^^ Except that having to write your core principles on your hand is not equivalent to a president using a teleprompter. A better comparison, using your analogy, is someone got with 3 dozen speeding tickets making fun of someone who rear-ended a cop car in broad daylight, while they were sober, because they were contemplating if their cat preferred fish over chicken.

But even then, it's a very imperfect analogy, because there is absolutely nothing wrong with the president, or anyone is watched by millions of people, to use a teleprompter, and public officials have been doing so for more than a decade, and using "regular" prompters for centuries. Particularly when this person has proven on numerous occasions that they can discuss their ideas impromptu if necessary.

2/9/2010 7:07:57 PM

I don't think theres anything wrong with using a teleprompter, although with the amount of praise Obama gets as a public speaker, it would seem like he wouldn't need teleprompters, notes, anything

I just think having a few buzzwords on your hand is not nearly as "bad" as reading things verbatim...I fail to see how anyone could argue otherwise

Lets say we are both taking COM 110 (i think thats public speaking at State)

We each have to give a speech on whatever topic...I have a notecard with 5 key points on it...you have a piece of 8.5x11 with your whole speech

From a strictly public speaking standpoint, all other things considered, I WILL get a better grade than you

[Edited on February 9, 2010 at 7:11 PM. Reason : my speeding ticket analogy was retarded btw, try this one instead]

2/9/2010 7:11:21 PM

Quote :

"although with the amount of praise Obama gets as a public speaker, it would seem like he wouldn't need teleprompters, notes, anything"

This is a completely illogical statement. The vast majority of speakers i've seen, good and bad, use notes of some sort. There is 0 correlation with a person's speaking ability, and usage of notes.

Quote :

"We each have to give a speech on whatever topic...I have a notecard with 5 key points on it...you have a piece of 8.5x11 with your whole speech From a strictly public speaking standpoint, all other things considered, I WILL get a better grade than you"

This is also simply not true, as someone who has taken com 110.

And besides, a notecard vs an 8.5x11 piece of paper is not the same thing as scribbling on your hand vs using a teleprompter.

You are trying REALLY hard here to ride Sarah's clam, and you're making yourself look a bit foolish.

2/9/2010 7:18:44 PM

i don't know if i'd want to ride it, but i wouldn't mind seeing her clam....


just once.

2/9/2010 7:21:37 PM

^^I took COM 110 too...and I have tried to say repeatedly that this has nothing to do with Obama or Palin personally or individually

Its just you keep making yourself look even more retarded when you say using a notecard is 'worse' than READING A SPEECH VERBATIM

Quote :

"a notecard vs an 8.5x11 piece of paper is not the same thing as scribbling on your hand vs using a teleprompter."

its pretty fucking close...lets see

'A few notes on a notecard' IS TO 'A few notes on your hand'

AS

'Reading a speech verbatim from a piece of paper' IS TO ' Reading a speech verbatim off a teleprompter'

Funny you mention me "riding Palin's clam" lol...I've gone out of my way to try and compartmentalize this to a strictly public speaking issue...whereas you are emotionally tied to Obama and therefore can't even see the simple logic in me basically saying "its better to have a few notes and speak on those than it is to read something verbatim"

until you can separate your politics or personal opinions from the very strict and narrow topic of public speaking etiquette which is all i'm talking about, you'll continue to ride Obama's dick instead of using common sense

[Edited on February 9, 2010 at 7:34 PM. Reason : eh, was gonna re-arrange the analogy but i'll leave it]

2/9/2010 7:25:38 PM

^

2/9/2010 7:36:14 PM

I like the direction this thread is headed.

Let's discuss Sarah's clam and Obama's dick... I think that would be a pretty hot scene if we could just get them together.

2/9/2010 7:37:27 PM

Quote :

"its pretty fucking close...lets see "

umm… not at all.

Quote :

"'A few notes on a notecard' IS TO 'A few notes on your hand' AS 'Reading a speech verbatim from a piece of paper' IS TO ' Reading a speech verbatim off a teleprompter’ "

This is true, only on the most basic sense.

But the reason you MIGHT be docked points for using a piece of notebook paper vs. a notecard, is that a notebook paper is large and unwieldy if you have to flip back and forth, or if it’s not hidden by a podium. It looks amateur and unprofessional.

It’s mind boggling that you think the reason it’s worse is due to it’s size… lol.

So, carrying on your obviously dumb comparison to a com 110 class, it would be more like Obama was using a notecard, and Palin was using a scrap of paper she tore from the paper bag the liquor store gave her to keep her liquor in.

[Edited on February 9, 2010 at 7:58 PM. Reason : ]

2/9/2010 7:54:13 PM

allow me to reiterate my 3 main points

Quote :

"not to nitpick but... all politics and abilities of Palin and Obama aside,"

Quote :

"now obviously Obama comes across as a better public speaker than Palin...its not even close...just listen to each of them"

Quote :

"Its just you keep making yourself look even more retarded when you say using a notecard is 'worse' than READING A SPEECH VERBATIM "

2/9/2010 7:57:09 PM

^^

Quote :

"Funny you mention me "riding Palin's clam" lol...I've gone out of my way to try and compartmentalize this to a strictly public speaking issue...whereas you are emotionally tied to Obama and therefore can't even see the simple logic in me basically saying "its better to have a few notes and speak on those than it is to read something verbatim” "

And this is obviously bullshit too, because your reasoning is so tortured and twisted, you could have only derived it if you were trying to reach a conclusion you had pre-determined, rather than objectively looking at the facts of the situations.

[Edited on February 9, 2010 at 7:59 PM. Reason : ]

2/9/2010 7:58:18 PM

It has absolutely zero to do with the size of the paper

The key point here is the difference in having a few individual points, versus reading an entire speech verbatim

Its not public reading, its public speaking...its much better and much more natural to have topics that you look at, then use your brain to elaborate on them, than it is to have paragraphs that you look at and read

i can only guess that you're trolling me

^wow...are all your thoughts and emotions tied together? do you not have the cognitive ability to isolate a particular subject or issue and just focus on that? you're sad

[Edited on February 9, 2010 at 8:02 PM. Reason : .]

2/9/2010 8:02:02 PM

^ and another reason why your comparison is dumb is because Palin wasn’t reading a speech, she was answering questions. She needed to remind herself of the answer to the question of ""What are the top three things that have got to be done?”

Does Obama (or anyone else who is not an idiot) use a teleprompter/notebook paper to answer questions like that?

[Edited on February 9, 2010 at 8:05 PM. Reason : ]

2/9/2010 8:03:46 PM

No he doesn't need to write things on his hands, because he is a good listener when his advisors tell him what he is supposed to say and not say beforehand

Palin isn't as bright

2/9/2010 8:05:58 PM

anyone see robert gibbs show his ass? Stay classy.

2/10/2010 8:35:22 AM

its a true fact that after someone calls your policies "hopey-changey" you are allowed to mock them by writing something on your hand.

2/10/2010 8:47:27 AM

I'm fairly liberal

I think Palin is a hack

I don't give 2 shits if she made a few notes on her hand.

At worst, it's clumsy on her part.

There are 436 other (more significant) things about her for which to find fault.

2/10/2010 8:53:51 AM

I agree the whole hand writing is BEGGING to be made fun of, but let MSNBC do it. You are the fucking WHITE HOUSE press sec. Have some class. It looks terrible for the Admin.

2/10/2010 9:05:35 AM

I agree it does give Palin yet another opportunity to play the victim and cry about how the mean 'ol president's cronies are picking on her rather elementary school method of note keeping.

2/10/2010 9:09:49 AM

Sarah Palin is a dumb cunt.

2/10/2010 9:13:00 AM

Quote :

"Lets say we are both taking COM 110 (i think thats public speaking at State) We each have to give a speech on whatever topic...I have a notecard with 5 key points on it...you have a piece of 8.5x11 with your whole speech From a strictly public speaking standpoint, all other things considered, I WILL get a better grade than you"

What grade would you get if you ditched the note card and the piece of paper and you stood there constantly looking at notes scribbled on your hand the entire time, because that's what we're talking about here. Seriously if you can't remember three simple things invest in a pack of note cards. It's more professional. Is she trying to run for president or is she trying to remember a few things to pick up at the grocery store. Ha. I could see it now. She'd meet with Putin, smudge her crib notes during the hand shake and we'd end up starting a war.

Quote :

"At worst, it's clumsy on her part. There are 436 other (more significant) things about her for which to find fault."

Pretty much this. I really don't understand the people that support her for a position with any significant political power. Maybe it's just people that are so desperate to see a woman president that it doesn't matter who it is.


[Edited on February 10, 2010 at 9:53 AM. Reason : -]

2/10/2010 9:46:47 AM

Quote :

"It looks terrible for the Admin."

It looks awesome for the administration.

2/10/2010 9:56:50 AM

It might play well for the MSNBC fan crowd, but its tacky and looks bad for the admin.

Now ill leave you to search youtube for hours looking for a Bush press sec. to make fun of someone.

2/10/2010 10:00:39 AM

I wish we could all just ignore this horrible woman. I hope that she one day slithers back to the 8th layer of hell from whence she came.

2/10/2010 10:03:16 AM

Palin would be a great political distraction, assuming the GOP actually had a viable alternative for 2012?

2/10/2010 10:13:37 AM

I agree Oops. I have wondered for awhile now why libs are so obsessed with Palin. She has no political future.

2/10/2010 10:15:48 AM

As I said on 10/31/09:

Quote :

"I can't believe anyone is claiming that Obama is anything but an exemplary orator..."

Every president in modern history and many other political figures of lesser office use teleprompters. The guy gives more speeches in a month than most people will in a life, about issues that are incredible important, complex, and nuanced. He often has no time to prepare for these speeches and relies on aids to help him write his ideas into a coherent speech. In this respect I would say Obama is no better or no worse than other president's when it comes to teleprompter speeches.

Off the cuff though, he would eviscerate Palin and most other politicians. It's not like he didn't get practice as a constitutional law professor for over a decade. Like someone else said, just watch the speech at the GOP convention. Palin could never pull this off if she were in those shoes. She couldn't even tell a journalist which newspapers she reads, much less make a coherent argument for a policy position.

2/10/2010 10:37:08 AM

Hey, if reciting God in the Pledge of Allegiance off of your hand was good enough for the Founding Fathers then it's good enough for Sarah Palin!

2/10/2010 10:41:25 AM

Its a shame that Obamas teleprompter couldnt tell him how to pronounce corpsman. Its also a shame that Obama needs a teleprompter to give a speech to a bunch of 10 yr old kids.

2/10/2010 11:27:58 AM

Quote :

"I just think having a few buzzwords on your hand is not nearly as "bad" as reading things verbatim...I fail to see how anyone could argue otherwise"

because when the president speaks, he speaks on behalf of the entire nation. his words are heard around the world and are the face of the country to billions of people. he HAS to be EXPLICITLY correct in everything he says, especially at something like a State of the Union address, lest something come out wrong.

Palin, on the other hand, is speaking to a small group of rich people who are paying her in hopes that her words will somehow translate into more tax cuts for them after the next round of elections. given that every time she opens her mouth without a teleprompter she sets the GOP back another step or two in the non-far-right-wing groups, you would think people would be forcing her to use a teleprompter

[Edited on February 10, 2010 at 11:33 AM. Reason : .]

2/10/2010 11:32:58 AM

Quote :

"Its also a shame that Obama needs a teleprompter to give a speech to a bunch of 10 yr old kids."

It's also a shame when people hate Obama so much that they start making up shit.

2/10/2010 11:37:23 AM

I don't hate Obama, but he did bring his precious teleprompter to an elementary school.

2/10/2010 2:37:24 PM

^He actually spoke to the children without a teleprompter. Afterwards, he had a press conference (no children present) that he had the teleprompter for.

2/10/2010 2:47:24 PM

I wonder what age is the cut off for teleprompter use? (not that its a big deal, I just find these discussions funny.)

2/10/2010 3:01:24 PM

Quote :

"If you know what you're talking about, it's easier without the script."

For the average citizen, this is absolutely true. For someone whose every word is going to be picked apart and analyzed by the media all over the world, and for whom minor errors or differences in word choice can have vast consequences, this is absolutely false. Unless you can memorize your entire speech, you read the damn thing, word for word, because those words have been carefully crafted to present a very specific meaning.

The problem with the Teaparty-type teleprompter attacks are that:

1) They criticize Obama for using a device that they themselves use
2) They criticize Obama for using a device that should be used during many speeches
3) Their fearless leader Sarah Palin joins along and then uses a primitive version of the device to deliver one of the most cringe-inducingly clumsy performances we've seen in a while.
4) They make these attacks just days after Obama demonstrates his ability to speak well without the teleprompter while addressing the GOP

[Edited on February 10, 2010 at 3:16 PM. Reason : ]

2/10/2010 3:15:50 PM

Definitely.

But I wasn't arguing that Obama shouldn't use teleprompters; I was arguing that no one should need crib notes during a Q&A session.

2/10/2010 3:52:53 PM

The joke is that nothing is wrong with any of it. Teleprompters, writing notes on hands, notecards....I mean really. Who gives a fuck.

2/10/2010 3:57:01 PM

Or you could be like me and think both Sarah Palin and Barack Obama are idiots.

2/10/2010 4:13:52 PM

Quote :

"But I wasn't arguing that Obama shouldn't use teleprompters; I was arguing that no one should need crib notes during a Q&A session."

I would disagree with that, I think it depends on the Q&A session. But, if your notes fit entirely on your hand, then there is something wrong.

^ you could, but there's far more evidence for one of those, than the other.

[Edited on February 10, 2010 at 5:02 PM. Reason : ]

2/10/2010 5:01:39 PM

If Obama is an 'idiot' who managed to attend Harvard Law, then that would make the vast majority of the world... even more idiotic.

[Edited on February 11, 2010 at 9:31 AM. Reason : -]

2/11/2010 9:30:37 AM

^lol, that doesnt mean jack shit. George Bush graduated from Yale and Harvard, I bet you would consider him an idiot. Also, Obama graduated from Columbia with less than a 3.25 gpa. For him to even get in Harvard Law, there would have to been some major string pulling going on, or affirmative action.

[Edited on February 11, 2010 at 2:07 PM. Reason : .]

2/11/2010 2:07:26 PM

^ so you're saying there was no string pulling for Bush?

besides...

Quote :

"Some think his transcript, if released, would reveal Mr. Obama as a mediocre student who benefited from racial preference. Yet he later graduated from Harvard Law School magna cum laude, so he knows how to get good grades."

[Edited on February 11, 2010 at 2:50 PM. Reason : ]

2/11/2010 2:47:00 PM

No one in their right mind would claim that Obama is an idiot, unless they are looking in the mirror for inspiration. Obama's dad wasn't the President of the United States of America...

[Edited on February 11, 2010 at 3:18 PM. Reason : -]

2/11/2010 3:16:31 PM

I understand why he uses the teleprompter, and on some level, I can't blame him. In this day and age with the "new media," you really can't afford to make gaffes.

At the same time, I'd rather have a president that was confident enough in his principles that he could speak off the cuff and it wouldn't be a problem. I know that Obama's charismatic way of speaking is good enough for most voters, but it isn't good enough for me. I'd rather have someone in office that maybe isn't as good at speaking, but when he does speak, he's speaking about things of substance. Not just, "a lot of people don't have healthcare...we're going to change that" or "we have high unemployment, so we're going to get a bill through that changes that." It sounds good to the unwashed masses, but we need something better than sound bites and one liners now.

2/11/2010 3:31:51 PM

^ i agree.

The problem with that is that the president doesn't write the bills. It doesn't matter whats specifics he says, because congress is going to butcher it anyway.

The best he can do regarding legislation is push congress in a certain direction.

2/11/2010 3:48:38 PM

When did I say Bush wasn't an idiot? Hes a bigger one than Obama. Corpsman, I mean come on, reaaaaaally?

2/11/2010 4:58:56 PM

have you ever misspoke in your life?

if so, was it on camera?

2/11/2010 5:02:52 PM

Yes I have but he is the Commander and Chief of the United States military. You'd think he'd know how to pronounce it. And he did not "misspeak"; he repeated the same damn thing 3 times.

2/11/2010 5:08:41 PM

Quote :

"Yes I have"

Well then congratulations! You're an idiot also! We're all idiots!

2/11/2010 5:12:59 PM

^Way to deflect

2/11/2010 5:13:52 PM

Deflect from what?

2/11/2010 5:15:52 PM