Barack Obama on what to expect from him, June, 2008: "I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal."
Walter Mondale on public's unfair expectations of Barack Obama, September, 2010: "People think the President is the only one who can fix their problems. And, if he doesn’t produce solutions, I’m telling you—when a person loses a job, or can’t feed his family, or can’t keep his house, he is no longer rational. They become angry, they strike out—and that’s what we have now. If you’re President, they say, ‘Do something!’...The public’s expectations are so outsized"
Barack Obama on what to expect from him, June, 2008: "I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was when individual freedom was finally eliminated, and the rich and worthy were able to claim their rightful place as human masters; an age where we, the wealthy and immoral elite, are given all the profits we are owed due to our general heritage; an age of the New World Order."
Instant replies for Obamanauts who want to get into online debates and need ready-made factoids.
Kind of lacking though, there's no explanation for most of the answers. Everything just flew over my head (except for the ones that I've already seen being discussed by the RKMB leftists and rightists).
I just noticed, the health care bill and the stimulus package gets thrown around a lot in the site. That's kind of like cheating, I guess. Makes it look like he's done more even though a large number of items on the list are just variations on one thing.
Instant replies for Obamanauts who want to get into online debates and need ready-made factoids.
Kind of lacking though, there's no explanation for most of the answers. Everything just flew over my head (except for the ones that I've already seen being discussed by the RKMB leftists and rightists).
"When there's a bill that ends up on my desk as President, you, the public, will have five days to look on-line and find out what's in it, before I sign it. So that you know what your government's doing."
President Obama's latest recess appointment is a corporate lawyer, hailing from a leading Democratic lobbying firm where he represented defense contractors and health care companies.
The nomination of James M. Cole, now deputy attorney general, never made it to the Senate floor thanks to questions about his time as a compliance monitor at AIG, and his views on fighting terrorism.
Cole embodies two typical Obama practices: The president often flouts his tough, anti-lobbyist talk, and he uses recess appointments so that his party's senators don't have to vote on nominees with tainted backgrounds.
Cole was never a registered lobbyist, but he was a partner for years at Bryan Cave LLP, a prominent lobbying firm with strong connections to the Democratic Party and a client list that included Walmart, Microsoft, Peabody Energy, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Ford Motor.
Bryan Cave's lobbyists and lawyers include veterans of the Obama campaign and former top Hill staffers, White House aides, and former lawmakers. The firm's political action committee gave 62 percent of its contributions to Democrats.
BryanCave.com says Cole's job included "representation of corporations and individuals before grand juries, in congressional hearings, in court proceedings, and before federal agencies." One might think that "representation of corporations ... in congressional hearings ... and before federal agencies" might count as lobbying, but Cole has never registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
Cole represented weapons giant McDonnell Douglas, and his Web site says he has also represented "individuals and companies in the health care field concerning disputes concerning billing fraud and abuse and FDA regulatory issues." Drugmaker AstraZeneca is a Bryan Cave lobbying client.
Cole is also a generous Democratic donor, having given the maximum to Obama in 2008 and more than $17,000 to political action committees and candidates since 2000.
The fact that Obama's ethics rules "barring" lobbyists don't apply to Cole -- a Democratic donor and corporate lawyer working at a lobbying firm and representing corporations before Congress -- shows how toothless those rules are. As further evidence, look at Cole's colleagues at his new job.
The Justice Department's antitrust chief, Christine Varney, and Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli, are both former K Street lobbyists. Office of Legal Counsel lawyer Karl Thompson was a lobbyist for Hess and Occidental Petroleum when Obama plucked him from K Street's O'Melveny & Myers.
And the man they all work for -- Attorney General Eric Holder -- was a registered lobbyist at the storied Covington & Burling.
In other words, it's been clear for two years that Obama's "war on lobbyists" was hot air. Tapping "non-lobbyist lobbyist" Cole is just icing.
Two issues held up Cole's nomination. Many Republicans objected to Cole's views in a 2002 op-ed painting the fight against al Qaeda as a criminal prosecution more than a military one, and calling on then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to protect the rights of accused terrorists.
But a handful of Republican lawmakers said they were unhappy with Cole's answers about his stint at AIG. As part of a legal settlement with the U.S. government, AIG was required to hire an independent monitor who would keep an eye on the insurer's regulatory compliance, and report back to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department. From 2004 to 2006, that was Cole.
The Government Accountability Project, a self-described "whistleblower protection organization," has repeatedly criticized Cole for not answering more questions about his time at AIG -- specifically about his interactions with other AIG/K Street types, such as Kathleen Chagnon and Fannie Mae alumna Anastasia Kelly.
With all of this baggage, Republicans placed a "hold" on Cole's nomination after it cleared committee, spurring charges of "unacceptable delay" from Democrats and the Washington Post. But were it important enough, Majority Leader Harry Reid could have moved the nomination to the floor, invoked cloture, and confirmed him. The Republican "hold" didn't block a vote: It merely forced debate. Top Judiciary Committee Republican Jeff Sessions said Cole would be confirmed if Reid moved the nomination.
So why the recess appointment?
Cole's past as a lobbyist-in-all-but-name and the his AIG stint both made him an inconvenient character for Senate Democrats this past year, especially as they campaigned on phony populism and charges of GOP coziness with K Street, Wall Street, and corporate America.
Enter an Obama innovation in presidential power: While George W. Bush used recess appointments to install officials who couldn't clear a Democratic filibuster, Obama -- with the Cole appointment and that of Donald Berwick as Medicare chief -- uses recess appointments to avoid embarrassing floor debates and spare his party's senators from embarrassing votes.
Obama promised to be a trailblazer. What he didn't mention was that he would blaze trails around public accountability.
Originally Posted By: from the above linked article
The fact that Obama's ethics rules "barring" lobbyists don't apply to Cole -- a Democratic donor and corporate lawyer working at a lobbying firm and representing corporations before Congress -- shows how toothless those rules are. As further evidence, look at Cole's colleagues at his new job.
The Justice Department's antitrust chief, Christine Varney, and Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli, are both former K Street lobbyists. Office of Legal Counsel lawyer Karl Thompson was a lobbyist for Hess and Occidental Petroleum when Obama plucked him from K Street's O'Melveny & Myers.
And the man they all work for -- Attorney General Eric Holder -- was a registered lobbyist at the storied Covington & Burling.
In other words, it's been clear for two years that Obama's "war on lobbyists" was hot air. Tapping "non-lobbyist lobbyist" Cole is just icing.
That cuts to the core of Obama's hypocrisy.
A representative example of the Orwellian spin of his administration's rhetoric vs. their true actions and intent at every turn for the last three years.
Whether the action of his administration discussed is the BP oil spill, the 6-month ban on offshore drilling, ramming through an unpopular Obamacare that raises (not lowers) the cost of care while diminishing quality of care, a paper-victory START treaty, taking federa government control over healthcare and the auto industry and other huge sectors of the economy, his connection to ACORN and its corruption, you name it.
There is a huge chasm between what Obama says, and what he does.
And the stated intent is usually the polar opposite of the actual intent.
I've got no problem with Obama making recess appointments. That's his right as president. What I find ironic is the lefties who had a fit when Bush did it who now don't care, coupled with the fact that it sure looks like another broken Obama promise.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama, in a setback to hopes for the quick closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison, reluctantly signed a bill on Friday barring suspects held there from being brought to the United States for trial.
Making plain he would fight to repeal language in the law obstructing civilian U.S. trials for Guantanamo terrorism suspects, Obama said he was left with no choice but to sign the defense authorization act for fiscal 2011.
Oh how I wish Ray Adler, and Whomod were here(posting I know they still lurk). I remember fondly how they said Gitmo was illegal and a violation of international law. Now Obama signs into law the preservation of it as a detention center. How the heads must esplode.
MEM I don't worry about, whatever the daily spin is on this is he will gladly line up behind. He doesn't really have a horse int he race, his beliefs change based on the latest memo.
President Obama has “learned from experience” that some of the Bush administration’s decisions on terrorism issues were necessary, according to former Vice President Dick Cheney.
In his first interview since undergoing major heart surgery last July, Cheney said he thinks Obama has been forced to rethink some of his national security positions now that he sits in the Oval Office.
"I think he's learned that what we did was far more appropriate than he ever gave us credit for while he was a candidate. So I think he's learned from experience. And part of that experience was the Democrats having a terrible showing last election."
Cheney also asserted that Obama has learned that the prison at Guantanamo Bay simply cannot be closed, despite the promises he made while campaigning for the White House.
"I think he's learned that he's not going to be able to close Guantanamo," Cheney said. "That it's — if you didn't have it, you'd have to create one like that. You've got to have some place to put terrorists who are combatants who are bound and determined to try to kill Americans."
Cheney made the comments about Obama in an interview that is set to air Tuesday on NBC’s “Today.” The interview was Cheney's first since before he underwent heart surgery in July. Doctors introduced a device into his heart that pumps blood from the ventricle chamber to his aorta.
The former vice president cited the Obama administration’s expanded use of drones in Pakistan as more evidence of continuity from the policies of the Bush White House.
"As I say, I think he's found it necessary to be more sympathetic to the kinds of things we did," Cheney said. "They've gotten active, for example, with the drone program, using Predator and the Reaper to launch strikes against identified terrorist targets in the various places in the world."
Cheney also weighed in during the interview on the Arizona shooting that left six people dead and injured 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). Cheney was cautious about what role heated political rhetoric played in the shooting.
"I think the event was caused by a deranged individual. And — that's where we ought to look in terms of trying to assess guilt," Cheney said.
But Cheney also said that it was important not to squelch spirited political debate in the shooting’s aftermath.
"I don't think we should anticipate that we can somehow take a system that was designed for political combat, if you will, between the parties, between ideas, between principles and set that aside. I wouldn't want to do that," Cheney said. "That's the heart and soul of our political system. And that's basically a good thing."
Cheney also confirmed an account from President George W. Bush's recently released memoir, “Decision Points,” that he had offered to resign multiple times during his administration.
"I didn't wanna stand in the way if, in fact, that kind of decision would enhance the president's prospects of winning reelection in 2004 when he was up against John Kerry," Cheney said. "And I thought he ought to have the freedom to change anybody he wanted, including me."
I think Cheney gives Obama too much credit I don't think he learned anything. He knew when he was in Congress Bush was right and used all the rhetoric to get elected. Proof of that is all his Congressional buddies have pretty muched backed Bush's policies when they had the chance to over turn them from taxes, Gitmo, on and on.
"When John McCain said we could just 'muddle through' in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the gates of hell--but he won't even go to the cave where he lives."
"I think that we have to so weaken his infrastructure that, whether he is technically alive or not, he is so pinned down that he cannot function. My preference obviously would be to capture or kill him. But if we have so tightened the noose that he's in a cave somewhere and can't even communicate with his operatives, then we will meet our goal of protecting America."
Indeed I have Pariah. I understand now that it was Obama's policies that brought us to this point in the middle east. It was truly through Obama's sole effort that Osama got his just dessert!
That's true I guess. It's not as thought he was wanted to pull out of the Middle East entirely or anything...
![[Linked Image from i13.photobucket.com]](http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a275/captainsammitch/boards/banners/blogban3.jpg)
[/center]![[Linked Image from i13.photobucket.com]](http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a275/captainsammitch/boards/banners/jlamiska.jpg)
[/center]
