reactions to the Opossum King

Is Obama's Great Seal illegal?

The Weekly Standard:

Did Obama break the law?

18 USC Sec. 713 ...
(a) Whoever knowingly displays any printed or other likeness of the great seal of the United States, or of the seals of the President or the Vice President of the United States, or the seal of the United States Senate, or the seal of the United States House of Representatives, or the seal of the United States Congress, or any facsimile thereof, in, or in connection with, any advertisement, poster, circular, book, pamphlet, or other publication, public meeting, play, motion picture, telecast, or other production, or on any building, monument, or stationery, for the purpose of conveying, or in a manner reasonably calculated to convey, a false impression of sponsorship or approval by the Government of the United States or by any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

(b) Whoever, except as authorized under regulations promulgated by the President and published in the Federal Register, knowingly manufactures, reproduces, sells, or purchases for resale, either separately or appended to any article manufactured or sold, any likeness of the seals of the President or Vice President, or any substantial part thereof, except for manufacture or sale of the article for the official use of the Government of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

Whether it's legal or not, it's ridiculous.

From NY Daily News:

Snarked John McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds, "I think we can all agree that we need presidential candidates that are serious enough not to play make-believe on the campaign trail."

"It's laughable, ridiculous, preposterous and revealing all at the same time," Bounds said.

The LA Times is downright snarky:

Just before the president of the United States makes an appearance at a speech, a usually tall, muscular person with a machine gun hanging under his suit coat quietly walks on stage and hangs the presidential seal on the podium front.

It's an impressive looking thing that conveys a sense of the power of the top elected office in the land and, indeed, the free world.

But Barack Obama's crowd has decided not to wait for any of the formalities like a presidential election, an inauguration or even a nomination, which he still hasn't actually officially won yet.

....

Some people might be inclined to make fun of a grown candidate who's against an imperial presidency but needs a really Great Seal before he even gets the official nomination. Maybe they'd suggest that as good as things look now from the city of big winds, maybe he's counting his eagles before they hatch.

A commenter on CNN:

Senator Obama, President wanna-be is going a bit far I think with his new campaign logo. His approval of this new "logo" tells this voter that he thinks he has it wrapped up, and has started packing his bags for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! The Presidential Seal is unique in itself, and is reserved for the sitting President and NOBODY else!

To authorize a close facsimile of the Official Presidential Seal and to appear as a candidate in front of it, simply put is shameful to say the least! Senator Obama should know better!!!!

Commenters at The Confluence:

He’s not a presidential candidate.
He just plays one on tv.

(Response):

that’s it exactly. I feel like I’m stuck in a really long very sad episode of the West Wing. I keep waiting for Toby to call bullsh** on Obama.

From NRO:

I See Your Lapel Pin, and Raise You a New Great Seal

Audacity defined: Changing the seal of the United States of America and inserting the "O" logo for the American flag....

....

I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of Obamerica...

Still, when all is said and done, the LA Times IMNSHO gets the award for best comment:

The seal's also got a terrifically impressive motto in Latin -- "Vero Possumus" -- which means "The possum speaks truthily."

BAhahahahahaha! Ha! Ha! (OK now my sides hurt....)

Of course, the kids who think being President is all about having the coolest brand think it's just tops. They particularly like the eagle motif, and think it's just yet more proof that Obama is the coolest thing ever, that he came up with the idea of an eagle clutching arrows. And the Latin!

By the way, possums are why people in rural areas cling to their guns - mean nasty little things with their ugly little teeth, not something you want on your porch eating your cat food. (Or your cat.)

election games

the civil war in the Democratic party:
Donna Brazile admits on CNN that her new plan for the "new" Democratic party involves "not needing" core Democratic constituencies. For some reason, even though people heard her say it - the transcript starts after that particular quote, right at the part where someone is asking her what the heck she means.

Not that it's really much of a secret to working class voters - or to the other core constituencies that Brazile intends to boot from the party. Of course when Obama means 'change', he means we are what needs to 'change'. Right? Unity means everyone is united in anger against America - meaning scapegoats standing in for America's sins. Right? Obama's "new kind of politics" means the novelty of seeing a Presidential candidate openly insulting America and its people - which is touted as "calling things the way they really are". (Of course, it's no way to govern - but who ever said Obama actually cared about governing? I mean, have you seen his voting record?)

The closest we have (yet) is the part right after the offensive statement - where she revises what she said:



Gary, IN:
Wolf Blitzer tries to get the mayor of Gary, IN to explain why he's holding on to the votes (the two obvious possibilities: 1. because he is trying to manipulate news coverage of Hillary's win, or 2. intention to tamper with votes.)

"judgement and leadership are not intuitive"

Former US ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV challenges Obama's attacks on Hillary Clinton, in an article that is primarily about what he calls "legitimate questions about Obama's judgment and naivete" (newsobserver.com, by way of Taylor Marsh):

President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell made it clear publicly and in their representations to Congress that the authorization was not to go to war but rather to give the president the leverage he needed to go to the United Nations to reinvigorate international will to contain and disarm Saddam Hussein, consistent with the resolutions passed at the time of the first Gulf War.

With passage of the resolution, the president did in fact achieve a U.N. consensus, and inspectors returned to Iraq. Hans Blix, the chief U.N. inspector, has said repeatedly that without American leadership there would have been no new inspection regime....

...The approach of tough diplomacy backed by the threat of military action was the correct one and it yielded exactly the desired results, a unanimously passed U.N. resolution and the capitulation of Saddam when he readmitted the inspectors.

The betrayal occurred not when the president was given the tools he needed to secure international support for inspections, but rather when Bush refused to allow the inspectors to complete their work and decided preemptively to invade, conquer and occupy Iraq.

I like that Hillary Clinton takes positions and makes tough choices. Sometimes she will be wrong - though it's not at all clear to me she was wrong here, nor do I think Obama would have voted any differently if he were actually required to take action, instead of just talking about taking action.

I believe Hillary is the only candidate who is both willing and able to get us out of Iraq. Good intentions are nice, but if Obama is already wilting - how can we expect him to be able to stand up to Republicans if he can't even stand up to Hillary?

And I do sincerely believe that there is only one reason Obama is continuing to be forcibly propped up - when Clinton is obviously, yes obviously the better candidate. That reason is the civil war in the Democratic party (via Tennessee Guerilla Women)