So, I met the President today.

How wierd.

He was in the area talking about the housing situation since the hurricane, and I just happen to be in the right place at the right time. I work with a church that handles major distribution in the area, and was with a work crew handling some paperwork for a habitat for humanity house. I am neighbors with that particular construction business owner... and don't you know we were both just surprised when he showed up.

It was odd. One day, I'm blasting him in a conversation with my brother, and then there he is....and I found myself thinking how easy it would be to say something untoward.....but there he stood in all his humanness....and I thought, "Wow, I could never do that job."

He was very kind to the everyone, and I believe he had a very deep concern for the individuals there. Sweeping governmental decisions make him appear very detached, but in person, he was very engaged in the situation of the family. Not acting, not fake. Just a guy. Not sure what to make of him.

Wierd.
Joby

Guess it just goes to show we're all just human after all. Personally, I still think he's a dull-witted moron, but then look at the people he's surrounded by and it's easy to see why you'd think that.

As far as his concern goes, he IS only human. You'd have to be a monster to not see that devastation even after all these months and not feel SOMETHING. Doesn't make him any less of a dickhead. Just a more human one.

Thanks for the insight Jo. It is hard to fake real concern in a face to face...

It is true for most public officials that we rarely see what they are really like from what is reported in the news....

As for the job...they couldnt pay me enough.... 🙂

yea i saw where he was in new orleans. thats rather funny that you were blasting him the day before.. but nice to hear he is human, which of course he is. i may not care for him at all and i dont lol but he probably did a lot of good by going down there again.

isabeau

At the risk of ruining this care bear moment, I'd like to remind you that tens of thousands of other human beings will never again see the light of day because of snap decisions this human has made; snap decisions that didn't take enough time to consider the humanity of others. Many humans in this country are suffering loss - human life has been eradicated because of this one particular human.

This human politician, like so many other politicians is a rehearsed liar, and as such, can just as easily fake sincerity to the faces of a couple thousand Americans the same way as he fakes sincerity to 280 million.

If wealth and power were a substitute for humanity, then I would say this human is one of the greatest practitioners of humanity on the planet.

You may begin hitting me with your heart-shaped pillows...NOW!

ShadowTklr said:

You may begin hitting me with your heart-shaped pillows...NOW!

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hmm i dont have any heart shaped pillows... and would i hit my favorite writer? only if you retaliate in what you do best.. using strait jackets, stocks, and various tools

is it a deal?

isabeau

ShadowTklr said:

At the risk of ruining this care bear moment, I'd like to remind you that tens of thousands of other human beings will never again see the light of day because of snap decisions this human has made; snap decisions that didn't take enough time to consider the humanity of others. Many humans in this country are suffering loss - human life has been eradicated because of this one particular human.

Click to expand...

And thus you make the point I was getting at to begin with...
It's one thing to view him as the sole and immediate problem on which to pin all of your woes. But....this comment was about a very brief interlude in which I met the person who was a son, husband, and father and watched him interact on that level. AND...I didn't know how to take it. It's one thing to blame, and point, etc., but as I also said, I could never do that job.

Everyday in this world people murder, steal, pillage and you name whatever else. These things are done by people who would do it on a much larger scale if they could. Then you have people who do things because they think it's the best choice. In bad times, even good people make tough choices. I'm not saying that he's one or the other.

The "care bear moment" as you called it did not exist. This thread was not to endow him with some wonderful quality that I found lacking. It was instead to comment on the fact that he is human. maybe a liar, like many. Maybe a user, like many. Maybe a glory hound, like many. Or perhaps, just a guy who is doing the best he can in the situation he's in. I persaonlly am not privey to all of the information that the President of the United States has to juggle when making decisions and the point here is....he's a man diong that job. He's not the omnicient creature we all expect to make profitable, wise choices.

He's just a guy.

Joby, who still thinks it's wierd, and doesn't know what to make of him.

Thanks for sharing the experience, Jobelle. I've met many famous people, although never a president, so that must have been pretty amazing for you, whatever your political presuasion is. My mom met Lyndon Johnson once, and she told me that all her life, she has never forgotten what it was like to shake the president's hand. I think an experience like that is pretty cool, no matter what one's political persuasion is.

Mitch

its funny george bush was in my town somewhile back.... and his entourage was going to drive by my house. i remember telling some people in courttvchat about that, and they asked are you going outside to wave? i said hell no lol sorry. they went by in these big buses. why they drove thru my street is a mystery to me because it wasnt on the way to any major place. this was at least a year back and no i didnt go outside .

isabeau

As for the job...they couldnt pay me enough....

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Me neither...I think that's why they keep paying them after they aren't in office anymore.

ShadowTklr said:

At the risk of ruining this care bear moment, I'd like to remind you that tens of thousands of other human beings will never again see the light of day because of snap decisions this human has made; snap decisions that didn't take enough time to consider the humanity of others. Many humans in this country are suffering loss - human life has been eradicated because of this one particular human.

This human politician, like so many other politicians is a rehearsed liar, and as such, can just as easily fake sincerity to the faces of a couple thousand Americans the same way as he fakes sincerity to 280 million.

If wealth and power were a substitute for humanity, then I would say this human is one of the greatest practitioners of humanity on the planet.

You may begin hitting me with your heart-shaped pillows...NOW!

Click to expand...

And, as I say to everyone else who makes this same tired argument:

Go run for President. You have all the answers, so go start your own campaign.

Joby, thanks for the post. It's interesting to hear from someone who sees him face to face. Personally, I would love to meet the man. I admire his strength of character, especially since he has to deal with people like Shadow here. I have a fit when people call me outside my name.

Thanks for posting this Jo. I have no doubt he's at least a little charismatic in person. Partly this would be because he is human, and his position tends to make someone less powerful be surprised to actually see this. At least, that's my take on the issue (based on the politicos I've met). Also, I would think that charisma was a precursor for election.

Sometimes I make decisions that effect others. Some decisions are popular, some not. Rarely is a decision universally liked or disliked. I guess the more widely your decision effects others the more likely you are to alienate someone.

I'm usually satisfied with my judgement, but no one bats a thousand.

venray said:

As for the job...they couldnt pay me enough....

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Amen, brother. Amen!

ShadowTklr said:

At the risk of ruining this care bear moment, I'd like to remind you that tens of thousands of other human beings will never again see the light of day because of snap decisions this human has made; snap decisions that didn't take enough time to consider the humanity of others. Many humans in this country are suffering loss - human life has been eradicated because of this one particular human.

This human politician, like so many other politicians is a rehearsed liar, and as such, can just as easily fake sincerity to the faces of a couple thousand Americans the same way as he fakes sincerity to 280 million.

If wealth and power were a substitute for humanity, then I would say this human is one of the greatest practitioners of humanity on the planet.

You may begin hitting me with your heart-shaped pillows...NOW!

Click to expand...

I disagree. He's clearly made some mistakes but I think his heart is in the right place. I wish I could meet him myself. I came close to meeting his father recently.

I appreciate the comments....good bad or otherwise. I just wanted to pop in here and remind everyone that I didn't want to start another political thread because that would have been in the P & R forum.

I really just wanted to comment on the aspect of how meeting someone famous face to face can spin your thoughts. I've met plenty of well known folks from years working in casinos, but the President is a different creature entirely.

Have a nice day y'all.
Jo

drew70 said:

I disagree. He's clearly made some mistakes but I think his heart is in the right place. I wish I could meet him myself. I came close to meeting his father recently.

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I wish I could agree, Drew. I'm not saying that his intention is to create problems. I know I didn't make that clear in my facetious post, but what I'm really saying is that his allegiance does not lie with the people of this country, but rather with the corporate imperialists to whom he constantly seeks to appease.

ViperGTS said:

And, as I say to everyone else who makes this same tired argument:

Go run for President. You have all the answers, so go start your own campaign.

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One day, when you get a little more life experience under your belt, perhaps you'll realize that its not necessary to actually DO a job in order to know when the job is being done right.

Thanks for the insight and sharing your experience, JoBelle. 😀
If I had the chance to speak to him, I would say, "Things don't always go as planned, do they?"

Uhm, well...

As for the office of president, no one who actually wants it should ever be allowed to hold it. People like our friends above who do NOT want the job, because the need to do the right thing would weigh on them too heavily, are exactly who we need to hold that office!
As for Dubya, the most charitable thing one could possibly say about him would be to call him a figurehead who is not responsible for what his administration has done and failed to do. Unfortunately, examination of facts does not support that easy out.
This is a man who began his tenure as president by stealing the office, and in the process corrupted a narrow majority of the US supreme court into blatantly abusing it's authority. That's not just my opinion; the dissenting opinions of the four justices who voted against that deliberate usurpation of the presidency said the same thing in so many words. The high court's reputation for impartiality is forever gone.
Bush continued his tenure by stealing a second national election, this time thru widespread distribution of rigged voting machines made by a wholly owned subsidiary of Cheney's Halliburton Corporation.
He took us to war in Iraq on fabricated evidence in order to pursue a very personal Bush family vendetta.
Members of his inner circle were overheard brainstorming ways to get a war with Iraq started before the election of 2000 was officially decided.
On 9/12/02, members of that same inner circle were overheard gleefully telling each other that the 9/11 attack was the lever they needed to get the public behind a war against Iraq.
The Bush administration suppressed evidence, which they had available in ample quantity and quality, proving that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, nor any extant program to create them.
Just yesterday, video tape was aired showing Dubya at a briefing which took place THE DAY BEFORE KATRINA HIT, during which he was told, and heard to acknowledge, that no one knew how bad it might get because the levees were very likely to fail. Two days later, he said, and I quote; "No one knew, or could have known, that the levees might fail."
I could go on for tens of thousands of words, detailing the infamous 'no lobbyist left behind' act and other incredibly massive giveaways of tax money to the multinational corporations which have purchased both major parties in this country.
As to what to make of him? Dogfood!

Mastertank1

We who play and dance are thought mad by they who hear no music.

ShadowTklr said:

At the risk of ruining this care bear moment, I'd like to remind you that tens of thousands of other human beings will never again see the light of day because of snap decisions this human has made; snap decisions that didn't take enough time to consider the humanity of others. Many humans in this country are suffering loss - human life has been eradicated because of this one particular human.

This human politician, like so many other politicians is a rehearsed liar, and as such, can just as easily fake sincerity to the faces of a couple thousand Americans the same way as he fakes sincerity to 280 million.

If wealth and power were a substitute for humanity, then I would say this human is one of the greatest practitioners of humanity on the planet.

You may begin hitting me with your heart-shaped pillows...NOW!

Click to expand...

Nope...not because of the snap decision of one man, but for the way man is to one another in this world....

ShadowTklr said:

One day, when you get a little more life experience under your belt, perhaps you'll realize that its not necessary to actually DO a job in order to know when the job is being done right.

Click to expand...

But one should have some clue as to what the job entails....most here do not will not ever know what really goes on in Government...

The intention of the person who started this thread was to merely mention the unique experience of meeting someone famous, and how it can effect ones view on things. She did NOT want this to turn into a political debate, or else she would have posted it in P&R. She tried once to politely ask that this thread get back to it's true intentions, but to no avail. So as of now, this thread stands locked. If you wish to continue to debate this topic, please carry it over to the proper and designated forum.

Thank you.