Obama’s humblebrag for the ages

February 26, 2013 by Leave a comment

humblebragUrbandictionary.com defines “humblebrag” as “subtly letting others now about how fantastic your life is while undercutting it with a bit of self-effacing humor or “woe is me” gloss.” Adding: “A typical and popular approach is to use a disingenuous complaint about something, a self-deprecating statement… as a vehicle to deliver the real message, which invariably shows the person in a favourable light. In fact it shows what an attention seeking and insecure person they really are.”

With that in mind, here is President Obama today:

“You know, the one thing about being president is, after four years, you get pretty humble. You’d think maybe you wouldn’t but actually you become more humble–you realize what you don’t know,” Obama said.

“You realize all the mistakes you made. But you also realize you can’t do things by yourself. That’s not how our system works. You’ve got to have the help and the goodwill of Congress, and what that means is you’ve got to make sure that constituents of members of Congress are putting some pressure on them, making sure they’re doing the right thing.”

1. This should be an incredibly embarrassing admission. Read more of this post

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Democrats Snicker at Republican Kool-aid

February 19, 2013 by Leave a comment

Republican Kool-Aid: Oh yeah!

Comprehensive immigration reform: Oh Yeah!

The Republican establishment’s ham-fisted courtship of the American electorate feels like watching the science nerds on The Big Bang Theory hit on a hot girl. Over and over again. The same way. Getting more and more uncomfortable each time. Oh, you like immigration reform? Uh, I can do that. Border security? No? Ok. Just tell me what you want. I’ll do anything. Anything!

Meanwhile, the girl gets the nice little nerds to buy her pretty things, then runs off with the jerk boyfriend who treats her like garbage.

Obama advisor David Plouffe is enjoying the spectacle as he drives off in his Lexus. Responding to a question about Marco Rubio’s messianic possibilities in transforming the Hispanic vote, Mr. Plouffe said, “The Hispanic voters in Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico don’t give a damn about Marco Rubio, the Tea Party Cuban-American from Florida.”

The awkward flirting

Plouffe isn’t just posturing. It’s the reality on the ground. Mr. Plouffe explains, “You know what? We won the Cuban vote….It’s probably my favorite stat of the whole campaign. So this notion that Marco Rubio is going to heal their problems — it’s not even sophomoric; it’s juvenile! And by the way: the bigger problem they’ve got with Latinos isn’t immigration. It’s their economic policies and health care. The group that supported the president’s health care bill the most? Latinos.”

Polls differ on who outright won the Cuban vote in Florida, but at worst, Obama won 48% of their vote, up from 35% in 2008. Will Rubio’s ethnicity and charisma overcome the Republican deficit with Hispanics? The “Tea Party Cuban-American” couldn’t even deliver his home state’s Cuban-American population. An important lesson of last year’s election was that Dems have a much better grasp on what people want to hear and what motivates them. Plouffe should be shutting his mouth about how out of touch Republicans are, and go on winning elections, but he’s so astounded that they’re playing make believe about why they can’t win the Hispanic vote, he can’t help himself.  Read more of this post

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Propaganda and the sudden urgency of pre-school education

February 16, 2013 by 1 Comment

propagandaTwo weeks before the election, apparently spooked by his weak debate performances, President Obama felt compelled to finally release a second term agenda. His campaign quickly printed 3.5 million copies of the Orwellian and simplistically titled, “The New Economic Patriotism: A Plan for Jobs & Middle-Class Security”.  The plan included a section on education, famously called for hiring 100,000 (not 79,000, not 100,001) new math and science teachers, and (of course) more spending on college. One item that didn’t even receive a mention? “High quality pre-school”.

Yet at this past Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, suddenly the previously ignored issue of Pre-K education required two full paragraphs worth of attention in a nationally broadcast speech.

What changed?

As Hillary might say, “What difference does it make?” The One has spoken, we must follow his lead. And that’s just what David Brooks does:

Today millions of American children grow up in homes where they don’t learn the skills they need to succeed in life… Enter President Obama. This week he announced the most ambitious early childhood education expansion in decades.

Analyzing David Brooks’ writing is not something I particularly enjoy, but he’s a frustrating case. The NY Times house conservative, he was a clever and thoughtful writer capable of persuading those on both sides of the aisle. Yet ever since he fell in love with Obama’s pant crease, he’s used that power for administration propaganda.

On this latest issue of federal pre-school expansion, he begins by feigning skepticism:

But, on this subject, it’s best to be hardheaded. So I spent Wednesday and Thursday talking with experts and administration officials, trying to be skeptical. Does the president’s plan merely expand the failing federal effort or does it focus on quality and reform? Is the president trying to organize a bloated centralized program or is he trying to be a catalyst for local experimentation?

Let me guess… the answer is going to end up being Read more of this post

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Say Anything

January 28, 2013 by Leave a comment

say anythingBarack Obama, when campaigning in 2008, said “I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody”, and I thought the citizenry would be turned off by such patently unAmerican, socialist-tinged language, but he went on to be elected president.

Nancy Pelosi said of a 2700 page bill taking over a sixth of the economy, “We have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it”, forfeiting any pretense of seriousness or careful deliberation. And after that I thought the whole bill would go up in smoke, but Obamacare still passed.

Harry Reid, in response to a Republican budget that attempted to impose some restraint on an out-of-control national deficit, said of one particular spending cut, “Had [the Cowboy Poetry Festival] not been around, tens of thousands of people who come there every year would not exist”, and I thought the big spending liberal parody mixed with farcical phrasing would make Reid a laughingstock, but he has remained Senate Majority Leader.

Barack Obama, campaigning in 2012, mocked entrepreneurs’ self-regard, and of the businesses they poured their blood, sweat, and tears into, he said “you didn’t build that!” And I thought the American people, already discouraged by the  poor economy he’d presided over, would finally realize the disdain the president has for self-reliance and earned success, but Obama won reelection.  Read more of this post

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Bill Bennett’s imaginary feminist hero: Elizabeth Blackwell

January 24, 2013 by Leave a comment

elizabeth blackwellBill Bennett always seemed like a kind, jovial man, who gives off the impression of a caring grandfather-type whose wisdom is to be trusted. No more. Not after the January 23rd entry of his American Patriot’s Almanac on female icon Elizabeth Blackwell, where he has revealed himself as a teller of tall tales. A fabulist. Or just a liar. He begins:

On January 23, 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in the United States to receive a medical degree when she graduated from New York’s Geneva Medical College.

There’s gotta be a first for everything (except women on the front line of combat, that’ll never happen in any decent, chivalrous nation), so Elizabeth Blackwell filling that role is nothing remarkable. My skepticism was sparked, however, when Bennett started describing how she got there.

Blackwell had emigrated with her family from England to the U.S. at age eleven after her father’s sugar refinery business failed. A few years later her father died, and she took up teaching to help support the family.

Working to support the family? Had she never heard of welfare? The story continues to get more absurd: Read more of this post

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