Brutally Honest

"There is nothing wrong with our country. There is something wrong with our politics."

The President attempts to pretend he's not part of what's wrong with our politics.

The man's got balls:

Aligning himself with a public fed up with economic uncertainty and Washington gridlock, President Barack Obama declared Thursday: "There is nothing wrong with our country. There is something wrong with our politics."

His toughly worded message - he said there was frustration in his voice, in case anyone missed the point - came amid a series of polls showing that people are disgusted with political dysfunction and are dispensing blame all around, including on Obama.

Obama aired his frustration with the ways of Washington at an event in Michigan before pivoting to his re-election campaign and a pair of big-money fundraisers in New York City.

He delivered a condensed version of that message at a fundraiser at the lower Manhattan home of movie producer Harvey Weinstein, where celebrities Gwyneth Paltrow and Jimmy Fallon, were among the approximately 50 guests who paid $35,800 each to attend.

Obama said he told his Michigan audience that it deserves better than what it's been getting from Washington.

"They look at what's happening in Washington and they think these folks are really from outer space because they don't seem to understand how critical it is for us all to work together, Republicans, Democrats, independents, in order to move this country forward," Obama said.

He added that the country is realizing the need to get involved.

"We're going to have to get engaged and we're going to have to speak out," Obama said. "We're going to have to register the fact that we expect more and we expect better."

So now Obama's an outsider.  Now he's one of us, disgusted with what goes on in DC.

I can't begin to describe how loathsome this is. 

Perhaps you can.  Leave it in the comments.

Crossposted at Wizbang.

Obama hesitated, Panetta issued kill order

By tim, The Godless Heathen

From Socyberty a four page Q & A with a “longtime Washington D.C. Insider” details the successful attack against Osama Bin Laden.

I’m only excerpting the beginning , you really need to go read the whole thing.

Q: You stated that President Obama was “overruled” by military/intelligence officials regarding the decision to send in military specialists into the Osama Bin Laden compound. Was that accurate?

A: I was told – in these exact terms, “we overruled him.” (Obama) I have since followed up and received further details on exactly what that meant, as well as the specifics of how Leon Panetta worked around the president’s “persistent hesitation to act.” There appears NOT to have been an outright overruling of any specific position by President Obama, simply because there was no specific position from the president to do so. President Obama was, in this case, as in all others, working as an absentee president.

I was correct in stating there had been a push to invade the compound for several weeks if not months, primarily led by Leon Panetta, Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates, David Petraeus, and Jim Clapper. The primary opposition to this plan originated from Valerie Jarrett, and it was her opposition that was enough to create uncertainty within President Obama. Obama would meet with various components of the pro-invasion faction, almost always with Jarrett present, and then often fail to indicate his position. This situation continued for some time, though the division between Jarrett/Obama and the rest intensified more recently, most notably from Hillary Clinton. She was livid over the president’s failure to act, and her office began a campaign of anonymous leaks to the media indicating such.

The rest, here. 

And from the Telegraph via Gateway Pundit  comes word that -

“Leon Panetta, director of the CIA, revealed there was a 25 minute blackout during which the live feed from cameras mounted on the helmets of the US special forces was cut off.

A photograph released by the White House appeared to show the President and his aides in the situation room watching the action as it unfolded. In fact they had little knowledge of what was happening in the compound.”

And finally from that same link, via Bookworm, who masterfully chronicles the misinformation of the last four days -

1) There was a firefight.
2) There was no firefight.
3) Bin Laden was “resisting.”
4) Bin Laden wasn’t armed. (Makes the concept of “resisting” interesting.)
[4.a) And the newest one: the SEALS thought bin Laden was reaching for a weapon.]
5) He used his wife as a shield.
6) His wife was killed too.
7) He didn’t use his wife as a shield. She ran at a SEAL who shot her in the leg, but she’s fine.

There’s more, go check it out.

It’s updated with this gem -

When people say “something is wrong here,” they’re sort of right. The “here” in which the wrongness resides isn’t this specific news story. Instead, it’s an overarching pathology that we’re talking about.

That is, the SEALS did what they did. What’s driving everyone bonkers is that this administration is incapable of being straightforward. Serpentine deceit is its MO, regardless of the topic, whether birth certificates, health care debates, or sanctioned assassinations. Everything is wrapped in a web of lies and confusion because of the paranoia, personality disorders, narcissism, and sociopathy that walk the White House halls.

Barry's Beer

By tim aka The Godless Heathen

It seems our community agitator extraordinaire in the White House, when he’s not golfing, hosting concerts or meeting with union reps, is now also our Brewer-in-Chief.  

Since I’m tight with O, he gave me some to taste.

The following is my review for the ‘Right Wing Conspirator News & Beer Review’:

Overall, what a major disappointment. After hearing from so many folks how incredible it was, I came away feeling the exact opposite.

I found it lacking in taste, rather watery, unsophisticated, of no real substance, if you will.  At first it presented itself as something I might like, or at the least, acquire a taste for. But the more I drank, it became obvious that it wasn’t for me. (Though it definitely would appeal to the unsophisticated palate of the lite beer swilling hip, younger crowd.) The aftertaste lingered long afterward, became slightly bitter and left my taste buds unfulfilled. I couldn’t wait to go back to my old favorite suds.

The color was a light brown, sort of a cross between a Whit (Wheat) beer and a chocolate stout. Though obviously not intended or even ready for public consumption, the White House Beer Czar has mentioned that if it was marketed it would be identified as a stout so as to appeal to that more enthusiastic beer purchasing crowd.

The alcohol content was extremely low, close to nonexistent in fact, not that it could be verified. They deliberately left it off the label, along with the ingredient listing, for no apparent reason. (One is only left to wonder the reason for that.) Having redistributed, so to speak, the remainder of the six pack to a friend who prides himself on being open minded, he quaffed down  a few in a short amount of time. While initially experiencing the slightest buzz, he said it quickly subsided. (Oddly, my friend said if it was available he’d continue to drink it, everyday in fact, because strangely, for no apparent reason, he just felt better about himself.)

When poured into a glass, the head was abundant, too much actually and it never subsided even after having sat for quite awhile. Indicating the classic mistake of inexperienced brewers - over carbonization.

To summarize; Barry’s Beer lacks taste, contains too much fizz, not enough pop and it’s assuredly not ready for primetime.

A couple extra notes; Incredibly, having not been officially qualified, it nonetheless took high honors at just about every European beer tasting competition, even though it wasn‘t available for the judges to taste. It was a huge success at the prestigious Berlin festival under the same peculiar conditions. No word yet on it’s domestic eligibility but rumor has it won’t be an issue since apparently anyone that matters has vouched for it.

Also, not satisfied with only one offering, there are plans for more beers, including - Pelosi Pale Ale “We brewed it first before we knew what was in it”, Michelle’s Extra Lite Beer w/Arugula “From my garden to your lips” and Reid’s Extra Special Bitter “You can never have enough“.

The White House has said it will soon discuss any and all beer questions at a future press briefing announcing the closing of Gitmo.

H/T to Buck.

Startup America is a ruse

It's smoke and mirrors.  It's par for the course for this Administration.

They sell it publicly as follows:

Startup America is the White House initiative to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation. 

This coordinated public/private effort (see: Startup America Partnership) brings together an alliance of the country’s most innovative entrepreneurs, corporations, universities, foundations, and other leaders, working in concert with a wide range of federal agencies to dramatically increase the prevalence and success of America’s entrepreneurs.  Startup America is an important element of President Obama’s overall innovation strategy.

The core goals of Startup America are to increase the number of new high-growth firms that are creating economic growth, innovation, and quality jobs; celebrate and honor entrepreneurship as a core American value and source of competitive advantage; and inspire and empower an ever-greater diversity of communities and individuals to build great American companies.

But someone inside the White House, in a rare moment of honesty, spilled the beans:

"Technically, we are all on the same team now, so why would a company that is working with us so closely on 'Startup America' or some of the other 'pro-business' projects we've been announcing want to give financial support for the campaigns of Republicans?" says a White House policy staffer who will shortly be moving to a new job at the Democratic National Committee's expanding 2012 campaign operation. "It's one more way to engage corporate America. We know many of the executives are predisposed to Democrats, this is just a way to build more connections."

Or more accurately, just another way to fool the gullible into thinking that this Administration is all about advancing America. 

What they're really about is advancing a radically leftist agenda.

H/T Dennis Sevakis via email.

Crossposted at Wizbang.

BBC: Mosque challenged Sweden bomber's extreme views in England

File this under... yea, right:

A suspected suicide bomber who detonated explosives in Stockholm was challenged about his extreme views, a Luton mosque official says.

Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, named by Swedish prosecutors as the bomber, attended Luton Islamic Centre in 2007, but "stormed out" amid criticism.

Chairman Qadeer Baksh said: "In hindsight, maybe I should have spent a bit more time with that person."

Police are searching a Luton house where Abdaly and his family lived.

Mr Baksh said he dealt with Abdaly four years ago, and that "there must have been something in between" that time and the Stockholm explosions on Saturday that influenced him.

A car, registered to Abdaly, exploded first about 1700 (1600 GMT), and then explosives attached to Abdaly detonated about 10 minutes later a few hundred yards away. Two people were injured in the second explosion.

Swedish officials described the attack as a "failure" as they believe he probably meant to detonate amongst a crowd, either at a railway station or in a department store.

Mr Baksh said it was very rare for the Luton centre, which incorporates a mosque on its premises, to expel any members.

He said when people expressed ideas which were extreme "it's a matter of dealing with them, challenging their theological basis, and making them realise this is not the Islamic point of view, and is not the way we look at life and the situation of Muslims around the world."

In all cases, they had succeeded in persuading them not to further their ideas - "except in this particular one," he said, referring to Abdaly.

We'll await the BBC follow-on investigation that will look into Mr. Baksh's assertions.

I'm sure it's well underway as I write this.

Crossposted at Wizbang.

Obama decides to wield his budget deficit axe

Only it's more like wielding a pair of fingernail clippers:

What's the tiniest cut to public sector salaries you could imagine?

A wage freeze? Nah, too aggressive.

A bonus freeze? You're getting warmer.

Try this: A bonus freeze for some political appointees.

That's what Obama is going to do, according to Reuters, as part of his effort to show that the Federal government is "tightening its belt." Remember, we're just talking political appointees, not the army of untouchable bureaucrats that make up so much of public worker spending.

He may also, if possible, push for a salary freeze for political appointees, but we won't be going that far yet.

All style, no substance.  He is such a joke.

H/T to Insty who rightly calls it fake austerity.

Everything about this President is fake.

Crossposted at Wizbang.

What do you think Obama's Deep Horizon commission will be concluding?

No ringers on this panel:

The panel appointed by President Barack Obama to investigate the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is short on technical expertise but long on talking publicly about "America's addiction to oil." One member has blogged about it regularly.

Only one of the seven commissioners, the dean of Harvard's engineering and applied sciences school, has a prominent engineering background — but it's in optics and physics. Another is an environmental scientist with expertise in coastal areas and the after-effects of oil spills. Both are praised by other scientists.

The five other commissioners are experts in policy and management.

The White House said the commission will focus on the government's "too cozy" relationship with the oil industry. A presidential spokesman said panel members will "consult the best minds and subject matter experts" as they do their work.

The commission has yet to meet, yet some panel members had made their views known.

Environmental activist Frances Beinecke on May 27 blogged: "We can blame BP for the disaster and we should. We can blame lack of adequate government oversight for the disaster and we should. But in the end, we also must place the blame where it originated: America's addiction to oil." And on June 3, May 27, May 22, May 18, May 4, she called for bans on drilling offshore and the Arctic.

"Even as questions persist, there is one thing I know for certain: the Gulf oil spill isn't just an accident. It's the result of a failed energy policy," Beinecke wrote on May 20.

Two other commissioners also have gone public to urge bans on drilling.

Co-chairman Bob Graham, a Democrat who was Florida governor and later a senator, led efforts to prevent drilling off his state's coast. Commissioner Donald Boesch of the University of Maryland wrote in a Washington Post blog that the federal government had planned to allow oil drilling off the Virginia coast and "that probably will and should be delayed."

Boesch, who has made scientific assessments of oil spills' effects on the ecosystem, said usually oil spills are small. But he added, "The impacts of the oil and gas extraction industry (both coastal and offshore) on Gulf Coast wetlands represent an environmental catastrophe of massive and underappreciated proportions."

An expert not on the commission, Granger Morgan, head of the engineering and public policy department at Carnegie Mellon University and an Obama campaign contributor, said the panel should have included more technical expertise and "folks who aren't sort of already staked out" on oil issues.

Jerry Taylor of the libertarian Cato Institute described the investigation as "an exercise in political theater where the findings are preordained by the people put on the commission."

The fix is in.

But you knew this.

Unless you're an idiot.  And they're out there still in good numbers.

Koolaid drinking full bore bloomin' idiots.

Crossposted at Wizbang.

Reuters caught cropping incriminating flotilla photos

Yid with Lid:

News service, Reuters is back to its old tricks.  You may remember during the second Lebanese war Reuters was caught making news pictures look worse than they were with a little touch of Photo Shop.

...

Reuters is now doctoring its pictures from the violence aboard the Guerrilla Flotilla.

You'll need to see it to believe it.

Or if you're a Hamas supporter, you'll need to not see it to believe it.

Reuters is to news wires what Helen Thomas is to journalism.

A joke... that's not funny... at all.

Crossposted at Wizbang.

Pelosi seeks divine intervention on health care (UPDATED)

Posted by guest blogger Locutisprime.

This interloping narcissist retch of a woman literally make me want to vomit.

UPDATE (By Rick): The Anchoress weighs in:

This woman is a profound grotesque who gets virtually everything wrong here, from what feastday it is, to the kinds of Catholic religious sisters supporting her monster’s bastard of a bill.

Note, because it is important in the face of her stupidity, her mendacity, her slander and her willingness to use any-and-all means to achieve her ends, the Catholic sisters who vehemently oppose this health care bill, and are not considered news-worthy by the media, or relevant by this glammed-up guttersnipe, Pelosi.

First off, Nancy, this is not the feastday of “St. Joseph the Worker.” That feast day is May 1, and it is a simple (and optional) memorial. TODAY is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, in his role as the Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Provider and Guardian for the Child Jesus. A solemnity is not an optional feastday, and Pelosi, who was educated by religious sisters and went to a Catholic college, should know that.

Her ignorance is almost sublime. “Italian Americans” certainly do honor St. Joseph, but they do not “pray” to him. They ask him to pray for them, before the Throne of his most holy and almighty step-son, the Christ.

It is highly doubtful that St. Joseph, who was faced with an unimaginable event, one fraught with challenges, things unknown, social questions, difficulties and sacrifice, would be a happy endorser of a “life-affirming health care” bill that includes the federal-funding of abortions, sterilizations, contraception – undoubtedly, down the road- euthanasia.

In her upside-down world, Pelosi may think that this monstrosity she is laboring so mightily to deliver is “life-affirming;” that is because she is -like so many of her generation- unable to imagine life after her own. It takes a “my life right now is more important than any future life” mentality to be this committed to abortion, and to insuring that every means of preventing or ending life, at every stage, is introduced into the public mind as a Godly and enviable thing. It takes a mind that willfully misunderstand the nature of both light and life, as taught by the Church she professes to love, to stand there with a smug, “unicorns and rainbows” demeanor and spout these deceitful platitudes that are not grounded in any sort of reality.

I am disgusted to see this woman -in the same remarks where she sullies a Catholic saint and thumbs her nose at Catholic understanding, to then giddily talk about how she and her cohorts have deployed children “children as young as six, talking about what health care means to them” as propaganda shields.

This video makes me want to vomit. I try not to hate anyone, but this woman is tempting me mightily.

She's got more.  She's a little stoked.  She's right on.

"we in the press are bored with Barack"

Newsweek's Howard Fineman:

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, was 50 minutes late for his briefing, apparently a record for tardiness, but few reporters in the White House press room bothered to feign outrage; they didn't seem all that eager to ask him questions anyway. When his boss flew to Missouri to give another of his "high octane" (The New York Times), "impassioned" (The Washington Post) health-care speeches, no cable channel covered the event. If you are president, the only thing worse than criticism is not being covered. And the truth is, we in the press are bored with Barack.

The "mainstream media" are losing patience with, and even interest in, their erstwhile hero. President Barack Obama never had a chance with the Ailes-Murdoch crowd, of course, and it didn't take the president long to offend the fierce left wing of the blogosphere. But now, finally, the MSM, which views itself as ideologically neutral, has found ideologically neutral reasons to lose patience with him: that he may be ineffectual; that he doesn't know how to play the game; that he can't get anything done. Exhibit A: the health-care bill. The Times's Frank Rich, the astute dean of the commentariat, wrote recently that Obama has failed to "communicate a compelling narrative" in office and, as a result, "could be toast if he doesn't make good on a year's worth of false starts."

I'm suspecting some journalistic rope-a-dope here because in the end, it's all about furthering the progressive agenda and the MSM will always team with liberalism... they quintessentially define and represent it.

Fineman goes on to tip his hand:

And yet this collective falling out of love is great news for Obama. Calling it quits with the MSM is just what he needs. A breakup might even save his presidency.

For one thing, almost no one likes or trusts the media. The latest Gallup survey of respected institutions puts us down with the worst of the riffraff: banks, labor unions, HMOs, and Congress. If we attack you, it only proves you must have some redeeming qualities. That jujitsu even worked in an odd and unexpected way for Bill Clinton. At the height of the Monica Lewinsky crisis in 1998, polls showed voters were not only appalled by Clinton's behavior, they were appalled by the media's obsession with it.

The press believes they can help Obama by "breaking up" with him.  An amazing admission since they're responsible for his political existence.

It's a twisting of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" meme.  It worked for Clinton, it should work for Obama.  And if it works for Obama, it'll work in furthering the agenda.

I lost faith and trust in the media long ago... Fineman's piece does little to change that... in fact, it goes a long way toward substantiating my misgivings.

They foisted this incompetent boob on the gullible... now they're deceitfully attempting to make amends.

A pox on them all.

Crossposted(*).