Obama’s Great Gift — to Bush
Yes, yes, I know: Obama said that he rejected some protocols, but only virtually so — thus Guantanamo was virtually closed; KSM was virtually tried in a civilian court in New York; and CIA interrogators were virtually subject to trials and inquisition.
In the most cynical fashion imaginable, apparently Obama reasoned (if I may) something like the following: “My hard left base is nuts and yet hardly principled at all. In fact, it has no ideology other than loudly ranting to get its domestic agenda and its operatives back in power. So I don’t take seriously any of its puerile rhetoric about Bush’s supposedly illegal methods. In fact, I’ll adopt them all because they work. All I have to do is offer a few rhetoric bones like supposedly closing Guantanamo or trying KSM to shut them up. Those shams will give them enough wiggle room to fight charges of hypocrisy, while I keep reassuring them that their leftwing domestic agenda is mine as well.”
Obama went into the presidency as an ACLU caterpillar and came out of his chrysalis as a Bush-Cheney anti-terrorism moth. The result is that the once demonic Bush has now transmogrified into the father of the Obama “reasonable” anti-terrorism agenda. And craziest of all, “Bring ‘em on” Bush is responsible for one of the “greatest achievements” (according to Vice President Joe Biden) of the Obama administration — nothing less than the “Bush lied, thousands died” / “no blood for oil” war in Iraq.
A Fraud of the Highest Order
Two more observations.
Within a year Obama has demonstrated two elemental truths: the opposition to Bush on all matters of anti-terror was never principled, but wholly partisan, which explains why all these issues are no longer the subjects of rallies, protests, Hollywood outbursts, etc. (Where is Code Pink or Cindy Sheehan on the network news?)
We won’t see a new movie called Rendition II or Redacted—Again, or any more Oscar ceremonies with foaming celebrities damning the president for keeping open Guantanamo or blowing up a wife or child of a suspected terrorist. Harry Reid won’t declare Iraq lost; and Joe Biden won’t demand a trisection of Iraq. Nor will civil libertarians disrupt appearances of David Axelrod or Rahm Emanuel in the manner they once heckled Bush operatives.
I say that not out of partisanship, but simply emphasize empirically that we have not seen loud protests against the Obama anti-terrorism agenda that in substance (forget the rhetoric) is increasingly identical to Bush’s. (I guess this is sort of like the Right’s silence when Reagan helped run up deficits and signed the worst amnesty possible in the 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli Act.)
Euros on the Bandwagon
Second, Obama’s Bush 2.0 policies revealed anti-Americanism abroad to be an even greater fraud. All those European protests, the UN showboating aimed at Bush’s Guantanamo and Iraq, or the Spanish threats to try Americans dissipated when Obama was inaugurated. Indeed, Obama as Bush 2.0 received the Nobel Peace Prize (rather than fighting off a Spanish or Hague summons for blowing up hundreds in Predator attacks in Waziristan.) This revelation of European hypocrisy also has been a great gift to Bush and the American people at large — exposing anti-Americanism abroad as a boutique rage among opportunistic elites, but otherwise having little if anything to do with facts or truth.
There are Deficits — and Then There are Deficits
Many of us severely criticized the Bush deficits. When a conservative submits a budget of $500 million in the red, he discredits the entire notion of both fiscal responsibility (“who will police the police?”), and the idea that tax cuts bring in greater aggregate revenue (what did it matter to the public that such cuts created more income after 2004, when spending increases gobbled up the additional revenue?).
But now? Obama is on schedule to run up more debt than all previous presidents combined, with record deficits each year of his presidency. (Note how pundits who decried Bush’s fiscal recklessness now talk about exaggerated worries over deficit spending). Obama claimed that such borrowing was necessary to stop another Depression, but by late January 2009 the financial panic of September 2008 had in the four subsequent Bush months already subsided, and the additional stimuli did little to create anything other than additional government workers, larger programs, short-term spending, and a need for higher taxes. Bush’s deficits, in other words, are dwarfed by Obama’s — almost as if the inexperienced president thought “I’d better copy my predecessor, but trump him wherever possible.”
The 2008 Hypnosis
As the Obama trance subsides, we will only in retrospect come to appreciate the collective derangement that swept America in the summer of 2008, when a sophisticated electorate fell for “hope and change” bromides and talk of healing non-partisanship from a Chicago pro and the most partisan member of the Senate.
But just as interestingly, George Bush will not be seen any longer as the caricature of the New York Times, but as a figure whose foreign policy his successor emulated. Better yet for Bush, to the degree that Obama has been successful in keeping us safe, it is because he copied the Bush antecedents; to the degree he has endangered or embarrassed us (e.g., the false promises on Guantanamo, the talk of trials in New York for KSM, the reach out to Iran and Venezuela, being snookered by Russia, the China rebuff, the failed Mideast “breakthrough,” the serial bows and apologies, etc.), it is because of Obama’s utopian arrogance that is all his own.
Trumanism
The career of Harry Truman is again instructive, since he too left the presidency with an abysmal standing in the polls. It is no surprise that George Bush is the first president since Truman in 1952 to have suffered an orphaned lame-duck election, in which neither the president nor vice president was up for reelection, and thus no presidential candidate was vested in defending an incumbent record. Instead, John McCain, like Adlai Stevenson, ran as much against his own party’s incumbents as he did the opposition. We forget that both the unpopular Truman and Bush shared this artifact and it surely helps to explain much of the hostility that each garnered in their last years in office.
But there is also a difference. Dwight Eisenhower achieved a popular presidency, and thus made it difficult for Truman’s foreign policy achievements to earn appreciation, especially as the icon Ike adopted most of Truman’s prior initiatives from containment to keeping south of the 38th Parallel.
But Bush is succeeded by no Eisenhower so far. Obama has suffered the most dramatic decline in approval ratings of a first year presidency in recorded polling history. That allows Bush to be reexamined favorably far more quickly than was Truman, whose stature was not acknowledged until the 1960s.
Reagan ensured Carter’s continued unpopularity by being both successful and rejecting almost the entire Carter foreign and domestic agenda. Obama has done the opposite so far for Bush — creating a “miss me yet?” feeling by sanctioning the Bush war on terror, while turning Bush’s domestic misdemeanors into real felonies.
And perhaps given a bad/worse choice, Americans will always prefer in their commanders-in-chief authentic awkwardness to counterfeit charm.
A modest prediction. In six months Bush will poll better than Obama, and liberal Bush-hating columnists (most of whom were for the Iraq war in 2003) will oh so insidiously begin to triangulate and show appreciation for the war on terror, Iraq, Afghanistan, and our relations with Europe overseas — and this is a best case scenario for Obama if he avoids a real blowup with Iran, North Korea, China, Russia, Venezuela, etc. in 1979 Jimmy Carter fashion.
In short, Barack Obama has been George Bush’s greatest gift — and he has not finished giving quite yet.
Ok, so will Obama be able to do what Clinton did after 1994? He is apparently learning
Dear Professor,
This blog is getting fun again.
I’m glad you retained your sense of humor through the cold winter.
I miss W.
George W. Bush did a lot of damage. He is similar to Herbert Hoover who is greatly responsible for causing the Great Depression. Never forget it was a progressive Republican president and two U.S. Senators of the same party who got the destructive Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act signed into law. Barack Obama and Franklin D. Roosevelt simply made things a lot worse. In both instances, the American public was thrown out of the proverbial pan and into the raging fire.
Bush 43 actively pushed to get more people to sign up for food stamps. He was a big government Republican, a so-called compassionate conservative. Bush’s political correctness has resulted in the absurd security procedures endured at our airports. It also hindered our operations in Iraq. Still, he was significantly better than the present occupant living in the White House. Bush overall earned something like a C plus. Obama deserves an F. We have to start electing genuine Republican conservatives. The pale imitators must be ignored.
Dr. Hanson,
Your posts and articles represent the real-time, real truth about this President with remarkable clarity and insight. You make your readers think, but also feel better that someone else out there gets it.
If other readers are like me, we also hope influential people are reading your every word, including Meg Whitman.
“…and liberal Bush-hating columnists (most of whom were for the Iraq war in 2003) will oh so insidiously begin to triangulate and show appreciation for the war on terror, Iraq, Afghanistan, and our relations with Europe overseas—and this is a best case scenario for Obama if he avoids a real blowup with Iran, North Korea, China, Russia, Venezuela, etc. in 1979 Jimmy Carter fashion.
Not a chance, VDH. Bush deficit bad…Obama mega-deficit…no worries.
Bush prosecution of war on terror, evil…Obama’s prosecutors are terror defenders…no big deal.
Bush faux pas, nightly guffaws, Obama’s bizarre ramblings, crickets chirping.
We really cannot expect the entrenched media to begin telling the truth any time soon. Not even a subtly triangulated version of the truth.
They are in the bag for leftism and as the BagMan Media, they will not cross the Don.
Thanks Dr. Hanson for your consistent and principled observations on poltical rhetoric versus reality. Though I am skeptical about your prediction that Bush-hating opinon columnists are going to go through a period of reflection and end up viewing him in a better light. Did you actually see evidence of this happening among the “old faces” that were castigating Ronald Reagan in the 80′s and are still writing today?
It just occurred to me, the anti war President in chief and democrats don’t need the republicans to do anything they may want–health care reform is proving to be a problem. So, why haven’t they ended the congressional authorizations for these “illegal wars?” As I recall, the Tonkin Gulf resolution was rescinded in 71. In 73, during the OPEC oil embargo North Vietnam signed a peace treaty, subsequently violated repeatedly. In the midst of a major recession, Congress then rescinded the authorization to use airpower to enforce the peace treaty, and reduced aid and material support to South Vietnam. In 75, the NVA took Siagon, and the republicans got blamed. This time, it’s the democrats turn. Looking forward to it. Peace and prosperity.
Remember–we can always pay off out debt to china by giving them our pacific fleet. Right? Isnt that a good idea? Why dont you think so?
This seems to be just made up words put on paper with no backing in reality. This is what I would call intellectual dishonesty of the highest order. First, you cannot make an accurate comparison of an 8 year presidency to one that has gone on for around an 8th of the time. There is no way to predict what Obama’s term will look like until after he is finished. Second, almost every comparison made in the article is false or made up. Under the popularity abroad subsection the author point black says he is making up a poll and coming to a conclusion about how other foreign powers feel. Where is even one piece of evidence that points to the conclusion stated. For Awkwardness there is also no comparison. Obama as such a good speaker it is amazing. Even if you don’t think there is much substance he is really really good at talking. Crassness, I do not think you understand the definition of the word. And since when do Americans think it is bad to be polite? you must not be from the Midwest. In Afghanistan, Obama got an additional 7,000 troops after he got into office. Do you know what a fact is? Please do research before publishing tripe. Popularity abroad: I found several polls that put our popularity numbers increasing over 50% when Obama took office. Try again. Obama prohibited torture by our forces and is trying to close down Guantanamo. Also you cannot compare a guy with 50% approval ratings to a guy how left in the high 20′s. Just because you people do not like him does not mean most people do not.
At the moment, Rasmussen puts Obama’s ‘ardent support’ at minus 21. His general approval/disapproval is at 43% to 56. But George Bush’s general approval at the end of 2007 was 41 to 57 – numbers that are statistically identical to that of Obama now.
As VDH pointed out, Obama has hurtled down in the polls faster than any president in history, as he has increased the deficits higher than any president in history.
As for Obama’s pre-presidential rhetoric and his post-inauguration actions, we have to remember that Obama is a pathological liar. He is, as a malignant narcissist, committed only to his ability to control you; if this requires that he tell you a story that you want to hear – by all means, he’ll do so. Facts, hard data are irrelevant to him.
The MSM are slowly, slowly, starting to pick up on this and commenting. Yes, FOX comments but CNN is starting to comment about his false data, his promises that last only for one day, his massive spending, his inability to deal with foreign affairs.
Obama is astonishingly inept in foreign affairs. Iran will indeed get a nuclear weapon – due to Obama’s inability to do anything other than empty talk. What about his indifference to the demonstrations for freedom in Iran – he could have openly supported them but instead he kept silent, thus enabling the current regime to forcefully put down those demonstrations. What about his support for the Honduran Zelaya’s violation of their Constitution?
His insults to western leaders, his constant apologies for America, thus informing everyone that pre-Obama was something to apologize for, while post-Obama – all is well.
His staff – those czars, the lobbyists, the backroom deals, the bribes – he’s corrupt.
wow..TOTALLY agree with #3: Bush bad, but man alive BHO is soo much worse…from bad to to total suck, i could go on! Time for a true fiscal conservative who actually and really WILL stand up for those principles. Not get elected and whimp out like they all do. And time to TAKE BACK OUR SCHOOLS, so many young people are being pumped out as progressives! Heck im not even 40 yet :)
3. David Thomson:
George W. Bush did a lot of damage. He is similar to Herbert Hoover who is greatly responsible for causing the Great Depression. Never forget it was a progressive Republican president and two U.S. Senators of the same party who got the destructive Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act signed into law. Barack Obama and Franklin D. Roosevelt simply made things a lot worse. In both instances, the American public was thrown out of the proverbial pan and into the raging fire.
Bush 43 actively pushed to get more people to sign up for food stamps. He was a big government Republican, a so-called compassionate conservative. Bush’s political correctness has resulted in the absurd security procedures endured at our airports. It also hindered our operations in Iraq. Still, he was significantly better than the present occupant living in the White House. Bush overall earned something like a C plus. Obama deserves an F. We have to start electing genuine Republican conservatives. The pale imitators must be ignored.
I’m with “cfbleachers,” dear author.
Trust is the key to America, its backbone and soul.
I’m a 1st generation American; dad came over because his country had some “uninvited guests” in late 1939….
Unlike my sister (avowed brain-dead “liberal”!), I’ve always had one foot one either continent. Moved over there 2001-2007 to see what it was all about.
No. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is not (or, at least, no longer) a model for America.
The Enlightenment? No argument. Fine. Gotcha.
But, on those multitude of details we call “daily modern life”, trust is anathema to the lifeblood of Europe’s citizens.
Don’t judge it by modern Greece.
Europe’s financial anchor, Germany, the curmudgeon, has refined “trust’s counterpoint” to a tee: it’s called VERARSCHUNG.
Generally put: a public display or act of contempt for a fellow citizen, particularly mixed with the desire/situation for suffering/misery of said fellow citizen (think: a continuous spiral downward).
Simply pathological.
Trust is a fundamental part of the responsibility and accountability which we merely accept (what a friggin’ luxury, seen from the view of the rest of the world!) in America.
DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK TODAY.
“Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone…”.
Bush made us less safe. He not only let but also incouraged Muhammad’s vision of invasion into Western civilization – Hijra. They are using our insane immigration laws to invade us LEGALLY. Tell me ONE Republican shill, politician, pundit, talk show host, whatever that has the balls to say this – I have one, maybe, Tom Tancredo.
Krauthammer and Kristol support Hijra. Let them jump onto the boxcar, I’m not going. Read about this insidious plot by Muhammad and pass it along to Islamic apologists like Krauthammer and Kristol –
http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/08/the_hijra.html
Furthermore, Bush like Obama supports supporting Sharia based governments in Iraq and Afghanistan [ask the Christian populations]
which is what the “terrorists” [Muslims] support. In fact its their main goal. They won’t ackowledge this let alone the fact that Muhammad would simply call them Muslims.
What would our Founding Fathers call them? “Terrorists”? “Islamofascists”? “Radical Islamists” lol. They weren’t PC cowards.
Get real. They would call them Muslims just like their founder Muhammad would have called them. Such tough talk we get from the likes of Mark Levin et al lol. What a bunch of stinking cowards.
Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, Michael Medved would cower in fear even with all their bluster when it comes to facing our real enemy – Islam. They find comfort railing about fighting some fictive thing called “terrorism”. What the hell does that mean?
Here’s what they don’t have namely a clear headed vision that our Founders had and the guts to NAME our enemy – ISLAM. That they will never do.
Read about it and support Geert Wilders.
Don’t be confused. My criticisms of Bush have nothing to do with that despicable incompetent fool in the White House. He is by FAR the WORST and least able president in United States history.
He is a black supremacist and a hard line communist that WANTS to take our country down.
The media is already turning on Obama.
CNN’s Jack Cafferty had a hit piece. Mort Zuckerman (US News) had a real negative essay.
When healthcare goes down (and it will) the hard left will turn against the President on other fronts. Mrs. Clinton will be there to egg them on.
Today (3-10-10), Rush Limbaugh predicted an Obama pubic meltdown at some point. I agree.
Dr. Hanson,
Truth is recognized by its beauty, and it has been a beautiful experience reading your posts.
Top of most your readers’ minds, I suppose, is what will denouement look like?
Imagine this in about 30 months: Obama gives a speech on a sovereign default and dollar collapse of the USA… “Let me be perfectly clear: We cannot bail out California, New York or Illinois. We cannot bail out the Federal Government. Therefore I recommend that seven out of every ten non-defense employees of the Federal Government be laid off as of midnight tonight. I recommend the same for states and cities with budgets in arrears. Lay off seven out of ten government employees!”
Well sir, the rest of the nation might sigh a terrific sigh of relief!
What about those on welfare? What about students? Would the seven out of ten riot or cause mayhem? Even if riots did happen, riots don’t ameliorate money’s absence!
What happens when Babylon falls? Whom does it crush? Whom does it not?
Or shall we believe progressive pigs are more equal, even in tumult, than seers?
“There is no way to predict what Obama’s term will look like until after he is finished.”
I believe the proper response to that is a biblical reference: “a tree is known by the fruit it bears.”
9. Brian N
‘Backing’ is what VDH does best. You must be unfamiliar with much of his work.
So, does this mean that . . . Obama is a deep cover Rove-Cheney mole whose mission is the utter destruction of the Democrats? Hmmmm . . . maybe Hillary was correct about this “vast right-wing conspiracy”. Who knew?
Obama is clueless. He doesn’t know squat. This is certainly no surprise. Our enemies are devouring him. Our friends are laughing at him. Everybody except the ‘progressives’ are snickering. So much for affirmative action on the national stage. Will America survive Obama? Certainly. Could this be a teaching moment? Perhaps. Ave atque vale Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Chas Ringle, the Black Caucus, and various and other race hustlers.
My biggest grievance with Dubya is that he never got angry. He just let the vitriol wash over him. I guess that was a product of being a reborn Babtist. Nevertheless, there are times when turning the other cheek is not appropriate. God bless George Bush. Screw Obama.
“And perhaps given a bad/worse choice, Americans will always prefer in their commanders-in-chief authentic awkwardness to counterfeit charm.”
The future of our country is in the hands of an MTV celebrity poseur who knows nothing about anything except how to read a teleprompter with artificial sincerity. Perhaps our white guilt will subside long enough to elect a president in 2012 that actually has some qualifications. This guy is doing nothing more than playing the president on TV, and he’s not even good at that. It would be utterly laughable if it weren’t so utterly sad.
3. David Thomson: We have to start electing genuine Republican conservatives.
Who, may I ask, is a genuine Republican conservative? Don’t forget Reagan spent at least 30 years of his life to evolve from a liberal Hollywood union boss to a Reagan conservative who was accused by the “genuine” Republican conservatives of selling out to the Soviet Union, and raking in the highest deficits in the Republic’s history.
Reagan was a Reagan conservative, not a Republican conservative. There are a lot of Republican Democrat-wannabe porkers though.
The professor has written his most profound sentence yet in his illustrious commentary: “A Fraud of the Highest Order”.
No line could better illustrate the gang of roaches that snuck into our home.
But there’s more.
We’ve heard the Truman analogy, of course, but the professor finds the pearl in the bucket of beads….Dubya is the first since Truman to have no defender in the next election…it explains a lot, doesn’t it?
As for the rest, the observations about the criminal copying Bush’s foreign policy and trumping his domestic misdemeanors are interesting, but wildly miss the truth. Obama, of course, is not Bush squared, he’s the anti-Bush, regardless of whether or not there is any overlap in policies. Bush loved and treasured the country. He felt is honored to be the President. All he wanted to do going in was to give the people back some of their money, teach kids better, and help out some old folk.
How that has any similarity with a bone-deep Marxist bent on dismantling a free country and rebuilding it in the image of a thousand dead fascists, frankly, escapes me at any level.
Yea,it’s all very well and good to favorably compare Barokeydoke to GW,I guess….with one very distinguishing difference…when GW said something definitive to world leaders,they all knew that they could count on him to be as good as his word…as honor commands….contrariwise,Barokeydoke will tell any world leader any lie he thinks is necessary in order to serve his own monstrous ego and self obsessed agenda…as dishonor commands
Brian@9: First, you can predict the future by observing the past which is what VDH did. The O has obviated the Constitution with every program, edict or Executive Decision he has mandated. GM, banks, Fannie/Freddie, Gitmo, terrorist trials, etc. So like any good scientist, VDH using available information made valid predictions about the WON’s future.
Second, ETAB discredited your unsubstantiated argument regarding polls so no need for further rebuttal.
Third, “Even if you don’t think there is much substance he is really really good at talking.” Couldn’t have said it better myself, thanks.
The messiah openly criticized the SCOTUS during his SOTU address-crass. He openly condemned Fox news-crass. He villifed Tea Party and other anti-Obmamacare opponents-crass. Shall I list more??
Fourth, the surge into Afghanistan was Bush’s program.. Geez! And the O cut it down and has made it almost ineffective due to the restrictive ROEs.
Lastly, are you proud of this: “Obama prohibited torture by our forces and is trying to close down Guantanamo.” First, Gitmo is still operating. Second, so you believe American lives are not as important to you as the gentle treatment of a terrorist who wants to kill them???
Your argument is so specious and tenuous as to belie your ignorance of America and yet you prove you are a brainwashed progressive.
“Who, may I ask, is a genuine Republican conservative?”
We are increasingly enslaved as the public sector becomes larger. Purple and red state voters will vote for Republicans who fear the growth of government. The candidate who truly comprehends this fact should get our support. Well meaning but naive progressive GOP leaders like George W. Bush, John McCain, and Lindsey Graham must be marginalized. Is that so difficult to understand?
There is already an excellent possibility that the Democratic Party is no longer a viable national force. It may only be able to win elections in the bluest of areas. The Republicans are the only game in town. Ann Coulter was only slightly exaggerating when saying that there are a number of bad Republicans—but no good Democrats.
The ‘projection’ blank-slate candidate who became president has sinister designs to not only reverse-engineer our Constitution but ‘fundamentally change’ our entire country.
Now that our asses are in a sling, I pray for us all to overcome this assault on everything that made us a great, free nation of INDIVIDUALS.
VDH:
“In six months Bush will poll better than Obama, and liberal Bush-hating columnists (most of whom were for the Iraq war in 2003) will oh so insidiously begin to triangulate and show appreciation for the war on terror, Iraq, Afghanistan, and our relations with Europe overseas — and this is a best case scenario for Obama if he avoids a real blowup with Iran, North Korea, China, Russia, Venezuela, etc. in 1979 Jimmy Carter fashion.”
In four years, there will be a statue of George W. Bush in that Baghdad square in place of the Saddam Hussein statue that the Iraqis, (with our help), tore down.
In six years, the Bamiyan Buddhas will be restored in Afghanistan, (probably with fiberglass facsimiles made in China), and in one of the smaller alcoves will be a statue of…George W. Bush,(probably ALSO made in China).
And after two more years of the Alleged Hawaiian’s endless campaign roadshow and traveling carnival of Big-Government mismanagement, vandals will carve George W. Bush’s likeness into Mount Rushmore.
Federal investigations will prove fruitless, as nobody will have been a witness to anything…
again i agree with another poster: Steve:
You hit the nail on the head Islam is no friend to democracy, Christianity, republics, PEOPLE, women, ect….. Until we grow a pair and name our enemy we will continue to collapse. We are besieged from within and without, and too damn SOFT about all of it to do anything.
We as Americans have had it too easy for too long, thus the softness(read weakness, thats what our enemies see) and our children/teens/young adults are softer still and have NO clue about real life. Not everyone is a winner, you MUST work hard to make it, Gov cannot/cannot save you…
The teevee media would like to pretend they didn’t have a hand in the current mess in Washington, or rather a tingly leg.
We need to remember their complicity in getting such a person as Barry Soetero into the White House, and turn the channel to Animal Planet.
Maybe Barry figured out that the institution of the presidency was so badly damaged by Democratic Bush bashing and Clinton BJing that he better do something to rehab both of ‘em.
#15 Cornhead wrote: “Today (3-10-10), Rush Limbaugh predicted an Obama pubic meltdown at some point. I agree.”
————
A what?
Re: china & the fleet. I suspect they already know they are financing it, and are happy to have us protecting their energy imports, wager a few mandarins their think it’s a bargain at twice the price (see Dr. K’s recent writings). And I don’t particularly mind the mercantilists paying the bills – we should hand other countries who don’t shoulder their load a bill.
Re: Iraq. Would that all of us could have the experience of standing by as one of Hussein’s mass graves when the children’s bodies were exhumed (another was found recently). The sight and smell will be with you for a lifetime. Some things just have to be ended, no different than a rabid dog.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,580632,00.html
Granted, we’re arguably responsible as well for standing by while Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and communism, et al, sacrificed many more children in the 100 million lives they ended terribly and early, to say nothing of the billions of lives enslaved – that by definition had no opportunity to add anything at all above the line to the human condition. We could have ended it (up until the mid 60s at terrible but not awful costs – meaning millions not 100s of millions) but Mr. Keenan gave us an easy out – salving our conscience because we thought we had already sacrificed enough. Which is why I pray there’s an afterlife and he has to answer every moment for his role in helping us take the easy and not the hard decision. These sins of omission should shake the soul and straighten the backbone, firm our resolve.
Absolutely can’t stand Obama. He is an arrogant incompetent
with a malignant agenda for America. Still, I don’t miss
Bush. Though Bush successfully took the fight to Al Queda,
he still has plenty to answer for, not the least of which
was allowing Iraq to turn into a quagmire after the initial,
successful invasion. Maybe history will vindicate Bush for
waiting over 3 years and only after losing congressional
mid-term elections before initiating the obviously
necessary ‘surge’, but I won’t. Why did 4,000 of our
finest troops have to die before Bush finally got serious?
I’m guessing the answer to that question won’t get any more
palatable with time.
Our country deserves better than either Obama or Bush.
VDH said ….
……….In the most cynical fashion imaginable, apparently Obama reasoned (if I may) something like the following: “My hard left base is nuts and yet hardly principled at all. In fact, it has no ideology other than loudly ranting to get its domestic agenda and its operatives back in power.
……still couching ?
Obama is as hard left as they come. It isn’t the base only that is hard left. he is the malignant narcissist of the century. the damage has been done. HOW will the USA dig themselves out of the debt pit that is being dug deeper and deeper by the day. People forget that this was the plan. get the country into unsustainable debt and then remake it in the image of marxism.
……maybe it will not be the marxism we equate with russia, the old USSR . personally I think it will be more a slow burn to something like Venezuela and then Zimbabwe or Haiti.
@32 glenn,
I’m afraid Barry’s next real accomplishment will be his first.
I never understood it. The man mouths meaningless platitudes. He can talk for hours and say nothing. He contradicts himself constantly, because he has no principles. How can anyone with an ounce of self respect allow themselves to be lied to, repeatedly, by this fake?
VDH: It’s time to drop the “Austrians speaking Austrian” meme once and for all.
Austrian German (or Österreichisches Deutsch) is a dialect of German in the same way that Swiss German is. it is not the same as the German spoken in Germany (or Switzerland for that matter). While saying “Austrian” instead of “Austrian German” is imprecise, it is not incorrect. The word “German” is elided and is understood from context (I doubt Obama knew any of this however). There are plenty of other ways to show Obama’s verbal awkwardness (I would say ineptitude).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_German
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_German
obama is not bush 2.0. he is vista to bush’s XP.
Ma: Do you really believe that Obama’s statement was based on a careful study of German dialects? If so, I’ve got an Alpine Pass I’d like to sell you. The man speaks without thinking and without studying. It took him a whole year to figure out that there were serious problems involved in closing Gitmo, even though the legal problems were obvious to many who don’t have Harvard law degrees. How much time do you think he has devoted to learning the differences between the German spoken in Graz, Starnberg, and Appenzell? I suspect it roughly equals the time he has spent talking with people who cling to their religion, as opposed to serious theologians like Jeremiah Wright.
re: #38
Hm. Having trouble understanding your comments. I find American difficult to comprehend. Could you please use Australian instead?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_English
And since I know that you will respond that dialects are spoken not written and in that sense it is quite proper to distinguish between Austrian and German, I agree and was obviously being facetious. Nevertheless, can you imaging what the pundits would have said if Obama had, at the time, been visiting Australia and made similar comments? “I don’t know what the word is in Australian…” Imprecise, not incorrect, but *ouch* nevertheless.
**Yo Blair**
Did he say that? That’s hilarious. Sorry. But then, I still refer to Putin as Pooty Poot.
Prof Hanson-
The glittering phrase you used-”boutique rage of opportunistic elites having little to do with the facts” is pure gold.
It enapsulates the mindset and mantra repeating narratives of this group and how they distort reality to suit their notions.
Bravo.
Somethning very strange is happening. The Obama administration’s surge in Afghanistan has been going on for a few weeks now. Let us hope that it will be successful. When Bush was president the media reported every U.S. casualty, every day they occured. So far absolutly no reports on U.S. casualties in Afghanistan. It would be wonderful if we have not had any casualties as a result of the Obama surge- but I feel there may be a coverup here.
Always a good read Dr. Hanson.
I really love Obama and his Three Stooges of administration History.
The man could become a comedian, or pro-football cheerleader after leaving office.
Obama inspires the Supreme Court-
Nato in Afghanistan – Actually it is worse than what your piece portrays. The Obama declaration of neutrality in the Falklands dispute could well hugely backfire on him. If things heat up there it would give Gordon Brown a valid excuse to pull his troops out in order to have a reserve “just in case.” This would probably allow Brown to continue as PM after the upcoming election. There would be little hope of any addiltional NATO involvement if the Brits were not there.
As for popularity abroad – the UK papers were full of Obamamania in January and are almost uniformly negative today.
The Israeli announcement of resumption of building that coincided with Biden’s visit – shows just how wonderfully the Middle East policy is working.
Why would anyone believe us or in us in Eastern Europe after we humiliated the Czechs and Poles in caving to Russia on missle defense – without warning.
The Bush advances with India have gone nowhere positive with Obama.
Taiwan, Korea, Japan and ASEAN have to be worried about an expanding China in the face of a wavering USA.
Caving to unions by not pushing trade agreements with Colombia and Korea don’t help us there.
Other than meaningless words, we have done nothing to enhance USA popularity abroad – and our actions have worked against any improvement.
“sophisticated electorate”???
You mean the mouth-breathing, gum-chewing illiterate waste products of the American public schools since the 1960s???
=:obama is what they wanted, what they got and what they will continue to ask for along with new apps for video games.
It’s over. Get used to it.
USA has no Geert Wilders.
People are not aware that what Obama is doing is simply EXPOSING what the United States really IS: a glorified Banana Republic.
Bush was running the Banana Republic but clamoring glorified accomplishments to hide the corruption and greed of the capitalists that sank the ship.
Obama is simply steering a huge ship full of rust, smoke, uneducated sailors, faulty radar in uncharted waters. And the passengers are clueless.
In order to regain world class status, we need educated masses, visionary entrepreneurs, good health care, budget control, friendly diplomatic relations and a sense of humor.
“…and liberal Bush-hating columnists (most of whom were for the Iraq war in 2003) will oh so insidiously begin to triangulate and show appreciation for the war on terror, Iraq, Afghanistan, and our relations with Europe overseas—and this is a best case scenario for Obama if he avoids a real blowup with Iran, North Korea, China, Russia, Venezuela, etc. in 1979 Jimmy Carter fashion. oh yes……..
#33. Typo! A *public” meltdown.
Sorry!
10. ETAB: you are completely full of it, and are also making up numbers. However, first let me tell you that bush left office at the end of 2008 not 2007. I also provide a link to the Rasmussen poll numbers and bush left with a 35% approval rating. Why is it that people on this site like to back up their arguments with made up nonsense. How hard is it to google something before making unsubstantiated claims. All you people talk about sheeple but you are just sheeple on the other side of the spectrum. Why dont you people do your own research instead of relying on others. I think it is funny that most of you think Obama is on the far left when he is clearly more in the center. All you would have to do is check out a liberal blog like Talking Points Memo and look at their comments. These people are on the far left and dislike Obama for not being more liberal.
46. Fearless Leader: just a quick side note but the founding fathers did not envision a powerful Judicial branch. It was not powerful until Jefferson’s presidential term when Marbury v. Madison was decided. Also, I do not think they would overturn any kind of healthcare bill. Otherwise, they would have already overturned medicare, medicade. I cannot believe how you morons feed off each others stupidity.
OMG~! Obama as Bush II,,, unimaginable.
What Obama has overlooked is that Americans have a memory, while it may be short term, we do have one.
Campaign promises are one thing. Once elected, actions speak louder than mere words. Obama has failed to deliver on every front. Meanwhile China owns us with debt, and Obama will bury us with his Health Care.
Where is the logic in this madness? As a Nation, we are now dead and buried. Your children and grandchildren will look back on our generation as the ones who sold them into slavery, and their future into the hands of the devil.
How do you sleep at night?
VIVO ‘ masses…..’ we need educated. Well, tht leaves you out, comrade. A sense of humor you do have. You are joke.
#38.
Ma, now about those 57, or was it 60, United States, and the America Corpse…
By December 2008, a multiyear narrative had been long established among global elites that George Bush had essentially shredded the U.S. Constitution.
That narrative was just one portion of the six-year MSM negative campaign against Republicans in general, and GW Bush as their symbol, in particular. It was so overwhelming and constant that it emplaced that ‘narrative’, and many similar others, in the public mindset as a given.
That negative campaign has diminished to a fraction of its Bush-era hurricane. And after a year of Obama, we see MSM still cheerleading for him, but publishing an increasing number of reports illustrating how Obama’s fantasies are not going to emplace heaven on earth any time soon – and how they may cost a bundle to our kids and grandkids, with no end in sight for deficits and hyper-government.
It’s inevitable that without that constant deafening ‘narrative’, and with glimpses of the real world intruding, and with time to reflect, that public opinion of GW Bush would recover, and may some day approach his winning majority of 2004. Particularly with the growing awareness of Obama’s failure to accomplish (and disinterest in trying) anything like his campaign promises of centrist, nonpartisan leadership.
9. Brian N:
“Obama as such a good speaker it is amazing. Even if you don’t think there is much substance he is really really good at talking.”
Hey Brian,
Thanks for the laugh today. I find it hilarious that you think Mr. Teleprompter is “an amazing speaker” But, you are right about one thing, The big O is a big zero on substance. Kind of like junk food for your brain. Clearly, it is your kind of intellectual nutrition!
“Obama went into the presidency as an ACLU caterpillar and came out of his chrysalis as a Bush-Cheney anti-terrorism moth.”
Ha! Good one. I laughed out loud.
“In short, Barack Obama has been George Bush’s greatest gift — and he has not finished giving quite yet.”
And in fact Obama has been the best thing that’s happened to Republican’s and conservative’s in thirty plus years. Not since the abysmal failure of Jimmy Carter has the gap between liberal and conservative been so apparent to the US electorate and the world as a whole. November 2010 will become known as the month America had its real “epiphany”!
49. vivo
More Bush? You’ve become trite.
Brian N – Is it really fair to use Bush’s end of 2008 poll numbers to compare, after the economic meltdown, which was NOT Bush’s fault? How about we compare 3/02 with 3/10. Bush was wicked popular at that time in ’02. As quickly as Obama has fallen, where do you think he’ll be next year at this time? Low-30′s?
As for our popularity abroad, it was greater for awhile, as the chowderheads bought into the Obama myth, but it is plummetting rapidly. They may not like us being the world’s policeman, but they do miss that policeman.
A made-up poll? Well, yes, but it is not a great fantasy. Obama has come under great criticism from the Germans and the French for his ;lack of cojones. The French for heaven’s sake! It’s clear Brown and the Queen have little regard for Obama, after his stupid gifts.
As for Obama being in the Center, well, no. He is a Far-Left guy. Just because he’s a failure at it, doesn’t mean he doesn’t want what they want.
He’s prosecuting the war in Afghanistan because his big mouth ran for two years about the Good War. He has to fight it. Same with terrorism. He clearly wants to back away from it (we don’t call it War on Terror), but he cannot afford a real successful attack. If the underwear bomber had been successful, Obama would have been done.
In other areas of foreign policy, he is clearly a Leftist ideologue. He cozies up to tyrants and ignores freedom-seeking people.
He WANTS to close Gtmo. He just can’t. Congress blocked the funding, remember? Fail.
He pushed for Cap-n-Trade and Copenhagen Climate Change. He just failed.
He wanted Universal Health Care. He just failed.
He sure didn’t like the SC shooting down much of McCain-Feingold!
He certainly supports the unions. Of course, Card-Check is a non-starter, however hard he might try.
He takes the money of big corporations with one hand while slapping them with the other. Sounds like a Leftist to me. When Righties take the money, they cozy up to the fatcats.
I could go on, but you get the idea. his failure to achieve the Leftist agenda does not mean he’s NOT a Leftist! So, how about not calling us morons, when you can’t see these obvious things.
BRIAN N.
Another poor Obamanation minion-poor libtard boob !
You people… too…?
9. Brian N.
“Just because you people…”
52. Brian N.
“All you people talk about…”
35. skeeziks
“You people are such chickenshits.No wonder nobody respects you.”
Jan 30, 2010 – 12:55 pm
Sound familiar?
Gee Mr. N., is Mr. President making you (people) uncomfortable? After all, he is so smart and popular. That’s why he’s Mr. President, right?
Why even talk back to such things as, “you people” who disagree with you? It’s not fitting. And it’s not fitting for Mr. President too.
Van got new gig. Wow. You (people) going to “work” for him?
Whatever.
Brian: there is no link in tyour comment to ‘prove’ your point, and you said he left with an approval rating in the 20′s, which shows how ‘full of it’ you are. He NEVER had an approval rating in the 20′s.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/political_updates/president_bush_job_approval
that above is known as a link. If you look at that, what ETAB said about his approval numbers at the end of 2007 are correct. But you keep reading the crib notes your messiah gave you, and just like him ignore the fact and just report your own reality.
49 VIVO. “In order to regain world class status, we need educated masses, visionary entrepreneurs, good health care, budget control, friendly diplomatic relations and a sense of humor.”
Care to elaborate? How for instance would you recommend achieving ‘budget control’ or establishing ‘friendly diplomatic relations’ (and with whom in particular?) Do you think ‘good health care’ would be achieved by bringing the entire healthcare aparatus under centralized Washington control (The same Washington that Obama proclaimed ‘broken’ just a few weeks ago)?
Eagerly awaiting your reply.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the vindication of Bush begins with the presidency of Obama. So far, I have been proven correct on that point, but who would’ve thought that Obama would’ve began to vindicate Bush so quickly?
Compassionate conservatism sucked. “I sacrificed my free-market principles to save the free-market economy” was the worst thing he said, but truth be told, Bush is both a better President and better man than Obama will ever be.
IN 1984 THERE WAS A FUTURISTIC MOVIE CALLED “RED DAWN” WHEREBY THE U.S. IS/WAS/WILL BE INVADED BY RUSSIA AND CUBA.
SOMETIME IN 2012, SENSING THAT HE WON’T BE RE-ELECTED AS POTUS, BHO WILL IMPLEMENT “RED DAWN 2″ AND THIS TIME, RUSSIA, CUBA, CHINA, VENEZUELA AND ALL THE MUSLIM NATIONS WILL SIMULTANEOUSLY AND SUCCESSFULLY INVADE THE U.S.
THUS, THE SEVEN YEARS TRIBULATION WILL INAUSPICIOUSLY BEGIN AND THOSE WHO WILL NOT CONVERT TO THE “RELIGION OF PEACE” WILL GET IT IN THE NECK(PUN INTENDED.)
BHO AND FAMILY WILL BE “THE BENIGN RULERS OF THE PLANET EARTH” FOR A MILLION MILLENNIUMS TO COME.
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE MOVIE “RED DAWN” IN 1984 WAS ABOUT THE INVASION OF THE U.S. BY RUSSIA AND CUBA.
BASED ON HIS ACTUATIONS FOR THE PAST 14 MONTHS, THERE IS A HIGH PROBABILITY THAT POTUS WILL SPEARHEAD RED DAWN 2 AND THIS TIME WILL INCLUDE CHINA, VENEZUELA, THE MIDDLE EAST TERRORISTS AND U.S. HATERS ALL OVER THE WORLD.
THOSE WHO WON’T CONVERT TO THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS WILL GET IT IN THE NECK (OUCH!)
BHO WILL REIGN OVER THE EARTH FOR A MILLION MILLENNIUMS (HE IS IMMORTAL).
SEE YOU IN HEAVEN, FOLKS!!!
Love this: “a boutique rage”
I would agree with the article that among rational people, Bush’s star will and is rising. But, the people that make up the liberal media and most of Mr. Teleprompter’s supporters aren’t rational. They see Bush’s initiative on wiretapping overseas calls as a violation of civil rights but don’t utter a peep when Pres. Prompter tries to expand wiretapping to all cellphones. That is just one of the many examples.
Educated fearless leaders like you VIVO/MOHO etc etc etc I suppose. I really love it when moonbats expose themselves for what they really are. So you see America Obama is RIGHT its all YOUR fault and the MESSIAH is here to lead you out of the wilderness even though you still worship the Golden Ox. Fearless educated leader VIVO has spoken. LOL
#52 Brian N:So ETAB is just making it up is he well here is the link to Rasmussen read it and weep and whats more APOLOGISE to ETAB.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
9. Brian: “Obama as such a good speaker it is amazing.”
It is astounding to me that so many people conclude that Oh No is a superior speaker. It isn’t just that he uses a teleprompter for nearly all of his comments; it is a repeated stream of phonetics, each containing about the same number of words, that ends with a downward inflection of voice, much like a repeated blues riff that ends on a down note. It seems like a studio session and a song writer trying to nail down the first verse by constantly refining it through repetition. Most lawyers I know have some measure of mental agility where they can immediately present a cogent and clear response to an opponent’s argument. Oh No is incapable of even that, cf., the Health Care summit where he was unable to respond directly to Congressman Ryan’s presentation on the fiscal cost, deferring immediately to another Democrat Congressman for an answer.
He is not a good speaker, he is not intelligent and he is not knowledgeable. He is savvy in the sense that he has some street smarts and a measure of animal instinct directed toward his own survival. That is not the same as a deep and powerful intellect or possession of sound judgment based on long, arduous study of literature, history, or the hard sciences.
How this number got elected is a terrible statement of the mentality of the electorate. I say no one should be eligible to vote until they can pay their own dentist bills. Think about it.
Jeb 2012
I miss W. (Hell, I miss Nixon!)
65. Gylippus:
“Care to elaborate? How for instance would you recommend achieving ‘budget control’”
You guys keep claiming that the budget should be controlled with less expenditures and less taxes. You’re half right. Budget control is simple: expenses= income.
“or establishing ‘friendly diplomatic relations’ (and with whom in particular?)”
With the WHOLE world. Why should there be exceptions?
“Do you think ‘good health care’ would be achieved by bringing the entire healthcare aparatus under centralized Washington control (The same Washington that Obama proclaimed ‘broken’ just a few weeks ago)?”
You can have Federal and private health care coexisting, isn’t that the capitalistic spirit? If Congress has brains, they can make the right rules.
#73, Sixtnpenny,
Thank you. Could not phrase it better myself. Most of the votes “the Zero” received where from over-educated ignoramuses. There only accomplishment is to spend parents money, put enough time in classrooms and have absolutely no ability to think or Analise data. Unemployed (not these fault) and lost, could not read a data-set and understand the gimmick.
“the Zero” IS shrewd, and street smart, I give him that, but has no intellect, abilities or capabilities to lead a country. Specially, a country like USA.
Again, his election speaks more about brainwashing of the masses, then his qualities as a leader.
#76 vivo-
expenses = income. sounds easy, but what about when the economy blows up and revenues are down 43.5%? Can we get equation to balance? What has to be cut? What are the priorities? It’s just not as easy as you make out.
The whole world. Why any exceptions? I do not make friends with a sexual predator who has just moved in down the street when I have two young daughters. That’s why not. I do not make friends with guys like Castro, Chavez, Ahmanutjob, Kim Jong-Il, etc…. I try to isolate them; drive them out if possible.
You cannot have private and government healthcare coexisting. The private will always lose, because the government doesn’t have to make a profit, as they have a separate revenue capability. If the government operation was required to make a profit, and had no access to taxpayer money, it would always lose. The two cannot coexist.
The public option is a fiction. It is a thinly disguised takeover of the healthcare system, and the proponents have admitted it. It is stealth Universal Healthcare.
So, vivo old buddy, any other assertions you’d like to make? I’ll be happy to shoot those down, too.
A modest prediction. In six months Bush will poll better than Obama…
W’s book (coming out this fall) will also outsell both of Bill Ayers’ books about Barry O.
78. MM
Thanks Mark – saved me the trouble, and did a fine job of it.
(Doubt Vivo will reply though, you went over his head.)
I think Obama have all the quality to as a good leader .so he is handling each and everything is very well.
78. Marc Malone:
“So, vivo old buddy, any other assertions you’d like to make? I’ll be happy to shoot those down, too.”
You didn’t shoot anything down, you just expressed tired divergent opinions. For example, who says health care cannot be non-profit? Non-profit accounting methods can easily hide profits.
Balancing a budget is not easy, but corrections can be made, like cutting wasteful military expense.
82. Non-profit is fine, but the free market cannot abide a competitor who is capable of losing money indefinitely and staying in business. That is why there are anti-trust laws against dumping (selling below your own cost to drive competitors out of business).
83. myth buster:
“82. Non-profit is fine, but the free market cannot abide a competitor who is capable of losing money indefinitely and staying in business.”
It wouldn’t be ethical for a competitor (government) to sell below cost to drive others out of business. You said yourself there are laws against dumping . . .
I,m sorry I still can’t figure out what you are saying.
Is Obama better or worse than Bush? From a common, ordinary widow who is trying to go back to school and get re-educated because the real estate market has tanked and a conservative nderwriter has no place and no job anymore.
Wasn’t this a result of the no-holds barred
lets get everyone into a house regardless
if they qualify or not, laize Faire attitute of the Administraiton from 2000-2008?
We have lost over 500 good realtors in our city not to mention mortgage bankers. Those that are left are faced with the most idiotic
and meaningless regulation that I have ever seen-somehow, bad or good, I dont’ think Obama was around in 2002-2007 when this was going on. Who was in there, Rove,, Cheney,Bush? Please tell me if I am off center. I sure would like to know who is responsible for this state of affairs when a disabled person needs to go back to school and work at two dismal little jobs to survive? Isn’t this America?or Not?
As for Obama being in the Center, well, no. He is a Far-Left guy. Just because he’s a failure at it, doesn’t mean he doesn’t want what they want.
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