Some of those I can even ascribe to political necessity, given what he needs to do to get reelected.

Honestly, I think the political necessity is less him arming himself for reelection and more it’s just the stuff he has to do to get the damn bill passed because Republicans are gigantic soiled douches in the Senate. And you konw the Senate can completely cease functioning when ONE Senator has a sad, stomps his feet, and cries like a two year old because (s)he doesn’t get his way.

he can’t win in ways that no other president couldn’t win before him.

Ain’t that the truth?

I heard yesterday the govt. is considering placing BP America into receivership and taking over, so it can handle this mess directly. The legal pretext would be that BP’s directors have behaved irresponsibly in not protecting their shareholders. Apparently, they can do that if it’s a publicly held company.

And I love that he told Matt Lauer, “And I don’t sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick, right?”

Yes, we’re going down the toilet, but in the meanwhile, it’s wonderful to have a guy at the helm who’s really trying, who isn’t full of bullshit – who, if you ask him a question, actually tries to give you an answer. Really, the conservatives and fundies who accuse him of evasion and prevarication ought to be lobotomized (would we even be able to tell the difference?). For eight years, their guy came out with nothing that wasn’t scripted; you could practically see his lips move as he read the teleprompter. It’s marvelous to finally have someone up there with a fucking brain. I just feel so badly for him; this isn’t what he signed on for. That Onion headline was more truth than satire – “Black Man Given Nation’s Worst Job”.

(Related article:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/massive-flow-of-bullshit-continues-to-gush-from-bp,17564/ )

I’m actually amazed that someone as cerebral as Obama actually won the presidency, given how childishly Americans usually behave. I cringe at the thought of an onslaught of certifiable loons taking office all across the country early next year.

And the media hates it! To them, for example, the biggest mistake Obama made with regard to the BP oil volcano crisis is that he wasn’t emotional enough.

Of course, since he’s black, as soon as he starts emoting a little more to make Wolf Blitzer happy in his pants, they all get scared by the uppity angry negro yelling at the white people who caused this mess, as he can’t win in ways that no other president couldn’t win before him.

Fuck his emotional response. He could completely be without empathy, but if he did the right thing, I would be happy. AGH our media is run by five year olds — it’s so frustrating.

Rachel Maddow did a segment last night on the purported “anti-incumbency” thing. In fact, nearly all of the incumbents won.

I saw that too and she has a point about how the media didn’t want their storyline to fail, so all the headlines would be structured in such a way as to say the loser in the election simply failed to activate the enormous anti-incumbant attitude flowing throughout the country they have been reporting on, statistics be damned! However, now is not a time to get cocky because the general election may not turn out the same. In fact, stastically it’s more likely for the president’s party to lose seats (incumbants losing). I don’t think it will be anomolous, personally, but even a loss of one seat in either chamber will result in ZOMG TEABAGGERS WIN ENTIRE ELECTION!

I cringe at the thought of an onslaught of certifiable loons taking office all across the country early next year.

Rachel Maddow did a segment last night on the purported “anti-incumbency” thing. In fact, nearly all of the incumbents won.

Of course, this doesn’t detract from your point that there is reason to fear.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/37604973#37604973

In the 1950′s, we were all down with Science because those Commie bastards put Sputnik in orbit. Nowadays, anyone who is an actual expert on any given subject is the one least likely to be believed. The last thing we want is for our comfortable preconceived notions to be challenged, and this intellectual laziness translates to batshit crazy candidates winning elections in America. We can’t bother ourselves to fact-check someone with whom we already agree, and we certainly won’t entertain the notion that one of those liberal Democrats might ever be right about anything, especially that Muslim, foreign-born terrorist president of ours.

Which is why we lazily accept candidates like Sharron Angle in Nevada. She will be challenging Harry Reid in November. He’ll have plenty of ammunition to use against her, such as her contention that only one spouse should be allowed to work. Hmmm. I wonder which spouse she’s talking about. Or perhaps, she’ll have to defend her stance to reinstate prohibition. Of course, the Tea Party loves her, because if anyone thinks with their gut, its those people.

I’m actually amazed that someone as cerebral as Obama actually won the presidency, given how childishly Americans usually behave. I cringe at the thought of an onslaught of certifiable loons taking office all across the country early next year.

When she hired in, HP stock was trading at $52. When she was fired, HP stock was trading at $21. Now, that’s a credit to crow about.

As for elections, I’m afraid I do the same thing on the lower profile offices. I don’t know a good solution to that problem, but I think that even doing a 5-10 minute search on the Gazoogle is pretty good preparation compared to most people.

Without getting all conspiracy theory here, if life was lower stress, we’d have a more active voter base. Despite voting being something that can have a very direct impact on your life, it’s not perceived as important as feeding your family, of course. The neocons know this and bank on it. Lower voter turnout helps them because then only the rich fucks vote. Meanwhile, the fundie leaders (who are also rich fucks) play along and whip up a frenzy among their working poor followers that there’s an Imminent Social Crisis (TM) that must be addressed and the candidate that can solve it JUST SO HAPPENS COINCIDENTALLY to also be for things rich fucks care about, like lower taxes for rich fucks and less regulation for their toxic companies. So the working poor that do vote have their minds brainwashed by religious fervor and vote against their own interests. It’s an awesome system. But, you know, it’s not fool-proof, so there’s hope yet.