What would we ever do without the foreign press? One of my colleagues alerts me to this report from the U.K. about Barack Obama’s relationship with George Clooney:
‘George is pushing him to be more “balanced” on issues such as US relations with Israel. George is pro-Palestinian. And he is also urging Barack to withdraw unconditionally from Iraq if he wins. It’s a very risky relationship. His hope of becoming America’s first black President depends heavily on winning over conservative voters and it would be suicidal for him to be perceived as a tool of a Hollywood Leftie, which is how they regard George. But they text and email each other almost every day and speak on the phone at least a couple of times a week, often more.’ The Ocean’s Eleven star is among many Hollywood figures to have endorsed Obama, including Barbra Streisand, Scarlett Johansson, Warren Beatty and Steven Spielberg. One of Clooney’s trusted acquaintances said: ‘George is a master at crafting his own image and he is helping Obama to hone his image both domestically and abroad. ‘He told me he feels Obama is a once-in-a-lifetime leader. He is doing everything he can behind the scenes to bolster support in Hollywood, not just with other celebrities but with the money men at the studios.’ The acquaintance added: ‘He has tried to keep the true extent of their involvement out of the Press because he is frightened of alienating voters.’
Yeah, it’s probably a good idea that voters in the U.S. don’t find out that he is spending his time listening to left-wing claptrap from a movie star. People might get the idea that Obama is not a serious candidate, or at the very least can’t even muster up the nerve to tell his own adoring friends that he disagrees with their brilliant discourses on national security. Worse yet, they might think that private emails with his closest admirers provide a more telling insight into the mind of The Chosen One than carefully-crafted speeches by campaign advisors.
UPDATE: The Obama camp now is denying the Clooney story (which part of the story isn’t clear). The only solution: release the text messages!
I’ve never witnessed a US president rise and fall so quickly.
The narrative was that the Stimulus Plan was crafted by Nancy Pelosi, so blame her for the mess. Now, President Obama has taken over the ownership of the plan from her just as the plan’s approval rating has tanked.
I just want to say, it’s totally adorable how you Republicans believe you are going to thwart the Obama. It’s like watching Pee Wee football — you know, when the really little kids strap on the big guys’ pads and give it their all. Totally cute. I, for one, think that all the members of Congress should get trophies at the end of the term, no matter how poorly they did, just so everyone feels like a winner, you know? Especially John Boehner, because he always looks like he’s about to cry.
Whatever happened to Obama’s promise to go through bills line-by-line with his pen? I am beginning to suspect that President Obama thinks that words are tools which are to be deployed to get people to move in the direction he wants them to move, and little more.
Chester’s point is well taken. The Democrats have all three parts of the legislative branch (to use an old formulation for it). Their goal, just now, is to pass what they want, and, at the same time, blame the GOP for anything unpopular in the bill. Sound politics.
I’m beginning to think Obama doesn’t know what he’s up to. I’m increasingly thinking his main motivation, drive, is a need to be adored, preferably from a distance. All his chops are directed to that. Now that he’s supposed to be in charge, he’s lost.
“So which is it: Is he defending the exiting bill or getting ready to scrub (and scrap) it? If I were Snowe, I’d be asking why he is telling her one thing and the Washington Post readers something completely different.”
Jen, it’s all Obamaspeak. Obama has repeatedly said that different people “hear” different things. He is duplicitous and deliberately obtuse, so he can change course when it suits him. Snowe job, Zinni job…Pinning down Obama is like trying to nail Jello to a wall.
Wow, Rasmussen has Obama’s approval up four points in three days!
Jemifer: Geez. What a collapse. I mean Obama’s approval nos. are barely three times Bush’s average. Big deal if two-thirds of Americans think he’s doing a great job. His presidency is collapsing I tell you … and George Bush was a great president, hundreds of years from now historians will agree … and Iraq did try to buy yellowcake from Niger … and the IDF wasn’t embarrassed when it went into Lebanon … and Barney Frank did cause the economic collapse ….
Nurse: That’s alright, honey. It’s time for your medication. Afterward we’ll loosen these straps and take you out in the courtyard for some sun.
My activism is motivated by compassion and moral principle, right?
But is compassion really my primary motive?
Wait, where did that thought come from?
How dare you question my aims.
Compassion and justice – those are my primary motives, right?
So why am I so hostile to those who disagree with my moral aims?
Sometimes, it seems my outbursts are actually counterproductive to the ends I desire, but I can not help myself.
So I am in the right, right?
Why can’t I help myself from these sort of outbursts though?
My principles are sound, right?
Where is this doubt coming from?
marybel,
I beleive that George Orwell would heartliy approve of the term ‘Obamaspeak’.
I like it. It may have legs.
Obama’s doublespeak is indicative of the political choice he is faced with: either chop the bill in half, stripping it of his beloved long-term liberal reforms, and gain near unanimous support; or give enough small concessions to peal off enough Republicans in the Senate to gain passage.
Obama, being the competitive guy that he is, might view the former as a defeat, which will be how the liberal media paints. On the other hand, if he takes the latter course, he’ll be hailed as a victor, showing dazzling genius, adaptability and ability to learn on the job. The new “Comback Kid.”
My money is on the latter. However, the daily trend is in the direction of the former.
“…the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems…”
Whatever tax cuts cannot solve, maybe the government should not try to fix.
“that we can ignore fundamental challenges such as energy independence and the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive.”
We have ignored them many times before and our economy and country have thrived many times before. What’s your point O?
At first I thought this was a Pelosi bill, but now I’m beginning to agree with those bloggers who have been saying it was Obama’s all along.
Here’s the most unfortunate reality about our economy,and neither the Dems,nor the Reps are up to facing it. Our economic situation is like Madoff’s fund,bankrupt and unsustainable. However, we want a rerun of our glory days,”we had the greatest economic expansion in the history of our nation”,our hacks continue to parrot,we want those Madoff guarantees back,with interest. It was a bubble,a scam,a mass illusion like the Tulips. If we don’t address the underlying cancer,which is our currency, you can stimulate,you can cut taxes to the bone,it doesn’t matter because our lifeblood,our money,has leukemia.
Jank – yes it is, and now his beloved stimulus bill is in the tank and congress’ approval rating continues to fall. So what does the One do – he talks out of both sides of his mouth and manages to foist the stinking carcas of a stimulus bill – which no one now believes is one – and takes it off Pelosi’s hands. SO now the arrows can be fired at him. Great way to waste your political capital. Once he buys it – he is going to have to strip the liberal wish list items away, or the stimulus package goes around his neck, not the Congress.
I don’t see what the problem is for him though. The House GOP cannot stop him and the GOP Senate short of a filibuster can’t either. No way this will filibuster. This is like shooting fish in a barrel. The GOP can say we do not feel this will work, we have said so, we have offered ideas that we feel would work better. The democrats disagree. They won the election, they have the majority to proceed as they see fit. Go for it. If they felt this was going to work it would have passed by now. That is the problem. This will be Obama’s signature event in year one. The praise or pain will be his. And he just doesn’t know. If he had the courage of his convictions it would be done. I am guessing that a few democratic senators have said be careful here. GOP can completely vote against this – and run the same risk. Then we watch and see what happens with 2010.
I wasn’t going to take out the garbage this morning but poll results convinced me to head for the trash can.
Jank,
If you want to measure a President’s success by his approval ratings, then have at it. On the other hand, there are still some of us out there who realize that true leadership requires doing the right thing, rather than doing the thing that might get you a short-term uptick or two in your approval ratings.
If his approval ratings are heading in a direction that commen sense says they should not be heading in, then maybe it’s time to question the polls.
Can polls be manipulated? Of course.
We all know that polls trail events. At the time this poll was taken, the public was angry at congressional democrats for loading up the bill with pork. Now Obama has taken the bill and defended the pork. Well for now anyway!
I seem to remember Democrats always crying that Bush was scaring people with terrorist threats to get his security measures passed.
Looking at today’s headlines, “Obama warns of economic catastrophe if stimulus bill is not passed” seems as if the dems don’t quite practice what they preach.
And JEM is exactly right. If Obama thought this was so critical and so right then it would have passed. But he’s not sure so he wants as many Republicans on board as possible so he doesn’t have to take the blame.
No one has a clue how to fix this – although I for one would eliminate the payroll tax to start – but it appears that Obama wants to vote present on his own bill and let others take responsibility.
You gotta wonder how a fella that had a pretty cosmopolitan upbringing, stints at Columbia and Harvard, and time spent in state and national legislatures could have so many problems so soon in his tenure. Didn’t he learn how the political process works? Nancy Pelosi was elected by the 8th congressional district, San Francisco, the smallest congressional district in the country. BHO’s national political capital dwarfs that of Botox Nan, especially considering that Rahm Emmanuel is on team O. Setting up a winnable confrontation with her and putting her in her place should be job one for him. Her feminine but formidable ego is going to be a serious problem until he rearranges the desks in the Democrat classroom. The longer he puts it off, the harder it will be to do.
People, the problem is that we are a divided nation. Believe it or not, GWB recognized it, but just plowed ahead doing what he thought was the right thing to do. Our current president believes that these two sides can be put into harmony for the greater good of the nation. Therefore he isn’t clear on what he believes or does, tries to give every side of an issue a hearing (he knows people hear what they want to hear), and thinks his mellifluous tones can heal our divisions. Well it ain’t necessarily so, as he is finding out.
I continue to see the same pattern on this blog, even after the election. The liberals do not present facts or arguments. Each post contains 2 elements
1. taunt the original writer who posted the item
2. quote a poll showing a consensus of the masses for their opinion.
So, other than taunting and appealing to rule by consensus over an individual’s ability to reason, what are the liberals really offering?
#7,Jank: Wow, Rasmussen has Obama’s approval up four points in three days!
Rasmussen, presidential approval ratings:
total approve: 2/01:63 2/05:62
strongly approve: 2/01:44 2/05:39
I wonder the same thing but also what their motive is for posting at all. Are they attempting to bring enlightenment to the darkness of Contentions? Doesn’t seem like it. Are they showing that their ideology, whatever it might be, is superior in some way? Can’t seem to detect that. Are they trying to add to their own stock of knowledge, broaden their intellectual horizons? Definitely not. So, what are they doing?
#20,” we are a divided nation”
Right,but we are united in wanting a strong economy. And we’re in big trouble because we are also united in denying that we have to be in compliance with the laws of economics to restore our economic vitality. We want to continue the “Free Lunch” which has been the massive expansion of our money supply over decades. Expanding our money worked good for a while,but even Greenspan now admits the “fatal flaw” in the system which is that it is not automatically self-regulating. Shoulda known that one,but didn’t. We’re in big trouble,we’re united on that.
Rasmussen:
Support for Stimulus Package Falls to 37%.
43% are opposed, and 20% are not sure.
Two weeks ago, 45% supported the plan.
Last week, 42% supported it.
Rasmussen:
50% Say Stimulus Plan Likely to Make Things Worse
#15 Leeotis: Jank, If you want to measure a President’s success by his approval ratings …
… then get the numbers right.
O. is sliding – and his economic plan is in free fall.
Obomber also told the Euros he was going to eliminate the Buy American stuff….or did he? Upon further review, no, he only said he’d “work on it.” Nevermind.
Once again, this proves that Obama “screwed the pooch” when he left the crafting of the “stimulus” to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
If the press had vetted Obama even slightly better than a overeager teenager scopes out a prepaid hooker, this inexperienced naive wouldn’t be the one to deal with this omni-partisan mess.
#23, chuck martel:
“Are they trying to add to their own stock of knowledge, broaden their intellectual horizons? Definitely not. So, what are they doing?”
It’s called a hand job, my friend. And they are quite robotically skilled at it. Think of their repeat appearances as performance art. No interaction; all scripted (commanded? purchased?). Soon, the performance artists will flip the page and begin lambasting stupid Americans out in the hinterlands who are too dense to appreciate “the best and the brightest” crowd Obama has foisted upon us in D.C.
Worshippers in the (Greek) Temple of Obama never could grasp how ill-equipped he is to handle day-to-day governing, much less war/crisis governing. Too late now for buyer’s remorse.
#20 – I think you give him too much credit. I am afraid as he thinks it he says it and then wonders whether he should say anything. The story line of his comments on Daschle and the stimulus bill are examples of someone who is pretty shallow and really doesn’t believe in anything he is saying. He isn’t trying to be bipartisan, I think he is guy who prefers to waffle until he absolutely knows what to say for political purposes up against his thought that I am the guy, I won, and I can do no wrong. Axelrod needs to spend mega time with him. Remember when we worried if the One could work off prompter? I think we have our answer. Absent some quick learning, Carter II would be an optimistic forecast. He could be much worse. Being an executive of anything is different, and he doesn’t have a clue what that is.
I mean Obama’s approval nos. are barely three times Bush’s average
You took Statistics Pass/Fail didn’t you, Jank? That is, if you made it out of Remedial Algebra.
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