Newt Gingrich points out that President Obama didn’t cancel his Las Vegas fundraiser the day after the Benghazi attack but has decided to stick close to the White House with Perfect Storm Sandy bearing down.
Doing so gives the president an opportunity to look presidential, something that he hasn’t in the debates.
But what, exactly, should he do? What photo ops granted? What press statements released? How does a man who promised to make the oceans recede inspire confidence and awe while a huge swath of the country is being hammered?
All suggestions will be forwarded.
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Joel, the larger question is “What CAN he do?”.
He can’t borrow more money. We’ve reached the $16 trillion debt limit and we’re broke.
Just what, exactly, are his options?
My apologies. It wasn’t my intention to hijack the thread.
Dealing with the possible, it would seem that pretty speeches are his only alternative. Does TOTUS work without electricity?
He is in hunker down mode. By “acting concerned” about the potential damage from Sandy, he avoids having to deal with the questions about 4 dead Americans (Chris Stevens, Shawn Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty) and the REFUSALS to aid them when they sent out calls for help during a 6 hour and 20 minute firefight at the consulate and annex.
The question about his competancy has already been answered, in my opinion, and it’s been found seriously wanting. Dereliction of Duty comes to mind, but the people will decide his fate on November 6th, before any prosecutions (*IF* any) would ever occur.
I guarantee he’s “taking in a whole lotta football” today.
There’s a laziness in him, you know.
How his flunkies spin this is irrelevant. He’s not out campaigning, no votes will be moved in his direction. I hope he hunkers down in that little tv room he made for himself in the WH and spends most of the week there.
Careful. Rags is lurking about. If you point out that a black person is lazy, he jumps on you about being a bigot like flies on doo-doo.
He’s not lazy ’cause he’s black. He’s lazy ’cause he’s lazy. For that matter, it could be his white half that’s lazy. Let’s not make this too difficult.
If you say ALLLLLL black people are lazy…
or cannot be educated…
or will never be part of society…
I will jump YOUR do-dooo.
Because those are bigoted things to say. Like you have said.
“Can we all get along?” – Rodney King (1992 L.A. riots)
If I were his speech writer…
“Unfortunately New York is in peril, as the storm bears down. But always remember, this is but a bump in the road! Those businesses lost were not built by you anyway, and we now have the opportunity to rewrite the prior wrongs in a fair and balanced way; with everyone having their fair shot”
…I think it will go over well…
He should call Mitt Romney in to advise him.
“How does a man who promised to make the oceans recede inspire confidence and awe while a huge swath of the country is bieng hammered?”
His spell got economic recession and ocean recession mixed up. It’ll take two terms.
Fixed…but still embarrassing.
What’s fixed?
The recession thing. Joel’s remark would work better in face to face conversation.
Must be using the indoor golf simulator machine today …. bummer.
Obama can inspire awe and confidence by giving the keys to the White House over to Romney and then by getting out of Dodge for good (with Sandy’s help).
I vote for the “Dan Rather” weather stunt – “Then little-known newsman Dan Rather reported live from the Galveston Seawall during the storm, an act that would be imitated by later reporters. This marked the first live television broadcast of a hurricane.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Carla
Maybe a little further off shore?
You know, Dan Rather was one of the best “live on the scene” television reporters, he almost defined the skill. He did it better than anyone I ever saw.
He was out of his element and subject to his ideological prejudices and lack of character as White House Correspondent and News Anchor, tasks he was not suited to perform by experience or temperament. But drop that joker in the middle of breaking events and he would get the story.
Set a good example, Pres. Not Optimal. Evacuate.
Pack up Mooochelle and the girls and head west.
Stop when you get to Hawaii. Hunker down.
Forget HI. They should keep going until they reach his old homestead in Indonesia…..and leave Air Force One behind. Take a commercial flight. And don’t come back.
Interestingly, Michelle has evacuated. She’s in Chicago tonight, campaigning in Iowa tomorrow. Obama and the girls are in D.C.
Obama is worn out, hoarse, and ready to give up.
Hoarse or not, he should give a press conference on Benghazi while he’s waiting for Sandy to come make him somehow look presidential.
Any suggestions I have for this president would get me banned here. 🙁
I don’t worry about being banned. I worry about visits from the Secret Service.
After complaints about Obama hit the 20 million mark the SS gave up keeping track. Of course they’ve never kept track of the threats against Romney.
Look. If they do show up, tell them you’ve been expecting them. Be cordial and pleasant, but not overly so. Invite them to enter. Ask them if they’d like a Gentle Jack or some Jameson’s. (No need to apologize for not having baked a cake). Tell them you’re more than willing to cooperate; however, you’d like to say something first.
Inform them that they are in your prayers daily, and that they really must have a difficult, high-stress career, and you appreciate the work they do. If you get just a glimpse of a smile, relax a bit, but not too much. No smile from them? Be brave. Anyway, if you think you might be visited, make out certain legal papers and inform at least several person of their location, just in case you disappear for awhile. Remember, they have enough headaches; don’t add to the pile.
Look, I was practically wrestled to the ground by the SS at a Reagan event in the ’80s – well, firmly admonished that humor was not tolerated after some gray-coiffed country club matrons reported me for making jokes about VP Bush in the line for the metal detector.
Those guys don’t fool around, and they have no sense of humor whatever.
I worry about being dragged off to a “camp” or a cell adjoining the anti-muzzie video “filmmaker.”
He’s busy preparing s number of different press releases condemning whatever Romney might say. What else?
Obama Parked his face in front of the TV cameras at the FEMA HQ Bunker for a Hurricane Sandy Campaign Opportunity.
I watched it a while ago. *rolleyes*
Sandy provides a conundrum from which Obama cannot escape. First of all, there is the “ghost of Katrina” that hangs with every new hurricane striking land here. Tropical Storm Isaac was to be a sure fire Category One hurricane when it was heading for the Republicans in Tampa but wind speeds and surge dropped off when it finally struck New Orleans. In 2010 Tropical Storm Irene was declared a hurricane even as it plowed into the Outer Banks with wind speeds far less than hurricane force – but that didn’t stop NOAA from saying it was. “Never let a good crisis go to waste” said the Tiny Dancer.
But the Obama regime has a history of blowing up when a crisis occurs and Barry cannot get past Benghazi let alone answer to civilian casualties from Sandy. Then, of course we have the possibilities of the east coast population centers shutting down when power outages occur.
Mayor Bloomberg is shutting down the subways because he has no submarines and the electric LI trains with their subterranean track will not be visiting Manhattan Island if the power goes out and the Big Apple gets some storm surge. Similar stoppages can be expected in Philadelphia and Washington, DC where electric utilities are predicting outages for as long as seven days after the storm. Not only will predominantly Democrat voters in these cities have to use paper ballots, they will have to want to endure the transportation dilemma just to vote. Then there is the problem of no early voting permitted in many east coast states. “Hold me closer, Tiny Dancer! Count the headlights on the highway.”
Yeah, he’s gonna milk this storm thing, looking presidential into the camera, unlike Benghazi, promising all kinds of money to help. Ugh. I can’t stand the sight of the “man.”
Yep. Never let a crisis go to waste. Time to get up and go buy some votes in NY and the other blue states in Sandy’s path.
He can promise all he wants, but he can’t deliver. See my comment at top.
I’m sure he’ll do a hellava job.
Obama is doing the right thing in altering his campaign itinerary to address this mega-storm. The essence of Gingrich’s valid attack is that Obama did not do so re Libya, so doubt because he couldn’t find a way to conduct a photo-op from the Situation Room (but knowing Team Obama, they surely considered it.)
Shouldn’t he stand on the beach in front of all his courtiers and order the storm surge not to come in? We know he can stop the seas from rising, after all.
That’s a photo op I would actually watch.
I suggest Obama go to theJersey shore and start a filibuster.
If anything will keep Sandy away, an Obama speech could do it.
He will stay in Washington because it would be personally difficult for him if he were anywhere else. If DC high water causes a problem he will leave at once. He doesn’t have to worry about power outages because the White House has full backup power. He doesn’t care about the rest of DC.
Fox beating this horse for over a month and a half is the finest example of political spin I have ever seen. They want to try calling out Obama of all people on this when many beneath him were in charge of these matters. Lets blame Barrack for a piece of trash on the ground in a national park, not the park ranger. Eyewitnesses said there was a demonstration with a group marching and yelling as they approached the embassy. Mullahs sp across the middle east had called for protests that day which is why over a dozen demonstrations were occurring in the region at the time of the attack. The video was indeed cited by these mullahs as motivation for the protests. FACTS. We had many Intel reports coming in simultaineously as the Bengazi event unfolded. Based on what we knew at that time, and what we know now, the video/mullahs orders did have a lot to do with the attack. Don’t let yourselves fall for Fox’s tricks. You’re better than that.
Huh? FOX has been covering this hurricane for a month? Who knew they lasted that long?
You poor baby. What are you going to do when the kool-aid dispenser is shut down?
But … wait … I’m confused. Didn’t the President of the United States state on national television in front of tens of millions of Americans that he knew, and said, from the beginning that this was a terrorist attack not a spontaneous event?
Who are we to believe – lying Lybian terrorists or the testimony of State Department personnel monitoring the attack in real time?
Do we believe – excerpts from the Ambassador’s diary about requests for more security or politicians lying to get reelected?
Do we believe – emails forwarded by consulate personnel at the time of the attack or the denials from the Obama regime’s top officials that they had no intel?
It goes on and on that more proof resides with the side that believes Obama committed impeachable offenses than with the nose-ringed few that would have us not look behind the curtain.
When Senators Collins and Lieberman first mentioned in mid-September the June 4 bombing of the US Benghazi consulate, that alone was sufficient to see that criminal negligence had occurred.
To hear Biden claim that “We weren’t told” in the VP debate was an insult to any intelligent person’s ears and even if you’re not intelligent you can still do a Google search and in 2 minutes you’ll find a complete report by Reuters on June 6, 2012 telling the entire world about the Drone killing on June 4 of an important Libyan terrorist. Reuters also reported to the entire world the request for more security BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT, and all the surrounding details.
Despite the worsening crisis in Libya known to all closely following it, on the same date as Reuters’ report, June 6, 2012, CBS did a full-length video infomercial for Obama and Hillary, enthusiastically painting them as conquerers of Al Quaeda in Libya and elsewhere. It was spiking the football higher than high. Nobody listening to Charlie Rose et al would have believed that things were careening towards a complete crisis because he and his colleagues made it sound like things in Libya were going swimmingly.
Except now we have Ambassador Stevens in his own words painstakingly detailing all of the security concerns and fears he had over the course of months in numerous cables, emails and in handwritten notes that the State Department tried to characterize as a “diary” when it attacked CNN for publishing snippets of the dead public official’s fears about worsening security and terrorism.
These are the facts BEFORE 9/11. And now we have the incompetent and aloof president worried in the middle of a close election about these FACTS spoiling his fantasy narrative of how his “Love Me I’m Not George Bush” Middle East policy fixed the problem of “terrorism without the name of terrorism” in the Middle East. So the constitutional scholar’s handlers (Valerie Jarrett?) decided to make up a fictional story about an obscure Youtube video which published reports say was viewed less than 25 times before 9/11. Romney was CORRECT to come out and condemn the apology note coming out of the Cairo Embassy–a complete perversion of the First Amendment if ever there was one.
And every day we learn more shameful facts about the obvious coverup, including about the firings/reassignments of two Generals. CIA heads deny they didn’t order anyone to “stand down” and Panetta ignores the basic rules Americans in combat are taught which is that while you obviously don’t preemptively initiate a military mission without information and intel, saving lives of Americans in the heat of an attack is decidedly different. Ty Woods knows more about that than Leon Panetta does babbling from his comfy seat in front of television cameras in Washington. Speaking of Panetta, he was very busy during June after the Benghazi mission was bombed on June 4–saluting Gay Pride in the Military Month–instead of worrying about the safety and security of Ambassador Stevens and the CIA and other personnel in Libya.
And if you’re interested in the special video that preoccupied Hillary just days before Ambassador Stevens and the other Americans were massacred, check out the endearing Huffington Post photo of her ogling her husband Bill’s “Clinton Bump” at the DNC on television from thousands of miles away in East Timor. This is the same DNC where Democrats bragged about GM being alive while Bin Laden was dead. Not a comfort to the families of the four dead Americans that were not safe under President Obama.
And when Obama went on the View weeks after September 11 and was STILL talking about the video, he laughed with the ladies about the relative merits of paper vs. cloth napkins. Try to imagine being Ty Woods’ family watching that video.
I would like to see a photo of Obama wetting his finger and holding it up in the wind.
President Obama v. Sandy
…OBOZO will be sitting in the Situation Room drinking White House beer while watching live video from satellites and drones of the catastrophe inflicted by Sandy and the resulting destruction of property and loss of American lives, while ignoring all requests for help and telling US forces to “stand down.”
It will an identical repeat of Benghazi on 11 Sept. 2012.
He could talk to an empty chair.
I suggest that he observe the storm first hand from the end of Newton Ave in Narragansett, RI. Step out on the rocky outcrop at low tide, bring along an empty chair and watch the mayhem up close and personal.
Hell, I’ll even pay for cab fare…
I think Obama stand out in the rain looking up towards the sky with his mouth wide open. His head is so big he should be able to shelter a few dozen people under it and his big mouth catching rain will keep it from further flooding the streets.
Sorry, that was not nice, but I live in a state about to get hammered. It would be worth it to have the power go out for a day or two so I don’t have to listen to fawning reports about Obama and how capable he is in a crisis. Give me the fat, sensible Governor Christie.
Maybe O’blamo couldn’t afford the fuel to travel either. Wanna send him a message for me? Ok, here goes: GOODBYE. Don’t let the screen door hit you on the butt when you head back to Indonesia. And take your loser friends with you.
😉
I’ve been looking at this storm on RADAR, on satellite, etc. Reading and getting the alerts. I get it.
Quite frankly, though…..”Sandy” does not seem any worse than many a storm we’ve had in the past……except for the media-induced hysteria, IMHO. I hope I’m wrong – not wanting people will get hurt, or suffer, mind you; rather, because of what it would mean, how easily our NATION can be manipulated over the media’s use of the declaration of such emergencies. Crying wolf over this is….unconscionable!
But I have a feeling that this is just one great, big, GIANT “squirrel” to take away from the Obama campaign FAIL. You see, I believe they would go that low.
I hope this gut feeling is wrong, and way off base, because if this HUGE near-national emergency turns out to be a mere POLITICAL distraction, then the over-hype of “Sandy” for political reasons is borderline-criminal, IMHO.
My sincere hope is that it is NOT severe as predicted so that no one will be hurt; again, I truly hope that this storm will be far less severe than predicted, for the sake of people’s lives and safety that are apparently at risk.
But if it turns out to be just one big “squirrel” nothing-burger……?
If this is a “Look Squirrel!” moment, it’s a huge fail for the press. Right now, Romney’s leading nationally and has the momentum. A distraction from politics for a week is a big boon to Romney — Obama is the one who needs a big new political boost.
Arguably, Romney is behind in a couple of crucial states like Ohio — but look what the storm is doing. Obama is stuck in D.C. while Romney has been “forced” to cancel his appearances in leaning-Romney Virginia, and is replacing them with new campaign stops in Ohio.
Unless Obama manages a big boost out of handling a national disaster, somehow, this is a big help to the Romney campaign.
But, really, the press isn’t doing this to help Obama. They just can’t help themselves. They’re getting bored of the election (aka demoralized) and have never been able to resist a good natural disaster.
Marie, I agree with you on the “squirrel!” feeling. Top winds in this storm haven’t exceeded 75 mph. In the grand scheme of hurricanes that’s nothing.
But it’s a handy reason for the alphabets to ignore the most important news story of the year.
I wonder if they’ll be able to stretch coverage for eight days.
He should emulate King Canute, go to the seashore and command the storm to recede.
It didn’t work for Canute, but if it works for Obama, he could probably recapture the messianic fervor he inspired in 2008.
Obama should go to the south Jersey shore, face the incoming hurricane, grasp Joe Biden by the ankles in one mighty presidential fist, and point Joe skyward like Moses raised his staff to part the sea.