Oh the irony: Senator John McCain says that Susan Rice is "not qualified" to become the next US Secretary of State, and receives a forceful reply by an angry President Obama - BONUS: A "Spiegel" cover picture you surely will like!

By Patrick

After the election is before the election, and the first voices of the shellshocked Republicans start to emerge again. Well, they could not be quiet forever, could they, those funny Republicans!

Senator John McCain got himself back in the spotlight while trying to make a stand against the possible nomination of Susan Rice for US Secretary of State - and proves that he has no sense for irony whatsoever. Susan Rice is supremely qualified for the position of US Secretary of State, as we already discussed in the comments of the previous post - excerpt from Wikipedia:

Rice was born in Washington, D.C. to Emmett J. Rice (1919–2011), Cornell University economics professor and the second black governor of the Federal Reserve System[2] and education policy scholar Lois Dickson Fitt, currently at the Brookings Institution. Her parents divorced during her youth. Her brother, John Rice, received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and is the founder of Management Leadership for Tomorrow, an organization which develops top minority talent for leadership roles in the business and non-profit sector. She is not related to Condoleezza Rice.

Rice was a three-sport athlete, student council president, and valedictorian at National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C., a private day girls' school. She played point guard in basketball and directed the offense, acquiring the nickname "Spo", short for "Sportin'".

Rice said that her parents taught her to "never use race as an excuse or advantage", and as a young girl she "dreamed of becoming the first U.S. Senator from the District of Columbia". She also held "lingering fears" that her accomplishments would be diminished by people who attributed them to affirmative action. After her father's death in 2011, she said, “He believed segregation had constrained him from being all he could be. The psychological hangover of that took him decades to overcome. His most fervent wish was that we not have that psychological baggage.”

Rice attended Stanford University, where she received a Truman Scholarship, and graduated with a B.A. in history in 1986. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, Rice attended New College, Oxford, where she earned a M.Phil. in 1988 and D.Phil. in 1990. The Chatham House-British International Studies Association honored her dissertation titled "Commonwealth Initiative in Zimbabwe, 1979-1980: Implication for International Peacekeeping" as the UK's most distinguished in international relations.

In addition, she had various roles within the Clinton administration and currently serves as the US Ambassador to the United Nations.

But the old maverick John McCain tries to shoot from hip and declares that Susan Rice is "not qualified":

The "Democratic Underground" gave the appropriate reply to John McCain:

Yes, that's John McCain with Sarah Palin - whose name became a synonym for a "hopelessly dumb politician."

President Barack Obama was not happy about John McCain's remarks. You could even say that became very angry, and minced no words in his forceful reply to John McCain:

My impression is that the "new Barack Obama" will be much tougher than the "old" one.

After all, America's patience with the obstructive, irrational and plainly dumb Republicans has run out.

My prediction is that Susan Rice will become the next Secretary of State.

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BONUS:

Recently I reported about a rather depressing cover story by the German magazine "Der Spiegel" about the "decline" of America. This week also has a rather interesting cover story - and I am sure you will like this cover much better:

"Charisma - The Secret of the Special Aura"

Inside, there is a great picture of Michelle Obama:

"The Fire From Within

Barack Obama found it again, Angela Merkel will probably never have it: Charisma, the power to move others, to form our world and not only to administer it. Can the magic be learned? By Matthias Matussek"

So Barack and Michelle Obama will be able to "radiate" for four more years - good news for America!

And somebody really should explain to John McCain the meaning of the word "irony!"

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UPDATE:

Already an update! It turns out that there is somebody else who does not know irony: Sarah Palin, arguably the most unbearable woman in America. She and John McCain should get together again - I think they really have something in common.

Sarah, the clueless housewife from Alaska, just released the following statement on facebook:

Who is running our country? We've got a CIA Director sharing security info with his mistress using an unsecure gmail account. We've got the delusional Susan Rice blaming the death of an ambassador on a Youtube video. We've got Iran firing on one of our drones a week before the election. We've got the White House either ignorant of or covering up all of this. Who is minding the store? Everywhere we look we see the rank incompetence or corruption of the people who are supposedly running our country and our major institutions. Let's hope that responsible reporters at Obama's press conference today ask the right questions Americans deserve answers to.

Here's my question for the president: As our nation's chief executive you claim to be unaware of the most important and tragic situations we're facing; so, as a former chief executive, I'd like to know how long it takes for your staff to tell you things like: "Sir, your CIA Director is under investigation"?

- Sarah Palin

"We've got a CIA Director sharing security info with his mistress using an unsecure gmail account."

Says the woman who "routinely" used private email accounts, especially several yahoo email accounts, for state business while being Governor of Alaska.

See also here, here and here.

Oh the irony!

Why did the Republicans lose the election again...?

Countdown to Election 2012: Week Eight in Review

By Sunnyjane

The left-wing media is taking Obama's side again!
What? It's not just the left-wing media?   Oh.

Mitt Romney should be thankful for the Affordable Healthcare Act because his pre-existing condition -- Stupidity -- will be covered.  No, there is no cure for that ailment as yet, but affected persons are advised an extended treatment of Sit Down and Shut Up.  Unfortunately, this advice is rarely taken by former governors and all other Republicans running for high national office.  As Albert Einstein said, The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.

A no-morning-after-bounce convention where the American electorate and the media only remember Chris Christie announcing his 2016 presidential run and a has-been actor debating an empty chair, combined with President Obama's twelve-point lead in the polls on foreign policy, have made the Republicans  desperate to counteract the President's remark that Romney might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can’t visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally.   An international crisis would have been just the thing to demonstrate Mitt's global statesmanship, severely solidify his  geopolitical expertise, and ridicule President Obama's leadership capabilities. It is significant to note that less than twenty-four hours before the situation in Libya exploded, a Romney campaign spokesman had mocked the Democratic campaign, calling foreign policy issues a distraction: It doesn't surprise me that they're raising foreign policy because it's another distraction from the Administration's terrible economic record.  They're going from one shiny object to the next.   

The Smirk Jerk: An Inept Political Opportunist

Mitt Romney, with nothing but a clumsy propensity to shoot from the lip, an imaginary grasp of the intricacies of foreign relations issues, and a fanatical desire to grab our turn in the White House, simply flubbed his rub on the magic genie bottle. Such is the fate of rank amateurs and out-of-touch businessmen with all the political savvy of a  crab cake. 

A brief review of Mitt Romney's geopolitical astuteness consists of three other recent campaign bumblings:  

1.  In March, he called Russia our Number One geopolitical foe and doubled down on that theme during the Republican National Convention. Guess he's never heard of al-Qaeda, eh?

2.  In June, he warned that Syria is Iran's route to the sea.  Wellll...no.  Mitt obviously doesn't understand that Iran and Syria are not only separated by Iraq, but that Iran has two routes to the sea, the Caspian to the north and that big ole Persian Gulf thingy to the south.  Get a map and read some history, Mitt.  Or better yet, get out of U.S. politics altogether.  

3.  In July, Mitt took a little trip to Europe and the Middle East, which his campaign felt was   very successful.   If being called devoid of charm, warmth, humour or sincerity  is what Romney's people refer to as very successful, it would be absolutely frightening to know what they would call a complete disaster.

Perhaps Romney was a bit chafed when Laura Ingraham blasted him for the ineptitude of his   campaign consultants and advisers: Election after election, we hire people who have lost previous campaigns; who've run campaigns that have failed...You have one shot, man. This is going to be the first line of your obituary: you won or you lost. It's all on the line for the country, and it's all on the line for you.

Whatever the reasoning for redeeming his Carpe diem coupon by responding too quickly to the volatile situation in Libya about which he knew absolutely nothing, Romney and his staff chose the wrong time, the wrong circumstance, and the wrong president to mess about with.

Mitt Romney can be easily summed up by comparing him to a computer without software:  a dumb box taking up valuable space. 

Paul Ryan Goes Rogue

I'm pullin' a Palin on ya, Mitt.  Good luck 
with that Libya shit you just stepped in.

Throughout recent history, Republican presidential candidates have  had a propensity for choosing the dumbest nominees for the Number Two spot on their ticket.  Remember Spiro Agnew?  Dan Quayle? John McCain started a new trend in 2008 when he selected not only the dumbest and most unqualified person in the GOP as a running mate, but the most disloyal.  And so did Mitt Romney.

Where was Paul Ryan when the media, the Democrats, and most of the Republican party were bashing Mitt upside the head last week?  Such was the well deserved clamor surrounding the top of the ticket that the deafening sound of silence from Number Two hardly registered a ping on the media's radar screen.  So it's up to Politicalgates to ask: Where was the passionate defense of Mitt Romney?  Where was the campaign's well coordinated message with which Ryan could crisscross the country to counter these attacks at well staged GOP rallies?  Where were the strongly worded talking points to refute the criticism that was being heaped upon Romney?

With the campaign in tatters and fewer than fifty-six days left to get their right-wing message out to the American electorate, Paul Ryan was hunkered down in Wisconsin's 1st District, trying to save his ass congressional seat by using two million dollars of his campaign funds to buy ads that will only be shown in Wisconsin.  It appears that he has glommed on to the fact that he probably will not be able to demonstrate his questionable running skills by taking a victory lap around Washington on November 7.

Speaking to his constituents in coffee shops and other small venues, Ryan merely repeats the tired old Tea Party rhetoric. But when asked by one town hall attendant how the Romney/Ryan administration would have handled the Libyan situation, he gave a response that was so full of lies, hypocrisy, and ambiguities that it was utterly stupefying:

First of all, he began, peace through strength works.  It’s important that people around the world know who we are, what we believe, and the values we  stand up for.  We believe in women’s rights…we believe in plurality...we believe in tolerance and religious freedom...  He then went on to blame the situation on President Obama's proposed defense budget cuts.  Mitt Romney was never mentioned.

[Do not attempt to adjust your computer speakers, dear readers.  That sound you hear is this writer banging her head on the desk, which by the end of this campaign will have more dents in it than Sarah Palin’s refrigerator.]

Of course, Ryan did take time out to spew his filth with Michelle Bachmann at the Value Voters Summit, that despicable right-wing group that takes great joy in mocking diplomacy with Middle East countries.  As Right Wing Watch reported,  the video that sparked the unrest in Egypt and Libya was created and promoted by anti-Muslim activists who have worked with backers of Bachmann’s effort to purge the U.S. government of Muslim Americans and key players in the effort to block the so-called Ground Zero mosque.

I'm sick of these anti-American fools.

End Note

The Transfer of Remains:  Honoring the Four Who Fell in Service to Their Country

"The President has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart, and a spine of steel."

Vice President Joe Biden, Democratic National Convention, September 6, 2012

UPDATE

More media response to Romney's Libya fiasco. 

Courtesy of The Obama Diary

UPDATE 2

H/T Sleuth1

Sarah Palin -- One of Keith Olbermann's Worst Persons in the World on Current TV's New Countdown. Michael Moore is Olbermann's First Guest

By Kathleen

Keith Olbermann returned to the broadcasting world last night with his usual vigour and dry wit. Responding to a clip in which John McCain asks "What would Ronald Reagan say?" Olbermann dryly responds "Nothing, he's dead. He was a lousy President." It is quite clear that Olbermann isn't dead and his first programme promises more of the Olbermann that we all came to depend on to keep us reasonably sane. A trusted source that many of us have missed over the past six or so months since MSNBC abruptly shut him down.

Olbermann asks the questions that we all want answers to such as "Why isn't Thomas Clarence out of a job when his wife has taken political contributions from a Texas real estate tycoon?" Olbermann also provides us with comic moments when he wryly states that Rush Limbaugh has admitted that "his opinions are available to the highest bidder." All that and more, including The Worst Person in the World's segment which features Sarah Palin's new trademark name and image in third place (right where she belongs as she will never be a winner) informing us that the idea of Sarah Palin educating anyone is, of course, idiotic.

President Obama did not escape Olbermann's attention when he zeroed in on the legitimacy of the present conflict in Libya and whether or not the War Powers Act needs to be applied in relation to the present situation that the USA is involved in. Olbermann drew parallels between the Bush administration "cherrypicking of legal positions to support the enhanced interrogation regime. AKA torture" and the fact that President Obama

"rejected the views of both the Pentagon's general counsel and the acting head of the justice departments department of legal counsel when the insisted that the US was in legal hostilities that would require the War Powers Act be applied. Instead the President sought legal advice from his White House Counsel and the State Departments legal advisor both of whom said hostilities were not at issue and neither was the War Powers Act."

He went on to quote a poll sponsored by The Hill which supports the view that most American people are tired of wars and are not concerned about whether or not they are legal. Olbermann stressing that he wants to "set aside the rightness or wrongness of getting involved in Libya" brought on Michael Moore as his first guest to discuss "why President Obama is doing it this way rather than through Congress?" Moore believes that it is the easiest way of doing it and that most modern day presidents believe that they have a right as the Commander in Chief to send in planes to bomb countries as they so wish so there is no need to go to Congress.

Recognising the fact that President Obama, if he had argued his case before Congress, would have likely had its support Olbermann and Moore seem confused as to why he had not done so. I think that President Obama wanted to avoid the suggestion that he has involved the USA in another actual war when his campaign promises were about ending wars, not starting them. Regardless, this is a fascinating discourse and I encourage you to listen to the entire interview which concludes that President Obama's motivations for being involved in Libya were good ones whilst Bush's motivations for the war on terror were essentially bad ones.

During the broadcast Olbermann outlines in a Special Comment what the purpose of the new programme is. Olbermann states

"This is to be a newscast of contextualisation that is to be presented with a viewpoint that the weakest citizen of this country is more important than the strongest corporation. That the nation is losing its independence through the malfeasance of one political party and the timidity of another, and that even though you and I should not have to be the last line of defense apparently we are so we damm well better start being it."

I can't think of a better way to end this post, so I will simply echo Michael Moore's sentiments. It's good to have you back Keith.