As if Present Obama doesn’t have enough to worry about these days, those sneaky Internet people keep dragging Past Obama into the spotlight to make him look like a jerk!
Here’s Past Obama in 1995, being interviewed about Dreams of My Father, the first of his two autobiographies (so far) :
Obama: At times of economic scarcity, um, generally, uh, the politicians in this country right now, uh, want to look for scapegoats, want to organize around race, as opposed to around principle and around values, uh, and I think that’s a mistake. And I think that can be countered, but it’s gonna require the kinds of grassroots mobilization, uh, and, and the kinds of work at a local level that I think, uh, I talk about a lot in, in those chapters on Chicago.
Interviewer: Wonderful man, that Reverend Wright.
O: Right.
I: Yeah.
O: And, uh, who is, who is, uh, my pastor, and, uh, he is a wonderful man. And I think, it, uh, that’s an example of, uh, he’s a pastor of a, of a large congregation in Chicago, and one of the interesting things that I discover in my journey to discover–
I: Mm-hm.
O: –what my identity is and who my father is, is, is also discovering, sort of, uh, my own faith, which, which is not, uh, necessarily a traditional faith, I don’t come out of an institutionalized religious setting, but, uh, uh, what becomes important to me as I work with, uh, churches in the south side of Chicago and low-income neighborhoods, uh, is to realize that, y’know, all the stories and songs of the church, uh, y’know, that, that, the hope that is embodied in the church, the, the sense of, of, of, of liberation that is embodied in the African, historically African-American church, uh, is really something that, that, that moves me deeply, and I think, uh, uh, is probably the main pillar around which a lot of inner cities, uh, communities are gonna be built. And Reverend Wright, uh, uh, my pastor, who I, I speak about in a chapter in the book, I think represents the best of what, uh, the black church has to offer.
Whew! So, a few things are clear:
- Both Past and Present Obama share the habit of taking so long to answer a question that you’re not even sure there was one.
- Rev. Wright was more to Past Obama than just a guy who preached around the neighborhood.
- Past Obama decried politicians who hide behind race when they’re challenged on the issues. Weird, huh?
Enjoy your vacation, Present Obama! By the time you get back, the stuff you’re saying now will be the words of Past Obama and therefore will be meaningless.
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Uh, Great clip. Uh.
“my own faith, which, which is not, uh, necessarily a traditional faith”
Outside the Middle East, that is.
You, uh, just had to, uh, go there, huh?
I, uh, can see a trend, uh, forming, uh, that we will, um, be talking like this in comments for, uh, a while.
The more of his steaming BS I hear or read, the more I loathe him. When it wasn’t going to hurt him politically, Wright was “the best that the black church has to offer”. Come the 2008 campaign, Wright was disavowed for saying terrible things, things of which Obama was unaware–if you take his word for it, that is.
And “grassroots mobilization” USED to be a good thing? M’kay. Got it. As long as it’s his Chicago-style mob tactics, it’s peachy.
Jackass.
I don’t even know where to begin. This asshat makes me so angry. Is he dishonest or stupid? Both probably.
Uhh… Governor Patterson thinks his pick for Lieutenant Governor was turned down because he was black.
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/politics/090821_Gov_Paterson_Backs_Off_Race_Statements
Uh, not because it was unconstitutional. Uh.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/nyregion/21ravitch.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion
I had the feeling he was going to be trouble when he was running for prez. Damn! Sometimes I hate it when I’m right.
That was in 1995, and not 1985 right? Awesome suit. How much does a Community Organizer get paid? 6.50 an hour? And who was he 13 years ago that he thought he should write an autobiography?
Pasta, I was actually about to comment on his awesome hair.
And duh, he was THE AMERICAN MESSIAH. The fact that you can’t retroactively accept this, uh, fact proves that you are hiding behind race or class or something, I forget.
I know this is kinda off-topic, but I just can’t get past the way he speaks. Isn’t he supposed to be this amazing orator or something? When does that start exactly? Sans teleprompter, the man can’t string three consecutive words together without what I call a ‘valley girl pause’, which is where someone struggling for words fills it with either ‘uh, um,’ or my personal favorite, ‘like’.
Before anyone rips on me about ‘cultural differences’, there is a reason this kinda thing bothers me so much. I was born and raised less than five miles from the beach in California. Until the age of 13 I couldn’t string a sentence together without every other word being ‘dude, man, bro, um, uh, like’ ect. And yes, I suffered from a very Keanu Reeves accent that haunts my dreams to this day. When I moved to the Midwest, it took years to beat that accent and it’s accompanying mannerisms into submission enough to fit in and not automatically have twenty points shaved off my perceived I.Q. (fairly or not) when I opened my mouth.
I guess I just figure if a guy who used to carry a rifle and now writes science fiction for a living can learn to respect himself enough to speak coherently, maybe, just maybe, the most powerful man in the free world could take a class or something. I mean, Bush stumbled over ‘nuclear’ and we didn’t hear the end of it for eight years, what’s Obama’s excuse?
If Present Obama stops talking, Past Obama can no longer come back to bite him with contrary statements. As a bonus, we wouldn’t have to listen to Present Obama anymore. And Future Obama could rest easy, as all Obamas specialize in talking rather than doing, so less work for him!
I, uh, think I just, uh, blew my own, uh, mind.
Re: Scott F.’s point:
I took a public speaking class this summer, and one of the things we had to do was watch ourselves speaking on camera, so that we recognized little “tics” like that. Our professor said that after watching yourself repeatedly stammer or shuffle feet or tap fingers or do whatever tic, you should be cured of such habits. This was largely true for the class. Perhaps Obama should watch himself talk, not as an ego stroking session, but as an intervention. There is nothing wrong with being silent for two seconds while searching for the right word!!!
Oh, I’m quite sure BO watches himself talk. One hand is holding the remote, replaying his favorite parts over and over whilst the other hand is–well, we’re all adults here, no need to spell it out.
Whoa. So that’s why dude is on the TV every ten minutes–he’s gay for himself.
And also:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=653244
“GREEDY CORPORATIONS! EVIL DRUG COMPANIES! WICKED…Hey, thanks.”
Cheezwizz, his stammering makes Ed Koch sound downright Shakespearean! (New Yorkers will get that)
I can relate Scott, when I moved from CA to NY as a teenager, I met my own culture shock having to lose the “wow man”, “totally”, “fer sherr”, etc., in order to be taken seriously. So glad that I did too. X-D
Good article and work! Let’s keep using the time machine to remind Obie’s present self of his past self, heheh.
Hey, y’all: Remember those unsolicited e-mails that were going out from the White House? The ones that fueled rumors of an Enemies List? Guess who paid for them? WE DID.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/22/white-house-reveals-identity-firm-sent-unsolicited-e-mails-health-reform/
Son of a bitch.
And this is another reason why government shouldn’t get involved in health insurance – there’s no reason for them to provide good service because they don’t have to worry about people going to another company. There’s no incentive for them to operate at a profit – they’ll just raise taxes.
Elizabeth Edwards opens “Caught Red Handed Used Furniture Cover Story-Store” (aka “The Red Window”) an almost certain sign that John Edwards is going to be indicted, as the “used furniture” store is the purported cover story for the $14,000 in illegal campaign funds paid for “used furniture”.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9A87O480&show_article=1
This cover story was first seeded almost a year ago, on September 28, 2008 and the original source at http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-nujavaspilling0918.artsep18,0,939670.story was immediately deleted less than 48 hours after its publication, perhaps it was either intended to be “barely documented” or it was simply leaked too early, it is should have been called “Caught Red Handed Used Furniture Cover Story-Store”
http://deceiver.com/2008/09/26/hayden-panettieres-dad-charged-with-misdemeanor-battery/
Then mentioned here again on Feb 5, 2009
http://deceiver.com/2009/02/04/elizabeth-edwards-to-write-off-philandering-husband/
John Edwards’ favorite piece of furniture?
The Vanity, of course. (Hat’s off to Craig)
Okay, how long are we into his term? I thought by now we’d have world peace, free health care, legalized gay marriage, a unicorn in every yard, and an ice cream machine in every house.
Well… That’s what HE promised.
Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Now, I’ve got a gay unicorn in my yard, eating ice cream I paid for and demanding that I take him to the vet or he’ll call the UN.
I wanted a space pony.
Some people call me the Space Cowboy.
No. Actually, they don’t. That OCD gets me every time.
Some call me the gangster of love…
Some people call me Maurice
Jenn, you and me both. me thinks more dishonest than stupid. What did he do in 1995 that warranted a book? And Reverand Wright is what black churches is all about? Really? But I thought you rarely knew him BO. Wow, the more I see of this guy, the more I want to throw up. He is gay. He loves himself waaaay too much.
Beige, I am right there with you. How much more of my money is going to go down the crapper because of this guy? How many cars are going to be repossessed after the honeymoon period is over on all of these new cars flying out the door?
Dammit, I want my magic, happy, gay socialist unicorn! I’m sure my five year old cousin would be happy to pick up the tab.
See, but what I need is a space pony. OBAMA, STOP PROMISING UNICORNS AND GIMME MY SPACE PONY.
The complete cached text of the now-deleted Michelle Obama and her mother are practicing Santeria in the White House article on Townhall.com
http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:jB4gWX8ln6QJ:atkinsonsadvice.blogtownhall.com/2009/08/15/witchcraft_in_the_white_house.thtml+obama+witchcraft+%22mother+in+law%22&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Witchcraft in the White House
Posted by Kristen Atkinson on Saturday, August 15, 2009 4:11:43 PM
The Obama White House is abuzz with talk of witchcraft by first grandmother, 72-year-old Marian Robinson, who lives in the White House residence. A close friend of Michelle Obama says the president is furious at his mother-in-law after learning that she was practicing Santeria, an African spirit cult, in the White House.
“The president is quite upset about this on two different levels. First, he is a committed Christian, no matter what his critics say about Reverend Wright. He is adamant that Sasha and Malia be raised with Christian influences. He does not want them to be involved with African voodoo. And secondly, he is worried about the political fallout if his enemies get wind of this. Rev. Wright was bad enough, but this would be political suicide,” a close friend of Michelle’s confided.
Religion took center stage during the campaign last year when videos showed the Rev. Jeremiah Wright shouting “God damn America.” Obama was forced to distance himself from the since-retired pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where he worshiped for 20 years. Many people were shocked by the videos and questioned Obama’s fitness to be president. Since taking office, Obama has avoided worshiping in public and now prefers the chapel at the presidential retreat at Camp David.
This is how it happened. Marian Robinson became increasingly frustrated as her husband, Fraser Robinson, was hobbled by multiple sclerosis in the late 1980s. The family pastor prayed with her and counseled her, but “she turned to Santeria in a desperate hope,” Michelle’s friend said. “Michelle put her foot down when she heard that her mother took her dad to ceremonies where they did spells and trances, and sacrificed animals, chickens and goats I think. But Marian was desperate and kept going anyway, even when her husband was to sick to go with her. I don’t think the president knew anything about this earlier because it was before they met. Michelle and Craig (her brother) wanted to close the book on this and never talked about it again after their father died in 1991.”
The first grandma appears to be worried about her health now, even though doctors pronounce her in good shape. “Marian invited an old friend from Chicago to visit her at the White House, and she performed a Santeria ceremony in the residence. When Michelle saw this woman, a voodoo priestess she recognized her from when her father was sick, she had a fit. When she told the president about it, he blew up and said, ‘No voodoo in the White House. Absolutely. I don’t care what you call it.’ As far as I know, it only happened once,” the friend said.
The president was “totally in favor” when his mother-in-law moved into the White House as a live-in babysitter for 11-year-old Malia and 8-year-old Sasha. Obama reportedly told Michelle that her mother will have to go back to Chicago if she does not “stop this witchcraft mumbo-jumbo immediately” and ordered the Secret Service to not allow Marian’s friend to return to the White House.
http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:jB4gWX8ln6QJ:atkinsonsadvice.blogtownhall.com/2009/08/15/witchcraft_in_the_white_house.thtml+obama+witchcraft+%22mother+in+law%22&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Forget 1995; what’s he EVER done that warranted putting him in the Oval Office? He was a freshman fargin’ SENATOR, IIRC. Not a governor; not even an executive of much, ever, was he? Dude went from college to a law firm to “community organizing”, to the Senate, to the White House. Fairly rarified environments, right up to the Presidency of the United States. As far as I’ve been able to find out, he’s never had to meet a payroll, never served in the military (not even the National Guard), never served anything but his own interests. And he thinks he’s qualified to write multiple autobiographies before he’s even 50 years old.
This is a “historic” Presidency, all right, in the sense that Jonestown and 9/11 were historic.
@Fortunate Son;
“I don’t practice Santeria
I ain’t got no crystal ball,
Well I had a TRILLION dollars but I, I’d spend it all.”
BEige, Agreed. He is an empty suit who people think speaks well until they take away the teleprompter.
People made fun of Bush for 8 years over his gaffes and mispronunciations. You speak one ill word about Obama and people cry racist. This is just what I really wanted my country to become.
Just wait for post presidency Obama. We think Jimmy Carter is bad. Obama will be still seeking attention, trying to convince us he was a good president along with second guessing whoever is in office come 2012.
Haha Mathmajor, I’d post the next line, about Sancho and Daddy’s latest acquisition, but I’m afraid the Secret Service would be kicking my door down by dinnertime.
Or, you know, the torches and pitchforks mob dedicated to ending “racism.”
The um’s and uh’s come across a lot worse in print, and don’t sound quite as bad on the video. But he takes so much time explaining an idea or thought, that I think as someone mentioned, you kinda forget what the question was. But it’s something he should have worked on before now. Not that it would make him a better president, and a good president doesn’t have to sound eloquent, but it never hurts.
I got rid of my uh’s, um’s and “you know’s” around my college years. I replaced them with a simple pause, or a strategic “and” here and there. However, I apparently picked up using “actually” a few years ago – didn’t notice until one of my daughter’s boys used it practically at the start of every sentence. Somehow it made me realize how much I used it.
For BO supposedly being so highly educated, I can’t stand to listen to him speak without the magic teleprompter telling him his every word. He sounds so vacuous it is not funny.
I had to get rid of my verbal fillers in middle school or risk failing public speaking. So I instead will place convenient pauses while I put my words together….but I’ve also gotten REALLY good at just improvising. “Oh look. These are the facts. I won’t write a speech. I’ll just go up there and start talking.” That’s the skill you need to be a good public speaker, IMHO.
….Pearce for Senate when I turn 25 next year.
I once sat absolutely aghast, listening to a 2nd grade teacher gush about my son’s large vocabulary. “He uses such big words, and he uses them accurately! Words like ‘actually’ and ‘apparently’.”
Yep, even at 4 syllables apiece, momma’s verbal tic becomes baby’s verbal tic.
Does anyone remember that Master P song, “Make ‘Em Say Uhhhhh”?
I put in an order for a gay unicorn, but they gave me a transsexual one instead.
@ Tal: That’s what happens when you requisition from the government.
This explains why he just did the same speech over and over on the campaign trail. It’s not because he liked the ideas, it’s because he couldn’t say any other speech in the time allotted.
#41 is me, Les. Anonymous is my new super duper top secret spy name.
Aw, shoot. Now I gotta think up a new one.
Minnow, don’t forget the decoder ring
Anonymous Minnow…sounds like a new electronica band.
My daughter is frighteningly verbal for her age (6), and I’m her dictionary of choice when she hears new words. Yesterday MC Mom-Webster was trying to explain what a ‘compromise’ was…not such a long word, but very hard to explain, especially when you don’t want to bring up politicians.
MC Mom: I told my kids that a compromise was “You give up something, I give up something, and when we’re both equally unhappy, that’s a compromise.” No wonder they don’t like compromising. My older son, when he was four, told his playmate, “Well, that’s unfortunate, Emanuel, because IT’S MY TOY.” I didn’t know whether to reprimand him for not sharing, or compliment him on word usage.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,542742,00.html
Holy crap. When AL SHARPTON tells you to step off the racism hysteria, and when Barack Obama tells you to keep him out of your racial rhetoric, you have officially stepped in it.