One reason I may never visit New York City

This is what happens when you live in such a cultural cocoon that there is no one to tell you what a stupid idea your stupid idea is:

File this under “EW!”:

When Jada Shapiro decided to raise her daughter from birth without diapers, for the most part, not everyone was amused. Ms. Shapiro scattered little bowls around the house to catch her daughter’s offerings, and her sister insisted that she use a big, dark marker to mark the bowls so that they could never find their way back to the kitchen.

“My sister wasn’t a huge fan,” she said on Thursday.

But “elimination communication,” as the diaper-free method of child-rearing is called, is finding an audience in the hipper precincts of New York City.

Ms. Shapiro, who is a doula, a birth and child-rearing coach, says it is practically now a job qualification to at least be able to offer diaper-free training as an option to clients. Caribou Baby, an “eco-friendly maternity, baby and lifestyle store” on the border of artsy Greenpoint and Williamsburg, has been drawing capacity crowds to its diaper-free “Meetups,” where parents exchange tips like how to get a baby to urinate on the street between parked cars.

Parents are drawn to the method as a way of preserving the environment from the ravages of disposable diapers, as well as reducing the laundering of cloth diapers and preventing diaper rash. Many of them like the thought that they are rediscovering an ancient practice used in other cultures, though they tend to gloss over the fact that many of those cultures had never heard of Pampers. But mostly, they say, they like feeling more in touch with their babies’ most intimate functions.

“I think for a lot of parents, the motivation is just to be more in tune with what their kids’ needs are,” Adriane Stare, proprietor of Caribou Baby and herself a diaper-free mother, said on Thursday, about a week after holding her most recent meetup. Another meeting was written about on Thursday on the news Web site dnainfo.com; the next is May 14.

This is one of those things that happened before Rome fell, right?

When I think of getting “in tune” with a child’s needs, I think about things like food, shelter, clothing, love, confidence-building, instill good values… Not teaching it the right way to take a whiz between parked cars.

(And what of the poor schmuck who later picks that route to get to his car?)

Nincompoopery like this makes me think of “Green warriors” who want to preserve rural villages from the ravages of technology, so they can continue to live in virtue, close to nature… and then you go ask someone in that same pesthole village if they’d like to have refrigerators, electric lights, air conditioning –and diapers!– and they’ll look at you like you’re nuts for asking and answer “Heck yes! When’s the delivery?”

Sometimes civilization is a good thing.

Even in Manhattan.

via Jonah Goldberg

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

This just in: “Master bedroom” is now racist and sexist

But, of course:

The “master suite” is being phased out — not from our homes, but from our lexicon.

A survey of 10 major Washington, D.C.-area homebuilders found that six no longer use the term “master” in their floor plans to describe the largest bedroom in the house….Why? In large part for exactly the reason you would think: “Master” has connotation problems, in gender (it skews toward male) and race (the slave-master).

The new, politically correct phrase is “owner’s suite.”  Can’t see how that’s much better, as least from the point of view of the ridiculously hypersensitive.

Sigh.

via Salena Zito and Conservative Intelligence Briefing

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

The horror of sequester: congressional aides might have to pay more for subsidized lunches

“House cafeteria, post-sequester”

Have those heartless House Republicans no mercy, no soul? How could they do this to poor, starving congressional staffers?

Speaking at a hearing of the House Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, [Debbie] Wasserman Schultz worried that prices of meals in House restaurants are getting so high that aides are being “priced out” of a good meal.

At the carry-out cafe in the Cannon Office Building, where Wasserman Schultz has her office, you can get an 8oz bowl of Ham and Bean soup for $2. You can buy gourmet sandwiches and wraps for around $5. Both of these are cheaper than I can get at delis down the street from my house.

Her aides could walk across the street to the Longworth Building, which has a large sit-down cafeteria. Today, it is featuring a roasted stuffed Chicken, with asparagus and mashed potatoes, for around $7. Or, one could opt for a heaping 12oz bowl of Chicken Chili for $3.

There is also the tried and true method enjoyed by millions of workers around the country: a brown-bag lunch.

Curse you, Tea Partiers! Have you no sympathy for long-suffering, hard-toiling aides who make more than the median salary in the US?

You can imagine that I, who lives the life of luxury –bringing my breakfast four out of five days to work, my lunch every day, going out to a cheap dinner with friends just once per month– Well, dear readers, you can picture just how my heart breaks for people who might have to pay $8 for roasted stuffed chicken with mashed potatoes and asparagus, instead of seven.

I weep.

Actually, I don’t. In fact, Wasserman-Schultz and her overpaid entourage of whiny self-entitled oligarchs can go do something anatomically impossible to themselves. It was her party’s leader who thought of the sequester, it was her party’s leader who fought tooth and nail any effort ease what little real pain it would cause, and it was her party’s leader and his minions (including Debbie) who tried desperately to scare the American people with a “sequester terror” that turned out to be a giant nothing. If she and her staff now have to live a tiny bit more like us great unwashed, don’t expect sympathy from me.

Honestly, this is a glaring example of just how (to use a cliche) out of touch and removed from the everyday life of Americans those who live within the Beltway must be, especially the progressives. If the Republicans don’t use this monumental example of elite cluelessness as a populist  club to beat the Democrats over the head with from now until November, 2014, they don’t belong in politics.

UPDATE: Mockery via Twitchy — #SaveTheStaffers

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

The greatest issue facing America: a cruise-ship passengers’ bill of rights

And Chuck Schumer is on the case:

Sen. Charles Schumer is calling on the cruise ship industry to adopt a “bill of rights” to guarantee passengers certain protections while aboard their ships.

The New York Democrat says Sunday he’ll be asking industry leaders to voluntarily adopt the guidelines which include guarantees that ships have sanitary conditions, back-up power, medical staff and other standard procedures.

Schumer’s plan would also include the right to a full refund if a trip is abruptly canceled due to mechanical problems.

And thus we see the modern Democratic Party’s priorities in action: no budget from the Senate in more than 1,400 days? Bah! The threat of a nuclear-armed Iran or North Korea? Don’t waste my time! Food-stamp usage at an all-time high while labor force participation is at a record low? Small potatoes, friend.

No, as we see from the senior senator from New York’s example, what really matters is grandstanding whenever possible and wherever cameras and mics are available, so that you can pretend you’re fighting for the little guy and convince enough saps to vote for you again.

This also shows the different mindset of the limited government advocates on the one hand, and the statists on the other.

Limited Government Advocate:

“A company that provides poor service will eventually put itself out of business, and those who feel harmed by it have access to the civil courts. Annoying as these incidents are, it’s really none of the federal government’s business, and we should get back to tending to what properly is.”

Statist:

“This is an outrage! People need our protection against evil corporations; the government must do something! What? They already have redress under the law? They can take their business elsewhere? Insufficient! We must pass new laws, because that’s what we’re here for — to pass laws! Not in our purview? Nonsense! We’ll pass a law to make it our business! Call a press conference!”

Is it any wonder people are disenchanted with our political class, when so many of them ignore the real problems we face and instead go chasing butterflies?

via Liberty Unyielding

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

Anti-gun hysteria: from the ridiculous to… Maryland

“Watch out! He’s got a Pop-tart!!”

And here I thought my beloved California was insane. Well, it looks like Maryland is trying to give us a run for the title.

You may have heard about 7-year old Josh Welch, a potentially dangerous proto-terrorist who was suspended from school in Anne Arundel County for the shocking crime of… breaking his pastry into something vaguely resembling a gun and, allegedly, saying “bang-bang.”

The horror.

But wait, it gets better!

Fearful that students may have been traumatized by a little boy acting like, well, a little boy, Park Elementary school is offering counseling to those who may be just too upset to go on after being threatened with junk food:

“I am writing to let you know about an incident that occurred this morning in one of our classrooms and encourage you to discuss this matter with your child in a manner you deem most appropriate.

(…)

If your children express that they are troubled by today’s incident, please talk with them and help them share their feelings. Our school counselor is available to meet with any students who have the need to do so next week. In general, please remind them of the importance of making good choices.”

This is how Rome fell, isn’t it? Far from being “troubled,” I’m willing to bet Josh’s friends were about to make their own “improvised food guns” and join in the fun.

Maybe they should offer them self-defense classes, instead:

This is the natural, ridiculous, and pathetic outcome of the anti-gun hysteria that the Democrats, the Left, and their allies in the media (but I repeat myself) have tried to generate nationwide in a shameless exploitation of the mass shootings at Aurora, Newtown, and elsewhere, in order to push their gun-control people-control agenda. Far from contributing to a rational discussion of the facts about gun violence in general and the likely causes of mass shootings, in particular, they instead use fear to try to rush through useless legislation — unless the intended use is the gutting of our natural right to keep and bear arms.

And in the course of using fear and misinformation press their agenda, they also create a climate in which children get suspended for carrying a loaded Pop-tart, packing a pink bubble-gun, and saving a busload of their classmates.

The only good I can see coming out of this is that these and other incidents will make the anti-gun left look so ridiculous that their anti-2nd amendment initiatives lose steam.

I hope.

via Legal Insurrection

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

Olga from Greece Has a Lithuanian Soulmate Mooching in the United Kingdom

Reblogged from International Liberty:

• 

The welfare state creates some amazingly pathetic and disgusting individuals.

• In the battle of the bums, we've had the spectacle of "Diaper Man" vs "Footless Hans."
• In the contest for most despicable moocher, we have the "Florida Pedophiles" vs the "Gimme Babymaker."
• And the fight for most pathetic victim of dependency features the "

Read more… 937 more words

And if you don't believe it can happen here, click the link, read, and get angry.

Your tax dollars in action: feds fund computer game to fight global warming

AKA, “A problem that does not exist.” But, hey, it’s only $100,000 of our money:

A new video game featuring a black alien female superhero delivered to Earth to fight global warming is about to hit the market thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Obama administration.

The National Endowment for the Arts is funding the Spelman College of Atlanta, Ga.’s multi-episode game called “HERadventure.” In the grant announcement made last year, the NEA said the story “focuses on a young female superhero sent to Earth to save her own planet from devastation because of climate changes caused by social issues impacting women and girls.”

So, since they can’t prove man-produced CO2 causes climate change, it’s now the result of the Republican “War on women?” It was inevitable, I suppose, conflating two myths into one. I’m surprised they haven’t blamed climate change on racism, too.

Oh, wait. They have.

Meanwhile, it looks like Senator Coburn has another item for his “Waste Book.”

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

Demand a Plan! (To end celebrity hypocrisy)

Actually, I don’t know if they’re hypocritical so much as clueless, but the result is the same: yet another deep, meaningful campaign in which a bunch of vapid airheads go in front of a camera and repeat slogans over and over, hoping to brainwash you into submission, like a bunch of zombies.

This time, however, someone took that video and remixed it with interesting results:

So, celebs, does your plan include your own movies? Shouldn’t we be talking about the 1st amendment, as well as the second? Don’t your films promote the dread “gun culture” and glorify violence? If we’re going to restrict Americans’ rights to self-defense in the name of public safety, shouldn’t your films be subject to censorship for the same reason?

Or maybe, just maybe, the problem lies with the person, not the tool or the medium.

But that’s probably too difficult for for a bunch of zombies to understand.

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

Cult of Personality Watch: “The Gospel According to the Apostle Barack”

“He walks among us”

I truly thought this was satire when I read the headline, something Iowahawk would come up with.

But, no. It’s real, and the author is serious:

The book’s premise is God spoke to Professor [Barbara A. Thompson, Florida A&M], telling her that Apostle Barack Obama’s 155 speeches made between February 10, 2007 and January 20, 2009 had the answers to unlock the kingdom of “heaven here on earth.”

And this is from the book’s promo text on Amazon:

Yes, Barack had worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people, especially those who elected him in 2008. His followers needed to re-elect him to a second term, so that he could continue to accomplish the promises he made, thus, realizing his vision of America as a more perfect political union or “heaven here on earth” Then, as I began to contemplate ways to assist Barack in his 2012 re-election bid something miraculous happened. I felt God’s (His) Spirit beckoning me in my dreams at night. Listening, cautiously, I learned that Jesus walked the earth to create a more civilized society, Martin (Luther King) walked the earth to create a more justified society, but, Apostle Barack, the name he was called in my dreams, would walk the earth to create a more equalized society, for the middle class and working poor. Apostle Barack, the next young leader with a new cause, had been taken to the mountaintop and allowed to see over the other side. He had the answers to unlock the kingdom of “heaven here on earth” for his followers. The answers were repeated – over and over – in speeches Barack had made from his presidential announcement to his inaugural address. Those speeches or his teachings contained the answers to the middle class and working poor people living in a “heaven here on earth” For when the answers were unlocked and enacted, Apostle Barack’s vision of America would be realized.

I’ll wait here while you go hurl.

Out of all the observations and arguments over the direction of our culture, it’s the tendency of some, mostly on the Left, to eschew self-government in favor of a Leader who somehow embodies the spirit of the nation and can divine the “national will” that perhaps disturbs me most. Ronald Pestritto describes this in his discussion of Hegel’s influence on President  Wilson in “Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism:”

“People follow the world-historical individual because they see their own spirit in him. This leader has in him the vision of the people’s future. ‘Their fellows, therefore, follow these soul-leaders; for they feel the irresistible power of their own inner Spirit thus embodied.’ Wilson laid out a similar concept of democratic leadership in his essay ‘Leaders of men,’ … As Hegel explains, leadership is necessary in order to uncover and bring to the surface the people’s true will, which become increasingly manifest as history progresses. Underneath the apparent clash of subjective interests and passions, there is a true, unified, and objective will, Leadership finds this true will and points it out to the people.”

(“Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism,” Kindle edition, beginning at location 276)

Adjust for the religious framing of Professor Thompson’s work and Hegel’s talk of “spirit” and “will,” and I think you can see the family resemblance. This veneration of the leader and the paternalistic “knowing the people’s will before the people themselves know” is part and parcel of American progressivism, not just in Wilson’s time (and, to an extent, his predecessor, TR), but in the present day in his modern acolyte, Obama. Goldberg discusses this tendency extensively in his must-read, “Liberal Fascism,” and it’s an unhealthy one in a democratic republic, something far too many succumb to.

While people like Obama cloak their beliefs in words of democracy, at their heart they’re statist, elitist, and anti-democratic. At the extreme end of their politics lies totalitarianism, wherein, as Professor Thompson anticipates as “heaven on earth,” God and the State become one.

RELATED: Some earlier examples of the Obama cult of personality.

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

I knew NYC Mayor @MikeBloomberg was an arrogant, statist ass…

“Death? Chaos? There’s a race to run!”

But I never knew just how monumental and perfect an ass until now:

Staten Island pleads for help: “We are going to die!”

Per the Mayor: “Screw Staten Island, the marathon must go on!“

And to think Bloomie has had presidential ambitions. How’s that looking now, pal?

I bet they wish Rudy were still in charge.

RELATED: More from my blog-buddy, ST.

Quote of the Day: “You’ve got to be kidding” edition

America’s top issue

In the wake of President Obama’s shellacking at the hands of Governor Romney in last week’s debate, the Obama campaign has sought to show Americans that they are focused like a laser on the issue we all deeply care about.

What is that issue, you ask? A $16 trillion-dollar national debt that growing by the hour? A trillion-dollar budget deficits that show no sign of ending? A resurgent al Qaeda?  Chinese aggression in East Asia? A failing war in Afghanistan and the potential loss of all we gained by our sacrifices in Iraq? Scandals in the Departments of Justice and State that have cost human lives?

Don’t be silly, silly!  The President and his campaign are fighting for what truly matters: Big Bird.

“I will say it doesn’t change the fact that there’s only one candidate in this race who is going to continue to fight for Big Bird and Elmo, and he is riding on this plane,” [campaign spokeswoman] Psaki continued.

Psaki reminded reporters again of the campaign’s “love for Big Bird and Elmo,” then defended the concept of the ad.

“This election is about serious issues,” she noted. “That’s what the President talks about every day.  That’s what his focus is on every day.”

It’s been said that the moment the McCain campaign lost the election in 2008 was when he made himself look ridiculous by suspending his campaign and heading for Washington during the September fiscal crisis. While this isn’t nearly as dramatic, people may just look back on the decision to make Big Bird a major talking point as the moment Obama lost 2012.

(And how Psaki could say that without choking with embarrassment or the reporters laughing in derision, I have no idea.)

UPDATE: Yep. This may be the moment they lost it. When even Chris “Tingles” Matthew says this is a Mickey Mouse issue…

UPDATE II: My friend Michael Ledeen compares this to Jimmy Carter and his killer rabbit.

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

Rules for the road: “How to behave during an Islamic massacre”

I was noodling around YouTube this morning and ran across this episode of Andrew Klavan’s sorely missed “Klavan on the Culture” from last year. Like the Churchill quote from yesterday, events of the past few days have made this video again relevant:

And after seeing the Obama administration’s “handling” of this crisis –refusing to defend free speech, blaming Americans for actually exercising that right– I can tell President Obama and Secretary Clinton and all the rest of Team Hopenchange studied this video very, very closely.

And got the point all wrong.

Argh. 

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

This may explain a lot about the Justice Department

Presented without further comment:

The PJ Tatler has obtained documents from the Justice Department detailing efforts to recruit attorneys and staff who are dwarfs or who have “psychiatric disabilities” or “severe intellectual disabilities.”  On May 31, 2012, Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez issued a directive to affirmatively recruit people with these “targeted disabilities.” 

This DOJ policy does not merely involve prohibitions against discrimination, but rather the documents reveal deliberate recruitment efforts to hire as attorneys and staff for the Department of Justice people suffering from psychiatric disorders and intellectual disabilities.  Moreover, applicants can “self-identify” their disability by means of the “Standard Form 256, Self Identification Disability.”

Those with “targeted disabilities” may be hired through a “non-competitive” appointment. That means they don’t have to endure the regular civil service competition among applicants, but can be plucked from the stack of resumes and hired immediately instead.

So much starts to make sense, now…

Read the rest at PJMedia.

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

Tales of the Nanny State: Bloomberg commands breastfeeding!

Call me crazy, but isn’t the choice whether to breastfeed one’s baby one the mother should make, perhaps in consultation with her doctor?

Not when Mayor Mike is in charge!

The nanny state is going after moms.

Mayor Bloomberg is pushing hospitals to hide their baby formula behind locked doors so more new mothers will breast-feed.

Starting Sept. 3, the city will keep tabs on the number of bottles that participating hospitals stock and use — the most restrictive pro-breast-milk program in the nation.

Under the city Health Department’s voluntary Latch On NYC initiative, 27 of the city’s 40 hospitals have also agreed to give up swag bags sporting formula-company logos, toss out formula-branded tchotchkes like lanyards and mugs, and document a medical reason for every bottle that a newborn receives.

While breast-feeding activists applaud the move, bottle-feeding moms are bristling at the latest lactation lecture.

“If they put pressure on me, I would get annoyed,” said Lynn Sidnam, a Staten Island mother of two formula-fed girls, ages 4 months and 9 years. “It’s for me to choose.”

Under Latch On NYC, new mothers who want formula won’t be denied it, but hospitals will keep infant formula in out-of-the-way secure storerooms or in locked boxes like those used to dispense and track medications.

With each bottle a mother requests and receives, she’ll also get a talking-to. Staffers will explain why she should offer the breast instead.

Lovely. So not only will Mike Bloomberg and his merry band of statists play hide-the-bottle to force one to breastfeed, but those who don’t get with the program will be nagged until they do — “We know what’s best for your baby. You don’t. Why do you insist on a bottle? WHY DO YOU HATE YOUR BABY??”

That’s the essence of liberal fascism, of the nanny-state, of arrogant would-be Czars like Mike Bloomberg: there is no limit, no point at which they say they control enough. Every minute aspect of your life –how much salt you use, how much soda you drink, how you feed your baby– is subject to the state’s direction.

Every. Single. Bit.

via David Freddoso

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

Tomatoes are a Crusader plot against Islam!!

And they wonder why we laugh and point sometimes:

OMG! A cross!!

A Salafist group called the Popular Egyptian Islamic Association has come under fire after sending out a warning on Facebook urging its followers not to eat tomatoes because the vegetable (or fruit) is a Christian food.

The group posted a photo on its page of a tomato – which appears to reveal the shape of a cross after being cut in half – along with the message: “Eating tomatoes is forbidden because they are Christian. [The tomato] praises the cross instead of Allah and says that Allah is three (a reference to the Trinity).

We all know this is ridiculous, of course. Tomatoes in no way offend Islam. Besides, they’re great in kebabs.

Ice cream cones, on the other hand, are an insult worthy of jihad.

UPDATE: And how could I forget that other decadent, anti-Islamic food, pizza?

via The Jawa Report

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

Foot-in-mouth disease is an inheritable trait?

That may be a profitable line of research worthy of a government grant! While speaking off-the-cuff at a political event in North Carolina, Beau Biden, former Delaware Attorney General and son our illustrious vice-president, said the following:

At the N.C. Democratic Party’s annual fundraising dinner, Biden mentioned that Romney didn’t seek a second term as Massachusetts governor, suggesting his failed economic policies hurt him. “I’ve never met a successful politician who didn’t run again,” said Biden, the Delaware attorney general.

Instead of laughs, Biden’s remark was met with groans from the audience. Why?

Because North Carolina’s own governor, a Democrat, has chosen not to run for a second term. Awkward…

Maybe Beau was making a loving Father’s Day weekend tribute to Joe. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

via Jazz Shaw

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

Schadenfreude for lunch: Wisconsin recall losers in denial #WIrecall — Updated with more mockery!

Admit it: it’s fun to laugh and point at the other side, whether in politics or sports, especially when they do anything but admit reality — that they didn’t just lose, but had their heads handed to them. Fair and square.

And so, my friends, here’s one last bit of gloating over the results of Tuesday’s recall election in Wisconsin. Behold the stalwart few, certain they did not lose. It’s that CNN called the election too early. Or something.

Hey, the CNN guy got off lucky. One of Mayor Barrett’s (D-Loser) “supporters” slapped him for conceding too soon.

They don’t get that whole “lose with grace” thing, do they?

Well, they’re going to love November.

via Jammie Wearing Fool

UPDATE: Thanks to Bob in the comments, we see the Republican Governors Association has decided to have a little fun of their own at the pundits’ expense:

Heh.

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

Barack Obama, Man of the People

I mean, doesn’t this just scream “He’s one of the 99%!!” to you?

Don’t forget, it’s Mitt Romney who’s really the out-of-touch elitist.

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

Biggest White House ego, ever. Updated!

Okay, it’s a given that anyone who runs for president of the United States has to have a healthy ego; you’re in essence saying you’re the best person to do the most difficult job on the planet. But never, ever, do I think it would occur to any of the presidents from Washington to George W. Bush (1) to insert himself into the official biographies of his predecessors.

That is, not until Barack Obama:

Many of President Obama’s fervent devotees are young enough not to have much memory of the political world before the arrival of The One. Coincidentally, Obama himself feels the same way—and the White House’s official website reflects that.

The Heritage Foundation’s Rory Cooper tweeted that Obama had casually dropped his own name into Ronald Reagan’s official biography on www.whitehouse.gov, claiming credit for taking up the mantle of Reagan’s tax reform advocacy with his “Buffett Rule” gimmick. My first thought was, he must be joking. But he wasn’t—it turns out Obama has added bullet points bragging about his own accomplishments to the biographical sketches of every single U.S. president since Calvin Coolidge (except, for some reason, Gerald Ford) (2).

Here’s one example from the article:

President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare signed (sic) into law in 1965—providing millions of elderly healthcare stability. President Obama’s historic health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act, strengthens Medicare, offers eligible seniors a range of preventive services with no cost-sharing, and provides discounts on drugs when in the coverage gap known as the “donut hole.”

Given that Medicare costs are one of the problems that threaten to eat our economy alive, I’m not sure a sensible person would want to take credit for it.

But most people don’t apparently have narcissistic personality disorder, either. Unlike a certain president.

Conservatives have been having a field mocking this nonsense on Twitter; you can check out the best on the Twitter aggregation site, Twitchy.

And yet, as worthy of mockery as this is, there’s a serious side. The Examiner’s Philip A. Klein calls this vandalism:

Obviously, as president, Obama can use the tools of the White House to advance his goals. But at the same time, all presidents are to some extent guardians of the institution. Sure, a lot of the White House website is naturally going to be used to promote Obama, but there are some areas that should be considered neutral ground — one of them being the history sections. White House presidential biographies are the type of thing that school kids read and they should be able to do so without being bombarded by propaganda for whoever is in power.

(…)

Obama should get beyond his own narcisism and realize that, win or lose in November, he’s just a temporary part of something that’s bigger than himself.

The best presidents –in fact, I’d say most, to a greater or lesser degree– have a sense of history, that they are only the custodians of an office and a tradition. They have healthy egos, but even those with the (heretofore) biggest, such as LBJ, know they stand in the shadows of the men who came before.

But not Barack Obama. He can’t get beyond his narcissism, as Klein says, because, trapped within it, he can’t see it for the self-absorption it is. Instead, it is a simple fact: All His 43 predecessors are merely His heralds, lighting the way to Him.

November can’t come fast enough.

LINKS: More from Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, Moe Lane, and Breitbart. Hilarity from National Review.

UPDATE: The RNC has set up a very funny satirical site of Obama’s great moments in history.

Footnotes:
(1) As a friend pointed out, Bush had trouble even defending his own policies, let alone taking credit for those of anyone else.
(2) I’m not sure if Ford’s shade should feel insulted or grateful.

The President forgets

Wow. The same day I post a chart showing that one-third of the unemployed in this country have been out of work for over a year and that the rate skyrocketed under Obama, he admits to sometimes forgetting how bad things are:

Now, I can see a man or a woman dealing with day-to-day existence (work, kids, &c.) sometimes forgetting just how bad things got in 2008-09 and just how bad they still are; they have a lot on their plates.

But, Mr. President? Sir? Dude? Umm….

THIS IS YOUR JOB! THIS IS ALL YOU HAVE ON YOUR PLATE, YOU SCHMUCK!!

(Sorry for shouting there.)

Honest to Pete. When economic hard times hit, it is the job of the government to figure a way out of the mess. (Hint for Barack: spend less, tax less, regulate less. Listen to Warren Harding. ) That is what you are paid to do, sir.

We have a 15-trillion dollar (and growing) debt, we borrow 40 cents of every dollar we spend, our out of control entitlements are going to eat us alive, our real unemployment rate is 14.5%, fewer people are in the work force than at any time in the last 30 years, companies are not hiring (hence those long-term unemployed) because they have no faith in your unicorns and rainbows plan for the future, and… and……

And you forget?

Let me help you remember. Here’s a list of the ten worst states for unemployment (1):

42	SOUTH CAROLINA	8.9
43	FLORIDA	9.0
43	GEORGIA	9.0
43	MISSISSIPPI	9.0
43	NEW JERSEY	9.0
47	NORTH CAROLINA	9.7
48	DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA	9.8
49	CALIFORNIA	11.0
50	RHODE ISLAND	11.1
51	NEVADA	12.0

Does that jog your memory?

Oh, wait. Never mind. I’m being unfair. (2) You have much more important things on your mind, such as your next tee-time and palling around with the Hollywood glitterati. Silly me. No wonder you have trouble remembering people who have lost their their jobs, their savings, their homes, their hope. (“Hope.” Does that sound familiar to you? I forget…)

November can’t come fast enough.

via The PJ Tatler

PS: Yeah, I’m being a partisan hack and bagging on him for making a passing comment and using a common rhetorical device (“We’re all guilty…”). So what? President Amateur richly deserves it.

PPS: Romney 2012.

Footnotes:
(1) Well, nine and D.C. And these figures don’t count “labor force participation,” meaning the real rates would be higher if those who’ve stopped looking for work were counted.
(2) And probably racist, too. Naturally.

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)