Obama's Beacon of Light Commercial

Cincinnati was the host city for the NAACP annual convention this past week. The convention brought in over 10,000 delegates from around the country. Perhaps even from around the world.


Both presidential candidates were guest speakers at the conference. Barach Obama was in town early in the conference and as expected was warmly received.


Those of us that were not present have been treated to seeing the Senator's non-stop advertisement on the TV this past week. This is the one in which he is wearing a button down dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up sans tie and suit jacket. He is addressing a town hall style meeting of ethnically diverse folks that all nod in agreement with his words. He says, and I quote,


"We are a beacon of light around the world. At least that's what we can be again. That's what we should be again. The single most important national security threat that we face is nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists. What I did was reach out to Sen. Dick Lugar, a Republican, to help lock down loose nuclear weapons. We have to lead the entire world to reduce that threat. We can restore America's leadership in the world. I'm Barack Obama, and I approve this message."


The commercial facts are accurate. Lugar and Obama co-sponsored a bill that made it easier for the United States and its allies to track and interdict shipments to terrorists of weapons of mass destruction. It also included $25 million to finance the destruction of conventional weapons in the former republics of the old Soviet Union. The bill was folded into a State Department measure and passed the Senate by unanimous consent, instead of a voice vote in December of 2006. I suppose the purpose is to show that Obama can work with Republicans if elected.

Well the premise of the bill was very good, but the Soviet Union is no longer a threat. Iraq and Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and Lebanon are the countries that seem to have the corner on the terrorism market. Iran is taunting the world by saying, "We are poor little lambs just trying to build a nuclear power plant. We would never build nuclear weapons. Please do not pay attention to that man behind the curtain providing weapons to Lebanon and Palestine."

Senator Obama cannot wait to become President so he can pull the United States armed forces out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe he is working with Dick Lugar on another bill to finance the destruction of conventional weapons in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

As far as being a beacon of light around the world, those are glorious words for a politician to say. It beats, "I promise two chickens in every pot."

Words like that might have worked for Jubilation T Cornpone and Henry Hill, but this is 2008. We want substance and action.