The Obamas Are Just Like You and Me--Sorta


Photo credit: Thanks to a brilliant and very funny commenter at Michelle Obama's Mirror's Blog, "Granny Jan," whose avatar is "Jihad Kitty." Granny, you are one creative cat.

Sixty rooms? Really? On whose dime? Oh, let me guess. I'm just so thrilled that Lady Michelle has traveled to Marabella, Spain where her trip will pump boatloads of cash into the Marabella economy. Don't go to Las Vegas or anything, MO. Of course not--how gauche.

As Stephen Woodward at the examiner.com (St. Louis) points out, the First L_dy (I can't quite bring myself to type all of it) has three residences at her disposal, yet the "right call" in her judgment is to book 60 rooms "at the fabulous Ritz Carlton in southern Spain"? I think Granny has it right--Evita Obama, indeed.

What, Camp David doesn't suit? Taxpayers (that's you and me) already underwrite the cost for that. Evidently it's not Chi-Chi enough for Michelle-O and her gaggle of people bought off to be nice to her, including staff. friends. Instead, she goes off on Michelle-O's Excellent Adventure; it's estimated that the roundtrip flight alone will cost taxpayers (that's you and me) at least $193,000.

Obama (that's her husband--you know, the one who had to spend his birthday with "the guys" in Chicago while wifey was playing with "the girls" in Spain), on one of his recent campaign stops, assures "the masses" (that's you and me) that he feels our pain. Seriously. Read the Chicago Sun-Times article: "Obama: Our finances have suffered too."

Obama says the first couple is "not that far removed from what most Americans are going through." He tells the network "it was just a few years ago that we had high credit card balances, we had two kids, thinking about college. We had our own retirement accounts, wondering if we were going to be able to get enough assets in there."

You know what I have to say to him? Shut.Up. And next time, Evita-O, maybe you could consider a U.S. city for your excellent adventure--just sayin'. Oh, that's right, "next time" (August), the Obama's are finally going to get to go on vacation--to Martha's Vineyard for 10 days. Yep, just like you & me. Well, not really, since we're paying for it.

Update. Michelle Obama's Mirror's Blog (MOTUS, for those who aren't following along) assures those taxpayers who are paying for Lady Michelle's trip (that would be you and me) who are worried about the cost: Michelle-O pays for all of her non-official, personal expenses. "So far, that includes the breath mints,Tums and Sasha’s barrettes," says MOTUS. So quit yer bitchin' about how much this is all costing us--the "us" of us who pay taxes, that is. The only thing it's costing those 50% or so of us who actually pay taxes in this country is plane fare (as above), the costs of three shifts of Secret Service details, plus all the costs for "support staffers." Oh, now I feel so much better.

We are also told, by Lynn Sweet, Politics Daily correspondent, that the First L_ady's Spain vacation is one of eight vacations she's taking this year. "She has no official duties in August"--oh, how hugely nice and well-deserved! Sweet says that whether she will "jump on the campaign trail to help Democrats in the November midterms is still up in the air." Seriously? I thought Lady Michelle was the Dem's secret weapon or something, especially since her popularity is about 20 points higher than O's--although that might change. Just saying. Sweet says that the "East Wing" (Michelle-O's office staff) has put it all into perspective for us: "The East Wing argues that Mrs. Obama is not an elected official and, as a private citizen, is free to focus on her family and friends." Michelle Antoinette.

So of course, we serfs who pay for all this need to remember that the Royal Wons are entitled to a little down time, as we were told by spokesperson Bobby Gibbs: "I don't think the American people begrudge a president taking some time with his family that's well earned and well deserved, for a few days to see and spend time with them."

These Obamas continue to be ridiculous, clueless shits. Big, big surprise--I so thought they would change.

Update #2. Even Susan Estrich is pretty sure Obama doesn't get it. Estrich writes: "I'm thinking here of the president's forthcoming vacation to Martha's Vineyard, one of those terrible decisions that has even his strongest supporters shaking their heads. Why is he going to Martha's Vineyard? For vacation. Because he likes it. Because he knows people there, has friends there, enjoys himself there. . . . I don't begrudge the president a nice vacation. But having already spent time in Maine this summer, a second vacation [and of course, in Lady Michelle-O's case, a third] to a place other than the hard-hit Gulf is an invitation for people to think what too many already think: The president just doesn't get it." Duh.

Here Estrich is saying the 2008 presidential election would be "historic." Little did she know. This must seem to her like a very long time ago. I don't think she has much love for the O's.





Update #3. This is the main headline, image, and link on the Drudge Report this afternoon (Friday). Here's the article at the Mail that's linked to the image at Drudge: "Spanish police close public beach for Michelle Obama's L250,000 Spanish holiday." The White House had to know this would not go over well. The only conclusion I can draw is that they simply don't give a damn. She's barely going to have time to get ready for their 10 days in Martha's Vineyard when she gets back. Oh, that's right, her 37 staff members can help out with that.

More Updates. It would seem that news of Michelle Antoinette's extravant trip to Spain is making the rounds--and people don't like it. What a surprise that one is--who could have seen that coming?

This is from the Los Angeles Times: "Michelle Obama's Spanish vacation draws critics."

As the economy endures high unemployment and a jittery stock market, President Obama has preached sacrifice and fiscal discipline. But the pictures coming out of a sun-splashed Spanish resort this week may be sending a different message. . . . Every first family takes vacations. The criticism aimed at Michelle Obama is that she chose to visit a foreign country rather than remain in the U.S. and support its fragile economy.

The Times reminds us that Obama once scolded his American stump-audience that families saving money for college "shouldn't blow a bunch of cash in Vegas." Yeah, instead we all ought to fly to Spain and pump money into their economy.

And the HotAir commenters never disappoint, remind us--let's see, who said this one again? --“Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zone . . . Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual – uninvolved, uninformed.”

Well baby, guess what. We are now involved, informed. 2012 can't come fast enough, Big Mamma.

Missourians Thumb Their Noses at ObamaCare

Updates on the final count below. Updates from HotAir below.

I proudly cast a "Yes" vote for Prop C today in Missouri, and it turns out I was part of 74%--Wow!--who did the same, voting yes on Prop C, billed as the "Health Care Freedom Act." Today's vote in Missouri was the first-in-the-nation referendum on ObamaCare. See the story in Time here. A "yes" vote signaled a rejection of the Pelosi-Obama Rationed Health Care Plan.

Our friend Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit has the real story: "Show Me State" Shows ObamaCare the Door"

Today was the hottest day of the year, but it didn't keep people from going to the polls and voting to challenge the individual mandate set up by ObamaCare. Forty-two states are lined up to vote on a similar challenge to O-Care. Thank you, Missouri, for leading the way today.

HotAir also has a report, plus comments as usual.

Oh, and P.S. Overall, the Republican turnout was huge compared to the Dims. Uh-oh. Something tells me this isn't going to be Barry-O's best year. Hey Barry--HAPPY BIRTHDAY from MISSOURI!

Update.

From the NYT: "In Missouri, Health Law Is Rejected by Voters"

From the WSJ: "Missouri Voters Oppose Mandatory Health Insurance"

From the LA Times: "Prop C - Nation Is Watching Missouri Primary"

The final vote, after the votes in the cities were counted (after all the ballots from the cemeteries, felons, and "Micky Mouse" had finally been gathered together--that takes awhile, you know) was 71%.

Update #2. Oh Lordy, do I love this. The headline at HotAir this morning: "Missouri pops the ObamaCare-media bubble." This is from Ed Morrissey: "One meme had materialized over the last couple of weeks that ObamaCare had begun to get more popular with voters. Using a couple of carefully-selected media polls, the White House had started this claim and the press seemed willing to ignore (yeah, duh) the avalanche of other polling showing that solid majorieties favor repeal of the overhaul and the candidates who argue for repeal. That meme died in Missouri"--YES!

From one of the snarky commenters at HotAir: "So, when is Eric Holder plannig on filing the lawsuit against Missouri?" hahaha

Update #3. I just heard on Fox News (where else) that NONE of the major network news outlets covered this story--not NBC, CBS, or ABC on their "nightly news" shows. It's no surprise; however, it's notable, just the same.

This photo was on the front page of our weekly town paper, the Webster-Kirkwood Times. That was a surprise to me, since the neighboring towns of Webster Groves and Kirkwood vote overwhelming Democrat and liberal. Interesting. The paper did report that the "Democrats in the Obama camp . . . see Prop. C as a 'yawner'--and a symbolic political gesture." A yawner, huh? Well, not so much, and it's funny how those "symbolic" political gestures (throwing tea into Boston harbor?) can turn out to be damned powerful. Congrats to all who worked so hard on Prop C!

Update #4. Hilarious. The Hill is reporting the response from White House spokesperson Bob Gibbs regarding his take on the Missouri vote against the ObamaCare mandate: "Asked what it means that voters in Missouri would vote against the federal mandate, Gibbs said, "Nothing."

Brilliant Question, Freaky Answer

Q:"If they can do this, what can't they?"

A: "The Federal Government can do most anything in this country."

This is an exerpt from Congressman Pete Stark's (D, CA) town hall meeting, 7/24/2010, Hayward, California. Questions like hers in town hall meetings give me hope for this country. Maybe she would like to run against Stark? This maroon has been elected 18 times in 37 years in the 13th District of California. Way to go, 13th District!



Stark answers: "I think there are very few constitutional limits that would prevent the federal government from rules that could affect your private life. . . . The federal government, yes, can do most anything in this country."

And these are the kinds of people who get elected time and time again to represent the people in Washington. For the love of God, no wonder we're so screwed up.

Update. From Michelle Malkin. Chris Pareja is the independent Tea Party candidate running against Stark. He's a father and small business owner with solid grass-roots support and a limited government agenda. Learn more about him here and help out his campaign.

A Liberal Loses His Mind on the House Floor

Hilarious. Here's Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) having a four-year-old's temper tantrum against Republicans on the House floor. Oh boo-hoo. Does anybody think this guy must have been taunted as "Whiner-Weiner" when he was in about the fourth grade (not that I support taunting of 10-year-olds, but come on--there is certain behavior that is just patently absurd. Actually, this guy was probably one of those kids you see in the grocery store, with the parent standing over him, ringing their hands, impotently pleading with the child to stop, and you think, "I would sure as shit know what to do about that!")? "The gentleman will sit," he yells at his Republican colleague. I don't use that tone even with my dog.

Obama and The View

Of all the celebrity-like (lite), un-presidential things he's doing lately, Barry's appearance on The View today (again) just sort of serves as an iconic representation of where he is in his presidency these days. He is said by some to have an "alarmingly flat" learning curve; he is said by others to be "unpresidential" with a diminishing stature: "Obama has reversed the usual process of growth and maturation, appearing today far more like a candidate for the presidency—and a very ordinary one at that—than he did during the latter stages of his campaign." Heh. It would be funny if he weren't the POTUS.

One of the commenters on my favorite blog, Michelle Obama's Mirror's Blog, had this to say:

He chose to appear on The View because "First Lady Michelle Obama watches it."

Michael Daily in the New York Daily News sums it up best when he writes, "I found it a touch surreal that at a time when other Marine pilots are dying, four Marine helicopters and a small army of cops and secret service agents were being mobilized so Obama could dish with Barbara Wawa and then hit some fat cats up for more than $30,000 a plate [for his "birthday par-tay"].

Or, as Rush Limbaugh is reported to have said, Obama will bring some much-needed estrogen to the show. Ouch!

The same Michelle Obama's Mirror's Blog commenter posted this video. If you're too young to remember Gilda Radner, well, all I can say is that she was a comic genius.



Oh, and P.S. So that Obama could make his appearance on The View, he had to cancel out on an invite to this week's historic 100th Anniversary Boy Scout Jamboree, of which, by virtue of his office, he is the honorary president. Great job, Champ! He would have had to go all the way to Virginia to attend. Well, not to worry. There will be another one in--100 years.

Update: This political cartoon by Michael Ramirez was sent to me by one of my faithful commenters:

To see more cartoons by Michael Ramirez, go to townhall.com

Update #2. OK, so if this next thing isn't one of the dumbest things that ever came out of a sitting president's mouth, I don't know what is. One of the hag witches on the show (like, who cares which one, right?) asked Barry about his background, about his white mother and black father. Obama's reply, about African-Americans: "We are sort of a mongrel people." Say what? Even O, as tone-deaf and clueless about words as he tends to be, seemed to know he had stepped in it, as he immediately tried to right himself: "I mean, we're all kinds of mixed up. That's actually true of white people as well, but we just know more about it." WTF is this man talking about?

Of course the leftist lapdog media is trying to bail out Our Barry by giving us the "definition" of the word mongrel:  As The Hill helpfully explains, "The definition of mongrel as an adjective is defined [good Lord, don't these people edit their stuff?] as 'of mixed breed, nature, or origin,' according to dictionary.com." Well, according to my Webster's, "mongrel" is "an individual resulting from the interbreeding of diverse breeds or strain, esp. one of unknown ancestry [emphasis mine]." Sigh. So maybe that was the word he meant, and this was just more of O's incessant race-mongering.

Ed Morrissey at HotAir tries to explain--that the word Odumbo must have been searching for, without the aid of the teleprompter, was "mutt," as in, Americans tend to be mutts--a blend of nationalities, which, as Morrissey says, is one of our strengths, since America is a melting pot. And yes, Barry, "white people" are quite aware of this, even as much as are "your" people. I have never heard a sitting president speak like this in my life. I'm beginning to thing that The View is a perfect venue for this guy--make it a weekly thing, Barry. It suits you.

Fixed!

Glory Hallelujah, my blog is fixed. I don't hardly know how to act. The fool in the White House has been doing so many foolish things lately, where do I begin? I'll have to think about it awhile and come back later.

For anyone who might have been having similar problems with their Google Blogger blogs, my problem was a simple one: I was using IE8, and something about it was blocking me from creating a new blog post. When DH finally got around to looking at it (ahem), it took him about 30 seconds to fix it; the fix was a simple download of Foxfire* which I am now using instead of IE8. Thanks, dear.

*Oh, I guess that's Firefox. Whatever.

k.d. lang can sure sing, but she really has that Gertrude Stein thing going for herself.  I guess that's a good thing? Just sayin'.

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.