Obamateurism of the Day
posted at 8:05 am on January 17, 2012 by Ed Morrissey
When you go to a government office, do you find the hardest-working folks you’ve ever seen?
Go talk to the skilled professionals in government who are serving their country — and by the way, you won’t meet harder-working folks than some of the folks in these federal agencies[.]
I’ve met a few hard working people on occasion at government agencies, but it’s not usually the norm. I’d guess that most Americans have had the same overall experience at places like the IRS, Medicare, Social Security, OSHA, and so on. In fact, making that assertion makes the President sound a wee bit out of touch, especially since — as the top federal government employee — he’s been most visible for the past year at lavish fundraising galas and on the golf course.
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!
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
So says the man who doesn’t get into the Oval Office until 9 and stops work at 3.
Beaglemom on January 17, 2012 at 8:08 AM
A wee bit out if touch? You’re being kind Ed
He probably thinks he is one of those hard working govt employees
cmsinaz on January 17, 2012 at 8:09 AM
Never met anyone with a family farm, has he.
Wethal on January 17, 2012 at 8:10 AM
Sure he comes in late… but he leaves early to make up for it…
E L Frederick (Sniper One) on January 17, 2012 at 8:10 AM
I really hate the condescending way he says “folks.”
crazy_legs on January 17, 2012 at 8:11 AM
I hate to say it but to the class of people Obama appeals to, Government workers _ARE_ hardworking.
JimK on January 17, 2012 at 8:13 AM
Compared to snorting coke and smoking pot, golfing and fundraising probably does seem like hard work. Given that he’s probably never been exposed to real work in his life, he might certainly think that sitting in a cube farm or 4 or 5 hours a day, talking about your weekend, taking 2 hours for lunch, then slipping out at 3:30 really is putting the “pedal to the metal”. Of course, that is a tough day at the office for millions of government bureaucrats…
mr.blacksheep on January 17, 2012 at 8:13 AM
I mean, after all, someone has to make sure all those gubmint checks get mailed out.
JimK on January 17, 2012 at 8:14 AM
Was that another “Freudian” lip slip: “some” “are serving their country”
Uh huh. Key word: “some” is correct, but “serving their country“?
How ’bout them perks, eh?
What a crock. The Federal Leftist bureaucrats I had to deal with in the Justice Dept. on a daily basis (I was one of the good guys, not an inmate chuckle) made me sick. BillyJeff and Janet ‘Kill ‘em All’ Rrrrrreno were a disgrace and the trickle down incompetence was gobsmackingly putrid. Look into the Bureau of Prisons sometime.
~(Ä)~
Karl Magnus on January 17, 2012 at 8:18 AM
Who else is gonna vote for him? Government workers and those who rely on government workers.
Fallon on January 17, 2012 at 8:18 AM
Government job = no competition + pay non performance based = DISASTER…it’s that simple!
That’s why Government is BAD…I wish someone would explain it that way…it’s common sense.
winston on January 17, 2012 at 8:19 AM
I have a cousin who works for the DMV. He is constantly bragging about how he runs people through the ringer just because he can. He takes joy in it. My experience is that many Americans have that same view of government workers.
csdeven on January 17, 2012 at 8:20 AM
I’ve met a few hard working government employees, too. I even wrote a letter of commendation about an IRS employee a few years ago.
I was contesting an IRS challenge to my tax return, and called them to clarify some points about the basis for their challenge. The agent that I talked to was knowledgeable, professional, helpful, and competent. It was such a pleasure to receive that level of attentive service, and I wanted her boss to know that.
(He thanked me with a letter that basically said “As you can imagine, we don’t get many letters like this.” LOL)
ss396 on January 17, 2012 at 8:21 AM
Like at the Post Office? Where there are 20 people in line and 1 booth open?
Like at the DMV (I know, it’s a State thing, but still)? Where there are 50 people in line and 2 booths open?
Like at Immigration?
Give me a break. Federal employees are the laziest people on the planet. Right next to some college and high school students.
mjk on January 17, 2012 at 8:21 AM
*chortle*
Whether zer0 means this or not, it’s just another day in the life of The Hardest Working PresentDunce in Show Business.
MisterElephant on January 17, 2012 at 8:21 AM
Fore-play is hard work.
Yoop on January 17, 2012 at 8:26 AM
Seems to me one would have had to actually experience “hard-working” at least once in their life to know what it means.
Flora Duh on January 17, 2012 at 8:30 AM
Yeah…those federal workers work so hard and are under so much stress…compared to a……. Community Organizer!!!!!
LaRepublican on January 17, 2012 at 8:30 AM
The speech contains something even worse than the “hard working” line:
This is a speech where Obama is asking for more power, so that he can make government more efficient.
Dextrous on January 17, 2012 at 8:32 AM
What would this little punk know about actual work?
petefrt on January 17, 2012 at 8:34 AM
All I can think of is: “Only 294 more days…only 294 more days..!”
Sue Doenim on January 17, 2012 at 8:40 AM
Yoop, +1
cmsinaz on January 17, 2012 at 8:41 AM
In a related note from the Washington Examiner, the SEIU apparently is gearing up for occupy-like activities as they are advertising for a organizer to “train and lead members in non-violent civil disobedience, such as occupying state buildings and banks, and peaceful resistance.”
These are the hard-working “folks” that vote for Obama.
Happy Nomad on January 17, 2012 at 8:53 AM
Don’t knock Obama. He’s working tirelessly for his Chinese employers.
Archivarix on January 17, 2012 at 8:55 AM
Way to snub the Military, Brock.
/putz
Key West Reader on January 17, 2012 at 8:57 AM
It’s a joke where I work that I can make a small government conservative out of anyone. Just take Fed Calls for two weeks.
(Disclaimer: I don’t speak for my employer, nor would they want me to.)
The_Livewire on January 17, 2012 at 8:58 AM
Actually 368 days until he leaves office. Don’t underestimate the damage this fool will do as a lame duck.
Trafalgar on January 17, 2012 at 9:02 AM
And if Congress doesn’t “reinstate the authority,” then he’ll unilaterally take it for himself, the other two, co-equal branches of government be damned.
Syzygy on January 17, 2012 at 9:02 AM
Oh yes…just like he was “not going to rest until every American
who wanted a job…had a job”
Guess no one, wants to work!
I have never seen a President “Play” at his job, like this POS!
KOOLAID2 on January 17, 2012 at 9:09 AM
What a joke. In most of my dealings with the government, at the fed level, performance has been horrible. I’m not talking about Doc’s and care givers, but rather the administrative side where people hide behind process and procedure vs doing whats right. I’ve had the good ones tell me if you get 3 hours of real work from a person in government a day its outside the norm. Just look at the VA administration as an example!
Echotier on January 17, 2012 at 9:15 AM
I’d suggest that Congress not go on recess until the next president is sworn in.
Fallon on January 17, 2012 at 9:29 AM
Mine workers? Nope.
Commercial fishermen? Nope
Roustabouts? Nope.
Factory workers? Nope.
Hmmmm…from the Federal Job Titles list:
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ASSISTANT
FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM SPECIALIST
WAGE AND HOUR COMPLIANCE SPECIALIST
Can’t you just see these folks – regular 60 hour weeks, dirty conditions, bitter cold, no paid vacations, un-matched 401K waiting to vest, verbally abusive boss – sloggers each and every one…
Marine WX on January 17, 2012 at 9:33 AM
Well, between calling himself “lazy” & his time on the golf course, anybody who shows up for work probably looks hard-working to his way of thinking.
MissMagnolia on January 17, 2012 at 9:38 AM
There are many many people in USCIS, DMV, IRS, DHS, and NOAA who work extremely hard at being wholly incompetent and offensive.
CorporatePiggy on January 17, 2012 at 9:46 AM
Of course, the people in the Armed Services who are in actual combat are technically “government employees”. Also, there are a lot of contractors in “government officers” who actually have to work for their pay. Thus there are hard working people in government offices.
Similarly, there are the people who actually have to do the work that his appointees are being paid for.
sabbahillel on January 17, 2012 at 9:48 AM
Barry Øbama, the cuddly Pander Bear!
(EPA-approved foreign materials used in filler, eyes and string-activated voice projector device).
ExpressoBold on January 17, 2012 at 9:49 AM
Guess the O has never visited a federal office in DC, where folks chat on the phone, take long lunch hours, …. and, well, what else…. Hmmmmm…. chat with each other. Or don’t show up for work at all. H
chai on January 17, 2012 at 9:53 AM
You already know it’s a lie, but when he says it this way, you know something bad is going to happen to you.
I was thinking along these same lines. If they get up, get dressed, show up for a job, stay long enough to collect a paycheck after a couple of weeks, then they are hardworking by O’s and his followers definition and standards.
Peppa Pig on January 17, 2012 at 9:57 AM
I bet his Body Man works
itpretty hard!MNHawk on January 17, 2012 at 10:00 AM
In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny: “What a maroon!”
mlewis7299 on January 17, 2012 at 10:01 AM
That was certainly the key phrase: “…you won’t meet harder-working folks than some of the folks…” Some, not most.
sadatoni on January 17, 2012 at 10:04 AM
All I can say is, if the bureaucrats who run the post office ever take over the health care delivery system– Oh. Right.
de rigueur on January 17, 2012 at 10:23 AM
It can’t come soon enough:
http://obamaclock.org/
~(Ä)~
Karl Magnus on January 17, 2012 at 10:27 AM
As a grad student I worked for two summers as a research assistant at a state agency. After a couple of weeks, since I was there every day, I became one of the “regulars” and no one took any special notice of me. Since I was not a part of their normal workflow and since I did not report to any of them I became “invisible” allowing me to directly observe their normal work day behavior for several weeks.
Their normal work day included rolling into the office between 0900 and 0930, taking a 40 to 50 minute “break” at 1000, a 1.5 to 2 hour lunch at 1200, another “break” around 2:30 PM to 3:00 PM and then people started “disappearing” from the agency office around 3:30 to 3:45 PM.
Since I was only there for the summer and my research objectives were clear, and all the data that I needed was not well organized (since the state workers only “worked” about 2 to 3 hours in an “8″ hour day) I was there from 0730 to 0530 every day with no breaks. I probably re-organized more data files in 2 summers than the agency had done in 10 years.
Difficultas_Est_Imperium on January 17, 2012 at 10:41 AM
That’s 0730 to 1730 for you sticklers.
Difficultas_Est_Imperium on January 17, 2012 at 10:42 AM
Notice as he addresses the crowd at .05 how – with his head and eyes turned away from the camera how he brings his index finger to his nose and peers sideways directly into the camera.
unrealizedviewpoint on January 17, 2012 at 10:58 AM
The man has clearly never had to stand in a post office line.
Jonathan on January 17, 2012 at 10:58 AM
Riiiiiiiiight.
jukin3 on January 17, 2012 at 11:11 AM
If its true, why parse it this way? some of the folks
some
1: being an unknown, undetermined, or unspecified unit or thing
Bmore on January 17, 2012 at 11:16 AM
How can anyone tell how hard a govt employee is working? The agency may have been dragged into an improved process, such as the DMV, but I doubt they work any harder. They still just sit there tapping on a keyboard instead of sitting there writing on 6-part forms. If they do work “harder” as in handle more customers, it is probably because they are more efficiently monitroed by technology – not because they want to.
And how can we know? We only see them for a brief time every once in a while. I guess we’ll just have to rely on the hard-working folks in the White House to keep us informed – like President Pinocchio…
Mr_Magoo on January 17, 2012 at 11:38 AM
And the joke continues costing the tax payers more and more. This cannot continue.
BetseyRoss on January 17, 2012 at 11:38 AM
Our president has finally spoken the (conceivable) truth!
There are over 4 million federal workers. “Some” can refer to as few as three. I’m sure that out of the 4 million there are three that are as hard-working as anyone you would meet.
The odds are in his favor on this one – and it’s awfully hard to disprove as well!
Sowell Disciple on January 17, 2012 at 11:38 AM
From my experience in private industry that is ludicrous. And add the fact that now federal workers get paid more than private…even more so.
Christian Conservative on January 17, 2012 at 11:41 AM
Emphasis here is on the word “some”. I hear there are “some” sunny days in Seattle, too.
Is it imaginable that among all the people employed by the Feds that there aren’t a few hard workers? After all, “some” former federal workers are highly sought after in the private sector for more than who they know.
So the fact that he’s obviously correct that “some” federal workers are hardworking, that fact fails to support the general proposition that “to professionalize you have to federalize” that seems to be his contextual use.
EconomicNeocon on January 17, 2012 at 11:43 AM
Go to any DMV office in Kalifornia and tell me that.
JustJP on January 17, 2012 at 12:30 PM
Given that most of us probably have only two or three regular points of contact with federal workers, and the at those are, The IRS, The Post Office, and the TSA a lot of people will be questioning his understanding of hard working.
Stephen Macklin on January 17, 2012 at 1:08 PM
The dynamic of government employment is simple. First, do as well as you have to in order to survive probation. Second, once you are permanent, don’t work harder than the rest of your crew. It is an environment of diminishing expectations, and the hard workers tend to get put out to pasture in one way or another.
UnrepentantCurmudgeon on January 17, 2012 at 1:30 PM
Golf is hard.
Akzed on January 17, 2012 at 1:47 PM
This is why Mr. H retired early. He’s compulsive about getting everything right, doing the right thing, making sure every “i” is dotted, every “t” crossed, and he couldn’t take the slapdash approach from up top anymore. And it IS up top (think Peter Principle).
My personal experience with Social Security is the same: service as expected at the front counter, but good luck getting anybody on the phone within an hour. I don’t put that down so much for taking long lunches and extended breaks as for too few Indians and too many Chiefs.
RebeccaH on January 17, 2012 at 2:01 PM
Hmmm…isn’t that sort of insulting? In effect he is saying that only some of them are harder-working. So technically we agree with him. LOL
Deanna on January 17, 2012 at 2:17 PM
He’s not out of touch. He’s the Panderer-in-Chief.
Jarhead68 on January 17, 2012 at 2:18 PM
That’s not going to stop him. He’s already so outside of the confines of the Constitution, he ain’t never coming back. If he wins re-election, he’ll be there for a long, long time. The Republic will not survive.
Jarhead68 on January 17, 2012 at 2:21 PM
and by the way, you won’t meet harder-working folks than some of the folks in these federal agencies[.]
When you stay on your joke writers prompter, you’ve got that nuance thingy going for you. Makes lying out of things a snap.
borntoraisehogs on January 17, 2012 at 2:25 PM
So today, I’m calling on Congress to reinstate the authority
Can anyone name this past authority?
When and why was it revoked?
DSchoen on January 17, 2012 at 2:55 PM
Just for the record, I am NOT JimK.
Proudly, I’m just ol’ crankybutt.
…..and I approve this message.
crankybutt on January 17, 2012 at 3:00 PM
Words of praise you’d expect from King Putt.
Missilengr on January 17, 2012 at 6:19 PM
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
What’s in that nicotine gum champ?
Tim_CA on January 17, 2012 at 8:36 PM
To Obama anyone working is doing more than he is.
It might be recalled on his first day of work how surprised and dismayed he was at how much work and stuff was landing on his desk. Of course that was quickly taken care of with some quick assignments of the work to those other “smart people” that Michelle mentioned recently. Smart in her opinon obviously means being a socialist/communist, liberal, worshiper of Obama and his doctrine, and having Michelle’s approval, which disclalifies most people who have a clue about what they are doing, let alone, someone who has brains.
With nothing to do, as soon as he is out of his pajammies and into his play clothes, he gets a briefing on his schedule, the sports stats, and one of two things he might need to know something about in case he happens to need to appear aware of something or other. Unless Obama is flying around in his big jet that day, he will do one or two ceremonial type meetings (those include meeting with generals, heads of state, members of his staff, Congress (democrats only), common unwashed, but that does not include secret meeting with union leaders and dictators who are important people in his book. There almost always is one or two if not more, campaign fundrasiers where he will appear for a few minutes to read remarks from the teleprompter to them. With that his offical day’s work is done.
In between he schedule events he hangs around the white house looking for somehing to entertain himself.
When he comes across someone actually doing work, as in something that is important, he is intriged and in wonderment, not not so much as to the work itself, but in how he can take credit for the work they are doing, which is after all, the only job he knows how to do.
Franklyn on January 17, 2012 at 9:23 PM
Perhaps he is referring to the host of assistants required by queen michelle.
skeedro on January 17, 2012 at 11:22 PM
Unless the federal agencies of which he spoke are the various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, he’s smoking something mighty wacky. Federal workers are almost universally the most lazy, “you do it so I don’t have to” piles of dung imaginable. Apologies to piles of dung.
Freelancer on January 22, 2012 at 12:48 PM
I believe that excrement is biodegradable, therefore environmentally correct to use.
askwhatif on February 27, 2012 at 10:18 AM