This November’s Presidential election has been labeled as the most important decision to be made in many generations. What is at stake transcends what we normally have come to understand over the past few decades as usual American politics with the results either signifying a confirmation for or a break from our current way of life. With the election just around the corner many Americans are still undecided on their choice for the person who will lead them over the next four years so more information may help in the decision making process.

Focusing on President Barack Obama, we can gauge the promises he made during the 2008 election campaign, which centered on “change” against the realities of what has taken place under his watch. Many feel that he kept that promise of change because numerous things did indeed change during his time in office.

For instance, the unemployment rate among African-Americans rose to the highest level in 27 years. The number of people relying on food stamps increased and is presently at an all time record high. There was a significant change in the national debt that rose by five trillion dollars to a new height of over fifteen trillion dollars. And, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, under Obama, the price of ground beef went up 24 percent and bacon rose by 22 percent. Other changes also took place. The American worker saw the largest tax increase in American history by way of The Affordable Care Act or better known as Obamacare.

What we don’t know
Perhaps understanding Obama’s past would help Americans understand the change for America that Obama continues to pursue. There is just one problem; one of the first and foremost steadfastly held priorities of Obama is keeping his past a secret. There is little debate on either side of the aisle that President Obama is the least known of any former Commander-in-Chief in the history of the Presidency. What we don’t know about the most powerful man on the planet is staggering. Many articles such as the one written by the Western Center of Journalism question the secret nature of Obama as it states, “A nationwide network of researchers has sprung up to attempt to fill in the blanks, but at every opportunity Obama’s high-priced lawyers have built walls around various records or simply made them disappear. It is estimated that Obama’s legal team has now spent well over $1.4 million dollars blocking access to documents that should be accessible to every American. The question is why would he spend so much money to do this?”

This is the stuff reader’s of science fiction novels dream of but sadly is all too real as Obama preaches transparency but has decided that he will not release his passport records, Occidental College records, Columbia University records, Columbia thesis, Harvard Law School records, Harvard Law Review articles and Selective Service registration records.
During the first couple of years of his presidency, President Obama refused to show his birth certificate, which caused many Americans to question whether or not he was born inside the United States and thus eligible to hold the office of the Presidency. According to the Congressional Research Service, Obama was under no obligation to show any documentation regarding his birth. However on April 27, 2011, he did just that on the Whitehouse.gov website, where the Administration released what they said was a copy of his birth certificate. Almost immediately scores of videos and documents explaining why the newly released Obama birth certificate file in question was a fraud were published on the Internet. Shortly thereafter, recognized experts in the field of computer and digital forensics as well as a group of volunteer investigators for Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio also found the President’s birth certificate file to be a manipulated fraudulent file that would never be accepted in a court of law as authentic. So now the question arises that since the President did release an electronic file that was identified by him as his official birth certificate, would successfully disproving the authenticity of that file constitute proof of ineligibility? Sadly, in all probability no actions will ever be taken and the Obama birth certificate could just as well have been written in crayon because neither Congress nor anyone else in authority will examine the evidence.

So Americans are forced to rely on what is allowed to be known or uncovered through independent investigation about Obama in order to make an informed election decision. In that regard, this is what we know about our secretive President. He strongly believes in a redistribution of wealth, which is a cornerstone of Marxist ideology and he publicly called the United States Constitution, “fundamentally flawed.” He spent 20 years in a church where the pastor preached anti-American, anti-capitalism and Marxist liberation theology but swears he never heard any of it. Also, Obama believes in big and ever expanding government in both size and control and that his Administration chose to sue Arizona, a sovereign state within the United States because it tried to defend itself from foreign invasion.

We’ve witnessed him on the world stage where he apologizes for America in front of our enemies and bows before other leaders. We know that the gun used to end the life of United States Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was allowed to get into the hands of the criminals that killed him by the ATF as part of a botched gun program called “Fast and Furious” which ultimately is part of the Justice Department and we know that when Attorney General Eric Holder ignored a subpoena from Congress, refusing to turn over documents connected to Fast and Furious, Congress was forced to do something no other Congress had ever had to do, which was to hold a sitting Attorney General in contempt. Obama invoked executive privilege to keep certain facts hidden.

The Economy
Understandably the priority of most Americans is the economy and their own economic future but what must not be overlooked is the system of government that will emerge after all the ballots have been counted and the acceptance speeches made.

There are plenty of people in this country who believe America should abandon the capitalist system. There are also many in this country that feel America is an evil colonialist nation that exploits weaker people and that America’s identity as a world leader should be dismantled.

The meaning inside this coming election revolves around the question as to whether or not the American people and America itself will become a more vigilant, stronger and politically involved country or will history point to this election as the pivotal point in time when Americans chose to turn away from the most freedom-filled society and successful form of government ever to exist.

**The views expressed in this column represent only those of the author and not the board or membership of the Juniper Park Civic Association.