As some of you may recall, I spent the day after the presidential election listening to Peggy Lee and wondering “is that all there is?” As I said at the time:

“I truly do feel like I just don’t care all that much. We get what we ask for, and apparently the majority of the country asked for a change that had never been clearly defined.

That’s fine. I’ll go along for the ride. I am, if nothing else, good at seeing the forest (while occasionally slamming into the trees), and love nothing more than to see people get EXACTLY what they asked for.”

In response, long-time Venomite Will Wallace made a prediction that halfway through Obama’s first 100 days his supporters would emit a collective gasp as they realized their Wunderkid was, indeed, just another politician full of hot air. But let’s hear it from Will in his own words:

I’m predicting that if you step outside about 10:16 am Eastern Time on March 18, 2009 and listen very closely you’ll be able to hear a multitude of Obama voters saying, in unison, “What the F***!?!?”

This election reminds me of the ‘none of the above’ polls that are so common early in primary races.

Candidate 1 gets 27% of the vote
Candidate 2 gets 19% of the vote
and “None of the Above” gets 54% of the vote

And while it appears on the surface to be a rejection of both candidates- if you forced the 54% to identify who they would vote for- it’s probably a mix of 70-100 people none of which would garner more than 8-10% support.

Obama- with the help of a criminally negligent press- was able to run as ‘none of the above’; or more accurately he was able to run as all things to all people.

And so while he won the election- whatever policies he enacts are sure to offend a portion of the people who supported him. By the time March rolls around and his supporters realize that:

• the fairness doctrine is much more likely to silence left wing radio than right wing radio (right wing is financially viable enough to go satellite or even off-shore while left wing struggles in most markets)
• that tax cut they’re hoping to see will disappear faster than a 747 on a David Copperfield special
• national security will be tested until we respond- and if there are three words that go together to form a triangle of inadequacy they are: liberal- military- quagmire
• being black is no more a qualification than it is a disqualification.
• the reason congress’ approval ratings are so low is because they’ve been trying to do many of the things that Obama champions.

Remember March 19- 10:16 am- take a moment- walk outside and listen as an entire block of young idealistic voters gets their grades back from their first political pop-quiz.

It’s a relatively soft lesson- traditionally zealots are the first to be lined up against a wall and shot- they’re just too hard to keep in line.

So, how’d Will do?

Given the 1,079 pages of mind-numbing legislation, it’s no surprise to learn that the President didn’t read the economic stimulus bill in its entirety before signing it yesterday. As Kim points out, who has time to read something that long? In fact, the thing is so notoriously chock full of various allocations and spending items that it borders on unintelligible.

That, of course, would ordinarily be a ripe source of commentary and quips for comedians were we living in a country when it was still okay to make fun of politicians.

But such jokes are now verboten because they’re racist, don’t you know? No, really: just ask the folks at HuffPo who have their hemp panties in a wad over a cartoon in today’s NY Post which visually makes that very point. (Note the dead monkey.)

Yeah, it could never be a funny reference to the infinite monkey theorem, could it? Oh for the days when late night comedians, talking about this bill, could have quipped: “You think it takes forever to read the stimulus plan? Think about those thousand monkeys who had to slave* around the clock at their typewriters to come up with it!” (That’s how Gizmodo gets their blog entries, apparently.)

*Aw, gee. I just typed the word slave. I’m not supposed to do that either these days, am I?

UPDATE: Chris Muir explains how President Obama managed to read the bill in its entirety, line by line. (Drink alert.)

I’m no economist. In fact, I can’t even claim to have taken an economics class. So if the following seems clueless and simplistic, please (nicely) help me see where my reasoning is wrong.

See, I’ve been thinking about how our childrens’ children will wind up footing the bill for this stimulus plan. And that got me to wondering… by the same logic, doesn’t that mean that WE have been paying for the FDR deals that helped our grandparents out of The Great Depression?

If that’s the case, perhaps there’s some kind of tie between being burdened with a previous generation’s debts and a tanking present economy.

In other words, did yesterday’s signing of the economic stimulus bill essentially seal the deal guaranteeing another, possibly greater, financial crisis for our grandchildren?

As if I didn’t already find President Obama annoying enough, the man interrupted my daily TMZ viewing to announce he’d signed the economic stimulus bill.

My first impression: just twenty-nine days in office and his hair already noticeably more gray. Guess losing sleep wondering how to keep all of the promises made to different voter blocs with competing interests will do that to a person.

Then I felt bad for being so superficial, so I tried paying attention. After noticing that he was stumbling far more in this speech than ever before, I couldn’t help wonder if maybe even he was having a hard time buying the line of B.S. coming out of his mouth.

In case you are one of those fortunate enough to be employed — and therefore unable to watch either TMZ or the Obama show during the day — the gist of the speech was:

Blah, blah, blah. This here plan isn’t going to fix everything. Blah, blah, blah. Don’t expect miracles. In fact, we’re not sure if it’s going to fix a damn thing at all. Blah, blah, blah. Oh, we’re already working on a second stimulus bill because we realize this one is fucked up. Blah, blah, blah. Also, anyone who doesn’t agree with me is a weenie engaging in partisan politics.

Or something like that.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones closed -297.81, a sign that businesses aren’t buying Obama’s blather, either.

Which just goes to show that you can put frosting on a pile of shit but it is still a pile of shit.

Quote of the day:

Why is it that the same people who think we can’t afford the Iraq War when the economy was strong thinks we can afford the stimulus when the economy is weak? Why do the same people who constantly complained about the government using fear of terror to consolidate power and increase spending turn a blind eye when their party does the same thing using economic fears? I find it worse than dangerous when people start putting party over principle — something both sides of the aisle are guilty of.

From Thinking on the Margin, via Sophistpundit.

I’ll say this for President-elect Obama: he has balls. Ten official balls, at last count, where he’ll personally be on display. Who knows how many unofficial ones there will be?

But here’s the thing about Obama’s balls: they’re big. And while his staff claims he’s got the first-ever Neighborhood Ball, the neighborhood around the White House pretty much threw their own ball when they stormed the president’s house after Andrew Jackson was elected. (His balls were apparently too small for their liking.)

Of course, taxpayers need not fret: we’re not footing the bill for Obama’s big balls. That’s the job of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which has been busily raising funds to fete Obama’s balls. Sure, actors and other artsy types are happy to fork over $10,000 per head for one of Obama’s balls — and Oprah hasn’t named her going rate yet — but even those steep prices don’t cover the entire expense associated with his balls.

Taxpayers will pay in part for Obama’s balls by footing the bill for House and Senate members to plan the inauguration and balls, by paying for the preparation of alternate locations in the event of inclement weather, by paying for the archiving of documents relating — however tangentially — to the inauguration itself. Oh, and we’ll also pay for the massive security force (Secret Service, Capitol Police, U.S. Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard) needed to not only secure D.C. and the various environs of Obama’s balls, but to also screen each and every individual who personally attends Obama’s balls.

Perhaps this is what Michelle Obama meant when she said Obama would make us work? Even though she may have warned us, it’s rather infuriating to realize we, too, are now tasked with the responsibility of supporting Obama’s balls although few of us can afford our own. And, meanwhile, we’re all getting the shaft.

Tonight’s the night when Barack Obama’s 30-minute commercial will air on CBS, NBC, Fox, Univision, BET, MSNBC and TV One. That’s right: all your channels will belong to him except for the Disney Channel, much to the relief of Obama’s kid who also doesn’t want to be forced to watch him.

Personally, I think his strategy is going to backfire. People are sick of this election, but they’re also sick of not being able to afford to go out to the movies or for dinner as entertainment. I have to wonder how many people, stuck at home, are going to resent Obama’s choice to preempt their chance to relax. Talk about being out of touch with the average working person….

My latest Pajama Media article is up and it’s not open for interpre-ta-tion.