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Mailbag: ‘Dear Comrade… You performed exactly as we instructed’

By W. Gardner Selby
June 15, 2012

Let’s shake out our mailbag on reader objections to our finding ridiculous and Pants on Fire a reference by U.S. House candidate Roger Williams to Barack Obama as a socialist.

“Williams is right – Obama IS a socialist,” one reader wrote. “You and other Libs may not see him as a socialist because of your leftist ideology; but to the hard-working, tax-paying public that make this country work, he’s a socialist of the worst kind.  And if this reprobate gets re-elected in November, all of us  (including you) will be taxed into oblivion by the community organizer-in-chief.  What will you do then….write an article on how Obama is a free market zealot?”

Two readers invoked ducks.

“My old Pappy told me that if it walks like a duck and squawks like a duck, it’s a duck. Pappy was always right. How come you got it wrong? What is it about him that blinds you? You are not paying attention, son. Listen to old Pappy.”

And: “In the very narrow definition of socialism no one could be a president. However, there are many dimensions in the definition, from Marxist-Leninists, Utopian socialists, democratic socialism, etcetera.

“Regardless of the spectrum there are socialist ideals on Obama’s policies, or attempts to implement some policies, based on his socialist tendencies. The most important being the redistribution of income masquerade  on different tax scales, more hiring at the federal and state levels, a health plan under the ‘market demands.’ Of course the socialist will deny that Obama is a socialist. He is not an extreme but as the saying goes, if its walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, IT IS A DUCK….I grew up under a socialist/dictatorial government so I know the difference.”

We said it’s preposterous to deem Obama a socialist.

“Not at all,” a reader responded. “You have obviously not read his own books, wherein he tells us that he enjoyed his exposure to Marxist and socialist professors and friends. You ignore his ties to socialist radicals like (Bill) Ayers and (Bernardine) Dorn. What he has shown thus far is only the crumbs to keep his radical admirers panting for more, which he will undoubtedly deliver if he gets another term.  A second term could be fatal for our country.
I don’t think you are blind, but I do think that you — like many others in the press — help cover for him and it will destroy America if it continues.”

Finally, we fielded this, uh, communiqué: “Dear Comrade… You performed exactly as we instructed. Word for word you covered (we hope) Barack’s” behind “and threw the Amerikanski off track. Keep going and we will fool ’em again.” Signed: “The Communist Party.”

Letters of all kinds, we love ‘em. Email us at politifact@statesman.com or comment more directly by clicking “like” on our Facebook page and posting there. We’re also on Twitter, here.

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Mailbag: ‘Dear Comrade… You performed exactly as we instructed’





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