“Something weird happens when presidencies go wrong,” John Podhoretz wrote in September:
Presidents become incompetent at doing the things they were always able to do in their sleep, and their aides follow suit. I noted this when I wrote my first book, Hell of a Ride, about the decline and fall of the first President Bush, back in 1993. When Bush spoke, it rained, and his advancemen weren’t quick-thinking enough to move his events indoors. When he went to Japan on a state visit, he vomited.
And Obama has to deal with photos such as this:
Welcome back to the frat pack days of the Clinton White House. Or the Bush White House if you’re Maureen Dowd. In any case, it’s a photo that had President Bush or his aides been a part of, would have had the boys in the MSM ready to pounce for displaying such out of touch aloofness during times of domestic economic hardship and overseas tensions.
And then there’s this photo of the president himself; note the misbuttoned blazer:
And worse, this one:
During their vacations, the Gipper and Dubya often favored western wear such as jeans and cowboy boots, both because they were comfortable in such attire, and very likely because it cheesed off their uber-PC foes in the media, but projected an image of strength overseas.
Foreign leaders employ a similar gambit when vacationing, which you can see easily in all of the photos of Vladimir Putin striking macho poses in the Russian countryside. Those images come across as more than a little over-the-top to western audiences, but I’ll bet they play very well at home.
On the flip-side — or the flip-flop side in this case — how do you think an image of the nation’s Commander-in-Chief in flip-flops plays overseas?
Wow. You have a weak president, America. I’m Canadian, I’m on your side, and I’m embarrassed for you. I noticed (and understood the French) when Sarkozy looked at him and asked “est-il faible”? “Is he weak?” (the French word exists in English as “feeble”). I think we have Sarko’s answer.
Flip flops. Yikes.
Right!!
Is this photo going to be used for a campaign to support poor Kenyan kids for a dollar a day?
Please a palate cleanser is in order after the skinny punk in flip flops pleeezze.
Marco Rubio perhaps, Paul Ryan or that handsome hunk of a man Chris Christie.
Yes, but where is the indignation? What turns a President into a laughingstock is the media reaction, the months of jokes, the constant repetition until one photo, one remark, one mistake defines a person. With Obama, there have been hundreds such opportunities. Many of them were far more significant than simple errors. All were ignored by the MSM. But they needed only one out-of-contetc quote to smear an honorable man like Admiral Stockdale.
If Obama vomited all over the leader of Japan, the MSM simply would bury it. The NYT would tell us why it is really a sign of strength.
Re: Adm Stockdale. Your larger point is well-taken; the media will constantly ridicule those (Republicans) they don’t like, turning a single gaffe into the defining moment of their lives, while continually protecting those (Democrats) they do from the consequences of their continual foolishness. For an example of the latter, see Joe Biden. Sure, his missteps are reported, briefly, on page B-39, in paragraph 57 of a 3000 word hagiography — but how many top-of-fold front page articles were run nationwide over Quayle’s “potatoe” or other incidents?
However, Adm Stockdale was clearly out of his depth in the 1992 VP debate. An honorable man with a tremendous record of service, but something just wasn’t right with him that night. A friend of mine was in the live audience, and said that the TV cameras hid his full behavior: he was wandering around the stage between questions, and seemed very confused. The “Who am I? Why am I here?” incident was the least of the problems. My friend didn’t laugh, but simply felt sorry for a man, who whatever his record, should not have been on that stage, on that night. (My personal suspicion at the time, unsupported by anything other than my friend’s report, was that Adm Stockdale had, er, slightly ‘overmedicated’ at the hotel to calm his understandable jitters.) Given the full extent of Adm Stockdale’s behavior, I think it was a mercy the media harped only on the single odd “Who am I?” question (which they could hardly avoid at least mentioning, as it occurred in his on-camera response).
Don’t know what you’re referring to in that debate. A “who am I” moment? Huh? Who said that? Not Stockdale. The entire keruffle was over Admiral Stockdale saying that he couldn’t hear a question because his hearing aid was turned down. There then followed an avalanche of mockery and criticism that Stockdale was: too old, enfeebled, demented… All because of the hearing aid. Also, I seriously doubt that any liberal media flunky would be “protecting” a conservative military man’s reputation, much less a concerted effort to hide erratic behavior. Sorry pal, the liberal character assasins went after Stockdale tooth and nail until he was vanquished. And now, twenty years later, the narrative is “How the media protected the admiral with alzheimers while at the same time saving the country from his destructive governance…” Ha! Talk about re-writing history…
Yes, the MSM are liars. But please keep the basics in mind. BHO ought not be compared and contrasted to previous Presidents, because he is a different type of person altogether. Compared to Robert Mugabe, Idi Amin Dada, or Jomo Kenyatta, he’s better than we had any reason to expect. Think Jesse Jackson, David Dinkens, Marion Berry, Coalman Young, or Al Sharpton.
You don’t get it! It doesn’t matter how his image is seen overseas, because he is not Bush, we don’t have to worry about people not liking America.
Sheesh. I mean, it is like you people cannot understand that after January 2009, the world started liking us again, and no one will ever be mean.
Sarcasm or are you smoking something?
Whats worse is the surfer photo is clearly staged. First, nobody travels with boards not in surfboard travel bags. Besides protection, it keeps the wax off you your Mens Warehouse suit when you carry it, you nitwits.
Some brilliant staffer thought this would be a great idea to connect with the youth vote, or some crap like that, and didn’t like the way the board bags looked (“guys, take the boards out of the bag so we can see them. And take those leashes off, that doesn’t look good”). Also, only one of the guys knows how to carry the board correctly. Pathetic.
I can pretty much guarantee that both of those twits would put sex wax on the wrong, ahem, item.
1st: the pic would have been better if the staffers had on suit jackets, ties and board shorts.
2nd: don’t you use sex wax when polishing your woodie?
It’s not surprising that his staff doesn’t notice the off visuals and tone-deaf comments their guy makes. After all, Obama’s made a point of choosing to surround himself with yes-men from the Chicago machine. The truly sad part, though, is he *thinks* he has a room full of advisors who will stand up to him. He *believes* he likes the intellectual challenge of people disagreeing with him. Of course, his idea of that is having a “debate” with Paul Krugman.
Vlad, meet Jeff.
http://bit.ly/gFx6U2
Why is Obama always pointing at people in photos? Didn’t his mother or grandmother tell him it is impolite to point?
And those skinny, skinny chicken legs. Ugh.
Most Presidents in the past greeted others respectfully. The One simply has a different definition of respect.
Where Eisenhower, or Truman, might have said, “Good Morning, Sir (or Madam)”, The One grins, cocks his finger like an imaginary pistol, and shouts out “Yo, Dude (or Dudette)!”
Granted, it goes with the ensemble’, but also leaves the impression that we are being ruled by an arrested adolescent with a narcissistic personality disorder. The sort whom you would normally expect to be calling you in the evening demanding that you sign on to some fly-by-night company’s “credit-management” services, and insulting you if you say “no thank you”.
Oh, wait…
clear ether
eon
That flip-flop photo is just plain embarrassing. I don’t begrudge the man some comfort in private, but when the leader of the free world (or he was, before he trashed the Presidency) is out in public, there ought to be a little decorum observed, a little dignity, stuffy as it might feel. Everything Obama does makes the office of POTUS small.
This would never occur to Obama, because he has no respect for the country he was elected to lead. It would never occur to him to curb or limit himself in any way as a gesture of respect to the nation or to the officee he holds. And the flip flops photo is one of many character-revealing photos pof the man that display his immaturity and lack of seriousness.
Just to add… the Navy sacked Capt Honors for his showing disrespect to his rank. ‘Nuff said.
The unbearable lightness of Barack Hussain Obama…
Great idea for a movie Chris. Get those film makers at the Moving Pictures Institute to do a gaffes of Obama film and combine interviews with the likes of the people who said he sat around with his feet on the desk as if just his presence was enough. “The other professors hated him because he was lazy, unqualified, never attended any of the faculty meetings, and it was clear that the position was nothing more than a political stepping stool. According to my professor friend, he had the lowest intellectual capacity in the building. He also doubted whether he was legitimately an editor on the Harvard Law Review, because if he was, he would be the first and only editor of an Ivy League law review to never be published while in school (publication is or was a requirement).”
Here is some of their fine work from the Right Network.
Yah the unbearable Lightness of Zero
http://rightnetwork.com/episodes/do-as-i-say-part-1
‘Baracky Horror Picture Show’?
MARYANN -
Enjoyed the movie. Thanks for the tip. I will watch the others as well.. You might want to check out zombietime.com good for a laugh and a creepy scare all in one site.
What I am not understanding about Lefty/Liberals is why allow yourself be lead by the nose as much as they do? It must be some kind of ‘emotional’ or trama… I’m not sure…
Gore is a blowhard I knew that before I even watched the movie. He uses very very well, the liberal scheme of: “Don’t let a good crisis go to waste and “If there is no crisis then create one.” I am sure you are aware he heavily invests in alternative energy companies, so what better way to ‘advertise’ AND get funds?
Lastly, I am not understanding why the liberals hate capitalists so much but, will support ‘Gore’ bag of wind who is a blatant ‘capitalist’. So is Michael Moore and his ilk…etc..etc
Yes Faith I find it interesting how “conservatives ” are actually the non conformist radicals now.
Liberals follow like lemmings.
So Obama favors flip-flops as footwear? How apropos for the guy who flip-flopped on Gitmo, Iraq, tax cuts, and the debt ceiling!
I’m going to preface my comments by noting I can’t stand Obama, couldn’t before the man was elected, and believe his policies are far, far from the intent of our founders.
That said I also lived in Hawaii when my dad was stationed at Barbers Point Naval Base (now closed) lo many years ago, and folks it is simply a much different culture there than you will find on the mainland, anywhere. Molokai man may find it odd that the surf boards aren’t in bags, and perhaps it reflects the fact that I lived in Hawaii at the time Barry was growing up there, but I can’t recall ever seeing a board in a bag when being carried. The photo may have been staged, yet I just don’t see it as some big, oh my God moment.
At school we took our shoes off at the door, and they stayed off unless we went out of the classroom. This was not some odd oriental place, it was the school on base. Some public schools had and I presume still do, kids who went surfing during lunch. Nobody cares if you go into the store with no shirt or shoes. It’s normal.
Several years ago my husband and I took the family on vacation there, and while there were certainly changes, the overall culture was not much changed. It’s simply a much more relaxed and relaxing culture, I would find it odd if Obama did not slip back into what he grew up with, and personally I think it shows a bit of, uhh ignorance, on the part of pundits who clearly don’t get the culture, anymore than priggish easterners got the culture of Texas, where my Navy dad grew up.
All the slurpee jokes without even knowing what Hawaiian shave ice is or it’s place in the culture, shows more again the ignorance of those who can’t be bothered to learn a bit about the culture Obama grew up in, than it does anything about Obama or his image. I think it would be odd if he didn’t partake, as it would also be odd to see him in anything but flip flops, just like it would have been odd to see Bush without his boots.
My oldest son, who is now 27, got his first pair of cowboy boots from my dad when he was 9 months old and not yet walking. A lovely tooled all leather boot that I thought too much money had been spent on for a baby, my dad’s comment back was “if you’re going buy boots, buy good ones.” He continued to buy my kids boots as they were growing up until he died. It’s just a thing, be it flip flops or boots, and making either some sort of defaming moment is ridiculous, particularly when there is plenty that the man does and supports that should actually cause concern. While he may not look like a Hawaiian moke, his cultural imprint in many ways still is, and while it may give folks a tickle to laugh at what they don’t understand, to lots of others it just makes you look foolish.
Some jobs require an awareness of impression given. The Presidency is the preeminent one. It has nothing to do with what the culture of a location is. As was posited above, if Bush had dressed that way in Hawaii he would have been eviscerated in the main stream media.
Impressions are important. Every nation’s foreign policy is based on the impression of other countries leadership. We are seeing the results of this president’s impression in many places around the world. It is not pretty.
When carried from your car to the surf, you are right, we don’t use bags to carry our boards; however, NOBODY ever carries their board on a plane without a surf bag. Just saying–
I have lived in Hawaii for over 30 years, and when you are upholdng a high position, and you know the public will be watching, gov’t and business leaders in Hawaii do not get seen in public dressed like that. Yes, they do wear shorts and aloha shirts,(even to church) but there are plenty of ways to wear shorts and Aloha shirts that look sharp and professional. By the way, Obama was wearing slippers. Nobody in Hawaii calls them flip flops. Actually in Hawaii, they are called “sleeppas”.
Trigeek, I agree that there is a way to carry off looking professional while dressed in shorts and Hawaiian shirt etc… I also think that we are focusing on ludicrous things and are playing the same silly games the left did when they hyperventilated over wranglers and boots. What the man wears while on vacation as long as his chest is covered, should be considered just that, vacation attire. Personally I think he’d do better with a Hawaiian shirt instead of the polo he apparently prefers as they lend themselves to a more polished look than a polo in my opinion. Nonetheless it seems focus in being made where it is useless and silly.
Those guys took a couple lessons while in Hawaii and got scammed into buying boards they aren’t ready for yet. Anybody really think they went to Hawaii with surf boards ready to hit the waves?
My guess is that those boards are not for those two guys but for Obama. That said, I am guessing he baught them to create some cool, hip image, and they will stay hanging on a wall somewhere. Reminds me of the rich kids that come out here, buy the most expensive board, paddle out, then sit just beyond the break the entire day, then paddle in and tell everybody they were out surfing all day. (remember when John Kerry decided to go hunting? It is all about image- nothing is real with these guys)
Thanks for your insight. As someone who watches (and enjoys) the new version of “Hawaii Five-O” on CBS, and is a lifelong fan of the original, I was wondering if there was some new aesthetic in the islands. Considering that McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) and Williams (Scott Caan) in the new series, unlike Jack Lord and James MacArthur in the original, seem completely unfamiliar with the concept of a business suit. To say nothing of their unfamiliarity with the concept of shaving.
Maybe the Governor needs to assign the new “Five-O” unit an image consultant. Or just have a long talk with them herself.
cheers
eon
The entire question of board bag or no becomes moot if you would have chased the link to the original story. The pic was taken Tuesday at ANDREWS AFB, Maryland, not Hawaii. The waves on the Potomac are flat this time of year.
“I’m very, very proud to live in a country that is willing to elect an elegant man President.”
- Sean Penn, 2008
Take two, Sean. Take two.
I’ve lived in Hawaii, and these surf boards aren’t big enough to carry these fat asses. Beginners need ‘floaters’. Something like a canoe.
The only thing these turds could float, is some buzz word for the media.
P.S. Living there also taught me how ignorant and dependent a large section of the population has become. They’ll follow Obama into any volcano he chooses. And not only Obama, any of their CongressCriminals.
How does it come across? Weak, like his ridiculously skinny legs.
Those “slippers” look too small as in they’re Mama O’s.
I think even worse is ‘bowing’ to know dictators and oppressors.
The really sick thing is, the Terrorist still want to Kill Americans in spite of him bowing to dictators and oppressors!
The mere fact that our first lady Michelle was not “proud of her country” until her husband got elected – huh?
Obama does not think that “America is Exceptional” Huh? Does he and his ilk live under a Rock??
This kind of stuff, I am sorry, rubs me the wrong way…. Again I say to all the Liberals who “Hate” America, Burn our Flag, Mock this Exceptional Country – Its your right as an American to say these horrible things. But, I say go find another Country to Live in we don’t need your kind here! I know, go live in the middle east! See how long you last… Some people are just so ungrateful and don’t really know how lucky they are …
Here in Canada we think your President is a human being. Humans wear flip-flops. Stop elevating your leader to God-like status. He is a man. He might even be a good one, give the guy a break.
Yea! You’re right. He should go to the U.N. dressed up like this. He’s get everybody’s sympathy then.
And Moochelle thinks this is sexy? Some people’s taste is all in their mouths.
Hey Mizz Biz , please do yourself a favor, get yourself back to the CBC where you belong. There is nothing for you to see read here. If your looking for a Liberal Leftist American outlet Hufpo is where it’s at for Sesame Street Trudeaupia loving Canucks. This is where the wizened grown ups play.
At least the “Never met a Commie he didn’t like Trudeau” showed some respect for the Prime Ministership wearing elegant suits and a rose in his lapel. Dressing the part never goes out of style.
Unless your still an adolescent as most Libs like Obama are.
Speaking as a half slave up here in Canada.
Yah!, half our salaries are confiscated for the Liberal Utopia. And Mizz Biz if you don’t think your being taxed enough don’t worry they will only go up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMbe0NQfeQs
And as always Mrs O is dressed like a sow, all the class of a wet sneaker, like something wandering around a basement fire sale.
And damn, those hips, four feet across ?
Sorry folks, I had to spend years listening to crap about Nancy R and Laura B, ladies par excellence compared to this trash.
Johnt is right about Mrs. O. Is she not following her own advise about food choices?? Well, we know she likes to live on lobster and toast points on the taxpayer’s dime, so where is the weight gain coming from? And who is dressing her? Gawd! Just another liberal hypocrite. The food police must have gotten to the POTUS. I wonder if he is skinny enough for them.
What part of “stewardship” or “public trust” does President Obama, his administrative team, or the MSM not understand.
As The President of the United States of America, President Obama represents his country and her citizens. That he has so little regard for the immensity of that responsibility that he would present himself publicly in this manner is deeply demeaning. That he comports himself publicly in this way is a inappropriate as if he were photographed in a private setting looking this way.
When President Obama once again resumes the role of citizen Obama, he can be as casual as he likes, as long as he represents myself and my country I insist that he dress and act the part.
When being “cas” out in the public eye, Teh Won needs to become familiar with TopSiders (perhaps someone on “The Vineyard” can clue him in).
I get really sick of Americans complaining about THEIR media being untruthful.
WELL, America ,if you didn’t buy their crap ,they would not be there!!!!!!!!!
If you can’t get enough people to stop buying a certain paper,then you have no gripe.It would only take one to fail big time for the others to toe the line better.
PS……Get Fox News to put the ‘flip flop’ photo in time square calling him Alvin. It would do the job.
10 vacations in two years. How’s your job, home or 401k?