State Spokesweenie: “Obama Doesn’t Give Himself Enough Credit”

By William Teach May 30, 2014 – 8:08 am

“Credit for what?” (via The Lonely Conservative)

(Washington Free Beacon) State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was openly mocked by the assembled press corps Thursday after saying President Obama “doesn’t give himself enough credit for what he’s done around the world.”

Associated Press reporter Matt Lee asked sarcastically whether he deserved 200 percent credit, while another one wondered for what “accomplishments” Psaki meant he deserves more praise.

“For engagement initiatives like Iran, what we’ve done on Ukraine, efforts to dive in and engage around the world,” she said.

“I mean, Russia has still annexed Crimea,” another reporter asked. “I mean, Iran — there’s ongoing negotiations, but is that the success here that you’re talking?”

“We’re talking about engagement in the world and taking on tough issues that present themselves,” Psaki said. “And the United States continues to play a prominent role doing that.”

This lead to an outbreak of snickers, guffaws, and snorting laughter.

Other than some minor things, whacking Osama (thanks partly to Bush era policies), and his continued heavy use of drones (I like this policy a lot), what has Obama done? Iran is stalling for time. Russia controls Crimea. The Mideast is a mess. Even Canada is upset with him (over Keystone XL). His big Asian pivot? He came home with nothing. And then Russia and China announced a big working relationship. Well, he has done well ignoring the nutjob leader of North Korea, refusing to give in when NK gets frisky. Past presidents have fallen for the trap and given NK stuff. Personally, though, I think Obama just can’t be bothered to engage. That would be hard work.

Similarly, Fareed Zakaria pulls out some strawmen, claiming “Obama is battling a knee-jerk sentiment in Washington in which the only kind of international leadership that means anything is the use of military force.

In this context, what is needed from Washington is not a heroic exertion of American military power but rather a sustained effort to engage with allies, isolate enemies, support free markets and democratic values and push these positive trends forward. The Obama administration is, in fact, deeply internationalist — building on alliances in Europe and Asia, working with institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations, isolating adversaries and strengthening the global order that has proved so beneficial to the United States and the world since 1945.

The problem here is that Obama’s limited engagement with our allies has mostly ended with them thinking he’s a lightweight, foolish, weak, and a narcissistic jerk. They don’t trust him. Our enemies are not being isolated. Where has he truly supported free markets and democratic values abroad? He barely does this at home. He’s not building alliances. Unless one considers taking selfies at funerals “building alliances”. Zakaria even pulls out an Eisenhower quote

But Eisenhower kept his powder dry, confident that force was not the only way to show strength. “I’ll tell you what leadership is,” he told his speechwriter. “It’s persuasion — and conciliation — and education — and patience . It’s long, slow, tough work. That’s the only kind of leadership I know — or believe in — or will practice.”

The operative word is “work”. Obama doesn’t. If it requires more than a long, drawn out campaign speech, it won’t be fixed.

Read: State Spokesweenie: “Obama Doesn’t Give Himself Enough Credit” »

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Palin Says Illegals Get Better Care Than Veterans, To Some Degree

By William Teach May 30, 2014 – 7:43 am

Well, Team Obama and Democrats certainly works harder to make sure that illegals are treated better overall (video available at Mediaite)

(Politico) Sarah Palin says illegal immigrants are getting better health care than the country’s vets.

“In many respects, illegal aliens in our country today are receiving better health care, more benefits than our troops,” Palin said in an interview on Thursday with FOX’s “Hannity” at the Republican Leadership Conference.

Addressing the scandal at the Department of Veterans Affaris, Palin and host Sean Hannity made comparisons between Guantanamo Bay and the VA, claiming that the ratio of doctors to prisoners is 1 for every 1.5, while the VA has a ratio of 1 doctor for every 35 vets.

When Hannity called the VA a “death trap,” Palin agreed.

“And that is what government-run health care will result in,” Palin said. “It’s inefficient, it takes away choices and isn’t it ironic that those who are willing to sacrifice all, to put their lives, to allow freedom of choices…they’re the ones getting screwed by the VA.”

Let’s be clear: for the most part, veterans receive at least decent care. And even the NY Times notices that there is, in fact, a doctor shortage at the VA. Yet, there are more than enough that receive substandard care. That wait. And wait. And wait. Have you ever tried to call the VA? Good luck with that. I’ve dealt with both the VA and Social Security Admin, needing documents. For the SSA, I typically wait about 15-20 minutes for a representative. In every case, they’ve been pleasant and cooperative. The documents I need are faxed within 25 minutes. In each and every time I’ve needed to call the VA, I have received a message that the Greensboro facility (that’s where the calls route to for the Raleigh area) is busy, please call back later. One cannot even enter a hold cue. I simply tell vets to go to the VA to get the documents now.

Are illegals treated better? They receive medical care. The receive schooling. They seem to end up with welfare and food stamps. Homeland is now saying not to target illegals at courthouses. At every turn, this administration is rolling back The Law along with finding ways to give illegals better care and help. Yet, when it comes to the VA scandal, what should have been an easy subject for Team Obama has turned into a typical Obama scandal. He’s yanked out his scandal playbook, of which many Democrats are refusing to cooperate with, and is truly failing our vets. It’s not hard to imagine that if a head of a federal department was seeing illegals treated poorly, that person would be canned in a heartbeat.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Posted in Current Affairs, Sarah Palin | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

NY Times: Climate Change Like Totally Doomed The Ancients

By William Teach May 29, 2014 – 1:27 pm

See if you can guess what is missing from the op-ed by Eric H. Cline in the Times, in all but a brief mention

Climate Change Doomed the Ancients

THIS month, a report issued by a prominent military advisory board concluded that climate change posed a serious threat to America’s national security.

The authors, 16 retired high-ranking officers, warned that droughts, rising seas and extreme weather events, among other environmental threats, were already causing global “instability and conflict.”

But Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a stalwart believer that global warming is a “hoax,” dismissed the report as a publicity stunt.

Perhaps the senator needs a history lesson, because climate change has been leading to global conflict — and even the collapse of civilizations — for more than 3,000 years. Drought and famine led to internal rebellions in some societies and the sacking of others, as people fleeing hardship at home became conquerors abroad.

One of the most vivid examples comes from around 1200 B.C. A centuries-long drought in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean regions, contributed to — if not caused — widespread famine, unrest and ultimately the destruction of many once prosperous cities, according to four recent studies.

Perhaps Eric needs that history lesson, since pretty much every mention of failed civilizations resulted from the Earth moving from a warm to a cool period during the Holocene. The Hittites, mentioned because they dealt with a long period of drought, were dealing with a cooling climate.

While sea levels may not have been rising then, as they are now, changes in the water temperature may have been to blame for making life virtually unlivable in parts of the region.

A 2012 study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science found that the surface temperatures of the Mediterranean Sea cooled rapidly during this time, severely reducing precipitation over the coasts.

Wait, cooling waters were causing problems?

We still do not know the specific details of the collapse at the end of the Late Bronze Age or how the cascade of events came to change society so drastically. But it is clear that climate change was one of the primary drivers, or stressors, leading to the societal breakdown.

The era that followed is known as the first Dark Ages, during which the thriving economy and cultures of the late second millennium B.C. suddenly ceased to exist. It took decades, and even hundreds of years in some areas, for the people in these regions to rebuild.

Last time I checked, the Dark Ages were a period of cooling.

But there is one important difference. The Late Bronze Age civilizations collapsed at the hands of Mother Nature. It remains to be seen if we will cause the collapse of our own.

Wait, what? Mother Nature? Why can’t MN be the cause now? And, it sure seems that civilization flourished during the warm periods and had lots of problems during the cool ones.

Read: NY Times: Climate Change Like Totally Doomed The Ancients »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 19 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 29, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible sandwich full of meat that causes obesity which makes the earth all floody-droughty, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Jo Nova, who wonders if the West Antarctic melting could be caused by volcanoes.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

A Head Honcho Is Held Accountable For Poor Care At Army Medical Facility

By William Teach May 29, 2014 – 10:37 am

You don’t say

(WNCN)  Two defense officials say the chief of an Army medical center has been relieved of his command because of problems with patient care.

The officials say the commander was replaced Tuesday at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and three deputies were suspended.

One official says the discipline comes after two deaths this month of patients in their 20s and problems with infection control at the facility that were pointed out by a hospital accreditation group.

The Pentagon announced late Tuesday that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered a 90-day review of the entire military health care system.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking, in light of current events?

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This Just In: Obamacare Is Still Pretty Darned Unpopular

By William Teach May 29, 2014 – 7:56 am

The hell you say!

(The Hill) Attitudes toward ObamaCare have only changed slightly despite the administration’s success in enrolling more than eight million people, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday.

The poll found 43 percent approve of ObamaCare, but a majority disapproves of it. (WT-the disapproval number is 51%)

A Department of Health and Human Services report released in early May confirmed more than eight million people have enrolled.

Of course, at least 6 million had lost their health insurance plans thanks to Obamacare. Furthermore, we learn from Gallup itself

Fewer than four in 10 adults (37%) say the law will ultimately make the healthcare situation better in the U.S., consistent with past measures. A plurality of Americans (44%) say it will make things worse, and another 16% say it won’t make much of a difference.

So, a majority think it will make healthcare worse. 16% think it will make no change. Millions have lost their insurance. A midline estimate from Team O itself estimates 90 million more will lose their plans. Deductibles and premiums are up, and are expected to go much higher. The economy is being damaged. It’s costing massive amounts of taxpayer money. All for a measly 37% thinking it will make things better.

The numbers should not be surprising. They’ve been negative towards Ocare since before it was passed, and continues to be negative. An AP-GFK poll last week found that “Forty-three percent oppose the law, compared with just 28 percent in support.”

Of course, Nancy Pelosi wants single payer. Because Ocare is working so well.

Read: This Just In: Obamacare Is Still Pretty Darned Unpopular »

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Obama To West Pointers: Fight Climate Change

By William Teach May 29, 2014 – 7:44 am

I initially planned on going with the Politico article with the headline…

Barack Obama still undecided on Eric Shinseki

…but, then, no one should be surprised that Obama is dithering yet again. The Mozilla CEO was forced out for donating $1000 to the California Prop-8 pro-traditional marriage movement. Employees at countries across the country are let go for poor attendance. Yet, here’s Obama dithering over VA Shinseki. Which is a topic Obama avoided discussing during his West Point commencement speech. He also avoided discussing Islamic terrorism

(Breitbart) President Obama delivered a major policy speech Wednesday, claiming that fighting climate change was every bit as important to America’s national security as stopping terrorism or working to stop countries from obtaining nuclear weapons.

The world, Obama insisted, needed to come together to address this looming global threat.

“That spirit of cooperation must energize the global effort to combat climate change – a creeping national security crisis that will help shape your time in uniform, as we’re called on to respond to refugee flows, natural disasters, and conflicts over water and food,” Obama warned.

Obama detailed forthcoming policy from his administration that would save the planet from this crisis.

“That’s why, next year, I intend to make sure America is out front in a global framework to preserve our planet,” he said.

When the cadets dreamed of the day they would graduate from West Point, that dream probably didn’t include being part of Obama’s Neverending Campaign. Is it any surprise that only 25% of them gave Obama a standing ovation?

Let’s look at the entire portion about Hotcoldwetdry

That spirit of cooperation needs to energize the global effort to combat climate change, a creeping national security crisis that will help shape your time in uniform, as we are called on to respond to refugee flows and natural disasters, and conflicts over water and food, which is why, next year, I intend to make sure America is out front in putting together a global framework to preserve our planet.

You see, American influence is always stronger when we lead by example. We cannot exempt ourselves from the rules that apply to everyone else. We can’t call on others to make commitments to combat climate change if a whole lot of our political leaders deny that it is taking place. We can’t try to resolve problems in the South China Sea when we have refused to make sure that the Law of the Sea Convention is ratified by the United States Senate, despite the fact that our top military leaders say the treaty advances our national security. That’s not leadership. That’s retreat. That’s not strength; that’s weakness. It would be utterly foreign to leaders like Roosevelt and Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy.

I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being. But what makes us exceptional is not our ability to flout international norms and the rule of law; it is our willingness to affirm them through our actions.

He wants to lead from behind on everything else, but lead from in front on Hotcoldetdry? BTW, what has he done on this over the last 5 years, other than causing American energy costs to increase, which increases the cost of living? As far is exempting ourselves, what he means is Everyone Else exempting themselves, because Obama has no plans to give up his massive jet setting 1%er carbon footprint lifestyle.

And then he believes in American exceptionalism? Since when? Half his speech was whining about America. About how we don’t do enough. How that other guy who is president has failed to close Gitmo. There’s so much that’s typical Obama, so divorced from reality, so whiny (he even managed to take a shot at Bush 43). Seriously, discussing “climate change” as one of their main missions?

That’s Bush at the 2008 graduation at the Air Force Academy. Can you imagine Obama getting a chest bump from a graduating cadet from any military university? Bush had lots more fun with the graduating cadets. Obama? He just sweated and probably asked for $5 or whatever they could give. He wants the military to fight this

More: The Lonely Conservative notes the tepid applause throughout Obama’s campaign speech.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Obama To West Pointers: Fight Climate Change »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Barry Obama, Climahypocrites, Global Warming | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

Strangely, Many Aren’t Buying Obama’s Afghanistan Pivot

By William Teach May 28, 2014 – 2:59 pm

In fact, the Washington Post Editorial Board thinks pretty poorly of

YOU CAN’T fault President Obama for inconsistency (well, yes, you can. It really is amateur hour). After winning election in 2008, he reduced the U.S. military presence in Iraq to zero. After helping to topple Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi in 2011, he made sure no U.S. forces would remain. He has steadfastly stayed aloof, except rhetorically, from the conflict in Syria. And on Tuesday he promised to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2016.

The Afghan decision would be understandable had Mr. Obama’s previous choices proved out. But what’s remarkable is that the results also have been consistent — consistently bad. Iraq has slid into something close to civil war, with al-Qaeda retaking territory that U.S. Marines once died to liberate. In Syria, al-Qaeda has carved out safe zones that senior U.S. officials warn will be used as staging grounds for attacks against Europe and the United States. Libya is falling apart, with Islamists, secularists, military and other factions battling for control.

We hope Afghanistan can avoid that fate. But the last time the United States cut and ran from there, after the Soviet Union withdrew, the result was the Taliban takeover, al-Qaeda’s safe havens and, eventually, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, after which everyone said, well, we won’t make that mistake again.

Personally, I’m not too concerned about finally withdrawing troops. We’ve done our bit. Really, it can’t get much better in that regressive shithole through military force, not when so many of the nutjob Islamists are right across the border in Pakistan. That said, what we’ve seen again and again is #hashtag type foreign policy. A lot of brief noise, then the issue is forgotten about for months or years. Like most of Obama’s domestic and foreign policy. There’s no follow through, there’s no one keeping an eye on the ball. It’s policy in the moment.

The Lonely Conservative notes

I just heard John Kerry shouting on TV about the Afghanistan draw down, comparing it to children having deadlines for doing their homework. He was referring to President Obama’s announcement that all but 9,800 troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan this year, just in time for the midterm elections.

Speaking of Senor Waffles, Ed Morrissey notes this tweet

and writes

This comes from the man who launched his own career by attacking the conduct of the US military during the Vietnam War as something out of Genghis Khan. He joined up with anti-war organizers in their own “industry of oppositionists,” and even as late as the Iraq War managed to join in with fellow anti-war voices to criticize George W. Bush’s foreign policy. All of this certainly benefited Kerry, but now suddenly any criticism of foreign policy under his and Obama’s direction is just the product of an “industry of oppositionists”? That’s rank hypocrisy.

Well, yeah, Dems are all about momentary opportunism.

Read: Strangely, Many Aren’t Buying Obama’s Afghanistan Pivot »

Posted in Barry Obama | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 28, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil fossil fueled Jeep causing drought, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The First Street Journal, with a post on Economics 101.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

What Say To $4.9 Million Spent For A Climate Utopia?

By William Teach May 28, 2014 – 10:57 am

But, hey, it’s “only” $4.9 million of federal taxpayer money

(Free Beacon) The National Science Foundation (NSF) gave nearly $5 million to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to create scenarios based on America’s actions on climate change, including a utopian future where everyone rides a bike and courts forcibly take property from the wealthy.

The government has awarded $4,911,961 for the project, which is slated to run until March 2016 and for which the school has created a website suggesting different possibilities of what Yahara, a Wisconsin watershed, will be like in 2070.

In the scenario where Americans “shift our values,” people live in hippie-like communes after “youth culture” convinces the world to give up their cars and eat vegetarian.

“By the 2020s, the world seemed at the edge of environmental and political collapse,” the scenario says. “Despite this predicament, youth culture becomes empowered to shift the course of humanity. Disenchanted with the country’s highly consumptive culture, the younger generations embrace community building and sustainability and work together through grassroots action to get their voices heard.”

Well, hey, what else do the youth have to do? Thanks to Leftist economic policies, jobs have dried up. Their “climate change” and healthcare policies have made the situations worse. Climate change policies will cause prices to skyrocket, meaning everyone has to ride a bike because they cannot afford to even buy a car, much less put gas in one. And is anyone surprised in the least about one of the conditions being Government forcibly taking property from the wealthy? Are you further surprised that they’ve wrapped their pet cult of “climate change” into so many other progressive policy prescriptions?

Make sure to read the entire article for the full effect, and what the Progressive utopia looks like. Of course, most Progressives want Other People to live like this. They refuse to change their own lives.

Read: What Say To $4.9 Million Spent For A Climate Utopia? »

Posted in Global Warming | 10 Comments | Trackback URL
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