Obama and Baier and “process” and Hawaiian earthquakes
Where to begin?
I didn’t see the Baier interview on TV, and when I tried to watch the video it stopped after six minutes and would not start again. But I’m not so sure I could have stomached much more of Obama’s bobbing and weaving and not answering the questions, and repeating inane and repugnant and misleading talking points and complaining petulantly.
Baier gave a lesson in what reporters should have been doing right along when interviewing Obama: actually asking him tough questions and relevant follow-ups. If anyone in the MSM had done this sort of thing during the campaign, Obama might not have been elected and we would not be facing the mess we’re in right now.
Here’s a transcript if you (like me) prefer to read rather than watch. For now, I will just comment on two things. The first is that in the opening segment (the one I watched on video) Obama made it crystal clear that he doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the procedural rules embedded in the Constitution for the passage of legislation, or the ones that have grown up over time:
I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about what the procedural rules are in the House or the Senate.
Of course not—after all, it’s not like he was ever a Senator, or a Constitutional law prof/lecturer, or anything like that.
And Obama doesn’t think you should worry your pretty little head about process, either. Actually, he’s pretty sure that you don’t, despite the fact that Baier read him a couple of letters from ordinary Americans who do care. Why, Obama’s got letters too!
But one of the strangest exchanges was this one:
OBAMA: Something that was called a special deal was for Louisiana. It was said that there were billions ”” millions of dollars going to Louisiana, this was a special deal. Well, in fact, that provision, which I think should remain in, said that if a state has been affected by a natural catastrophe, that has created a special health care emergency in that state, they should get help. Louisiana, obviously, went through Katrina, and they’re still trying to deal with the enormous challenges that were faced because of that.
(CROSS TALK)
OBAMA: That also ”” I’m giving you an example of one that I consider important. It also affects Hawaii, which went through an earthquake. So that’s not just a Louisiana provision. That is a provision that affects every state that is going through a natural catastrophe.
What earthquake in Hawaii? Gateway Pundit notes that, “In 1868 there was a major earthquake in Hawaii that killed 77 people. In 1975 an earthquake in Hawaii killed 2 people.” Obviously, Obama can’t possibly be referring to either of those.
But indeed there was an earthquake in Hawaii in 2006, It caused property damage to a little over a thousand buildings (73 million dollars’ worth). However, it seems to have resulted in no deaths and only minor injuries. Certainly there appears to have been no “special health care emergency” there that would have qualified for any sort of special funds under the provisions of HCR.
Obama seemed clueless and meandering in the interview, repeating the same points over and over and unable to counter Baier in any effective way, resorting to what Holden Caulfield used to call “slinging the old bull” and bringing up strangely irrelevant stuff like the Hawaii earthquake.
The trouble is, I don’t think it will matter. As I said earlier today, I think healthcare will pass; Pelosi will see to it.
I prefer to read the transcript also.
However…..
I believe this is the first transcript I didn’t read.
I am tired.
I can’t stomach his POINTLESS, IRRELEVANT, IDIOCY.
∅bama has made hisself irrelevant with somebody like me who actually was pretty happy on inauguration day to see the first african-american president.
I was surrounded by happy people at work.
My girlfriend was happy.
Within record time, I went from reading EVERYTHING he said and fascinated with how he would PROCEED to be an executive.
He has not been even a mediocre executive.
His basic intelligence is in serious question.
Of what I am sure about – he is an arrogant, pompous, self-centered, non-listening jerk who DOESN’T DESERVE the job.
He has pissed off so many friendly nations. He has done the OPPOSITE of what he should do for the economy on almost every topic. He doesn’t listen to alternative ideas and he callously insults just about everybody unless you have a “D” next to your name.
Hawaii????? How about any number of other states that has seen disaster recently???
I might read the transcript in order to be PROUD of Baier.
Tomorrow. 🙂
The bobbing and weaving and trying to stick to his talking points is an EPIC FAIL.
Awesome, Baier.
Obama doesn’t know what is in it and doesn’t care. It isn’t about Health CARE at all. It is a power play.
He also admits to his own meddling in this thing, saying what he “rejected” – admitting he is directing and crafting the monstrosity,
Does anyone believe him when he says he doesn’t care about “procedure” and all that? No way. He cares intensely. It’s why he is losing weight and turning grey.
If you haven’t already seen it, look at page 911 – ObamaCare’s New Public Health Workforce Corps
Nobody likes to hear “I told you so” but from 1/4 to 1/3 of the nation was clearly pointing out that Obama at best was an empty suit and at worst was a socialist by any pragmatic definition.
Turns out they were wrong too. He’s worse than could possibly have been imagined.
Whether it was intentional or not, Obama was rightly set up by Fox. OReilly treated him with just the right amount of deference so as to not scare him off. Bair has not been known to go “bulldog” in interviews, but he did. And what a relief it was to not have to hear Obama go on rambling incessantly, but instead only in short bursts of non sequiters and other nonsense!
Obama was pitiful, indeed, and was even dominated at times by a mere anchorman who is currently perhaps the least among Fox’s stable.
But I’ll bet Brett Bair Voo Doo dolls have just become very popular at the WH, while publically it will portray our Messiah as the victim.
um….
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2010/03/why-did-newsweek-put-face-of-karl-marx.html
Baer was a star tonight. It was clear he was uncomfortable with the notion of being agressive with the President but he summoned what it took to be incisive necessarily assertive while not settling for simply giving Obama a platform for his less than truthful propaganda.
While I have all along held strong feelings against the HCR, I haven’t commented much l lately, unsure exactly how I might characterize the horror I have felt in the last week to ten days as the Dems intention to use reconciliation became
oops! (that’s what I get for posting so late!)
….(to continue) uas the Dems intention to use reconciliation became unquestionable with the intent of ramming this monstrosity down our throats. It’s become a pissing match of the most public kind. Ironically though, since the theatre of the “Healthcare Summit” the Republicans have hardly said a word, while the fear of losing among the Democratic leadership has led them to abandon all but the merest pretense of legality and plan to use the “Slaughter process” to attain their goal. All of this, as if in a complete vacuum, completely ignoring the people’s desires. (Granted, the disregard for the public’s wishes is not new, but they have exhibited what seems to me to be an open defiance and contempt for that which the clear majority of Americans want.) Such brazen disregard extends far beyond arrogance and pomposity. It is indeed naked greed for power, and I feel dismayed…. I feel as if my head has been held so that I not mistake for.a single moment what is happening, and that is the encroachment of what is…dare I say it? Tyranny?
Am I being overly dramatic? I have thought about little else in recent days, and lord knows I have plenty of immediate issues to focus on
Neo: Don’t give up. We can never guarantee success at anything, but we can always guarantee failure by giving up.
It’s being reported that Thursday morning, the Republicans will introduce a Resolution calling for an up-or-down vote on the Senate bill (which Pelosi wants to “deem” passed so that the Democrats can hide). They Republicans can force a vote on on that resolution to be recorded.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=36065
Maybe most Americans cannot understand the intricacy of complex parliamentary procedure, but they can understand the notion of an “up or down” vote, like Obama called for.
oops…again. That’s a signal that it’s time to end.
I’ll just say I know there are many others who are watching all has unfolded, not with awe, but with horror….and fear. And it’s not just fellow conservatives. I know some fairly liberal people, let alone many, many moderates for whom this “process” might very well be the step too far. It’s like this Democratic leadership has just opened Pandora’s Box. Will anyone ever be able to put in all back in the Box and seal it shut again? I’d like to have a nickel for every time I’ve thought to myself: not here…never in America.
But this time, I have to bring myself to admit: I’m scared.
I now miss Bush. I was searching through some videos of Bush and found this interview with Matt Lauer.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/5865022#5865022
Bush didn’t expect to be treated like a king and not really questioned. He sat down with Matt and discussed the issues that Matt brought up. Did he dodge some? Yes. Did all of his policies work like he wanted? No. But at least he could intelligently discuss whatever Matt brought up – he used a couple of talking points – but with substance behind them.
I can’t believe that Bush has been criticized for being dumb and Obama is supposed to be this intellectual. Unfortunately, the MSM is not discussing this – they are discussing how “poorly” Baier treated poor Obama. They completely missed the point that Obama never answered a single question. I cannot understand their adoration of him.
This reminds me of how a lot of Chicagoans thought Al Capone was a good guy for opening soup kitchens. The process? Well…Thats just petty little details that cloud the important issue of people getting free stuff.
> Obama might not have been elected and we would not be facing the mess we’re in right now.
I dunno, Hillary would have pushed much the same if she had been elected. She might not have beaten McCain, I grant….
> I can’t believe that Bush has been criticized for being dumb and Obama is supposed to be this intellectual.
Lemon — Eminently simple, my dear chap: There’s a “D” after his name.
Works like a charm, covering a whole host of deeply evil and reprehensible sins. Much, much better than a rabbit’s foot or a 4-leaf clover, in fact…
For entertainment, read Bill Whittle’s excellent essay on the topic of Bush’s “stupidity”:
Seeing The Unseen
The whole thing is worth reading, but if you want to scan down for “The War of the Bumper Stickers”, specifically the first entry, “Somewhere in Texas, a Village is missing its Idiot.”
Bill rather straightforwardly and simply demolishes the idea that Bush is in any way stupid, by pointing out that he was an accomplished jet pilot, and showing the reader just *one* question you’d have to answer to accomplish that (out of not less than 60 or so, with not less than 70% correctly answered — and that would be for a civilian, not a military pilot).
It’s a great piece, as usual from Whittle.
He really is Chauncey Gardener — except not in the least benign.
I always read transcripts. After the way Sarah Palin was treated in interviews, I always read the transcript. A skilled editor can change everything.
Good for Baier, I say. I think he did a decent job.
You can definitely see the basketball player in the President. He constantly tries to ‘draw the foul’, always interjecting with “Let me finish.”-even when he hasn’t been interrupted.
My only issue: I wish Baier hadn’t apoligized for interrupting.
A) Its his job (indeed, all of their jobs) to question the President, and hold his feet to the fire.
B) It only lends weight to the President’s tactic-drawing the foul. Baier did interrupt him a couple of times but he didn’t do it every time the President said “Let me finish.”
I just became a Facebook fan of Bret Baier.
This dude is a fool…plain and simple…and if it were not for MSM/affirmative action he’d be…….
Obama was “smooth” in his way – as in he could talk without break for unnaturally long periods of time in what should have been like a normal conversation.
That is what made this thing so hard to watch. It was a fillibuster in what should have been a conversation between two people. It was painful and excruciating for that reason, most of the time.
Baier was good, but I wish he had just interupted more and said, ‘Mr. President, could you please answer the question’; or, ‘Mr. Presidetn I see you won’t answer that question so let’s move on to the next one’.
I do not aggree necessarily with giving Obama yet anpother forum through which to propagate his power putsch. You don’t play with fire like that, unless you are really good and really brave enough to step on Presidential toes.
Baier was ‘great’ if you compare him to the MSM. He was ‘okay’ in what would noramlly obtain in situations like that.
Baklava,
∅bama has made hisself irrelevant with somebody like me who actually was pretty happy on inauguration day to see the first african-american president.
It is my belief that it is people like you who will have killed this country. That is nothing more than your own egoism and pride – feeling all good over yourself about the surface of another man’s skin, and not doing the due diligence you owe yourself and your fellow citizens about the character of the people we select to lead us.
66m people voted for this guy. More than any number about debts, deficits and spending, that is the one that astoinds and depresses me. I think there will millions and millions of people just like you in that number.
You screwed the rest of us. You screwed the whole country.
Obama and Pelosi now have a new trump card in bribing and threatening wavering Democrats: they can threaten to come to their districts and actively campaign for them.
I watched it and I must say the President is certainly a desperate man to appear on Fox News after Anita Dunn and David Axlerod both “deemed” it not a legitimate news source.
csimon: yes, the Democratics have torn off the mask and anyone who is paying attention can see what they are about. And it isn’t pretty. It is indeed the face of tyranny in its infancy—or perhaps its adolescence.
Mike Mc.; I don’t remember for sure, but I think perhaps that Baklava did not actually vote for Obama. I think he may just have been happy at the inauguration because of what it meant in terms of how far America has come in terms of race.
Heck, I couldn’t stand Obama, campaigned against him and his policies, and even I was happy on inauguration day about that single aspect of things, and hoping for the best, hoping I was wrong about the rest.
Mike Mc,
I can see the honest mistake. I’ve been very informed since 1991. I voted for Palin / McCain. Palin had the economic prescription and Obama’s few details were the VIRUS that disturbed markets even more during the campaign season.
Neo – said it. I saw people PROUD of their country for once.
Dennis Miller recounted on his radio program a few nights after the inauguration what I saw and felt. Dennis Miller was in a cab and the taxi – driver was so emotionally happy.
There is VALUE in seeing people down on their country feel that their country has redeemed itself or whatever.
I hoped.
That is all I could do. I have learned through the passing of my partner on July 08, 06 and other events that you have to “accept what is”. I had already accepted. I wasn’t going to let Obama’s election get me down.
I was going to continue talking about free markets – a strong national defense and personal responsibility.
BTW, I finally watched (not read) the Baier interview.
Baier did ok.
He did what he could in the face of … what do you call it … a disinterested man called ∅bama
Baklava, and Neo,
My mistake and apologies.
Was watching a discussion of the Baeir-Obama interview today on Morning Joe on MSNBC. Mark Halperin from Time magazine was on the panel.
They played a clip of Obama’s comment that he just doesn’t much care for procedures and rules when it comes to getting what he wants done. And Halperin defends the comment, saying, “well, [Obama] really doesn’t have much choice since that’s the only way he can accomplish his agenda!”
It’s really astounding, and illustrates everything that is wrong with the MSM and how complicit they were/are in what has happened to our fragile democracy over the past year. Just imagine the response had GWB or Karl Rove made a similar comment about the meaninglessness of democratic “procedures.”
Baier did his job, and did it well. I’ve long thought that he is one of the best journalists in Fox’s lineup. I think it’s telling that Charles Krauthammer makes a regular evening appearance on Baier’s show.
Of course not–after all, it’s not like he was ever a Senator, or a Constitutional law prof/lecturer, or anything like that.
Or, like he took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution.
I initially thought I’d misheard the Hawaiian earthquake remark, mentally rewound the tape, realized that that was in fact what Obama had said. I then thought that he probably meant “Haitian earthquake,” but in the same instant realized that that doesn’t make sense in this context either, since there is no nexus between Haiti and the health care bill (unless Haiti is one of the 58 states now).
There’s been no significant earthquake in the U.S. So WTF was he talking about?
No clearer reflection of media bias can be found. If Bush had said something like this, the NYT would have had it on their front page in the point size used for declarations of war. But this? Crickets.
He was probably referring to the non-tsunami that did not hit Hawaii after the Chilean earthquake…but was expected to be huge. His staff really needs to keep him updated on current events, it’s embarrassing. 🙂
Maybe he was remembering mount murabi i Indonesia… 🙂 its outside of jojakarta (not jakarta)
i saw it… wanted to climb it had no time
(yes, very dangerous to climb and be there. VERY)
i did get to take my son to the caldera rim of a very active other volcano.. (killed people a couple of years back and all the plants to the north of the cinder cone)
that was Bromo mountain i think
i also got to do some back country walk
worried about orangutan since i kept crossing droppings.
im not a typical geek… 🙂
So he’s going to give Hawaii a break on healthcare costs because they had a tsunami scare that didn’t materialize?
I can discern no context whatever, no matter how charitable I try to be, in which his comment makes the slightest bit of sense.
I did not watch the interview because I cannot bear to watch Obama in person anymore. My wife watched and I could tell by the way she was screaming at the TV every few minutes that it was well that I didn’t watch. Thank God forFox News.
If my memory serves me right, there were multiple bills for financial aid to LA that passed after Katrina. I can’t imagine that LA really deserves any more funds for Katrina related issues if the money that was voted their way was spent honorably.
Hey, Occam’s Beard! How dare you diss our first Irish-Hawaiian President, Barry O’Bama?
What? What’s that you say? He’s what? Our first what? You’re sure?
Neverrrrrmind!
Baier no doubt saw Obama destroy the Republicans in the recent Q&A so he figured his only hope at not being humiliated was to prevent Obama from finishing any statements. On the other hand, I do think reporters should hold politicians’ feet to the fire, so he did a good job in that regard. No surprise though that Bush/Rove etc. are treated with kid gloves and special lighting when they appear on Fox.
Luther Poach: ah yes, of course, Obama simply destroyed those Republicans in that Q&A. I guess “destruction,” like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
And of course, 90% of the MSM isn’t in Obama’s pocket either, even with the thrills going up their legs and all, and those wonderfully creased pants of his!