The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Who Knew @BarackObama Was A Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus?

Posted on | September 6, 2013 | 34 Comments

by Smitty

If only the United Nations were half as good as Matt Vadum’s old band Focus. Check out Matthew’s yodeling while occupying the ivories in this classic performance:

If the U.N. actually rocked like that, Barack-man wouldn’t have to put up a red line. And he certainly wouldn’t call the efforts of the world’s premier diplomatic train wreck “Hocus Pocus”.
And who juiced Walter Russell Mead’s coffee?

Now the President is twisting lonesomely in the wind, and the question is whether Congress will ride to the rescue. If it doesn’t, it will be the closest thing the American system has to a parliamentary vote of “no confidence”, where Congress explicitly declares to the world that the President of the United States does not speak for the country.

That would be very dangerous. Foreigners will no longer know when and whether to take anything this President says as representing American policy rather than his own editorial opinions. We hate to say it, but that is so dangerous that there’s a strong argument for Congress to back the Syria resolution simply to avoid trashing the credibility of the only President we’ve got.

Bulls hit the rodeo clown quite roughly, do they not?

Hopefully between now and his next personal pronoun-fest (press conference), #OccupyResoluteDesk can figure out:

  • what actual national security skin the U.S. has in this game,
  • what international law fig leaf he will have to cover his six (Nobel Peace Prizes don’t count),
  • what the U.S. exit criteria are,
  • just what the flippy-flop we’re going to do if that Middle East reacts poorly to John Kerry’s attempt at an exorcism:

via Instapundit

Comments

34 Responses to “Who Knew @BarackObama Was A Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus?”

  1. MrEvilMatt
    September 6th, 2013 @ 9:53 pm

    Who Knew @BarackObama Was A Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus?: by Smitty If only the United Nations were half a… http://t.co/S73WblaRYS

  2. CHideout
    September 6th, 2013 @ 9:53 pm

    Who Knew @BarackObama Was A Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus?: by Smitty If only the United Nations were half a… http://t.co/CqzsN1rED3

  3. MrEvilMatt
    September 6th, 2013 @ 9:53 pm

    Who Knew @BarackObama Was A Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus?: by Smitty If only the United Nations were half a… http://t.co/xZB2e1CaQY

  4. Citzcom
    September 6th, 2013 @ 9:53 pm

    Who Knew @BarackObama Was A Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus?: by Smitty If only the United Nations were half a… http://t.co/iOeTxs2Mqt

  5. jwbrown1969
    September 6th, 2013 @ 9:53 pm

    Who Knew @BarackObama Was A Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus?: by Smitty If only the United Nations were half a… http://t.co/jGexKJcpkc

  6. Lockestep1776
    September 6th, 2013 @ 9:53 pm

    Who Knew @BarackObama Was A Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus?: by Smitty If only the United Nations were half a… http://t.co/KyWF8irsK9

  7. preciseBlogs
    September 6th, 2013 @ 10:04 pm

    Who Knew @#BarackObama Was A Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus http://t.co/NB3ocKU7i8 #news #conservative #humor #syria

  8. thatMrGguy
    September 6th, 2013 @ 10:18 pm

    Who Knew @BarackObama Was A Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus? http://t.co/zxshZXl7El

  9. RS
    September 6th, 2013 @ 10:19 pm

    The problem with Mead’s argument is that a Congress which ratifies a President’s fait accompli is no longer a coequal branch of government. A ratification under those circumstances is acquiescing to dictatorship. BHO has no one to blame but himself for drawing “lines” without consulting Congress months ago.

  10. BobBelvedere
    September 6th, 2013 @ 10:28 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: Who Knew @BarackObama Was A Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus? http://t.co/9ctIEic7b3 #TCOT

  11. DaveO
    September 6th, 2013 @ 10:43 pm

    Mead’s question is literal: will Congress rescue Obama, and instill the Office of the POTUS with integrity, something Obama is unable to do, both by temperament, and ignorance of leadership and management principles.
    When Obama’s smartest people are HOPING Iran will put aside 34 years of open and disguised hostility and ally themselves with The Great Satan?
    Or that, since Obama pissed on the Brits so much, his only allies are the acolytes of Osama bin Laden, and fans of the 19 who murdered almost 3,000 Americans almost 12 years ago.
    Mead’s juice is waking up to realize Rush Limbaugh may get his wish: Obama will fail unless the Republicans (once again) bail him out in spite of their base’s instructions.

  12. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    September 6th, 2013 @ 10:56 pm
  13. Steve Skubinna
    September 7th, 2013 @ 12:54 am

    Man, I really really liked Focus back in the day. Guess I still do, but try mentioning the band to anyone under… what? 40? Hell, I dunno.

    Now I’m going to crank some Hocus Focus. That ought to keep the kids off my lawn.

  14. Kirby McCain
    September 7th, 2013 @ 4:16 am

    Obama, Clinton, and Kerry. All three senators and none of them a leader in that house. None of them had any real experience in foreign policy or diplomacy. Wannabe players on the world stage.

    The MSM’s lack of critical analysis is staggering.

  15. smitty
    September 7th, 2013 @ 5:52 am

    Toolboxes gonna hold tools.

  16. smitty_one_each
    September 7th, 2013 @ 6:33 am

    @DaTechGuyblog You’ve met @vadum, haven’t you? => http://t.co/NbKk44hhKy

  17. herddog505
    September 7th, 2013 @ 7:54 am

    We hate to say it, but that is so dangerous that there’s a strong argument for Congress to back the Syria resolution simply to avoid trashing the credibility of the only President we’ve got.

    This is an absolutely idiotic position to take. Credibility doesn’t depend on doing everything that the president (ANY president) wants or thinks we ought to do: it depends on setting a consistent policy within the framework established by the Constitution that is understood and supported by the American people, and doing what we can to adhere to that policy.

    I don’t know what was in Barry’s mind when he made that half-witted remark about a “red line” (that he’s trying so hard to get away from even while he pushes the Congress to support it), but it ought to be treated much as President Reagan’s “we begin bombing [the Soviet Union] tomorrow” remark of decades ago: as a statement of his personal desires and beliefs, NOT as rock-solid US policy.

    We have a president, not a king.

  18. herddog505
    September 7th, 2013 @ 8:18 am

    Kirby McCainWannabe players on the world stage.

    I think that this is part of the problem. We’ve made war so “easy” (we don’t really even call it “war”, it’s so easy), so push-button, so painless, that many of the fools in the Congress and the high levels of the federal government have the idea that playing on the world stage is about as hard as calling for a pizza delivery. “Hey, I can look like a world statesman simply by telling the Navy to launch some Tomahawks! WOO-HOO!” Unfortunately, the half-wits can’t be bothered to think about what MIGHT come next or, if they do, they simply take the best case scenario (the Syrian rebels are TOTALLY just like the Founding Fathers, champing at the bit to create a western-style democracy), say that it’s based on “firm intelligence”, and forge ahead.

    It’s like history never happened for these people. The efforts that we had to make in Europe and Japan after World War II, the bad outcome in China, Diem, Pol Pot, the Shah, A-stan, Iraq, Egypt, Libya… the world is just NOT as simple as firing some missiles, adjusting one’s pants, and swaggering off into the sunset.
    I wish these idiots in Congress and the .gov understood that.

  19. NeoWayland
    September 7th, 2013 @ 9:16 am

    I don’t think “king” is enough for Obama’s ambition. “Emperor” is a closer fit. Everything from the declarations from “The Office of the President-Elect” to the faux Roman columns at the convention would seem t support it.

    Since becoming President, he’s tried his best to rule by decree. This is just the latest example.

    The question is why Congress lets him get away with it.

  20. Freddie Sykes
    September 7th, 2013 @ 9:57 am

    Hocus Pocus is a mocking corruption of a phrase from the Latin Mass “Hoc est Corpus Meum” or “This is My Body.”

    Obama just insulted the largest denomination in the USA by quoting an insult from the satanic mass. YOLO!

  21. Dandapani
    September 7th, 2013 @ 12:11 pm

    You mean the yodeling of Thijs Van Leer?

  22. ZillaStevenson
    September 7th, 2013 @ 1:34 pm

    Who Knew @BarackObama Was A Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus? http://t.co/F1i8LfZJNB via @smitty_one_each Holy freaking awesomeness. #tcot

  23. smitty
    September 7th, 2013 @ 2:59 pm

    That may be the etymology, but I’ve never understood it to be any more that a rhyming allusion to stage magic.

  24. smitty
    September 7th, 2013 @ 3:00 pm

    To flog the joke to a pulp, the gag is a play on the superficial resemblance between Vadum and Van Leer.

  25. Steve Skubinna
    September 7th, 2013 @ 3:16 pm

    Does Vadum play the flute, too? I remember an argument with a friend, listening to “House of the King,” whether we were listening to Focus or Jethro Tull.

  26. Steve Skubinna
    September 7th, 2013 @ 3:17 pm

    Philosopher-King or God-Emperor.

    Take your pick. I think Barry and his acolytes have already chosen the latter.

  27. vadum
    September 7th, 2013 @ 3:50 pm

    My yodeling days are far behind me. “@smitty_one_each: Who Knew @BarackObama Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus? http://t.co/G0kOM8zypN #TCOT”

  28. Your Teen May Not Be Safe in Her Old Kentucky Home Room | Regular Right Guy
    September 7th, 2013 @ 3:51 pm

    […] Who Knew @BarackObama Was A Fan Of @Vadum’s Old Band, Focus? […]

  29. Kirby McCain
    September 7th, 2013 @ 4:31 pm

    I was talking about diplomacy. These guys (yes, Hillary is a guy) got no game.

  30. Kirby McCain
    September 7th, 2013 @ 4:33 pm

    To hell with bombs and missiles, drop food stamps on those SOBs. Ruin those bastards forever!

  31. Freddie Sykes
    September 7th, 2013 @ 5:15 pm

    PC up. man. One of Alinsky’s rules is to make the other side live up to its own standards.

    If a corporation uses an image that vaguely resembles an Arabic anything, it goes. We now have sportcasters debating the R-word. Obama just had a macaca moment and sided with satanists against the largest religious denomination in America. I demand that he goes full Paula Deen and tearfully apologize on Hannity.

  32. DaveO
    September 7th, 2013 @ 5:26 pm

    To be fair, Clinton as FLOTUS and later as SecState travelled an awful lot. So, technically, she does have more experience outside the US than Obama does. Less than Conde’ Nast, but more than Obama.

  33. smitty
    September 7th, 2013 @ 9:18 pm

    Wikipedia states that Van Leer does. No’ so sure on Vadum.

  34. smitty_one_each
    September 7th, 2013 @ 11:43 pm

    #OtherThingsCausedByClimateChange The spectacle of @vadum yodeling => http://t.co/NbKk44hhKy