During a commencement speech earlier today at Hampton College, obama again lashed out at information sources – from iPads to [of course] blogs:
Obama, who often chides journalists and cable news outlets for obsessing with political horse race coverage rather than serious issues, told a class of graduating university students that education was the key to progress.
“You’re coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t always rank all that high on the truth meter,” Obama said at Hampton University, Virginia.
“With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation,” Obama said.
He bemoaned the fact that “some of the craziest claims can quickly claim traction,” in the clamor of certain blogs and talk radio outlets.
“All of this is not only putting new pressures on you, it is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy.”
Yes, you read that right. Information is a distraction and it puts new pressures on our country.
Of course, he’s speaking of information he does not condone.
Remember November!
9. May 2010 at 1:30 pm
Silly me, here I thought that information is power. I’m past ready for November.
9. May 2010 at 1:48 pm
Me too.
9. May 2010 at 6:34 pm
Didn’t this shithead give Queen Elizabeth an iPod with a bunch of USELESS INFORMATION on it some time back?
9. May 2010 at 6:41 pm
Having information means we won’t be snowed by his BS. Please, baby Jesus, let the GOP win Congress in November.
9. May 2010 at 7:34 pm
Yep, the egomaniac gave the Queen an iPod loaded with his speeches!
9. May 2010 at 8:14 pm
Yeah, but he knows how to use his Blackberry like a pro though. I guess that doesn’t count.
10. May 2010 at 10:10 am
No shit! He’s playing at self-deprecation and it doesn’t look good on him…
9. May 2010 at 9:55 pm
he is just pissed and frustrated that he cannot control us – During a conversation with one of his followers, my mother, she made the statement that he was extremely smart – My response was simply a couple of questions – He is? What do you base that on? Have you seen any of his grades? I am still waiting for an answer that is based on fact – This guy is not even a good salesman since he cannot make a repeat sale to the same person once they get a break from the hype – He reminds me of a motivational speaker Glen Turner of “Dare to Be Great” and George Hale of “Yes We Can”, both motivational pyramids in the mid 70′s – This guy has no original tricks, everything he does and says has been done before – Show me where I am wrong and I will apologize
10. May 2010 at 10:11 am
Damn, you’re right on the money!!
11. May 2010 at 8:11 am
11. May 2010 at 8:18 am
Of course, you know him by his real name: Superman!
9. May 2010 at 10:13 pm
Oh, and the information we are getting 24/7 would score a lot higher on the truth meter if Obama were to shut his pie hole.
10. May 2010 at 10:11 am
True!
10. May 2010 at 11:06 am
Deer Plammi-
You ungratesfull people should just brogg about what a great job Obama is doing for the US nuclear disarmament industry in odor to attain wirld peace!!! Wrong riv Obama! God breast Jimmy Carter!
KIM Jong IL
Great Reader,
Norf Korea
90210
PMS Do you have sexy photos of Joy Behar?
10. May 2010 at 11:17 am
11. May 2010 at 8:11 am
ew
10. May 2010 at 2:59 pm
That was to much from gene – I forgot, his words do not even come from his brain, they come from the hired help and put on a screen for him to read and I have to admit news casters do a much better job of it -
10. May 2010 at 3:20 pm
Gene’s the best!
Yeah, obama’s just reading crap off the teleprompter…
10. May 2010 at 7:42 pm
I laughed at this because all I could think of was him giving the Queen the iPod. Now, what does this statement tell you of the thoughtfulness of his “gift”?
Our allies should line up and take turns kicking his ass for being such a smug and pretentious asshole. Of course, they’ll have to wait until imamo’s done watching the latest ep of Jersey Shores or whatever it’s called.
11. May 2010 at 7:51 am
I’ll go along with that.
11. May 2010 at 8:13 am
x box is an information device? i guess maybe i should let the boy play with his wii more after all…
11. May 2010 at 8:19 am
For someone who is proficient with a Blackberry and has two kids… he’s sort of clueless…
11. May 2010 at 8:48 am
Now he says he doesn’t know how to use his Ipod even though he said he has all of Michael Jackson’s music on his. He’s just a pathological liar.
11. May 2010 at 9:32 am
And that’s just one of his problems!
11. May 2010 at 2:20 pm
What I see in the responses here to the president’s remarks is a willfull misreading of his message. What he is saying is that our technology has enabled the cration of a culture in which a maelstrom of information, much of it from dubious sources that have only recently come to exist, swirls about us continually. This chatter can distract us from what is true and what is right, enfeebling us rather than empowering us. I think this is true regardless of one’s political perspective. An appropriate paraphrase might best be found in the writings of one Gordon Sumner, AKA Sting: “Too much information running through my brain, Too much information driving me insane.”
11. May 2010 at 5:55 pm
Then why didn’t he say that? You’re good; you ought to be a speechwriter for the big O.
12. May 2010 at 8:46 am
Thank you for the compliment of my skills as an essayist, although I suspect that you might consider me more of an apologist. I just think there are good people with good ideas–and a heartfelt love of this country–on both sides of the aisle, and that the stridency and vitriol that mark our current state of debate do not serve the citizenry. We have seen things degenerate to the point where all discussions become ad hominen attacks on our opponents, and the ideas get orphaned in the melee.
12. May 2010 at 8:56 am
Obama still sucks.
12. May 2010 at 9:03 am
Well, that’s a given.
12. May 2010 at 10:11 am
Thanks for proving my point.
12. May 2010 at 9:03 am
Cooler heads, eh? My friends and I said much the same during the Bush years, when the hatred from the left was at its peak. Even now Bush bears the brunt of much blame that is not his own.
Problem is, the Obama administration is not politics as usual. And my side of the aisle argues -and my views may be a bit skewed here, I realize- but does not hate. That is largely reserved for the left. We fear for our country.
12. May 2010 at 10:25 am
Do you not think that blindly ascribing “hate” as the motivation of the left is not exactly the sort of exagerated tactic that makes productive dialogue improbable, if not impossible.
Tell me, how/why do you “fear” for the country. Define the current administration’s deviations from “politics as usual,” and how those deviations are somehow more egregious than those of the previous administration with its stated ideal of developing a more powerful, “unitary” executive. Where was the right’s concern for our nation and constitution when the country entered an illegal war with a sovereign state on the basis of known lies? Where was the deference to the rule of law when the Fourth Amendment was being shredded by with wholesale warrantless wiretapping?
12. May 2010 at 12:24 pm
Oh, I recognize those talking points!
Thanks for proving my point!
12. May 2010 at 12:40 pm
I am puzzled by your assertion that these are “talking points,” especially when it is the RNC that seeks to insure uniformity of message by daily sending out a list of “talking points” to its sympathizers in the pundit class and ammenable “news” outlets. (Read: FOX News, Newsmax, et al.) Secondly, you cannot, therefore you do not, refute the veracity of the points I make regarding the Bush Administration’s handling of foreign and domestic policy issues. Moreover, those were only two of the most obvious and indisputable points; I could have easily cited so many more.
12. May 2010 at 1:23 pm
One: I don’t care what the fools at RNC do.
Two:
You’re assuming a lot.
I’ve been in too many pissing contests with your clones to start another one.
Shove off, please.
12. May 2010 at 1:56 pm
Those who can’t stand the heat, sometimes order the others out of the kitchen, I see. I guess you believe the Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, El Rushbo school of discourse.
Oh, by the way, I don’t assume anything. I do, however, see that you are incapable of sustainning a cogent, coherent argument with me. It was fun discussing things with you while you could hang on, but not everyone (e.g., you) can drive a Ferarri. Hasta Ud. Puede Pensar.
12. May 2010 at 2:00 pm
Done it too often with too many of your kind, Jim. And you’re still flinging stereotypes around that don’t apply to me.
Stop provoking me with insults and just go away, that’s a good boy.
12. May 2010 at 2:03 pm
Stereotypes? Where? Goodbye, Pam, and good luck.
14. May 2010 at 8:29 pm
Hey may I quote some of the content here in this blog if I provide a link back to your site?