Patterico's Pontifications

JEF hasn’t learned to keep to the golf course.

gary gulrud (46ca75) — 5/28/2014 @ 7:48 am

If you’re looking for a waffle north of the Mason-Dixon line, you can’t do better than Waffles. Try the albóndigas.

carlitos (e7c734) — 5/28/2014 @ 7:54 am

Big Zero’s War on Women!

Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:06 am

Krieg un Frau,

narciso (3fec35) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:10 am

The petulant President McStompy-Foot…..
can’t they just let him eat his waffle in peace?

askeptic (8ecc78) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:12 am

Off topic, I suppose. What do they think they are, network reporters? And he was not ready to respond. It’s all secret. That is, politically sensitive.

This is not actually big news.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/11/world/middleeast/syria.html

But in the towns near Jordan’s border with Syria where many rebels keep their families and take breaks from the war, the operations room, known as the Military Operations Command, is an open secret. Rebels who have visited the operations headquarters say its decisions balance the interests of the main players: Saudi Arabia provides funding and pushes for greater rebel support; Jordan manages the border and urges caution; and the United States supervises, maintaining a veto on weapon shipments.

While the operations room has provided ammunition, rifles and antitank missiles, it refuses to provide the antiaircraft missiles that rebels say could stop the bombings of rebel towns that have killed thousands of civilians.

So the suspicion is the United states simply wants to prolong the war. The U.S. says:

“There is no military solution to this conflict. What is needed is a negotiated political transition.”

– White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden.

Assad is not going to negotiate anything like that unless he faces defeat, capture, and possible execution.

Sammy Finkelman (b66da2) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:13 am

What a clueless loser. It’d be fun if one of the female reporters would ask him how his skeet shooting’s been progressing, and how often he’s had the gun in his hands recently. (You know, maybe like at a classroom photo op, or at an ice cream stand photo op, or some such.)

elissa (550033) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:17 am

Sammy, it one thing to put lipstick on pigs, it’s quite another to tongue kiss ’em.

ropelight (9bff8a) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:19 am

At this science fair, Obama indicated he considered some of the students more capable than he was. He said something like he never could have done such things as they had.

Sammy Finkelman (b66da2) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:31 am

It was reported more than a month ago that he’d reached an agreement with the Saudis on Syria,
and was even, on an experimental basis, going to give some U.S. approved rebels some advanced weaponry that had arrived in Turkey and Jordan that had been impounded.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304626304579509401865454762 (April 19, 2014 Wall Street Journal)

Advanced U.S. Weapons Flow to Syrian Rebels

Supplies of Antitank Missiles Will Test Whether Fighters Can Keep Arms Out of Extremist Hands
———–

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states lobbied aggressively for the Obama administration to step up its support for the moderate opposition, especially since the collapse of the peace talks.

U.S. refusal to better arm the rebels has created strains with Saudi allies that President Barack Obama tried to mend on his recent visit to the kingdom.

After the visit, senior administration officials said the two countries were collaborating more closely on material support for the rebels and the Central Intelligence Agency was looking at ways to expand its limited arming and training program based in Jordan.

A newly created moderate rebel group called Harakat Hazm said it had received about a dozen BGM-71 TOWs and was being trained on them by an unspecified allied country. It is the only group known to have received the weapons so far, though there may be others.

“To make it clear, our allies are only delivering these missiles to trusted groups that are moderate,” said one senior leader of Harakat Hazm. “The first step is showing that we can effectively use the TOWs, and hopefully the second one will be using antiaircraft missiles.”

Another Syrian opposition figure in the region confirmed the U.S., with Saudi assistance, supplied the TOW missiles.

Sammy Finkelman (b66da2) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:34 am

here’s a battle we can win, facepalm;

http://weaselzippers.us/187484-obama-tells-west-point-grads-they-will-be-fighting-global-warming/

narciso (3fec35) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:43 am

More from that WSJ article: blockquote> ……The U.S. has blocked Saudi Arabia from giving rebels Chinese-made man-portable air defense systems, known as Manpads. Where do you think these Chinese-made missiles came from in the first place??

Libya! Eastern Libya. Cyrenaica. In the Benghazi area. Where Quaddafi stored his most important (bit unused) weapons. Far, far, far, and out of reach from any possible coup plotters in Tripoli.

Sammy Finkelman (b66da2) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:48 am

Heads will roll!

Obama’s staff is supposed to shield him from non-approved, non-softball questions from the media.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:51 am

Thanks to the diplomatic work of Ambassador Chris Stevens the day he was killed, they were impounded in Turkey.

There’s a leak – a concerted effort to leak, somebody even “accidentaly” met a radio talk show host – to get the idea circulating that Stevens he was there to facilitate the shipment.

There are 3 reasons at least this doesn’t make sense:

1) The CIA was there trying to buy up the weapons.

What for? To destroy them, like theyhad done in otehr places.

The CIA was in competition with Saudi Arabia and/or Qatar, which wanted to send them to rebels they sponsored in Syria.

2) If Stevens’ job was to facilitate that, why did he need to be personally present in Benghazi, on September 11th, no less? Did he need to congratulate Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Turkey???

But if he wanted to STOP stop these shipments, then there might be a reason for him to go there – for personal diplomacy.

To hand out warnings and threats about he U.s. relationship with these countries.

3) After the weapons left Libya, they were not sent to any rebels, but impounded.

Why would that have happened if the U.S. wanted the weapons sent there?

Even now, the article writes, the U.s. was very reluctant to let them be used.

More:

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia offered to give the opposition Manpads for the first time. But the weapons are still stored in warehouses in Jordan and Turkey because of U.S. opposition, according to Saudis and Syrian opposition figures.

Stevens was there to stop the shipments, or gain U.S. control of tthe weapons, and not to faclitate it, and he was killed, and the CIA panicked out of there…by Saudi intelligene, then led by Prince Bandar bin Sultan.

Now that Prince Bandar is sidelined, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are co-operating better. I don’t know who, if anyone, in the U.S. government suspects, or knows, Prince Bandar killed him but almost certainly some people do.

Sammy Finkelman (b66da2) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:52 am

This one I don’t really mind. If this was a photo opportunity to make science students look good, then asking a non science fair question takes away from that.

There do need to be more press conferences, now that the press is, you know, interested in asking questions.

And it is interesting to see how Q&As are so…orchestrated with this person. It’s like they don’t trust him to talk to the press without guidelines.

Simon Jester (c8876d) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:53 am

Simon Jester makes a good point. But of course, this is still on Obama. If Obama made himself available to the press to answer these questions on a regular basis, it is much less likely that those same reporters would be trying to use a science fair to get answers to those questions.

Anon Y. Mous (8ec442) — 5/28/2014 @ 9:04 am

Simon Jester–I agree with you conceptually. But it was was the disgust showing on his face and his clearly pulling rank “c’mon, c’mon”, that rankles. There were more civil ways he could and should have handled the situation if in fact there were children present. Even smiling and just walking away as if he didn’t hear the question would have been preferable–a skill that Reagan perfected.

elissa (550033) — 5/28/2014 @ 9:11 am

boyfriend could give white privilege lessons

happyfeet (8ce051) — 5/28/2014 @ 9:38 am

Sam the Sham is certainly desperate to change the subject under discussion, isn’t he?

redc1c4 (abd49e) — 5/28/2014 @ 9:45 am

How dare a journalist ask a question! Especially a female journalist! #YesAllWomen

CrustyB (69f730) — 5/28/2014 @ 10:10 am

how dare she question a black man!

doesn’t she know that’s rayciss?

redc1c4 (abd49e) — 5/28/2014 @ 10:28 am

13-
Quite a few retired General Officers have cast their lot with the Global Warming community being principals in, or connected with a ‘think tank’ called CNA.

“…A new report from a panel of former Pentagon leaders calls climate change a direct threat to national security and the U.S. economy, as extreme weather stands to stretch troops thin, spark unrest in unstable regions, and unravel global networks of trade and resources.

The authors –- 16 retired three- and four-star generals and admirals who compose the CNA Corporation’s Military Advisory Board (MAB) — blame a warming planet for, in part, aggravating tensions among some nations.

“Political posturing and budgetary woes cannot be allowed to inhibit discussion and debate over what so many believe to be a salient national security concern for our nation,” the generals and admirals wrote. “… Time and tide wait for no one.”

askeptic (8ecc78) — 5/28/2014 @ 10:39 am

any idiot pentagon piggy what thinks global warming represents even a minuscule fraction of the threat posed by america’s parlous finances should probably repeat a few grades of high school

happyfeet (8ce051) — 5/28/2014 @ 10:42 am

“C’mon… don’t you know who I am!”

~~John Kerry~~ Barack Obama

Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/28/2014 @ 11:50 am

“But it was was the disgust showing on his face and his clearly pulling rank “c’mon, c’mon”, that rankles.”

It would have better if he called her “honey” or “darling” or “sugar tits” or something.

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/28/2014 @ 12:04 pm

Elissa: I agree, of course. I wonder if people would have been okay with: “Today, I would like to focus on what these young women and men are doing, and want to showcase them. Could we please do that, today?”

Again, I agree that the gentleman should never, ever take up poker, given his facial expression.

Simon Jester (c8876d) — 5/28/2014 @ 1:14 pm

It’s like they don’t trust him to talk to the press without guidelines.

No TelePrompTers at science fairs.

Mike K (cd7278) — 5/28/2014 @ 2:11 pm

the gentleman should never, ever take up poker,

too late… he does enjoy a good poker session every chance he gets.

just not the card game version you were thinking of. 😎

redc1c4 (abd49e) — 5/28/2014 @ 3:34 pm

13. Heads will roll!

Obama’s staff is supposed to shield him from non-approved, non-softball questions from the media.

Comment by daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:51 am

Not yesterday, daley. Yesterday Obama was using the kids as the human shields.

Steve57 (abdd77) — 5/28/2014 @ 3:52 pm

“Not yesterday, daley. Yesterday Obama was using the kids as the human shields.”

Steve57 – That’s why heads will roll. His staff was not doing their job!

daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 5/28/2014 @ 4:13 pm

15. This one I don’t really mind. If this was a photo opportunity to make science students look good, then asking a non science fair question takes away from that…

Comment by Simon Jester (c8876d) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:53 am

This wasn’t about making the kids look good. It was as always about making Barack Obama look good.

I have seen zero news coverage that focuses on the science students. Instead it’s all like this:

Get ready to get your geek on. It’s Science Fair Day at the White House.

It’s that time of year again — the annual White House Science Fair. The day when President Obama becomes geek-in-chief and young scientists from across the country get to show off their awe-inspiring inventions.

Obama science fair to focus on girls’ education

USA Today gets it. The focus is on Obama. In fact, the entire press corps gets it.

This is why there wasn’t a WH Science Fair before Barack Obama of the perpetual campaign. Other Presidents understood that if you want the spotlight to be on someone else, you stay away from the event because otherwise the spotlight will be on you.

Another thing. This wasn’t a science fair. A science fair is a competition; awards are handed out. Since no awards were given it was an exhibit. And the exhibits were just props so Obama could keep the focus on himself and his agenda. Back to the WaPo article.

This year’s event, the fourth White House Science Fair, will have a special focus on getting girls involved in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields. Half the students at the fair today will be young women. And Valerie Jarrett and Tina Chen, who head the White House Office of Women and Girls, are set to host a roundtable with 10 girls from the science fair. That event will kick off a new series of events that will look to help bring girls together with STEM leaders from the administration and across the country.

The White House will also announce private sector efforts aimed at boosting the participation of women and girls in the sciences…

Yesterday’s “science fair” was about the Ear Leader Barack Obama and how much he cares about girls and women. Particularly young women, one of the Democrats corps constituencies. Quit a contrast to that Wascally Wepeublican War on Women, wouldn’t you say?

That’s why Obama chided that reporter. How dare she try to change the focus to what Obama is doing in Syria to arm the rebels, when the whole point of this staged event was to have the lapdog MFM give friendly coverage to what Obama is doing domestically to show he cares about women and girls. How dare a reporter not know that her place is to advance the meme!

Steve57 (abdd77) — 5/28/2014 @ 4:24 pm

*USA Today gets it. The focus is on Obama and what he’s focused on.

Steve57 (abdd77) — 5/28/2014 @ 4:25 pm

science plus girls equals more sciencey science because girls

this is the exact sort of secret we can’t let the chinesers find out about

I’m swearing you all to secrecy

happyfeet (8ce051) — 5/28/2014 @ 4:32 pm

Added evidence to support my contention from the WH announcement of the 2014 Potemkin science fair. Let’s let the WH press office tell you what this is about.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/05/19/announcing-white-house-science-fair-and-celebrating-girls-excelling-stem

Stay tuned, because this week, we’ll be previewing some of the amazing girls who will be presenting their projects at the White House Science Fair. Since day one, the President has been committed to getting more underrepresented groups, including women and girls, excited to excel at STEM subjects. For example, in the Administration’s $4.35 billion Race to the Top competition, President Obama granted states competitive preference if they demonstrated efforts to close the STEM gap for girls and other groups that are underrepresented.

The President began the tradition of hosting White House Science Fairs in 2009 when he launched his Educate to Innovate campaign to inspire more girls and boys to excel in STEM subjects. As the President has noted, “If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you’re a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too.”

There isn’t much more to the announcement. These WH science exhibits have always been used by Barack Obama as props for both himself and his agenda. It’s the only reason he started doing this.

Since that’s the case, since it’s never been about the science students, why shouldn’t a reporter ask him about other parts of his agenda?

It has a very North Korean taint to it. The focus isn’t on “the amazing girls who will be presenting their projects.” It’s on
“Barack Obama recognizes amazing girls and their projects at the White House.”

I’ve seen this before.

kim jong-il looking at things

Steve57 (abdd77) — 5/28/2014 @ 4:51 pm

I think teh Preezy should symbolically put his “focus” in a box, wrap the box in tasteful wrapping paper, tie a ribbon and a bow on it and then have one of those pictures taken of him looking at what is supposed to be the actual subject matter of the photo – in this case his boxed “focus” – like when he was gazing up at the stars with the death of Neal Armstrong, just cuz he’s so dreamy and heroic and all.

Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/28/2014 @ 5:16 pm

they have worked so hard on their ‘restoring science to their proper place’ meme, while endorsing divining rods, entrail readings and
other alchemy practices,

narciso (3fec35) — 5/28/2014 @ 5:32 pm

“If you have to tell people you are strong, you’re not. If you have to tell people you’re not weak, then you are”, says the guy who would’ve been a much better president than the guy we’re saddled with.

What kind of man gives an address at West Point and doesn’t use the opportunity afforded him to make an apology to veterans and their families for the piss poor treatment they’ve received for years from the VA?

Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/28/2014 @ 6:21 pm

Montel Williams, made that point on Cavuto, even more forcefully,

narciso (3fec35) — 5/28/2014 @ 6:26 pm

James Buchanan, you’re off the hook. You, too, Jimmah Cahtah !
This Obama person is officially the worst president of all time.

Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 5/28/2014 @ 6:32 pm

37. …What kind of man gives an address at West Point and doesn’t use the opportunity afforded him to make an apology to veterans and their families for the piss poor treatment they’ve received for years from the VA?

Comment by Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/28/2014 @ 6:21 pm

A blinkered narcissist. In which everything is about his wonderful self and the wonderfulness of everything he does. Such as a West Point graduation, or a WH “science fair.”

It’s always about him.

Steve57 (abdd77) — 5/28/2014 @ 7:15 pm

Did you see how he commemorated Angelou today? Try and guess how he did it? I’ll wait here.

Gazzer (554004) — 5/28/2014 @ 7:28 pm

As Mark Levin just described him, “a radical ideologue who is a complete disaster”.

Well said, Mr. Levin.

Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/28/2014 @ 7:33 pm

That’s what made me think of “Kim Jong Il” looking at things, Gazzer.

“Barack Obama commemorates Maya Angelou by tweeting out a pic of the time when Barack Obama honored Maya Angelou.”

I usually don’t link to Slate. But this was too good to miss.

Today We Are Gathered … To Hear More About Me

President Obama was supposed to eulogize the memory of Sen. Daniel Inouye. Instead he told us about his favorite summer vacation.

Someone needs to tell Barack Obama—it must get particularly confusing this time of year—that his own birth is not Year One, the date around which all other events are understood. His much-noted, self-referential tic was on cringe-worthy display Friday when the president gave his eulogy for the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, who served in Congress for half a century representing Obama’s birth state of Hawaii.

Inouye was a Japanese-American war hero (he lost an arm in World War II, destroying his dream of becoming a surgeon), and as a senator he served on the Watergate committee, helped rewrite our intelligence charter after scandals, and was chairman of the Senate committee that investigated the Iran-Contra affair. It’s the kind of material any eulogist could use to give a moving sense of the man and his accomplishment. But President Barack Obama’s remarks at Inouye’s funeral service were a bizarre twirl around his own personal Kodak carousel.

Obama likes to see events through the lens of his own life’s chronology. Thus we learn that Inouye was elected to the Senate when Obama was 2 years old…

Everything is always about Barack Obama. Including the WH “science fair.” So, again, why shouldn’t a reporter ask Barack Obama about Barack Obama in Syria?

Steve57 (abdd77) — 5/28/2014 @ 7:38 pm

#NarcissistInChief #Hasn’taClue #ButEnufAboutMe

Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/28/2014 @ 7:44 pm

Enemies see the insecurities and opportunities, allies worry about their future. #PresidentHeadCase #WhatMeWorry

Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/28/2014 @ 7:48 pm

I’ve dubbed him our Zaphod, after the bumbling self absorbed Galactic President, in the hitchhiker’s guide, who’s also a conman,

narciso (3fec35) — 5/28/2014 @ 7:49 pm

Soopermexican: Obama Remembers Neil Armstrong with a Big Picture of… Himself

Barack Obama has already provided me with plenty of material to do a “Kim Jong IL looking at things” syle blog.

The “Barack Obama commemorates/celebrates/recognizes (blank) with picture of Barack Obama” blog.

Steve57 (abdd77) — 5/28/2014 @ 7:54 pm

Forrest Obuma.

Gazzer (554004) — 5/28/2014 @ 7:55 pm

No, Forrest always did his duty, sometimes excessively so, was loyal to his girlfriend,
to his commanding officer, he may have been
slow, but wisdom he wasn’t lacking,

narciso (3fec35) — 5/28/2014 @ 7:57 pm

So the suspicion is the United states simply wants to prolong the war.

You mean 0bama is actually doing something right?

Milhouse (b95258) — 5/28/2014 @ 7:59 pm

Give the man a break. World Cup brackets aren’t going to fill themselves out.

East Bay Jay (a5dac7) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:14 pm

Chauncey Obama

East Bay Jay (a5dac7) — 5/28/2014 @ 8:16 pm

If reporters don’t ask questions then how will he find out what people in his administration are doing, given he learns it all from the news?

machinist (313c6a) — 5/28/2014 @ 11:56 pm

Prom Queen’s West Point graduation speech is universally panned.

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/05/29/wapo-nyt-wsj-agree-obama-speech-ludicrous-uninspiring-disturbing/

The West Point address accomplished a rarity in media and politics by creating a consensus between the editorial boards of the NYT, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. That consensus, however, is that Obama flopped in his straw-man approach to criticism and his utter incoherence on American policy.

But the most important quote relative to the topic at hand is this one that HotAir excerpted from the NYT:

President Obama and his aides heralded his commencement speech at the United States Military Academy at West Point on Wednesday as a big moment, when he would lay out his foreign policy vision for the remainder of his term and refute his critics.

Really, that’s a graduation speech? Even at a military or naval academy the focus, as in all graduation ceremonies, on the graduates. But not when Obama gives the speech. Then it’s a petty, shallow screed from a thin-skinned narcissist about himself. And frankly it was insulting. He announced a new policy of how, under him, the military has taken a new direction of “might doing right.” See, before him the military wasn’t doing the right thing. But now, because of him, it is.

This is perfectly in accordance with candidate Kardashian’s speeches back in 2008, when he pronounced that our DoD couldn’t live up to the Sermon on the Mount. Now because of Obama it can. Because who doesn’t remember the part when Jesus authorized drone strikes?

Can you imagine how Obama would have reacted if, after President Mean Girl had just given a speech that was all about him and his foreign policy and how off-base his critics are, a reporter managed to ask him about the indications he’s arming Syria’s rebels?

“I’m sorry, we’re doing a graduation- c’mon, c’mon.”

Steve57 (61329d) — 5/29/2014 @ 3:32 pm

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/05/142677-nbc-cant-name-single-country-u-s-relations-improved-obama/

narciso (3fec35) — 5/29/2014 @ 3:37 pm

Via Ace, this is choice. Video at the link:

http://minx.cc:1080/?post=349487

State Spokeswretch Jen Psaki: You Know, Obama Just Doesn’t Give Himself Credit
Incredulous Reporters Openly Laugh at Claim: Credit for What?

I forget who tweeted it out when Jen Psaki was going on about the power of the hashtag vis a vis Ukraine, but “It’s almost like she’s a campaign flack who’s in way over her head.”

Seriously, the guy who proclaimed at his 2008 DNC coronation that, “I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth.”

President Planet Healer is just too modest to give himself enough credit?

Steve57 (61329d) — 5/29/2014 @ 7:14 pm

well this might go in the other thread;

http://freebeacon.com/issues/dem-consultant-obama-cant-fire-shinseki-because-it-will-hand-gop-political-flesh/

narciso (3fec35) — 5/29/2014 @ 7:18 pm

Yes, narciso, the spokesman of the guy who always accuses the GOP of putting politics before country admits that the Obama administration can’t fire Shinseki because they put politics before veterans lives. Left wing politics is nothing but projection.

Everything, absolutely everything, Obama does is about Obama (including “science fairs”) and don’t ever forget it.

Steve57 (61329d) — 5/29/2014 @ 7:24 pm

5/28/2014

Obama Lectures Reporter for Asking Question

58 Responses to “Obama Lectures Reporter for Asking Question”

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