Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Taranto Is Good Today

In the WSJ, of course:
Michael Goodwin of the New York Post "listened intently" to President Obama's Monday press conference, but only "for 15 minutes or so." That's 15 minutes or so longer than the duration of our own intentness, but we did listen falteringly to the whole thing. By contrast, as the president "droned on," Goodwin reveals that he "did something I never did before during an Obama appearance: I turned off the TV."

"Enough," writes Goodwin. "He is the Man Who Won't Listen to Anybody, so why should anybody listen to him? . . . I will leave that unhappy duty to others. I am tired of Barack Obama. There's nothing new there. His speeches are like 'Groundhog Day.' "

Goodwin is dead wrong about that last point, and he owes Bill Murray an apology. "Groundhog Day" was a terrific movie. Apart from that quibble, though, we feel Goodwin's pain, and we suspect most Americans do. The World's Greatest Orator is almost always uninspiring, condescending, self-aggrandizing, peevish and grim.
C'mon, James... tell us how ya really feel.  One suspects, as Taranto implies, that Mr. Goodwin is waaay behind the power-curve when it comes to The One's speeches.  As for me, the last time I remember watching an Obama speech was the SotU and I only watched then to see if any of the Republicans would throw stuff at him... or shout "Liar!"  Mainly coz we loves us some drama, Gentle Reader, even if none is forthcoming.  Hell, I even mute Obama's frickin' soundbites; reading about them is more than enough.

Is it January 2013 yet?

Toon from the usual source.

14 comments:

  1. In the old days of the Senate there were actually fights and beat downs between Senators right on the floor of Congress.

    Know what? I would pay big bucks to watch as Reid or Pelosi got into fisticuffs with anyone from the other side of the aisle. Heck, they could put it on pay per view and probably pay down the debt in no time.

    I have tried a couple of times to listen to Duh One, but I can't get through many minutes before either blowing my top and screaming at the man and his rhetoric, or just shutting the TV off and going out and having a number of stiff ones.

    I have never yet seen why people think this POS err POTUS is such a great orator. I thought you were supposed to hold people spellbound with your verbosity and intonations and sincerity. From the first I thought he sounded sort of dumb, hick like, forced. Aside from his ideas, which probably are rarely totally his as he has others write his teleprompter speeches for him, he should at least get interest up in what he says if he were really a great orator.

    I wonder if it is due to the poor education system we currently have and have had for a while now that has dumbed down the population so much that they think this empty suit is anything close to an orator.

    Reagan could have run rings around him and had Obama walking around on stage as if drunk within about 2 minutes.

    Maybe I just have somewhat higher standards, but Duh One is even worse at faking it than Clinton was. Clinton was a B actor, no sincerity, Obama is just plain cruel and clueless.

    Just for proof, the magic wordy thingy is "SWAMIE". heh.

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  2. MissBirdlegs in AL13 July, 2011 20:06

    Anon: You were correct before you corrected yourself (POS)! ;-) I don't think the public is enamored with him so much as it's mainly the media & they make it sound as if the public loves him - at least, that's my hope. I've *never* managed to listen to him as much as five minutes since he was elected. I'm w/Buck in that I can barely stand to even read his words. The plus of reading is that you don't have see that arrogant smirk on his face!

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  3. I don't think I've ever heard anyone take up so much time to say so little.
    He probably never learned the first rule of speaking in public. It's a three parter:
    Stand up to be seen
    Speak up to be heard
    Sit down to be appreciated

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  4. I don't like the guy, I don't like his cabinet, and I actually look forward to a nuclear holocaust during my lifetime (if you got to go, take everyone with you).

    Having said that, I still fucking hate the Republicans for allowing McCain to be their choice.

    Looking at the GOP lineup for the next election, is shaping-up to be another loser. Why can't we get a man (or woman) who wears a gun, and kills underachievers?

    I remember the first time I had to brief the Wing General, and I started out with a joke. I said, "...since we don't have a lot of time here, I will make this a TAC style briefing, and not waste your time with a SAC style diatribe."

    The General raised his hand, took out his pistol and placed it on the table, and said "Son, I don't know who the hell you are, but I have about 23 more hours of briefings, and if you don't just give me the facts I am going to kill you."

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  5. I don't listen to O. It just saves me lots of ranting and bad feelings. Nothing he says will make a big difference in my life anyway.

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  6. Ditto. I haven't actually, willingly listened to the man's voice since January 2009. I am thankful everyday for the Internet - where there are people braver than I who will listen and share what they heard.

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  7. I watch "Maury" dvr recordings instead of watching our President when he is speechifying on the tube.

    I am also angry with weenie republicans who cannot seem to support real candidates. Bob Dole and John McCain were not what we needed. The job of President isn't for whomever is next in line.

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  8. While there are a number of candidates on the republican side (small "r" intentional) who are still better than the current occupant of the President's office, it has to be remembered that there are states that allow people of the other party to vote in primaries.

    Why is that? I suspect that the Democratic party encourages members to vote for the worst possible candidate to run. Unless there is some true ground swell of conservatives that turn out for primary voting, whimps like McLame and Dole pineapple get the nod.

    I think Bachmann could be a good candidate, but any Republican who can the job will be tarred and feathered by the media. Just look at the job done against Palin, and while she isn't ideal, most people think she actually said "I can see Russia from my house". The media has played a huge role in the general perception of the candidates.

    McLame was the media darling till he was running for President. Meanwhile conservatives had to hold their nose or sit out the election. I don't think that will happen again for a while. It sucks having to vote for the lesser of two evils, but as seen with the current occupant, the lesser would have been far more preferable as this country wouldn't be in such brutal state. It would only kinda suck.

    I fear for the direct we are heading. Too many years of almost diametrically opposed directions of the desires of the people. It isn't a one big issue type thing like it was during the Civil War buildup, but we are looking at a fundamental change from the Constitution.

    The political divide is growing far larger, and it is only the geography keeping us from seeing another "revolution" of the like seen during the Civil War.

    A big showdown is coming. It won't be resolved easily, and it will probably get quite ugly before all is said and done.

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  9. Anon: Did you comment twice or am I dealin' with two (or more) Anons, yet again? Whatev... ALL comments were in my wheelhouse, and the story about the general's pistol was priceless. THAT was My Father's Air Force.

    Katy: I listen to/watch the SotU every year, regardless of who gives it. But it's been PAINFUL these last couple o' times.

    Skip: The One doesn't sit down NEAR quick enough.

    Nothing he says will make a big difference in my life anyway.

    But what he DOES makes a difference, see "Obamacare."

    Kris: Yeah!

    Darryl: I watch the Military Channel. ;-)

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  10. "Obama" is gradually turning into "E.F. Hutton" spelled backwards: He speaks, nobody listens. I think I owe our mutual friend Gerard for that one, although I fail to remember where I saw it. But yeah. Even among those who like Him, the exuberant, air-cackling-with-static feeling of "OMDFG I gotta miss my surgical appointment to find out what He has to say!" feeling is evaporating...quickly...like the marketing currency of a Barbra Streisand "One More Farewell Tour."

    wordver: misph.

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  11. Anon, are you my husband in Air Force disguise?

    I find myself wondering if this growing disenchantment with BO's oratory isn't all part of The Nudge -- we stop listening and don't see what he's doing, as Buck points out. Executive Order #3-trillion-and-2 just might actually set up "the camps."

    And, I see the growing discontent as precisely the same as the run-up to the Civil War, and as pretty much the same issue -- States' Rights, just without the slavery angle. Unless, of course, you'd like to include taxpayers as being in the slave category.

    W/V: frawns. Frawne?!?!

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  12. Morgan: The One's base is listenin', and they're sending him GOBS of money. That, in and of itself, is so very troubling.

    And, I see the growing discontent as precisely the same as the run-up to the Civil War, and as pretty much the same issue -- States' Rights, just without the slavery angle. Unless, of course, you'd like to include taxpayers as being in the slave category.

    Which is the point Anon was making, so to speak. Our times are getting a lil bit TOO interesting, from my perspective.

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  13. Moogie, the Civil War really was far more about slavery than what we have been taught even as far back as the 50's. The memo was that it lessens how bad our history was if we change it to State's Rights. While there were aspects to it that fell in line with States Rights, and there were proposals right through the last minutes (so to speak) of putting through a Constitutional Amendment to make Slavery Laws irrevocable, factions regarding the slavery issues became too outspoken to ignore.

    The things we are seeing today are similar in rhetoric, and vitriol, and it is more about the form of the Federal Government and the power the Fed will have over more and more aspects of our lives. When you think about slavery, what we are witnessing today is not to the level of what the blacks had faced during the build up to the Civil War, but it isn't all that far from it.

    Think about what the left is looking to control in your life. How much you can make, what you can eat, what you can drink, how you communicate, regulations on the internet, taxes on just about everything, Government bodies such as the EPA given power to make regulations that is the purview of Congress. The list goes on and one.

    State's rights were fundamentally changed during the Civil War, as Lincoln really didn't have the right to fight the South to preserve the Union. His actions led to a change in the power of the Federal Government over the State Government. It is where the teaching of today gets to put the cause of the war on State's Rights.

    Oh well. I've gone on too long.

    Buck, there are at least TWO of us Anon's. I'm not signed on due to being lazy and my computer not keeping the information. I usually post the Magic Wordy Thingy when they fit on my posts.
    Heh.

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  14. Buck, there are at least TWO of us Anon's.

    I'd kinda-sorta figgered that out, but when there are multiple comments before I get around to answering it confuses me. More than usual.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.