Patterico's Pontifications

1/29/2009

You’re Right: That’s Not Leadership

Filed under: General,Obama — Patterico @ 6:44 pm



Do as I say:

“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,” Obama said.

“That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen,” he added.

Not as I do:

The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat.

“He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, who occupies the small but strategically located office next door to his boss. “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”

Say it with me: shared sacrifice!

Thanks to Scott Jacobs and Pablo.

P.S. All hail that flinty Chicago toughness!

P.P.S. Looks like about a million bloggers published similar posts today, well before I did. (That’s what you get for working during the day!) Oh well . . . when something’s obvious, it’s obvious.

52 Responses to “You’re Right: That’s Not Leadership”

  1. Hell, what about the Wagyu? Not the rice, but the environmental impact of the cows… Do you have any idea what is involved in raising a cow for Kobe beef?

    Scott Jacobs (90ff96)

  2. – Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod –

    A far bigger problem than the thermostat.

    Apogee (f4320c)

  3. I don’t want to hear any more crapola about what a big fitness enthusiast he is, not when his chief campaign aide is whining about his boss’s home state climatology. The man lived in Chicago for over 20 years, and just today made fun of DC virtually shutting down because of a few inches of snow. He’s joking about “toughening up” our nation’s capital, but he can’t stand to have his poor widdle body exposed to temps below 80 degress? What?!!

    Dmac (eb0dd0)

  4. I think I am going to drive my S600 down to the Jap market Saturday and buy myself 5 lbs a Wagyu for dinner while cranking up the termo to 82 in spite of the 20 degree temp outside.

    I will proceed to smoke my Trinadad and sip some Blue while watching a tape of The Messiah famous “shared sacrifices” speeches and laugh my arse off.

    Emperor is not invited to dinner.

    Obama über alles!!!!! (48dd5e)

  5. “He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, who occupies the small but strategically located office next door to his boss. “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”

    Mr. Axelrod is blowing smoke, and there’s no one in the MSM to report some facts to the public. Such as: Mr. Obama once lived in Hawaii, but he left there in the 80s and has been in Chicago ever since. If he hasn’t acclimated in two decades to a city that’s colder than Washington DC, he’s a hothouse flower, and much to be pitied. No doubt he’s used up about three times his quota of home heating resources just in Chicago, and appears to be determined to consume far more ‘climate-change-causing’ resources in his Washington digs.

    But then, he’s such a superior leader that others must set the example about resource consumption. Perhaps Mr. Gore and Mr. Axelrod will turn down THEIR thermostats so that Mr. Obama can point to their example when addressing us peons.

    Insufficiently Sensitive (673620)

  6. To paraphrase a famous, if apocryphal, quote of a GI referring to Gen. George Patton:

    Shared Sacrifice!

    Yeh, he shares, and we sacrifice.

    AD (7d0655)

  7. But he has an aloha Zen! He drinks organic tea! His sartorial standards are informal! How can’t you love Him?

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  8. This should surprise nobody. To the Dems, the rhetoric is so much more important than actual actions.

    JD (aba8e3)

  9. Axelrod is just plain wrong. It’s not hot in there because H.I.M. Obama has the thermostat turned up, it’s got in there from Baracky’s brain giving off so much heat from thinking so hard. It’s not like the brain of ordinary people after all. He’s going to save the world so it’s extra large size and he has to think extra hard. That henerates a lot of heat. Ask Chris Matthews.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  10. GW Bush insisted everyone wear his jacket in the Oval Office out of respect for the presidency. I swear, the entire country…ok, the 56% who voted for O are experiencing a simultaneous mass delusion.

    sam (a66070)

  11. This is why I am almost glad he won. The world is finding find out he is a man, a very flawed and ironic and not particularly smart politically, man and not a god.

    Keep pitching those softballs to us, O!

    Patricia (89cb84)

  12. I have seen the light and I’m perfectly willing to follow The One’s example. Also, Manbearpig tells us that geothermal energy has great potential. Who wants to bet that he learned about this when he got beaten over the head with it?

    Pablo (99243e)

  13. Well, you’ve gone and proved it to me, Pat. The man is obviously a complete hypocrite who is everything the Right-Wing suspected him of being. Guess the country’s screwed. Oh well.

    Yawn. So anyone think the Cardinals stand a chance against the Steelers?

    Peter (e70d1c)

  14. Your extreme sarcasm and vitriol is very unbecoming, Peter.

    John Hitchcock (fb941d)

  15. Obama lied, Gaia died.

    kaf (a033a6)

  16. As Peter demonstrates, to the Left, it is more important to say the “right” things, as opposed to doing same.

    JD (aba8e3)

  17. To paraphrase a famous, if apocryphal, quote of a GI referring to Gen. George Patton:

    The original was; “our blood, his guts.”

    Mike K (2cf494)

  18. Obama lied, Gaia died.

    Ok, THAT was good…

    Scott Jacobs (90ff96)

  19. I wonder how the Obama’s private chef is settling in to the White House. I don’t remember hearing to much about him in Chicago, instead we heard more about Michelle complaining how hard it was to keep fresh fruit on the table, pay for dance lessons, etc., etc. Now we learn they had a private chef? WTF?

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  20. Oh, c’mon, daley. I’m sure you knew that it was this way.

    My favorite part about Michelle Obama is the >250K job that, when she left it, was eliminated.

    So what she was doing in the hospital was necessary and vital in what way?

    These are just the rich and powerful aristocracy of our country. To some degree I don’t mind that. What I mind is the consistent attempts that he and his wife made to seem like “just folks.”

    Eric Blair (e92b94)

  21. “So what she was doing in the hospital was necessary and vital in what way?”

    Eric – Loss shifting to neighborhood clinics and doctors. Moving the uninsured patients out of the emergency room for routine care to other providers. I thought that was obvious from the job description.

    She was also there to ensure earmarks from her hubby the Senator, state or federal.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  22. David Axholerod:

    “He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, who occupies the small but strategically located office next door to his boss. “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”

    Whereas the rest of us are treated like growing mushrooms.

    If you remember the t-shirt, you know what I mean.

    L.N. Smithee (35fd8e)

  23. daley, I will always remember Mrs. Obama talking to a group of women as if she were just another struggling parent trying to stay ahead. Her statement was so over the top, I never understood why no one had a field day with it. It still makes me laugh.

    “We spend between the two kids, on extracurriculars outside the classroom, we’re spending about $10,000 a year on piano and dance and sports supplements. And summer programs…Do you know what summer camp costs?”

    It’s not a surprising they have a personal chef, it is a surprise to see them still attempting to convince us they are just one of the folks.

    Dana (137151)

  24. I’m sorry. I just keep thinking about how a similar situation from a Republican would be treated by the media.

    Oh, I forgot: the media is nonpartisan. I keep forgetting about that.

    In other news, Nancy Pelosi says that she is nonpartisan.

    Eric Blair (e92b94)

  25. The following occurred over 2 years ago, so maybe the current occupant of the Oval Office has had an epiphany since then.

    Oh, hell, probably not.

    monstersandcritics.com:

    Illinois Senator Barack Obama warned citizens at his 50th Town Hall meeting about gas guzzling vehicles.

    According to Obama, part of the blame for the world’s higher temperatures rests on gas guzzling vehicles. Obama says consumers can make the difference by switching to hybrid cars.

    Obama said, “It would save more energy, do more for the environment and create better world security than all the drilling we could do in Alaska.”

    According to the reporter at local News Channel 6: “After the meeting Obama left in a GMC Envoy after admitting to favoring SUV’s himself.”

    Mark (411533)

  26. So the Obama’s had a private chef in Chi-town?

    Now, I know I make more than those two clowns did as Senator and VP of Nothing at the Hospital and I can assure you I can’t afford a “Chef” as well as the other luxuries Ms Osama is talking of.

    Who was paying for this and what did they get in return?

    FYI, I love the fact her job was eliminated immediately. Read this the other day.

    USUALLY, $250K Exec position don’t “disappear” like a Chilean Communist in 1975.

    Clearly, it was a Mob Job, errrrrrrr, do nothing Political Appointment the Private Sector gave her for MONEY from her hubby and his frems.

    Obama über alles!!!!! (48dd5e)

  27. …. TAXPAYER MONEY from her Hubby an Frems. Politicians never spend their own.

    Obama über alles!!!!! (48dd5e)

  28. Dana @24 – Exactly the quote I remembered. Just one of the harried working moms trying to make ends meet on a few million a year.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  29. After taxes Michele and Baracky only made about $300K so ……… not sure how you pay a Chef which costs you about $100K and still have money for the mortgage and cars and kid’s schools and pony riding lessons.

    Obama über alles!!!!! (48dd5e)

  30. OuA – You are forgetting about the big big bucks Baracky’s book royalties. He’s a celebrity and the books started selling like hot cakes the past few years.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  31. Daley, maybe.

    I doubt the Publisher would have allowed him to pocket much of that.

    When he got those gigs he practically did it for free.

    But then again, I am sure the Publisher voluntarily forked over more dough in spite of the contract.

    Either, way having a Private Chef usually means you are raking $3-4MM after tax.

    Obama über alles!!!!! (48dd5e)

  32. OuA – His tax returns were multiple millions.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  33. Comment by Mike K — 1/29/2009 @ 9:04 pm

    Mike, I know what the original was…
    Are you up on the concept of paraphrasing?

    AD (7d0655)

  34. I just looked at his returns and the income only went above $1MM in 2005.

    In fact, his mortgage and taxes alone was eating about $200K per year. His charitable giving another $60K.

    That means he probably made $40K per month after those two expenses and he still paid another $10K for a Chef??????

    Obama über alles!!!!! (48dd5e)

  35. http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2008/03/obama-releases.html

    Great link.

    Again given what I see, I see no way he can pay for a Chef.

    With Private School, the Cars, the stuff ……

    Take Home 700K
    -200K for Mortgage
    -60K for Giving
    -120K for a Chef (payroll taxes!!)

    … again. Chef? Did someone pay for this other than Baracky?

    Obama über alles!!!!! (48dd5e)

  36. “President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket.”

    NIce PR move, eh?

    J."Trashman" Peden (49ce26)

  37. Just s an update on Obama Chef issue

    Income Before Taxes = 980K
    Federal Taxes = -$270K
    State and Local = -$50K
    Mortgage Interest = -$60K
    Imputed Principal = -$20K
    Charitable Giving = -$60K

    Leaves $530 per annum of a little more than $40K per month. Now let me model the “Other Expenses”

    Kidies Private School = -$40K
    Private Chef = -$120K
    Housekeeper = -$50K
    Electric and Utilities = -$12K
    Food and Stuff = $18K
    2 Cars = $15K
    Insurance(s) = -$5K

    Now we are talking 250K left over using a “conservative” methodology. **forgive me modest frems but these are rich man numbers basically **

    …. like I said, I dunno where they got the money for the “Help.”

    Obama über alles!!!!! (48dd5e)

  38. Plus, he only reported one domestic worker in 2006. No Chef on it.

    Obama über alles!!!!! (48dd5e)

  39. Oh, I love the way the chef has been introduced to us by the papers.
    “He will be thinking Green and Local”
    “Newest Chef Knows the Obama’s tastes”

    None of them think to state the fact that this chef had been previously unmentioned.

    MayBee (27ec75)

  40. MO in her New Yorker profile:

    But you have to go to the fruit stand a couple of times a week to keep that fruit fresh enough that a six-year-old—she’s not gonna eat the pruney grape, you know. At that point it’s, like, ‘Eww!’ She’s not gonna eat the brown banana or the shrivelledy-up things. It’s got to be fresh for them to want it. Who’s got time to go to the fruit stand? Who can afford it, first of all?”

    Now we know the answer. The chef has time to go to the fruit stand! The people who can afford the chef can afford the fruit.
    So. This has been another edition of “Answers to Questions Michelle Obama Asked”.

    MayBee (27ec75)

  41. When I find out who was the cause of this, and I will, you will be the person that gets me banned. Fucker.

    JD (aba8e3)

  42. JD, perhaps a little Zappa will set the mood.

    Pablo (99243e)

  43. Damn. That’s a good catch. Put on a sweater, Mr. President!

    Tom (442eef)

  44. Allow me to quote Penn Jillette when he tells Glenn Beck, “If someone says one thing and does another, they’ve double their chances of being right.”

    And so you have the advantages of hypocrisy.

    Plus, Penn points out how this is really good news, as the President’s actions underscore that global warming is not really as dire and urgent as we are being encouraged to believe. Obviously, the Oval Office is privy to information we are not.

    It’s good all around, folks.

    RELee (c8874a)

  45. Speaking as someone who lives in Illinois, and who watched our corrupt governor thrown out of office, I’m assuming that Obama, like most politicians who came up through the ranks in Chicago politics, had help paying the bills. As we get closer to Blago’s federal trial, perhaps he’ll shed some light on that–he claims he was only doing what all other politicans do in order to win elections. You can’t swim in the cesspool that is Chicago politics without something sticking, in this case, probably money.

    rochf (ae9c58)

  46. Guys,

    Obama did not have a private chef in Chicago. The news stories are introducing the new White House chef. Every president gets one. The guy Obama hired was chef at some fancy place in the West Loop, not working for the Obamas. I believe he worked at “Avec.”

    carlitos (9e0bdf)

  47. January 28, 2009, 11:47 am
    Obamas Bring Their Chicago Chef to the White House
    By Marian Burros
    Sam Kass, a private chef for the Obamas while they were living in Chicago, is now working in the White House.

    A spokeswoman for Michelle Obama, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, said Mr. Kass will not be the only cook preparing the family’s meals, but “he knows what they like and he happens to have a particular interest in healthy food and local food.” He will work alongside the White House executive chef, Cristeta Comerford, who was promoted to that job by the Bushes and is being kept on in that role by the Obamas

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  48. I stand corrected. Maybe he just catered parties and stuff? It is hard to believe that a couple making low 6 figures could afford a chef. Then again, why would I give the Obamas the benefit of the doubt? It’s just so NOT south side of Chicago.

    carlitos (9e0bdf)

  49. carlitos – My cut and paste was from the NY Times. That does not guarantee it’s accuracy as you well know.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  50. […] After all, this isn’t a guy who tolerates a schlock affair. He will have his waygu steak. And he will set his thermostat high enough to grow orchids. […]

    Patterico’s Pontifications » L.A. Times Gushes Over Obama Date Night (e4ab32)

  51. […] After all, this isn’t a guy who tolerates a schlock affair. He will have his waygu steak. And he will set his thermostat high enough to grow orchids. […]

    Patterico’s Pontifications » L.A. Times Gushes Over Obama Date Night (e4ab32)


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