President Obama is to deliver his first official State of the Union Address tonight, though he has previously given two speeches to joint sessions of Congress, the one nobody remembers and the one during which a rude man shouted, "You lie!" Obama has faced some political adversity of late, and the New York Times reports on how he plans to respond:
When Mr. Obama presents his first State of the Union address on Wednesday evening, aides said he would accept responsibility, though not necessarily blame, for failing to deliver swiftly on some of the changes he promised a year ago. But he will not, aides said, accede to criticism that his priorities are out of step with the nation's.
So according to his aides, the president of the United States will not say, "I am to blame. My priorities are out of step with the nation's." We're going to go out on a limb and predict that no U.S. president will ever utter these words. That his aides feel compelled to say so, however, is evidence that the words are true.
Perhaps even more telling is the unnamed aides' promise that Obama will "accept responsibility." Wasn't he supposed to have done that a year ago, when he took office? But as we've argued repeatedly, the president has been dodging responsibility by apportioning blame to his predecessor. If he continues at this rate, he'll accept defeat in January 2014.
The Times also reports on some advice Obama is receiving from a onetime primary foe and cabinet nominee:
Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who is close to Mr. Obama and many of his advisers, said the notion of the president accepting responsibility would probably be well received by the American people. But with growing strains of populism coming from Washington, he warned against making too drastic of a course correction.
"The American people want to see that you're going to make a change, but for the president it's important that he not shift radically because of one election," Mr. Richardson said in an interview. "He needs to stay the course and not all of the sudden become something that he isn't. The country was very inspired by Barack Obama--all kinds of voters. He needs to reconnect on that basis."
Remember the last president who stayed the course? It was October 2006. The opposition party put together a devastating video that ended: "Mr. President, America deserves more than a change in rhetoric, America deserves a change in policy." The topic then was Iraq, and the result was a win-win. The Democrats got a big political victory, the previously stubborn president delivered a change in policy, and today the situation in Iraq is vastly improved. Perhaps things will work out as well this time, if the president listens to those who are counseling him to change the course rather than stay it.
One such adviser is Amber Lee "Obama Girl" Ettinger, "the buxom sensation who lip-synched about her love for then-candidate Barack Obama," as the New York Post describes her:
[Ettinger] said she wishes he spent his first year in office more focused on fixing the abysmal economy.
"I think he's doing an OK job," said Ettinger, whose original "Crush on Obama" video, first shown in 2007, has had more than 16.5 million views on YouTube.
"I know he's getting a lot of flak for things that he's not doing," she told The Post. "In my opinion, I feel like he should be focusing a lot more on jobs and the economy."
Ettinger, 28, said that even though she doesn't have health care--"I can't afford it"--she still thinks Obama should have waited to tackle the thorny legislation. . . . "It's definitely a distraction because of the economy being as bad as it is," said the Jersey City resident.
Let's not kid ourselves: If Obama has lost Obama Girl, he's lost Middle America.
'Americans Must Reject as False the Choice Between a Computer and a PDA'
"Obama to Tout Jobs Push"--headline, The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 27
History Switches Sides
- "Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all Republicans can come up with is this: Slow down. Stop everything. Let's start over. If you think you have heard these same excuses before, you are right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said: Slow down. It is too early. Let's wait. Things aren't bad enough."--Sen. Harry Reid on ObamaCare, Dec. 7
- "Democrat Reid Says 'No Rush' on Health Bill"--headline, Reuters, Jan. 26
So Much for Restoring Our Moral Authority
"Yahoo's Search for International Leader Comes Up Short"--headline, MarketWatch.com, Jan. 26
Kobe for President!
"Lakers Able to Govern Washington"--headline, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 27
At Least He Gets One Phone Call
James O'Keefe, the 25-year-old who played the pimp in last summer's Acorn sting videos, has been arrested in New Orleans, along with four other young men, on charges of "entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony," the Associated Press reports:
Federal authorities said two of the men posed as telephone workers with hard hats, tool belts and fluorescent vests and walked into [Sen. Mary] Landrieu's office in a New Orleans federal building Monday. The others [including O'Keefe] are accused of helping to organize the plan. . . .
It's not yet clear whether the plan was a prank intended to be captured on camera or a more serious attempt at political espionage, as claimed by state Democrats who dubbed it "Louisiana Watergate."
Democratic National Committee spokesman Hari Sevugan said Republicans once praised O'Keefe as an American hero, "yet today, in light of these deplorable and illegal attacks on the office of a United States senator by their champion, Republicans have not offered a single iota of disgust, a whisper of indignation or even a hint of outrage." . . .
A federal law enforcement official said one of the suspects was picked up in a car a couple of blocks away with a listening device that could pick up transmissions. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not part of the FBI affidavit.
You can read the affidavit here. Andrew Breitbart, the Internet entrepreneur who published the Acorn video sting, tells the AP: "We have no knowledge about or connection to any alleged acts and events involving James O'Keefe at Senator Mary Landrieu's office." (It bears noting as well that Hannah Giles, lead actress in the Acorn videos, is not implicated in the alleged Louisiana caper.)
In a post on BigGovernment.com, Breitbart accuses reporters of jumping to conclusions;
Let me state clearly for the record: wiretapping is wrong. But until I hear the full story from James O'Keefe, I will not speculate as to what he was doing in Louisiana.
Regardless of the outcome we will keep the readers of Big Government apprised of this emerging story.
Point taken, though we must say that if the allegations are true, it's hard to imagine an innocent explanation. And if the suggestions of attempted wiretapping--which, as Breitbart correctly notes, at this point are not formal allegations--pan out, it is even harder to imagine an end that would justify such a means.
Your Future Dream Is a Shopping Scheme
Yesterday's Boston Globe carried a delightfully overwrought letter to the editor:
The election of Scott Brown suggests one thing: An unknown quantity of malcontents called independents are slowly taking over the voting booths. These voters have no loyalty, and many are constantly enraged. They switch parties like underwear and are always in a state of flux. They're usually uninformed and find any kind of governance menacing. They use the voting booth like a weapon for self-indulgence and with little consideration for the good of the whole. They like their role as spoilers and care little about the repercussions. These are America's insurgents who care nothing about democracy. They're determined to make the United States ungovernable.
Welcome to the new age of anarchy.
Anthony J. Frascino, Swedesboro, N.J.
Friday's Philadelphia Inquirer also carried a delightfully overwrought letter to the editor:
The election of Scott Brown suggests one thing: An unknown quantity of malcontents called independents are slowly taking over the voting booths ("GOP wins a Senate upset in Mass.", Wednesday).
These voters have no loyalty, and many are constantly enraged. They switch parties like underwear and are always in a state of flux. They're usually uninformed and find any kind of governance menacing. They use the voting booth like a weapon for self-indulgence and with little consideration of the good of the whole.
These are America's insurgents. Welcome to the new age of anarchy.
Anthony J. Frascino
In an earlier letter to the Inquirer, Frascino railed against Sen. Joe Lieberman, "a self-centered man only concerned about his own interests and those of his health insurance benefactors," who "makes Judas Iscariot look like Mother Teresa!"
Talk about a constantly enraged malcontent! And Frascino is quite prolific as well; a Factiva search turns up 107 hits, the vast majority letters to the editor. In one, from last April (no longer available online), he sings the praises of Sen. Arlen Specter (R2D2, Pa.), which suggests that Frascino's loyalty to his own party outweighs his belief in party loyalty as a principle.
Frascino's notion of "democracy" is confused, to say the least, since voters' freedom not to be bound to a party would seem to be a necessary condition for democracy under any reasonable conception. But we'll give him this--he's a lot more entertaining than Ellie Light, or even Winston Steward.
Apparently we erred in our lead item yesterday, in which we asserted that it's "got to be a joke" that Barack Obama once worked "on a paper on the legal implications of Einstein's theory of relativity." Such a paper was in fact published in the November 1989 issue of the Harvard Law Review. Here's the abstract:
Twentieth-century physics revolutionized our understanding of the physical world. Relativity theory replaced a view of the universe as made up of isolated objects acting upon one another at a distance with a model in which space itself was curved and changed by the presence and movement of objects. Quantum physics undermined the confidence of scientists in their ability to observe and understand a phenomenon without fundamentally altering it in the process. Professor Tribe uses these paradigm shifts in physics to illustrate the need for a revised constitutional jurisprudence. He argues that judges and lawyers need to recognize the profound impact that the law has in shaping the social background. This background is too often taken as given.
Judges, in particular, cannot simply reach in and resolve disputes between individuals without permanently altering the legal and social space. The very act of judging alters the context and relationships being judged. Professor Tribe concludes that, while perspectives resembling those of modern physics have been integrated into some of the most important constitutional cases decided during the twentieth century, the current Supreme Court shows an unfortunate tendency toward relying too often on visions of society and knowledge that have long been rejected as overly formal and sterile.
This is not a joke, so it has to be a hoax. We regret the error.
"A catastrophic heat wave appears to be closing in on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. How hot is it getting in the scientific kitchen where they've been cooking the books and spicing up the stew pots? So hot, apparently, that Andrew Weaver, probably Canada's leading climate scientist, is calling for replacement of IPCC leadership and institutional reform. If Andrew Weaver is heading for the exits, it's a pretty sure sign that the United Nations agency is under monumental stress."--National Post (Canada), Jan. 27
We Blame Global Warming
- "Liberals Cool on Obama's Freeze"--headline, Daily Beast, Jan. 26
- "NH Teacher, 100, Gets Degree a Day Before Dying"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 26
Life Imitates the Onion--I
- "Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard"--video title, Onion News Network, Jan. 5, 2009
- "Apple's Tablet Signals End of Mouse, Keyboard"--headline, AOLNews.com, Jan. 27, 2010
Life Imitates the Onion--II
- "Congress Passes Americans With No Abilities Act"--headline, Onion, June 24, 1998
- "Employer Told Not to Post Advert for 'Reliable' Workers Because It Discriminates Against 'Unreliable' Applicants"--headline, Daily Mail, Jan. 27, 2010
Talk About High Art!
"Broads Donate Additional $2 Million to Growing Pot for $45 Million Art Museum"--headline, CapitalGainsMedia.com, Jan. 27
That Doesn't Sound Very Christian
"Mt. Pisgah Christian Goes on Shooting Spree"--headline, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 27
They Didn't Beat Us--We Beat Ourselves
"Pope John Paul II 'Regularly Whipped Himself' "--headline, Daily Telegraph (London), Jan. 27
It's Not a Real Sport
"Hospital Morgue Wrestles With Rotting Corpses"--headline, Local (Sweden), Jan. 26
Chinese Experts Call for Ban on Dogs Biting Men--Now That Would Be News
"Chinese Legal Experts Call for Ban on Eating Cats and Dogs"--headline, Guardian (London), Jan. 26
Look Out Below!
"Dept. of Public Safety Dropped From NY Man's Suit vs. Trooper"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 26
It's Always in the Last Place You Look
- "Pig Heads Found at Malaysia Mosque Amid Allah Row"--headline, Reuters, Jan. 26
- "Termite Eggs Found in Woman's Eyes"--headline, China Post (Taiwan), Jan. 26
Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control
- "Experts Stunned by Swan 'Divorce' at Slimbridge Wetland"--headline, BBC Web site, Jan. 24
- "Cops Stop Cyclist With Butcher Knife-Pool Cue Axe"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 26
- "Officials Fear Another Whooping Crane Die-Off"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 27
News of the Tautological
"Obama Joins White House Effort to Boost Bernanke"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 26
Breaking News From 1861
"Lincoln Will Oppose Reconciliation"--headline, NationalJournal.com, Jan. 26
News You Can Use
- "If Federal Prison Is Your Future, Here's a Primer"--headline, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jan. 26
- "Toilet Reading Leads to Haemorrhoids"--headline, Copenhagen Post, Jan. 27
Bottom Stories of the Day
- "Democrats Woo Snowe, Collins in Hope of Saving Health Reform Legislation"--headline, Hill, Jan. 26
- "Dems Freak Out Over CBO Report, Blame Bush for Next Year's Deficit"--headline, Washington Examiner, Jan. 26
- "Obama Prepares to Squander Another Year"--headline, The American Spectator Web site, Jan. 26
- "The Speech of His Life. Again."--headline, The New Republic Web site, Jan. 27
Even Sarah Palin Was Governor
As a sign of just how desperate the Republicans are, consider this report in the Boston Herald:
If Scott Brown has kept President Obama up at night, there could be more sleepless nights at the White House thanks to a new poll that ranks the senator-elect as presidential timber.
A Newsmax/Zogby poll shows the Massachusetts Republican within striking range of Obama in a hypothetical presidential matchup.
The poll shows the pair statistically deadlocked if the presidential election were held today.
The online news site, newsmax.com, reported that Obama leads Brown by 46.5 percent to 44.6 percent.
C'mon, Scott Brown? His victory last week was undoubtedly impressive, but let's put things in perspective. Brown is merely a state senator, and by the time of the next presidential election, he will have served less than a full term in the U.S. Senate. What could possibly give anyone the idea that he's experienced enough to go to the White House?
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Amanda Brickell, Rick Geiger, Terry Vance, Hillel Markowitz, Joey Bedford, Michael Segal, Mark Nicholas, Joel McLemore, Bill Palmer, James Carr, Henry de Fiebre, Lewis Sckolnick, Peter Wilson, Jim Orheim, Pete Schissel, Tim Hartley, Mark Kirby, Steven Allen, Peter Berkowitz, David Bryant, Randy Seybold, Rob Slocum, Frank Free, David Wesolowicz, Michele Schiesser, Michael Ellard, Dan Herchenroether, Thomas Linehan, Matthew Davis, Tripp Rawls, Brian Warner, Arnold Nelson, Kevin Bloom, Bruce Goldman, Lindsay Osbon, Don Stewart, Don Undis, Abe Beyda, Tom Dziubek, Bart Borkosky, Doug Black, Mark Finkelstein, John Nernoff, Jo Schroeder, Scott Wright and Cheryl Lewin. If you have a tip, write us at firstname.lastname@example.org, and please include the URL.)