In his post-midterms press conference this week, President Obama said he heard silent people speaking, referring to the two-thirds of Americans who didn’t vote.
So, what did these silent people say to our clairvoyant leader? Evidently, they’re all about the “stuff.”
“They want me to push hard to close some of these divisions, break through some of the gridlock, and get stuff done.”
“So, the most important thing I can do is just get stuff done.”
“What’s most important to the American people right now, the resounding message, not just of this election, but basically the last several, is get stuff done.”
“I think we’re hopefully going to be able to get some stuff done.”
“And you know, I’m certainly going to be spending a lot more time with [incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner] now, because that’s the only way that we’re going to be able to get some stuff done.”
“So, there’s a whole bunch of stuff to do.”
“And, you know, if you look at the history of almost every president, those last two years, all kinds of stuff happens. In some cases, stuff that we couldn’t predict.”
What president talks like this? Is this leadership? Is this even intelligent? Is it inspiring? Imagine how this would have sounded from presidents of the past.
Obama’s Words in Other Presidents’ Mouths
Ronald Reagan: “In this present crisis, we just need to get stuff done.”
Abraham Lincoln: “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to get stuff done is more important than any other one thing.”
Andrew Johnson: “Honest conviction is my courage; getting stuff done is my guide.”
John Quincy Adams: “If your actions inspire others to do more stuff, you are a leader.”
Andrew Jackson: “Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and get stuff done!”
Ronald Reagan: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this stuff.”
Lyndon Johnson: “A president’s hardest task is not to do what is right, but to do stuff.”
Grover Cleveland: “A truly American sentiment recognizes the dignity of stuff.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt: “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is stuff—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified stuff.”
Warren G. Harding: “America’s present need is not heroics, but stuff.”
John F. Kennedy: “Life is never easy—there is stuff to be done.”
Ronald Reagan : “The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to people who get stuff done.”
Herbert Hoover: “Being a politician is a poor profession. Being a public servant is a noble one, because we get stuff done.”
Benjamin Harrison: “I pity the man who wants stuff so cheap that the man or woman who produces the stuff will starve in the process.”
Ronald Reagan: “We the people tell government to get stuff done, it doesn’t tell us.”
George W. Bush: “America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by stuff that moves us beyond our backgrounds.”
James Madison: “The advancement and diffusion of stuff is the only guardian of true liberty.”
John F. Kennedy: “My fellow Americans, ask not what stuff your country can do for you, ask what stuff you can do for your country.”
William Henry Harrison: “I contend that the strongest of all governments is that which gets the most stuff done.”
Barack Obama: “Yes we can! Get stuff done!”
