During the second presidentiial debate, Mitt Romney was asked if he would please offer the specifics of his plan on taxes and the deficit. The Democrats have been hammering away at him because he refuses to give details. I was very pleased with the asnswer he gave, although I thought he could have explained it better. In fact I think it was a missed opportunity to make an analogy with Obama's exit strategy from Afghanistan and get a shot in there.
The gist of his answer was that he wasn't going to hand out a detailed roadmap showing exactly where he wanted to end up in negotiations with congress. He should have explained further that telling the other side what your targets are or what your bottom line is, pretty much assures you will never get there. Think of it as a negotiation over price. If you are the seller you do not start off with the least amount that you'd be willing to accept. As the buyer, you do not lead with the absolute top dollar you'd be willing to pay. As the Commander in Cheif who is in charge of prosecuting a war, you do not announce your withdrawal date in advance. Does that really need an explanation as to why it is so assinine?
Friday, October 19, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Chutzpah
Remember the definition of chutzpah? It’s the kid who murders his parents and then asks for mercy from the court on the grounds that he’s an orphan.
There was what surely would have been considered a major scandal a couple of weeks ago, if only our President had been a Republican. Unfortunately it also occurred close to the Benghazi attack (which holds more potential damage so maybe I shouldn’t complain.) I am talking about the video that was recently “discovered” of Barack speechifying on June 5, 2007, to an audience comprised largely of African-American preachers. It was a shocking video because almost nobody had ever seen Obama speak with that dialect, which to be fair, was pretty much the style, cadence and inflection typical of (surprise) African-American preachers. He channeled Al Sharpton.
Unfortunately, that aspect only served to distract from the real scandal. Obama’s defenders came out and (what else) cried racism. They apparently saw right through the Republican plot to point out to American voters that our president is in fact, black. And they are being sneaky about it. Using “dog whistles” and code words, they are determined to let each and every American know that Barack Obama has more than his fair share of melanin.
In the actual speech that Obama is giving, he is pandering to his audience. That’s hardly surprising for a politician running for president, which he was at the time of the speech. He’s trying to provoke outrage in the audience, racial outrage. And he starts complaining about the Stafford Act. The Stafford Act is a requirement that an area receiving federal funds, chip in 10% themselves. Barack complained the federal government had suspended Stafford in the case of Florida for hurricane Andrew, and for New York City after 9/11, but not for New Orleans and Katrina. Then right out of Kanye West’s mouth, he said of New Orleans, “They don’t care about them as much.” People were supposed to be incensed. They had been denied help that others had received strictly because of their race.
So where’s the scandal? On May 24th of 2007, nine days prior to giving that speech, Barack Obama was present in the senate as they voted 80-14 to waive the Stafford Act requirements for New Orleans. The senate keeps records of who is there and how they vote. Barack Obama was there and he voted. He was one of the 14 who voted AGAINST relieving New Orleans of the Stafford Act reqirements. Now THAT’s chutzpah!
There was what surely would have been considered a major scandal a couple of weeks ago, if only our President had been a Republican. Unfortunately it also occurred close to the Benghazi attack (which holds more potential damage so maybe I shouldn’t complain.) I am talking about the video that was recently “discovered” of Barack speechifying on June 5, 2007, to an audience comprised largely of African-American preachers. It was a shocking video because almost nobody had ever seen Obama speak with that dialect, which to be fair, was pretty much the style, cadence and inflection typical of (surprise) African-American preachers. He channeled Al Sharpton.
Unfortunately, that aspect only served to distract from the real scandal. Obama’s defenders came out and (what else) cried racism. They apparently saw right through the Republican plot to point out to American voters that our president is in fact, black. And they are being sneaky about it. Using “dog whistles” and code words, they are determined to let each and every American know that Barack Obama has more than his fair share of melanin.
In the actual speech that Obama is giving, he is pandering to his audience. That’s hardly surprising for a politician running for president, which he was at the time of the speech. He’s trying to provoke outrage in the audience, racial outrage. And he starts complaining about the Stafford Act. The Stafford Act is a requirement that an area receiving federal funds, chip in 10% themselves. Barack complained the federal government had suspended Stafford in the case of Florida for hurricane Andrew, and for New York City after 9/11, but not for New Orleans and Katrina. Then right out of Kanye West’s mouth, he said of New Orleans, “They don’t care about them as much.” People were supposed to be incensed. They had been denied help that others had received strictly because of their race.
So where’s the scandal? On May 24th of 2007, nine days prior to giving that speech, Barack Obama was present in the senate as they voted 80-14 to waive the Stafford Act requirements for New Orleans. The senate keeps records of who is there and how they vote. Barack Obama was there and he voted. He was one of the 14 who voted AGAINST relieving New Orleans of the Stafford Act reqirements. Now THAT’s chutzpah!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Pretty Sneaky
"This is supposed to make you believe that in this tape from before he was president, Barack Obama is revealing his secret plan to be way more black than he seems to you now. This is how he snuck into the White House, right? People didn't know he was this black and if they would have known he was this black, they never would have elected. That's the idea here, right?" - Rachel Maddow
This is a great quote that perfectly explains the complex relationship between barack Obama and his supporters. It was made by, left wing looney Rachel Maddow, as she was attacking a video tape showing Obama channeling Al Sharpton at a convention of black preachers. It's quite an astounding tape. I had never heard Obama speak with that kind of accent, which can only be described as African-American preaching. It's very reminiscent of Hillary's "Ya'll-know-what-I'm-talkin'-about" speech also given to a black audience. Oddly enough, Obama looks just about as out of place as Hillary did during that speech. In short, he looks like a white man trying to play a black man. It's surreal.
I'm still trying to determine how this differs from somebody wearing black face and performing a minstral show.
But don't you just love Rachel. Somebody please explain her quote for me. Those nasty Republicans are pointing out that our President is in fact, black. Actually it's worse than that. They are accusing him of hiding his blackness for the purpose of fooling America, but they won't let him get away with that. Those right wingers have come up with a slanderous video tape that says clearly and right out loud, that Barack Obama is in fact BLACK. And this is just the sort of cheap, underhanded gimmick that they love to pull. Before you know it, everybody in America will be under the inpression that BHO is black, and you will never be able to squelch that rumor. Twenty years form now, people will be recalling where they were on Otctober 3rd, 2012, the day they learned our President was black.
This is a great quote that perfectly explains the complex relationship between barack Obama and his supporters. It was made by, left wing looney Rachel Maddow, as she was attacking a video tape showing Obama channeling Al Sharpton at a convention of black preachers. It's quite an astounding tape. I had never heard Obama speak with that kind of accent, which can only be described as African-American preaching. It's very reminiscent of Hillary's "Ya'll-know-what-I'm-talkin'-about" speech also given to a black audience. Oddly enough, Obama looks just about as out of place as Hillary did during that speech. In short, he looks like a white man trying to play a black man. It's surreal.
I'm still trying to determine how this differs from somebody wearing black face and performing a minstral show.
But don't you just love Rachel. Somebody please explain her quote for me. Those nasty Republicans are pointing out that our President is in fact, black. Actually it's worse than that. They are accusing him of hiding his blackness for the purpose of fooling America, but they won't let him get away with that. Those right wingers have come up with a slanderous video tape that says clearly and right out loud, that Barack Obama is in fact BLACK. And this is just the sort of cheap, underhanded gimmick that they love to pull. Before you know it, everybody in America will be under the inpression that BHO is black, and you will never be able to squelch that rumor. Twenty years form now, people will be recalling where they were on Otctober 3rd, 2012, the day they learned our President was black.
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