Exceeding Your Grasp
Impotent abroad, facing unexpected economic declines for the second month running, unable to raise money from former donors, ratings collapsing on the prediction markets, and with senior staff members reportedly shoving each other in the White House, what has happened to Hope and Change? Forbes recently noted with amazement that President Obama has been receiving severe criticism from Move On for his inability to close Guantanamo prison and Wall Street. If a debacle is in the making Michael Barone suggests that its roots may lay in a fundamental misreading of the situation by the President’s political staff.
“Axelrod is endeavoring not to panic.” So reads a sentence in John Heilemann’s exhaustive article on Barack Obama’s campaign in this week’s New York magazine …
The picture Heilemann draws is of campaign managers whose assumptions have been proved wrong and who seem to be fooling themselves about what will work in the campaign.
One assumption that has been proved wrong is that the Obama campaign would raise $1 billion and that, as in 2008, far more money would be spent for Democrats than Republicans. Heilemann reports the campaign managers’ alibis. Obama has given donors “shabby treatment,” he writes. This of a president who has attended more fundraisers than his four predecessors combined. …
A second assumption is that the Obama managers “see Romney as a walking, talking bull’s-eye” and have “contempt for his skills as a political performer.”
Those assumptions held that a campaign which emphasized the differences, thereby “rallying currently unenthusiastic core Obama voters —- Latinos, young voters, unmarried women” would deliver the White House a second time. But if those assumptions proved false, Barone concluded, it “could be a problem for them”.
So far it is not working. Peggy Noonan says, “the president’s campaign is making him look small and scared.” So they’ve doubled down. Leo Gerard at the Huffington Post writes “Mitt Romney Enjoys Your Pain” in the hope that that enough mud is thrown some voters may pushed over the line by the avalanche of slurry.
But some observers think Axelrod has crafted a losing game plan. Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post asks, “why hasn’t he fired David Axelrod?”
A longtime Republican operative described Axelrod’s performance as akin to the performance of “Baghdad Bob” in the Iraq war. Seriously, he insists on putting himself front and center, rather than deferring to more endearing and skilled operatives. He winds up bolstering Mitt Romney’s message, getting shouted down or pummeled on TV.
Axelrod seems clueless about how to run anything but a “change” election, which is problematic, if not disastrous, for an incumbent president. The brass-knuckles campaign he has devised has made Romney a more effective and attractive candidate, while turning the president into an angry and petty figure. Not since Mark Penn helped drive Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign into the ground has a famed campaign guru stumbled this badly.
One answer to Jennifer Rubin’s question is “because firing Axelrod won’t make any difference”. President Obama’s choices in the political casino are now to await events and hope for a break from Fate, to stand pat on his cards and hope Romney draws a bum card before November or to double down.
Let’s say Obama keeps Axelrod. With the Eurozone in crisis, the Middle East a disaster waiting to happen and nothing but bad news expected on the domestic economic there is little prospect in that Fate will suddenly be generous and hand the President a sudden winning card.
Let’s say Obama fires Axelrod and doubles down. Well, when you are down far enough you will try anything. The Euro project is failing so badly that George Soros has actually proposed moving toward a European political union to save the currency. You have to be pretty desperate to advocate abolishing ancient nations to save a currency. But the EU project is now so far down he’s got nothing to lose by taking the shot.
Military history is replete with examples of the “last throw of the dice”. Napoleon’s Waterloo, The Battle of the Bulge and the Final Kamikaze Defense of Okinawa are but a few examples. None of these were likely to succeed, and they didn’t. While it is true that in desperate straits, only a high-risk, high-return strategy can provide any chance of recovery the odds are that you’ll blow everything you have left and then some. The cardinal rule to doubling down is you should only try it when there’s a good chance that you can pull it off. Since there’s no reason to expect doubling down will prove effective, firing Axelrod may not work either.
That leaves standing pat. Suppose the President said nothing and tried to act Presidential. This might have worked had he tried the tactic while he was still ahead. But now, given his position behind in the polls, standing pat means he will have to hang quietly on and hope for the best.
Politics is an uncertain business. But if Obama loses in November the campaign post-mortem may well conclude that the “war on women, the Romney is Mormon me, that he worked at Bain” meme proved was a bridge too far. The point of overextension. The hidden cost of going a bridge too far was when it didn’t work then the Obama campaign fell behind at the only time when it might have been feasible to stand pat. Now that he’s blown his reserves and can’t go forward, what shall he do?
Belmont Commenters
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Don’t discount the fact here are many waggable dogs out there.
Since there’s reason to expect doubling down will prove out, firing Axelrod may not work either.
You probably intended a NO before reason.
I wonder if maybe what’s going on is that Obama fell into the fatal trap of believing his own hyped up press about how skillfull a politician he is. So instead of letting the pros run things, he has taken over the general direction of the campaign. That could explain the amateurish attacks and tone deaf messaging. Gotta love tha hubris..
FORWARD!
epignosis, fixed the typo.
To repeat another Democrat campaign mantra ” it’s about the economy stupid”.
Quick, name one serious effort to improve the economy by our Dear Leader other than that massive crony payoff giveaway called the “stimulus”. Buraq has not even tried to improve the economy. Everything he has done can actually be interpreted to have hurt the economy and to have made things worse – some say on purpose. And with the economy falling into another statistical recession, Buraq still has no plans to stimulate the economy. None, Zilch, Nada.
So why would anyone vote for this malignant narcissist clown?
The Democrats are sitting ducks with this clown at the helm, and I hope Buraq runs the Democratic Party into the ground so badly that the stench will last for generations.
If he loses, every liberal will crap all over him so they can argue still that liberalism is viable but that Obama was so clueless, he couldn’t carry the ball. Be great to see such an arrogant, malignant narcissist be remembered as the worst president in history-a punchline for the rest of his life.
We will know by this time tomorrow night. As Sen. Brown was a wind vane for 2010, so Walker is for 2012. If Walker wins by a greater margin then last time, it means the voters like his program and the Donks are fork ready. if he loses or squeaks out a win, expect a nailbiter in November.
I think the big mistake the Donks have made is trying to make this an election of Mitt vs the Won. It isn’t, hasn’t and won’t be. The election is about the Socialist policies of Obama* and the Clown Posse. Their record is dismal. Blaming Bush is not gonna get any traction at this late date. Their best bet was to blame Bush then explain (make up) what went wrong with their plan and what they would do to adjust it. That would have required them to abandon their Socialist Dogma and Keynesian Economics. Not gonna happen. Where did I put that fork……..
* Those that argue that Obama isn’t a socialist because the government doesn’t own the means of production and distribution outright let me say that definition is obsolete. Through extensive regulation the government CONTROLS the means of production and distribution, which is the same as owning them.
When you plan a revolution, whether with ballots or bullets, there are a few things you need to know. One is where you want to go; they had a clear idea, and the wit to make certain the public did not notice. The other is where the people/country is; they are clueless on this. There is such a total disconnect that they are constantly misreading the public reaction. At least outside of the faculty lounges. 2004 was much the same.
Contempt is the primary filter through which the left views all its opponents. A reading of any left-leaning blogs and blog comments will prove the accuracy of that statement. They are, pardon the pun, constitutionally unable to see opposing views as valid or substantive.
From the beginning, this administration revelled in the opportunity provided by the financial crisis. “Never let a crisis go to waste”. How can the public condemn our efforts to prime the pump, invest in the future?
Wasteful spending for pork-barrel projects and pay-offs to party faithful will not matter, since all we have to do is recover like normal. No one will be the wiser, after all, it’s worked so well in Chicago.
We’ll just keep the socialist party line – ratchet up the redistribution and when the bill comes due, tax the rich to close the gap. Repeat the tired line that the rich need to pay their fair share. Show some charts that indicate an increasing wealth gap.
The no holds barred healthcare debacle and the “let’s reward our friends and punish our enemies” demonstrated that he never intended to be a leader of the American people, only those that support the socialist goals and agenda.
One thing remarkable about great leaders is their ability to lead all the people, even those that held opposing views. Reagan had that.
Obama never tried to lead the American people. If you failed to kneal in adoration, if you criticized or disagreed, you are the enemy.
Karl Rove mentioned something about the Obama campaign is burning through money at a rather high rate. The implication being that they are running a crony capitalist version of their campaign; too much money going for buddies on staff, food, drink, transportation, hair stylists, and etc. perhaps.
It is not only Obama’s staff and cabinet officers showing feet of clay in their mouths but the candidates and spokespeople he has promoted and endorsed, for examples, Debbie Wassermann Schultz is showing herself to be not too bright and politically tone deaf. Warren “I’m a woman of color” doubles down after getting caught, and on and on.
‘The picture Heilemann draws is of campaign managers whose assumptions have been proved wrong and who seem to be fooling themselves about what will work in the campaign.’
I wonder if you can draw any conclusions about a person by how they deal with baldness. Axelrod does not seem to know that he is bald. Absolutely delusional about it. I am not aware of any of the president’s advisors handling baldness well. Remember Orzag’s attempt to popularize the ratskin cap? These guys cannot see what everyone sees; does their peculiar blindness extend into other areas? And is it shared by other members of the hive?
I’d love to see the Romney campaign put together a montage of clips from that Anna Wintour video along with some from Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. And then to play it in heavy rotation in “fly-over country”.
Wow. The Devil who wears Prada and Sarah Jessicanose Parker, fashonistas extraordinaire. THAT will go over well in the heartland.
14.Ask and ye shall recieve-the RNC is on top of this tone-deaf ad:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/new-rnc-ad-attacks-obama-for-campaign-ad-featuring-anna-wintour/
Also, horse-faced Sarah Jessica Parker has a mockable ad where she invites the public to register for a chance to win dinner with her and the One. I wonder if hay, oats and barley are on the menu?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/04/us-sarahjessicaparker-obama-idUSBRE85301L20120604
To paraphrase that great man of God, Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s chickens are coimin’ home to roost. Even the best conceived campaign won’t compensate for 42 months of disastrous policies.
Stoicheon #8:
I think the big mistake the Donks have made is trying to make this an election of Mitt vs the Won. It isn’t, hasn’t and won’t be. The election is about the Socialist policies of Obama and the Clown Posse.
Tregonsee #9:
There is such a total disconnect that they are constantly misreading the public reaction. At least outside of the faculty lounges. 2004 was much the same.
Zhombre #10:
Contempt is the primary filter through which the left views all its opponents.
epignosis #11:
Obama never tried to lead the American people. If you failed to kneel in adoration, if you criticized or disagreed, you are the enemy.”
Cris #14:
I’d love to see the Romney campaign put together a montage of clips from that Anna Wintour video along with some from Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. And then to play it in heavy rotation in “fly-over country”.
Less than twenty comments and so many commenters from so many backgrounds are damn near singing in harmony, and none of us should be surprised.
A pattern is emerging on this thread, and quickly. Rightly so, the commenters have identified a weakness of thought amonst the left which is aggravating to the center/right but may end up being their Achilles heel.
Currently, hatred of and condescension towards the center/right in this country is the defining attribute of the Dems. Three strains of this occur:
1. People who have abject fear that the perfect income security brought by government employment or, in the case of “private sector” rent-seekers, government regulation will be scaled back if a center/right government were to prevail, introducing anxiety into their lives for the first time in years or decades
2. People who have abject fear that bitterly clinging believers in God and traditional American culture will actually have the freedom to live their lives, and may (gasp!) have some access to steering the nation instead of the academic pseudointellectual class who “rightly” should be using the power of the state to force said bitter clingers to abandon their religion and culture to become more “progressive”
3. People who are a combination of these two things.
All of those Dems in these three categories have one thing in common, as the quoted posters have said. They are disassociated from what the productive taxpaying core of this country believes, what it needs, and its desired solutions to our current problems. Worse, they have postulated things which they have told themselves are true but are factually ridiculous.
The Pauline Kael phenomenon can exist for a lot of reasons. In the end the reasons for it matter less than that it exists.
Barring a miracle, their only play is to dump Biden and put Hillary on the ticket as the VP candidate. The question is whether she will accept or hold out for 2016. They can’t dump Obama or they lose the black vote completely. Both sides know the main issue will be the economy and the only bright light for them is ‘Remembering Bill’ and the ‘good ole days,’ back in the form of Mrs. Bill.
Of course, Obama has screwed things up so badly Hillary may let Mitt inherit the carnage so she can then attack every point that does not improve fast enough and Romney can’t blame anything on Obama because the GOP has ridden the “blame Bush meme” so hard- not that they had a choice, but this is the liberal way- works for us, not for you.
I’ll still take Mitt for the next four years with the optimistic hope things get well enough to gut the liberals for the next 10 years at least.
I have gotten the impression that since the days of Bill Clinton, Dem politicians have struggled to deal with the problem of having minions that are smart enough to get the job done and still dumb enough to work for them and not go into business for themselves.
That’s a very narrow range of specifications. Smart enough to figure things out and venal enough to use the kind of tactics they do while still honest and loyal enough to not seize a chance to throw the boss under the bus and grab the wheel – kind of a combination Lex Luthor and Jimmy Olsen.
70 years ago today Lt Cmdr John Waldron said “Screw you, idiots, I know where the enemy is.” veered off from the Hornet Air Group formation, and took the 15 TBDs of VT-8 to meet the enemy. He found them and lost every airplane and all but one man. The rest of the Hornet Air Group got lost, never found the enemy, and some ditched in the ocean. But for a Obama staff member to emulate Waldron would require that he land on one of Romney’s carriers and offer to lead Mitt’s strike force.
If he dumps Biden for Hillary, he will be admitting a mistake-he is constitutionally unable to admit the smallest one. If Hillary is VP, Bill would also overshadow Obama politically and intellectually. Remember when Bill told Obama, “Please go!” then took over that press conference?
I think it is significant that Leo Gerard crawled out from under his rock long enough to write a piece in HuffPo. He is one of the international organized labor gonzos pulling Obama’s and Jarrett’s strings. Watch him closely. Cheers -
Every election in which there is an incumbent running is basically a referendum on the incumbent. Whether it’s Axelrod or William Tecumseh Sherman running the campaign, in the end voters will end up asking themselves on election day “Do I want four more years like the last four?” If there is no reason to answer “yes”, turn out the lights and start making plane reservations for home.
With Obama, there’s no reason to answer “yes” but lotsa reasons to answer “no no no no no….”
@21
“Remember when Bill told Obama, “Please go!” then took over that press conference?”
I also remember feeling how much I would prefer Bill to stay and Barry to go…permanently. That’s how bad Barry is.
I finally watched the Wintour video after seeing it floating around for a day or two. Good lord is that absolutely hideous. The only thing it’s missing is a mincing twink in the background.
Does Barry think he’s running for President of New York? Maybe he can accept a position as CEO of The Bravo Channel after he gets booted out of the WH.
Obama’s weakness is that he doesn’t actually have a punch. He’s a front man, an entertainer, not a boxer. Romney is proving to be a boxer. Romney’s strategy is get out and stay out in front of the President with the issues. Romney is adhering to the idea that “action beats reaction”. Call it pre-buttal or whatever you want, Romney has Obama off balance, on the defensive. Obama can’t deliver the charm when he’s back-peddling and playing rope-a-dope.
I don’t believe this is so much a character defect with Obama as it is a burden all incumbents face when times are lousy. You just can’t blame it all on Bush.
The Democrat faithful will still pull the lever for Obama, but that’s not enough to win. Obama has to court the independent vote and that will be a challenge. Obama will get a break if the economy improves. Obama will get a huge break if Ron Paul decides to take his voting block and run as an independent. But if Mitt can woo Ron and the economy stays lousy, Obama may be a one-termer. At least Jimmy Carter will be happy – he’s no longer the worst president.
Obama in 2012? Seriously? – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4nvhAZ0vr0
21. dlsada:”If he dumps Biden for Hillary, he will be admitting a mistake-”
No, probably it will happen for:
a) Biden’s health
b) Biden WANTS to retire
c) It was the plan all along (nudge, nudge) that Biden would only serve one term so Hillary would be positioned for 2016.
One thing is sure, it will be a lie. They just can’t help themselves.
It’s a long long way from May to November.
Don’t get cocky. McCain thought he was going to win until September.
Contemplating every political economic or military disaster the Donks could connive at would induce depression paranoia and paralysis. Knowing the October or September surprise is coming and steeling yourself is a sign of maturity.
“there are so many diseases that can afflict the human body that it takes a truly diseased mind to think of them.”
- Joseph Heller, “Catch-22″
Yeah- don’t get cocky. Look at the polls. Obama is beating Romney by a couple points, and his job approval/disapproval numbers are even.
This boggles the mind. I understand there is a loyal cadre of welfare leeches, race pimps, and whacked-out kook lefties that may still support him just as a reflex action, but half the country?! Holy cow.
HMG … who the heck thought that an ad featuring Anna “Nuclear” Wintour was a good ideal to appeal to anyone outside of the thin edges of bi-coastal America? Are they freaking brain-damaged? Has Mitt Romney got a mole inside the Obama campaign, busily sabotaging them right and left? Wintour was supposed to have been the model for the awful boss in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ and Sarah Jessica Parker is mostly famous for ‘Sex in the City’ – providing to us flyover-country unsophisticates as examples to avoid in our personal and professional lives.
Hey, has Vogue got over posting that slobberingly worshipful feature about the wife of the dictator of Syria yet? A woman so cool, elegant and trendily fashionable, you could almost forget (if you weren’t Syrian, of course) that her hubby’s storm troopers weren’t gunning down protesters in the street when the issue hit the stands.
Makes me wonder how Vogue would have covered Eva Braun.
Oh, Godwin’s Law. I denounce myself.
#18 no mo uro
You are mostly dead on, but you miss a factor. Person of Choler has a handle on what you missed.
Your items #’s 1, 2, and 3 are accurate, but you miss that the American Left, led by what is now called the Democratic party [but is definitely not the Democratic party of our fathers' day] is not only characterized by “hatred of and condescension towards the center/right in this country”; but also contempt for them as sub-humans. That contempt also extends to the Constitution, the Rule of Law, and the entire concept of civil discourse, political debate and a Social Contract to which they are subject. Acceptance of the validity of any of the concepts in the preceding sentence is considered weakness and bourgeois sentimentality. Those ruling our country are NOT our countrymen. TWANLOC, as I have formulated in the past.
In the absence of that shared allegiance to country, Constitution, and citizenship; consider that they have those very fears you mention, at irrational levels. Since they have that fear, and do not have that loyalty; their reaction to the possibility of losing is going to be striking out with neither compunction nor scruple. After all, to them, we are not human the way they are. Facing the prospects you listed, plus their innate paranoia that we would do to them what they want to do to us; they will feel justified in using any extra-constitutional and violent means to preserve power.
I personally give it at or less than 50% probability that there will be an free election with votes honestly counted; regardless of who wins. Interestingly enough, last Saturday we had dinner with an older couple, the wife of which grew up in Nazi Germany. She sees the same ruthlessness and lust for power today, and expects a Reichstag Fire incident.
There are events before the election that may be triggers. For one, I am watching Florida, where there is a court suit to keep Obama off the ballot. Having the US Supreme Court decision in MINOR v. HAPPERSETT, 88 U.S. 162 (1874) 88 U.S. 162 (Wall.) [ http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=88&invol=162 ] cited [the decision gave an unequivocal definition of "natural born citizen" that does not benefit Obama]; raises a possibility of ballot disqualification that the Left will not accept or tolerate.
We have seen for the last 3 1/2 years how little the Rule of Law and the Constitution means to the Left. It would be a fantasy for Patriots to assume that suddenly they will submit to them in the next 5 months.
Subotai Bahadur
Wintour’s accent seems to be the obsolete “mid-Atlantic pronunciation”,which is quite close to “received American theater pronunciation”, a feature of films from the advent of talkies. In the latter, it was designed, especially among the female characters, to imply class. Not just money, but class. It was useful when doing Brit plays, being close enough to Brit received pronunciation to do just fine for Shakespeare.
And its primary function is to say, “I’ve got class, and you haven’t.” Damn’ fine choice for the purpose.
Thing is, you have to work to learn to speak like that these days.
Subotai Bahadur #30:
but you miss a factor…the American Left, led by what is now called the Democratic party [but is definitely not the Democratic party of our fathers' day] is not only characterized by “hatred of and condescension towards the center/right in this country”; but also contempt for them as sub-humans
No, sir, I did not miss it at all. I actually pointed it out.
The term “bitter clinger”, which I used in a slightly varied form in my post (check it out again), is a synonym for subhuman. Always has been. It was used on purpose, in exactly that context, by Obama at the fundraiser in San Francisco because that is how the crowd he was addressing sees people like you and me – as subhumans – and he was letting them know he agreed, and was validating that point of view. They envision a new feudalism where they will be the elite and our only purpose is to produce wealth which they will consume. Nearly every public school teacher. Nearly every professor, nearly every entertainer, gay rights activist, and atheist. Virtually every public union member, demagogue Dem pol (and even a few RINOs), and ear-whispering rent-seeker. The welfare crowd doesn’t care, other than to keep the checks coming.
I absolutely get it, SB. The center/right aren’t human beings to even the most casual of leftists. Evil Nazis at best and untermensch in most cases. They have dehumanized us so that it will make oppressing/killing us easy. Sound historically familiar? A whole century of this happened, not so long ago.
I’m not sure about your 50% number but I AM certain that there is a very real risk that TWANLOC will do as you say.
30. Subotai Bahadur
I’m not that worried. A lot of Donks can count. Even if they have to take off their shoes.
I have a son, 3 nephews and a niece that are active duty military. In the past the military (mostly army) has stood behind the elected government. Except for 1860 when 2/3 of the Army officers resigned their commissions. UCMJ has article 88, which is what an OFFICER who says bad things about a politician is charged with. Enlisted can say anything they want to thanks to a Vietnam era court decision. The rank and file understands that the Obumbler is NOT their friend. Most of the rank and file comes from the small towns and suburbs. Not many inner city types in the military. it used to be a ‘normal’ route for escaping the ghetto but not any more. The military is downsizing and very few gangbangers can meet the requirements.
Within 2 years, 25% of the US Army will be on civy street, because of the Obumbler. The clown Posse might be stupid enough to put 100,000 combat vets on the street without jobs. After all, that’s what Bush did in Iraq. I expect the same results, pretty much.
So long as the Air Farce and the Navy stay out, those ex-combat vets will make short work of Obama’s thugs.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htiw/articles/20120603.aspx
Subotai Bahadur, That URL links to an article on the Chi-com internet crackdown. Attempted crack down. 10 million chinese intenet users mean there isn’t room to jail them all and not enough police to arrest them. What I was trying to say in the previous post and failed to was that the left in the USA is in a worse position. There are about 800,000 cops in America, Working tight shifts that means at any given moment there are 200,000 on duty. There are 310 million Americans. Polling shows about 1/2 of them can’t stand the Won.
If the cops were 100% behind the Won, each cop would need to arrest about 750 people. Armed people. Citizens that would shoot. I figure they would all be gone waaay before they got to Samford on their list. You’re lucky. With a B for Bahadur, you will most likely get you one.
Tell you what. I’ll pay to have him stuffed and mounted if you let me keep him in my living room 6 months out of every year…..
As always, I agree with subotai. The combination of voter fraud and MSM calumny (vis-a-vis Romney) is enough to give the teleprompter confidence in his margin of victory.
Alluding to a previous post, Wretchard is correct in anticipating a reversal in our cultural and economic fortunes. My opinion is that it will take longer, i.e., until a majority are feeling personally economic hardship.
Only then will reality supercede the fantasies of postmodernism.
29. Sgt. Mom
Makes me wonder how Vogue would have covered Eva Braun. Oh, Godwin’s Law. I denounce myself.
No need. The Godwin’s Law premise has been unfortunately twisted and misconstrued by the internet community to the point where it’s meaningless. Godwin did not state that the mere mention of “Nazis” rendered an argument invalid – it was simply a statement of statistical probabilities. It’s current usage as a “gotcha” to preclude argument and shut down discussion by internet punks did not come from Godwin.
8. & 33. stoicheion
* Those that argue that Obama isn’t a socialist because the government doesn’t own the means of production and distribution outright let me say that definition is obsolete. Through extensive regulation the government CONTROLS the means of production and distribution, which is the same as owning them.
The definition is not obsolete – socialism is simply the wrong word. The proper term for what you describe is fascism, but the Left has done such a thorough job, post World War II, of redefining the term that it’s no longer possible to use it properly and correctly in public discourse.
I’m not that worried.
You should be. I sincerely hope things go as you believe, but I believe you’re seriously underestimating the dangers.
speak easy@19: “Barring a miracle, their only play is to dump Biden and put Hillary on the ticket as the VP candidate. The question is whether she will accept or hold out for 2016. They can’t dump Obama or they lose the black vote completely.”
They can’t dump a live Obama and keep the black vote. Obama the martyr? That’s another matter completely.
I have thought since the summer of 2009 that the gang that invented “Obama” would take the easy way out if they faced ruin, and I think this is more likely than ever in June 2012. They won’t replace Biden. They will replace Obama, and do it in a way that furthers their ends.
Hope the Secret Service (or what’s left of them) are on their toes.
Subotai @30: “She sees the same ruthlessness and lust for power today, and expects a Reichstag Fire incident.
So do I, with “Barack Obama” starring in the role of the Reichstag, and a conveniently dead “right-winger” in the role of Marinus van der Lubbe.
stoicheion 33. So long as the Air Farce and the Navy stay out, those ex-combat vets will make short work of Obama’s thugs.
I can’t speak for the fly boys, but the Navy will certainly want their fair share of thug skull cracking.
@37:
“Hope the Secret Service (or what’s left of them) are on their toes.”
When the Secret Service scandal broke a couple of months ago, a voice from the dark interior of my brain whispered, “What if this is a marker being laid down so they can point to this as a reason if the president comes to harm.”
Also, what we are all thinking I’m sure: A (manufactured) crisis.
Interests comments as always, but I think both the skill and ruthlessness of the left are getting overestimated.
Rahm Emmanuel infamously opined about letting a crisis go to waste- but let it go to waste they did. Perhaps Emanuel realized this, and perhaps it was a factor in his departure from the administration.
Whatevs. But Obama should have moved fast and hard while the public still believed in him. At the very least he should have censored the internet, booted opponents such as Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck off the airwaves, and imposed some variant of gun control- all that by executive order if he couldn’t force it through Congress. But he didn’t, and now it’s too late.
Perhaps he wished to do these things- but was warned away from that course. I suspect that this was good advice because I suspect too many Democrats in Congress would have opposed such actions, and acted to block them.
But from that it follows that Obama never had the free hand his election appeared to give him- and the politically disastrous choice to jam Obamacare through Congress was just the least bad option Obama and the left had to avoid complete and utter political failure, which would utterly disheartened the leftist base of the party.
Or Perhaps Obama and his friends were just too dumb to figure out what they needed to do.
But in either case the idea that the left is an invincible juggernaut, led by geniuses, capable of being stopped only by grim desperate resistance- is fatally flawed.
“Maybe he can accept a position as CEO of The Bravo Channel after he gets booted out of the WH.”
More likely, Black Enterrtainment Television (BET).
Subotai (#30) touched on it, he still has the cheating voter fraud/count card to play. We all know they do this but we don’t know how effectively they can execute the plan.
It will be interesting to see how the vote turns out in Wisconsin today. Walker is expected to win easily, but Holder’s lawless DOJ is there to ‘ensure” there is no voter fraud.
It could be a yardstick measuring the effectiveness of their ability to manipulate the vote this Fall.
42. Xennady
+1
Bagdad Bob = Bagdad Rod? Priceless. Who’s your daddy.
I don’t know that I’m expecting a Reichstag fire.
Given Iran and a few other flashpoints, it might look a bit more like Tsushima Strait.