A very telling Q & A....

president hussein continues to amaze with his persistent wackiness in front of the camera. During Tuesday night's 3/24/09 press conference to sell the public on his plans to save the economy, he allowed a Q & A session and ran afoul of CNN reporter Ed Henry who, somewhat mistakenly, did his job.

Read HERE for the full story.

It's really telling that what was probably the single most important and news-worthy moment of the evening is being tossed aside in the Yahoo! "The Buzz" segment as if it were just another candid and sardonic laughing fit over the state of the economy, or perhaps another humorous jab at those pesky Special Education kids.

I know, you think I'm being unfair about the guy. After all, those instances were designed to be rare glimpses into the humanity and same-ness of the man with us mere mortals.

But take careful note of the answer that hussein gave Mr. Henry. He likes to know what he's talking about before he speaks.

Instance 1) The special ed kids/Leno remark: I'm actually going to go easy on hussein here because I believe he was not trying to be insulting, but rather self-deprecating and it backfired. Anyone could have made that gaffe and it is not really more than a minor moment, one in which spontaneity probably overshot common sense.

Instance 2) The 60 Minutes interview: The idea that this was intended to convey his sense of disbelief at where his life had taken him is vastly overshadowed by the understanding that he was on 60 Minutes. 60 Minutes is where you go to import character and wisdom, and to assure people you are in control. It is not where you go to laugh about a situation that is apparently so dire it requires you to forestall civil liberties and harass private citizens for having made a decent living.

Instance 3) The Ed Henry question: To suggest that hussein was unaware that people KNEW by this point that he had fore-knowledge of the AIG bonuses is to suggest that he has zero concept of what's going on around him. Clearly one of the few charges you CAN'T level against the man is that he is uninvolved. His goals may not be your goals, his motivations may be completely altruistic, even though they have all the appearance of being wrapped in a veil of sinister origins, but president hussein is fully aware of his actions and what he is doing.

So when he feigns anger over this question it can only be summed up as a broader warning to other reporters not to ask questions that come too close to the truth with him. Note the air of nervousness around the room that the news article mentions? Since when has the press ever felt "nervous" for having asked probing, insightful questions in the past?

hussein's answer also tells a tremendous tale. He admits, in replying the way that he did, that he WAS fully aware of the bonuses well before he expressed public outrage. The consequences of this are significant. It means the following:

1) The "outrage" he expressed was not the momentary stun of learning that these guys did WHAT? And that they used WHO's money to do it? No. That argument doesn't fly unless you are USING that outrage to affect an outcome.

2) The hullabaloo over the AIG bonuses becomes increasingly more suspect since, with both the president and congress's blessings, private citizens were threatened with illegal and summary punishment including the significant threat of 90% taxation*.

3) The outrage that was sparked, the angry protestations, editorials, man-in-the-street arguments, et al, and most importantly the president all failed to point out one very crucial factor in this woeful moment in American History: The AIG execs did not break the law. They didn't even bend it slightly, or even so much as bruise it.

Child rapists do not get this kind of public backlash.

4) president hussein's agreeing that he should have the power to assume control over ALL banking institutions to prevent this sort of outrageous legal activity from happening again now seems more and more like the ultimate goal of publicly humiliating these private citizens.

* on the flip side of the coin, I am somewhat disappointed with the AIG executes that received these retention bonuses on one point: Had I been one of those execs I would have insisted that I receive the bonus. ESPECIALLY under the threat from the Federal Government of 90% taxation. One of two events would occur, either the Government would back down for fear of risking public backlash, or they would go ahead and do this, and then they could be sued in an embarrassing and overtly public lawsuit. It would be easy to make one or two public statements including pointing out that no law is being broken, and then suddenly America asks the real question:

If no law was broken, WHY are we punishing these guys?

You'll have to ask president hussein. Whenever he gets around to answering at least you'll have the comfort of knowing that he knows what he's talking about.

(by the way, special note of interest: I'm not sure how he did it, but did anyone else notice that there were no teleprompters in sight, and he actually looked into the camera when he spoke? president hussein IS paying attention to his critics. So keep those words coming, America... they DO have an impact.)

I'm Dr. Calamity and I approve of this message.