Incoherence is not Attractive

York masterfully sums up my problems with Sarah Palin. This speech is just the latest evidence of a train wreck which has been brewing up for years. I genuinely feel bad for her. Excerpt:

First, Palin embarked on an extended stream-of-consciousness complaint about media coverage of her decision to run in a half-marathon race in Storm Lake, Iowa in 2011. She then moved on to grumbling about coverage of a recent photo of her with a supporter who had made a sign saying "Fuc_ you Michael Moore" in reaction to the left-wing moviemaker's criticism of the film "American Sniper." Then it was on to Palin's objections about the social media ruckus over a picture of her six-year-old son Trig standing on the family's Labrador Retriever.

It was all quite petty, and yet the complaining took half of Palin's allotted time. She then proceeded to blow through her time limit with a free-association ramble on Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, the energy industry, her daughter Bristol, Margaret Thatcher, middle-class economics — "the man can only ride ya when your back is bent" — women in politics, and much more. It would be hard to say that Palin's 35-minute talk had a theme, but she did hint that she is interested in running, although there are no indications she has taken any actual steps in that direction.

There are so many people on the Republican side who simply will not vote for any ticket with her on it. This is a fact; talk to McCain campaign staffers. It is a damn shame; so much political wealth has been squandered in her downfall. Maybe if she had just had better advisers... I don't know.

One of the problems I've seen is that she has been unfairly trashed by the media so relentlessly that her hardcore supporters don't want to hear anything negative about her. Many people on our side are afraid to point out serious missteps she has made in her political career and deficiencies in her exercise of discretion when she speaks.

Palin needs to either get out of politics and writes books about media bias like Bernard Goldberg, or stay in the game and rise above the fray. Right now she looks like she's living up to the unfair caricatures. I just hope she doesn't take the Ron Paul kook road where the caricatures become the truth.

The Incredible Shrinking Prezzie

It would seem that Obama has stumbled down from the dictator's throne onto planet earth and has become just another aspiring street weirdo with a few extra bucks in his pocket. Excerpt:

Calling himself "the bear," he has taken to roaming the streets around Washington, dropping in at fast food stops and bothering customers. But he jumped the shark on a trip out West last week, when he skirted the crisis convulsing the border to hang out and chill with the folks. "What exactly is going on with the leader of the free world?" asked the Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin, having watched him in Denver eat pizza with strangers, shoot pool with the governor, and shake hands with "a guy on the street" who was wearing a horse's head mask.

Andrea Mitchell attacked him for horsing around while ignoring a crisis, asking Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar what he imagined Obama was thinking, and why. Cueller replied that the pictures had "floored" him: "He’s saying he’s too busy to go down to the border, but you have time to drink beer and play pool."

As Eilperin notes, he’s "trying to free himself from the constraints of office ... but to some, breaking free can also look like running away." It can look to some others like "having a breakdown." Obama will not be the fourth president (if you count Nixon) to be impeached, but he may become the first to be led away by the hand to a nice, quiet place where he can get treatment. And that would make history, too.

Maybe this episode of shooting pool on which I commented several days back will be seen in the future as a watershed moment in the Age of Obama where a bunch of former lackeys and supporters woke up and said "Uh-oh, where he be gone?" Hopefully an insane Obama wandering through the streets and channeling Joe Biden's giddiness won't be as dangerous as an Obama dictating policy.

I'm formally dubbing Obama "President Gas". I don't know if the P-Furs would agree, but the line "President gas on everything but roller skates" just sort of popped into my head.



Wow, I remember wearing out that cassette.

Obama sinking further in the polls

A new poll reveals a serious erosion of support. From the article:

“Whether it’s [Vladimir] Putin, Ukraine, the VA hospitals, Bowe Bergdahl, the events have controlled Obama, rather than Obama having controlled the events,” Hart adds. “He may be winning the issues debate, but he’s losing the political debate, because they don’t see him as a leader.”

...

But it shows an American public that has grown dissatisfied with President Obama on foreign policy and national security decisions.

Just 37 percent approve of his handling of foreign policy, which is an all-time low in the survey, while 57 percent disapprove, an all-time high.

What’s more, by a 44 percent-to-30 percent margin, Americans disagree with the Obama administration’s decision to secure the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five imprisoned Taliban fighters.

...

President Obama’s overall approval rating in the poll is at 41 percent, down three points from April. That’s tied for his all-time low in the survey.

And his favorable-unfavorable rating is upside down (41 percent-45 percent) after being right-side up two months ago (44 percent-41 percent).

Perhaps most troubling for the president, 54 percent think he is unable to lead the country and get the job done, compared with 42 percent who believe he can.

Is the press finally going to grow a spine and stop propping up this loser? Let's hope so. I think the approval numbers would be more like 12% if people really had all the info.

My "Don't Confirm Hagel" Email to Senators

If you go here, you can automatically send an email note to your Senators telling them to just say NO to confirming Hagel as Sec Def. I sent mine to Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman. Standard text is provided by the website, but I modified the text in mine slightly, adding an extra paragraph, which I highlighted in bold below.

I am asking you---not only as your constituent but a concerned citizen---to vote "No" on the confirmation of Senator Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense. Chuck Hagel's confirmation would send a dangerous signal to Iran and other radical Islamic elements which would make our country and our allies less secure. Senator Hagel has made it clear that he would not use strength to prevent the Iranians from obtaining nuclear weapons. He has also sought to distance the United States from Israel, and refused to stop efforts to end terrorist attacks on Israel.

As my representative in the United States Senate you swore to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic." I firmly believe there are more qualified persons to serve as our next Secretary of Defense.

For all these reasons I have been opposed to Hagel being confirmed as Secretary of Defense for some time now. But listening to audio of the confirmation hearings today, I have another concern. Mr. Hagel's halting, hesitating responses when he was asked several difficult questions--which he assuredly knew he would receive--made me wonder if he is mentally competent to serve in this high pressure position. Upon observing this I remember thinking that I wouldn't be surprised if he had unknowingly suffered a stroke, or has some other malady of the brain which makes him slow on the uptake. Please consider this before you confirm a man with an impaired mind.

I deliberately avoided the use of the word retarded which, though the most accurate word I can think of to describe his feeble-minded responses and speech impediment, I deemed to possibly be construed as a bit disrespectful by the staffers who are forced to read these correspondences.

"Reading helps you know what you're talking about."

Too funny. H/T Redstate.

Kudos to the frog puppet for doing this. My guess is that he'll suffer a lot of ostracism in the puppet community for taking the gig for a conservative issue commercial. Most puppets are hard core leftists.

OK, I know what you're thinking. The frog looks a little like McCain. Go ahead--admit it.

I like how disappointed the frog looks when he finds out Holder et al didn't read the law.