Friday, August 19, 2011

John Lewis on Obama: Whelmed

I cannot yet find a reference on the internet, but the Fox News Special Report with Bret Baier today started off with a story that first updates Maxine Waters speaking on how she has "permission" from her constituents to complain about the lack of jobs in the black community.  This is followed up with a report on a job fair near Atlanta, created by Representative John Lewis (D-GA), and how it was overwhelmed by job seekers showing up in the thousands.  A brief interview with Lewis quotes him as saying that he "has no issue with the president", that Obama is a friend, and (what struck me, delivered in a monotone) that Obama is "doing the very best that he can".  That's the best that Lewis can do for his friend Obama?  It's as if he is praising him with faint damns.

My first thought is that if this is the best that Obama can do, then we need someone else. 

I also remember the line from The Rock, the movie about trying to break into Alcatraz in order to prevent a biological warfare catastrophe.  Two characters, played by Sean Connery (the hard-core, former-SAS, military professional) and Nicholas Cage (the academic who has the knowledge of how to defuse the weapon) reach a point where they have to split up to accomplish different tasks.  Connery gives him instructions, to which Cage replies that he will 'do my best'.  Connery's reply is, "Do your best?"  It drips with incredulity, and he goes on to tell Cage that he has to do it, never mind about qualifying it with Cage's opinion about what is his 'best'.  The same applies to Obama.

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