Posted on 09/10/2011 7:36:45 PM PDT by neverdem
Presidencies can go through various stages in terms of their effect on the opposition – from eliciting respect and some amount of fear, to provoking anger, to becoming the object of ridicule.
Barack Obama has reached the third stage.
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post has written a column in which he cites passages from Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress last night and then chronicles the reaction among congressional Republicans, which included chuckles, guffaws and giggles. Hostility to Obama has given way to indifference to what he says; witness the fact the GOP did not even feel the need to provide a televised response to Obama's speech. And of course, it didn't help that the president's address was relegated to pre-primetime, in order not to compete with an NFL game.
Just as significantly, Milbank reports there were empty seats on the Democratic side last night. "Democrats lumbered to their feet to give the president several standing ovations, but they struggled at times to demonstrate enthusiasm," according to Milbank. "When Obama proposed payroll tax cuts for small businesses, three Democrats stood to applaud. Summer jobs for disadvantaged youth brought six Democrats to their feet, and a tax credit for hiring the long-term unemployed produced 11 standees. Obama spoke quickly, urgently, even angrily. Rep. Jesse Jackson (D-Ill.) stared at the ceiling. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) scanned the gallery. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) was seen reading a newspaper. And Republicans, when they weren't giggling, were mostly silent."
Milbank added, "Presidential addresses to Congress are often dramatic moments. This one felt like a sideshow. Usually, the press gallery is standing-room-only; this time, only 26 of 90 seats were claimed by the deadline. Usually, some members arrive in the chamber hours early to score a center-aisle seat; 90 minutes before Thursday's speech, only one Democrat was so situated."
As Jimmy Carter can tell you, for a president to become an object of disdain and apathy is a very dangerous place to find himself.
It has been a stunning fall from grace for Obama, a man who, upon taking office, was routinely compared to Kennedy, to FDR, and even to Lincoln. One is tempted to say those comparisons were unfair to Obama, except that he did so much to invite them.
By now, the cult-like effect Obama had on his supporters is a distant, fading memory. The Greek columns built for his convention speech now look simply silly, as does Obama's promise to heal the earth and reverse the ocean tide. His core appeal was aesthetic, and hence fleeting. It turns out Obama really was best equipped to be a community organizer and a state senator and perhaps not very much more than that. But Obama, a man of extraordinary self-regard, decided he was the world-historical person we had been waiting for. (What can one say about a person who surrounded himself with aides who referred to him as "Black Jesus" during the campaign?)
In a coincidence that calls to mind William Blake's "fearful symmetry" phrase, it was also Dana Milbank who in July 2008, months before Obama was elected, reported that Obama attended an "adoration session" with Democratic lawmakers in the Cannon Caucus Room, where even committee chairmen arrived early, "as if for the State of the Union."
Inside, according to a witness, Obama told the House members, "This is the moment…that the world is waiting for," adding: "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions."
Some of us warned at the time that any man who believes he is "the moment that the world is waiting for" and views himself as "the symbol of the possibility and best traditions of America" is an individual of staggering arrogance. To which I added this:
That is doubly so when, like Obama, you have achieved nothing so far in your life –in terms of scholarship or literature, legislation, acts of valor, self-sacrifice, or anything else – that qualifies you to view yourself in quasi-Messianic terms. One increasingly senses with Obama that he views himself not as a presidential candidate but as a world celebrity, with all the vanity and arrogance that accompanies such people. Obama, a literate man, might want to reacquaint himself with the Book of Proverbs, which warns that "pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall," and the story of Icarus. Barack Obama is a very talented political figure, but he is not indestructible. And right now he is flying closer and closer to the sun. At some point – it's hard to tell when – the wings of wax will begin to melt.
There is some poignancy in saying that for Barack Obama, a decent but imperious man, the wings of wax have finally melted away.
Ummm, you have a good point. His teleprompter quit. Did you hear that? The pretty boy is going west to see if he can make a new career of stand up comedy. As I figure it, he’s got a pretty impressive track record and an impeccable resume. If someone wants to say his wax wings are melting, then maybe Madame Tussauds ought to get involved.
Fresh new way to upset Pelosi. Fresh new sign of disrespect to give us no starting point for debate!
The Democrats should not have run an obviously inexperienced unqualified individual in the first place. His speech the other night was same old same old. He and his team do not have an original thought of any kind. They are just peddling the same old tired liberal/radical wish list that have been tried in the last three years and failed. Obama could care less about this country other than being re-elected. Hopefully the people who voted for this jerk have wised up!
When I saw his campaign in 2008 and the way people were reacting to him and the way we was starting to believe his own hype even months after he was elected, i.e. “you got me” during the healthcare debate, I told my wife that his fall will be as hard as his rise.
Looks like I got a winner
It is my dream that Obama is retained as the Democrat nominee. It will be an ugly fight and leave many of the Democrats in Congress wounded and or defeated.
Obama will not be reelected. However, he may with good luck take down a major portion of Democrats in Congress with him.
The main stream media does not give a damn about Obama on a personal basis. They are ideologically driven. When articles such as the above start coming from them they know he is poison for them.
Et Tu Bruta.
By himself, Demonratz, and a lying syncopantic press....
Rational people compared him to Jimmy Carter, Mao, Al Sharpton....
And I wouldn’t give him credit for being a “literate” man by more than the lowest level of standard.
AT one time, I was very liberal, and I grew up, learned, and changed my world view to very Conservative. D’ohBama, having grown up, NEVER has learned anything new since he was educated un-American. That to me doesn’t imply any high IQ. At some point, a smart, high -IQ type would learn from past failures, and improve. D’ohBama has not done this, from my perspective.
Not stupid, not decent - but intentional.
So was I—and I learned as well.
Excellent post.
Obama’s greatest value to our side will be in all the Dems he’s taken down in 010 and more 012.
Any Dem who’s not in a raving liberal district or state is sweating bigtime over the 012 election.
"Stunning fall", my foot!
This phrase is reminiscent of the "unexpected rise in unemployment figures" and the "unanticipated fall in retail sales" spins we hear every single week as the economy worsens.
Obama's fall is not "stunning" to those of us who knew a lot about the original presidential candidate Obama. Especially those of us from the Chicago area.
We knew he was a street pimp hustling votes and passing out turkeys and cheap wine to help corrupt ward committeemen on election day. We knew he was the most liberal state senator albeit an ineffective one, consistently voting "present" on touchy issues. We knew he was a red diaper baby, a trained but cleverly low-key radical....all the while socially adept enough to mingle with the leftist academic elite and monied leftist swells in and around the University of Chicago campus....a commie training ground since the early 1900's.
Many folks familiar with Barack Obama's red history and lack of qualifications for the presidency tried to warn people but there was too much stardust in the eyes of average joes and in the eyes of many friends and neighbors we thought had more discernment.
And, of course, the corrupt media fanned the flames of cultishness surrounding the boy king and covered up his biography or lack of one.
Funny thing is, I had an educated furniture "repair doctor" specialist over yesterday to mend a broken bureau. He had voted for Obama. He told me his business was "slow".
When I naturally followed up by asking him how the messiah's "hopey, changy thing" was working for him he answered, of course, by blaming all the current catastrophes on Bush.
We may laugh, but I hear this a lot from diehard Obamanites who should have learned something by now....and, believe me, "it's all Bush's fault" is said in all seriousness even in the midst of the current chaos and despair.
This ongoing stupidity and obliviousness is what's REALLY "stunning"!
Leni
Just a little fact from New York this morning:
This happened in NYC .. Ground Zero .. For the ones who didn't have the chance to watch the Memorial today ... Both Obama and Bush in attendance ...
8:46 AM Obama spoke, nothing spectacular ... Silence ...
9:03 AM Bush spoke .. read the letter that Lincoln wrote to a widow who lost 5 sons in the Civil War .. Interrupted twice with cheers and applause ...
Yes, Mr. Obama, the people are telling you how they feel about you and how they don't appreciate you destroying our nation.
Like that great billboard in Texas says: "So you voted for Obama to prove your not a racist? Vote for someone else in 2012 to prove your not an idiot!"
In reality we seemingly witness Navy flight 19 winging confidently into the Bermuda Triangle.
The Moral High Ground: The Left’s “morally superior” policies kill millions and impoverish billions Must Read! If you don't believe in AGW, you're a racist!
Victor Davis Hanson: Post-9/11 Mysteries
Michael Barone: The unhappy warrior
Some noteworthy articles about politics, foreign or military affairs, IMHO, FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
LOL!
;^)
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