To damn funny to pass by:

Brown 2012?

If Brown were to enter the 2012 Prez race - how would the Obama Pod People react? In 2012 Brown will have almost the exact same resume as Obama did on 2008. (Except Brown has not written 2 self indulgent - essentially vapid -autobiographies. And Brown never spent a year pretending to be a community organizer.)

Kamikaze Democrats

The attacks on the WH for ducking C-Span keep coming. Jack Cafferty appears to have expunged all the Kool-Aid he swilled in 2008. Though there is no reason to suddenly trust the noxious gasbag, his broadside is welcome:


The Widow Gibbs is having a particularly hard time with this issue, falling back on "We covered this yesterday.", which is, of course, a lie. The question was avoided yesterday, as it was today.

The similarity in vibe between the Bush Cheney push for war with Iraq and the Obama Pelosi Reid demand for a health care bill that the majority oppose is striking. The main difference being that before we invaded Iraq only half the nation opposed the war. In the case of health care "reform" well over half oppose. The level of arrogance is astounding even by D.C. standards. In trying to get a handle on it I keep coming up empty. The bill must be a payoff of extraordinary magnitude. Much of the Democratic leadership is acting like kamikaze pilots, willing to give their political lives for a bill next to no one wants. And they're willing to do it in secret - throwing the middle finger just before they self-immolate. The mindless belligerence is a sight to behold.

Worst ever.

I am on my annual football bender. So I continue with the polls until Monday...or i get bored with football and decide to write something...Happy 2010!

Two Presidential polls:

Morning Links at night!

Do not miss the brilliant How the Bro Stole the Country.

Cine gets better and better....Is Hillary hiding in plain site?

To slur with love: Baucus drunk?

Astrid Tweets: Did u c r great leader take on the leg bomber? He knows all about rich bombers cuz of his old friend Bill Aryes! Barack will protect us 4 sure!

Oil jumps.

Lambs to the slaughter.

Obama's planned slaughter of the Left is nearly complete.

Friday morning grab bag...

Don't Miss: Sketchy Santas (Thanks Jay!)



Gay of the Day: Actor Stephen Fry. Note to Self: over holiday find and view Stephen Fry/ Hugh Laurie comedy show from the 90s.


You Lie! Ratigan kicks wall street pimp/congressman in the nuts.



Olberman style Fisty Cuffs: today Texas v California.


In case you missed it: Clintons revenge on Chicago Slim in full swing.

Poll

Links, Forgiving the Franklins, Bob Barker goes to Hollywood,

The Hokey Pokey Speech: I think we should all call Obama's speech at West Point the "Hokey Pokey" speech. Put 30,000 in, take 30,000 out....

Obama is making a speech! This week! Hard to believe, I know. He so seldom makes big speeches. He'll unveil his jobs plan. Included: Cash for caulkers. I wish I was kidding. Cue up the off color puns and porn titles. The dialogue practically writes itself...

Worker: I've got a stimulus package to deliver...

Not So Innocent Homeowner: Come in. You must be from Cash for Caulkers...

Forgiving the Franklins clip. My best friend made a film called Forgiving the Franklins over a series weekends with no budget. It is a gem. It went to Sundance and was a big hit. It's now available on ITunes (no small feat.) In the film 3 of the 4 members of a repressed Southern family miraculously and suddenly have their sex shame removed...to the horror of the daughter. In this clip the son recounts to his family the sex he had earlier in the day...his first time. I laugh every time.



At least they'll have a Nobel laureate: No Christmas trees in Copenhagen for conference.

Bonus CO2s in the atmosphere: Obama will now travel to Scandinavia twice in two weeks. Just saying...

Bob Barker takes Hollywood. Before his bath Sunday Bob met some friends at the bat cave in the Hollywood Hills to get really dirty...

Bush bad. Obama good. Beat chest. Sip latte. Repeat.

It's lonely on the outskirts. Being on the outskirts of the outskirts is even lonelier still. Yet there is satisfaction here on the blogs that are outside the mainstream. Months ago, just after the election, I wrote that there was no loss to be had in questioning Obama. If he turned out to be all he and Axelrod promised he was - the country would be better for it and we - liberals, moderates, and conservatives -did our duty in questioning him without shame. In a free country everyone must question leadership. We are not 'consumers', we are citizens. If our most strident criticisms were proven wrong - well - so be it. I've eaten worse meals than crow pot pie.

On the other hand if, as indicated by the actual facts available on Obama during the entire election season, he turned out to be a duplicitous, arrogant, narcissistic, speechifying light weight who was lying overtly and covertly all along, then those who stood their ground would transform from "deadenders' into prophets before everyone's eyes. Becoming a prophet in this instance was a low risk bet. Obama made it an easy call. There was never any chance he would be the President he promised he'd be.

Eleven months in the road to prophethood is cleared of all brush and looks to be wide open from here to the horizon. None of those who refused the siren call of Obamamania will be dining on crow anytime soon. We probably never will. To mash up the metaphor a bit - it's safe to say that the crow dinner reservation has been handed off to the Kos family. Even so, the BHO victory restaurant is emptying and will close up shop soon enough.

The real deadenders now are the likes of Andrew Sullivan and Matt Yglesias - men who loved blindly and nearly unconditionally. Misguided children at places like the Dailykos and Huffpo are on a dead end road too. They chose hope over truth. Hallucination over reality. The bender that will surely prove the naysayers wrong - over sobriety.

In one year many of these mega children have passed quickly through the stages of ego deflation. Mindless glee (post election), fighting back (mockery and slander), denial, (those tea parties are just crazy racists. They mean nothing.) and most recently - excuses.

Excuses are the last stage before they turn completely (Many will have an abrupt cognitive break here- insisting they always knew Obama was not the man advertised.) or they will disappear - hunkering down in some hole, insisting that Obama is a great man and sometime soon the rest of us will come around. This will make the circle complete. Magical thinking started the journey and will be its end. Along the way there will be plenty of "Well, he's better than McCain would have been." A declamation similar to "jobs created or saved." As these remarks are desperate speculation, I consider them preparation for the final descent into an all encompassing magical world.

Via Riverdaughter and Glenn Greenwald we see a fine deconstruction of some recent excuses. Sure Obama has backtracked and ignored the ideas that animated his campaign - but hey who needs principles when a Democrat is in the White House? Taking principled stances only applies when Republicans are in power.

Bush bad.
Obama good.
Beat chest.
Sip latte.
Repeat.

It would be swell if I found the disintegration of the Obama apologists heart wrenching. It would speak to a personal magnanimity. But I ain't there. Watching Sullivan try to re-auction his soul in public satisfies mine. Nor do I put much into worrying about the direction of the country. I gave up on that last year. Hillary Clinton really was my last hope on that front. A country blessed by landing the right person at the right time for 230 years - ran out of grace. In 2008 we needed diligent, hardworking, competent leadership to rise to the top. We got Obama. I've come to the depressing conclusion that I am a pre-iceberg passenger on the Titanic fully aware of how this voyage ends. The best choice now is to watch closely and know where the nearest lifeboat hangs.

Palin's vagina

A spirited discussion about Mrs. Palin erupted here a few posts down. After, having thought I'd write little about Palin going forward, that conversation got me stewing again. The reason my thoughts on Palin had run there course is simple: After resigning the governorship of Alaska it seemed to me that she had removed herself as a viable national player. If she intends to run for President one day it was, in my book, a mistake.

Now she's on a national book tour and making headlines again. For a moment she is as present as she was last Fall. Like the campaign, the critiques of her are rarely evenhanded - and often vicious.

For those who did not want Hillary Clinton to win last year - it's annoying for those of us who did to have to explain our frustration and horror at Palin's treatment. Many of us are again put in the uncomfortable position of calling the elephant in the room...well....an elephant. The tactic of degrading Clinton based on gender was transferred to Palin. There is no denying it. In fact, she was sexualized more easily - making the slutty stewardess jokes easier for late night comics.

If one was an Obama fan the sexist bile directed at Hillary was par for the course, a part of the conversation. It became the context in which many Obama fanatics saw the world. The evil woman was in the way of our beloved man. Even now, suggesting to an Obama supporter that much of the criticism of Clinton sprung from gender fear is met with incredulity - though the evidence is overwhelming. If "Yes, but Hillary is a controlling bitch", isn't spoken - it's right under the surface. That was always their final answer.

Liberals who had nursed resentments about the Clintons since the 90s let loose the full barrage on Hillary. The ease with which this resentment became sexist vulgarity still has me shell shocked. Cunt, Witch, Bitch, Evil, Kill her, Run her over and leave her by the side of the road. Keith Olbermann implied on his show that she ought to be killed.

We all saw the comments on liberal sites. We all know those two 'liberal' kids above thought their shirts were funny. The Huffington Post, the Dailykos, Democratic Underground and Americablog became clubhouses for those hankering to express their most vile, sexist thoughts. And they did. All in the name of supporting Obama. All came from alleged liberals. All from people who claimed the mantel of equality and justice. Palin was hung in effigy as a "joke" last Halloween, a stunt that every feminist in America should have intoned against. Most were silent.

Andrew Sullivan, who's psychology is so muddled and tragic he's been on a year long quest to prove that Palin's last child is not her own, said: Sarah Palin's vagina is the font of all evil in the galaxy.

Not her beliefs. Not her convictions. Not her record. Her VAGINA. Palin's vagina is the font of all evil in the galaxy. God Lord, I wish there was something deeper at play in that remark. Some tiny shard of reality. But there isn't. Men like Sullivan - and we've recently discovered they are still legion - live in terror of any vagina they believe is hell bent on gobbling them up. Sullivan is an extraordinary gasbag - even by the low standards of his readership and clique. Still, he gets to the rub of it for many men. Any woman who does not play by the rules set by men must be stopped. Any woman who questions an adored male figure must be hounded. Burn the witches! Hillary in the spring! Palin in the Fall!

Men from James Howard Kunstler, to Chris Matthews, to Sullivan have let their inner mommy demons run wild for months now.

The hate transition from Clinton to Palin was seamless. Being conservative, Palin gave the Left a little more to work with - but it was hardly relevant. The centering emotion was the adolescent male fear of vaginas with teeth.

My anger about this topic is not based in politics. Palin's are troubling. It's the phenomenon of denial that disturbs. It is the counterpoint to my frustration with the Obama cult last year - a refusal to see reality. The "Obots" - and I include much of the media - refused to see Obama. They excused his massive flop flops, they ignored his financial backing from Wall Street and Soros, they pretended he'd taken principled stances on issues when he had avoided them, they ignored his vapid, almost empty record. This refusal now has consequences. Obama is what many who did look closely at him suspected all along : a weak, indecisive, inexperienced man who is being rolled by everyone from Nancy Pelosi to the Japanese Prime Minister.

Will those who despise Palin, and despised Hillary before her, ever come out of denial about the real basis of their contempt? Maybe. After all, coming out of denial about Obama has been the nation's group project in 2009. It's possible Palin will be judged on her merits and the content of her character at some point.

In the mean time, someone needs to tell Andrew Sullivan that the gnawing on his testicles is something other than a politician's vagina.

Mr. President: Take your bow and shove it.

Make no bones about it: Obama's bow to Emperor Akihito is an attack on all of us.

It's hard for me to quantify how repellent I find Obama's bow to the Japanese emperor. It confirms assumptions so many have about Obama being "the other". Assumptions I am not opposed to for the most part. He is, in many ways, not like us. He's the most unAmerican American President we've ever had in upbringing, thought process, and connection to his citizens. Without his media support, the residual pain of the Bush years, and the loud children on the Left, I suspect there would be little support left for him. It's hard to fathom how any American feels a connection to him - black or white. His speeches come from the mountain top, his attitudes, when mistakenly revealed, are condescending and his narcissism is degrading and harmful.

His bow to the descendant of the ruling house of a country that attacked us, an attack remembered by many still alive, is beyond the pale. It is disgusting.

Real Americans don't bow. To anyone. It violates every principle of republicanism. It is flies in the face of our history and revolution. An American head of state bowing to a foreign head of state is an attack of the first order on American principles and values. Obama must be excoriated for his putrid action.

Finally: I can no longer say the current President has any business representing the United States. Whatever the excuse given for his action - it speaks volumes about the man's thinking and character. The United States is a country among countries. We are subservient to no one. If our head of state is either so green or believes American Presidents should bow to others - then he is not worthy of the office. Our head of state represents all of us. When he bows to a another head of state he is symbolically bowing for all of us. Obama knows this. By prostrating himself he is taking a pot shot at the citizens he represents.

Morning links - at night. Equal rights edition

First a handy dandy poll. (as you can see I'm on one of my poll benders.) Also note the poll to the right. I'll switch it out every few days. There is nothing scientific about these polls...duh...Have fun. Vote often. Below are stories worth noting.


David Mixner: President Obama standing on the sidelines in Maine and Washington was appalling.

Dan Savage: President Obama is a fierce advocate of gay rights in the same way that I'm a ladies' man. He isn't and I'm not.

CNN: Darren Manzella saw two tours of duty in Iraq, first as a combat medic and later as a liaison officer. He earned three promotions in his six years as a U.S. Army sergeant...and yet...

Pure hatred: Same sex partners barred from funeral planning in Rhode Island when their mate dies.

Mormon turn around: I hesitate to link this because the actions of the LDS church in this case in no way mitigates the damage it has done and its previous vile, amoral behavior. Additionally, I'm done with the poverty consciousness of the Gay elite. Begging bigots for basic human rights is no longer acceptable. Women and Men are afforded human rights by virtue of being born. Not because a majority says so. So the LDS church in Salt Lake City agrees that housing and employment discrimination is wrong. Whoop Dee Fucking Doo. No one gets an prize for ceasing to be a hate filled crank for a few hours. Gays being happy about a group expressing a smidgen of human decency is a sign of a severe poverty of spirit.

I weep for the party I once believed in.

By 'Smart Blonde'


Many people at 'liberal' sites taken over by Obama's avid followers are finally realizing that Obama is not exactly what they thought they were buying. Yet they are still equating Pumas with Republicans. They need to wake up and realize that we are the ones who begged them to stop and think, to evaluate him on the basis of his contradictory statements and deeds, to look at his record, meager as it was, before voting for him to be the Democratic nominee.

Obama claimed to be the anti-war candidate on the basis of one 2002 speech, but once in the U.S. Senate he voted for all the war funding Bush asked for. Kucinich has been introducing anti-war bills in the house since 2002; Obama, as the rising star black senator, might have done so with more success. He chose not to. Obama also said during the campaign that he would expand the war in Afghanistan and perhaps take on Pakistan, too.

Now that it's obvious that Obama's anti-war stance was just a campaign ploy, the anti-war movement has rolled over and died rather than fight 'the one'. Obama voters want to pretend these are still Bush's wars and that Obama has no power against DADT or DOMA, no power to get a Democratic congress to pass a good health care reform bill. The way things are going, the insurance industry and bigpharm will get a lot richer thanks to Obama so their large contributions to his campaign will pay off.

Obama was noted for voting 'present' in the Illinois state senate, showing he doesn't want to take positions he can be held accountable for. Barack Obama was not noted for legislative accomplishments in Illinois or in Washington, where he spent little time, breaking his promise not to run for president until after his first senate term. The signs of his lack of true convictions and his inexperience were abundant.

Hillary Clinton would not have done everything that we want but her competence and experience with government at the national level exceeds Obama's. if Hillary were president, she would have accomplished far more than Obama has in the first nine months in office. I think Hillary could have already gotten a good health care reform bill passed because she had worked hard on this during bill's first term and because she had proven herself in the senate and earned the respect of other senators.

Of course, that was her main problem: she's an intelligent competent woman in a country where misogyny runs deeper than racism. She was called a bitch and a ballbreaker because she is strong. Hillary's appearance was criticized because she wasn't young enough, hot enough; than the younger Sarah Palin was criticized because she was too hot.

But Republicans supported Palin, in fact they loved her, while the slogan of many Democrats was 'bros before hos.' I weep for the party I once believed in. I weep for my daughter and all American women.

Cheney the blowhard versus Obama's H.I.D.

Watching Dick Cheney and the Obama administration engage in yet another round of bastard slapping is, I'll admit, highly entertaining. This is not said to diminish the life and death reality of the issue at hand - Afghanistan. I say it to point out an absurdity in the middle distance: Both sides seem powerless. Cheney is. Obama loves his power until he needs to make a decision that will displease some faction. So, at least for the moment, Obama has created a sense of powerlessness for himself on this issue . The impending Afghanistan decision lingers around him wherever he goes. Obviously, I can not know if Obama fears tough decisions...but it sure as hell seems that way.

Both Cheney's unwillingness to sail into the sunset and Obama's increasingly indecisive streak are an interesting clash. One man is a know it all with a horrendous track record, the other avoids tough decisions.

I've no patience for the "blame Bush" brigade in the White House. Even in those areas where Bush lead us astray, it's Obama's duty to lead and not whine about what he got himself into. The man wanted the job. Then again, Cheney is a piece of work. The former V.P. giving anyone advice on Afghanistan is like getting marriage counseling from a Gabor sister. Cheney and Bush screwed the Afghan pooch...big time...if there is one arena where Obama can rightfully blame the bushies it is Afghanistan.

On the other side -

What Cheney exposes in Obama is an indecisiveness that belies his stance as wise and above it all. ( Does Obama have H.I.D. - Hesitantly Indecisive Disorder? )Asking for a 6 month review of Afghan policy after he took office was all well and good. Having the review land on his desk in August, then ineptly kicking the can down the road was foolish.

The mitigating factors here are the leak of the report to the press and the corrupt Afghan elections. Neither, in my estimation, should have been surprises and neither should have caused a delay in Obama executing the task at hand. That the Afghan government is corrupt is not news. Why was a corrupt election treated as a point of consternation? Of course, American soldiers are fighting in a corrupt nation. Of course, the long arm of American power might have to slap Karzai around a bit. How can this be a surprise to Obama Administration officials? Forcing Karzai into a run -off ought to have no bearing of our military policy. Obama has to decide on American policy regardless who wins. I repeat: Afghan governmental corruption should surprise no one.

As for the leak - well, in D.C. a leak is like shit - it happens. This particular leak can't explain the last 2 months - that look for all the world like stalling. One ought to be able to assume that Obama was up to date on the facts in Afghanistan and McCrystal's report held few surprises. One also ought to be able to assume that Obama discussed all the eventualities with the pertinent administration players before the report was due. Any good chief executive would have.

Right?

Or are we to glean that Obama ordered the review, then walked away, believing he'd bought himself the better part of a year to deal with other things?


Cheney's value in snarking at Obama publicly is not in molding a policy discussion. He has no credibility on this issue. However, he does remind us that Obama should be further along on this issue by now.

The definition of immaturity.

Bono, lead singer of U2, and all around world citizen wrote a piece for the New York Times in which he states: The world wants to believe in America again...

It goes without saying at this point that this is a statement that cannot stand without Bono's assumptions about Mr. Obama as the foundation. He is not saying: the world wants to believe in America again regardless who is President. He is saying: The world wants to believe in Obama. Which is the particular pathology Obama is masterful at exploiting. The want to believe in him - a desire so deep and driven that not only is evidence ignored - it's not part of the equation whatsoever. What Obama does has no affect on this desire. It is all about what Obama says.

Bono quotes one of Obama's speeches to make the point that Obama is a good and worthy man: We will support the Millennium Development Goals, and approach next year's summit with a global plan to make them a reality. And we will set our sights on the eradication of extreme poverty in our time.

Bono again:...these 36 words are why I believe Mr. Obama could well be a force for peace and prosperity-if the words signal action. Notice that he tacks on the last 5 words to let us know he is not a complete dupe. Bono has standards. He tells us - Americans - as if we did not "get it" - that it's our President who is saying such noble things. Isn't that miraculous? You people who foisted Bush on us - now have done something right!

Alas, Bono fails prey to Axlerod's political skills. Speeches matter more than actions. Speeches are worthy of veneration and prizes. Actions come later...or we hope they do. But hope - the want, the desire, is all that matters. In the desire rest good feelings - and feeling good is the goal. This, as any first year psych student will inform you, is the definition of immaturity.

Like so many Europeans, Bono fundamentally misunderstands America's greatness. America's greatness DOES NOT spring from our Enlightenment ideals of republican democracy. Yes, you read that right. If greatness on the world stage came from lofty intentions and high ideals ancient Greece would still be a world power.

America's greatness springs from our republican values AND the people who were willing to embody them. Jefferson not only refined Enlightenment ideals for us- he became a traitor to his king. Susan B. Anthony did not merely make speeches. She got arrested. We owe as much to every black child who was water cannoned, arrested and killed in protest as we do to Dr. King. Bono does not understand this. The continued embodiment of American ideals by Americans is our strength. Thus far, there is no evidence that Obama is willing to sacrifice for an ideal. Any ideal.

Bono is, finally, a victim of a pervasive decadence that currently poisons the West. From this decadence comes the belief that intentions matter more than actions. The day Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize he snubbed the Dalai Lama - a perfect microcosm of the difference between judging someone on their intentions rather than their actions.

In Bono's world, Obama's speeches and alleged intentions alone are worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize. Obama makes Bono feel better. Do not be fooled: This belief is poison. It is the devil none of us fully know. Good feelings are not facts. Mistaking them for facts always has unfortunate consequences. Good feelings generated by good speeches won't stop Iran from getting the bomb, or bring peace to the Middle East, or stop Israel from attacking Iran, or convince the Chinese to keep buying our debt, or feed one hungry child. Not one. Yet, Bono, a man to be admired for his tireless good work, believes that Obama should be awarded for his intentions.

Finally, Bono's veneration of Obama in the New York Times can and should be dismissed for the simple reason that it's a campaign endorsement, not an assessment of President Obama's time in office. He's still riding hope. It's as if the last 10 months haven't yet occurred. The botching of the gitmo closure has not happened. The drone attacks on Pakistani civilians have not happened. The strengthening of FISA has not happened. The attacks on gay service men and women have stopped...

We, the realists, cannot allow our view to be clouded by the constant re-upping of "Hope" from the immature among us. Obama's goalposts cannot be moved every time the hope addicted need a fix. We must see the man and judge him on his actions. THAT IS THE JOB OF CITIZENS IN A DEMOCRACY.

The Alternate Reality Awards!

With the era of lower standards and/or no standards in full swing - kicked off by Barack "drone attack" Obama's surprise Nobel for "peace" - I do hereby introduce yet another periodic feature on Liberal Rapture: The Alternate Reality Awards! The "Surrealies" for short. Nominees are the least deserving or most bizarre and insulting choice in any given category...all selected by you! The first round is a good one. Nominations for future Surrealies are always open.

Who deserves the first Surrealie? Vote as many times as you want! Yes you can!

Obama's Beatification Latest in String of Awards

Latest scoop from our intrepid reporter, Tamerlane.

The Vatican: Pope Benedict XVI today announced the beatification of Barack Obama, paving the way for the US President's canonization as early as next week. The beatification was widely hailed as fitting and inspirational, although some questioned the pontiff's decision. The official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, was quick to point out that Obama was neither a Roman Catholic, nor had he met any of the grounds for beatification, such as divine intercession or martyrdom: "...facultatem facimus ut Venerabilis Servus Dei N. N. Beati nomine in posterum appelletur, eiusque festum...in locis ac modis iure statutis quotannis celebrari possit". But the paper saw the beatification as "encouragement" for the American leader: "Go out now and earn this honor, Mr. Obama, by curing some lepers or something!"

Obama's Many Miracles

Justin Rubin of MoveOn lists several of Obama's "saintly qualities" that already justify beatification. In an email entitled "Change We Can Worship", Rubin writes "President Obama has long been the subject of a cult of veneration-a Cultus Missa et Officium, was a virtual martyr to Bill Clinton's thinly-veiled racism, and during the primaries, performed the transubstantiation of his defeat in Indiana into a victory." Rubin also noted that Obama's 2007 speech calling for unilateral disarmament "will one day save the lives of millions who otherwise would perish in a nuclear holocaust, which is the same as raising the dead." Long-time Democratic insider James Carville concurred, saying "I find it somewhat miraculous that nobody properly vetted this jackass before nominating him."

He's Not Bush

Obama's beatification is the latest in a string of awards and accolades richly deserved by the President. In a move seen as reflecting his predecessor's unpopularity abroad, last week Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize for "never having accomplished a single mission ever." The extremely modest Obama admitted he did not deserve the Nobel, but vowed that he's "gonna wear the damn thing all the time. In the shower, even."

President Trumps Yankee Star

The Nobel came on the heels of Obama's MLB Gold Glove award for shortstop, for which the president just edged perennial winner Derek Jeter. Asked if he felt he deserved the Gold Glove, considering he was not a major league shortstop, Obama conceded he did not, but added, "neither does Jeter. Dude's got a rubber arm and no range!"

This was the second award which Obama has snatched in recent days from the Yankees star. Obama was also named by the Dissatisfied Wives of America as "mocha hunk I most often fantasize about while having bad sex with my husband." Jeter had won 13 of the last 14 DWA awards, losing only to Terrence Howard in 2005.

Animal Rights Activists Break Ranks

One of Obama's accolades has drawn sharp criticism-his 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award from the ASPCA for his adoption of Bo, the First Family's purebred Portuguese Water Dog. Although the award was clearly earned by Obama, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) expressed anger that "a fly-murderer could receive an award from a humane society." In protest, PETA members across America threw their naked bodies in front of Mormon churches and Whole Foods stores.

More Laurels Coming

Future awards already won by Obama include the 2010 Grammy for Best Crossover Song (for the "O-Ba-Ma" chant), the Democratic presidential nominations of 2012, 2016 and 2020, and the 2011 Oscar for Best Picture (for a comment by Stephen Spielberg that "Terrence Howard would make a good Obama.")

A Selected Timeline of Obama Awards

1961 Conferred by Barack Obama Sr. with honorific tribal title "M'gembwe foto dujuri ahat" (transl.: "Little bastard (who) looks just like me")

1977 Recipient of Honolulu H.S.'s Mile High Club's "Golden Roach Clip"

1981-83 Seven-time winner of ACORN's "Employee of the Month" award

1985 Appointed one of nine editors of Harvard Law Review, based on his outstanding pigmentation

1993 Named "laziest g**-d*** n**** I've ever met" by Illinois state senator Emil Jones, Jr.

2004 Won Pulitzer prize for William Ayres' "Dreams of My Father"

2007 Appeared on Time Magazine's "Man of the Century" cover

2008 Named "Greatest President Ever" by American History Magazine

2009 Recipient of Golden Globe award for telecast of his inauguration

2013 Proclaimed "President for Life" by Politburo

2015 Declared a "Living God" by the Senate




(c) 2009 by 'tamerlane.' All rights reserved.

Nobel poll

It's a bit like giving the Heisman Trophy to Stephen Hawking.

Barack Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is degrading to all humanity.

Everyone thought it was a joke at first. It certainly reads like the start of one.


The headlines at RCP - from both Right and Left are incredulous. This is an incredulous moment. A friend suggested I look at who was passed over for the peace prize. No one knows for sure who they were but the list of probable candidates is shocking. Check them out here. Real, hard working people who have spent years doing heavy lifting in impossible situations. The choice of Obama is insulting to all of them, and to all people who care about humanity.

A commenter below put it succinctly and brilliantly: It's a bit like giving the Heisman Trophy to Stephen Hawking. I would only add that it may make more sense to give Hawking a Heisman. One can imagine Hawking being a brilliant play caller if he'd directed his mind toward football. Doesn't make him a player - but it makes more sense than giving the Nobel peace prize to a man who ordered drone attacks on civilians on his first day in office. The degradation of the Nobel Peace Prize is complete. It's hard to fathom how it can recover. There will be much mockery of this award in the coming weeks. As well there should be. But let's not forget how repellent and disgusting this all is. The nominations were closed before Obama had been President for 2 weeks. Let that sink in.

The Left leaning Daily Beast had this to say:

Perhaps next they'll start giving Oscars not to the people who have made the best movies of last year, but to the people who have the best chance of making the best movies next year...I like Barack Obama as much as the next liberal, but this is a farce. He's done nothing to deserve the prize.

It was also pointed out to me today how much awarding this prize to Obama mirrors the Obotery of 2008. Advancement for nothing. Experience and hard work deemed irrelevant. Good people being thrown overboard for a narcissistic political hack. Something for nothing - deified. This does not distress me as much as it doubles down my commitment to stand firmly in reality. A reality based in the values of effort, tenacity, accomplishment, and experience. None of which Obama comes to the table with. It's yet another call for thinking, caring people to expose Obama. Speak truth to power. Speak truth to insanity.

Being a realist about how politics works (some would say cynical.) I can't help but reflect on last Friday when Obama was roundly spanked on the world stage. Obama has had "good news" follow bad news regularly. (When his preacher was shown to be a racist pig, the media claiming an insulting speech by Obama was "the most important speech on race in 40 years" being the prime example.)

Thus far most right wing attacks on Obama have been entertaining, and only nominally damaging. As harsh as they've been, they're actually a bit disappointing. Much effort is expended nibbling around the edges. Picking off low level functionaries and ginning up townhalls. However, like ACORN, the story here is deeper. I am convinced that how this award was decided was either through momentary group insanity or outright corruption of the process. (The Chicago way.) This Friday's news stands in direct opposition to last Friday's news. Too direct. It's as if people were gotten to. The best investigators on the Right - or Left - need to find out how the voting process worked. If there is nothing unusual then group insanity is the answer.

What goes without saying is that this is an indecent vulgarity and affront to everyone who loves peace.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Are you fucking kidding me?

My God, think of how much this cheapens all those who actually dedicate their lives to peace. The Nobel committee has degraded the prize beyond recognition. What a shameful day. It boggles the mind. This is indefensible.


UPDATE: 'raindrop' adds via email:

I'm speechless.

Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for giving the world "hope."

The closing day for nominations was ELEVEN DAYS after Obama became president.

As I said, I'm speechless.

Read: absurd decision on Obama makes a mockery of the Nobel peace prize