Obama Lost His Audience

[From article]
No one's really listening to the president now. He has been for five years a nonstop wind-up talk machine. Most of it has been facile, bland, the same rounded words and rounded sentiments, the same soft accusations and excuses. I see him enjoying the sound of his voice as the network newsman leans forward eagerly, intently, nodding at the pearls, enacting interest, for this is the president and he is the anchorman and surely something important is being said with two such important men engaged.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303947904579339142225570548

Noonan: The Sleepiness of a Hollow Legend
The State of the Union is a grand tradition—but only if people are listening.
Jan. 23, 2014 6:16 p.m. ET
Peggy Noonan

Obama's Talking to Himself

[From article]
"When he speaks on the debt negotiations, he is not only extremely boring, with airy and bromidic language—really they are soul-killing, his talking points—but he never seems to be playing it straight. He always seems to be finagling, playing the angles in some higher game that only he gets. In two and a half years he has reached the point that took George W. Bush five years to reach: People aren't listening anymore.

http://online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html

Out of the Way, Please, Mr. President
The Gang of Six puts forward some ideas worth pursuing.
Peggy Noonan
July 23, 2011
Wall Street Journal