Weston White
07-17-2014, 10:35 PM
'It looks like it may be a terrible tragedy': Obama goes AWOL again with just 40-second mention of Malaysian plane crash feared to have killed Americans before his jokey 16-minute transport speech•Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing all 295 passengers on board
President Obama said his national security team is working on identifying the U.S. citizens – and then launched into jokes and 16 minutes of prepared remarks
Twitter erupted with digital eye-rolls at Obama's curt mention of the 'tragedy' that the Ukrainian government quickly called a 'criminal case'
House Speaker John Boehner offered a solemn statement, saying 'many innocents were killed today. It is horrifying.'...
Obama also acknowledged the presence of Treasury Secretary Jack Lew with a joke.
'Jack Lew’s signature is actually on your money,' he said, 'although it's kind of illegible. We teased him when he first became treasury secretary that he was going to have to fix his signature a little bit because it looked just like a caterpillar running along the bottom.'
From there he launched into a 16-minute speech about transportation projects he wants Republicans to fund, complaining bitterly about their objections to his end-runs around the federal legislature.
'When I have a chance to help communities like Wilmington, I’m going to do it,' he said, as cable news networks focused on the lives lost in Eastern Ukraine.
'That’s when my administration takes these executive actions, when Congress won’t act. And so far, the only response we’ve gotten from the Republicans is a lawsuit. They're suing me for doing my job, instead of going ahead and doing their job.'
'That's disappointing,' Obama said. 'It’s a political stunt.'
Twitter erupted, with thousands of users expressing emotions ranging from disappointment to disgust.
...
Traveling in Denver, this reporter heard gasps from guests watching a hotel lobby television as Obama spoke.
One remarked: 'A tragedy is when you lose control and fly into a mountainside. This is mass-murder. What a disappointment.'
'His distance from reality is just bizarre,' said another.
Daniel Hannan, the British member of Europe's parliament who has rankled liberals in a series of American speaking tours, tweeted his own disgust.
'Listening to Obama's statement [on] the airline tragedy, my mind went back to Reagan 31 years ago,' he wrote.
'How America's leaders have shrunk.'
Obama finished his speech by saying 'Let’s build some bridges. Let’s build some roads. God bless America.'
Matt Viser, a Boston Globe reporter on the scene, tweeted a devastating reaction.
'Obama, in sum: A plane crashed. It may be tragic. We're trying to see if US citizens were on board. Hey, great to be in Delaware!' he wrote.
The president's next stop after Wilmington was New York City, where he headlines a Democratic Party fundraiser Thursday evening. Tickets for the cozy event go for as much as $32,400.
News of the plane crash reached the White House before Obama left for Delaware on Thursday morning. He ignored a question, shouted by a reporter as he departed, asking what he knew about the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2696366/It-looks-like-terrible-tragedy-Obama-briefly-addresses-Malaysian-plane-crash-emerges-23-U-S-passengers-board.html
President Obama said his national security team is working on identifying the U.S. citizens – and then launched into jokes and 16 minutes of prepared remarks
Twitter erupted with digital eye-rolls at Obama's curt mention of the 'tragedy' that the Ukrainian government quickly called a 'criminal case'
House Speaker John Boehner offered a solemn statement, saying 'many innocents were killed today. It is horrifying.'...
Obama also acknowledged the presence of Treasury Secretary Jack Lew with a joke.
'Jack Lew’s signature is actually on your money,' he said, 'although it's kind of illegible. We teased him when he first became treasury secretary that he was going to have to fix his signature a little bit because it looked just like a caterpillar running along the bottom.'
From there he launched into a 16-minute speech about transportation projects he wants Republicans to fund, complaining bitterly about their objections to his end-runs around the federal legislature.
'When I have a chance to help communities like Wilmington, I’m going to do it,' he said, as cable news networks focused on the lives lost in Eastern Ukraine.
'That’s when my administration takes these executive actions, when Congress won’t act. And so far, the only response we’ve gotten from the Republicans is a lawsuit. They're suing me for doing my job, instead of going ahead and doing their job.'
'That's disappointing,' Obama said. 'It’s a political stunt.'
Twitter erupted, with thousands of users expressing emotions ranging from disappointment to disgust.
...
Traveling in Denver, this reporter heard gasps from guests watching a hotel lobby television as Obama spoke.
One remarked: 'A tragedy is when you lose control and fly into a mountainside. This is mass-murder. What a disappointment.'
'His distance from reality is just bizarre,' said another.
Daniel Hannan, the British member of Europe's parliament who has rankled liberals in a series of American speaking tours, tweeted his own disgust.
'Listening to Obama's statement [on] the airline tragedy, my mind went back to Reagan 31 years ago,' he wrote.
'How America's leaders have shrunk.'
Obama finished his speech by saying 'Let’s build some bridges. Let’s build some roads. God bless America.'
Matt Viser, a Boston Globe reporter on the scene, tweeted a devastating reaction.
'Obama, in sum: A plane crashed. It may be tragic. We're trying to see if US citizens were on board. Hey, great to be in Delaware!' he wrote.
The president's next stop after Wilmington was New York City, where he headlines a Democratic Party fundraiser Thursday evening. Tickets for the cozy event go for as much as $32,400.
News of the plane crash reached the White House before Obama left for Delaware on Thursday morning. He ignored a question, shouted by a reporter as he departed, asking what he knew about the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2696366/It-looks-like-terrible-tragedy-Obama-briefly-addresses-Malaysian-plane-crash-emerges-23-U-S-passengers-board.html