The Occasional Observer

I believe the luster is starting to fade, and this will only increase in coming weeks and months.

It is obvious that Obama's policies, both economic and social, are wildly different than those of conservatives. However, I think he is even dropping the ball with his core constituency. Whether its his policy on Iraq troop drawdown, increase in Afghanistan, dropping any push for human rights in China (Hillary's latest flap among left wing), or his economic predictions that even the NYT calls "disconnected" from reality, I think he will find that his approval will start to fade below 50%. He promised change and more transparency, and his dramatic implementation of tax and spend is certainly change, but I think reporters are starting to question just how much more "open" he is than his predecessor that they so despised.

In general this country does not like tax and spend, although they seem to forget this every 10-15 years and must re-live the mistake before sweeping it out of office. I think once the people realize how much more debt his policies are dumping on us and future generations, and how overly optimistic his growth projections are, they will increasingly reject his policies.

Obama will announce his Iraq troop withdrawal plan today. Basically takes ~100,000 troops out of Iraq in 19 months, and leaves a residual force of ~35,000-50,000 in place through the end of 2011.

Hmmmmm. First, of course, is the obvious comment that this is totally different than his ludicrous campaign promise to remove ALL troops from Iraq in 16 months. Funny how things like "reality" and "facts" end up changing your grandiose claims once you take time to learn the situation on the ground. Second, congratulations to Obama for basically enacting the Bush/Petraeus drawdown. The main difference is that Bush would never have been so stupid as to publish a timetable for terrorists to see, but in essence it is quite likely that this type of drawdown is what would have happened.

On the domestic front, I'd like to hear from all the people who were convinced that Obama would govern from the center, and the fact that he had the #1 most liberal senator rating was not a true indicator of his positions. Really? Looks like it was dead nuts on. Private economists are already attacking his overly optimistic projections about GDP growth over next 4 years. His budget will guarantee massive deficits for years to come, with the likely result huge tax increases across the board and inflation.

It can be summed up as thus: Welcome to the People's Republic of America.

On another note, I nearly had a medical incident when I accidentally flipped on MSNBC after Jindal's response and saw the trio of "newscasters" they were sporting: Olbermann, Matthews and Maddow. It doesn't get more unabashedly liberal than that. None of those three has any sense of reason or credibility. What a joke, only the American people who watch that show are the punchline.

Well Fredo, looks like you'll get to start taking a look at what Jindal's going to do between now and 2012 tonight with his response to Obama's speech. Should be a good one (Jindal's response, that is).

Meanwhile, Obama's floundering continues. Stocks are down 10-14% since his inauguration, he's trying to take on 20 things and doing none of them well instead of just focusing on one or two and getting the job done. Surprising, really, I would've expected more leadership from a candidate with all the experience of a few years as a senator...

Strawberry Girl and Fredo are expecting child #3! We're extremely happy, and are looking forward to a new sibling for our boys. Unfortunately, we've found out that we have a higher than normal chance of miscarriage with this child, so please send up a few prayers for our little one, if you have the chance.

Meanwhile, SingleWing and ManBeast have little ones under a year old, and D.C. and the missus are expecting their second. And Linderman is always in one, if not both, of those categories.

It's nice to see that the contributors at OccObs continue to go forth and multiply, and fill the world with right-thinking youngsters!

Candidates I could readily support:

Pawlenty
Sanford
Corker
Cornyn
Romney

Time has past:

Newt

Interesting Wild-Cards that could get my support, depending on what they do between now and then:

Petraeus
Jindal
Palin

Bradley Schiller provides a succinct summary of Obama's lies about the present economy in this WSJ article. Excellent quick read.

1) Eric Cantor (R-VA) becoming the public face of the GOP in Washington. Boehner and the higher ups apparently realize they need a younger look for the party, so Boehner is "deferring" to his whip at public appearances, says te article. Cantor is a down-the-line conservative, and an impressive presence, so I'm glad to see it.

2) Nevadans seem to be honestly considering throwing out Reid, their own Washington power-broker, when he runs for reelection. Rumor-mongers say Mitt may be considering running against him in 2010, to play Thune to Reid's Daschle.

We're going to the LICM. Watch the kids get shaving cream all over their hair and clothes.

Maybe Long Island Home Show, I don't know. I don't know if we'll have enough time.

...is overrated, according to this crackpot former astronaut. At least, he must be a crackpot moron to think this, right Al Gore? But wait, this guy has a science degree from the California Institute of Technology. He also studied geology at the University of Oslo in Norway and took a doctorate in geology from Harvard University in 1964.

Hmmmm... sounds like a pretty smart, and more importantly, relevantly-trained guy. But how could anyone intelligent ever disagree with liberal dogma??

To put a repulsor blast up someone's ass...



What a total bag of d---ks Terence Howard is--no wonder they ditched him for Don Cheadle for the sequel.

On a Sunday morning, sometimes you need a little help getting started:




This is an enlargeable version of the same chart:

http://www.geekologie.com/2009/02/07/bacon-chart-2.jpg

and unfortunately for all of us, it only took two weeks to assemble the evidence:

The Fierce Urgency of Pork
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, February 6, 2009; A17

"A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe."

-- President Obama, Feb. 4.

Catastrophe, mind you. So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared "we have chosen hope over fear." Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill.

And so much for the promise to banish the money changers and influence peddlers from the temple. An ostentatious executive order banning lobbyists was immediately followed by the nomination of at least a dozen current or former lobbyists to high position. Followed by a Treasury secretary who allegedly couldn't understand the payroll tax provisions in his 1040. Followed by Tom Daschle, who had to fall on his sword according to the new Washington rule that no Cabinet can have more than one tax delinquent.

This story, if true, is absolutely disgusting. It's unfortunate enough that abortion is still around, but there's no uncertainty here that this is murder.

So sayeth the new President, only two weeks into the job, explaining why he took time out to visit a charter school yesterday.

Wow. If two weeks is draining, what happens in a month? Or 6 months? Or a year, when the recession is still here, national security concerns are mounting, N. Korea keeps firing long-range test missiles, Iran has developed a nuke, Israel and Palestine are still fighting, ...?

If he had just gone to the dentist like this kid:

Over 4,000 more ballots will be counted after today's ruling.

Fredo, as promised, I - Campbell Brown - have written at least one more puff piece "attacking" the Obama administration for their lack of transparency. If it seems like I'm a day late and a dollar short, it's because I'm well behind OccObs readers who have already discussed this lack of transparency a week ago.

Apparently so...

LYON: Prime Minister François Fillon on Monday rejected demands that the French government seek to stimulate consumer spending, rather than follow his plan to stimulate corporate and infrastructure investment, to lift France out of its economic slump.

"It would be irresponsible to chose another policy, which would increase our country's indebtedness without having more infrastructure and increased competitiveness in the end," Fillon said in a speech in Lyon.

1) I purchased a Chevy Malibu yesterday after a lengthy 3 day battle with my subconscious over whether I should spend $7K more and buy the Cadillac CTS. My prudent, cheap side won out. It's a pretty awesome car if you're in the market for a mid-size car.

Anyway, here was the cool thing - I had GM employee pricing (my sister is a GM engineer in Detroit), plus a January rebate, plus customer loyalty money (I currently have a Buick). So the Malibu, which had a MSRP of $29K, was knocked down to $23K, and the Cadillac, at $38.5, was about $30K.

Here's why I'm sharing this with you: GM employee pricing has been extended to friends of salaried GM employees, not just family. My sister has offered any Occasional Observer members access to a GMS discount code.

If you do use the code, it makes buying the car very easy. You walk into a dealer and say you qualify for GMS pricing, and they have a fixed price for each car and options package.

I'm working on SHK to buy an all wheel drive 2009 CTS. If you're in the right economic position, this is a great time to buy a car.

2) On a lighter note, I'm looking at buying a hand gun. Anyone out there with advice? I'm basically looking to exercise my 2nd amendment rights, and do some occasional target shooting.