Tag Archives: Barack Obama

Have National Politics Urbanized?

For those of us not living in the concentrated sprawl of the coastal and Midwestern metropoli, it is often extremely perplexing how urban Democratic mayors in places like Chicago and Philadelphia can compile lengthy and embarrassing records of incompetent and … Continue reading

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Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli just went off on Obama’s housing proposal live on CNBC from the commodities trading floor in Chicago. It’s now the headline on Drudge: VIDEO: ‘The government is promoting bad behavior… do we really want to subsidize the losers’ … Continue reading

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Abrogation of the Soul

Somewhat tortuously, the State Department has congratulated the victory of Hugo Chavez’s referendum to revoke term limits on his rule as a victory for participatory democracy, while faintly recommending a new respect for multiparty pluralism. Consider for a moment if … Continue reading

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Bring Back Welfare, Please

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there are 11.6 million unemployed persons in the United States today. Meanwhile, the current estimate of the total cost of the spending package passed to alleviate this distress is $827 billion.  President Obama … Continue reading

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Tracking Obama’s Campaign Promises

Here’s a site to add to your bookmarks and check every once in awhile. It’s a site called PolitiTruth.com set up by the St. Petersburg Times to keep track of all 510 of might as well call him President now … Continue reading

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Rejecting Hamas

Here’s a bit of good news from earlier. As you may have seen, reports have been swirling about a plan by Obama to open direct talks with Hamas. Those reports are evidently groundless, as a statement from Brooke Anderson was … Continue reading

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The Rise of Decline

You know you’re in an American recession when British observers start reflecting on the inevitability of American decline, and volunteering their allegedly privileged perspective gained from the fall of the British Empire (Mark Steyn, as always, excepted). So it is … Continue reading

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Implications of the Pletka Purge

Roland picks up an interesting piece by Jacob Heilbrunn for the National Interest, describing an ongoing purge of neoconservative intellectuals from the American Enterprise Institute, allegedly instigated by Vice President Danielle Pletka. So far Michael Ledeen and Reuel Marc Gerecht … Continue reading

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The Silent Man

If Rahm Emmanuel falls, it’s “what did the president-elect know, and when did he know it” time. You cannot get any closer to Obama. An ugly business. 

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Our Government’s Economic Policy Explained

By Fred Thompson. With only the most minor quibbles I not only laughed, but cried. Pretty much dead on: The sad thing is that it isn’t only “liberal” economists, it is the meat of the profession and plenty of so … Continue reading

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A Separate Cause on Gitmo

In commenting on Barack Obama’s renewed pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, Con Coughlin observes that most of the assembled army of Al Qaeda jihadists currently confined there would likely be released for lack of evidence, if the … Continue reading

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Editing Obama

Pretty neat video visualization of edits to the Barack Obama Wikipedia entry from 2005 to election day.

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California on the Drina

You may have noticed there’s an ugly and unfortunate current developing in some of the protests against Proposition 8 in California. Namely white gays, blaming blacks for its passage. Even Andrew Sullivan, who has been blaming blacks for a couple … Continue reading

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Animal Sacrifice and Sacrificial Punditry

Delighted with the American election result for whatever reason, Kurdish villagers in Cavustepe, Turkey have sacrificed 44 sheep to honor Barack Obama. They also smeared the blood of the offering on Obama campaign posters, purportedly for good luck. Now there’s … Continue reading

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Blaming Obama for the Market

Ben Armbruster at ThinkProgress is upset Fred Barnes and Dick Morris are blaming Obama for the post-election declines in the stock market. Armbruster’s case is a little defensive and misjudged (he cites the New York Times’ opinion, as if that … Continue reading

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Poison from Austria

If the public outpouring of mourning for the loss of fascist sympathizer Jörg Haider were not enough to injure your esteem for contemporary Austrian public affairs, here’s another such moment. Klaus Emmerich, the highly esteemed former editor of Austria’s state … Continue reading

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Change.gov?

Apparently we’re assigning the .gov domain extension used by federal agencies to campaign slogans now. Although, there is a certain literalism to this one I suppose.

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Fair Trade Wars, Act I

South Korea is getting jittery about prospects for its long sought Free Trade Agreement with the United States, which is still yet to be approved by both countries, and is now under threat from a potentially protectionist Obama administration. In … Continue reading

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The 2048 Election

Barack Obama has been president-elect for exactly one day and James Carville is already arguing for an inevitable Democratic majority for the next 40 years. Imagine predicting Jim’s claim to fame, the 1992 election, from the vantage of 1952, and … Continue reading

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An Immunity to Ecstasy

So we had an election. For those in the new opposition the outcome was variously enviable, troubling, or contemptible. For the victors it was…what else, an occasion for gathering an enormous outdoor rally at an urban theatrical stage to chant. … Continue reading

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The Philippines as Red State

Filipino writer Benjamin Pimentel is surprised to discover that his countrymen were among the very few foreign populations to prefer John McCain to Barack Obama in a Gallup international survey. A happy place for Republicans in a lonely world apparently, as … Continue reading

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Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtains

Alan Reynolds at Cato asks “How’s Obama Going to Raise $4.3 Trillion?” Altogether, Mr. Obama is promising at least $4.3 trillion of increased spending and reduced tax revenue from 2009 to 2018 — roughly an extra $430 billion a year … Continue reading

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Is Income Tax Becoming Too Progressive?

Fewer and fewer people are paying income tax and even less will be with either candidates tax plan. I don’t think this would be such a problem if we didn’t have such high spending, growing entitlements, and if so many … Continue reading

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Socialism, Polls, Matt Drudge

You’ve probably heard that John McCain has denounced Barack Obama’s ‘spread the wealth’ formulation for tax policy as socialism. It’s an inflammatory but not unjustified charge, as a good definition for socialism is the equitable distribution of wealth to the … Continue reading

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Christopher Hitchens & Political Irresponsibility

Video of Laura Ingraham interrogating Christopher Hitchens over his rather weakly supported endorsement of Barack Obama for president. Hitch’s primary position in this chat is that Obama should be supported because he is “evolving” toward support of a more aggressive … Continue reading

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The Error of Inexperience

According to a new Associated Press poll 46% of the public thinks Barack Obama is too inexperienced for the presidency, and only 36% say the same of Governor Palin. So much for that line of attack. In contrast with both, … Continue reading

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Democrats Need to Relax

Panic grips the Hill, with Democrats planning to distance themselves from Obama and/or abandon criticism of McCain. Geez. Snap out of it guys. You have the most compelling presidential candidate you’ve had since perhaps John F. Kennedy. Almost every conditional … Continue reading

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Failure of Empathy

It was early and he’s modified his views somewhat (and somewhat not), but young state senator Barack Obama couldn’t have been more mistaken about the causes and conditions of the 9/11 attacks.

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Obama’s Plan: Does This Work?

According to the Associated Press, a sequence of interviews with Democratic leaders has revealed this to be the political plan being recommended to the Obama campaign: 1. Tie the Republican to an unpopular President Bush. 2. Let no charge go … Continue reading

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Obama and the Fate of Criticism

“Tattered Hope” by Nathan Rupert Jason at postpolitical and I often get into testy email arguments about Barack Obama’s alleged “arrogance.” He is quite Greek in the sense that he thinks hubris is the fatal flaw at the heart of … Continue reading

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Moderates for Palin

Some thoughts on why Barack Obama’s effort to portray Sarah Palin as “Pat Robertson with ovaries” (as Andrew Romano inelegantly puts it), isn’t working out so well.

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Sarah Palin’s Google Bounce, Part II

Last week I noticed that Sarah Palin had exceeded Joe Biden slightly in Google returns. Understandably, that has now become an avalanche (Biden: 5.6 million | Palin: 22.4 million). Although it plainly doesn’t exceed John McCain or Barack Obama’s returns … Continue reading

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Gordon Brown Endorses Obama?

Boy, this is an unwise move. Perhaps my Tory colleagues are right and Gordon really is tempermentally unfit to govern. It’s an enormous risk and a pointless one, in that it cannot help Obama. British interference in American governance…well, we … Continue reading

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Sweet Revenge

The American Left is about to blow a collective gasket at having Barack Obama’s celeb novelty instantly antiquated and cast aside in favor of Sarah Palin. Lots of posts are appearing all over the web damning not her record, views, … Continue reading

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Forceful on Iran

Obama’s concession on the surge will probably dominate discussion of the O’Reilly interview, but his increasingly hardline stane against the Iranian theocracy’s regional activities and nuclear program is what should be in line for praise.

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The New Rove

Schwarzenegger’s former top strategist Steve Schmidt turned John McCain’s campaign from a dithering defensive wreck, into the aggressive machine that’s been taking the fight to Obama all summer. Most of all, he’s the man who finally got John McCain to … Continue reading

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Palin vs. Obama

Sarah will slam Barack Obama in her address tonight. An excerpt: “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.” (CNN) Ouch. Yesterday, Obama attacked her experience as inferior to his … Continue reading

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Change the Debates

Be honest, wouldn’t you rather see Barack Obama vs Sarah Palin and John McCain vs Joe Biden in the debates?

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What on Earth is Obama Thinking?

He’s actually starting to run against Sarah Palin: “My understanding is that Gov. Palin’s town, Wassilla, has I think 50 employees. We’ve got 2500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe 12 million dollars a year – we … Continue reading

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Obama vs. Palin

Looking at today’s stats, so far the number one search engine keyword bringing people to ASHC is “obama vs palin.” It’s amusing that people seem to think the Republican vice presidential nominee bears easier comparison and contest with the Democratic … Continue reading

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Hearts and Minds

Little Miss Attila picks up a good line from Jas at postpolitical. An amusing reversal for the ‘Cheney is the brains of the White House’ school of commentary.

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Minor Scandals Can Help

Apparently the teenage pregnancy of Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol has excited social conservatives even more about the candidate (for the when-it-counts demonstration of opposition to abortion). According to Grover Norquist, the soc-cons are “over the moon” in their support. That’s … Continue reading

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Podhoretz vs. Sullivan on Palin

It has become a serious question to ask if there is any argument in Obama’s perceived interest that Andrew Sullivan will not advance. In the latest project for that question, Sullivan argues that Palin represents the most “irresponsible” pick for … Continue reading

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Inventing a Scandal for Sarah

When all else fails, just start making stuff up. You really have to feel for Barack Obama, who is at heart an enormously classy guy. The DailyKos diarists do him few favors in his efforts to elevate political discourse in … Continue reading

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Blog Graphics Retrospective

I was searching for an image on my backup drive today and came across a cache of header graphics I’d thrown together for posts over the years. The diversity of subjects was kind of interesting as a gallery. Here’s a … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Lee's Page, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

It’s Palin

CNN and Foxnews are reporting. Pretty surprising to me, but a pleasant surprise. Discussion topic: I am hearing from Obama supporters that she’s a bad pick because she’s inexperienced. Is this an actual argument Obama wants to make? Does this … Continue reading

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Power to the People

The Loft This an interesting view of why Obama timed his VP announcement the way he did. And, if true, ascribes quite a bit of influence to conservative radio.

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Smarty Pants

Every day, Professor Keith Burgess-Jackson reprints a Letter to the Editor from the New York Times.  This offering left me gape-jawed. The Professor’s first point is well-taken. Where is the evidence that Barack Obama is more intelligent than John McCain? … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Media, Peg's Page | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater!

That is the Obama campaigns response to McCains surprisingly (in their mind) strong performance in last nights Saddleback Civil Forum on Presidency McQ finds the charge another in a long line of examples of misunderestimation by Democrats. I like this … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Lance's Page | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Age Old Problem

My time at the Nebraska Regional was super.  Our team won three of the four Knockout Events, was second in a shorter “Compact” Knockout – then struggled to 13th place in the last day’s Swiss Team, although we were in … Continue reading

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