Mass SNAFU

VP Joe Biden delivered today at Arlington

I must say, Crazy Uncle Joe filled in nicely today at the wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.  

While the VP was giving his speech, President Obama – who skipped the Arlington ceremony to keep a promise of returning home to Chicago every six weeks, or something – was rained out at his Memorial Day speech in his hometown.  Somehow that is very fitting.  

Anyway, via Mediaite, here's that Crazy Uncle of ours:

As I watched Biden’s speech I couldn’t help but picturing Obama speaking the same words – and picturing myself not believing a word of what he was saying.  Biden in contrast, comes across as a relatively simple man (and I mean that in a good way) and not a product of a liberal academia that promotes such disdain against our military.  

As misguided as his views may be and regardless of how dumb he may come across, Joe Biden has a down to Earth feel about him and you genuinely feel the VP respects our troops.  I thought what he said today - regardless of who actually wrote it - was from the heart.

Interestingly enough, I haven’t felt that from a liberal politician since I saw this video.

So, nice job Crazy Uncle Joe.  You done did good today and made America proud!

Hmmm: Nukes have been used to plug leaking wells

Just throwing that out their folks.  I’m no engineer, but it might be better than plugging it with golf balls.  Anyway, the video below has been making the rounds on Twitter and shows how a controlled nuclear explosion plugged a leaking gas well in the USSR.  Via Business Insider:

If BP’s plan C, D, E and F don’t work – and oil is leaking into the Gulf months after the fact - at some point this has to be looked into as an option, no? 

Scratch that.  Do it now.  Just imagine the unintentional comedy that a controlled nuclear explosion – detonated to save the environment - would produce from the anti-nuke/Green Peace leftists!  MSNBC would become the highest rated sitcom must watch TV.

And it would stop the leak, forever sealing the value of our nuclear technology!

Liz Cheney: “A gift for reading the teleprompter is not the same as leadership”

I’ve been saying that since 2008.  This oil spill just happens to be bringing it to the forefront. 

From Fox News Sunday via Gateway Pundit:

“You know you’ve got a president who believes that saying something makes it so. You showed it in the last segment when he said he was going to have the most transparent administration in history. But, that doesn’t mean you’re actually going to be open and transparent. It’s not the same thing as we’ve seen with him. On the war, he says he knows were at war but he doesn’t actually understand he has to lead us in the fight… And, going down to Louisiana he says, “Gosh, I’m heart-broken. I’m angry. I’m frustrated.” And then going on vacation to Chicago really doesn’t send a message that this is a man who’s leading… A gift for reading the Teleprompter is not the same as leadership.”

That whole "lack of executive experience" red-flag raised during the campaign is really coming into play with his handling of the spill and Obama is deservedly getting hammered from both sides because of it.  This is a man who was elected on the basis of being a successful community organizer and a Senator who chose to remain in the political shadows and vote present on tough legislation.

Seriously, what did people really expect from a guy with that resume?

So, how's that Muslim appeasement strategy working out, Mr. President?

Not too well actually.  From National Review:

Barack Obama entered office with high hopes of improving the U.S. image among Muslims worldwide. He hauled out his middle name, gave his first interview as president to Al-Arabiya television, quoted hadith, gave major speeches in Istanbul and Cairo, and talked ceaselessly of “respect” for Muslims. Where has all this gotten him?

Um, predictably not too far:

With the exception of Mauritania, it’s a statistical wash from the Bush years, with every Muslim nation polled trending downward on The One and his Muslim faith approach since mid-2009.

Can we just go back to the old way of recognizing that radical Muslims want to kill us all?  Personally, I felt much safer when we had a government in place that seemed to understand the threat from Islamic extremists as very real.  It would also be somewhat refreshing to have some leaders who also realized it's not possible to make friends with people who want to kill you.

Too bad those Mauritanians can’t vote though, Obama’s could use their support right now.  Although, some of them might be voting in the not so distant future.

Bill Maher: “I want a real black president”

Bill Maher wants 2-Pac as president, you know, to get all gangsta on BP and sh*t.

From Real Clear Politics:

"I thought when we elected a black president, we were going to get a black president. You know, this [BP oil spill] is where I want a real black president. I want him in a meeting with the BP CEOs, you know, where he lifts up his shirt where you can see the gun in his pants. That's -- (in black man voice) we've got a 'motherfu**ing problem here?' Shoot somebody in the foot."

What an idiot.

Of course, his comments will be largely ignored by the mainstream media and his fellow socialists, highlighting the glaring double standard that exists.  If Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck made that comment there’d be riots in the street. 

Bill Maher?  He gets a pass.

BP buses in fake workers for Obama photo op

As we all know, the Obama administration has been getting a lot of heat – from both sides of the aisle – for their lackluster response to the oil spill.  For an administration that places so much emphasis on perception - often through deception, I might add - Emanuel, Axelrod and company misplayed this badly.

Even James Carville is on record as saying that Obama could have gained 7 points in approval had he responded accordingly. Instead, over half the country thinks Obama handled this poorly and his overall approval is tanking - fast.

Cue the spin doctors.  Obama was rushed to Louisiana yesterday to survey the damage first hand and to take a bunch of photos to do some of his own damage control.  And as usual, deception was on full display as what appeared to be, actually wasn’t:

Perhaps you saw news footage of President Obama in Grand Isle, La., on Friday and thought things didn't look all that bad. Well, there may have been a reason for that: The town was evidently swarmed by an army of temp workers to spruce it up for the president and the national news crews following him.

Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts, whose district encompasses Grand Isle, told Yahoo! News that BP  bused in "hundreds" of temporary workers to clean up local beaches. And as soon as the president was en route back to Washington, the workers were clearing out of Grand Isle too, Roberts said.

"The level of cleanup and cooperation we've gotten from BP in the past is in no way consistent to the effort shown on the island today," Roberts said by telephone. "As soon as the president left, they were immediately put back on the buses and sent home."

Roberts says the overnight contingent of workers was there mainly to furnish a Potemkin-style backdrop for the event — while also making it appear that BP was firmly in command of spill cleanup efforts.

Now that is not going to sit well with a distraught Gulf Coast electorate in need of some genuine leadership from the feds.  And before anyone goes blaming BP exclusively for this ruse, let me remind everyone of President Obama's own words from his presser the other day when he said "BP is operating at our direction.  Every key decision and action they take must be approved by us in advance."

At a time when the people of the Gulf Coast needed a Bush-like, post-9/11 bullhorn speech on a pile of rubble, Obama was playing golf.  Throw in a fake “I’m here to help” photo op 39 days after the fact and the words “political” and “implosion” come to mind.  President Obama has not only failed at leading during this crisis, he’s now failed at pretending to lead.

As a contrast, all one needs to do is compare Louisiana’s Governor Bobby Jindal's response to that of the president. From Mike Reagan's recent column:

"Gov. Jindal has engaged completely in all aspects of disaster relief efforts. He has been a tireless advocate for his state, challenging mistaken federal approaches and pressuring BP to make every possible effort to quell this spill. And when the focus is fully switched to clean-up efforts, the people of Louisiana can have every confidence that Gov. Jindal will continue in the manner he has begun."

There is no such confidence in Obama right now.  As we all know, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste but it's even worse when it is played in a way that makes you appear aloof, disconnected and incapable of leading during that crisis.  After a week of failure by BP, someone should have taken the reigns and assumed a leadership role at the federal level.

And that someone should have been Obama.

NRSC: Is this the change you had in mind?

The Obama disconnect I've repeatedly commented on is rapidly becoming a big problem for his handlers. His failure to provide any sort of leadership in response to the Gulf oil spill has provided some great material for his critics - and they've hit the pavement running with this ad:

NJ Governor Chris Christie tells it like it is

The video below is a few days old but it is priceless.  The governor tells a disgruntled teacher that if she doesn't like the pay then she doesn't "have to do it."  After arguing incessantly over her monetary compensation from the state, the teacher then says "teachers teach because they love it."  

This guy is a breath of fresh air and is making many a conservative proud in the way he's taking on the establishment and reigning in the tax and spend philosophy.

The thrill is gone

As the saying goes, breaking up is hard to do.  Especially when that special someone turns out be completely different than the person you thought you fell in love with.

Mr. leg tingle himself, Chris Matthews, found that out the hard way and had his heart broken as he sat back and watched an inept and utterly clueless President Obama completely mishandle the response to the oil disaster:

Keep your head up Chris.  There are plenty of fish in the sea.  Granted, they're all covered in oil but you know what I mean.

John Kerry on voter anger: "I think there's a comprehension gap"

 

That’s right, Senator Kerry is basically calling all of you a bunch of dummies and thinks everything is just ducky with the American economy:

Times are tough, especially among those still looking for good jobs, but Sen. John Kerry doesn't think Washington's to blame. In fact the former Democratic presidential candidate, concerned with the anger voters are aiming at Washington, says that his party and President Obama are doing a ship-shape job. [See which industries contribute to Kerry's campaign.]

"We've come back," he says of the nation, Wall Street, and the economy. "This is an amazing resurgence."

We’ve come back? Have you looked around, you elitist moonbat?

Obviously, Kerry is just another limousine liberal with no clue about the real world.  Here’s some real world data for you Senator: We have lost over 8 million jobs, unemployment is right at 10%, the economy is crawling with a revised growth rate of 3% for last quarter, and the estimate on private sector growth for the rest of 2010 is a paltry 1.5%.

And to break that down a bit further Senator, for unemployment to drop 1%, we would need growth of 5% for the entire year.  A 3% rate is barely enough to create jobs to keep up with population increases.

That’s not a resurgence, Senator.  That’s an economic malaise.  But don’t try telling that to Mr. Heinz Kerry because we’re back baby!  And you people are too dumb to realize it:

"I think there's a comprehension gap," said Kerry. His point: While people may not be feeling the benefits of the bailouts and healthcare reform yet, Congress has been working with Obama to right the economic ship. […]

Maybe, he concluded, the Democrats should change their communications strategy "to better sell what we've done."

Right. Reframe the message because we’re all too stupid to get it.  But the funny thing is, we do get it and they don’t.  A study released today by the Harvard Business School suggests that the excessive government spending that Kerry champions as righting “the economic ship” actually hampers the private sector and creates unemployment:

…we find that fiscal spending shocks appear to significantly dampen corporate sector investment activity. Specifically, we find statistically and economically significant evidence that firms respond to government spending shocks by: i.) reducing investments in new capital, ii.) reducing investments in R&D, and iii.) paying out more to shareholders in the face of this reduced investment opportunity set. Further, we find that when the spending shocks reverse (through a relinquishing of chairmanship), most all of these behaviors reverse. Finally, we also find some evidence that firms scale back their employment, and experience a decline in sales growth.

Now that’s a big blow to all the liberal academics – the entire Obama Administration included – that have always harped on a Keynesian spend-your-way-to-prosperity economic approach.  Common sense however, has always told others the opposite: You can’t spend your way out of debt.

The real world – and its economic data – doesn’t lie, Senator.  That’s for the politicians trying to justify their pork-barrel spending.