[Rhodes22-list] HOW TO SAVE MILLIONS (Political)

Wed Aug 6 06:58:59 EDT 2008

Chris,

"Church ain't out 'till the fat lady sings!"  I'm not convinced that
Chocolate Baby Jesus will prevail in Denver.  If the Hillary supporters get
their way and a roll call, O'baby will get dumped.  It appears the bloom is
off that rose.

Brad

----------------

Pundits Begin to Worry About Obama

August 6, 2008 - by Jennifer Rubin

In the aftermath of Barack Obama's overseas trip, the liberal punditocracy
has begun to [1]
fret.<http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=0e0dbc4f-000d-4d75-9f23-614ae8d06494>Certainly
there is reason for concern. Obama's poll numbers are within the
[2] margin of error <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls> in a year in
which a generic Democrat would be beating a generic Republican by double
digits. And the storylines which dominated the news since the trip have been
ones unfavorable to their chosen candidate: his [3]
ego<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mopkn0lPzM8>,
the snub of [4] wounded German
soldiers<http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/07/24/obama-snubs-injured-soldiers-workout-will-media-care>,
a potential flip-flop on [5] offshore
drilling<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR2008080103199.html>and
a poorly received attempt to play the [6] race
card. <http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/01/1240112.aspx>

[7] Richard Cohen<http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/07/what_has_obama_accomplished.html>was
one liberal pundit who emerged from the fog of Obama-mania. Cohen
threw
cold water on the notion that a liberal Senate candidate from Hyde Park
showed political courage by opposing the Iraq war, and then recited chapter
and verse on the flip-flop orgy:

He has been for and against gun control, against and for the recent domestic
surveillance legislation and, in almost a single day, for a united Jerusalem
under Israeli control and then, when apprised of U.S. policy and Palestinian
chagrin, against it. He is an accomplished pol — a statement of both
admiration and a bit of regret.

But what really irked Cohen was Obama's "tissue thin" record and the nagging
sense that despite Obama's attractive packaging Cohen was "still not sure,
though, what's in it."

But Cohen wasn't alone. [8] Ruth
Marcus<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/31/AR2008073102804.html>,
no conservative cheerleader either, also was not pleased. For her, the issue
was one that Obama critics had long dwelled on: [9] what's he
done<http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/18511>
?

After reviewing the *[10] New York
Times'<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/us/politics/30law.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin>
* examination of Obama's career as a law lecturer, Marcus mused that it was
"a reminder of Obama's essential elusiveness, and how little we understand
about how the candidate himself would resolve these thorny problems." What
nagged her was the sense that "in the hardest cases, I'm not always sure
where Professor Obama, or President Obama for that matter, comes down."

Over at *Huffington Post *[11] a prominent liberal
voice<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/on-having-your-political_b_116059.html>fretted
that maybe the Left's faith in Obama was overblown and as misplaced
as the belief (before the blue dress) that Bill Clinton had not had an
inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

And of course all this followed the rage from the [12]
Left<http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/21/obama>over the
appalling (to them) reversal on FISA and the [13]
disgust <http://community.washingtonpost.com/ver1.0/Direct/Process> over
Obama's decision to renege on his public financing pledge (which was then
followed by his ludicrous effort to blame the Republicans for *his*mendacity).

But [14] Dana Millbank<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/29/AR2008072902068.html>really
opened the floodgates with a devastating column on Obama's enormous
ego and arrogance. Dubbing Obama the "presumptuous nominee," Millbank
described Obama's visit to Capitol Hill:

Along the way, he traveled in a bubble more insulating than the actual
president's. Traffic was shut down for him as he zoomed about town in a
long, presidential-style motorcade, while the public and most of the press
were kept in the dark about his activities, which included a fundraiser at
the Mayflower where donors paid $10,000 or more to have photos taken with
him. . . Some say the supremely confident Obama — nearly 100 days from the
election, he pronounces that "the odds of us winning are very good" — has
become a president-in-waiting. But in truth, he doesn't need to wait: He has
already amassed the trappings of the office, without those pesky decisions.
. . "I think this can be an incredible election," Obama said later. "I look
forward to collaborating with everybody here to win the election." Win the
election? Didn't he do that already?

For those who had been following Obama's [15]
arrogant<http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/14811>utterances
and embarrassing show of presumptuous this was nothing new. But
coming from the pen of the acerbic columnist (whose vitriol is usually
reserved for conservatives), Millbank's column was a shocker.

Over at [16] Slate<http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/xxfactor/archive/2008/08/02/obama-sells-out-on-offshore-drilling.aspx>,
Melinda Henneberger on the XX Factor blog was irate that Obama was "selling
out on offshore drilling." And just as when he reneged on public campaign
financing, his excuse was the worst part. Henneberger wrote:

"The Republicans and the oil companies have been really beating the drums on
drilling," Obama said in the interview. Which might give voters the
impression that anyone who beats the drums loud enough and long enough will
get this same "Alright already!" response out of him. And it might give
those young voters he is counting on the idea that he's not only not as
different as they thought…but maybe, just not different enough."

And then others chimed in. The *[17] New
Republic<http://tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=0e0dbc4f-000d-4d75-9f23-614ae8d06494>
* editors worried that somehow Obama's economic message isn't working and
Obama isn't making the most of his chances. They write:

"Yet, somehow, despite all this, McCain remains in the game. This is not
easy to explain — and it should cause a great deal of introspection at Obama
headquarters. For all the many ways that the stars have aligned for Obama,
he has yet to take full advantage of what historically has been a great
opportunity."

The bottom line: liberal pundits — following months of analysis by their
conservative counterparts — had figured out that despite the best possible
terrain for the Democrats to recapture the White House, the Democrats (with
a whole lot of cheerleading from the mainstream media) have chosen a thinly
experienced, irresolute, underachieving and obnoxious standard bearer. And
his excuse-mongering just makes it all the more irritating.

It is not clear what provoked the soul-searching or why reality didn't dawn
on the pundits sooner. After all, they knew all along that he had virtually
no experience and that he often sounded [18] bizarrely
confident<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/obama-exclusive-audio-on_b_96333.html>about
his nonexistent credentials.

Some might conclude that they were so [19]
blinded<http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/4651>by
their bias against Hillary Clinton and eagerness to shove the Clintons
off the national stage that they ignored any signs that The Chosen One was
deeply flawed. And, indeed, many of the faults that are potentially so
dangerous in Obama — his [20] predilection to
lie<http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/18841>when
the heat is on and his lack of core principles — were even greater
liabilities for Clinton in the media's eyes.

It is also true that the McCain camp has shamed the media into recognizing
their infatuation with Obama. By [21]
mocking<http://blog.washingtonpost.com/channel-08/2008/07/mccain_mocks_medias_crush_on_o.html>the
press, the McCain camp has made the argument in convincing fashion
that
the mainstream media has been in the tank for Obama. The McCain camp's
message: "Your boosterism has become painfully obvious." So it's not
surprising that there might be some course correction and recognition that
they've gone too far in building up The Ego and concealing his flaws.

But Obama has done his share to lift the veil from the pundits' eyes.
Sometimes the accumulated evidence is too much even for the mainstream media
to ignore. And it is ironic (but [22] not altogether
surprising<http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/media-misses-big-story-of-obama-trip>)
that the tipping point may have been the Berlin rally — an explosion of ego
and meaningless rhetoric which attained the level of self-parody.

Moreover, there is nothing that irritates the media more than a hypocrite.
So the temptation is great to point out that the New Politics looks an awful
lot like the Old Politics of flip-flopping, broken promises, lack of
accountability, and [23]
fudging<http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/18841>the
facts.

It remains an open question whether the punditocracy has really begun a
course correction in assessing Obama or is simply evidencing a mild bout of
remorse for its own excesses.

But the question of whether Obama could forever retain his Teflon coating
and stifle concerns about serious weaknesses in his record and character has
been answered. The answer we have learned, from liberal pundits no less, is
a resounding "no."

On Wed, Aug 6, 2008 at 12:00 AM, Chris Geankoplis <napoli68 at charter.net>wrote:

> Great Idea,
>  but what if McCain croaks during his presidency (he is a pretty old
> Geezer), why a state funueral would cost a lot more than OBama's pension;
> therefore voting for O
> Bama might make more economic sense.
>
> Chris G
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Hank" <hnw555 at gmail.com>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 Email List" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Monday, August 04, 2008 2:23 PM
> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] HOW TO SAVE MILLIONS (Political)
>
>
> > This makes economic sense to me!
> >
> > Hank
> >
> > *HOW TO SAVE MILLIONS** !*
> >
> >  *We should be into saving money** !*
> >
> >
> >
> > *A president's pension currently is $191,300 per year**.*
> >
> >
> >
> > *Assuming the next president lives **to age 80** -*
> >
> >
> >
> > *Sen McCain would receive ZERO pension** as he would reach 80 at the end
> of
> > two terms as president.*
> >
> >
> >
> > *Sen Obama **would be retired for 26 years after two terms and **would
> > receive $4,973,800 in pension**.*
> >
> >
> >
> > *Therefore it would certainly make economic sense to elect McCain in
> > November** !*
> >
> > *How's that for non partisan thinking???*
> >
> >
> >  ------------------------------
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