Obama

The video of the ceremony won't stream so above is Shadi Sadr's Speech.

Secretary Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted the annual International Women of Courage Awards at the Department of State, which was broadcasted live this afternoon.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/barack-obama-still-smoking-well-youd-be-to

Thank you once again Mediaite

by Drew Grant | 11:49 am, February 28th, 2010

The White House released the official report of Barack Obama’s medical exam this morning, giving the president his first clean bill of health since he went into office. So what did we learn from our look inside the body of our leader today?

• He might be a cyborg. Who has 20/20 vision at age 48?

• He has no past surgical history. None. Whatsoever. Again, cyborg.

• His efforts to quit smoking continue with “a self-use” “nicotine replacement therapy.” Our cultural discouragement on smokers might actually hurt Obama’s ratings more than the fact that he may be a terminator from the future with no history of eyesight problems or any surgery.

I've only listened a little today but I have to say this takes stones.  He may be a crook and he may have sneaky political objectives, but I have to give President Obama props for doing this today.

Never have I seen a President sit around a table for 6 hours with a group of congress critters discussing an issue in public view.  That in and of itself is awesome.

Today, The President put forward his own Health Care plan.  First time the White House has actually written a plan.

I haven't had time to look it over but I do know one thing is missing.  The one piece my spousal bot assured me would be included.  No public option.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33275.html

President Barack Obama released a $950 billion health care reform proposal Monday aimed at pleasing the warring wings of his own party and bringing along skeptical voters, in part by including a provision to put off an unpopular tax on high-cost health insurance plans until 2018.

One notable absence in Obama’s plan – a public health insurance option, a favorite of liberals, but a provision that became the most controversial part of the congressional debate on reform. Obama has long said he would sign a bill without it, and his own legislation confirms that.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33275.html#ixzz0gI9WDKid

President Obama has announced the return of Nuclear power with a government guarantee to the builders of the projects.

President Obama has announced more than $8bn of federal loan guarantees to help build the first new nuclear power stations in the US for 30 years.

Two new plants are to be constructed in the state of Georgia by US electricity firm Southern Company.

President Obama said the plants would be "safe and clean" and were needed to meet the country's future energy needs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8518670.stm

I for one am in favor of this.  I protested against our Seabrook plant but I have to believe that technology has advanced since the old plants were designed 50 years ago.  I know.  Trust is such a hard thing and here is Obama helping to put more money in the hands of big industry.

How about some more billions for Solar research.

So many things going on right now and so many things about to happen. First, let's go back to a 1943 Disney cartoon called Chicken Little.

That was a little parable about the threat of Communism, a threat we still face today. Sure, there's no more Soviet Union and no more Mao. China has adopted a sort of state-sponsored capitalism. The threat isn't from without, it's from within. The DNC was taken over by leftists* in 2007 and the first thing they did was change the rules that governed them. They changed them again at the RBC meeting on May 31, 2008, thus ensuring that Obama would win the Democratic primary. The sky fell and we ended up with president Obama.

Chris "I forgot he was black, for an hour" Matthews wins the Tweety for his State of the Union speech analysis.  The editorial board of Partizane feels that beyond the pure stupidity of his racist remark we want to keep this episode before the eyes of the world.  Obviously, the other media players are giving him a by because, we don't know why but we know he's getting a pass.  We doubt Comcast will be as lenient a task master as GE and cannot wait for the change of ownership for this dog we also know as Tingles.

According to Mediaite, he is Obama's #1 Fan.

http://www.mediaite.com/print/charles-krauthammer-1-obama-fan/

Be here to live chat the speech or Idol, whichever circus you'd rather watch.  As usual, the instructions will be posted sometime around 8:30 ish.

"He Wasn’t The One We’ve Been Waiting For"

Yes folks, that is the title of Paul Krugman's blog post from yesterday.  I'm breaking my fair use rule and posting the entire thing because it is so short and so sweet.  http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/he-wasnt-the-one-weve-been-w...

-------------------------------

Health care reform — which is crucial for millions of Americans — hangs in the balance. Progressives are desperately in need of leadership; more specifically, House Democrats need to be told to pass the Senate bill, which isn’t what they wanted but is vastly better than nothing. And what we get from the great progressive hope, the man who was offering hope and change, is this:

From FireDogLake:

MIT health economist Jonathan Gruber has been the go-to source that all the health care bill apologists point to to defend otherwise dubious arguments.  But he has consistently failed to disclose that he has had a sole-source contract with the Department of Health and Human Services since June 19, 2009 to consult on the “President’s health reform proposal.”

How much was that contract worth? $396,200. Now Obama media shill Ezra Klein, who knew Gruber for years, denies that he knew anything about this conflict of interest:

h/t Pacific John of Alegre's Corner for finding this superb video made by a former Obama supporter.

I don't know how to embed the video so click here or the link to Alegre's Corner above to view the video. (I do and have done it for you.  hampster)

It must be painful for former supporters who really believed in the Obama movement and the promises that were made during the election to now see the truth. We tried to warn them but at least some are starting to wakeup from the fairy tale and hold Obama accountable.

The issue of Jan. 11, on my table yesterday, contains an excellent, yet short, analysis by Howard Fineman of the entire HC episode.

The sub-title is: "And why he may come to regret it."

.......<snip>

Perhaps not since the New Deal has a new president made such a massive bet on a single domestic initiative. I think I understand Obama's reasoning. It did not take him long (probably after the first round of CIA briefings) to realize that he was not going to be able to satisfy his liberal base on intractable, unwinnable foreign and security policy. It's easier to make history on the home front. And Obama was genuinely moved by the heart-wrenching health-care stories he heard on the campaign trail. So he sought—and may well get—things to brag about. The legislation will extend coverage to at least 30 million of the uninsured, and it will end, or at least limit, some of the insurance industry's most predatory practices.

The Kennedy Center Honors is on as I write this. I got an email from the office of George Stevens, Jr., the producer, alerting me that it was on tonight. I had done some work for him at his office in the Kennedy Center when I was a consultant. Caroline Kennedy came on, making me ill, and then a scene of Obama & wife. The people being honored, though, make this worth watching. Loving the tribute to de Niro. Dave Brubeck next. I used to hang out with his far left niece who is now living in Norway.

There's something happening in Iran. I wrote to a friend recently about it, suggesting it might be at a tipping point. We had been discussing the possibility of an attack on Iran in the new year unless something happened to change the equation on the ground. Well, maybe it's happening. THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS: ***UPDATED*** Dealing In Terms of Days Until the Mullahs Fall

Also, see: Iran Ayatollah: 'The Regime Will Collapse'

Wow, loved the tribute to Mel Brooks!

Let's hope the new year brings hope for better relations with Iran if the leadership can be overthrown. Otherwise, there's no choice but the military option.

I watched the President speak in Copenhagen this morning and I have to say I was impressed.  Maybe it was the short time allotted but he held nothing back and did not try to tiptoe around the issues, especially transparency whch Secretary Clinton laid down as a line in the sand.  Perhaps health care has taught him that if you really mean it, if you do care about life on Earth, then grab the initiative and take the leadership role.

With health care he didn't want ownership.  He wanted the best of both worlds.  If Nancy and Harry pass something worthwhile then Obama will take credit.  If it fails I can assure you that Axelrod has the blame came all mapped out.

Climate change is different.  It appears that they are taking leadership and demanding respect from friends and trading partners alike.  I just hope he keeps it up and makes the Chinese work with us rather than take take take.

He gets a thumbs up from me today.

His speech after the fold

Here we are about to get exactly what Obama and his insurance buddies wanted all along.  But I just can't get all riled up any more.

This is exactly the outcome I predicted and I care less at this point if the bill gets scrapped like Dean suggested or the fools pass the piece of shit Obama calls reform.  The people are getting just what they voted for. 

Hope

It's not my fault, it's those greedy bankers, so says our President.

While I agree with his stance on Afghanistan I get incredibly pissed off when he tries to blame others for his screw-ups.  No, he did not create the crisis and yes he did lots to stem the bleeding but for goddess sake Obama don't you get it?  You say the bankers don't get it but you are the ass in this mess.  You are the one who put the wolves in charge of the chickens.  You are the one who...  wait, let me quote myself from a comment I just posted at Mediaite.

Mediaite has a rundown of the 60 Minutes interview and your's truly got the first comment in.  Mediaite commenters here, please go give me props. 

So here is my comment.

NewHampster says:
December 14, 2009 at 9:42 am

But Barack Obama, he of no lobbyists in the White House, is the one who hired the guys who created the crisis, to solve the crisis. Stop blaming the bankers for your lousy oversight Obama.

A lot has been going on in the world lately and I've been wanting to write about it. A blank word processing document has been open on my desktop for days now, residing behind Safari pages, but only now do I feel compelled to write something. The topics of interest have been jobs, the stock market, and the economy; Iran, Afghanistan; Obama, Congress, and ClimateGate. This is a busy time of year so it's hard to keep up. To keep things simple, I'd just like to list the topics with a brief comment on each.

Jobs, Market, Economy

The new unemployment numbers came out today and they were much better than expected. Only 11,000 jobs were lost in November and the unemployment rate declined to 10%, down from 10.2% in October. Job losses for a couple of preceding months were revised downward. The trend is certainly encouraging but it'll be a while before we're out of the woods.

There's lots more inside that Newsweek than meets the eye.  The publisher's welcome has lots on why Palin really is a threat to the Obama Presidency.  But I'm intrigued by Diedre Depke's article, not just on Stupak, titled,  Why Obama is losing women.

By Deidre Depke | NEWSWEEK

Hours after the House passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act, debate veered violently away from the economics and merits of the bill and toward the familiar American quagmire of abortion politics. "Outrageous," declared a Feminist Majority press release. Rachel Maddow predicted a revolt among women. "Discriminatory," said California's Barbara Boxer.

 

At issue, of course, is Stupak, the 11th-hour amendment to the health-care legislation coauthored by the previously unremarkable Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan. It would prohibit federal subsidies from being used to buy health policies that cover elective abortion. Abortion-rights supporters say the provision would lead most insurers to abandon abortion coverage in all policies.

Someone once cautioned the world to let China sleep because there would be hell to pay when it woke up.  Are these signs of women awakening or just unset stomach rumblings from too much flu?

Uppity lays it out with all the campaign signs trimmings.

To NARAL, NOW, Ms Magazine, Emily’s List, all Clairol Girls who ignored The Signs, How ya doin’?
Posted on November 12, 2009 by Uppity Woman

 

There’s a little gift waiting for all of you for endorsing Barack Obama.

 

Congratulations, the misogyny is about to complete itself. Start hauling all the water all over again. My generation did it once for you and you let it all be whittled down.

 

It started with things like calling a reporter “Honey”. Playing “99 Problems But a Bitch Ain’t One Of Them” at a rally. Did you attend and bounce around to the moooooosic? There was the vibrating cell phone in his pants, and him telling the woman next to him he wasn’t being “fresh”. You’re likeable enough, Hillary. Hillary has “Periodic” moments of “depression”.  She threw the “Kichen sink” at him. There were the Mental Children groping cardboard cutouts. You all saw, but it was just too much FUN to swoon over the sexy man!

Uh oh, this isn't good. Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu flew to Washington with some staff members to meet with the president Monday night but the usual photo op didn't happen. The meeting was held behind closed doors and the usual post-meeting news conference didn't happen. Something is up and it isn't good. Only two subjects were on the agenda: the peace process and Iran. Obama wants to give Iran more time to respond to the idea of shipping enriched uranium to Russia for further processing. So far, Iran has flatly rejected the idea. This isn't a new idea, either. It was first mentioned several years ago as a way to keep Iran from making progress on its covert crash nuclear weapons development program.

All major leaders of the free world have stated that Iran cannot be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. Germany PM Angela Merkel made a similar statement to a joint session of Congress recently. Sunni Arab states have been urging the US and Israel to deal with the issue and soon. Time is running out but it seems Obama and Netanyahu can't come to terms. Israel may be forced to act on her own if our dithering president can't take decisive action.

During the first quarter of next year, either Iran will have to yield to efforts to curtail their nuclear weapons program or suffer an attack. An ultimatum is fast approaching.

Yes He Can (But He Sure Hasn't Yet)
Above is the fine print from the cover.

In the cover story, Hope Springs Eternal, Anna Quindlen gives him a pass based on the supposed complexity of changing the direction of the U.S. government.  But Anna's article is followed by a host of others calling him out for broken promises and generally pissing off those who elected him.

My joy or sadness came from the spousal unit's immediate response.  She obviously had not read the article and I'm positive she won't, so she said they are so wrong.  "He's done so much more than George Bush".  I still can't figure out how Obama managed to run against Bush, win the election and still be running against Bush.  Hell, I bet 2012 will also feature a poster boy named GWB.

Even when I sometimes agree with the Obamanoids at 1600, I have to stop and think about their methods and total lack of historical perspective.  I may agree that FOX News is Republican propaganda but I would never advocate the stupid measures they and their MoveOn brownshirts are using.

Lamar Alexander has experience with what can happen to an administration that focuses on enemies rather than adversaries.

USA Today Story

Former Nixon aide wonders: Does Obama have 'enemies list'?

You don't hear many comparisons between Barack Obama and Richard Nixon, but former Nixon White House aide Lamar Alexander thinks he has found one: The seeds of an "enemies list."

Now a U.S. senator from Tennessee, Alexander cited the Nixon team's "open declaration of war upon anyone who seemed to disagree with administration policies." Now, he added, "we're beginning to see symptoms of this same kind of animus developing in the Obama administration."

I'd love to see a women's take on this feminism panel discussion reported on over at my new favorite site, Mediaite.

Who: Gloria Steinem and Farai Chideya, moderated by Gail Collins (New York Times)
What: TimesTalks’ “Changes in Women’s Lives”
Where: The Times Center
When: October 13, 2009

Paula Broadwell had a wonderful Op-ed in the New York Times today.  I do wonder how better we would wage war if women were given a larger role up front.  Or goddess forbid, if a woman ran the country.  I seriously wish Larry Johnson was here to comment on the times Op-ed because me, I know squat about war, waging war or even guns for that matter.
 

Women at War

By PAULA BROADWELL
Published: October 20, 2009