With Millions Out of Work Bob Woodward Claims Obama's Top Priority Is Reelection
Millions of Americans are out of work, some of them for several years.
Yet the Washington Post's Bob Woodward said on the Chris Matthews Show this weekend that Barack Obama's top priority is getting reelected (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Welcome back. Bob, tell me something I don't know.
BOB WOODWARD, WASHINGTON POST: That the White House has a secret plan to win the election, and it's complex and it's secret, but, look. Barack Obama wants to win so badly as I understand it, everything in the White House is driven by the election, and that level of commitment will take them to a point where he is going to show some leg in a way that people are going to say, “Wow, he really wants the job,” and this emotional connection could take place.
MATTHEWS: Wow! I am impressed by that.
After a commercial break, Matthews asked his guests, “What is President Obama's biggest goal on the world stage?”
Woodward doubled down:
MATTHEWS: Welcome back. Exactly 50 years ago, President Kennedy had to lead this country through a two-front face-off with the Soviets. Tanks confronted each other at the Berlin Wall, and the Soviets surprised the world with a test of a 50 megaton bomb. Here was President Kennedy 50 years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY: I do not have to dwell on the irresponsible nature of these Soviet actions. The Soviet Union has shown its complete disregard for the welfare of mankind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: Well his single goal was to avoid the Cold War becoming a shooting war. But this week’s big question: what is President Obama's biggest goal on the world stage?
WOODWARD: Win the election. I mean that is the driving force, and I think, you know, it's political, but I think it is becoming an internal commitment because like most presidents, they think they're the person for the job.
MATTHEWS: The country needs him as he sees it.
Now imagine for a moment Obama were a Republican with a 9.1 percent unemployment rate and Americans taking to the streets to protest joblessness as well as income inequality.
Would the media be "impressed" with him ignoring all the nation's problems in order to get reelected?
Quite the country, this would be a sign of tremendous weakness that likely would be savagely attacked by press outlets from coast to coast.
But because Obama is so beloved that these folks want him to get reelected, they actually see this as a noble goal on his part irrespective of what ails the nation.
In essence, since their goal is returning him to the White House, they also don't care about the unemployed either.
To them, Obama's reelection is paramount, and they therefore see him making this his top priority above the nation's best interests as a smart move on his part.
And this is the state of journalism in 2011.
Maybe the video above should be broadcast at every Occupy event each day to inform protesters just how little the current White House resident and his media minions care about them.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
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Comments
Finally
Submitted by ricklail on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 12:57pm.
a lib that tells the truth.
Well. . . .
Submitted by DontFeedTheTrolls on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 12:58pm.
If reelected, Obama will REALLY focus on jobs.
If reelected, the world will REALLY love America.
If reelected, racism in America will REALLY be put to rest.
If reelected, Obama will REALLY act in a bipartisan manner.
if
Submitted by jimtrees on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 10:03pm.
When Obama gets reelected, unemployment will jump to about 30 or 40 percent. He'll say he inheited from himself and tha people will be more confused. Good luck America, because you are going to need every ounce of it.
Wow...He really wants the job....?
Submitted by NeoKong on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 1:10pm.
No bleepin' bleep.
Did Bob think that voters were confused about that...?
I think most people would rather see if he can DO the job.
MATTHEWS audibly: "The
Submitted by GregE on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 1:11pm.
MATTHEWS audibly: "The country needs him as he sees it."
MATTHEWS thought bubble: "...and as I see it."
Running for election?
Submitted by GerryC on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 1:14pm.
LOL! He has been running for re-election since the day he was sworn in. Every time he has made a speech, it is all about him.
He has never once spoken as a president representing all americans. Everything he says is political.
So let me get this straight......
Submitted by GregE on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 1:17pm.
Woodward tells Matthews that Obama's goal is to win Presidential re-election. Matthews has no problem with that.
But, if McConnell says the goal is to defeat Obama (i.e. win the Presidential election), Matthews has a fit, ranting about how Republicans are only playing politics and not really wanting any solutions.
I see. Thanks for making your bias more clear to those who didn't already know it.
Transparency in media, but not the kind they want.
bleh
Submitted by kata on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 1:22pm.
I can't believe I used to respect this guy.
Obama's goal has always been to be re-elected. He started campaigning in 1996 and hasn't stopped since.
That video
Submitted by Walker01049 on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 1:23pm.
sent a tingle up my leg....or was that down my leg, Hell, yes, I tinkled down my leg.
Oh, crap
Submitted by Walker01049 on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 1:32pm.
I messed my pants too. See what the thought of obama winning does to his loyal followers.
Woodward`s Statement
Submitted by NVRAT on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 1:37pm.
This incompetent POTUS has been campaigning since the first day in office. The LAMO MSM makes jokes about Romney campaigning for 5 years but, they never say anything about the Muslim POTUS doing the same thing. Look out people, this POTUS will try to move to the center (as close as possible) and like every thing else he does, will blame what ever his problems are on some one or some thing. This economy and the decisions he makes are his and his alone. Bush may have started it to satisfy a Liberal Democratic controlled Congress (both houses) but, as of 2009 it all belongs to Imam Obama.
It's secret?
Submitted by CobraMan on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 2:00pm.
"That the White House has a secret plan to win the election, and it's complex and it's secret"
It's secret? How can his "plan" be "secret" when he's out every single day telling people about it? He want's your vote, that's his plan. Geez, Bob, you make it sound almost conspiratorial.
Bob, it's time you retire to that nice Nursing Home waiting for you in Florida. You have managed to turn everything into a "secret plan," even elections! I guess you forgot about Obama's own campaign website, the daily e-mails, the brochures, and everything else that Obama is using to "hide" his "secret" plan.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
I think the secret plan MAY
Submitted by MrSnuggles on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 2:20pm.
I think the secret plan MAY have something to do with the George Soros funded OWS.
Obama's top priority always
Submitted by jkwtrading on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 1:48pm.
Obama's top priority always has been Obama.
Leftists have lost control of their faculties
Submitted by Aubrey on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 2:00pm.
Leftists have all become complete parodies of themselves. Their fawning for the Street Agitator is that of preteen girls. Just embarrassing.
Americans aren't going to
Submitted by kareling on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 2:14pm.
Americans aren't going to vote for him because "Wow! He really wants the job!" They're going to vote him out because "Wow! THEY really want jobs!"
ChickaBOOMer| Obama Sham: Wow, No Leg To Stand On
Submitted by StewartIII on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 2:16pm.
Obama Sham: Wow, No Leg To Stand On
http://chickaboomer.blogspot.com/2011/10/obama-sham-wow-no-leg-to-stand-...
"Secret plan.."
Submitted by retrocon on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 2:18pm.
this does worry me for one reason, if it's not the rhetoric that he's been billowing for the last 3 years, it very well could be a "manufactured crisis."
Basically, i really wouldn't put it past this bunch of thugs to create a disaster, either terrorism, financial, or otherwise. But it would have to leave him completely blameless.
Very few presidents are voted out in the time of true crisis.
What will it be?
Nuke hit on the US? Major terror attack on Israel? Total collapse of wall street to great depression levels?
You pick it, his cronies can make it happen.
It really is the only way that he'll be able to win (aside from stuffing ballot boxes, but that will be difficult this time around).
Money quote
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 2:25pm.
To them, Obama's reelection is paramount, and they therefore see him making this his top priority above the nation's best interests as a smart move on his part.
Game, set, and match.
I never get why he wants to be re-elected
Submitted by StarAZ on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 2:51pm.
He's not good at being president, doesn't seem to like the job, has no passionate cause to push, and is a cold, self-centered, superficial man. Do you really think he worries about Joe Sixpack, out of work for 2 yrs in Michigan? Nah. He just wants to be re-elected so he won't be "defeated." That he could not take. Or maybe it's just for the personal chef, the lobster, the trips...I don't even know anymore. But a lover of this country, an advocate, a savior? I don't think so.
Here's another "money quote"...
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 3:07pm.
And it's not Noel's assessment of Woodward's opinion, but the actual words of Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell in answering a question about what he meant by his reference to the "job" of Republicans:
"The single thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."
Rush says "I want him to fail". McConnell hops on board with an aye, aye Captain.
Game, set, and championship match. Trophy time.
Jer
Jer. You familiar with politics?
Submitted by Gary Hall on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 3:15pm.
Come - on, Jer. You're not that new to politics, are you?
Just imagine, one side of the isle wanting the the president on other side of the isle not to get re-elected. Oh Lordy help us.
And, wanting the president on the other side of the isle to fail on his agenda. Goodness gracious.
Yep, all those Democrats wanting Bush's tax cut stimulus plan to be successful, his SS reform to succeed, his Medicare Part D Rx plan to get passed, his Immigration reform agenda to get passed, etc.
Politics Jer. The sad thing here on this issue, is that you bought into the sad politics of our national MSM here. There is no story there - never was.
(;~/ gary
Pretty familiar, Gary...
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 4:33pm.
And, regrettably, not that new either. I must admit to my genuine surprise, however, at the political naivete` displayed in your post. Anyone well acquainted with the unwritten rules prescribing the do's and don't's governing the conduct and comments of Washington politicians should recognize the severity of McConnell's blunder. First and foremost, a politician [and especially a US senator] should avoid sounding like a politican--rather than a statesman. [Remarks made in the course of active campaigning to a partisan audience may be granted some latitude, but even then great care should be taken in choosing words.]
McConnell--during a sit-down interview--appeared to be placing self-interest and party interest above the national interest. A palpable no-no.
BTW, you say the McConnell incident was a "non-story". Are you implying that Woodward's revelation is also a non-story and unworthy of a blog topic?
Jer
This again?
Submitted by kata on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 3:16pm.
Oh. my. goodness.
Wait, lemme get my flak jacket on....
It's about JOBS, Jer -- try to stay focused
Submitted by ThisnThat on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 8:22pm.
The jobless rate has exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, the longest stretch of such levels of unemployment since monthly records began in 1948.
Last Monday: US Could Face 2nd Debt Downgrade
I want o'bama to be a 1-term president, and lose the vote in all 57 states next November.
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
I've said that repeatedly, TnT--try to keep up
Submitted by Jer on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 2:11pm.
...if unemployment is still hovering near 9% next November, he's history.
Jer
"Because like most presidents, they think they're the person...
Submitted by PJRyan on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 2:32pm.
...for the job". And Biden thinks he might be the guy in 2016. The megalomania is staggering and horrifying.
The White House's "secret plan?"
Submitted by Gary Hall on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 2:50pm.
I just can't get past this:
OK. Leaving aside the fact that as the old coot herself, Helen Thomas explained, this Obama WH is more controlling of the media - the news - than even Richard Nixon was, if Woodward knows of an actual "secret plan," being implemented to keep Obama in the WH for another 4 years, should not every reporter in the country be looking under every stone to get this story out? What is the plan? What are the details? Who is in charge?
If Bush (or any R) was in the WH, and a journalist of Woodward's stature made such a claim - we'd be looking at headlines tomorrow. Perhaps:
But no - we get Matthew's response, "The country needs him as he sees it."
(;'~/ gary
"Secret Plan"
Submitted by BEGRUNT on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 3:01pm.
This has also worried me. I truly would not put it past this administration declaring "Martial Law", over some manufactured crisis, terrorist or otherwise. The biggest threat to O'Blame-o would be if he did this, a full scale insurrection in the U.S., a second civil war if you like. The sickest part of this is O'Blame-o would welcome a crisis of this nature, and finally become the Dictator he always has been.
I pray to God this NEVER comes to pass, but with this bunch????
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
I wonder if it's anything akin to the "secret plan"
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 4:45pm.
which was so often posted about with great alarm at this website by those who insisted Obama would cancel the midterm elections, suspend the Constitution, and pronounce himself 'Dictator Forever'. The plan was so secret apparently Obama himself never found out about it.
Jer
Dont be naive Jer.........
Submitted by BEGRUNT on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 5:10pm.
There is still much we dont know about this man, his past, etc. As I said "I hope I'm wrong", but everything this administration has been up to is questionable. Lets look at some facts........no president has been re-elected with numbers as his, i.e; unemployment over 9%, his popularity is in the toilet. So Jer, you tell me, what is there NOT to fear from this so-called "Secret Plan"? Lets throw a little history in for reference......."Reichstag fire" anyone?? Create a crisis to combat, say, hypothetically, that the OWS folks start to riot, loot, burn, rape and pillage.........that a good enough one for ya Jer???? Ya think he might declare Martial Law??? I have had some serious concerns over this "group"......and their REAL purpose.
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
Thanks, BEGRUNT...I won't.
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 5:30pm.
"Create a crisis to combat, say, hypothetically, that the OWS folks start to riot, loot, burn, rape and pillage.........that a good enough one for ya Jer???? Ya think he might declare Martial Law???"
No and no.
The "secret plan"--to the extent one exists--is to win the election, not to lose it in a landslide. And if the OWS folks--with whom the administration has loosely aligned itself--did as you suggest [rioting, raping and pillaging], whether at the behest of the WH or not, Obama would be thoroughly trounced at the polls in 2012. And the notion the elections might somehow be called off is just plain goofy.
Jer
Ok Jer...........
Submitted by BEGRUNT on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 5:40pm.
"And the notion the elections might somehow be called off is just plain goofy."
I'm sure the Germans felt the same in 1934........................
As the saying goes: "Those who dont learn from history, are doomed to repeat it". Just saying.......................Never say "Never"....it tends to bite one in the butt at times!
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
Well, BEGRUNT...
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 5:43pm.
If you believe Obama is another Hitler--as do many--then your point is well taken. Call me naive, but I don't believe he is.
Jer
Jer......If this guy.....
Submitted by BEGRUNT on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 5:54pm.
wasn't so secretive about his past, I would not even have these thoughts. Your right, he is no "Hitler", however, I do question his motives, and his definition of "transforming" the U.S., and what lengths he may go to, to achieve his goals. That is my worry. I have ZERO trust in this man, he could not lead men to the restroom, let alone run the country..........In desperation, who knows what he would do. That is why I use the "Reichstag fire" reference.
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
Except, Jer
Submitted by Model850 on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 5:21pm.
This latest alleged "secret plan" wasn't posited by anyone here "at this website." It was a liberal (alleged) journalist who brought it up.
My first reaction, though, was if it's a secret plan how does Woodward know of its existence? Not much of a secret if someone in the press knows about it, now is it?
But it does sound somewhat frighteningly conspiratorial. Likely just more inane blathering from someone eager to see his king retain the throne, but still....
Model...
Submitted by Jer on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 5:38pm.
My reaction is that it is Woodward attempting--with a flair for drama and a whiff of intrigue--to promote himself and his reputation for ferreting out information inaccessible to the Rest Of The World.
Jer
Credit where credit is due, Jer
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 5:40pm.
Come on, Jer, those were Bush's secret plans, as the liberals keep telling us for 8 years straight. Don;t you remember the allegations of the Wal Mart Detention Centers (my favorite!) and Reeducation Camps? You should remember, it wasn't that long ago. Of course, they said the same thing about Reagan too, minus the Wal Mart Detention centers.
Of course, Clinton had "secret plans" to remain in office too, if I remember correctly.
Funny thing is, I don't remember anyone making claims about Carter's "secret plans" to stay in office. But, that's understandable, as we all saw how well Carter's "secret plans" worked out in Iran.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Maybe tomorrow
Submitted by StarAZ on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 4:03pm.
Maybe tomorrow we will learn about Woodward's new book THE SECRET PLAN.
If the Media wasn't driven by a NWO agenda Obama would have
Submitted by lrgon on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 11:32pm.
been impeached by now.
We've seen two US presidents impeached (Andrew Johnson and William Clinton)and another (Nixon) resign by the mere threat of impeachment. In Johnson's case he was the enemy of the radical Republicans that had their own agenda: to punish the South after the war. In Johnson's time the press was not in the pocket of a few elitsts as they are today and not as dangerous to the Republic.
In Clinton's case the MSM came to his rescue by diverting attention away from charges of bribery in connection to "Chinagate." The charges of allowing multiple visits by PRC Chinese to the White House in exchange for campaign donations to his re-election campaign would have been explosive had the media not provided the diversion with the Lewinski affair. From charges of treason and bribery to charges associated with an affair with a dumb dame the MSM did it's job expertly to protect their agenda and provide damage control to others connected to treasonously building up Red China with US foreign aid and high tech transfers to a marxist oriented despotic nation.
It's no secret that the majority of the MSM's personalities have a bizzare affinity with Obama. Liberalism explains part of that love fest but anytime the Media wants to dump Obama they have the power to do so in the manner that the Media dumped Nixon after his usefulness to that "agenda" was exhausted.
Nixon established diplomatic channels to the brutal communist regime in China making Nixon a hero among the MSM. It was Nixon's foreign and domestic polices that kept the media pacified. As long as he Nixon pursued the marxist wage and price controls, creation of the EPA, OSHA and extending the war in Vietnam for as long as possible the MSM ignored his past anti-communist actions of exposing and going after a soviet spy named Alger Hiss who had rose to prominence as a close advisor to FDR and was the first acting secretary General of the United Nations. That was a negative to the managed news makers but Nixon ingratiated himself to the establishment by accepting an invitation to join the Council on Foreign Relations and joined other "one world government" outfits. These connections gave him another chance at the White House.
Watergate was a conspiracy that took place under the nose of the Nixon. But the break-in itself at the Watergate Hotel was not a crime remotely in the same category as the true impeachable crimes the "anti-communist" Nixon did when he betrayed our true allies on Taiwan and the Chinese people by opening up diplomatic relations with an aggressive communist regime. Here the media did it's job so well that many conservatives consider Nixon's visits to communist China a good thing!
The Watergate Hotel break-in and his coverup and protections of the "plumbers" was chicken stealing compared to back stabbing American industry with his Diocletian "wage and price controls." The MSM barely noticed Nixon's marxist wage and price controls. The applauded his handing the environmental crazies an agency of the government to "regulate the air" (EPA) and so many other "liberal" legislation that the Media had no choice but to lay off despite his reputation as an anti-communist and a "conservative."
If the Major media's agenda items move forward toward the marxist central government they want, they may give conservatives like Nixon a few slaps but in general the MSM's managers keep the betryals and the unconstitutional laws off the airwaves and out of the printed newspapers and weeklies.
In the case of Obama the media has to scamble everyday to put a positive spin on this total failure as a president to bring "change" to America. But "failure" is the agenda!
That "agenda of failure" is what Pat Buchanan called the New World Order when he ran for president. Buchanan was never liked by the media since they feared that if he became president he would crush their NWO agenda. And the same managed news media is even more frightened of Ron Paul. The others like Newt, Cain, the Mitt/Rick tag team the MSM can work with.
No one is reading your long boring screeds lrgon loon.
Submitted by The Vet on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 8:45pm.
Video is so much better. Don't you know that?
Thee bottom line is that
Submitted by coin of the realm on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 2:13am.
Obama needs to combat the right wing media machine that is fighting for the rich and powerful. There is no way to help with unemployment if you cannot inform the people that the congress is not going to do anything to help unless their voices continue to demand an end to this obstructionist gridlock.
Copied from a Glenn Greenwald article in which he quoted and article from The Atlantic by Simon Johnson, the former chief economist of the IMF. That article is entitled “The Quiet Coup”
The below is from "The Quiet Coup"
"Typically, these countries are in a desperate economic situation for one simple reason—the powerful elites within them overreached in good times and took too many risks. Emerging-market governments and their private-sector allies commonly form a tight-knit—and, most of the time, genteel—oligarchy, running the country rather like a profit-seeking company in which they are the controlling shareholders. . . .
Squeezing the oligarchs, though, is seldom the strategy of choice among emerging-market governments. Quite the contrary: at the outset of the crisis, the oligarchs are usually among the first to get extra help from the government, such as preferential access to foreign currency, or maybe a nice tax break, or—here’s a classic Kremlin bailout technique—the assumption of private debt obligations by the government. Under duress, generosity toward old friends takes many innovative forms. Meanwhile, needing to squeeze someone, most emerging-market governments look first to ordinary working folk—at least until the riots grow too large. . . .
In its depth and suddenness, the U.S. economic and financial crisis is shockingly reminiscent of moments we have recently seen in emerging markets (and only in emerging markets) . . . .But there’s a deeper and more disturbing similarity: elite business interests—financiers, in the case of the U.S.—played a central role in creating the crisis, making ever-larger gambles, with the implicit backing of the government, until the inevitable collapse. More alarming, they are now using their influence to prevent precisely the sorts of reforms that are needed, and fast, to pull the economy out of its nosedive. The government seems helpless, or unwilling, to act against them."
Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes her laws. Mayer Amschel Rothschild
the other side of the coin -
Submitted by kata on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 2:55pm.
Instead of attacking business, we should be reducing the power government wields in the first place.
Quit spamming up the joint, Paster of the Realm.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 3:06pm.
.
I agree. This post was
Submitted by Jack Bauer on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 3:18pm.
I agree. This post was produced from your bottom, line..
Try giving your own opinions. On second thoughts, don't bother.
All of the above Mr Obama? --- How about ALL OF THE BELOW, instead.
Take a hike plagiarist troll thief.
Submitted by The Vet on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 8:49pm.
You blew any chance for respect on this website when you stole material from others and tried to pass it off as your own.