She's Back!

The angriest, most entitled woman in the White House will hit the campaign trail in a desperate bid to help Dems:

WASHINGTON — After 18 months of careful image-making and bipartisanship, Michelle Obama is shifting course as first lady, stepping up her policy agenda and dipping into election-year politics to campaign and raise money for Democrats.

Despite stinging criticism of her summer vacation to Spain with daughter Sasha — aides warned her not to go, and the backlash was fiercer than they had imagined — Mrs. Obama is the most popular member of her husband’s administration. Having worked to build good will through nonideological causes like fighting obesity and assisting military families, aides say, she is ready to spend some of her political capital to advance President Obama’s agenda — and her own.

Interesting that aides are willing to toss her under the plane to Spain, anonymously of course.  Loyal aides would have insisted that she raised concerns but everyone gave her the green light.  

Michelle's scripted talks (delivered by the LOTUS?) will be positive and upbeat.  I know this:

Her schedule and stump speech are still being developed, but aides insist she will not attack Republicans. She will be positive and upbeat.

Uh huh.  She is one unscripted comment away from telling the Great Unwashed what she really thinks about the rest of us.  The only suspense is whether her gaffes will be swept under the rug (not that rug!) by the attending press.  I am betting she will be ratted out - if her aides can turn on her, the press can.

Comments

[Pledge Flounder]

Oh boy! This is gonna be great!

[Pops]

How can she possibly hit the campaign trail...doesn't the media care that she has young children at home??

[Jack is Back!]

Pops,

Who said they would keep the kids at home? They are only off limits to Glenn Beck and his ilk.

This is a pretty risky move when you think about all the jokers and stunts that will follow her and welcome her. I see a big run on 18th century costumes and bakery goods.

[Janet]

I like that the Washington Examiner article on this is in their Beltway Confidential section. Hah!

[BB Key]

When Michelle talks about how they "recently paid off their college loans" will the press ask to see their tax returns.....

[sbw]

[OT but on point] Point everyone to Chris Muir's Day by Day: What has America done for Muslims compared to others. [/OT]

[narciso]

They really are blithely unaware of how they come across, in a season of rising unemployment, stagnation in the gulf, well just as well

[anduril]

The first few paragraphs of an oldy but goody from 2008:

The Iraq War Will Cost Us $3 Trillion, and Much More
By Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz
Sunday, March 9, 2008

There is no such thing as a free lunch, and there is no such thing as a free war. The Iraq adventure has seriously weakened the U.S. economy, whose woes now go far beyond loose mortgage lending. You can't spend $3 trillion -- yes, $3 trillion -- on a failed war abroad and not feel the pain at home.

Some people will scoff at that number, but we've done the math. Senior Bush administration aides certainly pooh-poohed worrisome estimates in the run-up to the war. Former White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey reckoned that the conflict would cost $100 billion to $200 billion; Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld later called his estimate "baloney." Administration officials insisted that the costs would be more like $50 billion to $60 billion. In April 2003, Andrew S. Natsios, the thoughtful head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said on "Nightline" that reconstructing Iraq would cost the American taxpayer just $1.7 billion. Ted Koppel, in disbelief, pressed Natsios on the question, but Natsios stuck to his guns. Others in the administration, such as Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, hoped that U.S. partners would chip in, as they had in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, or that Iraq's oil would pay for the damages.

The end result of all this wishful thinking? As we approach the fifth anniversary of the invasion, Iraq is not only the second longest war in U.S. history (after Vietnam), it is also the second most costly -- surpassed only by World War II.

Why doesn't the public understand the staggering scale of our expenditures? In part because the administration talks only about the upfront costs, which are mostly handled by emergency appropriations. (Iraq funding is apparently still an emergency five years after the war began.) These costs, by our calculations, are now running at $12 billion a month -- $16 billion if you include Afghanistan. By the time you add in the costs hidden in the defense budget, the money we'll have to spend to help future veterans, and money to refurbish a military whose equipment and materiel have been greatly depleted, the total tab to the federal government will almost surely exceed $1.5 trillion.

But the costs to our society and economy are far greater. When a young soldier is killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, his or her family will receive a U.S. government check for just $500,000 (combining life insurance with a "death gratuity") -- far less than the typical amount paid by insurance companies for the death of a young person in a car accident. The stark "budgetary cost" of $500,000 is clearly only a fraction of the total cost society pays for the loss of life -- and no one can ever really compensate the families. Moreover, disability pay seldom provides adequate compensation for wounded troops or their families. Indeed, in one out of five cases of seriously injured soldiers, someone in their family has to give up a job to take care of them.

But beyond this is the cost to the already sputtering U.S. economy. All told, the bill for the Iraq war is likely to top $3 trillion. And that's a conservative estimate.

President Bush tried to sell the American people on the idea that we could have a war with little or no economic sacrifice. Even after the United States went to war, Bush and Congress cut taxes, especially on the rich -- even though the United States already had a massive deficit. So the war had to be funded by more borrowing. By the end of the Bush administration, the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus the cumulative interest on the increased borrowing used to fund them, will have added about $1 trillion to the national debt.

The long-term burden of paying for the conflicts will curtail the country's ability to tackle other urgent problems, no matter who wins the presidency in November.

[narciso]

Since this seems to the thread to showcase, delusional thinking, bon appetit, in the LUN

[Janet]

That Day By Day is great sbw. Thanks.

[Old Lurker]

The best William Shatner interview is LUN.

[Sally]

I find it hard to believe that anyone on Mrs. Obama's staff challenges her about much of anything or does it in an overt way. She seems like the kind of person who doesn't encourage that sort of frankness, especially if it contradicts her own point of view. Probably the only person who could have stopped her from going to Spain would have been her husband. Although even that, I don't know. She doesn't seem like she'd pay too much attention to him either.

[Rick Ballard]

I believe that Michelle makes a marvelous foundation for the firewall (1 hr rated, non moisture resistant). Constant exposure to her charming countenance and rapier wit will provide extraordinary motivation to those still unsure as to the proper course of action on November 2nd. There is no reason for her to let her husband, Harry and Nancy take all the credit for the results.

[Pofarmer]

Popcorn, gonna need lots of popcorn.

[narciso]

Well she promoted her staff flunky, Desiree, to the White House office, and brought in the Salahis, those dignified sort, what could possibi go wrong

[Jane]

Pretty soon they will have to send Malia and Sasha on the campaign trail - assuming their images have not also been sullied.

[Jay8]

After 18 months of careful image-making and bipartisanship

Um, vacationing at a $4,000 a night villa is "careful image-making" how, again?

What has this woman ever done that could be considered "bipartisan" exactly?

[OldTimer]

Let's concede that Mo's cover-girl stature and conceited queenly attitude are just what Dem candidates in questionable districts need to jump-start their campaigns. Voters will warm to her message once they understand who really butters their bread. Who are we to question the political decisions of the White House?

[Clarice]

MayBee and I agreed last night that when the aides start ratting out the first lady the ship of state is on the rocks. Axelrod's no dope, he's already downplaying how much she'll campaign. Maybe Bo can carry the flag. Yes, he's not housebroken yet apparently, but so what?

This week's CP--which ends on a bgates/MayBee crescendo and which has in the middle a great big hit & run chart.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/the_summer_of_recovery_ends_ep.html

[Wondermint]

Narcisco -- The Obamas are used to romping in their wealth amid the small people of Chicago. There, however, they are seen as role models of Af-Am success, I would bet. The rest of the nation is going to see them as self-indulgent, self-involved amateurs. I think the Obamas continually do things that would have played well or been ignored in Chicago -- they have no idea of what an international position requires of its holder.

[Rick Ballard]

Would Feingold run away from Michelle as fast as he runs away from Barack? Will she also be chairing the Democrat Political Death Panel in her spare time? There's just so much she could be doing to the party in the next 60 days. I find it very difficult to curb my enthusiasm.

[Soylent Red]

More speeches about Barack demanding that I work toward his causes! More rhubarb dancing! More "for the first time..." revelations! More glowering! More underbite!

Give her about two weeks on the road to get good and tired and the mask will slip. What I really hope is that they make her the vehicle for some of their lame duck, kamikaze policy changes. It will be like a husband-wife race to 20% approval.

Shit. By the time these people are run out of office they're going to be sending ideas out for the MFM to flack in a cask tied around Bo's neck.

BTW...what does she spend her day doing now? Seriously, aside from complaining about little fat kids and so on, does she have some sort of actual initiative she's heading, or is it all still at the good idea fairy stage? Seriously, I pay so little attention to her I don't know.

[iqvoice]

OT: President's Name as an adjective.

Clintonian... as in, Clintonian levels of corruption.

Barackian... as in, Barackian levels of incompetence?

I like it.

[Old Lurker]

Well Soy, it takes time to manage her staff of, what?, 25...

[Porchlight]

My guess is that the WH advisors don't want her campaigning any more than they wanted her going to Spain, but Michelle calls the shots and Barry is too much of a wuss to say no. I bet Michelle kicks his weenie ass up and down the East Wing most days of the week. No wonder he likes to hit the campaign trail.

[anduril]

An excellent "back to school" to parents and students from Walter Russell Mead. Lots of good advice (although the bit about Arabic is daft--answer me this: what is written in Arabic?) that you may wish to share with others, parents and prospective students alike:

Back To School

The anxious emails from students are hitting my in-boxes once again: What time are office hours? Are places in the seminar still available? Where can they get advance copies of the syllabus?

I don’t have answers to these questions yet; by this time next week I will.

Another school year is ready to begin, and for the first time in decades I will be teaching full-time.

Unfortunately, I’m returning to a profession in crisis. Over at Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds has been blogging up a storm over what he calls the ‘bubble‘ in higher education. Parents and students are shoveling more and more cash into degrees that, Glenn and many of those he links to warn, are not likely to pay off.

They are, unfortunately, right. The bubble analogy is dead-on for some parts of the educational world. In an age of outsourcing and technological change, a law degree (even from a ‘name’ school) is no longer going to be the kind of ticket to affluence that it once was.

More generally, the upper middle class benefited over the last generation from a rising difference between the living standards of professional and blue collar American workers. This is likely to change; from civil service jobs in government to university professors, lawyers, health care personnel, middle and upper middle management in the private sector, the upper-middle class is going to face a much harsher environment going forward. Automation, outsourcing and unremitting pressures to control costs are going to squeeze upper middle class incomes. What blue collar workers faced in the last thirty years is coming to the white collar workforce now.

Yet as their financial prospects darken, students’ educational costs are exploding. Like the health care system, the educational system is being overwhelmed by rising costs and rising demand. And as misguided government policies contributed to the real estate bubble by artificially inflating demand, government programs are burdening students with unpayable loans and contributing to relentless and unsustainable inflation in school costs.

And so, dear students, welcome back! Your generation is going to have dig its own way out of the hole my generation has dug for you (thanks for the Medicare, kids, and sorry about the deficit!), but here are a few tips that may help you get the best out of your college years.

1. The real world does not work like school.

Life in school is life in bureaucracy. You follow the rules, do what you are told, and rewards follow.

The real world was never very much like that, but the parts of the real world that look most like school (like for example law firms, universities and government and private sector bureaucracies) have their heads on the chopping block. By the time today’s students are in their forties (and that is MUCH closer than you think, kids), most of those organizations are going to morph into something very different. Or they will die.

Inmates who spend a long time in prison become institutionalized; they adapt so well to the conditions of prison that they can no longer function in the free world. Something similar can happen to students. From age six or even younger, students are immersed in a predictable world that runs by the rules. Then you get out of school — and expect that this pattern will continue. If you go to a good law school and do well, you will become an associate at a successful firm. Do your job well, work hard, obey the rules and wash behind your ears and in due time you will make partner.

That’s the old system; the new one won’t work that way. Creativity, integrity and entrepreneurial initiative will pay off; following the old rules and hoping for the old rewards is a road to frustration. You have to fight the tendency of the educational system to turn you into a timeserving baby bureaucrat, following the rules and waiting for the inevitable promotion.

As you go through college, think about ways you can fight the pressures of institutionalization. Work or volunteer — not just for money, but to keep your hand in the real world. Live off campus. Start a business. Shake things up.

2. Most of your elders know very little about the world into which you are headed.

Your parents and your teachers want what is best for you (with the usual regrettable exceptions), but in many cases they don’t understand the challenges you will face.

Especially for those of you who come from white-collar families, the kinds of careers that your parents have had may not be around for you.

Even if you go into the ‘learned professions’ you are going to have to be entrepreneurial and flexible. Technology is going to rock your world and economic changes and upheavals are going to change the rules on you over and over. This is not how the knowledge professions (law, medicine, teaching, the civil service) used to work. In the old days, you got the right degree from the right school, got a job with a good employer and rose steadily through the ranks through a long and increasingly distinguished career. At the end you had a safe pension.

Almost certainly, this is not going to happen to you. At times, your career is going to feel like Eliza’s run for freedom across the half-frozen Ohio river — jumping from ice floe to ice floe with the hounds of hell behind you. It won’t be all bad; there are rewards to this kind of life as well as risks, but you are going to need a different outlook on life and a different set of skills to cope.

Most faculty members, especially the tenured ones, have worked and lived in a world that is passing away. In many cases it’s hard for them to imagine the kind of lives you will live, and you need to keep this in mind. Even if you want to make a career in education, you are likely going to have to deal with an environment in which tenure is disappearing, universities are shedding overhead, and both public and private universities face tough revenue squeezes. Some especially vulnerable institutions (like mainline Protestant seminaries) are closing in droves; turmoil is likely to spread because the current financial path of the higher ed industry is as unsustainable as Medicare and the federal debt.

3. You are going to have to work much, much harder than you probably expect.

I’m sorry to bring you bad news, but your generation faces the toughest competition any American generation has ever known.

Your competition isn’t sitting in the next library carrel. Your competition is in China and India – and your competition isn’t hanging out at frat parties or sitting around watching sitcoms with dorm-mates. It isn’t getting stoned and it isn’t putting its energy into chasing the opposite (or apposite) sex. Your competition isn’t taking lots of courses on gender studies; it isn’t majoring in ethnic studies, or (unless it is planning to go into movie making) the history of film.

Your competition is working hard, damned hard, and is deadly serious about learning. There’s nothing written in the stars that guarantees Americans a higher standard of living than other people. Those of you who spend your college years goofing off in the traditional American way are going to pay a much higher price for this than you think.

4. Choosing the right courses is more important than choosing the right college.

Choosing the right college is over-rated. Just about every college in the United States has more talented and interesting students than you will have time to get to know in four years. At every college in America you will not be able to take all the great courses from great faculty, read every worthwhile book in the library, or participate in all the rewarding extracurricular activities.

Choosing the right courses, on the other hand, is under-rated. In the old days you could take a lot of silly courses and guts and get away with it. But your generation is going to have to scramble and you need every edge you can get.

Your generation can’t afford to throw these four years away; choose your courses carefully and seriously. Everybody has different needs; aspiring movie makers and aspiring physicists aren’t going to take all that many classes together, but there are some basic concepts that make sense.

5. Get a traditional liberal education; it is the only thing that will do you any good.

Following this advice will be hard; a liberal education is no easy thing to get, and not everybody wants you to have one. However, in times of rapid change, it is paradoxically more useful to immerse yourself in the basics and the classics than to try to keep up with the latest developments and hottest trends. You can be almost 100% sure that the hot theories making waves in academia today will be forgotten or superseded in twenty years — but fifty years from now people will still be reading and thinking about the classic texts that have shaped our world. Use your college years to ground yourself in the basic great books and key ideas and values that will last.

For the same reason, don’t worry too much about getting specific skills at this stage. You are going to keep learning new skills all your life and you are going to find many of your skills obsolete as time goes on (when I was a kid I was very good at operating something called a mimeograph machine). What you want to do now is to develop your ability to learn.

It’s a lot of work, but don’t panic; you are not going to get this all done in four years. Becoming educated is a lifelong project; you can’t turn your mind off and stop reading books when you finish college and expect to get anywhere. Here are some tips to help you get started.

First, getting a liberal education means you have to achieve literacy in math and at least in one science – and come to grips with the scientific method. I’d recommend biology as the science you should spend the most time with; this is probably the science that’s going to be changing the world most radically during much of your life — and since you need some chemistry to make sense of it, you will be getting a grounding in two disciplines rather than just one.

Second, study the basic ideas, debates, books, people and events of the western world – with special attention to the Anglo-American subset of the western tradition. You can’t understand other people’s cultures and traditions until you understand the one that surrounds you. Art, literature and music are part of this. Don’t neglect them.

Third, study the United States: its history, regions, culture, politics, literature and economy. You would be surprised how many highly educated people have never seriously studied (or traveled much in) their own country. Don’t make that mistake – and study the parts of the US you don’t know. If you are a southerner, study the north. If you are from the Midwest, study the two coasts; if you are coastal, study the interior. If you are white, study African-American history. Don’t just study this in class. Seek people out in your school from different backgrounds and get to know them.

Fourth, study at least one language and at least one culture that is alien to you. Pick a language that opens the door to a big world: Mandarin, Hindi, Arabic, German, the Romance languages (if you get really good in one of these last you will have a surprisingly easy time dealing with others). Beyond the language study, take a cluster of courses that give you at least an overview of one non-western civilization. (This works better than taking a scattering of unrelated electives on many different cultures.) The purpose of taking a language today has less to do with learning to talk to foreigners than it used to; foreigners seem to be learning English faster than we are learning their languages and computer translation software is likely to make reading texts in other languages much easier in your time. But learning a foreign language is still a great way to explore another world: different languages organize the world differently and to learn a language is to learn a new mental map.

Fifth, learn to write well. This paradoxically is going to be more important than ever for the next generation. I can’t tell you how many editors at how many famous magazines have told me over the years that most professors and academics simply cannot write, and bemoan the immense amount of time they must devote to impose some kind of intellectual structure and comprehensible prose on the crabbed drafts they get from, often, fairly well known people.

This will not last. Publications are not going to be able to continue paying editors to spin straw into gold; if you want to have a public voice in the next generation you are going to have to learn to write well. This is a hard skill to acquire, but it can be taught. Most schools don’t do this well; it is expensive and academics generally don’t value clear and attractive prose writing as much as they should. This is important enough that I would recommend you use it as a factor in choosing a college, but for those of you already enrolled, make a point of seeing what your school offers in this area.

Finally, unless you are following up on an interest that is already a deep and passionate one, try to take courses taught by great teachers. The main purpose of an undergraduate education isn’t to polish up your knowledge and finish your learning. It is to launch you on a lifetime quest for wisdom and understanding. You want professors who can help you fall in love with new subjects, new ideas, new ways of investigating the world. The courses that end up mattering the most to you will be the ones that start you on a lifetime of reading and reflection.

6. Character counts; so do good habits.

One of the weaknesses in contemporary college education is that many teachers and administrators don’t think enough about the need that students have for moral education: reflection on right and wrong, the development of good habits that make good decisions easier to make and easier to stick with, a healthy spiritual grounding that can see you through the storms of life, and the kind of self knowledge that can only come from a life of serious moral engagement and thoughtful reflection.

Character and spiritual grounding are going to count much more in the tumultuous, uncertain environment that is approaching than in the more stable and bureaucratic world of the past. It is very hard for a tenured professor or a career civil servant to screw up so badly that he or she loses a job. But in a world in which employment is less secure, competition tougher, and your reputation for integrity and productivity are the most important assets you have, character is going to count. More, the ups and downs of life and the risks you will have to run to build your career mean that you will need to be grounded spiritually to stay on an even keel. Life is going to be scary; sometimes it will be hard. Where will you find the strength to keep going when the path ahead looks dark? How will you be able to renew the optimism, the ability to take risks, and maintain your self confidence and stay creative in a world of rapid and sometimes unfair change?

There may be chaplains at your school who can help you with this side of life. There may be courses on personal ethics; there may be faculty who you feel have something to teach as mentors and role models. There are other students who have qualities that you wish you had — and there are student groups who read, pray, meditate and act together to help their members grow. Seek out the people, the communities, the experiences that can help you grow. College should be a time of spiritual as well as intellectual and career development and growth.

7. Relax.

If you take this advice, you may still come out of school with too much debt — and the fields that interest you may be hard to break into, and the financial rewards less than you may have expected. But you will be able to cope: you will have the education, the habits and the character traits that will enable to you find new opportunities and new careers even as old ones fade away. And whatever happens to your bank account, your journey through life will be a rich and rewarding one if you come out of college with a good liberal education and a lifelong love of learning.

[matt]

just think, more wacky outfits and even wackier comments.....

Michelle Antoinette on unemployment: "why everyone at the resort was so nice and they waited on me hand and foot. They surely kept a lot of people employed."

on the economy: "well Barack and I made over $500K/year when he was at Annenberg with Billy Ayres and I had my gig at the hospital tossing indigents onto skid row, so I think that if we can make it in Amerikkka anyone can...."

[Danube of Thought]

Minus 23 at Raz today--a record. Forty-two percent overall.

[peter]

Holy Moley! minus 23

[Rick]

anduril,

Please be considerate and just excerpt & link. 'Specially since you really don't want to focus on the topic at hand.

Cordially...

[PD]

It's interesting the NYT characterizes Michelle as a "member of the administration" without batting any eye.

Since when is the First Lady part of the administration?

[BobDenver]

Minus 23 and 42 percent overall means strongly approve is down to 19. Is that a record, too?

[Clarice]

Oops

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/the_summer_of_recovery_ends_ep.html>Epic Fail Fall

[Clarice]

One of these days the failure to excerpt and link may cause TM copyright problems.

[Porchlight]

BobDenver,

Ras says strong approval is a new low, but it's at 24 (47 strongly disapprove). 42 overall approval is also a new low.

[Extraneus]

-23, driven by a record strong disapproval. (Strong approval relatively flat at around 25% since March or so, possibly ready to break below the normal range. Strong disapproval trending up on the same slope for over a year. Both indicators recently breaking bad for the big 0.)

Was it the umbrella pic? Drudge's hammering? Hard to believe that many people watched the Oval Office speech.

[BobDenver]

Porchlight, thank you for the clarification.

[anduril]

At AT:

Smartest President in History Botches Oval Office Rug Quote
By Thomas Lifson

[MayBee]

clarice- wonderful clarice's pieces (as always), and boy am I flattered.

[anduril]

Oh--a whole thread devoted to the carpet! And I missed my chance to paste the whole thing in here...

[Clarice]

You and bgates and hit are the stars and deservedly so..Now, how to let your family know about your pen name..LOL

[anduril]

Ann Coulter: "Obama is not a Muslim"

by Steve Sailer

Ann Coulter writes:
The nonsense about President Obama being a Muslim has got to stop. I rise to defend him from this absurd accusation by pointing out that he is obviously an atheist.

I can't say this is off Ann's usual track, but I do kinda wonder whether this is makeup to her usual audience re her appearance at Homocon.

[Clarice]

Personally--I blame the drop on his returning from his vacations and opening his mouth.

Or, maybe it's a subtle response to the news he's going to sic MO on us.

It's so nuance-y it's hard to say.

Dear Mr. President:

I cannot tell you how heartened I was to read that the department Ms Romer hasn't a clue about what's wrong but is certain tax breaks aren't the answer. And I like that combat in Iraq is over though so many troops are still there apparently to serve as election observers or something.

And-hey--great way to signal your tribute to Ms Jamison on the 8th. In the homeless part where me and my family now live, it makes us feel good to see you and Michelle and the kids living big, traveling the world, tying up traffic everywhere and entertaining on a grand scale in such fashion forward garb.

And when we heard Michelle's coming out to speak to us--I assume about how we all have to sacrifice--my heart jumped with joy. (It might have been just my stomach grumbling from hunger, but sometimes I can't tell the two things apart.)

Anyway, big guy. KEEP IT UP.

HIT& RUN
TAX I.D. # _________

[Clarice]

**OOPS MR PRES. MY HAND SLIPPED WHEN I WROTE THAT--I MEANT * THE DEPARTING MS ROMER***

[anduril]

Whoa! Images of the Christchurch Quake. And no one was killed.

[Extraneus]

Republican New School Flexes Clout Ahead of November

Establishment leadership likely were not thrilled to read about the contents this past week of the upcoming book being published by self-proclaimed "Young Guns" Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy -- three ambitious young members of Congress who've been heading up recruitment of other like-minded wunderkinds for the party.

Their book, "Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders," is due out Sept. 14 -- a blueprint for America in the same vein as the policy book then-Sen. Barack Obama's campaign released in 2008, only with the opposite prescriptions.

A summary in Politico.com based on an advance copy said House Republican Leader John Boehner is mentioned just three times in the book. House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence, R-Ind., is not mentioned at all, and other heavyweights like Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell are similarly disregarded.

[Porchlight]

Re: the reasons for the ratings drop, I think the Oval Office re-do was also not a hit with the public, both in substance (ugly and expensive) and timing.

[Porchlight]

BobDenver, no problem. I was cringing at last week's -12 so these numbers are heartening.

[Old Lurker]

Wasting your breath, Rick.

Just as he wastes our pixels.

[Comanche Voter]

Moochelle, ma belle---where have I heard that song before?

I really, really, really want her to come out to my district and campaign for the mangy flea bitten Blue Dog Pelosi Poodle congressman we have. I figure that will be just the ticket to send him back to the "rescue shelter" in November--and his opponent to Congress.

[Thomas Collins]

Porchlight, I agree that the rug pictures were not a hit with Americans. Looking at the Obama photo ops (lavish vacations, Oval Office decorations and constant golf), one is reminded of a couple supporting statist policies and living off the bounty produced by the toil of decent people. If Americans want wanted Kirchner types to be our leaders, we'd move to Argentina.

[narciso]

"Don't know these people you speak of,better check the cables" Of course one trust Politico
to get it right, they have no ulterior motive,
we all know.

That 'summer of recovery, reminds me of another classic DEnnis Millerism is, when
asked (1990) about Germany getting back together again, he said it felt like a Lewis/Martin reunion,'didn't like their
previous work, didn't care for a repeat"

[Rick Ballard]

Porchlight,

We mustn't neglect that the Obama's bills are going to show up on our kids credit cards - that's what the Democrats really do "for the children". The extravagance of the Chicago gutter trash might be viewed differently if it was their own money being flushed down the toilet with eurotrash vacations and new velvet bullfighter pics for the Oval Office.

I suppose that we should be heartened by the institution of the Democrat Party Death Panel. The sight of them breaking the fingers of those clutching the gunwales of a sinking lifeboat is worthy of a least a minor frisson of satisfaction.

[Clarice]

That last line is one of your very best, Rick.

[Thomas Collins]

When I think that we once had a truly classy White House under Democrat rule (James and Sarah Polk), I become even more nauseated by the Barack and Michelle show. I know that Sarah wasn't much into party time, but she ran social events at the White House in a manner that befits sober governance. And it's hard to believe that a party that once graced the nation with a President like James Polk now produces Barack Obama to rule over us.

[MoodyBlu]

Hey Anduril,

Generally I have a lot of tolerance for your offerings and actually agree with a great deal. But come on, knock off the total copy and paste stuff. A little bit to make us curious and a link would be nice. You do know how to play in a sandbox, don't you?

[pagar]

"Their book, "Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders," is due out Sept. 14 -"

Gateway Pundit reports the Democrats have already moved to ban the Book.

The Democrats banning a book the Republican establishment is not going to be happy about? IMO, a large group of someones have been in Washington, D.C. toooooooo long.

[Jane]

Clarice,

Perhaps your best Pieces ever!

[PaulL]

Clarice,

You did super work on Epic Fail Fall.

[Thomas Collins]

Clarice, does your Sunday American Thinker column no longer bear the Clarice's Pieces moniker? It will still be must Sunday morning reading for me, but tell the AT headlines folks that TC wants Clarice's Pieces back (not that the AT headlines folks care what TC wants).

[narciso]

You hit all the high notes, on that one Clarice,

[Clarice]

Thanks.that's what you get when you have great friends whose work you can steal..

[PaulL]

I wholeheartedly agree with Rick that the Ibama administration is not utilizing their greatest asset nearly enough. Let's get Michelle out there explaining to young men and women once again how Barack is going to change their world forever.

[Clarice]

I hadn't noticed it.. we ran into problems at some sites where we couldn't post new ones because their search engine thought it was duplicative.

If you want CP back in the title, let the editor know. I actually overlooked that it was gone.

[Thomas Collins]

Oh, OK, Clarice, it makes sense not to have the moniker in every week if it will cause posting issues.

[pagar]

I'll second TC's request. I went looking for "Pieces" this morning, didn't see it and my morning just fell apart. "Epic Fail Fall" was great, thro.
-------------------------------
Last night on the rug thread at 12:50 AM, Daddy linked the Iran stoning victim story who is to be given 99 lashes because a photo that may not even be her appeared without her hair covered.
No one saw fit to even notice.
Atlas Shrugs says the Muslims are demanding that the Obama Administration charge many Americans with hate crimes. No one seems to care.
Weasel Zippers now explains how beating your wife is good for them if you follow Muslim rules.
Does the Obama Administration concur?

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

Lady Obama going on the road to speak to the common people, the Dems trying to ban Republican books, Barack at his lowest approval rating, and the Dems still blaming Bush and the Pubs. Is this a great Labor Day weekend or what?

[Threadkiller]

Clarice, I enjoyed this morning’s topic. Well done.

[Clarice]

It is a great weekend, Jim, Thanks, TK.

[MaryD]

Epic Fun! with today's Clarice's Pieces! And kudos to un-indicted co-conspirators MayBee, bgates and hit and run.

[Thomas Collins]

I sent the AT editor an email inquiring whether numbering the pieces (Clarice's Pieces, v.1; Clarice's Pieces, v.2; and so on) would solve the posting problem.

[Rick Ballard]

Jim Rhodes,

Please don't forget the institution of the Democrat Party Death Panel. I wonder if Rahm gets to play the Angel of Death after the decision has been made?

[pagar]

I don't think they should be sending Lady Obama out by herself. My recommendation is that she take John Disses Dick Lugar Kerry along for backup. He can explain how come No Republicans are on board with the so called "New Start" treaty to turn control of our national security over to the Russians.

[Danube of Thought]

It's probably been done already, but would somebody please link to the new CP's?

[narciso]

And they should arrive by Yacht in every port city on the Eastern Seaboard, just like his 'reporting for duty' schtick in Boston, six years ago

[daddy]

If you're wondering, Michelle didn't win the Most Admired Member of the Administration JOM Poll from yesterday.

Bo the puppy-dog did, followed by Hilary.

[Thomas Collins]

See LUN, DOT.

[Clarice]

Dot it's at 10:44 upthread.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice's Pieces - Epic Fail Fall

It's my favorite to date as well. Perhaps Thom can insert "Clarice's Pieces" as a subtitle in order to prevent the search engine problem?

[daddy]

Off to the State Fair in terrible overcast, drizzly weather.

Just a quick point from ">http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/09/03/hawking.god.universe.criticisms/"> a CNN story.

Physicist Stephen Hawking is taking hits from the religious leaders of Britain for saying God had nothing to do with creating the Universe.

Archbishop of Canterbury says essentially "God the Creator did it"
Head of the Catholics in Britain says essentially "God the Creator did it."
Head British Rabbi says essentially "God the Creator did it."
Head of the Brit Muslim's says specifically "God the almighty Conqueror did it."

""If we look at the Universe and all that has been created, it indicates that somebody has been here to bring it into existence. That somebody is the almighty conqueror."

It is easy to find plenty of references in History to Judeo Christian and Biblical descriptions of God the Conqueror (Constantine's "In this sign Conquer) for example.I'm sure he'll be described that way in many Churches across the land today.

But it simply struck me as an unusual description to roll off the head Imam's lips this Sunday morn, when the other guys were basically adjectiving about God the Creator.

Anyhow, off to get soaked and eat BBQ'd Turkey Legs. Yumm.

[jorgxmckie]

@anduril, I get so tired of clicking on the links and LUNs of the other commenters, so why don't you do ut for me/us, then cut-and-paste the entirety for my reading pleasure? I mean, I really get into reading entire, lengthy pieces and/or really long excerpts of even lengthier pieces. Thank you so much.

[Where's the damn sarcasm font? Although even using that won't get through to the blockhead.]

[Jane]

This is the computer that I have Anduril blocked (thanks Rick Ballard). I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

[narciso]

I don't think Hawking was aiming for
ecumenical unity, but he managed it

[matt]

clarice, excellent job as always. The only problem I have is that our country needs leaders and ideas desperately.

To read that O'Bumbles is now proposing to extend the R&D tax credit was a sick joke. I have seen more abuse in my industry of that bondoggle than almost any other.To Dr J it may be a godsend, but far too many times I see the big guys scamming. It is the industrial version of dressing up the gardener's resume' as a landscape architect when the mortgage people were doing it.

I am actually not far from Michelle Antoinette's vacation spot of choice for a conferencia y exposicion. Just got done with meetings with several European colleagues and the outlook on the Continent is not good.

Europe has been on vacancia for the past 6 weeks, especially here in Espana. The economic crisis was put on hold for the World Cup, and the Spaniards were actually in suspense for the 2 months leading up to the cup and then, having won, ecstatic. And then everyone went on vacancia.

They all go back to work in the morning, and to a terrible economic reality. My Spanish colleague figures it is going to be a very rough 2 weeks. The French were very down, and the German was worried about defaults in Greece, Spain and Ireland.

With our own economy hanging on by a thread, it ain't looking too good, which spells bad for us all.

I'd have more hope if the Republicans had any ideas worth a damn, but when Senator Boehner is hemming and hawing and acting the jerk, that does not inspire the masses to all pull together.

[daddy]

Hawkin's prob'ly just lost his head for a moment Narciso.

[DrJ]

To Dr J it may be a godsend, but far too many times I see the big guys scamming.

It does help, but I'd far prefer to have the Feds stay the heck out of my business (except for the grants, of course!). I'll make what I think are the right decisions, and I'd prefer the tax code not to intrude on that.

Protein valence, anyone?

[Donald]

Off topic...

And asking on the internets google and bing search engines doesn't get an answer...

Are women and children allowed in Mecca?

[Danube of Thought]

Best one yet, Clarice--great. It really does seem to me that is beyond doubt that the uncertainty hanging over this economy is the cause of the stagnation, and that the uncertainty is largely traceable to these Obama initiatives. It's hard for me to understand why we don't hear more about it from the talking heads. I think "repeal" may become a very useful platform in the next two years.

[peter]

Smashing job, Clarice. My favorite line--

" ...the Oval Office that had just been redone into what appears to be a suburban TV room to the tune of $800,000. Brown cotton covered comfy sofas and a new cocktail table, which appears to be something covered in contact paper..."

That beige interior redo reminds me of Jimmy Carter's sweaters for some reason.

[Danube of Thought]

Maybe Michelle will trot this one out again on the hustings:

Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.

Focus, laserlike, on that first sentence.

[Donald]

DOT, I love that line. Cause all I do is suck off the teat of the working man. That's my thang.

[hit and run]

Great Pieces,clarice.

Oh,and just to point it out -- even after last week's numbers,Obama http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0310234920100903>couldn't help himself:

"We are confident that we are moving in the right direction. But we want to keep this recovery moving stronger and accelerate the job growth that is needed so desperately all across the country."

Of course he did.

If "moving in the right direction" is wrong, Obama doesn't want to be right.........

[PD]

But come on, knock off the total copy and paste stuff.

+1

I see a posting going on and on and on ... I immediately scroll to the end. Not interested in "miles to go before I sleep."

[hit and run]

DoT:
Maybe Michelle will trot this one out again on the hustings

One could spend all day reminiscing about Michelle's Greatest Hits.

My favorite...

Most Americans, she said, don't want much.

"They don't want the whole pie," she told the women. "There are some who do, but most Americans feel blessed just being able to thrive a little bit. But that is becoming even more out of reach."...

"The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more."

ObamaCare cost you a piece of your pie.

But you should be thanking her. It woulda gone straight to your hips.

[PD]

But it simply struck me as an unusual description to roll off the head Imam's lips this Sunday morn, when the other guys were basically adjectiving about God the Creator.

Surely the use of "conquerer" was simply metaphorical, or something.

I finished Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Nomad this week. Terrific book. She patiently and throughoughly discredits the ideas that the horrors of Islam are unusual in Muslim societies. She focuses as she usually does on the oppression of women: veiling, genital mutilation, vaginal suturing, always being the guilty one when it's the man who can't keep his zipper shut), but the generally violent nature of Muslim culture gets a good look, too.

And all of this "non-moderate" Muslim behavior is perfectly normal in the societies in which it occurs. Kinda puts the lie to the idea that only "moderate" Muslims are the real Muslims, as we have seen promoted by our resident State Dept. posting whore.

[PD]

Another refreshing breath of fresh air in Ali's writing is that, although she's a liberal, she insists that although people may be equal, societies are not. In particular, compared to Islamic culture and values, Western culture and values are better.

She also says that to avoid the cultural disasters facing places like the UK and France, we need to insist on the superiority of our way of life, and not give in to the false humility of multiculturalism that won't stand up to barbarism. Western values are better.

[Rick Ballard]

Point for consideration:

Labor Day marks the traditional beginning of political campaigning. The NYT is featuring a story on DNC plans to bayonet wounded Blue Dogs.

What political advantage would be gained by Speaker in Waiting Boehner or soon to be Senate Majority Leader McConnell making a promise to repeal Obamacare the center focus on a weekend when Moochele being prodded up the loading chute to head off on a charm offensive is competing with the DNC convening candidate Death Panels as leads for the news?

I would think that four weeks in October is correct wrt the timing of repeal promises. Watching the Dem circular firing squad working in September is enough entertainment for me.

[PD]

on a weekend when Moochele being prodded up the loading chute to head off on a charm offensive

Somehow when I read this, I thought, "cattle chute."

Is that wrong?

[DrJ]

PD,

That's an insult to cows worldwide (and I do mean wide). Please repent!

[PD]

and I do mean wide

Now we know where that piece of our pie we gave up went.