One and done: To be a great president, Obama should not seek reelection in 2012

Photo: http://terrellaftermath.com/

Douglas E. Schoen and Patrick H. Caddell  "We do not come to this conclusion lightly. But it is clear, we believe, that the president has largely lost the consent of the governed. The midterm elections were effectively a referendum on the Obama presidency. And even if it was not an endorsement of a Republican vision for America, the drubbing the Democrats took was certainly a vote of no confidence in Obama and his party. The president has almost no credibility left with Republicans and little with independents.

"The best way for him to address both our national challenges and the serious threats to his credibility and stature is to make clear that, for the next two years, he will focus exclusively on the problems we face as Americans, rather than the politics of the moment - or of the 2012 campaign."

Dead Souls

Victor Davis Hanson "Here is a daily inanity: “The great majority of Muslims are moderates,” and its ancillary “Only a tiny percentage of Muslims are terrorists.” Both are true, but they have value as admonishments only if there were a widespread Western effort to demonize Islam and persecute Muslims, or we knew that mass destruction required millions of conventional troops. But neither is true.
"Last year anti-Semitic hate crimes far outnumbered attacks in America on Muslims."

Barack and unintended consquences

American Thinker "This man and his administration are completely oblivious to the unintended consequences of their policies and actions."....
"Don't you think that players like George Soros, (who said, with no regrets, that the main lesson he learned from his collaboration with the Nazis' persecution of Jews, was to think ahead) is preparing to "have a good year" much like he had in profiting from the global fiscal crisis of 2009? And at who's expense?"

Cartoon:  http://terrellaftermath.com/

'Vanity, thy name is Obama'  ""American Narcissus" (article below) may deal with a familiar subject to AT readers. Several contributors have highlighted this aspect of Obama's personality since before he was elected. But Last has a good eye for the absurd, as well as being able to place Obama's vanity into a context that shows how it damages his presidency and the nation:"

Narcissus "was a hunter from the territory of Thespiae in Boeotia who was renowned for his beauty. He was exceptionally proud, in that he disdained those who loved him. As divine punishment he fell in love with his own reflection in a pool, not realizing it was merely an image, and he wasted away to death, not being able to leave the beauty of his own reflection."

This is the Moment "On the night that [Obama] defeated Hillary Clinton in the primaries, the hand of fate was so clear to him he could proclaim:

I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth. This was the moment—this was the time—when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals.

American Narcissus/ The vanity of Barack Obama "Obama’s vanity is even more jarring when paraded in the foreign arena. In April, Poland suffered a national tragedy when its president, first lady, and a good portion of the government were killed in a plane crash. Obama decided not to go to the funeral. He played golf instead. Though maybe it’s best that he didn’t make the trip. When he journeyed to Great Britain to meet with the queen he gave her an amazing gift: an iPod loaded with recordings of his speeches and pictures from his inauguration."

Man up, Media and Open Your Eyes! (Updated)

Big Journalism  "Which brings me full circle to why the libs and the media seem so intertwined. They have a nearly identical mindset. Every time Dear Leader does a one-on-one interview and talks about “changing America,” real Americans sit there and yell at their TV sets and say, “ya, we know what you mean about change, you said it to Joe the Plumber,” the reporter nods and acts delusionary and moves on to the question about what Michelle is planning to wear during their next vacation. Blind leading the blind. Reporter and subject cannot see themselves for who they are."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cartoon: http://www.warrentoons.com/

Obama: ‘What About Compliments?’  By WILLIAM KRISTOL  "But the vanity that Jonathan V. Last elaborates on elsewhere in this issue seems to be standing in the way of such learning. President Obama has been mugged both by the voters and by reality—but he thinks that he’s still looking good, that he deserves plaudits, and that the only problem is people don’t know about all the compliments he’s been getting."

Who’s Who in the American Muslim Brotherhood

Big Peace

"A succession of MSA leaders have made statements condemning the United States and/or calling for the killing of all Jews. Several MSA presidents have publicly supported jihad, and in the case of at least one, Omar Hammami from Alabama, have actually participated in violent jihad overseas. MSA members routinely express admiration and support for terror organizations such as Hamas and Hizballah and for the foundational leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood such as Hasan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb."

A Coalition Government Is Formed in Iraq

Max Boot  "Painful as this government-formation process was, the good news is that Iraq hasn’t gone to pieces. There have been occasional, horrific terrorist acts, but overall violence has remained low. Economic development has continued, with the Wall Street Journal reporting today on how Basra has become an oil boomtown. Expect even greater oil riches to be tapped once the new government takes office and ensures some political stability."   Thank you, Mr. Bush



Pat Oliphant,Newsmax



Obama, a 'Strategic Catastrophe' / Israeli officials say it's not Iran that is Israel's greatest threat (Updated)

Israel Today  "President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have drawn a clear line, supporting the Palestinian position at the expense of Israel," said one Netanyahu confidant. "It is insane, it is sick. Relations between Jerusalem and Washington are simply disastrous; the situation has never been so dangerous. This US President wants to establish a Palestinian state at any price and hand them Jerusalem on a silver platter."

Andy McCarthy:   Obama Knocks Israel in a Budding Sharia State "Such a relationship [with Indonesia], Obama stressed, should be a natural for two nations “bound together by shared interests and shared values.”....
"It also turns out that this exemplary Islamic nation has about as much tolerance for Israel as the Palestinians do. Like Hamas and Fatah, Indonesia does not recognize Israel’s right to exist. To be sure, the national motto is “Unity in Diversity” — inducing Obama to compare it favorably with America’s E Pluribus Unum. But it ought to come with an asterisk: Israelis are not permitted to enter Indonesia, nor are Israeli aircraft permitted to fly in its airspace."

The Presidency and the Constitution

Mike Pence, U.S. Representative  "A president who slights the Constitution is like a rider who hates his horse: he will be thrown, and the nation along with him. The president solemnly swears to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. He does not solemnly swear to ignore, overlook, supplement, or reinterpret it. Other than in a crisis of existence, such as the Civil War, amendment should be the sole means of circumventing the Constitution. For if a president joins the powers of his office to his own willful interpretation, he steps away from a government of laws and toward a government of men." Imprimus

Health Care in a Free Society (Updated)

Imprimus, Feb. 2010  "Americans understand that the problems facing our health care system today, real as they are, can be addressed without nationalizing one-sixth of the American economy and moving us past the tipping point toward a European-style social welfare state. They know that we can solve these problems while at the same time remaining a free society and acting consistently with the principles that have made us the greatest and most prosperous nation on earth. It is our duty now as their representatives to come together and do so."  Paul Ryan, Member, U.S. House of Representatives

Did the Dems pass Obamacare for 8,000 people? "Mr. Obama declared at the time that "uninsured Americans who've been locked out of the insurance market because of a pre-existing condition will now be able to enroll in a new national insurance pool where they'll finally be able to purchase quality, affordable health care-some for the very first time in their lives."

"So far that statement accurately describes a single person in North Dakota."...  Rick Moran

WaPo op-ed urges Obama not to run in 2012

Rick Moran "Not only has he lost the "consent of the governed" as the authors point out in the article, but his ability to drag his party along with him ...would be extremely iffy due to the unpopularity of his policies. The people may give him high marks for his selflessness, but that doesn't mean they would support another stim bill, or a continuation of the Obama agenda.
"Nevertheless, a wall has been breached and the notion is out in the open. We'll see after the first of the year if there are any Democrats who will challenge the president in 2012 primaries."...  Weasel Zippers photo

Repealing Obamacare and Getting Health Care Right

Heritage Insider   "There are many policy options Congress should consider, after repeal of PPACA, to begin moving the system in the right direction and put the country on the right path toward market-based health care change that gives people better choices and allows them to take account of the price and value of health care. For example, Congress should:"...

• Provide individual tax relief for all persons purchasing private health insurance, regardless of where they work;
• Eliminate barriers to individuals purchasing health care coverage that best suits their personal needs across state lines;
• Allow employers to convert their health care compensation from a defined benefit package to a defined contribution system;
• Promote new group purchasing arrangements based on individual membership organizations and various associations, including union, fraternal, ethnic, and religiously based groups;
• Improve consumer-directed health options (such as health savings accounts, health reimbursement arrangements, and flexible spending accounts) that encourage greater transparency and consumer control over health care decisions;
• Extend rational pre-existing condition protections in the non-group health insurance markets for those with continuous creditable coverage, thus rewarding responsible persons who buy and maintain coverage;
• Set up a fair competitive bidding process to determine government payment in traditional Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage programs;
• Review Medicare rules and regulations and eliminate those that unduly burden doctors and patients, such as the restriction preventing doctors and patients to contract privately for medical services outside of the traditional Medicare program;
• Encourage the states to set up mechanisms such as high-risk pools and risk transfer models that help lessen the problems of individuals who are difficult to insure;
• Expand states’ ability to develop consumer-based reforms that enable states to customize solutions for their citizens;
• Strengthen premium assistance in Medicaid to enable young families to obtain private health insurance coverage;
• Improve patient-centered health care models for those on Medicaid;
• Make the ban on taxpayer-funded abortion permanent and government-wide and extend a similar permanent policy to ensure protection of the right of conscience among medical providers and personnel; and Stop new tax increases and promote tax cuts that would expand private insurance coverage and grow the economy.
• Increase federal and state efforts to combat fraud and abuse in Medicaid, including tightening eligibility loopholes in Medicaid for long-term-care services; Encourage personal savings and the development of a robust private insurance market for long-term-care needs;