"What if Obama can't lead?" :o

[Azalin]

What kind of person needs 900 people with them anywhere?

 

an inept paranoid socialist retread who needs the constant support and approval of fame-leeching devotees.

[B-Man]

When Obama Meets Francis :The script won’t be the one written in the White House.

 

A week before the White House announcement that President Obama would meet Pope Francis at the Vatican during a presidential trip to Europe in late March, Secretary of State John Kerry had a lengthy meeting with Vatican secretary of state Pietro Parolin. According to Vatican sources with direct knowledge of what transpired, Parolin drove the entire conversation, emphasizing at some length the Holy See’s concerns over the Health and Human Services contraceptive/abortifacient mandate that has put the bishops of the United States, and many Catholic institutions, on a collision course with the government unparalleled in U.S. Catholic history.

 

None of that, of course, was discussed by Secretary Kerry in his subsequent remarks to the press, which focused on a future meeting between President Obama and Pope Francis.

 

Thus it should have come as no surprise that, when the White House announced on January 21 that the visit to Pope Francis would take place on March 27, the administration’s spin machine was whirling at high RPMs: “The president looks forward to discussing with Pope Francis their shared commitment to fighting poverty and growing inequality.” In other words: The administration looks forward to getting a nice photo to insert into the communiqué it has already written on the president’s meeting with the pope, which is a rather obvious attempt to use the Holy See and Pope Francis as allies in the class-warfare campaign the administration manifestly intends to run in the 2014 congressional cycle, the administration’s record over the past six years not being a very attractive campaign platform.

 

The Holy See and the pope are quite aware of what’s afoot here.

 

{snip}

 

The pope and his associates are quite aware that the administration is not above trying to drive a wedge between the U.S. bishops and the Vatican on the HHS-mandate question; and however the White House, certain Catholics, and some journalists spin the post-meeting story, it can be reasonably assumed that the pope and his senior officials have no intention of creating any such daylight for the administration to exploit. Pope Francis has spoken with considerable vigor about the importance of national bishops’ conferences in the life of the Church. It seems very unlikely that he would deliberately undercut the work of the bishops’ conference that has done the most to bring Catholic social teaching to bear on public policy, and has done so in a genuinely dialogical, not authoritarian, way — the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

 

None of this will be reflected in White House spin on pope-meets-president, any more than Cardinal Parolin’s firm talk with John Kerry about religious freedom in America was reflected in the State Department’s comments on that encounter. That script has already been written, for a play whose story-line was determined by the White House political managers months ago. What remains to be seen is whether Pope Francis, who combines winsomeness and steel in a unique personality, will be able to convey to President Obama that he, the president, is placing unnecessary impediments in the way of the pope’s agenda for the reform of the Church.

 

It should prove an interesting conversation, although the full details of it are not likely to become clear for some time.

 

More at the link:

 

 

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[Nanker]

I think we all know what's next. Obama haircuts for all men.

That's pure genius. Think of the money he will make once he leaves office and can be on QVC and the HSN 24/7 pumping his RonPopiel B.O. head shaver! He'll make a fortune - which he'll need to keep himself and his adorable little wife in the lifestyle that they've become accustomed to.

 

In other news, the guy who's in the front row at the far right of that picture was executed for not displaying enough pure ecstatic joy when he was so close to the Chosin (reservoir) One. Jay Carney-Barker take note.

[DC Tom]

I read yesterday Obama has a 900-person entourage with him.

 

What kind of person needs 900 people with them anywhere?

 

What do they all do?

 

When you start including ground crew for Air Force One and the multiple Secret Service planes, support and prep people, and such, I can see the number getting easily that high or higher. I'd want to know how broad that definition of "entourage" is before I'd comment.

 

There's no question the presidency's become imperial, though. It did decades ago.

[B-Man]

When the president met with Pope Francis this morning, the pontiff gave President Obama a copy of his apostolic exhortation, EvangeliiGaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). Much of the media coverage of his vision statement, so to speak, missed both the Gospel and the joy. It’s document rooted in the Cross on which Christ died, reintroducing the proposals of the Gospel about the challenges of apostolic living, about self-sacrificial love. . It’s worth reading in its entirety if you’re curious about this pope — rather than merely the parts you agree or disagree with. . . . . . .It’s not a political document, but a pastoral one.

 

 

Many this morning are citing the New York Times this weekend going on about President Obama’s “Catholic roots.” There were a few problems with that piece. First, of all, of course, there was the missing cover story on the Little Sisters of the Poor. This morning, before dawn in the Northeast United States, as the pope met the president, an MSNBC host described the two as “champions of income equality.” Don’t tell me President Obama is a champion of income equality when the Little Sisters of the Poor – women religious who serve the elderly poor — are in court seeking the religious freedom that is our God-given right, and once a herald of our country.

 

 

 

Human Dignity a Theme in Pope’s Meeting with President Obama

by Kathryn Jean Lopez

 

From the official Vatican notes on the meeting:

THE POPE RECEIVES PRESIDENT OBAMA: RESPECT FOR HUMANITARIAN AND INTERNATIONAL LAW IN AREAS OF CONFLICT

Vatican City, 27 March 2014 (VIS) – This morning Barack H. Obama, president of the United States of America, was received in audience by Pope Francis, after which he met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

 

During the cordial meeting, views were exchanged on some current international themes and hope was expressed that, in areas of conflict, there would be respect for humanitarian and international law and a negotiated solution between the parties involved.

 

In the context of bilateral relations and cooperation between Church and State,

the Parties discussed questions of particular relevance for the Church, such as the exercise of the rights to religious freedom, life

and conscientious objection, as well as the issue of immigration reform. Finally, the Parties stated their common commitment to the eradication of human trafficking throughout the world.

 

If the president was hoping for an easy photo-op, he didn’t get it. During Hobby Lobby week, is there a prayer our president left the Vatican willing to consider the un-American choice he’s forced on the Little Sisters of the Poor?

 

 

 

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Edited March 27, 2014 by B-Man

[IDBillzFan]

What leaders sound like.

 

“Right now, there’s a vacuum,” she told a crowd of more than two thousand attending the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual dinner last night in Washington, D.C. “There’s a vacuum because we’ve decided to lower our voice. We’ve decided to step back. We’ve decided that if we step back and lower our voice, others will lead, other things will fill that vacuum.” Citing Bashar al Assad’s slaughter in Syria, Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, al Qaeda’s triumphant return to Fallujah, Iraq, and China’s nationalist fervor, she concluded: “When America steps back and there is a vacuum, trouble will fill that vacuum.”

 

Rice – measured in tone, but very tough on substance – excoriated Obama administration policies without ever mentioning the president by name. She mocked the naïve hope that “international norms” would fill the vacuum left by U.S. retreat and blasted the president for hiding behind the weariness of the public.

 

“I fully understand the sense of weariness. I fully understand that we must think: ‘Us, again?’ I know that we’ve been through two wars. I know that we’ve been vigilant against terrorism. I know that it’s hard. But leaders can’t afford to get tired. Leaders can’t afford to be weary.”

[Chef Jim]

What leaders sound like.

 

I really really like her.

[keepthefaith]

I really really like her.

 

She should run for pres.

[3rdnlng]

She should run for pres.

 

She doesn't want to. I think she feels she could be damn good at the job but a pretty poor campaigner. In the last presidential elections I wanted to see Newt debate Obama but Romney govern. It's a fine line between being a viable candidate and then being someone that can govern.

[Chef Jim]

She should run for pres.

 

No, then I won't like her anymore. I like the fact that she's pretty much stayed out of politics. Running for political office turns great people in to !@#$s in my book

[B-Man]

White House Lost Narrative

by Kathryn Jean Lopez

 

In the hours between the pope’s meeting with the president and the president’s press conference a little before noon on the East Coast, the White House totally lost the narrative they had hoped for. Earlier in the day the media was on the same page as the White House — the meeting would be understood as a meeting of the minds on economic inequality. But to the president’s credit, when he was at the Vatican, he appeared a bit of a pilgrim. He asked for prayers. He seemed to drink the history and the beauty in. His posture appeared to be as listener, approaching a pastor.

 

As I noted yesterday morning, the Vatican official release on the meeting talked about religious freedom and human dignity — hinting at the inviolability of human life. Early press reports echoed this. That doesn’t work, however, if you are a White House in need of a p.r. boost, hoping to benefit from papal popularity and to distract from the ongoing religious-freedom fight that had a hearing at the Supreme Court this week.

 

And so as the day went on, the White House downplayed any differences, the president explained that Pope Francis really lives in a different world, and press reports went from mentioning religious freedom to contraception to income inequality. In the end, the White House may have recovered the script a bit. They certainly must be pleased with USA Today’s cover

 

But that misses the story. As I pointed out yesterday, other images from the meeting tell a story different than the USA Today above-the-fold treatment.

A pope known for exuberant embraces was not going to be used as a prop by politicos.

[DC Tom]

White House Lost Narrative

by Kathryn Jean Lopez

 

In the hours between the pope’s meeting with the president and the president’s press conference a little before noon on the East Coast, the White House totally lost the narrative they had hoped for. Earlier in the day the media was on the same page as the White House — the meeting would be understood as a meeting of the minds on economic inequality. But to the president’s credit, when he was at the Vatican, he appeared a bit of a pilgrim. He asked for prayers. He seemed to drink the history and the beauty in. His posture appeared to be as listener, approaching a pastor.

 

As I noted yesterday morning, the Vatican official release on the meeting talked about religious freedom and human dignity — hinting at the inviolability of human life. Early press reports echoed this. That doesn’t work, however, if you are a White House in need of a p.r. boost, hoping to benefit from papal popularity and to distract from the ongoing religious-freedom fight that had a hearing at the Supreme Court this week.

 

And so as the day went on, the White House downplayed any differences, the president explained that Pope Francis really lives in a different world, and press reports went from mentioning religious freedom to contraception to income inequality. In the end, the White House may have recovered the script a bit. They certainly must be pleased with USA Today’s cover

 

But that misses the story. As I pointed out yesterday, other images from the meeting tell a story different than the USA Today above-the-fold treatment.

 

A pope known for exuberant embraces was not going to be used as a prop by politicos.

 

Of course, they were bound to lose the narrative, given the expectation of headlines saying "Pope meets Jesus."

[B-Man]

Bob Kerrey Calls Obama a Delusional Liar; Renders Himself MSM Nonperson

by P.J. Gladnick

 

 

Original Article

 

Imagine if a former Republican presidential candidate and U.S. senator had called a current Republican president a delusional liar whose programs are wasteful. Would the mainstream media not be all over the story? Such a person would be interviewed at length by Wolf Blitzer on CNN as well as made the rounds of the morning talk shows and the Sunday news programs as well. The media buzz would be red hot on this topic for days extending into weeks.

 

Well, there is such a person but because he is a Democrat saying these things about President Obama, we can expect him to become an MSM nonperson. Such seems to already be the fate of former presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey. It is no surprise that his extended criticisms of Obama appeared in in a Daily Mail article in Britain, not in America where the shunning seems to have already begun. Here is what Kerrey has to say about Obama which you most likely won't see in any major liberal news outlet in America:

The Nebraskan straight-talker told MailOnline in an exclusive interview that Obama isn't up to the job of bringing liberals and conservatives to the table to rescue America's slowly choking entitlement programs.

 

And Obama, he said Wednesday in his Manhattan office, knew full well he was lying when he promised that the Affordable Care Act would allow Americans to keep insurance plans they liked.

 

'He had to know he was misleading the audience,' Kerrey said quietly, recalling the newly minted president's countless promises as Congress and the public debated his signature health insurance overhaul.

 

'On the other hand, he may have said it so many times,' he added, 'that the spell-checker wasn't in the room – the spell-checker, the fact-checker – somebody who says, "Excuse me, Mr. President, but I hope you know this..."'

 

Obama's infamous four-Pinocchio pledges, Kerrey explained, never stood a chance of being fulfilled because there were 'a million people out there with policies that, for one reason or another, run short of the minimum standard. I mean, they bought something cheaper!'

Wow! Pretty strong stuff. But wait...there's more!

The worst lie Democrats told about Obamacare, Kerrey reasoned, 'is not "If you want to keep your health care plan..." – the worst one is, "Everybody deserves high-quality, affordable health care."'

 

'Excuse me? Uh, I don't know if you've heard about the bell curve?' he snarked.

 

'If I've got 1,000 doctors, 100 are great, and 100 are not so good.'

 

He outlined the shape of a bell curve with his hands, and then threw them skyward. 'It's absolutely impossible,' he said.

'And affordable? Forget about it.'

 

When the Affordable Care Act met its most vigorous Republican opposition in late 2009, the U.S. economy was still floundering and the business community's eyes were focused on GDP growth, not a new set of health-benefit mandates.

 

'I wouldn't have done health care,' Kerrey said.'I think the big mistake was ... to say, "Whew! We've got the stimulus done, okay, the economy's going to come bouncing back in 12 months – let's do health care,"' he explained.

 

'Only the economy didn't come bouncing back.'

 

'We're teetering on the edge of going out of business through most of 2009,' Kerrey recalled. 'And I think you need to just keep driving, driving, driving on the economy, and make it as bipartisan as possible.'

So Kerrey compounded his "heresy" by claiming Democrats lied as well. And he still is not finished...

Asked how to break the congressional logjam, Kerrey thought for a moment and said, softly, 'It takes a president. It takes a president.'

 

Is Barack Obama that president? Kerrey stayed silent but shook his head.

 

'I'm shaking my head "no,"' he acknowledged, finally.

 

'If he was up to it, he would have done it. He can't run for re-election.'

 

Another of Obama's failings, according to Kerrey, is an inflated sense of Americans' appetite for programs to correct what the White House calls 'income inequality,' through new taxes and other income-shifting initiatives that transfer wealth from the rich to the poor.

The president's re-election 17 months ago wasn't a mandate to conduct class warfare, he said.

 

'After the 2012 election, what the president needed was somebody to say, "Mr. President, I'm thrilled you won. You stand for all the things I support. But honestly, you won this election because you sucked less than Romney."'

Americans, Kerrey believes, lost patience equally with the GOP and the White House during the kabuki theater of fiscal cliff, congressional 'super committee,' budget sequester and tense partial government shutdown.

 

Obama stuck to his guns at the time, holding out for a 'balanced' budget-gap fix that included new taxes on upper-income Americans.

'Everybody since 1913 has had a mandate to raise taxes on the rich,' Kerrey scoffed at his party's leader. 'This isn't something that you've earned, something that's unique.'