Login Here
Perhaps the first thing we learned from today's press conference is that the familiar Obama campaign typestyle (with its italicized minor words) has made the leap to the presidential transition. If it continues past the inauguration, how long until we're all sick of it?
Given the cautious self-discipline and composure Obama showed throughout nearly two years on the campaign trail, it's no surprise that he navigated the rocky waters of giving a presidential press conference without being president yet rather easily. Only a question about Iran seemed to catch him momentarily off-guard, as he weighed what to say without appearing presumptuous.
CNN is up with the transcript what was actually said. Some excerpts:
This morning, we woke up to more sobering news about the state of our economy. . . . The news coming out of the auto industry this week reminds us of the hardship it faces, hardship that goes far beyond individual auto companies to the countless suppliers, small businesses and communities throughout our nation who depend on a vibrant American auto industry.
(Um, I think that means get ready for another bailout.) On a lighter note:
Q: I'm wondering what you're doing to get ready. Have you spoke to any living ex-presidents, what books you might be reading?
[And] everyone wants to know, what kind of dog are you going to buy for your girls?. . .
Obama: . . . In terms of speaking to former presidents, I've spoken to all of them that are living. Obviously, President Clinton -- (pause) I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any seances.
I have re-read some of Lincoln's writings, who's always an extraordinary inspiration. And, by the way, President Carter, President Bush, Sr., as well as the current president have all been very gracious and offered to provide any help that they can in this transition process.
With respect to the dog, this is a major issue. I think it's generated more interest on our Web site than just about anything.
We have -- we have two criteria that have to be reconciled. One is that Malia is allergic, so it has to be hypoallergenic. There are a number of breeds that are hypoallergenic.
On the other hand, our preference would be to get a shelter dog, but, obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me. So -- so whether we're going to be able to balance those two things I think is a pressing issue on the Obama household.
Your thoughts?
Spotlight
Support this site!
Keep
up with news
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
RSS/XML Feed
’…mutts like me’ I love that man.
Nice to see a “presidential” press conference where the leader has an authentic sense of humor.
Great presence. Loved not being condescended to like I was an 8-year old caught eating paste.
How refreshing to see someone actually be able to string sentences together in an articulate fashion. Of course some of the commentary heard on NPR was less than enamored. “He was late and Bush was always punctual.” “If this short press conference is any indication of future press conferences the press is not going to be happy!” “Is an Obama administration going to be too secretive?” It’s possible to vote criminals out of office but apparently the U.S. has to suffer a complicit and corrupt corporate media.
mutts like me, too.
Yeah, refreshing after the last eight years, wasn’t it?
We had the Big Dog and now we’ll have the Big Mutt. Love it!
My first thought: how we like sentences and wit and intelligence. What a lovely future.
By contrast, I heard a comment about like this from Laura Ingraham on the topic of our foreign policy…it should be “sensible”. Now there’s some advice for you ;) Now, if those folks could just be speechless.
I didn’t read the CNN transcript but from just reading what you posted, Swopa, He didn’t take himself too seriously or come off like some 22 year old hoping to convince everyone that he is going to ‘change the world’.
The president who I remember most affectionately (both from reading and actually watching as a young child) is John Kennedy. I’m not speaking of his policies and of him articulating his policies. I’m speaking of his totally natural sense of grace and humor that he almost always could and would share anytime that he spoke in front of the press. He was a natural.
Obama seems to have shown himself to have that natural talent. We’re in for some good times. Keep on him, everybody, about policy. Enjoy him, everybody, just for who he is and how he comports himself!
Does that mean the D party mascot must be changed to be a dog?
Obama gets Omaha. Seems appropriate, given the names.
http://www.omaha.com/index.php.....d=10481441
I am REALLY disapointed with how obama handled the olive branch offered by Iran
I think he should have went straight to the “there is only one president at a time”, rather then slap the mans face right out of the box with “producing a nuclear weapon is not acceptable”
how the HELL does obama know they are producing a nuclear bomb?
I sure hope he isn’t taking bush’s word or inteligence on the matter.
Thanks, Swopa.
Yeah I caught the Nancy thing at the time. Won’t be more than another couple of minutes before a few Gooper House creatures resurrect Raygun (they won’t quit any time soon) and castigate Obama for speaking ill of Dear Ronald’s mommy, and not being ‘bi-partisan’ enough.
Good for him.
DNI McConnell told him so in his security briefing. /s
Yes, that is the problem right now. He is being fed from the bush machine. God help us until he is in power. It is a problem.
A little OT but what can be done about this? This pisses me off more than anything else, from NYT tonight
The Bureau of Land Management has expanded its oil and gas lease program in eastern Utah to include tens of thousands of acres on or near the boundaries of three national parks, according to revised maps published this week.
National Park Service officials say that the decision to open lands close to Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument and within eyeshot of Canyonlands National Park was made without the kind of consultation that had previously been routine.
The inclusion of the new lease tracts angered environmental groups, which were already critical of the bureau’s original lease proposal, made public this fall, because they said it could lead to industrial activity in empty areas of the state, some prized for their sweeping vistas, like Desolation Canyon, and others for their ancient petroglyphs, like Nine Mile Canyon.
The bureau’s new maps, made public on Election Day, show not just those empty areas but 40 to 45 new areas where leasing will also be allowed.
Don Gonyea or clone whining on NPR about how short the presser was.
If he hadn’t spent the last 8 years sucking up to BushCo, maybe someone would care.
Yep. Refreshing. Some mutt.
bush was always punctual cause he wasn’t doin anything else at the time. Someone handed him his cue cards and he was ready to recite! or try to….
Get used to it. What the media needs now is DRAMA. They have a payroll, you see.
I think he had to do that to some degree, or the MSM would spend the next week in a lather about how he was being presumptuous and “already” changing US policy. That would be a huge distraction.
It needs to be done, and I think it will, just not in the first press conference.
and i LOVED the nanacy raygun thing.spontaneous humor! yes! give us more wit!
He likes shmilk & cookies, yesh?
Poor guy. He did not have a mind of his own. On the other hand, I believe he should be put in JAIL for the harm he has done.
fro your lips to god’s ear…
now about that drilling cheney just managed to engineer for the petro industry
one last grab before they check out of the white hotel
you know what i’m looking forward to?
having folks in the white house who know how to dance.
Yep. If you google Obama Press Conference, one of the top web links already is a Free Republic post expressing outrage over his “insulting” Nancy Reagan.
used to have a boyfriend who, whenever i told him the truth, said i was insulting him. weird huh?
I’m afraid I believe they ALL should be up before the World Court. How to make that happen? That is my question.
Until today, I had forgotten what it’s like to hear from an intelligent President. The Bush puppet act is so tedious.
kinda reminds me of that old saying: if they’re shootin at ya, you must be doin something right
First rule. Don’t trust guys. BTW I am one.
The other things that struck me were that he not only allowed a followup, he asked about the followup on the intelligence question (though he said he couldn’t answer, he didn’t just ignore it) and he acted like it was appropriate for the press to be asking questions, and answered them reasonably.
There is such a long list of things which now seem remarkable, that before Bush would have been utterly ordinary.
It’s never going to happen. Bush will set a presidential record for pardon granting.
Isn’t it refreshing? Maybe he will start a trend.
Got to love this
http://crooksandliars.com/
My favorite comment about Obama’s half-hour campaign ad was from some former Clinton official I’d never heard of:
“The most important thing Obama accomplished was to remind us of what it’s like to look forward to hearing the president speak.”
The World Court only applies if domestic courts refuse to prosecute. Bush’s pardons will do nothing to stop that.
Puhleez… Lighten up!!
The man has not even been inaugurated, he holds his first, friendly, open press conference, and you’re worried about his ITALICS?
Don’t miss Al Giordana who reminds us that Barack Obama is a clever decision-maker, is thoughtful and politic about his political choices, and we need not get so worked up about every little thing:
Sure, but that only helps inside the continential US. Let him pardon. Means nothing when mankind is at stake. Take a look @ Isreal. They still search for people. That is what I hope for this admin.
Correct!
You know, taking the least important part out of the press conference–the dog issue–I would like to say that Obama should really throw out to the shelters around the country that he’s looking for a hypoallergenic dog. Here in Portland, OR our Humane Society (OHS) gets a lot of puppies rescued from puppy mills. Anyways, I think it would be great if he could get a dog from a shelter.
The US will not allow it to happen.
After watching today’s press conference, the question became: Can’t we just let Bush and Cheney go now, and let Obama start ahead of schedule? They deserve what any other “laid off” employee gets — give them through the weekend to clear out their desks and vacate the building.
He didn’t say they were. He said that their having one would be unacceptable. Nuance. Gotta pay attention to the nuance.
Right!
Don’t you want to see Bush smirking and jocular next to Obama at the White House just once? The contrast should be amazing.
The US? What sort of leverage do we have? Bombs? Ocupation? Economic embargoes? We are now impotent per bush.
It’s been so long…I’m trying to remember….nuance. Nuance….
After Iraq, does anyone trust US intelligence organs more than the IAEA?
And can they have their heads examined, please?
YES! We have a President Elect who “does” nuance!
No. It is clear that the world does not regard the US as having the answers or even the power.
I hope so too.
That’s not true. The world court adjudicating anything involving the Bush Admin is just fantasy. There’s lots to do and it’s time to move beyond Bush. History, not courts, will judge them harshly.
I’ve been waiting and dreaming of having a president talk to the press like they’re grown up humans, and BE ARTICULATE.
This was “dream come true” time for me.
And who amongst us are NOT mutts?
Yes, and more than that.
I was just listening to that bullshitter.
I’m liking verbs, tenses, participles, nouns - sentence structure. He did say the offer to Rahm Emmanuel for his COS “rendered him mute.”
they need to be held accountable like any of the rest of us would be, for crimes. HIGH crimes and misdemeanors.
Get active. It CAN happen.
I’ve got a funny President. *grin*
No Sir. It IS true. Sites please.
They do need to be but they never will be. Bush still has the pardon power. He’s going to get a hand cramp from all the signing but that’s it.
Did you mean “other than” the IAEA?
There was another nuanced (there’s that word again) comment about the effectiveness of our intelligence services. Appeared to me (facial expression and tone) he knows there’s more than a little room for improvement but we all knew that anyhow. The deeper President Elect Obama gets into this transition I think the more distressed he’ll be about the condition of our government. Given the Shrub administration’s penchant for secrecy I don’t doubt that there are many things Congress, particularly Dems, never knew about.
A pardon in the US is CRAP outside.
I cannot disagree more
the crimes of bush will be revisited by future criminals unless he is held to account
cheney has done this before you know and so did rumsfeld
their must be a stake driven through the heart, unless of course we are fine with our children going through this again
and they will
and thank goodness for that, I expect none of these treasonous criminals will be leaving this country, I don’t think they have the balls
Under what scenario would he be held accountable?
He was not ever close to being impeached.
It’s just never going to happen, even if it should.
a very tastey cookie
tee hee
64 percent of republicans actually want palin to run in oh twelve
tee hee
impeachment is not the measure of a president’s crimes, it’s the measure of a yellow congress
crimes have not one thing to do with impeachment, I have no idea what you are referring to, the man CAN be held to account and impeachment means nothing to the international court, unless obama is prepared to go to war if they try these criminals, they better not leave this country
in addition, if he finds no pardon for himself, his crimes while in office are still prosecutable as well
How lucky cans the Ds get?
Bush can pardon himself.
no you didn’t…..
Hi Bad,
Good for you. This will help us refine the thinking a bit. There are the lies. There is the torture. There are the innocent lives, etc.
More than enough. I like the other side to see what will happen. It’s just the LAW. Do you know it?
You know what one possible scenario is? Stevens gets elected, steps down, Palin steps down as gov, and the Lt gov becomes gov & appoints Palin to the U.S. senate. That gives her a platform to run from.
We’ve got lots of work to do to push that number up ! *g*
bush will not be able to travel anywhere. Do you think Iraq and Afg people will accept the US occupation?
muttsy TV
he can’t pardon himself against any international body, in addition, the acceptance of a pardon admits guilt, by pardoning himself he would be making the case against him internationally
in addition, a pardon is gonna have to be specific, he cannot give himself a general pardon, he can try but I don’t think alito and roberts is gonna be comfortable with the democrats having that kind of power and the democrats look like they’ll be in for quite some time
the man has admitted to torture, he has signed off on it, he has had aids sign off on it, this is a crime and there are no two ways about it.
and as I said, unless you think your children should go through another despot only worse then bush since the envelope is opened, then you better do whatever it takes to bring these traitors to the bar of justice
now I see you are determined to simply give them a pass
if we are patriots of this country we will not allow that to happen, we will do whatever it takes to protect our children from a regime as depraved as this one
Don’t waste you time on this thread. Save it for another day.
I would like to add;
rumsfeld and cheney have proven, we cannot allow criminals likes these to go free because they WILL commit their crimes again
cheney made up a false evidence with rumseld to undermine nixon’s treaty of detante, they need war to steal, they wanted to steal the treasure of the american middle class and the middle east and they succeeded
if we love our country, our constitution, the rule of law and the principle that tells us no man is above that law, then there is no choice, we MUST do whatever it takes to bring those criminals to the bar of justice
I’m gonna retire from this thread, see all later
My thoughts?
I can’t believe I have a president who is holding press conferences.
Relaxed confidence without forced bravado is a reflexion of the man’s sincerity and humility. He knows exactly who he is and feels no need to try to impress or ingratiate himself to anyone. It may take America a little while to adjust to having a president that doesn’t have an unconscious need to overcompensate for his insecurities.
Someone who wants a pet can actually look for one online. A niece of mine found a nice kitty cat at a shelter after looking around online first. It was an august decision to find a cat named August.
Obama: . . . I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any seances.
I could, like, totally see Nancy Reagan, given her astrological interests, holding séances for her departed Ronny, just like Bess Houdini did for Harry after his death.
Actually, it would be rather sweet.