Obama Goes Dutch...

More DWB commentary

New York City: Bomb goes off outside Starbucks

from Jihad Watch
by Robert Spencer
May 25, 2009

There is no telling who did this at this point. It could have nothing at all to do with jihad.

So why am I posting it?

Because New York Islamic jihadist Youssef al-Khattab, who calls for genocide and has threatened others, hates Starbucks (and how very interesting that he has removed the video to which Jawa linked).

Also, jihadists in London hate Starbucks.

And Sheikh al-Qaradawi hates Starbucks.

Worth watching.



"Explosion outside UES Starbucks," by Scott Curkin for WABC-TV, May 25 (thanks to the Jawa Report):

NEW YORK (WABC) -- An explosive device blew out the windows of a Starbucks coffee shop in a blast that rocked an Upper East Side neighborhood.

The loud blast was heard at the intersection of Third Avenue and East 92nd Street just before 4 a.m.

The explosion took place on 92nd and 3rd avenue.

Police are still looking for the person who left the device outside of the Starbucks.

The time of day echoed that of a pattern of unsolved early morning blasts that have occurred outside the British Consulate, the Mexican Consulate and the Armed Forces recruiting booth in Times Square over the past two years....

White House Photo Op by F-22 Raptor

Just a harmless photoshop op.

Hey Barry, the reason no alarms went off to warn you that an aircraft had penetrated the restricted airspace over the White House was because the F-22 is "STEALTH."

It works quite well, doesn't it.
Rees

All Obama, All The Time - 100 Days of Obama

The best New York flyover video

100 Days, 100 Mistakes - The Official List...accept no substitutes

from Don Surber.com
April 29, 2009

The Official List
Accept no substitutes.

It is legendary, inspiring Chris Muir (see above) and cited by Jules Crittenden, Glenn Reynolds and Michelle Malkin.

It has even been imitated by the New York Post.

This is the official list of The Won’s 100 mistakes in 100 days. Please let me know of any omissions. Again, these are in no particular order and are not weighted for the seriousness of their error.

1. $787 billion for a 6.1% shrinkage of the U.S. economy. Hope. Change. Panic.
2. Not fighting the release of CIA photos. Al-Qaida smiles.
3. The Bow
4. Saying it is not a bow.
5. Saying he looked forward to working with “president” Jacques Chirac – 2 years after Chirac left office. The White House said, oh, that was in reference to Chirac being head of a foundation…6. Saying there’s no pork in the stimulus. Yes there is.
7. Appointing tax cheat Tim Geithner.
8. Appointing under investigation Bill Richardson.
9. Appointing tax cheat Tom Daschle.
10. Appointing Marc Rich and terrorist pardoning Eric “Nation of Cowards” Holder.
11. Appointing Janet “Man Caused Disasters” Napolitano.
12. Appointing Hilda Solis (OK, her husband has the tax liens).
13. Appointing anti-Semitic Charles Freeman Jr.
14. Appointing tax cheat Ron Kirk.
15. Appointing fund-raising cheat Gary Locke.
16. Appointing under investigation Adolfo Carrion.
17. Who is that sneaking out the back door?
18. Putting Larry Summers to sleep. More TOTUS and cowbell.
19. Making the SEALs hold their fire initially — costing them 2 days.
20. The $100 million budget cut.
21. Pretending to be unaware of the Tea Parties.
22. Politicizing the Census. An attempt that failed. I think.
23. Armenian genocide? Never heard of it.
24. Taking crap from Danny Ortega.
25. Apologizing to Muslims, whom the US helped.
26. Apologizing to France — what, for saving her twice?
27. Apologizing for liberating Iraq.
28. A handshake instead of a kiss from Carla Bruni.
29. Shaking hands with the anti-American Hugo Chavez.
30. Accepting an anti-American tome from Chavez.
31. Buzzing New York City for a photo op. Nice panic.
32. Burning 9,000 gallons of fuel for an Earth Day photo op.
33. Flying his green pizza chef 850 miles from St. Louis to the White House. More carbon big-footing to promote green.
34. Believing that pizzas harm the environment.
35. Most expensive inauguration. Ever.
36. Embracing what he dismissed in the campaign as the largest middle-class tax ever.
37. Fighting coal– which provides half the nation’s electricity.
38. Appointing Dr. Sunjay Gupta as surgeon general, only to kick him to the curb once lefties complained.
39. Having no surgeon general to advise on the swine flu.
40. Annette Nazareth appointed but resigned because of… tax reasons.
41. Laughing at problems so much that Steve Kroft asked, “Are you punch drunk?”
42. Lifting travel restrictions on Cuba with nothing in return.
43. The Holy See turned down 3 candidates for ambassador, including Caroline Kennedy. Are there any pro-life Democrats left?
44. Having Georgetown cover Christ’s name when The Won used that Catholic university as a backdrop for a speech.
45. That’s up, Mr. President.
46. Bumping his head on the Marine One helicopter.
47. Banning offshore oil again.4
48. Funding abortions overseas.
49. Using the word “crisis” 25 times in a speech, then later complaining that people are too negative about the economy.
50. Letting Nancy Pelosi write the $787 billion “stimulus’ plan.
51. Relying on Tim Geithner to explain it.
52. Putting Joe Biden in charge of making sure the stimulus money is not — wink, wink, nudge, nudge — misspent.
53. Setting the Oval Office thermostat at 80.
54. Going to a press conference without a TelePrompTer. I… Uhh… Umm… Could you repeat the question?
55. Using a TelePrompTer at a press conference. Big boys don’t need training wheels.
56. Opening a press conference with: “Good evening, everybody. Please be seated. Before I take your questions tonight, I’d like to speak briefly.” 1,228 words later he took his first question.
57. Ethics waivers.
58. Going after Rush Limbaugh.
59. Going after Rick Santelli.
60. Going after Jim Cramer.
61. Trying to run the Census out of the White House.
62. Adopting the motto: “Never waste a good crisis.”
63. Writing a love letter to Vlad and Dmitry.
64. Throwing Poland under the bus.
65. Throwing Tibet under the bus.
66. Throwing Israel under the bus.
67. Taking Cuba out from under the bus.
68. Ticking off Switzerland by having his tax cheat go after the tax cheats in Switzerland. Cognitive dissonance.
69. Saying: “Karzai has a bunker mentality.”
70. Reaching out to the Taliban.
71. Iran has plans to Marine One helicopters.
72. Explaining his refusal to work with Republicans with the words: “I won.”
73. Having a BlackBerry that can easily be hacked by the Chinese.
74. Saying to the people of Peoria: “If Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off.” CEO: No. There will be more layoffs.
75. He gave a gift to the “wrong region” to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
76. Making the president of Brazil change his meeting so O’Bama could celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
77. Telling the American people: “You can’t take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers’ dime.” Vegas convention bookings nosedive.
78. Serving $100-a-pound wagyu — on the taxpayers’ dime.
79. Sending a “reset” button to Russia, presumably to diss the last 70 years of America standing up to communism.
80. Having the “reset” button say “overcharged.”
81. Taking a 4-day holiday weekend before signing “emergency” legislation.
82. Stiffing Chicago for nearly $2 million for that Election Night party.
83. Telling Caroline Kennedy she would, you know, make, um a good, you know, senator.
84. Bombing Pakistan.
85. Sending the bust of Sir Winston Churchill back to the British.
86. Telling reporters privately: “President Obama has accomplished more in 30 days than any president in modern history.”
87. Walking into a White House window thinking it was a door.
88. Signing an order that doctors must perform abortions, in violation of the Hippocratic Oath.
89. Signing earmarks while denouncing them.
90. Adding signing statements while denouncing them.
91. Quadrupling the deficits, while denouncing them.
92. Considering having the VA charge veterans for service-related injuries.
93. Thanking himself in a Teleprompter malfunction.
94. Heckuva job, Tim.
95. Trade war with Mexico over 97 trucks.
96. Saying his bowling is “like the Special Olympics.”
97. Saying he didn’t know the AIG bonuses were included in the bailout package he signed.
98. Banning the press from covering his acceptance of a press association award.
99. Skipping the Gridiron Club dinner.
100. Picking a special economics board to help him in the “emergency” that did not meet.
Click to read the rest of the article and the comments

100 Days of the Poser Presidency - bleh!

(Photoshop credit: Nice Deb)

from Michelle Malkin.com
By Michelle Malkin
April 29, 2009

My syndicated column commemorates Barack Obama’s 100 days with the Scare Force One story as a take-off point. Imagine if this fiasco had happened under George Bush’s watch. It would have made the Left’s incessant carping over the “fake plastic turkey,” Mission Accomplished banner, and My Pet Goat incidents look like nothing.

We now know thanks to WCBS in NY that the feds knew the “mission” would cause panic and that they went ahead with the secret plans, anyway. There are still a lot more unanswered questions about what happened in the skies above New York City. I have filed two FOIA requests with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Joint Staff FOIA Requester Service Center seeking more info, including the flight manifests; communications that would shed light on the origin of the “mission,” and copies of any and all photos taken on the taxpayer-subsidized journey. Let’s have some of that vaunted transparency Barack Obama is always talking about.

100 days of reckless photo-op hubris

by Michelle Malkin

Creators SyndicateCopyright 2009

Come on, who’s surprised? The White House-engineered photo-op of low-flying Air Force aircraft that caused terror in New York City this week epitomizes the Age of Obama. What better way to mark 100 days in office than with an appalling exercise in pointless, taxpayer-funded stagecraft.

The superficiality, the unseriousness, the hubris, the obliviousness to post-9/11 realities: They were trademarks of the Obama campaign and they are the tattoos on his governance.

He never leaves home without his teleprompter. All the Obama world’s a stage. Or a world ready to be staged.

So, is it any wonder he would staff his White House Military Office with a clueless paper-pusher who saw nothing wrong with spending inordinate government resources – and recreating 9/11 havoc — to update Air Force One publicity shots? And who planned, believe it or not, to do the same in Washington, D.C., next month, where 53 passengers and 6 crew members on board American Airlines Flight 77, and 125 military and civilian personnel inside the Pentagon were murdered by the 9/11 jihadists?

All for some damned publicity shots.

Click to read the rest of the article and the comments

100 Days of Me - All Me, All the time -

from American Thinker
by Rick Moran
April 29, 2009

Obama's 'Managerial Brilliance'

Well yeah, if you listen to David Brooks whose glowing ecomiums to the president's "tremendously effective, efficient managerial administration" on a recent Charlie Rose show just rose up and bit him in the arse when the crazy-stupid prank of flying an Air Force One mockup so low that it panicked half of New York revealed his hero's incompetence.

Andy McCarthy writing at the Corner marking Obama's 100 days in office:

"...cabinet tax woes, "who hid the Geithner plan?", the apology tours, our national cowardice on race, the DHS secretary who is bird-dogging conservatives in search of the next man-caused disaster (when she isn't slandering Canada over 9/11), Iran and North Korea on the nuclear march, the State Department that can't translate "reset" into Russian, the redistribution by day and wagyu steak by night, the disclosure of interrogation tactics to our terrorist enemies (and coming soon, prisoner-abuse photos that even Democrats concede will increase the danger to our troops and our country), the 48-hour flip-floperoo on criminal investigations of Bush officials, etc., etc."

"Now the Obama administration frightens the living daylights out of lower Manhattan - causing building evacuations by people who though a second 9/11 was underway - just so they can have an Air Force One photo op (imagine the carbon footprint!) and it's like Obama had nothing to do with it. If you read the news accounts, it's all Louis Caldera, who was summoned to the woodshed "to hear the President's displeasure" (as the WSJ put it) from Rahm Emanuel. Why do I think that if this had happened during the last administration, no one would know the name of the guy running the "White House Military Office"?"

Do you think any of his worshipping flock of media sycophants will mention this at tonight's press conference? Or the fact that he has been so busy planning for this "100 days of Me" celebration that he hasn't bothered to fill vital posts at Treasury or HHS with a bank crisis and Swine Flu crisis looming? Probably get some questions about his wife, his dog, and how things are going to be swell once all those trillions of dollars he's spent are redistrbuted to the "right people."
Click to read the rest of the article and the comments

Stupidity + Arrogance = Gibbs

A MUST WATCH - Obama Insensitive about 911...

FAA memo: Feds knew Scare Force One would cause panic

image by Rees

from Hot Air.com
by Allahpundit
April 28, 2009

Via JWF, I’m almost comforted by the revelation. The possibility that they’d be so stupid as not to know that buzzing lower Manhattan with a jumbo jet might freak people out is too terrible to contemplate.

Now all we have to do is figure out why a “photo op” would be such a terrifically big secret that not even the mayor of New York was in on it. Does that make any sense at all? “We need a new stock shot of Air Force One near the Statue of Liberty. Don’t tell a soul.”

Federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and Air Force One to buzz ground zero and Lady Liberty might set off nightmarish fears of a 9/11 replay, but they still ordered the photo-op kept secret from the public.

In a memo obtained by CBS 2 HD, the Federal Aviation Administration’s James Johnston said the agency was aware of “the possibility of public concern regarding DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft flying at low altitudes” in an around New York City. But they demanded total secrecy from the NYPD, the Secret Service, the FBI and even the mayor’s office and threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out…

The NYPD was so upset about the demand for secrecy that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly vowed never to follow such a directive again and he accused the feds of inciting fears of a 9/11 replay.

The cost of this debacle, by the way? Just shy of $329,000. Think of it as a stimulus: The amount of booze, smokes, and anti-anxiety meds alone that New Yorkers must have consumed in the aftermath of this mass panic attack was probably worth $10-20 mil to the city.

I just got this info sent to me about the photo op / flyover yesterday with Air Force One ….the one that sent people running in NYC…yes, scared them to death! They now say it was a training mission…hhm….they needed training? and the cost? see (by the way, how much flu vaccination can you get for $325,000+? )

Follow the link for a breakdown of the cost. Question for Air Force vets: Is “training mission” military jargon for “photo op”? What were they “training” to do here precisely, besides killing people on the ground from fright?
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AIR HEADS IN WHITE HOUSE TERRORIZE NEW YORK CITY

Scare Force One - The Doh!meister is at it again!
IDIOTIC FLIGHT SPURS '9/11' EVAC

By MURRAY WEISS, DAVID SEIFMAN and JEREMY OLSHAN
from The New York Post
April 28, 2009

"Air Farce One" played out over lower Manhattan yesterday -- in a terrifyingly bizarre military photo op that sent office workers fleeing from their buildings fearing a new 9/11-type attack.

But it turned out that the backup Air Force One jet and the fighter that appeared to be pursuing it only 1,000 feet above Ground Zero were staging the spectacle to get publicity shots of the presidential plane with a New York backdrop.

"We all ran to the window, and I thought, that's it, we're all dead," said Chris Biancamano, 36, who works at a brokerage in Jersey City. "It brought back all the memories of 9/11. I said, 'I have to get out of here now!' "

The planes flew over the Verrazano Bridge, buzzed Lady Liberty's left ear, continued up the Hudson past Jersey City and then circled back toward Staten Island, federal officials said. The jets then completed two more loops as photographers aboard the F-16 took the world's most expensive snapshots.

Although the Air Force had permission for the 10 a.m. flyover, no one bothered to warn the people on the ground, and as the two jets hurtled toward lower Manhattan, many mistook Obama's plane for Osama's.

President Obama himself was not in the plane at the time, but the 747 flew so low that New Yorkers had no trouble reading the aircraft's insignia.

Dominick Caglioti, who works at the Mercantile Exchange in lower Manhattan, thought the planes were headed straight for his window. After learning it was all a photo op, he fumed.

"It's so stupid because they tell you about every fire drill, but they didn't tell us about this," he said.

Jillian Pizzarello, who also works at the Mercantile Exchange, said, "You don't do this to people down here after all we have been through."

Thousands of people were evacuated from buildings on both sides of the Hudson during the half-hour episode.

Federal aviation officials had notified Mayor Bloomberg's office -- but not the mayor himself -- and the NYPD last week. But officials were given clear instructions not to share the classified mission with the public, sources said.

NYPD brass told 911 operators in advance to explain to callers that the planes -- which came within 500 feet of the Statue of Liberty's torch -- were conducting an "authorized" military operation.

The only relatively high-ranking person in the Bloomberg administration told of the plan was Marc Mugnos, the director of operations in the Office of Citywide Event Coordination -- a man normally charged with approving street fairs, sources said.

Bloomberg said he never received word of the plans, and he was "furious."

"Why the Defense Department wanted to do a photo op right around the site of the World Trade Center catastrophe de fies imagination," he said. "Poor judgment would be a nice way to phrase it. Had I known about it I would have called them right away and asked them not to." Mugnos was reprimanded for failing to notify the mayor, a source said.

It's unclear how much the stunt cost taxpayers, but officials said earlier this year that flying Air Force One comes with a $40,000-per-hour price tag.

At first, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs dismissed complaints and said he had no knowledge of the flyover.

"I was working on other things. You might be surprised to know I don't know every movement of Air Force One or what happens to it," he said.

But Louis Caldera, director of the White House Military Office, later said he approved the mission.

"I take responsibility for that decision. While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption," he said. "I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused."

Obama did not know of the elaborate plans for the photos.

"When he found out, he was absolutely furious," a White House aide told The Post.

The new photo of the plane with the Statue of Liberty was to replace the current publicity shot of Air Force One above Mount Rushmore.

Additional reporting by Kirsten Fleming and David Hastie
murray.weiss@ny post.com
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Air Farce One - President's Plane Buzzes NYC, Startles NYers, White House Apologizes

from The New York Post
by DAVID SEIFMAN, MURRAY WEISS and JEREMY OLSHAN
Last updated: 10:45 pm April 27, 2009 Posted: 3:33 pmApril 27, 2009

A jumbo jet being chased by a F-16 fighter jets buzzed Lower Manhattan this morning, panicking New Yorkers, many of whom were forced to evacuate their office buildings.

It was not a terrorist attack, however, but a photo opportunity for Air Force One, sources told the Post.

President Obama was in Washington at the time, but the low-flying 747 circling the Statue of Liberty was one of the planes used as Air Force One, sources said.

The NYPD and the city were notified of the planned flight, but did not share that information with Mayor Bloomberg and other New Yorkers, many of whom said they were terrified.

Hours after the incident, a furious Bloomberg called the photo-op "insensitive."

"First thing is I'm annoyed - furious is a better word - that I wasn't told," he said. "Why the Defense Department wanted to do a photo op right around the site of the World Trade Center catastrophe defies imagination. Poor judgment would be a nice ways to phrase."

Bloomberg said federal officials notified the NYPD and another city official, whom he declined to identify, of the flight plan.

"Had I known about it I would have called them right away and asked them not to," he said.
"The good news is it was nothing more than an ill considered, badly conceived, insensitive photo op - with the taxpayers' money."

Dominick Caglioti, who works at the Mercantile Exchange, thought the worst as he saw the jets hurtle toward his window just after 10:30 a.m. After learning it was all a photo op, he was furious.

"It's so stupid because they tell you about every fire drill, but they didn't tell us about this," he said.

The planes flew over the Verrazano Bridge, buzzed the left ear Lady Liberty and then continued up the Hudson past Jersey City and then circling back toward Staten Island, federal sources told the Post.

Thousands flooded the streets downtown as buildings called evacuations.

"There is situation outside. We don't have any further information," went one announcement at the Embassy Suites downtown.

After hearing it was all planned, many of those in the streets complained New Yorkers should have been warned.

"You don't do this to people down here after all we have been to," said Jillian Pizzarello, who also works at the Mercantile Exchange.

According to the Department of Defense, that Presidential Airlift Group began its aerial photography mission at Andrews Airforce Base.

"This mission, involving the VC-25 and an F-16, was conducted in conjunction with normally scheduled continuation training for assigned aircrew members," officials said.
Click to read the article and nearly 400 comments