BARACK OBAMA — Down for the count, again?
By Taylor Jones | March 21st, 2009 | PERMALINK
Yep, this is a cheap shot — even if there’s some truth to it. In fact, it’s actually a cartoon I doctored from an previous effort, which I posted on an earlier blog. I RARELY tamper with my own cartoons.
Still, it seems to me that President Obama might be wearing out his welcome — at least among political cartoonists. And that’s the good news! The bad news? The AIG mess is one sticky wicket, and Timmy Geithner is “home alone” at the Department of the Treasury.
By the way, I added “LENO” to the blows that landed Obama on the mat because our president just isn’t a funny guy. His very appearance on “The Tonight Show” annoyed me. It wasn’t Obama’s crack about his bowling prowess being worthy of the Special Olympics. I found that remark the ONLY funny thing the president uttered Thursday night. Of course, my sense of humor tends toward the tasteless and politically incorrect. However, as “outrages” go, on a scale of 1 to 10, Obama’s reference to the Special Olympics registered, at most, a 2.
Come to think of it, Barack Obama may be our least witty president since Jimmy Carter, or even Nixon. Don’t get me wrong: I think Obama is a truly brilliant man. His IQ is way above mine, and is probably a few notches above our last bright president, Bill Clinton. It might explain why the two presidents are rarely seen together, as Clinton might fear he’s not actually the smartest person in the room.
As for including Obama’s NCAA picks in the mix? I don’t know — I just cringe when politicians go on and on about sports, posing either as experts or the world’s greatest fans. Granted, Barack Obama might be both when it comes to basketball. But we’ll see if his NCAA picks pan out, and he wins the White House Oval Office pool. Still, I’m hoping to see the day when a president, governor or mayor will say, “I couldn’t care less who wins the damn game!”
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Comments
Comment from Broadway Carl
Time March 23, 2009 at 8:25 am
I love political cartoons when they’re poignant, witty or funny, and don’t need to be explained. In my opinion, this isn’t cartoon has none of those characteristics. Obama is wearing out his welcome? Why? Because he’s actually doing the job of a Presdient? That’s something we haven’t seen for eight years; in Bush World, every important job was delegated to someone else and when former President Bush was questioned about specifics, he wouldn’t know the answer because he didn’t care to know the details.
If President Obama has been “overexposed” maybe it’s because the 24/7 news cycle media are following him around in a way I’ve never seen before. How many Bush press secretary briefings were carried live on MSNBC? You can always catch them on C-Span perhaps, but never on the 24 news networks. Those are reserved for sound bites. And maybe that’s why President Obama is taking his message to the people on Leno, 60 Minutes and this Tuesday night’s news conference - to avoid getting his message about one of the worst messes this country has been in garbled into a 15 second sound bite.
And far as not being funny on Leno, I don’t think his appearance was meant as a lauching pad for a comedy routine. He wasn’t supposed to be funny. He was addressing a demographic that probably isn’t addicted to CNN - to them they were hearing his message for the first time from his lips, not reading a misleading editorial cartoon suggesting that he’s been knocked out for the count 60 days into his presidency.
Comment from Portia
Time March 25, 2009 at 10:55 am
Obama is not a king and has a right to go on Leno as a medium to reach more people. I wonder how many of us have pension funds tied up in AIG. More than we realize.
Comment from herman
Time March 26, 2009 at 3:04 pm
This bird compared to all the past prez. :
I think he should spend more time in his office doing things, hopefully good, than campaigning and posturing in front of the tv every day. Seems every time you turn the boob tube on there he is grinning like a chesire cat blathering away. For sure he has the pre written things on his teleprompter. (And the left wing media is right there to tell you what he said, after the fact.)
Sign me disgusted.
Comment from Primaldata
Time March 23, 2009 at 7:09 am
Lol I find it funny that you feel the man is down for the count already. While my humor tends to border on the tasless and politically incorrect to maybe I actually read the build up to the tonight show appearance and you didn’t he wasn’t trying to be witty, he was trying to sell his agenda. He has proven his wit when needed, last week he had to be serious.
As for the Special olympics comment, hell we all use it. Sooner or later the PC police are gonna have to be stripped down and kicked out the door, and by we all use it I mean we all make some comment about something or someone being retarded, it’s like saying something is gay. We could care less about it’s actual mental acuity or sexual orientation it’s just a damn good shot most of us have been using since snow ball fights and kick ball.
Not a fan of athletics Mr. Jones? Personal I see nothing wrong with it. The guy is a sports fan, people act like because something changes in their lives:kids, new job/position, religious conversion whatever that all the sudden they are supposed to be this new person overnight. I disagree you are whatever got you to where you are, now with religious conversion yeah your supposed to try and be a better person, but your still not somebody new overnight. The man has played basketball the whole time he was a senator, and is working on a way to include that in the white house. He’s a basketball fan, it humanizes him and shows hey he has an important job but once the tie comes off he does do some of the same stuff we do.
I think maybe you cartoonists and caricaturists weren’t ready for the challenge his presidency brought onto you. In this world (not just this country) we have a lot of stuff we shoved under the carpet time to deal with it, just like comedians your job is to force us to deal with it but you have to observe the line. If you ae gonna take a running leap over the line you just have to make sure you CYA by having a damn good reason and it better be thought out. The I didn’t know bit will not pass muster.