Talkin' Paul Broun Paranoid Blues

It takes a truly brave dissenter to grasp the extent of Barack Obama's hatred of freedom, motherhood and pie.

Published November 12, 2008 9:00PM (EST)

Georgia Rep. Paul Broun at least deserves credit for his sincerity. Before the election, one might have thought that the descent of some conservatives into a paranoid fantasy world in which Barack Obama would bring Islam and Marxism to the U.S. was a passing fever, a kind of desperate eleventh-hour ploy to hold onto the White House.

But not only did Broun warn about Obama's "potential" to be another Hitler six days after the election, he seems to be in no mood for the usual perfunctory song-and-dance. He's not going to even try to apologize if anyone was offended, blame the media or claim to have been misquoted or taken out of context.

Instead, Broun issued a follow-up statement to remind us to be ever watchful against encroaching totalitarianism.

Furthermore, the vicious attacks upon Joe the Plumber, for asking a simple question regarding Obama's tax plans, and upon Barbara West, the Orlando television reporter who dared to ask the obvious -- How is wealth redistribution not a Marxist idea? -- and upon her husband as well, cause one to wonder to what extremes the Obama political machine will go to suppress dissent ...

It is perfectly appropriate for members of Congress, members of the media, and private citizens to hold Mr. Obama accountable for his views and his intentions. When we do, we should not be marginalized.

Indeed. The unrepentantly left-wing media refuses to give any coverage whatsoever to the concerns about Obama held by red-blooded Americans like Broun, and is thus complicit in the Obama machine’s suppression of dissent. It's a wonder we heard about this at all, and few will ever know the awful truth, because brave dissenters like Broun are inevitably "suppressed" and "marginalized." For all we know, the congressman is currently tied up in the basement of a Chicago Whole Foods, being force-fed organic arugula by Obama's paramilitary thugs.

In the meantime, the watchword is, as Broun reminds us, "eternal vigilance." Obama's "socialist views are out of the mainstream of American political thought," and the mere fact that he and his party just resoundingly won a federal election and are enjoying massive popular support doesn't mean otherwise. Here's another hot tip for Broun to investigate: Why red stripes on the American flag?


By Gabriel Winant

Gabriel Winant is a graduate student in American history at Yale.

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