March 10, 2010
The Punk White House
Having a sense of decorum and has never been a requirement for the Presidency. It is a pesky, almost irrelevant detail the Founders wisely chose not to include becuase it could be abused to exclude otherwise qualified candidates from seeking the office. That said, having a President without a sense of decency and respect for the Office is painfully embarrassing for the nation, both domestically, and in the eyes of the world.
Barack Obama's presidency has been an unending trainwreck this far, from serial protocol gaffes that disrespected foreign heads of state, to attacks against the media that debase the office, to his recent and embarrassing attack against the Supreme Court that overshadowed his first State of the Union address. Justices are required by protocol and tradition to sit stoically throughout the Address. Obama's assault on them over an unconstitutional law they overturned was the equivalent of kicking a defenseless dog on a chain.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts diplomatically attempted to answer questions about the breach of decorum by simply calling it "very troubling."
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, a perfect representative for the most thin-skinned of presidents, did not have the grace to let even that innocuous comment slip by without going into attack mode. Instead, Gibbs magnified the breach of decency and it's measured response by launching into an attack on the court yet again:
"What is troubling is that this decision opened the floodgates for corporations and special interests to pour money into elections - drowning out the voices of average Americans," Gibbs said. "The President has long been committed to reducing the undue influence of special interests and their lobbyists over government. That is why he spoke out to condemn the decision and is working with Congress on a legislative response."The push back against the Supreme Court header from the White House seems almost unprecedented in its directness, though White House officials claim previous administrations expressed equally public criticisms of the court. Undoubtedly, it's bound to spur another round of debates over what constitutes proper decorum between the two branches.
Gibbs' answer is filled with lies and hypocrisy—the White House has appointed lobbyists with reckless abandon and allows the special interests they represent to write policy on everything from education, to climate change, to recreational fishing—but what is most troubling is the inability of this President and his staff to respectfully represent the Office of the Presidency that they temporarily inhabit.
Perhaps Obama is simply lacking in class and decency. Perhaps his thuggish mentors and allies did not adequately teach him to respect his position or his nation. Whatever the excuse, Barack Obama and his closest allies are an international embarrassment as the continue to engage in the petty and banal.
This behavior is beneath the Office, and if Obama and his lackey's can't respect that, one can hope they develop the political sense to at least go mute.
I think he learned everything at the feet of his masters, they didn't respect the country so neither does he. they gave him all the rules he thinks he needs to go by and that is what he does.
Posted by: tjbbpgobIII at March 10, 2010 01:46 PM"This behavior is beneath the Office, and if Obama and his lackey's can't respect that, one can hope they develop the political sense to at least go mute."
Never gonna happen. The clueless and the classless both believe that having the last word on a subject is a sign of their strength and superiority; while those who are more aware understand that this is not always so.
Obama is both clueless and classless, and because of this I suspect his will always be the last word on any subject.
"I won."
Posted by: Stoutcat at March 10, 2010 02:05 PMNot to mention a recent visit by rapper Jay-Z and singer/spouse Beyonce on a White House tour that included the normally super-secret part of the building, sitting at the table in the Situation Room. Yes, I guess you could say I'm still worried about who will answer the red phone at 3am. (Shaking head...rolling eyes)
Posted by Pat at March 10, 2010 02:15 PM
Images of these fools (Obama and Michelle) walking through the Situation Room with these celebrities trying to impress them by showing how important they were.
But what do we expect when we elect a POTUS whose only qualifications were that he was half-african, could speak english, and could lie through his teeth?
Posted by: iconoclast at March 10, 2010 02:40 PMHmm. Let's see how many I can remember in just a few minutes...
1) Gratuitously insulting Nancy Reagan.
2) Gratuitously insulting special olympians.
3) Repeatedly and crudely giving the finger to debate opponents during the campaign, and to Rep Ryan during the recent health care summit by oh-so-cleverly holding his extended middle finger alongside his cheek.
4) Refusing to meet with the Dali Lama.
5) Pulling the national defense rug out from under Poland and the Czech Republic.
6) Throwing the bust of Churchill out of the White House.
7) Giving the British PM a WalMart quality set of DVD's, useless because American and British DVD players use different encoding standards.
8) Giving the Queen of England an iPod loaded with his speeches.
9) Telling John McCain that the campaign is over at the recent Health Care Summit.
10) Telling Democrats that the 2010 elections will be different because they have him.
We have, upon occasion, had presidents who said or did something foolish, but never have we endured a man who has no respect for the office, for the nation, for its people, who has no class, no sense of shame, no conscience, and a burning desire to amass as much power as possible to the detriment of the nation.
God help us all.
Posted by: mikemcdaniel at March 10, 2010 11:35 PMObama is both clueless and classless, and because of this I suspect his will always be the last word on any subject."I won."
Posted by Stoutcat at March 10, 2010 02:05 PM
Ah, but there will soon be an opportunity for the people to have another set of last words: "You lose."
Posted by: Pablo at March 11, 2010 08:23 AMRemember when Obama invaded a country with a force a quarter of the size required, headed the reconstruction effort with incompetents and political hacks and wasted trillions of dollars and thousands of lives!? What a bonehead!
oh wait...
But he gave the queen some dvds!!!! Oh no! Impeach!
Posted by: ek at March 11, 2010 10:01 PM
