Monday, May 02, 2011

Narcissist In Chief

I watched the address by President Obama last night and was struck by the heavy-handed invoking the 9/11 attacks in a way that was really overblown, meant to highlight his much-vaunted oratorical skill. And his invocation of a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance at the end was cloyingly jingoistic.

What really struck me was his swagger, his strut as he approached the podium, and his narcissism as he spoke. In the end, it's all about him.

Tonight, I can report...

...shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta...

I was briefed on a possible lead...

I met repeatedly with my national security team...

I determined that we had enough intelligence...

..and I authorized an operation...

Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation...
(Oops? Thought this was LAST WEEK? - TBG)

I’ve made clear...

I’ve repeatedly made clear...

I called President Zardari...

...my team has also...

These efforts weigh on me...

...every time I, as Commander-in-Chief...

Finally, let me say ...

I know that it has...
To me, it should have ALL been about the victims of OBL, the members of our military and our allies, and the 10-year-long hunt for this evil bastard, not a sound bite loaded re-election speech.


I was highly amused, however, while watching the run-up to the speech by the number of times that Geraldo Rivera mistakenly said "Obama" instead of "Usama".
Including saying "Yes, Obama is finally dead...Oops! I mean Usama! Usama's dead!"
What a dumbass.


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

4 comments:

Chad said...

I kinda figured if you were only half listening to the speech, it would later be recalled as:
As President, I went into the CIA map room and said "This is where he is."
Then I flew my helicopter right into the compound, where I personally killed OBL with a knife clenched between my own teeth.
After I verified it was him, I personally came home to take all the glory.

Annie in SC said...

I was thinking the exact same thing ... that his arm must be very sore from all that patting himself on the back. That he was obviously reading (badly) from a teleprompter didn't help. I wish people would stop giving him credit for this - I doubt he had much to do with it except to wield the rubber stamp.

The Mighty Skunk said...

Given the accounts describing Obama's advisors as solidly divided over the quality of the intelligence, and given the accounts that the least risky option proposed was simply vaporizing the entire neighborhood with a B-2 bomber strike, and given that Carter's presidency was effectively ended by making a similarly tricky call only to see it go pear-shaped, the President has the respect of virtually everybody for his handling of this incident.

Even the most unlikely of sources, such as Al Jazeera and Rush Limbaugh, are congratulating Obama on having a big honkin' pair of seriously bad-ass cojones.

If you want to criticize, then that is your 1st Amendment prerogative, but take a look around.

Slaw said...

Who is this Obama person you speak of? I have never heard of him before.