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To: Road Walker who wrote (490228)	6/23/2009 4:15:29 PM
From: tejek	1 Recommendation Respond to of 1573909

You've got to love how quickly Obama thinks on his feet. BEING A PUNDIT VS BEING A PRESIDENT.... One of the more memorable exchanges from this afternoon's White House press conference came when President Obama called on NBC News' Chuck Todd, who followed up on earlier questions regarding Iran. TODD: You have avoided, twice, spelling out consequences. You've hinted that there would be from the international community, if they continue to violate -- and you said "violate these norms." You seemed to hint that there -- there are human rights violations taking place. OBAMA: I'm not hinting. I think that when a young woman gets shot on the street when she gets out of her car, that's a problem. TODD: Then why won't you spell out the consequences that the Iranian people... OBAMA: Because I think that we don't know yet how this thing is going to play out. I know everybody here is on a 24-hour news cycle. I'm not. Greg Sargent noted, "Obama and his advisers have repeatedly disparaged the D.C. cable bubble as petty and distracting from the country's challenges, though the White House happily uses good cable coverage to its advantage on occasion. I guess Obama wants to make it clear that he won't handle sensitive international crises on cable's clock, either." And that's definitely a good thing. Todd seemed to be asking, forcefully, that the president address a series of hypotheticals -- assume the demonstrations continue, assume the violent crackdown continues, assume Iran makes no concessions to address the concerns of dissidents, and assume an international reaction is being crafted. What, then, is the White House prepared to do? Except, of course, presidents don't -- and shouldn't -- engage in this kind of speculation publicly. What Todd wants to hear is Obama as a Pundit in Chief, pontificating about possible consequences for possible outcomes, addressing an international situation that's still unfolding at this very minute. The president knows better, and it was a genuine treat to hear him smack down the entire approach. It reminded me of something Matt Yglesias said last week: "Something I think people don't always get is that the President is not the columnist-in-chief or the National Blogger. One of the very nice things about being a professional political pundit, is that you can just sort of spout off what you think and use colorful language and strong, bold words." Presidents, in contrast, "need to be careful ... paying scrupulous attention to consequences." Whether his detractors like it or not, Obama is a president, not a pundit, and he doesn't seem to care much about whether that meets with the chattering class' approval. washingtonmonthly.com

To: Road Walker who wrote (490228)	6/23/2009 4:27:15 PM
From: Tenchusatsu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573909

RW, > If you and I wanted to have a nasty contest you would come in a very close second, so don't throw stones. All talk and no proof. It's your choice if you want to make unsubstantiated claims, then refuse to back them up claiming you "don't have the time." It's so easy to call you out, especially when you're not being honest with yourself: siliconinvestor.com tejek 90,413 06/23/2009 04:15:29 PM Road Walker 26,852 06/23/2009 04:06:43 PM steve harris 25,337 06/23/2009 02:58:59 PM Tenchusatsu 21,878 06/23/2009 03:58:06 PM combjelly 20,925 06/23/2009 04:19:51 PM i-node 19,751 06/23/2009 04:07:21 PM longnshort 18,960 06/23/2009 04:23:11 PM bentway 18,718 06/23/2009 04:21:46 PM Tim Fowler 13,717 06/23/2009 01:44:59 PM Alighieri 12,450 06/23/2009 12:04:39 PM Tenchusatsu