Technical Difficulties: I can't get this "blanking" blog to work

For some reason, Google Blogger (I know, I ought to be using something else) won't let me create a new post. This has happened before, and that time I blamed my lame PC. Since I have a new machine now, I don't think it's me. So all I can do is keep working this little problem and hope that I figure it out. Fortunately I'm able to edit an old post, so that's how I'm able to add this content. Thank God, because I couldn't look at that photo of Elena Kagan for another minute.

I do have to say that the news these days is just about too depressing--all of it--to blog about, so this break might not be a bad idea to help maintain my sanity. What is this, something like DAY 82 of the Gulf Oil Disaster? But if all you read is the lamestream press, you wouldn't really even be aware that there's much of a problem. I actually think the biggest disaster going on these days isn't in the Obama administration--it's in the total abdication of the formerly mainstream press to report the news. It's not going to work. Thank God for the Internet. However, it's depressing nonetheless.


"This Is a Confirmation, Not a Coronation"

They're calling her Obama's drama-free nominee. The Elena Kagan confirmation hearings for her lifetime position on the Supreme Court began yesterday. Needing only 51 votes for confirmation, the woman is a shoe-in for the position, regardless of anything else that's being said. She will be the fourth woman to be confirmed to the Supreme Court, the youngest candidate (she's 50), and the fifth justice from the New York City area, a product of Manhattan's liberal, intellectual Upper West Side. The Democrats' opening comments yesterday were completely predictable; you would think she was the most qualified person evah for the job. In fact, if you believe Diane Feinstein, her lack of qualifications actually qualify her for the job. Such is our current Alice-in-Wonderland Washington world.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT): Kagan is possessed of a "brilliant legal mind" as "well within the legal mainstream." Yes. And Leahy would probably describe himself as a moderate, as well. Oh, and he's the same guy who spent WEEKS brow-beating Clarence Thomas in the circus of his confirmation hearings. But, Leahy says, these Kagan hearings ought to be "fair." You betcha. As the late Ted Kennedy said in the Thomas hearings: "It is clear that Judge Thomas was nominated precisely to advance the agenda of the right wing. I oppose any effort by this administration [George H. W. Bush] to pack the Supreme Court with justices who will turn back the clock on issues of vital importance for the future of our nation and for the kind of country we want America to be." Heh.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY): Kagan is "the best this country has to offer." Really.

Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA): Kagan's qualifications are "sterling"; her lack of judicial experience is "refreshing." Good grief. Just about like Obama's lack of executive experience is refreshing. What is it with these leftists that lack of experience for top jobs has suddenly become a career-enhancing attribute?

Comedian-turned-Senator Al "Senator Smalley" Franken (D-MI) slept through Kagan's droning introductory statement.

Here's Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving his opening statement yesterday in the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings, posted at Real Clear Politics.

Sessions enumerated some of his "serious concerns" about the candidate:

• Less real legal experience than any nominee in at least 50 years.
• She's not been a judge; in fact, she's barely practiced law, and "not with the intensity and duration from which I think real legal understanding occurs."
• She's never tried a case before a jury.
• She argued her first appellate case just nine months ago.
• While academia has value, "there is no substitute for being in the harness of the law, handling real cases over a period of years.
• Her background reveals a more extensive background of policy and politics, mixed with law.
• Her college thesis: Socialism in New York--seemed to bemoan the demise of socialism.
• [Oh God] She started her political career in the campaign of Michael Dukakis.
• Her five years spent in the Clinton White House involved, as she described it, "mostly policy work. As Sessions points out, policy is quite different than intense legal work.
• She illegally kicked military recruiters off the campus when she was Dean at Harvard Law.
• She's served as Solititor General for little over a year.
• Throughout her career she's associated herself with well-known activist judges, describing Israeli Chief Justice Aharon Barak as "my judicial hero."
• Sessions: Ms. Kagan's career has been more concerned with policy than law, and this does worry many Americans.

Watching this opening statement of Sessions, it's clear that Ms. Kagan is not adept at controlling her face.

Charmaine Yoest, President & CEO for Americans United for Life (AUL) is posting her reactions at Human Events to the confirmation hearings. Yoest says that on day one in her opening statement, Kagan "did not once claim to intend to remain faithful to the Constiution, an odd omission for a Supreme Court nominee."

Also at Human Events is an article by Kevin Gutzman, historian, Constitutional scholar, and bestselling author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution and outspoken critic of excessive power of the Supreme Court: "Kagan Hearings Annoy Me Already." He enumerates his annoyances in the article, concluding that Kagan's prose, read to the committee, was simply awful: "Either Kagan is a dullard, or her presentation had been carefully dumbed down and brushed of all personality. It resembled nothing so much, to borrow a phrase, as a bill of lading. Or an Al Gore speech."

The hearings continue this morning, Tuesday.

Oh, and for those leftists who are hysterical over the possibility of a Republican filibuster (which of course will never happen)? Here's another "return to yesteryear" moment, when the Dems filibustered George W. Bush's solicitor general who was nominated for the U.S. Court of Appeals, Miguel Estrada. Estrada eventually withdrew his name from nomination.

"Mr. President: Do your job; secure our borders"

Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona, with parts of the state turned into a "don't go there" zone. Plus O's broken promise to deploy National Guard troops.



Update from the GatewayPundit website. Here's a look at the Arizona counties that are now off limits to U.S. citizens.

Thank God this country has some governors who know how to lead: Brewer, Christie, Jindal . . .

So where will O be playing golf this weekend? Evidently when he got off the helicopter in Huntsville, Ontario for the G8 Conference, O's first comment was "You've got a lot of golf courses here, don't you?" What is this ridiculous obsession he has with golf? He's so shallow and proves it every day. As one commenter said, "He could have said, 'Wow, what a wonderfully scenic part of Canada to tackle some serious world-wide problems'"--something that might demonstrate he has a halfway serious intent to focus on the job at hand.

Update: I found this Mark Steyn article linked on HotAir, written by Mark Steyn: "The Unengaged President." I love Steyn's stuff--he gets it right every time. Steyn's premise in the article is that O's lack of interest in the world is evident in his handling of the oil spill and the Afghan War.

Barack Obama is a thin-skinned man and, according to Britain’s Daily Telegraph, White House aides indicated that what angered the president most about the Rolling Stone piece was “a McChrystal aide saying that McChrystal had thought that Obama was not engaged when they first met last year.” If finding Obama “not engaged” is now a firing offense, who among us is safe?

Steyn continues about the 2,000 oil skimmers in the United States. Weeks after the spill, writes Steyn, only 20 of them are off the coast of Florida. Raising the problem, Senator George Lemieux (R-FL) found the president unengaged and uninformed. “He doesn’t seem to know the situation about foreign skimmers and domestic skimmers,” reported the senator. He doesn’t seem to know, and he doesn’t seem to care that he doesn’t know, and he doesn’t seem to care that he doesn’t care.

Stein goes on to write about O's unengagement with the Afghanistan War, the one for which O was supposed to be, during the campaign, "an especially ripe promoter." Afghanistan, you’ll recall, was supposed to be the Democrats’ war, the one they supported, the one the neocons’ Iraq adventure was an unnecessary distraction from. Yet naturally once he found himself in the Oval Office, Afghanistan looked a bit different to him. The “pragmatist” settled for “nuance”: He announced a semi-surge plus a date for withdrawal of troops to begin. It’s not “victory,” it’s not “defeat,” but rather a more sophisticated mélange of these two outmoded absolutes: If you need a word, “quagmire” would seem to cover it.

Pragmatist? Stein mocks Richard Cohen, writing in the Washington Post last week, who asks the burning question about O, "Who is this guy? What are his core beliefs?" Gee, writes Stein, if only your newspaper had thought to ask those fascinating questions oh, say, a month before the Iowa caususes. Cohen says that Obama's "opaqueness" allows "his enemies--they are not mere critics" (I can imagine George Bush could help him out with that concept if there's any confusion there) to define him as they choose. Cohen--O is not a socialist, not a Muslim, not a leftie--no, concludes Cohen, above all, O is a "pragmatist." Spare me.

So Stein answers Cohen's belalted burning question: he’s a guy who was wafted ever upward from the Harvard Law Review to state legislator to United States senator without ever lingering long enough to accomplish anything. “Who is this guy?” Well, when a guy becomes a credible presidential candidate by his mid-forties with no accomplishments other than a couple of memoirs, he evidently has an extraordinary talent for self-promotion, if nothing else. “What are his core beliefs?” It would seem likely that his core belief is in himself.

Stein goes on to make the case for O's unengagement with the health-care debate, for Afghanistan, and finally for the Gulf oil disaster: It took the oil spill to alert Americans to the unengaged president. From Moscow to Tehran to the caves of Waziristan, our enemies got the message a lot earlier — and long ago figured out the rules of unengagement.

The Stupids Step Out: Meet Peggy West

Peggy West, Democrat County Supervisor of Milwaukee, ardent advocate for the City of Milwaukee to boycott Arizona over SB1070. She doesn't know that Arizona borders Mexico, probably because she couldn't find Arizona on a map if it was put in front of her. I'm just guessing--she's a proud product of the public schools. As am I, by the way, although the public schools used to teach geography. Evidently that's no longer the case--but we don't need no stinkin' geography. Her children must be so proud.

Updates: There are 681 comments about this maroon on HotAir.

Hilarious--video no longer available on YouTube due to "copyright" claim. How about due to not wanting the country to know that Michigan allows idiots to work as County Supervisors?

McChrystal Out; Patraeus In

So great, Rolling Stone magazine (this week's cover at left) is now a major player in our war policy in Afghanistan. Why doesn't O just give RS a seat at his Cabinet table?

General Stanley McChrystal has been relieved of his command by President Obama. General David Patraeus has been put in his place. Actually, Obama just came to the Rose Garden and said that he accepted McChrystal's resignation. "War is bigger than any one man or woman." O thinks it's the right decision for "our national security." O says "I've got no greater honor than serving as commander-in-chief for our people in uniform." I guess we'll just have to take his word on that one. "Hold ourselves accountable to standards to uphold our democracy"--that's his reason for giving McChrystal the boot. "I welcome debate among our team, but I won't tolerate division." Then some real tough guy words from O about our "clear goals" in Afghanistan. Where has this been? "This is a change in personnel, but it is not a change in policy." O says "it was a difficult decision." Of course O took no questions--just turned his back and walked off.

Standing beside O in the Rose Garden was his VEEP who came in for some mocking criticism in the Rolling Stone article. Biden was blink-blink-blinking--Morse Code? Who knows. Patraeus was also standing beside O. Frankly, he looked like crap--pale and haggard and exhausted. The man has recently been treated for prostate cancer. Last week he collapsed while testifying in front of the Senate. Great.

And just for grins, here's a little trip down memory lane during the Bush administration, when leftists characterized generals who criticized Bush and his policies as "courageous whistleblowers."

Today's McChrystal Watch

This may be short and sweet--who knows.

New, New Update. The AP is reporting that President Obama will relieve General McChrystal of his command.

New Update: "We're screwed, we are so screwed." Obama will come out in about 30 minutes and issue a "statement" on his decision about General McChrystal. It's looking like McChrystal is finished. It's been reported that McChrystal left the White House at 10:30 ET, and apparently did not return for an 11:30 ET strategy session on the war.

Breaking news this morning: McChrystal denies offering to resign.

"Obama Orders McChrystal to US to Explain Himself"

Keep an eye on this story. HotAir has been all over it from the beginning. The Rolling Stone 8-page article comes out on Friday.

I'm kinda sorry to hear Gen. McChrystal has already apologized. Whatever happened to saying what you mean and meaning what you say?

Update (already): The Rolling Stone article, "The Runaway General" is now online.

The Foundary at the Heritage Foundation has their own take on this story: "Time to Dump the Afghanistan Timeline." . . . "both the White House and the brass need to put this media gaff aside and focus on the real problem – destroying al Qaeda, defeating the Taliban and helping establish an Afghanistan that can govern itself."

One of the commenters at HotAir: "Can we keep McChrystal and fire Obama?" heh. Having read the article, my only comment is this: when it comes to who can kick whose ass, I know the one I'd put my money on. If O fires his general, then he's in a world of hurt in Afghanistan--but that's only assuming that the Commander in Chief is in this war to win it, and I'm not at all sure that's a given. I feel terrible for our soldiers there. If O doesn't mean to win this war, then he needs to bring them home--now.

At least Gen. McChrystal now knows how to get O's attention--public criticism and ridicule got him immediately called to the White House for a face-to-face meeting. Maybe he should have tried this months ago.

Update #2. Of course the leftist nutjobs in the Obama Lapdog Media are apoplectic over McChrystal's comments, all wanting him to be fired. I guess if you don't care how the war is fought or its outcome, then it doesn't matter what general you put in there. Or rather, if you're rooting for U.S. defeat in Afghanistan, then it's probably a good thing to get this warrior general out of there--and maybe replace him with Ashley Wilkes.

Update #3. A WSJ opinion piece by Eliot A. Cohen: "Why McChrystal Has to Go."

From The Daily Beast, by Lloyd Grove: "Karzai Loses His Only Friend."

From the Weekly Standard, by Thomas Donnelly and William Kristol: "Special Editorial: Mr. President, Don't Waste this Crisis."

From the NYT: "McChrystal's Fate in Limbo as He Prepares to Meet Obama."

From Politico: "Obama's Real McChrystal Problem: Afghanistan Plan in Trouble."

From Reuters: "Is Obama dropping 'no drama' style with U.S. general?

From Blackfive: "Stan the Man."

From the (UK) Telegraph: "General Stanley McChrystal has been stitched up by Rolling Stone."

From "The Foundary" at the Heritage Foundation: "Heritage Foundation Statement on the War in Afghanistan."

From the Washington Post: "Don't Blame McChrystal, Blame Obama."

AUL (Americans United for Life) Leads Opposition to Kagan

Remember her? What with the Gulf oil disaster taking over the news, coverage of SCOTUS radical nominee Elena Kagan has taken something of a back seat--which fits quite neatly into plans for her confirmation. The Senate Judiciary Committee announced today that Kagan's hearings will begin on June 28, as scheduled.

Breitbart TV has released a short clip of Kagan on the Bork hearings, with her declaiming the hearings were "the best thing to happen to constitutional democracy."

Judge Robert Bork will return the favor on Wednesday when he joins an interactive panel of legal experts to discuss Kagan's nomination. The conference will be put on by Americans United for Life, a non-profit,  public-interest law and policy organization, "bringing the pro-life message into mainstream America's living rooms, offices, and schools."

Far from having no paper trail, as has been previously reported about Kagan, she actually has what can be described as a "massive" paper trail, including the files Bill Clinton's presidential library has released in the last few weeks on Kagan's White House work. It would seem only right that the Senate committee would delay the hearings long enough for this massive paper dump to be reviewed by members of the committee; however, since the Senate Judiciary Committee is headed by Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont--let's hear it for term limits!--age 34 when elected to the Senate, he's now 70 years old, so this guy could have another 20 years), it's no surprise that the hearings will go on as scheduled.

Read about the Kagan nomination here at the AUL's blog, posted by William Saunders.

Day 64

oiiohh: "Obama Is in Over His Head"

Updates below

I want this bumper sticker. This comes from Hugh Hewitt's website.

Hewitt has also posted a column at the Washington Examiner: "Obama is in over his head."

The Gulf spill parade of fiascos is adding to the president's ever-present and growing aura of vincibility, and Hill staffers are freshening up the resume. They should be.

Another excellent article along the same theme, sent to me by a Constant Reader. This one is also posted at the Washington Examiner: "Obama's thuggery is useless in fighting spill," by Michael Barone.

And another . . . "The Unmasking of Barack Obama (Continued)" by Peter Wehner at commentarymagazine.com.

Barack Obama is clearly more interested in the theater of the presidency than he is in governing. He is cut out to be a legislator and a commentator, not a chief executive. And when he spoke [from the Oval Office] about seizing the moment and embarking on a national mission, as if he were trying to rise above the environmental catastrophe he looks powerless to stop, there was something slightly pathetic about it. He was trying to recapture the magic from a campaign that was long ago and far away. He is now being humbled by events and his own limitations. And he doesn’t know what to do about it.

Another update. Jennifer Rubin at commentarymagazine.com makes a good point in yesterday's article: "Bad News for Democrats Now 'Fit to Print.'"

For those who get their news mainly from the New York Times, you have been "sheltered from much of the bad news for Obama (much like the president himself, we suspect)." If they only read the Times, they might have missed the warning signs in the 2009 gubernatorial elections, written off the election of Scott Brown as a fluke, clung to the belief that the public would learn to love ObamaCare and been convinced George W. Bush could be blamed for everything that went wrong. But there’s no averting their eyes now — Obama and his party are in a heap of trouble and the election will in all likelihood deal a punishing blow to Democrats unlucky enough to be on the ballot.

I was talking to one of my liberal friends just the other day: "Barack and Michelle Obama are lovely people," she said. Really, honey, that is so not the point.

Update again. It would seem without half trying to find them, these kinds of articles are turning up everywhere. This one is from U.S. News & World Report by Mort Zuckerman: "World Sees Obama as Incompetent and Amateur." Wait a minute--wasn't it the "World" that was so in love with this guy?

"People Get the Government They Deserve"

A big "Thank You" to the 52% who voted for Barack Obama. Now we get lectures from whiney little pissbags like this. Remember all those Worldwide Obama Apology Tours (TM) that the leftists were so in love with, because this is where apology and appeasement gets us. For the first time in my adult life, I'm ashamed of my country--or at least of its leaders.



Here's a partial transcript:

You're no longer the popular man you once were, a year ago or so. . . . And Barack, there's one other thing you should keep in mind as you mull over your next move. When one compares the already huge number of dead, wounded, misplaced, and deprived Muslims, and other people for whose suffering you bear responsibility, with the relatively small number of Americans we have killed so far, it becomes crystal clear that we haven't even begun to even the score. That's why, next time, we might not show the restraint and self-contol we have shown up until now. So make your choice, Barack, before it's too late.

Like a dog pissing in another dog's face.

On a related note: Pat Condell: "I'm not even an American, but it makes me sick to my stomach to think that Islam is going to be allowed anywhere near Ground Zero."



h/t to one of my favorite conservative blogs, Dewey From Detroit.

A New Low Low

From Rasmussen. Almost half the respondents to this poll "strongly disapprove" of the way Obama is doing his job.

The left is not happy about that Oval Office speech. Peggy Noonan calls O "snakebit" and writes of his "shiny and empty" desk. She says his studied hand motions reminded her of "Ann Bancroft gesticulating to Patty Duke in 'The Miracle Worker.'" Heh.

Then there's this little piece of analysis, which was too kind, as far as I'm concerned.

My, she certainly looks seriously concerned.

Update: It goes without saying that the right didn't like O's speech either. Charles Krauthammer has a good article Saturday morning at NRO Weekend: "Barack Obama, Dreamer in Chief."

"Detached"

Thanks to my friends at HotAir for this clip. If you think the lamestream press is seriously critical of this guy, think again. But we can dream.



Read the article from Byron York: "In Gulf crisis, Obama follows media cues."

Media says go back to the gulf coast.
Obama makes second visit to the gulf coast.

Media says meet with BP CEO Tony Hayward.
Obama announces meeting with BP CEO Tony Hayward.

Media says cancel trip to Indonesia.
Obama cancels trip to Indonesia.

Media says Obama should deliver a primetime address.
Obama delivers a primetime address.

Media says show passion.
Obama says he's "furious" about slow response.

Media says Obama too detached.
Obama tells personal stories to connect.

Media says get angry.
Obama says he's looking for "whose ass to kick."

Media says go jump in the lake.
Oh . . . no, they didn't say that, but I wish they would. What a poltroon.

Day 58

"A Little Creepy"

Last night had to be the crappiest crisis speech ever given in the history of the Oval Office. Whoever was writing Obama's "soaring oratory" during the campaign is long gone from this man's life. This is from Andrew Malcolm at the LA Times: "There's a pipe spewing a gazillion gobs of oil into the gulf, so let's build more windmills." --watching the president and hearing him was a little creepy; that early portion of the address was robotic, lacked real energy, enthusiasm. And worst of all specifics. He was virtually detail-less.

But hey, O tells us--again--his guy Sec'y of Energy Dr. Steven Chu is on the case--and did you know he won the Nobel Prize for Physics! Too bad it was in  quantum electronics or some such thing. But that Nobel will surely give him what it takes to solve all the problems in the Gulf. Smart Power. Hey, Dr. Utopia, we don't care about the man's freakin' Nobel Prize. Can he get the job done? That's what we care about. And the answer is, "Evidently not." Next question.

Chad Stafko at the American Thinker in "The President's Oil Reserves Lie" points out that during the speech, O made a statement that was "patently false. The President noted, 'We consume more than 20% of the world's oil, but have less than 2% of the world's oil reserve. And that's part of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean--because we're running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water.'"

Stafko writes, --No. We are not running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water. In fact, it is due to the President's party of extreme environmentalists that BP had to drill some 40 miles from the coastline in deep waters to extract oil. Imagine if this oil leak had happened in the shallow waters off of the East Coast or even, dare we say it, in the pristine ANWR region. How much easier it would have been to cap the leak and clean up the oil.

Here's the headline at Drudge this morning:

Ed Morrissey at HotAir is calling it "Obama's disaster of a disaster speech." Morrissey writes, "This speech was suited for Day 1 of a catastrophe, not Day 57. It had no answers at all. It's as if Rip van Obama awoke after eight weeks of slumber and had been told just this morning about a massive problem in the Gulf of Mexico. . . . Even Obama's supporters have begun to see what his critics have long known: Obama is an empty suit. His sorry performance last night showed just how little he understands his job, the situation, and the expectations of the American people."

Even the idiot Obamabot cheerleaders at MSNBC figured out that there's no "How?" in the speech, saying he comes off worse than Carter. Good Lord. The NYT, the biggest Obama suck-up supporters evah seems to think the O has lost his groove, or something: "Efforts to Repel Oil Spill Are Described as Chaotic."

The Foundry's (Heritage Foundation) "Morning Bell" has a post this morning: "A Crisis of Competence." The gist of the article is this: Instead of providing leadership and properly coordinating the response, the Obama administration has chosen to shift blame and politicize the disaster . . . .The President spoke of 'political courage and candor' last night, yet both were missing from his speech.

From the Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll on the morning after the Oval Office speech. Not even a dead cat bounce:

According to Rasmussen, 30% of voters give The Won "good or excellent" marks for his handling of the oil spill. These people evidently have been vacationing in France for the last month. Forty-five percent say the president is doing a "poor" job handling the incident, up 11 points from two weeks ago and 19 points at the beginning of last month.

"Waterloo," baby.   I can see November from my house.

Always good for a laugh when you need one (and boy, do we need one) is Michelle Obama's Mirror's Blog: "Prince Hamlet in the Oval." MOTUS asks the question we're all thinking: "Is it just me, or does Big Guy seem to be shrinking?" Does he do any actual work on that desk?

UK, We Could Have Told You, But You
Wouldn't Listen

Hey, UK, you were so in love with Candidate Messiah Barack Hussein Obama. You helped elect President Utopia, do you not realize that? Now he's proving to be a disaster, not only for our country but for you, and you're Surprised. Shocked. Disturbed.

Daniel Hannan has a must-read article in the UK Telegraph this morning: "I admit it: I was wrong to have supported Barack Obama." Well, thanks, you bloke. You're only about 24 months late. Of course who could have known? What were the signs?  Really?

What seems to have removed the scales from Hannan's eyes isn't O's treatment of BP in the Gulf oil disaster ("the company he insists on calling 'British' Petroleum." Hannan points out that no such firm has existed since the merger of BP and Amoco nine years ago and 39% of BP shares are American-owned). No, what has Hannan twisted up is Obama's backing of Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands--"or, as Obama's people call them, 'the Malvinas.'" Yeah, that's evidently a favorite trick of O-Team. They call Jerusalem by its Arab name, Al-Quds.

Hannan continues: Not that we should feel singled out. The Obama administration has scorned America’s other established friends. It has betrayed Poland and the Czech Republic, whose Atlanticist governments had agreed to accept the American missile defence system at immense political cost, only to find the project cancelled. It has alienated Israel and India. It has even managed to fall out with Canada over its “Buy American” rules and its decision to drill in disputed Arctic waters. Never has there been a worse time to be a US ally.

Another Brit, Geoffrey Wheatcroft, asks the $65,000 question--"Obama, Friend or foe?" in his article in the Mail: "America's ALWAYS tried to do down Britain." Writes Wheatcroft, "If you have a pension, at present or in prospect, your income falls with every sour word Obama speaks. It's a fine way for a friend to behave, if indeed we should regard the president as a friend."

Another British journalist, Mary Ellen Synon in the Mail, asks "Why is Cameron surprised at Obama's views on 'British Petroleum'?" Writes Synon: You can't be surprised at President Obama's poisonous attitude towards 'British Petroleum,' not if you keep up with this blog. As I wrote last March: 'Obama is the first US president who was raised without cultural or emotional or intellectual ties to either Britain or Europe. The British and the Europeans have been so enchanted with "America's first black president" that they haven't been able to see what he really is: "America's first Third World President." Ouch.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron will visit the U.S. for the first time as PM on 20 July.

Day 56

Lining Up This Week's Gulf Oil Disaster Talking Points

In a recent interview with Roger Simon of Politico, Obama compares the Gulf disaster to 9/11.  I'm not sure how that comparison works, but watch for that to be a new leftist talking point for the week. He says he's going to use his "bully pulpit" to remind people that "we didn't create this mess." He says that he views the "calamity" as an impetus to push Congress to pass the climate bill. He actually whines about the press coverage he's getting about the Gulf disaster, saying the media are "demanding things" (leadership? competence?) the American people aren't demanding, pointing out yet again that he's "not a magician." Has there ever been a bigger whiner in the Oval Office? For this guy to complain about the media coverage he's getting is simply beyond belief.

Oh, and then, of course, after making the 9/11 comparison on Sunday, O went golfing.  Does this president and his family ever go to church? Nevermind.

The other talking point that's being floated about the Gulf oil disaster is that it's "like an epidemic." That one came from David Axelrod on the Sunday news shows.

Axelrod to David Gregory on Meet the Press: "This is not like a hurricane, it's not like a tornado, it's not like a plane crash. This is an ongoing crisis much like an epidemic." In the same interview, Obama's chief advisor said that the oil spill is "at an inflection point." Huh? This White House needs an Analogy Czar or something. I don't see how Axe's talking points work any better than O's comparison to 9/11. And I guess we can thank God that this disaster isn't an epidemic, because if it were, people would be dying by the millions, waiting for ObamaTeam to figure it out, to stretch out that anology just a little bit.

O is scheduled to make a prime-time address to the American people on Tuesday from the Oval Office. What ever happened to the kind of leadership and discipline, teamwork and ingenuity, that made "Failure is not an option" part of the American mindset? I'm just guessing here, but something tells me that's not what we're going to be hearing on Tuesday night from this White House.

How to help. Fox News has links to numerous organizations that are mobilizing to help in the devastating aftermath of the Gulf Oil disaster.

Update. The guys at HotAir have it right again: O-Team is starting to figure out that they're "leaping from casual detachment to panicked hyperbole in nothing flat."

Update #2. Oh dear. An article by John Podhoretz at the New York Post, "Obama's 9/11 envy," calls Obama's comparison of the Gulf oil disaster to 9/11 a "profoundly wrongheaded analogy" and "one of the most bizarre things ever said by any president."

Do you know the second verse?

This Marine vet made me cry for our country. God bless him. I also love the crowd response. A million and a quarter hits on You Tube.



h/t The Anchoress

Day 53

"60 Spillion Gallons Later: Obama to Meet BP Chairman"

Matt Drudge is brilliant with the headlines.

So after 50+ days, Obama is finally going to meet with the Chairman of the Board of PB? One of my favorite conservative blogs, Missourah.com, has a few words about the meeting this morning.

Karl Rove has an excellent op-ed piece in the WSJ: "Obama and the Trouble With Voting Present." Rove says that Obama has seemed "disinterested" in hearing from experts about the spill. "The pattern of being merely present has been apparent almost since the first days of the Obama presidency." Rove ends this way: "The country has had another president both weak and radical at the same time: Jimmy Carter." Oof. And for those of you who are too young to remember the Carter years, those were dark times.

American Thinker has a provocative post this morning--"A Shrink Asks: What's Wrong with Obama"? Psychotherapist "Robin of Berkeley" discusses Obama's odd mannerisms: "Obama is flat when passion is needed; he's aggressive when savvy is required. What's most worrisome is that Obama doesn't even realize that his behavior is inappropriate." The writer/psychotherapist has some interesting theories about what makes Obama tick. Then he ends his assessment by writing that liberals need to wake up and spit out the Kool-Aid and conservatives need to get together and elect as many Republicans as possible: "Because Obama will not change. He will not learn from his mistakes. He will not grow and mature from on-the-job experience. In fact, over time, Obama will likely become a more ferocious version of who he is today. Why? Because this is a damaged person." Read the whole article. I thought it was frightening when we elected this guy; it's clearly becoming more so as the days and months go by.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) says that Obama is the worst president in United States history. She calls his response to the Gulf oil disaster "infantile."--"It's an infantile response for the president to point blame at BP when the president has given over full authority to BP to deal with and manage the cleanup. If the president wanted to, he could intervene and he clearly hasn't." [Reference Karl Rove's article about the "present" president.] Read the entire interview with Ben Shapiro at Brietbart's Big Government.

So who's in charge of the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history?



Update. It's no coincidence that Obama's job approval numbers are tanking as the Gulf oil disaster drags on seemingly with Obama and his administration cluelessly floundering for a fix. A new Gallup poll (another Drudge headline): "New Low for O, Slips to 44%." Frankly I'm surprised that any poll shows his approval numbers as being that high.

The Finger Pointing President

h/t to one of my favorite conservative blogs, Gateway Pundit.

Here's the guy who's going to kick some ass. Hell, he can't even walk his own dog. Is it just me, or does Obama always look awkward doing normal things (bicycling and bowling come immediately to mind). It's clear this doofus has NEVER walked a dog.

Update: Kaptain Kickass

I love HotAir. This is from Allahpundit, one of the commenters: "Video: Obama can't explain why he hasn't spoken to BP's CEO." The One’s logic, such as it is, is that it’s not worth talking to Tony Hayward because he’ll only end up giving him the runaround — a curious position coming from a guy who campaigned on the virtues of “dialogue” and who’s been locked in halting negotiations with Iran for fully 16 months. Even Lauer is openly incredulous. Captain Kickass has nothing to say to a guy who potentially holds the fate of his presidency in his hands? Even after yesterday’s hair-raising Times piece claiming that BP’s effort to cut the leaking riser may have actually increased the flow of oil many times over? I thought this was supposed to be the new, improved, “engaged” Hopenchange.

Skip ahead to 2:36 for the key bit. Allahpundit says he added the extra two minutes up front so that you can watch O once again throw himself a pity party over the "24-hour news cycle." Read Allahpundit's entire piece (with links)--worthwhile.

Lauer: Have you spoken directly to Tony Hayward, the CEO of BP?

O: I, I have not spoken to him directly, and here’s the reason. Because, uh, my experience is [what experience?] when you talk to, uh, a guy like, uh, uh, the BP CEO, he gonna say all the right things to me. I’m not interested in wordzz. I’m interested in actions. And, and, uh, we are communicating to him every single day exactly what we expect of him, and what we expect of that administration. [Huh?]

Lauer: In all due respect, that feels strange to me.

O: Mmmm.

Lauer: Here we’ve got the CEO of a company that’s responsible for the worst environmental in U.S. history, and I think, I’m just curious why you wouldn’t pick up the phone and in some ways just give him a piece of your mind.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Here's one of the links in Allahpundit's article. It's an article written by Baltimore Sun critic David Zurawik: "'Today' interview: Obama shows press contempt." He says that Obama took "thin skinned to a new level" in this interview with Mat Lauer. "I have never seen Obama look and sound more petty, petulant and tinny." Excellent article.

Update. Sarah Palin destroys Obama's handling of the Gulf disaster, especially his notion of not speaking to the CEO of BP. It's found at "Quotes of the day" at HotAir.

Please, sir, for the sake of the Gulf residents, reach out to experts who have experience holding oil companies accountable. I suggested a few weeks ago that you start with Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources, led by Commissioner Tom Irwin. Having worked with Tom and his DNR and AGIA team led by Marty Rutherford, I can vouch for their integrity and expertise in dealing with Big Oil and overseeing its developments. We’ve all lived and worked through the Exxon-Valdez spill. They can help you. Give them a call. Or, what the heck, give me a call.

I am not a huge fan of Sarah Palin, although I have never been a Palin hater. I just don't happen to think any ticket she's on will ever be elected. Having said that, I can only imagine that Palin would have known what to do with the Gulf oil disaster. She was villified by the lamestream press because of the absurdity that this woman who "only" had experience as Governor of Alaska would have the gall to run for Vice President. Who did she think she was??? So instead we elect a thin-skinned man child whose "executive experience" consisted, by his own admission, of running a goddamn campaign. I can't stand it, I really can't. "People get the government they deserve."--de Tocqueville. But I don't think those poor people living in the Gulf whose lives will never be the same deserved this.

Update #2 on the Update. "When you've lost Rolling Stone . . . ."

Read Tim Dickinson's article in Rolling Stone: "The Spill, the Scandal, and the President." Devastating. I would say that the Boy King's administration is finished--the day the music died. They might as well enjoy the perks, the Wednesday night White House nightclub acts, Air Force One--all of it. Because come 2012, they're finished. And I don't think anybody will be planning to make room on Mt. Rushmore for another head anytime soon.

Update #3 on the Update. Another interesting article, this one from Real Clear Politics by David Paul Kuhn: "Is Obama at a Tipping Point?" My answer: Yes.

Day Fifty: Phoney Barry Baloney

Here's the quote from the video clip: “I was down there a month ago, before most of these talkin’ heads were even payin' attention to the gulf. A month ago I was meetin' with fishermen down there, standin’ in the rain talking about what a potential crisis this could be. And I don’t sit around just talkin' to experts because this is a college seminar, we talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick.”



This is commentary from HotAir:

So here’s his attempt at damage control with another two months of this nightmare (at least) still to go, imitating the same sort of bravado that the left used to detest in Bush in hopes that it’ll stop their caterwauling about his dispassion and give them a happy new meme to push. “See? He’s mad. He cares.” It’s completely out of character with his Cool Hand Luke persona and roughly six weeks too late, which means it’s as phony as a three-dollar bill, but so what? This is all about changing the subject from the spill itself to Obama’s engagement with it, and for low-information voters, it’ll do nicely. Three cheers for the cynical scripted soundbite!

Yep--droppin' the g's, showin' he's down with the common man. As Ace of Spades says, "Play-acting [actin'] the role of tough guy."  The big lamestream "criticism" of Obama is that he doesn't express the message right. He's not enraged. Contrast that with the criticism of Bush, that he was an incompetent buffoon. So all Barry has to do is get the message right--come out with the right sound bite about "kickin' ass," and all of a sudden he's taking care of business in the Gulf oil disaster. We aren't quite that stupid, Champ.

ABC News poll, out today: 69% rate the fed's response to the Gulf oil disaster negatively; by comparison that number was 62% after Katrina. This is a perfect example, as if we needed it, of how the damned liberal press protects Barack Obama. But maybe it's not the message, Barry, as Michael Goodwin writes in a recent column. Maybe "O's just not up to the job." Writes Goodwin, The federal government should have assumed command and control of everything except the well, and billed BP for the cost. It didn't because Obama doesn't want to, or doesn't realize he should. Either way, he's not behaving like a president who gets it.

The commenters at HotAir are on it, as usual:

Obama must be hoping to find an eight-year-old girl responsible. Anyone tougher and he'd have to call out his union thugs.

Kind of reminds me of the dorky kid in elementary school who would always brag about how he knew karate.

Come 2012, we know exactly whose ass to kick.

All he has to do is bend over and there will be plenty of people to show him.

If Michelle said it, you could believe her.

"Daddy, whose ass are you going to kick today?"

Update. "The Thrill is Gone," says Jack Kelly at Real Clear Politics. If only it were so. Then there's this article at the Weekly Standard by Andrew B. Wilson, "Arrogance in the Executive" which begins, "Real leadership means never having to say you're the boss."

Obama's Idea of "Singular Focus" on the Gulf Oil Disaster

Obama's remarks on May 27, Day 38 of the Gulf Oil Disaster: In Thursday's East Room address, Obama also hit back at critics who have accused his administration of taking a hands-off approach to the Gulf spill. He said the White House had been "singularly focused" since the disaster began.

BS, Barry. Although to our man Barry, maybe what he's been doing does seem to him like focus.



h/t to HotAir, where they remind people of the official count:

• Two days of media events
• Three days of fundraising
• Four commemorations (graduations, Cinco de Mayo, etc)
• Six days of vacation
• Six days of campaigning
• Six sports events
• Seven days of golf
• Three days in the Gulf

Update. Here's an opinion piece from Politico by Keith Koffler: "Obama fails the test of leadership."

Instead of an uplifting message of unity rallying the country to confront the horror and assuring all Americans that we will deal successfully, one way or another, with its disastrous effects, the nation is treated to petty lecturing of BP — even a refusal to let BP evildoers sully the stage the administration uses to discuss the latest failures.

The spill is becoming one of the great catastrophes the country has faced. Think of how other presidents have risen to the occasion under similar circumstances.

Who can forget that moment when, touring the ruins of the World Trade Center, former President George W. Bush — with a spontaneity hard to imagine from Obama — grabbed a bullhorn and declared to the workers at ground zero that revenge was coming:

“I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people — and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon! The nation — the nation sends its love and compassion — to everybody who is here.”

 . . . . what do we get from Obama?

A bloodless news conference at which even his description of his daughter beseeching him as to whether the crisis was solved was given with all the emotion of, say, Michael Dukakis.

The entire article is worthwhile.

Leadership 101

"This would be an example if you taught Leadership 101 of exactly NOT what to do. . . . He's been on vacation more often by far than he's been to Louisiana."



The New York Times chimes in: "As Oil Slips Away, So Do Chances for Obama"

Every day he devotes to a spill that seems beyond his control, and every day it consumes attention in Washington, is another day that he cannot focus as much energy and resources on his own initiatives.

Well thank God, something good is coming out of this mess. I don't mean to be flip; I feel for the people affected by the Gulf oil disaster; the photos and video footage coming from there are absolutely heartbreaking. However, if a little good can come out of this nightmare, then so be it.

The NYT article has Douglas Brinkley, political historian, saying that the Gulf oil mess has "hijacked his entire legislative agenda." Well, there is a God.

I saw part of the White House press briefing by Robot Gibbs today. The man was sweating, seriously. Gee, Bob, maybe making ass-clowns of the White House press corps (corpse) for the last year and a half wasn't your best strategy. Who knew you might someday actually need the media?

Update. Here's what President Cool Dude was doing on Wednesday night. Screw the Gulf disaster, the Middle East crisis, oh, there's Korea, plus a couple of wars and an economy that's in the tank (when was the last time we heard anything about JOBS from ObamaTeam?). Party on, Champ. Excuse me, but this whole Obama administration is becoming a freak show: while Rome burned.

"I Am the President"

Not to get too personal, but my mother is a toxic narcissist. I don't know how many times in my life (many, many times) I heard her say, in the exact same tone that Obama uses, "I am the Mother." I never knew exactly what she meant by that, although I would speculate that she didn't really feel like she was the mother, or she wouldn't have had to say it. Ditto Barack Hussein Obama.



One of the commenters at HotAir said, "President is the only job he could get without submitting a resume." Snort.

Related essays. This is from American Thinker: "The Smallest President," by Geoffrey P. Hunt.

Would someone remind us again why the nation elected this man to be president? A man with no resume, a man with no experience in running anything other than a political campaign, a man who is ignorant of history, economics, and technology? A man who is shallow and lazy? A man who shares neither character nor temperament with the American people in this vast republic? How did this happen?

Obama's presidency is finished because identity trumped competency. And without competency, his big government is dysfunctional and destructive.

Update: Oh Crap. And now he's lost Maureen Dowd. "Woe-is-me is not an attractive narrative."