01 December 2009

Obama's Furtive Friday News Dumps


Perhaps you've noticed how Attorney General Eric We're-All-Cowards-on-Race Holder chose a Friday to announce that KSM and other terrorist suspects would be tried in civilian court in NYC- rather than before a military tribunal.

Clearly there's a pattern of seeking to mute reaction to controversial policy announcements by issuing them late on a Friday- this is yet more of the habitual dishonesty and bad-faith manipulation of public opinion that's got Obama's credibility in tatters already...

CBS News cited a poll yesterday showing that only 14 % of Americans believe Obama’s claim that healthcare reform won’t add to the budget deficit... and only 7% believe that the stimulus has created any jobs at all- this despite frenzied Team Obama claims to the contrary.


"Every modern White House has put out news on contentious issues late on Friday in the hope that doing so will bury it or reduce the amount of critical scrutiny it would otherwise receive," former Bush White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece.

"What is unusual is the degree to which this White House has relied on this tactic."

Rove cited these examples of Obama's "Friday dumps" in his WSJ article:
  • On Jan. 30, Obama revoked the ban on providing taxpayer dollars to international groups that promote or perform abortions in other countries.
  • On Feb. 27, the president announced that U.S. combat activities in Iraq would end in 18 months, a longer period than his antiwar base desired.
  • On May 15, another Friday, Obama said he would retain George W. Bush's military tribunals to try terrorist detainees, a move opposed by civil libertarians.
  • On Oct. 30, the White House announced that it had "created or saved" at least a million jobs since February. A week later, the unemployment rate hit 10.2 percent.
"Friday night network television news and Saturday newspapers and cable coverage are traditionally less seen or read," Rove observed. "By Sunday morning, a Friday announcement is often considered old news."

However, he added that "not even Friday afternoons can offer sanctuary from dangerous or ill-considered policy choices."



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Michelle Obama's Patriotic Sacrifice (LOL)


"In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much," ... "See, that's why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service, "
-Michelle Obama




Hey- that's funny.

Meanwhile back in reality, Michelle Obama is not paid to serve as First Lady... and doesn't perform any official duties. But somehow that didn't hold her back from hiring a jaw-dropping number of staffers to cater to her every whim and stroke her ego.

As reported in the Canada Free Press, the First Lady's great sacrifice includes a staff now consisting of 26 servants and assistants... costing the US taxpayer over $1.6M annually in salaries alone.
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Total Personal Staff for US first ladies (paid by taxpayers):


Mamie Eisenhower : 1 (paid for personally out of President's salary)

Jackie Kennedy: 1

Roseline Carter: 1

Barbara Bush: 1

Hilary Clinton: 3

Laura Bush: 1


Michelle Obama: 26

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Here's just the first 22 personal assistants she hired... and there's been four recent additions since (!):

1.. $172,200 - Sher, Susan (Chief Of Staff)

2. $140,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Policy And Projects For The First Lady)

3. $113,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary for Mrs. Obama)

4. $102,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the First Lady)

5. $100,000 - Winter, Melissa E.. (Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)

6. $90,000 - Medina , David S. (Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)

7. $84,000 - Lel yveld, Catherine M. (Director and Press Secretary to the First Lady)

8. $75,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (Director of Scheduling and Advance for the First Lady)

9. $70,000 - Sanders, Trooper (Deputy Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady)

10. $65,000 - Burnough, Erinn J. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)

11. $64,000 - Reinstein, Joseph B. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)

12. $62,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (Deputy Director of Scheduling and Events Coordinator For The First Lady)

13. $60,000 - Fitts, Alan O. (Deputy Director of Advance and Trip Director for the First Lady)

14. $57,500 - Lewis, Dana M. (Special Assistant and Personal Aide to the First Lady)

15. $52,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M. (Associate Director and Deputy Press Secretary To The First Lady)

16. $50,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (Special Assistant for Scheduling and Traveling Aide To The First Lady)

17. $45,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (Associate Director of Correspondence For The First Lady)

18. $43,000 - Tubman, Samanth a (Deputy Associate Director, Social Office)
19. $40,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (Executive Assistant to the Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
20. $36,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (Staff Assistant to the Social Secretary)
21. $35,000 - Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant)
22. $35,000 - Jackson, Deilia A. (Deputy Associate Director of Correspondence for the First Lady)
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The bottom-line is that there has never been a White House with the audacity to hire an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady's social life... and many Americans are rightfully appalled.


It's far too often that the Obamas -in the midst of a brutal recession- behave like some tacky, pompous trash that just won the lottery. Be it extravagant date-nights and international shopping sprees, lavish WH parties, 35-car motorcades running errands, or what-have-you... these two seem to relish rubbing it right in our faces.


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