Obamanation

Obama said Tuesday: "It was a mistake, as was stated ... and it will not happen again." ... A "furious" Mayor Bloomberg denounced the dunces who dreamed up the stunt - and the NYPD officials and bureaucrats who never told him about it. By day's end, an obscure City Hall deputy named Marc Mugnos, who makes $60,000 a year, was taking the fall for not telling Bloomberg that the low-flying planes were coming. He was reprimanded.

In flying to and from Iowa today, President Obama took two flights on Air Force One and four on Marine One. The press office at Andrews AFB wouldn't give me the fuel consumption numbers for the 747 that serves as Air Force One without the approval of the White House Press Office, which as I write this has yet to be given. But Boeing says its 747 burns about 5 gallons of fuel per mile. It's 895 miles from Washington to Des Moines, so a round trip brings the fuel consumption for the fixed-wing portion of the President's trip to 8,950 gallons.

As a senator, Barack Obama led the charge last year to pass a bill allowing black farmers to seek new discrimination claims against the Agriculture Department. Now he is president, and his administration so far is acting like it wants the potentially budget-busting lawsuits to go away. The change isn't sitting well with black farmers who thought they'd get a friendlier reception from Obama after years of resistance from President George W. Bush.

White House senior adviser David Axelrod says President Barack Obama spent about a month pondering whether to release Bush-era memos about CIA interrogation techniques, and considered it "a weighty decision." "He thought very long and hard about it, consulted widely, because there were two principles at stake," Axelrod said . "One is … the sanctity of covert operations … and keeping faith with the people who do them, and the impact on national security, on the one hand. And the other was the law and his belief in transparency." [Yeah, sure.]

As much as they could, anyway, America's first family tried to blend in at the 11 a.m. Easter service at the historic St. John's Episcopal Church and take another step toward full-fledged membership in the city they are calling home for at least the next four years. But for the Obamas, even something as simple as going to church can be a political and logistical headache. [Did they ask that the symbols of Christianity be covered up?]

What America needs, of course, is defense against nuclear weapons, in addition to nuclear deterrent. Nuclear weapons are dangerous if they can be delivered to one's own soil, by missile attack or by terrorist stealth. Such dangers are a great argument for missile defense, and for increased homeland security and counter-terrorism measures. ... Obama can dream of a world without nuclear weapons, but it is not a good idea in the real world. ....

[Photo of shameless fool in action]

[comparative graphic]

President Obama has not attended church services on any of the 11 Sundays since he took office, despite his pledge to find a new church after quitting Trinity United nearly a year ago because of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's incendiary rhetoric. "We probably won't make any firm decision on this until January, when we know what our lives our going to be like," Obama told reporters last May at a press conference that he called to announce his break with Trinity. But the president made no decision in January, February or March. And now, with Easter just days away, Obama has yet to reveal what church he may have chosen or when he might attend his first Sunday services as president. [No suitable mosque nearby?]

Barack Obama's never had more foes -- or less clothing -- than in two comics about to hit the stands.

I must be naive. I really thought the administration would welcome the return of bank bailout money. Some $340 million in TARP cash flowed back this week from four small banks in Louisiana, New York, Indiana and California. This isn't much when we routinely talk in trillions, but clearly that money has not been wasted or otherwise sunk down Wall Street's black hole. So why no cheering as the cash comes back? My answer: The government wants to control the banks, just as it now controls GM and Chrysler, and will surely control the health industry in the not-too-distant future. [Y'think?]

Obama joked at one point about the most popular question from his online audience—whether he favored legalizing marijuana and could that turn around the economy. "I don't know what this says about the online audience," he said with a smile, adding that he opposed legalizing the illicit drug. [JACKASS!]

What kind of politician brings a teleprompter to a news conference? A careful one. President Barack Obama took no chances in his second prime-time news conference .... It was a carefully modulated statement, and Obama—relying on a familiar crutch—read it off a flat-screen monitor perched at the back of the East Room.

Medical marijuana users and dispensary owners in California have held their breath for years, fearful they would be targeted for prosecution by the federal government. They finally exhaled this past week when U.S.A. Attorney General Eric Holder said federal agents will now target marijuana distributors only when they violate both federal and state laws, a departure from the policy of the Bush administration. It's not seen by many as a move by the Obama administration toward the legalization of marijuana. [Yeah, sure]