Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
If it works it will be because of everything outlined in Mark Bauerleins book “The Dumbest Generation:How The Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future(Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30)” @ http://amazon.com/Dumbest-Generation-Stupefies-Americans-Jeopardizes/dp/1585427128/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid+1330276992&sr=1-1
In judging potential presidential candidates – especially ones that may seem to have a short résumé – it is wise to observe how well organized their campaign is, and how well they direct their campaign. Regardless of their political affiliation, it gives some insight on how well they may later lead the country.
Against great odds, President Obama organized and directed an impressive and successful campaign. He can and should be expected to again do the same.
Now take a look at the slate of GOP candidates, including those who went by the wayside early. Their respective campaigns have so far been littered with inadequate organization, infighting and resignations, and repeated stupid mistakes.
Even if one of them would be better at leading the country, if they cannot run better campaigns they probably will likely also have difficulty in running the country… something their poorly managed or botched campaigns will nevertheless preclude them from ever attaining.
Well – Obama told us he was qualified to be president because he ran a great campaign. Certainly not because had had any practical experience.
FLIT –
The ” Village Idiot from Chicago” is the poster child for his own brand of politics, INEPTOCRACY, to wit;
Ineptocracy (in-ep-’toc-ra-cy) -
a system of government where the least
capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing and where
the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed,
are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth
of a diminishing number of producers.
He was elected by those who were CLUELESS about what was required in a LEADER.
Those who know what leadership really means know that this hapless lack wit is the biggest mistake ever elected to this office. If you are unwilling to accept this, I have ask you,
What color is the sky in your world ????
All obama did and has done is read from a teleprompter. Never worked an honest day in his life, No one saw him at Harvard that has come forward to testify anywy.
If an organized campaign is the litmus test, then aren’t we electing a campaign manager’s puppet? It was the Democrats who told us that Bush was an idiot and Cheney was really the puppet master. Who knew this was how they selected their candidates?
Or is that not quite what you meant?
– Max
Oh, Sweet Jesus. Are you actually claiming that an ability to run a campaign is in any way comparable to (oh, I dunno) actually running the Executive branch!!?
In case you haven’t noticed yet, Flit, there are two entirely different skill sets involved.
Filterman you call 9% real unemployent, murder in Afganistan and Syria and Billons wasted on “green”programs ah, “well run?” or are you saying he “Campaigns Well?” if so, we deserve it..
TGM – The train was out of control and coming off the tracks by the time Obama became President.
The ship of state has huge inertia. It’s direction cannot be reversed overnight by even the world’s best ship’s captain.
But thankfully, and finally things are starting to look up!
Whoever wins the next election, things will be much more on track and looking up for them than it was for Obama.
Glad you think things are looking up. Everything I see is negative and the Obummer is in no position to do a thing about it.
The problems we are having are the result of 80 years of FedGov being used to push the left’s idiocy. The problems are indeed cumulative, as are the results. The left wing of both parties (which is pretty much the entirety of both parties) is doing nothing to solve the problems. We are facing 2008 again because none of what caused the mess then has been fixed.
Flit,
I need what you are taking, can I give to my kids too? I only see the reality of his leadership disasters. Feel like the last of my time serving is watching the new age of a Carter military…..
Peace
SD
Whatever Flit is taking should be securely locked up and placed at the bottom of an abandoned salt mine.
Not an abandoned salt mine. We’re going to need those for spent nuclear fuel storage, and I shudder to think what would result from exposing weapons-grade stupid to gamma flux.
Put it under the nuke waste.
Flit, so what you’re saying regarding inertia means it wasn’t really Clinton’s doing, it just took time to undo what Reagan had accomplished?
Fascinating logic, that.
– Max
So, according to your logic, Flit, Obama’s failure as a president was no fault of his own, because no one could have fixed ‘what was wrong’ in just three or four years… even though his ‘impressive’ campaign presaged an impressive presidency.
You might want to try that again, as it’s not making any sense when you look at your two statements together.
An election for the Presidency is for four years, if you cannot do the job (after spending two full years begging people to LET you do it, and swearing endlessly that you know EXACTLY how to do it) in that period of time, then you are a failure… and do not deserve any more time.
Frankly, ability to campaign appears to have no relationship on ability to do the work of President. All it indicates is an ability to sway the masses in the short term – - and that’s NOT the main job of a chief executive, no matter how many times Alinsky asserts it is.
Additionally, I find it doubtful based on what we have seen these last three years that Obama had all that much to do with actually running his campaign. I find more evidence indicating that he was little more than the front man for an organization actually run by Axelrod and Emmanuel, and a few others. Obama has shown no skill for organization, nor for decision-making, and very little real interpersonal ability.
IT’S ALL BUSHES FAULT!!!!!
There. Fixed that for you.
BTW, in case you haven’t noticed, for all of Obama’s blaming Bush for Every. Single. Thing, he’s had three fracking years to do something about it, and every one of his “remedies” have made things worse, not better.
Obama is the dogmatic physician who insists bleeding really, really works, and this time the patient will get better. Honest. Trust me on this. Ignore all those complaints about anemia, loss of appetite, lack of energy, and so on. Those are just artifacts of the last doctor’s program. My “smart treatment” will cure him. Guaranteed. Pay no attention to the patient’s vital signs, or that man behind the curtain.
It’s all the fault of the
Joooos(er)Masons(er)Trilateral Commission(er) Fat Cat Wall Street bankers.“An Inconvenient Truth” is the high-water mark of the AGW cult. Hopefully this piece marks the zenith of liberalism.
I don’t think we can draw any conclusions from the 2008 campaign. Obama presented himself as a carte blanche upon which voters could project their desires and preferences. For myself, while I never liked or supported him, I did assume that the Democrats would require something more substantial than a pretty face and an ability to eloquently read a teleprompter. Some basic level of competency. Instead we have a simple-minded ideologue who has somehow managed to surround himself with advisers even more ignorant than himself. Obama has been measured and found wanting. I don’t think a propaganda film is going to convince that many people to ignore their reduced quality of life.
Running a campaign is not synonymous with running a country. And while BO had an excellent campaign against McCain, he gets far too much credit for running it. He had very good advisors, again advisors who while skilled at running a campaign, have been inept at running a govt.
It’s like the OWS crowd. Great at getting publicity from a compliant and sympathetic media, not so great at actually proposing any meaningful solutions.
Greedo …Mr. Obama tends to embrace anything clever done by his handlers and take the credit for it himself. Witness the Osama bin Laden capture. Essentially, what Obama did was to say to the SEALs “Let’s you and him fight.” Now he is taking all the credit for their successful campaign. That’s not the action of the good leader. A good leader will always give credit where credit is due — not try to coast along on someone else’s brilliant actions.
But we already knew that, didn’t we?
Marianne
+1 Ms. Marianne!
I guess the title will be:
The Inconvenient POTUS
I sincerely doubt it. Democracy Corps, which is Carville and Greenberg’s public polling firm, released data last week that shows Obama’s messaging on the recovery, “America’s back!,” is a disaster. It’s worse than any GOP theme, and it makes many independents less inclined to vote for him. Nobody believes him any more. It’s not 2008 anymore, Toto.
And the economy isn’t going to turn around by November.
The polling showed the GOP wasn’t in great condition, but memories of the primary will fade by November and Obama will still be wallowing in the mess he created.
Besides, the more the public sees of him the less they like him. His popularity goes up when he goes on vacation. Not this summer, though. Now even if Obama goes on vacation we’re still stuck watching a 30 minute infomercial about the guy. People won’t be able to get away from it. Why? They can’t afford the gas to get far from the house. That’s what they’ll be thinking when they watch it; Barack and Michelle are off on another Martha’s Vineyard getaway while they had to cancel their vacation plans to get a second job and fill the tank.
All the GOP has to do is make a few commercials starring Obama hizzelf, and his energy Secretary Chu, dreaming aloud about electricity prices necessarily skyrocketing and $8 gas like they have in Europe with a simple question at the end.
“You don’t think the prices you’re paying for energy this summer are a coincidence, do you?”
I’m not willing to overestimate the intelligence of the US electorate. Regardless of the conditions, they elected the idiot in the WH, and they are stupid enough to do it again.
Just as an FYI: Davis Guggenheim is the director. He also directed or produced “Training Day,” “The Shield,” “Alias,” “24,” “NYPD Blue,” “ER,” and Deadwood, among others.
I think he also did “Waiting for Superman,” and evidently he was quite surprised by what he found as he actually started asking real questions about education.
WESTPAC Spy:
“You don’t think the prices you’re paying for energy this summer are a coincidence, do you?”
Do you think there are any GOP candidates smart enough to do that?
Paul
Smart enough? Yes. Are they all too gutless to do it because of the “racism?” Yes.
Is there a PAC or advocacy group that might do it instead? Probably.
In addition to his infomercial, he has launched “African Americans for Obama” a blatently racist attempt to convince a single racial group to vote for a man not because of the content of his character, but the color of his skin (or at least half of it).
Sadly, blacks vote for Democrats about 93% of the time already, and there is virtually no reason to think that their pastors, their inner city schools, or their elected officials will be any more forthright and open minded about the causes of the dismal conditions in predominently black areas today. The shocking school drop out rates; that 73% of black children are born out of wedlock; the enslavement on the liberal welfare plantation; and the replacement of a formerly strong work ethic with a sense of entitlement and resentment— all thanks to decades of voting for Democrats. But, you can be sure they will do it again.
Thinking people may realize how bad Obama is for our country, but the majority of blacks do not know, or do not care. It is very possible, indeed likely that he will win again.
And, if he does, our country will be ruined forever.
There might yet be some reason for hope. If Barack has to spend money to fund “African Americans for Obama” then the black vote may not be as locked in as previously thought, and will likely be nowhere near the huge turn-out and overwhelming support Democrats have been able to count upon in the past. Those who were once taken for granted are suddenly a shifting foundation needing support.
It’s sort of funny, to me, that the media speaks of “the black vote” as if all black people are merely a product of their skin color, a collective bound together by melanin. I’m betting the black vote will be similar to the white vote when broken down by economics and education. Those who own their home, those who are in white-collar jobs, they’re trending against Obama. Those who work for government, who receive a government subsidy check every month, or have a graduate degree will tend to vote for Obama.
The difference, I suspect, is economic uncertainty. Those who get a check, or have jobs that they cannot be laid off from, will vote for the status quo or whomever promises no changes in their program. Those who are vulnerable to job loss, loss in their 401K’s or pensions or even loss of discretionary income due to rising gasoline prices will vote against the status quo in an economic downturn.
The question isn’t who has the black vote. The question is who has the dependency vote and how large it is.
– Max
Max, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15297.html shows that 96% of blacks voted for BHO.
I am unaware of any Presidential election since the 60′s where blacks did not vote in the 80%+ range for the Democratic candidate.
So yeah, melanin matters.
Blacks are a larger subset of the population than are Mormons. Does anybody think Romney, if he wins the nomination, will catch under 80% of the Mormon vote? Does anybody think he might need to spend money to create a “Mormons for Romney” organization to firm up that voting block?
Does anybody think Romney might get votes just because he’d be the first Mormon president and some Mormon somewhere wanted to see that happen?
Substitute Mormon for whatever demographic you choose, the first time people might be likely to vote their emotions and that’s understandable. The second time? Not quite as likely.
– Max
Max, your original question was the “dependency vote” -and you were wrong about how blacks vote, as they DO vote in a bloc.
Do you have any stats that Mormons vote in a bloc in National/Federal elections?
This Mormon intends to vote for Ron Paul in the Primary Election. A vote for Romney or any other Republican in the General Election will be a vote against Obama.
Mormons do not vote in a bloc any more than any other racial, ethnic or religious group votes in a bloc. There may be issues that resonate with them (us) and will greatly influence their choices, but it’s not as if the Sunday before election day they’re given marching orders from the pulpit. For that matter, I’m willing to bet people of faith, as they might identify themselves, are less about voting for one candidate that might share the same church than they are voting against one who’s policies they see as against their faith.
Render under Caesar and all that means you have to abide by the law of the land. It doesn’t say you need to vote for Caligula because the other guy is a Catholic and you’re not.
I’m still thinking economics will be the main factor in this election. The only question is how many will accept that Barack is an utter failure and how many will buy the inertia excuse.
To set your mind at ease, consider that those who do not have a basic grasp of economics will likely choose inertia. Couple that with the national average debt on credit cards, the national annual savings rate, and the number of people who do not have a relationship with a bank but exist paycheck to paycheck and make use of payday loan places to float a week or so in emergencies…
Yup. We’re boned.
– Max
I am convinced that we are about to back into a war in the
Middle east. The Saudis have reduced out put as a prod to US. To DO something. By our feckless non support of the Iranian opposition, and the ignoring of the murder going on in Syria, we are complicit. The Arab spring is a winter for
Christians, Jews and Women. As bad a Mubarak was he was worlds better than wha tis now in place-for now. Lybia
was a war for Europe’s oil, not ours.Now we have a truly bad situation careening to a very unpleasant conclustion…
Iran, Syria, North Korea. Possibly the Paks and the Russians
hovering in the background…
August, 1939.
Also a lot of this would be allieviated with the Keystone
Pipline and more drilling in the gulf and fed lands.
However, we cannot drive what we want, eat what we want and have our thermosat above 68f…
You could be right. I’m not familiar with this news site, so I don’t know how credible this report is, if at all. So I’m just linking to it as something to keep in the back of the mind just in case events start to creep in this direction:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4194506,00.html
I find this plausible because it’s got all the essential elements of hubris and cluelessness that have been the hallmarks of President “We can’t wait” Obama’s foreign and security policy.
Act without Congressional or UN authority? Check. Commit act of war? Check. Initiate war of aggression against Soviet client state (also aligned with China) while disregarding their possible reaction? Check. Expect them to then cooperate because it suits their “national interests” as redefined by the Obama administration as opposed to how they define it themselves? Check. Create international and humanitarian crisis with no plan b? Check.
I think I hit the main points. Like I said, I’m not familiar with the site, but we’re dealing with an administration that’s beyond parody. I often see news reports concerning the administration that force me to doublecheck to see if it’s from a satire site like The Onion or from a wire service like AP or Reuters. Sometimes the satires that first appeared on the Onion a year or so back become actual administration policy and are later reported by AP and Reuters.
Interesting times.
Well, people generally vote based on two main things. Their Wallet and Fear.
Given the number of people who are dependent:
- unions public and private
- unlimited unemployment benefit recipients
- have student loans with a balance due
- misinformed
- not informed
- dead but still voting
- voting based on race emotion and similar fringe beliefs.
Damn right he could get elected again.
John, it’s not different than Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney setting up Hispanic groups and running ads in English and in Spanish, targeting that ethnic group. So, everyone is doing it.
Well, there is nothing wrong with playing the statistics and making ads for a particular demographic group, be it Latino’s or Spanish-speakers or Cubans or members of particular races or creeds. That’s really nothing more than demographics and marketing, the same thing Dodge and Chevy and Ford does when they advertise their trucks as capable of climbing Mt. Rushmore or hauling a compact submarine when in reality most 4wd pickups never stray off a paved road. People *want* to feel powerful, being pandered to makes them feel important. People also want something to hope for, and to feel they are part of a group. This is why the advertisements for cheap, vile beer feature women wearing a little bit of nothing who are all interested in fat slobs chugging down said beer.
The F-150 is still the best-selling pickup in America. Coors/Bud/Miller still sell the most beer.
Hard to argue with a strategy that works. Sure, they might miss the 2% of Jews who don’t care about Israel policy and do care about the Winston Cup or the designated hitter rule, but if you can target 98% with an ad that’s pretty much gold for market penetration.
– Max
He’s just like the description I once heard a wise sage comparing something to a swimming pool; all the noise is down the shallow end.
Here’s a question no one has asked: who the hell would watch 30 minutes of his tortured ramblings and half-a-billion uhhhhhs? When I hear him speak, I hear the muted trumpet adult voices from the Peanuts cartoon.
Whomp…whooooomp…whoooomp…whooomp…whooomp
It’s just frippery strung together with more frippery hooked together with a lot of uhhhhs and unnecessary pauses. And a lot of “let me be clear(s)…”
Seriously, he’ll win another term. The GOP is the biggest bunch of wussies who ever drew breath. Afraid of being called “heartless.” Afraid of being called “racist.” They won’t call Obummer on his misdeeds, because that might look too aggressive. Negative doesn’t poll very well, you know. They’ll listen to the mainstream media that hates them, do what they tell them to do and watch Obummer win by a smaller margin in November.
As for Obummer, I shudder to think what delights await us in a second term. I guess he’ll finish his job of destroying the country and making it into a poor, banana republic where inflation is rampant, the military is a pathetic, hollow shell, his cronies are living high on the hog and he gets to take a 1,000 vacations per year while Moo-shell gets to hate the country while enjoying even more vacations.
I wouldn’t even be surprised if Obummer thinks we don’t need anymore elections (remember, he is no fan of our Constitution) and he decides to stay on, since the people need him so bad and it was so much worse than they thought when he took over, that he should be maximum leader, King Barack the Magnificent, for life.
I’m not saying it will happen. But it wouldn’t surprise me.
Neither party deserves our trust anymore. Wall Street, K Street, et al., gives just as much money to one side as they do to the other to make sure their guy wins over anyone that could be a serious threat (ron paul) to their system. Even Romney recently suggested in a keynesian influence that reducing spending could be bad for the economy.
There is an untold history here in the growth of lobbyists on the political system. It used to be that such lobbying insured jobs. Now its the emptying of our money back into their coffers and insuring that wages stagnate compared to all else. Things seem to be quite out of hand. Freight trains running down mountains and what not. Good luck with that kids.
When will anyone on Wall S be prosecuted for some of this mortgage scandal? Why, never.
The growth in the number of lobbyists is simply in reaction to the growth of the regulatory state. Individual businesses and industry groups wouldn’t waste all that money on D.C. if the regulatory state didn’t function exactly like a mafia protection racket.
“This is a real nice business you got here. It’d be a shame if something happened to it. By the way, how much will you be contributing to my campaign this year? And did I mention that bill that contains a bunch of new draconian regulations governing commercial aviation that’s before the committee? The members are inclined to send it to the floor for a vote, but if you and your compadres in the airline industry can find a way to persuade them enough may be swayed that it doesn’t have the votes to get out of committee.” says the chairman of the house transportation and infrastructure committee to the airline ceo.
As far as people on Wall St. getting prosecuted, that’ll happen long before the real culprits at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ever are.
Nailed it.
Maybe it’s just me, but I look at the youth under 30 today… Heck, I look at most people under 40 in my place of employment, and I really have to wonder if they’ll devote 30 minutes of their day to watching anything informative.
– Max
I see a lot of bellyaching and hyperbole in the comments against Mr. Obama. Instead of complaining about the problem how about looking for a solution. John McCain was not it in ’08. I am afraid that the candidates in the Republican primaries are not it in ’12. The Republican ‘A’ team seems to have decided to sit this one out.
Some of the most reasoned discourse I have heard in a long time has come from one Neptunus Lex. Can we get him to give up his Nomex baggies and run for President? I, for one, would vote for him!