Obamateurism of the Day

Last spring, Barack Obama decided against holding a public event or even giving a public statement at the White House on the National Day of Prayer. Robert Gibbs explained that Obama preferred to pray privately and stick to written proclamations, rather than hold a public event with Christian and Jewish leaders to mark the occasion as George Bush did for the previous eight years:

“I think the president understands, in his own life and in his family’s life, the role that prayer plays,” Gibbs said. “And I would denote that the administrations prior to the past one did proclamations. That’s the way the president will publicly observe the national prayer day. But, as I said, privately, he’ll pray as he does every day.”

Of course, if the President prefers to make his religious observations in private, that’s his business. As long as he’s consistent, it shouldn’t cause anyone any problem, right? Right?

Er …

President Obama continued his charm offensive on the Islamic world today, posting on the White House blog a video wishing Muslims a happy Ramadan, the month of fasting, prayer and charity observed by Muslims worldwide.

But to be fair …

This isn’t the first time Obama has sent special holiday messages — in April, for example, there was a two-fer video post on the White House blog recognizing Passover and Easter.

And yet …

But this message was part of a larger push, a point made clear in the introduction to the Ramadan video by Rashad Hussein, a deputy associate counsel in the White House who was the first Muslim in Obama’s administration.

“This month is also a time of renewal and this marks the first Ramadan since the President outlined his vision for a new beginning between America and the Muslim world,” Hussein wrote. “The President’s message is part of an on-going dialogue with Muslim communities that began on inauguration day and has continued with his statement on Nowruz, during trips to Ankara and Cairo, and with interviews with media outlets such as Al Arabiya and Dawn TV.”

I’ll leave this one to your judgment.

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at obamaisms@edmorrissey.com with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!

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