Eric Holder does not know about IRS but does secretive Obama? Abuse of power round-up and great video

US Attorney General Eric Holder sat before the House Judiciary Committee and told them all the things he does not know. Does he know about the politicising of the Internal Revenue Service? Organisations with “Tea-Party” and “Patriot”  in their names were vetted more than others. The IRS  asked groups to identify their donors and provide print outs of their tweets and Facebook posts.

Does he know why the State subpoenaed phone records of Associated Press reporters? He just doesn’t know.

Dans Milbank:

“In a sense, the two topics that dogged Holder most on Wednesday — the AP phone records and the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups — were one and the same. In both cases, Americans are being punished and intimidated for exercising their right of free expression — by the taxing authorities, in the conservatives’ case, and by federal prosecutors, in the reporters’ case.”

Jim Treacher:

“I stopped watching The Daily Show the day after the ’04 election, because Jon Stewart’s open grief was too much to bear. (I was a different person then.) Plus, once I saw through his Clown Nose Off/Clown Nose On routine — ‘You should listen to me because what I’m saying is important, but I’ll brush off your rebuttal by insisting I’m just a comedian’ — it was like the optical illusion with the cows. It might take you a minute to see it, but once you do, you can’t unsee it. Which just makes this all the more delicious.”

NFL player Evan Mathis, of the Philadelphia Eagles posted a picure of himself pissing on the IRS building.

Anorak

Posted: 16th, May 2013 | In: Politicians | Comment

ObamaGate: How Obama became Tricky Dicky Nixon

EMBROILED in scandal over Benghazi. Hilary Chabot writes in the Boston Herald:

President Obama’s angry dismissal of the growing outcry over the handling of last year’s Benghazi terrorist attack that left a U.S. ambassador dead shows all the signs of a White House in “damage control” mode, critics say.

“They are in damage control, and this story is now gaining traction because people are now talking about it even more,” said Richard Benedetto, an American University political science professor and former White House correspondent for USA Today. “This story to me has all the makings of a Watergate kind of story. What did they know and when did they know it, and what did people in the White House do to cover it up?”

Anorak

Posted: 14th, May 2013 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comment

Margaret Thatcher and a pet black sheep called Barack Obama

MARGARET Thatcher: cats or dogs? Lady Carla Powell of Bayswater settles the debate:

“Lady Thatcher adored animals. I have a dachshund puppy called Maggie that she loved. I name all my animals after friends and distinguished people. I have two black sheep called Barack Obama and Colin Powell.”

That’s raci…!

Photo: Sir Charles Powell, fromer private secretary to Margaret Thatcher, and his wife Carla outside Buckingham Palace in London after he receives his Knighthood form HM Queen Elizabeth II. Date: 16/07/1991

Anorak

Posted: 10th, April 2013 | In: Politicians | Comment

Obama’s tree for Israel gets pest tested

HOW did Obama’s trip to Israel go? Well, he never called it the Holy Land (a pet hate – a term that often used on the BBC). Firts there was the tree planting:

“Tree gifted by President Obama to Israel this morning is dug up hours later for ‘pest’ testing.”

Anorak

Posted: 22nd, March 2013 | In: Politicians | Comments (4)

Barack Obama bites Chris Rock in the ass

CHRIS Rock has been speaking truth to power:

Chris Rock, March 2007:

“It’s [the USA] ready for a retarded president, why wouldn’t it be ready for an African American president?”

Anorak

Posted: 7th, February 2013 | In: Celebrities, Politicians | Comments (2)

Is Obama’s skeet shooting photo a fake?

Anorak

Posted: 3rd, February 2013 | In: Politicians | Comments (4)

Guantamo Bay: The only person Obama released was Special Envoy Daniel Freed

ON President Barack Obama closing Guanatanmo Bay:

 “Four years ago, Barack Obama’s first act as President was an executive order to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The White House created a position at State of ‘special envoy’ to Guantanamo, whose duties included reviewing the pending cases with Attorney General Eric Holder, and diplomacy with allies to place the current detainees in order to close the facility. Four years later, the only thing being closed is Special Envoy Daniel Freed’s office.”

Anorak

Posted: 29th, January 2013 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comment

Photo emerges of Obama shooting shotguns for skeet

AMERICA’S attitude to guns is right under the spotlight. Barack Obama wants increased gun control. Vice-President Joe Biden agrees. And then the fudging begins. Obams says he loves all that shootin’: 

In a wide-ranging interview with the New Republic, President Obama tackles slew of issues ranging from gun control to football, including this little gem when asked if he’d ever fired a gun: “Up at Camp David, we do skeet-shooting all the time. Not the girls, but oftentimes guests of mine go up there. And I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations. And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake.”

Anorak

Posted: 28th, January 2013 | In: Politicians | Comment

Dixie’s problem with black Obama and Scotland’s monoculture

WHAT is the US South’s problem with Obama: Garry Wills wonders:

I was made aware of the odd mix of gain and loss when I went back to Atlanta to see my beloved grandmother. She told me not to hold change between my lips while groping for a pocket to put it in—“That might have been in a nigger’s mouth.” Once, when she took me to Mass, she walked out of the church when a black priest came out to celebrate. I wondered why, since she would sit and eat with a black woman who helped her with housework. “It is the dignity—I would not let him take the Lord in his hands.”

Tradition dies hard, hardest among those who cannot admit to the toll it has taken on them. That is why the worst aspects of the South are resurfacing under Obama’s presidency. It is the dignity. That a black should have not merely rights but prominence, authority, and even awe—that is what many Southerners cannot stomach. They would let him ride on the bus, or get into Ivy League schools. But he must be kept from the altar; he cannot perform the secular equivalent of taking the Lord in his hands. It is the dignity.

Anorak

Posted: 27th, January 2013 | In: Politicians | Comment

What Bill Hicks knew about Obama: peace in our time

YOU know what happens when Obama went behind the screen? Bill Hicks told us in 1993:

“No matter what you promise on the campaign trail, when you win, you go into this smoke-filled room with the 12 industrialist capitalist scum-fucks who got you in there. And you’re in this smoky room, and this little film screen comes down, and a big guy with a cigar goes, ‘Roll the film.’ And it’s a shot of the Kennedy assassination from an angle you’ve never seen before… And then the screen goes up and the lights come up, and they say to the new president, ‘Any questions?'”

Anorak

Posted: 23rd, January 2013 | In: Politicians | Comment

Lupe Fiasco is bizarrely repetitive

LUPE Fiasco was thrown off stage at a Barack Obama inauguration party. He’s black. He said some anti-Obama things. Is that why he was removed?

Anorak

Posted: 23rd, January 2013 | In: Celebrities | Comment

Obama’s inauguration in photos: ‘a decade of war is now ending’

“I SAY to you this, America. And this I say to you. Barack Obama is your President. He is my President. He is the…” There is something dull about Obama. He words swoop and soar but land on nothing. You want a definite but all you get is emotion. In place of precision, you get talk of change and hope. We know he’s busy. Things need doing. But in public, his words sound empty, a contrived, bland blend of Woody Guthrie’s homage to America (This Land is Your Land), the Narrator in a child’s Nativity show and self-improvement books. And somehow, Obama’s speaking makes the everyday sound bigger. He says “a decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun.” Does that America has won the war? Is the recession over? No need for details. He has  decreed it. And thus is shall be…

Here are the photos of Obama’s inauguration. Sorry, not photos These are the pictures of humanity that can take us forward. These photos can be pinned to your walls of your home, church, mosque, synagogue and classroom. They can be seen by a white man at a desk, a Muslim woman on her way to pray, a Jewish girl with a pierced navel and a Hispanic woman with three kids to feed and a husband watching the nation’s athletes on his television set. A picture taken in Washington by a woman from Arizona  of a man from Chicago that can be framed by wood taken from our great forests and hung by the metal hook mined by toil and endeavour from beneath our huddled feet.

Anorak

Posted: 22nd, January 2013 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comments (3)

Gunning for Obama, the monarchial figure who used to be the messiah

ON Barack Obams – the sequel:

The BBC’s woman in Washington said the sight of Obama on Capitol Hill “warmed the soul“.

Richard Bacon on Radio Five Live wondered mused about a possible assassination attempt.

Anorak

Posted: 21st, January 2013 | In: Politicians | Comment

Obama tosses teddies into the crowd at inauguration

FOR non-Obama fans, some goods new: he’s halfway through his Presidency. For Obama fans, it was great to see him toss teddies into the crowd. And when Joe Biden cried – shuck! – it was soooo moving:

Anorak

Posted: 21st, January 2013 | In: Politicians | Comment

The gun debate becomes all about Obama’s prohibition and his co-opted kids

BARACK Obama wants to reduce gun violence in the US. (We’ve yet to hear from a US politician who wants to increase it.) He said:

“Reducing gun violence is a complicated challenge. If there’s even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there’s even one life that can be saved, we have an obligation to try.”

A dissenting voice tweets:

 “Obama speaks today on the anniversary of Prohibition going into effect. I bet Prohibition saved at least one child’s life.”

The NY Times sees the children:

Surrounded by children who wrote him letters seeking curbs on guns, Mr. Obama committed himself to a high-profile and politically volatile campaign behind proposals assembled by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. that will test the administration’s strength heading into the next four years. The first big push of Mr. Obama’s second term, then, will come on an issue that was not even on his to-do list on Election Day when voters renewed his lease on the presidency.

What changed to push guns to the fore of Obama’s plans? The Sandy Hook massacre, say supporters. The deficit and economy, says the opposition:

“I will put everything I’ve got into this,” Mr. Obama said, “and so will Joe.”

The emotionally charged ceremony, attended by family members of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., reflected a decision by the White House to seize on public outrage to challenge the political power of the National Rifle Association and other forces that have successfully fought new gun laws for decades.

Anorak

Posted: 17th, January 2013 | In: Reviews | Comments (4)

Would Obama rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?

QUESTION of the week: During Barack Obama’s Q&A on Reddit’s Ask Me Anything:

There was one question everyone on the team wished Obama had answered. [Teddy Goff, head of Obama’s digital team,] probably would have selected it, according to his colleagues, but he didn’t see it at the time.

Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?

Anorak

Posted: 11th, January 2013 | In: Politicians | Comment

Only three Presidents have issued more Pardon’s that soft Obama

PARDON me, Mr Obama. Jacob Sullum compares Obama to past presidents who issued those justice-defying Presidential pardons:

Which of Obama’s predecessors managed to make less use of the clemency power during their first terms? According to numbers compiled by P.S. Ruckman Jr., a professor of political science at Rock Valley College in Rockville, Illinois, just three: George Washington, who probably did not have many clemency petitions to address during the first few years of the nation’s existence; William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia a month after taking office; and James Garfield, who was shot four months into his presidency and died that September. 

Anorak

Posted: 10th, January 2013 | In: Politicians | Comment

The Sandy Hook massacre: Obama makes martyrs of the dead as media fetishises grief and fear

THE Sandy Hook massacre features on the cover of the UK press.

In March 2012, 16 Afghan civilians were killed by U.S. Army Soldier Robert Bales, allegedly.

Can you name them? Did President Obama weep on the TV? Was it front-page news in the UK?

The Sun leads with news of the massacre in Sandy Hook. But how can it justify such intense coverage? The US is accessible. We share the same language. America invented rolling news and burnished news anchors and reporters into personalities, dispatched to deliver not the facts but news the audience will enjoy. Last week the news was obsessed with the death of Jacintha Saldanha, the “Royal nurse” who had committed suicide. This week we’re invited to gawp at terrible events in small town in Connecticut.

Anorak

Posted: 17th, December 2012 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment (1)

Fox News Fail in Obama attack: misspells ‘illiterate’

FOX Nation attacks Obama in North Carolina. And misspells “illiterate”:

Anorak

Posted: 7th, December 2012 | In: Politicians | Comment

Obama speaks in favour of decriminalising marijuana

BACK in 1994, Barack Obama was keen to rethink the failing war on drugs.

During his first term the key member of the Choom Gang did nothing. And then on the day of his re-election to a second and final term – the time when legacies are written – Colorado passed Amendment 64 to legalise marijuana for recreational use.

Anorak

Posted: 20th, November 2012 | In: Politicians | Comment

New fish species named after Theodore Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Barack Obama

WHAT would you name a new species of fish after? What’s fishy enough to merit the honour? Biologists have named the new species belong of Etheostoma river dwellers after Theodore Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Barack Obama.

Anorak

Posted: 20th, November 2012 | In: Politicians | Comment

You only vote Obama because you wanted Ted Nugent dead or jailed

LIKE 1.2 million others, you only voted for Barack Obama because you wanted Ted Nugent dead or jailed. Right now, he’s neither:

Anorak

Posted: 8th, November 2012 | In: Politicians | Comment

Chris Matthews is glad Superstorm Sandy happened: other Obama twitter fans only want Romney dead

BARACK Obama or Mitt Romney – who had the biggest nutters on their team?

For Obama, there was TV host Chris Matthews.

“I am so proud of the country. To reelect this president and overcoming — not because of the partisanship or even the policies. Here’s an African-American guy with an unusual background — part immigrant background, part African-American background — with all this assault on him from day one. From Mitch McConnell, from the clowns out there that will never be elected, never will be to anything.

“And the way he took it, as someone said, with coolness and charm and dignity and took it and took it and kept moving forward and doing his job. And the American people, and I know we look at these percentage, 40% of white vote. Fine. That’s about right among Democrats in the last couple cycles, three cycles or four. Good work for them. Good work for him. A good day for America.

“I’m so glad we had that storm last week because I think the storm was one of those things. No, politically I should say. Not in terms of hurting people. The storm brought in possibilities for good politics.”

Blimey.

On Twitter, a few opined:

Olivia Pope@Mookiema – “I hope everyone woman that votes for Mitt Romney gets raped & is denied an abortion if it results in a pregnancy. Too far?? Probably Idc tho”

Libby Liston@LebbyListonberg – “Any woman who votes Romney is a disgrace to womankind and should go fucking drown themselves or something with a similar result (death)”

@__demers – “Romney wants to take away women’s rights, so yeah, y’all go ahead and vote for him. I hope you bitches die.— rawr”

laura truby@LauraTruby – “Any woman that votes Romney deserves to get slapped in the face with obamas shlong”

Ashley Marie Carroll@Ashweee_Marie – “Any woman who votes for Romney tomorrow deserves a punch in the boob with a brick”

Andres@Carlitttoooooos – “If any gay man, woman, or other votes for Romney I’m gonna slap you hoe”

@Tomaliciousss – “For every woman that votes for Romney I hope you get pregnant and die giving birth because you won’t be able to get an abortion✌— It’s just †om.”

They wanted to murder Romney:

¥A$ON CL!FTON@SteeveCastro – “i’m gon shoot romney in duh face weather he win or not”

@PaulMurray96 – “Ill personally kill romney if he wins the election”

@CamiDaSOLEKeepa – “I love Obama Lord Knows I Do but I’ll kill Romney Dead before I let Him win this Election”

Anorak

Posted: 7th, November 2012 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)

Lady Gaga wants to share Obama’s cake

LADY Gaga was for Obama:

“I’m a Catholic and I make a lot of money and I want to give a lot of it back and I don’t want any tax breaks. I want people in my country that don’t have a lot; I want them to have more. I want them to have what I have. I feel guilty every day that I can’t give it to everyone.”

Anorak

Posted: 7th, November 2012 | In: Celebrities, Money | Comment