Judge Obama By His Standard, & His 'Folksy' Speech

I wrote yesterday on Obama’s Labor Day proclamation, and his now annoyingly supercilious claims that creating jobs is his number one priority.  I sound as if I am expressing an opinion, but in actuality I am arriving at a firm conclusion based on a standard.

Obama provides a helpful hint to the people on how to judge the sincerity of his comments and the deeds of his administration, in this piece from Politico by M J Lee.  In a recent reply to a farmer’s question in Atkinson, Illinois, who spoke of the frustration with dealing with “more rules and regulations” (such as those dealing with dust, noise, and water runoff) that would negatively affect his business, Obama replied:

If you hear something is happening, but it hasn’t happened, don’t always believe what you hear.

I invite the public at large to apply that same standard to his claims about creating jobs.  Nevertheless, the story continues into another vein:

When the room broke into soft laughter, the president added, “No – and I’m serious about that.”

Saying that “folks in Washington” like to get “all ginned up” about things that aren’t necessarily happening (“Look what’s comin’ down the pipe!”), Obama’s advice was simple: “Contact USDA.”

“Talk to them directly.  Find out what it is that you’re concerned about,” Obama told the man.  “My suspicion is, a lot of times, they’re going to be able to answer your questions and it will turn out that some of your fears are unfounded.”

The reporter decides to take Obama at his word, and pursues the farmer’s concerns by calling the USDA.  The rest of the article chronicles the fruitless pursuit of an answer over the next two days while being passed from one office to another, ending with an e-mail:

“Secretary Vilsack continues to work closely with members of the Cabinet to help them engage with the agricultural community to ensure that we are separating fact from fiction on regulations because the administration is committed to providing greater certainty for farmers and ranchers. Because the question that was posed did not fall within USDA jurisdiction, it does not provide a fair representation of USDA’s robust efforts to get the right information to our producers throughout the country.”

So, still no answer to the farmer’s question.

That was the run-around given to a reporter; imagine what it must be for an ordinary citizen.

And did you notice Obama’s speech pattern in that quote above?  His “folks” being “all ginned up” about “what’s comin’ down the pike”?  Contrast the comments in the MSM about Rick Perry “dropping his g’s” (or a more egregious example is this hit piece from CNN which purports to quote one of Perry’s fans as if he were a character out of Deliverance).  The consistent implication is that the MSM’s view of conservatives is that they are somehow ill-educated, and precise phrasing of the quotes seeks to convey that.  You don’t see Teamsters or people from the northeastern inner cities quoted as saying ‘dem’ instead of ‘them’, nor do you see ‘youse’ in their articles.  Yet listen to Obama talk – he typically drops his g’s also, but his written quotes will not reflect that.  Lee’s story above is unusual in that respect.

As an illustration, check out this speech by Obama.  I am sure that Bernard Goldberg must be aware.