A Shrinking Presidential Perspective
Necessity being the mother of invention, it appears that Barack Obama has needed, and thus invented, the Portable President Kit, consisting of two teleprompters with accompanying equipment and a traveling Don’t-You-Know-Who-I-Am-I-Am-The-President-That’s-Who Podium With Presidential Seal, which Barack Obama takes with him, everywhere he goes.
That means he brings it to an elementary school, for use in addressing the press (something past-and-moronic presidents did not have to do), who are then weirdly dismissed and unable to witness his talk to the children.
It means that he brings his Obamaprompta w/ Podium to a what is essentially a staff meeting.
I’ll be honest, my first reaction to both of those pictures was that they were photoshops. Whoever is choosing what photos get released by the White House needs to be fired. Do they think these pictures reassure us, or that it makes Obama look commanding? They’re quite wrong. These pictures make the President look like an insecure fool.
For all we know -since we don’t know very much at all about Barack Obama, after all- perhaps the president is an insecure fool. Perhaps that was why he needed a pre-presidential seal,
and a ubiquitous, dreamy logo
and a rather special seat, just for him, on his campaign plane:
and a truly unprecedented sign identifying him as President-Elect
The blogs (and Jon Stewart) are having a lot of fun at the president’s expense, every time another one of these weird teleprompter-and-podium sightings turns up, and well they should. We can be very certain that if President Bush had needed a teleprompter in an elementary school (whether it was meant for-the-press-only, or not) or if he’d needed one to address a “task force” of ten people, the press and most Americans would be ridiculing him without mercy (and with some justification), while his supporters winced.
Mockery and cynicism is all part of modern day politics, but I am beginning to worry that Obama is showing evidence of a real problem, and it is a problem of insecurity, identity, aloofness, self-protection and, I am sorry to say it, but delusion.
Is Barack Obama headed for some sort of meltdown? Is he clinging to his podium and teleprompters because he has lost his protective shields and does not trust himself without them? The starry-eyed adulation of the press has simmered down to a mere gaze of hopefulness and longing, accompanied by the barest of criticisms, and Obama translates that as the press being “against” him.
Barack Obama is making flimsy excuses or outright lying; he is saying downright weird things like “I am happy to own up to the fact that I have not changed Congress and how it operates…” He has become more self-referential than Bill Clinton. He is throwing transparent boondoggles and doublespeaks at an American public he clearly thinks is too stupid to understand much of anything.
Some are talking about Linus and his security blanket. To me Obama more accurately resembles the responsibility-shirking Captain Queeg, with this marbles. What is going on with him? The teleprompter protects him from a slip of the tongue. The Podium creates a barrier between him and his “audience” such as it is, and all of it keeps everything at a distance. Even in this picture, the desk is a barrier, the legs outstretched to the max create distance, the soles of the feet denote a measure of disregard. This president is voluntarily isolating himself, even from his advisers. And again, the White House must think this makes Obama appear in control, but one could just as easily argue that he is surrounded by men who are standing above and looking down upon him.
The optics are terrible, indeed, but the message being communicated in these photos is downright worrisome. Our nation is in serious trouble, and the man in charge of it all seems content misread every signal and only reluctantly engage. His own party has been in control of Congress (and therefore in control of spending) for two solid years, and yet all he can do is blame the predecessor (with whom he should -at this point- really have a little sympathy) and throw that same congress under the bus because all of his illusions have crumbled, and someone must be blamed.
Well, yes, there must be blame and there is plenty to go around. For my money, the press needs to be made to explain how it can justify having never asked this man a difficult question during his two-year campaign; they need to explain why they were so happy to promote Barack Obama into the presidency when they really did not know him, and did not want to know him. They wanted an idea of a president, and I suspect the press did not look too deeply at Barack Obama, because they did not want their idea shattered; they did not want to find out he was not what they imagined. Even Howard Fineman now admits we do not know this man.
So, we do not know much about Barack Obama. We do not even know the minimal stuff -school records, health records, known associates- because the press never troubled themselves with those same urgent demands they made of his predecessor. All we have is the media-built narrative, and the example of Obama in his first year as president, during which he resembled nothing of the man we saw in 2007 and 2008.
The president does not seem to know himself, either, which is perhaps why he needs to surround himself with cultural elitists, the trappings of his office, and the constant reminder of his title. Whether the highly-insulated Obama knows who his allies are, or even who the majority of his countrymen are is also a question worth asking.
Another WH issued picture that I thought was a photoshop
Referencing that photo, Bookworm, has called Barack Obama as a “malignant narcissist”, incapable of considering anything, except in reference to himself. She may well be right, but I’ll leave that to the experts. I do worry about his isolation, though, and his delusion that the press is “against” him. There is no president in my memory who has been more carefully protected and kid-gloved by the press.
But I think Bookworm is right to wonder what is wrong with Barack Obama. I think many Americans are wondering what is the story with this stranger-president, with the affable (if eerily unchanging) smile, and the instinct to blame others and then slip away. Is he a victim of his own success? Has he made the ultimate mistake of a politician, and believed his own hype, only to find that reality trumps hype, every time, and leaves the adored object unmercifully exposed as being merely mere?
All I know is, I keep seeing these awful White House approved photos, and they daily jar me because they seem to reveal the president in very unflattering, troubling ways, like the work of an obsessed and Obama-hating photoshop expert.
I look at the photos and see a man who seems not to know himself, or -perhaps- to love himself too much. And I can’t help thinking, “this man has about 40 ‘czars’ busily working under the radar; most of them are unaccountable to congress, or to the people, or to the press. They answer only to Barack Obama, whose presidency may be a voyage of self-discovery joined with immense but unfocused power.
Who knows where it will land us?
Ann Althouse links and notes:
[the pictures] are mostly unflattering when seen by people who don’t like Obama — admittedly, that’s an increasing group. People who like him look at those pics and think they are wonderful.
And this reminds me of something I was saying the other day about liberals. Liberals — I’m generalizing — are so engulfed in their belief that they are the good people, the smart people, that they forget to step back and look at things from the perspective of people who don’t agree with them.
Instapundit links! Thanks, Glenn, and welcome readers! Please note, today I recommended that the pope work toward an instalanche in a chat on NPR!
Related:
NeoNeocon Again, with the Speech of his life!
Vanderleun remembers a president who knew who he was
State of the Union Bingo Cards
Gateway Pundit: more blaming
Koop: Last Knife in Obamacare?
He is in so far over his head that it is keeping the country in a rut that we otherwise would have emerged from by now. His only ideas are to raise taxes and increase the size of government. Having never really worked in the private sector, ever, he doesn’t have the foggiest idea about how our economy creates jobs, nor, judging from all these bizarre photos, does he particularly care. L’etat c’est moi in his worldview. If we were a parliamentary democracy like the UK he would get a vote of no confidence tomorrow and would be replaced.
Outstanding post.
I guess the day is coming when it’ll all be a card board cutout hoax with some high tech recording of the speech being emitted though the Presidential Seal.
Emotionally, Obama is a teenager. He didn’t just create a sign for the president-elect, he created a sign for the “Office of the President-Elect”! A thing that doesn’t even exist. Remember during the race when he had to return to Chicago for some board meeting. Everyone got standard name plates except Obama, he had a specially made nameplate designed to look like the seal of the president. And this was before the election.
To the photo above of men standing around Obama looking down on him, I’ll add one last thing. Obama looks like the petulant, useless son of the founder of the company surrounded by far greater men than he, who know they’re better than him but have show deference anyway because of who his dad is.
Very excellent analysis, Elizabeth. I’m as concerned as you are, but then, I’ve been concerned since WAY before the election. I knew in my gut the moment I saw Obama that he was an empty suit and a manipulator. I have always felt he was unstable, probably a sociopath. I, too, cannot believe that no one bothered to find out who this man really is. Instead, the entire country projected onto him everything they thought was the antithesis of Bush, and pronounced him “The One” who would save us.
May God save us now.
Great post. My only problem with it is you stated Obama’s party has been in charge of Congress for 2 solid years. It’s been 3 solid years since they took over after the 2006 elections.
But it’s still all Bush’s fault anyway (snarc)
Great post, A., but what really scares me about these photos is that they may be the most flattering ones the White House has to offer.
Sadly, had people been paying attention before the election, they would have learned all they needed to know about Obama.
They didn’t, and, so, we’re saddled with “Hope and Change” that seems to be leading us, not down the Yellow Brick Road, but the Road to Ruin.
You’ve hit another one out of the park, Elizabeth.
Many of those that I know who voted for him do not bother to keep informed about what Obama is up. They do, however, remain stalwart in their defense of him.
Ok. You’ve got me creeped out now. Button, button, who has got the button?
And in the meanwhile, he has signed an Executive Order which is designed to entice the various state’s governors to surrender unto Obama the power to mobilize the National Guard. This is a power granted by the Constitution to the state’s governors and the President’s order is clearly unconstitutional.
It has become evident to me – glaringly so – that this so-called constitutional law professor knows absolutely nothing whatever about the U.S. Constitution. Else why would he promise that the Congress would handle the health care debates with “transparency” when he should know that he has no control or authority over the U.S. Congress which can do what it wants, subject only to his eventual veto – which Congress can then override if they so desire.
Not only is our president an empty suit, he’s an arrogant and stupid one as well. All of which makes him seriously dangerous.
Townhall.com has bingo cards available for tonight’s SOTU address, to help make things interesting: link
It may not help us with our analysis much, but we’ll pay better attention, and maybe have a little fun.
Great post! I do not believe he is the genius people believe him to be. In this, is part of the problem. This is now being exposed. He is empty. With no moral compass, other than his narcissism, he drifts. And drifts. And drifts to nowhere.
Terrific post, dear Anchoress. You are right on!!
Obama is a malignant narcisstic empty suit who has always reminded me of the “Manchurian Candidate.”
Indeed, may God save us now.
What does the picture of the feet-on-the-desk say to you about respect form the office that desk represents?
What effect on the next person to occupy that office.
Oh, wait. There isn’t going to BE any “next person” for a long while, is there?
“Is he clinging to his podium and teleprompters because he has lost his protective shields and does not trust himself without them?”
He doesn’t have guns to cling to. They still haven’t found a church, so he probably doesn’t really have a Bible to cling to, either. With his upbringing, and “job” history, what was he ever really part of? And he losing at least some of the protection the press offered.
I had this same conversation last night with my husband. Not only was Obama unprepared to be president in terms of work history or even government service, he seems to just want to be just a figurehead. Almost like he wants to be a current Bill Clinton doing ribbon cuttings and overpaid speeches. I’m afraid though that it’s deeper than that and we’re dealing with real issues here.
I find him very unnerving, and I’m bewildered by those who don’t. It might be worth observing that, amongst my friends who remain supporters, the most supportive are those who admit that they pay little attention.
There is a photoshop of the picture of Obama looking into the mirror. Looking back at him is Jimmy Carter. . .
You can see it at JammieWearingFool. the url is link
He needs to announce that the Bush tax cuts will be extended, or that he wants to lower marginal tax rates. That would give the country and private sector some confidence that he has a clue. But I’m afraid that he and his far, far left entourage just don’t have it in them. Confiscation of wealth from the private sector to the government is in his DNA.
Lots of white guys in there advising the president. Where is the diversity?
I’m half surprised we haven’t seen him walking around in a harness or rig with the teleprompters and podium built in. I’d like to see a photoshop of that.
You really need to find the photo from last week that the photo staff put out of Obama trying really, really hard to learn how to salute. He looks like he has a migraine.
Barack Obama will be okay. How do we know that? Because George W. Bush promised that he is praying for him.
As my grandmother used to say, “If you have to tell people you’re a Lady — you’re not.”
How much worse to be CIC with this need.
No teleprompter here: link
Obama has ASS (Abandoned Son Syndrome). The most visable signs of the disease are narcissism and delusional behavior. The disease was moderated by election losses in Clinton’s case, who was in the early stages of the illness. Deluded Obama has an advanced case, and knows he will never loose his ASS.
The picture with his feet up on the desk disgusts me.
Katherine
Excellent post. I think that Mr. Obama believes that he truly has the answers to the problems of the country. That’s why he’s going “double down” and continue to push hard on his agenda, no matter what. But Congress has begun to realize that if they keep pushing his agenda, then the wave that is building will wash them out of office in unprecedented numbers….and no politicians ever wants to be “retired by the voters” (those are J. E. Carter’s words on getting booted out of office).
caught the thin skinned video last night…
was thinking he would skip out, IF he could, on the sotu, and let biden do it. The delay, only to return to the original date, has to be a momentum killer.
he has no moderates he trusts, in his inner circle. the only advice he is getting is to turn to his base. last tally I saw, liberals accounted for 20% of the population. the recipe for a full blown meltdown is closely being followed.
caught k-hammer dxing clinical denial. he was being kind, as there seems to be something more serious going on.
this week he lost obama girl AND modo.
he’s crumbling.
All true, but incomplete.
Add the hair-raising National Security Briefing;
Still not quite there.
Add the widely accepted, never mentioned fact
that the US is in for Hard Times such as nobody,
including the remaining witnesses to the 1st
Great Depression, have ever seen, and that TPTB
know they do not have The Right Stuff to cope.
Ahh; _That_ is the equation !
What concerns me is exactly WHO is putting the words in the ever-present Teleprompter. We all assume it’s Obama, or his speech-writers and that the President approves of the words he’s going to parrot.
But…Do we really know who’s words he’s speaking? His own? Or someone else’s? Is he really the President, or is he a sort of ventriloquist-puppet for someone else?
Orion
Feet on the desk, no longer bothering to wear a tie at certain times….he is disrespecting his office and the people he supposedly works for. Contrast that with Ronaldus Maximus who would not remove his suit jacket in the office out of respect!
I can’t stand diagnoses of “narcissism” because it’s a skull-pounding ridiculous thing to diagnose someone with who isn’t your patient, much less to someone you’ve never even seen in the flesh. By definition, EVERY famous person exhibits signs of narcissism. If someone’s writing about you and taking your picture all the time, you’re going to have the “symptoms”. The lefty blogs had the same extended “proof of narcissism” posts about BUSH for God’s sake.
Now, with that pet peeve out of the way…yeah, it’s kind of frightening where this is going. It’s worth noting that nutjob liberals predicted Bush would tear everything down in a fit of pique or zeal, but the big difference is (besides the fact that Bush wasn’t 1/8th as spiteful as his opponents fantasized) that Bush genuinely loved his country…as did his 42 predecessors.
There’s very strong evidence to suggest that Barack Obama detests his country except for its capacity to come together and elect someone like him. November can’t come soon enough.
Nearly 50 years after I graduated, I still have a recurring, disturbing dream. I’m back in school, it’s exam day, and I’m about to sit for an examination in a course I don’t know anything about. I forgot I had registered for it. I blew off all the classes. I did no reading. I did no homework. Now I’m about to take an exam that will ruin me. And then I wake up and realize that it was only a dream.
Barack Obama is living that dream.
He isn’t misreading our signals, he simply doesn’t care. He is an ideologue and thinks he has a destiny to fulfill.
I always had the feeling that Obama was not right. Off, strange, weird.
My God! We’ve got Captain Queeg at the helm of the ship of state!
Whether the Dems believe that “this self puffery is the product of a delusional mind” is irrelevant. They have seen his toxicity in polls and recent elections. What appeared to be an attractive young upstart, capable of passing legislation dreamed about by older Dems for decades, is now seen as a threat to their very existence. The old bulls are not ready to cede their place in Washington so that some young, delusional dreamer can pursue his fantasies and destroy their gravy train.
Fantasy has been confronted by reality. In such contests, reality always triumphs, at least eventually. It will be interesting to see how this President reacts. He is not used to being questioned. Nor is he used to being treated with anything other than cult-like admiration. If indeed his condition is pathological, we could be in store for a very painful (and dangerous) national soap opera.
When Obama was useful, he was the hit of the party. Exposed, he is nothing more than a liability that threatens the rest of the party. Survival trumps loyalty, ideology and psychology. Regardless of Obama’s psychological condition, he is about to be destroyed by his own tribe.
Messiahs are not used to such treatment. How this plays out will be interesting and potentially very dangerous.
I wonder how many cigarette burns are in the carpet in the oval office
Like the rarest of vintage communion wine, you improve with age.
I consider myself to be a fairly competent person. I have a high tech job and not only do I have the appropriate amount of higher education, but I have 28 years of experience. However, I am currently working in an area that I have never been in before. My experience helps, but there are many tasks that completely throw me. I handle it by sitting on those tasks for a couple of days to give my brain time to work and that gives me the time to work through the possible issues, etc. I think that our leader at the top doesn’t have the luxury of a couple of days in most cases, and I think he doesn’t think about the problems. I think he may have been very naive about how this job works. All those people in the WH do the legwork, write the speeches, etc., and yes, the pres gets “statused” and can give a vision, but someone else does the actual work. Then – it blows up and primarily the pres gets blamed! I think that his advisors who want him to continually blame those before him are afraid he’s going to wise up and finally blame them! I think it makes him furious that he isn’t actually doing the work, but getting blamed for it. That is why he is distancing himself. He sees no way out of this because he does not know HOW to do the work himself. He doesn’t know how to lead and worse – he hasn’t been good at choosing people who can do a good job. His choices have been almost 100% from the farthest realm of normal. Think the Safe School Czar! Oh my goodness. What was he thinking on that one? I hate to keep using the child-pres analogy, but I think he is like the child who gets the test paper and when he looks at it, he cannot even understand what is being asked, much less know how to answer it! It’s like the recurring nightmare where you haven’t been to class, don’t know where it is, and the final exam is today. Sadly, the final exam is now, and no one in the WH knows where to go to take it!
Do we really know who’s words he’s speaking? His own? Or someone else’s?
According to an interview with one of his speechwriters, their biggest sources are HIS OWN two books… the self-referential feedback-loop is frightening.
If Obama is unable to change course very soon then the Democratic congress has two choices. The first is to melt down with him or the second is to tell him to resign for the good of the party or they will initiate impeachment proceedings. It won’t be pretty in either case.
Could he have been chosen JUST for his inexperience, I wonder. Was it all about getting a mad dash of leftist laws in to undermine this country’s economy, laws and independence? Durbin just wanted someone he knew would sign the extremist leftist bills coming out of an extreme left congress?
We need to undo the damage, roll back “change” asap.
Obama, I’m afraid, is America’s first affirmative-action president.
Obama’s a symptom of what’s wrong, not the cause. If he and his minions were removed tomorrow, we’d still be in deep trouble.
Over half the people in this country voted for this empty suit. What were they thinking of? Were they thinking at all, have they lost the ability to think, or do they simply hate their own country? This goes far deeper than one man or even the democrat party.
It’s no excuse, really, that the media didn’t tell us anything about Obama. The fact that that dog didn’t bark, in fact refused to bark, was message enough that there was something seriously wrong. That piece of information alone was enough to warn off any thinking voter. Yet educated, intelligent people voted for him anyway.
Yes, there’s a huge problem in the Oval office and one just as large in Congress, but they’re both miniscule compared to an electorate that will actually put such people into positions of power.
One look at that Oval Office photo and I don’t think team I think audience.
Any President needs a team, but more importantly those working for a President need to feel part of a team, one led by its senior most member, that being the President.
Heaven help Obama should things go truly south and those audience members decide their loyalties lie elsewhere.
I think Keith Olbermann is going to crack up before Obama – he seems to be getting angrier and angrier.
Slublog did a great edit to the mirror photo, as seen on AoSHQ: link
I am a 4th grader and we’ve had show and tell in school from age 3 without notes or teleprompters.
*Sniff* “The press is against me”. *Sniff*
Gawd, what a self-indulged crybaby.
This is coming from a publicity-created Frankenstein; foisted into power by leftwing media which served as his campaign wing.
When taken all together, it’s obvious that Obama’s house-of-cards image is collapsing.
The White House photos are disturbing and indicative of unchecked hubris and absence of leadership skills, in the hands of an immature socialist empty suit.