Full transcript of Obama's town hall meeting with Shanghai students

Hawaii Examiner ^ | 11-16-09 | via White House

[STARWISE]

And here comes my question. My name is (inaudible) from Fudan University School of Management. And I would like to ask you the question -- is that now that someone has asked you something about the Nobel Peace Prize, but I will not ask you in the same aspect.

I want to ask you in the other aspect that since it is very hard for you to get such kind of an honorable prize, and I wonder and we all wonder that -- how you struggled to get it.

***And what's your university/college education that brings you to get such kind of prizes? We are very curious about it and we would like to invite you to share with us your campus education experiences so as to go on the road of success.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, first of all, let me tell you that I don't know if there's a curriculum or course of study that leads you to win the Nobel Peace Prize. (Laughter.) So I can't guarantee that. But I think the recipe for success is the one that you are already following.

Obviously all of you are working very hard, you're studying very hard. You're curious. You're willing to think about new ideas and think for yourself. You know, the people who I meet now that I find most inspiring who are successful I think are people who are not only willing to work very hard but are constantly trying to improve themselves and to think in new ways, and not just accept the conventional wisdom.

Obviously there are many different paths to success, and some of you are going to be going into government service; some of you might want to be teachers or professors; some of you might want to be business people.

But I think that whatever field you go into, if you're constantly trying to improve and never satisfied with not having done your best, and constantly asking new questions -- "Are there things that I could be doing differently? Are there new approaches to problems that nobody has thought of before, whether it's in science or technology or in the arts? -- those are usually the people who I think are able to rise about the rest.

The one last piece of advice, though, that I would have that has been useful for me is the people who I admire the most and are most successful, they're not just thinking only about themselves but they're also thinking about something larger than themselves. So they want to make a contribution to society. They want to make a contribution to their country, their nation, their city. They are interested in having an impact beyond their own immediate lives.

I think so many of us, we get caught up with wanting to make money for ourselves and have a nice car and have a nice house and -- all those things are important, but the people who really make their mark on the world is because they have a bigger ambition. They say, how can I help feed hungry people? Or, how can I help to teach children who don't have an education? Or, how can I bring about peaceful resolution of conflicts?

Those are the people I think who end up making such a big difference in the world. And I'm sure that young people like you are going to be able to make that kind of difference as long as you keep working the way you've been working.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just as a point of personal commentary, I was very interested in how he would answer this question about his education, one that's so rife with obscurities and unknowns, and I heard this Q&A live as it happened. He bypassed the question about *his* education totally and diverted his focus elsewhere to his "service" orientation.

The college kid in 1980

[STARWISE]

~~PING!

[NotSoModerate]

I watched it live last night... and it was the perfect prescription for my insomnia.

[jessduntno]

“I’m eager to see those ancient places that speak to us from China’s distant past.”

Ask them to show you where and how the fing commies killed all those millions...

[Question Liberal Authority]

A Townhall in Shanghai?

Is that how far he had to go to find a room filled with people who think that government run health care is a good idea?

[P-Marlowe]

Did he wear his Mao shirt at this event?

This picture is NOT photoshopped!

[jennyjenny]

I’ve not had a lot of access to news reports the last few days but from what I have been able to read it sounds like even the US press that are with him were rolling their eyes at the softballs lobbed. Are they sick of him yet? I don’t know how even they can continue to stomach it.

[jennyjenny]

You’re not kidding, are you? My god.

[bluecollarman]

I hope they keep him.

[STARWISE]

Nope .. he and TOTUS were in standard apparel.

[I Hate Obama]

Why are they all wearing Star Trek shirts?

[STARWISE]

Ooops .. here it is

[STARWISE]

Related

Live Blogging Obama’s Shanghai Town Hall

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2009/11/15/live-blogging-obamas-shanghai-town-hall/

[STARWISE]

Exhibiting his deft touch .../s

[Entrepreneur]

I think so many of us, we get caught up with wanting to make money for ourselves and have a nice car and have a nice house and -- all those things are important, but the people who really make their mark on the world is because they have a bigger ambition. They say, how can I help feed hungry people? Or, how can I help to teach children who don't have an education? Or, how can I bring about peaceful resolution of conflicts?

Those are the people I think who end up making such a big difference in the world.

Wow. Is it any wonder this guy hasn't got a clue about how create jobs? If you want to make a difference for someone, create a job and hire him. Create a product that solves his problem. Consumers thank entrepreneurs for the products they create. Employees thank entrepreneurs for the jobs they create. The government denigrates entrepreneurs while stealing the wealth they create.

Profit is NOT a dirty word. It's good for everyone when a business makes money. It's tragic when they don't.

Obama's sentiments are disturbing and disgusting.

[TexasRepublic]

Q: Where were you actually born?

[La Enchiladita]

Now, I should tell you, I should be honest, as President of the United States, there are times where I wish information didn't flow so freely because then I wouldn't have to listen to people criticizing me all the time.

Hmmmmmmm..............

[P-Marlowe]

Why are they all wearing Star Trek shirts?

Those are official Chairman Mao shirts. Mao designed it and made everyone in China wear them.

[taxesareforever]

“PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, first of all, let me say that I have never used Twitter.”

That’s not what I heard:

February 25, 2009, 6:46 pm
President Obama Abandons Twitter
By PAUL BOUTIN

Jason Reed/Reuters
Barack Obama’s online presence drove his campaign’s early fund-raising and his primary victory over Hillary Rodham Clinton. His campaign’s use of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube proved that he was part of the Web 2.0 generation. In the run-up to November’s election, Senator Obama — or one of his staff members — typed more than 250 updates to his Twitter account at twitter.com/barackobama.

[mojitojoe]

But I am a big believer in technology and I’m a big believer in openness when it comes to the flow of information. I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable. They can begin to think for themselves.That generates new ideas. It encourages creativity. And so I’ve always been a strong supporter of open Internet use. I’m a big supporter of non-censorship. This is part of the tradition of the United States that I discussed before, and I recognize that different countries have different traditions. I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free Internet — or unrestricted Internet access is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged.

Now, I should tell you, I should be honest, as President of the United States, there are times where I wish information didn’t flow so freely because then I wouldn’t have to listen to people criticizing me all the time. I think people naturally are — when they’re in positions of power sometimes thinks, oh, how could that person say that about me, or that’s irresponsible, or — but the truth is that because in the United States information is free, and I have a lot of critics in the United States who can say all kinds of things about me, I actually think that that makes our democracy stronger and it makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don’t want to hear. It forces me to examine what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis to see, am I really doing the very best that I could be doing for the people of the United States.

And I think the Internet has become an even more powerful tool for that kind of citizen participation. In fact, one of the reasons that I won the presidency was because we were able to mobilize young people like yourself to get involved through the Internet. Initially, nobody thought we could win because we didn’t have necessarily the most wealthy supporters; we didn’t have the most powerful political brokers. But through the Internet, people became excited about our campaign and they started to organize and meet and set up campaign activities and events and rallies. And it really ended up creating the kind of bottom-up movement that allowed us to do very well.

__________________________
Count the I’s in just these paragraphs. I count at least 19 I, I’m I’ves.