Posted on 06/16/2010 2:06:42 PM PDT by presidio9
Around six months in, President Obama's supporters came to terms with the fact that he couldn't walk on water. Today, he's struggling to keep the crude oil off his nicely pressed suit.
Given that challenge, Obama succeeded in his Oval Office speech last night, the first of his presidency. This was the President in his element: Framing a problem, rejecting partisan extremes, pushing forward with a clear vision and what sounded like common-sense solutions.
He was focused, even a little feisty - and for the first time in weeks, didn't seem to be on the defensive.
His update on the status of the cataclysm was straightforward and informative. It's a wonder it took this long for a legendarily effective communicator to convey the basics of what's being done and why.
His summary of the federal cleanup efforts was reassuring - though after reports on the discombobulated nature of the response yesterday morning, it'll take more words and actions to prove that things are on track.
His demand that BP put up a big chunk of change in escrow showed guts. Now he'll have to pull it off.
His call for a powerful push on clean and sustainable fuel sources was precisely what the nation needs to finally put ourselves in more control of our economic and environmental futures.
After health care's makeover, there will be reform fatigue - but an aggressive energy transformation is long overdue.
No doubt, Obama has stumbled repeatedly in the 57 days since the leadership obstacle course began. No big surprise; few executives have the unique commander-in-a-crisis skill set.
George W. Bush, remember, responded to Hurricane Katrina with flat feet and took days to get his bearings after 9/11.
The truth is, what you want in a crisis commander (like Rudy Giuliani) isn't always what you want in a President (case in point: Rudy Giuliani.)
But right now, demonstrating command in a crisis and being an effective President are one and the same. So Obama has no choice. He's gotten this far by being a steady ship in high seas, and now the time has come for him to make some waves himself.
"The human thirst for excellence, knowledge, every step up the ladder of science, every adventurous reach in to space, all of our combined modern technologies and imaginations, even the wars we have thought have provided us with the tools to wage this terrible battle."
That's what the President said in "Armageddon" with an asteroid hurtling toward the Earth.
It was a terrible movie about a threat even bigger than this one. But it had a happy ending. For the sake of the President and the Gulf Coast, let's hope this one does too.
Nothing like a dedicated New York liberal giving up attacking his leader and switching back to the man who really gets him hot.
Daily snooze is NYT lite
There have been natural disasters all over America with more people killed than Katrina with barely a peep from the media or this WH.
It’s all smoke & mirrors. They think people will just believe what they are told. They are often right.
LOLOL......ole Josh is trying to mitigate the editorial in the Daily News yesterday that excoriated this empty suit of a president.
Looks like the Daily News of NY is trying to replacing the Old Gray whore as the chief NYC ass kisser of Hussein.
That's nothing like months, is it?
The speech was nothing but a defensive act.
The bastard Obama did not fall last night, he fell months ago.
The presstitute who ‘created’ this whopper must have been looking at a TV equipped with a rose colored filter.
I'm blowing big chunks reading this offal.
You can’t fall when you’re already face down in an oil slick.
Yeah, days while the mediaCLYMERS breathed down his back 24/7 with hateful vile accusations. Oh Yeah, we remember well, and we elephants never forget!! One reason the PRESStitutes are despised by the majority of folk!!
Pathetic.
Wow, he must have kidneys made of steel
To drink that much Obama Kool aid and function
Be sure to FReep the poll at the link.
It looks like respondents have been 85% useful idiots.
Whenever he gives a speech, we need to capture a screen snag of POTUS and post it to a collective POTUS thread along with the speech date and topic.
The president said “blah, blah, blah.” Talk is cheap. But when this president talks it’s likely to cost us....what comes after Bajillion again?
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