Lefty journalists who originally supported Obama are changing their tunes. Among these is Mort Zuckerman, whose latest article reflects his increasing disappointment with “The One.”

Zuckerman takes a big step here. From Day-1 he was a big supporter of Obama. But now he is coming about, whether due to his sense of a diminished world-view of the US or more specifically some bias toward Israel. It’s fairly obvious that the whole team, Left and Right field, are getting to the point of “enough already.”

Cascading events may compel Obama to do something ill-advised. If hostile folks were swift, they’d be considering which buttons to push. As no doubt many out there are. We should be worried with such an inexperienced leader at the helm, very worried…

America right now appears to be unreliable to traditional friends, compliant to rivals, and weak to enemies. One renowned Asian leader stated recently at a private dinner in the United States, “We in Asia are convinced that Obama is not strong enough to confront his opponents, but we fear that he is not strong enough to support his friends.”

The United States for 60 years has met its responsibilities as the leader and the defender of the democracies of the free world. We have policed the sea lanes, protected the air and space domains, countered terrorism, responded to genocide, and been the bulwark against rogue states engaging in aggression. The world now senses, in the context of the erosion of America’s economic power and the pressures of our budget deficits, that we will compress our commitments. But the world needs the vision, idealism, and strong leadership that America brings to international affairs. This can be done and must be done. But we are the only ones who can do it.

The rest of the erstwhile supposedly unbiased journalists (and former Obama fan club) are also deserting the ship:

Barack Obama was supposed to be the best, the very best, and yet he is always, reliably, consistently mediocre.

His speech on oil was no better or worse than his speech on race. Yet the Obammyboppers who once squealed with delight are weary of last year’s boy band.

At the end of the big Oval Office address, Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and the rest of the MSNBC gang jeered the president….

In the Washington Post, the reaction of longtime Obammysoxer Eugene Robinson was headlined “Obama Disappoints From the Beginning of His Speech.”….

His eve-of-election rally for Martha Coakley “disappointed” the Massachusetts electorate so much, they gave Ted Kennedy’s seat to a Republican.

His speech for Chicago’s Olympic bid “disappointed” the Oslo committee so much, they gave the games to Pyongyang, or Ougadougou, or any city offering to build a stadium with electrical outlets incompatible with Obama’s prompter….

“He carries us from meditative bead to meditative bead, and invites us to contemplate,” wrote Stanley Fish in the New York Times….

We suspect Chris Matthews’ leg is no longer tingling. Problem is, BIG Problem at that, his narcissistic personality may demand he make some grandstand play. And such an event will equally demand that it take minds away from the Gulf.

Chris Matthews and the other leg-tinglers invented an Obama that doesn’t exist. Unfortunately, they’re stuck with the one that does, and it will be interesting to see whether he’s capable of plugging the leak in his own support. If not, who knows what the tide might wash up?

U.S. News & World Report — World Sees Obama as Incompetent and Amateur

Investor’s Business Daily — Even His Supporters Are Noticing: Obama Never Fails To Disappoint

YGTBSM!* When I first heard this discussed, I thought it was an Onion satire. It’s proof positive inmates have taken over the asylum.

A Mojado‘s year may broadly play out thusly. Dedicate 4-6 months working in the US. Be apprehended and sent to a Club Migra Detention Center. Spend 3-4 months there relaxing, evaluating the year and taking care of any medical issues. Perhaps operate a business via ‘Net and free phone service. Deportation provides free travel home to enjoy Christmas & New Year. Repeat process in the coming year.

From the Houston Chronicle — ICE to make detention centers more humane:

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are preparing to roll out a series of changes at several privately owned immigration detention centers, including relaxing some security measures for low-risk detainees and offering art classes, bingo and continental breakfast on the weekends.

….changes, like new flower baskets, may seem small, but they will combine with the bigger changes to make a difference in the daily lives of detainees…. Taken together they will go some way to making this system less penal….

The Nutshell View

IMPROVING DETENTION
ICE and the private prison company Corrections Corporation of America have agreed to make more than 24 changes at nine facilities. The changes include:
• Relaxing security: Low-risk detainees will have “freedom of movement” in the facilities and will no longer be subject to lock downs or lights out.
• Access: Detainees will be able to have visitors stay as long as they like within a 12-hour window. The facilities will increase attorney visitation space, add un-monitored phone lines and give detainees email and free, Internet-based calling. A unit manager will be available to take complaints directly from detainees.
• Daily life: Detainees will be allowed to wear regular clothing, will have at least four hours of recreation daily, and will be offered cooking, art and dance classes.
Source: ICE e-mail dated May 27

WHERE
Nine locations, including Houston, will implement the changes.
• Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility, New Jersey
• Eloy Detention Center, Arizona
• Florence Service Processing Center, Arizona
• Houston Contract Detention Center, Texas
• Laredo Contract Detention Facility, Texas
• North Georgia Detention Center, Georgia
• Otay Detention Center, California
• Stewart Detention Center, Georgia
• T. Don Hutto Detention Center, Texas
Source: ICE

But that’s not all…

At the CCA facilities that have agreed to ICE’s changes, detainees will see more variety in their dining hall menus and have self-serve beverage and fresh vegetable bars. CCA also plans to offer movie nights, bingo, arts and crafts, dance and cooking classes, tutoring and computer training… Detainees also will be allowed four hours or more of recreation “in a natural setting, allowing for robust aerobic exercise.” CCA also committed to improving the look of the facilities, such as requiring plants, fresh paint and new bedding…

All this on the taxpayer’s dime. The average daily cost per detainee that ICE pays nationally for contract detention is $102. Struggling taxpayers, how does this compare with what is costs to send your kids to college or to put your parents in a retirement home? How many of you working stiffs get four hours of recreation per day? Or dance lessons?

Good contract opportunity for Corrections Corporation of America

America’s Leader in Partnership Corrections

Welcome to CCA, the nation’s leading provider of correctional solutions to federal, state and local government.

Our company – the first of its kind – was founded in 1983. Our approach to public-private partnership in corrections combines the cost savings and innovation of business with the strict guidelines and consistent oversight of government. This has produced proven results for more than a quarter-century.

CCA designs, builds, manages and operates correctional facilities and detention centers on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Marshals Service, nearly half of all states and nearly a dozen counties across the country.

On the positive side, it would probably cost a lot more if the government were running the facilities.

*You’ve Got To Be Spoofing Me (polite version)

Related:

Corruption Chronicles — Internet, Bingo, Art Classes For Jailed Illegal Immigrants

B. Hussein Obama has been on the job and kicking ass since Day One. Yeah. Right.

The video is based on Kevin Kristy’s photo essay at PolitiPage. We urge our readers to go there and look at ALL the items!

…to a Blog near you…Cognitive Infiltration. Just the next step in black information or MSM (LSM) biased reporting. Been going on for ages. Pretty good euphemism though….

From Salon — Obama confidant’s spine-chilling proposal:

Cass Sunstein wants the government to “cognitively infiltrate” anti-government groups

Cass Sunstein has long been one of Barack Obama’s closest confidants. Often mentioned as a likely Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, Sunstein is currently Obama’s head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where, among other things, he is responsible for “overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs.” In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-”independent” advocates to “cognitively infiltrate” online groups and websites — as well as other activist groups — which advocate views that Sunstein deems “false conspiracy theories” about the Government. This would be designed to increase citizens’ faith in government officials and undermine the credibility of conspiracists….

Sunstein advocates that the Government’s stealth infiltration should be accomplished by sending covert agents into “chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups.” He also proposes that the Government make secret payments to so-called “independent” credible voices to bolster the Government’s messaging (on the ground that those who don’t believe government sources will be more inclined to listen to those who appear independent while secretly acting on behalf of the Government). This program would target those advocating false “conspiracy theories,” which they define to mean: “an attempt to explain an event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role.”….

…Sunstein’s closeness to the President, as well as the highly influential position he occupies, merits an examination of the mentality behind what he wrote. This isn’t an instance where some government official wrote a bizarre paper in college 30 years ago about matters unrelated to his official powers; this was written 18 months ago, at a time when the ascendancy of Sunstein’s close friend to the Presidency looked likely, in exactly the area he now oversees….

From The Rag Blog — Got Fascism? : Obama Advisor Promotes ‘Cognitive Infiltration’ :

Your government appointees at work: Cass Sunstein seeks ‘cognitive’ provocateurs

Cass Sunstein is President Obama’s Harvard Law School friend, and recently appointed Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

In a recent scholarly article, he and coauthor Adrian Vermeule take up the question of “Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures.” … This is a man with the president’s ear. This is a man who would process information and regulate things. What does he here propose?….

Put into English, what Sunstein is proposing is government infiltration of groups opposing prevailing policy….

It’s easy to destroy groups with “cognitive diversity.” You just take up meeting time with arguments to the point where people don’t come back. You make protest signs which alienate 90% of colleagues….

We expect such tactics from undercover cops, or FBI. There the agents are called “provocateurs” — even if only “cognitive.” One learns to smell or deal with them in a group, or recognize trolling online….

And are we now expected to applaud such tactics frankly proposed in a scholarly journal by a high-level presidential advisor?….

The original paper is available here — Conspiracy Theories by Cass R. Sunstein and Adrian Vermeule

…Match pending and Narcissus is in full bloom! Obama’s extremely undisciplined behavior in Copenhagen was never mentioned by the US lapdog media at the time of the climate conference.

From Welt Online Politik — U.S. President Obama rushes by the Climate Summit (the original report):

19. December 2009, 13:17 Clock

According to rumors from the Bella Center, U.S. President Barack Obama … asked impatiently … for an interview with Wen Jiabao… But Obama had to wait. Wen, who was rumored to [be in] his hotel room during the entire Congress [was located by] the U.S. delegation [who found] the Chinese Premier in … a [conference] room. An apparently infuriated Obama … then … rushed into the room. “Are you now willing to talk to me, Mr. Prime Minister?” He should have called. “Are we ready? Mr. Premier, are you ready to talk with me?” What a performance by a U.S. president.

Wen was also not alone in the room when Obama … literally burst in… The Chinese [Premier] was in talks with India’s leader Manmohan Singh and South African President Jacob Zuma. Suddenly, the group found itself forced into a conversation with the U.S. president….

There were a few bloggers who mentioned this and other articles in the European press:

Small Dead Animals — “Then he packed his bags and flew home.” (December 20)

Belmont Club — The Copencabana (December 21)

Economic Policy Journal — Over the Top Behavior by Obama in Copenhagen (December 23)

Finally, a serious discussion of the diplomatic implications appeared yesterday. From American Thinker — Obama’s Lost Face by J.R. Dunn:

Why did Chinese premier Wen Jiabao choose to publicly humiliate Barack Obama at Copenhagen? In their eyes, and in those of much of the world, he has lost face, and with it, power and influence. While getting widespread play overseas, this story has been kept very quiet by our disinterested, nonpartisan media (I haven’t seen it mentioned in any major U.S. outlet).

After promising to meet the Messiah at 7:00 p.m., Premier Wen stood him up in favor of a meeting with the leaders of India, South Africa, and Brazil. Rather than wait, a no-doubt infuriated Obama stalked into the room in question and demanded, “Are you ready to see me, Premier Wen?” No word on Wen’s reaction, though he did submit to a discussion on the spot that evidently sealed the release of the immortal and glorious Copenhagen Quasi-Agreement on Climate Change.

So with Barack Obama, we’ve reached the point where the leader of record of the most powerful state in history has become a man you can casually stand up. But the question remains: Why?

There are a number of reasons why the Chinese might take a cavalier attitude toward an American leader. China is the chief foreign holder of American debt, which may well have created an impression of the U.S. as a beggar nation on the level of a failed African republic. (I strongly suspect that words were exchanged on this topic during Obama’s recent visit to China, though we’re unlikely ever to learn about them in detail.)

There’s also the matter of race. As is true of most Asians, the Chinese sense of racial superiority is cultural and innate. This is a people who refer to Caucasians as “ghost shadows”; what they think of American blacks is probably best not dwelt upon.

Then there’s the deep aura of unseriousness that Obama has generated around himself. Though essentially incalculable, this factor is undeniable and will grow in importance and impact as time passes.

But there’s one event in particular that very likely played a part — the fact that only a few weeks before, Obama publicly and notoriously bowed to the emperor of Japan.

Japan and China have a lengthy history, very little of which can be termed benign. They have always been rivals, often acting at cross purposes and usually at swordpoint. But the past century of Sino-Japanese relations has been little short of horrendous….

So here comes Obama, as ignorant of all this as a little lamb….

….Wen’s behavior should be taken as a rebuke not to the United States so much as to Obama personally.

This only goes to underline the reason why diplomatic protocol exists in the first place — to exclude through ritual actions all possibilities that error, misunderstanding, or personal pique might interfere with matters of state. Obama has yet to learn this. His insistence on winging it, on reinventing established practice on his own terms, is potentially far more than simply embarrassing. It could be actively dangerous…..

Bottom line: Our president is an international embarrassment.

In its stinging coverage of this equally stinging reprimand, the Washington Post reported that in a formal assessment of Burris’ honesty, the Ethics Committee stated:

“Your shifting explanations about your sworn statements appear less than candid.”

Gee, news must become accuratized with distance. The write-up in Chicago was not as benign as the almost congratulatory WaPo Daily. Perhaps, like Congress, WaPo should read what they take action on? At the Chicago Tribune, Steve Chapman writes:

Roland Burris is a lying snake

The Senate Select Committee on Ethics has completed its investigation of Sen. Roland Burris, and his office is trumpeting its finding that he committed no “actionable violations of the law.” What his press release didn’t mention is that the committee also found he had provided “incorrect, inconsistent, misleading or incomplete information” about his appointment to the Senate. Which is senatorese for, “Pants on fire!”

….The result is that he gets to call himself a senator and can boast that he’s never been indicted. But to most Illinoisans, Burris will always be remembered as a lying snake.

Poor snakes, been downhill since Adam. Now they’re being compared to politicians. Whur be PETA when you need’m?

…wonder how much this Kopenhagen quickie is costing?

From Bloomberg:

Obama Chases Olympic Bauble While U.S. Burns

….some of his critics do have a point when they wonder why he’s flying off to the land of Hamlet, Tivoli Gardens and Tuborg beer to make a final plea for the 2016 games the week his military and foreign policy teams are meeting in a marathon session on Afghanistan….

Senator Kit Bond of Missouri …. has a point when he says “it’s baffling that the president has time to travel to Copenhagen, to be on ‘Letterman’ and every channel except the Food Network, and, yet, he doesn’t have time to talk with and listen to his top general.”

From Canada.com:

Obama taking flak for his Olympic Games pitch

….The trip marks the first time an American president has played the role of salesman-in-chief for a U.S. Olympic bid. In doing so, Obama is following an example used with success by a host of national leaders, from Chretien to former British prime minister Tony Blair, who played a personal role in bringing the 2012 Summer Olympics to London.

But Obama’s jet setting agenda isn’t flying back home in Washington, where opponents say the president’s time would be better spent guiding health-care legislation through Congress or finalizing a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan….

Points worth noting:

1. It’s payback for the Chicago Daley machine that created the Obama phenomenon.
2. A new law prevents federal funding for “pet projects” so the cost of a Chicago Olympics would be borne by the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois. both of which have big budget deficits.

Update, breaking news at noon: From Fox News:

Obamas Fail in Personal Pitch to Bring 2016 Olympics to Chicago

Chicago was eliminated in the first ballot of voting for the 2016 Olympics on Friday, a stunning defeat for President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama who risked their political capital and the prestige of the presidency on an enormous Olympic campaign.

Rio de Janeiro ultimately won the right to host the Summer Games.

Critics immediately decried Obama’s visit to Copenhagen, the first time a U.S. president made such an in-person appeal.

“It demeans the office,” said GOP consultant Brad Blakeman, a former Bush administration official. “For the president to be reduced to the effect of the Billy Mays pitchman for the United States to get the Olympics for his home city of Chicago is just not something that presidents do.”

Blakeman said Obama spent more time wooing International Olympic Committee officials than he did in his meeting with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, before returning to Washington.

“His priorities are screwed up and the American people are seeing that this president just doesn’t get the effects and importance of governing,” Blakeman told FOX News.

Instead of making a personal appearance, Blakeman said Obama should have sent a delegation led by the first lady and the mayor of Chicago….

This Friday there will be a national prayer gathering of Muslims on the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building. They are expecting at least 50,000 to attend from mosques all across America. They will gather to pray from 4:00 AM until 7:00 PM. The gathering will take place by the site where U.S. Presidents have been inaugurated since 1981. The organizers say that it was Obama’s inauguration speech in January and his speech broadcast from Egypt in June that gave them the idea for this prayer gathering on Capitol Hill…

…rain anyone?

From the Islam On Capitol Hill website:

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH….

The objective of this gathering is to invite the Muslim Communities and friends of Islam to express and illustrate the wonderful diversity of Islam. We intend to manifest Islam’s majestic spiritual principals as revealed by Allah to our beloved prophet Muhammad (PEACE BE UPON HIM) of Arabia. Likewise; we intend to inspire a new generation of Muslim to work for the greater good of all people. We shall serve all people, regardless of race, religion or national origin.

ON THIS DAY….

• The Athan will be chanted on Capitol Hill, echoing off of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and other great edifices that surround Capitol Hill
• Thousands of Muslims from all races, creeds, colors and ethnicities will gather for the sole purpose of prayer
• Bonds of friendship will be formed between those in attendance, both Muslims and Non-Muslims
• Muslim youth will experience tours of the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court.
• The peace, beauty and solidarity of Islam will shine through America’s capitol.

A DAY OF ISLAMIC UNITY…

OUR TIME HAS COME

The event was organized by two leaders of the Dar-ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth, New Jersey. It “will not include political speeches or placards, just prayer, said Hassen Abdellah, president of Dar-ul-Islam and a main organizer of the event.” From NJ.com — Elizabeth mosque organizes national prayer gathering for Muslims in Washington, D.C.:

Mosque members have been working since July to organize the event, through e-mails, phone calls and visits to mosques and Muslim Students Associations in different states.

Another New Jersey imam, Abdul Malik, is co-organizer of the event.

Just a reminder of how all these prayerful people really feel:

Dr. Lubaina Bhatti Ahmed was an accomplished, professional woman, in her late thirties, a wife, and a mother living in St. Clairsville, Ohio. In 1999, after suffering years of terrible beatings by her husband, she left him. He killed her for his honor.

In August 2003, Saudi student Mohammed Ali Alayed and Morrocan Jewish student Ariel Sellouk were students at Houston Community College in Houston, Texas. One evening after they returned home from socializing together, Alayed slashed his friend’s throat, nearly decapitating him. Both young men were 23 years old.

In January 2005 an Egyptian family of Coptic Christians living in New Jersey was slaughtered by militant Islamic Americans. Hossam Armanious, his wife Amal Garas and their daughters, Monica (8) and Sylvia (15) were brutally murdered for being outspoken critics of Islam. The family was bound and tortured, before their throats were slit in accord with the instructions for executing nonbelievers, as detailed in the Koran.

Living in Orchard Park, a suburb south of Buffalo, New York, 37 year-old Aasiya Z. Hassan got an order of protection against her husband after years of violent abuse in February of this year. He beheaded her for his honor. The irony — together they managed Bridges TV, a station whose mission was “to become a unifying force that can help people understand our diverse world through education and entertainment.”

There is a long list of honor killings and religious killings by American Muslims who, until the crime, appear to be living peacefully and normally among us. We ignore this at our peril.

Related:

Assyrian International News Agency — Taking Islamism to the Streets

…would that it were so. We the People need to get stimulated to restore our country. Watch this video…

Yo quero TACO BELL….canna get no worser…doncha know…

[Editor's note:   Several of the appealing Taco Bell chihuahua commercials are archived here.]