Welcome to the would have been longer Scramble. Might get my first version up it it can be recovered.
Juan Williams rips Obama administration, from Fox News, via Jennifer Rubin, Commentary [1]:
I think the problem here is this is an administration that, as Hillary Clinton famously pointed out, you may not want to have answer the 3:00 a.m. call.
These are guys who have tremendous vision about legislative achievements and specific things like health care, going forward on immigration, those difficult issues for America that America so far has failed to deal with.
But when it comes to the crisis, when it comes to the gulf oil spill, the wars, the recession, they feel as if it’s being imposed upon them, rather than taking the helm. I think that’s what Americans are sensing right here. And I think it’s the source of their problem at the moment. Are you able to handle a crisis in a convincing way that inspires confidence? And so far, the president hasn’t done that.
Now, some say he should just go into a rage. I don’t think that’s who Barack Obama is. I think he’s a pretty cool character, fairly analytical, and I think we all admire as part of the meritocracy in America. Those are people who are really smart. But you know what? They don’t know how to deal with this crisis, and I think lots of Americans therefore are blaming the president, fairly or unfairly.
In the Army, there is the expression that when it comes to battle plans, the enemy has an input. The Obama administration is simply not prepared for the world in which we live.
Powers’ Point, Kristen Powers, New York Post [2]:
The flap over the job offers to Joe Sestak in Pennsylva nia and Andrew Romanoff [3]in Colorado shows that it’s time to move electoral politics out of the White House. Rahm Emanuel, this means you.
President Obama’s first step should be to shutter the Office of Political Affairs. Then he should jettison the various political henchmen — starting with Rahm — who’ve infested the West Wing and put them on the Democratic National Committee, where they belong.
Hat tip: Anchoress [4]