Obama Can De-Bully The Bully Pulpit

I always heard the phrase the Bully Pulpit without hearing the word "bully" in it.

The phrase, of course, simply means that the president has easy and frequent access to the American people to make his case. It seemed a logical and useful thing for the country's leader to do, to use the Bully Pulpit.

But during these incredibly horrible years under George W. Bush, it became clear the American people were being spoken to in a very different manner than previous presidents. For the first time in my lifetime, we had an actual bully in the Bully Pulpit; and this tool of the president started to mean something else entirely.

Bush has had no interest in explaining himself to the country, and certainly not to people who didn't already agree with him. He doesn't persuade, he merely declares and decrees, usually with that annoyed tone in his voice I recognize from his father as well.

Bush's communications have almost never been straight-forward, reasoned or truthful. He has offered talking-to-idiot-children remarks like "They hate our freedom" to stand in for a discussion of the real problems we face from Islamic fundamentalism, and how some of it has to do with our policies. (And has to do with our history; we gave Saddam weapons to use against Iran, for instance, which wouldn't endear us to that country, would it?)

He lied and manipulated us into war with Iraq. When discussing things like his breaking the FISA law by NOT getting warrants before wiretapping American citizens, he never actually discusses the real topic -- he says instead (repeatedly) "when someone is talking to Al Qaeda, I want to know what they're saying."

Fine, so do the rest of us. But explain, please, why the FISA law stops you doing that. That was never addressed, and that was the actual question.

(As most Huffington Post readers know, the FISA law even allows the government to begin wiretaps IMMEDIATELY if they want, and to get the actual warrant days later. So it's not putting anybody in danger. And if there are variations that need to be addressed -- such as you find a computer of a suspected terrorist, and you want to wiretap every person on his computer -- well, Congress would certainly amend the law to take that into account, especially if it had been asked close to 9/11 when he first began breaking the law. But he clearly believes he's above the law.)

Etc., etc. I have felt fury and despair being bullied by President Beelzebub over the last 8 years. And I have distressed my dog several times by shouting at the television. In the second half of Beelzebub's reign, I couldn't listen to him talk live, I had to listen to the excerpts on the news; or maybe read his manipulations as text.

And even since the 2006 elections, when his approval ratings fell so very low, he nonetheless STILL gets his way on most everything.

And he continues with his habitual misleading and distorted descriptions of problems facing all of us -- it's a Rovian-taught trait: redefine the problem as something else, and then explain why the Democrats are wrong or stupid to want to address this inaccurately described problem.

And for those Americans who only watch the main networks briefly for their news, they hear these little sound bytes from the president's Bully Pulpit proclamations, and they never hear the rebuttal, and so they live with incorrect assumptions. That Bully Pulpit lets him say his carefully chosen and slanted sentences on the news whenever he wants.

The only two issues he's ever lost on are Social Security -- where most Americans realized that the stock market remains volatile, and not where to put your "security" money; and on selling our ports to Dubai, which felt so, so nutty. Bush spent so much of his presidency terrorizing us about the Muslim world, and then he wanted to actually sell our ports to a Muslim country.

Hmmmm... why not let China run our ports? Or Martians? Needless to say, we wouldn't want Americans to do it. We only consume. And we don't make anything anymore. We just wait to see when our children are poisoned by the next Chinese toy with lead paint in it, or our dogs are killed by poison dog food, or our relatives die from faulty ingredients made in China put into blood-thinning medicines. But God forbid Americans actually MAKE anything anymore. (That's a little free associative rant, but it's one of the reasons so many Americans polled think the country is on the wrong path, right?)

So for eight years, the Bully Pulpit has been used for propagating lies and distortions.

Barack Obama could change that. (Hillary Clinton could not, especially listening to her manipulative jabber the last several weeks.)

Thomas Friedman wrote on this topic -- of talking straight to the American public -- in a New York Times op-ed called " Who Will Tell the People?" the other day. Here were his main points:

[note: I have put the major points that I think are truly important in bold]

Much nonsense has been written about how Hillary Clinton is "toughening up" Barack Obama so he'll be tough enough to withstand Republican attacks. Sorry, we don't need a president who is tough enough to withstand the lies of his opponents. We need a president who is tough enough to tell the truth to the American people. Any one of the candidates can answer the Red Phone at 3 a.m. in the White House bedroom. I'm voting for the one who can talk straight to the American people on national TV -- at 8 p.m. -- from the White House East Room.

Who will tell the people? We are not who we think we are. We are living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. We still have all the potential for greatness, but only if we get back to work on our country.

I don't know if Barack Obama can lead that, but the notion that the idealism he has inspired in so many young people doesn't matter is dead wrong. "Of course, hope alone is not enough," says Tim Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, "but it's not trivial. It's not trivial to inspire people to want to get up and do something with someone else."

It is especially not trivial now, because millions of Americans are dying to be enlisted -- enlisted to fix education, enlisted to research renewable energy, enlisted to repair our infrastructure, enlisted to help others. Look at the kids lining up to join Teach for America. They want our country to matter again. They want it to be about building wealth and dignity -- big profits and big purposes. When we just do one, we are less than the sum of our parts. When we do both, said Shriver, "no one can touch us."

I agree passionately with what Friedman said above, and it relates to my belief that Obama can use his gift for reason and inspiration to TALK TRUTH to the American people, to change the Bully Pulpit to a.... Persuasion Pulpit, an Inspiration Pulpit.

Almost all of us in the country feel we have been moving in the wrong direction. It is tricky and hard to change direction, and we can't do it alone. We need a leader. We also need a leader who can tell us the truth about the dangers and problems we face. Who can be truthful about the sacrifices we must make. And who can be creative and canny about how to deal with Islamic fundamentalism, not just go down that same Bush bellicose path (such as saying "we'll obliterate Iran.")

I admit it, Obama isn't perfect. But Lord, the other two -- McCain and Hillary -- frighten me. The whole thing about the suspending the gas tax is shocking pandering, and destructive. Hillary so proudly says she will get the oil companies to pay for it -- really? Now, with the Bush veto still keeping anything from passing that he doesn't agree with? She knows that perfectly well, but she's just pandering for votes. She's not telling the truth, she's manipulating the public.

(If you have need of hearing why the gas tax summer suspension is a bad idea, here's a good posting fromRobert Creamer. And here's his quote on the issue:

Whether or not it's entirely justified, most Americans believe that the Clintons will themselves say pretty much anything to win. Remember that many thought of Bill as "Slick Willie." The Clinton-McCain "gas tax holiday" is a good example. Economists say that most of this "tax break" would actually go to the oil companies who would have no incentive to lower gas prices and pass it along to consumers in the tight summer driving season. At the same time it would cost the Highway Trust Fund $9 billion -- which translates to about 300,000 lost construction jobs. No matter, it sounds good on the stump and at first blush it polls well.

Whatever else you think about Obama, he believes that if you tell the voters the truth, they have the intelligence to make the right decisions. )

Obama said this about the gas tax in this news article:

"Listen, these gas prices are brutal on people," Mr. Obama told voters Thursday in Columbia City, Ind. "Now, John McCain decided that he would solve this problem after being in Congress for 25 years by suspending the gas tax for three months. What that would do is save the average driver 30 cents a day -- a nickel and a quarter, 30 cents a day. It would save you a total of about $28 for the entire year -- $28."

I don't even drive a big car, but $28 would only fill my tank three-quarters. So that is the relief Hillary and McCain-but-not-Able are so excited about? And which won't pass President Bush's veto anyway?

Obama has been battered. And I hope I never hear from Reverend Wright ever again (though I'm sure he'll have his own sitcom by September, funded by the Republicans).

But battered though Obama may be, he is still standing; and he's standing taller than the other two.

Comments

[wearyvoter]

There's a bit of body language that Bush uses when at the lectern. He slouches to his right, with his elbow on the desk top, and he gets this look on his face that reminds me of a teenager giving the parental units an implausible explanation for just how the car got wrecked. It's the "it's not my fault you're too stupid to believe me," look.

[RRonin]

Hillary Clinton campaigns in a familar old school Democratic style "Vote for me and I will give you (fill in the blank here)" "I will do wonderful things for you just settle back go back to sleep and by all means ingnore the man behind the curtain." That's how we got into Viet Nam; by being content to let Big Daddy Lyndon Johnson "do it all." Now Big Mama Hillary is promising to "do it all". Obama is offerering something else, he wants to involve people (ordinary people, not billionaires or CEOS) in a transparent government, to ensure that we KNOW whats going on. Thats a lot harder than what Hillary offers, it requires PAYING ATTENTION. But Obama believes we're smart enough and care enough to do it.

[SpinCycleRadio]

BTW, the term Bully Pulpit was coined by Teddy Rosevelt, who was in the habit of using the word 'bully' as a synonym for great.

[terramartom]

Sorry Pal,
If there was such a thing as God would it need to wait 4.5 billion years to correct the Earth's flaws? Get with it. This is about making good choices, understanding the consequences of those choices and then being responsible for those same choices. No miracle, not luck, not even religious superstition. It is about using factual intelligence and knowlegde. Religion relies on total ignorance, intolerance, and mental/ physical/ spiritual slavery.

[jayburd]

What on God's green earth are you blathering about and what does it have to do with the article above???

[areaman03]

Sir, I thank you for this piece. I'm with you, and I think that the single greatest attribute that Obama can offer up to us is his willingness to treat us like intelligent, rational ADULTS.

I am absolutely SICK of the "it's-true­-because-I­-said-so" mentality of nearly EVERY politician in Washington, LET ALONE the current administration. We will never solve any problem in this country (the war, the economy, health care, etc) WITHOUT a change in tone and some HONEST discussions about where we are and where we are headed.

I don't ask that my government get it right every time. I ask that they are honest with me before, during and after things go wrong.

[ladyv]

Absolutely true, and absolutely why I'm an Obama supporter.

[TrialDate]

What GOD has set forth, no man or woman can STOP IT. God has a PLAN for America and Barack Obama.....

[jhNY]

Of course, when Teddy Roosevelt coined the term, he was using the word 'bully' to mean robustly excellent. But you knew that, I'm pretty sure.

[egal]

And language and government both evolve with time...unf­ortunately­, the meaning of that word and the current status of our government have evolved to precisely the same point.

[lucky54]

Thank you, thank you, thank you... I think that's all I can say.
The bigest problem in this country is that "people rather die then think", so they swallow anything that is pushed down their troat by media. The other problem is short memory, they already forgot all the dirt Republicans have on Hillary and "Slick Willy".... Clintons have no chance in November.

[standforpeace]

Great post. Of course the Hillary camp is gong to suggest that you just lack testicular fortitude/­cojones/ba­lls. As though balls are what's been missing from politics from politics for the last 8 years. What is our country coming to when this is the worst insult that can be hurled. Have we learned nothing from our ballsy president who was so manly in threatening "Wanted Dead or Alive" or how about announcing "Mission Accomplished?" I have to say though that my personal ballsy favorite was "Bring it On." This from a man who had avoided combat, hid out on Air Force One like a frightened baby in the hours after 9/11 and never, never considered encouraging his children to enlist in a show of patriotism, and has been afraid to show his ballsy face at the funerals of any of our fallen soldiers or marines. Whatever else you want to say about George Bush, he is one ballsy bastard.

We've all had enough with the balls. What we need is a president who respects the American people too much to try to buy our votes for $30. We need a president who has compassion and common sense and the intellect to choose wisely. We need a president who doesn't see military force as a way to score political points whether by voting to authorize a disastrous preemptive war or by casually threatening to obliterate an entire nation to win a debate. Enough with the balls already.

[ResidentChimp]

When Marxists support Obama, you know we're in trouble. Obama spent 20 years being indoctrinated in a marxist Afro-Centric Church. His actions will reflect that.

[SkimaskBob]

and he's a Muslim! and there's something else ... he's ... gosh what is that other thing? ... oh right! ... he's black!

[Insideout143]

You're really scared of good change aren't you? Haven't you listened to Barack's OWN words, and haven't you seen his record of fighting for everyday people all of his adult life?

Sad.... so sad.

[DeadOm]

Right on! If only he had the fortitute to attend a church that preached love for all (esp little boys), and was married to white women, he would be perfect.

[wmfor]

Hey, the level of conversation was rising around here. Now little ResiChimp comes running in yelling, "Barry is a Commie! Barry is a Commie! Nana nana NAna!"

Go back and play with your toy soldiers, kid. But don't confuse them with real, flesh and blood, human beings.

[cam]

"Fine, so do the rest of us. But explain, please, why the FISA law stops you doing that. That was never addressed, and that was the actual question."

Bush isn't about to explain the reason he has bypassed the FISA law because a) he probably doesn't understand it himself and b) he doesn't want that particular can of worms opened. In essence there are now systems that can correlate data from different sources and detect indicators that span them. Telephone calls and financial records and geographical data and models of individuals and their known interactions and associates etc. This activity is largely done by computers, it is impersonal and it neccessarily bypasses FISA laws, which were designed for surveillance based on probable cause as opposed to correlated indicators across vast data sets.

[daniellenow]

this was a great article, thank you.

being one of the "educated, liberal, latte drinking, city dwelling elites" we hear so much about - and by elite i of course mean that i just moved back into my dad's basement because rent was sucking the life out of me - i often times feel very out of touch with mainstream america. in 2004 when we voted bush back in I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. i was dumbstruck. i felt so confused and so isolated and figured the best thing that could happen is that bush and his policies, his arrogant idiocracy, his lies and secrecy, and executive power grubbing, would take us so far down the shitter that we would have to go the complete other way in 2008.

and then comes obama.

i wish the media would spend half as much time on the ground, seeing and talking to the voters who for the first time in years are mobilized, energized and engaged as they do on flag pins... inspiration and hope are damn real and they are necessary ingredients for the change we seek. i hate when people try and downplay inspiration. inspiration is what makes teachers try harder, students try harder, fathers mothers brothers sisters try harder.

[gigi09]

Hey daniellenow...nice blog! I am glad that you had an awakening! Obama 08! Stay encouraged...we are going to get through this and we will be better people! Obama 08!

[blustate135]

I wholeheartedly agree. Obama is exactly who we need in the oval office! Just look at his stance on the gas tax issue alone - he has the courage to stand up and disagree and sees the big picture! He evaluates and listens to other opinions - we seriously do not need another maverick commander in chief.

I have family in NC and have tried to convince them how important it is to vote for Obama today. Hopefully it worked.

Obama for America.

[ignorantwillyharper]

I still say if Hillary loses the nomination, she will go to McCain and demand he place her on his ticket, as she cares nothing for the party and McCain will only run for the four year term. This would put her in the oval office in four short years.
McCain is a RINO and she's just a little right of the true MCcain...it's a match made in DC.

[jhNY]

I say you are utterly mistaken. Let's wait till late summer and see who is right. By the way, if you'd like to place any money on a bet to back your delirium, I'll give you 10 to 1 odds. And a sparkle pony.

[Christopher1]

It's funny how peoplesee things, the truth is Obama and his friends scare the hell out of me.......

[Insideout143]

You best take a look at Hillary's and John's friends too... very poor choices in their lives.

You need to look at the candidates..
Hillary - Lies, decieves, tears others down - currently in court case for campaign fraud, her hubby pardoned 2 Weather Underground members who WERE CONVICTED!!! (just a couple examples amongst hundreds of dark sides to her)
John - Aligned with ultra conservative hate mongers, lobbyists, Liddy - criminal, etc. (and I'm sure he loves the chaos that Limbaugh is bringing into this)

Barack has had the same principles, has lived by the same morals, has never taken any idea from anyone that is contrary to his own beliefs. Listen to HIM!

[Eoin45]

Then you're really easily frightened. People who joke about bombing Iran and make up stories about sniper fire worry me a lot more. Oh, and people like you.

[elbzee]

AMEN! You've hit the nail on the head and can't agree with you more. Great job and fantastic quotes from Thomas Friedman.

Hey, btw, have many people noticed that Microsoft Word spell check corrects Obama's name by suggesting Osama? Now, not that I'm paranoid, BUT.....