Now Poll On "Is Obama A Liar?"

Gary Langer of ABC News explains the "Obama is a Muslim"poll results, giving the same explanation as the AllahPundit.  From Langer:

...People in fact may voice an attitude not as an affirmed belief – a statement of perceived factual reality – but rather as what my colleagues and I have taken to calling “expressed belief” – a statement intended to send a message, not claim a known fact.
 
It’s human nature. Some people who strongly oppose a person or proposition will take virtually any opportunity to express that antipathy. Offer a negative attribute, they’ll grab it – not to express their “belief,” in its conventional meaning, but rather to throw verbal stones at that which they so thoroughly dislike.

Or from the AP, with more flair:

Essentially, when polling people who dislike candidate X, the specifics of the questions are almost irrelevant. As long as they’re negatively inclined — e.g., “Is Obama a werewolf?” — you’ll get a certain core percentage willing to say yes. The news in this poll is that as much as 18 percent think being a Muslim is inherently negative.

To which I would say, yes, but... Saying Obama is a Muslim amounts to saying he is a liar.  Hence, one might feel utterly neutral about Muslims and still use it as a club to beat Obama. 

Just to belabor the obvious, folks who walk around saying that Tom Maguire is a Red Sox fan either don't know me or don't trust me (and clearly have far too much free time), but I don't suppose they are making much of a statement about Red Sox Nation.

I would also add this - Mr. Langer might want to reflect on why the media loves this "people think Obama's a Muslim" story so.  I don't recall similar hand-wringing about polls showing support for the absurdly anti-Bush Truther theorizing (with which Howard Dean publicly flirted).

The obvious guess is that the media is comfortable bloviating about ignorant, conspiratorial right-wing nut-jobs, with a quick segue to the perils of Beck, Limbaugh and Palin; similar ruminations about the left take them out of their comfort zone.

Comments

[Terry Gain]

Well, we have to take him at his word. .

No we do not. Prove it. Stop referring to the Koran as the most holy Koran (if you can). Non Muslims do no talk like that. And stop making up stories about Muslim accomplishments (again, if you can).)

[PD]

I said at the time that the only acceptable answer for Obama regarding Rev. Wright was to appeal to men - "Sure I attended services at this church - because my wife wanted to go and it was a good thing for the kids, once we had kids, and the music was good - but I kind of zoned out during the service and went to my happy place ... after which we had coffee."

There's not one sane man on the planet who'd fail to give Obama a break on the Wright issue, had he said it.

Call me insane, then. I will not give him that break.

Obama's claim that he didn't hear Rev. Wright spew his hate is disproved by Obama himself. Yes, I know, no fair using Obama's own words against him, but: In Dreams from my Father, Obama gives a detailed rundown of the content of the sermon from the very first time he attended Wright's church, which includes anti-white invective. Obama can hardly claim now he wasn't listening after providing documentary evidence that he was listening.

I suppose he could escape this problem by admitting that he didn't really write the book. But as a way out of the charge that he's a liar, it would only prove that he's a liar. Checkmate.

[Clarice]

They can do three things, DoT--start cutting off funds..Funds to start some of the Obamacare projects; funds for the czars, funds for the WH (despite the OO having been redecorated in Jan 2009, I understand MO has been redoing the place yet again), cut back on the WH spending funds , go thru the budgets of the various agencies and trim, prune, slash.

[PD]

I think you have to accept a certain group in the "think he's Muslim/Kenyan" category think that because they are conditioned to attach labels they consider bad to non-white folk.

I don't see how that follows. There are plenty of black politicians whose political beliefs or I disagree with or who are evidently corrupt, such as Maxine Waters, Charley Rangel, or John Lewis. I have never wondered whether they are Muslim. Why should I?

Obama's a completely different can of worms. His words and actions seem to show a sympathy toward Islam that he doesn't show toward Christianity. It's perfectly natural to wonder about this. And it'd be perfectly natural even if he were pure causasian.

[daddy]

Last update,

on the Alaska Ballot update: Dan just read this from the ADN:

"From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage –

Alaska Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai just told me a major part of the allegation against Murkowski elections consultant Mike Roman appears to be incorrect. Fenumiai said the information she has received from the Elections Division's Wasilla office is that Roman was not on the state computer with the Division of Elections voter database.

Fenumiai said Roman would not have been able compromise the state’s election management system regardless. “There is no GEMS server in the Wasilla office so there’s no way the state ballot tabulation system was compromised,” Fenumiai said.

Fenumiai said Roman was apparently texting in the ballot room, which is against the rules. He also tried to bring a bag into the room but that was not allowed, she said. Fenumiai said she is working on verifying the allegation that Roman wrote voter identification information in his observer handbook.

The Division of Elections confiscated the handbook so that should be easy enough to determine."

Here's the ">http://community.adn.com/adn/node/152957"> link.

Now to wade thru the 217 comments on that original story.

[Porchlight]

Reps typically do 2 points better and Dems about 3 points worse. They are also good indicators of trend.

Thanks so much, RichatUF. I'm going to hit Lexis in a few minutes here and see if I can find any reporting from 1994. I'd kinda like to see what some of the lefty pundits were saying then as opposed to now. I don't expect it to be very different. ;)

[PD]

If you want to look up for yourself Obama's description of his first visit to Trinity, it's pp291-295.

[Danube of Thought]

I don't know anything about this guy Stanley Crouch, but it is very hard to imagine what he might have seen or heard at the mall on Saturday that would warrant this appalling, hate-filled screed. This man is truly sick.

It's all part of the alarming wave of Christianophobia sweeping the land.

[Danube of Thought]

Where's Freddo?

He is at the moment sleeping at my feet. He is a five-year-old golden retriever, named for one of my favorite characters of all time.

[narciso]

Crouch used to be a trenchant critic of liberalism, but at some point in the last decade, he became a hack, on all things in the
Conservative movement

[MarkO]

DoT, what a great dog he must be.

[Clarice]

DoT-I couldn't bear to read past the second sentence. I saw him in DC years ago when Salon launched and he was a speaker. He didn't seem half bad then. (Of course it was a long time ago--- then Ariana Huffington who shared the stage with him--was a Republican.)

[Jim Miller]

Chubby - Obama is riding what is called a "comfort" bicycle, like my Giant Sedona. And that is the man's version he's riding.

It isn't a bad choice for those of us who are old enough to be eligible for social security. (Though I would have bought a hybrid instead if I lived nearer trails.)

[narciso]

He was referring to Sharpton, right, it's a tough competition between Crouch and Lupica
to see who writes the more witless comment

[daddy]

So this Mike Roman guy, the guy who's website says he is a "Private Investigator" who specializes in Voter Fraud, and who was called up personally by Murkowski's Campaign manager Bitney, is now, according to Joe Miller, on his way out of the State.

Without question this Voter Fraud Private Investigator was in a State Vote Counting facility with equipment that was forbidden, and texting and writing stuff down in a private notebook at that location, all of which is reported as being expressly against the rules.

So do you think there is any reporter anywhere that is going to put a microphone in this guys face and get from the horses mouth the answers to what he was instructed to do by whomever hired him, and why as a Voter Fraud expert he was violating the explicit rules designed to prevent Voter Fraud?

I doubt it.

[MarkO]

Crouch (neé Grouch), is a broken-down, not-quite-good-enough ex-jazz drummer who has made a living out of hating white people. His works include “The Artificial White Man: Essays on Authenticity,” and the apparently underappreciated “The All-American Skin Game, or, The Decoy of Race: The Long and the Short of It, 1990-1994,” whose title was nearly so long as any good review it might have received.

He is, of course, award winning, those awards having been heaped upon him by “the Fletcher Foundation, which awards annual fellowships to people working on issues of race and civil rights. The fellowship program is directed by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. of Harvard University.” [NFW!!!!]

An untalented, race-baiting friend of the President (and that’s just Gates), who hates the white man. Old no-rhythm Crouch must have really hated one Stanley Gayetzky, (that ole cracker, Stan Getz.) The chain of custody to this piece leads to that fucking liar (did I even mention that?) Obama.

Just what is there about equality that pisses off these constructs? With real equality, they would not have jobs.

[Captain Hate]

Crouch used to be a trenchant critic of liberalism, but at some point in the last decade, he became a hack, on all things in the
Conservative movement

Crouch is pretty well known for dumping on people he used to hold in high esteem. He used to play drums (not particularly well, to be charitable) with members of the AG who he ended up tossing aside for the huge payday (relatively speaking) of shilling for Marsalis Inc. and contributing to Ken Burns woefully incomplete sociology stories posing as the history of jazz. I've interacted with him at music sites where he's an obnoxiously arrogant POS who refuses to concede that anybody can have a valid point but him. He used to be mildly entertaining; now he's just a waste of time. Believe me; most AG musicians are pretty nutty politically speaking, and they can't stand to be in the same area code as Crouch.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

Fear is a powerful motivator, DOT. Crouch pushed every liberal emotional button in one of the better examples of projection you will ever see. Especially heinous were his implication that Beck's rally had something to do with the WTC mosque issue and his absolute assurance that Beck/Palin were using their religion for political purposes. Even the Nixon Southern strategy was resurrected.

Note no mention of Alvida King, though.

He probably wrote that piece of crap without ever having seen any part of the rally.

[Porchlight]

I suppose he could escape this problem by admitting that he didn't really write the book. But as a way out of the charge that he's a liar, it would only prove that he's a liar. Checkmate.

and

Obama's a completely different can of worms. His words and actions seem to show a sympathy toward Islam that he doesn't show toward Christianity. It's perfectly natural to wonder about this. And it'd be perfectly natural even if he were pure causasian.

I agree fully with both of PD's statements above.

People aren't dumb and they can see through frauds, once enough information is presented to them (which thanks to the MSM, was not the case in 2008). From what I can tell, they are increasingly refusing to buy what Obama's selling, including his claims to adhere to a certain religion.

[narciso]

THat made the Hitchens piece seem muted by comparison, honestly, what color is the sky on their world

[Janet]

That Crouch article read like Courtland Milloy's article today in the WaPo.

"If nothing has changed during the past 50 years, it's the profits to be made -- politically and economically -- by using blacks to startle whites out of their rational minds. Get them staring at scapegoats while you pick their pockets."

What is he talking about? The race hustle industry of Sharpton & Jackson? Projecting that extortion industry onto Beck & Palin?

I wonder if Crouch or Milloy can name who exactly has been evil to them...or are they just fighting some phantom "evil conservative" that they have made up.

[narciso]

I know, Janet, projection is a fulltime effort
for these folks. There is no relation to reality in any of this.

[Porchlight]

Found this via Lexis. Sub out a couple of names (many are still in Congress) and it could have been written today.

NYT, September 4, 1994: Democrats Glum About Prospects As Elections Near

It mentions one Gallup poll in mid-August that had the generic ballot tied.

Good stuff.

[matt]

I call it Political Alternate Reality Syndrome
(PARS).

[matt]

so if Arne Duncan, the Education Secretary. sent an e mail to 4,000 department staffers to urge them to attend Al Sharpton's rally and they still couldn't come up with a few token whiteys, what does it all mean?

[narciso]

That's entirely possible, Matt, frankly it's the only explanation, here's another example

[PD]

Crouch's screed was evidence free: Lots of vicious accusations against Beck and Palin, none of which were backed up by examples. This doesn't seem to have escaped the people who commented on the article. One of them nicely summed him up as a race pimp.

Would MLK be proud of Crouch? I suspect not.

[Clarice]

Matthews, Fineman and Robinson:
Obama Wouldn't Have Muslim Image
Problem If He Had Joined a Church

Newsbusters...HEH

[Pofarmer]

O.K.

At the risk of not being politically correct. If you're less than SS age, that Sedona DX bike thingy is gay.

Fire away bgates.

[glenda]

Happy A-Day to the Hates, God-love them!

The Sedona DX bike thingy is gay no matter what age you are :)

re:Anderson Cooper...how do I loathe thee..let me count the ways...nevermind--Not.Worth.It.

[Porchlight]

From the Newsbusters piece Clarice mentioned:

FINEMAN: Can I say something here that`ll probably get me in trouble? But I`m going to say it anyway. Barack Obama probably should have joined a church here, OK? Now, I`m not excusing any of the hatred or nasty language or any of the dirty strategy that we`re talking about. But some things in politics you have to do at least for the symbolism.

See? They don't even believe that he really believes it. They know it's just for show. But they'll go ape if any of his political opponents say the same thing.

[narciso]

Anderson (Vanderbilt) Cooper isn't worth the aggravation, he's chasing a test pattern.

[Porchlight]

I didn't learn he was a Vanderbilt until just a few weeks ago. I guess I couldn't really say I was surprised.

[Clarice]

Gloria's boy.

[PD]

Matthews, Fineman and Robinson:
Obama Wouldn't Have Muslim Image
Problem If He Had Joined a Church

It might be less of a problem, but it would remain true that his conduct raises questions. The "join a church" advice is equivalent to "try to address the deep rot in your foundations by getting pretty wallpaper" and it would not fool anyone except those who, like Matthews, Fineman, and Robinson, want to be fooled. Indeed, they appear desperate for Obama to make the effort to fool them.

Stupid gits.

[Danube of Thought]

Nine weeks from tomorrow. Nine weeks.

But the difference this time is, they've got him. Yeah, baby.

[Porchlight]

Gloria's boy.

It seems so obvious now. :) But to be honest, she didn't strike me as the mom type.

[Clarice]

The truth is Matthews, Fineman and Robinson are less credulous that our dear friend Andrea Mitchell who bought Obama's line that he gets tested a biblical verse each day which he contemplates on.

Maybe she was drunk again.

Maybe she's stupider than rocks.

[Clarice]

**teXted a Biblical verse***

[glenda]

clarice..

Does he get those texts from Rev. Wright?
hee..

so right on both counts re: Andrea

[narciso]

Well you could have been right the first time,
he tested out the verse strategem.

[Danube of Thought]

what a great dog he must be

The very best. Every time he looks me in the eye I can hear him saying, "I can handle things! I'm smaht! Not like everybody says... like dumb... I'm smaht and I want respect!"

And I tell him, "of course you're smaht, Fredo. And I respect you with all my heart." Then he looks at me a little suspiciously.

[glenda]

DoT..

just don't take that fabulous pup on any early morning boat rides :)
bet he's too smart to even get in the boat!

time to read myself to sleep..

[Jim Ryan]

Perriello (D-Nancy) vs. Robert Hurt (R, a state senator): Anyone in VA-5, please volunteer for Hurt. I work most of my lunch hours at the HQ.

Please give Hurt some dough. I can tell you that he's a gentleman and he understands that spending needs to be slashed. These two qualities are enough to make him infinitely preferable to letting a little worm continue to vote with Nancy and against his constituents.

[Neo]

I wonder where the proceeds go now LUN

[bgates]

If nothing has changed during the past 50 years, it's the profits to be made -- politically and economically -- by using blacks to startle whites out of their rational minds.

Janet, I have to admit I followed the link to that article to see if you mistyped something or left out some context. Nope. That sentence is supposed to stand on its own.

If nothing has changed during the past 50 years, it's the profits

That seems like the most natural way to read that sentence: "it" refers to "nothing". The nothing that has changed. So maybe now it's something. But if "nothing" is something that has changed, the change involves "the profits to be made...by using blacks to startle whites", and clearly Courtland doesn't think those profits have changed. Nothing's changed!

I guess he meant "if one thing has remained constant for the past 50 years, it's " blah blah Glen Beck's a racist.

It just seems like really shitty writing to me, especially for a grown man who gets (one must suppose) paid for his typings.

Then again, I'm a Cro-Magnon, so it probably would have been clearer to me if he had produced the column as a cave painting with bears in it.

[glasater]

"Cops: 6 arrested after gunfire at baptism party."

Similar thing happened here after a recent quinceanera...

[Stephanie]

From the comments..

Dear Stanley, I think I understand that only bigots disagree with Barack Obama, but what I don't understand is, why do only bigots care about our country going bankrupt? Please respond ASAP.

LOL

[Stephanie]

BTW MOTUS is in fine form today...

LUN

[Soylent & Hammerstein]

What I lack in volume, I shall try to make up in quality. And so, without further ado...

From the upcoming Broadway musical "Barry Poppins":

In ev'ry job that must be done
There is an element of fun
but screw the work and snap!
The job's a game!

And ev'ry con you undertake
Becomes a piece of cake
A lark! A spree!
It's very clear to me

That a...
Glib line of bullshit helps the Presidency go down
The Presidency go down-wown
The Presidency go down
Just glib line of bullshit helps the Presidency go down
In a most historic way

An crypto-Muslim feathering his nest
Has very little time to rest
While gathering his
Bits of grift and graft

Though quite intent in his pursuit
He has legacy horn to toot
He knows inveiglement
Will soothe the racist throngs

For a...
Fast round of golfing helps the Rasmussen go down
The Rasmussen go down-wown
The Rasmussen go down
Just fast round of golfing helps the Rasmussen go down
In a most unexpected way

[daddy]

Morning Soylent. Chim chim cher 'frickin' ree!

"Oh, it's a jolly 'oliday with Barry
No wonder that it's Barry that we love!"

And now that I think about it, how come when Obama says stuff like “I can’t spend all my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead" no one in the media ever responds, "Well I can Pal, so fork it over, that's my job and it'd be my pleasure."

I would love to see O'Reilly or somebody call Obama's bluff and say that, demand that it must be the original long form Birth Certificate, and then wear it on his forehead every broadcast for a week. It'd be great ratings, and either we'd finally get an answer to this stupid thing or we'd finally have painted the President as a put up guy or a shut up pansy.

[daddy]

Better yet,

Instead say, well can Joe Biden wear it on is forehead for you? Hell, it'd probably be an improvement.

[AL]

Anything but sport bike with downcurved steering rack and narrow tires, on pawed streets, is for retards only.

[pagar]

Good Morning, Soylent! Great to see you've been
here.
--------------------------------
Everyone needs to remember that today the Muslim Brotherhood will be able to start getting direct access stimulus checks from the US government.

[bgates]

Daddy -

Birth Certificate: Apply directly to forehead!

[cindyk]

Soylent:

Sang the entire song - twice - out loud. Quite catchy. Plan to hum it along all day.

[narciso]

When Insty came up with the line, they're not antiwar they are on the other side, he didn't know how right he was." in the LUN

[Janet]

Another OT that is interesting to me -
LUN is an article via Drudge about a Dem Representative giving scholarship money to her relatives & her aide's children.
This story, and the recent scandal of U. of Illinois admissions that gave preference to politically connected applicants would make a great investigation piece.
I think it would really resonate with middle America.
Between affirmative action and elite connections...how many admission slots are being denied to kids applying on their own earned merit?
I know here in the DC metro area, there seems to be a lot of mediocre students that get into high end universities. With parents that are full-time political staffers, I gotta wonder.

[narciso]

Douthat, is such a mook, to use the nicest term possible, for this 'jackwagon'as Lee Ermey might say

[centralcal]

Yesterday (?) Glenn Beck launched a new website - A news and opinion website and has hired staff (journalists) to run it.

TheBlaze

On the blog section, I watched two video clips: Bill O'Reilly interviewing Glenn about the rally and Bill O'Reilly interviewing Al Sharpton about the same. I missed seeing it live on tv last night.

Don't know how this new website will do - have to wait and see.

[Clarice]

Morning Soylent..A pkg from us your way is coming..

[narciso]

One of the links on that Blog, lead me to this
commentary on Christie's all too precipitous
firing of Schundler, in the LUN

[centralcal]

Interesting commentary at that link, Narciso.

[Jack is Back!]

This is scary in its own way. LUN

Stocks that are rising and not by single digits all have one thing in common - survival.

Of course here in Florida we have rooms set aside (ours is under the stairs) in which we stock prodigious amounts of water, non-perishables, spam, candles, sterno, etc. But I never thought of investing beyond my purchases at Publix.

Not much from Danielle or expected from Earl except heavy surf, wind and some iffy clouds and thunderstorms. But Fiona may be a 'cane of different directions. Keep fingers crossed because Crist has set the snare that bankrupts the state if we get a catastrophic 'cane.

[Chubby]

Wow Jim, I'm amazed that you had anticipated that question, (and so early in the morning!) ... very informative answer, thank you.

[Rick Ballard]

Jay Costs points to the Democrat Poisoned Chalice. I disagree with the position that he takes regarding the Kill Granny fiasco - the President's and the Democrats' total incompetence is a mosaic of failure so large that removing any single piece would not make the picture unrecognizable. I would rate the error in the composition of the non-stimulus package at least as important as Kill Granny.

If the Dems had any imagination whatsoever we'd be seeing pictures of bulldozers pushing dirt on the Alaskan pipeline and concrete being poured at new nuclear power plants rather than reading about Comrade Sherrod's success in bilking the government (which employs her) for $1 billion plus on behalf of nonexistent black farmers.

[centralcal]

Caught up reading the overnight comments - great lyrics, Soylent!

[narciso]

Yeah, Charmin' Charlie, the gift that keeps on giving, driving the other insurance companies out of the state, making Citizens
the only carrier, 'what could possibly go wrong'

[Jack is Back!]

Anyone else seen that vid or Rick "cotton-picking" Sanchez over at CNN? But hey, he was brought up in the south and that term is not used as a disrespect but one of frustration. Does that mean a liberal idiot like Sanchez is also frustrated with that "cotton-picking" President? You know the first black President!

[Janet]

A good rant by Mark Levin via Riehl World View.

Please get involved. Go to a local Tea Party gathering & be counted. It makes a difference. We have been quiet & easy going for too long....& the leftist ruin has seeped into all our institutions. Please get involved.

[narciso]

He's from Miami, JiB, the only cotton he comes in contact, is that at the store, or between his ears

[Jack is Back!]

Narcisco,

That's what make the 2 vids so funny. In the second one he acts like he was brought up in Birmingham or Biloxi than in Miami. He is really the biggest dunce on TV. Its almost like he is channeling Joe Biden.

[Jack is Back!]

Janet,

Its pretty similar to the "silent majority" of the 80's. Mark Belling (sp?) sitting in for Rush yesterday made some good points that I have always considered.

Conservatives don't protest or rally, liberals and radicals do that stuff. Conservatives have families, lives, work, and other interests. Rallying is not their schtick. But now we are seeing ordinary, hard working, red-blooded, patriotic, silent no longer Conservatives coming together with other like minded citizens and letting the political class know "we are mad as hell and not going to take it any longer".

I think this departure of the norm is what the political class and their apologists, propagandists and enablers are fearing. Even Axelrod has had to dip into his untested reserves to try and discredit the movement (i.e. the slander of Palin, Beck, Bachman, Rush) and the "agents provocateurs" .

[centralcal]

Jack: I happened to see it during my lunch hour, live. Rick the dunce came back from commercial break after reading his Twiddle de dum Twitter followers. They apparently "alerted" him to his use of "cotton picking."

I changed channels while he was stammering through his apology.

[Danube of Thought]

Minus 14 at Raz today.

[Jim Miller]

Chubby - Thanks. I learned about the new varieties of bicycles earlier this year when I had to replace my 1985 mountain bike.

Glenda - Actually, my Sedona doesn't know a single show tune, which destroys your theory completely.

(It isn't a bicycle for a road race, but it is a good bicycle for people who just want some exercise and don't ride on rough trails. I like riding it up and down the hills in my Seattle suburb. Sitting upright lets me enjoy some great views while I am getting the exercise.)

[bunkerbuster]

DoT -- Do you use the term "Mohammedan" out of ignorance that it is both an inaccurate and offensive way to describe Muslims, or are you so hateful that you know better, but use the term anyway. If you used a similar slur for Jews or Blacks, I suspect you would be banned forthwith.
And re: "Alynskist stuff" Isnt it old news already that the Tea Party welfare checks are cashed by an outfit that makes all new members read Saul Alinsky's classic on organizing? Again, the question is, are you ignorant of the basic facts, or in denial of them?
Meanwhile, before we celebrate the the windfall of political capital Tea Party Republicans believe they already have in the bank, let us consider that the *swing* voter they are counting on is most likely one who voted for Clinton twice, Bush once or twice and Obama once.
　　　A mere two years ago, when the trend was much more in favor of Obama, I told my liberal friends that it was somewhat disappointing to see that Obama had clearly not made a case for liberalism to the American voter. Rather, he had made that case in the Democratic primary, but not so much in the general election. Rather, Obama was shrewd enough to see that the election was his to lose. Why risk it by standing up for principles? So, rather than make a pitch for real change, he bet on disgust with Bush and the horse he rode in on. He played the obvious odds, and won by them.
Trouble is, a mere 2 years down the road, independent voters are abandoning the party. -- not just Obama, but Democrats in general. Yet there is no policy on any front that is to the left of the Democrats center. In fact, he has sold out the left on his dealings with Wall Street and, certainly, on Afghanistan and Gitmo, preferring instead to defend his right flank. Again, Democrats are left in the Clinton position.
Republicans, of course, are more or less in the same situation. They have not converted millions, or even thousands, of independent voters to a new philosophy. Instead, they are simply benefiting from frustration about how far America has fallen both economically and in terms of being able to dictate geopolitical outcomes.
Fine if you want to enjoy and celebrate while it lasts. But I cannot see how a big GOP sweep in 2010 will do anything whatsoever to hurt Obama's prospects. And it says it all that every comment on this thread is about how awful Obama is an much desired his comeuppance is, ignoring the fact that he is not even on the ballot in November....

[bunkerbuster]

Anduril is no Muslim, indeed. Obviously, he is a Jew.

[Rick Ballard]

Who wants some brand new Govmo stock? Things can only get better, right?

[bunkerbuster]

``Conservatives have families, lives, work, and other interests. Rallying is not their schtick.''

lol..which is why it is such great fun to yell out "Get a job!" when driving by Teabagger rallies...

[narciso]

It's kind of archaic, 'Spunkmeyer' but it's not a slur, what it basically boils down to is results, and given all the power he has been entrusted with, Obama hasn't delivered
any, of any significance, that address the real issues. Clinton was able to coast over
the damage he would cause with the CRA revisions and other meddlings in the economy
in large part to the capital gains revenue
inflows. If Obama were smart, he would attemptsomething like that, but he's a 'bitter clinger' heh, that doesn't let reality get in the way of his belief system

[rse]

LUN is a video of tweets sent by outraged lefties during Beck's Restoring Honor rally.

It's not pleasant to read but it's important to watch to appreciate the rot and hate involved.

Soylent-You made my day.

[pagar]

Maybe it's time to wonder if what Obama learned,(apparently quite well)
in Indonesia, is being taught to our children/grandchildren.

HS test 'slams' Christianity, lauds Islam.

[Clarice]

Rick, I do think Jay is right. For one thing the Obamacare fiasco involves matters that have a direct personal impact voters can see--most, for xample, were happy with their insurance and do not believe they'll be able to keep it. Secondly, we know the stimulus was a waste of money but how big a waste and where and how it was pissed away haven't received the same coverage nor do they have the same gut impact. Finally, the bribery and legerdemain about rules and procedures was breathtaking and out in the open.

[Captain Hate]

Does that mean a liberal idiot like Sanchez is also frustrated with that "cotton-picking" President? You know the first black President!

More like he's broadcasting drunk as well as driving and killing pedestrians and leaving the scene.

[Rob Crawford]

More like he's broadcasting drunk as well as driving and killing pedestrians and leaving the scene.

Not broadcasting drunk -- just broadcasting stupid.

[bunkerbuster]

The Tea Party has no platform. Ideal for Know-Nothings. How long can they last as a grouping without actually advocating any specific policies?

[narciso]

It's not a brightline distinction, with him,

[Danube of Thought]

I note that in Germany, where they eschewed the Keynsian nonsense and cut spending, annualized GDP growth is at 9% and unemployment is down to 7.6%. Here, however, where the Democrats know exactly what to do....

[maryrose]

I posted this last night but it was cut off.
The sheer audacity of Obama stating he can't wear his birth certificate on his forehead is breathtaking. What kind of a president makes snotty stupid statements like that? The man has no dignity or appreciation for the office. As for the muslim question, Fineman is right he should have joined a church but that's not how Obama rolls. As for matthews I think the tingle is officially gone from his leg.

[It'll be raining popcorn from Puk's Heaven.]

So, Bunk, how many of the vulnerable Dem Congresscritters are going to invite Obama to campaign for them? This tsunami is a lot about Obama, and I'm here to tell you he'll have primary competition starting in just about a year. The second half of his misrule is going to be a circus.
===========

[Rob Crawford]

The second half of his misrule is going to be a circus.

But less Ringling Bros. and more Cirque du Soleil, I'm thinking.

[And so do they. And so do they.]

Didn't you hear him mumbling about his actions not being good for the next election, just after his non sequitor and non answer about his religion? He knows he's poison for the Dems.
==============

[The Democrats used to know how to do populism. But not anymore. No, not anymore.]

I'll tell you, Bunky, how long the Tea Parties will last. As long as necessary.
================

[Clarice]

Well, DoT, that's what you get with a woman prime minister--

[Threadkiller]

--"Do you use the term "Mohammedan" out of ignorance that it is both an inaccurate and offensive way to describe Muslims, or are you so hateful that you know better, but use the term anyway."--

And then BungDuster says:

--"when driving by Teabagger rallies...

You put the "oaf" in "offensive."

[Ranger]

The Tea Party has no platform.

Bubu,

Why do you keep saying that?

There is a very clear Tea Party Platform:

Net Spending Cuts

No Tax Increases

Funny, but that is pretty much what Obama promised in his 2008 campaign. If he had followed through, there would be no Tea Party movement today.

Instead, Obama has signed into law or proposed increasing the Federal Budget by over 25% (nearly 40% of you count the porkulus bill).

Instead, Obamacare imposes a massive new tax on the middle class in the form of the individual mandate to buy health insurance.

And you wonder why people are angry?

[Captain Hate]

maryrose, I typed it the other day and it hasn't been refuted: Odummy's brain doesn't work like those of others. He's always giving obtuse responses to questions that aren't asked. I suspect Tribe realized that he was "special" in that regard and didn't want him being ridiculed by classmates for doing research on topics that had nothing to do with whatever class assignments the poor group that was shackled with his presence was pursuing.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

I don't pretend to be able to read what passes for the mind of the Great Muddle but I have sincere doubts concerning the attention paid to gymnastics performed by legislators and no doubt at all regarding attention paid to neighbors losing houses due to the duration of unemployment. The fact that one in six Americans are on the dole has, IMO, more weight than Kill Granny in driving Dems from office. As I noted, it's a Great Mosaic of Failure - everybody can choose the piece which they believe to be "most" important.

[anduril]

Interesting STRATFOR piece by George Friedman that sees the glimmer of a new US strategy re Iran. Also reviews his past views: Rethinking American Options on Iran.