President Obama, mad at the government again
The Times reports he’s just “seething” with anger:
Beneath the calming reassurance that President Obama has repeatedly offered during the Ebola crisis, there is a deepening frustration, even anger, with how the government has handled key elements of the response.
Those frustrations spilled over when Mr. Obama convened his top aides in the Cabinet room after canceling his schedule on Wednesday. Medical officials were providing information that later turned out to be wrong. Guidance to local health teams was not adequate. It was unclear which Ebola patients belonged in which threat categories.
“It’s not tight,” a visibly angry Mr. Obama said of the response, according to people briefed on the meeting. He told aides they needed to get ahead of events and demanded a more hands-on approach, particularly from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The buck continues its failure to stop at the president’s desk. Actually, I don’t think the buck ever even visits the vicinity.
However, the president isn’t to blame for everything in the US ebola mess. He’s not to blame for the incompetence of whoever dealt with Thomas Duncan the first time he went to the Dallas Presbyterian ER. Nor is he to blame for everything wrong with an agency like the CDC; some of that has probably been brewing for ages.
But Dr. Tom Frieden is Obama’s own appointment. He’s responsible for that, and Frieden is a disaster. Obama’s responsible for not firing him. He’s responsible for appointing a hack like Klain to fix things.
Obama is described in the ridiculously Obama-serving Times article as having become alarmed when the second nurse from Dallas was diagnosed with ebola. But Obama’s responsible for not sensing that things were already out of control long before that. He’s responsible for the claptrap his mouthpiece Josh Earnest spouts when asked about travel bans:
“If we are trying to protect the American public, we should not put in a travel ban,” Earnet said. He added, “If you put in place a travel ban from West Africa, those individuals could go to other countries and try to travel here and disguise their original destination.”
Earth to Obama/Earnest: no they can’t, not if we put a visa ban into effect. I think they purposely misunderstand what people are suggesting, creating a strawman that they can knock down more easily, rather than responding to the actual proposal to ban commercial travel here by nationals of the ebola-affected countries. Obama is responsible for refusing to implement the proposal or even to represent it properly when he argues against it.
I wrote that Obama isn’t responsible for the errors committed in the ER of the Dallas hospital. And he’s not. But then again maybe he is, at least a little bit. Obamacare has been demonstrated to have increased patients’ use of ERs rather than decreased it, and so to the degree that the Dallas ER may have made mistakes because it was overburdened or short-staffed (and I don’t know whether either was part of the problem, but it’s highly possible), Obama is at least somewhat at fault for that, too.
Heck of a job, Barack. Heck of a job.
It’s intentional demolition.
Meaning, they aren’t the cause because they micro manage all the disasters. It’s more like, if you pile up 50 stories on top of supporting pillars, then you wipe out the supporting pillars, all the things at the top will come crashing down whether or not the top stories were weak or incompetent.
POTUS: “seething with anger.”
Oh yes, that POTUS, the most brilliant President EVAH, who was a better speechwriter than his speech writers, better at foreign policy than anyone at State, surely he is a better administrator than anyone at CDC, a better scientist than anyone at CDC. All we need is Super ‘Bama to the Rescue.
Presidential Mottos
I wonder how many conferences Obama has had with CDC and other health professionals since the outbreak escalted. I’d bet it’s less than the number of meetings he had with Sebelius during the Obamacare rollout. Obama’s MO is to appoint ideologically similar but incompetent people, tell them to make square circles, go to fundraisers or on vacation, read the NYT once in a while, and then get really, really angry when the circles have corners. What has he ever managed well, from the asbestos removal from Altgeld Gardens, to the innovative educational program run by Bill Ayers. He is a lazy narcissist.
Arranging for the appearance of this piece in the NYT was Klain’s first act as Czar.
I keep thinking one of these days just the sheer embarrassment of always trotting out this lameness will get to Obama and his apologists. But no. Maybe they feel the most important thing is to give that 40% of Americans who will never abandon him a little something to help them save face.
Obama is described in the ridiculously Obama-serving Times article as…
You misspelled “fellating”.
The “buck” is the only thing that can’t get into the White House.
“If you put in place a travel ban from West Africa, those individuals could go to other countries and try to travel here…”
This is another straw argument. Leaders in other countries with the possible exception of European leftists don’t hate their own countries like American Leftists hate America. They aren’t going to allow travelers whom they think might have Ebola to fly to their country even if they think the Ebola carrier is going to travel on to the USA after a brief layover.
Here’s a thought experiment… Imagine Obama loves America and the Constitution as much as Washington, Jefferson and Madison combined. Imagine his policies have a lighter touch than Calvin Coolidge. And the results were what we see today. Does he get a pass for good intentions or does he get sidelined into the lamest of lame ducks because the people are disgusted by incompetence?
Said it before and I’ll say it again: I wouldn’t trust this guy to protect an old lady across the street, let alone the country from threats. I really don’t care about anything he has to say about anything anymore.
Worst. President. Ever.
‘Ebola Czar’ Absent from White House Ebola Strategy Meeting
PLUS… Obama’s real Ebola Czar, Nicole Lurie, M.D., M.S.P.H., the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)… evidently wasn’t there either.
Yeah Obama was ‘seething’ all right. In a pig’s eye.
Correction: evidently Breitbart has the timing wrong, the meeting was on Wednesday and Klain was appointed on Friday. That does not however explain Lurie’s absence.
A GONNABEE is an “angry autocrat” — who normally does his best to hide his rage from the general public/ larger audience.
DeLorean, the auto boy, ‘functioned’ the exact same way.
This tick has been with him since Day One.
It’s only now that the NY Times is willing to pull back the curtain — just a tad.
You’ll also, eventually, find out that he still smokes — and still uses cannabis. (Unlike Biden, he’s not a heavy drinker… habits of a lifetime and all that.
colagirl,
I would not trust dear leader to pick up Bo’s doggy do do if he was walking the dog down my street.
The boychild dictator is angry that he has to stay put in near proximity his diet czar wife in order to pretend he gives a damn instead of boarding AF1 to blather at a fundraiser or fly to some golf course in the 57 states. What a loathsome gollum we have in the oval office.
Maybe he should appoint a Czar for presidential responsibilities.
It would at least free him up for full time golf.
Ace had a typically brilliant piece written last December. It’s at
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/345514.php
Extended quote:
In a movie or book, “The MacGuffin” is the thing the hero wants.
Usually the villain wants it too, and their conflict over who will end up with The MacGuffin forms the basic spine of the story.
A MacGuffin only has one requirement: That it be important-sounding, so that the audience understands he hero isn’t engaged in some trivial matter, but that the Stakes Are High.
But an important sounding MacGuffin is just another way to increase the audience’s emotional attachment to the Hero, not to the idea of possessing the MacGuffin.
And that, of course, explains all you need to know about the abnormal political situation we find ourselves in, and the Cult of Barack Obama.
For Obama’s fanbois, this is not politics. This isn’t even America, not really, not anymore.
This is a movie. And Barack Obama is the Hero. And the Republicans are the Villains. And policy questions — and Obama’s myriad failures as an executive — are simply incidental. They are MacGuffins only, of no importance whatsoever, except to the extent they provide opportunities for Drama as the Hero fights in favor of them.
Watching Chris Matthews interview Obama, I was struck by just how uninterested in policy questions Matthews (and his panel) were, and how almost every question seemed to be, at heart, about Obama’s emotional response to difficulties– not about policy itself, but about Obama’s Hero’s Journey in navigating the plot of President Barack Obama: The Movie.
As with a MacGuffin in the movie, only the Hero’s emotional response to the MacGuffin matters.
Again and again, Matthews and his panel focused not on weighty questions of state, but on what toll these important-sounding MacGuffins took upon the Star of the Picture, Barack Obama.
…
Note what they’re not talking about: America. Policy. The economy. Obamacare. Actual live political controversies and possible programmatic responses to the difficulties we face (many of which Obama has caused himself, or made worse).
No, American politics is now merely a MacGuffin, an important-sounding but ultimately inconsequential and disposable plot device for holding interest in the Hero’s Journey.
Ultimately the only thing that matters is the Hero itself. It doesn’t matter why the Hero Barack Obama wants the Lost Ark of Sensible Gun Control, or the Shankara Stones of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, or the Democratic Holy Grail of Affordable Health Care. These are very minor details and only matter to the extent the Hero exerts himself to achieve them.
The viewers of this film don’t really care about these things, but only Obama’s frustration at being denied them, or his joy in attaining them.
What counted was that the Hero had won.
Politics is now a MacGuffin in American politics, at least for the frothing fanbois of the Hero Barack Obama.
It doesn’t matter what his goals actually are — it only matters that he succeeds in those quests, whatever they might be.
He’s only seething that His reputation is taking a hit; nothing else.
My friend Vinnie who is my blue-collar NYC bellwether, said defiantly last week that she likes him, she really likes him; and he’s trying as hard as he can, the Poor Man, and have you seen how gray he’s gotten? and they just won’t Help him, you know, all those horrible obstructionist republicans [finished off with a hate-filled snarl directed at poor Sarah Palin, who’s not even IN POWER and never has been, nationally].
She’s also a Huge Fan of American Idol, The Voice, and all the other Amateur Hour shows on the telly. And watches the evening propaganda shows religiously: “I love my news!”
She is, like her peers, utterly brainwashed. And the Limbaugh Theorem is correct when it comes to Vinnie and her ilk: they really DON”T see The Precious as being responsible for anything. In vain have I pointed out that he’s the Leader of the Free World, the Commander in Chief, etc., etc.: that if a Repub were president she wouldn’t hesitate to blame him for every freaking thing: all useless. She’s convinced to her core that The Precious is a Nice Young Man who Cares and Tries Hard, and all those Blue Meanies just won’t give him a break.
In other respects she’s a real nice woman. Just utterly brainwashed, you know? it’s maddening.
gpc31 and beverly,
Those are both valuable insights into the cult of Obama but I would argue that it is not Obama himself that they truly value but what he represents and to them what he embodies, which is the hope for the realization of the dawning of a liberal utopia.
Most of all they yearn for that moment when evil (greedy people) is conquered and nothing now stands in the way of future ‘happiness’. That moment when Kumbaya is finally here… and no external obstacles to happiness remain. That feeling of contented satiation when all is well with the world and shall ever be so is what they seek. Heaven on earth.
Of course its an illusion based in a rejection of reality and human nature but once you’ve rejected the possibility of an afterlife, other than selfish hedonism the only noble cause left is working to create a utopia on earth.
Earlier commenters have described the mindset of Obama’s followers quite well.
As for Obama, if you can get past the whole “fool or knave?” discussion of motives, this appears to one more example of Obama just being a really bad and inexperienced manager. He doesn’t manage anything; he makes pronouncements and lets others make it happen with what appears to be very little oversight (too busy traveling & golfing to meet w/his cabinet). I doubt he really understands – or even cares – how the CDC, HHS, etc. should work or actually do work given his lack of attention and staffing critical positions with people who are more loyal than competent.
He strikes me as the kind of manager who is MIA most of the time (busy attending meetings, discussing policy), but when there’s a crisis, will drop by, demand something be done NOW, and then toss in number of additional requirements/prohibitions that make it impossible to get the desired result. Couldn’t be more clear that he’s demanded his people stop the spread of Ebola while also insisting on open borders and nothing that will induce panic, such as moving Duncan to a CDC site or quarantining his caregivers, Is it any wonder they’ve failed to contain the spread or Ebola and disappointed him? Doubt he even understands why given he’s never had to produce actual results in the imperfect, real world.
Oh dear, one of faithful sounds more than a bit shaken — Frank Bruni in the NY Times:
}}} when Mr. Obama convened his top aides in the Cabinet room after canceling his schedule on Wednesday.
DAMN!!!
How many rounds of golf will this damned silly “Ebola” thing cost the PotUS…!?!?!
Inquiring minds want to know!!
OK, who is The President? Why is his administration doing things without telling him, that he has the read in in a newspaper or hear about it on TV? (We KNOW he doesn’t listen to Rush!) Why is he not taking names, kicking butt, and tossing out all those incompetents working(???????) for/under him?
My guesses: He Don’t Care, or He Wants It That Way. Could be both.