Obamateurism of the Day
posted at 8:05 am on March 1, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
Michelle Obama wants us to get more fit. Barack Obama wants us to use energy more efficiently and emit less carbon. What better way to demonstrate a commitment to both than to have the President get in shape … by flying his personal trainer from Chicago to DC every week?
Mr. McClellan grew up practicing martial arts, eventually earning a black belt, and as a college student realized that he had a knack for working with people. He owns Naturally Fit, a personal training and wellness center in Chicago, and now spends part of his week in Washington at Mr. Obama’s request.
“It was an easy sell for me, because I thought of it as kind of a duty, to serve the president,” said Mr. McClellan, who works out with the first couple, often in the early morning, at the gym in the White House residence. Mr. and Mrs. Obama both try to exercise for at least an hour every day, and Mr. McClellan says he usually sees them two to four times a week, depending on their schedules.
J.P Freire asks the obvious question:
David Axelrod says he lost 25 pounds under McClellan’s watch, but that comes at a steep cost for those as environmentally minded as the Obamas: 50,000 lbs of carbon emissions. That’s how much carbon emissions are involved in McClellan’s flying back and forth every week for a year (according to TerraPass.com).
Couldn’t they have just hired someone in D.C. to take over the training? The Yellow Pages provides over 56 entries under “Personal Fitness Trainers” alone, most of whom would have been able to reach the White House by bike.
And Glenn Reynolds has the obvious reaction to the news that the same president who has pressed the EPA to regulate carbon has his personal trainer imported weekly from Chicago: “I don’t want to hear one more goddamn thing about my carbon footprint.”
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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Not just any carbon footprint; that’s a carbon yeti footprint.
NeighborhoodCatLady on March 1, 2011 at 8:08 AM
do those figures merely include only the jet emissions, or do they include Axelrod’s emissions as well? The loss of 25 lbs comes with a lot of CO2 output as well. Consider Axelrod’s girth, that’s got to be at least equal to taking homeboy’s jet to cruising altitude out of O’Hare. jus sayin’…
ted c on March 1, 2011 at 8:10 AM
amen brother…
——–
the hypocrisy is truly nauseating…
cmsinaz on March 1, 2011 at 8:10 AM
some personal trainer’s are more equal than others….
ted c on March 1, 2011 at 8:11 AM
Oh, well. It’s not CARBON carbon.
TimBuk3 on March 1, 2011 at 8:11 AM
Just one more example of do as I say.
America, you’ve bought a complete fraud.
Crusader Rabbit on March 1, 2011 at 8:12 AM
and the nyt treats this as a cool thing…
*shakes the head*
cmsinaz on March 1, 2011 at 8:13 AM
Does McClellan stop over in St. Louis to pick up the pizzas, or are we sending a plane for that as well? The foolish frivolous extravagances never stop with these two.
They’re both loathsome hypocrites whose only accomplishment is wasting our money.
Cody1991 on March 1, 2011 at 8:14 AM
You can take the fat out of the politician, but you can’t take the fat or the politician out of government.
singlemalt 18 on March 1, 2011 at 8:15 AM
I was wondering how long it was going to be before there was mention made of this unseemly gluttony (again) by Barack and Michelle Obama.
What I think the “personal trainer” is is a courier. And I bet he enjoys more than gym time when he’s in the White House.
Lourdes on March 1, 2011 at 8:15 AM
Does he have a knack for releasing that 2nd Chakra?
/algore
ted c on March 1, 2011 at 8:17 AM
That reminds me, I need to Thoroughly warm up my 79 Chevy pickup.
Slowburn on March 1, 2011 at 8:17 AM
Has anyone here ever actually seen Michelle Obama exercise or work out? I’ve seen her carrying vegetables, but I’ve never seen her jog, or cycle, or anything else. I mean, at least we’ve seen Obama golf and play basketball. But MO, nothing I can recall.
DaydreamBeliever on March 1, 2011 at 8:18 AM
Strange. When I responded to duty for country, I got relocated to where I was needed….
apostic on March 1, 2011 at 8:18 AM
Boss man, making black guy travel to big white house with all his servants n’ such….
yeah, what if GWB did it?
ted c on March 1, 2011 at 8:18 AM
There needs to be an office in the White House to avoid the level of tone deafness that these folks have reached.
The office of don’t do stupid hypocritical stuff.
cozmo on March 1, 2011 at 8:20 AM
As I just wrote, I doubt (strongly doubt) that this guy is limited to “personal trainer” duties. BUT, what I think Barack and Michelle Obama are doing is again rubbing the noses of American taxpayers in *it*. They do seem to really enjoy these ongoing escapades of ridiculing other people’s service and suffering — I think these frequent and well-timed news articles about their ongoing duplicity and cavalier attitudes about their own gluttony while lecturing everyone else about theirs is part of the Obamas actually enjoying making others feel uncomfortable to any degree. They both seem to enjoy this — $50,000/month rentals on the beach, “steak for dinner” news, chef flown in from Chicago “for pizza,” those designer tennies by Michelle worn for a photo opp. at a soup kitchen, the pretend-gardening mess and those “gifts of honey from the garden” things for world leaders, returning the bust of Churchill, grabbing the Queen of England around the waist and the IPod with Obama’s speeches on it, lobster, lobster, lobster and now the “personal trainer flown in weekly from Chicago…”
…it’s like they really enjoy being monsters in the Presidency. I would not be surprised if they prepare for bed each night laughing their ample arses off at how they turn the knife and the people-have-to-take-it.
Lourdes on March 1, 2011 at 8:21 AM
Less exercise drills, more oil drills.
beatcanvas on March 1, 2011 at 8:21 AM
The White Dog had his own private plane on a trip. What do you expect from The Regime?
kingsjester on March 1, 2011 at 8:21 AM
That’s White House Dog. Oops.
kingsjester on March 1, 2011 at 8:22 AM
What’s Reggie Love doing? BO needs a “personal assistant” who happens to be a former jock and a personal trainer flown in every week? How many assistants do these losers need to present even a half-assed appearance?
Good grief. This is pathetic.
Cody1991 on March 1, 2011 at 8:22 AM
Pounds of fat. Pounds of Carbon. Whatever… (BHO/MO)
Yoop on March 1, 2011 at 8:23 AM
I can not afford
To live to be Ninety-Four.
Not enough savings.
Unhealthy Lifestyles
In lieu of Retirement Plans…
A rational choice.
So Sorry Michelle,
I gonna eat that cheesecake.
Can’t afford not to!
Haiku Guy on March 1, 2011 at 8:24 AM
Last summer, the two Obamas went to Maine for an extremely highpriced “vacation” and Obama complained to attending media “hey, guys, we’re trying to buy shrimp while Michelle grabbed the purchased drink of someone else without asking first and without their permission and took a huge gulp out of it, then handed it back to them.
Rude, intentionally condescending and ultimately inconsiderate of others, that seems to be the preferred state of being for these two. That Big Gulp of someone else’s purchase by Michelle says all that anyone need know about who she is.
Lourdes on March 1, 2011 at 8:24 AM
There are no personal trainers in D.C.?
Cindy Munford on March 1, 2011 at 8:27 AM
Yes, I agree with you. They are both flaunting their extravagances in the face of a suffering public.
I’m still in favor of buying BO his own country, perhaps Zimbabwe. Ship him and the First Fatso over there and never let them back in the US. It would be controversial, but ultimately it would be far less expensive that maintaning these two bottomless pits of conspicuous consumption.
Cody1991 on March 1, 2011 at 8:27 AM
Cornell McClellan
The Personal Training Czar…
Give the man a plane!
Haiku Guy on March 1, 2011 at 8:27 AM
I’m sure the exercise dude has a video the Won and first won could watch as they work out. They could then claim they went green in their daily workouts.
Kissmygrits on March 1, 2011 at 8:28 AM
My input and output is my business – no-one else’s.
OldEnglish on March 1, 2011 at 8:28 AM
WTF.
Mord on March 1, 2011 at 8:28 AM
Barack and Michelle Obama have to have expensive rentals on beaches nationwide, so we’re told, because they don’t have their own Vacation White House “like other Presidents had.”
Then we read about their ridiculous wastefulness of their “own money” or so we’re told, schlepping “personal trainers” back and forth WEEKLY between Chicago and D.C. for the sheer purpose of them “working out three or four times a week.” Among other wastefulness.
They own their own home in Chicago, yet never use it for “vacations” “like other Presidents” did.
And we’re supposed to listen to ANYthing Obama has to say about ANYthing fiscal or management-oriented?
He can’t “work out” without a guy flown in three/four times a week from Chicago? He can’t speak in public without reading his lines from a teleprompter? He can’t manage his generous income adequately enough to purchase some “vacation” spot somewhere? Has it occured to him that spending $50,000/A MONTH on a vacation spot and similar largesse just might mean he’s not saving enough to buy a second place of his own?
Obama is irrational. And so is his wife. These two people are examples of what and who Over-produced nincompoops are.
Lourdes on March 1, 2011 at 8:30 AM
I think that ObaMao would be happier living in Chicago, where he can engage in all of his narcissistic regimens without the intrusive responsibilities of being the chief executive of the country.
onlineanalyst on March 1, 2011 at 8:30 AM
One look at Michelle’s backside and that should tell you this dude needs to be fired.
mizflame98 on March 1, 2011 at 8:30 AM
The Pizza Plane was flying in from Chicago anyway…
Haiku Guy on March 1, 2011 at 8:31 AM
That one booty is ample enough to have it’s own gravity field.
Yoop on March 1, 2011 at 8:33 AM
It’s a lie. There’s no way anyone can work out that much and still have a derriere as wide as Kansas. The only exercise she gets is hooking on a feed bag and stuffing her mouth with lobster, ribs, Wagyu beef and whatever else she fancies.
Cody1991 on March 1, 2011 at 8:34 AM
Mr. President, I make 28 K a year. I cannot afford a personal trainer, so I exercise at the foot of my bed every morning. I can do 125 pushups straight through, without resting. I challenge you to match that.
radjah shelduck on March 1, 2011 at 8:39 AM
Stickin’ it to Da Man… One rib at a time.
Key West Reader on March 1, 2011 at 8:39 AM
I’m truly stunned at how few people have noted the incredible condescension of the man telling OTHER people that they need to schedule training sessions with HIS trainer. He needs to keep his mouth shut. He’s their boss and to have him going around commenting on their personal appearance is, I’d think, harassment, in a way. Plus, he’s drumming up business for someone HE brought to DC. THe mind boggles at this, it truly does. It is wrong on many, many levels, not just the environmental one.
lizzieillinois on March 1, 2011 at 8:45 AM
I loved this article from the London Times (back when it was free):
Fallon on March 1, 2011 at 8:47 AM
Nevermind that. I want to know who is paying for all of this.
mizflame98 on March 1, 2011 at 8:50 AM
Wonder if he works out with the song “MACHO MAN!” blaring in the background.
pilamaye on March 1, 2011 at 8:52 AM
Well, there WAS that time she ran across the White House lawn barefoot, stopping before visiting children to wave her hips around with a hoola-hoop while yelling at them, “eat it, just EAT IT.”
Lourdes on March 1, 2011 at 8:55 AM
UNFORTUNATELY for our nation, if not humanity in general, THAT STORY ^^ IS A REAL ONE.
Lourdes on March 1, 2011 at 8:56 AM
Speaking of condescension; remember this lecture?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdxP85ouT9c
.
And then he opens his mouth and blurts out this gem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr7zhnctF4c
.
It’s no different. He lectures us on having to tighten our belts. He lectures his staff on what to eat (remember the salad moment) and how often they workout. When he’s done with that he scarfs down a whole lot of junk with his bloated wife who tells restaurants what they should serve.
mizflame98 on March 1, 2011 at 9:01 AM
LMAO… I saw a photo recently of Barry following closely behind Michelle walking up the stairs boarding air force one; Barry was pushing Michelle from the behind… That by itself is enough exercise to keep Barry slim and fit.
Keemo on March 1, 2011 at 9:01 AM
I’ve adopted Mike Gallagher’s attitude. My objective is to die leaving the largest carbon footprint I possibly can.
ladyingray on March 1, 2011 at 9:03 AM
A Fitness czar.
How cute.
TimBuk3 on March 1, 2011 at 9:03 AM
C’mon, the nobility’s carbon footprint doesn’t matter. It’s only us serfs who have to watch ours.
rbj on March 1, 2011 at 9:06 AM
I’m trying to figure out how it is that Barack and Michelle Obama can’t “work out” without a “fitness trainer” and especially one flown in weekly from Chicago. I mean, trying to imagine the tragedy of that…
They’re not in wheelchairs, they’re not limited to iron lungs or the need of oxygen to breathe, they don’t have missing limbs nor broken backs, neither of them has cerebral palsy…YET THEY CAN’T “WORK OUT” without this “fitness trainer” if ANY “fitness trainer”?!?
Lourdes on March 1, 2011 at 9:12 AM
Heh. Should Ahnold feel snubbed?
apostic on March 1, 2011 at 9:12 AM
.
Well there was this one of Michelle Antoinette heading to the beach. She couldn’t even stop eating long enough to take a swim.
BTW, how do you swim with a do rag?
mizflame98 on March 1, 2011 at 9:12 AM
Because ever since Mr. President was elected he has treated himself and his family like royalty, he’ll spare no expense when it comes to perks for himself and his family. Just look at all the trips they’ve taken and the manner in which they travel? It’s a vulgar display wherever they go.
scalleywag on March 1, 2011 at 9:12 AM
This guy needs to be fired. If were good at what he does Barack wouldn’t look like a crackhead and Worf wouldn’t be bustin at the seams of everything she puts on.
darwin-t on March 1, 2011 at 9:14 AM
Arnold is way under-qualified now.
mizflame98 on March 1, 2011 at 9:15 AM
May your carbon footprint mirror the size of a Sasquatch.
Ancient Indian Proverb – (the one that used to cry on TV).
kringeesmom on March 1, 2011 at 9:16 AM
Remember during the campaign how they tried to sell us on how the Obama’s are just like us? Michelle shops at Target and Barry only owned 1 suit? They did this while bashing Cindy McCain and ranting over how much she spent on her DNC convention dress and jewelry. The difference is Cindy bought her own duds while Michelle & Barry is living large on our dime.
mizflame98 on March 1, 2011 at 9:28 AM
Take a look at the fitness level of the Marine Guards manning the doors of the White House; then take a look at the soldiers walking post at the Tomb of the Unknowns, each of whom is required to maintain a 30-inch waist during his year of duty. Then explain to me why the Commander in Chief has to fly in a Trainer from Chicago.
potkas7 on March 1, 2011 at 9:32 AM
Barry Obama – all show, no go.
GarandFan on March 1, 2011 at 9:32 AM
I will repeat my previous snark. When he gets to the rest of her, get back to me. How do we know that the arms aren’t from heavily weighted eating utensils?
Cindy Munford on March 1, 2011 at 9:36 AM
One word: SKYPE
For crying out loud.
atlgal on March 1, 2011 at 9:58 AM
Indeed. Besides, losing weight is simple arithmetic: move more, eat less. Why fly some dude in to tell you that?
pugwriter on March 1, 2011 at 10:15 AM
A typical leftist piece of Chicago trash actually living the life they proscribe for others?
A typical leftist dumb@$$ voter demanding that their leaders live the lives they proscribe for others?
You’s funny, Ed!
MNHawk on March 1, 2011 at 10:43 AM
I understand that bicycle seats in the WH gym have been going missing lately…
slickwillie2001 on March 1, 2011 at 10:44 AM
Brownie points to anyone, journalist, or blogger, who gets a Joe Romm…a Michael Mann…a Gavin Schmidt…anyone on record, with regards to politicians who live exactly the OPPOSITE of what they preach on Global Warming.
Amazing no one has done that.
MNHawk on March 1, 2011 at 10:46 AM
The entire middle east is in flames, he has bankrupted the country, he is as corrupt as Chicago, he consistently provides material for the OOTD, he is a liar…. what else is coming? His goal is to destroy the country and bring us into the third world. Who is paying for his effing personal trainer?
ultracon on March 1, 2011 at 11:00 AM
The Spendin’ Kenyan strikes again!
Tim_CA on March 1, 2011 at 11:03 AM
I am the great and powerful Obutthead. Do as I say….NOT as I do!!!
capejasmine on March 1, 2011 at 11:22 AM
Michelle and Barack live like the rest of the communist and other potentates, privilege for me, and lectures/five year plans for thee.
Schadenfreude on March 1, 2011 at 1:39 PM
I know the authors, I know the tune,
I know it line for line
In public, water is all they preach;
While in secret they guzzle wine.
– Heinrich Heine
Schadenfreude on March 1, 2011 at 1:40 PM
Recall this.
Schadenfreude on March 1, 2011 at 2:04 PM