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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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To: Red_Devil 232

Obama's buddy, Father Pfleger, also does this closed-eye thing. This is standard operating procedure for folks who are trying to "channel" or "conjure" a spirit.

21 posted on 02/15/2009 5:35:45 AM PST by SonOfDarkSkies
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To: Northern Yankee

You can see the arrogance right there


22 posted on 02/15/2009 5:37:10 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Northern Yankee
Sounds like my neighbor. We do not speak and he is not welcome over here. One sad and bitter old man.
23 posted on 02/15/2009 5:37:32 AM PST by wally_bert (Tactical Is Still Missing A Chair! Star Wreck In The Pirkinning......)
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To: rudman

Unfortunately, you don’t fully understand just how bad it’s really going to get for all non-leftists in the future! Leftists will also allow as many criminals as possible to vote in all future U.S. elections, and leftists will also allow illegal immigrants to vote in all future U.S. elections. Non-leftists really don’t have an equal number of voters to match these newly created “pro-leftist” voters. Also, the “dumbing down” of people continues to get even worse everyday, and all political correctness, on all of the issues, also is getting worse for everybody everyday. There will also be even more ignorant voters and even more stupid voters during every future U.S. election. All non-leftists don’t have any kind of serious chance to successfully get around all of these problems for them.


24 posted on 02/15/2009 5:40:10 AM PST by johnthebaptistmoore (Conservatives obey the rules. Leftists cheat. Who probably has the political advantage?)
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To: Kaslin

The two guys to the right of B. Hussein seem to be asking, “What the h#ll is he doing?”


25 posted on 02/15/2009 5:41:19 AM PST by Northern Yankee (Freedom Needs A Soldier)
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To: raybbr
It's more than arrogance. It's narcissism.

I agree. There was a moment last summer that was particularly poignant to the narcissism charge. When O came out with how much gas/oil Americans would save if we all just kept our tires inflated, many (even in his own party), scoffed or laughed it off as silliness. He came out within a day or two, repeated his claims and chided every one else for being wrong. The media tried to give him some cover, but finally dropped it. A narcissist doesn't take kindly to being told they are wrong.

Obama has attained the most powerful position in the world: POTUS. Let's say he is able to hold on for 8 years, what's left for him?
26 posted on 02/15/2009 5:43:44 AM PST by Girlene
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To: wally_bert
Boy... they get testy, don't they?

I used to wonder how Hitler could come into power in Germany back in the 1930's. I also used to think it could never happen here.

Sadly I don't think that anymore.

Fortunately America is greater than these idiots that are in Washington at the moment.

27 posted on 02/15/2009 5:44:51 AM PST by Northern Yankee (Freedom Needs A Soldier)
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To: bullfeather
Not if we can get his birth certificate out to the public. And his college history for good measure.

If there was any "there" there, don't you think Hillary's goons would have spilled it before Super Tuesday?

28 posted on 02/15/2009 5:45:34 AM PST by RoadKingSE (How do you know that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a muzzle flash ?)
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To: Girlene
Obama has attained the most powerful position in the world: POTUS. Let's say he is able to hold on for 8 years, what's left for him?

The UN? I bet he tries to create a world leader position in the UN just so he can claim it when he's done with us.

29 posted on 02/15/2009 5:49:02 AM PST by raybbr (It's going to get a lot worse now that the anchor babies are voting!)
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To: Northern Yankee
Yes they do and this dude has gotten borderline violent. One time I really thought he was going to lose it and take a swing at me. If he did, it would have been his last one way or another. I would have no problem having him arrested, then pressing charges for all they are worth, and then suing him.

His cries to his false messiah would make it even funnier.

30 posted on 02/15/2009 5:52:40 AM PST by wally_bert (Tactical Is Still Missing A Chair! Star Wreck In The Pirkinning......)
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To: livius

Academic Liberals believe in “God” but their god is Humanity and they are God’s brain.


31 posted on 02/15/2009 5:55:20 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

Well, when the whole country is addicted to you.tube, facebook, and American Idol, what can you expect? It was easy enough to see coming. I pray that he trips himself up badly by his imperialist decisions and his arrogant attitude gets cought on TV enough that people become disgusted. We need to start looking for really good 2010 candidates for Congress, as well.


32 posted on 02/15/2009 5:56:06 AM PST by Shery (in APO Land)
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To: raybbr
The UN? I bet he tries to create a world leader position in the UN just so he can claim it when he's done with us.

I'm sure he's got plans for the next "phase" in his life.
33 posted on 02/15/2009 5:56:22 AM PST by Girlene
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To: Kaslin
yet it says a lot about the healthy ego of the candidate.

yet it says a lot about the UNhealthy ego of the candidate.
34 posted on 02/15/2009 5:57:20 AM PST by aruanan
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To: wally_bert
I wonder how long it will take these people to realize their messiah is nothing but a fraud?

Maybe never.

35 posted on 02/15/2009 5:57:36 AM PST by Northern Yankee (Freedom Needs A Soldier)
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To: Kaslin

“We are the change we have been waiting for!”

The “We”...it is all about what the meaning of the word “We” is!

We aren’t diabolical...so we take that to mean the American people..I believe ‘We’ is the radicals..the lower than life beings that have orchestrated this for decades.

We know this “creature” has been groomed from day one for this very thing..being POTUS!

Peter Geithner, Tim Geithner’s father had business dealings with “the creature’s’ mother way back. Hmmmmm?

The trouble is..... with normal human beings, we don’t think like ‘them’! We know ‘pride goeth before a fall’..but this “creature” isn’t like us. It probably won’t happen?

It brings to mind some other “creatures” here on earth that have one thing in mind...to destroy America and Israel too!
“They” have that in common.

I am convinced that this diabolical “plan” in the end wants everything to tank.
No person in his right mind would do the things that are being done in the name of a “stimulus bill” thinking it would bring this country back to what it was.
“They” want it to fail...they want government to take over absolutely everything! We just aren’t listening in the right way!
This is that “they” want! Bingo!!


36 posted on 02/15/2009 5:59:02 AM PST by Sistyelder
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To: I still care

Can you imagine if GW flipped the bird while mentioning his opponents not once, or twice, but three times?

Remember how GW called a reporter an a$$hole when he thought his mike was off?
Now THAT was a scandal!


37 posted on 02/15/2009 6:00:26 AM PST by Scotswife (GO ISRAEL!!!)
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To: Sistyelder

We can always hope for a Herod moment.


38 posted on 02/15/2009 6:05:48 AM PST by aruanan
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To: Kaslin

39 posted on 02/15/2009 6:09:50 AM PST by Girlene
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To: Northern Yankee
Never underestimate the combined powers of willful ignorance and supreme arrogance.
40 posted on 02/15/2009 6:10:29 AM PST by wally_bert (Tactical Is Still Missing A Chair! Star Wreck In The Pirkinning......)
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