Live Tweeting President Obama’s State of the Union Speech

Well the last time I live tweeted an Obama speech people really seemed to enjoy it so I figured, why not, I’ll take on the State of the Union too. So here you go… all my tweets from last nights speech and from the Republican response given by Bob McDonnell. My point in bla bla translating the two speeches wasn’t necessarily that they were poorly delivered (and actually I think McDonnell did a pretty amazing job in his speech) but, rather, that, like nearly all modern political speeches, they are nearly meaningless rehashing of already known, and even decades old, talking points surrounded by overwhelming heaps of tired rhetorical tricks and lots of bla bla.

Anyway, enjoy:

Obama: bla bla bla bla bla hey guys bla bla bla the constitution says I gotta bore you to death tonight

Obama: bla bla bla bla I inherited a mess just like the world wars bla bla *Biden head shake* bla bla bla

Obama: bla bla bla bla random small town reference bla bla bla wall street hates children bla bla

Obama: bla bla bla bla this is the hardest presidency EVAH bla bla bla *fox letting teleprompter screens in the frame* bla bla Continue reading Live Tweeting President Obama’s State of the Union Speech

Live Tweeting President Obama’s Speech to the UN

Since I was recently randomly granted press credentials by the white house I figured I’d give covering the President a shot. So I now present, in chronological order, my live tweeting of President Obama’s speech to the United Nations as I heard it:

Obama: “bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla *head swivel* bla bla bla *head swivel* bla bla bla bla”

Obama: “bla bla bla bla cleavage bla bla bla in this body bla bla bla” Continue reading Live Tweeting President Obama’s Speech to the UN

Second Stimulus?

The economy continues to dwindle in these harsh economic times.  Job losses have fallen in every month since BidenJanuary and the unemployment rate, 9.4%, is at a twenty-six year low.  Based on these statistics, Congress has asked themselves if a second stimulus bill is needed.  Let me give you a quick answer, NO!

Let’s go back to the first stimulus, named the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The enormous $787 billion bill failed according to President Barack Obama’s predictions. While campaigning for its vote, Obama stated that without this very important bill, the unemployment rate will rise to 9% in 2010. Conversely, he said, if this legislation is passed, unemployment will not exceed 8%. However, the stimulus bill has not succeeded in doing what President Obama thought it would do, as seen by the unemployment rate flirting with 10%.

With his approval ratings decreasing, Obama sent his Vice President to calm the storm in Ohio, where less than half the people approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as President. In a speech from Cincinnati, VP Biden pointed to teaching and law enforcement jobs being saved, because of the stimulus. For the record, there is no statistic that can accurately measure the number of jobs saved. (By the way, there is a statistic that says we’ve lost roughly two million jobs since the stimulus passed). Continue reading Second Stimulus?

Obama’s Broken Promises

Back before the election, President Obama made promises about what he would do as President. Since his obamaInauguration, the President has broken many of these pledges. Who could have seen this coming? Remember the promise of no lobbyists in the Obama Administration? He broke that, as seen in the list of lobbyists in top jobs.

Then there was the promise of no earmarks. When he addressed Congress in February after the “Stimulus Bill”, President Obama said that “we passed the recovery plan free of earmarks”. However, even Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was popping up behind the President with thunderous applause, received $30M for her district to protect a mouse. Then there was the budget to fund the government for the rest of the year. In it there were an estimated 9,000 earmarks, totaling more than $5B. Another promise broken.

Finally, there was the no tax increases for “families making less than $250,000”. Well, Mr. President. How do you explain supporting a tax on energy, health care benefits, and all items? If the White House supported American Clean Energy and Security Act passes the Senate (which will be difficult), President Obama will place an outrageous tax on all those who drive a car or flip on a light switch, which is to say, nearly every single American. Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) estimates that this legislation would amount to be a $2 trillion tax increase to businesses and consumers. Continue reading Obama’s Broken Promises

Turkish Police Thwart Obama Assassination Conspiracy

The Saudi daily Al Watan is reporting that Turkish police have arrested a Syrian man who had conspired with at least three other men to try and assassinate President Obama (h/t BNO News):

According to the report, the man, who was arrested on Friday, was carrying a press card identifying him as an employee of Al Jazeera. He reportedly confessed to his intention to stab Obama with a knife and said that he was aided by three accomplices.

The report stated that Turkish authorities were still unsure as to whether the press card was a fake or whether it had actually been issued the man by the Qatari news network.

Al-Jazeera’s Ankara bureau chief, Yussef al-Sharif, told the paper that news of the suspected assassination plot had come as an utter surprise to the network’s staff in Turkey, adding that all of Al-Jazeera’s employees in the country claimed that they were not acquainted with the suspect.

Let me be the first to congratulate the law enforcement involved in stopping this assassination attempt. And let me be the first to say that I hope this brush with the realities of the war on terror will help to convince our President that he needs to commit to the fight. I hope you now see, Mr. President, that the terrorists don’t want to be your friend. They want to kill you, literally.

Pandering to them wont make them like you. Talking with them wont make them civil. Surrendering to them wont make them stop.

UPDATE: Ace links the story. He thinks there isn’t much to the plot because they planned to use a knife but it’s the press passes that make me think otherwise. It seems to me that the press could, at least in theory, get within knife range of the President. Especially considering Obama’s desire to make middle eastern networks like him.

UPDATE: CBN News has a little more information on this story. Apparently the man was planning on carrying out his attack tomorrow but was arrested on Friday. However, President Obama may still be in danger because the man claims that if he was to fail in his attempt his three conspirators were supposed to carry out their own attack. I’m sure the President is safe but this is still unnerving.

I’d also like to thank Hot Air, Tommy Christopher at AOL News, Protein Wisdom, and Memeorandum for linking me on this story. The consensus seems to be that these guys were just a bunch of morons with a knife and a fake press pass. I’m not so sure but I’ll keep you updated.

UPDATE: Some more information over at Today’s Zaman (h/t Gateway Pundit). According to their report two people have been arrested, all the conspirators had press passes and they were planning on throwing a knife at President Obama(?):

Meanwhile, two Syrian nationals purported to be in preparations of an attack against President Obama were reportedly detained by the İstanbul police on Saturday. According to a story that was published in Sunday’s Habertürk daily, the Turkish police and the CIA unearthed a plan of four individuals using fake identity cards belonging to the Al Jazeera television station to follow the US president’s visit as journalists and kill Obama by throwing a knife at him during the president’s Alliance of Civilizations meeting at the Çırağan Palace scheduled for tonight. Three others were being sought by the police yesterday in İstanbul, where the police have been carrying out extensive security operations to make sure that the visit passes without a hitch.

If you read the report it outlines the very stringent security measures that should be reassuring. I still won’t be happy until they catch the other conspirators or the President leaves Turkey.

Iraqi Shoe Thrower: Sorry for “Big and Ugly Act”

Just as the MSM and the left are glorifying the courageous act an Iraqi “journalist” committed when he threw his shoes at President Bush, the “journalist” himself has sent an apology letter to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.iraqi journalist shoe thrower

Yes, that’s right, at the same time Newsweek reporters are describing his acts as “a small measure of justice“, Muntadhar al-Zeidi called expressed his “regret and sorrow” for “the big and ugly act” he perpetrated. But, of course, don’t expect to see any of the MSM to take back their absurd assertions or, for that matter, even note the thrower’s apology.

The apology letter came with a request for a pardon from al-Maliki which appealed to some previous meetings between the two. However, al-Maliki’s spokesperson told Fox News that he rarely makes decisions based on emotion and has not decided on the pardon yet.

But even as the shoe thrower expresses his regret, expect to see his act of idiocy cemented by the media as evidence of the attitudes of everyone in the entire world. And, if the Iraqi journalist is punished by the Iraqi justice system look for the media to play up the outrage around the world and imply that the democratically elected government of Iraq is really a puppet regime controlled by Bush.

UPDATE: Allah at Hot Air has linked to this post. He has an interesting take on the political consequences for al-Maliki in the upcoming Iraqi elections. Though, it seems if Iraqis don’t already see Maliki as a Bush puppet and they view him as working for Iraq then whatever he chooses to do with this guy shouldn’t hurt him too much, especially considering the religious and ethnic dynamics Allah outlined.

Bobby Jindal Says ‘No’ to Presidential Run

In a bit of sad news Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal bluntly told reporters “No” when asked if he was interested in being President.

The question came while Jindal was in Virgina endorsing Bob McDonnell who is a Republican running for governor of Virginia. And it came after Jindal stirred up speculation by visiting the all important primary state of Iowa last month.

Unfortunately, this rules out my favorite candidate for ’12. A man who has earned praise and respect for his successful application of conservative principles at a time when the popular thing to do is turn left. He has the credintials and ability to revive the party and the conservative movement, if he’s up to the task.

Fortunately, nothing any of the candidates say about running for president in ’12 means much of anything. Although it seems a little cynical to hope that someone I view as respectable is lying about his intentions…

Obama Drops Windfall Profits Tax

In an act that further proves that Obama believes there is such a thing as too much success he decided to drop his famed windfall profits tax proposal.

Now, right now you might be saying “But CP (College Politico), dropping a proposed tax is a good thing and encourages success”. To which I would reply “yes, awesome and intelligent reader, that is true but its not the fact that he dropped the tax proposal which proves he thinks a person or company can be too successful but, rather, its the reasoning behind it.

You see, Obama has decided to drop the tax not because Oil companies have lowered their profit margins but instead because the price of oil has fallen below $80 a barrel.

So, while oil companies are still making the same percent profit they were when oil was at $140
a barrel somehow their profits are no longer considered “windfall”. In other words, oil companies are operating in the exact same fashion they were when Obama called jumped on the “windfall” tax bandwagon but somehow they were taking advantage of us then and now they aren’t.

Right, I think I got it now… oh wait, I’m sorry, I can’t understand it because it is absolutely absurd!

Of course the windfall profits tax was always absurd because the oil industry has one of the smallest profit margins (about 8%) of any industry in the world (I’ve seen reports that Google has up to a 50% profit margin for some of its online advertising but nobody is calling for a Google windfall tax). And it would still be absurd even if the oil industry had the largest profit margin because the industry is not a monopoly but is made up of many competing companies and, so, if people choose to buy from a company with a 50% profit margin instead of the company with a 10% or 5% profit margin how is the company at fault? If customers are willing to pay the price set by the seller then the seller cannot be at fault.

In fact, the only way a seller can get away with price gouging and windfall profiteering is if they are monopolies devoid of competition. And, furthermore, the only way a monopoly can form is if the government either allows it to or, and this is far more likely, actively creates it. So, if Mr. Obama is truly concerned with “windfall” profits he ought to direct us away from our current slide down the socialist slope and back towards a steadfast commitment towards free market capitalism.

UPDATE: Hot Air and Malkin chime in on this issue with quite interesting points

Hillary One Step Closer to Secretary of State?

Barack Obama meet with Hillary Clinton Thursday in Chicago in order to talk about her about becoming his Secretary of State.

Or at least that’s what some Democratic officials are telling the AP.

So perhaps those original rumors were true? And maybe Hillary is now one step closer to being our nations top diplomat. Of course lots of people were saying Hillary would be Obama’s VP pick too and we all know how that turned out.

UPDATE: “Her’s to turn down”?