http://www.seattlepi.com/politico/421859_politico38609.html
Last updated 9:06 a.m. PT
Obama speech draws boos from pundits
By
POLITICO
President Barack Obama's Oval Office address on the Gulf Coast catastrophe is being greeted with a barrage of criticism from commentators and political analysts across the ideological spectrum—the most intense negative reaction to any major public appearance he has given as president.
If the goal was to change the widespread Washington storyline that Obama is not rising to the occasion for the BP debacle, it became clear within moments that the 18-minute speech was an emphatic failure—and not just among conservatives who predictably root for the president's failure.
"Junk Shot," blared the headline at Huffington Post. Salon took a similar theme: "Just words: Oval Office speech fizzles."
Generally sympathetic commentators Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews likewise honked with critical reviews on MSNBC. Voices on the right, not surprisingly, were even more critical.
The White House said before the speech the president's goal was to speak more broadly to the American people and frame the oil spill in a larger context about the need for a new national energy policy. There was scant polling by Wednesday morning to measure his success.
But the withering reviews from the commenting class were so widespread that they created a new problem for a White House that already has a plateful. Common themes were that Obama did not project a sense of executive command and was too light on details about both the clean-up and the energy legislation he is pushing in the wake of the disaster.
"It was a great speech if you were on another planet for the last 57 days," said Olbermann on his show's recap of the speech.
He noted that there was "not even much of a pitch for his own energy bill which, as he mentioned, was passed by the House, which he did not mention was stalled in the Senate and still sits there."
"Nothing specific," he added. "Nothing specific at all."
Appearing with Olbermann, "Hardball" host Matthews said Obama fell short in showing the American public that he is in charge.
"I don't sense executive command," Matthews said.
Huffington Post, underneath a picture of Obama, linked to stories from its own writers on what he was "overlooking" and asking "what was the point of that terrible speech?"
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http://tinyurl.com/2572vdo
Self-Destruction in Illinois
The Weekly Standard
Fred Barnes Fred Barnes – Mon Jun 14, 5:01 pm ET
Washington (The Weekly Standard) Vol. 015, Issue 38 - 06/21/2010 –
Chicago
Obamaland is crumbling. Democrats have firmly controlled Illinois, the president's home state, for nearly a decade, turning it into what one Republican called "a deep blue state." But this has changed almost overnight. In the midterm elections on November 2, Democrats stand to lose the governorship, Obama's old Senate seat, two to four House seats, and any number of state legislative seats and down-ticket statewide offices.
Democrats have been hit by a perfect storm, mostly of their own making. Illinois rivals California and New York as a fiscal and economic basket case. Democratic misrule has reached epic proportions, with the school districts, vendors, and doctors who treat Medicaid patients going unpaid for months. Unfunded state liabilities are mounting. And on top of all that, the trial of impeached former governor Rod Blagojevich, already dominating the news, is expected to continue for months.
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Originally posted by zeeblebot...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/weeklystandard/20100614/cm_weeklystandard/[WORD TOO LONG]
http://tinyurl.com/2572vdo
Self-Destruction in Illinois
The Weekly Standard
Fred Barnes Fred Barnes – Mon Jun 14, 5:01 pm ET
Washin ...[text shortened]... nor Rod Blagojevich, already dominating the news, is expected to continue for months.
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Since 2003, Illinois has been ruled by an oligarchy of Chicago Democrats, led by Rod Blagojevich (until his impeachment last year), House speaker Mike Madigan, and Senate president John Cullerton. Pat Quinn succeeded Blagojevich as governor. Madigan's daughter Lisa is attorney general. All of them, along with treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, auditor Tom Hynes, and secretary of state Jesse White, live within a few miles of each other in Chicago.
Their reign has been disastrous for Illinois. This year's deficit is $12.8 billion. The pension fund for state workers has an unfunded liability of $77.8 billion, and $20 billion in payments on bonds are also unfunded. The state's credit rating is plunging. One school district announced last week it'd deliver no more property tax revenues to Springfield until the state sends long-overdue education funds.
Illinois suffers from a net loss in migration: More people are leaving than arriving from out of state. The unemployment rate is 11.7 percent, two points higher than the national rate. Governors like Chris Christie of New Jersey and Mitch Daniels of Indiana make unflattering comments about Illinois.
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even the Brits!
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/janetdaley/100043670/british-media-falls-out-of-love-with-obama/
British media fall out of love with Obama
By Janet Daley World Last updated: June 16th, 2010
The BBC reports of Barack Obama’s speech last night are about as derisive as it would be possible to be about someone you were describing only a few months ago as the incarnation of Hope and Optimism. Yes indeed, the romance is over. The British media have decided that it was all a cruel deception: Obama is just one more ranting populist president who will do anything to divert attention from his own failure to get a grip. And this is not just about BP and the fate of all those pension funds.
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