I watched some of the Obama press conference in my office today and was not surprised in the least that the President, his ass in hand, could not bring himself to answer some pretty pointed questions on whether “what happened last night” was less an endorsement of the GOP and more a damning of he and his policies.
He gave pause, then looked like he was going to cry. For a second I thought he was going to go all “Moss” and say something like “I will axe the questions.”
Instead he decided not to answer the question and chose to ramble on about the economy and the American people rightfully expecting more progress from their government…blah blah blah.
He just doesn’t get it.
“Some election nights are more fun than others. Some are exhilarating. Some are humbling,” Obama said. “Yesterday’s vote confirmed what I’ve heard from folks all across America. People are frustrated, they’re deeply frustrated with the pace of our economic recovery.”
Some nights are more fun than others? Saywhat? For a man whose sole accomplishment is political in nature, that may be the understatement of a lifetime. Furthermore, I was not aware of the President stooping down to listen to “folks across America.”
Maybe the President, will all due respect (or is that now all done respect), needs a few more days to come to grips with the fact that America has rejected not only his policies on spending, stimulus, health care and his golf handicap, but he himself as a President and a leader – certainly as a folks-listener.
Exhibit A: the outright desertion (the in-bag press read that as “distancing”) of late, if not mutiny, of liberal colleagues that just months before held hands and sang Cumbaya at the signing of a national wealth transfer apparatus called the health care bill. A fatal career move for many a tenured Democrat it turns out.
Exhibit B: what happened last night.
The next two years will be excruciatingly difficult.
…and lonely.
…for him.
I’ll drink to that.
You have to remember that Obama is a classic case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Everything applies to and revolves around Barack. Therefore, last night was “not fun” in that he wasn’t validated in the manner he has come to expect.
He will never “come to grips”, because he is constitutionally incapable of it.
The big lesson that history will take away from Obama’s (hopefully short) presidency is that he was not a very good politician. He probably does well in a meeting with various power players, but he is awful at leadership of the people, of balancing their often opposing interests while still keeping enough support to enact an agenda.
Bush was good at this. Clinton was good at it. Obama is like Carter in this sense: the compromises that he makes leave both sides feeling betrayed.
Terry, it’s been said (maybe here) that one of Obama’s problems is his lack of intellectual diversity in his life. In his short leadership life, he has never governed over people who didn’t all think like him. Or go back to his earlier life…..surrounded by people like Billy Ayres and Jeramiah Wright. His life in Indonesa, Hawaii and Chicago…..he doesn’t understand how middle/working class voters live and think.
And yes, we are hearing from Democrats…”we just need to push our agenda further for the people to see how right we are.”
Chuck, Obama is going to have a hard time getting out of his bubble when his supporters in the media are this clueless:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-1103-ganz-obama-20101103,0,486277.story
I imagine that if you were to take the “Marshall Ganz” who wrote this garbage, take him gently by the lapels, and tell him that in the election of 2008 47% of the people of the United States voted for John McCain and Sarah Palin his eyes would glaze over for a moment, then he would shake that uncomfortable fact from his mind and continue . . .
Terry, funny article. It goes back to why Algore may have lost in 2000. He lost Tennessee. He probably lost his home state due to his hostility to 2nd amendment rights. He may have thought that this was not a problem as MSM portrayed gun-ownership-rights people as a small, isolated group of wackjobs. Living in a bubble and being sheltered by a fawning media can bite you on the ass eventually.
“I don’t see how Nixon could have won. I don’t know anyone who voted for him.”
more of the same
Obama Doesn’t Get It
Kermit has this man nailed.
The next two years may not be so difficult or lonely for the President.
A Republican win does not equal a Conservative win. If Republicans take office thinking they’ll govern as Obama-Lite, merely redirect the money flow to Our Guys for a while, nothing substantial will change. Obama’s policies may be diluted or slowed, but if they’re not radically, immediately and outright reversed, he’s still in the driver’ seat and the rest of us are in back.
His call for change was rooted in values that had long been eclipsed in our public life: a sense of mutual responsibility, commitment to equality and belief in inclusive diversity.
Gag me with a spoon!
What does it mean to value “mutual responsibility” rather than responsibility? “Commitment to equality” rather than equality? How do you value “belief in inclusive diversity”?
Mutual responsibility is the opposite of personal responsibility. Commitment to equality is just babbling from a man who feels comfortable removing the words “our Creator” from the Declaration of Independence. And belief in “inclusive diversity” means you somehow believe that diversity is a value unto itself, which is utter nonsense.
I hope that helps.
Terry, do not attempt to ponder any of that until you’ve enjoyed a fat Puna spliff….then all will be clear.
Naomi Naole-Beason lost her seat on the council, Swiftee (scandal with beating her husband and stealing his social security checks). So did my councilman, Guy Enriquez (scandal involving a teenage girl from back when he coached youth volleyball).
Djou lost. Aiona lost. Hawaii is a bright-blue state again.
Maybe I should check out that “medical marijuana” stuff. I’m depressed.