Why has Barack Obama failed so spectacularly? Is he too dogmatically liberal or too pragmatic? Is he a socialist, or an anticolonialist, or a philosopher-president? Or is it possible that Obama’s failures stem from something simpler: vanity. Politicians as a class are particularly susceptible to mirror-gazing. But Obama’s vanity is overwhelming. It defines him, his politics, and his presidency.
There was the time he bragged about how one of his campaign volunteers, who had tragically died of breast cancer, “insisted she’s going to be buried in an Obama T-shirt.” There was the Nobel acceptance speech where he conceded, “I do not bring with me today a definitive solution to the problems of war” (the emphasis is mine). There was the moment during the 2008 campaign when Obama appeared with a seal that was a mash-up of the Great Seal of the United States and his own campaign logo (with its motto Vero Possumus, “Yes we Can” in Latin). Just a few weeks ago, Obama was giving a speech when the actual presidential seal fell from the rostrum. “That’s all right,” he quipped. “All of you know who I am.” Oh yes, Mr. President, we certainly do.
“One of our classmates once famously noted that you could judge just how pretentious someone’s remarks in class were by how high they ranked on the ‘Obamanometer,’ a term that lasted far longer than our time at law school. Obama didn’t just share in class—he pontificated. He knew better than everyone else in the room, including the teachers. ”
His publisher thought he was writing about race relations. His employer thought he was writing about voting rights law. But Obama seems to have never seriously considered either subject. Instead, he decided that his subject would be himself. The 32-year-old was writing a memoir.
Yet you don’t have to delve deep into armchair psychology to see how Obama’s vanity has shaped his presidency. In January 2009 he met with congressional leaders to discuss the stimulus package. The meeting was supposed to foster bipartisanship. Senator Jon Kyl questioned the plan’s mixture of spending and tax cuts. Obama’s response to him was, “I won.” A year later Obama held another meeting to foster bipartisanship for his health care reform plan. There was some technical back-and-forth about Republicans not having the chance to properly respond within the constraints of the format because President Obama had done some pontificating, as is his wont. Obama explained, “There was an imbalance on the opening statements because”—here he paused, self-satisfiedly—“I’m the president. And so I made, uh, I don’t count my time in terms of dividing it evenly.”
When he journeyed to Great Britain to meet with the queen he gave her an amazing gift: an iPod loaded with recordings of his speeches and pictures from his inauguration.
In his video, Obama ruminated for a few minutes on the grand events of the 20th century, the Cold War itself, and the great lesson we all should take from this historic passing: “Few would have foreseen . . . that a united Germany would be led by a woman from Brandenburg or that their American ally would be led by a man of African descent. But human destiny is what human beings make of it.” The fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Cold War, and the freedom of all humanity—it’s great stuff. Right up there with the election of Barack Obama.
Not much meat in this article. :shrug: You want an inhuman president with no flaws? Barrack is a little vain. So? Alot of presidents have been worse things. I don't see how it is endemic to his thinking or how he performs his job. This feels like someone is indulging in a little confirmation bias. Presidents have said ALOT of stupid **** before. If this is the worst they have on Barrack it's somewhat of a comfort actually.
American Narcissus | The Weekly Standard
you get the point... unless you're still drinking koolaide.
Blinders much?
Never heard this one, whats this mean?
Now, what was once taboo has become undeniable. Even the New Yorker’s David Remnick, author of a loving biography of Obama, tells Der Spiegel, “Obama has a considerable ego.”
And here’s Time’s Mark Halperin: “With the exception of core Obama administration loyalists, most politically engaged elites have reached the same conclusion: The White House is in over its head, isolated, insular, arrogant and clueless about how to get along with or persuade members of Congress, the media, the business community or working-class voters.”
“You know, I actually believe my own bull—,” Obama told the author of Renegade: The Making of a President, Richard Wolffe.
Exactly. And that’s why he’s gotten into this mess.
Not much meat in this article. :shrug: You want an inhuman president with no flaws? Barrack is a little vain. So? Alot of presidents have been worse things. I don't see how it is endemic to his thinking or how he performs his job. This feels like someone is indulging in a little confirmation bias. Presidents have said ALOT of stupid **** before. If this is the worst they have on Barrack it's somewhat of a comfort actually.
A little vain? I can't think of a single person in the whole world, I would consider more vain than Barack Obama. George Soros doesn't even come close and he considers himself a God.
So if I start quoting The Weekly Standard I will no longer be acccused of drinking Kool Aid?
American Narcissus | The Weekly Standard
you get the point... unless you're still drinking koolaide.
O I get it. Its a "Look at how much better I am than you all because I don't think I'm better than everyone else" kinda thing.
You stay classy now.
Kanye West, Terrel Owens, Chad Ochocinco, Puffy Diddy, Ted Nugent, and Gene Simmons.
Purrrrrrrrrrrrrs
I know the names but except for Nugent, I don't know much about them, except that there is no way they could hold a candle to Obama.
Nugent is a great person off stage and not the least bit vain.
Inflated self-esteem can be decidedly counterproductive.
Now THAT... is ego.U.S. Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., made public President Obama's answer to conservative Democrats, worried about the unpopularity of ObamaCare in their districts, when they asked in a White House meeting why 2010 might resemble the negative backlash that greeted Bill Clinton's flawed 1994 attempt at health care reform: "Well, the big difference here and in '94 was you've got me." That's what Sonny said to Cher, 1965.
According to Obama... if you want something done right, give it to Obama.Patrick Gaspard, former community organizer, ex-lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union and now director of Obama's Office of Political Affairs, is quoted in a 2008 New Yorker article describing what Obama said to him during his job interview: "I think that I'm a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I'll tell you right now that I'm gonna think I'm a better political director than my political director."
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