President Obama is known for his brilliant oration, but also for his reliance on teleprompters. That doesn't work so well when the operator messes up his side of things.
On saint Patrick's Day, the teleprompter operator forgot to switch from Obama's remarks to those of the Irish Prime Minister (who quickly realized the error, turned to Obama, and said "I think this is your speech.") When Obama re-took the podium (and the operator had made the change), Obama began reading the Prime Minister's speech. He ended up thanking himself for inviting everyone.
Check the story at Sky News http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Barack-Obama-Thanks-Himself-In-Teleprompt-Blunder-During-Address-With-Irish-PM-On-St-Patricks-Day/Article/200903315243932?lpos=World_News_First_World_News_Article_Teaser_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15243932_Barack_Obama_Thanks_Himself_In_Teleprompt_Blunder_During_Address_With_Irish_PM_On_St_Patricks_Day.
Yet another example of our crack media in the U.S., and their biased coverage. Remember how they could never tire of pictures and video of President Bush making a mistake? It seems they've decided mistakes made by President Obama aren't important enough for the American public to see.
More important, though, is President Obama's constant need for the teleprompter. While all recent presidents have used them for major addresses, few had to rely on them for tasks as mundane as providing a press briefing, or welcoming invited guests to the White House.
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Too funny! But he's really not that great an orator. His...speeches are a.....little choppy. (Think he's related to William Shatner?)
ReplyDeleteHi! Thanks for inviting me, Buffy!
ReplyDeleteGreat Orater?!?! Doesn't that crack you up? My daughter is taking a college speech class that has better speakers (of course she's one of them)! I saw a YouTube video where David Letterman counted the number of times President Obama said "Uh..."! I can't remember the total, but it was pretty fun to watch. I prefer to count the number of times he says, "Aaaand." Am I the only person that cracks up when they call him a brilliant orater?!?
OK, sorry for the disrespect. I'm definitely a newbie when it comes to political blogging. I usually blog on such important issues as rubber-stamping, quilts, or low back pain.
So, does anyone have a link to a video of Obama and the Irish guy getting mixed up on whose speech is on the teleprompter? BTW, why does the President need a teleprompter to welcome a speaker to the platform? Or maybe I'm confused?
Thanks for the comments! Amazingly (not) there is no video of this blunder. It was covered by Sky News (Fox News' sister organization in England.) Nice that our media here … who loved showing and gaffe by Bush … couldn’t cover this!
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