The Koolaid game part two

As you recall, a commenter on another blog sent the blogger a link to "A Long List" of Obama's accomplishments, as composed by "freelance" hack Milt Shook.  In our first round, we found that Shook took somewhat dubious accomplishments, linked them to "evidence" he apparently never read, and gave the original blogger and myself a good laugh.  Here, then are more amusing bon mots from the "mind" of Milt.

1." He dismantled the Minerals Management Service, thereby moving forward to cut ties between energy companies and the government."  That he did, splitting the agency into three new administrations right after the Deepwater Horizon affair made it seemingly impossible for the scandal-ridden bureaucracy to continue as is... or was it?  The basic problem was one agency both regulating and partnering for profit with the various energy industries.  But it seems that good intentions fell short- NY Times reported, "Almost a year later, William K. Reilly, who co-chaired the commission charged with investigating the Horizon blowout, was quoted as saying "they changed the name, but all the people are the same" and "it’s embarrassing" in reference to the current situation."

2. "Crafted an Executive order establishing the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability to assist in financial education for all Americans."  Established might be a strong word.  It was actually a relaunch of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, launched by an executive order from GW Bush on Jan. 22, 2008.  Funny how Obama has a talent for renaming things and calling it an accomplishment.  I think instead of going to work Sunday night, I'll rename Sunday Night Football "working at home."

3. "Ordered 65 executives who took bailout money to cut their own pay until they paid back all bailout money."  Whether or not this actually managed to occur, or whether it mattered since it covered cash payouts and not stock bonuses, or whether Obama can even claim it as an accomplishment since it was the then-treasury secretary that ordered it, are irrelevant.  Fact is, Shook completely misread the text he cited, because if he HAD read it correctly, 65 executives APPEALED to get their original compensation, and 5 were approved.  Thus sixty executives had to take this "cut", not 65.

4. "He pushed through and got passed Dodd-Frank, one of the largest and most comprehensive Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression."  This episode's "need I say more" contestant.

5. "Under his watch, National Labor Relations Board has issued final rules that require all employers to prominently post employees’ rights where all employees or prospective employees can see it, including websites and intranets, beginning November 2011. "  First I said, "Don't we do that already?  We got those posters no one ever reads already!"  But then I dug a little further.  "The notice, which is similar to one required by the U.S. Department of Labor for federal contractors, states that employees have the right to act together to improve wages and working conditions, to form, join and assist a union, to bargain collectively with their employer, and to refrain from any of these activities. It provides examples of unlawful employer and union conduct and instructs employees how to contact the NLRB with questions or complaints. "  And thank you for spending your union members' contributions on Obama For America, Inc.

6. "He did much to restore America’s reputation around the world as a global leader that does the “right thing” in world affairs, at least according to the rest of the planet. "  I just thought I'd throw that one in there to give everyone a chuckle.  Not sure if there's anyone outside the Nobel Commision that would agree with that, but it's still funny.

7. "He improved relations with Middle East countries by appointing special envoys. "  Which is funny in and of itself, but wait till I add what was on his link:  "President Obama joined Secretary of State Hillary Clinton January 22 to announce former Senator George Mitchell as his special envoy to the Middle East peace process and Ambassador Richard Holbrooke as his special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan — moves that underscore the new administration’s commitment to renewing America’s leadership through reinvigorated diplomacy."  Okay, so let's get this straight- Obama appointed envoys. Envoys improve relations.  Envoys are in Afghanistan, where infiltrators have been killing our boys at an increased level in the last two weeks, and in Pakistan, where Osama Bin Laden had been hiding for HOW long?

So let's bring out the running total after round two.  So far, this is what we have Obama accomplishing:
-Taking on battles only if he could win them;
-Changing the names of positions/commissions/executive orders in order to either claim credit for something he didn't really do or fix something without fixing it (3 cases);
-Created new bureaucracies to no real effect (2 cases);
-Supported the passage of legislation whose value is dubious at best (2 cases);
-Failed to deliver on promised results (4 cases);
-Poured money down the drain (directly on GM, indirectly everywhere else);
-Claimed credit for something he didn't do (3 cases);
-Supported the agenda of political contributors.

Not bad, in just 4 years.  I think I can probably squeeze one more post out of this link, so stay tuned for that.  In the mean time: PICTURES!!!!

Scrappy mopes for about a half-hour before I leave for work.

Dude was hanging by his back feet to get at the seed bell.