There's that brilliant smile America fell in love with. The man is photogenic. Is that so wrong?! Maybe the beams of joy will go out to Foley's parents... and to ISIS... and to the people of Ferguson...
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Smile though your heart is aching/Smile even though it's breaking./When there are clouds in the sky/you'll get by.... Light up your face with gladness/Hide every trace of sadness/Although a tear may be ever so near....
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83 comments:
"Smile though your heart is aching"
Assumes facts not in evidence.
Obama has quit. No ifs, ands, or buts. And people are fighting so hard to defend a man who doesn't give a damn one way or the other.
As somebody elsewhere pointed out, he's on a path to play more golf since 2009 than Tiger Woods.
The man does not know what to do with himself.. so he goes golfing.
You use superlatives to describe his smile. I think it is creepy. Have you ever noticed in the videos when taking especially group pictures, how he readies his smile? When there is a false start to the pic and he has to do it again, it is all so unnatural.
Of course, it could be all part of his plan.
Kevin Drum was not concerned in Match 2008:
there's no point in denying that U.S. withdrawal might lead to increased bloodshed in the short term. It most likely will. But it's highly unlikely to lead to a catastrophic regional meltdown of the kind that the chaos hawks peddle on cable TV. What's more, Brzezinski is also right that the risk of increased violence is inescapable at this point and, in fact, probably grows the longer we stay in Iraq.
The left was willing to accept genocide in return for repudiation of "Bush's war."
Just like Vietnam.
He should be working with others on how to exterminate the scourge that ISIS represents..may be he thinks it is Cameron's problem, not his.
"Well, Foley's killers aren't on the front nine. Let's play the back nine and see if we find them there." - Pres. Obama
The Left is great at turning a bad situation into genocide.
If our current Left was in charge in the 1940's, there really would've been no Jew left alive in Europe.
"Now watch this drive," How Obama is Like Bush.
Obama is smiling because he has just watched Chris Rock's "How not to get your ass kicked by police"
You are given to precision in language. So please do not write: "There's that brilliant smile America fell in love with."
Approximately half the country fell in love with "it." Maybe you fell in love with "it."
But not all of America fell in love with "it." I certainly didn't.
Our Commander-in-Chief is AWOL.
I had a dream the other day. Obama went on national TV after Foley's murder and said, "Enough's enough. The United States will not tolerate this barbarous "Islamic State" any longer. I've ordered the 82d Airborn Division and the First Marine Division mobilized. Immediately, fleet-based Marines as well as Special Forces will enter Iraq and begin to provide support to Iraqi forces, including Kurdish forces, to stop the IS advance and begin to drive them back. The Saudi Government has committed Air Force assets to this campaign. IS and all other terrorists and barbarians will learn once again the cost of attacking the US and it's citizens."
Of course, it was only a dream.
Honestly though, it is interesting to see how serious the media is suddenly taking ISIS again now that they've killed a journalist. When genocide was happening, Obama was winning the PR battle. Now that an American journalist has killed, even Chris Matthews is turning against the administration. Kind of disgusting when you think about the tribalism that shows in the media, but, whatever.
Excerpt from "James, the Non-Racist Slave Owner":
As on any given Saturday I brought out the afternoon cider and apple pie to my slaves and we played poker and talked about the Nature of Man.
"James, do you think the President even cares about us?"
"Cares about everyone, Rutherford, or do you mean just slaves?"
"I was just thinking slaves, James."
"I'm sure it must cross his mind from time to time."
"Do you think he thinks about us when he is having fancy President parties or is playing that game -- the one on the grass with the sticks --"
"Golf?"
"That's it, James! Golf!"
"Well Rutherford, golf takes a lot of concentration: there might not be room in his mind to think of much else."
"But when he's not playing golf, maybe he thinks of us?"
"When he's not playing golf or at fancy parties I believe he is taking time off to get his mind away from such trying things."
"I understand. After a hot day slaving in the fields I can't think of much else but getting my shoes off and catching some sleep."
"That's a keen observation, Rutherford."
"It sure must be hard to be President."
"There is a lot of responsibility, Rutherford."
"It's kind of like being a slave owner, isn't it, James?"
"In a lot of ways Yes, Rutherford."
"Can the President whip someone for no real reason, just because?"
"I think the President can do anything he likes, Rutherford. If America needs a whipping, I'm sure he can give America a whipping."
"James, did you know at Master Brennan's plantation down by the county line he sometimes bends slaves over and has his way with them? Can the President do that?"
"I would hope he wouldn't, Rutherford, but yes, I think the President has the Right to do that to any American."
"James, I think the only place I am safe is here as your slave."
"I do my best, Rutherford. Now how 'bout we get back to work?"
"The crops don't harvest themselves, do they?"
"No Rutherford, they don't."
A good con man can convince people that he cares. But has Obama ever actually produced a result to match his rhetoric?
If you look at the economy, at inequality, at race relations, at world peace, at polarization… all are worse under his watch and by virtue of his policies.
He is good at getting elected, but he is not good at the actual job.
A real leader would not behave as Obama is doing. Anyone can make a mistake, but when you have made mistakes that are giving us Ukraine, Hamas, ISIS and Iraq2, and Border Chaos you should NOT be on vacation. You should be working hard to undo your own damage!
Obamacare signups start in 60 days and Round Two may be even worse than Round One.
Get to work Obama!!
The whole world is paying the price for this country's stupidity in electing this guy twice.
"Poor Obama" my ass. Bush had the decency to stop golfing.
Truth can be mean sometimes, can't it? But that smile sure made him easy to vote for. I mean, with a smile like that, he must have great leadership and management skills, right?
I understand that this is sarcasm. Nevertheless, let's be precise. Not all of America fell in love with that shallow mendacious smile in 2008. Many of us saw it for exactly what it was, and some of us -- me included -- tried to warn you and others like you. But you preferred happy bedazzlement to honest thought, and as a result, here we are.
I hate the talk about this not belonging in the 21st Century. What does that even mean?
The 21st Century doesn't come with rules, and it isn't a specially marked time in the long and ongoing history of man. It is whatever people are experiencing in their moment of this life.
Now, does he mean this isn't modern behavior in the eyes of western society? Even that can't be true. Many of these ISIS fighters were raised in western society. They know what it is and they reject it.
ISIS thinks it is our values that don't belong in the 21st century.
Why should Obama not go golfing? Seriously, from his point of view, is there one good reason to stay in the Oval?
What difference at this point does it make?
@Althouse, with very, very rare exceptions you'd have to go pretty far down the ballot -- way below small town mayor -- before you'd find a politician who hasn't cultivated a good smile. There is a need to look past the smile and evaluate the person.
In other words, ma'am, you women need to stop voting with your gonads.
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The left was willing to accept genocide in return for repudiation of "Bush's war."
Just like Vietnam."
"The Killing Wadis..."
@damikesc, the guy's been phoning it in since the November 7, 2012. Nice of the media to get around to noticing.
Executive potential was once sarcastically defined by the three H's: height, hair and Harvard. Are Americans really that shallow and naive?
"I've ordered the 82d Airborne Division..."
The 82 is no longer classified as an airborne division. Obama's cuts eliminated the funding for airborne training.
""Now watch this drive," How Obama is Like Bush."
No. If Obama were like Bush, the media would have trashed him all along for every seeming sign of heartlessness and he'd have stopped playing golf long ago to deny them the material.
Obama got so much positive reinforcement for smiling. He doesn't know how or when to stop.
The ISIS motto is "forward into the 12th century."
"There's that brilliant smile America fell in love with."
Is Ann perhaps still rationalizing the fact that she voted like a chick swooning over John Edwards' hair?
Nineteenth Amendment: Mistake or Grievous Error? Discuss.
From "We are the ones we've been waiting for" to
"History is the force that will take care of all this".
So how exactly do you cultivate a good smile? Because my smile is lousy. I think I need plastic surgery or something. It's like my upper lip is too big or my teeth too small or something.
"'Now watch this drive,' How Obama is Like Bush."
Except that President Bush gave up golf rather early in his presidency.
That said, there's nothing wrong with golf when you don't have anything on the calendar. And this idea of the President being some kind of "mourner-in-chief" is way overblown.
I am beginning to think, as many others do, that Obama has checked out. If one has the stuff of real leadership then a tough spot such as the mid-east today would be seen as a frustrating, but welcome, challenge; requiring the application of all the talent one possesses. Obama has never in his life really had the kind of test he is having now and as so many do when faced with a situation that overwhelms them he is quitting. For the first time it is becoming apparent in news photos.
The vacation on the Vineyard is neither here nor there. We knew he did not know how to act appropriately long ago.
I have not criticized Obama's golfing. Let him golf if he wants to. It's fine that presidents relax with buddies.
But Jesus Mr. President, show some judgment and sensitivity. This was definitely not the time.
Is there anyone he listens too with enough judgment to tell him to rethink certain things? Apparently not.
Everybody is such a child about it.
The offensive part is saying anything at all.
I bet Coolidge didn't go around following the national mood swings.
"'Now watch this drive,' How Obama is Like Bush."
And President Bush quit golf as the war on terror rumbled on. Since in President Obama's view there should be no such war, there is no reason to act like there is. Any deaths, including beheadings, caused by jihadists are merely examples of criminal behavior. Unfortunate, but not earthshaking. After all, one doesn't suspend all fun because ten or twelve people are killed by gang violence in Chicago on any given weekend.
A bit like the late 1930s when the world dithered while the Nazis advanced.
Perhaps a nine iron is an umbrella for our time.
"We have built aqueducts and the glorious ceiling of the Pantheon. These barbarians and their actions have no place in the 4th Century".
@ St George: Perfect!
"Watch this putz."
That smile beat Hillary and beat Romney tool. It is a weapon of mass seduction.
Liberals love his smile, the perfect affirmative action student to satisfy a quota though not a good reason to elect as our president but we did and our country and the whole world is suffering the consequences.
A..ss Hole In One.
Jane the Actuary said...
So how exactly do you cultivate a good smile? Because my smile is lousy. I think I need plastic surgery or something. It's like my upper lip is too big or my teeth too small or something.
Me too. In candid shots my smile is fine, but I can't "smile" for the camera. I've even tried to practice. Weird.
I agree, Althouse.
I do think a lot of liberals and black people like to see him smile because they think the attacks against him are hateful and they like seeing him live his big life in the face of criticism.
That's why they get away with the huge parties at the White House, too.
"So how exactly do you cultivate a good smile? Because my smile is lousy. I think I need plastic surgery or something. It's like my upper lip is too big or my teeth too small or something."
You either have a great smile or you don't, women are suckers are for great smiles.
"I do think a lot of liberals and black people like to see him smile because they think the attacks against him are hateful and they like seeing him live his big life in the face of criticism."
Because of pride of race, I'm willing to give blacks a pass on Obama but I have nothing but contempt for the liberals.
Please don't speak for me, Professor. I did not fall in love with him. I have better control of my ovaries.
Maybe some qualifying statements in the future?
I loved Obama's magnetic smile in 2008-- but his smile was no reason to vote for Obama in either election.
It is telling that during the summer of 2012 --before the 2012 Presidential election --Obama did not vacation on Martha's Vinyard and I bet he was so busy campaigning he did not play golf much that year.
Priorities.
Saying we will be relentless in the search for Foley's murderers, he certainly doesn't mean he will do the hard work of being relentless.
About the only careful planning and calculations Obama is doing is for his post-presidential cash grab as he jets about the world giving speeches about how "it's Bush's fis ault" and his successor is undoing all the good the Great Obama has done.
Obama's smile is "erotic" in the ancient Greek sense of Eros. It conveys the force of a strong love from the one to the others.
In Obama's case the result is to disarm his opponents and capture the favorable attention of the undecided towards him. But it is always lawless like the god Pan was lawless. Under that erotic smile he sneers at the skills of dullard lawkeepers.
A good smile is a clear sign of competence and character.
http://tinyurl.com/lwtvjjj
The elite betters fell in love with the smile, uh I mean shit-eatin-grin. Many of us saw the charming Black bullshitter who convinced White ladies that they could absolve their guilt.
Back to you, Crack!
Obama's smile is to a successful presidency as was Jimmy Carter's smile was to his presidency.
Because of pride of race, I'm willing to give blacks a pass on Obama but I have nothing but contempt for the liberals.
Yes.
I'm sure they poll such things. I know Jodi Kantor reported Democrat voters loved to see Michelle and Barack together (and so we got all those date nights).
The happiness/big life works for the same reason the emails to the lonely people work. People who feel marginalized love living through, and having the attention of, someone they think represents them.
And for the rich white liberals, of course, they just see Obama living the life they have or aspire to. and screw the haters.
We'll see if it keeps working for Obama.
"Saying we will be relentless in the search for Foley's murderers..."
I expect Smiley Swaggy Black English Spice to be as relentless as he has been in searching for the murderers of his BFF, Chris the Ambassador.
Seriously, from his point of view, is there one good reason to stay in the Oval?
Bill Clinton used fellatio as a reason to stay in the Oval Office.
"Bill Clinton used fellatio as a reason to stay in the Oval Office."
President Clinton also had to manufacture phoney tears at the Ron Brown funeral. Which was only human - it wasn't like Ron Brown was a close friend or anything. Who among us hasn't had to stifle a grin at a funny comment told outside a funeral home?
"President Clinton also had to manufacture phoney tears at the Ron Brown funeral. Which was only human - it wasn't like Ron Brown was a close friend or anything. Who among us hasn't had to stifle a grin at a funny comment told outside a funeral home?"
Obviously you can be feeling great emotional pain even as you are smiling about something. I'm sure a lot of us have had that thought pop into our heads while we were grieving the loss of a loved one.
Obama's never held a specific job for longer than six years in his life, so why exactly is his disregard for this job at this time a surprising development? He Himself described Himself as lazy after all.
Will said...
A good con man can convince people that he cares. But has Obama ever actually produced a result to match his rhetoric?
If you look at the economy, at inequality, at race relations, at world peace, at polarization… all are worse under his watch and by virtue of his policies.
He is good at getting elected, but he is not good at the actual job.
There's very little about the skillset needed to run a successful presidential campaign that indicates an individual has what it takes to be a good president. We normally look at a person's background and accomplishments to determine that.
Before getting elected to the presidency, Obama had never worked at a real job. He has almost no private sector work experience. He had no executive experience. He had no military experience. He allegedly wrote two books about himself but, if anything, that should've served as a warning instead of as a credential. Given that background, who could possibly believe he had what it takes to be a good president?
Still, he does less damage to the country when he's playing golf than when he's playing president. He's far more dangerous to the nation when he's wielding an ink pen than when he has a golf club in his hands. Barring impeachment, about the best we could hope for for the remaining 29 months of his presidency is that he plays a lot more golf.
"Given that background, who could possibly believe he had what it takes to be a good president?"
Althouse, for one.
In 2008, the response to the observation that Obama had no executive experience was, "look how well he has managed his campaign." And lots of people wanted to believe that argument.
Is Ann perhaps still rationalizing the fact that she voted like a chick swooning over John Edwards' hair?
Ok. Not that our hostess needs any volunteer defenders, but this must be said. I image that writing this blog each and every day is a lot like being on a reality show where the camera lens eventually gets into the underwear drawer.
I don't see the point in routinely smacking her in the snout with the rolled up newspaper about her Obama decision. She has repeatedly discussed her vote and her rationale. I didn't agree with her, but it was her vote.
Nonetheless, she has been far more robustly honest about the consequences of her vote than any of the rest of us would ever be about any similar mistake (although, frankly, I can't think of one....I elected to see Cats once on Broadway. Big mistake! Walked out at the end of the first act. Does that count?).
We should accord her credit for applying the same standards of cruel neutrality to herself that she applies to everyone else. You don't see your typical leftie revisit the debris left in the wake of their toxic leftieness, e.g.Cook, RM, Garage....
- Krumhorn
Always comes back to the optics, fair or not--when you're president, awful things will always be happening on your watch, and you simply have to expect that during your tenure you can't vacation. It will always look like you're enjoying yourself while suffering is going on. Bush's opponents certainly used it on him ("watch this drive...") so Obama knew that going in. If you don't like it, run for something else. Presidents have to appear hard at work at all times.
"President Clinton also had to manufacture phoney tears at the Ron Brown funeral. Which was only human - it wasn't like Ron Brown was a close friend or anything. Who among us hasn't had to stifle a grin at a funny comment told outside a funeral home?"
Of all the times Clinton has shown poor class, I can give a pass on that one--at sad moments inappropriately funny thoughts can pop in your head, or someone tells some joke to lighten the tension--it's human to do that. And getting serious quick for the camera is a practiced politics move.
Ah Ms. Althouse. They said something "mean" about the callow fellow you voted for.
I'm reminded of CBS's defense of the Dan Rather inspired (and phony) Texas National Guard memorandum that Rather and his producer ginned up to slander George Bush.
You'll surely recall their defense of the memo as, "Fake but accurate"?
Let's just say that this story and headline about our "Daily Hacker In Chief" was "Mean but accurate".
"I [imagine] that writing this blog each and every day is a lot like being on a reality show"
Granted.
"I don't see the point in routinely smacking her in the snout with the rolled up newspaper about her Obama decision. "
Agreed. My latest outbursts were compelled by her proclamation that her vote for Obama flowed from her dislike of demagogues. My God! Six years of failure stem from exactly that trait. But I'll try and behave.
"Nonetheless, she has been far more robustly honest about the consequences of her vote than any of the rest of us would"
You're probably right.
You fell in love with this jackwagon. People capable of rational thought could see behind the smile and see the emptiness. You are all just now catching up eith the rest of us.
Krumhorn, the question is,will she be applying the same decision making parameters/rationalizations when she votes her next ticket?
To be fair, I don't expect Ann to announce her joyous embrace of the GOP and wear a Sarah Palin T-shirt to her next lecture. I'm not even sure she COULD post her voting decisions on this blog without risking some career push back from her peers.
But pointing out the folly of Presidential Smile might be valuable to other readers.
Breaking News: Obama pardons OJ to seek Foley's killers and make up a foursome, but mostly to make up a foursome.
To be fair, I don't expect Ann to announce her joyous embrace of the GOP and wear a Sarah Palin T-shirt to her next lecture. I'm not even sure she COULD post her voting decisions on this blog without risking some career push back from her peers.
While she may face social issues, our hostess hasn't been in the least bit shy about blogging her views. The Walker coverage alone probably created a fair amount of heat.
She's no coward, and I have no doubt that she'll continue as she has. Plus she has tenure.
If she ever wants to try on a Palin t-shirt, she can borrow mine. But I want it back!
-Krumhorn
I don't think I have ever worn an image of a person on myself while in class. Certainly not a t-shirt with a big face on it. If I had a Justice Jackson t-shirt, I might wear it the day I teach United States v. Ballard. Other than that, I can't think of a reason.
"We are all heartbroken" and five minutes later Mr. Heartbroken is chuckling on the golf course with three other laughing friends.
Obama golfed during the funeral for General Greene.
Obama went to bed while Ambassador Chris Stevens was still missing.
"[Nelson Mandela's] passing is rightly a time of mourning, and a time to celebrate a heroic life. But I believe it should also prompt in each of us a time for self-reflection. With honesty, regardless of our station or our circumstance, we must ask: How well have I applied his lessons in my own life? It’s a question I ask myself, as a man and as a President. " This was said by Obama at Nelson Mandela's funeral and then Obama self-reflected by taking selfie's, laughing away.
And you know - they aren't having an easy time of it in Ferguson, Missouri. Not as easy a time as Obama is having.
wildswan:
Narcissist has to practice narcissism.
Right?
This man has been flipping America off since he came to office. We can't impeach him but we can SHUN him!! Start with conservatives getting up and walking out of press conferences
"There's that brilliant smile America fell in love with."
Women aren't voting for a President, they're voting for a Boyfriend.
"I stereotype. It's faster."
-- George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Remember the lefts war on George Uish when he played golf.if you watched Fahrenheit 9/11 Moore accused Bush of not caring because HE played golf.
Bush, though heard the critics and stopped playing golf in 2003 because it wouldn't be appropriate during war.
"I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf," Bush said in a White House interview with the Politico. "I feel I owe it to the families to be as -- to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/13/AR2008051302783.html
. And the Huffington Post then said he wasn't REALLY quitting golf becuase of that, it was because he had bad knees. They couldn't even credit him for quitting for legitimate reasons.
So, Bush's Golf was yet another reason to attack Bush. Obama's endless rounds of golf though doesn't really merit much criticism at all from the left?
My standard for judging Obama is, how would the left treat Bush if it was Bush doing it.if this were Bush yukking it up after a journalist was shown having his head cut off, they'd be having a field day. So, judge Obama according to thst standard and he's a heartless monster.
Hey, I am semi-retired too, and I play golf as much as I can.
Obviously you can be feeling great emotional pain even as you are smiling about something. I'm sure a lot of us have had that thought pop into our heads while we were grieving the loss of a loved one.
But most of us didn't suddenly generate tears when we noticed a camera focused on us.
It really was pretty blatant.
"But most of us didn't suddenly generate tears when we noticed a camera focused on us.
It really was pretty blatant."
Yeah, I have a pretty low opinion of the anti-American, socialist/communist and his fellow travelers that are currently infesting the White House.
If our current Left was in charge in the 1940's, there really would've been no Jew left alive in Europe.
The left was in charge in 1940 and the Jews almost weren't.
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