Obamateurism of the Day
posted at 8:05 am on June 25, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Bring back TOTUS! President Obama proved that he can commit an Obamateurism regardless of whether he uses the TelePrompter or not during his latest press conference. In pushing for adoption of his “clean energy” policies, Obama called carbon a “contaminant” in his opening statement:
These incentives will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy. And that will lead to the development of new technologies that lead to new industries that could create millions of new jobs in America — jobs that can’t be shipped overseas.
At a time of great fiscal challenges, this legislation is paid for by the polluters who currently emit the dangerous carbon emissions that contaminate the water we drink and pollute the air that we breathe. It also provides assistance to businesses and communities as they make the gradual transition to clean energy technologies.
The argument — such as it is — is that carbon emissions warm the Earth, not “contaminate the water we drink and pollute the air we breathe”. People have been breathing carbon since at least a little while before Obama was born … like since the dawn of man. It’s lethal, of course — it’ll kill you in 150 years, if you don’t stop breathing before then.
Fortunately, Obama has a plan to keep you from breathing long before that, but we’ll talk about ObamaCare later. (thanks to Scott and Lorellico for the tip)
Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at obamaisms@edmorrissey.com with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.
Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!
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tax me! i’m a polluter!
kelley in virginia on June 25, 2009 at 8:08 AM
That darn CO2, so dangerous to our lives at 0.004% of the atmosphere.
Greg Toombs on June 25, 2009 at 8:09 AM
Ed, the argument is, that since CO2 is a pollutant and we exhale CO2, each one of us needs to be taxed according to the level of pollution that we produce.
doriangrey on June 25, 2009 at 8:09 AM
Think of the trees, man! We’re keeping the trees alive!
ladyingray on June 25, 2009 at 8:10 AM
real genius…../sarc
cmsinaz on June 25, 2009 at 8:14 AM
next we’ll be taxed acording to our lung capacity…
SHARPTOOTH on June 25, 2009 at 8:14 AM
We are committing national suicide. When will the people rise up to stop this insane stuff. Bring on a French type revolution. Where’s the guillotine?
wepeople on June 25, 2009 at 8:15 AM
It’s obvious that, despite Maureen Dowd’s gushing of Bam’s “Spock-like coolness,” that Obama is no Trekkie. If he was he’d know that he too is just another Carbon-based Life Form on a Class-M planet.
potkas7 on June 25, 2009 at 8:15 AM
*slaps forehead*
blatantblue on June 25, 2009 at 8:16 AM
Next watch for the banning of Dihydrogen Monoxide.
doriangrey on June 25, 2009 at 8:17 AM
Next watch for the banning of Dihydrogen Monoxide.
doriangrey on June 25, 2009 at 8:18 AM
That pesky CO2…
But, even more, Obama seems to be missing the bigger picture….the evident dangers…and with established facts, not specious conjecture or feelings…or AlGore,
Hydrogen Dioxide is killing our children. Hydrogen Dioxide is the second-leading cause of death among children under the age of 15.
Children under five and adolescents between the ages of 15-24 have the highest hydrogen dioxide related death rates.
An estimated 5,000 children ages 14 and under are hospitalized due to Hydrogen Dioxide related incidents each year; 15 percent die in the hospital and as many as 20 percent suffer severe, permanent neurological disability.
The U.S. Government has known about the dangers of hydrogen dioxide for many years. However lawmakers refuse to address this desperate situation. Hydrogen Dioxide needs to be outlawed now.
So, Mr. President…what say you?
coldwarrior on June 25, 2009 at 8:18 AM
He regularly rewrites history, what the hell, let him rewrite science too.
Brat on June 25, 2009 at 8:18 AM
He really has no clue what he’s talking about. All life is carbon based. Carbon in and of itself is desirable. It’s not a friggin pollutant. .
Guardian on June 25, 2009 at 8:18 AM
speak of oxides and hydrates and compounds and blah blaHS
we should go after methane hydrate as an energy source
sh*ts on the bottom of the ocean floor and can power a lot of stuff
blatantblue on June 25, 2009 at 8:19 AM
Next he’ll be giving oxygen the stink eye, as it’s also contaminating the air and the water. In fact, it’s so pervasive, it’s become part of the water!
Pablo on June 25, 2009 at 8:19 AM
speakING
sowwie
blatantblue on June 25, 2009 at 8:20 AM
We are committing national suicide. When will the people rise up to stop this insane stuff. Bring on a French type revolution. Where’s the guillotine?
wepeople on June 25, 2009 at 8:15 AM
you are mistaken, we are being murdered by a chicago thug and the cretins that call them selves the W H press corps…..
SHARPTOOTH on June 25, 2009 at 8:20 AM
ROTFLMAO…. Too slow….. ;p
doriangrey on June 25, 2009 at 8:20 AM
At least he didn’t double post…
ladyingray on June 25, 2009 at 8:22 AM
Shhh. Don’t give him any ideas.
Guardian on June 25, 2009 at 8:22 AM
weak…
moonbatkiller on June 25, 2009 at 8:22 AM
play nice
blatantblue on June 25, 2009 at 8:23 AM
Q – What do you get when you mix Al Gore with Barack Obama?
A – Gore and Mayhem.
Loxodonta on June 25, 2009 at 8:23 AM
you think you can make me?
ladyingray on June 25, 2009 at 8:25 AM
He must have missed a few science classes in school…..
cmsinaz on June 25, 2009 at 8:26 AM
Hey, ya know what? Saliva’s a contaminant, too! People who’ve swallowed it in small amounts over a long period of time have been known to die!
flipflop on June 25, 2009 at 8:27 AM
This guy is such a total ignoramus!
A classic example of an elitist that might be book-smart but is real-world/street-smart/business-world/logically STUPID.
Push forward your utopian agenda – as fast as you can before people object! – regardless of logic, science, or any reality.
Hey – this is all just like those ‘thought experiments’ we did in school! Except… this time it’s real, with real consequences.
rockbend on June 25, 2009 at 8:27 AM
Pttttt…. That just proves that I am twice as fast as him…. ;p
doriangrey on June 25, 2009 at 8:28 AM
Hydrogen Dioxide is killing our children. June 25, 2009 at 8:18 AM
Good one! But don’t you mean Dihydrogen Monoxide?
KS Rex on June 25, 2009 at 8:28 AM
In a twisted way, I want this Chicago street thug to keep talking and doing. It just might spell the end of the Democrat Party by 2011. Now that is hopenchange I can vote for!
Liam on June 25, 2009 at 8:28 AM
Hilarious! One would think that, at the very least, it should be a controlled substance.
ProfessorMiao on June 25, 2009 at 8:29 AM
Oh, have no fears my dear ProfessorMiao that is coming just as soon as Dear Leader can arrange it. With I might add a very significant tax on those who insist on
abusing it.doriangrey on June 25, 2009 at 8:32 AM
We are committing national suicide. When will the people rise up to stop this insane stuff. Bring on a French type revolution. Where’s the guillotine?
wepeople on June 25, 2009 at 8:15 AM
Call Genesee Metal Prod. in Cuba NY. my frirnd designed a nice little mobile unit,say’s he will donate the first one for use in Washington DC.
heshtesh on June 25, 2009 at 8:32 AM
Nice recovery… :D
ladyingray on June 25, 2009 at 8:33 AM
Empty suit.
petefrt on June 25, 2009 at 8:34 AM
Sounds like a moment of rare honesty from the President. This legislation will indeed be paid for by those who “emit” CO2. And appropriately enough, we’ll be paying through the nose for it.
Tonus on June 25, 2009 at 8:35 AM
Quiet, you plebes. Show some respect when one of your Ivy-educated betters is speaking. Don’t you know that people with degrees from expensive private colleges are so much smarter than you? Obama can quote Niebuhr. That’s all you need to know. How dare you mock his faux-intellectualism on scientific matters? Who do you think you are to question The One?
AZCoyote on June 25, 2009 at 8:36 AM
He meant to say that newborns and the elderly were containments. Just was reading from the wrong notes.
Heil ya’ll
Hening on June 25, 2009 at 8:38 AM
Global cooling threatening wildlife in Canada. Breeding season decimated. More CO2 needed immediately to save these creatures.
http://minx.cc/?post=288980
JiangxiDad on June 25, 2009 at 8:38 AM
Oh great, wasnt it already bad enough when they declared methane a pollutant and we learned we were going to be taxed out the a$$ for emitting it???
doriangrey on June 25, 2009 at 8:38 AM
Giuys…
do soentmething fo4r me
im dyhinh righht now
too mudch co2 in the atmospehre
call the prolice
rtell enthem to come havbe rescueq me
obama..
blatantblue on June 25, 2009 at 8:39 AM
The amateur part is saying that government incentives make something profitable.
This is like saying that electric and hydrogen cars don’t cause pollution.
Its all about if you include the entire big picture in your evaluation (your tax $, and the power source for the batteries or making the H2), or only the part you wish to make look good (the tax-enabled profit possible or the lack or pollution at the tailpipe).
tomg51 on June 25, 2009 at 8:40 AM
Quick, Obama, arrest all the people at Coca-Cola for putting CO2 in water…ON PURPOSE!!
jacrews on June 25, 2009 at 8:40 AM
If any of you f***ers gets any of your disgusting carbon dioxide near any of my plants, I swear there will be hell to pay.
LibTired on June 25, 2009 at 8:43 AM
Sorry, it’s early and I trusted the spell check before reading
Hening on June 25, 2009 at 8:43 AM
“…this is the moment, when CO2 stops contaminating the air and water…
Akzed on June 25, 2009 at 8:45 AM
weak…
moonbatkiller on June 25, 2009 at 8:22 AM
On the surface, yes. But it emphasizes two insidious M.O.’s of this administration and enviro-libs in general:
1. “global warming” is more scare tactic than science.
2. Obama’s speechwriters are a bunch of twenty-something morons who have been trained to regurgitate Dem talking points and wouldn’t know research if it bit them on the nose.
KS Rex on June 25, 2009 at 8:45 AM
It’s obvious that Obama and all of his advisors skipped science classes. So did most of the Congress and the electorate. OOOOOOppps, I fogot about that great science wizard, Al Gore. I have never understood how he got an Acadamy award for what was esentially a Power Point presentation or a Peace Prize for selling snake oil. None of this makes any sense.
BetseyRoss on June 25, 2009 at 8:45 AM
One can only hope!
Conservican on June 25, 2009 at 8:46 AM
“Hey barkeep, gimme a vodka and CO2-contaminated water. Make it a double.”
Akzed on June 25, 2009 at 8:47 AM
ha
csdeven on June 25, 2009 at 8:51 AM
Heh heh heh….
doriangrey on June 25, 2009 at 8:52 AM
In the real world, my friend, all things are possible!
~sees your double and raises you a triple on the vodka~
Liam on June 25, 2009 at 8:53 AM
rockbend on June 25, 2009 at 8:27 AM
I have to argue with this statement. At no point in time has he ever demonstrated any of this great intelligence and education that has been attributed to him ever since the press fell in love. Actually he seems to show a profound lack of knowledge in many areas that should be routine for most people.
tempestleo on June 25, 2009 at 8:54 AM
He got them the exact same way any movie gets an Academy award, with cold hard cash…
doriangrey on June 25, 2009 at 8:54 AM
Barack Obama supports flat Pepsi for everyone.
jimmy2shoes on June 25, 2009 at 8:55 AM
i just need to say this before i die today
i love you all very much
the co2 will kill me by days end..
have nice lives.
blatantblue on June 25, 2009 at 8:56 AM
Trying to paint “carbon” as some kind of toxic contaminant is part of the strategy to pass cap and trade, IMO. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard someone talking about the need to reduce emissions refer to carbon as if it were a pollutant. It’s usually more subtle than Obama was this time, but it’s definitely going on.
mbs on June 25, 2009 at 8:56 AM
but you’re too young to die!!!!
ladyingray on June 25, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Can we put the CO2 in Yucca Mountain?
/sarc off
tomg51 on June 25, 2009 at 9:00 AM
I’m so relieved that we have a President of Obama’s intellectual capacity. Up until now, I had no idea that carbon dioxide was poisoning my water. I thought it just made it all fizzy (and maybe a little acidic).
Looks like I’ll have to start having my bourbon without the poisonous water.
mr.blacksheep on June 25, 2009 at 9:01 AM
heh
katy on June 25, 2009 at 9:04 AM
No more soft drinks – carbonated water!
darwin-t on June 25, 2009 at 9:04 AM
“…i see carbon people…”
blatantblue on June 25, 2009 at 9:05 AM
Everytime you open a can of Pepsi a Polar Bear dies!
Wander on June 25, 2009 at 9:06 AM
stop that…I LOL’d so hard I have a pain in my side…and my coworkers think I’ve lost my mind…
ladyingray on June 25, 2009 at 9:07 AM
That statement was planned and well thought out.
The left create these absurd lines knowing they will stick in the minds of the masses and become truth.
From there they construct their deconstruction.
katy on June 25, 2009 at 9:07 AM
This is the single most idiotic thing Obama has said, which is saying something.
rickskin on June 25, 2009 at 9:09 AM
DANG! You beat me to it.
Daggett on June 25, 2009 at 9:11 AM
BetseyRoss on June 25
The Nobel peace prize and the academy award have devolved into political ataboys for those who promote the party line. The academy award is for self-congratulatory A-holes and can be disregarded by normal people. All Nobel prizes for real achievement are cheapened by the rank politicization of the “peace prize”.
SKYFOX on June 25, 2009 at 9:12 AM
He had to get through Harvard Law somehow, didn’t he? It couldn’t all have an affirmative action ‘pass’… could it?
Let’s check his school transcripts and writings for signs of intelligence! Oh… yeah, right…
rockbend on June 25, 2009 at 9:14 AM
Everytime you open a can of Pepsi a Polar Bear dies!
Wander on June 25, 2009
No, just Coke. Pepsi is on Obamao’s good carbon list.
SKYFOX on June 25, 2009 at 9:14 AM
And this from the side of the aisle that claims to be all about science. This is first-rate idiocy.
CP on June 25, 2009 at 9:17 AM
Obama is a steaming pile of contaminant.
Jeff from WI on June 25, 2009 at 9:18 AM
Where does one get a petition for the banning of Dihydrous Monoxide? In my little hippy town I could get thousands of signatures on the 4th of July.
thomasaur on June 25, 2009 at 9:24 AM
Great people of HA: thank you all. Just laughed away my lethargy reading Ed’s post and all your comments.
Now, I am 101% sure that Obama isn’t the intellectual giant as hyped by his adoring fans, the sycophantic MSM.
mz.josephine on June 25, 2009 at 9:24 AM
What a liar, unless he actually believes this stuff. Ask him what the unemployment rate is in Spain where they’ve been pushing this green jobs BS longer than we have. Where’s Don Quixote when we need him.
Kissmygrits on June 25, 2009 at 9:34 AM
The unemployment in Spain is 18.1% largely due to higher taxes subsidizing green jobs. Just what will happen here with cap & tax law, call your congressperson and senators today.
Kissmygrits on June 25, 2009 at 9:36 AM
Ed, Michelle yesterday posted a story about EPA suppressing an anti-AGW study before the expiration (Tuesday) of the Comment Period on regulating CO2.
This ought to be front-page news, and is certainly worth a post here.
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/06/24/the-climate-change-e-mails-epa-doesnt-want-you-to-see/
MrLynn on June 25, 2009 at 9:36 AM
s/water/beer
fronclynne on June 25, 2009 at 9:37 AM
You can get it right here.
Oldnuke on June 25, 2009 at 9:50 AM
So Obama is against carbon?
But all life on earth is built upon carbon…so what is he proposing?
Are the Obamateurs really space invaders trying to replace earth’s carbon life with silicon life forms?
landlines on June 25, 2009 at 9:51 AM
Translation: “Since people are carbon based life forms, this tax will naturally be passed on to every single human being in this country for everything they do.
It is people that pollute the water we drink and air we breathe. By “we” I mean all of us anointed rulers who are sick and tired of putting up with our lessers doing whatever they want with “their” lives. This chaotic mess must be controlled.
This is our world and you just live in it. You must pay rent to us. Any attempt to climb the ladder toward our perch will cost you dearly.”
RadClown on June 25, 2009 at 9:57 AM
At least he’s (surreptitiously) admitted that government subsidies are the only way to make “clean” energy profitable right now.
karl9000 on June 25, 2009 at 9:59 AM
Again I ask, if only the US is going to tackle global warming/climate change, how is this going to change the planet? Every country on Earth would have to implement this BS.
What a crock of sh!t.
txag92 on June 25, 2009 at 10:11 AM
Once and for all…THERE IS NO MAN CAUSED GLOBAL WARMING..
it’s a myth, a lie..a giant con game!
Jeff from WI on June 25, 2009 at 10:25 AM
This from our first pro-science POTUS?
Star20 on June 25, 2009 at 10:42 AM
…and, since nobody on earth controls the sun, it doesn’t make any difference how many countries screw up their economies in a futile attempt to affect the climate.
Man cannot individually or collectively affect climate, and his attempts to do so are Quixotic, puny, and totally insignificant in the grand galactic scheme of things. Simultaneous explosion of all the nuclear bombs ever made would not matter: the sun swamps such a puny display of power by many orders of magnitude in a fraction of every second.
Washington should sit back and relax and enjoy climate changes. They should think of climate change as just a huge galactic change of seasons….which it is.
Climate will change: our job is to ADAPT.
landlines on June 25, 2009 at 10:47 AM
So, Mr. President…what say you?
coldwarrior on June 25, 2009 at 8:18 AM
Present.
LSUMama on June 25, 2009 at 10:58 AM
The reports say they will pass this horror show friday. We are beyond sooooooooooooooo screwedddddddddddddddddd!
LSUMama on June 25, 2009 at 11:01 AM
(pardon my scientific nit-picking: the point is still quite valid)
landlines on June 25, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Somebody just needs to convince him to remove one oxygen atom, then breath deeply, and often.
Yoop on June 25, 2009 at 11:10 AM
When water becomes contaminated by carbon does it then become carbonated water?
Herb on June 25, 2009 at 11:13 AM
What the hell is this jerk’s problem with plants?
Sapwolf on June 25, 2009 at 11:35 AM
CapnTrade = Plant Genocide.
Sapwolf on June 25, 2009 at 11:36 AM
I wonder how many people reading such crap in the MSM are confusing carbon monoxide with carbon dioxide?
andycanuck on June 25, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Face the facts folks this president is not good with math, history and now science.
.
We are truly being lead by the fool.
.
Government wants us disregard the facts.
.
This government is overboard and ignorant. The problem is we are not buying what their selling.
.
Americannodash on June 25, 2009 at 12:36 PM
No. Your lungs operate on the basis of a feedback loop containing C02 sensors. No CO2, no breathing. It’s as simple as that. To understand, try holding your breath.
So the real question is how to genetically engineer human beings who don’t produce CO2? Dead fetuses, anyone?
unclesmrgol on June 25, 2009 at 12:49 PM
If CO2 is banned as a pollutant, can I breathe on my plants, trees and grass in order to keep them alive? Will I have to wear a Carbon Meter/Cash Register on my back?
What about sports and sex? All that heavy breathing can’t be good for the environment. And don’t even get me started on the farting problem. Banning Mexican food would be a good start.
It’s probably best if we all just sit at home in the dark until The One calls us to serve Him. He’ll know what to do, right?
RadClown on June 25, 2009 at 1:13 PM
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