The same water-carrier at TIME who tried to label all conservatives nihilists is back with another ridiculous defense of this horrendous Obama administration, which still continues the cult of personality one year after the election. Here's what Joe Klein offers up:

The most obvious pattern, however, is the media's tendency to get overwrought about almost anything. Why, for example, is the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall demolition so crucial that it requires a President's presence?

So that's sort of the level of cognitive dissonance we're at in the media and how far they are willing to revise history: Berlin wall coming down - not a big deal, but the President pardoning a turkey - that's huge!

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Ouch! You know your foreign policy strategy is in dire straits when the Europeans accuse you of being too much of wimp. First it was the French President Sarkozy saying Obama was being soft on Iran, now the Germans are saying Obama is Jimmy Carter II. From Der Spiegel:

The mood in Obama's foreign policy team is tense following an extended Asia trip that produced no palpable results. The "first Pacific president," as Obama called himself, came as a friend and returned as a stranger. The Asians smiled but made no concessions.

No word yet on whether or not MSNBC is going to condescendingly criticize our German allies like they usually do for Obama's detractors. But, in defense of President Obama, there's really not much he could do to influence the Chinese on anything, since they are effectively financing our over-consumption and we the people will not elect politicians who will get our fiscal house in order. Perhaps Der Spiegel is just saying welcome to the club of nation-states that are burdened with a massive entitlement complex and a geezerly population. At least we'll ride out the Decline of Western Civilization in solidarity.

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Someone needs to contact Gibbs about the whole bow to the Japanese Emperor row. Because in the Hot Air comments, someone has come up with an excellent excuse that any guy can sympathize with. If Obama was sporting a major boner, then it would be acceptable to hunch over at that ridiculous an angle.

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Politico:

Obama aides are using their powerful White House platform, combined with techniques honed in the 2008 campaign, to cast some of the most powerful adversaries as out of the mainstream and their criticism as unworthy of serious discussion.

Here's to our tax dollars being put to good use. Cheers!

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Uh, aren't you supposed to actually do something to win the Nobel Peace Prize (see the 2006 Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who actually accomplished quite a bit besides running a presidential campaign). Shit, at least Al Gore made a half-ass documentary. Politico cites the reason:

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the committee said. "His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

But what major foreign policy breakthroughs has he accomplished, not just promised to accomplish? If these are the standards for winning the award, then Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" should've won it every year. And, yes, this post obviously means I hate America.

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You can't visit the NY Times opinion page without someone opposing Obama (a good chunk of Americans) being called a racist (a very serious accusation), and they're dropping in credibility faster than the SPLC. Reason examines this phenomenon in American history in a very interesting piece:

A similar dynamic is at work in 2009. When pundits weave a small number of unrelated incidents into a "pattern" of crime, then link it to the rhetoric of Obama's opponents, it becomes easier to marginalize nonviolent, noncriminal critics on the right, just as a red scare makes it easier to marginalize nonviolent, noncriminal figures on the left.

Admittedly, there been an uptick in crazy lately. After all, shoddy economies and Americans coming home in body bags tend to produce a more extreme politics, and right now America has both. But, the lame attempts to discredit Obama critics as being a pack of racist, barnyard yokels is pretty transparent partisan politics.

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Our President's liberal domestic agenda may be loathsome, but I would at least hope that he's good at the whole grip-n'-grin thing with international leaders (like Clinton was). Something that has been important for American heads of state since our Founding Fathers had to ham it up in France to get support for the Revolutionary War. He already has the media, unions, and Wall Street lining up to kiss his ass, how hard can it be to schmooze a few people with hard-to-pronounce last names?

Apparently though, it's pretty tough. Obama is heading off to the UN this week, and Politico has an interesting article about all the work the White House staff has to do to make sure nothing gets fucked up. From Politico:

But avoiding an insistent suitor at the bustling U.N. headquarters can be difficult – despite the painstaking efforts aides sometimes take to send a U.S. president down a different hallway, or into a different corner of a meeting hall to avoid unwelcome diplomatic advances.

“It’s inevitable that you’re going to be in the same room with people,” said John Bolton, U.N. Ambassador under President George W. Bush. “It’s not like the Secret Service controls the floor of the Security Council. If Ahmadinejad just comes up to Obama and talks to him, who’s going to stand in the way?”

Sure, keeping the President away from Ahmadinejad might prevent dickheads like me on the internet from posting funny pictures, and avoiding a few Middle Eastern thugs-in-chief might be no problem. But, I think the real trick will be avoiding the Chinese delegation. After the trade war Obama seems to have kicked off with tariffs on tires and our dollar sucking ass, I'd spend more time thinking up clever excuses.

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Don't ever question the Obama administration's ability to get new converts. The President is set to give a speech addressing America's K-12 students on September 8th, and the Department of Education has released guidelines for how teachers can solicit student participation during this "historic" and totally shameless moment (h/t Legal Insurrection). For K-6:

Students could discuss their responses to the following questions:
What do you think the President wants us to do?
Does the speech make you want to do anything?
Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?
What would you like to tell the President?

Great, the President has now become Dad-in-chief. Can this guy get anymore ego-maniacal? Here's the program for Grades 7-12:

Listening with a purpose: Inspiration and Challenges. Using a similar double‐column
style notes page as the one above, the teacher could focus students on quotations that either propose a specific challenge to them or inspire them in some meaningful way. Students could do this individually, in pairs or groups...Create decorated goals and steps on index card sized material. The index cards could be formatted as an inviting graphic organizer with a space for the goal at the top and several steps in the remaining space. Cards could be hung in the room to create classroom culture of goal setting, persistence and success, and for the purpose of periodic review.

Not that I was a model student or anything, but shouldn't kids be learning Algebra or reading Shakespeare instead of making hokey glitter collages of President McDreamy. At least they'll have a great future as community organizers.

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The GOP has been called so many "-ists" in the last month, it's becoming increasingly difficult to track. Skippy tries to shed some light on what Joe Klein means when he applies the "nihilist" label, but all I can think of is German guys trying to cut off my johnson. From Time:

This is a difficult situation for the President. Cynicism about government is always easy, even if it now seems apparent that it was government action — by both Obama and, yes, George W. Bush — that prevented a reprise of the Great Depression. I watched Obama as he traveled the Rocky Mountain West, holding health-care forums, trying to lance the boil by eliciting questions from the irrational minority that had pulverized the public forums held by lesser pols. He would search the crowds for a first-class nutter who might challenge him on "death panels," but he was constantly disappointed. In Colorado, he locked in on an angry-looking fellow in a teal T shirt — but the guy's fury was directed at the right-wing disinformation campaign. Obama seemed to sag. He had to bring up the "death panels" himself.

Klein seems upset that is incumbent upon the majority party to explain to the public, which allows government to exist, of why a fundamental restructure of the health care industry is necessary. Klein is completely unable to fathom why every other American isn't completely in love with the President like he is and why the bumpkins in Walmart land aren't worshiping the ground Obama walks on. So when they can't back up White House talking points with concise rational arguments, they resort to this lame name-calling.

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Having the Democrats in power again has certainly provided some much needed economic stimulus for one industry: firearms. And it didn't even require a billion dollar program that went broke after 5 days. From USA Today:

Interest groups on both sides agree that demand for permits is up because of economic uncertainty and concerns about a new president and a Democrat-controlled Congress.

"People pay attention to politics. … They're afraid of another effort" to try to enact more gun control, says Andrew Arulanandam, spokesman for the National Rifle Association. "Part of the concern is spurred by the economic downturn and fear that crime will go up."

Since violent crime has been dropping despite the economy going kaputz, I'd say that it has more to do with the traditional fears that the Democrats are coming for your guns (a characterization that lives on from the Clinton years). Even though the 2nd Amendment has not come under fire (yet), you can never be too safe these days.

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God bless America. It has has always had it's share of crazies. Just a natural by-product of a nation which honors freedom of speech that can actually provide some laughs after three beers. But there's a point when folks who might otherwise be considered political allies start to make you get a little uneasy. The Army guy (an junior officer no less) who demanded that President Obama show him his birth certificate was a punch in the face. But the fact that congress had to pass a resolution that Obama was indeed born in Hawaii shows this meme residing in the dark corners of the internet has gone too damn far.

I don't think that Obama was born overseas in the same way I don't think my little brother is secretly a robot, there's no rationale reasoning to come to either conclusion so I don't really think about it. National Review has an interesting editorial trying to distance themselves from birtherism like Harrison Ford distanced himself from the Star Wars Holiday Special:

Much foolishness has become attached to the question of President Obama’s place of birth, and a few misguided souls among the Right have indulged it.

There's a lot too criticize Obama about...a lot. Why choose this bullshit?

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Imagine the irony when I was reading up on the Thailand government's strange internet campaign to promote national unity, clicked on something on Bangkok's The Nation about the stimulus failing, and this google ad popped up:

Great, so we're spending taxpayer dollars on google ads for Obama Blogarama to explain why wasting taxpayer dollars on the stimulus was a good idea. At least the Thai propaganda operates under the guise of promoting stability. Our propaganda is just about one guy: The Obama. Not even the power of google is going to save this guy's falling approval rating.

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With regards to Iran in a state of revolution, North Korea threatening to nuke Waikiki, and US Forces pulling out of Iraq's cities, Obama has been more quiet than Chief in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. But it's good to see our President not afraid to take a ding in his approval numbers and focus on the risque, political issue that's confronting this nation: being a dad. From AP:

In an unusual devotion of time for the president, Barack Obama is blocking out nearly an entire afternoon to promote the importance of being a good dad as a national priority...

...The day's events were intended to kick off a White House effort on fatherhood and mentoring. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will host forums around the country this summer and fall to gather ideas on good programs and to help promote them.

I never knew that having a good dad was important until the President told me! Yes, we can. In the future, the White House will devote an entire day to letting Americans know "Why you have to clean up your dog's poop" followed by "Why it's important to turn off your cell phone in the movie theater" and other issues of vital importance to national security.

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Because Children are the Future

You're doing a heckuva job, Obama. Recent unemployment figures show that we are turning into a nation of hobos, and the reasons behind the economic collapse are, I admit, not all the fault of President O. But we could at least demand that he stop blowing smoke up our asses with hokey numbers from his spendulus plan.

Innocent Bystanders has some analysis on how the figures originally predicted by the administration were way too optimistic. See graph below to further your anxiety:
Now, to silence any criticism that maybe this monstrous $787B program was a lousy idea, Obama says that 600,000 jobs are going to be created this summer. Unfortunately, that number factors in teenage gigs working at the DQ and goofing off behind the cash register at the local Goodwill. CNS explains:

The biggest of the youth jobs program is in Cleveland, where 7,000 teens will be employed to work summer jobs through a $6.4 million program funded by stimulus money. About $3 million went to support 2,500 summer teen jobs in Riverside County, Calif., according to the report. Another 200 California teens will get summer jobs as a result of a $465,000 stimulus grant to Yuba County.

The Desert Sun out of Palm Springs has some more specifics on what kind of jobs the stimulus money created: minimum-wage jobs at state-run buildings so teenagers aren't making trouble during their summer break. Not that teenage employment is a bad thing, but using it to factor into the narrative about economic recovery for the American middle class is a bit sheisty.

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Much to the shock of the entire country, Obama has replaced SECDEF Robert Gates with former CEO of Microsoft Bill Gates. Thanks to JammieWearingFool for breaking the video of the speech of this shocking news.

In case you didn't know, William Gates III is the lovable nerd who survived numerous pantsings in high school to drop out of Harvard and start Microsoft. He became one of the most charitable people on the planet as well as one of the richest. Now he will be supervising all the US Armed Forces, the conduct of two counter-insurgency operations, and a controversial budget battle. Of course, Bill Gates would probably do a better job than Robert Gates' predecessor.

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Protectionist tariffs may have been the talk of the town 100 years ago when industrialized nations were intentionally dumping their extra leather Bluchers or whatever, but unless you're Pat Buchanan, you probably comprehend the benefits of free trade in the 21st century. That's why the "Buy American" clause finagled into the stimulus was called a really lousy idea by various economists and our allies, and it was certain to spark a trade war.

But now that the "Obama Bucks" from the stimulus are working their way down to municiplaities, Canadian businesses are pissed that they're getting the cold shoulder. From WaPo:

Outrage spread in Canada, with the Toronto Star last week bemoaning "a plague of protectionist measures in the U.S." and Canadian companies openly fretting about having to shift jobs to the United States to meet made-in-the-USA requirements. This week, the Canadians fired back. A number of Ontario towns, with a collective population of nearly 500,000, retaliated with measures effectively barring U.S. companies from their municipal contracts -- the first shot in a larger campaign that could shut U.S. companies out of billions of dollars worth of Canadian projects.

Great. Legions of people donning hockey masks and Rush shirts are going to give us an ass-whooping, eh. What is most disconcerting is that Obama knew this animosity was coming, but let it pan out anyways. Just as he knew the country would be under crippling debt, but went ahead with most crass spending ever to give the American people all the shiny new unicorns he promised.

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Is there anyone out there that still wants to defend Obama's promise of "no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase". First there was the tax on cigarettes (62 cents/pack) to fund S-Chip, and now a federal tax on pop is in the works under the guise of making America less lardassish and to fund the outlandishly expensive health care reform. From WSJ:

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee is set to hear proposals from about a dozen experts about how to pay for the comprehensive health-care overhaul that President Barack Obama wants to enact this year. Early estimates put the cost of the plan at around $1.2 trillion. The administration has so far only earmarked funds for about half of that amount.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based watchdog group that pressures food companies to make healthier products, plans to propose a federal excise tax on soda, certain fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and ready-to-drink teas. It would not include most diet beverages. Excise taxes are levied on goods and manufacturers typically pass them on to consumers.

Too bad Pepsi's new PR campaign to alter their logo to a "Yes, We Can!" motif didn't win any hearts and minds with the political class. Perhaps if Washington spent less time concocting new schemes to tax working Americans and more time figuring out how to not send dead people social security checks, they'd save some money.

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Baghdad Bob and Bob Gibbs, Separated at Birth? (courtesy Free Republic)

How hard a concept is it to grasp that public officials have a responsibility to answer questions from the media and not manipulate it to their own ends like some Ba'athist mouthpiece? The US Military understands this, most law enforcement institutions understand this, and dare I say congress might even understand this. But the Obama administration, ever in permanent campaign mode, seems obsessed with getting the media to heap praise upon them and not dare criticize The One's decisions. It's not like the White House press corps has been very critical in the first 100 days, but the President is unsatisfied that every front page article doesn't read like a press release.

Fox News recently got shut out of a Q&A session with the White House because they didn't broadcast the damn thing. Robert Gibbs started heckling NBC today when a straight-forward question from Chuck Todd was asked about Obama's sorry attempt at fiscal restraint. And now, Obama is just going straight to the reporters to tell them how to phrase his monstrous budget. From CBS:

In his remarks today, the president sought to change that tenor of that coverage. He mocked the notion that smaller savings are considered "trivial" in Washington and stressed that "these savings, large and small, add up."

And he told journalists directly that they should stress the fact that the cuts are "significant" – a surprisingly direct appeal to reporters concerning which angle they should take in their coverage.

"It is important, though, for all of you, as you're writing up these stories, to recognize that $17 billion taken out of our discretionary, non-defense budget, as well as portions of our defense budget, are significant," he said. "They mean something." (Here's the White House report on the cuts.)

And you thought the term "Banana Republic" was just some right-wing meme, mwahaha.

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The Prez held a press conference today outlining cutting federal spending on wasteful programs to a tune of $17 Billion. Sure that sounds like a lot of cash, but it ain't much when you're dealing with $3.5T budget. As an analogy, it'd be like if you were $150,000 in the hole to angry Chinese mobsters, living on $1000/week, and decided it was time to cut back on your Saturday morning bagel with cream cheese and lox. From Political Punch:

The president laid out a number of examples of the more than 100 programs that will face cuts or termination, saying that many of them were outdated or ineffective.

The $17 billion in cuts add up to roughly one half of one percent of the $3.55 trillion budget. Still, the president said the savings are significant.

"These savings, large and small, add up. The 121 budget cuts we are announcing today will save taxpayers nearly $17 billion next year alone. That’s a lot of money, even by Washington standards," he said.

The real problem with the budget is that entitlement spending (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) is out of control, rife with fraud, and will only get worse as the boomers approach geezerdom. In Obama's defense, it's difficult to have the political capital to take on these leviathans, because no politician has the mojo. If Jesus himself came down to become Messiah-in-Chief of America, he probably wouldn't be able to cut back on Social Security without fear of an AARP smear campaign.

When America is reduced to ashes being crushed by its exorbitant debt, remember that Democracy has it's own pitfalls as people tend to vote "What's in it For Me?" instead of any long-term viable strategy for the republic.

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Lousy Presidential candidate/decent guy, Sen. John McCain, said going on a "witch hunt" for people involved in the notorious legal memos regarding enhanced interrogation would turn us into a screwy Banana Republic. From Politico:

“Look, I didn't agree, as you said, with the techniques — and I'd be glad to continue that debate with people. But to criminalize their legal counsel, unless you can prove that they intentionally violated existing laws or ethics, then this is going to turn into a witch hunt,” he said.

McCain compared the potential prosecutions with the actions of “banana republics” that “prosecute people for actions they didn't agree with under previous administrations.”

I tend to take the Shep Smith position on the torture issue personally, but, like when maintenance gets "magically completed" between the hours of 0000-0200 on a Navy ship, sometimes it's best to not know how the CIA conducts business. What would the public have to gain by demanding the release of classified documentation during a time of war? MoveOn.Org's latest ad provides some insight into that question. Prosecuting Darth Cheney of course!

This along with the Obama's administration half-assed attempt at bank nationalization by not allowing TARP recipients to pay back the money, sending law enforcement after political enemies and veterans, and our skyrocketing debt certainly might put us in the running for Banana Republic status.

But we're not even a cool Banana Republic. There's no marching around the jungle with a machete in a tropical climate as part of Generalissimo's hit squad. There's no kickbacks from shady fat dudes in Hawaiian shirts laundering drug money. And there's no gaudy uniforms with big ass hats and made-up medals. All we get is lousy Oboner tributes from the sycophantic media about Obama's "house of rock" and shitty artwork of the El Presidente. This Banana Republic sucks.

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