Althouse: "Sadly, the state of the world is the Russian bear is encountering the Obama kitty cat."

August 31, 2014

"Sadly, the state of the world is the Russian bear is encountering the Obama kitty cat."

Said Ted Cruz.

192 comments:

kilo papa said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 8/31/14, 4:04 PM
George M. Spencer said...: Good to see someone can fill Joan Rivers' shoes.; 8/31/14, 4:07 PM
Humperdink said...: Cruz is being kind.

Speaking of the JV team, I wonder what grade level the Vladiator views the OBoutMe administration?; 8/31/14, 4:08 PM
MathMom said...: Ted Cruz will start living rent-free in Obama's head in 3...2...1...

He'll be in the room next to the one Sarah Palin lives in.; 8/31/14, 4:09 PM
MathMom said...: Good to see someone can fill Joan Rivers' shoes.

Nah. Joan Rivers is funny.; 8/31/14, 4:10 PM
Jim said...: Their guy:: came up through KGB.
Our guy::came up through Chicago community organizing.
Not liking these odds.; 8/31/14, 4:12 PM
Hagar said...: That's an insult to cats.

The media are being sidetracked with this talk about "strategy."
In order for "the generals" to give the President advice on strategy, he first needs to tell them what the goal is, what he wants to achieve, and this he is not going to do, since what he wants does not have much of a following anywhere in the country, and publicizing it would cause another media storm.; 8/31/14, 4:17 PM
The Godfather said...: Cruz "dinged Obama on his approach to Russia's advances into Ukraine". "Dinged"? I guess TPM doesn't take the criticism very seriously. Or maybe they couldn't spell "excoriated".; 8/31/14, 4:24 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Going to be an interesting debate between Rand Paul and Ted Cruz in the Presidential primaries. My money is on Rand Paul.; 8/31/14, 4:33 PM
somefeller said...: Mathmom says:He'll be in the room next to the one Sarah Palin lives in.

I'm pretty sure the President doesn't keep up with reality TV celebrities. But it's touching to see you do. Someone has to be the target market.

Anyway, always fun to see Ted Cruz play the tough guy. It's very convincing.; 8/31/14, 4:35 PM
Humperdink said...: ARM, considering Ted Cruz was a champion debater at Princeton, your money may be wrong the horse.; 8/31/14, 4:40 PM
CWJ said...: If I remember the juxtaposition correctly. Putin, the Russian bear, actually had a cat, indeed a leopard or similar. Obama had a Bichon.

Obama (and the children who pass for his white house staff) are out of their depth, but we knew that already. No they have actually given up!

They are collectively the kid on the roller coaster who's scared out of his wits wetting his pants with barf down the front of his shirt, sitting there trapped in his seat with no idea what to do other than praying for the ride to end.

I did not see the press conference and assumed the references to Obama having no strategy were the commentariate reading between the lines. I had no idea that Obama actually said those words out loud with the entire world, both friend and foe, watching! But hey, let's talk about the suit.; 8/31/14, 4:41 PM
richard mcenroe said...: Humperdink: T-ball.; 8/31/14, 4:41 PM
Quaestor said...: Our guy::came up through Chicago community organizing.

Correction: choom-enhanced Chicago community organizing.; 8/31/14, 4:42 PM
richard mcenroe said...: "That's an insult to cats."

Well, if Cruz had said "pussy" like he wanted to, Ann wouldn't have quoted him.; 8/31/14, 4:42 PM
Quaestor said...: Obama had a Bichon.

Obama has an Irish water spaniel, the first dog in the Obama households that wasn't on the menu.; 8/31/14, 4:45 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Humperdink said...
ARM, considering Ted Cruz was a champion debater at Princeton, your money may be wrong the horse.

He may have technique but he has an idiotic set of basic assumptions about what we should and shouldn't do with our military strength. Assumptions that are out of line with the thoughts of most US citizens.; 8/31/14, 4:47 PM
Humperdink said...: ARM, By the time the presidential debates roll around, the world will be in greater shambles (hard to believe that's possible, I know).

At that time, Cruz's assumptions will be embraced by all except the few hard core lefties (See R. Reagan 1980).; 8/31/14, 4:58 PM
Quaestor said...: I wonder what grade level the Vladiator views the OBoutMe administration?

Given that he has invested a considerable amount of time and energy projecting a hyper-macho image I'd surmise that Vlad will go to lengths to avoid a direct confrontation with Obama; the visuals are wrong. Child abuse is none too virile.; 8/31/14, 4:58 PM
rhhardin said...: May I asketh...

Separation of church and state has led to kids never hearing the KJV, and losing all intuition for old-timey rules.; 8/31/14, 4:59 PM
rhhardin said...: Kitty cat riot, the rock group.; 8/31/14, 4:59 PM
Sebastian said...: "Assumptions that are out of line with the thoughts of most US citizens"

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but chances are those "assumptions" will catch up with reality.

We can't be kitty cats forever. (Nor ostriches, a la Paul.); 8/31/14, 5:05 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Why can't we just use the well understood word- just call Obama a pussy?; 8/31/14, 5:07 PM
lemondog said...: Irish water spaniel

Portuguese Water Dog; 8/31/14, 5:08 PM
Humperdink said...: ARM, I think Hillary may be espousing the hawkish Cruz's views on foreign policy come campaign time. That will be tough to pull off as she was part of O's administration during the now famous reset *cough* years.; 8/31/14, 5:08 PM
garage mahal said...: Obama is a lawless kitty cat. Makes sense!; 8/31/14, 5:10 PM
Sam vfm #111 said...: What we should have done at the very start of this mess was to say, "Europe started this, they can finish it."
Then tell Putin, "Ukraine is between you and Europe. Leave Poland and the Baltic states alone."

This would have stuck it right up Europe's ass where it belongs.; 8/31/14, 5:12 PM
Humperdink said...: Lawless domestically, wuss internationally.

Why the confusion G-man? New in town?; 8/31/14, 5:14 PM
Titus said...: Ted Cruz will never be president. Neither will any other republican in your short lives.

The republican party will eventually change though to reflect the huge changes in the country...but not in your lifetimes.

But will you still have the South!!!!!; 8/31/14, 5:23 PM
Big Mike said...: In Barack Obama's defense (did I just type that???) there really aren't many good options available with respect to the Ukraine.

Against that, is the sad reality that Barack Obama has spent 5 1/2 years getting us to the point where we have no good options. If we were stronger economically we might be able to threaten sanctions. But with malice aforethought, his policies have left us with an "L-shaped recovery," meaning no recovery at all, except for the Wall Street crowd. We could threaten military action, but at Obama's orders Hagel is cutting (some would say "gutting") our military.; 8/31/14, 5:24 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: garage mahal said...
Obama is a lawless kitty cat. Makes sense!

Gargage, if you follow this 'logic', then our Repubs are even bigger pussies than both Obama and Putin. Electing one of these pussies would be stepping out of the frying pan into the fire.

The wingers need someone with real balls, like Hillary.; 8/31/14, 5:26 PM
SteveR said...: ARM Since when are "idiotic assumptions" about anything a problem for presidential candidates?; 8/31/14, 5:27 PM
Humperdink said...: @Big Mike. You are exactly right. The Little O paints himself into a corner with his peace-through-weakness policy and now has no options.

I am curious as to when this Nobel Peace Prize thingy is going to pay some real dividends.; 8/31/14, 5:32 PM
garage mahal said...: Gargage, if you follow this 'logic', then our Repubs are even bigger pussies than both Obama and Putin.

Not to mention Obama would kick the crap out of the diminutive, high-pitched voice debater from Princeton. Hell, Michelle Obama could probably take Ted Cruz.; 8/31/14, 5:39 PM
Freder Frederson said...: Cruz is a freaking moron.; 8/31/14, 5:41 PM
CWJ said...: "Not to mention Obama would kick the crap out of the diminutive, high-pitched voice debater from Princeton. Hell, Michelle Obama could probably take Ted Cruz."

My dad can beat up your dad.

Serious portion of thread may be over.; 8/31/14, 5:49 PM
CWJ said...: "Cruz is a freaking moron."

Yep. Serious thread now dead.; 8/31/14, 5:50 PM
Billy Oblivion said...: Their guy:: came up through KGB.
Our guy::came up through Chicago community organizing.
Not liking these odds.

It wasn't that he "came up through", Chicago is a tough town a if he'd really been part of the political scene there for any length of time he'd be a brutal thug just like Putin--he'd have to be to survive.

No, he showed up, impressed some major players with his leninist socialism, and that he was a light skinned "African American" (half white, one third Arab and the rest black, go figure) with moderate features and good diction.

This got the "community" behind him--the community of upper middle class and wealth donors who fund such bullshit.

It put a naive, untrained inexperienced fool in the Senate, and then into the Whitehouse.; 8/31/14, 5:53 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: The best POTUS of this century could whup both Obama, Gore, and Kerry.; 8/31/14, 5:55 PM
Patrick said...: The wingers need someone with real balls, like Hillary.

I'm curious to know what exactly she has done to show that she has any foreign policy sense, let alone any accomplishments. Could you give me a little help?; 8/31/14, 5:59 PM
Freder Frederson said...: Cruz's assumptions will be embraced by all except the few hard core lefties

You know, it is easy to embrace Cruz's assumptions if it doesn't cost you anything, in either blood or money. We got into this mess because of a bunch of tough talking assholes who did not contribute one dime to fighting this war and put the burden on an all-volunteer military so they didn't have to get their hair mussed.; 8/31/14, 6:02 PM
Freder Frederson said...: Yep. Serious thread now dead.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize we were supposed to take anything Ted Cruz says seriously. He may be smart, but he is as crazy as Palin, maybe even more so.; 8/31/14, 6:04 PM
Freder Frederson said...: No, he showed up, impressed some major players with his leninist socialism

Anyone who thinks Obama is a "Leninist socialist" doesn't know the meaning of either word.; 8/31/14, 6:07 PM
gk1 said...: Perhaps the house lefties can school us on all of Hillary's accomplishments and diplomatic savvy. What are her qualifications other than fucking Bill Clinton? Come on, we'll be happy to wait right here.; 8/31/14, 6:20 PM
Big Mike said...: I'm sorry, I didn't realize we were supposed to take anything Ted Cruz says seriously.

@Freder, you mean besides the fact that he's right?; 8/31/14, 6:21 PM
Humperdink said...: Freder said: "You know, it is easy to embrace Cruz's assumptions if it doesn't cost you anything, in either blood or money. We got into this mess because of a bunch of tough talking assholes who did not contribute one dime to fighting this war and put the burden on an all-volunteer military so they didn't have to get their hair mussed."

One could argue the current mess in Iraq is Bush's fault. One could also argue (and have a better case) that Team Zero had a severe case of premature withdrawal that caused the current disaster.

But regarding Ukraine, the Zero owns all of it. The Vlad sized up Zero and found nothing behind the rhetoric.

BTW Freder, China is next on the menu for the One. Only a matter of time.; 8/31/14, 6:57 PM
MathMom said...: Oh, somefeller, you are cracking me up.

Remember when the "reality TV celebrity" compared Putin the bear wrestler to Obama the wearer of Mom Jeans? March 4, 2014.

March 14, 2014 Obama felt the need to justify the jeans he was wearing, because he knew he was going to be pitching. (We can talk later about what pitching actually is, since what he was doing was not pitching, but I digress.

I guess Obama does pay attention to reality TV stars!

Sarah Palin's rent-free room is 2000 sq ft minimum.; 8/31/14, 6:58 PM
Just asking questions (Jaq) said...: "The wingers need someone with real balls, like Hillary" - ARM

Well I agree with Hillary on one thing.; 8/31/14, 7:02 PM
FullMoon said...: lemondog said...

Irish water spaniel

Portuguese Water Dog
Early on, a reporter publically asked if Obama would get the kids a dog. He evaded the question. Next thin you know, Ted Kennedy The Lion of the Senate, gave them the dog. It was much publicized. Basically it was a big FUCK YOU from the Lion to the Lamb.
O did not want a dog, the family never had a pet. The Lion Knew you cannot return a dog without hurting your kids, and in front of a nation full of animal lovers with a subset of Peta crazies,he was doomed to dogdom.
Incidentally, a water dog from T.K. was almost perfect in its' insensitivity.
Obama should have repaid the favor by naming the dog "Chappie"; 8/31/14, 7:29 PM
somefeller said...: Yep, MathMom's in the target market, all right.; 8/31/14, 7:32 PM
kilo papa said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 8/31/14, 7:50 PM
Humperdink said...: You adolescent child confiscate your computer?; 8/31/14, 7:53 PM
Michael K said...: "He may have technique but he has an idiotic set of basic assumptions about what we should and shouldn't do with our military strength. Assumptions that are out of line with the thoughts of most US citizens."

Nice to see the magical thinking of the lefties working overtime. Halfbright said "Of course we were concerned about terrorism in the 90s. We had meetings every week about it." Obama doesn't even have meetings unless you call golf rounds "meetings."

This is the cargo cult of foreign policy. "If you build it, they will come."

The "World Community" will kick those bad boys asses.

Do you have any idea how stupid you sound?; 8/31/14, 7:57 PM
Michael K said...: "We got into this mess because of a bunch of tough talking assholes who did not contribute one dime to fighting this war and put the burden on an all-volunteer military so they didn't have to get their hair mussed."

Says a veteran of the volunteer military. Right ?

You did serve, right ?

You're not just an asshole Right ?; 8/31/14, 7:59 PM
kilo papa said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 8/31/14, 8:00 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: I guess moderation is off again?; 8/31/14, 8:10 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: "Cruz is a freaking moron."

For those who think that Sen. Cruz is an idiot (at least Freder admits he is smart) - let me suggest that they review the videos of some of his recent debates, such as the one one he had with Sen. Feinstein on her "assault weapon" bill. I would suggest that, from a technical point of view, he is probably the best debater in the Senate today, and probably for a long time. While at Princeton, he won the top speaker award at both the 1992 U.S. National Debating Championship and the 1992 North American Debating Championship. At Harvard Law, Prof. Alan Dershowitz said, "Cruz was off-the-charts brilliant." He then went on to clerk for the Chief Justice (William Rehnquist) of the Supreme Court, an honor that goes to maybe four young lawyers a year.

You may not like his politics, but it is plain silly to call someone stupid (or a moron) who graduated cum laude from Princeton, magna cum laude from Harvard Law, and then clerked for the Chief Justice.

Let me also add, in terms of his debating skills, that he authored over 40 briefs to the Supreme Court and argued before them 9 times, which is apparently more than any other attorney in Texas, or any other member of Congress.

But, the reason that he is so hated by the left, is that his conservative legal bona fides go deep. He apparently authored the pleadings in Bush v. Gore (on the winning side), helped put together GW Bush's legal team, served at the DoJ in his Administration, and drafted the amicus brief and argued before the Supreme Court in the Heller case, on behalf of 31 states' attorneys general (which is why it was so humorous when non-lawyer Sen. Feinstein tried to tell him what that decision said).

So, keep this in mind when anyone on the left left, such as Freder, ARM, et al., attempt to denigrate Sen. Cruz and his abilities - it is primarily political. Always has been, and probably always will be.; 8/31/14, 8:10 PM
Birkel said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/31/14, 8:19 PM
Birkel said...: I want to believe all our resident Lefties about how the Right's assumptions about the world are all wrong. In order to complete my training, and just so we can all see the merits of this argument, please point to all of the assumptions of the Left that have been proven correct.

I will wait here.; 8/31/14, 8:20 PM
chickelit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/31/14, 8:25 PM
chickelit said...: Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Rick Perry...Sarah Palin if she wanted it...they're all good candidates and after the mid-terms people should start taking a serious look at who will best compliment the outcome of that election.

On the other hand, look at the Dems. They can't even field a man for the election...not a single one. They've so pussifed their own party that they've eliminated half their pool of candidates. Talk about political suicide.; 8/31/14, 8:25 PM
MathMom said...: somefeller,

You are making me blush. I'm 60! Guys don't pay attention to me like they used to.

Thanks for making me feel young again.; 8/31/14, 8:27 PM
furious_a said...: The wingers need someone with real balls, like Hillary.

The RESET button was actually the STARTER button for Russia's T-90s.

Hillary! sat on it bt mistake; 8/31/14, 8:32 PM
Anonymous said...: I read Robert Kagan's book on going back to something akin to 19th century power politics about 5 years ago, a grim realist proposition for the upcoming decades.

This was around the time of the Russian missile defense shield in Poland the Czech Republic which Obama nixed. Kagan's looking a lot more predictive now.

I still think humanitarian interventionism of the Bosnian kind is too 'hawkish' for Obama, so liberal internationalist 'carrots and sticks' might even be as well.

This would mean bleeding-heart humanitarian journalist cum policy-activist Samantha Power and Hillary Clinton would be too 'hawkish' for Obama.

He listened to them (and Bernhard Henri-Levy) and look what happened in Libya.

Jimmy Carter, arch-humanitarian post-Presidential Hamas dupe might be too hawkish for the guy.

So now Obama's still trying to split the difference into nothingness, but my guess is the pressure's on enough to start targeting IS in Syria and Iraq with more than 100 sorties a week as we're doing now.

**I'm guessing Obama has a strategy to be a Nobel Peace prize legend in his own mind when it comes to Iran and the p5 + 1, a la Carter at Camp David with Sadat and Begin.

Kissinger, Brzezinski, even Brent Scowcroft tentatively supported some kind of dealing with Iran, but VERY tentatively and smartly and conditionally, because the regime there is full of authoritarian 1979 and theocratic thugs...

This would take a LOT of work and political capital and a real strategic vision and gutsy back-chanelling combined with the best interests of America at heart with an understanding of its power.

I look at Obama and see little of that.

Surprise me, Barry, for the security of my family and the necessity of strategy and projection of power.

Show my you're not the blinkered, inexperienced, over-confident vaguely activist leader caught inside his own priggish caution and arrogance.

These actions and inactions may decide where future wars are fought and what happens generations hence.; 8/31/14, 8:33 PM
furious_a said...: The 19th Century Men are kicking Obama's #ss. We see it on the front pages every day.; 8/31/14, 8:36 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Birkel said...
please point to all of the assumptions of the Left that have been proven correct.

Nation building in the ME - bad idea
Eviscerating Iran's primary regional rival - bad idea
Ignoring the fact that Vietnam and China were centuries old rivals - bad idea
Placing troops in Lebanon - bad idea
Placing troops in Saudi Arabia - bad idea; 8/31/14, 8:39 PM
somefeller said...: On the other hand, look at the Dems. They can't even field a man for the election...not a single one. They've so pussifed their own party that they've eliminated half their pool of candidates. Talk about political suicide.

Er, no. The Dems simply have a female front runner who's popular with the Party right now. And the last male the Dems ran certainly did pretty well. But please, continue with your fine analysis of masculinity and party politics, Chickie. Maybe you can provide a list you've compiled?; 8/31/14, 8:45 PM
John henry said...: The "reset" button was actually an "Emergency Stop" button, as defined by US law.

Red button? Check

Yellow background? Check

Locks in until released? Check

Unfortunately, the button was not connected to anything so did not work as either an E-Stop or a reset.

Pictures here

http://quoteko.com/id14/stop-emergency.html

Hilary's reset button:

http://goodhustleblog.com/?p=97

John Henry; 8/31/14, 8:56 PM
Birkel said...: AReasonableMan:

Keep trying. Remember, it was Democrats who put soldiers in Viet Nam. And Democrats sure did favor nation building in 1945. I guess because you are a racist against Middle Easterners I should give you a pass for thinking them less capable of pluralistic government than were Japan or Germany. And then there's the fact that Obama's decision to throw away any successes made your theory self-fulfilling.

Come on. Surely you can do better.; 8/31/14, 8:59 PM
John henry said...: chickelit said...
Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Rick Perry...Sarah Palin

And what do those 4 have in common? All are liberals and are commonly seen as such.

Perry perhaps not as much as the other three but still, I think he is viewed as more liberal than conservative by many of us out here.

Seems like a good thing to me.

John Henry; 8/31/14, 9:00 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: ARM - I think that the problems with Hillary! have little to do with her sex, and everything to do with her age, experience (and lack thereof), and complete lack of ethics.

There is an age problem, at least arguably as to electability, because she will be nearing 70 at the next Presidential election. The youth vote (esp. Gen Y and the Millennials) put Obama over the top. Are they going to be that excited voting for someone who is old enough to be their grandmother? And, someone who got their formidable start in politics by sticking with her man, in the face of his public indiscretions? Deep down, in their hearts, are the young feminists going to strongly support someone who got there that way, instead of through their own efforts? Esp. when the Republican nominee is likely to be a generation younger.

As to experience - her experience involves a number of years as an ethically impaired attorney, who made her money as a result of people buying influence to her husband. And, that career started off with her being booted from the Watergate investigation because of her ethical transgressions. Then, she effectively traded Presidential pardons for her Senate seat, did essentially nothing there, being almost invisible (though not as invisible as Barack Obama), followed by her stint as Secretary of State. And, that latter would be good experience for the Presidency - except that she oversaw the disintegration of Pax America. The power and prestige of the U.S. is significantly reduced from the time she took office, and the world is a lot less peaceful as a result. I can just see the commercials right now, with her asking Obama about the 4 am telephone call, and then juxtaposed with her "what difference does it make" comment, over pictures of our facility in Benghazi burning. Where was she the night of 9/11/12? MIA.

We shall see. I do hope that she is the Dem nominee, because if she is, then even if she wins, a Republican is very likely to win in 2020.; 8/31/14, 9:06 PM
John henry said...: chrisnavin.com said...
I read Robert Kagan's book

You mean the husband of Asst Secty of State Victoria Nuland?

The guy who was co-founder of the "Project for the New American Century" which people claim is the basis for going to war in Iraq?

The guy who is identified as one of the principal founders and leaders of the neocon movement?

That Robert Kagan?

Seems like a dangerous man to listen too.

John Henry

John Henry; 8/31/14, 9:09 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: chickelit said...
Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Rick Perry...Sarah Palin if she wanted it...they're all good candidates

It's Mitt, bady. Mitt. Mitt. Mitt.

Like Dracula, who he increasingly resembles, he will arise from the political dead and once again stalk fresh voters across this great continent of ours.

"35 percent of likely Iowa GOP caucus voters would vote for Romney in 2016. When Romney’s name was added to the pool, no other candidate received double-digit votes."

Read it and weep. Read it and weep.; 8/31/14, 9:16 PM
John henry said...: Much as I like Cruz I question whether he should be a candidate for prez based on his Canadian birth.

If he is a candidate, he would be only the second major candidate who acquired his citizenship by statute rather than by 14th Amendment. (Born in the US) The other being McCain.

As a matter of tradition we have never had a president who was born outside of the US.

(Yes, I know all the arguments about Arthur.)

John Henry; 8/31/14, 9:16 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: I (obviously) like Ted Cruz, and expect that he could eviscerate anyone that the Dems could field in a debate. Even Hillary!

But, I think that he is too young - I would prefer someone maybe in their early 50s, then their mid-40s, which will be the case for Cruz in 2016. I also am unconvinced yet that he can motivate the base with fire in his belly, as I think will be necessary this time. That was one of the complaints about McCain and Romney, though they both had running mates that did a pretty good job of it. I question whether the polite Princeton debater, who has made several of his Dem colleagues look so foolish in debates, is going to be able to motivate Republicans to the level necessary to overcome eight years of buying votes for the Dems through massive federal deficit spending.

The place I would like to see Ted Cruz is as Attorney General, to clean up the mess that Holder has made of the Justice Department. Cruz, as a former associate AG in the US DoJ, and Solicitor General of TX, probably has the experience necessary for that. The next Republican Administration needs to radically reform the department, and go through the Obama career hires with a meat cleaver. And, for those that they can't fire, push them into places where they cannot do any damage. Holder, et al. have greatly politicized the department, and staffed it with hard left attorneys in the career ranks (presumably to perpetuate Holder's legacy).; 8/31/14, 9:18 PM
Paul said...: Humperdink right, Cruz is being kind.

Face it folks, Biden would be a better president now that Obama ever has been.

And that is how bad off we are.

Obama is only lawless in the US cause he knows there are to many people who are afraid to criticize cause he is bbbllaaaccckk.

So he gets away with it. But internationally the tyrants know he is not black.. but yellow.

Truth to power and all that crap.; 8/31/14, 9:21 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Much as I like Cruz I question whether he should be a candidate for prez based on his Canadian birth.

Expect that this could be messy. Remember though, almost no one has seen Barack Obama's actual birth certificate. The one that was ultimately provided is a pretty obvious fake. He might have been born in the U.S. And, his father may have been Barack Obama, Sr. But, maybe not (and that latter may be why we haven't seen his real birth certificate - the guy whom some believe to be his real father was an avowed communist and militant radical). Still, the fact that legal questions about Obama's legal right to be President were brushed aside and dismissed would argue in favor of doing the same for Ted Cruz. He was able to win election, and then reelection, without actually proving that he was a natural born citizen.; 8/31/14, 9:24 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Bruce Hayden said...
ARM - I think that the problems with Hillary! have little to do with her sex, and everything to do with her age, experience (and lack thereof), and complete lack of ethics.

You are going to have to find someone else to defend Hillary. Not a fan.

We have two big problems, an interventionist foreign policy that has not served our interests for sixty years and a financial industry that has become too large and powerful relative to everything else. Hillary is not the solution to either problem. Rand Paul talks the talk on the first and Elizabeth Warren on the second. I would like to see them on a joint ticket.; 8/31/14, 9:28 PM
Michael K said...: "Rand Paul talks the talk on the first and Elizabeth Warren on the second. I would like to see them on a joint ticket."

Rand Paul says some good things about the domestic issues and the FED. Fauxcahontas is just another affirmative action law professor who is worthless.

Neither would make a good president.; 8/31/14, 9:31 PM
MathMom said...: Bruce Hayden,

I agree with your assessment of Cruz' strengths. I love having him in the Senate. But I don't want him as Prez.

I always liked Rudy Giuliani for Attorney General. He was the one who marched Boesky out of his office in handcuffs, not letting him surrender and save face because he was involved in white collar crime. I like the way he treated criminals like criminals.

Your idea of Cruz is better. Younger, more energy. I think Cruz would reinstate the rule of law.

Failing that, someone skilled using a Roto-Rooter. Holder has seriously fooked with the DoJ.; 8/31/14, 9:31 PM
Anonymous said...: Yes, John, why would I listen to such a rogue neo-con?; 8/31/14, 9:32 PM
Michael K said...: "When Romney’s name was added to the pool, no other candidate received double-digit votes."

Read it and weep. Read it and weep."

I'm not sure he is interested but I would vote for him in a New York minute. We missed our chance in 2012.

The left has made a mess and somebody has to clean it up. We had Hitler and Tojo to clean up Roosevelt' mess. Not now.; 8/31/14, 9:33 PM
Robert Cook said...: "One could argue the current mess in Iraq is Bush's fault."

Yes...and "one could argue" that night and day are the result of earth's rotation, and the seasons are the result of the earth's orbit of the sun.; 8/31/14, 10:06 PM
sojerofgod said...: When I saw the news about that poor guy getting beheaded my first thought was that the President would not find the inner strength to respond in a manner that would strike fear into the hearts of our enemies.
President P* did kind of cross my mind, but while it has rhythm it ain't gonna sell with the public.
King Putt I think is actually a better moniker, and can be used in polite company. The president is a poltroon. (look it up) He deserves to be mocked for his lackluster performance as an executive. -and yes I am being nice.; 8/31/14, 10:17 PM
JD said...: To think that anyone could still consider that absolute moron Sarah Palin as a contender for 2016, preposterous. Ted Cruz may be smarter, but as someone said, he's loony toons. Their religious backgrounds will be a hurdle either one could jump nation wide. Besides as I said Palin has the cognition of a mackerel.; 8/31/14, 10:27 PM
chickelit said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 8/31/14, 10:39 PM
chickelit said...: AReasonableMan said...

It's Mitt, bady. Mitt. Mitt. Mitt.

Yes, add Mitt to my list.; 8/31/14, 10:40 PM
chickelit said...: Somefehler wrote: But please, continue with your fine analysis of masculinity and party politics, Chickie. Maybe you can provide a list you've compiled?

Um, I issued the challenge for you to suggest one possible male Democratic candidate.

C'mon, don't be afraid to say his name out loud. It's not like he's related to Raul and Fido.; 8/31/14, 10:43 PM
Anonymous said...: "The president is a poltroon. (look it up) He deserves to be mocked for his lackluster performance as an executive. -and yes I am being nice."

I couldn't agree more.

Not only does he deserve mockery, he has earned it.

And there is no reason to engage him seriously anyway. He has no ideas. He isn't a leader. He has vacated the office and has nothing to offer us.

Mockery is the only thing he deserves from us at this point. He'd be smart to leave the office now, but he won't, because he isn't smart.

Unless God intervenes. Then perhaps Obama will put on his big girl panties and lead.; 8/31/14, 10:46 PM
somefeller said...: Um, I issued the challenge for you to suggest one possible male Democratic candidate.

Um, like I said, Hillary is the frontrunner by general acclamation and the Dems obviously can and do pick men who can win, as shown by the man in the White House right now. But in terms of others, Martin O'Malley and Andrew Cuomo come to mind, but they are decidedly second-tier right now. Such is the nature of Hillary's support.

But that isn't a masculinity issue. Though I'm sure that's an issue you think a lot about, given your obvious shortcomings.; 8/31/14, 10:51 PM
somefeller said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/31/14, 10:59 PM
somefeller said...: Mockery is the only thing he deserves from us at this point.

I'm sure Obama is heartbroken by the mockery of you guys at the bait shop.

He'd be smart to leave the office now, but he won't, because he isn't smart.

Yeah, he's a dummy from Harvard Law School (like Ted Cruz! That data point was proffered above to show intelligence) who handed people like you their asses twice. And he'll be remembered well, while his opponents will be remembered the way we do McCarthyites and segregationists. That is, denied by their own political descendants.

And how long until conservatives start to say "Obama was a moderate President who couldn't be elected by liberals today"? 2028? 2032? That is the usual course, after all.; 8/31/14, 11:02 PM
Skeptical Voter said...: Kitty cat? Pussy willow?; 8/31/14, 11:03 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: I frankly don't think that Hillary! is going to make it to the election. She isn't aging well, and I don't think that she has the strength for a Presidential run. Maybe if she were the incumbent, she could do a Rose Garden run, but I don't see that working for her. Maybe. But, whomever the Republicans run (even her contemporary, Mitt Romney) would likely have a lot more energy than she. And, that doesn't even get into her possible health issues (stroke?). Her husband looks better, but is one of maybe three people in this country who are barred by the 22nd Amdt. from running (theoretically, George HW Bush and Jimmy Carter could run, but are even a generation older).

What should scare the Dems is that they don't really have a deep bench. Front runners right now are three sexagenarians - one with apparent health issues (Hillary!), one with some level of dementia (Biden), and one with no credentials except for cheating her way to Harvard Law School by falsely claiming to be an Indian (Warren).

Cuomo, BTW, is likely way too dirty, and likely won't run well outside of parts of the NE. That is the problem with actually having a history (which Obama didn't have, it having been ruthlessly scrubbed, and him studiously avoiding doing anything in the IL legislature or US Senate that would leave such).; 8/31/14, 11:13 PM
chickelit said...: Though I'm sure that's an issue you think a lot about, given your obvious shortcomings

I'm withering from your bench slapping.; 8/31/14, 11:15 PM
Anonymous said...: "Yeah, he's a dummy from Harvard Law School"

Yes, he is a dummy from Harvard Law School.

Oh, he's not you say? Ok, show me his transcripts. We know way more about Ted Cruz's time at Harvard than we know about King Putt's. Why do you think that is?

"And how long until conservatives start to say "Obama was a moderate President who couldn't be elected by liberals today"

I don't know the future, so what people will say about someone that far from now I've got no idea.

What I will say now is, he isn't anything. He isn't liberal, or conservative, or fascist, or whatever. He's just dumb and lazy. He wants to be the cool kid and he's good at that, but he's an empty suit. No ideas. No leadership. Nothing. This is the mistake everyone makes about him. They think he's some sort of brilliant ideologue. He isn't. He's just a cool dude who likes to be liked and loved.

No principles. No ideas. Empty.

He is King Putt.; 8/31/14, 11:43 PM
chickelit said...: He is King Putt.

How good of a golfer is he, on an objective scale? I don't know shit about golf. Is he semi-pro good? He certainly works at it.; 8/31/14, 11:47 PM
Michael K said...: "And how long until conservatives start to say "Obama was a moderate President who couldn't be elected by liberals "

Do delusions run in your family ? Obama is the guy who guaranteed that there will not be another black president this century.; 8/31/14, 11:54 PM
Stephen A. Meigs said...: Obama doesn't remind me of a cat.

I have considered the possibility that western Ukraine might be motivated by anti-cat sentiment, given my theory that Stalin was in behavior a sort of bad cat. I have made no judgement about whether this be the case with Ukraine. But if so, this would make me think western Ukraine is going about things in wrong way. Good cats tend to hate revolution because of course good kitties want their cruel fantasies to seem more of a (quite limited) human sacrifice thing that more-or-less the whole society thinks is okay than as a possibly apocalyptic thing dealing with getting control of government or world. Revolutions by threat or force of arms are too much resembling in their broad fighting aspects to evil military efforts at world domination for good kitties to want to have revolution going on, the atmosphere of it intruding on their kitty fantasies, and so good kitties tend to be pretty Canada when it comes to revolution. If eastern Ukraine be some sort of catty place, western Ukraine should have definitely expected that the better eastern Ukrainians would not be likely to go along with any sort of extra-legal change of government.

I could say a great deal about the obvious non-bear-like qualities of cats, but not now here rightly. As for just how similar bears are to cats where they look like they may be similar I just don't know. Looking at bear cams of bear catching salmon and that sort of thing hasn't sufficed.; 9/1/14, 12:24 AM
James Pawlak said...: Someday we will put down Obama as a Traitor as a violator of Article-III, Section-3 of the Constitution.; 9/1/14, 1:00 AM
JD said...: Some people still hold delusions about Sarah Palin. It is the oddest thing that while most conservatives have dismissed her as an imbecile, some still cling to her and long for a President Palin. That ship was sunk as soon as she opened up her high pitched screechy yap that revealed a brain the size of an egg. As for Cruz, his daddy will be his undoing. There will be a YouTube bonanza of Papa Cruz's sermons. Clinton would wither Cruz with a mere look in a debate, no bench slaps necessary.; 9/1/14, 1:20 AM
Clyde said...: Given the speed and reaction time of Obama and his henchmen, a kitty cat is much too fast. I'm thinking three-toed sloth.; 9/1/14, 1:30 AM
Annie said...: I don't see Obama as a cat. I see him as a snake.

He refrains from criticizing muslim terrorists and has made sure all agencies not even mention them. He has members of the muslim brotherhood as advisors. He funds Hamas. He funds Syrian terrorists. He is hostile to Israel and to a lesser extent, our other allies. ISIS, he really doesn't care so why stop his golf game? As his MB advisor said,'the caliphate is inevitable', and 'the US is an Islamic nation'. From all appearances, he is very sympathetic to the Islamic cause.

Putin? He can care less about what Putin does. He has to finish transforming America into 3rd world status with that open border, ignoring the rule of law, and paying off cronies.; 9/1/14, 2:17 AM
Gary Rosen said...: "Palin has the cognition of a mackerel"

She had accomplished far more in her adult life than Obama had when he was elected President. Admittedly so had any part-time manager at a McDonald's.; 9/1/14, 2:41 AM
Anonymous said...: Lindy, when you are criticizing someone else for having the "cognition of a mackerel", it would be a good idea to learn the difference between Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Rand Paul.; 9/1/14, 5:44 AM
Just asking questions (Jaq) said...: " I don't know shit about golf. Is he semi-pro good?" - chickelit.

Well, he does lose the occasional ball in the woods.

BTW, Ted Cruz didn't benefit from affirmative action, so I am not sure Obama and Cruz's experience at Harvard can be compared.; 9/1/14, 5:52 AM
Just asking questions (Jaq) said...: Anybody who said Palin "has the cognition of a mackerel" is saying more about themselves and their willingness to swallow hateful propaganda whole, or employ it themselves than they are about Palin.; 9/1/14, 5:54 AM
Humperdink said...: Humperdink said:"One could argue the current mess in Iraq is Bush's fault."

Cookie said: "Yes...and "one could argue" that night and day are the result of earth's rotation, and the seasons are the result of the earth's orbit of the sun."

I presume you have not been sleeping for for the past six months. It's clear to most people that when your hero, the Little O, pulled the troops out, it created a vacuum that was filled by ISIS/ISIL.

Yes, Bush put the troops in, won the war, stabilized the country, and then Team Zero put the troops in full retreat. I have yet to hear a military analyst disagree with that assessment (save the shills in the administration).; 9/1/14, 6:15 AM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Look any words that allow one to not mention Joe Biden being stupid and horribly vain are valid if you are a Democrat.

So Palin has a pea brain. Or pebble brain. Or the brain of a gnat maybe.

But Joe Biden represents Democrats for real, unlike Sarah Palin who is just an ex-Governor. It works for now saying "Palin bad" but once the money stops flowing people looking to riot won't be going to Alaska blaming Palin.

And I don't think in November voters will be thinking of Palin and if she really had her child or created a big lie to trap gay bigots like Max Gluttes Sullivan.

The voters will be thinking of Obama/Biden.; 9/1/14, 6:25 AM
MathMom said...: " I don't know shit about golf. Is he semi-pro good?" - chickelit.

I don't know much about golf either, but I can watch Barry's swing compared to Bush's swing. Not even going to bother comparing his swing to a pro or semi-pro, that would not be fair.

I'd say Barry's swing never improves. He looks like he's hitting a hockey puck.

He's probably as good at golf as he is at basketball. Remember him taking like 12 tries to get a single shot at some public event? The news showed the last one, everyone cheering the affirmative action basketball player - sort of like giving him a Participant trophy.

I'd like to see Sarah Palin play basketball with Obama. She could beat him, in high heels.; 9/1/14, 7:26 AM
George M. Spencer said...: Eric's comment above at 10:43 boils it down to its most primal level--

"Obama has already checked out. [Did he ever check in?] This means that our enemies have 2 years to do what they want before we have a chance at getting someone serious in the oval office again."

I'll bet more than 90 percent of the men reading that agree. Every boy learns this on the playground in elementary school. Show weakness? Get clobbered. It's been Rule #1 since we knocked off the neanderthals. Somewhere along the line in childhood, Obama never got the message, never played football, never smacked down a bully...

The danger now may be that he will over-react in a crisis to prove his toughness...; 9/1/14, 7:51 AM
Robert Cook said...: "I presume you have not been sleeping for for the past six months. It's clear to most people that when your hero, the Little O, pulled the troops out, it created a vacuum that was filled by ISIS/ISIL."

Obama is not my hero, bub. I never voted for him and I think he deserves to be prosecuted for war crimes along with your hero Gdub.

"Yes, Bush put the troops in..."

Hence, the disaster in Iraq.

"...won the war, stabilized the country..."

None of that ever happened.

"...and then Team Zero put the troops in full retreat. I have yet to hear a military analyst disagree with that assessment (save the shills in the administration)."

Obama adhered to Bush's negotiated withdrawal date...because he had to. He wanted to stay but the Iraqis threw us out because we wouldn't agree to their terms, (making American troops subject to the Iraqi justice system if they broke Iraqi law being the main sticking point). We left 10 years too late.

As far as "military analysts," who says they have any more credibility than anyone else? They're all shills for someone, all with an agenda.; 9/1/14, 7:52 AM
Anonymous said...: Lots of revisionists are now claiming that the Iraq war was won and the country was "stabilized" before Obama took office.

On what exact date was the war won? And when exactly was the country stabilized?; 9/1/14, 8:25 AM
narciso said...: Well certainly by 2010, when the Salafi had moved back up the Euphrates river, then again that previous year, they had released Al Baghdadi. then US forces were pulled out the following one,; 9/1/14, 8:40 AM
Freder Frederson said...: Says a veteran of the volunteer military. Right ?

No I'm not. But what is your point. I opposed the military adventures of the last 13 years since day one (okay I did support limited action in Afghanistan).; 9/1/14, 8:41 AM
Freder Frederson said...: This was around the time of the Russian missile defense shield in Poland the Czech Republic which Obama nixed.

The idea that the proposed missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic would defend against Russian missiles is ridiculous. It wasn't even meant to be. That it was highly unpopular in both countries and unnecessarily provocative is beyond dispute. It was a waste of money and not worth the hassle.; 9/1/14, 8:46 AM
narciso said...: As for the 'peregruska' that was another stupid gesture, frankly we had been more than lenient enough with his actions in Chechnya,; 9/1/14, 8:48 AM
garage mahal said...: . It is the oddest thing that while most conservatives have dismissed her as an imbecile, some still cling to her and long for a President Palin.

Oof. I hope chickelit isn't still around.; 9/1/14, 8:57 AM
Humperdink said...: Cookie said: "Obama adhered to Bush's negotiated withdrawal date...because he had to......"

You are the poster child as to why it's a waste of time to debate libs.
If you actually belief what you wrote, then you either naive or ignorant. Sheesh.; 9/1/14, 9:25 AM
narciso said...: Well it is Journolist, hence the incomprehension, exhibited in the commentary,; 9/1/14, 9:29 AM
narciso said...: the President was actually endorsed by Snookie and Honey Boo Boo.; 9/1/14, 9:31 AM
Rusty said...: The idea that the proposed missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic would defend against Russian missiles is ridiculous.

An assertion without fact.; 9/1/14, 9:40 AM
Anonymous said...: Iraq was 'won' in a sense when Saddam was ousted. That didn't take long. Much of this gain was soon botched by a lot of inexperience and hubris.

The looting is a shame, and so is freezing out the Sunnis. They believe it's their right to lead, and many still support IS out of spite. I do think about Iraqis living through this mess, especially the Kurds.

A kind-of more stable peace was 'won' after the Anbar awakening and the surge, but frittered away afterwards, as Maliki and his Shia and Iranian backers made sure of that, Obama helped the process along by aiming for withdrawal and making that clear.

Play to win, and make our objectives clear.

I see Obama as having a peace, civil-rights and activist base at home he's brought into everything (passively and actively, politicizing everything as progressives are wont to do), but just as Obama needs money from Wall Street, he also needs drones and 'his military' to secure the peace, for now. I honestly don't know if he's thought further ahead than that on the road to progressive paradise and how his ideals and base clash with these realities, which makes him possibly heading for the demagogic.

He's the 'peace-talker' to white suburbia, the bridge between two worlds of Crack-like anger and faculty-lounge one-worlders.

The Missile Defense issue shows exactly how Putin is still thinking a lot of the time, the actual history of the Cold War, and the false assumptions many Western leaders (Obama especially) have regarding what they want to be our ideals and interests and what actually are our ideals and interests as I see them.

European leaders know damned well what their interests are, and they can't be seen too far ahead of their people and Parliaments. Many buy gas from Putin. Many imported Muslims for cheap labor. Many rely on us for military protection and direction, bad-mouthing us all the while. Look at their fragile peace, relatively dysfunctional, bureaucratic political union and tell me America can't do better than that.

I currently choose to see neocons as liberals and humanists mugged by reality, willing to aggressively use military force to install their ideals that still often animate them, and I choose to see Obama's progressive coalitions as liberals, illiberals and humanist activist imposing their ideology and assumptions upon the world, including us and our economy here at home.

Reality and the world are responding accordingly.; 9/1/14, 9:46 AM
furious_a said...: So Palin has a pea brain. Or pebble brain. Or the brain of a gnat maybe

Yet it was Biden who was known as "the Dumb Blonde of the Senate".; 9/1/14, 9:51 AM
furious_a said...: Clinton would wither Cruz with a mere look in a debate, no bench slaps necessary.

The only thing Hillary! withered with a look was Bill's libido, which was why Bill had to seek comfort in the arms of other women.; 9/1/14, 9:57 AM
buwaya said...: Palin is no intellectual. She annoys people who see themselves as intellectuals, and those others prejudiced against people from her social milieu.
But frankly the intellectual/upper class dislike for her is mainly snobbery, and based on a profound misapprehension of reality.
I have hired hundreds of people in my time, for technical positions that are directly related to actual real world results, the literal production of concrete and steel, things without which all our rhetorical fun would be moot. Most of the successful people in those roles are very much like Palin. Leaders among them (the most valuable people in the world, imho) are very unlikely to be intellectual in the academic sense.
I expect most of the people who dislike her have not dealt in the concrete, literally. They have not worked with their hands. They have not led people who work with their hands.
The greatness of America, seen from my perspective as a foreigner, is specifically the ability of such as Palin to rise to power. Power is not limited to narrow cliques and classes, and really did fulfill the old liberal promise of transcendence of class. America however is reverting to the world standard in this respect, where birth and adherence to some cursus honorum limit who will be permitted to lead.; 9/1/14, 10:00 AM
garage mahal said...: If Obama would talk like a stupid cowboy Putin would respect him.; 9/1/14, 10:02 AM
Anonymous said...: And now look at Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, with Russian populations, living memory of what it was like to live under Moscow's rule, and tell me they aren't being very careful with their NATO membership and current moves.

Hungary apparently is looking back to Moscow. Poland, the Czechs, Romanians are self-determining but understandably want and need a certain amount of security.

Putin has carved up Georgia and is now carving up Ukraine, whose economy was a disaster, institutions corrupt, and people fed-up.

He certainly took advantage of a crisis.

To be sure, the Cold War this ain't, but a walk in the park towards international peace it sure as hell ain't either.; 9/1/14, 10:05 AM
furious_a said...: Yeah, he's a dummy from Harvard Law School (like Ted Cruz! That data point was proffered above to show intelligence...

Ted Cruz doesn't need a teleprompter to appear articulate or Straw Men to appear reasonable. Nor did he require Affirmative Action set-asides for either of his Ivy League admits.; 9/1/14, 10:08 AM
narciso said...: No, it's more like the run up to the Crimea war, Volodya sees himself like Nicholas 1 or Alexander 111; 9/1/14, 10:09 AM
buwaya said...: Palin is no intellectual. She annoys people who see themselves as intellectuals, and those others prejudiced against people from her social milieu.
But frankly the intellectual/upper class dislike for her is mainly snobbery, and based on a profound misapprehension of reality.
I have hired hundreds of people in my time, for technical positions that are directly related to actual real world results, the literal production of concrete and steel, things without which all our rhetorical fun would be moot. Most of the successful people in those roles are very much like Palin. Leaders among them (the most valuable people in the world, imho) are very unlikely to be intellectual in the academic sense.
I expect most of the people who dislike her have not dealt in the concrete, literally. They have not worked with their hands. They have not led people who work with their hands.
The greatness of America, seen from my perspective as a foreigner, is specifically the ability of such as Palin to rise to power. Power is not limited to narrow cliques and classes, and really did fulfill the old liberal promise of transcendence of class. America however is reverting to the world standard in this respect, where birth and adherence to some cursus honorum limit who will be permitted to lead.; 9/1/14, 10:09 AM
Drago said...: garage mahal said...
If Obama would talk like a stupid cowboy Putin would respect him.

Shorter garage (as mesmerized by Dear Leader): There is no crisis, there is no crisis, it's just twitter, it's just twitter....; 9/1/14, 10:10 AM
furious_a said...: Garage, President Ladies' Tee is Putin's bitch and they both know it.; 9/1/14, 10:11 AM
Drago said...: Chrisnavin: "To be sure, the Cold War this ain't, but a walk in the park towards international peace it sure as hell ain't either."

Well, what differentiates this latest geopolitical tension from the Cold War exploits of our Soviet pals?

In both cases you have a thug/communist governments (I probably shouldn't use "communist" as it makes our resident lefties swoon) in an expansionist mode and slowly but surely gobbling up their neighbors.

In this case, as with earlier times (Carter's admin), the soviets..er Russians sense weakness in the West and are pushing at a consistent and steady pace to take advantage of that clear weakness.

They are consolidating their position with Middle East allies at US/West expense (talk about an old game plan!).

The one big change, and it's a big one, is China's now global reach.

And it is global.

But again, none of that is real, it's simply "twitter" and social media that makes it "seem" true.; 9/1/14, 10:15 AM
buwaya said...: As for a proper response to the Ukrainian crisis by an American president.
In the old days a similar situation would have prompted concrete steps, such as a deployment of an airborne division in Lithuania for "exercises", and a few squadrons of F16's in Poland, and a carrier group in the Black sea, perhaps with a port call at Odessa. That's how this game is played.; 9/1/14, 10:16 AM
garage mahal said...: Didn't Dubya look into Puties soul? They even wore matching silk garments together. Such a nice couple. What happened?; 9/1/14, 10:17 AM
Drago said...: furious_a: "Ted Cruz doesn't need a teleprompter to appear articulate or Straw Men to appear reasonable. Nor did he require Affirmative Action set-asides for either of his Ivy League admits."

Garage draws upon his deep deep well of insight on the nature of Man, Law, Geopolitics etc acquired from, literally, tens and tens of minutes spent studying at his elite rural WI high school some 20/30 years ago to enlighten us as to Ted Cruz' defects.

Fantastic.; 9/1/14, 10:21 AM
Drago said...: garage: "What happened?"

Obama was elected, became extraordinarily "flexible" for his boyfriend in the Kremlin, and Putin can't believe his good fortune.

As every leader or anyone paying attention in the world now understands.

Putin is not fully engaged in his "reconstitute" the soviet empire.

Since the left was never really opposed to the Soviet empire or it's expansion, it's not hard to understand why it's not a big deal to them now.; 9/1/14, 10:23 AM
Drago said...: Putin is NOW fully engaged in his "reconstitute" the soviet empire; 9/1/14, 10:24 AM
Drago said...: buwaya puti: "That's how this game is played."

Well, in playing the "game" it's always good to know which side everyone is on.

It's pretty clear which side obama is on.; 9/1/14, 10:26 AM
Anonymous said...: Russia simply doesn't have the power and reach it once did.

Putin, ex KGB wonder that he is, is trying to wrap Russia together again with ethno-nationalist identity, and to keep the satellites and enemies subdued, confused.

He needs the birth-rate up, fear, pride and confusion high.; 9/1/14, 10:38 AM
chillblaine said...: Obama has many cat-like qualities. He moves like a cat when he walks. He probably prefers to be left alone, but he will be nice to you when he needs something.

True cats, however, do not like to be surprised. How many scandals and world events have taken him by surprise, too many to count.

His Chinese Zodiac sign is the ox, so go figure (explains my avatar).

Matt; 9/1/14, 10:39 AM
garage mahal said...: Putin is NOW fully engaged in his "reconstitute" the soviet empire

But didn't that start in 2008, under Bush? Bush said that he "looked the man in the eye" and "was able to get a sense of his soul." Then Putin invaded Georgia, and Bush did nothing.; 9/1/14, 10:45 AM
narciso said...: Russia's probably closer to mid 18th century now, before the first Turkish war; 9/1/14, 10:48 AM
Drago said...: garage: 'But didn't that start in 2008, under Bush? Bush said that he "looked the man in the eye" and "was able to get a sense of his soul." Then Putin invaded Georgia, and Bush did nothing."

Yes. Putin read the tea leaves and knew Bush, in 2008, was in no position politically to do anything about it.

But then obama was elected.

And it all accelerated.

Across the board.

With China as well.

I wonder what the common thread is?

Actually we don't have to "wonder" since everyone in the world knows what the score is with obama.

It's happening right in front of you.

But keep talking about Bush 'cuz what else you got?; 9/1/14, 10:56 AM
narciso said...: they said he wouldn't invade:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/opinion/arm-ukraine-or-surrender.html?_r=0; 9/1/14, 10:57 AM
buwaya said...: Bush made a serious error in not sending an amphibious unit, perhaps on a "port visit" to occupy one of Georgias Black sea ports. That would have at least forestalled the eastern advance of the other of Moscow's proxies and put heart into the Georgians. I don't know why he didn't respond, but that was certainly a mistake. An effective US response then would possibly have prevented this years troubles.
This one this year is a much bigger mistake.
I am more worried about East Asia. Bad things are brewing there, more significant than whatever Putin is likely to do, besides it directly threatening my old country.
But the risk calculations of all parties there will be affected by whatever Putin gets away with.; 9/1/14, 11:04 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Sometimes, in our busy lives, it behooves us to take a moment to fully appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.

This is one beautiful piece of snark

Humperdink said...
"One could argue the current mess in Iraq is Bush's fault."

Robert Cook said...
Yes...and "one could argue" that night and day are the result of earth's rotation, and the seasons are the result of the earth's orbit of the sun.; 9/1/14, 11:41 AM
Humperdink said...: ARM: Did you happen to miss the word "current" in your snark? Or are being deliberately dense?; 9/1/14, 11:52 AM
buwaya said...: Why do you like "snark"?
This is yet another thing I don't understand. It is not really amusing and does not constitute an argument. At best it is rhetoric in purest form, divorced from purpose and with no productive intention.; 9/1/14, 11:54 AM
Humperdink said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/1/14, 12:04 PM
narciso said...: actually, the last three years, are on Obama, so has the last five acquiescing to Volodya; 9/1/14, 12:04 PM
buwaya said...: I suggest you watch a fine French movie, "Ridicule" (Leconte 1996).
About a world where power and money went to those who could "snark" best.
Also, as subtext, where all decisions and funding had to be channeled through a Bourbon bureaucracy and a Royal court.
Much like Washington DC or Sacramento California these days. Can't be letting the peasants order their own lives, nor let the able, in concrete matters, lead.; 9/1/14, 12:07 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: buwaya puti said...
Why do you like "snark"?

Do you think it pulls down the tone of a thread devoted to discussing whether or not Obama is a pussy?; 9/1/14, 12:10 PM
buwaya said...: Obama is a "pussy" indeed. This is a concrete and valid criticism of the man and his leadership.
There are many substantial arguments in support of this.
If the other side had a similarly concrete argument in favor I haven't heard it. Just "snark".; 9/1/14, 12:17 PM
Humperdink said...: ARM, you obviously do like the term pussy when discussing Obama's foreign policy. Clearly the world's players view him as such.

Why else would al-Assad ignore Zero's red line, China expand the ADIZ to ridiculous dimensions, Putin annex Crimea and invade Ukraine with virtual impunity?; 9/1/14, 12:28 PM
Birkel said...: If only Comrade Stalin had known of the deprivation and suffering of his people he would have stopped it.

If only President Obama had known of all the deprivation and suffering of people he would stop it.

Amirite?; 9/1/14, 12:36 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: You guys are such sad idiots. You could have argued, no we are not just jacking off calling Obama names we have "important" things to say about the world geopolitical situation. But, no you can't help yourselves. Obama's a pussy. Obama's a pussy. Obama's a pussy.; 9/1/14, 12:39 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: I think that anyone who thinks that Palin is stupid is likely quite a bit less smart than she. She has shown herself better able to summarize a debate with a pithy statement than almost anyone else on the national scene (though Cruz seems to be catching up). You just have to look to her early comments on ObamaCare to see this.

What many seem to be doing is confusing smart with educated. She doesn't talk as if she had graduated from Columbia, and then Harvard Law, and so, is assumed to be stupid. But, she has shown more flashes of brilliance since starting to run for VP than the current occupant of the White House has. Many more.

What she isn't, is a member of a self-appointed elite. She didn't go to an Ivy League school. She graduated from a state school, like the bulk of college grads. And, she sounds like it. That doesn't make her stupid, but rather her parents were not rich or politically connected. She just doesn't have the verbal polish that she would have had if she had graduated from an elite college or university. The sort of polish bought by money or political connections. Rather, she sounds like the average college graduate.

The elites on both sides don't like her, because her success questions their own elite credentials. And, I think that this is maybe the worst with the MSM, filled with those who acquired an elite or quasi-elite education, and then were never able to acquire gainful employment, often graduating near the bottom of their class. How dare this public college graduate, who makes no pretensions to the sort of elite east coast polish that they worked so hard to acquire, succeed, while they don't?; 9/1/14, 12:42 PM
buwaya said...: In a discussion like this we are being as serious as possible. Its not like we are speaking with the US State department. And in other matters we are also not dealing with the relevant authorities. So nothing can be mentioned other than "snark" and "countersnark"?
Then we shouldn't bother posting anything I suppose.
I have raised potential alternate actions the government could do, based on what has worked in the past 70 years as far as keeping the peace.; 9/1/14, 12:46 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: buwaya puti said...
I have raised potential alternate actions the government could do, based on what has worked in the past 70 years as far as keeping the peace.

How exactly are you defining 'peace'. We are almost constantly at war. We only stop when we run out of money or men or the will to continue fighting.; 9/1/14, 12:49 PM
buwaya said...: It is during emergencies when the true value of one person vs another becomes manifest. Our recent earthquake in Napa is a case in point. I know quite a few people there who are in charge of restoring water, power and gas service. Without those there is no civilization. These people are not, none of them, Ivy League graduates, lawyers, or anything of the sort.
They come from exactly the same stock as the Palin's. They are also, almost to a man, conservatives, and probably (I can't say for sure) Republicans. Under these circumstances they are the most valuable people in the world. Which means that every other day of the year, whenever there is a risk to our actual underpinnings of civilization, which are constant, they are also the worlds most valuable people. And their sort are actively, loudly, and very articulately despised by the educated. Which leads me to question the sanity and wisdom of our educated class.; 9/1/14, 12:57 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Let's think about this, shall we? Althouse puts up a short post noting that X said Obama is a pussie. Then the next day she congratulates you on how terribly clever you all are for staying on 'topic'.

Althouse is a liberal professor living in Madison. Don't you ever get the feeling you are being played?; 9/1/14, 12:58 PM
buwaya said...: The world has been in a most remarkable interlude of peace since WW2. This was forced on the world by the power of the US, the Pax Americana.
There are always small colonial wars. These are the necessary costs of a greater Pax. In the past the peacekeeping hegemon was always fighting regularly, on a small scale.
The Pax seems to be breaking down though, partly through US loss of economic power, partly through self destructive bureacratisation of the economy (good God, do you know what it takes to do civil engineering in California?), partly through the loss of vision on the part of our leadership, and in general the moral degeneration of our society (and I'm not speaking of Internet porn); 9/1/14, 1:06 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Iraq was 'won' in a sense when Saddam was ousted."

Hardly. Ousting a small-time tyrant with America's might was hardly a feat, and our success in that endeavor was never in question...but that, in itself, does not contstitute "winning." Your own use of quote marks, and the qualifying phrase, "in a sense," reveals you know this to be true.

Demolishing an existing government is only the beginning of the struggle to win a war, unless one's aim is only to demolish the existing government and leave a smoking ruin behind, a society in ruins. Given that our purported aim was to (heh) "bring democracy" to Iraq, to stabilize it and make it a better place than it had been, or just to make it self-sustaining, "winning the war" never came close to being achieved.

We can claim a provisional "victory" only to the extent we have successfully provided western oil interests a foothold in Iraq, and can prevent them from being expelled. But then, as this was never on the list of enumerated "official" reasons for invading Iraq, this isn't what the jingoists are talking about when claiming we "won."; 9/1/14, 1:15 PM
Anonymous said...: ARM:

"You guys are such sad idiots. You could have argued, no we are not just jacking off calling Obama names we have "important" things to say about the world geopolitical situation. But, no you can't help yourselves. Obama's a pussy. Obama's a pussy. Obama's a pussy."

Awwww, poor ARM.

His President is such a sad sack, the only thing left is mockery.

Stop it! Stop it! You're mocking my savior!

Don't worry ARM, it's just going to get worse over the next two years. The mockery will echo throughout the ages.; 9/1/14, 1:27 PM
buwaya said...: Part of fighting a colonial war is indeed leaving behind a reasonably friendly colonial government, and to retain the leverage on local politics to keep the lid on. In all times and places this was done through local political officers at the sides of the local rulers, small garrisons, larger native armies, and more substantially than anything else, providing a higher authority to which the locally aggrieved can appeal.
The whole point is to prevent the demonstrably incompetent and barbaric locals from fouling their own nest until they aquire a semblance of civilization. This structure was entirely abandoned in 2011, mainly due to US politics.
The US thereby permitted the locals to abrogate agreements, oppress each other, corrupt their own military, and therefore cause the present failure.
The tendency to withdraw is at the heart of it. We can't have a Pax with this sort of slackness.; 9/1/14, 1:31 PM
Anonymous said...: "But didn't that start in 2008, under Bush? Bush said that he "looked the man in the eye" and "was able to get a sense of his soul." Then Putin invaded Georgia, and Bush did nothing."

It's pretty clear why Bush did nothing. He was about to leave office, he had spent his years in Iraq and Afghanistan, protecting the American people from further harm, and then being stabbed in the back by traitorous Democrats. How could the man possibly do anything militarily after you traitors spent all your energy decrying his every move?

Should he have done something? Indeed, he should. Would you have appreciated it? Hell no. You'd have decried it now just as you do Iraq and Afghanistan. And had he not gone into either country, today you'd be asking, "Why didn't he go into Iraq and Afghanistan?"

Because you're not talking from a place of moral certainty. Instead, you're just talking from a place of opposition, ironically, what you accuse the Republicans of doing toward Obama.

All you can do is oppose that which you disagree with. You've no ideas. You've not morality from which to choose a course of action. You're bankrupt.

And it shows.; 9/1/14, 1:32 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: eric said...
Awwww, poor ARM.

If I had voted twice for a president who oversaw the worst attack on our shores since Pearl Harbor, the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression and the most futile war since WWI I would probably reserve some of that sympathy for myself.

A president so shell-shocked by his unmatchable failure of a presidency that he is reduced to making bad paintings of his naked legs in the bathtub. Art therapy has its limits.; 9/1/14, 1:37 PM
Joe said...: Bruce, you give Palin too much credit. Delivering one liners may get applause, but they don't demonstrate an ability to govern. I find Palin to be similar to Obama in that people project on her what they want to see. I haven't heard from her anything approaching the substance of arguments and statements by Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Scott Walker, among many others.; 9/1/14, 2:02 PM
Robert Cook said...: "It's pretty clear why Bush did nothing. He was about to leave office, he had spent his years in Iraq and Afghanistan, protecting the American people from further harm, and then being stabbed in the back by traitorous Democrats. How could the man possibly do anything militarily after you traitors spent all your energy decrying his every move?"

Hahahaha! Our years spent in Afghanistan and Iraq had nothing to do with "protecting the American people from further harm," (especially given that neither Iraq nor Afghanistan harmed America, and those who did--funded by our allies the Saudies--fled Afghanistan fairly swiftly).

If Bush refused to take righteous action because he wasn't sufficiently appreciated by the "traitorous Democrats," because he endured (too little) criticism, then what does that say about Bush? Not much. Doesn't the righteous man do what is right despite the attacks on him that result? In fact, doesn't he expect such attacks?; 9/1/14, 2:34 PM
kilo papa said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 9/1/14, 3:01 PM
Robert Cook said...: "How exactly are you defining 'peace'."

He means "keeping the lesser peoples under heel."; 9/1/14, 3:07 PM
Kirk Parker said...: ARM,

"We only stop when we run out of money or men or the will to continue fighting."

Wotta sexist!!!; 9/1/14, 3:12 PM
Freder Frederson said...: The idea that the proposed missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic would defend against Russian missiles is ridiculous.

An assertion without fact.

That you are complaining about this on this forum is hilarious. Most of the posts here are assertions without facts.

But since you are too lazy to look up the facts yourself, here you go. And don't whine that it is the commie BBC. If you don't like the facts I present then find your own that the system was contemplated to defend against Russian missiles.; 9/1/14, 3:25 PM
Freder Frederson said...: In the old days a similar situation would have prompted concrete steps, such as a deployment of an airborne division in Lithuania for "exercises", and a few squadrons of F16's in Poland, and a carrier group in the Black sea, perhaps with a port call at Odessa. That's how this game is played.

You mean like we did in East Germany in '53, Hungary in '56, Czechoslovakia in '68, or Poland's attempt to crush Solidarity in '81. Sheesh, you live in a fantasy world where we bitch-slapped the Soviets every time they dared to do anything.; 9/1/14, 3:34 PM
buwaya said...: As for missile defense in Poland -
What we would have gotten out of it was a bit of missile defense, at least against the low-volume mistaken or rogue sort of attack, and insurance for most of Europe against piecemeal escalation. 1-10 warheads would not work too well as they would likely be intercepted.
What Poland, and Eastern Europe would get out of it is an American tripwire and greater assurance that in case of trouble we had their backs.
They would be very eager to get a few American squadrons there today.; 9/1/14, 3:36 PM
buwaya said...: As for missile defense in Poland -
What we would have gotten out of it was a bit of missile defense, at least against the low-volume mistaken or rogue sort of attack, and insurance for most of Europe against piecemeal escalation. 1-10 warheads would not work too well as they would likely be intercepted.
What Poland, and Eastern Europe would get out of it is an American tripwire and greater assurance that in case of trouble we had their backs.
They would be very eager to get a few American squadrons there today.; 9/1/14, 3:36 PM
buwaya said...: Those places were in their "sphere of influence", their playpen.
Highly recommend you have a look at " The Cold War: A New History" Gaddis; 9/1/14, 3:39 PM
JD said...: Scott Walker makes Sarah Palin look like a genius and that isn't saying much.; 9/1/14, 3:58 PM
Drago said...: Freder: " If you don't like the facts I present then find your own that the system was contemplated to defend against Russian missiles."

LOL

From your own BBC (commies/lefists/whatever indeed, despite your predictable pre-denial) link: "Moscow said that the anti-missile missiles in Poland and the radar in the Czech Republic could threaten its own defences. The system might be small to start with, it said, but could expand. The radar could be used to spy on Russia."

This was always the threat to Russia.

Our ability to modify/upgrade the anti-ballistic system to accommodate/deter/negate theater level offensive weapons from Russia.

Obama cutting the anti-ballistic system deployment right off the bat in 2009 was just the first of many, many moments of "flexibility" exhibited by obama that benefited the Russians under Putin.

Not to worry though.

Barry made sure his russian boyfriend can sleep more soundly at night.; 9/1/14, 4:11 PM
Drago said...: WooWho said...
Scott Walker makes Sarah Palin look like a genius and that isn't saying much.

It's very important when discussing Putin, the Russians and the Obama admin that Sarah Palin and Scott Walker be mentioned prominently.

In much the same way that each new outrage by radical islam is accompanied immediately by western leftist protestations of "outrageous" Christian acts.

Predictable.

Dear Leader and Dear Islam must be protected at all costs.; 9/1/14, 4:13 PM
Drago said...: Freder: "Sheesh, you live in a fantasy world where we bitch-slapped the Soviets every time they dared to do anything."

LOL

Whaddya mean "we" lefty?; 9/1/14, 4:15 PM
buwaya said...: If you want a concrete example of what the US did in a similar case during the cold war -
Stalin was angry at Tito, because the Yugoslavs would not agree to coming under the Soviet umbrella(basically to become a satrapy of the Soviet Union, like the other Eastern states)
Yugoslavia was an in-between place, non-aligned. Pretty much like the Ukraine these days, with no alliances. That's a bad place to be if a neighbor of Stalin or even Putin.
So the US not so quietly backed Tito, giving him hundreds of tanks, among other things, including lots of money. It was interesting seeing these American tanks pop up in press pictures during the 1990s civil wars.; 9/1/14, 4:30 PM
garage mahal said...: It's very important when discussing Putin, the Russians and the Obama admin that Sarah Palin and Scott Walker be mentioned prominently.

I hope this comment remains on the internet forever.; 9/1/14, 5:01 PM
Humperdink said...: ARM said: "Sometimes, in our busy lives, it behooves us to take a moment to fully appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.

This is one beautiful piece of snark"

Humperdink said...
"One could argue the current mess in Iraq is Bush's fault."

Robert Cook said...
Yes...and "one could argue" that night and day are the result of earth's rotation, and the seasons are the result of the earth's orbit of the sun.

ARM/Cookie, recall the following "I am very optimistic about -- about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government," said Biden.; 9/1/14, 6:01 PM
chickelit said...: garage mahal said:

I hope this comment remains on the internet forever.

Scott Walker and Sarah Palin do have things in common; mentioning them together can't hurt.

Plus I love the way it amuses garage mahal.

It's also true that Putin and Obama have a common bond: BHO's mother. Stanley Anne was a flaming commie (little c) and she raised her son that way.; 9/1/14, 7:20 PM
chickelit said...: Getting garage mahal to admit that what irks him about Palin is akin to what irks him about Walker is a win/win scenario. It's been all but proven that his WDS is irrational and unfounded; his PDS, if closely related, is just as irrational.; 9/1/14, 7:35 PM
buwaya said...: To expand on what the US did to keep Stalin out of Yugoslavia - did some internet looking an it turns out the US gave Tito something over 1000 tanks. That's more tanks than the US gave anyone else in Europe but Germany. That's one little not too well known bit of the Cold War.; 9/1/14, 7:38 PM
Drago said...: Humperdink: "ARM/Cookie, recall the following "I am very optimistic about -- about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government," said Biden"

Humperdink, you know and I know and Bob Dole knows that little comment of Biden's is going to go right down the memory hole along with Obama's big victory lap speech about leaving behind a stable and secure Iraq.; 9/1/14, 10:44 PM
Drago said...: garage: "I hope this comment remains on the internet forever."

LOL

Well, why wouldn't it?

Deflection is clearly a primary skillset of the left here. Is it that big of a deal to have just another example?

Oh, wait, you didn't interpret my posting correctly, did you?

LOL

Big. Surprise. It was some degree above high school level so it makes sense.

Plus, it's not like I posted it on an IRS server....we know that stuff gets lost all the time!!; 9/1/14, 10:47 PM
chickelit said...: Plus, it's not like I posted it on an IRS server....we know that stuff gets lost all the time!!

It just occurred to me that all the incriminating evidence which garage hoped and wished for for so long-- the smoking gun against Walker -- could have been lost on a Government issue computer. It had nothing to do with politics.; 9/1/14, 11:46 PM