One of the more infantile jokes running through Wingnuttia is that President Obama can’t say a word without using a Teleprompter. Despite the fact that every president has used one since the day the device was invented, and especially after eight years’ worth of George W. Bush, this meme will not die. I’m inclined to agree with Bob Cesca in that it plays to the stereotype that a lot of wingers have — black folk don’t talk good — and that Mr. Obama’s oratorical skills are all artifice. On the first one, well, have you ever listened to an interview with your average tea-bagger? Demosthenes they ain’t. Second, as Jonathan Chait points out, Barack Obama does just fine speaking extemporaneously.

And remember when Mr. Obama did a Q & A at the Republican retreat in 2010? If you have a spare hour and eighteen minutes, watch and learn how he does on his feet.

Mitt Romney had better start rehearsing his spontaneous lines now.