It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
...and for some reason, it never is. On Friday, President Obama marked the start of Ramadan -- and, doesn't it always seem to be Ramadan? -- by saying "Let me be clear...."
And what followed his Friday clarity were, well, clarifications. On Saturday, and then again on Sunday. He's not for it, they said. He's just talking legalities, not the "wisdom" of building a mosque a few blocks from Ground Zero, the White House said. He was so clear, apparently, he needed his flacks to clarify.
Fine. But two questions remain. The first is purely political. How stupid is this president, really, when you get right down to it? I know, I know: he's smart. He went to Harvard. I guess I don't mean stupid. I mean boneheaded. Tone deaf. In the middle of a hot-button controversy that he doesn't have to wade into, he wades into it? And then spends the weekend defending himself? Every time they hear the boss say, "Let me be clear...." the White House press office must have to immediately change their underpants.
And here's the second question, which has been nagging at me since the dawn of this controversy.
The builders of the GZM keep saying it's a celebration of moderate Islam. That it's about tolerance and reaching out.
Again, fine.
But why is the place to build such a mosque, such a temple to moderation and tolerance, New York City? A mosque like that would be so much more useful in, say, Riyadh. Or Cairo. Or Damascus. Or Kabul. Or Sana'a. Or, for that matter, London.
- Comment (14)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
Comments :
Jun '10
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
#1
Obama is, like his fellow leftist compatriots, tone deaf to the average American. We are stupid, the USA is always wrong, he, and the left, know how to make government solve the stupid and the wrong.
#2
Because this whole GZM tolerance thing is BS (which stands for something coming out of the hind end of a bull). No Muslim wants the USA to show the same tolerance, or lack thereof, as is exhibited by their very own religion. .
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
Rob Long
-- and, doesn't it always seem to be Ramadan? --
I thought I was the only one to whom that seemed to be the case. Kind of like my birthday.
May '10
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
#0
As Mark Steyn asks: "Is it just me, or does Ramadan seem to come around quicker every year?"
#1
What cdor said. The President has never met an average American that he did like.
#2
Come on Rob. You should know by now that tolerance is a one-way street (unless you get to one of those tolerance traffic circles like where Muslim rights and Gay rights collide).
Jul '10
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
I wonder if Obama's problem is stupidity or a pathological self-regard. Being always told how special he is, never having to work for anything, and being considered a sort of G-d, makes him impervious to normal rules. He is not tone deaf, he is above the hoi polloi, only he can judge all righteously. On the other hand, were he smart, he would try to tame his narcissism or at least fake some sincerity.
It is telling that Islamists have been trying to destroy the most liberal city in the US. For to them infidels are infidels and it does not matter whether we believe in the Bible or in the New York Times. What they are after is a huge media centre from which to broadcast their propaganda. What better spot than Ground Zero in NY?
Aug '10
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
A high IQ is often thought to be the same as intelligence. Au contrare. There have been many incompetent and societally inept geniuses. Jimmy Carter, Donald Rumsfeld, and Alan Greenspan, for example. Extreme narcissism and the public's gullibility often carry these men to the very top of the power pyramid, where they have their way and then crash and burn.
Obama probably has a relatively high IQ, but he has no wisdom, experience, technical savvy, real empathy, or understanding of America. He's certainly an extreme narcissist, and possibly a malignant one. Mental illness is becoming more pronounced in his behavior, and there are many in Washington who know it. The Israelis speak almost openly about this in their press.
Three impeachment charges should be prepared for this administration: 1) Reckless endangerment 2) Implied malice 3) Depraved indifference.
Jul '10
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
"Let me be clear...."
Is someone preventing him from being clear? Is he pleading "LET me!"?
Kind sir, you are the leader of the free world. You can do what you will. Be clear or don't. If the amount of words you speak equates to clarity, then this is the new Clarity Heavy Weight Champion of the World.
As per Ramadan, I had a great one: Pork ribs, Chops, Sausage, and Carnitas. What a week!
May '10
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
"Let me make this perfectly clear..."
If you were President, would you consciously adopt a phrase so closely associated with the most disgraced President in history? That was one of every impressionists favorite tag lines for Richard Nixon. David Frye, Rich Little, John Byner... they all used it.
As for the President's stupidity... I find Rob's squishiness downright nauseating. It's almost reflexive in the same way politicians talk about Islam. Why the need to acknowledge his education? ("I know, I know: he's smart. He went to Harvard.")
When did we become a nation that bestowed honor on credentials instead of accomplishment? It isn't the degrees Rob or any others on Ricochet members received but what they accomplished afterwards that counts.
(I laugh when liberals feel equally compelled to point out that Rush Limbaugh is a college dropout. I am not disparaging education. But I don't dismiss the light because Thomas Edison dropped out of school at age 12.)
The President is not a man of accomplishments. Getting elected is no more a fete than the con man running three card monte. Fooling people may be an art...
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
Good points, EJHill. But I'm just acknowledging what people always say in response to hearing "Obama's not that smart." That's why I put them in italics -- it was supposed to convey a font-based eyeroll. I don't think his degrees matter at all, except that they've clearly had a damaging effect on him. Now he thinks he knows everything, which is typical for an Ivy Leaguer. But he also thinks that the rest of us know nothing, which is typical of an Ivy League lawyer.
May '10
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
Carter is an idiot, of course. Greenspan got too enthralled with his own clippings and stayed too long; we call it hubris.
Rumsfeld was and is a brilliant guy who didn't suffer fools gladly. He did more necessary things in the Pentagon than at least the last 10 SecDefs before him.
May '10
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
Rob - Nobody appreciates anything font-based more than me. But in this forum when you ask the question, "How stupid is this president, really, when you get right down to it?" it seems silly to make the preemptive argument 'cause nobody around is going to give it to you in the first place.
There's something else here. Candidates have a tendency to surrender themselves to their campaign strategists. The secret to getting elected often lies in the ability to take direction and do what you're told. But once you win, you have to call the shots.
In this regard Mr. Obama has never done anything. On the big things he has either sidestepped them by voting present or abdicated the decision to others, much as he did in giving Pelosi and Reid huge control over health care. Everytime he has been asked to weigh in he has demonstrated very little mental agility.
The inability to do the heavy lifting does not bode well. This president has not yet been tested on the same level George W. Bush was. I fear he's very capable of mental paralysis.
Aug '10
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
Something occurred to me regarding Obama's comments on Friday that I'm not sure anyone's picked up on. Clarifying his Friday comments on Saturday, natch, he said, "I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That's what our country is about."
Anyone catch that? The most illuminating part of Obama's comments on the mosque is the implication that rights come from government rather than are protected by government. That's a major distinction, and it reveals a mindset pervasive in political circles. The Left thrives on it, and the Right never thinks to correct it. It's a mindset that ultimately determines the role we expect of government.
May '10
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
Kevin - That's old hat and completely in character for him. In his famous Chicago public radio interview he referred to your Constitutional rights as "negative rights," i.e. merely a list of things that are not allowed. "Progressives" have long pushed the concept of "positive rights," or things that government must do to positively impact your life. A right to a job, a right to a "living wage," a right to health care, etc.
FDR was a master at pushing it. When he made his famous "four freedoms" speech, he mixed the old (freedom of speech and freedom of religion) with the new. The other two, "Freedom from Want" and "Freedom from Fear" could justify the government doing just about anything.
May '10
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
Pat Sajak
Rob Long
-- and, doesn't it always seem to be Ramadan? --
I thought I was the only one to whom that seemed to be the case. Kind of like my birthday. · Aug 16 at 10:34am
Happy Birthday. Since 2009, that means you're one now, correct?
Aug '10
Re: It Always Starts with "Let Me be Clear...."
EJHill- Ah yes, I remember that radio interview. So nuanced.
I suppose I'm just perturbed that an understanding of constitutional rights is such a fundamental thing in civics yet most of my fellow citizens are blissfully ignorant. All too often, I hear completely non-political people comment on issues like health insurance with the idea that government must provide it or we can't enjoy our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's become so ingrained in the accepted wisdom of the day... progressives have really done quite the bang-up job over the last hundred years.