October 25, 2016

I'm getting ready to hate the new President, and it's a good thing too.

What a golden age we live in. Maybe it doesn't look that way to you now, but looking back, you will see it. We love Obama, the person. Oh, maybe some of you only like him, but you've got to at least like him, the most likeable person who ever ambled onto the American political scene.

I mean, I know some of you hate him, personally, but you are a tiny group. Those who don't like Obama's policies and his methods still overwhelmingly like or love Obama the man.

You might not notice this pleasant feeling, but you will. Just as you don't notice physical comfort and mental peace, you will notice when it's gone. And the feeling of loving the President is about to become very obvious, because we are not going to love the new President.

But that's a good thing. We need our distance, so we can look critically at what is being done to us and to the world. We're going to feel bad — even those of us who vote for the winner — and we should. It will keep us alert.

I haven't had the feeling of hating the President since early 2001, when George W. Bush first took over. Unfortunately, I lost that hating feeling later that year. I'm getting ready to hate the new President, and I don't want a repeat of 2001. I don't want to have to lose that feeling of critical distance from the President of the United States, and I know exactly the kind of thing that could wreck it for me again.

228 comments:

1 – 200 of 228   Newer›   Newest»
Oso Negro said...

No, no, no, no, no. YOU love Obama the person. I hate him. He has been an utter disaster, not only for us, but for much of the world. Maybe a mellifluous mulatto was just what you needed, but he did nothing for me. I wish him ill and the frightful choices that follow cannot change that.

Oso Negro said...

And you cannot dismiss me, a priori, as a member of a tiny minority. What, precisely is your evidence?

Spiros Pappas said...

People outside of the United States and Western Europe seem to loathe this man. Close to W. level hatred.

Sydney said...

Obama was the first president I thoroughly disliked. Disliked his policies. Dislike him personally. I was fervidly anti-Reagan in the 1980's, but I didn't have the personal dislike for him I feel for Obama. Obama is not charming at all. He doesn't even try to reach out to his opponents or to be polite to them. I'm mystified by the love some people feel for him.

Sebastian said...

"We love Obama, the person. Oh, maybe some of you only like him, but you've got to at least like him." You have perfected the art of autotrolling. Congratulations.

But OK, I'll bite. Quite apart from the politics, O has always come across as a cold-fish condescending narcissistic asshole. Not my type. I invite you to think deeply about what the stylized fact that "we love" such a person says about the state of the culture.

Hagar said...

"Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look.
He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.
"

I can't think of anything about Obama that I like. It must be a woman thing.

rehajm said...

Petty. Divisive. Ignorant. Arrogant. What's not to like?

wendybar said...

Obama has divided this country more than anybody else ever, and you want me to like him??? He's an evil, ass....and will be looked at as the worst president ever..(as long as the historians tell the real truth, and not the made up progressive truth)

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Unlike Bush, President Hillary is widely hated long before taking office. It's going to be a fascinating four years. And you're right, I never hated Obama but I never had the slightest respect for him either. A lightweight for the clueless.

Fabi said...

You said petulant twice.

madAsHell said...

Obviously, our hostesses blogger account has been compromised.......either that or she's just trolling us until the election.

MadisonMan said...

He doesn't even try to reach out to his opponents or to be polite to them

Agreed. Part of the problem, though, is the filter I see some news through, that is, the very distorted social media filter. It's way different from the extreme liberal bias filter I can apply to the Mainstream Media, and I haven't quite calibrated things yet.

Anyway, so he may be polite to opponents (Knowing Chicago politics, however, albeit viewed through a FIB-like pro-Wisconsin prism, I doubt it), but it's not clear to me that anything would ever be reported.

The big problem the nation has is that Obama holds the Press in thrall. The Press should scour the stars out of their eyes and report with eyes that are more jaundiced.

MadisonMan said...

btw -- is it okay if I just hate the new tag? :)

SayAahh said...

It's hard for me to respond as I am under treatment for Obama Derangement Syndrome.

madAsHell said...

Hostess's not hostesses.

Brando said...

Odd--I don't "love" Obama but certainly feel the next president will be terrible, and terribly unlikeable, to the point that I'll miss Obama for whom I could never find true hatred. He had a bit of a good sense of humor, but also came across a bit prickly. Like he was trying to appear thick skinned but you could see he wasn't.

Hillary will probably be the most unliked president to take office, and probably go down from there.

As for Bush, a lot of people (like my father) simply couldn't stand the man, but I couldn't help but find him likeable. Even where I thought he made mistakes, he just seemed like a good guy trying to do right.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I've hated Hillary forever. It's exhausting.

This nation deserves so much better. or perhaps we don't. perhaps a corrupt lena Dunhan is the best we can do.

David Begley said...

The only reason Obama is so well liked is because he is a Denzel Washington clone acting to be this century's JFK.

I think Denzel has a Q score off the charts.

We will learn in later years that Denzel coached Barack.

Kate said...

Not everybody loves Obama. But some people do. A lot. With Hillary there will be no one who does. With Trump, some people will love him. A lot. Althouse will just be on the other side, feeling like those of us who can't understand why in the world people like Obama.

Roughcoat said...

Damn, Steven den Beste died.

Wilbur said...

Just as I cannot mourn the death of someone I did not personally know, I cannot truly hate anyone I don't personally know and have a reason to hate. And very few people lie in that basket of deplorables.

Obama was described above as "a cold-fish condescending narcissistic asshole". I can't disagree with any of that. But hate him? No. Hate his policies and actions in office? No question. I separate the two.

Paul Snively said...

Dr. Althouse: Those who don't like Obama's policies and his methods still overwhelmingly like or love Obama the man.

Well, call it a twofer, because my belief is that Barack Obama remains what he always was: a hardcore messianic leftist red diaper baby who studied agitprop as a Chicago "community organizer," got his senatorship via the dirty eliminationist tactics he learned in that context, and has without pausing to catch a breath revealed his arrogance, mendacity, entitlement, and unearned elitism at every turn.

He's not nice. He's not likable. He's practiced at projecting the qualities that the hard left rightly perceives as being important to the people they're aiming to deceive. I honestly can't remember a president whose public presentation was so completely at odds with their revealed personality and governing style in my lifetime. Carter was a disaster, but he was an honest disaster.

buster said...

I don"t love or like Obama. And I never will. A toxic combination of arrogance and ignorance.

rhhardin said...

The tiny group that doesn't like Obama is guys.

No estrogen.

David Begley said...

From the Hollywood Reporter, August 2015.

"Meanwhile, Tom Hanks and Morgan Freeman are tied for most popular with a positive Q Score rating of 48 according to the most recent polls. Denzel Washington, Steven Spielberg and Betty White are tied for second most popular with a positive Q Score rating of 44."

Hagar said...

Obama is the most devious president we have ever had, and when you think of certain ones among the other 43, that is going some.

Robert J. said...

Althouse has always had a crush on Obama and can't understand that other people don't.

Tag missing for this post: "Obama the boyfriend."

rhhardin said...

Obama gets liked under the "he means well" women's exception for morons.

tcrosse said...

I always suspected that much GWBush hatred was rooted in his unfashionable regional accent. This visceral dislike could then be rationalized as policy disagreement. My own visceral dislike of HRC and DJT has nothing to do with policy (this election has nothing to do with policy). Obama said Hillary was likeable enough. He was wrong.

Luke Lea said...

I don't know about others but my overwhelming feeling about Obama is one of disappointment -- the fact that he had such a golden opportunity to heal the racial divide in America but blew, which he did by taking sides, by identifying with his black half instead of playing it down the middle. It began with the Skip Gates affair and went on from there: Trayvon, Michael Brown, Baltimore, etc.. The question of whether I like Obama or not doesn't even enter my mind. #ObamaJive

robother said...

Love. Hate. Cruel Neutrality. One of these things is not like the other two.

JPS said...

I don't hate him, Professor. But he hates me - or rather, since he's not aware of me, he would hate me. If I ever had the chance to sit down and talk with him, explain calmly and rationally where I'm coming from and why I've generally opposed his policies - that would be enough. He'd hate my guts. He's a nasty piece of work and I long ago tired of giving him the benefit of the doubt when he never would to his opponents.

Barry Dauphin said...

Critical distance has nothing to do with hate. Hate is not critical distance.

David said...

Obama is often contemptuous of those he disagrees with. That takes him out of the likability zone for me.

Tank said...

One of the skills of the good con man is the ability to make people "like" him, but, once you have figured out that he is a con man and a liar and a traitor and anti-American, anti-white, POS, then you usually would not like him anymore.

Reason one million why women should not be allowed to vote.

Roughcoat said...

This post is pure bullshit.

Amy said...

100% woman here - and I can't stand him. His horrible policies aside, his coldness arrogance and projected sense of superiority are so offputting. He is an example of well-deserved imposter syndrome. Or more accurately, it's not a syndrome.

Unknown said...

is it not funny that I personally liked George W and his presidency but when I look back now I despise him and his policies

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, if you like assholes that much why didn't you go to med school and become a proctologist.

David said...

Hillary Clinton has made one great decision in her lifetime. That is her commitment to stay married to Bill no matter what. That decision is about to make her president.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

If I had a blog, a link to this post would be the centerpiece of my post titled How the 19th Amendment lost me.

mtrobertslaw said...

Althouse is showing signs of crossed synapse syndrome. She is confusing Obama with Reagan.
CSS is a disorder that is quite common among academics.

Charlie said...

He has played golf 320 times in 8 years. Let that sink in.

David Begley said...

Big Mike

They are called gastroenterologists; not proctologists.

Mea Sententia said...

Obama is skinny, photogenic, and his deep baritone voice is easy on the ears. These things contribute to his appeal. The press airbrushes his image in the news and always presents him in a positive light. Plus, white America likes feeling virtuous in having elected a black man. I think these are the main reasons he is likable.

machine said...

and yet, he beat that ass...twice!


no wonder you hate yourselves so much...

Michael K said...

I'm mystified by the love some people feel for him.

I'm not. A lot of it is virtue signaling like "I just love that black man. He is so handsome and he talks just like a white man. His pants have a nice crease and he smells good."

The low expectations for anyone with black genes is nauseating to me. I was raised by a black nursemaid who came when my sister came home from the hospital in 1941. She stayed with my family even after I went off to college and she lived to 95. She held my youngest daughter when we visited from California. She was one of the kindest people I ever knew. See, I'm doing it now but most leftists have an unconscious bias that thinks blacks cannot survive without leftist aid and supervision.

She would have loved Obama for the symbolism even while she disagreed with him on many things. Charles Payne, a very smart guy now on Fox News said he was going to vote for Obama in 2008 and I understand why.

Obama has been a disaster for blacks just when they had a chance to get out from under the "War on Poverty that has been a war on black citizens.

The Democrats have now chosen to favor Mexican illegal immigrants over blacks as there is no growth in black population due to abortion.

I have black medical students from other countries, especially Africa, who cannot understand American blacks. They have this great banquet of opportunity and they crouch in little segregated and violent enclaves. Not all as I have black neighbors in Orange County but to many of those losing ground, "Acting White" is treasonous.

And Obama encourages this with his ridiculous conspiracy rhetoric.

I don't hate him. I just think he is a soulless communist inspired phony.

buwaya said...

It doesnt matter what any of you think.

The public is irrelevant.

Michael K said...

"They are called gastroenterologists; not proctologists."

Nope. Gastroenterologists treat those of us without a strong stomach, especially with Hillary and Obama.

Curious George said...

"David said...
Obama is often contemptuous of those he disagrees with. That takes him out of the likability zone for me."

"Often?" Provide an example of "wasn't". Because the reality is "always."

Jupiter said...

"We love Obama, the person. Oh, maybe some of you only like him, but you've got to at least like him, the most likeable person who ever ambled onto the American political scene."

Huh. You really think that? Likeable?

If some jihadi blows his God-damned ass to Hell, I will feel sorry. For the 72 virgins.

Earnest Prole said...

You all sound exactly like people with Bush Derangement Syndrome, but when everything goes to hell in a few years and Obama says "Miss me yet?" you all will swoon.

MayBee said...

Those who don't like Obama's policies and his methods still overwhelmingly like or love Obama the man.

Oh, Althouse.

American Liberal Elite said...

Well, Professor, you've thrown an especially meaty bone into the piranha tank today!

JHapp said...

His legacy as of now is the quote: "... punished with a baby". But I still have hope for a change of heart.

retail lawyer said...

Ann, I recall you writing that you voted Democratic in 2008 at least in part, so that Democrats would own the National Security issue. If you followed up, I missed it. How do you think they handled it? It likely requires a separate post, but I have been curious about this for some time.

RJ said...

I despise Obama's policies, which have us all worse of. I also despise him personally, as an ignorant but arrogant assh*le.

readering said...

Althouse trolls her commenters, who certainly won't hate the new president if it's Trump. Because her commenters are not young, liberal, female, or nonwhite.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I saw my first episode of Detectorists last night. First two, actually. A real gem. One of the actresses has an astonishing face, both very pretty and strangely familiar at the same time. There might be a word to describe that combination but I know it not.

Anyway, the internet tells me that her name is Rachael Stirling and her mother is Dianna Rigg.

Bang!

MD Greene said...

Obama looks like a pretty good family man, which I respect, but he never learned how to play well with others, which has limited his effectiveness as president.

What I like about the Bushes is that, once their presidential terms ended, they left the stage. Same with Reagan, Ford, Eisenhower and Truman. We don't know what would have happened if FDR and JFK had not died in office.

What I don't like about the Clintons is that they won't leave the stage. Donald Trump exhibits similar instincts. Obama is signaling that he plans to follow the Clinton model starting next year.

These people are going to be in our faces for the rest of their lives. This may be an argument for electing older presidents and not young whippersnappers.

Bob Boyd said...

Obama and the media managed to broadly instill a conviction that people who like Obama are good people and those who don't like him are bad people, regardless of any other considerations. And if you liked Obama it wasn't about race, but there was the presumption that if you didn't like Obama the only possible reason was racism.
It's remarkable how personally offensive it still is to many Democrats to hear somebody say they don't like Obama or to criticize him. The expression that crosses their face, they stiffen, often a nostril will go up. It's almost you're like attacking them personally or criticizing their child. Not healthy, but a tremendous accomplishment politically.
Fear of this phenomenon paralyzed the Republicans in Congress and it tarred the Tea Party, whose goals were actually pretty ordinary Republican stuff, as equivalent to the KKK. I think this belief system has contributed to the extraordinary level smugness and certainty we see on the left today.
Hillary tried to get this going for herself with her 'basket of deplorables' ploy, but it was ham-handed and she couldn't pull it off. Even Hillary supporters can easily understand why someone would dislike Hillary. The suggestion that disliking Hillary is unreasonable would make even a cat-hoarder snort.

Althouse said, "I know exactly the kind of thing that could wreck it for me again." What's scary is, Hillary knows too.

Rocketeer said...

I'm nonwhite readering. Or does the fact that I wouldn't hate Trump magically render me white, as an "inauthentic" nonwhite?

rehajm said...

...but when everything goes to hell in a few years and Obama says "Miss me yet?" you all will swoon.

The next president is inheriting a mess!

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I neither love nor hate Obama, Bush ( either ), Clinton ( either ), or Trump. I strongly dislike Obama's and Clinton's policies, dislike Trump's policies, and have mixed feelings on Bush's policies.

A pox on all their houses for involving the federal government in every aspect of life. And doubly so for choosing Supreme Court justices that do more than call balls and strikes.

bridgecross said...

"I mean, I know some of you hate him, personally, but you are a tiny group."

Oh Anne, I would love to live in your world.

traditionalguy said...

My love for Obama's smile is overwhelmed by my knowledge that he literally lies about everything as he smiles and smiles over getting away with a total sabotage of our Government Institutions and ending our Military's strength.

But at least his smile did manage to stop Global Warming, sea level rise, and Iran's war against Jews and other infidels.



Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I like how Elizabeth Warren came out yesterday to decry Trump's connections to big money.

LOL.

Clyde said...

While I don't necessarily HATE Obama, I don't like him or his policies. I find him aloof and arrogant. His most typical pose is a Mussolini-esque chin-in-the-air. The only thing I'll like is when he leaves office.

Professional lady said...

I'm female - I don't like Obama and I didn't vote for him. I ignored the hype and took a good hard look at him and his total lack of any meaningful experience or accomplishments. I did not expect that he would be a racial healer. I did not jump on the bandwagon to elect our first "Black" president because I didn't think he was qualified and I thought he would be a disaster. I was right. I am not jumping on the bandwagon to elect Hillary as our first female president. I would only vote for a woman who was qualified and experienced and Hillary isn't. I would also have to think that she would be a better choice than her opponent (of whatever race or sex). It's an insult to my intelligence when people assume I'm a Hillary supporter because she's a woman.

Rae said...

I despise Obamas policies, and I sometimes find his personality grating. I don't personally hate the man, because I have never met him. I can say the same about HRC, with the additions that I find her constant blurring of the lines between legal/illegal and ethical/unethical repugnant, and her voice literally hurts my ears.

I'm not going to enjoy HRC scolding me for the next four years.

Cuban Girl said...

I know the trick - you just wanted to get everyone riled up today.
There is nothing likable about a narcissist "Marxist" and anyone whose
family has been a witness to a communist revolution knows exactly
what a cold and calculating evil man Obama is.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Soros is a financial rapist. Why he supports Hillary and democrats.

William said...

I would say that Obama is definitely more likable than Hillary. It's a low bar but he passes it by a wide margin......On the domestic front, his policies have been in the unsuccessful to outright failure range. Internationally, he's more in the calamity to irreparable catastrophe range. But there can be no doubt that he's a better orator and far more charming than Hillary.

n.n said...

Obama is a Twilighter who sincerely believes that selective-child, clinical cannibalism, [class] diversity, selective exclusion, redistributive change, progressive wars, immigration reform, outsourcing/insourcing, and scientific mysticism are evidence of positive progress.

Sal said...

"I haven't had the feeling of hating the President since early 2001, when George W. Bush first took over."

The only reason you hated Bush is because he's white and you're a racist.

Birkel said...

I'm going to miss the weaponized IRS. What's not to like about that?

Also, I'm going to miss the roving bands of miscreants beating up Temple University students. What's not to like about America's very own brownshirts?

A nuclear-armed Iran should be great fun, in light of all the 'love' the Cult of Personality that is Obama inspires.

Althouse is frivolous.

Njall said...

Posts like this are why I carefully try to avoid reading what Althouse actually writes; I'm here for the commenters.

There are three possibilities at work here, in cases like this:

1. She believes what she writes
2. She is trolling us
3. She is being all meta and clever, and wants us to think she is trolling us, to teach us a lesson, or how to think critically, or to change our paradigms, or something

I have no respect for any of these....

Todd said...

wendybar said...
Obama has divided this country more than anybody else ever, and you want me to like him??? He's an evil, ass....and will be looked at as the worst president ever..(as long as the historians tell the real truth, and not the made up progressive truth)

10/25/16, 8:34 AM


Obama crushed Carter to take the title of "worst President ever". Unfortunately I think he will not hold that trophy long and will come to thank God [whom he does not believe in] nightly that Hillary won.

Just as Obama soiled the Presidency enough to ensure another man of color will not win for at least 20 years, Hillary will ensure that another woman does not win for at least 50 years.

MayBee said...

I'm certain I will dislike the new president.

I don't want to hate the president. I don't hate Obama, but I think he's a dick.
I don't think anyone should love the President, or any politician. You don't know them, and politicians especially are creations of polls, focus groups, image consultants, and ambition.

bagoh20 said...

"I know some of you hate him, personally, but you are a tiny group. "

Madison is a quaint place. The natives have such strange ideas.

Robert Cook said...

"Hillary Clinton has made one great decision in her lifetime. That is her commitment to stay married to Bill no matter what. That decision is about to make her president."

That is the entire reason she has stayed married to him. It's the entire reason for their marriage: to optimize their mutual drives for wealth and power.

Robert Cook said...

"...I'm here for the commenters."

That's an appalling admission.

Todd said...

Earnest Prole said...
You all sound exactly like people with Bush Derangement Syndrome, but when everything goes to hell in a few years and Obama says "Miss me yet?" you all will swoon.

10/25/16, 9:14 AM


OK, you owe me a new keyboard! That is some serious funny right there.

The reason "everything goes to hell in a few years" (if that long) is the ground work Obama laid. If Trump wins, it is Obama's fault. If Hillary wins, it is REALLY Obama's fault. He owns the next 15 years [at least if not longer]. I will miss him like I miss having broken ribs (i.e. NOT).

Does that truth hurt your feelz? Sorry, not.

bagoh20 said...

All the next President has to do to crash this train is just let it keep rolling down the current track. But Presidents never do that, so I expect Hillary to fuel up the boiler and serve hors d'oeuvres.

damikesc said...

We love Obama, the person.

Assuming facts not presented.

I thoroughly despise the "man".

William said...

In my youth, we were blessed with the presidencies of Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, These were the two most charmless and unappealing men to hold that office in my lifetime. Their stays in office were notable failures. Part of a President's job is to appear trustworthy and honorable. They couldn't pull it off and suffered accordingly.......Hillary will have the same problem. Obama was able to make himself loved and trusted by a fair number of Americans, including especially those in the media. Loook at his approval numbers. Obama has succeeded in selling himself. That's his greatest and perhaps only achievement. That's a sale Hillary will never make.

Patrick Henry was right! said...

Then you love a racist, one who incites to riot and who wishes to disarm the people so they can be preyed upon by predators, just like in Chicago.


Odd choice of who to love.

Birches said...

Sorry, for this Westerner, W is far more likeable as a person.

Birkel said...

By the way, I removed myself from the Republican voter rolls because of President Bush's terrible policies. I was never overly fond of President Bush although I found BDS quite entertaining.

Loving a politician is a concept I cannot grok.

Todd said...

Crazy Jane said...

What I like about the Bushes is that, once their presidential terms ended, they left the stage. Same with Reagan, Ford, Eisenhower and Truman. We don't know what would have happened if FDR and JFK had not died in office.

10/25/16, 9:28 AM


Funny that eh? R Presidents (and older Ds) seem to follow the "old code" of no second guessing the new guy whereas [as you say] all modern D Presidents just don't seem to be able to shut up. When they are not second-guessing decisions, they are jetting off to places they don't belong and meddle in affairs that are not theirs to meddle in. Carter was a great example of what NOT to do.

Nonapod said...

Divorced from his policies and strictly talking about his personality and temperament, I totally understand why people like Barack Obama. He's charming, handsome, and educated. He's generally even tempered.

Personally I found him far to cold, adversarial, and condescending, especially when public speaking. He always seemed to come off as pedagogical. He would lecture the American people, especially those ignorant flyover troublemakers who clinged to guns and religion. He didn't seem to have any empathy for lower class white people at all. In fact, I got the impression that he hated them. Ideally a president shouldn't despise a large portion of America.

Darcy said...

The tiny group that doesn't like Obama is guys.

No estrogen.


Ha! *nods*

mockturtle said...

There you go, projecting again! I have never even liked, much less loved, Obama. Likewise his wife. I hated Nixon when he said, 'This is not an invasion of Cambodia' as our troops were invading Cambodia. Reagan was probably the only President I was really fond of but how I FEEL about a President doesn't mean diddly-squat against how well he does his job.

bagoh20 said...

Only a racist would have such a low bar for a President just because he's half black.

"I blame his White half - the Black half couldn't help it."

James Pawlak said...

Another Fascist (Democrat) opponent of Free Speech and the other provisions of "The Bill Of Rights". Also, one who acts in accordance with their Party's habit of stealing from others.

Hagar said...

People I like do not change their accent and manners to match with the audience they are speaking to.

mockturtle said...

Madison is a quaint place. The natives have such strange ideas.

They are a product of groupthink and they don't get out much.

rhhardin said...

People I like do not change their accent and manners to match with the audience they are speaking to.

Actually it's pretty natural and is called code switching.

bagoh20 said...

What do you imagine Obama can actually do? Change a tire? Fix a toilet? Build some stairs? Bridges are definitely not his thing. For things a President should know: improve health care?, lower the burden government puts on us?, improve relations with our allies? control or defeat our enemies? negotiate smart treaties? protect us from invasion? protect the treasury and the money we send there from pilfering? Work with the people's representatives?

From what I can see, his only competency is fooling the people who still like him.

Unknown said...

Ann needs to come to rural Utah or rural western states in general, not Aspen, to see how Obama is really viewed. In my town, if Obama was on fire, there would be plenty of people offering to throw liquid on him. He'd have a choice of gasoline, propane, or LNG.

Obama never made any secret of the fact he despised us. The media swoons, but we all know they despise us rural types as well. And Utah isn't exactly Madison (outside of a few neighborhoods up in Salt Lake city); we actually have patriots and even most of the college professors are at best blue dog democrats.

Heck, my dad works at a college and the theatre department is all Republicans. And none of them are gay! Where else in the nation do you have that?

--Vance

holdfast said...

Obama has one very particular skill (or at least his speechwriters do) - he's very good at using certain words and phrases (dog whistles if you will) that simultaneously tickle his supporters' bellies and enrage his opponents, while leaving LowInfoVoters and Independents slightly baffled about what all the fuss is about. It's great for gratifying his sycophants while making his opponents look unhinged - essentially grand-master level stealth-trolling. I'm trying to come up with a good example - maybe casually dropping the word "Australia" in a debate on gun laws?

Which I guess brings me to Hillary, who has already declared that a group of over five million Americans, a group of which I am a member and America's oldest civil rights group, is her "greatest enemy". I mean, she's basically already declared war on me. How am I supposed to feel?

Unknown said...

From the second paragraph I think I can safely assume that the real audience for this post is not the general readership of this blog. It seems more as though Althouse is sharing what she would like to say to people she knows in real life.

WisRich said...

So much for that "cruel neutrality".

Kevin said...

I don’t know Obama personally. Few of us do. So the idea of “liking him” personally doesn’t really compute for me. He seems like a nice enough guy. But so do many fictional characters on TV, and we don’t really think of them that way, do we?

I have always judged him on his presidency, which is why I have deep issues with his work. The Obamacare disaster which is currently unfolding is but one instance where I disagreed with is policy and is means of implementing it, only to be challenged that my real reason wasn’t the policy but the man himself.

Well, we’re looking at the outcome of the policy today and many are able to objectively say it’s the disaster it was predicted to be. And yet how many will go back and revise their prior statements that it wasn’t about Barack back then at all?

Perhaps the irony is that those who were basing their critique on his personality were his supporters, not his detractors. Perhaps those who accused others of being personality-based, were the real cult of personality.

Unknown said...

Based on all that has happened during his administration, you'd have to either believe that Obama is very stupid or that he's a very bad person.*

I don't think he's that stupid.

*a third possibility would be ignorance of all the bad things that he has presided over- or, I suppose, a fourth possibility is knowing about those things but being a similarly bad person who thinks those things (IRS scandal, tainted FBI investigation of HRC, etc) are good things from your perspective.

Hagar said...

Actually it's pretty natural and is called code switching.

Not to the extent Obama does it.
I think his true nature shows when he gives that stiff grin with his fangs showing when speaking to a Black audience. "Racial healing" is not what Obama is about.

holdfast said...

Another example: “the future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.”

So what does that mean? I mean, slander is bad, m'kay? Nobody wants to be a slanderer. But from an Islamist perspective, ANY criticism of Mohammad would be slander. An infidel like me even mentioning his name might be slander.

And then what does "the future must not belong" mean? Especially from the mouth of the President of America? That slanderers (critics) should be ignored? Ostracized? Shut out politically? Hit with a drone-launched hellfire missile? All are options when you're the President.

Big Mike said...

@David Begley, I stand corrected. I was recycling something a boss said in front of me back in '81. He was asked why he didn't want to transfer to division that was in trouble and his flip answer was that if had wanted to work with assholes he'd have been a proctologist in the first place. That did, of course, get back to the leadership of the other division, but one way in which business is different from government and academia is that they did eventually shake up that division.

Birkel said...

I accurately predicted what an Obama presidency would be. I am not unique in that. But for all the accurate predictions, people like Althouse are unable to recognize that their thinking on these things (as evidenced by their poor track record of prediction) is flawed. They cannot be made to see what is plain.

Leviathan no longer creeps. Leviathan has declared itself.

Althouse thinks the protections of the Constitution will be enough. She is wrong, again.

Megthered said...

Obama was a blank canvas, people could make him exactly what they wanted. I despise that type of person, no real personality, just slimy and sneaky. He tries to act intellectual, but he's like the old fashioned snake oil salesman. Not to be trusted.

Amadeus 48 said...

I definitely do not hate Obama.

Yet, that mellifluous baritone does stir an emotion within me as he courageously slays strawmen of his own creation, as he flaunts his impenetrable ignorance of what it means to work for a living or to create a business that employs others and serves customers,and as he confidently and adoringly stares at his own magnificent image.

What is that emotion? Ahh, yes.

Contempt.

Real American said...

Obama is a liar and a narcissist and wannabe fascist dictator who never should have been allowed within 1000 yards of the white house. People voted for him because he was black - not because he was qualified (what had he ever done?) - in the biggest example of the folly of affirmative action in the history of the world. His immediate response to Republicans upon taking office was "I won." as if they didn't win their elections. This man is not willing to compromise and he lies constantly that his political opponents refuse to do so. That is, when he's not smearing them as racists simply for disagreeing with his policies or criticizing him for spending too much time on recreation rather than his actual job. He can't give a speech without making it all about himself. He lied about health care. He lied about Hillary's email. He lied about Jeremiah Wright. The man is simply dishonest, but people like the Professor give him a pass because why? because he's black and has two daughters? Because you already agree with him? Because he speaks like a law professor - always lecturing and never listening? You can't see why people would hate him because those are the reasons you like him.

You're god damn right people hate him. He fucking earned it.

W.B. Picklesworth said...

There is a cruelty about Obama that I've always perceived, a willingness to manipulate not just for gain, but for the pleasure of causing pain. I have always felt that demeaning other people was at least as important to him as winning policy arguments.

I would dislike a clumsy practitioner of such behavior, but I wouldn't hate him; it's enough that others recognize their bad behavior. On the other hand, one who is able to demean other people while winning sympathy for himself is maddening. (It calls to mind the character Cathy from East of Eden who displaced her own evil onto other people.) Obama is reasonably adept at this nasty behavior, but what really has made it difficult to stomach is the assistance of the media.

I'm a little surprised that Althouse hasn't noticed this.

Unknown said...

Boom.

Can we stop advance-missing him now?

dbp said...

CR pretty much nails it:

Obama is skinny, photogenic, and his deep baritone voice is easy on the ears. These things contribute to his appeal. The press airbrushes his image in the news and always presents him in a positive light. Plus, white America likes feeling virtuous in having elected a black man. I think these are the main reasons he is likable.

I think Althouse overestimates how much Obama is liked--even though a small majority probably do still like the man.

"I mean, I know some of you hate him, personally, but you are a tiny group. Those who don't like Obama's policies and his methods still overwhelmingly like or love Obama the man."

I agree wholeheartedly though, that it will be a good thing for the nation to dislike the president. Obama would never have gotten away with such blatent misrule had he been unlikable. I mean, really--who else could have gotten away with the "saved or created jobs" jive? Any normal politician would have been laughed out of Washington.

Sam L. said...

I am so buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmed
for you.

Mick said...

Really "law prof"? The Usurper and nation destroyer you helped elect is "likable"?

BULLSHIT. I despise that America killing, race baiting, Muslim piece of shit.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Barack Obama is the most likable person to ever be President and George W Bush is so unlikable that you hated him (as a person, I guess), Professor?

Ok.

You nice people supposedly hated GWBush for being too stupid, too glib, and too smug.
You nice people love BObama despite his default tone of condescension, his hubris, and his egotism.

Its so terrific that there are so many nice people like you and that you, as a group, get to decide things for this nation.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Goodbye Barky. Can't wait to see you go. Won't miss you in the least. Counting the days.

rehajm said...

Won't miss you in the least.

How can we miss you if you won't go away?

Remorse said...

"Obama never made any secret of the fact he despised us. The media swoons, but we all know they despise us rural types as well."

And that's what most of this is all about.

Deb said...

He lost me at "I Won."

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Oh and the premise of this post is bullshit anyway, and you know it Professor Althouse.

We're not allowed to hate Hillary. She's historic! Just think of all the tears we'll see on inauguration day--just wait for all the stories about cute little girls who finally know they can do anything now that a woman is President.

We will not be allowed to hate the first female President. Love wins, remember? Love trumps hate.

All shall love Hillary, and despair!

Remorse said...

"We're not allowed to hate Hillary. She's historic! Just think of all the tears we'll see on inauguration day--just wait for all the stories about cute little girls who finally know they can do anything now that a woman is President.
We will not be allowed to hate the first female President."

You might want to give it a week or two. I think the 100-day honeymoon is always a good idea regardless of who the President is. I know that's not gonna happen though.

Achilles said...

"You might not notice this pleasant feeling, but you will. Just as you don't notice physical comfort and mental peace, you will notice when it's gone. And the feeling of loving the President is about to become very obvious, because we are not going to love the new President."

The veterans and military see this very differently. There is no good feeling there at least in combat arms. There is very much pain and loathing. We despise Obama both personally and professionally. We know that people like you will never understand. You have never actually had to struggle for anything in your life. Most democrat supporters are this way in general especially the women.

Unknown said...

@Deb- I remember feeling really put off by that. I was vacillating between the disdain I had for him during the campaign and the hope, after he won, that I'd misjudged him.

And then after feeling put off, I heard one of the GOP congressmen saying that the tone really was joking, so I tried to brush it off.

Almost nothing that Obama has said or done since then has validated that charitable reading of "I won" though.

Achilles said...

"Those who don't like Obama's policies and his methods still overwhelmingly like or love Obama the man."

Pure trolling. Been a long time since Ann has been this juvenile.

Ann loves Obama's Cock

I can troll too.

Achilles said...

Ann loves the man who jokes about sending the IRS after his enemies."

Ann wets her pants over man who actually did send IRS after his enemies"

HoodlumDoodlum said...

What a lovable guy that President Obama is: Politico: Wikileaks Shows Clinton Aides Discussing Need to "clean up" Obama's Public Comments on Server [I used "Comments" there but really the word is lies.]

Remember all the fun you guys had kicking around that unlovable jerk of a President you had in Nixon, Professor? "What did the President know and when did he know it?" all that shit?
Weird how that impulse is just gone now, huh? No one cares--you don't care. This guy gives you wall to wall lies ("if you like your Dr. you can keep your Dr." and "I believe marriage is between a man and a woman" and "the average family will save $2,500" and "the use of chemical weapons is a red line" and so forth) and you just keep that warm feeling in your belly--what a swell fella!

Achilles said...

Ann loves man who lied to American people repeatedly and blatantly.

Prices up choices down just like Obama wants and Ann loves.

Women according to Ann are apparently just stupid and want to be lied to.

jg said...

I have to agree that disconnected from everything he stands for, Obama is an amiable guy, on an animal level. I'll miss having that as part of our brand.

It's not disconnected for me - I don't like him or his empty pseudo-intellectual bluster. He's completely incurious about the best arguments of the opposition. I still prefer him to Hillary, of course.

I would compare him to Canada's Trudeau (who seems less intelligent), who I also can't stand although he has a similar sort of presence.

CStanley said...

The best spin I can put on this post is that Althouse's understands that her visceral warm and fuzzy reaction to Obama is a dangerous thing.

Static Ping said...

Frankly, I see Obama in more or less the same way I would see Lex Luthor, Superman's foil who, coincidentally, was also President of the United States in some comic book continuities. He can be charming, he clearly is very intelligent, but there is something so wrong with him that is overwhelms the positive traits to the point of nothingness. Even if you do love the man - I do not love Obama - you do not want him in any position of authority whatsoever. He clearly does not have your best interests in mind, though he certainly thinks he does. Those are the worst leaders.

It is also difficult to love the Constitution of the United States and love the person who does everything in his power to destroy it so he can get his way.

Achilles said...

Jonathan Graehl said...

"I would compare him to Canada's Trudeau (who seems less intelligent),"

That is because the Canadian press does less to prop him up.

Obama really is not very smart.

He is actually a total douchebag and lout.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Ann Althouse said...Oh, maybe some of you only like him, but you've got to at least like him, the most likeable person who ever ambled onto the American political scene.

I mean, I know some of you hate him, personally, but you are a tiny group


mtrobertslaw said...Althouse is showing signs of crossed synapse syndrome. She is confusing Obama with Reagan.

Reagan's a great example! Would you say "only a tiny group of Americans hated Reagan" Professor? Your left liberal pals sure hated him while he was in office and kept that hatred up after he left. He was a popular politician--charming, handsome, well-spoken, etc, but the Left & Media sure didn't act as though Ronald Reagan was a good guy.
Anyway the assertion that Barack Obama is more likable than Ronald Reagan seems crazy.

damikesc said...

That the culture expects us to celebrate his family in the most grating.

No, Barry is not a special level of genius. He is an incurious imbecile.

No, Michelle is not gorgeous or hot. She could play Chewbacca with few changes needed.

I'm sure his kids are lovely and all...but if the Bush twins were doing pot, it'd be a MUCH bigger story than Obama's daughter's usage was.

Fuck the lot of them.

SukieTawdry said...

Lots of people don't like Obama. I don't like him. I never liked him. He doesn't like me either. It's a mutual dislike. I'm sorry he ever came along. I blame Ann Dunham. If she had chosen to bed down with a white Marxist, we never would have heard of their issue.

Next, in all probability, we will have a president I truly despise. But that won't make me like Barack Obama.

SukieTawdry said...

And, by the way, I do notice physical comfort. And mental peace. Although that's been in short supply lately.

furious_a said...

"I'm getting ready to hate the new President, too"

We're voting for a President, not a boyfriend.

He/She *works for you*. Your taxes *pay his/her salary*. He/she has to *prove him/herself to you*, not the other way around. Love/hate's got nothing to do with it.

furious_a said...

Obama is an amiable guy, on an animal level.

On an "animal level" Obama has demonstrated a thin-skinned brittleness any time he's been challenged.

I'd rather crack a beer and watch football with Bill Clinton or Joe Biden any day.

Achilles said...

The smoking gun has been found.

Obama, the guy Ann loves, belongs in jail along with Hillary and most of the top leadership in the FBI.

Achilles said...

Original emails showing Obama knew about Hillary's criminality and worked to cover it up.

Will said...

It's not a "tiny minority." Half the country hates Obama for the (lack of) content of his character.

Meanwhile you and others appear to be thinking with your lady parts and not your brains. You've gotten an 8 year thrill up your legs from someone who you imagine as a boyfriend. And Obama knows how to manipulate all you airheads. And boy has he done so…

So now that we'll have an ugly President again, it's back to normal for you? Good grief you should be embarrassed!!

mockturtle said...

One thing Trump does NOT do is lecture the American people. Obama and Hillary are always telling us 'who we are' when neither of them has a clue.

LYNNDH said...

Hate no, Loath yes.

hombre said...

Liberals seem to believe that reprehensible personal behavior should only be taken into consideration when evaluating Republicans personally and politically.

Obama has been a lying, racist, snarky putz. He has also been a terrible President. He does appear to have some redeeming qualities, i.e., dog owner, decent parent, and um,....

Hillary actually suffers by comparison, having no apparent redeeming qualities.

Freder Frederson said...

I mean, I know some of you hate him, personally, but you are a tiny group. Those who don't like Obama's policies and his methods still overwhelmingly like or love Obama the man.

Do you ever bother to read the comments. Visceral hatred of Obama is a hallmark of a significant proportion (maybe even a majority) of your regular commenters.

KLH said...

Stop projecting your weird love of this awful person. Do you personally love many corrupt, narcissistic liars? How sad for you.

Achilles said...

Freder Frederson said...

"Do you ever bother to read the comments. Visceral hatred of Obama is a hallmark of a significant proportion (maybe even a majority) of your regular commenters."

We hate criminals who hire thugs to attack and intimidate us and sends the IRS after us.

The people in the military and veterans have our own special reasons to hate him.

Big Mike said...

A few thoughts...

First, the Gallup article on presidential approval doesn't show us how many love andadore Obama, as Althouse does, and how many have looked at Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and said something to the effect of "Meh, it could have been worse." Nor does it break out the degree of dislike from the 48% of us (which is way more than "some"!) who don't like the man. Highly represented in that 48% are people whose approval of the man is related to his job performance. Gallup notes that 72% of us are dissatisfied with the direction of the country. Those of us in that group, and I'd count myself, are

Second, my wife and I both have advanced STEM degrees and we are totally put off by Obama's stern-faced, self-righteous, finger wagging schtick when he faces the camera and lectures us. He doesn't understand the military, he doesn't understand the challenges of small business, he doesn't understand the outside world, he doesn't understand macroeconomics, he doesn't understand the American people, but he presumes to lecture us. Uh huh.

Third, to paraphrase Sally Field, he hates us. He really, really hates us. Well actually he doesn't. He just views us with contempt. And we return the sentiment.

Fourth, Professor, you have been played. You were artfully played, and probably willingly played. But you have been played.

Nonapod said...

Ultimately it's difficult to like (let alone love) a person who views you with contempt. And I believe Barack Obama truly hates many Americans.

I don't believe that George W. Bush hated a lot of Americans. Bush may not have fully understood or been able to relate to black Americans, but Kanye was wrong about the hate part. At least I didn't see it.

I also don't think Bill Clinton hated regular middle and lower class white people. He came from them. Hillary is another story.

Big Mike said...

Completing my thought, those of us who are dissatisfied with the direction of the country and tie the country's direction to the man leading it, are perplexed that so many who are dissatisfied with the direction of the country are approving of the man leading it.

Rick O said...

Was this an April Fool's joke in October?

Trollinator1000 said...

Speak for yourself Ann; I thought they guy was a douchebag the first time I heard him open up his yap.

Darcy said...

I wonder what percentage of liberals who despised GWB perceived him to view them with contempt? From my perception, Obama's contempt is obvious. I never noticed it with regard to GWB and liberals. I always perceived him to be kinder than I wanted him to be to his detractors. I believe this is because GWB gets grace and Obama does not.

I don't hate Obama, but I do not like him at all. I believe history will prove him to be one of the most reviled presidents, once we give ourselves permission to do so.

Jon Ericson said...

If Creamer and Beyonce are welcomed at the front door, who is he golfing with?

JaimeRoberto said...

OK, now you're just trolling us.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

I don't think I hate Barry O. I don't like him, certainly, and I think he and his supporters are harmful to the nation, but I don't think I hate him personally. I don't think he's much of an example for anyone else--consider his taking his family to a pretty extreme (hateful!) church for years largely out of a self-serving political calculation--but I don't really see him as evil, as a person. His brand of Leftism is bad and his willingness to either encourage or look the other way as abuses of State power occur is bad, but honestly I blame the public and Media for most of what Obama has done & gotten away with. Obamacare was ridiculous from the start and of course politician Obama lied about it--that's to be expected. The Media helped those lies & the public ate it up, though; that's where things went wrong. Same-same for the IRS' abuses, the VA's murderous incompetence, and on and on.

I don't expect politicians to be honest or morally upstanding--I don't really expect politicians to be good examples of how to live one's life. I do expect American people and the American Media to hold politicians and the State accountable...or I guess I should say I did expect that. 2012 was a pretty jarring wake up, for me. Politicians are supposed to be a little bit slimy--that's practically part of their job. Citizens and voters are supposed to check the exercise of State power, though--that was part of the American deal. The Courts were supposed to be a backstop and an ally in restraining the State and keeping individual citizens' freedom and liberty secure.

I hate that American citizens do not want to restrain and constrain the State. I hate that the Courts do not value individual freedom and liberty above State power. So sure, I have some hate, but Obama is about what I expected when he was elected--annoying & harmful to the nation, yes, but no more evil than your standard modern politician.

grackle said...

We love Obama, the person.

Dear University Professor:

Don’t look now but your bubble is showing.

Delayna said...

"The tiny group that doesn't like Obama is guys.

No estrogen."

(Checks bra.)

Nope, they're still there. And I can't stand him either.

eddie willers said...

Anyway, the internet tells me that her name is Rachael Stirling and her mother is Dianna Rigg.

Mama shows up in the show playing, get this, her mama. The Detectorists is the cutest little show on either side of the ocean.

"The day she left is the day I hit the lottery"

Christy said...

We love the people who think and see the world like we do. Does that clue you in to what Althouse thinks of most of us?

I tried to be sanguine when Obama was elected. I saw how incredibly happy my black friends and colleagues were and that gladdened me. I hoped for Morgan Freeman, but got Barney Fife.

Yes, I hate Obama. We were in need of racial healing. We are now in desperate need of racial healing. He has exacerbated the problem by his personal behavior, his appointments, and his policies.

mockturtle said...

Obama is an Alinsky disciple and it shows in his every move.

Michael K said...

Visceral hatred of Obama is a hallmark of a significant proportion (maybe even a majority) of your regular commenters.

You are projecting, Freder. Your Bush Derangement Syndrome is showing,

Unknown said...

One conlaw prof loves another... news at 11

But if Obama is so beloved, where did Trump COME FROM?

Automatic_Wing said...

What a bizarre post. Loving dear leader is not a healthy impulse, I guess you know that because you're getting ready to hate the next one, but still. Have you given much thought to why you love this guy so much? It's certainly not because of his accomplishments.

tim in vermont said...

I guess if I had lady parts, I would get it that Obama makes them tingle. Chris Mathews sort of has them, I guess. But for me? He seems like an idiot that played the hand he was dealt extremely foolishly, and who has been played by both Putin and Iran like a 10 cent kazoo.

tim in vermont said...

Not to mention that we are currently involved in more wars than he inherited, not less, like he promised. But we all know he promised a lot of things.

When it comes to Obama, Althouse is like Marion the Librarian. Yeah Professor Hill was a complete con man, but he was so darn charming! What con man isn't? When do we get to march down Main Street singing Seventy Six Trombones in peace, prosperity, and universal health care? It will happen on the "think system," right?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The mistake the wingers are making on this thread is confusing "shrewd" with "unlikeable".

They seem to take it on faith that the only way to be likable is to have a Reagan-esque perms-smile plastered on your face (and Brylcream plastered on your coif), and to project sociopathic lightheartedness at all times.

Real people are both more complicated than that and accept that likable people can also be more complicated than that. We are not like the Annette Benning character in American Beauty.

Obama has a good sense of humor, he laughs, he jokes, he smiles, he sings, he says "I love you back," when being lovingly cheered by an audience, and his quips against his political opponents are clever and not mean-spirited. You are just angry with him for being effective and making the right-wing project look flat.

I remember when Cackles cackled it up in 2008 when a moderator asked Obama how he'd be different from the Clintons, given his reliance on their advisors. Cackles, said, "Yeah. I wanna know that, too. Tee hee!"

Obama said, "Well, Hillary. I look forward to having you advise me, too."

That's when Cackles stopped laughing. But she didn't scowl at having been bested. Just smiled through it.

Sure, Obama can be detached. And aloof. He's a thinker. He likes his peace and he doesn't like it when journalists are just trying to get under his skin and obtusely missing the point. (Trump does this too).

And he can be a bit dopey every now and then with foreign dignitaries.

But the way you guys demonize his personality... It's obvious you want someone who's just a phony funhouse boy, like Bill Clinton or Reagan. But those days are past. The presidency as a figurehead is long gone.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

W. was also a fun guy. I liked him.

I feel he was incompetent. But likable.

Bill Clinton acted likable, but was more of a phony. And a much more self-unaware, self-serving phony than most.

Obama is cool and suave. But largely effective in moving toward where he wanted to do. I think that's what people hate about him. The fact that his likability was based on being cool and suave. And not a lay-it-on-thick Bill Clinton, a wispy voiced nostalgo-maniac like Reagan or a wildly goofy fun frat boy like W.

Obama interjected cool with his effectiveness. That's what the wingers hate.

And don't give me this crap about how Obama was the only one to lecture people. W. did plenty of lecturing. So did Bill Clinton (though largely while on the stump). And Greagan loved to get up and whisper sharply-worded, stern demands of other world leaders. So did Bush.

The inability to get Obama is largely based on not knowing how to relate to half-black/half-white Americans. Other than the orphans on Diff'rent Strokes.

Get in touch with modern America, peeps.

tim in vermont said...

I don't find liars 'charming.'

"If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.."

Now today we see why Hillary was let to skate, because Obama was involved too.

“[L]ooks like POTUS just said he found out HRC was using her personal email when he saw it in the news,” Clinton spokesman Josh Schwerin told other campaign aides in a March 7, 2015, email, using acronyms for the president and Clinton.

“[W]e need to clean this up - he has emails from her - they do not say state.gov,” responded Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s former chief of staff at the State Department.

The White House has insisted that Obama was unaware of Clinton’s unusual email setup during her tenure at the State department, even though the two occasionally communicated by email.


Obama often gets what he wants by lying. Liars are often charming. Of course, Hillary lies even more, and still she can't manage to be charming.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Did Obama make the insurance companies change their plans to become more restrictive? Other than for what services were now mandatory?

Of course he didn't. So he didn't change the plans, or make insurance companies cut services. He didn't make people change plans.

So the way I see it, you're a liar.

And a clumsy one, at that. So not so charming.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The White House has insisted that Obama was unaware of Clinton’s unusual email setup during her tenure at the State department, even though the two occasionally communicated by email.

Lol! I too occasionally communicate with people, regardless of their email address, without having any idea of what work-related activity they're directing through there.

Next!

You guys will never be effective at getting Clinton if you're this scattershot.

Birkel said...

"Rhythm and Balls":

By make, I assume you mean the narrow definition. However the more expansive and accurate interpretation of make is "create the conditions by which no reasonable person would do otherwise".

And by that definition, Obama made the insurance companies do a great many things. They sold the collectivist, Obama, the rope by which they are now hanging.

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

"Rhythm and Balls":

The e-mails (which you have not read, have not understood or about which you are lying) show an awareness of conspiracy.

Which of the three are you doing?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I'm infiltrating your emails, Birkel. I was totally in on it.

You have been identified as an enemy of the state.

Jon Ericson said...

Professional Courtesy

Birkel said...

So your preference is to deny.

iqvoice said...

I despise Obama. But if he agrees to bow to me, I'll try not to hate him.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

My preference is to prioritize. Obama has two months left. He's never been as secretive, right-wing, corporatist or militant in his own leanings. He does things along those lines when necessary, as opposed to Hillary - who prefers to be that way. But you are free to waste your every last waking moment frenzying yourself with how crazy you want to go over Obama.

So no. I think that if Obama communicated through the "Clintonemail" domain, it seems like it wouldn't have been confidential or irresponsible communications. Or else that would have come out in the Comey report, dummy.

But of course, right-wing media has a way of getting so bogged down on the details that don't matter, that people can't even maintain focus on the things - like Hillary's outright corruption - that do. The right wing has to decide if it wants to be helpful in going after Clinton, or a distracting noise that turns people off to doing that.

Choose wisely, Birko.

jg said...

R&B makes sense above. You'll notice the most effective pieces of effective persuasion will pick a simple theme and the most evocative 1-3 stories supporting it ("Trustworthy?") . "A millionaire has the same number of votes as the person without a job - ONE.

jg said...

Like everyone else, I thought "Obama may not have noticed the email address".

But that's a bit much, isn't it? Was he prepared to trust any email coming in that had "from: Hillary" no matter the address?

Unless he completely ignored the mails she sent from that address, he's not at all off the hook for prudent+responsible behavior.

But we all make mistakes. Especially the charismatic, who aren't as a rule especially infosec-conscious. I'd blame his tech people for letting him use email without supervision, maybe.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

It's not a crime for two government officials to communicate with each other via a private server/domain. The only problem is using it for confidential info.

I mean, what's next? Not waving or shouting to each other over the White House lawn because every communication needs to go through some sort of "official channel?"

Nonsense. Focus.

W.B. Picklesworth said...

RandB can afford to be flippant because xe knows Obama won't be held to account. Those are the rules. And xe can mock those who are bothered by this basic hypocrisy. It's unlovely in a way that Obama too is unlovely.

buwaya said...

Its a violation of Sarbanes-Oxley for a private firm to have its personnel communicating with each other, or with regulators, suppliers, customer, etc., on systems that are not archived and discoverable.

In most Fortune1000 this is a firing offense, and anyone who permits it can be prosecuted, penalty is variously, depending on specifics, 10 or 20 years in prison -Sec 802 of SarbOx and SEC1102.
And the officers of the company are personally liable.

Much experience with SarbOx, audits, etc.

Birkel said...

"Obama has... never been as secretive, right-wing, corporatist or militant in his own leanings. He does things along those lines when necessary, as opposed to Hillary...
-- "Rhythm and Balls" above

First, I have no idea what you think 'right-wing' means. But it is a definition unique to you.

Second, I agree that Obama has to burn the village to save it. He also had to destroy private health insurance to save it. If only those nasty Republicans did not make his acting that way necessary. Right?

Finally, Obama is secretive. That is why he resists FOIA so diligently. That is why he weaponized the federal agencies.

You are a fool.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Birko -

Birko fucks his brains in a most unusual way. He puts his own cock up his ass, and then curls his body around in such a way as to push the penis further up into his actual brain.

We can blame Birko for a Hillary presidency. He's so full of generalized hate and rage for anything left-wing, that he will even insult people who will do anything to keep Hillary from the Oval Office.

Birko's just in it for the rage. He can't think. Having Hillary as president sort of excites him. It gets him going. Makes him feel... ALIVE!

Yes, it's a spiteful, rage-filled sort of living. But that's the only kind he knows.

Hail Hillary! Birko's best opponent against Obama (in 2008).

Biirko never made a claim of being timely... or relevant. I'm sure he'll go off on this "loyalty" tangent against Obama well into, what's it... maybe 2018? Whatever it takes to get his mind off of his enabling of Hillary. Hating Obama should distract him from that quite well. I guess it's the only thing that will do the trick for him. And my my, is he easily tricked.

Enjoy, Birko!

Jon Ericson said...

Guild of Cannonballs makes much more sense than you and doesn't seem to be the least bit homo.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

But Birko didn't harass him.

For Birko, only the most excoriating of humiliations will do. He literally will bash any opponent of Hillary, as long as it helps him get his rage on against a much less worse president who won't even be president in less than three months.

I can only conclude that Birko is welcoming a Hillary presidency.

Anonymous said...

I thought it was bad form to troll in your own blog.

Birkel said...

These tirades are amusing. Please, do go on.

You resist Hillary because she is too right-wing. That is not a purchase on which to find common ground.

Kyzer SoSay said...

R and B basically just talks pretty nonsense. No wonder xe likes Obama.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

A "purchase?"

Man, are you hilarious.

So if you don't like my reasons for opposing Hillary, then you're going to be for her. Interesting to know.

You're definitely a Hillary-supporting Republican. Hoping she'll go full-bore Barry Goldwater and neocon, all at once, eh?

Hope you like what you're in it for. Let me know how it all goes in four years, and then eight.

Kyzer SoSay said...

And Cookie, be double-appalled - I come here for the comments too. I read Ann's headline and usually that's it - I can get the gist of whatever else she wrote from the comments themselves, and I only went back to read her entire post this time because of the sheer incredulity of the first dozen comments I scrolled through. Honestly, Althouse seems like the lightest of the lightweights on this forum - I could pick 6 people at random from her comment section here and 5/6 would be measurably more intelligent. I say this because I'm taking her post at face value. If she is indeed trolling, I may reassess, but past history tells me she is serious.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I like a lot of people, Kyzermit. It happens when you don't have a lot of internal conflict.

W's approval rating when he left office was abysmal. 22%. Less than half of Obama's.

So who's talking nonsense, now? Your country obviously disagrees with your dislike of the guy.

Time for you to find a new country.

DavidD said...

"You've lost that hating feeling, whoa, that hating feeling.
Bring back that hating feeling, now it's gone, gone, gone...."

Kyzer SoSay said...

Enough internal conflict to spell my name wrong, I guess.

W had the entire national media blaming him for rainy days. Of course his approval is low. The media don't tell people about Obama's fuckups, they blame it all on bad luck.

You're talking nonsense. As is Obama. And the 50+% who still approve of him. That's a lot of nonsense, but then again there are clown sightings all over America, so this is the Year of Nonsense.

I don't need to find a new country, but if you want to try to make me, be my guest. Unlike Althouse and Obama, nobody will miss you when you're gone.

Jon Ericson said...

The professor will be hanging with a new crowd,
now that she's retiring.

Gotta ameliorate all this past
"Cruel Neutrality" posturing nonsense.

Someone might get the wrong idea!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

You have a name with enough consonants to send a Czechoslovakian to the dentist after chipping his teeth, you hammer-headed dildo. So as a "true American," I'll shorten your dumb name even further. And call you "Kermit". Just like the frog. A very American character.

Bush was incompetent. The worst domestic terrorist attack ever, trillions on a war with what was probably the wrong country, and the worst recession since the Great Depression. Don't argue with me about how you feel this is wrong, PÄ…czki-face. This is basic political reality. Not make-up-your-own/right-wing reality.

I realize life is boring as an IT specialist, let alone one living in Chicago. But if you get a life maybe people will actually care what you have to say while you troll this blog. And not just after you're dead. There should be other excuses in life for eating bratwurst, drinking horrible beer and giving yourself flatulence and myocardial infarctions.

Now fuck off.

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