Little-Acorn
03-09-2009, 02:04 PM
I though this was an article from The Onion when I first saw it. But apparently President Obama actually said the things it quotes here... and even made a highly unusual, special phone call to reporters just for the purpose.
Was he tired when he said these things too?
What on Earth is going on with this guy?
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http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/joe-curl/2009/Mar/08/obama-makes-oval-office-call-reporters/
Obama makes Oval Office call to reporters
Joe Curl (View Blog)
POSTED March 08 2009 9:48 AM
President Obama was so concerned that he had appeared to dismiss a question from New York Times reporters about whether he was a socialist that he called the newspaper from the Oval Office to clarify his policies.
"It was hard for me to believe that you were entirely serious about that socialist question," he told reporters, who had interviewed the president aboard Air Force One on Friday.
Opening the unusual presidential call to reporters by saying that there was "just one thing I was thinking about as I was getting on the copter," he said it wasn't he who started the federal government's intervention into the nation's financial system.
"I did think it might be useful to point out that it wasn’t under me that we started buying a bunch of shares of banks. It wasn’t on my watch. And it wasn’t on my watch that we passed a massive new entitlement -– the prescription drug plan -- without a source of funding."
The New York Times asked, "So whose watch are we talking about here?" but Obama wouldn't name names.
(snip)
The phone call came after the president was asked aboard his plane: "Are you a socialist as some people have suggested?"
He was clear in his first answer: "You know, let’s take a look at the budget – the answer would be no."
"Is there anything wrong with saying, 'Yes'?" a Times reporter pressed.
"Let’s just take a look at what we’ve done," Obama said, ticking off efforts his administration has made to stabilize the economy. But he acknowledged that, as he told Joe the Plumber, he plans to try to spread the wealth around.
Was he tired when he said these things too?
What on Earth is going on with this guy?
-----------------------------------------------------------
http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/joe-curl/2009/Mar/08/obama-makes-oval-office-call-reporters/
Obama makes Oval Office call to reporters
Joe Curl (View Blog)
POSTED March 08 2009 9:48 AM
President Obama was so concerned that he had appeared to dismiss a question from New York Times reporters about whether he was a socialist that he called the newspaper from the Oval Office to clarify his policies.
"It was hard for me to believe that you were entirely serious about that socialist question," he told reporters, who had interviewed the president aboard Air Force One on Friday.
Opening the unusual presidential call to reporters by saying that there was "just one thing I was thinking about as I was getting on the copter," he said it wasn't he who started the federal government's intervention into the nation's financial system.
"I did think it might be useful to point out that it wasn’t under me that we started buying a bunch of shares of banks. It wasn’t on my watch. And it wasn’t on my watch that we passed a massive new entitlement -– the prescription drug plan -- without a source of funding."
The New York Times asked, "So whose watch are we talking about here?" but Obama wouldn't name names.
(snip)
The phone call came after the president was asked aboard his plane: "Are you a socialist as some people have suggested?"
He was clear in his first answer: "You know, let’s take a look at the budget – the answer would be no."
"Is there anything wrong with saying, 'Yes'?" a Times reporter pressed.
"Let’s just take a look at what we’ve done," Obama said, ticking off efforts his administration has made to stabilize the economy. But he acknowledged that, as he told Joe the Plumber, he plans to try to spread the wealth around.