Drunkblogging Obama’s Iraq Speech
4:53PM Tonight, after 18 tumultuous months in office, President Obama faces his toughest challenge yet: To claim credit in Iraq without driving a thankful nation to laughter and tears, but mostly laughter.
4:54PM From the comments over at Ye Olde VodkaPundit homepage: “Tempted to sip a beer every time he refers to himself, but I only have five left in the ‘fridge.”
I have a case of Absolut in my studio bar.
And that’s why I’m a highly-paid professional.
4:55PM We’re having tech issues with the timestamps — but I promise you, this ain’t Memorex, folks.
4:58PM Just so you know I’m not a totally biased hack: The new Oval Office redo is quite handsome, a big improvement over the previous Administration. It ain’t quite hope, but at least it’s change.
5:04PM Whew — CNN audio is down, but late to the game with C-Span.
5:04PM “Operation Iraqi Freedom is over,” according to a schedule set by President Bush.
5:05PM “This completes the transition…” Hey, did you know more than 20 combat brigades remain in Iraq?
5:05PM Since I missed the first couple minutes, has anyone hear the word… Surge?
5:06PM “Advising and assisting Iraqi security forces.” And blowing the stuff out of stuff, as needed. Hooah!
5:07PM Surge? Anyone? Anyone?
5:07PM “Long term approach to Iraq?” It’s the same policy from 2008, thanks to The Surge of 2007. Any thanks? Any mention?
5:08PM “What America can do, will do, is provide support… ” “Ending this war…” Win? Surge? Anyone?
5:08PM Tight budgets at home? And he’s only just now crediting the troops? Pardon while I refill. Twice.
5:09PM “Time to turn the page.” And, this is an exact quote: “Contentious. Pause. Issue. Pause. At home. Pause.” Glitchy prompter?
5:09PM Bush got a mention, the troops got two mentions — but I haven’t hear thanks to either one.
5:10PM “Disrupt, dismantle, defeat.” Here’s the pivot to Afghanistan.
5:11PM Petraeus — I know that name. Didn’t he have something to do with that other country he talked about tonight? Iraq or something?
5:12PM “Next August, a transition to Afghan responsibility.” “This transition will begin.” In other words, “al Qaeda, just keep your heads down until next August, because Joey Biden finally got one right.”
5:12PM “Old adversaries are at peace.” Thanks to the… anyone? Anyone?
5:13PM “The effort to expand freedom begins within our own borders. So let’s start repealing some laws.” I made up that second part.
5:13PM “We spent a trillion dollars on Porkulus, much of it borrowed from overseas.”
5:14PM Uh… I might’ve misquoted again.
5:14PM Grit! Common purpose! THESE are the words that have defined this Administration.
5:15PM What the hell is this? Seriously. We were promised an update on Iraq. Instead we’re getting a defense of Obamanomics, which unlike the Surge (anyone?), has been a total failure.
5:16PM “As long as I am President, we will maintain the finest fighting force.” Very fine. Very, very small.
5:16PM Here’s where he gets credit: Obama has been quite good with Veterans’ Affairs. Of course, all that takes is money, and he’s never been shy about spending that.
5:17PM “Just a convoy of brave Americans, making their way home.” That was kinda nice.
5:18PM “Fought in a faraway place for people they never knew.” This is as close to stirring as I’ve heard Obama. And he either cracked a little, or has a dry throat. Can’t say for sure.
5:19PM “Better days lie ahead. Thank you.”
Let’s hope so.
5:22PM Short speech. Delivered… as competently as I’ve ever heard him, which isn’t saying much.
But if there was a theme, I couldn’t detect it. Things wound down in Iraq, but the Man from Mars watching this speech would have no idea why. Things just… wound down, causelessly. And things are winding up in AfPak, so that we might defeat a terror network currently more active in Yemen and Somalia and elsewhere. And veterans are wonderful, and we can rely on our soldiers and… so we should support his domestic program?
There was some stirring language, some nearly-stirring imagery. But otherwise, this speech was as devoid of content as your typical Presidential Arbor Day Awareness Pamphlet.
5:26PM Finally, Ed Driscoll reminds me that Zombie declared V-I Day nearly two years ago — and that seems about right.
5:28PM Before I retire to the upstairs wet bar, I’ll leave you with this oh-so-subtle reminder of days gone past.
Way, way past.
Going with bourbon myself. But am expecting a call from mom so can’t be too drunk beforehand. Make up for it later.
*tips hat*
Bush’s plan.
Oh, and how many “advisers” did we have in Viet Nam?
Barry sounds like he’s been chain smoking
chain smoking what? hashish? I prefer red wine, then follow that with the reposado (dark) tequila when I want to “tie one on”.
OK, I’ll give him the Bush paragraph.
America the leader of the free world? I thought you wanted to cut America down to size.
Oh geez, and you just spend $2 trillion on various stimuli that have not worked.
at 7:13….you are saving my sanity….I don’t want to have to start breaking things here….
“My brothers in arms” should only be used between people who were actually soldiers. I don’t care that you never served, but do not link yourself to those who did. I would never be that crass.
Well, I certainly hear about a strong a tribute to the troops and heroes as one could imagine, again and again.
because he needs their votes…build them up and smile, tell them how great they are..ask for their votes because you love em..as you puke behind their backs.
We need another surge — at mid-term elections.
Uhh… I just sat through 20 minutes of what? What exactly did he say? What exactly is new? changed? different? It seemed like just a lot of touchy-feely flowery language.
Someone should fire TOTUS. What a boring waste of breath.
Dear Liar kept his campaign promise (which he actually didn’t) and ended the war (based upon some one else’s schedule and another’s plan.)
Tomorrow’s Headline:
OBAMA BOLTS DEMOCRATIC PARTY, JOINS REPUBLICANS
Recognizing the Democratic party has become a lost cause…
“We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves” has been said already.
My bet: Lowest ratings for a Prime Time Presidential Speech since William Henry Harrison.
He’s pissed away more TV prime time to no particular purpose. I’d think the networks have about had enough of that.
That’s it? THAT’S IT? Sheesh.
When he was waxing sentimental about the sacrifices of the troops and their families I really thought he might slip in: “For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country”. But I guess his wife already has dibs on that.
Listen to every third word and the message becomes more clear …
Must … give … must … increase and … commit … more … so I can spend dollars as if they were rupiah (the currency of my home world, Indonesia) … then … and only then … will I start … to focus … on the economy … and ending … the middle class. The valiant troops … can see my American flag pin, right?
And now the Foxies are going full bore after his demeanor. Haven’t they ever heard of Presidential and NO ONE has even mentioned all the tributes to the troops. They must have found it boring.
agreed
the words were ok, and the comment on GWB were more gracious than might have been expected
But inspiring? I think not…..
It’s true that we did not get a “We will fight them in the hedgerows” level of emotion and rhetoric, but then, we are not getting blitzed. Good grief, the guy went on and on about the noble soldiers and affirmed about as clearly as he could AND that we will continue to fight Al Quaida, blah, blah.
We are in the same-old, same-old of Repubs/righties knocking Obama no matter what he says, just as Dems/lefties did to GWB. Now it is “yeah, Obama praised the troops and affirmed our effort, but he doesn’t really believe that…and he did not sound excited.” Got it. “Yeah, he is killing people with drones all the time, but he doesn’t really get enthused over it.” Got it. “Yeah, the economy IS the most important thing, but WHY did he bring it up?” Got it.
Look, the guy may not be able to fix the economy or wipe all Islamic terrorists from the face of the earth, and he may represent ‘the enemy” to half of the country, but the reaction to the speech here, is more odd than the speech was.
It seemed to lack a clear message. Sort of wandered from Iraq to Afghanistan to our economy and people. I almost thought he was going to talk about immigration at one point. Weird speech for the prime time oval office setting. Bottom line, the man does not inspire.
Thin gruel. Designed to keep ALL veterans and active duty troops from voting against him. I don’t think it worked. Can I get my 15 minutes back? F
After hearing the One, I wanna have what Stephen is having, and maybe I’ll just continue until this intelligent incompetent is finally out of office in ’13.
Did you see Obama’s campaign speech/Lecture?
I wonder if the difference between his “inspiration wattage” on the campaign trail and since he became “president”….is attributable to the thing about the dog that actually caught a car and then didn’t know what to do with it.
About half way through the speech he stopped raising both thumbs simultaneously–apparently, somebody held up a sign that said “stop it with the thumbs already”?….because all of a sudden that stopped.
It’s almost October so it’s Octoberfest Beer for me. As usual, Obama talks, says words, says them really pretty, says nothing that makes sense. God Bless You and God Bless the United States of America.
Steve, dear Steve, how can we ever thank you for suffering through these speeches? I was unable to watch it, sadly, as I had scheduled my root canal for the exact time. I didn’t actually NEED one, just figured it would be less painful.
Obama was never a great orator — not even during the campaign when the press repeatedly told us he was a great orator. (Did you really expect the press to tell us the truth?)
Thank goodness Heavy drinking will allow me live longer…..
It would have been better if in the background we saw a slow montage of helicopters and napalm hitting a tree line, with Jim Morrison singing “This is the end…”.
Seriously? This is a speech? To whom was he making it? And why? Each time I see him on TV its like the last time I saw Texas receding in the rear view mirror as I drove away. Each time I look at him back there in the read view waving his hands back and forth, he just gets smaller and smaller.
“My fellow American, because our brave soldiers shifted tactics to protect the Iraqi people, which had nothing to do with the ‘surge’ I will mention only in passing later in this speech, and because no one could doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security, even though he had nothing to do with the previously mentioned shift in tactics and spent over a trillion dollars on wars, often financed by borrowing overseas, and because the great General David Petraeus, whose role in Iraq will pass by this evening with even less mention than the ‘surge’ that I will mention only in passing later in this speech, is now leading the fight to break the Taliban’s momentum in Afghanistan, which is not the same thing as victory, which we also do not have in Iraq, even though I am withdrawing troops just as I promised during the campaign, so this withdrawal has nothing to do with the Status of Forces Agreement negotiated between and agreed-upon by President Bush and the Iraqi government, because of all these things and more, I call upon you, my fellow Americans, to thank our men and women in uniform and now rally behind even more deficit spending in the following areas of my domestic agenda…”
Do I have that about right?
Brilliant!
FM wrote: “It would have been better if in the background we saw a slow montage of helicopters and napalm hitting a tree line, with Jim Morrison singing “This is the end…”.
No doubt, that would have been better theater, but wrong war. In our current wars, for better or worse, we are avoiding the apocalyptic helicopters leaving the Saigon Embassy stuff. Iraq is winding down with a lot of small bangs, and really more of a whimper, but at least it is not a Morrison wail. One Vietnam in my lifetime is enough.
This is the first time I ever watched an Obama speech (usually wait for transcripts and recap) because none of them ever interested me before.
My husband is in Afghanistan right now (Iraq seems like Paradise by comparison), he was in Iraq with the initial invasion and back again for the surge. A few parts of the speech rang true, but it shouldn’t be to hard to say nice things about the troops that you command, I suppose the shout out to Bush was the best we could expect. Obama isn’t known for his graciousness after-all. I thought he seemed strangely robotic in his delivery. I have no idea where the stuff about the economy came from. Maybe he really, really, really means it this time that it’s an area he is going to concentrate on??
I’m not sure I want him concentrating on the economy any more than he does! In fact, it would be nice if maybe he just stayed on vacation.
I’m glad to read the recap — I had a husband and a child serving in Iraq, and I purposefully stayed away from this address in order to keep my mental and physical health.
Thanks to both of you for your sacrifice for the rest of us! It really is appreciated.
I love it! Need to get a hard copy. I now have the complete antithesis of the Gettysburg Address (another war speech by a sitting President, btw) to show my students.
You mean the rest of PJM is written sober?
This was a really odd speech. It was almost like Obama was being held hostage by something or someone. It was almost like he was on some serious prescription drugs. Sometimes don’t you wonder if there’s someone else in the room when he does speeches? Someone holding cue cards that say, smile a little. Show some empathy. I truly expected to hear something that had more emotion to it, like a coach about how good a job the home team has done over the past decade. His speech was in need of Cialis. His speech was really limp.
<iI have a case of Absolut in my studio bar.
A case? For a 20-minute speech? O_o
On a slight tangent…. it might be good to parlay your new stature as a PJM mogul into a bit more discussion about booze, if only to entice the various vodka producers into sending you samples.
Exactly as was to be expected. All for the glory of Obama; presented by Obama for Obama.
Looks like another cocaine flashback has got Barry in its grip once again.
Brilliant summation, Drew
Firts laff o tha murnin. Heh.
LOLvodka? or LOLpjm?
Either way, it’s not the same without pictures.
In regard to backdrop – my vision is not as good as it used to be – it appeared that several photos of the fam were stategically placed behind Obama on each side, to be in camera view. Don’t know if this is standard ops for presidential speeches but it seemed so posed and artificial. If my vision is worse than I thought and these were pics of something else please advise.
Saw that too and got curious, checked out Oval Office redo pics on the web this morning. Results, there were quite a few photographs clustered on that credenza, only about four rearranged photos remained during speech.
They may not have liked the way the decorators placed them and tired of the other photos and removed them, leaving two photos on the right and two on the left of Obama during the speech.
I’d like to thank Obama for reminding us of Bush’s devotion to the troops and his love of country – it’s a nice contrast to his hatred of both!
We were having a late dinner and watch some History Channel stuff… I knew I could come here in the morning, and get a full briefing without the headache of having to watch it myself.
Sorry, Barry starts talking, and I start walking.
It was such a lackluster speech.I half expected him to say that he needed another vacation because this speech was so physically demanding!!!!! You mean I actually have to talk to the American People and try to tell them something that is way over there head?
I’m sure that the people of Iraq really got a warm and fuzzy feeling.
R2D2 and C3PO talk with more emotion!!!!!
TOTUS needs a vacation
Why should I, a Canadian, pay attention to Ogabe? Words have definitions that he wants them to have, rather than they having conventional definitions.
It is a dangerous time, and folks relying on a Pax Americana had better have a back up plan, because right now the US is suffering from self-inflicted wounds which result in a much larger load than necessary, being carried by John & Jane
Q. Public of the US.
I didn’t watch the ‘speech’, but judging from what I’ve read of and about it, I’m ashamed for my country.
I wish he’d do more of these. The lying media cannot help but broadcast it, and folks who are not particularly interested in politics tune in sometimes.
Every time they do, they see this wet noodle blather on. Doesn’t matter what he says, because it leaves them flat. I want THAT to be their current impression of him. I WANT them to be uninspired. I want them to see how uninspired HE is. I want this “certified intellectual” put them to into a state of classroom catatonia. I WANT them to remember this tepid-soup speech.
Can we have 2-3 more of these before the election, please?
That Zombie link is broken. There’s no URL in it.