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The Obama Watch

Obama in Crisis

When words won’t do.

Crisis exploitation has been President Obama’s chief political strategy from Day 1.

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told the Wall Street Journal in November 2008, before the administration had even entered the White House. “Things that we had postponed for too long, that were long-term, are now immediate and must be dealt with. This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before.”

But what about a crisis that provides no political opportunities?

This administration is brilliant at using a perceived crisis to advance pre-existing political goals. There’s a recession? Expand government, impose new regulations, dole out money to favored groups, and say the universal health care proposal is really a “jobs bill.” People don’t see the need to jump to universal care immediately? Tell stories of individuals confronted with personal health care catastrophes and claim that only the health care bill can solve them. Pass this bill now or the cancer patient gets it!

The administration showed us how to exploit crises: Propose swift action — any action — and structure proposed remedies so their success or failure cannot be measured in real time, then accuse critics of supporting the status quo.

Patience, Obama repeatedly said. Patience. Fixing the enormous mistakes of the Bush years would take time. There would be no quick fix. Don’t look for immediate results, keep gazing into the horizon. Here, I’ll show you how, just tilt your head this way, slightly squint your eyes… there, now hold that position for the next three years.

Then, without warning, a pocket of methane gas exploded on an oil rig roughly 50 miles offshore. Suddenly we had a crisis that demanded a real-time solution, not a promise of rewards to be reaped after the next election.

The president was paralyzed. He could not talk the oil back into the well. He could not stop the leak by convincing Congress to pass a bill that would go into effect four years from now. A president whose sole skill set is confined entirely to the world of politics found himself just about impotent to deal with this emergency.

“The president doesn’t get down here in the middle of this…. I have no idea of why they didn’t seize this thing,” James Carville said on ABC’s Good Morning America on May 26, more than a month after the explosion. “I have no idea of why their attitude was so hands off here.”

That’s the same complaint Gen. Stanley McChrystal made to aides about President Obama’s handling of Afghanistan, according to the Rolling Stone piece that got McChrystal fired. ““Here’s the guy who’s going to run his f***ing war, but he didn’t seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed,” an unidentified aide reportedly said.

Barack Obama being hands-off and disengaged? Who would have thought?

We have a president who in April gave a 17-minute, 2,500-word answer to a woman’s question about taxes in the health care bill, but who cannot come up with an appropriate response to an oil spill. The reason is easy enough to see. One cannot spin an oil spill. One simply has to act.

Obama seems to have internalized an axiom from the Bhagavad Gita: “The wise man never initiates any action.” If nothing else, Obama imagines himself a wise man. There is nothing he can’t give a 17-minute answer to. But his attempts to portray himself as a man of action, necessary for anyone running for president of the United States, have been comical.

Asked during a 2007 South Carolina debate how he’d respond to a terrorist attack, he said, “The first thing we’d have to do is make sure that we’ve got an effective emergency response.” Hillary Clinton, not exactly a paragon of swift-acting machismo, showed him the right answer: “If we are attacked and we can determine who was behind that attack, and if there were nations that supported or gave material aid to those who attacked us, I believe we should quickly respond.”

When Obama said on Good Morning America that he was looking for an ass to kick, it made him look weaker, not stronger. He just isn’t the ass-kicking sort of guy. So he did what he knows how to do. He gave a speech. It was so awful, even the left panned it. Instead of acting to end the crisis, the president tried to exploit it. A huge oil spill? Use it to hype cap-and-trade! That’s not a response, that’s a sales pitch.

Americans put too much faith in the presidency. The federal government’s CEO is not a superman who can command the resources of the nation to fix any problem that might arise. But it is not unreasonable to expect him to take necessary and proper action to solve certain problems. The president cannot plug a leaking oil well that sits a mile under the Gulf of Mexico. But a good one would have the organizational and managerial skills to quickly set a swift and appropriate federal response in motion. Instead, this president uses the spill as the platform from which to launch a renewed appeal for the same old energy regulations he has been hawking for years.

Obama’s reaction to the Gulf oil spill has been so awful because he is incapable of transitioning from politician to manager. He sees the world only in terms of political opportunities. A crisis that requires action? Sorry, that’s not this president’s bag, baby.

About the Author

Andrew Cline is editorial page editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader. His Twitter ID is @Drewhampshire.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (247) |

CharlieEcho| 6.25.10 @ 6:51AM

All true, and then we have this General making all these disparaging remarks, or so we are told. We have Petreaus to dump the war on, who can we dump this oil spill on? The Governors might make good scapegoats. Crisis? What crisis.

DanMingo| 6.25.10 @ 12:33PM

So, it's Obama's fault?
He should have put on his wetsuit and dived right in to fix this, right?
For Rahm, it's never let a crisis go to waste.
Like Bush did with 9/11; using it to push the Iraq war they (neocons) had been dreaming of for over 10 years.
The thing is, though, there is NOTHING President Obama could do to stop the leak. There is nothing anyone can do to stop the leak.
If Obama has failed, it is in two areas; the cleanup, and the failure to reign in MMS, and to restructure the agency.n Salazar failed, and needs to go. Ditto with many at MMS. We cannot undo what has been done in the Gulf, and Ben Stein notwithstanding, this is a tragedy that we will not see corrected in our lifetimes.
What we can do is not repeat this mistake. Every permit for drilling in the Gulf needs to be reviewed, and safety measures and inspections performed before we allow another well to be drilled.

Doug| 6.25.10 @ 1:32PM

No one actually expected for Obama to dive into the water to fix the well. After all, his skill set is more of walking on top of the water, isn't it?

rob| 6.25.10 @ 2:46PM

Touche' Doug. TOUCHE'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

vtwin| 6.25.10 @ 6:14PM

The challenges Obama faces are the results of “solutions” implemented by pervious conservative administrations to problems that didn’t exist. Deregulation of the financial industry; economic meltdown, deregulation of the oil industry; environmental disaster, tax cuts for the wealthy; runaway deficits, weapons of mass destruction; defeat in Iraq, Al Qaeda; war with the Muslim world….

Tim*| 6.26.10 @ 3:32PM

Ya conveniently forgot to blame The Carter Administration Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 ,The Clinton Administration CRA Revisions of 1993 ,orchestrated by then Clinton Economic Advisor Robert Rubin and then Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen allowing the securitization of subprime mortgages , the Democrat threatened filibuster of The 2005 Federal Housing Regulatory Reform Act ,where Obama refused to Co-sponsor the bill , the repeated ignoring of Bush Administration Warnings by the Democrat controlled House Financial Services Committee ,Chaired by Barney Frank and the Democrat controlled Senate Banking Committee Chaired by Chris Dodd. There were 17 Warnings in 2008 alone.

The Tea Party Rebellion Escalates.

We Remember In November .

vtwin| 6.28.10 @ 1:25AM

Ah, the don’t blame the “empty suits” of the intervening years, Reagan (8 years), Bush 1 (4 years), and Bush 2 (8 years) augment, because Rush Limbaugh said 33 years ago Jimmy Carter…

RCV| 6.26.10 @ 1:24PM

No, what he should have done is flown out to the damaged rig and just announced, "mission accomplished", like Bush would have done.

Nick| 6.26.10 @ 5:43PM

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

"Mission accomplished." Ha-ha!

Never heard that one before!

Boy, you sure are an original thinker, RCV.

Obrokethenation| 6.27.10 @ 10:52PM

It's nothing short of amazing seeing people defend Barach HUssein Obama and still bashing Bush. Obama owns the oil crisis. He used our oval office for one huge failure of a speech in which he once again pushes for cap and tax. To the person RVC above, are you ready to pay more for everything? That's why you defend the failure in the whitehouse? You will pay more, and suffer personally from the idiocy that has taken over the nation's capital. I keep thinking people like you will look hard at what's going on and quit giving your blind support to a loser. But libs want to give their allegiance to a person that is so ashamed of his past (apparently) that he refuses to show so much as his college GPA. Barach; Hussein, the boy who would be king, has no idea how to handle this oil crisis. His lack of experience and background is so undeniable, how can democrats continue to support him? He's failed the country, his base of supporters and the world in general. His damage and ineptness will be difficult to undo.

dclintmoore| 6.28.10 @ 3:00PM

Oh who needs a GPA when you attend Harvard. I think the real reason it is so much bashing of Obama is strictly because the right ring hates him because he does not look like them. Just look at what they did to their own, they got rid of michael steele as quickly as he rosed to power. So much for a minority member being in charge of the republicans. Keep being the party of no and the OLD GUARD, but at least stop spreading LIES>

Nick| 6.28.10 @ 6:06PM

Dclintmoore,

Nice grammar, Einstein.

You are right, though. I can't stand people with big ears!

Osamas Pajamas| 6.27.10 @ 11:30PM

Wrong. Bush actually knows something about the oil industry, as compared to BlabberMouse Obama. True, Bush was castigated for the Fed response to Katrina but FEMA under Bush followed the established rules --- the governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans were asked repeatedly, early on, what Fed assistance did they need? "Eventually" the governor asked for Fed help while the mayor of New Orleans let 220? school buses get flooded under water while unevacuated city folk were drowning elsewhere. So I'm betting that if this oil spill had happened even "before" Katrina, Bush would have handled it far better than OhBummer has done. Bush would have marshalled the response better [the rig was offshore -- no need to ask governors for their immediate needs] and more intelligently and would have allowed the governors leeway for local response and got skimmers and spill booms from every quarter to handle the pollution. On OhBummer's watch the Fed regulators failed to regulate and inspect properly and were even preparing to give BP another quality prize. Well, whoopeee!

Radegunda| 6.25.10 @ 1:39PM

This regime rejected numerous offers of help from other countries with equipment and skill. Obama has stood in the way of local efforts to protect the shores---can't let a Republican governor get credit for anything!

Salazar didn't just fail. He committed fraud (probably at the behest of his boss) when he falsified the recommendations of the experts.

This regime wants our energy to be more scarce and energy prices to "skyrocket ... necessarily." Obama is eager to see those drilling rigs go elsewhere--especially to Brazil, to work for Petrobras, to put more money in the pocket of Soros, who will funnel it back into leftist totalitarian schemes.

This regime wants Americans to be poorer--except for those who are specifically favored by the government. Using the oil spill to achieve that purpose is far more important to Obama than protecting our shores.

Historynut| 6.25.10 @ 11:47PM

The nonsense that other countries oil clean-up technology could have helped or that booms,sand bars , screen doors, what-have-you, could have made a difference,is all crap made up by Fox "News" -Right, a different President could have made it better;-O . O' &...,Liberal Americans want to ruin the Gulf to further their political fortunes-this is a level of stupid even Prez W could not attain. Deep water drilling had safety
requirements, before 2008 regs were loosened
br neocon lobbyists-go figure. Kinda like the neocon's financial meltdown.

Flatdog | 6.26.10 @ 8:17AM

Don't suppose O'Barmy will turn down BP's campaign contributions come 2012 though...

Howard Ino| 6.27.10 @ 2:52AM

This is funny!!!!

Leftists always portray every other country (especially Marxist and Socialist) better than the EVIL CAPITALIST AMERICANS...

But when they offered a TRUE solution to the Oil disaster... the mantra changes!!!

..."The nonsense that other countries oil clean-up technology could have helped or that booms,sand bars , screen doors, what-have-you, could have made a difference,is all crap"

Some people can not help acting like little spoiled children....

But then liberals do depend on daddy (our taxes) for their paltry lives!

Osamas Pajamas| 6.27.10 @ 11:35PM

A barrage of lies. And it was the Republicans who repeatedly warned the Democrats that their Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac toy banks were flooding the mortgage market with the bad loans advocated by OhBummer and his ACORN partners-in-crime, a few years earlier. It was the bloodsxcking Democrats who brought on the mortgage meltdown --- and they want to continue the same failed policies that they foisted on the country back when they were okaying Santa Claus with other peoples' money.

Osamas Pajamas| 6.27.10 @ 11:36PM

A barrage of lies. And it was the Republicans who repeatedly warned the Democrats that their Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac toy banks were flooding the mortgage market with the bad loans advocated by OhBummer and his ACORN partners-in-crime, a few years earlier. It was the bloodsxcking Democrats who brought on the mortgage meltdown --- and they want to continue the same failed policies that they foisted on the country back when they were playing Santa Claus with other peoples' money.

FTM| 6.28.10 @ 1:56AM

You shock me.

A countermeasure such as the EPA's "fire boom" plan even if only 50% effective would have been a worse plan than doing nothing at all how? What's the matter with you? Exxon's plan to surround the spill with tankers and booms and vaccum up the oil was worse than nothing how? The "Dances with Wolves" guy with the centerfuges would have been a worse option than doing nothing how?

When I first read your post the first reaction that I had was "stupid" and "Man, what an idiot" but I see that the problem is far, far worse. You put faith in politicians, party aside and that's a problem that a word like "stupid" can't even begin to describe.

ShortNSweet| 6.25.10 @ 1:41PM

Nope - not his fault. BP's fault. But when two Euopean countries offer their very able assistance - Say Sure! Come On! He took too long to think and thought about his union buddies, and now there's millions of barrels or black gold floating around down there - killing wildlife, and employment, and families, and the wetlands! Hello! Just saying!!!

LarryG| 6.25.10 @ 2:15PM

You must be sleep-walking. Look at this:
http://powip.com/2010/06/big-o.....vestiture/
And this:
http://www.washingtonexaminer......99254.html
You can google all of this if you know how.

ShortNSweet| 6.25.10 @ 2:33PM

Why then did he say no thanks? There is a reason? Can you figure that one out. Maybe not the lobbyist for BP - but for someone!?!?!?

Ray| 6.25.10 @ 5:43PM

Who's the one sleepwalking here? Several countries offer their help with containment and clean-up of the oil already leaking out of a well that was already in operation a lone time after the drilling had stopped, and Obama responded with a moratorium on FUTURE drilling. Would you call that the actions of someone who was actually conscious of what was going on?

Nick| 6.25.10 @ 3:40PM

DanMingo,

A week ago, while President Dither was extorting $20 billion from BP, Bloomberg reported that the MMS was notified, back 0n February 13th, that there were cracks and leaks around the Deep Horizon well:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....-show.html

O'Bama, and the other goons in his regime, are in cahoots with BP to try and cover up their misdeeds and law breaking.

Come next January, when the Republicans retake the Congress, impeachment hearings should begin right away.

RCV| 6.27.10 @ 11:42AM

"President Dither"! Haa-ha-ha!

Boy, you sure are an intellectual, Nick. I'm impressed.

Nick| 6.27.10 @ 1:09PM

Typical bleeding heart liberal, thin-skinned.

Just like your hero, O'Bama.

Dr. Novochange| 6.25.10 @ 4:01PM

Obuma fan is not welcome in this forum.!

Jack| 6.25.10 @ 4:43PM

Dan they are reviewing every rig in the gulf. The article was right that Obama isn't a good manager. Cap and Trade? What about accepting the help that so many countries offered from oil booms to foreign ships wanting to help in American waters. Which they can't enter because he hasn't waived the law.. Even Bush knew enough to waive this law after Katrina. Gasp.. Maybe Obama isn't as smart as Bush.. lol

Dave| 6.25.10 @ 7:13PM

Minga .. Mingo, wake up you slippery slimy Obamite. It's over 60 days and they are talking about Navy skimmers that cannot leave there area because of rules that prevent them from leaving. An intelligient person, and probably even Bush would say damn the procedures move them skimmers. But your dog Obama just sits in his hole and hopes somebody else fixes his problem. Yes, as president it is his problem.
My favorite chuckle with the Obamites is they tell us how stupid and pathetic Goerge Bush was. Yet whenever somebody complains about Barry, they alwayscome up with a bush comparison. Sorry Obamites but if your guy can only be compared with a guy you think is pathetic, I guess you agree with us that Barry is pathetic. You just can't admit it.

Clinton nee Publius | 6.25.10 @ 10:11PM

He could have waived the Jones Act so we could get foreign ships in to help deal with the oil BEFORE the oil hit the beach.

But that would hurt the union label, so strike doing what WOULD be viewed as DIVING RIGHT IN THERE.

We have over 200 skimmer ships up and down the coasts on the East Coast and West Coast that could have been transferred to help pick up this oil BEFORE it came ashore.

But he didn't do that; it was more important to make a political point with our most precious wetlands being the sacrificial lamb being served up to the corrupt liberal political gods.

He could have hosted a conference call every day to be seen to make executive decisions to break red tape log-jams and get the resources to the people.

But he didn't do that, because; he's playing himself in a movie about him being president and real leadership requires real work and this boy has never worked a day in his life so he has no clue how to proceed with real work.

He could have created an international forum with a $100 million prize to the engineering fix that ends the spill, the chemical solution that gets rid of the oil or the invention that deals with fouled water on a scale necessary to the task and be seen LEADING THE DISCUSSION and BEING INVOLVED IN A REAL EFFORT.

But he didn't do that, because; real leadership requires work and doing NOTHING while blaming everyone else is what corrupt losers really do when it comes time to do the real work. They blame, they change the subject and they say the standards are too tough.

That'w what a real leader would do, DanMingo. In your world, do any Democrats or liberal-progressives ever take responsibility for their failings or is accountability something that only happens to the rest of us who have to clean up after your sorry behinds when you run away with the loot you stole from us? When will you actually make us whole again? When will it end, Dan? For us, living with you is a crisis that we have to find a way to put an end to that will allow us to still look ourselves in the mirror. We don't want the job, but we have to think about who comes after us instead of lining our pockets with other people's money and forcing everyone else to live the life that you will never live as the price of our continued existence. It's getting hard putting up with you Dan when common sense tells us that one liberal-progressive is just like another and throughout history all we have to show as rewards for the liberal-progressive movement is 100 years of suffering and over 100 million people murdered to further the cause of world socialism. Can you tell us why you should be entitled to remain among the living, Dan? Can you explain why people like you should be allowed to live with those of us who have to clean up your messes, pay your share and do the work you refuse to do because you are too corrupt, too amoral and too lazy?

sub| 6.26.10 @ 1:42AM

wow, the apologists roll.... i would have been happy if obama had plugged the leak with his telepromtper, but alas.... in fact, his alarmingly disconnected response to the crisis, inability to mobilize/lead, inability to connect emotionally (what narcissist can, i suppose?) is at the heart of the well-justified criticism. while you spin, most of the intelligent voters in this country are waking up to the failure that is barack obama. as one person said ever so perfectly, "He just talks..."

as for oil moratoriums, how bout you stop driving, turn off your A/C this summer, and cover the salaries of the thousands in the gulf who will be jobless via this reactionary and idiotic policy. maybe next time think before you write....

Christopher Holland| 6.26.10 @ 4:31AM

Nobody expected General Eisenhower to be the first man ashore on Omaha beach and to spend the war bayoneting Germans. His job was to lead. Eisenhower was a leader, Obama is a blowhard who couldn't organise a hard-on in a Vegas whorehouse. There is a big difference.

Jeff Custer| 6.26.10 @ 8:07AM

Love the analogy! You hit the nail on the head, as it were!

Osamas Pajamas| 6.27.10 @ 11:37PM

I have a hard-on for Barak Hushpuppy OhBummer. So did Larry Sinclair.

henry123| 6.26.10 @ 8:34AM

There were many things that Obama could have done. During Katrina the states had the power since the crisis was on state land. However, this oil well is on federal land and Obama has the power to act. First, he could have suspended the 'Jones act', as Bush did. That would have allowed international boats to come in and help with the clean up.
Obama said it like it is: "his job is to make sure that the American public knows that he doing everything he can" --- rather than actually doing everything he can.

Alan Brooks| 6.26.10 @ 8:36PM

DanMingo,
Since the Cold War finished, the GOP has been clueless; so today they are using Obama as their latest scapegoat.
Let them vent-- it is sound & fury.
Napoleon said never prevent your enemy from destroying himself, let the GOP run second rate candidates and screw it up YET AGAIN.

Alan Brooks| 6.26.10 @ 10:05PM

... Carter's Reinvestment Act, etc, is mentioned way above.
Fair enough, but there have been five GOP terms since then; '81- 85; '85- '89; '89- '93; '01- '05; '05- 09,
and only two have been demonstrably successful: Reagan's.

Tim*| 6.27.10 @ 11:20AM

Aaaaannd !
Democrats controlled The House '81-'85 ,'85-'89 , '89-'93 ,'07-'09.
Democrats controlled The Senate '87-'93 , 'o7-'09.

Democrats control The House & The Senate now.

Alan Brooks| 6.27.10 @ 9:26PM

"Democrats controlled The House '81-'85 ,'85-'89 "

but Reagan still was able to help end the Cold War even with the liability of the House. So that goes back to my original reply to DanMingo: since the Cold War ended the GOP has been reduced to casting about for a strategy.

Osamas Pajamas| 6.27.10 @ 11:41PM

OK, the Republicans ended the Cold War and "since then they have been casting about for a strategy." How about a "goal" before pursuing a strategy for that goal? How about "ending the Democrat party" so that the battlefield is cleared for a showdown with conservatives and libertarians on one side versus RINOs on the other side?

FTM| 6.28.10 @ 2:02AM

Actually that was Sun Tsu and the quote was more like, "when your enemy appears to be trying to destroy himself, try to stay out of the way."

Ken Roberts| 6.27.10 @ 8:31AM

Many things could have had this fixed by now everything that has been offered has been turned away , being cautious for over 60 days is insane , it is like looking at the guy hanging on for dear life and being told we won't use just anything to save you can you hang around for 60 days and wait to see if we can do something. All of the items that the states wanted to do that will work has been put on hold and now it is to late for those to work as the oil has reached the land. Standing in the way of doing something to stop the leak is not leadership . And yes we need to stop the deep water drilling and in the face of the environmentalist go on dry land or no more then 500 feet deep in the off shore drilling, after all they are the ones who created the deep water drilling to save the land from being disturbed . We need the oil badly and any one who says we don't is living in a dream world . DDT has been proven to work and it has not killed in frog nor has it harmed a hair on the head of the green folks , but the non use of it has killed millions . Just a example of the handy work of the liberal mind set . We have a different story here though and that is a pay back to the states that did not vote for your dear leader , that is criminal to me. If you stand behind Obama so much maybe you can allow them to place the Co2 beneath your home and keep it from warming the earth , but I would keep some scuba gear handy in case it releases all at one time , no oxygen as the Co2 will displace it . 13 countries have offered help but it was turned away; answer why that has happened ?

Nancy| 6.27.10 @ 5:25PM

No, but he could have protected the shoreline from the oil. Bobby Jindal was begging to build berms to protect the marsh, but ran into all the bureaucrats and dithering of this administration. The Gulf could handle the spill; the marsh and beaches cannot.

Osamas Pajamas| 6.27.10 @ 11:19PM

Agreed -- but of course the Gulf-area governors are trying to deal with the spill -- and the Fed axxholes are getting in their way.

drew| 6.25.10 @ 1:38PM

What is striking about all these criticisms of Obama's handling of the spill is their utter refusal to offer any actual suggestion as to what he should have done.

ShortNSweet| 6.25.10 @ 1:45PM

Accept Very Able Assistance From People And Companies Who Do This Sort Of Work Every Stinking Day! Stop worrying about his little buddies who put him where he is and CLEAN THIS MESS UP!

Purpleguy| 6.25.10 @ 4:28PM

You're right, because NO ONE, not BP, not Exxon, Chevron, Shell can tell anyone what to do. They all agreed that BP is doing all it can to fix this. The government, D or R, certainly doesn't know how to fix it, and they shouldn't ... The free market is at work boys... how do you like their handiwork? They are drilling in areas they have no hope of fixing if anything goes wrong. But strict REGULATIONS, with solid, TESTED recovery plans, not the good graces and business practices of the Big Oil Cos. would have at least had a chance of preventing this disaster.

I"m not sure I understand why you are bitching - the government stays out of it, you bitch. The government gets involved - they're socialist and you bitch. Which way is it gentlemen? You can't have both.

sub| 6.26.10 @ 1:48AM

how bout the government gets involved by waiving the jones act, allowing the dutch to help, greenlights requests from local governance, and ceases with the formation of ridiculous "expert panels" made up of no one from industry, everyone from enviro lefty groups. how's that for a start?

put another way, build the roads, maintain the army, and get your bureaucratic asses the hell out of the way on all other matter.

Clinton nee Publius | 6.27.10 @ 2:46PM

We are drilling there because liberal pussbags have forced them to drill there. We have almost a trillion barrels of oil in reserves we can tap right on dry land here in the United States, but like nuclear power, you have worked to make it off limits so that you could foster your plan of making us dependent upon government. We're going to change this policy after November - and once again - clean up the liberal mess that always rides in the wake of you people. Once we clean up that mess, we're going to start putting you people in jail or forcing you to leave the country. You've made it a choice between choosing your way of life or the American Way of Life. I'm here to tell you that we won't stop until you - and the corrupt legion of thieving co-conspirators you hang with - are gone for good.

See you in November, comrade. Coming soon - a communist pogrom in the United States that will make the McCarthy Era seem like a socialist picnic.

darcy| 6.28.10 @ 12:25AM

Well said. The anger among the electorate is electric; we will sizzle the buns of the miscreants, if only figuratively. Those elected Repubs may be a bunch of wussies, but we the people are not. The day of reckoning is coming.

Our "betters" seek to subjugate us? Don't make me laugh.

Mimi| 6.25.10 @ 6:10PM

My suggestion to you DREW.....Check out James Carville.... He gave out the LIST!!!!

sub| 6.26.10 @ 1:44AM

drew, maybe review the six or seven replies above you, see if that helps you out....

Christopher Holland| 6.26.10 @ 4:38AM

Obama set himself up to fail. He was the smart aleck from Harvard who said Bush was stupid, he made a mess of Hurricane Katrina, he couldn't run a war, he wrecked the economy. Everybody should shut up and get out of the way and let the Great Man run the world - there was nothing he could not do. Then a piddling little leak on the sea bed comes along and Obama can't manage it - by his own standards, the man is useless, a failure.

Obama wants to have his cake and eat it - he wants vast powers for government, and then he turns around and says he can't fix anything. Sorry, pal, it doesn't work that way, and if you had even a fraction of the intelligence a smart guy is supposed to have, you wouldn't need me to spell it out for you.

Ken Roberts | 6.27.10 @ 8:36AM

I see you don't watch a fair and balanced news , for starters 13 countries have offered help ,turned away , maybe over a thousand good ideas have been offered , turned away , I think your assessment is flawed here . the pumps and separators could have been out there since day one but they have after two months allowed some of those offers to begin . but not with out stopping one idea for two weeks so they could be sure they have life jackets. What is striking is your ignorance on the subject.

wholesale | 9.8.11 @ 10:10PM

I can not agree more.
xk3y

Osamas Pajamas| 6.27.10 @ 11:45PM

Let Bobby Jindal construct his barriers, allow booms and skimmers in from all over the USA and from every country offering them. Hit BP for any cost to taxpayers for these extra helping hands --- along with all the other related costs and losses, etc. The Gulf governors have been hampered in their local responses by the Feds --- kick the Feds the hell out of the way --- the governors can ask for Fed help if they need it.

drew| 6.25.10 @ 1:38PM

What is striking about all these criticisms of Obama's handling of the spill is their utter refusal to offer any actual suggestion as to what he should have done.

Doug| 6.25.10 @ 2:03PM

It's the cleanup. European nations with many times the capacity of the US to clean up oil spills began offering help a week after the spill began; now, we only have 20 very small skimmers, instead of a huge fleet of super skimmers. Instead of seeking help, Obama REJECTED help. We aren't even using all of our own skimmers (because Obama thinks the other ones might possibly be needed somewhere else if there's another oil spill!), and we are forcing them to come to port with 90% water in the tank due to the failure to waive EPA regs. Then there's the sand berm fiasco that is still ongoing. These are starters.

Ray| 6.25.10 @ 5:46PM

You may want to ask someone like Governor Jindal about that. He has all kinds of suggestions that were ether delayed for months or totally ignored.

RCV| 6.26.10 @ 12:14AM

Gov. JindalSTILL

RCV| 6.26.10 @ 12:17AM

Gov. Jindal still has not called up the national guard to assist in the cleanup. He's more interested in holding press conferences to criticize the President instead of actually helping the situation.

Tim*| 6.26.10 @ 3:49PM

April 29th,2010

" Gov. Bobby Jindal asked federal authorities tonight to grant funding for Louisiana National Guard members joining the multi-agency response to the offshore oil spill.

In letters sent late today to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Jindal requested support for up to 6,000 soldiers and airmen for at least 90 days under Title 32 of the U.S. Code, which would allow the Guardsmen to receive military retirement points, health insurance and disability protection.
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The letters noted that under federal law the owners of the Deepwater Horizon facility responsible for the oil spill should be required to provide reimbursement for all costs and damages as well as the recovery efforts in Louisiana."

Osamas Pajamas| 6.27.10 @ 11:50PM

RCV you are really factually challenged. You're under OhBummer's desk Doin' Da Lewinsky --- but of course everyone can see you under there, and when you're not under OhBummer's desk you're jrkg us off and blowing smoke up our btts. Face it. If OhBummer doesn't know what he is doing, then he is incompetent and he should be fired. If he does know what he is doing, then he should be arrested by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and deported over Mecca without a parachute. What a waste of space.

Jeff Lee| 6.28.10 @ 7:01PM

Obama should have taken the Dutch up on their effort to help with the clean up. They would have done a great job. But that's what happens when you put a useless loser in charge -- you get screwed.

clintmoore| 6.27.10 @ 4:30AM

I find that Obama in crisis to be overly slanted. Put into context with America fighting 2 wars stretched thin, an economy in a comma how dare you mislead the public. We must spend to support economic recovery there is no such thing as a free lunch, just like if you are working paycheck to pay check and your sole transportation breaks down you use the credit card if you have no savings in order to keep making the ends meet. It is a real crisis and you guys should get real and start working for real recovery instead of talking crap, pointing the finger, and having no solutions to critical problems. Yes we are spending a lot but do we really have a choice until the economy starts back up? Stop being against the man and start working with the man please for the future of the next generation.

A true Americian.

bornorange| 6.27.10 @ 7:43AM

It is what it is...
The 2 wars have been going on long before the Bamster was picked to run. What part of spending money we do not have don't you get? That's the danger for the next generation.

That, and the fact that the administration steals more freedom every day. If you don't see the theft of private sector economic activity as an assault on capitalism and our democratic republic, I can only hope that like-minded people are becoming fewer and fewer.

Nancy| 6.27.10 @ 5:32PM

There's no free lunch...then you launch into how the government needs to spend more money. We're not using the credit card; we're spending and the credit card is MAXED out! What are we going to do when the "bank" tells us to pony us? This government is paralyzing the economy. People are afraid to create new jobs. This administration is trying to pass crap and trade, and anyone with two brain cells knows that will stifle all of our economy, as enery costs will skyrocket.

We're not supposed to work with the man...the man is supposed to work for us...or that's the way it is supposed to work in a free country.

Melvin| 6.25.10 @ 7:01AM

Liberals have always been suffering from diarrhea of the mouth. In other words Liberals go to extreme lengths and pain by having study groups, symposiums, panels, blue ribbon commissions in doing the most simplistic of tasks.
This is why the United Nations is the center of the Liberal Universe. They talk, talk some more, appoint a panel, talk even more, appointment a commission, and somewhere during this running of the jaws they forget what the original intent was in why they were talking.
This mindset is, "Well at least were doing something, not coming up with a solution, but at least we're talking about it."
At least for the oil well mess. All Obama had to do was look for the most qualified project manager who has dealt with dealing with the government and the oil industry appoint him or her loose to do their job by telling them, "Make this problem go away."
This Country and BP didn't need a unqualified President to stick his finger into the mess and make it a bigger mess.
Those in the large scale construction and oil well business know what I am talking about. A good project manager will either make or break a company, and a good one is worth more than all the crude oil under the sea.
We just need someone to stop all these government yaehooos going down to where the oil is leaking and say, "Yep, there is an oil leak there alright," and then leave to talk about it.

crookedwren| 6.25.10 @ 8:47AM

And all this talk -- it's costing us how much?

(And I'm not just talking dollars, but also sense.)

Ray| 6.25.10 @ 5:50PM

It coud very well cost us TENS of BILLIONS of dollars in regareds to the BP disaster alone! They talked for TWO MONTHS without doing what was necessary,alowing other countries to provide the equiptment and experenced manpower to contain and recover the oil and deminish the damage that the spreading oil would cause.

Doug| 6.25.10 @ 1:43PM

The UN reminds me of Golgafrincham, the planet in the Hitchhikers's Guide to the Galaxy that decided that one third of its population was useless, and devised a ruse to get rid of them by concocting a story that their planet would shortly be destroyed in some great catastrophe. They loaded them up on a spaceship, and sent them off to "save" them. I think that the UN is where all the nations of the world send the most utterly useless people in their population, in large part just to torment us.

Blackwatch| 6.25.10 @ 2:24PM

Don't forget your towel!!!

TaterSalad| 6.26.10 @ 10:59AM

This is what the country gets for voting in a Community Organizer:

http://eyeblast.tv/public/video.aspx?v=Xd2GkUSU2G

Ret. Marine| 6.25.10 @ 7:02AM

This pretender's "bag" seems to be, I'm the "won" I have been waiting for. I cannot seem to get the Bush doctrine out of my mind these days, what's that you say? a "pre-emptive strike" or "you are either with us or you are against us", it appears to be the latter.

Appleby| 6.25.10 @ 7:20AM

That was the difference between the original Star Trek and The Next Generation -- and why the fans of one are bored with the other. Patrick Stewart et al. went into the universe to defeat the Bad Guys by talking them to death.

Then they ran into the Borg.

The oil spill is Obamas Borg.

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 6.25.10 @ 8:05AM

Resistance Is Futile!! All The Beaches Will Be Assimilated!! And so will the President's Poll numbers, and a second term!!

I don't think they teach an oil cleanup course at Harvard Law, or if they did, the President must have just signed in as Present!!

Sowell Disciple| 6.25.10 @ 9:41AM

LL&L:

You have a great name, but I can't take it anymore. Please note that "lullabies" is a noun, and "lullaby's" is a possessive adjective that doesn't make any sense as your name! There's a website dedicated to those who use apostrophes in plural nouns, and otherwise abuse them: http://www.apostropheabuse.com/

L. Ross| 6.25.10 @ 9:54AM

Way to uphold grammatical purity. English majors untie!

HotPat| 6.25.10 @ 1:38PM

L. Ross, very nicely phrased, but the irony will be lost on most.

GBArg| 6.25.10 @ 11:58AM

Your point is right on point. How can otherwise smart people screw up the simple apostrophe? Remedial classtime needed!

Emma| 6.25.10 @ 1:15PM

Hm. Glad to know of that website. For at least 20 years I have had to resist the impulse to scream in public or, second choice, run around with a big brush and a can of black paint, brushing out apostrophes and turning the word into a genuine plural. (Or, worse, taking the apostrophe out of a properly spelled plural into which an apostrophe was added out of sheer fear of "doing it wrong" I would guess)

Ah, well. It's kind of like our "president". Just keep grinning and acting like you know more than anyone else, even you don't know how to talk. Maybe that's what he is: just a wrong apostrophe. I wish.

Brian| 6.25.10 @ 2:07PM

and your comment has WHAT to do with this story? fool

sadie| 6.26.10 @ 7:33AM

While we're at it, can we please talk about reign and rein? You do not reign in spending. Leaders do not rein over their country. Please look it up!

Peter McGrath| 6.25.10 @ 9:56AM

I am Dyslexia of Borg. Your ass will be laminated

Otis my man!| 6.25.10 @ 9:59AM

LMAO!

SpiralArchitect| 6.25.10 @ 2:50PM

Most Excellent!

Actually, most of these replies are top notch...

Here is one for you: loose used in lieu of lose

your team is sure to 'loose' the game - Arrgghhh!! it kills me!

Patrick| 6.26.10 @ 11:34PM

I usually glance over such errors, as they are often caused by sticky keys.

NavyBrat | 6.25.10 @ 10:55AM

Now that I've spewed Sprite all over my computer & everyone in my office is staring at me as I cry laughing, I just wanna say that's HILLARIOUS!!! Cheers, Mr. McGrath!

Mark| 6.25.10 @ 11:40AM

Nice...

Doug| 6.25.10 @ 1:46PM

ROTFL!

Ray| 6.25.10 @ 5:51PM

Good one!

Gill O’Teen ✝✡| 6.25.10 @ 8:14AM

the incompetent-won is Borg. Consider that in the 2004 Illinois US Senate race republi-kon Jack Ryan was forced to withdraw when his sealed divorce records were revealed and the voters learned he was just another slimeball politician. Even though the honorable Alan Keyes volunteered to continue the futile battle, the path had been cleared for beavisbud to prove Murphy’s Law. Ryan’s ex-wife was the Borg refugee Seven of Nine. For further consideration, I submit that this would explain the lord-of-flies obsession with assimilating us into the collective.
Gill O’Teen ✝✡
gill.Oteen07041776@gmail.com
"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong". - Murphy’s Law
“In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence." - The Peter Principle
Only 940 days to go.

Otis, my man!| 6.25.10 @ 9:14AM

Yes, but Picard had to be assimilated first before he appreciated the evil he was dealing with. Once he survived that, he became a man of immediate and often ruthless action whenever confronted by the Borg again. Obama has not been fortunate enough to have had such an epiphany.

Grzmlyk| 6.25.10 @ 9:22AM

Excellent point, Appleby.

I'm a fan of the original series.

Obama is entirely an illusion; there simply is no there there. To the extent there's a very small human being hiding within the folds of that gigantic, Macy's Thanksgiving Parade-sized balloon of media hot air (to a man, the media pronounced his installing of Petraeus as "Brilliant!"), that human being is a scared, unsophisticated, ignorant, immature, angry, emotionally stunted child seeking refuge in retribution against all of those he believes have alienated him.

Like all intellectuals (and he's a fifth-rate one at that), he lives entirely in his head. That's why the ivory tower is called the ivory tower, and that's why academics with big brains always fail utterly when their plans meet with reality.

Fortunately for their egos (and unfortunately for civilization), they invariably respond by determing that it is reality that must be jettisoned.

Mikey| 6.25.10 @ 9:54AM

I love the analysis of this guy. He hit the facts square on the head. Obama is NOTHING but an intellectual. Give him a real crisis and he looks like a deer caught in the headlights.
All he is capable of doing is legislating, which wouldn't be all that bad if it were on the side of the American people.

Radegunda| 6.25.10 @ 2:03PM

He isn't much of an intellectual. When he was hired under the assumption that he would write a book about constitutional law, he instead wrote--or, attempted to write--about himself. Obviously he found no other subject as interesting. But he still needed a ghostwriter to finish the job.

Even his ideological commitments are closely tied to the goal of amassing power unto himself.

Patrick| 6.26.10 @ 11:41PM

And in a couple years, he will have to make do with being ex-president. There is nowhere else for him to go but down. For an ego like his, that might be a personal hell in itself.

Blackwatch| 6.25.10 @ 2:28PM

empty suit. epic failure of a man.

Doug| 6.25.10 @ 1:53PM

I like the analogy, except that Obama is more of an Alan Alda type than a Jean-Luc Picard.

sadie| 6.26.10 @ 7:37AM

Say it ain't so! I LIKE Alan Alda!

Timothy L. Pennell| 6.25.10 @ 7:21AM

"And I saw the BEAST rise from the Sea. And he was given a MOUTH, to speak HAUGHTY and BLASPHEMOUS words. ("We are the ones we've been waiting for.") And he was allowed to exercise authority for forty two months." Revelations 13-5.
Rats run across in front of him. Flies seem drawn to him. Two creatures of Pestilence. And when that fly landed on his face, he never even flinched.
Mark my words. He IS the one we've been waiting for. The Bringer of DEATH and DESTRUCTION. He is the Beginning of the End.
LOOK AT HIM! LOOK AT HIS FACE! He's the ONE.

Chad| 6.25.10 @ 9:32AM

This is absurd.... Obanba can't possibly be the anti-christ, because the anti-christ is BELOVED by almost everyone, all over the world. Obama doesn't even have 45% approval in his own country, and the world thinks of him has a hapless amatuer

tin-foil| 6.25.10 @ 10:56AM

chad - he was beloved around the world. If BHO resigns POTUS to accept the UN Sec Gen position (up in 2012) – he will have served nearly 4 years (most likely around 40-45 months). Only to be vanquished (resigned) to rise again and reign for 7 years. I think that is how Revelation goes.

So not to worry – unless he does in fact resign sometime in 2012 – then even I’ll get nearvous.

D. EVANS| 6.25.10 @ 11:18AM

yall scary dudes!!!, pretty good Southern English, and i agree we should Untie as one

Doug| 6.25.10 @ 1:58PM

I agree with Chad, except instead of "hapless amateur" I would say "useless hack"

Mel Torme| 6.25.10 @ 2:29PM

Man, so this guy is not quite evil enough to be in his own verse in the Bible, too stupid to be the anti-Christ, yet still not popular enough to have a chance at re-election.

A black man just caint get a fair shake in dis cruel world, I reckon.

Stephanie| 6.25.10 @ 2:10PM

Hey Timothy, I sometimes think these things myself, but then I have to snap myself out of it, because it starts to scare the begeezus out of me. But the rats and the flies thing is too damn wierd.

Patrick| 6.26.10 @ 11:50PM

Then where are his preternatural works? All Obama has amounted to be is an insufferable windbag.

No, he is not the Antichrist, not by a far cry. He doesn't even deserve to be compared with the runners-up.

Ken Roberts| 6.27.10 @ 8:51AM

Hey Patrick I agree with that ; Tony Blair would better fill that spot; not saying he is by no means, but he comes closer then Obama being the anti Christ . Obama may be the enabler to set the anti Christ up, others might call him a prelude to the anti Christ . It is good to see people are sort of believing in the anti Christ; because he is real , and scary . That gives hope for many to be saved from the pits of hell . Hell is also very real .

Patrick| 6.27.10 @ 9:21AM

Tony Blair has done his part for the cause, but I wouldn't even put him on the same scale as Napoleon. No, Tony Blair was simply a cog, a functional cog, but still a cog in the Enemy's machine.

Margie| 6.27.10 @ 9:44AM

Since one of God's promises is to reveal who the Anti-Christ is, I'm not worried.
2 Thess. 2:8~ "And then the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth and destroy him by His appearing and His coming."

"So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known." Mt. 10:26.

William Wallace| 6.25.10 @ 7:29AM

Good analysis Mr. Cline. What I can't understand is, as it becomes more and more apparent that the emperor has no clothes, why his poll numbers hold up as well as they do. Or why a generic R vs D for congress shows such a puny lead for the Rs. One would think that a tsunami of pent up rage and disgust would be about sweep all of the horrible self-interested pols, R & D alike from office. I hope it's true but I'm not sure the polls reflect that.

Arnold| 6.25.10 @ 12:08PM

William: Obama's 92% approval rating among blacks adds around 4% to his overall rating. He would be at 40% or even the high 30s if blacks rated him at 50/50. I wonder if this racial solidarity factor will continue to hold.

Dope and Chains| 6.25.10 @ 12:50PM

As a follower of Real Clear Politics’ composite poll numbers, I'm convinced the White House Evil Empire has rigged the numbers in its favor every bit as much as it’s done with its "news" "coverage." Watch RCP's average spread daily: Every time a Rasmussen or a Gallup or an NBC/WSJ comes out with bad news, a PPP, a Pew or a CBS/NYT pops us with positive numbers a few hours later.

Take yesterday, for example: Emperor Nero the Zero started with a spread of +1.2 percent, then fell to -0.7. By late afternoon, the spread had bounced back up to +0.3. The spread number exhibited similar behavior on Monday and Tuesday. Right now, the spread is -0.1 percent but, given recent history, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it turn positive again by tomorrow morning at the latest. Similar fluctuations around the zero line have occurred a few dozen times this year.

The longer this goes on, the less it looks like coincidence, and the more it appears to be engineering. This White House played fast and loose with the Constitution, laws and traditions during the health care vote, so why should anyone expect it to treat polling any differently?

Patrick| 6.26.10 @ 11:58PM

Emperor Nero was a horrible person, a frightful megalomaniac, etc.

While he was bad, it's just plain rude to compare him to Obama, who isn't nearly as talented as a musician, nor as accomplished a statesman.

Purple Lips| 6.25.10 @ 7:35AM

The key is to take a crisis, exploit it ruthlesly, and thereby create another crisis, whcih will be exploited. When the public finally wakes up to the mess.... why, blame it on George Bush, Dick Cheney, Haliburton, and the Neocons!

We've seen this behavior in action. The Stimulus Bill is evidence number one. The Afhgan War evidence number 2. Look at the HCR bill. In the end , it is all Bush's fault! And 30% of the voters eat it up.

d evans| 6.25.10 @ 11:20AM

check the polls 91% of all african voters love him, heck he is from Indonesia, isnt that Africanish?

Arnold| 6.25.10 @ 12:16PM

Indonesia is in southeast Asia, thousands of miles away from Africa culturally equally distant. Obama is not Indonesia. His mom took him there for a couple of years when she married an Indonesian. A man incidentally, that she later dumped because he was too pro American.

Curly Smith| 6.25.10 @ 8:04AM

Obama's response to the oil spill failed because he doesn't know his role. His job isn't to "plug the damn hole", his job is to activate all necessary federal resources to prevent the oil from reaching land. I'm sure that he was informed on Day 1 that if the BOP stack couldn't be manually closed then the flow of oil wouldn't be controlled until August when the relief well reached its target. When the attempt to manually close the BOP stack failed he should have made the following announcement:

"My fellow Americans, you're all well aware of the tragic BP accident in the Gulf of Mexico. As you also know, today BP tried unsuccessfully to close the BOP stack and stop the flow of oil into the Gulf. BP will continue efforts to stop or contain the flow but the most likely scenario has the oil flowing until the relief well is completed in August. All available Federal resources will be marshaled to prevent the oil from reaching shore and allowing this accident to become an ecological and economic disaster.

To that end, I've appointed Vice President Dick Cheney to act as my liaison with BP, the Gulf States, and the Spill Incident Commander. Vice President Cheney's task will be to cut through all bureaucratic red tape to ensure that the needed resources arrive in a timely fashion. Mr. Cheney has my full authority to act as needed and all Federal Agencies are directed to comply fully with his directives. Additionally, I will not tolerate any machinations by either political party to seek personal or political gain from this tragedy. Our efforts must be focused solely on preventing the spill from reaching the coast."

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 6.25.10 @ 8:24AM

Hey Curly: I'm not saying that your idea isn't interesting, it is. Cheney is a get things done type of guy, who does things without all the photo ops, and press conference's, that others in Government need in order to live. But if the President actually had appointed him, thousand's of Liberal's heads across America would have exploded instantaneously, and then we would have had another cleanup crisis on our hands. Although one that I easily could live with!!

Curly Smith| 6.25.10 @ 9:15AM

I don't disagree with the unlikelihood and that's why Obama failed. The liberals may think Cheney is "evil" but even they will admit that he's competent and decisive. The appointment would have stunned the press but they, and the public, would have immediately recognized how serious Obama must consider the problem to appoint the arch-enemy of the former administration to head his response team. It would have been the end of the "politics as usual" that he campaigned on. The simple truth is "Leaders lead" and Obama choose to play golf.

Ken Old Texican)| 6.25.10 @ 9:29AM

LLL,
That was a good one! (grin)

Sowell Disciple| 6.25.10 @ 9:42AM

LL&L:

You have a great name, but I can't take it anymore. Please note that "lullabies" is a noun, and "lullaby's" is a possessive adjective that doesn't make any sense as your name! There's a website dedicated to those who use apostrophes in plural nouns, and otherwise abuse them: http://www.apostropheabuse.com/

Michael L. Hauschild| 6.25.10 @ 11:50AM

Not being a grammatarian of any merit, I probably should not get into this debate (nor should I tread on the hilarious trekkies) but...... the problem is not the apostrophe, it is the comma and the fact that the punctuation should be replaced with some enclosing parenthesis on (legends and lies)?

Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 6.25.10 @ 11:57AM

Sowell: Is that better (without the apostrophe)?

Are you picking a fight with me, for my lack of proper grammar usage? Well if you are, than you should've seen my posts on this same site just one year ago, they would've made you pull your hair out. So as Steve Martin used to say;

"WELL EXCUSE ME!!"

But your probably right, so I'm not arguing your point, I'm a flawed man, and my grammar is flawed too. But the name (LL&L), comes from the song by the Great Bobby Bare (same name as the double live album from 1973). My Father used to torture me with this album back in the day, but as time went by, I came to love it. If you ever get the chance, give it a listen, it's the best Country Music album I've ever heard (and it's very funny too). It's also the "only" Country Music album I love, I'll take classic rock any day of the week myself!!

So for your consideration, the lyrics to the Great song I took my name from.

Gather round fellows I'll tell you some tales about murder and blueberry pies
And heroes and hells and bottomless wells and lullabys legends and lies
And gather round ladies come sit at my feet I'll sing about warm sunny skies
There's mermaids and beans and lovin' machines in my lullabys legends and lies
Lullabys legends and lies and lies lullabys legends and lies
I'll sing you a song then I'll shuffle along with my lullabys legends and lies

I may make you wonder I may make you smile I may bring the tears to your eyes
But when I disappear Lord you'll wish I was here with more lullabys legends and lies
So open the bottle and pass a guitar and look in my warm lovin' eyes
I'll take you to places you ain't been before with my lullabys legends and lies.

Michael L. Hauschild| 6.25.10 @ 12:13PM

"Twas the Night on the Marge of Lake La Barge I cremated Sam McGee."
"So to slack their thirst and do their worst...."

Dope and Chains| 6.25.10 @ 12:57PM

I'll be the anal-retentive, perfect-English scold this time around: The name is now grammatically correct, but lullabies is misspelled!

Sorry.

Ken Roberts | 6.27.10 @ 9:00AM

Thank you Dope an chains : " ; , . ha ha ha ' h'a ha' ha'ha' . when they have no other recourze they alwhays go for the gramma'r and plunctuation. and the speling , but in your case it is jusatifried,!? () ? .

ReginaP| 6.25.10 @ 1:30PM

I think Sowell's point was that grammatically speaking it should be "Lullabies, Legends, and Lies." Lullaby should not be possessive for what is it possessing? All logic dictates that "lullaby" should be plural just like "legends" and "lies" because of all the commas. However, it is a song and the song title is indeed "Lullabys, Legends, and Lies" so it is not a grammatical offense (on your side).
If you do it like this it is actually proper though: Lullaby's legends and lies. This is contingent on the use of an apostrophe. But maybe the musician just did not know (or chose to ignore) that the plural of lullaby is lullabies and thus intended all to be plural: Lullabys, Legend, and Lies. lol sorry, I am English major too.

But yes, I think that Sowell was picking on you....

Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 6.25.10 @ 3:50PM

Look everybody, no apostrophe!! But I still have the comma in there, because it's supposed to be there.

So you think Sowell is picking a fight with me huh? I think so too!! But it looks like he had to get a dozen of his friends to join in against me, the entire World Famous Friggin' English Major Gang. But I'm not scared though, because I've got an entire Airborne Division backing me up, if Sowell wants to come down here and try to make me use the apostrophe correctly. Not that I need the entire Division, but then again maybe I do, I'm not exactly sure how many members are in the World Famous Friggin' English Major Gang.

By the way, there's an entire website dedicated to English Majors getting their asses handed to them by Paratroopers. You might enjoy it!!

http://www.EnglishMajorsGetBeatUp.com/

Purple Lips| 6.25.10 @ 1:32PM

Don't worry SD. In a few years we will all be living under a viaduct eating Alpo and swilling Night Train. We will have plenty of time to listen to your grammar lessons of the mother tongue.

Tim*| 6.25.10 @ 8:09AM

This is a Failed Alinskyite Administration

Louis Jenkins| 6.25.10 @ 8:22AM

We've harped on poor ol' Obumma til we're blue in the face. I just can't figure out how much more material there is on this dude, but I'm sure there will be another crisis around the corner. Between Healthcare, the oil spill, McCrystal, the Relief Package, and who knows what else (immigration?), the disasters just keep coming.

"Propose swift action -- any action -- and structure proposed remedies so their success or failure cannot be measured in real time, then accuse critics of supporting the status quo. " I can surely bet that this is his remedy.

Blackwatch| 6.25.10 @ 2:39PM

It may well be Iran.

Possible scenarios--Iran dukes it out with Israel over the Gaza flotilla mess or Israel's air strikes on their nuke program. they get pissed enough to sink a few tankers in the Straight of Hormuz. oil goes to $250 a barrel in three days, forcing gas to about $8 a gallon.

Have fun with that crisis Barry!!

Tim*| 6.25.10 @ 8:23AM

Ooooorrrr , maybe it depends on what Ozero's meaning of "is " is.

Anthony| 6.25.10 @ 8:27AM

Meanwhile, Obama and his fellow Marxists in Congress, have just stripped away the 1st Amendment right to political speech, once again.
So now under Obama & the Ds, only certain groups get the right to political speech, and sadly, the NRA was bought off having been granted favorite group status.
Words, just words. Not with this bunch. They are iron fisted totalitarians. Under Obama & Co., we have become a nation of men, not laws.
America is in danger. November can't come soon enough.

Gill O’Teen ✝✡| 6.25.10 @ 8:42AM

On a recent business excursion, I was held captive in a motel where the best thing on tee vee was a cartoon show featuring a really strange sponge-like character wearing shorts and tie. I later learned that this was none-other than SpongeBob Square Pants. In this adventure, Bob and his pals were being held captive aboard a Viking longboat. I don’t recall how it happened, but a massive sea-water leak appeared in the boat’s side. The Vikings, in spite of being skilled sailors and warriors were clueless since they lacked bureaucratic leadership. Courageously, Bob used a slingshot to launch himself into the breach where he used his anatomical peculiarities to sop up the water. This got me to thinking about the oil leak. All we need are the biggest sponges in the world, stuff those into the hole and problem solved. The biggest sponges in the world are the politicians in dee cee. I’ll leave it to you all to connect these dots, but from my perspective, I have just killed two birds with one stone.
gill.Oteen07041776@gmail.com
“If I were to die right now, in some sort of fiery explosion due to the carelessness of a friend, well, that would just be ok.” - SpongeBob
Only 940 days to go.

Lowell| 6.25.10 @ 9:11AM

Great comment, Gill. Especially killing two birds. Thanks for an early morn guffaw.

Melvin| 6.25.10 @ 9:17AM

Gill, you are smokin this morning. Good one, especially the D.C. sponges.

Gill O’Teen ✝✡| 6.25.10 @ 10:48AM

Addendum: when I learned that the a gee was sending a squadron of legal beagles to the Gulf, I thought that holding had seen the same SpongeBob show.
Gill O’Teen ✝✡
gill.Oteen07041776@gmail.com
“The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.” - William Shakespeare (Henry The Sixth, Part 2 Act 4, scene 2)
Only 940 days to go.

V.W. Addison| 6.25.10 @ 8:53AM

Cup a hand to an ear and listen to the fading echoes spoken by the most prescient of orators... our own beloved Joe Biden... ""I've forgotten more about foreign policy than most of my colleagues know, so I'm not being falsely humble with you. I think I can be value added, but this guy has it," the Senate Foreign Relations chairman said of Obama. "This guy has it. But he's gonna need your help. Because I promise you, you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going, 'Oh my God, why are they there in the polls? Why is the polling so down? Why is this thing so tough?' We're gonna have to make some incredibly tough decisions in the first two years. So I'm asking you now, I'm asking you now, be prepared to stick with us. Remember the faith you had at this point because you're going to have to reinforce us." Right, Joe... didn't really believe your own words did you? Huh?

"There are gonna be a lot of you who want to go, 'Whoa, wait a minute, yo, whoa, whoa, I don't know about that decision'," Biden continued. "Because if you think the decision is sound when they're made, which I believe you will when they're made, they're not likely to be as popular as they are sound. Because if they're popular, they're probably not sound."

Petronius| 6.25.10 @ 10:03AM

Get a copy of the Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. Look up the word "idiot".

Gr0w1er| 6.25.10 @ 10:06AM

What do you expect for a guy who can't even throw a baseball!! Pitiful, absolutely pitiful.

Stephanie| 6.25.10 @ 2:24PM

Lord, he's such a girl! And the way he sits with his legs crossed, like a girl! If it 's gonna be a man in the White House, please can we have MAN and not some metro sexual sissy? And the golf shorts with the saddle oxford is so gay!

AMENBRO| 6.25.10 @ 10:16AM

I've been readin the Spectator since it was NEWSPAPER rag barely survivin. Mr. Tyrrell attracted my admiratrion cause he took no prisoner.
I've been raisin hail since CARTER.

F$%^ all of you. You igits created this mess by commmin to the party after the Ballroom hall has already been demolished. Most of you don't have a clue just how REALLY SCREEEEEEWED we are.

Stephanie| 6.25.10 @ 2:27PM

Geeze Bro, take a pill! We all know how screwed we are. I'm frightened every day and pray for the stupid republicans to get their s*@t together and save us in November. Please settle down dude, your blood pressure is undoubtedly soaring.

L. Ross| 6.25.10 @ 10:18AM

The reason that BHO has been such a failure in response to this oil spill is that he cannot do ANYTHING that is not carefully scripted. Lord help him anytime he goes off teleprompter. Neither him, nor anyone within a parsec of him knows the first thing about geology, drilling, deep sea operations, anything that we need now. They don't teach that stuff at Ivy League schools. No, they teach mostly law at those schools. Trouble with laws and regulations is that they have very little to do with the natural, physical world. They have a lot to do with the elite exercising power over the common man. God help us, there is no one in congress who is qualified to write a bill regarding this disaster either. The government's response to this oil blowout is almost guaranteed to be the worst possible response. Oh wait, it already is.

L. Ross| 6.25.10 @ 10:19AM

Sorry. Should have read neither he, not neither him. Jeez.

A.M. Mallett| 6.25.10 @ 10:21AM

Yes, but the Gulf Coast shores are now as safe as they can be from illegal Mexican immigration thanks to the spill! Janet is such a wise woman!

Proud Mormon| 6.25.10 @ 10:31AM

It's Romney time. Mitt to the rescue. Vote for Romney 2012.

Gill O’Teen ✝✡| 6.25.10 @ 11:32AM

I’m sorry. While he seems smart, articulate and aware, look where that got us 2 years ago. And he did sign masscare into law like a good RINO and at one time was pro-death. I’d have to hold my nose to vote for him.
Gill O’Teen ✝✡
gill.Oteen07041776@gmail.com
“Our economy is on the move and we are creating thousands of new jobs, but we need to keep our foot on the gas pedal.” - Mitt Romney
Only 940 days to go.

Proud Mormon| 6.25.10 @ 12:04PM

A bad economy and this economy is really bad fits perfectly for Mitt. He has the answers and is a man who gets things done. Can't say that for the current White House occupant. Romney rolls into the White House in January 2013!

neo-libertarian| 6.25.10 @ 1:24PM

"A bad economy and this economy is really bad fits perfectly for Mitt. He has the answers and is a man who gets things done." Sounds like he should run for governor in Massachusetts, oh wait......

Patrick| 6.27.10 @ 12:17AM

Seriously? Look, just because you are coreligionists doesn't make him the best candidate for the job. Believe me, the fallout from JFK mania is still plaguing my own church, decades later.

I don't think Mitt is the best man for the job, nor even the best Mormon for the job. He has a strong track record as a moderate in love with comprimise, and these are not the times for such. What is needed now is a Republican who can live with being cast day and night as an "evil ogre", and cut spending.

Seriously, I'd vote in the primaries for a Republican with the guts to veto the next budget by embedding an axe into it, and send it back to congress as such.

Rick| 6.25.10 @ 1:23PM

He'd have to disavow Romneycare & somehow undo all the waffling on abortion etc. Moot point - anti-Mormon bigotry will never allow him to win.

Stephanie| 6.25.10 @ 2:32PM

Anti mormon bigotry? We have black theologist in office now, I hardly think being mormon will be a liability next time and after the mess obama is and will continue to create.

H Smith| 6.26.10 @ 12:13AM

I don't think that anti-Mormon bigotry will defeat him, but the rest of your statement rings true.

H Smith| 6.26.10 @ 12:11AM

Oh, Please! Mitt has about as much fire as a dead fireplace. He had his chance and couldn't even beat McLame.

Paul in Colorado| 6.25.10 @ 10:34AM

Obama never expected to actually have to be the President - he just wants to play one on TV.

Purpleguy| 6.25.10 @ 10:43AM

You right-wingers accuse our great young African-American president of incompetence and laziness. Of course there is an element of that in his presidency. He is black after all. But what he symbolizes transcends all of his detriments.

Gill O’Teen ✝✡| 6.25.10 @ 11:12AM

Leave it to a known and revealed leftist tool to troll by and interject race into this discussion. alinsky would be so proud. This is the species of herring with which you are most familiar.
Gill O’Teen ✝✡
gill.Oteen07041776@gmail.com
“I was sittin' in my front room
I heard a loud crash
I run to the window to see what was that
Out in the top of my old apple tree
There was a one-eyed-purple-people-eater
Lookin' at me”
Bo Diddley’s “Bo Meets the Monster” (1958)
Only 940 days to go.

Norman Conquest| 6.25.10 @ 11:35AM

A subsequent reading of Purpleguy's, post reveals either a bit of subversive fun being had at PG's expense, or raging, howling liberal insanity. It has to one or the other.

ds80| 6.25.10 @ 12:38PM

I never saw a Purpleguy.
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you, anyhow:
I'd rather see than be one.

Patrick| 6.27.10 @ 12:23AM

Perhaps he suffers from argyria?

Radegunda| 6.25.10 @ 2:10PM

I think you're right in identifying a fake Purpleguy--but it works as satire because it's so close to being real.

Mimi| 6.25.10 @ 7:05PM

PURP....Thanks for the laugh!!

Stan Allen | 6.25.10 @ 7:55PM

Finally, some honesty: Obama's strength is style, not substance. Glad you've admitted it.

Margie| 6.25.10 @ 10:52AM

Grzmlyk/Ken (Old Tex) 2012!

LLL's for Secretary of State.

IMHO, Grz is our Reagan, Ken is our Cheney, and LLL's is the best man for the job! (We can always deal with the apostrophes later).

I think it's about time we hire some real folks in Washington, D.C.

Bob| 6.25.10 @ 11:30AM

Jeb Bush for President in '12.

C LeMay| 6.25.10 @ 11:36AM

NO MORE BUSHES! EVER!

Nick| 6.25.10 @ 11:39AM

Margie,

Can I be the Secretaries of Education, Energy, HHS, HUD, Interior, Labor, Agriculture, Transportation, Commerce, and Homeland Security?

So I can burn them all to the ground?

Margie| 6.25.10 @ 11:46AM

Nick,
My answer? In the voice of Austin Powers: "YEAH, baby!"

I'd say you've got what it takes, judging by the apparent zeal overflowing from your righteous desire.

Nick| 6.27.10 @ 11:00AM

Thanks Margie!

After closing all those useless departments, I would ask for a job as budget director and slash the buget in half.

Margie| 6.27.10 @ 3:06PM

Nick,

OK~ now you are sounding really Presidential. Since Grz and Ken didn't answer the call, I'm thinking Nick/Christie 2012 now.

Mimi| 6.25.10 @ 7:14PM

Hi Margie....Right on! Great list Grz seems steel-spined and can undo all the laws....Ken would be great on the campaign trail sticking up for our cause and taking it to the enemy! And LLL will let the world know how tough the new gang is and will help out Israel. You up for the call boys?

Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 6.25.10 @ 8:53PM

Hi Margie & Mimi: I'm honored to even be mentioned on the same list with Grzmlyk & Ken, but with my "well known" past history of apostrophe abuse, my nomination would quickly turn into a Congressional grammar scandal. And there's another reason why it wouldn't work for me, my current contract with the Army has me locked up well through the next Election. But maybe I could be a midterm replacement, huh? Hell, I'll settle for just being President Grzmlyk's driver, and Vice President Old Texican's Golf Caddy. You see, that way I'll be able to get the President to his meetings on time (which is very important), and I can help keep the Vice President honest with his golf score (remember he's only a heartbeat away). I'm not accusing you of anything here Ken, but as you know golf is all about honesty and character (no matter how shockingly honest your score might actually be). Mine? Mine is a pathetic 106, but it's honest.

I wonder what the "real" average golf score is for President Obama? He plays enough, but I never hear about his score. He guards that as well as he guards his college grades!!

Margie| 6.27.10 @ 3:17PM

That's ok LLL's (I'm sure there's supposed to be an apostrophe there, right?)~ In the new administration we new folks aren't going to care about whether you know your apostrophe's's. We are going to care if you have what it really takes to run a country. Pointy-headed Liberals need not apply because I really can't see how they'd fit in. After all, they do think they're smarter than the rest of us, in their stupidity. Because if you think you're smarter than everyone else you won't be able to work well with your peers. That's a definite NO. What we are going to need is real unity of purpose. One mind, and one spirit. That will get the job done, and that's what we're looking for.

As a matter of fact if all of our Military men (and women) took office instead of the pointy-headed Liberals just think about how we could not only win the war but bring the country back from the brink of destruction!

I'm rooting for for you all! (Golf score or no golf score).

Peter McGrath - Nuke it!| 6.25.10 @ 10:59AM

A 10 - 20 kiloton blast would certainly collapse the vent where oil is leaking into the gulf.

Why isn't this simple solution being considered, or even mentioned?

This type of operation has been accomplished before to "cap" underwater oil gushers, with great success.

Read more about it, here:

http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/05.....il-geyser/

L. Ross| 6.25.10 @ 11:25AM

Simple answer, Peter. Lack of understanding in our leadership, lack of education of the American public. Our pathetic media and instituions of "learning" have been instilling nothing but fear of all things nuclear ever since Three Mile Island, a small accident in a reactor which is STILL providing power. People don't have the faintest comprehension of half life vs radioactivity, how effectively several feet of mud will shield virtually all radiation, I could go on and on. Incidently, I gained my knowledge from the Strategic Air Command. This kind of thing was my job. A nuke down the hole is an entirely appropriate response, however it is unsellable to an ignorant public and ruling class.

LiveFreeOrDie| 6.25.10 @ 11:41AM

Aren't you paying attention? Any idea that quickly solves the problem would be, "letting a crisis go to waste. "

Sneed Hearn| 6.25.10 @ 11:09AM

Dig you plug the hole yet daddy? What a load of crap! If this odious and execrable fraud wasn't so dangerous he'd be risible. See what insane white guilt buys you?

jack carlson| 6.25.10 @ 11:33AM

Obama the Anti-Christ??

don't think so. While I do believe that the world will soon embrace a Messiah that they believe can lead us out of a global economic crisis, BHO is just not the guy.

First, it will probably be a European, probably German. Secondly, Americans are just too independent and skeptical to completely fall for a con artist, no matter how persuasive he may be. Obama is as close as we have ever come, and still half the country didn't buy in. Thirdly, the "anti-Christ" is someone who will actually appear to be able to work miracles. That is a very tough thing in this day and age of David Copperfield, and BHO certainly hasn't worked any miracles, other than being everywhere and nowhere at the same time!

LiveFreeOrDie| 6.25.10 @ 11:44AM

"...and BHO certainly hasn't worked any miracles..."

I disagree, I think it's a miracle he's still polling anywhere near 50% approval.

Patrick| 6.27.10 @ 12:39AM

German? I nearly sprayed beer on that one. It's just not plausible until the evils of the Third Reich are utterly forgotten.

Some would suggest Syrian, based on the omission of the Tribe of Dan, yet how could one plausibly establish such a pedigree?

I personally believe that the end of the world will be some time in coming, as I have a pretty good idea of how bad it can get before it can get no worse. Even so, I live with the knowledge that my own personal end could be at any moment.

BackwardsBoy | 6.25.10 @ 11:57AM

Since there are no political points to be scored for just doing his job, Obama could care less. If it doesn't advance the country towards Socialism, Obama seems completely disinterested in the suffering of his fellow countrymen.

This guy is all about tearing down the American system and nothing more. I'm certain that Saul Alinsky looks up at his protege and smiles.

Stan Allen | 6.25.10 @ 7:57PM

Hey, BackwardsBoy - did you get your screen name from that Simpsons episode?

darcy| 6.27.10 @ 1:14AM

Exactly right, BackwardsBoy; that's why he remains cool, detached, and tee'd up, because everything is going according to plan.

It matters not, the mini-and major-crises, as long as the country's going belly-up, Constitution-wise and economically, he's acting the role assigned to him. The transformation proceeds apace; and it's all to the good that he's seen merely as an incompetent and not as the nefarious creature he is.

Where are the tar and feathers?

Karl LaFong| 6.25.10 @ 12:14PM

First off, America must resign itself to the fact that it was a great blunder to vote for Obama. His inexperience was gladly overlooked because of Bush's lowered regard at the time. Obama has surrounded himself with people who have even less experience in trying to run the country. Obama started his downfall by selecting "know it all" Biden as his VP. Biden does not even know history. Then Hillary as Secretary of State. She is as bad as "lapel pin" Madeline Albright and speaks even worse than Bush. Only increased danger with foreign governments have resulted with her doing the talking. Then comes Janet, "the system worked" Napolitano. Geez I feel better now. Eric "hold the muslims here" Holder, author of the "cowards on race" claim was next to "help" his boss. Whew! Before him was Messers Geithner and Bernankhe. First a thief, then one who's time has passed. I didn't forget Salazar, but what can I say. Our Mexican border is "more secure than ever" while thousands cross illegally every night. And these people say things with a straight face! Obama was and is a glib snake oil salesman who's customers are finally seeing through his "most transparent administration" lie. His failure is a reflection on democracy where ignorant people vote for a dangerous threat to our American way of life. Our reputation, our freedoms, and our great history are being diminished everywhere. Our Constitution, which is the backbone of our reputation, our freedoms, and our great history is being trashed by our first foreign, enemy loving, ally hating, president. Now you know!

Indy Pendent| 6.25.10 @ 12:33PM

We are being governed by Mr. Spock at a time when we need Captain Kirk.

Patrick| 6.27.10 @ 12:40AM

Spock is too logical to be cast for Obama, who is better represented by a Tribble.

Nick| 6.27.10 @ 10:56AM

I would say O'Bama is part Harry Mudd and part Lor.

Greedy and power hungry. His incompetence borders on the Packled. "We are smart."

Indy Pendent| 6.25.10 @ 12:36PM

We now know that Barack, despite his mysterious origins and deluded worshippers, cannot be the Antichrist/Beast of Revelation. The Son of Satan could not be this incompetent.

Peter| 6.25.10 @ 1:08PM

Many of us saw this coming from the beginning of his campaign. It was soooo obvious, so much so in fact that to personally know some of the very bright and successful people who backed him--still back him, as I do, is to live in fear. Why? Because it indicates yet again how easily large numbers of folks can fall for a smooth talking charlatan.

If we examine carefully the President's actions and words involving everything from General Motors to FOXNews and now the oil spill crisis, it is not hard to see that his tendency is to lean toward tactics more like Hugo Chavez than Lincoln, supposedly the one he wishes to emulate.

Given that, it is not difficult to imagine that, given the proper conditions, someone like Obama, if not he himself, could make a move toward dictatorship, or certainly autocratic rule, and quite easily find substantial if not majority support. I don't think this was ever really possible until now in the USA, but for those like me who have solidly liberal friends who share their views and opinions, it appears to be the stark reality.

Stephanie| 6.25.10 @ 2:42PM

Your friends want a dictatorship here in America? How can you call them your friends?

John| 6.25.10 @ 1:09PM

Impeach Now!!!

Rick| 6.25.10 @ 1:09PM

Obama is a pseudo-intellectual of mediocre intelligence. Proof: he never releases any of the meager, sophomoric drivel he wrote. His many autobiographies are ghost-written mush. He never wrote for the Harvard Law Review. His liberal peers at U Chicago considered him a no-talent hack. If he was a good speaker, he wouldn't need the propaganda machine going into fits of orgasm at every word, the common man would recognize true talent if he had any. It doesn't take any intelligence to be a marxist, they are all failures at life. He has all of the superficiality of the psychopath narcissist.

Mattled| 6.25.10 @ 1:54PM

Rick,
"It doesn't take any intelligence to be a marxist, they are all failures at life."
Bingo!

If Marxists were smart then the USSR would still be around and people would be drowning to get into Cuba.

Then what would poor Shawn Penn and Harry Belafarting do?

Steve A| 6.25.10 @ 1:56PM

It's all Bush's fault, republicans fault, BPs fault, Wall Streets fault, Big Oils fault, Capitalisms fault, Americas fault. Therefore, the solutions are: raise taxes, print $$, spend $$, extend entitlements, expand government, nationalize business, nationalize health care, Cap & Tax, amnesty for illegals. Makes perfect sense.

ohthehumanity| 6.25.10 @ 2:17PM

Our President is the biggest pussy in any room he enters. One of those neighborhood kids always picked last for the stickball game. You can tell. Always picked on....and sayin' to himself "I'll show you guy's some day...." And then he gets a little power one day and suddenly he thinks he's got the biggest schmekel in the room.

Those are the people who yearn to be dictators.

My Girl Friday| 6.25.10 @ 2:35PM

The leak in the gulf is at approximated 1,525 meters (5003 feet) and they are using robotic submersibles "because of the water pressure." The Titanic is at a depth of 12,460 feet at 6,000 pounds of pressure per square inch. Why not use DSV Alvin which is a HOV (human operated vehicle) with robotics and capable of 4500 meter depths as they did for the Titanic?

Patrick| 6.27.10 @ 12:44AM

Because we don't have enough carbon credits to operate it?

Shaka Zulu| 6.25.10 @ 2:50PM

I think that it is safe to say without fear of contradiction that this specimen will be the last black president for a long,long time.

Radegunda| 6.25.10 @ 3:01PM

Sounds like a troll attempting to give the impression that every criticism of Obummer boils down to race.

I think it's safe to say that almost everyone who heartily disapproves of this president can think of others of duskier hue who would do a far better job.

If a black Republican runs for president, it's safe to say that he will get very aggressive scrutiny by the mass media, so people can vote with confidence that the dirty laundry is not being hidden away--as it very much was in the case of Obummer.

Sex-Crazed Poodle| 6.25.10 @ 2:54PM

I wonder if Al Gore had been allowed to steal the election in 2000 we'd have this purple-lipped poser today. It would have been interesting to see how that windbag pussy Gore would have handled 9-11 as well.

Mattled| 6.25.10 @ 4:23PM

This is yet another time I hear that Odoogie has purple lips. I have long thought that he is not well.

Could the purple lips be poor circulation? An illness?

Maybe Wanda Sykes was prophetic---and had the wrong person with the --ahem--kidney problem?

eiseman| 6.25.10 @ 2:56PM

Seems pretty clear to me that his inaction was VERY DELIBERATE in order to be able to use the crisis to put a moratorium on drilling and push cap and trade legislation. The problem was his administration SERIOUSLY UNDERESTIMATED the enormity of the problem and now the rupture could quite possibly pass beyond anyone's control depending on the storms that develop. Very bad gamble...

Newzaroo| 6.25.10 @ 3:00PM

Obama's more useless than a porcelain lawn jockey.

Tim*| 6.25.10 @ 3:17PM

Obama is a porcelain lawn jockey.

Patrick| 6.27.10 @ 12:49AM

You insult porcelain lawn jockeys!

They cost far less than even a thousand, let alone a trillion dollars, and you can at least cover over a bad Roundup job with them.

Kelly Staples| 6.25.10 @ 3:09PM

Community organizer.

Revo117| 6.25.10 @ 3:12PM

There has never been a spill like this in 50yrs of deep or shallow water drilling. So, Obama's logic is shut down the whole bloody coastal oil operation until they figure out "exactly" what happened. All the major oil companies are at this very moment inspecting and RE-inspecting their equipment and safety procedures. AND, do you know how long it could take to find the cause of this one oil rigs failure before "Obama's moratorium" is lifted?? Meanwhile, oil and jobs are LOST! Regarding not using the unused booms in stock because we need to save them for another spill/ or booms not accepted from other countries is like saying Firemen better not respond to a emergency call because there might not be enough firetrucks for someplace else. OBAMA"S "Katrina" times 10!! ANOTHER "ROOKIE" MOVE from Obama and his administration.

DarthSantaMonica| 6.25.10 @ 5:30PM

Michelle said that Barack spent so much time alone as a child it is as if he were raised by wolves. That may explain his lack of human emotions (apart from petulance and arrogance).

I guess Chris Matthews' leg has finally stopped tingling and being thrilled by the man he once described as "writing the New Testament."

bacalao| 6.25.10 @ 5:56PM

Conspiracy?? never explained is why SWAT teams were deployed to the area, (rigs??). Why SWATS, the Mil can do same.

Mormon Girl| 6.25.10 @ 6:59PM

Mitt Romney would make a wonderful President. He's handsome, charming, a great family man, a strong leader and productive. His strongest point, economics is exactly what is needed in the next president. It's Mitt's time please vote for Romney.

Nick| 6.25.10 @ 7:45PM

Sorry, Mormon Girl, not gonna' happen!

RomneyCare is too close to ObamaCare.

Romney has no core principles, just a finger to stick into the wind.

He is the real life "Bill McKay," Robert Redford's character in the movie "The Candidate."

Gr0w1er| 6.25.10 @ 11:03PM

"Bill McCay! A Better Way !" Sound familiar?

Gr0w1er| 6.25.10 @ 11:13PM

In the final scene of "The Candidate", Robert Redford's Bill McCay looks mournfully at his campaign manager Marvin Lucas, (beautifully played by a bushy-bearded Peter Boyle), uttering the last line of the movie: "Marvin,... What do we do now?...". How pathetically prophetic.

WAKE UP| 6.26.10 @ 1:46AM

Mormon Girl, it's time for a REAL man; vote for Allen West. And a REAL woman; vote for Jan Brewer.

Mormon Refrigerator| 6.25.10 @ 7:05PM

Vote For Romney !

I Don't Why, I'm Just A Refrigerator.

Northern Rebel| 6.25.10 @ 8:55PM

The financial bill that seems to be on the verge of reality, will allow government bureaucrats to examine my records, if I apply for a loan to pay for surgery to enhance my disabled wife's quality of life.

If they deem it unnecessary, they can force the bank to turn me down.

The death panels have arrived.

God Bless/Help America.

Kevin MN| 6.25.10 @ 11:25PM

So this is the caricature who infamously uttered in June 2008 (upon securing the Democrat nomination):

"Today is the day the oceans begin to recede and the planet begins to cool."

And he can't fix a leaky oil well?

It's like a Hollywood disaster film turned sit-com!

WAKE UP| 6.26.10 @ 1:43AM

In my lifetime of America-watching, Obama is the most divisive President I've ever seen. He's not in crisis; the nation is.

Yosemeti Sam| 6.26.10 @ 3:15AM

Is it possible - just possible - that BHOs' ass is being
kicked by the ghostly souls of babies BHO had kick-assed into closets?

Spoonman| 6.26.10 @ 6:57AM

The community organizer in chief is a fraud - since all he's done throughout his unexceptional carrer and life is shakedown other people and businesses, he hasn't a clue what to do when a real crisis occurs. Pray that nothing else significant occurs during the remainder of his term!

FedUpin Michigan| 6.26.10 @ 8:05AM

Nobody expected Obama to personally stop the oil spill. But there is an old military saying "never fight the war on your home ground" and that's where he went wrong. The response in the gulf should have immediately taken on any and all offered help to keep the majority of the spill out in the gulf. Buring it, scooping it up, straining it, whatever was available. Instead, he dithered and tried to determine the political implications and now we are fighting the spill on our shores. What poor leadership!

Ken Roberts | 6.28.10 @ 5:42PM

Well said he is a crisis him self , we can hopefully look back on this somewhere down the road and say whew ! that was close .

martin j smith| 6.26.10 @ 8:05AM

Aside from all of the already passed destructive legislation such as Health Care ( or O care- or who cares --I do ) there are at least two issues on table that can really roil the voters. One is Obama singlehandedly giving amnesty to all illegals the second, the end run the Surpreme court ruling of first amendment rights . Given this particular Democrat Party, everyone better watch out for sabotage of the elections themselves. I truly do not beieve many especially Republicans ( I am not talking about RINOS who know darn well what they are doing ). There is and will be a need for strong resistance and backbone in the days, wekks and months ahead. And, right now.

TaterSalad| 6.26.10 @ 10:59AM

This is what the country gets for voting in a Community Organizer:

http://eyeblast.tv/public/video.aspx?v=Xd2GkUSU2G

Nick| 6.26.10 @ 11:05AM

Mr. Salad,

Don't you mean Communist Organizer!

TaterSalad| 6.26.10 @ 11:04AM

Can Obama grant amnesty to all illegal aliens?

http://www.newsmax.com/InsideC.....ode=A28E-1

Tim*| 6.26.10 @ 12:09PM

No TaterSalad !

Only illegal aliens ,who promise to vote democrat.

Jim O'Sullivan | 6.26.10 @ 12:27PM

I'm reminded of Obama's response to a question he got in an interview after he appeared to have wrapped up the the Dem's nomination. It was about his lack of management experience: where was his track record? His response, classic Obama , was that his management of his thus-far successful campaign proved his executive competence.
Indeed, we have a President whose skill set is confined to the world of politics.

Marc Jeric| 6.26.10 @ 2:14PM

When one knows who he is - Abu Hussein al-Mombassa, our Community Organizer-in-Chief - then one can safely predict what he wants done. Economic crisis caused by the Democrat majority in January 2007? Well, nationalize mortgage companies, automakers, some banks and insurance companies, health care. Oil spill? Shake down BP for $20 billion to distribute to his constituents, introduce cap & trade to nationalize oil & gas companies, coal mines, electricity companies. Illegal alien crisis? Total amnesty is his answer - 20 million new votes for his permanet majority.
He is a revolutionary marxist bent on communizing America.

prestonsbrooks| 6.26.10 @ 2:30PM

BP Obama is nothing but a Marxist parrot. All he knows is Marx, Marx, Marx, covered with a veneer of the Chicago shakedown.

h20skier| 6.26.10 @ 6:18PM

Remember when Obama said "I don't want the ones that caused this mess to do a lot of talking. I just want the ones who caused this mess to get out of the way so I can clean up this mess." http://dailyradar.com/beltwayb.....eated_the/

Well Obama you have your chance and it looks like you failed miserably.

martin j smith| 6.27.10 @ 7:53AM

What gets to the hear t of the matter with BHO ius this: Why does a president and a Left gco0ngenial congress pass legislation as if they are an Hamburger factor without regard to the wishes of the consumer ( the voter ). In my judgement, they are not stupid ( I could be wrong bu I do not think so ) are they guessing they wont do so badly ? do they think even if the Repubs win there will not be super majorities and BHO has veto power ? Or, do they have other plans for the election ? Oh to be the fly on the wall in the White House or the halls of congress.

Tater Salad| 6.27.10 @ 5:18PM

Rev. Wright hates whites, Jews and MLK Jr. and everything else NOT black. This from a person who lectured Barack Obama for 20 years.

http://sweetness-light.com/arc.....and-mlk-jr

Rolex | 6.28.10 @ 11:36AM

Rolex

Ken Roberts | 6.28.10 @ 5:37PM

we had a good eight years under Bush that is until the democrat debacle over Fannie and Freddie came to the fore front . No one can show me where Bush is responsible for the loaning of money in the 200,000 dollar range to people who have no job or any type of income and it was done because the democrats enabled that . under the act you could get a loan over the phone with just a social number and a telephone number . Time and time again the democrats were taken to task on this and each time they stated there is nothing to see here everything is fine . I am so tired of the people that do not know any better saying it was a republican thing , yes it was to the point that they allowed them to get away with it. The democrats own Fannie and Freddie no one else started with Carter and was expanded with Clinton. The bail out was maybe something that was needed I have no way of knowing, but it has been abused and misused . Health care was passed illegally with bribes and back room deals no way is that right .

wholesale | 9.19.11 @ 11:46AM

A good post. Thanks.

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