Pirate's Cove

Even the Washington Post notices that Obama may speak just a big too much while saying nothing

CHARLOTTE — Even by President Obama’s loquacious standards, an answer he gave here on health care Friday was a doozy.

Toward the end of a question-and-answer session with workers at an advanced battery technology manufacturer, a woman named Doris stood to ask the president whether it was a “wise decision to add more taxes to us with the health care” package.

“We are overtaxed as it is,” Doris said bluntly.

Obama started out feisty. “Well, let’s talk about that, because this is an area where there’s been just a whole lot of misinformation, and I’m going to have to work hard over the next several months to clean up a lot of the misapprehensions that people have,” the president said.

He then spent the next 17 minutes and 12 seconds lulling the crowd into a daze. His discursive answer — more than 2,500 words long — wandered from topic to topic, including commentary on the deficit, pay-as-you-go rules passed by Congress, Congressional Budget Office reports on Medicare waste, COBRA coverage, the Recovery Act and Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (he referred to this last item by its inside-the-Beltway name, “F-Map”). He talked about the notion of eliminating foreign aid (not worth it, he said). He invoked Warren Buffett, earmarks and the payroll tax that funds Medicare (referring to it, in fluent Washington lingo, as “FICA”).

And it went on and on and on and on and on and on….

Halfway through, an audience member on the riser yawned.

Said audience member should expect a visit from the IRS

Even Obama seemed to recognize that he had gone on too long. He apologized — in keeping with the spirit of the moment, not once, but twice. “Boy, that was a long answer. I’m sorry,” he said, drawing nervous laughter that sounded somewhat like relief as he wrapped up.

I will give Obama this much: at least he is out and about attempting to defend his policies, even if his answers are a complete pantload. One of my issues with Bush 43 was that he rarely defended and/or discussed his policies.

• Jammie Wearing Fool has more, and catches a 50 million whopper.
• Smitty at The Other McCain: If You Can’t Bedazzle With Brains, Baffle With Bacon Sandwich. I swear I didn’t read that headline first before doing mine.
• Another Black Conservative: One of Obama’s classic tactics when faced with tough questions is to ramble on and on, so that there is no time left for follow-ups or to put out so much nonsense that you forget the original question.Also, he has a picture of someone whose Mom is sure to get a visit from the IRS.