President Barry can't kick the 'prompter habit
HT to Captain Ed
I'm not talking about him kicking the cigarette habit. This is all about his teleprompter habit. Now why would Mr. Soaring Oratory need to have a teleprompter handy? Because he's not as swift on his feet when it comes to speaking extemporaneously:
President Barack Obama doesn’t go anywhere without his TelePrompter.
The textbook-sized panes of glass holding the president’s prepared remarks follow him wherever he speaks.
Resting on top of a tall, narrow pole, they flank his podium during speeches in the White House’s stately parlors. They stood next to him on the floor of a manufacturing plant in Indiana as he pitched his economic stimulus plan. They traveled to the Department of Transportation this week and were in the Capitol Rotunda last month when he paid tribute to Abraham Lincoln in six-minute prepared remarks.
Obama’s reliance on the teleprompter is unusual – not only because he is famous for his oratory, but because no other president has used one so consistently and at so many events large and small.
After the teleprompter malfunctioned a few times last summer and Obama delivered some less-than-soaring speeches, reports surfaced that he was training to wean himself off of the device while on vacation in Hawaii. But no luck.
Now some people may consider this as petty as the post about Gordon Brown being snubbed, but this is a little different. He is relying on the 'prompter because he obviously isn't as good a speaker as the media made him out to be. See, I can think on my feet. People who read this blog that know I am a fairly regular caller to Hugh Hewitt's show have heard me. I can discuss what's on my mind, and if prompted to continue, I can converse. I have facts at my disposal that I can recall quickly. I don't need prepared remarks to make my points. It's all coming off the top of my head.
Why bring that up? Because I'm not the president. I'm not an elected official. But it seems that our current president can't do this. He can't think or speak off the cuff. He's had his share of verbal snafus when speaking off the cuff without the 'prompter. The media loves to paint a picture of this man, even equating him to President Reagan, when it comes to his ability to speak eloquently.
The thing with that meme is that Reagan spent a good deal of time prior to running for president speaking to crowds, at rallies, etc. He was known as "The Great Communicator" for a reason. He could speak off the cuff, and the speeches he delivered were memorable because he could communicate effectively. Did he use a 'prompter? I'm sure he did, from time to time. Did he use index cards or prepared remarks? I'm sure he did, especially when delivering a speech to the nation or Congress. Did he utterly depend on them, even for the smallest of comments? No he didn't. Most officials don't. Despite our apparent dislike of Granny Rictus and the Cryptkeeper (Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, respectively) when they hold a presser in the Capitol Rotunda or outside the Capitol building, they don't have prepared remarks with them 90% of the time.
But President Barry can't do it. He completely relies on the 'prompter. I'm sorry but what irritates us the most about this is it's so impersonal. He's not looking at the cameras -- looking at the people of the nation. He's looking at the words moving on the screen. Slublog makes an interesting point on this. He's made some pretty idiotic comments when the 'prompter's not around, and yet we see no one out there making hay about the "Obamaisms" the way the media and pundits did about Bush and his "Bushisms." Media, thy name is hypocrisy.
The 'prompter point is this: He doesn't want to look this nation in the eyes because he knows that we know he's a disingenuous politician that could really care less about the nation, or the state it's in. And no, that's not a reference to the afore-linked "57 states" gaffe.
Publius II
I'm not talking about him kicking the cigarette habit. This is all about his teleprompter habit. Now why would Mr. Soaring Oratory need to have a teleprompter handy? Because he's not as swift on his feet when it comes to speaking extemporaneously:
President Barack Obama doesn’t go anywhere without his TelePrompter.
The textbook-sized panes of glass holding the president’s prepared remarks follow him wherever he speaks.
Resting on top of a tall, narrow pole, they flank his podium during speeches in the White House’s stately parlors. They stood next to him on the floor of a manufacturing plant in Indiana as he pitched his economic stimulus plan. They traveled to the Department of Transportation this week and were in the Capitol Rotunda last month when he paid tribute to Abraham Lincoln in six-minute prepared remarks.
Obama’s reliance on the teleprompter is unusual – not only because he is famous for his oratory, but because no other president has used one so consistently and at so many events large and small.
After the teleprompter malfunctioned a few times last summer and Obama delivered some less-than-soaring speeches, reports surfaced that he was training to wean himself off of the device while on vacation in Hawaii. But no luck.
Now some people may consider this as petty as the post about Gordon Brown being snubbed, but this is a little different. He is relying on the 'prompter because he obviously isn't as good a speaker as the media made him out to be. See, I can think on my feet. People who read this blog that know I am a fairly regular caller to Hugh Hewitt's show have heard me. I can discuss what's on my mind, and if prompted to continue, I can converse. I have facts at my disposal that I can recall quickly. I don't need prepared remarks to make my points. It's all coming off the top of my head.
Why bring that up? Because I'm not the president. I'm not an elected official. But it seems that our current president can't do this. He can't think or speak off the cuff. He's had his share of verbal snafus when speaking off the cuff without the 'prompter. The media loves to paint a picture of this man, even equating him to President Reagan, when it comes to his ability to speak eloquently.
The thing with that meme is that Reagan spent a good deal of time prior to running for president speaking to crowds, at rallies, etc. He was known as "The Great Communicator" for a reason. He could speak off the cuff, and the speeches he delivered were memorable because he could communicate effectively. Did he use a 'prompter? I'm sure he did, from time to time. Did he use index cards or prepared remarks? I'm sure he did, especially when delivering a speech to the nation or Congress. Did he utterly depend on them, even for the smallest of comments? No he didn't. Most officials don't. Despite our apparent dislike of Granny Rictus and the Cryptkeeper (Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, respectively) when they hold a presser in the Capitol Rotunda or outside the Capitol building, they don't have prepared remarks with them 90% of the time.
But President Barry can't do it. He completely relies on the 'prompter. I'm sorry but what irritates us the most about this is it's so impersonal. He's not looking at the cameras -- looking at the people of the nation. He's looking at the words moving on the screen. Slublog makes an interesting point on this. He's made some pretty idiotic comments when the 'prompter's not around, and yet we see no one out there making hay about the "Obamaisms" the way the media and pundits did about Bush and his "Bushisms." Media, thy name is hypocrisy.
The 'prompter point is this: He doesn't want to look this nation in the eyes because he knows that we know he's a disingenuous politician that could really care less about the nation, or the state it's in. And no, that's not a reference to the afore-linked "57 states" gaffe.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 10:05 AM
2 Comments:
it's frightening that he can't think off the cuff. Makes you wonder why?
Zomby,
I'm thinking it has a lot to do with the high expectations the media and Democrats have contrived since his DNC spech back in 2004. There, he sounded like our worst nightmare.
Since then, he has been shown to be someone who simply can't think on his feet. He makes mistakes, he makes gaffes, and he gets annoyed when the press starts asking tougher questions than what he faced on the campaign trail. Worse still is the fact the press -- just recently -- started claiming this isn't the man they thought he was during the campaign.
Well, where the Hell were they two years ago? Where were they a year ago? Oh, that's right, the "tingling" media was too busy being in an orgasmic state of euphoria to bother actually vetting the guy they supported.
And now we have a vaccuous president who believes he is above scrutiny.
::Chuckle:: And the center-right alternative media is just getting started on this rube. He's in for a long 4 years, and we're about to get the comedic take out of his presidency.
Publius II
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