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Our Smartest President?
Townhall.com ^ | January, 26, 2014 | Bruce Bialosky

Posted on 01/26/2014 1:02:34 PM PST by Kaslin

It all kind of started to fall apart when he said “… no such thing as shovel-ready projects.” That was of course after he committed more than $800 billion to government expenditures that would supposedly stimulate the private economy after the 2008 financial crunch. The fact that President Obama was so blindly ignorant about what it takes to get any construction project done in this country -- with the burdensome laws in place -- was foretelling of the avalanche of examples deflating the moniker foisted upon us that our latest and greatest President was “our smartest President.”

Recently we were promised certain things by incoming administrations. Bill Clinton promised the most “ethical administration,” and we all know that lasted about three minutes give or take a few seconds. Obama promised us and then continued telling us “We are the most transparent and ethical administration in history.” We can say no one has gotten shot as happened in the Clinton Administration, but certainly this is the least transparent administration since William Henry Harrison. Even his allies complain about not having access to info. The press corps photographers have been cut out of participating in photo sessions and then are promised by press secretary Jay Carney that the White House is working on it. But the boast of Obama being “Our Smartest President” was endorsed by Obama’s followers and embraced by the Obamas.

The question of the President’s aptitude revolves principally around operation of the government. It would be different if he were anti-government, wanting to slash and burn operations. One would think that he would know about how government operates and then proceed to speak intelligently about how it does. He often seems befuddled.

As was stated to Chris Matthews, “The challenge, I think, that we have going forward is not so much my personal management style or particular issues around White House organization,” Obama said. “It actually has to do with what I referred to earlier, which is we have these big agencies, some of which are outdated, some of which are not designed properly.” This is something you would expect to be said by Ronald Reagan in the first year of his presidency, not by Barack Obama after five years of being president -- especially after no previous comments regarding the inefficiency of the gargantuan federal government.

The list of times he has pled ignorance staggers the imagination. Chief among them are the AP records incident, the IRS targeting scandal -- and the list goes on and on – after which and about which our President steps up to a microphone and tells people that he had no idea. Of course, then there are his many foreign policy issues that could be delineated. The fact that he receives an intelligence briefing daily and then pleads no knowledge of events makes one wonder what is being conveyed during those meetings. One might think that there would be a discussion around September 4th or 5th that the anniversary of 9/11 is coming up, and what is being done to protect our personnel in foreign countries plus stopping attacks on the Homeland. But our President was severely unprepared for what happened in Benghazi and the aftermath. He did not even seem to know much once things were happening, and then went to bed while our Ambassador was being murdered.

My personal favorite that questions the aptitude of our President is his professed lack of knowledge that the NSA was listening in on phone calls of foreign leaders. Some may say he was just denying the truth, but I don’t believe so. The argument can be made that denying he knew makes him look stupid, but not as stupid as if he knew of the program. And I do not believe it was willful ignorance. Our President did not think to ask whether the NSA was not just spying on foreign governments but spying on foreign leaders, especially ones that are our friends. It just rankles the imagination that Obama could be overseeing this program and not think to ask that question.

In the end those who attempted to convince us Obama is such a smart guy have been betrayed by their own naiveté. It is characterized by the column in New York Times detailing how Obama’s most loyal followers (New York liberals) have been caught in the Obamacare debacle with cancelled policies and soaring premiums. One of the intelligentsia who attempted to convince us how brilliant our President is was quoted as saying this about Obamacare – “I’m for it, but what is the reality of it?” Enough said.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
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To: ripley

Wow!

I was just channel surfing and watched just a few seconds of “Family Guy” and that is almost exactly what the dog said. He is the smart one too.

I am not kidding, that really is what I just saw.


61 posted on 01/26/2014 4:15:48 PM PST by yarddog (Romans 8: verses 38 and 39. "For I am persuaded".)
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To: elkfersupper

Ford must be a close second. He vetoed quite a bit in his two short years.


62 posted on 01/26/2014 4:18:17 PM PST by Hoodat (Democrats - Opposing Equal Protection since 1828)
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To: Hoodat

You mean Gerald “The Soviets Don’t Dominate Poland” Ford?


63 posted on 01/26/2014 4:19:13 PM PST by dfwgator
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To: Doogle
LOL!!!
64 posted on 01/26/2014 4:22:55 PM PST by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -vvv- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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To: COBOL2Java
100%...
65 posted on 01/26/2014 4:23:30 PM PST by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -vvv- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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To: Chode
Obama has the education, but Reagan even with just a Bachelor’s was smarter at least life smarter. Obama is in a bubble.
66 posted on 01/26/2014 4:24:39 PM PST by napscoordinator ( Santorum-Bachmann 2016 for the future of the country!)
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To: napscoordinator
yup, the bubble headed boy in a bubble...
67 posted on 01/26/2014 4:30:45 PM PST by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -vvv- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
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To: napscoordinator; Kaslin

68 posted on 01/26/2014 5:07:20 PM PST by 4Liberty (Mr President 'If you Like your college transcripts...can we see them?')
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To: Kaslin
On the intelligence scale...Obama might be slightly ahead of James Buchanan (an abject failure as President) but still trails Franklin Pierce (a drunken abject failure as President.) I'll credit Barry with a solid 42nd place out of 44.

So he's one of the top 42 most intelligent Presidents, although kinda toward the bottom of that list. ;-)
69 posted on 01/26/2014 6:01:20 PM PST by Milton Miteybad (I am Jim Thompson. {Really.})
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To: Kaslin

“I can handle things! I’m smart! Not like everybody says! Like, dumb. I’m smart, and I want respect!”

70 posted on 01/26/2014 6:07:31 PM PST by RichInOC (2013-14 Tiber Swim Team)
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To: Chode

Sad, but true


71 posted on 01/26/2014 6:26:16 PM PST by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: Slyfox

*barf*


72 posted on 01/26/2014 6:41:56 PM PST by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: elkfersupper
Coolidge had only 50 vetoes according to this

4 where overridden

73 posted on 01/26/2014 6:59:14 PM PST by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: MuttTheHoople

good one


74 posted on 01/26/2014 6:59:55 PM PST by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Kaslin
Smartest president? Jefferson.

Obama is the affirmative action in chief and it shows.

75 posted on 01/26/2014 7:01:03 PM PST by Darren McCarty (Abortion - legalized murder for convenience)
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To: napscoordinator
Obama has the education

You believe anything you read or hear,do ya?

76 posted on 01/26/2014 7:02:39 PM PST by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Mr. K
so where did that $800 billion go? If there were no “shovel-ready projects”, what DID they spend it on?

Most of it was granted to blue state governments, so as to maintain their public employee union payrolls.

Most of the rest ended up in the pockets of "green energy" cronies -- e.g., the Solyndra scam.

And some of it was just pissed away.

Moreover, understand that the $900 billion Porkulus expenditure was then repeated every fiscal year after 2010...with an inflation factor! Because it became part of the prior year budget and, via baseline budgeting, was increased every year. Porkulus is why we have annual trillion dollar deficits.

77 posted on 01/26/2014 7:27:53 PM PST by okie01 (The Mainstream Media -- IGNORANCE ON PARADE)
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To: Slyfox

I agree that he can’t do what ordinary people do but it is damned certain that is not because he is “too talented”. I might as well say that the reason I don’t dance like Fred Astaire, write like Mark Twain and do brain surgery is that I am too talented.


78 posted on 01/26/2014 7:53:08 PM PST by RipSawyer (The TREE currently falling on you actually IS worse than a Bush.)
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To: RipSawyer

I would guess that Obama is among the two or three dumbest presidents. Probably at the very bottom.

On TV I saw a student who was in the same dept, same major, and same year as him at Columbia. He has publicly stated that he never met Obama, suggesting that all he had to do was be admitted to Columbia then not even show up for classes and yet pass.

As I said before he has been given everything he has supposedly achieved. All of it as a result of affirmative action.


79 posted on 01/26/2014 8:03:19 PM PST by yarddog (Romans 8: verses 38 and 39. "For I am persuaded".)
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To: napscoordinator

“Obama has the education...”
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Health insurance is not the same thing as health care and degrees in frames on the wall are not the same thing as education. Obama lacks even the equivalent of a good eighth grade education in reality.


80 posted on 01/26/2014 8:04:53 PM PST by RipSawyer (The TREE currently falling on you actually IS worse than a Bush.)
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