Obama’s Missed Opportunities to be Humble, Unifying Leader
In two interviews in recent days, the President has passed up opportunities to show that he is truly a humble man and that new kind of politicians he once promised to be. When Oprah “Winfrey asked what grade he would give himself,” he replied, “A good solid B plus”. A savvier politician would have said something like, “Well, I’d like to think I’m doing a good job, but believe it’s for American people to grade me,” perhaps adding with a smile, “How do you think I’m doing?” It’s a question he should have punted. And he would have looked good for the punt.
By a similar token, he should have toned down his rhetoric in an interview with Steve Kroft for 60 Minutes. It’s just not presidential to call your own constituents “fat cat bankers“. Seems he still styles himself a left-wing activist throwing stones at the establishment. Isn’t such stone throwing part of that pattern in Washington that a certain ostensibly idealistic politician was once trying to break, you know, that pattern “where everybody is always looking for somebody else to blame.“
Instead this Democrats faults those “fat cats” for not playing by his rules:
After stating that the financial crisis was “caused in part by completely irresponsible actions on Wall Street,” Mr. Obama suggested that some banks paid TARP bailout money back to the government specifically to free themselves from government-mandated constraints on executive compensation.
“I think in some cases that was a motivation,” said Mr. Obama. “Which I think tells me that the people on Wall Street still don’t get it. They don’t get it. They’re still puzzled, why is it that people are mad at the banks?”
So, according to Mr. Obama, it’s a problem when Wall Street firms put their fiscal house in order to can repay the federal government? Doesn’t he realize their repayment helps bring down the deficit, something about which I thought he was so concerned?
But because of Mr. Obama keeps it up with his free-spending ways, people aren’t just mad at the banks, they’re also mad at the federal government.
The president could defuse a lot of that anger if he shwed a little humility and stopped slamming Wall Street execs who are trying to go it alone without federal bailout money.
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Believe it or not I noticed that one station here in Australia is broadcasting the gag worthy Oprah special….. excuse me whilst I go drive the porcelain bowl….. Actually, my husband was setting up our new T.V. and it was only on the station for a moment. All the same I once again noticed that he cannot make eye contact with the camera. That is such a very large red flag….
Now let me deal with the topics in hand. Yes, it was really bad about what he said concerning the Wall Street bankers, especially when you consider that the global financial crisis was started with the Reinvestment Act – you know the one that allows people who cannot afford a mortgage to get a home loan…. now I wonder who helped to get legislation passed so that mortgage derivatives could be created…. anyone? Look no further than the White House….
As for that B+, who is POTUS fooling? That grade should be an F or an F- because there is very little that he has done that has helped the USA and world economies. The dithering on Afghanistan is a classic failure.
Comment by StraightAussie — December 15, 2009 @ 4:58 am - December 15, 2009
yawn. you’re showing your pathetic bias and reinforcing how small-minded you are. President Obama has more humility in his little finger than all of the immoral and hapless party of no.
it’s going to be a LONG, LONG, LONG decade for all you repugnants.
Comment by buckeyenutlover — December 15, 2009 @ 8:23 am - December 15, 2009
“now I wonder who helped to get legislation passed so that mortgage derivatives could be created…. anyone?”
Gee, I have no idea. Could you please educate us here? You must be quite the expert on the history of the financial industry, given that mortagage derivatives have been around for decades. Please tell us – who is responsible?
Comment by Tano — December 15, 2009 @ 9:37 am - December 15, 2009
Aww, isnt’ that cute, BNL found his macro again. Mommy pay your cable bill, BNL?
Amusingly, or sadly, Fannie Mae now owns a Condo in my complex. Amusing because I couldn’t get a Fannie Mae loan for the condo (thank the Divine!) because they don’t comply with a regulation. Apparently, that no longer stops FM/ Worry about who will be buying it.
Comment by The_Livewire — December 15, 2009 @ 10:16 am - December 15, 2009
Asking Obama what grade he deserves is quite apt. After all, the only things we know of Obama are those things he chose to post in his multiple autobiographies. For his view of himself, anything short of perfect is humility writ large.
The President plays many roles. He serves as Commander-in-Chief, as the First Citizen in representing the people of the United States at home and abroad, as the shepherd of the economy, as the chief legislative force, as the head of his political party, as the keeper of the trust that is the Presidency, as the chief communicator, and as the head of the first family which symbolically recognizes the weight of the times on the people.
He has assigned himself a B+. In other words, what you see is what you get, because he has allowed himself very little room for growth.
If Obama were at all a wise man, he would have deferred the answer to that question to others and to history. Instead, he went on to argue about being a better gift giver when he surveyed the stuff he is given in return.
Didn’t Jeremiah Wright teach him about how it is better to give than to receive? Or is that not part of the new plantation philosophy of the lead them by their noses theology?
Comment by heliotrope — December 15, 2009 @ 10:41 am - December 15, 2009
Ha, you never fail me GayPatriotWest. It’s getting more and more ridiculous every time I stop by. You’ve been making a lot of these he-should-have-said-this posts lately – as much a demonstration of your shallowness as a political thinker as is your glaring inconsistency.
“He gave himself a B+? I AM OUTRAGED!! I NEED TO POST ABOUT THIS!!”
Too funny…
Comment by Levi — December 15, 2009 @ 10:44 am - December 15, 2009
Hey, Tano, mortgage derivatives alone are just another complex tool of the money market system. Bundling several classes of loans together as a wholesale clearance mechanism has been standard operating procedure since the Medici first started the organized loan business. Caveat Emptor, buddy. If you are smart enough to be in charge of spending millions and billions of investment dollars, you should also be smart enough to know when to hold or move derivatives which are overloaded with junk.
The real point is that Barney and Chris and ACORN and Freddie and Fannie pushed the junk derivative market by guaran-damn-teeing the junk mortgages with the power of the US Treasury.
Immediately, small banks grew large making screwball loans which they dumped in a matter of hours. They used the Freddy/Fanny forms and requirements and made their money on the high volume of closing payment that they got from …… Freddie and Fanny. Freddy/Fanny passed the junk onto the big international bundlers by guaran-damn-teeing a per cent or more over the established mortgage rate if the junk failed.
The junk failed.
It was not the fault of derivatives. It was the fault of unfunded liabilities. Like the 34 trillion of unfunded liabilities sitting on the medicare door step.
P.S. Guess what Tano? Barney is right back at trying to get part time workers cleaning the grease trap at Burger King into housing with their name on the deed. It is like letting a person drive away in a new BMW and asking him to come back in a year or so to work out a payment agreement.
Comment by heliotrope — December 15, 2009 @ 11:01 am - December 15, 2009
Hey, Tano:
(Hat tip: Coffee and Markets.)
So, the Bamster is going to squeeze the banks to make stupid loans which can be bundled in derivatives and you can go on a screaming hissy fit over whatever straw man suits you.
Comment by heliotrope — December 15, 2009 @ 11:09 am - December 15, 2009
Why is it Tano doesn’t stick around to clarify and defend his stink bombs? Maybe he will send gillie by to pee on his own shoe.
Comment by heliotrope — December 15, 2009 @ 11:11 am - December 15, 2009
Humility? That is one thing this president clearly lacks. It’s all about him all the time.
I’m not expecting any humility from him. It would be nice if for a moment he recognized that he is our representative and acted accordingly, instead of like a Czar. Sure, he appointed all these Czars probably hoping that at some point he can carry the tittle along with his behavior.
Comment by Leah — December 15, 2009 @ 11:45 am - December 15, 2009
If this is a B+, What’s a C-?
Comment by The_Livewire — December 15, 2009 @ 1:07 pm - December 15, 2009
But but but… in Obama’s grade-inflated, “affirmative action”, no-one-ever-fails, a-B-might-harm-my-self-esteem world… a B+ *is* an F.
I think Obama just told us, in code, that he considers himself a failure.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — December 15, 2009 @ 2:07 pm - December 15, 2009
Off Topic, but slightly related to the theme of the media covering for Obama and judging him under the soft bigotry of low expectations…
The AP reports today that wholesale inflation had a dangerous surge in November, another sign of the Dear Leader’s tanking economy. Oh, wait. They didn’t report that. That would have been too factual. It might have damaged Obama’s self-esteem. Instead, the AP pre-emptively and gloriously reported, “Rise in wholesale inflation unlikely to last”. “The economy is growing steadily”, they assure us. I’m 100% sold and I didn’t even have to ask what their warped definition of “steadily” might be.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — December 15, 2009 @ 2:16 pm - December 15, 2009
Agreed. But I think it is more Freudian slip than realization on his part.
Comment by heliotrope — December 15, 2009 @ 2:17 pm - December 15, 2009
“Why is it Tano doesn’t stick around to clarify and defend his stink bombs”
What needs clarification? And what stink bomb? StraightAussie asked a (loaded) question, and I responded that I didn’t know the answer, and I pointed out how the question was loaded in an inaccurate direction, but asked her for clarification.
You are the one who stunk up the place pretending that I am the one who made the original mistake, and going off on other tangents…
Comment by Tano — December 15, 2009 @ 2:27 pm - December 15, 2009
True.
Tano asked us to resolve never to forget who stands for freedom and equality, and who opposes it.
Sean immediately clarified for him who does, and he came back and corrected himself. No, wait…
Tano asks Dan if he’s not understanding the numbers. Heliotrope then clarifies the numbers. Tano retracts his accusations. No, wait…
Jody (to use someone else) accuses Rick Warren of supporting the law in Uganda. Ash corrects him here. Tano immediately appologizes for taking Jody at face value
No, Wait…
Tano claims Honduras has a coup Honduras proves him wrong. Tano corrects himself…
No, wait…
Comment by The_Livewire — December 15, 2009 @ 2:56 pm - December 15, 2009
Wow Livewire, I am deeply honored. How much time do you spend documenting my life online?
1) The issue was the official murder of gays in Uganda. We all are revolted by that, and Dan chose to highlight how far we have come in the West. I simply asked that we all remember who it was that has done all the fighting for the advancements we have made in the West.
Sean, in his usual childish manner, tried to throw some chaff my way by linking to some story about Iranian dissidents and their funding. As if that had anything to do with the centuries long struggle for gay equality, or anything going on in Uganda. Totally off topic, so of course I ignore it.
2) Dan (willfully??) compares personal approval numbers for Palin with job approval numbers for Obama – leading to a certain conclusion. Whereas a comparison of personal approval numbers for both would lead to a different conclusion. Sorry, but I was right. Helio comes along and does nothing whatsoever to “clarify” the numbers – he doesn’t mention any numbers at all, and he certainly doesnt even try to make the case that my point is wrong (since it obviously isn’t). He just gives some pro-Palin, and anti-Obama spin in general. How can you possibly claim that is a refutation. And of what? And what did he say that in any way warrants a response?
3) Huh? What are you nattering on about here? That is a thread that I did not even participate in? What on earth is your point?
4) According to the coup plotters, it was not a coup. It was just the removal of an elected president and his exile, by the military – for which there is no provision under the Constitution.
Seriously Livewire, time to get a life…
Comment by Tano — December 15, 2009 @ 3:13 pm - December 15, 2009
Man what kind of ego does a sitting President have to have to give himself a B+….no an A- if some Obamacare passes. Talk about ego maniac. Imagine Lincoln, Reagan or the Bushes grading themselves an “A” 11 months into their term which has doubled the unemployment rate to a record 15 million souls and 22 million under employed. No sympathy from this liberal crowd…..just “hey we’re doing great…B+”
Cruel out of touch liberal Democrats. Obama laughing and joking with Billionaire Oprah chucklin “yeah I’d give myself an A”….yuck yuck yuck.
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — December 15, 2009 @ 5:31 pm - December 15, 2009
#17: “Sean, in his usual childish manner, tried to throw some chaff my way by linking to some story about Iranian dissidents and their funding. As if that had anything to do with the centuries long struggle for gay equality, or anything going on in Uganda. Totally off topic, so of course I ignore it.”
Cram it, Talking Points. What you characterize as “some story about Iranian dissidents and their funding” is a story about the Appeaser-In-Chief’s Administration cutting off all funding for the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (which for the past five years has conducted the most comprehensive examination of Iran’s abuses of any watchdog group) at precisely the moment Iranian people are being murdered in the streets by the Mullahs’ death squads. Usually, the Left is content to simply IGNORE international human rights abuses committed by their favorite totalitarian maniacs, but in this case, Obama deliberately shut down the organization because it might make things awkward between him and his BFF election thief, Ahmadinejad. It’s grotesque and inexcusable, but of course you find it irrelevant because it illustrates perfectly what a spineless piece of sh*t Obama is. It also punctuates how deluded and moronic you sound when you try to pretend that the Democrats are champions of human rights.
Comment by Sean A — December 15, 2009 @ 7:46 pm - December 15, 2009
Which goes back to the question that Tano won’t answer. “Why does Obama hate free people?”
Of course Tano won’t admit that Western nations are siding with Honduras, and the US is going alone by not recoginizing the election.
Nor will he mention that the US congress recognized the removal of the president as legit.
But hey, if Obama and Tano want to support someone who claims Jews are microwaving his brain, and side with Castro and their fellow fascists and terrorists, at least their true colours are shining through.
Comment by The_Livewire — December 15, 2009 @ 9:45 pm - December 15, 2009
#20: The_Livewire, I had your eternally unanswered question specifically in mind when I wrote that comment.
Comment by Sean A — December 16, 2009 @ 10:21 am - December 16, 2009