July 30, 2008
— Ace My, my. This couple certainly is very taken with itself. The four-way sex with the Obamas and their throbbing, outsized egos must be pretty hot.
In context, the quote isn't quite as bad as it is out-of-context... but it's still kinda bad. The "N.B" below is an editorial annotation by Newsbusters.
Q. A friend of yours said you are purposely not engaged in policy because, as an attorney, you so over-prepare that if you can't master something you won't dive in at all. Is that true?Michelle: On some level I view myself as do many women in my position as 120-percenters, meaning we feel good about what we're doing when we're doing it at 120 percent. So, I could be very competent putting 70 percent in, but I don't feel good about it. I feel like, if I'm going to master it, I'm going to master it. Where I've had to come not just in this campaign, but in my life of having so much that I'm doing, my career, the role of mom and exercise and all these other things that I have come to believe are just as important is I've had to sort of let go of that 120-percent thing and say, I can't do everything. I am not going to realistically be the policy expert on every opinion and position that Barack has because I don't have the time to do it, quite frankly. And I have to be okay with that.
So, how does putting in a 70% effort help Michelle Obama's kids?
Q. I'm not sure people will buy that. They see you as so strong and smart and assertive [NB: tough interview!], that it's natural to assume that you're weighing in on policy.Michelle: That is the internal struggle that I, and a lot of women, have. You listen to the outside, which says you have an obligation because you're smart and well-educated to do this. And it's like, 'Yeah, but I also have these kids.
Ah.
It has to be noted that studies have consistently found that incompetent people tend to wildly overstate their competence.
And, realistically, many people put in a 70% effort at work, and manage to get by with that. I can't help but think that Michelle Obama has gotten used to being, basically, lazy (racism alert!), but consoles herself that her own 70% effort is worth the 120% effort of most people who don't have superpowers.
Question: How many hours is Michelle Obama actually putting in at her $200,000+ hospital administration job these days? Does she still work there? Or, let's not ask about "work" per se -- does she continue drawing a salary?
What's the attendance rate at that political-posting gig these days? I have a feeling that the hospital would count itself lucky to get 70%.
Posted by: Ace at
09:37 AM
| Comments (69)
Post contains 509 words, total size 3 kb.
Posted by: billhilly at July 30, 2008 09:41 AM (3AgfD)
That is lawyer math... You count the number of hours you actually worked on a case, multiply it by 1.2, and round to the nearest whole number when you charge the client.
Posted by: BrandonInBatonRouge at July 30, 2008 09:48 AM (VmZHg)
No, no. You always round UP. 113.1 hours? You bill 114.
Posted by: Farmer Joe at July 30, 2008 09:51 AM (n29BA)
Anyone who says they give 120% (or anything more than 100%) says something profoundly stupid, unless the statement is intentionally humorous or ironic. I'm sorry, you're not giving 120%, dear, you've just gotten a glimpse of how hard it is to approach 100%.
I'm of the opinion that if you give a job 100%, you've killed yourself in the process of doing the job. That sounds like 100%, i.e. everything, to me. It is kinda' hard to convince a world of people claiming to give 120% that most good efforts are really only about 30-45%. They just wouldn't be able to stroke-off their egos sufficiently.
Posted by: Shillelagh at July 30, 2008 09:51 AM (Oz4Bj)
Posted by: acm at July 30, 2008 09:54 AM (wTn17)
Posted by: UncleZeb at July 30, 2008 09:55 AM (/DoLk)
I bet she and the Messiah have a tremendous sense of the absurd and can laugh at themselves all day long.
NOT
Making fun of these two and watching the resulting meltdown will be more effective than ten thousand conventionally negative ads. This is where the main effort to bring them down should concentrate.
Posted by: U.S.S. Yorktown at July 30, 2008 09:55 AM (5RlWq)
"Where I've had to come not just in this campaign, but in my life of having so much that I'm doing, my career, the role of mom and exercise and all these other things that I have come to believe are just as important is I've had to sort of let go of that 120-percent thing and say, I can't do everything. "
In her quest to overcome the dreaded "soft bigotry of low expectations", it seems Michelle has slipped into what might be called "the soft elitism of high entitlement".
Just exactly what does a VP of Community Outreach do for $300K anyway, besides make speeches full of preening self-regard and self-pity?
Posted by: sherlock at July 30, 2008 09:59 AM (h6sl7)
Posted by: tachyonshuggy at July 30, 2008 10:04 AM (TXp3z)
Posted by: Reb'M Al at July 30, 2008 10:04 AM (C1QhE)
Posted by: Holdfast at July 30, 2008 10:05 AM (Gzb30)
What struck me was the phrase "THESE kids." How many moms do you know that refer to their kids like they were some kind of trophy for the den wall? or refer to them like a turd in toilet paper with your nose held and the offending thing tolerated?
Real moms use the term 'MY kids." And they are a joy, not a burden, even when we bitch and moan about them and the crazy things they do. And even then we bitch about "My kids this and my kids that." Her kids are about as personal to her as an abortion is to a tweaker on crack...
Posted by: bmeuppls at July 30, 2008 10:09 AM (osAwP)
Posted by: trentk269 at July 30, 2008 10:10 AM (WUM14)
Posted by: PR at July 30, 2008 10:16 AM (k7SeR)
Posted by: Smash'em at July 30, 2008 10:25 AM (Vp5gu)
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 30, 2008 10:27 AM (0+Ggj)
Posted by: Warden at July 30, 2008 10:29 AM (QoR4a)
Posted by: Original Roy at July 30, 2008 10:31 AM (vtR2g)
Posted by: Barack Hussein Obama Campaign Blog Outreach Coordinator at July 30, 2008 10:35 AM (b4HXm)
Posted by: Mark at July 30, 2008 10:40 AM (65WaW)
You can't say that.
Well, technically you can for now, but after the fairness doctrine kicks in? That won't be all that's kicked in. I'd be changing my name to deuce around October....
Posted by: MarkD at July 30, 2008 10:40 AM (MMy4A)
Barack has honed his ability to shake down nervous white liberals and make them feel all warm and fuzzy while he does it. Now he's taking his act national.
Posted by: Trimegistus at July 30, 2008 10:40 AM (b4HXm)
Posted by: PR at July 30, 2008 10:51 AM (k7SeR)
She's got an enormous ego, just like Barry and thus will overstate her importance and effort. I see this all the time, especially with women for some reason. They claim to be so overwhelmed and busy, but when you actually observe them they spend more time talking about working hard than actually working.
What she views as 120% is likely what most would consider about 90%. Her version of 70%? 30%.
Posted by: Hollowpoint at July 30, 2008 10:51 AM (rf03a)
Posted by: Faye Kinnitt at July 30, 2008 10:56 AM (l1oyw)
Posted by: SAT board at July 30, 2008 11:01 AM (RD17r)
Posted by: 11B40 at July 30, 2008 11:01 AM (pDxoX)
Posted by: vanderleun at July 30, 2008 11:16 AM (s0k8A)
Posted by: David Ross at July 30, 2008 11:32 AM (GwV+j)
On another note, I saw some Democrat governor scoffing at the notion that Obama is not humble. That's true: he bows to no one in his humility.
Posted by: Glen at July 30, 2008 11:38 AM (HX/9W)
Posted by: ajmalkov at July 30, 2008 12:00 PM (8r/RM)
Granted, many who utter such nonsense as "120%" are just exaggerating fools who think bigger numbers sound more impressive. Like the Democratic party, you have to separate the idiot mimicking followers from the true delusional narcissists. I'm not yet convinced Michelle isn't in that fool category, and often you'll find enabling idiot spouses of sociopathic narcissists like Barack. But for the moment, let's explore the possibility she too shares the risk-seeking pathology.
Summit-seekers in the world of risk are those who are so driven for their ascent to the top that they are willing to let others die in their quest. History has called them to ascend and be "an instrument of god's will" - and nothing shall get in the way of the achievement of this self-prophesied event. Sir Edmund Hillary spoke on this issue a couple of years ago when numerous climbers passed an under-provisioned climbing crew that had encountered significant hazards they weren't equipped for and were dying. The summit seekers were so determined to reach their own personal goals of reaching the top of Mount Everest that they passed the dying climbers, refusing to let others lack of preparation and misfortune take from their own glory and achievement. This was their moment! Their time! Hope! Change! Destiny! They let others freeze and die rather than detract from their own chance at glory. Not exactly the kind of leader for a stable society (though we've seen this kind in the USSR, Germany, Italy, France, Cambodia and elsewhere).
As a governance, risk and compliance professional, I often find summit seekers at the end of the debris trail of catastrophe and collapse. Major breach of controls leading to multi-million dollar impact? Expect to find executives stripping controls bare to lower costs, achieve greater bonuses, attaining professional recognition as a stellar manager and jumping to fresh targets to strip before the existing target collapses.
A hallmark of their behavior is their inability to restrain their risk taking behavior. Return-seeking language like "100% isn't good enough - I demand/perform/deliver 120%!" and other patterns reflect their return-only thought pattern. You and I would be horrified to hear our children's bus driver brag about how they deliver the kids home at 120% the speed estimated using acceptable speed/safety limits, but too often we write off this foolish language as simple over-promising sales talk. Substitute "risk" for "return" when you hear these promises and then re-think the proposition.
So is Michelle an idiot who simply parrots cheesy used-car salesman talk, or does her language suggest a pattern of risk-seeking behavior? Looking at other signatures of these individuals, such as a career of rapid upward movement from job to job with no material lasting accomplishment, an oversized self perception, and recurring promises to provide what they cannot deliver are clues. Clod or Claudius?
Posted by: redherkey at July 30, 2008 12:17 PM (kjqFg)
Posted by: Reb'M Al at July 30, 2008 12:21 PM (C1QhE)
Actually, let's think about this. If we grant that:
Work x Material = Result
And we know that:
[Michelle Obama]Work = 120%
Since she doesn't go to the job:
[Michelle Obama]Material = 0
We therefore arives at:
[Michelle Obama](120% x 0) = [Michelle Obama]Result
0 = [Michelle Obama]Result
This sound matematical proof not only confirms what we already knew, but demonstrates that Michelle Obama can put forth a limitless amount of Work because the effort is not being used on anything. She might be underestimating! She could be putting 3000% effort behind her production of nothing!
Posted by: Shillelagh at July 30, 2008 12:36 PM (Oz4Bj)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism
Particularly amusing is this entry on a type of narcissist - remind you of anyone?
A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and the cultivation of leisurely hobbies. Some dandies, especially in Britain in the late 18th and 19th century, strove to affect aristocratic values even though many came from common backgrounds. Thus, a dandy could be considered a kind of snob. A modern day dandy may partake in hobbies like bicycle riding, decked in a suit and tie, or leisurely games of pick-up basketball.
Ok... I added the last line. But damn... and the disorder entry is even more interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder
Apparently the condition can be cultivated by "excessive admiration that is never balanced with realistic feedback." Well THANK YOU mainstream media.
Posted by: redherkey at July 30, 2008 01:17 PM (kjqFg)
Well, with Michelle, ego and id seem to be pulling more than their own weight.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 30, 2008 01:47 PM (Ds4I5)
Posted by: billypaintbrush at July 30, 2008 01:51 PM (00u8U)
Posted by: Penfold at July 30, 2008 01:52 PM (lF2Kk)
And, realistically, many people put in a 70% effort at work, and manage to get by with that
You better damn well hope so or your readership is going to shit.
Posted by: JackStraw at July 30, 2008 02:02 PM (VBon8)
Posted by: eddiebear at July 30, 2008 02:02 PM (wnU1W)
If she ever really did work at that job I bet her staff is damn glad Mrs O and her ego are mostly gone these days. Imagine working for someone like that.
Posted by: Long Island at July 30, 2008 02:05 PM (XHzEP)
Hate to say it but Hospital Administrators are not great leaders. They tend to be bureaucratic types who just want to maintain the status quo.
Ask any doctor.
She ain't as bright as she thinks she is. Apparently attitude can take you a long way.
Posted by: uniball at July 30, 2008 02:18 PM (27iEn)
Posted by: aubrey at July 30, 2008 02:21 PM (P96YG)
In this case, they're funnels.
Posted by: Stinky Esposito at July 30, 2008 02:24 PM (MMC8r)
Gosh, she is so over-qualified for us.
We should be happy to have someone so over-qualified running for President.
Well, she's the one with her hand up Barry's ass jerking him around like a puppet.
Posted by: Rev Dr The Man E Buzz BigNuts at July 30, 2008 02:27 PM (sf4Oe)
Dude. Not to put too fine a point on it, but she sounds like a fucking moron.
I mean, seriously: what kind of jackass spends that much time talking about imaginary efficiency percentages ?
120% ? Obviously impossible, so why pretend to measure anything against it, even if you could. 70% ? And this is computed how?
Using her own math, wouldn't that still be 50% off peak performance, or as the poster suggested above, is it maybe 84%?
Is there a Super-Michelle mode where she can crank it up to, oh, I don't know, 1,020% for brief periods if need be, or does her efficiency function -- say, when she's doing things for "these kids" -- have some other upper limit? 126%? 181%
OMG ... I'm literally laughing at her ... what an ignorant, self-absorbed asswipe.
Posted by: WTF ?! at July 30, 2008 02:32 PM (EQYOq)
Posted by: PR at July 30, 2008 02:34 PM (k7SeR)
Posted by: grc at July 30, 2008 02:39 PM (hbHcp)
Posted by: Jack Kemp at July 30, 2008 03:06 PM (a1oRP)
For me the kicker is the presumption that she speaks for many women, merely because she is a woman herself:
"On some level I view myself - as do many women in my position - at 120-percenters"
What position would that be? Candidate's wife, coming from a cushy make-work university relations kickba er, job? There are almost NO women who are in the position she's in. Factor in her meddlesome "policy pronouncements" and really there are only two: her and Hillary circa 1992
"This is the internal struggle that I, and a lot of women, have."
Right. She knows so much about struggling to pay bills, get the kids to whatever practice/activity/etc., job, home, church, etc. Why, without her staff of fourteen and 99th percentile income, she'd be swamped. She may even have to put in 122%!
Posted by: nightfly at July 30, 2008 03:08 PM (PuuC1)
Posted by: Rev Dr The Man E Buzz BigNuts at July 30, 2008 03:22 PM (sf4Oe)
Posted by: shibumi at July 30, 2008 03:31 PM (tZB/c)
"Barack will not let you do nothing...he's gonna make you work"
@ 70%?
Hmm, if it works for her, it'll work for Barry (aka "Sap")...
Posted by: Fritz at July 30, 2008 03:31 PM (zAvxs)
Posted by: hindmost at July 30, 2008 03:32 PM (BKlar)
The Space Shuttle main engines run at about 105% of their rated power during launch; they're capable of running at 109% in an emergency.
That's obviously not 109% of the maximum power they're capable of, just 109% of their somewhat conservative rating.
So, saying that you give "120%" to your job would mean that you work 20% harder than is actually expected of you, or 20% harder than you believed yourself capable of when you started.
Or something like that. I doubt that most of the people who use this phrase actually think about it that much. It's essentially meaningless anyway. NASA can specify in some detail under what conditions the 100% rating obtains, but there is no similar specification for human dedication to a job.
There. That horse is 120% dead.
And in any case, I don't want a First Couple who will put in 120% on the job of taking away my liberty, which is what really scares me about the Obamas.
Posted by: DJMoore at July 30, 2008 03:33 PM (l5DzU)
She thinks she has been giving so much effort and all that...
But with affirmative action, and she's a beneficiary, that's not quite the goddamn case.
Posted by: Rev Dr The Man E Buzz BigNuts at July 30, 2008 03:35 PM (sf4Oe)
When you look at "her" closely it's obviously "she's" actually James Brown.
I know "he's" supposed to be dead, but "they" would say that, wouldn't "they"?
Just like "they" released Brown's allegedly posthumous song "Poppa's Got a Brand New Body Bag".
I mean, when did you ever see Michelle and James Brown on the same stage?
Hmmmmm....
Posted by: fulldroolcup at July 30, 2008 03:38 PM (4JvGP)
There is a way to get workforce productivity up, and that is to stop internet surfing at work.
Wait. Did I say something wrong?
Posted by: Mikey NTH at July 30, 2008 03:42 PM (TUWci)
Posted by: ParisParamus at July 30, 2008 04:02 PM (ETj1R)
It's like looking at a film negative version of the Clintons.
He's amiable, inexperienced and happy go lucky.
She's a control freak with a dose of Dr. No.
And they're both Ivy League lawyers from the midwest.
If President Obama gives the issue of healthcare to Michelle ... now that's deja vu!
Posted by: memomachine at July 30, 2008 04:15 PM (3PLow)
Posted by: RWB at July 30, 2008 04:19 PM (MKxON)
Posted by: Stinky Esposito at July 30, 2008 04:34 PM (MMC8r)
Arrogant Bitter Bitch. It will get worse for Barry when he loses by a landslide in November after believing in all that hope for a change. She'll stay with him in order to cling bitterly to what power is left in the man, but henpecked is a serious understatement.
We are so screwed this November.
Either way, we are taking it up an alimentary canal. The only choice left is do you want it Dry or Lubricated.
Posted by: BillyBob at July 30, 2008 05:30 PM (Lrvpp)
There is no way you can get over 100% of anything. One Hundred percent is all there is, period. One can properly use the phrase "over 100%" when discussing increases and that is the only circumstance I can come up with. As was mentioned before, athletes are the biggest abusers of over 100%.
I wish I had an affirmative action job where I received over $300k. Maybe MBs job wasn't affirmative action but her degree sure as hell was. On second thougth, I would never want a job that I did not deserve on my own merits. And still, all she does is piss and moan. What a bitch.
Posted by: Ronster at July 30, 2008 10:17 PM (9ye6Q)
Posted by: ginsocal at July 31, 2008 08:09 AM (6hw4x)
Posted by: Parson Weems at July 31, 2008 08:58 AM (4gHqM)
As the feller said- to support the metaphor, not the Obamas:
A nuclear reactor is well capable of running greater than 100% rated power. The 100% rating is based on other engineering calcs with massive conservative safety margins. All the safety features are "analyzed" assuming at or near 100%,
Most older US plants have revised their safety margins using modern computer calcs and operating experience and operate and at 110% or so of original rated thermal ouput.
So they go to 11, but they just made 10 louder.
So a person could operate at 120% of rated output, but they would be in danger of an un-analyzed catastrophic failure.
None of this would be something that Mrs O would be remotely aware of; she is still a colossal boob.
Posted by: Captain Atom at July 31, 2008 10:28 AM (y/ePn)
Posted by: Romeguy at March 05, 2009 07:34 AM (TUClg)
Posted by: silence at May 10, 2010 02:53 AM (LRiNE)
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