The Amatuer Reported This in the Book. Now the Liberals are 'Fessing Up! The Ungrateful President.

[pvtjokerus]

The Ungrateful President

By MAUREEN DOWD

WASHINGTON

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

At a fund-raiser for the president at his Westport, Conn., estate Monday night, Harvey Weinstein spoke in a softly lit room shimmering with pink dahlias, gold Oscars, silvery celebrities and black American Express cards.

“You can make the case,” Weinstein said of Barack Obama, “that he’s the Paul Newman of American presidents.”

I interviewed Paul Newman. I knew Paul Newman. Paul Newman was an acquaintance of mine. Mr. President, except for the eyes, you are sort of like Paul Newman.

“I’ve been accused of being aloof,” Newman told me. “I’m not. I’m just wary.”

The star scorned the hoops he was expected to jump through in his profession and did not like feeling beholden. He said he dealt with fame by developing “selective insensitivities.”

“With film critics and fans, you have to be selectively insensitive to their insensitivities,” he told me. “If people start treating you like a piece of meat or a long-lost friend or feel they can become cuddly for the price of a $5 movie ticket, then you shut them out.”

Just so, the president does not think people should expect too much in return for paying $35,800 for an hour of his time, as they did at the Weinstein affair, or in return for other favors.

Obama smashed through all the barriers and dysfunction in his life to become a self-made, self-narrating president. His brash 2008 campaign invented a new blueprint to upend the Democratic establishment. So it’s understandable if Obama, with his Shaker aesthetic, is not inclined to play by the rococo rules of politics. Yet, as the president struggles to stay ahead of Moneybags Romney, his selective insensitivities may be hurting him.

Stories abound of big donors who stopped giving as much or working as hard because Obama never reached out, either with a Clinton-esque warm bath of attention or Romney-esque weekend love fests and Israeli-style jaunts; of celebrities who gave concerts for his campaigns and never received thank-you notes or even his full attention during the performance; of public servants upset because they knocked themselves out at the president’s request and never got a pat on the back; of V.I.P.’s disappointed to get pictures of themselves with the president with the customary signature withheld; of politicians disaffected by the president’s penchant for not letting members of Congress or local pols stand on stage with him when he’s speaking in their state (they often watch from the audience and sometimes have to lobby just to get a shout-out); of power brokers, local and national, who felt that the president insulted them by never seeking their advice or asking them to come to the White House or ride along in the limo for a schmooze.

Care and feeding has been outsourced to Joe Biden, who loves it, but it doesn’t build the same kind of loyalty as when the president does it.

“He comes from the neediest profession of all, except for acting, but he is not needy and he doesn’t fully understand the neediness of others; it’s an abstraction to him,” says Jonathan Alter, who wrote “The Promise” about Obama’s first year in office and is working on a sequel. “He’s not an ungracious person, but he can be guilty of ingratitude. It’s not a politically smart way for him to operate.”

Newman wanted to be an actor, not a movie star. Obama wants to be a policy maker, not a glad-handing pol. Sometimes after political events, even small meetings, he requires decompression time. Unlike Harry Truman or George Bush senior, he prefers not to mix relaxing with networking. He sticks mostly to golf with his male aides.

“Needy politicians, like Bill Clinton, recharge at political events,” says Alter. “But, for Obama, they deplete rather than create energy.”

Richard Wolffe, the author of Obama portraits, “Renegade” and “Revival,” agreed: “The very source of his strength as an individual, that he willed himself into being, that he’s a solitary figure who doesn’t need many people, is also clearly a weakness. There are people who’ve worked with him for years who don’t understand why he gives so little back.”

From the first time Obama made a splash with an anti-apartheid speech at Occidental College, says David Maraniss, author of “Barack Obama: The Story,” he has been ambivalent, even perverse.

“He realized that he could stir crowds while also thinking to himself that it was all a game and posturing,” the biographer said. “He is always removed and participating at the same time, self-conscious and without the visceral need or love of transactional politics that would characterize Bill Clinton or L.B.J. or even W., in a way.”

What will save him, Maraniss believes, is his fierce competitive will. “His is cool and Clinton’s is hot, but they burn at the same temperature inside,” he said. “So he does some of what he finds distasteful, but not all of it, and not all of it very well.”

One thing, though: Paul Newman sent thank-you notes.

[joyfree]

Quoting Xlandria:

It's called "WILLFUL BLINDNESS" and people who 'suffer' from this refuse to see what is right in front of them even if it will cause peril or harm to them and/or their family. Only by changing one's biases, encouraging debate and discouraging conformity can we become more mindful of what is going on around us.

And those who dismiss the book "Amateur" are afraid to read it or have read it and dismissed it as, stated here, 'a type of National Enquirer'. I guess they missed a news report not long ago that said The National Enquirer was more likely now to report the news just as accurately as the MSM. 

Lets face it, these are the people who can't see the forest for the trees and will swear that they are right even if they have to manufacture it or lie. I have yet to get any of these 'know it all's' to provide one reason to support Obama or one good thing that improves the economy and they have nothing. I have even been called a liar when I've presented evidence of what I've been saying. The evidence couldn't be rumor since it is a video with Obama speaking. He says more than once, "I am a Muslim." He praises Islam to no end but has never praised the U.S. and the fact that his male role models are all anti-America, tell me how he could think any other way. One more proof that he can't accomplish shit is the fact that his improving of a community was to take on a ghetto, run down, poverty ridden Housing Project in Chicago. When he left it was still the same run down, poverty ridden ghetto Housing Project. To borrow from one of Janet Jackson's song titles, "What Have You Done For Me Lately?", change two words and you have Obama's theme song, "What Have You Done For Us, Ever?" 

So, to the die hard Obama/Democrat supporter's, I have one comment, 

[shimamab]

This article, if completely true (which I doubt since every person quoted is trying to sell books), makes me feel kinda sad for the pres. The fact that whatever he dealt with growing up has made him closed off to people and unable/unaware of how to express gratitude. No one in the OP states this issue as one of flat out jerkiness, but of a person who isn't needy and doesn't understand the neediness of others (semi-direct quote :)). As someone who retrospectively realizes how I may come across as unappreciative, I can say that it makes you feel awful on the one hand, but like a pretender to behave contrary to instinct. As pres, he really should have someone on staff who is reminding him and coaching him on these things, though.

[gammie]

True!!!

Quoting pvtjokerus:

He admits to not being quite honest in his own book.  The black community organizers in Chicago are upset that Obama used them for money and did not give them anything back until they reminded him about the upcoming election. Obama admitted that politicians should not be trusted including him.  He is recorded whispering to the Russians that he will be able to do more after he is elected again.

WHAT MORE DOES IT TAKE FOR SOME TO WAKE UP?????

[sweet-a-kins]

 

[sweet-a-kins]

 They have nothing on him

so they use his cool demeanor as an insult..

Everyone had a different personality...that's his...What the big deal?

nothing...but like i said they have NOTHING else on him...

They tries making shi*t up (hi birthers), they tried fear mongering (he' s a super secret Mullim terrorist).....none worked....

so now, he's cool as a cucumber...

ok

Quoting shimamab:

This article, if completely true (which I doubt since every person quoted is trying to sell books), makes me feel kinda sad for the pres. The fact that whatever he dealt with growing up has made him closed off to people and unable/unaware of how to express gratitude. No one in the OP states this issue as one of flat out jerkiness, but of a person who isn't needy and doesn't understand the neediness of others (semi-direct quote :)). As someone who retrospectively realizes how I may come across as unappreciative, I can say that it makes you feel awful on the one hand, but like a pretender to behave contrary to instinct. As pres, he really should have someone on staff who is reminding him and coaching him on these things, though.

 

[imamomzilla]

 Bears repeating!

Quoting Jambo4:

Thank you for posting this!  Honestly.. your plea for what does it take to have them wake up?  reminded me of this email I got.  I have no idea if it's 100% factual but it does have some excellent points (and some not so important ones, as well..lol).. but seriously.. what does it take?

Looking back thru the past 4 years, many "Whens" pop up. Read them all to better understand where we are going as a country.

> WHEN - he refused to disclose who donated money to his election campaign, as other candidates had done, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- he received endorsements from people like Louis Farrakhan, Muramar Kaddafi and Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- it was pointed out that he was a total newcomer and had absolutely no experience at anything except community organizing, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- he chose friends and acquaintances such as Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who were revolutionary radicals, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- his voting record in the Illinois Senate and in the U.S. Senate came into question, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- he refused to wear a flag lapel pin and did so only after a public outcry, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- people started treating him as a Messiah and children in schools were taught to sing his praises, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- he stood with his hands over his groin area for the playing of the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, people said it didn't matter.

 

WHEN- his personal background was either scrubbed or hidden and nothing could be found about him, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- the place of his birth was called into question, and he refused to produce a birth certificate, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- he had an association in Chicago with Tony Rezco - a man of questionable character and who is now in prison and had helped Obama to a sweet deal on the purchase of his home - people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- it became known that George Soros, a multi-billionaire Marxist, spent a ton of money to get him elected, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- he started appointing White House Czars that were radicals, revolutionaries, and even avowed Marxist /Communists, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he stood before the Nation and told us that his intentions were to "fundamentally transform this Nation" into something else, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- it became known that he had trained ACORN workers in Chicago and served as an attorney for ACORN, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he appointed cabinet members and several advisers who were tax cheats and socialists, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he appointed a Science Czar, John Holdren, who believes in forced abortions, mass sterilizations and seizing babies from teen mothers, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he appointed Cass Sunstein as Regulatory Czar who believes in "Explicit Consent," harvesting human organs without family consent and allowing animals to be represented in court, while banning all hunting, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he appointed Mark Lloyd as Diversity Czar who believes in curtailing free speech, taking from one and giving to another to spread the wealth, who supports Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- Valerie Jarrett, an avowed Socialist, was selected as Obama's Senior White House Advisor, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- Anita Dunn, White House Communications Director, said Mao Tse Tung was her favorite philosopher and the person she turned to most for inspiration, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he appointed Carol Browner, a well known socialist as Global Warming Czar working on Cap and Trade as the nation's largest tax, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he appointed Van Jones, an ex-con and avowed Communist as Green Energy Czar, who since had to resign when this was made known, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- Tom Daschle, Obama's pick for Health and Human Services Secretary could not be confirmed because he was a tax cheat, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- as President of the United States , he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, people said it didn't matter..
> 
> WHEN- he traveled around the world criticizing America and never once talking of her greatness, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- his actions concerning the Middle East seemed to support the Palestinians over Israel, our long time ally, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he took American tax dollars to resettle thousands of Palestinians from Gaza to the United States, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he upset the Europeans by removing plans for a missile defense system against the Russians, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he played politics in Afghanistan by not sending troops early-on when the Field Commanders said they were necessary to win, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he started spending us into a debt that was so big we could not pay it off, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he took a huge spending bill under the guise of stimulus and used it to pay off organizations, unions, and individuals that got him elected, people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he took over insurance companies, car companies, banks, etc., people said it didn't matter.
> 
> WHEN- he took away student loans from the banks and put it through the government, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- he designed plans to take over the health care system and put it under government control, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- he claimed he was a Christian during the election and tapes were later made public that showed Obama speaking to a Muslim group and 'stating' that he was raised a Muslim, was educated as a Muslim, and is still a Muslim, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- he set into motion a plan to take over the control of all energy in the United States through Cap and Trade, people said it didn't matter.

> WHEN- he finally completed his transformation of America into a Socialist State , people woke up--- but it was too late. Add these up one by one and you get a phenomenal score that points to the fact that Barrack Hussein Obama is determined to turn America into a Marxist-Socialist society. All of the items in the preceding paragraphs have been put into place. All can be documented very easily. Before you disavow this do an Internet search. The last paragraph alone is not yet cast in stone. You and I will write that paragraph. 
> Will it read as above or will it be a more happy ending for most of America ?

 

[gammie]

People vote and ASSUME this is the big problem. They DO NOT LISTEN READ OR DO ANY RESERCH!

Blind support is always dangrous and it has been our problem for US our country for years!!

Your question should be how are these going to fix economy ? Are they going to print more money, barrow from China to give to others, keep the wars going? Bailouts or playoffs to their supporters. Stealing from others, making you think he is going to share the wealth ( what a fucking joke) How is all this going to help us?
The politistions believe people are stupid, and the last few election you have proven them right!

[DSamuels]

Maureen Dowd is a well known liberal columnist. Most of her columns about Clinton were nauseating in her praise. Most of her columns about Bush were scathing. She has no praise for Romney either. At the beginning most of her columns about Obama were fawning, but it seems she has gotten over him. 

IMO: I really think that Obama was given everything he wanted when he was growing up and wasn't taught to thank people. I think that he believes since he is the president that people should be doing things for him and be thankful that they were asked. I have never seen anything gracious about him. If you look at his speeches it's all "I" not "we" when he talks about things done, and all the things he hasn't been able to do is "they." He hasn't failed at anything, they have prevented him from doing. 

Quoting shimamab:

This article, if completely true (which I doubt since every person quoted is trying to sell books), makes me feel kinda sad for the pres. The fact that whatever he dealt with growing up has made him closed off to people and unable/unaware of how to express gratitude. No one in the OP states this issue as one of flat out jerkiness, but of a person who isn't needy and doesn't understand the neediness of others (semi-direct quote :)). As someone who retrospectively realizes how I may come across as unappreciative, I can say that it makes you feel awful on the one hand, but like a pretender to behave contrary to instinct. As pres, he really should have someone on staff who is reminding him and coaching him on these things, though.

[TracyBryant]

bump

[shimamab]

Since neither of us were there as he was growing up and no one is privy to what's in his heart unless he shares it, I guess we'll just have to disagree about the psychology behind why he's aloof.

As to Maureen Dowd being liberal, I don't know. But I was referring to the people who were actually quoted in the article. Everything else is hearsay from anonymous sources. Which it's fine to protect your sources, I just get skeptical unless specifics are used. As we've seen with Harry Reid, anyone can claim they have info....the proof is in the pudding, as they say :)

Quoting DSamuels:

Maureen Dowd is a well known liberal columnist. Most of her columns about Clinton were nauseating in her praise. Most of her columns about Bush were scathing. She has no praise for Romney either. At the beginning most of her columns about Obama were fawning, but it seems she has gotten over him. 

IMO: I really think that Obama was given everything he wanted when he was growing up and wasn't taught to thank people. I think that he believes since he is the president that people should be doing things for him and be thankful that they were asked. I have never seen anything gracious about him. If you look at his speeches it's all "I" not "we" when he talks about things done, and all the things he hasn't been able to do is "they." He hasn't failed at anything, they have prevented him from doing. 

Quoting shimamab:

This article, if completely true (which I doubt since every person quoted is trying to sell books), makes me feel kinda sad for the pres. The fact that whatever he dealt with growing up has made him closed off to people and unable/unaware of how to express gratitude. No one in the OP states this issue as one of flat out jerkiness, but of a person who isn't needy and doesn't understand the neediness of others (semi-direct quote :)). As someone who retrospectively realizes how I may come across as unappreciative, I can say that it makes you feel awful on the one hand, but like a pretender to behave contrary to instinct. As pres, he really should have someone on staff who is reminding him and coaching him on these things, though.