Category Archives: Obama
Hagel Gone
Chuck Hagel is gone as Secretary of Defense. He was Obama’s third bird. All three complained about interference from the White House staff. They were ok with the cooks and butlers but not so much Susan Rice, McDonough, and Ben Rhodes. Here’s an example from Bloomberg.
Like his immediate predecessors at the Pentagon, Robert Gates and Leon Panetta, Hagel chafed at the way a small cadre of Obama loyalists centralized power in the White House. When Obama backed off a threat to bomb Syria last year, he made the decision on a walk with his chief of staff, Denis McDonough. Hagel was informed of the decision later.
Hagel is is flying the coop, but not just yet. He’ll stay on until Secretary of Defense IV is found.
Washington Post Fact Checks SNL
The Washington Post actually fact checked a Saturday Night Live skit. Zachary Goldfarb rated the skit not helpful to the president.
The sketch was about Obama’s executive action on immigration (mislabeled as an “executive order”, Goldfarb helpfully corrects). It was set to “Schoolhouse Rock” and featured a “Bill” singing about how a bill becomes law. A cynical singing “Executive Order” explains how things really work, while President Obama repeatedly kicks the crooning “Bill” down the Capitol steps.
I rate it Damn Funny.
Since the Post is now rating comedy routines Michelle Malkin immediately wanted to know why it didn’t fact check Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin character for claiming she could see Russia from her house.
Personally, I want to know if Super Colossal Jimmy Carter is really 90 feet tall.
Cartoon Fact Check
My cartoon deliberately confuses Zachary Goldfarb’s fact check with the Post’s Glenn Kessler’s pinocchio ratings. I hope they don’t fact check cartoons now. On the other hand I could use the publicity.
King Living Like a King People Living Rotten
The president insists he’s not a king. Twenty-two times he insisted he couldn’t just change the immigration law. Until Thursday when he did. He insisted his position hadn’t changed.
King
But what more can we expect from a king in silk stockings and pink satin pants? (Allan Sherman My Son the Nut, “You Went the Wrong Way, Old King Louie”)
Go it Alone
Three days after he was elected president Barack Obama told congressional leaders, “elections have consequences and I won”. He then proceeded to go it alone on an economic stimulus plan.
On September 9, 2009, Paul Ryan had the temerity to explain what was in the health care bill – before we passed it. Obama waited until April 13, 2011 (The Presidential Divider – WSJ) for payback. He invited Ryan to sit in the front row and then publicly humiliated him during a speech on the budget.
As a result of that and other insults, the Affordable Care Act was passed without a single Republican vote. Even at that, it required stunts like the Louisiana Purchase, the Cornhusker Kickback (later removed in reconciliation), and the illegal prosecution of Alaskan senator Ted Stevens (The 60th ObamaCare Vote – WSJ).
ObamaCare has never been popular with a majority of Americans. According to Jonathan Gruber Americans are a simple people who need to be lied to for their own good because they’re too stupid to understand basic economics.
Go it Alone
In January of this year Obama announced he no longer needed the serfs or Congress. He had a pen and a phone and he would go it alone on immigration reform. And so he did. Here’s the speech. When Congress refused to give him a bill he could sign – something David Harsanyi points out Congress has no obligation to ever do – he ordered immigration reform without a single vote from either party.
Silly Shirt Season
World leaders showed up at the APEC summit in China last week wearing silly shirts. It’s an annual tradition to distract us from the silly stuff they do.
China is filled with with smog. You can taste the PM 2.5 – little particles that go into your lungs to kill you. So what was the signing event of the week? A deal to reduce the carbon dioxide you exhale to cough those little buggers out. And the Chinese don’t even have to do it until 2030. If they’re still alive.
Silly Season
The agreement is for America to set the example by cutting co2 emissions right away. The really silly part is that it’s a deal about nothing. Carbon dioxide emissions in the United States have been falling due to increased use of natural gas and a decreased role for industrial production. We’re expected to reach the goals of the agreement by doing nothing. China will reach peak population growth by 2030 and it’s co2 emissions are expected to fall naturally by then too.
The other big news of the week was the revelation that our governing elites lack a positive attitude toward us voters. They think we’re stupid. Ok, so maybe they’re right. It’s certainly not a problem shared by China – a situation much admired by Tom Friedman of the NYT.
