Thursday, January 28, 2010

Barack Obama, Speaking Down To Us - Again...

...and I mean literally. His disdain for the American people, and the nation he leads, is so thick that even while mouthing platitudes about our collective greatness, his body language speaks of a singular elitism. Mark Steyn:

One problem.... is that upturned chin. Just as a matter of angles, it looks wrong on TV. So it would be a problem for Hillary or McCain or Ron Paul or whoever would have won. But it's worse for Obama because it plays into the
aloof-and-arrogant meme. I don't know why he does it. Are the prompters notched up a hole too high? What's the deal? Why doesn't one of his supersmart advisers get out the wrench and lower them?

More:

Obama looks arrogant, whether he’s arrogant or not. I don’t think he can help it: It’s the upturned chin. When actors want to preen and so on: They turn that chin upward. Yikes.

And don't worry, we the people
get it, loud and freakin' clear:

During tonight’s State of the Union address, I finally realized why Barack Obama’s speeches drive me crazy. It’s not what he says (although I disagree with, well, almost everything he says). It’s the way he says them.

Tonight, he addressed the American people, and he addressed Congress. Go back and look at the speech. He was earnest, and his chin was down, his head relatively level, when speaking to Congress. When he spoke to us, his chin rose, and he talked down to us—literally.

Go ahead. Take a look. Note his posture. You’ll see it, too. You and I, we are not his equals. He is above us.

That’s what sets my teeth on edge every time I listen to him.

It's coming across
bad:

Defensive, hectoring, self-righteous, self-referential, and angry. An astonishing performance...

Mark Levin:

I have watched many, many State of the Union speeches. This is the most partisan, least presidential of them all. His rhetoric, his glances at the GOP side, and his almost mocking tone at times — not to mention his over-the-top dissembling about the deficit, among other things — will not, I predict, improve his position with the public...

The whole speech had a "Sigh...I'll try to explain it to you dolts one more time...listen carefully as I speak really slowly" type of quality to it.

Not a style that will win hearts and minds, oh exalted one. Maybe if you stop looking down your nose at us and actually tried talking to us....

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