Barack Obama & the Wisdom of Forrest Gump

American Thinker ^ | April 21, 2008 | Lee Cary

[neverdem]

The simple yet profound wisdom of the movie character Forrest Gump -- "stupid is as stupid does" -- has entered the Democratic race for the nomination.  This time, though, the lesson is: arrogance is as arrogance does.

Thanks to American Thinker's Rick Moran and his analysis of a video from an LA Times blog, even better displayed in another camera angle posted by the Baltimore Sun, it's clear that Senator Obama delivered a common obscene gesture in Senator Clinton's direction as he spoke to a crowd of his loyal followers in North Carolina the day after the Philadelphia debate.  He shot Hillary the bird, only slightly surreptitiously.  Visit the links above to see it happen.

Obama's explanation of how the debate questions represented "Washington" playing "gotcha politics" is telling by itself.  Whining does not become anyone who aspires to be the President of the United States of America, as Obama likes to voice the complete title of the job he wants.  And his assurances that he was unfazed by the perceived attacks he received from the ABC moderators resemble the braggadocio of the boxer who climbs up from the canvas on a nine count, nose bleeding with one eye swollen shut, saying "Hey, he never laid a glove on me."  We could read Obama's body language in the debate.  We saw him take heavy leather.  So what is this video all about, and what does it tell us about Barack Obama?

At its basest level, it displays his immaturity.  Why in the world would a U.S. Senator use an obscene gesture to send a marginally subtle message to his inter-party opponent in a nomination campaign?  That's just not smart.  He will, if challenged on it, deliver an incredible denial alleging that such an interpretation is itself another effort of gotcha politics.  But that will hang by a shred of cloth, at most.  Only children below middle school (hopefully) and the visually impaired can miss his intention. This is the act of one who would be President that displays a remarkable level of immaturity.   

It was also act of arrogance. As Forest Gump would say, "Arrogance is as arrogance does."  This was Obama arrogance on display.  His followers saw it, too, and they cheered. That is nearly as disturbing. This guy is not running for a seat on the City Council of a small town. In mine, and most small towns, giving the bird to an opponent would seal defeat in a close election. The obvious fact that his followers liked what he did, and that he enjoyed them liking it, should give us sober pause. Collectively, those in that audience also lack humility.

It was an act of self-defeating stupidity for a politician at his level.  If you're a Hillary Clinton supporter and you see this, what impact does it have on you?  The best coached athletic teams will not run up the score on their opponents at the end of the game when they're ahead. Why? Two reasons: they respect their opponent, and they know a humiliated opponent will be motivated to seek revenge.  In a voting public evenly divided between the two major political parties, Obama as the nominee will need support from all of Hillary's backers. If you're one of them, will you forget the "finger" moment?  Not likely.  His was the behavior of a divider, not the uniter he claims to be.

Lastly, it was an act of someone who is being seduced by the adulation of those he has seduced.  The questions he objects to pertain to his character. We care more about that, as Americans, than the inside-the-Beltway wonkishness of programs and policies that he says we want to hear about. The literate among us have gotten those points already, thank you.  Besides, most of what candidates promise never see reality after they get elected anyway.  After a point reached relatively soon, we're more interested in knowing the person than their platform.

Obama has been lulled into a sense of invincibility by his cheering, fainting, fawning crowds. Until the CBS debate, that adulation was being propelled by the MSM. But for some reason, Charlie and George decided to join Tim's brief moment in that shining light of the journalistic maturity he displayed in a previous debate, and they actually asked tough questions!  It shocked us.  But Obama - he was offended. This is the same man who wants to sit down with our adversaries and reason with them?  

Here are things Obama clearly does not know.  Never ridicule your opponent -- not before, during or after the contest.  Never assume the contest is over until there is absolutely no possible way for your opponent to take the lead in the remaining time. If you win, treat the defeated with utmost respect, regardless of how well they played the game.  Perhaps this is old fashioned sportsmanship in the era of ball spikes and trash talk.  But it did govern the way we dealt with the losers of World War II and it worked well in that venue.  It works in politics, too.  By his offensive behavior toward Hillary Clinton, Obama offended her followers.  That's not good for him.

Obama easily walked into the U.S. Senate after his opponent was sabotaged by sexually bizarre sealed court records of his dovorce being ropened at the behest of the Chicago Tribune.  Obama's eleventh hour opponent, Alan Keyes, is an articulate and honorable man who never had a prayer of winning that election. Keyes was political cannon fodder. 

Consequently, Obama is in the first real fist fight of his short political career and he's getting arrogant because he's running against the former First Lady of an impeached President. 

He should be on guard.

Pride goeth before the fall.

[Mark]

Mamma always said that life is like a box of choclates.

[Mark]

Chocolates?

[dr_lew]

... it's clear that Senator Obama delivered a common obscene gesture ...

Saying doesn't make it so, but in this case I agree. It's unmistakeable.

[TheWasteLand]

For Obama, it's probably more like:

Mama always said the way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.

[According2RecentPollsAirIsGood]

Little blurry as these are just streaming vid caps, but, yeah, it's unmistakable. What an adolescent.

[Jeff Chandler]

Mama always said that Papa was a running dog lackey of the bourgeoisie.

[prophetic]

The Hilderbeast is gonna make him pay dearly for that...

[Caipirabob]

He will, if challenged on it, deliver an incredible denial alleging that such an interpretation is itself another effort of gotcha politics.

He should be disected on live TV over this. After the denial, introduce him to a panel of 3-5 body-language interpreters. Have them each provide an analysis of the highly orchestrated maneuver. Then the host can confront him again: "How stupid do you think the American people are to lie about this?"

[neverdem]

Columbia and Harvard Law produced this? Good luck!

[Ronin]

When I watched it the first time, I was thinking he was just scratching his face. He had done so with his little finger earlier.

But then I watched this from a different camera angle, noting the reaction of the crowd — and HIS reaction to their reaction, and was convinced.

It was a Freudian slip at best, absolutely intentional at worst — I am leaning towards intentional.

(Not that I haven’t been tempted to flip off Hillary a few times myself.)

[D-fendr]

Not to mention that the told the same “joke” to different audiences that day.

He’s busted.

What a snobbish little brat.

[igoramus08]

The two finger salute is the same as the bird in some cultures also.

[Nathan Zachary]

"... his assurances that he was unfazed by the perceived attacks he received from the ABC moderators resemble the braggadocio of the boxer who climbs up from the canvas on a nine count, nose bleeding with one eye swollen shut, saying "Hey, he never laid a glove on me."

That's going to leave a bruise on Obama's ego.

[Nathan Zachary]

"Columbia and Harvard Law produced this? Good luck!" Get a load of the Obama supporter behind him on his right.

Nose picking Democrats, LoL~

he must be campaigning in booger town...

[Truth29]

"He should be disected on live TV over this. After the denial, introduce him to a panel of 3-5 body-language interpreters. Have them each provide an analysis of the highly orchestrated maneuver. Then the host can confront him again: "How stupid do you think the American people are to lie about this?""

Unfortunately, opinion is not unanimous on the gesture. Bill O'Reilly had a body language expert, Tonya Reinman (sp?) on his show last night and she didn't think it was anything more than scratching his face, not the bird. That conclusion will give Obama cover for any denial he might make if confronted.

[Shady]

Operation Chaos!
The Emperor has no clothes!

[visualops]

Not to mention that the told the same “joke” to different audiences that day.

Do you mean he did the face-scratching finger twice in one day? or what he said?

I think a good analysis would involve studying other video and see if using his middle finger to scratch or point etc, is a habit of his. Most people are habitual with their hand movements. If this was a rare instance I would tend to believe it was intentional or Freudian.

[visualops]

I did notice the crowd laughed/cheered after the hand movement, because during the hand movement he was not talking. And if they’d been cheering what he said just before, they’d have been cheering while he was making the hand movement.

[mgist]

The reality is that neither Hillary or Obama have been in any major elections campaigns before. Hillary had one race as NY senator.