Obama Oath re-do ?

Oh, no!  the smartest president ever had to take his oath again! If Bush had to do redo his oath, they would call him stupid and clumsy for not being able to repeat a simple oath, regardless if Mr. Roberts misplaced the "fatefully" in a wrong order.

Obama's speaking Style : both-this-and-that, or neither-this-nor-that

We have said this about Obama from the beginning. He never talks in concrete terms, thereby everyone has a chance to fill his blanks by their own perception and that's the danger in Obama's speeches. Spill it out, Mr. Obama! Here is another blogger's take:

"Is this good for our democracy? Aren’t we better off when politicians speak eloquently not only of lofty ideals but also of concrete action plans? Aren’t we better off when we know the exact stances our candidate would take–whether he will stand with Russia or with Georgia and Poland, for instance, and how exactly he will stand with Poland, whether he will defend the missile shield, and so forth? Obama has remained a fill-in-the-blank space. Call him the Mad-Lib President. His words are so lacking in substance that one can fill in the blanks with whatever promises one suspects Obama is offering. America will be worse off if more American politicians follow Obama’s example."

Source

Responsibility theme of Inauguration!

“Responsibility” is a great theme for the Inaugural Address (lets not forget Bush used the same theme for his 2nd inauguration). But how does that apply to Tim Geithner? To Charlie Rangel and Chris Dodd?

Remember, Obama called Geithner's tax issue an "honest mistake"! Well which one is it Mr. President? Should we take responsibility for our actions? or use "mistake" as an excuse to get around not paying our taxes.

By the way, don't let anyone tell that “era of responsibility” is something new.  Remember  Clinton's inauguration speech? ”those who do the work and pay the taxes, raise the kids and play by the rules”? 

So, no, it’s not a  revolutionary idea of Obama's administration!

Obama's Rhetoric vs. Action. Watch Out & Pay Attention!

Fred Barnes neatly categorizes all the things we have to fear about President Obama. I’ll add another: he thinks he can sustain an enormous gap between rhetoric and action (e.g. “closing” Guantanamo but not really, ending enhanced interrogation but not really, supporting Big Labor’s agenda but not really, bringing transparency to government but not really) without losing credibility. Won’t people begin to notice?

Copied from Commentary blog.

Hamas connection and Obama's inauguration even

Politico reports: Obama prayer speaker comes from group feds say is linked to Hamas. Just amazing!

Obama's Secret : Not to say much!

Wow, finally the liberal media is finding out about, Obama's success strategy which is "not saying much".  At least they are finally getting it. Here is an excerpt form Slate article:

Perhaps the Times should count its blessings. As of late, when Obama does speak, as he did on Dec. 7 on Meet the Press, Dec. 28 on 60 Minutes, and Jan. 11 on This Week With George Stephanopoulos, he tends not to say much. 

and he goes on to say:

 "One reason Obama continues to float above the press is that he hasn't had to decide anything yet besides who will fill his Cabinet and senior-staff positions. Obama is so committed to keeping his options open that he's yet to decide between a Portuguese water dog and a Labradoodle for his daughters."

Continue to read here

Obama trying too hard to emulate Lincoln! isn't this too early?

I call it audacity of ego! Obama hasn't started his job and already thinks he is our modern day Lincoln. 

In a "town hall''- styled opening rally Saturday morning, with about 200 campaign supporters invited to an address at the start of this historic day, Obama declared: "We are here today not simply to pay tribute to our first patriots but to take up the work that they began,'' Obama said in Philadelphia. "What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives"! Got that a new declaration of independence for our nation! what's wrong with the original one?

That's not it, on Inauguration Day, ABC reports, not only will President-elect Obama be sworn in using the Bible that was used to swear in President Abraham Lincoln, he will dine like Lincoln as well. 

So what's next , he will grow a beard like Lincoln and then switch his party to Republican?  hmmm

Michelle Obama's Job History

After seeing this graph, I wonder what's the difference between Blogojevich and  Obama.  It's seems both of them tried to capitalize on  their power and apparently quid pro quo arrangement is a norm in Chicago polotics. The difference is that Blogojevich is under investigation and Obama is the President!   Yes, we can!

More on the graph, click here.

Obama on Osama

It's seems like there is one backtracking statement each day from Obama:

Remember Barack Obama's famous attack on John McCain, that McCain wasn't willing to go to the cave where Osama bin Laden was hiding: "John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives." Or during the October 7, 2008 debate: "We will kill bin Laden. We will crush al-Qaeda. That has to be our biggest national security priority."

No more. Now, all we have to do is contain bin Laden to his cave, you know, the one McCain wouldn't go to:  Barack Obama last night suggested that removing Osama bin Laden from the battlefield was no longer essential and that America's security goals could be achieved by merely keeping al-Qaeda "on the run".

"My preference obviously would be to capture or kill him," he said. "But if we have so tightened the noose that he's in a cave somewhere and can't even communicate with his operatives then we will meet our goal of protecting America."

Source of this post.

More lobbyists in Obama's administration!

President-elect Barack Obama today put forth his second nomination of an individual whose immediate past experience as a lobbyist seems to run in direct contradiction with Mr. Obama's rhetoric on the campaign trail against the "revolving door" of lobbyists working for the government.

William Corr, whose name Mr. Obama put forward this morning to be deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, was, until September 2008, a federal lobbyist with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, lobbying Congress unsuccessfully to require the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco.

Link: ABC news

Remember this one last week.

More lobbyists in Obama's administration!

President-elect Barack Obama today put forth his second nomination of an individual whose immediate past experience as a lobbyist seems to run in direct contradiction with Mr. Obama's rhetoric on the campaign trail against the "revolving door" of lobbyists working for the government.

William Corr, whose name Mr. Obama put forward this morning to be deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, was, until September 2008, a federal lobbyist with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, lobbying Congress unsuccessfully to require the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco.

Link: ABC news

Obama backtracking, again!

The reality of governing is settling in for Obama & Co. BACKTRACKING ON CLOSING GUANTANAMO BAY any time soon. Apparently he’s concluded that it’s not as easy as it sounded back during the campaign.

There is a reason we have been safe for the last 7 year, Mr. O!

UPDATE: Oops, he backtracked again. check this out. this is unbelievable!

Another day, another lobbyist for Obama administration

President-elect Barack Obama, who campaigned on lessening the influence of lobbyists in government, has chosen a defense expert who is currently a vice president and lobbyist for one of the country's biggest defense contractors to be his deputy secretary of defense.

Story link here.

Is this the CHANGE he promised?

Obama's jobs plan, changed again

A few weeks ago, in his weekly youtube video, President Elect Obama promised to CREATE OR SAVE 2 million jobs! Today he CHANGED his plan and says the "No. 1 goal of my plan ... is to CREATE three million new jobs, more than 80 percent of them in the private sector.” (notice we are not "saving" anymore)

So within a couple of weeks, he is offering dramatically a new plan adding 600,000 new government workers to his agenda and not saving but creating additional 1 million jobs .  Are these just "changed" words or they really do some work and come up with new strategy?  How can he promise 2 million new private jobs without promising to cut corporate taxes?  Remeber, that the U.S. has one of the highest profits levies in the developed world: 35% at the federal level, with another average of 5% from state and local taxes. Only Japan has worse. In contrast, Ireland's rate is a mere 12.5%.  So, Obama better explains how is going to "create" all these "private" jobs!

Watch the address above or read the text HERE.

Obama's Salute?

Barack Obama stops to salute to the crowd before the rally on the UO campus.
Does he have to salute, when he looks so awful doing so?

Does Obama prefer slow recovery?

Biden and Obama both have repeatedly are being so irresponsible with the words they use describing the economical situatiion. Every time they open their mouth about economy it's a bad news. Why do they do that? Are they up to something? Well, this article by Tom Blumer has great points:

At a news conference, the president-elect, who told an Oregon audience in May that “I’ve been in 57 states, [with] I think one left to go,” contended that an economic recovery “will take longer than any of us would like — years, not months. It will get worse before it gets better.” Biden, on the verge of becoming the first vice president in U.S. history who can’t count to four, said that “the economy is in much worse shape than we thought it was in,” and expressed fears that it is close to “absolutely tanking.”

These mostly unqualified assertions made by the math-challenged incoming pair were far stronger than those made by Bush and Cheney eight years ago. Yet we can “count” on two things: old media won’t accuse them of negatively influencing the economy and cowed Republicans will barely object. Of course, new administrations tend to lower expectations a bit in advance of taking power, but Obama and Biden’s statements were unusually sweeping.

There’s a reason for that. The economy just might be recovering. That would be really, really bad news for their ambitions.

Obama's fitness schedule

According to Washington Post, the busier President elect Obama gets, the longer he likes to exercise! Hmmm. Can Obama handle the pressure in the White House?

I remember in the 80's they used to make fun of Reagan because he would take 30 minutes naps in the afternoon, but now we marvel at how Obama stays fit by exercising 90 minutes a day! Here are a few excerpts from the article:

But one habit endures: Obama has gone to the gym, for about 90 minutes a day, for at least 48 days in a row. He always has treated exercise less as recreation than requirement, but his devotion has intensified during the past few months.

The more Obama's life intensifies, friends said, the more he relies on the gym -- which is why he might be taking office in the best shape of his life. The gym is where he releases stress, maintains a routine and thinks without interruption. He sometimes wears headphones and barricades the outside world.

But according to this report, Obama still is a smoker but don't call him that.  

Obama still suffers from one vice -- smoking -- although he has worked hard to quit since he started the presidential campaign. He's down from three or four cigarettes each day to what he terms the occasional "slip."

Obama wants Bush war team to stay

For two years Obama campaigned and lectured us about Bush's mishandling of the war and how inadequate his team has been in conducting the war. Well, now he has decided to keep Bush's war team in place, the same team that he thought were no good enough!!!

Obama's Beach Style!

Some people think that the Obama's remind them of JFk and Jackie O! So you be the judge, Michelle and Jackie O?! 

President elect Obama and TIME's man of the year.  Interesting, these photos , were never published before election! hmmm.

Does Obama know anything? He is waiting for his team to LEAD him!

I just finished reading LATimes interview of president elect Obama and I still know don't know what his positions are on issues.  Whatever they asked him, he deferred them to his team!  I thought the role of a leader is to set the agenda and get his team to do HIS orders.  Well, what what do we expect from someone who has never run anything in his life!  Here are some excerpts:

On free trade, unionization and illegal immigration:  he said, his nominees and advisors are studying the issues and will report back with recommendations.

On extension of the fence between the U.S.-Mexico border: He deferred to his nominee for the Homeland Security Department, Janet Napolitano.

On North American Free Trade Agreement: His economic team is going to put together a package and will be presented to him.

Change and Hope!

Did Obama Lie today?

Obama, today:

Q Mr. President-elect, did you have any contact — were you aware of — were you aware at all of what was happening with your Senate seat?

PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA: I — hold on, hold on, hold on a second, guys. I'll just answer this one question.

I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so we were not — I was not aware of what was happening. And as I said, it's a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that, I don't think it's appropriate to comment. Okay?

Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, back on November 23: "I know he's talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them."    H/T: NRO

He hasn't started his presidency yet and we can not get a straight answer from him...How sad? Afterall, he IS from Chicago and you don't rise that high that soon without owing someone something! The FBI Special Agent in Charge of the investigation of Blagojevich just said, "If Illinois isn't the most corrupt state in the United States, it's one hell of a competitor."  Oh! great, now they tell us !

UPDATE: Read more here

UPDATE II:Oopsy... Obama Met With Blagojevich in Chicago On Nov. 5 To Discuss Senate Seat

Obama's CHANGE is more of a confusion !

Quote of the day:

In a sense, Obama has already unified the country. People on the Right and the Left share a common confusion. We’re only polarized by our hopes.

Obama's Iran Policy; No CHANGE there either!

Wow! Obama outlined his new "change" foreign policy toward Iran which has never been tested before! You know what it is? Carrots-and-Sticks!!  Apparently that was not a CHANGE for Iran.

This from Commentary blog:

Yesterday, President-elect Obama outlined his carrots-and-sticks approach to Iran’s leaders. “We are willing to talk to them directly and give them a clear choice and ultimately let them make a determination in terms of whether they want to do this the hard way or the easy way,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“The carrot-and-stick policy has no benefit,” said Hasan Qashqavi, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, today, responding to the Obama initiative. “It is unacceptable and failed.” And to make sure there was no doubt where Tehran stood, he added this: “When they stick to their past view regarding suspending uranium enrichment, our answer will be: Iran will never suspend uranium enrichment.”

Apparently, the mullahs are choosing the hard way. So, Mr. Obama, what are you now going to do about the most important foreign policy challenge facing the United States?

Obama The Smoker, But Not In The White House

I thought Obama quit smoking long time ago, well, that's why Men's Health magazine had him on their cover telling us how fit he is! 

According to this report, he is still smoking, and gives himself a credit that he only smoked  a few during the campaign.  Another promise he could not keep:

"I've done a terrific job, under the circumstances, of making myself much healthier," he said. "And I think that you will not see any violations of these rules in the White House," he said on Sunday's "Meet the Press" on NBC.
Obama told the magazine Men's Health in an interview for its November issue that he wished he had more time for staying fit and that he still occasionally smoked a cigarette.
Obama said in that interview that he had bummed a cigarette a couple of times during the campaign. "But I figure, seeing as I'm running for president, I need to cut myself a little slack," he said.

Does Obama look presidential?

Obama team is trying so hard to make him look presidential! at least with the setting. Jake Tapper from ABC had this to say about these pictures. I thought he was smart enough not to need PR gimmicks ! But again, since he has been changing his promises, why not keep changing the stage too! heh

Obama & Reality

First we read this NewYork Times piece titled:

Campaign Promises on Ending the War in Iraq Now Muted by Reality.

and then we read that Obama finds that closing Gitmo is more complicated than he thought??? 

Yes, that reality thing is getting in Obama way! too bad.

Obama and his press conferences

Wow! Finally today, President Elect talked about an important subject in detail:

"I think it was a mistake to lose the beard. I think that Western, rugged look was really working for him. Maybe it was scratchy when he kissed his wife. We're deeply disappointed by the loss of the beard."

— President-Elect Barack Obama, on Commerce Secretary nominee Bill Richardson's beard.

Obama Salutes Bush ... Wow!

During the last 18 months of presidential camping, Obama had only negative comments about Bush. Not once he mentioned about Bush's legacy in fighting AIDS in Africa. Under this administration, 2 million Africans are living now because of Bush's AIDS program in Africa.

 

But now Obama acknowledges this success.  During videotaped remarks to the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health hosted by Pastor Rick Warren, Obama had this to say:

“I salute President Bush for his leadership in crafting a plan for AIDS relief in Africa and backing it up with funding dedicated to saving lives and preventing the spread of the disease,”

Link to the news.

Obama's Cabinet members, what they think about HIM and eachother?

President-Elect Obama has named Susan Rice to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Sen. Clinton to be SOS. It's funny, on March 6, Rice said of Obama and Hillary Clinton, "they're both not ready to have that 3 am phone call." Click here.

And I don't have to remind you what Hillary thought of Obama!

But the story does not end there...Just wait to see what Smantha Power had to say about Susan Rice.  Smantha Power is also in Obama team.  Smantha called Susan, a bystander to Genocide, while she was in Clinton administration during Rewanda's genocide.  Thant's the team we can believe in!