{"id":29316,"date":"2011-06-27T13:38:19","date_gmt":"2011-06-27T13:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/theanchoress\/?p=29316"},"modified":"2017-03-06T16:30:44","modified_gmt":"2017-03-06T16:30:44","slug":"not-incompetence-planned-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Incompetence; Planned Chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Over at The New Editor<\/strong><\/a>, Tom Elia has a a Michael Ramirez cartoon<\/strong><\/a> that depicts Obama dressed up in a super-hero costume, but unable to get out of the phone booth.<\/p>\n

\u201cCaptain Incompetence.\u201d<\/p>\n

I dunno if he\u2019s incompetent. He surely does do and say some very stupid things with nary a peep<\/strong><\/a> from the formerly gaffe-obsessed press<\/strong><\/a>, but then they only notice and hyperventilate over mistakes from the right. That\u2019s old news.<\/p>\n

But going back to the question of \u201ccompetence.\u201d<\/strong> I look at the headlines, and this is what I see:<\/p>\n

Historic government spending; to the last nickel, \u2019til we\u2019re broke. An administration determined not only to shut down access to our resources (and the job-creation that comes from drilling and refining) but actively depleting our reserves, leaving us vulnerable. A government flooding our farmlands<\/strong><\/a> in a precarious manner<\/strong><\/a>, (guess who may be buying up the flooded land?<\/strong><\/a>) and involved in smuggling arms toward<\/strong><\/a> a tinderbox.<\/p>\n

Early in Obama\u2019s presidency, in 2009, I wrote about his apparent liking for chaos<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

With none of the wit or wisdom of Pride & Prejudice, Obama and Company are going to treat us to Chaos & Cajolery.<\/p>\n

Basically, the theater production is 137 acts (presented without intermission) of Barack Obama and\/or any one of his supporting players (from the veep, the speaker, the secstate, the sectreas and on down to the lowly press secretary) engaged in misdirection and keen sleights-of-hand by means of\u2026well\u2026chaos and cajolery.<\/p>\n

This is more than Kabuki Theater. This is more than a burlesque three-step. This is a full-on assault on reality by the office of the Most Powerful Person in the World, fully supported by the pretend-press, and it is alternately tedious and terrifying.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The cajolery is almost over.<\/strong> One more election cycle is all it will take to wholly and forever \u201cremake America\u201d so the stage is being set for chaos. And when chaos comes (and it feels like we\u2019re in rehearsals<\/strong><\/a> for it, right now) this administration will \u201cdo what it has to do\u201d for the sake of America.<\/p>\n

Which will probably have little-to-nothing to do<\/strong><\/a> with the constitution.<\/p>\n

This imperial president has already demonstrated that he has no patience for process<\/strong><\/a> or for waiting for what he wants. He is quite competent at doing pretty much<\/strong><\/a> as he damn pleases<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

But then, some of us knew from the start that Barack Obama saw himself more as a ruler than a leader<\/strong><\/a>. More of a prince<\/strong><\/a> than a president.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over at The New Editor, Tom Elia has a a Michael Ramirez cartoon that depicts Obama dressed up in a super-hero costume, but unable to get out of the phone booth. \u201cCaptain Incompetence.\u201d I dunno if he\u2019s incompetent. He surely does do and say some very stupid things with nary a peep from the formerly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,1],"tags":[4822,325,486],"class_list":["post-29316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bloodless-coup","category-uncategorized","tag-america","tag-chaos","tag-obama"],"yoast_head":"\nNot Incompetence; Planned Chaos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over at The New Editor, Tom Elia has a a Michael Ramirez cartoon that depicts Obama dressed up in a super-hero costume, but unable to get out of the phone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Not Incompetence; Planned Chaos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over at The New Editor, Tom Elia has a a Michael Ramirez cartoon that depicts Obama dressed up in a super-hero costume, but unable to get out of the phone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Anchoress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-27T13:38:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-06T16:30:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/theanchoress\/files\/2011\/06\/king-obama-240x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Scalia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Scalia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/\",\"name\":\"Not Incompetence; Planned Chaos\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-27T13:38:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-06T16:30:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b\"},\"description\":\"Over at The New Editor, Tom Elia has a a Michael Ramirez cartoon that depicts Obama dressed up in a super-hero costume, but unable to get out of the phone\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Not Incompetence; Planned Chaos\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/\",\"name\":\"The Anchoress\",\"description\":\"Elizabeth Scalia\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Scalia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Scalia\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/author\/elizabethscalia\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Not Incompetence; Planned Chaos","description":"Over at The New Editor, Tom Elia has a a Michael Ramirez cartoon that depicts Obama dressed up in a super-hero costume, but unable to get out of the phone","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Not Incompetence; Planned Chaos","og_description":"Over at The New Editor, Tom Elia has a a Michael Ramirez cartoon that depicts Obama dressed up in a super-hero costume, but unable to get out of the phone","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/","og_site_name":"The Anchoress","article_published_time":"2011-06-27T13:38:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-03-06T16:30:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/theanchoress\/files\/2011\/06\/king-obama-240x300.jpg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Scalia","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Scalia","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/","name":"Not Incompetence; Planned Chaos","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-06-27T13:38:19+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-06T16:30:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b"},"description":"Over at The New Editor, Tom Elia has a a Michael Ramirez cartoon that depicts Obama dressed up in a super-hero costume, but unable to get out of the phone","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/06\/27\/not-incompetence-planned-chaos\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Not Incompetence; Planned Chaos"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/","name":"The Anchoress","description":"Elizabeth Scalia","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/89fc1174c0d765bb372cf892e199b06b","name":"Elizabeth Scalia","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18a7adac49c37442f07444789de0e73?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Scalia"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/author\/elizabethscalia\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29316\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}