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Listen and Weep (or Laugh, Smirk, Sigh and Groan)

By Bronwyn's Harbor on December 17, 2009 at 3:03 PM in Current Affairs

I’ve jotted down some highlights from this expansive, important discussion via Morning Joe that gives you an over-arching feel for what Obama’s real problems are, particularly Peggy Noonan’s brilliant differentiation between the spirit of 2008 and the hard realities of 2009, which you’ll hear towards the beginning of the video. Later in the discussion, Peggy Noonan says this, and it encapsulates what is wrong with the Obama presidency:

“He had a wasted first year. He was on one topic, and America was on another topic.”

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Here are a few more notes I took as I listened to this segment from MSNBC’s Morning Joe:

“The president is weak. He needs to show more force and certitude.” (Scarborough) … “You sign a bad bill, you cost Democrats even more seats.” (Scarborough) … [Reads the polls, which you must hear (!)] … “When the left is mad at you, when the right is mad at you, when the center is mad at you, you’re doing a few things wrong.” (Peggy Noonan) … [Listen to Peggy Noonan's brilliant treatise on the difference between 2008 and 2009] … and on and on.

P.S. This is why I DVR Morning Joe every day. While a lot of the show can be fast-forwarded through, there are moments like this that make the show worth listening to.

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Want some more of Peggy Noonan’s sharp thinking? Go to the Wall Street Journal, and read her latest op-ed, “Obama Moves Toward Center Stage.”

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Here are more videos from today’s Morning Joe that are definitely worth watching. The first features Politico’s Chuck Todd on Obama’s sinking poll numbers:

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Tina Brown: Is the White House tone-deaf?

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Dr. Howard Dean on the health bill:

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