HOPE: It’s a Flexible Foreign Policy

This story about Big Guy sending a secret message to Iran recognizing their nuclear rights is bogus. I know it contains a whiff of truth; Big Guy does like to show respect and deference to our enemies in order to get them to trust and respect us. Butt I’m not buying it; for the simple reason that BO’s been perfectly clear what his position on nuclear armament is ever since his undergraduate days at Columbia.

As Dewey From Detroit reported back in 2009, everything BO needed to know about foreign affairs he learned by his senior year at Columbia. (h/t Dinesh D'Souza)

His position on nuclear armament was particularly well articulated and, thankfully for us, documented in the student magazine, Sundial:

“Generally, the narrow focus of the Freeze movement as well as academic discussion of the first versus second strike capabilities, suit the military-industrial interests, as they continue adding to their billion dollar erector sets.”

Better we should build windmills…

In case you’re having a little trouble following that, it means he’s opposed to "the relentless, often silent spread of militarism in the country" in general and to nuclear arms in particular.

…and solar panels

Likewise, Barry, as he was still known then, noted that the anti-nuclear groups on campus were providing a great service by "visualizing the possibilities of destruction and grasping the tendencies of distorted national priorities,” by “throwing their weight into shifting America off the dead-end track," i.e. eliminating our nuclear arsenal.

So unless you believe that Big Guy’s “evolved” from the position he developed as a 22 year old member of the Choom-squad – and we have no reason to believe he has – he’s not going to support the proliferation of nuclear weapons simply to ingratiate himself to our enemies!

Unless, of course, he has to.

Don’t forget to tell Pootie that I can do back bends, Dmitri

Roger Simon, in giving Governor Romney advice ahead of tonight’s debate, seems to agree with me:

Only a man with a leftover undergraduate ambivalence about Western civilization would have dealt with the Benghazi catastrophe in such a fashion in the first place. Barack Obama responded to the terrorism like a Columbia junior stoned on a reefer… (snip)…Mitt Romney would be well advised to remember his opponent is a man who has not fully grown up. He doesn’t know how to take responsibility in an adult manner, so the chances that he will lash out are strong.

Boy, who would have thought that the foreign affairs debate – thought to be a lay up for Big Guy just a month ago – would end up being such a mine field of potentially embarrassing questions?

Butt with this kind of clear, crisp thinking I expect BO to do just fine:

“It’s naïve for us to think,”… “that we can grow our nuclear stockpiles, the Russians continue to grow their nuclear stockpiles, and our allies grow their nuclear stockpiles, and that in that environment we’re going to be able to pressure countries like Iran and North Korea not to pursue nuclear weapons themselves.”

Unless of course, Dewey is right:

No, that’s not naive. That’s knowing what our military is there for: keeping rogue nations that mean us harm in check.

But here’s what is naive: clinging to the same idealistic goal of a nuclear free world that he espoused in 1983. Where is the wisdom that generally accrues with age and experience? As Frank J. Gaffney Jr., a former Pentagon official from the Reagan era, points out: “There is only one country on earth that Team Obama can absolutely, positively denuclearize: Ours.” Believing others will follow our good example is the textbook definition of naive.

So, expect a good game tonight when Big Guy and Mitt square off in the Foreign Affairs Superbowl. BO’s been cramming all weekend, and finally made it through his binder:

So I just hope he’s had enough sleep, eats the right kind of dinner and doesn’t forget any of his hysterical one liners about Benghzi tonight.

It’s looking good for Team-Obama so far; we’ve got Chavez, Castro, Putin, Russell Crowe, and the UN all in our camp. What could go wrong?

Besides, Mitt’s too much of a gentleman to ask what BO meant by telling Medvedev to let Pootie know “I’ll have more flexibility after the election,” or “why didn’t you authorize more security for our embassy?” And even if he does, Big Guy’s been practicing his defense-offense response all weekend:

So turn on the popcorn machine, roll in the tea trolley and let’s get ready to rumble! Butt remember: this is an exhibition, not a competition. No wagering please.

“You don’t just pick the winners and losers. You pick the losers.” Mitt Romney

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What Didn’t He Know and When Didn’t He Know It?

Well, isn’t this just the last thing we need: a bunch of Republicans trying to make a big election about a bunch of small, non-optimal stuff? 

Take Benghazi, for example; suddenly – and “conveniently” just ahead of the Foreign Affairs Debate – the drumbeat of “cover-up” surrounding the colossal screw-up tragedy at our embassy has begun. You can practically hear the rumble all up and down the Potomac: “What didn’t he know, and when didn’t he know it?”

I wonder if Nixon had  one of these orbs?

The implication, of course, is that - just like Nixon’s Watergate - BO is presiding over a massive cover-up of the truth about Benghazi. Except that no Americans were killed or injured in the making of Watergate, its subsequent cover-up or the production of the movie version.

Butt before we jump right to the unfortunate term “cover-up” lets get an expert definition of that word in the context of politics from the deceased former Nixon aide, William Safire: "any plan to avoid detection of wrongdoing . . . an act to conceal a mistake." 

Are you kidding me? That doesn’t help very much. That’s Big Guy’s day-to-day modus operandi (h/t Dr. Sanity)!

He never allows himself to be "pinned down", or accountable. More lies are always necessary to cover up a previous lie. And typically, he even begins to believe his own lies and become outraged at any suggestion that he may be lying.

Thus he becomes sincere in his lying and others may actually believe the lies because of the sincerity.

“Check the transcript, Candy!” 

Anyway, it now appears there are 3 timelines that could trip us up: the "pre" period run up during which extra security was requested and denied, the five or six hours on the evening of Sept. 11 when the attacks transpired, and:

The third and final Benghazi timeline is the one that has fostered charges of a coverup. It stretches eight days—from 3:40 p.m. on Sept. 11, when the consulate was first rocked by gunfire and explosions, through the morning of Sept. 19, when Matthew G. Olsen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, publicly testified before the Senate that Benghazi was a terrorist attack. (during which Jay, Susan Rice, Hilz and Big Guy all played the “Blame the You Tube video” game more than once.)

             

           

Big Guy’s personal “Blame the YouTube video” tour

As things have “evolved” throughout the course of  “Operation Truth Redirection” Jay-Jay, playing the role of Nixon’s press secretary, has already earned himself more than one Ron Zeigler Award for Excellence in Obfuscation.

When White House Press Secretary Jay Carney finally acknowledged that the terrorism conclusion was "self-evident" after he had spent the previous eight days pressing a wholly different account of events, Mr. Carney's admission carried strong echoes of Nixon-era Press Secretary Ron Ziegler declaring that his earlier Watergate statements were "inoperative."

I knew Ron Zeigler, and you, Jay are no Ron Zeigler. He at least made his lies sound plausible. And even though Big Guy is “the most thin-skinned President since Richard Nixon.” I don’t believe Ron ever had to resort to giving the entire press corpse (sic) a time out. 

As I’ve mentioned before, I always get nervous when I hear Big Guy’s name mentioned in the same sentence as Tricky Dick’s. Not that there’s anything wrong with being associated with a president driven out of office in shame by a scandal/cover-up. It’s just that I find the comparison of BO to a man who fits this psychological description disturbing:

As I understand it, President Nixon was said to be a paranoid narcissist who had a drinking problem, suffered mood swings, had difficulty distinguishing between his perceptions and objective reality, despised the increasingly critical press and demonized those who disagreed with him.

So anyway, here we are: one day before the most important debate in the presidential election and we’re having to deal with all this “noise” about a cover-up. And all because, for some reason, our preferred method of dealing with these things – lie, stonewall, lie some more – doesn’t seem to be working. It might be time for a little wag the dog therapy, or at least a few slight of hand tricks. Otherwise, tomorrow night’s debate could turn into a two-bowls-of-popcorn and open tea trolley TV event.

Who will emerge victorious from tomorrow’s debate? Vote now.Warning: man on the right is a composite.

“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.”

An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly.

But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys,

 

heard in the very halls of government itself.

 

For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men.

He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist.

 

A murderer is less to fear.

The traitor is the plague.” Cicero 160-43 BC

That sounds vaguely familiar. Kind of like “a cancer on the presidency” or something.

“Here you go Buh-rock. Your turn to sign.”

I don’t think I like the vibes I’m beginning to get here.

Linked By: Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and Obeline on The Ulsterman Report, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

These boots are made for walkin’ so when you get to a fork in the road, take it.

So, did you watch the whole show?

Suffice it to say you don’t really need to know:

• what’s in Lady M’s purse (nothing, that’s what her aides are for: "There's nothing in my purse. I get teased for having a purse with nothing in it. As First Lady — no money, no keys, nothing. I look to 22-year-olds for my life,”.)

 

official satchels issued to Lady M’s human satchels

• Her favorite guilty pleasure (“French fries”, duh! That’s why we got McDonalds to replace your fries with apple slices.)

Sometimes Lady M’s human satchels pack a little snack of French fries in her bag

• Her favorite reality show  - besides “Life in the Big White with Barry” – (Real Housewives of Washington D.C., of course: "I do love a little ‘Real Housewives’ every now and then.")

Because celebrity is what’s “real” around here

• Or whether she prefers Big Guy in boxers or briefs (Answer: neither. “Oh. None of the above.[laughter]“No, I’m kidding.” No kidding.)

 

Boxers or briefs? Ooooh, that’s a tough one!

• Or even what super power she would like to have: (: “I would fly.” Another duh! response; of course she would! How else do you get around the world?)

 

Let’s face it, we have much bigger fish to fry. Our immediate concern is Winning the Future (WTF^®), so we can continue to jet around the world in Air Force Won and Air Force Won Too. And that requires Lady M to be on the campaign trail while BO is holed up at Camp David cramming for how to deal with all those pesky, not optimal, foreign affairs bumps in the road.

To that end (WTF^®),  MO was in Wisconsin yesterday wearing her lucky campaign belt from ‘08:

her lucky campaign boots:

and her lucky campaign butt:

She encouraged students to vote early because you just never know what might back up on election day:

"You wake up on Election Day -- you might have a cold, babysitter gets sick, it's raining, the car broke down, I could go on -- toilet overflowing. There are so many ways to mess up a day when you don't have a lot of time,"

“Look Hillary, that’s what I’m paying you for. So just tell the Ambassador I’m too busy to deal with his whining about security right now.”

 

Linked By: Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and BadBlue, and Henrysheretoo on twitter, and  BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

`If you don't know what to uglify is, you ARE a simpleton.'

How many times do I have to tell him?

BO should never be allowed to operate without a net, which is to say, without TOTUS. And this endless loop of Big Guy on the Daly Show being played exclusively on Fox is precisely why.

Sure, he was just “mirroring” () Jon’s own words. Butt let me be clear: Jon Stewart said the government’s RESPONSE to Benghazi was “not optimal” (clearly, when your consulate calls for help, and none is dispatched, that would be considered sub-“optimal”) butt what Big Guy “mirrored” back was “if four Americans get KILLED, that’s not optimal.” 

No, that’s not optimal. Butt let me explain: Big Guy is so conditioned to “read” whatever thoughts he has that when TOTUS is unavailable for comment BO tends to “read” off anything else that happens to be nearby: including people’s words, signs, whatever:

                                       

“I inherited a big mess, we’ll hit a few bumps in the road, you didn’t build that!”

So now that I’ve explained that little mis-misunderstanding, let’s get on to other important news from yesterday: Both Big Guy and Mitt Romney attended the traditional Al Smith Charity Dinner where everyone pokes fun at everybody else - all in good humor - and for a good cause.

Nice cummerbund Cardinal! Where can I get one?

Lady M didn’t attend. You can see how lost BO is without her.

Actually MO was busy recovering (over dinner) from an earlier taping of the Live! With Kelly and Michael show in New York (which airs today, don’t miss it!).

Former NFL defensive end Michael Strahan makes Lady M look positively diminutive. And what a pretty little frock!

Additional reasons for Lady M not attending the dinner of rich white guys: the burka she generally wears to meet with members of the Catholic Church hierarchy was at the cleaners.

And beyond all that MO doesn’t really like white-tie affairs,  because they’re emblems of racist White Imperialism. Unless of course they’re inaugurals for Big Guy, in which case they are paeans to the White Man’s Burden, and reason to be proud of your country for the first or second time in your adult life.

Butt Ann was there:

And looking quite lovely! Despite being 16 years older than Lady M, a breast cancer survivor and a MS sufferer. Probably because she “actually never worked a day in her life” (h/t: Hillary Rosen) she was somehow able to tape a TV show herself earlier in the day. In the lion’s den of the “ladies” of the View. Talk about a “hostile workplace.”

I’ll have some of whatever she’s taking.

And while she looked lovely, as always, I’m sticking with my recommendation of no hair below chin level for ladies of a certain age. Unless you wear it up.

Wow! I rest my case.

Anyway, I planned to get on with our Alice in Wonderland motif today – continuing  with the Red Queen’s march through the croquet field, mindlessly ordering the decapitation of her royal subjects:

“The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, screamed `Off with her head! Off—'”

However, due to the hateful out pouring of hate from haters everywhere, I think I better bury this story for awhile because it seems to be getting rather ugly:

And by “ugly” I mean “ugly:”

`I never heard of "Uglification," Alice ventured to say. `What is it?'

The Gryphon lifted up both its paws in surprise. `What! Never heard of uglifying!' it exclaimed. `You know what to beautify is, I suppose?'

`Yes,' said Alice doubtfully: `it means--to--make--anything-- prettier.'

`Well, then,' the Gryphon went on, `if you don't know what to uglify is, you ARE a simpleton.'

Obamanomics: Uglifying America since 2009. It’s that simple. Not optimal, butt simple.

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