Althouse: "Scary Obama" makes me feel that Drudge is quite intentionally try to make us feel...

June 27, 2010

"Scary Obama" makes me feel that Drudge is quite intentionally try to make us feel...

... immensely creeped out that Obama is President.

35 comments:

Basil said...: I am creeped out by the current president. And Matt Drudge has nothing to do with it.; 6/27/10, 8:24 PM
Ken Mitchell said...: Darn! Basil stole my thunder, because that's pretty much what _I_ was going to say.; 6/27/10, 8:28 PM
mesquito said...: He's Sydney Poitier, come to steal Katherine Hepburn's daughter!; 6/27/10, 8:28 PM
FloridaSteve said...: I don't know. Is he leading us or is it a fair assessment of the national mood?

I'd say the latter.; 6/27/10, 8:33 PM
Blue@9 said...: That is a very creepy picture. Lot of shadow on the face, wide angle lens distorting his features.; 6/27/10, 8:34 PM
Unknown said...: All you have to do is look at the news and see what The Zero's trying to do to this country to be scared.

mesquito said...

He's Sydney Poitier, come to steal Katherine Hepburn's daughter!

Not to mention her house, her retirement, her health, her security...; 6/27/10, 8:36 PM
LouisAntoine said...: The question is, what does Drudge get out of his propaganda-mongering? Is he paid by Obama's political opponents? Or is being anti-Obama enough of a traffic draw in and of itself?

Since Drudge is already discredited among people who don't already have a seething hatred for Obama, liberals, the boogie man, etc., is he working hard to maintain his niche audience, a la Rushbo?; 6/27/10, 8:38 PM
damikesc said...: Given that he just cost Bucyrus International, of Wisconsin, a $600M project by having the Export-Import Bank refuse a line of credit to honor his green initiatives...how could anybody not find him creepy?

His idiotic green policies cost WI about 1,000 jobs with this. Sure, we've seen how much of a debacle these policies were for Spain...let's do them here instead.

http://www.jsonline.com/business/97225544.html; 6/27/10, 8:42 PM
pm317 said...: Who took that picture? and why did it get published, anywhere? His eyes are kind of creepy.. but we all have taken bad pictures..; 6/27/10, 8:43 PM
damikesc said...: MM: Since Drudge is already discredited among people who don't already have a seething hatred for Obama

Yes, a guy who simply links to news stories is discredited. Only to the Left can such acts as quoting somebody (Weigel), providing accurate poll results (Rasmussen), or links to stories (Drudge) be disqualifying events.; 6/27/10, 8:43 PM
alan markus said...: I recall that during the election it was noted that the media always used photos that were flattering to Obama, whereas the McCain photos were not so flattering. One of the explanations was that selecting photos was a task delegated to young interns. These interns would gaze in awe at the photos of Obama & pick the one they liked best. When it came time to pick a McCain photo, it was like, whatever, grab the first one and move on to something else.; 6/27/10, 8:46 PM
Pastafarian said...: Pretty big for a niche. Describing Drudge's audience as "niche" is like describing nitrogen as a trace gas.

What's that I smell in your comment...desperation?; 6/27/10, 8:46 PM
The Dude said...: That creep is very creepy. This country may not survive his profound hatred of all that is good and right.; 6/27/10, 8:50 PM
chuck b. said...: What's scary is I have no idea what Obama's idea of a "difficult choice" is . Neither does anyone who voted for him. Because how could they?; 6/27/10, 8:55 PM
Elliott A said...: I go to Drudge's home page often, but generally skim over his headline and just click on it. After two sentences, I hit "back" if it's nonsense and look at something else. We would all do well to filter the editorializing out of news stories we read and just try to mine the worthwhile info underneath.; 6/27/10, 8:58 PM
Blue@9 said...: Since Drudge is already discredited

Hiliarious. People keep saying this, but Drudge is still on top. Hell, is there any newsroom or political staff office in the country where Drudge isn't clicked on 50 times a day?; 6/27/10, 9:02 PM
David said...: Intentional? You betcha.

Just why did Orzag resign?

What is he trying to distance himself from?

Creepy is just creeping in now--just wait.; 6/27/10, 9:06 PM
Alex said...: He's always creeped me out and I didn't need Drudge to tell me that.; 6/27/10, 9:16 PM
Alex said...: Monty - there can't be enough propaganda-mongering and seething hatred directed against YOUR President.; 6/27/10, 9:18 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: I don't see it- the scare factor.

But President Obama has become facile at misleading Americans re his future plans. He is constantly just making shit up and is happy the MSM repeats his shit word for word. Maybe the demise of Journolist [heh] will get the MSM back to reporting the truth.; 6/27/10, 9:25 PM
paul a'barge said...: I was creeped out by Obama before he was President.

So, I didn't vote for him (I voted for Sarah Palin).

All those who voted for Obama raise your hands. Now all you who voted for Obama who are now creeped out, keep your hands up.; 6/27/10, 9:26 PM
LouisAntoine said...: Also, what am I supposed to think when I read the article at the link, and it turns out Obama is apparently being scary by threatening entitlement cuts next year?

Schizophrenic conservatism rules their world...

Drudge's popularity validates his hackishness, because everything that's successful is meritorious in this world, right?; 6/27/10, 9:36 PM
MadisonMan said...: It vaguely reminds me of the scary Condi photo, the one that was photoshopped.; 6/27/10, 9:46 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Reminds me of the "Money for Nothing" video.; 6/27/10, 9:46 PM
Paul Kirchner said...: Obama says, "We're almost done shoveling money into the furnace, so now it's time to make difficult choices."

Reminds me of my unemployed sister-in-law, who borrows money from her parents to cover her mortgage but still pays to have her house cleaned.; 6/27/10, 10:05 PM
traditionalguy said...: Obama is not what he pretends to be. That should scare any intelligent person. He is a lawless tyrant with a poker face who sees every crisis as a fire which he can throw gasolene on.; 6/27/10, 10:29 PM
JAL said...: When he starts STOPPING spending stupid money (bike paths? chiros for VA hospitals, anything "green," throwing a gazillion $ at anything his buddies want, buying up whole industries, creating new federal jobs by taking over the health insurance industry, pandering to unions, ignoring the obvious answers to dealing with the Gulf spill [therby saving millions of dollars and jobs], installing scores of czars to bypass the normal government vetting and checks and balances [& who get paid our money], etc. etc. etc....)

I'll take him seriously.; 6/27/10, 11:19 PM
Patm said...: I do not need Drudge in order to feel creeped out about this president. His crazy Dr. Demento eyes have been making me uncomfortable for months. When they don't look like they're too focused, they look completely dead.; 6/27/10, 11:44 PM
Mark said...: "Don't give me what I want and I swear, I'll cut yur Grandma's monthly check."; 6/28/10, 12:36 AM
Revenant said...: The question is, what does Drudge get out of his propaganda-mongering?

Advertising revenue. He runs a political tabloid.

Or is being anti-Obama enough of a traffic draw in and of itself?

Obama's favorability and performance ratings are below 50%. So, yes, there's a large market for people looking to hear bad things about Obama.

Since Drudge is already discredited among people who don't already have a seething hatred for Obama

As you can see here, the popularity of the Drudge Report is continuing its steady increase. It was an influential news outlet before anyone had ever heard of Obama, and it will probably remain one long after Obama's career ends 30 months from now.

It is certainly true that Drudge has committed enough journalistic fuckups to make anyone with common sense take him with a big grain of salt. But what news outlet hasn't? :); 6/28/10, 1:53 AM
Revenant said...: Also, what am I supposed to think when I read the article at the link, and it turns out Obama is apparently being scary by threatening entitlement cuts next year?

Obama doesn't threaten entitlement cuts in the article at that link, nor does he do so in the video. Here is his budget-balancing strategy:

(1): Freezing discretionary spending.

(2): Cutting "programs that aren't working". The only actual example given is cutting defense spending.

(3): Instituting "pay-go". This is meaningless, since it only applies to discretionary spending increases and Obama already said (in #1) that there won't be any.

(4): Establish a commission that will deliver budget-balancing recommendations (in November, after the elections are safely over)

(5): A threat to (next year, after the elections are safely over) "present some very difficult choices to the country" and "call the bluff" of the folks "hollerin' about deficits and debt".

No mention of cutting entitlements. #5 *could* refer to cutting entitlements, but since he had just finished bragging about passing his budget-crippling health care entitlement that seems unlikely. The more rational interpretation (considering he had just finished whining about how "unfair" the tax system is) is that he'll be proposing massive tax increases to pay for his spending.; 6/28/10, 2:17 AM
Anonymous said...: Drape a few snakes around his neck, stick a bone through his nose, and you've got Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

Hilarious quote, though. "O Lord, make me fiscally responsible-- but not yet."; 6/28/10, 6:49 AM
jamboree said...: Personally, I think hypnosis in the form of a mass crush on the President is creepier. You shouldn't need to a Superhero for President so you can be in love with them. It's not a healthy state of affairs.

I was very very creeped out by the Obamabots - this is better.

Side note: I'll never forget the misogyny from the dem side that came out when it came down to it - ostensibly in the name of crushing Hillary.; 6/28/10, 12:08 PM
jaed said...: he'll be proposing massive tax increases to pay for his spending

Tax *rate* increases. My guess is that his proposed tax rate hikes will actually decrease tax revenue, so they won't pay for anything. (But CBO still does static analysis, so if you propose doubling tax rates, they'll happily produce a report saying that tax revenues to the government will double, despite the obvious absurdity.); 6/28/10, 1:49 PM
MathMom said...: Sorry to be late to the party, but he looks like he's getting his download from the Mother Ship.

He's the MFWIC, but is watching sports on TV. It seems that his day job is just not as interesting as the freaking TV. I recall reading an article about his behavior during the campaign. His aides would try to get him to read up on the issues so he'd be at the top of his game for his campaign appearances, but he didn't want to do that. He wanted to talk sports.

In many Oval Office photos he's fiddling with a basketball or football like a doofus. Here, he's watching TV and messing with a football.

He just seems fundamentally unserious, except that his policies are a serious as cancer. Yet, like Chauncey Gardiner, he likes to watch.; 6/30/10, 9:38 AM