It Isn't The Night Out

The real issue here isn't so much that Obama went to Broadway, though, let's face it, this guy is looking like a party animal, especially as compared to any previous modern administration. And it's all taking place at a time when many citizens are likely trimming entertainment budgets due to hard times. It's the hypocrisy of the media that's the bigger issue.

Steven Benen provides his usual Obama cover below and old media is more likely to cast it as hapless Republicans criticizing Obama for taking a break from his oh so tough job, than Obama thinking he's above it all.

But if it were a Republican president, that isn't what we'd be reading. Bush 41 couldn't even buy groceries without being painted as out of touch and presumably uncaring. But not the media's golden boy; he just needs the R and R. You watch, the taxpayer supported entertainment budget for this administration will dwarf anything that came before - and all during an economic meltdown. And the media won't make a sound about it.

One last point - if Obama's numbers drop before the next election, especially on the economy, this sort of stuff is going to be a powerful weapon for Republicans.

Good for them; I'm sure it's nice for the Obamas to get out once in a while. Their date led to some street closings in NYC, but folks in the city nevertheless seemed pleased to see the First Couple: "As the motorcade left the West Village and drove up Sixth Avenue to the theater, crowds of people, at times about eight deep, gathered on the sidewalks of the blockaded streets to wave as the Obamas passed. Some cheered.... The Obamas left the theater after the play and were greeted by more cheers from enthusiastic bystanders along New York streets as they headed back for the flight to Washington."

Comments

[Brian]

At the end of the day, the greater issue is the play the Broadway show they chose to attend. Not that it's going to get any play in the media.

Mr. Post-Racial takes his wife to go see a show about an emasculated black man, railroaded by a racist Southern justice system, escapes the South to find his missing wife as a result of Whitey's slavery-caused diaspora. He finds his wife with the help of a Jewish slave trader and a boardinghouse resident who practices African witchcraft. Culminating in a scene where he forsakes the White Man's god, cuts his chest with a knife and smears the blood across his face.

Wholesome family entertainment.

[JSF]

So, can anyone on the Left tell me when President Obama is going to Govern?

He parties every Wed. night. He travels (during a recession) to fundraisers in Vegas and shows in NYC and brings Pizza cooks from Michigan -- how does this help the Economy?

And if you think complaining about this is "bad" dissent, then show us how the Left dissented on actual things during the past 8 years. last I remeber, President Bush did leave for vacations until easter and he went back to his home in Crawford (at some point, even dissent landed there too).

It's going to be a LOOOOOONG wait -- dissent of every measure, against everything President Bush did was the norm of the Left.

We on the Right learned about dissent from the Left the past 8 years.

[lala]

Dissent is patriotic. I think he heard Prince Harry was going to be in New York and he just had to take the spotlight away from him.

[Peach]

IIRV Bush gave up playing golf out of deference to the soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. Obama's had many, many date nights, parties all the time and burger and golf days a plenty. Meanwhile he's telling me what car to drive and the temperature to keep thermostat on and that we will all have to sacrifice while he gulf-streams to NY for dinner and a show and the left is defending this?

[Dave Christensen]

Give 'em a break. After all, things will get worse before they get worse. And, just who wouldn't want to get away from from that bumbling fool Robert Gibbs?

[Bob]

What? Are these comments coming from the same bunch who insisted that a third-generation aristocrat like George W. Bush was some kind of "man of the people?" Like most issues raised by the right wing, it's obvious that there's no sincere concern for any consistent principle at the heart of it. It's just the latest petty and stupid personality attack, like "mustard-gate." It's as if conservatives want to make absolutely certain that nobody with a brain takes them seriously.

As I saw in a reply from Dan Riehl the other day, referring to liberals as "arugula-chomping" is supposed to stand for SOMETHING that conservatives find intolerable. I assume that people like Riehl wouldn't, under any circumstances, find fault with Bush for his golfing or Cheney for his (no doubt expensive) outings at private hunting clubs. Considering its obvious insincerity then, "issues" like this one demonstrate that right wingers have almost nothing left to say or do but to lamely try to stoke culture war resentments while desperately hoping for Obama's popularity to decline.

This is one of those times when the right wing inadvertently insults the American people at large by assuming that they're as petty as the right wingers are themselves. You keep flogging these stupid and phony "controversies" about mustard, arugula, and now Puerto Rican soul food and broadway shows. And then you can't understand why serious conservative thinkers like David Frum, David Brooks or Colin Powell see you as unserious, anti-intellectual yahoos. Get a clue.

[Suzette]

The difference with this president's expensive luxury night out and previous presidents' vacation travels is just that: this was for a single night out on the town. Other presidents may have traveled for a single night on the taxpayer's dime, but not for a "private date" with no attending official business. This is another one of Obama's now-frequent out-of-touch Arugula Moments.

[LOL]

http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/21674.html

yep

[Philip McDaniel]

"...Puerto Rican soul food..."
LOL! You really don't know what you're talking about do you, Bob.
"...serious conservative thinkers like David Frum, David Brooks or Colin Powell see you as unserious, anti-intellectual yahoos."
LOL! Keep chomping on that arugula there, Bob.

[southdakotaboy]

Bob the point about all these things is that it goes to show what a fake Obama is. He preaches on thing to people (pick your subject) and then does the exact opposite. It is a simple as that. It shows that deep down inside he lacks character.

So when he claims that he cares about you he is just telling you another lie.

[JSF]

Ahhh...the face of the Left shows itself with Bon.

People like Bob always need an Emmanuel Goldstein, be it Bush (I or II), Palin, Rush, etc. et. al.

Also, people like Bob represents the Left in the way they tolerate NO DISSENT FROM OBAMA UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

Go on Bob, show us how in the past 8 years how the Left "civilly" dissented. Show us how they did not pick on every little thing that their last Emmanuel Goldstein, President Bush, was done in a nice, kind way.

I await your links, but I don't think you have any.

[Bob]

"Bob the point about all these things is that it goes to show what a fake Obama is. He preaches on thing to people (pick your subject) and then does the exact opposite."

Southdakotaboy, when did Obama EVER make an issue out of married couples going out on dates to see broadway shows? Here we have a charming and successful couple who obviously love each other and have what by ALL accounts is a happy and loving family, and all your side can do is nit-pick over a DATE to see a SHOW! The pettiness and mean-spiritedness of it simply defies the imagination.

Philip, I know it sounds unbelievable, but The Hill was trying to claim that Sotomayor's taste for Puerto Rican food was supposed to say something about her judicial philosophy. I couldn't make this stuff up.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/critics-focus-on-sotomayor-speech-in-la-raza-journal-2009-05-27.html

Philip, I'm curious. Can someone please explain to me the moral distinction between arugula and, let's say, spinach, kale or lettuce? What exactly makes it so subversive, frightening and un-American? Has it become kind of like pork for muslims? Please explain . . .

[mark l.]

in some ways, I agree with bob.

maybe bob could offer some light on substantive policy decisions that we should(or even the press) be discussing.

thus far, I'm counting three major decisions by the obama admin.

government motors, which captivates about 21% of the country, while insulting 67%.
closing gitmo, maybe a bit more accepted but the public, but even more resoundingly rejected by the senate, 90-6.
stimulus? not even his. obama just endorsed the party plan.

if obama had an accomplishment of merit, bob, I'm all ears.

[mark l.]

bob-if you want to engage in a discussion of national security or economic issues, feel free. I doubt the media is anxious to spotlight those topics.

I'm looking at rassmussen poll from the beginning of may-
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/trust_on_issues/trust_on_issues

there are some bright spots for dems, but the glaring weaknesses are becoming even more apparent.
during the time period of the poll, obama held a 57 approval, 43 disapproval.

taxes-republican 47, democrats 41.
economy-democrats 44, republicans 43.
national security-republicans 48, democrats 41.

the spots where dems are doing well*?
social security, national healthcare, education.

*-the ONLY area where dems hold a 50%+ approval rating is healthcare. that should hold so long as no material plans are put forth. I anxiously await dusting off the talking points from 94.

all three are great points of interest, but obama hasn't provided a formula that gets him to those areas, without first having to go by the far larger topics of economy and taxes. So long as he talks about what he is going to do, without explaining how he is going to do it, his popularity is secure. I doubt it is a viable strategy for two years, let alone 4 years.

[ajacksonian]

"Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?" he asked. "I mean, they're charging a lot of money for this stuff." - Candidate Obama in Iowa.

He said that while doing his 'man of the people' bit in 2007.

Note that Iowa has no 'Whole Foods' stores and that it is not a large-scale cash crop of Iowa.

I'm sure that Juan and Eva had similar outings...just as Benito and Rachelle would enjoy the Opera Nazionale Balilla. At this rate I'm sure we will have our own version of the Opera Nazionale Balilla very soon... for all those lovely leftist morals, just like Benito liked promulgate.

[Earlg]

Bob, ... Like most issues raised by the right wing, it's obvious that there's no sincere concern for any consistent principle at the heart of it. [.]

That's odd, Rall seemed to find a lot of all to consistent principles. But I won't discuss Rall; I'm sure you know the old saying about not finding anything nice...

[MamaNC]

What a stupid, stupid, stupid line of criticism. Obama looks like a "party animal?" The last President took more vacation days than any former President just to "clear brush" and play rancher. By Bush standards, Obama is a workaholic.

[mark l.]

"By Bush standards, Obama is a workaholic."

love the bush-obama comparisons. it elevates bush, or lowers obama, altough for me, it is probably the former.
Trying to understand the lib reasoning, bush is bottom of the barrel, and subsequently compare the messiah to him.

perhaps more of the "soft bigotry of low expectations"?

don't worry, I'm sure there will be many comparisons for historians to make. growth of debt, govt spending, gdp growth, unemployment rate, inflation rate...

anybody want to go out on a limb and predict his crowning achievement? my guess is that he was the first black president...hope it makes up for the shortcomings.

[StevefromMKE]

This is as staged as his burger runs he's been having.

[lala]

Arugula is what the French and Italians like to put in their salad.

[Philip McDaniel]

"Can someone please explain to me the moral distinction between arugula and, let's say, spinach, kale or lettuce?"
Bob, real Americans eat spinach...like Popeye.

[Bob]

Aside from the economic stimulus and financial bailout programs, Mark, Obama has made key (and controversial) decisions about Gitmo (as you mentioned), about ending torture, about troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about military trials for WOT detainees. He's had hard-nosed discussions with PM Netanyahu about Israeli settlements and other matters, he's been pushing the Pakistanis to ramp up their efforts against the Taliban (which they seem to actually be following through with to a greater extent) and making efforts to engage or confront Iran. He's pushing for universal health care coverage. Meanwhile, Congress just passed important new legislation on credit card company practices. Obama has just nominated a candidate for the Supreme Court. It seems to me to be awfully petty and disingenuous to be criticizing Obama for not being busy enough looking over all of the things his administration has on the burner, considering that he's only been in office for 5 months or so. As for accomplishments, would you be patient enough to wait more than 5 months before declaring his presidency a total failure? Probably not.

Disregarding the predictable nit-picking of right wingers, most of the SERIOUS criticism of Obama seems to be coming from the LEFT, most notably from commentators like Greenwald at Salon, in regards to Obama's controversial decisions about military commissions for detainees, about releasing (or not releasing) Bush-era documents on interrogation practices, and also about his apparent decision not to pursue criminal investigations against Bush-era officials who enabled or committed torture. Several leading economists (Steiglitz, Krugman, Kuttner) have criticized his economic stimulus plan for being too SMALL, and they've also criticized Secty. Geithner's financial bailout plan for being too beholden to Wall Street interests. These are all serious and substantial criticisms that anyone should seriously consider. I don't follow Rall, by the way, but anyone who demands that Obama should resign after 5 months in office pretty much has to be a loon. Meanwhile, the Republicans are making a fuss about condiments and demanding spending cuts that they never managed to make when they controlled both houses of Congress and the White House. Oh, and tax cuts.

[North Dallas Thirty]

Southdakotaboy, when did Obama EVER make an issue out of married couples going out on dates to see broadway shows?

How many married couples take three private jets, one stuffed with media, and untold numbers of helicopters for a one-night trip from DC to New York, all at taxpayer expense and producing immense amounts of evil, evil CO2?

I seem to recall Obama going apocalyptic about private jets, CO2, wasting taxpayers' money, and so forth. But when it comes to actually following through himself, nope.

Next:

"Obama has made key (and controversial) decisions about Gitmo (as you mentioned), about ending torture, about troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about military trials for WOT detainees."

You mean, his "key" decision to reiterate the Bush administration policies that he had screamed during his campaign were "war crimes" and "evil".

Hopenchange, hopenchange!

[mark l.]

"about ending torture"...

excuse me?

still waiting for that congressional ban on waterboarding. it is sucha low hanging fruit, you'd think they'd have picked it.

[lala]

Odinga (O's Kenyan cousin) flew to Iran. What's up?

[Bob]

North Dallas, did right wingers ever express any concerns about what George W. Bush did during his time off, or how he got from D.C. to Texas? Did you ever care before this year how many of the press went along for the ride? I think the Obama's dating habits are one of those things where determined conservatives would find a way to criticize no matter what they did. Like the White House garden. It seems that they're either found to be careless hypocrites on one hand, or uptight, pretentious scolds on the other.

The debate over detainee policies is pretty interesting. As you mentioned, Obama hasn't made as clean a break with some of the Bush policies as some (including me) would have liked -- at least not yet. But from the standpoint of former Bush supporters, shouldn't that be seen as a GOOD thing? So why are you now criticizing him over it? Again, either he doesn't do what the conservatives like and he gets called an arrogant communo-fascist on one hand, or if he does what they conservatives USED to say they liked, then they call him a hypocrite. Again, it just seems that there's no way to please you guys.

But in any case, there is a LOT going on, some good, some not-so-good (as with most politicians). But I think the charge that he's not doing anything is really off-base. And as for a night on the town with his wife? I mean, come on . . .

[mark l.]

bob-

i'm watching the 'no torture' presidency planning on giving a speech in egypt.

maybe you missed the clinton years, but we were actually looking for bin laden. our primary tool? renditon to egypt, where the detained was tortured by the egyptians, with cia officers present.

in the context of obama closing gitmo, and failing to simultaneously address waterboarding et al, by seeking to explcitly ban the practice, suggests that obama is going to pursue the clinton policy.

we outsource torture. any congressional ban would circumvent the full details of inforamtion obtained in the black prisons of egypt. we could produce info, but we could never explain how we got it.

thus, the no torture president would seem to be hedging from his public rhetoric.

i wouldn't offer him much credit on his torture policies thus far, if any. it is his perogative, but 180 degrees differnet from the guy who is planning on giving a speech to the muslim world on how we have a change of heart.

[North Dallas Thirty]

"North Dallas, did right wingers ever express any concerns about what George W. Bush did during his time off, or how he got from D.C. to Texas?"

You and Obama did, Bob, and now Obama is turning right around and doing the same thing.

We thought you had principles and would oppose this regardless of who was in charge. Obviously you don't, because you're a puppet partisan hack who is supporting Obama for doing that for which you lambasted Bush.

"As you mentioned, Obama hasn't made as clean a break with some of the Bush policies as some (including me) would have liked -- at least not yet. But from the standpoint of former Bush supporters, shouldn't that be seen as a GOOD thing?"

You and Obama claimed that those policies were war crimes, evil, and awful, and that anyone who would keep them or in any way support them should be impeached, prosecuted, and imprisoned.

And now Obama is turning right around and doing the same thing.

We thought you had principles and would oppose this regardless of who was in charge. Obviously you don't, because you're a puppet partisan hack who is supporting Obama for doing that for which you lambasted Bush.

[cindi]

What do you think of this? http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/barack_obama_and_the_strategy.html

[Maurice S]

Wait, folks, let's not criticize Obama; he HAS been busy. He's quadrupled our deficits, ran the price of oil and gasoline back up at a rate faster than any time in the past 22 years, threatened the "pitchforks" for our CEO's, politicized the Justice Dept with the release of cases against the New Black Panthers, screwed the GM and Chrysler bondholders in a stunning reversal of contract and bankruptcy law, raised interest rates up in the face of plummeting job markets and falling housing values, had the Exec branch take over the Census, nationalized two car companies, screwed over profitable (?Republican) Chrysler dealers, bumped fists and shared smiles with our best friend in S. America Chavez, bowed deeply to the Defender of the Muslim Holy Places (The Saudi King), managed to piss off our allies the Brits, threatened the Israelis over the bullshit thing of "Settlements" (though said settlements didn't seem to exist before 1948, yet the Arabs STILL found excuses to try to destroy Israel and rejected the UN Partition plan, but that's another story), is trying desperately to fill in the rest of his star-studded cabinet.

Wait, I have to take a breath. It's such a stunning agenda, it IS shameful that we would besmirch our hard-working President over a well-deserved bit of date time in the Big Apple. What the hell, it's what any of us would do in his place, right? Hey, he's for the little guy, the forgotten Man. Think of the tax breaks for the 95% (though it's a bit tarnished since if one fills up one tank of gasoline per week, the savings of the $13 in taxes, that supposedly we get, vanishes in the nearly $1.30/gallon rise in gasoline in our Leader's first 100+ days in office.

Obama is a disgusting hypocrite, as is Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, Frank, Rangel, Holder, and all the rest of the jerks in charge over our lives. I forgot the charitable giver, Joe Biden (what was it, .3 or .6 of his income to charitable deductions? Or less?) At least Biden is funny, while Obama is just sickening.

I DID forget the trip to Vegas and California of Obama's. I shouldn't be surprised that he, the Miracle Worker, can find time for all his other accomplishments and STILL find time to hobnob with the California Limo Liberals and raise some money for the other Dem crooks.

[LOL]

I love the 'arugula' argument. Conservatives must think iowans are dumb hicks or something if u think they didn't know what arugula is?

Ya, only elite bullshit effeminate pussy intellectuals eat healthy foods. Put some fucken iceberg lettuce on my baconator. For soda? Oh no thanks, make my drink a frosty USA USA USA

[LOL]

lol the stupid knows no bounds

" (what was it, .3 or .6 of his income to charitable deductions? Or less?)"

u realize u just wrote that biden gives 30% or 60% to charity. Rofl, bonus stupid for the phrase "charitable deductions".

[lala]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/29/AR2009052902989.html?hpid%3Dopinionsbox1&sub=AR

The Detainee Shell Game

By Jack Goldsmith
Sunday, May 31, 2009

The revelation last weekend that the United States is increasingly using foreign intelligence services to capture, interrogate and detain terrorist suspects points up an uncomfortable truth about the war against Islamist terrorists. Demands to raise legal standards for terrorist suspects in one arena often lead to compensating tactics in another arena that leave suspects (and, sometimes, innocent civilians) worse off.

read more at above link

[southdakotaboy]

Bob, North Dallas hits the nail right on the head. The whole point about our critism is the fact that he says one thing and the openly turns around and does the exact opposite. If you can't see that you are lying to yourself.

[spongeworthy]

Well, I think the point of the post was that the media is covering it differently than when Bush took time off (like he ever really did.) And lefties defend it when they went beserk when Bush did ( didn't) do the same things.

It's the lack of intellectual honesty by the Left and their captive media.