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It’s All About The “O”: The Arrogance of Barack Obama
Townhall.com ^ | February 14, 2009 | Brian Birdnow

Posted on 02/15/2009 5:02:29 AM PST by Kaslin

Much has been written in recent weeks concerning the Obama Administration’s early struggles and stumbles, particularly in matters such as properly vetting prospective cabinet nominees, differentiating between campaigning and governing, and staying on message during a rambling press conference. Some commentators have tried to downplay or dismiss these difficulties, while others have chalked them up as the inevitable errors of an amateur who has been pushed too far, too fast. What many of the pundits tend to overlook in their analyses of President Obama’s first weeks is that these early misadventures illustrate the petulance and arrogance that stand as the defining elements of the man’s essential character.

The examples of President Obama’s overweening sense of pride, hubris and superiority are, in fact, legion. Certainly a man who writes his autobiography twice by the age of forty-three, who makes no secret of his intention to be the President of the United States while he is a neighborhood agitator in Chicago, and, later, as an Illinois state senator is not a model of modesty, humility and self-effacement. Moreover, his short tenure in the U.S. Senate was marked by continued exaggerations of his experience and the supposed jurisprudential acumen he demonstrated as a lecturer at the University of Chicago School of Law.

In 2006 Senator Obama voted against confirming John Roberts as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court based on differing “legal opinions” concerning affirmative action and abortion. Then-Senator Obama used his former position as a law school lecturer to issue a mild rebuke to Roberts for his insufficient respect for fictitious constitutional guarantees. Similarly, Senator Obama invoked his experience when helping his party create a scandal over the Bush Administration’s firing of eight U.S. Attorneys. Obama solemnly declared, “I was a constitutional law professor, which means, unlike the President, I actually respect the constitution.” In actuality, Barack Obama taught courses on racism, voting rights, and social policy. During his twelve years at the law school Obama never published a single work of legal scholarship. (Although he did find the time to engage in five electoral races) Still, this meager record of accomplishment did not stop the Senator from claiming that he was something of a constitutional expert as opposed to the presumably unlettered President Bush.

During the 2008 campaign examples of Obama’s arrogance and petulance abounded. His infamous slap at small town Americans who bitterly clung to their guns and religion received wide play and surprised many observers who had grown used to the tightly scripted candidate on the campaign trail. In this same forum Obama also boasted that he understood the world better than Hillary Clinton and John McCain and that he needed no foreign policy expertise on the bottom half of his ticket.

Late night television comedians reaped a bounty of material last year when the Obama campaign introduced a logo similar to the Presidential Seal for their candidate. The logo displayed a bald eagle clutching an olive branch, which is identical to the Presidential Seal, but the logo had a large “O” covering the eagle’s body rather than a shield. Above the eagle written in Latin were the words “Vero Possumus” which translates roughly to “Yes We Can” the more-or-less official chant at Obama rallies. This seal was quickly retired after drawing much unfavorable comment, yet it says a lot about the healthy ego of the candidate.

Also during the 2008 campaign many of the reporters who covered candidate Obama noted his inflated rhetoric regarding himself. In February of last year he responded to Senator Clinton’s charge that he was more talk than action by responding, “It’s true I give a good speech. What can I say? There’s nothing wrong with that.” He later said about himself, “I have become a symbol of America returning to her best traditions.” Shortly after nearly a quarter million Germans chanted his name at the Berlin rally Obama, the proud citizen of the world, claimed without the slightest cringe of embarrassment, “…this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” Such examples of Obama’s overheated rhetoric strike many as colossal arrogance but we must remember that this is the candidate who assured the world that “We are the change we have been waiting for!”

The voters responded favorably to the Obama appeal, despite the arrogance, petulance and thin-skinned nature of the candidate, himself, by electing him to the Presidency in a near landslide. Now that he is the President we see further evidence of Obama’s arrogance. He has apparently declared war against Rush Limbaugh, and certainly the verbal potshots are the first salvoes of the campaign to reinstate the “Fairness Doctrine” and silence conservative talk radio. The President refused to discuss his stimulus plan in any substantive manner with GOP House Whip Eric Cantor, responding to Cantor’s reasoned arguments by stating icily “I won.” Vatican officials criticized Obama for the high-handed manner in which he overturned the ban on state funding for family planning groups that perform abortions overseas.

The new President has allowed this sense of entitlement to slip from official duties into personal matters as well. The Democrats vociferously criticized the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate for her excessive spending on clothing and cosmetics last October but President and Mrs. Obama have hired a hugely expensive designer to redecorate the White House at a cost estimated to run over $ 100,000. The Obama inaugural gala also proved to be the costliest event of its type in history. Of course, what is another $ 40,000,000 or so when the nation is facing trillion dollar deficits each year for the next couple of decades? Finally, when reporters mentioned that the White House seemed warm to the point of stuffiness in late January, senior adviser David Axelrod said that Obama was a native Hawaiian who likes his house warm, and added that one could grow orchids in the warmth of the family quarters. He must have forgotten that Obama lectured Americans last spring that it was no longer permissible to drive SUV’s, eat as much as we want, and keep our thermostats set at seventy-two degrees the year round. When you have been elected to the Presidency and lived in taxpayer subsidized housing you can forget about practicing what you preached to the public eight months earlier.

These aforementioned incidents and quotes offer an illustration of Barack Obama’s worldview. Like most liberals Obama claims to be receptive to all points of view, but he really tolerates no opinion but his own. He cavalierly dismisses those who disagree with him as “bitter and frustrated” and he does not hold himself and his entourage to the standards he easily imposes on everyone else. Barack Obama gave the world many previews of his stunning arrogance long before November 4, 2008. We have seen since then that these examples were not anomalies. The central element of Barack Obama’s character is a stunning, almost breathtaking arrogance. The American people will see much more of this in the coming years.


TOPICS: Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: arrogance; bho2009; bho44
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Hopefully the public will wake up
1 posted on 02/15/2009 5:02:29 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

What’s to say? We’re stuck with him for 4 years at least.


2 posted on 02/15/2009 5:10:20 AM PST by Ole Okie
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To: Kaslin
Pride (arrogance) is the most Satanic of character flaws and it is Obama's most salient feature. Either he will evolve into something much more hideous or he will be undone by this quality.

We just have to stay tuned.

3 posted on 02/15/2009 5:11:35 AM PST by SonOfDarkSkies
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To: Kaslin

His public more and more tends to be royalist. Look at the petitioners that meet him wherever he interacts with the public. They are indistinguishable from 16th century peasants pleading with the king to personally fix their miserable lives. Liberals, at heart, believe in rule by a “Good King.” Remember the elevation of JFK to royalty by the press and the Democrats and the True Royal Family that the Kennedys have become. And as soon as they have their Rightful King, they start agitating for repeal of the two term limit.


4 posted on 02/15/2009 5:12:47 AM PST by arthurus ( H.L. Mencken said, "Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.")
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To: Kaslin
It's more than arrogance. It's narcissism. I bet he goes home and watches tapes of himself speaking and looks on with glee as the people in the audience swoon at him.

I think all he ever wanted was to "be" president. Not act like one. Not do the work - just be one. So he could put it on his resume and brag about it.

5 posted on 02/15/2009 5:13:16 AM PST by raybbr (It's going to get a lot worse now that the anchor babies are voting!)
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To: Kaslin
Far right - White Guy and Black Guy -

White Guy: Is He Having A Problem?
Black Guy: Don't Know. I Saw Him Do It In Front Of Soros.
White Guy: How High Did He Rise Up?
Black Guy: Bumped His Head On The Ceiling!



6 posted on 02/15/2009 5:15:21 AM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: raybbr
I think you're right about him wanting to be Pres. but never do the work. That's been his MO from the beginning. However, people could see all of this arrogance in the campaign and voted for him anyway. I despair.
7 posted on 02/15/2009 5:16:26 AM PST by patj
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To: Kaslin
The voters responded favorably to the Obama appeal, despite the arrogance, petulance and thin-skinned nature of the candidate, himself, by electing him to the Presidency in a near landslide.

Well, it wasn't anywhere near a landslide, but the fact that he got elected at all is amazing. I always wondered how buffoons like Chavez, Castro and, even to some extent, Hitler managed to get themselves taken seriously. They are always thin-skinned, self-obsessed, full of wacky theories and totally lacking in any real achievements. I will say that I don't think Bambi would have gotten away with it if he hadn't pushed the black angle (which was one of Chavez' "qualifications," too).

But now we're stuck with him, and I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Actually, I do know.

8 posted on 02/15/2009 5:17:30 AM PST by livius
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To: Kaslin

Conservatism is really dying, but Republicanism is really dying even faster. “Government dependence”, by leftist politics, will really successfully prevent conservatism from ever getting any kind of a major political foothold. Successful suppression of “everything non-leftist”, by the leftist majority, will also successfully prevent any kind of serious political comeback by any non-leftists at any given point in the future. I really will be depressed for the rest of my life, but maybe I should just become apolitical for the rest of my life and to the best of abilities. Truly being apolitical can help one to survive in a world that’s really fully against one’s own political views. Here’s hoping that both true conservatism and true capitalism do make an appearance somewhere on Earth and at some given point in the future.


9 posted on 02/15/2009 5:20:37 AM PST by johnthebaptistmoore (Conservatives obey the rules. Leftists cheat. Who probably has the political advantage?)
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To: Ole Okie
Ayn Rand nailed it 50 plus years ago...

Why Obie and the Dems are not going away any time soon

"You see, Dr. Stadler, people don't want to think. And the deeper they get into trouble, the less they want to think. But by some instinct, they feel that they ought to and it makes them feel guilty. So they'll bless and follow anyone who gives them a justification for not thinking. Anyone who makes a virtue - a highly intellectual virtue - out of what they know to be their sin, their weakness and their guilt."

10 posted on 02/15/2009 5:20:49 AM PST by gov_bean_ counter (Barak Obama: Pontificator in Chief and Poster Child for the Peter Principle)
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To: Kaslin

I’ve been saying this since day one. Obama’s biggest failing is that he is an arrogant SOB.

The mainstream media tried their best to hide it, but can you imagine if George Bush went after a journalist for saying something about his ears?


11 posted on 02/15/2009 5:23:01 AM PST by I still care (A Republic - if you can keep it. - Ben Franklin)
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To: Ole Okie

Not if we can get his birth certificate out to the public. And his college history for good measure.


12 posted on 02/15/2009 5:23:16 AM PST by bullfeather (illegitimate non carborundum)
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To: arthurus
Liberals, at heart, believe in rule by a “Good King.”

Excellent point. Liberals believe in rule by "Holy Mother the Government," personified by some symbolic figure who embodies all that government means to them: gives them their daily bread, heals all their real or imagined wounds, and keeps them from ever having to think or work again.

While they deified Kennedy, I don't think that it was his ambition to be deified and I don't think he viewed himself that way. The difference is that Barry really does see himself as a king; he was delighted by that disgraceful performance in Tampa, with his brain-dead subjects groveling before him asking for largesse from His Majesty.

13 posted on 02/15/2009 5:25:52 AM PST by livius
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To: Kaslin; SkyDancer
Spot on!

Before the election I talked to my neighbor, who is a democrat, and I told him B. Hussein is a Marxist. He damn near bit my head off, but could not come up with a coherent argument to defend his position.

14 posted on 02/15/2009 5:26:37 AM PST by Northern Yankee (Freedom Needs A Soldier)
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To: Northern Yankee
...but could not come up with a coherent argument to defend his position.

That seems to be a common attribute among Obama sycophants...and liberals in general.

15 posted on 02/15/2009 5:28:11 AM PST by tsmith130
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To: Red_Devil 232

That is one creepy picture.


16 posted on 02/15/2009 5:28:16 AM PST by Northern Yankee (Freedom Needs A Soldier)
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To: johnthebaptistmoore

No - conservatism isn’t dying out. Neither is republicanism. We’ve had a set back, just like the democrats had a setback when GW was elected.
Give it 4 years - maybe 8 if O does spend us out of a recession, and we’ll be back.

The pendulum will keep swinging.


17 posted on 02/15/2009 5:28:26 AM PST by rudman
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To: tsmith130

Truly stunning!


18 posted on 02/15/2009 5:29:44 AM PST by Northern Yankee (Freedom Needs A Soldier)
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To: livius
Indeed it wasn't a landslide. The reason he got elected was # 1 the lame stream media was (and is still) in his pocket. #2. he is a charlatan and the morons who voted for him fell for his lies


19 posted on 02/15/2009 5:32:04 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: I still care

I don’t know if you have noticed, but the 0 is doing exactly what the left accused President Bush of doing


20 posted on 02/15/2009 5:34:57 AM PST by Kaslin
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