Don't Know Much About History... (Reprise)

Think about this - the probable next President of the United States does not know even the broad outlines of the history of American foreign policy from WWII forward and does not know the history of Democratic icons Roosevelt or Truman.  We had kvetched about this earlier.  The fateful quote from Barack's Tuesday victory speech is this:

"I trust the American people to understand that it is not weakness, but wisdom to talk not just to our friends, but to our enemies, like Roosevelt did, and Kennedy did, and Truman did."

Hope and change!

MORE: STALIN IT IS!  Here is Obama at a March 27 2008 fundraiser:

"I think people understand the notion of talking to our enemies," Obama said. "If FDR can meet with Stalin and Nixon can meet with Mao and Kennedy can meet with Khrushchev and Reagan can meet with Gorbechav, then the notion that we can't meet with some half-baked dictator is ridiculous."

Well, Stalin was a fully-baked dictator, but he was also our ally against Nazi Germany when he met with Roosevelt.  For a good example of "half-baked" we need look no further than Barack's proposed meeting with Ahmadinejad.

SOME BACKGROUND: Here is an account of the debate where this came up:

In the debate, Obama was asked if he would be willing to meet — without precondition — in the first year of his presidency with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea.

"I would," he responded.

Clinton said she would not.

"I don't want to be used for propaganda purposes," she said. Her campaign quickly posted video of her answer online, trying to show she has a different understanding of foreign policy than her chief rival.

RETURN TO SENDER:  No, letters don't count (and I already had pointed out the Roosevelt-Hitler letter) - letters do not provide the sort of propaganda photo-op being criticized.  Besides, Bush has sent a letter to Kim Jong Il, but where is the photo of the two of them shaking hands?

BRINGING IT TOGETHER:  McCain wants to bash Obama on Hamas, and has criticized Obama's intention to confer legitimacy on the Iranian regime by meeting without preconditions.  Well, if Obama is justifying that meeting by reference to historical parallels that exist only in the imaginations of himself and his speechwriters, that is troubling.

And having an Obama adviser caught chatting with Hamas is not helpful for Obama's cred, either.

EXPANDING THE ELECTORAL MAP:  Set aside his evident deficiencies in American post-war history (Nooo, not the Vietnam war) and think about this - Obama is still hazy on how many states there are in the Union, not to mention the normally uncontroversial status of Alaska and Hawaii.  Marc Ambinder has the video of Obama claiming that he has visited 57 states (Hmm, maybe he was sampling Heinz ketchups...).  Obama made a similar whoopsie when chatting with the AP a few weeks ago - back then, he was talking about forty-eight states, plus Alaska and Hawaii.

I would tell him to check the flag in his lapel, but of course he won't be wearing one.  [OK, maybe he did check his lapel pin...]

DOCTOR, DOCTOR, GIMME THE NEWS:  MRI, stat:

This faux pas is beyond weird; I know the guy is tired, but “How many states are there in America?” is the kind of question they ask you at the hospital after you've had a seizure to see if your brain is still working.

Comments

[glasater]

Along the lines with "dropping a joint down his shorts" this may be where Brocko's brains are located.

[clarice]

I think Ranger made much the same points about Brock's knowledge of American history the other day.

[ParseThis]

Did Winston Churchill say, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."? Or did somebody learn something wrong?

[Neo]

I hadn't heard about the Khrushchev belief that Americans are 'too liberal to fight.'

[michaelt]

Scott at Powerline correctly attributes the quote to George Santayana.

[michaelt]

Although my link goes to the wrong post.....

[SteveMG]

JFK & Vienna, Vienna, Vienna.

Not talking sausage either.

My guess is that Obama is so used to easily swimming in anti-American waters that he doesn't realize that there's a vastly different species of anti-Americanism in foreign waters.

Wright & Ayers et al. are not Ahmadinejad & Assad et al.

[boris]

You could have a point. For Wright & Ayers anti-American is a form of "patriotism". Sneering at flag pin wearers is how they honor the country.

[Danube of Thought]

This man is not simply a glib weasel, he is an ignoramus. Unfortunately, he is preaching to a choir the majority of whose members do not know in which century the US Civil War was fought. And there are precious few in the press who are able, let alone willing, to point out his errors.

Perhaps the country will at long last get what it deserves--good and hard.

[SteveMG]

For Wright & Ayers anti-American is a form of "patriotism". Sneering at flag pin wearers is how they honor the country.

Obama, maturing in such an environment (communist professors in college, anti-Americanism in Chicago et cetera), has developed a, let's say, cavalier attitude towards such expressions. Ho hum, I've heard it all before.

My guess - just a wild one - is that he views foreign anti-Americanism in a similar way.

[Sara]

In an article I linked to on another thread, a commenter left this, which is a good example of what a sad state historical reference is on the left:

Link

Comment from: Adam Franklin

It is the nature of the repuglican party to attract bigoted, small minded supporters. This party has been on the wrong side of history for the last two hundred years. history has shown that conservatives opposed emancipation, opposed women's right to vote, opposed civil rights, opposed child labor laws, opposed environmental protection laws, the list goes on. They have been and continue to be a party of narrow minded, bigoted individuals who never are able to see past their own failings and prejudices. They are a party of exclusion. Period. That is why history has always proven them to be wrong.

Posted: 05/09/2008 11:33am

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

We don't know what Obama knows about our history, but we know his supporters don't have a clue; he's telling them what he thinks they want to hear.

[Thomas Jackson]

Unfortunately the education system abandoned the teaching of history decades ago. Few Americans have ever read the Declaration of Independence much less the Constitution. Fewer still can explain the difference between the colonists at Jamestown and Plymouth. Our education system has abandoned the concepts of knowledge in preference to feeling.

I hope I never have a brain surgeon who uses the feeling theory in place of hard facts.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

W, famous for his sense of humor, ought to announce that he's appointing Obama a special envoy to Myanmar. Where he could get some experience talking to our enemies, and see where it gets him:

A week after Cyclone Nargis flattened low-lying villages and killed whole families at a time, the military junta finally agreed Friday to allow a U.S. cargo plane to bring in food and other supplies to the isolated country. Myanmar gave the green light after confiscating other shipments, prompting the U.N. to order a temporary freeze in shipments.

The U.N. agreed to resume flights but relief workers, including Americans, were still being barred entry.

....The government, which wants full control of relief operations, has less than 40 helicopters, most of them small or old. It also has only about 15 transport planes, primarily small jets unable to carry hundreds of tons of supplies.

"Not only don't they have the capacity to deliver assistance, they don't have experience," said Mark Farmaner, director of the pro-democracy Burma Campaign UK. "It's already too late for many people. Every day of delays is costing thousands of lives."

On Friday, Myanmar's military rulers seized two planeloads containing enough high-energy biscuits to feed 95,000 people sent by the U.N. World Food Program, which briefly suspended help after the action. The U.N. later agreed to send two more planes to help survivors.

The government acknowledged taking control of the shipments and said it plans to distribute the aid itself to affected areas.

In a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press, government spokesman Ye Htut said the junta had clearly stated what it would do and denied the action amounted to a seizure.

"I would like to know which person or organization (made these) these baseless accusations," he said.

The U.N. has grown increasingly critical of Myanmar's refusal to let in foreign aid workers who could assess the extent of the disaster with the junta apparently overwhelmed. None of the 10 visa applications submitted by the WFP has been approved.

Shari Villarosa, the U.S. charge d'affairs in Yangon, said she met with Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu on Friday to discuss American relief operations.

Myanmar says it will accept aid from all countries, but prohibits the entry of foreign workers who would deliver and manage the operations. The junta is not ready to change that position, Villarosa said she was told.

[Sara]

In view of this JOM post and others I've seen in the last few days around the blogosphere, I dug up an old post and have reposted it today.

It is Lt. Col. Frances Rice's Open Letter to the Democratic Party. Col. Rice is an African American woman who lays out the real history of the Dems with civil rights and race relations. It is well worth the re-read and as a reminder of how lacking in historical perspective the dems are and especially the Obama campaign.

Open Letter to the Democratic Party

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Speaking of history, someone should ask Obama how he feels about reading history books:

IN November, I was found guilty of "racial harassment" for reading a public-library book on a university campus.

The book was Todd Tucker's "Notre Dame vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan I was reading it on break from my campus job as a janitor. The same book is in the university library.

Tucker recounts events of 1924, when the loathsome Klan was a dominant force in Indiana - until it went to South Bend to taunt the Irish Catholic students at the University of Notre Dame.

When the KKK tried to rally, the students confronted them. They stole Klan robes and destroyed their crosses, driving the KKK out of town in a downpour.

....the Affirmative Action Office of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis .... ruled that my "repeatedly reading the book . . . constitutes racial harassment in that you demonstrated disdain and insensitivity to your co-workers."

[sbw]

A pseudo-statement about what passes for liberalism and isn't:

Nothing that has gone before is worth learning because my experience is what's happening now. Other experience doesn't matter because conventional wisdom -- which is my experience -- serves well enough. If something feels okay, it must be okay, because otherwise, I would feel different.

Don't try to confuse me with facts, because there are no facts, only opinions. Despite differing opinions, things can be worked since, although cultures are different and truth is relative, if other people are given the opportunity, they will see my point of view.

There is no doubt because I have no doubt, and no one can tell me otherwise.

Welcome to 2008.

[hit and run]

TM in the TAKE A STEP BACK:
Set aside his deficiencies in American post-war history (Nooo, not the Vietnam war) and think about this - Obama is still hazy on how many states there are in the Union ... I would tell him to check the flag in his lapel, but of course he won't be wearing one.

You're off here, TM.

Why do you think the flag is an immutable authority in its present state?

Obama can change that.

Change!

The flag!

The United States Flag Under President Barack Obama

[RichatUF]

Oh brother-another advisor!

[hit and run]

From Rich's link:

One of Barack Obama’s Middle East policy advisers disclosed yesterday that he had held meetings with the militant Palestinian group Hamas – prompting the likely Democratic nominee to sever all links with him.

Robert Malley told The Times that he had been in regular contact with Hamas, which controls Gaza and is listed by the US State Department as a terrorist organisation. Such talks, he stressed, were related to his work for a conflict resolution think-tank and had no connection with his position on Mr Obama’s Middle East advisory council.

“I’ve never hidden the fact that in my job with the International Crisis Group I meet all kinds of people,” he added.

Neither did Wright hide his anti-American sermons.

But just like Wright, Malley doesn't get thrown under the bus until the relevant issue (in this case Hamas) becomes a matter of public controversy.

Obama: I denonce, renounce and announce my rejection and repudiation of [insert name here] because you think he's divisive and therefore he's distracting.

[PeterUK]

Who needs all those messy stars when you can have just one? Now there is a pin Barak Hussein Obama could wear with pride.Ayers would be so pleased with his protege.

[Rick Ballard]

Careful, Rich. This is just another ruse to hide the deep subtlety and nuance of BHO's intellectual agility. It will do no good to suggest that the probability of al-Masri joining Hamas in supporting BHO is significantly above 50%.

He'll just pull the Viennese CurleyMoeLarry option and escape once more. He's that clever.

In reality - why should it be surprising that an unvetted, shallow popinjay of a jumped up jerk have unvetted loose cannon as advisors? It's not as if he has the first clue as to what the job he is pursuing actually entails.

Go BHO! And hope for change...

[Forbes]

I love the fact that Obama has these various and sundry advisory councils, but apparently no formal advisors. Obama can distance himself from the unsavory by dismissing such persons from their informal post. Does he plan on running his administration with informal advisors?

[qrstuv]

My guess is that he does know the history but considers the talking to be the part that got the job done.

The bomb, not so much.

[clarice]

Hit--a good all purpose I renounce________form on O stationery should be a welcome thing to his campaign--It'll save a lot of time over the coming months.

[Sara]

Forbes, he is the messiah, doncha' know? Why would he need advisers. He is the smartest guy in the whole wide world, just ask him.

[Sara]

Or better yet, ask Michelle how her husband will make you believe what he thinks you should believe and act the way they decree. Very red shirt/brown shirt and very indicative of their elitist attitude.

[PeterUK]

Obama does need a snappy disclaimer on his notepaper.HE'S SPARTACUS !

[hit and run]

Heh, clarice -- and I'm thinking there should be a page on barackobama.com that let's you enter the name and issue that distracts you -- and you get your very own personalized Obama denunciation.

Obama -- campaign

comes to mind for me...

I'm so very distracted by it.

[hit and run]

Rick:
It's not as if he has the first clue as to what the job he is pursuing actually entails.

Feh.

The U.S. is just basically one big community.

In need of a community orgainizer.

You know who's the most experienced community organizer in the race?

Yup. Exactly.

[Sara]

Well, guys, we all must be suffering some kind of memory loss. The United States no longer has 50 states, Obama says so, so it must be true. He claims he has visited 57 states and has a couple more to go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws

[hit and run]

One thing from that clip, Sara, is that Obama says:

"...Alaska and Hawaii I was not allowed to go to, even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it..."

Well. That's a pretty pathetic 99% of the voting shares he wields on campaign decisions, huh.

[narciso]

It's really a Johnny Smith, "Dead Zone" type insight, He's been to the future where Cuba, P. Rico, Alberta, Quebec, Monterey, &
Sinaloa, Ontario are US states. "Clearly" in
a Tony Stark accent. Because he wouldn't make such a mistake. Only the 'Smirking Chimp" who happens to be the scion of a long standing family; could make that mistake.

Barry seems to be echoing nothing less than Gaius Baltar, from Battle Star Galactica as the educated elitist from an minor colony;(Sagitaron, I recalls) who bears a chip on his shoulder, for precisely that reason. He ultimately betrays humanity, because he trusts too much in the false promises on an implacable foe. At the end of Season 2; he ends up President, because the most
responsible officials who should have prevented him from seizing power,(Adama & Roslin were too ethical to fix an election)
A bizarre spin on the whole chad recount fracas. Consequently, when the enemy came, the humans were forced into the pyrrhic campaign of suicide bombers; due to the infinite regeneration of the enemy. That was the point, that was deliberately elided
in Season 3. The writers were so captivated
by the Iraq analogy; that they missed the point.
The Malley,Powers,McPeak,Cirincione,Ayers,
circle of allies, clearly illustrate this problem.

[centralcal]

Y'know, we have all heard about Michelle's failing SAT scores. Anybody know what Big O's were?

I think he is exhibiting signs of early Alzheimer's, and at such a young age. So sad!

[Paul Zrimsek]

The idea is to keep adding stars until the flag is white all over. Then he can wear the pin without shame.

[Sara]

So tell me again, just who is it who has lost his bearings?

[Rick Ballard]

"The U.S. is just basically one big communityllective.

In need of a community orgainizerissar.

H & R,

Maybe we should call him the Disowner rather than the Decider? Perhaps that's where his 99.9% vote comes in. Just to show everyone that he has The Wright Stuff.

[Ann]

I just watched a movie about Jane Austen and loved the fact that they called foolish men a "booby". I think we should transfer this to Obama's campaign. OBAMA A BOOBY or A BOOBY OBAMA.

Catchy, Dontchathink!

Does anyone here really think Hillary would take the VP slot?
(Priority Two)
Isn't she still in this because she knows Obama is a booby and by August they will be begging her for the coronation.
(Priority One)

[GnuCarSmell]

Some in the audience swooned upon His revelation of Our 57 States.

Others wept quietly.

T-shirt sales were brisk....

[ved]

Kvetchers. Miss the plague on the train? Someone died and a bunch of people got sick, but there is nothing wrong. I'm always seeing or is that looking or is that hearing; so why do Canadians think it's a conspiracy?

I thought Adama used(seeing) and that's why there was all the death, hearing, pylons trying to kill them and other bad things. Satan UFOd some nylons and they are really humans in perfection before lucifer damned. The creation of the UFO isn't an issue because it isn't human in perfection as lucifer's creation a perversion of God. Why would humans kill themselves killing what they were when they cylons have infinite creation? They are upset at the perfection of what they were and the inability to cease being this?

Burma has enough employees to get the work done. The foreigners aren't needed. We should give Burma the 1.1 billion UN Food Program surplus needed for 'pensions'.

Foreign policies is votes, right?

[Sara]

Suitably Flip introduces the new custom Obama flag pin

[Thomas Collins]

Well, at least we can be thankful that B57O was a law professor and not an elementary school geography teacher.

[Elliott]

I wonder whether Obama drew the 57 from the number of contests the Democrats have? There are 54 listed here. Michigan and Florida aren't listed there because at present they don't have any delegates. If we count Texas as two contests that would bring us to 57.

If Obama hasn't been to Hawaii, though, I find it hard to believe he's been to Guam or American Samoa, so that part of his statement still doesn't make sense.

Is he turning Democrats Abroad, a ragtag bunch scattered across the globe, into a state, and thus making an unprecedented and undiplomatic claim of American power? Probably not, it's just words Manifest Inanity.

[narciso]

"Quick, someone shut down the random phrase generator" What the heck was that?

[jimmyk]

Did Winston Churchill say, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."? Or did somebody learn something wrong?

I assumed (hoped?) that the writer was making a joke at Obama's expense by so baldly misattributing a famous quotation. It was George Santayana who said that.

[hit and run]

Rick:
Maybe we should call him the Disowner rather than the Decider?

Well, I've laid claim to the phrase the "disownership society" as it relates to Obama.

It's mine.

Google it!

[hit and run]

Ann,
I just watched a movie about Jane Austen and loved

Oh I love, love, love Jane Austen! And she even wrote a letter to her niece backwards when she was young!

I'd mud wrestle for her, even today.

[Ann]

Hit ,

Are you saying you would only mud wrestle for Jane?

I am so discouraged! How about you, Clarice? :)

[hit and run]

Elliott:
I wonder whether Obama drew the 57 from the number of contests the Democrats have?

Oh, I'll be the first to admit that he meant 47.

He had one more to go -- 48. Plus he hadn't been to HI or AK.....50.

He said "fifty" because he likes the rap music of Curtis James Jackson III he was thinking 50 total states before caluclating which he had visited or not ... but his mind was way ahead of his lips. By the time his lips got to the idea that he had one more state to visit plus AK and HI, the fifty was past and gone.

It was a slip -- not evidence of some ignorance of how many states are actually in the US.

But I am more than willing to be divisive and a distraction in letting those who wish to believe he is that dumb believe that he is that dumb.

Because the next time he speaks extemporaneously without the teleprompter -- he will likely give evidence to support the idea that he is that dumb.

And let's be honest. A couple of more beers and I will be making similar Obamaesque gaffes. Especially when I reach the point of "preview is for sissies"...

[michael]

Having to remember the number of states is a 'distraction.' Let him eat his waffles and his 'cue with the Heinz 57. For a thin boy, he sure gets into his food.

[hit and run]

Ann:
Are you saying you would only mud wrestle for Jane?

I am so discouraged! How about you, Clarice?

Oh, no. No, no, no!

I'd mud wrestle for you, Clarice, the JOM Jane, and about two dozen other JOM commenters, males include. And especially including the host himself.

I am secure enough in my manhood to say that (and not so drunk that I will regret it!).

And, well, let's be honestly honest -- if any FEMALES want to challenge me on this, well, I'll accept the mud wrestling challenge without question. Bring. It. On.

WAIT...did I say that out loud.

[VIMH: Preview is for sissies, eh?]
Eh, you're a sissy. I stand by it!

[Elliott]

Via the Instapundit, I see that Dean Barnett beat me to the hegemonic implications.

[MayBee]

And she even wrote a letter to her niece backwards when she was young

One of my great skills in life is that I can write in cursive backwards without even thinking about it. It's awsome because then you can read it in a mirror.
Other people have less useful talents like dancing, singing, and writing coherently, but that is mine and I embrace it.

[Sara]

Elliott: Did you see the other article at your link above? ARG poll: Clinton 66%, Obama 23%.

Hillary Ahead in West Virginia...by 43 Points

The other killer tidbit: "45% of likely Democratic primary voters say they would never vote for Barack Obama in the primary." I'm just curious how Team Obama and Andrew Sullivan are going to spin this beyond calling the good people of West Virginia a bunch of racists (I mean, even if they were in the Klan, presumably they get the same pass on that as Senator Byrd--because they're still Democrats).

[hit and run]

MayBee:
One of my great skills in life is that I can write in cursive backwards without even thinking about it. It's awsome because then you can read it in a mirror.
Other people have less useful talents like dancing, singing, and writing coherently, but that is mine and I embrace it.

Swoon!!!!

MayBee, I love you. I'd mud wrestle for you. If you've been to you know where, you'll know why.

[Barry]

"One of my great skills in life is that I can write in cursive backwards without even thinking about it."

Good grief, MayBee. I can no longer write cursive at all. Computer typing has replaced that skill. And when I could write cursive, only I could read it.

Nice skill...

[Daddy]

Speaking about Not Knowing Much About History, what say we have a competition this weekend to name the extra 7 or 8 states of the US of A that Obama says he's already visited this campaign. The video's on Drudge, Instapundit, etc. (Sorry I can't link to it). Even my 10 year old said, "Unbelievable...He's the guy trying to be our new President?"

[MayBee]

Oh, Hit! I just saw it. Hilarious! We'd have to mudwrestle backwards.

The downside for me is that I see the backwards PUSH sign on a glass door and just push. It doesn't register that it is backwards and I should, you know, pull.

Barry, ha! My husband and children have a hybrid writing style that I'm not sure anyone can read, including them.

[hit and run]

MayBee:
Oh, Hit! I just saw it. Hilarious! We'd have to mudwrestle backwards.

Oooooh, I was ready to mudwrestle for you.

But if you want to mudwrestle with/against me, I'm going to need a time and place.

Of your chosing. And I'm there!

As long as it's after 11:00 tomorrow. I've got kids soccer until then.

Oh, and I have to be back by 5. We've got a "grandparents shower" at 6 to go to for friends in our supper club.

We could push this to Sunday -- but church starts at 10:30 and gets out after noon.

And our small group meets at 6.

But other than that -- my schedule is wide open. You name the time and place!!!

[Sara]

Gotta love Joe!

"I just want to report that this morning I personally checked John McCain’s bearings. He has not lost any of them. They are all in really great shape."

Senator Joe Lieberman
On Senator McCain's bearings
May 9, 2008

[Elliott]

Jay Cost was wondering last week whether people are truly prepared for such a convincing Clinton victory. It should be interesting.

On an unrelated note, is everyone aware of the fate that has befallen The Very Important Hair?

[BarbaraS]

How can anyone doubt Obama's intelligence? After all, he has visited 57 states and has one or two more to go.

[Sara]

off!!

[Paul Zrimsek]

Only Obama has the vision to realize that where there's an Indiana there must also be a Cowboya in the neighborhood. Likewise, the existence of Kansas and Arkansas clearly implies Ararkansas, if not Arararkansas. Compare the size of present-day Louisiana to that of the Louisiana Purchase; could the rest of it have been cut off so dramatically if not for Robespierriana? While I suppose you could have a Maine without a Backuppe, I wouldn't recommend it. And you'd think East Virginia, Old Hampshire, Old Jersey, Old Mexico, Old York, and Maxxesota would be obvious to anyone.

[kim]

Thanks for the link, Elliott. Joe looks like he couldn't have said his piece without a teleprompter.
============================

[kim]

Paul, if there is a Coloradio there has to be a Colortelevision around here somewhere.
=============================

[Jane]

Are you saying you would only mud wrestle for Jane?

Perhaps this thread should have stopped right there!

Good Morning peeps. I see Obama has continued with the self-humiliation since I last sailed these shores. Perhaps that is why the sun is shining so brightly.

[PeterUK]

Of course Obamessiah is going to sit down with sinners,prostitutes and tax gatherers,that is his ministry.
He is a uniter,hence the broad church.

[Sue]

One of my great skills in life is that I can write in cursive backwards without even thinking about it. It's awsome because then you can read it in a mirror.
Other people have less useful talents like dancing, singing, and writing coherently, but that is mine and I embrace it.

OMG. It is my only talent too. I don't need the mirror to read it. You probably don't either. Awesome.

[Sue]

One of my great skills in life is that I can write in cursive backwards without even thinking about it. It's awsome because then you can read it in a mirror.
Other people have less useful talents like dancing, singing, and writing coherently, but that is mine and I embrace it.

OMG. It is my only talent too. I don't need the mirror to read it. You probably don't either. Awesome.

[centralcal]

I am starting to wonder about Barry O -- can't remember how many states we have, or what month it is, or how many more months till the election.

*They* say he is smoking again. Cigarettes? Something else? Just asking?

[tom swift]

Why are so many twits cluttering up this page with drivel about mirror writing? Really, who gives a rat's patoot?

If those questions are too difficult, perhaps someone can tell me why anybody says that Obama is intelligent. Intellectually, he strikes me as a moderately promising 20 year old. That is to say, essentially ingnorant about damn near everything. But he's not 20 - not even close. Whatever has he done with his brain in the last quarter century? Simply let it lie fallow? What was that jingle about "a mind is a terrible thing to waste"?

[Chester White]

Obama can't wear a flag pin; Ayers would be stomping on his chest all the time.

[kim]

Clutter is in the mind of the beholder, my friend. I'm getting insight into the mind of Da Vinci. But you have a great point about a wasted mind. Supposedly this dude is supposed to magnificent at vacuuming up stuff and processing it. Why does what comes out of his mouth seem like such waste?
==============================

[kim]

Don't changes syntaxes in midstream of thought. It's sort of like talking while swallowing.
===================

[franglo]

Ha ha... yeah, they said Reagan was dumb, too. Two-term, vice-president coattails Reagan.

I hope you like tidal waves because one is headed your way this fall!

[kim]

Chester, (Larry?), we love you.
==================

[Neo]

Just wondering .. it wasn't too long ago that we had an Obama advisor talking with the Canadians.

Perhaps, in a move to negate to "bad effects" of NAFTA, Obama has plans to annex 7 of the 10 Canadian provinces as states.

I've often heard that if Quebec ever gets autonomy, then Manitoba and Saskatchewan want to become US states.

[Sue]

I hope you like tidal waves because one is headed your way this fall!

Something else to blame on global warming.

[Sue]

Elliott,

Whatever happened to the Plames? They look horrible. I wonder if it is the reality of another wasted 4 years picking the wrong candidate to support? ::grin::

[Beto Ochoa]

Senator Obama ia addicted to narcotics. Nicotine to be exact. Just like a junkie, his brain will not function without it. If he was just someone who smoked a few cigarettes daily, he would be at a different level of addict but he is a heavy smoker and is being denied his drug of choice. No President since LBJ has smoked cigarettes as a habit and having known LBJ, I can tell you he was not a flustered if he could not smoke. Senator Obama is effected by withdrawal though and quite a bit.
This comment isn't bush league bullcrap or meant to be flippant in any way, it is scientific fact. I can say categorically that heavy smokers make poor workers at any level within an organization. I have worked for decades on complex and sensitive projects for our space and defense programs and the top minds are never heavy smokers.

[Neo]

I'm pretty sure that “Frank” set Obama straight on Stalin.

[Rick Ballard]

Karl at PW has another good post up on the Disowner.

Second, Obama has been saying for months that his inexperience is not as important as his judgment. Obama’s decision to surround himself with advisers who think that Israel is the problem with US foreign policy and that we need to get closer to the despotic regimes in Iran and Syria is not borne of his inexperience, but of his judgment.

"Empty suit" may be too kind a description for BHO.

[kim]

You watch, Lieberman for McCain's Veep. Novak has it that Joltin' Joe asked a Clinton supporter to back McCain.
===========================

[kim]

Maybe we should call him 'Jilted Joe'. He's going to speak at the Republican National Convention.
======================

[boris]

Lieberman for McCain's Veep

It would be a cool move and it probably would win. If "conservatives" desert it might be a close win but with their support it could be the kind of landslide that discredits the hateful left for a generation.

Don't see it actually happening though.

[MaggieW]

If the voters put Obama in the White House,
we won't clinging to hope, we'll be
clinging to straws.

[HoosierHoops]

How can anyone doubt Obama's intelligence? After all, he has visited 57 states and has one or two more to go.
BarbaraS:

I think Obama is correct..if you add the Ivy league schools to the total, that would be 58 states plus count Illinois twice ( they always vote twice anyway )
So yea.. he's got a couple more states to visit...

[JM Hanes]

Elliott:

Normally, I prefer text to the videos & podcasts which proliferate these days, but the Wilson ad is a must see! In fact, it's worthy of a "Special Comment" from TM himself. The Wilsons' world ends, not with a bang. They are clearly going down with the Clinton ship, but a lot of other folks in Washington must be scuttling about, deck chairs in tow, looking to reposition themselves on the USS Obama. Over at HotAir, someone said that the Wilson's civil suit is revving up again. Has anybody here seen any news on that front?

I was fascinated to read that the National Security Archive recently "filed suit to obtain grand jury records related to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg." I would expect that request to be denied and wonder if they are already working on their appeal, which could be interesting. There's certainly a case to be made for unsealing historic grand jury proceedings over time.

I can't imagine that the Libby grand jury proceedings would ever see the light day during our lifetimes, but after reading the Post article, I started wondering about filing FOIA requests for documents from -- and about -- the Special Prosecution. Given the uniqueness of the circumstances, perhaps one could question whether the standard "work product" rules apply when so many other rules appear to have been suspended in that process. Libby's decision not to appeal his case left all of my most serious concerns -- which had nothing to do with his actual guilt or innocence -- unaddressed.

I've heard rumblings elsewhere on the subject of prosecutors' immunities. IIRC, they were not connected to the Duke lacrosse players' suit, so I believe the numbers of people who are growing uneasy about prosecutorial accountability in general may be on the rise. Though some may not care for the implications, it's ironic that the folks who wanted to burn Bush for politicizing US Attorney appointments and the folks who wanted to burn his Justice Department for Fitzgerald's appointment ended up in opposition to each other. Unfortunately, such divisions mean that despite a potentially favorable climate, there has been virtually zero interest in fashioning the necessary legislative correctives.

[ajacksonian]

Actually those folks looking to the letters may want to re-think that given the nature of some of the pre-WWII letters and dispatches sent. For example, the FDR letter to the Czech and German Nations in 1938 which would come just on the eve of the annexation of the Sudetenland. Yes FDR points out to the lovely treaties involved that *all* should abide by... in signing away Czech territory. Then, after Germany had taken the Czech republic, FDR sent a note to Hitler and Mussolini about how three sovereign nations had disappeared recently! The good old FDR wanted *assurances* that they wouldn't attack a long list of countries. He was even willing to sponsor Global Free Trade Talks! Hey, now *thats* something that would surprise many Democrats today, wouldn't it? Yes those lovely diplomatic letters worked out so well for a world of peace and freedom, no? And before that, looking Goldberg's Liberal Fascism (p. 147) we see congratulatory message from Hitler to FDR on "his heroic effortsin the interests of the American People. The President's successful battle against economic distress is being followed by the entire German people with interest and admiration."

Hard to call that period from 1933-34 to even the eve of WWII exactly *hostile* or that Hitler and FDR were 'enemies'. It is only after the war started did Hitler start up his anti-US propaganda. Right up to the eve of it he had a perfectly acceptable relationship with someone willing to do anything to avoid war... save confront Germany.

[ben]

"Obama can't wear a flag pin; Ayers would be stomping on his chest all the time."

HEH

[clarice]

The Wilson's simply argued the appeal of the dismissal of their caes JMH. Nothing new and I doubt it will succeed.
I agree with you that prosecutorial overreach needs some close attention and isn't getting it.
It is unlikely the g j proceedings of the Libby case will ever be opened in our lifetimes though. I see Wilson cut his hair..Hmm

[JM Hanes]

Clarice:

I contemplated a Valerie as Delilah post but just couldn't make it work. The Wilson endorsement looks more like a hostage video than an ad.

[clarice]

HEH,jmh.
They both seem to be the worse for wear, don't they?

[MayBee]

Hilarious information about a certain couple endorsing a certain candidate, via the LA Times.

[MayBee]

I contemplated a Valerie as Delilah post but just couldn't make it work.

I had the same thought, but it was Hillary as Delilah.
Then I thought Wilson must have been lousy.

[Neo]

Lieberman for McCain's Veep

I second that.

[kim]

This election can be viewed as a Senate putsch. Might as well get the big boys in.
==============

[narciso]

The problem with that theory, Kim, is that they're not putting forth any proposal. You want a windfall tax (god help us, that's nearly as stupid, as the Smoot Hawley and Ford Macumber tariffs) but put it in a bill
see how many co-sponsors you get. Hillary, you're really serious about a gas tax holiday, put it up. McCain has less of a chance; but that's never stopped him from
McCain/Feingold, McCain/Lieberman, (on global warming)McCain/Kennedy (on illegal
immigration) McCain/Durbin (on aggressive
interrogation of AQ terrorists). On second thought, remind mewhy we're voting for him again?

[boris]

We're voting against Beau Bama and Lama Rama Ding Dong.

[jimmyk]

I don't see what Joe brings to the ticket. McCain already has credentials as a centrist hawk willing to cross the aisle (you know, the stuff BHO claims he has but doesn't). McCain needs a true conservative to bring back the disenchanted Republicans, or at least someone from an important swing state. Why do we never hear Rick Santorum's name?

[boris]

What you're net seeing is that moderates have an alternative but conservatives don't.

The draw for prudent conservatives is the kind of landslide that locks in a moderate & conservative coalition and discredits the looney left. As long as they have credibility their tantrums make it impossible to have a rational discussion of domestic or foreign policy. It's a problem that is too serious to pass up a chance to deal with it decisively.

[boris]

** not seeing **

[Neo]

Who would be stupid enough to think .. Is It Time to Invade Burma?

[Neo]

Patriotic Barack Obama lapel pins unveiled honoring all 57 states

LOL

[kevin]

"Just like I can no more disown my own white grandmother." His grandmother, by the way, lives in Hawai'i, her husband and only daughter having passed away. Hawai'i not being one of those 57 states Obama has visited.

Wow, if he never goes to see her now, what would it be like if he did disown her...

[Ralph L]

Why do we never hear Rick Santorum's name?
Because he lost an election, he becomes a non-person until he runs again and wins. Whatever happened to George Allen?

[SteveMG]

Obama's now pulling back re unconditional talks with Iran.

Or more accurately, the adults around him are.

HotAir

and

NY Times story.

[jimmyk]

Because he lost an election, he becomes a non-person until he runs again and wins.

You mean like Michael Steele?

[Neo]

This ought to shake things up a bit ..

Concern has been mounting in Israel that Iran's nuclear capability may be far more advanced than was recognized by the US National Intelligence Estimate last December, which reported that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons development program in 2003 in response to international pressure.
...
"We expect the Americans to amend their report soon," a high-ranking military officer said last week.

They are now claiming that Iran could have a nuclear weapon by mid-2009.

Mohamed ElBaradei still busy playing "Where's Waldo ?"

[kim]

Susan Rice is, has been, and will continue to be a mess. What a contrast with a professional like Condi.
===================

[sbw]

NY Times: Responding to Mr. McCain’s accusations in an interview with CNN on Thursday, Mr. Obama elaborated on that position. He again called Hamas a terrorist group and said that “we should not talk to them unless they recognize Israel, renounce violence and are willing to abide by previous accords”...

Of course the Times failed to mention the Obama aide who was talking with the Hamas that we won't talk to unless they recognize Israel. You know, the yet another Obama aide that has been banished for having been uncovered.

[windansea]

get your barf bags ready, here's NYT sunday article on how Obama transcended Chicago politics

The secret of his transformation — which has brought him to the brink of claiming the Democratic presidential nomination — can be described as the politics of maximum unity: He moved from his leftist Hyde Park base to more centrist circles; he forged early alliances with the good-government reform crowd only to be later embraced by the city’s all-powerful Democratic bosses; he railed against pork-barrel politics but engaged in it when needed; and he empathized with the views of his Palestinian friends before adroitly courting the city’s politically potent Jewish community.

To broaden his appeal to African-Americans, Mr. Obama had to assiduously court older black leaders entrenched in Chicago’s ward politics before selling himself as a young, multicultural bridge to the wider political world.

[windansea]

not to worry,

"The Republican National Committee has amassed a 1,000-page dossier on Mr Obama, with researchers spending weeks in Chicago seeking fresh material.

yummy

[RichatUF]

SteveMG-

Or more accurately, the adults around him are...

When Susan Rice is considered the adult regarding BHO's foreign policy, they are in a pretty scary place. Stunned she is still around after she said that neither one of the Dem candidates is ready for the 3am phone call.

[bgates]

Bush has sent a letter to Kim Jong Il, but where is the photo of the two of them shaking hands?
I don't know where that one is, but I know the one of Rumsfeld and Saddam shaking hands is taken as proof of the eternal evil of the neocons, by the kind of person who thinks Rumsfeld is a neocon. I assume a picture of Obama shaking hands with Ahmadinejad on the morning of the day Iran nuked Tel Aviv would not be thought to demonstrate any such thing, any more than any right thinking person could imagine comparing 2009's Chief Executive to a chimpanzee, or accusing such an august figure of bad judgment due to youthful cocaine use, or denying him the moral authority to order the country into war simply because he never saw combat.

[JM Hanes]

RichatUF:

Stunned she is still around...."

Forget about history; you don't even need a functioning short term memory to play at politics today.

[RichatUF]

Here is the link for the windansea clip. Hope no one here is diabetic because it is triple sweet-disgustingly so.

[RichatUF]

JM Hanes-

Its unbelievable that anyone would want her around after her Clinton Administration failures regarding Rwanda and the Sudan. She was a disaster, the pointwoman on Africa, while it decended into the Lord of the Files and Apocalypse Now. She's not ready for a 3 pm phone call, forget the early morning business.

[windansea]

Here is the link for the windansea clip. Hope no one here is diabetic because it is triple sweet-disgustingly so.

Thanks Rich

here's another article about Wright's Tumpet magazine which surely graced the coffee table in the Obama/Michele household

Obama knew

[Danube of Thought]

OK,OK--I know this site isn't really big on ornithology, but I feel compelled to share the following bulletin with the unique community of JOMers. And although we're only a little more than four months along, I'm putting in my bid for Off-Topic Post of the Year:

"Great tits cope well with warming

"By Richard Black
"Environment correspondent, BBC News website

"At least one of Britain's birds appears to be coping well as climate change alters the availability of a key food.

"Researchers found that great tits are laying eggs earlier in the spring than they used to, keeping step with the earlier emergence of caterpillars.

"Writing in the journal Science, they point out that the same birds in the Netherlands have not managed to adjust.

"Understanding why some species in some places are affected more than others by climatic shifts is vital, they say.

"The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commented that other species are likely to fare much worse than great tits as temperatures rise."

This is especially good news for those of us who feared great tits had become nearly extinct in the UK since they started letting all a them Mohammedans in.

[clarice]

DOT!
My guess is that great tits everywhere will manage climate change better than the great twits will.

[PeterUK]

DOT,
You will be thinking of the famous dish Tit Masala,makes a good substitute for chicken.

[sbw]

Glad to see others here have a Benny Hill kind of mind. I read the BBC's great tits bird article to my wife last night It doesn't take much to get me laughing, again and again.

[Sara]

I am starting to wonder about Barry O -- can't remember how many states we have, or what month it is, or how many more months till the election.

The foremost characteristic of a liar, isn't it? Not remembering what they said yesterday or last week or last month or last year.

[Sara]

The newest political bumper sticker. You can see it here:

Battle Of the Proxy Incumbents

A 3rd Term for Bush is Better than a 2nd Term for Carter

[kim]

Wondrous new insight; tit is the same in the mirror.
===============================

[bgates]

Researchers found that great tits are laying eggs earlier in the spring than they used to....other species are likely to fare much worse than great tits as temperatures rise.
So the headline should be "Great tits benefit from hotness; get laid sooner".

[sbw]

So, I can write tits in cursive backwards just like Maybee...

[vnjagvet]

I wonder if tit and run caught that article.

[ParseThis]

A 3rd Term for Bush is Better than a 2nd Term for Carter

from the link: "Do political fashions run in 30-year cycles? If so, then get ready for the fabulous comeback of energy crises, stagflation, high unemployment, and national malaise."

Since all those things are happening now, I don't worry about a McCain presidency. He'll be remembered for being both Bush's 3rd term and Carter's 2nd term.

Not old enough to remember 1980 are you.