. While the other man gains a meal, Obama gains power. So now we must reconsider the assumption that Obama's actions are motivated by altruism. It's far more likely they are motivated by a will to p..
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Dinesh D'Souza |
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946d197
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In the grim aftermath of World War II and the Stalinist purges, the term "totalitarianism" has become a bad word. But for progressives before the war, Jonah Goldberg points out, it was a good word. "Totalitarianism" was a term used by Mussolini in a positive, descriptive sense. It meant giving total allegiance to the state; it meant a state that took care of people's physical, emotional, and aspirational needs. Totalitarianism implied an ex..
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Dinesh D'Souza |