Yesterday, Mr.-Convert-to-Christianity-or-Die-Forsaken and Bill Kristol--both wingnuts--declared the underwear bomber a success because the U.S. closed its embassy. Today, several nations followed suit, closing their embassies, leaving Brit Bume and Bill Kristol with egg on their faces. Hume and Kristol are so ideological that nothing they say is credible. At every moment they're only trying to prove themselves right and the Obama administration wrong:
Yemeni government forces killed two suspected Qaeda militants on Monday and wounded others in a firefight 25 miles north of the capital, Yemeni officials said, tying the militants to the continuing threats directed against the United States and British Embassies here.
Those embassies remained closed on Monday for a second day, and the French, German and Japanese embassies largely or entirely closed their embassies to the public. NYT
Do these people get paid for this crap? Closing embassies has nothing to do with weakness. This commentary is asinine.
The Obama administration may buy a near-empty prison in rural northwestern Illinois to house detainees from Guantanamo Bay along with federal inmates, a White House official said Saturday. The maximum-security Thomson Correctional Facility, about 150 miles west of Chicago, was one of several evaluated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and emerged as a leading option to house the detainees, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because a decision has not been made. President Barack Obama wants alleged terrorism suspects from the controversial military-run detention center in Cuba to be transferred to U.S. soil so they can be prosecuted for their suspected crimes. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has been hinting at a possible new use for Thomson, and he issued a statement saying he would hold a news conference Sunday to outline those plans. AP
Fox News Sunday panel discussed this today:
Not on the video, is the discussion they had about Sarah Palin. Liz Cheney says it would be sexist to say that Sarah Palin couldn't be president. Bill Kristol fawns over Palin and Juan Williams sets them straight. I'm surprised that they only briefly talked about Obama's bow to the Japanese emperor. It's on fire in wingnut circles. Bill Kristol says Palin wouldn't bow or even curtsy to anyone. That's because she doesn't know enough to know whether she should. Republicans always talk about the need for less political correctness, well how about this, Palin is an idiot when it comes to international relations. Let's not pretend. Liz Cheney also suggests Cheney 2012? Cheney Palin? Never. Never. Never. Ever.
Liz Cheney says it would be sexist to say that Sarah Palin couldn't be president. Bill Kristol fawns over Palin, as usual, and Juan Williams sets them straight. I'm surprised that they only briefly talked about Obama's bow to the Japanese emperor. It's on fire in wingnut circles. The panel also talks about the trials of KSM and holding terrorists in U.S. prisons. The Obama administration is looking to hold Gitmo detainees at a prison in Illinois:
The Obama administration may buy a near-empty prison in rural northwestern Illinois to house detainees from Guantanamo Bay along with federal inmates, a White House official said Saturday. The maximum-security Thomson Correctional Facility, about 150 miles west of Chicago, was one of several evaluated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and emerged as a leading option to house the detainees, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because a decision has not been made. President Barack Obama wants alleged terrorism suspects from the controversial military-run detention center in Cuba to be transferred to U.S. soil so they can be prosecuted for their suspected crimes. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has been hinting at a possible new use for Thomson, and he issued a statement saying he would hold a news conference Sunday to outline those plans. AP
Some sense at the ABC roundtable. David Brooks calls Palin a joke:
I love the psychology of politics and power, and it's interesting to me that the people who hate Obama, such as Bill Kristol, say that Obama is arrogant. That's the one thing that Obama foes have in common. They all say he's arrogant. But I don't see a stitch of arrogance. I see a whole lot of humility. Obama foes seem to have an emotional reaction to Obama. They feel personally affronted. Perhaps Obama's humility and reason diminishes their neocon caveman style of power. OR, it could be a racial thing. Perhaps they're personally insulted that a black man could have so much power. It could be a combination of the two. Funny, I see Kristol as arrogant, which is a mask for his insecurity:
Juan Williams gets at it a bit. Sarah Palin and Barack Obama shouldn't ever be compared as equals. Obama is head and shoulders above Palin in smarts, character, wisdom and ideas, yet folks who still have issues with Obama have never seen him for who he is. Instead they see him as they perceive him. Their perceptions are tainted by their own assorted prejudices. Palin is someone who is clearly out of her league. Ironically, the media she despises is the only one perpetuating the idea that she is a viable candidate for president. Most republicans think she has no chance whatsoever at higher office, especially now.
Apparently, they're dining at George Will's house. I like George Will and often, I agree with him. The HP gathers that Obama is dining with George, William Kristol, David Brooks and Charles Krauthammer, who absolutely can't stand Obama. Could you imagine George Bush reaching out like this? UH UH.
Conservative Bill Kristol, a big fan of Sarah Palin, has some kind words to say about Obama but not without a slap to the left.
NYT: But I also have to admit that I look forward to Obama’s inauguration with a surprising degree of hope and good cheer.
For one thing, there will be the invocation, delivered by Rick Warren. I suspect he’ll be careful to say nothing pro-life or pro-traditional-marriage — but we conservatives have already gotten more than enough pleasure from the hysterical reaction to his selection by the tribunes of the intolerant left. And having Warren there will, in fact, be a welcome reminder of the strides the evangelical movement and religious conservatives (broadly speaking) have made in recent decades.
On the inaugural poet, Elizabeth Alexander, he says this:
I’ve looked at some of Alexander’s poetry, and am confident she’ll be a big improvement on Angelou. It makes me think our culture isn’t necessarily getting worse. It may even be getting better.
And on Obama using Lincoln's Bible to swear in:
But my (generous) interpretation of Obama’s choice of the Lincoln Bible is this: It’s an homage to Lincoln, not a claim to be like him. Obama intends to look back to Lincoln for guidance and to look up to him as a model. Lincoln, our greatest president and statesman, had a deep understanding of American exceptionalism. He thought long and hard about the relationship of American founding principles to political practice, and in his actions exemplified the prudent and skillful pursuit of a principled end. He was also a great war president. Obama could do a lot worse than study Lincoln and learn from him.
And on Obama's hard habit to kick:
Bah, humbug. Those of us who dislike finger-wagging nanny-state-nagging liberalism relish the prospect of President Barack Obama sneaking a cigarette on the second floor of the White House while rereading Harry V. Jaffa’s great work on Lincoln, “Crisis of the House Divided,” then taking a break to stroll over to take a look at the White House’s copy of Emanuel Leutze’s painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware,” then going back to the family quarters to tell his kids to get back to memorizing some patriotic poetry, all of this interrupted occasionally by calls from Gen. David Petraeus and Gen. Ray Odierno — his Ulysses Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman — to discuss progress in the wars we’re fighting, or from Rick Warren to discuss their joint efforts to fight AIDS in Africa and to reduce the number of abortions in the U.S. Read it all.
Bill Kristol, conservative columnist, has criticized McCain's campaign. Kristol's one of those who's more aligned with Palin. Here's his latest column in the NYT:
He has nothing to lose. His campaign is totally overmatched by Obama’s. The Obama team is well organized, flush with resources, and the candidate and the campaign are in sync. The McCain campaign, once merely problematic, is now close to being out-and-out dysfunctional. Its combination of strategic incoherence and operational incompetence has become toxic. If the race continues over the next three weeks to be a conventional one, McCain is doomed.
Here's what I think is happening. Some conservatives don't have much joy in their hearts for McCain. They think he's holding back the campaign, or at least that's the excuse for the sad state of the campaign. But they're hot for Palin and her un-Christian like and unpatriotic tactics of using hate language to rally the base.
It's the campaign's fault, says Todd Palin. She's not being prepared properly. McCain's crew is a bunch of finger pointers. Palin is going to need an act of God to get her through the debate. I wonder how many pastors she's called upon to bless her. What about us? If Palin-McCain win we're going to be in some deep doo doo. I agree. Let her free.
CNN: The New York Times conservative columnist Bill Kristol argued in his column on Monday that McCain must "liberate his running mate from the former Bush aides brought in to handle her -- aides who seem to have succeeded in importing to the Palin campaign the trademark defensive crouch of the Bush White House.
"McCain picked Sarah Palin in part because she's a talented politician and communicator. He needs to free her to use her political talents and to communicate in her own voice," Kristol wrote.
One McCain source said Palin's husband, Todd Palin, was frustrated with how the campaign was preparing his wife for the debate, but did not elaborate. Another McCain aide, however, dismissed those reports.
But a McCain adviser said the conservatives worried that the campaign was squeezing the charm out of Palin were missing the point.
The adviser said preparing her for the debate was "really hard" because the Alaska governor was learning about issues she had never dealt with before -- including those regarding North Korea and other hot spots around the globe.
This is coming from Fox and Bill Kristol, who originally named Tim Kaine as Obama's veep, and who is anti-Obama. Kristol says Powell may give the keynote speech on veterans and national security. Wow.
This is a big endorsement if indeed it's true.
I can't tell you how many wingnut blogs I've read where the blogger states they hate Obama because of whatever (take your pick) but would vote for Colin Powell in a heartbeat. How would they respond to a Powell endorsement?
