Good Help is so Hard to Find
May 13th, 2008 at 09:16am Mark Noonan
But the lack of such works out well if you’re a manifestly unfit candidate for President who needs a ready excuse for a series of rather thunderous mistakes - from that well-known part of the Republican Noise Machine, ABC News:
We started covering Sen. Barack Obama’s inability to hire good staffers in June 2007, when he blamed staffers for some opposition research trying to link Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, to outsourcing in India; for injecting some venom in the David Geffen/Hillary Clinton fight; and for missing an event with firefighters in New Hampshire.
In December, we noted again that Obama was blaming the answers on a 1996 questionnaire on a staffer; and was blaming his touring with “cured” ex-gay gospel singer Donnie McClurkin (which antagonized gays and lesbians) on bad vetting by his staff.
Those five buck-passing incidents were apparently not enough.
Yesterday, in an interesting New York Times look at Obama’s rise in Chicago politics, we learned that in 2004 some Jewish supporters became alarmed to learn that in a questionnaire Obama refrained from denouncing Yasir Arafat, or from expressing strong support for Israel’s security fence.
Reports the Times: “In an e-mail message, Mr. Obama blamed a staff member for the oversight, and expressed the hope that ‘none of this has raised any questions on your part regarding my fundamental commitment to Israel’s security.’”
In January, during MSNBC’s presidential debate in Las Vegas, Obama was asked about a document put together by one of his South Carolina staffers that listed comments made by the Clinton campaign that some perceived to be attempting to stoke racial fires. “In hindsight, do you regret pushing this story?” asked Tim Russert.
“Our supporters, our staff get overzealous,” Obama said. “They start saying things that I would not say, and it is my responsibility to make sure that we’re setting a clear tone in our campaign.”
In February in a meeting with the Chicago Tribune, Obama was asked about an earmark that went to the University of Chicago while his wife Michelle Obama worked there.
“I don’t think that I was obligated to recuse myself from anything related to the university,” Obama said, adding, “when it comes to earmarks because of those concerns, it’s probably something that should have been passed on to [U.S. Sen.] Dick Durbin, and I think probably something that slipped through the cracks. It did not come through us, through me or Michelle, and Michelle has been very careful about staying separate and apart from any government work. But you could make a good argument that this is something that slipped through our cracks, through our screening system.”
In a March 2008 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times to answer questions about Tony Rezko, Obama was asked about the fact that Obama had told the newspaper in November 2006 that he had never been asked to do anything to advance Rezko’s business interests. But the Sun-Times had subsequently learned about a October 28, 1998 letter Obama wrote to city and state housing officials on behalf of a housing project for seniors that Rezko was working on.
The letter, Obama said, “was essentially a form letter of the sort that I did all time. And that I wasn’t, by the way, aware of.”
A reporter asked: You weren’t aware that he was associated with the project?
Responded Obama: “I wasn’t even aware that we wrote the letter. The answer that I gave at the time was accurate as far as I knew…This was one of many form letters, or letters of recommendation we would send out constantly for all sorts of projects. And my understanding is that our letter was just one of many. And I wasn’t a decision maker in any of this process.”
The Sun-Times also pointed out that in November 2006 Obama estimated that Rezko had raised somewhere between $50,000 and $60,000 for him during his political career.
But since that answer, Obama has given back almost $160,000 in Rezko-related contributions.
“The original estimate was based on, I asked my staff to find what monies they attributed to Rezko, and this was the figure given to me,” Obama said.
So, for those keeping track at home, that’s ten instances of Obama publicly blaming his staff for various screw-ups.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!
This almost knee-jerk blaming of subordinants for anything that doesn’t come out right is a disturbing characteristic of Obama - a man who would be President has to take responsibility for what happens on his watch and even if it was the underlings who blew it, the man in charge is the guy who picked the underlings and is supposed to be keeping an eye on them.
From what we now know of Obama, he seems to be a political animal of the worst sort - everything he has done (and failed to do) has been calculated towards rising higher and higher in politics. In politics, the most worrisome sort of man is the man who wants to rise high in order to be somebody, rather than do something. Bill Clinton was like this, and we all know just how relentlessly dishonest he was (and is) - Obama is also showing this Clintonesque disregard for facts and disloyalty to subordinants, and all in the service of rising high in politics, for the mere purpose of rising high.
Obama has to be kept as far away from power as possible - he has shown himself, again and again, to be manifestly incompetant to hold the powers of the Presidency of the United States of America.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Corruption, Democrats
24 Comments
1. My new WordPress MU Site &hellip | May 13th, 2008 at 9:35 am
[…] J.J. Jackson wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIn a March 2008 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times to answer questions about Tony Rezko, Obama was asked about the fact that Obama had told the newspaper in November 2006 that he had never been asked to do anything to advance Rezko’s … […]
2. Zach | May 13th, 2008 at 9:41 am
If anyone here as read the book “Dead Certain” “The Presidency of George W. Bush” by Robert Draper, you’d find that in many instances during his presidency W took the fall for many things that went ascew through no fault of his own.
You dont see Bush pointing the finger to his staffers and such for things gone wrong like Obama has. Thats because Bush is a leader, thats what leaders do. Obama serverly lacks this quality at this time.
3. Good Help is so Hard to F&hellip | May 13th, 2008 at 9:46 am
[…] Continue Reading […]
4. Richard Daugherty | May 13th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Where has our Honor and Integrity gone? This is a disturbing trend among our leaders and people in important jobs. It has trickled down to the common man. It has been promoted by alot of liberals and Democrats, but it happens on the other side of the fence also. We’ve have become a society that doesn’t want to be held accountable or responsible for our actions. It is okay to blame someone else why we acted or said something the way it came out.
5. test » Blog Archive&hellip | May 13th, 2008 at 10:27 am
[…] Help is so Hard to Find unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptBarack Obama’s inability to hire […]
6. js | May 13th, 2008 at 10:30 am
bama is just another one of those politicians where you can tell that he lies when his lips move…
7. js | May 13th, 2008 at 10:43 am
so when the US endorses Irans attack on Israel, does that mean its ok when Obama said he didnt know about it….ya that what we need for the White House…
8. Aztec | May 13th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Deleted - off topic.
9. majoriot | May 13th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
“a man who would be President has to take responsibility for what happens on his watch ”
It truly is softball season.
This…THIS observation…this requirement…from a supporter of George Bush?
10. NeoClown | May 13th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Obama’s butt sucks merky pond water.
11. hermie | May 13th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
This is a pattern for Obama. From his NAFTA positions where it was his surrogate who told Canadians that Obama was just blowing smoke about being anti-NAFTA, to the questionnaire, to the Hillary smear, to getting cosy with HAMAS…It’s always somebody else at fault, and Obama drops them like a bad habit (Although I’d lay odds that he hasn’t totally abandoned them..much like his sneaking a cigarette when he thinks Michelle isn’t looking.)
When his deficiencies are displayed for the world to see and somebody points it out, its always the fault of the person doing the pointing. The observer is then slammed for even mentioning Obama’s flaws, inconsistencies and outright deceptions.
In the Obama universe, it’s always someone else’s fault.
12. Christopher Estep | May 13th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Deleted - off topic.
13. phnx | May 13th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Famous democrat leadership quotes throughout history:
“You have nothing to fear but fear itself” Franklin Delano Roosevelt
“The buck stops here” Harry S. Truman
“Ask not what you’re country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” John Fitzgerald Kennedy
“Let me tell you one more time…I did not have sex with that woman…” William Jefferson Clinton
“I voted for it before I voted against it.” John Francois Kerry
“The buck? I didn’t see the buck. The buck stops with my staff. You can’t blame me for that buck” Barack Hussein Obama
When reality calls…you can’t just vote present.
14. Nate | May 13th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Deleted - off topic.
15. FmrMarine | May 13th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
aSStec;
“Who put up the Mission Accomplished banner?
Who said we know where the WMD’s are?
Who outed a CIA agent?”
1. The MISSION of removing sadam, and his regime WAS accomplished!
2. The WMD check the following link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNgaVtVaiJE
3.You CANT “out” someone who isnt covert. She appeared on the cover of time for crying out loud.She had langley stickers on her car, anr went to work at the CIA in langley EVERY DAY.
Only a freeking PINHEAD would say she was exposed.
As for earbama hussein he will find the best help available to him.
1. rev je$$e, al, sec of states.
2. calypso louie, sec of defense
3. OJ, atty general.
4. wright head of staff.
5. michelle, head of homeboy security, I mean homeland.
16. Tom Thumb | May 13th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Deleted - off topic.
17. neocon | May 13th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Well that does it then, right Tom? I mean those polls never sway do they?
And it’s not surprising considering how effective Reid and Pelosi have been. You just don’t get leaders of that caliber very often, right?
18. js | May 13th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
ever notice how many lib’s post citing what others say…rehashing old stuff…without any real, original content…..
must be terrible to have to keep shut up like that so you dont get caught up in a lie you told….honesty is really got something going for it…
19. bongoman | May 14th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Deleted - off topic.
20. Canadian Observer | May 14th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Mark…….”Obama has to be kept as far away from power as possible - he has shown himself, again and again, to be manifestly incompetant to hold the powers of the Presidency of the United States of America.”
And yet, Mark, despite all the garbage his opponents have thrown at him, the majority of American voters have formed the opposite opinion and in democratic elections (even American), the majority rules.
Even one of your most ardent Obama haters (keefer) has vowed to respect President Obama when he becomes leader of the free world.
21. Danish Artist | May 14th, 2008 at 9:35 am
wow, co, what an accomplishment by obama!
You know, Hitler did the same thing!
He managed to fool the populace and was an incompetant deranged leader. It’s not rocket science to pander to the dumbasses, errr dumb masses, errrr democrats.
22. Cavalor Epthith, Esquire, D.S.V.J. | May 14th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
15. FmrMarine | May 13th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Well now that we have heard from the misinformed racist. The goal is to put together an excellent transition staff by having most of those people in your campaign. Samantha Power will, no must be back in any Obama administration. Cornel West might actually be wrestled out of that comfy Princeton chair he serves so well. Add Michael Eric Dyson, David Axelrod and Mass Governor Deval Patrick and I think that even you could see that the brains he will have at his disposal will be a vast improvement over what ruled in the White House after the 2001 inauguration to the present.
And by the way if you had missee all the press coverage Plame was a covert agent working to keep the Iranians from developing nuclear weapons. But I get it FmrMarine if it doesn’t fit your racial, cultural and political test of “conservativism” it cannot be true.
23. Aztec | May 14th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
15. FMR marine, don’t forget Al Gore for head of EPA and Obama’s going to fire all the conservative federal prosecutors and substitute left wing agendists. Hey we learned how to abuse power from the best. Now that so much authority has been concentrated in the presidency, we’ll see who gets wiretapped.
24. FmrMarine | May 14th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
co=frogass;
>>Even one of your most ardent Obama haters (keefer) has vowed to respect President Obama when he becomes leader of the free world.<<<
NOT ME!
everyone has this empty suited lightweight, marxist, “community organizer” elected POTUS.
I doubt he will win…
However IF he does, I will give him all the respect you putrid libs give to W.