Here’s a riddle: what do you call several years in college, a couple of years as a community organizer, and almost an entire career as a Chicago machine politician? If you’re Barack Obama, you call it … “the real world“.  And you call it that while appearing at a $40,000-a-couple fundraiser, too:

President Barack Obama, who has spent almost all of his career and adult life in academia, law firms, and government, begins his criticism of Mitt Romney by declaring, “those of us who have spent time in the real world . . .”

It would probably be rude of me to think about Michelle Obama’s work, where her salary jumped from $121,910 to $316,962 per year after her husband became a U.S. senator, a job that was strangely left unfilled after she stepped down to focus on her husband’s campaign.

In the real world, a family of four could eat for a year on what the two donors spent in one night.  In fact, many families of four live on that or less in the US per year.

David Harsanyi tells Obama to get real:

Of course, because those of us who’ve spent time there know that after two years of part-time work in your preferred profession you can become CEO of the entire company.

Those of us who’ve spent time in the real world know that you can become CEO without even showing anyone your CV.

Those of us who’ve spent time in the real world know that if your business fails government will send you a check to stay afloat.

Those of us who’ve spent time in the real world know that if you want to grow your business you have to max out every credit card you can get your hands on – and after that, we hit the kids’ college funds.

Those of us who’ve spent time in the real world know that if you want your business to expand and create jobs you simply blame millionaires for their success.

The ivory towers of Harvard, Capitol Hill, and the White House are not “the real world,” and neither are pricey fundraisers that cost more than some people’s houses.

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!