RE: What the President’s Delayed Trip Means

Has anyone seen the protests against his going to Indonesia? they don’t want him there either..

And the purpose of this post was exactly what, Joe?
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Couldn’t you have posted the same comment on Kate’s thread?
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Looks like snarkiness for snarkiness’ sake, Joe, rather than an attempt to inform.

It is cheeky of a foreigner to correct your language, Mr. Klein, but I suppose he tried to “win the Olympics for Chicago and USA.”

The emperor has no clothes, the emperor has no clothes.

I think it is about time you people figured it out.

And the trip to the GOP retreat at the end of January..

And the trip to Oslo to pick up his Nobel…

And the trip thru Asia to gain support for various policy initiatives…

Eeesh. The new Kremlinology.

The emperor has no clothes, the emperor has no clothes.
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I think it is about time you people figured it out.
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The GOP has no plan, no principles, and NO integrity. Yeah, we’ve got that…

Joe’s right-that Obama can’t convince anybody of anything.
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So sad when Joe tries “humor”

In old country, trip take you!

A bit touchy about a useless President?

The trip to Oslo was an embarrassment. He picked up an award he didn’t earn. The trip to the GOP accomplished nothing thus we’re talking about slaughter rules and reconciliation for a bill that remains unpopular and isn’t even written yet . The trip to Asia was also a waste of time. China remains firmly opposed to any sanctions on Iran and is not revalueing it’s currency.

Chuck Norris doesn’t travel. He tells a place that he wants to see it and it picks up and moves in front of his house.

Joe you are full of crap on this issue, last week I remember you are questioning the wisdom of the timing of trip, (as the fight to pass health care bill is raging in congress). Now you are mocking him for listening to your own advice, Yeah I said it you are full of crap.

In other news – FBI and John Ensign.

http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12158075

So, which do we do now, rdw… bomb China or just blockade them? Let’s mine one of their ports each day until they agree to what we want.
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Maybe we should just buy back all of our debt from them to teach them a lesson? Or, perhaps, send them a “sternly-worded letter”… that’s scare them!
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Or, perhaps, we should call Israel or AIPAC and ask them what would be in THEIR interests for us to do?

And the Bush administration was so successful in bringing China into line? Notice how they brought peace to Israel and the Palestinians? How about that North Korea? Lots of changes there. Mynammar, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, etc. All problems solved by the Bush neo-cons, right? They had 8 years.

What is your definition of unpopular? Many polls recently seem to say that the oppose/support numbers are roughly equal. On top of that, when asked about individual parts of the bill people respond favorably. Can anyone who claims this bill is unpopular explain that?

Also, I was under the impression that the bill was basically written- what will pass is basically the Senate bill with some tweaks. Is there something significantly different in the final bill that wasn’t in the House or Senate bill?

Shhhh. We don’t speak of Ensign here.

No, questioning the need for this particular post. All he did was seemingly respond to an earlier Kate Pickert posting.
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Nothing value-added here…

If it was a post knocking Beck, Palin, Limbaugh or a Conservative, you would be doing handstands and congratulating him on what a great post it was.

You indignation is shallow and bitter.

Well fine! I’m just so tired of all this — More OT. One good, one sad.

– Christiane Amanpour leaves CNN for ABC’s “This Week”

– Fess Parker died

This Democratic Administration and Democratic controlled Congress have truly shown that the Emperor has no Cloths and will stoop to anything to amass its power and programs. Anyone who criticized the Republicans in the past has to be hypocrites to support this President and this Democratic Congress.

The best pollster by far is Rasmussen and last I looked HC was still down 10%. People are tired of all of the sleezy bribes like the Cornhusker kickback and the Louisanna purchase. No matter what happens Dems are losing the house. This thing is pure sleeze.

Joe Klein, how brash you are to make fun of the Indonesia Trip.
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I was so waiting for all the news and the video shots as our dear Leader, President Barack Obama became misty eyed as he looked over the new statue in his honor in front of the Madrassa he attended as a young boy.
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I was looking forward to the dedication of the home he grew up in, and the plaque they were going to place on his boyhood home like those of other Presidents across this nation have had done before him.
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How could you make fun of this most prestigious trip to Indonesia where Barack would finally announce to the world that he was “so glad to be back home”.
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You should be ashamed, Joe Klein. Very ashamed.

Wrong-o, buffalo breath… project much?
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Don’t think I have ever done ANY of those things EVER.
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The post provided no additional information over Kate Pickert’s earlier posting.
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Also, SOMETHING on this page is playing havoc with my ability to view it. It hangs repeatedly and for long periods. New ad, maybe?

Why do libs get so crazy about AIPAC? They’re only a lobbying group. Support for Israel didn’t go from 40% in 2001 to 63% in 2010 because of AIPAC. That happened because of the infatada, 9/11 and Iraq. Support actually increased from 59% to 63% under Obama and decreased from 18% to 15% under Obama. That’s a sharp change in a year and it shows just how rotten a communicator Obama is. A gap change of 7% in the wrong direction is pretty decisive. These are Gallup.

He’s been campaigning for HC for a year and given 500+ speeches and it’s still down 10%. This man is an orator but he’s not a communicator. He is not influencial. Some clown made mention of the support he picked up in Asia. That’s goofy. He did no such thing.

Even on the recent dustup in Israel was totally inept. Obstensively he wanted to embarrass Netanyahu. Well 62% of Israelis support BiBi versus 20% Obama. Obama is the anti-Bill Clinton. He’s got no clue politically.

Upside Down [Daniel Foster]

As the White House is preparing to claim victory on health-care reform, President Obama’s approval rating is the worst in his presidency, according to the latest Gallup poll.

Obama is underwater. Just 46 percent of Americans approve of his job performance while 48 percent disapprove.

The best Republican-leaning pollster by far is Rasmussen…
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There… fixed it for you.

I am sure many of you have seen this video of the compassionate tea partiers making fun of the man who states he has Parkinsons. A very ugly scene.
More amusing was Mike Pence saying how disgusting the actions of the protesters were but saying we had to understand their anger. Of course, never admitting that he and other Reps have fed this ugly frenzy.
What would Jesus say?

Student Loan Add-On Includes Special Deal for North Dakota [Stephen Spruiell]

They’re already calling it the Bismarck Bribe:

RDW – this gets to my prior point of what a sleezebag of a bill. Gone are the days when ABC and Time could protect a President by not reporting salient facts. Obama is telling these people they’re cooked if they don’t support this bill. They’re cooked no matter what.

Well 62% of Israelis support BiBi versus 20% Obama.
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Didn’t know Obama was running for President of Israel.
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Why wouldn’t they support their own President over an outsider? I’d expect Bibi’s support to be higher than that.
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And it would be interesting to see what questions were asked in that poll. You know, the devil being in the details and all that…

Crap… there’s another one.
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Fess Parker, Peter Graves, Merlin Olson.
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My generation of actors is leaving me… me sad!

afguy,

it’s easy to measure and Rasmussen often does. For the last 3 Presidential election cycles they’ve been the most accurate. Moreover they don’t do what Newsweek and other do of favoring libs and a few days before an election get to where they think it will be. Newsweek is pitiful.

Rasmussen has been well ahead of the curve on the falling poplarity of Obama. I think Gallup has him underwater now but Rasmussen had him there 3 months ago. Rasmussen polls likely voters and does robocalls, Unlike other pollsters Rasmussen does regular post election analysis lookng at how they did and the post the results.

They can lean anyway they like as long as they’re accurate. Also note, they’re much better than Fox.

Afguy,

American displeasure is an especially sensitive issue and Israeli’s tend to take it very seriously. 60% + support is excellent while 20% for Obama is pitiful.

If the goal was to make BiBi unpopular, which seems the be the conventional wisdom, the plan backfired. Israeli’s are not blaming BiBI, they’re blaming Obama. This solidifies BiBi’s support as well as the opposition to Obama.

It’s very possible Obama’s bufoonish rendition of Jewish History in Cairo has as much to do with this as actual events. His polls after that were under 10%. The fact is Israeli’s do not trust Barak Obama. When Bill Clinton opposed Netanyahu back in the 1998 timeframe he was careful not to offend the Jewish People. Clinton, a true master politician, made 1998 about Netanyahu. Obama is a bufoon. He’s made it about him and his anti-Israel bias.

BiBi is going to remain in what Joe Klein calls his “Ghandi” mode talking peace 24/7. But nothing is going to happen. There can’t be a two state solution until Palestine becomes one state.

“The best Republican-leaning pollster by far is Rasmussen…”

I love the looney left. Every source that disagrees with their twisted point of view, calls them on their nonsense o just tells it in contrast to what they want to hear is either:bias, a wing-nut and/or a liar. But all the left views are just righteous. Why don’t you leave a list of the sources that provide your “facts”.

It will no doubt be funnier than a 3 Stooges cartoon. (Actually that is one of the lefts sources)

Why do libs get so crazy about AIPAC? They’re only a lobbying group.
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And the NRA’s just a little sporting club with no ability to influence anything except offer ammunition discounts for members.
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Give us a break, rdw…

Afugy,

Lobbying groups need to have a point to have influence. Gallups chart showing two decades of volatility and then from 2001 on a straight upward trajectory proves American support for Israel isn’t due to AIPAC but to events. Americans are staunchly anti-terror. The infatada and Osama were total disasters in terms of public opinion. Americans don’t want to see Israel negotiate with terrorists. They want Israel to eliminate terrorists. You saw what happened in Gaza. Joe Klein and the entire MSM were outraged. They were the only ones.

The NRA is also effective but only because they’re on the right side. Gun control gives all of the advantages to the nuts and thugs.

I am pretty sure that Jesus would tell us that lying is a sin and this HCR bill is chock full of those! Shame, shame on the Democrats. If this is the best they can do, then this country is in one heck of a mess! What happened to the transparency we were promised? Why does it take “sweetheart” deals to maintain a pulse? Why are the President and Congress EXEMPTING themselves from being included in this coverage? This whole package has taken chicanery to a new level and the American public deserves better. ANY bill that requires sleight of hand manipulation to pass, is a bill that will ultimately HURT the American people.

earl, your diverting the point of my comment. Look at the video and then tell me what Jesus would say.
My father had Parkinson’s disease. It takes a toll on the mind as well as the body. If you can watch that video and not be disgusted by the tea party protesters, you are as heartless as they are.
Speak directly to the video.

afguy: Let’s look at it another way. We’re out-living actors of our generation. Let’s put a positive spin on it.

apr2563, There is NEVER a reason to disparage Parkinson’s disease and I rebuke those who so callously do. I am very aware of just how debilitating this disease can be. My apology for side tracking, but the commentary to this point, was on the merit of HCR. My contribution was simply addressing its LACK of merit. I meant no disrespect to you, or your father.

earl: Thank you for understanding my revulsion at what was happening to that man.

Don’t forget, Alex Chilton just passed too. Dude was seriously talented.

Nice try. In an article about it. Note: “Such demonstrations of hostility toward Obama are rare in Indonesia, where he enjoys widespread popularity because he spend part of his childhood in Jakarta while his mother was married to his Indonesian stepfather.”
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And another article states, “Thousands of demonstrators from radical Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir, which aims to establish an Islamic caliphate, rallied against Obama on Sunday, tearing US flags and calling America a terrorist state.

Such groups have little support in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country where Obama lived for four years as a child.”
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Another made up controversy by the right. keep trying.
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5heoXBZvGlfKplST27X9OzvXO3bWwD9E8FTM82
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http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/muslim-group-blasts-antiobama-protests-20100315-q9l1.html

Afguy-

I would fall well short of agreeing that Rasmussen is a “Republican-leaning” pollster. He correctly predicted Obama’s election to within two percentage points.

Not that that proves anything, but it’s food for thought. He appears to me (again I subscribe to neither political party) to be FAIRLY objective in his analysis. There are polls out that have people against HCR as high as 73% of the population sampled; those (I think) are right leaning pollsters out to prove a point by manipulating the numbers. Rasmussen has, as of the last time I saw them, the numbers at 54% plus or minus 3%, which I think is number much closer to reality. Sorry I don’t pay attention to the numbers day to day, I’ve been busy recently so if I am wrong please don’t bite my head off over it.

All of that said; there seems to be a tendency on both sides to take whatever numbers are most in their favor. Call it “confirmation bias” which many people on both sides seem to have. Conservatives like Glenn Beck like the numbers that say 73% of Americans are against HCR, while Liberals prefer the numbers that show 62% support.

I will again post the numbers that I have been called a “liar” and “totally full of sh!t” for posting: According the New England Journal of Medicine, among doctors surveyed: 46.3% say they will quit practicing or are considering it if “Obamacare” passes. 63% say more gradual reform would be better, while 72% a “public option” would be bad for medicine in this country. Clearly this journal has a select sample many of whom may have biased opinions.

[Before anyone asks or calls me a “liar” because they can’t find this on the “all knowing internet” if you want to find it you must: 1) pick up a copy of the newest Journal (B&N or another large bookstore should have it) 2) go to a LIBRARY that has access to online subscription journals. This is NOT FREE until it has been out 9 months or more. 3) Purchase an online subscription to the Journal. Or 4) ask your doctor if he has a subscription and if he’ll let you see it. If you don’t do one of these things YOU CANNOT get it. Just like you can’t get the newest Arms Control Today figures without paying like $900 for an electronic subscription or over $1000 for the paper mailed to you house. Google doesn’t find everything because some things aren’t free, and in the person who called me a liar over this’ case it can’t tell you how to remove your head from your own rectum, or stop being a total moron. I heard it while getting ready for work on CNN, or is that the new headquarters of right-wing conspiratorial nuts infected by the FOX phenomenon?]

Finally: on the topic of the post. This may well send a message to the rest of the world that Obama is more concerned with domestic politics than he is with international relations. This would be bad for more reasons that I will mention because going into the detail required would literally take tens of pages if not hundreds.

Also: apr2563: Best wishes for you and your father. It is a truly terrifying disease that has hit my family as well.

sasquatch: Thank you for thinking of my father in your post. He passed away a number of years ago. It is a terrible disease.
Now, as far as the Rasmussen polls, please take a moment to read Nate Silver, who I think is the best analyser of polls in the business, has to say about how their polls lean.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/search/label/rasmussen

apr2563-

Thanks for the link, I have it saved. I will read it as well as the methodology later today. I got kneed (sp?) in the head in Jiu Jitsu by a cocky 16 year old last night and still have a headache like an Irishman who went out for St. Paddies, got hit by a truck and then dove head first into an empty swimming pool. I will be sure to get back to you on it though. (No offense to the Irish intended!)

Maybe an old Irish remedy will help though: whiskey.

I must admit I’ve never heard of Nate Silver, but I will look into him and his work and will give the research due diligence.

Sorry to hear that your father has passed. As I said, it’s a terrible disease that affects far too many. While I know it won’t help you father, or my family (same situation) I hope that we find a cure soon.

I will again post the numbers that I have been called a “liar” and “totally full of sh!t” for posting: According the New England Journal of Medicine, among doctors surveyed: 46.3% say they will quit practicing or are considering it if “Obamacare” passes. 63% say more gradual reform would be better, while 72% a “public option” would be bad for medicine in this country.

Okay, I’ll just say that you’re wrong then.

The “report” that right-wing media are citing actually appeared in Recruiting Physicians Today, which is an employment newsletter produced by “the publishers of the New England Journal of Medicine.” According to Zeis, that report actually “was written by the Medicus Firm,” the medical recruitment firm that conducted the “survey.”

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201003170036
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From the statement posted on the NEJM CareerCenter website:

Recruiting Physicians Today is a free advertiser newsletter published by the Worldwide Advertising Sales and Marketing Department in the publishing division of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Each issue of the newsletter features research and content produced by physician recruiting firms and other independent groups involved in physician employment.

On December 17, 2009 The Medicus Firm, a national physician search firm based in Dallas and Atlanta, published the results of a survey they conducted with 1,000 physicians regarding their attitudes toward health reform. To read their survey results at The Medicus Firm website, click here.

The opinions expressed in the article linked to above represent those of The Medicus Firm only. That article does not represent the opinions of the New England Journal of Medicine or the Massachusetts Medical Society.

Apr2563,
You need to go to Nate Silver’s website and see how he rates Rasmussen for accuracy. Last time I looked he rated Rasmussen in the top 3 pollsters for accuracy out of 32 polling organizations.
You see apr, when you take one comment out of context your conclusions are inaccurate.
You seem to do this a lot. You take a statement or a small sample and claim it represents the whole.
You are like the blind person feeling the tail of an elephant and when asked what the elephant looks like said a small snake like animal. The sample is not the truth for the whole.
Rasmussen’s accuracy is a proven fact based on actual results over many years. Just because you are a liberal doesn’t give you the right to distort the truth.

sasquatch,
Read 15.3 above

3xfire3:
Nate’s Rankings are 2 years old and they are heavily caveated. He takes particular care to note:

For those who are just browsing through, however, here are the topline results: our estimate of the amount of error that each pollster introduces as a result of methodological error. Note that these estimates are designed to be applied to general election polling data; the errors would be much higher across the board if we were looking at the primaries.

There is some question about whether Rasmussen’s sampling methodology changes when they get close to an election (and there is nothing wrong with that). They are so often an outlier on early stage polls and then suddenly become more in line with other polls near an election.

It is also entirely possible that their model just doesn’t work well at a distance and is accurate at close range, as it were but, as he takes pains to note, the rankings are only useful for General Election Polling Data.

There is nothing I can find on Nate’s Site that describes Rassmussen as the 3rd best general purpose poller and that is what you are implying. Maybe i just am thick today but I searched and found nothing that would give me that impression.

3x in what way on my link to Nate Silver did I make a judgement about his conclusions. You are so anxious to insult anyone who doesn’t agree with you on everything you immediately become defensive. I just linked it as a resource.

Whiskey can make that hurt go away. Those 16 year olds can be vicious.
Nate Silver was great during the last election. He followed the Senate, Gubernatorial, and the Presidential campaigns. He distilled many polls and gave really accurate projections. Right now he has some good projections on the upcoming Senate races. Better than Cilizza at WaPo. Highly respected by pollsters.
By the way, the Michael J Fox foundation is a good resource for research and learning about the treatment and care of Parkinson.

Apr, Apr,
When someone disagrees with you it is not an insult. It simply means they don’t agree with you. Stop being so thin skinned.
I watched the video link you had on post13. Your attempt to show a couple idiots as if they represent a typical Tea Party person is a perfect example of the point I made about you in post 15.3. You take the bad behavior of a couple people and try to say it’s typical of a larger group. Most members of the Tea Party are older Americans who have never been politically active before and are acting in a very responsible manner. I could give you examples of individuals from the liberal side of politics engaging in bad behavior by the hundreds but that doesn’t prove anything.
Did you see the news video of 3 members of the SEAU beating up a black man in front of a meeting of Tea Party people with their Congressman? I’m sure you can find it on Utube if you’re interested.
The actions of these 3 SEAU members are not representative of all liberals any more then the idiots mocking the poor man with Parkinson’s disease. They are all deplorable actions by individuals and are not representative of either liberals or conservatives.
The MSM which is very liberal tends to show the few bad behaviors or signs at Tea Party Gathering to push their political views. The MSM hurts all of us when they push politics rather then provide us with accurate information so we can make educated decisions. Most of us want what is best for our country. We honestly just have different ideas on how the common good can best be achieved.

afguy: Davy, Davy Crocket, king of the wild frontier. When I was growing up every boy had a coonskin cap. Even though Parker was a Republican, I liked him.

3x: I am back to having to ignore your posts. You cannot respond without being negative. I am not thin skinned but find answering you is a waste of time. The SEIU footage was bogus. The man was looking for attention. He was out the next day looking for donations because ironicly he had no health insurance. The video was already posted and discussed on this site. Peace be with you.