SebastianJer

Obama the Unseemly

Posted by: sebastianjer, 1:15 PM GMT on April 29, 2012

Obama the Unseemly

A more aggressive press corps might have motivated him to preserve his dignity.

By JAMES TARANTO

There's been a lot of talk of late about how "cool" Barack Obama supposedly is. But people are starting to notice the man has no class.

"Blue collar Democratic voters, stuck taking depressing 'staycations' because they can't afford gas and hotels, are resentful of the first family's 17 lavish vacations around the world and don't want their tax dollars paying for the Obamas' holidays, according to a new analysis of swing voters," reports the Washington Examiner's Paul Bedard.

A group of Republican pollsters conducted focus groups of swing-state swing voters, mostly Democrats and independents, and John McLaughlin "handled blue collar and Catholic voters" in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. He found that they tend to think Mitt Romney is "too rich," but "there is a start of resentment of the government." In Bedard's words, "voters were also lumping in the president's vacation spending in with the General Services Administration's Las Vegas scandal and federal spending for those who aren't looking for work."

Obama is also notorious for his golf outings. Blogress Ann Althouse, another swing voter (she has admitted supporting Obama in 2008), notes that George W. Bush was "savaged" for going golfing "when Americans were fighting and dying." Michael Moore made hay of it in his 2004 agitprop film "Fahrenheit 9/11," notwithstanding that Bush had given up golf in 2003 on the ground that it was unseemly: "I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong message." Althouse opens her post with a story about the latest casualties in Afghanistan.

Althouse further criticizes Obama for his appearance earlier this week on the NBC show "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," in which, as Althouse notes, "Obama performs 5 minutes of a musically sexualized speech about students. . . . It's wearing down my sense of the outlandish." We watched part of the Fallon video and found it to be a head-scratcher. The president seems to be making a serious policy argument (in favor of extending subsidies for college debt), Fallon is sucking up to him, and somehow it's supposed to be a comedy routine. We guess you had to be there.

The student-debt debate has underscored another unattractive aspect of Obama's presidential style: his tendency to be always and indiscriminately on the attack. The Washington Post's Rosalind Helderman notes that the president not only personally attacked two Republican congressmen, Missouri's Todd Akin and North Carolina's Virginia Foxx, but grievously misquoted both of them.

Helderman dryly notes that "it is somewhat unusual for a sitting president to single out individual rank-and-file members of the opposition party for criticism and scorn in public speeches." She quotes Speaker John Boehner: "Frankly, I think this is beneath the dignity of the White House."

But is anything beneath the dignity of the Obama White House? This, after all, is the same president who has ignorantly blasted the Supreme Court and Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee. The only difference in his attacks on Akin and Foxx is that he is manifestly punching down. What next? Will he go after private citizens?

Oh ha ha, he's doing that already, as our colleague Kim Strassel notes:

This past week, one of his campaign websites posted an item entitled "Behind the curtain: A brief history of Romney's donors." In the post, the Obama campaign named and shamed eight private citizens who had donated to his opponent. Describing the givers as all having "less-than-reputable records," the post went on to make the extraordinary accusations that "quite a few" have also been "on the wrong side of the law" and profiting at "the expense of so many Americans."

Strassel likens Obama's demonization to Richard Nixon's "enemies list," which "appalled the country for the simple reason that presidents hold a unique trust." It's an apt comparison, but even Nixon delegated much of his attack-doggery to his vice president, Spiro Agnew. We guess Joe Biden is too goofy for that role so Obama has to do it himself.

It seems to us that Althouse is on to something in suggesting that part of the reason Obama conducts himself in such an unseemly way is that the mainstream media are largely Democratic partisans, inclined to give their man a pass. True, there are plenty of alternative media voices now, but it's relatively easy for a leftist president to dismiss them and continue to enjoy the adulation of the so-called mainstreamers, who have also been suggesting lately that Obama is a shoo-in for re-election because he is so likable.

The McLaughlin findings point to the risk that that isn't the case. Obama could end up losing because sycophantic media encouraged him to act in such an unseemly way.

There's a parallel in the way the media have strained to play down bad economic news. A couple of hilarious examples come from NPR's website today: A homepage title asked: "Is Slow Growth Actually Good for the Economy?" (The actual story, which has a less risible title, pretty much answers in the negative.) And an NPR "Special Series" is titled "Looking Up: Pockets of Economic Strength."

Remember when the economy was strong and there were pockets of poverty? In November, it is possible the voters will.
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2. Skyepony (Mod) 2:13 PM GMT on April 29, 2012
Jer~ It was nice to see your thoughts. I'm tired of working one side against the other. Swing hard the other way in hopes of undoing the last. It's not working. It's what they want you to do. It keeps driving the wedge. Shep~ It would be nice to have a president that was looking out for everyone's best interest not just the corporations & ultra-rich. That is not the same thing as give all the rich's money to the underachievers. You hate obamacare but like Rick Scott? Wow.. I'm still kicking myself for not buying AVmed stock when Scott won. He reduced many, many people's heathcare choices to AvMed only right away. All his anti obamacare & then the first moment he got he pulled Scottcare on FL benefiting the Pharm lining his pocket. Transit was upsetting too. We voted for mass transit. Demanded it. We spend way too much time sitting in our cars in traffic here, on roads we have to pay tolls to drive on, while our road dollars buys cameras to watch us. Now he wants to put tolls on all new roads. If we can't get around we can't be ambitious. Are you saying you would vote for a third party candidate? Are you saying you would help split the vote? Are you saying you would cut of your nose to spite your face? I have a vote & there is more than two people running for president. Are you going to keep doing everything the box in your living room tells you...no matter bad it hurts this country? Member Since: August 10, 2005 Posts: 145 Comments: 29988

3. spathy 2:58 PM GMT on April 29, 2012
Sky Glad to see you here this morning. Sorry I came off way too flippant and rude last evening. I should know better than to blog while I am tired and cranky. Member Since: June 8, 2008 Posts: 65 Comments: 10529

4. NumberWise 3:33 PM GMT on April 29, 2012
Skye, I keep getting the impression that you do, in fact, agree with Jer and many of us on the issues, although you sometimes seem to have different priorities and thoughts about the problems causing the issues. I'm tired of working one side against the other - I agree! I was surprised to read: Are you going to keep doing everything the box in your living room tells you...no matter bad it hurts this country? It seems to me that most who post seriously here are in direct opposition to what the box tells us. It's difficult to engage in a thoughtful discussion of the issues, priorities, candidates, and choices when people are put on the defensive. I've often thought of commenting on or asking about some opinion you have presented here, but I refuse to engage in the "attacking the messenger" game. Member Since: October 22, 2005 Posts: 0 Comments: 1569

5. shoreacres 5:09 PM GMT on April 29, 2012
Interesting article up top, with one bit of classic understatement: "...people are starting to notice the man has no class." It's worse than that. I made myself sit through his schtick at the White House Correspondents' dinner, and came away disgusted, amazed and more than a little disturbed. I've watched personalities unravel in a clinical setting, and there's nothing pretty about it. What we've seen from Barack Obama is nothing compared to what we're going to see under the continuing stress of a campaign. As for the rest - if I need bathroom humor, I know a few five-year-olds I can turn to. And if I were Hillary Clinton, my resignation would already be on the President's desk. The President of the United States saying his Secretary of State "won't stop drunk-texting me from Cartagena"? Really. If Clinton doesn't resign, she has no more respect for herself than the President has for her. Member Since: October 4, 2004 Posts: 196 Comments: 14842

6. theshepherd 6:57 PM GMT on April 29, 2012
NumberWise...Dittos Skye...You don't know me very well. There is a huge Hickory tree in the SE corner of my property that has grown to magnificent proportions. It has done so at the peril of my satellite reception. For over a year I have been unable to receive a signal from Fox News. I really don't miss it and I refuse to cut the tree or move my dish. Good trade. I do however, receive MSNBC. As when I use to receive Fox, I still often watch Morning Joe just to see what the Fairy Dusters are thinking. I watch science, adventure and movies. That's about it other than House or Person of Interest :). I much prefer to catch Stephen Hawking posing an over-assuming hypothesis and jump to mathematically moot points than to listen to talking heads...or the stupidity of bubble nucleation transport to alternate universes...or the stupidity of the idea that T Rex could not have been a predator because he had short arms,etc.. I am now, and have always been, far removed from "in the box". The box is boring as all hell and I refuse to waste my life there. I am the definition of old school. My Father was born in 1897 [he was truly a Renaissance man] and I in 1950. I've been a highly diversified craftsman, artist and student all my life. It's difficult to blow anything up my skirt. In response to your reference that I let talking heads shape who I am.I will not disrespect my own thinking anymore than I would disrespect that wonderful old Hickory tree in the SE corner of my property. I think it serves us all well to stop occasionally and examine our own brand. Member Since: September 11, 2008 Posts: 9 Comments: 8353

7. seflagamma 7:20 PM GMT on April 29, 2012
I agree with Shore, what our current POTUS is doing is an embarrassment to us all. I cannot believe that having a "cool dude" Pres is better than having a smart one. This man cannot be re-elected or we are in deep trouble..Mitt is not the best we had to work with but he is the one the GOP establishment supported and the most people voted for so we have to go with it... Jer, I liked what you said in prev blog.. maybe he will go in and slash many of those expensive government programs that are not necessary and not supported by the Constitution. I see all these foolish women out there protesting and waving posters saying GOP wants to take away their birth control and their rights for abortions.. some even say they will take away their vote.. what planet are these women living on??? Some of them are my friends and I just wonder..how can anyone in their right mind really believe that will happen... Birth control has always been available..and always will be available.. what gives??? Member Since: August 29, 2005 Posts: 287 Comments: 40512

8. NavarreMark 7:21 PM GMT on April 29, 2012
The talking heads are always talking about how "likable" the president is. Likable to whom? I just can't see it. He seems rather cold to me. Doesn't seem to be a happy person. Member Since: September 2, 2010 Posts: 0 Comments: 3792

9. NumberWise 8:23 PM GMT on April 29, 2012
Likable to whom? I've wondered the same thing. Unlike you, Shoreacres, I wasn't able to stomach the whole schtick. Even reading the transcript was ugly and embarrassing. Although I'm not sure the Clintons are really sensitive about disrespect and shame, I do think that Obama owes Hillary an apology. Member Since: October 22, 2005 Posts: 0 Comments: 1569

10. sebastianjer 9:08 PM GMT on April 29, 2012
Quoting NumberWise: Likable to whom? I've wondered the same thing. Unlike you, Shoreacres, I wasn't able to stomach the whole schtick. Even reading the transcript was ugly and embarrassing. Although I'm not sure the Clintons are really sensitive about disrespect and shame, I do think that Obama owes Hillary an apology. Regarding both yours and Shores comments on Hillary and what she "ought" to do. What I am about to say is an infectious political disease on both the right and the left, it is bipartisan. It is simply this: Persons belonging to the political class in general and on the Federal level in particular are more interested in political "positioning" than quaint little concepts such as honor,respect or principles. Being on the correct side of the current power player or clique is far more important to most politicians than doing what is right. There are only a hand full of people in national politics who I believe make even the majority of their decisions based on some foundation of an inner moral code. Whether I agree with their politics or not those few who do I truly admire since they are so rare. This "corruption" of politicians is the very reason that the Founder's devised our government in the way that they did. In an attempt to limit the possibilities which they knew to be the truth that power corrupts they attempted to spread and check those powers through constitutional restraint. The abortion that generations of the political class have made of the these restraints is proof positive that they knew precisely what they were doing and the nature of political power's influence on society. To put it simply, Hillary is just a politician and we should not expect too much of them and that is why We The People need to control them lest they devour us. Member Since: August 26, 2005 Posts: 1030 Comments: 11197

11. sebastianjer 9:24 PM GMT on April 29, 2012
A MOURNFUL MILESTONE SENATE DEMOCRATS “CELEBRATE” THREE YEARS WITHOUT A BUDGET Sunday, April 29, 2012, is an anniversary unprecedented in the history of American politics, marking three years since the Democratic-led Senate last complied with federal law by passing a budget. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 stipulates that Congress must approve a budget resolution by April 15 of each year. In the Senate, only 51 votes are needed to pass a budget, as budgets are one of the few pieces of legislation invulnerable to a filibuster. Democrats currently control 53 seats. Democratic lawmakers have offered myriad excuses for their refusal to offer a budget, none of which hold up to scrutiny, critics say. Most recently, Senate Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad (D., N.D.) has suggested it would be politically unfeasible to present a budget during a presidential election year.... Member Since: August 26, 2005 Posts: 1030 Comments: 11197

12. RobDaHood 10:06 PM GMT on April 29, 2012
"...quaint little concepts such as honor,respect or principles..." And therein lies the problem! Really, I have WU friends and real life friends that aren't really that far apart, if we can break free of party ties, concentrate on common ground and come together. It is the polarization of America by the politicos and the media that divides us. We are better than that. Member Since: September 2, 2008 Posts: 80 Comments: 26405

13. NumberWise 12:46 AM GMT on April 30, 2012
Jer, you're right, of course. Although I know that the power is more important than the principles, it's antithetical to my way of viewing things. Member Since: October 22, 2005 Posts: 0 Comments: 1569

14. Ossqss 2:09 AM GMT on April 30, 2012
Wow, interesting comments today. Thanks for the good reads and I am thankful that Hickory tree was not in the way so I could get signal tonight :) I offer this little tidbit. If the economy is ill, we all eventually become ill. No matter who, or what you are, you are susceptible to such. It just hits you at a different point in the process. Now remember, if you vote for a 3rd party in this election, you basically voted for the existing administration. Just look at the European problems and you get a glimpse of what comes for us if we continue down this path.\ To mimic what we vividly see and know as failure, is just suicidal. Makes me think of a song, go figure (ª¿ª) Member Since: June 12, 2005 Posts: 6 Comments: 8154

15. Ossqss 3:28 AM GMT on April 30, 2012
Gnight folks. Remember, everybody will dance soon! You better be ready to do such. It will be your choice again as to who runs things and makes the executive orders that make YOU different. Remember it! Member Since: June 12, 2005 Posts: 6 Comments: 8154

16. nykid84 12:49 PM GMT on April 30, 2012
Supporting a candidate simply for the fact that he is the person who the establishment chose is the height of absurdity. Member Since: August 26, 2010 Posts: 0 Comments: 14

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