Althouse: "[Bill Clinton] possessed a winning, near irresistible charm. Obama's persona is more cool, distant, imperial."

September 18, 2009

"[Bill Clinton] possessed a winning, near irresistible charm. Obama's persona is more cool, distant, imperial."

"The charming scoundrel can get away with endless deception; the righteous redeemer cannot."

28 comments:

Anonymous said...: Neither can the self-righteous holier-than-thou snob looking down his nose at you while he sneers at you that "he won" and "they can't stop us."

I have a reading suggestion for Barack Obama:

"How To Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie, available here for less than eight bucks:

http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671723650; 9/18/09, 5:28 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: I noticed the tag about lying - not respect, integrity, or any other quality that charm would be a decent compliment to in a leader - but lying.

NewAge is a sick culture.

The Macho Response; 9/18/09, 5:41 AM
Issob Morocco said...: Somewhere a village is missing its slick con man ne'er do well. With his Olympic sized plans we get Jerry Lewis backyard, labor day carnival results.

The Dimmycrats will look back at these days as the worst of times, when they had it all and let it slip through their power hungry, greedy hands.

Cheers!; 9/18/09, 6:38 AM
traditionalguy said...: The President is in trouble. He does not know how to tell anyone the truth about anything. He has always before used his personae as a way to mediate between two sides one having power and the other wanting something from the powerful one, and get wellpaid for resolving the tensions. But the Leadership style of an American President requires more than that. We need to be trusted by our President, not lied to about everything by our President.Putin likes Obama's mediator style. Chavez likes Obama's mediator style. Iran's leadership likes Obama's mediator style. But the American citizens want to fire the mediator selling them out and hire a righteous fighter for President, like an Andrew Jackson or a Sarah Palin.; 9/18/09, 6:40 AM
KCFleming said...: Both Obama and ACORN are scrubbing their respective websites of any connection between them. Very Soviet, this disappearance of memory.

The rapidity of the occurrence on both sides speaks to the ease and comfort with lying that only comes through regular practice.

Clinton was known as a magnificent liar, the slick too-friendly salesman. Obama lies like only an academician or bureaucrat can, in paragraphs.; 9/18/09, 6:53 AM
rhhardin said...: Positive rogue sentiment comes from what Wm. Empson calls hearty equations of the senses of honest.

Various possibilities he lists:

The man who is true to the facts of our nature does no more than he need in fulfilling the demands of society.

The man who will not be a hypocrite is nature's aristorcrat.

... and knows when to tell lies.

A frank rogue is a good fellow, fit for our set.

The independent man is the reliable one.

The man who accepts his own desires is generous and faithful to friends.

_The Structure of Complex Words_ pp. 205-206; 9/18/09, 6:57 AM
The Drill SGT said...: Clinton was known as a magnificent liar, the slick too-friendly salesman.

Johnson was a liar also, but he and Clinton, both understood the legislative proces and the need to compromise when you dont have the votes. Obama seems only to understand how to demonize his opposition.; 9/18/09, 6:59 AM
The Drill SGT said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/18/09, 7:14 AM
Meade said...: You elide!; 9/18/09, 7:33 AM
Der Hahn said...: Don't forget Bill Clinton had a far different political life before he became President.

He was kicked out of the Arkansas Governor's chair, then won it again. He revived his primary campaign in 1992 when it was on life support.

Obama has had the skids greased for him all the way to the White House.; 9/18/09, 8:24 AM
Anonymous said...: Obama was nailed, but good, in this piece:

"I promise to not spend money we don't have on healthcare."

"Oh, and if I do spend money we don't have on healthcare, I promise that I'll make future president's promise to not spend money we don't have, on something else."

wv: quidis - If Obama doesn't quidis kind of snake-oil salesmanship, he's going to fail worse than Jimmy Carter.; 9/18/09, 8:35 AM
Elliott A said...: Bill Clinton was a skilled politician, Obama is an empty shell; 9/18/09, 8:36 AM
Peter Hoh said...: Got the memo. Will make sure we only nominate slick liars from now on.; 9/18/09, 8:51 AM
The Drill SGT said...: peter hoh said...
Got the memo. Will make sure we only nominate slick liars from now on.

competent, experienced liars, whoops, I meant politicians :); 9/18/09, 9:08 AM
Anonymous said...: Obama's problem is that his lies have too many moving parts.

Clinton's lies were more compact - more economic in their operation.

Obama's lies are Rube Goldberg contraptions.; 9/18/09, 9:15 AM
Henry said...: Charming, competent, experienced liars.; 9/18/09, 9:16 AM
Republican said...: President Obama has an ACORN mentality.

Perhaps that's because his primary experience is from working in such environments on issues where there is little need to learn the art of diplomacy.; 9/18/09, 9:21 AM
bearbee said...: Never understood the 'charm' of BC or the 'appeal' of O

DOCtor**sob**.... what's wrong with me?!!!!!; 9/18/09, 9:45 AM
J Lee said...: Clinton's roguishness was also combined with a willingness to anger his own political base on things like NAFTA or welfare reform, even if was to save his own political hide. Obama's not only shown a coldness but an unwillingness to do anything surprising by taking actions that anger his base, other than to continue some of the Bush policies in Iraq and Afghanistan (maintenance of the status quo, but as the current argument over the 40,000 troop request shows, he's fearful of taking any new steps that tick off his core supporters).

(BTW -- I got 'palin' as my word verification for this post. The random character generator at Blogger obviously has a sense of humor.); 9/18/09, 10:17 AM
alan markus said...: I have always respected Bill Clinton for the proper use of the term "AstroTurf", as well as the implication of the proper useage of AstroTurf.

"It was a real sort of southern deal. I had AstroTurf
in the back. You don't want to know why, but I did."
(Talking about an El Camino pickup truck he once owned); 9/18/09, 10:21 AM
miller said...: A loveable scamp, he was

WV: ingli, condensed English; 9/18/09, 10:49 AM
Unknown said...: Everyone needs to read Harry Frankfurt's _On Bullshit_.

You can google a free html copy on the web.

Frankfurt would identify Obama as a mostly spewing constant bullshit, and only sometimes a man telling us lies.; 9/18/09, 11:27 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Clinton was known as a magnificent liar, the slick too-friendly salesman. Obama lies like only an academician or bureaucrat can, in paragraphs.

I think that Charles Krauthammer is right here. Obama doesn't lie, per se. He parses things like an attorney. Well, so did Clinton (a reason maybe to ban them/us from the Presidency?)

Many people in this country condemn attorneys for dishonesty. But it is one of the few professions where you can get immediately thrown out if you are actually caught lying (accounting may also be in that category - I don't know). Remember Bill Clinton's 5 year suspension? He came too close to the line, and got burned (ok, not that much, he made $100 million or so during those five years).

So, why do people think lawyers lie, when they can, and do, get disbarred when caught doing so? Because they do just like these two lawyer/Presidents do - slide around the truth, giving one impression, but actually saying something different.; 9/18/09, 11:40 AM
BJM said...: Obama's cool has always struck me as a hollow pose he dons like a jacket. His slick charm lacks empathy and as others have said; the legal parsing, denials and ethical backpedaling is growing wearisome.

Pelosi and crew are throwing up a smoke screen of "round up the usual suspects" in a desperate attempt to distract from the administration's ongoing stumbles such as a major policy speech that contained neither policy nor correct facts and Obama's inability to move his agenda.

It won't work for once the peasants realize that the emperor has no clothes the spell is forever broken.; 9/18/09, 1:54 PM
JAL said...: Heh.

He is an Imperial wannabe.

Imperials don't give real Imperials iPods.

wv podplati
I KID YOU NOT.
(Psychic bugger, this WV.); 9/18/09, 3:37 PM
Jeremy said...: Fifty-five percent of Americans approve of how Obama's handling his duties in the White House, according to the CNN Poll of Polls, which averaged the six national surveys taken since the president addressed a joint session of Congress on September 9. Thirty-nine percent, on average, disapprove.

This means the Obama-hating racist wing nuts here are still part of that vast right wing...MINORITY.; 9/18/09, 5:16 PM
Penny said...: I LOVE Charles Krauthammer. Most especially because when he is commenting on a panel, he uses his breath, his nostrils and a slight turn of the head to make some of his best points. Now THAT is a political pundit who has refined his trade.; 9/18/09, 6:16 PM
Penny said...: "Bill Clinton possessed a winning, near irresistible charm."

Why yes he did. First in line when they passed out charisma.

If we continue down this path of being desensitized to dishonesty through continual, daily, high visibility examples in politics, in the entertainment world, in business and on into our own lives, few will even remember that this man lied under oath as President of the US.

Given this kind of culture and Bill Clinton's ego, I don't even want to THINK about where this might lead.; 9/18/09, 6:30 PM