Just another charm offensive? “President Barack Obama is preparing new overtures to business that may start with a walk into the headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a retreat with corporate chief executive officers, according to people familiar with his plans.” So long as he plans on keeping ObamaCare and the financial regulation bill and raises taxes, it’s hard to consider it more than atmospherics.
Just another way of spinning that the White House is getting rid of him as soon as possible. “David Axelrod’s long-anticipated departure from the White House is happening a little earlier than expected — right after President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech in late January or early February — so the senior adviser can ‘recharge his batteries,’ according to a senior administration official.”
Just another bad poll for the White House to ignore. “Just about as many Americans want Tea Party-backed members of Congress to take the lead in setting policy during the next year as choose President Obama, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds. … The survey also underscores Obama’s weakened standing. His overall job approval rating, at 42%, is 1 percentage point higher than his historic low in midsummer. His 35% approval rating on the economy is the lowest of his presidency.”
Just another prominent conservative woman on the world stage? This one –Michèle Alliot-Marie, the foreign minister of France — plays rugby. “ The 64-year-old Gaullist is more than just another passive fan of the game. The normally austere MAM, as she is known in France, revealed in a rare informal television appearance in the mid-1980s that she had nearly been kicked out of school when she was young for converting the female handball squad into a rugby team. ‘I think that I’d still be able to make a pass,’ she noted.”
Just another move by Israel that’ll drive the left around the bend. How dare the Jewish state institute such democratic rules! “The Knesset passed the National Referendum Law during a late-night session Monday, approving legislation that will fundamentally alter Israeli negotiators’ ability to offer concrete peace deals involving the Golan Heights or east Jerusalem. The law, which was approved by a vote of 65-33, will require either a Knesset super-majority or a national referendum in order to hand over any annexed territories as part of a future peace deal.”
Just another day of nagging kids to eat vegetables. But is this really a job for the First Lady?
Just another human rights abomination in the “Muslim World.” Asia Bibi, a Pakistani mother of five, has been jailed for a year and sentenced to death for blasphemy. Although she might get a presidential pardon, that’s not the end of it. “Even if Ms. Bibi is pardoned or the Lahore High Court overturns the sentence, there are concerns about her safety. Many people acquitted on blasphemy charges continue to be hounded and are forced to move, change their identity or hide, the commission says.”
Just another political miscalculation and panic attack in the White House. “As the Senate’s leading Republican on nuclear security issues, Mr. Kyl has warned the White House for months that it couldn’t get its treaty ratified without addressing his concerns on warhead modernization and missile defenses. For months, the Administration gave him mere lip service. Now that it has discovered it doesn’t have the votes, the Administration is finally getting serious about Mr. Kyl’s concerns even as it is trying to bully him over immediate ratification. Republicans are right to take their time and debate this thoroughly.”
He will flail and thrash like a fish on sand, or a crawfish on a hot griddle. Will he even understand that talking about something is not action? Who knows? Does he deserve the same respect given to President Bush…
Jennifer, go get some sleep, the world goes on, with us or without us. Take a walk, talk to a live human being about something other than politics and have a stiff drink.
Tomorrow never knows.
Let’s hope he double-crosses AIPAC, although that’s not bloody likely.
Watch for some bread and circuses.
As for you, Grumpy, Obama can’t double cross AIPAC, because his enmity toward Israel has been well-known. That should appeal to you, though not to us.
AIPAC is a temporizing gaggle of (doubtless) overweight clowns. It’s up to Israelis to elect a lean and hungry, carnivorous right-wing PM who enjoys hunting for sport. A little Putinism in their foreign policy would do them infinitely more good than a thousand Washington fatties. As for Barry: It’s one thing to disparage longtime friends for electoral gain, another to stiff seasoned political pros. Even Jerry Wright almost singlehandedly derailed the Little Engine That Could. We are going to find out what it’s like when the World’s Superpower is run by committee.
Since he’s never held executive power we don’t know whether he has the mettle to be a leader or not. My sense is he’s a weaker version of Jimmy Carter (if that is possible) who will be given a stern talking to by Pelosi and Reid in the same manner that Tip O’Neil informed Carter as to who really runs things in DC. In two years President Obama will have that deer in the headlights look of confusion.
Btw, wasn’t it Woodrow Wilson who lamented “Congressional government”? Irony of ironies, eh Grumpy?
Obama’s first showdown with Congress may be over Iraq. His final stated position was pretty responsible-combat troops out in sixteen months subject to conditions on the ground. Congress may pas a bill that withdraws more troops more quickly. If Obama does not veto, it will indicate Congress is in charge or he was fibbing about his final position. Either way, it’s a bad sign.
In all probability, we’d all be better off it the Israelis didn’t sublet their security to DC; it would sober everybody up. Last time I checked, though, Mr. Netanyahu was a 46 portly.
I woke up this morning comforted by this thought:
Barack Obama has never done anything in office, he has just been there. He has no accomplishments. If he continues this trend, we’ll be alright.
On the other hand, he has always had a higher asperations in the past. So he has made sure not to take a position on anything. Now he has reached the highest office, so that won’t be a concern. Maybe the ideas of a second term, and (god forbid he gets a second term) his legacy will keep him milquetoast.