Here you see our President dressed for golf the way PGA Tour members are forbidden to dress. (Can you even picture Tiger Woods in shorts? No. And you're not supposed to.)
Come on! You're not a little kid! In fact, you are the President of the United States. Presidents golf in long pants!
IN THE COMMENTS: John Stodder says:
The reason I disagree with Ann on shorts on men is that I don't think it is a man's job to look attractive all the time, especially when engaged in leisure pursuits. Women do need to try harder in this area than men, and that might be unfair, but it won't do to try to apply the same attractiveness-at-all-times standard to both sexes.
The president, however, is never engaged in leisure pursuits, even when he is taking a break, so long as there is a camera anywhere nearby. So he does have a higher standard to reach. Higher yet because he's an avowed metrosexual.
But above all, if you wear shorts, you should not be nervously pulling at the seam to enclose it around the thigh as Obama seems to be doing. If there is any danger of your shorts exposing your beet salad to the world, they're either too short or too loose.
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114 comments:
So much for the hip factor.
Is the POTUS playing golf during a flu hysterics, I mean, pandemic?? Where is the outrage?
Let him stay on the golf course as long as he wants. He can do less harm out there.
Our President, Barak Obama, has only been in office three months. WIth all the unnecessary distractions, do you really belive that he has the time to seek sartotial advice?
It is Un-American and un-patriotic to criticize our president for his foolish, childish, choice of haberdashery. :)
David, indeed, but could you imagine if it was someone else?
Honestly, he has spindly legs, he looks better in long pants. That's just my non-expert opinion.
Hey, leave my President alone !!!!
This is the second thing he's done since being elected that I agree with (the first was how those pirates were handled - yo ho ho and a bottle of rum - I was sure he was going to f*** that up).
Presidents with class and style do a lot of things you don't see much of from our current leader.
He knows his followers don't care. All he has to be is Not Bush and they will love and defend him to the end.
Has Cliff ever golfed in shorts?
Is that really BO?
He looks 13 in that picture.
"He looks 13 in that picture."
He always kind of looks like a big goofy kid.
I don't understand golf, nor do I understand or completely trust anyone who plays it. What's the appeal? If you want to be out in the fresh air, wouldn't it be nicer go for a walk in the park?
The reason I disagree with Ann on shorts on men is that I don't think it is a man's job to look attractive all the time, especially when engaged in leisure pursuits. Women do need to try harder in this area than men, and that might be unfair, but it won't do to try to apply the same attractiveness-at-all-times standard to both sexes.
The president, however, is never engaged in leisure pursuits, even when he is taking a break, so long as there is a camera anywhere nearby. So he does have a higher standard to reach. Higher yet because he's an avowed metrosexual.
But above all, if you wear shorts, you should not be nervously pulling at the seam to enclose it around the thigh as Obama seems to be doing. If there is any danger of your shorts exposing your beet salad to the world, they're either too short or too loose.
How can this man live with himself, while some dozens of his country's citizens deal with achy joints and low grade nausea as a result of one of the most-hyped non-pandemics of the last 100 years. Disgusting.
The President golfed, flu patients rolfed!
The Saddle Shoes and anklets are nearly as troubling as the shorts.
You know what I hate?
I hate when I see a man in shorts, there's a disapproving voice in my head that clucks, "Althouse would hate that."
And I dislike the hairless, scurvy shins on POTUS.
Hmmm...
All questions about his clothes and none about his handicap.
I don't even play golf, but i'd prefer to know his handicap.
Oh yeah: and why do golfers wear two pairs of shorts?
In case they get a hole in one.
I always wear shorts while golfing, as do most men under 50 that I see on the course.
Bonus: here's GWB in shorts and crocs....
http://weblogs.newsday.com/features/home/gardendetective_blog/2007/06/bush_in_crocs.html
He is giving up his sexuality, right? Does this make him less of a pussy?
Remember the ‘Bush is a stupid rich kid with Chaney really running things’ meme?
Put Obama in shorts in front of a teleprompter.
I confess, when Tiger Woods appeared on the scene I wished he golfed naked, or briefly dressed. Not from prurient reasons, no, not I, but from wanting to see all the grace in action unencumbered, uncovered.
Do you have any idea how hot it was in this area on Sunday? I'm much more interested in whether Obama takes mulligans than in whether he wears shorts.
Tiger Woods walks when he is on a golf course
Wearing Crocs should be a capital crime for adults.
I also think children wearing crocs should be taken from their parents by the appropriate Child Protective Services agency, and their parents sent to jail for a very, very long time.
Paraphrasing an old comment by Meade:
Tyra Banks to Barack Obama:
Are you embarrassed to be such a pussy? I would be embarrassed.
Oh, gosh. Well, there are always exceptions to men I'd like to see in shorts?
He is giving up his sexuality, right? Does this make him less of a pussy?One thing I haven't quite figured out yet. On one hand [internationally] he is a weak and naive empty suit who bows down to our enemies. On the other hand [domestically] he is a well oiled and well funded fascist tyrant who has an army of ACORN militant activists (Negrofascism anyone?) just waiting for the word to throw uniforms on all of us.
garage: Good point. I can't decide, either! ;-)
Bush looks goofy in crocs, absolutely. But he looks like a goofy MAN. Obama looks like he's being scolded for skipping a day of prep school. Better the ugly crocs than the pretentious saddle shoes.
Bonus: here's GWB in shorts and crocs.....
I wear crocs, too. They're very comfortable. In winter, the ones without holes.
Actually off-brand $8.99 crocs.
They last a long time (the strap attachment goes first, after a year), longer than shoes.
They're no good at all on slopes or rough ground though. You walk out of them sideways, or feel the rocks a little too acutely.
Bermudas are good all the time and anywhere.
Come on - the saddle shoes are a golfer thing. It's really not a conscious fashion choice or statement IMO.
Say what you will...You voted for those golf shorts!
All joking aside, I don't support his policies for the most part, but I will never begrudge a man - particularly the president - an occasional game of golf, and I CERTAINLY won't begrudge him the simple pleasures of the little extra June room and improved ventilation to the nether regions a pair of shorts provides.
Sorry, professor.
What's that logo on his shirt?
Or is it a flag pin?
You're actually discussing this?
And I love this drivel from The Cuban Cigar: "Is the POTUS playing golf during a flu hysterics, I mean, pandemic?? Where is the outrage?"
Really.
Where's Glenn Beck when you need him?
NO ONE HAS YET EXPLAINED THE APPEAL OF GOLF. THERE IS A REASON FOR THIS I SUSPECT.
Palladian - "I don't understand golf, nor do I understand or completely trust anyone who plays it."
You don't "trust" anyone who plays golf?
You don't "understand" it?
What in the world could that possibly mean? Golf certainly isn't the most intricate of sports (try to put ball in cup), and as to the "trust" factor...huh?
I think some of you are literally losing your minds over the Obama victory.
John and Ken on golf, via comment on Payne Stewart, real audio.
I love to golf, Palladian. I stink at it, but every once in a while, I hit a great drive or make a great chip shot/putt...and I think "I coulda been a pro golfer!". LOL. It's those moments of "greatness" and being outside on a beautiful course that keep me chasing the golf ball.
In short: I find it very enjoyable. Not as fun as tennis, though.
Garage, you are correct - it makes him more of a pussy.
Does Obama shave his legs?
"I think some of you are literally losing your minds over the Obama victory."
What are you talking about, Gene? I was talking about golf, and you're drooling over some nonsense. Shut up!
The only person I trust who plays golf is Tiger Woods, because he's getting paid to do it.
Sofa King said..."Does Obama shave his legs?"
No.
He has the Cuban Cigar and Palladian stop by 7 days a week.
They also service the new dog.
Palladian - "The only person I trust who plays golf is Tiger Woods, because he's getting paid to do it."
Boozing it already?
He spent his teen years in Hawaii - he, therefore, can wear shorts until the day he dies.
I wonder if he golfs better than he bowls.
Cool cap though, right?
If for no other reason, he should wear that cap all the time just to annoy the First Lady. Why let her always dictate how he dresses? He's the President of the United States. He should pick out his own cap and shorts.
He should wear that cap until she asks him, "Barack... honey... do you ever not wear that stupid cap of yours?"
I didn't think it was possible to reach an even lower point of discussion, but this one really takes the prize.
Coment after comment about whether Obama should be wearing shorts (childish, choice of haberdashery?), whether he should be walking, does he shave his legs, he must be a pussy (because he plays golf?), he looks 13, he's an avowed (metrosexual...as if men who care how they look are somehow out of the mainstream?), is he wearing a flag pin...
C'mon...kids...even YOU can come up with something better than this.
Hilarious! I almost emailed this to Althouse.
Also, those shoes scream pants. You can't pair those with shorts.
Hoosier Daddy said..."I wonder if he golfs better than he bowls."
Probably not.
But it is something we should really look into.
What an outrage. An outrage I tell you...... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............
Wait, wait. Don't tell me. This makes the US look weak. Why, it's worse than a handshake!!
"He has the Cuban Cigar and Palladian stop by 7 days a week.
They also service the new dog."
Does Althouse now allow this kind of anti-gay hate speech to be directed toward her gay commenters?
Does Santa Monica College know that you troll the net posting anti-gay remarks, Gene?
Also, those shoes scream pants. You can't pair those with shorts.
Actually, I'm pretty sure those shoes call for a poodle skirt, sweater blouse and cat's eye glasses.
I actually own a pair of shoes like that (they're the classic golf shoes - for like a million years). And I wear shorts and a golf shirt when I play.
If you had threatened to make me wear that outfit when I was 25, I would gladly have punched your lights out. Even if I was a peace loving hippie.
As to the shorts, it IS like 90 or 95 degrees on the course in the summer.
This reminds me of the cranky old judge in federal court I frequently appear in front of who still bemoans the fact that female attorneys wearing pants. The old dude just can't stand seeing women in pants!
Seems like a silly thing to obsess about -- and yet here I am responding (Ah the vortex!)
A quick Google search confirms that Tiger Woods does in fact wear shorts when he is out on the course practicing -- see http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CE5D91E3FF931A3575BC0A9639C8B63.
True, PGA rules don't allow golfers to wear shorts during tournaments, but then Obama's not on the tour.
Interesting side note, if I recall I think that a few years ago Tiger's caddy wanted to wear shorts (which was against the rules then) and Tiger said "if my caddy can't wear shorts, I won't play in the PGA." Not surprisingly, the PGA gave it.
He can wear and do whatever he wants, wherever he wants, and look however he wants. I was pointing out the hypocrisy and the double standard. If this had been anyone else, including perhaps even another democrat, he/she wouldn't have gotten a pass, and the screaming would have no end.
And it's not the clothes, it's him. He doesn't look in them. That's all.
Usually I'm not a part of the anti-shorts brigade, but Obama looks silly in that picture.
There is a picture going around of Obama dressed as Urkle. It's kind of scary how well it fits.
Palladian, like Darcy, I am also a sucky golfer. But there's a golf course behind my house, sort of, and it's a great way to spend an hour or three out in the sun, occasionally (very occasionally) making a great shot that you can be proud of. I also play golf with my son. That's almost always enjoyable.
When the mosquitoes come out, though, I stop golfing.
There was a story of a female golfer who went into the pro shop complaining she had been stung by a bee. The pro asked "where did it happen?" She replied, "between the first and second hole." He said, "well your stance is too wide."
"Palladian, like Darcy, I am also a sucky golfer. But there's a golf course behind my house, sort of, and it's a great way to spend an hour or three out in the sun, occasionally (very occasionally) making a great shot that you can be proud of. I also play golf with my son. That's almost always enjoyable."
Hmm. I just never understood it, is all. It seems too expensive and fussy. But I'm not a sports person; I'd rather stroll around in a natural field or meadow. To each his own.
Palladian
In real life, it does not have to be expensive, or "fussy."
Also, I get to take plenty of walks in the woods, by the lakes, in the rocks, by the tall grass ... all looking for that little white ball.
There was a story of a male golfer named Jeremy who went into the pro shop complaining that a biting gopher had ruined his game.
The pro asked "where did it happen?" He replied, "right on my ball."
The pro said, "well you shouldn't be wearing those stupid shorts."
Somehow, throughout the past eight years Ann's "men shouldn't wear shorts" sensibility was never triggered by the Mountain-Biker in Chief.
http://z.about.com/d/bicycling/1/0/H/7/-/-/bush_lite_mtb.jpg
Goofy looking president on a bike -- no problem. Goofy looking president on the golf course, fire up the snark.
As a golfer myself, let's admit it, the clothes are geeky, to say the least.
Andrew, you're kidding right?
The mountain biking president looked totally cool.
Even Althouse can see that.
Ardently pro-shorts.
Usually I'm not a part of the anti-shorts brigadebut, for any number of reasons, he really should have on long pants. He's not playing Glenway, ya'know?
but Obama looks silly in that picture. Isn't that the point?
I wonder if the term Mason-Dixon Line came from the Golf attire required at the Mason Golf and Country Club, being long pants, while to the South the attire at the Dixon Golf and Country Club permitted shorts (except not Denim). This went largely unnoticed since we aristocratic Southern Men never let the Females into our Clubs. So give Obama a break, he is not a female. Just Kidding Professor. The pleasure of Golfing comes from the smell and feel one gets from teeing off at a new mown golf course at 8:00 AM when the temperature is still only 65f. The next five hours you spend hitting and chasing a golf ball, will clear your mind like a three day trip out of town. And there is also a genuine getting to know a former stranger you may play with over 18 holes of growing fellowship and sharing that man's reactions to situations of success and failure, which will continually happen for each of the foursome of players.The result is instant therapy, plus the wife gets to have her free time too, and she knows that you probably can't get into any trouble.
Since he is using a golf cart he doesn't get the athletic activity exemption to the "no-shorts" rule. To wear shorts on the course you have to walk the course and carry your own bag.
You get it, MadisonMan! And an "Amen" on the mosquitoes...I was almost taken down by mosquitoes on a golf course once. LOL. (But seriously, it was a bit frightening) :)
The thing that strikes me is the catalog perfect accessorizing and color coordination, hallmark of a stylist or personal shopper.
Obama does cool well, but needs to avoid the Urkel effect and this metrosexual outfit ain't doing it for him.
Contrast to the more masculine, less calculated golf attire of Samuel L. Jackson and the Man in Black.
Sort of related, as a contrast at least.
"C'mon...kids...even YOU can come up with something better than this."
Jeremy:
Mommy, mommy, the mean kids are picking on the Black man wearing shorts. Please mommy make them stop. It is Un-AMerican, un-patriotic, disgusting, and despicable mommy. Please make them stop!!!
Mommy:
Poor Jemey, your heart bleeds for everything. Just go to your room, get on your knees and pray to our savior, Barak Obama. He will save you. You have accepted him in to your heart as your true savior. He will see you through this. Oh, and young man, take off those shorts. Grown adult men do not wear shorts. Shorts are for children and pussies.
A few months back Obama was a snow pussy. Now he is a fashion pussy. What kind of a pussy will he be next?
Let explain it to you in way to make golf attractive to you Palladian. You use your long shaft to drive it as far and as hard as you can. Sometime it's in the rough and you occasionaly have to chip. And you get to wash your balls at every hole. So to speak.
And I bow to no one in being the worst golfer at Althouse. I won the worst golfer five years in a row in the O'Reilly's Pub annual golf and drinking festival. The cool thing is you always won a cool prize. A tennis racket. A radio. Flippers and a snorkle.
And best of all a bottle of Johnny Walker.
Jermy, he also smokes cigarettes - does that help?
A friend whose dad golfed excessively once explained it thusly: You are out in the fresh air and sun and there are drinks - at the same time.
I live in Houston, and I play golf in the summer months. Screw anyone who thinks I am wearing long pants in in the Houston summer heat. I don't care if my pasty hairy legs make you vomit. I am gonna be comfortable beotch
Peter @3:27, yeah, almost makes one miss John F'ng Kerry's faux machismo.
Trooper, you forgot to add that the goal is to get your stuff in the hole.
Reminds me of a former neighbor.
As soon as the tempurature reached 50 degrees Don was outside in an undersized pair of shorts, old loafers and no shirt. His body looked like it had been through a war. It was not all that attractive to say the least.
We eventually learned he had 8 rows of ribbons on his Army uniform, and jump wings, and a Ranger tab, Bronze Star, Purple Heart (times 3) and on his mantle was a Green Beret.
In his case, he damned well earned the right to wear whatever he choose.
He looked pretty good after all. How he kept warm is still a mystery.
Peter V. Bella said..."A few months back Obama was a snow pussy. Now he is a fashion pussy. What kind of a pussy will he be next?"
You seem to know an awful lot about men who you think are pussies.
Have you discussed this with the Cuban Cigar or Palladian?
*And what doe the "snow" pussy thing even mean? The man lived in Chicago...no snow?
Peter V. Bella said..."Mommy, mommy, the mean kids are picking on the Black man wearing shorts."
Yes, I do find it rather amusing.
And why do you refer to him as being "black?"
Why doesn't that come into play?
Meade said..."There was a story of a male golfer named Jeremy who went into the pro shop complaining that a biting gopher had ruined his game. The pro asked "where did it happen?" He replied, "right on my ball." The pro said, "well you shouldn't be wearing those stupid shorts."
Don't give up your day job.
Pssssst! Jeremy Your chain is being pulled.
The Cuban Cigar said..."If this had been anyone else, including perhaps even another democrat, he/she wouldn't have gotten a pass, and the screaming would have no end."
Based on what?
I hate to break this to you, but men all over the world play golf in shorts. With the exception of certain private clubs, where long pants are required, it's not unusual at all.
Why does this freak so many out?
BJM said...Pssst...I saw the earlier joke.
Old as the hills.
Jeremy said...I guess I better correct my typo before Peter has a conniption fit:
"And why do you refer to him as being "black?"
I meant "how does that come into play?"
I'm trying to figure out the Air Force name and logo on the golf cart.
Are we supplying golf carts so BHO doesn't have to walk?
Golf 1?
Oh my god, it is Urkel.
"*And what doe the "snow" pussy thing even mean? The man lived in Chicago...no snow?"
Jeremy,
Ask Althouse.
We all know you never, ever read Althouse’s posts. You just go right to the comment section and drop your excrement bombs and Un-American, un-patriotic, disgusting and despicable diatribes. Oh, and I read exactly what you meant. Too late trying to cover yourself or deny your true feelings; again.
As to the snow pussy, you can find it HERE.
Dutifully posted on Althouse.
"Oh my god, it is Urkel."
Wrong! Urkel is Todd Stroger, the very venally corrupt Democrat Cook County Board President. He is also a good pal of BO.
Funny how his pals are all corrupt Chicago pols.
Q: What's a Chicago politician who lives on his salary?
A: A failure.
It was 92 degrees in the DC area yesterday, that's why he had the shorts.
Besides those shorts are OK. It's those cargo shorts with the pockets they all wear now that go past the knees that really look ridiculous.
www.forgotten-ny.com
"Presidents golf in long pants!"
You would think...but these times, they are a-changing.
Obama is "any man", dontcha know. Just like so many here, slipping out to the grocery store, or to pick up their kids at soccer practice... in shorts, of course.
"One of US!" to about 50 percent of Americans, given latest survey results. The other 10 percent see him as God showing off his body. Just as it should be, dammit, and AMEN!
"Q: What's a Chicago politician who lives on his salary?
A: A failure."
To paraphrase Sheckey Greene:
Chicago government is the last bastion of free enterprise in the United States.
One good reason for a golf tradition of wearing long pants (only when the temp is under 85 or so) is that when your ball is out of bounds you often have to trudge thru a briar-patch with poison ivey highlights. Not that there is anything wrong with that. The explorer in the group often comes back with several more balls than he went to look for.
@Rocketeer "The President golfed, flu patients rolfed!"
2nd funniest thing I've seen today.
I am going to mention four names that should be enough to back up my claim:
Bush
Condoleezza Rice
Ferragamo
Katrina
Those with normal psyches will understand.
Little boys wear short pants.
? Presidents golf in long pants!
Real golfing Presidents wear plus fours when they're out on the links:
http://www.life.com/image/3252314/in-gallery/23441/golf-and-the-presidency
Why does Andrews AFB have a golf course? Why did Fort Ord have two golf courses?
Our tax dollars at work.
Bowling was a sport one engaged in when the weather was too crappy to do anything else. Golf was a sport one took up when one's body was too creaky to play anything else....Nothing against shorts, but Obama really does look skinny and vulnerable in shorts. The President should never look vulnerable.
This president is *different.*
Recent presidents had to have all their electronic communications available.
HE has his BlackBerry.
GPA?
Medical history?
Birth certificate?
Legislative notes?
Knees?
Barack Obama is *cool*
He can do whatever he wants.
The whole "Should Grown Men Wear Shorts?" question in 2009 seems so pointless, like Al Capp complaining about grown adults wearing blue jeans in the 1970s.
It's a bit rich that the let it all hang out generation disapproves of a younger generations fashion choices as being too casual.
Just think, my 83-year old grandfather has had to endure 40+ years of adults (boomers) dressing like field hands or (worse) toddlers while insisting that dressing formally was "uncool" and "uptight".
You reap what you sow.
Why does Andrews AFB have a golf course?It's required at every AFB, just ask any naval aviator.
If you keep moving, as in GHWB's speed golf, you'll outrun the mosquitoes.
The reason I disagree with Ann on shorts on men is that I don't think it is a man's job to look attractive all the time, especially when engaged in leisure pursuits. Women do need to try harder in this area than men, and that might be unfair, but it won't do to try to apply the same attractiveness-at-all-times standard to both sexes. But that just raises the question: should this be the rule? It's descriptively accurate. But the post is already talking about what the rule should be, not what it is. Clearly the actual rule is that men go ahead and wear shorts, and men feel less of a burden to be attractive. You already say this is unfair; if it's unfair, why don't you reject the rule?
JAC is just a man - he pulls his culottes on one leg at a time.
Obama gets to dress like a nerd because he has this thing called a brain.
At least he doesn't look like Urkel.
That's just funny - he has a brain. Sure he does. He very smrt.
If you are a man and play golf in warm weather and don't wear shorts then you are the oddball.
"NO ONE HAS YET EXPLAINED THE APPEAL OF GOLF. THERE IS A REASON FOR THIS I SUSPECT."
Palladian, just take your walk in the park, and add an attractive woman periodically driving up in a golf cart and offering you alcohol. Clubs are entirely optional.
However, people who get up at 5 AM on a weekday to get in a round before work are clearly insane.
And I am entirely pro-shorts. I wouldn't wear shorts to work, but I make no apologies for subjecting the neighbourhood to the sight of my knees while mowing my lawn. And let's face it, most women do not look particualry fabulous in shorts, skirts or open-toed shoes.
So, the liberals here agree that Obama's legs are shaved, we are just trying to figure out by whom.
By that he-woman Michelle. She's probably a sadist and enjoys ripping the wax strips off his girly legs.
I don't begrudge anyone shorts. It was freakin' 90 degrees out Sunday.
I'm overweight and I wear clingy shorts and tank tops in public. Not as a fashion statement--it's necessary for sculling. Loose shorts get caught in the tracks of the sliding seat; loose shirts cause chafing. So I sin against the fashion gods constantly.
Sure makes Michelle look more manly.
There's nothing wrong with wearing shorts and who said grown men can't wear shorts? We have the freedom to wear what we want to wear. There is no restriction of wearing shorts even you are the President, right?If you want to learn more about the latest fashion in golf just visit: Golf Apparel.
if it's not winter and you are wearing pants it's not a sport. a fun game made less so with pants on though.
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