Obama Just Doesn’t Get It
We thought Bush was isolated and out of touch? We've gone from the frying pan into the fire.
George W. Bush, his critics said, was isolated and unaware of how badly things were going in Iraq. He was caught up in a messianic vision to bring democracy to the Middle East. Meanwhile, he stubbornly clung to grandiose domestic policy proposals (e.g., social security reform and immigration reform) when the timing was simply not right. Some of that has been disproved by subsequent events (e.g., we did bring democracy to Iraq) or revelations about his own intimate involvement in reworking a failing Iraq strategy. But the image remained of an isolated and out-of-touch president.
As queasy as it might make us feel, we might consider that we have gone from the frying pan into the fire. Obama does not perceive things are substantially worse or that his “strategy” is failing. He also seems to have the timing terribly off as he discusses an onslaught of taxes and regulation while the economy is staggering. And to make matters worse we have no General Petraeus to help guide us back from the brink of ruin. We have instead Tim Geithner.
In a brilliant posting, small business owner Jim Prevor makes clear that the president is frightfully oblivious to the real world impact of the stock market crash on the lives of ordinary Americans (and hence on our prospects for recovery). Prevor explains:
Every stock market investor quickly learns that the math of markets is forbidding. After all, if stock prices go down by 50 percent, they have to rally by 100 percent to get one back to even.
Yet this doesn’t begin to explain the problem. In political polling, all’s well that ends well. But this is most decidedly not true in the stock market.
If a family needs $25,000 to pay tuition and it sells stocks to raise the money, that money is not available to benefit from any future upswing in market values. So even if Obama orchestrates a miraculous rebound, countless millions of people will have been permanently hurt.
And for individuals and businesses who tried to use prudent margin, Obama seems oblivious to people sitting at their desks desperately trying to navigate not only margin calls but announcements that their brokerage firm has decided the maintenance requirement on certain stocks has been raised and, suddenly, people have to sell anything of quality because they need to raise cash. They get stuck with illiquid portfolios and the selling pressure on anything of quality is immense.
These people and businesses are wiped out, whatever the long term effect of the President’s policies.
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Jennifer Rubin is PJM's Washington, DC, editor. She also blogs at Commentary’s Contentions.
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98 Comments
1. Mongoose:We thought Bush was out of touch? No, Democrats pushed that meme for their own political purposes.
Give proof of the aseertion that “we” thought this, or that he actually was.
He did not agree with the liberal agenda, thus he was “out of touch”.
Mar 8, 2009 - 4:14 am 2. richard:If your overall plan is to get the people to be dependent on the govt then the worse things get the more people are in need of govt help. Sounds like a good plan to me!!!!!
Mar 8, 2009 - 4:36 am 3. HardHeadedWoman:He’s not oblivious at all. Everything is going according to plan and in fact faster and better because of the financial mess. Anyone who thinks that he has no idea what he’s causing to happen is oblivious to everything he has ever said that he wanted to do.
Mar 8, 2009 - 4:45 am 4. LeighB:I agree with Jennifer’s assessment, we have gone from the frying pan into the fire. Teleprompter-POTUS will be known for the politics of distraction, a hostility toward those able to achieve and create wealth, and for running a perpetual campaign.
In four years will we opt for more of this? Wish we could vote a year from now.
Mar 8, 2009 - 4:49 am 5. cedarhill:If Obama gets what Obama wants, the answers are:
1. home electricity costing more than your mortgage
2. $8/gallon gasoline or a huge rationing system
3. increasingly scarce food supplies with real hunger instead of “obese” hunger we have now.
4. retirement investment worth less than what you put into them.
6. government health regulating who gets what treatment
7. schools being merely indoctrination centers
Just for starters. And, unbelievably, it will be even worse than this.
Mar 8, 2009 - 4:52 am 6. RE:Mongoose,
As one straddling the conservative-libertarian line, I’d have to say that Bush was out of touch he concept of limiting federal government, the concept of veto powers, fiscal restraint, Immigration reform/amnesty, Harriet Miers nomination, and the need for effective communications and public relations.
That said, Obama is a disaster by comparison. George Bush wasn’t into reckless destruction. Obama is.
But there is no point in bickering over water that’s passed under the bridge.
George Bush is a complete distraction at this point. I trust history to vindicate him from the dishonest smear campaign waged against him.
Mar 8, 2009 - 4:56 am 7. Terry:Paul Volker. His name alone brings thoughts of tough action at tough times. How many nights did Jimmy Carter lay awake wishing he’d chosen someone else to head the Fed? Reagan saw truth and gave Volker the leeway to fix the problems. The real question today is not the reason for BHO ignoring Volker, the question is what did he tell Volker to bring him on board, precluding him from resolving or even addressing anything?
Mar 8, 2009 - 5:06 am 8. drjohn:The plan is to destroy independent wealth and create an Ayersian utopia.
Mar 8, 2009 - 5:13 am 9. Pops in Vienna:The title of the article should be “Obama Just Doesn’t Care”. He went to Harvard, I’m sure he gets it.
Obama was elected by naive college students, emotional soccer moms, stupid union workers, and blacks seeking revenge for slavery. The stock market could be down to 2,000 and his poll numbers would still be high. If we had another election next month, he’d still win. The Republicans would probably run Chuck Hagel.
I think Obama’s followers feel we won’t need money in the future. Everything will be free and provided by the government. So, no need to save for college or a home.
Mar 8, 2009 - 5:29 am 10. Meryl:Thank you, Mongoose.
This use of “we”, apparently to spread the blame to all for the idiocy of a few, is getting very, very tiresome.
Mar 8, 2009 - 5:31 am 11. MPHobgood:Oh he gets it alright. And he is going to make sure we get it, too. Morning , noon and night, every where and always.
Mar 8, 2009 - 5:40 am 12. chris in Toronto:“In a brilliant posting, small business owner Jim Prevor makes clear that the president is frightfully oblivious to the real world impact of the stock market crash on the lives of ordinary Americans (and hence on our prospects for recovery).”
It seems everyone is giving Obama the benefit of the doubt and is assuming (ie: begging the question) that his intentions are pure insofar as wanting the economy to recover. What if his intentions aren’t pure? What if he isn’t oblivious? What if, to the contrary, his actions bespeak his true intentions?
It would be wonderful if writers would at least consider the possibility in their ruminations.
Mar 8, 2009 - 5:49 am 13. Will:Believe me Barak Hussein Obama does have a plan and it’s coming along just fine.We’re headed toward Socialism in record time.Just stick around my friends,you’ll see.
Mar 8, 2009 - 5:51 am 14. Jerry:The Cloward-Piven Strategy
“Strategy for forcing political change through orchestrated crisis
First proposed in 1966 and named after Columbia University sociologists Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, the “Cloward-Piven Strategy” seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.”
Mar 8, 2009 - 5:52 am 15. chris in Toronto:/
For the rest of the article see: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6967
About that logo: the positioning of the stars isn’t right vis a vis the American flag. Call it a quibble, if you will, but those stars should be staggered. A subtle remaking? Propaganda?
Mar 8, 2009 - 5:59 am 16. Retep:The retirement funds of the Messiah’s precious unions, including teachers, is tied to the market so eventually he will get the message. I’m surprised it’s taking this long though.
Mar 8, 2009 - 6:01 am 17. Don:If the goal is to build a large constituency beholding to OB for largess he is well on his way. From the generational indentured Democrats (those on welfare) to the unions (perpetually investing their funds to promote their politics and stranglehold on industries). Perhaps Chavez has the template our once and future Negusa Nagast is emulating; creating the perception (and reality) of class warfare between the most malliable (the dirt poor) and (those perceived as) the rich (and the definition of “rich” is constantly revised downwards). Chavez has created his socialist paradise by demonizing the (perceived) rich (who are removing themselves and their wealth from the country and marginalizing themselves) and driving the middle class into poverty (thereby becoming one with the poor and more malliable).
For Chavez (and Obama) the more poor and powerless (as they perceive themselves) the more power in the hands of the central government and the Negusa Nagast.
Mar 8, 2009 - 6:06 am 18. Cybergeezer:So; When’s the Obamessiah going to use the line,”Do this in memory of me”?
Mar 8, 2009 - 6:17 am 19. Broadsword:If twenty seconds after entering office, the markets shot skyward some hundreds of points, and weeks later some thousands, would ‘The Inflated One’ be saying he “inherited” the market from Bush?
Mar 8, 2009 - 6:34 am 20. retrophoebia:There are some other things that Mr. Obama doesn’t get. He “doesn’t get” the military. I would bet a dime that he conducts zero or close to zero visits to wounded vets. He has never read or studied or even been in proximity to someone to makes a living out of the directed application of violence. We will not see him speaking at academy graduations, or using the military for anything other than keeping him out of the fire politically. See his description of his “combat troops” plan in Iraq.
Q: What is a “combat troop”?
A: A soldier that you call a “combat troop”.
Some might argue that the Infantry are “combat troops”. True enough, but they can become non-combat troops faster than you can re-assign them as “advisors” or “security forces”. So we won’t see reduction of what people think of as combat troops, or anyone else for that matter, except perhaps in a purely numerical sense.
I do not think that when we are attacked again (here or overseas) the results will be something that the average joe will buy into. Bush, for whatever faults you ascribe to him, showed respect for the military and its members.
He “doesn’t get” the chronological distribution of wealth in this country. By this I mean that younger people earn less, usually, than those in middle age and above. A man or woman can be “lower income” or “poor” in his 20s but rise to affluence by his 50s– this is a poverty problem that does not need fixing. It is natural. It is not racism. It is paying dues, gaining experience, and so on, to become a productive member of society. If B-rock tries to, quote, fix this by redistribution, he will destroy incentive for that man to work harder and be more productive. And there are a lot of those men or women out there who are climbing the ladder. But more importantly, he is destroying awareness of the fact that experience is a credential; he is trying to replace that American experience with a government that provides instant results, albeit bland ones. American men and women, especially younger ones, who buy into his narrative will not feel that there is the hope for advancement or see any incentive to try to do so.
He “doesn’t get” market-driven economics. Someone please a) release his academic transcript, if only to verify that this guy is the second coming of Tesla/Cicero, and b) give him a remedial econ class anyway. I learned about supply and demand and some implications of each in mine (e.g. the effects of imposing taxes, price ceilings, price floors, etc); I would hope the president of my country knows the same.
And he sure as hell doesn’t get me.
Mar 8, 2009 - 6:37 am 21. JackT:He sees things as he would have them be, not as they are.
Mar 8, 2009 - 6:50 am 22. acj:In the year 2000 when Bush took the presidencey he said “The economy is not as great as everyone thinks.” and the stock market went down and then for eight years went sideways, and then down again. In the year 2008 when Obama took the presidency, he said “The economy will get worst before it gets better.” Now that is smart thinking.
Mar 8, 2009 - 6:59 am 23. 888:The messiah-wanna-be’s die-hard supporters are waking up with a serious hangover. They can’t understand why the arrogant, elitist charlatan can’t seem to get the economy going.
The reason it’s not working for The One is because he not only is out of touch with reality, he also does everything primarily for votes and to pay back his support base. That expediency leadership style is short-term, reckless and unsustainable. He’s a one-termer for sure.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:03 am 24. JD:President Obama “gets” it about as much as the First Lady.
Let us not forget that Michelle Obama dismissed President Bush’s $600 stimulus check as fit only for buying a pair of earrings. Shades of “Let them eat cake” right there…
http://trackacrat.com/category/barack-obama/
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:07 am 25. glenn:Aicch knows exactly what he’s doing. It’s his legions of supporters I worry about.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:19 am 26. fear Obama:“Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it”
‘HOPENCHANGE’
“How fortunate for leaders that men do not think.”
‘DON’T WAST A GOOD CRISIS.’
“All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach.”
‘I FEEL A TINGLE RUN UP MY LEG WHEN HE GIVES A SPEECH.’- ‘I FEEL LIKE CRYING’- HE WILL MAKE MY CAR PAYMENT AND MY RENT!’
“He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.”
‘ACORN’
“It is always more difficult to fight against faith than against knowledge.”
‘THEY CLING TO THEIR GUNS AND RELIGION.’
“Those that will fight, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.”
‘OBAMA ENDORSES PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION’
“”The man who has no sense of history, is like a man who has no ears or eyes””
‘HARVARD GRADUATE’ – NEED I SAY MORE?
“I believe today that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator”
‘FARRAKHAN CALLS OBAMA THE MESSIAH’
“I do not see why man should not be just as cruel as nature”
“The victor when he is victorious will never be asked if he told the truth.”
‘WE WON!’
Barrack Hussein Obama
Adolf Hitler-
German Chancellor, leader of the the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, commonly known as the Nazi Party, 1889-1945
Sorry!
There are no quotes concerning women-
Hitler and many of his homosexual leaders didn’t care too much for women.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:24 am 27. Bilgeman:Ms. Rubin:
“Obama Just Doesn’t Get It”
No, he doesn’t…but he THINKS that he does.
In fact, he’s CERTAIN that he gets it.
Other than his “placeholder” jobs as a lawyer and a “community activist”, this guy’s never really worked for a living, he’s been an academic.
Which means, where the rubber meets the road, he’s read the manual, but he’s NEVER put a wrench to a bolt.
You can see how he responded when he bumped up against a guy who knows which end of the wrench to put on a pipe when he met “Joe the Plumber”.
Joe asked him for concrete and factual information, and the Alleged Hawaiian responded with a slogan.
That’s what happens when the brilliant engineering student cannot make the lawnmower run…he retreats to the safety of the clean formulaic world that’s his comfort zone.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:30 am 28. cfbleachers:Defenders of the president dismiss the notion that Obama’s policies and rhetoric are in any way responsible for our current plight. It happened on Bush’s watch! Of course it did. But they misstate their opponents’ criticism — another straw man in a growing army of them. The question is not whether Obama caused the recession, but whether he is making it worse.
I”m a bit baffled by all of this. If I take a spouse and we decided to share income and debt, I “inherit” her credit cards…but I also get to “pool” her income with mine.
If, during my single days, I manage to build a nice nest egg, grow my income, and manage my debt so that it isn’t going to cost me my entire pool of assets…and THEN…her relatives come to live in my House in 2006 and start running up bills, depleting reserves, eating away at the cushion I have built….it happened on my “watch” but without my permission or impramatur.
Then, the big day arrives and my spouse immediately takes all her credit cards AND all of mine…and runs them over their limits. And feeding her relatives caviar, saffron, truffles, and champagne. She buys them 9000 trinkets, baubles and assorted gifts.
Now, our pooled income must pay for the interest, penalties and fees associated with overextended credit…AND…to pay for her penchant for handing out expensive items which we cannot afford, and 9000 of which…nobody needs.
We didn’t “inherit” this extra debt.
If I make a list of items that put us into this situation, when they arose, how they arose and tried to present them…nobody in the household will read them…it reflects badly on them and their own actions, and heaven knows…in this household information is filtered to fit the preordained “message”.
My question becomes, how does one annul a vote?
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:43 am 29. lucy:You don’t get, Jennifer, that he gets it. This is what he wants. I know it’s scary and horrible to contemplate, but we have to be honest. A coup is taking place. We’re being wrenched from capitalism to socialism.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:48 am 30. Spanky:He understands exactly what to do and how to do it to reach his dream society. He’s moving at the speed of light so he can jam everything in before our IGNORANT AMERICAN CITIZENS realize what is going on. We are cattle and he knows it. Fifty years of dumb down education has paid off in tremendous dividends for him and his gang. The big question now is how much damage will be done before 2010? Probably more than we realize. This is sickening.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:51 am 31. Rational Joe:Unites Soviet States of America (U.S.S.A). Who would have thought it would come to this?
Saul Alinsky and Karl Marx ideals are setting U.S.S.A policies now.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:56 am 32. Dr. T:Every speech is a propaganda and misrepresentation agenda directed at getting something he wants to accomplish. He has found just about every gimmick he can find to drive the markets into the toilet. And yes, those portions of the market that are still working, even if it is only marginally so. is now getting his attention. If he goes after healthcarem we will see 15+% inflation and a loss of access to healthcare. What’s worse is he will likley blame it on the healthcare providers for not playing along.
This war within our own borders will not have a happy ending. With luck, the Obama love affair will die out soon as more and more of his destructive behaviors show through. It will take the effort of all Americans to either redirect the agenda, or throw out the current administration.
Unfortunately we will likwly have already lost the Iraq war that we were winning, be facing a nuclear Iran, a badly damaged relationship with our allies, and from what I hear about Afganistan, we may already have pulled out of there as well.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:58 am 33. Dr. T:Every speech is a propaganda and misrepresentation agenda directed at getting something he wants to accomplish. He has found just about every gimmick he can find to drive the markets into the toilet. And yes, those portions of the market that are still working, even if it is only marginally so. is now getting his attention. If he goes after healthcare we will see 15+% unemployment and a loss of access to healthcare. What’s worse is he will likley blame it on the healthcare providers for not playing along.
This war within our own borders will not have a happy ending. With luck, the Obama love affair will die out soon as more and more of his destructive behaviors show through. It will take the effort of all Americans to either redirect the agenda, or throw out the current administration.
Unfortunately we will likwly have already lost the Iraq war that we were winning, be facing a nuclear Iran, a badly damaged relationship with our allies, and from what I hear about Afganistan, we may already have pulled out of there as well.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:59 am 34. fear Obama:Shite is happening so fast I cant even keep up with it.
All of our Surge troops are not even there yet and he is suggesting surrender.
How many more young American troops will die because of his Stupid comments.
Obama speaks- World markets and troops die!
At least he has cured my thoughts/worries about getting older.
His 46 days in office seems like 46 months.
Mar 8, 2009 - 8:05 am 35. Insufficiently Sensitive:The real question today is not the reason for BHO ignoring Volker, the question is what did he tell Volker to bring him on board, precluding him from resolving or even addressing anything?
Bringing Volcker on board was the same tactic our antidemocratic local ‘light rail’ board used to deny the use of local legal firms to their opposition. They hired every one of them, to take them off the market.
If Paul Volcker has any balls, he’ll resign and speak truth to power. We have to wonder just what sort of ’stimulus’ the Obamanoids have laid on Volcker, to buy his continued adherence.
Mar 8, 2009 - 8:13 am 36. Hahvahd:He went to Harvard, I’m sure he gets it.
I’d graduated from Harvard as well. Believe me, it’s quite possible to go to Harvard and still not ‘get it’.
People who go to Harvard tend to be good students, and that’s about it.
It doesn’t make you omniscient.
Mar 8, 2009 - 8:20 am 37. Войска ПВО:#22 acj writes:
“..In the year 2008 when Obama took the presidency, he said “The economy will get worst [sic] before it gets better.” Now that is smart thinking[?]“
..if he said that then he will need a remedial grammar class in addition to the remedial econ class that retrophoebia suggests. It, of course, should be “worse”.
And, no, it was not smart of him to say because it had the effect of worsening a bad situation and plummeting the stock market into a downward spiral where a great deal of wealth has been lost. As Ms Rubin points out, those that have need of the money now or will in the near future (college education, imminent retirement) are screwed out of years of carefully nurturing a nest egg that this Harvard-educated, affirmative-action boob-in-chief blew up because he ran his stupid moouth.
“Profits-to-earnings-ratio”, my ass.
..his first 8 weeks in office should have been one long STFU moment.
Mar 8, 2009 - 8:34 am 38. Morry Rotenberg:Like everything else that occurred in the campaign and the election of our new president, facts just didn’t and don’t matter. Everyone who took the effort to find out what BO was about knew that he was the most liberal of all the US senators. He never had any executive experience. His friends were radical anti-American polemicists. He never really held a job or had any accomplishments. His only claim to fame were two, count them, two autobiographies for a man not yet 50 years old and his ethnic heritage. He had not published anything in his academic field. He has lied repeatedly about campaign finance reform, earmarks, foreign policy issues, and etc. His greatest success was in campaigning which he has continued to do after election. And true to form, the ignorant masses and deluded elitist intelligentsia continue to be intoxicated by his rhetoric. The electorate deserve the government that they voted for. Perhaps by 2010 the useful idiots (the MSM)will realise how stupid and blind to the facts they really were.
Mar 8, 2009 - 8:46 am 39. TurfMonster:“The retirement funds of the Messiah’s precious unions, including teachers, is tied to the market so eventually he will get the message. I’m surprised it’s taking this long though”
Perhaps Retep, but I would say that Obama and the people who run the teacher’s union really don’t care about the teachers at the ground level. They’ll only give lip service to the rank-and-file union members on this one.
Mar 8, 2009 - 9:00 am 40. Khiri:16. Retep: The retirement funds of the Messiah’s precious unions, including teachers, is tied to the market so eventually he will get the message. I’m surprised it’s taking this long though.
————-
Look for the funds to be replenished in the next Stimulus Bill.
The stock market, private charities, etc. are going to be replaced by Daddy Obama’s government. He believes the (read: his) government is supposed to control it all. Private industry and charity are out of his control, which, his mind, is an abomination (Obamination?). That’s why he wants to eliminate (or heavily tax, which will have the same effect) the stock market and other things, like the private school scholarship program in DC (it’s outside the indoctrination control of the Teacher’s Union). He wants the Demorat government to have total control.
The Demorat trifecta, Obama/Pelosi/Reid, know exactly what they’re doing. They want to destroy the US as it is so they and their friends can be the only ones with power and money.
The Emperor has no clothes, folks.
Mar 8, 2009 - 9:00 am 41. NWMA:Anyone even have the slightest recollection of hussians’ promise to abide by the UN millenium proposition?
Thu whut…….?
Let me give you the meat of it since 99.99% of all of you are too damn lazy and clueless.
Everybody gets disarmed and our courts ( and laws ) are subject ” international courts “.But hey, you can can get some pizza with those Rome Statutes.
obama is a TRAITOR and those who follow him are enemies of the principals of the United States.
Be very aware, there are people here collecting information about saying anything against the obammy mammy. Your freedom to speak is your way of getting on the list. Prepare yourselves to fight or kneel before the alter.
Mar 8, 2009 - 9:46 am 42. Ron Robinson:It’s one thing to enhance your popularity through the use of of polls and focus groups.
It’s another thing entirely to make policy of what you learn through those methods.
Mar 8, 2009 - 9:57 am 43. Max:Obama is having a war with the market and losing you can’t attack the job makers and at the same time expect them to make jobs
Mar 8, 2009 - 10:04 am 44. Kathleen Mary:I think what all of you are missing is that usually self-preservation does kick in even for the most liberal-green-unionized-teacher (as an example.) when they realize that if they really do (fill in blank) it will destroy their livelihood. That is why most liberals do not live anywhere NEAR how they should be living if they really believed all the climate hype.
This is true. Usually people do care whether their retirement funds are growing or falling into a black hole (not meant, racially, is an astronomical reference.)
BUT – Obama is religion – he is their Messiah, the one, god, anointed lord, priestling, hierophant – look at Oprah – she bows her head in prayer & folds her hands at the mention of Obama’s name!! This isn’t a normal president or a normal administration.
NOW — look at what is happening in the Middle East – people are blowing themselves up for the sake of a nutty religion that promises them sex after death! Look at human history – auto-de-fes, Crusades, witch hunts.. religion can blind people to very simple things like self-preservation.
Human beings, when they really believe in something or someone will throw themselves into the fire of auto-de-fe or bomb explosions .. so do you think the Obama’s true believers are ever going to wake up? NO
The difference in religions is what is good religion or bad. What brings about human growth, mercy and kindness or human suicide & murder.
My answer is NO we should not expect people to care whether they are losing their savings or not. – the only hope America has are all the moderates who joined the Obama craze because they believed he was a moderate and now awaking up. I only pray there are enough of them to turn things around. The Fate of the USA is NOW dependent on how many moderates voted for President B. (I am too tired to be courteous) Obama.
Mar 8, 2009 - 10:04 am 45. Earlg:And, I totally agree with you, Khiri, I suspect Obama/Pelosi/Reid KNOW exactly what they are doing. I think this was the plan from the start.
God, I do hope they fail!!!
Good rule: don’t ever underestimate your enemies.
Jennifer,
Obama get’s it, we don’t.
Clauswitz wrote:
At present, I believe, the vast majority American’s do not have a clear understanding of Obama’s ’other means’ although they have been well delineated by Marx, Lenin, Mao, Alinsky and numerous others.
As you so well point out(granted in other context) “…we have no General Petraeus to help guide us back…” now we must search that General out; however, unlike Iraq we can’t afford to wait 6 months – let alone 2 years or possibly longer.
Mar 8, 2009 - 10:13 am 46. hinckleybuzzard:In a nutshell, it is abundantly clear that Obama is intent on destroying private wealth to coerce the populace into dependence on government. It is the same tired marxist project that has been tried and failed all over the world. His malignant neglect of and indifference to the market is compelling evidence of this. It is a deliberate policy and, no, he doesn’t care what it does to the private individual. As his role model Stalin once said, “If you want to make an omelet you have to break a few eggs.”
Out of touch? He has no intention of being in touch with the masses. He is content to lead the vanguard of the proletariat and be their benign ruler.
Mar 8, 2009 - 10:14 am 47. Delia:The big lie is in progress. Pay no attention to the man behind the green curtain.
Everyone stay asleep in the poppy field…
“If I only had a brainnnnnnn.”
The wicked bitch of the West is pulling the strings now.
Follow the yellow brick road paved with malfeasance.
Glenda where for art thou?
Mar 8, 2009 - 10:28 am 48. Moogie:1. Obama doesn’t “get it” in that he doesn’t realize most of us don’t want to be shackled by a meddling government.
2. Per Pops in Vienna: Obama doesn’t “care” because he has his own narcissistic agenda and nothing matters to him but his own self-fulfillment.
3. Obama is “malevolent” because anyone seeking to oppress others is evil.
4. Obama is “incompetent” because he’s so convinced of his own perfection it causes him to stumble and stutter incoherently.
5. Obama does “get it” in that he knows exactly what his rushed trillion dollar pork sandwich will ultimately do to our country.
Mar 8, 2009 - 10:32 am 49. Bilgeman:#41 NMWA:
“Be very aware, there are people here collecting information about saying anything against the obammy mammy. Your freedom to speak is your way of getting on the list.”
Really?
Well then…
Obama and his faux-Marxist policies can suck my ass until his cheeks burst with sh+t.
(That oughtta do ‘er…do I gets a Gold Star on that List?).
Mar 8, 2009 - 10:40 am 50. AThinkingPerson:We have options here. We can either lay down and accept the reconstruction of the US into a socialist nation devoid of personal wealth and civil liberties or we can fight back. Attend any “Tea Party” within a 200 mile radius of your home. Inundate your congresspeople with your views and tell them you will be watching their voting record. Turn off any news program that isn’t reporting the truth. Cancel subscriptions to any newspaper and/or magazine that are a party to this. It’s already being done to a small extent (how many left wing newspapers are already in big trouble?). Imagine the impact of a LARGE amount of us putting our money where our mouths are? Seriously. It’s time the informed people spoke. We’ve already heard from the unintelligent masses and that’s what brought us Obama. Shall we wait for them to further determine our future for us?
Mar 8, 2009 - 1:01 pm 51. The Historian:OBAMA HAS NO EXECUTIVE EXPERTISE & IS NOT A LEADER
He is trying to play leader and is failing badly.
http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2009/03/nation-without-leader.html
Mar 8, 2009 - 1:23 pm 52. KateS:There is something to be said for a laser like focus on the most pressing problem. Thank God Bush didn’t try to do everything at once. In retrospect, it took everything we had to deal with Al Qaeda. Probably saved a million American lives.
Hey Obama, LISTEN UP.
Mar 8, 2009 - 1:44 pm 53. ajacksonian:The damage being done by President Obama to the market, liberty and your ability to make decisions without the interference of government is not distance… and it isn’t that he ‘doesn’t get it’.
This is not a bug in his outlook.
It is a feature.
Mar 8, 2009 - 1:45 pm 54. whyyeseyec:Retrophoebia, you are absolutely correct. The twenty and thirty-somethings who voted for this America hating clown are sowing the seeds of their own poverty in their fifties and sixties.
Mar 8, 2009 - 2:03 pm 55. swtexasflyer:Does the country have to be in a full Depression before Obama will stop his Socialist Stimulus plan for America.
THE OBAMA GREAT DEPRESSION 2011-2012
Mar 8, 2009 - 2:13 pm 56. Войска ПВО:OBAMA LIED AND THE AMERICAN ECONOMY DIED
..maybe this nonsense is beginning to take hold. Hat tip to an under-visited but very good web site, The Illustrated Conservative..
..you all should journey over there and see what CJ posts. He has some interesting nuggets.
Mar 8, 2009 - 2:20 pm 57. 888:Back during the campaigns, Joe the Plumber got it and even told the charlatan what he thought of his wealth distribution plan. But the mainstream media investigated Joe the Plumber and glossed over Joe’s remarks to shield messiah from scrutiny by the masses.
When the charlatan remarked conservatives turn to religion and their guns when facing problems, again, the MSM covered up for him, but they attacked with ferocity everything and anything Palin.
The biggest conspiracy of all by the elitist liberals and MSM was to allow this sham to mock the US Constitution and become president without even having the courtesy and respect for law to prove his eligibility.
History will show that the Marxist Obama ascended to the White House with the help of liberal elitist propagandists, the corrupt mainstream media and the dumbification of the American voter.
Mar 8, 2009 - 2:21 pm 58. one of my own:I like the logo. It’s well done – communicates simply and cleanly. The Obama people have a highly evolved sense of design. Hmm. You know who else had some great design . . . the Nazis! Coincidence? Maybe. But the again . . . maybe NOT!
and on that recovery logo, what’s with the “plus sign” in the gear? Could it refer to Lenin PLUS Stalin? And there are three leaves on the plant, but only one is connected to the stem. And that one leaf is Saul Alinksy. The other two leaves are “offshoots” of Alinksy, namely Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright. And why are the stars aligning rather than being staggered like they are on the “real” American flag? Is that code for Obama “realigning” the country into a socialist state? We’re not even the “red, white, and blue” anymore – we’re the “red, white, and blue and green”. Could that be a secret message to some new race, some green master race that Obama is using stem cells to create? Some cabal of liberals that will force us to exercise regularly and eat bok choy?
We report, you decide . . . This is Julie Banderas, FOX News
Mar 8, 2009 - 2:21 pm 59. Delia:55. one of my own,
*spews coffee on monitor*
zomg! bwahahahahahaha! I think I tinkled myself reading your hilarious rant. AWESOME! Do you remember when ‘Mr. Million Man March’ [Lewis, Farrakhan] alluded to so much bizarro ‘numerology/wacko’ drivel that it was a joke?
~
Retrophoebia,
-Excellent post. 0bama is a big, pimpin’ pussy…he’d never put his life on the line alongside our men and women in the Military… He has no respect for our military because he doesn’t own a ’set’ and therefore he feels impotent in the presence of REAL strength.
God bless our Military MEN and WOMEN.
I love you guys. Thank you so VERY much for your service. I would not have the freedom to make this very post if it wasn’t for you brave people.
Mar 8, 2009 - 2:37 pm 60. NWMA:#49.
look it up along with the UN charters it includes, your own ass will burst.
Or stay happy since knowing where he’s going no gold stars can cure. Well, maybe.
Not Without My An*s
Mar 8, 2009 - 3:21 pm 61. Paul:#’s 8, 13, etc.
See Obama and the Triumph of the Fabians at American Thinker.com.
We’ve been had, folks.
Mar 8, 2009 - 3:23 pm 62. Paul M Hupf:I note with interest the image of Barack Obama at the head of this article. I am assuming it is the product of the Obama administration. Is that a halo behind and enclosing his head?
Mar 8, 2009 - 3:48 pm 63. Mack:LeighB: If Obama uses a teleprompter at all interviews and speeches, how does he answer unscripted questions?
And if he’s always using a teleprompter, what’s with that uh-uh-uh-uh in all of Obama’s speeches?
What? He can’t read either?
We’re Doomed! (ó¿ò)
Mar 8, 2009 - 3:48 pm 64. Rdstgrl:Retrophoebia has hit on something. Mr. Obama is suffering from a lack of forging – the kind of character building that one gets from serving in the military. He seems in way over his head with no inner resilience or core to fall back on. How many people said he was untested? He is certainly being tested now and the economy seems rudderless. Where are we headed?
Mar 8, 2009 - 3:52 pm 65. Carl:You’re saying that Obama Just Doesn’t Get It.
The one(s) who don’t get it are the American people… in particular the ones that gave Obama everything that he wanted; the Whitehouse and all of it’s power and prestige.
Now Mr. Obama is demonstrating that he frankly doesn’t give a damn what anyone else says, thinks or wants..
Mar 8, 2009 - 5:33 pm 66. Terry Gain:Obama wanted to concede Iraq to al Qaeda and Iran. The consequences would have been disastrous – for the United States as well as Iraq.
It’s hardly surprising that someone who would demonstrated such gross incomptence in such a vital area would be as clueless about economics.
A socialist at the age of 47. Pathetic.
Smart people will hold onto their money tightly until this buffoon is voted out in 2012. The Obama recession will continue throughout his presidency.
The public will get it within the next year. The media will not admit their mistake until it is painfully obvious to everyone that Obama was never qualified for the job the media helped him win.
Mar 8, 2009 - 6:05 pm 67. jacksonhunted:Oh, he “gets it.” Things are going just swimmingly for Comrade Obama. After the markets completely crater he might just start sloganeering about peace and bread or something.
The so-called “crazies” had this SOB’s number. He is a faculty lounge Marxist, and those who denied it have been proved suckers.
Mar 8, 2009 - 6:26 pm 68. Alex:There are two choices at this point;
1) nationalize the banks that are failing, mainly Citigroup. Get their assets cleaned up and then set them free again.
2) let citi Fail.
The whining regarding President Obama does nothing to actually solve the problem, mainly deregulation of the Banking system in the 90’s during president Clinton admin and subsequent explosion and then implosion of Credit Markets during President Bush admin.
We deal with the problem, or we can whine.
Mar 8, 2009 - 6:54 pm 69. Jim Baker:Barack Obama and his puppet masters are communists. We don’t need no stinking analysis of the national navel to know it. Anyone over 6 years old, with half a brain knows it. People who voted for these communists know it. That is why they voted for them. Our school tachers know it and teach it to our kids. Even Putin knows it. He thinks it is funny. How do we defeat this enemy? That is the question to be asking.
Mar 8, 2009 - 6:59 pm 70. ked5:teleprompter teddy-ruxpin “get’s it” just fine. This *IS* his plan.
the fastest way for him to implement his fascist regime is to make people so desperate, they will do *anything* he wants.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:16 pm 71. Michael O'Brein:Go to hell, Obama!
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:19 pm 72. Войска ПВО:#62 Paul M Hupf writes:
“I note with interest the image of Barack Obama at the head of this article. I am assuming it is the product of the Obama administration. Is that a halo behind and enclosing his head?”
..Google images of Jesus, Paul, and see the resemblance to soem of those classical depictions with the upturned head and the halo. No disrespect, but the similarity is almost creepy and surely by design. Don’t you also remember the beatific kid singing the anthem to that clown in that pre-election YouTube snippet?
Fasten your seat belts, folks, it’s gonna be a bumpy four years.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:33 pm 73. ked5:As I’m reading over people’s comments, and notice just how many believe he is “merely” naively incompetent/oblivious to his impacts on the market, I can only come to one conclusion.
The concept of “evil” has so been undermined, that people don’t want to believe there really is such a thing as “EVIL” (outside of “greedy rich people”). so they find some way to absorb it by giving it another name – like oblivious, ignorant, unintentional, (freedom fighters), etc, as a way to deal. But it is a denial of reality.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:54 pm 74. Joshua:#44 Kathleen Mary
Mar 8, 2009 - 8:53 pm 75. Kathryn (sign: Reagan Conservative Petition):I think you have hit upon a fascinating point. Just as suicide bombers in the Moslem world are willing to die for their cause, so are Obama’s followers! Perhaps people are just so enervated from the rat race and the culture of hype that they have simply had enough and have lost their passion to live. One characteristic of Obama is his lack of passion and absence of enthusiasm. This is what he hopes to engender in his followers, an absence of emotion and android subservience.
Plain and simple: Marxist/Socialist thinkers are blinded by their greed, envy, and hatred for those that they perceive are wealthy.
We as a country elected a president who, by choice, is completely blind to our economic situation and the clear road to recovery as accomplished by Ronald Reagan back in the 80’s.
Tragic. We are bleeding as a nation and we elected a doctor whose answer to every ailment is to bleed the patient more.
Mar 8, 2009 - 9:37 pm 76. BC:No, you actually went from the fire to a shelter, and now the thing to do is figure out how to rebuild and be thankful that it wasn’t worse. You guys apparently have no clue whatsoever as to the extent of how really, truly bad Bush was.
Mar 8, 2009 - 10:25 pm 77. Thunderball:I just want Pres O to be given the same free pass that was given to W’s 1st 50 mistakes. Should I have voted for the guy who did know how many houses he owned?
Mar 8, 2009 - 11:57 pm 78. 888:Why did the majority of Americans vote for the guy who thought there were 57 states in the US?
Why did the majority of Americans vote for the guy who thought it was above his ‘paygrade’ to answer whether conception began at birth?
Why did the majority of Americans vote for the guy who has never had executive or foreign policy experience?
Why did the majority of Americans vote for the guy who maintained a 20-year close friendship with an America-hating, racist, ignorant, wannabe reverend?
Why did the majority of Americans vote in a guy who continues to mock and disrespect the United States Constitution and engage in the biggest fraud, deception and cover-up in U.S. history?
Because the majority of Americans have been seriously fooled by this charlatan of the highest order.
Mar 9, 2009 - 5:11 am 79. Cybergeezer:With the speed with which Dumocrats and “His Emptiness” are executing their policies, he might be our last president; They might try to give him life tenure as “president”, and eliminate elections for that office as long as he survives and wants to keep it. Are these a great leaders, or what?
Mar 9, 2009 - 8:05 am 80. donttreadonme:Thunderball,
Mar 9, 2009 - 8:35 am 81. COL.SEBASTIAN MORAN:Grow up. This isn’t about “free passes.” We are in a once-in-a-lifetime economic deleveraging. This is the real world, and its on fire. There are no “free passes” available. This is BHO’s 9/11 – Bush’s ONLY inspirational moments came after he rallied and lifted the American people afterwards. BHO is failing big-time. Is he going after the fraud in the system to restore confidence and a sense of fairness? NO. Is he via executive order mandating an abrupt halt in naked over-the-counter CDS writing and forcing them onto a regulated market? NO. Is he blowing the deficit sky-high with his non-stimulus stimulus plan? YES. Are his appointees a group of indecisive tax-cheats (Geithner, et al)? YES. Please, this is no time for finger-pointing. The last I checked, both Dems and Repubs have $ in the market. Both Dems and Repubs have major goals in life they are saving toward. There is no better judge of our collective spirit and future economic direction than the stock market. It does matter. And it is saying that BHO is a total failure in handling this crisis, inherited as it may be. If BHO does really care (and he doesn’t, by the way) he could begin turning this around. Again, Thunderball, its time to stop campaigning and be honest with what’s going on.
BILGEMAN
Mar 9, 2009 - 8:37 am 82. Aleena:#41
Hey Bilge – for that one, you get a platinum star with an oakleaf cluster ! I’ll join you on the Big O shite list.
Anyone who did a little research during the campaign realized that President Obama had no experience or qualifications for the presidency.
I do not know if he is incompetent or deliberately trying to hurt the country. I will probably never know.
With the mess that his administration made of the British Prime Minister’s visit, it should be clear that he is clueless. What is even more frightening is that the people surrounding him are equally clueless.
Mar 9, 2009 - 11:08 am 83. NWMA:82.
No they are not clueless.This is an orchestrated destruction of America. For God’s sake people, have any of you even thought beyond this f*ing puppet show?
Mar 9, 2009 - 11:31 am 84. Middleman:You know I really have to ask the question. Would you folks be so scared of Obama and the coming smiley-faced Commie-Islamofascism he’s going to bring if he was a white guy? The knee-jerk dance craze here is amazing.
Mar 9, 2009 - 11:47 am 85. 888:Middleman, don’t inject race into this. It has nothing to do with race.
There are many prominent African-Americans with executive experience and conservative values that would have been hands down better choices than this inexperienced, arrogant, elitist, most liberal senator ever (and now the most liberal president ever). Some conservative African-Americans that come to mind are Michael Steele and Thomas Sowell. If either of those two were in the race against Obama, I would’ve definitely picked Steele or Sowell. But the majority of Americans still would have picked the messiah-wannabe over those two.
The reason is because the majority of Americans do not like or trust conservatives. Hollywood, the liberal elitists and the mainstream media have painted such a horrible picture of conservatives for so long and have controlled the airwaves and the universities so much so that the majority of Americans think it’s not cool to be a conservative and think that conservatives are racists and ignorant (and “cling to their religion and guns” as the jerk messiah famously quipped during the campaigns) or a bunch of wealthy and racist white business owners. They don’t understand that it’s the liberals who are out to destroy American values and who are actually the ignoramouses bent on pushing class warfare.
Sadly, the majority of Americans, like Obama himself, just do not get it.
Mar 9, 2009 - 1:41 pm 86. Mack:Thunderball,
I don’t know what country you’re living in, but the liberals and their leftwing media puppets have been attacking Bush since day one and still attacking him.
No Passes!!!!!!!! (ò¿ó)
Mar 9, 2009 - 2:21 pm 87. Middleman:888,
Mar 9, 2009 - 3:20 pm 88. NWMA:I try to avoid playing the race card as much as possible, but it’s honestly hard considering the sheer level of anger directed at him.
I’m fully aware that there are plenty of prominent black Republicans. I personally thought that the first black President would have been a Republican since before this the Democrats had the tendency to give a symbolic position to a black or Hispanic.
However I happen to be mixed race and would be referred to as some who ‘passes’. It gives me an interesting fly on the wall perspective, and a lot of things I’ve heard out of peoples mouths who don’t know my background have been nothing short of ugly.
888. Do not inject false race into to this. There is no such race as African. None, zero, nadda. You are supporting the very devisive BS that the political correct uses.
The answer is hell yes race has EVERYTHING to do with this. There is not a single person who voted for barak hussain that didn’t do it BECAUSE he is black. That is how he got in so don’t act like it’s not the reason HELL YES IT IS THE REASON. That’s your answer and until there is just a plain honesty, the threat we are under CAN NOT BE ADDRESSED. Race has EVERYTHING to do with how he got in. You could not be a more racist nation than to elect the most unqualified traitor ever to set foot into the oval office because he looks black.
Mar 9, 2009 - 3:20 pm 89. TOhio:Obama + Pelosi + Reid = Agents of Evil.
Forget the axis of evil. We have the agents of evil in our own country. They know what they’re doing and they’re determined to do it. Obama is just one part of the entire plan.
Mar 10, 2009 - 7:44 am 90. Avitar:When Obama during his address to Congress said that the nation that invented the Automobile would not turn its back on the automobile, it told everyone in the world that not only is Obama out of touch but also everybody in his whole administration is out of touch.
If he had been speaking off the cuff, it would be a gaff but when he spoke from a prepared speech for the most address since the inauguration and nobody in the Whitehouse knew that the German Karl Benz invented the automobile it is a failure of the whole administration. Jimmy Carter’s administration was sharper than this
Mar 10, 2009 - 2:09 pm 91. The bell rings for Thee:It is too bad that so few paid attention to the 57 or 58 states comments.
It is sad that EVIL isn’t allowed to be said anymore. At least according to the resident in the White House.
I wonder how long it will be before enough Americans wake up and stand up for their beloved country.
50 days in power and several polls show a severe drop in support of BO but you don’t see or here that in the media including FOX and most of the so called conservative press.
Is anyone worried that Human Events may soon disappear due to the postal service?
How about how noone will consider that BO is ineligible to be pres or if you do it is because your an online moron. The Dems raised more money online did more politically online bur question BO and your an idiot and need to be careful about what you read.
Mar 10, 2009 - 4:23 pm 92. LeighB:Войска ПВО, thanks for the intro to The Illustrated Conservative. I can now add a new favorite to my list of nicknames for His Emptiness, Teleprompter Jesus, President Training Pants, Glistening Man Boobs, Barky, and The One…the Milli Vanili President. Priceless. (and he’s not the cute one)
Mar 10, 2009 - 4:38 pm 93. LeighB:Shame on me, that’s Milli Vanilli President. Gotta get the tattoo redone. Damn.
Mar 10, 2009 - 4:54 pm 94. AThinkingPerson:The tide is a’turning…
http://www.newsweek.com/id/188565/output/print
Mar 10, 2009 - 5:54 pm 95. JackT:Oh I think he gets it very well, he beat the crap out of the Republicans didn’t he? Now he gets to do what ever the hell he wants. We just have to let history be the judge.
Mar 10, 2009 - 11:48 pm 96. Marc Malone:#87 Middleman – You’re probably right that some people are using race as a way of condemning him, but that’s not my position, nor that of most conservatives. I really don’t care about his color. I care that he is simply wrecking this country, financially and defense-wise. I really care. It makes me furious. My kids have to grow up in this country, and I’ll not be there to shepherd them through it. I literally weep for them whenever I allow myself to think about it.
Mar 11, 2009 - 12:47 am 97. Jim Baker:middleman says, “I could pass for white”.
Mar 11, 2009 - 8:30 pm 98. Don Rhudy:Who gives a rip. Sheesh. Is that all you have, buddy? Next thread.
I’m a great fan of Jennifer Rubin, and I agree with this essay, except for one thing: It’s not that Obama doesn’t get it; it’s that Obama can’t get it. As someone who flirted with socialism for 3-4 years when I was very young, I know that (international and national) socialism is not supportable by critical thinking. If one can think critically, one will leave socialism.
Obama was raised by socialists, studied under socialists, and is a socialist. Whether he will turn out to be a Nazi or Communist remains to be seen.
Mar 12, 2009 - 1:12 pm