Are we about to see a more aggressive Obama?
The medium is the message, as Marshall McLuhan taught us.
With that in mind, what should we make of the fact that President Obama has requested a joint session of Congress on the evening of Sept. 7 to lay out his jobs program?
The high-profile setting, with live coverage by the networks and news channels almost guaranteed, would suggest that Obama intends to be ambitious in his proposal. A more cynical mind would also note that Obama might be treating this as the kickoff to his 2012 election campaign, using the speech to lay out a series of proposals and publicly challenge a highly unpopular Congress to adopt them.
If Obama has decided to model his campaign on Harry Truman’s 1948 successful campaign, in which “Give ‘em Hell” Harry ran hard against a do-nothing Congress, this would seem to be a great opportunity to drive that message home.
Of course, that’s not how the White House put it in the letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:
“It is my intention to lay out a series of bipartisan proposals that the Congress can take immediately to continue to rebuild the American economy by strengthening small business, helping Americans get back to work and putting more money in the paychecks of the middle class and working Americans, while still reducing the deficit and getting our fiscal house in order. It is our responsibility to find bipartisan solutions to help grow our economy, and if we are willing to put country before party, I am confident we can do just that.”
The timing of the speech is also interesting. As it happens, the first in a series of debates among the GOP presidential candidates, this one to be broadcast on MSNBC and held at the Reagan Library in California, is scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday, the exact time requested by Obama.
Imagine that. One would almost think that Obama was using his power as president to steal the spotlight from his would-be challengers and remind them that he has no intention of being upstaged.
In a press briefing this afternoon, White House spokesman Jay Carney was asked whether that was the intended message. You can guess his answer.
“No, of course not. There were a lot of considerations. Once you want to do a speech to Congress and you have to deal with congressional schedules and there are many other factors here … one debate of many that is on one channel of many was not enough reason not to have this speech at the time that we decided to have it.”
“There are many opportunities for the American people. There’s a choice they can make to watch the president, to watch the debate,” Carney said. “A network could make a decision to alter the timing of the debate by an hour.”
Or, in the immortal words of Hank Williams, “move over little dog, because the big dog’s movin’ in.”
– Jay Bookman
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946 comments Add your comment
Good Little Liberal
September 1st, 2011
12:07 am
I’ve never flown on a Gulf Stream. I heard they are unreal. Fast,.smooth. I spent a summer fying around the south on a Citation. Good little airplane but not good for long range. They can land on a postage stamp if you have a good captain.
Good Little Liberal
September 1st, 2011
12:09 am
out of the blue
. . . or you just play Call Of Duty on your playstation.
Tommy Maddox
September 1st, 2011
12:10 am
Gotta spine? Try it out? Can’t fly?
F O L D !
That Czech paper was so right noting that America is not doomed because Obama got elected; it’s doomed because the voting public put him there.
out of the blue
September 1st, 2011
12:22 am
Good Little Liberal
September 1st, 2011
12:09 am
out of the blue
. . . or you just play Call Of Duty on your playstation
Really, since I don’t have a playstation, please bring me up to speed…What is “CALL of DUTY”
ken
September 1st, 2011
12:22 am
The big dog yipped.
oldguy
September 1st, 2011
12:23 am
There is enough manure being spread here now to cover the world!
The truth: My coolest car? 1971 Citroen DS21 Pallas – solid black (was ordered for the French Embassy but fore some reason they didn’t take it).
Beat the SHI$ out of American cars for design, inovation and comfort!! (still does!) Fun to drive also.
Bought it new (the wife loved it also) for $9,000.00 – (huge money in 1971).
Had to sell it in 1975 because I couldn’t get parts (the quit importing them).
I’d buy another tomorrow if they were available!
Good Little Liberal
September 1st, 2011
12:27 am
out of the blue
I take it you don’t have kids either. I used to go against my son on our PC network when he still lived at home. Call Of Duty is one of the most popular First Person Shooter games.
Good Little Liberal
September 1st, 2011
12:34 am
oldguy
Great cars. Was the DS21 fitted with some exotic engine like a Masarati? They had a wierd suspension that would pump up the shocks on the outside during a curve. Never owned a french car but my uncle had a Renault Dauphine.
I paid $4,500 for the 911S. Finally got the insurance company to pay me about 5 grand. I got it in those few years that cars like that go from being a new exotic to being a ratted out bucket of bolts before they become a classic.
Good Little Liberal
September 1st, 2011
12:39 am
out of the blue
Just looked up M6 Armament Subsystem. That was the system that was bolted onto the side of a Helicopter. Say you carried one of those things around? You must be a big guy.
oldguy
September 1st, 2011
12:49 am
Good,
unfortunately no. had a 4 cylinder standard engine, fast enough but not a supercar. The ride and engineering were out of this world, like nothing else I have ever driven!
The SM model was the sportscar with a Maserati engine real fast!! a friend had one . In 5th gear it would almost stall at 65 MPH.
The speedometer topped out at 190 MPH and it would do that!
The SM was really tempromental it might start, it might not!
Go on Jay Leno’s website, he has a SM in his collection and he has a 10 min video on the car.
Good Little Liberal
September 1st, 2011
12:59 am
oldguy
I looked up your car. Wow. That was a beautiful car. The convertable version was out of this world. Wiki said it was in the top ten cars to be voted the best cars ever. But I was right about the suspension.
I guess my most exotic was a Fiat Dino but it just refused to be dependable. Come to think of it the 911S was probably more exotic. I grew up down the street from a collector. He had everything from an Auburn Boattail Roadster to a Detomaso Mangusta. (Had to look up the spelling on that one)
I’ve always been very close to some great cars but never could afford my own. Now I drive an 11 year old Chevy, but it runs great. Been looking for something to restore but all I’ve found was a TR6. I would like to find a Fiat 850 Spider. They are a lot like the Aston Martin Bugeye: they were such crap that they all got crushed so now any of them that isn’t rotted away is gaining in value and they are fun cars to drive.
double
September 1st, 2011
1:08 am
Obama thoughtfully concedes speech time-Area flooded from Irene.
Uncle Jed
September 1st, 2011
1:13 am
Hey dawg fans, how bad do you expect them to get torn apart this weekend?
+++++++
Boise State? At least bad enough for my son and his Dawgs to go 1-0
Uncle Jed
September 1st, 2011
1:15 am
Obama = Idiot
Over and out…………..
ShaHazel
September 1st, 2011
1:46 am
“The high-profile setting, with live coverage by the networks and news channels almost guaranteed, would suggest that Obama intends to be ambitious…”
Well almost anything he does would be ambitious cause he’s done hardly anything at all. The guy’s a cipher, he just floats around making pretty speeches but he does nothing much of any substance. Even his namesake Obamacare was done entirely by Congress, he was just an onlooker.
Normal
September 1st, 2011
6:52 am
Have a busy day today and my last set of knee shots this morning,
I may pop up later, but if I don’t I’ll check in tomorrow.
but I hope y’all have a great Thursday. Fair warning
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2011/08/31/funny-pictures-optical-illushun-kitteh/
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2011/08/31/funny-pictures-its-called-an-illusion-michael/
Notice a theme?
Tim Geithner's friend
September 1st, 2011
7:22 am
Nope, not a more aggressive Obama but another childish stunt by dear leader who subsequently gets slapped down by the adults in the room. His “leadership” is like a game of whack-a-mole.
SwamiDave
September 1st, 2011
7:24 am
Gee….how quickly we went from the Huff-n-Puff / Olberman / Bookman Left’s excited “YEAH! Show ‘em who’s Boss! Stick it to ‘em! ” to “Er…..(crickets)”.
If his proposals were anything different than the tired, Leftist, redistributionist policies that he has been espousing throughout his Presidency, then waiting around for three weeks during his bus tours and vacations while millions of Americans continue in unemployment or underemployment is shameful. But since actual policies that would promote growth and increased employment are the anti-thesis of of his wonkish, managed-economy, Ivy-league Leftist theology, the likelihood that he will be proposing real policies that would work is sadly slim.
The best speech that he COULD give next Thursday would be shorter that the Gettysburg Address:
-To my fellow American, I apologize for my administration’s past 2 & 1/2 years. I recognize you (not someone like me) are the key to returning our nation to growth and prosperity. To that end, we are getting out of your way. Regretfully, my term has been evidence that bureaucrats and theorists whose experiences are limited to commenting on what others have done are pale replacements for those who actually have. I will dedicate the remainder of my time here getting them out of your way there; and that starts with me! You have always been what is great about our country and will always be. God speed & God Bless!
-SD
Jm
September 1st, 2011
7:26 am
Dick Cheney on MSNBC this am
That should be innerestin
Jack
September 1st, 2011
7:30 am
Get Obama some new suits and a larger prompter and he’ll do just fine. The rhetoric could use a little fine tuning also: he sounds like a funeral director and a watch salesman at the same time.
stands for decibels
September 1st, 2011
7:35 am
yesterday I saw a bum[p]er sticker that read: Ignore the Liberal Media. Why didn’t it just say; Ignore ALL Media?
Because “Liberal Media” is a wingnut lie they want you to believe in.
/Cap’n Obvious
That should be innerestin
Like Joe S. is going to waterboard the Dick for the truth? Yeah right. All’s the former Veep’s gotta do is mouth the words “dead intern” and Joe will go back to asking how the kids are doing.
stands for decibels
September 1st, 2011
7:38 am
to “Er…..(crickets)”.
the thread topic’s done, Swampy.
Most people with lives only check in occasionally to see if anything interesting’s afoot after that. If you paid even the slightest bit of attention to context here, rather than braying to yourself, you’d know that.
Good Little Liberal
September 1st, 2011
7:38 am
stands for decibels
There is no liberal media? LOL!!
I will admit that Obama has been such a disaster than even the most liberal of the liberals are speaking out, but how long could they praise someone for completely failing?
stands for decibels
September 1st, 2011
7:40 am
…of course I forgot that with the Dickster, asking how the kids are doing can be enough to make him throw a sh-t fit.
Steve - B.
September 1st, 2011
7:42 am
If a speech could solve all our problems I would be happy, but it wont. A lot of people are suffering, it is very sad to see these huge lines at job fairs on the news.
stands for decibels
September 1st, 2011
7:50 am
Yes, GLL, there is *a* “liberal media.” The Nation, Democracy Now, Pacifica Radio, some of MSNBC (hardly all of it), that sort of thing.
But overall? Corporate-funded news media is not liberally biased, not as America nor the rest of the world understands “liberal” to mean somewhat left-of-center. Corporate-funded news media gives the oligarchy a much bigger voice than the people who do the actual work.
In short, Corporate-funded news media believe of the destiny of America is NEVER safer in the hands of the people, then in the conference rooms of any elite. (to stand Wilson’s famous quote on its head.)
I realize you are not going to understand this, and go right on believing what you like, and I understand why that will/must be. But there are others lurking here who haven’t formed a belief system quite so rigid as yours, who can and should know better.
Brosephus
September 1st, 2011
7:51 am
dB @ 7:40
Brosephus
September 1st, 2011
7:52 am
@ 7:50
Keep Up the Good Fight!
September 1st, 2011
7:58 am
Stands, I am with Brosephus….BRAVO!
stands for decibels
September 1st, 2011
7:59 am
thanks, but snafu sheets, bitches.
jt
September 1st, 2011
8:01 am
Obama made EVEN the weeping orange man look ballsy…………………..sheesh.
Steve - B.
September 1st, 2011
8:01 am
SFD@7:50
Once someone trying to act like Big Business and Liberals are two separate things. George Soros is a Liberal and he is a businessman. Another strawman argument that their are no Liberals running any of these Corporations.
I guess it helps some people sleep better at night.
Steve - B.
September 1st, 2011
8:03 am
there..not their.
Good Little Liberal
September 1st, 2011
8:04 am
stands for decibels
Great speech. I’ve worked in the media since 1979. Local up to 1987 when I started working in Atlanta where I worked for most of the major networks in the world. So between the two of us, you read about it. I live it. The guys in the corporate board rooms are not the people writing the stories and I can think of very few repoters or producers that are not hard left.
I realize that you do not have the background in order to understand it. Its not a cut toward you but you have just never been in the news rooms, been editing the piece written by far lefties or had long discussions with the extremely liberal reporters. Its not your fault but what is your fault is the false idea that only someone who watches TV should know so much more than someone who has spent a lifetime working in TV. Its a typical liberal thing that no one knows as much as you, but it really just makes you look rather foolish.
godless heathen
September 1st, 2011
8:09 am
Most Conservatives think that they don’t get a fair shake in the MSM. Most Liberals think that the MSM is fair to Conservatives. That alone indicates a lefty bias in the MSM.
Adam
September 1st, 2011
8:14 am
pogo: Obama’s new economic advisor Krueger wrote a couple of years ago that unending un-employment benefits such as those that will be offered in Obama’s upcoming “jobs” speech give people an incentive not to seek employment. Either there will be a conflict coming between the two or the more likely scenario is that this guy sold his own beliefs out for a cushy government job and to elevate his marketability.
You are basically showing your misunderstanding of why these unemployment benefits have been extended, and how many people he is referring to (at most a 0.4% difference in the unemployment number), and conveniently forget that people likely still won’t find a job even if they have no unemployment benefits since the jobs are still really competitive.
Adam
September 1st, 2011
8:18 am
Steve – B.: Another strawman argument that their are no Liberals running any of these Corporations.
You’re right. That is a straw man argument. As in, an argument someone is making up that the opponent doesn’t actually believe, but the arguer uses as an argument he or she believes will be easier to speak to.
Ron Paul 2012
September 1st, 2011
8:34 am
Mr. Srong and Aggressive Obama moved his no-jobs speech to the 8th.
Ron Paul 2012
September 1st, 2011
8:35 am
Jay making a fool out of himself is happening so often now, that isn’t as entertaining anymore.
Joe
September 1st, 2011
8:44 am
Man did this article start like a rose and end up smelling like an outhouse.. LOL… Yeah he’s aggressive alright..This has got to either be the most unintelligent President in our nation’s history or the most incompetent…. If America can’t do any better than this lets just throw in the towel… Even Jaybird can’t possibly cover for this unbelievable idiocy …
Joe
September 1st, 2011
8:47 am
I wonder if Jay and the loons on the left realize just how irrelevant they are becoming????
philosopher
September 1st, 2011
9:14 am
Obama ’s getting aggressive? (’Bout damn time!) I really like a good strategic move, too…makes the other guy so mad! But then again, Michele just pray them up another earthquake or a hurricane and just blow the opposition away…
Adam
September 1st, 2011
1:30 pm
Joe: I wonder if Jay and the loons on the left realize just how irrelevant they are becoming????
Sure. About as irrelevant as the amount of attention Jay and the “loons on the left” get from people like YOU!
Bill Orvis White
September 1st, 2011
2:25 pm
Why do we need a big gov’t jobs program from this incompetent boob of a president? Dear Hussein Downgrade Obama: You’re an idiot who could barely organize communities. Stay out of the way and let the private sector do its work, you moron!
Amen
Bill
double
September 1st, 2011
10:01 pm
Bill ORIFICE nothing he could do would please you.Moron look in mirror.
George
September 3rd, 2011
12:49 pm
Republicans see Obama’s lack of ideological leadership as a lack of management skill, and of course for an ideologue that would be true. Smart progressives, regardless of party, know that the real power comes with control of the money and taxes – in Congress. Having the right leader to represent the nation is important for it’s own reasons, not the least of which concerns international relations, court appointments, and unleashing the dogs of war. But as we have seen, the Congress alone can deregulate, spend without increasing revenue, and change the economic trajectory of the nation without any help from the Oval office. I believe America learned it’s lesson with W and Perry would have been smarter, if not any more electable, to have changed his residence before entering the race.
Obama is ineffective because he has no power to implement what are certainly smart plans. But today’s politics aren’t about being smart. One only needs to look at where we are and how we got here (not who’s inherited the mess), to know how little real intelligence has gone into managing America. The nation has been played almost consistently for the past 30 years, and it’s not nearly over. Wealth on a scale few can even imagine is at stake. The welfare of a few hundred million people are not a major concern where this level of wealth and it’s attendant power are concerned. Once again, the truth is much more interesting than any fiction that the average American can imagine.
And I still believe the fate of the nation lies not in the White House, but in the next majority party in Congress.