A Man of Action (Verbs)

As great hope and change continues to wash over our country (not unlike the torrential rains we have experienced these past few days), I decided today to peruse my box of President Obama clippings and tally up the hope and count the change.

While leafing through the clippings what struck me as profound were the headlines themselves, more specifically the action verbs used in headline after headline following the name “Obama.” As agent of change the President must also be a man of action, and I hoped to make a list of these action verbs as a way of gauging the man’s personality and as a summation of the man’s accomplishments while thus far serving in office.

Here are the headlines, arranged alphabetically. I have included only subject, verb and object, dropping prepositional phrases and contextual references. Read into them what you will, though each is an actual headline.

Obama…

Accused Republicans
Angry at Energy Department
Angry at Fox
Angry at Netanyahu
Fires Back at Cheney
Goes Nuclear Over Sarah Palin
Lashes Out at AIG
Lashes Out at Arizona
Lashes Out at “Audacity of Banks”
Lashes Out at Banks
Lashes Out at “Big Media”
Lashes Out at BP
Lashes Out at CNBC
Lashes Out at “Fat Cat Bankers”
Lashes Out at Fox News
Lashes Out at Generals in Afghanistan
Lashes Out at GOP
Lashes Out at Haliburton
Lashes Out at Health Care Bill Opponents
Lashes Out at Health Insurers
Lashes Out at Hilary
Lashes Out at Honduras
Lashes Out at House Republicans
Lashes Out at iPods
Lashes Out at Iran
Lashes Out at Kanye West
Lashes Out at Lawmakers
Lashes Out at McCain
Lashes Out at New Media
Lashes Out at Oil Drillers
Lashes Out at Oil Industry
Lashes Out at Oil Company executives
Lashes Out at Opposing Viewpoints
Lashes Out at Republicans
Lashes Out at Sarah Palin
Lashes Out at The New Yorker
Lashes Out at US Banks
Lashes Out at Wall Street
Lashes Out During Golf Trip
Lashes Out Over “Cash for Clunkers” Analysis
Mocks Arizona Law
Mocks Bush
Mocks Cable Chatter
Mocks Cheney
Mocks Conservatives
Mocks D.C.’s Reaction to Winter Weather
Mocks Disabled Children
Mocks Entrepreneurship
Mocks Fox
Mocks GOP
Mocks GOP Doomsday Predictions
Mocks Health Care Bill Opponents
Mocks Leno
Mocks Limbaugh
Mocks Marijuana Question
Mocks McCain
Mocks McConnell
Mocks Media
Mocks Opponents
Mocks Palin
Mocks Patrick Henry
Mocks Plumbers
Mocks Presidential Seal
Mocks Private Insurance Companies
Mocks Rallies
Mocks Republicans
Mocks Scott Brown’s Truck
Mocks Special Olympics
Mocks Teabaggers
Mocks Tea Partiers
Mocks the Bible
Mocks the Handicapped
Mocks the iPad
Mocks US Military Personnel
Scolds Republicans
Struggles with Smoking Habit
Unleashes Frustration

Indeed, the President has not been sitting on his laurels. Between the lashing and mocking, he’s had time for unleashing and scolding, and was able (with justification, no doubt) to accuse a Republican or two.

We’ll check in again at mid-term elections. There’s bound to be some additional lashing come November.