Pirate's Cove

I’ll admit it. I did not watch President Neophytes soiree last night. More interesting things on TV, plus, I make my living talking. And listening to someone go “uh, uh, ah, um, ah” on a constant basis (can’t listen to Gibbs, either) makes me do it. But, maybe he was better, since he had Mr. Teleprompter with him, obviously a spot of amusement, or maybe that should be derision, for the AP: Analysis: Teleprompter telegraphs Obama caution

What kind of politician brings a teleprompter to a news conference?

A careful one.

President Barack Obama took no chances in his second prime-time news conference, reading a prepared statement in which he took both sides of the AIG bonus brouhaha and asked an anxious nation for its patience. (snip)

It was a carefully modulated statement, and Obama — relying on a familiar crutch — read it off a flat-screen monitor perched at the back of the East Room.

The teleprompter was no help during the question-and-answer session (reporters don’t signal their intentions), but Obama was no less careful during that give and take. (snip)

One of the few times he summoned raw emotion came after a reporter demanded to know why it took him so long to express outrage over the AIG executive bonuses.

“It took a couple of days because I like to know what I’m talking about before I speak.”

Even better, he likes to have it up on the teleprompter.

Anyone who thinks Ron Fournier and the AP are going to recieve plenty of hate mail from the Left over this? And, as we all know, hate mail from the left usually involves thinks like “please die.” MyDD is not amused, nor is The Anonymous Liberal, and expect the commenters to get nasy. The Other McCain is amused, though. And the NY Times points out how the speech went down

Instead, in his second prime-time news conference from the White House, it was Barack Obama the lecturer, a familiar character from early in the campaign. Placid and unsmiling, he was the professor in chief, offering familiar arguments in long paragraphs — often introduced with the phrase, “as I said before” — sounding like the teacher speaking in the stillness of a classroom where students are restlessly waiting for the ring of the bell.

And we all like to be spoken to in that way, right?

More: apparently, the big dogs at the LA Times are either hopped up on Mezcal, or, they have lost that hopeychangey feeling (sing it Tom Cruise and Goose!)

Barack Obama’s delivery of no news is quite smooth

(Obama) made no notable news and did so quite smoothly. Unless sticking by his guns over cutting charitable deductions is news. (snip)

Gone from the presidential podium were the ubiquitous, much-noted teleprompters that gave rise to embarrassing suggestions that Obama needs to be fed his words to avoid Special Olympics or Nancy Reagan gaffes. In the twin teleprompters’ place? A larger teleprompter in the back of the room where no one watching on TV could see it.

Andrew Malcolm should be in for some serious hate mail, eh? He also goes on to note the way Obama held forth in order to reduce the questions asked to 13 in 57 minutes, as well as plenty of other shots.