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Political Fix by Gloria Penner

Obama Meltdown?

Tens of thousands of words certainly have been written about President Obama's March 24th prime-time press conference . Maybe I've underestimated and the number is closer to hundreds of thousands or even a million or more. But I can't resist adding just a few more -- very few -- to the torrent of reaction.

I'm focusing on just one brief, but telling, part of the president's almost hour-long prime-time attempt to calm a nation. And we need calming because we are a people depressed by this deep recession that still shows no end in sight. Plus we're angry because millions of the dollars we've paid in taxes have ended up in the pockets of a few AIG executives. Chances are that we could have used that tax money to help us out during these dark days of joblessness and defaulted home mortgages.

So President Obama was prepared to help us cool down with a carefully prepared presentation. But he did take questions from journalists in the audience and although most were easily dispatched with thoughtful responses, one stood out as subtly ruffling the president's composure. He was asked why it took him days to react to the AIG bonuses with anger. His response had just a hint of testiness as he evenly countered with " It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak ."

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I was watching the press conference on KPBS Television's high definition channel and the purity of the signal gave me a glimpse into Obama's momentary emotions. It was a moment of rare transparency when the veil slipped for a moment. I saw eyelids drop protectively and a mouth barely moving as the words were released. But it didn't last long enough for me to detect whether that brief reaction displayed impatience, annoyance, or a quick look into the face of a man whose vast agenda of monumental and world-shaking responsibilities can't possibly be understood by any living soul. Perhaps Jimmy Carter, Geroge H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, or George W. Bush might have a clue.

marty
March 27, 2009 at 05:37 PM
Hey Gloria: You want be real incisive. Why don't you call out that dogmatic hack Bob Kittle who spouts the same tired old rhetoric of lower taxes is always, always the answer. But better yet, today on roundtable, which I find diffcult to listen to because the substance is so closed (ie.-round) windbag Kittle used the Prime Minister of the Czeck Republic to make a point. He mislead the viewers, as always, by failing to mention that the E.U. position he holds, is a 6 month revolving one. The other E.U. country P.M."s consider him extreme. He also is a climate change denier...you get the picture. But the biggest hypoccrisy of Kittle is he quoted the P.M. to make a point that U.S. is becoming overregulated from someone who comes from a more regulated set of economies. Can someone please call him out? Marty

Dave
March 30, 2009 at 04:05 PM
Marty you should express yourself more often. It gives people an opportunity to see why we have the people in power both in California and Washington. You sit on your high horse of big government intervention as the country falls apart all around and you want more big government. You’re typical of the old saying that says “do the same stupid thing and you get the same stupid results”. Spending is the problem and always has been. Even Bush in his feeble attempt to make friends with the left was complicit in growing the government. I agree with you Gloria. That brief lone expressions told more about the man then the whole hour. That news reporter dared go against the agenda set forth that night. It was an ire reminder of what is in store for those who refuse to follow the Obama party line of don’t ever make me look bad. Marty a lesson in basic economics states that if you create a road block to capital formation you will destroy growth. Marty higher taxes and government spending does just that. Marty I noticed you now called the global warming scam a new name. You use the new term climate change since the last research proved that global warming was a hoax and that we are getting cooler. By the way Marty climate change is called weather it has been happening for ever. Last I looked there are even televisions shows talking about it. The truth Marty is that the global Warming scam is just another tax on our utilities to go to Big Government. You have to have an I.Q. just a notch above room temperature to believe you can change the weather with a tax. Marty go to any third world socialist country and then tell me big government is the answer. While you’re at it why don’t you stay there and enjoy the fruits of their suffering.