The Barack Obama Variety Special

Well, he finally did it!  After 411 speeches and over 100 "exclusive" interviews (when does an interview become non-exclusive? when you''ve done 200?) since becoming president, Barack Obama managed to have his very own hour and a half special on television this past Wednesday evening.  Over 90 minutes of various routines, including comedy, drama, and acting.  Lots of acting.

As is the norm, President Obama was just stellar reading off of his beloved teleprompter.  No one can do it quite like him. With his nose arrogantly in the air, finger pointing and lecturing, it appeared that the evening was going to be a bit dry.  But then Mr. Obama got warmed up.  He started telling jokes - very funny jokes at that!  Here's just a sample:

1)  "For these Americans and so many others, change has not come fast enough.  Some are frustrated, some are angry.  They don't understand why it seems like bad behavior on Wall Street is rewarded, but hard work on Main Street isn't, or why Washington has been unable or unwilling to solve our problems.  They're tired of the partisanship."  Oh my gosh.  I am doubled over with laughter.  The President sure has a great sense of humor!  Pointing fingers and blame for such a dismal first year as president.  No accomplishments of which to speak of.  Just the blame game. And it is so ironic that Obama talks about  "partisanship," when he and the Democrats have shut out any opposition to their socialist plans for the country!  They don't want to listen to the majority of Americans, nor Republican representatives.  They know what is best for us all!  Obama, Pelosi, and Reid have been operating behind closed doors, unwilling to even listen to any Republican solutions that have been introduced.  Then the Three Stooges have the nerve to tell the American people that the Republicans are just the "party of "no"" and have never offered any ideas to solve anything!  A bald-faced lie, of course.   Hilarious!   

1)  "So I supported the last administrations efforts to create a financial rescue program.  And when we took that program over, we made it more transparent and more accountable.  And as a result, the markets are now stabilized, and we've recovered most of the money we spent on the banks.  Most, but not all.  To recover the rest, I've proposed a fee on the biggest banks..."   Oh, too funny, Mr. President!  However, I was wondering why you failed to tell the American people that you are proposing a fee on those banks that actually PAID BACK their TARP funds, while allowing such Democratic pet icons like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG to opt out of paying back any taxpayer dollars?  Punishing those who have done right and ignoring those who have done wrong......And just how does imposing a fee on banks encourage them to begin lending more money out?  to get the economy going?

2)  "Now, let me repeat:  We cut taxes.  We cut taxes for 95 percent of working families. We cut taxes for small businesses.  We cut taxes for first-time home buyers.  We cut taxes for parents trying to care for their children.  We cut taxes for 8 million Americans paying for college.  As a result, millions of Americans had more to spend on gas and food and other necessities, all of which helped businesses keep more workers.  And we haven't raised income taxes by a single dime on a single person, not a single dime."  Funny how Mr. Obama fails to mention that he attempted to raise taxes - but wasn't successful.   Obama and his Administration proposed:  taxing the oil industry, tax increases to support the boondoggle health care reform bill,  a planned tax to raise $200 billion by taxing multinational companies (which was shelved after a huge outcry), and remember the pledge to only raise taxes on those evil wealthy Americans making over $250,000 a year? How often have we heard that dollar amount lowered?  So, Barry, it looks as though you wanted to raise taxes, but you weren't able to...  However, there are still three years left and increased taxes are just around the bend...all in good time.  We all know that Democrats just love tax increases.... 

3)  Economists on the left and the right say this bill (The Stimulus Bill) has helped save jobs and avert disaster, but you don't have to take their word for it."  Wow - is that a hoot!  Good one, Mr. Obama!  And you are correct, we won't "take their word for it."  No one knows where you found these one or two economists who say the Stimulus Bill worked, but most of us have heard from many more economists (on the left and right) as well as the media!  (yes, the media couldn't lie about what a flop the Stimulus Bill has been)  that the Stimulus Bill didn't create ANY jobs.  The Stimulus Bill didn't work.    That some Stimulus money went to many states simply to falsely help prop up their mismanaged budgets (like Wisconsin).  That the Stimulus money went to line the pockets of key projects for people who helped get Obama into office.  That the Stimulus Bill was so full of pork, it has been termed the "Porkulus Bill."  Or the "Generational Theft Act" since our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on will be paying for it for generations.  Need I continue?  Oh yeah - wasn't this the Bill that had to be passed - and quickly - so that nationwide unemployment wouldn't rise above 8%? 

4)  "That is why I am calling for a new jobs bill tonight."  Double-speak for another useless Stimulus Bill.  If you want to do something right, cut taxes - for real, don't punish banks by imposing fees on them, get more money back into the economy.  The jobs will come once more Americans are able to hold on to more of their own hard-earned money.  And they will in turn, spend it.  And stop passing bills full of pork and wasteful spending - using dollars that don't even exist.

5)  "Now, because of the steps we took, there are about 2 million Americans working right now who would otherwise be unemployed."   Does Mr. Obama really expect anyone not to laugh at this?  What a jokester he is!  Nationwide unemployment now stands at 10%.  4.2 million jobs were lost during 2009.  The economic advisors to the White House, who came up with the 2 million "saved" jobs figures tended to include jobs that lasted a few days, a few weeks, or a few months in their totals.  They also based some of their figures on economic models, not reality.   Vice-President Joe Biden couldn't even explain how the White House comes up with it's numbers to support it's "claimed or saved" jobs numbers. 

6)  "I take my share of the blame for not explaining it (the various health care bills) more clearly to the American people."  After 411 speeches and over one hundred television interviews, Barack Obama, the great orator, just couldn't explain the health care boondoggle to the American people? That claim has just gotta make one smile and/or laugh!    How many more speeches, town halls, or appearances are needed?   Just a thought - maybe the majority of Americans realized what the Democrats and Obama were trying to do by pushing this massive government power-grab through.  There was no further explanation needed!  We read it -even if our elected officials and president did not.  We didn't like what we read, nor what we heard.  Period.  Trash it and start over.

7)  "We will continue to go through the budget line-by-line, page by page, to eliminate programs that we can't afford and don't work."    No comment needed!  This one is just hilarious all on it's own!

I saved the two best jokes for last:

8)  "Neither party should delay or obstruct every single bill just because they can.  I'm speaking of both parties now.  The confirmation of well-qualified public servants shouldn't be held hostage to pet projects or grudges of a few individual senators."  Was this comment uttered with a straight face?  Neither party??!!??  Which party is in complete control in Washington, D.C., Mr. President, yet cannot get anything done?  Which party focused on a mess of a health care bill while the economy continued to sink and jobs were being lost?  For a full year, jobs and the economy were not an important part of the Obama Administration's agenda.  And some of the horrid bills coming out of Washington D.C. need to be obstructed or delayed because they ARE bad bills!  Health care is a prime example.  And which party filibustered  President Bush's plans and nominees for certain positions (and anyone remember Reagan judicial nominee Robert Bork?  or George W. Bush's pick for the D.C. Circuit court - Miguel Estrada?  Perfectly qualified candidates that the opposing party just didn't like....)?

9)  "Now, throughout our history, no issue has united this country more than our security.  Sadly, some of the unity we felt after 9/11 has dissipated.  And we can argue all we want about who's to blame for this, but I'm not interested in re-litigating the past."  So which party has been insisting on giving more and more rights to terrorists?  Closing the prison where some of the most dangerous threats to our national security reside?  Bringing the masterminds of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to New York City for civilian trials?  Many Americans vigorously nodded their heads in agreement with newly-elected Rep. Scott Brown's statement that instead of our tax dollars paying for lawyers for terrorists, we should be using tax dollars to defend ourselves against them.  Who is responsible for minimizing the terrorist threat, Mr. Obama?  Not taking it seriously?  Re-naming the war on terror with the more politically-correct, softer term of "overseas contingency operation" (try saying that three times really fast...)?  Moving ever-so slowly to send additional troops to Afghanistan months after initially requested by your own general?  After two recent terrorist attacks on American soil, what is being done, Mr. President?  A renewed effort to get health care passed?  Cap and tax passed?  More focus on the farce known as global warming?  Say what?  Are you really serious, or is that a joke, too?  Are you even listening to the American people anymore? 

After much of the silliness of the evening, Obama took a much angrier tone when he chose to chastise the United States Supreme Court for upholding the U.S. Constitution.  He was actually mad that the majority of Supreme Court justices did what they were supposed to do!  Recently the highest court in the land ruled that campaign finance restrictions designed to limit corporation and union donations were unconstitutional. Which they were. Such campaign finance restrictions were clearly unconstitutional restraints on free speech.   In regards to this, the President of the United States, Barack Obama stated:  "With all due deference to separation of powers, last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limits in our elections.  I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities.  They should be decided by the American people.  And I urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps correct some of these problems."  This was shocking.  A President of the United States, criticizing the Supreme Court for upholding the Constitution!  Whether one agrees with the ruling or not, the job of the Supreme Court - the highest judicial body in the United States -  is not to interpret what we - or Obama - may believe to be "right" or "wrong.'  They are supposed to "uphold, protect, and preserve the U.S. Constitution."  And in this case they did their job.  It is evident from Mr. Obama's words that he doesn't understand the role of the Supreme Court and/or doesn't approve of the United States Constitution.

Now, any Obama variety show or infomercial wouldn't be complete without a few slaps at the Bush Administration.  Obama didn't disappoint.   Obama took no less than seven swipes at President Bush.  Here's a small sampling:  "One year ago, I took office amid two wars, an economy rocked by a severe recession, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and a government deeply in debt."  And you have only made it worse, Mr. Obama, with your over-the-top spending and lack of honest solutions...   Obama states later:  "We can't afford another so-called "economic expansion" like the one from the last decade, what some call the "lost decade."  Some?  Maybe you and your democratic pals? Then we hear:  "By....by the time I took office, we had a one-year deficit of over $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade.  Most of this was the result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts, and an expensive prescription drug program."  So Obama went on a spending spree - setting a spending record for the first year of a President - racking up $3.5 trillion his first year in office to solve this problem?  Does that make any sense?  Later on, here comes "We'll still face the massive deficit we had when I took office..."  Well, no kidding, Mr. Obama.  Especially since you and your fellow Dems continue to spend, spend, spend....And isn't the constant finger-pointing at Bush getting a bit stale?  Some new material may be in order.

After The Dear Leader managed to use the words "I" and "me" a total of 115 times during the show, the first "Barack Obama Variety Special" came to an end.  Thankfully.  For those of you who may have missed it, rest assured that you will get to see a rerun come January of  2011....