The Real Manchurian Candidate

My eldest daughter has suggested that Senator Barack Obama just may be a "Manchurian Candidate". She just has a gut feeling, she says....nothing in his written or spoken words have given rise to such a belief. I sent her the following because if there ever was such a character in American politics, we've been under his assaults for the last 7 1/2 years.

If enemies of the United States had gotten together a few years ago to
devise a plan to damage America and undermine its global
position, diminish its power and credibility, drag it into a stubborn and profoundly illegitimate
war, harm its relations with allies, create international financial
disarray, run up historically huge deficits, create political openings for the
Europeans and Chinese to exploit and become our superiors in global economic
matters, motivate terrorists, bring the U.S. image in the Middle East
to its lowest point in history, restrict civil liberties at home, and so forth, they
would have been hard-pressed to create a program that would be more
effective than the Bush administration's policies on these issues of
war, terrorism, and global economics have.

Indeed, if one is an "enemy" of the U.S., then he/she would have to be
heartened that Bush has pursued this agenda and would have to be
elated that the war in Iraq continues today. Given enough rope, Bush
may hang not only himself, but American influence and credibility, and
the global economy for years and years to come. Like a "sleeper" agent, or Laurence Harvey's famed
character, Sgt. Raymond Shaw, in The Manchurian Candidate, George W.
Bush, the ultimate insider, is doing more to damage America than Osama
bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Hassan Nasrallah, the Syrians, the
Iranians, or any other enemy du jour, ever could.