A Presidency of Perpetual Crisis

The National Review ^ | December 3, 2012 | Jim Geraghty

[2ndDivisionVet]

So here are the headlines coming out of the Sunday shows…

Boehner ‘flabbergasted’ at fiscal cliff proposal

McCaskill: ‘I Feel Almost Sorry For John Boehner’

Sen. Ayotte ‘disappointed’ in initial White House proposal

Sen. Hatch: Obama fiscal proposal ‘classic bait and switch’

So predictable, isn’t it? During these seemingly-more-frequent showdowns, the purpose of every lawmaker appearing on a Sunday show, no matter the party, is to emphasize how committed they are to a sensible bipartisan compromise that put’s the nation’s interest ahead of the special interests, and how the opposition is being extreme, divisive, unyielding, outrageous, etcetera.

This latest round is so irritating because A) it’s just like the campaign rhetoric that we were supposed to see ending on November 6, right down to the president doing rallies in Philadelphia; B) it’s a rerun of the players, issues, tone and rhetoric of last summer’s debt ceiling fight and C) if every outcome to this fiscal cliff stinks, then this is the policy debate equivalent of taking the band-aid off really slowly- like over the course of a month.

I don’t know when buyer’s remorse will kick in for any portion of the slim majority that voted for President Obama, but I look at this fight and wonder how many Americans will look at Washington and groan, “This stuff again? Already?”

This section of Peggy Noonan’s column from this weekend stuck out to me:

The election is over, a new era begins—and it looks just like the old one. A crisis is declared...

[mountainlion]

Never let a crisis go to waste. Make sure that you create crisis for the future.

[YankeeReb]

But that is all Obama will get. He’ll get no entitlement reform now. No individual or corporate tax reform either. The rest of the second-term Obama agenda is also DOA. It is going to be all partisan scorched earth all the time, again, for four more years.

Obama will have changed Washington. But for the worse.

Really. Is there any doubt left that this is exactly what this president wants? He's not only trying to make the GOP irrelevant, he's trying to make congress irrelevant and he's succeeding. Any day now we'll read where congress will vote to give the president sole responsibility for the debt ceiling. The congress (i.e. the stupid party) will then go home and tell the people ,"See, can't blame us for the debt crisis anymore , it's all on the president. Now reelect us because it's not our fault." This is one way dictatorships come about.

[Travis McGee]

The trick is to not be in the car at that moment. Or below it.

Cause it's going to be an epic crash.

[FroggyTheGremlim]

Well, I almost feel sorry for Clare McCaskill.

The only thing God created that is more miserable-looking than she is a blobfish.

[Hotlanta Mike]

Elect a Community Agitator, get agitation...

[Don Corleone]

Right out of Machievelli

[Candor7]

Walkin in a Winter Wonderland:

*************

Leftists sing, are you listening,

In Bohner’s brain, Reid is pi$$ing

A beautiful sight,

We’re happy tonight.

Walking in Obama’s wonderland.

**********

Gone away is the budget,

All we can do, is try to nudge it

Obama sings a love song,

As we go along,

Walking in Obama’s wonderland.

****************

In the meadow we can build Rice’s snowman,

Then pretend that she is Secretary State

*******************

She’ll say: Are you married?

We’ll say: No man,

But you can do the job

If thats your fate.

*****************

Later on, we’ll conspire,

As we dream by Reichstag fire

To face unafraid,

The treason we’ve made,

Walking in Obama’s wonderland.

********************

In the meadow we can build a snowman,

And pretend that he’s Obama’s clown

We’ll have lots of fun with mister snowman,

Until the Constitution knocks Obama down.

*******************

When in debt, ain’t it thrilling,

Though your wallet gets a chilling

We’ll frolic and play,in the fascist way,

Walking in Obama’s wonderland.

***********************

[RWB Patriot]

Look through history and you’ll find that nine out of ten dictatorships came to power during a crisis, dictatorship being trumpeted as the only solution to the problem.

[Wuli]

either I can say “some great conservative minds think alike”, or someone at NatRev has been reading my online comments on the WSJ recent opeds - last week - on this subject;

which included my comments:

that few fully understood Axelrod’s statement “never let a good crisis go to waste” (or words to that affect, and how Obama’s modus operandi has been, from day one, that if there is no crisis then create one

Obama’s entire method of NOT accounting in full for a full and complete federal budget, for three years and running, has been to instruct Harry Reid to NOT let any full budget legislation escape the U.S. Senate, forcing everyone to deal with the resulting crisis every December.

[Terry Mross]

McCaskill says “I’m going to take every dime you make”.

Her opponent says something stupid.

The people who voted for McCaskill are the ones who are stupid.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

A politician without an exploitable crisis is a politician without power.

[kevman]

makes no difference we are toast man! like it or not this is the way this country is now

[Graewoulf]

Here are my suggestions for chants, signs or banners:

Here are my three questions for Benghazi-Coward Obama:

1.) Are you HIDING INFORMATION from the US Congress about the Benghazi Massacre?

2.) Have you been LYING to the US Congress, The Media, or the American Public about the Benghazi Massacre?

3.) Were you, as Commander in Chief, GROSSLY NEGLIGENT in your responsibilities to protect and assist those four Americans who subsequently were murdered in the Benghazi Massacre?