Pretty good trick, huh? Almost as good as Barack Obama's masterful feat of magic when, according to his whistlestop campaign speech, he successfully "reversed the recession, avoided a depression, and got the economy moving again." But...we all blinked and missed it.
Actually, Obama claims that we failed to notice his economic miracle because those darn Japanese had a huge earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown which somehow caused our unemployment numbers to rise here.
And the "Arab Spring," which he'd previously praised, somehow had a negative impact on consumer confidence...perhaps owing to the president starting a new war in Libya and refusing to either talk about it or seek funding for it.
And then Obama's booming economy moved in the wrong direction yet again because of the European Debt Crisis - the one in which nations are failing because they currently have the huge, unfunded entitlement programs that Obama wants more of.
The president calls all of this "bad luck," but also blames the failure of his "now you see it, now you don't" fiscal boom on "partisan brinksmanship," which apparently traveled back in time to do damage to the economy before the actual negotiations took place. Talk about magic!
And Barack "Houdini" Obama has one more trick up his sleeve. As he continues making campaign speeches from his "Magic Bus," the president has said that in September he's going to announce a jobs plan that will create another economic miracle...unless the Republicans fail to pass it, in which case the economy will be their fault from now on.
Frankly, it sounds to Hope n' Change like the president is just trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat.
Only it ain't no rabbit.
And he's not pulling it out of his hat.
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24 comments:
Stilton, your cartoons are always a hoot, but I prefer the following from days gone by:
Hey, Rocky, watch me pull a booming economy out of a hat.
But, Bullwinkle, that trick never works.
This time for sure.
Hmmm, maybe I need a bigger hat.
.
Yup, looks like a cartoon to me.
(apologies to Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle Moose)
Your final point needs no embellishment...just hot, soapy water and a gallon of hand sanitizer.
What could be more exciting that "President Downgrade" showing up in a bus to tell you how great you're doing because of him?
I'm still not sure what this bus trip through "flyover country" is all about. Guess he had to do something that looked better than playing golf during the break.
@Angry Hoosier Dad- Hooray for Bullwinkle and his creator, Jay Ward! I can easily picture the scene you've described...and it would make just as much sense as what we're seeing from Barry's road trip.
@John the Econ- It's all about the optics; being photographed in front of a barn and getting out of evil, partisan Washington. After which, the president will take a 10-day Martha's Vineyard vacation before bothering to share his magic plan for saving the economy.
In '08 he won the three states he's now visiting. Seems there's some voter remorse right now. Just heard on the radio that the bus was manufactured in Canada. It's a really ugly vehicle. Might have looked better in canary yellow to make it more visible so folks could run in the opposite direction.
But who buys any of this anymore? We've already seen him in front of barns spewing soft-Marxist rhetoric. There's nothing new here. Do they think that quantity is going to make up for the utter lack of quality?
And what's the deal with all the angst over Perry's comments regarding Bernanke? Compared to what the Democrats and the media pundits have been saying about the Tea Party for the last year, ("Waging jihad", "Terrorists", "Delusion Addicts", "Zombies", "Vampires", etc) Perry's comments about Bernanke's desire to print more dollars seems downright subdued.
I didn't THINK that looked like a hat or a rabbit, so thanks for clearing that up, @SJ.
Meanwhile, getting himself photographed in front of a barn and droppin' his final g's and talkin' about"folks" again. I grew up in flyover country and in and around farms and I NEVER saw a barn so brightly painted with all those floral bouquets situated about, as in Barry's backdrop for the barn media-op that I saw. It looked like public relations city-boy idea of a happy-happy joy-joy la-la-la icon of a wonderful rural world, brought to you by The One. Here's an excellent voter's qualification test: have Frank Luntz wire people up and if they fall for this baloney they are automatically disqualified from voting, as being too stupid, ignorant, naive, and gullible to possibly form a rational opinion about anything.
Golly! Do I seem cranky to you today? I need to go jump out of an airplane. I'm maneuvering to give my son-in-law a gift certificate for a tandem jump for HIS birthday, and then I'll HAVE to go jump with him, for moral support or something.
Yep, on day 900-whatever of his presidency, the Divine One will finally unveil yet another marxist-miracle solution plan. Which hopefully will not look like an earlier Final Solution.
@AHD, Thanks for the R&B start to the day.
@John, the MSM is predictably trying to spin Perry's remarks into a 'death threat', which it wasn't. But there's a huge appeal to the first candidate who actually commits to criminally investigating, trying, and imprisoning those responsible for the current disaster. The notion that elites are never held accountable for the damage they have done, and they get a free pass with impunity back to academia or lobbying or book tours while the ruins are crashing behind them, is a huge contributing factor to the current disaster(s). Time for some major indictments, and 'treason' is a timely choice of words.
@Earl- Obama's Canadian "Stealth" Bus is ludicrous and ugly. I picture it being stood on one end while the theme to "2001" plays, and curious monkeys touch it and run away screaming.
@John the Econ- Actually, Obama looks right at home in front of a barn. Considering what you usually find on the ground in front of a barn.
And I've got no real problem with what Perry said, though he might have wanted to phrase it more artfully. But the truth is the truth.
@Doktor Paulie- Yeah, that looked less like a real barn than a fried chicken theme restaurant. I come from Indiana originally, and about the only time I saw a freshly painted barn was when the owner allowed a company to paint "Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco" on the side.
And when you jump out of that airplane, I'll be with you in spirit. Remember to aim for the brightly painted barn below.
@Andrew- "Treason" is a very specific charge, and not one that is without some basis here. For that matter, I can think of a certain president who deserves the same charge.
Doktor Paulie:
Still waiting for my canopy to be repaired. It's OK that it's taking awhile...still healing. Ask your tandem master if you could do a tandem RW jump with your son-in-law. I've seen it done before. You think tandems are a blast, wait till you've done relative work. We'll never get the country doktor back on the farm.
Stilton, I didn't know you were Hoosier-born. Explains your warped sense of humor.
Earl: Interesting fact. Obumbler has visited Elkhart county, IN several times. Funny that he would "dis" the RV capital of the world and buy his motor coach from a company in Canada. Maybe he knows Indiana has fallen completely out of love with him and we all know what a spiteful punk he is.
I wonder why "Mr. Know-it-all" has to wait two weeks to tell us his unbelievably awesome jobs plan that is going to magically fix everything that the previous unbelievably awesome plans didn't fix.
It is so pathetic! He hasn't gotten it right in three years and expects us to believe that the shit he dreams up in a two week period is going to be the ticket. Maybe this is why he went to farm country. Straw is more plentiful so you can grasp at it more.
And then he'll be wagging that damn finger when the House shoots his bazillion dollar plan down. "You are unemployed because of the TEA PARTY!"
Barack Hussein's attempt to blame his failures on the "TEA party" will never fool anyone who's paying attention. The problem is that not all of us are paying attention.
Obama pulled the “I have a jobs plan” line right out of his "hat".
I bet the boys in DC are sweating bullets knowing that they only have 2 weeks to come up with a plan to create jobs to cover their boss’s ass.
I wish the lady he was talking to would have followed up with: If you have a jobs plan, let's hear it now, why do we have to wait until Sept for it? We needed it back in Jan 2009 when you said that creating jobs was your #1 priority.
@AHD: Tandem RW! Ooh! I'll definitely ask. Meanwhile, as you wait for that canopy repair, you might be interested to read "The Screwtape Letters" by CS Lewis, and, in particular, the last chapter entitled "Screwtape Proposes a Toast." Even though Lewis wrote it 50 years ago, it describes with eerie accuracy what HAS been going on and what IS going on, particularly in reference to the incantatory use of the word "democratic". The rest of you would like it too, except, WARNING! Contains authentic Christian content! It may poison your minds or something.
BO is NOT a stupid man. He knows damn well that no matter what cock-a-mamie BS nonsense he dreams up, the House will kill it. Then he just tells Joe to call us a bunch of terrorists and takes another taxpayer funded "listening tour" or vacation.
I expect it will be a vacation, though. He had a close call on the Tragical Mystery Tour when somebody wanted HIM to do the listening, and he couldn't get the guy to shut the hell up and go away.
Would anybody be surprised if the rest of Barry's cam-PAIN was held from the safety of his teleprompter encased podium?
Once a year, our U S senator, Tom Coburn,a republican, hosts a town hall meeting here at the hospital where I work in this small town...he is across the hall from me as I write this, and no surprise, it is STANDING ROOM ONLY this year!
I listened in for a few minutes, pretty much what you hear every day on Fox, but it the dramatic turnout does show the concern the we the people have at this remarkable time in our nation's history...it really is a "make or break" thing that is happening here. We all would love to 'make' things better, while the libs try to 'break' us and folks like the tea party.
Obama is totally correct about his failures being caused by "bad luck". This was explained well by Heinlein a long time ago:
"Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as 'bad luck.'”
@My Dog Brewski- My wife and I are Hoosiers by birth and still have friends and family in that fine state. My (now adult) daughter was born here in Texas, and we like this state quite well too. Although on this umpteenth day of 100+ temperatures, the political climate is more enjoyable than the actual climate for a bit.
@Colby- You're entirely right. His "plan" is going to be more of the crap we've heard before ("Who here likes pie?"), and will be presented entirely to try to saddle the Republicans with the "non-compromising" label.
@JustaJeepGuy- If everyone was paying attention, we'd already be living in a different and better world. But as the most recent election showed us, there are more people paying attention every day.
@SC- It's funny that Obama now thinks that suffering Americans can wait a few weeks for his jobs plan, when he demanded IMMEDIATE action on Obamacare for the people who were suffering "right now, today." Of course, back then, the issue was doctors cutting the feet off diabetics. Now the question is how Obama will cut the legs out from under business.
@Doktor Paulie- Although I'm very conversant on Rocky & Bullwinkle, I'm afraid I'm not up on all my C.S. Lewis. I'll add it to my reading list!
@Colby- I'll bet you're right; Obama will have had more than his fill of country life (and the peasantry) after his Hee-Haw Tour. Which reminds me of this YouTube clip which possibly parallels the president's actual feelings about rural life.
@pryorguy- Nice to hear that people are getting involved. The mainstream media is going to do everything possible to malign, mislead, and depress it - and we just need to ignore them and celebrate the fact that our strength is only growing.
@Windrider- Great quote! Heinlein is a favorite author of mine (and it's been too long since I've re-read his works).
Is everyone as over Warren Buffet as I am?
Heinlein also said, "Never underestimate the power of stupidity."
I love that quote, and it is sooooo very true.
John the Econ,
I much prefer Jimmy Buffet.
Looks like a whole lot of people are 'over' Warren Buffett and his PR shtick intended to keep the peasants smiling and the pitchforks at bay. The unanimous chorus of 'Hey pal, no one's stopping you writing a zillion dollar check to the IRS anytime' responses to his 'more taxes' balloon was really gratifying to see.
Buffet's common-man-grampa mask is intentionally less grating than the in-your-face arrogance of other Wall Street tycoons, but it's still a mask. You don't get to be a striding Goliath like Buffett by worrying about the fate of the little guys underfoot.
And when he says billionaires like himself that gladly manipulate the tax system so that he's in a lower tax bracket than any of his secretaries--he never suggests the secretaries of America should be taxed LESS.
@Stilton, can we expect an Oracle of Omaha cartoon?
First, notice what a media darling he became once he ceased being just a billionaire, and started being a wealth-redistributor. They networks can't get enough of him.
Second, notice that the taxation he proposes will have practically no impact upon him what-so-ever. By giving most of it to the Gates Foundation, he's already sheltered most of it from taxation.
Third, he pays far more taxes than he admits (or realizes) since he doesn't count the double-taxation that corporations have to pay before dividends are payed to shareholders.
Fourth, the taxation he proposes not only will not drastically affect "the rich", but will prevent the next generation of "rich" from becoming so. Notice that Obama's "millionaires" tax starts at a mere $200k.
If Buffet and his rich, progressive ilk want to be taken seriously, they should propose a "wealth" tax, as opposed to an "income" tax so that people like him actually would have to pay just for being "rich". But, of course, THAT will never happen.
Hey, Stilt, I didnt know you were down south from me in TEJAS! Our heat wave finally gave way to some much needed rain, hope you get some soon!
@John the Econ- Yep, Warren Buffet is now old (and untrustworthy) news. His piece about his "super-rich friends" has nothing to do with the working families and small businesses which manage to cobble together $250,000 in a year. A lot of the so-called "loopholes" he'd like to eliminate are really incentives to get people to invest their money, which is (surprise!) good for the economy and probably why the rates were assigned that way in the first place.
@Colby- If Stupid was oil, it would be so plentiful that gas stations would pay us when we fill up, just to help get rid of the stuff.
@Andrew- Not sure if Warren will make it into the strip or not. But hey, there's only so many times I can show Barry eating ice cream and golfing for the next 10 days...
@John the Econ (two above)- I agree with everything you say, with the sole exception of referring to Obama's "Millionaire's Tax." It's "Millionairesandbillionaires Tax." He doesn't know that it isn't one word.
@Pryorguy- I live close to Dallas, and we've only had one day under 100 (when it hit 96) since June 9th. We've also just broken our longest streak of days where it doesn't get below 80 at night. Toasty! So we're really looking forward to the pitter-patter of wet drops hitting the sidewalk that aren't just sweat.
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