Some of you guys hate it when I poke fun at Our Dear Leader, but he just makes it so easy sometimes. Remember about a month ago, when Obama mocked Washingtonites for bringing the city to a halt over a little inclement weather? Here’s a refresher:
After his daughters got a snow day Wednesday, President Barack Obama wants to see a little bit of “flinty, Chicago toughness” applied locally.
“When it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don’t seem to be able to handle things,” a joking Obama told reporters Wednesday morning.
“My children’s school was canceled today because of what? Some ice.”
That toughness is pretty flinty, alright! (Then he ruggedly and manfully cranked up the Oval Office thermostat because he felt a bit chilly, but that’s another story.)
Well, obviously Obama was indeed making a funny ha-ha joke, if this item from today’s Daily Telegraph is any indication:
Strange goings on surrounding the programme for the first day of Gordon Brown’s visit to Washington.
No sooner had the Prime Minister’s plane touched down at Andrews Air Force on Monday evening when word was passed to travelling Westminster correspondents that the press conference they’d been told to expect had been called off “because of snow”.
Tee-hee. Just another example of the stuff I’m really starting to like about this new era, what with the ice-encrusted Global Warming protests, the stock market reacting to Hope and Change by leaping headfirst out the window, tax cheats chasing tax dodgers, etc. It’s an ironist’s nirvana!
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I saw this and spit nails. This “change” he was talking about was his mind. He “changes” his mind more than us chicks. I know, I know. Go easy on him, he is after all the Messiah and from Hawaii. BTW, if he is the Messiah, then why not just stop the snow? Just sayin.
I think what sickens me most about Obama–besides the fact that he can’t quite decide where he’s from–is the fact that his utter, uncompromising arrogance allows him to pull stupid stunts like this, and NOT CARE. He knows that we know, and he doesn’t care. Imagine how that would have played in a Bush Oval Office, or ANY Republican Oval Office.
Called off because of snow? In the White House? Man that guy IS cool.
And all that other stuff in the story? Yeah it’s Bush’s fault.
MUAHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Sorry I just wanted to Evil laugh.
My guess is that Brown refused to take back the Churchill Bust.
Wuss.
I kind of get that feeling about Mrs.Obie as well Beige, she kind of scares me. :-p
Translation: Obama doesn’t care about England, America’s only true ally in the free world. Like the cheerleader sitting by her phone waiting for the call from the football captain Obama is waiting for France or Russia to call him. Those guys know how to run their governments I am sure he will say. Why else would he be passing notes to Putin for the last month without the press knowing.
I honestly don’t care, but I am someone who tends to give the benefit of the doubt to people. Anyway, do we know for sure that HE canceled? Was it maybe canceled because members of the press couldn’t make it? Because I live in the DC area, and I’m from Cleveland, and I agree that people overreact when it snows around here. Totally. And they freak out when they drive and they buy all the milk and toilet paper from the convenience stores. It’s annoying. That being said, I had the day off yesterday because of the snow, and it was awesome!
I am one of the first ones to admit that Mrs. O scares the crap out of me. Her comments make me skake in my boots. She is NOT the new Jackie.
*points to Aleric’s comment* Yeah, the lack of reception for our strongest, closest allie is scary…
Most of the hypcocrisy with this issue (and really any Obama post) is the press that tore Bush apart for being so weird as to breathe oxygen but could witness Obama drive a girl off a bridge and would question where there’s a problem with the law.
Mrs O scares the beejeesus out of me too. I think she’s the one that wears the pants in that family.
A.A.W.
You are right she is not the new Jackie O. But I do laugh when the press dubs every democratic wife the new Jackie O….that is except for Hildog. Poor thing, they didn’t even pretend she had any style going on.
Hypocrite-in-Chief, that’s America’s prez.
He IS from Kenya after all lol
as a midwesterner (iowa), we get an inflated sense of how well people handle weather. but when we are transported to the east or west coast or the southern states, we realize that no, people can’t handle weather. a little snow storm pops up and it’s suddenly the end of the world and people start hoarding water and food. the ones from the midwest sorta check the weather and call into work to ask if it’s been canceled, roll over, and go back to sleep. but when we first get to these places, we’re utterly baffled why anything becomes canceled. now we know — we know we can drive in the muck but quickly find out no one else can. you boys can girls need to take increment weather driving classes and seriously man up. so yes, obama did have need to cancel some things for the safety of the people who work because of him or for him.
Not too flinty!
I live in North Carolina. It snowed yesterday; we had school. It was clear and sunny today, we had no school.
Logic prevales.
pffft…after 8 yrs of damn near retarded bush, who cares? anything goes. To paraphrase (the late
) George Carlin – in order to be a better president than Bush all Obama needs to do is to maintain a body temperature roughly around 90. Plus, the weather really IS a motherf***** right now here on the east coast. lol…baby, it’s cold outside.
There’s bound to be talk tomorrow
Making my life long sorrow
At least there will be plenty implied
If you caught pneumonia and died
Baby it’s cold outside
This is the sort of penetrating sociopolitical analysis I like to see in these comments.
I know, that’s why I invested so much thought into that comment.
A lot of time and effort were invested into that comment, too. As you can imagine, it wasn’t easy to put all those razor-sharp political observations together.
“pffft…after 8 yrs of damn near retarded bush, who cares?”
See, this sentiment should really be on the emblem of the Democratic party. I think the old donkey is getting a bit dated, and who really needs all those ‘ass’ jokes? I can see it now – a six year old girl with tears in her eyes, stomping her feet, and screaming at the top of her lungs with the caption “BUT HE DID IT TOO!!!!”
Tax cuts during war time were for idiots when Bush did it. Now Obama brags about cutting taxes for 90% of the country while escalating the war in Afghanistan. When this gets pointed out, how do the Democrats respond? “Well Bush did it! But it’s different because of who it’s going to!” Yeah, it’s going to people who will buy big macs instead of people who could conceivably buy up some of the failing businesses – congratulations. I’m sure that will really help the economy.
Running up the deficit and handing our debt to China by the truckload was national suicide when Bush was doing it. Now Obama has run up more debt in his first month than Bush managed over his second term with two wars going on. Again, the defense when confronted with this blatant hypocrisy? “Bush ran up the debt too!”
Bush was a retard for alienating our allies – Obama insults our closest ally over a little snow and he’s all roses. Lets also not forget how stupid he was for endangering our lifeline to Afghanistan by pissing off the Pakistanis with drone strikes – which have continued unabated into Obama’s administration without so much as a peep from the Democrats.
I could go on all day but this crap is obvious to anyone with a brain, which is why Obama’s poll numbers will continue to sink faster than Teddy Kennedy’s Buick over the next few months. This is not change – this is blatant hypocrisy in it’s purest form.
Oh, and as far as insulting Bush’s intelligence goes… glass houses sweetie. Lets not overlook the fact we traded in a President who couldn’t pronounce ‘nuclear’ or figure out which door was locked, for a guy who thinks we have 57 States, thinks doors are windows, and can’t string six coherent words together sans teleprompter without more ‘uhs’ and ‘ers’ than a 15 year old girl in ‘Introduction to Speech’. Some might call that a lateral move.
but I managed
I like Aleric’s comment. I can’t add to that other than to say when you are from Kenwaiicago, it must wreak havoc on one’s body temperature.
oh lawdy, i must have struck the nerve here. My previous comment wasn’t even supposed to be all that serious. Silly me, I forgot that “internet is serious business”. I was merely implying that the weather here is indeed s*itty, it’s a freaking snowstorm, most ppl have stayed home from work and the school everywhere is canceled, so he has a legitimate excuse here and I don’t see what the big deal is.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not Obama-crazy, never been, I was put off by all that hope/change frenzy (and by his vague responses to every question he was ever asked) during his presidential campaign as much as the next gal. But now, that he is the president, I feel like he is being excessively, and a lot of times, undeservedly critisized. No, critisized is not even the right word here, “picked on” is the right word. A while ago, he was critisized by several different bloggers for (supposedly) using improper grammar (that after 8 yrs of illiterate bush), now this. I don’t recollect bush ever being critisized so harshly for all of his atrocities (think 2 illegal wars, 9/11, hurricane Katrina, Abu-Ghraib, raised taxes, raised college tuition, raised housing costs, need I go on?) And if I remeber correctly, the market collapsed and people started losing jobs before Obama became our President. Bush’s approval ratings started to drop significantly only during the last year of his presidency. WTF? You needed 8 yrs to realise that the man you voted for (twice!) is a dips*it? I knew it back in 2000. Say what you want about Al Gore, but he would have made a much better prez than bush. A test dummy would have made a better president than bush. So Obama really has to try here to prove to be a worse president than bush.
I guess what I’m trying to say here, don’t critisize our president for some minor missteps. Give him a chance. To really f*** up.
Just kidding. So far it looks like Obama is going to keep at least one of his promises and end the war in Iraq. And if he does that, it will be better than anything bush has ever done in his life.
Yeah, because six inches of snow is piffle. And press conferences simply can’t be rescheduled. And safety is totally not an issue when you’re dealing with the Prime Minister of another country. Really, everyone knows D.C. and the surrounding area know exactly what to do in snow conditions and there have never been any accidents, ever.
So naturally Mr Brown will express bitter offense that his safety- we won’t mention the news crews’ safety, they’re all disposable anyway- was set at a higher priority level than his publicity.
(/sarcasm)
It’s interesting to me how many counter-Obama people throw the word Messiah around. Not quite sure whether that’s irony or just extremism for the sake of exaggeration, but it makes me glad the Obama supporters have a more realistic view. None of them (that I’ve encountered) ever pretend he’s perfection embodied, come to solve all our problems.
“Flinty Chicago toughness”? Pretty rich coming from a guy from Hawaii.
Teddy Kennedy’s Buick. I like that one, Scott!
What I think is funny in all of this is that Brown had already landed in Virgina when they cancelled the press conference. It was not like he could not land due to the weather, but he was already here. Obama has a major inflated ego that scares me more each day. I am getting tired of blaming Bush for everything. Bush did things wrong, but Obama is making matters worse. “I will go line by line in any package to make sure there are no earmarks.” “I will have the most ethical administration in any Whitehouse”. Wow, 4 cabinet members later with bad taxes and $30 million to save some Marsh Mouse in San Fran and we got change folks.
I’ve always wondered how you can cut taxes for 90 % of the country, when the percentage of working people that pay taxes is way less than 90% ? Those that make $12K-18K with a couple of dependants could end up not paying any taxes. This is just a guesstimate, but a basic idea how there can be only 70% of working people that actually pay taxes. Unless POTUS Obama means 90% of those who pay taxes will get theirs cut.
On top of this, though, is that (just an approximation, since I’ve read a few differing percentages, but they’re all in the ballpark) something like the top 10% of the wage earners in the USA are already paying 30-40% of the taxes. I’ve even seen 50% mentioned, but even at a conservative 30%, the “evil rich” are already paying their “fair share”.
And it’s these “evil rich” that are providing jobs. When’s the last time you worked for someone who made $20K-30k / yr ? That’s what I thought.
It’s spelled “criticize”.
As for Obama supporters having a more realistic outlook, thanks–that was the funniest thing I’ve read anywhere today.
Although this won’t be the pithiest observation anyone could ever make, well, I’ll just toss it out there: I love watching people trying to defend Obama! It’s more bearable than hearing all his “er-ah-uh-um-well-ah-um-that-that-that-uh”-ing, and far more entertaining!
I declare Scott wins the thread ^_^ He’s better at this pithiness thing than I am. And funnier. Teddy Kennedy . . . *giggle*
“I don’t recollect bush ever being critisized so harshly for all of his atrocities (think 2 illegal wars, 9/11, hurricane Katrina, Abu-Ghraib, raised taxes, raised college tuition, raised housing costs, need I go on?)”
Do you listen to yourself? I mean, does this stuff go through any kind of logic filter at all before it escapes into the ether? If so, you might wanna look at getting it adjusted.
First, I love how his list of ‘atrocities’ includes killing a bunch of people and… raising tuition. Isn’t that kinda like listing an overdue library book when recounting Ted Bundy’s criminal record? Anyways – lemmie follow your logic here: lets NOT blame Obama for anything he’s done because that would be ‘picking on him’. But while we’re at it, lets blame Bush for an attack by a terrorist that was planned under Clinton, by a man who would have been in US custody had ol Billy Boy not been too paralyzed by fear of what might happen if we arrested him. In hindsight, I really can’t see that outcome being worse than 9/11, can you?
Blame him for Katrina? Hey, that reminds me, has Obama been to see the victims of that ice storm that knocked out heat and power for half of Kentucky for weeks during one of the worst winters in decades? No? Allow me to slightly adjust an old Democrat talking point about Bush and Katrina then – “Barrack Obama hates white people!!!!! ARGHHHH!!!”
Bush raised taxes? On who exactly? Not rich people, because the Democrats have spent the last 8 years telling us that’s who benefited. Not poor people, because they don’t pay taxes. Certainly not the middle class – because I know that we personally have barely paid taxes since Bush’s child tax credit came along. Are you buying that tired old argument that a lack of a projected decrease is actually an increase? You know, like when they claim that Bush cut education funding because he cut the increase in funds for the year from 20% to 10%?
“I guess what I’m trying to say here, don’t critisize our president for some minor missteps.”
Sorry – that’s just not going to happen. The Democrats changed the rules when Bush came into office, and now they’d better learn to play by the rules they themselves invented. Every small slip-up was exploited for gain: holding a book upside down, mispronouncing words, walking in the wrong door, looking like a monkey (notice how quick THAT became off-limits?), ect. These were apparently perfectly acceptable reasons to hate and belittle a President over the last 8 years. Just don’t be surprised when we hold your guy to the same standard. That’s not picking on him, it’s being fair.
“Obama is going to keep at least one of his promises and end the war in Iraq.”
Because blowing out birthday candles is exactly like baking a 9 layer cake from scratch.
I am still laughing over the comment that Gore would make a better president than Bush. 9/11? Planned for 4 years prior to Bush being elected. USS Cole and the first World Trade Center bombing happened on Clinton and Gore’s watch.
Messiah was given the name by the Democrats and his followers. I am still waiting for him to walk on water.
Scott, Minnow and AAW: Y’all need to have your own holidays. I’d decorate and wrap presents and EVERYTHING. Love, love, love, and large hunks of cake for ya.
“lets NOT blame Obama for anything he’s done because that would be ‘picking on him’”
that’s not what I said…not for ANYTHING he’s done, for minor insignificant stuff
and I wasn’t defending Obama/blaming Bush, I was merely pointing out that Bush was never critiCized (sorry, miss spelling bee champ) as harshly as Obama.
I just love it how in this country, when you happen to think differently or to disagree with someone, they never say “Oh, I think differently” or “I don’t necessarily agree with you, but that’s fine”. Naw, no such luck. They start arguing (usually with the foam at their mouth and the crazy look in their eyes), trying to convince you that you are wrong (of course, they are sure that they are right, no room for self-doubt there) and to make you see things their way. Always kills me. What I stated above, is my opinion. If you disagree with me, fine.
And Scott, he’s not MY guy. I never said I was a supporter. Actually, I said I wasn’t. Apparently, you completely misunderstood what I was trying to say
oh, and “realize” was also misspelled…i just saw it now…sry
@ k–
He was born in Hawaii but lived for many years in Chicago. So….that DOESN’T give him a right to say that Chicagoans can handle snow? I don’t get your premise. I would think one year in Chicago would be enough to say, “Wow, you DCers don’t know how to deal with snow.”
YOU JUST MISSPELLED SORRY NOW!!!!! It’s not sry, jeez.
Just pointing out the problem with calling Bush “illiterate” and misspelling stuff. As you were. I’ve got to go polish my spelling-bee trophies. Heh.
And then this press conference was cancelled due to snow. Which part is confusing you?
You’re kidding, right?
Obama said it was. Just a month ago.
Characteristically.
This just in: The DC area has been hit with at least six inches of piffle. Piffleplows are on their way, but authorities say it may take days to dig out. This is one serious pifflestorm.
It’s fun to type “piffle”. Or say it. Pifflepifflepiffle! See?
EasyOff says it’s safe to breathe while cleaning the oven, but I beg to differ over here.
Oh my gosh. I just piffled 7up all over my keyboard.
Scott, you ROCK! Loved your post.
And if you think Bush was not criticized harshly then you must have just fallen off of the turnip truck. Obama is brushing it off that he inherited everything. Clinton REFUSED to go after Bin Laden on several occasions and instead preferred a few cigars. I know this first hand – how? Just look at my name. Hubby is Special Forces and Has been fighting for this country in Astan.
Beige – thanks hon. Let’s have a party for those that deserve it. The troops
I particularly like this one:
“I just love it how in this country, when you happen to think differently or to disagree with someone, they never say “Oh, I think differently” or “I don’t necessarily agree with you, but that’s fine”.”
Because that ends the conversation. “Oh well, then we disagree” puts one hell of a damper on the informational exchange.
It’s not enough to hold an opinion. You need to be able to define, relate, and revise said opinion to demonstrate consciousness.
Aw c’mon kids! Don’t you know it’s PC to just agree with someone else? Never mind your own opinions, just politely tell the other person you think they’re hunky-dory and don’t argue! Arguing and getting angry is so rude and impolite and low-class.
Hmph make me barf. I’ll get red–faced and scary-eyed or whatever when I feel like it. Excuse me (us?) for caring about a subject enough to hold an opinion and stick up for said opinion. Last I checked, it was a free country and we’re all free to care about something.
ok, one more time:
What I was trying to say is that I think that people had a lot of reasons to be unhappy with how bush’s administration handled things, yet the discontent was rarely voiced. (when I said “bush” i mostly meant his administration than the prez himself) As for Bush himself, he managed to make an idiot out of himself pretty much every time he made a public appearance. Obama has fared somewhat better (so far) and yet he is being ridiculed the way Bush never was. I was just trying to say that I don’t remember Bush being (deservedly) subjected to much criticism. I see now that what I was trying to say was poorly phrased to such an extent that everyone completely misunderstood what I was trying to say.
ok, I think that you all are getting upset, which was never my intention. I didn’t mean to post anything deliberately offensive to anybody. I simply forgot that politics is as touchy a subject as religion. Lol, guess my 2 cents proved to be no good here. Guess I’ll stick to just reading the blog from now on.
Nati/Milly — I hear what you’re saying. I think a lot of people who originally voted Bush feel that he *was* unfairly picked on over the course of his eight years. I mean, I’m as surprised as you are to learn that Bush actually had supporters by the end of his second term, but I think what happened is that so many years of jokes and derisive comments built up a lot of resentment toward the liberal establishment.
Now that Obama is in office, those offended people feel it’s time Democrats got a taste of what it’s like to have “their guy” trashed over relatively nitpicky things. Just a month and change into his first term, Obama hasn’t had the time to make any sort of huge gaffe or error on the order of what you described earlier, but you can believe that Obama eventually will screw up something major and his critics will come down on him like a ton of bricks the same way people pigpiled on Bush after Katrina. It’s just the two-party process and you can’t let it get to you.
Hmm.
It was voiced constantly.
Holly wrote: “you can believe that Obama eventually will screw up something major”
Thank You, Holly! That’s what I was trying to say, let’s wait for that and then bash him! But on the other hand, I don’t want to be that person, lurking in the shadows, waiting for Obama to screw up and for the country to slide down into the new Great Depression just to be able to point out and exclaim “See? I told you so!” I wanna see him do well
I wanna see our country do well…I understand that it might be unrealistic of me, but still…
and Simon, the discontent started being voiced mostly during the last yrs of Bush’s presidency. The first 4-5 yrs – not so much, at least not publicly…or may be my memory doesn’t serve me as well as I thought it did
And again, I apologize if I upset anybody, I didn’t mean to start anything here
I disagree. Obama has made several errors in his first 1.5 months in office. From hiring people whom he said he would not hire, to having earmarks in a stimulus bill that makes us even more in debt, etc. He has broken 5 promises so far to date.
http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/03/03/kerpen_obama_budget/
As I stated above, if you think Bush was not criticized constantly then I think you were born in the barn yesterday. Bush was constantly poked fun of, ridiculed and booed. Turnabout is fair game.
say what you will, but Bush did keep us safe for 7 years after 9/11. Clinton and Gore did no such thing.
I mean, “to point and exclaim”
“It was voiced constantly.”
Oh my Lord, was it ever. Every failure, every disaster, every broken shoelace in human history, was chalked up to Chimpy McBushitler’s very existence, and I cannot believe, for the life of me, that anyone can deny that with a straight face or without a coma-inducing BAC. You’d think, what with his standing knee-deep in the Gulf of Mexico waving his magical Not-Caring-About-Black-People-Hurricane-Generating-Abortion-Restricting-War-Mongering Magic Wand, Bush would have forgotten to go to the bathroom or something.
Did Obama Snub the British?
Were you alive in 2000?
Sure, he’s broken some promises. He’s a politician, that’s what they specialize in. I’m talking about scale, though: earmarks in a stimulus bill < initiating the Iraq war on faulty intelligence. On the other end of the spectrum, I think Bush caught a lot of unnecessary flak for incredibly unimportant things, and I see some of that with Obama as well. Like I said, it’s just part of the process.
Looked at the Dow lately? In terms of the scale of a mistake, I mean.
Depends on your definition of “gaffe,” I suppose. Obama doesn’t know the difference between Ottawa and Iowa, he seems determined to alienate the United Kingdom, he doesn’t seem to think Iran is any sort of problem, he’s showing very little fundamental understanding of how our economy works, he’s jumped into a war of words with a radio host… the list goes on and on. Just because he’s not being pilloried for his mistakes in the news the way Bush was, that doesn’t mean they’re not happening.
I mean, some people still think “Internets” is hilarious. But bring up “57 states” and you’re no longer a patriot.
Yes, Simon, we know you see no value in his presidency. Lucky for you, you’re knee deep in blog fodder for the next four years.
“Were you alive in 2000?”
yes…and I remember virtually everyone I knew voting for Bush. And being quite excited about it, too. It was pretty much the same hysterical frenzy as the one that was generated during Obama’s campaign
This response is unworthy of you. I explained what I meant. If you don’t want to address it, that’s fine, but this sort of thing doesn’t do anybody any good.
As I remember it, the election was a virtual tie, and people are still arguing over who really won. Calling him “Resident Bush” and so forth. As I recall, the discontent was there from day one.
And if you’re unwilling to make concessions, there’s no point in debating.
Concessions to what? That his mistakes aren’t really mistakes?
“he’s jumped into a war of words with a radio host”
And he’ll lose. Even I know this and I haven’t ever heard even one second of Rush Limbaugh’s radio show. Why a sitting president with all the problems we’re supposedly facing decides to do this now is mystifying.
I mean, you have a blog — you can write whatever you want. Please, vent your spleen and there are people here who will agree with you. I’m just saying I remain unconvinced by your argument that the mistakes Obama has thus far made automatically write him off.
Hey Nati, look!
Simon and Holly theoretically could stop right now, sing kum ba ya, and weave daisies for each other’s hair.
But what fun are fireworks if you keep them in the box?
You know, Minnow, I sort of wish they did…the Clash of the Titans scares me
a little bit 
and I feel like it’s my fault.
note to self: “never joke about, discuss or even mention politics ever again. ever!”
Which is not what I said. The topic is whether he’s made gaffes. I believe he has. If you don’t think they’re gaffes, we could discuss that. But I never said anything about “writing him off.”
P.S. Nor did I say “there’s no value to his presidency.” If somebody wants to explain the value, I’m willing to listen.
I’ll get out my bongos if Simon plays the digeroo.
No seriously, I promise it’s in good fun. We get into it every once in a while for kicks. Plus it’s raining in L.A. today so I can’t work on my tan.
“I promise it’s in good fun”
oh, cool then. It’s hard to tell on the net whether someone is joking or is really getting upset, because there is no intonation, just plain text. So it’s hard to tell at times and I started getting…nervous.
Obama mania vs Bush mania. Not the same thing. People did not think that God was talking to them when Bush talked. Read up on the stuff people have been saying about Obama and you would think that he was born just to become our President. He speaks and angels fly out of his mouth. “I never have to pay for gas or my mortgage again”. Show me where Bush had concert t-shirts made up of him. I remember when Bush signed flags for people at our 4th of July speech at WPAFB and he was criticized. Obama has his face on a flag and it is patriotic.
…I hate it when Mommy and Daddy fight.
“As I remember it, the election was a virtual tie, and people are still arguing over who really won. Calling him “Resident Bush” and so forth.”
Lets not forget my personal favorite either Simon: Commander in Thief.
I would also like to go way back up the thread to address the whole ‘would have been better if Gore had won’ thing with a little story. On 9/11 I was a high school senior sitting in English class being forced to read Thoreau by the teacher I most despised in the world. She was this wobbly old crone who happened to look exactly like Danny Devito playing the penguin – hand to God. She was an old-school style hippy from the 60’s who had never quite gotten the message that most of her kind either O.D.ed or converted to rabid capitalists under Reagan. Hated men, hated the military, hated the government, HATED Bush.
We had never seen eye to eye (obviously) about anything, but her attitude had gotten noticeably more hostile when my girlfriend at the time who was in the same class, let it slip that I’d ’signed my life away to the government’ (as said teacher put it) and would be shipping off to Marine Corps basic two days after I graduated at midterm in a few months.
On 9/11 everyone was in a panic, and they kept us in the classrooms we were in when it all started until they could figure out – which for me happened to be English. The teacher wheeled in a TV and put the news on right about the time the second plane hit the towers, and everyone realized they weren’t watching an accident. Everyone lost it – a member of the class’s dad was on a plane to New York that morning, another had been on a flight to DC. And then there was me, desperately trying to get through to my brother Chris on my cell, because he was at work that day… in the Pentagon. After two hours of not getting through because all the lines were busy, I started to get a really bad feeling, and could feel myself shaking. My brother might have lost his life, and now I’m pretty sure I’ll be headed to whatever hellhole sent these monsters as soon as I get out of basic, so all in all, not my best hour.
Then that teacher, who had never had a single kind word for me the entire time I’d been stuck in her class, walked over and put her arm around my shoulders. She told me it would be alright, that God works these things out. I was astounded, not only at her kindness, but at her mention of God (I’d been convinced she was an atheist). I asked her how she could believe that, looking at what God had allowed to happen to all those innocent people. Her response stuck with me through a tour in Afghanistan and two in Iraq:
“I wondered the same thing when Bush won. He lost the popular vote, and I thought he would be a national disaster – why had God allowed him, the WRONG man, to win? Because only God could have seen this coming, and while I still don’t like him, I know now that he’s where he was meant to be.”
On that day, and for a few weeks after, most of the nation seemed to agree on that. And that’s how I’ll always remember Bush. Was he the smartest guy? Hell no. Was he the best strategist? Nope. Did he always listen to the right people? No. Did he make mistakes? God yes.
But at the end of his 8 years, can you imagine any other human being having been able to do what he did? To pursue safety and security for the nation he was charged to protect, never wavering in the face of RELENTLESS censure and belittlement. To bring freedom and hope to the oppressed, and the downtrodden (you know, the kinda thing the Democrats love Lincoln for) all over the world. The courage to tell the truth, no matter how unpopular (like explaining to people that you shouldn’t negotiate with tyrants just because it keeps you ’safer’ in the short term, especially when they’re seeking to develop weapons that will vaporize cities in the long term). Was he the perfect President? Far from it. But no one will ever convince me he wasn’t the right man at the right time in history.
Scott – you constantly amaze me on your writings. And coming from a Marine, who knew you guys could write
All seriousness, I believe that no matter who may hate Bush, he “did not falter, did not fail” and he did get serious in hunting down those who hurt us. My husband was able to get to the Towers in January 2002 and took a piece of the towers with him to Astan that year. Bush may have done many things wrong, but he was and is a very compassionate man and those tears he shed were real.
Scott, I’ve got two sons, ages six and three. I take your military service–and anyone’s, including my husband’s–very personally, and by that I mean that you helped keep us safe. You made it possible for my sons to be born into a world that was not perfect but better than it could have been by a long shot. Thank you. I hope that my sons turn out as articulate, as brave, and as brilliant as you apparently are. It would just about kill me to know that either of them were in some dangerous place as you have been, but God help me, I would be so proud.
That was amazing, Scott… and the truth to the fullest.
That was definitely big of your teacher too. My freshman year in composition class (at a Baptist school, no less, but one in Southern California so not wholly shocking
) my professor walked in the day after Bush was reelected and inquired as to “why people your age would want someone stupider than you are as president.” While she remains to this day one of my favorite teachers, our politics will never match and that comment was the perfect example of the personal attacks liberals set up as the norm now. Taste of your own medicine kind of stuff… the only difference is that in general, conservatives can never be as truly hate-filled as many of these liberals groups were.
I dare someone to make a film about the impact of an Obama assasination. Then we’ll see how truly equally things are.
Oh, and in the popular double-commenting fashion… this doesn’t change the fact that Obama is doing a lot of hypocritical things. Are some of them more hypocritical than others? Sure. But when the point of the blog is hypocrisy and not just talking points, you gotta take what you can get.
Scott~
I can’t salute you since I’m a civilian.
So instead I’ll take a knee, fold my hands, and thank God for you, your sacrifice, and your inspiring words.
Wow.
@ Simon–
What was confusing to me was that k said that it was “rich” from someone from Hawaii to comment on the snow. I was pointing out that he lived in Chicago, and so he had experience with snow. That’s all. They have some crazy ass snow up in Chicago, the cold will take your breath away. It just seemed a bit reaching to me.
@ Angry Army Wife–
Andrews Air Force Base is in Maryland
If anybody wants to… y’know…
Oh, and the tax cheats, forgot about them. Appointing all the tax cheats, that might be seen by some as a bit of a gaffe.
Thanks, Scott F. Nati, you too – no one has to agree with you, but you’re following the rules and being civil (and entertaining!).
Great serious responses for one topic – one of the longest running – I’m saving these. A real classy bunch of folks here.
And now we know Holly’s in L.A. We’ll figure out where the 3 Amigos are from, and who they are eventually. Now is that in CA, or Lower Alabama?
Speaking of hippie days (I was just barely pre-hippie), remember the song that went “He can’t even run his own life. I’ll be dam*ed if he’ll run mine.”? Though I’m basically a Republican, there’s lots of stuff that I admit ex-POTUS Bush screwed up, but I’m feeling like POTUS Obama is starting to run my life more that Bush did. And Obama better triple check his military and foreign policy appointees for having some real wisdom, unlike his “tax cheat” buddies that Simon just recently mentioned. How can he not know about these characters’ character? Oh, I forgot – that doesn’t matter. Putin’s going to chew him up and spit him out. That can’t be good for the U.S. I can’t believe we’ve elected someone whose experience as a US Senator is less than the other guy’s time as a POW.
Scott – we need YOU in Congress. You have a way with words that conveys your emotions right through this page.
I think AAW cited Wright-Patterson AFB, didn’t she?
Scott F.: That was awesome. Those in the military have my undying respect. In fact, that reply deserves a page all to itself somewhere.
@manda:
It has been chronicled on this very site that Obama keeps the Oval Office nice and toasty because, and I quote:
‘The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat.
“He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, who occupies the small but strategically located office next door to his boss. “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”’
Now, which is it? Is he from Hawaii, or is he from Chicago? If he hates the cold, why did he go to Chicago in the first place? Because, y’know, it never snows there or gets cold or anything like that. Is he someone from a warm clime who can’t get used to the cold weather, or is he someone who got used to the cold weather and now sees fit to lecture others on their inability to handle the cold weather?
And who pays to heat the White House, anyway?
He’s from Chicago like Hillary is from New York.
k is right. Either way you slice it, the Big O is coming up short on flinty toughness. Splatty bullshizziness, he’s got, but not so much w/the toughness.
Beige–AAW said virginia, but the article said Andrews. Which is in Maryland.
@ k–The meeting was canceled due to snow, not it being cold. You and I will have to agree to disagree because I just don’t think that being born in Hawaii (and living there for a number of years) disqualifies a person who has also lived in Chicago for a number of years from saying that people in DC overreact when it snows. Especially since they DO overreact when it snows! Maybe he moved to Illinois because he had a great job opportunity. I don’t know
Virginia, Maryland, close enough to DC. They got hit with the same snow. Either way, he had landed already before Obama called off the press conference.
Beige, I cited WPAFB for Bush’s visit in July, 2003
@ Scott
Scott, I didn’t know you were in the military. Thank you for your sacrifice. I admire your courage and I just hope that all our troops return home safely and as soon as possible.
Thank you for the story you posted above, I’ve never looked at certain things that way before.
And allow me to take back what I said about gore making a better president – I don’t really know that (and I don’t think anyone ever will) and I don’t have any facts to back up that theory, so it was a pure speculation based on nothing on my part, and I’m better than that.
If my comments somehow offended you, I apologize, I didn’t mean to be offensive or disrespectful.
And Les Paul, thank you for your comment.
oh, almost forgot
@Minnow
I wasn’t saying that we are not supposed to state our opinions. That was precisely my point – we should state our opinions, and then we can agree on everything, agree on something, or just agree to disagree. It’s someone arguing with the others trying to convince them that they are wrong in their opinions and he/she is right that I have a problem with. You are not going to change anybody’s mind that way, so it’s pointless and a waste of time. And I’m not talking about practical everyday issues that people have to talk over to come to some sort of an agreement and solution. I’m talking about subjects we don’t have to agree on – like religion, or politics or art. I think everyone’s entitled to their opinion here, and wouldn’t try to change anyone’s mind. But it’s our society’s “This is what I think about this and that and if you disagree with me you are wrong and an idiot” attitude that gets me.
Oh, and the liberals and democrats were wrong for their personal attacks on bush (oh, those evil evil liberals), but apparently calling someone who doesn’t necessarily share your political views “an animal” and other names is a healthy debate. (I don’t mean Minnow, I mean other people).
Wanted to post all this yesterday, but the piffle interfered with the Internets.
@manda:
Um. I believe you know that I know Obama cancelled because of snow and not cold…I said Chicago was both cold AND snowy, taking it for granted that most people would get the inference that along with cold in Chicago usually comes snow. I never said he cancelled because of cold. What I said was this:
He is from Hawaii.
He went to Chicago (where it is both cold and snowy).
He is now in DC.
He keeps the thermostat turned way up in the Oval Office because, and I quote, “He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?…He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”
He chastised the natives of DC for cancelling school because of snow and saying they needed some “flinty, Chicago toughness”.
He then turned around and cancelled the press conference because of…snow.
So he’s from Hawaii when he gets chilly (inability to handle cold), and he’s from Chicago when he wants to look all tough and stuff (all with the flinty and toughness).
But what I want to know is…who pays the heat bill in the White House? Because I’m pretty cold here where I’m at.
I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kind words here and in the past. I want to assure you that I’ve noticed all of them, I’ve simply been at a loss as to how to respond. I honestly couldn’t think of a way that would express my gratitude in a humble enough fashion, as being humble generally isn’t my style. To put it simply, people like you are the reason that I’ve never had a single regret.
The reason I frequent this site as often as I do is that I believe it represents what makes America great – EVERYONE is (theoretically) held accountable. No one is off-limits simply because they were born with the right last name, have the right connections, or have enough money to shut people up. That’s something you can’t say about a large chunk of even the ‘free’ world.
I’m glad I live in a country where my daughter can openly disagree with the most powerful man in the free world, and goons won’t make her disappear in the night. I’ve been to places like that, and it’s enough to instill an awe of a truly free society that will never go away.