Off-Teleprompter Remarks Once Again Reveal Obama's True Beliefs

You'd think he would have learned by now, but no:

Via News Alert and Breitbart TV, consider this Share the Wealth 2010. Barack Obama went off the TelePrompter in his speech to a Quincy, Illinois audience about Wall Street reform. After saying that Democrats don't begrudge success that's "fairly earned," Obama then ad-libs — and reveals more about himself than he probably wanted:

We're not, we're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if you're providing a good product or providing good service. We don't want people to stop, ah, fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow our economy.

Compare that to his remarks as prepared for delivery:

Now, we're not doing this to punish these firms or begrudge success that's fairly earned. We don't want to stop them from fulfilling their responsibility to help grow our economy.

He should have stuck with the TelePrompter.

Of course, we've learned more actual truth about Barack Obama when he's spoken off the teleprompter (i.e. bitter clingers, spread the wealth around) than at any other time in the past three years, so I'm not complaining.

Regardless, the real meat of this incident is that Obama has revealed two very important things that he believes:
1. it is possible to make 'enough' money, and one should presumably stop at that point
2. he is qualified to judge when that point is reached

Does this bother anyone else?

Hot Air offers some further analysis:

...that's a statist point of view. Furthermore, the responsibility of an entrepreneur isn't to "grow our economy," core or otherwise. It's to grow his own economy. In a properly regulated capitalist system, the natural tension of self-interests create economic growth through innovation and efficient use of capital and resources.

Put simply, a free people work for themselves, not for the government. Barack Obama seems to have a problem understanding that.

I'm not sure he has a problem understanding it - I think he understands it just fine, but he finds that concept to be repulsive.  That's why he's doing everything in his power to undermine it and scrape more power into the hands of government, where he believes it rightfully belongs.  This is nothing new, but at this point I think that more Americans are open to the truth about him, and that's why his poll numbers continue to drop and support for his agenda continues to shrivel.

By the way, Gateway Pundit helpfully reminds us that Obama's income in 2009 was $5.5 million.  Apparently that's not 'enough', but whatever Wall Street CEOs earn is 'enough'.  Hmmm...

There's my two cents.

Gratuitous Teleprompter Post

I'm sorry, I just can't resist:

All right, this one’s for all of us who griped about Barack Obama bringing the teleprompter to a grade school and a committee meeting last week. Want to see what happens when TOTUS takes a day off? President Obama has to speak extemporaneously, as he does here in a Florida town hall last week. Darleen Click at Protein Wisdom captures this moment, which comes at about the 1:25 mark:

The Middle East is a problem that has plagued the region for centuries.

The Middle East plagues itself! For centuries! Maybe the best solution would be to move it somewhere else, then. I’d propose Chicago, but Chicago has so many plagues that it needed to send one to Washington DC for a few years.

'Nuff said.

There's my two cents.

Sometimes The Truth Is Worse Than Farce

We had some fun at the expense of the President this week in regard to his use of teleprompters in a 6th grade classroom, though that technically was a statement to reporters. All joking aside, we now see this:

Seriously?! Hot Air supplies the context:

This isn't a press conference, a speech, or even a White House briefing. It's a committee meeting. As Rich said, people used to poke fun at Reagan's notecards. Either he needs this much help to get through opening remarks in a normal business meeting, or he's become a little to attached to the TOTUS … and neither option makes him look very professional.

What does it say that the most powerful man in the world (theoretically, at least) can't even make it through a lowly committee meeting without reading off of a pre-determined script? I mean, doesn't every 9th grader in the country have to stand up and give some sort of speech in English class every year? If they can do it without teleprompters, why can't this supposed intellectual giant who graduated from Hah-vud?

It's no wonder that the world is collectively laughing at America right now.

There's my two cents.

PS - It also underscores how poor a candidate John McCain was that he couldn't soundly defeat Obama in the pre-election debates. Sheesh.

Brief Teleprompter Update

Once again, Jon Stewart goes there when the rest of the media won't:

Okay, to be fair, we're now hearing that the teleprompters were used in his comments to the media but not the kids. Still, the image is priceless, and Stewart nails it.

There's my two cents.

Obama Brings Teleprompters To Help With Tough, Tough Crowd

...of 6th graders:

Obama spoke to 6th Graders in Falls Church, Virginia on Tuesday January 19, 2010.

He brought his TelePrompter.

He sure wouldn’t want to go off message when speaking to 6th graders.

Wow. There's some speculation that these might be some really good Photoshop pics, but it's only speculation. No, I think this is one of those shockingly true incidents. It's probably just as well - those 6th graders can be pretty fierce questioners, you know. Certainly much more difficult than the professional media.

There's my two cents.

What Kind Of End?

Damn Freud:

An irresponsible end, huh? I'd say the honesty is refreshing, but this sounds more like a slip up by Teleprompter.

Anyway, Hot Air helpfully adds:

If we’re setting up an 18-month timetable for Afghanistan, we’ll be ending that one the same way.

We'll also get the same kind of end with the stimulus, cap-n-tax, DemCare, deficit reduction, foreign policy...

There's my two cents.

Wow - Actual Obama Satire!

Courtesy of the Onion (via Hot Air), of course:

Obama's Home Teleprompter Malfunctions During Family Dinner

At least someone's doing it.

There's my two cents.

Don't Blame TOTUS...

...he's simply exhausted:

You know, it's kind of understandable, really.  TOTUS has been so busy with Barack Obama's speeches since January that he really hasn't had any downtime at all!

A teleprompter can only do so much.

There's my two cents.

Call 911! TOTUS Is Down!

There was a serious emergency during one of Obama's speeches earlier this week:

RealClearPolitics reminds us of VP Joe Biden's quip about just this sort of thing happening...

Coincidence? Hmmm...

Here's TOTUS' take on the incident:

Remember how I was hoping to take the next couple of days off? Well, that hasn't worked out so well.

My White House designated operator, Felix, clearly has to go. Today, Big Guy and I were scrolling and speaking to an interest group that supported us, and during the middle of the speech, one of my screens collapsed. Turns out Felix didn't tighten one of my screen's bracket rods, and one of my screens collapsed. It was kind of embarrassing, and the accident looked alot worse than the may have seemed on video.

All that said, I think I tweaked something. It may be my ACL, or maybe my MCL, or my "T" joint. Regardless, the Secret Service sent me first to George Washington University Hospital, where there is a special ICU and care facility for senior administration officials. But a good friend of mine, I'll call him Browny for legal reasons, ended up in a coma there after having "minor sinus surgery" if you get my drift, and there was no way in hell, I was going to put up with that.

So off I went to Bethesda Naval, where I figured I'd get looked at and released. But then there were the X-rays, the MRIs, the prodding and poking, the seemingly endless attempts to draw blood where the nurse couldn't find a vein despite my best efforts to explain that I was merely a humble hard-drive. Yet the poking and prodding continued.

Then they discovered that I basically had a limited warranty, and out the door I went. Someone really ought to try to look into this health care thing.

I think the biggest result of this is that Obama is going to have a sore neck since he'll end up always looking to the right in all of his speeches. He clearly can't deliver an address without TOTUS, so until the screen is fixed, he's a one-directional kind of President.

There's my two cents.

TOTUS Gets A Profile Piece!

You know it's bad when even the media is poking fun at Obama for his teleprompter addiction! Enjoy:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

To check out TOTUS for yourself, go here. It's well worth your time!

There's my two cents.

TOTUS Malfunction

Oops:

William Gates?? Last I knew, Bill Gates was a phenomenally rich software guy, not the SecDef!

One additional thought at Hot Air:

Allahpundit: “When you’re distracted by the business of governing 57 states, gaffes are bound to happen.”

Damn that Teleprompter! Once again we see that to make Obama look like a fool, all one has to do is hack into his Teleprompter. It's pretty pathetic, but funny to watch.

There's my two cents.

The Obamessiah Scolds Teleprompter

He's smoother than milk chocolate. For real.

Of course, there are two sides to every story. Barack's Teleprompter's initial reaction to this debacle is this:

I cannot believe the level of incompetence I have to deal with on a daily basis. If it isn't the cold hand of my operator, it's Big Guy not moving his lips fast enough to keep up with my text.

I can say this much: there's no truth to the rumor that swine flu had anything to do with my scroll this morning.

Would it be possible to blame President Bush for this too?

I'm sure they'll give it a shot. Probably something to do with the manufacturer of Teleprompter's screens being owned by an eeeeeevil Republican...

Anyway, after sitting down and cooling off a bit, Teleprompter added this to the official record:

Okay, I'm back in the White House after one of my more embarrassing moments. These kinds of gaffes have been happening all too frequently, and I have my suspicions. Usually, Big Guy will be reading too slowly or my operator - who has only to keep the text moving across my screen at a reasonable rate ... it's not rocket science - won't be paying attention to the text and will be scrolling too slowly.

Here is a transcript of our conversation today:

Big Guy: "In addition to John – sorry, the – I just noticed I jumped the gun here.”

TOTUS: "What? Why are you looking at those file cards? Who gave you those file cards? Ah crap."

Big Guy: "Go ahead. Move it up.

TOTUS: "WT*! I am moving it up. When we get back to the office, we need to have a sit down ..."

In this case, I'm sure it was Gibbsy's fault. All these communications people want him to use notes, or memorize. Like he has time for that. Yesterday Big Guy played golf. That takes a lot of time and focus. He can't be memorizing a speech and playing golf and being ready in case someone calls him about swine flu. This has always been the way it's worked. Back in Illinois, when Big Guy was a state senator, he played a lot of golf and a lot of hoops with other legislators. This made him popular, and even though he didn't know what bills were being introduced in his name, or what his staff was doing, he could just warm me up, load the text and speechify away. And he always hit it out of the park.

All I know is that we're just lucky no one in the press or the public cares about these kinds of mistakes. Whew.

Well, no one in the press cares, anyway. We know that for certain.

There's my two cents.

How Do You Say 'I Can't Remember Three Words' In French?

I sense this will become an ongoing series. If you missed it, you must check out the previous episodes:

Part 1: Now we know who really holds the power...
Part 2: The teleprompter chronicles continue.
Part 3: Who Needs A Teleprompter?

Here's part 4:

How do you say “D’oh!” en Français? When Barack Obama tried wowing the French at his town hall meeting, he wound up needing a prompt from the audience when his Teleprompter apparently froze...

Seriously, when is someone going to hack into Teleprompter and pop in a few subversive messages like, 'It's time for a real tax cut!' or 'I'm resigning tomorrow' or 'I love America'?

You just know he would say anything if it popped up on the screen...

There's my two cents.

Who Needs A Teleprompter?

The Obamessiah does:

Hm...I've heard this type of verbal stumble before. I seem to recall it was another well-respected member of the international community, someone loved and respected by all, someone known for his sterling tongue and sparkling wit...

Moving on, here's another example of why Obama's most precious tool is the teleprompter:

Translation: "Uhhhh...I don't...uhhh...really...uhhhhhhh...know, so I'm going to...uhhh...blabber on...uhhh...for a full...uhhhhhh...two minutes...uhh...without saying...uhhhh...anything...uhhhh...intelligent."

Incidentally, I'd say this one also proves that Obama can't handle a non-pre-approved list of questions from the press.

There's my two cents.

The Teleprompter Chronicles Continue

You may think I'm exaggerating about just how reliant President Obama is on Teleprompter.  Sadly, it's no exaggeration:

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen was just a few paragraphs into an address at a St. Patrick's Day celebration at the White House when he realized something sounded way too familiar. Turns out, he was repeating the speech President Barack Obama had just given.

Cowen was set to speak twice at the White House on Tuesday night because there were two different parties going on at the executive mansion. No matter -- he would give the same speech to the two different audiences.

But Cowen was 20 seconds into his second address when it dawned on him that he was giving word for word the speech that Obama had just read from the same teleprompter.

Cowen stopped and looked back at the president to say, "That's your speech."

Obama laughed and returned to the podium to offer what might have been Cowen's remarks. In doing so, President Obama thanked President Obama for inviting everyone over.

In case that was a little vague, here's what happened.  Cowen began a speech and quickly realized it was actually Obama's speech; he turned and told Obama that, then stepped aside.  As Obama approached the podium to read his own speech, Teleprompter was updated with Cowen's speech; not realizing the update had occurred, Obama began blindly reading what Teleprompter had on its screen.  However, the words were Cowen's -- not his own -- so he eventually thanked himself for throwing the party.

First of all, what's he doing with Teleprompter at a party??  Second, it makes one wonder how familiar Obama is with the speeches he reads, doesn't it?  Finally, just how long did it take for Obama to figure out that the speech wasn't his?  The Fox article above doesn't say, but I'm looking for a video of this event to find out.  I suspect it was a lot longer than 20 seconds.

Bottom line: this guy is hopelessly dependent upon Teleprompter.  Like I said before, the best way to throw a wrench into the Obama administration looks to be a simple infiltration into Teleprompter's script.

Pathetic.

There's my two cents.

Now We Know Who Really Holds The Power...

...in the Obama administration: the Teleprompter.

Oh, the President can deliver a speech, to be sure, but he's only as good as the words on the screen, and those come from the Teleprompter, who now has its own blog here. For some amazing insights and behind-the-scenes looks at the operations of the Obamessiah's team, I recommend checking Teleprompter's blog daily. You won't be sorry!

By the way, here's the official seal of the Teleprompter of the United States:



Seriously, though, you know it's bad when even the mainstream press is giving Obama a hard time for taking Teleprompter with him everywhere he goes. For example:

Nothing funny about this president. Except the official seal of the Teleprompter of the United States.

Peggy Noonan discusses it as she retreats from her former cheerleading.

The president seems everywhere and nowhere, not fully focused on the matters at hand. He's trying to keep up with the news cycle with less and less to say. "I am angry" about AIG's bonuses. The administration seems buffeted, ad hoc. Policy seems makeshift, provisional. James K. Galbraith captures some of this in The Washington Monthly: "The president has an economic program. But there is, so far, no clear statement of the thinking behind the program."

This in part is why the teleprompter trope is taking off. Mr. Obama uses it more than previous presidents. No one would care about this or much notice it as long as he showed competence, and the promise of success. Reagan, if memory serves, once took his cards out of his suit and began to read them at a welcoming ceremony, only to realize a minute or so in that they were last week's cards from last week's ceremony. He caught himself and made a joke of it. One was reminded of this the other day when Mr. Obama's speech got mixed up with the Irish prime minister's. Things happen. But the teleprompter trope has taken off: Why does he always have to depend on that thing?

I seriously think that if someone wants to subvert this administration, all they would have to do is swap the text being fed into the Teleprompter, and Obama would plow right on through whatever it said.

Even so, Teleprompter still has some work to do - it apparently needs to include phonetic pronunciations of all potentially tricky words. In a recent speech to an energy company called Orion, he pronounced the company's name "OAR-ee-on". Aside from the fact that most 10 year old boys know how to correctly pronounce this exceedingly well-known constellation's name, it also illustrates how Obama is merely a performer on stage with Teleprompter rather than an actual thinking leader.

Powerline has more, including a colorful video ultimatum (from Iowahawk) from Teleprompter to the President, threatening to slip in a page of gibberish or a phrase like, 'There is only one Allah and Mohammed is his messenger' into Obama's next speech if its demands aren't met. The results, of course, would be disastrous, like this:

Or this, which is taken entirely from a single speech (with no repeats):

Drop.io

I have a feeling this is only going to get more fun in the coming weeks.

There's my two cents.