posted June 07, 2010 10:40 PM         

Even formerly reliable leftists in the so called main stream media are questioning O'Bomber's competence.

Socialist Progressive demoscats are running away from O'Bomber as hard as they can and recently in Pennsylvania, no member of the House or Senate were "available" to attend an O'Bomber speech there.

Even leftists here at LindaLand have discontinued any defense of O'Bomber and his radical far left Marxist Socialist agenda.

Steps in the right direction...indeed!

posted June 08, 2010 10:31 PM         

Obama loses the Left: suddenly, it's cool to bash Barack
By Toby Harnden
Published: 3:07PM BST 05 Jun 2010

Well, at least he's still got Sir Paul McCartney. At the White House last week, the 67-year-old crooner was gushing in much the same manner as his own groupies did at Shea Stadium in 1965. "I'm a big fan, he's a great guy," McCartney told American critics of President Barack Obama. "So lay off him, he's doing great."

Later, McCartney serenaded the First Lady with a rendition of Michelle and, receiving a prize from the Library of Congress, took a cheap shot at President George W Bush that was as unfunny as it was unoriginal. “After the last eight years, it’s great to have a president who knows what a library is.” Bush. Doesn’t read books. Stupid. Geddit?

The problem for the President is that even if the former Beatle does speak for billions, the overwhelming majority of those are overseas. Polls show that around 10 per cent of those who voted for Obama in 2008 now disapprove of his performance and the heavy turnout of young people and black voters among the 69 million who back him will not be repeated again.

McCartney's banalities were an example of a transatlantic dissonance that is all too apparent these days. Whereas Europe is stuck in November 2008 and still hopelessly in love with Obama, Americans have got over the historic symbolism of it all and are now moving on as they live with the reality.

That reality has now begun to dawn on some of Obama's natural constituency - Hollywood and the Left. The "no drama Obama" demeanour that served him so well on the campaign trail is now becoming a liability.

Bemoaning Obama's passivity after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the director Spike Lee thundered: "He's very calm, cool, collected. But, one time, go off! If there's any one time to go off, this is it, because this is a disaster."

This is the same Spike Lee who once described Obama's election as a "seismic" change that represented "a better day not only for the United States but for the world".

The ladies of The View, the liberal-dominated morning talk show moderated by Whoopi Goldberg, spent a lot of time last week sympathising with Mrs Obama about how difficult it must be to argue with a husband who never shows any fire or emotion.

Even the liberal chattering classes are deserting Obama. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times jeered that his "Yes we can" slogan had been downgraded to "Will we ever?", while fellow colunnist Frank Rich blasted his "recurrent tardiness in defining exactly what he wants done".

Perhaps Obama's toughest critic over the BP oil slick has been James "Rajin' Cajun" Carville, the mastermind of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and one of those Democrats who represents the beating heart of the party. He blasted Obama's "political stupidity" and "hands off" attitude, concluding: "It seems the President is madder at his critics than he is at BP."

His point was proved when Robert Gibbs, Obama's hyper-aggressive spokesman, responded: "I don't think James understands all of what we're doing. I don't think James understood the facts." Carville is a Louisiana native who had spent more time viewing the oil-soaked coastal wetlands than anyone in the White House.

It is an irony of Obama's presidency - which came into being because he was the unBush - that it shares some of the worst traits of his predecessor's administration. Among these are insularity and a blinkered arrogance.

The young Texans who seemed genetically incapable of viewing any criticism of George W Bush as less than treason may have gone but a similar cult has replaced them. The Obamatrons who now populate Washington have iPads under their arms and greet each other with fist bumps. Earnest, geeky types, they look upon anyone who does not worship Obama with pity – such a being must be too stupid or bigoted to know better.

Obama has never been wracked by self-doubt and he is unusually self-contained for a politician. He seems not to need people or reassurance. In office, this is dangerous – he sometimes seems to be living in a cocoon.

The White House's attempts to deal criticisms of Obama's detachment have been comical. First there was Obama's own cringeworthy (and doubtless bogus) anecdote about his 11-year-old daughter Malia asking: "Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?" Then there was Gibbs illustrating Obama's passionate concern for the people of the Gulf by relating that he had said "damn" and exhibited a "clenched jaw".

posted June 08, 2010 10:42 PM         

Let me help you out again acoustic.

Elected officials say no thanks to Obama invite
By Mike Wereschagin
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Congressmen Jason Altmire and Tim Murphy have previous engagements. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. and Rep. Mike Doyle are out of town on anniversary trips with their wives. Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato will be campaigning in Philadelphia.

When President Obama and Sen. Arlen Specter land at Pittsburgh International Airport today, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl will receive them by himself.

The rest of the region's top elected officials declined White House invitations to attend Obama's speech at Carnegie Mellon University this afternoon, their offices said.

The White House billed Obama's speech as a follow-up to his economic address at Georgetown University on April 14, 2009, less than two months after he signed the $787 billion stimulus bill. In it, he spoke of laying "a new foundation for growth and prosperity -- a foundation that will move us from an era of borrow-and-spend to one where we save and invest."

Obama's last trip to Pittsburgh was Sept. 24 and 25, when the city hosted the Group of 20 economic summit. He was in town 10 days before that to deliver the keynote address at the AFL-CIO convention. During both of those trips, elected officials didn't greet him at the airport -- as Ravenstahl will -- but met up with him later, snagging a slice of the ever-present media spotlight on the country's chief executive.

"It's peculiar, to say the least," Gerald Shuster, professor of political communication at the University of Pittsburgh, said about elected officials declining such invitations.

Altmire, a McCandless Democrat, will be in Midland, about an hour from Carnegie Mellon's Oakland campus, to talk about $500,000 he secured for charter schools, spokeswoman Tess Mullen said.

"More than 150 people are coming," Mullen said. "It's been advertised for weeks."

Obama lost Altmire's district to Arizona Sen. John McCain by 10 percentage points in 2008. Altmire voted against administration priorities such as climate change and health care legislation, citing the wishes of constituents.

Onorato's Philadelphia event was scheduled "for quite some time" before the White House announced the president's visit Friday, spokesman Brian Herman said.

Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, will be heading up a technology expo at a Canonsburg hotel. His office said that, too, had been in the works for a while.

Doyle's excursion is necessary to secure the support of a narrow but essential constituency, he said.

"I planned this getaway with my wife months ago to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary," Doyle said via e-mail from his undisclosed location. "If I'd canceled it, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be celebrating our 36th anniversary next year."

Obama won Pennsylvania in 2008 with 55 percent of the vote. Shortly after, Casey, Doyle and Specter joined him at the White House to watch the Steelers win the Super Bowl.

Obama's Georgetown speech laid out five "pillars" on which the country's economy would grow: new Wall Street regulations, federal budget savings, and investments in education, renewable energy and health care. Major changes since the speech include Senate passage of a financial reform bill on May 20; handing out the first round of education grants in the $4.4 billion Race to the Top program, with the second round beginning this month; and passage of a health care law in March.

The unemployment rate was 8.9 percent when Obama gave the Georgetown speech, and 9.9 percent in April, according to the most recent data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The country's Gross Domestic Product shrank at a rate of 4.6 percent in the first quarter of 2009. In the first quarter of 2010, it increased 4.1 percent.

A Susquehanna Polling & Research survey in April found Obama's job approval in Pennsylvania fell to 42 percent, with 49 percent disapproving.

In the 10-county Southwestern Pennsylvania area, 43 percent approved of his performance, compared to 45 percent who disapproved, said Jim Lee, the polling company's president. The counties are Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland.

Officials in swing districts such as Altmire's, with an electorate showing an anti-incumbent mood, are loathe to link themselves to Washington, Lee said.

"I think Altmire fears a Charlie Crist moment," Lee said, referring to the Florida governor voters chased from the GOP Senate primary this year after his more-conservative opponent used photos of Crist and Obama embracing.

Ravenstahl will greet Obama and Specter as they step off Air Force One at Pittsburgh International, and the three will ride into the city together, said Ravenstahl's spokeswoman, Joanna Doven.

The mayor plans to make the most of his face time, discussing some of the city's transportation needs and highlighting economic strides Pittsburgh has made, Doven said.

posted June 09, 2010 04:49 PM         

how's that conservative takeover going for ya guys? heh?

The national "tea party" movement's recent winning streak broke with Tuesday's primary results, providing fresh evidence of the decentralized conservative network's struggle to convert activist anger and energy into electoral results.

posted June 09, 2010 05:44 PM         

In the meantime, O'Bomber is sinking and even his lap dog press activists are calling him incompetent.

Here, let me respond for you in your usual non substantive manner...with a few extras thrown in so you don't have to extend yourself and respond to future posts.

posted June 10, 2010 07:39 AM         

It took Carter the better part of 4 years.