March 10, 2009

It seems to me... Obama "Don't know much about history."

Dear Mr. President,
Please take a couple of hours out of your tizzy schedule to read and absorb, Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned . Time to brush up, lest you beclown yourself further with such statements as:

President Roosevelt didn’t have the luxury of choosing between ending a depression and fighting a war. President Kennedy didn’t have the luxury of choosing between civil rights and sending us to the moon. -- Obama to "the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce"
Sigh. You will note, in passing, that President Roosevelt did not lead the country into war (See 7 December 1941 at Wikipedia, or, if you are too tired to read, screen Tora! Tora! Tora! for an update on this issue.)

As for the concept of John Kennedy "choosing" between civil rights and going to the moon... please fire whatever 30 something speech writer is grinding out this pap and hire somebody who knows about the President who actually did something about civil right, The Democrats' "Forgotten Man" -- Lyndon Johnson. You know, that white cracker Texan who, while President, passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I dare say that without Johnson's actions then, you would not be possible now.

Thanks for listening. I know you can do better.

All the best,
Gerard Van der Leun

Posted by Vanderleun at March 10, 2009 11:23 AM
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"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

"I know you can do better." I suspect you might be a tad too optimistic there.

Posted by: ELC at March 10, 2009 12:00 PM

I'm old and poorly educated, but I missed the admission of the last seven states to the Union. Perhaps,the One will share his eighth grade history text with the rest of us poor schmucks.

Alas, that would skip the time when Michelle was proud of her country.

Posted by: Old Dad at March 10, 2009 1:14 PM

I still think he hired his speechwriter thinking he was hiring the Jon Favreau that wrote and co-starred in "Swingers", and by the time he figured out he hadn't hired that guy, it was too late.

Posted by: Rich Fader at March 10, 2009 1:54 PM

I just think, when you spread all the historical "facts" around, it's good for everybody.

Posted by: Morgan K Freeberg at March 10, 2009 2:40 PM

Forget it. He's rolling.

Posted by: bustoff at March 10, 2009 4:00 PM

According to some article I saw yesterday (which I can't bother to dig up, sorry), his speechwriter is only 27. But he still needs to be fired. Or maybe just put in detention until he does his homework and can pass 8th grade history.

Posted by: Julie at March 10, 2009 4:25 PM

Now Gerard, on what ephemeral evidence do you base your assertion that Obama can do better? He's only about three breaths from full-out panic mode, and he hasn't been on the hot seat for two months yet.

His speechwriters don't know history. His diplomatic schedulers either don't understand protocol or are on a mission to alienate all the other English-speaking countries of the world. His economic planning "team" is on meth or channeling Leona Helmsley. BET is organizing his Wednesday "Obama fiddles while Wall Street burns" soirees.

The Iranians are taunting him to his face while juggling nuclear bomb components behind his back. He blew off the transfer-of-power SOP that greased the skids between Presidents for decades, and now has less than a tenth of the apparatchiks he needs to do the nation's business.

During the campaign it was kind of amusing to see Obama deal with bad news by screaming racism or haughtily declaring all inconvenient facts to be off-limits. The kneepad press enabled his arrogant bungling and wealthy donors bankrolled the circus. Rolling merrily along on the W. exhaustion wave, the glitches and gaffs and gauchery could pass as street theater on a vast scale.

But now the operation of the free world and the future of America is at stake. Our forced diet of Obama's incompetence has already stopped being entertaining, and soon will move beyond tedious embarassment to provoke B-movie cringe and scream reactions.

The only hope I see is that Obama can't disband our military as fast as he's blithering our way into needing their protection - right here on American dirt.

Oh, and he's setting the Democratic Party up for a very, very bad November 2010. If we still have a country by then.

Posted by: askmom at March 10, 2009 7:55 PM

That's right, Roosevelt didn't have to choose between keeping us in depression or getting caught with his pants down at Pearl, he did both.

Also true, Kennedy didn't have the luxury of choosing between the civil right movement and the moon project. The moon project was already a luxury.
He used it to ignore the civil rights project.

Posted by: at March 10, 2009 8:07 PM

"Now Gerard, on what ephemeral evidence do you base your assertion that
Obama can do better? "

I was being just a tad sarcastic.

Posted by: vanderleun at March 10, 2009 8:42 PM

When I heard the clip from the speech tonight, I was making dinner, doing laundry and trying not to step on the cat. I was certain I'd misunderstood. Or mis-heard.

How kind of you to provide assurance that my hearing, at least, is still functional. We'll see what else is functional in six months.

Posted by: shoreacres at March 10, 2009 8:54 PM

I remember GWB standing at the wreckage of the World Trade Center. Answering some one in the crowd who called out, "I can't hear you", Bush answered, "I can hear you. And the people who knocked these buildings down are going to hear from all of us."
Much to Al Qaida's dismay, He sent the US military right into their back yard, and killed them by the thousands. He kept his word. Maybe a good part of the reason we had no further attacks on American soil is that they learned that Bush hits back.

9/11 dealt a hideous blow to a weak economy among other things. Say what you will, GWB moved the economy forward and toward recovery.
Now the economy of the US, and most of the Western world is teetering- fragile. One serious fuck up and the whole thing could collapse. The current President is vain, appeasing, unsure of himself, stressed out, and feckless. Does he even believe in the Global Jihad? Maybe he thinks it's wingnut stuff. He may even be likey to treat another attack as a domestic law enforcement issue so as not to harsh relations with Syria, and the Taliban.
Al Qaida, Hezballah, Hamas, and the muslim Brotherhood all keep track of what goes on here. Do they see a powerful resolute leader? A man confident, and wise? Do they see strength of character, moxie, guts? The aforementioned groups are jackals. They never attack directly. They will poke, prod, watch, listen, and sniff for weakness. They will sense it the way a shark smells blood in the water. What do the beasts see when they look at President Barack Obama?

JWM

Posted by: jwm at March 10, 2009 9:08 PM

I'm not sure which is more depressing.

Worried that we've elected a campus commie with a stone game plan to take down the establishment.

Embarrassed that we've elected a naif.

This administration has the whiff of "all those emperors who came after Marcus Aurelius" doesn't it?

Footnotes to the passing of an empire.

I hope not.

Posted by: TmjUtah at March 10, 2009 9:13 PM

Gerard sarcastic? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.

Posted by: askmom at March 10, 2009 9:16 PM

Askmom, you are priceless. Are you blogging again?

Posted by: Yanni.Znaio at March 12, 2009 7:00 AM

>>>Sigh. You will note, in passing, that President Roosevelt did not lead the country into war

Perhaps you will note that that's not what Obama said in the speech - he said "fighting a war."

Posted by: Ward at March 13, 2009 10:14 AM