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The Obama Watch

Shrimp in the White House

Broadening his horizons on all sides of the Vineyard.

“Let me eat shrimp,” said Barack Obama to a reporter this week as he toiled in Martha’s Vineyard. This Marie Antoinette wannabe has no intention of letting anyone get their hands on cake, I fear. Black bread and thin gruel, more likely.

If historical and monarchical metaphors are the order of the day, we might reach more readily for Nero of Rome, said to have fiddled while his domain sizzled. The state of our economy is shaky at best, while global crises whirl unabated from Tehran to Pyongyang to Islamabad and even in pronounceable places like Wall Street. The President is being flip like Wilson, recalling the apocryphal Antoinette apothegm, but more significantly he seems to be floating aimlessly like flotsam and jetting aimlessly like jetsam, recalling Nero’s neurosis.

What I’m sayin’ is that the man is hopelessly lost. He has no clue what to do next, but the show must go on. He has his game face on, but the game may be over.

THE GREEK COLUMNS FRAMED Senator Obama as he accepted the nomination to run for President. “Narcissus!” shouted some. “Hubris!” shouted others. Now after nineteen months of Greco-Roman wrestling with the big job, he seems to have decided it’s all Greek to him and it is time for that Roman fiddle.

Seeing him in this condition makes a soul feel sorry for the poor lug. The Bard of Avon is calling him “more to be pitied than censured.” He was just a regular sweet kid who was born in the U.S. of A. (Hawaii says so, Kenya believe it?) and told that he could be anything he darned well wanted to be, including the President. Gladdened by this uplifting vision, he hustled off to school in Iowa or Indonesia or wherever, cheered by the bell or the muezzin or whatever.

Then he initiated his brilliant precautionary approach, which was a harbinger of his later health plan: taking the drugs before the illness arrives. From there he began hanging around with some Commies, not because he believed in that stuff, but to broaden his horizons and see all sides of this great country. Then he went to that college in Cambridge which confusingly is not called Cambridge here in America but something funny beginning with a Har.

Onward ho to the church of the Reverend who thinks 9/11 was God’s retribution for Hiroshima. Obama prayed there, baptized his children there, and named his book after one of the Rev’s sermons, not because he believed in that stuff, but to broaden his horizons and see all sides of this great country. Next he proceeded to the U. of Chicago where he made common cause with an American radical who tried to blow up the Pentagon and regrets failing, William Ayers. Obama palled around with him not because he believed in that stuff, but to broaden his horizons and see all sides of this great country.

He then community-organized for a while, and so effectively did he organize that indeed the black community in Chicago is now in fabulous shape. He was loosely affiliated with ACORN, an organization specializing in election fraud (doing it, not stopping it), not because he believed in that stuff, but to broaden his horizons and see all sides of this great country. Afterwards, Obama had a proto-Mafioso get him a good deal on a house that fell off the truck. He was friends with this paragon of corruption. not because he believed in that stuff, but to broaden his horizons and see all sides of this great country.

As a State Senator, he courageously jumped in to make sure that the overzealous religious fanatics did not get a chance to save the lives of babies who survive abortion. Why should the poor mother be saddled with a wailing, pooping little brattinsky as a result of medical malpractice?

Thence to the United States Senate from Illinois, where he amassed the single most liberal voting record, not because he believed in that stuff, but to broaden his horizons and see all sides of this great country. Then he went on the campaign trail and managed to win a nomination without ever winning a major primary. Looking at this amazing track record of coming up from the wrong side of the tracks, how could his career become derailed?

Well, enough of this fiddle-faddle. I must go back to the Summer of Recovery and stand behind our young President. Remember, Rome was not built in a day.

About the Author

Jay D. Homnick, commentator and humorist, is a frequent contributor to The American Spectator. He also writes for Human EventsHere he speaks at the Rally for Religious Freedom in Miami on June 8, 2012.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (96) |

Ken (Old Texican)| 8.27.10 @ 6:58AM

Jay,
Sorry, but it isn't a laughing matter. Obama and his congress have already accomplished their task.

They can simply relax now, sort of like the avalanche controllers in the mountains finishing their rounds with explosive charges.

The multiple avalanches are now quiety building above our heads.

Alan Brooks| 8.27.10 @ 3:58PM

no matter who is president we are still entering a state of genuine dystopia. Here is the definition; (does it have a familiar ring of recognition to it?):

"A dystopia (from Ancient Greek: δυσ-: bad-, ill- and Ancient Greek: τόπος: place, landscape) is, in literature, an often futuristic society that has degraded into a repressive and controlled state, though under the guise of being utopian. Dystopian literature has underlying cautionary tones, warning society that if we continue to live how we do, this will be the consequence. A dystopia is, thus, regarded as a sort of negative utopia... Dystopias often explore the concept of technology going "too far" ...
Real dystopias such as Nazi Germany have existed in history.
The first known use of dystopian, as recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary, is a speech given before the British House of Commons by John Stuart Mill in 1868, in which Mill denounced the government's Irish land policy: "It is, perhaps, too complimentary to call them Utopians, they ought rather to be called dys-topians, or caco-topians. What is commonly called Utopian is something too good to be practicable; but what they appear to favour is too bad to be practicable."

And tell Jim Whittaker that the presidency ended Jan. 20th 1989.

Gerald Stephens| 8.28.10 @ 5:30PM

Ken,

Did I comprehend you to say that O____ (sorry, I just can not say the word), having done his best is now in a position to resign? As my MD, Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst brother has stated, 'mental incompetency no longer carries the stigma it once did' - just for the history books.

Alan Brooks| 8.29.10 @ 12:42AM

"As my MD, Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst brother..."

Shrinks are as dishonest as anyone.
You think we don't how guileful intellectuals are? Shrinks get paid as much as attorneys-- and they are just as devious.

JIM WHITTAKER, Hemet, CA| 8.27.10 @ 7:21AM

This presidency is effectively over. Period...

No more Affirmative Action presidents. Ever...

NavyBrat | 8.27.10 @ 9:23AM

I'd settle for LtCol. Allen West or Pastor CL Bryant. Neither of those guys would be what I'd consider "affirmative action" candidates. I could listen to either of the 2 of them for HOURS!!!!

Check out this trailer for Pastor Bryant's movie. It almost brought me to tears. Its AMAZING:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55aujTwuJY8

PJ| 8.27.10 @ 9:43AM

Great snappy production! It's a shame these fine black men who are fearlessly speaking the truth are not getting popular air time so that the entire black community can hear their words.

Fredrick Ward| 8.27.10 @ 6:48PM

This video looks amazing. Thank you for posting the link.

Erik Larsen| 8.28.10 @ 5:16PM

LtCol Allen West is one of the most inspiring Americans I've ever heard.

Kevin| 8.27.10 @ 8:43PM

I'll second and third that! The little numbnuts is laughing at us all the way to the bank.

JeffT| 8.29.10 @ 9:41AM

I would say THE presidency is over. This thug has transformed not only the country, but the presidency, as well. He has taken what was left of the Constitution and retired it to the dust bin of history. He is not the first to stomp on this document, but he has taken it from a "living" document (their term) to a deceased document. With his partners in crime, Reid, Pelosi, Dodd, Frank, et al, he is daily poking us in the eye with a sharp stick. Put another shrimp on the barbie.

Silver Streake| 8.29.10 @ 10:55AM

I'd have to disagree that the Constitution is in the dustbin. It's on life support, but with good work of patriots of all colors and creed, it will survive and be in robust health once again.

The first rehab session begins on November 2 when we cut the legs off the statist's. Then, in 2012, we elect a President that doesn't "fundamentally change" this nation, but rather acts as steward over it and sees to it that freedom remains strong.

PaulD| 8.27.10 @ 7:26AM

Shouldn't that last sentence read: "Remember, Rome was not BURNED in a day"?

cavan| 8.27.10 @ 8:04AM

Rome wasn't burnt in a day!

Doctor Right| 8.27.10 @ 8:30AM

No matter who the G.O.P. has in the White House, the Left will always accuse him (or her, maybe) of being a fake, "manufactured" candidate, a puppet whose strings are manipulated by unseen puppet-masters in industry and government, an empty-suit, an intellectual lightweight with no "gravitas", a stumble-bum who can't put two sentences together or issue a statement without checking with his advisers, an idiot!

And yet, now we have Barack Hussein Obama...

Funny, huh?

Grzmlyk| 8.27.10 @ 12:34PM

Not only that, but look at the past several Democrat nominees: Carter, Dukakis, Mondale, Clinton, Gore, Kerry and Obama.

Carter, Clinton, Gore Kerry and Obama are complete frauds, posers whose salient trait is grandiosity.

Dukakis was a classic Northeastern liberal would-be academia nut and Mondale was a Good Soldier of the Democrat Party.

And they accuse US of putting up phonies and puppets?

Liberals live in OppositeLand.

John II| 8.27.10 @ 2:55PM

The correct spelling is POSEUR, Grzzy, with the accent on the second syllable. A poser (accent on the first syllable) is just some dude who stands in front of a camera while the lights and angles are adjusted.

We're going to need the word "poseur" indefinitely into the future, so we gotta spell it right.

Grzmlyl| 8.27.10 @ 3:40PM

John II you can cut the bullshit.

I don't need anybody correcting me on a goddamned post who's trying to make themselves king of the wordsmithing hill.

BUZZ OFF.

John II| 8.27.10 @ 5:09PM

To whom it may concern:

Whoever wrote that nasty comment is not my pal Grzzy. Notice the misspelling in his nom de internet.

Grzmlyk| 8.27.10 @ 6:03PM

No, it was me.

Here's the deal: I write this stuff while I'm at work, when I can get a minute. I write hurriedly and don't usually have the luxury of proofreading.

I'm generally focusing on the argument at hand, not preparing a final draft for an editor. I don't recall requesting pedagogic assistance.

If you really get gratification from playing "look at how smart I am," I can't stop you.

But if you are laboring under the misapprehension that I have enaged you to be my coach, consider yourself dismissed.

John II| 8.27.10 @ 6:22PM

Oh. Sorry, Grzzy. I stand morally corrected.

But I AM a friggin' pedagogue--that's how I make my living, and it's late summer, time to gear up for the fall quarter. And what the hell's "smart" about spotting a shitty spelling error? If I wanted to show off, I'd write about movies.

And another thing. If you knew what I had to wade through in my students' essays, you'd be more sympathetic to my tics.

But you're right, and I'm properly chagrined.

So you crank that stuff out quickly? Damn, Grzzy, why don't you just write professionally?

And now back to "Arsenic and Old Lace."

Grzmlyk| 8.27.10 @ 7:00PM

Ok, John II, I'm standing down.

I apologize for getting nasty, but right when I was reading your second correction in as many days, I was dealing with some stuff with my car, which is in the shop because I got t-boned a few weeks ago (no injuries), and I was at maximum annoyance with the body shop even before I read your comments. I remained annoyed right through my second post.

And I will confess that I'm too quick to blast with both barrels when somebody gets in my wheelhouse.

I had no trouble identifying you as a teacher; your use of the word "bilabial" the other night gave you away.

I considered responding to your charactization of my "floundered about helplessly" wording as pleonastic, but I turned the other linguistic cheek. Today, given my annoyance at unrelated events, I was unable to be so sanguine.

I know you're a good egg.

As for movies: I think you and I have discussed them before, briefly. I am a movie fan - but I do not pretend to be an expert, so I'll concede the mantle there right off the bat.

However, I did go to Turner Classic Movies' first film festival in LA last April and it was sheer heaven. What a treat to be with other people for whom old movies aren't just forgotten ghosts. Among my friends, I'm the guy who knows everything about movies. Among the TCM faithful, I was a babe in the woods.

Arsenic and Old Lace is a great movie, and Cary Grant is my all-time favorite old-time movie star. Followed closely by Bogie. I would list my favorite female stars, but it would extend too far. Although Audrey Hepburn is pretty high on my list.

As for writing, I have done some professional writing - mostly marketing materials (arcane white papers, etc.) for tech companies like IBM and Sun (R.I.P.) and the occasional bank.

I guess Douglas Adams said that "writing is easy; you just stare at a blank piece of paper until your forehead bleeds." That's how I feel when I have to lay it on the line for a client. When I just dash stuff off here at Amspec, it's far less daunting - and, obviously, a bit sloppier.

BTW, you are a conservative teacher? Isn't that an oxymoron these days? Do you teach high school? College?

John II| 8.28.10 @ 1:02AM

College, of course. What respectable high school teacher would have the time or the inclination to post so many anonymous rants? And yes, I'm an oxymoron (the Greek roots mean "sharply foolish"), but I've contrived to keep a very low profile for the past twenty or so of my nearly forty years in academe. Our current President reminds me so thoroughly of most of the people I work with that I can't help referring to him as Professor Obama. Where I work, everyone has the same first name.

Cary Grant is ONE of my all-time favorites, but to me the old film performers are somewhat like my own (grown) kids: I love them all, but I like each of them differently. My #2 son, while visiting us with his own family a few years ago, was perusing my carefully shelved, fairly ordered movie collection as we chatted in my study, which used to be the bedroom of my #2 son and his older brother. I started collecting the flicks some 25 years ago, shortly after the VHS technology became commercial and continued right into the DVD technology, though I'm still not into the Blue Ray stuff . I lost count of the flicks when the number passed 1,200.

At one point he stood back from the shelves and looked at me narrowly, waved his hand at the shelves, and shook his head: "This is a sickness, Dad." I grinned whimsically, but I think he was only half-kidding.

Part of my excuse is that I teach a course in cinema every other year amid the usual repertoire of language and literature offerings. But mostly I love the stuff, which in one respect at least makes me an amateur in the best sense of the word.

There's something eerie as well about the Golden Oldies--I mean, watching an actor mature over the years: following John Wayne, for example, from "The Big Trail" through his B-movie phase up to "Stagecoach" and then through his middle years in the 40's and 50's into his elderly "True Grit" and "Shootist" twilight.

Another obsession is with the endless stream of really distinctive support performers: legendary talents like Thomas Mitchell, Beulah Bondi, Ward Bond, Andy Devine, Noah Beery Jr., Frances Rafferty, James Finlayson, Josephine Hull, Billie Burke, Frank Morgan, Mary Gordon, Nigel Bruce, and on and on.

Anyhow, it's getting late, and there's just enough time for one more episode of the Forsyte Saga.

rdman| 8.28.10 @ 5:55PM

What the hell… what’s with all this posted off-topic temper tantrums, then glad-handing and back-slapping like a couple of lawyers after a nasty court room battle.

Who wants to wade through all your kiss and make-up silliness… how about sticking with the topic at hand, for pete’s sake!!!

John II| 8.28.10 @ 7:10PM

On the other hand, Mr. Homnick's topic ranges far, which makes it pretty hard to be off-topic.

Sheila| 8.27.10 @ 6:02PM

Hey, Grzmlyk (and others) - while I am not a fan of Putin specifically or autocrats in general, I must refer you to a post at RedState (I'm sorry, I'm incapable of embedding links) showing photos of "their guy" and "our guy." As they say, they're worth thousands of words and go well with this AS post. Decline and fall.

PJ| 8.27.10 @ 9:31AM

Excellent video & funny as sh**!! Sent it to friends who have a sense of humor.

blackknights1802| 8.27.10 @ 8:42AM

Obama’s intention is to collapse the entire economic and financial system and start over again. This collapse will be such a calamity that he will dictate directly from the Oval Office. There will be no need for the Constitution or the congress any longer. What the hell do you think he meant when he said, “we are going to fundamentally change this country”? Educate yourself. Read his books; look at the people that he has surrounded himself with and look at his family. Who they were, what they believed in and how he was trained.

SpiralArchitect| 8.27.10 @ 4:13PM

The signs have long been hiding in the open in the daylight; he really has no 'secret' agenda.

Kevin| 8.27.10 @ 8:46PM

The constitution's been gone since the 14th. The problem is the scumclass rebels voted the insurgent in the half-white house.

JimH| 8.27.10 @ 8:49AM

Reminds me of an old SNL sketch. A mail order course on how to be an ambassador where you will learn such phrases as 'Please pass the sweet and sour shrimp'.

Timothy L. Pennell| 8.27.10 @ 8:54AM

Why can't you people see the OBVIOUS?
"And I saw the BEAST rise from the Sea. And he was given a 'MOUTH' to speak HAUGHTY and BLASPHEMOUS words. And he was allowed to exercise authority for forty two Months." Revelations 13-5.
He doesn't CARE. He's 'Not hear to Destroy the Prophets, but to FULFILL them'.
He is DESTROYING our Economy. He has DESTROYED our way of life. NASA is in a shambles. He's CUTTING $100 BILLION from our Armed Forces, at a time when THE BAD GUYS are building theirs' UP. He's put a HOLD on our MISSILE DEFENCE SYSTEMS. He's put totally unworkable RESTRICTIONS on our Troops in the field. He's trying to CRIPPLE the only Nation on Earth, that is standing up for FREEDOM, and against all of the EVIL and CRUELTY in this world, that seeks to DOMINATE all people. Who would do that?
He claims he's a CHRISTIAN, yet everything he does SCREAMS that he is MUSLIM. His 1st Interview was with Al Arabia. His 1st Foreign Visit was to EGYPT and TURKEY. He's using TAX DOLLARS to rebuild and refurbish MOSQUES in the Middle East. He's got the GROUND ZERO MOSQUE Imam, on a U.S. JET, flying around the Middle East, at TAXPAYER EXPENSE, raising money from IRAN and SAUDI ARABIA and YEMEN, for his VICTORY 'CORDOBA' MOSQUE atop the ashes of 3,000 Dead Americans, MURDERED in COLD BLOOD by MUSLIMS. He refused to speak at Georgetown University unless all references to CHRIST were REMOVED from the room. He BLEW OFF the National Prayer Breakfast, but had plenty of time for the Ramadan Supper.
He's had all of his Pertinent Documents SEALED in a Vault in Hawaii. Birth Certificate, Medical Records, College Entrance Paperwork, College Scholarship Paperwork, (Why would anyone seal those two documents. Do they state PLACE OF BIRTH and RELIGION?) His College Thesis.
This guy is the WOLF in the Hen House. The GREAT LIAR, and DECIEVER. The DESTROYER OF WORLDS. And this is all coming to pass right before our eyes.
I've given you the TRUTH. What you do with it is your business.

Rmm| 8.27.10 @ 9:29AM

What can you do with it, other than kick it around in this forum. The Great Interloper is upon us and is slowly but surely undermining the US at every turn. Our only recourse is the ballot box. November 2 will be here soon enough.

Rob| 8.27.10 @ 9:50AM

Honestly, all the capital letters in this are so distracting that I can't read it. What exactly do you think they add to your argument?

Stephanie| 8.27.10 @ 10:45AM

It means he's mad and he's yelling.

RCV| 8.27.10 @ 1:50PM

It means he's mad as a loon.

John II| 8.27.10 @ 2:43PM

Nay, Ricky. He is broadening his horizons in order to see all sides of this great country, including the downside.

I too am mad as hell, but I guess I'll have to keep taking it some more. Until November.

Mimi| 8.27.10 @ 4:45PM

Then the Big boys will come to town. The "KID" will be put in the corner with a DUNCE cap on and told to shut-up and do what he's told...The party is over...no more playing...!!

Citizen-Comrade| 8.27.10 @ 2:08PM

Yeah, he's yelling, can anyone hear him? ("Argument"? That sounds so collegiate.) Stand on the rooftops and YELL!

coal carrier| 8.27.10 @ 2:39PM

YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS? "the capital letters " IS YOUR RESPONSE IN THE DEBATE? YOU AND THE PEOPLE OF YOUR MINDSET ARE GOING TO GET ALL OF US KILLED.

John II| 8.27.10 @ 2:46PM

Don't you raise your font to us, young man! After all, a soft answer turns away wrath.

Or, as Stan Laurel once put it, you can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead.

coal carrier| 8.28.10 @ 8:48AM

Stan & Ollie are my favorites. Those “Sons of the Desert“

John II| 8.28.10 @ 2:14PM

Mine too. That particular flick ("Sons of the Desert," 1934) is among their best feature-length movies, and a prototype for TV sitcoms of the 1950's. The title was also used to name the Laurel and Hardy international fan club, the Latin motto of the Sons of the Desert being "Duo tabulae rasae in quibus nihil scriptum est" (two minds without a single thought).

Stan and Ollie are without doubt the single greatest comedy team in motion picture history, unlikely ever to be surpassed, and I think I know why. Unlike the chemistry in all the other teams, each was funny in his own way, so that they perfectly complemented each other as counterfoils; there was never a strain or a break-up between the two in the manner of Martin & Lewis or Abbott & Costello. Neither ever upstaged the other, although Stan insisted in his later years that Ollie had been the funnier of the two.

At the height of their popularity, by the mid-1930's, Laurel (the skinny one) commanded almost twice the salary of Hardy at the Hal Roach studios, and without an ounce of resentment on Hardy's part. When the day's shooting was done, Hardy would go off to the links or the race track or to a hunting or fishing trip with one of his drinking buddies, while Laurel would stay through the night at the studio reviewing the rushes and working up new gags. So he earned quite a bit more, which was fine with "Babe" Hardy. Naturally, the brains behind the comedy team was the one who played the dumber of the two.

Stan's botched aphorism quoted above occurs in the 1930 two-reeler "Brats."

Occam's Tool| 8.28.10 @ 5:05PM

John II, wouldn't Dorothy Parker's quote "You can lead a whore to culture, but you can't make her think" be more apropos? By the way, thanks for the correction on poseur. You also showed notable class when blasted.

John II| 8.29.10 @ 12:50AM

It would indeed, Occie--but, in imitation of my hero Stan, I was striving to be as inapropos as possible with my choice of quotes.

And you just broke the spell by forcing me to explain myself. Oh, the shame of it all.

Larry Engel| 8.27.10 @ 8:59AM

This is very funny, so why am I crying?

SpiralArchitect| 8.27.10 @ 4:16PM

Because the Truth often hurts.

Walden| 8.27.10 @ 9:06AM

Is abdication of Presidential responsibility not an impeachable offense?

Actually his abdication is probably a net positive for our country.

davelnaf| 8.27.10 @ 9:48AM

Nice parody; it reads like a political obituary. But it is dangerous to expose the Vacationer-in-Chief to such stuff lest his self-image turn even more Dorian Gray distorted and tarnished and we, the already bruised and battered recipients of his lifelong angst with this country, pay an even higher price. Obama would have it no other way. He is the antithesis of an American president. Everything he has done has thrown a wrench into the gears of the American economy. Everyone is waiting until Nero stops fiddling.

joli| 8.27.10 @ 7:01PM

Oh, LOVE the Dorian Gray reference! What a mind-picture! Except while "We the People" see all the warts and wounds and ooze, he looks in the mirror and sees only perfection!

ColoradoWest| 8.27.10 @ 10:32AM

Feel SORRY for him?!

Never...let him burn.

alphonse jones| 8.27.10 @ 10:37AM

but if the hussein has worked so intently to broaden his horizons why hasn't he convinced the country of his vast understanding

Could it be that the old analogy iof leading a horse to water perfectly describes the hussein.

You can introduce him to ideas but he is too stupid to understand.

This pathetic boob remains a stanger in a land he wants to know nothing about and is president for people he has total disdain for

SpiralArchitect| 8.27.10 @ 4:18PM

Don't loow yourself to be fooled, he is not stupid...

'We the People' that allow this to continue are stupid...

Oldefarte| 8.27.10 @ 11:37AM

I do not, nor will I ever FEEL SORRY FOR HIM/THEM. These radical extremists have been around for my entire lifetime, spreading their socialistic BULLEXCREMENT ideas/government programs [that out of necessity have to be paid for on the backs of hardworking American taxpayers]; and I and many more of us are simply SICK AND TIRE OF IT!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch v=8WO_XOOxn7c

Claudia| 8.27.10 @ 11:53AM

Oy, Poor Rob is so grievously disturbed by those mean old CAPITAL LETTERS.....not me..they are (grised, grist?, burned burnt?) for my mill..and Dear Mr Timothy L. Pennell..please don't get mad at ME, I am on YOUR side!
and Jay?
I remain yours, hopelessly in love (etcetera)
your eternal Proto Homnickian,
Claudia Monteverdi

claudia| 8.27.10 @ 11:54AM

Dear Jay,
On a serious note:

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Claudia

dw| 8.27.10 @ 12:05PM

All ot this was there to be seen before he recieved one vote. If this idiot ends up as a wino spralled in an alley twenty years from now, I wouldn't feel sorry for him.

Pete| 8.27.10 @ 12:44PM

He has paid off enough people and stoked the race victimhood industry enough that he will be wildly rich the rest of his life without having to lift a finger. That's without mentioning his book(s) that will come out when he is out of office that will amount to, "The World wasn't ready for how awesome I am."

dw| 8.27.10 @ 1:24PM

You are right about the wealth he gained through capitalistic ventures. But in keeping with the "do as I say not as I do" socialist hypocrisy he will not share his wealth with the pedestrian masses. It would seem to me that the idea of being a multi-millionaire who has made his money on the backs of the proletariate would be a psychologically untenable position and intellectually dishonest.
What a naive fool I am.

Cuffs| 8.27.10 @ 12:18PM

Obama is not stupid, he is street-wise.
He has accomplished more destructive
cnanges than any other pres since Johnson.
Always remember--what looks like failure is
actually success.

Claudia Monteverdi| 8.27.10 @ 12:56PM

Hey DW--wine soaked alley 20 yeqars from now--more like a whine soaked cappucino laced lavender boudoir with Chris Matthews fanning him with ostrich plumes..and quite soon quite soon---still, that alley was good enough for Modigliani, Baudelaire and Edgar A Poe--and those three actually DID great things!

ps--I am looking for a role for Mr Barney Frank in the above spectacular..anybody have any thoughts?

Claudia

dw| 8.27.10 @ 1:36PM

Frank would be sucking on something.

You, Claudia's| 8.27.10 @ 1:47PM

Oh Claudia! I hope for Jay's wife's sake that you haven't Claud your way into his heart like some cat burglar.
To be Frank, Barney would be singing, "I love you, You love me..." But he also would have to take the ostrich plume from CM when a thrill runs up Chris' leg that makes him pause.
p. s. Can you write in a character named Zaza for him, or would that be too big of a drag?
The difference between Barney Frank & an ostrich? One is an awkward faigele with his head in the sand who can't get off the ground, the other is a bird.

cowpattie| 8.28.10 @ 10:43PM

I believe Barney Frank already has a second job: He's actually Elena Kagan. Have you yet witnessed the two of them side-by-side?

Anthony| 8.27.10 @ 1:06PM

Will 53% of Americans now confess to having a massive hang over over this absolute disaster of a president and his imperial wife Michelle Antoinette?
Can these people really be this CLUELESS AND OUT OF TOUCH???
Hello MSM time to wake the hell up and stop butt kissing this disgrace.

Izzzmeister| 8.27.10 @ 1:09PM

This Greek tragedic humor has me bent over... laughing, I think!
Was hoping to get the globe warmed over in Part II: Hockey Stick Checked Into the Boards, but I guess the Pox Populi made the Jay tweet us to a different song. Cheep, cheep (Mike's Nature) trick! Fiddlesticks, I say!
I was waiting for the final line: "He passed a lame Health Care Bill with the Republicans shut out, not to broaden his horizons and see all sides of this great country, but because he believed in that stuff."

Ed| 8.27.10 @ 1:29PM

Our El Presidente is The Great and Powerful Oz, and Toto has just pulled back the curtain...

Break out the self-powered hot air balloon!

Mojo Risin| 8.27.10 @ 4:32PM

"Why can't I just eat my waffle?" Yep, he's done it before and I bet he could be made to cry if he's pushed hard enough...

Redstateboy| 8.27.10 @ 4:37PM

what truly mystifies me.. Black unemployment Nationally is 15.6%, for Blacks 18-24 it is: 40%, the Democrat Party was/is the Party of Slavery and the KKK yet Blacks in America are really the only group the Messiah has left supporting him and still 80% of them vote for the Slave Party. Wuzupwitdat?

LiveFreeOrDie| 8.27.10 @ 5:00PM

Agreed, except it's even worse than 80%. His approval rating has averaged over 90% since taking office. Racism anyone?

http://www.gallup.com/poll/141.....obama.aspx

Michele San Pietro| 8.27.10 @ 5:35PM

Unfortunately, Obama's sorry show must go on. Not over 2012, it is to be hoped.

Claudia| 8.28.10 @ 12:29AM

Dear Mr Jerkins--I agree entirely with yoiur every remark. On the other hand shrimp and lobster and hamburgers and ice cream all accompanied by spaghetti is my diet..The obamas? "..... They cannot live as they espouse......." Aha, that's it By God I've got it! What's sauce for the shrimp is tsurris for the espouse.
Claudia Monteverdi

Louis Jenkins| 8.27.10 @ 5:38PM

Ever noticed that Obama eats shrimp, and probably eats lobster, hamburgers, and other high in cholesteral products? Meanwhile Michelle says we got to eat better. That the children are getting fat, lazy, and sloven. Why, her kids, and her, even eat ice cream. What gives? As usual its do as I say, not as I do. That's one of the problems with the Obamas. They cannot live as they espouse.

Michele San Pietro| 8.27.10 @ 5:51PM

Michelle Obama should cut it out with her hypocritical moralism.

Constance| 8.27.10 @ 9:42PM

We can bear only so much whining; control the loser and go on with our lives. The new breed of courageous Republicans, Independents and Tea Party candidates bode well for a rising forward movement. Go for it; take out the trash in Nov. and keep on going building a better America without the dead weight of cynicism.

Free fall| 8.28.10 @ 2:47AM

Grzmlyk - Re writing, this was Mark Twain's rejoinder when an admirer said it must be an nice, making a living by writing whatever occurred to you.

Twain (Clemens) said "The writin' part is easy, it's the occurrin' that's hard."

Maybe "occurrin'" makes the forehead bleed.

goatlocker| 8.28.10 @ 9:34AM

The tagline for this era of U.S. history will be: "Obama dribbled while America burned."

Typicalwhitewoman| 8.28.10 @ 8:22PM

It was difficult to read, Tim. FIFU
It was worth the read. Thanks.
-
-
Why can't you people see the obvious?
"And I saw the beast rise from the sea. And he was given a 'mouth' to speak haughty and blasphemous words. And he was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months." Revelations 13-5.
He doesn't care. He's 'not hear to destroy the Prophets, but to fulfill them'.
He is destroying our economy. He has destroyed our way of life. NASA is in a shambles. He's cutting $100 billion from our Armed Forces, at a time when the bad guys are building theirs' up. He's put a hold on our missile defence systems. He's put totally unworkable restrictions on our troops in the field. He's trying to cripple the only nation on earth, that is standing up for freedom, and against all of the evil and cruelty in this world, that seeks to dominate all people. Who would do that?
He claims he's a Christian, yet everything he does screams that he is Muslim. His 1st interview was with Al Arabia. His 1st foreign visit was to Egypt and Turkey. He's using tax dollars to rebuild and refurbish mosques in the Middle East. He's got the ground zero mosque Imam, on a U.S. jet, flying around the Middle East, at taxpayer expense, raising money from Iran and Saudi Arabia and Yemen, for his victory 'Cordoba' mosque atop the ashes of 3,000 dead Americans, murdered in cold blood by Muslims. He refused to speak at Georgetown University unless all references to Christ were removed from the room. He blew off the National Prayer Breakfast, but had plenty of time for the Ramadan supper.
He's had all of his pertinent documents sealed in a vault in Hawaii. Birth certificate, medical records, college entrance paperwork, college scholarship paperwork, (Why would anyone seal those two documents. Do they state place of birth and religion?) His college thesis.
This guy is the wolf in the hen house. The great liar, and deciever. The destroyer of worlds. And this is all coming to pass right before our eyes.
I've given you the truth. What you do with it is your business.

russel| 8.29.10 @ 2:07PM

Don't you reckon it's time we stop poking this pig ? . He's done us a favor , he's shown the real war machine that has lay hidden -- congress and their allies . They're out in full view in full color now .

Free fall| 8.29.10 @ 12:24AM

It's funnier the way Dorothy Parker, actually said it.
Asked to use the word "horticulture" in a sentence, she said, "You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think."

John II| 8.29.10 @ 12:54AM

Zing!

CarolinaK12R| 8.29.10 @ 1:40PM

Perhaps Obama's single greatest problem is that he views everything through the prism of "social justice." Every legislative program he advocates is twisted at its core to match the distortions imposed by that prism. Stimulus, health care, cap-and-tax, financial reform, all are/were built to advance social justice notions, as much as they were designed to address their ostensible goals.

froglegs| 8.29.10 @ 8:10PM

If we had the internet in 1936 we might have had our second revolution then and saved us from social security. The fireside chats saved FDR's fatty acid. There was no other voice. Looks to me like a 1789 French revolution moment is upon us. What will be the spark?

Mad Hatter| 9.2.10 @ 6:32PM

Groucho: Do you have frog's legs?
Waitress: Yes, I do!
Groucho: (looking down) Can I see them?

The spark, El Froggo? Michelle Antoinette Obama saying, "Let them stop eating cake!"

CantGetRight| 8.29.10 @ 8:35PM

No wonder republicans have no clue what's going on, you sit around bashing the president just like your representative who haven't done a thing to help this country for almost two years. You want miracles that make no sense in the real world. How can you balance a budget while cutting taxes to all time lows and have two wars going on at the same time? Your policies of deregulation and cut taxes without paying for them have put this country in debt and you still haven't face the reality that your party is old and stale. It's like playing football with just a leather helmet.

Yankee228| 8.29.10 @ 8:39PM

I didn't vote for President Obama - because I took the TIME to check his various claims to fame and speeches attempting to be black enough.

A person may declare themselves to be a Christian or a reincarnation of Napoleon - so what. Words are cheap, written by staff writers. Yes Obama has a 27 yr old (an staff) speech writer who came up with those catchy phrases 'Hope - Change - Yes We Can ' blah blah.

Sorry Charlie but the Savior of PEACE does not champion war/ drones killing many innocents - cluster bombs/ phosphorous bombs (eats into bone). He does not EAT SHRIMP while multitudes in Super Power USA live in tent cities from Seattle to Florida to hello Hawaii.

He doesn't play (obsessed) 200 hrs (just in the few months of Deepwater disaster) of golf and a total of 3 1/2 hrs with ruined lives (Gulf). He doesn't cancel Voucher program (first weeks in office) for 2,100 minority students in D.C. that were thrilled that they could attend a place like Sidwell etc - just like the RICH kids.

He doesn't FIRE hundreds of (media didn't cover - Google Black teachers fired in Chicago) of black teachers and replace them with change agents (white) right out of school for the new CHARTER school scam going on across the nation ( ta dah - eliminates unions - tenure - job security - plus low pay). He doesn't go to Martha's Vineyard when millions are still out of work ( 99 weekers) with NO jobs on the horizon ( i.e. Just last week it was announced USAID was paying foreigners - 3000 of them for IT jobs!). He doesn't sign (not read) a health reform (lie) bill written by lobbyists/ CEOs of insurance (met secretly at White House last summer) big pharma - hospitals etc. He doesn't LIE about his votes (4) against medical care for vulnerable - helpless babies (left to die in utility rooms - gasping for breath/ even those who believe in abortion are sickened) born alive during induced abortions/ The Federal Gov vote unanimously to give care/ HE was the sole State Senator trying to derail this! He doesn't LIE about feeling frustrated etc, WATCHING his mother struggle with insurance papers.

Especially since HE never visited her once - in the YEAR ( '94-95) she was dying from ovarian cancer, after returning from Indonesia, where she was a PhD for USAID- Ford Foundation - consultant to Pakistan/ Indonesian banks and had the BEST insurance being admitted to the TOP cancer hospital - then the best hospice in Hawaii.

This only son was too busy running for state senate - helping Farrakhan with his march and doing book tours.

He lied about knowing Bill Ayers ( "I saw him around) when Ayers appointed him to one of his boards (10 yrs) and had him write a blurb for one of his 'books'.

Ayers a Professor in English - great writer. Funny how the analogies of sea faring (Ayers was once a merchant marine) were the exact same writing in Obama's Dream book/ plus the beautiful prose in parts has no connection to the language that Barack uses when he ad libs (without teleprompter). I didn't vote for Bush but even he had the decency to NOT play golf with us having tens of thousands (some on 6th -7th tour) at WAR !

END - the handling of the Gulf disaster is unconscionable giving ALL control over to BP (who knows what the real story is?) with rent a cops keeping reporters far from the scene - BP hiding all the dead animals - and dumping Corexit (toxic - outlawed in other countries) all over the Gulf - to HIDE the OIL - poisoning the nesting areas - oyster/ shrimp bed for WHO knows how long. EPA useless - advised NOT to use - BP lalala just ignored and are STILL spraying at night! Plus check out his cabinet / those in positions of power. Larry Summers ( economic adviser) my God who would have him on their team when HE was part of those who brought us this financial meltdown as Sec of Treasury - REPEAL of Glass Stegall which the Republicans had been fighting for years (banking friends) to REPEAL - Gramm - Clinton - Rubin - Summers gave them what they wanted and still people are clueless that there is NOT a dime's worth of difference (both serve corporate masters) between the two parties. Summers also advised that WE dump toxic waste in Africa because after all they'd be dead before it (life expectancy) harmed them.

Larry ,President of Harvard - thought women too dumb for math and science. Rahm Emanuel (his Dr. brother on health team at White House) is known (he brags about it) as the most VULGAR man in D.C.

Russell| 8.30.10 @ 12:51AM

Homick deserves to be dragged through the poison ivy by the secret service for pretending to write from an island beginning with something funny sounding like Mar, which rhymes with Har, which college Obama never attended- Columbia gets the blame, the present object of our blackest shame being Weekly Standard arch-nerd and noted Democratic student politician turned republican vice-presidential Chief of Staff Billy Kristol.

Joanna | 6.6.11 @ 5:08AM

All the secret service are in on it for sure!

UTI Treatment

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