CONTROVERSY OVER OBAMA APPEARING ON THE VIEW
Before President Obama went on the View there was a lot of controversy over whether or not he should have appeared on the View. Hard core journalists said no way while White House advisors thought this was a great way of reaching women voters.
As it turned out the hard core journalists were right. It was a very bad idea. The questions he was asked about Snooki did not put him in a good light . Besides making him look like he lied (which he did not based on his body language analysis) it may have uncovered another can of worms with regard to his speech making and teleprompter reading. The President did not have to endure the discomfort level which resulted in a flash of anger after he was inappropriately asked about Mel Gibson.
WAS OBAMA LYING?
The inconsistency of saying he never heard of Snooki when he mentioned Snooki’s name in a White House Press Correspondents Dinner three months earlier made him look like a liar.
The Drudge Report headline even read Obama lies about not knowing who Snooki is?
No one likes a liar,especially in their President or world leader. It diminishes the public trust.
Look at what happened to other President’s who lied. Richard Nixon was one of the most detested Presidents after he had the audacity to tell the world “I am not a crook” when that was exactly what he was.
President Clinton lost even more respect for looking directly into the television camera lens and lying that he did not have an affair with that woman- Ms. Lewinsky when in fact, he did.
On the other hand, we all know what happened to our first President George Washington who said ”I cannot tell a lie.” His inspirational story of being honest and admitting he chopped down the cherry tree is a large part of our Americana.
The moral of this story is that we love President who tell us the truth and don’t love those who lie.
OBAMA DID NOT TELL A LIE WHEN IT CAME TO NOT KNOWING SNOOKI
After careful analysis of Obama’s body language, I do not believe that the President lied.
Instead, he played along with the Q and A that Joy Behar was throwing at him. After she asked if Snookie should run for mayor of Waisilla and Obama heard the audience roar of laughter, he realized that in order to be likeable and affable, it was a cue for him to go along with the joke. He actually didn’t even realize what he was laughing at. He simply knew that the audience thought something as funny, so he went along with it as a way of showing his good nature.
Body language wise, he really got into it . He even went as far as tossing his head back and giving closed eyed laugh. A closed eye laugh is significant as it not always a genuine laugh.
Suddenly his facial expression changed from over the top open mouth laughter to a less laughing mouth as he leans over to Joy and even lens his shoulder into her and says “ I don’t know who Snooki is.” When some one leans into you they tend to be more serious and candid with you and are often telling you the truth, This is even more true if the shoulder is directed towards you as you see in the above photo.
Obama’s comment got an even bigger laugh as the audience construed that he was kidding. They probably expected him to add and “I’m just kidding.” But he wasn’t kidding. His facial expression showed that he was a bit more serious. He really didn’t know who Snooki was based on his facial expression as well as the slight pitch break in his voice pattern. That showed that he was indeed telling the truth.
OBAMA’S BODY LANGUAGE REVEALED HE DIDN’T KNOW WHO SNOOKI WAS THREE MONTHS EARLIER
When Obama gave his speech at the White House Press Correspondent’s dinner three month earlier in May 2010, he didn’t know who Snooki was then either.
Here you see the President looking down as he read from his notes which one of his speech writers obviously wrote for him. Without any facial animation, smiling, or vocalizations, which one would expect if they were in on the joke and really knew the characters about whom they were joking, Obama blandly reads ”The following individuals shall be excluded from the indoor tanning tax within this bill: Snooki, JWOWW, The Situation and House minority leader John Boehner.’“
You can hear a slight chuckle in his voice when he says the name John Boehner, whom he obviously knows. But when he read the names Snooki, JWOWW and the Situation, he is expressionless and chuckleless.
When he heard the audience laugh, he merely picked up his head and looked at the audience blankly, without a smile which further indicated that he had no clue about those who’s names he just read from his notes. If he knew who they were you would have seen a slight smile or even a big smile, depending on what he thought about the Jersey Shore characters.
So when we heard him on the View with his pitched raised saying “I have to admit I don’t know who Snooki is
with a less hearty smile as he leans in towards Joy with and his head slightly tilted, this is a body language tell of uncertainly. Obama is really uncertain about who or what Snooki is. He is telling the truth.
DOES OBAMA KNOW ALL THAT CONTAINED IN HIS SPEECHES OR DOES HE MOUTH EMPTY WORDS?
So now that we know he wasn’t lying. But there is another problem that has surfaced. The inconsistency made him look bad in another way.
For some, it made him look puppet-like who was just mouthing words others wrote for him while he casually reads those words off of a teleprompter.
If he has no clue about who Snooki is and yet can make a joke about her in a speech written by a nameless speechwriter, several question may arise for many. The questions are “What other things has Obama said in his speeches about which he has no clue ? Does he really know everything he reads off the teleprompter or are they just empty words?
When he gave the speech about the oil crisis which many felt was too little too late, he seemed to just be reading the words off of a screen. They seemed empty and emotionless. In fact he got a lot of flak for his lack of emotion and flat affect.
His reaction was inappropriate considering the crisis situation. Even his staunchest supporters like Spike Lee spoke up and encouraged him to “go off” and show people that he was upset as they were about the situation.
After the revelation that Obama may not know what is contained in all of his speeches, it may make a lot of people question rif he is simply reading words. That certainly is not confidence building . One wants their leader to really know what is going on in every Situation ( no pun intended) , especially if they are relaying information to their citizens.
Whether it is about Snooki or the Sitiuation, the oil spill, Iran, or Afghanistan, we need to know that the President thoroughly knows every topic and every player whenever he speaks to the public.
BAD IDEA TO APPEAR ON A LIVE SHOW WHERE HE WAS ASKED ABOUT MEL GIBSON
The Snooki embarrassment which made him look bad wasn’t the only negative thing that came from his horrible decision to have the President appear on the View.
His advisors needed to make sure what questions would be asked ahead of time. They need to let the producers of the View now that there were certain questions which were off limits like asking him about Mel Gibson.
I believe that it was completely inappropriate to ask a sitting President. President Obama thought that it was inappropriate as well , At first you could see his level of discomfort with his lip licking and tongue biting. That meant he didn’t want to talk about it. It wasn’t his place and he know it.
But Joy pursued it so he felt stuck between a rock and a hard place and he was getting angry. He turned his head to th direction of Barbara Walters for help. But surprisingly she did not intercede.
As soon as he realized that he ws on his own, a flash on anger appeared on his face and rightfully so.
Immediately fun time and trying to be agreeable, likeable and affable was over for him and he was mad that he was injected into this horrible fiasco concerning Mel. The level of discomfort clearly continued in the tension exhibited throughout the President’s body language.
I give Obama a lot of points for his quick minded thinking as he attempted to untangle himself from the uncomfortable experience. With a serious face, he said how he had not seen a lot of Mel Gibson movies lately. He tried graciously to defuse the situation by going off topic on to a tangent by bringing up Mel’s movies and then with a tinge of humor adding “Ask me about Afghanistan.” It clearly showed his skills in diplomacy.
THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT HIS SHOW APPEARANCE
Besides showing how graciously the President took control to thwart an ungracious topic like Mel Gibson, the good news about the President’s appearance on the show was that he did look more relaxed and less robotic than we usually see him.
He looked like the warm likeable guy everyone feel in love with before the election. He seemed easy going and very genuine.
But he should have never been put into a situation where he was asked inappropriate and embarrassing questions that he had no business answering like the Mel Gibson issue. I am sure that if he ever does the View again or anything like it, all questions will be screened ahead of time. After all, as a politician, why voluntarily put yourself in a position to go on television if you don’t come away looking and sounding good and having more people respect you than they did before? www.drlillianglass. com
