Ongoing 'West Wing' Fantasies

Obama gave an inaugural speech intended to rally his liberal base and annoy the rest of us, and the NY Times is still aquiver.

Their latest installment of West Wing is here:

Obama Speech Leaves G.O.P. Stark Choices

By JONATHAN WEISMAN

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s aggressive Inaugural Address on Monday presented Congressional Republicans with a stark choice over the next two years: accommodate the president’s agenda on immigration, guns, energy and social programs and hope to take the liberal edge off issues dictated by the White House, or dig in as the last bulwark against a re-elected Democratic president and accept the political risks of that hard-line stance.

Obama spoke and the world shifted. Just like it did with health care. And more stimulus.

Mickey Kaus takes the Times to task for their packaging of the debt-ceiling maneuvering. The Times is also amusingly hopeful with this:

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, vowed Tuesday to put on the floor any gun control measures passed by the Judiciary Committee, inching closer to another showdown with the House.

A showdown with the House? As the Times editors noted last week, Reid is inching closer towards a showdown with a slew of unsympathetic Red State Democratic Senators, himself included:

The gun lobby is focused within the Republican Party, but Democratic lawmakers have also been to blame for failing to pass meaningful gun regulations. Already, some Democrats who should be strongest on gun controls are showing familiar signs of weakness.

Senator Pat Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, will be needed as a leader in this effort but has been mumbling about the need to hold extensive hearings. And Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, was making ominous, cowardly remarks over the weekend about tailoring whatever the Senate does to what he thinks could get through a House dominated by the far-right fringe of the Republican Party. He has started to wriggle away from the idea of an assault weapons ban, for example.

And in other reporting the Times noted yet another plot twist in their West Wing episode - the Keystone pipeline is back and Obama needs to figure out how to duck it again:

WASHINGTON — The governor of Nebraska on Tuesday approved a revised route through the state for the Keystone XL pipeline, setting up a decision for President Obama that pipeline opponents say will be a crucial test of his intentions on climate change.

Uh huh. If we don't take the oil Canada will sell it to China, so the impact on global warming of turning away this pipeline will be roughly zero. Still, liberals progressives will howl, so what will Obama do (other than blame Boehner and Bush?). Maybe another dramatic speech? Stay tuned...

 

Comments

[derwill]

I'm shocked, shocked to hear that Hillary is lying, obfuscating, whining, and weeping her way through these hearings.

[NK]

shocking!!!

[sailor]

Clarice!! You get the quote of the day!

[narciso]

They really are plumbing new depths;

http://twitchy.com/2013/01/23/salon-piece-says-give-truthers-a-chance-twitterers-offer-up-other-salonpitches/

[BB Key]

what a joke Alan Grayson on Foreign Affairs .

[lyle]

I haven't watched any of this Hillary thing. Did I miss any live sex acts on her?

[narciso]

P.T, Barnum has nothing on the Clintons,

[lyle]

Could've omitted your last three words, BB Key.

[Captain Hate]

What the hell is wrong with people in Florida to elect human garbage like Grayson and toss Allen West out?

[Threadkiller]

Karen Bass gave it to her, Lyle.

[narciso]

Actually we could have done without the whole last sentence;

http://twitchy.com/2013/01/23/cbs-sharyl-attkisson-after-hillarys-disgraceful-benghazi-testimony-it-makes-a-difference/

[Frau Prost Gemeinschaft!]

Clarice @ 2:04 - we need more such deeds from the "stupid" party.

[Threadkiller]

RNC/DNC consent decree, CH.

[Captain Hate]

They should keep going until they get the answers now! Wear her ass out.

You're looking for spines in the wrong place. There's a party that would be absolutely blood-thirsty in this setting on offense; but they're playing defense.

[lyle]

Karen Bass, huh? You'll appreciate the reticence it takes to not make a vulgar joke here.

[Threadkiller]

Hil says the US was not allowed to have a security force there.

Will somebody please ask what the annex full of SEALs and other military was all about.

[Melinda Romanoff]

NK-

Go look into Tommy Moe's trip through the looking glass.

[lyle]

OK, maybe a slight one. I've seen some pix of SecPantsuit grinning from ear to ear. Was this during the, ahem, Karen Bass episode?

[Threadkiller]

I would appreciate the vulgar joke even more.

[Rob Crawford]

Panetta removes ban on women in front lines.

So long as they only get 7 round magazines, no problem.

[Rob Crawford]

I haven't watched any of this Hillary thing. Did I miss any live sex acts on her?

Is Huma even there?

[derwill]

Clarice, when they roll you out to the guillotine at least know that the useful idiots like Duda and Jor will be in the cart along with you. You see, when a tyranny is first getting established the ruling party is always in danger of being overtaken by other, competing fascist factions, who want all the plums and the dachas for themselves. Duda and Jor, having proved themselves to be idiotic enough to swallow any lie, easily susceptible to propaganda, and hence quite useful in a crude sort of way, make perfect tools for any counter-revolutionaries that might crop up, and so they too must be eliminated. Call it a preemptive strike, if you will.

Small consolation, I know, but at least you will have the satisfaction of laughing at them while they whine about how this wouldn't be happening to them if only their lord and savior, Obama, knew.

[maryrose]

What happened with Karen Bass? I left when Janet did.

[Clarice]

"Small consolation" indeed, derwill.

[Threadkiller]

Is Huma even there?

Hillary is spinning her fable
about as a leader, she is quite able
something in her tone
sounds much like a moan
I think Huma is under the table

[narciso]

It is such a joke, they didn't know this would happen, how about the 60 page LOC report, that named the groups involved, from open sources,

not to mention, how they weakened the regime of whom they suupposedly put in power, unless they prefer Bel Hadj in charge, which I can't absolutely
deny,

[lyle]

Wear her ass out.

Even if there were good evidence that the august body was up to this...have you seen the size of her ass??

[Clarice]

Hey--maybe with all that military experience she's now touting, we ought to offer a front rank in Panetta's new female commandos.

[Clarice]

Tere you go again, narciso. Start buying collaless shirts to make the executioners' job neater.

[Clarice]

*collarless*

[Danube of Thought iPad]

"Will somebody please ask what the annex full of SEALs and other military was all about."

There were no US military people there. Those two guys were former SEALs working for CIA.

[Captain Hate]

O/T This is hilarious even by Top Men standards: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/ncaa-falls-flat-face-announces-improper-conduct-miami-202219480--ncaaf.html

[narciso]

It takes skill to be this incompetnet, Captain,

[maryrose]

clarice:
Your 4:27 is another best comment of the day. You are on a roll.

[lyle]

Oh, fercryinoutloud. From CH's link:

University of Miami president Donna Shalala

A Clinton admin retread is the prez of UM? Why am I not surprised?

As if the NCAA could possibly be a bigger joke.

[Clarice]

Thanks.

[maryrose]

Hil looked pretty washed out at around 3:15. I still want to know if anything else interesting happened. Looks like her snotty comment is already making the internet rounds. Johnson has skewered her by making her lose her temper. Bill wouldn't have fallen for that. Obama gets miffed all the time. Amateurs.

[sailor]

maryrose, I still think Hillary has learned a lot from "Slick Willie." For the most part, she has been extremely slick except for that one time of losing her temper. It makes me sick looking at her arrogant smile.

[NK]

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE!!

[rse]

Maybe the Secretary could also decree that since women are unlikely to be able to carry 200 lbs over their shoulder for 1/2 mile that there will be no more fallen comrades in need of carrying?

Or to leave them so there will be equity in who is expected to carry someone?

[Clarice]

Shalala wa President of the Univ of WI and did a great job there. She is one of the few Dem hacks with some executive experience and talent.

[Threadkiller]

There were no US military people there. Those two guys were former SEALs working for CIA.

This is true. Questions should still be asked.

[fdcol63]

"Or to leave them so there will be equity in who is expected to carry someone?"

And equal numbers of casualties.

[derwill]

People died, Rice lied, and Hillary said, "What difference does it make?"

Today's Democrat Party in a nutshell.

[maryrose]

sailor:
I hate that snirky snile as well. And yes, she haslearned a great deal from Slick Willie. Karma is bound to catch up with both of them. Their pact with the devil can't last forever. Blacks will not turn out and vote for her like they did for Bammy. She's no soul sister no matter how many accents and drawls she puts on.

[maryrose]

derwill:
You summed that up nicely.

[narciso]

If Croly's legacy are the Children of the Corn,
what feral tribe would describe these folk, Captain'

http://theothermccain.com/2013/01/23/liberal-blogger-how-dare-you-smear-hillary-by-quoting-her-accurately/

[Captain Hate]

Shalala was the only member of Slick's cabinet to register outrage that he'd lied to them about Monica, to which the predator didn't react well.

[maryrose]

I am glad that Susan Rice had to pay a price for her deceit.
McCain was good today and I like Barasso and Jeff Flake. I thought Rubio might be a bit more forceful but then Hil would be crying that Senator Rubio was mean to me like she did during her Senate run with Rich Lazio. We all know how she loves to play the victim.

[lyle]

Shalala wa President of the Univ of WI and did a great job there. She is one of the few Dem hacks with some executive experience and talent.

I'll take your word for it. But ISTR, wasn't she the lead liar for Slick Willy's denials about the kneeling zaftig chick?

[lyle]

Oops. Should have refreshed. I was right that she was out in front. I'd forgotten, she believed his lies at first.

[NK]

"Shalala wa President of the Univ of WI and did a great job there." UH -- no!!: Shalala's legacy at UW was imposing speech codes and denying due process to men accused of sexual misconduct. that was par for the course for a 80-90s University president, but nothing that should be confused as a 'great job'. BTW her student speech codes were ruled unconstitutional in Fed Ct, and even the faculty dropped her faculty speech code. She did learn one thing from Bubba-- The MONEY, always get the money. In her 10 years at University of Miami she has been very successful laundering money from SA drug cartels and cowboy capitalists-- I mean she has been an effective fundraiser from ... ahem.. non-traditional sources.

[maryrose]

CH:
Yes I remember that and I respected her for her stance. Clintons hate to have the truth thrown up in their face. That's why today's day of reckoning was put off for so long. Hil is incompetent and now the whole world knows it. She is not presidential material. Her whole office Never saw the memos? Yeah right.

[Grist for the grinding narrative.]

Oh, so I find out @ Climate Audit that Kellerman won't release the full data set for his 1993 study finding that home gun ownership tripled the chance of residents being hurt or killed. Another researcher has speculated that Kellerman's full data set vindicates the safety of home gun possession.
===========

[narciso]

Seems like a pattern, there, kim, On the previous thread, I tracked down that the main source for the 40% factoid, was a long time Joyce Foundation recipient, just a coincidence,

[Clarice]

I remember Shalala being the only one of the gals in front of the WH who did not stand with Clinton's lie..The first to raise her "I believe" hand was the noxious Albright,

Shalala did go along with the unconstitutional speech codes00something I'm sure 99% of the school community was all for at the time. BUT she also demanded that the school recruit smarter athletes and educate better those they had recruited, and did this without antagonizing sports fan alums whose support was crucial.

[NK]

Shalala tsk, tsking Slick Willie for using Monica as a humidor?... NOPE NO CREDIT FOR THAT EITHER. Her whole career was built on women as victim narrative...she was presdent of Hunter College for god's sake, so she wasn't going to give up her career credibility for Willie the predator. Granted many women did just that... Shalala just had a higher regard for herself, that's all. Saying she wasn't as big a moron as Jane Fonda or Gloria Steinem isn't praise worthy.. but that's just me.

[Gus]

Has the Fat Assed piece of shit given you as an American citizen any answers???
What does "Accepting full responsibility" mean,

Good fuxing Gawd we are a stupid Country now.

[NK]

Go along with speech codes?... she was one of the high priestesses of 80s-90s 'every man's a predator' schtick. She tried to adopt guidelines that a man walking on UW campus couldn't follow a woman for more than X Feet, becasuse that would give the woman legitimate cause for apprehension she was about to be attacked. Plan dropped because having men darting across the street continuously to avoid following women was deemed... unworkable. Unworkable?.. it was downright Monty Python. Everyone's entitled to their opinion of "great job" but facts are facts.

[lyle]

Albright. What's the etymological opposite of an eponym?

[NK]

Gus: WHAT DIFFERENCE-- at this point-- DOES IT MAKE!!

Didn't you listen to lady Macbeth... I mean Clinton.

[narciso]

Well Lyndon Johnson said of Fulbright, half bright, I think that would be too charitable for Madelyn.

[NK]

OK-- there are at least 2 people in DC dumber than John effin' Kerry -- Biden and Albright.

[lyle]

ValJar tweeted this today:

If there's one thing we should all agree on, it's protecting women from violence. Congress needs to pass the Violence Against Women Act.

One of Panetta's generals today:

"The time has come to rescind the direct combat exclusion rule for women and eliminate all unnecessary gender-based barriers to service,"

American men are more violent than jihadis. QED.

[NK]

... or,... Secy Panetta and his Generals don't agree with ValJar.

[lyle]

At Hillary Clinton's Benghazi hearing at the House this afternoon, Democratic congressman Eliot Engel said that "Barack Obama was not responsible for the Benghazi attack any more than George W. Bush was responsible for the 9/11 attacks"

Of course. Remember all those cables from Egypt Bush chose to ignore? Some as early as late spring 2001? Me neither.

[Clarice]

NK, she wasn't a hypocrite on the Clinton-Lewinskymatter..that puts her head and shoulders ahead of the rest of his cabinet.

[Captain Hate]

If Croly's legacy are the Children of the Corn, what feral tribe would describe these folk, Captain'

I'm tapped out after the dial hits 'eleven', narc; and thought it was unpossible to go further.

[lyle]

Speaking only for myself, that's a pretty low bar, Clarice.

[NK]

Responsibility-- IMO Lady Clinton wasn't responsible for 4 assasinations .. the Jihadis were responsible. That said... why did lady Clinton lie like a ... well...a Clinton, about the video BS-- in front of flag draped coffins no less. While Hillary's not in the chain of command-- why didn't she demand the CINC use all military means to try to save her people, or at least punish the Jihadis that same night? Hillary didn't kill those 4 people, but she's been grossly negligent since then in failing to protect american interests and personnel, by lying about the video and then sitting on her fat ass and doing nothing since the Jihadis struck.

[NK]

Low bar indeed,... yes Shalala is light years smarter and has more self-respect than Albright.. I grant that.

[Clarice]

Low bar it might be, but no one else on that cabinet did make it.

[lyle]

BTW, I'm not too concerned about the distaff side in combat roles. The way we're going with Zero, I doubt we'll be fighting anyone, anywhere soon.

And like Barry and all his ever-so-smart advisors, I just know that the jihadis would treat a captured servicewoman with utter respect and within the bounds of humane and moral dimensions. Y'know, just like they treat all their women now.

[NK]

Speaking of low bars... while Lady Clinton isn't responsible for the 4 dead in Benghazy (IMO), she is getting lady Macbeth like blood on her hands as the cauality list builds in Algeria, and Mali, and wherever else AQ kills because Hillary and Barry have done nothing since they assasinated our Ambassador.

[Threadkiller (Get off your couch and leave the GOP!)]

Here is a link to tell the GOP what you think of the job they are doing.

http://growthopp.gop.com/

[Frau Feigling]

Yes, Shalala was the only one to speak out. Bent Willie barked once and she backed off.
WaPo 11 Sep 1998- Shalala's Remark Irks President":

Clinton invited the Cabinet to his private residence to apologize for the personal behavior that has led him into the worst crisis of his political career. Several members described a meeting that had echoes of an encounter session. With tears in his eyes at some points, Clinton pleaded for forgiveness and implored Cabinet members to give him their support.

Many volunteered their backing, and talked in starkly personal terms both about their feelings that the president had badly failed on a personal level but that he was on the path to redemption. But Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala offered what two participants described as an unexpectedly "harsh" assessment.

The participants said Shalala rejected what she took as Clinton's implication that policies and programs were more important than whether he provided moral leadership.

"And then she said something like, 'I can't believe that is what you're telling us, that is what you believe, that you don't have an obligation to provide moral leadership,'‚" one participant recalled.

"She said something like 'I don't care about the lying, but I'm appalled at the behavior.' And frankly, he [Clinton] whacked her, let her have it," this source said. The president told Shalala that if her logic had prevailed in 1960, Richard M. Nixon would have been elected president instead of John F. Kennedy, the source said. After that, no other Cabinet member had anything critical to say, the participant added.

LUN

[lyle]

I like your Lady Macbeth analogy, NK. My only question is who is King Macbeth in this tale?

[narciso]

I would suggest 'lord of the flies' for that crew of shrieking nazguls,

So who wins the 'Caligula's Horse' prize, for this hearing probably Chris Murphy since he's new, although I'll take suggestions,

[lyle]

'I don't care about the lying, but I'm appalled at the behavior.'

Yep. Demcrats NEVER care about the lying.

[Ralph L]

she wasn't a hypocrite on the Clinton-Lewinskymatter
She didn't resign in disgust, either. Did anyone?

[NK]

"...My only question is who is King Macbeth in this tale?"

Not to be too obvious but it's Bill... I just wonder what prophesy his death will fulfil. The Book of Revelations?

[Extraneus]

New Zealand still has relatively liberal gun laws, although they do have some sort of ban on "military style" weapons based on their appearance, but just in case you're considering relocating there...

NZ to eradicate pet cats? Purr-ish the thought!

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- Gareth Morgan has a simple dream: a New Zealand free of pet cats that threaten native birds. But the environmental advocate has triggered a claws-out backlash with his anti-feline campaign.

Morgan called on his countrymen Tuesday to make their current cat their last in order to save the nation's unique bird species. He set up a website, called Cats To Go, depicting a tiny kitten with red devil's horns. The opening line: "That little ball of fluff you own is a natural born killer."

He doesn't recommended people euthanize their current cats - "Not necessarily but that is an option" are the site's exact words - but rather neuter them and not replace them when they die. Morgan, an economist and well-known businessman, also suggests people keep cats indoors and that local governments make registration mandatory.

Morgan's campaign is not sitting well in a country that boasts one of the highest cat ownership rates in the world.

[narciso]

I have been noticing this, with the frequent appearance of David Cay Johnston among others;

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/01/forbes-is-a-case-study-on-how-conservatives-lose-institutions/#comments

And some other choice commentators that TM has
found on occasion,

[narciso]

So did AQ before the Embassies and the Cole bombing, wait that's not right.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/01/hillary-clinton-al-qaeda-in-africa-has-no-interest-in-attacking-our-homeland-video/

[maryrose]

lyle:
So true. But this goes beyond Benghazi. The fact that NO ONE is in custody or no one hel accountable only illustrates the half-assed State Dept.'s failure throughout these last 4 years. She has no decent legacy because she didn't get out of the door before the--it hit the fan. Bammy gets a pass because he lied just long enough to get himself re-elected,
Under Kerry I expect a dismal future and more failures in leadership. There was no reassurance today that A. They learned anything from their mistakes in judgement or
B. that any protocols are in place or will be reinforced.

[derwill]

I'm beginning to warm to idea that nothing makes a difference in this brave new world.

The amount of money the federal government would collect from me is like a teaspoonful of water to the oceans they plan on spending, so what difference does it make if I don't pay my taxes this year?

Since we all lie all the time anyway, what difference does it make if I lie on my background check?

[Frau Feigling]

she wasn't a hypocrite on the Clinton-Lewinskymatter
She didn't resign in disgust, either. Did anyone?

For me, this defined Shalala's character. Moral leadership lost out without a further argument.

[maryrose]

NK:
Yes of course it is Bill. All roads lead back to him. He who hired a slew of lawyers to prevent Bammy from pinning the blame for Benghazi on Hil.

[Clarice]

Who was the most recent cabinet member to publicly quit because of the immorality of the president who appointed him/her?

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I'm a proud registered INDEPENDENT.

Let me know how the INDEPENDENT primaries go.

[Danube of Thought iPad]

Didn't Reich also jump ship?

[lyle]

Ah, maryrose, you sweet innocent thing, you.

There was no reassurance today that A. They learned anything from their mistakes in judgement

Per these people, they don't need to learn anything because they already know it all and, more importantly, mistakes are for other people, not them.

[daddy]

It's good now and then to watch the Worlds Greatest Deliberative Body in action.

[NK]

"Let me know how the INDEPENDENT primaries go..." Very true, in Ct. Indies are disenfranchised in primaries by statute. Of course, as a one party State (on the federal level) a Repub primary vote is irrelevant as well.

[narciso]

He looks better compared to his successor, Alexis Herman, but he didn't resign;

She came under investigation for taking cash bribe and/or illegal campaign donations as an aide to Clinton from 1994 to 1996. She was the 5th cabinet officer be investigated by independent counsel. Bill Clinton testified on her behalf. In 2000 the investigation ended with no indictment. [5]

[narciso]

It's nice to know that he's gainfully employed,

http://proteinwisdom.com/?p=46858#comments

[NK]

Today-- good day for conservatives-- Hillary makes herself electorally toxic with "What difference does it make" BS. A good day-- unfortunately, like Lady Macbeth she'll be drenched in blood as AQ takes advantage of her and Barry's and Brennan's ridiculous worldview/incompetence which will allow AQ to murder hundreds? thousands? before the Obamaniacs are forced to take action. It's 1997 all over again, Americans will die again, just like in Khobar Towers, East African Embasseies, Cole and 9/11.

[Janet]

State Department Had No $$$ for Benghazi Security, Did Have $16 Mil for Kindles and $4.5 for Art

more stuff at the link. sickening.

[NK]

If you wonder why unions are strictly political entities now, and cronies for the Dems, rather than representing members' ecomnomic interests, Obamanomics is killing union employment, and with OPM running out, government union numbers are falling as well: http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2013/01/23/16664517-union-woes-continue-as-membership-shrank-again-in-2012?lite=

[Threadkiller (Get off your couch and leave the GOP!)]

"Let me know how the INDEPENDENT primaries go."

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_primaries_in_the_United_States#section_4