The book offers a scathing view of Obama as an inexperienced president in over his head, lacking leadership skills and yielding to aides who often disagreed with one another. The White House has moved quickly to assert that the book is full of misquotations and other mistakes, and offers an inaccurate assessment of the administration. – Politico
Okay. This has finally reached critical mass, with the Obama White House reaction making Ron Suskind’s new book news.
After the glowing media reviews, not to mention standing ovations in print from Richard Wolffe and Jonathan Alter, the Obama White House has come to expect adulation. Ron Suskind has evidently done the unthinkable and delivered a critical view, at least from all evidence leaked so far.
At another point in the book Summers tells Orszag, “We’re home alone. There’s no adult in charge. Clinton would never have made these mistakes.’ – Jake Tapper
Clinton? How about Mr. Summers not making these mistakes. Let’s also remember this is a man who was jettisoned from Harvard because he thought women couldn’t handle science. …and still Obama put him in charge.
Ron Suskind, who will be on “Morning Joe” tomorrow, has reportedly delivered something quite different. Mika Brzezinski was clearly incensed this morning over several quotes, but the White House cooperated, so unless Mr. Suskind is lying they’ve got a real pr problem, which has already been proven.
“‘The president has a real woman problem’ was the assessment of another high-ranking female official. ‘The idea of the boys’ club being just Larry and Rahm isn’t fair. He [Obama] was just as responsible himself.’ … ‘[L]ooking back,’ recalled Anita Dunn, when asked about it nearly two years later, ‘this place would be in court for a hostile workplace … Because it actually fit all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace to women.’” – Mike Allen
Christina Romer, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, is also quoted as saying, “I felt like a piece of meat,” when Larry Summers dissed her, not including her in a meeting.
At a time when Obama’s poll numbers are sagging, to put it mildly, what is being described as a scathing look at Obama’s leadership on the economy could be a problem simply because it fits the current narrative.
They’ve had to spend days rebutting Suskind, which continued today just as the President was rolling out his big reelection pitch.
Awkward.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! What, did they think cause he’s a GUY he would just go along?!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Gee, guess the misogyny didn’t stop after the primary huh?! BWAHAHAHAHA!
This is crass but apropos:
At a Dartmouth frat there was an initiation ritual called a circle jerk. The pledges were put in a room with an Oreo cookie in the middle. The were told to jerk-off on the cookie and the last one to cum had to eat the cookie. The lights were turned off and the pledges were left in the room with the cookie. Then, after a minute or so, the frat brothers rushed in, turned on the lights and took pictures of all the pledges jerking-oFf.
All the people who didn’t heed the warnings about Mr. Obama’s inexperience and his votes of ‘present’ have now been exposed as the jerk-offs that they are.
I am a fan of Suskind’s work and am lookingf orward to reading his book. Dunn is backpeddling big time now. She so reaks of establishment.
There are books that are written about every administration so I take it as such. However, the part about the “woman problem”, if true, doesn’t surprise me. I felt this was the case during the primary. Obama seemed to be surrounded by adoring men fans in his circle – I didn’t see many women. At least that’s how it appeared to me.
Anita Dunn was the White House advisor who stupidly said that the 2009 Stimulus plan would result in unemployment dropping to 8% by the end Obama’s fist year in ofice. The Republicans have been hanging the 8% unemployment rate around the adminitration like an anchor ever since she made that foolish claim. She was asked to resign and properly did so.
These tell-all books are always quoting disgruntuled ex-advisors whose resignations were asked for by any Adminstration, including Lary Sommers and Anita Dunn.
I like Suskind’s work as well. However, on the clip of Morning Joe that I saw he did not distinguish himself as being very different from Summers where women are concerned.
Why do you say this Ramsgate? Did you think he was disrespectful of Mika? I’ll have to rewatch (I was only half awake on the west coast). I really like Mika (and Joe)… but Mika seems to think it is her job to present the Obama talking points, as sent to her each morning, verbatim. She’s often just a smidge more critical of Obama than Rev. Sharpten……… His show is a joke in my view (as much as I like him).
@Whitepaw: Do I think he was disrespectful of Mika? Well, given what he had written about women in the Obama White House, some people could interpret one of his responses to Mika as extremely condescending and not a member of the boy’s club. In responding to one of her questions he said something to the effect: My book contains some 500 pages; “I don’t know if you’ve ever written one of those. We make corrections as we go along. . . .” And so forth.