This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden

  • More empty rhetoric

    The Wall Street Journal reports that Barack Obama spread more populist manure over the crowd in Georgia today;

    …Barack Obama filled out his policy stance on personal bankruptcies, saying he would make it easier for homeowners devastated by illness or other such hardships to keep their houses during periods of insolvency.

    The expected Democratic nominee said people wiped out by massive medical payments, military disaster victims, members on extended leave and elderly homeowners would all benefit from the policy, which would waive onerous bureaucratic steps required to file for personal bankruptcy and establish a financial floor to allow such people to retain their home equity.

    Sounds nice doesn’t it? There’s plenty of blood and tragedy to scare people into clapping like lunatics. That’s what his writers do best – make up scary stories. Except that there are already federal and community agencies that do all of that for people. There are not-for-profit organizations that do that. There are for-profit companies that do that. But Obama just needs a bloody shirt to wave at the crowd.

    In doing so, Sen. Obama took a swipe at rival John McCain, who supported the last revamp of bankruptcy laws in 2005. Sen. Obama, who opposed that revamp, called it a sop to special interests.

    “While I was opposing the credit card industry’s bankruptcy bill that made it harder for working families to climb out of debt, [Sen. McCain] was supporting it – and he even opposed helping families who were only in bankruptcy because of medical bills they couldn’t pay,” Sen. Obama told a crowd at a townhall event outside of Atlanta. “He sided with the big banks again when it came to protecting the most valuable possession that older Americans have – their home.”

    Well, the proposals that Obama is making are unfunded mandates to business. The revamped bankruptcy laws drove interest rates to record lows because lenders took less risk when they made a loan. If government forces more risk on lenders, the only people who’ll get hurt are low-income borrowers who’ll pay higher interest rates if they get any loans at all. What’ll Obama do then? Well, he’ll mandate high risk loans at lower interest rates – and then ALL borrowers will pay for that risk with across-the-board interest rate hikes.

    Leftism isn’t about helping up the poor, it’s about spreading out the misery equally.

  • Stroking Obama

    The Washington Post calls Obama’s sudden softening of his stance on the Iraq War “sensible” this morning;

    BARACK OBAMA has taken a small but important step toward adjusting his outdated position on Iraq to the military and strategic realities of the war he may inherit. Sadly, he seems to be finding that the strident and rigid posture he struck during the primary campaign — during which he promised to withdraw all combat forces in 16 months — is inhibiting what looks like a worthy, necessary attempt to create the room for maneuver he will need to capably manage the war if he becomes president.

    Mr. Obama’s shift came when he was asked last week about his withdrawal plan, which he first proposed in late 2006, a time when Iraq appeared to be sliding into a sectarian civil war. Since then, a new U.S. counterinsurgency strategy has helped bring about a dramatic drop in violence, and the Iraqi government has gained control over most of the country. Among other things, Mr. Obama said “the pace of withdrawal would be dictated by the safety and security of our troops and the need to maintain stability” — an apparent acknowledgment that the hard-won gains of the last year should not be squandered. He also said that “when I go to Iraq, and have a chance to talk to some of the commanders on the ground, I’m sure I’ll have more information and will continue to refine my policies.”

    What the Post doesn’t bother to say is that if Obama had been on the right side in the first-damn-place, he wouldn’t have to “soften”. It was pandering for the votes of the radical Left that has made him “soften”, not any enlightenment, nor any changes on the ground in Iraq. Doesn’t the Washington Post find it strange that the Administration has been touting success for nine months but Obama doesn’t come around to admitting reality until Clinton conceded?

    The Post goes on to praise Obama for his political savvy when instead, they should be criticizing him for contributing to the deaths of US troops by demeaning their mission and pushing a timetable withdrawal, despite the fact that the reality on the ground is diametrically opposed to Obama’s rhetoric. The troops had to overcome an enemy who was convinced that he only had to continue to fight in order to win because Obama and the voters he was trying to attract gave our enemy hope.

    If Barack Obama was really a candidate for “change”, a different kind of politician running a different kind of campaign, he wouldn’t run an “anybody but Bush” campaign like John Kerry on nebulous promises like Jimmy Carter and be a sniffing snob like Al Gore. He’d strop running on leftist pie-in-the-sky rhetoric and tell the anti-war-at-any-cost crowd they were wrong. And he should admit that his anti-war yapping was wrong. And the Washington Post should call a shovel a shovel instead of praising Obama for being the same old politician with whom they’re most comfortable.

  • Rockstar Obama (Updated)

    Obama has officially reached for rockstar status. In his latest solicitation for donations he promises to break conventions and be the candidate of the people, not of the Democrat Party;

    Barack has made it clear that this is your convention, not his.

    On Thursday, August 28th, he’s scheduled to formally accept the Democratic nomination in a speech at the convention hall in front of the assembled delegates.

    Instead, Barack will leave the convention hall and join more than 75,000 people for a huge, free, open-air event where he will deliver his acceptance speech to the American people.

    It’s going to be an amazing event, and Barack would like you to join him. Free tickets will become available as the date approaches, but we’ve reserved a special place for a few of the people who brought us this far and who continue to drive this campaign.

    If you make a donation of $5 or more between now and midnight on July 31st, you could be one of 10 supporters chosen to fly to Denver and spend two days and nights at the convention, meet Barack backstage, and watch his acceptance speech in person. Each of the ten supporters who are selected will be able to bring one guest to join them.

    Below is a screen shot of the email. You can click it to make it legible;

    barack-blather.bmp

    That ought to make the delegates feel important, shouldn’t it? They’ve been wined and dined by Hillary’s campaign and Obama is just going to walk out on them to talk to the rabble. You can bet it won’t be the rabble who’ll be protesting him, though. They’ll be carefully selected and screened rabble.

    I hope there’s plenty of smelling salts on hand.

    UPDATE: Bits Blog reports that Obama plans to give a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to mimic JFK and  Ronald Reagan;

    Believe me BO, we knew Reagan and you are no Gipper.

  • US ties Chavez to Hezbollah

    Chavez Ahmadinejad hug

    Well, Jungle Mom has been warning readers of this blog about this for years (here and here), but today the Washington Times writes that the US has announced that it’s discovered ties between Hezbollah and Chavez;

    An investigation by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) names Venezuelan diplomat Ghazi Nasr al Din and Venezuelan-Arab businessman Fawzi Kanan as key links between the two.

    “It is extremely troubling to see the government of Venezuela employing and providing safe harbor for Hezbollah facilitators and fundraisers,” said Adam Szubin, political affairs director of OFAC.

    Mr. al Din has served as charge d’affaires at the Venezuelan Embassy in Syria and as director of political affairs at the embassy in Lebanon.

    The Treasury Department made the accusations in a June 18 statement, which summarized an investigation of Venezuelan-registered businesses that are thought to be laundering money for Hezbollah.

    Yuh, it’s troubling, but since most of our own Christian missionaries in Venezuela have been removed and replaced by Shi’ite clerics for more than a year, who is surprised? Which news agency will summon the intestinal fortitude to ask Obama what he intends to do about this?

  • Kerry; McCain inept

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    The biggest doofus the Democrats ever nominated for President, John (lied while good men died in two wars) Kerry (who hasn’t signed his Form 180 yet) thinks we still respect his opinion (MSNBC link);

    “John McCain … has proven that he has been wrong about every judgment he’s made about the war. Wrong about the Iraqis paying for the reconstruction, wrong about whether or not the oil would pay for it, wrong about Sunni and Shia violence through the years, wrong about the willingness of the Iraqis to stand up for themselves,” Kerry, who supports Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

    “If you like the Bush tax cut and what it’s done to our economy, making wealthier people wealthier and the average middle class struggle harder, then John McCain is going to give you a third term of George Bush and Karl Rove,” the Massachusetts senator added, echoing an Obama campaign talking point.

    Kerry later said the McCain of 2008 isn’t the McCain he courted in 2004.

    Um, the success in Iraq proves that Kerry has been wrong about the war all along (after he was right about it). Kerry misjudged the majority of Americans’ opinion about the war from the beginning. Despite his personal campaign to lose the war in Iraq and denigrate the troops, he’s been proven a sap.

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    John McCain was a lone Republican voice against the people who told the truth about Kerry’s service. Not that I particularly agree with McCain on this, John Kerry should show his appreciation – not something John Kerry is known for.

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    Kerry stabbed the Vietnam War troops and veterans in the back, why not John McCain, too. John Kerry doesn’t have any respect for anyone except his-damn-self. Nice salute, by the way. Even an Air Force recruit could salute better on his first day of basic Training.

    John McCain was wrong about the tax cuts before he was right about them – you should be able to understand, Kerry. At least when he’s wrong he admits it. The tax cuts got us through a difficult period, but not where Kerry is most concerned – taking Americans’ money from them to fund his idiot programs.

    I noticed Kerry used the “that’s not the John McCain I knew” line of the Obama campaign when backing away from a supporter. I get the distinct feeling that we’ll all be saying “That’s not the Barack Obama I knew” about 100 days into his presidency.

    MSNBC notes;

    Not too long ago, Kerry might have described McCain, a fellow Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, as a bipartisan ally who could provide guidance on national security issues.

    Who is surprised? Kerry is still flip-flopping.

  • Patriotic in Independence

    The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire reports that Obama will be giving a speech on patriotism today;

    Barack Obama will be wearing his patriotism on his sleeve … and his jacket lapel today. The Democrat is expected to deliver a major speech addressing the issue of patriotism in Independence, Mo.

    The speech comes as Obama tries to squelch criticism that he and his wife, Michelle, are unpatriotic. Last week the campaign launched its first TV ad touting the candidate’s “heartland values.” The ad will air in several Republican states.

    The speech today is expected to address patriotism the way Obama addressed the issue of race during the Pennsylvania primary with a widely well-accepted speech in Philadelphia. The race speech came in the wake of incendiary comments made by Obama’s former preacher.

    When was the last time we had to have a speech on patriotism? When John Kerry, the 3 decade anti-war nutjob had to tell us why we should think he’s patriotic. let me drop a simple fact out there for all of you potential politicians – if you have to explain your patriotism, you’re not patriotic and no number of carefully crafted words or phrases or background music or flags will change it.

    And you can’t make yourself appear patriotic – it’s just the way you are and if you’re not patriotic everyone around you knows. Saying you love this country in the same breath that you say you want to change this country can’t be explained away.

    Putting on a clown outfit doesn’t make you funny and putting on a flag doesn’t make you patriotic.

    And what’s with the town names all of a sudden? Unity, NH with Hillary; Independence, MO for patriotism. I guess he’ll give his concession speech in Surprise, AZ.

  • Lil Mac and Blind Faith

    Last night I linked to Jammie Wearing Fool and the story about “Lil Mac” Wesley Clark, but the more I thought about the article, the more angry I became. First here’s the quotes as reported by the Washington Times;

     “[McCain] has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee and he has traveled all over the world, but he hasn’t held executive responsibility,” Clark said. “That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded _ that wasn’t a wartime squadron.”

    Moderator Bob Schieffer, who raised the issue by citing similar remarks Clark has made previously, noted that Obama hadn’t had those experiences nor had he ridden in a fighter plane and been shot down. “Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president,” Clark replied.

    Who the Hell is Wesley Clark to tell us what kind of experience is acceptable to be the President? I’m here to tell you that schmoozing with domestic terrorists and racist preachers isn’t qualifications for President, either, Wes, m-boy.

    Neither is being an E-4 journalist with a personal body guard, nor being a green lieutenant with a boat who accidentally shot himself in the arm. But that didn’t stop you from endorsing Gore or Kerry based on their military experience, did it?

    How many wartime commands did Clark have? Since the bulk of his service was between Vietnam and Kosovo, I have to say; very few. I guess it’s McCain’s fault that he was being held prisoner while the wars were going on and his peers got those plum wartime commands.

    Who keeps giving this knucklehead a forum? CBS should be ashamed for allowing this addle-brained, weasel-faced half-pint on the air. The Democrats should be ashamed that he gets anywhere near their party. All the little peckerhead did yesterday was point out that Obama has less experience than someone with even a tiny bit of experience.

    Getting fired from a command position during a time of relative peace doesn’t qualify Lil Mac for disparaging other veterans’ service with any credibility.

  • Sunday link fest

    Time to give back to all of my friends out there;

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    Me, too.

    Jammie Wearing Fool catches Wesley Clark trashing McCain AGAIN.

    Zero Ponsdorf disagrees with Michael Yon – just this once.

    The American Pundit finds a politician who not only defends Obama and his posse, but he defends Mugabe in the same tone.

    Ziva at Babalu Blog gets nostalgic for pre-Castro Cuba.

    Big Dog recounts the childishness of the Democrats and Baldilocks tells them to grow a pair.

    Uncle Jimbo cuts loose on the Left at Blackfive.

    Bloodthirsty Liberal has little patience for this German revisionist.

    Doubleplusundead takes on the “Dueling Dumbasses” of the Second Amendment revisionists.

    I can’t even summarize this bit of Swedish buffoonery from Rich Horton at Blue Crab Boulevard.

    To show how bi-polar the Obamists are, Robin at Chickenhawk Express finds some hunting for people who bad-mouth B?O for his middle name and DrewM at Ace of Spades finds some changing their middle name to whatever Obama’s middle name is.

    The only guy on the internet who lists me in his blog roll as “This ain’t He**”, my buddy, Steve at Common Cents helps you find cheap gas.

    Confederate Yankee catches AP in an outright lie…once again.

    Don Surber‘s Weekend Scoreboard.

    Lisa and WL MacKenzie Redux at Dust My Broom writes about Jackboot Justice in our neighbor to the north.

    Fausta says there’s a monkey god in Obama’s future.

    Wordsmith’s Sunday Funnies on Flopping Aces.

    Gateway Pundit recounts Lieberman’s charge at Obama’s throat.

    Marooned in Marin reports that Feds are investigating the City of San Francisco for harboring an illegal alien who’s also a crack dealer.

    See-Dubya explains Obama using the McMurthy Lonesome Dove story at Michelle Malkin.

    My buddy Skye at Midnight Blue is still standing against the clowns in West Chester, PA every Saturday.

    Greyhawk at Milblogs pulls back the covers on Obama’s McPeak.

    Kate at A Colombo-Americana’s Perspective has nearly-live photos of the protests in Nicaragua.

    Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs lashes out at Olmert’s deal with the Palestinians.

    The Gentle Cricket says McCain has impressed him already.

    D. at The Dillard Doctrine has advice for the pro-mission organizations – join or die.

    Stop the ACLU reports that Think Progress has resorted to outright lies – not a first for them, though.

    Last Reporter at Red Maryland and Unfree State tells the story of Baltimore’s latest corrupt-thug mayor.

    There, that oughta hold ya’all.