This week's column marks the sixth anniversary of this column. That's right. My first column appeared on Sept. 17, 2008, as a letter to the editor. The following week Right of Center was born, appearing as a regular feature in The Herald-Leader. I'm blessed to have a cornucopia of countless loyal readers who have allowed me to offer my opinion on all things political for 312 weeks. Talk about being lucky: That's me!
I seldom find myself at a loss for material and as we inch closer to this off-year election I have found a gift that keeps on giving -- the president of the United States, Barack Obama. He never ceases to amaze and astound me. Just last week he proclaimed that the outfit that calls itself "The Islamic State" is not Islamic. That's correct, an outfit that calls itself Islamic is not Islamic. See what I mean? Amazing and astounding. This reminds me of a few statements I made in my very first column as I attempted to define Obama. Then he was running for president (I guess he still is, or at least he's still campaigning like he's running). It's amazing that I had him pegged correctly back then and my opinion hasn't changed at all.
Here are a few observations and quips from that column.
"By his own account he was a community organizer. Do we have any of those in northwest Arkansas? He served in the Illinois Senate, and I have not heard of one major piece of legislation he sponsored there that became law, and the same goes for his tenure in the U.S. Senate. I do not know of a single meaningful accomplishment he can claim in his entire career. I do know that he voted 'present' over 100 times in Illinois; not 'yes,' not 'no,' but 'present.'
"Obama has had ethical lapses like receiving a several-hundred-thousand-dollar discount on a piece of land adjoining his Chicago mansion. He got the discount from a slum lord who's now a convicted felon for bribing state officials. Obama has also given speeches with and for many years he served on a board with a radical terrorist, William Ayers, who in the 1960s belonged to the Weather Underground and he brags about bombing the Pentagon and a New York police station. Some of Obama's admirers also must believe it's not a moral shortcoming to sit in church for 20 years and listen to a pastor damn America and proclaim after 9/11 that 'America's chickens have come home to roost.'
"I know that he can read (a teleprompter), speak very well, and he can probably write, but I don't know that for certain because he is the only President of the Harvard Law Review that I know of with no articles published, likewise as an unpublished law professor at U. of Chicago. He's left no paper trail."
Then I summed up Obama's career by saying "He's an empty suit."
I think I nailed it.
Amnesty deferred
There he goes again. Obama's going to do it. As soon as the election is over he's going to use his pen to break the law and sign a presidential edict granting amnesty to millions of illegals. He promised to do it by summer's end, but dozens of Democrats begged him to put it off until after the election. I'm sure Mark Pryor was among those doing the begging.
Obama would have you believe that Congress has not done its job so throngs of long-suffering illegals have not been granted amnesty.
Don't you believe him.
The House has done its job, but Harry Reid's Senate passed a feckless bill last year that will ultimately grant amnesty, and worse yet, citizenship. as a reward to those who have broken our laws and sneaked into this country. Pryor voted yes. We must win the Senate to reverse this travesty. A vote for Pryor is a vote for amnesty. To his credit, our other senator, John Boozman. voted no.
I opine, you decide.
-- Willie Williams is a Siloam Springs resident. He can be reached at [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 09/17/2014