Jan

25

TOTUS-Gate: Did Obama Really Need a Prompter to Talk to Kids?

Filed Under Politics | 21 Comments

Early last week I posted something that made the ‘net rounds fairly quickly (they’re talking about it on Fox News as I write this — Update: Mark Steyn’s sitting in for Rush Limbaugh this week, and thanks to him for mentioning this site as well) — it was a picture of Obama in a classroom speaking at the “presidential” podium and reading from a teleprompter:

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Many thought it was Photoshopped — it wasn’t. I even posted a link to the White House website where a video of the visit was available — and the picture was also available at some other “news” sites. It was a portion of the visit where Obama was announcing some new educational initiative. Before and after that he talked with kids without a prompter.

To provide context, here’s the video of Obama speaking to kids prompter-less, and after that, a video from where the picture in question came from:

The picture I used came from the video in the same classroom when Obama was announcing an educational initiative, and you can clearly see TOTUS in the frame:

Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino was just on Fox News, and the host asked her if Bush ever took a prompter into a classroom. The answer was essentially no, because there’s a risk that it could end up looking silly.

That risk has been confirmed.

Comments

21 Responses to “TOTUS-Gate: Did Obama Really Need a Prompter to Talk to Kids?”

  1. sean on January 25th, 2010 6:41 pm

    I think this photo says so much. To me it parodies the way he thinks and feels about all Americans. Thanks for sharing this photo.

  2. usa ebitda on January 25th, 2010 6:48 pm

    Huh – the leader of the Free(?) world needs a prompter to talk to school kids…. wonder if this is the way he talks to his own daughters at the Breakfast table?

  3. radical RW on January 25th, 2010 7:22 pm

    Heard about this from Mark Steyn on Rush's show and couldn't believe it. How pathetic of a President is this? People talk about dubbya being a dummy, how about the decision to drag along the Prompter to the 3rd graders classroom? TOTUS – very funny – sad – but funny.

  4. Minnesota Dave on January 25th, 2010 7:34 pm

    If the man had gone into legal practice, would he have needed a teleprompter to argue cases before judge and jury?

  5. Funny Obama Pic: Speaking At An Elementary School…With His Trusty Teleprompter « THE B.S. REPORT on January 25th, 2010 6:17 pm

    [...] 25, 2010 · Leave a Comment Photo Via Doug Powers website here. …Uh, that's right kids, take it from me, Barack Obama…your [...]

  6. Joe Redfield on January 25th, 2010 8:29 pm

    I sure wouldn't want to be a Secret Service agent who , in addition to guarding the President, is probably expected to stay awake during one of his stirring orations. My blender could deliver a better speech.
    BOOT!

  7. Bob on January 26th, 2010 1:59 am

    Sorry folks, this commentary is a little misleading. Don't get me wrong, I am a BIG Reagan conservative. However, these teleprompters were set after he talked to the kids to announce a new education initiative. Let's make sure we get our facts straight.

  8. Cecil on January 26th, 2010 2:48 am

    Obama demonstrates how important it is to learn to read. Comprehension is a different matter.

  9. delta dave on January 26th, 2010 3:06 am

    sorry, Bob. You may be right, but its the symbolism that counts, not the after the fact explanation. His teleprompter reputation precedes him, and a shot like this only tends to lend credience to the fact of dependency.

  10. Doug on January 26th, 2010 3:46 am

    Bob, how is the commentary "misleading"? I posted many links and vids so that everything is in context. There is nothing misleading. All this stuff is from the White House website. Are they trying to mislead everybody?

    The fact is that setting up TOTUS, the "official podium" and all in a classroom looks silly…. even in context.

  11. Ralph Campbell on January 26th, 2010 4:08 am

    Right on Doug! Right on Dave; it's the symbolism that counts. And it is embarrassing when you get right down to thinking about WHO elected him!

  12. Tweets that mention TOTUS-Gate: Did Obama Really Need a Prompter to Talk to Kids? : The Powers That Be -- Topsy.com on January 26th, 2010 4:17 am

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by christinakb and Kathy Mailhot, Doug Powers. Doug Powers said: TOTUS-Gate: Did Obama really need a prompter to talk to kids? http://tinyurl.com/ygw9co3 [...]

  13. Bonnie on February 2nd, 2010 3:07 am

    Good Griff! It Almost Unbelieveable/// What have they done toour nation11111

  14. dara on September 8th, 2010 4:22 pm

    That's because Obama didn't want to sound as stupid as Bush did when he was speaking & studdering all the time… LOL

  15. Brian on September 23rd, 2010 7:26 pm

    This is the order of events: talking to kids WITHOUT teleprompter; giving speech to adult reporters about an education initiative, using school as backdrop/photo-op WITH teleprompter; talking to kids again WITHOUT teleprompter. What part of this do you knuckle-draggers not understand? President Bush did the same thing on the morning of 9/11. Remember he was at the school in FL to meet the kids and give an education speech? Nevermind, just go back to your birther/socialist/antichrist conspiracies.

  16. Dan on October 29th, 2010 5:14 pm

    Such a man of the people.

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    TOTUS-Gate: Did Obama Really Need a Prompter to Talk to Kids? : The Powers That Be

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