Obama reported to be ecstatic.

(People’s World/Sam Webb) — The American Jobs Act is the leading edge of the jobs struggle. It is the ground on which millions can be drawn into the fight to create jobs and rebuild the nation’s infrastructure.

The AFL-CIO is embracing and promoting it. Others will come on board too as the jobs campaign gathers momentum.

The Jobs Act, introduced by President Obama in a well-crafted and passionate address to a joint session of Congress, is not as far reaching as some other jobs proposals. The plans put forward by the Congressional Black Caucus, Progressive Caucus, AFL-CIO and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., are more ambitious, and we recognize that they contain more in-depth solutions. But the hard fact is that none of these stand a chance of congressional approval given the current balance of forces in Congress, and in the House in particular.

The president’s proposal does. The various provisions in the act appeal to a broad constituency, including political moderates in both parties.

Even for this plan the going will be tough. The Republicans, while initially making conciliatory noises, are determined not to give the president a positive record to run on. They figure a president with no accomplishments, especially in a period of crisis, will not be returned to office.

That such a posture will hurt millions of people who are already hurting is of no concern to them.

In fact, in their view, the worse that economic conditions are, the better are their chances of winning back the White House and Congress in 2012.

Irresponsible yes, cynical yes, even diabolical, but as a political calculus, it contains some truth. Unless the American people are convinced otherwise, they could easily blame the president for the economic mess when they go into the voting booth next year. Good policy positions and eloquent speeches are seldom enough to attract voters in a time of crisis.

HT: Dan

With the caveat being the same poll shows Ron Paul near the bottom of the GOP primary pack so the chances of him actually going head-to-head with Obama are somewhere between slim and none.

(LA Times) — If you are looking for signs of President Obama’s vulnerability, there are plenty to be found in the latest CNN poll. But one number stands out: If that hypothetical election were held tomorrow, Obama would beat Ron Paul — yeah, that Ron Paul — by just four points.

While it may be a sign that some voters are adopting an anybody-but-Obama attitude, that same poll shows Obama handily stomping candidates such as Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin.

And, truth be told, Obama still tops everyone in the GOP field with the exception of Mitt Romney, who runs even with the president. Obama would beat Rick Perry by five points, the poll said.

The CNN poll also showed that Perry’s poor debate performance Thursday has not seemed to have seriously jeopardized his status as the Republican front-runner. He holds a seven-point edge over Romney at 28%. (If Palin doesn’t run, Perry’s support jumps two more points.)

And while the survey showed Paul to be competitive with Obama in a head-to-head matchup, the libertarian-leaning Texan still didn’t crack double digits in the Republican primary. (He’s actually down six points from the last CNN poll.)

Keep reading…

Watch out, Barack, obese liberal hypocrites may not support you.

(Beltway Confidential) — During an interview with Joy Behar, documentary film-maker Michael Moore warned President Obama not to assume that “people like me” will support Obama by default because they “don’t have a choice” under the current two-party system.

Moore refused to pledge his support to Obama. “I’ll make that decision in 2012,” he said. Moore also said “I hope not” when Behar asked if he wanted a “third-party spoiler candidate” such as Ralph Nader.

Moore said that Obama should not assume that “people like me and millions like me are going to just go along with everything because we don’t have a choice. That’s so cynical,” Moore said. “He’s moved to the center and the right during these first three years knowing that people on the left have no place else to go because of our two-party system — which is just crazy in the first place.”

Keep reading…

With the supreme irony being it was the Democrats who fought tooth and nail to keep the Jim Crow laws on the books.

(Columbus Dispatch) — As Democrats work to place Ohio’s Republican-backed elections law on hold through a referendum, they’re arguing that the measure is akin to poll taxes, grandfather clauses and other footnotes from America’s Jim Crow past.

But does the same argument apply to Senate Bill 5, the GOP-sponsored limits on collective bargaining for public employees that is currently subject to a referendum as state Issue 2 on the November ballot?

Democratic, labor and African-American leaders say yes.

We Are Ohio, the organized labor coalition seeking to repeal Senate Bill 5, is airing a radio ad that says “Gov. John Kasich and the Columbus politicians have passed two laws to take us back to the days of Jim Crow.”

The ad, airing in six urban markets, including Columbus, then mentions both the elections law — House Bill 194 — and Senate Bill 5, and encourages listeners to sign a petition to place the elections law on the 2012 ballot and to vote to repeal Ohio’s new collective bargaining laws in November.

“It’s harsh wording, but it’s not necessarily inaccurate,” said professor Horace Newsum, chairman of the African-American and African studies department at Ohio State University. “It’s hard to swallow when you hear Jim Crow, but what the ad is really saying is, don’t take us backwards to a moment in history none of us are proud of.”

Jason Mauk, spokesman for Building a Better Ohio, the Republican group trying to defend Senate Bill 5, said “it’s one thing to argue that Issue 2 takes Ohio back.

“But it’s another thing entirely to argue that Ohio would resort to racism if Issue 2 succeeds,” Mauk said. “Ohio deserves better than race baiting and ads like this have no place in Ohio politics. They should be ashamed to put an ad like that on the air.”

For those of you keeping track at home, this is the second Democrat calling for Obama to have dictator-like powers.

(TNR/Peter Orszag) — In an 1814 letter to John Taylor, John Adams wrote that “there never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” That may read today like an overstatement, but it is certainly true that our democracy finds itself facing a deep challenge: During my recent stint in the Obama administration as director of the Office of Management and Budget, it was clear to me that the country’s political polarization was growing worse — harming Washington’s ability to do the basic, necessary work of governing. If you need confirmation of this, look no further than the recent debt-limit debacle, which clearly showed that we are becoming two nations governed by a single Congress — and that paralyzing gridlock is the result.

So what to do? To solve the serious problems facing our country, we need to minimize the harm from legislative inertia by relying more on automatic policies and depoliticized commissions for certain policy decisions. In other words, radical as it sounds, we need to counter the gridlock of our political institutions by making them a bit less democratic.

Keep reading…

HT: Drudge

Palin: “You could say, with all due respect, that he is the flavor of the week.”

I’ve been wresting with this trying to decide if she was taking a shot at him or not and I’m still not sure. What do you guys think?

But . . . but . . . but . . . it was da Joooos!

(ABC News) — The terror group al Qaeda has found itself curiously in agreement with the “Great Satan” — which it calls the U.S. — in issuing a stern message to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: stop spreading 9/11 conspiracy theories.

In the latest issue of the al Qaeda English-language magazine “Inspire”, an author appears to take offense to the “ridiculous” theory repeatedly spread by Ahmadinejad that the 9/11 terror attacks were actually carried out by the U.S. government in order to provide a pretext to invade the Middle East.

“The Iranian government has professed on the tongue of its president Ahmadinejad that it does not believe that al Qaeda was behind 9/11 but rather, the U.S. government,” an article reads. “So we may ask the question: why would Iran ascribe to such a ridiculous belief that stands in the face of all logic and evidence?”

Though Iran was the first of the two to use the “Great Satan” as a synonym for the U.S., the author claims that Iran sees itself as a rival for al Qaeda when it comes to anti-Americanism and was jealous of the 9/11 attacks.

The magazine also includes a short article allegedly written by al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden before his death at the hands of U.S. Navy SEALs in early May in which bin Laden advises his fighters not to let American soldiers “become great in your eyes.”

Apparently looking to bolster their ranks of the “Inspire” news desk, al Qaeda included at the end of the magazine a solicitation for contributors to the magazine “with any skills — be it writing, research, editing, or advice.”

The class-warfare twins are toxic, who knew?

Via Fox Nation:

JP Morgan honcho Jamie Dimon, once a “fat cat” ally of President Obama, seems to have strayed to Republican contender Mitt Romney.

One insider said, “There is not a person on Wall Street, with the exception of the genetic Democrats, who would get anywhere near supporting Obama. The hostility to the administration is huge. Dimon will continue to look bipartisan, then work behind the scenes to get a Republican elected.”

There were few big Wall Street names openly linked to Obama’s fund-raisers in New York. And we’re told ticket sales for Obama’s Friday event with Warren Buffett have been slower than expected, with staffers calling and e-mailing supporters to shift tickets at up to $35,800. Obama’s team insist they are expecting a “packed house,” but didn’t get back to us about Dimon last night.

Keep reading…

Nice work, NATO.

TRIPOLI, Libya — The corridors of Tripoli’s five-star hotels are filled with suave rebel leaders in smart suits giving interview to the foreign media and meeting with foreign dignitaries. But at the checkpoints around the country and at the mopping up operations against the last Gaddafi strongholds, it’s Islamists who are in command.

During the six-month civil war, Islamists were on the frontlines in the eastern Libyan town of Benghazi and in the western mountains, leading inexperienced youth in bloody battles that resulted, with the help of NATO, to oust Gaddafi. Along the way, they have earned the respect among their fellow rebels for their passion, discipline and courage.

Now, as the National Transitional Council (NTC) begins the work of forming a government, the Islamists are looking to play just as big a role – if not bigger – in post-Gaddafi Libya. The NTC began three days of talks on Sunday in the capital of Tripoli about the shape of a cabinet that will include a premier, a vice premier and 22 ministers.

A battle is raging between officials from the NTC, backed by their tribal and militia allies, and Islamist leaders, who are determined not to let what they regard as their revolution be hijacked by Western-backed groups. The outsized presence of the Islamists in the field gives them a strong hand in the negotiations.

Islamists have been pushed aside from the highest-profile political events marking the rise of post-Gaddafi Libya, such as the speech by NTC leader Abdel Jalil Mustafa in Martyrs’ Square, or visits by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron. That has garnered strong resentment in Islamist circles.

Jalil, a former Islamist leader, respected for his messages of tolerance and reconciliation, attempted to ease the tensions that have been swelling since Gaddafi was ousted a month ago. During his famous speech at the Martyrs’ Square, Jalil declared that legislation would be based on Islamic law (sharia), but not an extreme form of it.

“We are a Muslim nation, with a moderate Islam, and we will maintain that. You are with us and support us — you are our weapon against whoever tries to hijack the revolution,” Jalil told the crowds assembled at what was formerly Green Square, which Gaddafi used over his four-decade rule to address the nation.

Gaddafi was known for his iron fist policy towards Islamists, outlawing their organizations and executing many of their followers. At the start of the revolution, the Libyan dictator warned that if he were ousted, Libya risked becoming a base for operatives of al-Qaida to launch attacks on Europe from the Mediterranean shores.

Western officials ignored his warnings, but since his fall from power they have raised the alarm of possible anarchy that could lead to the country fall under control of Islamist groups, mainly al-Qaida. In the neighboring countries of Egypt and Tunisia, both of whose leaders were ousted this year, Islamist groups proved to be the most organized and ready to take over.

These people are obviously racists.

(IBD) — President Obama faces head winds from independents, an important voting bloc for re-election in 2012. Many of them think well of him personally, but they are disenchanted. They don’t like his policies, and they see him as inexperienced.

And most daunting of all for the incumbent, only 38% of independents think he deserves to be re-elected, with 53% feeling that someone new deserves a chance.

These are key findings from an IBD/TIPP poll conducted in early September.

Independents are particularly harsh in their view of the president’s economic stewardship. Job losses have hurt independent households, and jobs will be their primary concern when they pull the lever in 2012.

HT: Instapundit

Via Political Wire:

Sarah Palin suggested to Fox News that being president might be too limiting:

“Does a title shackle a person? Are they — someone like me, maverick, you know, I do go rogue, and I call it like I see it, and I don’t mind stirring it up. . . . is a title and is a campaign too shackling? Does that prohibit me from being out there, out of the box, not allowing handlers to shape me?”

In related news, someone out there actually takes Cynthia McKinney seriously.

Via Naked Emperor News

Aren’t we lucky.

(CNN) – During President Obama’s three-day swing through Washington State, California and Colorado, he fielded questions at a town hall meeting in Silicon Valley and visited a high school in Denver. Two official events to promote his jobs plan. Compare that to seven fundraisers he headlined, raising at least $8 million for his re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

Who paid for the trip? You did. And so did we. Taxpayers are footing the bill for almost the entire trip, which also cost millions of dollars.

The ethnic cleansing continues.

(CDN) — Muslim extremists bent on ridding Nigeria’s volatile middle region of Christianity killed five Christians in Niger state on Thursday (Sept. 22) and three others the previous week in the north-central state of Kaduna, including a 13-year-old girl, sources said.

Suspected militants from the Boko Haram Islamic sect in the Niger state town of Madala went to shops owned by Christians at a market at about 8 p.m., ordering them to recite verses from the Quran, eyewitnesses told Compass. If the Christian traders were unable to recite the verses, the gunmen shot and killed them, they said.

The sound of the gunshots compelled Christians to call police in nearby Suleja, and officers arrived to find five Christians had already been killed. Richard Adamu Oguche, a spokesman for the Niger State Police Command in the state capital of Minna, confirmed that five Christians had been killed.

He told Compass the attack was linked to members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect who have recently bombed Christian sites.

Killed in the Madala market attacks were Sunday Emmanuel, John Kalu, Uche Nguweze, and Oliver Ezemah. The identity of the fifth Christian was not immediately known as witnesses could not identify him.

Keep reading…

Light dawns on marblehead.

“Actually, I just hope he doesn’t, because in the end, you know, his tremendous misgivings, maybe he is right. I mean, We had this with Obama. He wasn’t ready, it turns out, really.”

Via Newsbusters

Good grief.

(Judicial Watch) — Most Americans may not know that the government agency responsible for providing national security data to the nation’s senior policymakers, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), operates a special center dedicated to global warming.

That’s because the CIA doesn’t want anyone to know what goes on in its two-year-old Center on Climate Change and National Security. So the exclusive unit, led by “senior specialists,” operates under a cloak of secrecy that rejects all public-records requests, despite President Obama’s promise to run a transparent government.

When the center was launched in 2009, the CIA said it would not address the science of climate change but rather the national security impact of phenomena such as desertification, rising sea levels, population shifts and heightened competition for natural resources. The new division was touted as an important tool that would bring together in a single place expertise on an important national security topic; the effect environmental factors can have on political, economic and social stability overseas.

Reasonably, some U.S. taxpayers want to know what exactly the center has been doing with their money. After all, Obama has repeatedly assured the country that he will run the most transparent administration in history. So why not reveal some of the CIA’s findings on the impacts of global warming? After all, the administration has dedicated huge amounts of money to combat the ills of global warming so why not make public some of the “intelligence” that could justify the investment?

Meaning there won’t be any.

(Beltway Confidential) — President Obama seemed to reveal the thinking behind his reported negative campaign strategy while indicating that “this country is being tested” by Republican opposition to his agenda and reelection.

“The energy of 2008 is going to have to be generated in a different way [in 2012],” Obama said to Los Angeles supporters. “It has to be a clear contrast of where we want to take the country and where the other folks want to take the country.”

After criticizing the Republicans “cramped vision” of America, Obama asked supporters “to fight for our vision,” before invoking their character as a reason to support him against the GOP. “Character is tested when things are hard. This country is being tested,” Obama said, “but I have complete faith in its character. That’s what this election is about. It’s about values. It’s about character. It’s about who we are.”