TOTUS Misbehaves Again… TOTUS vs. POTUS
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on May 2, 2009
By Vicki McClure Davidson * Frugal Café Blog Zone
TOTUS Misbehaves While POTUS Giving Speech at National Academy of Sciences
Teleprompter of The United States, or as we fondly call it, TOTUS, has been at it again…
From Patriot Post:
Hope ‘n’ Change: Teleprompter Fail
In the latest in a continuing series of teleprompter gaffes, President Obama slipped up again this week during a speech at the National Academy of Sciences. Having previously introduced those he was naming to a new President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, the Teleprompter-in-Chief became flustered when the names came up again in his prepared remarks and was caught on video telling the teleprompter operator to skip ahead: “In addition to John — sorry, the — I just noticed I jumped the gun here. Go ahead. Move it up. I had already introduced all you guys.”
All this belies a passage released by Senator Harry Reid as an epilogue to his most recent book in which he recounts a conversation with Barack Obama regarding a speech he gave in the Senate. When Reid praised the young senator, he recalls, “with what I would describe as deep humility, he said quietly: ‘I have a gift, Harry.’”
All this leads us to wonder why The Gifted One stumbles so when addressing the camera. Maybe those glib and moderate-sounding lines on the teleprompter are simply phrasing designed for public consumption and aren’t reflective of his true thoughts and intentions.
From the New York Times:
Presidents have been using teleprompters for more than half a century, but none have relied on them as extensively as Mr. Obama has so far. While presidents typically have used them for their most important speeches — an inaugural, State of the Union or Oval Office address — Mr. Obama uses them for routine announcements and even for the opening statement of his only news conference so far.
He used them during a visit to a Caterpillar plant in Peoria, Ill. He used them to make brief remarks opening his “fiscal responsibility summit.” He used them to discuss endangered species, even recalling a visit to national parks as an 11-year-old. “That was an experience I will never forget,” he said, reading from the teleprompter.
For Mr. Obama, a teleprompter means message discipline, sticking close to the intended words. While some presidents prefer extemporizing, Mr. Obama likes the message to be just so. After all, he is a best-selling author who has helped write a lot of his major speeches, so he presumably feels a certain fidelity to the crafted text.
Teleprompter Man… battling the technology glitches of his TOTUS. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it. Sweet irony.
A few op-ed cartoons of TOTUS vs. POTUS:
More Teleprompter commentaries:
The Swamp, Tribune’s Washington Bureau: Obama’s TelePrompTer addiction
Hot Air: Tragedy at the White House: TOTUS destroyed; Update: Video added and AOL Hot Seat Poll: The Special Olympics joke
Barack Obama’s Teleprompter’s Blog, Because There Is No POTUS Without TOTUS; About That Speech
The Strident Conservative: Obama Staffer Suffers Tragedy
Jim Blazsik: Ode to the Beloved Teleprompter and The President’s Special Gaffes in Obamaworld and Weekend: Top 10 gaffes by Barack Obama and Joe Biden and Obama-rama in Europe! The President who keeps on giving – 12 teleprompters
Frugal Café Blog Zone: Machine vs. Man: Teleprompter vs. Obama
Fire Andrea Mitchell!: Another Pathetic Obama Joke
The New Editor: Probably Not Part of the WH Plan for “The Tonight Show”
The Anchoress: Obama sans Teleprompter: Not Pretty
JustOneMinute: I Sense A Turning Tide
Mother of All Conservatives: Barack Obama Goes on Jay Leno Without His Teleprompter
Michelle Malkin: Requiem for a teleprompter and President Snippy: The video and Fun with TOTUS (Teleprompter of the United States)
Daily Censored: Beck: Obama Is A ‘Manchurian Candidate’ Because He Uses A Teleprompter — But I Use One Too
An American Conservative, Political Crave: Cash Is King And Obama Is Not
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