In one sense, I hesitate to add this as an OOTD.  Here in the US, we want to see our head of state well protected, and so we have the President travel with a limousine designed specifically to do that wherever he goes — even when it’s a “green NATO summit” in Lisbon:

The Portuguese hosts of Friday’s NATO summit hoped to use the event to promote clean-energy and electric cars, but all eyes were on US President Barack Obama’s diesel-guzzling “Beast” instead.

As is usual when he travels, Obama’s eight-tonne armoured behemoth of a limousine was flown out to Lisbon before the US leader’s arrival, and it ferried him from the airport tarmac to his first meetings of the weekend.

Doubtless he didn’t intend the Beast’s roar to drown out his hosts’ green message, but a US presidential motorcade and its attendant escort of Secret Service SUVs do attract attention, even at the most elite gatherings. …

But there was no immediate reaction from the White House to criticism of Obama’s rather less green form of transport, and the administration has in the past said that the president’s security arrangements are non-negotiable.

Obama shouldn’t have to explain or negotiate the use of the heavy limo or the SUV fleet that provides him protection.  The Secret Service has a job to do, which is to keep the President safe, and it should use the vehicles that it sees as most fitting for its mission.

And that’s precisely the point.  That same choice should not be begrudged anyone who wants to provide safe transportation for themselves and their families.  Wrapping one’s self in lightweight metal and plastic while hurtling down the highway at even moderate speeds is less safe than using heavier, more solidly built vehicles for the same purpose.  And yet the government insists on imposing CAFE standards on car manufacturers that incentivizes them to build vehicles that are less safe and result in more injuries and death because governments like the US won’t allow consumers to make that choice for themselves.

And guess who’s a big booster of increasing CAFE regulations on automakers?  Why, it’s Barack Obama — which is why this really does belong in the OOTD collection.

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!