Ed Morrissey writes, “Obama’s 2008 campaign fueled by rising gas prices”:
Andrew Kaczynski must be Barack Obama’s worst nightmare. While he and Nancy Pelosi try to find scapegoats for rapidly-rising gas prices, the BuzzFeed researcher is making Obama eat his own words … from 2008. When Obama ran for President, he attacked George Bush and John McCain for increased fuel costs and promised an end to reliance on foreign oil in order to bring prices back down.
While Ed has some additional examples of Obama’s 2008 ads that Kaczynski is highlighting, I’ll discuss the two favorites of my own in a moment. But first, with Tim Geithner now suggesting it’s time to tap America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves, from August of 2008, here’s a round-up of then-Senator Obama’s many “forgainst it” viewpoints on the pros and cons of this decision:
In August 2005, Obama agreed with George Bush’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to buffer the economy from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. However, Obama warned that such actions should only take place in times of real emergency (emphases mine):
I agree with the President’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help replenish supply shortages resulting from Hurricane Katrina. Nearly all oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut down, and releasing this oil will help increase production and stabilize prices. However, I do believe that this tragedy makes it very clear that that the reserve should only be used in the event of an emergency, and that we shouldn’t be tapping the reserve to provide a small, short-term decrease in gas prices.
And again last month, in St. Louis on July 7th:
I do not believe that we should use the strategic oil reserves at this point. I have said and, in fact, supported a congressional resolution that said that we should suspend putting more oil into the strategic oil reserve, but the strategic oil reserve, I think, has to be reserved for a genuine emergency. You have a situation, let’s say, where there was a major oil facility in Saudi Arabia that was destroyed as a consequence of terrorist acts, and you suddenly had huge amounts of oil taken out of the world market, we wouldn’t just be seeing $4-a-gallon oil. We could see a situation where entire sectors of the country had no oil to function at all. And that’s what the strategic oil reserve has to be for.
Today, we discovered what Barack Obama considers a genuine emergency — a drop in the polls:
Democrat Barack Obama called today for tapping the nation’s strategic oil reserves to help drive down gasoline prices, a shift from his previous position on the issue.
The reversal is the second refinement in Obama’s energy policy. Last week, he said that he would reluctantly consider accepting some offshore oil drilling. Obama had previously said he opposed such drilling, which is strongly backed by rival John McCain, who has urged that states be allowed to decide whether to drill.
Obama changed his position to protect Nancy Pelosi, who demanded a release from the SPR rather than allowing a debate and a vote on the House floor on increased domestic drilling.
OK, back to the video clips. First up, drill baby, drill! I believe the ad below is from early August of 2008, based on how it dovetails with this news report. Which would mean that nearly a month before then-Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin was chosen to be John McCain’s running mate, Obama sounds positively Palinesque as he panders to Alasksan voters, promising them a natural gas pipeline:
And then, in perhaps the most ironic ad, here’s another clip of Obama in early August of 2008 promising Canadians a pipeline of their own:
Well, so much for that idea.
Particularly in the clip aimed at Alaskan voters, with its large close-up on the- Sen. Obama’s face, you can see Obama’s eyes flick back and forth as he scans his teleprompter. And like Will Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy character in Anchorman, President Burgundy Obama will read just about anything you put in that ‘prompter. (No matter how shameless it makes him look later.)
Or to put it another way, as Jim Geraghty likes to say, all of Barack Obama’s promises come with an expiration date — all of them.
(Well, almost all of them.)
Update: Obama in 2012: “It’s easy to make phony promises.” Indeed it is, Mr. President, indeed it is.
And one more: Then: “I love lamp.” Now: “We need more moon shot!”
(Thumbnail on PJM homepage by Jose Gil / Shutterstock.com.)
Back to the “he’ll read anything on the teleprompter” – I’d put up some cash for the first geek who can figure out how to wirelessly hack TOTUS and rewrite a couple of speechs – just think of the fun to be had!
Do you know it’s now RACISSSST to publish Mullah O’Blah-blah’s non sequiturs?
I would love the job of creating GOP campaign ads. There is an almost endless supply of material. In part, this happens because Obama panders to the group in front of him, or he tries to make hay out of a particular political situation. In both cases, he disregards the effect in the long run, relying on voters to have a short memory, and the leftstream media to let him slide. My favorite early example was his mocking Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy experience in the primaries and then appointing her Secretary of State. When a reporter had the nerve to ask about it, he said something about “have your fun.” And since no one ever asked him about it again, that worked. Now that he has a record, the leftstream media is going to have to work pretty hard to squelch his inconsistencies and outright lies. So far, they still let him get away with it – we’ll see.
If you get the job, Kerm, can I be your assistant? I’ll work for free!
As they say in the military, this is target rich!
You should do it. We all know “The Stupid Party” won’t.
As Nick says above — there is an embarrassment of riches available to the Stupid Party. THey will be too embarrassed to aggressively play that hand.
And showing clips on conservative websites ain’t gonna cut it. Once the campaign is underway this stuff needs to be a constant theme everywhere you look.
Spechifyin’ be hard
Obama and the Demofrauds don’t want us to think that they talked about high gas prices, high unemployment, a moribund economy, etc, etc, in 2008 just for partisan political reasons because they really didn’t have a clue about where to get a clue about what to do about any of them. Yes, that is TRUE but they just don’t want us to think it.
believe him when he says “blah blah blah blah”
when you know he’s been a liar all his life,
he’s had this reputation since he was a youth,
you have to be insane to think he’ll tell you the truth . . .
(chorus)
’cause you know he’s been a liar,
a stinkin’ rotten liar,
you know he’s been a liar
all his life.
To the tune of “Imagine”, isn’t it?
it’s adapted from the novelty song “How Could You Believe Me (When I Said I Loved You)” — words and music by Alan Jay Lerner, first recorded by Fred Astaire in 1933
Man! I’m gonna have a hard time finding that on iTunes.
WHEN WILL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WAKE UP TO THE FACT,THAT ,ALL POLITICIANS WILL LIE,IT IS NOT IN THEM TO BE TRUTHFUl.They can and will always put blame on anyone else but where it really lies,on them selves.They ,along with wefare slugs are a drag on this nation,they are sucking the money right out of our pockets. Everything that happens to this country IS a DIRECT result of Congress.Good or bad.And for the passed 3 yrs.it’s been BAD!!!!!
These elected officials ARE suppose to represent you and I.But, that AIN”T happening!!!!!
The people of America know that a candidate for election will make swtatements that they believe are promises. Hence, when Bush said “Read my lips no new taxes” and later raised taxes he waqs defeated in the next elecvtion.
Does anyone think the main stream media which never let up on that broken promise will even identify a broken promise of President Obama no matter how many or how egregious they may be?
The Republican candidates for election in 2012 for Peresident are struggling through a nomination campaign wherein they are confronted continuously by main stream media pundits who do everything they can to put them in a bad light.
When nominated the Republican candidate had better be prepared to get his message to the people by means other than a reliance upon main street media.
Obama’s promises and his record will be ignored and only the Republican candidates least positive actions or statements will be featured.
Sooner or later the candidate and the party must find the spine necessary to refuse participation with the most egregious of those main stream media pundits. Whenevfer appearing on main stream MEDIA INTERVIEW PROGRAMS they must constantly require them to defend Obama’s failure to act on the promises that got him elected and his failed economic record and unpopular mandated regulations and unconstitutional Obamacare and Dodd/Frank legislation passed when noone was allowed to read it.
Here it comes, one of the final pieces of the puzzle.
Shut down domestic drilling for energy, shut down domestic refining, reduce “supplies on hand” by selling it out of country …….. then ………
Open up the “strategic reserves” and deplete them …… then ………
the end of America. No more oil for industry, for heating, for transportation (civilian, military, or commercial)
Yes, it all makes sense now as part of Obama’s, “Fundamental Transformation of America”.
Okay, he’s just mocking us now.
Barry the “BodyPerfect” thinks that you and I believe him because of a few things.
1)The media slavishly reports what he says as fact.
-They don’t know any better because they have been taught, and believe
that a left-wing “intellectual” is truly intelligent and knows things
that they cannot possibly begin to understand. Yes, news people are
truly that stupid. They are the people you sat next to in math class
who “forgot their pencil”–every day. If they see anything republican
it is categorically evil and they suddenly become deep-digging “truth
investigators” but usually get that wrong as well.
2)He has an arrogant, superior attitude and believes Americans are largely
dolts who only care about getting home to watch American Idol.
-This particular attribute is steeped heavily in hypocrisy. While he
belittles people in his own mind, he is himself hating having to
“go to work” and “do his job” because he wants to do something else
that’s fun, like flying on that big-a** jet, taking a trip to some
place that the 99% of America cannot afford to go. Or having a party
to make sure all his cronies get some cake and ice-cream so they still
like him, etc. Work? He is unfamiliar with the term.
3)His monumental ignorance serves him to refute anything he thinks to be fact.
-This feature of his personality shows up a lot. The news media even
quotes him and lets the ignorance stand. He is not a man steeped in
refined tastes or an upbringing of great sophistication but a man-child
who believes that one gains respect by having the nicest things and
putting on a front of “good taste”. (See: BBC, “Keeping Up
Appearances”). Lacking the moral fiber that having sophisticated people
around him all his life, as true intellectuals might, he considers
himself erudite and the people around him, largely of the same fashion,
do not dismiss his idiotic statements because they, themselves are
idiots.
4)He is a mental pedestrian, not a “high-thinker”
-When he spouts off a “fact” he doesn’t really care if it’s true or not.
What matters is the impact of the statement, that the news picks it up to
continue the process of criticizing conservatism. His algae knowledge has
no more credible understanding of science than does anything he talks
about because he has no more than a pedestrian understanding of anything
and, as regards science, precious little of that. He is shallow, has read
maybe 15 actual books in his whole life and is on cruise-control most of
the time, never pondering anything that takes mental effort nor
considering the mechanics of any of his diktats and how they work. Because:
5)He hands off work to others to do.
-He envisions a pie-in-the-sky idea but couldn’t in his entire lifetime
acquire the education and experience to assess how it would be put into
place. (See #4, Pedestrian). All his life he’s the guy saying, “They should
do____, without understanding intricacy,logistics, gravity, details. This
is because “Work is for other people to do. I am a thinker, a cerebral
fellow of great import with (possibly)super-human abilities to think greater
thoughts, imagine higher ideals than any human has ever done. Now that I’m
president, I can turn those imagingings into reality.”
6)He’s very angry.
-He hates his father who abandoned him; thus the book
that praises him and the fact that he’s taken on his characteristics
over the misconception of US “imperialism”. He’s taken on his father’s
“fight” because he so desperately wants that now dead man’s approval.
He’s also angry that he wasn’t gifted as a child with anything remarkable.
He’s overcompensating now with all his ideas that children hatch then
abandon when they grow up. He never grew up.
In short, he’s a delusional narcissist, as has been said many times. Were it not for the potential death of our nation, watching him for another four years would prove out how misguided, ignorant and evil he is.
If I had the opportunity to speak to the man personally, I would say, “I object to you. I object to intellect without discipline. I object to power without constructive purpose.” (with gratitude to Paul Schneider and Gene Roddenberry)
…he wants to do something else that’s fun, like flying on that big-a** jet
That big a** jet costs approximately $180,000 per hour to operate.
And it is mainly being used these days to transport The One™ about the country to fantasize about algae and stump for re-election.
The heavily armored car Obama tools around in gets about 8 mpg. Remember when he shipped it over to Ireland along with a planeload of teleprompters and it got stuck ?
I think he should be required to ride in a Chevy Volt; I understand the backseat is quite uncomfortable.
Barry wants the cost of electricity to “necessarily skyrocket” and Chu would like to see gasoline at $10/gallon. The two of them dropped more than 1/2 billion taxpayer dollars down the drain on Solyndra. I think they need to pay back the American taxpayer out of their own pockets.
(reportedly, Chu’s dep’t of energy was begun under Jimmy Carter in the 70′s to…”reduce our dependence on foreign oil”)
The wife (16th vacation in 3 years) & kids have been skiing out west. Michelle took some time off to attend a posh campaign event and bash “the rich”.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Back in 1994 there was a funny movie, “Speechless,” with Michael Keaton and Geena Davis that did a number on the teleprompter gag when one of them hacked the other guy’s teleprompter and put in the lyrics for “I’ve Been Working On the Railroad,” which the candidate dutifully read, even throwing in some emotive improv for the lyrics “Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah, someone’s in the kitchen, I know!”
It’s not that these guys don’t know what is ailing the economy. It’s not that they don’t know what will work to fix it. They do. They just ain’t a-gonna do it. Where’s the power in that?
From the Saddleback Forum in ’08:
Obama: Because I actually changed my mind.
[Warren: You change your mind, exactly.]
“Well, you know, I’m trying to think back ten years ago. I think that a good example would be the issue of welfare reform where I always believed that welfare had to be changed. I was much more concerned ten years ago, when President Clinton initially signed the bill, that this could have disastrous results.
I worked in the Illinois legislature to make sure that we were providing child care, health care and other support services for the women who … were going to be kicked off the rolls after a certain time. It had … it worked better than, I think, a lot of people anticipated.”
Yet, one of the things he did was to repeal welfare reform, after having acknowledged how well it worked. Because it is not about making things work. It is about power. Entrenched votes via welfare. Power.
Obama could make the statement that fertilizer tastes like chocolate, and his media and press secretary would pick up the theme and run with it, reinforcing his claim that it truly DOES taste like chocolate, and is better for you than chocolate.
Then along comes the Congress and Moochelle saying that more fertilizer should be included in all public school lunches.
Obama tours the country and has fundraisers that charge $3500 a plate for sauteed fertilizer nuggets.
The moral of this story? Fertilizer has been repackaged as “manna from heaven”, and people are eating it up even they know it really is fertilizer.
I must be way behind… I am still waiting for his transparency and C-span cameras to show up!!!!!
Please do not call the Obama “President Burgundy.”
His formal title is President Muslimarx.
As if we needed proof, apparently Sarah Palin has hacked the teleprompter as Obama is all “Drill baby, drill” now.
What is the half-life of a presidential promise? I am sure it is up there with some of the artificial reactant elements. Exponential decay indeed!
Didn’t he also release some after getting bad press due to his idiotic response to the BP oil spill?
He did. However, it didn’t negate the horrible decision-making involved in that fiasco. No, don’t come help us, I need to get as much bang for the buck out of this to forward my agenda as I can. What other excuse is there for saying no to help a few days later? None.