Poll: What was the Obamateurism of the Week?
posted at 9:00 am on October 11, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
The Obamateurism poll is a lot like Barack Obama’s Nobel prize — it’ll recognize a lack of achievement. It has its roots more in The Gong Show than in Gandhi’s India, but at least it gets the name of the head of state right. Thousands of people are impressed enough with it to cast votes, which beats Obama’s concept of how many people Chicago has impressed in decades of hosting sporting events. I’d brag about the choice I think would win, but it’s usually best to wait for the results first.
Previous “winners”:
- Obama goes to Copenhagen (and comes home empty)
- Taxes, definitions, auto insurance, and Merriam-Webster dictionaries
- Throwing Poland under the bus on missile defense on 70th anniversary of Soviet invasion
- Obama warns of “partisan scare tactics,” warns “people will die” if ObamaCare stalls
- Obama doesn’t check to see if schools in session for his national speech
- Getting all wee-wee’d up
- The “public option” is just like the Post Office!
- We’re going to listen to other people’s ideas, except that people who disagree should shut up
- Snitch Central for ObamaCare dissenters
- Rushing legislation bad in 2004, essential in 2009
- Obama opines on Gates arrest without “having all the facts”
- Obama salutes the Ghana flag
- Obama jokes about Alaska sale with Russians
- Obama uses union and DNC plants at health-care town hall
- Obama plants a question on Iran with HuffPo
- Change in Iran coming because “Obviously, after the speech I made in Cairo…”
- Flashing his soles to the camera while talking to Netanyahu
- “If you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.”
- “We can no longer afford to spend as if deficits do not matter and waste is not our problem.”
- Siccing Tim Geithner and Charlie Rangel on tax cheats
- Phony Churchill quote on torture throws Grandpa under the bus
- Torture probe flip-flop
- Obama covers up IHS while quoting Jesus
- Austrian is a language?
- Obama bows to the Saudi king
- 1908 Model T got better gas mileage than today’s SUVs
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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Hard choices this week.
Kafir on October 11, 2009 at 9:01 AM
its the economy, stupid.
rob verdi on October 11, 2009 at 9:02 AM
Really hard to decide. hmm..
becki51758 on October 11, 2009 at 9:04 AM
wait. i thought i kept up with everything the Magic Negro did. i didn’t even know he said we had our roots in Ghandi’s India. (weren’t we, ah, already here, up & running before Ghandi?)
kelley in virginia on October 11, 2009 at 9:05 AM
It’s all those bitter clingers out there not getting jobs or buying anything that are hiding the magnificence of my economic plan.
mad scientist on October 11, 2009 at 9:05 AM
need to add
accepting the nobel peace prize. the dumbest move in history
unseen on October 11, 2009 at 9:12 AM
I just keep getting madder and madder…..Does anyone think that the ‘twits’ that voted this loser into the WH have even bothered to see what he is doing to them? I can not believe anyone thinks this jerk is doing a good job at anything. What a loser!!!!!! I can’t wait to see how loud those idiots are going to scream when they realize that they too are losing their personnel liberties. What a clusterfark………*sigh*
clinker46 on October 11, 2009 at 9:13 AM
This is getting more difficult each week, really there were at least two I struggled with as being the lead…durable goods comment and Gandhi’s.
I can’t keep up with his foolishness…if only the MSM would report, his ratings would be in the low 30′s…
right2bright on October 11, 2009 at 9:15 AM
dont get angry
no use.
just do what you can
blatantblue on October 11, 2009 at 9:18 AM
not voting until “accepting the Nobel Peace Prize for doing nothing” is added
but I do agree with right2bright, if the press leaped on these stories(as they surely would with Bush) then he would be even weaker than he is now
thebrokenrattle on October 11, 2009 at 9:19 AM
I think it’s the India one, but I clicked on the Chicago thing because a few years ago my then girlfriend and I got on the wrong train in Chicago. We were really “impressed” at what we saw.
Picture the scene: A white guy and his black girlfriend step off the train and walk down right into the projects, trying to find a way back up to the platform to the train going the other way, but the gate doesn’t open, it’s exit only, people are looking, staring, pointing … A woman rushes up and yells “THAT WAY!” pointing to another gate “HURRY!” she yells. We run over to the other gate, it opens, we climb the stairs and look down at her, our angel, our savior, we don’t even know her name, God bless her. A crowd was starting to gather, but then they broke up and walked away as the train pulled up.
Was she just telling us to hurry because she knew what time the train would arrive and didn’t want us to miss it? Or did she save our lives? We’ll never know.
Tony737 on October 11, 2009 at 9:23 AM
OT:
Steve Wynn, Wynn Resorts, is on Fox News Sunday literally cleaning Obama’s (and Granholm’s) clock. Worthy of a thread, perhaps.
TXUS on October 11, 2009 at 9:23 AM
literallyfigurativelyTXUS on October 11, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Go with ‘she saved your lives’. No one knows mass transit schedules, and even if they did, our Mussolinis do not make the trains run on time.
RickZ on October 11, 2009 at 9:33 AM
you were saved from getting blugeoned to death across the head with a 2×4 most likely as this is Chicago and certain people in certain neighborhoods need the gobmint to hold their hand as they continue to have babies with men who they know will not be involved in the child’s life whatsoever which results in what could have been the end of your life. thanks for visiting our wonderful city and please come back again! =)
Ghoul aid on October 11, 2009 at 9:41 AM
+2
AnotherOpinion on October 11, 2009 at 9:46 AM
Answer: she was a guardian angel. You wouldn’t have lasted 10 minutes in that neighborhood. I had similar experience. I was in a cab and told the cabby to start toward the Museum of Science and Industry and to pull over when he rings up $12 (I was poor college kid and that’s all I had). A little later the cabby said your money is up, but I cannot leave you in this neighborhood, you’d be killed. He too was an angel.
That’s what you get in Chicago: a study of contrasts. Dangerous neighborhoods with a few angels mixed in…
jbh45 on October 11, 2009 at 9:52 AM
Accepting the Nobel. Obamateurism of the year.
ddrintn on October 11, 2009 at 9:55 AM
I voted for the Danish PM/wrong name thing…it seems to me exactly like the sort of thing someone else (Palin, for instance) would have been absolutely slammed for, but the same people who went after other people for this same kind of thing are “inexplicably” silent.
Plus, I’ve just had a special place in my heart for Denmark ever since 2005. “Stop, stop, vi er løbet tør for jomfruer!” Jeg griner stadig, når jeg ser det. :D
ClassicalMusicNerd on October 11, 2009 at 10:00 AM
I chose the “impressed with Chicago” because I, too, have my Chicago horror story and because I think the “recovering economy” is not an Obamateurism, but an out and out lie. The administration definitely knows the economy is not truly recovering and is purposely not doing anything to fix it.
texabama on October 11, 2009 at 10:04 AM
I chose the Ghandi quote.
Don’t know much about history.
Don’t know much biology.
Don’t know much about a science book.
Don’t know much about the French I took.
But I do know that I love me.
And I know that if you love me too.
What a wonderful world this would be.
— Barry and the O’s.
Loxodonta on October 11, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Well let see, if I treat this like a multiple choice test question, I have to eliminate the last one (economic recovery) because I remember that Joe Gaffe Biden said the stimulus was working beyond his wildest dreams…….
katablog.com on October 11, 2009 at 10:09 AM
I’m so glad he accepted the Nobel; That’s going to hang over his head for years. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
anniekc on October 11, 2009 at 10:10 AM
I cannot leave you in this neighborhood, you’d be killed. He too was an angel. – JBH
How do we even HAVE areas like that in Ameri … oh right, I forgot, democrats!
thanks for visiting our wonderful city and please come back again! – Ghoul
Haha, I can’t wait! Actually downtown Chicago was awesome, down there by the Loop. Somehow we got on the wrong train when we were leaving. I was looking out the window saying to my g/f “I don’t remember seeing that on the way in … or that … or that … hey, is that the projects we’re pulling into?” I guess we got on the yellow line instead of the orange, or something like that, I forget now.
Go with ’she saved your lives’. – Rick
I think you’re right. Next time we’ll pay attention to what platform we get on. They make it idiot proof, color coded even, yet somehow we still screwed up.
Tony737 on October 11, 2009 at 10:11 AM
I was all set to vote for the “I don’t deserve this award” but I accept it anyway.
JeffinSac on October 11, 2009 at 10:12 AM
- Unseen
True. A real man would’ve said “No thanks, give it to somebody like the young protesters in Iran.”
Tony737 on October 11, 2009 at 10:14 AM
“path to recovery” for me.
Lox, I like your Barry and the O’s. ( :
yoda on October 11, 2009 at 10:15 AM
I, too, have my Chicago horror story – Tex
Well, let’s hear it! You might pass on information that could save somebody’s life one day.
Tony737 on October 11, 2009 at 10:17 AM
I`m like 10 for 0…do I get a prize?
NY Conservative on October 11, 2009 at 10:34 AM
Teh Doh is giving them free money…what’s a few personal liberties?
The sands will shift when these guys start turning on him in force…
Oh Mercy on October 11, 2009 at 10:38 AM
Add me to the write-in campaign for “Accepting the Nobel Peace Prize” for not being George W. Bush. Embarrassing enough that the choice picks of the Norwegian Parliament would award it to him for something he is, not something he’s done… he agreed so much that he accepted their decision and their award.
The White House spin is going to be that we no longer have to reach all the way back to Greek Mythology to show a classic example of HUBRIS. He’s a narcissist.. but he’s doing it for the chirrun.
Mr Michael on October 11, 2009 at 10:51 AM
TXUS on October 11, 2009 at 9:23 AM
I wonder what time it is on here so I can catch it. Anyone ripping on Granholm and Obama deserves a watch. I heard that Granholm had tears in her eyes recently when discussing the closing of some plant or something.
Give me a big fat break. She did it to that state, from day one and deserves 100% of the blame. A mention of Granholm makes my blood boil. Even worse than Obama.
ORconservative on October 11, 2009 at 10:52 AM
Every week — every day — “Obamateurisms” get less and less amusing.
That’s not your fault, Ed.
It’s simply that each day brings us inexorably closer to the tipping point, the place where Osama Obama’s dangerous “plans” push America over the edge into chaos and ruin.
Will it be the transformation of the economy into a counterfeit-money system dominated by totalitarian takeovers? The ever-growing thugocracy of ACORN, SEIU, and the rest of the incompetent fool’s criminal cronies? The Chicago Jesus’s siding with terrorists and enemies around the globe? Will it be the killing fields of his health “care” plans? Or will his shadowy masters come up with something even more breathtakingly antithetical to everything America stands (stood) for?
MrScribbler on October 11, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Sounds like someone who would vote for a Community Organizer running for President of the USA
katablog.com on October 11, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Apparently, the US was founded on principles that were not in evidence among its founders. As I recall, they were not the non-violent sort.
I might have voted for the path to recovery, but as I was recently laid-off from my job and am now funemployed, I felt I should abstain.
mchristian on October 11, 2009 at 10:58 AM
My Chicago horror story:
Up until 5 months ago, we were living in the Quad Cities area. My youngest son who lives in Dallas wanted to visit Chicago and volunteered to drive. Somehow we got lost and ended up in the south side of Chicago. As we were driving on a main thoroughfare, guys on motorcycles surrounded us on all four sides and began speeding up and slowing down. I got the sense they were trying to “herd us”. Luckily my son was able to keep us on that main road and eventually found our way out of that part of Chicago. This took a total of about 15 minutes and I never did see a policeman… And in case anyone thinks they weren’t focused on us; they did drive off and come back several times.
texabama on October 11, 2009 at 11:02 AM
I knew it was the Loop when you first described your plight. It’s been a while but I don’t think there is a yellow L but if you hopped aboard the orange L your story comes to life. A very exciting life for tourists. The Loop is a veritable wheel of all that live among us in society.
ericdijon on October 11, 2009 at 11:09 AM
According to all the history I studied, America was founded long before Gandhi. Revisionist history strikes again.
kingsjester on October 11, 2009 at 11:09 AM
Without wise leadership a nation fails. (Shh… it’s in the Bible.)
We are being ruled by celebrities. God help us all. NOT refusing the Nobel Peace Prize was his biggest gaffe.
Mojave Mark on October 11, 2009 at 11:17 AM
The Odiot accepting the Piss Prize is the hack maneuver of the week. When you add it, then I’ll vote.
Western_Civ on October 11, 2009 at 11:27 AM
Sounds like someone who would vote for a Community Organizer running for President of the USA – Kata
Hahaha, yeah, there’s a lesson in irony there somewhere :-)
… you hopped aboard the orange L … – Eric
Ok, so it IS the orange line that takes you to the projects? I wasn’t sure, just going by memory, it was about 5 or 6 years ago. The Loop is actually pretty cool. We flew into Midway and there’s a train station right there at the airport. We took the train to the city and had a great time. It was trying to back that we messed up. What color is the airport line?
… guys on motorcycles surrounded us on all four sides … – Tex
And yet there are still those who are against the right to bear arms. Glad ya got outta there!
Tony737 on October 11, 2009 at 11:30 AM
This, dear friends, is not an Obamateurism. It is a flat out lie and the rat bastard traitor in the White House knows it.
highhopes on October 11, 2009 at 11:31 AM
We aren’t dealing with a real man. A real man can walk-the-walk, not just talk-the-talk.
We are not dealing with a smart man, either. If he had refused the NPP, on the grounds that there were people much more worthy than him, his poll numbers would have shot up 20 points in two days and the media would have been in an unprecedented swoon.
The reality is that his narcissism would not allow him to do the smart thing, nor the right thing, but only the personal thing. It is not about us as a nation, or WE THE PEOPLE, but all about him.
Soon *we* and *us* will be absent from the English language, to be replaced by only *I* and *ME*. It will be known as Obamabonics.
Yoop on October 11, 2009 at 11:34 AM
I saw this too. Wynn and Mitch Daniels came off a thousand times better than Granholm and some economist. I’m glad Wallace gave Wynn a lot of airtime and almost none to the nitwit economist. I suppose it’s preaching to the choir, but watching all four of them should convince anyone that Wynn and Daniels have it right and that Granholm and the economist have it wrong.
Obama’s solution seems to be continually extending unemployment benefits while claiming that the stimulus is working. I pray that voters eventually demand to see behind the curtain so that they’ll learn that the Wizard of O really has no solutions.
FWIW: the panel was good–Kristol, Nina Easton, Juan Williams, and–ta da–Liz Cheney. Kristol and Williams had a nice shouting match. For it minute, it almost unraveled into something you’d see on the O’Reilly Factor. Watching Kristol yell at Williams that it made no sense to engage in a “half-ass” effort in Afghanistan was priceless.
BuckeyeSam on October 11, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Path to recovery.
Dear Liar has no clue about economics.
rbj on October 11, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Ed, I might suggest a poll, with pictures of bho, to see which one has his nose in the air the highest. This is a good one.
L
letget on October 11, 2009 at 12:11 PM
Very hard choices this week but I voted for the economy.
So far he has managed to terrify most businesses with his every present threats of increasing the tax burden. So lay offs are continuing and hiring freezes remain in place whilst this socialist amateur works out how hard he’s going to smash businesses.
I can understand socialists making a play in a rising economy, New Labour did this from 1997-present date. But making a play in a floundering economy is simply stupid.
I hope he fails.
Anders on October 11, 2009 at 12:24 PM
Personal experience: the economy.
Sad that these get less and less funny each week.
HAnthonyWayne on October 11, 2009 at 12:39 PM
Once again, I cannot decide. :)
Bob's Kid on October 11, 2009 at 1:08 PM
I think the Hot Air guys should publish a book of these for every year of Obama’s presidency. There’s more than enough material.
In fact, can anyone name ANYTHING he’s actually good at? Anything at all? Public Speaking doesn’t count since he can’t do it without a teleprompter.
Common Sense on October 11, 2009 at 1:17 PM
Tough choices, to include the missing ‘ignoble piece prize’
If tar and featherring and running out on the rails ever made a comeback, Obambi wins the short straw hands down. He’s a Mugabe-lite.
AH_C on October 11, 2009 at 1:28 PM
Fooling others, into voting for him, into believing him (see Europeans et rest of world), even fooling himself.
Schadenfreude on October 11, 2009 at 1:51 PM
Hey, the Day by Day cartoon today says it all. Man, Muir got it.
Christian Conservative on October 11, 2009 at 2:06 PM
Desk Calendar. Greet every day with all the stupid stuff the filthy lying coward has done on that date in history.
August 14, for example, Obama’s birth in 1961. Kenyan national holidy.
highhopes on October 11, 2009 at 2:19 PM
ericdijon
There is a Yellow Line-it goes from Howard street in Rogers Park to Skokie.
As for bad neighborhoods-as I’ve mentioned, I live in the south suburbs-and I walk everywhere-my nick is “the little walker”-and the areas that are safe enough for me to regularly walk in/to are shrinking. I’m learning how to drive so that I can go south of me and walk there.
annoyinglittletwerp on October 11, 2009 at 2:20 PM
Because they aren’t tempered with anything on the plus side of the ledger.
highhopes on October 11, 2009 at 2:20 PM
That’s quite a long line!
highhopes on October 11, 2009 at 2:25 PM
Highhopes
Actually the Yellow Line is the CTA’s shortest line.
I lived in Rogers Park-aka Mecca of the midwest-and if you like walking you can walk to Skokie from there.
annoyinglittletwerp on October 11, 2009 at 2:38 PM
Thanks. I’d kiss you, but although my trunk is long, I don’t think it can reach another galaxy, far, far away.
Loxodonta on October 11, 2009 at 2:42 PM
Count me in on that. I’m sure there has to be enough already to put out a day by day calendar for 2010. Have Chris and other cartoonists illustrate them.
AH_C on October 11, 2009 at 3:39 PM
I didn’t watch Fox News Sunday, but since a poster above mentioned that Michigan Governor Granholm was on the show, I have it set to record at 6 pm eastern.
I love how one of the Democratic strategists said in an interview in the LA Times that by Obama accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, he opens himself up to a lot of negative ads. He mentioned this one would be a give me for the Republicans:
While Obama received a Nobel Peace prize, after having been nominated just 10 days into his presidency, the rest of America received pink slips. Since his election, there have been X million jobs lost. (fill in the X based on the numbers next year in the election cycle).
Awesome future campaign ad. Just proof positive that Obama is a really stupid arrogant fool.
Now to get on Granholm’s case. I learned something impressive this week. Granholm is ALWAYS spouting off on how SHE is trying to create all of these green jobs in Michigan.
First of all, you stupid woman, government does NOT create jobs, it eats jobs for every dollar it taxes productive citizens. Secondly, if Granholm was bent on “creating” jobs, then why the heck does Michigan ONLY have tax incentives for the creation of manufacturing jobs?
Yes, here they are, starved for jobs in Michigan, yet if a new business does not have manufacturing jobs, there is NOTHING on the table to incentivize that company to locate or stay in Michigan. I am the CEO of a new company, at least for now, headquartered in Michigan for family reasons, and there are NO incentives on the table for our company to locate our headquarters in any of the municipalities or the state. White collar jobs are apparently low on the totem pole in the government priorities, although the kind of jobs we are creating pay far higher than the average union based compensation.
Go figure. Trust me, as soon as my family oblications here are over, my company will be re-locating to a more tax friendly state.
Granholm, biggest idiot governor in the entire country.
karenhasfreedom on October 11, 2009 at 3:41 PM
Ugh,
A and D,and all of the above!
canopfor on October 11, 2009 at 4:38 PM
It is the orange to Midway. An annoyinglittletwerp points out that there is a yellow but not a part of the loop yet creepy. The red and the green are not tourist appropriate for too many stops.
My opinion is rooted in being a former new yorker now masquerading as a texan. I have a good sense for judging neighborhoods from the protected side of public transit safety glass.
ericdijon on October 11, 2009 at 6:14 PM
I always wondered if my mind made the proper connection with your handle. I was too shy to ask for confirmation. I guess memory has a role in your selection.
ericdijon on October 11, 2009 at 6:20 PM
karenhasfreedom on October 11, 2009 at 3:41 PM
I am so glad this is Granholms last year. Unfortunately, this state is so damn beholden to unions they will just elect another dimwitted dem. in her place.
I believe that behind Blago, Jenny G. was found to be the second most corrupt Gov. due to all the contracts she funneled to her husband and funds that have been misused during her term(s). I don’t have a kind word left in my vocabulary for this dried up hag. Her last campaign slogan of ‘You’ll be blown away’ could not have been any more prophetic for this state.
ZeeMI on October 11, 2009 at 8:17 PM
As an outsider, the Gandhi quote has to win. Although the economy one is important too, the fact is that Gandhi has nothing to do with what took place in the USA.
One has to know Gandhi’s history, including his beginnings in South Africa. It is true that he took the path of non-violence. It is also true that he probably inspired Martin Luther King, which is very good too. Yet that has nothing to do with the history of the USA because no matter how you look at it, that history goes back to the discovery of the Americas, followed by the landing of the pilgrims on the Mayflower (yes we overseas people do know about the Mayflower and Christopher Columbus) as well as the American Revolution and the Civil War. Each of those things has a role in the shaping of the USA. Gandhi has no impact upon that history.
maggieo on October 11, 2009 at 8:18 PM
Tough tough choices. I went with the economy. However, the Danish PM gaffe is pretty big considering his one supposed ‘strong suit’ was how much the foreigners love him. Gonna be hard to remained loved if you can’t even get the guys/gals’ names right.
Too much stupidity to pick from. It’s amazing Bush was (many times rightfully) raked over the coals for his gaffes, but the utter lack of pointing out Obama’s DAILY foul ups by the MSM is a joke.
MannyT-vA on October 12, 2009 at 2:01 AM
Don’t be too shy to ask me anything. I like your dressing or mayo or whatever that stuff is that’s named after you, but I forget.
Loxodonta on October 12, 2009 at 3:00 AM
Nebraska seems like a galaxy far far away to some and heaven to Husker fans.
Pretty funny stuff for an early morning. ( :
Mornin’ kind sir.
yoda on October 12, 2009 at 5:57 AM