It’s Monday, October 28th, 2013…and here’s The Gouge!

First up, as FOX News reports, like every other promise the Great Prevaricator ever made, counterproductive conduct has rendered his vow to win the respect, admiration and undying love of the world a moot point:

Obama knew of NSA spying on Merkel and approved it, report says

President Barack Obama knew of the organization’s spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel – and approved of the efforts, a National Security Agency official has reportedly told a German newspaper. The Economic Times writes the “high-ranking” NSA official spoke to Bild am Sonntag on the condition of anonymity, saying the president, “not only did not stop the operation, but he also ordered it to continue.”

The Economic Times also reports the official told Bild am Sonntag that Obama did not trust Merkel, wanted to know everything about her, and thus ordered the NSA to prepare a dossier on the politician.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/27/obama-knew-nsa-spying-on-merkel-and-approved-it-report-says-944692234/?intcmp=latestnews

Which of course doesn’t jive with the official White House version of events the MSM will propagate without question.   But hey, who ya gonna believe: The Economist or…

Welcome to O-Bomb-A’s America: he’s got us  just where he wants us.  In all seriousness, were such activities conducted under a Republican President, the entire Administration would either already be in prison or under indictment.

And in a related item, the latest on The Obamao’s on-going effort to emasculate America’s Military:

Obama wants Marines to wear ‘girly’ hats

A change to the Marine Corps’ uniform hats could take the hard-nosed Leathernecks from the Halls of Montezuma to the shops of Christopher Street. Thanks to a plan by President Obama to create a “unisex” look for the Corps, officials are on the verge of swapping out the Marines’ iconic caps – known as “covers” — with a new version that some have derided as so “girly” that they would make the French blush.

“We don’t even have enough funding to buy bullets, and the DoD is pushing to spend $8 million on covers that look like women’s hats!” one senior Marine source fumed to The Post. “The Marines deserve better. It makes them look ridiculous.”

“Why are we even focused on this while we are laying troops off for no budget?” another Marine Times commenter asked.

http://nypost.com/2013/10/23/obama-wants-marines-to-wear-girly-hats/

Which is precisely his intention!  Having successfully replaced most if not all of the top Brass committed to the Constitution with politically-correct sycophants and completely neutered the Air Force, Der Obafuhrer is poised to resume his assault on the thinking and behavior of the rank and file in the toughest branch of the Service to crack. 

We hope General Amos has the balls to tell Obama “Nuts!”  But we’re highly suspect the Commander-in-Chief is going to let the outcome of his personal jihad against politically-incorrect thinking in the ranks be determined by either majority rule or the arbitrary decision of a mere Marine general.

Next up, Hope ‘n Change lends it unique brand of satire to the massive mistake which is…

Web Sight

It’s been quite a week for president Soetoro. He’s washed his hands of the Healthcare.gov website debacle by claiming that he didn’t know anything about anything at any time – which is, sadly, an entirely believable assertion.  Frankly, we’re surprised that he didn’t try to kill two birds with one stone by claiming the person in charge of supervising the Healthcare.gov website had been Ambassador Chris Stevens. Then again, he still may.

This week, Barry’s policies and persona were also instrumental in Saudi Arabia’s discontinuation of diplomatic relations with the United States, owing to their belief that Barry has made  a complete and explosive mess of the Middle East (with Syria not even getting spanked for using chemical weapons on civilians, and Iran happily assembling nukes on Henry Ford-style assembly lines while John Kerry takes Balinese dance lessons). And the president’s foreign policy failures weren’t limited to the Middle East; soon-to-be-former allies France and Germany are now honked off after discovering that Barry had the NSA spy on their phonecalls, perhaps under the suspicion that those nations might be harboring members of the Tea Party.

Domestically, this week the president could also take credit for over 90 million Americans being out of the workforce, and 49% of Americans receiving government benefits and entitlements. In fact, in the roughly 5 years since King Barry started conscripting serfs and buying their votes, the government has spent 3.7 trillion taxpayer dollars on welfare and poverty programs which make not working seem like an increasingly smart career choice.

And that goes DOUBLE for The Obamao

All of which would make for a satisfying week’s accomplishments for an ordinary America-hating socialist. But Barry isn’t one to rest on his haunches (or Reggie Love’s) when there’s still damage to be done. Which is why on Thursday, he told Congress that he wants a final immigration overhaul by the end of the year, in order to make American citizenship completely meaningless once and for all.

Okay, he didn’t say that last part out loud, but trust us – it’s what he’s thinking. At least when he’s not thinking of golf.

There’s really only one thing which keeps this week from being absolutely perfect for B. Hussein – and that’s the fact that more and more people are starting to see him for the duplicitous little crapweasel that he truly is.

The Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Henninger, with whom Hope n’ Change would like to share political discourse, a few adult libations, and maybe some fried cheese sticks, writes in his wonderful editorial Obama’s Credibility is Melting that Barry’s days of negotiating anything, domestic or foreign, are at an end because everyone now knows he’s an entirely untrustworthy liar. (Note: Mr. Henninger did not use those exact words, but we’re summarizing for brevity’s sake)

Unfortunately, it’s the United States and her citizenry which will be paying the cost of Barry’s rapidly failing credibility and moral failures for the next 3 years as it becomes nearly impossible for legislators or allies to repair any of the damage he’s done to our country and the world at large.

If you find all of this depressing, don’t lose hope: Obamacare now requires everyone to have insurance coverage which covers mental health. So primal scream therapy and prozac will be available and affordable for all! Assuming, of course, that you hire a first-rate hacker to help you create an account at Healthcare.gov.

Again, were this the result of the effort of a Republican White House, they’d already have been tarred, feathered and run out of town on rails…with the full, enthusiastic support of the national press!

Since we’re on the subject of the sham that is O-Bomb-A-Care, courtesy of The Daily Caller, yet another story you won’t be catching on the nightly news:

Michelle Obama’s Princeton classmate is executive at company that built Obamacare website

Nothing to see here, folks; just another non-story along the lines of Solyndra, Fast & Furious, Benghazigate, the IRS scandal and soooo much more…er,…less!  Please move along.

So moving along, in his latest column, courtesy of NRO, Victor Davis Hanson warns us to…

Beware of Beautifully Misnamed Laws

Who would oppose “affordable care” and “farm security”?

Washington has a bad habit of naming laws by what they are not. These euphemisms usually win temporary public support. After all, who wants to be against anything “affordable”? But on examination, such idealistically named legislation usually turns out to be aimed at special interests and the opposite of what voters were promised.

The “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010,” otherwise known as Obamacare, frontloaded for immediate enactment some popular freebies. Who would oppose keeping children on their parents’ health coverage until age 26, or prohibiting denial of insurance for those with pre-existing illnesses?

Then, three years later and with two elections out of the way, the tab for all the perks suddenly came due. The law turns out neither to protect patients from rate hikes nor to make health care affordable. In fact, the administration promises of 2009–10 are becoming the nightmare of 2013…

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/362088/beware-beautifully-misnamed-laws-victor-davis-hanson

And in the Environmental Moment, courtesy of the Myrtle Beach Sun News via the AEI, Mark Perry details…

The case against renewable fuel standard subsidies

How did we reach the point where the government is promoting a dreadful fuel that gets worse fuel economy than gasoline or diesel, drives up food prices, damages car engines and has unintended environmental consequences? The Renewable Fuel Standard has come to symbolize everything that is wrong with government-imposed mandates. It is causing more harm than good and should be scrapped.

…Over the years, the ethanol lobby has claimed that ethanol would help America achieve energy independence. But that argument has completely fallen apart, as evidenced by the dramatic surge in domestic oil production due to deepwater drilling and the shale revolution.

U.S. oil production reached a 24-year high in October and our nation’s dependence on imported oil continues to decline. America is paying a huge price for ethanol, an inferior fuel that’s no match for gasoline or diesel and is only benefitting a small set of special interests. Congress should repeal the RFS, a mandate that never should have been adopted in the first place.

http://www.aei.org/article/energy-and-the-environment/the-case-against-renewable-fuel-standard-subsidies/?utm_source=today&utm_medium=paramount&utm_campaign=102513

Sounds rather open and shut to us.

On the Lighter Side…

Then there’s this beauty from Balls Cotton, eh?

Moving to the WMD segment, James Taranto relates have the Unaffordable Care Act marks another milestone in Progressives’ pursuit of the ultimate weapon:

From the A-Bomb to the O-Bomb

Count Bloomberg’s Margaret Carlson among the ObamaCare supporters who are unhappy, even angry, with the HealthCare.gov debacle:

The rollout of Obamacare had to be absolutely perfect. Obama needed to treat it like a 21st-century Manhattan Project, full of 20-something geeks pulling all-nighters and managed by geniuses from Apple Inc. and Google Inc. who can fill in that blind spot between the techies and end users. Instead, he took the pedestrian route and spent $400 million on a Canadian company that our Good Neighbors to the North once fired for incompetence.

Carlson is being unfair here. ObamaCare is actually just like the Manhattan Project, a government program that produced an awesomely destructive bomb.

The difference is, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-Bombs killed between 150,000-250,000 people.  Before its full effects are felt, O-Bomb-A-care will have made Fat Man and Little Boy look like firecrackers.

Finally, we’ll call it a wrap with the Traffic Report, courtesy of the Los Angeles Times via Drudge, and yet Another Sign the Government-Created Apocalypse Is Upon Us:

A black box in your car? Some see a source of tax revenue

The devices would track every mile you drive —possibly including your location — and the government would use the data to draw up a tax bill.

As America’s road planners struggle to find the cash to mend a crumbling highway system, many are beginning to see a solution in a little black box that fits neatly by the dashboard of your car.

The devices, which track every mile a motorist drives and transmit that information to bureaucrats, are at the center of a controversial attempt in Washington and state planning offices to overhaul the outdated system for funding America’s major roads. The usually dull arena of highway planning has suddenly spawned intense debate and colorful alliances. Libertarians have joined environmental groups in lobbying to allow government to use the little boxes to keep track of the miles you drive, and possibly where you drive them — then use the information to draw up a tax bill.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-roads-black-boxes-20131027,0,6090226.story#axzz2ixuszqx9

Think about it this way; how many times have you used a form of public transport, be it bus, subway or passenger train?  Yet YOUR tax dollars subsidize every single mass transit system in the country, even though YOU DON’T USE THEM!  Yet now, the powers-that-be are considering taxing you for driving a vehicle, the costs for which you’re already solely responsible, on roads for which you’ve already paid.

We’ll pay a driving tax just as soon as we’re not required to fund Amtrak, the Washington Metro system and the Train to Nowhere!

Magoo