Patterico's Pontifications

7/23/2009

The real FAIL of the Obama presser

Filed under: General — Karl @ 10:14 am



[Posted by Karl]

Pres. Obama’s fourth prime-time news conference (and fifth overall) was truly craptastic. I am no Obama fan, but when Larry Sabato, Howard Fineman and assorted mopes at MSNBC are unenthused, it’s safe to say it was craptastic.

NBC and ABC, Howard Kurtz, The Hill, and Ed Morrissey were among the many to note that Pres. Obama held a news conference without making news.

This left the president filibustering on every answer, and every answer followed the same general pattern. Pres. Obama tended to begin with a non-answer — boilerplate talking points about the healthcare issue. Even the Associated Press is fact-checking his pablum now. And public support for healthcare reform has been eroding while he has been making them these past weeks. Once some bit of boilerplate was spit out, the president would grope toward some sort of answer responsive to the question, but end up saying something unhelpful to his own cause, most notably his accusation that greedy doctors want to remove your tonsils.

I generally predicted this is how the presser would go, absent the tonsil comedy. But the presser played out even worse than I thought it would and had to ask myself why.

Yesterday, Rich Lowry suggested that the problem with Obama going into campaign mode was that his words would inevitably clash with the sausage getting made on Capitol Hill, ultimately eroding Obama’s credibility. I agreed with that — and still do. But the reality of Obama’s presser points toward a bigger problem for the president.

Pres. Obama’s real failure is embodied in the very first question of the presser:

Q Congress, as you alluded to, is trying to figure out how to pay for all of this reform. Have you told House and Senate leaders which of their ideas are acceptable to you? If so, are you willing to share that stand of yours with the American people? And if you haven’t given that kind of direction to congressional leaders, are you willing to — are you willing to explain why you’re not stepping in to get a deal done, since you’re the one setting a deadline?

Pres. Obama’s rambling non-answer to this question, which went on for minute after agonizing minute, speaks volumes. Political junkies know why Obama does not have an answer to this question. Obama never offered much in the way of a detailed healthcare proposal, because the White House decided that offering an actual draft bill was one of the things that sunk the Clintons’ attempt to take over our healthcare in 1993-94. It is also an approach reinforced by Obama’s career, in which he has been greatly rewarded for frequently voting “present.”

However, what the non-answer conveys to the casual viewer is a lack of leadership. It paints a portrait of a man banging the podium, telling Congress to act, while offering little to nothing himself. It is the picture of someone who talks about the “fierce urgency of now,” but only talks about it.

This is the real problem behind the criticism that Obama did not make any news last night. With healthcare reform hitting obstacles in Congress, the expectation was that Obama would say or do something to advance the ball down the field, but it did not happen. Pres. Obama was in campaign mode, but it was still the campaign of a candidate who wants the job — describing the problem, while avoiding the tough realities of a solution. Pres. Obama now has the job, and looks like he isn’t doing it.

–Karl

112 Responses to “The real FAIL of the Obama presser”

  1. This is the real issue, Obama the Empty Suit(tm) has no leadership on this issue because he is inexperienced. He’s never pushed any significant legislation in his entire career and the lack shows.

    Here he is trying to sell a vague concept without any details. Because he has no interest in the details, no command of the details, and his own understanding of the topic consists solely of what can be compressed on the TOTUS.

    This shallow and vapid cheerleading trying to disguise itself as leadership simply fails.

    What I think is most illuminating is the frustration that Obama shows when people don’t just accept the platitudes he offers. I think he really does not understand just how much his own performance falls short. He’s been praised so much for so little accomplishment in the past that he really is frustrated that the fulsome praise for nothing has stopped.

    SPQR (5811e9)

  2. It paints a portrait of a man banging the podium, telling Congress to act, while offering little to nothing himself. It is the picture of someone who talks about the “fierce urgency of now,” but only talks about it.

    In other words, he wants everyone else to do all the work, so he can take all the credit.

    It’s amazing Obama never worked for a corporation–he’d fit right in at middle management. He’s the Bill Lumbergh of American Presidents.

    Another Chris (2d8013)

  3. Racists

    JD (9f4ff6)

  4. His dirty socialist press was in campaign mode too and it was still a festivus of Fail.

    happyfeet (71f55e)

  5. feets!

    Plenty of grievances, but no feats of strength.

    Karl (23ce16)

  6. He vowed to not sign any legislation that was not deficit neutral. Essentially, he vowed to now sign a bill, since none of the ones being advanced are deficit neutral, not even close.

    JD (3ab713)

  7. Obama was supposed to close the deal on health care and instead goes off script about his good friend Harvard Professor of Outrage™ Skip Gates.

    So people are not particularly into health care, they are talking about Gates, and basically Obama is worse off than if he didn’t have a press conference.

    Or is he? Health care is Obama’s waterloo, not if it fails but if it passes. When a craptastic system screws up everyone’s insurance and explodes the deficit, the Dems will be driven into the wilderness. Maybe Obama wants to lose at this point.

    Joe (a32cff)

  8. Joe, I think your idea that Obama’s hurt more if it passes is quite insightful.

    We’ll see. but I don’t think Obama’s idiotic commentary on Gates was deliberate. It was simply an example of what Obama does when there’s no opportunity to input an answer into a teleprompter. I bet palms were hitting faces in the White House when he said ‘I don’t know the facts, but cops are stupid and racial profiling occurs all the time and cops are stupid’.

    Juan (bd4b30)

  9. Obama is governing as a senator. Someone needs to tell him that he is now expected to do more than express his opinions.

    Amphipolis (b120ce)

  10. #7,8 Which means that Obama is in a lose-lose situation. He’s made Health Care a big issue, at least among his left-leaning supporters, so if he doesn’t get something significant, his presidency is a failure. But if he gets anything like what the Left wants, it will be a disaster for which the Democrats will be paying for, politically, for a generation.

    LarryD (feb78b)

  11. Deficit neutral was the take away for me. That, and Cambridge cops are Teh Stoopid.

    JD (06cd1d)

  12. Why, it’s almost as if he had no significant executive experience………

    Techie (9fd7a0)

  13. He’s the Bill Lumbergh of American Presidents.

    “Mmmm, yeah…so, if you could just pass this piece of paper real quick that’d be greeeeaaaaate. Thanks a bunch!”

    Dmac (e6d1c2)

  14. It also hearkens back to his ‘community organizer’ days, where he agitated a bunch of people to get together and shout to the government, “Fix this stuff!”

    He’s never been the guy who has to do the fixing, always the guy who shouts at the other people.

    luagha (5cbe06)

  15. What’s being missed in all of the focus on Obama’s ridiculous conflation of Gates arrest and racial profiling is his allowing of the mask to slip on middle class tax increases vis-a-vis Obamacare…

    …I don’t want that final one-third of the cost of health care to be completely shouldered on the backs of middle class families who are already struggling in a difficult economy.
    And so, if I see a proposal that is primarily funded through taxing middle class families, I’m going to be opposed to that…

    Cap’n Ed runs down Obama’s entire nuance

    http://hotair.com/archives/2009/07/23/video-obama-officially-retreats-on-zero-tax-increases-for-middle-class/

    B-B-But, I thought 95% of the American people were going to get a tax break, Dear Leader…

    Just another expired promise, revealed through the weasel words of a Harvard lawyer…

    No offense, or allusions of resemblance, meant to our kind and insightful hosts…

    Bob (99fc1b)

  16. Joe: I disagree. The Great Society/ Medicare didn’t kill of Democrats, it made people more reliant on getting them elected.

    that being said, I’d prefer the most powerful man in the world stop bullying plumbers and cops and instead stand up to dictators.

    Hawkins (3d318d)

  17. Hawkins – He only stands up to those not powerful enough to actually fight back.

    JD (3ab713)

  18. Obama and his handlers–or Obama’s handlers with a little help from Obama, ran one of the great presidential election campaigns evah! last year.
    They persuaded 52% of the voters (which is significantly less than 52% of all Americans) that here was a cool, cerebral, smart, even “elegant” [to qoute Sean Penn] man who would make things all better for everyone. The oceans would stop rising, the Europeans would love us again, and there would be no more partisan bickering in Washington. Government would “work” and Obama was the man who would make it so.

    That was what was sold to those who voted for Obama. Obama skeptics (I was proud to be one early and often; I even held my nose and voted for McCain) didn’t buy the fairy tale.

    But this smart “cerebral” man is goofing off on the job. He did not understand that to govern was to choose; to lead was to choose. He does not get down in the trenches and dig in the details because that means he has to do something other than vote present. We deserve better than that from our President.

    And as for smart and cerebral; if you’re a believer in IQs, then both Bush and McCain have higher IQs than Obama. Obama is a thoroughly mediocre intellect, packaged in a very charismatic persona. American voters got sold a load of hay–or more accurately processedand semi-digested hay.

    Mike Myers (674050)

  19. Unfortunately Juan, while I think a craptastic health care bill would hurt Democrats in the long run, that will only be because we will be facing economic collapse and it will hurt all of us even worse. And agree with Hawkins that in the short term the Dems will try to use a huge entitlement program like Tammany Hall used buckets of coal and free drinks to buy votes from Irish immigrants.

    That said, I did think it was slick how Obama slipped in the comment about Blacka and Latinos getting stopped. Totally craven but well played.

    Joe (a32cff)

  20. Mike – He already stopped the oceans from rising. Get it straight.

    JD (cc3aa7)

  21. IF anyone wonders why experienced doctors (as opposed to medical students and other newcomers) are doubtful about government care, I have a little story from a medical blog. This is the sort of thing that happens. Not even tort reform will fix this sort of thing.

    Nobody knows what this legislation will do. Nobody. The insurance exchanges may even be a good idea if a “public option” is excluded.

    The problem is that no one seems to know what they are doing, especially Obama.

    MIke K (2cf494)

  22. It’s amazing Obama never worked for a corporation–he’d fit right in at middle management. As opposed to his challenger in the last election, who has been living off a government paycheck his entire life. Not even a paper route as a kid for ol’Johnny McCain. The last thing America needs is a chief executive with lots of business experience. The last joker, the ‘MBA president’ professed to have expertise in that realm and drove the nation to the brink of financial disaster. But then, given the poor track record of late by corporate America and its Wall Street brethern, middle management is overdue for promotion to top spots to force out the weak management at the top.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  23. That said, I did think it was slick how Obama slipped in the comment about Blacks and Latinos getting stopped. Totally craven but well played.

    Comment by Joe

    Notice he threw in the cool faux-ethnic pronunciation as well? ‘Lah-Teen-ohss’. That’s a nice little wink to the campus ethnic-greivance dweebs.

    KingShamus (4fabb2)

  24. I guess driving to the brink of financial disaster and driving at top speed right on past disaster while laughing and spending trillions more than anyone in history are only marginally different.

    JD (5375e6)

  25. Yup. Some trolling never changes:

    “As opposed to his challenger in the last election, who has been living off a government paycheck his entire life. Not even a paper route as a kid for ol’Johnny McCain.”

    Nice job. Very classy, given the sacrifices made by Senator McCain.

    But then, that is what trolls do, and are.

    Jealous of the successes of others, which is why they brag and make up inconsistent and silly tall tales of the their past glories.

    This troll is beyond parody.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  26. Actually, Eric, its pretty lame, repetitive, and unimaginative trolling. Its the International Man of Parody.

    We need a better class of trolls here, the ones we’ve got are quite incompetent.

    SPQR (5811e9)

  27. SPQR – Careful what you wish for.

    JD (93cafe)

  28. […] Patterico’s Pontifications has a well-rounded take on TCM’s press conference. […]

    Bent Notes » Blog Archive » Equal parts wacky, boring, and alarming (e68c26)

  29. JD, no worries, we’ve got a lot of history that shows that the Obama trolls don’t improve.

    SPQR (5811e9)

  30. As opposed to his challenger in the last election, who has been living off a government paycheck his entire life. Not even a paper route as a kid for ol’Johnny McCain.

    John McCain was a Warrior of the Republic. He shed blood and kept faith with his country, even when compelled not to do so under torture.

    Only a vile, cowardly, ungrateful creature would even think to use the Freedom and Liberty provided by John McCain and those like him, to mock and try to belittle him.

    Your words betray you as such a disgusting creature.

    (Your hero, President Obama, must be most proud to call you one of his own.)

    Pons Asinorum (03d2d0)

  31. “living off a government paycheck his entire life”

    Dude spent YEARS in a POW prison, was tortured horribly and his body was ruined to the point where decades later he can barely type or lift his arms.

    He’s such a damn moooch! All servicemen are just living on the dole! Unlike Barack Obama, who got a free house (practically) and his wife got a bullshit fake-job because of Chicago corruption! That money came from people who rip off taxpayers, but Mccain’s disability checks came directly from the taxpayers!

    Juan (bd4b30)

  32. Pres. Obama’s fourth prime-time news conference (and fifth overall) was truly craptastic. I am no Obama fan, but when Larry Sabato, Howard Fineman and assorted mopes at MSNBC are unenthused, it’s safe to say it was craptastic.

    Silly stuff and talking heads locked into and paid by news organizations hooked on the 24/7 cycle that thrive more on heat than light know better. And President Obama is hardly going to set the goals for the nation on the timetables of Sabato, Fineman or even O’Reilly, Olbermann or Limbaugh. As if the complexity of reforming the healthcare system of the United States, a dry topic anyway, was going to be explained in a few televised press conferences over five months anyway. Or that it is going to be phased in over night. Any American who thinks it will be is sure to be disappointed.

    When President Kennedy, and later President Johnson, travelled across the land voicing support for another complex, technically challenging and long term program- Project Apollo– the naysayers (more often than not, conservatives of that era by the way) said it was too expensive, what’s the rush or that it wasn’t technically possible within a self-imposed deadline of nine years. During that period, JFK and LBJ weren’t out making speeches on the intricacies of rocket thrust, orbital mechanics, lift to drag ratios or global tracking networks. They spoke in broad terms about a grand plan and let the people hired to do the job get’er done. So it will be with healthcare reform.

    It took a decade to reach the moon and Americans have been talking about healthcare reform for over sixty years. After just six months in office, President Obama has done well moving the ball down the field toward the goal. It seems conservatives in the Party of No and conservatives in the Democratic Party are the only ones hell bent on blocking achieving this new goal. Some things ‘never change’– which is a hallmark of the conservative mind set.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  33. #25- Nice government job.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  34. Without even seeing it, I knew it was craptastic when I opened my email to see a message from David Axelrod, titled: “This isn’t a game.”

    sierra (dfb2fa)

  35. International Man of Parody – If the complexities are so complex, shouldn’t we expect at least the farkin President to display some grasp on the problems? If it is sooooooooo complex, why rush it?

    IMP – Previously I offered a deal to you. You failed to respond. SHock.

    Completely off-topic, but there are 2 things about this particular vile thing that really get people bothered, and it is not the serial dishonesty in being a verifiable fabulist. One, it repeats and repeats and repeats and repeats the same lines, over and over and over and over, even when its transparent lies have been exposed over and over and over and over again. Secondly, and even more importantly, it never responds to questions and comments posed directly to it, and even when it does, it still goes about the same pattern, without ever addressing the question(s) posed.

    Sorry.

    JD (725e5a)

  36. More people are talking about Obama’s irresponsible statements against the Cambridge police than the Universal Health Care legislation. Another craptastic display by The Failure in chief.

    John Henry Eden (d3a8ee)

  37. Not to mention attacking people for daring to hold Obama to Obama’s own explicit timetable …

    Followed up by an confused, bizarre analogy that has the logical consistency of a Monty Python skit.

    The incoherence of the International Man of Parody is beyond belief.

    SPQR (5811e9)

  38. DCSCA:

    Go to your hero and bask in his dishonor, take comfort in his lies, which you enjoy so much; tell him what a great man you are. Then tell him how you have mocked the service of one of America’s warriors.

    Your hero will get big kick out of that.

    Pons Asinorum (03d2d0)

  39. Damn right it isn’t a game, Axelrod.

    JD (0a78bf)

  40. JD, I really miss your “website” in moments like these 😉

    Pons Asinorum (03d2d0)

  41. DCSCA: I think it was conservatives who opposed the Apollo missions! Therefore health care is a great idea!

    JFK is so far to the right of the current democrat party that this is laughable. What’s more laughable is that Bush is the insitagtor behind all the good ideas in NASA today… and Obama is obviously signaling that these ideas will be shelved.

    No matter… DCSCA… because none of this is relevant to the fact that our medical insurance problems today are largely caused by democrat meddling and democrat lawyers, and this enormous attempt to grab power and meddle more is being rushed and not likely to improve anything.

    But JFK got us to the moon! His dumb idea didn’t keep us there or create lasting exploration, but he we won the race and then gave up. All style, no substance, is actually a fair metaphor for Obama today, but the similarities between the two don’t go very far.

    Ask not what your country can do for you != My blue pill is better for you than their red pill!

    Juan (bd4b30)

  42. Well, we have a new candidate in the Annals of Trollish Projection:

    “…Some things ‘never change’– which is a hallmark of the conservative mind set….”

    Hmm. As if that troll with his endless silly and self-contradicting fabrications about his personal life has changed anything but his underwear recently. If that.

    Get back to the clinic for your risperidone.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  43. Which website would that be, Pons? 😉

    JD (0a78bf)

  44. John McCain was a Warrior of the Republic. He shed blood and kept faith with his country, even when compelled not to do so under torture.

    You might consider that McCain was a squadron commander, an executive job with hundreds of sailors and pilots under his command and the squadron commander is responsible for very penny that the squadron spends. It might have something to do with McCain’s concerns about wasteful military spending.

    My brother-in-law was a squadron and then group commander in the Marine Corps. He was retired as a colonel although he should have had a star. He had a jealous wing commander. Anyway, in the 15 years he has been out of the Corps, he has built an international company that employs thousands, including a number of retired Marine generals. The executive experience he gained in jobs similar to those held by McCain seems to have been useful.

    MIke K (2cf494)

  45. But…but…being a community organizer and running for President is far better experience, Dr. K.

    Sigh.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  46. #43, Risperdal, nice.

    [note: fished from spam filter]

    HeavenSent (01a566)

  47. … the naysayers (more often than not, conservatives of that era by the way) …

    The two greatest opponents of the Apollo program were Walter Mondale and William Proxmire.

    Guess that party!

    JayC (20201c)

  48. Eric, this whole ‘conservatives think nothing should change’ idea you are laughing at DCSCA for is something I have noticed a lot of poli sci types believe in.

    I remember when I took freshmen poli sci that my professor, one of a legion of democrats in this department, explained that conservatives only believe in the status quo. That because he is creative and likes new ideas, that makes him a liberal.

    It’s such a simplistic and ridiculous slur, but I saw a lot of heads nodding as though they had just realized some fundamental truth.

    Honestly, I don’t know why ‘conservatives’ even call themselves such, since it really isn’t an ideology in and of itself. Kids who haven’t really thought much about this stuff just assume that conservatives want nothing to happen.

    Juan (bd4b30)

  49. I remember when I took freshmen poli sci that my professor, one of a legion of democrats in this department, explained that conservatives only believe in the status quo. That because he is creative and likes new ideas, that makes him a liberal.

    In college, I used to bust on the poli sci majors by telling them they got into poli sci because they were clueless at history, and wanted the prestige of studying it without really understanding it. That little crack never went over very well, as you can imagine.

    Another Chris (2d8013)

  50. Craptastic responses to der Epic fail last night….with only 1 obvious and delusional troll of no reknown….thanks to Patterico’s finest.

    westWright (2abc10)

  51. JD #6

    He vowed to not sign any legislation that was not deficit neutral. Essentially, he vowed to now sign a bill, since none of the ones being advanced are deficit neutral, not even close.

    He’ll sign it, declare it deficit neutral, and all his water bearers will exclaim “See, he said it would be deficit neutral.” and that will be that.

    KB (037611)

  52. Another Chris, well said.

    SPQR (5811e9)

  53. Seinfeld:

    We never should have landed a man on the moon. It’s a mistake. Now everything is compared to that one accomplishment. I can’t believe they could land a man on the moon… and taste my coffee! I think we all would have been a lot happier if they hadn’t landed a man on the moon. Then we’d go, They can’t make a prescription bottle top that’s easy to open? I’m not surprised they couldn’t land a man on the moon. Things make perfect sense to me now. Neil Armstrong should have said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for every, complaining, s.o.b. on the face of the earth.

    Karl (23ce16)

  54. ROFL, Karl, the perfect response to IMP. I think we shall need to use that often when he appears.

    SPQR (5811e9)

  55. I encourage conservatives to quote Seinfeld as often as possible. A man best remembered for a show ‘about nothing.’

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  56. Juan (#49), that is because many polisci profs have read a few words about William F. Buckley, who went for the snark with his famous quotation:

    “….A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling ‘Stop!’ ….”

    It would be better for those polisci profs to read less Marcuse and more Russell Kirk. Professor Kirk was very cool about many things, but he had one voice in the “conservative movement.”

    Still, Kirk did have some thoughts worth considering. His “principles of conservatism” are interesting:

    1. A belief in a transcendent order, which Kirk described variously as based in tradition, divine revelation, or natural law;
    2. An affection for the “variety and mystery” of human existence;
    3. A conviction that society requires orders and classes that emphasize “natural” distinctions;
    4. A belief that property and freedom are closely linked;
    5. A faith in custom, convention, and prescription, and
    6. A recognition that innovation must be tied to existing traditions and customs, which entails a respect for the political value of prudence.

    It’s funny when I hear left of center types insist that the right wing marches in lock-step with the RNC or with a particular person (say, a certain radio host).

    It’s projection, again.

    Lots of us voted for McCain while holding our noses. Most of the left voted for Obama with a hey-nonny-nonny in their step. I found the “conservative movement” was very critical of many right of center politicians. The left, not so much—which is why I call them “alphabetists.”

    The fact is that choices in elections are not usually good versus bad. They are usually bad versus less bad.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  57. DCSCA, all the more reason why Karl’s comment pwned you so perfectly.

    SPQR (5811e9)

  58. #56—there goes that jealousy again.

    And here we thought that IMP was at the pitch session with Jerry Seinfeld. Sitting in between Walter Cronkite and Rush Limbaugh. With Werner von Braun on speakerphone.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  59. Do you get your sense of humor from your time working with Conkrite, or von Braun? Did you develop your mad skills at NASA, Enron, NSA, or CBS? Was this before or after England and Russia?

    JD (0a78bf)

  60. #59- Rest easy. Condescension may very well be covered under the public healthcare option.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  61. #57- Lots of us voted for McCain while holding our noses. Fortunately for the future of the United States, the majority Americans did not.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  62. #56.. come on, DCSCA, that was funny! And Seinfeld’s show wasn’t about nothing. It was about the human condition being ridiculous. They said it was about nothing because that was wittier.

    Eric, Professor Kirk was a brilliant man! I think he was one who noted that conservatism isn’t an ideology. And that’s a bit too complicated for my old poli sci professor. Thank God he was so lazy that he only grades multiple choice. Even his subjective questions were ridiculously easy to get ‘right’.

    Juan (bd4b30)

  63. DCSCA, Are you serious in pronouncing that Mccain would have been unfortunate for America?

    In what way? Everything you would have been angry at him for Obama’s doing! At least I think so. What is it you think America avoided in Mccain?

    Juan (bd4b30)

  64. No sane person can deny there is a serious problem with the current US healthcare system. Yes it works miracles but too often many people are left out and cannot afford healthcare. Too often people are forced into bankruptcy by insurance companies that have a vested interest in NOT paying claims. I know because my brother in law is a surgeon.

    Republicans have screwed up just about everything they touched in the last eight years and it should be obvious by now that their concern about deficits is bogus as they did not give a damn about them when they were creating them.

    Americans need to reform the system but entrenched interests dont want change and Republicans have a very clear desire to destroy ANY plan Obama comes up with because they would rather destroy this country rather than hand a Democrat a victory.

    Remember these are the same folks that fought social security, medicare and if you go back far enough were opposed to child labor laws and even meat inspections.

    They also called them socialist at the time..

    So what is the Republican plan to reform healthcare? and why dont they announce it? Far easier to stand on the sidelines and carp

    Does anyone here really think the last eight years were a success? Why should we believe these same people who led us down such a disastrous path under Bush the Lessor.

    VietnamEraVet (8918ab)

  65. Juan here is the answer to your question What is it you think America avoided in Mccain? PALIN FOR ONE

    VietnamEraVet (8918ab)

  66. I’m still laughing at Karl’s line. Its a classic.

    SPQR (5811e9)

  67. It’s always amusing to watch IMP accuse anyone of being condescending. Especially when he repeats his prior statement, relating it to health care.

    But that’s okay. I’ll go into treatment for condescension just as soon as IMP goes into treatment for narcissistic personality disorder.

    Ta-pocka, ta-pocka, ta-pocka.

    My favorite was the one thread where we heard about IMP dissing Margaret Thatcher when he was about 14, followed by “making quite a few quid” selling newspapers announcing the breakup of the Beatles, and then finishing up with playing soccer at the American Embassy in Moscow.

    And I haven’t mentioned all the other self-empowering fantasies of a jealous little troll. Dmac has quite a list assembled.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  68. Pretty sure of the future, when he can’t even manage the now.

    Reminds me of a song lyric: If he can’t even run his own life, I’ll be damned if he’ll run mine.

    Dr. K (f86018)

  69. They told me if I voted for McCain, there was a grave risk we’d have an unqualified airhead as President someday. And they were right!

    Official Internet Data Office (6ac5ad)

  70. VietnamEraVet, once again you make assertions that have long been debunked.

    Your ignorance of history got old a long time ago, above you blame Republicans for opposing things that were in fact Republican platform issues.

    Your ignorance continues unabated.

    As for avoiding Palin, she’s still obviously twice as intelligent as Joe Biden, Professional Assassination Insurance.

    SPQR (5811e9)

  71. Vietnam’era’vet,

    I don’t think that’s a responsive answer. It’s just trolling. Palin’s a smart leader… certainly better than Biden at practically everything.

    If there is some policy that you think Mccain and Palin would have enforced that is bad, please tell me. I doubt you can name anything.

    Obama has destroyed the economy. Obama’s senatorial actions weakened it a lot, but as president he destroyed it. He’s added more to the deficit than all other presidents combined. he’s followed none of his social promises. We’re still fighting overseas.

    There’s a reason you said ‘palin’, and it’s because you know Mccain would have been a better president than Obama. You’re actually admitting it.

    you’re right that there are problems with healthcare. If the democrats reduced their ridiculous rules, things would be a lot better. Tort reform would also prevent a lot of the damage democrats do. We may yet see proof that Obama’s plan for health care will make it worse. Tennessee and Massachusetts have already proven it, but we might see more proof, I guess.

    Juan (bd4b30)

  72. Juan, don’t you know that IMP knows stuff? He was…there!

    Seriously, I enjoyed reading Kirk’s biography (“Sword of the Imagination: Memoirs of a Half Century of Literary Conflict” (1995)). And I love his gothic fiction (he wrote some pretty nice ghost stories). An interesting man, and an interesting life.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  73. It is difficult for the Presidente Zero to be coherent and still hide the truth from the audience. We were treated to a rambling, incoherent, diatribe against all those evil folks plotting against him and “reform.”

    I kept expecting him to break out the stell ball bearings and say “they’re all against me, the doctors, the nurses, the HMOs, the hospitals, the JOOS, those people who cling to their religion, they all want people to suffer and die!”

    He really was crewing the carpet announcing greedy doctors were removing body parts to make an extra ten dollars. Is he really sane.

    And just when I thought it couldn’t get worse he demonstrated what he had learned sitting in Rev Wright’s church for 20 years.

    The man is the worst president ever.

    Makes one long for the competence of Jimmy Carter, the honesty of Clinton, and the realism of Wilson.

    Thomas Jackson (8ffd46)

  74. Juan said: “… conservatives only believe in the status quo. ..”

    Umm, what do you think “conservative” means? Holding on to what’s there. The opposite of change.

    The American Revolution was not “conservative.” The Tories were “conservative.” They were comfortable keeping things like they were — no matter how bad they got. Sounds like the GOP on health care.

    The revolution was, well, revolutionary.

    The civil rights movement was not “conservative.” It was the letter from the southern ministers that was “conservative.”

    The conservative position is against change. There are no two ways about it.

    And SPQR someone would have to himself be pretty unintelligent to suggest that Sarah “I don’t know what books and magazines I read” Palin is more important than foreign policy expert Biden.

    Palin is a lightly educated quitter. Her fans can expend all the energy in the world trying to clean that up, but Americans see right through her.

    Myron (98529a)

  75. No sane person can deny there is a serious problem with the current US healthcare system

    Considering that a nutbag psychotic like you is still walking the streets, consider me convinced of your argument.

    Dmac has quite a list assembled.

    Do you get your sense of humor from your time working with Conkrite, or von Braun? Did you develop your mad skills at NASA, Enron, NSA, or CBS? Was this before or after England and Russia?

    JD got almost all of the fabulists imaginary occupations, save for the following:

    – served on assassination teams operating in Latin America;

    – also served on assassination teams targeting heads of state in Europe;

    – servicing Gunga Dan in the CBS Men’s restroom during commercial breaks;

    – servicing Von Braun while cleaning out the men’s urinals at NASA.

    Dmac (e6d1c2)

  76. I meant to say “more INTELLIGENT than foreign policy expert Biden”

    Myron (98529a)

  77. Myron, calling Biden a foreign policy expert is what makes one appear unintelligent. He’s a walking gaffe machine. Trying to make Palin look less intelligent than Biden – the son of a Welsh coal miner – is beyond your shallow rhetorical skillz.

    And your misrepresentation of conservatism only reinforces that appearance.

    SPQR (5811e9)

  78. […] it seems that he was pretty awful when it came to answering questions. I don’t think Bush was ever as bad as this. Pres. […]

    Obama is Slipping « Something should go here, maybe later. (661794)

  79. “…And SPQR someone would have to himself be pretty unintelligent to suggest that Sarah “I don’t know what books and magazines I read” Palin is more important than foreign policy expert Biden….”


    Foreign policy expert Joe Biden? Really?

    Um. What precise pronouncements by Vice President Biden make you believe that utter bilge? Maybe it is time to cut and paste the Hit Parade of Inanities (including on foreign policy) from the man who is second in line for the Presidency. Well, only two place for now:

    http://www.gop.com/News/NewsRead.aspx?Guid=bb8077a4-dd2d-4358-9a02-479c3b915317

    http://www.bayoubuzz.com/News/US/Politics/President_Race_2008/Joe_Biden_Not_Helping_Obama_With_Foreign_Policy_Gaffes__7746.asp

    Of course, you will attack those sources at partisan. Unlike the attacks on Palin, which you accept without question. Because…that’s different™!

    Again: Palin is a FAR better choice for VP than Joe Biden. I still have utterly no idea why President Obama picked that hairplugged joke with logorrhea for a running mate. I won’t call people who disagree with me “stupid,” as you do, but I would simply say that you are looking through some mighty partisan lenses.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  80. The conservative position is against change

    No, conservatives are for change. Generally, we want lots of changes, such as:

    1. lower tax rates
    2. restricted legal availability of abortions
    3. immediate end to racial preferences and quotas
    4. deportation of illegal immigrants
    5. abolition of the Federal Reserve System
    6. US withdrawal from the UN, and withdrawal of the UN from the US

    Every one of those things would require change, and change for the better.

    Official Internet Data Office (6ac5ad)

  81. Palin is a lightly educated quitter. Her fans can expend all the energy in the world trying to clean that up, but Americans see right through her.

    Nice to know that Moron is now a misogynist as well as an ignorant git, having played the DNC talking points meme to the hilt. Extra credit for sliming the entire country that doesn’t live on the coasts, and to those awful rubes from the middle and blue collar classes who think that a public school education is worth anything. Awesome original thinking there, douchey.

    Palin is more important than foreign policy expert Biden.

    I don’t know about that, but at least she doesn’t lie continually about her accomplishments, since she actually has some. OTOH, we have Slo – Joe claiming the following fascinating and (until now) untold history “facts” :

    – Slo – Joe landed because of ground fire directed at his plane over Bosnia (it was actually just a farking snowstorm, which made his claim a complete lie);

    – Joey also claimed that FDR addressed the nation the day after the stock market crash, and…

    – FDR addressed the nation via the TV networks across the country

    Quick, Moron – tell us what’s wrong with those last two statements. Extra credit for doing it within an hour – we always give the short bus kids more time than usually is necessary.

    Dmac (e6d1c2)

  82. Remember how libs DEMANDED that Bush set an exact date for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq?

    Using that same kind of “logic”, I want Obama to provide the date on which the recession will be over.

    Bubba Maximus (456175)

  83. ‘I hate Palin’ doesn’t really explain anything about why Obama is a better prez than Mccain coulda shoulda woulda been.

    It’s tacit agreement that Obama is worse than Mccain would have been. An ackowledgement that the only thing dems get is someone they like more than Palin in the VP slot.

    Palin does have a lot more foriegn policy leadership experience than Biden, so I guess I don’t understand that quip. Biden’s an admitted flunky plagiarist… Palin went to state school and ran her own business and reformed a government.

    But this wasn’t about Palin. It will be when she kicks Obama out of office (half-joke), but it’s all about Obama now.

    Juan (bd4b30)

  84. myron,

    conservatism isn’t an ideology, and your silly description of it is self defeating. Social security, loose borders, abortion on demand, gun laws… those are the status quo. They are not the far right of the political spectrum.

    With such thinking, you must think anyone to the right of FDR is a reactionary extremist.

    Juan (bd4b30)

  85. The more Moron posts here, the more likely he’s never kissed an actual girl in his life. Palin only scares the men with no gonads.

    Dmac (e6d1c2)

  86. Dmac, you forgot one of Joe Biden’s more recent lies.

    He claimed he told President Bush about his leadership, “Mr. President, look behind you: no one’s following.”

    That account has been completely denied.

    Steverino (69d941)

  87. Actually Myron your history of the American Revolution is 100% wrong. The colonies had a long history of local control under a rather loose long range relationship with the king in England. The trouble started with the English attempting to reassert strong central (i.e. English) control in the colonies.

    Have Blue (854a6e)

  88. Drudge has a link to the latest Nielsen Report. Seems that folks are not all that interested in what Obama has to say, or a least in watching him lie to them. His numbers are going down faster than cold beer on the 4th of July.

    “Viewing to last night’s press conference was down 14% from his April 29 press conference and down 50% from his first primetime conference on February 9.”

    Ropelight (bb3af5)

  89. Obama gave the guidelines of what he’ll accept as a healthcare bill. He won’t sign it if it burdens the middle class with taxes; he won’t sign it if people can be denied care; he won’t sign it if at least 98% or so of the people aren’t insured; and then some other conditions.

    Under those guidelines, the 535 elected legislators are working full time to come up with a law that fits those conditions, even hough a sizable amount of them are saying the first draft of the bill is the wrong way to go and yet offer no idea.

    Are you suggesting that Obama came up with the bill himself, in all its gory details? Why should a president to that? Would that be the kind of leadership you’d follow? Or would you be calling him an undemocratic dictator?

    oderfla (22a589)

  90. Odiferous Florida person – He also lied and said it had to be deficit neutral.

    JD (410197)

  91. Well stated, but don’t you feel the pattern of alarmist rhetoric about his disastrous ‘Stimulus’ Pork Bill, the same hyperbole regarding the mindless Tax and Cap Folly, the same condescending grandstanding on GITMO, the same egotistical fraud about Lobbyists, Earmarks, Signing Statements, Tax Cuts, Transparency, etc., has greatly undermined his credibility?

    If he started out like this on Health Care, many might have bought it.

    The entire juvenile performance since Mr. Obama took the Office, has been embarrassing.

    Brooklyn (093838)

  92. The Tonsil story is very indicative of what we can expect. Government intrusion in the physician decision making . Of course they will claim greedy Doctors caused their budget to get out of whack.

    Dennis D (ae900a)

  93. Juan

    There were no Liberals on the Mayflower

    Dennis D (ae900a)

  94. The civil rights movement was not “conservative.” It was the letter from the southern ministers that was “conservative.”

    The conservative position is against change. There are no two ways about it.

    Except that your history is a bit weak. Who brought up the anti-lynching bill every year in the Senate and who filibustered it every time ? Why did the great FDR not insist on that minimal level of civil rights for people who were naming their kids after him ?

    Huh ?

    Mike K (2cf494)

  95. If Obama wants to speak out for a Black man who is getting a raw deal, how about this one?

    Joe (a32cff)

  96. Are you suggesting that Obama came up with the bill himself, in all its gory details?

    No, we only expect the President to actually understand just what the hell he’s trying to get his own Congress to pass.

    Why should a president to that?

    Gee, I don’t know, there are so many reasons for his complete lack of leadership and fortitude. But your studied and willful ignorance is of course duly noted. If you need real – world examples of true leadership, please look up Bush’s presentation of the Social Security reformation plan. Unlike The Messiah, Bush actually discussed the details of that plan, and what he wanted Congress to accomplish with it’s passage. But of course we all know what an ignorant cowboy he was.

    Dmac (e6d1c2)

  97. […] Pres. Obama really made a mess of it during the health care press conference, criticizing police for arresting his buddy without knowing any of the factsTo quote Patterico’s Pontifications, Pres. Obama’s fourth prime-time news conference (and fifth overall) was truly craptastic. […]

    The Good & Bad: Sgt. Crowley Won’t Apologize to Gates (Good), Obama Still Making Stupid Remarks about Police (Bad), Pundits Smacking Obama for His Lameness (Good) « Frugal Café Blog Zone (a66042)

  98. Obama’s health care is going down. They do not have the votes and time is not on their side. The more you look, the worse it gets. This should die and frankly that is a good thing.

    And if Obama seriously wants to discuss race and justice, lets start with Cory Maye and ignore pompous windbag “Skip” Gates.

    Gates should not have been arrested for being an asshole in his own home, but I mean come on, four hours at the police station is annoying but hardly One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. It isn’t even David Henry Thoreau spending a day in jail for civil disobediance.

    Joe (17aeff)

  99. Joe – Saying he was arrested for being an asshole in his own home is really a gross distortion and simplification of the event as a whole.

    JD (240403)

  100. That because he is creative and likes new ideas, that makes him a liberal.

    Actually, what really underlies his belief system is a sense that his “lefty” instincts instill in him a wonderful humaneness, a beautiful glow of sophisticated big-heartedness. Never mind if he’s actually a greedy, self-centered, selfish, tight-fisted SOB (ie, a limousine liberal like an Al Sharpton, Bernie Madoff, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, a lot of trial lawyers), if he’s certainly no better in kindness and compassion than those he perceives as his political opposites.

    what do you think “conservative” means? Holding on to what’s there.

    Oh, so if a conservative resides in a community that is similar to Massachusetts, or New York City, or West Hollywood, or San Francisco, or Berkeley, or Austin (not to mention a nation like France or Sweden) and he or she wants to change prevailing trends — IOW, they do NOT want to hold on to what’s there — that makes him (or her) a liberal? Yes, I guess it does.

    Actually, your definition, as things turn out, is too vague. I’d say that conservatism is anything that tries to be as sensible and down-to-earth as possible, and that certainly understands (and greatly respects) the difference between good and bad people, good and bad situations. That tries to avoid being ass-backwards as much as possible, that tries to avoid being similar to the folly of the guy (aka, the occupant of the Oval Office) in last night’s press conference.

    Mark (411533)

  101. Actually, what really underlies his belief system is a sense that his “lefty” instincts instill in him a wonderful humaneness, a beautiful glow of sophisticated big-heartedness. Never mind if he’s actually a greedy, self-centered, selfish, tight-fisted SOB (ie, a limousine liberal like an Al Sharpton, Bernie Madoff, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, a lot of trial lawyers), if he’s certainly no better in kindness and compassion than those he perceives as his political opposite

    There is a term for this, or rather, a phrase.

    The Eternal Leftist Conceit.

    JD (e0ced2)

  102. The Eternal Leftist Conceit.

    Heartily endorsed and happily funded by ambulance chasers throughout America.

    Charles Kauthammer, July 24, 2009:

    This [Obama-led agenda on healthcare reform] is not about politics? Then why is it, to take but the most egregious example, that in this grand health-care debate we hear not a word about one of the worst sources of waste in American medicine: the insane cost and arbitrary rewards of our malpractice system?

    When a neurosurgeon pays $200,000 a year for malpractice insurance before he even turns on the light in his office or hires his first nurse, who do you think pays? Patients, in higher doctor fees to cover the insurance.

    And with jackpot justice that awards one claimant zillions while others get nothing — and one-third of everything goes to the lawyers — where do you think that money comes from? The insurance companies, which then pass it on to you in higher premiums.

    But the greatest waste is the hidden cost of defensive medicine: tests and procedures that doctors order for no good reason other than to protect themselves from lawsuits. Every doctor knows, as I did when I practiced years ago, how much unnecessary medical cost is incurred with an eye not on medicine but on the law.

    Tort reform would yield tens of billions in savings. Yet you cannot find it in the Democratic bills. And Obama breathed not a word about it in the full hour of his health-care news conference. Why? No mystery. The Democrats are parasitically dependent on huge donations from trial lawyers.

    Mark (411533)

  103. Notice how Obama condemns doctors for being greedy? Our doctors have given us a miracle of science.

    And what does Presidente Zero offer us, those uber caring, hard working government bureaucrats. Unnamed drones will decide what treatment you get or don’t.

    But no appeal.

    Medical schools will have to take “selected” minorities (Asians, Jews, etc need not apply).

    You will join the government approved healthcare program.

    Loss your job or your firm drops insurance, the government will prohibit you from getting new insurance.

    Too old in the opinion of some bureaucrat for cancer treatment, well just take a number and die quietly.

    The government runs the VA and Indian Reservation system medical systems. Does anyone really want care at that level?

    Has anyone actually been subjected to the UK or Canadian systems? I have the UK system makes do it yourself denistry a good idea. Exams by specialists in your dreams.

    Once Obama has you under his thumb there will be no appeal, no help, just zip. Frustrated by trying to get your Congressman to do something.

    Imagine your health system but even more unresponsive because that is what it is designed to do.

    Obama is a Marxist and the people who elected him are the biggest dullards in the world.

    Thomas Jackson (8ffd46)

  104. It is also an approach reinforced by Obama’s career, in which he has been greatly rewarded for frequently voting “present.”

    This was my wife’s comment as we watched the conference. She was much more behind him – now, she too, sees the lack of leadership and experience. We (not me personally, but we the American people) elected Barack. Now we are paying for that folly.

    Corwin (ea9428)

  105. One way to win the battle is to censor Congressmen’s mailings. Republican Congress members are not being allowed to send constituent mail that contains the term “government run health care.” If they use that term, instead of Pelosi approved “public option”, they have to pay for the postage.

    I wonder what Ben Franklin would think ?

    MIke K (2cf494)

  106. Mike K – They really are breath-taking in their mendacity, no?

    JD (55b145)

  107. The health care bill in the House is probably dead. Today the Blue Dogs stormed out of the committee saying that Waxman is lying to them.

    Henry, lie ?

    Ooooh Noooo !

    MIke K (2cf494)

  108. The biggest lie ever sold to America: “We can’t socialize medicine.” Wake up America. We’re the only G8 country who doesn’t have socialized medicine and we have higher infant mortality, less access to health care, and shorter life expectency as a result. I work in the health insurance biz…its a huge scam. You think your insurance is great until you get sick. The health insurance cos are not their to keep you alive…youre worth more to them dead than sick. They exist for the stockholder not their custoemers. Their spending a million a day lobbying DC to keep their big lie afloat. Wake up America, you’ve been had! Demand health care now! We could easily afford it if we stopped invading country’s at the request of Halliburton.

    shanonsgranfalloon (014a30)

  109. Sorry Mike K., but your comment about Pelosi censoring constituent mail is nothing but pure GOP propaganda. It has never happened, more importantly there exists no mechinism for it to happen. Pelosi has no way of even seeing GOP – constituent correspondence before it is sent much less censoring it. Every congressional office deals directly with their own constituent mail. I used to be an aid to Rep. John Kasich (R-Oh)…I wrote over 700 constituent letters on behalf of the congressman; I know what I’m talking about and you clearly do not.

    shanonsgranfalloon (014a30)

  110. Teh Narrative is strong strong strong in shanon.

    JD (6ed8b2)


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