The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

Texpat

Too late. Obama already told him to get lost.

The church can say what they like, but the damage has been done. Obama has cut the strings. The only thing the church can do is try to salvage their image and they can expect no help from their former big-shot member.

chinthee

Just watched Dick Morris analyze this entire situation, and he says, with strong conviction, that Obama will be the Democratic nominee, notwithstanding this scandal, and detailed all the reasons why.

But, he says that the Republicans will then really gear up the rhetoric on this Pastor issue in the general election. He says the republicans don't have much to gain by harping on it at this early stage.

Texpat

By RON FOURNIER,
Associated Press
Mar 17

WASHINGTON - Arrogance is a common vice in presidential politics. A person must be more than a little self-important to wake up one day and say, "I belong in the Oval Office."

But there's a line smart politicians don't cross — somewhere between "I'm qualified to be president" and "I'm born to be president." Wherever it lies, Barack Obama better watch his step.

He's bordering on arrogance.

The dictionary defines the word as an "offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride." Obama may not be offensive or overbearing, but he can be a bit too cocky for his own good.

The freshman senator told reporters in July that he would overcome Hillary Rodham Clinton's lead in the polls because "to know me is to love me."
A few months later, he said, "Every place is Barack Obama country once Barack Obama's been there."

True, there's a certain amount of tongue-in-cheekiness to such remarks — almost as if Obama doesn't want to take his adoring crowds and political ascent too seriously. He was surely kidding when he told supporters in January that by the time he was done speaking "a light will shine down from somewhere."

"It will light upon you," he continued. "You will experience an epiphany. And you will say to yourself, I have to vote for Barack. I have to do it."

But both Obama and his wife, Michelle, ooze a sense of entitlement.

"Barack is one of the smartest people you will ever encounter who will deign to enter this messy thing called politics," his wife said a few weeks ago, adding that Americans will get only one chance to elect him.

Obama's cool self-confidence got him into trouble in New Hampshire when he said Clinton was "likable enough," faint praise that grated on female votes who didn't appreciate him condescending to the former first lady.

Privately, aides and associates of Obama tell stories about a boss who can be aloof and ungracious. He holds firmly to views and doesn't like to be challenged, traits that President Bush packaged and sold under the "resolute" brand in the 2004 election. For Bush, those qualities proved to be dangerous in a time of war and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

If arrogance is a display of self-importance and superiority, Obama earns the pejorative every time he calls his pre-invasion opposition to the war in Iraq an act of courage.

While he deserves credit for forecasting the complications of war in 2002, Obama's opposition carried scant political risk because he was a little-known state lawmaker courting liberal voters in Illinois. In 2004, when denouncing the war and war-enabling Democrats would have jeopardized his prized speaking role at the Democratic National Convention, Obama ducked the issue.

It may be that he has just the right mix of confidence and humility to lead the nation (Obama likes to say, "I'm reminded every day that I'm not a perfect man"). But if the young senator wins the nomination, even the smallest trace of arrogance will be an issue with voters who still consider him a blank slate.

That may seem unfair to a candidate who's running against Clinton, the former first lady who is the model of overbearing pride. This is a woman, after all, who claims experience from her eight years as first lady but won't release her White House records; who trails Obama in delegates but deigned to suggest he'd be her running mate; and who has more baggage than Samsonite yet says Obama lacks "vetting."

But voters expect arrogance from Clinton and her husband, Bill. It's part of the package. It's a 90s-thing. The Clintons' utter self-absorption comes with a record of achievement and brass-knuckle passion that Obama cannot match — and that Democratic voters know could come in handy against GOP nominee-in-waiting John McCain.

Voters won't cut Obama as much slack on the humility test because he's sold himself as something different. While rejecting the "me"-centric status quo and promising a new era of post-partisan reform, Obama has said the movement he has created is not about him; it's about what Americans can do together if their faith in government is restored.

The power of his message lies in its humility. As he told 7,000 supporters at a rally last month, "I am an imperfect vessel for your hopes and dreams." Nobody expects Obama to be perfect. But he better never forget that he isn't.

ON DEADLINE: Obama walks arrogance line - Yahoo! News

***

I thought our non-American TD brethern depised US arrogance.
Yet, they seem to love this guy... what gives?

I tend to like his arrogance. Reminds me of me.

chinthee

^Most high achieving, successful people have a higher degree of arrogance. Yes, I've always been accused of being arrogant too.

Norton

I must agree. I have noticed a profound change in his words and body language as he moves closer and closer to the nomination. Arrogance at this point will not sit well with the voters as Hillary found out in the early stages of the run. It will even be worse in a contest with McCain. IMO, even with his strong stance on many issues, McCain projects a much less arrogant persona.

__________________
There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right.

Woodrow Wilson

chinthee

^Yes, but that arrogance can be channeled if it doesn't get out of control. That same arrogance gives him an exciting edge. He is a risky candidate, and therefore exciting.

Norton

Out of control is the operative word. As you say, channeled arrogance is ok and too much humility can be a bad thing as well.

chinthee

Dick Morris further had some advice for Obama. He said it was ridiculous being tainted for something his Pastor said. He said just as you don't rely on your hairdresser, doctor, or dentist for political advice, and can't be held accountable for their values, so too should Obama argue that his Pastor's views on politics are not his views, and not relevant to his views.

In other words, he goes to his pastor for religious guidance, not political guidance.

raycarey

which channel did you watch that on? that channel you rarely watch?

and more breathless play by play from fauxnews....

captivating.

chinthee

^Ray Carey. Mr. excitement and charisma, thank you for your valuable input.

Boon Mee

Well, boys, it's really all about the so-called "White Guilt" that's infested America and elsewhere. Check this out.

An excerpt:

"Bargaining is a mask that blacks can wear in the American mainstream, one that enables them to put whites at their ease. This mask diffuses the anxiety that goes along with being white in a multiracial society. Bargainers make the subliminal promise to whites not to shame them with America's history of racism, on the condition that they will not hold the bargainer's race against him. And whites love this bargain -- and feel affection for the bargainer -- because it gives them racial innocence in a society where whites live under constant threat of being stigmatized as racist. So the bargainer presents himself as an opportunity for whites to experience racial innocence."

Read it all for it is good...

__________________
ผมเป็นคนบ้านนอก

Texpat

IHT today

"Obama wants to add more than 90,000 troops to the U.S. military and envisions expanding their mission to stabilizing and rebuilding nations or confronting mass atrocities, he wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine. He would double foreign aid to $50 billion by 2012."

Is Barack Obama a hawk or dove? - International Herald Tribune

***

Wow, 90K more troops. Great! Wonder what he proposes to pay them with? Proceeds from the cancelled tanker contract?

raycarey

even though you don't read about it on the drudge report, the iraq debacle (which obama will end in '09) is wasting $12 billion/ month.

Hootad Binky

I find Hilary's heir-presumtive attitude worse!

So... he's arrogant because he was "little-known"

That remains to be seen; Obama deserves a chance just like the then-unknown Clinton got his chance.

If the Republicans start calling Obama "arrogant' it shows how desperate they are; in conjunction with the controversial pastor, the underlying message is: "Do you really want this uppity Black to be ordering you around?" The GOP has to be careful because I think the average American can see through that as the worst type of negative stereotyping, and I'm sure Obama is ready for it, probably planning to capitalize on it.

__________________
Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone elses opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. -Oscar Wilde

sabang

He's got that in spades. yeh, I kinda like it too.
When he was a kid, he was asked what he wanted to do when he grew up (weren't we all?). His answer-

President of the US.

Boon Mee

He's still a hypocrite.

Castigating Don Imus but yet letting his daughters sit in church and listen to the same ranting/raving.

Politics as usual...

raycarey

how many times have you typed imus' name on this forum in the last 24 hours?

your desperation is palpable...and your position, laughable.

Norton

Seems reasonable.

Norton

Obama's new theme song. Joy To The World. All together now, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog, was a good friend of mine, never understood a single word he said but I always drank his wine.........

Boon Mee

Twice...again, get a grip.

p.s. your old tired saw "position - laughable" is really wearing thin.
Got any new material there ray?