MaxedOutMama
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The Altar Call
Uggh, pulled the speech stuff out. I don't want it to sully a nice post about real stuff. I will still stubbornly insist that Obama has been blamed for a lot regarding the oil spill that he couldn't have done anything about, but after this speech I begin to understand the criticism a bit more.
I'm easily amused, I guess, but Ann Althouse's review of Obama's speech got me giggling. It's the vagueness. To date, no economy has shown the job-creation potential of "green energy", and the pres doesn't seem to know precisely what he wants to do, only that he wants to do it with great passion and conviction.
The Anchoress said "huh?" also. I don't watch TV, but it would appear in this video that journalists were no more impressed than my acquaintance. All of a sudden Mr. Tingles is talking about "meritocracy" and wants to hear no more of Nobel prizes. I almost expected to see them start waving teabags on air. They seemed more than a bit incredulous over the "we'll get there even if we don't know where we're going" bit.
This is the transcript, and it really does read as if the poor guy is suffering from a delirium induced by a Hopium overdose:
It's fine to say this, but BP doesn't have the money, and the President doesn't have the authority to mandate it goes in an escrow fund run by a third party:
DU isn't impressed either. Drivel, I just heard a lot of it.
I'm easily amused, I guess, but Ann Althouse's review of Obama's speech got me giggling. It's the vagueness. To date, no economy has shown the job-creation potential of "green energy", and the pres doesn't seem to know precisely what he wants to do, only that he wants to do it with great passion and conviction.
The Anchoress said "huh?" also. I don't watch TV, but it would appear in this video that journalists were no more impressed than my acquaintance. All of a sudden Mr. Tingles is talking about "meritocracy" and wants to hear no more of Nobel prizes. I almost expected to see them start waving teabags on air. They seemed more than a bit incredulous over the "we'll get there even if we don't know where we're going" bit.
This is the transcript, and it really does read as if the poor guy is suffering from a delirium induced by a Hopium overdose:
...what has defined us as a nation since our founding is the capacity to shape our destiny, our determination to fight for the America we want for our children. Even if we're unsure exactly what that looks like, even if we don't yet precisely know how we're going to get there, we know we'll get there.What does this mean? That we're adrift on a Sea named Hope? It makes me want to write a parody of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea".
It's a faith in the future that sustains us as a people. It is that same faith that sustains our neighbors in the Gulf right now.
It's fine to say this, but BP doesn't have the money, and the President doesn't have the authority to mandate it goes in an escrow fund run by a third party:
Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company's recklessness.So I guess that's why the call to the altar at the end of the speech, which is a little too weird for me to quote - the lack of detail in this speech implies that there is no plan, and I guess that's why we need to pray.
DU isn't impressed either. Drivel, I just heard a lot of it.
Comments:
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If we force BP to cover costs associated with this spill such as lost wages,hotel cancellations then the oil drilling business will be looking for the exits, anywhere but the U.S. How does the President convince the public that off shore drilling is necessary and so critical that taxpayers have to pick up the tab for any clean up? This goes for land oil and gas exploration as well.
What I find interesting is that this speech (or at least the transcript) was really no different from any other speech the President (or candidate for President, Sen. Obama) has given. It's the same format with the same logic as his acceptance speech in Denver. It's similar in form and content to his inaugural speech. It's the same as his big speech on race relationships, or his speech to the Muslim world. It's the same speech he's always given.
But boy, is the reaction ever different this time.
Now, we all hold our collective breath, waiting to see what he does when he figures out his one big trick doesn't work anymore.
But boy, is the reaction ever different this time.
Now, we all hold our collective breath, waiting to see what he does when he figures out his one big trick doesn't work anymore.
When an individual is promoted to a job for which he lacks the skills, he often reverts to whatever activities made him successful in previous jobs. Thus, the new sales manager who spends all his time doing personal selling rather than coaching, system-building, and measuring. Or the new engineering manager who spends his days doing product design while his organization dissolves into chaos. In Obama's case, what he's mainly been successful at is campaigning. So he campaigns. His approach to this has always been a combination of (a)vague idealism and (b)casting blame and demonizing particular groups. (a)doesn't play quite as well in the current climate, so the gain is being turned up on (b)
A classic example of the kind of behavior I described in the last comment is Captain Phillip Queeg in "The Caine Mutiny"...commanding a warship in a combat area, Queeg reverts to the behavior that got him his first big promotion, when as a young officer he caught a thief on board ship. Now, in the middle of the greatest naval campaign in history, he obsessively searches for the sailor who stole the strawberries.
Neil - but this is a real and pressing situation. That is the difference. Words cannot change the perception unless somehow the reality can be obscured. And no one can obscure the reality here.
Sorry M_O_M, I can't say anything intelligent in reply. All I can think about is President Obama in the Oval office muttering about strawberries over and over...
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