I question whether it should have been aired at all. The TV station — WFAA — seems to be taking advantage of its access to the President, but given the attention this local TV reporter — Brad Watson — has received, there's an obvious incentive to exploit after-interview material like this. And it's not like Brad Watson will get access again. Obama's reference to "next time" is, essentially, a joke.
But I want to talk about the quote I extracted. What "historic reasons" is he referring to? It's actually not true that "Texas has always been a pretty Republican state," unless by "Republican," you mean something other than the Republican Party. I suspect that his stumbling — "you know" — covers some thought processes. My guess: He knew he was fudging, and he was deciding how clear or veiled he wanted to be in insulting Texas.
ADDED: Instapundit says:
Apparently, when Obama taught Constitutional Law he never got around to teaching the Texas White Primary cases. Or talking about which side was which in the Civil War...
पोस्ट्स
१२२ टिप्पण्या:
It was the Republicans that spurred Texas to secede and join the Confederacy. Any idiot knows that. Today, of course, they still have their star on the U.S. national flag, along with the other 56 states. File it under "If Palin had said this..."
Historically, Texas was one of the original 57 states.
WV: odisto
Odesso, Texas was originally called Odisto, then the Alamo happened, and the rest of the story, is well, historical.
I wish the reporter would have called him on that.
Actually, this President needs "someone" to interrupt him every sentence or two to point out how he is lying, erecting a strawman, demogoging, or taking a position 180 degees off of what he said two to four years ago.
Obama had it coming. He is becoming famous for attempting to control the interview with lengthy boiler plate campaign talk when asked a question that simply requires a yes or no answer and not "As long as the sky is blue, the grass is green and the buffalo roam" obfuscation.
The tactic is typical from politicians with hollywood white teeth running down the clock of a short interview to prevent serious debate. A case could also be made that he lied when he said it wasn't his decision to place shuttle displays anywhere but Houston. All he did was maintain plausible deniability as his minions did the dirty work for him with a wink and a nod.
In Obama's America, no one can predict the past.
Barack Obama makes Ann Richards and Lloyd Bentsen look like Republicans.
The problem is in the transcription of punctuation and capitalization. He really said "Texas has always been a pretty, republican state." He was complimenting it, don't you see? He likes the birds and flowers there, and admires its form of government.
It isn't hard to imagine that when little obama went through school, high school and then later on college, that an answer like this would have gotten him an A+ from some Liberal teacher.
St. Barry, Our Lady of Perpetual Grievance
The President probably meant that Texas, although technically a State, often behaves more like a republic. Who could disagree?
wv suggests another State that sometimes seems a state apart: veemont
It really wasn't until about 1980 that Texas went Republican, with a lot of the credit going to Jimmy Carter, so to a leftist who wakes up in a new pond every day, always.
Jug ears remains totally illiterate and historically ignorant--I have to drop off now to take my austrian lessons.
but historically, Texas is the only state to have been a republic.
It's almost as if he didn't gow up in this country ...
"Can I finish my waffles?"
Given the fact that the media elected Obama, he thinks that each and every one of them is on his side. Thus meeting your average journalist, who normally tries to score points against any politican can be a rude shock.
as for the after interview comment. It wasn't some surprise open mike. He was sitting there, mike on, and they were filming. It was a classic push-back by Obama and they decided to use it. Good for them...
PS: the comment that implies GOP=Southern=Racist? Classic Obama
PPS: Texas went for Humphrey in 68... after the bruising Civil rights battles.
It was the leftist tilt of the Dems that hurt them in Texas, not racism. One could say the Democratic Party left Texas, not the other way around.
Make that Odessa, Texas. Geez, sometimes I'm as dumb as obama.
AllenS--not possible; no one is a dumb as obama except the idiots that voted for him
Yeah Professor, what Drill Sgt said. Screw the president- he thought he could be a petulant, whiny little SOB and lash out at a measly local TV station reporter. And he thought he could do it on camera and his fan club, the media, would protect him,as usual. I did not check but I hoped you used your tag "Obama is a pussy" for this post.
Comrade X said...
but historically, Texas is the only state to have been a republic.
Functioning Republic for certain. California was a republic for 26 days, Hence the legend on the state flag: California Republic
and I mean both definitions of "legend"
Just by way of some trivia, the election that gave Landslide Lyndon Johnson his moniker as well as his Senate seat was not a general election.
Rather it was the Democrat primary of 1948.
At that time, the Repubs didn't even run candidates, or, at best ran sacrificial lamb token candidates.
Whoever won the Demmie primary was pretty much automatically the winner of the general.
That's how Republican Texas was at that time.
John Henry
I've noticed that when Obama says "you know", it's not a pause to clear his thoughts, or even a nervous interjection. It appears to be a command to the media present that they had better get the "meaning" of his words correct, even if his words are incorrect. Which they often are.
Ya know?
Can someone tell me again why people pay lots of money for a Columbia and Harvard education? Or that the Ivy League has tough admission standards?
Can someone tell me again why people pay lots of money for a Columbia and Harvard education? Or that the Ivy League has tough admission standards?
This question was answered yesterday in another forum, I forget which.
The Ivy League is the world's most expensive dating service.
You wouldn't want a genteel liberal gal to have to marry some yokel from small town Illinois, would you?
Journalism and journalists in America have become utterly useless.
Their objective used to be "get the scalp."
Now it's "get the interview."
Obama and every other "big guy" knows this, so they restrict access except to the meek and pliable - 'reporters' like Katie Couric.
It isn't the comment at the end that's petulant. Watch him carefully through the interview.
This guy is incredibly thin skinned when someone starts to question him a tiny bit more closely. I'm amazed that people that have been politically interested for a long time can miss this. Presidents routinely come under withering scrutiny in that sort of setting and weather it with grace.
But Obama has no ability to tolerate being closely questioned and he isn't dumb. My guess is he just hasn't ever had to practice being graceful under fire so he hasn't honed the skill at all.
Did anyone not know that Obama is an ignoramus when it comes to history and economics?
I'll bet his head would explode if you told him that the KKK started out as the terrorist wing of the Democratic party in the occupied south.
-jcr
Bill O'Reilly is a Harvard graduate. Probably only Education Dept., but still ....
Boy, that Reverend Wright's a hell of a history teacher, isn't he?
The 'his lips are moving' joke is not really a joke, is it? And the myth about how cool he is under pressure is only a myth, isn't it?
My favorite part was when he said, "I love Texas." He looked like he needed to rinse his mouth out.
What a prick.
Once again, it is all about Obama. This was a "We Didn't Start the Fire" moment. Texas was pretty solid Democratic, as part of the solid Dixie Democratic South for a long time. But Texas supported Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956. It went for Humphrey in 1968, Nixon in 1972 and Carter in 1976. Since then, it has been one of few states to be nothing but Republican in the Electoral College.
Billy Joel's song about "We Didn't Start the Fire" used history starting from when he was born. Since Nothing happened before Obama started paying attention, why should he think about them?
Can someone tell me again why people pay lots of money for a Columbia and Harvard education?
Because having one is the best way in the world for a person to make a fortune, assuming he lacks intelligence, work ethic, wisdom, and character.
wv "prest", which Obama does not like being. Lucky for him the press is so impressed or he'd always be depressed.
A normal part of conversation is participants cutting each other off. Particularly when one likes to pontificate. Is it the lawyer in Ann or the professor in Ann that makes her sympathetic to "You could let me finish..."? So, Ann, which is it, and are you a pontificater?
Funny LBJ story about his 87 vote landslide primary win in 1948. It's told that Johnson and campaign workers were walking through a cemetery one night getting "voter" names from the headstones. Johnson noticed one fellow walking passed a headstone without recording the name. Johnson asked him why he didn't get the name and was told the stone was worn and, thus, hard to read. Johnson replied, "You go back and figure out the name, he has as much right to vote as anyone else."
BTW, I think it was Monica Crowley on O'Reilly last night, who said she took the trouble to find and listen to the whole interview, and could not see that the reporter ever did cut Obama short.
and usually, reporters have good reason to cut Obama short. He is famous for "running out the clock," and they generally are not shy about cutting into that with other politicians.
To put this all in perspective, Texas Gov. Rick Perry not long ago was a Democratic raising money for Al Gore
Just go back and watch the interview that Obama granted to Charles Benson from TMJ4 in Milwaukee. Pay special attention to Obama's comments about the Madison protests that went unchallenged by Benson. The reporter even lied and said Scott Walker was thinking of calling out the WI National Guard.
Most reporters are tools so its good to see pushback for once.
I've been reading vapid comments on Facebook from friends who can't wait to watch the royal wedding later this month...because it's a 'real' prince and princess! America needs to re-learn what it is to be an American: No royalty. No bowing.
Obama needs that lesson more than most people.
Ah, yes, LBJ was such a stalwart Republican icon...
wv: metra
Hagar said...
and could not see that the reporter ever did cut Obama short.
The question that I think set Obama off was the one that resulted in Obama saying:
"I lost Texas by a few percentage points. "
The interuption mentioned at the end, was really the:
"Well it was more like 10% 55-45"
(actually it was almost 12- 55.39% 43.63% )
it wasn't an interuption so much as demonstrating that Obama is liberal with facts.
Obama's comments about Texas can be distilled to this:
You didn't vote for me, so fuck y'all.
P.S.--Hey Houston, how's that space shuttle coaster set and the astronaut space toilet I sent you?
ElcubanitoKC said...
Ah, yes, LBJ was such a stalwart Republican icon...
Today, LBJ might still be a Democrat because of the Great Society stuff, but JFK? If you had to judge him on his signature issues, taxes and Defense, he'd be a Republican.
Obama said: Texas has always been a pretty Republican state, for, you know, historic reasons
I happen to have a magic decoder ring. What potus meant was:
/decoder on:
...White Texans fought off Santa Anna, so you folks best remember that in 2012. Sí se puede...
...And Texas was the land and people what killed JFK in Dallas, remember? I was a baby then but my mama sure raised me up to believe that one...
...Most of all, we all know and remember who lives in Crawford to this very day and I am not him.
/decoder off
My guess is he just hasn't ever had to practice being graceful under fire so he hasn't honed the skill at all.Law "Professor" that never published any peer reviewed literary work. His career is really an awful joke. He developed poor habits and his peers never questioned them.
Take his story of his decision to run for US Senate. He asked his political mentor, Emil Jones, what he thought of being a United States Senator. Jones liked what he heard. He had never thought about US Senator Emil Jones. However, Obama corrected him. "I was talking about me."
Hopefully, in November 2012 this will all be over and for the first time in his life his peers will have said "No" to him.
This is interesting. I've been working on an essay the last little while part of which has to do with Hegel's theology of history.
Hegel is still pretty big among philosophers and theologians who want to use history in their rhetoric, but a lot of historians really despise the guy.
This statement by Obama shows why, I think. Historical language is used but because the goal is not really historical analysis but ideological support for notions of progress, what is actually produced is ahistorical rhetoric. In the goal of propping up a general theme, the specifics are negated, whether they be facts or people. That's why repression is always involved, whether facts or people, in the pursuit of an idealistic society.
Obama probably also sees himself as a world-historical figure, because that's what he's been told by people his whole life. So, you "little flowers," watch out because he doesn't mind trampling you.
"My guess: He knew he was fudging, and he was deciding how clear or veiled he wanted to be in insulting Texas."
It's YOU who is fudging, Ann.
Obama wasn't fudging. He was lying.
Say it: He was lying.
Come on. Say it.
Members of the Democrat Party simply cannot admit to themselves that they're racists to the point where the most venerated member of their party was a live, honest to good venerated Kleagle in the Ku Klux Klan who once said the word "nigger" in an interview aired on national television.
It's pathetic that most young people who become Democrats have no concept of the party's racist roots then or their patently racist views now.
Thanks mostly to university teachers like yourself.
@Hagar
Would Crowley have access to the entire unedited interview?
I think the decision to include the after interview Obama comment in the segment was a tad petty for Watson. However, an editor approved it.
Is the unedited interview available online? Maybe I haven't seen it.
Roger J. said...
AllenS--not possible; no one is a dumb as obama except the idiots that voted for him.
I don't think the people in the middle that swung to Obama and put him in office were stupid. They gave Obama 365 electoral votes to McCains 163. And states like Nevada, North Carolina, Virginia and Indiana that almost never go Democrat.
It was that McCain was such a poor alternative that people were forced to roll the dice.
A guy without experience that might be a good centrist or horrible office holder over a man with little ideas of how to recover America economically but who wanted new neocon wars of adventure..who was guaranteed to be a dismal President on the heels of a failed Bush Presidency.
**************
On Obama, I think he likes this Birther thing continuing as long as possible because he wants to paint Republicans as kooks. The attempt to follow the Jewish progressive Alinsky playbook and demonize opponents by Tea Party sympathies failed. But he has a certain traction with the Birther nuts as symptomatic of the looney religious right Republican base.
That is one reason.
The other is that it diverts attention from what we have known about other candidates and Presidents. One that his enablers in the media and academia have abetted.......
We know the academic background of the Pawlenteys, Romneys, Kerrys, Bush I&II, Hillaries, Huckabees. Where people from Nixon onward stood in college and law school rankings that occupied the Presidency.
Not Obama.
What were his genius SAT and LSAT scores. What got him scholarships from private school in Hawaii through Oriental, Columbia, Harvard Law?
Obama isn't telling. His "Black Guard" in media and academia aren't looking hard or disclosing. Closing ranks tighter than the protective cocoon the media gave John Edwards.
No, it's fine to let the "born in Kenya, Barry Soetero, fake birth cert stuff go on until after the 2012 elections. As long as SAT scores, what his Columbia curriculum of study, and why he never published anything and got away with it because of his billionaire U of Chicago mentor Families said so ---is not explored.
Leave the narrative on the goobers with their secret birth in Kenya tales.
Even ignoring all the pre-20th century history, my mother, who grew up in Texas in the 50s (and who doesn't really follow politics) was stunned when I told her that Texas was a blue state. She tells stories of conservative friends of her family running as Democrats just to have any chance of getting elected. You didn't even bother to register party, since everyone was Dem anyway. Yes, it makes him look like an idiot to those who know better, but Obama's comment is really just a statement of how short our historical attention span truly is.
I've a question:
We always hear that Obama was a professor of Constitutional Law. Have any of his former students ever come forward to speak of--or been interviewd about--their experiences in his classes?
In addition to all his other problems Barry has the handicap of thinking recorded history began the day he was born. Absolutely astonishing that somebody that dumb could get elected......Oh,wait. I just remembered who elected him.
Comrade X: actually Vermont was a republic. Its motto is "First Republic, Fourteenth Star" as it was the Republic of Vermont, then the first state after the Thirteen Colonies.
wv: obblatto
What he meant was "Texas has always been full of white racists", but he couldn't say that in, you know, so many words.
C4--I take issue with your assertion that voters went for Obama because McCain was a loser--even if they did, the Obama voters were stupid because they went for a cipher with no record of anything.--IMO that makes them stupid. As always, YMMV--
Texas had a Democratic governor from the 1870s to the late 1970s. What Obama meant by that is - no matter the party, Texas is full of racists and haters.
Fuck him. I hate Obama more than ever because he hates be more than ever.
Yeah right, the Republican state that foisted the LBJ catastrophe on us.
I think Maguro has the right measure of what was meant, and sadly, that's why Texas was Democratic for so long for, you know, historic reasons.
Frankly, I don't think there's anything wrong with Obama's saying, after an interview, “Let me finish my answers next time we do an interview, all right?”
His comment was part of a pattern of answers throughout the interview that showed he got rattled by a reporter. That's what was wrong with it.
Reporter: Why do you think you're so unpopular in Texas?
Zero: Well, look, Texas has always been a pretty Republican state, for historic reasons. ... We lost by a few percentage points in Texas.
Reporter: You lost by about 10.
Zero: If what you're telling me is that Texas is a conservative state, you're absolutely right.
That's a very defensive and dishonest restatement. The reporter wasn't saying that Texas is a conservative state. He was saying that Obama understated how badly he lost in Texas. It was more than "a few points."
The Zero can't handle criticism like that, and it show a serious weakness in his character.
By the way - Obama was never "cut off". He was challenged.
Cutting someone off is when you stop their answer and change the subject. He was challenged.
You notice Obama didn't get snippy with George Stephanopoulos when George "cut him off" with this - "You mean your Christian faith!" George challenged his answer, he did not cut off his answer.
Obama is a detestable person.
Little Zero never heard of the Solid South.
14 or so out of the 60 (not 57) states he thinks makes up the country.
(the rest are those Canadian states captured by Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott when we invaded in 1898 during the American Revolution)
Too bad he never was taught American history in Indonesia or Kenya or Hawaii, any of those foreign countries he lived in.
We always hear that Obama was a professor of Constitutional Law.
He wasn't a professor. He was an adjunct scholar(aka, a position created for him by the dean of the law school that isn't there anymore[ie: guess why he gone?]) that was an instructor in a constitutional law class.
Here's a Reason interview with an actual professor of law at the University of Chicago - Professor Richard Epstein. Epstein pontificates about "Professor" Obama.
It would be nice if someone could do for law debate what Vince MacMahon did for professional "wrestling".
Remember, Obama is largely ignorant of American history. This is not because he was born in Kenya. (He wasn't.) He has never been educated anywhere that it was taught comprehensively, not at Punahou, Colombia or Harvard Law. And he wasn't interested enough to learn it on his own.
As a conservative Texan, I agree with the words though I differ in the interpretation. "Historical reasons" when he says it means "because they're a bunch of knuckle-dragging racists pining for the 1850s, like every Republican".
The historical reasons I would cite are historic levels of government debt, incompetence and overreach represented by the current administration. It's a good political answer, something for everybody.
Had Michelle Bachman made this error, Messrs Matthews and Maddow over at MSNBC would be doing the giddy Gollum ring dance on their shows.
In the Wikipedia entry the Professor linked to:
"From 1848 until Richard M. Nixon's victory in 1972, Texas voted for the Democratic candidate for president in every election except 1928, 1952, and 1956 (it did not vote in 1864 and 1868 due to the Civil War and Reconstruction). In the post Civil War era, the Republican Party was virtually nonexistent in much of the South, including Texas. What little Republican support there was in Texas was almost exclusively in the free black communities, particularly in Galveston, and the so-called "German counties" - the rural Texas Hill Country inhabited by liberal German Americans who had opposed slavery in the antebellum period."
So for most of Texas history most of its Republicans were black. But that doesn't fit with the narrative, does it Mr. President?
As an aside, I'm a Houstonian and the thought that Galveston was a Republican town makes me fall over laughing.
As an aside, I'm a Houstonian and the thought that Galveston was a Republican town makes me fall over laughing.
Houston spiked Democratic in November of '05
...meant to add..."didn't it?"
Well, Texas is full of white Christian males, isn't it? Therefore, it is a racist state and an enemy of The One.
One of the main reasons that Texas seceded from Mexico was because Mexico wanted to eliminate slavery and Texas would not accept that. Dems like to say that the Republican party's core states are the old South states that supported slavery. Obama is probably referring to Texas this way when he says historically.
There was a reference to Landslide Lyndon in this thread. The LBJ presidential library in Austin shows a movie about LBJ's life. In the movie, they admit that LBJ manufactured illegal votes to win a primary. It turns out that LBJ lost the previous election because his opponent manufactured illegal votes to barely beat LBJ. LBJ resolved to never let an opponent beat him that way again.
Houston spiked Democratic in November of '05, didn't it.
The city core is heavily Democratic.
Frankly, I don't think there's anything wrong with Obama's saying, after an interview, “Let me finish my answers next time we do an interview, all right?”
It was peevish and small. That's what you voted for, Althouse.
I also take it as a veiled threat. So that's what you voted for: the most powerful man in the world (unworthy though he is) threatening a journalist. Wow, we've gone from Grand Old Republic to banana republic in two short years.
Thanks, Althouse, thanks a lot.
Leo: Ann is a pontificating professor, and a lawyer as well. Back off, you, you, you, unworthy one. Be quite and think some more and you will see how out of line the questioner was, and now you are being. Please. And if you don't agree with her, then you haven't thought about it long enough. Go back and think some more.
The President was gracelessly snippy and the little lecture at the end was heavy-handed. It was fair game for the reporter to use it, and I give the station credit for doing so.
Sooner or later the media will start giving him a hard time, and they may turn on him pretty fast and furious if something really goes south, or there's a scandal.
Anyone who works with the media will tell you this is not how you handle that, even if you think the reporter was out of line. An experienced politician knows that.
Another example of Barack Obama's biases. There is this world of opposition to him and his beliefs that "clings to guns and religion" when they get scared because the candidate "looks different". They get angry and no longer carry on a "civil conversation". They push policies that are "un-American" and prevent us from "moving forward". And yes there are lot of those people in Texas. In a word they are:
Republican
And the Obama choir shouted
AMEN
As an aside, I'm a Houstonian and the thought that Galveston was a...
/wave
League City here.
The Winona Minn newspapers is available on line (from 1854 forward). Why just last week I was reading one from...I think 1943 and there was a case but not allowing African-Ameircans into the Democrat caucuses in Texas. It appears from the article that there was no Texas Republican party. Actually I don't think Texas Republicans existed until the early 1970s. Once Jim Crow was done, then southern states became more politically diverse.
Although some have criticized the reporter for being disrespectful, I disagree. I believe that President Obama is the one being disrespectful of the office and, for that reason, does not warranty respect in return.
I believe that he probably did NOT know the political history of Texas. Why would he. But why make up what was clearly a misstatement of the facts. Perhaps, not actually a lie, but certainly not a smart answer.
He clearly knew that he lost in Texas by a LOT more than a few percent, so that was clearly a lie.
He doesn't like to be challenged like that but has no experience in how to react gracefully. His apparent narcissism would never allow for that. He sees challenges as affronts.
We always hear that Obama was a professor of Constitutional Law. Have any of his former students ever come forward to speak of--or been interviewd about--their experiences in his classes?
Yes. Hard to know what to make of it. The cipher remains the same.
Our hostess is one of the stupid people that voted for Obama on the the shallowest of reasons--but she is in the majority of stupid people; of course she still rationalizes her vote and is good company with cederford. Congratulations
you have sown the whirlwind--hope you enjoy the results--would you like to issue yet another apologia?
jcr, that is the point...I think made by a NRO writer in 2008. That Obama seems to have a huge lack of knowledge and understanding of history and ecomonics. Probably the two most important things you need to know to be President.
Obama won the popular vote 53 to 46 nationally while in Texas he lost 55 to 43.
So nationally he won by 7 points while losing Texas by 12. That's a huge swing in a presidential election in one of the biggest states and I've always thought it could use some better analysis than it has received.
let mr obama just eat his waffles--he is the sorriest excuse for a president that ever was
I grew up in Texas and it wasn't really until the late 70s early 80s that we started to see a growth in the Republican party. at one time in the 60s there was but one Republican representative in the Congress from Texas. the standing joke for years that the entire Texas Republican Party could meet in a phone booth
There was a reference to Landslide Lyndon in this thread. The LBJ presidential library in Austin shows a movie about LBJ's life. In the movie, they admit that LBJ manufactured illegal votes to win a primary. It turns out that LBJ lost the previous election because his opponent manufactured illegal votes to barely beat LBJ. LBJ resolved to never let an opponent beat him that way again.
Reminds me a bit of my one trip there, almost 20 years ago, with my brother and sister-in-law, who were a bit on the liberal side. So, I spent my time in the library there trying to ask them, in a loud voice: where was the exhibit about the ballot box stuffing that he had apparently personally participated in? And they, being proper liberals, were adequately mortified by my behavior.
It looks like either they have expanded their exhibits since then, or I would have found the information there if I had looked more carefully.
Just another diversity hire, in waaaaay over his head.
My wife works with these types, every day, in education...
It is interesting that Texas, and much of the rest of the south, were so solidly Democratic for better than a century because of that party's support for slavery and then later racial discrimination. But, then with the banning of such discrimination by the Republicans in Congress, along with some northern liberals, in the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s, led by none other than that famous Texas Democrat, LBJ, these states have almost all gone red. Or, to rephrase, they were Democrats as long as it allowed them to be overt public racists (as slave owners and then through Jim Crow), and when that became illegal and unpopular, they became Republicans.
The amazing part is that he still has a 40% (+/-) approval rating.
@Sixty Grit
Re: Drudge headline/Jerome Corsi book
If the president does/can provide a legal certificate, which he has not, then at the very least he has allowed an awful lot of people to waste time, effort and money on something 99% of people would have put to bed long, long ago. And if THAT is true, that also says alot about this man.
The fact that Obama didn't have a good answer about Houston not getting a shuttle is un-understandable to me.
Even if he couldn't explain why Houston isn't getting a shuttle (come on. we all know why), he could have acted sympathetic rather than testy.
“Let me finish my answers next time we do an interview, all right?”
Sorry, but Obama is being an ass here. Were it up to him, he'd spend the entire interview answering the question "how are you doing?" This is what politicians do and this reporter was having none of it.
It's about time reporters challenge Obama and don't put up with his rambling bullshit.
Monica Crowley is definitely saying she has seen the whole thing and Obama wasn't interrupted by the reporter.
#Joe
"It's about time reporters challenge Obama and don't put up with his rambling bullshit."
He has nothing more than populist rhetoric meant to distract - and all the rambling bullshit loved and adored by the poseurs on the left.
Included with those poseurs is about 90% of those involved in journalism.
Which explains why he and other bullshit artists have room to work. That, and the threatened denial of access to news outlets that do not wave the pom-poms.
The comments here are obtuse. Surely Obama's point about the "historical reasons" for Texan Republicanism is this: Texas became a Republican state more than 40 years ago after and in some large measure in response to Democratic presidential sponsorship of root and branch desegregation and the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965. At the same time, almost all blacks left the Republican party. This is exactly what Lyndon Johnson predicted would happen throughout the South following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act. And it did happen, right away. In 1964, Johnson took 63% of the Texas vote. In 1968, the very next election cycle, Nixon and Wallace took 59% of the Texas vote. Surely its no accident that the same thing happened in virtually every other state of the former confederacy. Those are the "historical reasons" Obama is talking about.
Don't mess with Texas. At yer own risk...
"Texas is at war with Eastasia. Texas has always been at war with Eastasia."
"Texas is at war with Eastasia. Texas has always been at war with Eastasia."
Inevitable comment, but still funny as hell.
So Obama never heard of the Civil War, John Nance Garner, Sam Rayburn, Lydon Johnson, or Ann Richards?
It was peevish and small. That's what you voted for, Althouse.
I also take it as a veiled threat.
I have tried to find a link for this and failed, so maybe someone else can help me out: Soon after O became president, O answered a question (from a Congressman, maybe) by saying something like, "Did you think we weren't keeping track?" I don't remember the question; what I remember is the veiled threat in the comment about keeping track.
What a prick.
"The comments here are obtuse."
Thank you for reading that into Obama's answer. What else can you ascertain about the man's understanding of history from 7 words? Can you please also apply this same logic to Sarah Palin's answers please? I'd like to see you defend her using your same powers of insight.
You won't because you're a hack.
This incident reminded me of two other ones, one involving Joe Biden, the other, Mr Prickly himself, Barack Obama.
1) Remember during the 2008 election, that Joe Biden was asked a series of tough questions by a lowly local news reporter in Orlando, Barbara West?
"In the Biden interview, West quoted Karl Marx and asked, "How is Senator Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?"
"Are you joking?" said Biden.
"No," West said."
It was an unusual question, two days after the Joe the Plumber encounter, but one got the sense Joe Biden was upset this woman had the temerity to ask any question that wasn't part of the usual adoring media line.
2) Remember when Barack Obama was questioned why Hillary Clinton was leading in Kentucky in the primaries? He replied,
“Sen. Clinton, I think, is much better known, coming from a nearby state of Arkansas. So it’s not surprising that she would have an advantage in some of those states in the middle.”
This is very close in spirit to his Texas/Republican gaffe.
See, in Barack Obama's mind, actual facts get in the way of underlying meanings. In his mind, Kentucky = Arkansas, because they are both made up of white hicks who wouldn't dream of voting for a black guy like he, and Texas has ALWAYS been Republican, because well, wasn't it the home to the Kennedy-hating crowd? Also, they're not too keen on being told what to do by Big Government because they are very independent people. Hardly the stuff of Democrats.
It's actually easy to read what he intended to say if you know how a Leftist mind works.
Cheers,
Victoria
Professor, could you check your spam blocker, please? I posted a longish reply with two points which I think add to the discussion. Thanks and sorry for the bother.
Yes, it makes him look like an idiot to those who know better,
It also reminds me that Obama is not an American.
And no, I don't care where he was born, he's simply not one of us.
Stephen,
If Texas has been "a Republican state" for more than 40 years, how did Jimmy Carter win it in 1976?
If Texas has been "a Republican state" for more than 40 years, how did Jimmy Carter win it in 1976?
No kidding. I worked for the Lt Gov Hobby (Dem) in the late 80s:
"began his career in public service in 1959, serving as parliamentarian of the Texas Senate. Before being elected as lieutenant governor in 1972, he headed an extensive review of the state's welfare system. After the Texas Constitution was changed to lengthen the term of office from two to four years, Bill Hobby won re-election in 1974, 1978, 1982, and 1986, serving longer than any lieutenant governor in Texas history"
For those who don't know, Texas has a "weak" Governship. All the power that matters is held by the Lt Gov... won re-election in 1974, 1978, 1982, and 1986...
Obama is an idiot.
The amazing part is that he still has a 40% (+/-) approval rating.
Most of those recent polls oversample Democrats by about 10 percent of the total. Barry's poll numbers are really in the 30s. If that got out, the press' knives would come out and it would be all over.
Comrade X: Hawaii was a republic from 1892 to 1898.
I guess Obama never read any of Finley Peter Dunne's "Mr. Dooley of Archey Road" pieces. If he had, he might remember Mr. Dooley say of a thing "it didn't take any longer than it does to count the Republican vote in Texas."
U.S Representatives elected from Texas:
.................. R ....... D
1868-1930 ..... 13 ..... 431
1932-1946 ...... 0 ..... 174
1948-1968 ..... 13 ..... 240
1970-1978 ..... 17 ..... 104
1980-1988 ..... 39 ...... 96
1990-1998 ..... 56 ...... 94
2000 ............ 13 ...... 17
2002 ............ 16 ...... 16
2004 ............ 22 ...... 11
2006 ............ 19 ...... 13
2008 ............ 20 ...... 12
[Note: totals include special elections to partial terms.]
I guess when Obama says "always", he means "since 2004".
Comrade X: Hawaii was a republic from 1892 to 1898.
I guess Obama never read any of Finley Peter Dunne's "Mr. Dooley of Archey Road" pieces. If he had, he might remember Mr. Dooley say of a thing "it didn't take any longer than it does to count the Republican vote in Texas."
U.S Representatives elected from Texas:
.................. R ....... D
1868-1930 ..... 13 ..... 431
1932-1946 ...... 0 ..... 174
1948-1968 ..... 13 ..... 240
1970-1978 ..... 17 ..... 104
1980-1988 ..... 39 ...... 96
1990-1998 ..... 56 ...... 94
2000 ............ 13 ...... 17
2002 ............ 16 ...... 16
2004 ............ 22 ...... 11
2006 ............ 19 ...... 13
2008 ............ 20 ...... 12
[Note: totals include special elections to partial terms.]
I guess when Obama says "always", he means "since 2004".
Comrade X: Hawaii was a republic from 1892 to 1898.
I guess Obama never read any of Finley Peter Dunne's "Mr. Dooley of Archey Road" pieces. If he had, he might remember Mr. Dooley say of a thing "it didn't take any longer than it does to count the Republican vote in Texas."
U.S Representatives elected from Texas:
.................. R ....... D
1868-1930 ..... 13 ..... 431
1932-1946 ...... 0 ..... 174
1948-1968 ..... 13 ..... 240
1970-1978 ..... 17 ..... 104
1980-1988 ..... 39 ...... 96
1990-1998 ..... 56 ...... 94
2000 ............ 13 ...... 17
2002 ............ 16 ...... 16
2004 ............ 22 ...... 11
2006 ............ 19 ...... 13
2008 ............ 20 ...... 12
[Note: totals include special elections to partial terms.]
I guess when Obama says "always", he means "since 2004".
In 1964, Johnson, who was from Texas, took 63% of the Texas vote (vs 61% nationwide). In 1968, the very next election cycle, Nixon and Wallace took 59% of the Texas vote, allowing the Democrat candidate to win the state.
In the span of four years, Texas went from being slightly more Democratic than the rest of the country to being more Democratic than anything else.
How is it that the fact that the south is much less racist than it was two generations ago, and much more Republican than it was two generations ago, supposed to mean that Republicans are racist?
Comrade X: Hawaii was a republic from 1892 to 1898.
I guess Obama never read any of Finley Peter Dunne's "Mr. Dooley of Archey Road" pieces. If he had, he might remember Mr. Dooley say of a thing "it didn't take any longer than it does to count the Republican vote in Texas."
U.S Representatives elected from Texas:
.................. R ....... D
1868-1930 ..... 13 ..... 431
1932-1946 ...... 0 ..... 174
1948-1968 ..... 13 ..... 240
1970-1978 ..... 17 ..... 104
1980-1988 ..... 39 ...... 96
1990-1998 ..... 56 ...... 94
2000 ............ 13 ...... 17
2002 ............ 16 ...... 16
2004 ............ 22 ...... 11
2006 ............ 19 ...... 13
2008 ............ 20 ...... 12
[Note: totals include special elections to partial terms.]
I guess when Obama says "always", he means "since 2004".
Maybe this is what the "reality-based community" means by "reality-based"?
Texas became a Republican state more than 40 years ago after and in some large measure in response to Democratic presidential sponsorship of root and branch desegregation and the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965. [ . . .] And it did happen, right away.
Huh. Okay.
1952: Texas votes Eisenhower, New York votes Eisenhower.
1956: Texas votes Eisenhower, New York votes Eisenhower.
1960: Texas votes Kennedy, New York votes Kennedy.
1964: Texas votes Johnson, New York votes Johnson.
1968: Texas votes Humphrey, New York votes Humphrey.
1972: Texas votes Nixon, New York votes Nixon.
1976: Texas votes Carter, New York votes Carter.
Damn those racist, pro-segregation New Yorkers!
I don't understand why youse guys are being so mean to the President?
Of course he doesn't know much about history. At least American history. He is not a real american so why should he care?
He gives American History the same thing he gives the Constitution. The back of his hand.
If Obama is the guy that Democrats tout as being so smart, I'd hate to think what one of their idiots would be like.
Check out his Vice President.
Texas became a Republican state more than 40 years ago
Any other obvious and easily disproved lies you want to write; or do you think that was sufficiently bad you could stop there?
At best, one could try to argue that when Phil Gramm changed parties, Texas became a split state, but it took another 10 years before the state government started becoming Republican, when Bill Clements became the first Republican governor of the state since reconstruction ended. See Fen's comment about the power of the Lt. Gov in Texas. The first ever Republican Lt. Gov was Rick Perry in 1999.
Yet another reminder, and reminders come about weekly, of how during the 2008 campaign Obama earned the nickname "Captain Bulls**t."
He just makes stuff up or repeats things he heard, with no respect or even concern to find out if there is any truth to them.
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