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Oh. My. God

Submitted by Ironman on Sat, 03/07/2009 - 21:19
in

I'm sure all our friendly trolls will have an great explanation for all this. And if they don;t, they'll just scream nonsense about Bush, Rush, Jindal or Palin, or anyone else who a ) isn't the President now and b) didn;t run on the platform of "Change you can believe in" 

This was just posted on Powerline  quoting the UK Telegraph 

Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been "overwhelmed" by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest.

British officials, meanwhile, admit that the White House and US State Department staff were utterly bemused by complaints that the Prime Minister should have been granted full-blown press conference and a formal dinner, as has been customary. They concede that Obama aides seemed unfamiliar with the expectations that surround a major visit by a British prime minister.

But Washington figures with access to Mr Obama's inner circle explained the slight by saying that those high up in the administration have had little time to deal with international matters, let alone the diplomatic niceties of the special relationship.Allies of Mr Obama say his weary appearance in the Oval Office with Mr Brown illustrates the strain he is now under, and the president's surprise at the sheer volume of business that crosses his desk.

A well-connected Washington figure, who is close to members of Mr Obama's inner circle, expressed concern that Mr Obama had failed so far to "even fake an interest in foreign policy".

 

 As I started out. Oh. My .God. 

Does Barack Obama have the slightest clue of the monumental responsibilities he has signed up for as Chief Executive?

We've all been told that his primary qualification was being able to manage a $700 million campaign; but add three or four more zeroes to the amounts, and well, we've pretty much seen zero.    And his erstwhile moderate supporters are ,hmm, starting to notice. 

Perhaps before Obama tries to remake America in Saul Alinsky's image he might want to try and preserve our alliances and our economy first?  But obviously, arrogance and hubris is one quality the present administration may have in even greater proportions than its predecessor.

For some reason these lyrics from The Fray seem to explain the buyer's remorse the likes of Gergen, Brooks and co. now have finding their hot new emperor is looking a bit, hmmm "Over his head"

I never knew  I never knew that everything was falling throughThat everyone I knew was waiting on a queueTo turn and run when all I needed was the truthBut that's how it's got to beIt's coming down to nothing more than apathyI'd rather run the other way than stay and seeThe smoke and who's still standing when it clears

Everyone knows I'm inOver my headOver my headWith eight seconds left in overtime

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=155714175&id=155714141&s=143441

 

 

 

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Comments

I agree

Submitted by NextRightNando on Sat, 03/07/2009 - 22:21.

I agree. The failure to have a dinner for Gordon Brown is the most serious foreign blunder by a US President in years. Decades perhaps.

I expect to see his favorability ratings decline to the high 60's next week becasue of it.

The end is nigh. Buy gold. And ammo.

seriously

Submitted by Ironman on Sat, 03/07/2009 - 22:30.

Did you read the reasoning? The man claims to be overwhelmed within his first weeks on the job?

Hey, Gordo is a short timer. Maybe the POTUS won;t embarass David Cameron like this in '10.  But I thought the Bush White House was the crowd lacking in basic competence? or is sorta gone down the ol' memory hole like that war with Eastasia?

NRN I' m sure in Austin or whatever yuppie enclave you hang in this guy is unknown. And he started out really popular too., for most of the same reasons. Didn't work out. For the same reasons. Although I recall he did treat foreign dignitaries well. That part of the job he got.

I agreed with you.

Submitted by NextRightNando on Sat, 03/07/2009 - 22:45.

It is a disaster - a catastrophe. His approval my go down all the way to 65% next week. Like you, I cannot believe that he has not yet got a grip on the unemployment/real estate/banking/stock market crisses. I would say more but I'm going out to remove the Obama sticker from my neighbor's Prius.

The one small quibble I do have is that you say Obama is claiming to be overhwelmed - when in reality it is an unnamed source quoted in a British paper. And quite clearly that source is from OUTSIDE the White House. But I'm sure they totally know what is going on.

I lived in England for several years, and I LOVE their papers! They are extremely entertaining.

PS: Austin? Puh-leeze....

 

Dinkins

Submitted by ddemilo on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 11:39.

And I was dumb enough to vote for Dinkins, thinking he seemed stable and centrist. He proceeded to hike property taxes on co-ops by 30% over his term during a recession. I voted for Rudy twice after that, and they were the best votes I've cast since.

Rudy took office with a 33% structural budget deficit, was told by the NYT he just HAD to raise taxes. Instead, he cut them, all kinds of weird NYC taxes, and he renegotiated his union contracts, and cut the size of the city work force at the same time (except for police). He was brutal on the bureaucracy and the political class, pulled a lot of marshmallows out of the fire, and made a lot of enemies in the process. But the results for NYC, for owners of co-ops and businesses, was undeniably positve -- and it happened pretty fast.

Comparing Dinkins and Obama is tempting, but Dinkins never had anything close to the political talents of Obama. Dinkins was an establishment politician trying to maintain the status quo, a bloated and wasteful government that was a drag on its host economy. Obama thinks of himself as transformative. But his core concept of the role of government in society is hardly radical. It gets us to a place that a David Dinkins would find comfortable, and where a Rudy might rise in opposition.

Way to hurt my feelings!!!

Submitted by Cahnman on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 18:55.

I currently live in Austin and I grew up in New York City and I'm a Republican.

Dinkins sucks and Rudy (and GWB) rule.

I hope this helps.

That is all.

Cahnman out.

well, NRN, mind explaning this week's faux pas

Submitted by Ironman on Thu, 03/12/2009 - 06:25.

Cabinet chief lambasts 'incredibly difficult' Obama team over G20

 

Britain's most senior civil servant has complained that Downing Street is finding it “unbelievably difficult” to make arrangements with the United States for the crucial G20 summit.

Sir Gus O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, reportedly said that the handover to the Obama Administration was hindering discussions about the meeting in London next month.

The Prime Minister hopes that the summit on April 2 will produce a co-ordinated global strategy to tackle the economic downturn.

So far, his attempts to get his Washington and European allies to agree to a coherent common platform for the meeting have proved frustrating.

This is from the Times of London, by the way, the boring, responsible "paper of record" in the UK.   and yes, there's more

Mr O'Donnell said that No 10 was having trouble even getting in touch with key personnel at the US Treasury department. “There is nobody there,” he told a civil service conference in Gateshead. “You cannot believe how difficult it is.” .....

The Times reported last week that Tim Geithner, the Treasury Secretary, had been forced to operate virtually on his own without any of the 17 deputies his department is supposed to have.

 

Sounds like the Obama Team are really a bunch of "Not Ready for Prime Time Players". So, maybe this really will be their economic strategy.

We're just impressing the rest of the world, aren;t we.

glad you find 30,000 lost jobs every business day a hoot...

Submitted by Ironman on Sat, 03/07/2009 - 22:51.

who cares, I'll invite some politicians over to blather on over $100/pound beef.  No biggie.

Who said that 30,000 lost jobs a day is a hoot?

Submitted by acinphx on Sat, 03/07/2009 - 23:25.

NRN was only having fun with the British press having its nose out of joint and 'unnamed sources' claiming Pres. Obama is "overwhelmed" with all the crises he faced coming into office. 

Please point to where NSN claimed losing jobs is a laughing matter.  To my mind, having fun with the British press doesn't equal cheerleading for job loss.

And the 'ovewhelmed' bit?  That could mean he's working almost around the clock trying to put out all the fires.  Do you think it would be preferable to see him head out on vacation or exercise more?  Just because that was Pres. Bush's MO doesn't mean Pres. Obama should be faulted for taking a different approach.

Overwhelmed doesn't begin to describe how I think I would feel facing today's challenges if by some electoral insanity I became POTUS tomorrow.

I thought the polling reference was snide

Submitted by Ironman on Sat, 03/07/2009 - 23:35.

also wrong, Rasmussen has him sliding.

But the bottom line is competence.  Put the polls aside. We've been told for eight years our President embarassed us overseas and as soon as he has a visitor, Obama looks like an even bigger  chump. That's what we were told was going to stop once Bush was gone.

So much for "making America respected in the world"; this will take years to live down in the UK

I'm also a little tired of government by photo op. How in Wicca's name do you hold a health care summit and demand health care reform by year's end with no HHS secretary in place? How do you fix the banking system when Geithner has no staff?

Let's get competent nailed down before the socialist pipe dreams; OK, you Ivy League wizards. 

I wish I was an Ivy League wizard!

Submitted by acinphx on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 00:21.

My bank account would probably be in better shape.    But I'm your average state university grad.  I'm flattered you'd think I could be an Ivy League wizard, though.  (And I'm not being snide, I'm truly flattered, because I'm not a wizard at much of anything.  Just ask my teens...)

The poll reference may be snide; I just didn't see where NSN's comment included laughing at massive job losses.

I agree with you on competence.  I'm hoping for the same.  I'm not familar enough with the purpose/outcome of the health care summit to comment and would probably just expose my ignorance.  Let's hope the Senate acts acts effeciently to approve a HHS nominee.

I was referred to Obama's staff and his media lackeys

Submitted by Ironman on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 06:52.

You know, like the folks who went to the agriculture school at Cornell and now try to lord it over jock college grads like me.

Obama and co. are so into the "permanent campaign" they can;t be bothered governing the country in the meantime.  Last time I checked, Limbaugh didn;t force them to appoint a whole bunch of tax cheats who had to withdraw their names for federal jobs.

He's off to the UK in a few weeks

Submitted by NextRightNando on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 08:45.

So much for "making America respected in the world"; this will take years to live down in the UK

He's off to the UK in a few weeks - he'll be mobbed by adoring crowds everywhere he goes. Then you will come back on here arguing the opposit point - the John McCain "celebrity" line from the campaign.

Furthermore, if the HAD hosted a fromal dinner for Brown, you'd be on here shouting who does he think he is, wasting time and taxpayer money on such luxuries at a time when the country is in such deep peril.

 

You have misjudged me

Submitted by Ironman on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 09:02.

Last time I checked, making our allies feel appreciated was part of the job description. I'm sure some partisan would have taken a shot, but I complain about stuff that matters.

My state's pension fund is sinking into the abyss, so I really couldn't give a rip if Obama can draw a crowd in London after this debacle or not. 

Indeed, maybe a lot of Britons think Brown should have been dissed.

Of course the question that the Obama folks won't confront is if a social democratic political party is about to be thrown out the door in the UK, why are they adopting its most pernicious policies for this country?

And that whole speech before Congress thing was what?

Submitted by NextRightNando on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 09:16.

Last time I checked, making our allies feel appreciated was part of the job description.

And that whole speech before the joint session of Congress thing - that was just a brushoff, something arranged to give Gordon something to do because Obama didn't want to meet with him?

From The Guardian:

Brown had barely reached the podium before they were on their feet giving him a prolonged standing ovation. I was reminded of seeing the great Jack Benny at the Palladium back in the 1970s. Greeted by a similarly ecstatic reception, he stared at us for a long time and, flapping a limp wrist, cried: "I SWEAR I'm not that good."

No such modesty overcame Brown today. Confronted by an audience that kept leaping to its feet as if the seats were wired for electric shocks, Brown would pause briefly to relish the moment. If prime minister's questions resembles playing the Glasgow Empire on a Friday night, appearing before Congress must have felt like preaching to an audience of over-excitable religious converts.

Do you think Brown would have traded that for Chicken Kiev?

 

 

fine

Submitted by Ironman on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 10:12.

explain then the Obama state department being quoted as saying the UK is "just another country"

Putzs.

 

An anonymous quote in UK paper trumps what actually happened?

Submitted by NextRightNando on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 11:35.

Your incoherence is mind boggling.

Your question is based on this passage from The Telegraph:

The real views of many in Obama administration were laid bare by a State Department official involved in planning the Brown visit, who reacted with fury when questioned by The Sunday Telegraph about why the event was so low-key.

The official dismissed any notion of the special relationship, saying: "There's nothing special about Britain. You're just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn't expect special treatment." The apparent lack of attention to detail by the Obama administration is indicative of what many believe to be Mr Obama's determination to do too much too quickly.

On one hand, you have unassailable facts which you can observe with your own eyes:

  1. Brown had the distinction of being the  first leader to visit the Obama White House;
  2. He got his private meeting in the Oval Office (well received in the UK press)
  3. He got the rare honor of an address to a joint session of Congress and was interrupted 19 times for standing ovations - hows that for good visuals for the folks back home?

But yet, in spite of this, you think that a quote from an unnamed "State Department official"  in a UK paper trumps all of this and demonstrates that Obama is bigger ass than George W. Bush and has done irreparable harm to our relationship with the UK.

So, folks, who should we believe - "Ironman" or our own lyin' eyes?

 

 

OK. and if the UK press wrote this about Bush

Submitted by Ironman on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 11:51.

I'm sure the US press would have been all over him like a lifer all over Paris Hilton.

If things went all so well for Brown, why did he obviously leak this stuff to the UK press?  Someone's nose is out of joint . I just noticed this and really wish we weren't embarassed this way.

And really, if you want incoherence, try explaining the Obama economic policy. We are going to solve the ability of people to pay debts by making America the world's biggest debtor.  That's the ticket.   

Those of use who are critical of Bush

Submitted by NextRightNando on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 12:03.

Those of use who are critical of Bush got to that position via the evidence we observed with our own eyes - the things he said and did. Not becasue of what the British papers said about him.

Please link to the reports which are "obviously" based on leaks from Brown and/or his entourage. Heck, I'll be impressed if you can link to any reports which "might" be based on leaks from Brown and/or his entourage. Becasue I'm pretty sure you are going to find that all the "Brown was dissed by Obama" stories come from a press that is already hostile to Brown. Becasue these stories are damaging to Brown. Becasue it will lower Brown's standing in the eyes of the British voters if he was snubbed by Obama. So it would not be in Brown's interest to leak to an already hostile press that he felt snubbed by Obama, that he felt that in addition to the address to the joint session of Congress he really should have had a state dinner as well. Brown is proving to be a pretty poor politian - but even he isn't that clueless. So, go on, show me that he "obviously" leaked this stuff to the UK press.

 

well, Occam's razor suggests the State Dept. line

Submitted by Ironman on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 12:08.

came from the Brown camp. Now, yeah, maybe the UK press did want to make Brown look bad, and guess what, the Obama camp gave Gordo stuff to do his own damage control by pinning it back at the WH.

Just not well played, my friends.  Excuses don't make the bad good.

OK, so now that unnamed State Department official

Submitted by NextRightNando on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 12:15.

OK, so now that unnamed State Department official claimed as an anonymous "source" by The Telegraph is, in fact, part of the Brown camp?

 

nonsense about Bush, Rush, Jindal or Palin?? LOLOLOL Jokes

Submitted by BulldogsRule on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 11:12.

no atter how your package these losers

Ironman's parents breeding for stupidity????

Submitted by BulldogsRule on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 11:19.

or did he learn this tripe on the streets?

Oh and I do take this stand on ugly talk regards his own troll comments regarding anyone who does not agree with his opinion. We are the majority and it's why his ilk lost in 2006/2008/  and will again cost our party in 2010

thanks for the rational thought ; not

Submitted by Ironman on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 11:46.

Jeez, I dunno.  They only "breeded' a lawyer, a scientist and an entrepeneur.  And mom and dad didn;t send off to live with our grandparents because they paid their own bills. Guess that's way too archaic a concept for our more enlightened Democrats or oops "Republicans" (yeah right) like you.

BTW, if the "Bulldogs Rule", why does UF beat them into a pulp resembling Tropicana every year in J-ville?

 

Oh.My.God

Submitted by gabriel on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 11:48.

Is this what you worry about?

 

Ax Grinding

Submitted by ToddLuvsLounging on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 14:10.

LiberalToddLuvsLounging says:

Quoting a right-wing blog that is quoting a right-wing newspaper does little to persuade me. I just don't think the 'quality' of gifts are going to determine our foreign policy. I firmly believe the economy and war will determine our relationship.

And Obama did not have a state dinner for the Prime Minister of Japan and Japan has the second largest economy in the world.. Perhaps Obama is going for substance over style.

The best present Obama can give to Brown is support for the Global New Deal. I think Obama is saving that for when he goes to Britain at the end of the month.

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