February 9, 2009

The Fordification of Barack Obama.

Given this, will "SNL" need an Obama impersonator who — like Chevy Chase — can do pratfalls?

IN THE COMMENTS: Palladian said:

It would be funny if, after he bonked his big noggin, he said "Wait a minute... we're about to sign some bill spending a trillion dollars of unnecessary pork during a recession? What?! Not on my watch, we're not!" and promptly ran back to the White House and fired everyone.

56 comments:

traditionalguy said...

Give the Obamaman a break. He's never had to operate military equiptment.In fact, he hates military equiptment which robs the downtrodden ghetto dwellers of their entitlements. Most American military equiptment may be put on E-Bay soon to raise money, since he has no plans for its use anyway. That would spread it around and be More Fairer to the Mullahs he respects so much

The Drill SGT said...

It won't happen on an VH3 like that, but raising your hand to wave to the crowd getting out of a VH60 and you can cause quite a mess.

I hope the SS and the MHX crews gave him some training

SteveR said...

Comedian Chevy Chase sparked his career by playing Harold Ford in the 1970s

I don't recall Chevy Chase doing a bit about Congressman Ford's father.

Will said...

I orignally posted this on the thread with the goofy pictures of Bush and Obama, but I'm reposting it since this is the more appropriate thread:

At the moment, Drudge has a picture of Obama bumping his head while getting into Marine One.
If this happened with GWB, it would give Leno and Letterman at least 3 months worth of monologue jokes. As it is, I'm willing to bet it won't be mentioned tonight on either show.

Will said...

Harold Ford? Reminds me of the classic Saturday Night Live bit with Dana Carvey as Brokaw pre-recording Gerald Ford's obituary. "Gherald FFord dead today..."

David said...

It's Harrison Ford, Obe-wan.

Palladian said...

It would be funny if, after he bonked his big noggin, he said "Wait a minute... we're about to sign some bill spending a trillion dollars of unnecessary pork during a recession? What?! Not on my watch, we're not!" and promptly ran back to the White House and fired everyone.

Host with the Most said...

palladian,

Comment of the year!

MadisonMan said...

Speaking as a tall person, let me say that hitting your head on something usually occurs only once. Then you know to duck.

Clumsiness that begets falling is a time after time thing.

Franco said...

There is a lot more to make fun of than his klutzyness. How bout his arrogant intonations and his fake southern accent when he's talkin' to the folks. Is that accent Hawaiian, Malaysian or Cambridgian? A combination?

I can't wait until tonight when he has to face real questions. Watch him stumble, stutter and get petulant.

traditionalguy said...

Can we begin calling Obama the first Humpty Dumpty President?

Hoosier Daddy said...

I can't wait until tonight when he has to face real questions.

Methinks you're going to be waiting a long time.

chuck b. said...

$4.2 billion for ACORN according to Rush.

chuck b. said...

No, maybe he said $4.1

Franco said...

I know they will be relative softballs, but he still will have problems answering. He hasn't been challenged by extensive questioning in his whole career.

Anonymous said...

We're already starting to hear the same old Washington DC crap from Obama:

"If you don't agree with the exact way I want to “help” people, the only possible explanation is that you hate poor people and want to see them die."

More of the same horse shit from this President that we usually get from DC politicians.

How disappointing, and we're only 3 weeks into it.

Kirby Olson said...

Maybe they could revive the notion of "package" as a "sexual package" and have an Obama look-alike walking around on the stage, saying, "I've got a stimulus package for you, baby," or something along those lines, to a Nancy Pelosi type. "Check out mah stimulus package, Nanceh!"

KCFleming said...

Mebbe like Ford, Obama has “played too much football without a helmet”.

But we'll soon know if he too “can’t fart and chew gum at the same time”

Leland said...

DrillSGT, won't happen on a VH60 either. The MHX crews brake the rotors before letting the President on or off. They train, so he doesn't have too. Of course, you knew that. ;)

blake said...

It would be funny if, after he bonked his big noggin, he said "Wait a minute... we're about to sign some bill spending a trillion dollars of unnecessary pork during a recession? What?! Not on my watch, we're not!" and promptly ran back to the White House and fired everyone.

After which, he puts on a fruit-hat and does his Carmen Miranda impersonation.

Roberto said...

It would be funnier if he actually bumped his head.

He almost did...but didn't.

*I've met some whiners in my time, but the crew that gathers here sound more and more like little children every day...with Ann leading the pack.

Roberto said...

Quayle: "How disappointing, and we're only 3 weeks into it."

And that's the point, pinhead: He's only been President for about 20 days.

After 8 years of total ineptitude from YOUR HERO...why not give the man a chance?

The Drill SGT said...

They train, so he doesn't have too. Of course, you knew that. ;)

Hell, I didn't even know they had brakes. I didn't remember anyone braking the blades when I got out. ever :)

JAL said...

Hell, I didn't even know they had brakes. I didn't remember anyone braking the blades when I got out. ever :)

Was that President Drill SGT.?

Didn't think so.

JAL said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JAL said...

Michael sweetie --

It wouldn't be such a big whoop, and truth be known it probably is a bit silly, but this is the man who SAID the seas would go down... remember?

THAT'S the issue

Anonymous said...

Wow, all this Obama-ragging. Geez! Cut him a little slack!

He's only been in office a few weeks, and, IMHO, he hasn't done anything totally crazy, which, everything considered, is a big plus.

However, there IS that problem with the Ministry of Funny Talks:

Is that accent Hawaiian, Malaysian or Cambridgian? A combination?

Actually, that's Cantabrigian, and, no, it has nothing to do with either Cambridge.

It's th' jes' folks down home vaguely Southern accent with just enough of an African-American twinge to make him think he's covering ALL his fly-over constituencies, both black and redneck. Obama's REAL accent is an educated, general American one, Midwestern-based, that's perfect for a President, and nothing to cover up.

For some reason, politicians think they have to play the language chameleon. You may remember Sara Palin started sounding more and more Fargo, doncha know, when she was on th' stump, by golly.

And, of course here in Massachusetts, being halfway to England in nailing of social class to accent, politicians who sound one way at the Kennedy School or teaching at Suffolk University, start making very different noises in their home neighborhoods.

You don't want the folks in Summvll (Sommerville) or Reveeah (Revere) to think you've gotten too proud for them, do ya?

But by the time you make it to being President of the United States, you might think of dropping the schtick you did to keep your job as a State Rep.

Franklin Roosevelt had no problem with the to-the-manor-born mid-Atlantic accent. Why does Obama want to fake out of his pleasing, educated, mid-American accent?

Roberto said...

JAL - "...this is the man who SAID the seas would go down... remember?"

What in the fuck are you blathering on about? And what in the world does it have to do with Obama "almost" hitting his head?

Roberto said...

"But by the time you make it to being President of the United States, you might think of dropping the schtick you did to keep your job as a State Rep."

Unless of course, it just happens to be the way he talks...and has always spoken.

Other than right wing blog sites like this, why would anybody care?

The whining continues...

Anonymous said...

The Fornification of Barack Obama."

Roberto said...

jdeeripper said.."The Fornification of Barack Obama."

Ironic isn't it?

Women fantasizing about screwing the current President...even after the entire country being fucked by the last one.

Anonymous said...

"Let's face it: Leftie girls are easy," he says.

I don't know if this is true.

dualdiagnosis said...

Amazing, first he tries to walk into the White House through a locked window, now he's braining himself on his new toy.

Yeah, if this was Bush his whole first term would now be defined.

Anonymous said...

Michael, as someone who did IPA transcription for a living in college and has a minor in linguistics, I can tell you that I've heard Obama speak in THREE distinct ideolects. He seems to tailor his speech patterns to his audience in fairly obvious ways.

The reason I care is that it makes him, the President of the United States, seem silly and small-minded. As a trained psychologist, you are capable of comprehending what you read, and you know full well that my remark was fairly positive toward Obama, and am only calling him to drop petty mannerisms. Recall that I mentioned Palin, too.

You should amble over to the Linguistics Department at Santa Monica College, where you teach psychology, and ask someone there what they think of Obama's speech habits. It's been a long time since I've studied American dialects, so I may be wrong. He might be trying out 4 or 5.

Of course, you, as the ex-Luckyoldson, are only interested in your long-running psychological experiment with this blog. The mask has slipped once or twice too often.

But when you publish your results, please let us know where we can find it, as obscure academic articles are still hard to find even with the internet.

Anonymous said...

I should say, "find them." Results are plural, even if the paper is singular.

chickelit said...

I'd say about nails it Theo.

Thank you

Shanna said...

Unless of course, it just happens to be the way he talks...and has always spoken.

Bullshit. This man is from Hawaii, Indonesia and Chicago. Oh, also NY. A southern accent (complete with dropped g’s!) is not his natural accent in any way shape or form. It’s his “jus folks” accent, carefully cultivated for some reason or other. Let’s be honest about it, even if he’s YOUR hero.

Shanna said...

Also, everything Theo said.

Balfegor said...

Michael, as someone who did IPA transcription for a living in college and has a minor in linguistics, I can tell you that I've heard Obama speak in THREE distinct ideolects. He seems to tailor his speech patterns to his audience in fairly obvious ways.

The reason I care is that it makes him, the President of the United States, seem silly and small-minded.


I'm not sure I see the problem. His native accent is a bit toffy, so he affects something a little bit more lower class to keep the populace happy. If the people are dumb enough to care about that sort of thing, why shouldn't he indulge them?

I say this as someone who, off-and-on for some years, has struggled to affect an ordinary American accent that doesn't sound too obviously fake.

JAL said...

Balfegor, why don't you just talk like who you are?

If someone has a problem with that, it's their problem, yes?

It's one thing to tailor content and vocabulary to your audience....

It's another to order in a sing song voice at a Chinese restaurant. (I mean, not that you do, but that's kind of taking it to the extreme, maybe like Hillary taking it to the extreme and attempting to talk in a black American dialect ....)

What the heck is
an ordinary American accent" anyway? ;-)

Balfegor said...

Balfegor, why don't you just talk like who you are?

If someone has a problem with that, it's their problem, yes?


No. How you speak affects how people interact with you. It's your problem not theirs.

And part of my problem is precisely that I am an American, but I sound quite foreign. Not always the same foreign, but generally foreign. No matter what language I'm speaking, I sound like a non-native speaker.

What the heck is
an ordinary American accent" anyway? ;-)


Typically, when I bother to do this, I target a Midwestern accent. The problem isn't hitting the accent. I'm not trying to sound like I'm from a particular town or city (that would be awfully hard and pointless to boot) just trying to hit the broad set of features common to the stereotypical flat "midwestern" accent. The problem is keeping a focus on the accent, and not slipping off into something that sounds more Southern or more Eastern or simply non-native.

JAL said...

SMC prof --
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2008/06/this-was-moment-when-rise-of-oceans.html

It's the old double standard.

George Bush is an incompetent goof who can't open doors (which are locked) and he is mocked over and over as if it is a character flaw (not to bore you with the "I can see Alaksa from my house" crap).

Meanwhile we are supposed to nod knowingly and wisely about a man who SAID about his nomination "This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal" and not find some comic relief in the fact that the sea changer and planet healer is just like the rest of us who occasionally don't pay attention and smack ourselves on a doorway or kitchen cabinet.

We have to laugh because there is such a dissonance between the two.

And we know he isn't the sea changer or planet healer.

Do you?

john said...

jdeeripper said...
"Let's face it: Leftie girls are easy," he says.
I don't know if this is true.


jd - they're only easy the first time. After that they're impossible.

AlphaLiberal said...

What's wrong with a spending during a recession? Business isn't buying, consumers aren't buying, demand overall is down drastically, and unemployment is increasing at now well over 1/2 million jobs per month -- not a typical recession.

The current stimulus plan - well under $1 trillion -- is a fraction of the drop in demand.

Republicans wants us to pass the same tax cuts they hawk at any economic event, good or bad.

The irresponsibility has reach historical proportions.

These people should be keep away from adult positions of power.

Roberto said...

Balfegor: "The reason I care is that it makes him, the President of the United States, seem silly and small-minded."

Yeah, anybody who represents the very first black person in the history of America to be elected President must be pretty "silly and small-minded."

Do you have any idea how infantile that sounds?

And the dumb just keeping dumber...and the incessant WHINING continues.

Roberto said...

JAL - Your silly cheap shot (what else is new?) is based on taking what was said completely out of context.

This is where the phrase appears, and it doesn't refer to Obama himself, but to the "faith" of the American people and "the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless," and what would be necessary to see the process through to the end:

"The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment - this was the time - when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America."

JSF said...

Hey! Here's a challange for the partisan impaired Michael/Luckey.

$50 into your PayPal account if you look over the many comments you left here in Althousiania that were supportive of President George W. Bush.

Find 2, not 3, but 2 written between 2003 - 2007 and I will wire the $50 to you through payPal.

Provide links.

If you cannot find any, then STFU about respect for President Obama. This is karma bitch.

Steven said...

AlphaLiberal —

What does spending over $200 billion in 2011-and-later have to do with stimulating the economy out of a current emergency?

If this really is an emergency, and we really need to spend money now, then there should be no objections to eliminating the $200 billion that isn't immediate stimulus as part of a compromise to get the bill through quickly.

Stimulus is not the reason for this bill's spending, it's merely the excuse. When the Democrats are serious about stimulus, they can propose a bill that is genuinely about stimulus, not laden with $200 billion in pork for 2011 & 2012.

AlphaLiberal said...

Steven:

In answer to your question, this economic slump is expected to last for years. Without knowing what spending you're referring to, it's difficult to address it. Except that some efforts take some years to finish. They involved planning, design, testing, etc.

The stimulus plan is not some complicated massive hoax to spend money. THe economy really is going through a massive downturn. Private sector spending has fallen off a cliff.

Steven said...

Long-term expenditures are, by definition, not stimulus. Keynesian economic stimulus specifically involves expenditures to expand short-run demand, pushing the short-run supply curve out to meet where the long-run supply and demand curves meet. At that point, continued stimulus is pointless, because we're back to the equilibrium point of a healthy economy.

So, if it requires planning, designing, and testing, it automatically isn't stimulus spending, and doesn't belong in a stimulus bill.

So, there's at least $200 billion in this supposed "stimulus" bill which isn't stimulus. When the Democrats in Congress are serious about stimulating the economy, they'll cut it out to get the bill passed. Until then, it's clear they're more concerned about getting their pork through than helping the economy.

MadisonMan said...

Shanna, the midwest is littered with people who drop their g's. It's been drivin' me crazy for all the years I've been livin' here. Nothin' southern about it.

Anonymous said...

Hmm, if Obama wants to help 4 million unemployed, why not just them a check for 40 grand each. It will be more of a real stimulus and the taxpayers can save over six hundred billion.

Obama is doing what would have thought impossible two months ago, he is making W look like a rocket scientist in comparison.

Shanna said...

Shanna, the midwest is littered with people who drop their g's. It's been drivin' me crazy for all the years I've been livin' here. Nothin' southern about it.

No kidding? Still, I've had lots of friends from Michigan and Minnesota and such, and he doesn't talk like them. Listen to him when he said that thing about "parlez vous francais" when he was making fun of people for not speaking french. He sounded like he was doing my french teacher, telling us not to talk in "southern french". I have heard him do a southern accent many, many times. There is no reason for that. It would be like if I busted out a Boston accent randomly.

miller said...

Ahem.

I believe it's Cantabridgian, not Cambridgian.

Anonymous said...

Really, people should read the comments upthread before posting further comments.

Let's start in reverse order:

First, I corrected Franco with Cantabrigian. Sorry, miller, no "d" in there.

Second, Midwestern people may drop their "g's," but they don't use the Southern diphthongs that I've heard out of Obama's mouth. As I said, I used to do phonetic transcription for a living, and Obama has used at least three distinct ideolects. You may want to wish or explain this away in some other fashion, but in my opinion, Obama is doing what I've heard all sorts of politicians do, especially here in Boston, attempting to tailor his accent to his putative audience. I think this is phony and small. Others may have other opinions, but, please, do not deny what has been coming out of his mouth.

Finally, as to Michael: I used "silly and small-minded" first. Balfegor was quoting me. Is Michael telling us we should overlook Obama's flaws because he is black? People may think it's petty to complain about a politician's speech habits, but the principal tool any politician has to accrue power is, in fact, his speech. Are we to ignore Obama's vocal mannerisms when they may point to flaws in judgement or character? Such latitude was never given George Bush or any other President I can recall. It certainly wasn't given to Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin when they did the same thing campaigning.

I had always thought Michael, as a psychologist, was toying with us. He may still be. "No one could truly be that stupid," has been my opinion in the years since Luckyoldson first emerged from the foetid brain of that character.

Michael/Luckyoldson is either a brilliant piece of post-Structuralist politico-psychological theatre, or a moron with a room-temperature IQ.

Go figure.

miller said...

a) Would you have looked if I'd spelled Cantabrigian correctly?
b) My excuse-typing in poor light and conflating it with The Bridge to Nowhere II: Bambi's Stimulus Package