Patterico's Pontifications

10/11/2011

“He was a bit of a loner… he kept to himself.”

Filed under: General — Karl @ 7:06 am



[Posted by Karl]

The sort of thing neighbors tell the local news after a murderer is discovered has become the sort of thing the chattering classes now write about Pres. Obama.

Over the weekend, the WaPo’s Scott Wilson wrote:

This president endures with little joy the small talk and back-slapping of retail politics, rarely spends more than a few minutes on a rope line, refuses to coddle even his biggest donors. His relationship with Democrats on Capitol Hill is frosty, to be generous. Personal lobbying on behalf of legislation? He prefers to leave that to Vice President Biden, an old-school political charmer.

Wilson’s WaPo colleague, Chris Cillizza, picked up on the theme:

Time and again in our reporting over the last few months, this strain of thinking has come up — and the deeper President Obama’s political troubles grow, the more often we hear it.

In the wake of President Obama’s press conference last Thursday, there was considerable skepticism — bordering on contempt — for his assertion that now was the time for the Senate to pass his jobs bill.

And, this morning the New York Times’ John Harwood wrote that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) views White House chief of staff Bill Daley as “ham handed” and that leading Democrats believe that “Team Obama’s zeal for secrets creates more problems than it solves.” Message. Sent.

One veteran Democratic campaign operative put it more bluntly when asked to assess Obama’s approach: “He just hates politics and politicians.”

At the NYP, Michael Goodwin paints an even bleaker portrait of the Obama presidency:

The reports are not good, disturbing even. I have heard basically the same story four times in the last 10 days, and the people doing the talking are in New York and Washington and are spread across the political spectrum.

The gist is this: President Obama has become a lone wolf, a stranger to his own government. He talks mostly, and sometimes only, to friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett and to David Axelrod, his political strategist.

Everybody else, including members of his Cabinet, have little face time with him except for brief meetings that serve as photo ops. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner both have complained, according to people who have talked to them, that they are shut out of important decisions.

***

If the reports are accurate, and I believe they are, they paint a picture of an isolated man trapped in a collapsing presidency. While there is no indication Obama is walking the halls of the White House late at night, talking to the portraits of former presidents, as Richard Nixon did during Watergate, the reports help explain his odd public remarks…

Actually, Richard Reeves wrote an entire book on the Nixon presidency subtitled, “Alone in the White House.”  I doubt Obama would speak to the ghosts of former presidents, as he likely thinks them inferior to him.  Nor has the Gawker rumor that the New York Times was investigating whether Obama is suffering from depression come to fruition.  So why all the chatter?

The simplest answer is that the chattering classes are finally admitting what the right has always known.  Obama is overrated as a politician.  Obama is overrated as a policy wonk.  His approval ratings continue to slump.  The establishment is psychically preparing itself for a possible loss in 2012.  To them, progressivism cannot fail.  If that means Obama is a failure, a loner, maybe not quite right in the head, so be it.

–Karl

79 Responses to ““He was a bit of a loner… he kept to himself.””

  1. Ding!

    Karl (37b303)

  2. Karl,

    i think ironically there is some truth in the lib position. yes, his brand of liberalism doesn’t work, but also he is an incompetent executive. Its bad policy, bad administrator, so they are half right.

    Aaron Worthing (73a7ea)

  3. Resign and leave the silverware.

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  4. So Aaron, are you agreeing with those who say that Obama’s biggest failing is that he is not able to sell his programs effectively?

    Nothing wrong with Keynes’ policy?

    AZ Bob (ffd720)

  5. He really is contemptuous of anyone that does not drop to their knees in front of him. He is going to be uber-pissed when the Senate Dems kill his campaign jobs bill.

    JD (ac417f)

  6. He really is contemptuous of anyone that does not drop to their knees in front of him. He is going to be uber-pissed when the Senate Dems kill his campaign jobs bill.

    Comment by JD — 10/11/2011 @ 7:27 am

    Very well said.

    no one you know (325a59)

  7. I’m awaiting the youtube videos of Obama in the White House bunker, no subtitles.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  8. Once again the Socialist Dream fails, not due to the failure of the vision, but of the implementers.

    “If only we had tried harder, had better people, spent more; it would have worked.”

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b0aaae)

  9. There is much more to this than Washington reporters suddenly, after all this time, coming to their senses and practicing journalism. These stories about Obama’s current mood and innate character flaws (likely to be largely true) are being leaked, planted, pushed, and allowed into print by powerful people on the left who do not want him to run again. They are trying to force the issue now, before it is too late to replace him. He is being thrown under the bus obviously and totally. Enjoy the palace intrigue at its finest!

    elissa (72f6fc)

  10. Gee, clinically depressed AND with nuclear launch codes!

    What could possibly go wrong?

    mojo (8096f2)

  11. Narcissim combined with laziness combined with bad economic policy combined with Valerie Jarett. A winning combo to be sure.

    elissa (72f6fc)

  12. Problem is, Elissa, what ever else you can say about Obama’s mental state, his ego will never allow him to step aside. In fact Obama’s ego knows no bounds. And no Dem pol will mount a primary challenge against the 1st African American president.

    If this is an attempt by the Dem establishment to dislodge The Incompetent One,it will likely have the opposite effect, making Obama more resolute to follow his failed path. Again, this man has a huge ego and he believes he is right no matter how disasterous his policies have been. Even Harry Reid stopping his new bill from coming to a Senate vote hasn’t stopped him from selling it. It’s delusional, but with half the country paying nothing and holding their hand out for more, it could work as an election strategy.

    Bugg (9e308e)

  13. ________________________________________________

    Obama is overrated as a politician.

    His possible lack of mental or emotional health notwithstanding, I’ve often cited the way he enthusiastically and unrepentantly embraced Jeremiah Wright and his fanatic rhetoric. That’s because I think the behavior behind such a response, spanning around 20 years of sitting in Wright’s church, truly is a window into the mind of Obama.

    I’ve noticed even various people on the right since 2008 not sensing just how telling that facet of Obama’s history really is, or perhaps overlooking it due to a sense there are more revealing or crucial flaws about Obama—and, yea, there are a ton of them.

    But I’ve also noticed the way that superficial aspects of personality can blind people. And Obama does have a smooth, slick demeanor or an odd appeal similar to, for that matter, his Democrat predecessor, Bill Clinton. Such is the nature of successful used-car salesmen throughout society, and, most importantly, what helps make their victims so willing and gullible.

    Mark (411533)

  14. “Narcissim combined with laziness combined with bad economic policy combined with Valerie Jarett. A winning combo to be sure.”

    elissa – He prolly just needs another expensive vacation.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  15. Slight disagreement RE-Clinton. I’ve seen Clinton speak in person. And what seperates him from Obama is despite the fact they he may be full of shit, he is amiable, personable and warm. He likes retail politics. And he at least give the appearance of liking people. And Clinton had to crawl over some broken glass in Arkansas to get there. He innately knows the value of a likable persona.And may be he even like people.

    Obama has none of that. He has been bumped to the front of the line with no accomplishment mostly handed to him by guilt-ridden liberals by accident of birth. But he does by virute of race allow people to feel good about having an African American president. Which is not the same as liking him. It may be lost on many of us omnon the rihgt, but people really do like President Clinton. By contrast people like the idea of Presidne Obama, but not nearly the person.

    Bugg (9e308e)

  16. He prolly just needs another expensive vacation.

    With, or without, the wife and kids?

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b0aaae)

  17. elissa – He prolly just needs another expensive vacation.

    Comment by daleyrocks — 10/11/2011 @ 8:28 am

    You can be sure that something epic is in the works. And if we think that the last Christmas before the 2012 elections is going to pass without the Obamas going to some tropical paradise – in separate jets, yet again – well we just don’t appreciate how hard he works.

    Till 4 PM, and on a regular basis, I’ve heard…!

    no one you know (325a59)

  18. “With, or without, the wife and kids?”

    AD – I hear he’s sending Michelle to the Occupy Wall Street protests. Target was just a dry run.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  19. These idiots want to raise taxes on the rich?

    Doesn’t apply to Michael Joseph Goebbels Moore.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  20. Aaron,

    The libs may now be espousing a half-right position… but not because they believe it, really. They’re simply resolving some cognitive dissonance. Progressivism cannot fail, therefore Obama must be a failure. The conclusion — correct or not — is based on a faulty premise.

    Karl (f07e38)

  21. I don’t know, Bugg. You make a good point. But which, ultimately, would be harder on his ego? Negotiating a behind the scenes cushioned and probably financially worthwhile withdraw as an “historic” one term president off to do other “historic” things to “save the planet”? Or forever going down in history as losing the 2012 election in possibly the worst landslide America has ever seen? I think if you’re a narcissist and an egomaniac grifter that might be a tough call to make.

    elissa (72f6fc)

  22. A winning combo to be sure.

    Comment by elissa — 10/11/2011 @ 8:14 am

    I see what you did there!

    Anyway, I think Obama’s running. I think he doesn’t realize he’s going to lose. When the going gets tough, he gets golfing. I’m sure he doesn’t complete meetings on his political problems, and perhaps even staff are hesitant to be frank about it.

    Has he changed his reliance on mere rhetoric to con everyone? Nope. I think Obama is going to figure this out too late to do anything about it.

    Dustin (b2fb78)

  23. Or forever going down in history as losing the 2012 election in possibly the worst landslide America has ever seen?

    Obama will lose the election, and he may lose it big, but we’re not looking at a 1984 shellacking. Republicans have this election to lose, but we’re not going to pick up California or New York. Obama will lose, but he will lose with 200ish electoral votes. That should be enough dignity to keep him in the running.

    Hadlowe (163d77)

  24. “When the going gets tough, he gets golfing.”

    Well played. He probably cheats too.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  25. Target was just a dry run.
    Comment by daleyrocks — 10/11/2011 @ 8:56 am

    Perhaps that’s why she picked up that dis-infectant that was noticed in her cart?

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b0aaae)

  26. Not a bit of this was unforeseen by those of us who were not blinded by the “Lightworker” horse manure. His policy positions were juvenile, his speeches were vapid and hardly the slick presentations his sycophants made out, and his resume was thin, devoid of accomplishment other than undeserved self-agrandisment.

    SPQR (d454d9)

  27. I still don’t understand the criticism of Obama’s vacations. If Obama’s policies are bad, how will it help to have him spend more time coming up with bad policies? Better he should spend more time on the beach and less time thinking of new taxes to impose, or whatever bad policies he might come up with if he were hard at work.

    George W. Bush’s opponents criticized him for his vacations too, and it didn’t make sense then either.

    It’s like the joke about the two old ladies in a restaurant. One says, “The food here is terrible,” and the other says, “Yeah! And such small portions!”

    Joshua (9ede0e)

  28. SPQR, but other than that, he was a superb candidate, and the smartest guy in the room (they must have been talking about a very small phone-booth).

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b0aaae)

  29. In addition, we have seen that his staff are not too bright either. A lot have noticed frequent unforced errors that appear to be rooted in incompetent staff work. Its tempting to believe that his favorite people are mediocrities for a reason.

    Notice that at the end of the summer, there was a call for some White House leadership on the “jobs” issue. We got a month long vacation, followed by a big “jobs” speech about a bill that had to pass immediately. the bill didn’t exist, but it quickly became clear that the White House had spent the previous month developing TV commercials, websites and other coordiinated campaigns to pass the nonexistant legislation.

    Combine that with the fact that he outsourced the drafting of the signature legislation of his administration – Obamacare – and you can see that he actually has zero interest in policy. He’s a bumper sticker slogan guy.

    SPQR (d454d9)

  30. “If that means Obama is a failure, a loner, maybe not quite right in the head, so be it.”

    They always eat their own.

    Federal Dog (7d267b)

  31. AD, put obama and Biden in a phone booth and Obama is the smartest guy in the room, barely.

    SPQR (d454d9)

  32. Public Schools are just as better as private schools…………..as long as they don’t stray off the plantation.

    /Obama the hypocrite

    DohBiden (d54602)

  33. I still don’t understand the criticism of Obama’s vacations. If Obama’s policies are bad, how will it help to have him spend more time coming up with bad policies?

    That is the silver lining, but my guess is one of the most severe problems of Obama is that his administration is corrupt and badly led.

    That’s why we’re seeing Fast and Furious. The psychos are running amok.

    And they keep doing it even as Obama sips his pina colada from wherever he happens to be vacationing this time.

    Not to mention, I know a lot of Americans who are hurting. On the one hand, that makes me appreciate what I’ve got, but on the other, that builds a lot of resentment that Obama, our public servant, is really living it up. At the very least, he could don a veneer of austerity on his vacations.

    For example, the whole family takes one jet and doesn’t reserve the whole floor of a hotel. But I think they actually want us to see them living like celebs. That’s the image they need with their fawning voters. Don’t You Know Who They Are? You’re right that Obama can’t do any good from the Oval Office anyway, but I’m still annoyed.

    Dustin (b2fb78)

  34. A bunch of DC insiders – the reporters as well as the pols – b*tching because Obama hasn’t glad-handed them enough, because he hasn’t acknowledged what wonderful public servants they are, because he has contempt for them… and we’re on their side in all of this?

    They deserve contempt. They deserve every cold shoulder that’s turned to them. They wanted to Prom Queen of District [X], at the expense of a functioning, representative government. F*ck them and their sanctimonious whining – all they want, all they want is attention. They don’t care how they get it.

    This story would make me like Obama way more, if he wasn’t the worst of the bunch. These CongressTypes just wanted to be Prom Queen of District [X]; Obama wanted to be Prom Queen of the United States.

    Leviticus (180ca0)

  35. “Obama wanted to be Prom Queen of the United States.”

    He’s going to have to settle for drama queen.

    Federal Dog (7d267b)

  36. That’s a good point, Leviticus, except I have a hard time believing that Obama doesn’t like politics and politicians.

    If I were in his shoes, that would probably be the most common sentiment I had. Most of the people in politics are slimy. Most of the bureaucracy sucks.

    Of course, a president who felt that way could do so much good.

    I think Obama’s actual problem is that at some point, the campaigning stops and it’s time to resolve all those hard problems Obama promised to solve. That’s what he doesn’t like.

    Dustin (b2fb78)

  37. Greetings:

    It’s not just “politics and politicians” that President Obama hates. It’s the father who abandoned him and the mother who sent him away. And when one hates one’s parents, whom can he love?

    That the media allowed the psychological impacts of such a fractured upbringing to be so ignored or overlooked makes Richard Nixon’s pale in comparison in its effect on out republic.

    11B40 (34d43d)

  38. “I think Obama’s actual problem is that at some point, the campaigning stops and it’s time to resolve all those hard problems Obama promised to solve. That’s what he doesn’t like.”

    – Dustin

    I think Obama came into office expecting that he could do the good that you’re saying a president who hated politicians could do. I think he sees his programs as Do Good programs. It’s not that he doesn’t like that he has to solve actual problems; it’s that he doesn’t like having to work with a bunch of self-interested, bill-chiseling sh*theads to do it. That explains all his secrecy and unilateralism – I wouldn’t want to work with any of those guys either; but they demand recognition – and a back-end. His failure is his choice of medium and his naivete in thinking he could get something done in a city designed to prevent something from getting done. (And his reneging on campaign promises and general propensity for self-importance and BS, but that’s another thing – tools of the trade).

    And, as an aside, the campaigning never stops, for any of these people.

    Leviticus (180ca0)

  39. I think Obama came into office expecting that he could do the good that you’re saying a president who hated politicians could do.

    I realize he isn’t sinister. You’re probably at least mostly right. He hoped to clean house and really shake loose some idiocy.

    it’s that he doesn’t like having to work with a bunch of self-interested, bill-chiseling sh*theads to do it. That explains all his secrecy and unilateralism

    I see what you’re saying. Only sometimes for his reforms he just left it to these guys to write, like an absentee leader.

    Or perhaps you’re right, and Obama had given up trying at that point.

    Personally, I do think most of Obama’s failure is simply ideological. His ideas are simply wrong. We can’t spend our way to prosperity. We can’t regulate enough jobs into existence to match the ones they regulate out of existence. We can’t run this country from DC. All the president can do is hold the government back.

    That’s why I like Perry for his much simpler agenda, which is largely to get the regulations back under control and predictable, and push hard for a balanced budget amendment (Which isn’t perfect, and does lead to a lot of hassles, but in Texas we see that those hassles are a lot less bad than a blooming debt).

    And, as an aside, the campaigning never stops, for any of these people.

    It’s easy to be cynical, but I don’t think all these leaders are the same that way. I honestly believe there were many points in Bush’s presidency when he abandoned campaigning and actually did what he thought was right. Sometimes this was terrible, and sometimes this was awesome.

    Dustin (b2fb78)

  40. Comment by SPQR — 10/11/2011 @ 10:03 am

    Good thing ego’s are compressible, or you wouldn’t be able to fit those two into the same booth.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b0aaae)

  41. Or forever going down in history as losing the 2012 election in possibly the worst landslide America has ever seen?

    –elissa

    Do you honestly think BO will loose CA,IL,MA,NJ,WI,NY? There are well over 100 electoral college votes in those states alone. I have him with about 227 of 270 needed.

    Remember, the MSM has only now started to focus on R’s. Once we pick someone, no matter who, the microscope will be on and he will face scrutiny unlike anyone in recent times, especially Obama. All with the intention of helping BO keep the White House. Also there will not be any “gotcha” stories like “Niggerhead” for BO, you can count on that. I could go on but I hope you get my point. I think this will be a very close race.I hope I am wrong, but I right now, I don’t think so.

    Ipso Fatso (74cbec)

  42. CA,IL,MA,NJ,WI,NY?

    Naw, he’ll win some of those.

    MA LOVES the healthcare mandate idea. Obamacare is practically a bailout for their own failed mandate. CA clearly is full of insane people. IL is IL.

    But those others I think are at least longshot possibilities for the GOP to pick up. I don’t think we should focus on them, but if Obama really fails and our candidate truly has a credibly solution other than his own brilliance, I think we would see a landslide.

    Anyway, I think the national media’s relevance has faded some. They will try very hard to save Obama, but I think some of it will backfire. We might as well prepare for a difficult contest, but Obama is stunningly weak in Ohio and Pennsylvania. I don’t the media can fix that.

    Dustin (b2fb78)

  43. Leviticus – if he loathes them, doesn’t that represent a large degree of self-loathing, as he was one of the, and remains a politician, to this very day?

    JD (68ff46)

  44. He who lives by throwing people under the bus, dies by people throwing him under the bus.

    Maureen (52ffb6)

  45. This idea that he is disillusioned because the process is messy seems like complete drivel and whining to me. He was one of them. He knows damn good and well that there is no compliant political opposition, and when he has run into problems with his own party, the above average person would step back and learn why. All this is, nothing more and nothing less, is the expected petulant response from someone who wishes he could read a speech and reality would conform to his desires.

    JD (1e48bc)

  46. The part I liked was where Obama instructed Treasury to reorganize Citibank. A few weeks later Treasury came back and said they didn’t want to. Obama was pissed. In the Too Big To Fail book, it says Geithner was once offered the top position at Citi. Whichever way, President Obama is incompetent.

    His weird style of ordering Congress is ineffective. You can’t work with that even when things are burning. President Obama will not seek the nomination. He doesn’t want this.

    Wesson (1b99ee)

  47. JD, it is a bit amusing to think of Obama having the ballot cleansed of his competition, and then coming to DC to clean it of the backstabbing selfish bureaucracy.

    I think Obama expected things to just work however Obama deemed they should work, much as a child would imagine in his fantasy of being president. I don’t think Obama actually thought about what it would really be like to be President, and he goes on vacation because he hates his job.

    Campaigning for likely loss is not easy. Elissa’s prediction may even come true if Obama can’t do it.

    Dustin (b2fb78)

  48. Obama loathes politicians?

    DohBiden (d54602)

  49. Sorry for being slightly off-topic, but if any Patterico readers have a moment, I’m a student journalist doing a quick nonscientific, nonpartisan survey on Social Security and am hoping to get some feedback. It’s just a few questions aimed at better understanding how people perceive Social Security and retirement. If you have any interest in participating, it’s at http://bit.ly/ss_survey.

    Cheers.

    chestersoria (9eeb27)

  50. Obama personifies the Leftist fantasy that all problems can be, and are, solved just by talking about them; without any realization that real solutions must be conceptualized, formulated, and acted upon – and that there are real-world penalties for failure to do so.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b0aaae)

  51. I am not predicting he’ll lose Illinois, but it’s not impossible that he could. The Dems running the state are at a low point of respect here right now. There are a lot of Republican counties in IL. There are a lot of tax paying suburban business owners and entrepreneurs and farmers (EPA) who will not vote for BO again. I think Obama might conceivably lose WI too. A lot can happen, but the impact of the criminality of F&F and the Solyndra type frauds, and the “Occupys”, have yet to be fully ripened. Unemployment and housing will still be a mess, and I think many many voters who gave him a shot in 2008 will have had quite enough of Barry Obama by Nov. 2012. Those poll numbers of his will be hard to turn around.

    elissa (72f6fc)

  52. I perceive SS as needing reform.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  53. Btw, not sure if i can post today. i am dealing with a sick car.

    Aaron Worthing (73a7ea)

  54. Comment by DohBiden — 10/11/2011 @ 11:50 am

    Yes! They need to ditch the black uni’s and red armbands, and go with a softer, kinder, more gentle look.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b0aaae)

  55. Those poll numbers of his will be hard to turn around.

    Comment by elissa — 10/11/2011 @ 11:49 am

    This is, of course, before the GOP settled either on the racist pistol packing psycho Perry or the flip flopping rich weird Ken doll (I’m being sarcastic).

    I agree that Obama’s in too deep a hole, but once a couple billion are spent demonizing someone, a lot of idiots are going to simply believe it. They will see their favorite singers and actors roll their eyes at the new monster. They will see all the smart talking heads joke about it, as though it’s just a given.

    There will be untold pop culture electioneering efforts, and then we’ll have a hit movie or two lionizing the historical president Gutsy Call Obama.

    I think Obama will probably lose badly anyway.

    Dustin (b2fb78)

  56. ==This is, of course, before the GOP settled either on the racist pistol packing psycho Perry or the flip flopping rich weird Ken doll (I’m being sarcastic).==

    Well don’t blame meeee! Remember, I wanted the fat man. 🙂

    elissa (72f6fc)

  57. Mitt: “when you see your friends with signs that say keep your hands off our Medicare, they are absolutely right.”

    Obama will crush such a weak candidate. There is no goodie promising a Republican can do with the credibility of a democrat.

    Dustin (b2fb78)

  58. Early in his term, BO took some risks (e.g., Olympics pilgrimage, Afghanistan “surge”).

    Those outcomes may have convinced him that displaying any sign of leadership is poor politics.

    jim2 (6482d8)

  59. Uh, did we hear about Vince Foster being depressed ahead of the suicide?

    How’d that in-depth investigation with national attention turn out? I don’t recall hearing.

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  60. jim2, you’re right. I think that is actually very insightful.

    Obama’s current strategy is largely to pretend to lead and wait for Republicans to make the mistake of leading, so Obama can ankle bite and criticize without actually having much specific for the GOP to criticize.

    We are pretty weird as a society at this point, if that strategy is plausible.

    Dustin (b2fb78)

  61. 50 years of “Progerssivism” on the line. The long march through public education. Building a huge welfare establishment. A system of environmental regulation that allows businesses all over the country to be extorted by “non-profit” environmentalists. And this mook Obama is going to spoil it all because he got the big head. Not likely boyo.

    glenn (2a84e9)

  62. Nader is pimping Bloomberg today. What will Trump think of Romney/Cain?

    With all that suck going on there’d still be room for an authentic candidate.

    35% could win.

    gary gulrud (d88477)

  63. One of the high hurdles facing Bush-43 was his “minority” vote status.
    A winning presidential candidate that only has a plurality will face even higher obstructionist tactics today, than what we experienced in ’01.
    The Left has divorced itself from all reality, and is now borderline (or across the line) psychotic. The current OWS demonstrations will, in comparison to what could very well happen next year, and following the plurality victory of a GOP nominee, seem like a Church Social.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b0aaae)

  64. Dustin –

    Consider the definitive case study of the 2010 budget.

    The lesson was that the MSM will never criticize Dem dilatory tactics or even illegal inaction.

    jim2 (6482d8)

  65. Occupy Wall Street?

    No more like occupy Obama’s ass.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  66. Billonaires and millionaires that vote obama won’t have their taxes raised.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  67. Hey, who’s up for another YEAR of this crap?

    Show of hands?…

    mojo (8096f2)

  68. If any repub votes for this guy they lose their repub status and should move to Vietnam.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  69. “Early in his term, BO took some risks (e.g., Olympics pilgrimage, Afghanistan “surge”).”

    jim2 – The skinny here on that Olympics thingy was that Valerie had a very big back end on the real estate side. Plus with his persuasive skills, Obama may have actually thought is was a lock.

    Remind me how many months he dithered on the Afghan surge before deciding to split the baby plus impose a definitive withdrawal date. Sure it was a political risk, but also a half measure.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  70. Leviticus, you make some good points, it is indeed necessary to be skeptical of this BS stories that are based on someone whining about not being listened to in the administration.

    Just as the whining and self-aggrandisement of Richard Clarke was ultimately seen to be valueless.

    However, the idea that Obama had some serious plan to reform Washington is rebutted by his own actions – his own transition team was run by the same old lobbyist/insider crew like Bob Rubin.

    What is really astonishing to me is how Obama came out of the Senate, and yet seems to have no idea how to push his own legislative priorities through Congress.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  71. This is what happens when you hand the Presidency of the United States of America to a Chicago community organizer: ABJECT TOTAL FAILURE.

    Analogy: you don’t make someone your chief thoracic surgeon because you think he’ll look great in the scrubs.

    Jones (deed08)

  72. “…seems to have no idea how to push his own legislative priorities through Congress.”

    Perhaps if he had spent his time in the IL legislature doing something other than voting “Present”,
    and had conducted real hearings as a sub-cmte Chrmn on Foreign Relations in the U.S.Senate,
    he might have a better grasp of the legislative process.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic/Obama Sucks! (b0aaae)

  73. Obama holds us in contempt.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  74. How a guy who has played politics his entire life does not somehow like politicians … beyond the pale if true.

    I think, sadly, he is the product of Affirmative Action and rose very quickly with so little substance that once he got the ONE JOB HE COULD NOT FAKE — he failed because he was unprepared and had little-to-no experience to draw on to take courses of action.

    Say what we will of Clinton, he made it the hard way was very qualified for office (regardless of policy disagreements). So was GWB.

    Gotta pay your dues in order to be THE MAN. Barack simply gave nice speeches and let others define him. It worked. But you can’t do that as POTUS and be any good.

    My Bowels Hurt (8d652e)

  75. The ghost of Leon Trotsky is waggling his finger at Obama about now.

    Beldar (6928b2)

  76. you sure it ain’t his ice pick?

    ColonelHaiku (a4b693)

  77. Obama holds us in contempt.

    Comment by DohBiden

    What… you have that mouse in your pocket again?

    ColonelHaiku (a4b693)

  78. Nader is pimping Bloomberg today. What will Trump think of Romney/Cain?

    With all that suck going on there’d still be room for an authentic candidate.

    35% could win.

    Comment by gary gulrud

    um, Gary?… that sucking sound you hear just might be found a little closer to your homestead.

    ColonelHaiku (a4b693)

  79. Here ya go, gulrud… you’ll find yer in real fine company: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203633104576623254205029400.html?mod=rss_opinion_main

    ColonelHaiku (a4b693)


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