ObamaNation 2013

Правда

July 8, 2013: More Americans are "on food stamps" than those who have full-time jobs in the private sector in the US. 

July 8, 2013: quick! who is the #1 employer in the US? Wal-Mart. Now, is #2? Kelly Services: a temporary staffing agency. 

July 4, 2013: the post-mortems start coming in -- the president spent way too much political capital backing the wrong horse. Politico is reporting:

President Barack Obama insisted Monday that he isn’t taking sides in the standoff between Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and millions of protesters who’ve taken to the streets to protest his policies.

But that’s not likely to be enough for many in those angry crowds, who seem firmly convinced that the White House has bolstered the Muslim Brotherhood leader, even as ordinary Egyptians — and some in his own Cabinet — have grown increasingly dissatisfied with his rule.

Isn't taking sides? President O'Bama threw Mr Morsi under the bus on July 3. See next story.

July 3, 2013: the administration wasted no time in throwing Egyptian president Morsi under the bus; the Obama administration had been big supporters of this Islamist; the second Egyptian revolution within a year reminds us of the Benghazi debacle.

June 1, 2013:  a reader sent me this via e-mail (no link):

A reader sent this in to the Tallahassee newspaper Zing section: 

"Named my tea party organization Liberal American Progressives Defending Oppressive Government, or LAPDOG.  Got my application for tax-exempt status through the IRS like greased lightning."

May 12, 2013: I don't think there are many things worse in this country than directing the IRS to audit your enemies. It will be interesting to see how far this scandal goes, and if any heads roll

May 12, 2013: how bad is it going to get? I remember at the time of the first inauguration, or the nomination, I forget when, but I do recall very clearly Michelle telling Barack "not to mess it up." Well, this is where we stand on mother's day going into the second term:

• Правда: seems to be the exactly the right analogy: it turns out that the IRS was targeting not just right-wing, conservative parties, but also schools that were teaching the constitution

• the mainstream media starting to call Art Carney a "liar" but not actually using the word
• the mainstream media is turning on Obama on the Benghazi story (see The Atlantic)  
• his fellow Democrats are starting to see that implementation of ObamaCare later this year will be a "train wreck"; at least one Senator (Montana's Baucus) will not run for re-election because of the debacle about to occur
• it turns out that Washington missed warnings on the Boston Marathon bomber (though it probably would have made no difference; this administration does not have a good record on returning "bad guys" to their home country when violating their visa status 
• the GOP is holding up Obama nominations; all the above will give the GOP more resolve

April 18, 2013: Within 24 - 48 hours of the Boston Marathon bombing, a decision was made to "deport" a Saudi national who was of interest early in the investigation. The FBI said they had a suspect, and then said they didn't. One wonders if the FBI had identified a Saudi national as the suspect, and then got a call from the White House to back off. It will be very disturbing if no one is ever held accountable for this terrorist event. It's very likely that the White House made a calculated decision that the loss of three lives in Boston will blow over in a few weeks when no one is held accountable. 

March 19, 2013: Seven US Marines die in a training accident in Nevada, and the President tweets a "White House snack." Absolutely no sensitivity to the military. White House tours, by the way, have been canceled, due to 2% budget crunch. 

March 1, 2013, later: at the press conference, the president says the sequester is "just plain dumb." Wait until we get to the debt ceiling later in the month. And speaking of "just plain dumb," the president's weekend golf outing with Tiger Woods = 341 furloughed government workers. Senator Jeff Sessions calls the president's "response to the sequestration "the most cynical behavior I have seen during my time in Washington." My question: why are furloughed workers given a three-day weekend; the furlough should be on Tuesday or Wednesday if furloughed one day/week. Those are usually the "quiet days." And government workers like to be in the office Monday to order from the internet, especially after Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, after which all the specials are advertised. [March 3, 2013: this sequester that is "just plain dumb." Remember, it was the president who proposed it and now the White House admits it.]

March 1, 2013: looks like the market likes what it sees. The market is up after the news: the president will go through with the sequester order, at least based on his rambling press conference. Did anyone understand his answer to the first question? I left before the second question was asked.  At least I know it was the "other side's" entire fault. Something about the "other side" not giving the president a "dime" in revenue.


First face-to-face meeting between President Obama and GOP Congressional leaders -- on the day the sequester order to be signed. The face-to-face meeting is scheduled to last seven minutes: three minutes to file in; one minute photo-op; and, then, three minutes to file out. February 28, 2013. Everybody knows. 

Everybody Knows, Leonard Cohen

Additional columnists and reporters are coming forward: they've been threatened by the White House to quit writing "negative" stories about the Obama administration. Nixon bunker mentality? Madness? Imploding? February 28, 2013

Democrats complain that a "debt clock" is on display on Capitol Hill, as reported by The Daily Caller, so it is "not displayed" when the Democrats are talking. February 26, 2013.

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ABC edits Michelle's comment, February 26, 2013

The uncut, original transcript:

“She was standing out in a park with her friends in a neighborhood blocks away from where my kids…grew up, where our house is. She had just taken a chemistry test. And she was caught in the line of fire because some kids had some automatic weapons they didn’t need,” she said. “I just don’t want to keep disappointing our kids in this country. I want them to know that we put them first.”

The phrases in bold were cut to save time, according to ABC News.

The edited, aired version:

“She was standing out in a park with her friends in a neighborhood blocks away from where my kids grow – grew – up, where our house is. And she was caught in the line of fire - I just don’t want to keep disappointing our kids in this country. I want them to know that we put them first.”

And so it goes.

As reported at The Washington Examiner.