After watching our President and his administration spin all kinds of tall tales or half truths recently I started to wonder if they really think we are that stupid. I guess that's the only answer as to why they continue to misrepresent things and then outrageously lie about it with straight faces. Otherwise they are crazy and really belief the, uh, septic waste they are selling to us. In response I have decided to create a weekly post of what I call Obama moments. This weeks entries, and there were so many candidates, are as follows.
1. In his speech about our actions in Libya on Monday the President explained why there would be no US boots on the ground. He referenced Iraq and at one point said, " But regime change there took eight years, thousands of American and Iraqi lives, and nearly a trillion dollars." Uh, sorry Mr. President but that is absolutely not true. In actuality the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and his Baathist party took just 22 days. That's right; the invasion of Iraq started on March 19, 2003 and Bagdhad fell on April 9th of that year. It was not the regime change that took so long, it was the establishment of a working democratic government and by all accounts that lofty goal has been accomplished. Other examples should be noted too. After WWII Japan did not reach its current political structure until 1955, ten years after the end of the war. Germany after WWII was similar and it took a heroic effort by the allies to rebuild that country into the freedom loving democracy it is today.
2. In his speech on energy Wednesday the President proposed a very ambitous goal of reducing our daily import of barrels of oil by one third within ten years when he said, "So today, I’m setting a new goal: one that is reasonable, achievable, and necessary. When I was elected to this office, America imported 11 million barrels of oil a day. By a little more than a decade from now, we will have cut that by one-third." That was cute Mr. President. I immediately asked myself why he referenced the barrels of oil per day from November 2008 instead of a more recent date, like last Friday for instance. The answer is simple folks. After more than two years of a deep recession our import of oil has dropped to around 9.7 million barrels a day. Even if he does nothing the President is already well on the way to his goal. The goal itself is laughable though when you figure that as our economy heats up use of oil will increase. Where does the President think we are going to get the extra oil if we don't import it. That leads me to the next moment.
3. In the same speech the President touted how his administration has been so supportive of domestic off shore drilling when he said, "Today, we’re working to expedite new drilling permits for companies that meet these standards. Since they were put in place, we’ve approved 39 new shallow water permits; and we’ve approved an additional 7 deepwater permits in recent weeks. When it comes to drilling onshore, my Administration approved more than two permits last year for every new well that the industry started to drill." What the President didn't say was only four permits have been "issued" since his unnecesary ban last year and those only after a federal judge declared the Administration was in contempt for not doing it earlier. He also failed to mention that one of those permits was to a Brazillian company who will now "export" any oil they drill off our shores back to us for a profit. This while American comapnies are still being denied the same opportunity. By some estimates this President's policies are costing the US about 220,000 barrels of oil a day and around 19,000 American jobs. Who is he kidding? As far as on shore drilling permits, which is what he referenced in the speech, those are usually given to open a new well on the same oil field. If this guy was a salesman we would be suing him for false advertising!
4. In the Monday speech President Obama said about our role in the Libyan conflict, "In that effort, the United States will play a supporting role — including intelligence, logistical support, search and rescue assistance, and capabilities to jam regime communications. Because of this transition to a broader, NATO-based coalition, the risk and cost of this operation — to our military and to American taxpayers — will be reduced significantly." A few short minutes later he said this, "To brush aside America's responsibility as a leader and — more profoundly — our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are. Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as President, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action." How can we be the leader Mr. President if we are committed to being in a "supporting" role? Does he even read these speeches before he delivers them?
There were many other Obama moments this past week and if you think one of them should have been included, let me know or better yet, blog about it. Have a great weekend.
