Category Archives: Barack Obama

UPDATE II: Sycophant’s Supper 2014 (Guffaws and Genuflection)

Barack Obama, Celebrity, Critique, Ethics, Government, Journalism, Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, Politics

The Hollywood Reporter tells of why there will be fewer wealthy, worthless people at one of the most sickening specters of the year: The annual White House Sycophants’ Dinner, where the most pretentious people in the country—in politics, journalism and entertainment—convene to revel in their ability to petition and curry favor with one another, usually to the detriment of the rest of us in Rome’s provinces.

The pretty people don’t want to be “pawed” by the politicians. That’s the official line. The real reason: this trashy Idiocracy is losing interest:

… one Hollywood insider, who asked not to be identified, tells The Hollywood Reporter that the lack of swoon-worthy A-list movie stars shows that the lure of the event has faded dramatically.

Those gathered at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner are not the country’s natural aristocracy, but it’s authentic Idiocracy—a group of people who make their living pretending to be something they are not. Poseurs and parasites all.

Granted, actors do not coerce the citizenry to patronize their (mostly) lousy flicks. However, when they use their celebrity to push unconstitutional, naturally unlawful policies—then they are acting as enemies of the people.

Mostly, I find Hollywood disgusting. Every time I turn around a “celebrity” is preaching and propagandizing for the leftist cause du jour. Some of these tarts and tards were using their tushes and other assets to tell their betters (YOU) to be good and do your “duty” to support this or the other of their pet policies.

Like nothing else, the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner is a mark of a corrupt politics. The un-watchful dogs of the media have no business frolicking with the president and his minions. This is co-optation. And when did the phonies of Hollywood become a fixture in this event?

The toxic “tradition” began in 1920, and, as far as I know, is sponsored by THE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ ASSOCIATION. The “White House Correspondents’ Association was formed in 1914 as a liaison between the press and the president.”

The event and the invited tell a great deal about the Association, its ethics and code of conduct.

That aside, I happen to think Obama can be a very funny guy, but his political exploits have marred his ability to make thinking people laugh at any of his jokes, no matter how self-deprecating.

UPDATE I (5/4): On CNN, the SS (Sycophant’s Supper) turned into another excuse for a no-news, day-Long occasion to guffaw and genuflect to CNN “reporters” and to the Gilded Ones. In its broadcast of the SS 2104, CNN proved that it deserved to be the butt of jokes from the president and comedic host Joel McHale.

Speaking of whom, Obama’s writers were clearly better than McHale. The president’s routine was funnier. Bar a few good lines, I didn’t find McHale especially witty.

* I did like the McHale gibe at George Clooney: “Every year, the White House doctor checks the president’s colon for polyps and George Clooney’s head.”

* On Obama in a “Paul Ryan” sort of way: “yet another inner-city minority relying on the federal government to feed and house your family.”

* And every joke at CNN’s expense was grrreat. (The fixed, sour look on Wolf Blitzer’s face was worth it.) “On CNN’s Malaysia 370 coverage: 100 years ago, CNN was only searching for the Wright Brothers plane…CNN is desperately searching for something that’s been missing for months: their dignity.”

* CNN has been “desperately searching for something they’ve been missing for months: their dignity.” (It was at this moment the C-SPAN camera chose to focus in on a noticeably emotionless Wolf Blitzer.)

Funny Obama jokes:

* “And I’m feeling sorry — believe it or not — for the Speaker of the House, as well. These days, the House Republicans actually give John Boehner a harder time than they give me, which means orange really is the new black.”

* “Let’s face it Fox, you’ll miss me when I’m gone. It’ll be harder to convince the American people that Hillary was born in Kenya.”

* Obama on CNN’s wall-to-wall coverage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – a frequent target of the night’s jokes: He noted that he had just returned from a trip to Malaysia. “The lengths we have to go to to get CNN coverage these days,” Obama said, adding, “I think they’re still searching for their table” at in the Hilton ballroom.

* “MSNBC is here, they’re a little overwhelmed. They’ve never seen an audience this big before.”

Jay Leno’s routine at the SS 2010 was the best, because he’ was way smarter and certainly more politically astute.

UPDATE II: IT WAS BAD.

The Occupational Hazards Of … Occupation & Murder

Barack Obama, Bush, Crime, Foreign Policy, The State, WMD

“Dude, this was like two years ago,” said Tommy Vietor, an ex-White House aide, in reply to Fox News’ questions about Benghazi. Your Millennial in action.

Republicans are furious over these latest revelations about Benghazi:

The Obama administration has been under fire since the emails were released earlier this week, with some Republicans calling them the “smoking gun.” The emails indicate a White House aide helped prep Rice for her appearances and pushed the explanation that the attack was because of an Internet video. The White House is now facing credibility questions, since they had previously downplayed their role in Rice’s talking points.
Vietor repeated the stance of Press Secretary Jay Carney, who has repeatedly tried to claim that the so-called “prep call” with Rice — as it was described in one email — was not about Benghazi. Vietor said the email was referring to ongoing protests around the world against American embassies.

You’d think that the fiasco and fibs of George W. Bush’s WMD were so much better. During the Bush years, GOP operatives, just like mainstream Democrat media, finessed Bush’s craven exploits in Iraq and refrained from covering the worst if it.

I feel for family members who mourn the deaths in Benghazi. But these are the occupational hazards of … occupation. Dedicate your life to doing the dirty work of the state—occupying people who’re uninterested in being occupied and democratized—and you should not expect your employer, Uncle Sam, to cherish your life or come to your rescue.

Speaking of occupational hazards, I approve of what Dana Loesch said on “The Kelly File” about the drawn-out, “botched” execution of confessed killer Clayton Lockett: “That’s the occupational hazard of killing somebody; your execution could go wrong.”

Here is an account of the “deeply troubling” Okla. execution of Clayton Lockett, as the execrable Obama called it, as well as the latter’s thoughts about abolishing the death penalty (with his pen and Idiot Pad, no doubt).

“In the application of the death penalty, we have seen significant problems,” such as racial bias and the execution of innocents, as well as the “deeply troubling” execution of Clayton Lockett, he said, responding to a question at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday.
“All these do raise significant questions about how the death penalty is being applied,” he added.

Missing from the remarks of the odious Obama was mention of Lockett’s (white) victim. Was the termination of her life not a biased thing to do? Lockett shot young Stephanie Neiman twice with a shotgun before burying her alive, in a shallow grave. I believe that the fact of her rape has been omitted from the accounts.

Watch this beast’s confession:

UPDATED: Contra The US, Shame Is Not Dead In South Korean Politics

Asia, Barack Obama, Bush, Justice, Morality, Multiculturalism, Nationhood

It may be symbolic, but the offer of resignation made by “South Korea’s prime minister … over the government’s handling of a deadly ferry sinking,” and the death of hundreds of children, is not insignificant. And it is in stark contrast to the conduct of the American government and bureaucracy.

In the US, government uses its alphabet soup of agencies to spy on (NSA), intimidate (IRS), humiliate (TSA), and dispossess (ICE) the American people. Contra South Korea, nobody ever pays for these infractions, much less offers himself up for punishment or public shaming.

Assassin Sam deploys the most formidable military in the world to eradicate entire countries in the name of a mockery of freedom (Iraq)—and nobody ever resigns, much less offers to resign. Not Cheney, not Bush (of the WMD fame), not Colon Powell; not Condoleezza the skeeza (“who had categorically denied she possessed the analytical wherewithal to connect the dazzlingly close dots between Arab men practicing their aeronautical take-off skills and terrorism”), and not Obama (the abominable creature who drops drones on faraway villagers, leveled Libya, nationalized a 1/6 of the private economy and robbed many millions of their healthcare), nor dominatrix Lois Lerner (a vile and corrupt Obama operative), on and on.

In South Korea, shame and honor still play a corrective role in national politics:

… South Korea’s prime minister offered to resign Sunday over the government’s handling of a deadly ferry sinking, blaming “deep-rooted evils” and irregularities in a society for a tragedy that has left more than 300 people dead or missing and led to widespread shame, fury and finger-pointing.
The resignation offer comes amid rising indignation over claims by the victims’ relatives that the government didn’t do enough to rescue or to protect their loved ones. Most of the missing and dead were high school students on a school trip. Officials have taken into custody all 15 people involved in navigating the ferry that sank April 16, a prosecutor said. …
… “As I saw grieving families suffering with the pain of losing their loved ones and the sadness and resentment of the public, I thought I should take all responsibility as prime minister,” Chung said. “There have been so many varieties of irregularities that have continued in every corner of our society and practices that have gone wrong. I hope these deep-rooted evils get corrected this time and this kind of accident never happens again.”

MORE.

UPDATE (4/27): Myron Robert Pauli writes: “… not to mention Slick Willie whose conduct was probably not criminal due to prosecutorial sandbagging and irrelevance but whose conduct was shameful enough to merit resignation. The woman in charge of GSA during the “hooker conference in Vegas” scandal did resign not that it did her any good [the lower level malefactors were not punished and, in typical overreaction, government scientists WERE and continue to be severely restricted].

Obama’s Idea Of Transparency: Sharing YOUR Information

Barack Obama, Journalism, Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, Media

“How would you grade this administration, compared to others, when it comes to its relationship with the media?” The question was posed to New York Times editor Jill Abramson by Al Jazeera America.

Abramson replied:

Well, I would slightly like to interpret the question as “How secretive is this White House?” which I think is the most important question. I would say it is the most secretive White House that I have ever been involved in covering, and that includes — I spent 22 years of my career in Washington and covered presidents from President Reagan on up through now, and I was Washington bureau chief of the Times during George W. Bush’s first term.

I dealt directly with the Bush White House when they had concerns that stories we were about to run put the national security under threat. But, you know, they were not pursuing criminal leak investigations. The Obama administration has had seven criminal leak investigations. That is more than twice the number of any previous administration in our history. It’s on a scale never seen before. This is the most secretive White House that, at least as a journalist, I have ever dealt with.

And do you think this comes directly from the president?

I would think that it would have to. I don’t know that, but certainly enough attention has been focused on this issue that, if he departed from the policies of his government, I think we’d know that at this point.

Wow. I didn’t realize how much Obama has been frustrating this organ of journalistic statism. The NYT has never let on before. Instead, its reporters have “bravely” hidden that hurt inside together with so many facts they might have shared.

The Obama Administration’s idea of transparency is to share your information with the public. “Information you choose to share with the White House (directly and via third party sites) may be treated as public information,” states its new privacy policy:

A new Obama administration privacy policy released Friday explains how the government will gather the user data of online visitors to WhiteHouse.gov, mobile apps and social media sites, and it clarifies that online comments, whether tirades or tributes, are in the open domain.

Abramson does have a sense of humor: The New York Times is “not liberal in the sense of being doctrinaire or tied to the Democratic Party in any way,” she asserted.

Funny woman.