"Those people ought to be drug tested,"
@whiteheather39 (24403)
United States
August 11, 2010 7:05am CST
The Obama administration's most public face, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, has tried to climb down from angry remarks he aimed at leftwing critics, calling them "crazy".
In an interview with The Hill newspaper in Washington DC, Gibbs revealed frustration at attacks on the administration from liberal Democrats and others on the left, in terms likely to make relations even worse:
"I hear these people saying he's like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested," Gibbs said. "I mean, it's crazy."
The press secretary dismissed the "professional left" in terms very similar to those used by their opponents on the ideological right, saying, "They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we've eliminated the Pentagon. That's not reality."
Within hours of the interview being published, Gibbs tried to walk back his remarks, calling them "inartful"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/aug/10/robert-gibbs-crazy-liberal-critics-obama
[b][i]What kind of image are we presenting to the world when Obama's Press Secretary starts insulting his own Democratic Party Members and others by calling them crazy!
Surely a person chosen by Obama to be the voice of the White House can refrain from calling people crazy and can give remarks that do not show his lack of intelligence.
What do you think of Gibbs as the mouth of the White House?[/i][/b]
3 people like this
8 responses
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
11 Aug 10
Gibbs is just another of the embarrassingly-unsuited-for-public-office types that abound in the Obama administration. Job requirements seem to be based in ideology rather than qualifications. People may apologize when something they said could be taken the wrong way due to poor word choice. Apologies are meaningless when you said what you really meant and Gibbsy meant what he said. Actually, I can envision him saying this with a sort of wide-eyed, honest innocence. What? They don't worship Obama? What's wrong with them? These guys can't see beyond their own expectations of hero-worship. There's a reason they say that presidents get a 100 day honeymoon - it's because after that, they'd better do something worthwhile or people are going to notice and object. It's called the real world. Personality may get you in the door to the White House, but after that, you better get to work on fixing the problems people put you there to fix.
1 person likes this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
12 Aug 10
Great response. I really hope that someone in the White House reads some of the great postings here on myLot. They sure could learn a lot. What a good motto: Learn alot from myLot!!
@lilwonders456 (8214)
• United States
11 Aug 10
Well they have a point.....Obama has been a lot like Bush. I have said it for a while...to include calling people names who don't agree with them on either side. Bush used the term unamerican.....Obama uses the term crazy.
We are still in two wars. Money is still getting spent we don't have. The national debt is still growing. The patriot act is still in place. Our borders are still not secured. Amnesty is still being pushed. He has continued some of the same "failed policies" he called Bush out on when he was campaigning.
Looks like they are just ticking everyone off...except the people who agree with him completely on everything.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160949)
• United States
11 Aug 10
It is like shooting yourself in the foot. It just is not very comprehensible. I do not think there is any way he can back down from such a well publicized mistake in behavior.
1 person likes this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
11 Aug 10
It is pretty clear that words once said cannot be unsaid especially with the Internet watching every move.
1 person likes this
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
11 Aug 10
I think the funnier part was what Rush Limbaugh later pointed out. Rahm apologized to retarded people for likening them to liberal activists. He never apologized to liberal activists for calling them retarded so it makes you wonder which is the bigger insult, being called liberal or being called retarded.
@matersfish (6306)
• United States
11 Aug 10
Well, it seems that Gibbs is a natural fit in an administration with Obama, Emanuel, Axelrod, etc.
They lash out and bash enemies over the head, regardless if they're on board 99.9% of the time. That 00.1% will get you a speedknot in a hurry.
Granted, some of them more eloquently bash enemies. But from calling someone "crazy" to throwing a expletive-heavy tirade to saying someone "acted stupidly," it's all a different way to say the same thing: I'm right and you don't even matter. Deal with it.
To me, it stands out as more arrogance from elitist suits in elected power. I'll let someone else make excuses for it and explain it away if they want to. I won't.
1 person likes this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
11 Aug 10
I think it may not seen such an idiotic remark to makee if it was not directed at his own party!
1 person likes this
@dboman (457)
• United States
11 Aug 10
I think it's incredibly fitting.
Knee-jerk emotional responses, incompetence, evasion, deceit, excuses, blame game. All these describe the administration, and Gibbs does a great job of representing the White House by giving a daily dose of all these.
This is the typical elitist attitude. "If you don't agree with me, you're: a. racist, b. stupid, c. crazy, d. greedy, e. trying to hold the country back." Go down the list in that order ticking off each, when you can't claim one (or already have) move to the next.
If you can't address the points the opposition is making, marginalize them and make fun of them (it seems like the WH becomes more like the daily show every day).
@sumofalltears (3988)
• United States
11 Aug 10
To date, Obama's choices for key public offices have not exactly inspired any good emotions from me, and I can't help but think that it demonstrates the old saying that whom you surround yourself with gives a better picture of who you really are than anything else you may say or do. The entire administration constantly sends out mixed signals to the point that I wonder what country this really is, and I'll say it again I hope we survive Obama's administration, or lack of administration is maybe more like it.
@hetachi (1)
• Finland
12 Aug 10
I think in the position of USA as abig country, and in addition to its basic role in the world, and its efffect on other countries policies and economies naturally, the ledders any way are should be selected upon careful selection, and this could be practiced through an open minded and wise people know what is for their favor and those leader also should choose who can help on the develpoment and grouth of his organizations.
