Obama's Stumbling,Bumbling Redo with the NYTimes
Rush Limbaugh, 3/10/09:
RUSH LIMBAUGH:"...Obama, as you know, had an interview with the New York Times on Air Force One last Friday, flying back from Columbus, Ohio, to the nation's capital. And in that interview, the Times asked him about socialism.
And for some reason, when the plane landed, Obama, or somebody, said, "You know, I think you're a little flippant on that socialist stuff." Obama thus thought it necessary to call the New York Times back and go for take two -- which they granted him the opportunity to do, of course. Go for take two on what he thinks about socialism. I have that. It is about two minutes and 11 seconds. Now, we normally have a sound bite policy here of not playing a sound bite any longer than a minute, but in this case, I want to play the whole sound bite, as found on the New York Times website. Because what I want you to notice here, is listen to the stuttering, bumbling mannerism as he talks his way through this phone call -- this backup, follow-up phone call to the New York Times. There is no teleprompter here. It is cringe inducing. And then to claim that Bush is the real socialist while he, Obama, is the free marketeer. So here it is, Barack Obama unplugged, including the prompter unplugged."
OBAMA: "See, uhhh, I -- I -- eh -- Just one thing that, uhh, I was thinking about as I was, uhh, -- as I was -- getting off the, uhhh, copter 'cause, I -- uhhh -- you know, it was hard for me to believe you were entirely serious about that socialist question.
JEFF ZELENY, NYTimes reporter: Mmm-hmm!
OBAMA: Uhhhh, I -- I -- I did think it might be useful to point out that, uh, it wasn't under me that we started, uh, buying a whole bunch of (pause) shares of banks. Wasn't on my watch. And it wasn't on my watch that we passed, uhhh, a massive new entitlement, uhh, the prescription drug plan without a source of funding. Uh, and so I think that, uh, it's important just to note, uhh, when you start, uhh, hearing folks, uhh, throw these words around, thaaat (pause) .. Um, uh, we've actually been operating, uh, in a way that, uh, is entirely consistent with free market principles, uh, and that, uhhh, uh, some of the same folks who are throwing, uh, the word "socialist" around can't say the same.
ZELENY: Right. So whose watch are we talking about here, sir?
OBAMA: Well... Uh, heh, heh, heh. I -- I -- I -- I just think it's c-clear that by the time we had, uhhhhh. By the time we, eh, uh, got here, uhhh, ummm, there already had been, uh, an enormous infusion of taxpayer money into the financial system, aaand, eh, eh, eh, y-y-yuh-y-y-yuh.... The thing I constantly try to emphasize to people is that, if coming in the market was doing fine, nobody would be happier than me, uh, to stay out of it.
ZELENY: Right.
OBAMA: Uh, you know, I -- I -- I have more than enough to do, uh, without having to worry about the financial system. Uh, and the fact that, uh, we've had to take these extraordinary measures, uh, and intervene, uh, is, uhh, not an indication of my ideological preferences --
ZELENY: Mmm-hmm!
OBAMA: -- but an indication of the degree to which, uhhh (pause) lax regulation, uh, and extravagant risk taking, uh, has precipitated a crisis.
Audio from LiveLeak.com, "Obama Asks For a Re-Do With the New York Times"