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To: Wharf Rat who wrote (25130)	8/27/2012 10:25:16 AM
From: longnshort	1 Recommendation Respond to of 85487

To Honor Neil Armstrong, Obama Posts Photo of Himself The thing that most bothers me about Barack Obama is his unearned narcissism. His smugness and arrogance are beyond the ability of science to measure. I don't mind someone being a bit cocky or even arrogant, IF they have the accomplishments and achievements to back up the attitude. Obama's greatest achievement, though, is creating his own personal narrative. He is his own personal touchstone. Even when honoring a great American hero, Obama can't help but thrust himself into the event. On Friday, America and the world lost a true hero. Neil Armstrong, who died of heart complications at the age of 82, was the first human to walk on the moon. His steps onto the lunar surface were watched by the largest television audience in history. His statement "one giant leap for mankind" echoed throughout the world, allowing people everywhere to step back from the clutter of their daily lives and pause to dream big things. People who witnessed it will never forget it. Armstrong's heroism wasn't the lunar walk, though. It was how he comported himself afterwards that showed the true measure of the man. He was among the more famous human beings in history. Yet he retired to a quiet and private life teaching aeronautical engineering and tending to his farm. His walk on the moon wasn't a personal achievement, per se, but an accomplishment for all of humanity. He made few public appearances. He gave very few speeches or interviews. His resignation from the public square made his lunar walk something mankind achieved rather than something Neil Armstrong achieved. His walk was the culmination of the work, not only of the thousands of engineers and scientists who directly worked on the mission, but also of the countless others throughout the ages who looked up at the skies and dreamed. Armstrong understood this. How many of us could have resisted the siren song of global celebrity? How many of us would have chosen to withdraw and ensure the walk is remembered as mankind's greatest triumph rather than a personal glory? Certainly not Barack Obama. Obama took to his tumblr page to offer a tribute to Neil Armstrong. The words--two sentences--are fine in a generic politician way. But, Obama being Obama, he injected himself into the tribute. He included a photo, not of Armstrong or the iconic step onto the lunar surface, but of himself, gazing up at the moon. Obama is a literary construct. It's as if Zelig jumped off the movie screen and took up residence in the Oval Office. He puts himself in the frame of historical events, even if he has only the smallest cameo. He let Democrats in Congress construct the stimulus package, as well as his signature legislation, Obamacare. He comes on the scene just in time for the photo-op, after others have done the heavy lifting. Neil Armstrong did the heavy lifting. Even a tribute to his death is just another photo-op for Obama.

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (25130)	8/27/2012 10:27:00 AM
From: longnshort	2 Recommendations Respond to of 85487

Obama Refused Cardinal's Prayers at DNC but Lists Muslim Jumah Prayers as "official function" "I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction." Barack Hussein Obama, page 261, The Audacity of Hope Last week I posted about the Jumah jihad at the DNC, an event led by an imam who urged the overthrow of the "filthy" U.S. government and who was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the World Trade center bombings. Obama's DNC lists the assembly as an “official function." The group is hardly “mainstream,” being represented by Siraj Wahhaj, who will be the “ Grand Imam” for the gathering. Wahhaj and the co-leader of the Charlotte event, Jibril Hough, are both heavily involved in the separatist American Islamist movement. Many of the participants in the “Jumah at the DNC” will most likely represent radical networks that have long-time, but little-known, operations in the Charlotte region. (Read more: Storm headed for Charlotte thanks to 'Jumah at the DNC' \| Washington Times Communities ) Looks like Obama is engaging in his own holy war. At a speech in 1995, Siraj Wahhaj informed the world that it was his “duty and our duty as Muslims to replace the U.S. Constitution with the Quran.” But the Cardinal is not welcome. "Cardinal sin: Bam blew off DNC blessing" NY Post, August 24, 2012 WASHINGTON — President Obama turned down a chance to have Timothy Cardinal Dolan deliver a prayer at the Democratic National Convention after Dolan told Democrats he would be “grateful” to deliver a blessing in Charlotte. Dolan — considered the top Catholic official in the nation, as head of the Archdiocese of New York and president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops — tipped off Democrats a few weeks ago that he had agreed to deliver the prime-time benediction at the Republican convention in Tampa next week, Dolan’s spokesman Joseph Zwilling told The Post. “He wanted to make sure that they knew that this was not a partisan act on his part and that he would be just as happy and grateful to accept an invitation from the Democrats as he would to have received one from the Republicans,” said Zwilling. “He has not been contacted by them” since, he added. A senior Obama campaign official said yesterday that the Democrats would have a “high-ranking” Catholic at the convention, but indicated the arrangements weren’t yet final. “I can’t announce it because the person hasn’t got their plane ticket,” said the official. Obama campaign spokesman Adam Fetcher would say only, “The Catholic clergy will be an important part of a diverse community of interfaith leaders represented in Charlotte.” Obama and Dolan have clashed publicly over a health-care law requiring employers to provide abortion coverage. Dolan and other groups filed suit against the rule, claiming it forces church-related groups to act against their conscience. Still, Dolan invited both Obama and Mitt Romney to his annual Alfred E. Smith dinner in New York City in October. “The Republicans are smart enough to get the ‘pope of America,’ and the Democrats are stupid enough not to invite him,” said Bill Donohue, of the Catholic League, who said he spoke with Dolan yesterday.