President Me
On the road, trying to sell a couple of books—the Willy Loman of suspense fiction, that's me—which is why I haven’t been able to post much. In Nashville yesterday where I talked to an awful lot of people who’ve lost their jobs, who are working two jobs to keep going, working two lower level jobs when they used to do better. Some of this is because of last May’s flooding, which economists say cost the city a year’s worth of economic activity. All the same, something about talking to these folks and then turning on the TV to see President Me poncing around Indonesia with a bazillion dollars worth of our money makes my stomach twist. It’s just bad form is all, and speaks to me of his lofty indifference to the man in the street. Take his speech—quoting from memory—“Much has been made of my returning to the scenes of my youth…” I haven’t made much of it. I don’t make much of it now. I couldn’t give a rat's whisker about the scenes of his youth. I would just like to see him pluck his head out of his own self-regard long enough to implement some basic economic measures—less government spending, leaner, smarter regulations—so that the people who have the drive and self-reliance to work two more real jobs simultaneously than Obama has ever held in his entire life can start to build our country back up again.
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Jul '10
Re: President Me
Only 728 days to the next election.
Oct '10
Re: President Me
"Government cannot relieve from toil....Self government means self support." - Calivn Coolidge.
I love that line - Government cannot relieve from toil.
The problem is some believe it can and should. Americans know there is reward for putting your head down and working hard. Just get out of our way so we can get to it.
Oct '10
Re: President Me
I find myself asking the same question as Willy, er... Andrew; who is making a big deal about Obama returning to the "scenes of [his] youth"? Besides Obama, I mean.
The one thing that the president truly excels at is managing to make everything about him. I've never known anyone so completely full of self-regard while being so empty of reasonfor same. (I heartily apologize for the clunkiness of the preceding sentence)
Ed, at Hot Air highlighted a cringe-inducing exchange the president had with a CEO in Mumbai on Saturday. Tell me again how W's cowboy swagger made the U.S. lose standing in the world.
Sep '10
Re: President Me
Obama and the Democrats sre in for a rough two years. The more Obama makes it all about him, the less people like him. They also are turned off by his campaign persona with him dropin his G's talkin' to the folks.Unbecoming for a US President no matter who he his addressing. Did he talk that way at Harvard?
In about a year, Obama is going back into full campaign mode - for himself this time, and he's going to be especially grating. Who is he going to get to vote for him this time? He absolutely will not win the same amount of the "youth" vote, he's not getting any (or at least many) of those independents back, and I doubt he will even get the same numbers from his only remaing loyalists - black folks. Yes he won pretty convincingly - after 8 years of Bush, an unpopular war and a September surprise financial collapse, against a weak and incompetent candidate Mc Cain.
At some point he's going to realize he's not going to get another term. Maybe he already knows.
Jul '10
Re: President Me
The people making much of his return to the scenes of his youth are those hoping he would just stay there.
Oct '10
Re: President Me
Obama's self-involvement is insufferable, but he's getting some pretty decent reviews on the nuts and bolts side of the trip, which is a huge relief for a change.
Here's a Report Card from the American Enterprise Blog. Walter Russell Mead comments on Obama in Asia.
Apart from the narcissism, the most annoying part of his speeches abroad is the inevitable, misguided, attempt to show people his appreciation for their their culture and history..... by explaining their culture and history to them. What's worse, he's as likely to get it wrong as right.
Aug '10
Re: President Me
JM Hanes: Obama's self-involvement is insufferable, but he's getting some pretty decent reviews on the nuts and bolts side of the trip, which is a huge relief for a change.
Here's a Report Card from the American Enterprise Blog. Walter Russell Mead comments on Obama in Asia.
Apart from the narcissism, the most annoying part of his speeches abroad is the inevitable, misguided, attempt to show people his appreciation for their their culture and history..... by explaining their culture and history to them. What's worse, he's as likely to get it wrong as right. · Nov 9 at 1:51pm
It is almost too bad we are hearing good things from any quarter. I don't recall President Bush being allowed to have any of his good works touted by the press.
I say, let msnbc and npr continue to do their tongue bath and the watch the rest of the MSM quietly edge away towards improved Nielsens. Fox clocking better numbers than all the networks has to have registered pretty heavily in the minds of advertisers and owners.
May '10
Re: President Me
We are all just minor characters in his life story.
Oct '10
Re: President Me
flownover:
I have to admit it was hard to switch out of schadenfreude mode long enough to give Obama credit for something. Bush did some great things with India though, and it would be a shame to see Obama just throwing all that away too.
Aug '10
Re: President Me
So, Andrew, you were in Nashville? I heard nothing about it. I would have loved to have been there. Sorry i missed that.
We could use a little more shameless self-promotion from our contributors, perhaps.