It’s not often I praise the BBC, but can I say how refreshing it was to read the comment made by the BBC’s Matthew Price about the following events from Barack Obama’s campaigning?
Here’s the vid, followed by the text (I have made some minor adaptions for this site’s purposes). The original item is here.
“This has now happened too many times not to mention it.
Barack Obama lost it again today.
Today, the autocue went down.
Now yes, Barack Obama doesn’t like the autocue, he’s not particularly good at reading from it.
And yes, it is hard to speak flawlessly for 20 minutes or so to a crowd of thousands.
And yes, the campaign trail is grueling, he must be tired, I don’t know how he does it.
And yes, he’s up against one of the best orators the modern world has seen.
BUT, surely he should be able to busk the emotional appeal about a young boy in need of healthcare, the part that he should speak from the heart if the teleprompter goes down?
As the Republican pollster Frank Luntz put it in an interview recently (less charitably than me): “Stevie Wonder reads the teleprompter better than Barack Obama.”
Today Barack Obama stumbled, repeated phrases, read from the page, then looked up to the screen and re-read them.
Maybe I’m being unfair, but this is a man who is running for the top job in the country, one of the most important jobs in the world.
Does his inability to think on his feet, to go off the page, count against him?
This is his pitch to the US electorate about why they should vote for him. Surely he should be able to deliver it without notes?
Frankly today, I cringed when he stumbled, and felt embarrassed for him.”
So what are the chances that Ohbamisms will be elevated to the same mythical status as Bushisms?
Nice going Ed!
Nearly had me believing it.
Funny that, Obama without his teleprompter is a bit like a pimp without a whore.
Wonder why El Beeb doesnt waffle on about “The Ones” ™ stumbles when his prompter falls over. Then agian, I guess that goes against the narrative doesnt it?
Mailman
Ok, so I went and conducted some scientific analysis of the reports being carried by Matthew Price (covering McCains campaign) and Gavin Hewitt (covering Obama’s campaign).
This is scientific, because I say it is 🙂
Anyway, Price’s coverage is 100% negative towards McCain. Reading his blog entries leaves one wondering whether this guys sees his posting as being a form of punishment!
Hewitts coverage of Obama on the other hand is singularly gushing. I would imagine Hewitt would be first inline to be impregnated by Obama if he ever got the chance.
So much for even handed reporting eh. Then again, what did you expect from El Beeb?
Mailman
Actually, Ive just clicked on to it.
El Beeb is trying to convince americans in the UK who to vote for, hence the overwhelmingly positive coverage Obama gets compared to the absolute opposite McCain gets.
Mailman
Ed ! It’s not clear from your text that you are being deeply ironic because the original story was about McCain…. you could at least put a clue in at the end (because I nearly didn’t click through)
I guess this is one clip which won’t make it on to the BBC. Just imagine if it had been Sarah Palin, they would be showing it all day, every day.
I loved the bit where Obama confuses a ventilator with a breathalyser. Hilarious !
I must disagree with you, D Burbage. It is funnier as it is now. I clicked through *because* I was so amazed that the BBC was at last reporting Obama’s gaffes as well as McCain’s (so I thought).
However, Ed should put a blank line between the line of text just above the picture and the picture itself. If your eyes aren’t what they used to be it is hard to see that “here” is underlined as being a link.
oh, it’s funny ! My point was that not everyone will click through and as such will believe that Ed is complimenting the Beeb…
Can somebody who is already on the BBC blog post the link to Obama’s teleprompt crashes in order to see if it is permitted to see The One and his inability to think on his feet. Let us know how you get on.
Yep, got me too!
Of course the final word on Obama the Great Orator is available over here:
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/page/9/
And Matthew Price is the Beeboid who has been assigned to follow McCain around. Just the other day (as bettyangelo pointed out on another thread) he was gently scolding the US for abandoning its desire to try new ideas, such as socialism. He lamented that United Statesians say “socialism” as if it were a bad word.
Meanwhile Gavin Hewitt has been posting Democrat talking points, denigrating people who didn’t like The Obamessiah, and generally going after low-hanging fruit. His latest entry is just another boring entry in the BBC’s campaign to set the stage for accusations of a stolen election, nasty voter suppression, etc., and anything else to prepare the audience to believe that any McCain victory is invalid.
From reading Hewitt and listening to the rest of the BBC, McCain would only win due to two reasons: racism, and/or a stolen election because the nasty Republicans stopped blacks and poor people from voting.
You almost had me fooled, but then I realised that not even one anti-Obama article will be allowed by the BBC until he is safely in the White House.
That other trick played on gullible Obama worshippers in the form of blatant policy-switching, proved that hardly anybody knows or cares about policies.
People just religiously support Obama. Why? Well. um, because he represents hope you can believe in. And change.
This vacuous rhetoric provides us with a space into which we can all project our own wishful thoughts. Fill this space with your own fantasy and a one-size-fits-all paradise awaits O voters.
Despite his fluency malfunctions he is known as a great orator. Somehow it is accepted that he is ‘inspirational.’ Somehow it is accepted that he is black. We deny what we see before our very eyes.
In a mirror image of McCain’s emergency campaign-suspension/ failed attempt to save America from economic meltdown, surely Obama’s own campaign-suspension dilemma was a no brainer.
To suspend or not to suspend? Surely ‘tis nobler in the mind to visit granny. So self-sacrificial, risking loss of momentum, plus added bonus that said ‘compassionate gesture’ also redeems negativity regarding dumping granny.
Cynical perhaps, but the biggest risk to the campaign is probably letting Michelle out.
In a sort of inverted echo of McCain’s campaign-suspension, it should leave people wondering which comes first, America, Obama or granny.
But the BBC tells us to have faith in The One. And we rely on the BBC.
Now yes, Barack Obama doesn’t like the autocue, he’s not particularly good at reading from it.
That’s CRAP. Complete rubbish.
Obama LOVES the autocue. And he is VERY GOOD at reading from it. It’s when it goes down, or is asked a question, that he reveals his true inarticulateness.
Good grief, it McCain who is no good, and hates it.
Reading ignorant, smug, misinformed, nasty comment after ignorant, smug, misinformed, nasty comment on that BBC blog it finally hit me – I will never return to the UK. To be quite frank I hear much the same kind of stupidity and nastiness from former friends back home too. Europeans can flush themselves down the pan of socialism for all I care – if they’re too stupid to learn from the lessons of history then screw em. My deepest sympathies to those of you who still live there and are surrounded by such people.
*rant*
From reading the other responses — it appears that despite what the Who sang — I have been fooled again!
Ha.
Would the footage of Obama’s autocue failure ever be linked from any BBC web page? Please try and post on the BBC’s with that link, somebody, please!
Sock puppet!…no more no less.
Allan@Oslo,
I’ve posted a comment on the BBC article in question, that echoes an earlier post. This post links off to another McCain gaffe on Youtube.
I just copy/pasted his comment & added a link to the clip above. If they don’t publish it then we have proof of bias. It’s awaiting moderation at present.
They’ve posted it!
Anonymous 5:31
Well done ! Now we can take bets as to how long before they delete it.
Grant,
I’ll wager a fiver on under an hour.
Excellent! I’ve just seen it. Let’s see if those Obamaniacs who visit the BBC’s page check the content. It would be like the Iron Curtain collapsing before them.
Anonymous 6:03
Damn, too late to take you up on the bet. It is still there ! And I could have done with a fiver. Would help pay my licence fee.
Reading ignorant, smug, misinformed, nasty comment after ignorant, smug, misinformed, nasty comment on that BBC blog it finally hit me – I will never return to the UK. To be quite frank I hear much the same kind of stupidity and nastiness from former friends back home too. Europeans can flush themselves down the pan of socialism for all I care – if they’re too stupid to learn from the lessons of history then screw em. My deepest sympathies to those of you who still live there and are surrounded by such people.
*rant*
Where are you now Jason?
Robert 7:46
Wherever Jason is , it seems to have two time zones as he posted the same comment twice !
Perhaps they have gone home for the night?
I did want to make the content more obvious, but felt that they had more of a moderation issue if I just copied another successful post with similar tendancies.
I’ve got to explain that the “Glowpod” monicker was an old ruse to trick the lefties into loving me. It sounds so right on! I couldn’t give a damn about glowing pods.
Robert S. McNamara | 23.10.08 – 7:46 pm | #
Grant | 23.10.08 – 7:50 pm | #
I’m in New York. Waiting for a bus on 2nd Ave as it happens. Schools are getting out so it’s chaos. Don’t know how my last comment got posted again, that’s a real mystery!
What the BBC misses out on Obama:
“Obama’s ties to CAIR, Nation of Islam means he would ‘fail the standard security process for Federal employees'”
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/023211.php
Jason 8:54
Don’t know how your comment got posted twice ? It’s the Obama effect !
Jason:
Don’t worry. As soon as Obama gets elected you won’t have to worry returning to Europe to get full on socialism.
You also get the added benefit of watching it grow from it’s very infancy.
For once, we will be 10 years ahead of you!
Also posted a comment containing the heretical and embarrassing Obama clip on the comments at the blog. Awaiting moderation, so we’ll see.
“Mr Price – this link has already been posted above, but I’d truly value your comment: where can I find a BBC article or blog entry similarly ridiculing Obama’s attempts at coherent speech in the following clip? –
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2ek5aVYNi5U
I’ve been trying to find Mr Hewitt’s blog entry on Obama’s frequent verbal stumbling during speeches, but without success. Surely it’s just as newsworthy as McCain’s bumbling? If not, can I ask why not?
After all, you’ve told us that he is one the modern world’s greatest orators, so surely this performance (undeniably far more incompetent and embarrassing than the McCain delivery in the clip you’ve so relished sharing with us) is at least worthy of comment. Or is it your position that Obama is a “great orator”, except when he isn’t, and so when he isn’t, we don’t mention it?
After viewing the Obama clip, Mr Price, I’d love to know your answer to the following question: This is Obama telling voters and the media why they should support him, this is his pitch for the most important job in the world. Doesn’t his inability to remember basic facts and figures, to think on his feet, to go off the page, count against him?
If it doesn’t, Mr Price, if this truly comic and inept performance from Obama doesn’t give you second thoughts about HIS ability to govern, then why have you chosen to apply a different standard to McCain?”
It is simply 100% inconceivable that after seeing this imbecilic performance from Obama, any writer at the BBC would headline a piece “Obama Loses It”. No, if mentioned at all, if it HAD to be mentioned, it would be laughed off. Not held as something that perhaps disqualifies him from being a viable candidate.
We know what John McCain has done with his life, and whatever his failings as a candidate, in drawing attention to minor slips like this and implying that they point to flaws deep enough to render McCain unelectable, Matthew Price (and all those who mock or demonise McCain in the comments that follow the article) show themselves to be nothing but conceited, shameful, dishonourable, ignorant little bullies.
I think it was Gavin Hewitt who also used Obama’s full name ‘Barack Hussein Obama’. This sounds like possible hubris on the BBC’s part that they think they no longer need to worry about using Obama’s Muslim name in full. Hope enough Media Gramscians get this hubris, might swing things!
Well, he forgot the words, and the mainstream media didn’t report it? At least I haven’t read it until now. Just goes to show that another Ivy-Leaguer is writing the words for all of the liberal illuminati, and these promises they’re reciting are not ones they know, nor plan to keep!
Of course the public never heard about this…The MSM is full of liberal left wing illuminati and they have so much power and influence over the public, McCain doesn’t stand a chance against the media…the MSM refuses to report on the news if it doesn’t benefit Obama’s camp, therefore keeping this election from being fair to busy Americans who turn on the tv at night to “catch up” and aren’t getting a realistic account of the news!