Little things mean a lot

Eagle-eyed reader Gregory Koster caught an interesting contradiction from Senator Obaama, dealing with the senator's office. Of course, we've seen Obama flip-flop so much during this campaign that this shouldn't shock you. But it should amuse you:

Consider this, from the AP, reporting on the offices of the presidential candidates:

Obama's office feels more like a gallery of modern art: precisely placed objects, sparsely adorned surfaces, clean lines, choreographed displays.

And...

Obama's desktop, once used by former Illinois Sen. Paul Simon, is a testament to discipline.

Now, consider this, from the January 15th Democratic debate, moderated by Tim Russert:


RUSSERT: You said each of you have strengths and weaknesses. I want to ask each of you quickly, your greatest strength, your greatest weakness.


OBAMA: My greatest strength, I think is the ability to bring people together from different perspectives to get them to recognize what they have in common and to move people in a different direction. And as I indicated before, my greatest weakness, I think, is when it comes to — I’ll give you a very good example: I ask my staff members not to hand me a paper until two seconds before I need it because I will lose it. You know, the —- you know…
(LAUGHTER)
And my desk and my office doesn’t look good. I’ve got to have somebody around me who is keeping track of that stuff. And that’s not trivial; I need to have good people in place who can make sure that systems run.

Hmm. May sound like a trivial contradiction, but it isn't. If Obama's desk is a "testament to discipline," why would he describe it as a kind of disaster area? Maybe he was trying to sound more "human." Or maybe there's a casualness about the truth that comes naturally to Senator Obama, something, very frankly, that I think we've seen all along.

Reminds me of those people who get caught padding resumés.

August 16, 2008.

I also found that the biggest problems always came from people who would lie about tiny things, just to make a point they thought would help them look good.

They have no base. No bottom. Nothing to touch. Nothing that you can expect to help when help is needed.


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