I try hard to keep my affection for certain conspiracies at a minimum and off the radar around here. However, connecting some random dots is certainly fair game, right? Here are 2 dots worth pondering. Dot 1: Iran loses its only AWACS aircraft in collision with jet-fighter
I can't speak for the veracity of either of the sites linked. Debkafiles states that the Qom site was discovered in May. This contradicts what I've read elsewhere - that the site was known to exist by the Bush administration and Obama was briefed on it after becoming President-elect.
Regardless, it is safe to assume that someone is going to have to do something about Iran...and soon. Since last week it seems less likely that the U.S. can allow Israel to go it alone. Our standing would be diminished severely if we do not take the lead on military action if ---- or rather---when it comes to that.
AWAC-less Iran and bunker buster bombs for the U.S... very interesting....
Barack Obama is president of the whole United States, not just president of The People Who Agree With Him.
So, how can it be that anyone who questions Obama or disagrees with Obama must be, by definition, a "racist"?
Were we "racists" when we vehemently disagreed with President George W. Bush (for doing the very same things we object to Obama's doing now)?
I spent eight years disagreeing with GWBush.
Did that make me a racist?
But when Obama DOES THE SAME THINGS we criticized Bush for doing, all of a sudden that criticism makes us "racists"?
When GWBush engaged in WARRANTLESS wiretapping, we objected.
When Obama voted in favor of extending WARRANTLESS wiretapping, we objected.
When GWBush incarcerated prisoners at Guantanamo where they rotted away for years with no possibility of knowing what crime they were charged with and no ability to have a fair hearing before an impartial judge, we objected.
When Barack Obama NOW incarcerates prisoners at Bagram prison in Afghanistan where they will rot for years with no possibility of knowing what crime they are charged with and no ability to have a fair hearing before an impartial judge, we object.
When GWBush refused to make public the names of the people who came to the White House to help him write legislation favorable to them, we objected.
When Barack Obama now refuses to make public the names of the people who come to the White House to help him write legislation favorable to them, we object.
When GWBush transferred wealth from the middle class to the very wealthy and favored the corporations over the people, we objected.
When Barack Obama transfers wealth from the middle class to the very wealthy and favors the corporations over the people, we object.
When GWBush gave tax dollars to religious groups but changed the law so those religious groups can now hire or DENY people employment based on their religion, we objected.
When Barack Obama gives tax dollars to religious groups but allows those religious groups to hire or DENY people employment based on their religion, we object.
However, in the minds of insane people such as Maureen Dowd. Keith Olbermann, Joan Walsh. Eugene Robinson. President Jimmy Carter. Randi Rhodes and a host of others, our current objections are "proof" we are "racists."
If Obama is president of the entire United States but NO ONE can criticize him without being labeled as a "racist" by the Obama gang, then ALL CRITICISM OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN OUTLAWED as surely as if we still had the infamous SEDITION Act of the early days of this country.
The Sedition Act has been revived for critics of Obama.
The new Sedition Act is enforced -- and will be enforced -- by labeling ANY criticism of Obama as RACISM.
The Obama jaunt to Denmark to bring the Olympics to Chicago is borderline bizarre. There's an interesting as hell backgrounder here. I probably give too much credence to Obama's narcissism as the reason behind so many of his actions. He's corrupt. That's the animating principle. I need to refrain from over thinking the man. (I do wonder though- if Chicago gets the games is NBC's indentured servitude to him over?)
And what happens if Obama does succeed and manages to bring the games to Chicago? Well, to quote one-time U.S. men's basketball national team member Derrick Coleman, "Whoop-dee-damn-do."
The whole thing is baffling. As I stated before the point person should be Michelle Obama - and she is attending and will make a presentation. Why isn't the First Lady enough? She's well liked, seen as elegant, will have Oprah on her arm, and is a Chicago native who presumably speaks for her husband. Even if the heads of state of every other finalist nation are going - does the leader of the free world really need to be there the day after his Administration sits down with the nuke crazed Iranians?
The overwhelming projected presence of Obama on the world stage is deflating by the day. Presence is all Obama seems to be. The list of weird Obama stunts keeps growing. The planned speech at the Berlin Wall, the fake Presidential seal, the Roman set piece in Denver, the wildly premature announcement that Gitmo was to be closed, the endorsement of missile defense in Europe followed by the reversal, the beer summit, and of course, Leno, Letterman, cable promos...I know I'm repeating myself - but this is truly the oddest Presidency I've ever seen.
Obama fritters away the power of his office with each successive P.R. stunt. But real power abhors a vacuum. Presidents must utilize and shepherd the power of the office if they expect respect. Obama's sprays his presence all over the map resulting in a dissolution of power that is becoming more and more apparent.
Sarkozy's direct shot across Obama's bow signals a deep contempt for the man. The Iranians express no fear of the "last super power" - and with Obama in charge - why would they? His team sits down with the Iranians on Thursday. Obama is focused on Chicago in 2016. Whatever the hell is going on in Afghanistan this much we know: it needs tending and leadership. The Senate may well rip itself apart over health care - with no strong executive in sight.
Where is God's name is the President of the United States? You know who I mean - the one who leads on the tough issues, the leader who has no time for overblown chamber of commerce events and late night chat shows. The one who garners respect because he is a serious man doing his country's serious business.
This post leads me back to my assertion that real leaders inspire faith and anti-leaders trade on hope. Hope can drive a campaign. Faith in the winner is what drives governance. Faith in Obama is waning....fast.
Enjoy Copenhagen, sir. Keep up the silly trips and you'll be watching the 2016 games as a one term ex-President.
Going Rogue...early:Palin's book is finished and will be in stills in a few weeks. It is certain to be a best seller. Here are my questions: How hard with the Palin haters insist that she did not write it? Will this stir up questions about the authorship of Dreams of My Father in response?
I live in a city that has hosted the Olympics twice. I'm all for the U.S. getting another Olympics.
And on Friday we shall.
On Thursday the President will spend tax payer money - a lot of it - to jet to Copenhagen to "lobby" for Chicago's bid. This is a bullshit P.R. trip. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. Obama's going so as to take credit when Chicago gets the nod on Friday. He would not be going at all if someone in the White House did not know Chicago has the votes already.
Obama's narcissism is astounding. Truly astounding. His narcissism trumps his job every time one conflicts with the other.
Here is what is on his plate this week: The McCrystal report on Afghanistan, Iran belligerently shooting short and long range missiles, the world wide reaction to the revelation that Iran has another nuclear power processing plant, health care,and a host of day to day responsibilities that all Presidents endure.
Yet Obama, for no reason other to to buff his own helmet, will spend our money for a show appearance in Denmark.
If ever there was ever a job for a First Lady this little jaunt is one. It would still cost us too much money but it would not further demean the office of the Presidency. Then again he's a President who's been on Leno and Letterman in his first 9 months. He's a President that taped a promo for a cable sit com. He's a President that gave, as an official gift, a set of incorrectly formatted DVDs to a legally blind British Prime Minister. Who not fly to Denmark for a few hours so he can take credit for the Chicago 2016 Olympics?
2. Ayers the Ghost....writer....I always sort of felt that it would make perfect sense if it came to light that Obama did not write Dreams Of My Father. It would dovetail with his usual M.O. Mounting evidence here. What do ya think?
4. Call for submission....s..... On the hunt for pieces on almost any subject. Anything from 5 sentences to in-depth articles. Also photo essays. Send stuff to john@liberalrapture.com
Obama, the promise breaker, is about to break another one. This one we can be happy about. Through out the campaign BHO insisted that he would hold high level talks with the Iranians without conditions. Everyone from Hillary to McCain excoriated Obama's naivete. The LA Times is reporting that finally...FINALLY...Obama may be coming to terms with the reality of Iran:
Outreach to U.S. adversaries was a signature campaign issue for Obama. During a Democratic presidential debate in July 2007, his chief adversary and now secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, argued that such an approach might be unwise.
It was "disgraceful," Obama said then, that the George W. Bush administration hadn't sought a dialogue with countries such as Iran....The administration seems to be discarding the optimistic scenario...
It's about damn time.
If Obama grows a set, and if he and the Russians and Europeans follow through and put real pressure on Iran it is possible an almost certain Israeli attack - that would send the world lurching toward hell - can be averted.
The bizarre thought process behind Obama's thinking last year was foolish on two fronts. One, he apparently thought the Iranians would happily - and suddenly - become honest negotiators. Two, he utterly disregarded Israel as a player. As if the Israelis would surely follow our naive lead. It was idiotic and had no basis in reality. Israel takes care of its business, with or without the support of American administrations. In the real world Israel's concerns in the region must be taken in to account whether one agrees or not. It was almost as if it had not occurred to Obama that Israel's concerns were a factor and that they might act on what they saw as their best interests.
Obama was called naive and weak for his campaign stance on Iran. No one got to the rub of it though - it was cocky. It was the policy pronouncement of a man utterly convinced that he, and he alone, could change thousands of years of history merely by showing up.
The delusional Obama who thought it was a good idea to sit down and chit chat with the murderous maniacs who run Iran needs to be put out to pasture. For good. A tougher, realistic President needs to come to the fore.
Yes, Mr. President, break your promise on Iran. Belligerence is not called for. Toughness is.
If one more obot tells me that "Obama closed Gitmo!" I'm liable to kick them in the shins. Okay, in fact, only 3 obots have said this to me - still - one has to wonder if they don't get robo calls from the White House informing them of the day's deflection of choice.
"Obama closed Gitmo!" is thrown out as proof that he is the "change" at least some were waiting for and that he's a man of his word (s). Like so much during the campaign this yelped sentiment is just that, a sentiment. A hope. A political ruffie for the Obama addled.
Obama has not closed Gitmo. Guantanamo is open for business, and holding prisoners as it was under Bush. Early on Obama announced a plan to close Guantanamo. In the past he has announced his intended plans to brings a brigade a month home from Iraq, to fight for a public option, and to publicly finance his election campaign. Those were his plans too.
It was evident - as soon as one found out that the Administration had not made plans for the prisoners held there - that the announcement was foolish and amateurish.
Obama: We're going to close Gitmo!
Anyone with a half functioning brain: What are you going to do with the prisoners, Mr. President?
Obama: I dunno.
We shall see if Guantanamo is closed eventually. Regardless of what the yelping Obots yelp this is what we know:
Guantanamo is open.
The original announcement about closing Gitmo was a P.R. stunt.
The closure, if it happens, will not happen by Obama's self imposed deadline.
That's three whole sentences. I doubt an Obot would let me get to the end of the first one before screaming "Racist!" Nevertheless, Obots:
Ducksoup posted contact info for the New Jersey Obama Indoctrination Center:
B. Bernice Young Elementary School
1203 Neck Road, Burlington, NJ 08016 Phone: (609) 386-3520 Fax: (609) 239-3532 Principal: Dr. Denise King Vice Principal: Mrs. Carol Zulla
I believe these people should be shamed publicly - I mean that. The stockade, a public square, and some rotten tomatoes have their place. Quite a few bank presidents, Goldman Sachs executives, and kool aid drinking, psychological child molesters like the ones employed by the school above all deserve shunning. They do not understand American values. I will call today and voice my opinion. I urge you to do the same.
I do not believe the economic hard times are behind us. The reasons for this are simple:
1. I'm an optimist in my personal life. However, by virtue of long observation, I'm a pessimist in terms of my macro outlook. The base economic issues have not been addressed. They haven't been for 50 years. The problem before the financial "crisis" was conjured false wealth based in debt. The solution to this has been to double down on debt. Not a solution. It is another mirage.
2. Those telling us now that the hard times are receding have a vested interest in telling us the hard times are receding. There is no logic behind this pollyanna happy talk. I see no reason to trust it. It's easy to dismiss the Cassandras when they are wrong. In this case, the Cassandras were correct. Until proven otherwise, the safest bet is to assume that the Bush/Obama polices that addressed the problem by ignoring and aggravating the problem are making matters worse.
3. The jobs numbers are lies. The real unemployment rate is closer to 20%. Unless and until this number changes nothing else matters. Only in the upside down world run by elites - like the one we have now - are unemployment stats a "lagging" indicator. In the real world the economy equals jobs -jobs that create tangible goods and services that in turn create wages. All the capital on earth matters not unless it is creates jobs. Slam my economic naivete if you like. Economists have theorized us into a financial black hole. The real economy is created by and driven by people. With jobs.
4. There are too many of us on this planet. That reality underlies everything else. I have nothing else I'm willing to say about it now. It's too horrifying.
Therefore, counter intuitive as it is for Americans, I recommend pessimism. Assume shocks are coming. Assume you are being lied to. Assume your best interests are not being looked out for. You'll lose nothing if your pessimism is misplaced, except naivete. You'll gain more autonomy, and may well be better placed to ride through any coming shocks.
The bulk of our fellows have opted to avoid dealing with reality. (The Obama campaign of 2008 was the high water mark for this mass avoidance.) Reality is now set to deal with us.
Here are my 4 suggestions for the coming years which I believe will be tough:
1. Get out debt. Do not incur more debt. In line with this - limit spending to what you need and not much else. We all must stop being "consumers" and start being citizens again. The system is set up to create dependency among its citizens. Refuse to participate in the consumer economy trap. It has created a nation of debt slaves who are unaware that they are debt slaves. This, in turn, has caused an emergent, unconscious, and dangerous narcissism.
2. Limit exposure to media. All media. Including the Internet. Turn off the TV for a day. Or days at a time. The media in the United States is a distraction machine. It works to inflame passions - then sooth passions with the sale of all manner of pointless products. I am guilty of a participating in this self destructive cycle. I suspect I am more guilty than many of my readers. The media in America is a form of collective insanity. The media assaults us then tells us what to spend on to heal the bruises it just inflicted. Should we all go live in caves? No. Absolutely not. Important information still gets through. We cannot put our heads in the sand. But we can wrest control of the conversation by limiting our passive participation. As it stands now the media machinery is in the business of telling us what ought to concern us whether it actually does or not. In this way the conversation is massaged and controlled. Limit media and be critical of all information. Choose your distractions wisely. Control the message so that it does not control you.
3. Endeavor to be more thrifty with, and more conscious of, your energy consumption . Here is what we know: Oil is our energy mainstay. 61% of the oil production regions in the world are past peak and declining. The U.S. is a massive consumer of oil. Much of it comes from places that are not friendly to us. This has fostered a scary dependence. There will be alternatives to oil. But they won't be cheap and they won't arrive anytime soon.
Reduce your energy consumption for whatever reason suits you. You want to lessen your carbon footprint. You want to stick it to Hugo Chavez. You want to lower pollution levels. You want to save some money. Whatever. We are an energy enslaved nation. Learn to live with less now. I'm convinced we'll be forced to soon enough.
4. Choose your food wisely. We are too fat. That ought to be reason enough. But there are other reasons. We are a nation fed on a massive factory farm. Food is created, packed and moved large distances, arriving "just in time." A disruption in this system (see suggestion 3 above.) is a real possibility and would be catastrophic. Eat less. And eat locally grown food whenever possible. Stock up.
Do I think any of these things will change the macro- outlook? No. I don't. However, we can empower ourselves to handle coming shocks.
Sorry about my salty language but : This clip was shot in June of this year. It is some sick mother fucking shit. A few of the lyrics the kids are being taught: Mmm, mmm, mm! Barack Hussein Obama He said that all must lend a hand To make this country strong again Mmm, mmm, mm! ...
Joe Biden proves once again why he got fewer votes running for president than Palin got running for Governor of a state with a smaller population than the Santa Monica freeway on weekdays. He's a political moron. Why not just WRITE the GOPs fundraising letters for them while your at it, Joe?
In August 2007 Senator Barack Obama fresh on the presidential campaign trail made an impassioned promise at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to wage what he dubbed the war that has to be won. The war is the war in Afghanistan.
The rest of Mr. Hutchinson's piece discusses Obama's commitment to Afghanistan and seeing the dangers through. It assumes (and was written just three weeks ago) that Obama meant his promises on Afghanistan.
Today, literally days later, there are questions all around as to Obama's intent. Most pointedly from the Washington Post which expressed serious concern that Obama is waffling on statements about the war he made in March.
I've felt for a while that Afghanistan would subsume health care as the main issue this Fall. Obama has to make a decision on troop levels and funding soon. On this issue I assumed he'd keep his campaign promises. He'd sell Afghanistan as the war that must be won. Now it appears he's stalling. McCrystal's report is nearly a month old. Obama has had one meeting with his national security team in the interim. One.
We are often told by the MSM that Obama has a lot "on his plate". This is true. He's got health care speeches, global warming speeches, speeches to unions, vacation time, Sunday chat shows, promos to tape for George Lopez's show on TNT, Letterman....still one has to wonder what he's up to in delaying a decision on Afghanistan. Is it a slow, deliberate process - as the White House insists? Has he decided more troops in Afghanistan is now a bad idea and needs to break it to the Generals (that he appointed) slowly? Is he being driven by polls showing the war in Afghanistan is increasingly unpopular? Is he playing the Left wing of his party for a few popularity points until health care is further along?
I do not know.
Here's are my thoughts on the matter - Obama is bad at making decisions. He's the anti-decider. He seems to avoid it. He punts where ever he can. The stimulus bill, cap and trade, health care, the 30 or so czars he's appointed are all examples of Obama shoving off the heavy lifting to others. It's only in the last few weeks that he's injected himself forcefully into his central domestic policy issue. Even then - his presence has consisted mostly of making speeches and appearing on TV shows. There is scant evidence that' he's committed deeply to any one part of health care reform. There is no line in the sand beyond a bill...any bill.
War is different for Presidents. The buck can't stop somewhere else. Presidents lead wars. If they go well they become national icons: Lincoln, FDR, Truman. If they do not they are vilified: LBJ, Nixon, George W Bush. There's no escaping the constitutional provision making the President the Commander in Chief.
Personally, I'm torn about Afghanistan. I supported the invasion in the Fall of 2001. Since then much time, wealth and blood has been wasted. Is an outcome we can live with even feasible any longer? Conversely, we can't allow the Taliban a free pass to return to power.
I'm allowed ambivalence. I'm not the President.
Whatever Obama does he may yet end up being clear and decisive. But so far his "deliberation" looks like fear.
5. Music: Because some tuesdays I feel like hearing french pop music about business men who pretend to be bulls on the streets of Paris. Is that so wrong?
NQ points out something very interesting indeed. How did WAPO get General McChrystal Afghanistan assessment? Leaks like that do not happen easily. Why has it been on Obama's desk for 3 weeks? As Kieran asks in the post below - Why is Obama playing class clown on Letterman while General McCrystal's letter sits on his desk?
Most important of all - Has Obama lost the military already? This is the most important question. The C.I.A. is not happy with the man. If the military higher ups are turning...well...the politics in D.C. will get brutal quickly. Rule one - even in this democracy - don't piss off the national security complex.
Much was made of a the idea that Obama's election began the advent of a "post-racial" America. Now, I'm unclear what was meant by this turn of phrase to begin with so I chalk it up to the magical thinking that surrounded Obama in general.
10 months later, nothing much has changed. So many voices are insisting that the "post racial" age is not to be. This, too, is nonsense. The end of the post racial mirage is credited to - you guessed it - anger and frustration with Obama. We didn't elected the guy just because he's black but being opposed to him is because he's black. The logic here is a small stack of fallacies:
Obama's election meant we were entering a post racial period. Blow back against Obama means the post racial period was a mirage.
Both the previous sentences are false.
Obama was elected because he had a D after his name on the ballot. That's really the long and short of it. Any number of competent Democrats would have defeated McCain in 2008. Kerry, Clinton, Gore, pre-affair Edwards...to name a few.
Obama has fallen in popularity from the stratosphere to the around 50-53% in the polls because of his policies and actions as President. It is also the result of the gulf between the implied promises of his campaign and the reality of his governance. Still, his fall in the polls, while more dramatic than many post war Presidents, is within a normal range. Ford, Clinton, and George W. Bush - all white - had similar fall offs in popularity after being in office for a few months. Bush's popularity fell dramatically in the months after both his election wins.
In other words, Obama's being judged on things other than race.
I commend Obama and Biden for stepping on President Carter's retrograde insistence that those protesting in D.C. last weekend were motivated by race. They killed that narrative quickly and decisively. In the future, Maureen Dowd, Janeane Garofalo, Keith Olbermann and more than a few others will think twice about inventing racism where it largely does not exist.
Does this mean the country is post racial? Certainly not as a whole. But much of it is. Many of us - of all races - do actually prioritize and assess our relationships and make judgements on criteria other than race and have for quite some time - often against a headwind of insistence that race is the central fact of American life. In the last 20 years this insistence has usually come from rich, white progressives and black "leaders" who have an ongoing interest in keeping racism alive. This is one area Obama can be a truly transformative President: He can shut the liberal racial reactionaries up forever.
UPDATE! While we wait for the big fly away....I've added a God poll to the bottom of the post! Last chance to own your truth before the 7 year tribulation!
Please clear your to do lists and put on some clean underwear.
This is good news all around. Either you will be shuttled off to heaven OR a bunch of really annoying people will be - allowing the rest of us to indulge in our debauchery and sin in relative peace and quiet.
Now it's not clear exactly when on Monday the rapture is to occur. One assumes that God will wait until after Oprah as even God doesn't want Ms. Winfrey pissed off.
With that, I say -Good luck to all! Have a wonderful rapture day!
Is his "team" so inept that the response to the Right must only emanate from him? Or is it that he is so arrogant they he thinks he is the only one who can make a case for anything?
Regardless, it's creepy, gross and cult-y. There is something that disgusts me about a President that feels the need to be a constant presence in our lives. Especially when he's been so willing to have Congress do all the work. All he seems to do is talk. and talk. and talk.
This time the Obama DOJ did not use child molestation and incest as legal reasoning to discriminate against gays...so I guess that is progress. The DOJ insists it must defend laws on the books. This is a suspect theory. Besides, Obama promised to repeal this law. He has taken no action to do so. None. Zero. Zilch.
This is yet another demonstration that Obama is a man with no principles whatsoever.
Con Couglin at the UK Telegraph asks this question in regards to the new missile defense policy announced Thursday. I wondered the same thing in reviewing stories on it. Either she was aced out of the policy decision or she strongly disagreed and removed herself from the announcement process. Either scenario makes sense to me. She's clearly more hawkish than Obama and may want nothing to do with this decision. Though, Obama has been in the business of marginalizing her through out his first 8 months.
It's also important to note that the day after Obama nixed the missile defense system, Iran's President ranted that they will never give up their nuclear capability and again insisted the Holocaust was faked. Israel isn't likely to hold back much longer. It would not surprise me at all to wake up some morning between now and Christmas to news that Israel had bombed Iran. Agree or not, the consequences of this action would be wide ranging and affect us all.
The suggested task this week at Splendeed was to contact your rep. and voice your opinion on health care....what ever your opinion is...I knew my congresswoman (Diane Watson) and Senators (Feinstein/Boxer) but realized I had no real idea who my state reps were. I had a vague sense that I'd voted for someone...but couldn't name them...AND my city council rep was also vague to me - as it's changed a few time recently due to people moving on...my ignorance was sad but true...So I did my research and now all are clearly posted on my fridge. Now you:
Not doing a lunch post today. But we MUST have some music. The USC football team has made Bill Wither's song Lean On Me their theme for the season. Below is Wither's singing his classic and a clip of his "prank" visit to the USC football team this year that ends with everyone singing...Lean On Me's sweet simplicity ranks it near Let It Be as one of the 20th Century Pop songs that people will be singing forever...
Obama is shoving the Dalai Lama under the bus. He will not meet with the Dalai Lama when he comes to D.C., though Bush, Clinton and Bush all did. From the WSJ:
President Obama has been in office nearly eight months; that's twice as long as it took for Messrs. Bush or Clinton to meet the Dalai Lama. The Tibetans certainly understand what's going on: Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche said Tuesday that "a lot of nations are adopting a policy of appeasement" toward China "even the U.S. government." This is change we can believe in?
This news came just before Obama ditched Bush's missile defense plan in Europe - a topic I do not have a strong opinion on. Yet, it's worth pointing out that in April Obama said this in Prague:
So let me be clear: Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat, not just to the United States, but to Iran's neighbors and our allies. The Czech Republic and Poland have been courageous in agreeing to host a defense against these missiles...Check out the clip here.
"So let me be clear" is Obama's signal that duplicity is on horizon. In Wilsonian terms: He's about to lie - directly or by misleading his audience. In classic BHO form he actually didn't promise he'd go forward with the missile defense program Poland and the Czech Republic wanted. He compliments the host countries - leading them to believe he's on their team. Then, months later....well...you know the drill: The public option was never essential...Congress must take the lead on DOMA... He never explicitly promised to stop mountain top removal....and so on and so forth...The Czech Prime Minster was awakened in the middle of the night with the call from Obama that his country had been ditched. Nice touch.
I'm sure there were high fives all around with the Chinese and the Russians this week. Obama boned both the Dalai Lama and 2 small European countries that fear Russia. Good week, Barack.
The Chinese and Russians must be over the moon. They have in Obama a President they can push around.
Whether or not Joe Wilson is a racist is beside the point. He may be. He may not be. I'm not really quite clear what one means anymore when one says "racist". The word itself has been rendered nearly meaningless from overuse.
Nor do I care much if Joe Wilson is a bigot. I had no idea who he was until last week. I was honest here the night he yelled: It didn't bother me much because I know if the parties were reversed the Democratic partisans would be gleefully defending the screamer. Democrats voraciously booed Bush in the same room quite recently.
I also stated it would muddle the GOP response. Which it did. That was a weather report, not a judgement. Both "sides" in the health care debate are disturbing and untrustworthy. That's a judgement, not a weather report.
What we are seeing play out- and it may be unconscious on people like Carter's part - is a method of silencing critics. The House's reprimand of Wilson was about his outburst during a Presidential address. Whether or not a person should be publicly called out for such behavior is a legitimate issue. However, racist accusations have been layered on top of Wilson's action. Most specifically with inflammatory remarks by representative Hank Johnson and stupid remarks from President Carter. This technique is now a well worn path for Obama apologists. In nearly every instance of visible, vocal criticism of Obama for the past year and a half accusations of racism have been injected as a method of marginalization. Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Geraldine Ferraro, Sarah Palin, and conservative protesters, all have all been labeled racist with little or no evidence. In fact, evidence is usually avoided by the accusers as it tends to immediately render the accusation hollow and unfair.
Injecting race into every argument is a diversionary tactic. The best offense against this tactic is to respond to the word with a big fat whatever. A shoulder shrug. A tacit acknowledgement that the word "racist" is now a joke. It is a knee jerk reaction from people who don't want to address or think deeply about real issues. In other words, to agree with what the accusers have done to the word: neutered it. Then it is important to move back to the matters at hand. Was a strong executive a necessary part of the getting civil rights legislation passed as Hillary stated? Was a viable bi-racial candidate a novelty in American politics for some voters as Ferraro implied? Were Obama's connections to Ayres fair game in last year's election? Has Obama lied about health care? Should Americans be concerned about excessive government spending? Those are the real questions.
The race card is going to stick around. Those who use it enjoy using it.
Two last points: I have no doubt that some who are vehemently opposed to Obama harbor unsavory, racist attitudes. I won't name names but sniff around a few prominent commentators and the whiff of bigotry emanates. Yet, few have crossed the line. The irony here is that the obsession with race has come from the Left. However, the compulsive and incorrect labeling of the opponent as a means to end debate happens on both sides.
Finally, legitimate criticism of the President must never be stifled. Never. Ever. Ever.
Robert Gibbs says Obama believes criticism of him is based in policy disagreements. I applaud this. Now that Obama has rejected it- the use of the race card will be much harder to pull off.
If being critical of Obama or calling him a liar (which is, ironically, true) means one must endure being attacked as a racist...So be it. I no longer care. I see no reason to respond to or defend against the slime balls who are perfectly willing to degrade hundreds of years of horrible history just so they can suck up to America's current number one slime ball - a Wall Street errand boy named Barack Obama.
Yes - I just said BOY!!! ooooooh go tell Keith Olberman on me!
The use of the word 'racist' has been so warped and abused since BHO came on the scene that soon it will be synonymous with being called:
*a patriot, *a person of integrity *a courageous American *a person willing to speak truth to power, *a person who refuses to be controlled and talked down to.
The persistence of the illusion that economists know anything is astonishing. Tuesday Mr. Bernanke, who apparently couldn't be bothered to warn anyone of the coming collapse last fall, said the economic recession is over.
Phew! That wasn't so bad. Bailout the banks by forcing a nation into decades of debt, print piles of cash and BANG! It's over! Whoo hoo!
Here's the dirty little secret Bernanke and his crew avoid: When they say the recession is over - they mean it's over FOR THEM. It's over for the banks who hauled off billions tax payer cash. It's over for Goldman Sachs and AIG. A lot of loot got shovelled their way in the last year. It's over for idiot financial news talking heads who pull own 6 figures for blathering happy nonsense into a TV camera everyday. It WAS over for ACORN until that whole sex slave mix up. (Those darn moralists who don't think the U.S. government should be abetting statutory rape! Always ruining the party!) It's over for the health insurance companies. In fact, the party is just starting for them. Chicago Slim is about to criminalize anyone who won't or can't buy health insurance.
Yes indeed, it's over. The recession has been a success. When Bernanke types talk about the economy they don't really mean you and me. They're talking about their pals in penthouses on the upper west side and in mega mansions in the Hamptons. The transfer of wealth from the middle class to the very rich has been a wild success. The little worries that they might not pull it off are now behind them. Looking forward, the only concern is how to keep China in line. No small task. Still - the recession is OVER! Let's leave the bone crushing debt to China for another day - or another generation.
Meanwhile back in reality: 10% unemployment and the collapse in credit marches on. That 10% figure is an absurdity wrapped in a lie covered with bullshit sauce...and we all know it. I'm not an economist (A fact I'm increasingly proud of - and it's easier than saying I'm not an overpaid, gaseous, mole person.) still it doesn't take a doctorate from Yale to know that the economy - such as it is - ain't returning to its bubbly glory days anytime soon. Sure Ben B tells us it will be a slow recovery - which is code for "You are debt slaves that are provided with bread and circuses so we can continue to loot. Circuses will now be available in the short term. Bread will be on hold for a bit. Perhaps the local mini mart has some yeasty food you can eat for the pittance clanging about in your pocket. Or you can grow turnips on the lawn of a repo-ed house in your 'hood."
Wee wee-ed up bloggers in the internet backwaters did see the meltdown coming - the one that best and brightest overlooked - and now many of the same folks say the problems in the economy are nowhere near fixed. So who are we to believe? Big Ben and his cavalcade of "experts" or the "nuts" on the fringe who got it right?
Not only will you be forced to buy insurance. Guess who gets the power to fine, audit and generally muck around in your business if you do not? The I.R.S. !
It is clearer and clearer that the fear of massive government intrusion are correct and well founded.
Under the various proposals now on the table, the IRS would become the main agency for determining who has an "acceptable" health insurance plan; for finding and punishing those who don't have such a plan; for subsidizing individual health insurance costs through the issuance of a tax credits; and for enforcing the rules on those who attempt to opt out, abuse, or game the system. A substantial portion of H.R. 3200, the House health care bill, is devoted to amending the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in order to give the IRS the authority to perform these new duties.
1. Wonderful.Cabbie to the rescue: Unpleasant customer turns out to be match with cabbie she berated and did not tip. Cabbie also reunited with daughter.
3. Clay feet on a big man:Michael Jordan is a resentful old man. I was really sad to read that Jordan used his Hall of Fame induction to air decades worth of grievances. I always admired Jordan...apparently the inside dope is that he's known for nursing grudges. Ugh. Another one bites the dust.
Obama was completely and utterly in bed with them throughout his entire adult life. These are his people. He was a community organizer and they are the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. He trained them, he defended them as an attorney, and he paid them a pile of cash last year to help him get elected and then had to 'amend' the FEC filing to comply with the law.
As many of us has been saying for quite some time: The Obama campaign was the most corrupt in our history. Slowly but steadily we will get the real story. The ACORN levee has been breached. Unravel ACORN and you unravel the Obama mystique.
One very good reason to help the GOP win back the House next year:
The South Park boys nailed him last season with the Fishsticks episode. Like Joe Wilson, he did apologize quickly. So that's something. Still...what an ingrate. When the revolution comes I'd like junk celebrities like West to be third on the list. First overrun the D.C./Wallstreet axis. Then seize the media propaganda machine. Third - seize all junk celebrities and banish them to a place civilization has left behind...perhaps the Yukon...or Chicago. Ankle monitors for all so they can't escape and try to live among us again.
It's my day off but I was so distracted all Saturday because of this...Meant to post...
...Carolyn at Make Them Accountable sent this piece from Chris Floyd out this week: But of course there will be no reform, and there was never going to be. Obama is going to "reform" America's broken health care system the same way he has "reformed" the War on Terror and "reformed" Wall Street: by taking the existing policies and making them even worse...
Are the ACORN pimps going to be arrested? And why is Glenn Beck doing all the work on this story? Glenn BECK!!!!! For Christ Sake! How has it come to pass that tax payer funded child prostitution is only being covered by conservative leaning media? Where is the Left? Where are the feminists? Where is Gloria Steinem? Where is Gloria Allred? Where is Eric Holder? Where is N.O.W.? At what point will people erupt in fury at these ACORN pimps?
The energies produced by the Obama/Soros/ACORN machine are the most corrupting influence we've seen in this country in...uh...ever.
American Hero, Mark Bingham: Bingham was a champion rugby player who helped the Golden Bears to earn national titles in 1991 and 1993. He remained a life-long Bear Backer, a fanatic sports enthusiast, a devoted alumnus, and a proud gay man. On September 11, 2001 Bingham, along with a few other passengers on flight 93, rushed the hijackers - preventing further destruction and loss of life in Washington D.C. Though passenger Todd Beemer said the more famous "Let's Roll." Bingham is heard on tape saying:
"This is ridiculous, let's kick their asses"
From Wiki: Bingham was survived by his former boyfriend of six years, Paul Holm, who says this was not the first time Bingham risked his life to protect the lives of others. He had twice successfully protected Holm from attempted muggings, one of which was at gunpoint. Holm describes Bingham as a brave, competitive man, saying, "He hated to lose-at anything." He was even known to proudly display a scar he received after being gored at the running of the bulls in Pamplona.
The text of Senator McCain's remarks at the funeral of Mark Bingham:
I love my country, and I take pride in serving her. But I cannot say that I love her more or as well as Mark Bingham did, or the other heroes on United Flight 93 who gave their lives to prevent our enemies from inflicting an even greater injury on our country. It has been my fate to witness great courage and sacrifice for America's sake, but none greater than the selfless sacrifice of Mark Bingham and those good men who grasped the gravity of the moment, understood the threat, and decided to fight back at the cost of their lives...It is now believed that the terrorists on Flight 93 intended to crash the airplane into the United States Capitol where I work, the great house of democracy where I was that day. It is very possible that I would have been in the building, with a great many other people, when that fateful, terrible moment occurred, and a beautiful symbol of our freedom was destroyed along with hundreds if not thousands of lives. I may very well owe my life to Mark and the others who summoned the enormous courage and love necessary to deny those depraved, hateful men their terrible triumph. Such a debt you incur for life....I never knew Mark Bingham. But I wish I had. I know he was a good son and friend, a good rugby player, a good American, and an extraordinary human being. He supported me, and his support now ranks among the greatest honors of my life. I wish I had known before September 11 just how great an honor his trust in me was. I wish I could have thanked him for it more profusely than time and circumstances allowed. But I know it now. And I thank him with the only means I possess, by being as good an American as he was.
*John Smart believes no one should die because they cannot afford healthcare, and that Obama should stop "requesting" a public option and draw a damn line in the sand and demand it. And he should stop trying to suck up to Republicans and thinks he should tell the damn blue dogs to go to hell. Oh, and no one should go broke because they get sick. If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day.
*some of you know about the annoying advent of "Facebook activism" in which people pass bromides for simpletons around and ask them to be placed as status updates. It's the narcissist's version of taking a stand. A naive version of the above is the latest nonsense. I re-wrote it to better reflect my views.
It's nice to feel convinced you're contributing without ever getting off your ass. I remember when everyone protested the Iraq invasion by leaving their headlights on all day!! Yeah! Good times! It was like Woodstock!
3 polls tonight about 2012. The choices appear very stark to me this far out. Please vote in all three. I am both curious and torn when I game the next general election out in my mind.
Rafa Rocks: Man storms on to the U.S. Open Court after match, he hugs then kisses Rafael Nadal. After he's taken away by security Rafa says ""For me, it wasn't a problem. The guy was really nice. He said, 'I love you,' and he kissed me."
Yikes! AP: 4 out of every 10 working age Californians unemployed. That's 40% unemployment. Severe. A bit of a stretch. But let's be honest, around the country the real numbers are much higher than the 9.7% reported and we all know it. There does seem to be an effort to keep the official number under 10%
Okay - it's actually someone else's thought...A friend who'd watched the speech called afterward. He had generally favorable views of it. He mentioned one moment in which Obama excoriated an insurance company for delaying coverage for a woman with breast cancer because she failed to report acne when she signed up. Obama then said "they are not bad people" and blamed "profit motive."
My friend rightfully pointed out that people who delay treatment for someone with breast cancer are, in fact, bad.
I agree. It isn't true to say "they are not bad people" - when what actual people at the insurance company did to this woman indicates a lack of ethics and decency. A badness. Those who think profit is more important than cancer treatment are BAD PEOPLE. Period.
Let us not have any moral relativity about this. "It's just business" is not and never should be an excuse for bad behaviour.
Hearing rumors that Joe Wilson screamed "You're a Liar!" during the speech. This, unlike the speech itself, I'd like to have seen...UPDATE HERE TOO: For some strange reason I thought the Joe Wilson who yelled "You are a liar" during the speech was the one married to outed spy Valerie Plame. Which made for a bizarre scene mentally. It was not. It was some GOP from South Carolina. It's bad politics on his part as it's bound to overtake any GOP message for a few days. Though, the yelp itself doesn't really bother me. Why? If a Democrat had yelled "Liar!" at Bush during his Iraq speech to Congress, I'd probably have been pleased as punch. 90% of the Democrats who will ream Wilson in the next few days would have been too. In fact, the yeller would have become a gilded poster boy.
Though, I hear the speech was good - my predictions from last night stand.
-He will request a public option but not demand it. Check!
-The media will go nanners about the speech for a few days. I presume this is happening. We'll see. I'm sure the obots are orgasmic as well.
UPDATE: It looks like the reviews are somewhat mixed from the Obots. From what I gleaned briefly: Huffington is, of course, full of the insane kool aid crew. Kos is mixed but pretty distrustful of Obama. Americablog has a lot of Obama nay saying going on. At one point he's called a "dickless wonder". (Did the Soros money finally run out over there?) Experience tells us that there is time lag between when Obots hear Obama's words and when they realize they are meaningless. It used to be months. Now it's a few days.
-The public option is dead. Yeah, this is an almost check. It will take a few weeks to make it official.
-A reform bill of some sort will pass before the end of the year. No brainer. Almost check.
I am glad he spoke about certain restrictions taking place immediately...not in 4 years. It's politically toxic for reform laws to take 4 years to implement. He needed to get ahead of that coming trainwreck. The fines for not buying insurance are still a problem that will enrage people.
Cannonfire says "game over" on health care reform as the Baucus plan - the one most likely to pass - contains a provision that forces you and me to purchase heath insurance. The fines for refusing? 750 to 3800 dollars. Per year? One wonders.
Cannonfire also asks whether if it is even constitutional to coerce people into purchasing insurance.
The bill mostly likely to pass is an obscenity. Bad Max Baucus' health care plan is, best as I can tell, an attempt to turn the middle class into serfs to the health care industry. This is the first line from Marcy Wheeler's blog. Cannonfire's post will get you to all the pertinent opinions from the Left on this crock of steaming s**t.
Again , the pattern need to be pointed out.
-Everything is a crisis. -In all crises the function of the federal government is to transfer wealth from the middle class to certain fixed elites. - The Federal Government is in the hip pocket of large corporations and Wall Street.
The health care "reform" fits this pattern.
Iraq Swine Flu Banking collapse Auto collapse Airline bailouts Heath care
In all cases a "crisis" has been used to legalize a massive transfer of wealth.
1. Kunstler is ripping good this week. I recommend his post highly. He covers health care and other topics. Here is one little taste regarding Obama's sliding poll numbers among white voters: I think it is about Mr. Obama's shoveling of huge sums into Wall Street, and the unabated obscene money-grubbing by the executives there-while millions of ordinary people get thrown out of their houses, lose jobs that they'll never get back, and slip-slide permanently out of the middle class.
3. Debt relief. Check out the first line in this piecefrom Marketwatch about the debt Americans paid off in July. U.S. consumers sharply reduced their debt in July, posing another threat to the nascent recovery... It's a perfect microcosm of how ass backward the economic elites are. The 'little people' paying off debt is bad news to these trolls...Actually, on Planet Sanity, where Wall Street never alights, debt is bad and solvency is good.
4. Palin Watch. She has a piece in the Wall Street Journal. As I've often done before, I'll say - I don't agree with her much- but if you're a political junkie like me - she remains one to watch. The bad P.R. advice that plagued her for nearly a year is being corrected. The Wall Street Journal telegraphs seriousness.
I find that hard to fathom and would like to know if its true. If it is true, Obama, Axelrod and crew are more cynical than even I assumed. The back room Big Pharma deals were gross but expected from No Drama, No Effort, No Real Commitment Obama. If - after all the conjured thunder and lightening on both sides - no reform will be implemented until after the next general election we can all assume that no reform will ever be implemented and this whole "debate" has been an episode of Hee Haw. Lame skits and cheap one liners to distract for an hour or a summer.
If I had to bet on the 2012 general election today I'd throw my cash down for the GOP candidate. Who knows at this point. Still, the power, media and money that massaged BHO into the WH will no doubt have good reason to line up behind Mr. Pawlenty - or whoever- if it means halting health care reform come 2013. The genius chess move here is that if nothing has changed in 2012 Obama will then be able to run on the future AGAIN. This time based in fear not hope - but fear tends to work quite well. The Republicans plan on taking away the heath care reform you don't even have yet! It's so cynical if makes cynics like yours truly cringe.
What,exactly is the point of all this agitation if no reform will become law until after the end of the Mayan calender? WTF? I would ask "How stupid do they think we are?" except I know the answer. They assume we're pretty stupid. Sadly, with good reason. I certainly hope Sowell is incorrect.
At any rate, this is how this debate goes from here on out in a few easy steps:
1. Obama makes a well received, commanding speech in which he is more specific than he's yet been. The bar for specificity is now so low any sentence in the active voice will be roundly applauded. Obots will be over the moon. He smart! He's brilliant! He's God on Earth!
Obama will claim forcefully that he wants a public option. He will not demand it. Therein lies all the information anyone who favors a public option needs. There will be no public option.
2. The media will swoon and all but masturbate on camera. They'll sing Obama's praises for about a week.
3. Sometime within the next 3-4 weeks I'd guess - after the Wednesday speech has faded - the administration will sink the public option. Possibly on a Saturday night in memory of Van Jones. They'll be some blow back from the Left - but by then I suspect the Left will be preoccupied with Afghanistan. The WH will get enough liberals in the House to sign on for passage.
4. Before Christmas (Thanksgiving?) in front of a cavalcade of cameras and Kennedys, Obama will sign a health care "reform" bill. The bulk of which won't take effect until...uh...well...the Pawlenty Administration.
Feel free to bookmark this post to see how close I come to being right.
1. Splendeedy -do: I did the good deed last week...at the LAST minute. I was a little surprised by my discomfort with it as I've done the "give food to the homeless" thing before. Just never alone. Hmmm...always good to push the comfort boundaries a bit. I will do the good deed this week as well...check it out.
2. Your Obot-O-Scope for Tuesday by Astrid Passionfroot:
The Obama moon rose early on Saturday in order to take a dump on Van Jones. This bodes well for a week of productive Obot-ery. The need to kiss and lick the TV set on Wednesday night during HIS speech to Congress may overwhelm even the most self contained Obot. Remember: Use a dental dam!
Tonight: Write a letter to yourself asking yourself how you - yourself - can help Barack! Then mail the letter to yourself - to yourself - and wait for your letter to yourself to arrive!
3. Clowns to the Left, Jokers to the Right: Cannonfire renders BHO and Michelle Bachman here and here. ......dee lish us....
4. Quote: I've often stood silent at a party for hours listening to my movie idols turn into dull and little people.
The President making a speech to school children does not bother me. What continues to astound is three fold:
1. Obama's handlers are inept. The original "lesson plan" to go along with the speech, like the creepy "POTUS" seal before he even had the nomination, seems to reflect an ongoing unnerving and cultish atmosphere in the White House. The original plans suggested that students "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president." After the outcry it was changed to "Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals."
Here's the rub: no one in the room while this plan was written stopped and said "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president." might be a problem. Just as no one had the sense to stop the design of the fake Presidential seal before it was unveiled to a repelled nation. This is politics 101. There are gross assumptions in the statement "Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president." Did White House aides truly see no problem with it? Did they not notice that 48 percent of the population did not vote for him? Did they not see any television news this summer? Are they so unconscious of the country at large that NO ONE thought to rewrite before the storm erupted?
2. Obama's team is still being lapped by the Right. Any moderately intelligent low level White House hack should have seen the blow back coming. Yet, they apparently did not. Knowing that Rush L and the rest would raise holy hell about Obama making a speech to a captive audience of students is as easy as knowing the sun will rise on Tuesday. But they were STILL caught off guard. Wow. Who, I ask seriously, is running the show?
3. As is now the norm - the limp and predictable response from liberal commentators has been about race "Obama is being excoriated because he's black." Even if there is some truth in this - and there is very little - nothing in American life today loses an argument more quickly than the race card. People simply stop listening. The Left needs to stop injecting race at every opportunity. It's tired and useless. Of course, after the indefensible and creepy lesson plan - that the White house quickly scrubbed - there was little else to use except the race card.
The argument that Obama is seen as the "other" has some weight - but it has little to do with race. Obama has weakness here for one straightforward reason: He ran as everything to everybody andwas not vetted. He ran from above and questionsabout his past were shoved aside with the ever handy race card. Digging into his past was considered the realm of nuts. We've never elected a president that so many people knew so little about. Guess what, if no one knows your particulars you will be seen as the Other. That fact is as old as human communities themselves. Large portions of his Obama's past have still not been vetted. We weren't asked to believe in Obama so much as we were commanded to assume he was A-Okay.
Had Obama been put through the ringer and still won the election it would be easier to chock some of the more strident criticism of the school speech up to white fear of black power. Because of the way the primaries were handled, and the way the stimulus was handled, and the bailouts, and the fake presidential seal, and the stunt crowds, and the Berlin speech and...and...and... there is a deep and gnawing sense among many that this man is trying to get away with something. It cannot all be written off as Right wing blather. Or fear of his dark features.
Obama in "free fall" among white voters. The White House plans an aggressive outreach program to get these voters back. The three step program, scripted by White House aids, will unfold as follows:
- Louis Gates and Jeanane Garofalo will go door to door. Gates will ask people to step outside after which he will insult their mothers. Simultaneously, Garofalo will scream that they are "stupid racists" and periodically bite the voter's shins until they promise to support Obama again. If they refuse to profess unyielding love for Obama...
- a 3 story Keith Olbermann balloon (think Macy's parade) will inflate on their lawn and repeatedly intone:
"Little worthless working class cracker! Yes you! YOU Are the WORST person in the World! Love Obama unconditionally or I will....uh....do something really...really....mean...like not invite you on my show! You are a racist who can not think for yourself!!! Unlike me who lives on the Upper West Side , so I must be smart! I speak to black people every day! I understand the black experience because I used to report on sports! Black people play sports! Listen to me and kiss Obama's feet, little cracker people! Ah hahahahahaha. I have no issue with women! ah hahahahahaha!!!!
The Olbermann balloon is programed to continue talking for 3 days after which all the hot air is expelled through the "anus" and the balloon deflates rapidly - flying wildly though the sky and moaning "I'm relevant! I'm relevant!", "Mommy, Mommy! Please don't hate me!" and "Must blame Palin. Palin Bad!!"
- Should these tactics fail to return the white household to the Obama fold, Black Panthers with machine guns will be placed outside the house. They will harass and intimidate all who enter or leave. A cardboard cut out of Eric Holder will be placed nearby...looking away.
Obama administration officials insist their plan is sound. When asked if poll numbers among whites might be falling because of policy or competence concerns, The Widow Gibbs, responded:
"No. Obviously anyone who thinks that is just stupid. This is about race. Everything is about race. No matter what. I think I should move on to a question that isn't asked by a moron. The President is confident he can get the "crackers back in the box" - as he put it - with his speech on Wednesday. Whitey loves it when a negro man gets wound up at a podium."
When the reporter followed up asking if that statement itself might be construed as racist, Gibbs said "No! You're A racist! You're a racist!! You're a racist!!! Infinity! " and walked off, ending the press conference.
