December 13, 2011

Obama processing doubts about running for reelection.

Here's the moment in Obama's "60 Minutes" interview that struck us:



Transcription:
PRESIDENT OBAMA: ... And as Michelle reminds me, "You volunteered for this thing."...

KROFT: Have you and Michelle ever had a conversation about whether you should really seek a second term? Have there been any doubts in your mind about not running again?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: No. Not because our quality of life might not be better if I were not president. Not because Michelle is so enamored with me being President. But because we both think that what we're doing is really important for a lot of people out there.
Hearing that, what stunned me was the way Obama processed the question in terms of his personal life with Michelle and seemed to reveal that he's not enjoying life as President and that Michelle isn't happy about it. Then he yanks himself out of that personal brooding and plugs in the appropriate, conventional, and utterly bland assertion that he's doing important things for people. And even that appropriate statement involves Michelle. Michelle and the "people out there."

People out there... what a phrase. It's so... Norma Desmond....

118 comments:

TosaGuy said...

Family is the most important thing. That is why I will vote for Mr. Obama's opponent....for the good of his family.

Fen said...

"Not because our quality of life might not be better if I were not president. Not because Michelle is so enamored with me being President."

When a man goes on and on about how he does NOT have a small penis, guess what?

Its tiny.

So yeah, sure thing DHOTUS. Your quality of life and Michelle being enamored by it? Lets just all pretend it was never on your radar.

BarryD said...

Those "people" being Obama's big donors in finance, big business and unions. You do NOT want to tell these people to pound sand, if you know what's good for you.

Anonymous said...

What's notable to me about his statement is that - to me, at least - it reveals that he views the presidency first and foremost in terms of its lifestyle trappings: "[n]ot because our quality of life might not be better if I were not president. Not because Michelle is so enamored with me being President."

That's weird, and alarming. Or maybe not, and maybe I'm seeing something that's not really there simply because it would confirm the suspicion I've had for a long while now that he likes the perks, but not the work.

BarryD said...

"Not because our quality of life might not be better if I were not president."

For a second, I thought that he was admitting that he is trashing the country and our collective quality of life. Then I realized that he was talking only about himself and his wife.

Would he play golf even more if he were not President? Would Michelle have an even larger entourage in Europe?

I'm sure that being President makes their lives different. But "quality of life" is an elusive thing to quantify, really.

Known Unknown said...

What about the people in here?

Pastafarian said...

Fen: "When a man goes on and on about how he does NOT have a small penis..."

Just what are you implying about me and my great, enormous organ, Fen?

But seriously: The video quality isn't great, but if you set it at full-screen, you can just make out the moment, at about 0:12 when they move the camera back to BHO, when he shows with his eyes just how butt-hurt he is that someone would deign to ask him such a question.

F said...

I think Rocketeer has it right: this is a lifestyle decision for Obama. At least I think it is if I'm parsing all the "not this" and "not that" correctly. "Not because I'm not. . ." WTF? I didn't watch the interview (doctor says I've gotta watch my blood pressure) but I keep having grave doubts about just how normal this guy is.

Nonapod said...

How delusional does he have to be to believe he's doing a good job and that he needs to keep doing it? He must be buffered by a dense layer sycophants and yes men, protecting him from reality.

Chip S. said...

Not because our quality of life might not be better if I were not president.

He probably will have a better QoL post-presidency. He'll still be able to pontificate at will and play golf on someone else's tab, but he won't have to do any actual work--thereby freeing up several hours a week.

pm317 said...

He is one slick SoB. When he says it is not something, better believe it IS that something. She is propping up all the fashion designers in this bad economy and he is propping up all the crooks with their pay to play (most recent to emerge from the shadows 'Lightsquared')-- THAT is the really important work they are doing for people out there.

ndspinelli said...

Anyone who runs for President has a different id, ego, and superego than vitually everyone else. That makes it hard for us to understand. There are maybe a few people here who could truly get it. I can identify it, but I can't truly understand it.

ndspinelli said...

The Norma Desmond clip is quite interesting. Good job.

BarryD said...

I'd just love to hear an interviewer preface a similar question with: "In old Japan, someone in your position would probably be obligated to commit seppuku."

Fen said...

Maybe Obama needs another Participation Trophy.

Maybe the Nobel Committee can give him one in Mathmatics just for showing up at the Remedial Algebra class.

rocketeer67: What's notable to me about his statement is that - to me, at least - it reveals that he views the presidency first and foremost in terms of its lifestyle trappings

Spot on, even if you did double post it. His first thought should be about the millions of Americans losing their jobs and homes. Consideration of his own status shouldn't even have entered his mind.

Wasn't he supposed to be worrying about that when he goes to sleep and when he wakes up? I think he's more worried about his short game. SS says he can't make the green in 5.

pm317 said...

rocketeer67 said...

That's weird, and alarming. Or maybe not, and maybe I'm seeing something that's not really there simply because it would confirm the suspicion I've had for a long while now that he likes the perks, but not the work.

----------------
Agree.. that was also my thought. It is all about perks and he knows people know it which is why the need to protest.

DaveW said...

What a strange exchange that is. I'm going to have to think about it for a while.

CarterFliptMe said...

Norma Desmond!!! ROFL! Even Hobbits have to duck in Their magnificent presence.

Scott M said...

Michelle is forcing him to run again so she can continue her steamy affair with a hot, convenient secret service agent.

edutcher said...

Oh, brother, talk about delusions of adequacy!

If TOTUS goes on the fritz during one of the debates and he starts free associating like that, whoever is running against him may beat Reagan and take all 60 states.

Scott M said...

For a second, I thought that he was admitting that he is trashing the country and our collective quality of life.

Then I realized that he was talking only about himself and his wife.


Please post the rest of this parody song! Don't hold out on us.

Scott M said...

How delusional does he have to be to believe he's doing a good job and that he needs to keep doing it?

He's not delusional. He just feels that there aren't enough young, black males wearing battle dress uniform, crossing their arms in a parody of saluting, and declaring that "BECAUSE OF OBAMA..."

Joe Schmoe said...

Notable quote for me is Michelle saying "You volunteered for this thing." It implies that he whines to her about it, and she's basically saying TS. And 'thing' sounds a little belittling. "And you had to go and volunteer for your little presidential thingy..."

foxlets14 said...

MAN! That's one sick puppy! God help the USA!

Scott M said...

Notable quote for me is Michelle saying "You volunteered for this thing."

That one sentence, from his own mouth, kinda destroys the whole "mess we inherited" meme, doesn't it?

Econophile said...

Imagine having to appeal to the people who constitute the culture you disdain.

Exhausting, I'm sure.

Ned said...

Have been convinced for quite a while that obama doesn't like the job primarily because he has not a clue how to perform in it.And the criticism he receives due to horrific performance grates on him big time.
Michelle HATES it because she can't play the victim 24/7.
He is a disgrace as are all that voted for him.

Ron said...

Here's your more relevant Norma Desmond/Obama remark....

BO is talking about America of course...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy9D64zFphY&feature=related

Rose said...

Scary!

Anonymous said...

I'm not surprised Obama isn't enjoying being president (I really believe that he thought 2008 would be a trial run, expecting at best a nod as Hillary's vice-president). Actually winning was a shock (in a way, a disaster) to his plans. I'm sure there's a big part of him just waiting for it to be over.

The statement about Michelle surprises me, though, and I'm not sure I buy it. She's obviously totally down with the privileges of royalty and I can't see her wanting to go back to being a mere commoner.

Probably more of Obama projecting onto her his dreams of going back to the days of free praise and easy promotion.

Peter Hoh said...

Seems I remember another politician processing a question about his personal life with the idea that he was doing important things for people.

After she learned of his affair with Calista, Marianne Gingrich asked her husband how he reconciled his speeches about family values with his actions.

“It doesn’t matter what I do,” she quoted him as saying, “people need to hear what I have to say.”

Link

Chip Ahoy said...

The video next to the Norma Desmond video is a gem. Gloria Swanson in 1980. Surprised me because I thought she passed decades before that. She tells a brief story about the Lion's Bride that is worth seeing to the end.

traditionalguy said...

He is channeling the Dead Man Walking fake hero person of the Lawless Marxist tradition.

He sees himself as heroically doing the hard part of eliminating the capitalist private property and freedom system that makes people poor.

If 50 million capitalists have to be stripped and killed, then he will do that difficult task for the people. Take them out and shoot them...and the Man of Steel also killed the other Marxists ASAP because he understood their mental illness murders people and steals their stuff...and Stalin refused to be treated that way.

The Marxists beliefs are all forms of mental illness from Pol Pot to Mao Tse Deng to Fidel Castro to Hugo Chavez. But none is as strong at hiding his mentally illness as El Obama and his bride.

Meade said...

Peter Hoh said...
"Seems I remember another politician processing a question about his personal life with the idea that he was doing important things for people."

Newt makes Mitch Daniels look extra good.

Tank said...

The question with Zero is not whether he wants to run for re-election, it is whether he will peacefully give up the office when his term or terms (God forbid) are over.

The left often said this about Bush, but did Bush ever look as self-satisfied and full of himself as Mr. Zero?

ndspinelli said...

Oh please, Mitch Daniels, the midget Hoosier accountant. I thought we had gotten past that.

"Just when you think you're out.."

Tim said...

"Hearing that, what stunned me was the way Obama processed the question in terms of his personal life with Michelle and seemed to reveal that he's not enjoying life as President and that Michelle isn't happy about it."

Why is that stunning?

Hasn't it always been, for the man who wrote two autobiographies before accomplishing anything worthy of one, always about him?

And isn't it equally true that for his base, all the perquisites of office, and the ability to play Robin Hood for them, is what really matters?

Obama may be a failed president on the verge of reelection - he is so because, like a grifter knowing his mark, he knows his voters. The endless parade of failed policies, the future cannibalizing debt, the targeted assassinations of America citizens, the multi-million dollar vacations with separate planes, the countless rounds of golf, and the inarticulate-without-tele-prompter president are no impediment to getting the votes of those who sent him there the first time. His voters are like all those Mexicans who kept voting for PRI after decades of proven, known corruption - too dumb to do any different. Waka Flocka Flame totally nailed this president.

Christopher in MA said...

Chip - Gloria Swanson had been a vegetarian and devotee of macrobiotics since the late 1920s and was barely 50 when "Sunset Boulevard" came out. Although her age was quite right for a Norma Desmond - silent queen forgotten by the talkies - the popular conception of silents as silly, primitive things meant that Desmond / Swanson would be regarded as a much older woman - even though she was not - because she was representing a technology and world that had been completely forgotten. So I suspect that might be an unconscious reason why you might think she'd died long before 1980 (she died in 1983, BTW).

And that whole bit about a completely forgotten world is what made the cameos of Buster Keaton, H.B. Warner and Anna Q. Nilsson that much more eerie for the original viewers of "Boulevard;" the film scholar Jeanine Basinger recalled being an usherette in 1950and hearing the audience gasp in shocked recognition every time at the "waxworks" scene .

ndspinelli said...

Newt makes other Hoosiers, Dan Quayle, look good. Newt makes Gene Keady look good. Newt makes Jimmy Hoffa look good[and he's a dead convicted felon]. Newt makes David Letterman look good. Newt makes Bobby Knight..wait a minute, I don't want that powderkeg's finger anywhere near the button.

Meade, You just gave a classic example of "daming w/ faint praise."

Meade said...

Not bad, Spinelli. Not bad.

Rialby said...

If he's volunteering, can we get our $400k a year back?

ricpic said...

It boggles the mind that any even moderately thoughtful person would assume his/her quality of life would go up in the pressure cooker of the presidency.

DADvocate said...

What Obama's doing is really important to me. That's why I'm working against him.

Rialby said...

He's such a victim. His 3rd book will help to further describe that thread he started pulling on in his first book. "Don't cry for me America (except when I ask you to)"

Hoosier Daddy said...

PRESIDENT OBAMA: ... And as Michelle reminds me, "You volunteered for this thing."...

Mr President? Jesus called and wants his cross back.

BarryD said...

"Please post the rest of this parody song!"

I am afraid that it has already been done, though it's mostly an instrumental.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjNNsN9oYRg

Brian Brown said...

But because we both think that what we're doing is really important for a lot of people out there.


Um, really?

Because more than 3 million people have lost their jobs since you took over.

Is that what you mean?

Anonymous said...

He's running as the First Vacationer has already planned four more years of taxpayer funded vacations.

edutcher said...

Joe Schmoe said...

Notable quote for me is Michelle saying "You volunteered for this thing."

It's of a piece with what he said when he and Moochelle showed up at a grammar school in DC on a Friday afternoon early in the Administration (maybe a month into it, IIRC), "They let us out early for the day", and everybody was all, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot", with the proposition that, if he isn't in charge, who is?

Levi Starks said...

Lets juxtapose Obama with another notable democrat president. Harry S. Truman, who at the end of his presidency got in his chrysler new yorker, and along with his wife made the leisurely drive back to Missouri where he spent the rest of his life living at home on his army pension.
Not in a Million years would you have heard Truman whining about his quality of life. It was in fact a life of personal sacrifice dedicated to the nation he and his wife loved.
Barack Obama isn't fit to shine Harry Trumans shoes.

Anonymous said...

Lets be honest. Obama could make more money and will make more money and have a less scrutinized family once he leaves office. So, more money and less scrutiny with his family is a greater quality of life. His wife got booed at the NASCAR event, she gets constantly dragged through the mud and she isnt a legislator. So, I know she can't wait for this to be over with. I think it is sad that people are taking his well formed sentences for any negativity. Quality of life isnt just about the ability to eat and have clothes, it is about the comfort of family. His wife has taken a beating as first lady and because he cant defend her in public, this has been very hard on them as husband and wife. So I can comprehend why he would like to let it go, but he will go for a second term and be very happy for his family when it is time to go.
http://voices.yahoo.com/the-sixth-party-system-tea-party-occupiers-10387899.html?cat=3

sakredkow said...

Liberals, Dems, leftwingers and some others obsessed about GW Bush, that's for sure.

But no one ever obsessed about a President like some of the folks on this blog. You get right down in there, like a doctor or dentist, and then you ... see yourself.

Scott M said...

But no one ever obsessed about a President like some of the folks on this blog.

Laughable. Our definition of obsessed must be nearly diametrically opposed.

Hoosier Daddy said...

"... Barack Obama isn't fit to shine Harry Trumans shoes..."

Billy Batts: Now go get your fu**in shine box.

Curious George said...

"The Harlemite said...

...His wife got booed at the NASCAR event, she gets constantly dragged through the mud and she isnt a legislator...His wife has taken a beating as first lady and because he cant defend her in public"

Oh bullshit. She was actively is involved in his campaign and his Presidency. Boo fucking hoo.

Rabel said...

Here's an Obama quote from yesterday defending the 16,000 who will remain in Iraq with the US embassy. You could analyze his processing of the value of soldier's lives.

"As president of the United States I have to make sure that anybody who is in Iraq trying to help Iraqi people is protected," he said. "I'm putting civilians in the field. I want to make sure that they come home, because they are not soldiers."

Hoosier Daddy said...

"... You could analyze his processing of the value of soldier's lives..."

In fairness, civilians in Iraq depend on soldiers for protection.

sorepaw said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
shiloh said...

On the bright side Althouse, you will be able to keep dime store psychoanalyzing Obama thru Jan. 2017.

One of the president's daily jobs is to sign military death notices/letters to next of kin of U.S. soldiers who die in peacetime and wartime, so yes, he probably has a hard time remaining cheerful 24/7.

As JFK supposedly said to Goldwater a couple months before he was assassinated ~ So, you really want this fucking job!

As long as Obama doesn't make any insensitive jokes about lookin for WMD's under the Oval Office desk, eh.

take care

Hagar said...

I have to give it to you, Professor; Barack Obama as Norma Desmond is really thinking outside the box!

Scott M said...

One of the president's daily jobs is to sign military death notices/letters to next of kin of U.S. soldiers who die in peacetime and wartime, so yes, he probably has a hard time remaining cheerful 24/7.

If you think he does this personally, instead of autopenning it, you're high.

shiloh said...

When Althouse mentions Norma Desmond, she's projecting.

Fen said...

One of the president's daily jobs is to sign military death notices/letters to next of kin of U.S. soldiers who die in peacetime and wartime, so yes, he probably has a hard time remaining cheerful 24/7.

Autopen. I doubt he even sees the drafts.

Daniel Murphy said...

His answer shows that he is taking the question as flowing from concern for him and his family, rather than concern for the country. Whether or not he perceived it this way, the answer is smart: it's as if there was never any concern to be addressed about whether a second term would be good for the country.

Fen said...

But I love how you expect us to feel sympathy for the "onerous" task of writing to next of kin.

Lets see.. dead soldiers, grieving families... poor little Obama.

Brian Brown said...

shiloh said...

One of the president's daily jobs is to sign military death notices/letters to next of kin of U.S. soldiers who die in peacetime and wartime, so yes, he probably has a hard time remaining cheerful 24/7.


Yeah, and you like totally said the same things when Bush was in office.

ndspinelli said...

Hagar, It's also Freudian.

David said...

So much of what he says is bullshit that the unintentionally revealing has a good chance of being bullshit too.

That said, being President should be one of the most exciting and stimulating experiences a man could have. Obama seems kind of bored and exasperated by the whole thing.

shiloh said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MaggotAtBroad&Wall said...

Kroft was one of the first big time national interviewers to interview Obama after Obama first became a national figure a few years ago. I"m pretty sure Kroft has interviewed him more than anybody else. I think Obama felt he had a bond with him.

That glare Obama shot Kroft when Kroft dared to ask that question was worth more than the words spoken. Obama felt hurt and betrayed that his "friend" would put him on the spot with that question. Then, as a true narcissist, he answers it by making it all about himself. And his wife. You can almost see with the change in his facial expression when he realizes he needs a save and goes in another direction.

One creepy dude.

shiloh said...

"One creepy dude."

Althouse and her lemmings total obsession w/Obama is also kinda creepy and sad!

Kirby Olson said...

In one of the strangest interviews I've ever read, Pol Pot, at the very end of his life, avowed that what he was doing he was doing for the poor of Cambodia, who still needed him, and for whom he was their champion. He had already killed a half of them, but even dead, he continued to work on their behalf!

Obama puts record numbers of people out on the street, but they need him to continue to work for them!

Rabel said...

Hoosier,

I failed to make my point. What seems to me to need processing or Norma Desmondizing is his last sentence which on its face says that he doesn't feel a responsibility to bring soldiers back (alive).

Probably not what he meant to say, but since this thread is using his words to look into his soul...

Scott M said...

Althouse and her lemmings total obsession w/Obama is also kinda creepy and sad!

So is your lamenting his having to sign those soldier letters.

shiloh said...

"So is your lamenting his having to sign those soldier letters."

Wasn't lamenting so your illogical expressing of what I said aside, somebody give Scott M a hug!

Anonymous said...

Althouse and her lemmings total obsession w/Obama is also kinda creepy and sad!

What you call "obsession" I call "taking the job of selecting who gets my vote as the leader of the free world seriously." But then I don't view it as essentially the same as a sports contest, as you apparently do.

Fen said...

Perhaps Shiloh is impressed that Obama knows how to leave his mark on a page.

Along with Obama being clean and well-spoken.

Hey, its okay to lower the bar for the Diversity Hire.

"He has to, ya know, put his x on every letter. Its hard work!"

Fen said...

Shiloh: Wasn't lamenting

Sure you were. You put it out there to garner sympathy for him.

shiloh said...

Fen, good to see you're still obsessed w/me little buddy.

Again, all I ask for is consistency!

take care

Seeing Red said...

No. Not because our quality of life might not be better if I were not president.

No shit, sherlock.


Who wouldn't want to be ruler of the world when the peons pick up the cost of the arugula?

ndspinelli said...

Shiloh, Your wife just gave ScottM a BIG hug! Very generous of you.

shiloh said...

ndspinelli, well liberals are very generous er empathetic to the downtrodden ...

Fen said...

Shiloh: Fen, good to see you're still obsessed w/me little buddy.

No, little man. I'm still waiting for you to post your DD214. Poser.

Seeing Red said...

One of the president's daily jobs is to sign military death notices/letters to next of kin of U.S. soldiers who die in peacetime and wartime, so yes, he probably has a hard time remaining cheerful 24/7.



Hopefully the letters will get there, can't say the same for the bodies.

This is the best you can do, Shiloh?

Scott M said...

Fen, good to see you're still obsessed w/me little buddy.

You keep using that word. I not sure it means what you think it means.

Yes. You were lamenting.

ricpic said...

The Harlemite said...

His wife...gets constantly dragged through the mud...so, I know she can't wait for this to be over with.

Yeah, her tongue is hanging out to be done with taking a royal entourage around the world - how many times by now? - at taxpayer expense.

Hoosier Daddy said...

"... ndspinelli, well liberals are very generous er empathetic to the downtrodden ......"

This is true. Liberals have much more empathy for the downtrodden. Feelings are more important than actually helping them.

roesch/voltaire said...

I think it speaks to the effectiveness of the Right Wing's propaganda machine that pours criticism on every issue from the size of his wife's ass to giving money to Detroit to save the American auto industry.

Hoosier Daddy said...

"... giving money to Detroit to save the American auto industry..."

You mean GM. Ford didn't get any money. Pretty sure Ford would have been happy to pick up the slack from GM.

Then again it speaks to the liberal newspeak that Wall Street bailouts are vilified but bailing out auto worker unions is just fine.

Just depends on whose ox is gored or whose wallet is greased.

Cedarford said...

Well, the Obamas may grumble and are presently seething that the "optics" of them heading out on yet another luxury vacation (17 days in Hawaii) led to cancelling that deserved holiday...
But there are a billion other reasons (Obama's reelection fund he has worked hard to amass, the prospect of another 3 SCOTUS nominations) saying he will run.


================
Maybee - It seems to me time for a journalist to ask Obama outright if that is what he thinks. Are we nearly impossible to govern? Does he believe our constitutional republic needs significant updating? How so?

Most people at least semi-sentient will admit our political system is in real structural trouble, that the American people are not exceptional, and we would be better off if we disenfranchised non-taxpayers from voting. That we are an 18th Century Constitutional Republic with an operating manual, (the Sacred Parchment Itself) in dire need of modernization.
That tax cuts for the wealthy did not create new jobs, nor did green energy, nor did free trade with China.
Nor has supply side economics starting in Reagan's time done anything but reward the rich and increase our deficits.

That money poured into education does nothing if the students and their parents are lazy and stupid and only fit for low skill piecework.

These things are true, but none on the right or the left will say it..because the name of the game is pandering to the rubes on the left or the right, and accepting the perversion of the system by money and by special interest activists. Both sides recognize America must fall a lot further before it is safe coming out saying the Constitution needs repairs, the corruption weeded out by a ruling military junta, too powerful small bands of Elites need to be brought to heel and the middle class resurrected.

Mark said...

My understanding is that if he decides not to run, all the money donated directly to his campaign is his to keep.

Nice little next egg there. Probably means he won't have to step down too far from the lifestyle he's become accustomed to. Gonna be hard to give up Air Force One, though....

Cedarford said...

One of the president's daily jobs is to sign military death notices/letters to next of kin of U.S. soldiers who die in peacetime and wartime, so yes, he probably has a hard time remaining cheerful 24/7.

=============
Apocryphal garbage. The President doesn't do that.

Scott M said...

Both sides recognize America must fall a lot further before it is safe coming out saying the Constitution needs repairs, the corruption weeded out by a ruling military junta, too powerful small bands of Elites need to be brought to heel and the middle class resurrected.

How do you suppose the middle-class is going to be "resurrected" under a ruling military junta?

Calypso Facto said...

But because we both think that what we're doing is really important for a lot of people out there.

When the people tell him otherwise in Nov 2012 he can then leave with a clear conscience. Whew.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

I'll never understand why Althouse keeps fanning this flame. The idea that Obama would decide not to run for election is ridiculous. Why would he want to give up the power and the fame? Sure, he may not love the job and he definitely hates criticism but he does love the attention. Once he is out of power, the only people that will give him the time of day will be his devoted fans. The unwashed bitter masses will simply ignore him. All he will have to look forward to is a lifetime of Michelle and a fresh carton of Eve cigarettes.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Gonna be hard to give up Air Force One, though....

Maybe they can borrow one of John Travolta's jets.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Why would he want to give up the power and the fame?

I guess because if he decides not to run, he can keep all those donations (lots of money!!)and keep his fame. He doesn't seem to have all that much power right now anyway.

Less work. More fun. Woo hoo!!

Plus then he can really pontificate from upon high.

Pragmatist said...

Is the economy better now then when he was elected? Yes.

Is Osama alive? No.

Have laws been passed to curb excesses on Wall Street? Yes and fought against by the Republicans.

Troops out of Iraq as promised? Yes, for the most part.

Health care law to cover most Americans as promised? Yes, and fought against by Republicans and their Insurance sponsers.

Jobs? He does not hire. Most of the jobs lost in the Bush recession will not be coming back, regardless of who is in office.

General Motors...bailed out and successful. Paying the government back.

All in all not a bad record. Better than his predesessor.

Joe said...

Why would he want to give up the power and the fame?

Because leaving a job on your own terms is better than being crushed and tossed out.

As Althouse, and others, have pointed out were Obama to leave office now, he always has the chance to return, however slim. This gives him a tremendous amount of power and influence in certain circles.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Because leaving a job on your own terms is better than being crushed and tossed out.

First of all, I don't believe that Obama would ever doubt his ability to win. The guy has always been treated like the "one". I see nothing that would lead me to believe that he could make an honest appraisal of himself.

Second, It would be foolish to believe he could step down and run at a later time. It would never fly with most voters. Americans hate quitters and losers. And that's how he would be viewed.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Plus then he can really pontificate from upon high.

Yeah, but the rubes that he really wants to lecture to wouldn't be there to listen. He would be left with little more than preaching to the choir. Think about it. Does anyone really pay attention to what ex presidents have to say?

shiloh said...

"Americans hate quitters and losers."

Gingrich resigned in disgrace. Indeed Althouse and her disgruntled teabaggers have newt to lead them to the promised land. :-P

btw, speaking of quitting, how many AA lemmings are still in love/infatuated w/palin lol.

Scott M said...

btw, speaking of quitting, how many AA lemmings are still in love/infatuated w/palin lol.

How does it feel, especially when you wake up each morning, to know that you're simply better than most people, shiloh?

shiloh said...

Scott M has now resorted to non sequitur "attempted" personal attacks.

Please, someone give Scott a hug!

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Newt hasn't won anything but publicity yet. And Remind me again, what office does Palin hold?

Besides, neither of these people are trying to recapture an office they earlier were forced to quit.

If he tried to come back he would be facing Republicans as well as his own history (sans hopey changey magic.) It's not gonna fly.

Scott M said...

Scott M has now resorted to non sequitur "attempted" personal attacks.

Projection layered with curious ignorance of his own very recent no sequitur personal attacks, re lemmings.

shiloh said...

Scott M is turnin' into a pretzel re: his logic er lack thereof, so I'll give him the last word ...

take care

Brian Brown said...

General Motors...bailed out and successful. Paying the government back.

Hysterical.

You mean other than the $26 billion they will never re-pay right?

How many employees did GM have when Obama took office and how many do they have now?

The lies you have to tell yourself in order to be a leftist are endless.

Brian Brown said...

Pragmatist said...

Is the economy better now then when he was elected? Yes.


Laugh out loud funny.

The price of gas is 100% higher.

The unemployment rate is higher.

The federal debt is up over 36%

The federal deficit has doubled.

Yes, so much "better"!

caplight45 said...

Steve Kroft: You're Barak Obama. You were the heart throb of the political world. You were big.

Barak Obama: I am big! It's the presidency that got small.

Brian Brown said...

Health care law to cover most Americans as promised? Yes

Hysterical.

"Most Americans"?

Really?

Can you point me to a statement by Obama promising to "cover most Americans" with government health insurance?

Again, the lies you must tell yourself to be a leftist are endless.

Wally Kalbacken said...

Holy schmoely, she was 81 at the time of that interview and still had some appeal. Wow.

SunnyJ said...

What a relief to find this quote and blog...thank you AA...I have been really stunned that I haven't seen it anywhere else. I like you, thought it was the most astounding and disturbing section of the interview.

It reminds me of his comments regarding their daughters, something like regardless of what happens to the country and everyone else, our kids will be fine...words to that effect.

Yeah, it's a helluva quality of life issue when you have all of your expenses covered, millions in travel to the 1% places of the world all the while telling everyone else what they can and can not do. Just don't know how they stand it. Lol.

But, I think Walt Whitman would understand this and frame the real problem here. Obama does not know how to work, does not have joy in his work, where's the clothes and trappings of dishonest work and is clueless about how work so defines this country and its people that he is disinterested in the jobs issue and can not relate to the quality of life for most Americans.

Paul said...

Hey, let's help Obama! VOTE HIM OUT.

Then he can play golf, Michelle can do more jumping jacks, and the world can get back to work.

Sounds like a win-win to me!

Allison said...

This comment fits with what he said in the first place, a quote noticed by Byron York that was from an NYT Mag piece:

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/173817/just-imagine-me-being-me-white-house/byron-york

Just Imagine Me Being Me In The White House
November 17, 2008 9:42 A.M.
By Byron York
The New York Times magazine had a story yesterday by Ron Suskind which reconstructed the time in which Barack Obama decided to run for president. Obama was asked — by his wife — what he wanted to accomplish, and the answer he came up with was that he simply thought it would be a wonderful thing for everyone if he were in the White House.

[Obama strategist David Axelrod] thought back on what he called the original why question, what got all this started, back in December 2006. Barack, Michelle and eight others were in Axelrod’s office in downtown Chicago. If Barack was going to run, he had to decide quickly, a point the group made by laying out primary schedules and game plans for fund-raising and building an organization. Insights were offered from around the room.

It was Michelle, Axelrod remembers, who stopped the show. “You need to ask yourself, Why do you want to do this?” she said directly. “What are hoping to uniquely accomplish, Barack?”

Obama sat quietly for a moment, and everyone waited. “This I know: When I raise my hand and take that oath of office, I think the world will look at us differently,” he said. “And millions of kids across this country will look at themselves differently.”

"People out there", "kids"--they aren't white kids who will look at themselves differently. Or white people out there who need him to be president.

See, the reason he's bad at doing this presidency was that he was *done* once he got elected--like George Costanza, he walked out on the high note. He got elected, that was the game changer, and the rest is not relevant to him. Just *being* president was the issue. He's accomplished that. Now he can go play golf. Unfortunately, he's got to do this campaign thing again one more time to stay being Pres, but that's all.

Mick said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mick said...

The reason that Obama may not run is that millions will challenge his eligibility as a natural born Citizen, and he may risk any precedent he may have set. The narcissist just can't take or fathom that he is not allowed to serve as POTUS.

Not that the "law prof", ignoring all of the rumblings about his ineligibility, cares about that. She would be presumeably very embarrassed to have voted for an ineligible candidate. Imagine, a "law prof" that doesn't know what a natural born Citizen is?!!??

You would think she knows about Minor v. Happersett:

"The Constitution does not in words say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners."

It's very scary that you have been shut up "law prof". You and all have academia should be ashamed that you may have played a role in the undermining of the Republic.

Mick said...

What's really amazing (or not) is that a "law prof", amd this goes for Jacobson at "Legal Insurrection", and Volokh at "Volokh Conspiracy", refuse to write about Justiagate, even though many of their students probabaly rely on Justia.com. The credibility of that site, which purports to provide full taxt if SCOTUS cases has been seriously undermined by the scandal involving the mangling, and even changing of actual text, of cases that cite Minor v. Happerset's citizenship holdings. Why do you ignore this "law prof"? Have you been told to shut up?

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/12/justiagate_natural_born_supreme_court_citations_disappear.html