British Press Pans Obama’s Empty TelePrompter Speech to Parliament

In the end, not even the TelePrompters could win over the British press…

President Barack Obama speaks to members of British Parliment while The Lord Speaker Baroness Hayman (R) listens inside Westminster Hall in London, May 25, 2011. (REUTERS/Larry Downing)

The Brits panned Obama’s empty speech today to Parliament.
The Telegraph reported:

The pictures were better than the words…

…Perhaps Mr Obama was smothered also by his audience, which remained stubbornly unresponsive. For most of the time the President had nothing to bounce off: no applause and certainly no shouts of praise or blame as might be heard in an American church or at an American political rally.

The presidential text sounded as if it had been worked on so hard and conscientiously by a vast team of helpers that it had lost all savour, and been reduced to a series of orotund banalities, of the sort which can be heard at every tedious Anglo-American conference: “Profound challenges stretch out before us…the time for our leadership is now…Our alliance will remain indispensable.”

It did not help to hear Mr Obama assert, after only a minute or two, that “fortunately it’s been smooth sailing” between Britain and the United States “ever since” 1812, when we burned down the White House. Everyone present will have been able to think of occasions when this was not so. Suez did not seem like plain sailing.

Applause did break out when Mr Obama observed that “it’s possible for the sons and daughters of former colonies” to sit as Members of Parliament, and for “the grandson of a Kenyan who served as a cook in the British Army to stand before you as the President of the United States”.

Of course, Obama had to talk about himself… Even in front of the British Parliament.

At least, now they know firsthand what we’ve been suffering through these past three years. Empty words and far left failed policies.

gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com

Gaffetastic… Obama Signs Wrong Date (Off by 3 Years) in Westminster Abbey Book

Could you even imagine Sarah Palin or some other Republican doing this?
We’d never hear the end of it.


A message from US President Barack Obama and his wife, first lady Michelle Obama, apparently signed by the President with the wrong date of 2008 in the distinguished visitors’ book during a tour of Westminster Abbey, in central London, as part of his state visit to the United Kingdom, Tuesday May 24, 2011. (AP/John Stillwell, Pool)

gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com

Awkward Moment During Obama Toast to Queen

The president and the orchestra at Buckingham Palace this evening were a bit out of synch.

When the president toasted the Queen the orchestra misunderstood a pause and what seemed to be a cue from the president for “God Save the Queen” to begin playing.

“Ladies and gentlemen please stand with me and raise your glasses as I propose a toast,” the president said, putting down his note cards and grabbing his glass. “To her majesty the Queen.”

The president paused, the guests stood, and the orchestra prepared to play.

But the president wasn’t done speaking.

“The vitality –“ the president said before the orchestra began.

Then the familiar tune – you might know it better as “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” – started up.

The president kept going: “ -- of the special relationship between our peoples and for the words of Shakespeare to this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,” the president said as the awkward moment played out.

The Queen looked ahead as the UK anthem played.

“To the Queen,” the president finally said.

He lifted his glass to her, she smiled a bit uncomfortably.

But because the song was playing, no one drank from his or her glass, including the president, who put his glass down on the table.

Then once the song was over, everyone raised a glass.

It almost felt like one of those moments at the Academy Awards when the speech from the recipient for Best Original Screenplay goes on too long and the orchestra tries to hustle him or her off the stage.

Kind of weird.

abcnews.com

Congress Rebukes Obama: Gives Netanyahu Standing Ovation When He Rejects 1967 Border Plan

Last week Barack Obama pushed Israel to hand over half of Jerusalem, the Wailing Wall, The Temple Mount, Old Jerusalem, and the tomb of Jesus Christ to the Hamas-Fatah terrorist alliance.

Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Obama’s dangerous plan.
Congress gave him a standing ovation.

The Note reported:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before a joint meeting of Congress had all trappings of a State of the Union address by a president with sky-high approval ratings.

Speaking to a packed House chamber with Speaker Boehner and Vice President Biden over his shoulders, Netanyahu was repeatedly interrupted by applause – including more than 20 standing ovations.

One of his biggest applause lines was aimed directly at President Obama.

“Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967,” Netanyahu said, prompting a big standing ovation.

Later he added: “Israel on the 1967 lines would be only 9 miles wide. So much for defensible borders.”

gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com

Obama Administration Defying War Powers Law

The War Powers Resolution of 1973 allows the President to wage war for 60 days without the assent of Congress during “a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” Using this justification to go to war in Libya, which represented no national emergency for the United States nor an attack on US territories, possessions or forces is some pretty thin gruel.

But now the Obama administration is up against the 60 day limit for waging war, and they show no signs of either disengaging US forces from Libya or asking Congress for permission to continue:

The legal license President Obama used to justify U.S. military intervention in Libya expires today, and there’s little sign the White House is working quickly to get it renewed.

Exactly two months ago, Obama notified Congress of his unilateral decision to engage in “limited military action” to help defend the Libyan people from attacks by their leader, Moammar Gadhafi.

But under federal law — the War Powers Resolution of 1973 — Obama is only allowed to keep U.S. forces engaged in hostilities for 60 days, unless Congress declares war, authorizes funding for the effort or extends the deadline.

Congress has not enacted legislation authorizing military involvement in Libya, and the White House has not made a public effort to comply with the rule.

Experts say this is the first time an American president has defied the War Powers Resolution’s deadline for participation in combat operations without any concurrent steps by Congress to fund or otherwise authorize the role.

While every administration since 1973 and some lawmakers have questioned the constitutionality of the resolution’s infringement on executive power, it has not been successfully challenged in court and remains the law of the land.

The closest any President has come to defying the War Powers Resolution was Bill Clinton’s military action in Kosovo. Congress didn’t specifically authorize that action, but the Clinton administration noted that Congress did pass an appropriations bill funding the war, and claimed that was approval enough.

Regardless, I’m not sure what case the Obama administration could possibly make for these actions being legal. The questions of the legality of the War Powers Resolution circle around its expansion of Presidential war power. Going strictly by the Constitution, the President may only go to war when the Congress says so. The resolution expanded that to allow the President to make war for 60 days without authorization under specific circumstances.

Not only is the President thumbing his nose at what was almost certainly an unconstitutional expansion of executive war-making authority, he’s thumbing his nose at the Constitution itself.

sayanythingblog.com

Rocker Gene Simmons Slams Obama on His Anti-Israel Policy: “He Has No F**king Idea What the World Is Like” (Video)

In an interview with CNBC’s Jane Wells, rock n’ roll singer Gene Simmons slammed President Barack Obama on his proposal to weaken Israel in support of the Hamas-Fatah alliance.

“How about you live there and try to defend an indefensible border?… He has no f**king idea what the world is like.”
This was great–



Yesterday, Barack Obama told American ally Israel to give Old Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and the most sacred sites of Christianity, to the Hamas-Fatah terror alliance.

gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com

AARP gets its Obamacare waiver: As predicted

Doug Powers called it on November 5, 2010:

AARP, either in blind faith or full complicity, bet on door #1 and their employees (not to mention almost everybody else) get to pay the price:

WASHINGTON – AARP’s endorsement helped secure passage of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. Now the seniors’ lobby is telling its employees their insurance costs will rise partly as a result of the law.

In an e-mail to employees, AARP says health care premiums will increase by 8 percent to 13 percent next year because of rapidly rising medical costs.

And AARP adds that it’s changing copayments and deductibles to avoid a 40 percent tax on high-cost health plans that takes effect in 2018 under the law. Aerospace giant Boeing also has cited the tax in asking its workers to pay more. Shifting costs to employees lowers the value of a health care plan and acts like an escape hatch from the tax.

Prepare for AARP to now lobby the Obama administration for a waiver from the glorious health care law they helped shove down America’s throat.

Matthe Boyle at the Daily Caller, today:

The Daily Caller has learned that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rate review rules, which it finalized on Thursday, exempt “Medigap” policy providers, like the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), from oversight when such providers increase payment rates for their supplemental insurance plans.

Insurance providers who aren’t exempt from Obamacare’s rate review rules are required to publicly release and explain some health care payment rate increases.

The AARP is the nation’s biggest seller of Medigap policies, or supplemental healthcare plans that add onto what Medicare won’t cover for seniors. The senior citizens interest group advocated for Obamacare to include an attack on Medigap policies’ biggest competitor, Medicare Advantage.

Though the White House and HHS dismiss allegations of political favoritism when it comes to who’s getting exceptions from the new health care regulations – such as in the recent uproar over the disproportionate number of Obamacare waivers that went to companies in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s district — Obamacare critics say the mere appearance of the administration helping friends is disturbing.

As reported on this blog in September 2009, critics have been raising questions about AARP’s seeming kickback scheme involving its Medicare advantage program.

The stench of waivers for favors grew stronger still after AARP endorsed the controversial Obamacare bill in November 2009 despite a rising backlash from AARP members.

Dude, where’s your waiver?

michellemalkin.com

If Only Obama Were As Worried About Our National Debt As He Is About Egypt’s Debt

From Obama’s remarks today about the middle east:

…we do not want a democratic Egypt to be saddled by the debts of its past. So we will relieve a democratic Egypt of up to $1 billion in debt, and work with our Egyptian partners to invest these resources to foster growth and entrepreneurship. We will help Egypt regain access to markets by guaranteeing $1 billion in borrowing that is needed to finance infrastructure and job creation. And we will help newly democratic governments recover assets that were stolen.

Gee, anyone else know of another country that is saddled by debt? Like, maybe, the United States of America?

If only President Obama were as worried about our national debt as he is about Egypt’s debt.

sayanythingblog.com

Obama Calls “Post American World” Author & TV Host Frequently For Advice

Barack Obama was photographed on the tarmac by Doug Mills of the New York Times with a book in his left hand titled “The Post-American World” by Fareed Zakaria back in 2008. (Freedom Phoenix)

Barack Obama regularly seeks advice from Fareed Zakaria, the CNN host and author of Post American World.
The Blaze reported:

How would you feel if you knew the president regularly sought the advice of a magazine editor/columnist ad TV host? It’s true. According to CNN, Obama has made a habit of seeking “wisdom and advice” from host Fareed Zakaria.

In an interview with fellow CNN host Elliot Spitzer, Zakaria admitted Obama and him talk regularly about the Middle East and international policy, a point that Spitzer said makes his heart “warm:”

Here’s the video:



Of course, the fact that he takes advice from this author surprises no one.

gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com

New Tone: Obama White House Website Says Republicans Are Racists

This must be part of that new tone.
The Obama White House website wrote that audience members screamed Republicans were racists during his talk yesterday.

Too bad it never happened.
They just made it up.Here’s the video:

The Washington Examiner reported:

Yesterday, in El Paso, President Obama was interrupted early on in his speech by shouts of “We love you!” from the audience. Obama then stopped his prepared remarks and responded: “Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you.” All this is in the official transcript. As it should be.

But then much later in the speech Obama said: ” We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement. All the stuff they asked for, we’ve done. But even though we’ve answered these concerns, I’ve got to say I suspect there are still going to be some who are trying to move the goal posts on us one more time.” At which point the official White House transcript adds this:

AUDIENCE MEMBER: They’re racist!
But then the transcript continues without Obama ever acknowledging the “racist” statement was ever made. If Obama did not interrupt his speech to acknowledge the comment, then why is it in the official transcript? Watch the video of Obama’s speech. Not only is it impossible to hear anybody shout “you’re racist” at that point in the speech, but judging by Obama’s smooth delivery, he never even heard the statement. If the statement was not part of Obama’s prepared remarks, and Obama did not acknowledge it in any way during the speech, then why call Republicans racist on the official White House website?

Wow. Have you ever seen anything like this in your life?
These leftists are not just radical, they’re shameless.

gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com

GAO accuses Obama WH of politics in Yucca Mountain closure

Quick — which presidential candidate pledged to restore science to its “rightful place” in government policy? If you’ve forgotten, well, so has Barack Obama and his administration, according to the GAO. The watchdog agency reports that the White House rushed to shut down the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal facility for political rather than scientific considerations, and that Obama’s manipulation will cost taxpayers billions of dollars and set back the nuclear industry by decades:

The Obama administration’s rushed efforts to shut down Yucca Mountain were strictly political and could set back the opening of a nuclear waste repository by more than 20 years, according to a new report by a federal watchdog.

The administration killed the repository program last year without citing technical or safety issues, and restarting the costly and time-consuming process of finding a permanent repository or an alternative solution could take decades and cost billions of additional dollars, the Government Accountability Office reported yesterday.

The Energy Department began pursuing a license for the Nevada site in 2008 but pulled support a year later when the Obama administration said it was not an attractive solution for storing nuclear waste in the United States. The administration then closed out funding for the site, eliminated jobs and contractor activities and disposed of Las Vegas properties associated with the project.

“Several DOE officials told us that they had never seen such a large program with so much pressure to close down so quickly,” the report said in reference to the repository located about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

What technical or scientific rationales did the White House use in this effort? Well … none, according to the GAO. The administration not only didn’t bother to explain why the site had to be closed so quickly, they never checked on the safety issues involved in the hasty shutdown of the facility. Instead, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu just declared that Yucca Mountain was not a “workable option” and demanded its closure.

There are even bigger problems that the GAO report uncovered, not all having to do with the Obama administration. Thanks to the hasty closure, another disposal site must be found. However, the GAO estimates that even if a decision on a new site was made today, the permit process for its use would keep it off line until … 2045. It will take 34 years to get full approval on the next waste-disposal site, and that’s if the site avoids “cost delays” and “garners public acceptance.”

This project was not popular in Nevada, and Harry Reid is perhaps its biggest opponent. It looks as though the Obama administration rushed to protect Harry Reid for his re-election campaign last year, at the risk of the nuclear-power industry and taxpayers. We need to find out exactly how this decision got made, and then we need to fix the process for dealing rationally with nuclear waste. We can’t wait 34 years to get an answer, and it’s absolutely absurd that we should have to do so.

hotair.com

A Very Important Question for President Obama on Border Security

The least serious president in the history of the Republic, said recently in El Paso:

“We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement. Maybe (next) they’ll say we need a moat. Or alligators in the moat.”

Above and beyond, eh, Barack? Are you trying to sell the same line as DHS Secretary Janet Incompetento? “the US border has never been more secure“. Never more secure? Are you kidding me? Is it possible for someone to infiltrate the Washington Press Corps (pronounced “core”, Mr. President) and ask one simple question?

If you’ve gone above and beyond what your critics have asked for, and if the border is genuinely more secure than it has ever been, can you tell us when these signs, 80 miles north of our southern border will be coming down?

Update: For the unbelievers.



sayanythingblog.com

Good Grief. Obama Took 16 HOURS to Make Up His Mind to Get Osama Bin Laden

Good grief. It took Barack Obama 16 HOURS to make up his mind to get Osama Bin Laden.


He had to think about it.

The Daily Mail reported:

Barack Obama kept military commanders hanging by declaring he would ‘sleep on it’ before taking 16 hours to give the go-ahead to raid Bin Laden’s compound.

Hit squads of specialist Navy Seals – who were not even told who they were preparing to capture – had practiced the mission at two reconstructions of the terror chiefs sprawling compound.

The mission looked set to be given the all clear last Thursday when analysts confirmed beyond doubt that Bin Laden was in busy town of Abbottabad in northern Pakistan.

But the president stunned officials when he told a national security meeting that he wanted more time to think – and disappeared out of the room.

‘I’m not going to tell you what my decision is now – I’m going to go back and think about it some more,’ said Obama, according to the New York Times. He then added ‘I’m going to make a decision soon.’

The head of the CIA and other senior intelligence officers who were keen to proceed were left tense as they waited for the president’s decision.

But the next morning after 16 hours, Obama summoned four top aides to the White House Diplomatic Room. Before they could speak, the president put his fist on the table and declared ‘It’s a go’.

gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com

Identity Of Bin Laden’s Courier Was Provided By Al Qaeda Operative Captured In…Iraq

As more and more details emerge regarding the intelligence trail which led us to Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan it comes more and more of a black eye for the Obama administration and the left.

First we learned that the first crumbs of the intelligence trail were provided by detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, which Obama promised he would close as a candidate. Then we learned that further intelligence has been provided by 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed during an interrogation at a secret CIA prison Obama ordered closed in 2009.

Now we learn via Wikileaks that the identity of Osama bin Laden’s courier was provided by an al Qaeda operative US forces picked up in Iraq during a war Obama once called “dumb” suggesting it had nothing to do with the war on terror and had actually made us less safe.

The file suggests that the courier’s identity was provided to the US by another key source, the al-Qaida facilitator Hassan Ghul, who was captured in Iraq in 2004 and interrogated by the CIA. Ghul was never sent to Guantanamo but was believed to have been taken to a prison in Pakistan.

As Obama prepares to visit Ground Zero in New York City to tout his accomplishment in icing Osama bin Laden and make the requisite political hay, it becomes clear that the only reason why the terror leader is sleeping with the fishes is because our intelligence operatives followed a trail of intelligence gathered via detention facilities Obama wanted closed and provided by terror operatives picked up during a war Obama himself once called “dumb” and suggested had nothing to do with the war on terror.

Maybe, instead of beating his chest, Obama ought to be apologizing for all the ways he’d been wrong in the past.

sayanythingblog.com

Reminder to the Press: Before Publishing an Article, Ask Yourselves ‘Does This Make FLOTUS Seem Snooty?’

A small, local news outlet with a name like “Pleasanton Weekly” doesn’t sound very threatening, but according to an email sent to the Daily Caller, the publication has some journalistic teeth that the White House thought needed to be filed down — specifically, the choppers that made Michelle Obama come across as snooty:

A small weekly paper in California claims that a White House official asked it to remove a sentence from a “benign” feature about Marine One because it reflected poorly on first lady Michelle Obama.
[...]
The story in question was a soft feature about Marine One titled, “Inside Marine One, President Obama’s helicopter,” that ran in the paper on April 20. Pleasanton staffer Amory Gutierrez “didn’t get to ride in ‘Marine One,’” she wrote in her story, “but I did get the VIP tour and took photographs of the otherwise unseen aircraft.”

She also wrote a sentence that the White House thought made FLOTUS look snooty.

“Basically the reporter said that the First Lady didn’t speak to the pilots but acknowledged them by making eye contact,” Allen wrote in her email.

Allen says she “complied” with the White House’s request “because it was not worth making a fuss over.”

This little band of California rabble-rousers might just be a small operation, but the White House can never be too careful in keeping them in check. One day it’s the Pleasanton Weekly, but the next thing they know it’s ballooned into the San Francisco Chronicle.

Doug Powers - michellemalkin.com

Key Intelligence In Bin Laden Operation Collected At CIA Prisons Obama Ordered Closed

Last night we learned that part of the breadcrumb trail of evidence that eventually lead US forces to bin Laden started with intelligence gathered at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. This is a bit of an inconvenient truth for those championing Obama’s leadership today given that the President opposed the detention center as a Senator and promised to close it as a candidate (something he’s yet to do as President for obvious reasons).

Now comes more inconvenient truth: It turns out another break in the case came when information was given up by 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed under interrogation (like water boarding) at a secret CIA prison in eastern Europe.

In a secret CIA prison in Eastern Europe years ago, al-Qaida’s No. 3 leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, gave authorities the nicknames of several of bin Laden’s couriers, four former U.S. intelligence officials said. Those names were among thousands of leads the CIA was pursuing.

One man became a particular interest for the agency when another detainee, Abu Faraj al-Libi, told interrogators that when he was promoted to succeed Mohammed as al-Qaida’s operational leader he received the word through a courier. Only bin Laden would have given al-Libi that promotion, CIA officials believed.

If they could find that courier, they’d find bin Laden.

The revelation that intelligence gleaned from the CIA’s so-called black sites helped kill bin Laden was seen as vindication for many intelligence officials who have been repeatedly investigated and criticized for their involvement in a program that involved the harshest interrogation methods in U.S. history.

“We got beat up for it, but those efforts led to this great day,” said Marty Martin, a retired CIA officer who for years led the hunt for bin Laden.

It’s worth noting that President Obama signed an order to close these CIA prisons back in 2009 when he was first elected President. It was part of the order he signed to close Guantanamo Bay. The President “also said he didn’t want to have to make a ‘false choice’ between successfully waging war against terrorist organizations and hewing to U.S. human rights ideals in the process,” reported MSNBC.

Now intelligence gathered at these prisons Obama opposed has brought the President the biggest foreign policy victory of his administration.

Those applauding Obama for his leadership in getting to Osama bin Laden ought to keep in mind that it was the policies Obama opposed that won the day.

sayanythingblog.com

Obama Used Bush Doctrine In Unilateral Strike that Killed Osama Lin Laden

Just a quick walk down memory lane.

Osama Bin Laden was killed by a unilateral strike in Pakistan. According to MSNBC, no countries were notified, including Pakistan. This policy was a Bush Policy; admitted by the great silver tongue Obama himself:

Also note that CBS’ Lara Logan forces Obama to concede that his oft-touted call to kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistani territory is actually current U.S. policy.

Logan: Isn’t that the case now? I mean, do you really think that if the U.S. forces had Osama bin Laden in their sights and the Pakistanis said no, that they wouldn’t fire or wouldn’t go after him?

Obama: I think actually this is current doctrine. There was some dispute when I said this last August. Both the administration and some of my opponents suggested, well, you know, you shouldn’t go around saying that. But I don’t think there’s any doubt that that should be our policy, and will continue to be our policy.

Logan: But it is the current policy.

Obama: I believe it is the current policy.

Logan: So there’s no change then.

Obama: I don’t think there is going to be a change there.

Obama does need a lot of credit. He was hammered by the far-left for taking an affirmative side with Bush. Video below:

However, I suspect that many Democrats will walk away from this as if they were never against unilateral operations in Pakistan.

Sam Foster - lonelyconservative.com