Thursday, June 25, 2009

Yes We Can...Be As Stupid As We Want To Be.

Yes we can create the largest deficit in history.
Yes we can create higher unemployment.
Yes we can take over the banking industry.
Yes we can take over GM.
Yes we can take over Chrysler.
Yes we can take over the health care industry forever.
Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON KOOL-AID

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Welcome to Wild Card Wednesday

We're staring a new tradition here at POS: Wild Card Wednesday. Wednesdays will feature topics that don't necessarily fit into the nice, tidy categories we have created. Hump day is almost anything goes day. Be forewarned.

We're going to kick this off with Donald Rumsfeld's September 10, 2001 news conference where he announces that that The Pentagon cannot account for $2,300,000,000,000 (It would be a different world if journalists always wrote out the numerals instead of using the convenient shorthand.)

Where do we begin with this subject?

First, I wish I could still find the original footage instead of using CBS's 2006 rehash of the event. Not that CBS's report is not valid. It is. If only they did more reporting like this. Their five year silence screams at us. The Rumsfeld announcement of September 10 is the second biggest news story of the decade, surpassed only by the events of the following day. It is understandable that this issue would get placed on the back burner in the aftermath of 9/11, but why did it take the media so long to even glance at this once more?

The probable answer is that Rumsfeld exposed corruption or ineptitude or both, on behalf of the Clinton Administration. We know that the media are partisan but we have to remind ourselves just how partisan they really are. They waited for complicity by the Bush Administration before taking this story off the shelf. Too little, too late.

Second, this confirms POS's pillared belief that the news media, Fox News and talk radio included, share one universal bias: The Bias For Simplicity (Or perhaps a bias against complexity would be more accurate.) It would require a lot of work to bring this story to light and most journalists are lazy.

Third, this throws a wet blanket on the notion that the GOP is an antidote to the free spending, irresponsible and often corrupt Democrats. Why did Rumsfeld not revisit this issue? It's possible that his reformist tendencies took a back seat to opportunity. He would not be the first reformer to view graft in a different light once he had ascended the ladder. But every excuse is invalid. This is a scandal that dwarfs every other scandal in US history. It might have started a long time ago but the Bush Administration never sufficiently addressed it and for that they deserve our unending scorn.

Fourth, I have to say a few words about the 9/11 Truthers. I will not dismiss all conspiracies as a matter of habit. I believe JFK was murdered by a conspiracy involving Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby and parties unknown. It is irrefutable that our government has conducted a conspiratorial campaign of misinformation involving UFO's. And yes, I believe that there was indeed a conspiracy (yes that is the best word for it) to catapault Barack Obama into the White House with tactics that were not always legal.

Having stated my open minded position on conspiracies, let me hereby proclaim that I accept the US government's version of the events of 9/11 in essence if not in toto. As with the holocaust, the details might be off here and there but the crux of the matter is sound. Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld did not plant bombs and fly commercial aircraft into buildings via remote control devices. Yes, it does look suspicious that Rumsfeld would make this startling announcement on September 10 and the catasrophic events would transpire the vey next day. An elaborate diversionary tactic. No! If Rumsfeld was so vile and so evil and so conspiratorial as to launch a series of attacks against his own people merely to distract us, then why did he even hold a September 10 news conference?

We are always looking for readers but if the Truthers (sic) want to skip over us, we will not be offended.

Anyway, let's crack that bottle over Wild Card Wednesday!


THE SECOND BIGGEST STORY OF THE DECADE LANGUISHES IN OBSCURITY

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Introducing Two-fer Tuesday

An old radio tradition: Two songs by the same artist back to back on Tuesday. I sometimes miss the heyday of FM radio.

The first vid has been previously posted but I am reposting it here so that the viewer can watch the two vids back to back, as they were meant to be watched.

ALREADY POSTED BUT NOW IN TANDEM WITH THE CONCLUSION



LET'S LOOK TO THE FUTURE

Monday, June 22, 2009

Media Monday

We are starting a new tradition here at Post Obotomy Syndrome. Media Monday. Every Monday we will feature links and articles dealing with the news media and their unique relationship with President Obama and Candidate Obama. Candidate Obama is still with us, by the way. He might always be with us.

We want to extend specific themes to each day of the week. Not sure yet what to do about Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. Wednesday will be Wildcard Wednesday, where we feature just about anything. Saturday will be Selebrity Saturday where we will showcase the shallow and the superficial and their unending fawning over The One. Sunday is the day of worship and we will feature Sunday Worship here at POS. Remember your hip boots and don't forget to leave a little something in the collection plate.

Let's get this week started!

Obama Jokes About Brian Williams

Obama is compelling. He is affable. He is funny. Check and checkmate.
But as with everyone, Obama's strengths are also his weaknesses. He has election-winning political savvy. But does he have administrative political savvy? With the usual disclaimers about his ability to joke about himself out of the way, one has to wonder if perhaps Obama really does crave popularity above all else. Maybe the presidency is just a means of padding his resume. One of those things a star endures as he climbs the ladder of success.

Is the presidency to Obama what "Bosom Buddies" was to Hanks? What "Mork" was to Robin Williams? What the bathhouses were to Bette Midler? One has to wonder. Someone close to him should have edited this material. Watch the clip in its entirety and then go back and watch the first 18 seconds. It is one thing to make fun of NBC's fawning coverage and their recent ratings bonanza shot from inside the White House. It is quite another to say that you are in bed with the media bigwigs when that is precisely what your opposition is alleging.

But, it got a laugh. That's what matters.


NO ONE EVER SAID OBAMA ISN'T FUNNY

NYT Cooks The Numbers in Poll About Obama and Health Care

I hope you are sitting down when you read this. It pains me to report that NYT has been caught massaging data in their poll about Obama and health care.
I am shocked! Shocked! Shocked I tell you!
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/06/bogus-poll-alert-ny-times-over-samples.html

ABC and Obama, Part 1

Item: ABC employees donated 32 times more to the Obama campaign than they donated to McCain's campaign.

http://www.cprights.org/pdf/Obama-ABC.pdf

http://www.cprights.org/pdf/McCain-ABC.pdf

This coming June 24, ABC will host Obamapalooza. Diane Sawyer will kick things off with an Obama interview on "Good Morning America." Charles Gibson will anchor "World News" from the White House Blue Room. Gibson and Sawyer will then anchor a two hour prime time infomercial for Obama's health care plan. They will break for the local news and wrap up the day with a discussion of Obama's health care plan on "Nightline." I bet some Tivos will be working overtime.

Significantly, The Republican National Committee has been denied any input into the debate and has been denied any rebuttal. http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-abc-news-shills-for-obama-s-health-care-reform-r-1245261967

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day

In honor of Father's Day I have included a video that excerpts passages from President Obama's book, "Dreams of My Father..." I have not read this work but I hope to get around to it one of these days.