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

Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden

  • The President Who Can’t Shoot Straight

    Millions of us out here in flyover country have long been of the opinion that Barack Obama is not a straight shooter. This weekend he proved it. During the White House Easter Egg Roll, the handlers gathered the kids around the half-court to watch the Prez, whom the press has led us to believe for several years now is quite skilled in the game, shoot some free-throws and layups.

    Bad move, handlers. Much to the dismay of all those who have worked so hard to create this faux image of our chief executive as a skilled athlete (skeet-shooting comes to mind) it became apparent rather quickly that this Prez can’t shoot straight. Out of 22 attempts, the Prez managed two, count ’em, two, baskets. Hell I’m a 72 two year old white guy who, like all white men, can’t jump, and I’d bet some solid money I can do better than 2-22.

    Know what I think? He choked. After missing the first couple in front of his young audience, he became so unnerved he lost his cool and flubbed the rest away. Other than providing those of us not among his admirers with something to chuckle about it, adds to the mounting evidence that this guy is not, and never has been genuine in any way, merely a construct of the liberal media and the Democratic political machine. As we have long held, he’s a lightweight in over his head and trying to perform above his limited capacity in both politics and basketball.

    “So what? The guy got rattled,” will say his supporters. Don’t know about you but in this very dangerous world, I’m not real happy about strategic, command decisions being made by a commander-in-chief who gets rattled when his short-comings become obvious to a bunch of kids on an Easter Egg Roll. You tell me that Putin the Stud isn’t sitting there in the Kremlin chuckling as he watches the ever-repeating video loop of our hapless commander-in-chief proving the myth of his vaunted athletic skills for a world audience. And there have to be scores of Republicans on Capitol Hill thinking, “See, we told he’s not a straight-shooter!” Kim Jong Un is probably sitting in his war room in Pyongyang thinking, “Hell, I can whip that wimp!”

    They, Putin, Kim and a whole lotta folks out here in flyover country and around the world have to be thinking that instead of spending a weekend trip to Florida to pick up golfing tips from Tiger Woods, the Prez could have better spent that time in Miami with LeBron James, learning some basics. One also can’t help but wonder if this lackluster performance might not be a portent of what’s to come in B-Ball Barack’s second big tournament: lots of dribbling, trash talk and flashy shooting, but minimal scoring.

    It’s becoming ever more obvious, with every week that passes, that to the watching world Barack Obama is the Prez who can’t shoot straight.

    Crossposted at American Thinker

  • What’s important here?

    In the Washington Times this morning, David Sherfinski writes that poor Chuckie Schumer is having a tough time shoving a watermelon through a garden hose;

    “I’m working very hard with both Democrats and Republicans, pro-NRA and anti-NRA people, to come up with a background check bill that will be acceptable to 60 senators and be very strong and get the job done,” the New York Democrat said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “It’s very hard. We’re working hard, and I’m very hopeful that we can get this passed.”

    Meanwhile, most of the media is trying to scare us to death with an impending attack from North Korea – the same country that, a few months ago couldn’t get a missile over the Chine Sea is somehow going to nuke Austin, TX, not that it would be a terrible thing, anyway. Maybe they could take out Berkeley, CA while they’re at it.

    And, oh yeah, there’s immigration – John McCain and Chuckie Schumer got to watch how illegal aliens come into this country last week when, as they were wasting our money by looking at the border a woman scaled the fence crossing over into the US. I’m sure they were stunned, but it seems to me that someone could have shouted “Hey!” or “Stop!” But I guess that would be beneath them.

    So, while our military spending threatens to damage operations and readiness, the President’s kids fly at taxpayer expense from their vacation in the Bahamas to their vacation in Sun Valley – just like your kids.

    So while all of this is going on, who is working on the economy? Who is working on getting jobs back? I know, I know, that’s pretty much impossible for the federal government, but it’s what they promised before the election last year – and no one is holding anyone’s fee to the fire. I’m including Republicans in that criticism. John McCain is ready to throw the borders open – and witnesses first hand that they’re not closed anyway.

    The economy expanded at an anemic annual rate of less than 3% in the first quarter, folks have generally given up looking for work and everyone is perfectly fine with that, apparently. They’d rather worry about gun control or North Korea since we’ve all got food stamps and two years worth of unemployment benefits pouring into our bank accounts by direct deposit, so as not to waste time getting to Wal-Mart on our daily commute to buy cheap plastic Chinese-made crap.

  • OIF vets; Bite Me got your medal

    So I was reading the Army Times today, something I don’t normally read and I ran across this article about the Iraq Commitment Medal, a medal designed by the Iraqi government for members of the US military who helped the Iraqis throw off the yoke of Hussein and fought back the al Qaeda militants who invaded the country.

    The title of the article is what drew me to it; OIF vets waiting for Iraq Commitment Medal. Yeah, I’m sure you’re not all ready to go on strike if you don’t get another bit of ribbon. But towards the end of the article is what tempted me to write about it;

    • Will anyone get one? The short answer is yes: Vice President Joe Biden. He received a medal from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a special “day of commitment” ceremony in Baghdad on Dec. 1, 2011. Since then, however, the Defense Department has removed an illustration of the medal design – and photos of Biden receiving the medal – from its website.

    In his speech in Baghdad, Biden noted that the U.S. was withdrawing combat troops from Iraq in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement between Iraq and the coalition.

    “A promise made is a promise kept,” he said.

    Somehow I missed that story, probably because it was on Military Times and I don’t read that POS normally. But, the fact that Bite Me got a medal that celebrates American commitment to Iraq is a comedy of errors. For one thing, Bite Me wanted to partition Iraq into four different countries – yes, the smartest man on the planet wanted to break the nation up into pieces. That wouldn’t cause any problems would it? I mean, the war to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein began because Hussein claimed that Kuwait was the 19th province of Iraq.

    Additionally, Bite Me called the “surge” a failure;

    Biden offered an early rebuttal to next week’s testimony by Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador there. Petraeus and Crocker are expected to say the recent buildup in troops has succeeded in improving security. But they also likely will say that a period of assessment is needed this summer before officials can decide whether troop withdrawals can continue. Democrats have called this approach unacceptable and said they would pursue an alternative policy through legislation. They said their focus will be on restoring the strength of the Army and Marines and refocusing the nation’s resources on fighting terrorists in Afghanistan. “I believe the president has no strategy for success in Iraq,” Biden said. “His plan is to muddle through, and hand the problem off to his successor.”

    Both Bite Me and Obama voted against the “surge”, the crowning achievement in Iraq, but somehow he gets the Iraq Commitment Medal. I don’t think “commitment” means what they think it means. I know you guys don’t care about one more little foreign award, but I’m pretty upset at the fact that Bite Me, who tried to end the war before it reached any kind of success, and voted to cut off spending for continued operations no less than six times in 2007, and then in 2008 tried to undermine the security that had been won in Iraq by demeaning the momentous achievements by the troops there, gets the only Iraq Commitment Medal in existence.

    It’s like giving the Nobel Peace Prize to someone who has been warring their ass off. Or something.

    Added Here is a video of the full event were you can see the Iraqi Government giving the medal to the VP.

  • “Free Man In Paris”? Not Exactly . . . .

    Well, the VP visited Europe recently.  It was a 5 night trip.  He spent one night in London, and one night in Paris.

    He stayed at very nice hotels – the Hyatt Regency in London, and the Hotel Intercontinental Paris Le Grand in Paris.  I won’t begrudge him that; after all, he is the VP of the United States.  And he did have to send an advance party, and bring security, staff, etc . . . .

    But perhaps whoever booked his rooms needs to work on their negotiating skills.

    Hotel cost for the VP’s London stay:  $459,388.65.  The sole-source contract was awarded non-competitively, and was for 136 rooms – and a total of 893 room-nights.  Average cost per room was somewhat over $510 per night.

    And the hotel cost for the VP’s stay in Paris?  A cool $585,000.50.  Not as many details are available here, so it’s unclear precisely what the nightly cost per room really was.  But if the number of room-nights is the same, that works out to around $650 per night.

    The above contracts appear to be for lodging only – no staff salaries, fuel, etc . . . .

    Yeah, you’re reading that correctly.  That’s apparently over $1,044,000 for lodging alone to support the VP staying one night in London and one night in Paris.

    In case anyone’s wondering:  the normal maximum authorized overseas lodging rate for US government travelers in London is $301 per night.  For Paris, $379 the normal maximum authorized is per night.  Exceptions exceeding this amount require special authorization.

    Obviously, this is a case where an exception was authorized.  And yeah, the VP doesn’t just walk in and get a room for the night; security considerations nix that.

    But it seems to me that you should be able to negotiate a nightly rate at least somewhere close to the maximum authorized for Federal travelers when booking a block of 130+ rooms including the POTUS or VP – like maybe within $50 or $100 per night, anyway.  Here, in each case it looks like the rate negotiated was at least $200 per night per room over that.

    And 136 rooms?  Really?

    But hey:  it’s the for the VP of the United States, so it’s cool.  And it’s only money, right?

    Yeah, that last bit is kinda my point.  It’s the US taxpayer’s money.  Over $1 million for lodging alone so the VP can spend two nights overseas just seems a bit much.

     

    PS:  it looks like the VP got around in style while he was in Paris, too.  His limo bill for the stay appears to have been $321,665.

    He’s got nothing on his boss, though.  According to the same article, when the POTUS visited Cannes in November 2011 for the Cannes Film Festival the limo bill there was estimated to cost $731,938 – with a “not to exceed” limit of $1,400,000.

    That visit to Cannes by the POTUS lasted approximately 36 hours.

  • Loving to Fly

    Apparently the former SECDEF wasn’t the only one regularly flying home most weekends.  It seems as if our VP loves flying on government aircraft, too.

    The VP has an official residence in DC.  He also owns a home in Wilmington, DE – about 110 miles away.

    As a Senator, he apparently took the train from DC to Wilmington on weekends.  Once he became VP, according to Biden the Secret Service put the kibosh on that for security reasons.

    However, as VP most weekends he’s still been going home. He’s a member of a rather exclusive club in Wilmington, and likes to golf there.  And since it’s his home, presumably he likes the area too.

    So he’s been flying home.  He’s generally been using Air Force Two to fly to Wilmington.

    Air Force Two is a modified Boeing 757.  It has an operating cost of around $8,800 per hour.  Add to that operating cost whatever it costs to get him to/from Andrews AFB to catch his flight and to/from his home in Wilmington, DE, of course.  Plus crew salaries, and travel expenses if they stay for the weekend.  Plus the travel expenses for his protection detail – as well as additional salaries for same whenever his family doesn’t come with him.

    Ya know, if it were me I think I’d just drive.  Seems to me that would be possible for the VP, too – even if he might have to wait until after rush hour to leave.  By the time he gets from his Naval Observatory residence to Andrews, catches his flight, flies to Wilmington, gets off, and then goes home, I’m guessing he burns at least an hour – if not closer to an hour and a half.  At off-peak hours, it’s only about a 2-hour drive.  And I’ll guarantee someone else will be doing the driving, too.

    And if the Secret Service nixed that (which is entirely possible due to security concerns if being done on a regular basis), I think I’d either just stay in DC most weekends – or at least see if Marine 2 might be available to take me vice Air Force Two.  Even a VH-3D has to be less expensive to operate than a 757.

    But we should feel sorry for our poor Mr. VP.  According to recent remarks Biden made to the National Association of Attorneys General, sequestration is going to force him to go back to using the train.

    Which brings a question to mind:  if it’s OK for you to resume using the train due to sequestration, Mr. VP – then why in the hell haven’t you been using it all along?

  • Where’s the ammo?

    Paul and Claymore send us a link to CNS which says that the nation’s police departments are having to beg and borrow ammo while the Feds go on a buying spree;

    Chief Pryor of Rollingwood, Texas says of the shortage:

    “We started making phone calls and realized there is a waiting list up to a year. We have to limit the amount of times we go and train because we want to keep an adequate stock.”

    “Nobody can get us ammunition at this point,” says Sgt. Jason LaCross of the Bozeman, Montana police department.

    LaCross says that manufacturers are so far behind that they won’t even give him a quote for an order.

    “We have no estimated time on when it will even be available,” LaCross says.

    He worries that when ammunition is finally available the high price will squeeze the department’s budget.

    And, oh, yeah, the Department of Homeland Security isn’t telling Congress why they’re buying so much ammo – 1.6 billion rounds.

    Of course, those of you who heeded my warning last year that the Obama Administration was buying up ammo have no problems, right? I hope you didn’t listen to the naysayers who said that it would have no effect on ammo availability or prices. I was buying 5.56mm for about $.40/round last year and now it’s up to over $1/round, that is if you can find it. Even .22 ammo is at a premium.

  • Embracing the Viper

    President Obama is on his Middle East tour and has thus far offered an arm of support to Israel that those who are ultimately responsible for the very survival of that nation and their people must surely be examining at arm’s length. In spite of Obama’s declaration that Israel’s future is “bound to ours,” he notably did not say that Israel’s survival is bound to ours. That’s a significant distinction if you happen to be a home-based Israeli living under perpetual threat of annihilation.

    Of further significant concern was Obama’s apparent willingness to appear on a speaking platform in the Ramallah with a huge depiction of that despicable terrorist, Yasser Arafat, hovering overhead. Good grief! Is Obama’s advance team so inept as to allow the President of the United States of America to stand and expound under the image of one of the founding fathers of Islamic terrorism with its bombings, shootings and multitudinous other forms of assassination and death? Arafat was a sleazy embezzler and a sexual deviate who raped not only little Arab boys but the very cause he professed to represent. Yet there stood our entirely clueless president under Arafat’s blown-up photo lending immeasurable American presidential support to the memory of this despicable man and the fools who still worship and follow this false idol.

    One can only wonder as to whether this was a colossal screw-up by Obama’s advance team or a calculated move to show the solidarity of America’s suspected Muslim-sympathizing president with the militant, anti-Jewish factions all over the Middle East. Either way, Barack has alienated a huge segment of society, either West or Middle East.

    Perhaps Obama ultimately hopes to emulate the widow of Arafat who lives ever so comfortably in France, her comfort insured by the hundreds of millions she and her corrupt husband looted. Our affirmative action president does so much appear to enjoy the trappings of wealth, and who could possibly know if he will not be comfortably retired in similar manner by those who hold immense wealth in the Middle East?

    Crossposted at American Thinker

  • Obama: What debt crisis?

    ROS sends a link to an ABC report of an interview with the President in which he now claims that our debt is sustainable and that there is no crisis;

    “We don’t have an immediate crisis in terms of debt,” President Obama said in an exclusive interview with George Stephanopoulos for “Good Morning America.” “In fact, for the next 10 years, it’s gonna be in a sustainable place.”

    It’s an assessment that will throw cold water on the latest attempt to achieve a so-called grand bargain to reduce the deficit. After all, a grand bargain would require excruciatingly difficult decisions for both sides – for Republicans, it would mean raising taxes, and for Democrats, cutting future spending on cherished programs like Social Security and Medicare. If there is no crisis, why would either side do it?

    So, what happens if this latest effort to reach a deficit agreement falls through? Once again, the president’s answer was, essentially, no big deal.

    “Ultimately, it may be that the differences are just too wide” to get a deal, President Obama said. “That won’t create a crisis. It just means that we will have missed an opportunity.”

    So, I guess now that there’s no one else to blame he’s just going into denial about the debt. Then why did he raise taxes? And why does he want to raise taxes on even more working Americans if there’s no impending crisis?