First Press Conference

Ill tell you what, nobody can accuse the press of throwing him softballs today. It was like they wanted him to step in and start governing TODAY. Candy Crowley tried to set him up to by asking about the confidential intelligence briefings he is now getting. Thats what I call EPIC FAIL!

its amazing
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The only question that reporter could muster up for the game-changing first African-American President was.. about a dog

It's like the MSM can't believe they aren't dreaming and they keep trying to pinch Obama. Joe I know you see it but your colleagues are going to need a little more time to get used to the idea that he is competent, intelligent, and a student of history capable of learning from the mistakes of others and if he is going to make mistakes they will have to be new ones because the usual suspects have already been gamed out. So the country now has a fighting chance because there will soon be a grown up in the white house.

Clearly, he's a thoroughly unqualified community organizer.
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In before texte!
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I think anyone watching/waiting to see if Obama is going to trip up is going to have to do more than just wait until he opens a bag of pretzels...if nothing else, the man knows how to exude competence.

Maybe we are all just thrown by having a President who appears to think about issues, as opposed to reciting information that was spoon fed to them by their advisors. We are all will need a period of adjustment.

-Unlike his immediate predecessor, he seemed completely in control.

That's what I noticed. I've admired his handle on language ever since reading his first book and you can see that he knows and understands how to communicate ideas even when he's not reading a prepared speech. We know he can make gaffes (ie. bitter, clinging to guns, and more) but they tend to be the exception not the rule. The current president's imprecise language and blatant refusal to answer the question asked have been the rule and have been galling to me. This short conference offers hope for better.

"Obama said nothing controversial, so far as I can tell." I would say more than that. He demonstrated several times that he respects lines of authority and will not seek to usurp others. Like the governor of Illinois' decision on who will take Obama's place in the Senate. Like the fact that Bush is still President, and Obama isn't until January. The latter also serves the politically valuable purpose of emphasizing that what happens between now and then is still on Bush's plate.

There was no "Don't you worry, now..." component to his initial statement, which was a bit disconcerting--to me, at least.
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What, you want a fairy tale about how awesome everything is going to be? Here:
Obama has been told of the secret equations that run the economy, and he's going to use them to fix everything. Everyone gets a pony, too.
The end.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-11-07-lieberman-mcconnell_N.htm?csp=34

There, feast your eyes on that article. "Lieberman in talks with McConnell". We welcome you Joe to the conservative fold.

All you will get Cliffy, and the rest of America is 40 acres and a mule. At the rate the Democrats spew out dollars from the treasury on "stimulus" packages and bailouts there won't be enough money to buy everyone a pony.

"Everyone gets a pony, too."
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I would like one of those mustangs I can call Paint, please.

Lieberman in talks with mcconnell...what's Mitch going to offer him? Kleenex and all the bourbon he can drink? Certainly no chairman positions.
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If Joe wants to be known as a tantrum-throwing obstructionist, he's welcome to the title. And permanent retirement from politics in 2012 (if not sooner--can CT recall him?).

He called for preconditions before talking to the dead, unlike like Nancy Reagan. Flip-flop.

rusty
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you can take Lieberman and the horse he rode in on. Have fun trying to get that backstabbing son of a b!tch to support your social agenda!

Mean while the republican thinkers are going around babbling:
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BOZELL: Conservatives didn't play a role in this campaign. This was a moderate Republican against a liberal, left-wing Democrat. And the left-wing Democrat beat the moderate Republican. … If you look at the exit polls this year, you'll find two fascinating results. Number one: This country remains every bit as center-right as it has for a generation.
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HEMMER: You don't think that's changed at all?
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BOZELL: No it hasn't. … Number one is that the public is conservative; number two: Barack Obama won as a conservative. That means Barack Obama does not have the mandate to enact the progressive agenda he wants to enact.
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What?

gunny--the neocons are operating on the bluto blutarsky principle: "My advice to you, is to start drinking--heavily."
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After applying that, their trains of thought make perfect sense.

Shorter Brett Bozell: "These are not the Droids you voted for."

I concede. Pour wins.

The seance thing was a gaffe. Every thinking person knows he was just making a funny. But with Nancy Reagan (a) being beloved by the Right and (b) recently having big-time health problems, anything that belittled her was a mistake.

IMHO his "I'm a mutt" afterward helped take away a lot of the sting. He can be just as acerbic/deprecating toward himself, which is refreshing.

But I expect the seance quote on Beck, Limbaugh, Carr, and Hannity on the radio today/tomorrow. It's already on Drudge.

I have two donkeys, and donkeys are better than ponies. Really more like dogs, really. Ponies are grumpy cause they really want to be horses.
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There. I said something more intelligent than rusty.

Amazing!.....not how Obama handled himself today, but that this same USA elected someone eight years ago so completely his opposite. But then, as we say in recovery.....it takes a bottom to start the climb. Thank God it didn't kill us.

Now I see Obama's problem, because it's mine, too. He can't loosen up in a professional context or he'd totally sink himself. I bet he could have done a whole Nancy Reagan set, "Seriously, Ladies and Gentleman, just say no to ghosts. Hey, what is the deal with airplane food?"

The word that most often comes to mind for President-Elect Obama is Zen. The man is almost supernaturally calm, cool and collected. He oozes confidence and it inspires the people around him. He admires and respects excellence and brilliance (those darn elitists!) and surrounds himself with the best and brightest. He is confident enough in his own intellect and views to be willing to hear out the arguments of others. He commands respect and admiration both in his accomplishments (community organizing doesn't look so useless now, does it, RNC/ texte?) and in the way he carries himself.
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In short, he is a true inspiration to America and the world and a man that we can all look to with swelling pride. He symbolizes the very best of America, and I am totally confident that he will be able to effectively navigate the minefields of American and world politics more successfully than most of the men who have come before him.

sacoharry
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The only problem is Nancy Reagan DID have astrologers in the Whitehouse and its going to be pretty hard for the talking heads to bash him without that fact coming up and then THEY will look like they they are bashing Nancy Reagan. All in all who gives a sh!t, he is the president elect now. What can Rush do?

I know a little something about effective political communication, and what he should do is immediately broaden the issue by discussing the unfounded superstitions white women often have, particularly churchy types. Trust me on this, I have amazing political instincts.

Its called game face people. It's a little trick you pick up growing up black in pre-racial America.