Patterico's Pontifications

1/6/2009

Biden: Obama Transition Team Should Have Consulted Senate About Panetta

Filed under: Obama — DRJ @ 9:15 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

From the Washington Post, Joe Biden says Obama’s transition team should have consulted with Senate intelligence officials before announcing the appointment of Leon Panetta as CIA Director:

“Vice-president-elect Joseph Biden admitted today the Obama transition team made a “mistake” in not notifying top Senate officials of the selection of Leon Panetta as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, defending the former Clinton White House chief of staff as a nominee would take the CIA on “new path.”

Biden told reporters in the Capitol that the Senate Intelligence Committee should have been consulted in advance of the Panetta nomination, which resulted in criticism from the panel’s top Democrats. The incoming chair, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and outgoing chairman, Sen. John “Jay” Rockefeller III (D-W. Va.), questioned the Panetta selection because of his lack of experience in the intelligence community.”

The Obama people really should keep Biden in the loop, at least until after the Inauguration. It looks bad when Biden is more critical of Obama than MSNBC. Of course, that isn’t hard to do.

— DRJ

Al Qaeda: Gaza is “Obama’s Gift to Israel”

Filed under: International,Obama,Terrorism,War — DRJ @ 7:07 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri today denounced Barack Obama for failing to support Palestinians in Gaza against the Israelis:

“In the comments, which were posted on a militant Web site and obtained by the SITE Monitoring Service, al-Zawahiri described Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “crusade against Islam and Muslims” and called it “Obama’s gift to Israel” before he takes office later this month.

This is Obama whom the American machine of lies tried to portray as the rescuer who will change the policy of America,” al-Zawahiri said, according to SITE. “He kills your brothers and sisters in Gaza mercilessly and without affection.”

This isn’t the first time al-Zawahiri has taunted Obama. In mid-November he criticized Obama’s position on Afghanistan and likened Obama, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice to ‘house slaves,’ Malcolm X’s term for blacks who are subservient to whites.

I wish Obama could smooth troubled waters as his followers hope, but I wonder if his abandonment of his Muslim heritage may actually increase antagonism in the Middle East. Obama is the son of a Muslim and an atheist, but is now a Christian and sometimes friend of the Jews. That background isn’t a problem for most Americans, but it may not be as easy for some cultures to accept.

— DRJ

Things to Ponder

Filed under: Humor,Sports — DRJ @ 6:28 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

I’m sleep-deprived and these are the silly things I think about when that happens:

  • Can you cry under water?
  • How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?
  • If the professor on Gilligan’s Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can’t he fix a hole in a boat?
  • Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog’s face, he gets mad at you but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?
  • If it’s zero degrees outside today and it’s supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be?
  • How come Superman could stop bullets with his chest, but always ducked when someone threw a gun at him?
  • Do the ALPHABET SONG and TWINKLE, TWINKLE LITTLE STAR have the same tune?
  • Did you just sing the two songs above? You did, didn’t you?
  • And last but not least:

  • Did we really need to see that many shots of the Gatorade bucket at last night’s Tostito’s Fiesta Bowl?
  • — DRJ

    Washington Meets Blazing Saddles

    Filed under: Humor,Movies,Politics — DRJ @ 4:36 pm



    [Guest post by DRJ]

    Don’t miss it.

    — DRJ

    Showdown? Burris Ready to Take a Seat in the Senate

    Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:15 am



    Roland Burris says it’s his seat:

    “As I read the U.S. Constitution,” he said on CBS’s “The Early Show,” it says the “governor shall fill a vacancy, and as a former attorney general of my state, I have no knowledge of where a secretary of state has veto power over a governor carrying out his constitutional duties.”

    Isn’t he right?

    Is latimes.com Down?

    Filed under: Dog Trainer,General — Patterico @ 7:12 am



    Is anyone else having trouble accessing the L.A. Times web site?

    Or is it just me?


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