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June 17, 2008The Presumptions of Obama - UPDATEDJust how presumptuous is Barack Obama? The other day, he talked to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, and - after finally admitting the surge has worked - proceeded to talk to the man as though he was already in the Oval Office:
Okay, you could argue that the one who “acts” like a president will eventually “be” the president, but this struck me as dancing on the edge of presumption. I didn’t have to look much further to find more evidence that Obama thinks he’s already been enthroned:
So…King Obama is going to go ahead and assemble the staff for his as yet- unknown-and-unnamed running mate, and name that person’s Chief of Staff? Yes, it’s presumptuous. And heavy handed. And this is the guy who is supposed to have such great instincts for diplomacy? Of course, it is easy to get into a habit of presumption when the press is running interference for you and essentially clearing your path of any thorns or thistles. The biggest problem with the press carrying Obama to the White House, of course, is that he does not have to work hard enough to learn what he needs to know. It would be good, for instance, if he would learn the facts about AlQaeda, and their relentless (on average every 18 months) assaults on American interests, holdings and naval vessels, all committed after the ‘91 WTC bombings, which were handled through our courts system. He should perhaps take note of the fact that since 9/11, there have been no more of those attacks. He should perhaps apply his ivy-league brain to analyzing what distinctions can be made between the Clintonian Policy of Due Process for Terrorists and the Bushian Policy of Defeating Terrorists and Freeing People. Terrorists and due process somehow do not make us feel that much safer, in the long run, do they? Barack Obama - a rather presumptuous fellow, it seems - should, perhaps, not presume to have the answers when - as evidenced by his own remarks - it seems clear he doesn’t really have terrific grasp on the questions. Clearly, I’m not the only one who sees presumption, either. UPDATE: I’m getting a few emails generally echoing one of the commenters who is trying to smear me with a racism spackle (because labeling is an often-dishonest, but highly-successful way to turn a subject) by “suggesting” that the word I wanted was not “presumptuous” but “uppity.” Let me be clear - I choose my words carefully and while “uppity” is one of my all-time favorite words, I did not choose that word; I chose presumption. I call it presumptuous as hell to assemble someone else’s staff for them, or to talk to a foreign representative as if one has authority not yet won. As I asked that commenter…what would YOU call it? Would you call it “arbitrary” or “overcontrolling” or “acting like a cowboy” or maybe you’d call it “unilateral!” Yeah, that’s what it might be, UNILATERAL! Oh, wait. That describes Bush and his presumptions. For Barack only the words “take-charge” and “decisive” will do. Double standards suck. I’ve never liked them. I don’t jump all over Obama’s “um’s and uhhh’s” the way some bloggers do, because Bush certainly has his verbal spasms and - since most of us have them at some time or another - it seems picayune to go there. But Bush, for all of his malapropisms, seldom had his basic information wrong. That cannot be said about Obama. Bush is “stupid,” for misspeaking. Obama is always “just tired” when he gets major things like history (and its aftershocks), geography and economic theory wrong. But we can’t have things both ways; we have to be consistent. So which is it? Is Obama decisive or presumptuous, here? Is he unilateral or does he have a solid basis for action? And what exactly would the solid basis be? I started out keeping an open mind about Obama, because I have no great love for McCain or loyalty to the GOP, but he is just not all that impressive. And he really should avoid using phrases like, get over it to women. Not smart. http://theanchoressonline.com/2008/06/17/the-presumptions-of-obama/trackback/ 15 Responses to “The Presumptions of Obama - UPDATED” |
June 17th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Pride goeth before the fall.
June 17th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
http://tinyurl.com/4xxfs5
Read the above, and despair if he gets elected. I am totally at a loss as to what people see in him. He’s got the judgement of a toddler.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
[...] The Presumptions of Obama [...]
June 17th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
With the really hardcore terrorists, the due process that will protect the innocent, well, the terrorists never even hear the due process coming. But Obama will try to protect us by talking. I do not think that will work.
June 18th, 2008 at 8:04 am
I saw a clip of Obama on You tube where he was warning the Tennessee GOP not to mess with Michelle because of a comment she had made. Um, Obama? If you place her in the verbal cross hairs of your opponents, they are going to take a shot at her. What makes him think his wife, how is making herself a public figure by standing up and talking in the first place, should be exempt from the same things that happen to everyone else when they make themselves a public figure by opening their mouth? I’m telling you,he is going to strip away all our rights. We’ll be haivng church by candle light in our basements.
June 18th, 2008 at 8:16 am
Oh, Anchoress, McCain won the election the moment he started talking about drilling for oil. If McCain wants to make the election about generating basic prosperity and safety for the American population, Obama has no chance with “Americans can’t eat all they want to.”
The rhetoric of global scarcity and American guilt is such a turn-off, and it is also poorly founded. Maggie45, your link is indeed a stunner. Cartoon Network foreign policy?
June 18th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I think the word you were searching for, Anchoress, is not “presumptuous”, but “uppity”.
June 18th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Sorry, no. I meant the word I chose, and I don’t particularly care for it when people put words in my mouth (that’s also “presumptuous” in a way!) If I had meant “uppity” I’d have written “uppity” (which is one of my favorite words, btw) and it certainly would have been meant as a slam.
I used the word “presumptuous” because it is to me, both rude and presumptuous to assume you can name someone else’s staff. And because he talked (or SAYS he talked, there is some question of that) to the Iraqi Foreign Minister with authority he doesn’t really have.
Which is presumptuous.
I’m curious, aweishaupt, what would YOU call it? Would you call it “arbitrary” or “overcontrolling” or “acting like a cowboy” or maybe you’d call it “unilateral!” Yeah, that’s what it might be, UNILATERAL!
Oh, wait. That describes Bush and his presumptions. For Barack only the words “take-charge” and “decisive” will do.
That about sum it up?
June 18th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Hubris. That is Obama’s failing.
June 18th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Anchoress, I agree with your current assessment of Obama. If he’s elected, we can take refuge in the observation that successful Presidents do not always look promising when they enter office.
As you know, I don’t agree with your assessment of Bush, but I’ll grind that ax another time…
…except to comment on what makes the Obama candidacy possible. IMO it’s the American public’s justified loss of confidence in the Republican Party–a loss of confidence that the GOP did not address after the 2006 election and still refuses to address as a potentially devastating November approaches.
I sympathize with people who urgently wish to keep Obama out of the Oval Office, but I do not forget that the GOP has been playing me for a chump for twenty years.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Actually, this entire post is ludicrous. If you’d read the article that Surber linked, you would see, first, that “Obama, an Illinois senator, spoke to Zebari a day after the Iraqi official met in Washington with McCain, an Arizona senator. ” and second, “The first-term Illinois senator said he told Zebari that if he wins the White House…”
So McCain spoke to Zebari also, and gasp! He’s not even president yet! Why, my goodness, he might not even get elected! How incredibly presumptuous of him!
And Obama presaged his remarks with an “if”.
The chief of staff thing is straining even harder, which is saying something.
So, yes, I believe in your mind Obama is being “uppity” and “forgetting his place”.
These dog whistles work better if you use the right terms.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I’ll take your point that he said “if” but that doesn’t take away from how very presumptuous he sounded (and in fairness to me think I did say one could argue that he was trying to “act” presidential) but that whole point may be moot, as the Iraqi foreign minister is saying something different altogether.
As for his choosing the un-named, unknown, as-yet-unchosen veep nominee’s Chief of Staff, that’s “straining even harder”? How exactly is that straining even harder? Most people, I think, would agree with me that the action was very strange, and yes, presumptuous as hell.
The word I used was the correct one. You are free to assign any meaning you wish to it. I always think it’s interesting when people do that because generally the meanings people assign to other people’s words is all about projection. Therefore, those projected meanings reveal more about them, than they do about me.
June 18th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Charges of racism will be the primary currency of the Obama campaign now that Hope, Unity and the Future are somewhat tarnished by Obama’s baggage. The Obama campaign will be hard pressed to burnish Obama’s credentials with his accomplishments. That is why any discussion of Obama’s problems are considered “off limits.”
Read Obama’s early years in Chi-town to learn how much success the Messiah had in chicago.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:43 am
[...] wrote here. Doug Ross: Obamath: Producing More Oil Won’t Produce More Oil The Anchoress: The Presumptions of Obama Don Surber: The Surge Worked Bookworm Room: Proud to be racist? Big Dog: Barack Hussein Obama is a [...]
June 21st, 2008 at 12:28 pm
[...] The Presumptions of Obama - UPDATED [...]