Obamateurism of the Day
posted at 8:05 am on December 9, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Few Presidents have gotten as easy a ride as Barack Obama, even in their first year of the presidency. Until unemployment hit double digits, it wasn’t just a honeymoon Obama enjoyed from the press — at times it seemed like a year-long tongue bath. Does Obama appreciate it? According to Time Magazine’s Michael Scherer, not exactly. Obama took some shots at the press after his trip to Beijing:
But it’s not going to come easily and it is going to require a level of cooperation and a willingness to work strategically together that we have not seen over the last several years. And frankly, this town and the way the political dialogue is structured right now is not conducive to what we need to do to be globally competitive. And all of you are leaders in your communities — in the business sector and the labor sector, in academia, we even have a few pundits here — it is important to understand what’s at stake and that we can’t keep on playing games.
I mentioned that I was in Asia on this trip thinking about the economy, when I sat down for a round of interviews. Not one of them asked me about Asia. Not one of them asked me about the economy. I was asked several times about had I read Sarah Palin’s book. (Laughter.) True. But it’s an indication of how our political debate doesn’t match up with what we need to do and where we need to go.
Unfortunately, as Scherer reports in an update, Obama’s need to demonize the (highly favorable) press outstripped his need to be truthful:
UPDATE: Over Twitter, reader MayBeeTweet points out that Obama did not accurately characterize his interviews in Asia. Fox News’ Garrett asked both about the jobs bill Obama has proposed and the South Korean trade agreement. NBC’s Chuck Todd asked about the jobs summit and Chinese relations on human rights.
Maybe the news media might learn a lesson or two from this exchange. Primarily, Obama has no problem blaming everyone around him and belittling them to make himself look better — and all the toadying in the world from the media won’t keep them from going under Obama’s bus, fairly or unfairly.
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.
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The petulant president
Ris4victory on December 9, 2009 at 8:09 AM
A year after his election, he’s clearly earned the title “Whiner-in-Chief”. Petulant child.
ProfessorMiao on December 9, 2009 at 8:10 AM
Obama is still voting present AND acting like a friggin 2 year old kid at the toy store who didn’t get anything.
Johnnyreb on December 9, 2009 at 8:11 AM
Obama/Gibbs….sissies, babies and whiners. oh, blamers too. Booosh made me do it!
becki51758 on December 9, 2009 at 8:13 AM
they have no one to blame but themselves..they gave us dear leader on a platter
cmsinaz on December 9, 2009 at 8:13 AM
I hope someone asks him if he’s read Sarah Palin’s op-ed in today’s Washington Post.
DaydreamBeliever on December 9, 2009 at 8:15 AM
Does not everbody see this? Why does the filthy lying coward in the White House have any credibility at this point? Somebody is going have to explain this to me because I just don’t see why this bastard hasn’t been slapped down hard after screwing up the economy, ignoring the GWOT, all but freeing KSM and other Gitmo terrorists, etc.
highhopes on December 9, 2009 at 8:16 AM
I think they need a time out…
cmsinaz on December 9, 2009 at 8:17 AM
Like Roy Scheider said in Jaws: “We gotta get a bigger
boatBUS“Rovin on December 9, 2009 at 8:19 AM
From a president who has spent more time battling a talk show host then a war…spent more time attacking a cable tv network, then working on the economy…why ask about important things, just ask him how his battle with Rush is going…
“Mr. president, do you thing you may have to call in more troops, and enact a surge against Rush, he seems to be gaining in popularity, your present strategy isn’t working….”
“….well, uhhhh, I uhhhh, weee have been studying this for several months, we uhhh, aaahhhh, don’t want to make a rush to judgment…it,ummmm, seems to me that his resurgence is only temporary, and ahhhhh, ummmmm, it it it seems that our decision to form a focus group that meets everyday to analyze, uhhhh, this, ummmm, challenge, seems to be working….with just a few more uhhhh, ummmm, ahhhh, million dollars, we, ah, will, um you know, be able to control him. We, and you all know this, can’t uh allow free decent to take place…men like him should pay for his free decent (laughter), if you know what I mean…”
right2bright on December 9, 2009 at 8:20 AM
At least the rat bastard traitor has stopped claiming that he reads letters from the public imploring him to seize one-sixth of the economy.
Frankly I have my doubts if the filthy lying coward reads much of anything. He just doesn’t strike me as all that bright or intellectually challenged by books. I suspect the last thing the bastard has read was the commemorative Obama inaguration coffee table book since it all about him and has more pictures than words.
highhopes on December 9, 2009 at 8:20 AM
I think they need a time out…
cmsinaz on December 9, 2009 at 8:17 AM
I think they all need to be sent to their rooms…forever.
kingsjester on December 9, 2009 at 8:20 AM
A very long timeout…
becki51758 on December 9, 2009 at 8:20 AM
Just a spat between a john and his hookers.
TXUS on December 9, 2009 at 8:20 AM
Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog’s back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.
“You fool!” croaked the frog, “Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?”
The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog’s back.
“I could not help myself. It is my nature.”
Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.
Self destruction – “Its my Nature”, said the Scorpion…
faol on December 9, 2009 at 8:20 AM
When do we march on Washington to voice our disgust with Obama care again?
The traitorous dems are going to cram socialized medicine down our throats and all we can do is vote them out after the fact. And the polls clearly show that a majority of Americans do not want this bill. This is why the calls for a preemptive armed uprising are even considered these days.
csdeven on December 9, 2009 at 8:22 AM
Sorry guys….wrong thread for my last remark.
csdeven on December 9, 2009 at 8:22 AM
If ANY other president had had such a fawning press, he would have had no problem getting a second term. Obama? I don’t think so! He’s so yesterday (as in the Bolshevik revolution).
Christian Conservative on December 9, 2009 at 8:22 AM
Yesterday (I think) he said that he had to spend more money on job creation because of the letters he reads that come from the children of parents who are unemployed/underemployed.
myrenovations on December 9, 2009 at 8:23 AM
The President is a LIAR!
ultracon on December 9, 2009 at 8:23 AM
Everyday I want someone to ask him if he has read Palin…everyday…but the op-ed is classic and the answer would be “(laughter), no”
right2bright on December 9, 2009 at 8:24 AM
Any call to march on Washington fits….
right2bright on December 9, 2009 at 8:25 AM
It’s not his fault. He inherited this press.
Drained Brain on December 9, 2009 at 8:27 AM
He used “I” or “me” 7 times in 4 sentences. Just sayin’.
mwdiver on December 9, 2009 at 8:31 AM
Obowma is safe from the wrath of the MSM. He can probably have ten reporters hanged without trial and still someone like Chrissy Matthews or Olbermann will continue to try painting him as Christ incarnate.
Liam on December 9, 2009 at 8:33 AM
Is he kidding?
1. How in hell can people work together when they are locked out of the room?
2. Why would anyone, with half a brain, want to help reduce our country to that of a third world nation?
3. When will this administration and congress start listening to the people that they’re supposed to represent and serve?
Barb Dwyer on December 9, 2009 at 8:33 AM
When a million of us show up at the Capitol steps with guns and ropes in our hands.
Liam on December 9, 2009 at 8:37 AM
After all, he is THE ONE!
I need to throw up now…
ladyingray on December 9, 2009 at 8:39 AM
When president Obama is at the ‘Global Warming Conference’ I hope he apologises for the US hogging all the winter weather :)
.
philly_PA on December 9, 2009 at 8:40 AM
Intellectually challanged is exactly what he is.
Crusader Rabbit on December 9, 2009 at 8:40 AM
Those kids are probably thanking the filthy lying coward for giving their parents more funemployment time.
More seriously, jobs is an issue and having a rat bastard traitor like Barak Obama in charge is like using a hammer to insert a screw. In other words, wrong tool for the job. We cannot spend our way into prosperity.
highhopes on December 9, 2009 at 8:41 AM
Can I offer you a towel?
Never have I seen a president so self-centered in my life. Not even Nixon was this bad!
Liam on December 9, 2009 at 8:42 AM
Barb Dwyer on December 9, 2009 at 8:33 AM
Barb, you must understand Obamaspeak. We must work together means “you must do what I tell you”. They can do that locked out of the room.
Answer to 2 – because they hate America
Answer to 3 – never, that’s why we need to vote the bastards out
Carolina Kat on December 9, 2009 at 8:42 AM
As long as Obama has himself, he’ll never be alone.
kingsjester on December 9, 2009 at 8:43 AM
BTW – Obama does read books – I was trying to find the photo of him walking to the helicopter carrying it. No dice. So I’ll describe the book in his hand:
His face was on the cover.
He reads everything, voraciously, as long as he is the subject.
Carolina Kat on December 9, 2009 at 8:44 AM
Indeed. The point I was trying to make was that, unlike GWB or GHWB or Ronald Reagan; the filthy lying coward in the White House does not read to get outside of himself and see other points of view. He has surrounded himself with like-minded Chicago street thugs in his inner circle and he is more apt to watch Wayne’s World than pick up a serious book.
highhopes on December 9, 2009 at 8:44 AM
So I guess his bedside table includes a special version of the Bible where all references to Christ have carefully changed to read Obama. As in “Obama wept.” or “For God so loved the world that he gave it Barak Obama.”
highhopes on December 9, 2009 at 8:47 AM
Do you have that set up as a macro command? *s*
mwdiver on December 9, 2009 at 8:49 AM
For the Narcissist-in-Chief, it’s all about me, me, me….
docdave on December 9, 2009 at 8:52 AM
the reporters in the WH press pool/room are Obama liberals for sure. but even if the scoop of a lifetime smacked them in the face (look at the Van Jones debacle, Anita-married-to-Craig-who-loves-Mao, or any of his appts; or the convicted felon who is invited to the WH or anything), the networks wouldn’t carry it & wouldn’t put this reporter on TV which is what it is all about.
kelley in virginia on December 9, 2009 at 8:53 AM
Simple enough test…
If Obama’s lips are moving, if words are coming out of his mouth, he is lying.
[It has worked for him for most of his adult life...why should he stop now?]
coldwarrior on December 9, 2009 at 8:57 AM
Imagine how the press would be reacting if a Republican president behaved like this joker-in-chief.
Liam on December 9, 2009 at 9:00 AM
No but that’s not a bad idea! I consider referring to the rat bastard traitor by his real title is doing my little part to make sure that the filthy lying coward fails sooner rather than later.
highhopes on December 9, 2009 at 9:02 AM
“The Buck stops… over there somewhere.”
cs89 on December 9, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Thank you, kind sir! Are you a member of Ed’s fan club on Facebook? You should be!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen any person so self-centered in my life.
ladyingray on December 9, 2009 at 9:05 AM
Imagine if the press actually acted like journalists wanting to get the story right! Robert Gibbs should be crying like a little girl after each and every one of his press briefings instead of being allowed to spout propaganda which is dutifully taken down and repeated by partisan whores like Ann Compton and Charlie Gibson.
highhopes on December 9, 2009 at 9:05 AM
That might be nice if it were not done by the media.
kahall on December 9, 2009 at 9:06 AM
More along the lines of “I inherited the buck, I can’t be held accountable for anything related to the buck because it was sitting on my desk the day I first set about destroying America.”
highhopes on December 9, 2009 at 9:07 AM
A year-long tongue bath by Helen Thomas doesn’t sound appealing to ya? :-0
highhopes on December 9, 2009 at 9:08 AM
Obama to press: What have you done for me lately?
jwolf on December 9, 2009 at 9:09 AM
The scorpion asked the frog for a ride across the river. The frog answered that he was not going just yet, but that his cousin the turtle would give the scorpion the ride. Halfway across the river, the scorpion tried to sting the turtle. When the turtle felt the futile banging on his shell, he submerged and swam underwater to the shore. As he explained to his cousin the frog on the other shore, “That’s my nature”.
sabbahillel on December 9, 2009 at 9:27 AM
There are some who would say he is a narcissist and they would be correct.
Dhuka on December 9, 2009 at 9:47 AM
In the opening of his speech yesterday he began by saying “One year ago today last Winter”, well of course Winter is almost two weeks away.
That is almost the exact quote but I forgot about it quickly as he continued to make this the most venomous speech of his term.
Dude is hateful.
FireBlogger on December 9, 2009 at 10:08 AM
I have
foodleader poisoning.nolapol on December 9, 2009 at 10:16 AM
“You’re a very silly man, and I’m not going to interview you.”
Trusser13 on December 9, 2009 at 10:18 AM
He can’t stop, it’s all he knows. For most of his life he was talking to a select audience who believed everything he said no matter what the outcome. They had been conditioned just for someone like him. Different audience now but he can’t make the change. I’m not sure he can even understand the difference. He should have stuck to organizing the communities he was familiar with.
Oldnuke on December 9, 2009 at 10:34 AM
Went home over Thanksgiving 17 people at the table – when current events were brought up — all but one nephew were on the same page about how and why our country is in trouble — after Christmas Obama will be at the same level as congress .
wheels on December 9, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Barak Hussein Obama (aka Pookie-Mon):
“If I were anymore Me I would get all wee-wee’d up.”
Yoop on December 9, 2009 at 11:02 AM
Obowma DEMANDS the media report him in a good light, or halo, to gin up false positive poll numbers so the polls parallel his impression of himself.
Narcissist?
dthorny on December 9, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Thank God for Dick Cheney, Jake Tapper, Fox News and talk radio, the ONLY ones asking pertinent questions beside.
The irony of Dick Cheney having his hand up their backside to irritate their colon any time he chooses. Gotta love it.
dthorny on December 9, 2009 at 12:58 PM
This is not amateur behavior. MackDaddy is a professional liar.
davidk on December 9, 2009 at 1:23 PM
Really, Mr. President? So when we’re in hock up to our eyeballs to the Chinese, why do you insist on spending another trillion on socialized medicine nobody wants?
Steve Z on December 9, 2009 at 2:18 PM
Ick…no wonder they’re all mustard-colored and stinky, though some of them engaged in orgies.
Schadenfreude on December 9, 2009 at 3:23 PM
Well, there’s the problem…In his own world, Obama was right. Per his own rhetoric, the questions weren’t asked by a (real) news reporter…
BlueCollarAstronaut on December 9, 2009 at 3:35 PM
“..can’t I just eat my waffles here, sweetie?”
VoyskaPVO on December 9, 2009 at 3:56 PM