Big Tuesday Night Open Thread

We have the Yankees versus the Phillies at 7PM, Barack versus BP at 8, and the Celtics versus the Kobes at 9.

I am backing the Yanks, the environment, and the Celtics (reluctantly).

GREAT MOMENTS IN RHETORIC:  Obama falls back on that old stand-by, they said it couldn't be done:

But the one approach I will not accept is inaction. The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is too big and too difficult to meet. You see, the same thing was said about our ability to produce enough planes and tanks in World War II. The same thing was said about our ability to harness the science and technology to land a man safely on the surface of the moon.

The same thing was said when George Bush proposed a surge to victory in Iraq...

LEFTIES WEEP:  Obama's Big Finish:

The oil spill is not the last crisis America will face. This nation has known hard times before and we will surely know them again. What sees us through – what has always seen us through – is our strength, our resilience, and our unyielding faith that something better awaits us if we summon the courage to reach for it. Tonight, we pray for that courage. We pray for the people of the Gulf. And we pray that a hand may guide us through the storm towards a brighter day. Thank you, God Bless You, and may God Bless the United States of America.

All that God talk...

Comments

[Extraneus]

Well duh.

Republicans Accuse Obama of Trying to 'Exploit' Oil Spill to Pass Climate Legislation

[PD]

That should be "Republicans *Expose* Obama's Attempt to..." Go on offense.

Oh, man. He just said the oil spill is "assaulting" our shores. That didn't take long to go downhill.

[PD]

The handwaving is excessive and distracting.

[PD]

"We will fight this spill with everything we've got."

"Tonight I'd like to lay out our battle plan."

Enough with the "war" analogy already.

[centralcal]

PD - he doesn't know sign language either - but he's determined to try! lol

[PD]

I'm tempted to put a piece of cardboard along the bottom of the TV to block it out, it's so distracting and annoying.

[PD]

He's going to "inform" the head of BP what compensatory account he needs to set aside.

[centralcal]

Watch the whole body - shuck and jive - even sitting behind a desk.

[Ranger]

"We will fight this spill with everything we've got."

We will fight it at the well head, we will fight it on the seas, we will fight on the beaches and in the marshes! We will never surrender!

And to think he sent Churchhill's bust back to England. It would have made the perfect backdrop for this speach!

[PD]

He wants to know why this disaster happened.

It couldn't have had anything to do with his administration cutting back on inspections, I suppose.

[PD]

Now he's setting out the straw man of those who believe corporations should be subject to no regulation whatsoever.

[Ranger]

It couldn't have had anything to do with his administration cutting back on inspections, I suppose.

Posted by: PD | June 15, 2010 at 08:10 PM

It couldn't have anything to do with MMS speding all their time chasing Green Energy phantoms, and Beyond Petrolium being a huge Obama donnor that they cut back on inspections, I suppose.

[PD]

"Drilling for oil these days entails greater risk."

Yeah, when you do it way out offshore in deep water. How about opening up domestic drilling on land?

Ah, now those who have views other than his don't have "political courage." This speech has all the standard ingredients.

[PD]

Extolling the benefits of wind turbines and solar panels now.

I want to know how those are going to power Nancy's jet that she uses to flit back and forth from coast to coast.

[Ranger]

BTW, wasn't it Caligula who declare war on Posiden?

[PD]

"I'm willing to look at proposals from either party."

... and discard those that don't come from my party.

[centralcal]

This is an effing waste of time. Another stump speech for his cause du jour.

Not about the Gulf
Not about the disaster

All about his agenda.

[PD]

Wow, that was short. About as long as an answer that he'd give to a single question at one of his press conferences.

[PD]

Sarah Palin's responding on O'Reilly.

[Jane says obamasucks]

Sarah just handed O'Reilly his hat. I love it.

[PD]

Heh. She pointed out that if we fail to develop domestic petroleum sources, we'll be "dropped to our knees and bowing to the Saudis."

[Appalled]

OK, I missed about half the speech. I wouldn't have minded missing all of it.

The problem here is that all of Obama's characteristics are on full display, and a few of Jimmy Carter's as well. He didn't quite call passage of his energy/climate package the moral equivalent of war, but he came quite close. And if he is going to orate meaningfully on how the leak in the Gulf is an illustration of failures in our energy policy, why can't he bring himself to utter the word "nuclear". Is he afraid he'll mispronounce it like Bush?

And, most annoying, where does Obama get off telling the Chairman of the Board of BP what the mandatory contribution to the USA liability fund is going to be? Guess we stopped being a nation of laws, and have gone the nation of men route.

Oh, man, I feel an attack of malaise coming on.

[centralcal]

The passion of Sarah.

Or . . . the smirking of Obama?

I choose Sarah.

[fdcol63]

Thanks to all of you who actually watched that spectacle.

I didn't. I would have just hurled.

[Ranger]

Ok, to be honest, I was watching with the sound off and just taking content cues from what was posed here.

[Extraneus]

You have to admit that's the mark of a leader, cc. Not getting side-tracked with extraneous bs.

"This isn't going to derail our agenda. Make sure, speechwriter."

[Clarice]

Jane, I think at this year's award ceremonies, you ought to get the badge of valor for consistently watching this carp so we don't have to.
Ann, should get the prize for best pics of Michelle.

[centralcal]

Well, I am so glad he took Favreau with him to the Gulf coast.

Yep. That helped a lot!

This man needs to go - ASAP - and, no, I don't mean Favreau.

[centralcal]

Oh - hello - Clarice!

You disappeared today. Won't be nosy, but hope all is well. Missed you.

[JM Hanes]

Jane had the snark of the night over at You Too:

"And since I have nothing better to do I will create a whole new gulf cost and make BP pay for it."

Still recyling his stump speech -- unprecedented!

[Yet Another Lurker]

Heads up to threadkiller: do you know you have your own merit badge?

[Ann]

Since it is always Bush's fault can we call him back to fix it?

I never thought knowing how to ride a horse would come in handy in my old age.

[MarkO]

I did not listen to him directly. Here's the reason. Because my experience is, when you hear the blather out of the mouth of a guy like a an inexperienced, unqualified politician, he's going to say all the right things to me. I'm not interested in words. I'm interested in actions.

By the way, according to the Most Interesting Man in the World, a man should never drink anything that requires a straw.

[Porchlight]

Someone on HotAir pointed out that he finished and split just in time to catch the start of game 6. How typical.

[Pofarmer]

"Drilling for oil these days entails greater risk."

I mean, it ain't like they cancelled 30,000 leases on Federal lands.

[Jane says obamasucks]

Since it is always Bush's fault can we call him back to fix it?

That my dear is the line of the night.

It was disgusting.

Oh and Clarice, when you snark it, it's a lot easier.

[Sue]

Ann,

That's funny. In high school, we petitioned the school for a hitching post so we could ride our horses to school. They turned us down. Not out of fear we would get hurt. They were afraid it would get "too messy". :) People don't really want to go back to horse and buggy days.

[Clarice]

cc, thanks. I'm fine. Ran some errands and made my first baguette. It was really delicious. If you want the recipe go to King Arthur flour almost no knead baguette.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/the-almost-no-knead-baguette-recipe>Baguettes the easy way

(I had to wait for the baguette pan to arrive before baking one.)

[Danube of Thought]

I have a hunch that the most interesting battle in the coming months is going to be BP's insistence on paying compensation in accordance with the rule of law, and Obama's insistence on its paying in accordance with the Rule of Obama.

I think in the short term Obama wins the PR war (not even he or Carter could lose that one). In the long term I'm betting on the rule of law.

If Obama were any sort of statesman, or any sort of leader, or indeed anything other than a community organizer, he could play this hand into some pretty generous compensation being payed rather amicably by BP. But he's not any of those things--he's a community organizer. So he will overplay his hand, as he has already begun to do.

[DrJ]

Just checking in, as I've been busy building a new computer (my reward for having submitted a proposal last week). Mostly this has gone well, but setting up the Virtual Machine is always a PITA. There always are minor gotchas that take a lot of time to fix.

I missed the speech, as I do religiously, for I find Obama never really has anything to say. From the comments it seems that this was true for this one too.

[Sue]

Interesting fact...

the prime architect of the cap-and-trade idea was — you guessed it — former BP CEO Lord John Browne. So there is a special kind of cognitive dissonance going on in the juxtaposition of BP bullying and carbon tax cheerleading.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDNjMjMzOTI0ZTVkOGQ2ZTg0NDUzN2U2ZjdlNDIyYmM=>The Corner

[fdcol63]

Given Obama's failure to organize ANYTHING, can we get away from repeating the MSM's false moniker of "community organizer" and call him what he truly was?

An agitator.

[Pofarmer]

Ya know, it's like the Obama administration is trying to play the shell game with one shell.

[JM Hanes]

Steve Green:

Shorter Obama: “Hurricanes are easy. Leaks are hard.”

[Sue]

Commenters at Hot Air are saying that MSNBC, HuffPo & Kos commenters are ripping on Obama's speech. Epic fail?

[JM Hanes]

Shorter Obama from Legal Insurrection:

"I don't know where I'm going, but follow me anyway."

[fdcol63]

Shorter Obama: “Hurricanes are easy. Leaks are hard.”

Shame he and the Dems didn't think of this after Katrina, because wasn't it the LEAKS of the levees that caused the flooding and most of the damage to NOLA?

[Jane says obamasucks]

Sue, As I understand it, BP wrote the majority of the Kerry bill.

[Ranger]

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/06/15/video-msnbc-hosts-dump-on-obamas-speech/>Video: MSNBC hosts dump on Obama’s speech

Things I learned tonight from watching Keith Olbermann’s and Chris Matthews’s post-speech wrap-up: (1) Obama’s rhetoric is gassy and notably short on specifics; (2) renewable energy is much harder to develop than certain prominent Democrats would have us believe; (3) government bureaucracy may be contributing to the slow federal response in the gulf.

Ok, this will sound strange, but I was always mystified by Keith Olbermann’s and Chris Matthews’s decent into lunacy. Olbermann was actually good way back during the Clinton impeachment. He had one of the greatest one liners about the Clinton era double speak on foreign back then "Only in Washington DC could dropping bombs on people not be called a war." Matthews actually voted for Bush over Gore. Perhapse sanity is returning to even the most hard core Obambots.

[Jane says obamasucks]

Ranger,

Don't bet on it. MSNBC is being taken over and they are both trying to keep their jobs.

[Ranger]

Jane,

You're probably right, but you can't blame me for wanting to return to a day when true villans were treated like villans, and decent men got a decent hearing.

[DrJ]

For daddy:

Bear attacks bicyclist in Anchorage

[peter]

I missed the speech. Was there any discussion about the missing strawberries?

[Sue]

Wow. I just watched the clip of Matthews/Olbermann/Fineman ragging on Obama. I think I've entered an alternate universe.

[Ranger]

I missed the speech. Was there any discussion about the missing strawberries?

Posted by: peter | June 15, 2010 at 09:31 PM

No, nor was there any reference to geometric logic (at least not directly), but his constantly moving hands were akin to the need to roll the ball bearings.

[Sue]

Was it today that Obama was sucking on a fruity drink? I wonder if he had a hangover? Or still had a buzz.

[Ranger]

Jane,

Another thought is that with the NPR poll out today that essentially says the Dems are toast in November, the the MSNVC crowd can see the direction the wave is headed and they want to surf it to higher ratings. It doesn't take a weather man to tell which direction the wind blows.

[fdcol63]

No amount of Obama-bashing by Olbermann and Matthews now will ever atone for their sins of helping to get him elected in the first place.

[hit and run]

His lips were moving,but this was all I could hear when he was speaking...

Obama: The Human Vuvuzela

[DebinNC]

Althouse liveblogged the speech.

[centralcal]

This "speech" might as well have been phoned in. BOzo wanted to watch sports on t.v.

[Ranger]

No amount of Obama-bashing by Olbermann and Matthews now will ever atone for their sins of helping to get him elected in the first place.

Posted by: fdcol63 | June 15, 2010 at 09:41 PM

Actually, I would not blame them so much for that as all the vicious poison they spewed in the second term of W's administration. Until I hear the confess to deliberatly lying to score political points on Bush there will be no forgivness, but they may be "useful ideots" in the campaign against Obama. And if that is the case, it is to be exploited to the max.

[That Big 12 member has bubbled off.]

Protein Wisdom commenters are all over Al Gore/Laurie David.
=============

[fdcol63]

Ranger, you're a better man than I. LOL

Although their Bush-bashing was implicit in the sins I mentioned, you make a great point about exploiting these idiots in the campaign against Obama.

Indeed, use them to the max.

[I Won]

I am not surprised that you all loved my speech. Being in the Oval Office is fun.

[DrJ]

Protein in a discussion of Al Gore and Laurie David is just not right. Ewwww!

[Katherine]

"BTW, wasn't it Caligula who declare war on Posiden?"

Yes yes! He had the Roman soldiers flog the sea and collect seashells as a trophy that was brought to Rome in a triumph!

I was pondering for some time now the similarities between these two tyrants: both came to power after unpopular rulers, with absurd anticipations from the populous that Now Everything Will be Fixed (Hope and Change anyone?), and both cleaned up national treasuries in a one short year. Both gave signs of mental instability rather early on. Both partied lavishly.

Regrettably, the action that Caligula took to prop up his rule financially (and to got rid of political enemies) was proscription. We are going to have our own version of that with the tax increases starting Jan 1st 2011. Let's hope that nothing worse than tax increases (and the concomitant economic slowdown) await us.

[Jane says obamasucks]

Ranger,

I'd love to see the press reign it in. But I will never ever ever trust them to do so. However, I will turn into Morning Joe at 6:00 Am tomorrow for as long as I can stand it.

[Melinda Romanoff]

I was out to dinner, not at that Evanston "do", thank you very much.

Anything happen?

[Stephanie]

Says it all in the

LUN

[PD]

Obama: The Human Vuvuzela

Line of the day.

[squaredance]

Thanks goodness, what a dud of a speech. It may be his "cardigan moment". Maybe we will ge through this and stop the insane posturing, money grubbing and power grabs. Sanity may yet prevail. We may yet stop cap and trade.

It was terrible--an affront to the intelligence and dignity of even the dullest voter--they cannot spin it. Half of them do not want to spin it.

They will have to find some other way.

It appears that his handlers are in shock--they have lost control of him. I'd wager that he is really in bad shape in private--this might explain these weird, goofy publicity photos (the "golfing moments" are particularly bizarre). If this is the best they can do then he is barely holding it together.

Unless there is something going on of which we are unaware, this certainly must show weakness to BP. Let us hope they stand their ground and are not intimidated. It is crucial that these Bolsheviks not be allowed to ram through illegal and unconstitutional measures over this.

They cannot learn the lesson that a major incident like this allows them to toss all reason and all law aside.

Whether or not this crisis was caused accidentally or not, the Left may decide that the next crisis needs a little extra poke.

If this had to happen, we should be thankful it did not happen last year.

Palin was great too. Yet there is hope.

[narciso]

Did I hear, right the two Rays, Mabus, & Nagin, have been assigned some responsibility
in this boondoggle

[PD]

sd, are you feeling all right? I thought I detected some slight optimism in there!

[bgates]

call him what he truly was:

An agitator

That is a lot more accurate. I know I'm not any more organized than I was two years ago, but I'm a hell of a lot more agitated.

[narciso]

Now these folks, are just stuck on stupid, in the words of General Honore, in the LUN

[Clarice]

He sounds way over his head and it seems he's not listening to anyone anymore. I doubt cap and trade will pass. I think the Dems now know that they are toast for a very long time if they don't start cutting back on his grandiose plans.

[Pofarmer]

Holy cow. The speech must have been a real loser if TM can't get 100 comments on it in two hours.

And, no trolls?

[Ranger]

But the one approach I will not accept is inaction. The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is too big and too difficult to meet.

Wait, I'm confused. I thought that was the Obambots entire defense for the weeks of inaciton... 'There's nothing he can do but watch and wait for others to solve the problem!'

[narciso]

He terribly misgauged his audience, almost as badly as when he thought the Olympics were going to Chicago, he overpromised a goal of
almost total cleanup, not by his hand. Mabus
doesn't have anything better to do?

[jimmyk]

I thought that was the Obambots entire defense

He won't accept inaction on the part of others. As for himself, well, that's a different story. He's got an 8am tee time after all.

[Rick Ballard]

Pofarmer,

What is there to be said that wasn't said prior to the election? This jerk can't find his own way out of a phone booth. He proves it every single day and the Democrats are going to pay very heavily for it in November.

Unfortunately, we're all going to pay for it for another two years and six months and we should all be praying that those who wish the US ill don't decide to capitalize on this buffoon's total incompetence by doing something really nasty.

[cathyf]

I know I'm not any more organized than I was two years ago, but I'm a hell of a lot more agitated.

Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!!! Thread winner!

[Clarice]

bgates is ALWAYS a winner.

[DebinNC]

FL county goes rogue and acts against oil spill because the feds won't. Wow, first Jindal, now this. What a rebuke of BO.

[daddy]

Well at least he took another opportunity in the speech to remind us that Chu had won the Nobel prize.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

Just so the incompetent bastard doesn't call his oilman buddy in Venezuela for advice. He'd be glad to give it.

[Pofarmer]

Well at least he took another opportunity in the speech to remind us that Chu had won the Nobel prize.

That and a 5 spot will get you a box of Cracker Jacks.

[daddy]

Stephanie,

Your linked Picture of Obama at 10:13 pm is exactly what our $565,000 ">http://community.adn.com/node/151346"> Pooping Lego Statue in Anchorage looks like. (Scroll down to the 6th pic)

It's Obama!

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

That is a great story, Deb. His travesty can't handle a constitutional crisis. But he should have at least an academic knowledge of the power of civil disobedience. Tee Hee.

[daddy]

"Just so the incompetent bastard doesn't call his oilman buddy in Venezuela for advice."

Actually Jim Rhoads I hope Obama does call Chavez, because Chavez would tell him to arrest the hostile media in America, so Mathews and Olberman would immediately be rounded up and sent to jail.

Please, please make that phone call Mr President.

[Threadkiller]

Yet Another Lurker:

Thanks for the heads up! I shall stich:

next to my :

American Cultures

and

American Labor

Badges.

And on my sash, size does matter.

[Threadkiller]

Here is a badge the prez was born with:

Citizenship in the world

But not this one:

">http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/~/media/Images/boyscouts/resources/32216/mb/art/s/CITN.s.jpg.ashx?w=75&h=75&as=1">

Citizenship in the Nation

[Danube of Thought]

Ain't it grand when the trolls are so demoralized they don't even bother?

Boston sucks...Boston sucks...(sorry, Jane, but it's a fact).

[matt]

I'm surprised he didn't order us to wear our underpants on the outside...

[narciso]

"It's a travesty of two mockeries of a sham, matt

[glasater]

For the overnight and early morning crew:

The Illustrated Road to Serfdom (Short Cartoon Describing Planned Economies)

[bunkerbuster]

``I just watched the clip of Matthews/Olbermann/Fineman ragging on Obama. I think I've entered an alternate universe.''

Step 1 in the 12-Step program for teabag conservatives.

[AL]

(self-snip)... But here another courtesy call to come down to your senses.

Oil is not used to generate electricity, and electricity is not used to propel cars, trucks, ships, or airplanes. France generates 120% of it electricity consumption by nuclear and hydro, yet per capita oil consumption is the same as in any other W. European country. Same is true for Norway, Swiss, Lithuania, Quebec, British Columbia, Washington State, South Korea, and for a couple of dozen other countries. One could build million windmills, hundred nuclear plants, cover all rooftops with solar panels, and still will need the same amount of oil to refine into motor fuels.

[Jane]

Now Dot, how will you atone after game 7? The Lakers are exhausted and the Celts have lots of game left, since they saved every bit of it last night.

Just so the incompetent bastard doesn't call his oilman buddy in Venezuela for advice.

I think he already has - afterall he plans to seize the assets of a foreign corporation. But no worries, the spill will be stopped in days - or a week or so.

Chris Matthew's special about those horrid right wing "tea baggers" is tonite. I expect bunkerbuster will use it for masturbation fodder. RIght BB?

I've never met anyone who criticizes the tea party who has been to a tea party. How many have you attended BB?