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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009

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Matt Taibbi

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Pick an asshole, any asshole, and she'll rock the house

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|NEXT STORY »

9-Year-Old to Obama: 'Why Do People Hate You?'

Replies prez: 'Some of it is just what's called politics.'

By W. McCahill| Posted Oct 15, 09 9:45 PM CDT|

(Newser) – President Obama took some heat today in New Orleans for continued slow progress in rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina, but perhaps the most pointed question he got all day came from a 9-year-old. “Why do people hate you?” Tyren Scott asked Obama, microphone in hand, during a public meeting. “They’re supposed to love you. God is love.”

The president looked “tickled” by the question, AFP notes, and replied, “Hey, that's what I'm talking about. … I did get elected president, so not everybody hates me now. I got a whole lot of votes.” Added Obama, “If you were watching TV lately, it seems like everybody's just getting mad all the time. And you know, I think that you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt. Some of it is just what’s called politics.”

During a public meeting in New Orleans today, Tyren Scott, 9, of Paulina, La., asked President Obama, "Why do people hate you?" (AP Photo)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

11.20.09

The Health-Care Wars Have Just Begun

11.19.09

Sarah Palin Deserves Some More Attention

44 comments

VIEWING:

Wonka
Oct 15, 09 9:49 PM CDT

9-Year-Old to Obama: 'Why Do People Hate You? Obama to 9 Year-Old: "Because they are ignorant." Reply

+37

IN RESPONSE:

Reader64481089
Oct 15, 09 9:55 PM CDT

Obama gave the 9 year old a very good answer, and he is correct. A child doesn't need to hear the racist crap nor the politics garbage, and as Obama said a lot of people did vote for him. Well said Mr. President, good job

+57

IN RESPONSE:

paul123
Oct 15, 09 10:16 PM CDT

Hate in general is ignorant, but would you be so smug if this were about hate toward Bush?

-9

IN RESPONSE:

JimW
Oct 15, 09 10:35 PM CDT

Who's talking about Bush? This is about the President of the United States talking to a 9 year old bot. He did it perfectly I might add.

+21

IN RESPONSE:

prowlerzee
Oct 15, 09 11:53 PM CDT

Oh, please. Bush was the first fraud who came to mind when this staged bullshit was aired. Bush loaded national monuments with supporters so he could stage an "impromptu" greeting with them. How is this different? You think Zerobama the fraud doesn't stage all this horseshit? Watch his press conferences. Staged.

-25

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Zaius
Oct 16, 09 5:38 AM CDT

First of all Bush would have never had the balls to field a question that hadn't been screened 17 times. At a Bush Q and A the question would be, Little Boy: "Mr. President, Why do the Democrats hate America?" But let's assume that one of the pre-screened, party loyal went off the reservation and threw up that question. IF Bush had answered it the same way I would have tipped my hat to him, HOWEVER, there's no way in hell he would have been that eloquent. I can only imagine the mangled phraseology that would have come from Bush. At the very least it would have provided a humorous sound bite similar to "I believe fish and man can coexist peacefully" or "It's hard to put food on your family."

+18

IN RESPONSE:

Sayyiduna
Oct 16, 09 10:40 AM CDT

I agree, the question came completely out of the left field and he recovered amazingly. That sort of quick thinking is what got him through all those debates.

IN RESPONSE:

RockyPneumonia
Oct 16, 09 12:05 PM CDT

Conservatives love to compare the vitriol being aimed at President Obama to the criticisms that were leveled at Bush, just as if Bush hadn't gotten us into a senseless war under false pretenses, abandoned an American city to drown, and generally caused more damage to the country than any president since Nixon.

| 0 minutes ago

Rocket448
Oct 15, 09 9:53 PM CDT

Tyren opened the door really wide and the President just ignored it. No wise-ass jokes, no comments about religion, just a straight-from-the-shoulder answer that had some wisdom for a 9 year old. Mr. Obama is the man. Reply

+36

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Oct 15, 09 10:18 PM CDT

Well the President by and large has kept his hands out of this type of name calling anyway. He is the President and pity name calling is below him.

+18

IN RESPONSE:

prowlerzee
Oct 15, 09 11:55 PM CDT

You bots are going to have a hell of a hopium hangover one day...and I will be laughing the loudest!

-20

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Zaius
Oct 16, 09 5:41 AM CDT

Zee, if you're waiting for Obama to be the kind of failure that Bush was don't hold your breath.

+19

IN RESPONSE:

sully4411
Oct 16, 09 2:55 PM CDT

or, better yet, hold your breath.

| 0 minutes ago

whatsso4me
Oct 15, 09 10:13 PM CDT

Politics is never taken "with a grain of salt". Politics is a gloves off proposition. Except, this time, the stakes have become so extraordinarily extreme that the USA is now erupting into a state of civil war. Reply

-11

IN RESPONSE:

Enoughie
Oct 15, 09 10:43 PM CDT

Civil war? Extreme stakes? What are you talking about. It seems to me that conservatives completely lost leadership and are going insane with trying to prevent any and all changes - whether they are good for this country or bad. The rest of the country is doing just fine. (and that's from a Libertarian)

+12

IN RESPONSE:

Snarfeh
Oct 15, 09 11:24 PM CDT

@what - :::tap,tap,tap:::: Anybody home in there? He's talking to a 9 year old, numbnuts.

+13

| 0 minutes ago

whatsso4me
Oct 15, 09 11:25 PM CDT

Enoughie: A great many number of Americans believe that our country is NOT "doing just fine", but rather on the verge of a death-spiral. Given increasing home foreclosures and unemployment, a government nevertheless hell-bent on drastically increased spending and taxes, the resultant collapse of the US dollar, and - concurrent with all of this - the Russian-sponsored Iranian nuclear weapons program such that Israel is now on the brink of war with Iran, it is safe to deem the present circumstances extreme. Reply

-5

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Oct 15, 09 11:34 PM CDT

the circumstances maybe extreme, although it appears to me you have taken a worst case scenario approach. This was neither the time nor place to bring up any of that stuff. The person asking the question was 9. Politics is rough business but most politicians do understand when kids are involved you speak to your audience and his answer appropriate.

+14

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Oct 15, 09 11:36 PM CDT

* was appropriate. dammit i can't type today.

IN RESPONSE:

Monjubikahn
Oct 16, 09 11:46 PM CDT

By the waters of Babylon is a song of a people who,going into slavery for 70 years , yearned for the glory of a nation once strong and united under God's leadership. We can have that again if we want it.

| 0 minutes ago

Jayster999
Oct 15, 09 11:33 PM CDT

People dislike Obama because he is a socialist. We don't want the government to run every aspect of our lives. We don't want a (further) bloated government that taxes our earnings to pay for more absurdly wasteful spending schemes that enrich the poor and the super rich and leave the middle class holding the bag. Tax the rich and the poor, but leave us alone for a while while we do some damage control. We don't need cap and trade legislation that will raise our heating bills and further cripple the economy. We don't need anymore bailouts for the banksters. Our esteemed president is a leftist and lots of us have a problem with that. Does that answer your question, sonny? Reply

-19

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Oct 15, 09 11:37 PM CDT

again Jayster see post above, it kind of fits to your post as well. this wasn't the time or place for that type of answer.

IN RESPONSE:

Rocket448
Oct 15, 09 11:42 PM CDT

Number 1 Jay: read something about the "isms" before you comment on the President's proposals and his political philosophy and number B: he was talking to a 9 y/o for godssakes.

IN RESPONSE:

prowlerzee
Oct 15, 09 11:58 PM CDT

Socialist? He's a Trojan Ass, slipped in to continue YOUR Bush-Cheney agenda. Thus the continued secrecy, the continued pro-life and faith-based crap, the continued pardons for spying and torture, the continued surge in the war on terror. Code Pink is protesting him, for crying out loud! He's one of YOURS. I only wish he were a Roosevelt.

-13

| 0 minutes ago

whatsso4me
Oct 15, 09 11:38 PM CDT

Snarfeh: This nine year old is anything but numb to the tension between liberals and conservatives in this country. You and Obama wish to instill the bliss of ignorance into our next generation. You will fail. Reply

-11

IN RESPONSE:

Snarfeh
Oct 15, 09 11:59 PM CDT

Of course he is anything but numb to the tension. He gets it in school, I am sure. Hell, his class has probably been protested against by some teabagging birthers. So, then...what do you think Obama *should* have said? Bear in mind that had he provided a more adult, direct answer, he would've been criticized for that, too. But seriously, how do you think he should have answered the question?

+10

| 0 minutes ago

BlueAyez
Oct 16, 09 1:39 AM CDT

He answered the child the same way he would have answered his daughters, as a father would, without the drama or alarmism so prevalent in politics today. Reply

+16

| 0 minutes ago

cornelison
Oct 16, 09 1:46 AM CDT

Children are very perceptive. It's too bad that there aren't enough role models in D.C. On a lighter note...When I was a child in the 1950's & I saw the photo of Pres. Eisenhower, I thought that all Presidents were supposed to be bald. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

Doctor_Zaius
Oct 16, 09 5:46 AM CDT

George Bush: Karl, why do they hate me? Karl Rove: Well you did get elected George, even though you lost the popular vote and we had to pull some shit to stop the legally mandated recount in Florida, but the second time you won the popular vote, even though we had to pull some shit in Ohio with voting machines and counting votes out of state on a partisan computer. But the real reason they hate you George is because they are commie fascist, pinko, homo-lovers who hate America? George Bush: Can I have a pretzel? Reply

+12

| 0 minutes ago

DeniseVB
Oct 16, 09 8:23 AM CDT

You guys do know that was a rehearsed and staged event ? Transparency, yuh, right. Handpicked audience and questions and bringing up a hate question from a child.....disgusting. Reply

-11

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Zaius
Oct 16, 09 10:32 AM CDT

From the party of Jeff Gannon, his sordid past and the soft ball questions he lobbed to Bush until the sham was uncovered.

IN RESPONSE:

dontlikenobody
Oct 16, 09 11:04 AM CDT

DVB - You take the standard Gooper approach: begin with the conclusion and work backward to retrofit the circumstances to the conclusion. In this case, you think Obama's disgusting, therefore he must have done something disgusting. So you convince yourself the kid's a prop, but there's nothing inherently disgusting about that - no wait, you can say he's USING a child. Disgusting enough? No, add that it's a "hate question" - nobody likes those words. In the next chapter, maybe you can work this up to a charge of pederasty? You and your kind are intellectually dishonest on top of being morally bankrupt.

| 0 minutes ago

whatsso4me
Oct 16, 09 12:30 PM CDT

Obama affirmed the youth's question of "hate", agreeing that those who opposes him politically do indeed hate him, albeit for reason of "politics". And, of course, even a young person understands that haters are mindless bigots. Never let a "teachable moment" go to waste. Welcome to the Marxist party, dear little girl. Reply

-5

| 0 minutes ago

Reader83540559
Oct 16, 09 2:11 PM CDT

Out of the mouth of babes Reply

| 0 minutes ago

Reader83540559
Oct 16, 09 2:14 PM CDT

Do you think it will ever occur to him to give that question some real thought? Reply

-1

| 0 minutes ago

indie11
Oct 16, 09 4:54 PM CDT

Hey kid, sorry but they hate him for being all the things they are not. Intelligent, charismatic, good looking, "ethnic", "uppity", "elitist", you know all the good stuff. Sometimes they hide behind a "gov't takeover" smoke screen but don't fall 4 it, it means the same thing George Wallace meant whenever he said "States Rights". I'll tlk 2 u about that era l8r LOL I feel bad that you can see it already but at your age I found out about Watergate so I guess it all comes around. But yeh it's not just politics u can disagree on policy without hating someone. But the people you have seen are not at that level yet in life. You are further along the self actualization scale than some folks 7 times your age. But don't worry kid, some of us have a few brain cells 2 rub together and idiots make winners look good, never forget that:) "We're all in it together kid! ":) (that's a Bob DeNiro quote I'll tell ya about him l8r too) Reply

IN RESPONSE:

johntitor
Oct 17, 09 6:07 PM CDT

Everyone should have to see that movie!

| 0 minutes ago

Newsee
Oct 16, 09 9:50 PM CDT

prowlerze..the difference seems to be that Obama is 'for real' not 'perfect' like the repubs claim for themselves by they're implications and by they're violent and totally resentful rejection of this duly elected( not selected..) president, but, for real. And I can see why ya'll'd go and hate something like that...especially from a black man, even though Obama is half white...another reason to hate him, for the Ulta-GOP. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

shrinkess
Oct 16, 09 10:24 PM CDT

Oh, folks! People hate Obama because he is an African American. That's the bottom line. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Monjubikahn
Oct 16, 09 11:53 PM CDT

Hate. They do not love him enough to hate him. He is just a mometary inconvenience in an internastional political agenda. He who finances the wars gets to rebuild civilization at a very good profit. Follow the money.

| 0 minutes ago

Monjubikahn
Oct 16, 09 11:54 PM CDT

[edit] line two word one...momentary Reply

| 0 minutes ago

Monjubikahn
Oct 17, 09 12:11 AM CDT

Obama is not a part of the Black diaspora. He is fully African and fully American. Slavery did not touch his geneology.He has the iron clad will of an African Dictator and the resoluteness of anAmerican Lawyer. He is a hybrid Semite with Hamitic roots. The political adroitness of Pharo and the economic God given savy of Joseph. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Rocket448
Oct 17, 09 12:55 AM CDT

WTF?

IN RESPONSE:

Snarfeh
Oct 17, 09 11:12 AM CDT

lolol! You're a funny one, Monju. Obama is distant kin to Dick Cheney as per Lynn Cheney's genealogical investigation. I guess Dick is also a hybrid Semite with Hamitic roots.

| 0 minutes ago

View all 44 comments »

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9-Year-Old to Obama: 'Why Do People Hate You?'

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