Last week President Obama rejected calls from Democrats and Republicans alike to visit the crisis-stricken Texas-Mexico border.
Obama was in the state for fundraisers, including one hosted by Robert Rodriguez, director of the pro-illegal immigration movie Machete. Pretty much everyone, including Wendy Davis late in the day and long after it mattered, asked the president to visit the border and see the crisis for himself.
“I’m not interested in photo-ops,” the president replied, before going to the Paramount Theatre in Austin and giving a sharply partisan speech to a roomful hand-picked supporters.
That was last week. This week, Obama is back to smiling for the cameras like the celebrity that he is.
According to the White House, Obama crossed the Potomac from Washington to visit the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, VA. The whole event was a photo-op that included having the President of these United States sit in a “smart car” and mug.
The White House used its fluff piece about the event to attack Republicans.
Pressed to explain the White House’s renewed appreciation for photo-ops just a few days after Obama mocked photo-ops, spokesman Josh Earnest did his best to make nonsense make sense.
The president "won't hesitate to participate" in photo-ops that "reinforce our values," @PressSec says.
— Juliet Eilperin (@eilperin) July 15, 2014
Taken at face value, then, the president’s values do not include enforcing immigration law or taking serious care of taxpayers, or gaining a first-hand understanding of the chaos that his policies are causing.
Many of us already knew that.
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