Pirate's Cove

He literally created obstructionism by declaring that everyone hates his agenda. Because that’s what he does. Even on the few occasions he’s supposedly reached out (remember the “charm offensive”?) he’s coupled that with the same bitter, confrontational tone. And, no, I did not watch the his wish-list of partisan rancor, there’s no way I could take 45 minutes or so of him, and the NJ Devils were hell bent on losing to the Blues, but I can read a transcript

(NY Times) After five years of fractious political combat, President Obama declared independence from Congress on Tuesday as he vowed to tackle economic disparity with a series of limited initiatives on jobs, wages and retirement that he will enact without legislative approval.

Promising “a year of action” as he tries to rejuvenate a presidency mired in low approval ratings and stymied by partisan stalemates, Mr. Obama used his annual State of the Union address to chart a new path forward relying on his own executive authority. But the defiant “with or without Congress” approach was more assertive than any of the individual policies he advanced.

He’s essentially declared that he won’t work with Congress. So, the only difference between now and before is his openly declaring this during a State Of The Union speech. Because he’s been declaring this off and on since 2011. Doing it during the SOTU, though, was a direct shot that Mr. Obama, a supposed Constitutional scholar, will burn the Constitution in favor of a unilateral dictator-lite manner.

Furthermore, declaring that he won’t work with Congress gives Congress no reason to want to work with him. As it is, even his fellow Democrats in Congress typically want him to stay away during negotiations, as Obama tends to gum up the works. He’s a poor negotiator with, surprisingly for any politician, poor interpersonal people skills. He has no real network to the elected officials of either Party.

“I’m eager to work with all of you,” a confident Mr. Obama told lawmakers of both parties in the 65-minute nationally televised speech in the House chamber. “But America does not stand still — and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Building a contradiction into a pledge to work with Congress as poor leadership. Is anyone surprised in the least that Obama’s leadership skills have improved not a whit since his 2009 coronation?

The rest was mostly the typical Obama idiocy. While there were some nice points, such as the honoring of Army Ranger Cory Remsburg, an true hero, there were also lots of inaccuricies. And some like this

He touched on foreign policy, asserting that “American diplomacy backed by the threat of force” had forced Syria to give up chemical weapons and that “American diplomacy backed by pressure” had brought Iran to the negotiating table.

On Syria, it was, sadly, Soviet strongman Vladimir Putin who rescued Obama’s bacon, but the war still rages, and they haven’t actually given up their real WMD. As for Iran, the supposed gains were done by giving the house away. Per Iran, this deal essentially means nothing, that they can make a nuclear weapon at any time, and Team Obama refuses to release the text of the deal, meaning no one can see if Iran is full of it or the deal is super awesome for Iran.

But Mr. Obama’s message centered on the wide gap between the wealthiest and other Americans as he positioned himself as a champion of those left behind in the modern economy. “Those at the top have never done better,” he said. “But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled.

“The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by, let alone to get ahead,” he added. “And too many still aren’t working at all. So our job is to reverse these trends.”

Funny, because this is happening under Obama’s economic policies. He’s admitting his policies are terrible. Good thing he’s planning on making it worse.

He barely touched on his signature legislation, Obamacare, waiting til 40 minutes into his grandstanding. His yammering on “climate change” was typical Warmists idiocy. As I noted at WUWT

Obama: “Climate change is a fact. And when our children’s children look us in the eye…”

…they’ll wonder why a guy with a carbon footprint estimated at 41,000 tons, who sends his family and dogs off on separate flights for vacations in far off ritzy spots, who takes crosscountry flights to give 30 minute speeches, who keeps the White House at a toasty 77F, and who goes to the golf course every couple of weeks in a 17 vehicle motorcade has the cajones to lecture anyone.

Ted Cruzhttp://www.thepiratescove.us/wp-admin/post-new.php

The president’s taste for unilateral action to circumvent Congress should concern every citizen, regardless of party or ideology. The great 18th-century political philosopher Montesquieu observed: “There can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or body of magistrates.” America’s Founding Fathers took this warning to heart, and we should too.

Rule of law doesn’t simply mean that society has laws; dictatorships are often characterized by an abundance of laws. Rather, rule of law means that we are a nation ruled by laws, not men. That no one—and especially not the president—is above the law. For that reason, the U.S. Constitution imposes on every president the express duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

Obama doesn’t care. He’s from the Progressive school, what Jonah Goldberg terms “nice fascism”. He cares little for anything other than Obama. And if one vows to go it alone, to isolate themselves, they shouldn’t be surprised when that’s exactly what happens, and no one wants to play with him anymore.

Crossed at Right Wing News.