Obamateurism of the Day

posted at 8:05 am on October 15, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

Greg Hengler brings us another example of the Two Faces of Barack Obama. This time, Greg parses Obama’s address to the Human Rights Campaign last week and compares it to the answer Obama gave Rick Warren in last year’s Saddleback Forum on gay marriage. At that time, when Obama needed to make himself seem centrist and post-partisan, he told Warren that he did not want to advocate for gay marriage, and that marriage meant only a relationship between a man and a woman. Now? Er, not so much:

Regardless of how one thinks on this issue, the fact that Obama can flip-flop so baldly on what would normally be an issue that touches on the core of one’s personal values says quite a lot about his priorities.

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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Obama is dear leader’s first priority….

cmsinaz on October 15, 2009 at 8:09 AM

Regardless of how one thinks on this issue, the fact that Obama can flip-flop so baldly on what would normally be an issue that touches on the core of one’s personal values says quite a lot about his priorities.

Or more accurately the complete and total lack of any values, morals or ethics.

doriangrey on October 15, 2009 at 8:09 AM

In fairness, the latter quote makes no mention of marriage, only of “relationships.” That gives him the wiggle-room to justly claim that he did not contradict himself.

Yeah, yeah… I know

kiltedscotsman5 on October 15, 2009 at 8:11 AM

BEND OVER AND TAKE IT, Bammy.

You lied to those folks, and now they want what you promised them.

HA!

seejanemom on October 15, 2009 at 8:12 AM

The Precedent has no moral core; he has temporary goals that get changed or dropped whenever it’s expedient.

OhioCoastie on October 15, 2009 at 8:16 AM

He definitely isn’t making himself a centrist any longer, although most people are certain he’ll get re-elected. Are we sure about that? I think the reason he was elected because he did position himself as a centrist….he isn’t one anymore.

deidre on October 15, 2009 at 8:18 AM

Interesting that he told the homosexual group that “You will see a time in this country….”. He didn’t say when that time was or that he’d push for same-sex marriage. He’s chameleon-like, telling whatever audience he’s speaking to what they want to hear without ever promising anything to anyone or taking a stand on anything. And that’s easy for a man with no values or principles to do.

Trafalgar on October 15, 2009 at 8:21 AM

what about the reports that the liberal homosexuals are angry that he is nnot doing enough for them?

kelley in virginia on October 15, 2009 at 8:22 AM

Seems like Obama said a lot of different things to a lot of different people just to get elected. Will the folks that voted for him call him out on it?

texasconserv on October 15, 2009 at 8:23 AM

Regardless of how one thinks on this issue, the fact that Obama can flip-flop so baldly on what would normally be an issue that touches on the core of one’s personal values says quite a lot about his priorities.

A more coreless man as this has never occupied the presidency.

He makes even Clinton look highly principled.

TXUS on October 15, 2009 at 8:28 AM

He definitely isn’t making himself a centrist any longer, although most people are certain he’ll get re-elected. Are we sure about that? I think the reason he was elected because he did position himself as a centrist….he isn’t one anymore.

deidre on October 15, 2009 at 8:18 AM

I think the assumption that Barry can be reelected is based on the fact thet we have NO ONE to oppose him. Our pool of candidates is grim.

O/T- Is anyone else having trouble with the HA passwords? I keep having to reset mine.

anniekc on October 15, 2009 at 8:28 AM

Back in the day it was often said Bill Clinton would rather climb a tree and tell a lie than stand on the ground and tell the truth. Odamna needs no tree, only an audience to start lying. If there is an occasional word of truth coming from the liar’s mouth, it escaped in error. Values? Morals? Principles? The man knows not these words.

Crusader Rabbit on October 15, 2009 at 8:29 AM

O/T- Is anyone else having trouble with the HA passwords? I keep having to reset mine.

Yes. Frequent resets have become the norm.

Crusader Rabbit on October 15, 2009 at 8:30 AM

Obama said he believes marriage is a union between a man and a woman.

Typical bigoted Muslim!

Liam on October 15, 2009 at 8:30 AM

Interesting that he told the homosexual group that “You will see a time in this country….”. He didn’t say when that time was or that he’d push for same-sex marriage. He’s chameleon-like, telling whatever audience he’s speaking to what they want to hear without ever promising anything to anyone or taking a stand on anything. And that’s easy for a man with no values or principles to do.

Exactly. All he has ever done is say whatever the crowd in front of him wants to hear.

Alfresco on October 15, 2009 at 8:30 AM

In fairness, the latter quote makes no mention of marriage, only of “relationships.” That gives him the wiggle-room to justly claim that he did not contradict himself.

Yeah, yeah… I know

kiltedscotsman5 on October 15, 2009 at 8:11 AM

True, and we must remember that he is a lawyer so he does select words on such basis. Likewise here he only says “We will see a time that…” and did not say he would make that happen. More cover that would work in a legal setting, but probably not in the court of public opinion.

MikeA on October 15, 2009 at 8:31 AM

Interesting that he told the homosexual group that “You will see a time in this country….”. He didn’t say when that time was or that he’d push for same-sex marriage. He’s chameleon-like, telling whatever audience he’s speaking to what they want to hear without ever promising anything to anyone or taking a stand on anything. And that’s easy for a man with no values or principles to do.

Trafalgar on October 15, 2009 at 8:21 AM

Are we talking about Bill Clinton or Barack Obama?

Rovin on October 15, 2009 at 8:31 AM

Seems like Obama said a lot of different things to a lot of different people just to get elected. Will the folks that voted for him call him out on it?

texasconserv on October 15, 2009 at 8:23 AM

Not if they don’t know about it. Maybe Jon Stewart, South Park or SNL will start making fun of his flip-flops – State Media sure isn’t going to point them out.

forest on October 15, 2009 at 8:31 AM

Barry’s only core “value” is his lust for power. His own self-advancement is all he has ever cared about, and as he has demonstrated so many times, he will do or say whatever he feels is necessary to achieve his goal of getting or keeping power.

AZCoyote on October 15, 2009 at 8:33 AM

Obama’s moral code is moral relativism. Telling a lie isn’t wrong in his eyes. As my father once said, “Truth is whatever two people agree on.” Since Obama is 3 people (me, myself and I) whatever he says is true.

Beaglemom on October 15, 2009 at 8:34 AM

It’s not a flip-flop. Last fall he was lying. Now he’s able to tell the truth.

MarkTheGreat on October 15, 2009 at 8:34 AM

It’s not a flip-flop. Last fall he was lying. Now he’s able to tell the truth.

MarkTheGreat on October 15, 2009 at 8:34 AM

Yep.

Bob's Kid on October 15, 2009 at 8:47 AM

Meanwhile, Prop 8 in California is still under legal interpretation:

(10-14) 14:09 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in San Francisco refused Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit challenging California’s Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, and ordered a trial on whether the measure denies fundamental rights to gays and lesbians.
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker has said repeatedly that a trial is needed to resolve disputes that may determine the measure’s constitutionality, so Wednesday’s ruling did not surprise either side.

But the breadth of his decision was a boost for gay rights advocates, who argue that Prop. 8 unconstitutionally discriminates against gays, is rooted in anti-homosexual bias and violates the right to marry the partner of one’s choice.

Walker left all those issues on the table, rejecting arguments by Prop. 8′s sponsors that higher courts had already resolved them. Among the questions to be answered, he said from the bench, is “whether Prop. 8 was passed with discriminatory intent.” LINK

Got that? discriminatory intent is now part of the question that this judge infers to be some form of what? predudice? bigotry? How can any law be passed that doesn’t have some form of discriminatory intent against something or some other body of influence?

Rovin on October 15, 2009 at 8:48 AM

OK, so my newest blog post is up… Shall not be infringed… If you are timid of heart or weak of knees, you probably shouldn’t read it. I’ll be at the Cacklefest in Bakersfield California over the weekend watching some of the finest old Hot Rods ever made or raced in America, hope ya all have a nice weekend…

doriangrey on October 15, 2009 at 8:49 AM

Joewilson say…

LibTired on October 15, 2009 at 8:50 AM

And who is surprised by this? BO is nothing more than Bill Clinton on steroids….say anything to anyone at anytime without any consideration for anyone but his own self.

jbh45 on October 15, 2009 at 8:51 AM

Obama: “Okay, who am I talking to today? I do what I usually do, tell them what they want to hear and then call the SEIU and Soros and move forward!”

Aide: “Don’t you worry they’ll just your words against you?”

Obama: Even if they do, they’ll cower and back down when I challenge the efficacy of their arguements.

Aide: What if they show you video?

Obama: I’ll Stephanopoulous them, and tell them they’re reaching because they showed me the facts. Works every time.

NickelAndDime on October 15, 2009 at 8:57 AM

Well, he’s not the first president to make a statement during a campaign that appeases a particular group and the once he got elected, said something else. It’s what politicians do. There hasn’t been a president that I know of, though, who has done this on so many issues. I don’t know where he stands on anything anymore, except health care. He’s flip flopped on just about everything else. Or just plain lied.

scalleywag on October 15, 2009 at 9:01 AM

This is the most divisive President in American History. Not only is he pitting Americans against each other, but he is the chief apologist for America’s foreign policy. This Homosexual group is just his latest victims. Welcome to the misery that is this Administration.

kingsjester on October 15, 2009 at 9:03 AM

Regardless of how one thinks on this issue, the fact that Obama can flip-flop so baldly on what would normally be an issue that touches on the core of one’s personal values says quite a lot about his priorities.

It is only a flip-flop if you assume that the filthy lying coward was truthful at both Saddleback and now. Clearly not the case. That “I won” thing makes all the difference. What we see today is the real filthy lying bastard. What we saw in Saddleback was the candidate with a racist pastor and Islamic past seeking to find common ground with Christians.

highhopes on October 15, 2009 at 9:04 AM

“I was lying to those other guys, but you, you I tell the truth to.”

OK Mr. President. Whatever.

sammypants on October 15, 2009 at 9:05 AM

He’s a politician.

If we expect any truthfullness on his part, shame on us.

Yoop on October 15, 2009 at 9:09 AM

If he’s a liar and you know it clap your hands!

If he’s a liar and you know it clap your hands!

If he’s a liar and you know it then you wallet will surely show it.

If he’s a liar and you know it clap your hands!

therightscoop on October 15, 2009 at 9:12 AM

Just another issue the president has lost credibility on!

scalleywag on October 15, 2009 at 9:13 AM

In fairness, the latter quote makes no mention of marriage, only of “relationships.” That gives him the wiggle-room to justly claim that he did not contradict himself.

Yeah, yeah… I know

kiltedscotsman5 on October 15, 2009 at 8:11 AM

That is called “plausible deniability.”

TwinkietheKid on October 15, 2009 at 9:14 AM

therightscoop on October 15, 2009 at 9:12 AM

hahahaha

scalleywag on October 15, 2009 at 9:15 AM

A dream.

Put a lie detector on a post, like the teleprompter. Face it toward the audience. Wire Obama to it prior to a speech.

Turn him loose…

Yoop on October 15, 2009 at 9:16 AM

He isn’t done yet folks. Remember, he wants a second reign as The Messiah and he’ll go back and forth on this stuff for as long as it takes.

csdeven on October 15, 2009 at 9:21 AM

This is the most divisive President in American History. Not only is he pitting Americans against each other, but he is the chief apologist for America’s foreign policy.
kingsjester on October 15, 2009 at 9:03 AM

I disagree. Lincoln was much more divisive but only because of what he represented in the states right debate. The filthy lying coward in the White House intentionally divides the populace up.

highhopes on October 15, 2009 at 9:25 AM

He isn’t done yet folks. Remember, he wants a second reign as The Messiah and he’ll go back and forth on this stuff for as long as it takes.

csdeven on October 15, 2009 at 9:21 AM

Or we put the rat bastard traitor out to rot in 2012.

highhopes on October 15, 2009 at 9:25 AM

therightscoop on October 15, 2009 at 9:12 AM

Clap. Clap.

highhopes on October 15, 2009 at 9:26 AM

highhopes on October 15, 2009 at 9:25 AM

Then, allow me to correct that to say, This is the most vacuous, self-serving, prevaricating, egotistical, Un-American, American President evah!

kingsjester on October 15, 2009 at 9:39 AM

At that time, when Obama needed to make himself seem centrist and post-partisan, he told Warren that he did not want to advocate for gay marriage, and that marriage meant only a relationship between a man and a woman. Now? Er, not so much:

Saddleback to Brokeback. Great title.

I don’t know man, why did Saddleback even host this POS? Who, at that stage of the game, could have still entertained the thought that Obama was a centrist?

Conservative media did a damn good job of exposing Obama’s history. The fact that Rev WrightRant was his spiritual mentor for 20 years should have told everyone everything they needed to know on the subject.

Gang-of-One on October 15, 2009 at 9:39 AM

Then, allow me to correct that to say, This is the most vacuous, self-serving, prevaricating, egotistical, Un-American, American President evah!

kingsjester on October 15, 2009 at 9:39 AM

Correction noted! :-0

The Obama Presidential Library is going to be cheap to build. Just a giant room full of mirrors so the rat bastard traitor can spend the day looking at and preening himself.

highhopes on October 15, 2009 at 9:53 AM

I don’t know man, why did Saddleback even host this POS? Who, at that stage of the game, could have still entertained the thought that Obama was a centrist?

John McCain for one. McCain lost because he essentially attempted to be just like Barry on all the issues. Both are ungrounded traitors to this nation and we had to pick one in a “Sophie’s Choice” moment. Hopefully the field will be better in 2012.

highhopes on October 15, 2009 at 9:56 AM

I give Obama,
Whom we all knew was lying,
A pass on this one.

A lie must include
Some intent to deceive us
To be a real lie.

Haiku Guy on October 15, 2009 at 10:05 AM

It’s not a flip-flop. Last fall he was lying. Now he’s able to tell the truth.

MarkTheGreat on October 15, 2009 at 8:34 AM

Perhaps. But this would be assuming he’s capable of telling the truth. He’s long past the point where anyone should give credence to anything he says on any subject. “Truth” is what he says it is at any given moment.

He’s a sociopath void of any inner substance other than “self” and will say anything, even “believe” anything, as long at it serves his inner self.

When someone lies this much, this often, this blatantly, it’s the only thing that makes sense.

Rod on October 15, 2009 at 10:07 AM

OT but related. Might be thread worthy on its own….

link

Obama’s kind of people are protesting the expansion of a Catholic Hospital because of the procedures they don’t perform. This is only a taste of what happens as the filthy liar takes over Obamacare.

highhopes on October 15, 2009 at 10:14 AM

A dream.

Put a lie detector on a post, like the teleprompter. Face it toward the audience. Wire Obama to it prior to a speech.

Turn him loose…

Yoop on October 15, 2009 at 9:16 AM

LMAO! Great way to start the morning.

Gang-of-One on October 15, 2009 at 10:15 AM

BEND OVER AND TAKE IT, Bammy.

seejanemom on October 15, 2009 at 8:12 AM

Careful, Jane. You’re going to get a lot of the democrats’ “alternative lifestyle” voting bloc excited by the idea of bending him over.

UltimateBob on October 15, 2009 at 10:23 AM

Put a lie detector on a post, like the teleprompter. Face it toward the audience. Wire Obama to it prior to a speech.

Yoop on October 15, 2009 at 9:16 AM

Won’t work. He’s a cool as a cucumber and the polygraph won’t show anything unusual. He really believes his own lies. To him they are the truth.

As George Costanza said, “It’s not a lie if YOU believe it.”

UltimateBob on October 15, 2009 at 10:25 AM

Obama didn’t mention the word “marriage” during the clip taken at the HRC event. He left himself some wiggle room and , I think, crafted a deceitful phrase designed to make the HRC attendees believe what they wanted to hear.

OxyCon on October 15, 2009 at 10:47 AM

Clinton was a clever liar.

Nothing clever about Obama. He will say anything to placate to the crowd before him. Be they gays, the intelligence community, unions, military, veterans, seniors, minorities and the list goes on.

Perhaps the scariest members of that list are the enemies of the United States. Even before them, although we’re not present or privy to any private talks, rest assured he tells them what they want to hear as well.

I have no doubt, he is selling us out. What evidence do I have? I watch him, I listen to him. He has no backbone, he craves affection, he needs to be adored. America and our security never enters his mind.

fogw on October 15, 2009 at 11:24 AM

John McCain for one. McCain lost because he essentially attempted to be just like Barry on all the issues. Both are ungrounded traitors to this nation and we had to pick one in a “Sophie’s Choice” moment. Hopefully the field will be better in 2012.

highhopes on October 15, 2009 at 9:56 AM

A “Sophie’s Choice” moment it definitely was–except for blacks and hardcore leftists. While I take your point about McCain on the issues, his loss was greatly impacted by factors above and beyond his attempt to be just like Barry—the cowardly kool-aid drinking national press comes to mind first.

To think of John McCain as an “ungrounded traitor” is a sad thing. However, it’s not all that difficult when I watch this youtube vid on McCain speaking on his selection of Juan Hernandez as his Hispanic Outreach Pimp:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIK9ZawRMlg

Still, my main point was that any voter experiencing buyer’s remorse because Obama isn’t really a centrist wasn’t paying close enough attention when making their Sophie’s Choice.

Gang-of-One on October 15, 2009 at 11:47 AM

If only there were a group of people who made note of the actual doings of the president and his administration.

Some kind of reporters of the verifiable facts.

I read there used to be such a group.

Watchdogs of liberty, or something.

Maybe killed off by Global Warming?

profitsbeard on October 15, 2009 at 12:11 PM

Obama’s moral code is moral relativism. Telling a lie isn’t wrong in his eyes.
Beaglemom on October 15, 2009 at 8:34 AM

It is more than that. As a postmodern, deconstructionist, constitutional scholar, black theology disciple and Marxist, Obama knows words have power, that traditional institutions have only used that power to oppress, and that as a result anything goes to gain said power for himself under the guise of righting old wrongs. I say guise because the means used are known to be wrong.

AnotherOpinion on October 15, 2009 at 12:32 PM

OBAMA

One Big Assed Mistake, America!

Cybergeezer on October 15, 2009 at 12:36 PM

In fairness, the latter quote makes no mention of marriage, only of “relationships.” That gives him the wiggle-room to justly claim that he did not contradict himself.

Yeah, yeah… I know

kiltedscotsman5 on October 15, 2009 at 8:11 AM

Yes. I noticed this as well. But Barry said “you will see a time when we as a nation finally recognize…” homosexual “relationships…are just as real and admirable as” heterosexual relationships. So, this allows for a bit of wiggle room around Gay Marriage, but allows no wiggle room around “just as” and “admirable.” And that I find troubling.

I’m not tolerant of bigotry against homosexuals, have intervened to stop verbal and physical abuse against homosexuals, and done volunteer hospice work with homosexual AIDS patients. Yet, homosexuals are indeed functioning differently as persons in society. So, while I have much admiration for many individual homosexuals, I don’t believe that homosexual couples, even if entirely faithful with one another, should be considered “as admirable” as heterosexual married couples.

To me, the foundation of the family, and from the family, our culture, society, politics and government, is the successful marriage between a man and a woman. So, setting aside religious reasons, which I also have, for this social functional reason alone, I believe our government must protect, defend and promote good marriages between one man and one women, not between same sex partners, and not between multiple partners. Therefore, I support the Defense of Marriage Act, while also supporting civil unions for homosexual couples. And I am not being equivocal, while Barry is attempting to be for political advantage with both proponents and opponents of gay marriage.

Let me be clear. It’s not working, Barry.

Loxodonta on October 15, 2009 at 2:32 PM

This is the most vacuous, self-serving, prevaricating, egotistical, Un-American, American President evah!

kingsjester on October 15, 2009 at 9:39 AM

That’s it. I think we could add anti-American, as well.

Loxodonta on October 15, 2009 at 2:46 PM

It simply shows what we should all already know. Obama has no ideals other than “Me” and Communism. He will do and say whatever he thinks will make himself more important at the time while it brings down the American economic system so it is easier to convert it to a Communist tyranny.

{^_^}

herself on October 16, 2009 at 3:39 AM