Obamateurism of the Day
posted at 8:05 am on August 11, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
You know, it’s not all fun and games being President … but apparently, it’s mostly fun and games. The man who scolded Republicans for failing to govern seems to spend most of his time avoiding it himself. Even Dana Milbank at the Washington Post has had enough:
“You must always remember that the president is about 6.”
This advice was offered more than 100 years ago by a British friend of Teddy Roosevelt’s. The nation has matured since then, and so has the presidency. Now the president is about 12.
While President Obama’s wife and younger daughter were conducting international relations in Majorca on Sunday with Spain’s King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, the commander in chief was at home hosting a fantasy camp for himself. He and his buddies had a birthday weekend barbecue and basketball game with LeBron James, Alonzo Mourning, Magic Johnson and other legends of the sport.
The day before, it was a four-hour golf outing for Obama and the boys. On Monday, he hosted the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints at the White House and talked about his own exploits on the gridiron last year with Saints quarterback Drew Brees. “He tossed me a nice tight spiral that I then lateraled to a kid on [Dallas Cowboys linebacker] DeMarcus Ware’s shoulders,” the president recalled. “I also want to point out I beat [Pittsburgh Steelers safety] Troy Polamalu over the middle on that throw.” Obama turned to Brees. “You remember?”
Milbank does a little math:
According to unofficial presidential statistician Mark Knoller of CBS News, Obama has left the White House to play basketball 16 times so far, in addition to the countless times he has played on his home court. He’s shot 44 rounds of golf, gone fishing and played tennis. Total sporting-related events hosted at the White House: 45. That’s about six times the number of news conferences he has held.
Yeah, but cut him a little slack, Dana. He did make a big speech about the importance of governing … while appearing on The View.
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.
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friend of Teddy Roosevelt
omit apostrophe
Disturb the Universe on August 11, 2010 at 8:11 AM
Wow, Milbank actually had something negative to say about Obama. Maybe the shine is rubbing off.
Johnnyreb on August 11, 2010 at 8:11 AM
IT’S GOOD TO BE KING!!!
Now quit wallowing in the taxpayer-provided spoils and actually lead/govern. Or are you like Congress – most effective while on vacation and not screwing up the country?
rockbend on August 11, 2010 at 8:11 AM
The Washington Post needs to hire a better copy reader.
Disturb the Universe on August 11, 2010 at 8:11 AM
All of this in his spare time and he still has managed to ruin the economy of a once great nation.
BetseyRoss on August 11, 2010 at 8:12 AM
Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned.
Obama plays while the economy melts
oldernwiser on August 11, 2010 at 8:14 AM
Too many vacations? Yup.
It could be worse. He could be accomplishing more of his agenda.
itsnotaboutme on August 11, 2010 at 8:15 AM
He went fishing?! This would be more credible without the snark about press conferences. All of the sudden the press cares that for the last three years they have been writing about a mirage.
Cindy Munford on August 11, 2010 at 8:16 AM
Our Pretender in Chief is pretending to be President? Wow! I’m shocked….shocked, I say.
Skandia Recluse on August 11, 2010 at 8:16 AM
He actually worked harder during the campaign — not really surprising, since that’s the one thing he knows how to do.
jwolf on August 11, 2010 at 8:22 AM
I feel like I should say something . . .
It’s all Bush’s fault.
listens2glenn on August 11, 2010 at 8:24 AM
This is what happens when they elect a rock star as president. My son plays on a junior golf tour and so far this summer he has only played golf 7 times. 44 rounds of golf it BS!!!!! Fire this jackhole!
milwife88 on August 11, 2010 at 8:24 AM
Not only does ObaMao spend an inordinate amount of time in self-indulgent play, but his recollections reveal his self-absorption. Does ObaMao think that Brees holds this memory at the top of sports highlights of his own life?
onlineanalyst on August 11, 2010 at 8:25 AM
Milbank’s been complaining for a while now – he’s been angry about the Won’s refusal to dance with the ones that brung him (aka the Press).
Quisp on August 11, 2010 at 8:28 AM
Ruh roh, ice crystals spotted forming in Hell.
petefrt on August 11, 2010 at 8:29 AM
BHØ: “I love ME! What do you think about ME? Enough about you, let’s talk about ME!”
.
Mr. Milbank, are you now or have you ever been a member of Journ-O-List, Cabalist, or any other secretive journalistic group dedicated to making and sharing political opinion, strategy, or tactics?
ExpressoBold on August 11, 2010 at 8:31 AM
I am reminded of Obama’s nauseating Inauguration speech . A few bits germane to the topic du jour:
Then of course there’s this from the manchild who blames Bush:
Well, he has done a good job of fulfilling his promise of remaking America.
Buy Danish on August 11, 2010 at 8:32 AM
Fouad Ajami has written a brilliant essay on BO. FTA:
“There remains the fact of his biography, a man’s journey. Personality is doubtless an obstacle to his recovery. The detachment of Mr. Obama need not be dwelled upon at great length, so obvious it is now even to the pundits who had a “tingling sensation” when they beheld him during his astonishing run for office. Nor does Mr. Obama have the suppleness of Bill Clinton, who rose out of the debris of his first two years in the presidency, dusted himself off, walked away from his spouse’s radical attempt to remake the country’s health-delivery system, and moved to the political center.”
Speaking of Reagan Ajami notes an obvious contrast:
“Big as Reagan’s mandate was, in two elections, the man was never bigger than his county. There was never narcissism or a bloated sense of personal destiny in him. He gloried in the country, and drew sustenance from its heroic deeds and its capacity for recovery. No political class rode with him to power anxious to lay its hands on the nation’s treasure, eager to supplant the forces of the market with its own economic preferences.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575421363005578460.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
Cody1991 on August 11, 2010 at 8:32 AM
Not sure I’d give him that much status.
More like Student Body President, but with more perks!
listens2glenn on August 11, 2010 at 8:32 AM
I can’t wait until we once again have a grown up in this office. Someone who has a past, grew up in this country with a father and family he can point to as influences, family to whom we can turn for stories about their upbringing and interests, etc.
Captain Scarlet on August 11, 2010 at 8:33 AM
Maybe he should retire.
rob verdi on August 11, 2010 at 8:35 AM
The Obama pattern of behavior stricks me a just nouveau rich, a term I don’t usually use with disdain. Their household income has skyrocketed in the past several years since his books & the presidency. For most in his income bracket, not withstanding the trappings of the office, it’s a much longer process (and earned – Nobel Prize, anyone??). They adjust without going nuts.
dts-01 on August 11, 2010 at 8:39 AM
Love that idea but I am not counting on it.
Cindy Munford on August 11, 2010 at 8:42 AM
I remember not only that speech and wondering what the hell was he doing, but I also remember all the Dems afterwards coming up to him saying ‘ok here’s what we want to do’, and he said ‘wait a minute…I won’.
johnnyU on August 11, 2010 at 8:44 AM
I’m surprised we haven’t gotten one of those “the fish that got away” stories or a retelling of how he caught the biggest fish. Can we throw him back since he is under size?
Beaglemom on August 11, 2010 at 8:45 AM
The originial assertion by a Brit who said that Teddy Roosevelt was “childish” was inaccurate. The current assertion by Milbank that Mr. Obama is childish, is spot on. It is incomplete, inaccurate and historically fallacious to compare Obama’s antics at sports, with Teddy Roosevelt’s love for his children and playfulness with them. Teddy Roosevelt neither ignored his family to party with the NBA, nor golfed his presidency away.
Despite being a progessive, Teddy Roosevelt was a man of faith, character, accomplishment and learnedness that was almost undoubtedly the most prepared man to ever assume the office of the presidency that this country has ever seen. Not to diminish POTUS 1, 2, 3, nor 16—TR was exceptionally talented and probably the best reader and learner of all our presidents.
Obama could not get a job in the Roosevelt administration as a book stacker.
end comparison.
ted c on August 11, 2010 at 8:45 AM
Add another one to the list of reasons Michelle Obama went to Spain. Milbank didn’t get the “it’s for Sasha” or “her grieving BF” memos.
conservative pilgrim on August 11, 2010 at 8:46 AM
Yes, our President’s obsession with sports and self-gratification don’t befit the office to which he was elected. (Nor do they match up to the actions of a dedicated husband and father.)
texabama on August 11, 2010 at 8:46 AM
Haaaa…..Haaaaa…..Haaaaa…..Haaaaa!!!!!
Baxter Greene on August 11, 2010 at 8:48 AM
Exactly…..
This is more about Obama not showing respect to the journolister’s who absolutely sold out and covered for Obama night and day.
Milbank figures if he and his activists friends are going to spend everyday with their lips pressed to Obama’s butt….they should be getting better payback.
The journolister’s want to know when their “stimulus” is coming.
Baxter Greene on August 11, 2010 at 8:55 AM
I know. Let’s hire some basketball players and some football players and send the lot of them, along with Obama, to a 2-year camp in American Samoa. Then, since, presumably, the country would need a “black” President to finish his term, we could bring in Allen West as President pro-tem.
West might be convinced to chainsaw the bureaucracies of education, energy, and environment, and cut back salaries in fedzilla to reasonable levels — for starters.
mr.blacksheep on August 11, 2010 at 8:57 AM
Obama is, by far, the most arrogant of presidents in a very VERY long time. He’s consumed with himself. He loves himself, he has grand visions of himself. He gives speeches and it’s all “I, I, I, and me, me, me.” I think he might even partially buy into this notion that he is, in some manner, a modern day messiah. The guy is just delusional- from his speech about his presidency literally moving the oceans back into place, from his personally crafted presidential-like seal in the campaign, to his Greek ruins set at the convention- this guy makes Bill Clinton look humble.
Frankly, I’m sick and tired of the childish act.
TheBlueSite on August 11, 2010 at 9:04 AM
Does it really need to be said that when the electorate focuses almost exclusively on superficialities (with the dedicated help of our failing fourth estate) during the electoral process, that we end up with politicians who tend to excel at superficial pursuits?
Caveat emptor
Cheers.
MH
martin.hale on August 11, 2010 at 9:04 AM
hopenchangecartoons.blogspot.com
A good place to visit for a daily dose of humorous Obama-evisceration.
Extrafishy on August 11, 2010 at 9:05 AM
Just think about the ridiculousness and hypocrisy of that statement. I can think of no other president in our entire history who would have thought it appropriate to take time out of what should be a busy schedule working, doing what he was elected and paid handsomely to do, to appear on a show that has a giant “V” on the set (which stands for a woman’s body part). He’s a fool with a giant “F”.
He giggles and hehe’s like a girl on womens’ talk shows, but what does he have to say about important things, like responding to Iran’s statement telling us they have dug graves for our soldiers? Nothing…not a word.
scalleywag on August 11, 2010 at 9:12 AM
I’d rather have the Mongrel-in-Chief playing b-ball than signing bills to give billions more taxpayer dollars to his corrupt union and “community organizing” racist/shakedown buddies.
AZCoyote on August 11, 2010 at 9:13 AM
“*Total sporting-related events hosted at the White House 45.
Maybe our country would have been in better shape if the total sporting-related events hosted at the White House was maybe 345 ;)
philly_PA on August 11, 2010 at 9:14 AM
I missed the fishing. Why do I see a cast putting a hook through his ear?
katy the mean old lady on August 11, 2010 at 9:15 AM
I’ll bet he doesn’t bait his own hook when he goes fishing.
scalleywag on August 11, 2010 at 9:17 AM
To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.
Teddy Roosevelt
ted c on August 11, 2010 at 9:20 AM
Teddy Roosevelt used to do a lot of pullups……Barack Obama only wears them….
said it.
ted c on August 11, 2010 at 9:25 AM
hahaha, pullups. That’s because he’s all wee-wee’d up all the time about the previous administration and the GOP in general.
scalleywag on August 11, 2010 at 9:29 AM
He probably got by doing little in school except His cool act and grasp of stupid liberal nostrums, why should He change now?
I wish He had been down on the Gulf to help us spoiled white volunteers spend our money and time helping our country in 100 degree heat and dripping humidity.
IlikedAUH2O on August 11, 2010 at 9:34 AM
I don’t understand how 45 is 6 times 2. I must have missed a couple because I thought Obama has only held 2 press conferences since taking office. Milbank must be counting everytime Obama seems to hear a shouted question during a photo op or something.
Jaynie59 on August 11, 2010 at 10:03 AM
-
Added some clarification… It’s the new Big Three… B’Ball… Foot Ball, and Golf.
RalphyBoy on August 11, 2010 at 10:16 AM
Beat me to it! Now, how long will it be before someone in the MSM says that very thing: Obama plays and it’s Bush’s fault.
chai on August 11, 2010 at 10:26 AM
44 rounds of golf! Is that about every other week? On golf alone, not counting the other 45 weeks when he hosted sporting events. So basicaly, every week has been fun time?
AnotherOpinion on August 11, 2010 at 10:32 AM
Has our Sport Star in Chief offered the head of ESPN a cabinet position yet?
ZeeMI on August 11, 2010 at 10:46 AM
You fail to recognize that the term “funemploynent” can cover both sides of the employment question, in the same manner that the androgenous Won covers both sides of his special and so, so secret issue.
ya2daup on August 11, 2010 at 10:53 AM
Disturb the Universe on August 11, 2010 at 8:11 AM
It’s one of the peculiarities of English that possessives using “of” and involving people still get apostrophes. The apostrophe stays.
SD on August 11, 2010 at 11:06 AM
Second it.
GrannyDee on August 11, 2010 at 12:08 PM
Dana Milbank emerged from Obama’s anus, looked around…”holly, sh*t, what have we here?”
Schadenfreude on August 11, 2010 at 12:22 PM
Best leave them all to vacations and take away their freakin’ perks. These people are not the superiors of the troops, who lay their lives on the line every day (something few Congresscritters would do). The people in Congress should understand that they are NOT the royalty in this country, and there is no reason why the taxpayers should foot the bill for any luxuries whatsoever.
disa on August 11, 2010 at 12:28 PM
We learned just recently that Bammie is typically out of bed at 9:30 in the morning. He’s normally off the job by 4pm. Long lunches to local hamburger joints burns up a couple more hours. All the games and the late night White House raves must take a lot out of him. If you look at his resume, he has never held a job where he had to work normal hours, except perhaps the Baskin-Robbins summer job.
Funny that folks made fun of the hours kept by President George W. Bush, but not a word about Bammie.
slickwillie2001 on August 11, 2010 at 1:40 PM
Close, but it’s more like:
Nero fiddled while Rome burned,
Obama loots the burning shops.
landlines on August 11, 2010 at 1:51 PM
I’m going to sound repetitive here. At least I’m aware of it. lol
Anyway….what I still find frustrating is that there are still morons out there, who watched Obama say this on the view, and nodded in agreement. Oh Obama’s right. The GOP doesn’t govern….and flat out refuse to see the venue in which Obama made this comment, and ignored his rendition of “Home Alone” while Michelle was away.
Even more frustrating are the tools that go on the news shows, and continually pander to Obama’s crap. Assuring us, that all is fine, and dandy. It’s painfully apparent, these people are more willing and happy to cover for Obama, than see the truth for what it is. Our country is being destroyed on a daily basis. Ever deeper with each passing day.
When will they stand up for their country, and just tell Obama to go to hell!
capejasmine on August 11, 2010 at 2:59 PM