Teleprompter Vs. No Teleprompter: Letterman Takes On Obama Critics (VIDEO)

Critics say Obama relies too heavily on his teleprompter. As Politico notes:

"Obama's reliance on the teleprompter is unusual -- not only because he is famous for his oratory, but because no other president has used one so consistently and at so many events, large and small."

They make an interesting point, why would a president want to be prepared and careful about what he says? The guy who had the job for the last eight years didn't need no stinkin' teleprompter!

Well, David Letterman addressed the outrage last night with his segment 'Teleprompter Vs. No Teleprompter.' It was enlightening to say the least.

WATCH:

Comments

[freedNC]

I support the President but let's not get too enamored with his oratory skills since this video shows him not really scoring points on language skills when left "unprompted"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omHUsRTYFAU

[twiggy2]

all it takes is common sense - to realize the insanity behind these critics - common sense - nothing more! the party of no and 0 don't have any.
President Obama is the " Peoples' President "

[southman]

what surprises me most is how right wingers, after nearly 30 years, are starting to view ineloquence as a weakness.

[ALittleClarity]

The fact that Letterman made this little piece shows it bothers people. It is amazing that Obama doesn't have enough confidence to go without the teleprompter. It shows alittle insecurity in him.

[260Parkway]

So am I to assume you don't have any insecurities? I doubt it. People want to criticize this man about anything and they've reduced themselves to the telepromter. How sad.

[patrickgarret]

Could you be any more stupid?

[DSBrown]

Rarely, would I say something like this ... but to echo patrick, could you be more stupid? Please, please show some critical thinking skills.

See Mommy, the President can read! Yes, he can Johnny, and that is indeed a wonderful thing. At one point reading was thought to be a lost art, Johnny. For eight years people devalued reading, and writing, and thinking. If you made a C-, it was good enough. Times have changed, Johnny. Gee, they sure have, Mommy. What do we say, Johnny? We say RIF, Reading Is Fundamental! That's Mommy's brilliant baby boy!

[simkmer]

You've got to be kidding!! Your post name should be ALittleShallow.

[twiggy2]

and on a clear day -{as in clarity } you can see russia from your porch.

[bamboozled]

Myths perpetuated by this story and thread:

a) that Obama uses a teleprompter for EVERYTHING. He only used it for his opening statement. All the questions were answered off the cuff (and answered so well, it sounded as if he were reading them from a teleprompter).

b) the liberal media are sweethearts for Obama. Seriously, was the media EVER so contentious with Bush? NEVER. Partly because Bush PRE-SCREENED the questions and had the answers PRE-PREPARED. At least give Obama credit for taking biased questions from Right-Wing journalists who he doesn't agree with.

[BN2112]

To answer b), absolutely not. It was the MSM who ran Rev. Wright loops 24/7 and on the flip side gave W a free pass. If it weren't for Letterman, Stewart, and Olbermann we may never have known the depths of how tongue-tied the "Decider" was.

[method]

I love it Dave!

[Val49]

Why do people use calculators and look where they led this country, BROKE.

[Zack Greene]

Try Hem-eez.com for Hemorrhoids, Better Eyesite, Varicose Veins and also Other Vascular Issues. WWW.Hem-eez.com My Hemorrhoids were gone in two weeks. Now I can focus more on all this Politcal stuff. This teleprompter is hard to read, I used to do lecturing at Thunderbird.. It takes an eye and good reading skills for sure.

[YOUCANNOTHANDLETHETRUTH]

Where is Obama leading this country. Take a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94lW6Y4tBXs&feature=channel_page

[duffman209]

Your statement makes half sense. Yes, the current administration fits the description of one trying to spend and borrow us out of recession via public works, but the second part of Daniel Hannan's argument is that the leadership of their country did not pay off the national debt during the "good years". As I recall, Obama was not in charge during the "good years". The Bush administration chose to enrich the already wealthy when we had the money to pay the country's debt and simultaneously go to war by borrowing. Had Obama wasted the money during the good years AND THEN tried to borrow us out of recession, I would agree. But that is not the case. You are wrong.

[JudgeMoonbox]

We should also remember that when Bill Clinton started to pay off the National Debt during good years, George W. Bush argued that the budget should be balanced as exactly as possible on a yearly basis, and running a surplus is theft.

For all his talking about how, if there's a surplus, the government should "give it back," when he ran up the deficit, he didn't tell the taxpayers to "fork it over."

[genia]

I like the idea that he doesn't take time and waste it memorizing his thoughts. The man has better things to do...he's busy, he prepares a speech.... and gets on with his day....very efficient

[C65]

I like genia,agree not just for only her reasonings but because they are looking for
any mistake he makes to make it News of the Month,not week.
I also this problem;every since we've elected a Black President,the rules have
changed andthe criticism has increased.There has been people from Congress and
the Senate,particularly Republicans that we didn't know existed before,but has
come out the wood works like RATS after the exterminator visits.How convient at
this time.Am I parinoid or do you also smell a DEAD CAT somewhere?

[Alison DeLuca]

C65, you are right on the money. Where's my rat poison?

[mopar babe72]

i dont think it really matters! i feel like he just doesnt want to make a fool of himself jsut like his predacessor... who couldnt read the damn thing.. b ut also couldnt pronounce the words right!
and please everyone... grow up! and get over the special olympics thing! it was a joke... something people joke about every day as i said on another website..
is it only oke to let the special olympic people make fun of themselves... jsut like it seems to be ok to only let black people call each other.. the n word?
i mean why do we even get hurt at things like these? i realize yes he is the president, but still anyone coulda said that joke! get over it all ready

[AmericanWoman100]

Maybe Bush didn't need a teleprompter because maybe the poor sucker couldn't read. Sometimes I wish I couldn't read when these kind of stories are offered up as real news. Just another sign that the repugs are desperate. Little minds come up with little ideas.

[latoussaint]

He did have a teleprompter, that is part of the reason why he stuttered so much, right-o, couldn't read it. But many people who are excellent orators have dyslexia and they simply compensate, that is why most are great speakers. He has no excuse, he is just a dimwit. JFK and Jefferson were very likely dyslexic and George Washington had the writing skills of a nine year old. Take a look at a sample of George's spelling, syntax, and http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/education/kids/quest5.htmlids/quest5.html

[Val49]

AmericanWoman100, You are so right, he could'nt read or talk either. So a teleprompter would not have done him any good.

[JudgeMoonbox]

"Maybe Bush didn't need a teleprompter because maybe the poor sucker couldn't read."

Back in the 2004 campaign, one photo raised the suspicion that Bush had a radio in back of his jacket-as though he needed Karl Rove whispering in his ear to handle the debate.

At least Obama's teleprompter is hard to hide.

[ebanks84]

This is the dumbest thing I've heard yet. These i d i o t s need to find something worthwhile to complain about, not a teleprompter. Geez louise this is stupid.

[pfranklin400]

something worthwhile to complain about......let's see, how about the fact that we have a tax cheat in charge of the IRS.........and the dept who over sees the writing of our tax laws.........and how about that transparancy Obama??? they BS about a 48 hour window to review the liberal pork project and guess what??? it was posted at midnight, just hours before the vote...............or how about no lobbyists, so far Obama has 12 lobbyists in his administration..............or how about we have several countries laughing and warning us that Obama's policies will bankrupt our country..............or how about Geither and Obama lying to the country about the timeline of the AIG bonuses...........or how about Pelosi in a speech telling people it is "un American" for ICE to do their job and enforce the law (BTW, giving 12 to 14 million illegals amnesty...yeah, that has nothing to do with votes in upcoming elections.......should I keep going. Get your hands out of my wallet and be proud of this country.

[dragonlady620]

The truth doesn't concern you in the least, does it?
As to transparency, the Bush administration was the most secretive in the country's history. All policy was conducted behind closed doors and often no records were kept of what they were doing-and incidentally they made a point to keep Democrats out of the loop.
Just what IS your source for these rants?

[NewOrleans4Obama]

I could recite a much more impressive litany of how republicans screwed us over the last eight years, Maybe you guys should just take a time out from telling us how its done for a while.

[genia]

how many ribbon magnets on your car?

[TheLearnedEnglishDog]

boo hooo loser

[biglover]

If you don't like the heat get out of kitchen. No one invited you anyway. LOSER!!!

[ebanks84]

This is the dumbest thing I've heard yet. These idiots need to find something worthwhile to complain about, not a teleprompter. Geez louise this is stupid.

[Ron Lajoie]

Obama easily runs circles around Bush when it comes to speaking on any of the issues. Bush was annoying not only in speech, but in body language and facial expressions. It was hard to take him seriously.

[chili111]

So, why does he need a tele-prompter?

[dragonlady620]

I don't recall Republicans ever making an issue of Reagan's use of the teleprompter.

[youngharry]

Chili111. The word is teleprompter. It doesn't need a hyphen.

[Jo]

What bothers you more, chili111, that Pres. Obama uses a teleprompter for prepared remarks, or that he uses it so much more effectively than Former Pres. George W. Bush ever did or could have hoped to do?
The teleprompter is a tool, chili111, a tool, and nothing more. It's been used by presidents and myriad other public officials long before Pres. Obama arrived on the scene. And I dare say that the practice will continue long after we are all gone. Pres. Obama's time is valuable and limited. He... make that WE cannot afford to have him waste that time memorizing prepared remarks. Just look at the number of speaking appearances he's undertaken in the last week alone! But also look at Pres. Obama when he speaks without the teleprompter, as in the presidential debates, or the Q&A portions of town hall meetings, or his many briefings, or his two major press conferences. Time and again the man demonstrates a profound breadth and depth of knowledge on whatever the subject matter may be. Does he sometimes hesitate or ummm? Good G_d, YES!! He thinks before he speaks!! He gives reasoned, considered, and thoughtful responses, not just what falls off the tip of this tongue.
BTW, chili111, if you're going to continue to complain about Pres. Obama and his use of a teleprompter, perhaps you should first try to explain (or rationalize) Bush's use of a listening device in his first debate with Sen. Kerry.

[cobobs]

1) It is a tool, and is cooler to use than a sheaf of papers on the podium.

2) The President does not have the time to memorize his speeches, so he should read them.

Next question?

[KeepMeLearning]

Could you give as many speeches as President Obama does without one?

Really?

I don't think so.