Obama and the axis of see-no-evil
Dr. Sanity writes about Obama’s grandiose belief in the power of his own voice and persona to persuade the lion to lie down with the lamb. If in fact he even understands the difference between the two animals.
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
Another problem, even when it works it has a time limit. Even here, where he can get away with anything (like saying we are broke, ergo we need the government to take over healthcare…. ??? ….) people will eventually catch on. He has just never stayed put long enough for it to happen.
I’m not so quick to slot Obama as a Marxist, Chavez, Muslim, Fool, or Manchurian Candidate, but he clearly does fancy himself as some kind of transcendent philosopher-king. He has far too much faith in his own judgment and the power of his voice.
During the campaign Jonah Goldberg offered the description:
Please note, huxley, how very well your comment about Obama fits in with this seemingly-unrelated, but in fact rather closely related, post about the leaders of the student uprisings of the 60s.
In fact, I think I’ll add that Goldberg quote to the other post.
I think if John McCain had been president he would have insisted the queen of England be invited to tomorrow’s commemoration of D-Day. After all she was actually working as a driver during WW II and her husband was on a ship that saw combat.
However Obama would never insist – he wants to be the only “royalty” present.
Yes, it’s not Obama per se but the belief of progressives in general that good talking will fix things. Obama is particularly convinced of this, and of his own place in that mix, but he is only a distilled version of liberalism in general.
Why would they believe this? Because they are good at talking, and want to believe that it is their actions which are most important.
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Rasmussen watchers: Obama’s Presidential Approval Index dipped to a new low of zero, meaning that the Strongly Approves are exactly balanced by the Strongly Disapproves.
Obama’s numbers no longer jump when he speaks, only when he does something like slap around CEO types or nominate a Sotomayor.
Unless the economy improves, I don’t see his numbers going anywhere but down. He’s certainly not going to make any headway in the Middle East or abolishing nuclear weapons.
I think Obama’s spell is breaking.
Eager little helpers are crowding the gates!
This:
Today the NBC newsman Tom Brokow interviewed President Obama after his trip to Buchenwald, and asked:
BROKAW: What can the Israelis learn from your visit to Buchenwald? And what should they be thinking about their treatment of Palestinians?
OBAMA: Well, look, there’s no equivalency here.
Very insidious. Obama voting useful Yidiots should be worried, very worried …
Video:
http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2009/06/tom-brokow-suffers-brain-death-asks.html
….. so bad… but anyway, I guess they probably learned from Buchenwald to not suffer fools like Tom.
neo, huxley,
Precisely why is it that you do not put much stock in assigning an ideological tag to Obonga’s motivation and vision? You chalk it all up to his narcissistic vanity. I am not denying that that he has that in spades.
I just believe that you can indeed slot him into a worldview. It need not be either/or. Marxists are motivated by both ideology and the vision of themselves as the leader/savior of the world.
I realize that most people are going to run the other way and giggle to themselves if I NAME Obonga as a man shaped by revisionist Marxist thought. I know it. That does not mean that I’m a raving lunatic. Deep in my bones I believe I’m right. I read his life; I know how people’s perception and thought are shaped. Look at all the inputs to this man. Add it up. Ideology shaped him and he uses ideology.
Nauseating.
He throws Israel to the wolves, and then has the temerity to go to Buchenwald to do his fake symbolic homage to the murdered Jews.
And then he’ll go to Normandy to get his photo op and give a speech to honor the men who did something for this country he would never, ever consider doing. How revolting!
This I know: the military hates him. Not all of it, but most of it.
I don’t see things the same way as Dr Sanity at all.
The Israelis have to stop settling the West Bank. Otherwise there is no chance for peace (if there is a chance at all).
Making sure that they stop does not in any way mean that Obama is the handmaiden of the Palestinians.
Moreover, things are best if the Muslim countries feel friendly to the United States. So why not offer the olive branch. It doesn’t mean that he’s going to roll over to the extremists.
If any progress comes it will be a big surprise but I don’t see him leaving the gate open to the barbarians as doctor claims he will.
Precisely why is it that you do not put much stock in assigning an ideological tag to Obonga’s motivation and vision? You chalk it all up to his narcissistic vanity. I am not denying that that he has that in spades.
Fred — We’ve been through this before. Because I don’t read minds or hearts, and I am not interested in relying upon you to do that reading for me either.
Also, I don’t “chalk it all up to his narcisstic vanity.” I still haven’t settled on who Obama is, except that I’m sure he’s not good for the US or the world.
Furthermore, I am tired of how pushy you are on this point and others, and I find your use of “Obonga” infantile.
I don’t think you are a “raving lunatic.” You do have interesting things to say that I ponder. However, overall I find your posts immoderate and I don’t take them seriously without doing a lot of checking on my own.
Assistant Village Idiot said ” Yes, it’s not Obama per se but the belief of progressives in general that good talking will fix things. ”
Partlt because that is what they have been taught. In high school there was the “model United Nations” club that people could voluntarily participate in. I never did that part, but one year in a social studies or history class we had a mandatory exercise that was similiar. There was some problem to solve between various nations.
On a side note, I don’t recall having a model “Texas Legislature ” or a model “US Congress”.
Fred: I have no problem thinking of Obama as a Leftist. But exactly and precisely what form his political philosophy takes in his mind (socialism, Marxism, and all the other sort of isms possible) I don’t know. I’m certainly not an expert on the finer points of Marxism, either.
My reservation is this: I’m not certain how doctrine-driven Obama actually is. I have little doubt that he is a man of the Left, but I see him as driven at least equally by his own narcissism, his faith that he can speak and move mountains, and the need to position himself in a way that keeps his true aims under wraps. He attempts to appeal to a wide spectrum of people by taking one from Column A, two from Column B, and keeps mixing it up so that no one knows exactly and precisely where he is coming from. He clearly has made a study of how to appeal to the masses, and I think he thinks of them that way: the masses. But how far he means to take America to the Left is unclear to me.
Now to be fair, our class was not able to solve the “problem”, but still, I think about “what were the teachers really trying to say?”
Ok, I have a problem with Obama, but its not what is often stated by commentators on the right.
I had the opportunity to listen to Obama’s Cairo speech in its entirety, and I thought that, for the most part, it was crafted to be balanced and to serve as an effort to “reach out” to the Muslim world. In and of itself, I do not see this as a bad thing. I did hear some things I disapproved of in the speech, such as Obama’s portrayal of Hamas as being rational players rather than the anti-Semitic Israel-hating terrorists they really are. On the other hand, I cannot agree that he “threw Israel to the wolves,” as, in fact, he included a strong defense of Israel’s right to exist and defend itself, citing, among other things, the painful history of the Jewish people during the twentieth century. I also realize that no speech is perfect, epecially one whose significance is as loaded as this one.
So, altogether, I have a mildy positive view of the speech. As I wrote, in and of itself, it was not a bad thing to reach out to Muslim leaders and the Muslim masses.
My problem with Obama is that I dont think he has what one may call “Plan B.” What happens if, as is most often the case, “reaching out” doesn’t work? What if the response given by the intended recipients of one’s attempt to “reach out” is to treat it with contempt, or as a sign of weakness? What then? I am worried that Dr. Sanity decribed Obama well when she wrote:
The old saying about not taking a knife to a gun fight comes to mind–except that Obama doesn’t even think he needs to bring a knife. He’s counting on his magical, hypnotic voice and unflappably vague postmodern personality.
I worry that Obama, who has not had to deal with the harsh realities of international politics, with its implacable hatreds. . . whose worldview has been crafted in a political atmosphere of leftist ideals disconnected from reality. . . is putting all his eggs in the basket of hopeful “reaching out” and will be unprepared down the road if the “outreach” becomes a mugging.
The worst case scenario could be a reprise of our previous effort at foreign policy guided by such a mindset: the Carter years, when international reality slipped out of the hands of a hapless president and the United States was subjected to endless humialation. By contrast, President Reagan managed to negotiate an arms control reduction treaty with the USSR’s Mikhail Gorbachev. I have no doubt that part of what led to this success was the Soviet’s knowledge that alongside Reagan’s willingness to talk was also a willingess and an ability to act forcefully in defense of American interests. I fear that as Obama’s effort at “outreach” unfold, he has not prepared a backup plan for any unfortunate eventuality which cannot be remedied by naive hopes and sweet words.
What will happen when Obama finally realizes that making nice to our implacable enemies does not work?
Like J.L., I fear that he has no backup plan. He is so convinced that he can charm the cobras that he has no plan for when the cobra strikes. His confidence is so high because he has gotten by all his life not on actually accomplishing things, but by charming.
Two extremes. He sits paralyzed while the cobra strikes, or he literally goes nuclear. My guess is that he sits paralyzed. He will convince himself that another charm offensive will put things right.
While Obama is of the left, he believes in himself more than in anything Marx may have wrote. It would not surprise me to find out that he had actually read very little of Marx. OTOH, that is not unusual in the left. I remember reading in the 1980s that a US diplomat in Nicaragua could run rings around the Comandantes in citing Marxist chapter and verse.
I’m surprised that Neo doesn’t know how far Left B. Hussein O. wants to take the USA. It seems pretty clear: Way far Left. But we’re not calibrating or titrating Obonga (Fred’s name, which he is free to use). So exactly how far Left doesn’t matter. He’s appointing czars like crazy, bullying oppos, violating contract law, ditching the economy, burying us in debt, p*ssing on our history, will nationalize health care, and the list goes on. Is that not enough to convince you of his totalitarian nature? He means us harm, all of us.
And he’ll do it by degrees, so the clingers won’t pick up their guns.
We’re going to start having show trials pretty soon, too.
neo-neocon Says:
…
I have little doubt that he is a man of the Left, but I see him as driven at least equally by his own narcissism, his faith that he can speak and move mountains, and the need to position himself in a way that keeps his true aims under wraps.
.
And I also see more than a little of Lonesome Rhodes from “A Face in the Crowd”.
–
1. I am not the least bit interested in reaching out to the Muslim world. I would rather make them fear us. Islam has been at war with the entire non-Muslim world since the 7th century. Force is the only language they understand.
2. Obama is a collectivist and a statist. It matters not whether he is a socialist, a Marxist, a fascist, or whatever. These are all variations and flavors of collectivism, which stand in stark contrast to the Constitutional Republic created by America’s Founding Fathers. I have seen enough of 20th century history to know that his reign will end in misery, poverty, and bloodshed if he is not stopped.
We could have easily been mired in muslim world outreach in any and all years of our 230 year history. The only thing ever needed was feminized politicians unwilling to spank their barbaric a**es as the only form of communication they’re capable of understanding and respecting.
When the lion lies down with the lamb, the lamb doesn’t get a lot of sleep.
Steve, instead of hurling epithets, please describe how the only country in the Middle East with meaningful elections, a functional parliament, a reasonably free economy, and actual minority rights is in fact “fascist”. Israel is not perfect, no country is, but it’s a helluva lot better than anything else in the region (I’ve seen both sides first-hand; I know where I’d prefer to live). And BTW, killing those who have sworn to destroy you, and who try it at every opportunity, is not “oppression” or “aggression”. It is self-defense. And no, I’m not Jewish, nor am I an evangelical Christian who views Israel through the lens of the Book of Revelations.
rickl:
“I am not the least bit interested in reaching out to the Muslim world. I would rather make them fear us. Islam has been at war with the entire non-Muslim world since the 7th century. Force is the only language they understand…”
I’d say it differently. Strength is the language they all understand, and some only respect force. Al-Qa’ida, Taliban, Jemaah Islamiyah, yeah, kill ’em all. Hunt them down like the vermin they are and leave their corpses for the vultures. That’s what they’d do to us, best if we do it first. But just as what’s known as Christendom (or used to be) is hardly a monolith, neither is Islam. While there are sects, mostly the Wahhabi/Salafi variants and their Deobandi cousins that are strident, austere, intolerant, and violent, other strains, such as Sufism, emphasize self-improvement and actively discourage violence. Do we need a Sufi Dervish, for instance, who spends much of his time whirling and mediating as part of his prayers, to fear us? I don’t think so. Outside of the Middle East, particularly in much of Africa and Southeast Asia, Islam has blended with preexisting local religions and cultures to become far more tolerant and relaxed than the “desert Islam” that we often see in the Middle East and South Asia. Then there’s the ongoing conflict within Shia Islam between the Najaf School, prevalent in Iraq and espoused by Ayatollah al-Sistani, and the Qom School in Iran, personified by the Guardian Council. While the analogy is not perfect, the Najaf School sees more of a separation between “church and state” (mosque and state?) than the Qom school does, which advocates direct religious intervention in politics. In short, we don’t want the Qom School to win, and the Shia-dominated Iraqi government is showing Shiites that it doesn’t have to. My concern is that our current administration neither projects strength in general, nor does it inspire fear with those who should fear us.
Meditating, not mediating. Sheesh! What I need now is spellchecker that knows what I meant, instead of just how to spell the words.
Fredhjr, the military disliked Clinton deeply. It’s a cinch they dislike Obama. The left dislikes our military – the very ones who ensure their right to do. Our all volunteer military, by the way. I’m aware this is well known, but it continues to boggle my mind.
Obviously, the American left does not wish to be free, or are scared of freedom. That’s all I can figure.
their right to do so. Missed the “so”.
Gringo’s quote:
What will happen when Obama finally realizes that making nice to our implacable enemies does not work?
Like J.L., I fear that he has no backup plan. He is so convinced that he can charm the cobras that he has no plan for when the cobra strikes. His confidence is so high because he has gotten by all his life not on actually accomplishing things, but by charming.
Two extremes. He sits paralyzed while the cobra strikes, or he literally goes nuclear. My guess is that he sits paralyzed. He will convince himself that another charm offensive will put things right.
I agree, though I think when he finally realizes he’s been made a fool of, he “goes nuclear”.
That our country has been made a fool won’t bother him in the least.
When he -personally- starts to look like a fool, he will lash out. He’ll have to overreact on a national level to bring back ‘respect’ –> for himself.
That type of personality hates to be seen publicly as a fool, and can’t stand any sort of criticism. It will take a lot to make him realize his charm offensive isn’t working, but when that point is reached, God help us all.
I think he really could literally go nuclear at that point.
Oops didn’t get the quote code right …
The “I agree ” and following was my thoughts on Gringo’s quote, which I tried to copy.
Wish you had a correction function for your comment section, Neo.
I don’t think Obama can distinguish between lambs and wolves or anything else. To him it seems there are two groups of people: Him, and people who should acknowledge him as their superior.
That wouldn’t be so bad if he really was a superior person, but he’s not. His opinion of himself is based on a meager list of accomplishments but mostly, it seems, by sycophants telling him he is great. I’ve never seen such a vacuous personality who has never done anything of merit outside of getting a law degree and never has anything of real substance to say. Everything he says bescially boils down to “Look at me! I’m great.”
I love (most of) the commentators on this blog (even when not entirely in agreement), and rarely disagree significantly with Neo; Which is obviously the reason I loiter here, and comment occasionally, however… Do I discern an element of denial, by some, in the context of “splitting hairs” over exactly how far left and to what extent left-wing and islamic ideology motivates the “Obungler” (couldn’t resist introjecting a bit of fresh infantilism here). As I said previously, in the context of his narcissim, much like the selfless Clintons (and Al Gore), B.O. is laughing all the way to the bank in his crusade to save us from ourselves. From proposals of “redistribution”, to doing everything possible prior to his election to undermine the Iraq war, to climate engineering and taxation, to unprecedented notions and actions to nationalize the private sector, to radical changes and betrayals of long-standing international relationships and traditional geopolitical positions, Obama has done everything our left-wing and islamic enemies could hope for, and in little more than several months, to weaken our own position and traditional allies. Prior to his election he was a born and bred moslem-communist posing as a Christian Democrat, and now he’s stopped posing. Like the Obamoron himself stated, “You haven’t seen anything yet”.
Perfected democrat: I agree that these arguments are somewhat akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The real question is whether the entire ship will sink, or whether it’s merely listing and rescue will come in time.
Wow waltj: how did you get [react] that SteveH was talking about Israel at all, from what he wrote? Are you responding to SteveH (I didn’t see any other “Steve” commenting)?
…I’ve only been a consistent reader of neo-neocon for a few months (I’ve been reading her blog intermittently for years), but if that’s the SteveH I think it is (HOI), he’s a “rabid” Israel supporter …a Zionist, even (umm, I don’t regard that as a bad thing).
…and even it’s not “my” SteveH, I still don’t see a connection between the SteveH comment and your reaction.
I’m not being pissy [at you] either: I’m just rather bewildered at the disconnect in our (yours and my) reaction(s).
…please do assuage my curiousity.
“The real question is whether the entire ship will sink, or whether it’s merely listing and rescue will come in time.”
Neo, isn’t the ultimate outcome really becoming dependent on a growing and insidious demographic trend? Democracy could kill our republic. I haven’t written us off yet, but for association, and as any competent therapist knows, the delusional/suicidal patient can’t always be rescued, especially if he doesn’t want to be. Not unlike James Warren “Jim” Jones, the “Pied Piper” Obama is irresistable for too many…
Neo: IMO the ship is listing gravely and will soon complete its capsize into eternal rest. Well, eternal as far as we now living are concerned. So it doesn’t really matter how far the list is today. That is just a momentum question, and I see no point in discussing momentum when it is direction that matters. The direction is BAD, endit. Who’s to stop it? No one. Who is out there for that role? No one. The Gramscians have secured the high ground, and will soon knock us resistors off the few remaining hillocks we presently hold.
I am not, emphatically not, a defeatist by nature. But I know when I’m/We’re licked. Not just licked; doomed.
That the ship will of itself return to even keel is just a Hope for Change!
Senator Phil Gramm, in 1992:
“I believe that even in a world where the lion and lamb are about to lie down together, I want to be sure we’re the lion,” he said.
davis, br:
Be advised that waltj was referring to the offensive remarks of a troll named “Steve” whose comments I have deleted.
Tom: I understand your pessimism and share it to some extent. But I am still of the opinion that a majority of the American people might end up understanding what is going on and turn the ship around in time. Note that I say “might,” not “will.”
thanks neo.
…and “never mind,” waltj.
Re: Obonga, Obungler, Obamoron
As far as I’m concerned, commenters are free to use such epithets, just as I am free to discount their credibility on that account.
FWIW, I also think it knocks down the intellectual property values of this forum a bit, but if you must, you must, I suppose.
Otherwise, it’s neo’s world and we just live in it occasionally.
Neo: It’s a big “might”.
I’m going to Boston next week for my oldest’s 40th birthday. He’s a well-educated lib and he just doesn’t get it, though conceding the points I raise are “telling”. Neither do his wife, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends. They just shut me up and out.
I know now how Border State families felt when one son went blue, the other gray.
Count me among those who don’t think the ship is going down, though grave dangers and difficulties are ahead.
I’m focusing on the future and looking for the leverage to win. There is going to be more opportunity than one might think, especially if we are right and the progressive project is going to result in policies perpendicular to reality. The consequences will be a series of unmistakable failures, and the Obamacrats will suffer the same political fate that Labour is about to meet in the U.K. (If we are wrong, the country won’t go to hell in a handbasket.)
So let’s cheer up and get to it!
In today’s Rasmussen poll Obama’s total favorability is down to 53%, the lowest since the election. When you figure that over 10 of that 53 is from black voters who will support Obama no matter what, that means that less than half the people who are paying attention do not support the messiah.
Count me among those who don’t think the ship is going down, though grave dangers and difficulties are ahead…..especially if we are right and the progressive project is going to result in policies perpendicular to reality.
Agreed. Consider:
* We will see Europe go first over the falls of leftist social policies it can’t support in the face of its demographic crunch and immigration problems. It’s possible we can learn from that.
* The twenty- and thirty-somethings who went overwhelmingly for Obama are going to discover within ten years if not earlier that they are the big losers funding all these social programs and boomer entitlements. Their politics will flip 180 degrees when that happens.
huxley, I am still with you on “Obungler,” etc. The MSM may be promoting a cult of personality, but that doesn’t mean we should try to create an anti-cult. I take neo’s point about Obama to be about the willful blindness of a lot of his supporters. Whether they can be made to see him more accurately–as we believe we do–and how to achieve that is what matters most. Or I should say the audience, not the man, should interest us.
Name calling is not much help. First rate satire that embarrasses his supporters is another matter.
Uh-huh: The problem is that Neo’s software doesn’t have a preview choice. When I am dealing with a comment that will have HTML tags, I write my comment w tags on a Word doc, then paste it into the comment section in a blog that has preview available for its comments, such as the below blog, to preview it.
http://www.americanthinker.com/
I just stumbled across today’s gem from the great Victor Davis Hanson:
http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/the-reckoning/
I’m calling first dibs on the movie rights. It’s Jean de Florette with a happy ending.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091288/
Should I have said, an American ending?
Tom: I have the same experience. I keep looking at the news and thinking “surely now my friends/family who support Obama will get what’s happening, and they’ll become alarmed.”
I have yet to see any more than the smallest glimmerings of transient doubt. That makes me think that either it will never happen, or that it will take something so cataclysmic that it will already be too late.
On the other hand, the experience has been very educational. I can easily see how even more extreme tyrannies can slip into place with the vast majority of a populace unaware, unconcerned, or in agreement.
Neo, I always ask myself, “What would it cost them if they believed differently than they do?” The answer is usually, “A lot.”
The people you and I know believe themselves to be insulated from the consequences of economic and foreign policies based on fantasy. They are not insulated from the threats of social and professional ostracism.
We will need to look elsewhere for most of our converts.
“The twenty- and thirty-somethings who went overwhelmingly for Obama are going to discover within ten years if not earlier that they are the big losers funding all these social programs and boomer entitlements. Their politics will flip 180 degrees when that happens.”
When they grow up and became the next generation neocons… In the meantime America will begin to morph economically into something akin to european socialism, where the poor discover they aren’t really any wealthier, but there is significantly less opportunity and freedom. It’s not for no reason (nor the only reason) that muslim youth around Paris have taken to mass car burnings for regular weekend recreation…
“The MSM may be promoting a cult of personality, but that doesn’t mean we should try to create an anti-cult.”
That depends on how far the democrats go. As far as I’m concerned they’ve gone too far, too fast (a critical factor in the equation), and it’s starting to feel too much like a radical left coup d’état. That doesn’t even take into account the people who it is not unreasonable to say have died “indirectly” due to B.O.’s legitimization of the enemy; Or the resistance movements that are now marginalized more than ever by B.O.’s pandering to the regime leaders of Iran, Venezuela, Syria, Saudi Arabia, etc., especially in the way he has. It’s not less than betrayal, and different people have different thresholds for what raises their ire to the point of a little venomous “name calling”. What’s your threshold?
Can’t-we-all-get-along?
On the Chatham islands, 500 miles east of New Zealand, centuries of independence came to a brutal end for the Moriori people in December 1835. On November 19, 1835 a ship carrying 500 Maori armed with guns, clubs, and axes arrived, followed on December 5 by a shipload of 400 more Maori. Groups of Maori began to walk through Moriori settlements, announcing that the Moriori were now their slaves, and killing those who objected. An organized resistance by the Moriori could still then have defeated the Maori, who were outnumbered two to one. However the Moriori had a tradition of resolving disputes peacefully. They decided in a council meeting not to fight back but to offer peace, friendship, and a division of resources.
Before the Moriori could deliver that offer, the Maori attacked in masse. Over the course of the next few days, they killed hundreds of Moriori, cooked and ate many of the bodies, and enslaved all the others, killing most of them too over the next few years as it suited their whim.
A Moriori survivor recalled, “[The Maori] commenced to kill us like sheep…[We] were terrified, fled to the bush, concealed ourselves in holes underground, and in any place to escape our enemies. It was of no avail; we were discovered and killed, men, women, and children indiscriminately.”
A Maori conqueror explained, “We took possession… in accordance with our custom and we caught all the people. Not one escaped. Some ran away from us, these we killed and other we killed-but what of that? It was in accordance with our custom.”
Source: Guns, Germs and Steel — The Fates of Human Societies,
Jared Diamond. Page: 53.
One thing I’ve noticed is how quickly the Obama worship has worn off — at least outside the MSM which remains pretty loony (see http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/06/023738.php). I live in an ultra-blue area and I don’t sense any of that adulation from a year ago.
This doesn’t mean that people are near the tipping point of abandoning Obama, though some are leaking away, just that we are not looking at Obama as Fuhrer.
My sense is that overseas, people are not terribly impressed with Obama either, they just prefer him to the evil Bush.
My sense is that overseas, people are not terribly impressed with Obama either, they just prefer him to the evil Bush….
Maybe. Elsewhere:
Obama is a Gowd!
The “new Newsweek” is exemplified by Meacham’s decision to turn an issue over to comedian Stephen Colbert as a guest editor. And also by the latest swoon by long-time Newsweek lefty Evan Thomas, who, on “Hardball,” proclaimed Barack Obama a “sort of God”:
THOMAS: … Obama is ‘we are above that now.’ We’re not just parochial, we’re not just chauvinistic, we’re not just provincial. We stand for something – I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above – above the world, he’s sort of God. He’s-
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
THOMAS: He’s going to bring all different sides together.
Video: http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/06/newsweeks-evan-thomas-says-obama-is-god.html
G6loq — That’s why I posted a link to the same Thomas/Matthews exchange.
But that’s not what I hear from the Americans I know who voted for Obama. They are happy that the Republicans, especially Bush, are no longer in power, but none of them are awed by Obama. They seem to be a bit worried, but we stay away from politics these days.
I suspect the reason why the Democratic strategist David Axelrod and the Congressional leadership keep Boooooosssh on the front burner is because the base of their support and some independents so hate Boooooosssh that any red meat tossed in that direction will keep the president’s poll numbers up. And by now it should be obvious to any intelligent observer that keeping the president’s poll numbers up is key to their strategy of ramming through the whole kit and caboodle with little or no debate. This is done especially to keep the nervous members of Congress in line.
I am hearing more and more, from some people around me and in the media, the stubborn and defiant refrain of the deepening of the recession being Boooooossssh’s fault. To investment professionals like me, it’s rather obvious what investors and business owners are nervous about. Quite another matter to the average booby brain out there.
davis,br:
No problem. As Neo noted, I was replying to Steve, not SteveH. Couldn’t let the former’s now-deleted dog-droppings pass without comment.
You know, there is a part of me that wishes the Dems would push thru their Carbon Tax- and not one on some delayed time thing after 2010. One that goes in to effect right now. A good little shock to the system. But I suspect they wan’t. What they pass, if they do, will not begin to have its ill effects till after the 2010 election.
I am one of those who held my nose and voted for MacAmnesty, but was somewhat relieved that Obama won as I feel McCain just muddied up the water too much with his “reaching across the aisle.” As much as I dislike the Dems, in some ways I was glad they captures both houses so no one could say “its the Republicans fault.” But from what some of you are saying in liberal land- “its still Bush’s fault” from your peers point of view.
Can we just peacefully divide up the country into two or more parts? I would rather not commit national and cultural suicide with your moron liberal friends.
Thank you from Texas.
“captured” not “captures”—ahhh!
One thing I am about to do is try to encourage my local reps to form their own party. (Gohmert-US and Berman- Texas Legislature) If the moderates wish to control the Republican party- let the spineless weasels have it.
We need clarity- an opposition party that does back down even if it is a minority.
The moderates can keep McCain.
Ok that was not nice of me to call your friends “moron”. Maybe ill informed would be better.
Now if I could just wake up more of my kin to the danger I feel that Huckabee is.
Perfected democrat, I suspect my threshold for wanting to call names is not much different from yours. I don’t do it because it is counter-productive and because I haven’t given up hope of winning.
N’en parlez jamais, pensez-y toujours.
I suspect that both President Obama and Gov. Mike Huckabee would be fun to have over for a cookout. Huckabee would probably make a decent pastor. But I would rather neither of them was President.
That Obama called it “resistance” and not “terrorism” said it all.
Does Obama really think he has wisdom beyond anyone before him? Ideas no one else has had? A charisma no one can resist? I look at him, Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, Biden (well Biden is a different animal) and I think to myself that these people need some serious couch time. Then I think of those that follow them, that hang on every word (only in this country) and I realize they are like children. Obama is a pied piper.
The phrase “West Bank” suggests a narrow plain in a valley. This is not the territory in question.
To those who have not yet looked at the map: The so-called “West Bank of the Jordan River” extends more than three quarters of the way across Israel. It surrounds Jerusalem on three sides, and is full of mountainous terrain from which an enemy cannot be dislodged without great bloodshed.
This is geographic fact.
Now the opinion:
To offer the “Palestinians” room along the Jordan and in the lower foothills may make geopolitical sense. To turn over all of what history calls Judea and Samaria does not, especially when the “people” in question is ruled by bunch of thugs bent on genocide and on the erasure of history. (Look at what they have done to Jewish archological treasures in places they already control.)
For whom does Recruiting Animal recruit? Hamas?
“Does Obama really think he has wisdom beyond anyone before him? Ideas no one else has had? A charisma no one can resist? ”
Why, yes, I believe he does. The self-referential arrogance of the man is stunning. Every politician I’m aware of has an ego. Otherwise, they don’t go into the trade. But there’s ego. Then there’s Obama. Little League vs. the Majors. I only fear that when his arrogance coupled with his blinding ignorance of the real world, cause him to crash and burn–and they will, sooner or later–he’ll take us with him.