It's Not That I Like Rick Perry

Per Hoosierman's "I Like Rick Perry," http://obotomy.blogspot.com/2014/06/i-like-rick-perry.html I don't so much like Rick Perry as I think he is the most electable Republican. Understand, I do not dislike Rick Perry, I just don't like him as much as I like Paul and Cruz. Hoosierman mentioned that Perry is a governor, and a highly successful one at that. A case could be made that Perry deserves the Nobel Prize for Economics. But Perry is also an Air Force pilot and his military service will not go unnoticed by a lot of voters. Also significant, Perry has previously run for president. He did poorly in 2012 but a presidential campaign is unlike anything else. He should be better prepared this time around and he will be less likely to suffer through an embarrassing "what's the name of that agency I want to eliminate?" and he is less likely to let a pesky Mitt Romney get under his skin. Retail politics might come a little bit easier this time around. If there are skeletons in Perry's closet, they probably would have surfaced by now. That is the problem with getting behind a Herman Cain or anyone who has never been held under the microscope. Their entire campaign can get sidetracked by spurious allegations that have not been put to rest. Perry is a known quantity. While we are on the subject, I strongly believe a politician should hold at least one elected office prior to running for the presidency. For one thing, he should be able to prove that he can run a campaign and get elected. Second, he should also face the challenges that can only come from holding public office. I hate to agree with Ann Coulter but Ben Carson and Donald Trump and John Bolton and David Petraeus for that matter, should not be considered for the White House until they pay their dues. If I was an oddsmaker, I would install Perry as the 2016 favorite.

Petraeus' Mistress Speaks

CAN YOU BELIEVE WE ARE LESS THAN THREE MONTHS FROM THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY? WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

Revisiting John Roberts' Betrayal

Chief Justice Roberts' individual mandate betrayal will never pass the smell test. Never! You don't need William Ayers to know which way the wind blows.

In a comment to Hoosierman, I speculated that Roberts could have been corrupted in much the same way General Petraeus was brought to his knees. I was shocked to learn that there was indeed an effort to discredit, if not blackmail, Chief Justice Roberts.

Disclaimer: A lot of this is speculative. But given the highly irregular Supreme Court decision and the ongoing revelations concerning the Obama Administration's abuse of confidential information for political gain, we have to reconsider what really happened. In short, John Roberts and his wife adopted two children from Ireland and they might have broken Irish law in doing so. Roberts stood to lose not only his credibility, but his children as well. That would be a heavy blade to hang over someone's head.

Hey, what's one more scandal for the King of Sleaze and  his brain dead followers?

http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/will-chief-justice-john-roberts-be-blackmailed-again-to-rule-in-favor-of-same-sex-marriage/

Obama Mght Be Outed And Impeached In The Same Year

2013 might be a tough year for the president. His administration deftly ran out the election clock on Benghazi, Fast and Furious and security leaks could emerge as a third scandal. But Benghazi and Fast and Furious are alive and well and they will be returning to center stage in the near future.

The Fast and Furious investigation will resume with Eric Holder being held in contempt of Congress. A declaration of Executive Privilege is not necessarily a "Get Out of Jail Free" card. The parallels with Watergate are remarkable. In 1972, President Nixon successfully ran out the clock and was re-elected in a landslide. Immediately thereafter his problems snowballed.

It has often been said about Watergate that it was not the crime but the cover-up that destroyed the administration. True. Truer yet about Fast and Furious. This is a complicated case. I don't know what happens when the Attorney General is held in contempt. Executive Privilege can stall the process but there are constraints on this exercise. If the White House can be shown to obstruct justice (as with Watergate) the entire administration will unravel like a Chinese sweater in a bed of kittens. A criminal cover-up could certainly result in impeachment.

Then, there is Benghazi. Again, a cover-up has been attempted but this cover-up might not be criminal in nature. Susan Rice et al (an et al that includes the president and the secretary of state) were not under oath when they lied to the American people. So this administration might get yet another pass on yet another series of lies. But then there was a bloodless coup where Petraeus and others were asked to resign. Uh oh.

This is a ham-fisted operation if ever there was one. If high-level personnel were terminated to keep them quiet that could be construed as an obstruction of justice (even though a criminal probe had not yet been launched.) And this tactic also highlights the national security issue of personal relationships.

That might sound like excess verbiage but let me explain. If General Petraeus is asked to resign because he has a mistress and thus is vulnerable to blackmail, what does that say about someone who might have smoked crack and gotten it on with Larry Sinclair? The door will be knocked off its hinges and "All The President's Men" could take on a whole new meaning.

In the Benghazi scandal the cover-up might pale in comparison to the events of September 11, 2012. Fast and Furious resulted in dozens of deaths but a few mea culpas could have ended it. The public watches too much cheesy television where the government employees are always saintly. In real life government agencies have used criminal proxies to distribute weapons and narcotics and then bust the subordinates. They might rail against the drugs or guns as they distribute them but they have distributed contraband as adroitly as any criminal enterprise.

This might not be a routine exercise but it is not an uncommon practice either. Eric Holder could have said "mistakes were made" and we could have moved on. Instead, there was an elaborate cover-up. That is where Fast and Furious and Benghazi diverge.

Whatever happened on September 11, 2012 was scandalous. Ain't no rug big enough to sweep this one under. Presidential inaction might be the most favorable spin for this scandal. A personality that will pimp his own mother's memory and allow his half-brother and aunt to live in squalor might just hit the snooze button when his fellow Americans are under attack. Chilling to think that the president's indifference might have resulted in the torture and death of four of his countrymen. But reality might be even worse. Much worse.

So the president might get outed, his staff indicted and he might get impeached while enduring prolonged budget wars as the Middle East continues to flare up from time to time. These events might break a normal man but the narcissist will revel in the attention. The narcissist will celebrate his stardom as his country burns.

2013 should be an interesting year.

If Petraeus's Mistress Posed A Security Risk, Should Congress Investigate Barry's Bathhouse Buddies?

So General Petraeus had to be canned. Why? Because he had a mistress and that made him vulnerable to blackmail and thus, a security risk. That was the media explanation.

So if the Commander-In-Chief has or has had extramarital affairs, should that matter be brought to the public's attention? As a follow up question, should the president be forced to resign?

Should Congress subpoena a witness who claims to have had sexual relations with Barack Obama when the future president served in the Illinois Senate? If as Kevin Dujan alleges, that the President's golf outings are really just a pretext for romps with young hombres, is that not a matter of national security? What about the President's "body man?" Is that not a Defense Department concern?

Since September 11, 2012, we have witnessed a bloodless coup where military brass have suddenly retired. I think we know who is behind the purging. If these men's private lives were in need of examination, should not concerned citizens demand that the lives and associations of the highest level of power also be exposed to the light of day?

What do you think?

The Ever-Clever Obama Administration

I am back from the first real vacation in a few years. It was nice. I missed Obama's speech and the BP Shakedown and the opening round of the Blagojevich trial. Oh well. Back to the web mines.

When I heard that Obama had replaced McChrystal with Petraeus I could psychically hear the mental gears of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue scrape metal. In placing Petraeus in Afghanistan, Obama might have eliminated one of the most viable 2012 presidential contenders. By evening the John Batchelor Show was promoting this idea. I am always ahead of my time if only by ten or so hours.

I am not sure if Petraeus was ever a presidential candidate or if he would be good at politics but the White House believes he was and he could be and they acted in a proactive manner. It's all about the Administration. Always. Always. Always.

The Obama Administration ALWAYS overplays its hand. Such practices do not bode well for most games and politics is not an exception. Eventually, the "too smart by half" are exposed for their hubris. They think they are the cleverest people on the planet and they expect the rest of us to just say wow.

McChrystal had to go but this is not about insubordination or the security of our country. It is about a petty man and his titanic ego. This crisis will not be wasted.

Let us bask in the brilliance of our exalted leaders!