During President Obama’s recent visit to Israel, he spoke to an audience of college students. At one point in the speech, he brought up one of his favorite themes–fairness. It’s a theme he has used often during his never-ending campaigning, and for people who are moved by emotion, rather than reason, it’s a very effective political tool. This is how he used it in Israel: “It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of their [sic] own, living their entire lives with the presence of a foreign army that controls the movements of her [sic] parents every single day.”
The problem with the idea of fairness is that it is often subjective. What seems to be fair to one person may be unfair to another. When it comes to President Obama, his concern for fairness is apparently determined by political considerations. If he can label something as unfair and thus advance his agenda, then he will do so. Otherwise, he is oblivious to other issues of fairness. So let me propose the following questions to the President:
Mr. President, is it fair that a million and a half unborn babies are slaughtered in America each year, even though they are the epitome of innocence? Is it fair that a child who survives a botched abortion is left to die without any medical care? Is it fair that the number-one killer of blacks in America is abortion?
Mr. President, is it fair that thousands of people in Iran will continue to live under a tyrannical dictatorship because when they rebelled in 2009, you chose not to “meddle” in their affairs? Is it fair that four Americans, including our ambassador to Libya, had to die in Benghazi because you chose to do nothing to save them? Is it fair that your “meddling” in Egypt led to the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood, thus guaranteeing that those Egyptians who really wanted democratic reform will live under freedom-crushing Sharia Law?
Mr. President, is it fair that you and your Democrat colleagues rammed through a national health care bill, although a majority of Americans opposed such legislation? Is it fair that millions of Americas will not be able to keep their current insurance policies and that their costs for insurance will skyrocket, even though you said neither of these things would happen?
Mr. President, is it fair that a lunatic in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, kills 26 people, mostly children, and now millions of law-abiding Americans have to have their Second Amendment rights abrogated? Is it fair to support such legislation, knowing full well that the criminals will ignore the law, thus putting innocent people in greater danger because they will not be able to protect themselves?
Mr. President, is it fair that your daughters are able to attend one of the most prestigious private schools in Washington, while you have worked assiduously to eliminate the Opportunity Scholarship program, which enables poor children to attend effective private schools?
Mr. President, is it fair that your fiscal policies have increased our national debt so significantly that the share of debt for each family is $745,337, and for each citizen it is $187,701? Is it fair that, at the current rate of spending, a child born today will inherit a debt of $1,532,000?
Mr. President, is it fair that you directed your Justice Department not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, even though it is the duty of the Executive Branch to defend all laws passed by Congress? Is it fair that your Justice Department refused to prosecute members of the New Black Panther party in Philadelphia for their blatant intimidation of white voters?
Mr. President, is it fair that the top 1% of taxpayers pay 36.7% of all taxes, or that the top 5% of taxpayers pay 58.7% of all taxes, or that the top 10% of taxpayers pay 70.5% of all the taxes, or that the top 50% of all taxpayers pay 97.7% of all taxes, while the bottom 50% of all taxpayers pay only 2.3% of all taxes? Is it fair that you constantly characterize the wealthiest taxpayers as “greedy” and “unwilling to pay their fair share”?
I could go on, but I think the point has been made. Of course, people of good will could disagree over what is fair and what isn’t. But Mr. Obama’s determinations of fairness are self-serving, divisive and, well, unfair.
