The President Has No Clothes

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday March 05, 2013 · 8:34 AM PST

2013/03/05 · 08:34

This is the kind of diary you can read as a plea for correction because I don't want to believe Obama really, truly f*cked up and handed the GOP exactly 98% of what they wanted.

It seems to me that President Obama got took, was had, walked into a huge, obvious trap when he proposed the sequester. And to the extent that it was Jack Lew's idea, isn't Lew a shining example of failing upwards?

Here's my reasoning: Obama knew who he was dealing with in the GOP and its leadership when he was negotiating over the GOP hostage taking also known as the debt ceiling. He knew they were unreasonable. He knew they were interested in making Obama a one term president.

But he also knew that the GOP is pro-austerity. So what does he hand them to get the debt ceiling issue resolved? Austerity on steroids. A sword of Damacles so horrible, so bad, he thought neither party would let it fall and the budget deal would get done. Seems he thought wrong.

I didn't need to hear from Rachel Maddow last night in her segment about how the GOP is now introducing legislation to only undo the parts of the sequester that the GOP doesn't like to think this, it's just part and parcel of what the GOP is known for doing. Still, for those of you who didn't see it, here's maddow's self-summation below the squiggle.

ksh01

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday September 27, 2012 · 5:00 AM PDT

2012/09/27 · 05:00

We always knew Romney was rich. He was branded as a flip-flopper coming into the race. It wasn't hard to figure out he was entitled.

This country has elected rich, even entitled men as president before. Maybe not as rich or as entitled as Romney, but this country has always given a candidate a chance to transcend labeling. Good speeches, ability to stay on message, someone you can identify with, ads that move you, positions that strike a chord and make sense: a competent campaign operation can craft the candidate, his image, how voters perceive him or her.

When Lawrence O'Donnell's guest, Charles Blow, used the "L word" tonight and O'Donnell treated it as something new, I smiled. Unless you read Markos' occasional diaries, the sentiment might be new to you as well.

But take a look and see how all of O'Donnell's guests miss the next logical conclusion.

ksh01

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday September 16, 2012 · 8:44 AM PDT

2012/09/16 · 08:44

Sam Seder sat in for Chris Hayes yesterday and decided to give a rock 'em sock 'em preface to Benjamin Netanyahu's Meet the Press rant attempting to manipulate the U.S. Presidential Election.

And all Seder did to destroy both Mitt and Bibi was run an old clip of Mitt in the Iowa Presidential debate in 2011. A clip I had forgotten. Glad I did forget, since it gave me an opportunity to gasp anew.

By the way, the look on Gingrich's face is priceless. Enjoy.

ksh01

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday September 14, 2012 · 5:32 PM PDT

2012/09/14 · 17:32

I've never seen anything like it. You'd think Huntsman spent his interview with Andrea Mitchell endorsing Hitler or Pol Pot. There's not a single truly negative thing said about Obama in the whole interview and a boatload of negative implications about Romney. All I can do after watching the whole thing is chuckle in a slightly evil manner (if you want immediate gratification, skip to the last minute and watch to the end).

Huntsman interview with Andrea Mitchell

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Poll

213 votes Show Results

The Huntsman Interview:

213 votes Vote Now!

The Huntsman Interview:

Jon Huntsman thinks Mitt Romney is an asshole.

33 votes

Jon Huntsman thinks Mitt Romney is the biggest asshole ever.

180 votes

The Obamas, the Photos, and the Politics of Intimacy

ksh01

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday September 07, 2012 · 4:35 AM PDT

2012/09/07 · 04:35

There were many disappointed supporters after weather forced the Obama campaign to change venues from the outdoor stadium to the smaller convention hall, but it's a hallmark of a convention run so well that the last minute decision incredibly enhanced the them of Obama's speech and campaign. And the photos? At our editorial meeting yesterday, we were amazed at the visuals coming out of Charlotte. I think Michael ties them all together in true BagNews style. ksh01

This is not about me, it's about you.

If the Obamas are about anything, they're about breaking down the (perceptual) distance between themselves and the American people. They are way dialed in to what's essential and also what's popular. The are about doing what they can as often as they can to place themselves on the same level as citizens, and doing whatever they can to deemphasize a sense of hierarchy or exclusivity or elitism.

Tonight in his acceptance speech, Obama extended this mentality to this election. He made it clear that the promise of hope and change are still alive, but it's up to the citizenry to take ownership of these values and to exercise them communally, as civic action.

ksh01

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday September 06, 2012 · 7:06 AM PDT

2012/09/06 · 07:06

Brilliant, subtle, nuanced, on point.

Given the value of the seat real estate next to Michelle Obama, viewers couldn't help but wonder where the president was as Bill Clinton delivered his phenomenal speech at the second evening of the DNC. His chair remained empty. Maybe the tension reported in the media was real. Maybe Michelle Obama was saving a seat for the man who wouldn't sit down for Clinton, wouldn't appear as a lesser light to the former two-term president. Whatever the reason, for the second time in a week Barack Obama was invisible. The space between Michelle and Joe Biden was palpable, odd, noticeable.

ksh01

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday August 30, 2012 · 4:44 AM PDT

2012/08/30 · 04:44

Those of you who know BagNews know its tagline "Reading the Pictures." If you know the site well, you know that, every once in a while, Michael Shaw occasionally whips out the red pen and thoughtfully defaces the very visuals he analyzes. All in the name of looking behind what the media is showing you.

Paul Ryan's photos from last night's speech were too "juicy" to pass up. Here's a sampling to tell you why Bag thinks Obama Biden should be worried about Ryan.

The Red Pen tells the story, but go to Bag to see all the Ryan photos Michael marked up.

Good Offense

ksh01

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday August 27, 2012 · 12:56 PM PDT

2012/08/27 · 12:56

Michael over at Bagnews says this is the The New Yorker Romney – Ryan Homosexual Cover. The tar and feathering of the puppy had more of an effect on me.

What do you think?

ksh01

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday July 16, 2012 · 5:20 AM PDT

2012/07/16 · 05:20

Don't look at that moldering Bain in the window, we've got a shiny new V.P. choice that is far more interesting!

According to a N.Y. Times article, Mitt has made his choice (and if emphasis is any guide, by "choice" they mean "Pawlenty") and may announce it this week.

Of course, this has nothing to do with stemming the Bain Bleeding, but since you mention it, Mr. Romney, there is a question we'd love to ask your VP choice:

How many years of tax returns did your pick have to submit in the vetting process?

Poll

47 votes Show Results

Will Mitt Announce His VP Choice This Week?

47 votes Vote Now!

Will Mitt Announce His VP Choice This Week?

Yes

15 votes

11 votes

Only if Christine O'Donnell isn't on coven duty

20 votes

Trayvon Martin: Do the Photos Predict the Future?

ksh01

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday April 12, 2012 · 10:43 AM PDT

2012/04/12 · 10:43

There is no doubt that when big news events occur, the media will step in to fill a vacuum created by government inactivity. This is even more true when the event has racial and political overtones and has been drawn out over time.

Yesterday, local government stepped into the vacuum by arresting George Zimmerman and that act, which marks both the end of angst and the beginning of process, was, of course, captured in photographs.

ksh01

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 02, 2012 · 7:01 AM PDT

2012/04/02 · 07:01

This is Anna Brown.

This is Anna Brown dying.

ksh01

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday January 26, 2012 · 2:04 PM PST

2012/01/26 · 14:04

That's quite an interesting use of a slogan here.

I can’t remember ever seeing a "Nixon's Shifty," "Carter is Soft" or "George H. W. Bush is Out of Touch" sign behind a candidate. And the “ISN'T WORKING" -- do you think that’s an attempted dog whistle? Isn’t working... food stamp president…. are they saying he’s a lazy n-word? Seems they may be stringing that stuff together with an ulterior motive.

Newer
Older

RSS

The President Has No Clothes

Video: Romney and the L Word

Incredible Video: How Mitt would "lead" on Middle East issues

If you haven't seen it, OMG, watch it.

The Obamas, the Photos, and the Politics of Intimacy

Did You Miss It? The Empty "Chair" Last Night in Charlotte. UPdate.

BagNews F*cks w/the Pictures: The Ryan Acceptance Speech

The Gay Romney Ryan New Yorker Cover?!

Hey Look Over There! Romney V.P. Choice is Made.

Trayvon Martin: Do the Photos Predict the Future?

Anna Brown: Surveilled to Death

A Dog Whistler's Dog Whistle: Obama Isn't Working