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.
Considering the morons posting in the comments section, my guess is this is the newspaper of choice for people pulling in a government check every month.
Also, it was in his cave. Without questions.
If a president can't be 100% in charge in the Oval Office, you have to wonder if he himself believes in his plan. Or if he actually has one, for that matter.
Josh Greenman
Josh Greenman, a Yale graduate and former speechwriter for Joe Lieberman and Rudy Giuliani, was Director of Strategy and Communications at The Teaching Commission, a Washington, D.C.-based, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization created to “improve student performance and close America’s dangerous achievement gap by transforming the way in which America’s public school teachers are prepared, recruited, retained, and rewarded.”
Josh recently joined the New York Daily News as opinion editor and a member of the editorial board.
Well, this Greenman guy thinks the health care bill is a good one so he’s not very bright.
.....close, the competitor, The Post is usually critical of Odumbo
I wish he hadn’t brought up Guiliani...that’s exactly who we need in this thing. He should put Guiliani in charge of the clean up.
With an even lower circulation.
I love it when the NY Post refers to this lib rag as the Daily Snooze!
Whether you like Rudy Giuliani or not (I have mostly postive but mixed feelings about the man), it should still disgust you to see this twerp take an unnecessary cheap shot at his former boss. He could have picked any number of crisis managers for this column. Lincoln was an excellent crisis manager, for example.
Please don’t ever post to me. I have asked you nicely several times in the past.
Did this guy watch the same speech the rest of the world watched?
The dork author of this piece couldn’t be MORE wrong.
President Bush “responded” to Katrina before it even happened.
Due to the usual media machinations, people have forgotten it was Bush who had to lean on Blanco and Nagin to get an evacuation going in the first place. BEFORE the storm hit.
These people simply have no shame. When history doesn’t support their agenda, they do their best to “cleanse” it.
So which Obama donor has New York Daily News writer
Joshua Greenman on its payroll? Soros? Blankfein? Pritzker and the Chicago mob?
You're following the wrong procedure. Here's how you get someone to stop posting to you on FR:
1. Write an Opus.
2. Post said Opus.
3. Leave.
What? No executive experience, no command experience, not one day- ever, before becoming president. And since becoming president he hasn't accomplished anything except watching his own party pass their own legislation in a government they control, not exactly a feat of skill.
Obama, the epic failure, flopping around like a fish out of water — so how is he to “fall” when he’s already laying prostrate?
Tough. Don't read my posts, problem solved. I find it incredible that people take this so seriously that they would bring old arguments onto new threads. Frankly, I don't remember you, nor anything you've ever said publicly or privately. But I'm sure flattered you remembered me. I am kinda memorable.
The writer probably wrote this before the speech was given.
You have to just love these self-hating libtard Jews who worship at Obama’s ass.
Joshua Greenman. Even his dumb ass name is a pun to the enviro-wackos he worships. 99.99999999 % know Ozero went down in FLAMES. But not this douche-bag.
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