The Thrill Is Gone
September 14, 2010 by Ben Crystal
For the eighth time in what increasingly looks like will be his only term, President Barack Obama held forth at a talking point dump, aka press conference. For a man dubbed “messianic” by the liberal elite, I can’t help but notice of late, Obama looks as comfortable in front of the camera as a blind agoraphobic in Grand Central Station during rush hour.
Watching our increasingly desperate President try to hold the attention of even the fawning sycophants who comprise the bulk of the White House Press Corps was like watching a physics professor trying on homecoming Friday to hold the attention of a lecture hall filled with frat-boy liberal arts majors. Confronted by ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper about how Obamacare has already turned into the fiscal imbroglio Democrats denied it would be, Obama froze stiffer than Nancy Pelosi’s face on a Lake Tahoe ski lift:
“No — as I said, uh, Jacob, the — I haven’t read the entire study, uh, maybe you have. But, uh, you know, if — if you — if what the reports are true, what they’re saying is that as a consequence of us getting 30 million additional people health care, at the margins that’s gonna increase our costs, we knew that. We didn’t think that we were gonna cover 30 million people… for… free.
Actually, Mr. President, that’s. Precisely. What. You. Said. While his backtracking tends to be as laughably divorced from reality as an Ed Schultz monologue, Obama’s stilted speech patterns and inexplicable “I don’t write it, I just read it” dependence on the teleprompter has actually passed funny and disembarked at creepy. I can’t help but wonder if David Axelrod is standing behind the blue curtain with a remote control:
“Damn it, Gibbs. I need four AA batteries, pronto!”
Remember when this same media took such pleasure in mocking George W. Bush’s tortured enunciations? At least we all knew that when W said “nook-you-lerr,” it wasn’t because Ari Fleischer fell asleep with his head on the keyboard.
I thought Obama was supposed to be the smartest man alive. During the course of the 2008 Presidential campaign, the Democrats deployed every media flack, screwball blogger and MSNBC “journalist” to extol his brilliance while excoriating anyone who dared ask:
“Is it me, or does this guy sound like Howard Dean built a Leninbot in his basement?”
Those of us who openly questioned the acumen of the untested Illinois Senator were dismissed as racists. Once the race card was maxed out (which happened right about the same time ultra-white boy Newsweek leftist Jonathan Alter claimed that only racism could prevent an Obama Presidency), the left began assailing doubters with Obama’s indubitable brilliance. “He went to HARVARD.” Um…so did the Unabomber. For that matter, so did Al Gore. For THAT matter — so did Bush.
Now that the Obama Express has jumped the tracks and slammed headfirst into the bridge abutment of incompetence, Democrats nationwide are booking passage to Anywhere But Obama. Two hundred nineteen Dems voted “yea” on Obamacare. Not one has run an ad touting their vote.
“Sure, I’m flattered that the President would like to campaign for me. It’s just that I’m washing my hair this election.”
The borderline-romantic yearning for the great Community Activist has faded like Bill and Hillary’s post-Monica love life. Even plagiarist and former Bhagwan devotee Ariana Huffington’s Hollywood self-esteem builder Huffingtonpost.com can’t seem to drum up much enthusiasm, with Huffpo’s ubiquitous pseudo-academic Joseph Palermo weaving allusions to fading Obama worship into a predictable tapestry of tired Bush-bashing in a Friday piece ponderously entitled “President Obama Attempts to Bridge the ‘Enthusiasm Gap.’” It has clearly never occurred to Professor Palermo that the Army Corps of Engineers couldn’t handle that job.
Obama’s lack of enthusiasm is beyond pathetic. Rush Limbaugh suggested during his Friday broadcast that Obama appears impotent. Limbaugh is underselling the problem. There’s no little blue pill which can fix the issues in the White House.
Whatever you want to call it, Obama’s lack of vitality is dangerous. Islamofascism, the Service Employees International Union and Nancy Pelosi don’t let up on the throttle just because Obama’s hiding under the Resolute Desk.
During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Democrats fired distortions, defamation and plain old venom at Sarah Palin with abandon. Her garrulous vigor made her a far more inviting target than the man who would be her boss, John McCain.
Looking back, Obama’s verbal ineptitude (not to mention his professional incompetence) makes both McCain and Palin look positively Ciceronian by comparison. The Democrats honestly expect us to believe Palin couldn’t have handled Joe Biden’s job? I’m not convinced Obama can, either.
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