Althouse: Obama "doesn’t feel repudiated."

November 5, 2014

Obama "doesn’t feel repudiated."

The spin from the White House.

102 comments:

Mark said...: It's just a flesh wound.; 11/5/14, 8:24 AM
theribbonguy said...: Data point #9375911 that he's just not that bright.; 11/5/14, 8:25 AM
Sebastian said...: No narcissist can admit repudiation.; 11/5/14, 8:26 AM
Anonymous said...: “I am not on the ballot this fall. Michelle’s pretty happy about that. But make no mistake: These policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them,” Obama said in prepared remarks at Northwestern University.

His policies certainly seem to be repudiated.; 11/5/14, 8:26 AM
pm317 said...: Yeah, of course, he/they don't. We have a saying in my native tongue -- 'even after falling, just say your mustache did not get mud on it'.; 11/5/14, 8:27 AM
Original Mike said...: I don't say this very often, but I believe him.; 11/5/14, 8:27 AM
Unknown said...: Obama has assembled a Team of Rivals. One more promise kept.; 11/5/14, 8:27 AM
SomeoneHasToSayIt said...: Good accidental exposure of his world-view.

"Feelings" > objective reality.

These next 2 years truly are a very dangerous time for the Republic.; 11/5/14, 8:28 AM
rehajm said...: “You’re in the Final Four,” as one aide put it, “and you’re on the bench with a walking boot and you don’t get to play.”

Do they still believe the basketball analogies are helping them? We've all seen him play sports.; 11/5/14, 8:29 AM
Anonymous said...: Now that the Emperor is proven to have no clothes, expect that disdain that Obama has expressed for Dem Senators to be crucial.

If the GOP is smart, they will pass Senate bills that force the Dems to vote yes (veto proof) or face humiliation in the 2016 polls.; 11/5/14, 8:29 AM
virgil xenophon said...: Someonehastosayit@8:28/

^^^THIS!!!; 11/5/14, 8:30 AM
MayBee said...: Valerie is probably telling him the problem is there is only one Barack Obama to run for office.; 11/5/14, 8:33 AM
pm317 said...: What will Obama do for the next two years, repudiation or not?

He will do everything to make it difficult for the Democratic party (read Hillary) to have a chance at the WH in 2016. Bush did it naturally with his stupidity but Obama will do it deliberately — all he has to do is steer to the far left and appease his miniscule base doing the things that the rest of the country does not agree with and by George, he will do it. By 2016, the country will be as tired of him and the Dem party as they were in 2008 with Bush and the R party — a dog with a Democrat label would have got elected to the WH in 2008, that is how bad Bush ran his party to the ground. The challenge for Hillary (and BC) and reasonable Dems in the party is to stop that from happening in time for 2016. What will they do?; 11/5/14, 8:33 AM
MayBee said...: "The other Democrats are just not good enough for you." ---Valerie Jarrett, probably; 11/5/14, 8:34 AM
rhhardin said...: Iowahawk says it's a restraining order.; 11/5/14, 8:35 AM
Anonymous said...: Obama is choosing to spit, not swallow.; 11/5/14, 8:35 AM
khesanh0802 said...: @ Mark: Words from the "Black Knight" I take it. "Come back and fight!"; 11/5/14, 8:35 AM
RecChief said...: Begich doesn't feel repudiated either.

"Alaska Dispatch News: Sullivan lead holds in Alaska U.S. Senate race; Begich won't concede
Sullivan won 49 percent to 45 percent with all precincts in. That's not even that close."; 11/5/14, 8:35 AM
Original Mike said...: Harry Reid's chief of staff blames Obama. You can't make this stuff up.; 11/5/14, 8:35 AM
traditionalguy said...: That story was not written about Obama's feelings. If you replace the word Obama everywhere in the story with the word Media, then it makes it into a perfect read.; 11/5/14, 8:36 AM
Original Mike said...: "Come back here, I'll bite your leg off!; 11/5/14, 8:36 AM
MayBee said...: But I'm sure Obama is actually pretty pleased about this. He doesn't have any idea how to make things work. So it's easier for him to have a party to blame about why things are as they are than actually try to do something.

Criticizing what other people do is his thing. Solving problems is not. So this will be a perfect setup for him.; 11/5/14, 8:37 AM
buwaya said...: He doesn't feel that way because he hasn't in truth been repudiated. He still runs the only part of the government with any real power, and that part - the actual government, the bureaucracy and the allied corporatist interests - hasn't gotten less powerful, and won't.
This election is near-irrelevant. It is a child's tantrum.; 11/5/14, 8:38 AM
khesanh0802 said...: Is "delusional" a fair word to use. I think the Republicans are going to strip him naked.; 11/5/14, 8:40 AM
MadisonMan said...: I'm going to be fair to Obama.

That's not a quote of his words -- but an aide saying what he thinks Obama feels/said. I suspect Obama is well-insulated by sycophants and doesn't know what's going on in the Country.

It's like the New York Times is trying in subtle ways to torpedo Obama.; 11/5/14, 8:41 AM
rehajm said...: What is he going to do- bleed on us?; 11/5/14, 8:41 AM
Henry said...: Read that article for the way the President is described and you have to shake your head.

"Mr. Obama bristled as the last campaign that would influence his presidency played out.... He privately complained that it should not be a judgment on him."

Mr. Obama understood [his unpopularity] in some cases but privately resented others.... Mr. Obama’s irritation became clear when he said publicly that even if he was not on the ballot, his policies were

Bristling, resentment, irritation, and complaining. What a profoundly petty man.

And endless excuse-making: Mr. Obama was focused on the odds against him. His staff researched it and told him that no president in more than a half-century had as many Senate seats open in states lost by the president.

Of what use was this "research" other to assuage the man's ego? The man has spun himself a cocoon of mirrors.; 11/5/14, 8:42 AM
RecChief said...: Maybe Barack Obama isn’t this figure who helped Democrats how to win national elections. Maybe he was just a cult of personality who had just enough gas in the tank to get over the finish line in 2012.

-Jim Geraghty; 11/5/14, 8:42 AM
traditionalguy said...: When a Narcissist senses rejection, he will immediately replace the people who rejected him with a new group of admirers.

Harry Reid is right to run for cover. He will be replaced as if he never existed.

The American people had better expect to be replaced too. Hello UN world government.; 11/5/14, 8:43 AM
Jaq said...: 27 Senators who voted for Obamacare now gone

But Obama was not repudiated! Nosiree!; 11/5/14, 8:43 AM
RecChief said...: MayBee said...
But I'm sure Obama is actually pretty pleased about this. He doesn't have any idea how to make things work. So it's easier for him to have a party to blame about why things are as they are than actually try to do something.

Criticizing what other people do is his thing. Solving problems is not. So this will be a perfect setup for him.

Good Point. Look for him to be the most vocal ex-president ever.; 11/5/14, 8:44 AM
Jaq said...: Harry Reid will be majority leader in two years, barring some kind of political earthquake, for precisely two years.

It is in the cards, R's will be defending many Senators elected in blue states in an R wave election.

After that, things look better for the good guys.; 11/5/14, 8:47 AM
Jaq said...: I think Katrina and the Waves capture my mood pretty well.; 11/5/14, 8:50 AM
Larry J said...: doesn't feel that way because he hasn't in truth been repudiated. He still runs the only part of the government with any real power, and that part - the actual government, the bureaucracy and the allied corporatist interests - hasn't gotten less powerful, and won't.

Except for one thing - with Republicans in control of Congress, there's no excuse for not passing actual budgets instead of a constant stream of continuing resolutions. The power of the pursestrings is quite powerful. If Congress passes the budgets and Obama vetos them, it'll be his fault no matter how the liberals and media (but I repeat myself) try to spin it.; 11/5/14, 8:51 AM
MayBee said...: " This election is near-irrelevant. It is a child's tantrum."

The child being....the country? The people of Massachusetts, Illinois, Florida, Michigan, etc and their Republican governors?

But yes, I agree this is what Jarrett would tell Obama. After all, they tried to sell the idea that the country is just ungovernable. So seeing voters as throwing a temper tantrum would be right up their alley.; 11/5/14, 8:52 AM
Matt Sablan said...: And Tempest Keep was merely a setback.; 11/5/14, 8:53 AM
mccullough said...: Time to send Jarret home; 11/5/14, 8:56 AM
traditionalguy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/5/14, 8:57 AM
traditionalguy said...: To replace the American people, all Obama has to do is end border enforcement and import a flood of immigrants.

Which is exactly what he will do.; 11/5/14, 8:57 AM
buwaya said...: The child being the voters.
They are irrelevant no matter who they vote for.
The real masters aren't vulnerable to the voters.
Whatever legislation Congress passes is meaningless.
Fiscal legislation is pointless. This area is no longer controllable.; 11/5/14, 8:58 AM
Drago said...: It's very clear that, once again, America has failed obama.

Once again.

When oh when will America learn how to properly treat our Sun King?

I don't blame obama for being upset. When people opt of the Light-Bringers Cult it can be very difficult for the Cult leader to accept.

All that's left to look forward to is the inevitable indictment of Scott Walker.; 11/5/14, 8:58 AM
kcom said...: "His staff researched it and told him that no president in more than a half-century had as many Senate seats open in states lost by the president."

But were any of those other presidents the reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln, FDR, John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan combined?; 11/5/14, 9:00 AM
Drago said...: traditionalguy: "To replace the American people, all Obama has to do is end border enforcement and import a flood of immigrants.

Which is exactly what he will do."

Yep.

And now that obama's disappointment with America has reached it's peak, he will take even more aggressive steps to open the floodgates and the states controlled by dems will make sure they all get Drivers Licenses and benefits.

Those kids dying and being paralyzed by diseases brought in by these illegals? Well, that's a small price to pay to ensure dem victories in the future.; 11/5/14, 9:00 AM
n.n said...: First, Pelosi. The mallet was passed. Second, Reid. The scalpel is passed. Finally, accountability.; 11/5/14, 9:01 AM
kcom said...: "This election is near-irrelevant. It is a child's tantrum."

That's just as stupid a comment as it was in 1994. Anytime voters are deciding they want a new direction it's not a tantrum. It's the system working as intended.; 11/5/14, 9:02 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Obama "doesn’t feel repudiated.

Why do I hear him stating that in David Lee Roth's voice?; 11/5/14, 9:10 AM
buwaya said...: But the system does not work as intended. The political system in which the voters have input has little effect on the reality of governance or its economic and social consequences. Or for that matter on its cultural and economic drivers.
Gramsci was more realistic about what affects modern governments and how they are changed.
There is nothing this government can do about the increase in volume and impact of regulation, just to start.; 11/5/14, 9:12 AM
Drago said...: obambi this morning tried to take credit for any perceived economic improvements (his "I" and "Me" mode), then when discussing the election said that clearly "we" had not done enough to help the economy.

He is incapable of change.; 11/5/14, 9:13 AM
Jaq said...: Dear Mr Obama, No means no! - America.; 11/5/14, 9:13 AM
RonF said...: < off_topic >

So, what now will be the balance of R vs. D in the Wisconsin legislature?

< /off_topic >; 11/5/14, 9:16 AM
Unknown said...: Fore!; 11/5/14, 9:16 AM
Jaq said...: Once again, I would like to thank the ebola nurse in Maine for flipping off America, and backing up Obama, right before the election!; 11/5/14, 9:18 AM
Michael K said...: " a dog with a Democrat label would have got elected to the WH in 2008, that is how bad Bush ran his party to the ground."

I disagree. I was not a Bush fan in 2000 but think that, aside from his clumsy speaking, he did a good job with a tough situation. The 2008 crash was a result of policies that were developed by the left and the 2006 Democrat takeover of Congress over Iraq, blocked any attempt to deal with the housing bubble by Bush administration people who did testify in Congress and were shouted down by Maxine Waters and Barney Frank. I have You-Tube video of the sessions.

Once the crash came, it was too late and McCain was bewildered by it. Obama kept his mouth shut and looked smart but he had no ideas either.; 11/5/14, 9:18 AM
Michael K said...: "To replace the American people, all Obama has to do is end border enforcement and import a flood of immigrants. "

I fear this is what he will do and I don't know what will happen then.; 11/5/14, 9:19 AM
Curious George said...: "Drago said...

All that's left to look forward to is the inevitable indictment of Scott Walker."

That's pretty much what's being expressed on the WI Democratic Party's FB page.; 11/5/14, 9:21 AM
Anonymous said...: Not enough of the women's vote.

Referendum minus Pudendum equals Repudiation.

I feel like rhhardin writing this.; 11/5/14, 9:23 AM
Drago said...: BTW, why should obama feel repudiated when MSNBC spent so much time this morning discussing how voter ID laws (which were not even in effect yet in several states) "suppressed" the dem vote.

I'm not kidding.; 11/5/14, 9:25 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "Once the crash came, it was too late and McCain was bewildered by it."

-- Not quite true; McCain was asked to come back to Washington to help sort things out. He obliged, then Reid said, "LOL, J/K," and refused to do anything. McCain only looked as bad as he did because he kept thinking Democrats in the Senate wanted to solve the problem, not score political points off him.; 11/5/14, 9:28 AM
mccullough said...: The skin of the bubble chamber is as tough as reptile eggs; 11/5/14, 9:28 AM
Real American said...: Dictators don't need legislators.; 11/5/14, 9:29 AM
Shanna said...: That's just as stupid a comment as it was in 1994. Anytime voters are deciding they want a new direction it's not a tantrum. It's the system working as intended.

Absolutely. The system isn't perfect, but elections have consequences down the line and if enough people hold enough feet to the fire, you can make a change.

Republicans swept Arkansas. I'm kind of amazed, considering I remember so many elections when they didn't even bother putting up a candidate.; 11/5/14, 9:29 AM
Jaq said...: Obama can give aliens work permits and legal status, but he can't put them on a path to citizenship.

If the Republicans are smart, they will just codify the work permit status into law, dare Obama veto it, then start placing some limits on the work permits based on wage targets in the US, and by wage targets, I means shooting upwards, not shooting downwards.; 11/5/14, 9:29 AM
RecChief said...: I woulnd't get too giddy. I read that minimum wage measures passed in 4 states. Leftism/Progressivism isn't dead.; 11/5/14, 9:30 AM
Bob Ellison said...: Republicans have been shaking their heads since 2012, wondering "how did we lose that?"

Democrats will shake their heads about this one, but Democrats tend to be noisy and excited by conspiracy conjectures, so we should expect lots of talk about voter suppression etc.; 11/5/14, 9:31 AM
Jaq said...: McCain only looked as bad as he did because he kept thinking Democrats in the Senate wanted to solve the problem

Well, that was a major error in judgement, and as such, reflected on his fitness to be president.; 11/5/14, 9:31 AM
Tank said...: Michael K said...
" a dog with a Democrat label would have got elected to the WH in 2008, that is how bad Bush ran his party to the ground."

I disagree. I was not a Bush fan in 2000 but think that, aside from his clumsy speaking, he did a good job with a tough situation. The 2008 crash was a result of policies that were developed by the left and the 2006 Democrat takeover of Congress over Iraq, blocked any attempt to deal with the housing bubble by Bush administration people who did testify in Congress and were shouted down by Maxine Waters and Barney Frank. I have You-Tube video of the sessions.

Once the crash came, it was too late and McCain was bewildered by it. Obama kept his mouth shut and looked smart but he had no ideas either.

GAaaaaa. Stop with the BS about Bush. This was from his White House Website while he was President.

The US homeownership rate reached a record 69.2 percent in the second quarter of 2004. The number of homeowners in the United States reached 73.4 million, the most ever. And for the first time, the majority of minority Americans own their own homes.
• The President set a goal to increase the number of minority homeowners by 5.5 million families by the end of the decade. Through his homeownership challenge, the President called on the private sector to help in this effort. More than two dozen companies and organizations have made commitments to increase minority homeownership - including pledges to provide more than $1.1 trillion in mortgage purchases for minority homebuyers this decade.
• President Bush signed the $200 million-per-year American Dream Downpayment Act which will help approximately 40,000 families each year with their downpayment and closing costs.
• The Administration proposed the Zero-Downpayment Initiative to allow the Federal Housing Administration to insure mortgages for first-time homebuyers without a downpayment. Projections indicate this could generate over 150,000 new homeowners in the first year alone.
• President Bush proposed a new Single Family Affordable Housing Tax Credit to increase the supply of affordable homes.
• The President has proposed to more than double funding for the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP), where government and non-profit organizations work closely together to increase homeownership opportunities.
• The President proposed $2.7 billion in USDA home loan guarantees to support rural homeownership and $1.1 billion in direct loans for low-income borrowers unable to secure a mortgage through a conventional lender. These loans are expected to provide 42,800 homeownership opportunities to rural families across America.

Bush was a lousy BIG gov't President. End of story. He shares responsibility for the meltdown.; 11/5/14, 9:31 AM
Jane the Actuary said...: So: two years of a man with an inflated ego and a power trip rejecting Congress as a democratically-elected co-equal branch of government, and viewing it as an obstacle to be overcome.

I spent some time outlining my idealized Agenda for Congress just now, wanting to do so before reading this morning's analysis, but wow, your linked article describes an even worse attitude than I imagined. "I am willing to work with the Republican leadership, as long as they accept the fact that they'll have to do everything my way, and I get all the credit, too" is not going to work.; 11/5/14, 9:35 AM
Curious George said...: RonF said...
So, what now will be the balance of R vs. D in the Wisconsin legislature?

Beside Walker in the Statehouse they added one more Senator for a solid 19-14 majority, and likely 3 seats in the assembly, for a 63-36 super majority. 2 of those Assembly gains were very close so there could be a recount.; 11/5/14, 9:35 AM
TRISTRAM said...: I have a 9 year old and a 5 year old. From shortly after learning to speak, ever time they fell, they's say "I'm ok" to reassure us (parents).

I believed the kids, because as long as they weren't crying, it was almost certainly true.

President Obama? I don't believe the "I'm ok" spin.; 11/5/14, 9:35 AM
RecChief said...: "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."; 11/5/14, 9:35 AM
Hagar said...: Obama may not feel "repudiated" yet, but that will come when the Democrats everywhere go to blaming him for their defeats around the country.

He always was a "stranger in a strange land" with his own agenda. For the Dems he was more like a banner to be carried up front of the parade than a leader, and they are not going to be kind to him in defeat.; 11/5/14, 9:37 AM
traditionalguy said...: Reports quoting Anonymous, said to be Reid's Chief of Staff, was about a six month stand off between Obama and Reid who was desperate to spend some the precious Obama Fund Raisers Loot.

What was was interesting was Obama's method of fending off Reid's demands by using WH subordinates claims they was "garbled in translation."

But when the August polls looked bad, suddenly a staged 5 million dollars of Obama loot was released into the SenateDems PAC.

Obama knew that he had to keep Reid's Senate Majority blocking all Congressional actions as the key cover for every destructive play he has taken for the last six years.

What happens next may surprise us all. One comment by McConnell was that Amnesty by Executive Order would be like Obama's throwing a hand grenade onto the Senate floor.; 11/5/14, 9:37 AM
Paul said...: As the SS Democrat (the ex Costa Concordia) sinks slowly on the left, after striking dozens of ice burgs, coral reefs, and rocky shoals, Capitan Obama says, "I don't feel repudiated."

No comment so far from Captain Francesco Schettino....; 11/5/14, 9:42 AM
PB said...: Delusion this deep can be dangerous.; 11/5/14, 9:45 AM
Anonymous said...: Obama has felt something touch his breasts but believes it is just a ghost.; 11/5/14, 9:45 AM
Big Mike said...: But that was not the way Mr. Obama saw it. ... And his own party kept him off the trail, meaning he never really got the chance to make his case.

I certainly wish Obama had campaigned more for Mark Warner in Virginia. Ed Gillespie missed winning by so few votes.; 11/5/14, 9:52 AM
Michael K said...: "McCain was asked to come back to Washington to help sort things out."

I hadn't read this. If true, it makes a difference but he still looked bewildered.

"Bush was a lousy BIG gov't President. End of story. He shares responsibility for the meltdown."

If you think the housing bubble was Bush's fault, maybe you are a lefty or at least a "liberaltarian."

I was not happy with Bush's domestic policies but blame Hastert, a crook, for a lot of that.

Read Nicole Gelinas" After the Fall for the story.

I agree that Greenspan made Ben Strong's mistake in keeping interest rates too low for too long but there were Bush admin people trying to get the Democrats to rein in the bubble before it popped.; 11/5/14, 10:06 AM
Meade said...: “You’re in the Final Four,” as one aide put it, “and you’re on the bench with a walking boot and you don’t get to play.”

How do you think you got that walking boot, Mr. President?

First, you let Harry and Nancy force you to jam your toe on health insurance.
Second, you missed with your stimulus shovel and gashed your ankle.
Third, you dropped the Iraq ball not only on your own foot but on the feet of everyone on the team.
And finally, boot or no boot, Mr. President — you can't make a bucket.

Also, "Final Four"? There is no Final Four. It's never Final and it's always just Two — the Democrats vs the Republicans. Over and over again. You lost this one for the D's, Mr. Obama.

It's over. Clean out your locker. You're off the team.; 11/5/14, 10:08 AM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: Way to open the comments with a laugh, Mark! Bringeth the Holy Hand Grenade!; 11/5/14, 10:15 AM
Original Mike said...: "It's over. Clean out your locker. You're off the team."

His contract's too expensive and nobody will trade for him. We're stuck with him for two more years.; 11/5/14, 10:16 AM
AustinRoth said...: He is a sociopath and a narcissist.

Nothing will change his feelings of importance and self-aggrandizement.; 11/5/14, 10:23 AM
Tank said...: @Michael K

I did not say it was Bush's fault, but that he deserved a good part of the blame, and there's no reason to whitewash the part he played.

He also gave us a brand new drug entitlement, and, if not held back by his own party, would have given us "comprehensive immigration reform," if you know what I mean.; 11/5/14, 10:33 AM
grackle said...: … all Obama has to do is end border enforcement and import a flood of immigrants. Which is exactly what he will do.

I would not be too sure of that. Ditto – any cozy deal with the mullahs in Iran. Oh, Iran will still nuke up, THAT became inevitable when Obama was elected and then re-elected. But at least it may be without the tacit encouragement and official acceptance of the US government.

Also: Expect a stiffening of the ISIS war. More arms for anti-ISIS fighters, maybe even many more American boots on the ground(than there are now).

There's an election coming up in 2016 and Hillary will not be wanting to have to defend her party's loss of a war against ISIS during her campaign. Assertions by anti-war folks on both ends of the political spectrum that the Iraqi's HAVE to battle ISIS without direct US involvement will be ignored. Pretense that the US has no national interest in preventing an ISIS takeover will fall away and fall away rather quickly if ISIS-inspired "lone wolf" shooters continue their deadly attacks.

All of it could have prevented if only Obama had been willing to leave a residual US military force in Iraq. Part of the payback for that particular stupidity came last night. Foreign policy naiveté has consequences. Reality is about to intrude into anti-war fantasy. Avoidance of war at all costs, appeasement, abandoning long-time allies, being perceived as a helpless giant without the will to wage war, all tend to make war more likely.

Finally, accountability.

Hard votes by the Senate Democrats are coming soon. They'll have to come out of the progressive closet and vote on the Keystone Pipeline, mullah-favoring treaties, Obamacare issues, coal policy, ISIS War policy, immigration policy, etc. No more hiding behind the Harry Reid logjam in the Senate. It's going to be great fun.; 11/5/14, 10:35 AM
Original Mike said...: We have to do something to prevent non-citizens from voting.; 11/5/14, 10:43 AM
Achilles said...: We will get amnesty now. Democrats don't really care about losing elections. They care about advancing their ideology which is bigger government and more control. They now see they need a new electorate to accomplish this.

Republicans care only about getting elected. They won't rock the boat. The government will be bigger next year. It will be bigger the year after that. They will try to make the new imported voters happy. We will see someone like bush or Christy get the presidential nomination after the establishment trashes anyone who opposes a new electorate.; 11/5/14, 11:04 AM
RecChief said...: As a start, I would like to Congress rein in the regulatory state. Legislation is the purview of Congress, not legislation-by-rulemaking as happens in the buereaucracy; 11/5/14, 11:05 AM
Jason said...: KUBLER-ROSS, YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD!; 11/5/14, 11:15 AM
Jaq said...: We can't unload his contract, but that doesn't mean we have to play him.; 11/5/14, 11:22 AM
Rusty said...: RecChief said...
Begich doesn't feel repudiated either.

"Alaska Dispatch News: Sullivan lead holds in Alaska U.S. Senate race; Begich won't concede
Sullivan won 49 percent to 45 percent with all precincts in. That's not even that close."

Quinn is doing the same thing in Illinois.; 11/5/14, 11:28 AM
Anonymous said...: "I don't *feel* tardy."; 11/5/14, 11:32 AM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/5/14, 11:32 AM
Skeptical Voter said...: You can hardly "feel" anything when your head is shoved about 18 inches up the bottom of your alimentary canal. That's a steady state condition with Baracky Baby. The dude lives in his own choom addled world.; 11/5/14, 11:34 AM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Original Mike said...
"It's over. Clean out your locker. You're off the team."

His contract's too expensive and nobody will trade for him. We're stuck with him for two more years.

President BJ Upton? Yikes.; 11/5/14, 12:14 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: No means no.; 11/5/14, 12:15 PM
buwaya said...: "As a start, I would like to Congress rein in the regulatory state. Legislation is the purview of Congress, not legislation-by-rulemaking as happens in the bureaucracy"

As a start, indeed.
You might as well ask, as a start, for green cheese from the moon or a treaty with the Martians.

This is not the first thing the political system can deliver, because there is absolutely no way it can do so. The bureaucracy is invincible.

It is not a matter of changing laws. Whatever is legislated will be trumped, modified, re-interpreted and litigated into something else entirely.

The only way to beat the bureaucracy is to remove it wholesale. Literally exterminate the actual bureaucrats, as in killing the lot of them. And nobody will do that shot of a revolution, and even that is probably insufficient.

I am reading Hippolyte Taine's series on the French Revolution (his first volume, "France Under the Old Regime" was a model for the classic on Russia by Richard Pipes). One clear point he makes is that much of the travail of the old and new French regimes were caused by the bureaucracy, which survived from the one regime to the other with minimal change.; 11/5/14, 12:19 PM
Brando said...: Clearly he can't be this clueless--he even said the election was about him and his policies. So what could he possibly gain by saying he doesn't feel repudiated? It only telegraphs to the voters who did repudiate him that he can't learn.

It's going to be an ugly two years.; 11/5/14, 12:23 PM
Joe Schmoe said...: He is immune to feedback and incapable of introspection.; 11/5/14, 1:22 PM
Anonymous said...: Jane the Actuary wrote;

"I spent some time outlining my idealized Agenda for Congress just now"

Thanks for writing that Jane. I found it refreshing that someone is at least putting forward a plan. If only the Republicans would also do so.

I wish I could agree with you, but I find it all too naïve. A lack of understanding of how government bureaucracy actually functions, rather than how we wish it would function.

Having worked immigration for the past 18 years, I can tell you, even federal officers are human. If you punish them for law enforcement, they will give you less law enforcement. If you reward them for doing nothing, they will give you more of nothing.

Most people don't realize it, but our immigration laws are stunningly tough. I mean, you can be refused admission (If you're not a US Citizen) for almost anything. Hell, because you looked at me wrong. True, it's harder to kick you out once you're here, but still, it's not too hard to kick you out if your here against the law.

So what's the issue then? Well, it's not lack of laws, that's for sure.

The issues are legion and it all comes down to bureaucracy. For example, here where I live, during the Obama administration, we've gone from 3 judges to 1 judge. How do you remove unlawful immigrants without judges? If you're an officer and you actually try and remove illegal immigrants, you stand a very high chance of getting in trouble. Do nothing? You'll keep bringing home a paycheck. Try and do something? Miles and miles of red tape, all created by the behemoth known as DHS, having almost nothing to do with actual law.

The bureaucratic problems are so thick and so impossible to figure out, let alone navigate, to fix this, you'd need 10 Mitt Romney's working on it full time.

To pretend like it could be fixed if we just make tough sounding laws is the height of naivety. If the culture and the bureaucracy don't change, no new laws will help.

I wish it weren't so.; 11/5/14, 2:09 PM
Delayna said...: A few months ago someone on Ace joked about crowdsourcing a bribe to Obama to get him to retire. Maybe we could do that now? Somebody want to put that up on Kickstarter?; 11/5/14, 2:18 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: There is no version of Obama who can compromise with his political opponents. The next two years will be interesting, indeed.
BTW Biden is able to compromise. I am sure the party leaders know this.
One aspect of his defeat in the mid terms is that Obama will have no legacy, and he will have very little influence on the 2016 Dem presidential nominee selection.; 11/5/14, 3:24 PM
Sam L. said...: Denial is a State of Being (and Nothingness).; 11/5/14, 5:56 PM
Doug said...: Valerie Jarrett: "The country is mad at you ... because you're not available to them anymore!"; 11/5/14, 8:49 PM