August 1, 2009 7:29 AM
Obama - presidential body language? Manners? Compassion?
See Doug Ross for First Pitch Analysis. The men in your house will probably like this too.
Now on to the UGH! Beer Summit:
I know I've spent a lot of time on the Beer summit, but it says so much about the character (or lack thereof) of the man a majority of voters deemed worthy of leading this nation.
First of all, how rude to invite people for a beer at 6:00 and then shuttle them back to the airport. They should have been offered a meal, not pretzels and peanuts at the back door.
Then note Obama and Biden (surprise!) in rolled up shirt sleeves, with Obama draped casually back in his chair (as admired by Gates' daughter in her snarky column at The Daily Beast about the event, in which she ridiculed Crowley's 14-year-old daughter and accused Crowley of lying - and how's that racial awareness money train payin' off for you, sister?).
Body language can be subtle, but this studied casualness reeks of arrogance. It says "I'm the Alpha Male here." Think about it: can you imagine Crowley in that position? No, because this is a study in power.
Which is why Obama did not invite his guests to take off their jackets or to be comfortable. The only surprise is that Gates wasn't invited to stay after Crowley left, but I guess that would have been too obvious. Then again, Gates is on his way back to Martha's Vineyard - vacation home to our nation's elite, and the next stop on the Obama Great Family Adventure as they have rented a 20 million dollar property for the month of August.
I can only imagine how much Crowley was supposed to be squirming in his seat as the "lower class policeman" among these well-paid and "highly educated" elites. From what we have seen of him, he seems to be made of finer moral stock than our president, who lords it over his lessers, exaggerating his right to be casual while they would need his permission to remove their jackets, even in the hot sun and humidity of DC in July.
I know the deficits that come from growing up in a broken home where good manners and concern for others are not taught from the youngest years. You find yourself struggling to learn them when you grow up. But my goodness, this man is President of the United States - can't someone give him a remedial course? Then again, Obama strikes me as pretty much unteachable.
Final body language study:
I thought Gates was Obama's friend? This looks like "Well, glad this is over with and I can get on with my REAL life." Notice Crowley is helping Gates down the step, gentleman that he has so far shown himself to be.
Thomas Lifson notes at the American Thinker:
In my own dealings with the wealthy and powerful, I have always found that the way to quickly capture the moral essence of a person is to watch how they treat those who are less powerful. Do they understand that the others are also human beings with feelings? Especially when they think nobody is looking. ~HT:Margaret
But really, who needs words? As Rod Stewart sang, "Every picture tells a story."
A great lesson for kids.
Posted in Obama Nation | Permalink
Comments
I'm glad you bring these pictures up--I was screaming at the tv when I first saw them--Obama and Biden sitting casually in their (rolled up!)shirt sleeves while Gates and Crowley have to squirm in their hot suit coats so that they can show proper respect to their "betters". I wanted to scream again when I read Gates' daughters article and she mentions that her father will be going back for further private meetings--because really he is one of the "elites" who can "discuss" the issue intelligently whereas Crowley is just an lowly policeman.
Posted by: haley | August 1, 2009 8:41 AM
I like Obama as a person but don't agree with some of his policies.
I think he got himself into a tough situation and was doing the best he could to remediate his slip of the tongue.
Maybe a meal would have been overdoing the relationship. It might have been too uncomfortable, when the focus of the meeting was reconciliation. I cut Obama some slack. I think the shirtsleeves were an attempt to make the other two feel comfortable. I did wonder why Biden was there. He doesn't seem the middleman type. Maybe Colin Powell would have been a better fit.
Because of the constituencies these two men represent, both have a problem admitting fault, because neither is any longer speaking for only himself. They each represent a community of people. It's an odd situation.
It would be nice to see a follow-up invitation honoring Crowley in the future, to some type of group event where the focus is not that conflict.
Posted by: Julana | August 1, 2009 6:26 PM
"this studied casualness reeks of arrogance."
Absolutely Barbara. You have perfectly articulated just what it is about that picture that makes me cringe.
And I LOVE the quote from American Thinker. So very true.
Posted by: Clare | August 1, 2009 6:34 PM
Right on target Barbara!
Posted by: Kathy | August 1, 2009 9:48 PM
If I only went by that pic of Obama leaning back, I might assume that he was exhibiting arrogance. But I went and watched the video footage of the "summit" and saw him leaning forward probably more than leaning back. I think it's the press that chose that particular pic to make him look confident. It's the same as that other pic that was making the rounds that made it look like Obama was ogling a woman. But when you watch the actual footage that the pic was taken from, it's obvious that he wasn't ogling her at all (however, Sarkozy was!). I don't deny he is an arrogant man, but I do think making assumptions based on a still is unwise. A picture can say a lot, but it also can be very misleading.
Posted by: Kim | August 2, 2009 4:50 PM
