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Another New York Times Reporter Celebrates Obama's 'Oratorical Gifts'

By Clay Waters | January 04, 2012 | 10:57

A  A

New York Times reporter Mark Landler, with President Obama in Honolulu, filed “Obama Still Lets Surrogates Take the Lead as Gay Rights Momentum Builds” for Sunday’s paper.

Like his colleague Ashley Parker did in her own Sunday Times story, Landler celebrated Obama’s oratory, but right at the beginning of his story, on the president keeping his support for gay marriage at an official arms length. Landler also assumed opposition to gay marriage will be a political loser for whoever the Republican candidate may be.

President Obama has long relied on his oratorical gifts to ease him through tricky political situations. But on the emotionally charged issue of gay rights, Mr. Obama has been content recently to let his lieutenants do the talking. And they have said some striking things.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told an audience of diplomats in Geneva this month that “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.” In an interview in November, Shaun Donovan, the secretary of housing and urban development, said that he was proud to support the right of same-sex couples to marry.

The president enthusiastically endorsed Mrs. Clinton’s message, issuing a presidential memorandum directing all federal agencies to promote gay rights overseas. And while he said nothing publicly about Mr. Donovan’s declaration -- which went further than Mr. Obama’s own position on the issue -- a senior administration official said that Mr. Donovan enjoyed “the trust and respect of the president.”

Landler used campaign trail anecdotes to push the debatable idea that opposition to gay marriage was a losing political issue in a general election (avoiding the issue of how many votes a Republican may lose if he supports gay marriage):

Story Continues Below Ad ↓

The president may have history on his side: a nationwide exit poll conducted by the firm Edison/Mitofsky in the 2008 elections found that 4 percent of voters indicated they were gay. Of that group, 70 percent said they voted for Mr. Obama and 27 percent for the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain.

This time, Mr. Obama is being helped by Republican candidates who are competing to proclaim their opposition to same-sex marriage as they court social conservatives in Iowa. Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, former Speaker Newt Gingrich and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas have all been confronted in recent days over their positions on gay rights.

Mr. Gingrich told a voter in Iowa that he should “be for Obama” if same-sex marriage was the sole issue he cared about. Mr. Perry was heckled for a television commercial in which he declared, “There’s something wrong in this country if gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas.” Mr. Romney sat down with a military veteran in a New Hampshire restaurant and ended up sparring with him over the state’s gay-marriage law, which Mr. Romney opposes.

About the Author

Clay Waters is the director of Times Watch, an MRC project tracking the New York Times. Click here to follow Clay Waters on Twitter.
  • Homosexuality
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  • 2012 Presidential
  • Mark Landler
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Comments

Obama will

Submitted by misterbee241 on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 11:10am.

come out as a same sex marriage advocate before the next election. If not then, he will if he is re-elected.
So 4% of people are forcing their worldview on America, to force America through the courts to accept as legitimate a perverted lifestyle. The tyranny of the minority.

If you're not getting flak, you're not over the target.
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same sex advocate

Submitted by Agnostic on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 11:17am.

Not until he doesn't have to face the MB anymore

. . Socialist = Modern Liberal = Parasitoid
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Gay rights, oral skills,

Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 11:15am.

Gay rights, oral skills, makes sense to me.

Non, je ne regrette rien. "You aren't angry because I might be a racist, you're angry because you know I'm right".
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Oratorical Gifts..

Submitted by NVRAT on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 11:23am.

More like a Babbling Bull Shitter.

NVRAT
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nobama

Submitted by angelann1 on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 11:54am.

He's great with a teleprompter but so am I !!

BDK
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If

Submitted by grammajane on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 12:00pm.

gay marriage is a subject to be concerned about instead of the economy and security for Barry, this country is in more trouble then ever!!

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'President Obama has long

Submitted by killa37 on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 12:33pm.

'President Obama has long relied on his oratorical gifts to ease him through tricky political situations'??? That sounds like a fancy way of saying he's a bullsh*t artist, which he is. And I'm sick and tired of hearing about this stammering, stuttering, stumblin', bumblin' poser and his 'oral skills' - we all know that the guy is not lucid, coherent, or particularly smart when he has to speak extemporaneously, and even with a teleprompter, he's tedious, torturous, and tenuous. Plus, he's a self-absorbed bore with a terrible affected accent - do you know ANYONE who speaks the way this dope does???

And, yeah.............we'd better take care of this gay-marraige thing - it's a 'good year to be queer', you know??? I mean, if we don't get this thing under control immediatly, it might be the end of our country as we know it!!! This just in: Boy Barry OK's gay marraige - fundamentally transforms our nation!!!!

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Oratorical gifts? You mean using a teleprompter?

Submitted by drsamherman on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 12:49pm.

Landler is a moron. Oblabbo can't manage a burp without a teleprompter and a stage manager! I can see why the guy never became a big name litigator, because he would have been crushed with his inability to form a coherent sentence that did not start with, "Oh Reggie....".

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"I can see why the guy never became a big name litigator"

Submitted by Newsbubba on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 12:56pm.

Hey, doc.  Did anyone ever prove that he actually graduated from law school, or any other school, for that matter?  I'm still waiting.

So far, the MSM has more information on the past history of a fruit fly's existence than they do on Bambi's life prior to popping up in Chicago.

Comrade Bubba
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If I recall correctly, someone linked his law license status.

Submitted by drsamherman on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 1:44pm.

I do believe that both he and Mooochelle are no longer licensed to practice law in Illinois and the reasons why have never been fully discussed or vetted to the press. I think both Bill and Hillary retained their law licenses while they were in the White House, though we all know what happened to Bill's after Monica's blue dress suddenly appeared.

EDITED TO ADD:

Barack's licensure status: http://www.iardc.org/ldetail.asp?id=588891008

Mooochelle's licensure status: http://www.iardc.org/ldetail.asp?id=718599552

The site is the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Illinois Supreme Court, so that would be the official transcript of their licensure status as of posting 11:45 AM, January 4, 2012.

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Voluntary Retirement

Submitted by Schofield Kid on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 5:54pm.

That's interesting, what advantage do they get by "voluntarily" retiring? Knowing these two it has to be something more than avoiding a yearly fee. As you note the Clintons didn't retire until Slick was forced to.

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Lots of theories, but no one really knows.

Submitted by drsamherman on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 9:57pm.

One blogger (can't find the original link) maintained that Barack's law license was surrendered in lieu of action against it for falsifying portions of his original license application. Another blogger maintained there was some malfeasance (unspecified) involved and the "retirement" avoided action like disbarment or suspension.

As for Michelle's law license, there was similar speculation by bloggers. One blogger pointed to Michelle's involvement in the patient-dumping scheme while she worked for a large hospital system in Chicago. I am not sure, but I believe that is the job where she obtained an obscene salary increase after Bar-O was elected Senator.

I will reiterate for our usual lurking trolls that these are what bloggers reported--not me.

I don't know the reason, but I do find it strange that they would retire their law licenses so early in life unless there was some significant driving force behind it. Most professionals, once licensed, maintain their licenses even well into retirement to be able to work part-time should the need arise.

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As your loyal apprentice,

Submitted by killa37 on Thu, 01/05/2012 - 3:41am.

As your loyal apprentice, Doc, I believe it ALL!!! These two leeches are about a pure as the wind-driven slush............so there is NOTHING that they might have done that would surprise me - especially given what they continue to do presently!!!!

FUBO is FUBAR!!!!

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You are so right

Submitted by ohio granny on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 7:58pm.

If Obama does not have his telepromter to read from, he sounds like an idiot. Um, ah, um, ah, um ah. That sure does take some skill...!!!! LOL

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The liberals are always

Submitted by Kenny Bunkport on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 2:47pm.

The liberals are always trying to pump up supposed talents in their politicians that never seem to manifest themselves for others to see. How much did we hear about Al Gore's HUGE BRAIN? It was like his physical body was there only to feed his ENORMOUS INTELLECT.

Now we see the only thing enormous is his appetite and his hucksterism. He embarrassed himself with his complete ignorance of the scientic method, hardly a characteristic one would expect from a genius. Yet, we still hear the left presenting him as a intellectual giant.

Likewise with Obama, we hear over and over about his vaunted oratory skills. Even his carefully constructed teleprompted speeches only excite those he panders to. He has no power of persuasion, and is wholly unlikeable on a conversational level (unless you are giving him a platform to brag about himself).

And left to impromptu speaking, he fails beyond George Bush's worst ad libs (you know, the IDIOT president, who can't talk). If challenged you can see the visible agitation and immediate reliance on ad hominem attacks.

Great speaker, he is not.

               A gun in your hand beats a cop on the phone.
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As I have often referred to

Submitted by cajunkingkong on Thu, 01/05/2012 - 9:42am.

As I have often referred to Obama since his run in 2008, his oratorical skills label him nothing more than an eloquent bag of hot air.

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