Incoming Fire

Yike!  Eliot Cohen, a Johns Hopkins prof and dreaded neocon, blasts the Team Obama depicted in Woodard's new book.

Before doing any excerpting, let's clarify the literary device:

But the [Administration leaker to Woodward] do not control their audiences, and the following fictional interior monologues, as plausible as any recorded by the author of "Obama's Wars," suggest some of the unintended consequences that may result.

Here we go, as imagined:

-- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "I come from a culture that understands storytelling. The president's advisers do not understand that a convincing tale can have only one plot. They say, on the one hand, that this book shows the president as brilliant, in command, dominating -- and then they tell a story of his military boxing him in, denying him any real choice, until he yields to their wishes. I believe the latter story. I do not know how smart he is, but I know that he cannot impose his will. They think he is wise; I think he is weak."

-- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: "I agree with President Ahmadinejad."

Nice of him to give props to Obama for bringing unity to the Middle East on at least one topic.

Comments

[Clarice]

Tony Curtis dies, and this is what you concentrate on?
I need more coffee.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

It's obvious to me that TM has designated this thread to be used for election news. I don't bother with Sabato's site much but this piece is an interesting confirmation of Cook's trend analysis. Additionally, this piece provides a statistically well founded method of projecting Dem losses based upon the final Gallup LV model of voter preference. If we use the current Rasmussen LV preference rating of R+6, the Reps should gain +50 seats (Sabato is currently projecting +47). President Buck Up may whip one or two percent from his cowering base but the movement by independents away from the commies is continuing and should offset the President's lashing.

[Clarice]

Rick, Baehr has another good piece on the Congressional balloting at AT today. He tends to be cautious but is highly optimistic..even about the Senate campaigns his topic in the past day or so.)

All accounts indicate that BO's backyard chats haven't been vetted enough. The folks are actually questioning him and he can't answer of course.
My question is this:After the recess will Pelsi and Reid dare to enter the Congressional cloakrooms without armed guards?

[Clarice]

The NYT has this interesting tidbit today on Stuxnet:

[blockquote]Deep inside the computer worm that some specialists suspect is aimed at slowing Iran's race for a nuclear weapon lies what could be a fleeting reference to the Book of Esther, the Old Testament tale in which the Jews pre-empt a Persian plot to destroy them.

That use of the word "Myrtus" - which can be read as an allusion to Esther - to name a file inside the code is one of several murky clues that have emerged as computer experts try to trace the origin and purpose of the rogue Stuxnet program, which seeks out a specific kind of command module for industrial equipment.
Not surprisingly, the Israelis are not saying whether Stuxnet has any connection to the secretive cyberwar unit it has built inside Israel's intelligence service. Nor is the Obama administration, which while talking about cyberdefenses has also rapidly ramped up a broad covert program, inherited from the Bush administration, to undermine Iran's nuclear program. In interviews in several countries, experts in both cyberwar and nuclear enrichment technology say the Stuxnet mystery may never be solved.
There are many competing explanations for myrtus, which could simply signify myrtle, a plant important to many cultures in the region. But some security experts see the reference as a signature allusion to Esther, a clear warning in a mounting technological and psychological battle as Israel and its allies try to breach Tehran's most heavily guarded project. Others doubt the Israelis were involved and say the word could have been inserted as deliberate misinformation, to implicate Israel. [/blockquote]

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

OT - but I got to make my first commercial today - and it was for the Tea party. And I did it in the first take. Isn't that cool?

[centralcal]

Thanks for that, Clarice! I just love mysteries within mysteries.

I hope Iran is nervous as hell!

[Captain Hate]

All accounts indicate that BO's backyard chats haven't been vetted enough. The folks are actually questioning him and he can't answer of course.

Raymond Arroyo reported that one homeowner where the chat took place had his microphone taken before he could finish his questions. Will the MFM go dumpster-diving a la Joe the Plumber or will they pretend it didn't happen?

[centralcal]

Wow, Jane!!!! Will you be able to link it or embed it on YTC?

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Well that's a thought CC - I never even thought of that. It's got Born in the USA in the background - not the first choice, but we were doing it on the fly.

[MayBee]

Yay Jane!

[Clarice]

Wow, Jane. I hope in November to have a victory party for Allen West..I may have to change it to be a joint party for Jane and Allen.

[Clarice]

If I were trying to break the code and got to "Haman", I'd get the hell out of range of the reactor.

[hit and run]

Clarice:
All accounts indicate that BO's backyard chats haven't been vetted enough.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100930/pl_yblog_upshot/how-does-a-family-get-picked-for-an-obama-backyard-chat-a-nice-yard-helps>Wait. What?

Last week, John and Sandy Clubb of Beaverdale, Iowa, received a phone call from a White House staffer informing them they were one of seven families being considered to host Obama's trip Wednesday to Des Moines.

The Clubbs told CNN's Suzanne Malveaux that they were mystified at how they made the list. ...

In the end, though, the deciding factor appears to have been how the Clubbs' house looked on camera. "It all came down to your backyard," Sandy Clubb says a White House staffer told her.

Obama has always surrounded himself with just such vetting talent -- image over substance.

But knowing that his vetting is so deficient,then please,please,please let Ann get a call from the WH. Swing state. Beautiful yard. Her house would be perfect.

And being that we're almost in October,I mean http://www.flickr.com/photos/59013527@N00/3011461361/>Ann's house would be perfect.

Hope and Change, RIP

[But didn't he look it?]

Tony Curtis is dead? Well, nobody's perfect.
================

[centralcal]

Yes, Hit! Ann's house would be perfect!

[glasater]

Yay Jane!

::ditto:: :-)

[Hat tips all around.]

My file it has three corners; three corners has my file.
===========

[Porchlight]

Is it just me or wouldn't it be rather creepy to know that the WH was casing your backyard - and probably your personal background as well?

Honestly, even when these people are trying to be folksy and normal, they're creepy.

[Ignatz]

--If I were trying to break the code and got to "Haman", I'd get the hell out of range of the reactor.--

Heh.

[Porchlight]

Jane, that is pretty rad. Hope we get a chance to hear it.

[Pagar]

". The folks are actually questioning him and he can't answer of course."

Why, Is there a law saying he can't? Are his handlers preventing him from speaking? Or is it because he just doesn't have an answer?

[tea anyone]

Way to go Jane, you go girl!

[Captain Hate]

Per the WSJ: Rahm to resign tomorrow. Rats, ship; some dissemblage required.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

It's just a commercial, I'm not sure why I got so jazzed about it. I called the station to see if they would send it so I can put it on You Too.

[Captain Hate]

Rahm's replacement: Pete Rouse, Il Douche's chief-of-staff when in the Senate.

[Rob Crawford]

That use of the word "Myrtus" - which can be read as an allusion to Esther

Or it could be nothing. It could be they ran an obfuscator that picked that word at random.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Okay, here is my commercial. Let me know if you can't open it.

[Sue]

Way cool, Jane.

[Sue]

I love, love, love that Iran doesn't know where the virus came from. Keep them guessing.

[tea anyone]

Jane,
You have a wonderful voice. Soft and sensible. Loved the commercial.

[Porchlight]

Thanks, Jane - I don't have speakers where I am but I will check it out at home later...

[Clarice]

Heh, Kim, re "nobody's perfect". Was that a great movie or what?

[Clarice]

Jane, that was perfect!

[Sue]

Jane does have a wonderful voice.

OT, but have they seen what FLOTUS wears?

http://www.ktvb.com/news/Medal-of-Honor-recipients-family-turned-away-at-White-House-104032604.html>Medal of Honor recipients family turned away at WH.

Baker's widow, Heidy, and grandson, Vernon Pawlik, 10, were denied entry because the boy was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. His shirt had a picture of his grandfather on it.

A White House Web site doesn't list a dress code, but the family had been invited to tour the West Wing, which houses the president's office and where casual dress is prohibited.

I'm trying to remember what JayZ and Beyonce were wearing.

[Sue]

Dang, Robert Gibbs is stepping down.

[narciso]

About Mr, Rouse, a little context is in order;

[centralcal]

I add my kudos to the others and yes, Jane has a great voice - a perfect "radio" voice - smooth!

[centralcal]

Sue - where did you see that about Robert Gibbs stepping down?

[Jane]

Thanks everyone. I find the oddest things fun.

[jorgxmckie]

"Well, nobody's perfect" might just be the best closing line in the history of films.

[Sue]

C-Cal,

I didn't see it. I heard it on the radio. I think it was Hannity repeating what Dee Dee Myers was saying.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Another of my tween-teen heartthrobs gone. I mourn with Clarice.

[Rick Ballard]

Jane,

What an excellent job on the commercial. Brava.

I'm beginning to believe that Sean Bielat may get to hear Barney deliver a concession speech. It will probably sound something like Ned Beatty in Deliverance.

[Ann]

Thanks, Hit. I made those in the fall before the 2008 election and they just get better every year. :)

Jane, your commercial is terrific. You should be proud and jazzed!!! Way, way, COOL.

[Clarice]

ara, I remember going to some goofy movie as a kid and he and Piper Laurie were the love interests. I fell in love with Curtis then--he was sooooo cute.