[AF] So, about that whole "teleprompter" thing

[Scott Fybush]

There's a recurring meme, in this thread and elsewhere, that would 
portray our current president as being unable to form a coherent 
sentence without a teleprompter.

There's a recurring meme, in this thread and elsewhere, that would 
portray our previous president as having been unable to form a coherent 
sentence without a teleprompter.

I don't believe either claim is consistent with reality, or conducive to 
an intelligent discussion...but because I'm a journalist, and because 
I'm a big believer in the power of facts, I decided to try a little 
experiment: I googled "Obama press conference transcript" and "Bush 
press conference transcript" and pulled the first entry that showed up 
for each.

Assuming we can all accept that both men used teleprompters for their 
opening statements, as did their predecessors going back at least a 
generation, I instead went to their responses to questions, pulling the 
last few answers they gave.

Here they are, starting with Fox News' transcript of Bush's final news 
conference, found here:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/12/raw-data-transcript-bushs-white-house-pr

"BUSH: I hope the tone is different for him than it has been for me. I 
am disappointed by the tone in Washington, D.C. I've -- I try to do my 
part by not engaging in the name-calling and -- and by the way, needless 
name-calling. I have worked to be respectful of my opponents on 
different issues.

We did find some good common ground on a variety of issues: No Child 
Left Behind, Medicare prescriptions drugs, PEPFAR, in the end, the 
funding for troops in Iraq. Tax cuts to a certain extent, got -- got 
some bipartisan votes on them.

There have been areas where we were able to work together. It's just the 
rhetoric got out of control at times.

BUSH: I don't know why. You need to ask those who -- those who used the 
words they used.

As I say, it's not the first time it's ever happened, as I think 
answered that to Jim there. It's happened throughout our history.

BUSH: And I would hope that -- that, frankly, for the sake of the system 
itself, that, if people disagree with President-elect Obama, they treat 
him with respect.

You know, I worry about people looking at our system, saying, "Why would 
I want to go up there and, you know, work in that kind of environment?"

And -- so I wish him all the best. And no question, he'll be -- he'll -- 
there will be critics. And there should be. We all should welcome 
criticism on different policies. The great thing about our democracy, 
people have a chance to express themselves. I just hope the tone is 
respectful. He deserves it, and so does the country.

It has been a honor to work with you. I meant what I said when I first 
got up here. I wish you all the very best. I wish you and your families 
all the best. God bless you."

Now here's Obama, from June 23 -
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/23/politics/main5107407.shtml

"THE PRESIDENT: Yes. I have concern about how peaceful demonstrators and 
people who want their votes counted may be stifled from expressing those 
concerns. I think, as I said before, there are certain international 
norms of freedom of speech, freedom of expression --

Q: Then why won't you allow the photos --

THE PRESIDENT: Hold on a second, Helen. That's a different question. 
(Laughter.) And I think it's important for us to make sure that we let 
the Iranian people know that we are watching what's happening, that they 
are not alone in this process. Ultimately, though, what's going to be 
most important is what happens in Iran. And we've all been struck by the 
courage of people. And I mentioned this I think in a statement that I 
made a couple of days ago. Some of you who had been covering my 
campaigns know this is one of my favorite expressions, was Dr. King's 
expression that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends 
towards justice." We have to believe that ultimately justice will prevail.

All right. Thank you, guys."

And now my opinion on the matter:

I didn't agree with all of his policies or respect all his decisions, 
and I certainly don't think he'll go down in history as among our most 
eloquent leaders, but neither do I believe that George W. Bush was 
unable to form a complete sentence or express a coherent thought.

At the same time, I think those who would accuse Barack Obama of being 
unable to speak without a teleprompter do not have the evidence on their 
side, either. You may not like the man, you may distrust his policies, 
you may think (as I do) that he falls back on "uh" too much as he's 
forming thoughts while speaking off the cuff. But the rest of your 
arguments lose force, at least for me, when they're accompanied by this 
claim that he's somehow unable to speak without a script in front of him.

You don't get elected president by being stupid. George W. Bush wasn't, 
and neither is Barack Obama, and any so-called political argument that 
starts off with "POTUS is incapable of independent thought" isn't an 
argument I find at all persuasive.