Tag Archives: presidency

Obama’s job approval rating hits a new low

Posted on December 13, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Obama’s job approval rating hits a new low

Is President Obama in serious danger of losing re-election in 2012? A new McClatchy/Marist Poll released over the weekend found Obama's job approval rating at just 42 percent — the lowest number of his presidency. One reason Obama's numbers have taken a turn for the worse: The president has lost ground with Democrats in recent weeks. According to the poll, 74 percent of Democrats approve of the job Obama is doing — a sign that he remains enormously popular with his base. But that number is down nearly 9 percentage points since November, according to McClatchy. Meanwhile his disapproval rating nearly doubled, moving from 11 percent to 21 percent in the last month. Among self-described liberals, his approval rating has dropped from 78 percent to 69 percent since November. At the same time, his standing among independent voters — the group that propelled him to the White House in '08 — remained dismal. Just 39 percent of independents approve of Obama's job performance, compared with 50 percent who disapprove. That's down more than 20 points since Obama was elected. Matched up against early 2012 contenders, the poll finds that if the election were held today, Obama would narrowly lose to Republican Mitt Romney, 44 percent to 46 percent — though that's within the poll's 3.5 percent margin of error. He would narrowly beat former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, 47 percent to 43 percent. http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20101213/pl_yblog_theticket/obamas-job-a… added by: im1mjrpain

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John Boehner Cries. Again. A Lot.

Posted on December 13, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on John Boehner Cries. Again. A Lot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufYmnD3fhfk Looks like the repubs have a crybaby as the speaker of the house and he sounds drunk too!! John Boehner, the incoming Speaker of the House, the most powerful Republican in Washington, and a man who in a matter of days will be second in line for the presidency, has twice had an opportunity to introduce himself to the American people. And on both occasions, he cried – a lot. There is a tradition of politicians crying in America, but it's not a proud one. It almost always ends with getting beat at the polls. Already some of the incoming speaker's supporters are getting worried that the Ohio Republican's penchant for showing his emotions makes him look weak. Others, however, have championed Boehner for his willingness to be real. “This is not exactly the first impression you want to make to the American people,” said Republican strategist Ed Rollins. “We've seen his sensitive side enough already. But a sensitive side isn't what the country wants to see in a strong leader. He's got to show strength and leadership and a willingness to stand up to the president. You never saw Pelosi crying” On Sunday night in a lengthy “60 Minutes” interview, the Speaker-designate broke down twice, talking about his rise from humble beginnings as a janitor and again in talking about his hope for children. “Family – kids — I can't go to a school anymore. I used to go to a lot of schools. And you see all these little kids running around. Can't talk about it,” he stammered. Last month, on election night as returns came in and it was clear Republicans had won the House and Boehner would be speaker, he also cried. “It's full-bore crying,” said interviewer Leslie Stahl. “It's not just little tears and he does it a lot.” Some Democrats and women have suggested there is a double standard. When Republicans cry, they are “compassionate conservatives” but crying women and Democrats furthers the stereotype that they're weak. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic woman who Boehner will replace, has never cried in public. added by: navider

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Newsweek Uses Same Excuse for Obama as Carter: Presidency Too Big for One Man

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Newsweek Uses Same Excuse for Obama as Carter: Presidency Too Big for One Man

In the November 22 issue of Newsweek magazine , Daniel Stone defended the Obama administration by blaming the institution of the presidency for failures rather than the chief executive himself: “The issue is not Obama, it’s the office….Can any single person fully meet the demands of the 21st-century presidency?” The same argument was used to excuse an overwhelmed Jimmy Carter 30 years earlier. The sub-headline for the piece read: “The presidency has grown, and grown and grown, into the most powerful, most impossible job in the world.” At one point, Stone explained: “Among a handful of presidential historians Newsweek contacted for this story, there was a general consensus that the modern presidency may have become too bloated.” A January 13, 1980 Washington Post article made a similar conclusion about the beleaguered Carter administration: “Voters have lowered their expectations of what any president can accomplish; they have accepted the notion that this country may never again have heroic, larger-than-life leadership in the White House.” read more

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Newsweek Uses Same Excuse for Obama as Carter: Presidency Too Big for One Man

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Jay-Z Says ‘Kanye Spoke What Everyone Felt’ During Hurricane Katrina

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Jay-Z Says ‘Kanye Spoke What Everyone Felt’ During Hurricane Katrina

Jay tells NPR he finds it ‘strange’ the lowest point of George W. Bush’s presidency was ‘somebody talking about him.’ By Kara Warner Jay-Z Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images Jay-Z continued to promote his new book, “Decoded,” on Tuesday (November 16) with an interview on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” where he addressed many topics, including former President George W. Bush’s recent comments about Jay’s good friend Kanye West. Bush’s admission that West’s Hurricane Katrina rant was the low point of his presidency struck Jay-Z as odd. “First, I find it strange, like everyone else should, that one of his lowest points was somebody talking about him,” Jay-Z said of Kanye’s infamous “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” comment. “He’s the president. People should insult him a lot. That’s part of the job description.” He went on to reiterate an excerpt from “Decoded” in which he talks about how the mishandling of the rescue/relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina affected him. “It didn’t feel like a natural disaster; it felt like it was happening directly to blacks, and immediately those images of people in suits getting beaten, sprayed with hoses, beaten on the bridge at Selma, all these emotions were going on inside of us,” Jay said. “Kanye really spoke what everyone else felt.” The NPR interviewer also asked Jay for his evaluation of President Obama’s work thus far, and he said Bush’s legacy — “the worst eight years of our life” — was a big obstacle for Obama to overcome. “I think he’s had so many challenges,” he said. “I applaud his efforts and where he’s going. Of course, it’s not 100 percent, but you have to take into context what he inherited and what he’s working with. He’s in the negative, and if you think he can fix eight years of damage in two years, I don’t know if that’s realistic.” Do you agree with Jay-Z about President Bush’s comments? Let us know in the comments. Related Artists Jay-Z Kanye West

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Jay-Z Says ‘Kanye Spoke What Everyone Felt’ During Hurricane Katrina

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NPR Game Show Aired Fake Interview With Bush Audio Book, Smeared Bush as White House Drunk

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on NPR Game Show Aired Fake Interview With Bush Audio Book, Smeared Bush as White House Drunk

Since National Public Radio somehow missed out on an author interview with George W. Bush — they did portray his presidency as a horror film — NPR's Chicago-based weekend game show Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me!

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Libertarians fight to break cycle of battered gay voter syndrome

Posted on September 23, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Libertarians fight to break cycle of battered gay voter syndrome

Like abused spouses who keep returning to their aggressors, gay voters keep handing their votes to the Democrats who abuse them. The Libertarian Party (LP) wants to break this self-destructive behavior and offers LGBT voters a better alternative. LP Chairman Mark Hinkle said, “Exit polls indicate that Democrats get over 70% of LGBT votes in federal elections. Those voters must really love the Democrats' rhetoric, because they certainly aren't seeing any action. “President Obama and the Democrats had almost a year of complete control of the federal government: the Presidency, the House, and a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate. They could have repealed 'don't ask don't tell.' They could have gotten rid of the Defense of Marriage Act. But they didn't do either of those things. That's a complete and total betrayal of all the promises they made to gay and lesbian voters for years. “After a carefully orchestrated failure in the Senate, the Democrats are now blaming Republicans for blocking the repeal of 'don't ask don't tell.' Of course, three Democrats just voted against it too, including Majority Leader Harry Reid. Reid claims he voted for procedural reasons, but the whole situation seems calculated to look like they're trying to help, while making sure they don't actually help.” Unlike the Democratic and Republican Parties, the Libertarian Party believes that gays and lesbians deserve equal treatment under the law. LP Executive Director Wes Benedict added, “The Libertarian Party neither supports nor opposes gay relationships. Libertarians are black, white, young, old, straight, gay, Christian, atheist, yuppie, hippie, rich, poor, greedy, generous, eccentric and just plain average. Though their backgrounds and lifestyles are diverse, they are united on the principle of minimum government and maximum freedom.” The LP Platform states: “1.3 Personal Relationships Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the government's treatment of individuals, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration or military service laws. Government does not have the authority to define, license or restrict personal relationships. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships.” The Libertarian Party has 21 candidates for U.S. Senate and 170 candidates for U.S. House in the upcoming November 2010 elections. For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 The LP is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets and civil liberties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website. http://www.lp.org/news/press-releases/libertarians-fight-to-break-cycle-of-batte… added by: shanklinmike

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Wyclef Jean Officially Abandons Haitian Presidential Bid

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Singer will focus on the February release of his next album. By Gil Kaufman Wyclef Jean Photo: Frederic Dupoux/ Getty Images Wyclef Jean announced on Tuesday (September 21) that he is planning to abandon his bid for the presidency of Haiti and focus on his musical career. The announcement came after Jean had vowed to fight on and appeal a ruling by Haiti’s Provincial Electoral Council that denied him a spot in the island nation’s upcoming presidential election. “After weeks of quiet but painstaking reflection with my wife and daughter, I have chosen to end my bid for the presidency of Haiti,” Jean said in a statement. “This was not an easy conclusion to reach; but it is one that was thoughtfully made, taking into account many, many competing factors and weighing the course that will best advance the healing of the country and help it find the quickest path to recovery.” Jean was left off the list of viable candidates for the Haitian presidency that the Council released on August 20 because he did not meet the residency requirements. At the time, the former Fugees star promised he would launch a vigorous appeal in his effort to take over the top job in his native homeland, which has struggled to recover from January’s devastating earthquake. ‘Clef was one of 15 of 34 presidential candidates whose bids were rejected. He initially said he accepted the disqualification in an effort to respect the rule of law in the country, and to ensure that there would be no violence in the wake of the announcement. But his representatives also filed a legal appeal against the Council’s ruling, citing what they described as “irregularities” in its operations. Jean said he will return his focus to his music career and prepare for the February 2011 release of a solo album, the title of which is now If I Were President, the Haitian Experience . The singer has already lamented his failed bid in the song “Prizon for the CEP,” in which he attacked the Council and the country’s sitting president. “Some battles are best fought off the field, and that is where we take this now,” Jean said in the statement, noting that his appeal was an attempt to shed light on the democratic process and “the functioning of a government that is often ranked as one of the most corrupt on the planet, resulting in a country that is by most measures the poorest in the Western world.” Wyclef stressed that the appeal was not just about his own candidacy — which was questioned by his former Fugees bandmate Pras and actor Sean Penn , who has been living on the island since February while running his own relief organization — but about pointing out the shortcomings of the electoral process to all Haitians. “Though my run for the presidency was cut short,” he said, “in this way, I feel it was not in vain; it’s something we can use to improve conditions for my Haitian brothers and sisters.” Related Artists Wyclef Jean

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Dobbs to Obama: ‘Quit Whining and Start Leading’

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

It is crunch time for President Barack Obama and Democrats. The writing on the wall suggests the president and his party will suffer severe losses and will ultimately lose control of one, if not two chambers of Congress in November. And this was something Obama addressed in a Labor Day speech in Milwaukee on Sept. 6 , but he also complained about how he has been personally treated by his critics, suggesting he has been talked about “like a dog.” That was something former CNN anchor and syndicated radio host Lou Dobbs said it was time for Obama to get past. On the Fox News Channel’s Sept. 7 broadcast of “America Live,” host Megyn Kelly asked Dobbs about Obama’s hypersensitivity and comments about how he is treated by his detractors. According to Dobbs, the president needs to man up and be less concerned about his critics. “Megyn when you talk about the lies that are told – that happens in any political arena at anytime as you well know,” Dobbs said. “But the lies aren’t what are hurting this president. What is hurting this president is the truth. And it is – it’s critically important to this administration, this White House, I believe, for this president to quit whining and start leading all of the people – not just groups, not just certain identities but all of the American people.” Dobbs also noted the president’s last-ditch effort to make another push at saving the economy, which includes a a $50-billion proposal to repair the nation’s infrastructure, and various incentives for companies in the private sector, which Dobbs called  “born of desperation.” “This political death-bed conversion to free enterprise with less than two months to the election, this is a president who said he would be transparent,” Dobbs said. “Well, his politics are so transparent now it’s embarrassing because they are born of desperation. This newly discovered affection for free enterprise by this president – where has he been for the previous 17 months of his administration?” A recent Gallup poll had the president’s favorability at an all-time low of 43 percent – still higher than his predecessor at the end of his presidency, but a sign he is fading and needs to do something to stem this tide.

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Newsweek’s Alter Blames Fox News, Conservatives for Birtherism, Obama-is-Muslim Sentiment

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

In an August 28 online column, Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter ripped into Fox News and conservative Republican leaders for painting Barack Obama as a closet Muslim and potentially a foreign-born person illegible to hold the office of the presidency. But while he tarred the Left’s usual bogeymen with the specious charges, Alter failed to produce documented evidence of any instance in which any mainstream conservative Republican leader or Fox News talent specifically charged that President Obama is either a Muslim or was not born in the United States. Instead the Newsweek veteran resorted to an all-too-typical refuge: insisting that conservative opinion leaders speak in some sort of “coded language” which apparently their followers understand instinctively and only enlightened liberals like Alter can see through as a cleverly-deployed Jedi mind trick: When the racist Gerald L.K. Smith charged in 1937 that FDR was a secret Jew (he later called Dwight Eisenhower a “Swedish Jew”), no one could have imagined that the Senate minority leader would be asked about it, much less tacitly endorse the claim. But there was Mitch McConnell last week saying that “I take the president at his word” when he says he’s not a Muslim. That’s what’s known in politics as a “dog whistle”—a coded message to followers. Many conservatives don’t accept Obama’s “word” on anything. McConnell was thus giving them permission to consider the president’s faith an open question, even as he said it wasn’t in dispute. Beyond validation by politicians and the right-wing media, the best explanation for why growing numbers of Americans think the president is a Muslim is that more and more voters don’t like him personally, and so are increasingly ready to believe anything critical (and to them, being Muslim is a negative) about someone they are already inclined to resent. Call this associational distortion. It’s a good bet that if the economy improves, so will the percentage of voters who say that Barack Obama is a Christian. Not only, apparently, is Alter capable of discerning the motives of McConnell’s heart, he’s somehow able to divine that many voters’ misperceptions about Obama’s religious faith are tied to their economic anxiety alone. Who knew Alter was a brilliant psychotherapist and sociologist on top of being a left-wing political journalist?

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Wyclef Jean Declared Ineligible for Haitian Presidency

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Filed under: Wyclef Jean , Politix Wyclef Jean will not be allowed to run for the presidency of Haiti, this according to the election council there. His candidacy was rejected because he didn’t meet the residency requirements — he hadn’t lived in Haiti for five years before the November… Read more

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