Undercuts?!?

The NY Times appraises the impact of the Veterans Administration debacle on Obama:

For a president who came to office hoping to restore public faith in government as a force for good in society, the mess at the Department of Veterans Affairs threatens to undercut his reputation for effectiveness.

"Threatens to undercut his reputation for effectiveness"? What about "Cements his reputation for ineffectiveness", which is really the theme of the rest of the piece:

But [the VA problem] also underscored the more fundamental danger to Mr. Obama as he once again finds himself on the defensive over issues of basic management of the federal government. 

...

And combined with the health care affair, it calls into question Mr. Obama’s mastery of the government he oversees.

“The conclusion that people are drawing now is that he’s inept and can’t govern his way out of a paper bag,” said Peter H. Wehner, a former adviser to President George W. Bush. “If this happened in isolation, that might be different. But the fact that this comes after so many other mistakes just makes it that much harder.”

For Mr. Obama, it raises again a comparison that vexes his aides: Mr. Bush’s mishandling of Hurricane Katrina, which did lasting damage to the public’s faith in his effectiveness. Once a perception sets in, it is immensely difficult for a president to change it, especially in the second term, as Mr. Bush found.

Obviously, Katrina didn't happen in a vacuum; by late 2005 the haphazard planning for the post-liberation of Iraq had been revealed as near-criminal. I think Katrina, like the VA, reinforced rather than created an image of ineptitude (Of course, I am setting aside the fact that the VA was in Obama's hands while Katrina required a combined response from Bush, a Democratic governor, and a Democratic mayor.)

Comments

[Exasperated]

(first) Are you saying that Mr. Obama is incompetent?

[rse]

That NYT language about "force for good in society" is straight out of the UN and OECD documents of this Great Transition we are being quietly pushed towards.

According to the 1999 book out of UK I looked at last night a Pres Gore intended to inauguarate a Global Marshall Plan to diminish the differences between the developed and developing worlds.

Now we have the VA and reality to show this vision is all a pipe dream, but it's still being gung-ho pursued anyway. No wonder so many fed agencies need SWAT teams. We are just passengers subsidizing these visions of omnipotent governments aligned with cronyistic Big Business and NGOs. We just pay for it all.

[Extraneus]

How about: Katrina wasn't mismanaged at all, except by Nagin and Blanco; it was a media collection of lies from the get-go.

Btw, Nagin was convicted in February of

bribery, fraud and money-laundering during his two terms as mayor of New Orleans from 2002 to 2010.

http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/021314-690049-nagin-graft-conviction-lends-credence-to-pre-katrina-mismanagement.htm

[Exasperated]

Are you sating that Mr. Obama doesn't have any leadership skills, or any managerial skills, much less any qualifications whatsoever to be President of the United States?

[Exasperated]

saying

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

"Threatens to undercut his reputation for effectiveness"? What about "Cements his reputation for ineffectiveness",

Hah! Isn't that the truth!

[henry]

Judge Randa smacks the DAs again. He responded to the settlement rumors and DA request for clarification with " you know the rules," and instructed them to provide all 29 subjects of the John Doe plus anyone subpoenaed with a copy of his injunction describing their rights. The Judge must have experience dealing with two year olds.

[narciso]

Despite Powell's cracker barrel remark, Iraq had been broken by 35 years of Baathism, by an ever smaller clique, the sectarian majority, disenfranchised by a previous generation, includingthe era of the Golden Square, seriously. State Department's contribution, like that represented by Bodine and Eagleton, was a septuaginarian like Pachachi

By contrast 'smart power' like Hillary is selling in Bloomfield Co, has Libya on it's fourth PM, ala Vietnam's revolving colonels, with General Haftervolunteering for the Al Asisi role,

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

And AMEN to this! -

How about: Katrina wasn't mismanaged at all, except by Nagin and Blanco; it was a media collection of lies from the get-go.

It was a media feeding frenzy of lies & blaming Bush for a HURRICANE.
The whining & angst were unwatchable.

The best consequence of Katrina was the stories from people that moved to other areas of the U.S. & finally realized what squalor & incompetence they'd settled for for decades in NO.

[narciso]

Funny, how Mississippi which was hit dead on, Pass Christian, was washed away, recovered faster than
the affected areas of Louisiana, due to Barbour's leadership, he may be on the wrong side now;

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/05/30/palin-campaigns-for-mcdaniel/9775903/

2005, was also when Zarquawi was waging war against the Shia, much like his brethren are doing against the Alawites in Syria, 'if only we didn't have troops there, this wouldn't be happening,'

[Happy, happy, joy, joy Ignatz]

Surprised TM links to his own 2007 comment with this jewel in it;

Linking energy conservation to national security has been a Tom Friedman theme, but it still makes sense.

As a beneficiary victim of state [CA] planned energy conservation can I just say the market does just fine by itself in conserving energy and does even better in supplying it, as the seven years since that comment prove.

And the only thing criminal about the post-liberation of Iraq was that we hung around afterward at all when we could have used those years, that effort and the hundreds of billions of dollars to undermine and destroy the mullahs in Iran.

[Miss Marple]

I fail to see how Nagin and Blanco REFUSING to take steps to evacuate even when Bush got on the phone and damn near begged them, even getting the head of NOAA to call them, can be called HIS managerial incompetence.

AND Blanco was on a conference call with democrats in DC that same night.

I also do not understand how 15 years of using levee repair money to build casinos by the local officials has anything to do with Bush's managerial competence.

What I DO see is how well the democrats, in conjunction with members of the media, delayed action and created a complete narrative on how the Katrina debacle was all Bush's fault.

I often wonder if they pulled out the playbook on blaing Bush when another terrorist attack happened and used it for the hurricane instead. (I remember well how Kerry was going on and on about how we needed to beef up security at the ports. I wondered if there had been a danger which he knew about but which was thwarted, depriving the dems of a way to attack Bush so they used the hurricane instead.)

I absolutely refuse to blame Bush for Katrina, and that is all I have to say about that.

[Miss Marple]

I had better go out and water before the sun gets too high.

Back in a bit.

[centralcal]

I absolutely refuse to blame Bush for Katrina, and that is all I have to say about that.

I agree!

[narciso]

'If only we didn't have forces in Syria,'

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/05/american-suicide-bomber-in-syria-idd-moner-mohammad-abusalha-was-from-florida/

the Carlos Slim piece, that preceded this, mentions Abu Muhajir 'Son of the Emigrant' with a non sequitor, when asked if jihadists there, would commit terrorism here 'there are still troops in Afghanistan,' recall many of AQ's lower and middle level players cut their teeth in the Balkans, and the Caucasus, long before we had a single serviceman in SouthWest Asia,

[Jane]

How the IRS scandal may have been broken open.

Let's hope

The best consequence of Katrina

I read this week that the last public school in NO was replaced by a Charter school this week - and now that they are all Charter schools the performance is amazing. Altho that is probably the consequence of Jindhal more than Katrina.

(I could be all wet, but that's what I recall.)

[Extraneus]

If only Bush had said something like this in 1999, the comparison would be apt:

After seven years of an Administration that has stretched our hurricane defenses to the breaking point, ignored deplorable conditions at some FEMA locations, and neglected the planning and preparation necessary to prevent dangerous storms, the citizens of New Orleans deserve a President who will protect them from hurricanes, not just when it’s easy or convenient, but every hour of every day for the next four years.

http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/378322/obama-2007-time-end-deplorable-conditions-some-va-hospitals-jim-geraghty

[Extraneus]

Things Bush might have said, but didn't.

After seven years of an Administration that has stretched our military hurricane defenses to the breaking point, ignored deplorable conditions at some VA hospitals FEMA locations, and neglected the planning and preparation necessary to care for our returning heroes prevent dangerous storms, America’s veterans the citizens of New Orleans deserve a President who will fight for them protect them from hurricanes, not just when it’s easy or convenient, but every hour of every day for the next four years.

[narciso]

You want a Katrina parallel to the VA, even though they were not under as great a epic event;

http://www.amazon.com/Five-Days-Memorial-Storm-Ravaged-Hospital/dp/0307718964

[matt]

Undercutting President "I just read about it in the newspaper"? Impossible.

[narciso]

this was Wehner's counterpart, before Katrina,

http://www.theneweditor.com/index.php?/archives/265-Paul-Begala-Republicans-Want-to-Kill-Us.html

this suggests Miss Marple was on target, with her suspicion, there was no benefit of the doubt here,
criminal negligence was the default notion,

[Soylent Red]

It's almost as if the Nation elected (twice!) a duplicitous and inexperienced low-level Marxist agitator committed to policies and thinking that have been proven to be failures over the course of the last century, strictly because of identity politics and a manufactured media narrative.

Clearly the way to bounce back from this mistake is to elect another duplicitous and inexperienced low-level Marxist agitator committed to policies and thinking that have been proven to be failures over the course of the last century, strictly because of identity politics and a manufactured media narrative.

[suburban gal]

Anyone notice the swift response of Pres. Obama to the flood that ravaged Nashville? And no peeps from the so-concerned media.

[When will the medja become self-aware?]

There's plenty of evidence for impeachment.

[Captain Hate]

Nashville rebuilt itself with no help from the feds; kudos to them. Likewise there was very little MFM coverage of the Kentucky ice storms.

[NKonIPad]

Tomm is hustling conventional and false media wisdom here. GWB was guilty of terrible politics for about 48 hours beforehe effectively federalized the rescue and relief efforts to get the grossly incompetent, orworse, governorand mayor out of theway. The rest was rabid media media attacks. Oh and during the first 48 hours GWB was effectively managing the response by authorizing USN air assets to assist the USCG in rescues, hey Tommie do yourself a favor and Google 'Katrina helo rescues' a staggering numberof lives were saved by GWB skirting posse commitatus. Severely dissapointed by this intellectually lazy and afactual TomM post. Sorry to be so blunt.

[Exasperated]

Brennan, Rice, Panetta, Hagel, Kerry, Jarrett, Biden, Clinton, Holder and Obama: The Gang Who Couldn't
Shoot Straight. Don't forget; they're all in it together.

[NKonIPad]

Oh, theNYT calls Obummer incompetent? RACIST!

[Miss Marple]

By the way, although the Ag Department is currently pushing high beef prices are due to the drought, does anyone remember the EARLY RAPID ONSET BLIZZARD LAST FALL in South Dakota that killed tens of thousands of cattle? They froze to death in the pastures.

Sort of like how those wooly mammoths are discovered frozen to death in glaciers.

And there was no disaster declaration for THAT, either.

[narciso]

Wehner is a fool, he infers good will, when malfeasance is clearly the operating inperative,

[Extraneus]

If only Bush hadn't raped those poor starving women in the Colosseum.

[narciso]

that and the snipers, the Times Picayune got a Pulitzer for that carp, Shepp acted like McCoy
when he got an overdose of that sedative

[Miss Marple]

Who can forget Shep and Geraldo, CRYING on that damn bridge, BEGGING for people to come help?

I always wanted to ask why THEY didn't help since obviously they had been brought in either by boat or by helicopter.

[Miss Marple]

I will tell you guys something about Katrina. I was on Free Republic at that time and thee was a gal who did live-time coverage of hurricanes. People linked articles and news bulletins and reports from people there.

I know for a FACT that Blanco and Nagin spoke to people in DC in democrat ranks prior to her refusing to declare an emergency. I am convinced she was told not to do so by whoever was pulling the strings in DC.

NOTHING gets me more infuriated than this hurricane thing, because it is all dem and media lies.

[Extraneus]

Yeah, I forgot about those. As the rescuers rappelled from helicopters, the snipers picked them off for target practice. Bastards.

[narciso]

I've tried to burn that memory out of my mind, Miss Marple, as you see from that New Editor link, they were already primed to slatter W for anything he did, had he commandeered the buses, it would have been painted as forcing the vulnerable out at gunpoint,

[Miss Marple]

Absolutely, narciso.

I am so disappointed that people accept the narrative of KNOWN LIARS, the press and the democrats.

[Extraneus]

You wonder how a less passive president would have done in Bush's place. He never defended himself against even the most egregious lies.

[Captain Hate]

Shemp should've been fired for his Katrina manopause. He must have pictures of Ailes going into an orphanage with Sandusky.

[TexasIsHeaven]

Okay, I am profoundly depressed about our future. We still have two more years of this fool in the oval office. He is everywhere prattling on about how climate change and the weather is going to destroy us all. We are in serious trouble here folks.

Our government is seriously out of control. The EPA, IRS, VA, Dept of Education, Forest Dept., Highway Dept, Railroad Commissioners, all are arming their own little para-military units and buying tons of ammo so they can attack - guess who - us.

We have worked ourselves to the bone all our lives. Some years, and for a number of years, we worked two jobs so that by the time we retired, our vehicles, the house, the land was paid for, free and clear. We have done that. We have minimal credit card debt, less than 500. And the government could take it all if they so desired and put us in their re-education camps.

I do not know what is to become of us. We have lost our way in this country. And with the exception of a few people here and there, no one seems to care. People in this country do not realize we are danger of loosing everything we have worked for and fought for over the last 200 years. Matter of fact, most of the people who do care are to be found here - but we are so few and there are so many of them.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Last thread, TK:
Has Hit reported on his finger issues?

There has been no change in the finger's status.

Call it quo.

[Miss Marple]

Also, I have a word to say about Newt Gingrich.

After all of this happened, he was on Fox saying that what Bush should do is "initiate a Marshall Plan for the Gulf Coast."` (That would, of course, have been massive amounts of federal money for rebuilding.)

About 10 months later, after Congress had been stampeded into pouring all sorts of money into the area, PARTICULARLY New Orleans, and the stories of corruption and thievery and fraud came out (Remember the gift cards that were used to buy designer purses and to gamble at casinos?) there he was on Fox again, and was asked about all of this wasted money. You know what he said?

"This is what you get when the federal government does this instead of the private sector."

As God is my witness, I almost through a book through the TV.

The only consistency in those two statements, which were diametrically opposed to each other, is that in both cases his position got him air time to trash President Bush.

So he is another on my list of opportunists, no matter how good he is in debates.

[Dublindave 2016]

"The NY Times appraises the impact of the Veterans Administration debacle on Obama.."

But...but..I thought this was about getting the Vets better care.....I thought....this was about the Vets......not....getting Obama......the vets.......it's about the Vets right?

What needs to happen is the largest expansion of a Government department in at least 100 years. I'm talking about exploding the Federal government in a way that's never been done and throwing a trillion plus tax dollars at the problem AND then,maybe then we can begin to fix this.

And what's great is we get to do it with the help of the Republican party.

[narciso]

Yes, Newt has a misfire, of course Hastert, in his great wisdom designed the relief package,

the VA's budget is up 175% while the growth in claims was 38% for the same 4 year period, how could they not get this done, btw the claims were not among the new generation of vets

[narciso]

It really is striking, the hypocrisy;

http://patterico.com/2014/05/30/obamas-hypocrisy-in-his-2009-speech-to-veterans-the-hypocrisy-youve-heard-about-and-the-hypocrisy-you-havent/

[Jeff Dobbs]

What needs to happen is

You're overthinking it.

I say we elect Barack Obama president of the United States and all our problems will be solved.

And if that doesn't work, we re-elect him.

[Jeff Dobbs]

If Obama had said, "if you like your VA wait list you can keep your VA wait list, period" it may well have been the first true statement of his public life.

[Old Lurker]

Cheer up, Texas. I figure if it comes to it, Texas will take us all in and reject the rest of the states on the basis of failure to enforce the Constitution.

[narciso]

My fishwrap takes on the earlier story;

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/05/30/4147111/american-suicide-bomber-in-syria.html

CAIR spun much the same story as the Nusra Front spokesman, coincidence much?

[Miss Marple]

Texas, do not get depressed. I am sure you have ancestors who toughed things out to survive and eventually prosper. Mine survived the Uprising and the Scottish Clearances, emigrated, and survived the Civil War, 2 World Wars, the Depression, and various and sundry personal setbacks.

We will survive, and so will our nation.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

I don't think many of us were happy about voting for Noot as a perfect anybody-but-Romney candidate, because of actions like this Gulf coast nonsense; but he was the least flawed imo.

[narciso]

My fishwrap hasn't even bothered with an editorial on the VA fustercluck all week, that's how bad it is,

I like to work out my anger, analytically, Mississippi was hit directly yet they persevered,
jihadists from South Florida, seems to make it to the Levant, even without a driving military intervention,

McDaniel, is being singed, for some all too frank comments he made while Shemp had dialed to eleven,

[Miss Marple]

Captain Hate, the thing about Newt is that I actually think Romney was more dependable.

Romney might not be the more conservative on certain issues, but you knew where Romney stood.

Newt is easily stampeded into oddball positions, like sitting on that couch with Nancy Pelosi. Plus he really is fond of big government solutions like his suggestion about the Gulf Coast; he's a big fan of Franklin Roosevelt.

Plus he is careless in his personal life, and it has been used against him.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Why does Obama hate veterans?

A recent report from the Center for Investigative Reporting found that since President Obama took office, the number of veterans waiting more than a year for their benefits jumped from 11,000 in 2009 to 245,000 this past December. That’s a more than 2,000 percent increase.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Romney wasn't up to combatting the gutter tactics of the JEF and his minions. I was worried about that from day one.

[Miss Marple]

Yes, but I don't know that Newt would have done so if he won the nomination. He isn't dependable that way (Pelosi-couch, for example).

Well, water over the dam, nothing to be done about it now.

[Danube on iPad]

Newt treated the campaign as an opportunity to hawk his book.

[TexasIsHeaven]

I don't get depressed often - mos of the time I just get mad and frustrated. We vote these people in office to do a job - to run the government, to pay the bills, to defend this country. And they cannot seem to be able to do the simplest things anymore. You know damn good and well many in Congress and various government depts have known what was going on at the VA and just chose to look the other way.
It is maddening - and Hells Bells - some of the vets were probably their own relatives.

We just need to clean house in Washington. Send them all packing and start over.

[Exasperated]

11:42 AM - How dare they? The nerve of those old timers, applying for benefits. I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you!

[Old Lurker]

Sadly we need to clean out DC and most state houses too. Take my county thugs while you are at it.

[stan]

Hmmmmm, so Bush ran in 2000 on a claim to clean up all the rampant problems with FEMA? Gee, I don't remember that.

Does anyone have a source for that?

[Jeff Dobbs]

CH:
Romney wasn't up to combatting the gutter tactics of the JEF and his minions. I was worried about that from day one.

But he torched his R opponents in the SC primary, including Gingrich.

I don't think it was a character flaw as much as it was a deliberate electoral strategy.

Rick was warning us all through the election that Romney's strategy was the Goldilocks Optimum.

If Romney had been surrounded by strategists and consultants who had told him he needed to get in the gutter to beat Obama, he would have gotten in the gutter.

If he had gotten in the gutter, would he have won?

We can certainly look backwards and say, "it couldn't have been worse" but I look askance at anyone who says they know it would have made the difference.

[Captain Hate on the iPad]

Welp he had a perfect opportunity to put the JEF on the defensive when Hilary Rosen made her disgusting comments about Ann's illness but Sir Galahad Willard let his wife fend for herself. Which wasn't a bad technique if combined with him mentioning Rosen's attack at every opportunity so her name was as well known as Mooch's and she became a campaign liability. Alas, Mitt decided to remain above it all.

He was real good at gaming this eternal campaign garbage we're stuck with because Prince Reebus hasn't done a single thing to dismantle it.

[narciso]

He doesn't hire that type of consultant, he picked Madden who's known mainly for 'removing all doubt'
when it came to the Huntress, instead of withholding the facts, Fehrnstrom, who got an attaboy in GQ, (the folks that had Huntsman in their trapperkeeper) for pile driving Newt, and
Jones who wrote the CYA memo for Norma Desmond and Dr, Evil, the only ones who had a bit of fight were Sununu and his Wife, a genteel Mama Grizzly, because lord knows the campaign wouldn't defend
her,

In the last few weeks, Mittens has stepped on the message, by pushing for Minimum wage, and
most recently amnesty,

[Rick B]

"If he had gotten in the gutter, would he have won?"

Hit,

I doubt it. His Fnorkstink was too strong and Obama's innate lack of intelligence coupled with total incompetence had not manifested itself with sufficient clarity.

I don't believe the Fnorks understand as yet just how repulsive Fnorkstink is to the electorate in Free States. They might want to take a look at the results for Dewhurst in Texas.

[narciso]

the rest of the story;

http://pibillwarner.wordpress.com/2014/05/30/syria-suicide-truck-bomber-was-ft-pierce-fl-man-moner-abusalha-inspired-by-online-al-qaeda-websites-and-orlando-mosque/

like Abdullah Mujahir, and Nidal Hassan, this doesn't happen in a vaccuum

[Captain Hate on the iPad]

The GOPe is top loaded with consultants determined to eradicate the memory of Reagan, who ran the best campaign of the last century.

[Exasperated]

Romney is a putz's putz (face it), and Obama is a putz's putz, too. Oh whoas me, whoas me, what are we to do?

[MarkO]

There were many who thought "It was the economy, Stupid."

It seemed that nothing else mattered except the notion of managerial competence. Of course, had the truth of Benghazi come out, it would have been different. Very different.

That's why it matters so much. It was election fraud.

[narciso]

Hope this deal is worth it, trading for five Taliban commanders,

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/05/31/bowe-bergdahl-the-only-american-soldier-held-prisoner-in-afghanistan-has-been-freed/

[[email protected]]

Bergdhal has been released by the Taliban. Coming home.

[[email protected]]

the comparison to and narrative about Katrina makes my teeth itch. makes my eye twitch too.

other ... wouldn't this be the time to dust of "the almost hero of altgeld gardens". Stunning that a guy who couldn't get the asbestos out of a Chicago slum can't keep tabs on an 84 year old bureaucracy with 312 thousand employees and 79 billion dollar budget.

[Exasperated]

Taliban commanders? Or al-Qaeda commanders?

[Danube on iPad]

I think Romney would have won had it not been for Hurricane zsandy and the Christie-Obama lovefest. He was leading up until then, and a seven-point swing in the polls ensued very quickly.

He'd have won if the Obamacare rollout occurred before the election.

What difference, at this point, does it make

[Jeff Dobbs]

Look, if Obama . . . OBAMA! . . . can't fix a problem as straightforward as providing timely and effective healthcare for veterans, I think it's time to question whether the federal government should be involved in all the things in which it is involved.

Just imagine what would happen if a mere mortal were in charge of such a thing.

::shudders::

Obama . . . OBAMA! . . . can't fix it and he walks on water.

If Obama . . . OBAMA! . . . can't fix it, surely no one can.

The next president won't be Obama . . . OBAMA!

We have to make sure he or she is given less responsibility, less money, less power.

We were given the most perfect person in the world to run the federal government . . . and he has failed. But he was perfect, he was Obama . . . OBAMA! . . . so don't blame him.

It's time to question government.

Don't h8 the playa, h8 the game.

[pagar]

Only known POW released after Obama regime gave them five detainees.

"Bergdahl released"

http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=49375

[[email protected]]

MarkO-

i doubt that it was "managerial competence" that was the deciding factor or that Benghazi, if all the facts came out, would have made a difference. The Department of Energy loan scandals, choked in Copenhagen twice-the environment and the Olympics(leaving aside losing the prestige of his office on such a grubby issue). Obama's election machine had the effective strategy of making sure the millions who weren't going to vote for him for a second term wouldn't vote at all least they be called racist.

[Jeff Dobbs]

While we're revisiting the 2012 election because apparently we're masochists, here's a story from this week:

“Reading Rainbow” is just a word for stuff we do together, without the government

Burton, the longtime host of “Reading Rainbow,” a PBS TV show that ran from 1983-2006, began a Kickstarter campaign Wednesday to fund a new web-based version of the show. He asked for $1 million. He’s already made that and more.

Obama successfully parlayed Romney's pledge to cut spending on public television into a War on Big Bird and the LIVs ate it up.

Romney could have said X instead of Y and made scowls instead of smiley faces, and those LIVs wouldn't have noticed one bit.

And if we continue, next up will be a soliloquy on bayonets and horses.

[Jeff Dobbs]

rich:
Obama's election machine had the effective strategy of making sure the millions who weren't going to vote for him for a second term wouldn't vote at all

^
|
|
That is very well put.

[narciso]

Onward to the blanc mange

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gop-candidates-show-signs-of-retreat-on-full-obamacare-repeal-as-midterms-approach/2014/05/30/3c175b30-e5ab-11e3-8f90-73e071f3d637_story.html?tid=pm_pop

I know it's full of category error, but it does show how we will bobble the ball, and hope the batter doesn't show up

[Jack is Back!]

IMHO,

Romney lost the election by letting Cindy Crowley abet the lies and mis-statements by Obama in re the use of the word terrorist in his statement in the rose garden after Benghazi. By allowing Obama and Crowley to effectively end the debate on Benghazi without even a whimper he showed his lack of cajones in dealing with the adversary. He was tough with Rick Perry, Santorum and Bachman but coudln't stand up to Obama even when the lie was obvious and an effective response available.

I will never forget or forgive him for giving away his chance to lead us out of this miserable era or an error.

[[email protected]]

thanks hit.

however re-reading MarkO's comment and DoT's addition comment about Hurricane Sandy are making me rethink the comment.

[AliceH]

I still like, admire, and respect Romney. I ascribe most (not all) the objections beyond the Disagree-on-his-position ones to his political clumsiness. Not being a smooth public politician, frankly, makes me like him even more even while admitting his his lacking that skill makes it nigh impossible to win a campaign. I'm often wrong about these things, though. It's one reason I've decided not to bother voting in primaries anymore. Those who "know" the right answer can make their picks - I'll go along in the general.

[narciso]

the problem is apriori, who let Matthews, King, et al, moderate the primary debates, then Crowley,
Raddatz (who was raving about Hillary fighting back yesterday) and Schaeffer for the playoffs

[Jack is Back!]

Brad Thor tweets in re Bergdahl relese: "Why now?" Good question. I think the answer is in this 2012 Rolling Stones article by Michael Hastings

A nugget or two:

"Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl arrived in Afghanistan at the worst possible moment, just as President Barack Obama had ordered the first troop surge in the spring of 2009. Rather than withdraw from a disastrous and increasingly deadly war started by his predecessor, the new commander in chief had decided to escalate the conflict, tripling the number of troops to 100,000 and employing a counterinsurgency strategy that had yet to demonstrate any measurable success. To many on Obama's staff, who had been studying Lessons in Disaster, a book about America's failure in Vietnam, the catastrophe to come seemed almost preordained. "My God," his deputy national security adviser Tom Don­ilon said at the time. "What are we getting this guy into?" Over the next three years, 13,000 Americans would be killed or wounded in Afghanistan – more than during the previous eight years of war under George W. Bush."

"On May 1st, in a surprise visit to Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, President Obama announced that the United States will now pursue "a negotiated peace" with the Taliban. That peace is likely to include a prisoner swap – or a "confidence-building measure," as U.S. officials working on the negotiations call it – that could finally end the longest war in America's history. Bowe is the one prisoner the Taliban have to trade. "It could be a huge win if Obama could bring him home," says a senior administration official familiar with the negotiations. "Especially in an election year, if it's handled properly.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Ailce:
Not being a smooth public politician, frankly, makes me like him even more even while admitting his his lacking that skill makes it nigh impossible to win a campaign.

I've long since given up the hope that the person I would want to govern could ever win a national election.

Imagine Coolidge running in 2016. He'd get slaughtered from both the left and the right.

[narciso]

I suppose Hollandaise or the German leader would say much the same,

http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=nl&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.standaard.be%2Fcnt%2Fdmf20140531_01125326

why do they have the loathsome Onkelinx anywhere in the front bench,

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

Jane's 9:42 link is worth reading. I added this comment:

An observation:

Judge Brown Jackson was appointed by President Obama and assumed her seat on the federal bench in March 2013. She is a 43 year old graduate of Harvard LS and a former clerk to three District Court judges and Justice Breyer. According to her Wiki bio, she also was a lawyer with megafirm Morrison and Foerster.

IMO, those credentials and the tightness of the reasoning in her opinion underscore the importance of this decision. It should send shockwaves throughout the IRS and even the White House because it was a complete smack down of the Government's position.

Cleta Mitchell should be able to run with this case in the True The Vote suit.

[AliceH]

--I've long since given up the hope that the person I would want to govern could ever win a national election.--

Me, too.

I'd say we've turned elections into American Idol Or Survivor, with people calling in to vote "Most Popular", or rewarding those who scheme the most deviously among their competitors... but I've never watched either show, so I'd just be guessing that's what's happening.

[daddy]

Good Morning!

Momma just fired up the webcam for her favorite dog walk location (the power line trail abeam Flattop) and it looks like Mother Nature clobbered us with 3 or 4 inches of snow last night: Flattop webcam

Not so unusual I suppose, but she just headed out with the dogs and told me if she doesn't make it back to start rescue ops up there.

I blame our Indonesian Volcano for this sudden Global Cooling. Brrrrrrr.

[Jack is Back!]

The Taliban Five at Guantanamo

Negotiating with terrorists for an electoral victory gives you these 5 master thugs and murderers for one Idaho farm boy. These guys will be back on the 'stan faster than Bergdahl is back picking potatoes.

[narciso]

I remembered they were nasty pieces of work but the details escaped me;

Speaking of which'

http://libertyunyielding.com/2014/05/30/flashback-hillary-clinton-2008-said-highest-obligation-president-taking-care-veterans/

[Bori]

There were several factors in Romney's loss. As Rich stated the Obama machine worked well to discourage voters from voting.

I also think that they also did a good job of making sure that Romney did not attack Obama as hard. Race was an issue but if anyone else remembers there was a movement started at the same time about bullying.

The object was to portray Romney as a bully very effectively negating any attacks of Obama a just bullying. As a black man Obama could never be seen as a bully, but Romney on the other hand could.

The stories about how Romney during his tenure as CEO was closing companies, bully. The story about his cutting the hair of another student in college, bully.

After the first debate, one of the complaints was that Romney tried to bully the cerebral, compassionate Obama.

I expect some more of that if Hillary or Ms. Cherokee run, to blunt any attack on them.

[Steve]

Breaking! American POW freed from captivity in Afghanistan

http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2014/05/breaking-american-pow-freed-from.html

[Jane]

1. I agree with Texas

2. I think the election was stolen

Bergdhal has been released by the Taliban. Coming home.

3. That is wonderful news. Altho we could have had him out years ago if we had a CIC worth anything. Now on to the bragging.

Cleta Mitchell should be able to run with this case in the True The Vote suit.

She was on the last NRO cruise and will also be on this one. It will be fun to hear about it. I think the case is in front of Reggie Walton who according to her takes his sweet time.

[pagar]

I would not be surprised to learn that

"Judge Brown Jackson was appointed by President Obama "

Judge Brown has gotten a long phone call in the past few days

[Soylent Red]

The only consistency in those two statements, which were diametrically opposed to each other, is that in both cases his position got him air time to trash President Bush.

There are several truths I have come to realize, of late:

1. There is no Republican or Democrat inside Washington, DC. There is only the Ruling Class and those who make their living paying attention to the Ruling Class. Guiding principles and core values are for people who do not get their daily bread from politics.

2. The MSM "News" Channels, to include Fox, are programmed in such a way as to feed their viewerships the current Outrage of the Day, or Real Life Drama, slanted to support a favored Narrative. News Channel talking heads are not giving you information any more than Jay Carney does.

3. In my lifetime, the 24-hour news cycle, and watering down of core principles has focused a growing percentage of the national consciousness on the comings and goings and doings of the Ruling Class. The hoi poloi may not understand properly what is going on (see point two), but by God they know something important is happening up there.

4. All of the above points tend to solidify and expand the scope and power of the Ruling Class. These mouthbreathing idiots we send to do OUR BIDDING, on OUR DIME, have turned themselves into the Most Important People In The World. Celebrity Politicians with their own channels, just like J-Lo or Bennifer on E! or Lebron James on ESPN.

When I contemplate what we have lost in just two generations, moreso since Wilson, I just get depressed. And redouble my efforts to build and outfit Stately Soylent Manor.

[daddy]

CBS Cancels 'ARSENIO HALL'...

Racists.

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

We'll know soon enough if she reverses herself, but that will take so many serious legal contortions that it she will be seen forever after as a pretzel.

[Soylent Red]

Bowe is the one prisoner the Taliban have to trade. "It could be a huge win if Obama could bring him home," says a senior administration official familiar with the negotiations. "Especially in an election year, if it's handled properly.

Win for who? We just provided powerful positive reinforcement for hostage taking. Welcome back to Lebanon ca 1983.

BTW, if Obama had the sense it takes to piss a hole in the snow, he'd approach Romney about running the VA. Think about how fast that would shore up his bi-partisan, pragmatic creds, while taking Benghazi/IRS/NSA/Obamacare and whatever this week's scandal will be out of the news cycle. And I'll bet you Romney would do it.

But then if Obama had the sense it takes to piss a hole in the snow, he'd just quit. So...