3.21.2009

Bowling With Obama

Well, you've all heard of this by now, or seen it:



An apology was issued by the White House before the clip even hit the air. So now everything's supposed to be copacetic, right?

Wrong.

There is one fundamental thing you need to understand. People like Obama - egotistical, self-important snobs - routinely look down their noses at anyone who doesn't fit into their country club universe.

You can bet that Obama's "Special Olympics" "gaffe" has come out of his mouth many, many times in the company of like-minded individuals who agree with him (most likely on the lanes).

If you think this is the first time he's said this, you're very much mistaken - not to mention ignorant and immature. People, in times of stream-of-consciousness cognizance, will say what has been burned into their synapses by repetition.

Obama has done this many times before and been laughed with. Now he said it in front of the wrong group of people.

Don't think this is going to change the way he thinks, just the way he communicates. Look for the teleprompter on every subsequent visit to The Tonight Show.

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3.17.2009

The Capital Deficit

This today from The Washing Post:

Anger Over Firm Depletes Obama's Political Capital

    ...the bonus issue, in particular, is hounding Obama as he pursues his larger goals, in part because of the president's own repeated declarations of outrage -- offered again yesterday -- aimed especially at the firms that are feeding at the public trough.

In a nutshell, here's what's happening: AIG received about $165B in public bailout money. They were contractually obligated to pay bonuses to executives in divisions of the company that had turned a profit (not the failed divisions, as is being implied). This money amounts to around $150M. This contractual obligation originated before the bailout and could not be abrogated.

Do the math on this one, folks. What percent of $165B is $150M? How about less then 0.1%.

Two things:

1. It is being widely suppressed that the real culprit in this financial mess is the government itself, which forced banks to lend money for homes to people who could not repay those loans. Thus the defaults that started the economic avalanche. Frank, Dodd, Obama, et al want desperately for Americans to pin the blame on corporate greed. Thus this phony-baloney, trumped-up public display of righteous indignation over contracted bonuses. A wealth-envious public is only too willing to parrot these talking points.

2. By continuing to hector the private sector as the villains, this government is wasting what political leverage it has for future policy efforts on chasing rabbits; it's no different than Obama setting up Limbaugh as the straw man of the "evil right". It's sophomoric and it depletes the political bank.

Obama is treading on very dangerous ground, and the telling thing is: his arrogance blinds him from seeing it.

That is this: all Obama has is "political capital." He has no experience capital, no foreign policy capital, no economic capital. No capital in intelligence (eg, CIA, Homeland, etc.), military, administration, negotiation, policy development and implementation, legislation, commodities, energy,...

The list is endless.

Those who voted for him with the sole intent of "sending a message" to the GOP are now regretting their decision... his fringe supporters are starting to see inside the empty suit and are asking questions....

It's only a matter of time before his ardent base starts to question his "leadership." By then he will have no political capital left.

Nothing with which to stem the critical tide... then the meltdown will begin in earnest.

Dangerous days are ahead. A cornered dog is a vicious dog.



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3.07.2009

Unsupervision

Well, it took him more than a couple of weeks, but The Obama has finally stepped up to some sort of microphone - no doubt with the aide of a teleprompter - and has commented on the statement made by his Attorney General that when it comes to matters of race, American is a "nation of cowards."

At first The Obama's willingness to let Eric Holder's comment slide seemed appropriate. After all, he was perfectly willing to use the race card during the campaign - albeit through others - in deflecting criticism of his "policy" proposals. You know the drill: change the subject in order not to answer the question, and use race as a defense. It's the Liberals' favorite debate tactic.

"Well, you don't like Obama's ideas on economic policy because he's black."

So the only conclusion one can draw from The Obama's silence over Holder's blatantly racist and wrong statement is that he agreed with it. We are - in his opinion - truly a nation of cowards when it comes to race. Forget the fact that Americans elected a black to the highest office in the world. That's irrelevant.

We need to keep Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in business, guys. Let's not lay down the mantra...

However, criticism of Holder's comment just keeps hanging on, and The Obama is forced to look it in the face.

    “I think it’s fair to say that if I had been advising my attorney general, we would have used different language,” Mr. Obama said in a mild rebuke from America’s first black president to its first black attorney general.

Two things to take away from this comment.

1. The timing. How busy can Obama be that it would take him weeks to put out the brush fire that's been undercutting Holder's credibility? He waited too long. If he was truly on top of things - truly a manager - he would have put this thing to rest immediately. He didn't, so he either agreed with Holder, or he is a terrible manager. Either answer is very unsettling.

2. "..if I had been advising." Shouldn't he be advising Holder on a regular basis? Isn't that his job as leader of his administration; or is his administration careening willy-nilly down the hill with no one at the wheel?

In the less than two months The Obama has been in power we have not had a single scrap of evidence that his staff consists of anyone of quality who is capable of the job they are assigned, particularly POTUS himself. Until some semblance of professionalism creeps into this circus, the American people are left without any shred of hope on which to hang our future.

Just look at the stock market.....



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