esrosedotblog

Obama does not have to play nice any more.

He can call the GOopers out on their bullshit. Of which there is plenty as 20 or something hopefuls vie for the nomination.

Obama Criticizes Huckabee, Trump, Cruz and Other Republicans

The clown show is pretty extensive. Huckabee, the religious nut. Trump, the billionaire vanity candidate. Slimy Ted Cruz. The list goes on and on. A veritable parade of bozos trying to get on the bus, those ten slots which are to be doled out for the debates.

Each of these candidates are in the "outrageous claims" phase of their primary efforts. Elbowing each other for attention.

Some of it is pretty vile.

I watch this in bits and pieces at the gym in the morning.

I have three screens. Fox, CNN and CNBC. There is no sound, fortunately.

Just the graphics for the hard of hearing. Which is often truncated. And often funny.

We just know that they are not saying what the graphics say.

The ticker tape runs too fast to follow it, and the translator often shows his or her bias in converting.

Labels: GOoPers, obama

I have to say that while I can't argue with the technology, I can say that it doesn't look like him.

To me.

It is pretty interesting and the technology has to be "right". But the product doesn't sell it.

At the end, the idea of a third revolution. Huh?

Labels: obama, technology

It is interesting to watch everyone trying to pin the bi-election losses on Obama.

The last time I looked he was not running.

Oh, sure, there is some effect from the White House but by and large it is not him the people are pissed at. It is everyone. Him, Congress, the whole sorry mess. It is the American Way.

Actually, it is my opinion that things are pretty good. People's happiness doesn't really depend on conditions. More a mood.

I think that we all forget who cast the votes in the first place. Who voted these rascals in?

Well, I will stand up and be counted.

I voted Obama in and I would do it again tomorrow. And the day after.

He has had an ugly mess to preside over and he has done it with grace and dignity.

I do not even blame Boehner or McConnell.

They preside over two bodies composed with rascals and incompetents.

Once again, the American Way.

The process of election guarantees amateurism. But the customs are strong and the system resilient. We have survived it all before. Year after year and we will do it again.

They do not call a President in Obama's situation a "lame duck" for nothing. He is doubly hampered by the knowledge that whatever rewards or punishment he could deliver are not very big and they are temporary.

I think that this is a nice time to let the caretakers caretake and to have a quiet time of it before the next big brawl which will certainly involve the Clintons. And if you think that they are sticking it to Obama, wait until the anti-Clinton tide is released from its holding position. Mixed metaphor. Tides do not have holding positions. But you get my drift.

Labels: elections, obama

Obama has guts.

Today he faced down the critics, did his job and then went on about his business which, right now, is a much needed vacation.

But there is a lot of whinging about it. An opportunity for the haters to hate.

A Terrorist Horror then Golf Incongruity Fuels Obama Critics

Well, shit. All the Presidents do this. They have to compartmentalize.

It is tragic that a life was lost horribly in Iraq. Nothing will be served by play acting a time of grief or horror or whatever. This is what the terrorists want!

And it amazes me that so many people fall right into it. Obama has not. God bless him.

They said he was soft and squishy.

Hah! He is tough and resolute and unbending in the face of these bastards and all their tricks.

More power to him.

Long may he wave.

He is the man I thought he was and has proved it continually. At home, overseas. He is a no bullshit President.

Labels: obama, terrorism

From christwire.org, where one can also read "How To Spot A Masturbator".

">

This is a very funny mockumentary site. You might want to take a look at it as you pass through the internet each day.

Labels: obama, parody, wingnuts

Obama is still surprising us and in a good way.

Obama in Afghanistan

When you think of it, this is just what he ought to be doing.

It is not his war but it is his to finish. And while most/many of the troops are coming home soon, they are still serving in a god forsaken part of the world that is hostile and painfully uncomfortable to be in. And yes I know that Afghans live there all the time but it is a shithole and there is no nice way around it. It is a horrible place with marginal people and fucked up politics.

What could be more fitting for a Memorial Day weekend? A time to honor those who still serve and dedicate ourselves to the memory of those who did not make it out of there. Sent for no purpose other than the political whims of a handful of wingers.

No, I am not bitter. I am mad. Still angry that for a long period of time we wasted our capital on this kind of adventurism.

They are still there incidentally. The meddlers and the fixers who see the American way as farting around with others in the world as though they have all the answers.

I will hold my horses here. Further ranting will be to no avail. No minds will be changed.

Suffice to say that Obama cares enough to go half way 'round the world for a fitting tribute to those who got caught in the machine of war.

Labels: anti-war, obama, wingnuts

Obama has done a lot for the robot people.

All the Times President Obama Was Fascinated by a Robot

Well, I don't think all the times. I remember a lot more.

Obama is cool so many ways that it is hard to remember that he has put the cool into science again.

He has even played soccer with one.

Do the righties have any idea how important science is, that he has the field in front of him. He actually loves this shit.

Labels: obama, robotics, science

So, on a day I was not going to do anything, I went to Lowes and bought a bunch of medium size cactus for our desert section. It has been fallow for awhile but when they painted, I took one of my small plants that had overgrown itself, the second such, and planted it in the empty space on the north courtyard side. Then the whole thing looked a lot lonelier. And with the new paint job, I was inspired to go get a dozen decorative cactus and put them into the spot. They look great. They complete the picture. One of the painters said that, often, they will paint the outside of the house and the owner decides to redecorate the inside too. I just got the cacti. One plant, not a cactus, is a purple sage for the corner. I still mourn the big purple sage they took out when they went desert next door. The plant was between our houses. And, the awful truth is, that the sage is a desert plant. As any listener to cowboy songs will know.

Today's film was the new, pre-print, of Marco Berger's Hawaii 2013. Berger is the master of sexual yearning. Put two presumably gay guys in proximity and watch what happens. Yogi Berra: "You can see a whole lot while watching". Long silent expanses, great photography, music. This one is as good as his other award winning Plan B. I am already anxious to see it again.

The Times says the liberals think the White House should be in more of a panic mode about ACA. They still don't get Obama. No drama. This is instead of support and fighting off the sharks. Oh, I despair of my nominal party. If I could start my own I would. Such assholes. I get more angry at them than the teas sometimes.

Labels: condo, film, garden, obama, professional left

OPTING OUT

Since the election I have been getting daily emails soliciting my support of the Obama campaign's after life.

A kind of social action thing with an agenda which isn't very clear. More of the same. Organizing for Action. I got three emails today!

I am still an Obamaphile. I support what he is doing or trying to do.

But I have qualms about the kind of thing his former people are doing now.

Barack is not running again. It is over.

Someone else will come on with the show. It might be Hillary or Joe or any number of other new generation Democrats.

But this kind of operation is not my cup of tea. It seems like having an organization for the sake of having an organization. And keeping some people employed.

The Obama Administration is what I want to support. Not a shadow organization. I think that is actually very dangerous and not even in his best interest.

So. I am busy taking myself off the mailing lists which is harder than you might think. They really do not want to take "no thanks" for an answer. But I am persistent.

When all this started, they had a meme where they asked if I was "in". I said yes. I sent the maximum money.

Now there are asking me about this thing. I am not in. I am out.

Labels: obama, Re-election of Barack Obama

INSIDE OUT

After a year there aren't a lot of the inside stories that I like so much.

But this one has shown up and it does not disappoint.

There is a lot of the President in it as well as more senior officials.

Still all one big, more or less, happy family. More realistic perhaps but no less committed.

All the Obama 20-Somethings

Speechwriter Jon Favreau with the Boss

Labels: obama

A CAT CAN LOOK AT A QUEEN

Or even get a hug and give a hug back.

Michelle Obama charms queen away from protocol

Mrs. Obama clearly made an impression with the 82-year-old monarch — so much that the smiling queen strayed slightly from protocol and briefly wrapped her arm around the first lady in a rare public show of affection.
It was the first time Mrs. Obama — who is nearly a foot taller — had met the queen. The first lady also wrapped her arm around the monarch's shoulder and back.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman who asked not to be identified because of palace policy said he could not remember the last time the queen had displayed such public affection with a first lady or dignitary.
"It was a mutual and spontaneous display of affection," he said. "We don't issue instructions on not touching the queen."

I am both charmed by and cynical of the idea of a queen or even this particular queen. But it is nice to see the protocol crack in the face of genuine affection. Barack is not the only charismatic member of the family. Actually all four do pretty well.

This morning, as part of their usual facile coverage, the CNN-ers were all agog about this and a bit afraid that somehow she had blown it. They are such nitwits.

The Obamas seemed to be having the time of their lives as well. Pretty heady stuff for a kid from Hawaii and a Chicago girl. Hard not to gush and blush and be all excited. Look at the smiles.

The Queen spent two hours with them and then went to a reception with the rest of the G-20. Not a bad message there.

Labels: Administration Obama, Barack Obama, obama

DOLDRUMS

I remember this time!

The conventions are over, the debates are just ahead, the polls are in turmoil, the candidates are off stride. These are the dog days. Or dogged days.

They bring out the worst in all of us.

I realized last night that I had been reading too much 'inside' opinion. The guys who are criticizing and back seat driving the Obama campaign.

"He should be doing this", "They should be doing that", "He needs to fight back", "The ads are lame". That kind of backbiting shit.

I don't have such opinions really. I think that the Obamas are doing pretty well. They are getting the slime thrown at them, they are responding with vigor. They are not worried about the polls. Their's is a ground game. The electoral votes. The GOTV (Get Out The Vote) effort.

I read yesterday that they are registering as many as 2000 voters a day in just the city of Orlando, Florida. These are people who are not asked any poll questions.

Everyone needs to catch their breath and calm down.

The bases are settled down and committed. That makes it pretty much a tie. The Independents are vascillating. That is why they are Independents. They can't commit politically. Don't ask me why. It is so.

I think that his organization is one of the best that I have ever seen.

What's not to like.

Do I feel at ease about the election? No. I figure that there is a sufficient gap between the knowns and unknowns to throw it away from the Democrats.

It is not easy pickings.

They are working against the racial thing. They are fighting from the high road while the other party has, apparently, no shame about throwing mud and lying.

It is an uphill battle.

Do I think that they are doing pretty well? Yes I do. And 'yes, they can'.

Labels: obama

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS

I love shit like this:

Obama campaign used party rules to foil Clinton

This speaks well for the hard nuts and bolts electioneering that wins.

It also speaks of the attention to detail and allegiance to competent people that will mark the Obama administration.

Labels: obama

SURPRISING SUPPORT

Actually not. Murdoch is a pragmatist. He sells papers and news and is a business man who is hurting just now as much as any other business man.

He is smart.

He is worth listening to.

And he supports Obama.

Labels: obama, politics

CAMPAIGN PROMISE

"During a fund-raiser in Denver, Obama --a former constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago Law School -- was asked what he hoped to accomplish during his first 100 days in office.
"I would call my attorney general in and review every single executive order issued by George Bush and overturn those laws or executive decisions that I feel violate the constitution," said Obama."

Labels: obama

UTTER CONFIDENCE

For those of us who need continued reinforcement that she cannot win this by the numbers, today, we have Tim Russert.

Russert: Obama ‘will claim mathematical lock on nomination’

His math is pretty good, I know that.

And I have read elsewhere that Obama has at least 3 dozen supers ready to endorse on or soon after the 4th.

There have been few endorsements this week which, at the rate they were coming on, means to me that they are being warehoused.

We will see.

Oh.

The legal team to the DNC says that the Committee meeting Saturday cannot allocate more than half the delegates on their own power.

That would mean that another vote to seat all of MI or FL would have to wait until just before the convention.

AP has kept this item up all day. It does not bode well for Hillary but then nothing does. Would someone tell her?

Labels: Democrats, hillary, obama

BETTER THAN WE THOUGHT

There has been so much bullshit about winnability that the facts have gotten buried.

Here is some truth.

Obama competitive against McCain with key voters

The fact is that with Clinton out of the race he gets back a lot of what we thought he was losing.

The other thing is that, as he gets more exposure, McCain looks less and less like a maverick to say nothing of his lost reputation as a straight talker.

Labels: obama

BODY MAN

This is a great piece of human interest and Obama 'color':

On the Trail, One Aide Looms Over Obama

Labels: obama

HOW THEY DID IT

Evidently, AP has decided that the primary is over.

They are running post mortems of the campaign.

Obama's Political Team Out Organized Clinton

It is a pretty good article and shows how conviction and administrative skills can trump machine politics and experience.

Matching Obama's organizing background, the team has roots in conducting on-the-ground congressional campaigns across the country. Many top aides were groomed by former House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt and former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle instead of by the Clinton wing of the party. Clinton's team was built with Washington and New York operatives.

From its experience in congressional races, the Obama team understood firsthand the extent of Clinton fatigue in the heartland and the lesson of the 2006 midterm elections: America wants change.

Obama's chief directive for hiring the more than 700 staff members who eventually came to work for him was: No Drama Allowed. Obama's even demeanor is reflected in the advisers closest to him. While Clinton's campaign divided into conflicting power centers whose emotional disputes leaked publicly, any fights in the Obama campaign were kept in the family.

This is also Howard Dean's 50 state strategy vindicated.

In some areas they have never closed the Obama offices down after the primaries.

Still doing business.

Labels: obama

RUMOR AND INNUENDO

John Aravosis, a blogger with more of a conspiracist tinge than most, has two rumors.

One is that Obama already told Hillary that she would not be Veep and that is why she is acting out so strangely this last week.

The second is more of a surmise.

That is the apparent fact that Bill and Hillary would not survive the vetting process required for the second position.

They would have to show all their recent stuff.

Even though Hill likes to say that she is the most vetted candidate, that is true only up through 2000.

Perhaps since she first ran for the Senate whenever that was.

They would not want to be run through the necessary mill for the VPOTUS.

Bill's shenanigans are probably legal but they are not the kind of thing the Obamas want to have to explain.

I like the rumor though. That he already told them 'no'.

As someone else pointed out, if he can't stand up to Hillary and Bill how could he stand up to the worst of the worst dictators and evil doers?

Or conversely, if he can stand up to them he can handle anyone.

Labels: Bill Clinton, hillary, obama