Almost Like Reporting (NY Times, Ongoing)

The NY Times delivers a hard-hitting piece covering the key topic of the sequester - what will Obama do to relax?

Amid Cuts, Does a President Dare Tee Off?

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

WASHINGTON — Fair or not, the extracurricular lives of American presidents are often measured by how they compare with the everyday pursuits of the people they lead.

And so as the nation’s federal workers and others prepare to tighten their belts amid budget cuts, reduced overtime and furloughs, it is inevitable that someone would ask the question about President Obama and golf.

It came this week from, among others, Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and Republican presidential candidate, who expressed outrage that the White House had canceled daily tours of 1600 Pennsylvania at the behest of the Secret Service, which said its officers were needed more elsewhere.

“Canceling White House tours is childish and dishonest,” Mr. Gingrich said on Twitter, citing a recent golf vacation the president took to the Floridian Yacht and Golf Club resort with a handful of friends and his Secret Service entourage. “The golf weekend in Florida cost enough to keep the White House open for months.”

Some budget background with a question I can't answer:

And what about the golf that Mr. Obama frequently plays at the nearby Joint Base Andrews?

Mr. Fleischer [Ari Fleischer of Bush fame] pointed out that the Pentagon’s leaders have warned that the budget cuts will have a serious impact on the readiness of the nation’s military. “What does it say about a sequester if a military golf course can stay open during it?” he said.

Hmm, what are the national security implications of having a lot of tense generals around? Troubling...

Mr. Shear concludes with the faux reporting:

Such is the life of a modern president and his family. The first President Bush was mocked as out of touch when he was seen on a speedboat in Kennebunkport, Maine, during an economic downturn. President Bill Clinton hobnobbed with Hollywood glitterati and took heat for it.

And like Mr. Obama, the second President Bush was criticized for his frequent golf outings, which sometimes made him seem disconnected from the grim task of leading a nation in war.

I don't think the second Bush was criticized for long - he played his last Presidential round in August (or October!) of 2003 as an expression of solidarity with the soldiers. Well, if the sequester drags on for six months maybe Obama will give up golf.

Comments

[Annoying Old Guy]

"I don't think the second Bush was criticized for long - he played his last Presidential round in August (or October!) of 2003".

Oh, TM, as if little facts like that would stand in the way of the NY Times complaining about Bush!

Bush is just lucky he never posted "First!"

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

President Bush is still criticized endlessly for golf and all those years of vacation he took - at his ranch. Let's compare how much money he and Obama spent on govt funded vacations.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

--what will Obama do to relax?--

Perhaps he could take up smoking.

[NK]

What is the NYT?.. Oh.. a sad parody of a news reporting organization. TomM-- I love your snark posts about the NYT-- rare bit of fun stuff during these grim times.

[Gus]

I heard a libtard call Michael Medved and say that W.Bush was on vacation 31% of the time. The left is out of touch with reality.

[Threadkiller]

When Obama was asked about sequestration and his personal time, he reacted sharply:

"I don't believe the government has any business in my bedroom!"

[hit and run]

Obama's been playing a lot of Playstation for the past few months for relaxation. Or at least that's what he's been told. He's actually flying drone missions over North Africa shooting at villagers, but Brennan has just never told him that's what he's really doing.

[Threadkiller]

Medved is a dipshit. My new toast for people like him:

"Hellfire to you!"

[Peter]

CBS and NBC reporting that the President paid for the dinner out of his own pocket, with no evidence to support such a claim other than the WH's own self serving press release. LUN

[daddy]

OT,

I have to say I am proud of Momma today. It being the first day of High School Spring Break up here, this morning she put our 2 high-schoolers on a plane to Italy with their Latin Teacher, 4 other students, and 2 chaperone moms. Shortly they will be whizzing southeast from MIlano in a bus toward Florence and Rome and who knows where else.

I think, because their group is so small, that in Milan they are supposed to meet up with similar High School Latin students and their escorts from Newfoundland. And tomorrow I'm off to the other side of the world for a week, so I think this will be the first time Momma will be away from the kids since day 1. Hope she Spa's her butt of while we're all gone:) She deserves it.

[daddy]

From Insty, I think we may have the headline of the day:

Cops: Perp Had Loaded Revolver In Her Vagina

[NK]

Daddy-- best a luck with the kids going to Italia, I'm sure it will go great.

PS: do you know the name of the main Milano airport?

[Captain Hate]

Reprinting a comment from one of my favorite morons: Personal opinion here, and I have no data other than anecdotal to back it up.

Paul tapped into something that has been lingering in the back of people's minds for quite a while. The government has too much power, and on top of that, much of the exercise of that power is arbitrary.

You and I can't get away with not reporting income to the IRS, but Tim Geithner did.

You and I can't borrow gobs of money from the government, declare bankruptcy, and excape prosecution while making off with a lot of cash. Those Solyndra people did.

Using campaign cash for personal expenses? Only some get to do that.

Are you farming? The EPA will come knocking at your door, and maybe take your property without any court case even happening.

You think you own your property? Not is some bigshot wants it for a development and the powers that be decide to give it to him.

So, after all of these cases for years and years, we suddenly hear waffling on whether the president can decide to kill you while you are sitting in a cafe. OF COURSE people got interested, and it cut across all political parties and wings of both. Some guy called into Rush and said that he had liberal friends who were now interested in Paul.

The political class is nervous, as we saw with McCain and Graham. Everyone was all divided up on their appropriate teams, and now people possibly switching sides left and right.

I find this very interesting, because my daughter, who is a liberal I am slowly converting, got really interested in this and has been arguing with Obamabots on Facebook about how Obama should not have this power.

I actually think there is a window of opportunity here to wake people up. (The possibility of someone blowing you up seems to concentrate their attention.)

Posted by: Miss Marple at March 07, 2013 03:30 PM (GoIUi)

[Rob Crawford]

I heard a libtard call Michael Medved and say that W.Bush was on vacation 31% of the time.

They're counting sleeping as vacation.

[Clarice]

I agree that Rand Pau picked the perfect cross party issue and the perfect time--Obama's credibility after all that Sequester bogey man talk is low--perfect time to get the attention of low info voters..

In life, timing is almost everything.

[Rob Crawford]

Cops: Perp Had Loaded Revolver In Her Vagina

Memo to self: only buy North American Arms revolvers new.

[Cecil Turner]

To the extent the filibuster focused the moonbats' attention on the ridiculous double standard in the way the left treats national security, I applaud it. However, I don't much agree with Paul's underlying point, let alone the distraction from a truly nation-threatening situation (the deficit).

It's good politics; especially because he obviously believes in it. And if it eventually redounds to the detriment of the spender-in-chief, it's probably a plus. I'd hope for a more direct approach, but it appears that's forlorn.

[matt]

Malpensa for $100, Alex.

[Gus]

Perp had loaded revolver in her vagina.

SEX PISTOL.

[Janet]

Hah, Rob. It gives new urgency to the old warning, "Put that down, you don't know where it's been!"

[Clarice]

Rand Paul--

[Gus]

In related news......
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/gun-hidden-in-butt-765912

Rectum? Damn near killed him.

[NK]

malpensa roughly translated means?

PS: Clarice I agree completely, I made a similar point in an earlier thread.

[Threadkiller]

I took the underlying point to be that The Executive is in constant overreach of the powers granted it by The Constitution.

[Thomas Collins]

If it were a drone, she would have needed Congressional and judicial authorization to transport the device in that manner.

[Threadkiller]

New meaning to "trigger happy".

[Melinda Romanoff]

Peter-

No way that came from personal funds. Unpossible. Alligator arms when the check hit the table, but I bet the payment was set up in advance by OfA.

[Threadkiller]

http://afgeunionblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/afge-denounces-singling-out-of-border-patrol-for-largest-sequestration-hit/

Oh shit.

[Danube of Thought iPad]

I think Paul hit a grand slam homerun.

[NK]

Personal funds paid for dinner? heh, hehHEH, ha, HaHA, HAHHHH

[Danube of Thought iPad]

Not quite up to Nathan Hale standards:

"CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez died of a massive heart attack after great suffering and inaudibly mouthed his desire to live, the head of Venezuela's presidential guard said late Wednesday.
'He couldn't speak but he said it with his lips ... "I don't want to die. Please don't let me die," because he loved his country, he sacrificed himself for his country,' Gen. Jose Ornella told The Associated Press."

[NK]

DoT- I saw that. Chavez = Tin Pot thug and coward up to the last.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

--"I don't want to die. Please don't let me die,"--

I'm guessing he wasn't seeing any white light at the end of the tunnel.

--he sacrificed himself for his country--

You too can become a hero of the fatherland;
embezzle yourself to billionaire status and contract cancer, then mewl like a teething infant when the reaper comes a scything.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

Rand Paul deserves great credit for utilizing the concept of carpe diem to the maximum but please note Cruz and Lee provided a great deal of substantive support on no notice.

I'd also note the bitter whining by McGraham regarding having the spotlight stolen from their Comity Dinner Club love fest with BOzo. McConnell provided the perfect close by denying cloture in support of the filibuster which was the capper forcing Holder's reply. McConnell acknowledged Paul's holding of the weather gage with that move.

[Captain Hate]

Burn in Hell, Fat Boy.

[NK]

RickB-- agree with that entirely. Plus, once again McConnell show good organizational skills, he gets the old DC fools and the young conservatives both what they need. Sounds easy, but I'm pleasantly surprised McConnell is working to keep the conservatives happy. Good sign.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Anyone know anything about this tweet?

BRENNAN CONVERTED TO ISLAM WHEN HE LIVED IN SAUDI ARABIA.....THIS IS BEING IGNORED IN THE MEDIA!

[daddy]

Interesting to consider this PowerLine Post.

It came out late last night dumping on Rand Paul, but I could not access any of the comments. Now I am able to access the comments and 40 comments into my reading they are 100% attacking the PowerLine boys for being clueless boobs.

Here's the post: RAND PAUL’S FILIBUSTER — IS IT GRANDSTANDING OR SOMETHING WORSE?

Seems to me that Senator Paul struck a chord with many, many Americans as many above have mentioned.

[Danube of Thought iPad]

True story from the lips of my brother:

Clinton loved to play at the Army-Navy Country Club, and frequently did so without notice, thereby destroying the plans of countless foursomes. They had to grin and bear it.

He continued the practice after leaving office, until one day he showed up for a round wearing blue jeans--strictly forbidden in writing. He had started his round and was out on the course when the clubhouse boys huddled to decide what to do. Finally they drew straws, and the guy with the short straw had to go out and tell him he would have to change trousers or leave (they offered him a pair of slacks). Clinton flew into a towering, obscene rage, and stalked off the course vowing never to play there again--a vow he has kept.

When the membership was informed, the clubhouse boy got a standing ovation.

[Gus]

Jane, I've been aware of that for a long long time. You are referring to John Al Quds Brennan. What does it take for people like McCain to "get it". Van Jones?? Bill Ayers?? Kevin Jennings?? Al Quds Brennan??? Look at the ideals of those who surround Obama. And NO ONE has the balls to say it.

[AliceH]

Love that story, DoT!

[NK]

Army-Navy CC boys-- HUZZAH, HUZZAH!!!

[hit and run]

Good thing they didn't send the beer cart girl out to suggest Clinton take off his jeans.........

[daddy]

And if anyone has some rot-gut wine or bathtub gin they need to get rid of, I've a suggestion where you can send it:

Doctors warn disgraced politician John Edwards that 'he could die in six months if he doesn't stop drinking after latest heart scare'

'John's been drinking too much wine and gin and tonics,' a friend told The Enquirer, who said that the doctors warned that if he kept up at the rate he was going, he could be dead in six months.

The One-Night Stand from Hell continues.

[Thomas Collins]

"change trousers or leave"

Monica must not have been there to help him change.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

I was with our brother's story right up til this part DoT...Clinton kept a vow.

[Melinda Romanoff on Kindle]

I'll ring up some more Ball jars for ole Johnny.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

*y*our brother's story.

When are they going to come up with spellcheck that edits stupidity not just spelling?

[Danube of Thought iPad]

"Clinton kept a vow" up until now....

[daddy]

I was with our brother's story right up til this part DoT...Clinton kept a vow.

LOL Iggy!

[NK]

Vow?.. more like a petulent hissy fit.

[Thomas Collins]

Let's see. This thread so far has included Bill Clinton, Hugo Chavez, John Edwards, John Brennan, Van Jones, Kevin Jennings and Bill Ayres. The lady with the firearm in her garden and the guy with the one in his cave may be in the upper third of upstanding characters of the people cited in this thread!

[Captain Hate]

Slick's reaction is what I'd expect from a sexual predator/rapist and a coward raised by the town whore.

[NK]

TC@5:26-- heh, heh... HEH!

[AliceH]

--When are they going to come up with spellcheck that edits stupidity not just spelling?--

I don't know, Iggy, but the first thing I'm going to do when I get a copy is run the ACA and the Federal Register through it, and see if anything comes out.

[Dublindave]

Dear Senator Paul:

It has come to my attention that you have now asked an additional question: "Does the President have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil?" The answer to that question is no.

Sincerely,
Eric H. Holder, Jr.

Rand Paul....Republican folk hero....roflmao!!!!!!

[Jim Miller]

daddy said:

"Now I am able to access the comments and 40 comments into my reading they are 100% attacking the PowerLine boys for being clueless boobs."

Pretty sad reaction, isn't it? I haven't read your comments, but will accept your description.

I expect emotional ad hominem rants from the left, but hope for better from conservatives and even from libertarians.

[NK]

And yet Holder would not swear to that answer under oath. Either he was too stupid to know to state the obvious and made himself look ridiculous,or Holder intentionally refused to answer a fundemental question of due process rights. I do know one thing, Holder is not stupid.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

I just assumed John Edwards and the guy with the gun up his kazoo were the same guy.

Likewise Lyndsey Graham and the gal with the revolver in her vulva.

[Thomas Collins]

"Rand Paul....Republican folk hero....roflmao!!!!!!"

Prog Dems who called Bush Hitler for going after foreign terrorists on foreign soil and who now are staying silent . . . . roflmao!!!!!!!

[AliceH]

I don't see any comments on either of two Powerline posts re: Rand Paul.

[GUS]

Is that a pistol in your vulva or are you just happy to see me!

[daddy]

FOX Business is doing a fun bit on Drone Protection fashion outfits:

so it strikes me that perhaps the KKK blanketed guy spotted at Oberlin College may not have been a racist at all, but instead a patriot seeking to hide from Big Brother.

[Captain Hate]

dumbassdave == Reggie Love

[Janet]

What's Cindy Sheehan got to say about all this? We had to listen to her for 8 years.
Has she been on the WaPo front page lately?

[GUS]

Capn, I was just thinking that REGGIE LOVE is what Obama is going to do to relax.

[narciso]

They'll get around to this, any day now;

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/michelle-obama-and-john-kerry-honor-anti-semite-and-911-fan_706547.html

[daddy]

Re: The "Gunt"-toting armed female perp. From the story:

In a less shocking find, investigators also discovered plastic baggies containing methamphetamine lodged in the crack of Harris’s buttocks.

Thought I'd add that in there as I didn't want you guys going off half-cocked on the particulars.

[Thomas Collins]

Nothing in her ears, daddy?

[Threadkiller]

She was loaded.

[Captain Hate]

The SEIU must be flush in cash because they've been running a series of attack ads on Bob Gibbs, the congressman who is now representing what Bob "Bottoms Up" Neys used to (allowing for redistricting). They're as brainless as you'd expect from those dunces, blaming all the nonexistent pain from sequester on Gibbs; I just can't figure out the end game of them or who they plan on running for that seat next year.

[daddy]

I don't see any comments on either of two Powerline posts re: Rand Paul.

AliceH,

I just logged in again to this story I linked above RAND PAUL’S FILIBUSTER — IS IT GRANDSTANDING OR SOMETHING WORSE?

Down below where it says Responses, you have to wait about 1 minuted before the comments finally start to load and appear. Currently there are 79 comments, but it seems Powerline is having trouble with their comment system also.

[Threadkiller]

Snatch Charmer

[Clarice]

narciso, the waPo says Michelle and Kerry's award ceremony has been postponed while someone does a bit more checking.

[Frau Steingehirn]

From daddy's link:

"This brings concealed carry to a whole new level."

[narciso]

Well, Clarice, you saw who 'unearthed' mrs. Ibrahim's 'interesting perspective' Sam Tadros.

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

At Powerline Hindraker said this was the salient point of Holder's letter;

The question you have posed is therefore entirely hypothetical, unlikely to occur, and one we hope no president will ever have to confront. It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States. For example, the president could conceivably have no choice but to authorize the military to use such force if necessary to protect the homeland in the circumstances like a catastrophic attack like the ones suffered on December 7, 1941, and September 11, 2001.

which just shows he's no brighter than I am.

The really objectionable part was immediately before that and is excellent doublespeak that Paul was quite correct in holding out for a definitive answer to;

As members of this administration have previously indicated, the US government has not carried out drone strikes in the United States and has no intention of doing so. As a policy matter moreover, we reject the use of military force where well-established law enforcement authorities in this country provide the best means for incapacitating a terrorist threat. We have a long history of using the criminal justice system to incapacitate individuals located in our country who pose a threat to the United States and its interests abroad. Hundreds of individuals have been arrested and convicted of terrorism-related offenses in our federal courts.

They don't intend to use them and as a matter of policy they aren't the best means are weasel words and nothing more.
Good for Paul.
Shame, as nearly always, on McCain and Graham.

[lyle]

Dumbass Dave weighs in like the dumbass fool he is. Never noting that none of the paragons of civil rights in the Senate save Wyden could dare defy the Boy King. Utterly shameless apparatchiks. The silence of the these assholes is deafening: It's because deep down in their black hearts, they WANT the Boy King to be able to ice anyone he deems to be a threat. "Threats" being coincindentally defined recently from the DHS as mostly...right wing.
The nominations for the category, "If A Republican Had Done This..." are closed due to a tidal wave of instances and anecdotes.

[AliceH]

daddy@6:15 --I just logged in again--

Do you mean you just launched / opened the page, or do you actually log in to their site with a registered acct/password? I don't generally register for blogs.

I've been staring at it for only 3 minutes, but still - nothing.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

I'm quite sure, Eric Holder will have no problem changing his mind should the need arise.

[lyle]

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, my loathing of McLame ratcheted up a few notches...again. Same for Miss Lindsay. Effing tools.

[Captain Hate]

AliceH, the only comments I saw were from Facebook

[Threadkiller]

Hole-ster

[daddy]

Narciso,

Finished Coolidge, but needed more input, so at my Library found slim pickings but did find an old 1960's book which is collected short essays on Coolidge by folks he worked with. The Stearn's Essay from 1916 intrigued me. Stearn's says "Why I first became interested in him about 3 years ago I do not exactly know. On my first knowledge of him, he offended me deeply, so I started without any prejudice in his favor. But in some way my attention was attracted to him, and I have come to feel very sure of certain things with regard to him...

A minor point but thought it worth bringing that up that basically his biggest supporter and campaigner wasn't a big fan of the guy when they first met. You don't get that from Shlaes, and I find so many of the personal stories and anecdotes of Coolidge are what really give you a decent insight into the man and flesh him out.

Dog walk time.

[GUS]

Stinky trigger finger??

[Captain Hate]

Rick had it right; McVain was all set to be the center of attention for his friends in the MFM, by giving the JEF a reach-around in front of a group hand-picked by Goober Graham. And then that parvenu Rand Paul had to go and ruin it by doing something that *really* crossed over the aisle and got a huge reaction.

After 4 years I still can't get rid of the stench from having voted for him; no matter how well advised it seemed at the time.

[narciso]

Well she does capture his evolution, from a local progressive, in many respects, and how the reaction to the Boston Police strike, was the hinge, Dorothy Parker's 'Silent Cal' quip, really doesn't do him justice, how curious that is,

[Threadkiller]

Breach loader.

[daddy]

AliceH,

No, I just open a window and click on that story. It seems that it takes a long time to load. Some times the word "Responses" doesn't even show up down beneath the body of the story, so after a minute I refresh the page, but eventually the word "Responses" appears, and about a minute later (most times) the comments come through.

Couldn't get any comments to load last night at all.

Anybody else having the same trouble with the comments in that Powerline link?

[AliceH]

Thanks, CH and daddy.

If the comments are via Facebook, then that would explain why I don't see them. I block facebook widgets and whatnot scripts.

[Captain Hate]

TK is crushing how I stored my firearm.

[daddy]

AliceH,

Here's the first 4 or 5 that appear when they do show up"

John Quast · Top Commenter · Hamline University
Here's where I disagree with you and John and where I #StandWithRand: Holder's response answers a question Paul does not ask. Holder cites examples of September 11 attacks and December 7th attacks as examples of where a President might be obligated to use a drone attack. But neither of these cases involved US citizens and both involved acts of war. No one, including Senator Paul, is questioning whether the President has the authority to repel an attack on the homeland. Holder carefully avoids answering Paul's actual question. He says they "have not done so," and "have no intention of doing so," and he "rejects the use of military force when law enforcement provides the best means for incapacitating a threat." But he does not reject the right to use a drone strike at some point in the future, and does not define when he might decide that law enforcement does not provide the best means of incapacitating a threat. Would Randy Weaver or David Koresh have been cases where law enforcement "did not provide the best means?"
Reply · 30 · · 18 hours ago

Rick Caird · Top Commenter · Allegheny College
I support John Quast.

Holder is a slippery SOB and, in my opinion, amoral. Holder will do whatever is convenient because he has no principles. There is no reason to think that the answer Holder gave to Cruz was anything more than a a convenience. Only a fool would trust Holder to honor his answer if a better deal came along.
Reply · 7 · · 8 hours ago

Mark Pittman · Top Commenter
Hear hear John! You set Paul and John right!
Reply · 3 · · 7 hours ago

Matt Vorwald · Top Commenter · Saint Petersburg, Florida
9/11 didn't involve Americans? News to me. Here I thought Americans were on the planes. Had we decided to shoot Flight 93 down, it would have been entirely justifiable in order to prevent another strike on a populated city. And many innocent American civilians would have perished in the act. Instead, the flight passengers rendered that step unnecessary.
Reply · · 4 hours ago

Mypinball Scores
wrong your post is misguided.

you left out the part that obama redefined the word imminent to be more vague than what the dictionary definition is. so when holder uses the word is he using the literal definition? or Obama's murky translation of the word? and it's not just holder, brennan or obama but how will future presidents/persons use these powers.

so far the president has the power to detain anyone indefinitely, do we want him to be able to kill when he wants as well? only takes one bad president to ruin that awesome set of powers.

but you know, amercian idol is on so who cares..
Reply · 21 · · 19 hours ago

Kurtis Fechtmeyer · Top Commenter · San Francisco, California
Per my post below, the Powerline folks have been sucked into the Washington verbal delirium, while ignoring actual evidence. Holder's letter is carefully crafted BS, and the statement Senator Cruz extracted from him is unconvincing.

Holder says "extraordinary circumstances" might justify such the hypothetical use of a drone to kill Americans in the US, and then he offers two acts of war as an example. But these examples are irrelevant, because this administration refuses to invoke or acknowledge any war powers or the necessity to act thereunder. The administration is adamant that we are not at "war" with anyone (certainly not radical Islam), and yet dangerously claims war powers. But against who? When? Under what guidance ? ZERO, other than the whim and convenience of the President ... kind of like the Libya failed outi...See More
Reply · 18 · · 16 hours ago

Bye.

[daddy]

And I don't do facebook.

[Captain Hate]

I think AliceH has id'd the situation.

[Threadkiller]

Clam-ity Jane.

[Captain Hate]

daddy, even if you don't have a FB id, you probably aren't blocking the scripts. You probably can't comment, though.

Consider that a gift after your Tarholes destroyed any potential NCAA appearance this post season by my turtles.

[Threadkiller]

Cooter-shooter

[Captain Hate]

Clam-ity Jane.

Chlamydia Jane

[AliceH]

Thanks again, CH and daddy.

[Threadkiller]

Period Piece