The Bama just wrapped up a three day "listening tour" in the heartland. At the conclusion of his "One Nation, Under the Bus" Tour, he seemed pretty satisfied that he had heard the wishes of the people.
The problem? I looked at the transcripts of every public event he held while on tour, and with the exception of less than a handful of questions, all of them were planted or cleared by Team Obama. "Mr. President! What an honor to have you here!" "Thanks for being here, sir!" "Your stimulus really helped! Can you please spend more?" "Why are the Republicans standing in the way? How can you get things done?" "When will you walk on water?"
You get the picture.
There were two people whose questions truly stood out because neither one was an Obama toady.
The first was Ryan Rhodes, a Tea Party organizer in Iowa, who asked Obama why he tolerated Joe Biden referring to Tea Partiers as "terrorists" and why he opposes a balanced budget. Obama's reply? To say that people have called HIM names, so whatever. And as for the balanced budget question, Obama mumbled that he was late for his bus departure or something.
Then there was the farmer, who politely asked Obama about the suffocating regulations he now faces:
The man said that people would rather be farming than "filling out forms and permits to do what we like to do." Obama told the farmer "don't always believe what you hear" and blamed Washington for ginning up speculation. Obama added that, "Nobody is more interested in seeing our agricultural sector successful than I am, partly because I come from a farm state." Would that be Illinois or Hawaii?
The farmer was not simply "believing what he heard." The farmer was believing what he was seeing in terms of massive new regs that were killing his farming business. Obama blew him off the way he blew off Mr. Rhodes.
A listening tour only works when the person conducting the tour actually listens. But Obama has never intended to listen. It was all a PR move for the re-elect campaign.
And by the way: Obama's been president for over two and a half years. If he doesn't know what the American people are telling him by now, he's either not listening, or he doesn't care.
He should be listening...
This just in on the Huffblo:
New GALLUP Poll: Obama's approval rating at all-time low.
Posted by: LongRifle | August 18, 2011 at 09:16 AM
To be quite honest, the majority of Americans are just not informative enough to know why our country is failing under Obama. That is because the obstructionist in Congress, the Repugs, are doing everything possible not to implement any of Obama's initiatives that would had turn this country around, given the damage Bush has done.
They do not want Obama to have any success at all. That's why this country is going down the tubes. The selfishness and the greed for power from the Right.
Monica, as always, you are misunderstanding the purpose of this tour. He is given the people a forum to speak their mind because we the people are not being listened to by the Representatives we elected. Like Obama said, People before Politics.
Obama has been listening to the American people, it is the Repugs that are only listening to 2% of the people, the wealthy.
Posted by: RafeMasters_76 | August 18, 2011 at 09:49 AM
The family farmer is being replaced by big agribusiness. The manufacturing sector is moving over seas and what manufacturing is left here in the USA, technological advances are fast making it possible to drastically reduce the number of workers needed to accomplish the task. Add to that the way both Parties flung open the borders allowing the land to be flooded with third world Orcs concomitant with deficit spending leading to a devalued dollar plus FOUR unnecessary wars in the Middle East and voila! Third world America! Yippee!
Posted by: DJ | August 18, 2011 at 09:57 AM
Hahaha..
Obama's initiatives that would turn this country around? Name ONE.
He had a super majority in BOTH Houses and STILL couldn't accomplish squat. The Dems couldn't even pass a budget. Those all-powerful Goopers again? ROFLMAO.
If that's your idea of a Leader, go for it.
Posted by: LongRifle | August 18, 2011 at 09:58 AM
If that is the case then what the hell was this whole Debt Ceiling fiasco? The GOP got their way, did they not?
Posted by: RafeMasters_76 | August 18, 2011 at 10:02 AM
The GOP is Waaay more powerful than the Dems, huh? You gotta love that attitude. lol
The DOW is in freefall right now...
Another Obama initiative at work.
Posted by: LongRifle | August 18, 2011 at 10:10 AM
This just in:
NEW Jobless claims for last week: 408,000.
Another Obama initiative at work.
Remember the under 8% unemployment promise if the Obama stimulus passed? lol Must be Bush's fault...
Posted by: LongRifle | August 18, 2011 at 10:20 AM
Longrifle,
I envy your ability to laugh at utter stupidity. Seriously. I view it as disturbingly dangerous. And to think these mutant creatures' votes count as much as ours.
Posted by: DJ | August 18, 2011 at 10:20 AM
And why shouldn't it? We are in a democracy, aren't we? Facist...
Posted by: RafeMasters_76 | August 18, 2011 at 10:52 AM
Let's be real about regulations. While there are reasonable safety and health issues that call for regulation, Milton Friedman was correct in Capitalism and Freedom in asserting the driving force in regulating comes from the the top dogs pushing to stifle competition.
Of a lot more concern than the fact that a ventriliquist's dummy can't listen is what it says. Now we have Obama calling for still another government, Syria, to be removed. There seems to be a continuous line of dots going back at least to the first Bush presidency drawing us into ever deeper entanglement in wars, shooting or otherwise, in the Middle East. Maybe the most intelligent thing Rush Limbaugh said in all his years on radio was that it would be absolute madness if George H W sent troops into Kuwait. Have any of our actions there done anything but enrich arms manufactureres, create more enemies for America and cost American lives?
It's a human tragedy if people there kill one another, but no worse than Africa and in the end not something we can really do much about except delay it a bit. The only ones we have a real obligation to protect are the Israelis. We would do best for them and the world by relocating the state of Israel to the Mexican border and leaving the others to slaughter each other at will.
Posted by: borderbriar | August 18, 2011 at 11:08 AM
But I'm a compassionate fascist.
Posted by: DJ | August 18, 2011 at 11:26 AM
Oil.
Posted by: soggy | August 18, 2011 at 11:28 AM
to me there is an OBVIOUS 3rd option not listed & Princess we are living the $h*t storm.........
ADIOUS MOFO'S
Posted by: thebuckstopshere | August 18, 2011 at 11:30 AM
The only ones we have a real obligation to protect are the Israelis. We would do best for them and the world by relocating the state of Israel to the Mexican border and leaving the others to slaughter each other at will.
Posted by: borderbriar | August 18, 2011 at 11:08 AM
---------------
I think we are even more obligated to allow the white South Africans to seek refuge in the USA. Are you aware of the widespead slaugher of whites in post-Apartheid SA?
Posted by: DJ | August 18, 2011 at 11:32 AM
I think we are even more obligated to allow the white South Africans to seek refuge in the USA. Are you aware of the widespead slaugher of whites in post-Apartheid SA?
Posted by: DJ | August 18, 2011 at 11:32 AM
http://sarahmaidofalbion.blogspot.com/search/label/Farm%20Murders
Posted by: DJ | August 18, 2011 at 11:41 AM
But I'm a compassionate fascist.
Posted by: DJ | August 18, 2011 at 11:26 AM
No such thing...
We can address the deficit in a week if we go forward with a balanced approach i.e. spending cuts, get rid of tax loopholes and increase the tax rate on the wealthy.
Why should the burdern fall on the less fortunate when oil companies are reporting record profits. In what world does that make any sense.
Posted by: RafeMasters_76 | August 18, 2011 at 12:03 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgJC0km1isg
HA!
Posted by: RafeMasters_76 | August 18, 2011 at 12:50 PM
http://meetrickperry.com/
Perry The Platypus has a better chance in becoming President.
Posted by: RafeMasters_76 | August 18, 2011 at 12:54 PM
Frau Crowley... Obama listens.
To Jesus man. Not you.
Never to you or yours.
Wise men keep their enemies closer; not their pretend enemies.
Posted by: Frau Farbissina | August 18, 2011 at 02:11 PM
from THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY comments on Verizon strike....
The broader point is much simpler:
Labor unions eventually kill every host that they infect.
gringoNOTE: Meaning that trolls are labor union wannabes?
Posted by: gringoman | August 18, 2011 at 04:16 PM
CLASS WAR
from THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY comments on Verizon strike.
Professionally speaking, if an individual has threatened my family and tried to critically injure me with an automobile, it does irreparable harm to the employee-manager relationship, and reduces my productivity via the entirely rational fear I have towards that individual.
Professionally speaking, the best way to resolve this is to remove the individual in question and replace him or her with a new individual who has not threatened my family
gringoNOTE: Latest news is that a CWA union gang is congregating outside THE FAMILY HOME of a Verizon executive.
Posted by: gringoman | August 18, 2011 at 04:20 PM
ATLANTIC MONTHLY comments on Verizon strike.....
realityczech 9 hours ago in reply to Craig
If you try to injure me, I'm never going to forgive or forget.
What all companies and governments should do is only pay management based on the number of unionized employees they get fired for cause. Grievance procedures work because they destroy productivity and make management's life hell so people just rout around the criminal and apathetic union louts. If you instead only pay managers for firing unionized employees, then you'll be finally rid of the union.
Posted by: gringoman | August 18, 2011 at 04:22 PM
ATLANTIC MONTHLY comments, VERIZON strike (CWA union redshirts from the dying landline sector reportedly massing outside family home of Verizon executive, demanding that Verizon pay for their medical coverage etc)
I mean, maybe it would be reasonable for Verizon to fire workers it no longer needs, or cease adding to the workforce in the landline division, or allow attrition to work its magic. But what's at stake here (again, at least according to the union's narrative), is a reduction in compensation for workers.
In other words social justice demands that unions parasitically kill every host that they infect.
gringoNOTE: Why call them parasites? Doesn't 'socialist' have a bit more, well, dignity to it?
Posted by: gringoman | August 18, 2011 at 04:27 PM
Longrifle,
I envy your ability to laugh at utter stupidity. Seriously. I view it as disturbingly dangerous. And to think these mutant creatures' votes count as much as ours.
Posted by: DJ | August 18, 2011 at 10:20 AM
Facts are very stubborn things that conservatives have trouble accepting.
Now, which of the regulars said that?
(It's in the archives.)
------------------------------------------------------
And by the way: Obama's been president for over two and a half years. If he doesn't know what the American people are telling him by now, he's either not listening, or he doesn't care. Monica
Obama listens. Far more people want Buffet's idea on raising taxes on those making over 1 million, than do not.
Fuuny thing about the Buffet comment.
Is that there are many folks with regular jobs that think they know more about taxes and the super wealthy than Buffet does.
Posted by: jay | August 18, 2011 at 06:31 PM
Even though Congress is on it's summer break. Many Republican Grongressman are attacking Obama for his trip to Martha's Vineyard. Which makes it even more hyopcritical, is that Obama's time off . Doesn't come close to Reagan and Bush jr.
Posted by: jay | August 18, 2011 at 06:34 PM
Notice that the Conservative candidates attack each other and Obama.
But, while they say they will make the country a better place. They DON'T say how they will do that?
The right has been doing that for several years, at least.
Posted by: jay | August 18, 2011 at 07:13 PM
Notice that the Conservative candidates attack each other and Obama.
Jay
Nothing has changed in politics.
I like Bachmann, however, she is making a fool of herself.
The bastion of Hispanic power, Los Angeles (known as liberal lala land) has been downgraded by S&P. Can't blame the GOP for that one, since they don't possess an ounce of clout there.
Posted by: LongRifle | August 18, 2011 at 09:48 PM
My point Longrifle.
Was that they don't say anything about HOW they will fix the country. Just that by their standards, they will. A homeless man could make the same claim
Also, agree with the last part you said about Bachmann.
Posted by: jay | August 18, 2011 at 10:47 PM
Looks like Perry showed how much he DOESN'T love America:
Rick Perry's got some nerve
The governor who's talked about Texas seceding from the U.S. implies Obama isn't "in love" with America
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joan_walsh/politics/2011/08/15/rick_perry_nerve
Posted by: jay | August 19, 2011 at 12:02 AM
Yes, DJ, there could be a moral argument made that we should grant asylum to white South Africans in the unlikely event they were willing to leave. We won't because they are mostly old and those gaining power want especially a way to accelerate die off of old people without having to call openly for involuntary kevorking. We aren't even granting asylum to Mexicans in danger of violence there even though it would really help our economy to have a big wave of immigrants of parenting age who would buy things.
The Harry Dent group, probably the best economic analysts around, show convincing evidence that our real economic problems aren't just from the bubbles and the tolerance of allowing the sale of fraudulent financial instruments. The real reason there won't be much growth for the next five to ten years is the demographic pattern of baby boomer moving into old age and lack of younger people buying all the stuff to raise children.
Posted by: borderbriar | August 19, 2011 at 11:24 AM
"We aren't even granting asylum to Mexicans in danger of violence there even though it would really help our economy to have a big wave of immigrants of parenting age who would buy things."
------------------------------
No, borderbriar, that is the LAST thing we need to save the economy. How will importing a peasant class help? Especially one that consumes more than they produce?
What America needs to do to START to save itself is 1)Deport the 20 million illegals. 2) Halt all legal immigration. 3) Implement a (gasp!) common sence eugenics program.
We MUST stop the dysgenic slide into third worldism. Importing third worlders does just the opposite. It esaserates the problem
Are you aware of Professor Nyborg's paper on dsygenics in Denmark? The same principle applies to America.
http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2011/05/helmuth-nyborg-on-the-genetic-decline-of-western-civilization-denmark-as-a-cast-study/
Posted by: DJ | August 19, 2011 at 12:11 PM
It exacerbates the problem.
Posted by: DJ | August 19, 2011 at 12:12 PM
Monica,
I have seen a few of the you tube vids showing the London riots. I notice the Social ists carry RED and BLACK flags. BHO's buses are RED and BLACK. Paranoia or message? Also do you think that the bus tour was actually a first hand reading of his constituents that was so disastrous that it culminated in his fiat "dream act" of this weekend, so as to tap into the "reserve voter pool" he has in the Latino community?
Posted by: Sal LaMarco | August 20, 2011 at 03:12 PM
The Office of the Presidency has Been Violated, Desecrated!
Insults, diatribes, demeaning words, epithets, racial and otherwise, suggested evil associations, doubts of his birth legitimacy, criticism of everything bit of minutia he says and/or does. Everyone says no to him or wants to. The white elite want him to squirm— regret every second he thought he would shoot for the highest office in the land.
Lindsey: “Who does that uppity black man think he is?”
Wife: “Yes, just who does that uppity black man think he is.”
Lindsey: “We cannot allow this bama bama to be a successful President. If we do, it will set back the white race decades.”
Wife: “decades.”
Johnny the Baptist
Co-Author of "We Came to Fight a War"
Posted by: Jack Flynn | August 25, 2011 at 06:58 PM
This is my first time i visit here. I found interesting things to many in your blog, mostly to the debate.
Posted by: keylogger Mac | February 16, 2012 at 01:29 AM