Prepare The Transit Beam

Frankly, Obama, it's all over - your mission is a failure, your lifestyle's too extreme.

YIKE:  And speaking of bad lifestyle choices...

Comments

[centralcal]

Extreme failures! Doncha love it!

[Choice, an inalienable, nay, God given, right.]

Nope, as usual, a step ahead. Choose wisely.
===========

[You do want to follow the rules, right?]

Aren't you grateful that the rules choose for you?
==================

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

I continue to try and figure out exactly when the fall began (for the non-rabid watchers) because it was fast and furious. Does everyone think it was the oil spill?

[And enjoys the rush.]

Heh, Jane, it was the birth certificate. It just fell light as a feather at first, but the atmosphere evaporated around him and now he's plumbing unexplored depths and velocities.
============

[Timber!!!!]

The press was the scaffolding that launched this Icarus, and now the joints are melting in the heat of populist anger.
=============

[Louis T]

O -18 @ Raz

LUN

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

Heh, Jane, it was the birth certificate.

I don't think so.

[I just know I'm gonna die laughing.]

The metaphor mangler has had its climate disrupted, Jane.
===================

[Ranger]

Jane,

It was the Cambridge police flap. That is when the raw ideological Obama was exposed. When a man says 'I don't know the facts, but I know who was wrong' the only logic behind that is an ideological world view that always puts the person of color as the victim. Team Obama knows it too. Not one prime time press conference since then. Its been a steady down hill ever since.

[centralcal]

Well, Jane, I sure don't know the answer to your question. However, I do think the downhill trajectory really picked up speed when Michelle went to Spain.

[Danube of Thought]

I thought it was "the Cambridge police acted stupidly," followed by that hokey beer summit.

But if you look at the polling trend line, there hasn't really been any inflection point--just a slow but steady awakening.

[Threadkiller]

The administration has always treated the gays with contempt. Remember this extreme
">http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0410/Most_transparent_White_House_ever.html"> response. It even puzzled Ben Smith. At least until he accepted the “fall guy did it” excuse from the Whitehouse.

Police chased reporters away from the White House and closed Lafayette Park today in response to a gay rights protest in which several service members in full uniform handcuffed themselves to the White House gate to protest "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." People who have covered the White House for years tell me that's an extremely unusual thing to do in an area that regularly features protests. A reporter can be seen in the YouTube video above calling the move "outrageous" and "ridiculous." UPDATE: U.S. Park Police spokesman David Schlosser tells POLITICO his service erred in pushing the reporters back, and stressed that the White House played no role in the move.

In the video the reporter is stunned: (2:50 mark) “it is one thing if they push the public back, but to not let the media film is ridiculous.”

I think this was the silent beginning (thanks to the media) of the fall. They let themselves get pushed to the point of irrelevance as they lost their gold key to the executive shithouse.

[Captain Hate]

Ranger's correct; the suspected dimwittedness of Jugears McFly was revealed in his response to what should've been a softball lob of a question. I still don't think the dumbass understands how he screwed up.

[Danube of Thought]

We crossed again, Ranger, but this time you got here first.

[Danube of Thought]

Unexpected:

The number of Americans filing first-time applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased last week, indicating the U.S. job market is struggling to mend. Jobless claims rose by 13,000 to 462,000 in the week ended Oct. 9, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington.

(Bloomberg News)

[Janet...off the couch & sportin Tea Party chic]

I think the glaring double standard has something to do with it too. He has been & is being given a free ride by the press & it is obvious. Screw ups,like the Cambridge police flap are glossed over. The oil spill is downplayed unlike Katrina. Protesters were good, & now they are evil.
It is like people are incrementally realizing they have been sold a fraud.
My husband even uses the phrase, "Imagine if Bush....".

[Sue]

I actually think it was healthcare that did it. And demonizing tea partiers.

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

I don't recall any normal people turning on the President after the Cambridge police thing. Of course I may not know any normal people at this point. Maybe that stuck in the back of people's minds.

But sometime recently he just fell off the cliff. Yeah Sue, maybe it was healthcare, altho no one said much out loud until they started criticizing him about the oil spill.

[The Sun is very Sultry.]

I think it was healthcare, and he didn't even do it, Pelosi did with her vicious brand of politics. But he identified it as his legacy, and she has poisoned it with her incoherent malice, and the ironies roll over me like warm waves at the beach.
============

[Threadkiller]

Cambridge was an obvious "teachable moment" for us. The media was his lap dog then, no matter what. I don't think they wanted others to see his ideological deficiencies, so they covered for him.

I agree it is tough to pinpoint when the real decline began. The media has hidden it well.

I still think real problems started when he bit the hand that created him.

[Old Lurker]

A very good VDH from RCP today.

LUN

[Thucydides just rolled.]

Yeah, except he mistakes 'deficit' for 'debt' in the second paragraph.
================

[narciso]

Was that the same press conference when he mused about doctors removing tonsils and amputating feet, unneccesarily?

[Rick Ballard]

Overexposure - the preening jackass avidly sought the spotlight after inauguration and it has exposed, day by day by day, the wildly abundant flaws which the MFM carefully masked during the election.

No inflection points, just increasing awareness that this exotic buffoon was selected solely due to his 'I'm not like you' aspect. He didn't lie about that - he's a hell of a lot dumber and much more incompetent than the average Joe the Plumber from whom he wishes to steal.

[hit and run]

Santelli's rant was 2/9/2009

Obama first dropped under double-digits on the approval index at Rasmussen on 3/1,and then pretty much for good on 3/7 (with just a few exceptions after that).

Obama first went negative on Ras's approval index on 6/21/2009

Obama's "acted stupidly" remarks,along with tonsil and feet snatchers were on 7/22/2009

Obama first hit double-digit negative on the approval index on 7/26/2009

The summer of town hall discontent with the health care reform debate was,of course,all summer of 2009

Obama went to pretty much permanent double-digit negative on the approval index on 10/19/2009

etc...

[Captain Hate]

I don't recall any normal people turning on the President after the Cambridge police thing. Of course I may not know any normal people at this point. Maybe that stuck in the back of people's minds.

It was all people were talking about for days after it happened and he nor any of his sycophants could figure out a way to defuse it. It marked the first time imo that he and the MFM couldn't switch the narrative away from something bothersome to something which they wanted to push.

[Clarice]

It's been a cumulative thing--Obama's slide. Surely the Cambridge flap was part of it, but his detachment; his obvious biases; his ignorance of basic matters; Michelle's gaudy fashion parade; their interminable trips and his odd excessive golfing; and his legislative priorities (get a legacy Act passed forget-- what it says or does) all led to this epic fall.

[Old Lurker]

Saw that, Kim. I was surprised at that goof.

[hit and run]

Rick:
Overexposure - the preening jackass avidly sought the spotlight after inauguration and it has exposed, day by day by day, the wildly abundant flaws which the MFM carefully masked during the election.

100 Day Press Conference - 4/29/2009

[SHE wants to be a Senator?]

Christine O'Donnell has pitched her bid to
have dual party status as Tea Party/ Know Nothing Party, just like a good New Whig.

When asked in last nights debate 'What SCOTUS decisions of late do you disagree with?'

" I, um er, help me out with an example"

Moderator "I can't help you, because I want you to tell us what you believe"

"Well, I, ahem, can't really think of anything off the top of my head, but I promise to put it up on the website".

"Know Nothings" rule !!!!!!

[hit and run]

Hey wait...
Obama went to pretty much permanent double-digit negative on the approval index on 10/19/2009

How did I forget to include these...

10/2/2009 - Obama's bid for the Olympics to come to Chicago goes down in olympic-like flames

10/9/2009 - Nobel Committee announces Peace Prize to be awarded to Obama.

[Kilgore]

I love the smell of lib troll desperation in the morning. Times are good and getting better!

[Neo]

Just as National Lampoon made the trademark Nixonian phrase "inoperative" ("Inoperative, inoperative .. that statement is inoperative"), the Obama Administration will be plagued by "unexpectedly".

[Captain Hate]

"Know Nothings" rule !!!!!!

Yes but we don't get to vote them out for another 2 years.

[Melinda Romanoff]

hit-

Slight quibble, Santelli's rant was on 2/19/09.

[Clarice]

SHE, see legal Insurrection's dissection of the media show trial (pretend "debate) between Coons and ODonnell. With Roberts at the helm there have been few RECENT decisions to take serious issue with.

When Blitzer asked about Roe, she correctly said it wasn't "recent". I think Republican candidates are stupid only to agree to these phony media-directed pretend debates.

[Threadkiller]

Look who else wanted to be senator.

">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YF_pN8pWvg"> Caroline Kennedy's 46 "You Know's" in 5 minutes.

In late December 2008, Kennedy drew criticism from several media outlets for lacking clarity in interviews, and for using the phrase ">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Kennedy"> "you know”168 times during a 30 minute interview with

I guess "you know" about "know nothings"

[Janet...off the couch & sportin Tea Party chic]

Overexposure - the preening jackass avidly sought the spotlight after inauguration and it has exposed, day by day by day, the wildly abundant flaws which the MFM carefully masked during the election.

Exactly. His hipster smiling groove talk made me dislike him personally more & more & more...until I can't even listen to him anymore......and that Nobel Prize win! Hahaha...yeah, even my nonpolitical son asked, "What for?". Like Ann says..It is all a fraud.

[centralcal]

"I think Republican candidates are stupid only to agree to these phony media-directed pretend debates."

Amen, Clarice. My feelings exactly!

[SHE wants to be a Senator?]

"there have been few RECENT decisions to take serious issue with."

Supreme Court Backs Government Power to Seize Private Land
June 23, 2005 -- In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled as constitutional the eminent domain powers of city governments to seize privately owned land, homes and buildings when necessary to make way for private developments, like malls, housing developments and office

[narciso]

And she helped pick Biden, along with Steadman, I mean Holder

[bolitha]

I think it really all started with the bowing to foreign leaders, and then it just built up.

[Thomas Collins]

It started going downhill for Obama right away. It's the Curse of the Churchill Bust. If President-Elect-To-Be Palin is smart, she'll have the Churchill Bust shipped back and ready to move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with her in Jan. of 2013 along with Todd, the kids and the mooseheads!

[narciso]

This is the Jacobsen thread, you were referring too, in the LUN

[Cecil Turner]

I loved the self-parody bit where Kos bemoaned the GOP extremists, and listed all the "fringe" candidates on the right. Too funny.

[Ignatz]

I think he kicked his decline off with the good old American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Feb 17 2009.
With an already titanic deficit he just decides, with zero attempt to include anything Republicans could support, to ram $800 billion of Dem slush funds down our throat. As H&R notes it was only a couple of days later that Rick Santelli launched the call for revolt we've seen gathering steam ever since.
The shock of blithely projecting $1.5 trillion deficits as far as the eye can see woke people up.

[Thomas Collins]

I'm sure the Pelosi/Hippie ad has been linked before, but for those who haven't seen it, see LUN. Things are not looking up for Dems when their candidates are running ads like this.

[Rick Ballard]

The poll cited concerns likely voter reactions to watching the Three Stooges of the Democalypse perform for two years. It ain't just BOzo and the poll does not adequately address the revulsion of centrist Dems who are silently indicating their feelings by removing themselves completely from the ranks of 'Likely Voters'.

IOW - the situation is not as bad as the poll indicates, it's actually much, much worse for the Dems.

[Danube of Thought]

This is from Fortune, and it's a complement to VDH's piece:

The cost of insuring against a default on U.S. government bonds via so-called credit default swaps rose 28% in the quarter ended Sept. 30, the firm said.

That puts the United States' third-quarter performance behind only two other nations, both of which are struggling with the early stages of sovereign debt crises: Ireland, whose CDS prices rocketed 72% to a record amid growing questions about the costs of a massive bank bailout, and Portugal, whose costs jumped 30%.

What's more, the decline leaves U.S. debt trading at an implied rating of double-A-plus for the first time in memory.

[SHE wants to be a Senator?]

so y'all won't mind when the city council
decides your house and land would make an excellent strip-mall to benefit the community
welfare?

[Extraneus]

Yes, Kelo should have been an easy one, but the whole thing was a witch hunt, according to Gerraghty.

She was polished, serious, engaging and nothing like the caricature painted in recent months by Saturday Night Live, her old Politically Incorrect or MTV appearances, editorial cartoons, etc.

[Cecil Turner]

Let's see, without looking anything up I would cite Hamdi, Hamdan, and Kelo, and be happy if I could get the name close (right is not gonna happen). But since I can't remember which gave unlawful combatants corpus rights and which outlawed military commissions, it'd be hard to expound on them off the top of my head. I wouldn't expect the generic Senate candidate to do as well, so that's going down in the "cheap trick question" category.

The problem with the Dem candidate is that they not only don't know which rulings are bad . . . they tend to agree with 'em. (Possibly because it's their appointees who are on the "5" side of the really bad ones.)

[Captain Hate]

Who knew recent means over 5 years ago? Isn't that the statute of limitations for some crimes?

[Clarice]

How "recent" is recent? It was four years aago.

[Ranger]

Hey DoT, the sad thing is you are two hours earlier than I am, so I am clearly slacking in the mornings.

[narciso]

Boumedienne, is the one on the tip of your tongue, there, Cecil, Kelo is instructive, because it had the splungey judges, Kennedy
and Souter going along with something only
King John would approve

[Cecil Turner]

And, lest we forget, Stevens, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer were the ones who decided Kelo, so if you're unhappy with that one, electing another Democrat would not seem to be the logical remedy.

[Ranger]

The SC question sounds like a set up for a Dem candidate to go off on the Citizens United decision and push the "foreign corporate money" line.

[SHE wants to be a Senator?]

Parse 'recent' to yer heart's content, O'Donnell is still a 'Know Nothing'.

[Janet...off the couch & sportin Tea Party chic]

It's the Curse of the Churchill Bust.

Hahaha Thomas!

That Nobel Prize win was an embarrassing moment for President 404 supporters...even they were uncomfortable defending why he should have won.

[Comanche Voter]

You look at Markos Moulitsa who says that the Dems don't have any extreme people in their party. For Markos I've got four words. Nancy Pelosi Alan Grayson.

Case (and nuthatch) closed.

[Clarice]

Actually, Kelo was FIVE years ago.

[Clarice]

What about Maxine Waters, Comanche? She says the large numbers of foreclosures is evidence of collusion by the lenders.

[Ignatz]

Intersting article at Asia Times, "Bernanke Sets the Wrold on Fire" that neatly complements DoT's Fortune story.

[Ignatz]

Fudge. **World**

[Captain Hate]

I'm willing to wager that Christine O'Donnell can multiply negative numbers correctly.

[Porchlight]

O'Donnell did pretty well. There were reports from DE indicating that many undecideds and even some Dems were curious to see how she would do in the debate. That suggests they were willing to give her a chance. I think many of those people were probably surprised that she is far from the drooling moron that the MSM has made her out to be. That alone should give her a bump.

She also benefited from the fact that Coons came off as an obnoxious, condescending, arrogant jerk, just like his President. She didn't go after his bait, either - another point in her favor.

So all in all, though she has an uphill climb, I think it was a good night for Christine O'Donnell. One way you can tell is that even Palin hater and non-O'Donnell fan/Castle supporter Paul Mirengoff of Power Line thought she did a solid job and that it will give her a boost.

[Rob Crawford]

You look at Markos Moulitsa who says that the Dems don't have any extreme people in their party. For Markos I've got four words. Nancy Pelosi Alan Grayson.

Kos owns hundreds of porn magazines that have the models' faces replaced by Che Guevara's.

[Danube of Thought]

Regardless of exactly when it was that this mountebank lost his magic, I think historians will regard the debt he incurred in his first two years as a pivotal event in US history, one from which it is highly unlikely we will ever recover. That is his legacy.

[Captain Hate]

Porch, it would be nice if Rove could get over his Castle mancrush and chime in on O'Donnell's behalf.

Laura Ingraham and vet guest are skewering VFW Pac now.

[Danube of Thought]

Interesting methodology from someone named Henry Olsen forecasts a net gain of 52-57 house seats; 9-11 in the Senate. It's not exactly ironclad...

[MarkO]

There are so many things I find odious about Obama that I would like to believe also upset the country at large, but, these were opinions I held before BHO was elected. Obviously, others disagreed. Obama has behaved like a minor despot from the opening day and his vaunted temperament and intelligence have yet to appear. So, I tend to think, to quote an ugly man, "It's the economy, stupid."

[Rob Crawford]

Obama has behaved like a minor despot from the opening day

"Ready to rule, day one!"

[Porchlight]

It would, Cap'n. Though part of me subscribes to the conspiracy theory that Rove not liking her actually helps her in DE.

[Dave (in MA)]

splungey judges

narciso, you have a way with words. Now we need someone to work a machine that goes 'bing' into an anti-Obamacare ad.

[hit and run]

April 1, 2009 - Obama bows to Saudi King

[Jim Ryan]

It was the porkulus. That's when people started thinking, "Wait, what?" That's when the canoe put its nose over the edge of the falls.

[Danube of Thought]

Raz now has Toomey up by ten. Appears Specter's campaigning didn't do much good for Sestak.

When you watch that guy Jim Marshall's ad (the one TCollins linked), you have to wonder why the guy doesn't just switch parties. "I voted with the Republican leadership 65% of the time."

[Captain Hate]

That might be true, Porch; but I'd have to be really jaded to think that was what was driving his dismissive statements the night of her primary win.

I'm still stunned that anybody's intelligence would be questioned as a qualifier to occupy the former seat of the dumbest clod from Scranton.

[hit and run]

This may be a repeat. But my next comment posted before this one if so...

TC:
It's the Curse of the Churchill Bust.

3/6/2009 - Obama gives the PM of England DVDs he can't watch (and Michelle apparently ran down to the WH gift shop to pick up a couple of plastic replicas of Marine One for his kids)

4/1/2009 - Obama gives the Queen of England and ipod of his own speeches

[maryrose]

Obama's narciscism is what proved to be his undoing. His tasteless remark of "I Won" showed his true colors and character.I agree with Rick that overexposure killed him and that now he is virtually unwatchable.

[DebinNC]

Olsen's piece is an interesting and encouraging read, DoT. I hope the next few days finds other safe Dems like Barney Frank unexpectedly finding themselves under GOP fire.

[hit and run]

Jim Ryan:
It was the porkulus. That's when people started thinking, "Wait, what?" That's when the canoe put its nose over the edge of the falls.

Well.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/obama-on-jobs-report-these-numbers-demand-action/>Obama, Feb 6, 2009:

“It is inexcusable and irresponsible to get bogged down in distraction and delay while millions of Americans are being put out of work. It is time for Congress to act.”

And . . . just for the record, ARRA made it out of Congress on Feb 13, the same night Obama and the First Lady hosted a concert honoring Stevie Wonder [inexcusable distraction!] at the White House and one day before Obama and the First Lady had a wonderful Valentine's Day dinner in Chicago. It was four days before Obama signed the act into law [irresponsible delay!].

[Captain Hate]

Apologies if anybody's mentioned this but contrast how Chilean president Sebastian Pinera handled the mine disaster with Ear Leader's (who didn't get mentioned in the list of foreign leaders, including Netanyahu, who called with words of support) performance on the Gulf spill.

[Janet...off the couch & sportin Tea Party chic]

Sean Bielat: http://www.wgbh.org/greater_boston/index.cfm Debate #4 with Barney Frank will air tonight at 7:00 p.m. (EST) on WGBH-TV Boston. Host/Moderator: Emily Rooney

[Ignatz]

Two more really informative articles on the mortgage mess. This first one is useful and links to this one which is excellent.
If you're only going to read one make it the second. He has a superb grasp of what has gone on but more importantly understands what the consequences may be if this isn't resolved wisely, if it is even susceptible to wise resolution.
Well worth the time if you want to understand why this happened and what it may cause.

[Threadkiller]

--"I agree it is tough to pinpoint when the real decline began."--

Unless you are Hit. ;-)

[Janet...off the couch & sportin Tea Party chic]

Here is Wolf "Do you believe evolution is a myth" Blitzer showing off his mega brain on Jeopardy.

[RichatUF]

h&r-

And he finally got the memo that there is no such thing as a shovel ready project (except of course, burying the Democrat majority and the Blue Dog mythical beast, but otherwise).

[Clarice]

Thanks, Janet. I was trying to find that.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I remember doing the Time Warp.

[Clarice]

I loved when Obama insisted that Congress act immediately on--was it the Tarp bill?--and then went partying in Chicago without signing it into law.

[Clarice]

Ah, hit beat me..It was ARRA.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Yeah, except he mistakes 'deficit' for 'debt' in the second paragraph.

Having editing him, I can tell you that VDH usually sends in first draft, with a fair number of misspellings, mis-punctuations, and minor grammar errors; he's just smart enough that his first draft is usually pretty good. But an editor may not notice something like that on copy-editing.

To be fair, a lot of people equivocate "debt" and "deficit" in political speech.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Oh, and Jane, I agree with you -- it was the Gulf Oil spill that first made it clear to the general public that he wasn't infallible and all the issues weren't left over from Bush.

[Ignatz]

--Ah, hit beat me..It was ARRA.--

Hey teach, Hit was copying off of my paper at 10:57.

[maryrose]

Now that we know what a doofus Obama is what can we do about 2012? We absolutely must have the perfect candidate to counteract the atomatic 15% democrats have from favorable media coverage.

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

This reads like a trip down memory lane.
A scary but ultimately delicious trip.

Is the Frank debate on line Janet? If not I will try and remember to watch and report back. I think Bielat is surging and Barney will regret having so many debates in a row,

[Rob Crawford]

Now that we know what a doofus Obama is what can we do about 2012?

Stay on target... stay on target...

Let's get past the 2010 elections, first.