Monday, September 19, 2011

The Book of Obama

Nothing good can come from letting an author hang out at the White House. Authors are rarely part of the team. They tend to see the good AND the bad, and the bad is what most White Houses can’t tolerate. Enter Ron Suskind and his new book: “Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President.” Suskind’s book confirms so much that we already knew and Obama is none too happy about it.

Suskind interviewed 200 people, including many of Obama’s current and former aides, and Obama himself. Here are some of his most interesting conclusions:

● Obama is a second-guessing, conflicted, “sometimes wavering” leader. You don’t say? You mean like how it took him HOURS to give the Seal Team the go-ahead to do what was really the only option available to him?

● Obama “often felt . . . performance pressure,” tried to hide his “uncertainty,” and said appearing to be in command is “a heavy burden.” Yeah, that’s what happens when you’re faking.

● Former White House economic adviser Larry Summers, who gained fame as Harvard’s President for suggesting that women aren’t good at math and science, said, “There’s no adult in charge. Clinton would never have made these mistakes.”

● Former communications director Anita Dunn, who became famous for being a fan of mass murderer Mao, complained that the White House created a hostile workplace for women: “[T]his place would be in court for a hostile workplace … Because it actually fit all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace to women.” and "There isn't a single woman in this administration."

● Stimulus Babe Christina Romer, former head of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, said: "I felt like a piece of meat," and was often ignored at meetings.
None of this is good for Obama or his team. Indeed the entire generation of Democratic underlings has been embarrassed here. Not only are they shown to be arrogant, but they are shown to be clueless, backbiters, and sexist. So naturally, they are all denying everything in the book, pretending they have been misquoted, and attacking the author. Interestingly, they are picking on “errors” in the book, like the use of a slightly wrong title for one person, the misspelling of a name, and the use of an incorrect date. That’s pretty much an admission that the substance of the book is solid.

What’s just as interesting as the above, is that Obama also shows in the book that he really doesn’t understand why he’s such a failure. First, Obama says that what has upset people has not been his policies, it’s been his failure to communicate effectively:
● “The area in my presidency where I think my management and understanding of the presidency evolved most, and where I think we made the most mistakes, was less on the policy front and more on the communications front.”
Sure. People aren’t upset that you’ve given them 9% unemployment, that you’ve tried to destroy the health care system, that you’ve sold the government to Goldman Sachs and GE, that you’ve used our military randomly, that you’ve decided the American people are the real terrorists, that you’ve decided to ignore natural disasters in areas that didn’t vote for you, that you’ve stuck your thumb into everything Americans believe. . . no, we’re just upset you didn’t explain it to us retards well enough.

Secondly, Obama really doesn’t understand his own defects.
● “I think one of the criticisms that is absolutely legitimate about my first two years was that I was very comfortable with a technocratic approach to government.”

● “Carter, Clinton and I all have sort of the disease of being policy wonks. … I think that if you get too consumed with that you lose sight of the larger issue.”

● “But I have very much internalized the fact that my job is not legislator in chief.”
You've got to be kidding me Pile! Obama doesn’t do details. . . he’s too stupid. The first bill he ever presented to Congress was the horrific jobs bill the Democrats are running away from. Everything else was handled with Obama spouting some vague goal and then refusing to get involved. Can he really believe he was too wrapped up in the details to focus on being a leader? Maybe of his golf game, but that’s about it.

Finally, don’t expect Obama to realize why people don’t like him. Here's the official White House response to the book:
● “The truth is simple and well known: President Obama and his economic team walked into office during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and took bold, decisive action that prevented the collapse of the financial system, saving millions of jobs and putting the economy back in a place where it is creating jobs and growing again. The President made very tough decisions in the most difficult of circumstances and his team executed those decisions faithfully and tirelessly.”
Not a word of that is true.

And just to prove to you that he doesn't get it, Obama's new "$3 trillion" deficit reduction plan is to raise $1.5 trillion in taxes along with a supposed $1.5 trillion in cuts. Those cuts are $580 billion in magic cuts from unidentified savings in Medicare and $1 trillion savings from not going to war with Iraq and Afghanistan again. Nice plan, President AAAhole. In other words, there are no actual cuts. . . and no actual President.

49 comments:

AndrewPrice said...

Let me recommend everyone check out this editorial from the LA Times... it really takes Obama to task for the jobs bill disaster and his total lack of urgency while screaming "pass it now!"

LINK

Unknown said...

Andrew: A common appellation for Ronald Reagan was "The Great Communicator." And it was indeed a major element of his success. Nobody in his right mind is ever going to make the mistake of calling Obama by that sobriquet (or any of his communications staff, either).

DUQ said...

$1.5 trillion in taxes, here we go again.

It doesn't surprise me at all Obama has problems with women in his administration. He was pretty sexist when he was running. It also doesn't surprise me that these people would deny what they said. Clearly they thought this guy was on their side.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, They definitely do not do communications well. BUT that's not their real problem. Their real problem is the anti-Americanism and the socialism.

Tennessee Jed said...

extremely interesting article, Andrew. I think, though, that I will stick with my image from this morning. This is a Chicago ward boss with a rich baritone voice, but not much happening in the real leadership department.

This going to the mattresses on class warfare in a lame attempt to shore up the base is almost comical. Still, I won't rest easy until obamacare is repealed by congress or scotus and we start the road to fiscal sanity.

AndrewPrice said...

DUQ, Yeah, here we go again. Democrats are obsessed with raising taxes and clearly are unwilling to find even a penny they will agree to cut from the government.

By the way, I mentioned Obama being a misogynist from the very beginning of the blog: LINK.

So I'm not surprised to hear that Team Obama did not create a nice environment for women. And Dunn is right, name any powerful women in his administration? Hillary? She's been marginalized. The rest have quit.

Tennessee Jed said...

p.s. I don't know if anybody has read Cheney's book, but it is wonderful. This is a guy who came from nothing, screwed up, fixed it, and went on to a hell of a career. He listens, learns, and never bullshitted people.

Can't recommend it enough.

AndrewPrice said...

Thanks Jed! I think it's interesting to see the cracks forming in his administration, but I don't think it will actually lead to any less support for him. His base is stupid and has nowhere else to go. The rest of us have tuned him out.

Still, it is interesting to see that he is exactly what he appears to be -- a dithering fake who is struggling his way through a job he's not qualified for.

It's also interesting to see the complaints of sexism, since liberals love to claim that Republicans are sexist and liberals aren't... no matter how sexist they act.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, If you'd like to review it, we'd love to publish that?!



P.S. Welcome back from the links... did you cross paths with Obama "hard at work"? ;-)

T-Rav said...

I guess we can at least be grateful Obama changed it up for once: starting his response with "The truth is simple and well-known" rather than "Let me be clear."

(Blogger messing with me for some reason. I must have abused it in a past life.)

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, Thanks God for small favors. The Obama speech I'm waiting for starts with the words, "It with regret that I must resign..."


Sure, blame Blogger. There's nothing in the spam filter? Perhaps you're just feeling persecuted? Or maybe, it doesn't like you declaring yourself Emperor of Sockpuppets? LOL!

rlaWTX said...

I liked the Book of Eli better...

oh - this is "real life"... oops... wake me in 2012 when it's over?

Actually, I hope this author kept REALLY good notes for when they subpena them for Holder's investigation into his -ummm- "being a meanie".

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, Good thinking on all points! I especially like the idea that this guy hopefully kept a lot of tapes and notes for future indictments! :-)

And don't worry, we'll wake you when the Obama administration is over. LOL!

DUQ said...

Andrew, They will never cut a single penny except from the military. Even now they are whining about the horrible spending cuts the Republicans pushed on them, cuts which equal something like $0 give or take a few cents.

AndrewPrice said...

DUQ, It's pretty shocking when you think about how hard Washington objects to even a single dollar in actual cuts. Any person or business who ran that way would be broke in a week. It's definitely time for change.

BevfromNYC said...

If I have said this once, I've said it a million times - Shiver me timbers and call the serving wench...Aaaarrrgggh - no wait, that's not what I meant to say.

No here it is - Reagan was the "Great Communicator" because he believed what he was saying. If he didn't believe it, he didn't say it.

Obama says what he believes will get him what he thinks others want and what is most politically expedient. And he LOVES euphamisms - "raising revenue" for "raising taxes" is the most aggregious. If he REALLY said what he REALLY believed, he would be impeached.

That's why Reagan's policies were clear and Obama's are a muddled, repetative mess.

LL said...

As a pathological narcissist, Obama would feel misunderstood. Since he's right all of the time and completely incapable of a lack of perfection, people who disagree with him need to hang out and let him talk to them. Once HIS light shines on them, they're bound to agree with him.

Tennessee Jed said...

have to finish reading still, but I'll do that. I saw Spike Lee on the course and he said he was developing a crockumentary call "Barry dewin' werk." Can't wait til he gets to play full time, myself.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Arrrrgh right back to you!! Happy Pirate Day! We should all write "doubloons" instead of "dollar" on our currency today! p-)

I think you're right that Obama doesn't believe his policies. In fact, I don't think he knows his policies. I think he thinks that his team will do whatever needs to be done and he just needs to say "go make X better." That is of course a recipe for failure and it also shows why he's such a horrible speaker -- he has nothing to say: "Don't worry, I told some people to fix it," isn't all that inspiring.

Reagan, on the other hand, spent decades learning what he believe in. And when he spoke, you trusted him because you know he believed it and he'd seen it work. Obama is like some kid "let's try this and see what happens." And that makes the locals, i.e. us, nervous.

AndrewPrice said...

LL, That's true and it describes him to a T. He really does think that if the rest of us just understood what brilliant thing he's done, then the rest of would fall down in worship to him. But clearly we're just not bright enough. . . because the fault can't be his.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, I would love to see Spike Lee mock Obama... but somehow I can't see that happening. :-(

I too would like to see Obama be able to focus full time on his golf game. Maybe he should resign now so he can get an early start?

rlaWTX said...

ooooo -- we could start a facebook petition so that O is no longer required to spend all that unnecessary time in meetings and on TV and wandering around in buses so he could become the next Tiger Woods - or somebody else...
;)

Notawonk said...

andrew: AAAhole is officially my new favorite diss. thank you.

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, That would be hilarious! Liberals wouldn't know what to do. It seems "pro-Obama" yet it doesn't. Hmm.

My guess is that many of them will sign it without thinking so long as we tell them it will give Obama more time to think bigger thoughts! :-)

AndrewPrice said...

Patti, You're welcome! :-)

It's very fitting for our Idiot in Chief since the downgrade.

ScyFyterry said...

Idiot in Chief is right. Obama needs to go. Any thoughts on Hillary replacing Obama? I don't want her either, but that might disrupt his re-election.

AndrewPrice said...

ScyFyTerry, I would encourage Hillary to run, but it's not going to happen. If anyone runs against Obama it will be some minor schmuck like Ralph Nader. The Democrats don't depose their kings because whining that they aren't getting enough from the guy is all part of the act.

ScyFyterry said...

You're right, but I'd love to see Hillary run. They would rip each other apart.

Ed said...

We should throw the book at Obama!

Ed said...

Also, his $3 trillion deficit plan is disgraceful, by the way. I watch the speech and he knows it will never happen, but he's trying to make his lousy base happy. It's pure class warfare.

AndrewPrice said...

SyFyTerry, It would be fun to watch. In fact, any reasonably well-known challenger would be fun!

AndrewPrice said...

Ed, It's pure class warfare. And the left will buy it. They'll tell everyone that Obama is finally becoming the President they want. But it's just a sucker bet.

The Glorious and Benevolent Barack Obama said...

Being President is hard.

DUQ said...

We should not invade Russia. I wonder how much that would save us over 10 years?

AndrewPrice said...

Dear Glorious and Benevolent Obama,

It's not as hard as you think. You just have to know what you're doing! Next time, try to actually achieve something before you run for President.

Actually... next time, just stay home.

AndrewPrice said...

DUQ, LOL! What a tremendous thought! There are all kinds of countries we could not invade. We could all be rich soon! :-)

Writer X said...

I've also read that Suskind has the tapes of his interviews to back up his quotes. If Obama doesn't self-destruct before 2012, I'd be surprised.

Very interesting.

Ed said...

But the more he moves to being the president they want, the more they'll turn off everyone else.

AndrewPrice said...

Writer X, He almost has to have the tapes if he's going to make the claims he's making. Otherwise, he would get sued into oblivion. That's the real test of the turth of what he says -- if anyone sues him.

Hopefully, they'll push him too far and he'll release the relevant portions of the tape to prove that he's being truthful.

AndrewPrice said...

Ed, That's true. He really is facing an impossible task -- trying to appeal to the whacko left without alienating the public at large.

T-Rav, Emperor of the Sockpuppets said...

I don't think Obama will resign or get primaried out by Hillary either, but I'd encourage it just to see the Democrats implode. It's racism vs. sexism! All their interest groups turning on each other! What could go wrong?

And "Aaarrgghhh!!" in honor of Talk Like A Pirate Day.

(P.S. Blogger has been warned that if it tries to interfere with my claims to power ever again, it will find out why I use "Spanish Inquisition" as a verb.)

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, That would be fun to watch.

"You're racist!"
"No! You're sexist!"
"Hate crimes! Hate crimes!"

:-)


Arrrrgh right back at ya!

And as Monty Python says, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Ponderosa said...

Here is my simple idea:

Submit the FY2007 budget for FY2012...

$2.570 trillion in expenditures: FY2007

with

$2.627 trillion in estimated revenue: FY2012

versus $3.729 trillion in expenditures (estimated) for 2012.

Save $1.159 trillion...pretty sure that is actual math.

Warren and Bill can kick in the difference.



Note: FY2007 was the last budget before Pelosi took over...

AndrewPrice said...

Ponderosa, You've put your finger on the problem right there.... Pelosi took over. Democrats spend everything you give them plus 50%.

I love the idea of simply going back to an earlier budget. That's the common sense way to do it. But that's also not how Washington works. They've created this obscene dance where increases are automatic and slowing the rate of increase counts as a draconian cut somehow even though everyone is getting more money than ever. It's ridiculous.

An ounce of common sense could fix Washington overnight.... but how do we get them to follow it?

AndrewPrice said...

P.S. I love the idea of taxing Warren Buffett specifically to make up the difference. He clearly doesn't pay enough in taxes. . . unlike the rest of us!

Ponderosa said...

Correction: $2.730 trillion in expenditures in 2007. - oops.
"A billion here and a billion there soon you're talking about real money."

Unfortunately, you are, of course, correct - it won't work in DC.

But it is a fun argument to make. It highlights where the problem lies and put the Dems in the position of having to defend the extra trillion+ in spending.

AndrewPrice said...

Ponderosa, Definitely it's an excellent argument. Sadly, we are dealing with people who do not accept facts or logical -- they just feel their way through politics. And they are idiots.

StanH said...

We knew this, the book simply confirms what we knew.

AndrewPrice said...

Stan, So true. But it's nice to see it confirmed from the Donks' own mouths though!

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