The Obama Watch
Obama Prepares to Squander Another Year
Watching his administration commit political suicide is not as much fun as it should be.
Watching the Obama administration commit political suicide is not as much fun as it should be. Self-important blowhards ought to be brought down a notch or two on principle alone. And a week ago, pickup-driving Massachusetts state Sen. Scott Brown did that to the most self-important of them all, our President.
That was satisfying. But in the week since, it has been painful to watch the Obama administration try to spin its way out of the hole in which it has, to its great surprise, found itself. It is becoming more apparent with every passing month that the President (his mouthpieces speak his words, not theirs) really does believe that he has a magically persuasive tongue. It’s as if he thinks of himself as a Dungeons and Dragons character with plus-25 persuasion powers.
And so we saw last week a string of administration and Democratic Party officials, including the president himself, going to the press to say that the message from Massachusetts was that the American people need more messaging.
As Obama put it in his ABC News interview:
“If there’s one thing that I regret this year, is that we were so busy just getting stuff done and dealing with the immediate crises that were in front of us, that I think we lost some of that sense of speaking directly to the American people about what their core values are and why we have to make sure those institutions are matching up with those values. And that I do think is a mistake of mine. I think the assumption was, if I just focus on policy, if I just focus on the, you know this provision, or that law, or are we making a good, rational decision here, that people will get it. And I think that, you know, what they’ve ended up seeing is this feeling of remoteness and detachment where, you know, there’s these technocrats up here, these folks who are making decisions.”
The president who spoke almost non-stop to the American people for an entire year — more than 400 speeches and other direct communications — says the people don’t “get it,” meaning understand the good he’s trying to do them, because he hasn’t communicated to them enough.
And so adviser David Axelrod went on the same network on Sunday and delivered the same spin Obama delivered a few days before (and for the months before that). The American people demand the health care reform that is in their legislation, but the problem is that the people just haven’t been told how good the legislation is. The evil insurance companies have lied to them so much that the administration simply hasn’t had the ability to counter the misinformation.
No one who has been paying attention to the health care debate for the past year can possibly believe this. It simply isn’t credible. And that is belied by Axelrod’s claim later in the interview that Congress simply has to pass the bill for the good it contains to become known:
“And let me tell you, as a political matter, the foolish thing to do would be for anybody else who supported this to walk away from it, because what’s happened is, this thing’s been defined by insurance company — insurance industry propaganda, the propaganda of the opponents, and an admittedly messy process leading up to it.
“But the underlying elements of it are popular and important. And people will never know what’s in that bill until we pass it, the president signs it, and they have a whole range of new protections they never had before.”
Mull that for a moment. Axelrod actually claimed that the most powerful man on earth is completely powerless in the face of “insurance industry propaganda” — so powerless that the only possible way the American people can ever understand how beneficial to them his health care reform bill will be is for members of Congress to simply take the president’s word that it will do what the president claims it will and pass it.
If that is not an admission of defeat in the war of words over this health care bill, then nothing is.
Which brings us back to the point at the beginning of this column. It’s not fun watching the administration stubbornly refuse to acknowledge reality because the stakes of this mistake are so high. One year into Obama’s presidency, and he is still selling the health care bill with exactly the same spin he used when he began selling it.
On Sunday, Axelrod invited Scott Brown to join the administration in working to achieve the administration’s priorities on health care. If that sounds familiar, it’s exactly the same invitation Obama extended to Republicans early last year — join us in passing our agenda. It was, and remains, an invitation to a beheading.
And so we have lost a year of work on the economy, on terrorism, on entitlement reform and on two wars to the president’s hubris, and we are about to lose another. Scott Brown’s win was highly enjoyable to behold. But that brief pleasure is outweighed by the frustration of seeing this president continue to gaze lovingly in the mirror while the nation claws its way toward a recovery and prays the national security apparatus doesn’t let another bomber through.
About the Author
Andrew Cline is editorial page editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader. His Twitter ID is @Drewhampshire.
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Ret. Marine| 1.26.10 @ 6:47AM
What was that old saying, you fool me once shame on you, you fool me twice shame on me, try and fool me again and shame has nothing to do with it, it's a lie and just who in the hell do you think you are trying to lie to anyway?
It must be tough for axlegrease to skid along on his horse of utopia and keep running into those fairy tales his boss keeps on telling him don't exist. Jeez what a dipstick.
What I find disturbing the most is he really thinks he knows what he's saying and doing is what a rational person would expect of him. Someone really needs to tell him not all American's look, sound and act as though everyone around him is as stupid as he looks, acts and sounds. This is not the little league of chicagoland politics goings on here. This is an informed electorate, we did not snake our way out of the most corrupt part of these United States and find ourselves outside the laws of this land by choice, it does appear the the little o and axlegrease did though. The sandwich technique axlegrease, this is how is works FYI, agree, change subject, close. Tell the boss he does not impress this Marine, not one bit. and where the hell is that birth certificate? Inquiring minds demand to know.
republicanblack| 1.26.10 @ 12:27PM
Well at first I thought Obama was well falling behind on his promises, I was caught up in the media's expectations and the daily polls, 24 hrs news. then I thought about health care and his foreign policy, and how much further he came than anyone before,not to mention how the world has warmed up to us now - but what really changed my mind when it came to obama's first year was this article and the allegory it provided check it out
http://keironjackman.wordpress.....-contract/
Jim| 1.26.10 @ 3:29PM
Hey repubblack, fuhgetaboutit. Sheeeeez
megapotamus | 1.27.10 @ 10:55AM
Anyone tempted to hit that link should think again. Either rb IS the author or they went to the same school of ebonics and Jacksonian logic. I call Moby on republicanblack... or is it Ellie Light now?
Steve| 1.26.10 @ 3:41PM
That article changed your mind? What are you, a third grader? Truly pathetic, but by all means keep thinking along these absurd, juvenile lines and please stay home from the polls in November.
republicanblack| 1.26.10 @ 7:27PM
Yes it did. Because you cannot expect the world in one year. This is not TV, it's a job that involves getting other people motivated enough and out of their old ways of operating to actually work. The saying an old dog can't learn new tricks applies to washington to a degree, it just takes time. Plus as a republican I am ashamed my party has not done anything about healthcare republicans controlled office from 1994-2006. If a child does even learn how to run after a year, an elephant takes 16 months to develop do we expect Obama, an outsider, to get a crooked congress in shape in 1?
rannan3| 1.27.10 @ 1:58PM
Obama -- an ' outsider ' ??
How can you say that, when he's a product of the Chicago Political Machine ??
The only way I will ever buy he's serious about reforming the corruption in Congressional spending is when ( and this will NEVER happen ) he CUTS spending. Not a 3 yr. freeze -- to levels set last year that are 20% higher then they've ever been !
This is an attempt to fool the electorate, but we're wise to it.
jo| 1.27.10 @ 5:45AM
If you had to rebuild a home that was rotten to the core why would you subcontract the design, administration and building of the new house to the same idiots that built the first rotten house.
The new house will end up like the old house.
waldo| 1.26.10 @ 6:26PM
Republicanblack now you know why so many of us kept crying out He doesn't have enough experience for this job.
republicanblack| 1.26.10 @ 7:31PM
Experience is not the issue. It is congress who passes the law is the issue. Obama is right for wanting to tackle the things he is, it is congress who are the ones that make the laws and policy. There is nothing really obama can do, they are separate branches of government? That would be like blaming Obama for the supreme court allowing business foreign and domestic to pollute/corrupt our politicians. Even if u did blame Obama, he only appointed 1 who voted against unlimited funding in campaigns.
Dirtt| 1.26.10 @ 8:18PM
Kidding right. Is this you Ax? Scratch Bo for me next time you're in the Oval.
"Experience is not the issue?" You should be disqualified immediately for this assertion. And that is not what the SCOTUS did. Get your facts straight.
SCOTUS 'essentially' said that it's not fair to have big corporations and special interests allowed to contribute only to the DNC which is essentially how it was working. You see. Media corporations were essentially exempt. And that is not fair to soft drink corporations. Or pet food corporations.
But Ax er republican black you weren't here for an honest debate were you. I run on grass not astroturf.
republicanblack| 1.27.10 @ 1:41AM
You can go check for yourself, Regan when he came into office unemployment was 7% two years later it was 10%. He raised taxes and his drug policy destroyed many communities. Were you up in arms after a year then? I know Fox News doesn't report on that, but Obama inherited the worse economy since the great depression. That was before Regan, so why do you have a different standard. Btw I am not a flunky...I know history and I know politics. So don't try your garbage on me ok. And for the cherry on top you can check out what the saving to debt raito of the ppl and compare it to now, then ask me again about why things are so bad. plus look into how many more manufacturing jobs there were in the 80s.. I remembered that after I saw that post I recommended earlier.
Robin Neudorfer| 1.27.10 @ 4:20PM
You claim to be a Republican.
You claim to know history.
Yet you misspell Pres. Reagan's name twice.
eddie the k| 1.26.10 @ 10:41PM
You're a Republican, right. And I'm Adonis. Obama is a virtual lock for the title of WORST. PRESIDENT. EVER. Experience does matter, and he had NONE. Try interviewing for an executive job with zero experience - it just doesn't happen. Then how did this clown get elected to the most powerful office in the land? Well you can be sure THAT won't happen again.
michael f.| 1.27.10 @ 7:54AM
On HillBuzz we call republicanblack and his buddies from OFA and MoveOn "trolls". They are paid sh*t disturbers working from a script, baiting anybody who will listen. Best response: STFU, then ban them.
canuck6474| 1.27.10 @ 10:24AM
Make that the most powerful office in the world. Yes, it is unbelievable that this nacrcissistic idiot got put in that position. Frightening.
rannan3| 1.27.10 @ 2:08PM
Funny how you advocate Obama CAN'T be blamed, did you also advocate Bush couldn't be blamed ? I highly doubt it.............
and as far as the recent Supreme Court decision goes, A-- how can corporate money corrupt honest, ethical politicians ?? B -- any capable of BEING bought have already been bought -- by Union dollars, big Pharma, Oil companies, Trial Lawyers, etc, etc, etc.......
ALL the Supreme Court did was to say GOVT. can't PICK AND CHOOSE who can speak freely. They leveled the playing field, in election campaigning. Corporations are still limited in the actual amounts they can contribute TO the candidate, but now they can advertise their chosen candidates.
why should Unions, ACORN, and trial attorneys have unfettered, free speech, but corporations not have ??
JohnLeeHooker| 1.26.10 @ 7:04PM
It seems evident that you don't read papers/sources outside of the US. In no particular order: Putin to Obama, stuff it; Kim Jong Il to O, stuff it; Chavez to O, stuff it; Ortega to O, stuff it; Sarkozy to O, "Is he WEAK?" Merkel to O, stuff it. Ajad to O, stuff it. Israel to O, stuff it. The US' favorability ratings thru out the middle East is below 30 w/o exception I think. But other than that, you're right of course.
republicanblue| 1.26.10 @ 7:40PM
So what did Chavez, Ortega, Sarkozy, Merkel, Ajad, and Kim Jong Il say to Bush?
missing link| 1.26.10 @ 9:41PM
The sure sign of a lefty loosing an argument is to scream 'But Bush did it or Bush was worse, blah, blah, blah'. Really, that is your argument?. If you had any brains you would realize what you just said is: 'Obama is as bad as Bush'.
Sheesh, you BDS nuts really need to get over it. Bush has been gone for over a year now.
michaelp0429| 1.27.10 @ 3:54AM
For the record, as awful as Bush was, the Dems have now been in control of both houses of Congress for 3 years.
Everything Obama has done has made the recession worse and his trillions in new tax proposals and exploding deficits thanks to unbridled spending put such a cloud over our future that businesses would be fools to hire now.
They had all budgetary powers well before the recession began.
VladTheImpaler| 1.26.10 @ 9:49PM
You have it BACKWARDS. What did BUSH say to Chavez, Ortega, Ajad, and Jong Il? "Stuff it!"
And most Americans and ALL patriots agree.
SteveB| 1.27.10 @ 6:24AM
I think you left out Copenhagen, where the Chinese and Brazilians told him to 'stuff it' as did the olympic committee.
Kay| 1.27.10 @ 12:40AM
Really repubblack? What world has "warmed up to us," have they? That must explain the three terrorist attacks on our soil this year, the "world's" rapid divestment of our currency, and our allies turning elsewhere for help. The world that counts, "the free world" never left us but Obama is the biggest self-admiring joke to grace the free world since Nero.
If dictators and tyrants don't hate the United States, we're doing something horribly wrong.
renee payette| 1.27.10 @ 10:21AM
What makes you think that the world has warmed up to you? He has dissed his allies, cozied up to his enemies thinking that they will be swayed by his magnificence only to be ridiculed. That actually emboldened them-Iran, Venezuela, North Korea. Tell me how he has made a difference. His foreign policy, smart power has been a complete failure.
You say that he got further than anybody else in trying to change healthcare. Do you know why? Because his administration has used dirty Chicago-style arm twisting and secret deals to get their way with everyone like the Pharma companies, the doctors, the hospitals, the insurance companies, etc.
This administration, full of Ivy League intellectuals wanted us to believe that they would know how to run the country so much better because of their brain power. What a joke! They have been so amateurish that they couldn't even have a state dinner without an embarrassing mistake. They think that they are going to keep the country safe from terrorists when they couldn't even secure the WH for the dinner! And on top of that, they question a captured terrorist for 50 minutes, not 50 hours, MINUTES and then claim that they got all the information that they need. GIVE ME A BREAK!!!! This administration hasn't got a frigging clue how to run a lemonade stand.
Clinton and then the Repub. and the conservative press told you that Obama was completely inexperienced, wishy-washy and had a lot of sleaze in his background. It took one year for most of the country to realize the dummy that they elected.
Alan Brooks| 1.26.10 @ 12:41PM
But when you see the front cover of a major magazine devoted entirely to Theodore Olson's defense of gay marriage, then you know political bedfellows are getting so strange you need a scorecard.
I am cynical for good reason.
Carol| 1.26.10 @ 4:12PM
To quote Lily Tomlin: " No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up".
Alan Brooks| 1.26.10 @ 7:15PM
At least Brave New World is preferable to 1984 or Animal Farm.
But only IMO.
Matt Fan| 1.26.10 @ 2:19PM
There is a good movie about all this called "Stock Shock." DVD is available most places but the trailer is at www.stockshockmovie.com
GW| 1.26.10 @ 4:25PM
Jan 09. After winning the election by running against Bush, Obama continues to bail out huge failed corporations, then feigns outrage when bonuses are given to those who have received outrageous gov't funds.
Jan '10. Blames the banks for the economy's downfall, wanting now to penalize institutions he wanted to help a year ago.
So Obama first blames Bush's "failed policies over the last 8 years blah blah blah" and then does THE EXACT SAME THING Bush does with regard to the "economic recovery," arguing financial institutions are too big to fail.
One year later, realizing blame-Bush has run its course, Obama blames and wants to penalize the same institutions we are told are "too big to fail."
Sh*t, if they're too big to fail, why the h*ll should we be trying to run them into the ground. If New York-based banking institutions are what make this country run (and they're not of course), pass laws allowing them to not pay any taxes at all while meanwhile giving them boatloads of tax $$$!!!!!!
bacalao| 1.26.10 @ 6:36PM
Inquiring will get us no where-small fry!! Action will!!
Miked69| 1.26.10 @ 7:39PM
I want to tell this Marine how impressed I was with his posting. Stay at 'em! I'd love to hear more. Semper Fi!
Miked69| 1.26.10 @ 7:42PM
My reply appeared to get misplaced, probably because I did it wrong. I just wanted to thank you for your post and tell you to keep it up! BTW, my screen name comes from the year I graduated from college; nothing more than that! Semper Fi!
Anthony| 3.4.10 @ 9:41AM
semper fi
Anthony| 3.4.10 @ 9:43AM
Ret. Marine| 1.26.10 @ 6:47AM SEMPER FI, former Hospital Corpsman
Appleby| 1.26.10 @ 6:55AM
Back in my early Ayn Rand days in California, I had a roommate who was an artist and an ardent socialist (mainly becuse you cannot make a living as an artist, even in California). One day she asked me if I would support welfare voluntarily, and I said of course not.
Well then, she said triumphantly, you see, THAT IS WHY YOU HAVE TO BE FORCED TO!
She was an all American nitwit, a product of 1970s California, and today I hear her voice coming from her spiritual brothers and sisters in the White House and the Congress.
Where is our Paul Revere, who will ride through Washington DC shouting THE SIXTIES ARE OVER! THE SIXTIES ARE OVER! FOR THE LOVE OF ALMIGHTY GOD, THE SIXTIES ARE OVER!
Will the artist| 1.26.10 @ 4:25PM
It would be funny to see if your old roommate still has those wonderful notions of communism. I bet if she is working, she is in favor of less taxes.
Years ago I was with a friend at his Frat over vacation, drinking and listening to another Frat brother talk about the glories of Communism. He was such an opponent of the free market which was funny considering we were at a private college (and partying on his parents dime).
Years later I ran into him and found he had become more conservative. He told me that the "Economic realities" he had encountered after college made him wish the government took less of his hard earned money.
Makes me wonder if the Dems have ever had a chance to learn that lesson?
Jeff Perren | 1.26.10 @ 4:37PM
Well said and on the money. Progressives are simply unreachable because they are in thrall to the mindless Comtean Religion.
gopgal| 1.26.10 @ 8:25PM
Appleby You are so right!!! The only way I can get by during this time is to imagine these people as the idiots that were dressed like dirtbags, higher than kits, and yelling FU and FAmerica at all the on campus rallies during my college years. Too bad we didn't take care of them then, but at that time we just thought they were nuts....If only we would have known.
SteveB| 1.27.10 @ 6:28AM
Ooops! Right now the people who proof school books want to remove any mention of Paul Revere, as well as Davy Crockett, from school texts.
Pingback| 1.26.10 @ 7:05AM
— ExposeTheMedia.com links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Jim O'Brien| 1.26.10 @ 7:20AM
It is well known by anyone with half a brain that Muslim terrorists have killed thousands of American civilians and soldiers. Islamists declared war long ago, and their intention right now is to kill millions more Americans by whatever means possible, and destroy the United States. Despite these facts, Obama insists on treating terrorists as common criminals by reading them their Miranda rights and trying them in civilian courts. Obama is either profoundly ignorant and low in wattage, or he is a deliberate ally of the terrorists. In any case, he is giving aid and comfort to the enemy, and he should be impeached. He is endangering all Americans and our national survival. Just one more "9/11" event could be fatal for our economy and our national existence.
Ken (Old Texican)| 1.26.10 @ 5:33PM
Nah, Jim!
Good post, but your conclusion jumped the tracks.
Another "9-11 event".............or four...will simply provoke us to send every muslim...somewhere else, just like Switzerland would.
That is sad. I know many fine men who are nominal muslims, but they just ignore all that kill the infidel stuff...privately.
They know very well that if they speak up in their muslim communities, they and their families are forfeit. (dead or exiled)
Matt| 1.26.10 @ 7:23AM
Also check out what's on Walton's Wall @
http://waltonswall.com/
Mattled| 1.26.10 @ 7:58AM
I don't think it's been widely reported how low his approval really is. Rasmussen is already targeted so he's had to soften it up.
Zogby? He called Choke-ly in Mass. last week. NBC? CBS? CNN?
Newsweak?
RRiiigghhhttt.
He's in the 30's. EVERY person I talk to who has ever been called by a pollster doesn't participate. Even my outspoken anti-Obama brother won't do a poll. Ergo the Dems problem.
The pollsters over-sample Dems because they have to put out a poll every day. They bury the sampling and put it out.
He's toast folks. That's why he's going down fighting. He has nothing else. This time next year he'll be announcing his decision not to run. I said it in December 2008 and I'll say it again.
I've had 20 years in media doing focus groups, ratings, retail trends and consumer tracking. He's toast.
Ran / Si Vis Pacem | 1.26.10 @ 8:22AM
Heh. Pass the butter 'n jam...
Deborah D | 1.26.10 @ 8:29AM
Hahaha!
Appleby| 1.26.10 @ 8:55AM
He's already saying he would rather be a really good one-term President than (nudge nudge wink wink say no more say no more) a mediocre two-term President.
P.S. Is that why he just hired his FORMER CAMPAIGN MANAGER back again?
JMM| 1.26.10 @ 10:08AM
Don't let's be selecting the new curtains for the Oval Office just yet. BHO is slippery as deer guts on a door knob and his henchmen are as dangerous as a cornered weasel.
waldo| 1.26.10 @ 6:39PM
How about he's a really bad one term president
harrassee| 1.26.10 @ 7:33PM
Unfortunately, he will probably be BAD one-term president. But it was historic while it lasted!
Michaelp0429| 1.27.10 @ 3:57AM
Ya picked up on that one, huh?
He contradictory man. Did you catch the fact that one day he said he was pushing a 2nd stimulus for 158 Billion then the next day he said he was freezing a tiny portion of spending to save $250 Billion over 10 years. Or was it the other way around?
I am starting to think that he really is this much of a fool.
Nelson H.| 1.26.10 @ 10:57AM
You're right, and you aren't even extrapolating. The downward trend we saw in 2009 may very likely continue through this year as the economy implodes and who knows what godawful unexpected things happen as a result of this man's wrong-headedness, indecision, weakness and narcissism. For the Democrats, 2010 will be an apocalypse. Meaning: HRC will ride to the rescue and run again in 2012.
pugsley| 1.26.10 @ 11:18AM
Spot on Nelson, I have been saying this for about 8 months. Hillary! has begun to stir and I am only waiting for someone to quote bill on his 'this guy is pure fairytale stuff'. Billy wont say it himself but they will see to it that it makes lots of press just to reinforce the fact that all the rats messed up big time my not listening to bill and hill. Urg.
Sally| 1.26.10 @ 4:28PM
Yeah, I used to like Hillary Rodham Clinton until she answered to the pied piper Obama. Would never vote for her now. AND...she'll shove the same cap and trade and gov run healthcare BS down our throats. No thank you!!
MojaveMax| 1.26.10 @ 4:33PM
No chance. Obama will run again. Too much hubris. He simply cannot admit defeat. He just needs to make more speeches. God help him.
markmywords| 1.26.10 @ 11:47PM
If 2010-2011 are anything like 2009, he couldn't win the nomination. Think about that.
pottfullofpith| 1.26.10 @ 5:11PM
is there a betting pool yet on the date HRC resigns as SOS? I am calling March 15, 2011.
daboss| 1.26.10 @ 11:49AM
I kinda agree … however, he is much too proud not to run again.
He needs something larger than the presidency. I suspect that he will resign after about 3.5 years and take the UN secretary general job which is up in 2012. It will allow him to save face.
crizzyboo| 1.26.10 @ 12:33PM
I tend to agree with Mattled that he won't run again, but that comes with the built-in problem of a probable Hillary candidacy. Also, Bill has had his eye on that UN position for quite awhile. Let's hope Obama can't control his narcissism, runs in 2012, and falls off a cliff.
Margie| 1.26.10 @ 1:54PM
I dunno about him not running again. He's like a wound up robot that doesn't think. A true example of a mind-numbed robot. Ideology all the way. Can't stop.
daboss| 1.26.10 @ 3:29PM
What I fear is that his administration will pass as much US sovereignty to the UN to make it worth his while via treaties, etc.
Richard| 1.26.10 @ 4:28PM
I agree. I have a co-worker who blindly follows democrats. I told him before the 2008 election that Obama would be a one-term president because he wasn't capable of making the correct decisions because he was trained by an elitist, marxist, atheist academia. It's not in his make-up to change course. He doesn't know any better.
Denise O'Brien| 1.26.10 @ 4:52PM
From your lips, to God's ears!
John| 1.26.10 @ 6:31PM
That isn't a problem, is it?
Granny Jan| 1.26.10 @ 8:14AM
It's time for an Obama Crack-up article or book.
jack| 1.26.10 @ 8:32AM
The US is paying dearly for 50 years of political correctness with this knucklehead as President. Even the most ardent socialist has to be wondering not only how this fool got out of college but how did he get in. What are his advisors telling him? Maybe Obama can blame it on the sewer rat Emanuel? Only a guy who took financial payback from Rezco could hire a guy who was on the BOD of Freddie Mac right before he made 16 million in one year. Think about it.
My first instinct after Obamas infantile attack on banks last week was to think he was paying back those who voted him down in Mass, but then when you look at his background and those around him,he most likely was paying some hedge fund who was very short in the mkt.
Why isnt Fast Franky Raines in prison with Jeff Skilling?
Todd| 1.26.10 @ 10:34AM
Very right jack. Obama goes off on his ignorant populist rant against banks but all the evidence of the housing collapse points to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as the main culprits and Franklin Raines as their Bernie Maddof. Of course they are not held responsible because they are part of the criminal enterprise that comprises the Democrat Party that we know today. They will fight to the death to keep a criminal banker like Franklin Raines from being indicted because the trail leads right to them with Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and company.
I was reading the WSJ weekend edition and it had an interesting story about a fat cat (fat ass) banker Robert Wolf from UBS who has become a good friend of Obama. And guess where they first met up? That is right, at George Soros's New York office.
bacalao| 1.26.10 @ 6:29PM
Totally-No screening whatsoever, less than airports,wasted year!!
Howard| 1.26.10 @ 8:42AM
I get annoyed at two things in particular:
1. Obama did not create the Health Care and Stimulus bills from the Executive branch. His people should have done it. Instead he let the nitwit Pelosi and Reid team do it. I'm not saying that I would support it, I'm sure I wouldn't. But at least lead as a President, not a Prime Minister.
2. The great FDR & LBJ bills (again I don't agree with much of them), were understandable; civil Rights, Social Security. These presidents didn't hide the contents and say "trust me". And most of these bills received significant GOP support. This is a Wizard of Oz president.
BD57| 1.26.10 @ 1:18PM
I especially agree with your point #1. Leaders "lead" - Obama does not.
The result of defaulting to Congressional leadership in drafting legislation can be seen in pretty much everything. Stimulus I, where paying off constituencies was the object, not stimulating the economy; and Health Care, where the defining principle of the incoherent glob of mess was "no payoff is too demeaning if it gets a bill passed."
Jeff Perren | 1.26.10 @ 4:41PM
I respectfully disagree. Not only are Obama's fingerprints all over this monstrosity, it's not the function of the Executive to write legislation for Congress to consider, anyway. You have their Constitutional roles backward.
Miked69| 1.26.10 @ 7:55PM
I just picked this spot to write my 'rant', so here goes: Obama is, as you said, a robot. However, even the worst situation can be valuable as a bad example. Obama is the example of what PC has done to our Country. We were all told that any opposition to him was racist. We simply can't win. As long as the Blacks support him unquestioningly, they are the racists.
His assignment of terror suspects to Eric Holder (Another lefty-commie) and the criminal system is in itself, a crime. Get rid of Holder and prosecute him for obstruction of justice!
On the financial side, the only way out of this mess is to eliminate the Dept. of Energy; the Dept. of Education; assign EPA functions to the states; and kill all public employee unions. Eliminate the public servant's pensions, specifically, elected officials and all non-civil service positions. And THAT'S just the start! Now, scream away!!
martha| 1.26.10 @ 9:01PM
Add the UN. It has long outlived it's usefullness, public broadcasting, make it profit and loss, not subsidized by us. Let it go the way of Air America if it has to. The National Endowment of the Arts can go also.
Make Fannie, Freddie GM and Chrysler pay up.
Get Charlie Rangel to pay up! There problem solved.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.10 @ 8:48AM
This administration is not just incompetent, doctrinaire and malevolent: It is, collectively, a whack job.
Obama is the Blanche Dubois of politics, his moment in the sun already receding behind him. Now he lives in a world entirely of his own making - even as events proceed apace heedless of his worldview.
Well, after all, he has always depended on the kindness of Soros.
Hitler proved that you can't ignore "facts on the ground" and rely upon force of will to win a war; he was only disabused of this notion when his country, his army and his Reich lay in tatters and his world - which just a few years earlier had encompassed most of Europe - was reduced to a dog, a concubine and a claustrophobic bunker - and, ultimately, his own bullet.
Since there aren't Soviet soldiers a hundred yards from the White House, there is no external force available to focus Obama's mind on reality, and it's obvious that neither political exigencies nor the mounting consequences of his foolishness are strong enough to break the suction of his narcissism or shatter his messianic fantasy.
Our eternal adolescent-in-chief will never surrender his delusions. Which will make the next few years a weird mix of entertaining, pathetic and horrifying.
Mattled| 1.26.10 @ 8:51AM
And when he resigns, satisfying that we were 100% right all along.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.10 @ 9:01AM
I think you are right, Mattled; he will pick up his marbles and go home, pouting the whole way.
From your keyboard to God's ears. . . .
geekspeak| 1.26.10 @ 7:34PM
well said. Surviving the horrifying, and pathetic will be a difficult challenge.
Margie| 1.26.10 @ 8:55PM
"Obama is the Blanche Dubois of politics.." vewwy funny, wabbit!
Ken (Old Texican)| 1.26.10 @ 8:50AM
Andrew,
I decided to write here before reading the above comments...
...because I want to re-focus just a bit. These guys are simply lying through their teeth.
Everyone of them know...and knew...that exposed on C-span, or carefully examined page by page as they went along making sausage...that they would have had a Much worse backlash...MUch sooner.
They Had to go behind closed doors with this power grab...and try to get it on the books...and sink in their hooks.
Thank you.
Denver Todd| 1.26.10 @ 8:58AM
During the entire healthcare debate, I don't think I have heard one bit of insurance company "propaganda." The only side I hear is those who are for it, including the press.
Bob| 1.26.10 @ 9:06AM
All Premier Hussein can do is talk and spin, because he has never run so much as a lemonade stand in his life. He has no idea what to do next, and January's unemployment numbers will prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
But Axelrod's comment: "And people will never know what's in that bill until we pass it, the president signs it, and they have a whole range of new protections they never had before." says it all. It is exactly because people do not know what is in this package that is driving the massive opposition against it.
For all of the talking that Premier Hussien has done this year, what's notable is the continued lack of any specific ideas or any indication that his administration understands what is going on with anything. Obama talks a great deal but he actually says very little.
Louis Jenkins| 1.26.10 @ 9:10AM
"I think we lost some of that sense of speaking directly to the American people about what their core values are and why we have to make sure those institutions are matching up with those values. And that I do think is a mistake of mine."
Hold on!! Stop the state run media video talk shows!! The president says he made a mistake? There are people out there in fly over country who do matter, have a sense of detachment, and have values? It has taken the Pretender n Chief a full year in office to recognize a group of citizens that he otherwise wouldn't give the time of day to!! "The President is moving to the middle," or so says the media. Don't be misled America! The values he speaks of are not true American values, and if they were its just a ploy. As the Retired Marine says, "Fool me once...." I may have a sense of detachment, but the Pretender n Chief and his people are permanently attached to my wallet. And Retired Marine, I too am waiting to see that birth certificate.
Jobe| 1.26.10 @ 10:30AM
The public has spoken and it has loudly told this pantload that it is overtaxed, overregulated, and over legalized. It is impossible to hear when one fails to listen.
bluecollarbytes| 1.26.10 @ 9:30AM
Obama has always been the one who we need to take in on Faith. He dropped plenty of clues when running for the presidency that his would be a far-Left administration, but moderates and some Republicans bought into his claim that 'he wouldn't do anything crazy'. Maybe they just weren't paying attention to his own words.
I don't see how Obama is going to change directions. He's an obvious Leftist ideologue, contrary to the current rush of op-eds that are trying to deny it. Since he can't Change, and since the Obama-stereotypes are already well entrenched in our collective psyche after just 1 year, Obama's going to have an impossible time of it trying to change growing perceptions at the same time he continues trying to march us to the Left.
Joan Wayne| 1.26.10 @ 9:51AM
Jeez Louise. How stupid does this admin think we are? First we send a message via Scott Brown (whom I financially supported) that we're fed up with them and then they turn around and STILL call us dumb for not supporting a bill that NO ONE CAN READ. I think what they were doing behind those "closed door sessions" is playing Texas Hold'em. First one that goes "all in" and looses has to go out and lie to the public in front of microphones. How else can you account for their dumbness!!! He's not even going to be a "good one term Pres".
Pete| 1.26.10 @ 9:58AM
No matter what he does, his presidency will be "historical" because of his c0lor (and because the media and academia will insist). I really think that this gives him comfort as it has throughout his entitled life. Any failures, by definition, must be due to racism. His achievement was complete when he got elected, the rest is gravy.
Ned| 1.26.10 @ 11:46AM
... um, pretty sure that the brown stuff all over his shirt is NOT 'gravy'...
Tim| 1.26.10 @ 9:59AM
It's hard to overstate Obama's hapless style of governence: He had an approval rating in the 70's, both houses of congress featuring a veto proof senate and all of the big media in his pocket and all he managed to do was shoot himself in the leg.
Andrea Mejia| 1.26.10 @ 10:00AM
There's not much to laugh about these days. As bad as the domestic side is going to get with these loons in power, it's the international threats that really concern me. So I just loved the '+25 persuasion powers' line. Priceless.
Al Adab| 1.26.10 @ 10:20AM
Mr. Cline is right. This is not the fun we Conservatives should be having. Not only is the Left self destructing in their death wish, but they are taking a great nation, still the brightest hope (sorry) on earth down with them.
There is no cause for celebration in that. We must continue to fight on in the hope (sic) that Liberty can still survive and that the darkness of a new dark age does not descend on all mankind.
Margie| 1.26.10 @ 5:02PM
Al Adab,
We're with you, dear man! We're not going to quit now.
God bless.
Joe Taylor| 1.27.10 @ 1:08AM
When looking at BHO's headlong charge into all areas of the American economy and foreign relations in the face of continued failure and growing opposition, can you allow for the possibility that he knows what he is doing and what he is doing is driving the bus off the cliff on purpose?
Pingback| 1.26.10 @ 10:38AM
The American Spectator : Obama Prepares to Squander Another Year capital university links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Oldefarte| 1.26.10 @ 11:18AM
It's always the fault of those big/bad 'insurance companies' and banks; simply because, as LAWYERS, that represents the source of their entire financial income. We've witnessed John Edwards hypocritically bashing the public over Katrina, but what do you expect for a shyster-lawyer?????
Peter McGrath| 1.26.10 @ 11:19AM
Cline is right on the money - literally - as Obama's intransigence on health care blinds him to the inevitable destabilization caused by massive public debt. The dollar is in real danger of collapsing, which will force the Fed to raise interest rates in the face of runaway inflation. The resultant economic collapse will dwarf what we're going through now.
The Feckless One needs to grow some stones and cancel paying out the $500 billion or so still in the porculus pipeline. Second, he must END TARP NOW and let the failing unions and banks who are supposed to fail in a free market, actually FAIL.
These two steps will shore up the dollar and instill some degree of global confidence in our capital markets.
Okay - the Twit in Chief is about as likely to take the above steps as the Tooth Fairy leaving a sawbuck under my pillow.
Nevertheless, without something drastic being done about our exploding public debt, look for an historic first term resignation from the lamest duck six months or so after the mid-terms.
RAMIII| 1.26.10 @ 12:49PM
Historically speaking crises of this magnitude usually lead to war. It starts with collapsed economic status and unpayable owed debt.
Someone has to pay the price for the massive devaluation of the dollar.
The infants in elected offices all across the nation have brought great ruin on us, but we must remember that they were voted into office, often by appealing to base instincts of the voting public. Unless of course they cheated (Voter Fraud?!) to obtain/maintain power.
Pingback| 1.26.10 @ 11:20AM
The American Spectator : Obama Prepares to Squander Another Year American Me links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
twculver| 1.26.10 @ 11:25AM
I'm writing from the perspective of a contractor whose business shrank 48% in 2009. I've restructured to be profitable if my core biz shrinks another 15%, I've doubled my marketing efforts, and it appears that 2010 will be profitable.
I think the best we can hope for is Obama and the Dem leadership to be rendered impotent for the next three years. We workers and small businessmen will just go about righting our own little boats one at a time. It would be easier if government would adopt constructive policies, but most of us can recover reasonably well if government will just stop implementing insane economic policies.
Obama will continue to propose ridiculous ideas to "reform" the financial and other sectors, but none of these reforms will actually pass. I think the markets will figure that out pretty soon, and continue betting on recovery. We consumers and small businesses are deleveraging, housing prices are getting close to where they should be, and year over year comparisons of economic activity are generally favorable. The recovery will likely be subpar, unemployment is likely to stay very high for years, but we will still have a recovery.
We're really not that dependent on the President and the Legislature being particularly competent, and we as individuals are pretty adaptable. Even when taxes increase, they won't reach levels that FDR levied during the Great Depression , when they increased from 25% in 1931 to 94% in 1945.
Foreign affairs are a wild card. Both our friends and our enemies know how weak, wrongheaded and naive our leadership is, and will take advantage to the extent they are able. Fortunately, most of our potential adversaries have big problems of their own, limiting the damage they can do.
Hoping that Obama will wise up and govern from the center is a fool's errand in my opinion. He's a third world socialist, not particularly bright, and his narcissism prevents him from admitting mistakes. Same with Pelosi, soon to be the minority leader, and Reid, soon to be retired.
markmywords| 1.27.10 @ 12:20AM
This is a scenario I could live with. And it is also very likely. Unfortunately, it leaves in place the national debt explosion, and the ruinous interest on that debt in place. How the scoundrels deal with the debt, and the inevitable inflation, will determine whether we can weather this particular man made storm.
Charles Stevens| 1.26.10 @ 12:06PM
Like all progressives, Obama must lie in order to manipulate the electorate, who would otherwise completely reject his proposals. Lies are standard, essential tactics for progressives. Because progressivism has no inherent boundaries within its philosophy, progressives will always lie to the public about the extent of their current agenda, making it seem as if they are well within centrist thought by pointing to some other more egregiously leftist position that is worse. Of course, after the current crop of leftist proposals is enacted, inevitably a few years later those more egregious proposals are then the next set of progressivism to be crammed down the throats of the electorate, and so on and so on, ad infinitum.
Add to this arrogant, sociofascist philosophy the character of Obama himself. Obama has been variously described as an empty suit, a narcissist, the Liar-in-Chief, and the quintessential product of affirmative action. Whatever the label, he believes in magical thinking, i.e., if you attain that which symbolizes a desired outcome, then that will cause the outcome itself to occur.
Dean| 1.26.10 @ 1:32PM
Obama is neither a master debator or a cunning linguist.
Oldefarte| 1.26.10 @ 1:38PM
But he probably is a MASTERBATOR!!!!
Al Adab| 1.26.10 @ 3:09PM
or a Master Baiter as in Bait and switch.
Ken (Old Texican)| 1.26.10 @ 5:50PM
Oldefarte
heh... I never thought I would read you complimenting Obama.
Heck, Mr. Obama, indulge yourself positively. "Mxxxxxxxx" never hurt anybody.
Roy| 1.27.10 @ 9:27AM
But then what would the editors of Newsweek have to do?
Neo| 1.26.10 @ 4:23PM
Did you believe that he needed a teleprompter for a meeting with 6th grade students.
Franklin| 1.26.10 @ 1:33PM
As I shake my head and plead to the good Lord, "Please wake me up from this nightmare", I hold on to one thing - the American People. I mean the REAL American People; those of us who work hard, treat our neighbors right and believe in the values that made our country great.
There are more of us than of them. They may have the power and the money, but we have something better. We have strength, values, resolve, love and something that the uber left does not have ... truth.
All they have is fantasy land. We are stronger, larger and together. Their power and money can't last against our ballots, marches, protests, faith, love, and solidarity.
Neo| 1.26.10 @ 4:24PM
I'd pinch you, but it would hurt
geekspeak| 1.26.10 @ 7:49PM
And I searched for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before ME for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
Pingback| 1.26.10 @ 1:38PM
MLS Forecasts For Two Young Players | The Harvard Crimson | Colorado Rapids MLS Annou links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
xiaobo| 1.26.10 @ 1:39PM
As a community organizer, he even failed to bring jobs to his community. How can he create jobs for the country ? All he wants to do is to vote PRESENT. When something gets done, he'll take credit, and something screws up, he'll blame others.
Tony in Central PA| 1.26.10 @ 1:41PM
Obama's remark about being an effective one - term President as opposed to being a mediocre two - term President was telling. He will be neither.
2Gunz| 1.26.10 @ 2:28PM
I hope these slack jawed progressives keep thinkin' that Brown won because we were too stupid to understand just what a wonderfull life these clowns are tryng to cook-up for us. Just keep thinkin' that way.
Pingback| 1.26.10 @ 3:02PM
News Ticker: AC/DC, Justin Timberlake, Jack White, Paul Weller … | Justin Timberlake links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Jim Hlavac | 1.26.10 @ 3:05PM
Like Norma Desmond, he was a star, and now there is something floating in the pool, and it's all faded. Oh well, he did it to himself. The beautiful part is that with 65% of the people against him in 1 year, there's three more years to drive the other 30% away from him -- and the 5% of Socialists will be very visible and we can say -- "there go the wrecking team" -- and we may well never have to listen to these people again, except as faded hollywood stars bought out at an awards ceremony -- for chief dupe, best sycophant, greatest lie, and the like. Obama will try, when 90% or more of the country is against him, and say "See I have united the country." And in a sense he will be right.
Michael Tomlinson| 1.26.10 @ 3:10PM
The only thing more fun would be to see Obama impeached and removed.
Pete| 1.26.10 @ 3:15PM
And then treated like an overthrown dictator per the model of one of the banana republics he sees as a model for this country.
Al Adab| 1.26.10 @ 4:38PM
While I can't say I don't relish the fantasy, can you say President Biden?
The reason Clinton was not convicted following his impeachment was the thought of President Gore.
Roy| 1.27.10 @ 9:28AM
No, it wasn't.
Earl Bohn| 1.26.10 @ 3:38PM
Andrew Cline is on the right track. The collapse of the Obama administration is not only no fun to watch, it is out and out dangerous. So what will happen next? The only thing that can happen: Having jumped out of its governance airplane with totalitarian-style health care reform and grievously defective cap and trade strapped to its back, the Obama administration is plunging toward the ground, unable to pull the handle in its fist for fear that it is not attached to the rip cord of a parachute but rather to the lanyard of a bomb. And so the ground rushes up. Impact is imminent.
The Obama administration will be broken, its impotence on display for all the world to see. The President's plight and the corresponding paralysis of a lame duck Democrat super majority in Congress will likely assure the continued ineptitude in the Obama-influenced national security apparatus. This sorry state of affairs may present opportunities too rich for America's enemies to forego.
Yes, indeed, let's temper our eager anticipation of the mid-term elections with urgent preparation for the ominous prospect of the collapse of Barack Obama's Washington. This and the damage already inflicted by this President and his fellow travelers Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi will put the United States is peril.
High unemployment wounds American citizens now. Unconscionable national debt wounds America long into the future. Jobs, properity and national solvency mean little or nothing, however, to Americans maimed and killed by enemies of the nation.
reheiler| 1.26.10 @ 3:42PM
Obama just thinks he has a very high midichlorian count. "These are not the 'droids you're looking for..."
MARIE| 1.26.10 @ 3:43PM
Franklin
You hit tha nail on the head. Even though it looks horrible from where we "Real Americans" sit in this political prosses there are many, many more who love and want this country to get back on the right track as our forefathers wanted for us. Just have faith that we will get through this insanity by just being informed as we can be and making sure our children know our history because they are the future. Obama grew up hating this country, took all that he could from it and slaps it in the face. I firmly believe he will get his awakening someday.
Tony in Central PA| 1.26.10 @ 3:53PM
Here's looking forward to another Ron Burgundyesque teleprompter reading tomorrow. Schadenfreud is only so much fun when you realize the Administration is trying to screw up things for everybody.
brad| 1.26.10 @ 3:53PM
Obama will be a one-termer for all the reasons cited in the comments section of this article but when he loses or doesn't run because of horrid poll numbers, the MSM will tell us that racism is the reason. Also that we are just too dumb to realize how he was trying to help us.
Joshua| 1.26.10 @ 4:05PM
What? The Messiah is not the Messiah after all? The One is not "the One"??? Imagine that - (sarcasm intended). For months before the general election, his opponents kept trying to warn the electorate about Obama's inexperience, arrogance, narcissism, political naivete/, and extreme liberal/left wing politics. They were tone deaf and elected the "Incompetent-in-Chief" to the highest and most powerful office in the land. Now we are stuck with him until 2012 and God help us! At the very least, we ought to support every political effort to ensure that the Republicans gain control of both houses of Congress in November. At least they may be able to limit the amount of damage Team Obama can do the country. In the meantime, though, we are facing an increasingly aggressive Iran hell bent on getting the Bomb, Osama Bin Laden promising more terrorist attacks on US airlines over American soil, and increasing conflicts with China. If I do not feel quite as safe now as I once did with W. in the White House, can you blame me?
Denise| 1.26.10 @ 5:08PM
I'm with you, Joshua. I've prayed almost every day for the last 4 months that we could wake up from this nightmare and W would still be president. At least he kept our enemies at bay, instead of letting them in the front door.
Miked69| 1.26.10 @ 8:22PM
I once felt the same about 'W" until he got re-elected. I worked my butt off to get him elected, and then, as soon as he got his second term, he removed his gonads and handed them to his mother. He failed Scooter Libby and the Border Agents badly; and certainly spent us into oblivion. What really turned me off was his support for illegal immigrant amnesty. However, all in all, I also felt better. This guy is more than a clown, he is terminally dangerous. Check out Glenn beck's ongoing series on Fox; it's very revealing, especially to a nation where the vast majority of people under 30 know nothing about our history; other than women's and gay rights. I'm counting the days till Obama is voted out, and his dangerous cronies with him.
LARRY| 1.26.10 @ 4:11PM
I also thought that it would be more fun watching this Administration splash around. However, it's not. It really is a sorry sight...much too sorry a sight for a great country like ours. I used to think that the Clinton Administration were the equivalent of the Keystone Cops. The Clintons looked magnificent and competent compared to the Obamas.
Pingback| 1.26.10 @ 4:25PM
The American Spectator: Obama Prepares to Squander Another Year | The Inside Straight links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
donovan| 1.26.10 @ 4:51PM
Can we just have a do-over on this one? We need a real prez, not a hollow one. Can we get a new prez before 2012? Please???
Dan R.| 1.26.10 @ 4:53PM
President Obama's attitude and the attitude of his staff really shouldn't surprise anyone. People like me tried ad nausem to tell people back in 2008: "Don't listen to what he's saying now. LOOK AT HIS VOTING RECORD IN THE SENATE AND THE TYPE OF PEOPLE HE HUNG AROUND WITH WHEN HE WAS ON THE WAY UP!!!"
But alas, a majority of the American public, fed up with the arrogance and incompetence of the Bush administration and with stars in their eyes, accepted his assurances that he was really a "moderate" after all and elected him. They so wanted him to be this trancendental figure that would magically unite the country through the sheer force of his personality and power of his intellect.
Well, now we're learning that, underneath all the fawning press coverage, he's really just an old-school "limousine liberal" ... just like we told you he was all along.
So don't blame us. We voted for McCain.
Margie| 1.26.10 @ 5:05PM
Hear, Hear!
Joshua| 1.26.10 @ 5:09PM
Ditto and mega kudos!!
Denise| 1.26.10 @ 5:11PM
I still can't believe that this country elected Obama over a man who has given everything to this nation since he was in his 20's. I didn't always agree with his policies but, like George W., I always knew where is heart was.
go_figure7722| 1.26.10 @ 5:09PM
That Democrats are delusional isn't new, only the year is.
Viva 1994.
Linda Catala| 1.26.10 @ 5:10PM
I will donate $ and work endless hours just to defeat this Communist President of ours. Be afraid. Be vigilant. President Obama has a hidden agenda and he is working against the U.S.
btmelrose| 1.26.10 @ 5:11PM
Please promise me you will never use a reference to Dungeons and Dragons to illustrate another point.
The fact that you even know what "plus-25 persuasion powers" means indicates that it is well past time for you to move out of your parents' basement. Consider this tough love from someone who shares your political convictions and wants others to take you seriously. Just trying to help.
harrassee| 1.26.10 @ 7:38PM
Well, goes to show there are elitists on both sides of the debate.
Keith| 1.26.10 @ 5:13PM
Although President Obama is intelligent and a shrewd politician, he has turned into an incompetent commander-in-chief. I am concerned that his political arrogance has blinded him and may bring harm to our nation. I predict that in 2011, Secretary of State Clinton will resign her post and persue the 2012 Democratic Party nomination. She will easily win the nomination amd possibly the Whitehouse as well. I pray that the Republican Party can nominate a competent candidate for a change. The last one left a lot to be desired.
GOPer| 1.26.10 @ 5:14PM
Its not that our liberal friends are ignorant, its just that they know so much that isn't so!
How much more damage can Obama do? God Help Us through the next 3 years.
Joshua| 1.26.10 @ 5:22PM
"It is becoming more apparent with every passing month that the President (his mouthpieces speak his words, not theirs) really does believe that he has a magically persuasive tongue..."
"...seeing this president continue to gaze lovingly in the mirror..."
There is a term for this kind of behavioral pattern in modern psychiatry. It is called "magical thinking," and it is a symptom of the Narcissistic Personality Disorder:
"Magical thinking: The erroneous belief that ones thoughts, words, or actions will cause or prevent a specific outcome in some way that defies commonly understood laws of cause and effect." "Narcissists see themselves as perfect using distortion and illusion known as magical thinking. They also use projection to dump shame onto others." (Such as the dump on Bush syndrome for all our problems and Obama's "failures.") Quick! Get out the Prozac!
SteveB| 1.27.10 @ 6:37AM
Joshua, I just referred to O as a narcissist on another site! I was saying how he doesn't even realize what he's doing, we call it lying.
sloughrunner| 1.26.10 @ 5:45PM
My Dad predicted last summer that Obama would end up commiting suicide. I laughed at the time. Now that I see what a narcasist he is, it doesn't seem to far outside the realm of possibility.
Black Saint| 1.26.10 @ 5:51PM
I still doubt if the Politicians of either party really understands what is happening in American!
For years we have watched our jobs being outsourced & in-sourced, aided and abide by the ruling Political elite!
On the low end Politicians have allowed the largest invasion of any Nation, at any time, by any means as millions of Uneducated Illegal Aliens pour across our borders in direct volition of our Constitution Article IV Section IV against invasion, the Rule of Law & their Oath of office.
The Democrat support the invasion because a large uneducated dependent welfare class translates into Democrat votes!
The Republicans because their paymaster in the Chamber of Commerce & Business love slave labor with the benefits like Medical, Schooling, Welfare & Incarceration, Section 8 housing etc. are passed on to the tax payers!
On the high end H1 vistas to take the engineering, software jobs etc. at low wages to increase business profits & the insane salaries of the CEO,s their bonuses &, benefits etc.
After years of seeing their standard of living deteriorate & requiring both parents working and still not able to provide a standard of living that one working did it in the past people are frustrated & angry that no one in Washington cares about working Americans or the future of this Nation!
Obama promised Hope & Change so the voters kicked out a Elitist, Arrogant, Spendthrift Republican party that was wading in the swamp of corruption!
Now after one year of Democrat rule and total control most are realizing Obama sold them a bill of good and the Democrats are even more Elitist, Arrogant, Big spending and the swamp of corruption has now turned into a sea of debt & corruption with Acorn , Unions, Seiu, Wall street , Big banks & last but not least the tax funded Racist hate Organization La Raza!
Both parties when they get total control & power get more corrupt, arrogant & worse than the British & King George that resulted in the American revolution and the shot heard around the world!
Now the good people of Mass. have fired another shot. If the Politicians of both parties still refuse to change and keep thinking they are Kings & we are their Serfs & they & the special interest they serve know what is best, the next shots they hear may not be as peaceful.
It is way pass time they realize they are the servants & not our rulers and they exist to serve the American people & this Nation, not the special interest, not Mexico, not Latin American and every country in the world while ignoring and punishing Citizens by taxes, jobs and debt to support the rest of the world!
Chad| 1.26.10 @ 5:54PM
I fundamentally disagree with you, Andrew. I grew up in one of the poorest areas in the country, and just spent some time there with my family last week. These people are almost universally against health care reform, despite not having a clue what is in the bill. They only know what Rush and Fox tell them (or they heard second-hand from their Fox-loving friend), and simply parrot right-wing arguments without any deep thought about them. They certainly don't listen to the President, outside of a few quips they may have seen on Fox. One of them bragged that the only time he ever watches MSNBC or CNN is after the Democrats lose an election, so he can gloat. They almost universally complained about how it was impossible for them to know what was in the House and Senate bills, even though both are pubically available and have been widely summarized online. You see, they never actually LOOKED for themselves....Rush just told them that they can't see it, so therefore, they can't. Got it?
The sad thing is most of these people would be much better off under reform. Many of them are one layoff, death, divorce or decision by their boss from being uninsured and sick simultaneously. A couple of them, both in their thirties, were drowning in co-pays because the insurance they do have is such crap. Needless to say, neither has any savings whatsoever, despite a very modest lifestyle.
How to fight through the Republican dis-information scheme is a tough question. It is nearly impossible to reason with people who are anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-facts, and just repeat what they heard because that is what the guys they work with and the guy on the radio says.
Since I care about these people, it was actually hard to debate with them. They could throw any question at me, and I could go off with a pile of facts and studies for minutes. They were stumped (or embarrassed) the moment I asked a simple question like "Where did you hear that?".
Simon Templar| 1.26.10 @ 6:49PM
Yes, It is nearly impossible to reason with people who pretend to be intellectual, scientific, and factual but in reality are anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-facts, and just repeat what they heard because that is what the guy in the classroom says and the guy on the MSM says. Like people who claim there is global warming and then disort and fabricate false data...people who claim that republicans have offered no solutions but have proposed dozens of ideas via the legislature and thousands of web sites...or people who campaign and promise open door discussions and transparent government and then deliver the most corrupt non-transparent negotiations behind closed doors ever witnessed in american history...or people who name call..slander and libel on a daily basis about their opponents without any accountability...so much and to such a great extent that the networks and newspapers they work for are going out of business...you mean these people..right?
Margie| 1.26.10 @ 7:31PM
OoohHoo you GO, Mr. Templar!
Ken (Old Texican)| 1.26.10 @ 7:49PM
Chad, you are a liar and a charlatan, and a Soros plant.
Screw you...liar.
JimE| 1.26.10 @ 8:19PM
Sorry Chad, try again loser. Go troll around Obama's anus and pick up some klingons.
Andrew P| 1.26.10 @ 9:18PM
People don't have to read a 2400 page, incomprehensible bill to know that it not in their own interest. All they have to do is notice who is supporting the Obama Democrats. This crew are a coalition of the super rich, the very poor, the public employee unions, and the enviro-wackos. If you are middle class, or even lower middle class, and not a union member, it is clear that this bunch are not on your side. You can reflexively oppose every grand scheme they have, and be right every time.
Sir Toby Belch| 1.26.10 @ 5:59PM
Obama, who has ascended the PC ladder all his
life, now stands on the top rung..........and realizes
he suffers from acrophobia. He is becoming
scared, dizzy, yet too prideful at this instant to
admit his angst. After all, he is "too historic" to
fail. The hands that helped in his ascension are
not there to steady him at the acme. I, for one,
notice the sweat on the brow, the arms flailing to
grab a more secure purchase. The Law of
(political)Gravity is immutable....even for one
as "great" as Obama.
Margie| 1.26.10 @ 7:34PM
Sir Toby Belch.
I must say your handle is hilarious (in a good way), and your words are great, too. Obama is "too historic to fail." Love it!
JJ| 1.26.10 @ 6:14PM
Obama squanders another year and so do Americans who deserve this disaster. They allowed themselves to be brain-washed by the media: that Bush was bad and that Obama was God. Americans should have seen this ego-inflated bag of wind for what he was during his primary with Clinton. Maybe the sting of this clunker-President will stick with voters for years to come. Wince.
yamama| 1.26.10 @ 6:26PM
They think now Obama has to speak louder and slower and dont use them big words, maybe the great unwashed masses will finally understand ('cause they think we are sooo stupid).
Notice how he kind of postures like Mussolini when he puts his chin up in the air, tightly closes his lips and looks down at the people during his speech?
indie| 1.26.10 @ 6:32PM
Finally - a column by someone who really gets it!
Thanks. That was a great read.
FWIW - I saw the egotistical windbag for what he was during the primaries and voted for Clinton. In the general election, I voted for McCain/Palin. Some of us can see right through BSers. Those who fell for the BS and acted like some god had descended from the heavens and ending up voting for the big fat liar should be ashamed of themselves. ASHAMED!
Amadine| 1.26.10 @ 6:34PM
Thanks for the D&D reference, Andrew: "...he thinks of himself as a Dungeons and Dragons character with plus-25 persuasion powers."
Although, for the record it's a +25 Diplomacy Skill in gamer parlance.
harrassee| 1.26.10 @ 7:28PM
Obama said "we were so busy just getting stuff done and dealing with the immediate crises that were in front of us, that I think we lost some of that sense of speaking directly to the American people . . . ."
If he had televised all the health care debates and negotiations, he could have killed both these birds with one stone.
Margie| 1.26.10 @ 7:36PM
I think he was too busy golfing in Hawaii.
Titus Oates| 1.26.10 @ 8:51PM
I beg to differ.
Watching Mr. B self destruct is immensely entertaining.
It couldn't happen to a more deserving self-serving, self-centered BLEEEEEP.
AJF 25 | 1.26.10 @ 8:53PM
AJF 16
Andrew P| 1.26.10 @ 9:12PM
Yes, this bufoon could pull an LBJ and decline to run for a second term, but I doubt it. His ego is too big. He really truly believes that he is the greatest thing ever. The only way he declines to run for reelection is if he can't raise any money.
Pingback| 1.26.10 @ 9:40PM
| NwoDaily.com links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Rod| 1.26.10 @ 10:01PM
"Axelgrease skidding along on his horse Utopia". Good.
kevin ryan| 1.26.10 @ 11:43PM
Key up the song " Oh yes, I'm the great Pretender."
Barry Obamonous is Bozo the Clown, a joke, or maybe a bad dream come true.
This is what you get when you fail to vet.
KEYBOARD555| 1.27.10 @ 12:08AM
THE REST OF THE WORLD, must be laughing their a-s off.
He though he would have the world at his feet. He really makes the US look bad.
WE the people must bear the burden , of OBAMA
extending his hand to terrorist, and reading them their rights, and for making a fool out of himself, in front of the whole world.
ORGANIZE THE VOTE
John II| 1.27.10 @ 12:25AM
As this rather negative thread peters out in preparation for the next round of postings, I should like to say a few words on behalf of Professor Obama. So far, and despite his hatred for America, he has accomplished two great services for his country:
1. He has destroyed the Clinton machine.
2. He has, albeit inadvertently, exposed the mainstream media as more corrupt and self-serving even than his own administration. The evidence is in the current spectacle of the MSM luminaries trying desperately to distance themselves from their Anointed One.
And there is a third service with which he appears still to be hard at work. If we can count on him just to be himself, as the saying goes (i.e., to remain a self-preening jackass), he will drive the country even further to the right than the astonishing James Earl Carter managed to do a generation ago.
Just a few nice thoughts about our President. This thread has been entirely too negative. And now back to Wyatt Earp.
Pete | 1.27.10 @ 1:15AM
"And people will not know what is in that bill until we pass it...." Crikey. Did he really say this? No, really, you're pulling my leg.
Pingback| 1.27.10 @ 1:34AM
Wednesday’s Reading Room « scottwilder.com links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
GWB43| 1.27.10 @ 4:04AM
I told you all, that you'd beg me to come back. No way, I'm happy retired. Screw you all, like you screwed me!
Margie| 1.27.10 @ 6:11PM
I don't blame you one bit, GW!
Pingback| 1.27.10 @ 6:48AM
Weatherproof Wants to Replace Obama Billboard With Palin Billboard … | Advertising Ma links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
sub| 1.27.10 @ 7:35AM
no doubt about it, BHO is a talented and delusional individual. his whole life has been about his ability to talk his way into things, the appearance of greatness, without any of the substance. now he's run into a roadblock, the american public. he still thinks he can be "magical", and we'll somehow be fooled again. not likely, barry, not likely.....
ameri| 1.27.10 @ 1:46PM
You nice people still dont connect the dots IMHO:
Obo was disbarred because he lied on his bar application (didnt mention all his names). He did the same to become President - who's barry Soetoro and where's the birth certificate? (mr transparency spent 2m so far to fight giving his cert, and as his 1st executive act sealed his records, his new WH lawyer/bruiser is his cheif anti-birth cert lawyer, and the husband of Anita Mao - who "controlled" the message to get him elected). Do you see this?
How about the fact that he hates the USA as does his angry Harvard wife who aint proud.
How about he chose A TERRORISTS LAWYER, in real life, as Attorney General!!!! Holder makes money when terrorists try our legal system, this is Holder's bag - the opposite of America's.
And remember Obama/Barry already had the audacity to say when things get tough he wont be standing together with America, in HIS book. Then the one who micro manages everything, like making sure no muslim were in campaign photos, went to tell the muslim world we will never stand up for ourselves, misrepresenting America!
So no wonder this fraud, who could care less whats in the legislation, will try 19 different ways to bankrupt America - thats what Alinsky et al say. ie, when a bunch of terrorists get cadillac trials, we go broke.
Te LIES are almost too hard to bear, but hitler understodd that too, this one's as dangerous as they come folks.
If you saw him laugh on 60 minutes when asked about the economy, or shout out after Fort Hood, or slimily pass laws that grant power over us to Interpol, or run to Copenhage to give billions AWAY based on a pack of lies, etc etc, you begin to see this is TREASON.
The day we all find he is a trojan horse is the day we critically see he lied to get the job, now seeks to make lies = truth.
It hursts because its like 1984, a deficit commission, but folks he will kill many people if not sent packing for good. NOW
,,correct| 1.27.10 @ 1:50PM
And the world will come to know:
HUSSIEN THE DECEIVER
allah akbar, deception is a tenet of muslim faith and this mad narcissist is the chosen one for now, the one sent to deny the central danger facing a free western world
Ever seen another President attack others who dont disagree like this, treat the press as it should be less than open, allows Gibbs to mock questions daily????
step by step he'll ruin everything because he is a LIAR through and through
John Locke| 1.28.10 @ 12:47AM
He lies when he inhales and he lies when he exhales --- the falsification of reality is his oxygen. OhBummer is a cancer that just keeps on giving, and he vows not to quit. I wonder if chemotherapy or nuking him would get him the @^$%#&!! out of my life. This was not a State of the Union speech, it was a loony lecture and litany of lies, half-truths and misrepresentations. If OhBummer were wearin' a skirt, he'd be a bloody harpy.
Pingback| 1.29.10 @ 3:14PM
Obama Prepares to Squander Another Year « Depravity links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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Converse | 8.12.11 @ 3:12AM
is good