The empty Obama editorial
posted at 11:38 am on February 5, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Has Barack Obama realized that he won the election? I know he told Republicans in the House that “I won” as a means to shut down actual negotiations over the stimulus package and try to get them to vote on a bill in which they had zero input. But in reading Obama’s column in today’s Washington Post, all I see is empty sloganeering and cheap fear-mongering instead of substantive cases for the myriad of spending projects in his stimulus bill:
This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending — it’s a strategy for America’s long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, health care and education. And it’s a strategy that will be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability, so Americans know where their tax dollars are going and how they are being spent.
In recent days, there have been misguided criticisms of this plan that echo the failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis — the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can meet our enormous tests with half-steps and piecemeal measures; that we can ignore fundamental challenges such as energy independence and the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive.
I reject these theories, and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change. They know that we have tried it those ways for too long. And because we have, our health-care costs still rise faster than inflation. Our dependence on foreign oil still threatens our economy and our security. Our children still study in schools that put them at a disadvantage. We’ve seen the tragic consequences when our bridges crumble and our levees fail.
The last two examples refer to the 2007 St. Anthony Bridge collapse in Minneapolis and the New Orleans disaster with Hurricane Katrina, but they’re odd examples to use for government intervention. Both were public projects when built, and both had serious flaws from the beginning. The bridge collapsed not from a lack of maintenance, but because its original design seriously underestimated the thickness of supporting plates in the structure and a decision by designers (and approved by Minnesota) not to build redundant support. The levees weren’t built to their original specifications, a problem at which the government kept throwing money for decades to no great effect.
The “tragic consequences” resulted from governmental incompetence, not from a lack of investment, and Obama’s use of these two events displays a staggering ignorance of the facts.
Even beyond this, though, Obama gives no support for the argument that all of the spending in his bill should get passed under emergency conditions, or that any of it will specifically create even one job this year. Obama chants “Now is the time” in five successive paragraphs as if he’s making a campaign speech rather than a cool, calm case for his legislation. He blathers on about how people “voted for change”, but that’s just a slogan, not a policy, and it certainly isn’t an argument. La change, c’est vous, mon President, but that doesn’t make ‘change’ evidence.
In fact, in most of this column, Obama makes the opposite case. He argues that he’s building infrastructure for a generation of growth. Fine, but that’s hardly the reason for an emergency spending bill. That kind of long-term planning belongs in a process that can take a close look at the proposals and measure them carefully, especially given the amounts of money involved. If Obama wants to have that debate, then split all of the long-term spending into separate bills and push them through the normal legislative process, and leave only the immediate stimulus spending in HR1.
Time to stop being a candidate and spewing platitudes, President Obama, and start governing with specifics. This column wouldn’t even make a good primary stump speech.
Blowback
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:) I’ve always admired your writing style.
a capella on February 5, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Senator Specter:
Strip out EVERYTHING that’s not strictly an economic stimulus. Strip out all the education components, all the energy components, all of the health care components, all the neighborhood/community components, and so forth. Insist that energy, health care and education bills be deliberated on their own merits with due diligence in the regular process of the Senate, not buried within some fear-driven steamroller. Using our economic panic to railroad a political agenda is unconscionable and un-American.
Respectfully,
petefrt on February 5, 2009 at 12:05 PM
If it’s a long-term plan, why not implement things over time, and go LINE-ITEM by LINE-ITEM to do only what’s critical now?
marklmail on February 5, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Hope and [Chump] Change
pain train on February 5, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Which one really wrote this: Kos or Bill Ayers?
Jim Treacher on February 5, 2009 at 12:06 PM
He is reverting back to his community organizing. He can’t actually lead, so he is going to agitate by writing flowery, empty rhetoric and send out email alerts. If he wasn’t taking us down with this ship, I would really enjoy his impending failure a lot more!
ihasurnominashun on February 5, 2009 at 12:07 PM
Victor Davis Hanson has written another excellent essay outlining the various amateurish mis-steps made by the Presidential Empty Suit. Just like the abysmally bad ‘Jimmy’ Carter, President Obama is learning through OJT and his handlers are either:
a) more corrupt than he
b) are dumber than he (hard to do but the likes of The Harpy Harridan and Harry ‘Iraq is lost’ Reid succeeded),
c) are still struggling to cover their respective, pampered backsides or
d) All of the Above.
Any takers?
SeniorD on February 5, 2009 at 12:07 PM
It’s time for Osama Obama to resign. The only thing worse than being forced to listen to/read his mindless bilge is knowing that a totally unqualified, arrogrant fool is “running” the country.
Make that “ruining” the country.
He got what he wanted — he has proved that Americans remain immature enough to let white guilt, misplaced black “pride” and some ingrained sense of affirmative action guide their actions — and now it’s time for him to go write another hack book and travel the talk-show circuit while grown-ups work to fix the mess he has made in a mere two and a half weeks.
MrScribbler on February 5, 2009 at 12:07 PM
My money’s on Aunt Zaitungo :)
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2009 at 12:07 PM
Then why do you want to rush it through before anyone reads it? The truth is, the more people find out where their tax dollars are going and how they are being spent the less support there is for it.
Dollayo on February 5, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Obama is a great writer no matter what you say Ed. Go read Dreams of my Father and you’ll see what I mean.
gatorboy on February 5, 2009 at 11:57 AM
You must be under the assumption that Ogabe wrote his own books.
Bishop on February 5, 2009 at 12:08 PM
This is priceless. He just make’s it up as He goe’s along.
Is there an incompetence clause with this Bozo?
He ain’t fit to run this country.
Jed1899 on February 5, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Obama warns if we don’t pass this crap sandwich quickly, we’ll never recover?
Talk about jumping the shark.
Obama just jumped the shark.
John the Libertarian on February 5, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Truly, what else does he have to fall back on? All kidding aside, he doesn’t have the skills for the job. Frankly, what did we expect. This, or some kind of regency. That might come next.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2009 at 12:09 PM
As a guy who made “hope” one of his campaign slogans and promised an end to the “politics of fear”, he’s off to a really bad start. If I were one of the idiots who voted for him, I’d be ticked off.
jix on February 5, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Oops. I blame my sarc-o-meter screw up on DeathtoMediaHacks.
misslizzi on February 5, 2009 at 12:10 PM
This guy is so out of his depth.
Ponz on February 5, 2009 at 12:10 PM
I suffered through that speech too, Sky. How did you like that part about there being nothing in the Torah, Bible or Koran that allowed us to commit violence, and all the holy books told us to follow the Golden Rule.
Also, I really wasn’t upset about him mentioning “unbelievers” in his inauguration speech; but, it really was out of place at today’s Prayer Breakfast and goes to show he is not simply being inclusive—he’s shoving it in our faces.
I don’t believe he has ANY faith (not even Islam as others have suggested.) His dalliance with Rev. Wright was strictly a political move, and it probably didn’t hurt that he agreed with Wright’s radical views.
IrishEi on February 5, 2009 at 12:10 PM
Don’t worry, he can always rely on Biden for advice! ;-0
highhopes on February 5, 2009 at 12:10 PM
One day closer till your are unemployed Mr President?
MDWNJ on February 5, 2009 at 12:11 PM
LOL. That’s exactly what I thought. Always makes me laugh. Although gatorboy was NOT praising Barry.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2009 at 12:11 PM
Well, that’s the key to all of this isn’t it? And when was the last time the GOP had any backbone whatsoever? There’s all this talk already that Rush and Palin-type politics are not the future of the Party, that the GOP needs to move Left and get more bi-partisan and all this BS. That does NOT inspire me to come back to the GOP. Not.one.bit.
What I wanted to hear from the GOP when the whole Rush thing started was “no, Rush does not run the GOP, it’s rather the opposite. Rush shares *my* ideals and values and politics. And I am damn glad to have him on our side agreeing with our message.” Or something to that effect. Instead we see the GOP cowering and wimpering, so afraid and cowardly at the thought of being in the same corner as Rush Limbaugh. Please. If the GOP has stayed with Reaganomics, we would not be faced with this left-wing socialist dunce in office and Liberals in power in every part of government.
I hope you are right that the GOP opposition stays persistent, but I don’t know *any* in the GOP who are actually statesmen, who put country and policy over politics and Party. All I keep hearing is ‘we have to do such and such in order to gain more people into the party’. That’s not how it works. I came to the Party in Sept 2001 because I took a look at the values of each Party and saw the GOP shared my values. I left the Party, because I see them as a trainwreck with no value that they hold dear except to gain power and get elected. They will do and say and vote and cower and surrender any value and principle if they think it is politically expedient for them. That’s BS.
The GOP is on it’s own. And they are in a fight against the White House, the Democrat leadership in Congress, the mass media, the entertainment industry, the universities and schools and the well-funded left-wing groups which are out to utterly destroy this country and anyone right-of-center. The GOP better damn well know that and better damn well know this is political war. Because I am sick of their spineless BS.
Michael in MI on February 5, 2009 at 12:11 PM
A puddle of rain is out of this guy’s depth. Not even in office a month and he’s imploding.
highhopes on February 5, 2009 at 12:11 PM
He doesn’t inspire confidence.
Fear, yes.
Greg Toombs on February 5, 2009 at 12:13 PM
My guess is his wife will step in, but make things worse. Others will try–Pelosi, Emmanuel, Clinton, etc.
Funny thing about doofy Joe. Out of all the players there, he’s the least dangerous. Just put a dvd in the machine and you wouldn’t have to worry about him for years.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2009 at 12:13 PM
I just hope our SCOTUS justices have read this inane op-ed and realize what peril this nation faces if this retard is left at the helm. There are lots of eligibility cases floating around. All they have to do is take one, declare that the Founders intended that only people with no split allegiances qualify as natural born (cutting out any who have held multiple citizenships) and get this moron out of office before he destroys this country.
Otherwise …
progressoverpeace on February 5, 2009 at 12:13 PM
Word.
jix on February 5, 2009 at 12:13 PM
And I think he knows it. I suspect Michelle is kicking his ass over it. She strikes me as one scary woman.
sherry on February 5, 2009 at 12:14 PM
Remind me not to let my sons attend Harvard. Sheesh.
kirkill on February 5, 2009 at 12:14 PM
Someone posted an article by Bill Gertz which stated that Obama has been negotiating with al Qaeda since prior to the election. It stated that he was pondering al Qaeda’s offer of them stopping their holy war against the USA if Obama agreed to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan. I’m wondering why on earth no one is talking about this? I sent it to all the milblogs and every right-of-center blog I knew and still I have yet to see anything on it. This is extremely damning news if this is true. Why on earth hasn’t anyone even discussed this anywhere, even to debunk it?
Michael in MI on February 5, 2009 at 12:14 PM
He’s not ignorant of the facts.
He’s IGNORING the facts, on purpose.
MBuck on February 5, 2009 at 12:15 PM
I agree with what you said. I can’t say I understand the GOP.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2009 at 12:15 PM
No. He’s ignorant.
progressoverpeace on February 5, 2009 at 12:16 PM
Speaking of ‘old economic habits’, isn’t he asking us to the very same thing that got us into this mess in the first place, people not reading the fine print and just signing off any anyway?
Hey you want that sub-prime mortgage? Just sign right here and don’t bother reading it. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
With all due respect Bambi, let’s take a real critical look at this bill of yours.
mustng66 on February 5, 2009 at 12:16 PM
It’s what liberals do. They also repeat falsehoods over and over until the lemming constituents start believing it.
Founding Fathers, history, all ignored…change, hope-n-change, crap.
kirkill on February 5, 2009 at 12:17 PM
You may want to check out the latest opinion polls, Barry.
A stint in rehab may be called for. After decades of doing nothing but campaigning, he is clearly addicted to the process and needs to kick the habit cold-turkey and learn to govern like a man.
Buy Danish on February 5, 2009 at 12:18 PM
While reading the full article, I got the same impression that he was trying to “sell” us on his emperor’s new clothes routine again.
It reminded me sort of Captain Queeg from “The Caine Mutiny” trying to write this article, as if to defend his practices when he is in charge right now (He did get sworn in, didn’t he??).
HarryStar on February 5, 2009 at 12:18 PM
I was assuming that several had already told the Dems that they intend to retire and to get the search underway. It didn’t occur to me for a moment that they would help in any way. I fear they’re busy fashioning nails for the coffin.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2009 at 12:18 PM
Now he looks like the RCA Victor dog…but he don’t ‘wanna be OUR dog’, do he?
Two weeks and Barry seems to be begging for a way out of what he wanted. There are rumors of Barry mumbling in his sleep, saying things like: ‘Please Mr. Wizard…I don’t wanna be President any more! I wanna go back to Hawaaaaai. Pleeeeeease Mr. Wizard!
Christine on February 5, 2009 at 12:19 PM
Wasn’t it Palin who warned Americans not to vote for someone who felt the Presidency was a path to self-awareness?
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2009 at 12:19 PM
I think the GOP may be finally turning the battleship around a bit. Steele’s election as chair seems an indication they realize they have a national leadership problem. And, there are some good rookies playing Triple a ball.
a capella on February 5, 2009 at 12:21 PM
Exactly. Obama doesn’t give a rats patootie about what anyone right-of-center thinks. He already threw us all out when he went after Rush Limbaugh. That right there was his way of saying he is not going to be bipartisan, he won, so he now has redefined “bipartisan” to be every GOP member to agree with *his* policies. Period.
Everything he does, he is talking to the ignorant cult-worshiping idiots who voted for him. They didn’t vote for him for any other reason than him being (half-)Black and giving (in their opinion) rousing, inspirational speeches. He knows these people are such ignorant sheep that all he has to do when things get a little rough is to go out there and give a nice little speech and they will all start worshiping him again and give him their support. I fully expect him to do this for 4 years until his re-election and then 4 more years after that.
The only thing that I see that *may* ruin him is if the mass media wakes up for their cult-worshiping trance in time to actually, you know, do their damn jobs. But I don’t expect that to happen anytime soon. Their job the last 2 years was to get Obama elected. Their job now is to spend the next 4 years making sure he gets re-elected.
Michael in MI on February 5, 2009 at 12:21 PM
Yes, unfortunately. I’m just trying to keep some optimism alive in these very dark days. My hope.
progressoverpeace on February 5, 2009 at 12:22 PM
This debate isn’t about writing style, gatorBOY. It is about substance, which is woefully lacking in the editorial piece.
Worse yet, Obama refuses to acknowledge what Reagan’s tax cuts did to clean up the economic morass that Carter left behind. Those who are old enough remember just how screwed up the economy was before those tax cuts took effect. Yet Obama even impliedly links those tax cuts with his deranged view of “failed theories.”
If any of this monstrosity of a bill comes to pass, Obama will see first-hand what a “failed theory” really means.
Viva La Reagan Revolucion.
And Go Dawgs.
OneVision on February 5, 2009 at 12:22 PM
Not disagreeing… but why would Iran, Afgani Islamists, or Paki Jihadists, want to throw him a bone?
Short of a really messy event, he is President for the next 4 years. A President who spends all his time on domestic problems does not have time to mess around in the Third World… so the weaker Barry is… the better for them.
Between Russia shuting down the Northern route, and Paki Jihadists blowing the bridge on the Southern Route… they must made it very hard to even STAY in Afganistan… we literaly can’t afford the cost of supplying by Air over that distance (not with our economy in the crapper).
He’s going to cave on Afganistan and Iraq anyway… so why make him any stronger here? Heck, I think they’ll up the ante, and kicke him while he is down… because not matter what… short of assasination or impeachment… he is President for the next four years…
Romeo13 on February 5, 2009 at 12:23 PM
Do we get a rebuttal from GOP soon?
You know, Fairness, Unbiased media and all that….
Sir Napsalot on February 5, 2009 at 12:25 PM
I blame our public school system-parents,home schoolers & private schoolers need to take back education.
It’s almost all propaganda.
I do my part to fight it in my school, but then I live in a religious, but pretty free-thinking little community.
Badger40 on February 5, 2009 at 12:25 PM
The only thing Barry knows is campaign mode. Is he still smoking?
UnEasyRider on February 5, 2009 at 12:25 PM
Barry, The Man with No Name
Limerick on February 5, 2009 at 12:26 PM
I don’t know. I think the editors at the WaPo must have done a double-take when they saw this infantile piece that BHO submitted to them. That’s probably why they put the “The writer is president of the United States” at the bottom.
The MSM loves him and want to do everything to make people think he’s smart, and then he comes out with this idiotic essay. They might come to realize that he cannot be bailed out of his stupidity and ineptness.
progressoverpeace on February 5, 2009 at 12:26 PM
This, considered with the College Bubble thread, shows that the Ivy League is the McMansion of education these days.
Akzed on February 5, 2009 at 12:28 PM
Barack got rolled, by Queen Nancy. Now he is trying to set up someone else as the enemy. That’s all he really knows how to do.
rockmom on February 5, 2009 at 12:29 PM
It’s much worse. He’s a malignant narcissist.
IrishEi on February 5, 2009 at 12:29 PM
He probably didn’t write it.
IrishEi on February 5, 2009 at 12:31 PM
“all I see is empty sloganeering and cheap fear-mongering”
uhhhh. what else has the Fool ever done in his life?
notagool on February 5, 2009 at 12:33 PM
Assuming this is accurate, what’s the prognosis? Does he invariably make a big blunder, a la Bill Clinton, or can he contain it sufficiently to pass? How does the aggression come out? Will he crack-up under the pressure of the Presidency? (Are you in the field?)
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2009 at 12:33 PM
Per NRO Corner: From NY Times yesterday, on options for stimulus the Obama team considered before discarding: “They looked into the possibility of sending debit cards to all 150 million American households, but decided it was not yet logistically feasible.”
“Not Yet” !!!
Yeah, tell me again how Obama is “moderate”? Glenn Beck is right, this moron is a full fledged communist.
Norwegian on February 5, 2009 at 12:36 PM
What kind of a leader does editorials? This isn’t Kenya.
tarpon on February 5, 2009 at 12:37 PM
None of that matters. Both of those failures were on TV a whole lot. And this made people care about them.
Carter mumbled so bad you could hardly understand a word he said. Clinton contradicted himself with just about every other sentence. Obama speaks in a very deep and clear voice, but says absolutely nothing except utterly meaningless bromides.
Based on past experience, what on earth made you think Obama would change the tactic that served him so well throughout his whole life, just because he happens to be President now?
logis on February 5, 2009 at 12:37 PM
Yes it was!
Buy Danish on February 5, 2009 at 12:37 PM
I want a recount of the election.
DL13 on February 5, 2009 at 12:37 PM
How long before he enacts a color coded warning system?
heh
artist on February 5, 2009 at 12:38 PM
How about it? This kind of thing may have worked in his undergrad or law school days when he may have gone running to the school’s newspaper to address an issue arising in the artificial environment of academia. But this is real-world governing. I think Belushi’s stemwinder in Animal House (“Did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harboro) was more effective than this op-ed piece.
I suppose the scary question to ask is who in Obama’s phalanx of advisors agreed with him or convinced him that this was a good idea?
BuckeyeSam on February 5, 2009 at 12:38 PM
They need him to be re-elected. Those guys think long term and our real vulnerability won’t show up till the impact of this spending program and our failure to address energy problems immediately strikes home. I’m projecting that to be about 5 years or so, but I could be off on that. A squish for a president will work out real well for them at that time. I’m assuming the Iranians have their nukes and delivery systems by then, and the U.N. will be a bigger player in our policy decisions.
a capella on February 5, 2009 at 12:38 PM
He doesn’t know how.
INC on February 5, 2009 at 12:39 PM
Yea, Palin said something like the Presidency shouldn’t be a journey of self-discovery.
INC on February 5, 2009 at 12:39 PM
They don’t want to give you your money back, because they fear you won’t spend it, but will use it to reduce debt or just save. A debit card (another idea was to send “coupons,” good for purchases) would FORCE you to spend your money. If you don’t spend, you don’t get the money. It’s madness.
The Obamatons argue that giving “tax rebates” to those that don’t pay taxes is the only way to ensure the money actually gets spent. People make fun of this as a stimulus for Japan and China, since we buy their stuff, and we borrow the money from them to pay for it too–for now.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2009 at 12:40 PM
Yes. I believe she said the Oval office was only a stop along the way on his journey of self-discovery. I always thought that was the very moment PDS began. She mocked The One.
DeweyWins on February 5, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Can you cite an example of when he ever left it? His whole campaign sounded like this… empty words designed to instill the two magic ingredients for making new Democrats: fear and grievances.
I wish someone with an R after their name would tell him to shut up and quit talking down the economy. It isn’t his plaything to help him get elected again… well, okay, it’s the media’s plaything to help him get elected again!!
drunyan8315 on February 5, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Veering a smidge off topic, I detect, here at Hot Air, a little skepticism about Obama’s stimulus plan. If you feel you need to gather with some of those who have bought into his program, have a look a this entry by Byron York at NRO, which provides links to an Obama sight where you can look for a “recovery meeting.” Some (all) of you may have heard about these glorified Tupperware Parties.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTk4MWZhOTVlYzMyMzEwYmNhMWI1YjlhODE1YzE5MGE=
I’ve checked in my area of SW Ohio, and I can’t find anyone hosting a meeting so far. Give it shot. If you find one and attend, just be careful if they start serving Kool-Aid.
BuckeyeSam on February 5, 2009 at 12:44 PM
An vapid editorial from an empty suit.
Nahanni on February 5, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Ohhhh, shadow dancin.
Angry Dumbo on February 5, 2009 at 12:47 PM
I thought it was Iowahawk.
chunderroad on February 5, 2009 at 12:48 PM
FIFY
RickZ on February 5, 2009 at 12:48 PM
First HE definitely didn’t write it. It is the culmination of intensive focus group wording presented in an effete manner, perhaps George Stephanopoulos had some ideal time. And second BWAH HA HA HA…just waiting for the shrill you tube video from Chris Crocker screaming “Leave Barack Alone!!!”
PatriotPete on February 5, 2009 at 12:49 PM
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2009 at 12:33 PM
First, I’m not in the field. But the DSM-IV says that in order to make a diagnosis of narcissism, a person must exhibit at least 5 of the following traits:
I see The One as having all 9. I cannot tell you how this will turn out, but I know that the narcissist will NEVER take the blame; it will always be someone else’s fault.
Dr. Pat Santy is (was?) a psychiatrist at NASA. Remarkably (for a shrink) she is conservative, and has a blog called “Dr. Sanity” that I read on a regular basis. Her posts on narcissism are particularly enlightening particularly as they relate to world leaders, past and present.
If you’re interested, here’s Part 1 of her Narcissism post. There are links to Part 2 and 3 at the top of the post.
IrishEi on February 5, 2009 at 12:51 PM
I wonder if this op-ed was originally written in crayon. Probably green and yellow.
progressoverpeace on February 5, 2009 at 12:51 PM
You could be right… the calculation is do they want a totaly inept and powerless USA for 4 years…
Or a semi inept USA for 8 years…
I’m not inside their heads enough to know the answer to that… and that choice denotes that their is a centralized plan instead of various groups with the same goal, but not on the same plan…
Don’t know… but I picked a heck of a year to quit drinkin.
Romeo13 on February 5, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Oslime-a is the most despicable black skinned person I have ever had the misfortune of being governed by. It makes me want to throw up every time I see him or hear his voice.
It’s too bad he ran as a black person first and an American patriot second, because all he has done is forced people to wonder if he is the best minorities have to offer or if they have been fooled by a Marxist scum bag whitey hating militant.
csdeven on February 5, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Does the secret Blackberry have a crayon font?!
Badger40 on February 5, 2009 at 12:53 PM
I would rather get neutered with no anesthetic.
MDWNJ on February 5, 2009 at 12:54 PM
I wonder if the black community will disown him at any point by claiming he is only half & therefore inferior?
Hmmmm…..
Badger40 on February 5, 2009 at 12:54 PM
Over a week ago Peggy Noonan cautioned that he might becoming “overexposed”. I’d say his ignorance is exposed on a daily basis! Whose idea was is for this guy to write an editorial? Even his handlers are inept.
DrStock on February 5, 2009 at 12:57 PM
I think he wrote it, but he is incapable of original thought. His campaign slogans were all plagiarized from people like Jeremiah Wright, Bono, Deval Patrick, Karl Marx, Saul Alinsky, and Malcolm X.
Buy Danish on February 5, 2009 at 12:58 PM
9 for 9 – Not surprising.
Liberalism is a mental disorder.
diogenes on February 5, 2009 at 12:59 PM
Forget the first 100 day milestone…can we have a one month special thread on Feb 20 that recaps all the goofs since the 150 million dollar inagural day?
Rockygold on February 5, 2009 at 1:01 PM
A little closer to the truth of the matter.
RickZ on February 5, 2009 at 1:01 PM
As we all knew, Obama is nothing but the front man in the left-wing machine. A figure-head or spokesperson, nothing more. Pelosi’s co-opting of the stimulus bill is proof of that. He NEEDS tons of people around him to advise him on everyting. Who the hell needs 300 foreign policy advisors to take a trip to the middle east? Yet, this is exactly what this charlatan did prior to the election. The saddest part of this whole sorry affair is that 53% of the American people bought what he is selling – that’s what really tells me we are screwed.
KickandSwimMom on February 5, 2009 at 1:05 PM
Hey America, how’s that Change for changes sake working out? How’s that identity politics looking? How’s that Mocha tasting now?
Healing you will feel
dmann on February 5, 2009 at 1:06 PM
I think he likes magic markers, if I recall from that famous photo of Obamo in front of a whiteboard explaining some Saul-Alinsky, community-organizing technique to a classroom of unemployed extortion artists.
BuckeyeSam on February 5, 2009 at 1:07 PM
Make sure you write your Senators, tell them what you think. I did. Laura Ingraham said the rate of letters is 100 conservative letters for every 1 liberal letter.
kirkill on February 5, 2009 at 1:07 PM
You said everything you needed to say in this paragraph. I say this is probably the first speech he ever wrote on his own since college. It really shows that the people who voted for him based on his intelligence were extremely shortchanged.
canditaylor68 on February 5, 2009 at 1:09 PM
Well that surely lifts my spirits.
I would have never guessed that considering our voter turnout.
Badger40 on February 5, 2009 at 1:09 PM
It was actually $170,000,000 and much of that money came from companies that received bail-out money. Your tax dollars at work. Break it down this way.
4 year term at 365 days a year – 1460 days. Divide $170,000,000 by 1460 days and it is like we are paying $116,438.36 per day just to pay for the cornoration.
Or $4,851.60 per hour for 4 years!!
Now $900,000,000,000 over 4 years is – drum roll
$616,438,356.16 PER DAY for 4 years!!!!
or
$25,684,931.51 PER HOUR FOR 4 YEARS!!!!!
Smoke that in your Obama crack pipe.
izoneguy on February 5, 2009 at 1:13 PM
Tks. Bill C. seems to share these traits with Obama. Clinton was a rapist and especially reckless in his Oval Office antics. But this seems to have been brought on by what he viewed as his success and powerfulness. He had the education and background for the job, if not the temperment.
Obama is a different story I think because he lacks the skills. His excesses may result from inferiority, not superiority. He might have already begun to take foolish risks (rumors of an affair during the campaign). If his back is pressed up against the wall, I think he’ll crack.
JiangxiDad on February 5, 2009 at 1:14 PM
Good article. I’ve always considered the link between the mental condition of narcissim and the politics of liberalism to be what can be referred to as “subjectivism.”
There are two completely basic ways of looking at the world, either:
A) Consider the world to be a self-sufficient entity having a valid existence completely separate from your “self”, and upon which you may have influence; or
B) See the world only in terms of how it makes you feel.
The first view is that held by people who tend to be politically conservative. And the second view is the fundamental basis of all collectivist political positions. By institutionalizing narcissism, liberals have created an environment where arrested adolescence is not only societally accepted, but even idolized.
Clinton was a narcissist, but he was a functional one. He was able to sublimate his ego pretty much at will. (At least before his stroke anyway; I suspect that hurt him more than anyone lets on.)
But Obama doesn’t have that ability. What you see is exactly what you get; and that is, in a word: nothing. The American Democratic Party has evolved (or devolved, depending on your opinion) to the point where it has finally nominated – and elected – a TRUE subjectivist into the White House. He genuinely sees the world solely from that perspective.
And may God help us all.
logis on February 5, 2009 at 1:15 PM
I can’t believe Barry is spending his reserve of goodwill on this
turkeyporker of a bill. As a general proposition, I don’t see the upside to a POTUS stooping down to do an OpEd piece. And endorsing this bill with empty hyperbole is a credibility flusher. Victor Davis Hanson was right when he wrote about triangulation requiring far more skill than Barry is displaying.Mark30339 on February 5, 2009 at 1:15 PM
Marxist using scare tactics to lurch the U.S. to the left for a LONG TIME TO COME.
marklmail on February 5, 2009 at 1:16 PM
I second that! If we wait until the first 100 days are over, it may not fit into my spreadsheet!
DrStock on February 5, 2009 at 1:16 PM
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