To illustrate the absurdity of all the Obama irrationality we have this from Gerald Baker at TimesOnline:

And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.

The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.

When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”

In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.

And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth - for the first time - to bring the light unto all the world.

He travelled fleet of foot and light of camel, with a small retinue that consisted only of his loyal disciples from the tribe of the Media. He ventured first to the land of the Hindu Kush, where the Taleban had harboured the viper of al-Qaeda in their bosom, raining terror on all the world.

And the Child spake and the tribes of Nato immediately loosed the Caveats that had previously bound them. And in the great battle that ensued the forces of the light were triumphant. For as long as the Child stood with his arms raised aloft, the enemy suffered great blows and the threat of terror was no more.

From there he went forth to Mesopotamia where he was received by the great ruler al-Maliki, and al-Maliki spake unto him and blessed his Sixteen Month Troop Withdrawal Plan even as the imperial warrior Petraeus tried to destroy it.

And lo, in Mesopotamia, a miracle occurred. Even though the Great Surge of Armour that the evil Bush had ordered had been a terrible mistake, a waste of vital military resources and doomed to end in disaster, the Child’s very presence suddenly brought forth a great victory for the forces of the light.

And the Persians, who saw all this and were greatly fearful, longed to speak with the Child and saw that the Child was the bringer of peace. At the mention of his name they quickly laid aside their intrigues and beat their uranium swords into civil nuclear energy ploughshares.

From there the Child went up to the city of Jerusalem, and entered through the gate seated on an ass. The crowds of network anchors who had followed him from afar cheered “Hosanna” and waved great palm fronds and strewed them at his feet.

In Jerusalem and in surrounding Palestine, the Child spake to the Hebrews and the Arabs, as the Scripture had foretold. And in an instant, the lion lay down with the lamb, and the Israelites and Ishmaelites ended their long enmity and lived for ever after in peace.

As word spread throughout the land about the Child’s wondrous works, peoples from all over flocked to hear him; Hittites and Abbasids; Obamacons and McCainiacs; Cameroonians and Blairites.

And they told of strange and wondrous things that greeted the news of the Child’s journey. Around the world, global temperatures began to decline, and the ocean levels fell and the great warming was over.

The Great Prophet Algore of Nobel and Oscar, who many had believed was the anointed one, smiled and told his followers that the Child was the one generations had been waiting for.

And there were other wonderful signs. In the city of the Street at the Wall, spreads on interbank interest rates dropped like manna from Heaven and rates on credit default swaps fell to the ground as dead birds from the almond tree, and the people who had lived in foreclosure were able to borrow again.

Black gold gushed from the ground at prices well below $140 per barrel. In hospitals across the land the sick were cured even though they were uninsured. And all because the Child had pronounced it.

And this is the testimony of one who speaks the truth and bears witness to the truth so that you might believe. And he knows it is the truth for he saw it all on CNN and the BBC and in the pages of The New York Times.

There’s more - click the link at the beginning of the post to read it all.

Barry may be losing the media here in America, but he sure has Der Spiegel in the bag

Anyone who saw Barack Obama at Berlin’s Siegessäule on Thursday could recognize that this man will become the 44th president of the United States. He is more than ambitious — he wants to lay claim to become the president of the world. (massive snip)

George W. Bush is yesterday, the Texas version of the arrogant world power. Obama is all about today — the “everybody really just wants to be brothers and save the world” utopia. As for us, we who sometimes admire and sometimes curse this somewhat anemic, pragmatic democracy, we will have to quickly get used to Barack Obama, the new leader of a lofty democracy that loves those big nice words — words that warm our hearts and alarm our minds.

Let’s allow ourselves to be warmed today, by this man at the Victory Column. Then we’ll take a further look.

The editorial by Gerhard Spörl, chief editor of DER SPIEGEL’s foreign desk, has it all. The idolatry of the Messiah as the savior of all the world, Bush Derangement Syndrome, insulting the South, the Barry Love, and, to end it off, a realization that Barry is all talk, and “what the hell does he really stand for?”

And the New York Times notices Barry’s sweeping rhetoric in a piece entitled Obama, Vague on Issues, Pleases Crowd in Europe

But he was vague on crucial issues of trade, defense and foreign policy that currently divide Washington from Europe and are likely to continue to do so even if he becomes president — issues ranging from Russia, Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan to new refueling tankers and chlorinated chickens, the focus of an 11-year European ban on American poultry imports.

That’s what Barry is about. He’s the kind of guy giving a presentation in a meeting who keeps going on and on and on, and everyone is thinking “can we get to the actual action plans, please?”

I have to mention this bit of slightly off subject BDS foolishness, if you will induldge me

Europeans admire Mr. Obama’s political skills, and welcome his apparent readiness to respect opposing points of view. For many here, that raises the prospect of a sharp break with the policies of the Bush administration, especially in its first term, when the United States chose to ignore the Geneva Conventions at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, rejected the Kyoto accord on global warming and invaded Iraq, starting a war that some of America’s European allies opposed.

Um, no. Clinton rejected it, as did the Democrat led Senate. Is it possible for the Credentialed Media to get it right? Also, most Americans were against the two massive wars started by Europeans, where we had to come and rescue Europe once they started.

But the Gun Toting Liberal says that Barry blew it.

But, let’s not forget, as Six Meat Buffet puts it, “A taxpayer funded Benetton campaign ad culminating in ditching a visit to US forces stationed in Germany.”

But, good news! Sister Toldjah reports on the Obama campaign using the Berlin stop to raise cash. I recieved the email myself this morning. But, Berlin wasn’t a campaign stop.

But, why did Barry snub the troops? No photo op allowed.

More: It gets better, as David Brooks chimes in on Barry’s sweeping rhetoric and vague ideas

When I first heard this sort of radically optimistic speech in Iowa, I have to confess my American soul was stirred. It seemed like the overture for a new yet quintessentially American campaign.

But now it is more than half a year on, and the post-partisanship of Iowa has given way to the post-nationalism of Berlin, and it turns out that the vague overture is the entire symphony. The golden rhetoric impresses less, the evasion of hard choices strikes one more.

Kumbaya, baby, kumbaya. Perhaps this could explain why so many of the younger crowd is not so thrilled and excited for the elections in November. Even the young folks, who are more entranced by yap yap then actual issues, are starting to get fed up.

Heh. Just caught this one on local TV here in Raleigh

Quote of the day

4:33 p.m.: The meeting between Obama and Wowereit lasts 20 minutes, during which the Berlin mayor asks the senator about integration strategies in the US. Obama then signs the city’s guestbook, which Wowereit has brought with him to the Hotel Adlon. He writes: “Thank you so much for this open-hearted welcome. Berlin is a symbol for the victory of hope over fear and that it is impossible to separate people in their pursuit of freedom.”

I reckon’ Barry won’t apply the same to Iraq, either.

As proven by the Credentialed Media. IBD - Putting Money Where Mouths Are: Media Donations Favor Dems 100-1

The New York Times’ refusal to publish John McCain’s rebuttal to Barack Obama’s Iraq op-ed may be the most glaring example of liberal media bias this journalist has ever seen. But true proof of widespread media bias requires one to follow an old journalism maxim: Follow the money.

Even the Associated Press — no bastion of conservatism — has considered, at least superficially, the media’s favoritism for Barack Obama. It’s time to revisit media bias.

True to form, journalists are defending their bias by saying that one candidate, Obama, is more newsworthy than the other. In other words, there is no media bias. It is we, the hoi polloi, who reveal our bias by questioning the neutrality of these learned professionals in their ivory-towered newsrooms.

Wait for it

An analysis of federal records shows that the amount of money journalists contributed so far this election cycle favors Democrats by a 15:1 ratio over Republicans, with $225,563 going to Democrats, only $16,298 to Republicans.

Read the whole thing.

Getting beyond the fawning, almost sexual idolatry in this story of Senator Neophyte

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama arrived in Berlin Thursday morning, kicking off the European leg of his overseas trip amid high expectations.

A column of black BMW and Mercedes-Benz cars ferried the candidate to a private meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Overhead, a police helicopter kept watch. Some 700 police have been deployed during the visit, which lasts through Friday morning.

I have to wonder how much CO2 that will generate.

On Wednesday, Merkel told reporters that she planned to talk about climate change and global free trade with Obama and made clear that Germany will stand by its refusal to send combat troops to southern Afghanistan.

I wonder if she will mention how much CO2 Barry is generating on his summer school trip, and how much will be generated with all the lights and electricity needed for his speech?

Later Thursday, Obama will meet with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at his office in the Foreign Ministry and then cap his day with an open-air speech before an expected crowd of at least 100,000 that his campaign has described as a “substantive address on U.S.-European relations.”

That Obama chose Berlin for his major address on this trip is no accident, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips. Both Presidents Kennedy and Reagan chose to make historic speeches here. They, of course, had already been elected, and their speeches were given on the front line of the Cold War at the iconic Brandenburg Gate.

Some might say he has some huzpah in attempting this, but, really, it is just a mark of Barry’s elitist streak, and the media is noticing, and do not seem particularly happy about it.

But, hey, we could spend months on Obama’s elitism, but, let’s end up with some Bush Derangement Syndrome, shall we?

“We have the feeling that Obama is something new, and we need it, especially here in Europe,” one eager spectator told Phillips.

Something new - meaning he’s not George W. Bush, whose war in Iraq drove a wedge between the U.S. and Europe in public opinion.

OK, one more fun Barry story

Responding to an Israeli reporter’s question Wednesday on his commitment to protect the Jewish state, Barack Obama pointed to a bill “we passed” in the U.S. Senate Banking Committee that tightens sanctions and authorizes divestment from Iran. “My committee,” he called it.

Except that he isn’t a member of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

Woops. (The use of exclamation points after a Barry Woops has become tedious and irrelevant at this point)

Powerline writes of Barry’s above gaffe: Some day it may begin to dawn on attentive observers that Obama represents a type that flourishes on many college campuses. The technical term that applies to Obama is b.s. artist. Obama is an overaged example of the phenomenon, but his skills in the art have brought him great success and he’s not giving it up now.

Quick update: Just ran across this headline at Google News: Reuters - Obama to demand more from Europe in Berlin speech. Certainly, Barry did not write it, but, it fits the mold.

Patrick Ruffini brings us the Obarrogant story of the day

This is pretty extraordinary. A candidate for the American Presidency is using flyers printed in German to turn people out for his campaign rally in Berlin on Thursday. This flyer can be found on a bilingual page on BarackObama.com advertising the event:

Say, Barry? Buuuudy? No matter how much you want it, German citizens cannot vote for you. I know you folks on the left take the whole worldwide opinion thing a bit too seriously, but, I do believe you are over-doing it.

“It is not going to be a political speech,” said a senior foreign policy adviser, who spoke to reporters on background. “When the president of the United States goes and gives a speech, it is not a political speech or a political rally.

“But he is not president of the United States,” a reporter reminded the adviser.

Not that anyone believed that. Barry is going to preach from the mount. Should be interesting. I have to wonder if he will take the typical route and tell them that America has to be a better friend to them and the world? Will it cause orgasms? Or, is it a sign that Barry really doesn’t like it when people show opposition to him

For security reasons, do not bring bags. Please limit personal belongings. No signs or banners permitted.

Reading a bit further down the page, he doesn’t seem enamoured with the press, either.

And German citizens still cannot vote for you, Barry.

Dr. Melissa Clouthier starts here post of on a note that will drive the left nuts(ier)

Gateway Pundit: More Hope, Change and Arrogance…

Captain Ed: Do “individuals” have full-color fliers distributed, complete with media credentialing for the event?

Glenn Reynolds: Barry’s running for President of the world

They are just gushing like a schoolgirl. You can hear the tittering in the newsroom. Take a few deep breathes, Grey Lady - For Obama, a First Step Is Not a Misstep

The Iraqi government on Monday left little doubt that it favors a withdrawal plan for American combat troops similar to what Senator Barack Obama has proposed, providing Mr. Obama with a potentially powerful political boost on a day he spent in Iraq working to fortify his credibility as a wartime leader.

First of all, Barry has been proposing his 16 month timetable to be implemented immediately for years. He has been pushing for “redeployment” for years. Second, where has the Times been in saying that McCain has a potential political boost due to The Surge pretty much being a total success, you know, that thing Barry was totally against? Oh, that’s right, the Times can’t do that. Heck, they refuse to even print McCain’s op-ed in response to Barry’s. No bias.

After a day spent meeting Iraqi leaders and American military commanders, Mr. Obama seemed to have navigated one of the riskiest parts of a weeklong international trip without a noticeable hitch and to have gained a new opportunity to blunt attacks on his national security credentials by his Republican rival in the presidential race, Senator John McCain.

Excuse me? A few days traveling in Iraq and Afghanistan, staying pretty much in completely safe areas, rather then ones which might be a bit dicey - but still safer then Camden, N.J. and parts of Washington, D.C. - does not give him his street cred in national security, particularly when he has been calling for defeat for years, and is now trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of success. Maliki knows that the troops can start leaving soon, based on what is actually going on; Barry just wants to leave. To paraphrase Joe Lieberman, Barry wouldn’t even be able to make these pronouncements (or, is that Commandments?) without the Surge as John McCain pushed.

Mr. McCain is hardly conceding the point. He continued to hammer away at Mr. Obama’s judgment on national security, saying on Monday that Mr. Obama had gotten it badly wrong when he opposed sending additional American troops last year to help stabilize Iraq. Republicans said Iraq would never have reached the point where it could reasonably call for a reduction in the American presence without the troop increase, a policy championed by Mr. McCain over the objections of Mr. Obama and most other Democrats.

“The fact is, if we had done what Senator Obama wanted to do, we would have lost,” Mr. McCain told reporters in Kennebunkport, Me. “And we would have faced a wider war. And we would have had greater problems in Afghanistan and the entire region. And Iran would have increased their influence.”

Barry will probably just say McCain is old and deluded, and throw out the old “Iraq was a distraction from the actual war on terror.” Barry has been yammering about more troops in Afghanistan to attack the Taliban. Correct me if I am wrong, but, isn’t that a distraction? After all, it was NOT the Taliban who attacked us on 9/11, but al Qaeda, using parts of Afghanistan as a base, along with countries all over the world.

The Missiah is in Afghanistan, ready for his photo ops

Senator Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan early Saturday morning, opening his first overseas trip as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to meet with American commanders there and later in Iraq to receive an on-the-ground assessment of military operations in the two major U.S. war zones.

Mr. Obama touched down in Kabul about 11:45 a.m., according to a pool report released by his aides. In addition to attending briefings with military leaders, he hoped to meet with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan before flying to Iraq later in the weekend.

That’s interesting. He hopes to meet with Karzai. I wonder if Karzai hopes to meet with Obama?

His trip was cloaked in secrecy, which advisers said was due to security concerns set forth by the Secret Service. His whereabouts have been unknown since he departed Chicago. He left Andrews Air Force Base near Washington on Thursday afternoon, according to a pool report, and turned up in Afghanistan on Saturday.

Hey, that sounds pretty much like his actual policy and political viewpoints, which, while we sort of know them, are being shrouded in bloviation and the Memory Hole.

On the positive side for Barry, there are no reporters with him (supposedly), and he says he is not there to undermine President Bush, he is just there as a Senator.

I wonder how long that will last?

Now, we wait for the soundbites and stories that should show up shortly where Obama will deliver his message of hope, change, and how Bush has screwed everything up in Afghanistan.

BTW, the above photo accompanied the Yahoo News storyabout Obama in Afghanistan, in the pictures section. Messiah!

Charles Krauthammer has another fantastic opinion piece, which is his norm, up at the Washington Post, which has many progressives apoplectic, which is their norm. WP - The Audacity of Vanity

Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. He figures it would be a nice backdrop. The supporting cast — a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins — would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials.

What Obama does not seem to understand is that the Brandenburg Gate is something you earn. President Ronald Reagan earned the right to speak there because his relentless pressure had brought the Soviet empire to its knees and he was demanding its final “tear down this wall” liquidation. When President John F. Kennedy visited the Brandenburg Gate on the day of his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech, he was representing a country that was prepared to go to the brink of nuclear war to defend West Berlin.

Who is Obama representing? And what exactly has he done in his lifetime to merit appropriating the Brandenburg Gate as a campaign prop? What was his role in the fight against communism, the liberation of Eastern Europe, the creation of what George Bush the elder — who presided over the fall of the Berlin Wall but modestly declined to go there for a victory lap — called “a Europe whole and free”?

Does Obama not see the incongruity? It’s as if a German pol took a campaign trip to America and demanded the Statue of Liberty as a venue for a campaign speech. (The Germans have now gently nudged Obama into looking at other venues.)

Well, there is nothing new about elected, and un-elected, Democrats thinking that they are something special, and that we should all bow down and listen to them, because they are smarter then all us peons, you know, regardless of how weak their backgrounds are.