Are we really making a big deal over a teleprompter?

In my previous post, I mentioned how the Republican's nitpicking seems rather petty to me.

As if they felt my assertion needed support, they have decided that their latest point of attack would be the president's use of the teleprompter. After 8 years of a president who seemed barely able to put words together at times, I'm happy to have a president who can speak in complete sentences.

Republicans, blame yourselves for my low expectations.

The fact is, the President is the most powerful man in the world, and a few words from him can move markets dramatically in this day. Coupled with the fact that there are many Republicans who are cheerleading for him to fail, I think it's wise for
him to use the teleprompter if that's what he's comfortable with.

When it came to President Bush, I wasn't hard on him for the ocassional misstatement, as I believe we all make them. My issue was that every speaking engagement the decider had featured a misstatement. Only one if we were lucky.

Peter Roff, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Liberty, wastes no time in feeding the Republican base in his Fox News blog about this teleprompter scandal. The very first sentence reads "The White House has a problem". He goes on, incredibly, to use the two words: distort, and competence in regards to Obama, that I feel would be better used for the prior administration.

...rather than leading to a better informed public it would help the White House present a distorted image of the president and his competence. The American people deserve better...

Being unfamiliar with the Institute for Liberty, I visit their website to find out if this is non-partisan organization or if it leads in one direction or the other.

First thing I see: A picture of Ronald Reagan.

Ok.

Reading the "About us" page brings me to a Ronald Reagan quote.

Ok, I know where this is going.

Barack Obama has had several town hall meetings where he randomly picked members out of the UNSCREENED audience to ask questions. I've never seen Bush do that. In fact, it seemed to me that Bush went out his way to only make appearances and speeches in front of a pro-Bush crowd.

As I said before, if the Republicans want any credibility, they need to begin with how this President is making strides over what we had before prior to launching into their criticisms that seems hypocritical.

The Right's criticism over the Obama budget is a legitimate issue (but bring an alternative guys) and I can respect the difference of opinion.

But mocking the president over a teleprompter in this time of crisis is just so over the top. My mom use to tell me when I was a child that when kids bully you, they are just jealous.

I'm thinking the Republicans are just jealous that they didn't think to get Bush a teleprompter. Maybe they wouldn't have gotten their clocks cleaned in the last two elections.