Clipped from the screen of Drudge, just now. The link goes to news of Obama's press conference:
... Obama said the gulf is the first thing on his mind in the morning and the last thing as he goes to bed, and that even his young daughters ask him about it.
"When I woke up this morning and I'm shaving," he said, "Malia knocks on my bathroom door and she peeks in her head and she says, 'Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?'"
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93 comments:
The secret's out!!! Barack Obama is merely a front man -- the real President of the United States is Malia. Malia the Puppet Master of the World!
Classic idiot boss. Yells at people to "plug the hole" and then when the hardworking smart people fix the problem he claims he was responsible.
Just like Dilbert's pointy haired boss.
I'm going to go ahead and say I think Drudge is being an asshole here. Nothing serious, but this is a little much. He is our president and should have at least some bit of respect that I think is being breached by this joke.
Maybe I'm just judgey.
And skyler's right.
The BP engineers who stopped the leak (if they have) under all this pressure and hatred are true patriots and heroes. Nothing Obama did helped, and much of what he did hurt the situation. He's trying to cover up his terrible handling before the leak and during.
And of course, now he's bashing Sarah Palin's 'drill baby drill'. It would be nice if safer and smarter drilling methods were not actively thwarted.
How about the possibility that Drudge is opining that Obama is like the little boy plugging the hole in the dike with his finger...he's in over his head and his management of the situation has been weak and childish...? Or maybe Drudge is just being an a-hole as noted above.
..the first thing on his mind in the morning and the last thing as he goes to bed..
No sex for oil!!
He's covering for his upcoming vacation in Chicago. Effing slacker president.
wv:fulliv--descriptive of the relationship of certain individuals to shit, as in, "Yer fulliv shit!
Bad taste by Drudge or not, only one person is responsible for 12 year-old Malia being inserted into the President's press conference.
Obama is losing it.
Ask your mother.
WV - rancr - of which I hold none.
So, its his daughter's fault he lost his cool in a staff meeting... Obama just threw Malia under the bus.
Patterned Diversity Hire: blames everyone but himself for his failures.
["Mr Clinton! Mr. Clinton to the white courtesy phone!"]
Who told this child that her daddy was the one plugging the hole?
"Daddy, have you defeated the talaban yet?"
That shit ain't right.
Leave his daughters out of it.
Reminds me of Carter and Amy discussing the nuclear situation.
And that goes for the Big O too.
It is kind of funny that the best basketball player I ever saw and the worst President have the same nickname. Just sayn'
Remember when Carter talked about Amy and nuclear proliferation?
This needs a "Obama is like Carter" tag.
Mr Clinton! Mr. Clinton to the white courtesy phone
Obama: Racist! Teabagger!
WhiteHouse Switchboard: *rolls eyes*
[later that day]
Obama: And I said, I don't care if they lay me off either, because I told, I told Bill that if they move my desk one more time, then, then I'm, I'm quitting, I'm going to quit. And, and I told Don too, because they've moved my desk four times already this year, and I used to be over by the window, and I could see the squirrels, and they were married, but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn't bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire and blame Bush
Axlerod: Mr Clinton, never let a crisis--
Bill: --um yeah, David, we're gonna need to go ahead and move you downstairs into storage B. We have some new people coming in, and we need all the space we can get. So if you could just go ahead and pack up your stuff and move it down there, that would be terrific, OK?
Daddy did you plug the thousands of leaks in the border yet?
Whoa, girl.
I think about sex almost all the time, but the obvious referent in Drudge to me is to Obama, Dutch-boy like, plugging the hole with his finger and as part of that a reference to his depicting himself as the one who is taking the actions to plug the hole. It is as though his hand is about to move to put hisfinger in and plug the leak.
I actually don't think there is any sexual refernce here in Drudge that was not already in the president's words as heard by all of us dirty-minded people. I know I thought of him and his wife when I heard him speak the words. But I completely give Drudge a pass on this.
"Daddy, after you fix the economy, can I have a trillion dollars?"
dick said...Reminds me of Carter and Amy discussing the nuclear situation.
Me too. During a debate with Reagan, Carter famously said, "I had a discussion with my daughter, Amy, the other day before I came here to ask her what the most important issue was, she said she thought nuclear weaponry."
The public didn't really warm to the idea that the president was taking input from his pre-adolescent daughter. In Obama's case, I don't know if he was sincere or it was a play for sympathy. I may be cynical but with politicians you can hardly go wrong being suspicious of their motives.
Forget writing to your congress-critter, we should send our ideas to Malia.
Malia: "Daddy, are you really going to let Iran get the bomb?"
I see absolutely NOTHING sexual about it...weird that some do...
Axelrod: hmmmm how can we make Barry look involved....
Obama said the gulf is the first thing on his mind in the morning and the last thing as he goes to bed
Axelrod: (swallow it suckers! swallow!)
"It is kind of funny that the best basketball player I ever saw and the worst President have the same nickname."
Even funnier that those are the only two Big O's you know.
Just sayn'
And here I thought it was all those racists in Arizona that filled his waking hours.
What made Carter a laughingstock (along with the attack rabbit) was that he needed to ask his daughter what the important issues were.
Slow Joe said...
I'm going to go ahead and say I think Drudge is being an asshole here. Nothing serious, but this is a little much. He is our president and should have at least some bit of respect that I think is being breached by this joke.
Hope you felt that way about Dubya.
Fen said...
Forget writing to your congress-critter, we should send our ideas to Malia.
Malia: "Daddy, are you really going to let Iran get the bomb?"
Don't forget to send a few to Sasha. We don't want any hurt feelings.
WV "doisted" Don't know what it is, but I'll bet it hurts.
"Daddy, please don't use cigars to plug any holes, ok?"
Daddy did you plug the hole in the federal budget yet?
Those beautiful daughters shouldn't be dragged into their father's abysmal political quagmire.
The kids should be off-limits, for Obama and for everyone else, too.
edutcher, I know this is not credible, being internet anonymous commenting, but I worked for Bush's reelection, and Mccain's (I didn't like Mccain very much, but strongly opposed the alternative).
Yes, I said the same of Bush.
" info said...
I see absolutely NOTHING sexual about it...weird that some do...
5/27/10 9:04 PM"
I think part of my impression is based on Drudge's pattern of very amusing picture and caption placement, often with sexual subtext. Swear I'm not making that up. Some people automatically know what I'm talking about, but many have no idea when I mention it. Even if I point it out once, they think it's just random, but if you watch over a month or so, you'll be convinced.
Like I said, it's nothing serious. But the President deserves some level of respect. Not fawning religious praise, but something.
Meade notes he brought his kids into it. This is a famous double standard that always seems to benefit the Ds but justify viciousness at the Rs. I don't think Obama's self serving comments from his kid justify this kind of humor, which I realize some people don't even agree occurred.
Of course it's pathetic for Obama to take credit for this while using it as an argument against Palin's drilling or Bush's supposed corruption. He's doing the same in many other areas. He's a real piece of work. But anyway.
"He is our president and should have at least some bit of respect"
Remember those occasions when, while speaking of his opponents, he pointedly scratched his face with a stiffly upraised middle finger?
I think he's lost all claim to respect.
To clarify: Drudge may be being an asshole, and thus may deserve criticism for behaving badly, but nonetheless Obama is undeserving of respect.
"A dirty mind is a joy forever." Commonly attributed to Oscar Wilde, but perhaps actually from Eric Partridge.
Aside from that, it's also a great aid to textual criticism, and to the practice of Freudian psychiatry.
wv = floysm I floys 'em frequently, mum, just like you asked me to.
A Drudge Too Far? I don't think so. I immediately thought of the Dutch Boy thing, maybe because of the Willie Nelsen thread (Hey maybe Drudge reads Althouse-wouldn't she be chuffed).
So no, I guess I don't buy the subliminal stuff. I didn't buy it last time around either.
As Freud also once said, "sometimes a hole plug is just a hole plug". The tragedy is that Obama is faking being President and really wants a new crisis in the community so that he can speak to the bad guys and get them to go along with an offer to surrender American strength to them. That damn oil gusher wont respond to his "community half acting", but requires the skillfull movement of massive forces...like the real world does.
Slow Joe said...
edutcher, I know this is not credible, being internet anonymous commenting, but I worked for Bush's reelection, and Mccain's (I didn't like Mccain very much, but strongly opposed the alternative).
Yes, I said the same of Bush.
No problem. I take people at their word unless they give me reason not to.
We both know there are people, however, who want respect only for their guy (or girl).
Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?
Who's your daddy?
Lucid, et al. are correct. There's nothing sexual, subliminally or expressly, in this headline.
Rather it's Drudge's effort to highlight Obama's paternalism and patronizing attitude towards the electorate. And I thought it was effective.
Boy, he really IS Carter redux. And he's only in his second year! Oh, the humanity!
That is about as subtle as a John Waters movie.
EDH said...
Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?
Who's your daddy?
5/27/10 10:26 PM
Ouch! Could it be "Frank"
pst314,
I don't like Obama the man very much. I suppose he loves his kids, though he does make them into props (I suppose you almost have to these days, though I note W didn't seem to do so). But the Presidency itself is larger than Obama, and I think a line is crossed when we act like the President of the United States is part of a particular sort of punchline. I have no problem with traditional political satire or humor, but really dirty sort of humor about the president coarsens the debate.
If you want to find fault with Obama, that he coarsened the office himself with his pig comments, middle finger stunts, or just plain old 'democrats did it too or worse', I can't really deny that argument. Maybe they coarsen the debate too, but two wrongs don't make a right.
And like I said, it's nothing serious. Just a little judgey old frown from me, frankly a bit of a hypocritical one. I blame Bill Clinton, who after all, is why we're reading Drudge, ever delighted by his skill with this subject.
I guess I'm naive to think that at some point, we simply refused to let dirty men ascend this high. I am so glad that Obama appears to be a faithful husband, like W, but it's hard to go back once the oval office is ever the executive fuck chamber for his harem of interns.
Off the top of my head, I do not remember Bill Clinton or George W. Bush ever bringing their daughters up as presidents in political situations (or even in non-political ones).
I miss those guys. I miss pros.
Traditional Guy -- We do have two wars and a budding war in North Korea. And, according to a headline today, a money supply that is depressionary.
But who'd want to waste political capital tackling those problems?
lucid at 8:41 offers a reasonable analysis. At any rate, Obama seems hapless. He has gone from fortune's favorite riding the wave of destiny to a crest fallen victim of circumstances in a very brief period. I think BP are the heavies in this drama, but Obama looks more like a wounded bystander than the sheriff.
Glad to see you back Lem.
I have no problem with traditional political satire or humor, but really dirty sort of humor about the president coarsens the debate.
When you've got 9.9% unemployment after more than a year of unemployment above 9% and all the president chooses to focus on is taking over car companies, taking over hospital and clinics, and taking over banks, the presidency has become a farce.
He have to laugh or we'd go nuts.
Pretty consistently illustrating that he was not ready for Prime Time.
Or maybe the word is "demonstrating."
Same point.
As for Drudge's "subliminal sex ...."
I am aware that there could be that take on the quote ... it's in the ear /ear of the beholder.
It's not always the first thing I think of, but it could be for many.
I think the use of the daughter in a situation of this magnitude as evidence of his conern is more of the narcissistic self referential Obama style. Unpresidential. Amateur. Adolescent.
But I do think he loves his girls. (That's one of the reasons for the "vacation" in Chicago this weekend.)
Just stop using them.
The association I took, since Malia came into the bathroom as the President was making his morning toilette, was that she was inquiring about a plumbing problem.
Honestly, I'm not scatologically minded. As far as the humor synapses go, I can associate that idea with a kid's inquiry, but not sex. Definitely not sex. Plugging up the presidential plumbing, though, would get a lot of giggles going in the family quarters.
Toy
Think about it... Malia comes in, and the President was holding--not a razor, as he related to the press--but a plunger.
Toy
PS--On crazy busy nights in the hospital, when the you-know-what was hitting the fan, we would call it a Code Brown. I think Obama is having a Code Brown week.
Here's the thing:
1) I do not believe "the gulf [Gulf of Mexico] is the first thing on his mind in the morning and the last thing as he goes to bed." (And even if that were the case and I were to believe it, then there'd be other issues I'd have with him, on account of that.)
2) I don't necessarily disbelief the Malia part of the anecdote. Maybe she said that, maybe she didn't. I think it's entirely possible. (Hell, I myself have a kid beyond whom I would put nothing past in terms of question-asking and question-phrasing.) Who knows?
wv: chouter
I'd prefer "chowder" or "shouter" myself, Google! Up your game, damn it.
Sigh. This game gets old.
Y'all should try a new approach.
Daddy, did you plug that hole?
chip ahoy,
That was excellent. I really cracked up during the penultimate closeup.
Cracked Emcee, your shtick is to steal other people's content (and yeah, you steal a hell of a lot of other people's content) and insult big name bloggers, and you think this is how to whore up a readership?
Come on, be interesting. Pointing out that the race card exists, and posing like you're edgy, frankly just sucks. Your blog isn't unread because we aren't ready... it's just really boring.
Do you see how Althouse posted virtually nothing but a screencap? She has cleverly insinuated something interesting but controversial and discussable, with several subtopics, such as families in politics and energy policy and the disaster.
If all you want is more hits, you should emulate the creativity that takes rather than just poking people's eyes and ripping off their work.
Others, no I really don't give a crap that I'm probably feeding a troll. He doesn't matter.
Bad taste Big Oil Bears 61 Babies.
too freudian for me--I agree with those commenters who said leave the kids out of it. They should be totally off limits. What did Kant say about ethics? treating people as ends and not means.
Those beautiful daughters shouldn't be dragged into their father's abysmal political quagmire. The kids should be off-limits, for Obama and for everyone else, too.
I agree with those commenters who said leave the kids out of it. They should be totally off limits.
Sorry, but please put the Tu Quoque Cards back in your hands. No one is attacking Malia.
And if Obama is going to use his kid as a prop for cover, we have every right to mock him for it.
Slow Joe said...
"The BP engineers who stopped the leak (if they have) under all this pressure and hatred are true patriots and heroes."
I've avoided this thread because I knew nothing constructive would come of it but out of early morning boredom, started reading. I of course stopped at SlowJoe's comment.
Patriots? Are you a fucking moron? Heroes? Are you a fucking moron?
It was these same set of idiots that drilled with no plan whatsoever if something broke and to lay their lazy stupidity and neglect on Obama is just churlish.
In case you haven't heard, the US government isn't in the drilling and recovery business. Taking forty days to even start to stop this mess had to have the technology that the drilling companies possess because NO ONE ELSE HAS IT. Then it turns out they didn't have it either - a fault that goes back years and years of non-oversight.
BP will find its way into civl courts for the next 20 years and with a little luck, there will be a criminal court appearance here and there but to castigate Obama for this spill is insane and to call anyone associated with BP a hero or more impossibly a patriot is just plain so stupid as to make the gods blush.
Smell my finger.
Umm, Fen--my comment directed at Mr. Obama--he's the one who dragged his kid in on it. Neither the parent (in the case the President, nor press and commenters should be using the kids for props or commentary)
Re: hole, BP top kill halted due to "snag," another giant underwater plume of oil discovered
Video with Matt Simmons
HD--glad you roused yourself thihs beautiful morning to deliver a polemic. One minor nitpick in your post: the US government is in the recovery business--that's precisely what FEMA's role is. Recovery, not response. Might want to look at the National Response Framework and the Stafford Act.
There are two emergency management issues going on simultaneously--(1)response (shutting the well head, and containing the oil spill); and (2) recovery, which has become a federal responsibility as Gov Jindahl has, AFAIK, invoked the staffort act.
Slow Joe points out above that Druge's landing page always has a subtle edge to its combination of picture and headline.
I agree that Drudge's headline's/photos always have a political edge that is hostile to the left.
But I think this headline does that by emphasizing the idea that Obama is responsible for the leak. So Drudge here is pushing the Katrina trope that the right has been pushing--that all this is Obama's fault.
But I don't think there is a sexual innuendo, which would not in itself really be much of an anti-Obama point in any case.
I suppose he loves his kids, though he does make them into props
The difficulty when a parent talks is not to bring up the kids -- especially when they are that age and their life is so inextricably bound up in your everyday routine.
Blogger lucid said...
Slow Joe points out above that Druge's landing page always has a subtle edge to its combination of picture and headline.
[...]
But I don't think there is a sexual innuendo, which would not in itself really be much of an anti-Obama point in any case.
I kinda think the subtle picture framing often has a sexual innuendo to it, actually. If it weren't Drudgereport, which I think he extremely sexualized, I would be hard pressed to see this as sexual. Also, while yeah, the bias generally is against democrats, it's not exclusively so by any means. I suppose you didn't deny that, though.
5/28/10 7:31 AM
Blogger MadisonMan said...
The difficulty when a parent talks is not to bring up the kids -- especially when they are that age and their life is so inextricably bound up in your everyday routine.
True enough, but a lot of politicians dress their kids up in political ways, and use them as props. There's no way Obama isn't one of the best examples of this. Palin is also one of the best examples of this, though she's certainly paid for that many times over.
This isn't the politician's fault, though. The American people will not elect a man who doesn't have strong family ties. They have to use their kids and perhaps spouses as props because those who didn't do not survive in politics.
I know plenty of successful single people of that age, but I know the general public just won't like them as much as the guy with the kid. Call it natural selection, then, that Obama happens to make his family part of his look.
Some (most) don't see the sexual aspect. Whatever one there is is crossing the line. Because this is the US President. And because his kids really should be off limits. Even though he brought them into it... that's a necessary feature of political success and not a license of fair game.
"Patriots? Are you a fucking moron? Heroes? Are you a fucking moron?"
Well, my favorite blog is ace.mu.nu.
Yes, I think the geniuses who have apparently done something that is extremely difficult and somewhat frontier, under incredibly difficult times, are heroic. I think they have achieved excellence.
Just because their coworkers made a terrible mistake doesn't reduce the heroism in their fixing it. This isn't hard to understand. Just because they work for an oil company doesn't mean they lose my very great respect in this case. They are some of the greatest Americans alive right this day. I sincerely actually believe that. I am not surprised politicians are trying to steal their thunder. It's a hell of a lot of thunder.
"Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?"
This has nothing to do with Drudge. This is a quote from Obama on what his daughter reputedly said. I didn't get the sexual inuendo at all. Does anyone think that the daughter was making a sexual inuendo remark?
"Does anyone think that the daughter was making a sexual innuendo remark?"
I blame Freud.
Well, Althouse, it may be subliminal sex to you. And maybe that's fine.
Get a room.
Does anyone think that the daughter was making a sexual inuendo remark?
No.
Drudge was just trying to be avant-garde, or something.
The cynical capitalist in me suggests that drudge, rather like the blogstress here, is trolling for hits--Sex sells
Again, "Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?" Was a quote from Obama. "Subliminal sex on Drudge" are The Althouse Woman's words.
WV: herstanc
Exactly right. her stanc
HD House: I don't believe anyone has suggested that Obama can stop the leak but they are a bit concerned that the government, and by extension Obama, has not done enough to get ahead of the oil coming ashore. The Corps of Engineers cannot go forward building a sand berm because they don't have a freaking EPA permit which can't be given without an environmental study. The guy who wants a bigger government to solve our problems and who wants another study and another agency in the middle is the guy who is supposed to the chief executive of our country. He is not showing well.
Classic example of how so much political rhetoric today gets reduced to an absurd talking point or picture so that simple minds can fixate upon it. What Obama revealed in this quote, I think, is how pervasive the topic has been in his household so that even his daughters reflect a national concern. It was a needed contrast to the rather formal, stuffy press talk that preceded it. But it strikes me that Drudge likes to blur issues of sexuality while finding it everywhere.
roesch-test,
Exactly what did Drudge do in his headline to indicate sexuality?
Roger: Umm, Fen--my comment directed at Mr. Obama--he's the one who dragged his kid in on it
Oh okay, my bad. It looked like the comment you were agreeing with was "the kids should be off-limits, for Obama and for everyone else, too."
Sorry.
Reminds me of a few years ago when Cindy Sheehan was arrested in front of the White House in what Drudge described in a very short-lived headline as a "cunning stunt."
so that simple minds can fixate upon it
What a snob.
It's to attract the attention of busy people.
Libtard: Patriots? Are you a fucking moron? Heroes? Are you a fucking moron?
/via Tigerhawk
"Somewhere within BP true heroes are working night and day to stop the gusher and clean up its consequences. These people -- everybody from petroleum engineers to the rough men and women who work in oil fields in the world's most challenging environments to the machinists and welders who labor around the clock to build the next solution -- are not, in the main, responsible for the disaster. They are responsible for ending it. They are not known to us as individuals. In the current climate, where liberal activists intimidate the families of corporate executives to gain leverage, they no doubt hope to remain anonymous. They are working around the clock, to the point of exhaustion, in conditions, both physical and emotional, more stressful than most American employees (including many who complain about all the stress they are under) can possibly comprehend. They will eventually solve this problem they did not create. At the moment of their success, which no doubt will come, these men and women will have prevented staggering incremental damage. Their only reward, though, will be relief and the satisfaction of a job well done.
I respectfully submit that the anonymous employees of BP and its contractors who are devoting themselves to plugging the hole and cleaning up the oil are, perhaps, the most heroic people in America right now. I'm one American who is grateful for you, and wish you the strength and wisdom to finish the daunting task before you."
/read the whole thing:
http://tigerhawk.blogspot.com
It was these same set of idiots that drilled with no plan whatsoever if something broke and to lay their lazy stupidity and neglect on Obama is just churlish.
You don't have the first clue what you are talking about. I'm sure that new set of talking points sounded cool in your conference call circle jerk, but out here you simply look like a fool.
I honestly hope your are just a Moby out to parody the Left. Otherwise, you've had a mental break and need to avoid CNN and the NYTs for a few months.
In case you haven't heard, the US government isn't in the drilling and recovery business.
Clean Water Act of 1990:
"requires the President to ensure effective and immediate removal of an oil discharge and, where there is substantial threat to public health or welfare, requires the President to require all Federal, State and private actions to remove the oil discharge or mitigate it"
At this very moment in the Gulf there are 50 boom boats sitting idle, waiting for Obama to finish his latest fundraiser. Maybe he will notice them today when he swings through for his photo op.
And I love the way Obama pretends he didn't break any laws by sending Bill to bribe Sestak.
WH statement is: "its just politics as usual, and we had our fingers crossed when we conspired to commit a felony.
Hope. Change. And it was Goldstein's fault."
Hey, what if we replaced Bumblefuck Biden with Hillary as VP? Give her Foreign Policy while Obama screws up Domestic. Give Bill the VPs office so he can advise and consent.
It could happen.
Some important events going on out there. Like Homeland Security maybe stopping a 5th terrorist attack on us. A possible European finacial collapse. Followed by China. Iran getting the Bomb. Not abandoning Iraq. AfPak. A new Korean War.
And some 75 "african youths" swept up with illegal immigrants crossing over from Mexico.
Fen--no problem--my initial comment didnt really go into detail and was overly vague. Trust me, you and see eye to eye on most things.
From Saudi Arabia, Somolia and Sudan.
Mr President, if you want to lead, now would be a good time to champion Western Civilization. Oh thats right, you and Rev Wright are not too fond of American Exceptionalism. Thats really too bad.
my initial comment didnt really go into detail and was overly vague
no worries, I've been trolling a bit too reckless lately and needed a reminder to chill.
Can you believe the excuses Obama's drones are making? Too funny to be annoying.
Hey where's Alpha? Get him in here for Act 2.
No Malia, now that I have two kids, I no longer engage in Wookie Sex.
anyone here making a joke about Obama's daughter is awful and pathetic.
Glenn Beck to this to the extreme, and if any of you think its OK, then shame on you.
Little known fact:
Barack and Michelle Obama had three daughters, Malia Anne, Natasha ("Sasha") and danielle. danielle was given to a traveling carnival show to be raised.
Skyler said...
Just like Dilbert's pointy haired boss.
Dammit, Skyler. I was just going to say that this is the worlds first Dilbert Presidency.
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