5 Fictional Presidents Who Would Have Outdone Barack Obama Last Night
If one was so inclined to compare Barack Obama's Tuesday night Oval Office speech on the BP oil spill to a current summer movie, Sex and the City 2 would probably suffice. Goodness what a disaster. As MSNBC host Keith Olbermann said -- presumably with the glee of Rex Reed trashing SATC 2 -- "I thought it was a great speech if you've been on another planet for 57 days." OK, then! With this oil-and-watershed moment for President Obama now sinking in the rear view mirror, Movieline wonders which fictional president's could have done a better job last night. Answers ahead!
· President Thomas Whitmore from Independence Day
About one minute into his speech last night, President Obama was talking about the "team of our nation's best scientists and engineers" he put together "to tackle this challenge." Boo! Take some of the responsibility yourself, buddy. If President Obama was more like President Whitmore, he'd be getting in a submarine and journeying to the ocean floor right this minute.
· President Jackson Evans from The Contender
There's that name, of course -- which actually gives "Barack Obama" a run for its money -- but don't discount the fact that President Evans was able to deal with the oil-slick Machiavellian maneuvers of Gary Oldman's right-wing senator. Plus, he's played by Jeff Bridges. And The Dude always wins.
· David Palmer from 24
You've seen his commercials: You're in good hands with President Palmer. That he also has Jack Bauer in his pocket to potentially rough up BP executives along the way is just gravy.
· President Merkin Muffley from Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Don't pretend that Obama's speech wouldn't have gone better had he lead off with something like this: "I'm very sorry. All right, you're sorrier than I am, but I am as sorry as well. I am as sorry as you are. ... Don't say that you're more sorry than I am, because I'm capable of being just as sorry as you are... So we're both sorry, all right?... All right."
· President Franklin Delano Roosevelt from Pearl Harbor
OK, he's not totally fictional, but he is played by Jon Voight and does appear in a Michael Bay film -- so, split the difference? Regardless, the country needed an FDR-like moment from President Obama last night -- not a Jimmy Carter one. Maybe next time?
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Comments
David Palmer was complete failure. He let a nuke go off on U.S. soil because of his failure to secure our borders. Under his watch L.A. became a terrorist playground.
Then after his failed Presidency, we elected his brother!!! Who was a womanizing failure.
Fictional America needs to wake up!!
President Thomas Whitmore of Independence Day...now here was a president who knew how to lead. Hopped in that fighter jet and did his best. That is all we ask, really.
However, you forgot one. President James Marshall, played by Harrison Ford in Air Force One. Refused to jump the plane in his little pod and instead fought the terrorists to rescue his staff.
What about Morgan Freeman's president, in that movie about the world ending because something bad was happening? It's kind of a blur, what with big things falling and tidal waves and... you see why I'm conflating about six summer films here... but I remember feeling comforted by Morgan Freeman, is all I'm saying.
This list, and the commentary, is hilarious. Any of these 5 have more leadership abilities and skill then the current moron in office. And they are all just actors, albeit, good ones 🙂
Comparing a real president's speech to fictional ones, especially in a negative light, is worse than irrelevant fluff. Did you ask this question after a George W. Bush address? Or is this just more conservative media bias against a Democratic president or a worse bias? As a reminder, since the author has apparently forgotten, in fiction, the writers stack the deck so a character can be as incredibly wonderful as the writer can make him/her. The real world is much more messy. It doesn't matter how well fictional presidents speak because the worst that will happen is that you wasted 90 minutes of your life and the price of a movie ticket. When real world presidents make mistakes [like invading Iraq], real people can be injured and die, and we can all pay for it for YEARS to come.
It doesn't matter how well fictional presidents speak because the worst that will happen is that you wasted 90 minutes of your life and the price of a movie ticket. When real world presidents make mistakes [like invading Iraq], real people can be injured and die, and we can all pay for it for YEARS to come.
It is moronic to even compare a ficitonal character to a real life character. Barack has the hardest job in the nation and is under a lot of pressure more so than the average individual. He and his staff are some of the brightest minds in the country. We are not privy to all of the info that he and his staff are privy to. That is why it is easy to second guess his decisions. It is easy to be a Monday morning quaterback, after the event.
How about Laura Roslin from Battlestar Galactica? She would have undoubtedly consulted mythical prophets via an ancient text and convinced the military to... er, ignore the spill and seek out a new Moon colony to move all the Gulf Coast residents to. Destiny!
Nemo:
Conservative bias?? since when is Keith Oldermann conservative and biased towards conservatives?? Keith Olbermann said “I thought it was a great speech if you’ve been on another planet for 57 days.”
He stopped short of calling Obama (One Big Ass Mistake America) a moron.
Did you ask this question after a George W. Bush address you ask? You probably did for 8 years, and you are jealous your boy will only last 4. Stop playing the "Bush did it" Mantra and take responsibility for your ignorance. Bush had to follow "pretty boy, no balls clinton who spent more time on his knees, doing other than praying I might add, than anyone who has held that office.
Conservative Bias my ass.
8 years of bitching about Bush and all of a sudden we're suppose to suddenly have a "deep respect" for the white house now a liberal is in office ? Sorry, Bush wasn't given any respect. And he's still being used as a scape goat for everything. Nothing is Obama's fault. For any reason, whatsoever. Why should we have a different standard for Obama ?
FTW!
did you forget about andrew shepard from "the american president" played by michael douglas? he would have said in his speach, "now is a time for serious people and serious solutions and i promise you that all tony hayward will do is tell you what's wrong and whose to blame for it! now is a time for serious people and serious solutions, so you better come at me with more than an appology from rep. joe barton and a total cover up because your 15 minutes are up!!!! i'm andrew shepard and i am the american president!"
or how about dave from the movie "dave"? wow, so many real life situations can be taken from that movie!
''JIMMY CARTER LIKE'' "JIMMY CARTER LIIIIIKE?" Am I the only one in america who has figured this out? OBAMMA IS JIMMY CARTERS CLONE YOU MORRONS! IT'S CARTER MINI ME WRAPPED UP WITH EXTRA SKIN PIGMENT AS SHIELDING AGAINST PUBLIC CRITISISM! ! ! NO BIRTH CERTIFICATE? FOREIGN BORN? HELL NO YOU BLIND DEAF AND DUMB BIATCHES- HE WAS MADE FROM A BASE OF CARTERS DNA PLUS A DONATION FROM DENZEL WASHINGTON ,IN AN UNDERGROUND LAB IN DETROIT! WAKE UP! PUT ON THE TINFOIL CAP BEFORE IT'S TOO LA................
REAL WORLD MISTAKES? HE HAS MADE NO MISTAKES! IT'S ALL DELIBERATE, THERIN LIES THE TRAGEDY OF THIS ADMINISTRATION! HE'S A CLONE! A CLOneee......
Dang
I just entered a long and comprehensive comment, but when I hit the submit button my FireFox freaked out.
Was it somehow saved or is it lost and I have to do it again?
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