July 24, 2015

Obama rambles, dredging up his old line "I don't get too high when it's high and I don't get too low when it's low."

From the full transcript of the BBC interview:
You know the - it's interesting - that one of my - every president, every leader has strengths and weaknesses. One of my strengths is I have a pretty even temperament. I don't get too high when it's high and I don't get too low when it's low. And what I found during the course of the presidency, and I suppose this is true in life, is that investments and work that you make back here sometimes take a little longer than the 24-hour news cycle to bear fruit. So some of this is just some serendipity and convergence of a lot of things that we had been working on for a very long time coming together. But some of it is I also believe a recognition that the kind of gridlock and obstruction that that Congress and the Republicans in Congress too often have engaged in is something that we just can't afford at a time when the world is moving so fast and there are so many challenges. And the robust exertion of executive authority within the the lawful constraints that we operate under is something that we've been spending a lot of time thinking about....
 Here's my blog post from April 2008, "I don't get too high when I'm high, and I don't get too low when I'm low."
That's Barack Obama, on "Fox News Sunday," responding to the prompt: "What have you learned about running for President? What have you learned about yourself?" He says: "I've learned that I have what I believe is the right temperament for the presidency."
The line has one odd change. Back then, he said "when I'm high" and "when I'm low," and now he's saying "when it's high" and "when it's low." A meaningful change? The conditions of highness/lowness are now externalized, an "it." Before, he was referring to the low-to-high range within himself. But we can see that through all these years, he's treasured — or wanted us to treasure — this quality of temperament

40 comments:

JackWayne said...

I.E., Obama believes himself to be superhuman. He doesn't get mad. He doesn't get excited. The Perfect President. Isn't he ALWAYS the Best Man at any gathering?

Tank said...

He's a psychopath. They don't have feelings.

How else could he lie all day every day?

Oso Negro said...

"The robust exertion of executive authority within the the lawful constraints that we operate under is something that we've been spending a lot of time thinking about...."

Obama's robust exertion of executive authority is something I have been spending a lot of time thinking about also. I am just struggling to find the "within lawful constraints" part of the statement.

Sammy Finkelman said...

The pronoun in "when it's high" and "when it's low is referring to his temperament.

Sammy Finkelman said...

Obama will of course say that what he is doing is within his lawful authority even when that may be questionable and not obvious.

Sammy Finkelman said...

Obama himself wonders at the way he doesn't get angry, he doesn't get depressed, and he doesn't get overconfident. Other people have commented on the way he is "No Drama Obama." He can't explain it. Or he doesn't want to.

Deb said...

I see that as detachment, which was my first impression of him.

Sebastian said...

"the robust exertion of executive authority within the the lawful constraints that we operate under is something that we've been spending a lot of time thinking about"

Century-long Prog pursuit of power in a nutshell, constraints be damned.

A narcissistic psychopath indeed has the right temperament for it. The one true thing O has said as Pres.

Matt Sablan said...

Maybe someone on his team said, "Hey boss, maybe you should avoid saying "When I'm high," because if taken out of context, given your background, it could be awkward."

That or he's just now not talking about himself, but what he oversees. Before, he was invested in himself as Obama, the Candidate. Now, he's Obama, Leader of the Free World -- so he needs a bit larger perspective than just me-me-me.

Or just, sometimes people say things differently for no reason.

Bay Area Guy said...

There's a story that Reagan's first cabinet meeting was very brief. "Gentlemen," he said, "I'd like to do 2 things: (1) cut taxes and (2) beat the Soviet Union. Let's get to work." Then, he left.

With Obama, his sole objective is to redistribute American wealth and power from the haves to the nots. He can't express this though for political reasons, which is why his words and speeches are often a vague mess. The closest he's come to truly expressing what he believes is when he smugly asserted "you didn't build that." That was one of the few true expressions of what he believes. Successful hard-working people didn't earn it and for the downtrodden, well it's not their fault.

Nobody cares about your highs and lows, Mr. President. We care about the country and its values.

William said...

The only man on earth with enough reason, experience, and balance to judge the Presidency of Barack Obama is Obama. His presidency will not be fairly judged until the publication of his memoirs several years hence. The Republicans and Iranians will appear as composite characters.

Big Mike said...

Obama is thin-skinned and as petulant as a two-year old brat who's been told he can't have candy before dinner.

Anonymous said...

Tank said...
He's a psychopath. They don't have feelings.

How else could he lie all day every day?

7/24/15, 8:10 AM

DING...DING....DING....

TRUTH OF THE DAY!!!

FleetUSA said...

Funny, he complains often of grid lock but he rarely has reached out to negotiate solutions to problems. For him it is his way or the highway (i.e. executive decrees).

Wince said...

I'm not exactly sure what the connection is between his temperament and the alleged need to arrogate to himself dictatorial powers, other than he's saying he's the kind of 'benign dictator' Americans want.

And doesn't the polarization at the heart of that putative gridlock reflect Obama's long investment in dividing the country along racial, regional and other fault lines and beguiling the public with the vast difference between what he says and what he does?

All that took a little time, or as Obama says:

"I suppose this is true in life, is that investments and work that you make back here sometimes take a little longer than the 24-hour news cycle to bear fruit".

Obama is a truly evil man.

Scott said...

Who acquires marijuana for President Obama's consumption? Does the Secret Service have a "weed detail" for this purpose?

Michael K said...

The change in the quote can be explained by the fact that he has not been able to smoke as much weed with all the Secret Service around. That will change when he leaves office and he will choose a Secret Service team that likes to smoke weed too. Then, he will be back to "when I'm high."

Michael K said...

Beat me to it, Scott.

MayBee said...

Don't we all think Obama is probably on the Spectrum?

MayBee said...

Obama loves to talk about Obama. The odd thing is how much the press wants to hear about Obama, and how much they want to tell us about Obama's thoughts and lifestyle.

Scott said...

@Michael K: It's really obvious that President Obama is still mentally and emotionally invested in weed culture.

I was gonna talk to Iran but then I got high
Stop the nuclear development but I got high
Now they laugh at me and I know why
'Cause I got high
Because I got high
Because I got high

Unknown said...

Oh, he's on the spectrum alright. Nothing exists but he. The rest of creation is just a collection of props.

Wince said...

I've Been High

What I want
What I really want is
Just to live my life on high.

And I know
I know you want the same
I can see it in your eyes.

I've been high
I've climbed so high
but life sometimes
it washes over me.

Washes over me
Close my eyes so I can see
make my make-believe believe in me.

Roughcoat said...

Not a psychopath. A liar. Or simply self-deluding. He often exhibits peevishness when thwarted. He becomes irritable. It's my understanding that he is easily angered when told he's wrong or when people disagree with him. Which belies his self-assessment of not getting too high or too low. He fancies himself a cool customer, always in control. But he's anything but.

Roughcoat said...

He's basically an only child from a broken home who never achieved anything of note as a result of talent and hard work. He's risen in life because of his race and because influential people have greased the wheels for him at every turn. It isn't that he's incompetent but rather that he has no particular competence at anything other than to convince people he's something that he isn't. He knows this and he knows that he hasn't really earned all the breaks that he's received and I think this knowledge torments him, after a fashion. He knows he's more or less a fraud and a phony it pisses him off.

I've known people like this. I know some now. I suspect we all do. They all have certain personality traits in common. There's no mystery to it. They are transparent if you care to actually look at them. Look through them.

That's my take on things and I'm stickin' to it.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I can't wait til the insider books start to come out. We will learn, I bet, that Obama and FLOTUS are angry screamers and Valerie Jarrett is one big resentful racist. And that Obama is a bit mentally unbalanced.

Anonymous said...

Don't mistake his calm appearing demeanor for that of a mature man, spiritually at peace, and wise beyond his years. He just doesn't give a rip about much of anything.

Fritz said...

So, today's theme is dicks?

Scott said...

If President Obama worked in your warehouse, would you allow him to operate a forklift?

Scott said...

Hey, an idea: Before the Fox News presidential debates, ask every candidate to take the same drug test that Home Depot requires for job applicants.

Roughcoat said...

Ask them to take the same polygraph test administered to government workers in sensitive jobs (e.g., CIA, NSA, etc.).

dbp said...

"One of my strengths is I have a pretty even temperament. I don't get too high when it's high and I don't get too low when it's low."

Obama pretty much just oscillates between peevish and arrogant.

Phil 314 said...

Well he's never been high in my opinion.


(Does that sentence need a comma?)

averagejoe said...

LOL! President Pissy-pants declares he has a "first-class temperament". Like we've never seen him act like a fucking baby and whine like a bitch when he's challenged. He's full of shit.

Sprezzatura said...

I don't see rambling in this excerpt. Maybe there's rambling in the full comments.

It looks to me like BHO uses "it's", and then explains what "it's" is. It's a high when things come together and he uses executive authority. It's a low when Congress is a yuge disaster of idiots. That last phrase may be more in line with our next POTUS, who could be considered more temperamental than BHO.

Seems easy to follow.


Paul said...

When you are as low class as Obama... any high is better than no high.

Hope for change... for God knows we need it.

Zach said...

He has a noticeably nasty side when he thinks that he is being disrespected or thwarted. However, for whatever reason, he does not take his administration's many failures personally.

Say what you like about Nixon, but if Henry Kissinger came back from a negotiation with a deal as bad as the Iran deal, the transcript would be full of EXPLETIVE DELETEDs.

Obama has a unique ability to get worked up about stupid, trivial stuff and bored by important things. This is not a strength.

Zach said...

There is a common psychological defense mechanism among immature, insecure people. They give less than their best effort, so they feel that failure isn't really their failure.

In my opinion, Barack Obama is far too ready to write off avoidable failures as somehow being beyond his control. He doesn't get too high or low because he persuades himself that it isn't his fault. We would be much better off with a president who took failure personally.

bgates said...

One of my strengths is I have a pretty even temperament, which is why you can tell I'm always sincere every time I let you know that nobody is madder than me about something or other.

Charlie said...

2017 can't come soon enough.