Obama’s amateur governance
By EDWARD KLEIN
Last Updated: 11:00 PM, October 27, 2012
Posted: 10:15 PM, October 27, 2012
It’s hard to remember now, but only a month ago most political pundits were predicting that Barack Obama was going to win the presidential election in a cakewalk.
On the eve of the first debate in early October, Democrats were euphoric, Republicans were demoralized and depressed, and the political world was dismissing Romney as an amateur who was out of his league.
But then, as we all know, the campaign took a dramatic U-turn. Romney kayoed Obama in that first debate, and the same carping critics who had declared Romney’s candidacy dead in the water anointed the Republican challenger as the momentum candidate.
Suddenly, it was Barack Obama who looked like the amateur.
As president, Obama has shown himself to be inept in the arts of management and governance. He has failed to learn from his mistakes and therefore repeats policies, both at home and abroad, that don’t work. He invariably blames his problems on those he disagrees with and is so thin-skinned that he constantly complains about what people say and write about him. He is a strange kind of politician who derives no joy from the cut and thrust of politics, but who clings to the narcissistic life of the presidency.
The qualities that define him — his arrogance, his sense of superiority, and his air of haughtiness — have been on full display as Obama has sought a second term. In the debates and during the final weeks of the campaign, Obama has been prickly and defensive. His cheap shots at Romney (for instance, he mocked Romney for using the phrase “binders full of women”) and his use of the derisive word “Romnesia” have made Obama appear unpresidential, small and unserious.
Obama has always had scorn for anyone who disagrees with him. That was particularly obvious in the first debate.
“In debates, I watch body language more than content,” Stuart Spencer, the famous political consultant who ran Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaigns, told me. “That’s where it’s at in debates. And Obama came across as arrogant and preachy. He has a personality that hates to be questioned. He has to be right and have answers all the time. Even in his facial expressions, he was looking at Romney as ‘you fool.’ That was not a winning debate strategy.”
By all accounts, Obama doesn’t find joy in being president. Like Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, he is an introvert who prefers his own company to that of others.
I interviewed a former State Department official who told me: “While I was in the room, he’d get phone calls from heads of state, and more than once I heard him say, ‘I can’t believe that I’ve got to meet with all these congressmen from Podunk city to get my bills passed.’ ”
I heard the same complaint from people who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Obama during the last election. I interviewed a major Jewish-American fund-raiser who praised Obama to the sky while I had my reporter’s book open and I was taking notes. But as soon as I closed my book and put away my pen, he confided in me:
“My friends in the Jewish community who raised tons of money for Obama complain to me that they never hear from him. He never answers their phone calls. He’s not like Bill Clinton, who used to call them and ask about their wives and grandchildren and businesses. And you know what? I don’t hear from him either.”
What does all of this say about a president who hates the day-to-day, give-and-take of politics? Who doesn’t have respect for members of Congress? Who doesn’t show loyalty to those who supported him with their money, time and organizational skills?
What does this say about a president who doesn’t show any gratitude? Who has frozen Oprah Winfrey and Caroline Kennedy out of the White House after those two famous women helped make him president?
What does this say about a president who has ignored his African-American base to the point where every single African-American leader and businessman I interviewed for my book told me that they were disappointed and disillusioned with this country’s first black president?
I think it speaks volumes about his character, his inflated self-image, and his lack of qualifications for another four years in the White House.
Edward Klein is the author of the bestseller “The Amateur” (Regnery Publishing)
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ReplyDeleteMerely my opinion, and as you know my opinion of all politicians is pretty low; however, to me, it seems that if Obama could get the same public stage, perks, and power that he enjoys now as president by being a rock star or a professional athlete, he would dump the current job in a New York minute.
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Oh hell no, you are wrong there. He is lazy. He said so himself. Or, rather, Ayers said it for him, in the book written for him. Way too much work involved in being an athlete or rock star. No time for the golf. No time for the beauty sleep. The way it is now all he has to do is flap his yap. Not even sing. Just let the jaws yap, and strike a poise.
Delete.
DeleteRock stars? Hard work?
Haven't you heard, money for nothing and the chicks are free.
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The poor fellow is too good for everyone else. No one is his equal. He is head and shoulders above all the others in the room. He is irritated by them, they are so small. He is super. He is superb. Greek columns are his natural backdrop. He holds his head high, like Mussolini. He strikes a poise. He is proud. He is so proud. It is his pride. Pride is a sin. It is the Queen of Sins. The First of All The Seven Deadly Sins. Because it is found hidden in all the others. There is a saying about pride. It is
ReplyDeletePride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 16:18
Artists depict it.
Here it is -
http://www.ebsqart.com/Art-Shows/Exhibits/7-Sins/45/Pride/130243/
Ah, here he is right here, striking a poise in front of Superman -
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Barack_Obama_with_Superman.jpg
Deuce, it is not my place, but......that's a good image for this post.
Delete.
ReplyDeletePosted by Anon of the previous thread
Larry Johnson @ No Quarter says that it's very likely that the Benghazi consulate was not a consulate at all but rather a CIA mission to recruit, arm, equip and train jihadis for Syria via Turkey. He says that this could very well have been an Iranian 'false flag' operation to put the operation out of business.
Mere speculation? Who knows at this point?
In response, the rat keeps going back to "What did Petraeus Know?" Well, he likely knew a lot. I haven't been able to find the article but I remember that within a day or two of the actual attack, one major newspaper put out a story indicating that one of the four dead was CIA in country trying to hunt down weapons that went missing after Ghaddafi was taken down.
Within a week or two of the attack, the NYT was reporting on the large CIA presence there.
CIA Setback
As noted above, the comment by Anon reflects mere speculation at this point. While we know what happened in Benghazi, we still do not know why. However, if the speculation proved true, it would answer a lot of questions about the misinformation we have been fed; however, in that case the question would not be "What did Petraeus know?" but rather "What did Obama know?"
If the CIA operation in Benghazi was as speculated, there is no way the president wouldn't have known about it. And if it were as speculated, it would represent a doubling down of Obama's inteventionist policy, in this case with Syria, that got us into the current situation we find ourselves in in Libya.
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That's too bizarre. There are plenty of anti-Assad jihadis in Syria. Why not just arm and train them there, on the sly if one wished. (if I am reading that right)
DeletePerhaps thankfully, Obama will be running around, striking poises, doing photo-ops on Sandy for a few days, which should help to keep him out of trouble. Perhaps he can control the storm, like Christ is said to have done, and make it go away. After all, he was going to stop the seas from rising.
"What did Obama know?"
ReplyDeleteWe know Obama didn't know much, but is trying to find out for us, and will report back when he knows.
One would think we would at least have taken a shot at the jihadis whoever they were as they were leaving. They came, so I read, in trucks. Presumably, they left that way also.
DeleteCatching up with BPP, which predicted this state of affairs months ago, Battleground and Gallup give Romney five point win.
ReplyDeleteThe Blog
New Projection: Romney 52, Obama 47
5:00 AM, Oct 29, 2012 • By FRED BARNES
The bipartisan Battleground Poll, in its “vote election model,” is projecting that Mitt Romney will defeat President Obama 52 percent to 47 percent. The poll also found that Romney has an even greater advantage among middle class voters, 52 percent to 45 percent.
Obama and Romney
While Obama can close the gap with a strong voter turnout effort, “reports from the field would indicate that not to be the case, and Mitt Romney may well be heading to a decisive victory,” says pollster Ed Goeas.
Should Romney win by 5 percentage points, it would increase Republican chances of gaining control of the Senate. His coattails would help elect GOP Senate candidates in Virginia, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida. “Republicans are now certain to hold the House,” Goeas said, “regardless of how the presidential race turns out.”
The poll’s election model takes into account variables including voter intensity, age, and education, and voters who are certain in their vote. The race “remains very close in the surface,” Goeas said, “but the political environment and the composition of the likely electorate favor Governor Romney.”
The projected outcome by the Battleground Poll is close to that of the Gallup Poll. Last week, Gallup said Romney leads Obama 49 percent to 46 percent in its model of the electorate’s composition on November 6.
The Battleground Poll is conducted by Goeas of the Tarrance Group and Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners. Goeas is a Republican, Lake a Democrat. The survey is affiliated with Politico and George Washington University.
The Battleground Poll has it Obama +1, Today.
DeleteGWU/Politico Battleground Poll
http://weeklystandard.com/blogs/new-poll-projects-romney-52-obama-47_658066.html
DeleteOliver Stone checks in:
ReplyDelete"The country Obama inherited was indeed in shambles, but Obama took a bad situation and, in certain ways, made it worse," write Stone and Kuznick, reports Politico. "Rather than repudiating the policies of Bush and his predecessors, Obama has perpetuated them."
The book hits stores on Tuesday.
Stone has directed films on the presidencies of Bush, Richard Nixon, and John F. Kennedy.
Politico cites some of the critiques of Obama made by Stone and Kuznick:
On Wall Street reform: "The biggest winner under Obama was Wall Street."
On health care: "Obama's failure to articulate a progressive vision was also apparent in the fight over health reform, which was to have been his signature initiative…Obama's health care reform effort, marked by the inability to even refute Republican charges of death panels, was so unpopular that it became an albatross around the necks of Democrats in the 2010 election."
On a troop surge in Afghanistan: "When it finally came down to decision time, Obama didn't have the courage or integrity of a post-Cuban Missile Crisis John F. Kennedy. He settled on a 30,000-troop increase, giving the military leaders almost everything they wanted and more than they expected."
On civil liberties: "Among the greatest disappointments to his followers was Obama's refusal to roll back the expanding national security state that so egregiously encroached on American civil liberties."
On 'imperialism': "[He] was not offering a decisive break with over a century of imperial conquest. His was a centrist approach to better managing the American empire rather than advancing a positive role for the United States in a rapidly evolving world."
On defense spending: “While cutting defense spending, pulling combat forces out of Iraq and beginning the drawdown in Afghanistan represented a welcome retreat from they hypermilitarism of the Bush-Cheney years, they did not represent the sharp and definitive break with empire that the world needed to see from the United States.”
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DeleteUnder a Romney administration things would be even WORSE on those counts - dumb or dumber - your choice!
Delete
DeleteOn 'imperialism': "[He] was not offering a decisive break with over a century of imperial conquest. His was a centrist approach to better managing the American empire rather than advancing a positive role for the United States in a rapidly evolving world."
What a load of fucking horse shit. I hear this crap again, and again.
A century of imperial conquest.
It;s dumb crap like this that drive me nuts. They live in an alternative universe, like Ash. Can't they just stay there alone?
Go away Ash.
DeleteNot everyone is impressed:
ReplyDeleteThat Klein's credibility needs repair is beyond question, but it's doubtful that people who stopped taking Klein seriously after he wrote a book forwarding suggestions that Hillary Clinton is a lesbian -- and that Chelsea was conceived when Bill raped Hillary -- will be swayed by his claims of scholarship. (Klein's other recent work includes an embarrassing self-published novel "based on real stuff" co-authored with conspiracy theorist John LeBoutillier about a CIA agent who discovers that Obama is a Kenyan-born Muslim Manchurian candidate.)
In a 2005 column excoriating Klein's The Truth About Hillary, conservative Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan called the book "poorly written, poorly thought, poorly sourced, full of the kind of loaded language that is appropriate to a polemic but not an investigative work." The same criticisms can all be leveled at The Amateur.
The Janet Maslin review:
Although President Obama and his advisers have, as Mr. Klein so peculiarly puts it, “gone to elaborate lengths to hide his dark side,” they could not deter this seasoned pro. “I have learned as a journalist that if you look long enough and hard enough and carefully enough, most truths are discoverable,” he writes. Translation: any biographical subject has bitter ex-friends and associates. And if they feel snubbed enough, they will talk.
Dinesh D'Souza? Now looking for a new job.
...This skimpy, bitter book is more interested in combining anti-Obama bumper-sticker phrases with very energetic branding, as if hammering home the use of “amateur” as an epithet is all it takes to make the case. His conclusion, in 12 words: “Republicans will have to remind America that Barack Obama is The Amateur.”
Lot of that going around too.
DeleteKind of interesting that after 150 yrs of professionals attempting it, the Amateur was the one that attained National Healthcare.
DeleteMaybe we need More Amateurs.
To me, it's actually pretty simple.
ReplyDeleteForward
or
Backward
I wonder how those people on the East Coast feel about the mittster's intention to turn FEMA over to the states?
DeleteSame with me, Rufus, either move forward with someone new or backward with the same.:)
DeleteEverything is simple to you, Rufus.
DeleteAh, childhood!
The only way to fire a president is to hire his opponent.
ReplyDeleteThe top tax rate is now only 35 percent and the tax on capital gains (increases in the value of investments) is only 15 percent. Since so much of what they earn is from capital gains, many of the super-rich, like Mitt Romney himself, pay 14 percent or less. That's a lower tax rate than many middle-class Americans pay.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, if you add up all the taxes paid -- not just on income and capital gains but also payroll taxes (which don't apply to income above incomes of $110,100), and sales taxes -- most of us are paying a higher percent of our income in taxes than are those at the top.
So how can anyone argue against raising taxes on the rich? Easy. They say it will slow the economy because the rich are "job creators."
In the immortal words of Joe Biden, that's malarkey.
The economy did just fine during the three decades after World War II, when the top tax rate never fell below 70 percent. Average yearly economic growth was higher in those years than it's been since, when taxes on the rich have been far lower.
Bill Clinton raised taxes on the rich and the economy did wonderfully well. George W. Bush cut them and the economy slowed.
The real job creators are America's vast middle class, whose spending encourages businesses to expand and hire -- and whose lack of spending has the opposite effect.
That's why the recovery has been painfully slow. So much income and wealth have gone to the top that the vast majority of Americans in the middle don't have the purchasing power to get the economy moving again. The rich save most of what they earn, and their savings go anywhere around the world where they can get the highest return.
It would be insane to compound the damage by raising taxes on the middle class and not on the rich.
Logic, fairness, and common sense dictate that the rich pay more in taxes. It's the key to avoiding January's fiscal cliff and coming up with a "grand bargain" on taming the budget deficit. And it's central to getting the economy back on track.
The One, Simple, Clear-cut Question
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DeleteI've always liked Robert Reich. He always seems to have his head screwed on straight and doesn't come across as an ideologue.
He is invaiably the counterpoint to Kudlow, Laffer, and Petakoukis. And though it's usually 3 against one he still manages to point out the illogic in their arguments.
Smart guy.
IMO, of course.
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If he just wasn't so damned short. :)
DeleteHell, another 6", and he might win a Nobel, somewhere along the line. :)
The improbable hero of the story is that radical, Ben Bernanke. By keeping interest rates rock bottom, the Fed Chairman at least assures that for those consumers and businesses who can get credit, it is dirt cheap. This puts more purchasing power in consumers' pockets.
ReplyDeleteBut the homeowners who most need refinancing can't get it, because their homes are still underwater. And as the lousy business investment numbers demonstrate, too few businesses see reasons to expand (and by the way, tax cuts for small businesses won't solve that problem any more than low interest rates do -- businesses need to see customers with money to spend before they will expand.)
And as Bernanke is the first to point out, cheap money by itself can't solve the problem. That takes fiscal policy. And though he dares not say it out loud, he doesn't mean less government spending, he means more.
Bernanke has been courted by the deficit hawks to insist on the kind of deal that his predecessor Alan Greenspan imposed on Bill Clinton -- lower interest rates in exchange for deficit reduction. But Bernanke is a good enough economist to appreciate that in a serious slump we need both monetary and fiscal stimulus. He is conspicuously absent from the ranks of those elites promoting budget cuts. But I digress.
The long term source of all this misery is of course right-wing economic policies. But by failing to clean out and restructure the financial system, and to at least fight for much stronger recovery measures despite Republican obstruction, our president has given his opponent an opening to make the continuing slump Obama's fault.
Obama and the Economy
The old-timers, back home, kind of had the theory that "once the Republicans get all the money rounded up, everything comes to a halt."
DeleteSometimes I didn't give those "old-timers" enough credit, I think.
In some ways, I would "caveat" the opinion of the last author. The increased Government Spending needs to be on "Investment" in areas that have serious, positive long-term impact (3,000 ethanol refineries, for ex.) :)
DeleteIt's important to keep in mind that a lot of Roosevelt's spending was on things like levees, Electrical Generation, and Distribution, etc. It wasn't "make-work;" it was on things from which we're benefitting, greatly, Today.
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DeleteHero? Maybe a little hyperbolic. Don't mean to pull on superman's cape but while Ben may have done heroic work initially his glory is starting to fade. In about 18 months, he will be gone, and likely will suffer the same fate as Alan Greenspan, some in the the world still calling him 'the man' but with many others calling him the goat.
As for helping the middle class, I would argue that Bernanke's continued policies are by their very nature supply-side and have hurt the middle class as much (and probably more) than they have helped it.
As far as this whole fiasco being due to right wing economic policies, that is, of course just silly. Not that it isn't true as far as it goes but it ignores what could be termed 'left wing' policies such as pushing the home ownership percentages into unsustainible levels. The argument merely provides one side of the story.
As far as Obama, he has been talking more taxes on the rich for at least a year and it is only in the political season leading to the election that anyone is taking him seriously. In fact, all he has done in the last four years is lower taxes. When push came to shove a year or so ago he without much hesitation signed the extension of the Bush tax cuts.
Those on the right who think much will change if Obama gets re-elected may be mistaken.
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All that spending didn't move the needle for Roosevelt. It took the war.
DeleteBut at least, we sometimes got a little something for it, like a dam (if you like dams) rather than a bunch of Solyndras.
Say, did you hear about Royal Butch Shell......
I have a feeling No One is going to be gushing over the eventual compromise, Q. Although, I do think he might hold out for slightly higher taxes on the rich than, perhaps, you do. (on the other hand, I seem to be "wrong" more often than right when it comes to politics.) :)
DeleteMy old man said things were starting to get a little bit better before the war. On the other hand, the assembly lines were starting to turn out Supplies for Great Britain, and Russia.
DeleteAll the War did was jar some money (Credit) loose, and put people to work.
Of course, the post-war boom was helped by the fact that we had the last assembly lines left in, virtually, the whole world. :)
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DeleteOh, I think there will be some adjustments and that taxes will go up to some degree on the wealthy; however, I think the initial deal will be smaller than everyone hopes and will amount to kicking the can down the road a ways.
As far as when it will happen, one guess is as good as another. Based on the performance from last August, I expect it will roll into January before some kind of deal is struck. That way, both sides can tell their bases that they took it to the mat but had to compromise in order to save the country.
Kabuki over governance.
US politics of late.
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DeleteOf course, the post-war boom was helped by the fact that we had the last assembly lines left in, virtually, the whole world. :)
I would add the Marshall Plan, IMO, the cheapest and most effective stimulus plan ever entered into by the US. It started in 1948 and by 1952 every country that participated had already surpassed pre-war production despite the damage to infrastructure wrought by the war.
It helped provide customers for all those assembly lines and molding machines that remained intact in the US. Of course, we did the same for Japan and that came back to bite us (from an economic standpoint) in the 80's.
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Delete
ReplyDeleteRS
MEMBER DIARY
Ohio’s “Recovery” Due to Shrinking Labor Force
Unemployment rate paints a misleading picture
By: Jason Hart (Diary) | October 29th, 2012 at 11:30 AM | 0
Ohio’s unemployment rate paints a misleading picture of the state’s economy, an Opportunity Ohio report and separate Media Trackers analysis reveal. The unemployment rate reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) dropped from 10.6 percent in July 2009 to 7.2 percent in August 2012, but the change resulted from a shrinking labor force as opposed to strong job growth
http://www.redstate.com/jasonahart/2012/10/29/ohios-recovery-due-to-shrinking-labor-force/
In bad economic news for myself, it was reported this morning that, in addition to the coach being fired for incompetence, the quarterback of the football team has been dismissed from the squad for drug use.
ReplyDeleteThis means he is outta here, as he is not education material. This means I'll never see all the money he owes us for back rent, property damage, and utility bills. Dang.
Kind of pisses me off, really. We were carrying the guy.
DeleteIt's sad too. He will go back to LA without any prospects whatever. His cousin, a wide receiver on the team, and a good one, too, was shot to death at a party there last Christmas by a home boy over some idiot argument.
DeleteI think my wife is right. We ought to drop football altogether, and take up rodeo.
We don't have the resources to compete in football and we might as well admit it.
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DeleteSounds like you bet on the wrong horse, Bob.
Again.
Sorry.
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:)
DeleteNo biggie. And, it's not the first time, you are right there.
.......
Father of Slain Benghazi SEAL to Obama: “It’s Better to Die a Hero Than Live a Coward” (Video)
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/10/father-of-slain-benghazi-seal-to-obama-its-better-to-die-a-hero-than-live-a-coward-video/
Posted by Jim Hoft on Monday, October 29, 2012, 7:43 AM
Last night on Geraldo at LargeCharles Woods, the father of murdered Benghazi SEAL Tyrone Woods, sent this message to Barack Obama:
“It’s better to die a hero than live a coward.”
Well said.
Yesterday, former National Security Adviser Bud McFarlane added this on Obama’s non-response to the Benghazi 9-11 terrorist attack:
“To have known what he had available, to have known that Americans were under fire, and to have done nothing, is dereliction of duty that I have never seen in a Commander in Chief from a president of any party. Outrageous.”
#1 October 29, 2012 at 7:53 am
Campfollower commented:
This brave father represents me and all of my fellow military dependents when he stands up this way! I am moved to tears that he has the guts to stand up to this president, who is so vindictive.
This president has relieved Gen. Ham of his command at AFRICON, and what’s up with the admiral he relieved of command as well? Did he try to disobey the order to stand down as well?
There is something major brewing beyond the way the consulate event was handled. This was more than a foreign policy crisis…I’ll bet anything this incident showed just how inept and even cruel and evil this administration and Obama is when it comes to his role as CinC. Typical Democrats….no different than those who hold up the signs saying, “We support the troops when they kill their officers.” (yes, that was a real sign held during the leftist anti-war protests).
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ReplyDeleteRufus, you simpleton, you just don't get how much damage drugs do. Here we have one guy dead - there were lots of drugs at that LA party - and now this guy heading back to an inner city hell hole because of drug use.
DeleteAnd you want to legalize heroin.
What about alcohol? What's the death toll on that?
DeleteYou want to go back to "Prohibition?"
Do you think that kid should have lost his future for smoking a little grass?
DeleteThe argument of a simpleton. The argument of Ash. The same old argument.
DeleteIf there is a problem with alcohol, and there is, and you just might live a lot longer without it by the way, your solution is to INCREASE the problem by making everything else legal.
It finally took a Mao and thirty million bullets to finally get China off opium, and working.
I shouldn't have mentioned it. It's like putting a record on again. We have been through it before.
ReplyDeleteTwo Players Kicked Off Vandals Football Team, One More Suspended
10 hours ago • By Josh Wright
MOSCOW • Jason Gesser expected his first week as Idaho’s interim football coach to be hectic. But he probably didn’t think there would be this much drama.
Quarterback Dominique Blackman and linebacker Conrad Scheidt have been kicked off the team after failed drug tests and tight end Taylor Elmo was suspended — possibly for the rest of the year — for posting an inflammatory message on Twitter in the wake of Robb Akey’s firing, sources told The Spokesman-Review.
Idaho athletic director Rob Spear confirmed Saturday night that Elmo was suspended, but Spear said the redshirt junior could return to the team this year.
“It depends on how Taylor responds,” Spear said.
Elmo’s tweet, which has since been deleted, criticized Spear for cutting ties with Akey last Sunday, with a month left in the season.
“U of idaho is stupid as hell for what they did,” he tweeted. “Fire a man to keep your own job???“
Blackman, a junior starter who has thrown for 1,610 yards and nine touchdowns, was suspended for the first game of the season for undisclosed reasons. A source told The Spokesman-Review that he was booted off the team late this week for a third failed drug test.
Gesser was not available for comment Saturday night.
Blackman transferred to UI last year from Old Dominion and, after sitting out 2011, was the Vandals’ clear-cut top QB in fall camp. He was named starter in mid-August, but sat out the season-opening loss to Eastern Washington and was 1-6 as the team’s signal-caller.
Scheidt started three games this year before his sustaining a face fracture in practice. He did not return after the injury.
Elmo has appeared in four games and caught two passes for 11 yards. He played in all 12 games last year and was praised by Akey at the end of the 2010 season for stepping in for the injured Daniel Hardy.
Akey was replaced last week after going 20-50 in five-plus seasons. Gesser, Idaho’s 33-year-old offensive coordinator, was put in charge of the program for the final four weeks of the season.
Gangs Plan Hurricane Looting Spree Via Twitter
ReplyDeleteNew York National Guard to “protect against looting”
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
October 29, 2012
Scores of Twitter users have flooded the social networking site announcing their plans to go on looting sprees once Hurricane Sandy makes landfall, as the New York National Guard announced it would put troops on duty in Long Island to prevent such activity.
1,175 New York National Guard troops have been mobilized to “provide command and control and logistical support” in New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley and the Southern Tier. According to NBC New York, the troops will also be on hand to “protect against looting.”
They might well be needed given the fact that a deluge of Twitter users are using the website to appeal to others to join them in exploiting the chaos generated by the superstorm to ransack stores.
Given the recent phenomenon of “flash mob robberies,” where groups of people arrange to burgle a store en masse in order to overwhelm security and staff, the tweets should be taken seriously. Last year police warned that flash mob robberies, organized mainly through Twitter, were on the rise.
“Of 129 retailers surveyed by the National Retail Federation, nearly 95 percent said they were victimized by organized criminals in the past year and 85 percent said the problem has worsened over the past three years,” reports Fox News.
In addition, much of the rioting and looting which rocked England last year was also incited, organized and coordinated via Twitter. At one point, Prime Minister David Cameron considered slapping a ban on the social network.
Examples of tweets from individuals planning to go on looting sprees include the following;
“Bout to do some looting when this hurricane finally hits….gonna get a new laptop and tv…this hurricane might be the best thing to happen.” (SOURCE)
“If this hurricane gets real bad I’m looting stores ! i always wanted to do that.” (SOURCE)
“I’m gonna go looting once this hurricane hits Utica.” (SOURCE)
“Has #HurricaneSandy made landfall yet? My bitch ass is ready to go looting!” (SOURCE)
“helllll yeah I’m gonna go looting after the storm hits.” (SOURCE)
“Who wants to go looting with me when Sandy hits?! I need some new shit! (SOURCE)
Rasmussen finally has Romney breaking through in Ohio -
ReplyDeleteRasmussen Reports 10/28 - 10/28 750 LV 4.0 48 50 Romney +2
PPP, today, has
ReplyDeleteOhio - Obama +4
I think I'll, er, hmmmm, trust Rasmussen on that one.
DeleteDon't trust either one. Trust the average. Probably between O +1.5 and 2.0
DeleteColorado’s Amendment 64, which would legalize marijuana and regulate it like alcohol, holds a ten point lead according to the latest PPP survey of the state. The poll finds 53 percent of likely voters plan to support the initiative, while only 43 percent plan to vote against it. This is the highest level of support for Amendment 64 found in any public polling in months.
ReplyDeletePot Leads 53 - 43
This doesn't "de-criminalize" Pot, it LEGALIZES POT.
DeleteLegalize, regulate, and tax.
Budweiser, and Mexican Drug Cartels hardest hit.
DeleteAsshole judges, lawyers, and private prison guards not overjoyed, either.
DeleteHow the hell does Romney win Colorado when Pot is leading 53 - 43?
DeleteHere you go Rufus. Take heart!!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://news.discovery.com/human/do-intelligent-people-drink-more-alcohol.html
They do!
:):):):)
How do you put up with the dumb-fucks, sober? :)
DeleteThere are only 2 ways I will take a drink: either by myself, or with someone.
ReplyDeleteErnie Hemingway, who knew a lot about it, said you should never drink alone.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he always followed his own advice.
If I drank alone who would I lie to?
DeleteOh, wait . . . .
Hellloooo, elephant bar
Delete:)
It's hard to trust anyone who doesnt drink. Besides, when they wake up in the morning, that's the best they are going to feel all day!
ReplyDeleteHow do you put up with the dumb-fucks, sober? :)
ReplyDeleteRufus is the only man I know to always drink with fools, and consider it a point of distinction!
You gots to work with what you got, bubba.
DeleteI admit, I pretty much let my friends pick me, and a few of them ain't e'zackly in the Mensa Recruitment Binder. :)
DeleteI am nearing the point where I will begin quoting Shakespeare concerning drink.
ReplyDeleteWatch out!@
Macbeth: Act 2, Scene 3
ReplyDeleteDrink sir, is a great provoker of three things….nose painting, sleep and urine.
Henry IV Part II: Act 2, Scene 4
ReplyDeleteA man cannot make him laugh – but that’s no marvel; he drinks no wine.
As You Like It: Act 3, Scene 5
I pray you, do not fall in love with me, For I am falser than vows made in wine.
Othello: Act 2, Scene 3
O thou invisible spirit of wine! If thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee devil!
Probably one of the most compelling arguments against youthful drug use is the admitted former Maui Wowie devotee living in the White House. I wonder: where would our ruined economy and delusional foreign policy be right now if he'd spent less time inhaling?
ReplyDeleteRead more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/legalizing_weed_in_colorado_is_reefer_madness.html#ixzz2Ai7X9GVA
Thoughts that Rufus will never think, provided free here.
Delusional foreign policy? You mean like "trying to turn Iraq into Idaho?"
DeleteI'll take an ex-pot smoker over an ex-drunk any day.
Of course, I'd probably take a "Present" recreational bonger over either one. :)
DeleteBut, really, how would you like to be a "drug kingpin" trying to do business in Colorado, now?
DeleteRufus, it's Obama v Romney in this election.
DeleteRomney has not done either.
I Know this seems impossible to you.
:)
Nor does he do affairs, or even smoke.
It's called 'being clean'.
Anthropology is neat, huh!
Yeah, he just wears "Magic" undies. Gimmee a f'kin' break.
DeleteSo as not to offend Your Enlightenment, Sir, with an outward display of 'religiosity', and to keep this sign of his commitment to his way of life private and away from the eyes of the mocking guffawing inebriated unread masses, Sir!
Delete
DeleteNor does he go about maligning those who wear coonskin caps.
.
ReplyDeleteWhy do some poor vote GOP?
.
Send your questionnaire to D at the Ho-Hum motel.
DeleteThat is really a dumb article.
DeleteMaybe they don't like the drift of our culture, maybe they believe in God, and mean it, maybe they think a fetus has a divine spirit, maybe they don't think money of important, maybe they don't want to be dependent on government, maybe they want the government out of their life......maybe they think, they are all dicks but some dicks are worse than others......
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLoved the first comment,
Delete"Stupidity is never simple."
That's odd, I've never had any trouble figuring you out.
DeleteHere's the girl for you, Quirk -
ReplyDeleteThe creation of this culture of surveillance, from these bureaucracies, which is also carried over into Obama's endorsement of drones on the military level as well as for police control of the population. I mean, I don't understand how any... veteran of the 1960s who's a Democrat could not see the dangers here, that Obama is a statist. It's exactly what Bob Dylan was warning about in "Subterranean Homesick Blues," okay?
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2012/10/camille-paglia-who-voted-for-obama-in.html
Marijuana Ad in Colorado
ReplyDeleteYou don't suppose the Obama administration is going to use Sandy as an excuse to delay those job report numbers, which are said to be really bad, and due out Friday, until after the election, do you?
ReplyDeleteWon't be his call. They'll be pretty crappy, and they'll be out either Friday, or Monday.
DeleteHuh, it's on the ballot in Washington State, also.
ReplyDeleteLeads there 54 -38
Just say NOW
It looks like what the East Coast calls a hurricane is what we call a rain shower.
DeletePooping out, but what about that jobs report?
DeleteOctober 29, 2012
ReplyDeleteYou Weren't so 'FAST' at 3:00 am, Obama...
Russ Vaughn
One of my first thoughts when I heard that our consulate in Benghazi had been overrun with four Americans being killed was, where was FAST (Fleet Anti-terrorist Security Team)?
While I read news reports that special operations units in Europe had been alerted, I couldn't help but wonder, where were the troops specifically trained for such a mission? It wasn't until today that I learned a FAST team had indeed been dispatched to Benghazi, but not until after the fatal attack.
Had minimal foresight been exercised by the Obama administration, one of the most highly-trained and little-known, quick-response specialty units in the Marine Corps could have been on site in anticipation of heightened violence on September 11th, which as my wife reminded me, was the eleventh anniversary of 9/11, making it even more meaningful to Muslim terrorist planners.
The Marine Corps Security Force Regiment, headquartered in the Norfolk, Virginia area, whose primary mission is naval security and anti/counter terrorism, has companies and teams of former infantry Marines who have volunteered or been selected for these specialized operations, spread about the world to protect American interests. These are some very tough, very deadly specialists, heavily trained in CQB, Close Quarters Battle, and SWAT tactics. Had a FAST platoon been on the ground in Libya as a sensible precaution, they, with their naval support, most likely would have made short work of the attacking terrorists and denied the Islamists the triumph of killing an American ambassador.
Since FAST units had already been deployed to multiple locations in North Africa during the various Arab Spring uprisings, it is incomprehensible that no one responsible for diplomatic security saw fit to have, at the minimum, a platoon of these lethal specialists deployed to embassies and consulates throughout that region, at the ready to deal with contingencies that might arise during the 9/11 anniversary.
The FAST company stationed at the naval base in Rota, Spain, some 1500 miles from Libya, is supposed to have several hundred Marines assigned. The FAST company at Manama, Bahrain may be even closer. Just fifty of those heavily-armed, fierce defenders from either base could have made a huge difference, perhaps even deterring any attack at all by their very presence. Further, FAST units are sometimes deployed afloat with the fleet, meaning that there may have been one of these teams aboard a ship much closer to the site of the attack at the time it commenced.
DeleteWhat is truly amazing, and will be infinitely more difficult for the Obama administration to explain, is that an available force of Marines, specifically trained in embassy and consulate defense, was not alerted and in the air immediately when the first shot was fired in Benghazi. Instead, they were only ordered in after the battle was concluded and four Americans lay dead. Reports coming out now verify that personnel in the consulate sought reinforcements for almost seven hours without success.
America failed to support her outposts on foreign ground at a time when the locals were demonstrably hostile. It would appear that Hillary's campaign ad was prescient; Obama did indeed get that 3:00 am call when Americans were in harm's way:
And, as his fellow-Democrat, now Secretary of State, had predicted four years ago, it went unanswered.