Patterico's Pontifications

6/8/2010

Quote of the Day

Filed under: Obama — DRJ @ 6:47 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Guess who isn’t interested in words?

The president also defended not having spoken to [BP CEO Tony] Hayward.

“I have not spoken to him directly,” he told Lauer. “Here’s the reason. Because my experience is, when you talk to a guy like a BP CEO, he’s gonna say all the right things to me. I’m not interested in words. I’m interested in actions.”

I feel the same way about Obama’s words.

Obama also said he would have fired BP’s CEO by now if he were in charge of the company.

I feel the same way about America’s CEO.

— DRJ

43 Responses to “Quote of the Day”

  1. But he’s not a CEO. He’s the Chosen One, the Prophesied One, the Messiah, the Kwizatch Haderach.

    Technomad (e2c0f2)

  2. Wouldn’t he have to speak to Mr Hayward to fire him? Too bad Mr Hayward isn’t in his chain of command.

    The snarky Dana (474dfc)

  3. The Won seems to think that he’s going to be judged by other standards.

    htom (412a17)

  4. Bee-ho never fires anyone.

    He “regretfully accepts” their pre-indictment resignations.

    Icy Texan (7542ed)

  5. The President believes in talking to dictators without preconditions, yet won’t meet with the head of a publically traded company that is handling the biggest environmental threat to our country in its history. His statement reveals a lot about his beliefs about business, as well as his willingness to put CYA PR ahead of solving this problem.

    Riku (e39cf8)

  6. This is coming from the same genius who insisted he’d have no preconditions to meet with Ahmadinejad.

    Blue Ox (ff919a)

  7. To be fair to Obama–what if they did meet? The result would be posturing on both sides, and a scripted result of the business CEO truckling under to the national CEO. I don’t know what Hayward’s background is: how well does he understand the engineering issues involved. And Obama certainly doesn’t have the requisite background.
    I feel the same way about America’s CEO
    But then, you never wanted him hired 🙂

    kishnevi (766dcf)

  8. Comment by You
    shows up instead of
    Comment by Kishnevi

    Is this part of the tinkering they did with the comments?

    kishnevi (1afea2)

  9. I’m really tempted to change my nick to “You” and mess with people on here.

    Kish, I can’t recall if it’s been doing the “You” thing consistently, but it was doing that for a while a few weeks back. That’s just your view… everyone else sees your actual handle (hit f5 to see).

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  10. Because my experience is, when you talk to a guy like a BP CEO, he’s gonna say all the right things to me

    I like this part of the quote. In his experience, when you talk to the person that is supposed to be in charge, all you’re going to get is platitudes, and he does have lots of experience at this. As they say, “Takes one to know one”

    MD in Philly (5a98ff)

  11. Is this part of the tinkering they did with the comments?
    Comment by kishnevi — 6/8/2010 @ 7:45 pm

    When you refresh the page it will show up normally. They identified the major problem affecting cookies/comments which was driving everyone crazy. To fix it, they had to undo many of the mods that we’re used to. Those should all be back to normal soon.

    Things which will be fixed:
    1. Comment preview
    2. No more “Comment by You” before refreshing
    3. Comment will appear formatted correctly without refreshing
    4. Comments will appear immediately
    5. Automatic refresh when returning to the front page
    6. Site association (signature url) with name (if entered)

    Things which will not be fixed:
    1. Trolls
    2. Trolls with poor spelling
    3. Trolls with bad grammar
    4. Cupcake dispenser (sorry happyfeet)

    If I missed anything, feel free to mention it on the Comment Problems Fixed? thread. The tech guys are watching that thread and I’ll make sure to mention it as well.

    Stashiu3 (44da70)

  12. Kishnevi,

    I didn’t vote for him so I didn’t want him hired in that sense, but I accepted that he was hired. However, Obama’s performance has been disastrous for America. BP has a better chance of surviving the oil spill than Americans have of surviving Obama.

    DRJ (d43dcd)

  13. Because my experience is, when you talk to a guy like a BP CEO, he’s gonna say all the right things to me.

    say all the right things – kinda like President Obama does with us?

    I’m not interested in words. I’m interested in actions.”

    Yes, aren’t we all.

    “This was the moment when the rise of the ocean began to slow and the planet begins to heal”

    We’re still waiting for those actions, President Obama. The gulf is yours, have at it.

    Dana (1e5ad4)

  14. Things which will not be fixed:

    4. Cupcake dispenser (sorry happyfeet)

    And I never even knew we had a cupcake dispenser, and I missed out!!

    MD in Philly (5a98ff)

  15. This ‘I can’t talk to him because he’ll say all the right things’ sounds incredibly weak. President Obama is a very powerful man. He shouldn’t avoid talking to people because he’s afraid they can manipulate him.

    Dustin (b54cdc)

  16. we can rebuild it we can make it better stronger faster than it was before

    we hab da technology

    happyfeet (682797)

  17. This ‘I can’t talk to him because he’ll say all the right things’ sounds incredibly weak. President Obama is a very powerful man. He shouldn’t avoid talking to people because he’s afraid they can manipulate him.

    Absolutely Dustin. He should talk to him and then call him on it. Firmly, directly, and let him know that he knows b.s. when he hears it and then demand an honest conversation. This excuse is jut that – and it makes him look weak and incapable of taking command.

    Do we know if he’s bowed to Hayward? Any photos?

    Dana (1e5ad4)

  18. Barcky might be the most self-unaware President in the history of our country. I yearn for Jimmy Carter. The unintended irony in Barcky’s words is simply breath-taking.

    JD (de02cc)

  19. #18 Dana:

    – and it makes him look weak and incapable of taking command.

    That seems like a pretty accurate assessment.

    EW1(SG) (edc268)

  20. All Teh One and has in his arsenal is reading speeches and pointing fingers. That he does not recognize that is no surprise.

    JD (de02cc)

  21. “Because my experience is, when you talk to a guy like a BP CEO, he’s gonna say all the right things to me.”

    Right, because with my vast experience of publicly demonizing corporations of all stripes I find it faster to go through layers and layers of drones who don’t have the authority to act on their own rather than speaking to the people who do. Hey, did I tell you I was once a community organizer and extorted a bunch of banks. Now I’m extorting whole industries!

    daleyrocks (1d0d98)

  22. The other quote is about finding whose ass to kick. Had G.W. Bush said something like that I can’t imagine how the press would make a negative fuss over it.

    Perhaps he should kick the one that represents the Democrat party.

    MD in Philly (5a98ff)

  23. MD,

    The press is trying to help the President find his muscle. Bush didn’t need help with that. Of course Bush would have faced a firestorm over such a comment – but at least with Bush, we knew he’d have no trouble confronting Haywood, and kicking whoever’s ass needed it. Cowboy that he was.

    Dana (1e5ad4)

  24. But, hey, at least Obama is willing to sit down and talk to Ahmadinejad.

    Arizona Bob (e8af2b)

  25. The idea that Barcky could/would kick somebody’s ass is laughable. He shies away from contact on the basketball court. This entire interview, the kicking people’s ass comment, the not talking to the CEO of BP, is simply laughable.

    JD (de02cc)

  26. This ‘I can’t talk to him because he’ll say all the right things’ sounds incredibly weak. President Obama is a very powerful man. He shouldn’t avoid talking to people because he’s afraid they can manipulate him.

    no: Ear Leader is essentially powerless because he has no idea and no experience in dealing with things, at any level.

    his office has power, but he is singularly incapable of exercising any of it, other than scheduling a party or getting a plane to fly him to NYC.

    hell, he can’t even manage a state visit to Asia, which is only one of the most important areas for this country diplomatically, as well as financially.

    the First Failure is coming apart at the seams….

    I TOLD YOU SO!

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  27. What if … BP announced an alliance with Iran ?

    Neo (7830e6)

  28. “What if … BP announced an alliance with Iran ?”

    Neo – I don’t know whether Obama would sit down with Hayward then, but he would probably let him drill wherever the hell he wanted.

    daleyrocks (1d0d98)

  29. How about the Prez telling Hayward that the resources of the federal government are at his disposal to do whatever it takes to stem the flow of oil and the spread of the slick. So if Coast Guard ships could aid in containing the slick, they’re available. If BP needs to have extra tankers but someone has to twist arms to get them, the Prez will do it. Obama so far has not shown that he’s part of the solution to this problem.

    sam (1a8310)

  30. Obama also said he would have fired BP’s CEO by now if he were in charge of the company.

    I thought Obama WAS in charge of the company. I thought he was in charge of all companies. He fired auto company CEOs, didn’t he? He hasn’t given BP a bailout exactly, but the government is on the hook for bailing a lot of oil out of the gulf. So I’m surprised that Obama hasn’t flexed his muscle and tossed Hayward overboard.

    Of course, it’s much easier on Obama if he keeps around the guy with a target on his back.

    Gesundheit (cfa313)

  31. In case anyone’s missed BP’s CEO’s “I’m terribly sorry” commercials on the Sunday morning talkers, you’re really denying yourselves some much – needed hilarity. This is the same company that’s been endlessly harping on how they’re so far ahead on “green” energy compared to their competitors.

    Dmac (3d61d9)

  32. I think it’s all some kind of professional courtesy, con man to con man.

    htom (412a17)

  33. This is the kind of faulty thinking I find so disturbing in the workplace, in athletics, and never more evident than in politics. That somehow words from POTUS will seal the hole, that he will ‘manage’ the problem or ‘light a fire’ so BP will be motivated to stop losing billion$ in petroleum reserves, stock capitalization, and corporate goodwill and poor publicity.

    Obama can’t create jobs, can’t improve the economy, government creates nothing and only redistributes it, can’t win or end two wars. So he is looking for some “@$$ to kick”? As he said, “I’m interested in actions.”

    TimesDisliker (f4de19)

  34. Hayward has a degree in geology from the University of Edinburgh; his first job with BP was on the platforms in the North Sea. His early career was in the exploration and production end of the business, i.e. searching for and drilling for oil both on land and out at sea. So I suspect Hayward knows a hell of a lot more about the oil business and the problems in containing t his well than Obama knows about being President.

    A true leader; which Obama is not; would have contacted Hayward and asked “Is there anything we can do to help?” Good luck on that happening chumps!

    Mike Myers (3c9845)

  35. Mike, IIRC the average depth of wellheads in the North Sea is between 900 & 1200 feet below sea level – nothing like what they are trying to do in the Gulf. But, your point is well taken. Unlike so many of our business leaders who come up through the financial arms of the industries they lead, it is refreshing to have someone with the technical background that is vital to the success of that company at the helm.

    AD - RtR/OS! (f15c7c)

  36. Mr. President, if you are looking for the person whose tucas you need to kick, look in the mirror. I know he looks in the mirror all day, but not for what is there.

    Oh, Mr. President, I’ll help you kick that jerk’s rear that you see in the mirror.

    PCD (1d8b6d)

  37. But then, you never wanted him hired 🙂

    We KNEW it was a bad hiring decision back in Nov 2008…. because, for one, he never anything bigger than his own campaign. … but the recent events confirm that he lacks executive leadership skills. He masks his incompetence as other incompetents do, by focussing on who he can blame for things going wrong, and by talking a lot bigger than his actions can deliver.

    Travis Monitor (6dd9c5)

  38. Americans and their Presidents: “Can Do” spirit.

    President Obama and his liberal-supporters: “Can Not Do” mind-set.

    Change in a liberal nutshell.

    Pons Asinorum (0ae484)

  39. “…by talking a lot bigger than his actions can deliver.”

    He lets his mouth write checks his a$$ can’t cash!

    AD - RtR/OS! (f15c7c)

  40. I remember being told that if I voted for John McCain, the deficit and the national debt would balloon. Well, I voted for John McCain, and, darn it all, they were right.

    I never realized that when they told me that if I voted for John McCain we’d have oil companies running rampant and an environmental disaster on our hands, that they’d be right on that one, too!

    The Republican Dana (3e4784)

  41. I was told that if I voted for McCain the sea would be black with oil. Lo and behold it is.

    I was told if I voted for McCain, an idiot would be occupying the Oval Office. Lo and behold, he is.

    Why would the President have no trouble talking to ruthless dictators bent on our destruction, but not to the head of a major company? If the President is only concerned with actions not words, why would he make the unconditional promise to talk to rogue states whose words are completely at odds with their actions?

    eaglewingz08 (1e4d33)

  42. I was told that if I voted for John McCain and Sarah Palin, we’d have a president who didn’t know what to do running the country and a vice president who was a clown.

    It’s amazing how often our friends on the left were right!

    The snarky Dana (3e4784)


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