Obama's carousel of incompetence

From the American Spectator:

WASHINGTON -- According to the Gallup Poll, the Prophet Obama's job approval is now at its lowest since his coronation. It began at 70%. Now it is at 51%. Equally glum, his disapproval rating has climbed from 11% to 42%. So what about his golf game up there at Martha's Vineyard? From all I have been able to ascertain it is mediocre. In other words, Mr. Obama, you are no Dan Quayle. Vice President Quayle was a really superb golfer. Moreover, he ran a competent staff. Naturally it was smaller than Mr. Obama's, but it was competently run.

My belief, based on reports in the news and from my private network of seasoned agents and provocateurs, is that this White House is a carrousel of incompetence. How else do we explain the ravening push on all fronts, healthcare, the environment, fiscal reform, intelligence reform, and a foreign policy of humility and apology? Unsurprisingly, on every front the President is in trouble. Remember chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's, callous enjoiner, "Never let a serious crisis go to waste"? This White House is a serious crisis.

According to sources with whom I confer, the Obama White House is the most tightly controlled White House in years, with the President, Emanuel, and David Axelrod micromanaging practically everything. They compose what is called "the Politburo," and the news story waiting to be written is that their control is as stultifying as was Jimmy Carter's control of his White House. Stupendous failure is in the cards. ...

Read the rest here.

But I'm sure the Press will be completely objective

... and continue their hard-hitting reporting of the Obama administration. Apparently, a number of major news organizations -- the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Time, ABC News, NBC News, CNN, CBS News, to name a few -- were invited to socialize with White House staffers at last week's Fourth of July Hawaiian-themed luau bash (hey, you paid for it), on condition that everything was "off the record" and that they agree not to report on the event:

"You are being invited to attend this event as a guest. Blogging, Twittering or otherwise reporting on this event is not permitted. If you feel that you cannot agree to abide by these ground rules, please don't claim a ticket."

As the Gawker article notes,

There is a cosmic irony at work here: The party was "closed press." (Ha!) It was covered, under onerous restrictions, by a pool reporter—the Baltimore Sun's Paul West. West was ushered in by White House staffers for a mere 40 minutes, so he could record the president's remarks. He was kept in a pen so that he wouldn't run amok and interview someone. He shouted questions at Obama as he worked the rope line, which the president ignored. Then he was taken away. West wrote up his blindered account of the party and then e-mailed it to the White House press corps, many of whom were actually at the party, outside of the pen, hanging out with all the other guests. And then, because they had temporarily signed away the right to do their jobs in exchange for facetime with staffers, a few cold Stoudt's American Pale Ales, and some corn on the cob, their news organizations picked up that pool report and used it to tell their readers what happened at the party. This is how the press covers the White House.

At the very least, attending a "closed press" event such as this, and agreeing not to report on it while a member of the press assigned to cover the organization sponsoring the event, lends an appearance of impropriety. The impression to an outside observer is one of a cozy and incestuous relationship between the Press and the administration it's supposed to objectively and critically covering. Gee, and you wonder why the Press has a credibility problem.

Global Warming, Oval Office Edition

Via Ed Morrissey at HotAir, we learn that his Majesty has turned up the heat (literally) in the Oval Office:

Last week, Barack Obama caused quite a stir when he allowed himself to be photographed in the Oval Office without wearing a suit jacket, ending the Bush tradition of coat-and-tie for the West Wing. The New York Times reports on how Obama made that possible during a colder-than-usual Washington winter. All Obama did was turn up the thermostat to Hawaii hothouse levels:

The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat.

“He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, who occupies the small but strategically located office next door to his boss. “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”[emphasis added]

...

But wait! This can't be the same Obama who said when he was running for President:

“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,” Obama said.[emphasis added]

“That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen,” he added.
-- Barack Obama, May 2008

I guess when you have taxpayers paying your heating bill, you can set that thermostat as hypocritically high as you want. Maybe he's just following Al Gore's shining example. I guess it's all part of the "Change We Can Believe In."