101 Days!
We’ve arrived at the administration proper. Before we dive in, though, here’s Goldfarb at the Weekly Standard doing the honors on Dear Leader’s First 100 press conference:
One thing that is certain: Obama’s answers weren’t nearly as weak as the questions that prompted them. Jeff Zeleny embarrassed himself and his paper when he asked Obama what was the most “enchanted” moment of his first 100 days. I was unable to see whether the question was read out of a My Little Unicorn notepad. Readers of the New York Times may wonder why the Obama administration approved a dramatic reenactment of the 9/11 attacks using real fighter planes and a lifesize 747. They won’t find the answer in tomorrow’s paper, though they’ll be delighted to learn that “the ship of state is an ocean liner; it’s not a speed boat.”
In other words, Obama wants credit for closing Gitmo even though there’s only one less prisoner there than when he was inaugurated and his administration has no good answer for what to do with the rest. Obama wants credit for his handling of the economy even though the economy contracted at a worse than expected 6.1% in the first quarter of this year. Obama wants credit for rejecting the false choice between our security and our ideals even though you only get credit for that if your policies keep the American people safe.
And here’s Tom Shales at the Washington Post carrying the luggage in an embarrassing bit of must-read soppery.
“Now let me write this down,” the president said with perfect comic timing. And he did appear to be jotting down the four terms so he could answer them in order — no hint of talking down to the questioner or making light of the question.
Barack Obama is a truly flabbergasting president. And in a good way — not the way some of his predecessors were. He’s not flabberghastly.
When Obama answers a question, you don’t slap your forehead and moan, “Oh, brother!” He is, as guest expert David Gergen noted on CNN after the news conference, not only “up to speed” on the pressing issues of our time but also articulate about addressing them in a friendly, accessible way. He’s not the student who wears a button that says, “Smartest kid in class,” but clearly he is, at least when surrounded by the White House press corps.
Obama can use a five-dollar word such as “overarching” in one sentence and a few sentences later utter a folksy “doggone it.” His verbiage is a melting pot that’s always bubbling. A few times, he did stumble over words, and once or twice appeared semantically stranded, unable to find the precise language he wanted to use. But compare him with his predecessor and such moments seem trifling.
Dennis Miller, via Ace: Odd times when Miss California gets tougher questions than the president of the United States. Surber, helpfully if hurtfully interpreting Obama’s vague obfuscatory punt, “Obama: Waterboarding worked.” Hot Air, meanwhile, was inspired by the enchantment.
OK, it’s Day 101, that’s all in the rearview. Glancing around at the news, I don’t see that the president is doing much of anything except maybe getting ready to nationalize the auto industry. Nationalize it some more, that is. I do notice that Rove is making cutting remarks about Obama “outsourcing his presidency.”
So for now, here’s the Veep, who wants to shut down all major cities. Just in case. Politico:
Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would not recommend taking any commercial flight or riding in a subway car “at this point” because swine flu virus can spread “in confined places.” A little more than one hour later, Biden rushed out a statement backing off.
“I would tell members of my family – and I have – I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now,” Biden said on NBC’s “Today” show.. “It’s not that it’s going to Mexico. It’s [that] you’re in a confined aircraft. When one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft. That’s me. …
Fortunately, no limousine liberal is faced with that horrible choice. Mass transit is for … the masses. And we’re between peak jet-setting seasons.
“So, from my perspective, what it relates to is mitigation. If you’re out in the middle of a field when someone sneezes, that’s one thing. If you’re in a closed aircraft or closed container or closed car or closed classroom, it’s a different thing.”
That contradicted more restrained advice from President Barack Obama and the federal government – and the last thing the White House wants to do right now is shut down the airline industry and big city subways out of mass panic.
The White House quickly arranged for Biden to make this statement through a spokesperson.
I love that guy. Remember how he was supposed to be the old white guy in the jumpseat reassuring the gun-toting religion-clingers that the black kid wouldn’t go off half-cocked?
Sorry, we’re never quite done with rearward glances. This one compliments of Obama and the AP, of all Obamist news agencies, which notes the president is is now claiming to have inherited his own actions. “That wasn’t me” Obama says about the $1.3 trillion deficit. AP fact check notes he was part of the Dem Cong that forged the two prior years of unbalanced budgets, that he backed the Bush stimulus before taking office, at which point he signed off on the massive Porkulus crafted by the drunken, rampaging chimp also known as the Dem Cong he had recently been a part of. In fairness, though, Obama didn’t exactly serve much in the United States Senate during that period. He served mainly on the campaign trail. And since he was famously hands off in the Bush talks and didn’t bother to read the Porkulus before he signed it, he can fairly claim “That wasn’t me,” in a ”see-no-evil” kind of way.*
Doug Powers at Malkin re the same folksy townhall event notes Obama mocking the Tea Parties while offering to discuss critical financial matters, something the people “waving tea bags” would love to do. Gateway helpfully documents the proximity of revolting peasants he could have had that discussion with.
If the right is taking its marching orders from Rush Limbaugh, Powerline cruelly notes that Obama seems to be taking his cues from Andrew Sullivan. Powerline examines the “We don’t torture” Churchill quote, and remarks on Obama’s preference for alternative histories. The irony of a Churchill citation by the guy who snubbed the Brits be sending back his bust is not lost on Powerline.
* That would be the first of the three monkeys. Despite the recent uproar over the inappropriateness of a New York Post cartoonist suggesting Congress is a drunken, rampaging chimp when the sitting president of the United States happens to be a black man, it would be condescension of the worst kind of we had to tiptoe around a time-tested cliche of political mockery that has been applied to virtually every president in the modern era, just because it happens to involve simians. Somehow I don’t think there will be many takers on this free throw in the post-racial era, though.
Ironic that it’s the AP that sets it up, given the AP’s obsession with picking through people’s remarks for evidence of racism. But credit where credit is due. PoliGazette congratulates the AP for noticing that Obama’s budget plans are an “eyeball-roller” of an economic disaster.
Topics: Obama
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:35 am Comments (8) on Thursday, April 30, 2009
8 Responses to “101 Days!”
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April 30th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
[...] Jules, geoff b, Terry H) Posted by Jeff G. @ 10:01 am | Trackback SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “The Age [...]
April 30th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Nice Catch!
The questioners were so uncurious about the answers, they just let the President slide. On top of that, the format which permitted a whopping total of 13 questions was an embarrassment.
The DC press corps should indeed be embarrassed about their lack of energy and curiosity. They never even attempted a follow up question. Emanuel may have forbidden follow ups but those rules never stopped these hyenas from pushing previous Presidents on their responses.
The media’s bias is revealed in what is ‘unasked’ as much as by what journalists did ask.
http://firstconservative.com/blog/conservative-blogs/obama-press-conference-unasked-questions
April 30th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the – Web Reconnaissance for 04/30/2009 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.
April 30th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
I read over at Hot Air that Obama lost 29% of his audience since his last presser.
Boring.
April 30th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Couldn’t be bothered to watch. Had more important things to do. Even so, could probably recite all the hopeandchange talking points anyway. Still don’t buy the fault-dodging self-puffery.
April 30th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
[...] (Right) actually sees things my way (at least partially); Jules Crittenden (Right) says “I love that guy“; Ed Morrissey of Hot Air (Right) takes the “oh-so-offended moral high [...]
May 1st, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Yeah, I couldn’t watch it either. I was busy scraping my corns and sorting socks. I really wish i had the time to devote to “His Lightness” but there’s only so much time in each day.
I was also wondering why it is that Miss America gets harder questions than the “Lightworker”. Maybe it’s hard for him to concentrate on difficult questions when he’s being teabagged by the press. :)
May 2nd, 2009 at 7:16 am
A table turning “Let ME tell YOU how the first 100 Days went. I was fantastic!
http://www.jourtegrity.blogspot.com