Victor Davis Hanson: The 2012 Election Circus — The Acts, The Players, The Hype

Victor Davis Hanson  On Obama:
 "What a strange fellow: damning the 1% only to hire three-in-a-row multimillionaire “fat-cat” ex-Wall-streeters as his chiefs-of-staff, while he lives a life indistinguishable from those he caricatures. Obama brags of killing bin Laden, without the slightest concession that he employed protocols to do it that he once smeared, or that he got the troops home for Christmas, without a peep that he followed the Bush-Petraeus plan and not his own." 
....

Prognosis

"There is a wish to cut and paste the flawed Republican candidates’ strengths into a composite nominee: Romney’s sobriety, Santorum’s conviction, Paul’s sense of outrage over debt, and Gingrich’s glib lectures about civilization—while pruning away their unique defects: Santorum’s self-righteousness, Paul’s otherworldliness, Romney’s Tom Dewey/George H.W. Bush patrician woodenness, and Newt’s tom-foolery.

"Santorum and Paul cannot beat Obama. Romney is still the most likely to make it a close race; Gingrich possibly to win by a wider margin — or, more likely, to lose by an even wider one.

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/walt-handelsman-1.812005

"I have no endorsements, or at least not complete endorsements: I cannot vote under any circumstances for Obama and would not vote for Paul, but, for now, would find any of the remaining three candidates far better than what we have in the White House."

From the comments to Hanson's column:

...."As for Newt. I hope he understands that, if we elect him President, it is not to make nice with Dems but rather to attack them relentlessly for the traitors that they are. And to prosecute them for their crimes. More, it is to roll-back their leftist-corporatist-globalist agenda at every level, by exposing the corruption and deception, taking on the special interests and the unions, media and academia, slashing government, and unleashing business. If he thinks the Presidency is a popularity contest, then we will shut him down and vote him out too. But if he fights to restore the Republic, he will have our bottomless support, and go down as one of the great Presidents of history."

So even the wiser among us are just as ambivalent as the rest. Perhaps I'm not inadequate. TD

Belladonna Rogers: Romney, Gingrich and Obama: The World, The Flesh, and The Devil

What We Really Learned from ABC News and Marianne Gingrich

Belladonna Rogers January 20,  "Anyone who made the decision last night, as I did, to watch Nightline’s appallingly tawdry interview with the second Mrs. Newt Gingrich learned nothing new about the target, whose marital infidelities are well known, but did, however, witness two of the most dangerous pathologies of the mainstream media (MSM) on vivid display."....
 "Especially considering how Marianne began her relationship to Gingrich — by being his girlfriend on the side during his first marriage — she seems to me to be in one of the world’s worst positions to whine, wail, point an accusing finger, and raise the “character” issue."....

I am once again reminded of the double standard afforded to the Democrats and Barack Obama in particular.  Coming on the heels of the Herman Cain melee in which the press had a field day parading one accuser after another before video cameras, it is difficult not to repeat the question of why the Democrats get a free pass.  Why are calls for Mitt Romney to release his tax return not met with calls for Barack Obama to release his college transcripts — something that is just as customary for presidential candidates?

However, of greater importance in my view is the silence, save for a few journalists and pundits on the right, regarding exposing a videotape recorded in 2003 of Barack Obama at the farewell dinner for terrorist-supporting Palestinian Rashid Khalidi.  More...  

"So there you have it, a biased “report” by ABC “News” aimed directly at the most prurient interests of its viewers, tantalizing Americans all day yesterday with morsels of the grand banquet Nightline would present last night, and, in four years, not a single MSM effort to uncover or present anything that could possibly injure the chances of reelection of their own chosen one, the Constitution-flouting, Rashid Khalidi-embracing, Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn-befriending Barack Obama.

"It’s enough to make you wish for an investigation by the Department of Justice.  Just kidding!"

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/01/20/95617

Why Is the L.A. Times Burying the Obama/Khalidi Tape?  From April 21, 2010  "Sometimes I want to yell and scream. What is wrong with the Los Angeles Times? Are they a news organization or the propaganda wing of some leftover unit of the IWW? No wonder subscribers are deserting them in droves." 

More here: Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Obama (2008) 

How about that State of the Union Address tomorrow?

The truly dismal state of the union   "Now, President Truman made it very clear: The buck stops with him. No passing the buck for that guy. But Mr. Obama blames everyone but himself. Mr. Bush, he says, left the nation in a ditch, a deep ditch, and he’s been digging out since he took office. And Congress? "Those guys are just plain awful, he says. So mean. Wah, they won’t do anything I want done! Mr. Obama feels so sure about it that he’s basing his re-election campaign on bashing Capitol Hill.

http://conservativedailynews.com/2012/01/its-a-wreck-2/

"But with the president delivering his State of the Union speech to Congress Tuesday night, let’s pause here to take as hard look at the real state of America, by the numbers, using only cold, hard facts." More...

State of the Union preview: 'Fairness' and 'Social Justice'  "The late, great Milton Friedman once said, "I'm not in favor of fairness. I'm in favor of freedom, and freedom is not fairness. Fairness means somebody has to decide what's fair and that means [insert government agency name here] has to decide for me what's fair." "  Related: OBAMA AND OBAMISM

White House rushes to define Keystone message ahead of Republicans   "White House and campaign officials are emphasizing Obama's energy record in broad strokes -- highlighting steps the administration has taken to encourage oil and gas development and investments in clean energy. Those steps, the officials say, create far more jobs than approval of Keystone would have."


Oddsmakers predict Obama cliche-orama in State of the Union  "Paddy Power, Ireland's biggest bookmaking operation, is giving 8-1 odds that "We have more work to do" will be the first cliche the president is likely to drop. Next-most likely are "As I stand here today," and "health care reform" — though given the usual structure of State of the Union speeches, that latter one will likely be saved for the last half of the speech."


Will Obama discuss this? Obama: Iran Has Nuclear Rights; I Did Not Want to Sanction Its Bank  "...the vice chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, alleged that on Saturday in a meeting between Swiss Ambassador Livia Leu Agosti and Iranian Foreign Ministry officials, Agosti informed the Iranian officials that Obama recognizes Iran’s right of access to and use of nuclear technology."
....
"In response to Obama’s message to the leaders of the Islamic regime and his request for negotiations, Iranian officials have decided to reveal his message in order to further embarrass him on the international scene, claiming that Obama’s approach shows the world the true power of the Islamic regime."


State of the Union Speech To Feature Sharper Tone  "Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama's first White House chief of staff, suggested last week that the president's plan to run against an unpopular Congress risks suggesting that he has accepted nothing more will get done legislatively this year. "It undermines the inspirational 'here's what we're going to do,' " Mr. Emanuel said. "That's a problem." "

More insights on Romney/ Gingrich

This Bain/ Romney story is from 1996  "Now I am not in any way suggesting that any other candidate would handle things any differently in this situation.  I just think this is a nice little [peek] into the personality and character of a man that the left and Obama will, if he’s the GOP nominee, surely portray as nothing but a cruel and heartless capitalist." 

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/01/21/95676

Why Gingrich can rely on Democrats to pay for his campaign in Florida  "One more sign Democrats are hoping Newt Gingrich becomes the Republican nominee for President: the key union for public employees are paying for deceptive anti-Romney ads in Florida, the site of the next GOP primary battle at the end of the month.  With friends like these, does Newt Gingrich have to worry about lack of campaign funds and infrastructure in Florida?
My only fear is that Romney will be another John McCain on the campaign trail: timid.
The last thing we want is more appearances on the View and another "That's a good question, Whoopi" moment.  Consider also these points. 



Neal Boortz: It just doesn’t seem like the fire was there in Romney.  "Gingrich clearly understands the damage Obama has already done to our republic – intentional damage – and Newt can clearly articulate the dangers of giving this menace four more years in the White House. 
"Does this mean that Romney doesn’t recognize the damage and the dangers?  Certainly not.  Romney is a smart guy."....

Romney is going to have to learn the rhetoric of persuasion.  He needs to learn how to make people WANT to follow him, rather than telling them that they must.  (Emphases added)

Reading between the lines would indicate Bachmann does not want Gingrich   

....it was strikingly obvious that one candidate could not be less acceptable to be our Party's nominee. 

He lacks the poise, experience and moral fiber to represent our principles and values. That candidate is Newt Gingrich. 

In sum, our nation is in desperate need of a proven and moral leader who can point us back in the right direction - not a desperately flawed candidate like Newt Gingrich who has only proven he cannot lead.

But then: "The Bachmann for President campaign has not issued an official statement regarding an endorsement of any current candidate in the GOP race ahead of the South Carolina primary. Any information found to the contrary is inaccurate."

GOP Strategist: Republican Establishment Fears Down-Ballot Disaster If Newt Wins Nomination
"Mr. Schmidt said he believes Mr. Gingrich’s near universal name recognition indicates that perceptions of Mr. Gingrich have calcified over time and are therefore unlikely to change.  With a national unfavorable rating that he puts at 60 percent, Mr. Schmidt says he believes a Gingrich candidacy could spell disaster for Republican hopes of holding the House and regaining the Senate." I think I agree but would feel more convicted if this story had come from another source than MSNBC/ Maddow.
Chris Christie Says He Would Consider Being Mitt Romney’s Vice President  Those liberals accusing conservatives of incivility will begin making fat jokes in three...two...one...


Brit Hume: GOP Congress ‘Terrified’ Of Newt Gingrich Nomination

China investors set their sights on Hollywood

THE FINANCIAL TIMES   A consortium led by Chinese media entrepreneur Bruno Wu is scouring Hollywood for film companies to acquire, in a sign of China’s growing interest in the US entertainment industry.  
Concern in some places that the Chinese communists will make Hollywood become left-wing and anti-American.
(I kid you not, this is a book that is now in print.)

Coulter: ‘With Newt Gingrich you throw out the baby and keep the bath water’ [VIDEO]

Daily Caller "And at the same time, with Newt Gingrich you get the name calling for the president — very popular with the tea party crowd in South Carolina, not so popular with independents. He won’t put a fence on the border and wants amnesty for illegals. He took $1.6 million from Freddie Mac. But you know, he attacked Paul Ryan’s plan on Social Security. So with Newt Gingrich, you throw out the baby and keep the bath water.” "  
Oprah confident Obama will win re-election

A Candidate to be Drafted Later?

Bill Kristol  " “Or, if Iowa (January 3), New Hampshire (January 10) and South Carolina (January 21) produce fragmented results, and the state of the race is disheartening to Republicans, a late January entry [I'd now say an early February entry] by another candidate isn't out of the question, either . . ."
Mr. Kristol refers us to this web site on Mitch Daniels. Mr. Daniels will deliver the response to the Obama State of the Union address. A powerful rebuttal could kick-start a campaign of this sort.


Right: Gov. Mitch Daniels by donkeyhotey

Obama and the Ship of State (of the Union)

Obama signals State of Union a campaign rallying call  "President Barack Obama, offering a glimpse of next week's State of the Union address, made clear on Saturday that he will deliver a starkly partisan election-year call for a "return to American values" of economic fairness."
Not a thing majestic or presidential about this man and the office as he holds it. What glowing applause lines will he use to discuss this next subject?
Destroying America by Denying Access to Energy  "It is the crime of the century that America, home to some of the world’s greatest reserves of coal, natural gas and oil, is being deliberately destroyed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior as they do everything in their power to restrict access and drive energy producers out of business."  Alan Caruba at Warning Signs


Wilson: ‘You lie’ has been vindicated  Joe, we need you now more than ever.


From American Thinker: Look at Me Pretending to Care, Mr. President  "In his apparently endless series of speeches, Obama sounds a lot like a paramedic who arrives at the scene of an disastrous accident, looks at the injured who are lying among the wreckage and bleeding to death, and then calls a press conference to spend two hours explaining how HE didn't cause the accident, it wasn't HIS fault that there are people bleeding and dying because of the accident, and that he and Michelle will now take a vacation to Vail or Martha's Vineyard or Costa del Sol or somewhere else to relax from this trying experience."

There seems to be a theme here...

Burkha Barbies on sale at the Riyadh Toys-al-Us

Toy-maker Mattel  

Surely there is something in between Burkhas and girls dressing like hookers.

http://www.theculture.net/barbie/

"Simon Tyszko’s Suicide Bomber Barbie conflates Western commodification with Palestinian desperation. Religious and capitalist dogmas struggle within Barbie’s idealised form, in an artwork of potent incongruity. It is a work whose political stridency is tempered by a well placed humour."  

Put that on your flower beds. Liberal artists can be so full of BS.

This post began as a fun, satirical entry, but when doing an internet search on the topic, one is led to this more serious point of view:

Why Palestinian children die  "Om Mohammed helps her twelve-year-old son Abu Ali with a toy suicide bomber belt he fashioned on his own. 

" "I hope to be a Martyr...I hope when I get 14 or 15 to explode myself." His mother is proud of her son: "God gave him to me to protect and defend our homeland." "

Much here.  
Then if you enjoy children, there is this adorable schoolroom video from Palestinian Media Watch:

Now that Suicide Bomber Barbie isn't so funny, is it?  Someone once said, "Lord, help me make my enemies look ridiculous", but it can get hard to do.  Though I did enjoy these balloons at a parade in Germany:

Santorum to appear on ABC's This Week

Beltway Confidential   "Santorum might not have been the network's first choice. The Drudge Report announced yesterday that "Newt cancel[led] ABC's THIS WEEK for Sunday," according to a "network source." ABC aired an interview Thursday with Gingrich's ex-wife, who made a series of allegations about Gingrich's affair and divorce. Gingrich called the ABC's handling of the interview, and decision to release it two days before the South Carolina primary, "despicable" during the Thursday debate."


As of Saturday afternoon, ABC has nothing to say about Newt cancelling out.

That Gingrich Ethics Probe in 1997

Washington Post  Here are are some of the key Post stories on the House ethics investigation of Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). This list begins with this one:

Use of Tax-Exempt Groups Integral to Political Strategy   January 7, 1997 Over the years Gingrich and his top advisers have tried repeatedly to use tax-deductible donations to help promote their political goals, a review of his record shows. 

 The heart of the ethics committee case against House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) involves his use of charitable organizations to subsidize his partisan political activities -- a practice he suggests he could have avoided had he consulted a lawyer and not been so "naive" about the intricacies of the tax code. 

But over the years Gingrich and his top advisers have tried repeatedly to use tax-deductible donations to help promote their political goals, a review of his record shows. Indeed, the availability of groups that could take tax-deductible donations was integral to his ultimately successful plan to wrest control of the House from the Democrats. More...

I suspect Nancy Pelosi (D-CooCoosNest) never planned to release this information; that it was enough for her to put this out there for others to pursue and who but Republicans would do it?
Now the story will become a big deal in the press, so Newt needs to get this out there. Better now than this October if Gingrich is our candidate. TD

http://www.usnews.com/cartoons/newt-gingrich-cartoons

Numerous other links at this site, but these should give you the gist of it all.
Ethics Committee Drops Last of 84 Charges Against Gingrich
Gingrich Pays Off Ethics Penalty of $300,000
House Reprimands, Penalizes Speaker
This is the final post at this page: 

IRS Clears Foundation That Aided Gingrich Course  "In its ruling, the IRS said the content of Gingrich's course "was educational and never favored or opposed a candidate for public office."" "It said the foundation "did not intervene on behalf of candidates of the Republican Party merely by promoting" themes in the course." "

NPR weighs in.  You didn't think they would? Then you didn't expect MSNBC to either, did you?

The Hill quotes Pelosi: “One of these days we’ll have a conversation about Newt Gingrich,” Pelosi said in an interview with Talking Points Memo. 
“I know a lot about him. I served on the investigative committee that investigated him, four of us locked in a room in an undisclosed location for a year. A thousand pages of his stuff," she said. 

The Hill also quoted John Sununu who said:

"What do you think you're going to find in his [Romney's] taxes? The important thing is to find things that could be an October surprise problem," Sununu said. "Newt Gingrich has a serious problem with the package that the Ethics committee had when they fined him $300,000."

"Ring(sic) out the laundry. That's more important than anything else. Nancy Pelosi was on that group. If Nancy Pelosi knows, President Obama knows. We ought to be able to know now," he added. 

We do want honorable people running this nation, but if there is only these choices I will take unethical over traitorous. 
                                                                                                                         Obama and Pelosi caricatures by donkeyhotey

It’s the economy, stupid/ Obama’s quest for a second term doomed by his own policies

Washington Times editorial  "Mr. Obama is hoping the killing of Osama bin Laden will silence his critics, but Mr. Bush had no luck resting on the laurels of his successful war against Saddam Hussein. The same Democrats who accused President George W. Bush of unfairly exploiting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks for political gain will draw the bin Laden takedown like a gun to promote Mr. Obama. As former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton said, Mr. Obama’s taking personal credit for the bin Laden mission would be like Richard Nixon hyping his intimate role in the 1969 Moon landing “because it happened to occur during his presidency.” These were long-prepared-for events that would have been possible regardless of who was in office.

"The bin Laden killing is a slim reed on which to base an argument for another four years. Mr. Obamacan hardly promise he will do it again."

Perhaps not, but being a pessimist, I tend to see the glass as only half full. Richard Nixon was not the darling of check-stand magazines and the TV talk shows, nor was he by any stretch of the imagination thought of as a celebrity as Obama is. 
We have seen how little Bill Clinton's negatives affected his image in the media and with his Democrat  supporters. TD