Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?
Peter Biskind’s Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, his best-selling look at Hollywood in the 1970s, contains a memorable opening scene: Martin Scorsese as neophyte filmmaker, recently arrived to Los Angeles from New York, getting ready to shoot his first Hollywood movie, and dreaming of bigger and better projects. The big 1971 earthquake hits. Scorsese panics, wants to flee the city. A friend asks him, “Where are you going to go?”
In the 1970s, if you wanted to make movies, you worked in Hollywood, and took your chances with the earthquakes, and the city’s myriad other woes. Where else are you going to go?
Having just punked the anti-war far left, Obama is similarly asking them — where are you going to go? He’s got them in his pocket. Going to vote Nader? I don’t think so. Hillary? She’s in too deep with the administration. Screaming about impeachment, or being duped? You’re just allowing him to rhetorically triangulate towards the center, and play the far left off the rest of America.
Or as the Rhetorican explains, “How Obama Crushed The Dreams of A Generation (of Lefties):”
After the Left successfully demagogued every single move the Bush administration made for 8 years, here he was: a candidate upon whom every single aspiration of the Left could be projected and then some. Independents flocked to him. Crowds gathered in far off countries just to hear him speak. He was The One.
But he was also a product. A product that was marketed and sold, like a Hollywood movie. And like a bad Hollywood movie, he didn’t live up to the hype. And then, irony of ironies, fate turned the tables on Obama and his administration.
Where as in 2000 the Left got behind Al Gore’s ill-advised recount to clamor “stolen election!”, Obama and his DOJ let voter intimidation occur with impunity.
Back in the Bush years, enacting and enforcing the Patriot Act allowed the Left to lament the rise of an Orwellian tyranny under Bush. But then Obama carried on with the same approach to surveillance…and later he let the TSA get away with invading people’s privacy in a far more tangible way.
Bush, Rumsfeld, and Cheney were demonized for erecting the Guantanamo prisoner facility. And yet Obama has kept Guantanamo open.
Transparency, corruption, the economy (the economy was supposed to be bad during the Bush years. Does anyone still believe that?). You name it. Whatever the Bush White House was accused of doing wrong, Obama has done just the same or worse.
Now Obama has his very own war in his hands. A war that is vulnerable to the same criticisms with which the Left barraged the Iraq War Bush pursued.
All of the above and much more present the Left with a monumental problem. Now they look like hypocrites…or fools (Rubes!). Or both. It’s almost as if they forgot about Alinsky’s rules. But they had it coming. They backed the wrong candidate. Many of them probably knew it (how could they have not known it?), but they backed him anyway. They wanted the power. Now they’ve paid for it with their credibility.
But where are they going to go?
How Obama Crushed The Dreams of A Generation (of Lefties)
“How Obama Crushed The Dreams of A Generation (of Lefties):”
Jut goes to show that everyone has some good points.
Even Obambi.
“But where are they going to go?”
Hint: It’s warm there and it smells like brimstone.
I was thinking exactly the same thing.
A lot of them are going to hit the streets when there isn’t a cheap beer night somewhere but a lot of them won’t go to the polls.
I doubt it’ll be a big, long thing but overall I’d say we should of stayed out of the Libya thing. If muslims are killing muslims, I ask, where’s the downside? I mainly care about stopping or at least reducing muslim immigration. Get it?
The downside is when one side wins they then stop killing each other.
Dear Mr. Dricoll – Are you kidding? The Left is always, shall we say, “flexible” when it comes to the actions of those they idolize. Libya is a good war, a just war, a righteous war simply because Mr. Obama has endorsed it (Fortunately – It is actually all of these things.) In areas like this he is more important than being a “mere” policymaker – Mr. Obama is a celebrity!
A very few of the hard, hard Left will grouse but nobody will do anything about it. Code Pink will not dispatch human shields to Libya nor will the usual “humanitarian” groups be mobilized to do whatever it is that they do. The selective memory of the Left will be REALLY selective on this one and if things go badly or when civilians are killed (which they will) then they can always “blame Bush” for “destabilizing” the Middle East with his two “illegal” wars. I don’t know how that last will work but they will tie themselves in knots to find a way.
Yep!
The Arab League wants to back out of the deal. They’ll take a few other countries with them, and the U.S. will be hanging out to dry.
I can’t wait to see how this plays out. But, it could be REAL war. And where will Obama get any allies?
Obama’s sycophants will reluctantly support him. They’re too invested in their obamaworship to repudiate it now.
“He may be an incompetent no-nothing fool, but he’s OUR incompetent no-nothing fool.”
I think you meant “know-nothing fool”.
We know where they will go but the real question is where will the independents and Republican fence jumpers go…?
Obama is going to have a tough time bamboozling people again.
The distinctions are already being made.
Libya is a “multi-lateral approach,” meaning “with the French.” Iraq was “unilateral,” meaning “without the French.”
Yes, without Palau this military mission will be lost. If only we had the coalition of the willing. Where are the Marshal Islands when you need them. Maybe this is not unilateral because a) there is a UN resolution for the mission being carried out and b) there will be Arab Countries included in the mix.
you got to be kidding right? There was some 17 UN resolutions calling for the use of force against saddam hussein. I do believe the only western country not involved in Iraq at first was France. You really are showing your ingnorance. It would be best if you just shut up before we realize just how numb you really are!
“you got to be kidding right?”
No, he is a perfect example of the French delusion.
You know, I was only joking in part.
Well, the Arab League went squishy kind of fast.
Oh, and Bush had UN resolutions, too, about a decade’s worth. Also approval by Congress, as a bonus.
“a) there is a UN resolution for the mission being carried out”
Just one this time? Barack couldn’t get more? Not much of an American President. Weak.
” and b) there will be Arab Countries included in the mix.”
Bush had Kuwait, which really had true hassles with Iraq. Obama has some Qatari aircraft…maybe. Not yet sighted.
France. Fraaaaaaance. Oil. Canada. Total Oil. Obama, another clown for the Desmarais family.
“I’m the only president you’ve got.”
- Lyndon B. Johnson
The question isn’t, where are you going to go”. The question should be, where are they going to stay? They will stay home on election day, Nov. 2012. He can’t get re-elected without the turnout of the base he had in 2008.
Knock on wood. If he makes more mistakes like this, they WILL stay home.
Ironically, the only thing I can think of that will motivate the fringe lefties to support Obama in 2012 is Sarah Palin receiving the Republican nomination for President. As much as they feel Obama’s betrayed them, they will still be able to vote Anyone But Palin without a twinge of conscience; as much as they may hate him (and it’s already begun), they hate her even more.
Iraq had amassed 64 UN Resolutions. Bush let Congress vote and many diplomatic efforts were made via Tariq Azziz. Libya 1 UN Resolution. No Congressional Vote and NO Diplomatic efforts. But Bush RUSHED to WAR.. ?
In Iraq there was a UN resolution for a no fly zone, and that was enforced without much protest. However, there was no resolution for the invasion. Next, people were pissed about Iraq because of the WMD claim that turned out to be BS. Whether Bush knew or should have known is another question, but the fact that there was nothing present did not sit well with people. Here the resolution is to protect the people of Lybia, and that is being followed through. It confuses me when people here clearly pay no attention to the news, but still feel the need to make uneducated comments.
Most of the UN resolutions on Iraq were passed under Chapter 6 of the UN Charter which authorizes the use of force for their implementation. Please get educated before you feel the need to make comments.
Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002
“(a) Authorization.—
The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to—
(1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and
(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq. ”
Timeline, Iraq 2002-2003 Note that Bush got the authorization from Congress, but didn’t start deployment immediately, the diplomatic dance with the UN and Iraq continued for months. Of course, the tactical and strategic situations were different.
It would have done the Libyan rebels a lot more good if the “international community” hadn’t waited so long, the Duck of Death hardly needs any air assets to wipe the rebels out now.
Google Iraq, yellowcake and Canada and tell us again how there wasn’t anything there …
Tempest in a teapot.
They know he has advanced the cause of Marxism more than anyone since Marx himself. Not because he is a better Marxist than Mao or the Russians, or thousands of others, but because he has done the most of anyone, ever, to undermine the United States of America and free people everywhere.
They can scream to the rooftops till the cows come home. Peace is the last think on the nutters’ minds. They would strangle you in a second if they could get their hands around your throat.
Yep. The myth of the anti-war left is just that, myth. The left is not so much anti-war as they anti -capitalism, -tradition, -Christianity, -family, -West, etc. If you believe in any of those and wage war it’s, “Bad War!” If you are against any of those and wage war it’s, “What War?”
For them, duplicitousness is not a bug, it’s a feature.
When your enemies are destroying each other, make sure they stay at it. Committing to a no-fly zone, but no more than that, is like selling weapons to both sides in the Iran-Iraq war- it keeps the enemies fighting each other, rather than us. Then, whoever eventually wins will be so weakened by the fight, they won’t bother us for years. Meanwhile, it costs us no blood and very little treasure to pull it off.
Obama’s slaves will find a way to blame Bush, Palin, or the Tea Party. They are not going to run from their Messiah, or their Chosen One.
Paging Harry Reid. Quagmire alert.
When a swift & glorious victory has been achieved and Mr. Khadaffi is no more, who or what will take his place? Muslim fanatics? Bolsheviks? An unholy alliance of the two?
My recommendation for the next operation to Save the Oppressed is North Korea. Let’s get rid of that potbellied little tyrant they call the “Dear Leader” NOW!
But he was also a product. A product that was marketed and sold, like a Hollywood movie. And like a bad Hollywood movie, he didn’t live up to the hype.
The Obama administration is trying to do a remake of Air Force One.
The trouble is, this movie is Flakes on a Plane.
The Sick Comedy of Barry and Mo
A few generations ago, ”Obama and Gadhafi” or “Barry and Mo” might have suggested a comedy team or comic strip characters. No more. Now there may be comedic elements in that pair but there’s little that’s really funny about either of them.
Thanks to his mainstream media, President Barack Hussein Obama may be riotously gaffe-prone with his references to America’s 57 or 58 states, his use of “corpse,” twice, in lieu of “corps,” his stupidly in calling a Cambridge cop stupid, and a host of other ignorant statements, they are all little known and/or soon buried by his MSM.
Leno and Letterman still crack Bushisms. They dare not touch Obama.
Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, better known as Gadhafi, Khadafy, or just plain Mo and Daffy to some, could be the straight man in that comedy duo since he isn’t nearly as funny as Barry–unless one views maniacal behavior as amusing. Recent events in Mo’s Libya could also be seen as amusing–if one can get past repression, slaughter, and mayhem.
Mo isn’t new to the world of comedy, either. His 2009 United Nations’ speech defending the Taliban and Somali pirates has to be considered a comedy classic, especially since one of his boys, Ali Treki, was then President of the U.N. General Assembly, a situation made even funnier by Libya’s subsequent placement on the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Positively rollicking stuff! Then, along comes Barry and war to steal Mo’s comedic, absurdist-comedic, thunder.
America’s Hamlet-function-alike president, torn between his Muslim roots and his presidential responsibilities, was all verklempt over Egypt’s Mubarak but more so about his bud, Mo. I’m not suggesting Barry is or ever has been a Muslim. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=3926)
I yield to no man in my dislike of Obama, but you just can’t lay the 2008 banking crisis at his door. Not only had it happened by the time he took office, the remedies were largely in place too. Whatever legitimate criticisms you can make about Obama, you can’t blame him for things that didn’t happen on his watch.
But where are they going to go?
You can say the same thing about the TEA Party voters. The people who need to run for office won’t do it because of what it requires.
No matter which side we back in any of these muslim-vs-muslim civil wars, when we finally bail out of our botched meddling, we’ll have a hostile Islamist regime over there and thousands of betrayed and angry radicalized refugees over here.
Bosnia 2.0 … brought to you by Carter 2.0.
Just another half-measure of Progressive feel-good/do-little policy … that fails to deal with the fundamental problem in nations like Libya: the lack of rights-respecting governance that, if present, would protect her people from megalomaniac and Muslim Brotherhood alike.
Nothing less will establish and maintain a sustainable peace … in Libya, in Iraq, anywhere.
Without freedom … and the respect for it by those who govern … peace is just an illusion.
The Left: lying, cheating, thieving criminals who would say anything, and do anything they thought they could hide, to gain and retain power. They don’t give a damn about any of the things they purport to care for. All they want is power and to get all four hooves in that sweet government trough while the stupid conservatives get lashed and jailed by the IRS to keep the trough full. Hypocrisy, thy name is “leftie.”
I enjoy watching Obama and the lefties squirm, but countries need to know that we don’t forget crap like Lockerbie, ever.
Today’s Quote of the Day, “(Obama is) A product that was marketed and sold, like a Hollywood movie. And like a bad Hollywood movie, he didn’t live up to the hype. And then, irony of ironies, fate turned the tables on Obama and his administration.”
Thank you Mr. Driscoll for a great Monday Morning hurrah!
G. Hugh Bodell
Patience, little minnows. Barack Obama is just scrupulously carrying out his responsibilities under Article IV of the Constitution — to “guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government. …”
My prediction: this time next year all of these leftist whiners will get behind Obama like good little Democrat puppets.
Not to worry…the mental retards on the left have already found the real culprits…McCain\Hillary according to the lunatic Andrew Sullivan\JournoListers and the loons protesting at the rallies are blaming Sarah Palin????
Lets face facts, stable minds simply can not predict what the mental nutcases on the Left can contort their diseased minds to believe. They invent their own reality and scream it with sufficient slobbering rage with the full support of their fellow loons in the MSM that it soons becomes the “accepted history”.
Trying to follow the diseased minds of Leftist is a useless enterprise.
You’re wrong about Hillary. She is wired into the Democrat party in a way Obama never has and never will be. Hillary is driving a great big tank down the centerline of the American electorate, and that’s where the Left will follow. Obama’s weak, submissive personality will stand out versus her “strong woman with war leadership” cred. The media will point to the contrast and say, “Obama can’t win the general-too many negatives. Oil, jobs, and he’s a wimp besides. Hilary pulled the trigger because he couldn’t.”
Obumbles loves chaos. But, this is a little more chaos than he can handle, so a vacation in some remote hemisphere is his answer.
It’s like throwing a molotov cocktail through a store front in the ‘hood, then running away.
Well, at least Obama doesn’t have a Barack Obama out there calling him an imperial executive the way that Bush did.
Look at the upside–you can’t blame Obama for Enron! Well, you couldn’t blame Bush either, but they did.
Personally, I think we are doing the right thing in Libya. Iraq and Afghanistan too. Saber-rattling by the US is always a Good Thing. Kill a few Arab despots, pour encouragez les autres.
miriam????????
Didn’t you say you were leaving? You were fed up with OUR conservatism?
Call me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think the left will “take a break” if a Republican wins the next Pres. election. They will shift every mistake Obama made onto the new President, scream and rant about the economy, war, social issues, etc. and the new patsy will be just another whipping boy (Bush) for them as they push for another dictator-in-chief. The media will, of course, oblige them as usual.
So does this make Obama, “Sarkozy’s poodle” ??
You know the world is upside down when a US president is led into war by a “Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey”
YOU AIN’T TRIED ‘LIEDERKRANZ’, sonny!
Misperceptions and Misconceptions on War and Oil
Old Heraclitus knew the only constant was change. Most moderns also perceive the undeniable truth that nothing stands still and that nothing endures indefinitely. One need only refer to politicians to understand the mutability of their most deep-seated beliefs.
Take America’s distinctly non-Heraclitean Vice President Joseph Robinette Biden. Good Ol’ Joe has never been at a loss for words, especially when he can mangle them and his thoughts better than his boss or when he can simply be obtuse.
Like his boss, his beliefs and opinions are written on the wind and he was markedly windy when, among other utterances, and after deep study of the Constitution, he eruditely concluded that, ”The Founding Fathers had vested the power to authorize even the limited use of military force in the Congress not the president—unless it was necessary for the president to act swiftly to repel an attack on the United States or to rescue U.S. citizens:” http://bit.ly/h8uSRp
That was then, in 1998 as the senior senator from the State of Delaware. Now, as VP during the reign of Obama, he remains eerily silent as the president launches an undeclared war in Lybia without so much as an obeisance, a request for a consult, or a May I? from Congress. For all his faults, GWB did his constitutional duty with Iraq and Afghanistan and received the advice and consent of Congress before going to war.
The more things change, the more Joe changes as does President Changeling, the constitutional scholar, who also flipflopped on the Constitution last weekend.
When asked on December 20th, 2007 during his campaign for the presidency when a president “would have the authority to bomb Iran without first seeking authorization from Congress,” candidate Obama was adamant in declaring virtually never: “The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation:” http://bit.ly/eGkLhT
George W. Bush was commander in chief in December 2007, Barack Hussein Obama in March 2011. Either Libya was about to attack America last week or Obama acted in violation of the Constitution when we hurled Tomahawk missiles at Khadafy. Or, everyone, including members of his own party, are misreading the law of the land.
Another misconceived perception is the illogical belief that if America pumps more oil, we would have more oil. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=3937