Patterico's Pontifications

11/30/2009

Politico: “7 Stories Barack Obama Doesn’t Want Told” (Updated)

Filed under: General — DRJ @ 8:23 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

No sooner did the international media let loose with withering criticism of President Obama, now the American media is tentatively piling on with this Politico article on the 7 stories Barack Obama doesn’t want told. However, unlike the international stories, the tone of the Politico article is more of a cautionary note warning President Obama and his Administration not to let these themes take hold with the American public. The 7 themes are in bold and my commentary is in italics:

  • He thinks he’s playing with Monopoly moneyIn other words, Obama needs to rein in spending. As James Carville famously said: “It’s the economy, stupid.”
  • Too much Leonard NimoyObama is too cerebral, like Spock in Star Trek. All talk and no action; all hat and no cattle. I could go on but I won’t.
  • That’s the Chicago WayThe Obama Administration prides itself on its image as a group of “shrewd, brass-knuckled political types” rather than the new style of political leader the voters wanted. I can’t tell if the Politico expects the Administration to stop acting like Chicago pols or to try harder to hide it from the American public.
  • He’s a pushoverThe worst of both worlds: He’s a fighter on the domestic scene and a pushover abroad.
  • He sees America as another pleasant country on the U.N. roll call, somewhere between Albania and ZimbabweThis point is related to the last but with an added subtext: America isn’t that exceptional, a theme that goes against the way most Americans see their country.
  • President Pelosi — “The great hazard for Obama is if Republicans or journalists conclude — as some already have — that Pelosi’s achievements are more impressive than Obama’s or come at his expense.” This may be the Politico’s harshest criticism, not only because Obama has abdicated some executive responsibilities to Pelosi, but also because Pelosi and Congress have abysmally low rankings with the American public.
  • He’s in love with the man in the mirrorOr the man on the cover of GQ. Take your pick.
  • This is good advice but it seems to me the 7 things Politico warns Obama about are things he and his followers see as features, not bugs. If that’s true, they won’t avoid them anytime soon.

    — DRJ

    UPDATE — It seems the White House didn’t enjoy the Politico article:

    “It’s not just Fox News that’s become subject of White House derision. The following is an excerpt from a joke e-mail that is circulating among White House staffers. It’s a response, of sorts, to the analytical essay that POLITICO editor-in-chief John Harris wrote about the “seven stories that Barack Obama doesn’t want told.”

    The White House email is shown at the link.

    26 Responses to “Politico: “7 Stories Barack Obama Doesn’t Want Told” (Updated)”

    1. This is a dangerous time for Obama. If the conventional wisdom becomes him as spender in chief, he is in trouble. Bush got pegged as lying about Iraq and it was fatal. He didn’t lie but that didn’t matter once it got going.

      Mike K (2cf494)

    2. tentative pile-on?

      I just imagine a bunch of football players standing around a fumbled football inspecting it as if it were a suspicious package.

      ishkabibble (13c90d)

    3. go, Ear Leader, go!

      (and how would you like your schadenfreude served? %-)

      redc1c4 (fb8750)

    4. I read this article earlier today and thought “Duh.”

      Mainly, I salute ishkabibble, not only on the comment, but on his/her user name and hope that others look up the origin. American culture may be shallow for a young nation, but it’s interesting.

      Ag80 (3d1543)

    5. Where is there any evidence of Obama being cerebral, except in news clippings from his adoring fans?

      ROA (e2e9ec)

    6. He’s in love with the man in the mirror

      The best description I’ve heard – he’s the “Mary Sue” President

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_sue

      JayC (1c4ed5)

    7. 7 OTHER Stories Barack Obama Doesn’t Want Told:

      Barack Obama’s father was Frank Marshall Davis –

      Barry became a devout Muslim while in Indonesia.

      Frank Marshall Davis introduced Obama to Chicago style communism.

      Obama met Bill Ayres in NY and became a disciple of Saul Alinsky.

      Saudi Arabian Wahhabi money paid for Obama’s tuition at Harvard.

      Bill Ayers wrote “Dreams From My Father.”

      Barack Obama, not Eric Holder, made the decision to give KSM a NY City platform for phase II of the 9/11 jihad.

      ropelight (57a4b7)

    8. That was a great article in Politico. There most definitely has been a sea change. Almost as if an unseen hand has waved and released the media from their blind stupor. Obama clearly is no longer seen as “untouchable” and it’s going to get worse for him from here on out. The idiocy of the Nobel prize and his handling of it. Then the straight down poll numbers. His last embarrasing trip abroad is nearly universally seen as a disaster, and the state dinner debacle is the cherry on top. It is just not possible for even his most ardent supporters to turn their heads and ignore the incompetence any more.

      New York Magazine has a pretty good Obama in Trouble article up on line as well—

      http://nymag.com/news/politics/62377/

      elissa (f9f719)

    9. “He’s a fighter on the domestic scene”. only when it involves taking money from the working people and giving it to the worthless. I’ve disliked a lot of people but this is the first person I could learn to hate in my 68 years. But then hate is a left wing democrat exclusive taken from the mentally ill so I’ll pass on that.

      Scrapiron (996c34)

    10. His total intention is to bring America to its knees. I agree with DRJ that it is a feature to Barry and his tippy toe dancer friend Rahm. Not that there’s everything wrong with that. The salvation of this nation will be that Barry’s zeal to implement change has awakened a sleeping giant that will not allow him to complete his agenda. They should have taken it slower. but it was apparent that this was a one-shot deal. I actually think it is funny that Alec Baldwin keeps announcing his intention to quit acting in 2012, right around the time that being a Democrap will be a suicidal proposition. They will be toxic for many years. Sadly, the tape of him berating his daughter will be on an almost continuous loop. Good for us, not so good for his little girl, who deserves better.

      Gazzer (f4dafa)

    11. well, in all the sad news, there is one thing we can do to help the President:

      for just $10 (shipping included) you too can send him a fresh pair so that he can step right back into the lineup with the big kids and get back in the game feeling loved by his peeps.

      i’m thinking pink, myself. %-)

      redc1c4 (fb8750)

    12. I’ve updated the post with what Marc Ambinder reports is the White House’s unofficial response to the Politico article.

      DRJ (dee47d)

    13. At least I can say I taught my daughter to be thick-skinned. Someone forgot to teach the Pez-i-dent.

      John Hitchcock (3fd153)

    14. Gazzer: if he bought a set of these, she’d have needed a set of bolt cutters.

      not that the First Klingon would ever let him near a set of nuts, real or fake…. %-)

      redc1c4 (fb8750)

    15. Since this is the same tired meme I’ve been hearing from conservatives for 10 months now, this is pretty much a non-story.

      JEA (9f9fc9)

    16. What an insult to Mr. Spock. Though cerebral, and often literal, at least Spock DID demonstrate executive/leadership skills when needed.

      RB (9c47f9)

    17. I like this comment: “Almost as if an unseen hand has waved and released the media from their blind stupor” from elissa. But is the lame street media really waking up? Will they not only see what is happening now, but also notice their complicity? Will there be a shake-up in their organizations to curb this from happening again? At least for a while?

      If the pendulum swings too far, we could end up with a far-right wacko; albeit different, still not good for America.

      The media abandoned its role as the fourth check of the government. Will it reaffirm that role?

      Corwin (ea9428)

    18. They were being nice. They left out the story about Obama being a socialist community organizer planning the overthrow of our way of life.

      And the story about him being racist and accepting every crazy far left ideology.

      And the story about him being a deliberate liar, and incompetent, and a demagogue.

      Amphipolis (b120ce)

    19. And the part about him being enraged by even mild criticism.

      Amphipolis (b120ce)

    20. The White House e-mail is lame .. Too much Leonard Nimoy Tuvok

      Neo (7830e6)

    21. Amphipolis,

      that was my reaction too. Of course Obama would really love it if his actual presidency is not analyzed critically, but even if it is, he’s getting a huge pass.

      Ayers, Wright, his wife’s hospital job corruption, Rezko, how Obama initially won office, Obama’s cocaine habit, his record in school, and his constant racism in his book are major stories that Obama also doesn’t want told.

      Dustin (cf255c)

    22. I’m not sure that the interpretation of the “Too much Leonard Nimoy” story is on point. The contrast is with Bill Clinton, who could say “I feel your pain.” The perception was that Clinton knew what it was like to go through hard times, since he had gone through them himself or had friends and relatives who had done so. Allegedly, there are a lot of people with whom Obama does not necessarily relate on the same emotional level as Clinton could relate to them.

      That is not the same thing as being “all talk and no action” or “all hat and no cattle,” which may well be other faults of Obama’s but don’t really have to do with his intellectual vs. emotional characteristics.

      Joshua (9ede0e)

    23. What about the teleprompter storyline? Who is speaking – Obama, or his puppeteer?

      Amphipolis (b120ce)

    24. Obama: All textbook, no lab-project!

      AD - RtR/OS! (66f601)

    25. Too much Leonard Nimoy

      The AP picks up on this today

      They all add up to a quite logical conclusion, at least for “Star Trek” fans: Barack Obama is Washington’s Mr. Spock, the chief science officer for the ship of state.

      and

      When describing his executive style, he goes into Spock mode, saying, “You’ve got to make decisions based on information and not emotions.”

      Neo (7830e6)


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