# You're kidding right? Obama needs a teleprompter to give a speech at an elementary school!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576 "2010-01-26T21:56:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/21 "2010-01-27T03:29:08Z")
Yikes, I feel like I’m some kind of Bizzaro world here, where nobody realises that teleprompters have been used for, um, eons. Like I said, it’s just a tool, a prompter, written words, not a mesmer box that whizzes words into an empty mind. Sheesh. On preview, here’s Macgiver, begrudging a school visit. Heaven forbid the President encourage children. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/22 "2010-01-27T03:29:12Z")
He wasn’t using a teleprompter; he was monitoring the SDMB so as not to miss **Vinyl Turnip** ’s latest wisecrack. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/23 "2010-01-27T03:31:49Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I’ve got to say I agree. If it was Bush doing this, he’d be getting chewed up and spat out here. No-Bush got chewed up and spat out because, far too often, he spoke _without_ a script. And before you say “cite?”, decide whether or not you want this thread to have a five page hijack. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/24 "2010-01-27T03:34:48Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > quick. call Reuters. someone on the internet has an inflated opinion of his abilities! :dubious: > > I highly doubt you could make Obama, or probably even Bush, look like an idiot. That’s right! Bush doesn’t need any help to look like an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/25 "2010-01-27T03:40:25Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That’s right! Bush doesn’t need any help to look like an idiot. well i wasnt going to come out and say it 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/26 "2010-01-27T03:44:20Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Defending him at every turn is a sign of a complete lack of objectivity. > > His teleprompter use is comical. It should be bipartisan comedy. Much like all the Republicans in the country laughed at and made fun of gaffes and even minor errors like “potatoe” on the part of Republican leaders? Tell me another one. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/27 "2010-01-27T03:44:33Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > So far as I know, Presidents rarely give any sort of speech without a teleprompter. I’m not sure there’s a story here (although I’m sure Fox News will explode in righteous fury). Little known fact, this [famous photo](http://firedoglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/bush_reading_9-11.jpg) was cropped to hide a teleprompter. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/28 "2010-01-27T03:44:50Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > He wasn’t using a teleprompter; he was monitoring the SDMB so as not to miss **Vinyl Turnip** ’s latest wisecrack. Sorry, it appears to have scrolled up off my screen. Could you say it again? ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/29 "2010-01-27T03:48:55Z")
My God! This exposes him as a _Moslem_ fraud! …ffs, try to find some outrage over something substantial ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/30 "2010-01-27T03:52:24Z")
You know, having a teleprompter there is pretty much like having the Secret Service guy there. Just because he’s there, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you _need_ him there. Obama’s at an elementary school. It’s pretty unlikely that anyone there is going to try to kill him. But since he’s the President, you send the SS guys, just in case. Same deal with the teleprompter. It’s pretty unlikely that Obama would screw up a simple speech like this. But since he’s the President, you set up the teleprompter, just in case. Still, having made the comparison, I now can’t help wondering how long it is until we hear, “Obama’s so paranoid, he has elite armed guards follow him everywhere!” To be followed, no doubt, by, “And he calls them the SS! Just like _Hitler!_” ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/31 "2010-01-27T03:56:36Z")
You’ve read the real explanation of this, right? He talked to the school kids in one room with no teleprompter, then moved into another room full of press to make a speech about education. Other photos and videos have been released which demonstrate this to be the case. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/32 "2010-01-27T04:03:46Z")
Missed the edit window. [Explanation](http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/did-obama-use-teleprompter-talk-elementary-school-children) ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/33 "2010-01-27T04:19:31Z")
I love it when the anti-Obama squad makes hay over stuff like this. All it shows is that they don’t have any real, legitimate gripes, and instead have to make shit like this up. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/34 "2010-01-27T04:27:20Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Sorry, it appears to have scrolled up off my screen. Could you say it again? A doctor walks into a bank to cash an enormous check that he earned from treating patients whose lives have been ruined by exorbitant health care bills. When notified by a bank teller that he’s attempting to endorse the check with a thermometer contaminated by fecal matter, he quips “if I have this stinking, shit-smeared thermometer, then I must’ve mistakenly left my Mont Blanc in a patient’s rectum. God, I hope I’m not sued for malpractice again.” Then the teller lends the doctor her pen and they both have a good laugh. _EXEUNT OMNES_. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/35 "2010-01-27T04:28:26Z")
Haven’t read through the thread, but from what I was reading earlier the teleprompter was for a press interview, not while he was speaking to the kids. There are pictures of him basically sitting around (sans teleprompter) while talking to the kids, then standing up by the podium when he later (or before, I mis-remember) when giving his conference. Basically, the OP is non-sense on par with the billy goat story from the Bush era…or perhaps a bit sillier, since Bush was a lot bigger and easier a target. 😛 (apologies if this has already been answered, just skimming thread with the phone and haven’t read through this one except the OP) -XT ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/36 "2010-01-27T05:04:25Z")
You know, I don’t really care. I’d much rather hear a teleprompted Obama speech than ANY of Bush’s speeches, teleprompted or not. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/37 "2010-01-27T05:58:37Z")
> [@elelle](#): > > Yikes, I feel like I’m some kind of Bizzaro world here, where nobody realises that teleprompters have been used for, um, eons. Like I said, it’s just a tool, a prompter, written words, not a mesmer box that whizzes words into an empty mind. Sheesh. > > On preview, here’s Macgiver, begrudging a school visit. Heaven forbid the President encourage children. Yah, that’s what we’re paying him for, to run around the country giving inspirational speeches to little kids. Go team Obama. If he could just play a fiddle while the country is fiscally burning to the ground that would be perfect. In the mean time how many schools are left for him to rescue from this national crisis of encouragement? Won’t someone think of the children? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/38 "2010-01-27T06:25:30Z")
Didn’t your guy wait around to find out what would happen to a fictional goat while America was literally under attack? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/39 "2010-01-27T06:34:41Z")
It WAS a pretty fascinating story, especially when read upside-down… -XT ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576/40 "2010-01-27T06:50:21Z")
Aside from the fact that this turned out to be untrue (surprise!)… > [@Wilbo523](#): > > His handlers must not trust him to speak off the cuff. His handlers aren’t making decisions like that for him. If he wants to speak off the cuff nobody is going to force him to use a TelePrompTer. > [@flickster](#): > > All we heard for the last two years was what a wonderful speaker Obama was as compared to GWB. So really, IMHO, we have two Presidents in a row that are lacking in their public speaking abilities. Completely false comparison. Even when Bush was reading from a script, he was generally terrible. His delivery was awkward but the stuff on the printed page was also weak. And the speeches that won Obama praise were all scripted. Did anybody think the 2004 DNC speech was improvised? And if they did, why did they think so? Nobody sold this as an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway, for crying out loud. It’s true that Bill Clinton, for example, often went off script. It demonstrated his command of the issues but it also showcased his tendency to show off and to go on and on forever. > [@Markxxx](#): > > The real reason for this is simple, presidents don’t want to be caught saying something stupid. This is correct. > [@](#): > > I could talk to Mr Obama and in ten minutes make him look like an idiot. I could do that for GW Bush or any president. I don’t think this is, though. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-kidding-right-obama-needs-a-teleprompter-to-give-a-speech-at-an-elementary-school/526576.md?page=3)