Althouse: "It has been a Junius Horribilis for President Obama."

June 11, 2012

"It has been a Junius Horribilis for President Obama."

"Could it get any worse?"

76 comments:

Kevin said...: Well, if you put it like that it sounds like a goal. Challenge Accepted.; 6/11/12, 10:09 PM
David said...: Worse?

Watch Spain and Europe. Obama was going to be the great international leader, right?

Watch Syria. They were going to be our big new ally in the Middle East.

Watch Egypt, and reread Obama's speech in Cairo.

Watch China, America's banker. Who is going to take up that slack if they crater.

Watch Canada, as she builds pipelines to sell oil and gas to China and the far east.

Watch Holder, if you can stand it.

Watch California, as it tries to figure out how to engineer a federal bailout.

Watch the value of your house, which is still going down in spite of (because of?) record low interest rates.

Watch the lefties watching Wisconsin, trying to figure out how the hell that happened.

That is all for now.; 6/11/12, 10:13 PM
Dr Weevil said...: It's looking like a whole annus horribilis is in store for the anus horribilis. No, that's not an obscenity: get your mind out of the gutter. I obviously meant anus with a short A and 4th declension, not 2nd, making Obama a horrible old lady: he's anile, not anal. When a middle-school girl asks "what word begins with F and ends with U-C-K?", she obviously means "firetruck" and will be shocked if anyone suggests anything else.; 6/11/12, 10:14 PM
Fen said...: Obama 2012. Yes we can make it worse.; 6/11/12, 10:15 PM
chickelit said...: Could it get any worse?

People could start calling him Junior.; 6/11/12, 10:17 PM
Fen said...: For the White House, it was just the latest entry in the when-it-rains-it-pours ledger.

Aaaawwww. Poor little Diversity Hire. Can't be his fault, no. Lets just gift him a C+ ... like we have his entire life.; 6/11/12, 10:18 PM
holdfast said...: Hells to the yes.

It's not even half over.; 6/11/12, 10:22 PM
Beta Rube said...: Is someone at WAPO suggesting that the rise of the oceans has not slowed, our planet has not healed, and good jobs have not been provided for the jobless?

Glad I'm not the only Rube.; 6/11/12, 10:27 PM
Fen said...: Bad news, regardless of whether The One is re-elected, its going to get much worse.

There's a world-wide financial crisis on the horizon. A post-apoc America is creeping out from the fiction of Zombie movies.

Put together a "go-bag" and review you old 9-11 escape plans.; 6/11/12, 10:34 PM
edutcher said...: All the "policies" and people that were supposed to be so smart are being shown for the vapid, shallow, vain nonsense they were.

And, yes, things will probably get worse.

Keep in mind, we haven't had a first class terror attack or man-caused disaster for a while and, with all the secrets Zero's giving away, odds are we're leaving ourselves open some way.

PS David's right about Europe. Bernanke and Choom had a deal to keep everything above the waterline until '13, but it's starting to look as if live-by-the-financial-crash, die-by-the-financial-crash may be the kind of karma this Administration can expect.; 6/11/12, 10:35 PM
Amy said...: @Fen - working on the 'go bag' - question is: Where is there to go?; 6/11/12, 10:43 PM
Fen said...: If interest rates were to rise it would create a debt servicing problem on our already unwieldy debt.

Interest rates are being artificially kept low. And that can't be maintained forever.; 6/11/12, 10:43 PM
madAsHell said...: Howard Dean sez it's been a great week!!

uuuuuWWWWWoooooo!!; 6/11/12, 10:47 PM
Fen said...: @Fen - working on the 'go bag' - question is: Where is there to go?

Out of the City. Rural South, Alabama. Heavy rainfall (water) and non-freezing climate.; 6/11/12, 10:48 PM
Kansas City said...: Timing and luck beyond a politician's control is an extremely important part of politics. If the 1937 economic downturn had occurred in 1936, Roosevelt would have been a failed one term president.

Here, Obama has done a poor job and has bad policies and philosphies for the country, but I'm sure he and his crew thought in 2009 that they could start the "transformation" of America under the cover of the economic crisis and the economy surely would improve enough by 2012 for him to get re-elected. Thankfully, that did not happen.

You know Obama is in serious troulbe when far lefty Milbank at the Washington Post says the following:

"In Washington, there is a creeping sense that the bottom has fallen out and that there may be no second term. Privately, senior Obama advisers say they are no longer expecting much economic improvement before the election."

Rats are starting to jump.; 6/11/12, 10:50 PM
Fen said...: And just for the record, if the walls come down, it *will* be open season on "rats"

"Do you know who I am! I'm Dana Milb- [thunk]"; 6/11/12, 10:55 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Mr. Hendry, I like you when you're snarky. Just sayin'.

wv: spngDo 17. Make of that what you will.; 6/11/12, 11:00 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Whatever happened to all that outrage over the Valery Plame leak?

Here we have leaks that clearly harm National Security and Obama's reaction is one of an assessment of personal injury.

Thse guys either don't know how to leak or its like Rush says.. Obama is out to harm the country.; 6/11/12, 11:25 PM
Tim said...: “I think I would refer you to the 53% of the American electorate who thought this guy was qualified for office," I muse to myself, aloud.; 6/11/12, 11:48 PM
Michael K said...: "regardless of whether The One is re-elected, its going to get much worse. "

I think if Romney is elected, we will see a very early response by the business community which is waiting to see what happens. One problem for the lefties is that conservative (not Republican of the RINO variety) policies work. Walker reminded a few people of that. If Romney just declares that all regulations enacted since 2009 are null and void, the response would be powerful. Tax reform would produce a boom.; 6/11/12, 11:49 PM
Anonymous said...: Alas! for the days when Obama got to accept the nomination posing in front of Greek columns. This time he has to accept the nomination posing in front of a Greek economy.; 6/11/12, 11:51 PM
David said...: Kansas City said...
Timing and luck beyond a politician's control is an extremely important part of politics. If the 1937 economic downturn had occurred in 1936, Roosevelt would have been a failed one term president.

Of course the 1937 downturn was caused by Roosevelt's massive tax increases in that year.; 6/11/12, 11:52 PM
pellehDin said...: How about the three anni horribiles the poor citizens of this country have suffered?; 6/11/12, 11:55 PM
Seven Machos said...: If Romney just declares that all regulations enacted since 2009 are null and void

I see this from time to time. It strikes me as constitutionally interesting, given the law of agency, but that's about it. I just don't think it's politically feasible for a host of reasons.; 6/11/12, 11:57 PM
Carnifex said...: More than a year ago I warned the readers of this blog the the derivative exposure for the world was 16 quadrillion dollars, an order more than the entire worlds assests. I warned the readers of this blog to prepare because the whole house of cards is going to come down quick. I warned the readers of this blog to prepare by stockpiling food, amunition, and trusted friends.

I hope you listened.

Gettin' Zero out ain't gonna' mean shit when it hits. Waahshington can't even save itself, let alone us.

Be prepared for

Bank runs and collapses. There's still time to hoard nickels. We put back $20 a week in nickels(the mint is switching to steel or a cheaper metal)

Riots. When the cities/states/fed can't afford to pay off the underclass, they will come looking for food/loot/shelter. Suburbs are too wide opened to be defended without a group effort(layoffs of minorities by cities will increase resentment among black people, already being agitated by the eternally agitated class)

Police crackdowns. Police will take the orders of their masters, those that control their paychecks. And if those masters say martial law, no 2nd amendment rights to protect innoccents(themselves) the LEOs will take your guns.

Drone flights. To monitor a restive populace(and maybe accidently kill a few trouble makers)

Martial Law. See LEO behavior in NOLA post Katrina.

Shortages. Nothing will be on the shelves, no gas at the pumps, no electricity through the wires. No medicines, no doctors, no air conditioning, no heating, no fresh water.

Do you start to get the idea? It probably won't be permenant, but it will be.

Ps.

@Fen I care my BOB (bug out bag) in the car, every day.; 6/11/12, 11:57 PM
David said...: I think if Romney is elected, we will see a very early response by the business community which is waiting to see what happens.

Nice thought. But if that happens the Democrats are going to let the tax cuts expire, the automatic (and chaotic) spending cuts will kick in and the deficit numbers will be worse. The country may already be in recession at the time of the election, because of failure to deal with these issues. Democrats may still control the Senate and will have filibuster power if they do not.

It's going to take a lot more than a Romney win to turn this around.; 6/12/12, 12:00 AM
Revenant said...: Rural South, Alabama.

They call that place "God's country" because the even the Devil thinks it is too effin' hot to live there.; 6/12/12, 12:00 AM
Seven Machos said...: Carnifex -- None of that is going to happen regardless of who is elected president or what happens to the Euro.

You are a loon.; 6/12/12, 12:12 AM
techsan said...: Yes, it could, be worse. Or, an ironic fossil-fuel energy boom could hit at the right time for Obama pumping up consumer confidence...and things he doesn't seem to like. (See Bakken.); 6/12/12, 12:21 AM
Craig said...: Obama could do what Lincoln did in 1864 and select someone like Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich or Colin Powell as his running mate. Unfortunately for Lincoln, selecting the Democrat Andrew Johnson was a fatal mistake.; 6/12/12, 12:28 AM
Craig said...: The complexion of the war changed as the election approached. Confederate Commander Robert E. Lee's last victory in battle occurred June 3, 1864, at Cold Harbor. Union General Ulysses S. Grant's aggressive tactics trapped Lee in the trenches defending Richmond. Admiral David Farragut successfully shut down Mobile Bay as a Confederate resource in the Battle of Mobile Bay, August 3-23, 1864. Most decisive of all, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman captured Atlanta on September 1, 1864, convincing even the pessimists that the Confederacy was collapsing.[5]
[edit]; 6/12/12, 1:22 AM
Craig said...: Lincoln didn't run for re-election as a Republican. He would likely have lost the nomination to John Fremont. So he formed the National Union Party.; 6/12/12, 1:28 AM
FedkaTheConvict said...: Prediction: Obama will fire John Bryson on Friday afternoon when no one is paying attention. The entire story reeks of a cover-up.; 6/12/12, 1:43 AM
rhhardin said...: The media are confused now. They need to figure out where the women's interest is and a continuing narrative for it.; 6/12/12, 4:35 AM
Scott said...: I wonder when Carney is going to quit.; 6/12/12, 5:14 AM
Scott said...: Has Obama fired anyone yet? I don't think he's capable. That would require management skills that he doesn't have.; 6/12/12, 5:17 AM
edutcher said...: David said...

I think if Romney is elected, we will see a very early response by the business community which is waiting to see what happens.

Nice thought. But if that happens the Democrats are going to let the tax cuts expire, the automatic (and chaotic) spending cuts will kick in and the deficit numbers will be worse.

If so, we can wave bye-byes to the Democrat Party. People would never forgive them for something like that.

Even now, we're starting to see some Demos realizing the Party's existence is coming on line here and bucking the Choom-Dingy line.; 6/12/12, 5:47 AM
Michael said...: Federal Govt unemploymentvlevel iscaround 4 %. Private sector doing " fine"; 6/12/12, 5:58 AM
Bob Ellison said...: This is about the point when Jimmy Carter asked for resignations from his entire cabinet.; 6/12/12, 6:14 AM
Writ Small said...: I'm seriously beginning to think Obama doesn't want a second term.

Jennifer Rubin asked Mickey Kaus whether he thought Obama could still win in a recent Ricochet podcast. Very long pause from Kaus before he started talking about how fast voters process information.; 6/12/12, 6:16 AM
Christopher in MA said...: Could it get any worse?

For us? I hope not. For him? Sweet mother of God, I hope so. I want this clown so beaten down by November that they have to drag his coke-snorting ass out of the White House in a straitjacket.; 6/12/12, 6:22 AM
Toad Trend said...: It can always get worse.

Lying and deception are difficult to maintain.

How could things get better? Nothing has been done on behalf of the people, only on behalf of government and most-favored supporters of political power.

Its only going to get worse.; 6/12/12, 6:28 AM
FleetUSA said...: @chickelit

My dad has always called him "the boy president".; 6/12/12, 6:33 AM
Jay Vogt said...: "Ann asks, "Could it get any worse?". . .

I suppose it could.

You could wake up one morning and see that some boring, anglo-wannabe columnist was writing about your life using pretentious, brit-come-latin, anachronistic locutions for his own amusement to make no discernible point.; 6/12/12, 7:09 AM
Humperdink said...: 7M said:"Carnifex -- None of that is going to happen regardless of who is elected president or what happens to the Euro.
You are a loon."

Count me as one also then. Visualize Katrina/Superdome except on a grander scale.

I do not have zero confidence in government, I have negative confidence in government. If you have evidence to the contrary, please share it.; 6/12/12, 7:11 AM
Rusty said...: In all fairness he's been a pretty horrible president so it kind of fitting.; 6/12/12, 7:11 AM
Humperdink said...: One of my investment buddies, when asked what to invest in, responded: food, fuel, firearms.; 6/12/12, 7:14 AM
Dr Weevil said...: Definition of "pretentious": using "anachronistic locutions" you don't understand and can't even spell: "brit-come-latin" should be "brit cum Latin". As a man said in a movie, "Who is the dighead now?"; 6/12/12, 7:30 AM
Carnifex said...: yeah seven retards... better a loon with a full belly than a self rightious prick. Tell the people of NOLA "It can never happen here" retard.

You go ahead and party like it's 1999. Don't come near our house later when the SHTF. We don't cotton to retards.; 6/12/12, 7:35 AM
Rusty said...: carni. I have to agree with seven on this one. much ado about nothing.But to be truthful my neighbors do seem to be stocking on generators, fuel, and food. I've stocked up on black rifles and ammunition.; 6/12/12, 7:46 AM
Michael K said...: "I think if Romney is elected, we will see a very early response by the business community which is waiting to see what happens.

Nice thought. But if that happens the Democrats are going to let the tax cuts expire, "

The House, of course, is run by Republicans. The Senate has a Dem majority but not all of them are crazy. They have to go home and some may want to work in a functioning economy or at least protect the assets they stole while in office.

I don't see a suicide mission in January if Romney wins. I remember when Reagan was elected and the pessimism took a while to disperse but the Democrats had the House then. Reagan was double crossed by Dole who arranged to delay the Reagan tax cuts until 1982. Of course, that left everybody with money waiting until January 1982 to invest or take income and the GOP lost the Senate in he 82 elections. I don't see any Republicans as stupid as Dole in positions to screw things up.

The whole survivalist thing was very strong the last year of Carter's presidency. Not everybody remembers. AS far as investing in guns, Sturm Ruger has suspended accepting orders for a few months. They have so many that they can't fill them all this year.; 6/12/12, 7:49 AM
Brian Brown said...: Also note that US Commerce Secretary drives a fancy foreign car.; 6/12/12, 7:53 AM
KCFleming said...: Yes, it can get considerably worse.

Recall that in 2008 Bill Clinton told Ted Kennedy: "A few years ago, [Obama] would have been getting us coffee."

Kennedy was reportedly "deeply offended and recounted the conversation to friends with fury".

On learning that Kennedy backed Obama, Clinton was said to have remarked, "the only reason you are endorsing him is because he's black. Let's just be clear."

So let's just be clear.
Obama has screwed things up terribly.
The economy is stagnant.
People under 30 have a 44% unemployment rate.
Health care is going to be bollixed for the next 20 years at least.
Food prices are rising.
People are raiding their savings for daily expenses.

And somewhere around half of the US voters (some illegal, some duplicates) will vote for President Erratum again.; 6/12/12, 8:01 AM
Scott M said...: I'm seriously beginning to think Obama doesn't want a second term.

If this were true, he would not have gone back out Friday to clarify his "fine" comment. He's desperate to get re-elected and the act of coming back out later that afternoon belies both desperation and weakness.; 6/12/12, 8:02 AM
Humperdink said...: To continue Zero's bad month, I see the Sec'y of Commerce was driving a Lexus when he wrecked (twice). That's the "U.S." Sec'y of Commerce.; 6/12/12, 8:33 AM
Bob Ellison said...: Interesting question: "Could it get any worse?"

Imagine how!

* The House of Representatives could cite Eric Holder for contempt of Congress.

* Obama could continue to fail to do the obvious things that would help the economy (de-regulate, announce a plan, any plan, on Taxmageddon, open Keystone), thus ensuring that the economy will still suck for months to come.

* Biden could continue to talk.

This stuff writes itself!; 6/12/12, 8:39 AM
Scott M said...: Quick, dumb question: if the US economy sucks, why is the US Secretary Of Commerce such an obscure person?; 6/12/12, 8:39 AM
MadisonMan said...: Could it get any worse? It could all be happening in October!; 6/12/12, 9:08 AM
Dr Weevil said...: Being a Latin teacher, I misread Junius Horribilis as a Roman name before realizing it was a month. (Junius can be either in Latin.) So what would Obama's Roman name be? There were only 15-20 personal (1st) names, and only 100-200 clan (2nd) names, and the 3rd name has to be an adjective. Here's my suggestion:

Spurius Asinius Horribilis

Spurius (abbreviated Sp.) means "bastard" or "fake, counterfeit". Asinius is a genuine Roman name (Gaius Asinius Pollio established the first public library in Rome) and means "Donkeyman", appropriately enough. Horribilis needs no further explanation.; 6/12/12, 9:34 AM
Kirk Parker said...: Fen (in response to Amy),

That solution only works for a very few. The rural areas simply can't accommodate huge numbers of increased population. So if economic collapse is accompanied by complete infrastructure breakdown, lots of people in the our biggest cities are just going to die.

But that's a big IF--I don't expect such a breakdown to happen, at least not here in the US.

And rick, it won't be Katrina/Superdome on a grander scale, because most Americans are better than that. Instead of the New Orleans model, think of your United Flight 93 fellow-citizens instead! That's the kind of self-organizing, effective response I would expect to see in my neck of the woods.; 6/12/12, 10:30 AM
Jason said...: Obamus Ete Domum!; 6/12/12, 10:37 AM
Mitch H. said...: Confederate Commander Robert E. Lee's last victory in battle occurred June 3, 1864, at Cold Harbor. Union General Ulysses S. Grant's aggressive tactics trapped Lee in the trenches defending Richmond.

I'm not sure how this is relevant to anything, but Lee had numerous battlefield victories during the Siege of Petersburg, notably both First and Second Ream's Station, Jerusalem Road, the Weldon Railroad raid, etc. In fact, the fighting around Petersburg in the fall of 1864 was more one-sided and embarrassing than anything that happened during the 40 Days campaign. The Army of the Potomac was basically shattered as it went into the siege lines, and Grant's reconstituted armies fared rather poorly whenever Lee caught them outside of their fortifications. A significant fraction of the men who died at Andersonville, for instance, were captured in a series of one-sided routs south of Petersburg about this time.

Also, Lee was able to detach about a quarter of his divisions to send north into the Shenandoah invasion-route, and repeated the 1862 raids with General Early recapsulating Jackson's performance. The usual eastern equivalent to Sherman's capture of Atlanta, politically speaking, was Sheridan's successful detachment from Grant's investment of Petersburg and Richmond and eventual defeat of Early.; 6/12/12, 10:42 AM
Humperdink said...: @Kirk Parker
When a family is starving, the head of household will do what he needs to do to feed his family, regardless of consequences. The Flight 93 analogy does not fit.; 6/12/12, 12:03 PM
Scott M said...: The Flight 93 analogy does not fit.

You might very well be nullifying a huge chunk of pioneer behavior by saying so. There are intervening steps between stable society and anarchy/starvation. The head of a household who's looking at a particularly grim near future might easily find it rational and his family's best chance for surviving by cooperating with other like-minded families for mutual protection and resource sharing.; 6/12/12, 12:30 PM
gerry said...: When your political philosophy sucks and you are not really all that bright and cannot convey the meaning of anything important understandably, well, you are going to fuck up finally, completely, and unrecoverably.

It will only get worse from now on.; 6/12/12, 1:23 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Scott M.,

Your answer to Rick was better than mine (which was just "huh???").; 6/12/12, 2:05 PM
Humperdink said...: @Kirk Huh? Profound.; 6/12/12, 2:47 PM
Humperdink said...: @Scott M I can't just see a high density population area(NYC, LA) organizing a group search for the necessities of life on a moments notice. You may be right, but I prefer to be in control of my own little circle.; 6/12/12, 2:51 PM
Scott M said...: but I prefer to be in control of my own little circle

And, given a high-density population area if that's where you're located at short notice, you may very well be, and probably would be, overwhelmed simply be superior numbers.

Cast your lot with a few neighbors and the odds start to tilt in your favor.; 6/12/12, 2:55 PM
Humperdink said...: 40 acres on a mountaintop (my location). Two neighbors within 3/4 mile. Produce my own natural gas. Lots of advantages here.; 6/12/12, 3:03 PM
Scott M said...: How very nice and Grizzly Adamsesque of you. You were the one that mentioned high-density NY/LA locations (which most of the country outside NY/LA don't actually live in despite most advertising).

I assumed since you did so, you were in one yourself.; 6/12/12, 3:11 PM
Kirk Parker said...: rick,

When you don't make sense, you don't make sense.; 6/12/12, 6:26 PM
Kirk Parker said...: But to humor you a little bit: you're *still* stuck in the all-or-nothing immediate and complete collapse scenario. It's *that part* that I'm disputing.

E.g. The most urgent need for the more densely populated areas is drinking water. Will that stop flowing simply because the FedGov defaults? Why? In my case, I know where the city's water supply comes from, and the route to drive up to the end of the public access into the source watershed. And while I don't know how to operate any of that equipment, I know some fairly high-up folks in the same municipal agency, who obviously *do* know all the technical people.

Now, if the dollar disappears, what are they going to do? Sit home and die of thirst with everyone else? Why? How long do you think it would take us to come up with some kind of initial local scrip if that's what they're worried about?; 6/12/12, 6:32 PM
Humperdink said...: @Kirk

"Casting pearls before......."

Being a learned individual such as yourself, I am sure you know the meaning and context of the above quote.; 6/12/12, 8:14 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Oh, I have no shortage of pearls.; 6/12/12, 11:45 PM
Humperdink said...: You clearly missed the context my friend.; 6/13/12, 6:53 AM