April 4, 2010

"'Look at the steam in the man’s stride!' exclaimed Chris Matthews."

Frank Rich gushes by quoting Chris Matthews gushing about what amazing man Barack Obama is.

But "Look at the steam in the man’s stride!"? Now, we know all about Matthews and the "thrill going up my leg." And now here he is getting all excited about Obama's striding legs. But what's with "the steam." Do you really want people to perceive gusts blowing out as you walk? It's a rather... farty image, isn't it?

But the idea is how powerful and confident Obama seems these days. That's what Rich is talking about. And I'm thinking, is that the origin of the phrase "full of beans"?

***

This post would be so much better  if I could find a video clip of the great George Carlin demonstrating walking and farting.

54 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMX8L7Yxyfk

George Carlin "Farting In Public"

Anonymous said...

Obama's "steam" is just a "test fart."

Anonymous said...

Obama's "steam" is merely "shit, without the mess."

lemondog said...

Interview outtake

Ann Althouse said...

@New Ham I found that too, but it's not what I'm looking for, which is the one where he walks and farts. He walks back and forth across the stage farting with each stride. One of the funniest things I've ever seen, in part because he's a grown man completely committed to demonstrating a pretty childish observation.

Chennaul said...

The first "hit" you get when you google "steam in his stride" is this badly written Western bodice ripper porn.

Link

Seems like something Matthews would read.

TmjUtah said...

Whenever I stumble upon video of Matthews speaking of Obama, I cannot help but hear chicken thighs being slapped together.

And if you get that, you spend way too much time on the internet...

AllenS said...

Steam in the man's stride is another concept I don't understand. Would running be considered a full boil?

Unknown said...

Obama's approval numbers are going steadily down. If there's any spring in Obama's step, it's because he's running away from that.

A daily speech mocking the opposition does not sound like confidence to me.

Meade said...

Frank Rich concludes: "[...T]he enigmatic, Rorschach-test phase of Obama’s still young relationship to the American people may rapidly draw to a close. It will be the moment of clarity that allows us to at last judge him, as we should all presidents, on what he’s actually done rather than on who we imagine he is."

The "moment of clarity," for many of us, came well before November 2008 - when we accurately judged him, "as we should all president[ial candidates]," on what he'd actually done rather than on who far too many voters imagined him to be.

Chennaul said...

This is just Matthews imagining Obama as the little steam engine that could.

Chennaul said...

It's weird you only get about eleven hits when you google-"steam in his stride" and about eight when you google "steam in their stride".

traditionalguy said...

His stride directed at a target is a diplay of aggressiveness by a warrior. That is what the leftards were griping about being missing in their Boy King's demeanor until two weeks ago. The trouble is that this is another lie. He never shows us his real personality. He is doing a modified Chavez performance this week.Why should he be consistant to any standard of truth if the media is backing up every burp and fart as coming from the genius of a god-man.

mesquito said...

I like to think of it as the Arrogant Texas Cowboy Strut, which was a Bob Wills hit in 1938.

wombat said...

the good news is he didn't say "astride"

wombat said...

or "stream"

Chennaul said...

Why is it that when it comes to Obama everything happens below the belt line for Matthews?

wombat said...

would it be condensating to say Obama gives Matthews the vapors?

Anonymous said...

A God!, I tell you. He's a God!

Irene said...

Why is it that when it comes to Obama everything happens below the belt line for Matthews?

Because everthing is a BFD.

Chennaul said...

Irene-

The DNC really did that?

I thought it was an April Fool's joke.

wow.

Irene said...

@madawaskan If it was an April Fool's prank, then I've been fooled!

(It wouldn't be the first time.)

Anonymous said...

Obama and his fans need to read Shelly's poem Ozymandias.

OZYMANDIAS

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

wombat said...

oh that steaming in the crease...

wombat said...

new deal with crat pack style is very exciting

Chennaul said...

Irene-

No it's me that's the fool for thinking they can't be that jerky-

Here's the link where you, erh mean Ritmo can buy the shirt:

http://store.democrats.org/health-care/men-s-health-reform-is-a-bfd-t-shirt-5.html

Chennaul said...

tse-

Didn't Matthews get bit by the fly...that probably makes him fool blooded Liberal.

Irene said...

@madawaskan Haha! I am *definitely* not Ritmo!

Unknown said...

The steam is what has been has been coming out of The Zero's mouth since the '08 primaries.

madawaskan said...

The first "hit" you get when you google "steam in his stride" is this badly written Western bodice ripper porn.

Oh, brother!

I think Louis L'Amour's place in the hearts of Americans is safe.

Titus said...

Love Frank Rich.

Jewish, Harvard educated upper West Side Liberal. it doesn't get any more fab than that.

Unknown said...

Titus: Plus a flamer.

Titus said...

Well maybe unemployed 50 something tea party gardener.

dbp said...

That phrase makes me think of some Victorian Steam-punk type robot: At once frightening and comical.

Chennaul said...

edutcher-

It's pretty damn bad isn't it?

Clint (Obama) steaming after the gal, Sarah-who's sorta riding a horse...ugh-it's down hill from there.

Chennaul said...

Irene-

Na, I just meant you wouldn't want to buy one but Ritmo might, and Ritmo ain't even Ritmo he's Montana.

(It's confusing around here.)

Irene said...

madawaskan said, it's confusing around here.

No kidding! Just ask someone in the thread above.

Meade said...

Titus said...
Well maybe unemployed 50 something tea party gardener

Flirting. Tsk tsk. Watch it there, Titus.

You, a married man!

JAL said...

I am sure someone has referenced the WaPo article about how full of steam he was in Charlotte the other night.

Even Anne Kornblut has his dazing out the people. (Wonder if any were wondering where the sea-changing-hope-and-change-soaring-rhetoric guy from 2008 was?)

I am waiting for an I-me-my count from someone any minute now.

"Steam" is not what this guy has driving him. (Does Mathews not see what an idiot he is looking / sounding like? Good grief Chris! Get a grip! Are you having an affair yet?)

JAL said...

Quayle -- nobody on Team Obama reads dead white men.

rhhardin said...

The scheme is tried; and shall it prosper too?
Yes; what can't STEAM and gold united do?
Near the commencement of Victoria's reign,
Both SEA-CHIEFS started on th' Atlantic main;
While all the merchantmen they met or pass'd,
Long looks of wonder on the HEORES cast;
Their proud, majestic march, their stately air,
Their god-like prowess, and their length of car,
Made gazers all, with great reluctance, see
Their own comparative nonentity.

- T.Baker (fl. 1837-1857)

"The Mr. Baker who was fond of steam"

Irene said...

JAL said,

Does Mathews not see what an idiot he is looking / sounding like?

Probably not, but here's Byron York, who explores Chris Matthews's assessment of the "troublesome" Limbaugh and use of the word "regime."

(In case you had not seen this yet today.)

Always On Watch said...

Chris Matthews has a crush on BHO. Sheesh.

JAL said...

rh -
ditto.

kentuckyliz said...

Chrissy sees Obama's feline springy movements as a piston.

The American people feel pist on.

MamaM said...

What about the steam that starts coming out of Obama's ears whenever things don't go his way?

Regarding the image: I'm picturing a steady release of built up vapor, like the stream of steam that comes from a boiling tea kettle or a hot air vaporizer. Bursts of steam, the kind my iron delivers upon request, would better fit the farty image.

IMO the big explosion is still coming.

"A boiler is a closed vessel...A boiler that has a loss of feed water and is permitted to boil dry can be extremely dangerous. If feed water is then sent into the empty boiler, the small cascade of incoming water instantly boils on contact with the superheated metal shell and leads to a violent explosion that cannot be controlled even by safety steam valves." from the Wiki

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

"Look at the steam in the man’s stride!' exclaimed Chris Matthews."

Meet the teabagee, Chris Matthews.

dick said...

The commenters to that column are unbelievable. Where do they find these people. Do they pay any attention to what is happening in the world at all?

Michael Haz said...

Chrissy's been watching 1970s television again.

Freeman Hunt said...

Fainting over fascists.

"Golly, he just seems so powerful--it just has me reeling."

Somebody leave out the smelling salts for Matthews.

And yes, his phrasing causes one to picture Obama's bottom half as a steam engine powered by farts.

Michael Haz said...

Or maybe Obama was just trying out the new Ronco Steam Strider, as seen on TV. Only $49.95 if you call now. Operators are standing by.

Michael Haz said...

And yes, his phrasing causes one to picture Obama's bottom half as a steam engine powered by farts.

Maybe we should organize the Million Beano March.

Penny said...

"Old" buggers like me and Matthews, tend to conger up images from our childhoods to form analogies. Trains were a big deal to little kids like us.

Trains were mighty symbols, in that they moved people from "here to there" through the sheer power of the steam engine that pulled all the rest of the cars, PLUS the caboose, which some of us found WAY more "romantic" a concept. Some gathering of people always stood at the end of the train, waving...

At who or what, we were never quite sure, except they all lived "happily ever after"...quite oblivious to the work horse steam engine that was leading the way, arriving nearly on time, quite dirty and full of soot.

Those in the caboose stepped off the train, with a royal wave.

To Chris Matthews: We share a love for trains, and steam engines.

Chennaul said...

Michael Haz-

LOL!