Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies.
Locked on 03/10/2009 1:10:04 PM PDT by Admin Moderator, reason:

duplicate: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2203394/posts



Skip to comments.

The "They Did It" Presidency (Victor Davis Hanson, Mark Steyn, Andy McCarthy)
NRO corner ^ | 3/10/2009 | Victor Davis Hanson, Mark Steyn, Andy McCarthy

Posted on 03/10/2009 11:15:35 AM PDT by Tolik

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDNjYmNkYWNmNWExNDMyNmQyNmE3NWYwMjAwNmFhY2Q=

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 The "They Did It" Presidency   [Victor Davis Hanson]

Obama's awkward corrective call to the NY Times that "Bush is the socialist, not me!" comes after claiming that the Brit protocol disaster was due to his weariness and the frenzy of the job. That claim comes after the White House orchestrated attack on Rush. Yet the problem for Obamians is not in the stars, but in themselves, mostly a result of that classically unfortunate combination of hubris and inexperience. The Obamians need to get a life and govern the country, rather than blaming their gaffes on Bush, Rush, life, etc. . . .

Bad/bad   [Victor Davis Hanson]
 

With Clinton we got high taxes (bad) but balanced budgets imposed by the spending caps in Congress (good). With Bush we got tax cuts (good) but deficits (bad). With Obama we get tax hikes (bad) and astronomical deficits (bad).

Two notes: We are not going back to the Clinton tax hikes, but something far scarier, with states raising taxes, the fed doing the same, and new proposals to lift the caps on FICA payroll taxes. And these vast increases won't go to pay for the deficit, but to fund new spending/borrowing plans that come on top of deficit spending.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 Re: The "They did it" presidency   [Mark Steyn]
 

Victor, I have to say the first six weeks of the Age of the Hopeychange have surprised me. I expected it to be bad, but I didn't expect it to be so incompetent. Not because I had any expectations of President Obama's executive skills: As I said back in the fall re the comparisons with Governor Palin, Barack ain't run nuthin' but his mouth. This is the first real job he's had where you're supposed to show up at nine in the morning and make decisions.

So I had no expectations about his executive competency. But I assumed he had folks around him who could take care of that kind of stuff - that he'd be the smiley-face hopeychange frontman on an ideologically disastrous but ruthlessly efficient team. I figured he'd have a Deputy Assistant Associate Secretary of whatever who'd know what the form was for a prime ministerial visit by a close ally, and an Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary who wouldn't compound the gaffes by telling Fleet Street who cares about the Brits anyway. I expected he'd have an Assistant Associate Deputy Secretary who'd know that Russo-American relations weren't the proper forum for lame prop gags, and a Deputy Associate Assistant Secretary who, once the decision were taken to go ahead with the lame prop gag, would at least be able to translate correctly one single word from English to Russian.

What happened? Where's his team? It's not like 2005, when the Senate Dems were holding up Condi and vetoing Bolton. Senate Republicans would be happy just to rubberstamp one big photocopied [INSERT NAME OF NOMINEE HERE] form. But, as many have noted, the soi-disant "smoothest transition in history" ground to a halt the moment Bush flew off to Crawford.

Perhaps, in his hectic round of promotional interviews, David Frum could find time - just for eight or nine seconds, say - to offer some thoughts on why the President's administration is not as "honed" as his physique.  

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 Re: Re: The "They Did It" Presidency   [Andy McCarthy]
 

To me, what is most startling about the phenomenon VDH and Mark describe is actually listening to the president stuttering and bumbling his way through that follow-up call to the NYTimes. (The recording can be heard by clicking on an MP3 link in this Times story.)  It's cringe-making stuff — the poor delivery, the claim that Bush is the real socialist and Obama the free-marketeer (does anyone actually believe Obama opposed, or would have opposed, the prescription-drug entitlement or nationalizing the banks? that he'd ever in a million years do anything but build on these statist policies, as he has been doing since day one?), the craven refusal to utter Bush's name when the Times reporter asks the obvious follow-up question, the whopper about how he's got so much to do the last thing he wanted to be concerned about was the market (from the guy who spent his career carping about "economic justice" and criticized the Warren Court for not being radical enough in economic matters), etc.

If Obama had haltingly spouted this nonsense off-the-cuff at a press conference, that would have been bad enough. But he (or someone) actually decided this would be a good call to make — and they had 90 minutes to think about what he was going to say. That's not just bad, it's scary bad.


TOPICS: Editorial
KEYWORDS: andymccarthy; andymccarthyvdh; duplicate; marksteyn; obama; vdh; victordavishanson
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last

1 posted on 03/10/2009 11:15:35 AM PDT by Tolik
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Tolik
The most foolish thing Obama did was to threaten taxes during a recession. It is one thing to do taxes now, but to promise taxes in the future is a red flag to businessmen, not to hire but to fire.
2 posted on 03/10/2009 11:18:42 AM PDT by sr4402
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tolik

Just wait till foreign affairs get hot.


3 posted on 03/10/2009 11:19:50 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (American Revolution II -- overdue)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tolik
mostly a result of that classically unfortunate combination of hubris and inexperience

Hubris, inexperience and EVIL INTENT!

Denying the EVIL INTENT does not make it go away.

4 posted on 03/10/2009 11:20:13 AM PDT by donna (Sarah Palin: "...all of us, who consider ourselves progressive...")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tolik
So I had no expectations about his executive competency. But I assumed he had folks around him who could take care of that kind of stuff - that he'd be the smiley-face hopeychange frontman on an ideologically disastrous but ruthlessly efficient team. I figured he'd have a Deputy Assistant Associate Secretary of whatever who'd know what the form was for a prime ministerial visit by a close ally, and an Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary who wouldn't compound the gaffes by telling Fleet Street who cares about the Brits anyway. I expected he'd have an Assistant Associate Deputy Secretary who'd know that Russo-American relations weren't the proper forum for lame prop gags, and a Deputy Associate Assistant Secretary who, once the decision were taken to go ahead with the lame prop gag, would at least be able to translate correctly one single word from English to Russian.

Amazing stuff from Steyn.

5 posted on 03/10/2009 11:23:06 AM PDT by agere_contra (So ... where's the birth certificate?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tolik

the most incompetent administration ever. and its populated by socialists.

Incompetent socialists are as scary as competent ones. IMO.


6 posted on 03/10/2009 11:24:12 AM PDT by GeronL (Will bankrupting America lead to socialism?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: agere_contra

Steyn in print is like Rush Limbaugh on radio


7 posted on 03/10/2009 11:25:24 AM PDT by GeronL (Will bankrupting America lead to socialism?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Tolik
"..The Obamians need to get a life and govern the country, rather than blaming their gaffes on Bush, Rush, life, etc. . . ..."

They are continuing with what got them power.

8 posted on 03/10/2009 11:25:41 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tolik

“Bush is the socialist, not me!”

He *actually* said that?

Whoa.

Somebody’s subconscious is screaming its guts out.


9 posted on 03/10/2009 11:28:08 AM PDT by Salamander (Like acid and oil on a madman's face, reason tends to fly away.......)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tolik
Photobucket

Hottest man alive.

10 posted on 03/10/2009 11:34:03 AM PDT by synbad600
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: synbad600

I hear ya!

Coolest accent, too.


11 posted on 03/10/2009 11:44:34 AM PDT by lazypadawan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: ClearCase_guy
Just wait till foreign affairs get hot.

They'll just continue the lie that there was no Al Qaida in Iraq before GW Boooosh instigated them.

12 posted on 03/10/2009 11:45:59 AM PDT by a fool in paradise ("Do you know the website number?" - VP Joe Biden)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: All

bookmark bump!


13 posted on 03/10/2009 11:48:11 AM PDT by AmericanArchConservative (Armour on, Lances high, Swords out, Bows drawn, Shields front ... Eagles UP!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tolik

stunning.


14 posted on 03/10/2009 11:55:08 AM PDT by SueRae
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tolik

That’s final bad thing about Socialists...they CAN’T make the trains run on time.


15 posted on 03/10/2009 12:01:06 PM PDT by rightinthemiddle (I think we're gonna have another civil war.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tolik
So, The New York Times, now when it is too late, wants the very question answered which it did everything it could to prevent having answered or even asked during the campaign.


16 posted on 03/10/2009 12:02:12 PM PDT by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat attack!" Bull Halsey)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GeronL
Steyn in print is like Rush Limbaugh on radio

Much, much better than Rush. Steyn's missives are not only a lot more clever, but also much more capable of withstanding close scrutiny -- which is especially important, given that the written word has much greater persistence about it.

17 posted on 03/10/2009 12:10:43 PM PDT by r9etb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: GeronL

When he was sitting in for Rush, Steyn was quite good too. Not as smooth, but very few are.


18 posted on 03/10/2009 12:11:18 PM PDT by Tolik
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: nathanbedford

That’s sums it up nicely. I can only add that NYT not really WANTS that question answered, but has to go with it to maintain at least some resemblance of professionalism.


19 posted on 03/10/2009 12:13:57 PM PDT by Tolik
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Tolik

Good especially by Steyn.... I hope he subs for Rush this week


20 posted on 03/10/2009 12:14:51 PM PDT by dennisw (Archimedes--- Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum to place it, and I shall move the Earth)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson