U.S. News: Of Past Five Presidents, 'Obama Seems the Most Cerebral'

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Chief White House correspondent for U.S. News & World Report Kenneth Walsh is mighty impressed.  In "He's Still No-Drama Obama," posted on the magazine's Web site, Walsh writes:

Face to face, President Obama seems even more unflappable, cerebral, and dispassionate than he appears on television.

And later:

I have interviewed each of the past five presidents— Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and now Obama—and Obama seems the most cerebral and the least emotional of them all.

"Cerebral" is one of the media's favorite adjectives to describe Obama these days.  In the current Newsweek, Anna Quindlen notes:

(Obama) is methodical, thoughtful, cerebral, a believer in consensus and process.

National Public Radio blogger Frank James describes Obama as "the urbane, super cool, cerebral president."

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In a Los Angeles Times piece last month, columnist Michael Hiltzik asks, "why are the Democrats so reluctant to drop the hammer on the opposition and pass" ObamaCare?

Could the answer lie in Obama's cerebral personality? Obama seems to believe that if he explains his positions slowly and clearly enough, their fundamental logic will inevitably win the day without the need for arm-twisting.

Barry is very, very brainy.  That's the message.  There are different types of intelligence, of course, and Obama clearly is bright in certain ways.  He did, after all, parlay his community organizer background with a mediocre record as a state legislator and extremely limited experience as a senator into a White House win.

Still, we also know Obama has problems at least occasionally with elemental facts like how many states there are, what language is spoken in Afghanistan, and to whom Memorial Day is dedicated.  Then there was the time last year he claimed 10,000 people perished in Kansas tornadoes.  The actual number was 12.

Tut, tut, advised his media accomplices.  Trivial errors that anyone could have made.  Still, they can't explain why the genius must have several of his favorite teleprompters around him at all times.

Then there are his policies.  How smart does one have to be to think that a country can spend its way out of its economic woes?  That government makes better decisions for people than the people themselves do? That cozying up to ruthless dictators, dithering on important decisions, and constantly apologizing for one's own country are prudent policies?

The mainstream media have a vested interest in making Obama appear successful.  They did much of the heavy lifting necessary to get him into the White House.  As his failures become more apparent and he sinks in the polls, they now hope to persuade us that electing this "cerebral" man was the smart thing to do.

How dumb do they think the American people are?
   


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Educated, but not smart and

Educated, but not smart and ignorant of how America works.

Just like this guy...

He is cerebral in the same way this guy is:

http://www.mikecs.ne...

TERM LIMITS FOR ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS!

And, yes, I am shouting.

I don't even credit him for "educated"

The biggest scam--he isn't smart, he isn't erudite, and he isn't "cerebral."  I do credit him with a certain skill at inducing hypnosis in the credulous, squealing bobby-soxers among us.  I never even thought he was "eloquent" since he never seemed to say much of anything that could be remembered and thought about.  He was just a huge Cheshire grin of blinding white teeth and a pleasant baritone.  Now I don't know what he is...he seems to be a callow, bulimic teenager these days, not even a Beta Male but something nearer Delta.

  

I'm not up on my Greek Alphabet, but

 

Isn't Omega the last?

As in, obama is the last person I would consider a man, type of Omega man?

http://gjresult.com

 

He's so smart, there's no need for proof

They don't need any proof that he's smart, aside from the fact that he talks like he's smart, and he went to Harvard and Columbia.  And the liberals are smart just because they voted for him.

That's liberals in a nutshell.  They want to be governed by the "smart" and that makes them smart.

These things have yet to be

These things have yet to be proven:

1.  That he graduated from Harvard
2.  That he graduated from Columbia
3.  That he was even born in America.

I guess real people have to provide their bona fides, but cerebral people just think it all up and POOF!, you're in. 

"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me

Where he was born is irrelevant.

 

What is relevant is his "NATURAL BORN" status.

"NATURAL BORN" requires BOTH parents to be CITIZENS.

If both were citizens, depending on a few circumstances, the child is a natural born citizen, even if born on foreign soil.

If either parent IS NOT a citizens, the child IS NOT a 'natural born citizen.

obamas father was a British Subject at the time of obamas birth.

http://gjresult.com

 

I think you stumbled on a very good tactic

You know all those Chuck Norris jokes?

Well Obama is a ripe target for the same kind of mocking ridicule, based on his "magnificence".

It would really be good for the 2012 election if everyone in the country was telling "Obama jokes" like: "There is no 'ctrl' button on Barack Hussein Obama’s computer. Barack Hussein Obama is always in control. Mmm mmm mmm."

"Cerebral" is one of those

"Cerebral" is one of those adjectives people use when they don't want to offend, but they just don't know what to say.

"How do you like my drawing, dear?"

"Wow.  It's...well...very INTERESTING."

I also like the definition from Random House: "betraying or characterized by the use of the intellect rather than intuition or instinct: His is a cerebral music that leaves many people cold."

Definitely leaves me cold. 

"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me

Hey he must be smart

He coined a few new economic terms that only he can understand. Trickle up Economics, Jobs Saved and Bush Policies

I wonder

if Walsh has ever heard Obama answer a tough question, without having a teleprompter or script in front of him?  Anyone that has would probably place the O somewhere between "mouth-breathing simpleton" and "booger-eating moron."

 

Gun Control - The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own pantyhose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.

I wonder---

Tug:

I put the phrases "mouth breathing simpleton" and "booger eating moron" into the astute political identifier machine, and instructed the machine to give me an exact differential split location between the two.

The machine spit out: "Leftist Liberal Democrat."

MD

"Federales-no contestan." (Sp./Eng. dictionary)

Hidden Information

There's a pile of information on the Bamster that remains very well hidden, and when a politician goes to great lengths to hide something, it must be bad news. The Bamster's bad news are his SAT and LSAT scores, IQ test results, actual transcripts, bar exam results. That data was available for President George W. Bush, and Al Gore for comparison, but not for the Bamster. Something is being hidden.

I see him as above-average intelligence, but only barely. Until winning the Presidency, he had never been tested in the real world. He hadn't run anything, even a lemonade stand as a child or a newspaper route.

If Obama really does have the educational credentials...

...his handlers are claiming (and I have serious doubts about this), then he is a classic example of one who was educated far beyond their intelligence.

This man knows nothing about free markets, or America itself. He cares even less about true freedom and liberty, and is working swiftly to destroy all ofthem.

I don't give a damn how "cerebral" his co-conspirators in the lying, corrupt media clain him to be. This man is going to be the most disasterous president in this nation's history.

After all, history is littered with the rubble left behind by "intelligent" totalitarians. I just hope we aren't about to be scattered among that same rubble ourselves.

-Dave

Our elected representatives have failed us.  

missing

We've never seen HIS college transcripts, have we?  Plus, who started the rumor that he was a Constitutional law professor?  He never published anything while at the Yale Law Review.  Too many questions.

 

Seems?

 

            "Seems, madam!...;I know not seems"

                                                Shakespeare, Hamlet

 

Obama is a deceiver, an illusion artist. He covers his dullness with a mask of pseudo-intellectualism (when he is not on the golf course or in the gym). Does he ever just sit and read a book? His knowledge of anything but cheap politics is not demonstrable. What he seems and what he is are not the same, except to those lefties who live in his phony dreamworld.

P.S. William F. Buckley was "cerebral", William Safire was"cerebral" --- Obama is not "cerebral"

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

 

Skim Milk

"Things are seldom what they seem. Skim milk masquerades as cream."  ~~ W.S. Gilbert 

 

"I always voted at my

"I always voted at my Party's call, and never thought of thinking for my self at all!" ~~ W. S. Gilbert

Cerebral?

Prove it.

And about that "emotion"

My in-law ( passed) was a "genius"-- I.Q. in the 170's. He was highly educated and spoke seven languages. He was a successful businessman. He was also highly "emotional". His wife, however, barely got out of high school. She was as calm as a summer's day. What does keeping your emotions in check have to do with intelligence? From my experience--nothing at all.

 

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

Michelle thinks Barack is cerebral

I know this because MaBelle said during the campaign:

“Barack is one of the smartest people you will ever encounter who will deign to enter this messy thing called politics.”

 

    Oh I agree obama

    Oh I agree obama knows lots of things.  It's just that too many of the things he knows are wrong.

   He's like many of the educated idiots that call themselves professors.  They've never been in the real world and their theories only work on paper where alternatives are left out of serious consideration.

Cerebral is supposed to be an indication of intellegence... but

It must be the current White House meme for these hacks to refer to the Obot as cerebral even though he does not qualify for that terminology.

One of the most intelligent men of the 20th Century was John Maynard Keynes, the economist who just happened to write a book on a theory. Now JM Keynes is pilloried these days because some people took his theory and distorted what he was saying. Those who pillory Keynes failed to acknowledge the man who was Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer during World War 1 and afterwards. They fail to see the man who stood out because he believed that the war reparations placed on Germany would be bad for the rest of the world. 

Now if these hacks were calling J.M. Keynes cerebral they would be correct, because Keynes was a very thoughtful person, honest enough to know that his economic theory had its limitations and that it could be proved wrong. 

Now compare the present legacy of the POTUS. Where is the thoughtful analysis of a given situation? I have seen nothing that indicates that he understands anything related to economics, and he definitely has no understanding of Keynesian economics. Then there is his "grasp" of international politics and I use the term grasp very loosely because in this respect he has failed to understand some of the real basics when it comes to the power hungry Soviets. If he thought that Putin was going to be a pussy cat then he was so very, very wrong. 

Barry is not intelligent, or at least what he possesses is cunning intelligence. What he does not possess is wisdom. 

 

How dumb do they think the American people are?

Dumb enough to NOT remember ole Nikita saying to the US "We Will Bury You" and what he really meant.

I think I feel the dirt just above my waist now.

→ Marat

It was really a prophecy.  What Krschev was trying to say was

"We will Barry you!"

LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

They think the American people are REALLY dumb

To answer your question.

I would substitute "cold-blooded" or "detached" for cerebral. Isn't this a street v book smart deal?

How dumb do they think the American people are?

Err, given what happened last November...lol-loaded question, that is.

-Dave

Our elected representatives have failed us.  

ha ha ha....cerebral? unflappable?

Yep, as long as they put what he is to say on the monitor.......and thats assuming the monitor works......cerebral?  geez idiots, gimme a break!!!

Actually Obama is a cerebral

Actually Obama is a cerebral killer.

Don't forget... you can't spell OBAMA without the support of A MOB 

They mistake "cunning" for "cerebral"

Obama is the most cunning manipulator they have ever seen and they don't even realize that they are being manipulated.

When it comes to Obama, probably throughout his entire life, he thinks of ways in which every move he makes can most benefit himself. Whether it's being a community organizer and joining Rev Wright's "Church" which he parlayed into a political career; to his use of divisive racial tactics to win black votes, i.e. calling President Clinton a racist and using code words to tell blacks they can't trust whites (bamboozle); To his use of historic or symbolic venues to give his speeches (teleprompter recitals) such as the Rocky Mountains for his Democrat acceptance speech; for signing his first bill the "Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act" after her ran the most misogynistic campaign in American history. I could write a book here.

He gets caught hanging out with an anti-American racist for twenty years. Solution? Give a speech on race in the birthplace of America! That’s how his mind works. Cunning manipulator!

Why do you think he hasn't made a decision on Afghanistan yet? I personally have no doubt that it's because he hasn't figured out any decision that could benefit himself and he's still searching for one.

Obama is a masterfully cunning manipulator. Everyone and everything is here for his pleasure in his mind.

cunning vs cerebral

You hit it on the head, oc.

And even if the man had the brainpower of Einstein and Hawking combined, his apparent lack of acuity on moral questions drains all the potential value from whatever 'cerebral' qualities he might have.

research

I strongly urge you to go to the August, 2008, New Yorker article about Obama and Chicago politics if you really want to know him up personal and close. 

Maybe "educated" isn't the right word when it comes to Obama

Perhaps the correct term is "indoctrinated."

-Dave

Our elected representatives have failed us.  

Indoctrinated, Dave

Don't all kids have role models like Frank Marshall Davis in their lives?

Mike. Let's get to the crux of Obama's cerebral issues

When journalists (i.e., liberals) get all aroused about how "cerebral" one is, what they are actually all excited about is how that person seems able to express themselves in intellectual sounding babble (goodness they love reading Frank Rich and Paul Krugman). Obama can look at a grey slate and see colors.. then he contemplates how it applies to the world.. perhaps a thesis will be in order on the subject. Ah.. Obama is a thinker. He does not see in black and white (he sees shades of grey). What was before is no more. What was right and/or necessary before, should be different now.   Can he see clearly enough to actually lead? Can he decide? Is he a decider?

My guess. Obama indeed has an excess of white brain matter in his cerebral cortex.

Allow me to quote:

A USC study has found the first proof of structural brain abnormalities in people who habitually lie, cheat and manipulate others.
 
While previous research has shown that there is heightened activity in the prefrontal cortex – the area of the brain that enables most people to feel remorse or learn moral behavior – when normal people lie, this is the first study to provide evidence of structural differences in that area among pathological liars...

...The liars had significantly more “white matter” and slightly less “gray matter” than those they were measured against, Raine said.

Specifically, liars had a 25.7 percent increase in prefrontal white matter compared to the antisocial controls and a 22 percent increase compared to the normal controls. Liars had a 14.2 percent decrease in prefrontal gray matter compared to normal controls.

More white matter – the wiring in the brain – may provide liars with the tools necessary to master the complex art of deceit, Raine said.

“Lying takes a lot of effort,” he said.

From researchers from the University of California, Irvine and the University of New Mexico:

Gray [matter] is central to processing information and plays a vital role in aiding skills such as mathematics, map-reading, and intellectual thought. White matter connects the brain's processing centers and is central to emotional thinking, use of language, and the ability to do more than one thing at once.

White matter has to do more with the wiring in the brain (how it communicates and at what speed), while gray matter [brain cells] has more to do with actual IQ.
 
Interestingly, studies indicate that those with more white matter tend to be more liberal (teachers, writers, journalists etc.). The study suggested that women have more white matter than men.

Bottom line: Liberals lie more than conservatives - because they simply have a more difficult time making a decision. I expect the examples should not be too difficult to locate.

Speaking of decisions - just how is Afghanistan coming along?

(;~/ gary

Gary, how is Afghanistan coming along?

We should start a pool based on the number of hours after tomorrow's election it'll take for The One to "decide."

Well Mike. 24 hours would be a bit quick ...

.. too obvious. Obama is surely too intellectual to pull the cord that fast. On the other hand, he may be spending about as much time mulling over the decision as to when to announce as he is over what to announce. That being the case.. he may come to forget that the plan was to wait a week. or so. That's the problem with too much white matter (and not enough gray to balance it out) - the brain just keeps working on the same set of problems. There is never a concrete answer. But.. on the other hand.. however.. if you consider the.. and another thing here... wait, what about.. did you ask.. and the infamous... "how's it polling now?"

(;~> gary 

 

evil genius

Choosing what's right doesn't take a whole lot of mental calculus, even when the situation is a little complicated.  Choosing what's smart in a complex situation does.  That he's hemmed and hawed for weeks (and continues to stall for time) is a pretty good indicator that he's less interested in being good than he is with being clever.

I've been yelling for weeks that he's putting politics ahead of the troops by delaying the decision.  Someone convinced him that whatever choice he makes will alienate some voters, so the best way to avoid harming Democrat chances on Tuesday is to do nothing until afterward.  The "Gold Star Mothers" should have him strung-up and used for a New Year's Eve piñata.

Gary

You suppport your argument with research and facts. You'd be a terrible "jounalist". Where's the name calling, lying and "emotional" appeal? You definitely have too much gray matter. Get with it man.

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

ivseenitall..

.. really. I didn't experience any internal debate with presenting that analysis. ha~

(:~> gary

Cerebral stuff---

Gary:

Thanks.  You cleared up a couple of things for me.

Now I know where and why the phrase "white lie" originated, and more importantly, I know why Barack the Obama downplays the white side of his bloodline.

Cheers.

MD

"Federales-no contestan." (Sp./Eng. dictionary)

Obama

I've noticed something about the left, after listening to them for a long time. When a something is brought repeatedly it's because it's been called into question. Right now it's Obama's intelligence. There are doubts about Obama's ability even in their own ranks. The cracks in the idols armour are starting to show.

The coordianted attacks against individuals like Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, and the attacks on Fox news. Now the subject is, well of course Obama's the smartest person on the planet. You can bet somebodies hit a nerve...again.

I remember the good old days

when the Clintons were supposedly the most cerebral folks on earth.

Cerebral? Impossible.

He'd have to have an anacraniotomy before any serious testing could be done.

OBAMA = One Big Ass Mistake, America!

It's impossible

Maybe he's waiting for ObamaCare to kick in before having that done.

Anacraniotomy--

KJ:

Riverside Co. = Anacraniotomy

San Bdno. Co. = Rectaldectomy

MD

"Federales-no contestan." (Sp./Eng. dictionary)

Cerebral vs. Gravitas

It seems "cerebral" is the new "gravitas."

I do tire so of the State-Run Media...

_________________________________________

"An armed society is a polite society" -- Robert A. Heinlein

              

                 Of course obama is less emotional. Puppets don't have emotions.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

That's just weird

Wow, that is like freaky...I was just reading an article that said out of the last 20 White House Chief Correspondents Kenneth Walsh was the least cerebral.   

 

Stay Free!!!

Wanna Bet??

Hey Kenneth,  I'll bet you good money that the previous four presidents would have guessed that there were only '50' States

 

Stay Free!!!

Who was the sixth president back up the line?

It was Jimmah. Why do you suppose they didn't compare O'Bama to Jimmah, a nuclear scientist, naval submarine officer, peanut farmer, and race monitor emeritus? And don't forget, Bill was a Rhodes Scholar and holder of the Priapean Chair at Oxford.

Speaking of Reagan

Let me tell you how 'cerebral' Ronald Reagan was.  If he had of met someone who told him (with a stupid little smirk on his face) that he had bombed the Pentagon and then tried to kill a Federal Judge and his family rather than being oh so impressed with his 'intelligence' and 'bearing; Reagan (even in his 70's) would have punched Robert Ayers right in the freaking mouth.

 

Stay Free!!!

punching Robert Ayers

That would probably be William.  Minor detail aside, though, your point is a good one.

Not only does he....

Not only does he have to mull, contemplate, cogitate and pretend to listen to people, that Jarrett woman said yesterday before he can decide on Afghanistan, he has to go on the Sunday morning shows (she said that), etc--it's a whole process--and he can't do this before his Asian trip. I sat up. "Asian trip." Oh, no. A trip.

→ He's real cerebral

A whole lot of that "cerebral", he got in the back of a limo.

LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

Barack Obama has become a

Barack Obama has become a "brand."  He is the most image conscious president in history.  His career is run like that of a Hollywood celebrity.  His propagandists are using a fusion of Goebbelesque tactics and modern day commercial marketing. 

Afghanistan is going to hell, people are out of work, dollar is crashing, economy is weak, and it seems like most of his administrations effort goes into marketing the Obama name.  

He's waging war on Fox, while considering appeasement for the Taliban. His peoples' top priority is public perception of the president.  The Obama brand comes before anything else.

 

humanzee

Bravo!

It tells you just how superficial the left is, from it's most uneducated to it's most impressionable to it's most snobbish and elitist. They all have something in common, that's for sure.

Boggles my mind how they're all so blinded by something literally skin deep.

 

Barack Obama has become a

Barack Obama has become a "brand."  He is the most image conscious president in history.  His career is run like that of a Hollywood celebrity.  His propagandists are using a fusion of Goebbelesque tactics and modern day commercial marketing. 

Afghanistan is going to hell, people are out of work, dollar is crashing, economy is weak, and it seems like most of his administrations effort goes into marketing the Obama name.  

 
He's waging war on Fox, while considering appeasement for the Taliban. His peoples' top priority is public perception of the president.  The Obama brand comes before anything else.  Anything that gets in the way, they want to choke into submission.

 

I don't think I've ever seen Obama be spontaneous.  All his interviews are rehearsed, planned, and scripted to avoid faux paus.  All his speeches are recited off teleprompters.  He is a big fat sham of a president.  He's probably the stupidest, shallowest, and most vapid president in American history.  

 Being able to recite speeches a team of writers make for you doesn't make you eloquent.  He's a glorified news anchor.   A glorified actor playing the role of a president.  He's a fake, an image, nothing genuine about him. 

As his failures become more

As his failures become more apparent and he sinks in the polls, they
now hope to persuade us that electing this "cerebral" man was the smart
thing to do.

They're trying to persuade themselves if ya ask me.

They're the used dumb-arses.

'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart

When did walking around in a

When did walking around in a dimwitted trance become cerebral?

No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.

Since Timothy Leary.

OBAMA = One Big Ass Mistake, America!

I agree with their

I agree with their assessment.  The guy does have a big head.

One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.

clueless

Rather than being "cerebral" this man is clueless. In fact he outshines all the blondes in the world as far as having not a clue is concerned.

The fact that he is not moving on Afghanistan is very telling. It is the exact opposite of the Bush reactions.Put it this way, I did not agree with GWB about going into Iraq, but I did change my mind when I saw the reaction of the common folk in Iraq who had put up years and years of Saddam Hussein's reign of terror. I thought that GWB was being "gung ho" and was impatient about the situation as it existed. Of course what I was ignoring was the fact that Jacques Chirac the French traitor was prevaricating over the invasion that more or less had to take place in order to rid Iraq of a dictatorship. The Iraqi people did not vote Saddam Hussein into power. He took power with the barrel of a gun....... he deserved to lose power through violence.

Now what we have is a person in power who does not understand the ordinary Afghani people. Members of code pink went to Afghanistan and the women told them that they did not want the Taliban to be put back in power. Instead of carrying the real message of the Afghani women, Code Pink has instead betrayed them with a list of demands about the region. The Afghani women suffered at the hands of the Taliban when they were in power. The Taliban protected Osama Bin Laden, and Bin Laden was in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban when September 11 took place. Nothing has changed in that scenario, yet now we have a bunch of goofballs talking about "moderate" Taliban.... they are all so clueless. They are not smart despite their claims to having a degree... well I have one of those from Melbourne University... so what..... 

Thesarus

Cerebral as defined "as out of his mind." 

I am reminded of the scene in Young Frankenstein when Igor brings the brain of Mr. A. B. Normal.   

What a joke.

Why stop at five?

Why stop at five? Why not six? Are we to believe that Obama's cerebral personality can't match the foreign and domestic policy genius of Jimmy Carter? Yikes!