December 3, 2012

"We have 54 trees in the White House... 54! That’s a lot of trees."

Said Michelle Obama, decorously refraining from calling them Christmas trees. We, the taxpayers, paid for them, whether they symbolize anything religious or not. We're also paying various costs associated with the First Family's trip to Hawaii from December 17 to January 6.

54 Christmas trees and they're leaving town a week before Christmas?!

152 comments:

RecChief said...

Too many comparisons with 18th century French Royalty already out there for me to write another one.

Sorun said...

They're leaving town, but the sheeple get to see the trees during White House tours. A friend posted some photos on FB yesterday.

Amartel said...

Yet another expensive photo op.

I'm Full of Soup said...

At least Althouse is not feigning surprise at their stupidity and waste.

Michael Haz said...

Will they be staying in the $35 million estate given them by friends from Chicago?

Michael said...

Christmas is over for us as a country. We would be smart to take it underground for the few believers who can keep it alive for the time when sanity reemerges.

Amartel said...

Potemkin holiday spirit.

jd said...

They're donated, I think. Florists compete to volunteer their time to decorate the White House. Americans make ornaments to hang on the many trees. Military families and more than 80k visitors see the decorations. But being a jerk and spiteful is more fun :)

MadisonMan said...

Cue the manufactured outrage.

My only question: Are the trees in the private quarters, or the regions viewable by the public?

Sprezzatura said...

So, is Althouse going to reduced to simply repeating rightwing memes?

That's soooooo interesting. Keep up the good work!

It was boring and stupid when the libs blathered on and on about W's vacations. But, when cons and Althouse do so re BHO, it's so fascinating. BTW, I heard that BHO golfed on Sunday!!!11!!!1!!!!!!

Freeman Hunt said...

Fifty-four trees? How annoying. Maybe that's why they're leaving.

jd said...

Also, just to highlight the insanity. She hates Christmas because she doesn't say "Christmas trees" in one quoted sentence but is Marie Antoinette-delusional because she loves Christmas decorations too much. That is nuts!

Chip Ahoy said...

That's the house our country keeps for show innit. They are there temporarily, like hired host and hostess, or janitor, or managers of the house managers. Very expensive hosts. I hear they're rather good. If a bit jokey. White turkey chile and such. Somebody thought of that.

I went to the neighborhood store and there were a pile of trees each bundled up, their cut ends facing outwardly toward the visitor and I thought, "all those trees cut straight through just for that, grown just for that. How strange." Which leads naturally to thoughts of awesome power of the mighty mechanical frighteningly efficient tree harvesting truck cuts 'em strips 'em slices 'em stacks 'em tears through a forest grown for that all to annoyingly cheerful happy hyperenergetic music and then ties a pretty bow.

I lied. The bow's not pretty.

Lydia said...

Eh, it could be worse.

Haiti's Baby Doc Duvalier's wife (named Michèle!) had a room of the presidential palace specially refrigerated so she could wear her fur coats.

Steve said...

Yeah, but I'm getting cake.

Hagar said...

I think that looks like a planted and purpose grown forest.

Bob Ellison said...

jd said "They're donated, I think. Florists compete to volunteer their time to decorate the White House. Americans make ornaments to hang on the many trees. Military families and more than 80k visitors see the decorations. But being a jerk and spiteful is more fun :)"

This comment seems like a good divisor on the optics of this situation. Some on the left say "nothing to see here; business as usual; you're being a jerk", while most of us on the right say "wow, these Obamas are acting like royal jerks and hypocrites".

Cedarford said...

35 trees at a time when America is in steep decine and near bankrupt seems like wretched excess.

Was a time when they had one tree...the excess started with Jackie K and just kept ramping up.

As for the "donations" - it plays more out like courtiers to Royalty of days gone past.
A bit of a tax writeoff, then perhaps reciprocated favors, and at the least photos of Queen Nancy Reagan or Queen Michelle with you and your 20,000 dollar handblown glass bulbs with infusions of platinum, red and yellow and blue gold leaf alloys and rhodium flecked stars....

Pity a bomb cannot be designed that would spare the Pentagon and the Smithsonians but level the rest of the whole rotten Imperial City.
Then start afresh.

Hagar said...

I think I remember reading about a family somewhere in New England that owns a patch of forest land, and they clear-cut it and plant new trees once every 35 years or so.

I think a lot of commercial forest is grown that way now.

McTriumph said...

The White House Christmas trees are a tradition, each tree represents and is decorated to celebrate the state. Only real controversy is that Moochelle had to convince the President that there were only 54 states, not 57.

mark said...

Love how the libs run around screaming how wonderful President
"No Math"-"Physics for Poets" is. Let's roll out the 54 baby Jesus nativities on the WH lawn. One for each of the 54 states. Opps. Obama thinks there are 57.

Maybe we could have a Christmas charity bike race between W and Obama. Obama might have a hard time winning with that flat tire and grandma bike though.

Wince said...

A tree for almost every state!

"First Family's trip to Hawaii from December 17 to January 6."

Which should make for interesting optics connected with the fiscal cliff.

I bet the plan is to have Obama interrupt his family vacation to come all the way back to DC, only to be frustrated by "Republican intransigence" before taking the country over the cliff.

Notice, Ann Coulter agrees with me this week.

MAKE THE DEMOCRATS OWN THE OBAMA ECONOMY
November 28, 2012

One bright spot of Barack Obama's re-election was knowing that unemployment rates were about to soar for the precise groups that voted for him -- young people, unskilled workers and single women with degrees in gender studies. But now the Democrats are sullying my silver lining by forcing Republicans to block an utterly pointless tax-raising scheme in order to blame the coming economic Armageddon on them...

But Republicans are over a barrel. Unless Republicans and Democrats reach an agreement, the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of the year. By pushing to extend the tax cuts for everyone except "the rich," Democrats get to look like champions of middle class tax cuts and Republicans can be portrayed as caring only about the rich.

The coming economic collapse is written in the stars, but if Republicans "obstruct" the Democrats by blocking tax hikes on top income earners, they're going to take 100 percent of the blame for the Obama economy.

You think not? The Non-Fox Media managed to persuade a majority of voters that the last four years of jobless misery was George W. Bush's fault, having nothing whatsoever to do with Obama.

The media have also managed to brand Republicans as the party of the rich, even as eight of the 10 richest counties voted for Obama. And that doesn't include pockets of vast wealth in cities -- Nob Hill in San Francisco, the North Shore of Chicago, the Upper East Side of Manhattan and the Back Bay of Boston -- whose residents invariably vote like welfare recipients. Seven of the 10 richest senators are Democrats. The very richest is the useless gigolo.

Republicans have a PR problem, not an economic theory problem. That doesn't mean they should cave on everything, but seeming to fight for "tax cuts for the rich" is a little close to the bone, no matter how tremendously counterproductive such taxes are.

Yes, conservatives can try harder to get the truth out, but as UCLA political science professor Tim Groseclose has shown, media bias already costs Republicans about 8 to 10 points in elections. Try arguing a year from now that Republicans' refusal to agree to tax hikes on the top 2 percent of income earners -- resulting in an expiration of all the Bush tax cuts -- had nothing to do with the inevitable economic disaster.

Republicans have got to make Obama own the economy.

They should spend from now until the end of the congressional calendar reading aloud from Thomas Sowell, Richard Epstein, John Lott and Milton Friedman and explaining why Obama's high tax, massive regulation agenda spells doom for the nation.

Then some Republicans can say: We think this is a bad idea, but Obama won the election and the media are poised to blame us for whatever happens next, so let's give his plan a whirl and see how the country likes it.

Republicans need to get absolute, 100 percent intellectual clarity on who bears responsibility for the next big recession. It is more important to win back the Senate in two years than it is to save the Democrats from their own idiotic tax plan. Unless Republicans give them an out, Democrats won't be able to hide from what they've done.

Even Democrats might back away from that deal.

edutcher said...

I'll bet if the press were to look, they'd find more shoes than, um..., you know...

MadisonMan said...

Cue the manufactured outrage.

And if it was the Romneys

Or Gingriches?

Or Perrys?

Or Pauls?

Or (gasp) Cains?

Who'd be outraged then?

Hagar said...

Back on topic - The White House is the Nation's White House, and the Presidency has evolved into an Imperial Presidency, regardless of who is in office, but it does seem to me that the Obamas tops their predecessors a little overmuch.

Franklin said...

It's racist to write about things Marie Obama says. Bunch of Confederate sympathizers.

Sprezzatura said...

"Obama thinks there are 57."

If you cons wanted to prove that BHO is an idiot, do you think it'd help if your cause if you knew that he never said there were 57 states?

Just sayin'

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Why stop at 54?

Couldn't they have matched the 57 states?

Sprezzatura said...

hint: think 60

Freeman Hunt said...

There should be two trees. One giant show tree displayed prominently for visitors, and one tree in the private living quarters for the use of the First Family.

What's the deal with tree themes? Military-themed Christmas trees? Christmas trees already have a theme; it's called Christmas.

Freeman Hunt said...

I don't, however, blame the Obamas. All this tree nuttiness started long before them.

Hagar said...

57 plus Alaska and Hawaii would make 59?

mark said...

@pbAndjFellowRepublican

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws

57 States. All but Alaska and Hawaii. So, I guess you are right. He thinks there at 59. MUCH better.

Our President "Math past 7th grade is hard".

Wince said...

If you cons wanted to prove that BHO is an idiot, do you think it'd help if your cause if you knew that he never said there were 57 states?

Freeman Hunt said...

The White House has a recipe up for Ginger Crinkles. Yum. Good taste in cookies for people who are always on us to eat leaves.

garage mahal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
garage mahal said...

54:

Age of Muhammad in years when he had sex with Aisha.

Found that doing the minimal amount of research that our Palace Guard REFUSES to do!

Sorun said...

No, I think there are 60 states. He visited 57 -- all but one, not counting Alaska and Hawaii.

SteveR said...

Al-taqiyya

Michelle loves "trees", the pretty trees, and Barack does too. They love America, especially Hawaii, especially when the infidels are paying for it.

shiloh said...

So if libs can continue to make fun of Bush43, it's only fair Althouse cons can continue their obsession w/Obama. But just like Bush, beating a dead horse becomes tiresome. Especially after both Bush/Obama were re-elected.

Hey, if cons can't whine at a con blog, what's the point lol.

mark said...

54.

The number of biker chicks our VP groped during the campaign.

The largest number Obama can factor.

The number of waffles Obama has demanded we let him eat.

Sprezzatura said...

EDH, he said that there were 60, not just 57.

You cons really should get it right. In fact the correct number proves that BHO is even more of a dummy because he thinks that there are ten extra states, not just seven.

You cons really have him on the run w/ this line of attack. You've totally proved that he's dumb because he doesn't know that there aren't 60 states!

If he had the teleprompter he would have known that there are only fifty states!

Awesome is as awesome does.

garage mahal said...

*Palace Guard Media make that.

See also: Legacy, or Lamestream.

Chef Mojo said...

Their Imperial Majesties are just trying to one-up the court at Versailles by moving the park indoors.

Speaking of optics, how 'bout that wonderful Hawaiian vacation? Seriously, what's wrong with staying in the house we already pay for? Especially in this economy. Or Camp David? We're paying a lot to keep that place kept up and warm. Least they could do is use it.

AlanKH said...

54: A full deck, with two jokers.

Sprezzatura said...

"We're paying a lot to keep that place kept up and warm. Least they could do is use it."

I'm w/ Mojo: " heat is expensive.

mark said...

54.

The number that makes liberals cry. We don't know why. It just does.

The number of children that have starved to death on Michelle's school lunch plan.

Unknown said...

"We have 54 trees in the White House... 54! That’s a lot of trees."
Said Michelle Obama, decorously refraining from calling them Christmas trees.


OMG! The War on Christmas has returned!

Attention Althouse lemmings! Man your keyboards! Type at will!

garage mahal said...

ODD: In 2009 I received a highly credible email titled "Hello all" that said there was going to be a BAN on Christmas trees in the White House.

NOW: 54 of them?

Something just isn't right here.

Hopefully breitbart.com is all over this?

DADvocate said...

One for each state in the Union!! Or, is that 57? Doesn't really matter. The press will cover for me.

Big Mike said...

Without knowing how many trees the Reagans, Bushes (41 and 43) and Clintons had up, there's no way to judge whether this year's tree fest is ostentatious or simply the norm.

I'm a lot more concerned about Obama leaving town before negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff are completed. I guess that will be left to his aides? Hope they have the wherewithall to truly negotiate.

jacksonjay said...

I just hope Michelle is still proud of her country, what with 54 Christmas trees and all!

Paul said...

Ann, you should know to shut up and not criticize the Obamas. They are here to help you and the tiring election has forced, yes forced, the Obamas to a 4 million dollar vacation. They do what they do for YOU Ann.

Trees? They put them there for YOU! Yes You. I'm sure YOU are going to D.C. to see them, right?

Christmas?

Lower your voice Ann.

They are just trees with nice little do-dads.

You know Muslims don't have Christmas trees, they have festive beheadings and car bombings.

Just ask the advisors in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood you know.

CWJ said...

Wow,

PBandJ,Garage,Shiloh,andJake. Now if only Ritmo would post, we'd have a quorum.

CWJ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sprezzatura said...

CWJ,

This sort of post is irresistible.

mark said...

54.

Sqrt (5+4) = number of Christmases in the White House before Michelle realized there was Christmas in the White House.

ricpic said...

What about the Menorah? Is puke on the yids Hussein gonna light all the candles in one fell swoop like he did last year, that culturally sensitive soul?

Anonymous said...

In yet another amazing parallel with Mr.Obama President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo also has 54 Christmas trees. The similarities between these two men are eerie and go far beyond any possibility of mere coincidence.

jungatheart said...

lol Freeman @3:09

Aridog said...

Funny thing, as I read down the thread, the whining is by the liberal crew, not the moderates or conservative folks.

OT: Two of my Arab Muslim neighbor families asked Judi and I this morning when we were going to put our tree up on the porch...saying they hoped we'd not skip it because they enjoyed the cheery presence of it.

It goes up this week, delivered tomorrow and decorated with led lights Thursday. They are quite happy to acknowledge the Christianity it represents today. And say so.

Guess we do some things right in how we live and treat others here. I credit my better half, Judi. Can't be me...I'm a craven conservative who whines ... just must be a bigot, eh!! :-))

machine said...

Hahahahahahaha...WATBs!

garage mahal said...

In yet another amazing parallel with Mr.Obama President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo also has 54 Christmas trees. The similarities between these two men are eerie and go far beyond any possibility of mere coincidence.

Indeed. Great catch!

Hagar said...

Big Mike,

He will leave an empty chair with a card reading "No compromise!" taped to the backrest.

Mutaman said...

Can you imagine how upset Ann and her dopey right wing friends would be if they didn't have 54 Xmas trees?

Kirby Olson said...

She's costing us MORE than Marie Antoinette and she advises us AGAINST eating Hostess Twinkies or the like. At least MA let the French eat cake. We just eat the Obama's crap -- all day long and into the night.

Synova said...

Jake Diamond... it may be silly but the clowns are on the side that ends with the public elementary school in town selling "holiday trees" for a fund raiser.

Because somehow a different name changes their religious nature so it's okay for a public school to sell them?

What other religiously related symbols can we just rename and then plaster all over our public institutions? Also, all those constitutionally offensive massive crosses constructed on public land... who knew it was simply a matter of calling it "the sideways "x" of Mount Solidad" and the problem would be solved?

Synova said...

"Can you imagine how upset Ann and her dopey right wing friends would be if they didn't have 54 Xmas trees?"

Because absolutely no Christmas trees is the only possible alternative to 54 of them?

Do you really (since this is *precisely* what you actually said) believe that Althouse's dopey right wing friends would be upset if there were only 53 trees?

Synova said...

"They're donated, I think. Florists compete to volunteer their time to decorate the White House. Americans make ornaments to hang on the many trees. Military families and more than 80k visitors see the decorations. But being a jerk and spiteful is more fun :)"

Kudos for actually contributing relevant information. If they actually are donated, that makes a big difference.

Synova said...

50% more trees than last year is an interesting stat.

$4 Million for the vacation and a vacation that is twice as long as last year is also an interesting stat.

The bits about all the "staff" stuck in neighboring hotels over Christmas and all the Coasties pulling Holiday duty, and all the other security that will have to relocate to Hawaii so that the President and his family can have a lovely holiday with *their* family... well, I suppose that was a bit gratuitous.

But true.

Seeing Red said...

Will Chairman or has Chairman Mao graced some of the trees like he did before?

lge said...

Political correctness forbids "Christmas. "

Though control, word control, Orwellian language, Stalinist controls over society -- right-wingers object to all of these.

Hagar said...

$4 Million for the vacation and a vacation that is twice as long as last year is also an interesting stat.

Particularly for President Obama at this particular time in view of the pending "fiscal cliff" negotiations!

edutcher said...

Hagar said...

57 plus Alaska and Hawaii would make 59?

He had 1 to go, so that makes 60.

shiloh said...

So if libs can continue to make fun of Bush43, it's only fair Althouse cons can continue their obsession w/Obama. But just like Bush, beating a dead horse becomes tiresome. Especially after both Bush/Obama were re-elected.

Funny, the Lefties never have gotten tired - just consider our own little pants down - who can't seem to face up to all the Demos who were caught looking.

No, Dubya was re-elected; Zero stole it.

CWJ said...

Wow,

PBandJ,Garage,Shiloh,andJake. Now if only Ritmo would post, we'd have a quorum.


Well mutated man checked in. And I'm sure we'll hear from Oop, telling us what haters we are.

They don't call it the silly season for nothing.

Sam L. said...

pbAndjFellowRepublican, the press wailed and moaned about following BUSH!!!!1!!!1 to Crawford. He didn't do Hawaii, Martha's Vineyard, and all those expensive places.

And the Greens ought, OUGHT, to be OUTRAGED by this senseless slaughter of trees. Trees that take Co2 OUT of the atmosphere! OH, the vegemanity!

EDH, have you gotten your sensahuma shot yet?

Drago said...

All that really matters is that the future not belong to those who "slander" the prophet of islam.

And we all know how islamist define slander.

On the other hand, an artist being provided government funding to drop a crucifix into urine and call it art?

Totally cool.

Mutaman said...

"Do you really (since this is *precisely* what you actually said) believe that Althouse's dopey right wing friends would be upset if there were only 53 trees?"

I think Anne and her dopey right wing friends are perpetually upset, particularly when it comes to xmas.

bagoh20 said...

You see if McCain would have gone on a Hawaiian vacation back in 2008 when the financial crisis hit instead of running to D.C. to work, then he wouldn't have lost Althouse. Once her schoolgirl crush was elected, she could snip at him a little. Sure, he's a slacker, but he's my slacker.

bagoh20 said...

Mutaman, You know why us wingnuts hate this - we hate trees. We hate polar bears. We hate clean air, clean water, the earth, and even ourselves. We just want to nuke the whole planet, it's in our DNA. Surely, I'm not the first one to tell you this.

ricpic said...

Graceless cow masquerading as a First Lady.
It hurts the soul.
"But there is no soul!" screech the lefty banshees
Dancing around Power, their backs to a grace
They cannot comprehend, only kill.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I'm with Freeman on this.

Why do we need 'themed' Christmas trees. We have a theme and it IS Christmas. Now Christmas trees get to be representative of selected minorities, special interest groups and become a political pandering symbol.

They should have one big tree outside for people to view and take photos. One display tree inside for White House visitors and a personal tree for the family....if they want one.

I can't imagine where you would put 54 trees, even in the White House. They must be stuffing them into broom closets and all sorts of nooks and crannys

Unknown said...

No, Dubya was re-elected; Zero stole it.

Diagnosis: Insanity.

Unknown said...

the public elementary school in town selling "holiday trees" for a fund raiser.

OMG! Another front in the War on Christmas!

Mutaman said...

"Mutaman, You know why us wingnuts hate this - we hate trees. We hate polar bears. We hate clean air, clean water, the earth, and even ourselves. We just want to nuke the whole planet, it's in our DNA. Surely, I'm not the first one to tell you this."

No, I think its because you're simply stupid.

harrogate said...

Yeah! Why can't he go do something patriotic like do photo-ops "clearing Brush"?

As always, thanks for the amusement.

Lincolntf said...

I'm sure they somehow managed with zero Christmas trees before he got to the White House and that sweet, sweet decorating cash.

Aridog said...

I presume either nobody got the point of my little "OT" anecdote foray at 4:35, or they don't give rip.

The point: I am the only non-Muslim on my block....however my neighbors have no objection to our "Christmas Tree" and some, who have copious kids, even ask about it in hopes we don't skip it this year.

So what is all the fuss about the "Holiday Tree" versus "Christmas Tree" and how it impinges on the religious or secular rights of others? If strict Shjiite Muslims don't object, and asak for it by the Christian name, then WTF about anyone else?

Small matter I know. As all the progressive experts who live in paste white suburbs and towns know so much more than we do...about getting along daily with brown and black skinned folk.

Carry on...as you were.

ken in tx said...

Renaming things for political reasons is not new. The guy who designed the Confederate battle flag, which incorporates the X shaped cross of St. Andrew, borrowed from the British Union Jack, called it a saltier, not a cross. He did this to avoid insulting Judah Benjamin, who was Jewish and the Confederate Secretary of State. I don't remember the guy's name, but he was from South Carolina.

He also designed a flag based on the Cross of St. George, but it did not catch on.

P.S. a saltier is an X shaped device on a coat of arms.

Anonymous said...

Blogger harrogate said...

Yeah! Why can't he go do something patriotic like do photo-ops "clearing Brush"?

As always, thanks for the amusement.

12/3/12 5:38 PM
_________________________________

BO has never done a day of manual labor in his life and never will.

rcommal said...

Re: themes: I dunno. I put up more than one tree and while they are absolutely Christmas trees, they are also sub-themed. This year it's going to probably be two, since even my love of Christmas trees and Christmas tree decorations isn't enough to overcome starting so late, due to the impending move. So: Just a really big general one and then the musuc one most likely.

I love Christmas trees.

Freeman Hunt said...

It's not a Holiday Tree unless you had it up for Halloween.

ken in tx said...

BTW, the X is Xmas is not an X. It is the Greek letter Chi, an ancient abbreviation for Christ. There is nothing un-Christian about it.

rcommal said...

Isn't the bottom part of the WH essentially a museum? So, would that be under national parks & such? Don't recall. Will have to look that up at some point, along with the role of private donors and volunteers. Not right now, though.

rcommal said...

Honestly, the holiday tree thing doesn't bug me particularly. Anymore than people turning on Christmas lights or sing Christmas carols before the end of Advent. For example.

mccullough said...

The tree is a pagan thing. It's no coincidence that the birth of Jesus is around the time of the winter solstice. The early Christians knew how to convert people.

bagoh20 said...

"No, I think its because you're simply stupid."

C'mon. That's worth typing? That's what you could come up with as a zinger? Why even bother? You could have taken that time to scratch your nuts or something. No not now! You can't do it just because I said to. Think up your own stuff to do when you got nothing to say.

rcommal said...

We celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas and leave on the lights until Epiphany, something not that common here in the U.S., where I often see trees coming down the day after Christmas Day. I don't let that bother me either.

edutcher said...

Jake Diamond said...

No, Dubya was re-elected; Zero stole it.

Diagnosis: Insanity.


Takes one to know one.

But at least I'm not stupid to boot.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

How many pink slips were handed out across America today?
Obama and the democrats don't care.

Unknown said...

Takes one to know one.

Rush me to the burn unit!

Aridog said...

rcommal said ...

We celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas and leave on the lights until Epiphany, something not that common here in the U.S...

Even less common is keep the tree up and lighted through 02 Feb, the "Feast of the Presentation." My better half has enjoined me from taking anything down before then. Although together for over 31+ years I am just beginning to learn these things. Call me knot head. :-(

Mutaman said...

"C'mon. That's worth typing?"

You want Faulkner or do you want honesty?

Cedarford said...

Synova - Kudos for actually contributing relevant information. If they actually are donated, that makes a big difference.

-------------
I'd hold up on commending all the merchants and artisians falling all overthemselves to send choice and plush trinkets to the White House. For the most part, they are not falling overthemselves to give luxurious baubles to the Kennedys or Bushs or Reagans or Obamas from pure generosity and admiration.

They expect something.

Could be favors rendered in return.
Access.
Tax writeoffs or "business expense writeoff" under marketing and advertising costs.
Free publicity.

Shit happens in other countries as people fall over one another to give gifts of "Special Anniversary og 50 years of Wonderful Soviet Leadership" as expressed in a commemorative case of vodka given to each leader in the Politburo, the Generals in command, the "By Special Appointment as Caramels and Toffee Confectioner to the Royal Family".

Overindulgent excess.
54 Christmas trees to go along with ...what?
The 110 course special thankgiving celebration?
71 Easter baskets each for Sasha and Malia filled with healthy wonderful delectables and filled by unions, corporations, and NGOs that love the Obamas and want to prove it?


Cedarford said...

mark said...
Love how the libs run around screaming how wonderful President
"No Math"-"Physics for Poets" is. Let's roll out the 54 baby Jesus nativities on the WH lawn. One for each of the 54 states. Opps. Obama thinks there are 57.

===============
That stupid conservative jibe of an Obama brain fart is long past its expiration time. Dumbass "gotcha" stuff - like the equally stupid cretins on the Left chortling at their own wit in saying Romney is so dumb he said that Paul Ryan was the Republican Presidential candidate, not he, in one soundbite.

Cedarford said...

Want to get a rise out of a cretin Republican goober?
Say 57 states.
They laugh so loud they slobber.

Want to get a rise of of a moronic Lefty?
Just say "Seamus the Dog".
The snickering in the opposite camp of cretins on that just never ends.,

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

When you hike taxes (even on the so-called "rich") in a bad economy, people lose their jobs.

Hey look - sparkly things.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

There's always "CorpSE man".

Comforting.

Paco Wové said...

Jeez, this post is troll catnip. Who'd'a thought?

Baron Zemo said...

The trappings of Christmas don't matter. This is a silly controversy.

Don't we have more important things to worry about. Like the Fiscal Cliff. The Middle East in an uproar. The start of American Idol.

Enough with the trees already.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Oh, I would argue its fical cliff related.

If we could ask all those big contract sports/music stars, that went broke, what happened to all the money?... I would not be surprised if their spending associated surrounding christmas trees is part of their stories.

All those trees are symptomatic of a government spending run amok.

Anonymous said...

I'd say that it's hard to believe that Barack and Michelle, along with the rest of the White House staff would be so tone-deaf to the condition of the rest of the country that they would look on this with pride, but it's the modern equivalent of "let them eat cake".

mark said...

@Cedarford "Dumbass 'gotcha' stuff"

Nah. It is important to mock someone who, in my opinion, couldn't even do the minimum for deciding the finances of millions ... pass calculus and statistics in college. Something even that "idiot" Bush did.

Mocking is powerful. I saw that they mocked President Bush for children via Fairy Odd Parents the other day.

Think about how much more they could mock Obama. A guy pedaling around on a bike with a flat tire, too big a helmet, prone to absence seizures without his teleprompter, unable to tell the difference between the bow of a ship and a bow and arrow.

The sad thing is that he believes himself to be smarter than anyone he works with. Actually, that is a frightening sign for a leader.

Anyway, it is powerful to laugh at people. Look at how well it worked for you against President Bush.

Mutaman said...

"Want to get a rise of of a moronic Lefty?
Just say "Seamus the Dog".
The snickering in the opposite camp of cretins on that just never ends."

You know what I find hilarious- 332 electoral votes. Know what's even funnier- you morons never saw it coming.

Anonymous said...

Mutaman, you know what I find hysterical? Romney won exactly 47% of the vote:) fitting huh?

edutcher said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
edutcher said...

As I said, Oop has arrived. And harro.

The idiots are all here to defend their Messiah.

Mutaman said...

You know what I find hilarious- 332 electoral votes. Know what's even funnier- you morons never saw it coming.

That's because he stole them.

He (and you) can't win without cheating.

Baron Zemo said...

The trappings of Christmas don't matter. This is a silly controversy.

Don't we have more important things to worry about. Like the Fiscal Cliff. The Middle East in an uproar. The start of American Idol.

Agreed, there are more important things, but it is his contempt for people which will bring him down.

Remember, it's so important to his handlers that he's likeable.

mark said...

@Inga

Did you vote for Obama even with his racial hatred fomenting actions with respect to the Stafford Act?

Just curious as to what you eventually decided.

Anonymous said...

No Mark, I voted for Jill Stein.

mark said...

54.

The number of seconds President Obama goes into an absence seizure when his teleprompter gets unplugged.

The number of "Praise be to allah"'s President Obama gave when he first heard about Google's Project Glass. Now he will always have his glorious teleprompter.

Ralph L said...

I had a deja vu over this MO quote.
The White House Christmas trees are a tradition, each tree represents and is decorated to celebrate the state
You may be thinking of the state (and territory) trees around the National Christmas tree on the Ellipse. We traditionally toured them on the coldest night after Christmas, so the Yule log was much appreciated.

I saw a TV program on Xmas-decorating the WH during the Bush years. I don't remember the tree count, but they had plenty and huge wreaths along the collonades. They tried to add drama with the transporting of the 400 lb gingerbread/marzipan WH to the State Dining Room. Planning started in the Spring. They had receptions almost non-stop in December in addition to tourists.

mark said...

@Inga

Cool!

Thanks for saying.

CWJ said...

Really, the gang's all here. What is it about THIS post. So finally, I think all we're missing is Ritmo, Freder, and Phx.

(Please don't tell me I missed Robert Cook. No troll there. In my opinion he's as authentic as they come.)

CWJ said...

No, I can't believe I forgot Dose and Reasonable as well. Still, I think we've got a quorum nonetheless.

Unknown said...

Synova said, "50% more trees than last year is an interesting stat."

Is good news. People's Own Christmas Tree Cooperative "Jomo Kenyatta" is exceedink last year's production by 50%. On track to over-fulfill 5 year plan production quota.

Forward!

mark said...

@CWJ "What is it about THIS post"

It makes fun of President Obama. They don't like that.

Off topic for liberals ...

What do you think about Obama helping setup an islamic theocratic dictatorship in Egypt? Is it an improvement?

Interesting food for thought. Slavery is an accepted practice within sharia. Egypt is looking to remove anti-slavery from it's new constitution. Discuss.

CWJ said...

Wow Mark, I've been waiting for someone to mention this. For all of the west's admirable morally driven efforts to first abolish and then ameliorate the effects of slavery, Islam has never disavowed it as far as I know.

Unknown said...

I don't have a problem with the number of Christmas trees. It's not a big deal.
What I can't believe is what a tiny deal it is for people to plant their flag on.
It goes without saying, but I'll say it again. Liberals will hate how many Christmas trees conservatives have and conservatives will hate how many holiday trees liberals have.
So what?
Conservatives should be given the same amount of time to hate Obama as liberals take to hate Bush. That seems fair. They're still at it, so we have many years coming to us.

shiloh said...

"So finally, I think all we're missing is Ritmo, Freder, and Phx."

Interesting how a few libs control the discussion at Althouse. Not shocking, but interesting. :D

Indeed, so noteworthy CWJ felt compelled to post about the few libs who roam the premises ...

Re: this nondescript thread it's almost too easy as Althouse tees it up and liberals kick the ball thru.

ok, ok, even some cons thought this thread was foolish!

mark said...

@shiloh "almost too easy as Althouse tees it up and liberals kick the ball thru."

... HA .. ouch man. You are making my sides hurt.

At least this thread gives us a chance to kick around some meme's that may stick. Like Michelle Obama is so smart it took her 4 Christmas'in the White House to figure out they have lots of Christmas trees each Christmas!

"We have 54 trees in the White House... 54! That’s a lot of trees. My husband had to get my daughters to help him count that high!"

Hmm. I may have added that last part.

Since you are in a talking mood ... How do you feel about Obama's emerging theocracy in Egypt? Are you for or against sharia based slavery?


Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Its the ESPN play by play announcer rooting for the Redskins or what?

edutcher said...

shiloh said...

Interesting how a few libs control the discussion at Althouse. Not shocking, but interesting. :D

Control, hardly, but we do have fun kicking holes in their feeble attempts at logic and sarcasm.

Indeed, so noteworthy CWJ felt compelled to post about the few libs who roam the premises ...

A dozen and more. the little weasel not only has delusions of adequacy, but aspirations to inadequacy.

Re: this nondescript thread it's almost too easy as Althouse tees it up and liberals kick the ball thru.

No liberals tonight, but the only thing kicked is the Lefties' ass, as always.

PS Where was the little weasel when the Romster was kicking Little Zero's ass all October?

Grub inspector for Moochelle?

Mark said...

At some point, you have enough trees.

At some point, you've had enough vacations.

At some point, you've played enough rounds of golf.

At some point, you've spent enough on state dinners.

At some point, you've pre-empted prime time programming enough.

At some point, you've ordered enough drone assassinations.

Etc.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Wow, the bitterness is thick on Althouse these days. It was a lot more fun when Romney was 'winning'.

Mark said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mark said...

Romney was the better Democrat in the race. When Republicans figure out that a real Democrat will always beat a RINO, then we may pull this out of the fire.

And since I'm wishing, I'm going to wish that a Libertarian pony wins the Derby next time.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Damn iTunes has gone ahead and revamped the player... again.

MayBee said...

I'm more interested in the expense of the vacations.

I'd like to see how many families' tax bill go toward paying for just this one vacation for the president's family.

They want people to pay their fair share of taxes so the government can spend it on the Obama's ample share of travel.

MayBee said...

The BBC was showing a clip of Bo Obama walking around looking at the trees today. They seemed a little baffled about why there would be such a video.

Dante said...

No wonder the far left is having a problem with Obama:

Earth First! tree lovers

This person has obviously never been to Yosemite. It's fairly clear what's going on, as you drive up the road. The small trees are on the road, where evil man cut down some old growth redwood trees. New trees are growing, hoping to survive, while their parental trees attempt to crowd out their light.

Of course, this can't continue. Given enough time, some other organism would figure out how to kill the slowly evolving redwoods, like the strangle tree/fig.

Renee said...

Back in 07/08', the idea that there would be children in the White House during Christmas was something at least from a nostalgic point of view would be something I would of liked to of seen.


Otherwise, The Obamas are your typical affluent American family, who go on vacation for Christmas. It seems to be the trend for anyone who can afford to do such. (Yes, I give the President a pass on it, because Hawaii is his home state.)

I grew up with a large extended family, so we were always shuffling from house to house during the holidays, but with so many people who are disconnected what else will they do with two weeks off.

Unknown said...

awesome post i like it.


Musli Power extra online

AllenS said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rhhardin said...

This year's Christmas Tree photos so far

one

two

edutcher said...

Looks like CWJ was just about right.

All the Lefties showed up to defend their Messiah on this important issue.

Can't wait to see where they scurry when we go FORWARD., right off the fiscal cliff.

Unknown said...

For several weeks it was amusing to see edutcher clinging to the fantasy that Mittens "won in a landslide" but the Democrats "stole the election." Now it's just sad and pathetic.

Matt Sablan said...

The White House isn't really a house like a house; it is a weird combination of executive manor, with all the hosting of dignitaries associated with that requirement, posh office and command center. I can understand wanting to make it as cheery as possible.

Matt Sablan said...

"The White House Christmas trees are a tradition, each tree represents and is decorated to celebrate the state. Only real controversy is that Moochelle had to convince the President that there were only 54 states, not 57."

-- I think that's a different display.

cubanbob said...

Four million bucks for a vacation is one hell of an imputed income. Tax that rich greedy bastard!

shiloh said...

"All the Lefties showed up to defend their Messiah on this important issue."

No, "we" showed up to easily make fun of Althouse. Although that reached diminishing returns some time ago ...

blessings

Anonymous said...

With all this excess paid for at taxpayer expense, what makes us think they'll willingly give it up?

Crunchy Frog said...

Because nothing says "Bleak Midwinter" like spending Christmas in Waikiki.

Nameless Cynic said...

Funny. While George Bush was spending 1/3 of his presidency on vacation, including 77 trips to his ranch in Texas, I don't remember you complaining.

And why is the White House decorated for Christmas, including all those trees? Do you think it has something to do with the more than 30,000 visitors taking tours of the White House over Christmas?

What, exactly, is your problem with all of this? I'm just curious.

Ufotofu9 said...

Hey, throw enough shit at a wall, something is bound to stick. 54 Trees though? Pretty lame Ann.