Dang.....

(Image swiped from Culture Catch, at the inspiration of Purple Avenger over at Ace's Place.)

I was outside pulling some weeds and trimming some roses, and instead of being productive and shit, instead I should have been inside glued to the TV with a big bowl of popcorn on my lap.

"...Sen. Coburn demanded that the full text of the 767 page Sanders amendment be read by the Senate clerk...."

....followed by (socialist) Bernie Sanders withdrawing his amendment, which itself is questionable (from the Malkin citation above)....

...How Sanders was able to withdraw his amendment is unclear — under the chamber’s rules it appears that a motion to withdraw would not be in order during the reading of the bill. However, the Senate Parliamentarian — in what a GOP aide called “an incredibly bizarre decision” — ruled Sanders’ request was allowable....*

And now, the SEIU--whom Zero has leaned on heavily--has backed away from his Healthcare Reform (sic).

And Drudge is reporting under the headline "Pelosi: No Health Care Deal this Year".

Those weeds aren't going to pull themselves, but that said, I hope I have enough popcorn.

* For as much fun as I'm having watching this whole thing self-destruct, there are serious issues here.

• It is clear that Coburn and the Republicans are pulling every trick imaginable to stop this thing. Healthcare Reform (sic) has been at the top of Zero's agenda since the summer, and the more Americans know about the bill, the less they like it. Coburn delivered a shot-across-the-bow with the idea of reading into the record an amendment from a socialist that was never going to pass as a means to test his on-again/off-again threat to have the entire Healthcare Reform (sic) bill read into the record.
• This, of course, plays right into Zero's promise to govern with "transparency" and his campaign promise to debate healthcare on CSPAN.
• The Left and the D's have long claimed that the R's are the "Party of 'No'", and this action makes that claim more valid.
• The R's do risk losing some cred' by slowing the Senate's business to a crawl--even if for a good reason.
• But the D's lose cred' too by taking action through the Parliamentarian to prevent the Senate and Americans from hearing exactly what is in a bill of this import.
• I expect the R's to attempt to get some clarification on the Paliamentarian's ruling here, if for no other reason than to preserve their ability to pull this stunt when the entire Healthcare bill comes up. But it is important to remember: Sanders pulled his amendment to stop the reading. The D's certainly will not pull their entire bill if Coburn and the R's insist that it be read. The R's still have a bullet left here.
• But it's their last bullet, and once it's fired, it cannot be called back. If they do fire it, we should all expect that regardless of which party controls Congress, an insurgent in the Senate can stop the action by simply having everything read into the record.

The lesson here is this: Zero made a fundamental error when he said "I won". He had a chance at true bi-partisanship helping him with his agenda, but with these words, and with the remainder of his actions this year, he has shown no interest in Republican concerns, and the problems he has had all this year show because of this. Sixty seats in the Senate isn't enough. Not nearly enough.

Another blog post.....

I've been less-than-verbose here lately, as the Healthcare Reform (sic) debate has quieted down, and America has been focused on the People Magazine story of how a bankrupt polo player and his sorta-kinda cheerleader wife could crash the party at Captain Utopia's State Dinner.

That said, I watched Zero's speech last night at West Point regarding his long-delayed decision on what to do in Afghanistan.

One thing struck me during the speech--the Cadets. Maybe I'm just seeing things through my own prism, but the shots of the audience showed me blank, uninterested faces. I'm certain that the Cadet Corps was ordered to fill the auditorium, and that doesn't surprise me in the least. But during the speech, they appeared to be less-than-enthusiastic about both being there and the message they were hearing. (One caveat: After the speech, Zero did the rope-line thingi, and there were a handful of Cadets who were there shaking his hand, and taking his picture.)

I do like Captain Ed's take on things this morning. He read the transcript, so he wouldn't have the observation that I did, but generally, I have to agree, and especially with this point...

...In defining our mission’s expiration date as 18 months, Obama has undermined whatever good the counterinsurgency strategy will do. For COIN to work, forces have to “flood the zone,” but they also have to build trust with locals and encourage better intel. The only way to do that is to impress on locals the notion that we’re sticking around....

I just love the internet. There are a lot of really, really talented people out there who are not only talented in their fields, but can write about their fields, and we can read their thoughts without the filters of the (largely stupid) media. One blog I check in on regularly is The Captain's Journal. Maybe it was there, or perhaps somewhere else (I also check in with Michael Yon, The Long War Journal, and others) that I saw a point that the Afghans look at our forces there and wonder: Americans build tents. They're not here to stay.

But it was at The Captain's Journal that I saw this point:

“You [Westerners] have the watches, but we Afghans have the time,” Gulab Mangal, the governor of Helmand province, has been quoted as saying at a recent gathering.

Even as the Americans are proud of the progress made here, there is a sense that all could be lost quickly if the U.S. military leaves prematurely.

“I think we’re succeeding in Nawa, but like the elders say, if we leave, it will all be wasted,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Reggie Fox, a member of an 82nd Airborne platoon assigned to mentor Afghan security forces. “The insurgents aren’t dumb. They want to outlast the American population.”

And Zero has just allowed the insurgents to set their watches. As Captain Ed said,

Having an 18-month timetable may or may not be a mistake, but announcing one is a terrible blunder in wartime.

and

That’s no way to fight a war.

I agree entirely.

Bumpersticker...

As I have said a while back, I have been reading Atlas Shrugged. I'm enjoying the book, although I'm finding it a difficult read and it is taking me longer than usual to finish it. I am into the final 100 pages and am right at the point where Rand has John Galt giving a 47 page monologue.

Anyway, the prescience that Rand has been demonstrating with Atlas Shrugged is simply amazing. A book published 52 years ago is full of elements that are relevant today.

And today, I saw this bumpersticker on a car as I was on my way to the Post Office.

Alright: Unlike the last time I did this....

....I won't completely rip off Ace, but with regard to Zero's penchant for bowing down to foreign leaders, here he makes a very good point.

"....Greg Gutfeld (was up late last night) noted the bowing controversy and called it, using Andy Levy's phrase, a "blog issue." By which he meant a topic that gets predictable heat on blogs, but when you try to discuss it in the "real world," the reaction is "ehhh."

That may be so. To be honest, I had a bit of trouble drumming up a lot of passion about this. My real beef here isn't that what Obama is doing is wrong.

My actual beef is that the crap Obama is doing is irrelevant. No one gives a flying fuck if you bow to them, or you say nice things about "working together to reach our collective goals," or this ridiculous conceit that just because of Obama's "personal presence" -- a historic presidency, drenched in drama, topped with butter-baked crumbs of hope -- is going to make a lick of difference. Nations pursue their own policy goals -- period. You change the goals a nation might pursue by offering carrots and sticks, by buying them off or making it so costly to pursue a particular goal they refrain from doing so.

"Diplomacy" is merely a polite manner of announcing these carrots and sticks.

So my point, then, is that what Obama is doing is perfectly trivial, and to get all outraged about it actually invests his empty and feckless symbolism with a power it doesn't have. Obama's bowing to a Saudi king does nothing to improve our relations with the Islamic world. And neither, frankly, does Cheney shaking his hand as an equal. Neither matters -- and the problem here is that Obama is convinced these things not only matter, but are well-nigh determinative.

This malignant narcissist thinks that nations will change their fundamental national goals based simply on the (purported) fact that Obama is charming, nice, and awesome.

It's not so much that he's doing the wrong things -- he is; but these things are utterly trivial. It's that he's investing far too much time thinking about trivialities, convincing himself that the trivial trumps the substantial, that he invests no time or effort at all in substantive manners. Look at Iran. Rather than facing the grim reality he needs to confront Iran and make it too costly for Iran to continue building nukes, he convinces himself that if only he can be charming and nonthreatening enough he will neatly avoid having to face that reality.

He is indulging in fantasy at the expense of reality, and therefore at the expense of US national interests.

Now, all that said, all that acknowledgement that maybe this is a "blog issue," as Greg Gutfeld said, let me note again something that makes it not just a "blog issue" at all: Obama lied. Gibbs lied. White House sources lie. They all denied down the line that they were offering a sycophantic servility -- bowing like an inferior -- to royalty, and they now are forced to admit it was a lie all along.

They were deliberately bowing to royalty, and just lying about it to the American public. Because, I guess, sometimes a lie is "diplomatic."

So it seems while foreign royalty gets deep bows, the American public gets lies and fast-talk about it.

Actually... also taking it out of the realm of "blog issue" is that any symbolic act stands for something concrete and real. And Obama isn't just showing the symbolism of deference, weakness, and appeasement; he's actually practicing deference, weakness, and appeasement. His symbolic gesture then is simply confirmation of objective reality."

Hey....

Anybody else remember back a year and a half ago when Zero's low-level staffers were being thrown under the bus? Or even when some not-so-low-level staffers were thrown under that same bus (but later, miraculously, recovered from her injuries)?

Point being...Zero has habit of blaming others for things he ought to be standing up for.

Like.....his oft-repeated claim of the benefit we're deriving from his Stimulus-inspired "saved or created jobs".

And now this charade is coming apart too. The numbers he is reporting are outrageously inaccurate. So inaccurate, in fact, as to be claimed from Congressional districts that themselves do not exist. So, who is to blame for the reporting of this inaccurate data? Yeah...you guessed it...

"...Late Monday, officials with the Recovery Board created to track the stimulus spending, said the mistakes in crediting nonexistent congressional districts were caused by human error.

"We report what the recipients submit to us," said Ed Pound, Communications Director for the Board.

Pound told ABC News the board receives declarations from the recipients - state governments, federal agencies and universities - of stimulus money about what program is being funded.

"Some recipients clearly don't know what congressional district they live in, so they appear to be just throwing in any number. We expected all along that recipients would make mistakes on their congressional districts, on jobs numbers, on award amounts, and so on. Human beings make mistakes," Pound said...."

[emphases, mine]

Yes. You, the dumb public, are to be blamed for the bad data being reported by Zero's administration.

Oh, you just know.....

....That this will not end well.


George W. Bush Secretly Visits Fort Hood Victims

A decent President, and for that matter, a decent man would have made mention of the event at Ft. Hood before giving a "shout-out" to cousin Pookie, or Dr. Joe Medicine Crow, a "Congressional Medal-of-Honor winner" (who, in fact, does not have a MOH, but rather was awarded a Congressional Medal of Freedom), not to mention knowing that the Congressional Medal of Honor is not "won", but rather "awarded".

But Zero has not, now a year after he was elected, found his feet as our Commander-in-Chief, but still acts as our Community-Organizer-in-Chief. A man who was a real C-in-C would have canceled his golf game this weekend, and asked his allies in the Congress to postpone their debate and vote on his key domestic agenda item until next week while he went to Ft. Hood to be the Commander-in-Chief that he was elected to be. As it is, Bush gave Zero ample opportunity to do this, and when he had not, made the proper effort to attend to the troops.

I have to believe that somewhere at Camp David,
Michelle is flinging the crockery.

Nope......

You could not possibly make this stuff up.



This is Susan Rice dressed as Goofy.

That would be United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice dressed as Goofy.

And they wonder why they're not getting any respect around the world.

h/t Michelle Obama's Mirror's Blog.

Obama-Weather.....

Via Gerard, I see that this site offers an Obama which will tell us what to wear for the week.

And for the record, I do have cargo shorts (and pants) that I wear when the occasion suits. I even have casual sandals, although mine are a Cabelas knock-off of Teva's, and there was a day when I wore Birkenstocks. But I have never worn a t-shirt with an Obama image (or for that matter, a t-shirt with an image of any politician).

This, along with another site I found via Gerard, The Art of Obama, are either very clever commentaries on the adulation of Zero, or they are unwitting part and parcel of the same.

A little late at....

....Getting to this, but Chris Muir nailed things down pretty securely with this one....

[Click image for a better view.]

Hillary flashes us....

...Her set.



"...Hillary Clinton is considering stepping down as Secretary of State this fall in order to run for Governor of New York."

h/t for the visual: Commenter Curious at 5:56 here.

A sign of...

The profoundly inexperienced executive that many of us said he was.

As I await a doctor's appointment this morning, I've been sitting here trollin' around the 'sphere while having Fox News on in the background and, of course, the big story today is what is Zero going to say tonight when he addresses the special joint session of Congress he's called to address the health care debate.

It is now approximately nine hours before he speaks, and we don't know what it is he's going to say. He's used the primetime programming at ABC, and he's devoted a news conference to the topic. He's been talking about reforming health care for months, and other than knowing that he wants Congress to produce something for him to sign, we still don't know exactly what he thinks. He's for a public option, but doesn't think it's necessary. Abortion services have to be in insurance plans, but it won't be funded in a public plan (or some other confusing stance). Point being: The American public is confused about what is, or is not in the plan, and don't have confidence that Zero knows what it is that he wants (other than that he wants to win).

Jack Webb Schools Barack Obama....

Lifted whole from Allahpundit.

Sunday morning talk shows.....

So here I sit in Jacksonville in a hotel I hate with a TV spectrum that does not include Fox News watching Meet the Press (which I can barely tolerate).

David Axelrod is the guest this morning, and he's spent much of his interview defending the failing healthcare initiative.

He also was asked about Zero's plan this next week to address the nation's school children. And in that vein, Axelrod said that he was a bit perplexed that Zero's message of stressing individual initiative and responsibility was being rebuffed.

I was struck with the contrast between his plan to socialize health care, yet stress individual achievement in academics.

Fail Blog....

Funny stuff.....Isn't that an Obama sticker?

When some politician or talking head or pundit (or Fed Chairman) says that they're seeing signs of a recovery, I have to ask.....

Really?



Do you even have to look past the cover?

Bernanke...

...Gets a second term.

Anybody who has been paying attention wonders: Why?

And now....

Obama has a Torture Czar.

h/t Glenn.

These things need to be said.....

Man carrying assault weapon attends Obama protest

• No. It wasn't me. I wasn't even in the state, so don't blame/credit me.
• No. An AR15 is not an "assault weapon".
• Yes. I own an AR15. I'd like to own another--specifically, a M4 model. I also own other rifles, and those who do not understand guns might incorrectly consider some of them to be "assault weapons".
• No. I have never gone to any public political protest or meeting with an AR15 or any other rifle.
  
• Yes. There is nothing wrong with peacefully carrying a rifle in public. Even to a political protest. And even to a political protest when the President is in the state.
• No. That's not saying that I would.
• Yes. The hoplophobes will shriek to high heaven about this. They're good at that.
• Yes. Openly, and peacefully carrying a rifle is no more threatening a political statement than carrying a sign.
• Yes. Carrying a rifle is a good piece of political theater. Kinda like those big paper mâché heads, but something you can actually make use of later.
• And finally, Yes, this kind of thing has both a good side and a bad side. Which side you see depends on the viewpoint you begin with.
  

Some Free Political Advice from a Rank Amateur Firefighter....

On That-Forum-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, I left the following update to a post in a thread basically all about the Democrat's approach to their Health Care Townhalls....

One More Point: What gives you [my liberal opponent] the right to say that the dissent I might engage in today is not sincere, but masquerading as something else? You and Zero, and SanFranNan and all the rest are on the wrong track here. You are going out of your way to marginalize an entire segment of America. You and ACORN and the SEIU thugs may not believe it, but America, as a whole, is seriously unhappy about the course that Zero has set for us. The dissent we're seeing today is far wider and far deeper than any of the anti-war dissent of the Bush years. Look at any of the youtubes out there and what do you see? Middle-aged and older folks who haven't gotten off the couch in years! Zero had--as in the past tense of "have"--a mandate. Personally, I think he could have kept his agenda even with the horrible results that the Stimulus (sic) has brought. But instead, he had to lay down an offering at the altar of Gaia and push his Cap and Tax bill through the House (unread!), followed by this disastrous Health Care reform (again, unread!). The CBO says that Zero's budget deficits (which I will kindly link to rather than attach, again) are "unsustainable". They also say that his Health Care is similarly under water before it starts. That I will illustrate.....


Source.

The Chinese are at the end of their rope, and are beginning to pull on our leash. This is why Zero's flacks are having to answer the persistent questions of whether he will renege on his pledge of no tax increases for those earning less than $250k. Geez, [My opponent's name]. Chinese students openly laugh at Geithner....to his face. Can you imagine? There are two choices here: With the spending Zero has begun and has plans for, he can tax the crap out of the American taxpayer, or he can devalue the currency. And the Chinese, owning our debt measured in our currency, would much rather see the former than the later.

You know what, [My opponent's name]? Zero doesn't need any of this. He can ram through anything he wants tomorrow, if he likes. Call Nancy and Harry and tell them to give their guys an August vacation in a remote location. No Townhalls; No "tele-meetings"; No "One-on-One meetings"; Nothing. Just close down and when they come back in September, they can do anything. But that's not what he's doing. Rather than work with those who have serious, sincere differences with his views, he and Rahmbo immediately go for the Chicago Way...."If we get hit, we will punch back twice as hard,”.

Yeah, that's a great way to win friends and influence enemies.

Sorry for the length. I meant for this to be just a small update, but "one more point" became five or six. I got on a roll. Sue me.

Ok. With that as background, here is my free political advice.....

Zero and Rahmbo and my opponent share one thing: They are East Coast elites.

Which means that they live in urbanized, or at least much more densely populated areas than we do here in the West.....

Which means that all they know about forest fires is what they watch on TV......

Which means they don't know how to put one out.

The key to putting out a forest fire is to look at a fire and say: "This 100,000 acres is ablaze, but if I ever want to contain this, I need to set some backfires out in front of where the fire is now and let it burn itself out."

Zero's Health Care Reform is ablaze. He doesn't know it yet, but it's done. Gone. Smoke.

Everything he's done so far to put out the blaze only intensifies it. The D's believe that those who oppose their plan are "a mob" who are engaged in a "right-wing assault" and while displaying "swastikas". They try to pack the House with their toadies. They scream at their constituents for asking a question. They let loose their SEIU thugs. Their answer: Shut down the Townhalls. Phone it in. Call it a "Prayer Vigil" (points for originality, though). And all of that has just served to make people angrier.

Its as though he is intentionally behind the fire fanning the flames, rather than doing something to put this thing down.

Manufactured Conspiracies....

A thought occured to me while watching Glenn Beck....

The Democrats are doing a kind of weird combination of back-pedalling and hard-selling at the same time regarding their failing Health Care Reform initiative.

Someone somewhere on the 'sphere mentioned the other day that Zero's Cash-for-Clunkers is turning out to be a self-induced Katrina.

Zero's press flack, Robert Gibbs, said that the folks who are angrily meeting with their Congresscritters during the August recess are displaying a "manufactured anger".

The DNC is out with their "Mob" youtube....



The thought that occurred to me is that, in 2009, calling your opposition an "Angry Mob", expressing a "manufactured anger" may come to be remembered as Hillary's complaint in 1998 that the Clintons were faced with what amounted to a "Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy".