Merle Haggard helps out the president:
When asked about Obama’s biggest misconception, Haggard, 73, said, “He’s not conceited. He’s very humble about being the president of the United States, especially in comparison to some presidents we’ve had who come across like they don’t need anybody’s help. I think he knows he’s in over his head. Anybody with any sense who takes that job and thinks they can handle it must be an idiot.”
And as we all know, Barack Obama is no idiot. Though Merle Haggard may be.
And as we all know, Barack Obama is no idiot.
This is an assertion offered without evidence. I’m still waiting for solid evidence of Obama’s alleged brilliance. It’s a good thing I’m not holding my breath while waiting.
I’d think that the Merle Haggard statement should be deconstructed to tease out its (obvious) internal contradictions. Haggard observes, “Anybody with any sense who takes that job and thinks they can handle it must be an idiot.” Even though it is offered as a defense of Obama, instead it gives a lot of ground to those who are not convinced by claims of Obama’s alleged intellectual prowess. Obama ran for the office with little practical knowledge of what being President involved, and certainly with no comparable experience, but even within his first months in office, he was bragging to reporters about how “good” he was at being president. By Haggard’s definition, I think that shows not only that Obama is an idiot, but that Haggard is an idiot for being fooled by Obama’s confidence act.
By contrast, with respect to their knowledge of the office, several other recent candidates were definitely not idiots in the same way Obama was in seeking an office he wasn’t practically prepared to assume (though some of them might be considered idiots in other respects). George Bush had been a two-term governor and had been around his father’s administration; Al Gore had been vice president and had spent many years in the senate working with various administrations; Hillary Clinton was starting her second term in the senate, but more importantly, she was familiar with the business of governing as a result of her husband’s two terms in the White House (and many terms as governor of Arkansas); John McCain had worked with many different administrations during his many years in the senate and therefore had some appreciation for what governing actually involved.
When Merle’s running down my past presidents, he’s walking on the fighting side of me.
…unless he’s talking about Jimmy Carter, in which case…
You know that Merle was drunk for a LOT of years. He could be delusional. The fact that he thinks well of Obama proves that ol’ Merle is fruit cake nutty to me.