The Politico has the Obama speech up. In my prediction about what Obama would say, I was wrong and right.

I hinted that Obama would take the same tack he has in previous statements, which is to deflect attention to socialist programs. But I forgot how he has made that approach in the past ? first by referencing the ideals of the Founders, then after having imitated the soaring rhetoric of past American luminaries, changing the focus to make it sound as if the next step for American liberty is to become a socialized nanny state. It’s what he did with his first speech to address his mentor and family friend, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. And it is what he has done here (incidentally, his “typical white” grandmother is good again in this speech).

So I was wrong to predict Obama would forget the Founding ideals; in fact, he refers to them, even quoting the opening lines to the Declaration of Independence. But I was right to think he would ultimately suggest that patriotism for most Americans would be socialist fixes. In his speech, Obama states

For the rest of us ? for those of us not in uniform or without loved ones in the military ? the call to sacrifice for the country?s greater good remains an imperative of citizenship. Sadly, in recent years, in the midst of war on two fronts, this call to service never came. After 9/11, we were asked to shop. The wealthiest among us saw their tax obligations decline, even as the costs of war continued to mount. Rather than work together to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and thereby lessen our vulnerability to a volatile region, our energy policy remained unchanged, and our oil dependence only grew.

In spite of this absence of leadership from Washington, I have seen a new generation of Americans begin to take up the call. … not only those who have signed up to fight for our country in distant lands, but those who are fighting for a better America here at home, by teaching in underserved schools, or caring for the sick in understaffed hospitals, or promoting more sustainable energy policies in their local communities.

I believe one of the tasks of the next Administration is to ensure that this movement towards service grows and sustains itself in the years to come. We should expand AmeriCorps and grow the Peace Corps. We should encourage national service by making it part of the requirement for a new college assistance program, even as we strengthen the benefits for those whose sense of duty has already led them to serve in our military. …

When we pile up mountains of debt for the next generation to absorb, or put off changes to our energy policies, knowing full well the potential consequences of inaction, we are placing our short-term interests ahead of the nation?s long-term well-being. When we fail to educate effectively millions of our children so that they might compete in a global economy, or we fail to invest in the basic scientific research that has driven innovation in this country, we risk leaving behind an America that has fallen in the ranks of the world. Just as patriotism involves each of us making a commitment to this nation that extends beyond our own immediate self-interest, so must that commitment extends beyond our own time here on earth.

So what is patriotic service in Obama’s view? Well, outside of military service, which only Obama’s surrogates may question, it is:

  • Not shopping

  • Raising taxes on the rich

  • Forcing economic decisions on people a.k.a. “reducing our dependence on foreign oil” ? and by “foreign oil” he means “oil,” since he opposes offshore and continental drilling

  • Teaching in “underserved schools” ? which of course doesn’t refer also to charter and private schools

  • Working in understaffed hospitals

  • Not working anywhere else, such as small businesses, corporations, or worse, charter or private schools

  • Promoting government policies to force economic decisions on people via the euphemism of “more sustainable energy policies”

  • Expanding AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps

  • Making such “national service” mandatory for those receiving federal college loans

  • Raising taxes to eliminate the national debt (granted, it’s not what he says, but given all his many, many other proposed expansions of the federal government and his stated desire to raise taxes on the wealthy, you know he isn’t going to propose lowering spending)

  • Mandating by law wrenching changes to the nation’s energy policies (see above)

  • Not protecting your fellow citizens from laws that would force statists’ economic decisions on them, especially ? by virtue of Obama’s multiple statements on the subject ? choices regarding consumption of gasoline and other petroleum products

  • Massively increasing federal education spending

  • Massively increasing federal research spending

  • Not protecting your fellow citizens from confiscatory taxation