Obama’s Own Support the Troops, Not the Mission Moment?
05
February
StephC

The European Union is no longer charmed, it seems.

“We want to see a strong and united Europe, speaking with one voice. In the best of all possible worlds, that one voice will be saying what we want to hear,” Mr. Gordon said, according to the Web site of Britain’s Economist magazine. “If it is not saying what we want to hear, then we would rather that voice was less united. For the foreseeable future, we will have to have relations with the EU and with nations. You go to the place that can deliver.”

Those unusual public comments were followed by even more candid remarks that stunned many in the audience: “We want to see Europe thinking more strategically, because we think if they do think more strategically, they will think more like Americans.”

Perhaps, not so much support:

In an earlier conversation with reporters, Sarkozy compared his electoral record to Obama, says the piece, whose byline is of the Parisian correspondent for a Swiss newspaper, Le Temps, owned by Le Monde.

“Obama has been in power for a year, and he has already lost three special elections. Me, I have won two legislative elections and the EU election. What can one say I’ve lost?” Sarkozy is quoted as asking. [snip]

The piece also quotes a Sarkozy advisor, Alain Minc, expressing what it claims is Sarkozy’s true view of Obama in Le Parisien: “He’s a charmer, a conciliator, but I am not sure that he’s a strong leader in a crisis writing.”

Perhaps that is why both Sarkozy and Merkel blew off the E.U. snub.

This attitude could explain why Obama’s personal approval numbers remain relatively high in spite of the downward track of his job approval numbers.

It seems the people are saying they support Obama but not his “mission’, much like a few years ago, some American counterparts were saying they support the troops but not the mission.

To my ears (actually eyes plus semantics) it’s the politically correct way of saying they’re having buyers’ remorse. These countries can’t say outright what they really think without further damaging international relations but they can say, “support the president but not his mission.”

Or, as Lech Walesa put it:

The United States is only one superpower. Today they lead the world. Nobody has doubts about it. Militarily. They also lead economically but they’re getting weak. But they don’t lead morally and politically anymore. The world has no leadership. The United States was always the last resort and hope for all other nations. There was the hope, whenever something was going wrong, one could count on the United States. Today, we lost that hope.

Obama worship is over, at home and abroad. The world demanded a rock star’s charisma coupled with leadership. They got the rock star. The media love affair still continues as The Politico exhorts us to not count Obama out, just yet. Such an article reminds me of the time when the media was telling us not to count out McCain yet just a couple of weeks before the 2008 elections.

With the swearing in of Scott Brown as the 41st Republican Senator effectively killing the Democrats’ filibuster proof majority, matters look grim for the president and his agenda promoting Congress. Of course the Democrats had to get one last shot in before Brown officially became a Senator for Massachusetts.

If there was any clue that the Democrats wanted one last opportunity to pump their last hours of super majority muscle, it happened on Thursday, immediately before Sen.-elect Scott Brown, a Massachusetts Republican, was finally sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden at 5 p,m. While the GOP grew antsier over when Mr. Brown would be seated in the Senate, Democrats managed to squeeze in one last vote for labor nominee Patricia Smith just hours before Mr. Brown became an official U.S. senator. Senate Democrats confirmed Ms. Smith to the Solicitor of Labor on a party-line vote 60 to 37.

That move may go down in history as an unsuccessful [a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass”.Hail Mary pass by the Democratic Congress. Their petty tyrannical political power plays will have ramifications for their future political health.

Crossposted to
The Minority Report.

Category: Obama, Opinion, World Affairs  2 Comments
He Who Is Perfect May Criticize
25
January
StephC

Castro and Chavez say the United States is occupying Haiti. Yet their own responses to Haiti leave a lot to be desired.

In my mind, one reason the military is best to send into disaster situations is so tin-pot dictators can’t do what they’re accusing of us doing. We have a history of doing what we need to do in a given location, then getting the heck out when we’re no longer needed. Will the greedy dictators do that same?

Then, along comes Italy and France criticizing our response, also calling it an occupation.

Tell you what Mr. Ministers of Italy and France. Put your money where your mouth is and you do it. Italy’s government as a whole doesn’t seem to agree with Bertolaso but that’s beside the point. They think they know everything better than anybody else but when it’s time to take the lead who do they look to? Us. So,either put up or shut up.

I don’t care if you call it American Exceptionalism (which I prefer) or something else but the United States always takes the lead, not out of a need to dominate but because nobody else has the fortitude to do so.

If you want exceptionalism for your countries,then do something about it except complain when somebody else does what you won’t.

Category: World Affairs  10 Comments
The Scott Heard ‘Round the World!!
19
January
Steve

WOW!!!! WOW!!! The seat formerly held by the late Senator Edward Kennedy has been won by Republican Scott Brown!! Yes, that’s right! A Republican won the U.S. Senate seat for Massachusetts! It’s an astonishing achievement! And it is the one thing that finally got the attention of the liberal elites in Washington DC and in the lame-stream media.

They refused to listen to the American people in the Tea Party movement. They labeled us “tea-baggers”, a disgusting term, and ridiculed us despite the hundreds of thousands who participated. They didn’t listen to the election results in Virginia and New Jersey last November that saw HUGE Republicans gains in deep blue and purple states. They didn’t even listen to the anger of the American people over the back room, shady deals and outright bribery of senators to secure their votes on a healthcare bill the Left sought to shove down our throats.

Finally, the “Scott” heard ’round the world in Beantown seems to opening their ears. Democrat Senator Jim Webb of Virginia released a statement saying, “… I believe it would only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated.” Even ultra-liberal Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) released a statement that suggested the Senate Democrats should go back and rework their healthcare legislation. When the libs are saying stuff like this, you KNOW they’re scared.

However, I suspect the Democrats hearing improvement is only temporary. They’ll be back to their tin-ear ways of ignoring the people and attempting to ram liberalism down our throats in no time.

This is good news for the GOP. Scott Brown’s epic victory in Massachusetts will be a great recruiting tool to attract strong Republican candidates into the 2010 race. Then, once again, the Revolution will be televised.

Category: Politics General  7 Comments
There Is No Bliss.
04
December
Susannah

Richard Cohen seems to be experiencing some buyer’s remorse in regard to Barack Obama. Last week in a column, Mr. Cohen lamented that Barack Obama has lost much of the “moral clarity” that he had when he was running for president. To be specific, Mr. Cohen wrote the following—

“But to reread the speech is also to come face to face with an Obama of keen moral clarity. Here was a man who knew why he was running for president and knew, also precisely, what he personified. He could talk to America both as a black man and a white man — having lived in both worlds. He could — and he did — explain to America what it is like to have been a black man of Wright’s age and what it is like even now to be a black man of any age.”

Gee—I didn’t think that was a qualification to run for president (maybe a qualification to be a motivational speaker), but I digress.

Then, after admitting that he had been the one “In my set” to have some reservations about Barack Obama (even though he wrote nothing but glowing columns about Obama pre-election), Mr. Cohen wrote the following—

“Somehow, though, that moral clarity has been dissipated. The Obama who was leading a movement of professed political purity is the very same person who as president would not meet with the Dalai Lama, lest he annoy the very sensitive Chinese. He is the same man who bowed to the emperor of Japan when, in my estimation, the president of the United States should bow to no man. He is the same president who in China played the mannequin for the Chinese government, appearing at stage-managed news conference and appearances — and having his remarks sometimes censored. When I saw him in that picture alone on the Great Wall, he seemed to be saying, “What the hell am I doing here?” If so, it was a good question.

The Barack Obama of that Philadelphia speech would not have let his attorney general, Eric Holder, announce the new policy for trying Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four other 9/11 defendants in criminal court, as if this was a mere departmental issue and not one of momentous policy. And the Barack Obama of the speech would have enunciated a principle of law and not an ad hoc system in which some alleged terrorists are tried in civilian courts and some before military tribunals. Where is the principle in that — what works, works? Try putting that one on the Liberty Bell.”

Furthermore, Maureen Dowd also seems to be experiencing some buyer’s remorse in regard to vigorously supporting Barack Obama. In a recent column (where she actually has some nice things to say about Sarah Palin), Ms. Dowd writes the following—

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Category: Politics General  Tags: , , , , , , ,  29 Comments
China Wants Their Money Back….[Open Thread]…..
24
November
Susannah

This SNL cold opening is absolutely hysterical. Enjoy, and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

This diary was originally posted on The Minority Report.

Category: Politics General  Tags: , , ,  5 Comments
No Guilt, Only Gall
22
November
StephC

800px-Mary_Landrieu_DNC_2008The author of the article likens it to a Tennesee Williams play. Mary Landrieu sold out the country for $300 million, not $100 million as previously reported. Dana Milbank is right. It is a play but nothing really like those from Williams.

The script has become old and worn from overuse and the lines have been memorized by those who hear them, more so than those who act the parts for our benefit. The patrons are mutinous demanding better for their money but the actors seemed locked into this one play unable to step out of it to engage in another.

“My vote today,” she [Landrieu] said in a soft Southern accent that masked the hard politics at play, “should in no way be construed by the supporters of this current framework as an indication of how I might vote as this debate comes to an end.”

How many times have we heard this same claim, yet, 97% of all bills that are approved in cloture become law. The actor indicates he hears the mutinous crowd, promising something different, but as the final act ensues we hear once again the same tired lines that echo in our memory like a too real nightmare proving to the patrons they were not heard at all.

Note: This is quite likely one of the shortest posts I’ve ever written but does anything more really need to be said?

Crossposted to RedState.

Category: Bill of Rights/Civil Rights, False Premises, Healthcare, Neocommunism, Opinion, Pathetic Politics, The Constitution  Tags: , , , ,  5 Comments
Understanding Narcissism is Understanding Obama
19
November
StephC

It’s often quite difficult to talk about once having been an abused spouse because it elicits expressions of sympathy and overshadows the point of the posts or articles. It’s not about sympathy for me but looking out for my country. I’m okay. We are not okay.

There have been a few times when I’ve said that Obama reminds me of my ex-husband. My ex-husband is not a black man. You see, I lived with a narcissist for 23 years. That experience is why I recognize the same in President Barack Obama.

Narcissistic personality disorder symptoms may include (Source: Mayo Clinic):

    Believing that you’re better than others
    Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness
    Exaggerating your achievements or talents
    Expecting constant praise and admiration
    Believing that you’re special and acting accordingly
    Failing to recognize other people’s emotions and feelings
    Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans
    Taking advantage of others
    Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior
    Being jealous of others
    Believing that others are jealous of you
    Trouble keeping healthy relationships
    Setting unrealistic goals
    Being easily hurt and rejected
    Having a fragile self-esteem
    Appearing as tough-minded or unemotional

You can look at that list all day long and not understand what you’re seeing in Obama without some examples.

During the last months/weeks of finalizing my divorce from the narcissist in my life, one of my friends confessed something to me one day. She lived on a hill in a wooded area that had been discovered to have old Indian burial grounds. I seemed to have a knack for finding things like that. One time when my husband and I were visiting I had gone off looking for something. She and he struck up a conversation about me, her telling him things about me he apparently didn’t know but should have after 23 years of marriage. The problem was, he didn’t recognize those qualities in himself and I was not a separate person from him in his world. It was when he asked her who she was talking about when it dawned on her that he didn’t even know me.

The narcissist sees everyone in his life as extensions of himself (or herself, although clinical narcissism is more common in men). They are not recognized as separate entities with individual strengths and weaknesses. This country as a whole, is now an extension of Obama. We are not separate beings with our own thoughts and failings or strengths and weaknesses.

The matter of the terrorist trials being held in New York give us an example via Politico.com:

“I don’t think it will be offensive at all when he’s convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him,” Obama told NBC’s Chuck Todd.

When Todd asked Obama if he was interfering in the trial process by declaring that Mohammed will be executed, Obama, a former constitutional law professor, insisted that he wasn’t trying to dictate the result.

In Obama’s mind he’s setting right a wrong, according to the view of his world. It’s inconceivable that his right thing would be very wrong for those whom it most concerns, namely those who experienced deep loss from the attack on the World Trade Center. 9/11/2001. And he exhibits no understanding they would feel any different about the issue.

“What I said was, people will not be offended if that’s the outcome. I’m not pre-judging, I’m not going to be in that courtroom, that’s the job of prosecutors, the judge and the jury,” Obama said. “What I’m absolutely clear about is that I have complete confidence in the American people and our legal traditions and the prosecutors, the tough prosecutors from New York who specialize in terrorism.”

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Category: Obama  Tags: , , , ,  53 Comments
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