A con man always says everyone else is confused

Reuters/NY Times:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Saturday his plan to end the Iraq war was unchanged and he was puzzled by the sharp reaction to his statement this week that he might "refine" his timetable for withdrawing U.S. combat troops.

"For me to say that I'm going to refine my policies I don't think in any way is inconsistent with prior statements and doesn't change my strategic view that this war has to end and that I'm going to end it as president," Obama told reporters on his campaign plane.

Obama, who based his drive to capture the Democratic nomination on his early and ardent opposition to the war, said earlier this week he might alter his plan to bring combat troops home within 16 months of taking office if conditions on the ground changed.

The comment drew heavy coverage and sharp criticism from some on the left and the right, with Republicans saying it showed he was vacillating on Iraq.

"I was a little puzzled by the frenzy that I set off with what I thought was a pretty innocuous statement," he said on a flight from Montana to St. Louis. "I am absolutely committed to ending the war. I will call my joint chiefs of staff in and give them a new assignment and that is to end the war."

...

"What's really puzzling is that Barack Obama still doesn't understand that his words matter," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds.

Obama said he did not make a mistake with his earlier choice of words in describing his Iraq position -- even though he called a second news conference a few hours after his initial comments to clarify his stance.

He laid the blame with reporters.

...

"If you look at our position, it's been very consistent," he said. "I am unwavering in the belief that this has been a strategic mistake and that this war has to end. It would be a further strategic mistake for us to continue with an open-ended occupation of the sort that John McCain has promised."

Obama said his willingness to consider changing conditions on the ground and the potential ramifications of the pull-out plan was a strength -- and a sharp contrast to Republican President George W. Bush's stay-the-course strategy in Iraq.

"The tactics of how we ensure our troops are safe as we pull out, how we execute the withdrawal -- those are things that are all based on facts and conditions," he said.

"I'm not somebody who, like George Bush, is willing to ignore facts on the basis of my preconceived notions. I want to pay attention to what is happening on the ground."

...

It is amazing to see someone so blatantly misleading and arrogant at the same time. Lets put aside using the possessive when referring to the country's Joint Chiefs. That is in fact arrogant and suggest a style of leadership that departs from the norm.

What is really striking is how he is the guy who has been ignoring the facts on the basis of preconceived notions for the past 18 months.

He is the one who is not paying attention to what is happening on the ground. He is the one who refuses to acknowledge that he has been dead wrong about the situation in Iraq during this entire period and he is the one who would have led us to a disastrous defeat instead of the victory we are now on the brink of.

I have brought cases against several con men in my practice and Obama is exhibiting classic signs of being one. They are always glib and it is always someone else's fault that they misunderstood what he was saying. In the days of YouTube it is getting harder to pull that off, but I expect him to keep trying.