My heart goes out to Velma R. Hart. She definitely isn’t short of courage, being a military veteran, but it does take someone of character to not only ask the question she asked, but to do it with such restraint. Both Michelle Malkin and Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey had this up yesterday, along with a slew of other bloggers. It started when RealClearPolitics.com first posted the video from the CNBC “Investing in America” town hall forum and from there it went “viral”.
RealClearPolitics.com also has President Barack Obama’s response and suffice to say, it isn’t honest at all. At this point, “Times are tough for everybody right now, so I understand your frustration”, just won’t cut it anymore. Mrs. Hart herself told CNN this morning that she was hoping for a response that was more “whimsical, magical, very powerful”, something which would settle her nerves on this “new reality” she is facing. If Barack and Michelle weren’t always spending hundreds of thousands of tax dollars on various luxuries, Mrs. Hart and the rest of America would be able to believe that he was sincere in his response. There is a reason Obama administration is being referred to as the “let them eat cake” presidency, and that Michelle herself is being compared to Marie-Antoinette, the woman who this quote is falsely attributed to. Personally, I’m downright disgusted in the way Barack brushed this woman off. If he had even an ounce of the character his predecessor, George W. Bush had, he would have been far more honest with a supporter who has been defending his failed policies for the last two years.
Those who supported Barack are finally waking up to this “new reality”, and Velma R. Hart’s question yesterday during the CNBC town hall forum is proof of this. Hope has already faded and those who once believed that Obama was “the one they had been waiting for”, are starting to see that his policies are bringing about a “new reality” which they didn’t vote for.
UPDATE: A follow-up to yesterday’s video via Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews takes a swing at Barack Obama for a such disappointing town hall forum. While he does direct his focus at the teleprompter, Matthews does make the point that Obama wasn’t being authentic.
Even Arianna Huffington, an avid Obama supporter herself, was upset with Obama’s performance yesterday. Both her and Matthews give praise to Velma R. Hart for her question, for “speaking for us” as the MSNBC host put it. As Morrissey points out in his post, this is the first time in a long time that Barack has been posed such a hard question, noting that the White House’s efforts to avoid even allowing such questions to be asked. With “hope” fading, it would help a lot if Obama would actually try addressing these issues instead of simply providing a empty response to them.
While it isn’t the first time Matthews or Huffington have been upset with this administration, it would be nice to think that Mrs. Hart’s questions yesterday was a wake up call for those who have exhausted themselves defending one failed policy after another.
[...] such a misguided premise is done for purely political reasons. Only those who aren’t already “exhausted” with defending this administration’s policies, would believe such [...]
[...] Rally. Foxx reminded the Obama supporters what a huge disappointment he’s been. He mentioned the exhausted woman Velma Hart who is so tired and exhausted and broke defending Obama and his failed [...]