RUSH: So I\u2019m watching Obama. Obama is in New York. The U.N. is there. Bill Clinton used to always go to New York when the U.N. meeting was there. Lot of babes. Clinton had the Clinton Global Initiative, which was an intended babe magnet thing and a fundraising effort disguised as a charitable outfit. And now Obama\u2019s doing the same.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s amazing when the world gathers in New York on U.N. week, it attracts a lot of people. Obama\u2019s making a speech at some organization called Goalkeepers. Cookie, I don\u2019t need any sound bites from it. I just want to tell you one thing he said, and the reaction to it, which I was surprised. Now, he\u2019s got a friendly audience there. I don\u2019t know what Goalkeepers is, but I could guess. It\u2019s not hockey. It\u2019s probably about living a solid life, meeting and making goals and sticking to it, achieving and accomplishing, even if it is the government supporting you.<\/p>\n
But Obama said that we live in times that everybody seems to be upset by, everybody\u2019s on edge, everybody\u2019s nervous. He said he used to tell his staff in the White House all the time, and his family, that that was a silly outlook. That there was every reason in the world to be optimistic. No reaction from the crowd at all. Normally optimism is an applause line. No reaction at all.<\/p>\n
And then I think he was expecting some reaction, didn\u2019t get, so he went on. He said (paraphrasing), “I know. I know. It may sound strange to you, but I firmly believe it.” He said, “If you look at America today, it\u2019s better than at any time in our history. It\u2019s better than 50 years ago. It\u2019s better than it was 30 years.” No applause. None. Dead silence. Hear a pin drop. “It\u2019s better than it was 20 years ago. America\u2019s even better today than it was 10 years ago.” Still no audience reaction whatsoever.<\/p>\n
Normally that kind of a line or making that kind of a point — I\u2019ll guarantee you, if I ever am somewhere and if I have made a public appearance or a speech, and if I\u2019m talking about such things, and I talk about optimism, and I talk about America and the opportunity that\u2019s still here and the threshold for greatness, it always, it always gets loud applause, and in some cases a standing O. If I may, it\u2019s almost an automatic go to-, if you need to get the audience out of their seats. Start talking about the greatness of America and start talking about the future and make comparisons, America today, to 50 years ago.<\/p>\n