Message #162259

[Harconen]

            Billionaire investor and informal Obama advisor and supporter Warren Buffet tells CNBC that investors see no clear plan coming from Washington and that is contributing to the nation’s economic difficulties. “And I think we’ve had, and it’s the nature of the political process somewhat, but we’ve had muddled messages and the American public does not know. They feel they don’t know what’s going on, and their reaction then is to absolutely pull back,” remarks Buffet. Obama’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, reacts defensively, saying no one should be surprised that “all of the problems that took many years to take hold haven’t necessarily been solved.” [1706, 1707]

            Amid criticism that Obama is unable to speak cogently in public without a teleprompter, reports surface that he uses the device not just for prepared speeches, but also for notes. That is, responses, and “talking points” are fed to Obama while he is answering questions. White House technicians are allegedly also working on a small computer device for him to place on the lectern. [1706]

            Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announces a $1 million scholarship program to help Palestinian students enroll in universities in the Middle East and the United States. Clinton says the program will allow students from the West Bank and Gaza to “compete along with students in other countries for the opportunity to further their academic training in America.” Neither Clinton nor Obama explain why U.S. tax dollars should go toward the education of students who have been raised to hate Americans. [1656]

            Dr. Orly Taitz, an attorney representing plaintiffs challenging Obama’s status to serve as president of the United States, meets Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on March 9 at a reception. Taitz manages to get to the microphone at the event and asks Justice Scalia if he will hear her case, in which she represents 9 state legislators and 120 military officers. Taitz later relates, “Scalia stated that it would be heard if I can get four people to hear it. He repeated, ‘you need four for the argument.’ I got a feeling that he was saying that one of these four (of the Supreme Court Justices) that call themselves constitutionalists went to the other side.” When Justice Scalia later autographs his book for her, Dr. Taitz asks, “Tell me what to do, what can I do, those soldiers (the plaintiffs) can be court-martialed for asking a legitimate question, who is the president, is he legitimate.” Justice Scalia responds, “Bring the case, I’ll hear it, I don’t know about the others.” The inference is that Justice Scalia and perhaps two others would be willing to hear the case, but one more is needed. (Four of the nine justices must agree to review the case or it is ignored.) The other Justices are John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas (who tend to follow the Constitution more strictly), Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter, John Paul Stevens (who tend to be more “activist” in loosely interpreting the Constitution), and Anthony Kennedy, who is often considered to be the swing vote on controversial issues. [1646]

            After almost two months of waiting for the promised “brilliant” economic plan by Secretary of the Treasury Geithner and not seeing evidence of any plan at all, the Intrade.com prediction market adds a “future” on whether Geithner would resign or be fired by the end of 2009. As of March 9, the odds are 22 per cent, with an eight per cent chance of Geithner not lasting beyond June 30. The magazine The Nation calls Geithner possibly “Obama’s biggest mistake.” [1621, 1652]

            Obama’s energy and climate change czar, Carol Browner, tells U.S. News and World Report the United States needs to use electricity in a more cost-effective way, and looks forward to “…a system where an electric company will be able to hold back some of the power so that maybe your air conditioner won’t operate at its peak, you’ll still be able to cool your house, but that’ll be a savings to the consumer. And so (we will be) giving people and companies a role in the management of how we use electricity.” Obama’s energy czar apparently will be “looking after” Americans by ensuring that their air conditioners lose power at the hottest time of the day; making those decisions for them is Browner’s way of “giving people and companies a role” in electricity management. [1744]

            It is reported that a former correspondent for CNN en Espanol, Mauricio Funes, is a presidential candidate in El Salvador. Funes is a member of the communist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). The U.S. State Department has lodged complaints against Funes for using photographs of Obama in his campaign. He considers himself to be “El Salvador’s Barack Obama” and uses his “Yes we can!” campaign theme. (For the record, Obama co-opted the phrase, “Si se puede!” from California union organizer Cesar Chavez.) [1625, 2611]

            After Obama remarks he would like to reach out to “moderates” in the Taliban, a spokesman for the terrorist group, Qari Mohammed Yousuf (who, unlike Obama, understands that the Taliban essentially has no moderates) responds, “This does not require any response or reaction for this is illogical. The Taliban are united, have one leader, one aim, one policy… I do not know why they are talking about moderate Taliban and what it means. If it means those who are not fighting and are sitting in their homes, then talking to them is meaningless. This really is surprising the Taliban.” The Taliban, in addition to believing that they are winning the war, think that an additional 17,000 troops sent by Obama will not be enough to defeat them. They further believe the United States will not be willing to make the financial or military commitments necessary to win. (One of the alleged “moderates” in the Taliban, Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, was released from the detention camp in Guantanamo in December of 2007. The United States handed him over to the Afghan government, which subsequently also released him. Rasoul changed his name to Mullah Abdullah Zakir and is now in charge of Taliban operations against U.S. and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan.) [1629, 1641]