'I... I THINK I'M GONNA COME...'

I did not watch the Dear Leader last night. I'm not hostile to him; I just didn't expect much from the speech and couldn't get caught up in the glow. Dennis Perrin, always over the top, nails him spot-on:-

I know it's early, and that many liberals are still pinching their nipples, but for fuck sake, is this how it's gonna be every time Obama opens his mouth?

OBAMA: "I have confirmation that our brave combat pilots took out 90 suspected terrorists in Herat, and while a large number of the dead are unfortunately women and children, this necessary strike helps to ensure that Afghanistan is not a launching pad for attacks against North America."

LIBERALS: "Oh God! That voice! That posture! Such command! Such intelligence! I . . . I think I'm gonna come . . ."

OBAMA: 'CAUSE FOR GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT'

LENIN'S TOMB Obama's two constituencies

Obama's appointments, the only major policy signals he can make at the moment, thus far reflect his commitment to the Wall Street constituency rather than to those worst off in American society. Thus, we have endless Clinton-era appointments, Senator Clinton offered the position of Secretary of State (which reports say she has accepted), Republicans offered top posts (it looks as if Robert Gates has been begged to stay on as Secretary of Defense) and a right-wing scumbag from the Chicago boss politics scene and the Democratic Leadership Council named Rahm Emmanuel made chief-of-staff. Thus far, organised labour hasn't got a look-in as far as appointments are concerned, but representatives of corporate America saturate the economic advisory board. Selecting Clinton as Secretary of State indicates that Obama intends to run a hawkish foreign policy, and it also demonstrates that he genuinely wasn't all that upset about the Clinton team's endless race-baiting and crazed smears in the primary. The vast majority of Obama's voters will already have cause for grave disappointment.

DUTCH ROOTS OF OBAMA?

As reported today in Telegraaf (Dutch)

'Ja wy kinne'
Nederlandse roots van Obama
AMSTERDAM - Zou de aankomend president van Amerika eerst nog Ierse roots hebben, een andere zoektocht naar de stamboom van Barack Obama leidt naar... Nederland

Well, it's already claimed the president-elect has Irish roots. But now are the Netherlands an Obamanation, too? His step-father was from Indonesia (the former Dutch East Indies) and Obbema is a Frisian word, but this has gotta be a hoax. There was a similar (Dutch) report last February in Volkskrant.

PRETTY MUCH SUMS IT UP

ON LAST NIGHT'S OBAMA INFOMERCIAL