The Photo Op Presidency

[Clocker]

While in Texas for a number of fund raisers, Obama refused to visit the border, saying that he wasn't interested in photo ops.

He wrapped up his trip today with photo ops (http://interactives.kxan.com/photomojo/gallery/13124/245594/obama-wraps-up-another-trip-to-texas/time-for-barbecue/) at the Magnolia Cafe and Franklin Barbecue in Austin.

This has inspired a page at twitter:
#NotInterestedInPhotoOps

[Greyfox]

He's role playing his way through the Presidency rather than being a President.

What he's doing reminds me of Richard Dreyfuss in the early parts of Moon over Parador, where the real President dies of a heart attack, and Dreyfuss steps into his place with no knowledge of the country.
In the end though, Dreyfuss got more things accomplished than this Obama actor.

[lamboguy]

our last 2 presidents:

George Bush-- a leader that couldn't think

Barak Obama-- a thinker that couldn't lead

[Clocker]

our last 2 presidents:

George Bush-- a leader that couldn't think

Barak Obama-- a thinker that couldn't lead

Pretty much, but I would fine tune it.

Bush was an effective leader when he focused, but he could not focus on too many things at once. He focused on foreign policy and terrorism, and ignored domestic policy.

Obama considers himself to be a deep thinker, but has a mediocre mind.

Oddly enough, Bush and Obama are very much alike in the way that they analyze problems. Or more accurately, don't analyze them. Both rely heavily on intuition, and are very confident that their opinions are correct. Both, in totally different applications of the phrase, rely on faith-based policy. Bush's faith is religious, Obama's is mostly secular.

[ArlJim78]

I'm not interested in photo ops, but first let me take a selfie.

u4hIbojAnYE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4hIbojAnYE

kdemFfbS5H0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdemFfbS5H0

[Clocker]

Or this, at a memorial service for a true leader:

http://localtvwdaf.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/obama-selfie.jpg

[tucker6]

Or this, at a memorial service for a true leader:

http://localtvwdaf.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/obama-selfie.jpg
That's a pitiful pic from a "leader". Btw, who's the hag on the right that eats nails for breakfast?

[Clocker]

Btw, who's the hag on the right that eats nails for breakfast?

Sadly, that is his better half. :eek:

[boxcar]

Sadly, that is his better half. :eek:

In that pic, I'd say she resembled his worst half more than anything else.

Boxcar

[dartman51]

I'd say that she's not too happy with "photo boy" getting cozy with the blonde whitey. She probably reamed him a new one, later that night. :D

[Tom]

Barry is nothing but a phot op.
He never held a real job before he was elected and he hasn't done one since.

To call him a zero is to insult nothing.

[Clocker]

In that pic, I'd say she resembled his worst half more than anything else.



His worst half is Valerie Jarrett. As an empty suit on a vacant chair, he is nothing.

[Tom]

Crisis averted!
The border is secure!
Obama is on the job!

[Clocker]

Crisis averted!
The border is secure!
Obama is on the job!

That explains his reluctance about a photo op at the border. The man is just naturally modest and didn't want to make a big deal about his achievement.

[JustRalph]

Here's a photo op

[newtothegame]

Ohh c'mon Ralph,
In another thread, we are all being told how great the economy is......:bang:

[HUSKER55]

on the upside la-la land is only a click away.....and it is FREEEEE! :D

[JustRalph]

Ohh c'mon Ralph,
In another thread, we are all being told how great the economy is......:bang:

I got that graphic from James Woods, the Actor. He tweeted it.

He's a brilliant guy, worth a follow. He doesn't tweet often, but he's interesting

[ArlJim78]

I got that graphic from James Woods, the Actor. He tweeted it.

He's a brilliant guy, worth a follow. He doesn't tweet often, but he's interesting
I don't follow many celebrity types, but Woods is an exception.
Sharp guy and staunchly conservative and not afraid to speak his mind.

[JustRalph]

After grueling weeks of photo ops, fundraisers, doing nothing about the border, and ignoring a US ally under attack, Obama gets a vacation.”

[Tom]

Dodging issues and hiding from responsibilities is grueling work.
Add lying through your teeth to all that, and the poor boy must be plumb tuckered out.

[Clocker]

the poor boy must be plumb tuckered out.

He is. It is hard work, carrying the weight of the entire country on your back.

“It is lonely, me just doing stuff,” Obama said at the speech in Austin, Texas, according to the official transcript and video posted on the White House website.

It's lonely at the top, when you are carrying the whole load.

Not counting instances when he quoted a letter from a citizen or cited dialogue from a movie, President Barack Obama used the first person singular--including the pronouns "I" and "me" and the adjective "my"--199 times in a speech he delivered Thursday vowing to use unilateral executive action to achieve his policy goals that Congress would not enact through the normal, constitutional legislative process.

Story (http://cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/terence-p-jeffrey/i-me-my-obama-uses-first-person-singular-199-times-speech-vowing)

The author of the article points out that Obama used the singular pronoun 199 times in the speech, while Obama's supposed hero, Lincoln, only used 272 words total in the Gettysburg Address.

[johnhannibalsmith]

He is. It is hard work, carrying the weight of the entire country on your back.

...

As is probably plainly clear, I think the guy is a grade A huckster politician that was exceptionally good at selling his snake oil. But I think it's safe to say that regardless who is doing the job and how terribly they are doing it -- it is hard work and you do carry a significant weight of the country on your back. I often wonder how any of these guys can know they can never just wake up and decide to clock out for a day and then run again after putting up with it four years.

I believe the guy is beat up from the job and works hard. I'm just not sure the focus of all that work is anything worthwhile for anyone but himself, his handlers, and their next meal ticket.

[rastajenk]

Pretty sure it's not.
;)

[tucker6]

Dodging issues and hiding from responsibilities is grueling work.
Add lying through your teeth to all that, and the poor boy must be plumb tuckered out.
please don't use my screen name in the same sentence as that criminal in the WH.

[davew]

Dodging issues and hiding from responsibilities is grueling work.
Add lying through your teeth to all that, and the poor boy must be plumb tuckered out.

It is not called lying if you believe what you are saying is the truth :eek:

[Clocker]

It is not called lying if you believe what you are saying is the truth :eek:

And if all the disciples at your feet praise you for your wisdom.

One author quoted Obama (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/05/22/obama_as_the_green_lantern_118517.html) as telling him:

You know, I actually believe my own bullshit.

[Clocker]

Even the libs are figuring out that the semi-retired president is has shorter timer syndrome.

From the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/us/politics/obama-sticks-to-schedule-despite-world-crises.html):

WASHINGTON — As smoke billowed from the downed Malaysian jetliner in the fields of eastern Ukraine on Thursday, President Obama pressed ahead with his schedule: a cheeseburger with fries at the Charcoal Pit in Delaware, a speech about infrastructure and two splashy fund-raisers in New York City.

The potential for jarring split-screen imagery was clear. Reports of charred bodies and a ground-to-air missile attack from Eastern Europe dominated television screens while photographers snapped pictures of a grinning Mr. Obama holding a toddler at the restaurant. The presidential motorcade was later filmed pulling up to Trump Place Apartments, the Riverside Avenue venue for his first fund-raiser.

And yet, White House aides said no consideration was given to abandoning the president’s long-planned schedule, even during the hour long flight from Delaware to New York, when word suddenly arrived that Israel had begun a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, providing the day’s second international challenge.



And even the folks at MSNBC (http://hotair.com/archives/2014/07/21/msnbc-hosts-laugh-at-obamas-excuse-for-not-cancelling-fundraisers/) are laughing at him:

So, Obama will head off to a three-day fundraising swing down the West Coast from Seattle to California all in the name of keeping the public calm. Such altruism. It makes you wonder when, if ever, this administration thinks it might be appropriate to create a genuine sense of crisis.

The hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe were not impressed with Obama’s selfless refusal to do anything to address the current state of affairs. A round of laughter broke out after host Mika Brzezinski read Palmieri’s excuse for Obama’s decision to focus more on his responsibilities as head of his party rather than those associated with being head of state.

[cj's dad]

Why is the POTUS taking a self photograph? What a loser he is. Good God this man is so far removed from reality that I honestly believe that he has no clue as to his responsibility to the people of this country. Grow up a---ole and work for your money. You are a government employee; no more than mostpost or others that post here.

[davew]

there is not a smidgeon of crisis in the world today



take a deep breath, walk away, and it will be different tomorrow

[rastajenk]

Ah, it all ain't nothin' a round of golf can't cure. :rolleyes:

[riskman]

there is not a smidgeon of crisis in the world today



take a deep breath, walk away, and it will be different tomorrow

davew is very insightful in his posts Your comments are usually right on.

On the other side what is happening to the American Dream of peace, prosperity, and liberty. It has turned into a nightmare of endless foreighn and domestic entanglements , debilitating debt, and outright tyranny.What a horror show this gang of thieves in D.C including the POTUS is perpetuating on the American public. It is extremely disheatening.
What happened to American leadership coming from D.C. ? It is embarrasing.

[Clocker]

Ah, it all ain't nothin' a round of golf can't cure. :rolleyes:

Some times you have to cut back on the golf to fulfill your leadership responsibilities as head of the Democratic party and appear at those fund raisers.

[kingfin66]

Okay, I will pile on. The Prez will be in Washington today. Is he here to see the forest and wild fires that are devastating our state? No, he will be at Jim Senegal's (Costco) mansion on Lake Washington raising funds. Will he take some time to swing over the mountains on Marine One? Negative.

[Clocker]

Okay, I will pile on. The Prez will be in Washington today.

He is on a 3 day tour of the west coast, with fund raisers also scheduled in LA and SF. The official White House schedule (http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president/2014-07-25) shows "No public schedule" for the rest of the week, meaning no meetings or events involving official government business.

[GaryG]

As far as the crises in Israel and Ukraine it really doesn't matter. Netanyahu and Putin are both going to what they are going to do whether or not Barry wags his finger at them. I don't mind him doing nothing, I just wish he would stay home and keep down the travel bills that we are paying for.

[kingfin66]

He is on a 3 day tour of the west coast, with fund raisers also scheduled in LA and SF. The official White House schedule (http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president/2014-07-25) shows "No public schedule" for the rest of the week, meaning no meetings or events involving official government business.

When I refer to Washington, I mean the state not the District of Columbia. He is in Washington State today.