RedStateVT Summarizes Two Years (Almost) of Obama

In no particular order….

Spreading the wealth, dubious acquaintances, Tony Rezko, Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, outrageous appointees, Van Jones, bending ethical promises (e.g. Geithner), wasteful stimulus, huge deficits, bowing to foreign leaders, apologizing to other countries, blaming Bush, Biden gaffe, lies about transparency (e.g. health care ), meeting lobbyists at Starbucks, not bipartisan, unemployment grows, snubbing the Dalai Llama, snubbing Israel, betraying Eastern European allies, dithering on Afghanistan surge, not post-racial; most racial, blaming the police (e.g. Cambridge/Gates), lying about the Supreme Court decision on campaign finance at SOTU, cost of health care bill lies exposed, KSM trial venue uproar, Bribegate (Sestak scandal), blaming Bush, losing Massachusetts (also New Jersey and Virginia), elitist, dropping Black Panther voter intimidation case, oil spill response, blame insurance companies, blame financial service companies, blame BP, blame Bush, Biden gaffe, sinking poll numbers, sues Arizona instead of helping with illegal immigration and related violence, no summer recovery, unemployment still high, lots of golf, Democrat scandals (e.g. Rangel, Waters), pandering to Muslims (mosque controversy), Michelle’s five star vacation, blame Republicans, off to Nantucket!

Readers are asked to fill in items that we may have missed.

If You Are A Dem.....

....it's all bad news!

Generally Democrats have been favored by Wall Street, getting 70 percent of donations from the securities and investment sector just 18 months ago. But by the time Congress took up the financial regulations legislation this June, Republicans were getting 68 percent of the donations, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group. (NYT, 8/28/10)

The string of bad news about housing, employment and economic growth has led Democrats to an inescapable conclusion: the economy is not likely to improve in time to help them in the fall elections. (WSJ, 8/28/10)

To show how desperate the left is, (MSNBC Host Chris) Matthews argued for Clinton to be out on the campaign trail … selling values. "I'd sell Democratic values if I were him." Presumably not the vows of chastity, fidelity, honesty and poverty, to name just a few. (Dan Gainor, WSJ, 8/28/10)

Final Thoughts

RedStateVT quotes below the final paragraph of two recent pieces from Washington Post opinion writers. Which one seems off-the-mark and which one spot-on?

The paradox is that a Republican Party in the grips of ideology needs to shift the campaign in a less ideological direction, hoping that voters simply cast protest ballots against hard economic times. Democrats, who are more doctrinally diverse, have every interest in turning the election into a philosophical contest, arguing that even unhappy voters cannot trust their fate to a party in the grips of a right-wing revolt. Once again on Tuesday, Republican primary participants seemed determined to give Democrats that opportunity. (E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post, 8/26/10)


The Democrats are going to get beaten badly in November. Not just because the economy is ailing. And not just because Obama over-read his mandate in governing too far left. But because a comeuppance is due the arrogant elites whose undisguised contempt for the great unwashed prevents them from conceding a modicum of serious thought to those who dare oppose them. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 8/27/10)

Self-Inflicted
Politically, President Obama's defense of the mosque and his efforts to make it a First Amendment issue are incredibly self-destructive. They raise questions about his political sanity. It is hard to believe how tone deaf he must have become to take such a position. He has now embraced two positions that are anathema to two-thirds of all Americans -- the mosque and opposition to Arizona's immigration law. Neither was a controversy that sought him out. He waded into each one voluntarily with flags flying. He had no role in the Arizona law but his lawsuit to invalidate it made it his fight. He does not sit on the New York City Planning Commission, but his endorsement of the mosque puts him squarely in the center of controversy. What is he using for brains these days? (Dick Morris, 8/18/10)

Pretty Funny!

Not So Obvious
The evidence is overwhelming that the Obama stimulus saved millions of jobs, but the economy is still the worst we've seen since the Depression, and there are almost no signs that it's going to get better. (Harold Meyerson, Washington Post, 8/18/10)

But if millions of jobs were saved, why is that………..oh, never mind!

Liberal Advice

What the current right has on offer is far worse than anything Bush put forward, which means that this election isn't even about whether we'll go back into the ditch. It's about whether a movement that's gone over a cliff will be rewarded for doing so. A victory for this style of conservatism will be a defeat for the kind of conservatism the country needs. (E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post, 8/23/10)

Our friend E. J. is very very worried about the state of conservatism. Thanks for your concern, E.J. We are just fine.


In short, the proposed community center is not just an issue on which Sarah Palin and Osama bin Laden agree. It is also one in which opponents of the center are playing into the hands of Al Qaeda. (Nicholas D. Kristof, NYT, 8/21/10)

The liberal narrative on the Ground Zero mosque is now evolving this way. If you are against the mosque, then you are with….bin Laden. And by the way, it’s not really a mosque; it’s an interfaith community center.

We wonder if Jews are welcome…..

If Only

Conspiracy Theory
A Republican aide ridiculed Pelosi's claim that there was a "conspiracy" to oppose the project. "If the speaker needs help finding the heart of the 'GOP GZM Conspiracy,' I urge her to ask Sasquatch," the aide told Fox News. "His office is behind the black helicopter hangar between the unicorn pen and the leprechaun's pot of gold." (FoxNews.com, 8/18/10)

We’ve got to find out who this aide is and promote him. He’s a helluva lot funnier than Al Franken ever was.

Obsessed With Sarah
It's been a summer of setbacks for Sarah Palin. Candidate "cubs" endorsed by the Mama Grizzly in Chief have been suffering a recent string of primary election losses. (Associated Press, 8/19/10)

Of course, Palin’s record is still better than that of Obama and unlike Obama, candidates don’t flee when she shows up.

By George
Iran is a third waiting game. The administration has admirably tried to remember that it's operating in a carpet bazaar here -- and patiently offer a mix of negotiations with economic sanctions. (I like diplomatic ambiguity, so I think this sometimes confusing stop-go approach is about right.) (David Ignatius, Washington Post, 8/19/10)

David Ignoramus apparently is happy with Obama’s Iran strategy. Of course, Obama’s approach is insulting to the word “strategy.” As usual, we have to turn to George Will.

Any Israeli self-defense anywhere is automatically judged "disproportionate." Israel knows this as it watches Iran. (George Will, Washington Post, 8/19/10)

The creation of Israel did not involve the destruction of a Palestinian state, there having been no such state since the Romans arrived. And if the Jewish percentage of the world's population were today what it was when the Romans ruled Palestine, there would be 200 million Jews. After a uniquely hazardous passage through two millennia without a homeland, there are 13 million Jews.

In the 62 years since this homeland was founded on one-sixth of 1 percent of the land of what is carelessly and inaccurately called "the Arab world," Israelis have never known an hour of real peace. Patronizing American lectures on the reality of risks and the desirableness of peace, which once were merely fatuous, are now obscene. (George Will, Washington Post, 8/19/10)

Once again the conservative columnist does his homework and presents a fact-based analysis while the liberal writes about “feelings.”

RedStateVT Comes Clean

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is suggesting a coordinated effort is behind the opposition to a proposed mosque and community center near Ground Zero, saying the whole dispute has been "ginned up" for political purposes and she supports a probe into those opponents. (FoxNews.com, 8/18/10)

In a statement just released, RedStateVT announced today that it is part of the coordinated effort to oppose the Ground Zero mosque.

Of Mosques and Men

1) In supporting the building of a mosque in lower Manhattan. President Obama puts the interests of Muslims ahead of those of Americans.

2) Obama comes out in favor of the Ground Zero mosque in front of a group of Muslims and later walks it back in front of American cameras. This is exactly the same thing that Yasir Arafat used to do and is a principal reason why he could not be trusted.

3) As long as Muslims continue to allow mosques to function as recruiting grounds for terrorists, Americans will continue to oppose them.

4) When Harry Reid comes out against the mosque, you know you have staked out the wrong position.

5) Pop Quiz: Anyone know how many synagogues and Catholic churches are currently under construction in Saudi Arabia? Our guess is zero.

6) Where are the moderate Muslims?

The Palin Obsession Continues
Emily's List 'Mama Grizzlies' attack Sarah Palin (Washington Post Headline, 8/17/10)

Loved this WaPo headline which seemingly describes conservative women coming out against Sarah Palin. Only the women are abortion advocates!

Follow the Money
Murdoch's News Corp. has made a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association, triggering swift criticism from Democrats that a contribution of that magnitude casts a shadow on his media properties, particularly Fox News. (Washington Post, 8/17/10)

Meanwhile, still no word on whether Obama will return the money he received from Goldman Sachs and BP.

First Tom DeLay is Cleared, Now This!
The interrogation of Ramzi Binalshibh, a key figure in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was recorded several times while he was being questioned in Morocco by local intelligence officers, according to a U.S. official…."The tapes, which were made and found years ago, show a guy sitting at a desk answering questions," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of ongoing investigations. (Washington Post, 8/17/10)

The CIA refused to answer whether or not Binalshibh had been given a cushy chair.