Are we seeing the start of the implosion of the Obama administration? I use the cheap question mark route because I can honestly say I don’t know. But I do watch. And news from around the horn is not good for BHO.
Obama’s had bad patches before, in fact, most of his Presidency has been a bad patch. Still he bounces between 44-49% approval. This is not where an incumbent wants to be but they’re not it’s all over but the counting numbers either. Nevertheless I submit these recent items:
- General Dempsey is none to pleased with the White House. When one of the generals trashes the White House to the press…it’s…uh…not a good sign.
- A special counsel into White House security leaks is being called for by both parties. The DOJ division that usually looks into leaks recused itself today. Why? The DOJ may be the source. (A possibility that is exceedingly easy to believe in this case.) Turns out those NYTimes stories about tough man Obama may be backfiring.
- Eric Holder’s position is fast becoming untenable. We don’t have deep throat – but we do have a mole. The GOP may well have found its 21st century Linda Tripp. This scandal is being parsed out for maximum effect – to buttress the incompetent White House meme.
- The parade of Democrats doing everything but cutting and delivering attacks ads for the GOP now includes Booker, Ford, Rendell, and Bill Clinton. Forget the backtracking. Clinton knows full well what he said initially is what will be in GOP ads this Fall. There’s no missing the subtext of all of this: A substantial segment of Democratic power players are not happy with Obama.
- Tuesday’s Battle of Wisconsin can’t honestly be seen as anything but VERY BAD NEWS for Obama. The template for a general election themed on competence has been drawn up voted on, and approved. And the Obama Democrats don’t even understand what happened. The topper being that Obama flew over the state twice, rather like W flying over Katrina wreckage, but couldn’t be bothered to touch down. Then, as if one middle finger wasn’t enough, he tweeted support for Barrett in the waning hours. Resentment among union leaders must be through the roof. Romney’s not dumb enough to stand too close to Walker. He is smart enough to choose a softer version of Walker as VEEP. Portman? Daniels? Rubio?
The last two items are inferred problems for Obama. The first three are very real. I do not know if we’re seeing a planned demolition or not. But don’t think for a second there’s no such thing as well thought out, planned demolitions in politics. They happen all the time. The defeat of Hillary Clinton was years in the making. What we are seeing from Obama’s antagonists recently has all the hallmarks of a planned demolition.
Anyone who have ever cooked a fancy meal knows that you have to time it so that everything finishes cooking at the same time. Political campaigns are the same way.
Obama’s goose will be cooked on November 6th.
I wouldn’t mind if it were cooked even before November 6th.
Or September 3?
And those who cook fancy meals, every one I’ve ever known including myself, has stories of the best laid plans turning into disasters in the kitchen, guests drinking themselves into a stupor while 8:00 meals get pushed to midnight, half burned and half cold, and finally an SOS call to Dominos.
Just sayin’.
nicely put
Also, positive coverage of Mitt Romney seems to be increasing. I noticed at the supermarket yesterday that Time has a cover story on Mitt’s mother, who ran for the senate in 1970. It’s a fairly big spread, and seems to paint a positive picture of the Romney family and Mitt’s relationship with his mother. (I didn’t read the whole thing, so there could well be some digs in there…)
Magazines like Time are no longer real publications that many people read but instead now function largely as paid advertising space designed to advance a narrative at store checkouts . So to see a warm and fuzzy Romney cover is significant in my opinion.
But, you know, the strategy may just be to keep the race interesting and distracting for now. I still expect puppet Obama to be pulled across the finish line in November. As incompetent as he is, he still provides the best cover for the government’s heinous assault on the privacy and rights of its citizens. After all, he’s so darn likeable, cool, and historic!
I agree with every word you wrote. And, much as it’ll pain me to do it because I hate what they’ve done to that magazine, I’m going to pick up a copy of Time, read that piece and see what they’re up to. It’s not that Time itself influences, as a news magazine it’s a joke, but what they do is a window into these smarmy people’s shenanigans. Ugh, we really are living among the skeeviest people having scammed their way to “top” positions, or “winning.”
Yes but they have nowhere else to go. At the risk of repeating myself ad nauseum, that’s the basis of Obama’s 2012 campaign: The Other Guy Would Be Worse.
It’s a demoralizing message but demoralization is what follows immoral winning.
Zal, don’t you think that message is falling on skeptical ears ? I mean, aside from famine and plague, it’s hard to imagine Romney being worse than what we have at present.
Soph, I think that the way you and I think is not the way the majority of American voters think.
Are my ears skeptical to that message? To say the least! I believe with no doubt in my mind at all that Obama is the worse of the two.
I agree that the union leaders will stick with Obama. But, it may well be that, as in Wisc., about a third of union members will abandon O. That’s potentially devastating for him in some swing states (OH, NV, eg).
Zal-
Used to subscribe to Time, Newsweek, Washington Monthly, US News and World Report, and others and read them cover to cover each week. That these once-great publications are now just manipulated jokes is an absolute tragedy.
…and don’t get me started about the New York Times!
The problem with politicians exposing other politicians is the likelihood that they all have dirt on Each Other. But I agree that timing is everything. Someone is going to drop the anvil on O at the perfect moment. WJC is not going to watch his country, his foundation, and his Party go down the drain without a massive effort to stop O.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303753904577452793597495290.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Darticle
Peggy calls Obama ‘superfluous’
I now read your name as ‘so-fee-yay’. You know, all French like.
Peggy’s article is a killer! Highly recommended read.
Here’s one of favorite parts:
“It just all increasingly looks like a house of cards. Bill Clinton—that ol’ hound dog, that gifted pol who truly loves politics, who always loved figuring out exactly where the people were and then going to exactly that spot and claiming it—Bill Clinton is showing all the signs of someone who is, let us say, essentially unimpressed by the incumbent. He defended Mitt Romney as a businessman—”a sterling record”—said he doesn’t like personal attacks in politics, then fulsomely supported the president, and then said that the Bush tax cuts should be extended.
His friends say he can’t help himself, that he’s getting old and a little more compulsively loquacious. Maybe. But maybe Bubba’s looking at the president and seeing what far more than half of Washington sees: a man who is limited, who thinks himself clever, and who doesn’t know that clever right now won’t cut it.
Because Bill Clinton loves politics, he hates losers. Maybe he just can’t resist sticking it to them a little, when he gets a chance.”
From Noonan’s article again…this is the best cut of all against Bammy:
“And where is the president in all this? On his way to Anna Wintour’s house. He’s busy. He’s running for president.
But why? He could be president now if he wanted to be.”
Jay, that’s funny..I think it means I test sofas for a living, I mean somebody has to do it.
I’ll try to fix it, but wordpress hates me….
Had to share this I read on Riverdaughter just now- quoting Booman pushing back against a disillusioned Matt Stoller:
“the most brilliant and decent and politically talented president we’ve had in decades.”
Well, when Obama resorts to cracking sex jokes about his own wife, I think you know the implosion is occuring right in front of us.
He also ‘forgot’ and left AF1 without her recently, keeps talking about his ‘sons’, and forgot the ages of his children.. Someone needs to up his meds, or at least make him sit down and shut up.
The latter may not be possible, considering the fact that his surrogates either have no credibility, like Carney, or are trashing him publicly. Interesting that Hillary is always out of town lately.
This is shaping up into a perfect storm. I miss Rod Steiger, he could have dined out on this stuff for years.
He may have sons. How would we know?
djmm
Obama held a presser this morning and here are the 2 things that seem to be resonating:
1. He used the ploy of being offended that some people (like Dianne Feinstein and Dutch Ruppersberger??) cast aspersions on his administration by suggesting leaks come from them and then declared that they absolutely were not coming from them. Presidents usually get in trouble when they declare things while being offended at being accused (I am not a crook, I did not have sex with that woman, and I’m sure Harding had an equally pithy statement to the press about Teapot Dome).
2. Obama: “The private sector is doing fine” when talking about jobs/employment situation, then starting in again that Feds must prop up the public sector. Are the people you know in the private sector “doing fine”? Is this a McCain “the fundamentals of the economy are strong” moment? Or a GHW Bush “what’s a scanner” moment? Don’t know yet but Romney was hitting him on being detached within an hour and RNC already has a 40 second internet spot out on it.
I also think there is a dangerous paradigm being set up with Obama – people will start wondering if it makes sense that one person, Obama, is always right or all these other people (Clinton, Booker, Rattner, Rendell, Feinstein, Summers) are always wrong? The follow-up being, what is the impetus for all these folks to say one thing and then walk it back within hours? Is Obama that scary? I think he is but will the not yet tuned in people start to figure it out?
And, John, I believe Bill Clinton to be the most astute politician of the last 20 years. He is not some senile old guy who “got mixed up” about when the current tax rates are supposed to expire. Does make me wonder what the O/Axelrod/ValJar are using to beat everyone back into compliance, though.
Excellent comment, Grey.
No, Obama isn’t that scary, but his backers-in-the-shadows sure as hell are. He’s the front guy for the forces that are going for the whole enchilada…and they almost have it. Just about any reasonable person would be afraid to get in their way.
barry tried to justify his comment with this:
“Listen, it is absolutely clear the economy is not doing fine. That’s the reason I had a press conference. That’s why I spent yesterday, the day before yesterday, this past week, this past month and this past year talking about how we can make the economy stronger.”
Yeah, *talking*.
I think Obama’s “the private sector is doing fine” comment reflects confused, deranged, bubble, false, deluded, self-deceitful, whatever it is, thinking that a lot of Americans have. Obviously –to you and I and millions of Americans– the private sector is very much not okay, but millions of other Americans are doing fine in that they have a job and comfortable paycheck and health care and other benefits including credit cards.
There is a major divide in America right now that nobody talks about. Oh people go on about the one percent but there’s another divide and that’s between the average population that’s teetering on the edge of destruction and the average population that is doing basically okay at least on the surface – not one percenters but essentially regular people who have a decent paying job and cash that goes into and out of their wallet. There are millions of them and their friends are like them and they only “understand” the economy is in a desperate state in a conversational way. And although they have private stress and fear about it, what they’re actually living is not anywhere close to desperation; to them the people who aren’t doing fine aren’t them, they’re the Other, and Americans are champs at separating themselves from the Other. And so what Obama says may sound slightly off to them but not so far off they’re going to turn from him: they still relate to him; even if the relationship’s soured he’s still one of them.
I respectfully disagree, Zal. Everyone probably knows or knows of someone who has been hard-hit by the economy. And, ‘economy stinks’ is a meme that has legs and is now widespread. The disciples will, of course, still vote for him — come he’ll or high water — but that’s not where elections are won.
We are a segregated nation and, as Shirley Sherrod tried to explain, it’s not by race or religion or region, it’s of haves and have nots. And by and large one side doesn’t really see the other.
There are millions of people who are doing fine, or anyway living high on the hog still, and have a cavalier attitude about the economy. They pay a lot of money to go to restaurants and bars, buy expensive clothing and gym memberships and fancy electronics, pay high rent, jet to fun places — and these are not special people or rich people (although they think of themselves as very special), these are ordinary people with jobs and benefits and credit cards. These aren’t the one percent, they’re ordinary people who keep Williams Sonoma in business. While many private businesses are struggling, many others are actually doing just fine.
Husband and I took a friend to dinner and a show last night. Do you know it cost $480 each for a theatre ticket? Four hundred eighty dollars! And the house was packed. At the restaurant, actually a bar and grill, not super fashionable, just a restaurant, we only got in because I know how to talk my way into places, it was packed to the rafters with people drinking and eating themselves into bills that would total hundreds of dollars each. I see this in NYC and LA and Boston and Dallas and Chicago and Miami and San Diego and Philadelphia and Hartford, everywhere I go. We are a very separated society and the dirty little secret is the ordinary haves are completely without any sense of responsibility for the health of our society or culture or economy, they have the mind set of spoiled children who think they are entitled to get, deserve to collect, but have no responsibility at all to give except to other haves so they’ll be liked. These are voters and they will vote; how many of the disillusioned who are rationing out their gas money so they can feed the kids will vote is anybody’s guess but I suspect that group will be low turnout because it’s clear neither of the candidates is offering anything they want to spend their gas money driving to vote for.
My weekly feed bill is $303.84. That’s 3/4 of my total biz & household budget easily.
Half a grip for a stupid play? I could get a good used saddle, or a decent mustang, for that. I could hire someone to fix my bathtub, or maybe visit the doctor. My ’88 Silverado needs shocks. Segregated classes indeed.
Private sector’s doing fine? Pull my other one why dontcha!
Zal — for next time:
http://www.broadwaybox.com/
The most expensive seats for the theater in Boston are under $200 if you buy them at the box office or through Ticketmaster. Priix Fixe dinner at Boston’s “most expensive restaurant” is around $100 a person. You can run up the tab with expensive wine and caviar, if you’re out to break the bank. But dinner for two, with wine, and dessert, at most of Boston’s “fine dining establishments” is under $250 for two. Even those in my circle who can afford an occasional night out in the city know that the economy is bad. Most of my friends are comfortably in the six figure incomes, but we all have friends or relatives who are out of work or grown children living with us. I think New Yorkers have a skewed view.
Wow, this morning’s O presser was eye-opening. It’s like he’s living in a bubble. I think this is the turning point in people’s perception of him. It’s over for him, I believe.
I think the drone stuff was leaked intentionally to distract/deflect the leaks that are coming out unintentionally from DOJ about Holder/Fast and Furious, which are bad for the administration.
So I think the drone leaks are positive and can be spun positive on the “Gutsy Move Barry” meme and give the talking heads in the news media something to talk about and let that dominate the news cycle rather than talk about the DOJ Fast and Furious leaks which are pretty embarassing, to which Holder responded “Oh those emails talking about fast and furious werent referring to the Fast and Furious operation”
So basically, Obama is lying and the media is covering for him.
Or as Bill Clinton said it best, “It depends on what your definition of “is” is.”
In my opinion, the drone stuff (plus stuxnet) was indeed released on purpose. But these are not stories about actual events leaked by White House insiders. They are fabrications that have backfired somewhat. Obama is not engaged in government to much of an extent at all. The stories of “tough guy at the helm making gutsy calls” is just propaganda.
Just listen to and watch Obama. Listen to him answer what pitiful questions that he deigns to take, He is not a man with his hand on the wheel of government. He is playing a part, which is why he speaks only in platitudes and generalities.
I’m convinced the leaks were intentional, & designed to make barry look tough.
Everyone is up in arms about the leaks themselves, but not the criminality of the “Facebook Killings”, or the fact that a cyber-attack is an act of war.
I, too, agree the leaks were intentional.
As for the crickets on the “Facebook killings” (nice word-coinage!) and Stuxnet, it’s par for the course of the Left’s hypocrisy on all matters O. I wonder if the genie is out of the bottle on the drone killings? I suspect it is — all future prezs will be pressured to use it and will be adjudged weak if they don’t. Thanks O!
I think Obama has been sliding for quite a while but it seems the velocity is picking up very quickly. The pathetic press conference was de rigueur after the drubbing in Wisconsin, Holder’s humiliation at the hands of Republican congress, and Clinton’s continued “bless his heart” schtick (this is the highly evolved Southern insult cloaked in very polite, self deprecating and deferential language meaning someone is stupid with deniability). If he didn’t make some kind of public statement he would be imagined to be in a fetal position under the bed. The tipping point was the horrendous employment numbers for May. Today’s idiocy about the private sector being in good shape is probably the coup de grace. All that is left is the screaming and chest beating.
“I’ll Have Another” is scratched from the Belmont, love that gorgeous horse, sniff, sniff, pass me a tissue.. Wonder what Tamer thinks.
Sorry to go OT.. Wouldn’t a smart politician with nothing to hide , have announced the appointment of a Special Prosecutor at the dud of a press conference ? Maybe it’s early days, but these are very serious issues.
He won’t like it much if it’s done for him. Oh wait, that would be the Amnesiac Holder.. No worries. .
Incidentally, wasn’t it Feinstein’s office that was burgled of over a million ?
I’m sure that is just another ‘coincidence’, but at least she’s still breathing, so there’s that.
The FBI is going to look into the leaks, apparently. That’s a BFD (h/t Biden).
Everyone roots for a Triple Crown. My personal horse’s little brother, Cigar, missed it by a nose. Another’s injury is not serious, but they won’t risk running him again, as they can grow rich on his stud fees.
I’m not opposed to racing per se, and adore TBs off-the-track. Went to see my friend’s horse run his first race this Spring — it’s always a thrill to be around the track, especially when you can poke around behind the scenes. But I have many issues with how the industry is run, esp. in America.
I’m seeing headlines everywhere today that jibe with John’s post here. One recent one was, “Is Obama Really That Out Of Touch?”.
My answer is yes, because he’s obsessed with the intern he’s screwing. In my version the intern is named Manny Gorbinsky.
hahahahahaha!
Jay, are you referring to That Manny Gorbinsky, the one from Palookaville ? I’ll be damned, small world.
No no — his first cousin once removed. (A statement that I use knowing full well that I don’t understand the genealogical geography indicated by it.)
I kissed my first cousin. It was my first kiss, too. We didn’t kiss just once, though. Does that make her my first first kissing cousin nonce removed?
Your first cousin once removed is your first cousin’s child.* The child of your first cousin once removed is your first cousin twice removed, etc.
Your child & your first cousin’s child are second cousins; their children are third cousins etc.
*Your first cousin is the child of the sibling of your mother or father (i.e., your aunt or uncle’s child).
That’s my little pedantic post of the day.
Rofl angie. Of course, a Southerner would know….
My first cousin once removed…me from his facebook page. I am seriously.
HA!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2156735/S-P-refuses-upgrade-U-S-credit-rating-debt-troubles-continue-mount.html#ixzz1xIRmNApz
Somebody please tell me this is in our own national news today.
To make our national debt manageable we need to: (1) end the war in Afghanistan and stop other military actions; and (2) repeal the Bush era tax cuts. We need to be asking Obama why he is not willing to do these things to put us on a sounder economic footing. Why aren’t Progressives doing this?
John said: “The parade of Democrats doing everything but cutting and delivering attacks ads for the GOP now includes Booker, Ford, Rendell, and Bill Clinton. Forget the backtracking. Clinton knows full well what he said initially is what will be in GOP ads this Fall. There’s no missing the subtext of all of this: A substantial segment of Democratic power players are not happy with Obama.”
The DLC EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Loving every minute of this shadow-war that’s playing out for the character of the post-O Dem Party.
Dian Feinstein doesn’t look too happy either, especially after her campaign funds were stolen. I think that was the warning shot. I’m starting to like her a teeny bit.
Love her or hate her, Sophie, and I like her (just voted for her in recent CA primary), DiFi is a pol of substance. When she made a statement to the press about wanting an investigation of the intelligence leaks, I knew Obama was in deep doo doo. DiFi doesn’t grandstand, so I’m guessing she has good intel of something rotten.
Just like the old grey mare, progressives ain’t what they used to be. Neither are Democrats for that matter.
Sally, can’t remember where I saw the graph, but even if the IRS were to confiscate all the money of millionaires and billionaires, the gov’t couldn’t operate on that money for more than a few weeks. Our economic system is about as broken as Humpty Dumpty, and all the king’s men are clueless. Agree about the military adventures 100% though, especially those that are clearly illegal.
Edsall in The Age of Austerity has a graph on pg 154 showing that if war & Bush tax cuts were removed from the picture the projected deficit would be .3 trillion which would be much more manageable. We should be calling for that to fund more stimulus. The increase in revenue with a stronger recovery would take care of the rest. All is not lost but we need to stop sniping over trivialities & ask for this.
good to know NES, I’m not as familiar with Cali pols as one should be, aside from the odious Pelosi, who’s hard to miss. DiFi may be just what we need right now, glad you voted for her.
This just in, from a Hollywood site, no less:
http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-post/president-obama-s-obsession-celebrities-howard-kurtz-and-waxword-debate-video-43491
Maybe the presidency is O’s way of auditioning to play one in a movie, in his next career
Something along the lines of a sequel to “Being There, “
I too cannot tell who the top.999 want installed 2012. Obama Inc bumbling is allowed to be so clearly seen lately….hmmmm. But I couldn’t tell whether they wanted McCain or Barry either until the GOP slime machine went MIA during the summer in 2008 campaine…( and that’s interesting about today’s tweets culture …this time the GOP base as found a way around the lock down )
Perhaps the top .9999 doesn’t know themselves yet , as it doesn’t matter, Bush’s 4th term will be the policies followed regardless. But one would think it will be Obama simply to make the new wars easier to put over….and btw our war with Iran has already started. We are in the process of getting rid of any possible Iranian allies, ( Syria now, Lebanon shortly ) The West has imported sectarian violence into Syria…( many the same mercenaries we used in Libya) so we/the UN may then invade Syria to “save” it. ….If you don’t look at the current ME situation in terms of Sunni /Shia and our war with Iran , you are missing the point. But far from stopping the violence, when the Syrian government falls , there will be no opposition to the sectarian genocide that will begin by the sectarian extremists we have supplied with cash, weapons, etc. We in the West just won’t hear about that. oh and as a bonus, we will not be repaying our loans to China…we’ll…you guessed it, go to war instead… plenty of planned demolition ahead