Obama Still an Enigma Days Before Inauguration
We're still not yet sure exactly how the next president will govern.
It seems as if a lifetime has passed since the 2008 presidential election. John McCain’s Keystone Cops campaign is a hazy memory. The daily media barrage aimed at Sarah Palin has vanished. And the notion that Republicans might retain the White House during the greatest financial meltdown in seventy years now seems like a distant pipe dream. Meanwhile, in the interim between the election and the start of the new year, the country has learned a bit more about its president-elect.
He hasn’t downloaded voluminous policy plans or divulged his deepest thoughts, but his actions – and decisions not to act – during the transition period suggest that he may not be exactly what either his supporters hoped or his opponents feared. The contours of his agenda are still not crystal clear, but some of the blanks have been filled in over the last two months.
For starters, the fear of some on the Right — and the hope of those on the Left — that President-elect Obama was an ultra-dove, a sort of Manchurian candidate, has been largely discredited. His choice of a national security team filled with center-right figures and even a Bush administration defense secretary has shaken the Left. His plans for a gradual draw down of U.S. troops in Iraq and a prompt buildup in Afghanistan are virtually indistinguishable from McCain’s. So long as terrorists are on the rampage in Mumbai and Hamas incites a new round of Middle East violence, one suspects the dawning of a new age of world peace and togetherness will be a long time in coming. And it doesn’t appear that Iran’s President Ahmadinejad or Cuba’s Raul Castro will be coming for tea at the White House anytime soon.
We have also learned that the media’s love affair with the president-elect is largely unrequited. He dumped the transition team report regarding his staff’s contacts with Blago the afternoon before a holiday, gave pabulum or non-answers at press conferences, and ditched the press pool to take his kids to an amusement park. The imbalance in his press relationship — devotion on one side and evasion, verging on testiness, on the other — may suggest rockier times lay ahead.
President-elect Obama also demonstrated a reticence to weigh in on big and contentious issues when the end game was far from certain. He stayed away from the Georgia Senate run-off race, refused comment on the Gaza incursion, was mostly mum on the car bailout battle, and largely deferred comment on the unfilled Senate seats scattered about the country. What remains to be seen is whether this will be his presidential modus operandi — sort of a Zen-like indifference to storms raging about him — or whether he is just waiting to spring into action on January 20.
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Jennifer Rubin is PJM's Washington, DC, editor. She also blogs at Commentary’s Contentions.
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73 Comments
1. Bilgeman:In a nutshell, it may be better to have a Democratic President kissing Conservative butts, than a GOP President kissing the Liberals’.
NOW do you folks understand why the GOP base wasn’t all that hot to vote for McCain?
Obama, despite his campaign rhetoric, isn’t going to do anything all that unprecedented, lest he really becomes “The One”…and ONLY.
His worshippers on the Left don’t have anyone else to cast their lot in with anyway, and Obama knows this.
And I suspect that he is VERY conscious that if he really mucks things up, he’ll be pissing in the pool for any other African-American presidential candidate for a long time to come.
Now if he’d only release his Certificate of Live Birth and put that nagging little issue to bed permanently…
Jan 4, 2009 - 1:15 am 2. Alo Kievalar:To answer the question posed in the title of this piece:
Obama will govern with clear vision and decisiveness. He also won’t take crap from anybody and will have no problem “kicking ass”. He also won’t mind changing course midway on any issue if he feels new circumstances require it.
In other words, he will govern the same way I would.
It’s hard for me to believe that anyone is still or ever was “against” Obama. Reading the essays that appear on pajamasmedia.com and many other blogs and media outlets is most discouraging. The reasons given for disparaging Obama seem….I don’t know what….”infantile” is the best word I can come up with.
When I run into someone who opposes Obama – and I often do, almost everyday – I literally can’t help just staring at him…..like I’m looking at an alien or something just as weird. I know it’s English I’m hearing, but the logic defies explanation.
Obama was so clearly in a totally different and superior category than his political opponents, that it’s hardly worth discussing. But I now know that now matter what, people won’t change their minds…..even if they know they’re wrong.
Long live Obama!
Jan 4, 2009 - 1:33 am 3. John Charles:Hail to the New Leader!
In Hoc Signo (V) vincemus! (That’s Latin, for those who are language-disabled).
I am astounded and amazed at some who claim not to know how Obama will govern. He still has many, many Americans totally fooled and is still out smarting even the conservatives now. If you read his books, followed his associations, researched his voting record, and listened to his speeches, he tell you exactly how he’s going to govern. He is a Socialist ideologically, and a sleezly politician by nature. He is a master at the “Obama Magic Show.” Slight of hand, and misdirection. He will never be “the one” to do the dirty work of instituting Socialism in America. He will paint the picture that “requires it.” Wake up!!
Jan 4, 2009 - 2:20 am 4. susan:“And I suspect that he is VERY conscious that if he really mucks things up, he’ll be pissing in the pool for any other African-American presidential candidate for a long time to come.”
do you think he cares about anything else beside himself?
do you really think he did it for the “cause”?
his over inflated ego (sustained by nothing remarkable in his short and insignificant life) did it for HIMSELF, not for the black cause, the democratic cause, america, minorities, you name it.
Thomas sowell described it perfectly:
————–
Barack Obama has the kind of cocksure confidence that can only be achieved by not achieving anything else.
The kind of self-righteous self-confidence that has become Obama’s trademark is usually found in sophomores in Ivy League colleges— very bright and articulate students, utterly untempered by experience in the real world.
The signs of Barack Obama’s self-centered immaturity are painfully obvious, though ignored by true believers who have poured their hopes into him, and by the media who just want the symbolism and the ideology that Obama represents.
The triumphal tour of world capitals and photo-op meetings with world leaders by someone who, after all, was still merely a candidate, is just one sign of this self-centered immaturity.
“This is our time!” he proclaimed. And “I will change the world.” But ultimately this election is not about him, but about the fate of this nation, at a time of both domestic and international peril, with a major financial crisis still unresolved and a nuclear Iran looming on the horizon.
But the country does not deserve to be put in the hands of a glib and cocky know-it-all, who has accomplished absolutely nothing beyond the advancement of his own career with rhetoric, and who has for years allied himself with a succession of people who have openly expressed their hatred of America.
————————–
I still have to find a better piece describing the empty fraud.
Oh and Sowell is black.
Jan 4, 2009 - 4:31 am 5. Tennessee Volunteer:Jennifer, you don’t get it. In order to know what people are going to do, you have to watch what they do, not what they say. These appointments have nothing to do with policy. He misleads, prevaricates and uses “big words” like HOPE & CHANGE to impress people who haven’t learned the above!
Jan 4, 2009 - 5:31 am 6. misanthropicus:His associations of the past tell us exactly who he is, i don’t understand why smart people can be taken in by him!
Correct inventory of ambiguities – yet any (or all) of these (and many other) situations, while quite benign in the placenta in which Obama now resides, may become highly destructive in the incoming political circumstances where Obama will not enjoy the benefit of sitting on the bench and observing, but WILL HAVE TO TAKE a drastic position in one or another PREDICAMENT, situation for which he clearly has no appetite.
So far, in the Gaza matter we are assured that mister Obama is “closely monitoring the situation.”
Yet, since many problems of Gaza’s seriousness lie ahead, the fact that the first Oval Office improvement will be a large red “Present” button is not an encouraging one.
Biden’s being relegated to do only high-school basketball courts openings across the country is a good move, though – we’ll miss him, and I hope that there isn’t a blackout on his remarks there or there….
Jan 4, 2009 - 5:52 am 7. Ann:Alo Kievalar, you arrogant Bot. “Long live Obama”? He’s not a king. He may not even BE President, but that is the office he was elected to. The United States of America is a Republic (that’s a non-sovereign form of representative government for you who, like Alo, are history and reality-disabled).
What baffles me is why Ms. Hudson would assign “definition” to “The Enigma” (Sheesh, that sounds like a bad script idea from the original Star Trek series)based on THIS 10 weeks of speaking, nonspeaking, appearing, non-appearing of The One.
He is playing a role, people. He has always been playing a role. HE is not an enigma. He is an actor, or a “hypocrite” (our word “hypocrite” comes from the Greek word for actor).
His role right now is “President-in-waiting”. After January 20, his role will be “President”. He will NEVER BE PRESIDENT. He will always be PLAYING THE ROLE of President.
Probably makes it safer for the country in the long run, but NEVER make the assumption that we can believe anything this man says or does on the face of it. He has absolutely no interest in the sovereignty or welfare of the United States of America OR its citizens. He is playing a role buttressed largely by his lack of identity with the United States of America. He couldn’t care less about the United States of America. He cares only about playing the role well and perhaps getting an Oscar (which perhaps henceforth should be called an Obama).
Jan 4, 2009 - 6:00 am 8. misanthropicus:#2/Alo Kievalar: [...] Obama will govern with clear vision and decisiveness. [...] In other words, he will govern the same way I would. [??] I know it’s English I’m hearing, but the logic defies explanation. [..] Obama was so clearly in a totally different and superior category than his political opponents [...] In Hoc Signo (V) vincemus! [...]”
Hallo Alo – I’m pretty certain that if we channel good ol’ Constantine and query him about inspiring visions, we’ll learn that “present” buttons don’t really do the job, and a political/military figure will have, at one or another point in his career, to say “Alea jacta est” and cross the Rubicon, not loiter on its banks.
I let you rhapsodize further about the merits of Obama’s chronic indecisivness desguised as temporization – and since you show some interest for history, I’ll give you a good lead for that hypothetical excursion: Fabius Cunctator -
Jan 4, 2009 - 6:06 am 9. RE:I still am having trouble coming to grips with the blind recklessness of the American electorate in electing such a thin and unaccomplished resume. At this point ‘Hope’ is the only game in town. There is absolutely no evidence that anything good is going to come out of this political misadventure.
Jan 4, 2009 - 6:23 am 10. seven:Obama is clear. He has NEVER governed before. He has no track record. We have no right to expect to know how he will govern because he is nothing more than a large pile of slogans. His slogans last weeek were called new years resolutions.
Jan 4, 2009 - 6:25 am 11. seven:Playuing the race card.
Jan 4, 2009 - 6:28 am 12. gymnast:Now he will play the daddy card. He had to be a good daddy and take kiddos to the amuzement park and the beach. what? you don’t want him to model being a good daddy?
Rahmbo also used the kiddo shield with reporters. he was on cupcake patrol to a school event and how dare reporters question him regarding his scandel.
#4, Susan. Spot on! The overconfident sophomore is treading water as fast as he can and he is not even in the pool yet. On January 20 he will begin to learn how truly wet, cold, deep, and rough the swim will be. Problem is, we still don’t know if he will swim like a duck or a brick. Obama is either a “wise fool” or “all fool”. I hope he hasn’t used up all of his good luck yet, because both he and the nation are going to need a lot of it as we go forward.
Jan 4, 2009 - 6:33 am 13. Marina:And he still has not a —ing idea of what his economic plan will be look like. Remember how proud Pelosi was: He’ll give us his draft, we’ll work on it, vote for it and he’ll solemly signg it on the inauguration day. Sweet. Now they are nervous: no solemly signing of a sh-t. Congratulation.
Anti-Semitic world waits for his condemnation of Israel and he plays golf.
Not because he doesn’t condemn Israel, but because he REALLY BELIEVES he can press the present button as many times as he wants – he’s the king of the world now.
But anyway, the only idea he can seriously believe in “chicken button” is in fact not very calming and relaxing. His intellectual potential was obvious for every one willing to watch (57 states, breathalizer, eh, uh, socialism works, Americans in Afganistan just bombard civilians etc.). And we know that an affirmative action doesn’t have to be clever to graduate from Harvard. Imagine, just imagine. What if, “intellectual” as he is, he’s really just a puppet of some powerful dems. So, the question is not “what will Obama do after Jan 20″, but “what will Soros /or whoever it is/ do”. Now the role of the Senate and lib-lobbies will be crucial. Obama will play with his dolls and Nancy and Harry will actually try to rule the country. I don’t say it’ll BE like that, but it MAY HAPPEN this way.
Jan 4, 2009 - 7:29 am 14. TexEd:Obama is an empty suit with a humongous media cheering squad. He has never accomplished anything that wasn’t a result of affirmative action.
Jan 4, 2009 - 8:12 am 15. zanne:And, he is lazy. When the pressures of the job begin to get to him, he will revert to drug use and his HIV will act up. As he alienates the media and other lefty anti-Americans (what, that Atlanta golf club still won’t allow females to join?), stories/data/documents from his past will begin to surface. His undergraduate thesis IS out there, hidden in a drawer. It will turn up and proven to be, in large part, plagiarized.
Obama has surrounded himself with lobbyists and people who have, in the past, sold their political influence to lobbyists. Scandals will develope that the media will have to report. Obama will do nothing because pay-for-play-is-the-Chicago-way and because he is a Chicago crook.
In a short time, even Congressional democrats will try to distance themselves from Obama on issues of integrity.
Actually, Obama will not turn into a real messiah, he’ll just be another three card monte dealer.
Americans voted for an idol based on hope and change slogans. Sadly, he has nothing in his history to validate it.
Jan 4, 2009 - 8:57 am 16. cfbleachers:Windsock politics get politicians elected. Windsock politics get politicians re-elected.
One way not to make any mistakes, is to always test what the “people” want…then give it to them. Be all things to all people as best you can. If you are a Democrat, especially one who can emit an aura of being further left on the spectrum, the media will make you their darling and they will provide you puff and cover.
Bold, daring, LEADERSHIP…is not necessary. Not even wise. Safety in platitudes is the order of the day.
Say one thing to get a leftist press on your side and then select from the center once you garner the votes? Perfect execution of how to handle the media from their leftist perch, get them to sing your glories…then watch them sit on their hands in silence when you drift toward where the “mainstream” actually flows in this country. The center.
Who is getting duped in all this? We all are, to an extent. Our newly elected President allows everyone to cast their net into the water, and name the fish, vegetation and mollusks they drag onto their shores for themselves. Conservatives are allowed to believe it will be all teeth and spines…and when it is not, they delight in the “normalcy” of the catch.
Leftists believe it will be kelp, seaweed and no living creature…keeping green and holy the flesh of innocents of the sea. Although their nets come in with precisely the same thing as the last eight years, they marvel at how much it has “changed”. They watch, read and listen to their handlers in the media tell them how “better” things are…and their simple minds hail the miracle. (see alo of kiev above)
How will President Obama rule, Jennifer? By deflection, I suspect. Do no harm, spout lofty/lefty platitudes, let the leftist media exalt him/protect him/puff piece him, keep the race card handy in case of deserved harsh criticism, test the prevailing winds and always move with them, not against them. Lead by following.
When one seeks popularity, not leadership…this…is the perfect recipe. Get elected from the left (garnering the media to cheat for you), govern from the center (thereby causing the least damage to popularity) and never take a hard stance on a difficult issue until you have tested the direction winds of the windsock. Brilliant strategy, if you ask me.
Jan 4, 2009 - 8:58 am 17. Peter Verkooijen:For anyone who’s been paying attention there’s no enigma at all! We KNOW Obama is a hardcore socialist. We know this from his past (New Party etc.), his associations, some of his remarks (”spread the wealth”), his plans for big 1930s-style “shovel-ready” public projects, etc.
We also know from his election campaign that Obama is an extremely skilled demagogue. His moderate appointments mean absolutely nothing. He’s coopting whatever opposition he can and setting up people to take the fall for difficult issues he doesn’t want to be associated with.
He’ll be a moderate until at least the midterm elections. Meanwhile he’ll build out his networks, establish his community organizing groups in every community, appoint his people, restructure media and judicial. Clueless conservatives will continue to give him rope to hang them by.
Jan 4, 2009 - 9:11 am 18. SAF:There is some sense in Obama not pontificating on all issues, even big ones.
Take for example the Israeli Gaza incursion. If it goes well then he can say once inaugurated that he had supported Bush’s and the Israeli stance and he gets points. If it goes poorly has an opportunity to renounce it and say he couldn’t do anything while he wasn’t president. He then can propose a solution which might be better simply because there will be more facts in hand come Jan 21.
He has nothing to gain by weighing in early when it is not on his watch.
How will he govern? Seems like from the left when it comes to financial and social issues and the center on defense. We’ll know more soon. I personally would rather get a well laid out plan later than some half-baked statement now.
Full disclosure: I voted for McCain.
Jan 4, 2009 - 9:34 am 19. Leon:Obama will govern with clear vision and decisiveness. He also won’t take crap from anybody and will have no problem “kicking ass”. He also won’t mind changing course midway on any issue if he feels new circumstances require it.
In other words, he will govern the same way I would.
And here, ladies and gentlemen, is the proof that the Obama fans are part of some kind of freak religious cult. “The same way I would”. What a narcissist freaking idiot!
These people remind me of the followers of Jim Jones; I hope they do not meet the same end. Or maybe I do, as long as they don’t take the rest of us with them.
Jan 4, 2009 - 10:11 am 20. Alo Kievalar:Hi Misanthropicus:
Many thanks for the reference. As Vergil said of Fabius Maximus Cunctator:
“Unus Homo Nobis Cunctando Restituit Rem “
(One man, by delaying, restored the state to us)
As far as Obama, I totally agree with the “restored the state to us” bit, though I’m not so sure about the “delaying” part. Why everyone is saying that Obama is “delaying” is beyond me. (He still isn’t in office, you know).
A propos (That’s French), did you know that a previous US president has been called “The American Fabius”? Just check it out here if you don’t believe me:
http://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/brewers/fabius.html
You’ve placed Obama in some pretty good company, seems to me. Vergil, Washington….wow. What next? Plato? Jupiter? The Holy Trinity? The Koran?
Anyway, thanks again.
It would be interesting to know why you named yourself as you did. But whatever the reason, I’m sure it nails the donkey right on the tail!
Jan 4, 2009 - 10:42 am 21. susan:speaking of hystoric parallels, how about zerobama as nero?
same self-centered attitude, same ego blown out of proportion, same benefits to the administrations they were in charge…
Jan 4, 2009 - 11:28 am 22. J Charles:If we’re still not sure about this guy, then voting him in was reckless beyond reason. Therefore, a vote for Obama was voter “malpractice” at it’s worst. Welcome to the presidential version of the American Idol. Time to be afraid.
Jan 4, 2009 - 12:25 pm 23. misanthropicus:Re #2/20 Alo Kievalar:
Hallo Alo, I’ll quote myself: [...] we’ll learn that “present” buttons don’t really do the job, and a political/military figure will have, at one or another point in his career, to say “Alea jacta est” and cross the Rubicon, not loiter on its banks. [...} I let you rhapsodize further about the merits of Obama’s chronic indecisivness desguised as temporization [...]”
Fabius’ merits aside, in your #20 you didn’t answer to my description of Soetoro’s chronic indecisiveness, and pushed my challenge of “rhapsodizing” way too far – will you shut off your riffing mode and try to explain why someone like Soetoro who’s notorious for his evading straight answers and who keeps blaming his staff for any wrong steps can be reasonably expected to act decisively in the future?
Jan 4, 2009 - 12:51 pm 24. T the D:We’ve been assured that the One is “monitoring” the Gaza situation – how long do you think that this managerial dillution will work (at least for people with lesser sycophantic tendencies like you?)
I think the reason we can’t figure out what Obama is going to do is because he’s like a guy shuffing papers around down in mail room – who thought he’d apply for the job of CEO – and GOT it.
He doesn’t know what he’s doing. I’d keep my mouth shut too if I was about to take on the most important job in the country – and I had no clue how to do it.
~T the D
Jan 4, 2009 - 1:21 pm 25. fred:http://thedrunkelephant.blogspot.com/
Many of the educated talking heads, policy wonks, and even some conservatives are taken in by Obama’s charm because they want to be. They want to be invited to parties and not be barred from media events. It’s all about access. I rather suspect some of them know this, even if most seem oblivious about their own intentions.
We don’t know what Obama will do. We can only look at the patterns in his behavior from the past. As with any human being, you must look at what they do. Deeds convey the vital information. The cabinet and advisory appointments reflect the vested interests that helped him get there. I tend to doubt Obama is his own man, based on his past political moves. And his voting record in Illinois and in the U.S. Senate will clue you in to how he thinks.
I hope he does well. For the sake of the nation, for I am an American before I am a Republican. I know I won’t vote for him in 2012, because I now hew to more conservative principles. I know some of the things he wants to do and I don’t approve of them. I know he’s a Red Diaper Baby: those influences on his mind cannot be denied and only the most fervent Kool Aid drinkers would dare deny them. But for the sake of the nation I hope reality will moderate where I think his mind and heart really want to go. His duty is now to us, not to his ideological preferences. If he goes against this, then he violates his oath of office. Assuming Red Diaper Babies put any stock in such things.
Jan 4, 2009 - 2:08 pm 26. Conservation Carmen:OB is a mentally ill narcissist (a true mental disorder with no cure) and the electoral college has unabashedly cast their lot for a man who is clueless AND not viable. I have two seniors in college that could run America with a steadier hand than this horrid self absorbed fool. Anybody ever see medical records in full???
Jan 4, 2009 - 2:34 pm 27. Bilgeman:susan:
“do you think he cares about anything else beside himself?
do you really think he did it for the “cause”?”
I’ll wager that a funny thing happens when you’re elected President, captured best in the movie “The Candidate”…you ask yourself:
“Now what?”
and this is followed, by any human being with the slightest bit of ego, with:
“Oh, crap! It’s all up to ME now!”
This guy has ZERO executive experience, and legislators have traditionally had a very spotty record in the Oval Office, Obama’s Cabinet and staff picks are betraying just how keenly he’s now feeling his utter lack of experience on that end of the court.
So, for that reason alone, his ego, I think he’s VERY conscious of what his legacy will be, at an even earlier stage than other politicians.
I would also point out that “The One” is a very young man, so it’s entirely likely that he’ll have decades to live beyond his term(s) in the Oval Office, and in that view, he has the examples of Nixon and Clinton’s paths after their disgraced exits from “The Big Chair” to bear in mind.
Who would want to emulate those two?
“Barack Obama has the kind of cocksure confidence that can only be achieved by not achieving anything else.”- Sowell
I’m well aware of who Thomas Sowell is.
I’m fairly well acquainted with the character flaw that Sowell ascribes Obama as having, and in my experience, the “all hat, no cattle” gang get humbled mighty quick when you hand ‘em a few hundred steers, a horse to ride, and the day the cattle train has to get to Abilene by.
Obama’s rustling himself up some experienced cattle-hands to help him make the drive.
Give the man SOME credit…he’s indicating that he doesn’t know it all, and that’s smart of him.
Oh, and for the record, I didn’t vote for him.
Jan 4, 2009 - 2:50 pm 28. misanthropicus:(I also didn’t vote for the other guy).
Looks like Jennifer’s enigma is unraveling quicker than I hoped for – three weeks before inauguration, now with Richardson confident that the grand jury will exonerate him, with Emmanuel incomunnicado, lost somewhere in Africa, with the Blago-Burris senate scandal pressing its nose on the window glass, with legitimacy lawsuits besieging him, intently “monitoring” the Gaza situation, Soetoro looks like an onion undergoing peeling-off.
Jan 4, 2009 - 2:53 pm 29. stuart Williamson:Hope we can believe in, exciting times, indeed -
Most of us, of whatever political stripe, beeive that an effective President is one who shapes policies, directs the course of the Administration, instructs his staff and cabinet on is objectives, leads while others follow.
But that is not how Obama percives his role. In open-mike cocversation with David Cameron, the emerging leader of the Briish Conservative Party on his triumphal pre-election visit to London, he explained (this is close to verbatim) ” I will have people who are ten times smarter than I am on many subjects. They will give me their recommendations, and I’ll make the decision.”
And that’s what we are already seeing: First response: vague and/or evasive, followed by, I’ll get back to you next week” or “My people are working on it”. We have a President who isn’t well informed on anything, cannot give a prompt, positive, reassuring response, has to wait for others to tell him what to say. Just like during his campaign.
We don’t have a Leader – we have a Socialist Figurehead.
l
Jan 4, 2009 - 3:05 pm 30. ThinkingPerson:How dare we suppose how Mr. Obama will govern! There is only one President at a time right? Laughable coming from a man who has been hauling around a psuedo Presidential lectern to give his speeches at for months now. To borrow words I found funny (and sadly true) on a blog recently…If you want to know Obama’s opinion on a subject, someone better turn the teleprompter on!
P.S. to Alo Kievalar…Do you always talk down to your peers or is that just for the Pajamas audience? At least we know you know how to use a language translator. How about using it to translate “Save your Obama worship for the Huffington Post crowd who will blindly follow without question.” into Latin or French?
Jan 4, 2009 - 4:51 pm 31. ate mely:God have mercy on us.
Jan 4, 2009 - 6:43 pm 32. WR Jonas:Maybe Obama will forget his promise to Planned Parenthood about FOCA. Catholic bishops and lay groups like Knights of Columbus are watching what pro-abortion democrats in congress will do about FOCA.
I agree with Bilgeman that the perfect analogy to describe Obama was Robert Redford in “The Candidate.” All of the similarities portrayed in the film were realized in the past campaign.
Jan 4, 2009 - 7:27 pm 33. thegre8_1:An empty suit and some catchy slogans along with a smiling face and viola, you’re President.
Of course it helps to 99% of the national media in your corner.
Right on this was an American Idol vote not an election. I’d prefer David Cook for President except he isn’t 35 but I believe he is a natural born citizen. Obama has done nothing except win elections. Emil Jones wrote 800 bills in the Illinois senate and Obama got the credit. Obama is a Saul Alinsky Socialist you can’t put big bucks in the stock or bond market because anything may be nationalized. I will say Paulson has not helped any. We have forgotten the government is supposed to serve the people, the people are NOT to serve the government.
Jan 4, 2009 - 7:36 pm 34. thegre8_1:We must educate our families and friends at the neighborhood level about the Constitution and Bill of Rights and steer them to vote accordingly in the future.
Obama thinks he is the next Abe Lincoln he is just another Chicago politician who will sidestep any major decision and throw everybody else under the bus.
To add I think Roland Burris has a much stronger resume than his predecessor for that senate seat Barack Obama. He is a former Attorney General of Illinois. Burris should be seated provisionally pending a quick federal judicial review. The Illinois legislature screwed up not putting the handcuffs quick enough on Blago. They were afraid Mark Kirk would win a special election. How can that group of 100 morons led by the biggest moron Reed seat Al Franken possibly pick Caroline Kennedy LOL and not seat Burris? Time to get a big tub of popcorn and watch the Democraps Make @sses of themselves.
Jan 4, 2009 - 7:53 pm 35. Gozer the Carpathian:How will he govern? Does it matter? He’s got a full Dem house and senate creating anything THEY want. Will he veto anything from his own party? Maybe, but I won’t hold my breath.
Jan 4, 2009 - 8:59 pm 36. misanthropicus:FOR: Ann, ThinkingPerson & other good folks -
RE: Alo Kievalar as topic -
#2: “In Hoc Signo (V) vincemus! (That’s Latin, for those who are language-disabled);”
# 20: “A propos (That’s French)”;
# 7/Ann Re: “Alo Kievalar, you arrogant Bot.”
# 30/ ThinkingPerson Re: “P.S. to Alo Kievalar…Do you always talk down to your peers or is that just for the Pajamas audience? At least we know you know how to use a language translator. [...]”
Since maestro Alo has proved more than one time some intimidating scholarship, I took the liberty to research him and I rapidly came upon a very interesting and accurate rendering of him as a bombastic, would-be scholar. The detailed description is bellow, verbatim (Hallo Alo, “verbatim” is Latin):
“Master Alo Kievalar, with his hair cut round like a dish a la Caesarine, in his most antique accoutrement liripipionated with a graduate’s hood, and having sufficiently antidoted his stomach with oven-marmalades, that is, bread and holy water of the cellar, transported himself to the lodging of Gargantua, driving before him three red-muzzled beadles, and dragging after him five or six artless masters, all thoroughly bedaggled with the mire of the streets. At their entry Ponocrates met them, who was afraid, seeing them so disguised, and thought they had been some masquers out of their wits, which moved him to inquire of one of the said artless masters of the company what this mummery meant. It was answered him, that they desired to have their bells restored to them. [...]
[...] for the mayor of the city, the rector of the faculty, and the vicar of the church, unto whom they resolved to deliver the bells before the sophister had propounded his commission. After that, in their hearing, master Alo Kievalar should pronounce his gallant oration, which was done; and they being come, the sophister [Alo Kievalar] was brought in full hall, and began as followeth, in coughing:”
“Hem, hem, gud-day, sirs, gud-day. Et vobis, [Latin] my masters. It were but reason that you should restore to us our bells; for we have great need of them. Hem, hem, aihfuhash. We have oftentimes heretofore refused good money for them of those of London in Cahors, yea and those of Bourdeaux in Brie, who would have bought them for the substantific quality of the elementary complexion, which is intronificated in the terrestreity of their quidditative nature, to extraneize the blasting mists and whirlwinds upon our vines, indeed not ours, but these round about us. For if we lose the piot and liquor of the grape, we lose all, both sense and law. If you restore them unto us at my request, I shall gain by it six basketfuls of sausages and a fine pair of breeches, which will do my legs a great deal of good, or else they will not keep their promise to me. Ho by gob, Domine [Latin], a pair of breeches is good, et vir sapiens non abhorrebit eam [Latin]. Ha, ha, a pair of breeches is not so easily got; I have experience of it myself. Consider, Domine, I have been these eighteen days in matagrabolizing this brave speech. Reddite quae sunt Caesaris, Caesari, et quae sunt Dei, Deo. Ibi jacet lepus. [Latin]. By my faith, Domine, if you will sup with me in cameris, by cox body, charitatis, nos faciemus bonum cherubin. Ego occiditunum porcum, et ego habet bonum vino [Latin]: but of good wine we cannot make bad Latin. [This is not Latin]. Well, de parte Dei date nobis bellas nostras. [Latin]. Hold, I give you in the name of the faculty a Sermones de Utino, that utinam [Latin] you would give us our bells. Vultis etiam pardonos? Per diem vos habebitis, et nihil payabitis [Latin]. O, sir, Domine, bellagivaminor nobis; verily, est bonum vobis [Latin]. They are useful to everybody. If they fit your mare well, so do they do our faculty; quae comparata est jumentis insipientibus, et similis facta est eis, Psalmo nescio quo [Latin]. Yet did I quote it in my note-book, et est unum bonum Achilles [Latin], a good defending argument. Hem, hem, hem, haikhash! [Not Latin]. For I prove unto you, that you should give me them. Ego sic argumentor [Latin]. Omnis bella bellabilis in bellerio bellando, bellans, bellativo, bellare facit, bellabiliter bellantes. Parisius habet bellas. Ergo gluc [Alo Kievalar's Latin]. Ha, ha, ha. This is spoken to some purpose. It is in tertio primae, in Darii [Latin], or elsewhere. By my soul, I have seen the time that I could play the devil in arguing, but now I am much failed, and henceforward want nothing but a cup of good wine, a good bed, my back to the fire, my belly to the table, and a good deep dish. Hei, Domine, I beseech you, in nomine Patris, Filii, et Spiritus sancti, Amen [Latin], to restore unto us our bells: and God keep you from evil, and our Lady from health, qui vivit et regnat per omnia secula seculorum, Amen. Hem, hashchehhawksash, qzrchremhemhash. Verum enim vero, quandoquidem, dubio procul. Edepol, quoniam, ita certe, medius fidius [Whatever, still sounds like Alo]; a town without bells is like a blind man without a staff, an ass without a crupper, and a cow without cymbals. Therefore be assured, until you have restored them unto us, we will never leave crying after you, like a blind man that hath lost his staff, braying like an ass without a crupper, and making a noise like a cow without cymbals. A certain latinisator [that's Alo Kievalar], dwelling near the hospital, said since, producing the authority of one Taponnus -I lie, it was one Pontanus the secular poet – who wished those bells had been made of feathers, and the clapper of a foxtail, to the end they might have begot a chronicle in the bowels of his brain, when he was about the composing of his carminiformal lines. But nac petetin petetac, tic, torche lorgne, or rot kipipur kipipot put pantse malf [Alo at his/its/her scholarly best], he was declared an heretic. We make them as of wax. And no more saith the deponent. Valete et plaudite. Alo Kevalaris recensui. [...]”
An edifying vignette of Alo Kievalar, scholar, retrieved by Misanthropicus, from the master Rabelais’ special archives.
Jan 4, 2009 - 9:59 pm 37. Arthur LEMAY:Best regards to Ann and ThinkingPerson -
When Obama wass giving speeches from the Teleprompter he was the consummate leader. His speech-writers-ventriloquists did a wonderful job. But, when he was speaking extemporaneously he usually sounded pretty bad.
It’s too bad that we did not elect the ventriloquists, we elected the dummy.
He does not seem to understand that perception is reality when you are the President-elect. It seems that he is voting “Present” as he did in the Illinois Senate, but a non-decision when you are President is the same as a decision to do nothing. And, doing nothing may be the wrong answer.
Jan 4, 2009 - 10:27 pm 38. Bilgeman:WR Jonas:
“An empty suit and some catchy slogans along with a smiling face and viola, you’re President.”
If you recall, our chums on the Left said the same thing about Reagan, and in the latter half of the second term, may even have had a point, but he turned out okay.
Because largely he picked experienced and loyal people,(Don Regan as CofS and Robert Gates at CIA exceptions…I said experienced, not necessarily “good”).
And Obama isn’t the only playa in the game…
I’ve always held Nancy Reagan in the highest esteem, since it was she who made sure the “supporting cast” ALWAYS remembered that Ronnie was the “star” of the picture.
We saw what happens when the First Lady doesn’t have her boy’s back 24/7 with the Clintons, didn’t we?
I suspect that Michelle Obama is much more in the “Nancy” model than the “Hillary” one.
Don’t EVER discount or dismiss the influence of the First Lady in the Oval Office. She gets at least 6 hours pillow time with the POTUS every night.
There are people in DC who would cheerfully cough up a kidney for a 15 minute coffee chat with the Prez 3 times a week.
Jan 5, 2009 - 3:04 am 39. susan:“If you recall, our chums on the Left said the same thing about Reagan”
The left always went in great lenghts to slander the republican candidate, it doesn’t make it true.
REagan has been governor and he’s been in politics a lot longer than obama, so now being a governor (of california) means NOTHING?
Or I missed the part in his carreer where zerobama had actual responsabilities?
“I suspect that Michelle Obama is much more in the “Nancy” model than the “Hillary” one.”
Your suspect are misguided. Michelle obama shares the same sense of entitlement (you owe me attitude), arrogance and contempt for the country as her husband.
Birds of a feather…
Jan 5, 2009 - 4:35 am 40. Derek:Obama was a senator which means he had more foreign policy experience than reagan. hopefully enough not to get 200 marines blown up in lebanon like the great communicator though.
Jan 5, 2009 - 5:14 am 41. susan:obama never did anything as a senator, because he has been campaigning for a good portion of his 2 years sitting there.
what kind of foreign experience you get by voting present and pro-infanticide laws?
He did support his cousin Odinga in kenya who wanted to establish sharia law in the country and tried a golpe. Is this the “foreign experience” you admire so much?
or you’re one of the obamatrons that claim as “foreign experience” the fact that his mother had a fixation with having babies with non-americans?
Jan 5, 2009 - 5:49 am 42. grampa guy:Center-right national security team?
Jan 5, 2009 - 6:27 am 43. Alo Kievalar:Gimme a drink out of your glass!
Forty years ago, Scoop Jackson was center-right. Today, Michael Jackson is center-right.
The only thing that will give BHO even a veneer of competence will be that the permanent bureaucracy, aptly named The Failure Factory by Bill Gertz, will be determined to prop him up rather than destroy him. In political war, just as in the real thing, recognizing your enemy is paramount.
To Misanthropicus et al:
This forum is supposed to be for those wishing to comment on a writer’s point of view as presented on pajamasmedia.com. It’s not supposed to be a place for incontinent sociopaths to vent their rage on whatever issue they’re having a problem with. I’ll let M’s latest screed speak for itself, but it is a classic of a wanna-be writer exposing to the world why he’ll never be one.
And finally, M., if you are married, I feel horribly sorry for your spouse. If your writing is any indication of how your mind really works in the real world, what the poor woman must be putting up with. It must be a nightmare for her.
To ThinkingPerson: I never talk down to my peers. The problem is that I have yet to run across a peer on the comments section of this blog (or 99% of others I visit). That’s why I usually add “notes” to my own comments just to be sure the hoi polloi really do understand what it is I’m saying.
Yours sincerely (and adieu),
A.K. (“Ego sum Rex Romanus et Super Gramaticam”)
Jan 5, 2009 - 6:48 am 44. Ann:36.misanthropicus….now THAT’S funny!
The phrase I will not be able to forget is “making a noise like a cow without cymbals”!
Jan 5, 2009 - 6:48 am 45. Robert Hurley:Good old Susan – I see the new year has not made you any smarter
Jan 5, 2009 - 7:00 am 46. Robert Hurley:Ann – I hope you enjoy the next eight years with Obama as President
Jan 5, 2009 - 7:02 am 47. misanthropicus:Re # 43: [...] I have yet to run across a peer on the comments section of this blog (or 99% of others I visit) [...] just to be sure the hoi polloi really do understand what it is I’m saying.
Yours sincerely (and adieu),
A.K. (“Ego sum Rex Romanus et Super Gramaticam”) [..]”
“Ego sic argumentor. Omnis bella bellabilis in bellerio bellando, bellans, bellativo, bellare facit, bellabiliter bellantes. Parisius habet bellas. Ergo gluc.”
Alo Kievelaris, you incandescent summit of exhaustive knowledge, it’s been more that 500 years ago when Rabelais made that description of a pompous ignoramus dripping malaprops – and good illustration of that you are, since ostentation is the other face of absurd haughtiness, which you plentifully ooze: “I have yet to run across a peer … the hoi polloi…”
My, lonely is at the top – and since here, you mighty scholar, check with Rabelais your spelling problems: it’s “Virgil”, buddy, not “Vergil” – you did it trice, and I let this go just to see you soaring like the Latinizator in the story.
Jan 5, 2009 - 7:32 am 48. susan:Can you translate the “cow without cymbals” in Sanskrit?
Robert hurley, I didn’t know he was incoronated supreme king, I guess you are happy to live in a totalitarian state, that explains how out of touch are your calls that others are stupid.
bow down to the king robert and don’t forget to lick his precious feet, after all, I suppose you are used to humiliate yourself this way
Jan 5, 2009 - 7:55 am 49. Bilgeman:#39 & #41 Susan:
Have you spent all this time talking at ME?
“The left always went in great lenghts to slander the republican candidate, it doesn’t make it true.”
Yes…I think I alluded to that earlier, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and just because they’re on the Left doesn’t mean that they are always dead wrong about everything. (Just far, far more often than not).
“REagan has been governor and he’s been in politics a lot longer than obama, so now being a governor (of california) means NOTHING?”
Uhhh, you DO realize that President Reagan passed on nigh on to 5 years ago, right?
(I give you “linky-love”):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan
It was in ALL the papers, and even on the TeeVee.
“Or I missed the part in his carreer where zerobama had actual responsabilities?”
You can certainly be forgiven for missing what did not ever really occur.
“Your suspect are misguided.”
I’ve had my suspicions about my suspect for quite awhile now.
“Michelle obama shares the same sense of entitlement (you owe me attitude), arrogance and contempt for the country as her husband.”
Perhaps so.
The Universe the Lord has made can stand only so many chimerical pairings of the Carville-Matalin type of union without blowing apart into its’ component sub-atomic particles.
But that’s neither here nor there.
I would think that our First Lady-elect is well aware of “which side of the bread her butter is on”, and making sure that that side of the toast doesn’t fall on the floor.
(That would be a metaphor for her husband’s political career).
That’s just simple common sense, see?
“obama never did anything as a senator, because he has been campaigning for a good portion of his 2 years sitting there.”
Pretty clever of the fella, wouldn’t you say?
He even got paid from the public purse while doing whatever it was that he did…or did not do.
Look, unless you’d care to join those of us who would really, REALLY like to see our beloved Federal Judiciary System induce Barak Hussein Obama to present his actual Certificate of Live Birth from 1961 Honolulu and put THAT little quibble well and truly behind us, he’s going to be sworn in as President in about two weeks.
Heck, the IDF dropping bombs on some despicably homicidal terrorist beggars has gotten more “screen”, than valid questions about this chap BHO’s legitimacy to even BE President-elect(…even here at PJM, no less)
So it seems that this is a “done deal”.
And if that is indeed the case, you can spend the next four years cursing the “Obama Hope n’ Change Darkness” or apply that common sense thingy I mentioned earlier and light a candle so you can find some batteries for your flashlight.
Jan 5, 2009 - 8:16 am 50. Bilgeman:#43 Alo K:
“This forum is supposed to be for those wishing to comment on a writer’s point of view as presented on pajamasmedia.com. It’s not supposed to be a place for incontinent sociopaths to vent their rage on whatever issue they’re having a problem with.”
It’s NOT?
Where’s the fun in THAT, then?
Jan 5, 2009 - 8:18 am 51. susan:“Yes…I think I alluded to that earlier, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and just because they’re on the Left doesn’t mean that they are always dead wrong about everything. (Just far, far more often than not).”
So I should believe the left that Reagan had the worst performance ever in foreign relation because even a broken clock is right twice a day. What a logic. Ever thought that the soviet system collapsed during his presidency?
“Uhhh, you DO realize that President Reagan passed on nigh on to 5 years ago, right?
(I give you “linky-love”):”
even more logic, so if a president is now dead, whatever he did and however he did it counts NOTHING.
OK, so I guess we should talk about Clinton, Bush jr and sr, carter and a few others?
The fact that he is now deceased means nothing about the way he was vet at that time. Instead of playing the smarta$$ maybe you should take more time into reading what others write and understand it better.
So explain to me how the fact that Reagan is dead CANCELS that he was governor of california prior to his precidency.
“Pretty clever of the fella, wouldn’t you say?
He even got paid from the public purse while doing whatever it was that he did…or did not do.”
It is clever only if you are black, no white person would have been allowed to behave that way.
“And if that is indeed the case, you can spend the next four years cursing the “Obama Hope n’ Change Darkness” or apply that common sense thingy I mentioned earlier and light a candle so you can find some batteries for your flashlight.”
I am not american or living in the usa, therefore other than pity you I don’t give a damn about what your affirmative action president does or doesn’t do. It will be just amusing watching his poor performance and laugh at the idiots that fell for his con art. WE have already started laughing and he’s not president yet.
Jan 5, 2009 - 8:55 am 52. ThinkingPerson:misanthropicus….Me thinks our friend Alo K. might suffer a bit from the condition he so poetically pointed out in his diatribe,[...]an ass without a crupper[...]. Might explain his grouchy disposition eh? Thanks for sharing!
Alo K…..You’re right, we are supposed to comment on the writer’s point of view and not on each other’s postings UNLESS the said poster is deemed worthy of rebuttal and a public flogging when posting ilk like [...]Obama will govern with clear vision and decisiveness. He also won’t take crap from anybody and will have no problem “kicking ass”. He also won’t mind changing course midway on any issue if he feels new circumstances require it.[...]. Seriously? The man has had NO opinion to date. But again, turn on his teleprompter and he’ll muster up his thoughts on a myriad of subjects I’m sure. The debate on whether or not he will change course midway through an issue will continue until he is shown to actually be following a course. In the words of our great orator Mr. Obama….”There is only one President at a time.”
Jan 5, 2009 - 9:01 am 53. Robert Hurley:It is so tough to take that the the vast majority of the American people think so highly of Obama. Let me see why could that be – What are you all missing?
Jan 5, 2009 - 10:00 am 54. ThinkingPerson:#53 Robert Hurley…It’s not “so tough to take” sir. The thing I personally find laughable when liberals/Obama supporters post is that you are already annointing him the BEST PRESIDENT EVER!!!!! when he hasn’t even taken office yet, is a blank slate, has no voting record to speak of, is associated with shady at best characters and will state no opinion unless facing a teleprompter (oh wait, besides my favorite Obama response..”There is only one President at a time.”). Yeah, keep on thinking highly of Obama sir. It’s easy to right now I guess. Some of us are just stepping out of the group-think mindset and thinking for ourselves. Try it sometime. Feels great!
Jan 5, 2009 - 10:50 am 55. Robert Hurley:TP – Thinking for yourself! It seems to me that most of the comments her are a regurgitation of the right wing myth that you all have bought into. I will be 70 this year and you remind me of the kids today who think they are rebelling by wearing low cut jeans.
Jan 5, 2009 - 11:11 am 56. Jim Baker:At 70, you obviously feel good about your knowledge of American politics. I don’t share your enthusiasm for what you know. I was thinking about stuff like regurgitation of the socialist myth at about the same time you accused the vast right wing of wearing low rider jeans.
Jan 5, 2009 - 12:22 pm 57. susan:and you are 70 and squirm all over the internet about your teenage crush with the magic negro?
and you dare to call others stupid?
Jan 5, 2009 - 12:27 pm 58. Robert Hurley:Hmn – was it socialism that has brought us to the economic problems we now have?
Jan 5, 2009 - 1:15 pm 59. Jim Baker:Hmn – You betcha, bub.
Jan 5, 2009 - 1:26 pm 60. ThinkingPerson:Robert Hurley….I remind you of kids today who are rebelling by wearing low cut jeans? Huh? You’re the one rebelling against “the system/the man” by voting in a person no one knows anything about who has so far shown no leadership skills whatsoever. You’re the one who voted with all of the low-riding jeans crowd that were bussed off of college campuses with nary a thought of why they were voting for Obama, just that he was THE ONE. “One President at a time” when asked about Israel/Gaza fighting? What sort of leadership is that? Remember back during the election when the whole world was pleading for the US to vote for Obama and cheering when he was elected? Now fast forward to him answering “One President at a time” when asked about potentially one of the most explosive issues of our time. There’s your hope and change sir. You are younger than my father and he stays up on current issues and guess who he voted for? Wasn’t Mr. Chicago community organizer that’s for sure. Don’t use your age as an excuse for a poor vote. You had your chance to research the issues at hand. Hopefully you’ll pay attention for the next four years (heck, why not start now when Obama is already starting off on a bad foot by not vetting his picks better) before you cast another vote. In the meantime you’ll have the Republicans to thank for putting the brakes on whatever socialist mess Obama/Pelosi/Reid and the rest of the Little Rascals Gang can try and pull over on us.
Jan 5, 2009 - 1:51 pm 61. Bilgeman:#51 susan:
“I am not american or living in the usa, therefore other than pity you I don’t give a damn about what your affirmative action president does or doesn’t do.”
Ah, you shouldn’t care, but apparently…you DO.
Your command of our language, while commendable, is not quite up to snuff to debate politics with us natives, though.
“Instead of playing the smarta$$ maybe you should take more time into reading what others write and understand it better.”
Hello, kettle.
Is it “That Time” of the month, or are you just always this cranky?
As I recall it, I was responding to Brother WRJonas, and you chimed in with your charming string of non-sequiturs.
It IS so nice to hear the commentary of our cousins in other lands who feel so free to bleat their opinions, good and bad, about our internal affairs.
Isn’t America a great country?
Jan 5, 2009 - 3:56 pm 62. susan:“Your command of our language, while commendable, is not quite up to snuff to debate politics with us natives, though.”
and yours is? and how original, bringing up that time of the month, should i bring up your obvious andropause?
still waiting for a logic argument on why Reagan was never a governor just because he’s now deceased. I am not holding my breath.
Jan 6, 2009 - 2:54 am 63. Robert Hurley:Do you ever wonder about Susan’s stability. Here we have a person who does not live in the US who pretends she understands what is happening better than we do. Her main talent seems to lie in name calling – an art ususlly perfected in preteens. Most people ususally move on from that stage and mature. A few become mired in that stage. From her posts here I bet that she relates best to masochists.
Jan 6, 2009 - 9:13 am 64. susan:robert hurley, the andropause comment was directed to you too.
Do you have something more constructive to do at your retirement facility? I bet not. It’s very sad to be so old and lonely, rejected by society… That’s why you hang on to the dream of the one…
Did you have a family? I bet nobody wanted to stay around you…
It must be really sad to be 70 and the only contact with the world being writing nonsense on a message board of people you claim to hate.
That is itself the symbol of loneliness
Jan 6, 2009 - 10:28 am 65. susan:oh robert, before obvious senility kicks in (for you) can you explain what’s more masochist than you, insulting others with childish lines in a board full of republicans/conservatives that you claim to hate?
I guess you are the personification of masochism, therefore, I am saddened that such an old person is projecting his own personal failures to others. You should take some meds.
Jan 6, 2009 - 10:31 am 66. Robert Hurley:Susan – Tell us your age, education and what you do. I would be interested to see who was blind enough to offer you employment
Jan 6, 2009 - 11:56 am 67. susan:I did it several times, but you were too senile to notice
Jan 6, 2009 - 12:06 pm 68. misanthropicus:Re #66/Robert Hurley: [...] Susan – Tell us your age, education and what you do. I would be interested to see who was blind enough to offer you employment. [...]
Robert, knock it off go back in the sand box! Get your little shovel and start doing something constructive, bury your Tonkas in a hole, or build a sand pie!
Jan 6, 2009 - 1:44 pm 69. Ms. Attitude:I believe that Obama is nothing but a puppet. With his past connections I would be surprised if it wasn’t a socialist-islamic-terrorist group. He is the beginning of the end.
Jan 7, 2009 - 8:48 am 70. The Historian:ENIGMA? TAKE A LOOK AT HIS RESUME
Comparing the resumes of Carter-Bush41-Clinton-Bush43-Obama
http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2009/01/presidents-elect-resumes-whats-your.html
Jan 7, 2009 - 1:10 pm 71. Nick D:No one should be surprised that Barack Obama asked Robert Gates to stay on. He was part of the Iraq Study Group and was brought into the Bush administration in order to end the war. Although the “Surge” appeared to many as an escalation of the war, the administration was attempting to resolve conflicts within Iraq and prepare for an orderly withdrawal. While some Democrats wanted a quicker timetable for withdrawal than Mr. Gates plans, the differences amount to mere months. Mr. Gates is therefore an extremely capable Secretary of Defense, who has wide bi-partisan support, and is bringing about the end of the war that Democrats want. Replacing him now would have threatened bi-partisan support for ending the war and jeopardized the orderly withdrawal. It would have been surprising however if Mr. Obama had decided to retain Donald Sumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz.
Jan 8, 2009 - 9:06 am 72. Berlet98:Michael Newdow Rides Again!
You really have to wonder about a guy who tells someone that his only child was the product of a date rape and he was the victim.
According to one source, http://www.nndb.com/people/981/000049834/, Michael “Newdow claims he was the victim of date rape, perpetrated by [the mother of the child, Sandra] Banning during a camping trip at Yosemite National Park. [Mikey declares] ‘I specifically said “no” multiple times before and during [sex]. Was I forced into being a father? Yeah.’ ”
That must make his daughter feel awfully warm and fuzzy to know that her daddy was raped by her mommy. When she gets a little older, she may begin to wonder how any guy can be forced to have sex with a woman in a public park. She may begin to have more respect for her mom but, as for her dad, she may wonder whether he’s a closet gay or just the world’s biggest wuss.
That awful experience, which I suggest is as honest and truthful as her daddy is, didn’t deter Mikey from filing a lawsuit–on her behalf. The poor, oppressed child was being forced to recite “The Pledge of Allegiance,” daily in her Sacramento school, including those foul words “under God,” and Mikey would have none of it and wasn’t going to tolerate that infringement on his child’s rights.
There was no evidence the child cared either way what she recited in school but Mikey went to court anyway, for her, of course, and not because he has been an atheist “since birth,” as he has said. Those two words, “under God,” represented an affront to his, to her, beliefs even though she had not be known to profess any antipathy to God or any commitment to atheism, like her dad.
The case was thrown out since Mikey, an absentee father as well as a physician with a law degree, had no legal standing since he didn’t have custody of the child.
Still undismayed, and obviously with a lot of time on his hands, he ploughed on…
(Read the rest of this article at http://genelalor.com/.)
Jan 8, 2009 - 10:25 am 73. WR Jonas:One of the things i never hear discussed is Obamas lack of leadership skill. It is a unique and rare skill that is difficult to define or quantify. It does not seem to be all purpose because leadership in one area or field does not transate in to other situations . Usually, but there are some examples where that does happen.What is identifiable are the characteristics of successful leaders.
Jan 8, 2009 - 2:09 pmThey have vision , courage and a faith in something greater than themselves. People who fail as leaders have lots of commonality. Their first instinct is to deny failure. They rely on others instincts and then deflect blame if failure occurs. The last item is the toughest , believing in something greater than ones self.
If for nothing else George W Bush is a great leader by this fact. He led his Nation in perilous times and stood his ground against the wailing legions of enemies and disclaimers.
Barack Obama has none of these traits . He will be the worst President in US history.