Go Obama!

[Dragonfave]

Here he is channeling Mr. Miyagi during an interview

YouTube - Obama Kills a Fly During TV Interview

 

[bigjohn2441]

"Obama then apologized and signed a bill awarding 50 million dollars to the fly's family and another 100 million to fund 'fly conservation' programs"

 

[2861U2]

How could Obama kill such an innocent animal for fun?

 

[Tiger Edge]

i bet it was a spy

 

[Dragonfave]

PETA released this statement via TMZ:

“He isn’t the Buddha, he’s a human being and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act.”

I’m all for the relocation of insects over killing them, but I think PETA should pick their battles a bit better.

 

[Tiger Edge]

I'm going to lock a bunch of Petans in a badly constructed shark cage, laced with bloody bacon and stick them in the ocean. And then I will throw them a single spear.

 

[bigjohn2441]

I'm all for the genocide and extermination of mosquitos.

 

[Tiger Edge]

I'm all for the genocide and extermination of mosquitos.

I would agree, but I'm fond of dragonflies.

 

[Irvine511]

it would be better if he killed the fly from a helicopter.

 

[bigjohn2441]

surely they could find something else to eat

 

[Tiger Edge]

Republicans

 

[bigjohn2441]

not Sarah Palin though!

thats my job


ok im done

 

[deep]

it would be better if he killed the fly from a helicopter.

why put American pilots in harm's way
we have drones



edit to add: a real man would have used a shotgun to the fly's face, coward.

 

[VintagePunk]

edit to add: a real man would have used a shotgun to the fly's face, coward.

:coughCheneycough:

 

[MadelynIris]

catch it and eat it, that's real man skills.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

June 18, 2009
Bush takes aim at Obama policies
Posted: 09:23 AM ET
Bush criticized a range of Obama policies Wednesday.


(CNN) – In his most critical comments to date of the Obama administration's policies, former President George Bush Wednesday warned against the nationalization of healthcare, government overreach in the country's financial system, and the potential effects of closing the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay.

"I know it's going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we're in," the former president said during a speech to business leaders in Erie, Pennsylvania, according to the Washington Times. "You can spend your money better than the government can spend your money."

"Government does not create wealth. The major role for the government is to create an environment where people take risks to expand the job rate in the United States," he also said in the closed-door speech, according to the paper.

During the remarks — one of Bush’s first in the United States since leaving the White House — the former president commented on a wide-range of issues currently confronting the Obama administration, including the new president's push for universal healthcare.

"There are a lot of ways to remedy the situation without nationalizing health care," Bush said. "I worry about encouraging the government to replace the private sector when it comes to providing insurance for health care."

Asked directly if he thought his successor was embracing "socialist" polices, Bush stopped short of weighing in one way or the other, instead saying: "We'll see."

In a vigorous defense of his own national security policies, the president appeared to take issue with the new administration's early decision to close the detention center in Guantanamo Bay and ban the use of aggressive interrogation techniques.

"I told you I'm not going to criticize my successor," he said, according to the paper. "I'll just tell you that there are people at Gitmo that will kill American people at a drop of a hat and I don't believe that persuasion isn't going to work. Therapy isn't going to cause terrorists to change their mind."

Bush, in contrast to former Vice President Dick Cheney, has largely remained silent on the new administration's decision to prohibit the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques. But during his speech Wednesday the former president insisted he used "every technique and tool within the law to bring terrorists to justice before they strike again."

Bush also appeared to take a broad swipe at the tone of American politics in general, noting that partisan vitriol dates back to the founding fathers when Vice President Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton.

 

[Irvine511]

"I told you I'm not going to criticize my successor," he said, according to the paper. "I'll just tell you that there are people at Gitmo that will kill American people at a drop of a hat and I don't believe that persuasion isn't going to work. Therapy isn't going to cause terrorists to change their mind."

but manipulating intelligence to justify a unnecessary war that results in the death of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis is a great way to get terrorists to change their minds.

i see the simplicity has followed Mr. Bush back to Crawford.

it's also clear that the GOP thinks they can score some points on this issue -- Obama wants to bring the terrorists to the heartland and put them in jail and then they'll break out of jail and blow up the Piggly Wiggly!

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Obama wants to bring the terrorists to the heartland and put them in jail and then they'll break out of jail and blow up the Piggly Wiggly!

lol

And unless that's a typo in his quote terrorists all share one mind. What a waste it is to lose one mind...

We'll see if Obama is embracing socialist policies. Ooooh. It's a cliff hanger.

 

[diamond]

June 18, 2009
Understanding the Age of Obama
By Victor Davis Hanson

Are you confused by all that has changed since President Barack Obama took office in January? If so, you're not alone. Perhaps, though, this handy guide to Age of Obama "logic" might be of some assistance.

1. The Budget. Wanting to cut $17 billion from the budget, as President Obama has promised, is proof of financial responsibility. Borrowing $1.84 trillion this year for new programs is "stimulus." The old phrase "out-of-control spending" is inoperative.

2. Unemployment. The number of jobs theoretically saved, or created, by new government policies - not the actual percentage of Americans out of work, or the total number of jobs lost - is now the far better indicator of unemployment.

3. The Private Sector. Nationalizing much of the auto and financial industries, while regulating executive compensation, is an indication of our new government's repeatedly stated reluctance to interfere in the private sector.

4. Race and Gender. Not what is said but who says it and about whom reveals racism and sexism. For example, an Hispanic female judge isn't being offensive if she states that Latinas are inherently better judges than white males.

5. Random violence. Some assassinations represent larger American pathologies, but others do not. When a crazed lone gunman murders someone outside the Holocaust Museum or shoots an abortion doctor, we should worry about growing right-wing and Christian extremism. But when an African-American Muslim convert brags about his murder of a military recruitment officer or an Islamic group plots to kill Jews and blow up a military jet, these are largely isolated incidents without larger relevance.

6. Terrorism. Acts of terror disappeared about six months ago. Thankfully, we live now in an age where there will be - in the new vocabulary of the Obama administration - only occasional "overseas contingency operations" in which we may be forced to hold a few "detainees." At the same time, ongoing military tribunals, renditions, wiretaps, phone intercepts and predator-drone assassinations are no longer threats to the Constitution. And just saying you're going to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay is proof that it is almost closed.

7. Iraq. The once-despised Iraq war thankfully ended around Jan. 20, 2009, and has now transformed into a noble experiment that is fanning winds of change throughout the Middle East. There will be no need for any more Hollywood cinema exposés of American wartime crimes in Iraq with titles like "Rendition," "Redacted," "Lions for Lambs" and "Stop-Loss."

8. The West. Western values and history aren't apparently that special or unique. As President Obama told the world during his recent speech in Cairo, the Renaissance and Enlightenment were, in fact, fueled by a brilliant Islamic culture, responsible for landmark discoveries in mathematics, science and medicine. Slavery in America ended without violence. Mistreatment of women and religious intolerance in the Middle East have comparable parallels in America.

9. Media. The media are disinterested and professional observers of the present administration. When television anchormen and senior magazine editors bow to the president, proclaim him a god or feel tingling in the legs when he speaks, it is quite normal.

10. George W. Bush. Former President Bush did all sorts of bad things to the United States that only now we are learning will take at least eight years to sort out. "Bush did it" for the next decade will continue to explain the growing unemployment rate, the most recent deficit, the new round of tensions with Iran and North Korea, and the growing global unrest from the Middle East to South America.

Once we remember and accept the logic of the above, then almost everything about this Age of Obama begins to make perfect sense.

 

[Irvine511]

i once was blind, but now i see!

 

[anitram]

As President Obama told the world during his recent speech in Cairo, the Renaissance and Enlightenment were, in fact, fueled by a brilliant Islamic culture, responsible for landmark discoveries in mathematics, science and medicine.

ZOMG!! Obama, like, repeated a historical fact that, like, didn't paint Muslims in a negative light.

He must hate America and our freedoms.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

He hates flies too

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

June 17, 2009
Obama takes aim at Fox News
Posted: 12:34 PM ET

From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Obama says Fox News is 'entirely devoted' to attacking his administration.

(CNN) – Brushing off suggestions Tuesday the media is not critical enough of his administration, President Obama couldn't help but take aim at one cable news channel in particular.

"It's very hard for me to swallow that one," Obama told CNBC when asked whether he thinks the media is too easy on him. "First of all, I've got one television station entirely devoted to attacking my administration."

The interviewer quickly assumed Obama was referring to Fox News, a suggestion the president didn't disagree with.

"Well, that's a pretty big megaphone," he said. "And you'd be hard-pressed, if you watched the entire day, to find a positive story about me on that front."

"We welcome people who are asking us some, you know, tough questions," he continued. "And I think that I've been probably as accessible as any president in the first six months–press conferences, taking questions from reporters, being held accountable, being transparent about what it is that we're trying to do. I think that, actually, the reason that people have been generally positive about what we've tried to do is they feel as if I'm available and willing to answer questions, and we haven't been trying to hide them all. "

Obama struck a similar tone on the matter last month in his appearance before the White House Correspondents Dinner, during which he joked to the crowd, "Most of you covered me; all of you voted for me, apologies to the Fox table."

 

[2861U2]

June 17, 2009
Obama takes aim at Fox News
Posted: 12:34 PM ET

From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Obama says Fox News is 'entirely devoted' to attacking his administration.

(CNN) – Brushing off suggestions Tuesday the media is not critical enough of his administration, President Obama couldn't help but take aim at one cable news channel in particular.

"It's very hard for me to swallow that one," Obama told CNBC when asked whether he thinks the media is too easy on him. "First of all, I've got one television station entirely devoted to attacking my administration."

The interviewer quickly assumed Obama was referring to Fox News, a suggestion the president didn't disagree with.

"Well, that's a pretty big megaphone," he said. "And you'd be hard-pressed, if you watched the entire day, to find a positive story about me on that front."

"We welcome people who are asking us some, you know, tough questions," he continued. "And I think that I've been probably as accessible as any president in the first six months–press conferences, taking questions from reporters, being held accountable, being transparent about what it is that we're trying to do. I think that, actually, the reason that people have been generally positive about what we've tried to do is they feel as if I'm available and willing to answer questions, and we haven't been trying to hide them all. "

Obama struck a similar tone on the matter last month in his appearance before the White House Correspondents Dinner, during which he joked to the crowd, "Most of you covered me; all of you voted for me, apologies to the Fox table."

That is one of the dumbest things I've ever read. The president is sorely mistaken and misguided if he believes this.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

NY Times

June 18, 2009
Obama Poll Sees Doubt on Budget and Health Care
By JEFF ZELENY and DALIA SUSSMAN

A substantial majority of Americans say President Obama has not developed a strategy to deal with the budget deficit, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, which also found that support for his plans to overhaul health care, rescue the auto industry and close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, falls well below his job approval ratings.

A distinct gulf exists between Mr. Obama’s overall standing and how some of his key initiatives are viewed, with fewer than half of Americans saying they approve of how he has handled health care and the effort to save General Motors and Chrysler. A majority of people said his policies have had either no effect yet on improving the economy or had made it worse, underscoring how his political strength still rests on faith in his leadership rather than concrete results.

As Mr. Obama finishes his fifth month in office and assumes greater ownership of the problems he inherited, Americans are alarmed by the hundreds of billions of dollars that have been doled out to boost the economy. A majority said the government should instead focus on reducing the federal deficit.

But with a job approval rating of 63 percent, Mr. Obama has the backing of Democrats and independents alike, a standing that many presidents would envy and try to use to build support for their policies. His rating has fallen to 23 percent among Republicans, from 44 percent in February, a sign that bridging the partisan divide may remain an unaccomplished goal.

The poll was conducted after Mr. Obama completed his fourth international trip as president. He received high marks for his focus abroad, with 59 percent of those polled saying they approve of his approach to foreign policy. And after weeks of criticism from former Vice President Dick Cheney and other Republicans, 57 percent say they approve of how Mr. Obama has dealt with the threat of terrorism.

The White House is entering a critical summer with Mr. Obama pledging to push his plans to revamp health care and financial regulation through Congress and Senate hearings scheduled on his first nominee to the Supreme Court. The poll suggested Americans remain patient, even as a strong majority expressed concern that they or someone in their family could lose their jobs in the next year.

“My feeling is that Obama is just throwing money at things, but I don’t see anything being specifically targeted,” Lynn Adams, 62, a Republican from Troy, Mich., said in a follow-up interview. “But I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt because he hasn’t been in office long enough.”

Judge Sonia Sotomayor, whom Mr. Obama nominated to the Supreme Court three weeks ago, is still widely unknown to the public, the poll found. A majority of people surveyed, 53 percent, said they did not know enough about Judge Sotomayor, who would be the first Hispanic justice, to say whether she should be confirmed. But 74 percent said that it was either very or somewhat important for the Supreme Court to reflect the country’s diversity.

Before the Senate votes on her confirmation, 48 percent of people said her positions on issues like abortion and affirmative action were very important to know about.

The national telephone poll was conducted Friday through Tuesday with 895 adults, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

The poll highlights the political and governing challenges on the horizon for Mr. Obama, including the towering federal budget deficit, which is expected to push the national debt to levels that many economists say could threaten the economy’s long-term vitality. Six in 10 people surveyed said the administration has yet to develop a clear plan for dealing with the deficit, including 65 percent of independents.

Mr. Obama, in an interview on Tuesday with CNBC and The New York Times, said the budget deficit was “something that keeps me awake at night.”

While Republicans have steadily increased their criticism of Mr. Obama, particularly on the budget deficit, the poll found that the Republican Party is viewed favorably by only 28 percent of those polled, the lowest rating ever in a New York Times/CBS News poll. In contrast, 57 percent said that they had a favorable view of the Democratic Party.

The nomination of a Supreme Court justice, as well as the fatal shooting of an abortion doctor in Kansas late last month, injected a fresh dynamic into the national abortion debate. But the poll found essentially no change in the public’s views of abortion in the last two decades, with 36 percent saying it should be generally available, 41 percent saying it should be available but under stricter limits than are now in place and 21 percent saying it should not be permitted.

The nomination of Judge Sotomayor also has renewed discussion about affirmative action. Half of those surveyed said they favored programs that make special efforts to help minorities get ahead, a number that rises among nonwhite respondents and women. Far more, 8 in 10, said they favored programs to help low-income Americans get ahead, regardless of gender or ethnicity.

The issues of abortion and affirmative action sharply divide voters in each major political party. Among Democrats, 71 percent oppose overturning Roe v. Wade, while Republicans are closely divided. And 67 percent of Democrats support affirmative action programs for minorities, while 60 percent of Republicans oppose them.

Beyond these issues, which Mr. Obama has sought to avoid becoming entangled in, he faces a divided public as he works to carry out his executive order to close the prison for terrorism suspects at Guantánamo Bay. The poll found that 8 in 10 expressed worry that detainees released to other countries might be involved in future attacks here.

Half of the poll respondents said closing the prison would have no effect on protecting the nation from terror threats, but 3 in 10 said they thought it would make the United States less safe. Many of the detainees being held at the prison have not been charged, and nearly 7 in 10 people surveyed said they would support charging them or releasing them back to the country of their capture. Just 24 percent said the detainees should continue to be held without charge for as long as the government deems necessary.

The poll found that a wide majority of those who support closing the prison said their views would not change even if detainees were sent to maximum security prisons in the United States.

“It’s a bad symbol for our country: Preach one thing and do something else,” said Roberta Hall, 73, a Democrat from Barboursville, W.Va. “We can transfer them here. We’re good at keeping prisoners. That’s what we do best.”

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

The president is sorely mistaken and misguided if he believes this.

If he believes what part of what he said-everything?

 

[anitram]

That is one of the dumbest things I've ever read. The president is sorely mistaken and misguided if he believes this.

You find a lot of "dumbest" things anytime Obama speaks, must have been a tough 8 years under Bush for you.

I'm glad that he didn't even dignify them by calling them a news station, since they aren't one.

 

[BVS]

That is one of the dumbest things I've ever read. The president is sorely mistaken and misguided if he believes this.

This can't possible be the dumbest thing you've read, you've posted links to Limbaugh as a source before.

Seriously, what part is so dumb? It sounds like a harmless, mostly tongue in cheek nudge...

And I second anitram, you need to vary up your OMGZ Obama so dumb responses.

 

[Irvine511]

That is one of the dumbest things I've ever read. The president is sorely mistaken and misguided if he believes this.

and yet ... you hold such strong opinions on the political leanings of MSNBC. are you sorely mistaken and misguided on that one?

 

[2861U2]

If he believes what part of what he said-everything?

He's inconsistent. He joked at the dinner that an overwhelming percentage of the media is in love with him and voted for him, but now he's insisting he's being treated unfairly, and to make this claim he points to one of the only outlets that dares to challenge him and question some of his policies. With the exception of Fox, almost no outlets are the least bit "criticial" of this administration.

He said "First of all, I've got one television station entirely devoted to attacking my administration." This is just not true, and it's apparent he doesn't watch the channel but rather just relies on the vague "Fox News sux" complaints of the left. Otherwise he would know that many people on Fox News are supportive of his policies. Also, when did honest questioning and skepticism of policy become "attacking?"

He also said "you'd be hard-pressed, if you watched the entire day, to find a positive story about me on that front." Again, this is just BS, and he can't back it up.

By the way, for a man who claims to be all about bi-partisanship and listening to the other side, there are many more Democrats on Fox than there are Republicans on MSNBC, which is what is viewed in the White House.

At least he recognizes Fox is "a big megaphone," and realizes it daily trounces the ratings of MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, and HLN combined.

I'm glad that he didn't even dignify them by calling them a news station, since they aren't one.

Is MSNBC a news station?