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Give ‘Em Hell Harry! [Open Thread]

By Pat Racimora on November 25, 2008 at 10:30 AM in Barack Obama, Political Strategy

I was delighted to see the brilliant “Sam Copeland” (his blogger name), who is currently working with our military on strategic influence, come in and comment on my Harry Truman cartoon. “Sam” apologizes for not visiting No Quarter as often as he would like, but his very acceptable excuse is, “ Support for our troops is a first priority.”

Anyway, I think most of you will enjoy this. Below are “Sam’s’” choice Truman quotes and his take on how Obama fits in.

“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.”

Uh 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.

HARP

He knows nothing and thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.

I’m a Linda too

Obama’s Sgt Schultz Syndrome:
I KNOW NOthing. I SEE NOthing.

C.S.

That nails Obama. But Sgt. Schultz wasn’t allowed to run the camp and neither was Col. Klink. From the re-runs I’ve seen that would be Col. Hogan. So who’s Col. Hogan??

pm317

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.

How appropriate that Hillary is now going to be SoS, a true SoS call at 3 am from President Obama — remember the SNL skit. They had it all worked out then — how did they do that? They must have been reading our minds.

pm317

As RD would say, the Foreign President!

http://tojo toni

“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.

***************************************************

Thanks…I needed the chuckle this morning.

When Obama comes up, I am so tempted to say: “Our President? No, but he plays one on TV!”

pm317

LoL, I like that — he plays one on TV with all the media fixings!

Strawberrybitch

There’s so much hard work and tough choices to be made. Where is Barky going to get the political capital to pull it off? He’s pissed off so many people and screwed so many others that I just don’t see how he’ll be able to garner enough support and good will to make real change. And if he’s worried about being popular and being seen as the good guy…yeah these next four years are going to go just swimmingly.

greenery

LOL he won a landslide.
He has loads of capital.
He has 82% aproval rating.

I’m surprised you don’t understand that.

oowawa

LOL he won a landslide.
He has loads of capital.
He has 82% aproval rating.

In literature, this kind of huge success usually precedes a cataclysmic fall.
interested party

He has loads of capital.
He has 82% aproval rating.

Kind of reminds me of Bush back in 2001.
Ani

An 82% approval rating BEFORE he has done ANYTHING. Wow, how comforting. They must not have polled anyone I know. Keep the accolades coming. That’s putting gas in everyone’s tank, doncha know.

Well, let’s hope — sincerely — for the good of our country — that he keeps that approval rating once he gets into office and FINALLY starts taking some ACTION instead of just giving SPEECHES about what he is GOING to do.

That will be most interesting.
Mary Kay

Landslide? Maybe in the electoral college but there was not popular vote landslide. The 82 %approval rating is temporary at best, and the money, well, that’s already being called into question.
rw

Capital to do what? To implement the programs and reforms he so much talks about these days in none specific terms, since there isn’t any $ for them? Not really, more like capital to keep selling his image as THAT One Yous (plural you intended) Have Been Waiting For and to try to keep those rating up while keeping himself from coming in with a “landslide” (that is not a mandate) from turning into impeachment for the misconduct of INEPTITUDE.
JozefAL

Landslide, you say? I suppose MY understanding of “landslide” must be outmoded.
Obama won by less than 10 percentage points. He attracted less than 53% of the popular vote (so much for that “82% approval rate”–I’d note also that Dubya had an approval rating greater than 90% following 9/11, and we all know where he is now) compared to McCain’s receiving nearly 46% of the vote. Even compared to Bill Clinton (who didn’t receive even 50% of the popular vote in either of his presidential wins), Obama’s projected Electoral College victory is hardly a “landslide” (Obama’s expected to get 365 EVs; Clinton got 370 in 1992 and 379 in 1996).
As to “capital”, that is something that, in politics, one EARNS by working WITH other politicians–generally by giving (or conceding) points TO the other person. Obama has done little to nothing to earn any political capital. He’s been ALL “take” (or, more aptly, all “gimme”) while offering nothing that he could actually deliver AT THE TIME. One doesn’t build political capital by making promises of doing something in the future as Obama did with Richardson for the endorsement. In fact, the best political capital is made when you FREELY offer something to another politician without expecting an immediate reward.
C.S.

Oh, I understand that, if there is one thing the Bush years have taught me it is that you can have anything faked. Like saying you won when you really had to steal other candidates votes just to keep your name in the “game”. Once you’ve committed fraud, everything else you do is suspect; especially the idea that those you cheated will ever believe that you actually won.

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Donna Brazile

Dang it! I’m tired of all your whining and sniveling expecting Obama to actually work. You know he is so busy changing the world he doesn’t have time to deal with unimportant issues like the economy. Can’t you pathetic losers let go of your bitterness for just a moment and realize that change doesn’t come in a day. Obama’s appointments to his cabinet have been revolutionary and brilliant. Those appointments alone should show you his potential to be a great leader and thinker.

(snark:-)

Stop the hate!
Doc99

Obama names Bill Clinton to Presidential Post.

“I am pleased that Bill Clinton has agreed to come out of retirement to head up this crucial post in my administration,” said Obama. “He brings a lifetime of previous executive experience as Governor of Arkansas and President of the United States, and has worked closely with most of the members of my Cabinet.”

Clinton said he was “excited and honored” by the appointment, and would work “day and night” to defeat all the key policy objectives proposed by Mr. Obama during the campaign.

“I am gratified that the President-Elect has entrusted me with this important responsibility,” said Clinton. “I’m looking forward to getting back behind, and under, the Oval Office desk again. As I have told the President-Elect, I pledge to do whatever I can to serve his historic administration by making sure that none of that bullshit he talked about during the campaign will ever see the light of day. Americans can rest assured that he will be safely confined to the East Wing, as far away as possible from any potentially dangerous office equipment or nuclear buttons…”

“… Let’s face it, it’s obvious I’m in way over my head here,” explained Obama. “Anyone paying attention knows I am a disaster waiting to happen, and who can blame them? I mean, just look at the stock market. That’s why I think it’s in the best interest of the country that I hand over the reins to people who, whatever their ethical shortcomings, at least have a faint clue about what they’re doing. Come on, man. I’ve got a 401-k, too.”

KintheNorthwest

Wow, now Obama can throw them under the bus again.
And to think I thought they had brains.
Its going to be an interesting 4 years.
oowawa

I wish. Doc, you should know that it’s not safe to give senior citizens a shock like this.
wodiej

omg….good one
csuzeq

Loved that one. I sent it out to all my Hillary supporters who will love a day brightener!

beebop

Does that mean he’s staying in Chicago?

http://modifiedlimitedhangout.blogspot.com Dhalgren

I and other rational people are still waiting for you No Quarter folks to explain how Obama is only ion this to be a rock star and gain fame. It seems to us that Obama knows he has to work extra hard to keep his job. There will never be a ‘mission accomplished’ banner under his watch.

Working extra hard to get ahead. That’s the story of Barry’s life. And it seems that you people use projection to compensate for your lack of progress.

Donna Brazile

Did you call me “you people?” Watch your language, Willis!

Stop the hate!
Idiocracy08

how does he have to work extra hard? he never has before in his life and is now president.
Right on the Left Coast

Dhalgren – The man created a fake and presumptuous “Presidential” seal before he was even elected. He has a sign that says “Office of the President-Elect” when no such office exists.

He shot past “Mission Accomplished” like a rocket a long time ago.

rw

I just watched his speech on MSNBC and he was behind his podium of THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT ELECT with a itty bitty seal at the top center…it is sooooooo small I can’t see the details. It seems the seal is bacccckkkk in reduced form…sort of like his ego…his demeanor is really different, he’s lost a lot of gas…

beebop

FOX News has a great story up about The Office of the President Elect and its significance and import. I’ll save you some time. It boils down to organic B O L O G N A ……

beachnan

You nailed it Left Coast! He rocketed right past “Mission Accomplished” in presumptiveness during the primaries. I predict “we ain’t seen nuthin yet,” when it comes to Obama’s hubris.

Diana L. C.

If you didn’t participate in the primary, you have no right to talk about how he worked when instead he cheated the Hillary supporters and delegates out of their hard work.

I have been so turned off by this country’s obvious acceptance of dirty politics, including Hillary’s since she is playing along, that I am slowly weaning myself of interest in politics.

I am at the point of saying I will not vote again–just as many, many, many Americans don’t vote and didn’t vote. They already knew their votes and opinions did not count.

No matter how Obama does, I can not forgive how he cheated to get where he is. It’s not “work” he accomplished; it’s game playing.

I never believed our democracy was just supposed to be a game.

csuzeq

I agree with your comment 100%. No matter what Sparky does, he will always be illegitimate in my eyes.

I am very upset with Hillary for politics first. There is not a politician alive today that will ever again get my full support. I think there is no reason to give them my vote either. If they aren’t the media darling, well, we know how far it takes you to try to fight that.

Obama hasn’t earned the job in my opinion and so he doesn’t get my respect. If anything good does come from this administration, it will be someone’s hard work and OdramaOtokenOkissmyass taking the full credit. When something bad happens, he will blame others. That , my friends, is his history. If you don’t like that fact then don’t ever vett him because that is what he has always done.

wodiej

Work extra hard?? LMAO, Obama hasn’t worked hard a day in his life except to cheat, lie, steal and deceive.

FenelonSpoke

^^Another day; another troll. You might have made some points worth responding to to until the last sentence. Then you blew it. Trolls can’t help themselves. They always have to include an insult.
http://deleted Buzz Latte

You know Barry intimately enough to make those statements, Dhalgren? Wow. Explain, then, what was Barry O’s thinking when he cheated his way into government via “defeating” Alice Palmer? What was Barry Oblahblah’s thinking when he started his political career at William Ayers’ house? What was his thinking when he embraced the communist party? Why did he participate in at least two “vacations” while campaigning? Where is Barry O’s birth certificate and why are his Kenyan relatives still claiming he was born in Kenya?

Oh Barry’s got a lot of work to do alright. He needs to cough up a legitimate COLB by Dec. 5th. This will not go away.

KintheNorthwest

I was wondering earlier why NoQuarter was the one to bring forward all the evidece, yet are not really covering all the hearings.

I do wish this gets cleared up one way or the other. It would really be nice to see Obama back up his talk with some solid evidence.

Im still trying to figure out why as citizens of the US we have not been allowed to view evidence that proves if Obama is qualified to be President.
wodiej

add to this he voted present 130 times, pushed the wrong button several times, never held one single meeting on that foreign relations committee he was on for Afghanistan, was absent more than he attended in the Senate, has never led anything except community organizing and teaching people how to get something for nothing. His resume of hard work is missing in action.

LOL…these trolls are so lame, ignorant and moronic I almost feel sorry for them. Now lets all hold hands and sing “I’d like to teach the world to sing”……NOT.

interested party

Add to that no school records, no birth certificate, no records from the state legislature – if I’m wrong, please correct me.

If transparency is what’s going to be required to help right the economy, then we are in serious trouble.

beebop

Please …. please … I am finally starting to forget all of the shortcomings of Play President … don’t remind me all at once. My head might explode.

benny

lol

CB

Sadly, why did Obama accept the hard work of fellow Dems in the Illinois legislator so that Emil Jones, Jr., newly appointed speaker of the House after the Dems took over–first time in how many decades–could “make himself a U.S. Senator. He had others turn over their work to BO to carry it across the finish line. What kind of man takes the work of others as his own? Of course Emil got payback…his adjacent South Side district got big earmarks from BO (paid for with our tax dollars).

Now what we really need to know is who revealed the sealed divorce records of BO’s Dem primary challenger and his Republican opponent? That fact is what enabled BO to run virtually unopposed so he could become a U.S. Senator. By the end of his first year, he was in Iowa. The rest is history!

P.S. Seems a Chicago corp. bought the L.A. Times, which was instrumental in “leaking” one of the divorce scandals! Where was an investigative journalist when we needed him or her? At the BO love festival, I assume!

And, so someone at a Palin rally might have said, “Kill him,” although the secret service investigation turned up nothing, and the SS people there didn’t hear it. Reportage everywhere but not the rebuke!

MEchelle Obama screeched that she would like to “scratch his [Bill Clinton's] eyes out…just kidding” in front of the journalist writing her New Yorker profile. Didn’t that warrant a SS visit?

JohnnyB

Another Truman Quote, Pat:

I studied the lives of great men and famous women, and I found that the men and women who got to the top were those who did the jobs they had in hand, with everything they had of energy and enthusiasm.

Sign the Presidential Commission on Women petition at http://www.womencount.org

The Time is NOW

SurvivedCarter,will survive BO

Am I wrong or does “womencount” only count for Democrats?

I’m a Linda too

I couldn’t agree more with Sam. Thank you.

And, on topic of Open Thread, I have a rant.

Congress really shows daily they only care when the voters NOTICE what they HAVE beeen doing, then try to blame someone else for it.

All this crap about lead in toys, ie, lead in paint. Our government KNEW they were doing this. This has been going on for some time. They only showed outrage when the voters found out. If they truly cared, when are we still receiving anything from China that is now made there with LEAD in it?

As long as our country isn’t making the goods, our country is allowing products to be made elsewhere and brought in as is.

Now ask yourself, is it just childrens toys of rubber, plastic and paint that come from China that have lead or other harmful chemicals? NOOOO. Now ask yourself, what all is being made in China that can have lead in it and you assumed that because you bought it in the US, our standards wouldn’t allow it?

I’m sitting here typing on a keyboard, where I never had the painted letters disappear so quickly on. What about knick knacks. Dinnerware, candle holders, pepper grinders, all this stuff being made in China now.

Now, also, besides our normal every day uses containing lead, lets take a look at this time of the year. Everyone is up in arms because it’s the holidays and they will be purchasing toys. What if toys still are made with lead. (as if that’s the only place they would have added lead). What about Christmas ornaments as well. Do you know how many things, rubber, painted, are made in China and they contain lead as well? Wreaths, Christmas lights…the chords. Do you read the warning labels? That little tab that clears them by admitting these products conatin lead.

Do you know I cannot even find one single extension chord now that doesn’t contain lead? Besides not wanting to handle them for simple chores, or decorating your house or tree, handling appliances in your kitchen with lead is a real BI.

I’ve now returned my 3rd extension chord because it is made with lead and I desperately need to repair one of my hand blenders that I rely on regularly. Is there anywhere that carries extensions chords that are NOT made in CHINA and therefore made with LEAD?

LOOK CLOSELY on what you have and handle!

rw

Good point.

Best to avoid items made in China and Mexico, both use lead. There are toy manufacturers in the US.

It an item or food product is made in the US, but you fear some base ingredient might come from else where, call/email the manufacturer and get in writing where the base ingredients are from.

grtphoto

one of my favorite quotes about people who do not deserve their status is “he/she was born on 3rd base but think they scored a triple” this applied to bush and certainly applies to this elect.

clairtx

Another good saying is “I wish I had the difference between what he thinks he’s worth and what he is actually worth. I would be a millionaire.”

Blue Orchid

Absolutely love Sam Copeland’s comments, he is brilliant indeed.
benny

If obama loses popular appeal with the media, his approval ratings will make GWB look like a superstar. sad…
hootnannie

My husband told me that cultural far-lefty Amy Goodman stated on Democracy Now! that Obama’s appointments so far are “disasters”. Looks like another “progressive” got snookered!
If the Hillary nom actually occurs–which if it was to be made by anyone other than The Great Waffler I would assume it will–Obama has just given the finger and brush-off to all those who hooted and hollered when those gestures were directed at HER!
Give ‘em hell, HILLARY!
http://~ jackie

Despite Bells and Whistles, ‘Office of President-Elect’ Holds No Authority
The props that decorate the stage for the Office of the President-elect serve as just that, since Barack Obama will hold no actual authority in the Executive Branch until Jan. 20.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/11/25/despite-bells-whistles-office-president-elect-holds-authority/
I’m a Linda too

I found this rather surprising and kind of funny considering the point they are making. I bet there will be a “monica”, or more simply, a Jeff (wink wink) in O-shit’s admin., especially with HIS ego. The only difference will be, will we find out or not. After all, his ego is even bigger than John Edwards and he was positive he wouldn’t be caught.

Obama Team Mulls Role for Miss Lewinsky in New Administration

President-Elect Barack Obama’s transition team is reported to be deeply divided over whether to offer a post to Monica Lewinsky, the former White House Intern whose intimate relationship with President Bill Clinton led to his impeachment.

Until now, Lewinsky was one of the few high-profile figures from the Clinton Presidency who had not been recruited for the incoming Obama team. Mr. Clinton’s brother Roger is another, though on Friday there were rumors he would be named ambassador to Spain.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20081123/cm_huffpost/145788?m
clairtx

All good quotes from one of my favorite presidents. Harry Truman was truly a humble person who failed at many things before he became President. He reminds me more of Abraham Lincoln than the Pretender to the throne we are going to have.

Oh, for the good old days when a man’s word meant something!
bob

How would the markets react if Obama came out and said that Bush’s bailout plan won’t work, is a failure and Bush needs to resign now and let him take over?
typical.white.person

.

Brennan Withdraws From Consideration for Administration Post

.
Choo Choo Magoo

Pat -
My knowledge of Truman is limited, so have really enjoyed your Post and cartoon and everyones comments. I guess that is why I love NQ – the writers and commentators always provides new avenues to explore.

Galt

Not to mention parallel universes and alternate invisible dimensions!

Choo Choo Magoo

Those too!

Pat Racimora

LOL!

AzymandiasObama

This is my model, my future and my legacy:

Ozymandias
by Percy Bysshe Shelley

——————————————————————————–

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things.
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away

:{

Larry Johnson (Bio)
@noquarterusa

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