Obama Mocked As Idiot

[John Galt]

The question that flummoxed the great orator

By John Crace

The Guardian, Friday 3 April 2009


Barack Obama, the World's Greatest Orator (™all news organisations), didn't exactly cover himself in glory when the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson asked him a question about who was to blame for the financial crisis. Normally word perfect, Obama ummed, ahed and waffled for the best part of two and a half minutes. Here, John Crace decodes what he was really thinking ...

Nick Robinson: "A question for you both, if I may. The prime minister has repeatedly blamed the United States of America for causing this crisis. France and Germany both blame Britain and America for causing this crisis. Who is right? And isn't the debate about that at the heart of the debate about what to do now?" Brown immediately swivels to leave Obama in pole position. There is a four-second delay before Obama starts speaking [THANKS FOR NOTHING, GORDY BABY. REMIND ME TO HANG YOU OUT TO DRY ONE DAY.] Barack Obama: "I, I, would say that, er ... pause [I HAVEN'T A CLUE] ... if you look at ... pause [WHO IS THIS NICK ROBINSON JERK?] ... the, the sources of this crisis ... pause [JUST KEEP GOING, BUDDY] ... the United States certainly has some accounting to do with respect to . . . pause [I'M IN WAY TOO DEEP HERE] ... a regulatory system that was inadequate to the massive changes that have taken place in the global financial system ... pause, close eyes [THIS IS GOING TO GO DOWN LIKE A CROCK OF SHIT BACK HOME. HELP]. I think what is also true is that ... pause ... here in Great Britain ... pause [SHIT, GORDY'S THE HOST, DON'T LAND HIM IN IT] ... here in continental Europe ... pause [DAMN IT, BLAME EVERYONE.] ... around the world. We were seeing the same mismatch between the regulatory regimes that were in place and er ... pause [I'VE LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT AGAIN] ... the highly integrated, er, global capital markets that have emerged ... pause [I'M REALLY WINGING IT NOW]. So at this point, I'm less interested in ... pause [YOU] ... identifying blame than fixing the problem. I think we've taken some very aggressive steps in the United States to do so, not just responding to the immediate crisis, ensuring banks are adequately capitalised, er, dealing with the enormous, er ... pause [WHY DIDN'T I QUIT WHILE I WAS AHEAD?] ... drop-off in demand and contraction that has taken place. More importantly, for the long term, making sure that we've got a set of, er, er, regulations that are up to the task, er, and that includes, er, a number that will be discussed at this summit. I think there's a lot of convergence between all the parties involved about the need, for example, to focus not on the legal form that a particular financial product takes or the institution it emerges from, but rather what's the risk involved, what's the function of this product and how do we regulate that adequately, much more effective coordination, er, between countries so we can, er, anticipate the risks that are involved there. Dealing with the, er, problem of derivatives markets, making sure we have set up systems, er, that can reduce some of the risks there. So, I actually think ... pause [FANTASTIC. I'VE LOST EVERYONE, INCLUDING MYSELF] ... there's enormous consensus that has emerged in terms of what we need to do now and, er ... pause [I'M OUTTA HERE. TIME FOR THE USUAL CLOSING BOLLOCKS] ... I'm a great believer in looking forwards than looking backwards.

[Savonarola]

Galt, or whoever he is dittoing, has inserted comments into Obama's response, including:

• I haven't a clue
• I'm in way too deep here
• This is going to go down like a crock of shit back home; help
• Damn it, blame everyone
• I've lost my train of thought again
• I'm really winging it now
• Why didn't I quit while I was ahead?
• I've lost everyone, including myself

But let's look at what Obama actually said:

I would say that if you look at the sources of this crisis, the United States certainly has some accounting to do with respect to a regulatory system that was inadequate to the massive changes that have taken place in the global financial system. I think what is also true is that here in Great Britain, here in continental Europe, around the world. We were seeing the same mismatch between the regulatory regimes that were in place and the highly integrated global capital markets that have emerged. So at this point, I'm less interested in identifying blame than fixing the problem. I think we've taken some very aggressive steps in the United States to do so, not just responding to the immediate crisis, ensuring banks are adequately capitalised, dealing with the enormous drop-off in demand and contraction that has taken place. More importantly, for the long term, making sure that we've got a set of regulations that are up to the task and that includes a number that will be discussed at this summit. I think there's a lot of convergence between all the parties involved about the need, for example, to focus not on the legal form that a particular financial product takes or the institution it emerges from, but rather what's the risk involved, what's the function of this product and how do we regulate that adequately, much more effective coordination, between countries so we can anticipate the risks that are involved there. Dealing with the problem of derivatives markets, making sure we have set up systems that can reduce some of the risks there. So, I actually think there's enormous consensus that has emerged in terms of what we need to do now and I'm a great believer in looking forwards than looking backwards.

Now there's a response that GWB couldn't have put together for a scripted news conference with a year to plan.

Note that Galt doesn't bother to post a link to a video clip of the alleged bumbling. Recall that this is the same person who posted a clip of Obama that consisted of him stumbling over a single sentence looped multiple times because it took that much to make Obama look "bad."

I once again direct Galt's cowardly hide to the debates, where Obama beat the crap out of Galt's fave. I also challenge Galt to show up at a meeting and answer questions without pausing to carefully select wording and phraseology yet make even half as much sense as Obama did in this example.

But of course, I won't hold my breath. Galt runs away from his own threads.

Pathetic. Keep up the good work, Galt. We can't possibly make the rabid righties look any more moronic than you do on your own.

[Dardedar]

DAR
In the beginning of his disasterous second term, Bush decided to blow his remaining capital on destroying Social Security and basically give a large chunk of retirement funds to Wall Street. He made over 100 flights all around the country on Air Force One. This was a complete waste of time and waste of fuel. He could have just asked me, I knew it was doomed from the start. Completely, one hundred percent, doomed (and for this we can all be thankful).

Now let's contrast Obama's statement above with an example of Bush explaining his premier policy plan and how he was going to save Social Security. No need to invent and insert dishonest comments into Bush's statement, we'll just quote him word for word:

"Because the — all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those — changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be — or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the — like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate — the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those — if that growth is affected, it will help on the red."
—George W. Bush, explaining his plan to save [read: destroy] Social Security, Tampa, Fla., Feb. 4, 2005

[Doug]

But let's look at what Obama actually said:

I would say that if you look at the sources of this crisis, the United States certainly has some accounting to do with respect to a regulatory system that was inadequate to the massive changes that have taken place in the global financial system. I think what is also true is that here in Great Britain, here in continental Europe, around the world. We were seeing the same mismatch between the regulatory regimes that were in place and the highly integrated global capital markets that have emerged. So at this point, I'm less interested in identifying blame than fixing the problem. I think we've taken some very aggressive steps in the United States to do so, not just responding to the immediate crisis, ensuring banks are adequately capitalised, dealing with the enormous drop-off in demand and contraction that has taken place. More importantly, for the long term, making sure that we've got a set of regulations that are up to the task and that includes a number that will be discussed at this summit. I think there's a lot of convergence between all the parties involved about the need, for example, to focus not on the legal form that a particular financial product takes or the institution it emerges from, but rather what's the risk involved, what's the function of this product and how do we regulate that adequately, much more effective coordination, between countries so we can anticipate the risks that are involved there. Dealing with the problem of derivatives markets, making sure we have set up systems that can reduce some of the risks there. So, I actually think there's enormous consensus that has emerged in terms of what we need to do now and I'm a great believer in looking forwards than looking backwards.

Now there's a response that GWB couldn't have put together for a scripted news conference with a year to plan.

DOUG
This is hilarious. The GOP has to invent problems with Obama out of whole cloth. They have to lie just to have something to occupy their attention--the span of which does seem rather limited.

They are indeed running around like decapitated chickens.