Obama: The Gates clusterfark is a “teachable moment” or something
posted at 3:25 pm on July 24, 2009 by Allahpundit
So it is — and like CJ says, there’s one very special guy in particular who should be learning from it. Six minutes here of what I can only describe as a tour de force of ObamaSpeak: Long-winded, excruciatingly politic and platitudinous, amounting to nothing more, really, than “there are two sides to every story” and “race relations are sensitive and complex.” No apology, either. In fact, this reminds me of the two-step he pulled when the Wright story broke big last year. His first statement was a pander to his base to score cheap political points (“I can’t disown Wright,” the Cambridge cops behaved “stupidly”); then it blew up in his face and he shifted into damage-control mode as Barack the Centrist (“This is not the Jeremiah Wright I thought I knew,” Crowley’s a great cop). Here’s an idea: The next time you’re pressed on a matter of racial controversy, how about eschewing the knee-jerk defense of demagoguery right off the bat, champ?
Credit where it’s due, though: He couldn’t have come up with a better distraction from the developing ObamaCare debacle if he tried.
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Always trying to be everything to every side.
It’s going to destroy him.
And I’m enjoying the slide.
bridgetown on July 24, 2009 at 3:27 PM
F.U. Obama.
BPD on July 24, 2009 at 3:27 PM
That’s right, and the student should be Obama himself.
UltimateBob on July 24, 2009 at 3:28 PM
I’m just grateful that he indicated that he would still wade into senstive local issues in the future.
myrenovations on July 24, 2009 at 3:28 PM
If the President tells the nation you overreacted, does that pretty much ruin your lawsuit/ documentary?
BadgerHawk on July 24, 2009 at 3:28 PM
Juan Williams said that it was a teachable moment for POTUS.
d1carter on July 24, 2009 at 3:28 PM
The ol’ Obama two-step!
(That’s not racist is it?)
negentropy on July 24, 2009 at 3:28 PM
FAIL
Norwegian on July 24, 2009 at 3:29 PM
Backtrack Barack
LibTired on July 24, 2009 at 3:29 PM
I think it was on purpose.
I’m sure the last question had several possibilities. The white house knew what questions were coming and who was chosen to ask, right?
If the press conference went well (if he thought he performed well), do another healthcare question. If it didn’t, change the topic to something else.
It didn’t go well, so the topic got changed.
lorien1973 on July 24, 2009 at 3:29 PM
Let me be clear: Waterloooooo!!!!!
BPD on July 24, 2009 at 3:29 PM
UltimateBob on July 24, 2009 at 3:28 PM
d1carter on July 24, 2009 at 3:28 PM
Ding ding ding, we have a winner. Er, winners.
LastRick on July 24, 2009 at 3:29 PM
Adjectives and adverbs around the globe rise in united protest. They want to know: “Where’s the nouns?”
BobMbx on July 24, 2009 at 3:30 PM
I’m enjoying every moment of his slide into oblivion. With any luck at all he will collapse into a quivering mass of gelatin and have to be airlifted to the psych ward at Bethesda before he manages to destroy our country.
johnsteele on July 24, 2009 at 3:30 PM
He could use advice from Bezos.
exception on July 24, 2009 at 3:30 PM
Word to Obama: when you lose Charles Johnson, can Sully be far behind?
Terrie on July 24, 2009 at 3:30 PM
Cambridge Chronicle twitter feed says Obama invited Crowley and Gates to the WH for a beer.
http://wbztv.com/local/obama.james.crowley.2.1099998.html
cornfedbubba on July 24, 2009 at 3:31 PM
Calibrate a telephone pole up your backside.
Hening on July 24, 2009 at 3:31 PM
“I could have ‘calibrated’ my words differently”?! WTF does that mean? No Republican would get away with that kind of weasly, meaningless apology.
Rational Thought on July 24, 2009 at 3:31 PM
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone who is so utterly bad at political word-mongering. “I could have calibrated those words differently”? You certainly could have, Mr. President.
Tonus on July 24, 2009 at 3:31 PM
Hahhaahhahahaha.
LibTired on July 24, 2009 at 3:32 PM
Well, we do have a pres. with no dangling participles.
ICBM on July 24, 2009 at 3:32 PM
Only if you have him two-stepping to an Al Jolson tune.
/sarc
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on July 24, 2009 at 3:32 PM
Isn’t this the stage where he explains by calling Crowley a “typical white person”?
MayBee on July 24, 2009 at 3:32 PM
Mr. Crowley
There is a song parody here waiting to be written.
Mark1971 on July 24, 2009 at 3:32 PM
How does that crow taste, pantywaist? Better get used to it… The more you run your cakehole, especially without that telepromtpter crutch of yours, the more you’ll continue to eat.
Roc on July 24, 2009 at 3:32 PM
It,s a teachable moment Obama but your sure is hell not the teacher.You got caught being the racist that you are
and no amount in he hawing around is going to get you off the hook.
thmcbb on July 24, 2009 at 3:33 PM
Both Gatesgate and Obamacaregate are his fault. Just forget the politics: He is totally incapable of leading. WORST. PRESIDENT. EVER.
peterargus on July 24, 2009 at 3:33 PM
That reminds me. I need to send my words in to be calibrated.
exception on July 24, 2009 at 3:33 PM
What’s next – he drags Rodney King out to the podium?
Brat on July 24, 2009 at 3:34 PM
Backpedal faster O.
dpierson on July 24, 2009 at 3:34 PM
I con’t to believe based on what I have heard, there was an overreaction…professor Gates probably overreacted as well…More moral equivalence as usual. He might as well be talking about Israelis/Palestinians. African Americans/Palestinians understandably are sensitive to these issues, blah, blah, blah… Tool. Douche. Loser.
JAM on July 24, 2009 at 3:34 PM
The Precedent: “My impression of him was the he was A outstanding police officer …”
Can someone please teach this moron how to speak English? Please. It’s just the indefinite article. He should have learned this in elementary school along with everyone else. He speaks as though he spent his elementary school years in Indonesia, or something …
progressoverpeace on July 24, 2009 at 3:34 PM
The next time Professor Gates home is being burglarized, the neighbors should just look the other way. Because their wanting to be good neighbors, and spare Mr. Gates another robbery, by calling the police to look into the matter, is racial, against Gates.
So Mr. Gates…the next time it happens, and no one comes to your aid….will you scratch your head, and ask why this happened?
capejasmine on July 24, 2009 at 3:34 PM
Comment of the Day!
Key West Reader on July 24, 2009 at 3:34 PM
“Calibrated those words differently.”
Axelrod! Someone get Tech Support on the phone — the TelePrompTer has gone out again!
Mr. D on July 24, 2009 at 3:35 PM
This is Barry pushing the overreact button.
mchristian on July 24, 2009 at 3:35 PM
Wonder what majority in AA community feel about what Obama did last night, and just now.
JiangxiDad on July 24, 2009 at 3:35 PM
This is what happens when a premium is place upon victim status. Obama could no more resist this chance to play up his friend’s victimhood than he could hold his pee for 12 hours.
Unfortunately, this type of fiasco is exactly what awaits Republicans as long as we too try to play the victim card. This is a teachable moment but the people who need to learn something are too thick to learn. Yeah, I mean you.
The Race Card on July 24, 2009 at 3:35 PM
Here’s CNN trying to blame the police for making this situation bigger than it should have been. The love affair is still strong at CNN.
Lance Murdock on July 24, 2009 at 3:35 PM
*placed
The Race Card on July 24, 2009 at 3:35 PM
You can’t spell “calibrate” without “race bait”.
LibTired on July 24, 2009 at 3:35 PM
“I could have disguised my racist views in a more artful fashion.”
bloviator on July 24, 2009 at 3:36 PM
Obama supporters must be dumber than rocks. This guy pulls this crap every time he screws up and his slobbering cultists simply smile and bow. The bottom line is that he knew exactly what he did and said and this gobbledygook is just more obfuscating BS. Sorry Obama the people have your number so you can turn of your smoke generators.
rplat on July 24, 2009 at 3:36 PM
The question was staged, but he blew it and miscalculated the reaction. His “brilliance” is highly overrated and I’m enjoying his fall immensely.
rezgirl on July 24, 2009 at 3:36 PM
Hahaha. I sincerely hate this man.
Shock the Monkey on July 24, 2009 at 3:36 PM
Tru dat, playa!!! Mega props!!!!!
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on July 24, 2009 at 3:36 PM
But did the press corp. stand when he entered the room………?
Seven Percent Solution on July 24, 2009 at 3:36 PM
He still didn’t apologize and he had to get his little dig in on “racism” still fresh or something. The beer thing just makes him one of the “guys” don’t you know…..
sandee on July 24, 2009 at 3:37 PM
“This is not the Professor Gates I once knew…”
And under the bus!
Enoxo on July 24, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, aaaaaaaaaaaannd, uh, uh, uh . . .
He’s so articulate!
Special K on July 24, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Stop it. You’re killing me.
BobMbx on July 24, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Makes sense. What better way to divert attention than to call cops stupid in a white/black situation.
He must have felt getting hammered for this was better than having attention focused on his communist health care bill.
That’s all these guys do anyway, control the story and perception.
darwin on July 24, 2009 at 3:37 PM
So “calibrate” now substitutes for “inartful” the way “health insurance reform” substitutes for “health care reform”?
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on July 24, 2009 at 3:37 PM
No,the teachable moment is the people who are just now waking up to who this man is.After what he has said over the past few days and today he makes a comment about not liking the word VICTORY in Afg.,people are fed up with his lies and butt covering comments!!
ohiobabe on July 24, 2009 at 3:38 PM
he said to “NOT extrapolate too much from the facts”
what a yowling maroon
(p.s. what about the FEELINGS of the white American-American community?)
Ris4victory on July 24, 2009 at 3:38 PM
Translation: “I wish I’d never said that.”
Great, we have a loose cannon for a President and a loose hydrogen bomb for a Vice President.
No lawyer in his right mind would want to present either of these guys for a deposition. And this is the best America has to offer? Wow. Just wow.
jdp629 on July 24, 2009 at 3:38 PM
I had my words calibrated last week but I still have to jimmy them a little when I’m going through doors.
Rational Thought on July 24, 2009 at 3:38 PM
Fair point.
BadgerHawk on July 24, 2009 at 3:38 PM
Let me be clear, as I have always said, I can’t be held accountable for anything I say or do.
Lily on July 24, 2009 at 3:38 PM
He said 12 “uh’s” in the first 30 seconds. AAAARRRGHHHH!!!!!!!
Special K on July 24, 2009 at 3:38 PM
I believe that the question was staged. And, you may also wonder about his response and the way it was delivered. To me, it looked like someone was talking into his ear… The long pauses.. The sudden starts then stops.
TOTUS attack!
Key West Reader on July 24, 2009 at 3:39 PM
I would like to have heard the conversation between this man and the officer.
I wonder if Obama knows about the tape of the incident the police department has, and that’s what made him decide to put the bus in reverse and hit the gas.
capitalist piglet on July 24, 2009 at 3:39 PM
Not at all. The more his press talks about this, the less the country hears about the coming socialist takeover. Part of the plan.
BobMbx on July 24, 2009 at 3:39 PM
My adjectives are getting all hunky.
exception on July 24, 2009 at 3:39 PM
Losing those police and independent voters by the minute, I bet.
Way to go Commander in Chief!
ObamatheMessiah on July 24, 2009 at 3:40 PM
As usual, the libtard blogosphere has switched tracks completely from “Obama should never apologize” to “Obama was right to apologize and this just makes us love him more”.
Speedwagon82 on July 24, 2009 at 3:40 PM
Most of your links are to DailyBeast and now CJ. Do you read any conservative blogs?
/
faraway on July 24, 2009 at 3:40 PM
I caught that too… I bet Michewe is gonna b*ch slap his scrawny butt tonight. No wonder he wants to go hide somewhere and drink beer.
Whadda Loozah!
Key West Reader on July 24, 2009 at 3:41 PM
Obama will never learn.
coldwarrior on July 24, 2009 at 3:41 PM
Harvard must be very proud of this retard. Both of these Harvard retards, now that we Gates, too.
Yep. Affirmative action. Great stuff, there. I laugh at the morons who thought the Harvard imprimatur meant anything at all. This is the worst joke in the world, and the most dangerous.
progressoverpeace on July 24, 2009 at 3:41 PM
Obama is a political prodigy. He’s skipped the first half of the Carter presidency and is already emulating the last two years — which means the conservative revolution is coming in 2010.
Viva El Presidente Stupido!
Terrie on July 24, 2009 at 3:41 PM
Didn’t see it, but heard it. O made several lame “jokes.” The press burst out into hysterical laughter as if to reassure the Pres. that they still loved him. But to me it was telling that both needed to be there for each other. They know they’re a fraud individually, but pray that together they’re something real. Deep down inside, they know they’re not, and that they’re all going the way of the dinosaur.
JiangxiDad on July 24, 2009 at 3:41 PM
nice
faraway on July 24, 2009 at 3:42 PM
Maybe initially he did this on purpose but I don’t think he thought he would be getting this kind of reaction.I think be believed we would all be too afraid to call him on it being the “post” racial icon he is…..Wrong
sandee on July 24, 2009 at 3:42 PM
Funny, Napoleon said the same thing in 1815.
Christien on July 24, 2009 at 3:42 PM
God no…that would leave us with POTUS Lie-din…or godforbid POTUS Granny McBotox.
Rogue on July 24, 2009 at 3:42 PM
“We can spend a little more time listening to each other….”
Everything would have been fine, Barry, if Professor Gates would have listened to Sgt. Crowley.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on July 24, 2009 at 3:42 PM
friggin’ clueless.
sleepy-beans on July 24, 2009 at 3:42 PM
Yeah, because CNN knows that MSNBC is the top choice for White House propaganda and they are trying to get some brownie points. Can I say “brownie” or is that racist?
behiker on July 24, 2009 at 3:43 PM
“Let me clear, we all know about racial profiling…”
“Psst, Mr. One, they have a tape”
“Nevermind”
califdreamnred on July 24, 2009 at 3:43 PM
FIFY.
/sarc
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on July 24, 2009 at 3:43 PM
Obviously, he had The Anointed One in mind when he wrote this.
Vic on July 24, 2009 at 3:43 PM
bad image
faraway on July 24, 2009 at 3:43 PM
I wish the American people had calibrated their votes differently.
pugwriter on July 24, 2009 at 3:43 PM
I refer you to the “Tuzla Dance” fiacso. Even after having been shown the video of her NOT avoiding incoming sniper fire, Hillary continued to push her version of the event.
No, soon we’ll have ABC reporting the audio tape is a PhotoShop (physically impossible, but hey, what does that matter), and the event occurred just as POTUS has described.
BobMbx on July 24, 2009 at 3:43 PM
scalleywag on July 24, 2009 at 3:43 PM
Here’s the lesson: As a country you can have a white cop appointed by a black superior to train other cops on racial sensitivity respond to the residence of a black university professor of an elite Ivy League school, who is then defended by the first black president of the United States, and still have “lessons to learn” on racial issues. Post racial my butt.
Weight of Glory on July 24, 2009 at 3:44 PM
I don’t know about y’all, but I’m holding out for an “impeachable moment.”
Christien on July 24, 2009 at 3:44 PM
If the handcuffs fit the arrest must have been legit
CMonster on July 24, 2009 at 3:44 PM
That brings up a whole other problem for after the revolution. Most of our nation’s most important institutions are fatally corrupted. We need institutions like universities, the law, science, politics, religions, etc.
Will be be able to remake them?
JiangxiDad on July 24, 2009 at 3:44 PM
my hatred…….IT GROWS….
Ghoul aid on July 24, 2009 at 3:44 PM
In a related story, tar and feathers futures are looking bullish for the next 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 years. Film at 11.
Fallen Sparrow on July 24, 2009 at 3:44 PM
I don’t know. This has hurt him with a lot of dumb people I talk to.
These are people who don’t want to be seen as “racist”. Well guess who has now drawn first racial blood? It doesn’t matter that he drew it a long time ago – the mask has slipped and now he suddenly looks a lot like Jesse Jackson. Expect his “personal ratings” to start going south shortly.
LibTired on July 24, 2009 at 3:44 PM
He can learn. With a simple set of flash cards and a crash course in Toastmasters. Uh.
Key West Reader on July 24, 2009 at 3:45 PM
Once again Barack offered nothing more than his usual meaningless rhetoric. If that performance was an apology it was certainly a backhanded one. Officer Crowley and the Cambridge Police Department are still owed an actual apology.
Why doesn’t Barack advise his friend Gates to assist an Officer of the law, instead of behaving like self-important rude and verbose clown?
Barack is looking more creepy and out-of-touch with each passing day. The shallow “Empty Suit” is a Johnny One-Note and we’ve heard it! Blah, blah, blah…
sinsing on July 24, 2009 at 3:45 PM
Oh yeah, I know Prof. Gates and the police acted stupidly…or not, if its politically expedient.
Hey lets have a beer, ha ha. No no its not race politics.
Speakup on July 24, 2009 at 3:45 PM
I disagree. I think for many this is simply more evidence that he can’t be trusted. Wishful thinking, perhaps…a little hope is hard to come by these days…
rezgirl on July 24, 2009 at 3:45 PM
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