My Ronny Can Do Anything

Or; "Oh Ronny, If Only We Had Your Steady Hand

My goodness gracious, is Peggy Noonan on drugs?

Does she have an abuse problem?



We brought this up a few weeks ago, and, again, yesterday, in her Murdoch Street Journal column, she's all over the place, the wine swishing out of the glass with her sweeping arm motions, dissing - again - President Obama, in a greatest hits tribute to the Right Wing Freak Show.

And, of course, as the #1 Ronald Reagan Groupie, she brings her sweetheart, love bunny touchstone to the forefront, letting us all know that, according to her, if only we had Ronny's steady hand to guide us today, the world (well, her world) would be Shangri La.

In her "Neither a Hedgehog Nor a Fox: The unbearable lightness of Obama's administration", she opens with;

Such impressions—coolness, slightness—can come to matter only if they capture or express some larger or more meaningful truth. At the moment they connect, for me, to something insubstantial and weightless in the administration's economic pronouncements and policies. The president seems everywhere and nowhere, not fully focused on the matters at hand. He's trying to keep up with the news cycle with less and less to say.

It's the "Obama is too cool" thing, again.

And, too busy.

Mr. Obama likes to say presidents can do more than one thing at a time, but in fact modern presidents are lucky to do one thing at a time, never mind two. Great forces are arrayed against them.

See, Obama is supposed be more like those Republican Presidents of the past, just chillin' out, not getting too worked up about punching the time clock, just, kind of, go at, in a nice soft pace.

I guess that is the impression you get of how the job should be, if you happen to be a speechwriter for a President in his mid-to-late 70's, and in the early stages of dementia (but we know, in her heart, Little Miss Peggy was much more than just a speechwriter to her Ronny).

With naps built into Ronny's schedule, we can see how Peggy must think Obama is too busy.



And, in her first salute to the Right Wing Freak Show, in their unending meme of Obama's use to the teleprompter, Little Miss Peggy has to dwell on that, just a bit (well, actually, more than just a bit), and lets us know her Ronny didn't need a teleprompter, and could tell jokes better than Obama;

This in part is why the teleprompter trope is taking off. Mr. Obama uses it more than previous presidents. No one would care about this or much notice it as long as he showed competence, and the promise of success. Reagan, if memory serves, once took his cards out of his suit and began to read them at a welcoming ceremony, only to realize a minute or so in that they were last week's cards from last week's ceremony. He caught himself and made a joke of it. One was reminded of this the other day when Mr. Obama's speech got mixed up with the Irish prime minister's. Things happen. But the teleprompter trope has taken off: Why does he always have to depend on that thing?

There is a new Web site where the teleprompter shares its thoughts in a breathless White House diary. It's bummed that it has to work a news conference next week instead of watching "American Idol," it resents being dragged to L.A. in Air Force One's cargo hold "with the more common electronic equipment." It also Twitters: "We are in California! One of the interns gave my panels a quick scrub and I'm ready to prompt for the day." And: "Waiting for my boss's jokes to get loaded for Leno!"

Index cards ... Teleprompter ...Eh!

Maybe it's the drugs, or the wine, but Little Miss Peggy then comes down with amnesia, defending The Bush Grindhouse, in particular, the war crime-committing Vice President, Dick Cheney.

Mr. Obama's second job is America's safety at home and in the world. Dick Cheney this week warned again of future terrorism and said Mr. Obama's actions have left us "less safe." White House press secretary Robert Gibbs reacted with disdain. Mr. Cheney is part of a "Republican cabal." "I guess Rush Limbaugh was busy." This was cheap.

[Snip]

Mr. Cheney's remarks, presented in a cable interview, looked political and were received as partisan. The fact is he was wrong and right, wrong in that a subject so grave demands a well documented and thoughtful address.

[Snip]

But Mr. Cheney was, is, right in the most important, and dreadful, way. We live in the age of weapons of mass destruction, and each day more people and groups come closer to getting and deploying them. "Man has never developed a weapon he didn't eventually use," said Reagan, without cards, worrying aloud in the Oval Office.

What can be used will be used. We are a target. Something bad is going to happen—don't we all know this? Are we having another failure of imagination?

Little Miss Peggy must have bought the subscription series of the Bush Legacy Project, since she is pitching the "Bush (and Cheney) kept us safe" thing - again.

Yeah, as pointed out, roundly, they kept us safe - after September 11th.

See, and again, perhaps the drugs, or wine, Little Miss Peggy has forgotten how The Commander Guy, and his henchmen cronies, lied, manipulated and altered the intelligence, so as to go on fearmongering, raising the Terror levels, most vigorously, whenever one of their many scandals was hitting the front pages, or a big vote in Congress was coming up.

And, Ronny kept us safe, without a teleprompter, or index cards.

All Ronny had to do was, sigh, "worry aloud".

I don't know, we get the feeling, perhaps with an empty wine bottle knocked on its' side, the little bottle of her prescription nearby, the wine left in her glass still swishing around, spilling over the edge, as Little Miss Peggy throws in the CD player, the Luther Barnes classic, and sings along, substituting the word "God", with "Ronny".

Her Ronny can do anything.

Luther Barnes, and the Red Budd Gospel Choir - My God Can Do Anything

My God Can Do Anything - Luther Barnes- Church Mix 3





Bonus Little Miss Peggy

Kevin Baker: The Magic Reagan - More misguided arguments for his greatness

Blue Texan - Peggy Noonan: At Least Bush Kept Us Safe, Except For That Whole 9/11 Thing

Bob Cesca: No Attacks Since When?

We Already Know What He Was Thinking - Us vs. Them

Noonan Gives Palin, McCain A "Full Detroit"

For Peggy Noonan, Next Stop, Willoughby!

Tweety vs. Ari - It's A Saddam Hussein ... Saddam Hussein ... Saddam Hussein Kind of World!

God, it was right on cue, with our post earlier today, on Puckered Lips, Mr. Sycophant, Mike Allen, writing about the Bush Cronies spinning the spin.

There he was, looking like, oh, I don't know, a guy that has slept in his suit for a few days, former Bush Grindhouse Liarperson #1, Ari Fleischer, squaring off with Tweety, on "Hardball" today.



I hope to see the transcript tonight, for Liarperson Ari threw out some whoppers.

As the shouting match began, with Tweety pressing him to defend The Commander Guy, Liarperson Ari threw the 2003 autopilot on and just started babbling "Saddam Hussein ... Saddam Hussein ... Saddam Hussein" and "Bush Kept Us Safe ... Bush Kept Us Safe ... Bush Kept Us Safe ...."

And why I want the transcript is to get the phrasing, the words, absolutely correct.

Liarperson Ari said, and I have this mostly correct;

"I think that Barack Obama should say thank you every day, that he inherited a world without Saddam Hussein in it ..."

Say What?

Is this the new meme?

That we all, not just Obama, but every single American citizen, should bow down to The Commander Guy, because we how have a world without Saddam Hussein in it?

WOW!

That's really spinning that Aug 6th, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing memo.

As the segment wore on, right to the very end, it turned into a hot, cat-pissing, shouting-over-each-other slugfest, Liarperson Ari going, again-and-again with "Saddam Hussein ... Saddam Hussein ... Saddam Hussein" and "Bush Kept Us Safe ... Bush Kept Us Safe ... Bush Kept Us Safe ...." - 

And a curse on you Tweety for licking your wounds, instead of going for the knock-out punch, when Liarperson Ari said;

"After September 11, having been hit once, how can we take a chance that Saddam might not strike again ..."

They - The Bush Grindhouse Cronies - are still trying to sell the discredited bullshit of Saddam Hussein being behind the Sept. 11th attacks?

Liarperson Ari also denied that "they" ever said "Saddam Hussein ... Saddam Hussein ... Saddam Hussein" and "Bush Kept Us Safe ... Bush Kept Us Safe ... Bush Kept Us Safe ...." would attack us with nuclear weapons, which, to his credit, Tweety hit him over the head with the Cheney-Condi Mushroom Cloudapalooza..

You can watch the Steel Caged Match of Tweety vs. Liarperson Ari here

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Memo to Liarperson Ari, Mike Allen, Dana Perino, Dan Bartlett and all the other cronies, oh, please, please, keep that one in there ... As all you nitwits go around pumping up the failed presidency, please keep pushing Saddam Hussein was behind Sept. 11th ... It will be a short selling season on that legacy thing ... 

You can always sneak out of the room, while the gut-wrenching laughter is at full tilt.


Bonus Liarperson Ari - Tweety Riffs

Pareene: Ari Fleischer Battles Chris Matthews, Calls Him "Shameful" And "Disingenuous" (VIDEO)

Sam Stein: Ari Fleischer Battles Chris Matthews, Calls Him "Shameful" And "Disingenuous" (VIDEO)

Alan Colmes: Defending Bush Is Hard

Krup: Chris Matthews Tears Ari Fleischer A Ginormous New One

Joan Walsh: Ari Fleischer's big failure

Mike Allen Forgets To Add Himself To The List

Like the old Life Cereal commerical (with a twist), the PartyofNoicans know they can reach out to The Politico's Mike Allen.

"Let's get Mikey, he prints anything!"

He was probably so excited, jumping with glee, that the cronies of the Bush Grindhouse gave him another meme to push, that Allen forgot to disclose that he has been a long-time member of the team

Allen, today, cheerleads the on-going Bush Legacy Project

No quit: the campaign to boost Bush

Even though Bush is keeping quiet in Texas before heading out on a lucrative speaking tour, an informal network of former aides is keeping his views in the political bloodstream, defending his legacy in TV appearances and backgrounding reporters about his record. 

Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer calls the Bush pundits “a loose confederation of people united in our belief in what President Bush did, and we’re freer now to talk about some things than we used to be — good and bad.”

Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer calls the Bush pundits “a loose confederation of people united in our belief in what President Bush did, and we’re freer now to talk about some things than we used to be — good and bad.” 

The Bush defense forces include Fleischer; former press secretary Dana Perino; Bush political czar Karl Rove, who has contracts with Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek; economics guru Tony Fratto; the prolific Peter Wehner, former director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives; and the graceful speechwriter Michael Gerson, who writes an opinion column for The Washington Post.

The former aides are armed with many of the same arguments that they tried out on reporters when they strolled the hallways of the West Wing.

Can't you just see Allen, at his keyboard, thinking only quixotically, about those brave dwarfs, finks, phonies and frauds, attempting to prop up and spin the abysmal failure of The Commander Guy, his chest swelling with pride when it pops into his head "The former aides are armed with many of the same arguments that they tried out on reporters when they strolled the hallways of the West Wing."

No doubt, he sees himself strolling the hallways, as an equal, of course, one of the team.



Take a look at a sample of a Media Matter search for "Mike Allen";

Spinonymous sources: Time's Allen granted anonymity to White House sources hyping Bush's "recovery plan"

News analysis or GOP "fact sheet"? Mike Allen's Time column stitched together from Republican talking points

On CNN, Politico's Allen defends McCain response to "bitch" question about Clinton: "[W]hat Republican voter hasn't thought that? What voter in general hasn't thought that?"

Politico's Allen repeats RNC ad verbatim, doesn't report Obama response

And it's nice to see that Dana Perino still has her "glass-half-filled" optimism in check;

“Communications-wise, this tidal wave is going to have to wash on over everybody,” said Perino, Bush’s last press secretary. “We do what we can, and we believe that history will get it right in the end.”

Back, nearly two-years ago, Oliver Willis noted Allen with "He Loves Conservative Blogs, Pundits"

And, Glenn Greenwald, last year, offered this, in his "The right-wing Politico cesspool";

Allen recently conducted an "interview" with George Bush that was so vapid and sycophantic that the normally polite Dan Froomkin of The Washington Post detailed the "questions" Allen posed and then asked rhetorically: "Has there ever been a more moronic interview of a president of the United States than the one conducted yesterday by Mike Allen?"

And recently, from Matthew Yglesias's Note, Mike Allen Fans Flag Non-Story

Naturally, it got its Drudge link. All for a story about nothing. Allen’s response is, I think, the most infuriating. Everyone knows that Mike Allen is an important political reporter. His morning “Playbook,” in particular, helps set the agenda for the whole next day of moronic political buzz. When he writes up a stupid story, he’s not passively predicting that people will be buzzing about it, he’s helping to make it happen.

I am a bit surprised Allen didn't include Nicole Wallace, one of the former Bush Grindhouse mouthpieces, in his line-up of the Crony All-Stars.

Last week, in homage to Allen, Wallace wallowed, and had a doozy, ripping on Obama for picking on Rush Limbaugh.

The Trouble With Operation Rushbo

They are so happy that we’re talking about something other than Wall Street’s “gag me with a spoon” reaction to the administration’s economic policies.

[Snip}

They are making a villain. Obama relies on a villain to execute his highly effective communications strategy. Rail against an enemy, assign blame to this villain for everything that’s gone wrong in America, and then position himself as the only one with the correct skills and adequate morals to take on this villain. It’s worked well for him, so far. Hillary Clinton was a perfect villain in the primaries.

Then, Obama moved on to the general election. McCain didn’t make a very good villain. The whole war hero thing got in the way, so his team came up with a better villain: George W. Bush. Obama talked about President Bush so much that days would go by when he wouldn’t mention his opponent. He strode into office on a message of hope and change, but his demonization of Bush was unprecedented in focus and ferocity.

[Snip}

Politically speaking, Republicans are in the wilderness, and we know it. I’ve likened our status to the early weeks of an American Idol season. Many of our performances in these early months after our defeat last November will be off-key and lacking in polish.

Emulating, to a capital "T", our boy Allen, Wallace, if you read the piece, leaves out some crucial facts and information.

Like, The Cheeseburger That Sweats bellowing into his microphone (well, any microphone), that he hopes Obama fails.

I'm sure Allen was quite proud of her.

And, we're fairly certain, that the PartyofNoicans has Allen's direct number, for when they have a meme to push.

Perhaps they've even set it to music, say, the "Ghostbusters Song".

If there's something to rearrange
in your news or print
Who ya gonna call?
Mike Allen

If there's something truthful
and it don't look good
Who ya gonna call?
Mike Allen

If you're making up things
running through your head
Who can ya call?
Mike Allen

An miserable meme
That has to be fed
Who ya gonna call?
Mike Allen

I ain't afraid of no lies
I ain't afraid of no spin

Who ya gonna call?
Mike Allen

If ya need to moan
pick up the phone
and call
Mike Allen

Bonus Allen Acquiescence

Corrente: What Mike Allen considers a "tip"

Joe Sudbay (DC): The Bush Team "united in our belief in what President Bush did" stands by their man

emptywheel: Mike Allen’s Punditry Ether

Think Progress: Texas Legislature To Honor ‘Dynamic Texan’ Bush For Advancing American ‘Safety and Prosperity’

Mister Sandman ... Or, Is Dick Cheney Keyser Soze?

Think Progress has the scoop ...

Did Cheney nod off during Bush’s farewell address?

Last night during PBS’s coverage of President Bush’s farewell address to the nation, for a brief moment, the camera panned to Vice President Cheney, who appeared to momentarily doze off ...

And, this would not, hardly, be the first time





Let's not forget, in the movie 'The Unsual Suspects', Agent Kujan observes;

First day on the job, you know what I learned? How to spot a murderer. Let's say you arrest three guys for the same killing. You put them all in jail overnight. The next morning, whoever's sleeping is your man. You see, if you're guilty, you know you're caught, you get some rest, you let your guard down.

Hmmm ...

He's always been pegged as Darth Vader ...

What if ... What if .. All this time, Dick Cheney is really ... Keyser Soze?

Keyser Soze (The Story)


Cue the music, Maestro!

The exiting VP has some "Z's" to catch ...

Mr Sandman - The Chordettes

Hallelujah

We've seen (and heard) the word "hero" tossed around, particularly during the past eight-years, like Bernie Madoff sales pitches, sometimes given to someone truly deserving, more often, bestowed to some dwarf, fink, phony or fraud.

Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger.



Hero!

Major fucking hero!

Big-Time Mr. Clutch!

Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger is the pilot, of U.S. Airways Flight 1549, that made the unscheduled landing in the Hudson River today.



Everyone on the plane is alive tonight, 155 survivors.

In the coming days, 154 people are going to tattoo "Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger - Major Fucking Hero" on their lips.

And, they will be singing this song as they do it (and everyday for the rest of their lives);

Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen




In the Small Potatoes Department, The Commander Guy hijacked the airwaves this evening, for the television component of the Bush Legacy Project.

Pure bullshit.

And, to note, he showed exactly how small a person he is.

He made absolutely no statement, no reference, no nothing to the Hudson River Plane Crash today.

No best wishes, no "Thank God", almost as if it was competition for his sales job, that it encroached on his ownership, his copyright of September 11th and New York City, and his faux heroism.

Or maybe we're judging that too early ...

He may wait five days, and they do a fly over of Hudson River, you know, to show he was engaged and compassionate.

Like we said the other night - The President of Shitdom!

Bonus Links

Great Riff by Spencer Ackerman - Al Qaeda Uses Birds to Down Civilian Airliner

No More Mister Nice Blog: PLANE CRASH IN THE HUDSON RIVER

NYT City Room: Updates From Plane Rescue in Hudson River

Dan Frommer: U.S. Airways Crash Rescue Picture: Citizen Journalism, Twitter At Work


Editor's Note: The Aunt made out A-OK at the Doc's today ... Whip-Smart, crackerjack Rheumatologist carried the day and all is well ... Should be back in the saddle with posting tomorrow.

"Nothing Lost, Mr. Christian!"

Spoiler Alert!

If you have never seen the absolute riveting movie, ''The Long Good Friday', then don't watch this video

The Long Good Friday...the fantastic end! Good Quality




"Shut up you long streak of paralyzed piss ..."

I only wish someone, anyone one of the assembled media at yesterday's final press conference with The Commander Guy, stood up and fired that back at him.

And, it would have been extra bonus points for Helen Thomas to do it.

Showing his bravery, he completely snubbed the veteran reporter, perhaps one of the very, very few who actually asked the opposite kind of questions lobbed at him by Jeff Gannon.

Perhaps, flashing back to his old drinking days, the "Compassionate Conservative" was all over the place, taking no blame, no signs of remorse, remarking only that the "Mission Accomplished" banner, and some of his rhetoric, were, perhaps, disappointments.

And, right down to the end, he showed off his intellectual prowess, referring to the Coast Guard pilots who rescued the citizens of New Orleans (no thanks to The Bush Grindhouse), as "drivers".

Drivers!

Now there's a real "Commander-In-Chief" moment ... Perhaps he should have stuck around, and fulfilled more of his National Guard service.

Maybe then he would know the difference between a "pilot" and a "driver"

While this piece of turd believes he has the record to take a victory lap, right in front of him was the evidence of just how insignificant he, and his Presidency, has become.

The Bush Grindhouse had to get interns to fill the last two rows (out of seven total) of the press room, to make it look full.

As Bob Hoskin's Harold Shand scornfully mocks the American gangsters, we borrow;

"Look at you ... The President of the United States ... of shitdom!"


Bonus Commander Guy Low Lights

Attaturk: Look, we’re not nostalgic

Andrew Sullivan: A Confession Of Sorts

Dana Milbank: Where Some See Mistakes, He Sees Disappointments

Kathy: Bush Says the World Still Respects U.S. Moral Authority

Matt Corley: Krauthammer: Bush ‘took a shoe for the country.’

David Neiwert: Bush has a peculiar way of admitting to his mistakes

Gregg Levine: Bush’s Final Presser: Redefining Success, One Rooftop Rescue at a Time

Our Ignorant Dolt of the Week ... Karl Rove!

Yes, we're a day, or two late with it ...

Partly due to the need to be lazy yesterday, and, as usual, there were a few choice candidates in the running of our weekly IDOTW.

Like, how can you ignore the still-on-going saga of the Illinois governor?

This is absolutely hysterical, unless you happen to live in Illinois, in which case, I suspect, doctors, and chiropractors, are doing a booming business, treating the citizens in the Land of Lincoln for severe cringing.

The Senate Republicans certainly showed IDOTW mettle, carrying the GOP flag for busting unions, submarining the bailout of The Big Two.

Even The Commander Guy made a late run at it, sneaking off for his Mission Accomplished Victory Tour in Baghdad, only to be shown his sub-20's ratings aren't limited to this country.

That message delivered to him in the form of two thrown shoes.

But in the end, it was hard to ignore the Turd Blossom.

Now, you can make an argument, that Bush's Brain (yeah, I know, an oxymoron), should be grandfathered to the status of Grand Ayatollah of Ignorant Dolts, much as we have done with the Ultimate Pinhead, Bill O'Reilly (Happy Holiday, there, Bill'o!).

But since he's sticking his grubby nose in a lot of places, we'll keep him in the field-of-play, for now.

Let's see, what heights did the Son-of-the-Golden-Cock-Ring reach to, to snatch that IDOTW title ...

Well, for one, he is threatening to muck up the waters, looking to continue to pull strings, and go to battle against the incoming President Obama, on his choice of Attorney General.

Looking back at what he has left in his wake, I find it abstruse that the Congressional Republicans would want him to take the helm of anything, to have him give them anything, even the time-of-day, which, you would have to double-check, to see if it was legit, or if it was smear.

I mean, Jesus, Cheney, of all people, warned the Congressional Republicans to get off their asses, get a glove, get in the game, otherwise they will cement the GOP as "the party of Herbert Hoover".

Oh yeah, related to that, he also got together with the other idiot, O'Reilly, to blow kisses, back-and-forth, how the media is in the tank for Obama, that all the troubles we have now - the devastated economy, global warming, escalating unemployment, a melted-down Wall Street, are all being overplayed by the media, to make Obama look good.

There's also the above-mentioned Commander Guy, and how Rove is spearheading reviving/rebuilding/creating/purchasing/pulling-out-of-thin-air, The Bush Grindhouse legacy.

Extremely arduous task, no doubt, but you just gotta roll up your sleeves, and get to it, one thrown shoe at a time.

All good IDOTW things, but where we dump the bucket of Gatorade over him, is his call for a new Republican day.

In the Murdoch rag last week, Rove penned 'How the GOP Should Prepare for a Comeback', and, if it is an actual report, or certified policy paper, I suspect the subtitle to it would be "The Wide, White World of Karl Rove".

He, essentially, repackages the last eight-years, looks to steal a few things from the Democrats, calls on Newt Gingrich to open up some new Republican Brownshirt Camps, capture the youth vote, and this gem;

Finally, ideas are always the most important currency of politics and never more so than after a party loses. The relationship between GOP policymakers and conservative policy thinkers should be strengthened.

Déjà vu, anyone?

Like the the PNAC, and AEI, didn't have enough of a say, helping the Bush Grindhouse lie us into a war.

No where, in his grand plans, does the Rove call for the Republicans to become diverse.

Pitch a big tent, for sure, but make sure we have the same gatekeepers, and lets keep the party for us, not for "them".

No Karl Rove.

The only thing you need to prepare for, is to walk up to the podium, and collect The Garlic's "Ignorant Dolt of the Week" award.

Something tells me, this will be the first, of many to come.


Bonus Rove IDOTW Riffs

Digby: New Strategery Same As The Old Strategery

Wonkette: Karl Rove: Everything Is Awesome For Republicans!

Amanda Terkel and Matt Corley: Karl Rove's sly deal with Fox ...The GOP mastermind is billed as a top campaign analyst for the cable news network. But he has his fingerprints all over John McCain's White House bid

Ed Secretary Spellings On Turning Down Date With Rove: "He Was So Inept And Inartful"

"Can we have our $40,000 back?"

Karl Rove, Living In An Etch-A-Sketch Kind of World