UPDATE: The links were broken, and I have fixed them. In addition, the story I linked to has now been changed on the NBC4/New York websight to edit out the "Romney looked into my soul" passage. Should I take credit for this? I'm thinking...yes.

I almost titled this entry "Jeremy's Spoken", but, y'know, I just never could get into that whole Pearl Jam thing.

Which is fine, because, like 23 million unemployed Americans, Pearl Jam hasn't exactly scored a major gig anywhere during the Obama Administration either.

I thought the article linked above needed greater exposure, though. It not only underscores the effectiveness of Mitt Romney's performance in last night's debate, but it also reveals something else about our Narcissist-In-Chief's strange and offputting personality.

The gist of the article is that the first questioner in last night's debate, Jeremy Epstein, has now decided on who he is going to support in the upcoming election. Although he doesn't explicitly say it, I believe he walked away from the debate convinced that Mitt Romney was the better choice.

Why? Because Mitt Romney offered him a chance at employment and Barack Obama offered to beat him in a game of one-on-one. Here is Mr. Epstein's take on the candidates answer to his question concerning his fear that he, and many like him, would not be able to get jobs when they finished college:

"Mitt Romney's first answer -- I felt like he was staring into my soul, just right through me, when he was asking me the question. I felt like, you know he offered me a job five minutes into the debate, I felt like his answer was sincere," Epstein said. "And then when the president came up, I felt like he, you know he started up by saying my future's bright -- I feel like they were both sincere. They talked very well, eloquently, and I felt they both gave good answers."

"I felt [Romney] was staring into my soul."

"[Romney] offered me a job five minutes into the debate, I felt like his answer was sincere."

These are not the words of someone who feels like his concerns have not been addressed. These are not the statements of someone who believes that he has just been dismissed with rote talking points read off a teleprompter by a cold, emotionless, unrelatable, standard-issue politician. These are the responses of someone who believes that, after four years of increasing worry, someone is now on the scene who not only hears him and understands his worries, but also is prepared to take action to successfully address it.

So. Point to Romney. A point that I am confident was reflected on scorecards in homes all across America.

How about the president, though? Surely, he left an impression on Mr. Epstein as well. After all, the two men spoke after the debate, and Mr. Obama had a chance to address Mr. Epstein's one great worry in even more human and empathic terms should he choose too. How did that go?

"Then I was speaking with President Obama asking how his Chicago Bulls are gonna do, because they lost their MVP Derek Rose, and he said that I could not beat him in one-on-one, but I disagree with that."

...

...

...

I wish I could have been privy to this great moment. It must have gone like this:

Epstein: "Hi, Mr. President, I really want to like you and I'm happy to talk to you about a subject I know interests you, so how 'bout them Bulls? Can you give me anything to suggest you relate to me at all?"

Obama: "The Bulls will be fine. In fact, they'll be almost as dominant as me kicking your living-at-home-in-mom and dad's-basement-ass in a game of one-on-one, kid."

The balls on that guy. To put it in terms even our president can understand, a private question that should have been a lay-up, turned into yet another air-ball.

It's almost as if the Preezy of the United Steezy reads this blog and has decided that Ace's treatise on "plonking" and "lifemanship" is the 2012 version of "How to Win Friends and Influence People."

Yeah, yeah....I know what some of you are thinking: "But Jack, this is what guys do. You give each other shit over stuff like this all the time. Read your own twitter feed, you and @DaveinTexas goof on each other mercilessly...and Epstein seemed to get a kick out of it."

Really.

When Mr. Epstein steps into that voting booth to cast his ballot in November, who do you think he will be most inclined to favor: the man who stared into his soul and saw the need for an economy that produces jobs, or the man who thinks he could kick Epstein's ass in H-O-R-S-E even if he spotted Epstein the H-O-R-S?

I know the answer to this question.

And so do millions of Americans in Mr. Epstein's position. These Americans understand that Obama's 2008's "Hope and Change" has become little more than Obama 2012's "Hoops and (increasingly) Strange."

Why it's almost as if our president just doesn't like people, and as his losing campaign continues to falter, he just can't hide it anymore. But that, of course, is silly. Only a wingnut would think such a thing.

(Follow me on Twitter if you like: @jackmcoldcuts).

Posted by: Jack M. at 09:39 AM | Comments (77)
Post contains 902 words, total size 5 kb.

65 @64 ...seriously? "sound like"? o.o you're basing your derision on what the field of study was called at your college, and how the new name "doesn't sound like" a robust degree? o.O iono if that kind of prejudgment is really fair to the kid! "exercise science" may "sound like" bs, but there's a lot of biomechanics, &c., involved in good exercise technique and optimal physical rehabilitation! while kinesthesiology students may not be experts in the biomechanics, per se, they *do* learn the applications pretty well -- e.g., when i was an undergrad and trying my best to attract the girlies with my short, scrawny body, i took one of those weight training classes, and even as a bioE/biophysics dual degree, i stood a *lot* to learn from the girl who was teaching the class about proper exercise technique. [not that girls ever showed any interest ] anyway, to *me* it "sounds like" he's taking a real -- and really job-oriented! -- major. really, it's nothing like women's studies or critical race theory or anything like that! we shouldn't knock the kid because he's not a rocket scientist. not everyone who doesn't take a high-powered academic degree is a screw-up who isn't preparing himself for life.

Posted by: jimi ray at October 17, 2012 10:39 AM (79EF9)

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