What Obama's Remodel Really Needed

NYT scribe isn't so hot on the president's office makeover

By Polly Davis Doig, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 1, 2010 2:28 PM CDT

(Newser) – Well, Obama's got himself a fancy new "redecorated man cave" (aka Oval Office) in the middle of the recession, gripes Maureen Dowd, in the latest "tone-deaf" move out of the communication-handicapped White House. "It might have been wise, given America’s slough of despond, to hark back to a time when presidents just took their office pretty much as they found it," she writes in the New York Times. But since he did the makeover, she's got a few suggestions for his quote-emblazoned carpet:

For the administration: "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." Cool Hand Luke
For John Boehner: “You’re not too smart, are you? I like that in a man.” Body Heat
For Obama himself: "It's the economy, stupid!" James Carville
Speaking of the economy: "We're going to need a bigger boat." Jaws
And when Obama reaches across the aisle: "Post-partisanship doesn’t work with Mitch McConnell.”

[Images (6)]

[Quotes (1)]

President Obama, photographed from the Rose Garden, delivers a primetime address marking the end of combat mission in Iraq from the Oval Office, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

This Dec. 29, 2009 file photo shows President Obama's Oval Office. Every president eventually puts his own mark on the Oval Office, decoratively speaking. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, FILE)

This Jan. 22, 1990 file photo released by the White House shows President George H.W. Bush's Oval Office. (AP Photo/White House, Susan Biddle, FILE)

This Feb. 5, 1961 file photo shows the Resolute desk in President Kennedy's Oval Office. Built from the timbers of a British warship, the desk was installed by Kennedy, and has been used by Presidents... (AP Photo/Bob Schutz, file)

This Feb. 29, 2008 file photo shows President Bush's Oval Office. Bush brought in a rug designed by his wife, Laura. It included radiating stripes. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)

Renovations to the Oval Office, including a new carpet, wallpaper and furniture, are seen, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010, at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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The recession redo was the latest tone-deaf move by a White House that was supposed to excel at communication. Message: I care, but not enough to stop the fancy vacations and posh renovations. - Maureen Dowd

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What Obama's Remodel Really Needed