Barack Obama: Éminence grise thumbnail

Barack Obama: Éminence grise

During a November 2020 interview with comedian Stephen Colbert, former President Barack Obama spoke with fondness of his days in the White House.

“Even on my worst days,” he said, “I found puzzling out these big complicated, difficult issues, especially if you were working with some great people, to be, especially professionally, really satisfying.”

In a somewhat playful tone, he continued, “I used to say if I can make an arrangement where I had a stand-in or frontman or frontwoman, and they had an earpiece in and I was just in my basement in my sweats, looking through the stuff and I could sort of deliver the lines while someone was doing all the talking and ceremony, I’d be fine with that because I found the work fascinating.”

Despite Obama’s half-joking manner, one was left with the distinct impression that he missed those days and wouldn’t mind if they returned — on his terms.

It’s not really surprising when one considers that he never left Washington as presidents typically do when their terms end. Except for state funerals and campaign events during presidential election cycles, we rarely see ex-presidents. Not so for Obama.

President Joe Biden took office two months after this interview. Although only Republicans acknowledged his cognitive problems at that time, Biden’s struggle had already begun. And it strains credulity to believe that, even early on, he was executing the duties of the office by himself.

His steady decline over the past four years has rendered him incapable of serving as president. Someone else is in charge and we aren’t quite sure who that is. It could be first lady Jill Biden, son Hunter Biden, Obama, Biden’s close advisers, or some combination of these individuals. My hunch is that Obama is the power behind the throne.

And now Biden is out of the 2024 race. Sources told Politico that Obama, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), “have done more to engineer Biden’s ouster from the campaign than anyone else.”

Obama, who operates from the shadows, was the mastermind. It’s no coincidence that former Obama adviser David Axelrod and actor George Clooney, Obama’s close friend, were the first voices to publicly call on Biden to leave the race. Pelosi, who knows a thing or two about how to force an agenda, did the heavy lifting. And Schumer and Jeffries acted as liaisons between their respective caucuses and Team Biden.

However, Obama reportedly was shocked when Biden, on his way out, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. A source told the New York Post that Obama wanted Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) at the top of the ticket, and was “furious … which is why he is not joining in the Democratic Party’s support of Harris,” the source added.

Note: It was reported Friday morning that Obama and his wife, Michelle, endorsed Harris.

Perhaps the whispers about “Biden’s revenge” are true.

A second “well-placed Democratic source” told the New York Post, “Obama being surprised by a smart political decision actually makes sense when coupled with his personal inability to see politics beyond his singular, immediate interests.” Indeed.

On Tuesday, the always amusing former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal titled “Biden gets the Chicago treatment: Barack Obama, an old-fashioned ward boss orchestrates the president’s removal.” According to Blagojevich, “It isn’t Donald Trump who is an existential threat to our democracy. It’s Barack Obama.”

Blagojevich noted that he’s known Obama since 1995 and that they’d both grown up in Chicago politics.

“We understand how it works—with the bosses over the people,” Blagojevich wrote. “Mr. Obama learned the lessons well. And what he just did to Mr. Biden is what political bosses have been doing in Chicago since the 1871 fire—selections masquerading as elections.” (Emphasis added.)

Finally, Chicago-based journalist John Kass, who has known Obama for decades, published a brutal article Wednesday about the “coup” to remove Biden. Its title? “Obama Leaves No Fingerprints Behind.”

Referring to Biden’s exit from the race, Kass asked, “But where was Barack Obama, author of the coup, to push old Joe Biden off the cliff?”

“Obama was nowhere, the way he likes it,” Kass wrote. “No Obama fingerprints on the blade in Biden’s back. He was nowhere, man. Obama and Kamala and the herd of weasels who lied to the American people, insisting like the idiot mop-head press lady that Joe Biden was at the top of his game though all close to him knew he was a drooling puddle of goo. And they got away with it for years too.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“But the main thing I’ve learned about the silky Obama over the years, is that he never stands up to face his enemies.” Kass added, “This littlefinger works from the shadows, through lickspittles, and never shows himself. Obama is the one-eyed jack who never lets you see the other side of his face.”

A question for Obama: What will you do to Harris if her poll numbers turn south?

Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner and the Western Journal. Follow her on X or LinkedIn.

2024-07-27 10:00:00, http://s.wordpress.com/mshots/v1/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Frestoring-america%2Ffairness-justice%2F3100553%2Fbarack-obama-eminence-grise%2F?w=600&h=450, During a November 2020 interview with comedian Stephen Colbert, former President Barack Obama spoke with fondness of his days in the White House. “Even on my worst days,” he said, “I found puzzling out these big complicated, difficult issues, especially if you were working with some great people, to be, especially professionally, really satisfying.” In,

During a November 2020 interview with comedian Stephen Colbert, former President Barack Obama spoke with fondness of his days in the White House.

“Even on my worst days,” he said, “I found puzzling out these big complicated, difficult issues, especially if you were working with some great people, to be, especially professionally, really satisfying.”

In a somewhat playful tone, he continued, “I used to say if I can make an arrangement where I had a stand-in or frontman or frontwoman, and they had an earpiece in and I was just in my basement in my sweats, looking through the stuff and I could sort of deliver the lines while someone was doing all the talking and ceremony, I’d be fine with that because I found the work fascinating.”

Despite Obama’s half-joking manner, one was left with the distinct impression that he missed those days and wouldn’t mind if they returned — on his terms.

It’s not really surprising when one considers that he never left Washington as presidents typically do when their terms end. Except for state funerals and campaign events during presidential election cycles, we rarely see ex-presidents. Not so for Obama.

President Joe Biden took office two months after this interview. Although only Republicans acknowledged his cognitive problems at that time, Biden’s struggle had already begun. And it strains credulity to believe that, even early on, he was executing the duties of the office by himself.

His steady decline over the past four years has rendered him incapable of serving as president. Someone else is in charge and we aren’t quite sure who that is. It could be first lady Jill Biden, son Hunter Biden, Obama, Biden’s close advisers, or some combination of these individuals. My hunch is that Obama is the power behind the throne.

And now Biden is out of the 2024 race. Sources told Politico that Obama, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), “have done more to engineer Biden’s ouster from the campaign than anyone else.”

Obama, who operates from the shadows, was the mastermind. It’s no coincidence that former Obama adviser David Axelrod and actor George Clooney, Obama’s close friend, were the first voices to publicly call on Biden to leave the race. Pelosi, who knows a thing or two about how to force an agenda, did the heavy lifting. And Schumer and Jeffries acted as liaisons between their respective caucuses and Team Biden.

However, Obama reportedly was shocked when Biden, on his way out, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. A source told the New York Post that Obama wanted Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) at the top of the ticket, and was “furious … which is why he is not joining in the Democratic Party’s support of Harris,” the source added.

Note: It was reported Friday morning that Obama and his wife, Michelle, endorsed Harris.

Perhaps the whispers about “Biden’s revenge” are true.

A second “well-placed Democratic source” told the New York Post, “Obama being surprised by a smart political decision actually makes sense when coupled with his personal inability to see politics beyond his singular, immediate interests.” Indeed.

On Tuesday, the always amusing former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal titled “Biden gets the Chicago treatment: Barack Obama, an old-fashioned ward boss orchestrates the president’s removal.” According to Blagojevich, “It isn’t Donald Trump who is an existential threat to our democracy. It’s Barack Obama.”

Blagojevich noted that he’s known Obama since 1995 and that they’d both grown up in Chicago politics.

“We understand how it works—with the bosses over the people,” Blagojevich wrote. “Mr. Obama learned the lessons well. And what he just did to Mr. Biden is what political bosses have been doing in Chicago since the 1871 fire—selections masquerading as elections.” (Emphasis added.)

Finally, Chicago-based journalist John Kass, who has known Obama for decades, published a brutal article Wednesday about the “coup” to remove Biden. Its title? “Obama Leaves No Fingerprints Behind.”

Referring to Biden’s exit from the race, Kass asked, “But where was Barack Obama, author of the coup, to push old Joe Biden off the cliff?”

“Obama was nowhere, the way he likes it,” Kass wrote. “No Obama fingerprints on the blade in Biden’s back. He was nowhere, man. Obama and Kamala and the herd of weasels who lied to the American people, insisting like the idiot mop-head press lady that Joe Biden was at the top of his game though all close to him knew he was a drooling puddle of goo. And they got away with it for years too.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“But the main thing I’ve learned about the silky Obama over the years, is that he never stands up to face his enemies.” Kass added, “This littlefinger works from the shadows, through lickspittles, and never shows himself. Obama is the one-eyed jack who never lets you see the other side of his face.”

A question for Obama: What will you do to Harris if her poll numbers turn south?

Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner and the Western Journal. Follow her on X or LinkedIn.

, During a November 2020 interview with comedian Stephen Colbert, former President Barack Obama spoke with fondness of his days in the White House. “Even on my worst days,” he said, “I found puzzling out these big complicated, difficult issues, especially if you were working with some great people, to be, especially professionally, really satisfying.” In a somewhat playful tone, he continued, “I used to say if I can make an arrangement where I had a stand-in or frontman or frontwoman, and they had an earpiece in and I was just in my basement in my sweats, looking through the stuff and I could sort of deliver the lines while someone was doing all the talking and ceremony, I’d be fine with that because I found the work fascinating.” Despite Obama’s half-joking manner, one was left with the distinct impression that he missed those days and wouldn’t mind if they returned — on his terms. It’s not really surprising when one considers that he never left Washington as presidents typically do when their terms end. Except for state funerals and campaign events during presidential election cycles, we rarely see ex-presidents. Not so for Obama. President Joe Biden took office two months after this interview. Although only Republicans acknowledged his cognitive problems at that time, Biden’s struggle had already begun. And it strains credulity to believe that, even early on, he was executing the duties of the office by himself. His steady decline over the past four years has rendered him incapable of serving as president. Someone else is in charge and we aren’t quite sure who that is. It could be first lady Jill Biden, son Hunter Biden, Obama, Biden’s close advisers, or some combination of these individuals. My hunch is that Obama is the power behind the throne. And now Biden is out of the 2024 race. Sources told Politico that Obama, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), “have done more to engineer Biden’s ouster from the campaign than anyone else.” Obama, who operates from the shadows, was the mastermind. It’s no coincidence that former Obama adviser David Axelrod and actor George Clooney, Obama’s close friend, were the first voices to publicly call on Biden to leave the race. Pelosi, who knows a thing or two about how to force an agenda, did the heavy lifting. And Schumer and Jeffries acted as liaisons between their respective caucuses and Team Biden. However, Obama reportedly was shocked when Biden, on his way out, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. A source told the New York Post that Obama wanted Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) at the top of the ticket, and was “furious … which is why he is not joining in the Democratic Party’s support of Harris,” the source added. Note: It was reported Friday morning that Obama and his wife, Michelle, endorsed Harris. Perhaps the whispers about “Biden’s revenge” are true. A second “well-placed Democratic source” told the New York Post, “Obama being surprised by a smart political decision actually makes sense when coupled with his personal inability to see politics beyond his singular, immediate interests.” Indeed. On Tuesday, the always amusing former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal titled “Biden gets the Chicago treatment: Barack Obama, an old-fashioned ward boss orchestrates the president’s removal.” According to Blagojevich, “It isn’t Donald Trump who is an existential threat to our democracy. It’s Barack Obama.” Blagojevich noted that he’s known Obama since 1995 and that they’d both grown up in Chicago politics. “We understand how it works—with the bosses over the people,” Blagojevich wrote. “Mr. Obama learned the lessons well. And what he just did to Mr. Biden is what political bosses have been doing in Chicago since the 1871 fire—selections masquerading as elections.” (Emphasis added.) Finally, Chicago-based journalist John Kass, who has known Obama for decades, published a brutal article Wednesday about the “coup” to remove Biden. Its title? “Obama Leaves No Fingerprints Behind.” Referring to Biden’s exit from the race, Kass asked, “But where was Barack Obama, author of the coup, to push old Joe Biden off the cliff?” “Obama was nowhere, the way he likes it,” Kass wrote. “No Obama fingerprints on the blade in Biden’s back. He was nowhere, man. Obama and Kamala and the herd of weasels who lied to the American people, insisting like the idiot mop-head press lady that Joe Biden was at the top of his game though all close to him knew he was a drooling puddle of goo. And they got away with it for years too.” CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER “But the main thing I’ve learned about the silky Obama over the years, is that he never stands up to face his enemies.” Kass added, “This littlefinger works from the shadows, through lickspittles, and never shows himself. Obama is the one-eyed jack who never lets you see the other side of his face.” A question for Obama: What will you do to Harris if her poll numbers turn south? Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the  Washington Examiner  and the  Western Journal . Follow her on X or LinkedIn., , Barack Obama: Éminence grise, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Obama-and-Harris-.webp, Washington Examiner, Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/cropped-favicon-32×32.png, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/feed/, Elizabeth Stauffer,

A bombshell revelation flew under the radar last week, and now it cannot be ignored thumbnail

A bombshell revelation flew under the radar last week, and now it cannot be ignored

New York Times columnist Ezra Klein revealed last week that top Democrats had privately admitted to him that former President Donald Trump is not actually a threat to democracy. Considering this narrative has been the centerpiece of the Democrats’ nine-year gaslighting campaign against Trump, this bombshell revelation should have been shouted from the rooftops.

Regarding his off-the-record discussions with Democratic lawmakers who are currently deciding whether to back President Joe Biden or abandon him after his disastrous debate performance, Klein said, “I’ve had top Democrats say to me, basically, say something like, ‘I don’t know why all these Democrats who think Donald Trump is an existential threat to democracy are acting the way they are. But the reason I’m acting the way I am is because I don’t think that.’” [Emphasis added.]

“Like, ‘It would be quite unpleasant for me [the lawmakers] personally to come out against the president as an elected official in the Democratic Party,’ and weighing what will happen if Donald Trump wins, and saying, in a revealed preference way, ‘I can live with Donald Trump winning,’” Klein added. “And I’ve heard people say that to me off the record, to be fair.”

The Bulwark Podcast‘s Tim Miller, clearly shaken by Klein’s remarks, demanded that he “out” his sources.

“You have a calm voice, but you’re skyrocketing my f***ing blood pressure right now,” Miller said. “Ezra, I’m just, like, so f***ing mad.”

Agreeing with his comrade, Klein added, “I find it maddening, but I do find it consistent.” 

Miller’s indignation was representative of the large and growing number of Democrats for whom progressivism has become a religion, one based on the group’s shared belief that Trump poses an existential threat to democracy. 

Some, such as Miller, firmly believe it. But, as Klein revealed, others pay mere lip service to it out of loyalty to the party. This means that, rather than calling out party leaders for implementing their vile Soviet-style character assassination agenda against Trump, they’ve become willing participants (or useful idiots) in a massive fraud.

The truth is that the Democrats’ gaslighting campaign was born of their very real fear that a Trump presidency would pose a threat to their hold on power. In 2016, Trump ran on disrupting Washington and revitalizing what had become a bloated, ineffectual government that had long ago stopped working for the public it was supposed to serve. 

Though their narrative may be false, Democrats have gone to painstaking lengths to perpetuate it. Some of their greatest hits include the Trump-Russian collusion hoax, two sham impeachments, multiple federal and state indictments on bogus charges, and efforts to keep Trump off the ballot in several blue states. 

We all know how well this has worked out for Biden. Three weeks after his debate against Trump, he’s losing to Trump in every battleground state and most national polls. New York Times columnist Doug Sosnik, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, has studied recent polling, advertising, and campaign spending in the battleground states and concluded that “Biden’s path to reelection has all but vanished.”

Sosnik added he’s “never seen such a grim Electoral College landscape” for Biden.

A “defiant” Biden, however, brushed off concerns and told his donors last week, “[W]e’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”

“We have to go after him,” he added.

Clearly, in light of the assassination attempt on Trump on Saturday night, Biden’s words did not age well. 

Given the extreme lengths that Democrats have been willing to go to destroy Trump and the normalization of reckless rhetoric by the legacy media, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to kill him. Conservatives have often warned of this possibility. What did the Democrats expect to happen after they’d spent years comparing Trump to Hitler and demanding that he be stopped? 

On Sunday, Donald Trump Jr. blamed the Biden campaign’s incendiary rhetoric for the shooting in a post on X.

“Don’t tell me they didn’t know exactly what they were doing with this crap. Calling my dad a ‘dictator’ and a ‘threat to Democracy’ wasn’t some one off comment. It has been the *MAIN MESSAGE* of the Biden-Kamala campaign and Democrats across the country!!!,” he wrote.

He attached the following posts from Joe Biden to make his point.

Now Democrats have to reckon with the image of Trump pumping his fist in the air after narrowly avoiding being killed and mouthing to supporters, “Fight, fight, fight,” as blood from a gunshot wound dripped from his ear. The image has made him a legend — a legend who loves America.

The Democrats have been exposed as frauds. And on Jan. 20, 2025, Trump will be sworn in as the next president of the United States. 

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner and the Western Journal. Follow her on X or LinkedIn.

The Democratic Party is leading an assault on America from within thumbnail

The Democratic Party is leading an assault on America from within

Following his train wreck of a debate with former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden sat for what was widely viewed as a “make-or-break” interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos. The 22-minute exchange, recorded on Friday afternoon in Madison, Wisconsin, and aired that night, did not go well. Although it didn’t create quite the stir that his performance in Atlanta did, it nevertheless fell short of its goal, which was to restore voters’ confidence in Biden’s ability to lead the country for another four years. 

Knowing this, the Democrats’ response to Biden’s failure has been to amp up their fearmongering about Trump. It is clear that, regardless of whether Biden decides to step aside for a more youthful candidate, the Democratic Party will continue running on the canard that Trump poses the greatest existential threat to America’s democracy. This accusation has become the party’s mantra and is spouted as if it’s a proven fact by liberal pundits and politicians in nearly every cable news segment and article written about the 2024 election. 

When called upon to explain precisely why or how Trump poses a threat to democracy, Democrats point to his efforts to contest the results of the 2020 election — which, last I heard, was a candidate’s right. It should be noted that although Trump and many of his supporters remain convinced to this day that Biden won the election by fraudulent means, Trump never threatened to remain in office beyond the end of his term and cooperated fully with the transition. 

The reality is that Trump served as president for four years, and his record shows that, rather than undermining the democratic values envisioned by our founders, he defended them. Rather than diminishing our freedoms, he upheld and even increased them.

For example, Trump rolled back the intrusive and expensive federal regulations on businesses put in place during the administration of former President Barack Obama and cut taxes on individual residents and corporations, which led to an economic boom. 

He placed crippling sanctions on Iran, which brought the country’s economy to a standstill. The mullahs simply had no money to wage war. 

He drastically reduced the number of illegal immigrants flowing into the United States by ending his predecessor’s dangerous “catch and release” policy and by implementing his highly effective “Remain in Mexico” policy. Democrats called him a racist and a fascist for simply enforcing U.S. immigration laws.

Although I am only scratching the surface, suffice it to say that Trump put America first. 

As for the Democrats’ lies that Trump will jail his political opponents if he wins in November, he had the opportunity to pursue charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for perpetrating the Russian collusion hoax, the greatest fraud ever carried out against a U.S. presidential candidate. But he declined, acknowledging that such a move would be “very, very divisive for the country.”

But despite the lack of evidence that Trump is a threat to our democracy, this talking point remains the centerpiece of the Democratic Party’s deliberate, coordinated propaganda campaign. The party hopes that if it is repeated enough times, voters will believe it. The Democrats also hope it will distract voters from noticing the gradual erosion of our civil liberties and the encroaching tyranny that has engulfed our once (relatively) free society over the past 3 1/2 years. 

The truth is that the most serious threat to our democracy is the Democratic Party itself, whose clear abuses of power have brought the U.S. closer than ever before to socialist state status, which has always been their goal. You may recall that during a 2008 campaign rally, Obama (then a candidate) told supporters, “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” The crowd roared. 

Those weren’t mere words. The junior senator from Illinois was deadly serious. It began with a determined effort by Obama and his attorney general, Eric Holder, to fill the government and its agencies with as many liberals as they possibly could, politicizing them.

Since then, the party has grown to include the legacy media, Big Tech, and the vast majority of federal agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the CIA. The corruption that began under Obama has deepened and accelerated to a dangerous extent in the Biden administration, which has run roughshod over the Constitution. 

The Biden administration’s most glaring abuse of power has been the use of lawfare to destroy Trump. Other examples include its determination to cancel student loan debt (even though the Supreme Court struck down the student loan forgiveness program), the FBI’s targeting of parents who objected to the teaching of critical race theory, the firing of healthcare workers and first responders who rejected the COVID-19 vaccine, the denial of due process to Jan. 6 protesters, and its refusal to enforce immigration laws.  

This brings us back to where we are now. Biden is senile. The signs were there in 2020. But the recent debate made it clear that his condition has deteriorated significantly over the past four years. And yet the legacy media, the communication arm of the Democratic Party, have covered it up. Who is the real threat to “our democracy”?

Those on the Left are correct that democracy is under attack, but they’re lying about its source. When Democrats try to convince voters that Trump is a threat to our democratic norms, remember that a more insidious enemy, one that masquerades as a political party, is leading an assault on America from within.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner and the Western Journal. Follow her on X or LinkedIn.