Listening In

From the Presidential News Conference March 24, 2009:
Q: But on AIG, why did you wait -- why did you wait days to come out and express that outrage? It seems like the action is coming out of New York and the attorney general's office. It took you days to come public with Secretary Geithner and say, look, we're outraged. Why did it take so long?
OBAMA: It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak.

Lately our new president has been taking some heat for his use of a teleprompter. Maybe we are about to discover the limits of this man's rhetoric. So be it, I say. If it will keep him from popping off with witty bon mot about Special Olympics, I might suggest that he continue to stick with his prepared remarks. Leave the awkward moments to the Vice President. Joe seems much more accustomed to humiliation and ridicule.
Our new president does not. He wants to be prepared. This is in stark contrast to "The Decider." President Pinhead periodically gave the impression that policy was being created at the podium, and quite possibly it was. The "outrage" called for in the past eight years has been all too easy to see and hear. We didn't send troops in to occupy AIG or attack it with cruise missiles. That seems like evolution. Barack Obama is a thoughtful man, and I think we can expect much more direct and directed communication from him. If we have to wait an extra day or two to get a straight answer from our commander-in-chief, that's a price I'm willing to pay. His Nielsen ratings may be slipping, but he's got more to worry about than pre-empting "American Idol."
It may be a while before we get another rafter-shaking bit of elocution like the ones that got him the job in the first place, but I will still be happy with some straight talk while we're waiting for the fire and brimstone.