Scathing Strassel

Who knew we’d have to worry about a President who remains more concerned with Kansas bball “firepower” than Gadaffi’s? Or the disaster of losing cable on game night rather than the millions suffering from real disaster in Japan?

Kimberly Strassel in the WSJ:

One knock on Barack Obama in the 2008 election was his record as an Illinois state senator, where he repeatedly ducked tough issues by voting “present.” It seems old habits die hard.

If you’d like to know where the leader of the free world stands on those NCAA rankings, just turn on ESPN. (“I think Kansas has more firepower,” he explained as he filled out his bracket.) Wondering what the commander in chief thinks about gun laws? Don’t worry—he’s in favor of those already on the books, according to a recent op-ed.

If, however, you are curious about where the most powerful man in the universe stands on Libya, radiation, a possible government shutdown, the future of Social Security, or rising oil prices, don’t look to the White House. Those issues are tough. Those issues risk mistakes. Those issues might mean unhappy voters. And right now, it’s approval ratings the White House cares about.

Obama advisers are spinning their excuses for the president’s absence (he needs to stay above the fray, he believes in international agreement). Conservatives, for their part, are beginning to argue the “incompetence” line. A combination of all is probably at work, along with an even greater impulse: political safety. Mr. Obama got a taste of falling approval ratings last year. The White House has worked hard to get those numbers back up and wants to keep them there until Mr. Obama has a GOP opponent and can go into campaign mode—where he’s at his best.

There’s nothing left to add. Read the rest.

One polling question Obama can’t escape: whether he remains committed to ensuring America’s prosperity. Seems most of the country has figured that one out. Finally.

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“It’s amateur night”

So says a Clinton “insider” of Obama’s foreign policy. Apparently Hillary has tired of wringing her hands tied behind her back:

Fed up with a president “who can’t make his mind up” as Libyan rebels are on the brink of defeat, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is looking to the exits.

At the tail end of her mission to bolster the Libyan opposition, which has suffered days of losses to Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s forces, Clinton announced that she’s done with Obama after 2012 — even if he wins again.

“Obviously, she’s not happy with dealing with a president who can’t decide if today is Tuesday or Wednesday, who can’t make his mind up,” a Clinton insider told The Daily. “She’s exhausted, tired.”

Maybe that’s why he always voted “present,” eh? Couldn’t decide one way or another!

Ed Morrissey says we’re now “mulling” airstrikes, long after it would have made a difference. If it happens, I’m sure it will come as the last standing rebel is slaughtered.

Don’t worry, though: Obama says he’s delivered “change we can believe in,” according to Pundette.

Yup: I’ve never been more ashamed of my country. Seems I’m not the only one. Japan has been reduced to rubble, Libyan rebels are on the run, and our POTUS can only hack picking his bball teams and jetting around on vacations. That’s a change, all right.

3 am phone calls? He just doesn’t answer the phone [update]

I’m reminded of a tale my grandfather used to tell about Vietnam: He ascribed the biggest reason for the failure of the Tet Offensive was the inability of the Armed Forces to act in specific situations without approval from the Commander-in-Chief, Lyndon Johnson. Why no approval? The time difference. Johnson loved his sleep and refused to be summoned from bed until morning. He wouldn’t take the calls. Hands were tied until LBJ crawled out of bed.

I wonder if BO is the same way, so starved for rest with his stressful, stressful job that he just can’t crawl out of bed to you know, act like a president.

There’s no need to offer links to the latest on the bloodshed in Libya. Or that our President doesn’t feel it’s necessary to comment. Check Drudge for the former. Ed’s position  on the latter sounds reasonable, but reason isn’t a word that ever comes to mind when describing actions of this Administration.

If you need a few reminders of what our foreign policy has been like over the last two years, here’s Bill Whittle.

H/t: Instapundit.

So true:

There comes a point where no matter how hard you try to offer the benefit of the doubt, evidence builds up to such a degree that you can no longer deny that the evidence is trying to tell you something. And half-way through his first term, the foreign policy decisions made by Barack Obama and his administration are so appalling, so destructive in the long-term, that they can no longer be credited to inexperience or even incompetence. They’re so consistent that they must be due to ideology.

UPDATE: Oh lookie, The One said something while I was out to dinner: yada yada full range of options yada yada. This jaded after two years of meaningless chatter. Two. More. Years.

Exit question: will nations speak with “one voice” when the rockets start landing in Israel? Oops!

At least she wasn’t stoned afterward

And is “in good spirits” all things considered. Pray for Lara Logan and her family.

Incidentally, pjHusband met her in Iraq eons ago.

Echoing my sentiments, edge of the sandbox writes:

A few weeks ago I noted the virtual absence of women in the revolution in Egypt.  Now I think I know why.  What I find particularly alarming is that the jubilant crowds didn’t care about the bad PR.

Jubilant crowds on the Arab street have a way of not caring about bad PR when they think the object of their attack is a Jew. And the “street” will go wild when they hear Israel will be “rebuked” by bestie Obama and the UN crowd. Way to fan the flames, eh?