Obama Fever No Longer Raging on Martha's Vineyard: 'I Just Have to Say I Feel Really Uncomfortable, Because I Love Loving Him'

At this point I'm sure they'll be happy to see him leave so they can prepare for Hurricane Irene. He and his big-spending wife may want to consider another vacation destination next year in their final year living on the public dole.

When President Obama took his first trip to Martha’s Vineyard after taking office, the excitement among locals here was palpable, from the signs of support strung across shop windows and front porches to a full-page newspaper ad taken out by 125 Vineyard grandmothers in support of his health care plan.

This week, with the jobless rate stuck above 9 percent and the president’s nationwide approval rating at its lowest level, the Vineyard’s broad allegiance shows cracks, leaving some islanders with a more textured, even tormented feeling about the president.

“I just have to say I feel really uncomfortable, because I love loving him,’’ said Leslie Pearlson, a real estate broker on the island.

Aww, falling out of love is just crushing poor starstruck Leslie. This is what happens when you have to make a choice in life: Feeding your family or slobbering over some mythical media creation.

At the core of islanders’ misgivings is the shaky local economy. Although the Vineyard is sometimes depicted as a playground for the rich and famous, the numbers tell another side of the story.

Empty storefronts dot main streets in Vineyard Haven, Edgartown, and elsewhere. According to the island’s Chamber of Commerce, at least one member of nearly every Vineyard household is dependent on summer business, which softened during the recession and still has not recovered.

“Discretionary spending dipped so far down that it devastated retail and dining in particular,’’ said Nancy Gardella, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard chamber.

Lifelong resident John Alley, a county commissioner and postmaster at legendary Alley’s General Store in West Tisbury, knows many island residents out of work.

“They’ll take anything that they can get their hands on,’’ he said the other day as he sorted mail. “That’s tempered a lot of the enthusiasm.’’

Funny they tell us this now. I guess they can only pretend for so long how adored this failed president is.

When they go out and do interviews of these slobbering sycophants they should also balance it with people suffering from his miserable economy.

Call it fairness.

'Barack Stop Acting Stupidly'

We mentioned this one yesterday, and now we've got the photo of it.

Has the island of Martha’s Vineyard turned against President Barack Obama? Probably not, but we were surprised to see this sign mounted on a tree along Edgartown West Tisbury Road, the road that the presidential motorcade travels most often. The hand-lettered sign sign is striking in both its appearance–sort of lurking on a tree, away from houses or driveways–and its message: “Barack Stop Acting Stupidly”

It's raaaaacist, obviously.

Memory Stick By Day, Vibrator By Night

I'm thinking this must be a gag. But they've got the whole promotional video thing going and it seems for real. Talk about stimulating high tech gadgets.

This is one way to get more bang for your buck.

The Duet is a new, sleek, multispeed, waterproof vibrator - and it doubles as a USB drive with up to 16GB of storage.

Its designers, Ti Chang and Michael Topolovac, realized that the biggest complaint from women about vibrators had to do with the hassle of cords, batteries or obscure charging devices.

They discovered a USB connector was the solution.

"You look at it plugged into a laptop, charging, and it doesn't look anything like a vibrator," Chang said.

It comes in a variety of colors. And if you spring for the deluxe model, it functions as a flash drive.

Chang and Topolovac, of the San Francisco-based design firm Crave, joined forces when they realized they shared a vision to help women find a comfortable, discreet sex toy.

Cue the hard drive jokes.

Here's the video. May not be entirely work safe.

White House Sources Dish on Michelle Obama: 'She's Like a Junkie'

Obviously some people are sick and tired of seeing this woman freeload off the public. There's going to be hell to pay for this, no doubt.

The Obamas' summer break on Martha's Vineyard has already been branded a PR disaster after the couple arrived four hours apart on separate government jets.

But according to new reports, this is the least of their extravagances.

White House sources today claimed that the First Lady has spent $10million of U.S. taxpayers' money on vacations alone in the past year.

Branding her 'disgusting' and 'a vacation junkie', they say the 47-year-old mother-of-two has been indulging in five-star hotels, where she splashes out on expensive massages and alcohol.

Don't forget the burritos, french fries, shorts ribs and cheeseburgers. Only for her, of course.

The 'top source' told the National Enquirer: 'It's disgusting. Michelle is taking advantage of her privileged position while the most hardworking Americans can barely afford a week or two off work.

'When it's all added up, she's spent more than $10million in taxpayers' money on her vacations.'

The First Lady is believed to have taken 42 days of holiday in the past year, including a $375,000 break in Spain and a four-day ski trip to Vail, Colorado, where she spent $2,000 a night on a suite at the Sebastian hotel.

And the first family's nine-day stay in Martha's Vineyard is also proving costly, with rental of the Blue Heron Farm property alone costing an estimated $50,000 a week.

The source continued: 'Michelle also enjoys drinking expensive booze during her trips. She favours martinis with top-shelf vodka and has a taste for rich sparking wines.

'The vacations are totally Michelle's idea. She's like a junkie. She can't schedule enough getaways, and she lives from one to the next - all the while sticking it to hardworking Americans.'

I believe the left likes calling this greed.

Heartbreaking: Obama May Have to Bail From Vacation

No, he's not bored with the useless photos ops and golf. It's the weather. Even The One can't stop a hurricane.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is keeping a line open to President Obama and the First Family as they vacation on Martha’s Vineyard and Hurricane Irene — growing both in size and strength — appears destined to pelt the Bay State sometime Sunday.

An early POTUS pull out has not been ordered, but FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate told the Herald this morning, “We briefed the president yesterday and are keeping him and his team updated.”

As authorities forecast yesterday, Irene exploded into a Category 3 storm overnight, now with maximum sustained wind speeds of 115 mph. She is churning west northwest at 12 mph, Bill Read, director of the National Hurricane Center, said this morning.

“She got very well organized overnight and is currently in the southeast Bahamas. As she enters warm waters, conditions are favorable for further intensification. It could actually get stronger,” said Read, who anticipates the hurricane taking a more northerly track tomorrow.

Let's just hope when he flies south the golf course at Camp David hasn't suffered any damage.

Unexpected: CBO Sharply Lowers Growth Forecast

Buried deep in a story claiming dubious cuts in future deficits.

CBO also has substantially weakened its outlook for the economy compared to its January report. It now expects 2.3 percent growth in 2011 and 2.7 percent growth in 2012, compared to a January forecast of 3.1 percent growth for the year.

CBO forecasts 8.5 percent unemployment at the end of 2012, when President Obama faces reelection.

The agency’s forecast for the deficit also depends on several dubious assumptions: it expects all of the Bush-era tax rates to expire in 2013, and forecasts a sharp reduction in Medicare payments to doctors, which Congress has never allowed to take effect.

CBO has much rosier forecasts for the middle of the decade, with growth reaching 5.3 percent by fiscal 2015. This is a better forecast than the 3.7 percent growth CBO projected for 2015 in January.

It should be even better than 5.3 in 2015 if we have a competent president.

Oh, and by the way, we'll still have record-breaking trillion-dollar deficits.

Change you can believe in.

Tom Friedman's Fantasy World: Obama Is Tiger Woods or Something

Esteemed New York Times columnist and White House aide Tom Friedman helpfully offers advice to our beleaguered Golfer-in-Chief, chock full of lame gold analogies. Friedman should be thankful the nutty Paul Krugman is around to deflect attention from his own slobbering drivel.

Despite the carping by critics, I’m glad the president went on vacation because one of the most useful things he could do right now is play golf — a lot of golf — but not that friendly foursome thing with his aides that he usually does. No, real golf: Match play, head to head, with real money on the line. Match-play golf is a great teacher. As any good golfer will tell you, the first rule of match play is this: Never play not to lose. Do not wait and hope for your opponent to make a mistake. Always play the course, always play to win and always assume your opponent will do well — will make that long putt — so you have to do better.

Obama refuses to divulge his golf scores (probably for good reason), so you think he'd actually wager money going head to head against anyone?

For months now, Obama has been playing not to lose, keeping his own plans for a “Grand Bargain” on debt, deficits, taxes, jobs and investment vague, while waiting for the Republicans to say crazier and crazier stuff — like promising the return of $2-a-gallon gasoline, or insisting that climate change was made up by scientists to get research grants (but politicians taking millions from oil companies can be trusted to tell us the truth on this issue), or that Texas has a right to secede. But while the G.O.P. candidates have been obliging the president with their nuttiness, it has not helped Obama’s poll ratings.

So Republicans are all nuts, but the man running up trillion-dollar deficits is the one to be trusted.

OK.

Many Americans can see that most of these G.O.P. candidates are closer to professional wrestlers than politicians — with their fake body slams and anti-Obama bluster. All they are missing are the Tarzan outfits. This is the silly season.

Tarzan outfits? Um, what if someone suggested putting Obama in a Tarzan outfit? How well would that go over with the delicate sensibilities of the folks at the New York Times? Hey Tom, what if someone Photoshopped Herman Cain into a Tarzan outfit? Wouldn't that be raaaaacist?

Friedman then delves into some fantasy world where Obama hasn't properly presented his "Grand Bargain" to the great unwashed, to which we ask, what Grand Bargain? Tom, I hate to break this to you, but there isn't any plan. Obama has no idea what he's doing, other than hoping idiots like you continue holding his jockstrap for him.

It’s all nonsense. Obama is smart, decent and tough, with exactly the right instincts about where the country needs to go. He has accomplished a lot more than he’s gotten credit for — with an opposition dedicated to making him fail. But lately he is seriously off his game. He’s not Jimmy Carter. He’s Tiger Woods — a natural who’s lost his swing. He has so many different swing thoughts in his head, so many people whispering in his ear about what the polls say and how he needs to position himself to get re-elected, that he has lost all his natural instincts for the game. He needs to get back to basics.

So he's Tiger Woods now? You mean a guy with a carefully crafted public image who turned out to be a cheating lowlife?

It’s crazy what’s happening in America today: We’re having an economic crisis and the politicians are having an election — and there is almost no overlap between the two. The president needs to bring them together. But that can only happen if he stops playing not to lose and goes for broke himself. Our problems are not insoluble. We need a Grand Bargain — where each side gives something on spending, taxes and new investments — and we’re on our way out of this.

Oh, it's that simple? Obama presents his Grand Bargain, the GOP simply goes along and we're on our way out? Why hasn't someone thought of this already?

Run on that, Mr. President: At best you’ll generate enough public pressure (now totally missing) to shame sane Republicans into joining you, and we’ll get a deal, and at worst you can run in 2012 on a platform, which, if you win, will actually give you a mandate for the change the country needs.

Um, what happened to that mandate for change he had after winning in 2008?

NSF 'Investigation' Allegedly Clears Climate Hoaxer

As if the National Science Foundation is going to actually find wrongdoing by a guy living off their payroll.

An investigation by the National Science Foundation has found no evidence of wrongdoing or misconduct by Penn State climate-change researcher Michael Mann.

Mann, Penn State professor of meteorology, was the target of accusations from climate-change skeptics after thousands of e-mails exchanged between climate-change researchers were hacked from the University of East Anglia and made public.

Critics pointed to the e-mails as evidence that Mann and other scientists had hidden and manipulated data to bolster the argument for global warming.

The university was swamped with e-mails and calls criticizing Mann. Altough no formal allegations were made, the university formed a panel of five faculty members to investigate the Mann’s conduct.

The panel found no evidence of research misconduct in three of the four areas it examined, including falsifying data and misusing confidential information. But it concluded that further investigation was needed into whether Mann did anything not in keeping with accepted practices for proposing, conducting or reporting research.

So he's not entirely in the clear as the headline implies.

Warmers rejoice!

The so-called 'closeout memo' is here.

That Magical Obama Touch: Illinois Leads Nation in Job Losses

Those record tax increases in the middle of the Obama Depression sure didn't help things.

In a trend that continues to worsen, more Illinoisans found themselves unemployed in the month of July.

Illinois lost more jobs during the month of July than any other state in the nation, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report. After losing 7,200 jobs in June, Illinois lost an additional 24,900 non-farm payroll jobs in July. The report also said Illinois’s unemployment rate climbed to 9.5 percent. This marks the third consecutive month of increases in the unemployment rate.

Illinois started to create jobs as the national economy began to recover. But just when Illinois’s economy seemed to be turning around, lawmakers passed record tax increases in January of this year. Since then, Illinois’s employment numbers have done nothing but decline.

Data released today by the bureau confirms this downward trajectory. When it comes to putting people back to work, Illinois is going backwards. Since January, Illinois has dropped 89,000 people from its employment rolls.

Maybe they should move to Texas or Wisconsin, states with real leadership where they're actually creating jobs.

Sign Seen on Martha's Vineyard: 'Barack Stop Acting Stupidly'

We'll take this reporter's word for it that the sign actually exists. But it sure would help if they provided a photo.

We saw a shocking hand-lettered sign stuck to a tree along Edgartown-West Tisbury Road, the route most traveled by the presidential motorcade. It said: "Barack Stop Acting Stupidly." At least it's grammatically correct.

Actually, it could do with a colon or comma after Barack, but why quibble? The message is clear.

'If It Is Someone Who Can Be Spun and Framed as a Fanatic, He Can Survive'

There are no ifs about it. This will be the Obama campaign for 2012. You see the early manifestations already with the deplorable remarks by the racist Maxine Waters and that buffoonish woman with the fake cowboy hat, as they desperately smear Tea Partiers. Think it's bad now? Just wait until Obama is sitting at 30% in the polls heading into the general election and he tries to win back independents who've largely abandoned him.

A bus tour last week that traveled through mostly white, rural areas in three Midwestern states was also an effort to speak to independents. During the tour, Obama ripped Congress.

Jason Johnson, a political professor at Hiram College in Ohio, said the White House was correct in thinking that independents would value the deal. The problem, Johnson said, is that the public soured on the debt accord since it was quickly followed by the S&P's decision to downgrade the U.S. credit rating.

“He ends up having a deal which the left is unhappy with and you still get a downgrade, which is really the thing independents care about,” Johnson said.

The chances of Obama’s reelection are "going to be strongly influenced by the GOP nominee,” says Baker. “If it is someone who can be spun and framed as a fanatic, he can survive.”

When was the last time a Republican wasn't portrayed as a fanatic?

Government Efficiency: A 22-Second Senate Session

If they did this the other 364 days of the year we might be able to pare down the deficit in a couple hundred years.

The unusual East Coast earthquake yesterday prompted the Senate to hold an even more unusual remote session.

After the Capitol was evacuated, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) presided over a brief Senate session in a conference room in Postal Square, a building next to Union Station and two blocks northeast of the Capitol.

The pro forma session, which was purely technical and involved no Senate business, lasted just 22 seconds.

Then again, our debt is growing by $3 million a minute, so this still cost us a shade over a cool million.

Still, hope remains. As the great Ann Coulter remarked in the earthquake aftermath Tuesday:

Capitol evacuated, nation experiences brief economic recovery...

'Enviably Toned Thighs'

Those Brits sure do have a wry sense of humor.

Michelle Obama showed off her enviably toned thighs as she powered past the President in tiny purple cycling shorts on the first family's bike ride on Martha's Vineyard today.

Wearing a fashionable printed T-shirt and Converse trainers, the First Lady showed that she still has style, even when on vacation.

They're just never going to give up this "fashion icon" bit, are they?

Meanwhile, her husband looked even dorkier than ever. But on the upside, he finally got the training wheels off.

Finally: 'Climate Change Racism'

As nutty as Al Gore and MSNBC hosts are, they may have someone even loonier down in Australia.

Federal Climate Change Minister Greg Combet has accused Opposition Leader Tony Abbott of having a racist climate change policy.

Mr Abbott has warned that Australian businesses buying carbon permits under an emissions trading scheme could be conned by unscrupulous international traders.

The Government plans to introduce its carbon tax legislation to Parliament by the end of September and hopes to have it passed by next year.

Mr Combet described Mr Abbott's position as "economic xenophobia" in an address to the National Press Club.

"It sends the signal that it's somehow dubious to trade with foreigners. It's typical dog-whistle politics, trashing the commitment that's existed for many years on both sides of politics to economic liberalisation and open trade," he said.

"It is in effect a white carbon policy designed to harvest more votes no matter what the cost."

Amazingly, he didn't blame tea partiers.

Tim Blair calls it's Racism Meets Warmenism.

Bush's Fault Erupts in Virginia

Damn, we felt this one all the way up here in North Jersey.

A rare earthquake rattled parts of New Jersey and New York several minutes ago, causing buildings to sway in cities, towns, streets and beaches across the region.

The earthquake was also felt in Virginia and Washington, D.C., according to television news reports.

There were no immediate reports of any injuries or structural damage, but the quake rattled nerves.

Newark City Hall was evacuated shortly before 2 p.m., as the building was shaking.

A Newark spokeswoman said her entire desk was shaking and her doors were moving for several minutes.

The epicenter was near Mineral, VA, now to be known as Bush's Fault.

Update: Here's video of the White House.

Fore! King Putt Now at 38% Approval in Gallup

First Rasmussen today, now Gallup. A 38% approval, 54% disapproval. But I guess it's someone else's fault.

Have we reached the dreaded tipping point yet with this guy? Does the entire Democratic Party plan on going down with him? If so, have fun next year, folks.

Obama Lead Shrinks to One Point Against ... Ron Paul

On Monday Gallup had Obama with a two-point lead over Ron Paul. Today Rasmussen has it at one point.

The president and the maverick are running almost dead even in a hypothetical 2012 election matchup.

Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul earns 38% of the vote to President Obama’s 39% in the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters. Fourteen percent like some other candidate, and eight percent remain undecided.

Never in my wildest imagination did I think I'd see a poll between these two so close. But here it is. Realistically, as awful as Obama is, he'd have to completely fall off the cliff to ever lose in a general election to Paul.

Still, that cliff may not be far off. He'll ride off it in a golf cart in all likelihood.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 19% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-five percent Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -26.

This is the lowest Approval Index rating yet measured for President Obama. The previous low was -24 reached yesterday and also in September 2010. Additionally, the level of Strong Approval matches the lowest yet recorded.

I suspect the party elders may begin negotiations soon with the failed Obama regime. He may need a graceful exit strategy should he fall behind Ron Paul in polls.

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While Racking Up $3 Million in Debt Per Minute, Obama Announces Plan to 'Save' Businesses $10 Billion Over Five Years

We basically spend $10 billion over the course of two days. Yet here comes one of Obama's stooges to tell us they'll help save businesses $10 billion over the course of five years.

Time to celebrate, I suppose.

The White House is announcing plans Tuesday to end or cut back hundreds of government regulations, an effort the Obama administration says will save businesses $10 billion over five years.
...
Cass Sunstein, head of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, wrote in an editorial in the Wall Street Journal that the reforms will "reduce costs, simplify the system, and eliminate redundancy and inconsistency."

Businesses are being choked by over-regulation and won't hire anyone so long as this miserable failure is in the White House. Do they actually expect this will mean a damn thing?

Historic: Obama's Debt Growing by $3 Million a Minute

Good thing he and his wife have really tightened their belts. You know, by flying on separate jets to Martha's Vineyard and things like that.

Swallow all liquids in your mouth before reading any further.

Updated numbers for the national debt are just out: It's now $14,639,000,000,000.

When Barack Obama took the oath of office twice on Jan. 20, 2009, CBS' amazing number cruncher Mark Knoller reports, the national debt was $10,626,000,000,000.

That means the debt that our federal government owes a whole lot of somebodies including China has increased $4,247,000,000,000 in just 945 days. That's the fastest increase under any president ever.

Remember the day the Democrat promised to close the embarrassing Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility within one year? That day the national debt increased $4,247,000,000. And each day since that the facility hasn't been closed.

Same for the day in 2009 when Obama flew all the way out to Denver to sign the $787 billion stimulus bill that was going to hold national unemployment beneath 8% instead of the 9.1% we got today anyway? Another $4,247,000,000 that day. And every day since, even Obama golfing and vacation days.

Same sum for the day Obama flew Air Force One nearly four hours roundtrip to Columbus, Ohio for a 10-minute speech about how well the stimulus was working in the politically crucial Buckeye state. Ohio's unemployment rate just jumped to 9% from 8.8% anyway.

Or last week's three-day Midwestern tour in the president's new $1.1 million Death Star bus? National debt went up $16,988,000,000 while he rode around speaking and buying ice cream cones.

Numbers with that many digits are hard to grasp, even for a Harvard head. So, let's put it another way:

One billion seconds ago Bill Clinton was nearing the end of his two terms and George W. Bush's baseball collection was still on the shelves in the Austin governor's office.

The nation's debt increased $4.9 trillion under President Bush too, btw. But it took him 2,648 days to do it. Obama will surpass that sum during this term.

Now, how to portray a trillion, or 1,000 billions. One trillion seconds ago much of North America was still covered by ice sheets hundreds of feet thick. And the land was dotted by only a few dozen Starbuck's.