I am not a doctor, but I play one on the Internet. So, take the following as a prescription for what ails you. Now, if for some unexplainable reason you have been feeling queasy since November of last year, if you have felt like you want to throw up but just can't seem to get that bile to overflow, well I have a little something here that will surely cause that gag reflex to result in a healthy expulsion of bubbling acids. The Associated Press would call it a "news story," but it serves a far better purpose as syrup of ipecac than anything else.
Anyway, if you need a ready emetic, try giving a read to our pal Liz Sidoti's doting portrayal of President Obama as a "no jitters" expert that is "extraordinarily at ease" sitting in the big chair. He's a fellow that has mastered the office even though he has "youth and inexperience," and he's confident "almost to a fault." Obama is the greatest story ever told as far as Liz is concerned... and after only four short months in office to boot.
But, wait. There's more puke-inspiring sycophancies yet to come...read on if you dare.
It's hard to believe how absurdly over-the-top this AP report is, but there is no end to the lionization of a still very wet-behind-the-ears president that has yet to see the challenges that will truly prove his mettle. Yet, if one were to read this AP piece, one would surely come to the conclusion that this is the most wildly successful president ever in our history -- even though he's barely taken office.
I won't bother you with the "specifics" of this piece of dreck, but I will relate a list of the laudatory words and phrases used in this piece of... I mean piece. The sheer number of them is mind boggling. We even get another one of those ubiquitous "experts" to agree with ol' Liz that Obama is the bestest prez evah.
- It didn't take long for Barack Obama -- for all his youth and inexperience -- to get acclimated to his new role as the calming leader of a country in crisis.
- "I feel surprisingly comfortable in the job," the nation's 44th president said a mere two weeks after taking the helm.
- Obama has applied the same "no drama" leadership
- As a fledgling president, he similarly has mapped out a big-risk agenda that he's methodically begun to execute, keeping to the discipline that has been a hallmark of his life.
- Rookie jitters? Far from it.
- Confident almost to a fault
- exhibiting few flashes of any off-putting, self-important tone
- he's reached the pinnacle
- Obama has seemed extraordinarily at ease
- (And here's that "expect")"He became presidential almost immediately. Physically as well as rhetorically he transformed himself," said American University professor James Thurber, an expert on the presidency. He said Obama had little choice but to dive in and start governing, given the full plate of issues. But, Thurber added, "He also did it with real skill and confidence that you wouldn't necessarily expect from someone who just walked in the door."
- Obama has spoken in firm, yet soothing tones
- Sometimes he has used a just-folks approach
- He also has steamed with anger
- He has shown contriteness
- He also has let it be known he hasn't forgotten how politics works
- Stylistically, this is a careful president who uses a teleprompter even during news conferences and presides over a White House that scripts his public appearances
- a strong, ethical leader
- Mindful of Obama's high popularity and, thus, the media's hunger for any details about him and his family, the White House has gone to great lengths to make sure he's visible.
- People don't seem to mind all that exposure
- Overall, Obama seems unflappable
- He made a string of comments that were, to some extent, joking and self deprecating, almost as if he didn't take the hubbub around his candidacy too seriously
Sickening, isn't it?
But the main point here is that the AP has deemed him a great success after just four short months. This is the most absurd thing about the media fawning that Obama has seen bestowed so lovingly upon him. How do we deem a president such a success in so short a time? Should we jump to that conclusion so quickly, before he's even really seen all that he will see as president? Is it so impossible to realize that he could become the greatest flop since Bill Clinton whose final analysis was that he was one that "never wasted so much potential" in office even as the press lionized him for most of his eight years?
Sure we can say that he may rank as one of the best when all is said and done. But the singular fact is, we do not know and cannot know how his term(s) will turn out. It is stupid, just plain stupid, for the AP to be publishing stories pronouncing Obama's success only four months into office. Not only is it stupid, but it is dishonest and even harmful. And it certainly is little else but propoganda.
Finally, let me contrast this a bit with how the Old Media treated George W. Bush in his first few months in office. He never got a "honeymoon." From the second he stepped into the White House and began having success after success with his pre-9/11 agenda, the media tsk-tsked him because he had "no mandate" due to his close election. The media had not one second of praise for his successes until 9/11. And then they gave him about 15 minutes of relief before starting back in on him again.
Obama may end up the best of the best (though I certainly doubt he will) but that will be a determination that can only be made as he ends his days in office. At this point and time, however, he is a neophyte that has yet to show any signs of his eventual status. He is a man that has not yet begun to prove his worth to the country and posterity.
Anyone that says he is already a "success" is either a fool or a propagandist. You decide which Liz Sidoti happens to be.
Editor at Large
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No Jitters?
April 25, 2009 - 04:01 ET by DoktorFrankenCalm? At ease? In control?
Every time I hear this idiot off TelePrompTer he is, without a doubt, the most confused and muddled speaker ever to hold the office of president. He simply cannot put together a coherent sentence to save his life. And regarding his effectiveness on the Somalia pirate "crisis":
Subject: A Navy Seal’s Account of the Recent Hostage Crisis
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:58:57 -0400
From a friend. . .
Having spoken to some SEAL pals here in Virginia Beach yesterday and
asking why this thing dragged out for 4 days, I got the following:
1. BHO (Barack Hussein Obama) wouldn’t authorize the DEVGRU/NSWC SEAL
teams to the scene for 36 hours, going against OSC (on scenecommander)
recommendation.
2. Once they arrived, BHO imposed restrictions on their ROE (Rules of
Engagment) that they couldn’t do anything unless the hostage’s life was
in “imminent” danger
3. The first time the hostage jumped, the SEALS had the raggies all sighted in, but could not fire due to ROE restriction
4. When the navy RIB came under fire as it approached with supplies,
no fire was returned due to ROE restrictions. As the raggies were
shooting at the RIB, they were exposed and the SEALS had them all
dialed in.
5. BHO specifically denied two rescue plans developed by the Bainbridge CPN and SEAL teams
6. Bainbridge CPN and SEAL team CDR finally decide they have the
OpArea and OSC authority to solely determine risk to hostage. 4 hours
later, 3 dead raggies
7. BHO immediately claims credit for his “daring and decisive” behaviour. As usual with him, it’s BS.
So per our last email thread, I’m downgrading Oohbaby’s performace
to D-. Only reason it’s not an F is that the hostage survived.
Read the following accurate account:
Philips’ first leap into the warm, dark water of the Indian
Ocean hadn’t worked out as well. With the Bainbridge in range and a
rescue by his country’s Navy possible, Philips threw himself off of his
lifeboat prison, enabling Navy shooters onboard the destroyer a clear
shot at his captors - and none was taken.
The guidance from National Command Authority - the president of the
United States, Barack Obama - had been clear: a peaceful solution was
the only acceptable outcome to this standoff unless the hostage’s life
was in clear, extreme danger.
The next day, a small Navy boat approaching the floating raft was
fired on by the Somali pirates - and again no fire was returned and no
pirates killed. This was again due to the cautious stance assumed by
Navy personnel thanks to the combination of a lack of clear guidance
from Washington and a mandate from the commander in chief’s staff not
to act until Obama, a man with no background of dealing with such
issues and no track record of decisiveness, decided that any outcome
other than a “peaceful solution” would be acceptable.
After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the onscenecommander decided he’d had enough.
Keeping his authority to act in the case of a clear and present
danger to the hostage’s life and having heard nothing from Washington
since yet another request to mount a rescue operation had been denied
the day before, the Navy officer - unnamed in all media reports to date
- decided the AK47 one captor had leveled at Philips’ back was a threat
to the hostage’s life and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots.
Three rounds downrange later, all three brigands became enemy KIA and Philips was safe.
There is upside, downside, and spinside to the series of events over
the last week that culminated in yesterday’s dramatic rescue of an
American hostage.
Almost immediately following word of the rescue, the Obama
administration and its supporters claimed victory against pirates in
the Indian Ocean and [1] declared that the dramatic end to the standoff
put paid to questions of the inexperienced president’s toughness and
decisiveness.
Despite the Obama administration’s (and its sycophants’) attempt to
spin yesterday’s success as a result of bold, decisive leadership by
the inexperienced president, the reality is nothing of the sort.
What should have been a standoff lasting only hours - as long as it
took the USS Bainbridge and its team of NSWC operators to steam to the
location - became an embarrassing four day and counting standoff
between a ragtag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy
warship.
------------------------------------------
From http://giovanniworld...
That's what I said early
April 25, 2009 - 06:13 ET by ThisnThatThat's what I said early into this situation when the MSM was heaping praise -- no one wanted to look at the first time Phillips jumped into the sea. That lifeboat could have been blown up then, if nothing else. But BHO didn't act -- couldn't act because of his immoral values. He thinks there is at least equivalence between an American sea captain and Somali pirates. In fact, he probably gives the edge to the pirates because of America's 200-year history of evil. That man is a true POS.
___________________________________
The challenge is to follow a consistent plan despite inconsistent prices - Sarah Palin, State of the State of Alaska speech
Snopes says Mostly False
April 25, 2009 - 07:20 ET by allanfWhile the message appears genuine, Democratic leaning snopes.com reports this message is "mostly false"
Shopes uses the ever reliable Los Angeles Times and NBC News to "debunk" the story.
Re Snopes
April 25, 2009 - 09:25 ET by slickwillie2001Snopes is generally accurate about 95% of the time, but they do have a liberal bias, so on political stories alone their accuracy drops significantly.
Unfortunately this story about the Bamster's bumbling in the piracy case is not getting out. Would FOIA filings allow access to some proof that this is how it happened? It sounds all too much like the way Jimmy Carter would run an opertion.
Ring of Truth
April 25, 2009 - 10:12 ET by allanfSnopes does not refute any of the main points of the note. The note has an aura of authenticity. One can easily believe the annointed one was insisting on a "peaceful resolution".
Ordered attacks???
April 26, 2009 - 11:09 ET by iveseenitallI heard that Obama didn't order ATTACKS on the pirates at all. He ordered A TAX on the pirates.
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
Actually, Warner...
April 25, 2009 - 04:12 ET by Massage_Master07I was thinking that she's both. I mean, is there any other kind? It wouldn't suprise me that she had at least one orgasm while writing this "news" article. To me it sounds more like something you'd see at the checkout aisle tabloids. Hehehehe.
Or
April 25, 2009 - 04:14 ET by Warner Todd Huston...or the Penthouse letters pages.... not that I've ever seen those personally, mind you.
Be sure and visit my home blog PubliusForum.com.
Obama's neophytism is
April 25, 2009 - 05:14 ET by MidAmericaObama's neophytism is exposed by his relentless starting of new projects but finishing none of them. Every day he is announcing some new initiative to the cheers of the media. He's like a little kid who will proudly proclaim he's going to be a scientist when he grows up and the next day he says he's going to be a race car driver or maybe a doctor. and on and on. Imagine, a man that just a few short years ago had run nothing is now trying to run every government agency and every corporation in America. Wow! Mom! Mom! Look at me! I can drive!!
Well it didn't take him
April 25, 2009 - 06:45 ET by kgWell it didn't take him long to turn into a jet-setter. He's been out of the White House more than he has been in it. Not to mention the parties. Ohhhh, the parties he has had. He is adding miles on Air Force One almost as fast as he is adding dollars to the deficit.He can spend this country into poverty and the Old Media doesn't care one iota.
"DumbAssity of Dope"
Obamas Accomplishments
April 25, 2009 - 07:54 ET by allanfNot only don't the msm care
April 25, 2009 - 08:53 ET by nadadhimmiNot only don't the msm care about the carbon footprint, pollution and damage to Mother Gaia caused by Obama's Air Force One, (which is baloney anyway) but they are lining up with the fervant hope of getting to kiss the saviour's a$$. This is an exact analog to Orwell's "Animal Farm". Socialists never change, they always institute a sychophantic press, destroy human and Constitutional Rights and replace them with a Cult of Personality.
No Jitters
April 25, 2009 - 07:51 ET by Nearly NobodyNeither did Forrest Gump when he was ramming his head in a foxhole!!!
"Nearly Nobody's News"
From her comments I'd say
April 25, 2009 - 08:12 ET by Radical1979From her comments I'd say Obama is a better actor than president.
well i
April 25, 2009 - 10:35 ET by ronwill have the jitters and will not be at ease for the next 4 years.
Oh, he's sooooo cool, but unqualified-------
April 25, 2009 - 12:22 ET by Roscoe MendagoWhat is it that people see in this guy, Obama? He's cool, calm, on drugs, whatever, the dude is a fraud. Maybe he's scared sh--less and it's his coping mechanism, but he still sat in those pews for 20 years, didn't he. He's hung out with domestic terrorists, sat at the knee of Hawaiian communists. He must believe in something, an ideology, himself, but isn't he just one cool-cat-daddy. Who voted for the "community organizer", and what did they see that convinced them he was ready to be CiC? I'm asking questions because, for the life-of-me I cannot fathom why anyone would vote for such an unqualified, narcissistic, and certifiably unpatriotic, Marxist stooge.
White feathers, white feathers, make'em count!!!
This guy is going to get us all killed!!!!!
Barf alert, indeed
April 25, 2009 - 14:53 ET by Kat Outta the BagI wanted to lose about five pounds before my sister's wedding next month. Reading this article before each meal outta do the trick.
the msm are not going to snap out of this trance
April 25, 2009 - 17:20 ET by tonemeisteruntil there's a big smoking hole where a city used to be . face it, short of a succesful terrorist attack. the people will fall for this crap.nothing, not gigantic deficits, sucking up to serial human rights abusers etc. will do. of course if you don't care if this happens,none of this will bother you... mr. president. we recently went out to dinner with some of the wife's friends, all libs. all they could say was "isn't it nice to have a president that's smart" etc. i promised the wife i wouldn't get into any political discussions. never the less i wanted to gag. what he the hell has he done other than show up....
OMG! mb...when is that
April 25, 2009 - 18:25 ET by bigtimerOMG!
mb...when is that duct-tape going to get here!
This is obscene...all of it.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
A grim fairy tale indeed
April 25, 2009 - 19:07 ET by needleMy take is that Liz Sidoti wrote the bulk of this while she was still under a serious buzz the day after the Big Zero’s inauguration, and fantasying about his grand future. She apparently has not actually sobered up yet, but came across her earlier scribblings, tidied them up a bit, and submitted them now so as to beat her next deadline.
I seriously wonder if even our Narcissist in Chief would actually believe all this cr@p.
Impunitas semper ad deteriora invitat.
I think Lincoln should watch his back side there on that
April 25, 2009 - 20:45 ET by JTPbig monument. He may be going the way of the Churchill bust that O'Bambi sent back to Europe. Gotta start measuring for a new monument only 4 months in. This guy is amazing.
"Now isnt the time for an on the job training president". joe biden
The Associated Press seems
April 26, 2009 - 02:56 ET by RR GOPThe Associated Press seems to have stayed under the radar for a long time compared to other news outfits.
It's easier to pin a political leaning on Fox News, MSNBC, the New York Times, etc., but since everyone uses AP stories and also feed news to that organization for dissemination, their ubiquity has probably lent them an aloof air of impartiality. I think that's especially true since (as far as I know) AP and other outfits like Reuters don't lend themselves to editorializing...but, they can pick and choose stories, and write those stories in a biased manner.
Also, their photojournalism is a powerful tool as well. And like all of the Fifth Estate, a tool that can be used either honestly or dishonestly/ideologically.
I suppose they would lump honesty with ideology.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).