POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

All wee-wee’d up and no place to go.

It’s the day after President Obama’s Heroic!, Historic!, Game Changing! health care address to Congress; you know, the one where he basically repeated the same lies things he’s been saying for some time, while calling all who dispute him liars.  I guess that list is getting longer too, because the AP and Reason seem to think that a significant amount of what Mr. Obama put forth last night just doesn’t add up.

Some pundits think that all the charges and counter-charges of lying make the once great man of hope-n-change come off as bitter; like a spoiled child who’s not used to being told “no”.  Still others found the rehashing of his usual talking points, misdirection ploys, and straw man assassinations much like an end of summer soap opera re-run.

Congressman Wilson of South Carolina, who in a now famous moment of anger reacted stridently to one of the Presidents assertions, apologized almost immediately; but honest people understand that his was not the first boorish outburst to mar a Presidential address to Congress. Furthermore, notwithstanding his conduct, his frustration and confusion is understandable.  And he isn’t the only one insisting that Obamacare will cover illegal aliens, since the non-partisan Congressional Research Service reached a similar conclusion some time ago.  It seems that this time Obama’s sonorous baritone and soaring rhetoric is not going to silence some of those he wished to paint in a bad light.  A prime target of the President’s scorn, private citizen Sarah Palin, now free from the scourges of gratuitous lawsuits, weighed in this morning with a less-than-cowed rebuttal of many of Obama’s assertions:

Our objections to the Democrats’ health care proposals are not mere “bickering” or “games.” They are not an attempt to “score short term political points.” And it’s hard to listen to the President lecture us not to use “scare tactics” when in the next breath he says that “more will die” if his proposals do not pass.

In his speech the President directly responded to concerns I’ve raised about unelected bureaucrats being given power to make decisions affecting life or death health care matters. He called these concerns “bogus,” “irresponsible,” and “a lie” -- so much for civility. After all the name-calling, though, what he did not do is respond to the arguments we’ve made, arguments even some of his own supporters have agreed have merit.

In fact, after promising to “make sure that no government bureaucrat .... gets between you and the health care you need,” the President repeated his call for an Independent Medicare Advisory Council -- an unelected, largely unaccountable group of bureaucrats charged with containing Medicare costs. He did not disavow his own statement that such a group, working outside of “normal political channels,” should guide decisions regarding that “huge driver of cost ... the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives....” He did not disavow the statements of his health care advisor, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, and continuing to pay his salary with taxpayer dollars proves a commitment to his beliefs. The President can keep making unsupported assertions, but until he directly responds to the arguments I’ve made, I’m going to call him out too.

[emphasis-ed.]

So while MSNBC and others in the media can try to spin the night as a success for the President and his agenda, time may tell otherwise.  In fact, the lauded CNN poll delivered afterwards, that showed a Dramatic! increase in Obamacare’s favorability turns out to have been wildly over sampled in favor of the Democrats; a fact which should make all the President’s men a bit more concerned.  But in the end, what should perhaps worry them more than any bloom being off the Obama rose, is that Americans may have stopped listening.  If that’s the case, and both the President’s position and the opinions of Americans remain unchanged, then it may indeed be, to use a now popular cliché, Obama and Obamacare’s Waterloo.

I guess the only remaining questions are; 1) Does the won ! have his Elba picked out yet?  I’d hazard a guess at Martinique, but Michelle might not enjoy Ms. Baker’s proximity…

And, 2) Where do we go from here..?

Rocketman

‘Swipes

Today, recapitulating his remarks on health care last night for an audience of nurses, Obama took a page from Robert Gibbs and snarked that he was repeating himself for the benefit of people who might have tuned in to "So, You Think You Can Dance?" on Fox last night, rather than watch the speech. Prior to the speech yesterday, 'swipesperson Gibbs had complained to the folks on Fox and Friends that Fox wasn't going to air the speech. They pointed out that Fox News Channel would televise it, but in the Age of Obama, the choice of foregoing a speech on any channel is verboten.

As swipes go, considering the swipe at Palin last night, this wasn't a big one, but a swipe is a swipe, and Obama was swiping at everyone opposed to him last night, after stating that the time for bickering was over. Of course, we recall from Ellen DeGeneres that Obama can dance--like his white half. His dancing last night was like some bizarre form of tango, as he menacingly upbraided Republicans whilst also throwing them a few bones. John McCain, who loves to be stroked, was delighted.

UPDATE: Obama, $180 million for website; Palin, Facebook

What a bunch of asswipes. Civility NOW!!!

ElectrO RObO BOOgie

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

Website - More Posts

My Rant Was More Reasonable Than Theirs Are

And I could show the work, too, if I wanted. Trust me; I'm an astronomer.

Bush was demonstrably anti-science. Holdren didn't get his job out of political considerations. And I am Marie of Roumania.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

Website - More Posts

The Obama Equation

(Lofty Rhetoric) - (Egregious Douchebaggery) < 0

William Jacobson: The House Bill does cover illegal aliens. Nice Deb: It Had To Be Said.

Donald Douglas and Rhetorican break down the polling. But even the AP was quick to fact check some of Obama's claims.

More thoughts from Rhetorican.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

Website - More Posts

Obama’s Health Care Speech, Condensed

The economy is bad because of Bush. It is pulled back from the brink of disaster because of me. It's still going to be bad for a while. Because of Bush. It's time to look to the future.

Sometimes people are treated badly by insurance companies. That's un-American. Why can't we be more like the rest of the world?

If you have insurance, you'll be able to keep it. If you don't, that's bad, because people who have insurance have to pay for you. That's not fair to the people who pay insurance. Really, it's kind of socialistic. So, I'll make you buy insurance, unless you can't, in which case I'll make other people buy it for you.

I would never do anything that would run up huge deficits. Honest. Also, when they're not stealing your tonsils and hacking off your feet just for the fees, doctors are pretty good people.

There's waste, fraud and abuse in health care, which is why it needs to be taken over by the government.

People who say bad things about my health care plan are liars and dreadful human beings. There needs to be more civility in this discussion. Bush caused 9-11. People who say bad things about my health care plan are trying to scare people, and everybody's going to die if we don't get this thing passed now.

My office has been open to my evil-mongering opponents.

Let's do this for the bloated, corrupt corpse of Teddy Kennedy. He knows the sheer terror and helplessness of coming to and realizing you've left someone to drown in your automobile. It's the American way.

I want to be historic, and if you don't let me, I'm going to stomp my foot take my TelePromTer and go home. The End.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

Website - More Posts

Actions speak louder than, well, you know…

Hoodwinked, Flim-Flammed, Bamboozled, Hokey-Doked...  The always cogent and erudite Thomas Sowell on why Obama's actions to date reveal his intent more than his words tonight ever will.

One plain fact should outweigh all the words of Barack Obama and all the impressive trappings of the setting in which he says them: He tried to rush Congress into passing a massive government takeover of the nation's medical care before the August recess-- for a program that would not take effect until 2013!

Just a taste; read the whole thing...

Rocketman

When masks slip

Check out this piece over at Ace's site, where the conservative writer takes Tom Friedman of the New York Times to task over his latest essay.  In it Friedman is basically scolding those who don't see eye to eye with Obama's ideas of progressive reform, and at the same time extolling the virtues inherent in a one party government.  I mean, this guy isn't even pretending any more!

A taste of Friedman:

One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages. That one party can just impose the politically difficult but critically important policies needed to move a society forward in the 21st century.

To which Uncle Jimbo responds:

Without any of that pesky opposition by troglodyte barbarians who are not "enlightened" enough to be progressives, or to see the joy of the warm embrace of Brother O and the state. Sure sounds like fascism to me.

Read both pieces; it's an enlightening dialectic...

UPDATE:  It.is.so.on! Jonah Goldberg calls Friedman on his yearning for liberal fascism:

So there you have it. If only America could drop its inefficient and antiquated system, designed in the age before globalization and modernity and, most damning of all, before the lantern of Thomas Friedman's intellect illuminated the land...

I cannot begin to tell you how this is exactly the argument that was made by American fans of Mussolini in the 1920s. It is exactly the argument that was made in defense of Stalin and Lenin before him (it's the argument that idiotic, dictator-envying leftists make in defense of Castro and Chavez today). It was the argument made by George Bernard Shaw who yearned for a strong progressive autocracy under a Mussolini, a Hitler or a Stalin (he wasn't picky in this regard). This is the argument for an "economic dictatorship" pushed by Stuart Chase and the New Dealers. It's the dream of Herbert Croly and a great many of the Progressives.

And, as always, Mark Steyn is good for a bit of humorous snark!

Rocketman

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

No, not that Liz isn't in it. I mean the picture Scott's painting?

If you haven't joined us at 4:00 Eastern, you should consider doing so.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

Website - More Posts

Clarice Feldman on The Czars

I wish:

Were I in Congress, I'd demand that funds for these posts be cut off until a better system for scrutiny and accountability is offered and agreed upon. In the absence of oversight and Congressional scrutiny of this powerful inner circle in the White House the entire system of Constitutional checks and balances is meaningless.

Since they are in essence filling roles normally performed by cabinet or subcabinet officers subject to the Congressional confirmation process, at a minimum the President should immediately waive any claim of executive privilege with respect to his contacts and communication with these czars. And he should agree to make them available to Congressional committees to answer programmatic questions normally directed to confirmed officials. And Congress should insist on that before releasing funds to pay them.

Since it appears Congress is yet unwilling to insist on the preservation of its Constitutional prerogatives and the White House unlikely to change course on its own, I take it it's up to what we call the alternative media to keep plodding ahead and picking off by one by one those Czars who are manifestly unsuitable for these posts.

UPDATE: GOP Rep. wants Czars to testify regarding their responsibilities.

HUGE: Boren calls for removal of czars

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

Website - More Posts

Metopia – a Statist’s Dream

Enoch_Root

AKA. Bobby Donn Brubaker (the most popular man in Mesa, AZ), the Umbrella of Terror, Jack Ketch.

Website - More Posts