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Does Harry Truman Define Barack Obama?

By Pat Racimora on November 23, 2008 at 4:40 PM in Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel

Obama’s leadership and executive experience is, well, skinny, and some of his past decisions have been stupid at best and iniquitous at worst.

However, Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the United States, offered his definition of the job of running our country:

“All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.”

If you go for that characterization of what it takes to run the country, Obama might be really good at it. Yes? He can communicate and has a winning smile—even his harshest critics concede that he could probably sell snow to enough Eskimos and make a profit. With sidekick Rham Emanuel—a pit bull without lipstick—they can run roughshod over anything that moves.

(Of course, we must also remember that President Truman authorized the use of atomic bombs against Japan, which deviated more than a tad from his own job description.)

So, what do you think of Truman’s definition and of Obama’s capacity to fill it?

  • http://ezinearticles.com/?Three-Basic-Parenting-Styles&id=744499 Northwest rain

    Since 0-zero expects HIS ass to be kissed — I guess he can’t be president, after all!

    “All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.”

  • Steve1

    I just want to see his BC? I have every right to know! 17 lawsuits, Is it true that Kenyan Ambassdor to US, has stated Barry Soetoro was born in Kenya? I just heard about this-Is that a fake story or real?

    • http://www.noquarterusa.net Linda

      I don’t think we’ll ever get the answer to his birth certificate. From what I read, the Constitution says a person must be a naturalized citizen, but there are no actual laws saying that someone must prove it. Of course, he taught constitutional law, so he was well aware of that when he decided to run for POTUS.

    • Elizabeth

      Shouldn’t this be in the Open thread, for Off-Topic materials ?

      http: //www.aipnews.com/talk/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1030&posts=4

      Real or fake ? Hint. Try a search. The audio is on YouTube.
      :-)

  • Steve1

    I also would like to see all of his papers from Columbia, Occidental and Harvard…applications for Columbia, were they filed under a different name? If there is no problem-why have they have not been released. CNN, did entire stories on McCain, what a poor student, Palin, enrolled in 7 different colleges-and they don’t do jack-shit regarding Barry Soetoro??? Screw them.

    • KintheNorthwest

      Isnt it stange how much we know about Palin, McCain, Clinton, Joe the Plumber and many others that did not support Obama? Yet look at how little we know about Obama.
      Heaven forbid anyone ask a personal question and expect an answer.
      Better yet Heaven forbid anyone ask a personal question and not be a racist. :(

      • illegal alien csuzeq

        Barack Obama, the don’t ask, don’t tell POTUS. When I say that, I’m not calling him gay either.

  • oowawa

    Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, and 2 days later to drop another A-bomb on Nagasaki, were arguably the most important and complex executive decisions ever made by a U.S. President. I can’t imagine how President O would handle a decision of this magnitude. I shudder to think.

    • yttik

      He’d call hillary at 3AM and beg her to tell him what to do.

      • Galt’s Pizza Parlor

        I dig the snark, but see below. President Chockablock Opampers could be faced with multiple choice decisions, even from his closet advisers. The buck does indeed stop at his desk now and god help us all.

      • LandOLincoln

        Yttk: “He’d call hillary at 3AM and beg her to tell him what to do.”

        Then he’d say, “Oh, Hill, you decide. You’re so much better at the decision thing than I am.”

        Then he’d tell her to “call me if you need me,” and go back to sleep.

        • JS Ruby

          LandOLincoln:
          Then if it worked he would take credit, if not she would get the blame. Isn’t that how BO works.

      • mimi

        As SoS, he has the right now to call her at 3am. And gues who’s sleeping beside her?

        So now he has 2 heads to tell him what to do.

    • Galt’s Pizza Parlor

      oowawa I think we are on a similar wavelength. Apparently that new gizmo we attached to our tinfoil hats is working, allowing clairvoyance! :shock:

      I just sent an email to a friend about this. Here is an excerpt:

      The Cuban/Turkish missile crisis [my term]: Many people do not realize US missiles in Turkey are what prompted the USSR to put missiles in Cuba. I also just found out during that time we had 5000 warheads to 500 in the USSR. Thank god we had a wise US president at that time. I think if it was Obama, he would have invaded Cuba to show he is no weakling, and the soviet troops on the ground (there were 40,000 according to a documentary) had battlefield tactical nukes [unbeknown to the US policy makers at the time] and authorization to use them if attacked. Ugh.

      I wrote this last night, in response to Larry’s “Obama on Verge of Hitting National Security Homerun” thread:

      Comment by Galt’s Pizza Parlor, nautical division | 2008-11-22 20:53:36

      Larry this is good news. My concern is even with the best people around him there will be times when his advisers will be faced with 2 or more seemingly equally wise choices to make and there may not be the luxury of time for reflection or second guessing. In this dangerous world I would have much rather had a seasoned leader like Hillary or Mac at the helm when that happens. We’d have a better shot at a wise decision than with someone still using trainingwheels at the helm. I don’t feel comfortable hoping our president makes the right call. The money changers, MSM and DNC should have never interfered in the election: the people made the right call in Hillary. If their decision blows up in their faces they can only blame themselves and the puppet they selected for the rest of us.

      I really don’t like the fact those in the smoke filled backroom who selected Obama have put the lives of my family and community into the hands of President Trainingwheels. What were they thinking? This is lunacy and NQ and many of us valiantly tried to warn them.

      • http://ezinearticles.com/?Three-Basic-Parenting-Styles&id=744499 Northwest rain

        Oh — but he’s “different”.

        Hell no — he needs training wheels.

        I see “him” as any other penis who has occupied the white house — more of the same — only worse — 0-zero has NO — NONE — background to even have any concept of what an executive is expected to do.

        As far as I know the book — Presidenting for dummies has not yet been written. Perhaps that will be his 3rd Narcissistic book for the next inadequate penis who cheats, steals and lies his way into the white house.

    • Ferd Berfle

      He would give a speech that would bore the enemy into submission and send a few of us to the asylum. I seriously think he would try to either talk his way around the issue or punt to some sort of ad hoc commission. He wants no part of difficult decisions that could potentially detract from the adoration he craves.

      • WildChild

        hey, lighten up. He’d give it in a stadium. bright lights. really bright lights.

        • Ferd Berfle

          With Greek Columns and a cover charge.

  • WildChild

    everybody wants to be Harry Truman. Both bushes tried to channel the buckmaster and failed. If BOBO channels a Truman it will be the one with the show and not the one with the a-bomb

    • oowawa

      Aha–it took me a while to figure out what you meant by the “one with the show,” and then it dawned on me, Duh, “The Truman Show,” referring to the film with Jim Carrey, in which “All of the participants are actors, except for Truman Burbank, who is unaware that he lives in a constructed reality for the entertainment of those outside.” (Wikipedia) Yes, WildChild, this association provides rich material for musing on the surreal fantasy world of the O presidency. It is definitely a universe apart from the grim reality of the world Harry Truman inhabited.

      • WildChild

        I don’t think BOBO has a clue about the world of isolated filtering that he’s about to enter.

  • http://edgeoforever.wordpress.com/ Not Your sweetie
  • yttik

    Cute cartoon. I think the Big O needs a cane and hat for his song and dance.

    I agree with Truman’s definition. I think presidents are somewhat like figureheads, PR men for the country. I think no matter how hard they try to promote their own agenda, they actually serve money, corporate interests, powerful people. But this isn’t always a bad thing, you don’t really want an all powerful leader without any checks and balances.

    • Pat racimora

      Thanks yttik–I have been wanting an excuse to do Hary Truman. It was fun.

  • Texas Playwright

    BHO has no American sensiblities like Truman, Palin, McCain, Clinton and Clinton. BHO is a total disconnect from Americans. To compare him to Truman is way off base.

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  • Seattle Moss

    I believe that Bush is Truman..

    When the dust has settled and the blood has been shed people are going to be able to see Iraq for what it is.
    A brilliant strategy for insuring American power in the world and to prevent world resource wars causing millions of deaths.

    and I never was a supporter of the war or Bush.

    Now I see the real objective..

    No retreat and defeat!!

    Thank you Hillary for taking SOS

    • Peggy Sue

      I think the final evaluation on this one is still out there, Seattle. We’ll need the long view and the history books to tell us whether this vast expenditure in blood, treasure and military capital was worth it.

      But I still think Bush was a lousy executive and somehow I doubt his personal “vision” was as brilliant as you suggest. However, if history takes an ironic turn and Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” is given kudos, I suspect it will have less to do with him than the extraordinary military sacrifice and effort, the Sunni Awakening, and the surge that Bush hemmed and hawed on until the very last minute.

      But hey, if it turns out okay and Bush gets the credit?

      All’s well that ends well, in my mind. And to give Bush his due [hard for me to do], we have “not” been attacked in country since 9/11. No small thing. But the torture issue? The secretive wiretapping? The loss of international reputation? The inability to keep account of monies spent? How do we possibly square that?

      I’ll wait for the history books. If I live that long, that is!

      • Seattle Moss

        Peggy Sue,
        When we got attacked all we cared about was Bush keeping us safe at any cost..
        Bush sure has done that. Maybe because he has played as dirty as the enemy we have not been attacked again..Who Knows!!

        One thing is for sure..If and when we get attacked again the most important thing again will be keeping us safe..and so the cycle continues

        • Ani

          But it has always bothered me that Bush got a pass on the fact that we got attacked on 9/11 — since there were advance intelligence reports and they were ignored or diminished. Isn’t there something to this?

          You know as well as I do if Gore had been in office and this had happened on a Democrat’s watch. he would have been excoriated. And certainly not re-elected.

          The outgoing Clinton administration also gave intelligence briefings and warnings and the Bush people did not want to listen because they had no respect for the Clinton Admin. That is irresponsible.

          While I am an independent now and certainly do not drink anyone’s koolaid anymore, the fact as Bushwas on vacation so much that first year — how could he do that? Irresponsible, too.

    • Steve_in_KC

      Seattle Moss, I agree with you, in part. Iran is now sandwiched between Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s good containment.

      However, if things had gone the way the Neo-Cons had hoped, there would be American Troops on the ground in Iran today. I’m for containment of rogue states, but not hegemony. I think an easy victory in Iraq would have gone to their heads, leading them to believe the US could just knock down all the Middle East states that didn’t dance to our tune. So I’m kind of glad it wasn’t so easy.

  • C.S.

    It may be a PR job but I disagree that Soertoro, Obama, or whatever the name of the day is, can do the job well because in just trying to get the job he’s slit the country into two, maybe three factions if you count the group angry over his disciples’ treatment of Governor Palin.

    But he can’t be Truman because he has a logo, a flag and a fake Greek temple. All Truman had was a sign you’ll never see Barry agree with…

    The Buck Stops Here

  • oowawa

    Okay, here is some trivia that indirectly relates Harry Truman to Barack Obama. Harry Truman’s theme song in the 1948 election was “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” which was written in 1921 by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle for the Broadway play Shuffle Along:

    The song was the most popular number in the first successful Broadway theater production to have an all African-American cast.[1] The show and, in particular, the song broke what had been a taboo against musical and theatrical depictions of romantic love between African-Americans. (Wikipedia)

    And so Harry Truman’s 1948 campaign song was originally a taboo-shattering stage hit heralding firsts for African-American theater on Broadway.

    • illegal alien csuzeq

      I heard this song on the radio just yesterday and realized it could be Odrama’s theme song:

      Look into my eyes, what do you see?
      Cult of personality
      I know your anger, I know your dreams
      Ive been everything you want to be
      Im the cult of personality
      Like mussolini and kennedy
      Im the cult of personality
      Cult of personality
      Cult of personality

      Neon lights, a nobel prize
      The mirror speaks, the reflection lies
      You dont have to follow me
      Only you can set me free
      I sell the things you need to be
      Im the smiling face on your t.v.
      Im the cult of personality
      I exploit you still you love me

      I tell you one and one makes three
      Im the cult of personality
      Like joseph stalin and gandi
      Im the cult of personality
      Cult of personality
      Cult of personality

      Neon lights a nobel prize
      A leader speaks, that leader dies
      You dont have to follow me
      Only you can set you free

      You gave me fortune
      You gave me fame
      You me power in your gods name
      Im every person you need to be
      Im the cult of personality
      Look into my eyes, what do you see?
      Cult of personality
      I know your anger, I know your dreams
      Ive been everything you want to be
      Im the cult of personality
      Like mussolini and kennedy
      Im the cult of personality
      Cult of personality
      Cult of personality

      Neon lights, a nobel prize
      The mirror speaks, the reflection lies
      You dont have to follow me
      Only you can set me free
      I sell the things you need to be
      Im the smiling face on your t.v.
      Im the cult of personality
      I exploit you still you love me

      I tell you one and one makes three
      Im the cult of personality
      Like joseph stalin and gandi
      Im the cult of personality
      Cult of personality
      Cult of personality

      Neon lights a nobel prize
      A leader speaks, that leader dies
      You dont have to follow me
      Only you can set you free

      You gave me fortune
      You gave me fame
      You me power in your gods name
      Im every person you need to be
      Im the cult of personality

      • oowawa

        My God, Csuzeq, this song is so dead-on descriptive of the O candidacy that it’s eerie. It was released by Living Colour in 1988, so let’s just call it prophetic. Thanks for citing the lyrics. I’m amazed!

        • oowawa

          And compare “only you can set you free” (next to last verse) to “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” I feel like I’m dreaming.

  • Peggy Sue

    No, I suspect he’d give a speech, hoping he could hypnotize the enemy in the same way he hypnotized the American electorate. With cadence and rhythm. I know the standard take is “just words” [a clear steal from Duval Patrick's earlier speech] but the words, the “real” words are standard fare, boilerplate fashion.

    Style over substance.

    And this has been my major problem with Barack Obama right from the start. Could he kick Truman’s butt on an IQ test? Probably. But IQ alone does not make a leader. Anymore than words alone do.

    I’ve never seen anything in Obama’s history that tells me he has made the hard decision, the sort that could have a huge effect on your personal, business or political life. But you made that decision and stand by it, for good or ill. Making a speech when no one was listening doesn’t count.

    And using the platform of the POTUS as a tryout is beyond scary.

    Obama could prove me wrong. But I don’t like betting my family’s welfare on it. And I really resent the DNC putting us in this position.

  • JohnnyB

    Nice Cartoon, Pat.

    I think that the Truman quote is pretty close to part of what a President does. The President is the figurhead of our country. She/He is how other nation’s leaders and their population see us.
    I’m giving Obama the benefit of the doubt right now.
    I understand the Caucus system and how Hillary should have won. I wanted her to win. But a new face, Change We Can Believe In, and the internet as the cash cow, Obama was able to defeat Hillary.

    Now, I think if all the same tactics are used to run the country, maybe, just maybe, some good things can happen.

    The ugly head that arose during the campaign must be put to rest. Women must be equals, women of all colors. Change comes slowly, but change we must.

    • Pat Racimora

      I hope it all goes the way you say it might, Johnny B. With essentially a Clinton Administration on board (that’s change–just not what Obama supporters thought he meant), maybe it will!

  • Sassy

    Good job Pat!
    I grew up hearing all about “give em hell Harry”!
    My older relatives thought he was the only one who had ever run this country properly!
    Every President that followed was compared, very unfavorably, to him…and wow, were they vocal!

  • hootnannie

    The Repubs have a habit of propping up a puppet who’ll do the will of rich conservatives. With W, they got one who too often stretched a string and did ditzy things like appointing people whose only qualification needed to be loyalty to him and/or graduation from Regents U. This year, while they flailed their arms, McCain stepped into the void.
    And the Dems? The party was taken over by far-left fringers bent on PC objectives like the first black Prez, unrestrained abortion, and same-sex marriage. The war? Economy? Oh, well.
    I’m beginning to think that these Dems unwittingly got a wonk with more in common with Harry Truman than George McGovern. And I’m not one to give Obama any quarter. Look at his appointments. The far-lefties must be crying themselves to sleep at night. Goody.

    • Peggy Sue

      The only thing that gives me a smidgen of hope are the recent cabinet announcements and the fact the far-left is crying in its soup. That gives me great pleasure!

      And it let’s me sleep a wee bit better at night, too!

  • TexasMirth

    There is NOTHING about Barack Obama that reminds me of the no-nonsense, pragmatic Harry Truman who understood that making tough decisions would inevitably draw criticism.
    “A President cannot always be popular.” -Harry S. Truman. <– The idea of losing his fan base would surely break Mr. Greek Columns’ heart. (if he had one)
    And the idea that the buck stops here with the President, doesn’t sound to me like a motto that Obama will adopt.

  • Rich

    Great cartoon! Each time you seem to capture the readers attention.

    If Truman was right, then this country under the leadership of Obama has a chance. I know under Hillary it might have had an even better chance. For all of our benefit, let us pray that God will give Obama what he needs to succeed. Between Truman’s description of what a president needs to be, which Obama I believe can be good at, and Obama following some of Lincoln’s way of governing, this country Obama might just bring this country together. That would be good for everyone.

    Rich

    • Galt’s Pizza Parlor

      Great cartoon! Each time you seem to capture the readers attention.

      Like Opampers in the debates with Hillary, I say “Yeah, what Rich said.” :shock:

  • Sam Copeland

    Here are some other definitions of the Presidency given to us by “give ‘em hell” Harry:

    A President cannot always be popular.

    We’ll see if Obama can forego his desire to be a beloved figure long enough to do what it takes (ask Americans to make sacrifices) to fix the economy.

    Always be sincere, even if you don’t mean it.

    I think Obama has nailed this one.

    A President needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it.

    Of course, he could also hire a person who knows how to run the government and then hire her supporters.

    I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.

    This, of course, is the opposite of compromising with Republicans — the course chosen by Obama. Far from giving them hell, Obama is telling them what they want to hear.

    Whenever a fellow tells me he’s bipartisan, I know he’s going to vote against me.

    Gee, that’s how I felt the whole election campaign whenever Obama talked about a bipartisan spirit.

    If you can’t convince them, confuse them.

    Here is another one he has nailed.

    If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

    Alternatively, you could put a woman in the kitchen who can stand the heat and is able to pick up the phone at 3 am and know what to do.

    Intense feeling too often obscures the truth.

    Also known as the Obama campaign strategy.

    It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.

    Ut Oh! This could be a tough one for the junior Senator from IL and now the President elect.

    The buck stops here!

    We’ll see.

    • Pat Racimora

      LOL–those are really great, Sam Copeland!

  • http://Godhelpusall lee M

    Pat,

    Thank you for your cartoon. Harry Truman is my favorite president of all time. He identified with the average American. Your cartoon caused a lot of people to think about what he stood for and how honorable he was.

    When the media, (and others) were trashing Sarah Palin, calling her an unsophisticated hick among other things, it brought to mind that the same things were said about Harry Truman when he was chosen to be vp by Franklin Roosevelt. They said he would never be able to do the job if anything happened to Roosevelt. About two months after he was sworn in, Roosevelt died and Harry Truman took over the reins and became one of the best presidents this coountry has ever known, or probably ever will know. The small town haberdasher and farmer was a WWI Veteran and he never forgot his roots.

  • Don X

    Interesting cartoon and question, Pat

    As long as we are comparing Truman to Obama, it should be remembered that, not unlike Obama, while coming up the political ladder, Truman had plenty of criticism because of his connections to Tom Pendergast and the Pendergast machine. Truman’s relationship with Tom Pendergast almost caused his defeat during the Missouri August 1940 senatorial primary.. Missouri Governor Lloyd Stark, his opponent, denounced Truman as “the Pendergast senator.” Because of the “Pendergast connection”, the 1940 Democratic primary was the tightest election in Truman’s political career. He won by less than eight thousand votes. Not unlike Obama, Truman allegedly won the election by appealing directly to the people.

    When he left office, Truman’s job approval rating of 22 percent in the Gallup Poll was lower than Richard Nixon’s at 24 percent, the month that Nixon resigned. However, since leaving office, Truman’s ratings have vastly improved in public polls. He was ranked seventh among presidents in a Wall Street Journal poll in 2005.

    Truman died while the nation was besieged with crises in Vietnam and Watergate. But in recent years Truman has become something of a folk hero, exemplifying the integrity and accountability that were absent in the Nixon White House.

    In the years ahead, Obama will have to deal with domestic and international crises of enormous proportions. I agree with Johnny B and Rich that we need to give the man a chance. I think his current cabinet choices indicate that he plans to do much of what he promised in his campaign. It will take a lot of reaching across the aisle to accomplish anything substantial. By including Republicans as well as Democrats of considerable distinction in his cabinet, I think it is possible he may turn out to be much more than the bag of wind some people here have suggested he is. Time will tell, but let’s not predict failure and insure a self fulfilling prophecy.

    • Pat Racimora

      Let’s hope you are right, Don X!
      Thanks for the reminders abut Truman’s own ratings–funny how those change even thuogh a person has long since passed!

  • Linda C.

    I think Truman was sort of down playing his total role as president. Yes there is allot of ass kissing and ass kicking, but Truman made high risk decisions. The atom bomb, being one of them. He also ended racial segregation in the services. I do not see Obama making high risk decisions. That includes ending don’t ask don’t tell and repealing DOMA. Standing up to China, getting out of international debt and doing something about Dafur..which involves doing something about China.

  • HC

    Truman was a modest man who let his deeds speak for him.

    Obama believes that words are deeds.

    I see no comparison.

  • Blue Orchid

    It seems to me that Truman does indeed define Obama.

  • http://link SouthWind65

    Thanks for the good ideas and book recommendations, commenters. ,