Obama: I Can’t Use ‘Jedi Mindmeld’ On Congress To Fix Sequestration

[ProSense]

Obama: I Can’t Use ‘Jedi Mindmeld’ On Congress To Fix Sequestration

Asked why he doesn't just sit down with congressional leaders until a sequestration deal is reached, President Obama said Friday that he can't lock lawmakers in a room.

"I am not a dictator, I'm the President," Obama said. "So, ultimately, if Mitch McConnell or John Boehner say, we need to go to catch a plane, I can't have Secret Service block the doorway."

Obama added: "I know that this has been some of the conventional wisdom that's been floating around Washington that somehow, even though most people agree that I'm being reasonable, that most people agree I'm presenting a fair deal. The fact that they don't take it means that I should somehow, you know, do a Jedi mindmeld with these folks and convince them to do what's right. Well, you know, they're elected. We have a constitutional system of government."

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-i-cant-use-jedi-mindmeld-on-congress

Bob Woodward, the RW and Republicans are insane, but you have some others making the same argument that both sides are to blame.

[KamaAina]

1. Dumbest thing he's ever said

veering dangerously close to Bush* territory.

It's the Vulcan mind meld, dammit!

[longship]

7. Damnit Jim, I am a President not a geek!

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

13. Yes!

Obama clearly did NOT spend enough time living in his mother's basement!

[JaneyVee]

15. True, it's the Jedi mind trick.

[Fire Walk With Me]

21. I am taking it as purposeful mockery of the American people:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022445620

[one_voice]

28. ..

[Fire Walk With Me]

30. $1 trillion for DHS alone, $1 trillion for the TSA/spy tech industry, zero wall street regulation,

continuing bailouts (read: handouts), sure, there's no money and the poor have to suffer. Don't roll your eyes at me, read the links and realize we're being fucked in an enormous way. This is Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland...and they've been planning it for years.

[Glassunion]

2. Silly

The Mindmeld is something that Vulcans do. The Jedi do mind tricks. No wonder he can't do them.

[Puzzledtraveller]

12. LOL

That's it, he has it all backwards! Let's pitch in and get him this!

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

14. But wouldn't it be cool...

If he could do that Darth Vadar throat-strangley thing on Boehner?

That could be a damned pay-per-view event.

[IdaBriggs]

3. No! No! Obama! How could you??? Jedi MIND TRICKS -- VULCAN Mind Meld!

I am devastated! How? How could he get that SO WRONG???

[JHB]

8. Photoshops of Spock with a light saber appear online in 3, 2, 1...

[0rganism]

9. Spock would have made an excellent Jedi

just sayin'

[IdaBriggs]

10. I *still* expect better from Obama - and isn't that from the "reboot" --

which, as everyone knows, is a *totally* different timeline!

Oops.

I let my inner geek out to play again, didn't I?

[KittyWampus]

11. someone please photoshop PBO's face in there… PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

[Comrade_McKenzie]

5. Nerds on Twitter are pissed off. Squeaky voices of the world, unite. nt

[gateley]

6. I think he gave an OUTSTANDING statement and the Q&A's were informative

and open.

I'll give him a pass on the Vulcan/Jedi confusion (but he's the only one!!). He was too young for both.

[Fire Walk With Me]

16. Obama is in bed with wall street and the banksters who have been pushing for "austerity", forever.

This is about banksters and their astonishing hold upon our political process, not about parties or partisanship or presidents. THEY are the real power, THEY have vampire teeth stuck into the country's neck. And only a few in "authority" say a thing about it.

[ProSense]

18. You know,

"Obama is in bed with wall street and the banksters who have been pushing for "austerity", forever."

...that's really an absurd statement on many levels.

The Wall Street reform law would have a significant impact if implementation is sped up.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022441546

[Fire Walk With Me]

20. Please witness the larger picture in some detail, with much omitted for purposes of brevity:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022445620

[ProSense]

27. I love that

"Corporate Profits Have Grown By 171 Percent Under Obama -- Highest Rate Since 1900"

...first one. That should piss off the RWers. I mean, here you have another Democrat who isn't bad for business. The fact is that corporate profits rebound. The President wasn't elected to stop businesses from being profitable, and coming off the worst financial crisis in more than 70 years, that rate was going to be high.

More facts about the President's policies: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022424843

[Fire Walk With Me]

32. You have failed to read the second sentence about workers not sharing in the profits,

in fact, losing ground in some areas. The very rich are profiting, not the rest of us. Good for the very rich, yes, but not America. The links following tell more about how the very rich are being coddled while they are pushing "austerity" upon the rest of us.

There is plenty of money. Plenty. The "cuts" are just another theft benefiting the very rich, with partisan support. Remember the phrase "Banks got bailed out; we got sold out!"?

[ProSense]

34. Wait

"You have failed to read the second sentence about workers not sharing in the profits, in fact, losing ground in some areas. The very rich are profiting, not the rest of us. Good for the very rich, yes, but not America. The links following tell more about how the very rich are being coddled while they are pushing "austerity" upon the rest of us. "

...you think this just started?

The Titanic Wealth Gap Between Blacks and Whites
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022437928

Like I said, the President's policies have addressed some of the inequality: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022424843

You seem to think that the President can enact a policy that's going to result in a dramatic shift in the gap. He did propose, as did members of Congress, increasing the minimum wage: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022439826

Also, saving the auto industry at least benefited workers in that sector.

Chrysler workers getting profit-sharing checks. WWMS (What would Mitt say)?

by Laura Clawson

Some days, you almost have to wish Mitt Romney was still in the public eye, just to hear what nonsense he'd have to say about the news of the day. Like, say, Chrysler's $1.7 billion in 2012 profits and how they'll lead to $2,250 profit-sharing checks for hourly workers. Don't you wish Mitt was here to tell us once again how terrible President Obama's auto rescue was for the economy?

Well, Mitt would probably be outraged that those goshdarn union members were sharing in profits. That, to him, would definitely be the wrong way of doing things. Chances are he'd also take the opportunity to lie a little more about Chrysler moving production to China. He might take some comfort from the fact that salaried workers are also getting bonuses, though.

For the rest of us, it's nice to hear about hourly workers getting bonuses for a change. Usually that's only a word we hear attached to rich executives. Business owners and service workers near Chrysler plants have to be happy, too, since those restaurants and their waiters, grocery stores, and more will benefit from thousands of auto workers with a little more in their bank accounts.

So for anyone who wants the United States to have a strong auto manufacturing sector, with workers making enough to get by and maybe even a little more, this is a good thing. It's a good thing for anyone who wants the economies of Michigan and Ohio and Indiana to get a boost from auto workers able to buy new furniture or cars they've been putting off through the tough times, or maybe eating out or going to the movies every so often. But if you wanted to see anything Barack Obama ever touched go down in flames at whatever cost or if you just don't like to see working people doing okay, then this will probably be bitter news.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/30/1183430/-Chrysler-workers-getting-profit-sharing-checks-WWMS-What-would-Mitt-say

Great news, and I wish Mitt to stay gone. LOL!

[woo me with science]

24. Yup. "Look! There's a Republican!"

(Never mind that our Democratic President is pushing Republican policies...)

It's a stale old Third Way game, and predictable as hell.

[ProSense]

31. Obama

"Yup. 'Look! There's a Republican!' (Never mind that our Democratic President is pushing Republican policies...)"

...won. Health care reform won (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022424843). Wall Street reform won (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022441546). Raising taxes on the rich won (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022409893).

Statement from the President (on filibuster of Democratic sequester replacement)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022443634

Eugene Robinson: Obama, winning the argument
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022381931

[Fire Walk With Me]

33. No, the very rich "won". None of that will make much difference at all. It's pitiful on the grand

scale. Crumbs, while the rich walk away with trillions of taxpayer dollars!

Also, Obama has twice signed the NDAA with it's section 1021 provision providing for the indefinite detention of US citizens without trial or representation. How is that not a Bush-era piece of filth?

[ProSense]

35. They

"No, the very rich 'won'".

...won a tax increase: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022407211

"Also, Obama has twice signed the NDAA with it's section 1021 provision providing for the indefinite detention of US citizens without trial or representation."

I see you're going for the fact-free kitchen-sink approach.

[MineralMan]

17. Or Vulcan Mindmeld, either.

It's true. He can't force member of Congress to do anything. And whatever emerges will have to pass the House. We need to elect a majority in the House in 2014, and increase our majority in the Senate.

There are no other options. Will we do it? Or will we fail to do it? That's the question, really.

[Brickbat]

19. DISAPPOINTING.

[bigbrother05]

22. Let's all be sure to go Sheldon Cooper on his ass

It's startling to hear him sound awkward, it risks a sci fi cataclysm to cross the Wars/Trek beams, but his point is valid. There are limits to what even the coolest President can do, but hint at domestic drones might do the trick.

[KittyWampus]

25. He's trying to pander to both sides of the SciFi aisle! Pick a lane Mr. President. Pick a lane.

[napkinz]

23. Lucky this happened AFTER the election

He would have lost the Star Wars AND Star Trek vote.

Millions of nerd votes would have gone to Romney!

[eShirl]

26. Neither mix metaphors nor fandoms, Mr. President!

[BarackTheVote]

29. Truly, if one could combine the Jedi mind trick

and the Vulcan mind meld, one could rule the galaxy!

[Fire Walk With Me]

36. This is a purposeful distraction, a weapon of mass distraction. Talk about this, and not the

banksters who are profiting wildly while we begin installing "austerity" in the US.

[pansypoo53219]

37. grover norquist need to be trashed to the core.

may he be hit by a bus, but suffer + not die. i want him on FOOD STAMPS.

[treestar]

38. The reporter that asked that sounded like so many DU posts

Obama should be "tough" like LBJ and threaten them!

He needs to find out where the bodies are buried and make it personal! None of this Constitutional system crap!