President Obama was apparently moved enough by a letter from a Philadelphia fifth-grader about bullying that he wrote back and encouraged his correspondent to continue her quest to end bullying. Oh, how rich the irony!
Barack Obama is nothing if not a bully. There, I said it, and I believe it's true, no matter how politically incorrect and inconsistent with the mainstream media's narrative it is.
Before getting to some examples, let me direct your attention to the White House's comments on the exchange and the reaction of Obama's fifth-grade correspondent, Zina Stokes.
White House spokeswoman Moira Mack said, "The president feels it is important to hear directly from the American people about their ideas and concerns."
Zina Stokes said: "He showed how he cares. I think even before his four years are up, when he gets done with the oil spill, something will be done with bullying in school."
Though those two statements appear innocuous enough, they reveal a prevalent attitude being promoted by the Obama White House and increasingly embraced by a growing dependency culture.
It's laudable for a president to want to hear the concerns of the people, but it's not healthy to encourage people to believe that the buck for every problem stops at the White House. Many problems fall outside the proper scope of government, and classroom bullying is one. Though liberals often try to politicize aspects or categories of "bullying" and to twist the term to serve some politically correct agenda, this is a matter best left to local school administrations and school boards. When government fosters the notion that eradicating bullying is the federal government's business, it does a disservice to our culture.
In her response, Zina Stokes makes my point. "When he gets done with the oil spill" -- as if he's going to remedy that personally -- "something will be done with bullying in school."
Clearly, Zina believes Obama should and will intervene directly on this matter and micromanage a solution in her school and others across the nation. To her credit, however, at least Zina is also taking a proactive approach and lobbying schools to address the problem. Even she instinctively understands that people must not wait on a big federal government to solve their problems.
But it's especially ironic that Obama's spokeswoman touted Obama's receptiveness to the will of the people, for in his own bullying, he exhibits the opposite tendency. He consistently runs roughshod over the will of the people to implement his agenda, about which he will brook neither dissent nor criticism.
Now for a few disturbing examples among the plethora.
--The White House started railing against BP and condemning it for the spill, saying it would keep its boot on BP's throat. With Attorney General Eric Holder at his side, Obama shook down BP for millions to contribute toward the problem. Concerning the spill, Obama told Matt Lauer he was talking to experts about "whose ass to kick." Also, as Obama was pointing fingers at BP, he said he wouldn't tolerate finger-pointing from oil executives. Too rich for words.
--When inspector general Gerald Walpin blew the whistle on Obama's friends, the White House not only summarily fired Walpin but also slandered him as someone who'd lost his mental faculties.
--When non-Republican attorney Tom Lauria publicly objected to the administration's gross discrimination against his preferred creditor clients in favor of Obama's union friends on the Chrysler restructuring, a lawyer for Obama's auto industry task force called Lauria a terrorist, and Obama castigated his client, which was just trying to assert its legal rights, as "a small group of speculators."
--When John McCain openly disagreed with an Obama point during the health care summit, Obama reminded McCain "the election is over." Some dialogue there, huh?
--Obama said he didn't want opponents of his agenda -- "the folks who created the mess" -- "to do a lot of talking."
--When the Supreme Court properly lifted curbs on corporate campaign contributions, Obama publicly condemned the court and belittled it in his radio address and in his State of the Union speech with many of the justices present.
--Without benefit of the facts, Obama said the Cambridge police acted "stupidly" in arresting his friend, Harvard professor Henry Gates.
--Obama derided large financial institutions as "fat-cat" banks and smeared pharmaceutical companies for "obscene profits" when their profit margins were objectively in the mainstream.
--He categorically maligned general practitioner physicians and surgeons as corrupt and greedy when he said they would deliberately perform unnecessary but more lucrative procedures.
--He has badgered our steadfast Middle East ally, Israel, even going so far as to "condemn" its actions -- an unprecedented rebuke of an ally from a chief executive.
I could go on.