Friday, October 21, 2011

Why So Many Foreign Policy Victories For Obama?

Former DNC Communications Director Karen Finney said it best: "Look at the foreign policy successes -- that is what President Obama can get done when the GOP cannot obstruct him."

This should be the central theme of Obama's reelection campaign.

"What The Fuck Is Wrong With You People?"

"Is there no Republican that can be gracious and statesmanlike in this situation? We removed a dictator in six months, losing no American soldiers, spending like a billion dollars rather than a trillion dollars, and engendering what appears to be goodwill to people who now have a prideful story of their own independence to tell -- not to mention oil (they have oil!). * * *
"What the fuck is wrong with you people? Honestly, what is wrong with you? Are you that small?"
-- Jon Stewart.

The Fox segment -- starting at 8:40 -- is particularly funny. Those poor FoxNews bastards are livid that Obama actually pulled off this thing in Libya! I think it is hilarious that there are people in this country who are furious today because Obama keeps handing America one foreign policy success after another (and it probably doesn't help that their guys -- Bush and Cheney -- were so utterly incompetent in this area).

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Bonus Quote of the Week

Remember hearing about the “blame America first” crowd? Well, say hello to the “thank America last” crowd.
Steve Benen, noting that in their rush to not give the hated Obama credit for his success in Libya, Republicans couldn't even bring themselves to thank the U.S. servicemen and women for the part they played in taking Qadaffi out.

I know these characters hate America and all, but their hatred for this country usually isn't so prominently on display (except, of course, when they intentionally try to bring down our economy, like they did last summer).

Quote of the Week (With Updates)

From Andrew Sullivan:
"To rid the world of Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki and Moammar Qaddafi within six months: if Obama were a Republican, he'd be on Mount Rushmore by now."
Fucking-A.

UPDATE: Marco Rubio is a steaming pile of excrement as well as a hater of American servicemen, apparently -- and it turns out he's also a goddam foreigner (yes, the Birthers are back!).

BTW, how do you know that Republicans hate Obama with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns? Because -- as the above Rubio link indicates -- they'd rather give the fucking French credit for the victory in Libya than give any credit to Obama (or to our men and women in uniform), and Republicans hate the French.

Of course, this isn't surprising -- they spent the last several months criticizing the Obama Administration's Libya policy, so what the hell else can they do, admit they were wrong?

UPDATE II: Well, at least two Republicans still have some honor:
“It’s a great day,” Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, said on CNN on Thursday morning. “I think the administration deserves great credit. Obviously, I had different ideas on the tactical side, but the world is a better place.”

Senator Mark Steven Kirk, Republican of Illinois, added, in a statement, referring to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, “The administration, especially Secretary Clinton, deserve our congratulations.”

UPDATE III
: Kevin Drum nails it:
I understand the left's problem with Obama's national security policy. But the right? What the hell is their problem? Obama has escalated our presence dramatically in Afghanistan; he created a massive drone air force that's all but wiped out al-Qaeda in Pakistan; he killed Osama bin Laden; he approved a multilateral military operation in Libya that ended up killing Muammar Qaddafi; he sent a SEAL team out to kill Somali pirates; he assassinates U.S. citizens in foreign countries who are associated with al-Qaeda; and he's done more to isolate and sanction Iran than George Bush ever did. Crikey. Just how bloodthirsty do they want the guy to be?

Of course, it's also true that Obama has suggested that Israel should halt new construction in West Bank settlements, and he hasn't yet turned Iran into a glassy plain. I suppose the former is enough to make him the second coming of Neville Chamberlain all by itself, and the latter is something to keep pushing for. Hope springs eternal.

But seriously guys. How much more militaristic do you realistically think an American president can be, especially after the military fiascoes of the past decade that you so enthusiastically backed? Get a grip.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The Vote Was A Setback For Obama?

McClatchy is usually pretty good at political analysis, but its take on the GOP filibuster of Obama's Jobs Bill misses the mark:
Senators voted 50-49 on a procedural move to take up Obama’s plan, but 60 votes were required under Senate rules for lawmakers to proceed on the measure. * * *

The vote was a setback for Obama, who has been crisscrossing the country trumpeting the bill and predicting that its defeat would be the fault of obstructionist Republicans. * * *
WTF? I thought everybody knew that there was absolutely no chance of the bill passing in the Senate because that particular body now requires 60 votes to get anything done, and the GOP is filibustering everything these days. Christ, if Obama proposed a bill that both banned abortion and outlawed the ACLU, and the GOP thought that such a bill might help Obama politically, every Republican would still vote against it.

That's the whole point of last night's exercise. Get these America-hating GOP motherfuckers on the record, then attack them for not only opposing job creation, but also opposing higher taxes on the rich, something that a vast majority of Americans -- and a clear majority of Republicans -- actually support.

What I found particularly troubling about the McClatchy piece was that the word "filibuster" is found nowhere in it, even though that is exactly what happened last night. Pull your heads out of your asses, McClatchy-folk -- you're usually much better than this.

UPDATE: The Cincinnati Enquirer appears to get it: