Is Obama Really Brilliant?

What a great thread! Especially Jeremiah's contribution. Outstanding! And Mac........way to to, baby......way to go!
Yes well what you and I aren't understanding is that the people on here making these judgements about Obama have all achieved his levels of intelligence and even surpassed his levels of success.

I know, right?
Have you achieved as much as Sarah Palin? What state were you gov. of?
 
I would say that the president is of greater intelligence than anyone who has posted in this thread.

I know what you mean. The guy (Obama) was only able to get himself elected President of the United State.
Compared to the people posting on this thread who have accomplished......................the ability to post their personal opinions on a message board. WOW eh?

Why I even bet that Obama doesn't have any personal opinions about these posters. What's that tell ya?
obama is why dumb fucks should never be allowed to vote.
That right there would keep you from voting for sure.
63 million stupid Americans votes for thew pieces of a shit

So you think there are 63 million voters dumber than you? How childish.

Voting age population:

There are 159,880,806 whites over the age of 18 in the US.
There are 30,403,949Hispanics over the age of 18 in the US.
There are 30,184,555 blacks over the age of 18 in the US.

Mean IQ of whites is 100. Those whites with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 50% of the population.
Mean IQ of Hispanics is 89. Those Hispanics with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 23.2% of the population.
Mean IQ of blacks is 85. Those blacks with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 15.9% of the poputaion.

There are 79,940,403 whites with an IQ less than 100.
There are 23,350,233 Hispanics with an IQ less than 100.
There are 25,385,211 blacks with an IQ less than 100.

There are 220,469,310 total voting age population.
There are 91,793,463 people of voting age with an IQ greater than 100.
There are 128,674,847 people of voting age with an IQ less than 100.

If bigrebnc1775 is an absolutely average white guy with an IQ of 100, then he is more intelligent than 128,674,847 others of voting age in the US and safely above your threshold of being more intellient than 63 million other voters. The caveat here is to identify those of voting age who don't vote.
 
It took me a long time to finally admit to myself that George Bush is a total idiot.

It did not take nearly half as long to see that Obama is also an idiot.

He might know his way around a college classroom, but his practical application of his education utterly SUCKS!

George Bush isn't a total idiot. I don't think he is more intelligent than I am, however. That is one of my litmus tests for presidents. They have to be smarter than I am. If not.....no go.

Obama is smarter than I am. He passes that test.
I'm smarter than both of them put together. :funnyface:

Read this:
On my arrival in the United States I was surprised to find so much distinguished talent among the citizens and so little among the heads of the government. It is a constant fact that at the present day the ablest men in the United States are rarely placed at the head of affairs; and it must be acknowledged that such has been the result in proportion as democracy has exceeded all its former limits. The race of American statesmen has evidently dwindled most remarkably in the course of the last fifty years.

Tocqueville Book I Chapter 13
 
I know what you mean. The guy (Obama) was only able to get himself elected President of the United State.
Compared to the people posting on this thread who have accomplished......................the ability to post their personal opinions on a message board. WOW eh?

Why I even bet that Obama doesn't have any personal opinions about these posters. What's that tell ya?
obama is why dumb fucks should never be allowed to vote.
That right there would keep you from voting for sure.
63 million stupid Americans votes for thew pieces of a shit

So you think there are 63 million voters dumber than you? How childish.

Voting age population:

There are 159,880,806 whites over the age of 18 in the US.
There are 30,403,949Hispanics over the age of 18 in the US.
There are 30,184,555 blacks over the age of 18 in the US.

Mean IQ of whites is 100. Those whites with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 50% of the population.
Mean IQ of Hispanics is 89. Those Hispanics with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 23.2% of the population.
Mean IQ of blacks is 85. Those blacks with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 15.9% of the poputaion.

There are 79,940,403 whites with an IQ less than 100.
There are 23,350,233 Hispanics with an IQ less than 100.
There are 25,385,211 blacks with an IQ less than 100.

There are 220,469,310 total voting age population.
There are 91,793,463 people of voting age with an IQ greater than 100.
There are 128,674,847 people of voting age with an IQ less than 100.

If bigrebnc1775 is an absolutely average white guy with an IQ of 100, then he is more intelligent than 128,674,847 others of voting age in the US and safely above your threshold of being more intellient than 63 million other voters. The caveat here is to identify those of voting age who don't vote.

That is really a sad post.
 
I know what you mean. The guy (Obama) was only able to get himself elected President of the United State.
Compared to the people posting on this thread who have accomplished......................the ability to post their personal opinions on a message board. WOW eh?

Why I even bet that Obama doesn't have any personal opinions about these posters. What's that tell ya?
obama is why dumb fucks should never be allowed to vote.
That right there would keep you from voting for sure.
63 million stupid Americans votes for thew pieces of a shit

So you think there are 63 million voters dumber than you? How childish.

Voting age population:

There are 159,880,806 whites over the age of 18 in the US.
There are 30,403,949Hispanics over the age of 18 in the US.
There are 30,184,555 blacks over the age of 18 in the US.

Mean IQ of whites is 100. Those whites with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 50% of the population.
Mean IQ of Hispanics is 89. Those Hispanics with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 23.2% of the population.
Mean IQ of blacks is 85. Those blacks with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 15.9% of the poputaion.

There are 79,940,403 whites with an IQ less than 100.
There are 23,350,233 Hispanics with an IQ less than 100.
There are 25,385,211 blacks with an IQ less than 100.

There are 220,469,310 total voting age population.
There are 91,793,463 people of voting age with an IQ greater than 100.
There are 128,674,847 people of voting age with an IQ less than 100.

If bigrebnc1775 is an absolutely average white guy with an IQ of 100, then he is more intelligent than 128,674,847 others of voting age in the US and safely above your threshold of being more intellient than 63 million other voters. The caveat here is to identify those of voting age who don't vote.
IQ of 119
 
Valerie Jarrett is in awe of him...
She was on the morning Joe show on MSNBC one time and was going on and on about
how smart the guy is....

But she might be biased....
I think she is in love with him.

Huh, who would have guessed she was a "Fag Hag"*?

images


* * - fag hag

You Are A True Fag Hag If...

-You are a straight girl who has a best friend who is gay and spends a lot of time together
-You would rather go to a gay club than a straight club
-Your fag gave you your own drag name
-You know all the gay guys at the local gay bar
-You fag takes you shopping for mac makeup and then puts it on you
-Your hair and makeup are always flawless
-You dress up in his drag gear on saturday night or dress in drag together
-You even dance with all the fags on stage when Britney Spears comes on
-You learned to vouge from watching your fag
-You fall in love with your fag (which is a bad thing)
-You try to convert your fag (this will only ruin your relationship with him)
And lastly... you find your self not being able to live without him because you have so much fun with him.
A Stright girl who shares these experiences
by Dawn Sumner May 24, 2004

Urban Dictionary fag hag
 
Last edited:
I would say that the president is of greater intelligence than anyone who has posted in this thread.
They expect him to be perfect, too bad they do not hold their own to such high standards.

Just how bad would things have to be for you to finally recognize and admit the truth about Obama???

You are what Saddam's loyalists were referred to as "dead enders."

Dead-ender (plural dead-enders) : One who has no prospects for the future; a loser

1.dead-enders
Rummy-speak, circa late 2003, for the isolated Sadam loyalists who oppose U.S. occupation and take RPG target practice on our boys. Apparently a large club.
Rumsfeld dubbed the insurgents who are making life so difficult for coalition forces, Iraqi authorities and anyone caught in the cross fire "dead-enders," losers from Saddam Hussein's regime with nothing left to do but go down fighting. Time Magazine 11/16/2003
by mandingoe June 08, 2004
 
obama is why dumb fucks should never be allowed to vote.
That right there would keep you from voting for sure.
63 million stupid Americans votes for thew pieces of a shit

So you think there are 63 million voters dumber than you? How childish.

Voting age population:

There are 159,880,806 whites over the age of 18 in the US.
There are 30,403,949Hispanics over the age of 18 in the US.
There are 30,184,555 blacks over the age of 18 in the US.

Mean IQ of whites is 100. Those whites with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 50% of the population.
Mean IQ of Hispanics is 89. Those Hispanics with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 23.2% of the population.
Mean IQ of blacks is 85. Those blacks with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 15.9% of the poputaion.

There are 79,940,403 whites with an IQ less than 100.
There are 23,350,233 Hispanics with an IQ less than 100.
There are 25,385,211 blacks with an IQ less than 100.

There are 220,469,310 total voting age population.
There are 91,793,463 people of voting age with an IQ greater than 100.
There are 128,674,847 people of voting age with an IQ less than 100.

If bigrebnc1775 is an absolutely average white guy with an IQ of 100, then he is more intelligent than 128,674,847 others of voting age in the US and safely above your threshold of being more intellient than 63 million other voters. The caveat here is to identify those of voting age who don't vote.
IQ of 119
If a real test then that puts you in the top 10% or so of the population. If an internet IQ test then all bets are off.
 
obama is why dumb fucks should never be allowed to vote.
That right there would keep you from voting for sure.
63 million stupid Americans votes for thew pieces of a shit

So you think there are 63 million voters dumber than you? How childish.

Voting age population:

There are 159,880,806 whites over the age of 18 in the US.
There are 30,403,949Hispanics over the age of 18 in the US.
There are 30,184,555 blacks over the age of 18 in the US.

Mean IQ of whites is 100. Those whites with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 50% of the population.
Mean IQ of Hispanics is 89. Those Hispanics with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 23.2% of the population.
Mean IQ of blacks is 85. Those blacks with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 15.9% of the poputaion.

There are 79,940,403 whites with an IQ less than 100.
There are 23,350,233 Hispanics with an IQ less than 100.
There are 25,385,211 blacks with an IQ less than 100.

There are 220,469,310 total voting age population.
There are 91,793,463 people of voting age with an IQ greater than 100.
There are 128,674,847 people of voting age with an IQ less than 100.

If bigrebnc1775 is an absolutely average white guy with an IQ of 100, then he is more intelligent than 128,674,847 others of voting age in the US and safely above your threshold of being more intellient than 63 million other voters. The caveat here is to identify those of voting age who don't vote.

That is really a sad post.

Which aspect is sad or makes you feel sad?
 
OP- Yes. Any opinion from (50%+ racist) hater dupes is ridiculously tainted. Palin is an obvious mediocrity duh. Same goes for all GOP. Greedy or bought off and/or totally misinformed. A disgrace.
 
OP- Yes. Any opinion from (50%+ racist) hater dupes is ridiculously tainted. Palin is an obvious mediocrity duh. Same goes for all GOP. Greedy or bought off and/or totally misinformed. A disgrace.

Franco, the moment you wrote all you lost all credibility for being honest about the subject. Seriously. THINK.
 
I would say that the president is of greater intelligence than anyone who has posted in this thread.
They expect him to be perfect, too bad they do not hold their own to such high standards.

"I think Barack knew that he had God-given talents that were extraordinary. He knows exactly how smart he is. … He knows how perceptive he is. He knows what a good reader of people he is. And he knows that he has the ability — the extraordinary, uncanny ability — to take a thousand different perspectives, digest them and make sense out of them, and I think that he has never really been challenged intellectually. … So, what I sensed in him was not just a restless spirit but somebody with such extraordinary talents that had to be really taxed in order for him to be happy. … He’s been bored to death his whole life. He’s just too talented to do what ordinary people do."

Valerie Jarrett.
 
I would say that the president is of greater intelligence than anyone who has posted in this thread.
They expect him to be perfect, too bad they do not hold their own to such high standards.

"I think Barack knew that he had God-given talents that were extraordinary. He knows exactly how smart he is. … He knows how perceptive he is. He knows what a good reader of people he is. And he knows that he has the ability — the extraordinary, uncanny ability — to take a thousand different perspectives, digest them and make sense out of them, and I think that he has never really been challenged intellectually. … So, what I sensed in him was not just a restless spirit but somebody with such extraordinary talents that had to be really taxed in order for him to be happy. … He’s been bored to death his whole life. He’s just too talented to do what ordinary people do."

Valerie Jarrett.

Ugh.
It made me throw up a little bit.
 
obama is why dumb fucks should never be allowed to vote.
That right there would keep you from voting for sure.
63 million stupid Americans votes for thew pieces of a shit

So you think there are 63 million voters dumber than you? How childish.

Voting age population:

There are 159,880,806 whites over the age of 18 in the US.
There are 30,403,949Hispanics over the age of 18 in the US.
There are 30,184,555 blacks over the age of 18 in the US.

Mean IQ of whites is 100. Those whites with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 50% of the population.
Mean IQ of Hispanics is 89. Those Hispanics with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 23.2% of the population.
Mean IQ of blacks is 85. Those blacks with an IQ of 100 or greater constitute 15.9% of the poputaion.

There are 79,940,403 whites with an IQ less than 100.
There are 23,350,233 Hispanics with an IQ less than 100.
There are 25,385,211 blacks with an IQ less than 100.

There are 220,469,310 total voting age population.
There are 91,793,463 people of voting age with an IQ greater than 100.
There are 128,674,847 people of voting age with an IQ less than 100.

If bigrebnc1775 is an absolutely average white guy with an IQ of 100, then he is more intelligent than 128,674,847 others of voting age in the US and safely above your threshold of being more intellient than 63 million other voters. The caveat here is to identify those of voting age who don't vote.
IQ of 119

No way in hell.
 
I would say that the president is of greater intelligence than anyone who has posted in this thread.
They expect him to be perfect, too bad they do not hold their own to such high standards.

"I think Barack knew that he had God-given talents that were extraordinary. He knows exactly how smart he is. … He knows how perceptive he is. He knows what a good reader of people he is. And he knows that he has the ability — the extraordinary, uncanny ability — to take a thousand different perspectives, digest them and make sense out of them, and I think that he has never really been challenged intellectually. … So, what I sensed in him was not just a restless spirit but somebody with such extraordinary talents that had to be really taxed in order for him to be happy. … He’s been bored to death his whole life. He’s just too talented to do what ordinary people do."

Valerie Jarrett.

Many years ago her father, Vernon Jarrett, was the one who wrote a news article about an Arab friendly president on the horizon - one that would be pre - approved - so to speak - it looks as if they rewarded Valerie for her father's ( father in law) work. This is just part of her way of saying thanks. Truth is stranger than fiction. You need to look up Vernon Jarrett. I did it for you. All you need to do now is "connect the dots"........ yw.

1979 article ties 8216 Obama 8217 s real father 8217 to Saudi financier

NEW YORK – The recently discovered 1979 newspaper article by Vernon Jarrett – the father-in-law of senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, opens a new dimension to understanding Obama’s youth, as Vernon Jarrett was a close friend of Obama’s Communist Party-activist mentor, Frank Marshall Davis.

The connections were not lost on Joel Gilbert, the filmmaker whose documentary “Dreams from My Real Father” argues Davis, a card-carrying member of the Communist Party USA, was the biological as well as ideological father of Barack Obama, not the Kenyan who came to the University of Hawaii in 1959.

The Nov. 6, 1979, column by Vernon Jarrett in the St. Petersburg Independent was unearthed by Frank Miele, editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont.

Joel Gilbert’s “Dreams from My Real Father” is available at WND’s Superstore

In the column, which originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune Nov. 2, 1979, Jarrett reported a proposal by Islamic radical and former Black Panther Khalid Abdullah Tariq al-Monsour, the lawyer previously known as Donald Warden, to work on behalf of Saudi Arabia and OPEC to provide $20 million for 10 years to aid 10,000 minority students each year.

Davis and Vernon Jarrett were close friends in Chicago and colleagues at the Chicago Defender and the Chicago Star, two communist-run newspapers in the 1940s.

In early 1948, Davis and Jarrett served together on the publicity committee of the Citizen’s Committee to Aid Packing-House Workers, a communist-organized labor union that represented workers in the meatpacking industry.

“Very possibly Vernon Jarrett’s path crossed that of Frank Marshall Davis when Barack Obama, Frank Marshall Davis’ son, needed financing to attend Harvard,” Gilbert said.

“Remarkably,” he continued, “Obama was in Chicago at the time, and Jarrett was on the scene to find politically favorable funding from a former Black Panther turned Black Muslim in the person of Khalid Al-Monsour, who had a convenient relationship with one of the richest men in the world – Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal.”

Gilbert carried the relationships full circle. As a former colleague of Davis in Chicago, he said, Jarrett had reason to want to connect Obama with al-Mansour’s funding program.

“But it doesn’t end there,” Gilbert continued. “Very possibly, Jarrett helped finance Frank’s son, possibly explaining why Obama would later return to use the connection once again, when he sought to get his wife, Michelle Obama, hired into Chicago Mayor Harold Washington’s office by none other than Valerie Jarrett, daughter-in-law of Vernon Jarrett.”


Read more at 1979 article ties 8216 Obama 8217 s real father 8217 to Saudi financier
 
Last edited:
I would say that the president is of greater intelligence than anyone who has posted in this thread.
They expect him to be perfect, too bad they do not hold their own to such high standards.

"I think Barack knew that he had God-given talents that were extraordinary. He knows exactly how smart he is. … He knows how perceptive he is. He knows what a good reader of people he is. And he knows that he has the ability — the extraordinary, uncanny ability — to take a thousand different perspectives, digest them and make sense out of them, and I think that he has never really been challenged intellectually. … So, what I sensed in him was not just a restless spirit but somebody with such extraordinary talents that had to be really taxed in order for him to be happy. … He’s been bored to death his whole life. He’s just too talented to do what ordinary people do."

Valerie Jarrett.

Many years ago her father, Vernon Jarrett, was the one who wrote a news article about an Arab friendly president on the horizon - one that would be pre - approved - so to speak - it looks as if they rewarded Valerie for her father's ( father in law) work. This is just part of her way of saying thanks. Truth is stranger than fiction. You need to look up Vernon Jarrett. I did it for you. All you need to do now is "connect the dots"........ yw.

1979 article ties 8216 Obama 8217 s real father 8217 to Saudi financier

NEW YORK – The recently discovered 1979 newspaper article by Vernon Jarrett – the father-in-law of senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, opens a new dimension to understanding Obama’s youth, as Vernon Jarrett was a close friend of Obama’s Communist Party-activist mentor, Frank Marshall Davis.

The connections were not lost on Joel Gilbert, the filmmaker whose documentary “Dreams from My Real Father” argues Davis, a card-carrying member of the Communist Party USA, was the biological as well as ideological father of Barack Obama, not the Kenyan who came to the University of Hawaii in 1959.

The Nov. 6, 1979, column by Vernon Jarrett in the St. Petersburg Independent was unearthed by Frank Miele, editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont.

Joel Gilbert’s “Dreams from My Real Father” is available at WND’s Superstore

In the column, which originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune Nov. 2, 1979, Jarrett reported a proposal by Islamic radical and former Black Panther Khalid Abdullah Tariq al-Monsour, the lawyer previously known as Donald Warden, to work on behalf of Saudi Arabia and OPEC to provide $20 million for 10 years to aid 10,000 minority students each year.

Davis and Vernon Jarrett were close friends in Chicago and colleagues at the Chicago Defender and the Chicago Star, two communist-run newspapers in the 1940s.

In early 1948, Davis and Jarrett served together on the publicity committee of the Citizen’s Committee to Aid Packing-House Workers, a communist-organized labor union that represented workers in the meatpacking industry.

“Very possibly Vernon Jarrett’s path crossed that of Frank Marshall Davis when Barack Obama, Frank Marshall Davis’ son, needed financing to attend Harvard,” Gilbert said.

“Remarkably,” he continued, “Obama was in Chicago at the time, and Jarrett was on the scene to find politically favorable funding from a former Black Panther turned Black Muslim in the person of Khalid Al-Monsour, who had a convenient relationship with one of the richest men in the world – Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal.”

Gilbert carried the relationships full circle. As a former colleague of Davis in Chicago, he said, Jarrett had reason to want to connect Obama with al-Mansour’s funding program.

“But it doesn’t end there,” Gilbert continued. “Very possibly, Jarrett helped finance Frank’s son, possibly explaining why Obama would later return to use the connection once again, when he sought to get his wife, Michelle Obama, hired into Chicago Mayor Harold Washington’s office by none other than Valerie Jarrett, daughter-in-law of Vernon Jarrett.”


Read more at 1979 article ties 8216 Obama 8217 s real father 8217 to Saudi financier
RW idiocy, for hater dupes only...
 
I would say that the president is of greater intelligence than anyone who has posted in this thread.
They expect him to be perfect, too bad they do not hold their own to such high standards.

"I think Barack knew that he had God-given talents that were extraordinary. He knows exactly how smart he is. … He knows how perceptive he is. He knows what a good reader of people he is. And he knows that he has the ability — the extraordinary, uncanny ability — to take a thousand different perspectives, digest them and make sense out of them, and I think that he has never really been challenged intellectually. … So, what I sensed in him was not just a restless spirit but somebody with such extraordinary talents that had to be really taxed in order for him to be happy. … He’s been bored to death his whole life. He’s just too talented to do what ordinary people do."

Valerie Jarrett.

Many years ago her father, Vernon Jarrett, was the one who wrote a news article about an Arab friendly president on the horizon - one that would be pre - approved - so to speak - it looks as if they rewarded Valerie for her father's ( father in law) work. This is just part of her way of saying thanks. Truth is stranger than fiction. You need to look up Vernon Jarrett. I did it for you. All you need to do now is "connect the dots"........ yw.

1979 article ties 8216 Obama 8217 s real father 8217 to Saudi financier

NEW YORK – The recently discovered 1979 newspaper article by Vernon Jarrett – the father-in-law of senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, opens a new dimension to understanding Obama’s youth, as Vernon Jarrett was a close friend of Obama’s Communist Party-activist mentor, Frank Marshall Davis.

The connections were not lost on Joel Gilbert, the filmmaker whose documentary “Dreams from My Real Father” argues Davis, a card-carrying member of the Communist Party USA, was the biological as well as ideological father of Barack Obama, not the Kenyan who came to the University of Hawaii in 1959.

The Nov. 6, 1979, column by Vernon Jarrett in the St. Petersburg Independent was unearthed by Frank Miele, editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont.

Joel Gilbert’s “Dreams from My Real Father” is available at WND’s Superstore

In the column, which originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune Nov. 2, 1979, Jarrett reported a proposal by Islamic radical and former Black Panther Khalid Abdullah Tariq al-Monsour, the lawyer previously known as Donald Warden, to work on behalf of Saudi Arabia and OPEC to provide $20 million for 10 years to aid 10,000 minority students each year.

Davis and Vernon Jarrett were close friends in Chicago and colleagues at the Chicago Defender and the Chicago Star, two communist-run newspapers in the 1940s.

In early 1948, Davis and Jarrett served together on the publicity committee of the Citizen’s Committee to Aid Packing-House Workers, a communist-organized labor union that represented workers in the meatpacking industry.

“Very possibly Vernon Jarrett’s path crossed that of Frank Marshall Davis when Barack Obama, Frank Marshall Davis’ son, needed financing to attend Harvard,” Gilbert said.

“Remarkably,” he continued, “Obama was in Chicago at the time, and Jarrett was on the scene to find politically favorable funding from a former Black Panther turned Black Muslim in the person of Khalid Al-Monsour, who had a convenient relationship with one of the richest men in the world – Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal.”

Gilbert carried the relationships full circle. As a former colleague of Davis in Chicago, he said, Jarrett had reason to want to connect Obama with al-Mansour’s funding program.

“But it doesn’t end there,” Gilbert continued. “Very possibly, Jarrett helped finance Frank’s son, possibly explaining why Obama would later return to use the connection once again, when he sought to get his wife, Michelle Obama, hired into Chicago Mayor Harold Washington’s office by none other than Valerie Jarrett, daughter-in-law of Vernon Jarrett.”


Read more at 1979 article ties 8216 Obama 8217 s real father 8217 to Saudi financier
RW idiocy, for hater dupes only...

You believe all that bile Jarrett threw out there franco?
 
"
Claim No. 4: The major premise of Will's piece is that this quote from Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett in David Remnick's book The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama...

He knows exactly how smart he is. ... I think that he has never really been challenged intellectually. ... He's been bored to death his whole life. He's just too talented to do what ordinary people do. He would never be satisfied with what ordinary people do.



... is "the place to begin understanding the unraveling of his presidency."

Will plays this as anecdotal evidence that Obama is too smug and self-assured to take advice from anyone, which is not a fair inference to take from the Jarrett quote insofar as it's not actually true. He doesn't cite any examples.

(The right-wing press has been trotting this quote out a lot lately -- National Review,American Spectator, American Thinker, Washington Times, etc. -- so Will is likely cribbing lazily from his own nightstand in addition to feeding the meme machine of Obama Is an Aloof Elitist.)

Here's the uncut version from the book, which was published in 2010:

"I think Barack knew that he had God-given talents that were extraordinary. He knows exactly how smart he is. ... He knows how perceptive he is. He knows what a good reader of people he is. And he knows that he has the ability--the extraordinary, uncanny ability -- to take a thousand different perspectives, digest them, and make sense out of them, and I think that he has never really been challenged intellectually. I mean, he's the kind of guy you'd hate in law school, who would pick up his book the night before the final, read it, and ace the test. So what I sensed in him was not just a restless spirit but somebody with such extraordinary talents that they had to be really taxed in order for him to be happy." Jarrett was quite sure that one of the few things that truly engaged him fully before going to the White House was writing Dreams from My Father. "He's been bored to death his whole life," she said. "He's just too talented to do what ordinary people do. He would never be satisfied with what ordinary people do."



Remnick does not say in the notes to The Bridge when Jarrett gave him the quote, but it wasn't recently -- the book was published in April 2010 -- and it wasn't in the context of Obama's presidency. The fairer reading of the quote is that Jarrett saw Obama as ambitious, intelligent, and a good synthesizer of facts, all of which strike me as something most people would want in a president.

I offer this not as a defense of Obama in general or the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in particular but as an illustration that George Will is a lazy, partisan hack and not the analytical intellectual he fashions himself to be."
.George Will Washington s Most Intellectually Dishonest Intellectual Scott Porch

 

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