Political Bombshell: Obama Launched Political Career from Friedrich Engels' Parlor

So, the word on the street is Obama has moved from Socialist to Marxist. A few months ago he was the most liberal senator in the Democratic party, then his programs were socialism, now he is a full on Marxist. (I also wonder how he can be a Marxist and radical Muslim...hmmm?).

Anyway, as much as it pains me to do so, I am posting the "bombshell" that has been has been all the rage on Drudge and Foxnews. The headline is usually something like "Obama bombshell" or "Obama Exposed" and the story suggests he is favoring a radical redistribution of wealth (ala Marxist-style governance) through the courts.

Now, if you listen to the story, even this POS edited youtube post that is all I can track down, what he says is not quite what the headline suggests. He is discussing rights in legalistic terms, using the concepts of positive and negative rights. Negative rights are what the US constiution primarily covers. These are the "freedoms from": freedom from government persecution, freedom from abuse, etc.

Obama states that even despite the Civil Rights movement expanding these rights and the Warren Court working actively to enhance and protect them, the Constitution and the US legal system do not do much to protect "positive rights." These represent a class a rights based on what governments must do "for people." See the distinction? In the US, there has never been much effort to bind the government to certain acts that it must do for people. In human rights legal theory, this would be things like the right to education, the right to healthcare, and yes, the right to some baseline standard of living and quality of life.

Is this Marxism? Well, probably in the same way that Ronald Reagan was a Fascist. As much as I like to claim he was, there is a wide sea between Reagan and Mussolini. And there is quite a bit of distance between Obama's economic plans and Marxism.

All the same, here is the link. If anyone can track down the original in full that would be awesome. This 4 minute clip is just one statement in a larger discussion about civil rights and the role of the government.

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An amendment: I recently came across a link to the full transcript and one for the full audio. I have removed the edited post that has been bandied about on rightist shows and blogs. Here are the link (one to Foxnews of all places):

Audio (look for Jan 18th): http://www.wbez.org/audio_library/od_rajan01.asp

Text: http://www.foxnews.com/urgent_queue/#50041ecb,2008-10-27