No amount of "emoting" from Obama will suffice (PlumLine)

[jefferson_dem]

No amount of "emoting" from Obama will suffice

It needs to be stated that the growing chorus of calls for Obama to show more "anger" or "emotion" about the Gulf spill are pure B.S.: No matter how angry or emotional he becomes, he will always have fallen short.

It's an article of faith among Beltway pundits that the public wants Obama to show more emotion about this and other crises. For instance, David Brooks today states it as fact:

They demand that he hold press conferences, show leadership, announce that the buck stops here and do something. They want him to emote and perform the proper theatrical gestures so they can see their emotions enacted on the public stage.

The public wants Obama to put on empty theatrical gestures to make them feel better? No need to back this assertion up, of course. But put that aside for a sec. The real point is that this standard isn't designed to be met.

Take Joe Scaraborough, for instance. On MSNBC this morning, he called on Obama to spend the night the next time he visits the Gulf. If he were to do this, of course, Scarborough would call on him to sleep in a tent on the Gulf shore next time. And so on.

The point is that this is an entirely arbitrary yardstick with which to measure Obama's performance, and the bar will inevitably rise ever higher. Even those pundits who have suggested Obama has cleared the proper emotional threshold, such as David Broder, don't bother explaining how they reached this conclusion.

Mike Allen is onto the absurdity of this dynamic. Today he made the half-tongue-in-cheek suggestion that before long Obama would appear in the Gulf on a boat.

<SNIP>

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/06/no_amount_of_emoting_from_obam.html

[livetohike]

1. Nothing President Obama does will ever be good enough for

the crowd that wants him to fail and there are many in the media who are salivating for another crisis to occur. Too bad Bush wasn't held to the same standard. He would have been impeached before the end of year one in his presidency, instead of glorified for his charade at ground zero.

[Cha]

2. What they're doing is "arrogantly power trippin"...as in

"I can make the President of the United States of America jump when I say jump and then ask how high". Not gonna happen.

[Jennicut]

3. If he did what they wanted, they would put the ante higher and higher.

Standards impossible to meet, on purpose. And Bush could barely get through speaking a sentence correctly. But it was just merely funny back then. Ha ha.

[Vinnie From Indy]

4. Politics is the art of perception

An argument could be made that Obama has not managed the political theater aspects of this drama very well. Granted, the insane right will not be statisfied with any amount or type of concern expressed by this President, but Obama has disappointed many on the left with his public handling of the disaster. In addition, I do not think that the effect of an unattainable level of concern is nearly as strong with moderates and liberals.

Specifically, I would have advised the President to create a very stark contrast to GW Bush's handling of Katrina by actually getting on a boat for a waters-eye view of the oil. Again, Obama on a boat at the site of the spill does absolutely nothing to stop or contain the spill, but it would have been and still is good politics in my opinion.

I personally believe that the scale of the disaster is so great that it will come to dominate the Obama presidency and will be his legacy regardless of how he handles the situation. Therefore, he should not neglect the need of Americans to see him engaged in a way that cements the impression that he is focused on this spill like no other President in history has done with a natural disaster. The fact is that no other natural disaster in our history will likely measure up in scale to this one when all is said and done. As a strictly political matter, Obama should, I believe, do much more in the way of political grandstanding on the spill.

[emulatorloo]

11. Maybe they should deploy Vice President Biden and let him cuss.

[Phx_Dem]

20. But news reporting is the art of "reporting facts" for others to deciminate

It's up the public to form their own opinions based on perception.

[Political Tiger]

5. These jackasses don't want a president, they want a Scarlett O'Hara

They want Obama to get down on his knees and proclaim at the top of his lungs "AS GOD AS MY WITNESS, AS GOD AS MY WITNESS I'LL CLEAN UP EVERY LAST DROP OF THAT OIL EVEN IF I HAVE TO LIE, STEAL, CHEAT OR KILL!!!!!!!!!"

[jaxx]

7. Ding Ding

You have put it into perspective. The whiners "want". It doesn't matter what they want, they just want it, and tomorrow they'll want something else. I'm so glad the President can think for himself instead of cracking at the scent of want.

[Tarheel_Dem]

9. +1000. I wish I could rec your post.

Can you imagine the headlines if the president were to take their advice? "OBAMA GIVES OSCAR WORTHY PERFORMANCE, BUT IS IT THE REAL THING?" I think this president has sized up his political foes just right, I think he realizes that there are some who are just never going to be satisfied.

[treestar]

14. Amen

this is ridiculous! They want more drama more than they want the leak stopped and the spill cleaned! do they care about anything of substance?

[Phx_Dem]

21. Perfect!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

6. Scarboro is disrespectful to the President of the United States

[K8-EEE]

8. ABSOLUTELY!!! I was so disappointed in Arianna

For suggesting he "move the White House" to the Gulf which is pure unnecessary stagecraft if I ever heard it, shit, why doesn't he just land an aircraft carrier in the Gulf? THAT WOULD BE SO COOL! Not.....I hope Obama is in the situation room talking to the best minds in science. It's depressing how childish the American public has become.

[Phx_Dem]

22. The only bigger ass than Arianna is Joe Scarborough.

[TwilightGardener]

10. Nothing short of him rolling on the beach, coated with oil, beating his chest

and wailing "WHHYYYY????" will do it for me, personally.

[Berry Cool]

12. This is classic straw-man reasoning.

"Nothing would be good enough for these people. Obama can do no right to them." Well, I would propose that for some of you, Obama can do no wrong. You don't like to see him criticized for anything, even by his supporters with well-considered arguments. You call any and all criticism of him wrong by exaggerating what his critics want or expect from him. That's what I would say.

I support Obama and want all the best for him, but sometimes I want more out of him than I get...and I don't mean "theater" or "a pony." I just wish some people could understand that without immediately raising their hackles and flying into a fit and yelling "WHAT DO YOU WANT HIM TO DO, PUT ON A FLIGHT SUIT AND GRAB A BULLHORN?" or "WHAT DO YOU WANT HIM TO DO, DIVE DOWN THERE AND PLUG THE HOLE HIMSELF?"

[OneBlueSky]

13. I don't want him to look pissed . . . I want him to BE pissed! . . . n/t

.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. Sensless 'logic'

The centrists are never happy to speak for themselves, they never do that. Instead they rave about straw men.
Characterizing, editorializing, weaving the straw but not into gold. This is no time to spin such creations.

[flpoljunkie]

16. Nerdy Mike Allen's pathetic--though beltway pundits seem to live for his breathless, gossipy tidbits

His daily Politico column is apparently considered a must read by the beltway pundit glitterati.

[jefferson_dem]

19. Politico represents the worst of the American media echo-chamber

Forget sludge, fauxnews and the right wing hate radio jocks. Their bs is obvious.

Most observers don't even realize how politico has shamelessly trivialized politics, and they parrot their shallow memes. Right now, they have a poll on their homepage that reads: "Too little, too late? Should the White House have reacted more swiftly to the conflict in Gaza?Yes.No.I'm not sure."

[TheKentuckian]

17. Yall can cry about the stupidity of the need for theatrics or accept the reality

that many and maybe most Americans respond to the visceral. When has politics been a solely cerebral deal in America? Are you willing to bet the Presidency you so full throatily support on the possibility of the America electorate "growing out" of this? If you and Obama want him to have impact then he and you will have to get over how silly you think optics and impression are or it will be trouble.

There is also the situation that this problem is far beyond "plugging the damn hole" and BP is clearly not acting in the best interests of our citizens or the habitat and that can't be allowed to go on to avoid being left holding the bag or whatever because the guy is the President and one that supposedly believes in government so the bar is inevitably higher for him than it would be for a Republican.

Then we have the biggest issue, that our government is not only impotent in the face of corporate evil and ineptitude, but actually subservient to the whims of big business. BP clearly can override the Federal government as they have done in the use of the current dispersant. Not only can they tell the EPA to sit and spin they can then take US aircraft and use them to spill their toxins and all the President can do is scowl and gently wag his finger while calling it a difference of opinion.

Perhaps the "pragmatism" is slipping here because for once many are willfully ignoring "political reality" that is often described as paramount even over actual conditions.

[impik]

18. He is being held to an unprecedented standards. I wonder why.

No, actually i'm not.

[secondwind]

23. Obama wants to avoid the label of the "angry black man"....that's the problem.