So, I just watched Obama's third press conference of the year. For some reason, my reaction to it was so strong I felt compelled to post this thread. It's no secret that I disagree with Obama on the vast majority of issues. Despite that, there have been speeches he's made that I've thought were good. Notably, his speech on the Giffords shooting and the most recent State of the Union. I thought both were quite good, appropriate in tone and in message. This latest "speech" (which is what it turned into) is not one of them.
I won't really focus on his specific plans, ideas, claims and positions. Suffice it to say that I don't think spending billions more on infrastructure and "green energy" is going to help the economy, nor do I think that pulling 10,000 troops out of Afghanistan will help us succeed there, nor do I agree that he can continue to thumb his nose at Congress over Libya. I've accepted that Obama either A) honestly believes his economic policies will succeed or B) defines success as implementing his vision of a "remade" America, not by economic success.
Instead, I want to focus on the way he conducted himself, because frankly, that's what really bothered me. In short, he looked like an animatronic Constitutional lawyer giving giving a lecture to a bunch of wide-eyed 1-Ls at Harvard. Every answer droned on, sometimes for as much as 5 minutes. Each one sounded like it was read from a legal brief. There was not one answer that was to the point. I realize Presidents and politicians in general do this, but it was striking. Each answer was so wordy and evasive--to the point where several times I asked myself "what the hell is he talking about?"
His answers were also angry, condescending and self-serving. Many times he scolded Congress for daring to warn him on the War Powers Resolution (by "warn" I mean "ask for an explanation). He told them to "do their jobs" to get the debt deal done. Many answers contained statements began with "This administration, under my direction..." and ended with "no other administration has done that" or "in the previous administration" or "in the past decade." The best (worst) was when he talked about tough economic times and said "we know what to do." Really? Do you?
He used scare tactics as well. Discussing the August 2nd debt ceiling deadline, he said that it was a "hard deadline" and that the U.S would "not be able to pay its bills" after that date (later, he claimed it would happen unless something got done this week). This is clearly false, as tax receipts would allow us to keep paying bills for quite some time. He also extrapolated that "we" would then have to make choices about what bills to pay, meaning we might not "[be able to send out veterans' benefits and social security checks"]. He scolded Congress again for spending the money, but not paying the credit card bill. Of course, he left out that he pushed for most of that spending by ramming through the "stimulus," healthcare and other bills.
I don't know...take it is a rant, take it as whatever. I just can't believe this guy looks at what's happening with the economy and frankly, his own polling numbers...then doubles down on everything that got us (and him) here to begin with.
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I won't really focus on his specific plans, ideas, claims and positions. Suffice it to say that I don't think spending billions more on infrastructure and "green energy" is going to help the economy, nor do I think that pulling 10,000 troops out of Afghanistan will help us succeed there, nor do I agree that he can continue to thumb his nose at Congress over Libya. I've accepted that Obama either A) honestly believes his economic policies will succeed or B) defines success as implementing his vision of a "remade" America, not by economic success.
Instead, I want to focus on the way he conducted himself, because frankly, that's what really bothered me. In short, he looked like an animatronic Constitutional lawyer giving giving a lecture to a bunch of wide-eyed 1-Ls at Harvard. Every answer droned on, sometimes for as much as 5 minutes. Each one sounded like it was read from a legal brief. There was not one answer that was to the point. I realize Presidents and politicians in general do this, but it was striking. Each answer was so wordy and evasive--to the point where several times I asked myself "what the hell is he talking about?"
His answers were also angry, condescending and self-serving. Many times he scolded Congress for daring to warn him on the War Powers Resolution (by "warn" I mean "ask for an explanation). He told them to "do their jobs" to get the debt deal done. Many answers contained statements began with "This administration, under my direction..." and ended with "no other administration has done that" or "in the previous administration" or "in the past decade." The best (worst) was when he talked about tough economic times and said "we know what to do." Really? Do you?
He used scare tactics as well. Discussing the August 2nd debt ceiling deadline, he said that it was a "hard deadline" and that the U.S would "not be able to pay its bills" after that date (later, he claimed it would happen unless something got done this week). This is clearly false, as tax receipts would allow us to keep paying bills for quite some time. He also extrapolated that "we" would then have to make choices about what bills to pay, meaning we might not "[be able to send out veterans' benefits and social security checks"]. He scolded Congress again for spending the money, but not paying the credit card bill. Of course, he left out that he pushed for most of that spending by ramming through the "stimulus," healthcare and other bills.
I don't know...take it is a rant, take it as whatever. I just can't believe this guy looks at what's happening with the economy and frankly, his own polling numbers...then doubles down on everything that got us (and him) here to begin with.
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To save time, assume I know everything.
To save time, assume I know everything.
