The President and his advisors must believe these press conferences are helping the administration but the overall effect here in flyover country is that this president is all style and no substance.

I hope you're right. It would go a long way toward restoring my faith in the American electorate if the polls showed an immediate and total repudiation of everything he says and every action he takes.

Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words, just words.

That's the problem though, wolfwalker. Any poll you're going to see, they're not going to be polling in "fly-over country." Heaven knows I never heard of anyone getting polled while growing up in the midwest. They'll poll populated areas and draw their numbers from there.

Um... just going off what he said in his response to the taxes, and his mention of cap and trade.

I was under the impression that cap and trade was off the table, forced by the Dems as being too costly in the current environment.

Yet another flip flop? Forgot his message (due to no TOTUS)? Do I really need to ask?

At least Bill Clinton kept your interest when he was whamboozzling you.

I'm not sure what his message was, or is, or might be, or may be at some indefinite time in the future - it's just plain hard to tell. From listening to him, he seemed to be trying hard to be on all sides of the issue at the same time, so people can hear what they want to hear, and vote for him accordingly. He's all over the place - and not settling down to actually say what he wants.

This doesn't fill me with great confidence. I used to joke about the perpetual campaign for 2008, but he's already WON. He doesn't HAVE to campaign any more! He can actually choose a stance and stick with it!

But I don't think he can. All his career he's pandered to interest groups and gotten money by greasing the squeaky wheels. Every job he's had has merely been a stepping stone to the next level - to be gotten OUT of as fast as possible.

Now he's at the top. Why on earth is he still campaigning?

Had to quit watching the cspan video. He's not saying anything we haven't heard 100 times ad nauseum.

Does he really believe if he just repeats it often enough it'll start happening?

We have an economic and banking crisis, and he want's to address this by spending us into a deep dark hole of debt for health care? And he uses as his reasoning, that we can chose to spend it now and have a huge deficit, or we can chose to tackle it later, and still have a huge deficit?

I don't know about you, but when I'm trying to afford rent, I don't go about doing that by buying a plasma screen TV. It's insanity.

This man is an empty suit.

Hugh

Judging by your scathing review shall I take it that Obama's teleprompter had an off night?

I ain't seeing the "style".

I've more "style" in a can of Prell.

The TP was there -- hidden on a huge (soon to be outlawed by the greens) display behind the TV cameras.

Im sure you guys miss Bush's index cards and the wire running up the back of his suit in the first Kerry debate or that he insisted had to have Cheney with him when he was interviewed by the 9/11 commission.

As if Kerry didnt have a wire up His traitorous ass Crickmore.

Obamas teleprompter is making a fool of Him.

It may be worthwhile again to be reminded of how embarassing wizbang favorite George W. Bush, whom Drummond lauded as "one of the greatest US Presidents" ever, was at his last press conference, in the midst of the financial crisis. Try and endure even five minutes of his tautological childish explaining, just to see the comparison with a grownup successor.

"...just to see the comparison with a grownup successor."

Oh, when we going to see that? And as a reminder, Bush is GONE. Out of here. In Texas.
So who you going to blame now? The guy who was here, or the guy WHO IS SUPPOSED TO BE RUNNING THINGS NOW?

But then, Obama's forte is socialism, not economics.

Yeah i'd like to see a comparison with a grown up successor too.. But that is impossible until Hussein is history.

BHO will start saving and investing when the drunk will become sober, when the addict will become straight, and when Bill Clinton will become a faithful husband - TOMORROW. I'll believe it when I see it...but doubt I'll be fortunate enough to live that long.

crickmore - "Try and endure even five minutes of his tautological childish explaining,...."

Damn, you nailed it!

Just as barack hussein obama insists he's inherited the current problems it's obvious crickmore has seen reality and obama inherited Bush's speaking ability also.

President Obama is simply not believable.... His teleprompter has serious misgivings as well.

Oh, Steve, Steve, Steve...

Bush's index cards and the wire running up the back of his suit in the first Kerry debate

Unfortunately, I remember that debate. I remember the photos that showed quite convincingly that the bulge was probably some form of body armor.

That was also the debate where Kerry DID break the rules by sneaking something out of his jacket pocket while he had his back to the audience.

http://wizbangblog.com/content/2005/02/05/like-kryptonite.php

Links to supporting photos included, Steve...

J.

Didn't we go from the surplus under Clinton to the deficit under Bush ?

The point is that whatever Obama is proposing in his budget had to be done anyway, 8, 10, 16 years ago. What is happenning is that the bills are coming due.

How is government spending on healthcare going to turn us into savers and investors ? Well, cheaper healthcare for workers is a form of a tax cut. Portable health insurance that is not tied to an employer makes the workforce more dynamic.

You know, ever since Jay Tea left Wizbang the quality of posts degenerated to the level of rants you overhear as you pass the white trash section of town.
depp=true
notiz=Don't let the door hit you on the way out, OD.

This blog used to have some interest, some points. Now it's just some submissive creepy little "conservatives" crying like spoiled babies.

You guys got nothing. Your movement is over.

You want proof of that? Read the posts above.

"...President Obama told the nation tonight that he desires to move the country from an era of borrowing and spending to an era of saving and investment."

Wait, lemme guess. He stayed up late one night and saw the infomercial "Spend your way to wealth!"

Crickmore
"Try and endure even five minutes of his tautological childish explaining"

You mean Obama's explanation which has a complex mathematical formula and right in the middle are the words "AND THEN A MIRACLE OCCURS" .

---------------
OD
"The point is that whatever Obama is proposing in his budget had to be done anyway, 8, 10, 16 years ago"

Well half that time was under Clinton? You mean he didnt do his job right?

Also exaclty what is OBama doing that should have been done 16 years ago? Buying Condoms from another country? Spending thousands on bike paths? Running our country into debt by the TRILLIONS.

At least under Bush the debt was somewhat manageable.

Oh and about those surpluses under Clinton.

a. If they had taken out social security the budget was still in deficits.
b. We saw the effect on the military after 8 years of Clinton which was how he was able to cut so much spending.
c. The Dotcom boom helped tremendously as far as the economy under Clinton. You noticed that when it went bust so too did the surpluses.
d. 911 put a real crimp in the budget and nescessitated among other things increased spending on things like airport security.

Try looking at the WHOLE picture next time.

A few general points..Every President or politician for that matter, reads speeches from the teleprompter or looks down at his index cards.. so what. Yes, Bush is gone now, but look at what he has left behind..130,000 American troops in Iraq...a 13 trillion dollar national debt, a Dow Jones average 20% below what it was when he first took office 8 years ago..ands so on.

I am focusing on these trivial style points of speaking ability to evaluate your objectivity, as to the comparative performances of answering questions when there are no index cards or telepromter. Even a child can see that Obama is league above the previous occupant in terms of competency, motivation or ability to address complicated issues or answer questions on public policy.

We can all argue about policy..there are valid issues and differences, but in terms of ability or manner which most of you are talking about, well..

For an irreverent, profanity-laden counterpoint to Hugh's piece, check out what the Rude Pundit has to say today.

Go ahead, google "Rude Pundit."

You'll have to have a sense of humor and an open mind, though.

Wow! All the reviews are in and everyone agrees it was a great speech and press conference. Obama hits another one out of the park!

*fist bump*

I disagree with Obama on energy, like that's news. Obama has done a bait and switch. He has taken the strong support for energy independence and pretends it applies to the green energy global warming scam. Besides being deceptive, it's insulting to the American people as if they can't tell the difference.

Mac Lorry -

Yeah, his "We'll get off foriegn oil through green projects and jobs" act simply isn't believeable unless you've got little to no knowledge of the energy infrastructure here in the US.

But then, it's not really about making a workable plan, is it? If he were to go "We're going to do a massive expansion of nuclear power - but that will take time, and meanwhile to create jobs we'll go ahead and exploit domestic resources and drill here in the US, never forgetting our goal of being OFF fossil fuels completely in 25 years" I'd think he had a clue.

Our country's economy needs energy, and a LOT of it. We need oil for transportation, and a LOT of it. Shifting our oil from imported sources to domestic, with a serious goal of getting off the stuff - that would make sense. But the 'green sources, green jobs' feel-good stuff just doesn't pass the sniff test.

We can all argue about policy.. there are valid issues and differences, but in terms of ability or manner which most of you are talking about, well..

The major difference apart from style is humility. Bush had it, Obama doesn't. Obama talks as if he knows the answers, but that's yet to be seen. If his energy tax drags down the economy Obama will still talk as if he knows the answers, but we'll all know he's too stupid or proud to except the possibility that he's wrong. Only time will tell.

Wow! All the reviews are in and everyone agrees it was a great speech and press conference. Obama hits another one out of the park!

Lemme get this straight...the talking heads that sold this moron to the nation agree that he gave a great reading? Shocka...

Maybe if we could have the convictions and strength of character of George W. Bush melded with the charisma and speaking abilities of Barack Obama then we'd have a better president.

Oh, wait, we did: His name was Ronald Reagan.

The screeching by the liberals here tells me that they are in a panic about Obamalala's total ineptness.

"Obama talks as if he knows the answers, but that's yet to be seen.

They usually find lines of work more suited to their talents. One guy here (who was actually technically ept but REALLY sucked when it came to dealing with people, which is a requirement any more...) ended up working on a yard maintenance crew, last I heard. Another kept 'liberating' hard drives for his own use, and got jailed - now he's working as a used car salesman.

They knew all the answers, too. Damn shame they couldn't figure out what the real questions were.

This blog used to have some interest, some points. Now it's just some submissive creepy little "conservatives" crying like spoiled babies. gracecurl

I don't see anyone 'crying'. I do see people pointing out your lord and savior is an empty suit.

JLawson,
What I found in my professional work is that most of the people like you describe, and many others, end up in government jobs. Only to make things miserable for people like us to do our job or, heaven forbid, make a profit.

grace, I'd have to disagree. I'm enjoying this blog at least as much as I did back before the election -- if not more. The fresh blood has done wonders for the place. Quite frankly, the change was long overdue -- that guy who left was skating with burnout, and it showed.

J.

Hey J. Welcome back. :)

I wholeheartedly agree with JLawson on this point. "Yeah, his "We'll get off foriegn oil through green projects and jobs" act simply isn't believeable unless you've got little to no knowledge of the energy infrastructure here in the US."

I used to work at a nuke power plant just over a year ago, and we had 3 renewable sources on our portion of the grid. We had 2 hydro plants, and 1 wind farm, and it was ALWAYS a running joke as to how much of the baseload they provided.

We'd be chugging out our 800 MW like clockwork, and part of our pre-shift brief would be looking at the rest of the grid. And it would usually be "Oh, look. Ainsworth is providing 12 MW today." The hydro plants usually provided around 2 (and they had to be shut down during the winter due to icing concerns).

Anybody with half a clue knows "green energy" is a joke. Good for the odd personal application, HORRIBLE to base your national grid upon.

As for my personal fave, nuke power. It takes YEARS to get one up and running. I worked at Cooper Nuclear Station, and it took 6 years to go from granting the construction permit to having it on the grid. Take into account that was back when nuke power was popular. Heaven knows how long it would take now with the inevitable enviro-lunies running about mucking things up.

I think anyone with any sense of reason detected some varnish coming off The One in the eyes of the press. And Ann Compton's question was so planned. Way off topic. Just a way to make everyone know that Barry is black and there are racists out there. So very pathetic. ww

And when Barry was asked why it took him so long to come out against the "bonuses" he said he wanted to know what he was talking about first. What the hell does that mean? You either are angry or you are not. Another pass from the trolls here, but I know deep inside they see the facade slipping. Right Bruce? Just a little? ww

Actually, Willie, that was his way of telling Ed Henry to sit down and shut the f*ck up if he didn't understand his own question, as he obviously didn't. Seriously: God forbid the President of the United States give an issue some thought before deciding what to do about it. The rest of the press made an audible "Ooooh" noise, as in: "Ooooh, that little bug-person just got his ass handed to him."

Since when are you a defender of the eeeevil emmmm-essss-emmmmm, anyway?

"Jokes about the teleprompter aside, tonight's performance was weak and utterly opaque."-hugh s

As a radio listener I'd rate the press conference a "7" in intelligibility and an "8" in exhaustiveness. And I'm a hard grader!

The event set back the teleprompter meme 12 months BTW. *sad trombones*

Hyper, you read it as a The One follower. The moan was for the rudeness shown to one of their own. I did not say I support the MSM, what are you smoking today? Face it, everyone today is saying "why the hell did he have a prime time news conference?" For you I will break it down, nothing new came out. Why? Because he doesn't know what the hell he is doing. ww

As a radio listener I'd rate the press conference a "7" in intelligibility and an "8" in exhaustiveness. And I'm a hard grader!

Bwahahahaha! Yeah, I'm sure you grade Obama just as hard as Chris Matthews does.

OregonMuse,

Your hyperlink doesn't work. The Special Olympics thread is 2 days the other way. Send post card when you arrive.

*sad trombones(2)*

BryanD, not a fan or yours but I did chuckle at the sad trombones thing. ww

Your hyperlink doesn't work.

OK, try it now, it should work.

I said don't do it. Don't push the first stimulus package and, if you do, for heaven's sake, don't do it again. The markets will right themselves. But no. I said, fantasize about "green jobs" all you want, but for goodness sake, don't talk about that old rigamarole before a live audience. People will see straight through it. But no. Then I said, take a few questions. Keep it brief, to the point --- unless you really and truly have something to say --- but nooooooooo: http://theseedsof9-11.com

"BryanD, not a fan or yours but I did chuckle at the sad trombones thing. ww"

46. Posted by WildWillie
--------------------------------
Shit! Now I don't hate you!

:-)

BTW, I stole that "sad trombones" thing from a hippie blog. I can't remember which. But when I first read it, it immediately brought back images of the poor LOOOSERS on the "The Price Is Right_WRONGGGG!" teevee show. The excellent semi-wingnut radio program "Brian & The Judge" uses the actual "Price Is Right" LOOOSER theme-chords itself*.

Which seems to actually be a tuba/sousaphone plus baritone, then trombones slurring downscale. Credit Goodson-Todman Productions, I guess.
---------------------------
"OK, try it now, it should work."

47. Posted by OregonMuse

Oops! Too late.
Engage me on another thread and I'll insult your blog then.

Love, bryanD