The Incredible Lightness Of Obama Part 2

Last Thursday I put up a post on Houston Post column on Barack Obama. Captain Ed has two stories up at Hot Air that, when taken into the context of that post, are not surprising. First is the story that Obama advisor David Axelrod is a closet lobbyist.

After spending most of the month trying to paint John McCain as having a lobbyist problem, Barack Obama’s chief strategist David Axelrod may have been hoist by his own petard. His consulting firm turns out to do lobbying as well, and in some shady ways:

When Illinois utility Commonwealth Edison wanted state lawmakers to back a hefty rate hike two years ago, it took a creative lobbying approach, concocting a new outfit that seemed devoted to the public interest: Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity, or CORE. CORE ran TV ads warning of a “California-style energy crisis” if the rate increase wasn’t approved—but without disclosing the commercials were funded by Commonwealth Edison. The ad campaign provoked a brief uproar when its ties to the utility, which is owned by Exelon Corp., became known. “It’s corporate money trying to hoodwink the public,” the state’s Democratic Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn said. What got scant notice then—but may soon get more scrutiny—is that CORE was the brainchild of ASK Public Strategies, a consulting firm whose senior partner is David Axelrod, now chief strategist for Barack Obama.

Mr. Axelrod's claims that he is not a lobbyist because he doesn't work in DC falls flat on many levels. He must think we are all terribly stupid if he expects us to believe that. Lobbying of government happens on ALL levels, not just the federal. While it is horribly dishonest of him to say that, it is not surprising when you consider that his playing field is Illinois. The level of dishonesty and the audacity that it takes to make that kind of a comment are nothing new to followers of Chicago politics. Then again neither is this story...

Barack Obama continues his quest in demonstrating just how feckless he can be on foreign policy. Once again, he talks about how terrorists should be isolated in one breath while demanding presidential-level engagement with their financiers in the next. Jake Tapper had a difficult time keeping pace with the shifting rhetoric over the space of just two days:

More recently, Obama as he traveled through Florida seemed to give some contradictory statements about Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and the Colombian terrorist group FARC.

On Thursday Obama told the Orlando Sentinel that he would meet with Chavez and “one of the obvious high priorities in my talks with President Hugo Chavez would be the fermentation of anti-American sentiment in Latin America, his support of FARC in Colombia and other issues he would want to talk about.”

OK, so a strong declaration that Chavez is supporting FARC, which Obama intends to push him on.

But then on Friday he said any government supporting FARC should be isolated.

“We will shine a light on any support for the FARC that comes from neighboring governments,” he said in a speech in Miami. “This behavior must be exposed to international condemnation, regional isolation, and - if need be - strong sanctions. It must not stand.”

So he will meet with the leader of a country he simultaneously says should be isolated? Huh?

First off, I hate to correct a man who ran the Harvard Law Review on vocabulary, but the proper word is fomentation, not fermentation, unless one wants to start marketing Anti-American Sentiment Beer. Imagine if George Bush had used fermentation in such a context. The media would have a field day pointing out that Bush once belonged to a fraternity! And that he had a drinking problem! It would end up at Slate’s “Bushisms” column within hours.

According to his fans, Sen. Obama is an eloquent orator. I agree - as long as that oratory is on a teleprompter in front of his. When it comes to extemporaneous speech however, you find out just how little substance there is to the flowery rhetoric and how contradictory his speeches are. It just goes to show you that Barack Obama is nothing more than yet another opportunistic Illinois politician who will say what ever he thinks the audience of the moment wants to hear in order to get elected. Don't we deserve better than that?