Obama: Centrist or Liberal? Five Key Tests
Third on the big question list is health insurance. Is he serious about a national health insurance plan this year? Hundreds of billions, perhaps trillions, will be spent on more bailouts and the stimulus plan. That leaves some experts speculating that he can’t be serious about enacting yet another major piece of legislation which would cost hundreds of billions more. Yet every indication is that Health and Human Services secretary nominee Tom Daschle is pushing full steam ahead. That in turn raises yet another question as to whether he is intent on pushing forward a government-oriented health care system which may in practice devolve into a single-payer system. Here, we don’t know the President Obama’s stomach for extended political conflict needed to push through such a plan. Nor do we know the extent of the recession’s impact on businesses (which will be the target for a health care coverage mandate or tax) and the degree to which Americans, when confronted with limits on personal control of their health care, will support such a move.
Fourth on the list of telling issues: Will he knuckle under to Big Labor’s agenda on card check legislation, protectionism, and perpetual auto bailouts? He has sounded less enthusiastic of late about taking away the secret ballot rights of workers, but would he take on his Democratic allies if they pushed that item along on their legislative agenda? Stalled free trade talks at Doha and unratified South Korea and Colombia free trade agreements await the new president. Does he push forward or derail them in a flurry of demands for environmental and labor “standards” – which amount to restrictions on goods coming into the U.S. from countries which don’t follow American minimum wage and OSHA laws?
And finally, we will see how intent he is on reaching out to social conservatives. He’s now talking about deferring to Congress on whether to roll back limitations on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research imposed by the Bush administration. Will he act with caution as well on abortion and gay rights, or will he merely talk in soothing tones while reverting to the liberal line on social issues?
At the heart of all five of these issues is the very real and entirely unanswered question: Who just took office? Some might say he is centrist who is inclined to push for a bipartisan stimulus bill, continue the Bush foreign policy with some rhetorical flourishes, do the bare minimum on health care, give short shrift to Big Labor, and go slow on a liberal social agenda. There are plenty of speeches and personnel picks which might lead one to that alignment on these pressing issues.
But it is equally possible that he will accede to the wishes of the liberals for a gargantuan spending bill, veer left in national security, push through his own version of Hillary Care, go slow on free trade, and go fast on Big Labor’s wish list and the liberal agenda on social issues. Again, there are speeches and personnel selections which might point to that set of choices.
Remarkable as it might seem, we simply don’t know at this point which way he is heading. If it is toward the first set of options, he will enjoy large bipartisan majorities and buy some political cover when things go awry. If it is the latter, he is likely to incur battle after battle with Republicans, risk losing support from Blue Dogs, and have to face the music alone if things don’t go as planned. In a matter of months we will find out just what sort of first term our 44th president wants to have.
“Remarkable as it might seem, we simply don’t know at this point which way he is heading.”
Two years worth of campaigning didn’t tell us. Not a surprise to me.
Barack Obama may be a sincere man—but he is intellectually shallow. Our new president is known to be polite towards conservatives. There is little evidence, however, that he has studied their arguments. At the end of the day, President Obama is a Harvard University elite who bows to the alleged wisdom of John Kenneth Galbraith and Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. He seems to strongly believe in the myth that the New Deal policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt saved capitalism. We are also faced with a disturbing question: is Barack Obama a self hating American? In his heart of hearts, is the president of the opinion that America is experiencing a well deserved blow-back for crapping on the dark skin victims of the world? I remain glad that Obama defeated the feckless and groveling John McCain. The latter gentleman is too unbalanced and overly eager to suck-up to elite opinion. We should have a clearer understanding about President Obama within the next thirty days. He will be tested immediately. Straddling the fence and trying to please everybody will be impossible.
The world will surely intrude upon Obama’s daydreams. How his worshipers will react when they don’t get the unicorns and rainbows and universal brotherly love they anticipate?
I do feel sorry for countries that count upon the United States. I hope they understand that when the going gets tough, the Democrats run away. Trust could prove to be fatal in the Obama era.
On points 1 and 3, yes, he can, but he’ll go slow (or try to); go through the back door on 4; go more or less with 2 with a lot of hopenchange misdirection (if DC goes up in a mushroom cloud (however small), he’ll be in the middle, after all). As for 5, you must be joking.
He’s obviously been told by his advisors that too much new New Deal at once will sink the economy – and him, so there’ll be a war between Bambi and the Pelosicrats over 1 and 3. Possibly over 2, as well, given the number of psychotics in the House – Murtha’s saying he’ll take the Gitmo detainees in his district (recall, western PA?).
I respectfully disagree. BHO’s voting record already shows him to be the most liberal person to ever be a senator – much less president. His orientation is abundantly clear. His actions will come from a hard left orientation tempered by pragmatism. He may toss the center/right an occasional bone in areas that are not as important to him so as to gain credibility in going hard left in his hot button issues. His actions will not so much reveal his orientation as they will reveal his priorities.
Centrist or Liberal? Why are these the choices as to Obama’s governance? I think they are: Liberal or Radical?
Obama the marionette shall dance to whomever pulls the strings.
Actually he has the perfect cover, with solid majorities in both houses he can let them pass the controversial stuff by attaching it to other bills. All he needs to do is forego vetoing it (Bush set a bad example in this regard). Then, if it blows up in his face, he can point at the Capitol Building and say “It was YOUR representatives that created the law”. He can continue to make the centerist noises that the MSM will dutifully report while the RINOs nod their approval.
Unless there is something about him that he has kept well-hidden we are soon to skid off the left side of the road and into the ditch.
Third on the big question list is health insurance. Is he serious about a national health insurance plan this year? Hundreds of billions..
Right now, the drive for universal health isurance is buoyed by two big things.
1. Corporate America and government funders of health care agree the current system is unsustainable. We pay 40-50 % more per capita than nations in Asia and Europe with a higher life expectancy. This cripples American competiveness since the burden of the welfare cases, illegals, and ininsured is transferred to insured citizens premiums and through them to employers and government – adding uncompetive cost to our goods and services.
The real driver is that universal health insurance promises to reduce US government overall spending – reducing the budget – and making our export markets competive again to reduce the frightening current trade deficit.
2. Polls show that next to the economy, health insurance is the 2nd greatest concern of the voter. Terrorism and how happy Bush’s beloved “noble” Iraqi “freedom-lovin folks” are, are well down on the list. We have 18,000 people a year dying from lack of healthcare access. We have 1 million medical bankruptcies a year.
It’s going to happen. Soon. It has to.
(Ten years ago, both my Senators, my Congress Rep, and the Governor were Republicans all opposed to “socialized medicine”. So were all the region’s major private employers. That has gone 180 – all the Republicans were booted, all the employers say that going with universal health care means jobs as we become as efficient on health care “productivity” as the Germans, Dutch, Japanese…)
And finally, we will see how intent he is on reaching out to social conservatives. He’s now talking about deferring to Congress on whether to roll back limitations on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research imposed by the Bush administration.
Given he is deferring to a heavily Democrat, pro-stem cell research Congress, ending the Bush ban on embryonic stem cell research is a done deal. What everyone is watching is for signs the Democrats will backslide and go anti-firearms again.
I would have added a 6th category – balancing energy independence against environmentalist obstructionists. Going for practical energy solutions over pie in the sky “green energy”, real conservation by people vs. stupid token gestures like using one sheet of TP, banning “evil plastic bags and water bottles”. In this area, Obama is starting off and that Hollywood nanny state fanatic Waxman are starting off not so well….
The ONLY issue is how far Left will Obama go, not whether he’s a liberal. Actually one would be snorting something to even consider a person fathered by a Marxist, raised by a communist family, schooled by far left liberals and trained by Alinksy trainers to be anything other than a least a neo-Marxist.
I’d suggest stop snorting and start working on pointing out his horrible decisions he’s made so far – closing Gitmo, shutting down the CIA and dismantling what Bush put in place to keep us free from terrorist attacks. And that’s just from one morning. Wake up and smell the stench of socialism and get off that funny white powder.
@9. cedarford:
What I am afraid of with health care is that the bozos on the Hill with turn it into a competetive pork-flinging contest (see the latest bail-out bill). So we will end up with a horridly expensive and ineffective system.
They have already jumped onto the gun-ban bandwagon in grand style.
As far as energy independence goes they will say a lot and do very little. Many plans, few acheivements.
We don’t know who shot Mr. Burns either, but I know where I’d put my money.
Sorry Jennifer, but it’s really a dumb question.
“If so, that will set the tone for bipartisan work on a host of issues including health care and entitlement reform.”
Why should “The One” care about gaining support of Republicans? What happened to his “landslide” mandate?
Obama and his Pelosicrat (credit to formwiz) Congressional majority are only concerned with the 2010 mid-term elections when they appeal to Republicans for support on radical legislation. In other words, when Dimocrat socialism drives the US into bankruptcy, the Dims want finger-pointing rights. Repubs would be wise to listen politely to Obama/Pelosicrat overtures and respecfully decline to support them, while making their reasons for doing so eminately plain to the public. Repubs need Newt Gingrich wisdom and leadership…now!
We can only repeat the mid-term Republican congressional swing of 1994 by allowing the radical leftists to hang themselves…..while praying they can’t totally destroy the country in two years.
The activity in Washington is elevating the Special Olympics. Our enemies and terrorists shall take pity on us and call off all the jihads and fatwas. I shall never pass up the opportunity to kiss all the frogs.
Cedarford: Do you really think that “universal health insurance promises to reduce US government overall spending – reducing the budget”? Are you kidding? You mean like Medicare has (or will)? Or the Prescription Drug Benefit? What color is the sky in your world? I was with you when you said the current system is unsustainable, but just how do you think the current powers in control view the solution to “universal coverage”? I’ll tell you – Socialized Medicine. Which is DOOMED to eventual fiscal and service quality DISASTER, as every other socialist solution has been and will be, because it runs against basic human nature. While health care is admittedly one of the most hideously complex and vexing social policy issues we face (along with Baby Boomer retirement), I seriously doubt the likely direction the current Congress and Admin will take will prove to be anything but the WRONG direction.
As for energy independence, it is a complete chimera. There simply is no near term (or even mid term) substitute for the superbly convenient packaging of energy known as oil. High energy density, ease of creation, storage & transport, cost, you name it: a true gift from God to man. He just gave most of it to nations that are run by COMPLETE A-HOLES. The only remotely viable competitor from an availability, cost & energy density standpoint is nuclear power for electricity generation. Even that would require vast leaps in battery technology to be able to even partially displace petroleum as a transportation fuel.
We simply have to “embrace the suck”.
Staring In Disbelief @ 15:
You are obviously correct. Europe has bankrupted itself with punitive, oppressive taxation coupled with cradle-to-grave socialism, all while holding a distinct advantage over the American economy. You see, most European nations spend little or nothing to defend themselves. Western Europe has had the luxury of US military protection since WWII. Can the US economy support European-style socialism AND a viable, state-of-the-art military? I say no. SO, which will Obama/Pelosi choose to fund?
Mr Obama’s campaign grand unifying principle was an exquisite flourish around “I am whatever you wish me to be, the omnipotent agent of transformation who will materialize whatever your dearest (but unspecified) yearnings are, etc…”.
By bragging about his magical powers to bring the troops home immediately, he was appealing to the unspoken wish that the war of our time is either unreal or already settled. The same applies to the unmentionable desire of transferance of individual responsibility to the government’s. In short, he was peddling fairy tales instead of policies. Of course that’s what politicians in general are so good at, but this one is a virtuoso, the like of whom we don’t get to see very often!
His historic electoral victory is more a rendition of people’s weariness with reality than a vindication of his past achievements, which make a mighty short list. A community-organizer-in-chief is likely to disappoint more people than any local community organizer will in the “normal” course of things.
The inauguration festivities triggered an orgy of wishful thinking, well beyond the otherwise great symbolic value of the first black man in the white house. Sooner or later the hysteria will subside, and then what?
Mr. Obama was so disciplined in his campaign that what little we can infer of his real thoughts came only from accidental lapses, like his reluctant dismissal of long times allies or his potentially genuine expression of redistributionism under the prompting of our national plumber.
In the end, reality always wins, no matter how deep the denials. Let’s hope he will heed the advice of the realists he comes in contact with, because it’s better if reality wins sooner rather than later. In the meantime, enjoy the vacation!
Hussein Obama is a Marxist period.
He was raised and mentored by Marxists.
1. Stanley Ann Durham his mother.
2. Frank Martin, who some say was more than just a mentor, but is Hussein’s real father.
3. Saul Alinsky
Those are just three of the better known Marxists to have had significant input on Hussein and his thinking at a young age.
The only question is.
Has the MSM gone far enough left to push his Marxist agenda or will Hussein be mostly restricted by the MSM to advancing a liberal socialist agenda?
Western Europe has had the luxury of US military protection since WWII.
Until the 80s, most W. European nations had the Draft and spent comparably on defense save for the cost savings of having cheaper conscripts.
The other countries of NATO did their part during the Soviet Threat.
Cedarford: Do you really think that “universal health insurance promises to reduce US government overall spending – reducing the budget”?
Yes I do. Europe and Japan spend 40-50% less per capita – As Nations – than the US national heathcare burden which one way or the other, makes it to the final costs of our goods and services, crippling exports and costing jobs. Presently, of all the advanced nations, the US version of healthcare is bringing us closer to financial insolvency than the others.
Your rant about socialized medicine bankrupting us is about 50 years behind the reality…To the contrary. And claiming it is otherwise is simply denying reality and brainlessly repeating right wing dogma.
As for energy independence, it is a complete chimera. There simply is no near term (or even mid term) substitute for the superbly convenient packaging of energy known as oil.
Not true. Plenty of substitutes exist and obvious oil conservation steps can be taken. The language is now commonly modified to “get us off depending on bad guys in the ME”. Meaning buying from Venezuela even, certainly Mexico and Canada, is part of the solution.
There are substitutes for oil. In Japan, many cars, buses, commercial trucks and construction gear run on natural gas.
Other oil substitutes and ways to get hefty conservation gains:
1. Synthfuel from US Coal, US Oil Shale, US Natural Gas, Canadian oil Sands, Venezuelan bitumin deposits.
2. Conservation.
3. Steps to increase efficiency plus limit individuals mileage, business and leasure travel. Carpooling. Plan all shopping for one day a week….
4. A 50-cent gas tax that would be plowed into developing synthfuel production and refining capacity for all the US military, initially. Plus R&D on even more efficient cars.
5. More nukes.
6. As much as possible, shift from long-haul trucks to more efficient freighters – rail and barges.
(What worries me about Obama is his Admin may be captured by Greenie kooks that want no realistic oil substitute product and a new era of environmental obstructionism and court lawsuits paralyzing effort to develop any additional energy resource of any kind. Lawsuits are now stopping all large-scale solar projects, even.)
It depend on where you stand. Since most of the people here are to the right of Atilla The Hun, he will be a leftist/socialist/marxist. For the majority of those who voted for him he will be pragmatically left center – more centrists on foreign policy, keynesian on econoic policy and more liberal on social policy. I think this is where the majority of the electoriate is today. He willnever satisfy the wingnuts – nor should he and he won’t entirely satisfy the left because of his pragmatism
Cedarford: Did you mean your response…..”Until the 80s, most W. European nations had the Draft and spent comparably on defense save for the cost savings of having cheaper conscripts. The other countries of NATO did their part during the Soviet Threat.”…..as humor? If not, why have we maintained such a military presence in Western Europe, even since 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed? French and German militaries should be an embarrassment to their respective peoples, who have grow indolent in their addiction to government largess.
Good list. And I’m watching, too.
CAN OBAMA PASS THE AL QAEDA TEST
Bush may be in Texas, but the real threat remains as dangerous as ever.
http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2009/01/al-qaeda-obama-bio-terror.html
“Who just took office?”
Someone who did everything in his power to cause his country to concede oil rich Iraq to America’s self-declared enemies, al Qaeda and Iran.
You need not know more about him, or the American voter, to understand the troubles that await us.
Robert Hurley…If we’re right of “Atila the Hun”, you must be somewhere left of Jane Fonda? You’re right about one thing, Obama will never satisfy us if he fulfills his campaign promises (which I’d like to say a big WHEW because it looks like that was all a farce!). My question to you is, now that he’s taking on Clinton and Bush’s leftovers, where does that leave koo-aiders like you who had such high hopes for that ever elusive “change”.
I’d think you’d be more pissed off than all of the rest of us put together?
TP:
On the contrary, if you have been able to read any of my posts here, you would understand that I have always thougth he would be more pragmatic than most people realize. You can clearly see that from his two books. I am delighted with his choices so far. I differ with him on health care as I believe that a simgle payer system would be far more economical. But what ever he comes up with will be better than what we have.
I just love it, all those good old boy way out left bloggers who panned Hillary Clinton as being a centerist and obama would be their hero, I’d love to throw it in their face. But you can’t post on their exclusive blogs. they don’t like dissenters from their leftist views.
Regarding #19 – You’re an idiot!!!
1. Stanley Ann Durham his mother.
———————————
That’s Dunham. If you’re going to paint her in your narrow little Marxist/Socialist/Communist rants you might as well get her name right!
2. Frank Martin
- Which one? The composer, basketball coach, hockey player? Take off your tinfoit hat and walk away!
3. Saul Alinsky
- A community organizer (code Marxist/socialist/radical)who was a role model for Obama. Only a Marxist in your little little Ayn Rand universe.
Zero is a socialist in the Saul Alinsky mold through and through. Any one who can’t see past the ruse must be visually and mentally impaired. 52% of Americans voted for this socialist and unfortunatley we’re all going to get it good and hard before this is all over. The false messiah has never been a centerist on any thing in his entire life. Have little fear, the immacualate one will cool the planet, lower the oceans, pay your mortgage, and put gas in your car, all before lunch!!!
John Galt has the cheat sheet, up above, for this quiz: BHO is committed to one thing, as has been abundantly and irrefutably demonstrated by what we know of his mentors, his allegiances and his past activities, associations and alliances.
That one thing is the long march of socialism through the institutions. The mere fact that you’ve ever even heard of Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher is ample proof of this.
So the answer to the question posed here was obvious even before it was asked. The only real question remaining involves predicting the coming overall strategy. And even that’s not a very difficult one.
With the 20/20 hindsight provided by his “Clinton II” administration – complete with his very own pet Clinton! – he will try (or, certainly, be urged) to avoid making the impatient mistakes they made in the early 90s that has cost the Left total control of the U.S. government for the past 14 years. That can’t be allowed to happen again: the U.S. is the single significant holdout standing in the way of the global aims of the Left.
That means the continuation of creeping socialism until crises are sufficient and conditions are such that resistance to hard-line, marxist-socialism is no longer feasible short of armed conflict (expect a resurgence in attention to so-called “gun control”, e.g., HR45, 257, etc.).
Key elements in this strategy are a continued stranglehold on higher education – the first institution to fall completely under the control of marxists, socialists and constructivists – and information, via the Fifth Column / entrenched media, which now effectively operates unabashedly and unaccountably as the propaganda arm of the Left.
Control over education and information make reaching the next goals almost trivial: our property and our health. Control over these will slowly come under the purview of the federal government.
Through the nationalization of the banking system – whether virtual or actual, it doesn’t matter – your life savings, as well as the mortgage on your home and any loans you may have outstanding on other property, will soon be under the direct control of the federal government. Since the Democrats don’t plan on relinquishing control over that government any time soon, this means that the investment of your liquid assets will be managed by leftist politicians. Like Nancy Pelosi. Want to withdraw your money? Sorry – a penalty will be required, since you’re taking operating capital away from the vital ‘green’ jobs and research, funded by the investments they prefer.
Nationalization of the health care system in the name of “covering the costs” (as opposed to simply doing something that would bring the costs back into line with other commodities) and providing “universal” health care (which is really nothing more than federally mandated insurance – complete with all the conflicts of interest inherent in who’s doing the mandating) will alleviate you of any troubling decisions you might have to make about your health care… or your lifestyle, for that matter.
Silly, you say? Sorry – it’s already well under way.
The aim of the bailout has already shifted from creating free market credit to providing demand-side “stimulus” – aka federal welfare. The future aims of government spending in the name of “stimulus” are also made clear in Jennifer’s recent post on the topic of the “stimulus” bill. There’s a point at which the distribution of multiple trillions of dollars in treasury investments and taxpayers’ money can no longer be called “federal spending” and has to be seen as socialist wealth redistribution. I think we crossed that line a mile or so back.
Additional wealth redistribution via “adjustments” to the tax code will further relieve you of any additional discretionary income you may have in order to provide demand-side “stimulus”. This uses a mechanism that is already in place. Some 95M Americans (the, uhm, productive 95M) are currently footing the income tax bill for the entire country of 300M+. That 300M+ includes some 95M who earn a paycheck but either pay no tax or have a “negative” tax liability: doublespeak meaning they receive an annual federal welfare check funded by taxes you paid. That is to say nothing of the millions who receive State and federally funded health care, transportation, housing and other benefits – including a significant number of individuals who are deemed “too depressed” to work, or whose past drug abuse has rendered them physically, emotionally or mentally incapable of working, thus qualifying them for SSDI. Watch for all this to be … “enhanced” to include things like being an “unemployed minority”, etc.
A “universal” health care system controlled by the feds will make today’s list of we-know-what’s-best-for-you laws (e.g., trans fats, smoking, etc.) look like anarchy by comparison. When the government becomes the guarantor of your health, your behavior can justifiably be regulated in any way they deem fit to reduce the “burden” you place on society. Don’t think so? It’s already happening in Japan.
Ultimately, if (when) the economy doesn’t recover, price and wage controls will be implemented. They’ll be labeled something else, of course, but once they’re combined with the industry-controlling cap-and-trade scam, they’ll essentially put the finishing touches on handing the federal government control of the means of production nationwide.
When that happens, it’s… Game. Set. Match. And then, by the magic of ignorance, mendacity, apathy and audacity, you will then be living in a socialist country.
Ten years ago this would all have sounded like crazed lunacy. But I’m watching it happen right before my eyes every day.
I have been shocked twice in the last few days. First at the refreshing competence and smart leadership that now represent our great nation. And secondly reading the rants of you sad ignorant people. The adults are in charge now, go watch Nascar.
Cedarford – Using conscripts is NOT cheaper! They’re not slave labor. They get the same pay as everyone else. They’re more expensive, because the duration of service. Most Euro nations draft for one-year service, or two-years for technical specialties.
In our Army, two years is the minimum. It takes six months to train an infantryman, and another six months for him to be sufficiently accomplished to be considered a regular (Private First Class).
Compare the two. Just as a Euro soldier is getting competent, he’s done. The cost of training is high. It is somewhat balanced by the fact that conscription is cheaper to run that full recruitment like our system, but in the long run, we get more bang for our buck.
In the 80′s, the FRG (West Germany) carried between 20% and 25% of NATO’s cost (amount and accounting varied). The U.S. spent even more. Furthermore, many of our home forces, while not specifically earmarked for NATO commitment, would certainly in practice have been sent there in event of a major conflict. These were not counted in the totals, or our share would have been even larger. Britain, France, and Italy were next in line. The U.S. Army in Europe was as large as each of these countries’ forces, figured by number of combat battalions and strength of each. Plus, ours were fully manned. The Euros depended on mobilization to finish manning their units; a dangerous idea, considering the speed of modern war.
It gets better. France, for example, had no provision for long-term war. Their war plans included mobilizing their school units for frontline duty. No replacements would be forthcoming beyond some still experienced reservists. Canada was set up the same way, and their contribution was almost negligible: four battalions in Europe, and three in Canada with pre-positioned equipment in Europe. These two ountries had obsolete equipment from the sixties in their firstline units.
Belgium, Holland, and Denmark were only a bit better off in equipment, but the same in readiness. Norway’s contribution was negligible, and wouldn’t allow the stationing of foreign troops on their soil during peacetime, which meant that our 4th Marine Bde would have 600 miles of really rough terrain to cover to get to the front after picking up their pre-positioned equipment.
Theater exercises had our NATO commanders requesting release of battlefield nuclear weapons within six days from the initiation of festivities, which meant we were losing to the Warsaw Pact forces… in a week. This was mostly due to lack of depth. The Euros lacked sufficient troops and ours had to come overseas, the first of such arriving at D+10 (excluding ReForGer units). That means they’d arrive after the nukes had been launched.
So, tell me again how the Euros shouldered their share of defense, excepting the FRG, of course?
Who knows? Someone who campaigns on hope and change, but doesn’t define it, does give one much to go on.
Personally, I think he will be a total disaster, taking us down the road to a socialist/police state, giving away American sovereignity to appease the globists, and being responsible for the continued slaughter of the unborn.
Other than that, what more can he do to us?
I take back what I said about our new President. He’s not incompetent. He’s juvenile and adolescent. After this mornings news conference, I’m convinced. He’s an absolute joke. We The People are screwed. And this includes you pathetic Obama supporters.
Jtron: Democrats adults? That is hilarious! You’re killing me! And “leadership”! Over a cliff, right? Stop it, my sides are hurting! When you grow up you should consider comedy as a “career” (there’s that word again). Its got to be better than being a tool and a toe-sucker for some of the worst people on the planet.
BTW, Here is one of you “adults”: http://www.drudgereport.com/ri1.jpg
Sure looks like the kind of mature adult I would want on the White House, youbetcha.
Seriously, this is shaping up to be the most incompetent administration since JFK. Maybe the worse ever. These people could not sell noodles in China.
If he keeps going like he is going, 2010 will be sweet! And just in time for you to make that big move out of your mommy’s basement too. You have a real gift there. You are almost as funny as Biden replacing Cheney.
Just who are these traitors who would criticize our truly elected president in a time of war? Or is that no longer a guiding principle? How about “America, love it or leave it.” When you do may I suggest the newly minted democracies of Iraq and Afghanistan that “W” seems so proud of. If you decide to stay, at least try to be somewhat constructive and cooperative until we get a handle on all the problems that following your misinformed advice has wrought. If you’re not aware of them, I suggest reading any metro daily newspaper for a few days instead of getting your information from Fox, talk radio, or this site.
The Obama regine is fast turning into the most hated and feared administration in this country’s history. After stealing the 2008 election, the Obama clique now has its sights on destroying democracy and the economic foundations of our nation. Just look at the damage done to Microsoft today (down $2.75) for an indication of what the future will be like. This is clearly the most incompetent president ever! We must send a strong message that we’ve had enough already! 2 days is two days too many!
- … I suggest reading any metro daily newspaper for a few days …
Heh. Which is what put your brain so completely to sleep and, thus, at the mercy of whoever filled it with that sludge you just posted.
- The adults are in charge now…
HA. Ha. ha. Sure they are. That’s the most ironic joke I’ve read all day.
And it was a looonnng day.
There is not a metro daily in this country that tell the truth. Wait, do you write material for Jtron?
I cannot seem to post a direct link to this, so I am going via hotair.
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/01/22/video-no-stimulus-money-for-white-males/
37. jimino:
You poor thing; Sounds like you need a laxative. Try an Obama. Where I live they use them to prepare for a colonoscopy.
jimino,
What do daily metro newspapers have to recommend them? They write whatever they think will sell the rag, so that their advertisers will have a market for their pitches. How is that different from NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, CNN, and all the “news” sites on the Internet? Why do you single out FOX, talk radio, and this site when none of the other choices are any different?
jimino:
Traitors? I don’t think you’ll find anyone here wishing for our soldiers to be defeated (excluding the lefty trolls, of course). One could respond with a ‘Whatever happened to dissent being the highest form of patriotism’?
The fact is, there are millions people love America as it is and have no desire to ‘remake’ it. Common sense tells them is is much, much easier to destroy than it is to create. Democrats have demonstrated that in every large American city they have governed.
#32:
“I have been shocked twice in the last few days. First at the refreshing competence and smart leadership that now represent our great nation. And secondly reading the rants of you sad ignorant people. The adults are in charge now, go watch Nascar.”
Smart leadership and refreshing competence? Like in that nominee for the Secretary of Treasury who just happened to forget to pay his taxes for several years? Or the Secretary of State who has a husband who raised a fair amount of that $460 million off of dubious characters from around the world and who will have a significant say in shaping our foreign policy? Or the nominee to lead the Justice Department and his role in pardoning Marc Rich?
That’s what you consider to be smart and refreshing?
Barak Hussein Obama is a puppet pulled by the liberal strings of the left. It’ll take at least his fist term for the sheep of America to see their mistake.
In the 1990′s, Obama was a member of the Marxist’s “New Party”. That is a fact. Also, twenty years sitting underneath Rev. Wright – this guy is a pure Socialist. He loves the word “Redistribution” and has used it often in his speeches. He is hardly no moderate, neither a typical liberal, but a full fledged Socialist.
General Patton Death
…his fist term…
If that was a typo it was accidently brilliant.
Whether or not Saul Alinski was a Marxist is irrelevant. He was a Satanist who dedicated his book to the Devil. Anyone who would consider him a role model ought never be trusted.
The big question for me is have we passed the tipping point where the voting blocks and receivers of government largesse out number the “regular folks”.
I think we are very close and the Left has their hands on the levers of power now. So with a relatively little effort I think Obama can come out as a Leftist and he and his party still remain dominant.
Things will hinge on the perception of the blue dogs. If they think they are in trouble at home we may have a chance, but if party discipline prevails I’m pessimistic
It’s pretty amazing how Ms Rubin’s written her fourth(?)column addressing the need to put POTUS 44 into an ideological box…That inclination is the primary reason why the GOP is shrinking –fast..The Republicans have parsed themselves into sub-groups (RINO,CINO) that further divide a “national” party to no good end…There’s been much chatter about Obama’s “pedestrian” inaugural address…Well, here’s one line that WILL stick around: “It’s time to put away childish things..” Obama said that in ref to those who judge everything thru a narrow ideological lens..It’s fair to say, based on the first 2 days, that Obama will do what he SAID he’d do: Tax cut for middle class, disarming the “great Satan” rhetoric by closing GITMO, emphasis on ongoing diplomacy beyond the “fly in” style exhibited by Bush’ State Dept…No one here would bet against being out of Iraq within 3 years OR that we’ll intiatiate talks with Iran (not expecting anything)…Obama’s an easy read. He will check off campaign promises and move to the next one….Obama’s neither “Liberal”, “Conservative”, nor “Centrist”…Obama’s COMPETENT. He’ll do what works and change what does not…He’ll do this while Conservatives continue to try to box him into an ideology…The guy’s playing a different game than the typical lib/con death-match. The Conservatives need to step up with new IDEAS… The lifeguard’s blown the whistle and announced: “Kids out of the pool! It’s time for adult swim!”.
I keep coming across information from real journalists that contradict everything that the people here believe. You all never let factts get in the way of your opinion
This from the Wall Street Journal
“And there is Mr. Coburn. “We consider each other friends,” he says in an interview. “Not friends like everybody in the Senate says, but real friends.”
Mr. Coburn is a blunt-speaking, unapologetically conservative Oklahoma family physician who was a member of the 1994 class of House Republicans that stormed to power behind Newt Gingrich to take over that chamber. He retired from the House in 2001, then returned to Congress by winning a Senate seat in 2004 — the same year one Barack Obama was elected from Illinois.
The two found common cause by uniting to push through a bill designed to stem the spread of earmarks, those legislative provisions that funnel money to lawmakers’ specific pet projects. Their bill aimed to reduce the use of earmarks by casting a harsher spotlight on them, creating a public, searchable online database listing the recipients of all federal spending.
A tie was formed, and Mr. Obama kept it alive by reaching out to Mr. Coburn during the transition. “We have a little talk about spiritual things, and then we’ll talk about other things, things he wants to talk about,” including the use of those financial-market rescue funds, Mr. Coburn says. Ironically, it’s the kind of outreach the senator says he never got from the just-departed president of his own party, George W. Bush.
Ayn Rand was right.
Robert Hurley:
It’s interesting how you spend so much time here trying to convince yourself that you are right. You strike me as being someone very insecure in their own convictions and desperate to maintain your facade.
Were you comfortable in your own skin, I doubt that you would not feel so threatened by an alternate value system. Put another way, you would be much more ‘tolerant’.
@Hurley: Do you think because you found an article quoting a Senator who claims to be BHO’s BFF, that this contradicts “everything that the people here believe”?
In fact, do you think that contradicts anything “that the people here believe”?
If so, just exactly what do you think you’re contradicting about what “the people here believe”?
p.s. Did you study logic at the same place as David S.? You should both request a tuition refund.
@TruthHurts: BHO has done nothing more than sign some non-specific, non-binding orders. Unlike an Act passed by Congress, he can change those orders at any time, as the polls dictate. That’s called talking the talk without walking the walk, and in this case it’s done to placate people like you who see it as keeping a campaign promise. Clinton did pretty much the same thing when he signed the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998 and “followed up” by never doing a single constructive thing to actually liberate Iraq.
Since BHO’s administration is effectively “Clinton II – the HopeyChangey Version”, we can expect the same kind of empty rhetoric from him. If / when he actually closes GITMO, please drop a comment at my blog. I’ll keep the light on for ya.
Meanwhile, the new HopeyChangey foreign policy looks eerily familiar:
“At least seven people were killed, but there [sic] identities were not immediately known.”
Obviously not one of Hurley’s “real journalists”.
Goy – Looks like you missed my point – So much for casting pearls before swine
You can’t figure it out on your own? Use you brain. He is Left…the question is: is Obama an Uberleft member?
Hurley, you never made a point. I called you on it.
You also failed to answer the question. I’m calling you on that, too.
Hurly: You would not know the truth if it came up and bit you in the rump.
That underused mind of yours is so full of liberal propaganda you are not even aware that you not the slightest idea what you are talking about. You are just running Democrat hustlers’ words though your mouth. While you think that it makes you look “intelligent” and “compassionate”, the reality is that it just makes you look like a thoughtless, pompous fool. You are publically humiliating yourself and you do not even know it. It is amazing how much you believe the garbage the Democrats put out, but what is really shocking is you self-importance. Earth to Hurly: No one cares what you think.
(BTW, excepting the op-ed pages and the hard core financial reporting — which are mostly created by completely different staffs than the rest of the newspaper — the WSJ’s staff is just like those of any other New York media firm. I know, some of them live in my neighborhood. It is just liberal myth that the WSJ is a “conservative paper”, particularly in their political reporting. They are the same sort of people that work for the NYT, or NBC. It is a lie ust like the lie that FOX is a “conservative” news outlet. It all goes to show how clueless you are about the reality of things.)
You have these little snits here because you are a narcissist, not because you have any actually claim to truth, thought or knowledge. They are just fits of narcissistic rage.
Unlike most of the idiotic forums (and saloons, no doubt) that you must hang out in, people here are mostly accomplished adults, not some immature, ineffectual, foul mannered, irrational, ill-educated and unaccomplished little boy like you. They live in the real world, and do not blame other people because they cannot face their own lot in life (which is really your problem). They have heard the same nonsense out of the Democrats over and over again for decades.
I do not even know why you post here. NOBODY here has any intellectual respect for you whatsoever, and remember that the average poster here is much more intelligent, accomplished and educated that you are (comically, you cannot get that). Moreover, you are so immature and foul-mannered here that most do not have even simple, every day human respect for you.
You just come across as some overgrown, adolescent mediocrity who cannot deal with the fact that adults do not see him as he sees himself. The best you get is pity, but people here mostly interact with you for the entertainment value of it.
If you behave like this at work, I’d bet that you are already on someone’s layoff list. You deserve that pink slip should it come. See if the Democrat help you then. Bet you are out of work for a llong, long time.
I know that you will respond with your usual childish tantrumz, but I really do not care.
I wonder what your parents must think of you. I’d bet they are ashamed, or would be if they saw how you behave here. I know I would be.
you not=you DO not
actually claim= actual claim
What’s in a label? Doesn’t matter if he’s a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent, black, white, red, etc. It just matters that he’s smart, he’s honest, he cares about the middle class, he wants health care for all, he wants better relations with other countries, he’s not arrogant, he’s wise beyond his years, and he wants to abide by the laws of this nation and the framework of our constitution. Why do we have to create this divide? This man proves that he loves all of us, and is willing to work with the retards on the right, even though he knows they hate him. That’s class, that’s humility, that’s head and shoulders above the majority of our past presidents. I keep telling you folks, just sit back and watch how to successfully run a country.
HURLEY S A TROLL.
Obama is neither a centrist nor a liberal; he’s a socialist! Big difference. I’m sick of people abusing the liberal label.
Liberalism was the founding ideology of the USA; capitalist, democratic, rule of law, seperation of powers, etc. In the 1940s the Socialist Party of America’s presidential candidate Norman Thomas concluded:
“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism, but under the name of liberalism, they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened.”
Over the last four decades the socialist wing in the Democratic Party has entirely coopted the term liberal, with the help of Reagan and other clueless conservatives.
Obama perfected the deceit following the Alinsky method. The US is now sliding into socialism and Obama is rigging the political landscape to ensure his reelections to a second and third term.
FYI, I was born and raised in the Netherlands and studied Political Science in Amsterdam. I know socialism.
Before starting to talk about UGG boot styles, I must initial handle individuals people around the planet, who have no idea in any way as to ugg boots stuff for sale what UGG ” booties ” truly are. These are ” booties ” are of Australian make and use sheepskin as their raw materials. They’ve fleece around the inner facet plus a tanned outer layer. Apart from boots for uggboots adults, additionally they manufacture kid’s footwear.
The history with the usage of those shoes or boots is pretty fascinating. Pilots applied to put on these gold ugg boots fleece lined boots throughout the 1st Planet War and it has also been discovered that farmers in Australia, within the 1930s employed to wear UGG shoes or boots too for holding their feet warm and cozy. It applied to serve the similar purpose for that surfers as they too needed some warmth for their feet to resume some blood circulation right after truly long hours on the sea. The variety of UGG kid’s boots are produced with specially the routines from the children in mind. They are a restless bunch of young children and so they uncover it truly simple to slip in and out of these ” booties “.
UGG kid’s ” booties ” have proved to stand tall to the check time. If these shoes or boots had been a rage last season, they can still prove to get the trendsetter’s favorite more than the years. A host of celebrities from Oprah Winfrey to Paris Hilton have sworn by these boots. UGG footwear can correctly be termed as the focal stage wherever comfort and style meet. Though UGG boot styles in fact meant unsightly boots, when they’re worn, they look something but ugly.
The UGG kid’s shoes or boots appear to pay a great deal of attention towards the actuality that little ones nowadays are extremely fashion conscious and adore to decorate effectively and search very good. Which is most likely the cause why uggs usa the corporation manufactures boots for them that are in bright shades and seem funky. To cater to different tastes you will discover two sorts of lengths available, the lengthy along with the short. These boots are as a result a ought to have inside the cupboard s of youngsters spread throughout the globe.
The Little ones Uggs uggs outlet
also arrive in quite little sizes which are appropriate for infants whose age varies from newborns to about two yr olds. These boot styles are fitted with Velcro so that no dilemma arises involving the slipping on and off of these boots.
For your mothers and fathers who are now eager to see their children’s faces glow with pleasure, your best alternative will be to visit kidsshoesdirect.co.uk. These guys store a massive collection of Youngsters Ugg ” booties ” and at amazingly beneficial bargains. The key for your kid’s happiness women’s ugg boots is only a click on away.