Thursday, March 24, 2011

Tin Ear.

Sean Hannity makes remarks about Obama seeking approval from the United Nations rather than going to Congress. His guest on the show was Oliver North, who, utterly bereft of a sense of irony, said:
Unfortunately, you cannot lead that way, this is a man whose crisis of leadership is now affecting the future of this nation and national security of this country and putting young Americans in harm's way without anybody authorizing, except the United Nations.
You couldn't make this stuff up if you tried.
.

32 comments:

Paul said...

I figger the big o's next stop is president of the world, which requires the UN. Do the math.

Turk Turon said...

"Hello, Pot! Do you read me? This is the Kettle, over."

bluesun said...

The line that jumped out at me:

"Nicolas Sarkozy has no doubt about the mission, he is now the leader of the free world."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!

atlharp said...

Ah, the good ole days when our biggest problem was someone in our government selling guns to Islamist thugs. Today we provide them air support!

Tam said...

atlharp,

"Islamic thug" = Muslim country we don't buy oil from.

"Our valuable strategic partner for stability in the region" = Muslim country we do buy oil from.

Kristophr said...

Islamic thug = all of them

I really need a nuclear powered SUV.

Andy said...

Ahh,Hannity AND our man Ollie? Whoa. For those of us that got to participate in the great Contra fandango, ROE took on a whole new meaning. Defensive weapons only outside the wire, etc. If our senior Team Sgts. who already had their bookends from SE Asia used today's vernacular, there would be alot of "Really?"

Justthisguy said...

I still wanna see a re-match between Jim Webb and Ollie. Yay! Geezer fight!

We'd make 'em wear t-shirts, just for decency.

This time, I betcha Jim wouldn't listen to any of that smoke about "Be gentle, Ollied has a steel plate in his head."

WV: thred. Yep, this is a good start.

Anonymous said...

The second time and later, it's all farce.

Justthisguy said...

Oh, yeah, Anon@2:28;
I can imagine the ringside announcer shouting things like, "-and Webb lands a right hook on North! North's dentures flew out of the ring! The Ref has stopped the fight, while North's trainer is negotiating for the return of the dentures from the gal who caught them!"

Underground Carpenter said...

Hi Tam,

Hannity, too, is 3 brain cells short of the ability to understand irony. He thinks Sarah Palin is the second coming of George Washington, and he calls Dick Cheney a "great American."

Dave

Außenseiter said...

@Kristopher

So, according to you every male who happens to worship Mahomet is a thug?

I'm no fan of theirs, and even though I don't like how Arabs behave, I wouldn't make that statement. Not every muslim is an Arab.

The Iranians I've met were perfectly honest and very decent people. Some of the Arabs I've met seemed okay then. None of them were especially thuggish, though that may be because they were university students. (come to think of it, I've never seen a thug in a institution of higher learning)

Will Brown said...

Come on, Tam, be fair about this. You know perfectly well that it is standard "news" show format policy to have a topic expert on as a guest if at all possible. Oliver North is widely acknowledged as an expert in these matters. Why, even Congress has been exposed to his expertise, so why not the rest of us?

After all, one man's tin ear is another man's coclear implant you know.

Anonymous said...

Nobody at the White House knew what Ollie was doing?

You funny lady!

Gerry

Tam said...

Gerry,

"Nobody at the White House knew what Ollie was doing?"

Huh? What?

I was talking about the Executive branch doing military stuff without Congress's approval.

Anonymous said...

Tam,

I figure weapons trading with Iran via Israel and arming and training Contras as military stuff.

I had no problem with it. Just the lying about it when asked under oath on the first go around.

Gerry

Tam said...

Gerry,

I'm just wondering how many conservatives currently lambasting Barack for waging Kinetic Military Action without congressional approval cheered for Operation El Dorado Canyon.

I found Ollie's use of "without anybody authorizing" especially funny, considering his history. I mean, the Commander-In-Chief's authorization was all he needed, right? ;)

Anonymous said...

Tam,

+1

Both parties seem to play fast and loose with the rules when they are in power.

I'm not sure which I find funnier, hawkish democrats or GOP soiled doves.

Gerry

PS: local gentleman led the F-111's on that raid. Ernie has been interviewed by the local paper

Joanna said...

(come to think of it, I've never seen a thug in a institution of higher learning)

You've never been to a state U with a profitable basketball program.

/yeah, I said it

Justthisguy said...

Joanna wins the thread.

WV: cocepoch. Now, if I just knew what "coc" stood for, I might be able to make a witty remark, here.

Justthisguy said...

"crock of crap"?

Anonymous said...

I kind of like Dick Cheney because at the time of the "Scary tupperware guns can't be detected" Dick C. voted against restricting them, because he thought such a restriction would be blocked by the 2nd Amendment.

Of course getting kidnap victims free by paying a ransom, and then going after the criminals is still FBI standard practice. The problem is after Americans were the target of kidnapping, the other Americans (and UK citizens) didn't leave the bad neighborhood.

At the time Iran and Iraq were fighting, and it was recognized that when two bad guys were fighting, you should sell them both ammunition and buy popcorn.

I know, that offends the prudes and puritans, but it beats stepping between them.

wv:dothedog I didn't know you could douche with a lispy dog.

Murphy's Law said...

Our support for the Contras helped bring about the downfall of the Communist regime in Nicaragua and led to the removal of Soviet bombers from that country. This made me happy.

I've also had the pleasure of meeting Col. North on two occasions and it's no lie when I say that he's still in better shape than a lot of new recruits today.

Of course that's not saying much, looking at this new generation, but still...

Anonymous said...

I believe that Ollie believes that his Commander in Chief was a true Patriot. I believe that Ollie believes that he himself is a true Patriot.

I am positive of the former (and certainly the CIC himself was positive), and am inclined to believe the latter.

Can anybody here make that statement as to the current commander and his operatives? Can the commander himself?

AT

Tam said...

AT,

That excuse doesn't wash when you're accusing someone else of doing something you yourself have done.

"You did X!"

"Well so did you!"

"Yeah, but I meant well!"

I mean, if we want to be technical, Operation Odyssey Dawn may be dumb, but it's not technically illegal, which violating the Boland Amendment was.

(It was a dumb amendment, yes, but it was the law of the land. What do we call law enforcement officers and government bureaucrats who hold themselves above the law, no matter what the reason? I guess if we agree with them we call them patriots.)

Anonymous said...

Ultimately, everything in life and love and law goes to intent.

"I guess if we agree with them we call them patriots."

Yes.

AT

Bubblehead Les. said...

Tam- "What do we call Law Enforcement Officers and Governemnt Bureaucrats who hold themselves above the Law, no matter what the reason?"

Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Borepatch said...

I hate to find myself sticking up for Obama, but at least in this case he's an upgrade from Clinton. IRC, Clinton did go to Congress for authorization for use of force in Bosnia; Congress said "no". Bill went anyway.

Letting Congress find out we're bombing when they read the morning fishwrap shows a particular sort of contempt, but it's a whole different sort than we saw from Bill.

Inbredredneck said...

Let me see, something about Ike, Lebanon, troops, make your point and leave. The understanding was that we put an end to the problem, now, don't make us come back.
Not that I'm in any way comparing Slick Willy, GWB, Obama or any other recent President to Ike. Did he act without the advice and consent of Congress? Hell, yeah. No sense in waitin' for those dunderheads to hem & haw. Did they make a big deal about it? Nah, not really, 'cause the problem was taken care of and they didn't have to dither and take a stand on something.
We ain't likely to see another Ike, sad to say.

Justthisguy said...

@inbred, "now, don't make us come back."

That, Sir, is an excellent economical Jacksonian solution, approved by me and people I approve of, such as Jerry Pournelle!

trevalyan said...

Tam, this post is pretty much pure gold. No one's built a political party on irony alone, not that I like just about any political group going now.

But if it was possible, you'd be its queen, and I'd pull that lever until it broke off.

Quick question: what do you need more right now? Ammo, books, or something else?

Tam said...

I need books like a junkie needs smack.

(What would literary methadone be? Audiobooks?)