By popular demand, I decided to feature a real kick-ass OOTD this morning. The White House has gotten more and more desperate to have Barack Obama perceived as emotionally engaged in the Gulf oil spill, which is itself a mistake. The American public wants to see Obama more substantively engaged. Instead of that, though, we get the amateurish, middle-school version of “engagement” in this interview with Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today show:

I don’t sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick.

“Whose ass to kick”?  What an utterly impotent statement.  Obama hasn’t even bothered to call BP’s CEO to kick a little ass where it might arguably count.  He’s standing on Gulf beaches making jokes about tar balls in bathing suits.  He has literally spent more days and more time on the golf course than in the Gulf region.  He hasn’t been in 1000-leg’s distance of anyone’s ass for almost the entirety of this disaster.

Erick Erickson wonders why Obama is so focused on his drop-kicking skills when he should be focused on solving the problem instead:

He is talking to experts not to find out how to solve the problem but to find out whose ass to kick? Seriously? …

And in the President of the United States own words, he’s not talking to experts to figure out how to solve the problem, but to figure out who to assign blame to.

This is not leadership. Heck, this isn’t even bullying.

This is failure.

Speaking of leadership, one e-mailer (whose name I have since lost — my apologies) made a very good point about ass-kicking.  One has to be behind the people doing the work to kick their ass, not in front leading them to their objective.

Meanwhile, this costume is likely going to be very popular in October for a whole new set of reasons:

We need someone with good Photoshop skills to make this one work for Captain Kickass, as Allahpundit hilariously dubbed Obama.

Update: Stephen Macklin comes through:

Update II: So does HA commenter Sideout:

And Mike M:

And TPitman:

These are great, folks!

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] 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!