At least one could easily surmise that based on her Tuskegee University Commencement Address
And believe me, I understand that kind of pressure. (Applause.) I’ve experienced a little bit of it myself. You see, graduates, I didn’t start out as the fully-formed First Lady who stands before you today. No, no, I had my share of bumps along the way.
Back when my husband first started campaigning for President, folks had all sorts of questions of me: What kind of First Lady would I be? What kinds of issues would I take on? Would I be more like Laura Bush, or Hillary Clinton, or Nancy Reagan? And the truth is, those same questions would have been posed to any candidate’s spouse. That’s just the way the process works. But, as potentially the first African American First Lady, I was also the focus of another set of questions and speculations; conversations sometimes rooted in the fears and misperceptions of others. Was I too loud, or too angry, or too emasculating? (Applause.) Or was I too soft, too much of a mom, not enough of a career woman?
Then there was the first time I was on a magazine cover -- it was a cartoon drawing of me with a huge afro and machine gun. Now, yeah, it was satire, but if I’m really being honest, it knocked me back a bit. It made me wonder, just how are people seeing me.
Or you might remember the on-stage celebratory fist bump between me and my husband after a primary win that was referred to as a “terrorist fist jab.” And over the years, folks have used plenty of interesting words to describe me. One said I exhibited “a little bit of uppity-ism.“ Another noted that I was one of my husband’s “cronies of color.” Cable news once charmingly referred to me as “Obama’s Baby Mama.”
She also added:
Instead they will make assumptions about who they think you are based on their limited notion of the world. And my husband and I know how frustrating that experience can be. We’ve both felt the sting of those daily slights throughout our entire lives -- the folks who crossed the street in fear of their safety; the clerks who kept a close eye on us in all those department stores; the people at formal events who assumed we were the “help” -- and those who have questioned our intelligence, our honesty, even our love of this country.
It would reverse recent movement away from the
users-pay/users-benefit principle that is the best and fairest way to
fund transportation infrastructure;
It does not mandate that states do anything, but would simply give them a new option;
It could and should be a step toward devolving a major portion of the highway system from federal to state control; and,
It could open the door to increased use of long-term public-private
partnerships to rebuild and modernize America’s most important
transportation infrastructure.
On The Mike Gallagher Show, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had this to say
about Obama and the White House when it comes to Benghazi, “Our
Democratic friends, for the most part, have been in the tank over
Benghazi. They think it’s to get me reelected. Some guy said this about
me yesterday on the left: The only reason I cared about this was because
I have six tea party opponents. Well, if that’s true, I’m the biggest
scumbag in America. I don’t think that’s true; I know it’s not true. It
would be almost impossible for Lindsey Graham — given who I am and what
I’ve been doing for the last 20 years — not to care about those in
harm’s way, who get killed, and not go on to hold the administration
accountable that lied about it…The scumbags are the people in the White
House who lied about this.”
While speaking at for the National Day of Prayer, Dr James Dobson chimed in: “President Obama, before he was elected,
made it very clear that he wanted to be the abortion president,” Dobson
fulminated. “He didn’t make any bones about it. This is something that
he really was going to promote and support, and he has done that, and in
a sense he is the abortion president.”
On May 2, Raw Story reported:
In a column published at World Net Daily,
conservative pundit and AM talk radio show host Alan Keyes said that
“genocidal” President Barack Obama’s defenders use the president’s
“black skin is some kind of magic cloak” to protect him from criticism. Right Wing Watch reported
that Keyes — an erstwhile presidential candidate and Senate challenger
to then Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) — said that Democrats are using that
political cover to “overthrow the constitutional self-government of the
American people” and carry out “an assault on religious liberty.”
Obama, said Keyes, is on a mission to wipe out the black population
through “the targeted promotion of abortion in the black
community. Throughout his career, Obama has shilled for this genocidal
movement with fanatical zeal.”
On May 3, Obama delivered his weekly radio address:
" But so far this year, Republicans in Congress have blocked or voted down
every serious idea to create jobs and strengthen the middle class.
They’ve said “no” to raising the minimum wage, “no” to equal pay for
equal work, and “no” to restoring the unemployment insurance they let
expire for more than two million Americans looking for a new job.
I acted to raise more workers’ wages by requiring that workers on new
federal contracts earn a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour – and as
long as Republicans in Congress refuse to act, I’ll keep working with
cities, states, and businesses to give more Americans a raise. I acted
to encourage more pay transparency and strengthen enforcement of equal
pay laws, so that more women have the tools they need to earn fair pay.
And I’m modernizing regulations to make sure that more Americans who
work overtime get the pay that they’ve earned. I’ve launched new hubs to
help attract more high-tech manufacturing jobs to America – and ordered
a reform of job training programs to make sure more Americans can earn
the skills that employers need right now. I’ve brought together business
leaders to help us connect more classrooms to high-speed internet, and
give more of the long-term unemployed a better shot at finding a job.
But we could do a lot more if Republicans in Congress were less
interested in stacking the deck in favor of those at the top, and more
interested in growing the economy for everybody. They’ve now voted more
than 50 times to take apart the Affordable Care Act – imagine if they
voted 50 times on serious jobs bills.
That’s why I’m going to take action on my own wherever I can. To grow
our economy from the middle-out, not the top down. To give every
American who works hard a chance to get ahead."
Washington Times columnist
Emily Miller has written a jaw-dropping book about the arduous process
required to legally own a gun in our nation’s capital. At first glance,
since the cover features Miller in a pink tank top holding her SIG
Sauer, it appears to be a basic story about a girl learning to shoot a
gun for the first time. It is nothing of the sort. Miller relays going
through each and every onerous, tedious requirement Washington, D.C.
requires to simply acquire a firearm – and that does not even include carrying a
firearm, which is prohibited unless in a box and under limited
circumstances. She observes, “there is no other constitutional right
that requires American citizens to pass tests to exercise it.”
This book is
an eye opener for those of us who do not live in an area with strict gun
control laws. In Arizona, which has the least restrictive gun control
laws in the country, you can buy a gun from virtually anyone, sometimes
instantaneously without a background check, you do not need to register
it, and can carry it concealed or unconcealed without a permit.
Miller
intersperses her story with a comprehensive update on the latest gun
control efforts by the Obama administration, a few state governments,
and related legal battles. She provides real statistics related to guns
and crime, and contrasts them with liberal hypocrisy. Gun-related
murders in the U.S. have decreased almost 40 percent in the last 20
years. Britain, which has strict gun control laws, has few gun-related
homicides but a higher violent crime rate than the U.S. Washington, D.C.
has in place all the gun control laws that Obama is pushing on the
federal level, yet robberies with guns went up 18 percent there in just
one year. And, you can bet none of those guns were legally registered
under D.C. law. [SOURCE: Intellectual Conservative: Second Amendment Hurdles and Liberal Hypocrisy: Emily Gets Her Gun….But Obama Wants to Take Yours]
Benghazi being stilll unsettled, the National Review's Andrew McCarthy asked:
"Outnumbered and fighting off wave after jihadist wave,
Americans were left to die in Benghazi while administration officials
huddled, not to devise a rescue strategy, but to spin the election-year
politics. The most powerful and capable armed forces in the history of
the world idled, looking not to their commander-in-chief but to a State
Department that busied itself writing press releases about phantom
Islamophobia. The president of the United States, the only
constitutional official responsible for responding, was nowhere to be
found.We are left with four dead Americans and an emerging paper trail of
dereliction stretching from Benghazi to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.Benghazi is not about what Hillary Clinton or Leon Panetta or Susan
Rice or Ben Rhodes or Jay Carney or Robert Lovell did or didn’t do. The
only question is: What was President Barack Obama doing, and not doing,
during the critical hours when his sworn duty required decisive action?
Mr. Obama owes Americans a detailed answer. Now."
On May 4, Greg Penglis (Intellectual Conservative) offered this insight:
"Ask yourself why
the socialist Left is so protective of this president? Why do they
shelter him, coddle him, reinforce his insecurities, guard him from
questions, dismiss his scandals, delay proper judicial proceedings and
investigations, allow for his made up laws and regulations, cover for
his hopeless foreign policy, rewrite the narratives and history, chain
him to a teleprompter, and refuse to let him stand completely on his own
like every other president? It is because the socialist Left is
completely racist, and doesn’t believe a black man is up to the job of
president. It is not the accused therefore that have the race problem,
it is the accusers. Barack Obama
will never know what it is like to be a full president, because he will
never be subject to the full scrutiny of office; not from the press, not
from the public, not from Congress, nor from the Judiciary. He will
never be fully held accountable, never have to fully defend himself,
most likely never be impeached, and never be responsible for what
happens during his term of office. The socialist Left has condemned not
only Barack Obama to second class status as a president, but every
subsequent Democrat black president to second class status as well,
until this leftist racism is purged from our political system." :[Intellectual Conservative: Why Obama Will Never Know a Full Presidency]
Libertarian Party Political Director Carla Howell issued this statement:
"Reports of Obama's low poll ratings cite the botched rollout of
Obamacare as one cause. But it's also the realization that Obama broke
his promises.
He said you'd be able to keep your doctor – but many have lost their doctors.
He said you could keep your insurance plan. But millions of plans
were cancelled, leaving people suddenly uninsured and vulnerable to
catastrophic losses and delays in treatment that harm their health."
On May 5, the Committee to Protect Jourtnalsists observed:
Nearly seven months ago, CPJ published its first in-depth report
on press freedom in the United States, concluding that the Obama
administration's aggressive prosecution of leakers of classified information,
broad surveillance programs, and moves to stem the routine disclosure of
information to the press meant that the president had fallen far short of his
campaign promise to have the most open government in U.S. history. What's
changed since? A quick survey of recent events suggests not much. [Obama transparency record remains unimpressive]
In light of the events surrounding Cliven Bundy, Right Wing Watch reported former Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo said "
“We
have a guy in the White House that I believe, and have seen it on many
occasions, is the most dangerous thing — he’s more dangerous than any
other threat we face as a nation,” Tancredo said. “Barack Obama, I
believe, is dedicated to destroying the America that I love.” Contending that Obama has “methodically shredded the Constitution,”
Tancredo continued, “He should have been impeached. He should have been
impeached many times.”
[Right Wing Watch:
Tom Tancredo Warns Obama Is 'More Dangerous Than Any Other Threat We Face As A Nation']
On May 7, Jon Rappoport posted that "Under the selective radar of mainstream media, Barack Obama has been
carving out a whole new level of support for Monsanto and other
destructive biotech giants." [Jon Rappoport's Blog:: Barack Obama and the Monsanto betrayal]
On May 8, the author at "Potluck" wrote:
A biographer has told the world that he feels that President Obama is
disappointed in the world. Really? Well my most obvious response is
that many in the world are very disappointed in him as well. But there
is more to this. He is disappointed in the world because he views with
rose-colored glasses on how the world should be instead of what it
actually is.
He truly believes that if we just make the minimum wage a little
higher people will get lifted out poverty. Although we have raised the
minimum wage throughout the years and we still have poverty. So the
latest is a “living wage”. Which is just another myth that will never work on a national level.
If the government just gets involved we can make the world more
“fair”. He doesn’t seem to understand that life isn’t fair, nor will it
ever be.
If the rich just give more of their money, the poor will get more.
Again, this is just another myth. President Obama is a perfect example
of that. He has made less money in 2013 than he did in 2014, I didn’t
get more because he has less. Nor has anyone else.' [Potluck: President Obama is Disappointed in the World Says Biographer]
On May 8 the Southern Poverty Law Center praised Obama:
The Obama administration has taken an important step to protect every
child’s right to a public education by releasing guidance today that
outlines the legal responsibilities of schools to provide equal access
regardless of a child’s or parent’s national origin or immigration
status, the SPLC said.
“The Obama administration demonstrated
today a commitment to one of our nation’s most fundamental ideals:
public education,” said Jerri Katzerman, SPLC deputy legal director.
“This guidance highlights the legal right of all children – regardless
of their immigration status – to a public education as guaranteed by Plyler v. Doe more than 30 years ago. It is an important step to safeguard this right in school districts across the nation.
As President Obama was winding up his speech at a California DNC fundraiser, he was interrupted by a heckler
and attempted to dissipate the situation before jokingly complaining
about the heckler screwing up his big finish. The president was speaking
about cynicism and seizing the future when someone in the crowd started
loudly yelling.
According to USA Today,
the man was shouting, “Freedom for Ethiopia!” In a letter he passed
around, the man described himself as “an exiled journalist and freedom
activist” trying to raise awareness about the plight of Ethiopians.
Obama tried to calm him down, saying, “I agree with you, although why
don’t I talk about it later, ’cause I’m just about to finish.” When the
shouting continued, the president lightly complained, “You kind of
screwed up my ending, but that’s okay.”
On May 9, Rush Limbaugh attacked the Obama administration for "hashtag activism":
“If you’re going to do something, don’t look impotent when you do it!
You know, it’s okay for John Q. Public and Jane Q. Public, who can’t do
anything about it, to get all excited about a Twitter hashtag
movement––everybody wants to show they care and so forth––but the most
powerful man in the world looks impotent and pathetic and then so does
his country when the Twitter hashtag becomes the instrument here.”
On May 9, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich ripped into the White House for the decision to allow President Barack Obama
to hold a press event at a Walmart. Calling the staffer at the White
House who planned the event a “numbskull,” Reich wondered how it was
possible for the president’s staff to essentially endorse Walmart in
spite of what he said was their unfair compensation practices.
On May 9, Blue Virginia reported:
"President Obama announced
"more than 300 private and public sector commitments to create jobs and
cut carbon pollution by advancing solar deployment and energy
efficiency." In addition, he announced "new executive actions that will
lead to $2 billion in energy efficiency investments in Federal
buildings; smarter appliances that will cut carbon pollution by more
than 380 million metric tons - equivalent to taking 80 million cars off
the road for one year - and will save businesses nearly $26 billion on
their energy bills; and training programs at community colleges across
the country that will assist 50,000 workers to enter the solar industry
by 2020." [Blue Virginia: President Obama Announces Commitments, Executive Actions to Advance Solar Power, Energy Efficiency]
President Barack Obama earned “four Pinocchios” from the Washington Post Fact Checker,
the highest ranking for a political lie, for asserting that Republicans
filibustered 500 pieces of legislation, an exaggeration of nearly five
times the reality.
OP/ED BYTES: May 12, 2014: Boko Haram, an al Qaeda knock-off based in Nigeria,
is picking on children. In search of headlines to frighten, Abubakar
Shekau leads his terrorist band to attack schools, killing boys and
kidnapping girls to sell as wives and slaves. Education, they say, is
not for girls, and Western learning, which teaches women and girls to
think for themselves, is regarded as the worst kind of education,
because it’s rooted in Judeo-Christianity and it deprives men of
compliant servants................Michelle Obama
was photographed last week holding up a Twitter sign reading “Bring
back our girls.” Though they’re not actually “our girls,” her sentiment
is spot on — the kidnappings in Nigeria are an affront to human decency. When the misogynist practices of Islam in Africa was to be the subject of Somalia-born
Ayaan Ali Hirsi’s speech at Brandeis University the other day, the
school’s administration bowed to the liberal left and disinvited her. On
that occasion Mrs. Obama showed no interest in standing up for women, lest she offend an Islamist..............The terrorism of Boko Haram
is rooted in a radical interpretation of Islam that calls for a
worldwide caliphate. Naive Western liberals refuse to acknowledge the
danger of this virulent ideology. Instead, they take every opportunity
to appease the Islamists as a show of their tolerance. The abuse of
women often goes unremarked, and the first lady conducts America’s
foreign policy by holding up a sign like a panhandler. Tweets and
“raising awareness” won’t save the kidnapped girls in Nigeria.
Attention is precisely what the kidnappers seek..............When
Thomas Jefferson was faced with the question of what to do about Muslim
extremists taking Americans hostage on the coast of Africa, his
answer was the creation of the U.S. Navy. Overwhelming force exacted a
peace. At some point, there will be an incident demanding an effective
American answer, and Mr. Obama will have to realize appeasement
doesn’t work, and he’ll have to prepare the fleet. (SOURCE: Washington Times: "EDITORIAL: Obama’s diplomacy by Twitter")
ON THE RECORD: May 12, 2014: I have to
disagree with Rush on this point. I have not enough evidence to support
the idea that the Obama administration has not acted against any
terrorist issue because of race. Granted, I have not seen the Obama
administration act against terrorism at all, but I think their lack of
action has been particularly lacking on when the terrorists are
Muslim. The Washington Times put out an editorial yesterday (:"EDITORIAL: Obama’s diplomacy by Twitter") that I think hit all the right places on the Obama admin and their appeasement policies:
More at: Z-News Blog: I have to disagree with Rush Limbaugh on this point
On May 13, Jason Howerton (The Blaze) reported:
Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday argued the Obama
“regime” — as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and
First Lady Michelle Obama — “sympathize” with radical Islamic terror
group Boko Haram.
Limbaugh also said the recent hashtag activism promoted by the first
lady is actually “aimed at helping” the terrorists of Boko Haram.
“The Regime, Hillary, Michelle Obama sympathize with Boko Haram,”
Limbaugh said. “They’re blaming the Christian Nigerian government for
creating Boko Haram, and they want to get rid of the Nigerian
government, because if you do that, if you appease the terror group by
getting rid of the group you think is responsible for their existence,
then you’ve made peace with them. You’ve made friends with them and
they’ll leave us alone, or whatever convoluted thinking. I’m sorry, my
ability to comprehend liberalism only goes so far.” [The Blaze: Rush Limbaugh’s Explosive Claim About Radical Terrorist Group Boko Haram and the Obama ‘Regime’]
The liberal hubris is that government can do anything to change the
earth's climate or prevent the next big hurricane, earthquake or
monsoon. These are the people in Washington who can't run a website,
can't deliver the mail and can't balance a budget. But they are going to
prevent droughts and forest fires.
The President's doomsday claims last week served mostly to undermine the
alarmists' case for radical action on climate change. Truth always
seems to be the first casualty in this debate.
This is the tactic of tyrants. Americans are wise to be wary about
giving up our basic freedoms and lowering our standard of living to
combat an exaggerated crisis.
On May 13, PBS Frontline revealed a documentary that reports Barack Obama's lies. It
shows candidate, Senator, Obama promising, "No more secrecy. That's a
commitment that I make to you as president!" And, "I will
provide our intelligence and law enforcement agencies with the tools they
need to track and take out the terrorists without undermining our
Constitution and our freedom. That means no more illegal wiretapping of American
citizens." And, "No more ignoring the law when it is inconvenient.
That is not who we are. That's not what is necessary to defeat the
terrorists." And, then, finally: "BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States: The laws that are written will be more open to the public.
No more secrecy. That's the commitment I make to you as president!"
(And he now was President.) All of those promises, from Obama, were also lies.
Furthermore, this documentary makes clear that both Bush
and Obama have consistently tried to imprison whistleblowers, within the NSA
and elsewhere, who attempted to get word out about this rampant law-breaking by
the federal government. Edward Snowden was just the last of a long line of
those. At one point, practically the entire top rung of the U.S. Justice
Department were preparing to resign over this matter. NSA Senior Executive
Thomas Drake was fired over it, prosecuted with the threat of life
imprisonment, and then, when Obama ultimately couldn't find anything serious to
charge him with, just stripped financially to pay his legal expenses. And, of
course, Obama still wants to kill Edward Snowden for exposing this
"Program."
On May 17, Obama released this statement about International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia:
"Tomorrow, as we commemorate the 10th
annual International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, we recommit
ourselves to the fundamental belief that all people should be treated
equally, that they should have the opportunity to reach their fullest
potential, and that no one should face violence or discrimination -- no
matter who they are or whom they love.
"This year, the United
States celebrates the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education,
the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, and the 45th anniversary
of the Stonewall riots. In doing so, we reflect on lessons learned from
our own civil rights struggles and reaffirm our commitment to ensuring
that the human rights of all people are universally protected.
"At
a time when, tragically, we are seeing increased efforts to criminalize
or oppress LGBT persons, we call on partners everywhere to join us in
defending the equal rights of our LGBT brothers and sisters, and in
ensuring they are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve."
On May 19, Nick Gillespie (Reason.com) critques Obama's knowledge of his own admiisitration:
So it turns out that President
Obama—that whip-smart guy who is so super-curious about everything
(unlike that quitter-snowbilly former Gov. Sarah Palin
amirite?)—apparently had no idea that his administration was
letting veterans croak while on waiting lists for care at Veterans
Affairs (V.A.) facilities. At the very least,
his people knew about the waiting-list problems, including
inaccurate reporting on treatment times, back in 2008.
You remember the Fast and Furious gun-walking snafu? He read
about that in the papers. Same thing with NSA surveillance. And it
took him a few days to realize that the Obamacare website was
tripping balls but he finally started to get news reports about it
after a few days. And needless to say, he didn't have any idea that
the IRS—his IRS—was targeting Tea Party groups until he
read about in the papers.
I'm guessing that he still doesn't really know that his Justice
Department keeps deporting immigrants and raiding medical marijuana
dispensaries in California either. At record rates. Because, you
know, he said he wasn't going to pull that shit. Can somebody slip
him a newspaper story about those things so he can finally get
cracking?" [Reason.com: It's a Good Thing That Obama Reads the Paper Because Otherwise He'd Have No Idea What His Administration is Doing]
The Christian Post reported Pastor James Garlow's opinion of President Obama:
President Barack Obama's legacy should be that he "morally and
economically destroyed a wonderful experiment called America," said
megachurch Pastor James Garlow of Skyline Church in San Diego, Calif.,
who blasted the president for his pro-abortion and pro-same-sex marriage
views.
"I can tell you what it ought to be. But whether
historians will do what they have done with some other things and be
revisionistic, I don't know," Garlow said in an interview with The Daily Caller.
Garlow,
who leads a 2,500-member congregation, called Obama the "abortion
president" and said that even though people point out that he has a
model marriage and is a wonderful father, his opposition to traditional
marriage has been a "catastrophic blow to America."
"Among other
things, this man has done more to harm life and to harm the institution
of marriage and the family than any other president ever," Garlow said.[Christian Post: Megachurch Pastor James Garlow: Obama's Legacy Is That He 'Morally and Economically Destroyed America']
On May 20, Bill O’Reilly tore into President Obama for, once again, first learning about some huge government scandal in the media;
this time, the growing outrage over mismanagement at VA facilities.
O’Reilly called this a disturbing pattern suggesting that the president
may not even be paying attention to what’s happening around him.
O’Reilly was disturbed at how the president and his advisors “are the
last to know about major problems,” and asked, “Is the president even
paying attention?” He charged that Obama keeps on “incompetent
administrators” far longer than they should be in office, and the
“erosion of confidence” in the government has a lot to do with his
leadership.
On May 20, Daniel Greenfield (Front Page Mag) critiqued Obama:
Al Qaeda was never bound by Obama’s insistence on limiting the war to
the same locations in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen. Al Qaeda could
and would spring up anywhere there was an opportunity. While Obama was
losing to the Taliban in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda was rising in its
hometowns in the Middle East and its old stomping grounds in Africa.
Boko Haram was one of the many dragon’s teeth
sown by Osama bin Laden. The delay in making that connection and
putting Boko Haram on the terror list was caused by a White House which
insisted on the distinction between core Al Qaeda and everything else.
Meanwhile US intelligence agencies were warning that Al Qaeda was a
global network that was no longer dependent on a central leadership.
Obama’s rigid focus on core Al Qaeda made it difficult to understand
and prevent what was happening in Syria, Libya and Mali. It was only
French intervention that prevented Al Qaeda from seizing Mali, but it
was Obama’s intervention that allowed Al Qaeda to seize portions of
Libya, murder four Americans and attempt to seize Mali. Obama’s confused
and incoherent policy in Syria, where Al Qaeda dominates the
opposition, nearly led him to engage in another disastrous regime change
intervention that would have turned over a country with WMDs and the
remnants of a recent nuclear program to Al Qaeda.
Obama tried to limit the scope of the War on Terror by maintaining
rigid boundaries between core Al Qaeda and its affiliates and between
its open affiliates and its covert affiliates. This served his political
purposes by allowing him to declare victory, but his word games did not
change the nature of Al Qaeda.
It only blinded the United States to its next move.
To claim victory, Obama had to define Al Qaeda as narrowly as
possible, while Al Qaeda was defining itself as broadly as possible in
order to actually win on the battlefield.
Obama saw the war as tying up old business. He pivoted to Afghanistan
to finish what he claimed Bush had left undone. He went after Bin Laden
to arrest him and try him in a civilian court in order to end the
military tribunals. Instead of fighting to defeat Al Qaeda, he was
working to defeat Bush’s policies.[Front Page Mag: Obama Lost the War on Al Qaeda, While Claiming to Have Won It]
On May 22, Fire Andrea Mitchell observed:
Obama is mad as hell about his VA corruption. So mad in fact that he
spent the first half of the day touring the baseball Hall of Fame in New
York, closing it to the general public. Now, Obama madly got on Air Force One and went to yet another fundraiser in the cesspool known as Chicago.[Fire Andrea Mitchell: Mad as hell! Obama goes fundraising in Chicago]
We already know Obama and his wife hate America’s veterans. We’ve seen
his response with the VA allowing veterans to die off. Now, Obama’s
executive order that raised the minimum wage for lazy federal workers is
starting to affect veterans too. A nursing home for veterans is closing
down in Louisiana because of Obama’s federal minimum wage hike, and at
least one veteran will now become homeless.[Fire Andrea Mitchell: Obama’s executive order raising federal minimum wage now affecting veterans]
White House Dossier offers up three likely reasons why Obama wouldn’t fire Shinseki:
1. Obama is Shinseki, and Shinseki is Obama. Eric
Shinseki assumed office the day after Obama did in 2009. For Obama to
fire Shinseki at this point is to admit his own inadequacy and to reveal
what I assume to be true: that Obama was not paying personal attention
to the VA and not cracking the whip.
You see, when the White House, and the president in particular, shows
an interest in an agency or an issue, people get very nervous, and what
is normally a cumbersome, immovable bureaucracy starts to creak to
life.
If Obama ever met with Shinseki one-on-one or even held a phone call with him, I’d be surprised.
2. What happens once you fire Shinseki? Well, as the Julie Pace of
the Associated Press points out in the video below, you have to replace
him.
And unless Obama replaces him with John McCain, that would mean weeks of
heated discussion about the nominee, a heightened focus on the issue,
and dramatic Senate hearings – all as we approach Election Day 2014. Not
good for Obama and the Democrats.
But Obama’s executive incompetence is showing. What the White House
should do is sack Shinseki now, nominate a replacement next week, and
insist Congress hold hearings immediately because of the urgent need to
get someone to work on the problems. Then Obama might get the issue
behind him well before summer is out.
3. I think Obama feels bad for Shinseki. I really do. Everyone seems
to agree that Shinseki, who had part of his foot blown off in Vietnam
and served his country in the army for nearly 40 years, is a patriot and
a decent man who cares about veterans. And he has made some progress
with some of the VA’s system problems
On May 29, The Progressive reported:
India’s
new prime minister, Narendra Modi, has such a dubious past that the
Bush Administration prohibited him from coming to the United States.
Activists and scholars expressed deep concern when President Obama
reached out to Modi, who took charge of India on Monday as head of the
rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“The President invited Narendra Modi to visit Washington at a
mutually agreeable time to further strengthen our bilateral
relationship,” the White House stated after Modi’s electoral victory in
India in mid-May.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a
quasi-governmental body, had recommended that Modi be kept out of the
United States for facilitating a 2002 pogrom as the head of the Indian
state of Gujarat that killed thousands of people, mainly Muslim. Acting
on the recommendation, the Bush Administration in 2005 issued a visa ban
on Modi,
The Commission tried to put the best face on Obama's course change. [The Progressive: Obama's Embrace of India's Rightwing Leader Provokes Concern]
All American Blogger offered this meme on Obama in light of the VA scandal:
And we close off the month with a critque offered by Donald Trump at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans:
“We have a man in the White House who doesn’t have a clue.....It seems to me that Obama can’t wait to
get out of the White House so he can go play golf. He doesn’t have the
right instincts to be president. He isn’t tenacious and he isn’t tough,”
