Evan Bayh - Democratic Seer - Obama Chief of Staff or Presidential Opponent?

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Evan Bayh, retiring Senator from Indiana and the only Democrat who recognized over a year ago that Obama was straying far off course and the Democrats were in danger of suffering a tremendous defeat, t5ied to warn the president and fellow Democrats of the potential peril.

This soft spoken Hoosier politician was ignored by the Chicago gang in the White House and by the Democratic leadership in the House, Senate and DNC.  As a result the Democrats suffered a historic defeat.  But it is not too late to recogize their mistake and embrace moderte voices like Bayh.

For well over a year I have been urging the president to consider appointing Senator Bayh as his chief of staff.  Bayh is one of few Democrats to have the respect of Republicans while being a supporter ofPresident Obama.  He has always worked on a non-partisan basis on legislation, something few in DC know.

He is still young,  dynamic and at ease with the media.  His tone is conciliatory and he never loses his cool.  The post-Emanuel White House staff failed to protect the president from suffering a humiliating defeat because of their lack of experience, lack of knowledge of national politics and bitter partisanship.  They just did not know how to get things done in our nation's capitol.  In short, he would be the perfect pick to create the bi-partisan forum Obama and his gang have failed to achieve and that the people demand.

Now if Obama does not want Bayh, then it will be business as usual for the White House and then I would urge Democrats to draft Bayh for president in 2012 because it will be the only way the Democrats will keep control of the presidency.  Obama needs to break out of his palace guard and listen to the people while working with his "enemy" as he calls it, the GOP majority in the House and governor's offices.  Without them there will be no Obama agenda.
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Having left the nation in shambles, polarization in DC and class warfare inflamed, Rahm Emanuel heads to Chicago as Obama loses his lifeline to reality

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One thing you must admit about the little man with the mighty bark from Illinois, his influence over Barack Obama was dominating and it will take years for historians to figure out whether Obama or Emanuel was more responsible for the wreck of the Obama ship of state after two years in office.

A second thing you must admit is how this former Goldman Sachs executive and Wall Street money machine was able to silence the liberal left as he made the Democrats under Obama the beneficiaries of Wall Street special interest money while making certain nothing of any substance happened to the fat cats as a result of their destruction of the American economy.

Liberal groups and the liberal media, supposedly protectors of human rights and defenders of America from corporate crooks, were silent as Wall Street destroyed the economy, were silent as Wall Street got bailed out by Obama, and were silent as Wall Street and the banks got rich at our expense.

We have raised questions since 2007 about the Obama relationship to Goldman Sachs, what Goldman had to do with two leading opponents of Obama withdrawing from his campaign for the US Senate, about the role Goldman played as the top giver and pied piper for Wall Street money flowing to Obama and fellow Democrats, and on and on.

As a Goldman alumni and Obama's top aide Rahm was in a position to answer questions or block the answers and with his departure maybe some answers will finally be forthcoming.

There is no doubt he dominated the West Wing of the White House and much of the domestic and foreign policy offered by his inexperienced president and boss. It will take years before enough records will be declassified to discover the true extent of his role.



Still Emanuel will be missed because he was the only person in the White House who seemed to do anything, and never failed to follow his own advice and take advantage of every crisis. Chicago is much more suited to Rahm than Washington. I mean Chicago had Al Capone.
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President Obama Should Make Evan Bayh next Chief of Staff

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With the imminent departure of his top two White House aides, Rahm Emanuel, chief of staff, and David Axelrod, political director, along with the departure of his three top economic aides, Barack Obama has a chance to restructure his administration and put in place a team that can actually carry out his former campaign promises for a bipartisan and gentler governing to end the bitter partisanship plaguing our nation's government.

Almost a year ago I urged Obama to make Evan Bayh, the retiring Senator from Indiana, his next chief of staff and now more than ever I think it is the best way to heal America.  Back then I said the following:   


The Associated Press said in yesterday's stunning announcement that:

"Two-term Sen. Evan Bayh says ever-shriller partisanship and the frustrations of gridlock made it time for him to leave Congress. Republicans aren't buying it, saying he and fellow Democrats sense that voters will be after their heads this fall.

The Indiana Democrat, a moderate who twice came close to being added to his party's national ticket, said Monday he will not seek re-election this November. The announcement gives Republicans a strong chance of capturing his seat and makes it likelier that the 59 votes that give Democrats command of the 100-seat Senate will dwindle.

Bayh, 54, said his passion for helping people is "not highly valued in Congress." He said he did not love the institution in which his father, Birch Bayh, had also represented Indiana."



Well I for one don't really believe his explanation. Bayh was a potential powerhouse among moderate Democrats with a history of working for bi-partisan government. His credentials were everything the American people are looking for in leaders of the new America.

There are several reasons I think he retired and having watched his career, I do not doubt the veracity of what he said. His Midwest background and father's influence are indeed significant causes for him to express frustration with liberal Democrats and the inertia of Congress. His acute awareness of the unfair need for elected officials to spend much of their time raising money for the next campaign is exactly why I got out of politics so I am encouraged he pointed out the huge flaw in our political system.



Yet there is more I suspect beneath the surface because a person like Bayh is needed now more than ever. To explain let me first outline what else happened yesterday when he announced he was retiring at the end of the year. The most powerful person in the Senate, Democratic leader Harry Reid, did not find out about this dramatic development until after Bayh made the announcement. It is unheard of that a party boss would be left out in the cold on such an important matter impacting on the future control of the US Senate by the Democrats.

Yet immediately after he made the announcement the President and White House praised Bayh and said they were aware of his decision beforehand. Why would he consult the president and not the leader of the Senate where he is a member? Let me give you a clue.

The White House has demonstrated how to mismanage the presidency to a degree not often seen before with tactics that infuriated both the Democrats controlling the House and Senate as well as the public and the Republicans. Since before Obama took office I pointed out how they were making one of the first sins of government, expecting the hard nosed opportunists from the campaign to be able to run the nation's government.



No newly elected president has done that because they know the campaign people have neither the experience nor the ability to work with all elected officials, Democrats and Republicans, once elected. By nature the campaign people are paranoid, living in constant fear the other politicians will undermine their efforts. To compensate they use heavy handed tactics to force loyalty from their own party, Democrats, and use intimidation and threats to try and control the opposition party, the Republicans.

It never works. All new administrations make a series of staff mistakes that take one to two years to correct. Obama made these mistakes throughout his fledgling administration loading his staff with friends and associates, campaign contributors and lobbyists. Time after time his own people have been his biggest burden and their actions have upset those who know what makes the government tick.



To be successful a president must surround himself with people who are not paranoid and who know they must govern for all the people, not just those throwing money at them. Thus the White House staff is a sea of turmoil when they have no policy, executive nor practical experience in a bi-partisan world.

Such appointments are not necessarily a sign of weakness but a sign of inexperience. In time the polls and the inability of the president to govern make these mistakes obvious. Perhaps Obama has finally seen the light and realizes his strident and petty staff are his own worst enemy.



Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has been the most striking example of how a staff member can get a president in trouble. Every major failure of the Obama administration can be laid at the doorstep of the Chief of Staff from secret deals with the pharmaceutical companies and unions (SEIU) to interfering in local elections (New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts).

When your key aide is the cause of your failure to govern the key aide becomes an untenable liability and now many people are questioning the judgment of Obama's Little Napoleon. I suspect the reason Obama knew about the Bayh resignation in advance is that Obama may have talked to Bayh about taking over as his new Chief of Staff. It was necessary for Bayh to clear the way to move to the White House and take over.

By announcing his retirement when he did, the day before the filing deadline for someone to run for his Senate seat, it left no one time to file as the Democratic candidate for Senate from Indiana. Since no one expected Bayh to leave no one was prepared to file the next day. This means the State Democratic party in Indiana can select the next candidate for the people, giving them time to recruit the best possible candidate for the race.

It is all too convenient for Bayh to end up taking over as Chief of Staff for Obama and solving one of the biggest headaches for the president, how to get Emanuel out of there. Bayh could resign at any time and his seat would be filled by governor's appointment. The governor is a Republican in Indiana but Bayh could make a deal with him on his replacement, appointing a Democrat who will not run for office in the fall. The Indiana governor is a weak form of state organization so he may very well make a deal to get the seat open and to get a friend (Bayh) in the White House.



If Obama does not make moves to fix his White House staff there will be a series of resignations by cabinet members like Hillary Clinton who are sick and tired of the backroom politics of Emanuel and the other staff members and see their ability to represent the United States being undermined by the politics in the White House. Bayh would be in a great position to help the president and smooth over the ruffled feathers on Capitol Hill.

Remember, President Reagan was successful because he had former Congressman and moderate James Baker as his Chief of Staff. Obama could learn from Reagan's experience. It was Baker who helped make Reagan one of the most popular presidents of all time. Oh yes, as an early supporter of Hillary in her campaign for president Bayh would go a long ways toward healing the deep wounds between Obama and the Clintons.

Stay tuned...

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Obama Staff Real World and Policy Inexperience Sinks the Cerebral Presidency

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Obama's criticism of Sarah Palin for inexperience is his own Achilles heel.

He campaigned by condemning Palin for her inexperience and the public bought it but in the end the disintegration of his own staff reflects on his own inexperience in policy and real world challenges. As the integrity of his economic, health care and foreign policy are challenged and word leaks out on how he constructed and pursued his agenda of change the cerebral approach to the presidency he displays is daily being undermined by the exodus of key staff and leaking of internal policy disputes.

First came the departure of three of his top economic advisors, the latest being Lawrence H. Summers, who will step down as director of the National Economic Council. His abrupt resignation follows that of Budget director Peter Orszag who left in July, and the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Romer, who left earlier this month. Only embattled Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner remains of the original Obama team.

Since when did the architects of the most significant economic changes in our nation's history, to paraphrase the White House spin, run for cover before their plans are even implemented? Could it be a forewarning that the White House intellectuals failed to understand the politics of governing and have decided to abandon ship before they are blamed for the failures?

Health care looms as a second backdrop to the policy problems of our young president as health care costs continue to rise after passage of the Obama bill while trillion dollar price increases were postponed by the White House until after the 2012 election and they cast a dark cloud over our future. More evidence of the policy failures and failure to read the public mood by the president's team.

Today's disclosure by The New York Times of the vicious policy battle over the war in Afghanistan as disclosed in a new book by Bob Woodward indicate Obama gave up trying to build a consensus in his own staff and made up a strategy with no basis in fact. Coming just six weeks before the midterm elections the impact of Woodward disclosures could be further devastating to the hopes of Democrats of keeping control of the Congress.

With Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff, ready to jump ship and run for Mayor of Chicago those with the least practical experience will be left in the White House. One wonders why Emanuel would trade running the White House for being mayor of a city but he knows what we don't know about the state of the state.

Obama built an administration with many educators and friends and a cadre of former Clinton people but the theoretical world of academia is a far cry from the hard knocks of reality and many of the Clinton people were the previous architects of policies and procedures that caused the economic collapse. There are times when even experience is bad if it did not contribute to the public good, a fact President Clinton recognized when he apologized for the economic and regulatory changes these people made late in his presidency.

Obama can still salvage his final two years if he does not make the same staffing mistakes again as he replaces all those staff running for the turnstiles. Of course his administration still remains bloated with academics and arm chair activists with no clue as to the policy process, the art of compromise with Congress and the meaning of bipartisanship so the purge must go much deeper if he is to be a success.
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Obama's Chicago Thugs Keep Racism alive by Forcing the Firing of Black Appointee for Racism

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In what must go down as one of the most bizarre episodes of the Obama presidency the White House, the NAACP and the national and cable news industry all showed their true colors, and it was not the rainbow prism they like to talk about but the darkness of bigotry and prejudice they claim to abhor.



Yesterday morning a conservative web blog released a partial video of a USGA official talking about an incident that took place nearly 25 years ago. In it she appeared to be making racist remarks. There is nothing wrong with a conservative or liberal web site raising questions.

This story came on the heels of the NAACP, in a lust for national attention, starting a firestorm by accusing the Tea Party of being racist. Of course Tea Party and media people fired back and in the end the NAACP would have been much better off saying nothing.



With that backdrop, the conservative story appeared. While there is nothing wrong with the release of a story for political purposes, there is a lot wrong when the White House gang and news media react to the story with no fact checking and in a panic mode, and nothing else could explain the amateur reaction by the Obama gang.

Perhaps they were trying to shove the issue under the carpet so it would not distract from today's big Obama news splash when he signs the financial reform bill and proves he is going after Wall Street. Of course with the stock for Wall Street bad boy Goldman Sachs going up, and Goldman was the top Obama campaign supporter, in spite of the Obama bill and a paltry fine imposed by the SEC, one wonders if financial reform Obama style is not just a ruse.



Back to poor Shirley Sherrod at the Agriculture Department, she was driving back to her office and got three calls from the Deputy Undersecretary of Agriculture Sharon Cook and was finally told to pull off the road. She was told the White House wanted her resignation before the story broke on the Glenn Beck Show on Fox News later in the afternoon. She was forced to text her resignation.



No due diligence. No protections guaranteed under the rules and Constitution. No one even asked her side of the story. The Chicago thugs running the White House will throw any staff appointee under the wheels of the nearest bus on just the threat of Glenn Beck talking about it on his show.



Well shortly after his election the White House and Obama declared war on Fox News and tried to punish Fox News by cutting off White House contact with them. After two years of the war with Fox News Obama and his gang are getting the same result as in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Administration continues to spin their wheels while trying to suppress all opposition. That does not sit well with the American public who has proven they want media watchdogs like Roger Ailes and Fox News to keep an eye on Obama because Fox is burying everyone else in the Nielsen ratings.



Shirley was not being racist, all any responsible person in the news media, White House or Agricultural Department would have known that with a simple fact check. But none was done and they fired her first with the approval of the president. That is a reckless disregard for all laws and protections in this nation. In fact, the white farmer she was supposed to have discriminated against came to her defense saying she saved his family farm.



Ironically, it took a combination of a Black appointee by the president, Glenn Beck and Fox News to show the true colors of this Administration. Their words have no meaning. Truth is a matter of convenience. They will destroy the careers of their own people to protect their media image.

As for the news media, they were just as guilty in failing to fact check the story. The same was true in many incidents in the past. The forces trying to manufacture the news are in control and the American public beware. DO NOT TRUST THE NEWS MEDIA. DO NOT TRUST THE WHITE HOUSE THUGS.

We can only hope that Obama was being used and was not behind the sinister plot to destroy the career of Shirley Sherrod for political expediency. This case of White House manipulation must be investigated and it better be by an independent prosecutor since the Obama Justice Department has proven itself to be inept and far too political to investigate itself.



Civil rights are in question today, and not because of the bigotry of the people but the actions by our political and media institutions. In the process very good and loyal administrators like Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, former governor of Iowa, have been steamrolled into huge mistakes by the White House and will be compromised by taking the heat for the president.

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Alzheimer Epidemic Sweeps Nation's Capitol - Politicians Fall Victim

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Someone better call the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and tell them there is a stunning epidemic of Alzheimers sweeping Washington, D.C., because if there isn't then there are a whole lot of people of all ages, Democrats and Republicans, White House people to bureaucrats, special interests to Wall Street interests, who have suddenly lost the ability to tell the truth.



It has gotten so serious it makes one long for a Jim Carrey character from the movie Liar, Liar to show up and start telling the truth no matter what. Could you imagine politicians who could never lie? Things have gotten so bad that if God were to destroy the sinners like some Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah then you better not look back like Lot lest you be turned into a pillar of salt.



Washington would be obliterated from the earth along with all the liars, fornicators, thieves and predators because if you wiped them out would there be anybody left? This epidemic is unusual as Alzheimers is generally a disease for seniors, and though many, many seniors from our old and ancient Congress are certainly present as we are reminded everyday when their chiseled faces are thrust into the cameras and they blurt out more untruths, the disease has also reached to the younger ones as well.

CDC might say the disease has mutated to the young since people like the president and his staff seem young although in this television age make up can often make an old person look young. And there is the question of the president's missing birth certificate. Yet these young types also seem to have gotten swept up into the epidemic. What a sad state of affairs.



Of course the media continues to exploit the disease ridden and to encourage them with never ending droll interviews, incessant exploitation of the twisted truths that pour forth from their mouths in the form of sound bytes, and the senseless analysis of the elite media personalities.

Democrats lie about the liar Republicans. Republicans counter lie about the lying Democrats. Obama seems to have completely forgotten the thousand promises he made during his campaign. Democrats forgot that Clinton people changed the rules on the economy to open the floodgates to crooks on Wall Street.



The crooks on Wall Street who formally ran the White House seem to have forgotten what they did in 1999 even though Clinton, who might have suffered the same disease when president but seems to be over it now that he is gone, apologized recently for letting his people change the rules for Wall Street, yet his people who changed the rules blame it on Bush.

Of course the Democrats like Dodd say the Republicans are protecting Wall Street when Goldman Sachs made sure the Democrats were the chief beneficiary of the Wall Street largess. Isn't that like lining the pockets of the people pointing the finger at everyone else. And where did Dodd get the huge discounted mortgages on his property?

According to Republicans Obama is responsible for the deficit, yet Obama and the Democrats say the Republicans are responsible. Aren't both responsible? Bush generated $5-7 trillion, now Obama has tripled it. I say the crippling deficit is the legacy of both parties and both presidents but only Jim Carrey would agree with me.



Obama demands the Republicans be open and transparent on the financial reform bill. Just like he was open and transparent on the health care reform bill I suppose. Right... Just like he scorns Wall Street but he and the Democrats received millions of dollars from the Wall and he even received a million from Goldman Sachs, but the facts don't really count.

If nothing else we have finally got total equality in our nation's capitol. All are about equal in the art of producing titillating sound bytes with no basis in fact, of spinning elocution to the point of making facts untrue, and of accusing their opponents of being the twisted ones. Truth in Washington has slipped into the political cesspool and the only smart Americans left are the ones who ignore all that goes on in the epicenter of politicians.



It almost seems as if Hollywood studios have bought our nation's capitol and converted it into a set for the next blockbuster film, an epic struggle between good and evil, the site of the new Armageddon, and all we are waiting for is Michael the Archangel to come flying in with his flaming sword to annihilate all of the wicked ones and give America back to the people.



The news media could stop the Alzheimers epidemic if they weren't so caught up in keeping things stirred up in a last, desperate attempt to hike rating and increase newspaper sales but neither seems to be working as more and more people turn away from the once proud medium. Right now psychics and channels have as much chance of telling the truth as the news media but only people outside the beltway know it.

One day soon the cable news networks will declare the workings of the White House and Congress as the new reality show in America since there hasn't been a real honest reality show on TV in years. When people finally realize that the only value left in the Alzheimer inflicted wheezers in Washington is a couple of hours of entertainment nightly, then all might be well.



At least we know the current round of Alzheimers might end with the fall elections. Then maybe the people of America will finally get a break. Let's hope at that time we will finally get campaign reform, ethics laws, conflict of interest laws, and truth or it will be a long 21st century.

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Obama Faces the Lions - The GOP - Now Must Tame Three Wild Beasts

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What am I trying to say you might ask? Let me tell you, I have not been particularly kind to the Obama administration although I do have the utmost respect for the president. On the other hand, I have been as pointed toward the White House staff under Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress as I was with the Bush advisors and Congress.



It is now clear after listening to Obama have a question and answer session with the Republicans in Congress, a first for his presidency, that he really has his hands full. Politics, and nasty politics runs deep in our nation's capitol. A sad but true situation. It is fueled by the news media and lobbyists who take sides with their mouths and money.



Obama has been criticized for being too much of a teacher and not enough of a leader. Yet my many articles over the years have pointed out that the problem in Washington is so deep that it encompasses both political parties, both houses of congress, the news media, the political commentators, and especially the White House staff.



This was the Republican chance to show that unlike the White House staff and Democratic Leaders in Congress they were willing to listen to the people and make a sincere effort to work on a bi-partisan agenda with the president and the Democrats for the good of the nation.



About half of those asking questions did that to some degree. The rest fell back into the same old sniping and politicking that has disgusted the public and makes all politicians look bad. So when a question was asked to make political hay the president shot back to set the record straight.



There is a lot the GOP and president agree upon. Even those present had to agree. But if Obama is honest and really sees the light and need for bi-partisan work, he has really got his work cut out. He is surrounded by ideologues on the left and right, Democratic and Republican partisans, media maniacs, conservative and liberal fanatics and political jerks in the White House.



I am beginning to believe none of them really want him to succeed. Even the Democratic leadership has done everything to inflame relations between the president and Republicans. His own staff cannot help offering a daily dose of negative nitpicking about conservatives, Republicans, Sarah Palin, Fox News or who knows what else.



Obama will have to be the best teacher in history to pull off teaching this class. Bringing peace to these polarized barbarians will be like converting cannibals to vegetarians. I'm beginning to think Coltons Point, where I live should not secede from the Union but should lead a national referendum to force Washington, DC to secede and take with it all the White House staff, Democratic and Republican politicians, media, lobbyists and special interests.

If we really wanted to defeat the terrorists we would send the Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the White House staff and Washington media to the war zone and you can bet every terrorist in Afghanistan and Pakistan would be consumed by the bickering, badgering and bullsh-- spewed across the landscape. Maybe it is a good thing Obama is like a teacher although it might even be more important to be a psychiatrist, wizard and sorcerer to try and tame this crowd.

Today Obama justifiably got a little testy at some of the pointed questions and nonsensical commentary before questions were asked. His White House staff said in advance that he was going to teach the Republicans a lesson. A typically stupid move. Give him an A for trying, a B for listening, a C for his comments and an M for martyr for entering the Coliseum to face the lions nearly naked.



All of Washington has demonstrated over and over again that they intend to ignore the people and they have disenfranchised the voters in the process. Many of these old politicians will be retired this fall and that is a good thing. Many more should be. It is a real shame we can't vote on the media and White House staff because then the needed housecleaning would be thorough and complete.

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