We read the boring stuff so you don't have to! Some of my favorite lines, and a few of the them are jaw-dropping, from the New York Times Sunday Magazine on Obama's learning curve:

"Running against Clinton’s wife, Obama was the anti-Clinton. Now he hopes, in a way, to be the second coming of Bill Clinton. Because, in the end, it’s better than being Jimmy Carter."

“We’re all a lot more cynical now,” one aide told me. The easy answer is to blame the Republicans, and White House aides do that with exuberance. But they are also looking at their own misjudgments, the hubris that led them to think they really could defy the laws of politics. “It’s not that we believed our own press or press releases, but there was definitely a sense at the beginning that we could really change Washington,” another White House official told me. “ ‘Arrogance’ isn’t the right word, but we were overconfident.”

"That’s a refrain heard inside the White House as well: it’s a communication problem. The first refuge of any politician in trouble is that it’s a communication problem, not a policy problem. If only I explained what I was doing better, the people would be more supportive. Which roughly translates to If only you people paid attention, you wouldn’t be kicking me upside the head."

"It seems there’s an ideological rigidity [ with Obama] that the American people did not sense."

"But in politics, theater matters, whether it should or not, a lesson Obama keeps relearning, however grudgingly. His decision to redecorate the Oval Office was criticized as an unnecessary luxury in a time of austerity, no matter that it was paid for by private funds. On the campaign trail, he thought it was silly to wear a flag pin, as if that were a measure of his patriotism, until his refusal to wear a flag pin generated distracting criticism and one day he showed up wearing one. Likewise, he thought it was enough to pray in private while living in the White House, and then a poll showed that most Americans weren’t sure he’s Christian; sure enough, a few weeks later, he attended services at St. John’s Church across from Lafayette Square, photographers in tow."

"Insulation is a curse of every president, but more than any president since Jimmy Carter, Obama comes across as an introvert, someone who finds extended contact with groups of people outside his immediate circle to be draining. He can rouse a stadium of 80,000 people, but that audience is an impersonal monolith; smaller group settings can be harder for him."

"He was subdued during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, when he found himself largely powerless. Other presidents took refuge at Camp David, but Michelle Obama has told dinner guests that her husband does not care for it all that much, because he is an urban guy."    

"Perhaps the more important historical pattern to consider is this one: The last four presidents who failed to win a second term were all challenged in their own party."

"Still, for all the second-guessing, what you do not hear in the White House is much questioning of the basic elements of the program — Obama aides, liberal and moderate alike, reject complaints from the right that the stimulus did not help the economy or that health care expands government too much, as well as complaints from the left that he should have pushed for a bigger stimulus package or held out for a public health care option."

"Obama is preaching patience in an impatient age. One prominent Democratic lawmaker told me Obama’s problem is that he is not insecure — he always believes he is the smartest person in any room and never feels the sense of panic that makes a good politician run scared all the time..."

"But would he jeopardize re-election absent an immediate crisis? The choice may confront him soon after the midterms when his bipartisan fiscal commission reports back by Dec. 1 with plans to tame the national deficit with a politically volatile menu of unpalatable options, like scaling back Medicare and Social Security while raising taxes. Obama also anticipates putting immigration reform, another divisive issue fraught with political danger, back on the table. “If the question is, Over the next two years do I take a pass on tough stuff,” he told me, “the answer is no.” 

"They are more optimistic about 2012 than they are about 2010, believing the Tea Party will re-elect Barack Obama by pulling the Republican nominee to the right. They doubt Sarah Palin will run and figure Mitt Romney cannot get the Republican nomination because he enacted his own health care program in Massachusetts. If they had to guess today, some in the White House say that Obama will find himself running against Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor." 

"Obama expressed optimism to me that he could make common cause with Republicans after the midterm elections."

"At bottom, this president is still a mystery to many Americans. During the campaign, he sold himself — or the idea of himself — more than any particular policy, and voters filled in the lines as they chose. He was, as he said at the time, the ultimate Rorschach test."

"Now the lines are being filled in further. With each choice Obama makes, he further defines himself for better or worse in Americans’ minds. He says he knows where he is going and is gathering momentum despite the hurdles ahead. “I start slow, but I finish strong.”

"He will have to, if the history he is writing is to turn out the way he prefers.   [Amazing this is how the NYT finishes the piece, I think they've lost all hope!]    

Dan Rather is dumb, very, very dumb.

Rahm Causes a Feeding Frenzy

The MSM can't quite seem to let themselves blame Obama for his failures with healthcare, and certainly can't be a problem with his liberal agenda, so let's go after the aide who is easiest to blame...chief of staff Rahm Emanuel! By all accounts, friends and enemies agree, he is a foul-mouthed, hot-tempered jackass who may be a spawn of the devil and walks around in the Congressional gym showers jabbing his finger in the chests of showering men who oppose healthcare. He is also the architect of the Democrats regaining control of the House. Emanuel argued, correctly, that Democrats can win those moderate districts if they allow their candidates to run and vote as fiscal conservatives and social moderates. Pelosi made this deal with the devil, I wonder what she thinks of it these days, and now she is Speaker of the House trying to push a liberal agenda on the numerous blue dog Democrats who make up her majority. Maybe it was the blue dog Democrats who made the deal with devil, either way the Dems will be be unhappy come election day 2010. Rahm may not be around to help the Democrats pick up the pieces.

Okay, back to Rahm's critics. It has been amazing the speed the liberal media has gathered in feeding on Emanuel and he isn't even dead yet. The Washington Post has had dueling articles as to how important and reasonable Rahm is, which caused David Broder to explode on the opinion page. Over at the NY Times and HuffPo are adding their own whacks to the carcass. Now The Hill, a rather serious media outlet, is eying the "chatter" over Emanuel and is wondering what it means. The conclusions offered by the legislators, politicians, and intellectuals is bit startling, Obama's White House is beginning to fall apart. Maybe Rush is right, the Democrats are in even bigger disarray than anyone suspected.

Ahhh, rats!

CBS was right, apparently. Pakistan did not capture one of the most annoying terrorists Adam Gadahn. He is an American who converted to Islam and now makes sure Osama bin Laden's video appeals to Westerners are grammatically correct and media savvy!

Gadahn was indicted in 2006 by a federal grand jury in Orange County, California on charges of "providing material support to Al Qaeda by appearing in videos on five different occasions between Oct. 27, 2004, and Sept. 11, 2006, with the intent 'to betray the United States.'"

Gadahn update #2

Now CBS news is claiming that Adam Gadahn was not picked up by Pakistan intelligence agents. They are reporting that a top level Taliban official known as Abu Yahya, not Gadahn. Reportedly Yahya was born in Pennsylvania, making him an American, hence the confusion. Guess we will have to see how this plays out because some news outlets are still reporting it as Gadahn.

Gadahn update

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air and Rick Moran from Right Wing Nut House point out that the US does not have an extradition treaty with Pakistan and unless Adam Gadahn is in US custody we may not get to try him on treason. Of course, if Pakistani intelligence forces are "working" with Mr. Gadahn he may want to be turned over to the US and the more gentle auspices of Obama! But if Gadahn is as truly annoying as media reports say, al Qaeda may have turned him over because they were tired of him, then maybe he should stay with the Pakistanis. Either way it is suspicious that Pakistan intelligence agents were able to pick him up fairly easily in light of the rumors of the close ties between Pakistan intelligence and the Taliban.

One for the good guys!

Adam Gadahn the American born al Qaeda spokesman has been captured in Pakistan. Gadahn, also known as "Azzam the American," had just released a new al Qaeda video calling on all "honest and vigilant Muslims" to go on shooting sprees against Americans a la Nidal Hasan at Ft. Hood. Gadahn had a million dollar bounty on his head and has long been on Washington's most wanted list. He is the first American charged with treason since WWII.

Gadhan was born to a Jewish family and his father converted to Christianity shortly before birth and changed the family name from Pearlman to Gadhan while they were living in Oregon. The media is reporting that Gadhan was homeschooled in southern California while living on a goat farm and converted to Islam when he was 17. He went to Pakistan in 1998 to study Islam and tt was after 9/11 that Gadhan joined al Qaeda and went for proper terrorist training at camps in Afghanistan.

While I try to post primarily on foreign affairs this really caught my eye about Illinois politics. I had read somewhere else that Lech Walesa was coming to Chicago to appear on behalf of its Tea Party movement, this is unusual so I scoped around a bit. Turns out Walesa, hero of the Solidarity Movement in Poland, is indeed coming to Chicago and it is to campaign for Adam Andrzejewski. Andrzejewski is running for Governor of Illinois and has a pretty impressive story, an authentic American success story. He has wide support among the tea parties and seems to be making a real connection with Republican voters. Andrzejewski is calling for the usual, lower taxes, anti-GOP establishment, choice in education, but he has really resonated by calling for government transparency and considering the corruption in Illinois that should be a winner! Redstate has called him "politically numinous" and believes he has a chance of winning the GOP primary. I hope he has a shot at winning the governor's office and put the ax to the corruption in Illinois, it is a race I am going to watch.