Obama lost without teleprompter
By Richard Larsen
During the 1992 presidential election, Dan Quayle, who was George Bush Sr.’s vice president, made a blunder that lives in infamy primarily with standup comedians. With a classroom of elementary school students, Quayle corrected a student who spelled “potato” and, taking his cue from a spelling card prepared by the teacher, told the student his spelling was wrong. It should be spelled “potatoe,” the vice president explained. To this day, jokes are made of Quayle’s gaff and others that have yielded innumerable laughs for comedians.
Sen. Barack Obama is providing his share of memorable gaffs that should yield considerable fodder for the late-night comedians as well, except that some of his verbal blunders are serious. Were it not for the fact that the mainstream media has already anointed the senator as president, we would have his more significant blunders plastered across the pages of the nation’s newspapers. In fact, coverage is so abysmally and incompetently absent from the mainstream media, one has to peruse the primary texts of his speeches to find his gaffs.
A couple of weeks ago while addressing a crowd in Missouri, Obama said the U.S. has so many Arabic interpreters in Iraq that there aren’t enough to help our troops in Afghanistan.
“It’s like Arab – Arab – Arabic interpreters, Arab language speakers, we only have a certain number of them, and if they’re all in Iraq, then it’s harder for us to use them,” Obama said.
But Afghans do not speak Arabic, senator. They speak Dari and Pashto. Well, there goes the “smartest guy in the room” label.
On Tim Russert’s “Meet the Press” on May 4, the senator was asked, “Would you respond against Iran?” He answered, “It – Israel is an ally of ours. It is the most important ally we have in the region, and there’s no doubt that we would act forcefully and appropriately on any attack against Iran, nuclear or otherwise.” Somehow in there Obama got Israel and Iran confused. I’d say there’s quite a difference between the two, and yet he says he’d act forcefully on any attack against Iran. If that had been President Bush or John McCain, we’d still be hearing about it.
The best one is a real winner. Two weeks ago Obama told an Oregon audience that “I’ve been in 57 states, (with) I think one left to go.” I guess if he had that American flag lapel pin on that he makes a point of not wearing (unless he’s in a red state) he could have glanced down and counted the stars and realized there are only 50, not 58 states in the Union. Maybe it’s just a math deficiency, but you know it wouldn’t have been shrugged off to fatigue if it was John McCain who had said it; they would have called it a “senior moment.”
Maybe his comment was a Freudian slip and reflected his Muslim upbringing. For there are in fact 57 Muslim states around the world. But then he’d still be off by one. I’m perplexed. What makes his statement even worse is that it wasn’t even a complete sentence. I had to add the conjunction parenthetically for the senator’s phrase to make sense!
Let’s see now, the senator has problems with math, English and languages, but that’s not all. Let’s add geography to the list. Before the Kentucky primary, Obama explained that he was trailing Hillary Clinton because, “Sen. Clinton, I think, is much better known, coming from a nearby state of Arkansas. So it’s not surprising that she would have an advantage in some of those states in the middle.” Actually, senator, you come from one of those states in the middle, Illinois, and I’ve never seen a map where Arkansas is closer to Kentucky than Illinois is.
Now, in the “detached from reality” category, the senator told a Portland, Ore., crowd last weekend that Iran doesn’t “pose a serious threat to us, along with Cuba and Venezuela, because they’re tiny countries with small defense budgets.” I wonder what kind of a defense budget 19 terrorists had when their primary weapons were a handful of box-cutters.
Now, in the “detached from reality” category, the senator told a Portland, Ore., crowd last weekend that Iran doesn’t “pose a serious threat to us, along with Cuba and Venezuela, because they’re tiny countries with small defense budgets.” I wonder what kind of a defense budget 19 terrorists had when their primary weapons were a handful of box-cutters.
Sen. Obama is very articulate when he’s got a teleprompter. It’s when he goes off script that he runs into problems. I wonder if he’ll have to carry around a stack of 3×5 cards with cues and factoids for him if he’s president since he won’t be able to take a teleprompter everywhere.
The senator is human and he makes mistakes. The media just don’t tell us about them, proving their bias by conspicuously ignoring his gaffs, and proving their predisposition to his foreordination as president. He is not messianic in spite of his “rock star” status with the press. And in spite of his claims, he is not a unifier, as there is no experiential evidence of him “unifying” in Illinois or in Washington, D.C. And, in spite of his grandiloquence behind a teleprompter, it’s obvious he hasn’t the intelligence to justify his position as the Democratic nominee.
As for his verbal blunders, I suspect he would explain them away by declaring, “they’re just words.”
Richard Larsen of Pocatello is president of the brokerage firm Larsen Financial. He graduated from Idaho State University with degrees in history and political science.
You ever heard the term, “walks on water”. The press would have us believe that what he says with foot in mouth is, well, inconsequential and doesn’t really mean anything.
Now, when Hillary has had a bad day and her mouth just latches onto the next silent moment to fill it, well the press is there with baited “blackberries” just ready to text in the next imagined gaff. Even if the next gaff wasn’t there and has to be read upside down and backwards to make no sense.
Strange also that in times past this was supposed to be a trait of the opposite party and no one else. What goes around, comes around or something not remotely similiar to that phrase. What is stupid in one context does not change, it remains just that, stupid.
Yeah, we’re all human except those annointed to “walk on water”. Come to think of that, did you know that Ron Paul is still in the running. What has he said that is funny as of late? Ron…..you know… the Texan that is….. Never mind.
Been to or seen 3 speeches by the gentleman in question and I still come away wondering what all the fuss is about? Presidential candidates need lots of people behind them to make things work and this gentleman seems to be a solitary creature in that respect.
“Yes, I listened to that man for 20 years but didn’t hear a thing.”
“Yes, my father was a socialist/communist whom Jomo Kenyatta kicked out of his entourage, but that won’t affect me.”
OK, just what did affect this candidate, if anything. You can’t come into this world and remain totally aloff from it, things affect you. I’m not sure I like what I see affecting him. Good press, bad press or no press.
We’re not electing the next American “idol” here, folks. This guy has to represent us all and I’m concerned that like his “typical white person (his grandmother)” he’s a typical (you fill in the blank space). I cringe to think that he would be anything but taken to the cleaners by other leaders in this world. He certainly hasn’t gained the needed respect, nor shown any ability in bringing people together. In fact, quite the opposite. In that respect if reminds me of another one-term President who espouses all those wonderful non-qualities.
All your fault, Richard you got me started today. Good article. Get ready for the incoming flak.
Mr. L -
Good article,and so illustrative of the obvious Obama bias of the liberal communications media.
One minor nit-picking comment – I think those things you refer to are actually “gaffes”, (with the silent “e”.) I think it’s likely a French word, and as you probably know, the Frenchies are inordinately fond of silent letters and weird spellings.
Keep up the good work.
It’s very seldom I agree with Disgusted Reader, but this time you hit the nail on the head, “old bud”! Keep up the good work.
I’m not a huge advocate of Hillary Clinton, but Obama scares the hell out of me. And I am, somewhat, called a democrat. John McCain is looking better every day!
Heck, we all occasionally say things before the connections are properly secure between our head and our tongues, don’t we? One recent politician (nicknamed “W”) said, “I’m honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein.”
I will never forgive Dan Quail, however for the blunder you mentioned. I still have the thought in the back of my mind as I write “potatoe” if it is spelled right now — or is this the way that Dan Quail made a fool out of himself? If he hadn’t blundered so publicly, this Idaho boy wouldn’t have any problem with the spelling of Idaho’s premier vegetable.
The websites are full of Bush’s quotations. Your article today, although it has absolutely NO importance of anything momentous, brings home the fact that scrutiny of presidential candidates and what they say and do (and what their wives say and do — and what their ministers say and do) is a fact of life. One thing Romney would not have had to deal with would be the thing about religious sayings because of the fact of “correlation” in everything related to his chosen religion — unless he could be linked to the recent happenings in Texas.
Obama had better control his wife and his minister’s tongues because political columnists across the nation are judging him more on their sayings (as well as on his own mis-statements) than they have been on what our legislators and current presidents and vice-presidents actually DO that is stupid and wrong.
Let’s divert the reader’s attention this Memorial Day weekend away from the irresponsible actions of our current administration and continue talking about teleprompters instead of deaths that have been needlessly (or otherwise) caused in the past 4-8 years. Keep up the good work (as Skezix says)!
Maybe you could write meaningful exposés in the coming weeks to commemorate other meaningful US holidays on “What Obama’s daughters have been taught about God”, “How Obama’s grocer is not fully supporting him in his political bid”, “Why Obama’s wife buys imported bananas for his family — and thus supports parents of illegal immigrants” and other such topics……
Ah, Thayne
I sit and somewhat agree with you and somewhat disagree. You have some salient points (wonder if that’s a French word too, Mr. Stucki will be sure to tell me if it is). He makes my day from time to time. Other times, well, he’s still funny.
Yes, Thayne, we all say things before certain parts of our anatomy are shall we say, connected. You know, brain in gear before mouth is open or something not similiar. I spend an inordinate amount of time checking my verbige and spelling and always after I click submit I find another error. Oh, well.
Now as regarding that tuber, we solved the problem down here by calling them spuds. Hey, works for us. I’ve heard taters but the rednecks tend to use that term. Can’t be too careful, ya know.
Now, a bit to the basis of this discussion. How, exactly, given the press’s proclivities for empasizing the things they do, do we evaluate the various candidates in the running? Sorry, but I consider the press a problem (collectively, not individually) as reading what they find is like following the world via magazines found in the checkout line at the grocery store. Hey, it’s all there, just not what you want nor need or could care about. She big enough to have a whole herd. He’s doing what if she doesn’t agree to what? You know, all the non-important stuff. Who does buy that stuff anyway? Not me, I just read as I go by and get my jollys that way. Of course, come evening I get a re-hashing of the same things via the national news. Wonder if they are the buyers of the checkout magazines? Possibility
By the by, where do you buy non-imported bananas? Is there an underground grocery supply in the U S of A?
Last, but not an end to the discussion, I would be interested in what his children have to say, especially without him, his wife or advisors about. Children say just exactly what they shouldn’t say. They repeat word for word what we, their parents shouldn’t have said. Very telling.
The man will be measured by those who follow him, those who raised him (who now appear silent) and the writing of the sperm donor father (not meant to be an insult but I don’t quite know what the do with that individual in his life), a non-present mother in his life, his social contacts, etc. They’re all a measure of him and I am concerned it’s what I don’t know about him that is going to bite us all.
Thanks, Skezix for the compliment. Wasn’t aware we were protagonists. Nice to be on the same side, “old bud”! I recently offered to adopt a “somewhat liberal” by the name of Craig Bosley” so there’s still room for “a somewhat democrat” in the fold.
Am I sarcastic or silly today? Probably both. Comes with the heat outside, which is HOT. I know, you’d be worried if it wasn’t.
Thayne, you really read Cleon Skousen? Dude, your world needs to be bigger than the Sheriff of SLC. You had a deprived reading world.
Now there an interesting mistake.
My first word in my post ended up as my Name. Question=Disgusted Reader for those wanting to know.
Remeber that it is hard to put food on your family! Keep an eye on your rectum. Dick is watching!
Thank you Disgusted, C.R., and Skezix. I appreciate your insights and comments.
Thayne, as I indicated in my column, we all make mistakes, and the candidates do as well. But the primary point is that the media are not covering Obama’s gaffes like they do Bush, McCain, or even Clinton’s. They have seemingly anointed him “next president” and in order to facilitate that, they do not report on his blunders. But, as illustrated above, not only does he make them, but he makes significant verbal errors. When he goes off teleprompter, he stutters, stammers, starts and stops, and has a harder time spitting out a complete sentence than the current President does.
His major blunders, like confusing Israel and Iran, and the “tiny countries” of Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba with “small defense budgets” illustrate his detachment from reality and failure to recognize viable global threats for what they are. These gaffes do much to illuminate his deficiency in global issues that are more substantive now than perhaps ever before. He plainly is on a major stage that he doesn’t belong on. If he were playing Wimbledon, he would not be center court, but on one of the side courts. He’s playing in the majors, but clearly doesn’t have the acumen or the knowledge to compete at any level higher than the minors.
To: Disgusting Reader:
RE: Bananas – exactly my point, my friend. We all buy bananas from other than US farmers — AND we all make mistakes if we talk enough without teleprompters and prepared responses! I will also take your suggestion and refer to potatoes as “spuds” from now on.
I agree with you the it might be interesting about submitting the wives and children of presidential candidates to a long list of questions — BUT THIS IS NOT THE BEST WAY TO GO.
Why not suggest to Mr. Larsen that he take a higher road????? A successful businessman by the name of Lee Iacocca wrote a book about what we might expect of a Presidential candidate. It is called, “Where Have All The Leaders Gone.” Mr. Larsen might take some of the qualities of a real political leader mentioned in this book and then compare these qualities against the candidates. These qualities have nothing at all to do with teleprompters or Bushisms or lapel pins or wive’s tax returns. I’m fully aware that our political philosophies are sometimes at odds. But if we are to then talk about the qualities we want in a new (better?) President and Congress, then this might be a good place to start.
And I also agree with you, Disgusting Reader, that my reading world was pretty limited — till about the time I reached the age of 50. I was afraid that if what I read resulted in my questioning my religion and other questions about life that I was probably better off not reading non-correlated books that had been pre-approved to inspire and uplift instead of leaving me to questions things. I once even make a completely homemade telescope, but was afraid to do anything more than peek into it, as what I saw made me question — and that is dangerous for a person who didn’t feel that his own thoughts counted.
Put an elephant on Obama and a donkey on McCain and Mr. Larsen might be whistling a different toon. I’m sure that you all know this but Mr. Larsen’s comments are based entirely in partisan spirit. We could all stoop to the level of examining the blunders and mistatements of politicians through the ages but if they belong to your party then you didn’t notice them.
Being a person who is trying to be non-partisan in what is arguably the most partisan state in the nation is an uphill battle at best. Yes, I do take exception to much of what Mr. Larsen says, not because I dislike him or his views, but because he places all of the so-called evidence on his side of the scale and spouts about what he sees as imbalance. I could care less what “gaffes” Obama has made because I feel no compusion to support or resist him. Not one of the candidates has impressed me enough to pay attention to any of the rhetoric from either party. Mr. Larsen sees fit to fix upon the negative and his partisans will chime in with him and all will affix the label of heretic and anathema on the act of dissidence. When I hear one of “them” speak the truth and nothing but the truth then my ears will prick. In the mean-time anal retention will pass for serious political discussion.
Mr. Avichouser: There’s a real irony in Mr. Larsen’s complaint, in that Sen. Obama has consistently been much more cogent and on-message than has Sen. McCain, who has made a number of well-reported misstatements that may represent substantive misunderstandings. This time around, “gotcha politics” is not a fight the Republicans will win. However, the only way any of us will win is to reject these politics entirely. When Sen. McCain says something dumb, but not dangerous or malicious, we should just ignore it. Perhaps things will change for the better.
As we all know, and as stated throughout these blogs, I would assume (though I wasn’t around for all of them) that every presidential candidate since George Washington has made some kind of mis-statement in their speeches. That is human nature. But, when a man, or woman, is running for the highest office in the land, and wishes to lead all of us, they really ought to spend a little time refining their education; especially geography, and anything else they may need to convince us all that they are at least knowledgable enough to function well in the job. As Americans, most of us hold our leaders to a higher standard than most.
And more important than anything, they really better show a whole lot of patriotism. From what I’ve observed of Senator Obama, he doesn’t seem to feel a need to honor our flag, our National Anthem, or the Pledge of Allegiance. Remember that old saying “Actions speak louder than words”? Any time he is present when these things are shown, played, or spoken, he just looks bored, as though he wishes they would hurry up, so he can get back to the job of convincing us all to elect him president.
If you are watching him on TV, or in person, observe him closely when someone else is in the limelight. Might surprise you! Maybe we are due for another “John” as president(?)
Skezix:
Here’s a photo from two weeks ago, of Sen. Obama wearing a flag pin.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/05/14/obamas-flag-pin-reappears/
Here’s a video of Sen. Obama singing the national anthem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4FD-j_Dqq8
Here’s a video of Sen. Obama reciting the pledge of allegiance on the Senate floor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svo9mutE6TM
I’m going to save these links and just repost them whenever these rumors come up again. Selecting a president is important, and we should do it on the basis of substantive qualifications, not false rumors. We’re better than this.
Jim, Thayne, and Ty, you make my point. McCain has made his share of verbal missteps but they have been heavily reported. Of Obama’s blunders, we hear nothing. It is necessary to peruse the original texts of his speeches to discover them. They are not being reported which magnifies the media’s predictable duplicity.
Further, Obama’s gaffes are not only numerable, but they are significant and substantive, which indicates that his blunders are not just miscues, but manifest an ignorance on issues that he should be well versed on. If we were interviewing him for the job he seeks and he made such substantive and repetitive errors, we would be calling to the secretary, “Next!”
Yaaaawn…..Sorry the well is running dry, Rick. Time to get a new hobby.
Bob
To Rick Larsen: In your last paragraph, you made the statement, “If we were interviewing him for the ‘job’ he seeks ……..,etc.”
Well – DAH!!!!!
To Thayne Anderson,
Your banana reply has me scratching my head. Where are the American banana farmers? Choose a new crop, please. Yes, they grow in the U.S. but not commercially, it’s too cold here.
Your remark about Cleon Skousen brought up a scenario in my mind about the type of family that you grew up in. Neither good nor bad, just type. I’m well aware of the inherent lack of growth in families where, “It’s just that way and no more explanation is needed”. I escaped the juggernaut as there was only my mother to contend with and her lack of education made her come to me very soon in life. Nice to be wanted. The telescope was the defining moment between us. I made one too. But I looked and looked and looked and had all the more questions that no one could answer. Now that was frustrating. Open up this whole new world and everyone could only shrug their shoulders.
You have my permission, get a new telescope, look all you want but I still probably can’t answer your questions any more than I can my own. I still only know the WHY and I’m working on Who and How at present.
Thanks for the Lee Iacocca reference. Man, my reading list is growing by leaps and bounds.
Question your religion all you want, just make sure the questions are valid. Don’t get side tracked by the un-important stuff, stick with the meat of reality. I suspect you and I share the same religion given your description. Could be wrong. Cleon Skousen was a dead giveaway.
As much as you would like Mr. Larsen to take a “higher ground” approach, he does have a point that the national press never gets above the mediocre stage in reporting on any candidate. You really have to dig to find anything out. I read the speech McCain gave a week or so ago and was duly impressed. It was different but the press was absolutely silent. Wonder if they’re biased? I went digging for Mr Obamas speeches but they all seem to come out of the same cookie cutter.
Lapel pins, standing with your hand over your heart, not looking bored, these are all social things and granted may not represent much but they do give a measure of the individual. What is important to him? In one case, lapel pins and standing with arms in front of you when everyone else is there with hand over heart is somewhat telling. Now I can just see all of the Obama speeches where his followers refuse to do the same. People will follow his example, is his example a good one or what? You choose. I don’t detect much patriotism in the gentleman, in fact I fear the opposite. He’ll sell us down the river because we’re typical (fill in the blank space again). He doesn’t represent me at present and I’m concerned Americans are going to be sadly disappointed if they consider him a leader to follow. He has this condescending attitude that because he’s (another blank space) that he knows (also another blank space). He lacks credibility in my world. Excellent speaker, with a teleprompter or maybe without. Who knows he probably has his speech memorized by now. The 3 I went to all sounded the same. Same as the other candidates in that respect.
I can’t believe so many of you drinking the Obama cool aid ignore the absolutely idiotic things he’s saying! You know darn well that if McCain or Bush said something half as stupid as Obama now says on a regular basis that you’d be jumping all over it. Really, 58 states? Really, confusing Israel with Iran? Really, Iran a tiny country with a small defense budget? Kentucky closer to Arkansas than Illinois? How long has he lived there, and he doesn’t know that Kentucky borders Illinois and Arkansas doesn’t? This guy is an empty suit with no substance and with even less smarts. You guys like to make Larsen the issue here, but it’s Obama, and he’s a blithering idiot!
Skezix, it’s obvious that many of the posters here don’t seem to realize that they are interviewing applicants. They don’t seem to care that Obama’s incompetent, inexperienced, and ignorant. We need to think of it as an application for the job, and Obama’s failed the interview.
Richard, you’ve left out a whole bunch of Obama’s mistakes, including last year when he said 10,000 people died in the Kansas tornado. Not only were there only 12 who died, but the whole town only had 1500 people.
Isn’t it Ironic that this biased “media” would allow Mr. Larsen to print 854 words of criticism of Mr. Obama. They let him write whatever he wants to every Sunday. I guess they might not be as biased as some people think. They have printed entire calendars of “Bushisms” with 365 blunders (366 in a leap year) to keep people laughing at “mistatements”. Mr. Larsen thinks that the only thing any of us reads is the “Idaho State Journal” so he can make any number of blank charges that nobody tells on the “others”, that is anybody that he does not support. Look abrod people. You will read plenty of op-ed about the problems with Obama. Watch a little television (suggestion, try Glen Beck on Headline News in the evenings). Read some other papers from across the country to get another opinion. If there is a politician with a pimple in their armpit you will find out about it. Mr. Larsen keeps track of bowel movements because he thinks everybody else is too stupid to find out the truth. Expand your understanding! Or take the word of this man to represent your understanding of the world. He won’t lie. He told you so.
Such venom, Jim. It’s very unbecoming.
Many people do not listen to Glen Beck, or any radio talk shows. The New York Times, the LA Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Sun-Tribune are arguably the leading newspapers of the nation. NBC, CBS, ABC are the primary broadcast news sources. As much as I follow the national news, I have yet to hear or see any of the aforementioned Obama gaffes published, aired, or otherwise promulgated as news. I’m not talking a few columnists, for there have been a few, but Obamas blunders are not treated as news where every verbal misstep by Bush or McCain is broadcast and reprinted ad nauseam. Perhaps they have covered his faux pas’, but I don’t think so. The fact that the ISJ provides a diverse and balanced assortment of columnists from varying points along the political spectrum speaks volumes to their credit.
It was interesting listening to Terry McAuliffe on Fox News last week. As former chairman of the DNC, and current Clinton campaign manager, he made several interesting observations. He commented at length about how the media has treated Obama vs. Clinton, and then said, “Now I know how it feels to be a Republican.” I think that is an apt denunciation of your obvious conclusion that Obama is not treated any differently.
Rick: OH! Now I see! The point you wanted to make is NOT that Obama occasionally needs a teleprompter to minimize mistakes (as indicated in the headline). The point is that HIS mistakes are largely ignored by the liberal mainstream media. While the mistakes of others are widely lampooned.
Your second point was that Obama’s geographical mistakes indicate a level of immaturity and ignorance that is significant in light of his position as the likely candidate to face McCain in the November election.
Regarding your point #1: This is a systemic media problem in failing to be totally unbiased in a free society where a small number of rich people own and control the media and where media news is dependent on ratings and commercial sponsors. It appears that in the USA, the major media are more interested in reporting on American Idol, the latest murder or sex scandal; a Mars lander and tornadoes in Oklahoma than in reporting the most recent blooper made by the Front-running Democratic candidate in an election year. It must be frustrating to those who want more coverage of such things. I see your point — kinda.
Regarding your point #2: I know that Obama’s international geographic prowess is different from that of the other candidates. I’ve said before in this blog that I would be honored if McCain got the presidency – considering his experience and everything else. The same is true of Ms.
Clinton. But my favorite is still Obama as of today. Be that as it may, Rick, presumably, you voted for Bush in 2002, and he DEFINITELY had less geographical acumen than does Obama today, didn’t he?
Rick, don’t worry about Jim. He’s just angry that people may start finding out that Obama is not the messiah he and his comrades think he is. He’s starting to be seen more and more as a mortal man with (gasp) faults. I think people must be seeing him more and more as the most liberal member of the senate as well. None of this was supposed to happen because the media had already anointed him president.
Jim,
I presume we hit a hot button with you. Your vernacular response was a tad disappointing. I expect better of you.
The English language is a polygot language, put together from so many things that it’s almost impossible to say anything without somewhere, sometime making a statement that can be taken multiple ways. Some people are better at staying out of trouble linguistically than others. I think they’re referred to as silent. Some of the faux pas are ridiculous. I was reading through my own inputs here and realized I manage several every time I take a stab at doing something on here. Left out the word “you” this morning and said have instead of having. Sentence was hard to take without both changes. It’s not a matter of how we state things, it a matter of how we pile on the poor person who managed to state something that didn’t quite turn out right. We pile on some and totally ignore others. Bad habit. The statements are generally totally meaningless and probably came out wrong on all sides but what do we do with them? We just can’t stop looking for them, can we? In some peoples case we spend our days looking for things that are totally hidden. Some of the things Hillary got taken to the cleaners for as of late, smack of bias and nothing else. Dan Quayle was hounded by the press and for what good reason, none. It wrote a lot of bylines for sloppy reporters. There are good reporters, wish all were.
Recently had a long discussion of what grits were, now that started out stupid and went downhill fast.
Truthfully, I would prefer the press totally get off everyones back and give me articles of substance about everyone. Report the news, don’t make it. I hate it when I go to vote and then only things I can think about is some stupid reference that was totally taken out of context. Makes it more of a popularity contest than an intelligent choice at the ballot box.
Disgusted:
“Truthfully, I would prefer the press totally get off everyones back and give me articles of substance about everyone. Report the news, don’t make it.” Preach on, brother.
If the last eight years of poisonous, zero-sum politics have been about anything, they’ve been about distracting the electorate from substantive differences. During the primary, Sens. Obama and McCain have done a remarkable job of avoiding that approach. I hope they keep it up.
Hal,
Obama is not the messiah. Bush is not the messiah. McCain is not the messiah. Clinton is not the messiah. You however have shown yourself to be a partisan of mindlessness so you are obviously not the messiah. I am not the messiah but you haven’t really read a word I have written elsewhere or even in this thread so you really have not the slightest idea what I am trying to say here. Find substance. You will be better served. Every one of these pretenders are mortal and flawed. Every leader we have ever had has been mortal and flawed. Every member of the American electorate has been and is mortal and flawed. Just recommending that people vote for so and so does nothing at all. The best you can do is to try to think. The next best thing you can try to do is try to get others to think. If you can’t think, then you should do what Disgusted Reader suggests, stay silent.
Rick,
I try to look at every situation from as many angles as possible. I don’t sense that a veil has been drawn over my eyes. I can find what I need to know when I use my freedom and read and watch and listen to everything that comes out. There is weakness in resorting to the argument that it is all a conspiracy. You believe that the media is stacked against you while I believe that your primary concern is to make people afraid and unwilling to question what you seemingly report. You think that your readers are unwilling to go further than your negative report.
By the way I have no “obvious conclusion that Obama is not treated any differently”. I do have the sense that you are happily following the course of an opinion leader. That is a trust you have been afforded and you should try to do it more justice. Find something more substantive and comparative for your discussions. You keep harping about the negatives and you are in fact keeping track of “bowel movements” rather than telling people what the real differences are. If you can’t do more service than that then you can expect to read constant criticism of your bile.
Has anyone noticed that this could be the “inner voice” of our columnist seeking to balance his argument by arguing with himself?
Opinion, venom, sarcasm, sense, principle, ignorance, blatant idiocy, inuendo, and freedom of speech. I have an opinion about everything I’ve read in this column. Those opinions could be posted and, whether or not the statements were comprehended in context, there would be some smling, others offended and still others laughing til their sides hurt.
You want to know what I care about? The Constitution. Those who currently hold the most influential powers of elected government office have no clue what the constitution is, how it has been destroyed, or what processes are currently in play to destroy it and our nation. Does one’s electibility hinge on making silly statements? It should, if they do not know what they are even talking about. Why is that so? If they have no comprehension what they are talking about their facade is cloaking ulterior motives. What is motivating them?
Is our government reaching beyond Constitutional principles? Who supports the media bias? Why are none of those who have influence organizing and educating the masses so we can vote the ignorant representation out of office? There is a litmus test for stupid public policy, and it is called the voting booth. In a recent election some 13% of registered voters voted, which means 7% of registered voters controlled public policy. I laugh everytime I reflect on the media claim that Hillary “carried uneducated white women voters.” You see, our dishonor is in principles which preclude Constitutional principles.
Do I care if our President is a liar? Actually I do, because such reveals a motive to misdirect me from a principle. You see, if a candidate comprehends and lives their life by Constitutional principles, there is something about the things which motivate them that carry their actions beyond a facade. They sense their duty and will not shrink for political advantage.
We expect our friends, family and religious leaders to be honest. If they say something that does not make sense, or seems out of character, we seek the truth. Do we believe that all men were created equal? If we think for a moment that political office places anyone above principles established through our founding fathers’ sacrifices, we just as well vote for Kermit the Frog, or Daffy Duck. When you become aware of the vast numbers who are claiming they are now awake and are preparing to vote in November, and you consider what it is that is motivating them to participate, you will see that if you do not become informed and involved, it matters not if Daffy or Kermit actually wins. Our governing principles reflect who literally rallies the most votes.
To ty,
I’m left wondering whether “preach on brother” is good or bad?
Everyone has their description of the past 8 years of politics. I tend to think it started long before that. I also wonder about who gets the biggest blame for the predictament we find ourselves in. Probably a lot of blame to go around. You and I probably get our share, hopefully it’s not to big, at least in my case. Whoops, maybe that’s my share of the problem.
Thanks.
To Jim,
Arguing with yourself can be productive. You have a 50% chance of being right and 50% change of being wrong.
HAL worked for IBM didn’t he? I remember an evil computer named HAL.
Geez Rick, you just regurgitating Rush Limbaugh episodes now? That dang liberal media gettin in the way of actual research on your part? First its a lie to say that Arabic isn’t spoken in Afghanistan. You mention 19 terrorists in a reference to 9/11. What was their common language? Where were they trained? Where is Osama bin Laden from? How about al Qeada? Are they Arab based? What language were we listening in on the wireless when we had bin Laden cornered in Tora Bora, Afghanistan? And to what country were our troops diverted away to, letting him get away? Pretty weak argument there bub compared to the Republican nominee who can’t determine the difference between Shia and Sunni, not once, but repeatedly. Or he asserts that al Qaeda is being trained in Iran, also blatantly false since the Shia and Sunnis hate each other. The reason the media doesn’t focus on Obama for these gaffes (check you spelling there bub) is because thats all they are mistatements, whereas your guy just doesn’t know. Its nothing less than a Republican travesty that Osama still walks the earth after almost seven years and a trillion dollars. Time for Democrats to have a go.
And puh-leeze, you think Illinois has more in common with Kentucky than Arkansas does? That’s really weak. I’m sure the audience was well aware of the point even if a boy from Idaho couldn’t get it.
But what is odious in your narrative is your blatant demonization labelling Obama with a “Muslim upbringing”. Its pretty blatant xenophobia when you engage in the relative ignorance of your audience like that, thinking that all Muslims are just like al Qaeda, or perpetuating the notion that this country should or could be at war with all Muslims, or even that all Musims are bad. But what’s worse its not true. Please provide your readers any evidence you have to demonstrate that it is true. A nasty smear that reflects poorly on the author.
And this is a joke, right?–”it’s obvious he hasn’t the intelligence to justify his position as the Democratic nominee.” And the standard for the last man to defeat McCain as the Republican nominee is a brain trust who couldn’t even find Afghanistan on a map when he got in office. Click my name for a list of his credits so stupid that the media quit ridiculing him for them. I understand that this paper wants to keep you around for “balance” to Jim and others. But really you don’t do them any favors when all you do is spew right wing disinformation.
Wondered when you’d weigh in. Where oh where are you going with your post?
Memorial Day 5/26/2008
“OBAMA: On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes — and I see many of them in…in the audience here today — our sense of patriotism is particularly strong.”
Bemusing, he sees fallen heroes in the audience. Slip of the tongue. Yup. Everybody makes them. Did the press report it? Haven’t found it, still looking.
“First its a lie to say that Arabic isn’t spoken in Afghanistan”
Pashto and Dari (Afghan Persian/Farsi) are the official languages of Afghanistan. Pashto was declared the National Language of the country during the beginning of Zahir Shah’s reign, however, Dari has always been used for business and government transactions. Both belong to the Indo-European group of languages. According to recent US government estimates, approximately 35 percent of the Afghan population speaks Pashto, and about 50 percent speaks Dari. Turkic languages (Uzbek and Turkmen) are spoken by about 11 percent of the population. There are also numerous other languages spoken in the country (Baluchi, Pashai, Nuristani, etc.), and bilingualism is very common.
Hmmm, indo-european group of languages which unfortunately are written with an Arabic alphabet. Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage with 27 sub-languages.
Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken
A language of Iraq
Population 11,500,000 in Iraq. Population total all countries: 15,100,000.
Region Tigris and Euphrates clusters are in Iraq. Also spoken in Iran, Jordan, Syria, Turkey (Asia).
Alternate names Mesopotamian Qeltu Arabic, Mesopotamian Gelet Arabic, Baghdadi Arabic, Iraqi Arabic, Furati
Dialects Anatolian Cluster, Tigris Cluster, Euphrates Cluster. Geographical and sectarian divisions correlate with Iraqi dialects. The vernacular standard is forming based on Baghdad speech. There are also Bedouin dialects. Nearly unintelligible to speakers of certain other vernacular Arabic varieties.
Classification Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic
Language use National language.
Language development Radio programs. TV.
Comments SVO. Muslim (Shi’a, Sunni), Christian, Jewish, Yezidi.
Also spoken in:
Iran
Language name Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken
Population 1,200,000 in Iran.
Region Khuzestan Province, southwest side of Zagros Mountains, along the bank of the Shatt al Arab.
Alternate names Mesopotamian Gelet Arabic, `Arabi, Arabi
Comments Muslim (Shi’a).
Syria
Language name Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken
Population 1,800,000 in Syria.
Region Eastern Syria.
Alternate names North Syrian Arabic, Furati, Mesopotamian Gelet Arabic
Dialects Euphrates Cluster.
Comments Muslim, Christian, Jewish.
Strange, why is Afghanistan not mentioned? Because the dialects in Afghanistan are not considered, oh horrors, Mesopotamian Arabic and even Obama knows that. Doesn’t he?
What did the 911 terrorists speak? English. The people on the planes only knew English. Among themselves they probably spoke the Gulf dialect of Arabic or maybe the Pakistani dialect Urdu or Farsi (Iranian), there are a few other possibilites. Since they’re gone, we have to guess.
Sort of like why can’t the Portuguese understand the Spaniards, who should also understand the French, who should recognize German because they’re all European languages. After all, they use most of the same characters in their alphabets. Oh, yes, without the accent aigu and such of the French.
Perhaps you need to define your understanding of what exactly constitutes Arabic, it seems to be a widely mis-understood term given that even Presidential candidates make remarks that aren’t spot on.
Strange that you should get on this Arabic kick. What did you prove by it? That anyone who writes in the Arabic alphabet should understand each other. Moot point. Also silly.
Point of Mr. Larsens article is everyone makes mistakes, even you. Why does the press only see certain people and not others? You seem to have missed that salient point, didn’t you? Maybe it was written in American English and you don’t read that dialect.
I’d reply to the rest of your ranting, but I’m tired. Gonna go read a good Glossophilia book, not.
Interesting news as of this evening with Obama being held up to criticism in the press for putting his “Uncle” on site to liberate the Auschwitz concentration camp. Widely carried. Much maligned for it. He was babbling to a press conference about it. It does turn out that he had a Great Uncle who participated in the liberation of a sub camp at Buchenwald and those were American troops, not Red Army. So as I am caused to pay more attention to who catches who in gaffes I was surprised to see the “liberal” media go after Obama so soon after Rick’s “revelations”. Guess where I heard it first. Glenn Beck on CNN speaking with Ben Stein (arch conservative film maker of “No Intelligence Allowed”, a must see film for our partisan and his mini-me followers. My suggestion for readers who wish to become enlightened, tune in Mr. Beck at 8 or 10 pm on CNN. That is a television program. Although he does do talk radio as well. Careful Rick, people might learn more than you can handle! Hope that helps.
Jim
Who is the syphilis twit? What a fool. He rants, ties a bunch of phrases together and thinks he makes sense?! He throws everything he knows about the middle east into one paragraph and thinks it makes sense; Afghanistan, 9/11, 19 terrorists, Iraq, Sunni, Muslim… Try to make one cogent thought instead of throwing an alphabet soup at us and think it means anything.
If he would have read the article he would know what Obama said about Kentucky, that it’s closer to Arkansas than Illinois. Kentucky and Illinois share part of a border for heavens sake! Syphilis, you’re an ignorant fool, BUB!
How is a reference to Obamas Muslim upbringing xenophobic? There is no reference to fear of foreigners in that phrase. Where is the fear? You’re the one who equated a reference to his Muslim past with xenophobia. Sounds to me like you’ve got a problem with it.
Who is this John M. who apparently has been living in a cave for the past 8 years? He wants to display his ignorance for all to see. Instead of being challenged by anything he reads, and educate himself, he responds with juvenile ridicule. DR at least looks things up even if he completely misses the point. Instead of understanding the assertion that people in Arkansas have more in common with the people of Kentucky, he merely regurgitates the fact the Illinois shares a border with Kentucky. I’d try and write real slow with small words but I fear its pointless.
Good job DR, just like Bush you completely went after the wrong enemy. al Qaeda and the 9/11 terrorists is composed largely of Arab speaking terrorists who decry Western influence in the Muslim countries and Saudi Arabia specifically. They were protected by the Taliban in Afghanistan which is why we invaded Afghanistan and sought them out. Fifteen of the 9/11 attackers were from Saudi Arabia, two from the United Arab Emirates, one from Egypt, and one from Lebanon, all Arab speaking. So Larsen’s point about not needing Arabic speaking translators in Afghanistan is well…wrong. The whole diversion into Iraq was misguided and caused us to fail to bring the 9/11 culprits to justice. If we’re going to fight a war against these terrorists, lets let some smart people do it for a change.
Good point Jim. And if you want to see some very concerning mistakes made by a presidential candidate click my name.
I’ve missed out on a few exchanges while I’ve been away the past couple of days.
John M., don’t try to engage Sisyphus the way he tries to engage us. By allowing him to rant and rave he displays himself to be the clichéd, far leftie that he is. Not content to display his hatred for anything conservative or middle-of-the road politically, he wants us to direct us to more extreme propaganda and hatred at the daily kos. Fortunately, we live in a country where even the acerbic, vituperative can spew their hate. But by so doing, he illustrates how crucial it is that we not let that end of the broad American political spectrum from taking complete control of America. His polemics provide great insight into their methodology, their mind-set, and their objectives.
Jim, thank you for sharing that. It truly is amazing, when you think about it, that CNN provided an audience for Glen Beck. He really is an anachronism on their system. Now, they don’t dare take him off because he receives the highest ratings of any of their programs on either network. He does talk about some of the things that the mainstream media lets lie, and I commend him for his courage. I’ve watched a few of his programs, and tried to listen to him on the radio a few times. It’s difficult for me to listen for too long because he’s just too high-strung for me, even though I typically appreciate what he has to say, especially since it’s from a primarily contrarian perspective.
I find it interesting when you characterize someone like Ben Stein as an “arch conservative” and any who follow with interest his writings and productions as partisan “mini-me” followers. Implementing that same methodology, does that make someone like George Soros, Michael Moore, Ms. Huffington, et al, “arch liberals” and any who follow them “partisan mini-me followers?” Just seeking clarification.
Disgusted, thank you for your authoritative clarification on some of the facts referenced in the column and which I erroneously assumed were general knowledge. Obviously for a select segment of the far left, those facts elude them because they don’t fit their political narrative. Excellent research and well posted.
Jim, one final note. I saw this morning a column by Brent Bozell, the head of Media Research Center which monitors the mainstream media (from a conservative perspective), and he makes the same observations I did last week. It’s almost like he read my column! I was flattered. But he came to the same conclusions as well regarding the dearth of coverage of the Obama gaffes in the media. You can read his column here http://www.mrc.org/BozellColumns/newscolumn/2008/col20080528.asp . And since you seem to like so much my closing comment from a couple of weeks ago, I’ll utilize it again: “hope that helps.”
Here are a few excerpts from Brent Bozell’s column that I thought were interesting:
“ABC reporter Jake Tapper follows politicians around for a living. On his blog, he suggested Barack Obama has a problem: “The man has been a one-man gaffe machine.””
Interesting Jake could put that quote on his blog but the network wouldn’t let him broadcast it in one of his reports. Wonder if his comment was “spiked” for broadcast.
“In New Mexico, Obama suggested he was like a young Haley Joel Osment in “The Sixth Sense,” with the ability to see dead people: “On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes — and I see many of them in the audience here today — our sense of patriotism is particularly strong.” Fallen heroes in the audience? Is this Barack Potatoe Obama? This is precisely the kind of misstatement that Dan Quayle-bashers would run ad infinitum.”
“McCain also would have enjoyed more media focus on Obama’s completely muddled analysis of South America last week. He told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday that he would meet with Chavez to discuss “the fermentation of anti-American sentiment in Latin America, his support of FARC in Colombia and other issues he would want to talk about.” But on Friday in Miami, he insisted any country supporting the Marxist guerillas of FARC should suffer “regional isolation.” This left Obama advisers scrambling to suggest that these two opposing statements can somehow be put together, that he can meet Chavez and isolate him at the same time.
“Sometimes, Obama invents Bosnia-sniper-style whoppers about his personal history. In Selma, Alabama, Obama claimed that the spirit of hope derived from the civil rights protests in Selma in 1965 inspired his birth – when he was born in 1961. He also has inaccurately claimed that the Kennedys funded his Kenyan father’s trip to America in 1959.
“While he was making boo-boos in New Mexico on Memorial Day, Obama also (according to CBS reporter/blogger Maria Gavrilovic) talked about post-traumatic stress disorder by claiming he had an uncle “who was part of the American brigade that helped to liberate Auschwitz,” and then came home and spent six months in an attic. Gavrilovic didn’t note that the prisoners at Auschwitz were liberated by the Red Army. Obama earlier made the claim on his campaign site that his grandfather knew American troops who liberated Auschwitz and Treblinka (also liberated by the Red Army).
“Everyone should grant these candidates a little room for error in the long slog of presidential campaigning. But what about some balance? The same national media that turned Dan Quayle’s name into an instant joke are now working over time to present Obama as Captain Competent.”
Hope that helps!
“don’t try to engage Sisyphus the way he tries to engage us.”–Yeah John, reality has a well known liberal bias. Nobody would want you to get confused by facts. Stick with your subjective labels like Rick does and your echo chamber won’t get disturbed.
Hey Rick, since you obviously can link please provide the support for Beck’s ratings. I just looked and well they’re better than last year so I guess he found his audience of bigots. But he hardly wins. I’m wondering why they keep him? For someone so “mainstream” you’d think he’d be more successful.
“It’s almost like he read my column!” LMAO! No Rick, he just copied it from Rush just like you did. And speaking of propagandists, have you ordered Scott McClellan’s new book? Sounds like a page turner.
I have a young man sitting outside my lab here. He’s tried numberous times to communicate with me and now he’s sitting very patiently writing something down on a piece of paper for me to read. He comes up to me and spouts this gibberish that I can’t understand. He has written he’s from Te Kowai and is an ‘abo’ and he’s enrolled in a class to learn to speak English here. G’day mate, he’s an Aussie. He’s speaking English. Dang, where’s a good Arabic translator when you need one?
Click on my name. Available in 6 languages.
I still think the press is ignoring Obama’s goofs. Now Scott’s goofs are going to be headlines tonight. He missed the White House pets. Yawn.
Odd. HNN on Anderson Cooper 360 spent a good deal of time lambasting Obama for the “Auschwitz” goof. I find it sad that HNN is so taken up with special programming rather than running 30 minute capsules of news like they did in the old days. Maybe if they did we wouldn’t be spending so much time analizing gaffes and goofs. People would already know since the little snippets give an idea of what we need to look at more in depth.
Since you mention it, both ends of the spectrum have their mini-me echos. The trick for people with a brain is to read or listen to all of them, compartmentalize what parts are flatulence and what parts are substance, and then to arrive at a logical truth without the need for over-balance at one end or the other. That is the essence of what the US Intelligence Services do with covert information. Intelligent/Educated Americans outght to be able to do something similar with the “abundance” of information we have available to us in the public domain without the need to resort to ideological extremes so that it can be as simple as possible. Oh, there I go over-simplifying things again!
Jim, well stated. I concur totally. I don’t think that’s over simplifying at all. You’re right on. I was just curious on what your answer would be because usually to those on the left (you’re obviously a wise exception) don’t identify anyone or any ideology as “ultra liberal” or “arch liberal.” It’s only when it comes to the right end of the spectrum that they utilize such terminology. And when you think about it, if the far-right has their mini-me types, then the far left has to have theirs as well, the likes of S. (see above) who drops in here just long enough to offend everyone’s sensibilities, lob a few verbal stink bombs, and thinks he’s so smart for doing so. I enjoy quality and enlightened political discourse that works through ideas logically and tries to get past the trite clichéd polemics. But I’m not a masochist, and have no desire to wallow in that intellectual wasteland that he obviously inhabits. Last week he was downright civil for an exchange or two, and I thought we were making progress. But this week… let him wallow on his own.
By JOHN FUND
May 30, 2008; Page A13
For months, Barack Obama has had the image of an incandescent, golden-tongued Wundercandidate. That image may be fraying now.
As smart and credentialed as he is, Sen. Obama is often an indifferent speaker without a teleprompter. He has large gaps in his knowledge base, and is just as likely to dig in and embrace a policy misstatement as abandon it. ABC reporter Jake Tapper calls him “a one-man gaffe machine.”
Just keep in mind that nobody can keep anything straight when they speak out of both sides of their mouth. All of them do it, Keep that in perspective.
Jim
[...] is lost without his teleprompter” department, we see what he says without it. From this source we [...]