Drop And Give Me Fifty, Or, A Rare Defense Of Obama

So did Obama deliver an oral sex joke at his gay and lesbian fundraiser in LA? Members of the press and audience seemed to think so:

He warmed up with some jokes about the first lady’s appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show. “Michelle outdoes me in pushups as well,” he said, after saying that she’s taken some criticism on her technique “because she doesn’t go all the way down” – a line that he let hang, naughtily, provoking laughter from the crowd.

Hmm. Ann Althouse runs a poll, and some shrewd observers and commenters on the human condition note that sometimes a pushup is just a pushup, and that the traditional conclusion to any pushup contest is "you didn't go all the way down".

Well, let's go to the videotape!  The contest in question was on February 3, 2012, and blogger Valentine Odika wrote this:

First Lady Michelle Obama made an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Thursday, February 2, and challenged Ellen to a friendly push-up competition and outdid her by five! Both women flung off their dress coats and hit the floor, pumping up and down, side-by-side to cheers from the crowd. The contest was watched by a studio audience that counted the lifts out loud and cheered when Michelle won.

Yes, Michelle won but neither one of them was doing a real push-up, and Michelle didn't go all the way down as suppose to as Ellen did. Ellen did it military style (like a man) compared to Michelle. Its all fun anyway :)

Actually, Ellen was doing the challenging, and got a nice 90 degree angle to her arms on the way down. Michelle was a bit slack, but if Ms. Degeneres complained, it is not on the tape. Maybe in a booth review she realized she had been had.

So the facts are on Barack's side. So about last night - its a tough call, since the reaction of the press and some of the audience shows they knew what they heard. Is our President crass, or clueless?

As additional evidence, he did flip off both McCain and Hillary during the 2008 campaign, so a flashback to his less decorous Choom Gang days can't be ruled out.

 

Comments

[peter]

Dear blog leader,
If you have any concerns that our President might be crass, HE IS.

[Thomas Collins]

Brilliant campaign technique by Axelmessplouffe. Maneuver so that the rest of the campaign focuses on how good a raunchy comedian Obama is.

[Porchlight]

WTH. The audience laughed, did they not? They thought he made a sexual joke. So either he's totally clueless, or the audience got his intended meaning loud and clear.

[Captain Hate]

Whether he did or didn't mean it (LOL that anybody doesn't think that the world's biggest narcissist isn't 100% aware of everything he does) it'll be good to have somebody in the White House who doesn't feel the need to go on the unbelievably unfunny Ellen's garbage show.

[Cecil Turner]

Maybe they were just laughing at the implication that he was straight.

[You did not go there]{Oh yes I did!}

Hey, it was a trashy story to begin with.

[NK]

I read this post. I threw up alittle in my mouth. That is all.

[Threadkiller]

"Going down all the way ain't what it's cracked up to be!"

[peter]

Is 2009 to 2013 the longest four years ever? Time just drags with this putz in the WH.

[Sue]

Crass.

[Ignatz]

--(LOL that anybody doesn't think that the world's biggest narcissist isn't 100% aware of everything he does)--

Yep.

[Rick Ballard]

Fair and balanced -

MSNBC Report on OBama raising $60 million

MSNBC Report on Romney raising $76 million

[NK]

TomM-- can we please get that Estonia bitch slaps Krugman thread now?

[hit and run]

Obama $60M and Romney $76M?

Obama didn't go to Wisconsin to support Barrett because he's pissed someone other than himself was getting campaign donations -- and for a recall election Democrats chose out of hate and fear, not logic or strategy -- and never had a hope of winning.

I don't blame Obama for being pissed. He deserves to be pissed. Someone ask him if he's pissed. He should let it out. Keeping it bottle up will only make it worse.

[Sue]

Apparently there is high drama in the House today. Fast & Furious is the topic.

[jimmyk]

I vote for "both." Can I do that?

[GMAX]

Rick

You will like this one, Jen Rubin thinks Obama is gutting the Democrat Party. Here:

Obama also has wrecked havoc in the the Democratic Party. He’s firmly affixed the “tax and spend” label to it after Bill Clinton declared that the era of big government was over. He’s made Clinton into a pitch man for Mitt Romney. His rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline has split the party. His refusal to adopt the Simpson-Bowles commission’s recommendations has turned Democrats into reactionaries, defending the status quo on entitlements. He’s alienated Jewish voters. He’s re-McGovernized the party, which now stands for appeasing despotic powers, turning on allies and slashing defense spending.

As Ross Douthat wrote, “House Republicans have spent the past two years taking tough votes on entitlement reform, preparing themselves for an ambitious offensive should 2012 deliver the opportunity to cast those same votes and have them count. The Senate Democrats, on the other hand, have failed to even pass a budget: There is no Democratic equivalent of Paul Ryan’s fiscal blueprint, no Democratic plan to swallow hard and raise middle class taxes the way Republicans look poised to swallow hard and overhaul Medicare. Indeed, there’s no liberal agenda to speak of at the moment, beyond a resounding ‘No!’ to whatever conservatism intends to do.”

Not even Jimmy Carter did this much, I would suggest, to jerk his party to the left and hobble its electoral prospects. No wonder Clinton is on a rampage.

Rather than spin endless excuses and blame it all on money, liberal elites might want to reconsider tying themselves too tightly to Obama’s mast. They have already become quite whiny and sacrificed a good deal of intellectual rigor in trying to defend every misstep as brilliant and every loss as a win.

[GMAX]

Obama raised $60 MM and George Clooney was responsible through his house fundraiser for $15MM of that? 25% (OR MORE) came from Hollywierd elitists? Now I need to see the spin where the 1% is the really the 99%. /sarc /sarc /sarc ( can somebody shut this thing off?).

[jimmyk]

Jen Rubin thinks Obama is gutting the Democrat Party.

Maybe rather than the Ayers Manchurian candidate, Obama is really a secret agent for the Koch brothers' plot to destroy the Democrats. It seems to be working.

[Porchlight]

Rather than spin endless excuses and blame it all on money, liberal elites might want to reconsider tying themselves too tightly to Obama’s mast.

Too late. The Blue Dogs are nearly extinct and the leftists remaining are in agreement with Obama. What else do they have left? They'll be punished for mutiny, so they might as well all go down with the ship together.

[MarkO]

Obama is the most calculating politician since Nixon. Of course he meant it. It's a piece with his sophomoric attitude about everything.

Maybe he could be misunderstood if this had been delivered at the Chamber of Commerce convention. But, oral sex is the staple of the congregation to which he was preaching.

All 2% of America.

[bgates]

It appears opinion is divided on whether Obama made a crass joke at a fundraiser.

I suppose we should concentrate on criticizing him based on his obscenely high (and unprecedented!) deficits, the highest unemployment rates in a generation, his provisioning of weaponry to foreign criminals in a sociopathic scheme to curtail American civil liberties by promoting an increased murder rate near the border, his encouragement of racial hostility, his insults to important allies, dismissiveness towards smaller allies, and betrayals of allies whose alliances with us had put them at risk, his obsequiousness towards America's enemies, his apology tours, his grossly unconstitutional and unaffordable signature legislation, his galling combination of arrogance and ignorance, of class warfare rhetoric and plutocratic lifestyle, of demands that we sacrifice while he golfs, vacations, and parties with celebrities, his exploitation of national security secrets for his own aggrandizement, his contempt for the Constitution he swore to defend and for the American people whose government he heads, and the several facts that he throws like a girl, he's a liar, he's not that smart, and he ate a f*cking dog.

[BumperStickerist]

Tom,

It's the pause that makes the statement an oral sex joke.

-

[MarkO]

See what hard work it is to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear?

[Ignatz]

--Maybe rather than the Ayers Manchurian candidate, Obama is really a secret agent for the Koch brothers' plot to destroy the Democrats. It seems to be working.--

clarice and I were speculating on there being a counter agent running his campaign but maybe you're right jimmy. Maybe Barry himself is the mole.

[Captain Hate]

I hate to agree with Jen Rubin on anything. Maybe it was that once in a lifetime plus of Venus passing in front of the sun.

[centralcal]

Bravo, bgates!

[NK]

charly-- it is black and white. a disgusting politician getting cheap laughs from the high Priests and Priestesses of the Hollywood porno culture. If you refuse to see that, you're willfully blind. The Hollywood types don't even deny the porno culture anymore, they revel in it. So 'Bam sucks up to it, and rakes in the filthy lucre from them. Even child porn is a staple of that culture-- see Time Magazine and Madmen last week.

[Captain Hate]

charly sounds really upset. And snotty. But mostly upset.

[GMAX]

So do we at least have the small benefit on never having to hear about Obama raising a $1 B campaign fund again? It was nonsense from the start, he has never once hit the milestones required to be on pace for anywhere near that number, and now that its just one candidate the Republican is outraising him. And I will guarantee Romney's burn rate wont be as profligate as Zero's either.

[NK]

GMAX-- according to WS, Romney has $107M cash right now. 'Bam is not going swamp Mitt with a money advantage. Another thing, $60M in May? that included a big Gay push after 'Bam came out of the marriage closet. Methinks, other than Gays and Hollywood, 'Bam is going to suck wind fundraising. No pun of course....

[BumperStickerist]

I would bet my home in Estonia that Charly pronounces that mystifying new word "duh-bull on-tahn-dra"

-

and, if it was a doobluh ahntahnd, then, yes - it was a blowjob joke.

Unless Noted Orator Obama engaged in a Freudian Slip while making the statement in question.
_

[Clarice]

Crass OR Clueless? I have to pick just one?

[Rick Ballard]

I believe we're dealing with the incredible brainpower concentrated within the truly awesome Pinhead Troika rather than any outside agency. When the group at the top is not simply stuck but super glued and spot welded to stupid there are going to be public manifestations of the fact. The damage to the Democrat Party could be overcome on one level with the Pinhead Troika passing from power but the damage from the Great OPM Famine is going to cripple any rebuilding efforts.

The GOP needs to stay the hell away from the true Blue Hells in this election. There is absolutely no political benefit to be derived from adding Blue Hell client seats until the electorate within the Blue Hell rejects the vicious cycle in favor the more virtuous approach taken in Wisconsin.

[Porchlight]

I agree Rick. Do not get involved. For years libs could blame all California's troubles on Ahnold. Let them drown in their self-made misery.

[NK]

RickB@12:03-- I agree-- the national Repubs should boycott Calif, Ill, Ct., Md, RI, NY, Ma. until those states reform themselves or go bust, whichever happens first. Let the Dems OWN those states-- the people will remember who bankrupted them. And NO State bailouts-- the state unions got their dough already in the STIMULUS! NO MORE DOUGH!

[Captain Hate]

Rick needs to copyright Pinhead Troika; I can see it being very popular in the next 5 months and beyond. I can't think of a single post of his which hasn't been prescient over at least the last three years.

[Jane]

The democrat Cohen at the Holder hearing is spending his 5 minutes asking about Krogers. Here comes Chavetz.

[Jim,MtnView,Ca,USA]

"spot welded to stupid"
Nicely phrased!
Anyone else notice there are some gifted writers on this blog? :)

[narciso]

Cohen, that was the twit ,who circulated that
'Pontius Pilate, was a governor, Jesus was a community organizer' meme,

[Melinda Romanoff]

Jim-

I get my best stuff here. Shamelessly stolen.

[Jane]

Chavetz asks a question and Jackson Lee interrupts. Half the people in this room should be impeached and jailed. Chavetz ask holder to sit and talk about these issues and Holder tells him to pound sand.

Holder is lying thru his teeth.

[NK]

The quote above is a perfect example of why Frum is an ignorant schmuck. The Euro and EU economic integration made perfect economic sense from a currency and economic growth perspective. of course the theoretical virtues of the Euro project were swamped by the wall of debt created by lazy PIIGS citizens and their enabling PIIGS politicians and greedy German industrialists/unions, so the theory falls apart. Thatcher was a realist who foresaw that the theory would fail because of cultural reasons, so schmucks like Frum branded her a racist and bigot. The WSJ's optimism in rational economics failed to appreciate the depths of Euro cynicism. Frum is completely wrong, the EU has a debt and govenment spending and cradle to grave socialism problem, which all manifest themselves in the currency debacle.

[pagar]

What "about Krogers", is Krogers selling guns to Mexico now?

[jimmyk]

"Maybe Barry himself is the mole."

And if so, doesn't even know it.

[Captain Hate]

What could go wrong with having Jackass-Lee carrying your water?

[BumperStickerist]

any bets on when Obama drops a "that's what she said" line at a fund-raiser?

_

[DublinDave]

The Presidents attempt at humour was a calculated move to improve his dwindling numbers among males.

One of the biggest sexual problems facing males between the ages of 25-75 is the refusal of their better halves to go to the candy shop and lick the lollipop.

It was a Presidential nudge and wink that says "See,i'm a guy,just like you.I feel your pain."

It's a smart move.

[Neo]

Obesity in America: To Win, We Have to Lose Government

Caught this headline today and thought that the piece missed the metaphor.

We have not just a fat government, but an “obese government.”
You don’t fix an “obese government” with “binge spending.”

I’m don’t think Michelle Obama would recommend that an obese person have a little “caloric stimulus” to help them lose weight.

[Ignatz]

--Yet they insist on treating today's economic crisis as a repeat of 1979-81—and Europe's agony as a debt crisis (which it isn't), not a currency crisis (which it is).--

Frum is an utter moron.
Of course Europe's agony is a debt crisis. That debt crisis is creating, or more accurately, exposing the currency crisis that had always lurked at the heart of the Euro project.

I wish Frum would just call admit he's a Dem so they could take full credit for his idiocies.

[pagar]

I guess one can disregard the comment I put up on the Wednesday Gloating thread, Apparently every thing is safe for work if the president says it.

[NK]

To bratty Charly-- DD@12:36 proves the point. 'Bam was playing to his pornopeddling hosts, his lame joke was obvious, no nuance there. To Hollywood/liberal Dems, it's all about the blow jobs. That's their culture, they revel in it.

[NK]

Ig@12:39-- spot on.

[Captain Hate]

I wish Frum would just call admit he's a Dem so they could take full credit for his idiocies.

Then he'd lose his utility as a "reasonable Republican" that the MFM can point to as a counter to those icky Tea Party people. Like a straight and slightly more overweight (subject to check) Excitable Andi.

[narciso]

'It's a floor wax, and a desert topping,'
Ignatz, Frum has passed the Iowahawk zero barrier, a goal last attained by Buckley fils,
nominally in nonfiction, but now with his latest DOA roman a clef, that takes undue
cheap shots at Coulter, and others.

[Ignatz]

--The Presidents attempt at humour was a calculated move to improve his dwindling numbers among males.--

By making an oral sex joke at a gay fundraiser?
Takes a bright boy indeed to think that's a smart move to regain the men's vote.
At least dummydave inadvertently admits the effeminate, mom jeans wearing, throws-like-a-girl Barry has a yawning gender gap problem.

[DublinDave]

To bratty Charly-- DD@12:36 proves the point. 'Bam was playing to his pornopeddling hosts, his lame joke was obvious, no nuance there. To Hollywood/liberal Dems, it's all about the blow jobs. That's their culture, they revel in it.

You seem kind of tense,NK.

You o.k?

[NK]

CH-- AndiPandi has packed on alot of lbs. He's not the svelt rugby player he once was, sprinting down the wing for the greater glory of ole' Oxford U!

[Ignatz]

--Then he'd lose his utility as a "reasonable Republican" that the MFM can point to as a counter to those icky Tea Party people.--

Good point CH. It always pays better to be a 'maverick' Republican than just another face in the vast Dem mediaplex.

[Jim Ryan]

Conservatives can't discern shades of grey and are too inflexible to cope with changing circumstances. You can google that. Plus, the guy we get our weed from down at Occupy's mom is a psych prof and she says they're thinking of calling it a mental disability. For reals!

Plus this guy I know's dad says there's no overregulations or uncertainty (not really sure about what it means, I mostly skimmed the links). He blogs a lot over at Kos and Huffpo and knows exactly what he's talking about trust me.

There's a cool thread right now over at DU about how the 80's boom was mainly a result of the Carter reforms so I got to get back now.

[narciso]

Of course, polling the stupid, is never a good deal;

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2012/06/cnn-poll-george-w-bush-only-living-ex.html

[NK]

It's fabulous to watch the cynical old Lefties try to educate the idealistic young aspiring Lefties. The younguns' are taught in public school, college and by mass media that we conservatives are a dull and scolding lot, with no cool life experiences, and we make up cultural bogeyman because we lack nuance and imagination of the cool Left. so the younguns are taught to scoff at us and lecture us that we just don't understand. the old Lefties know what's going on, so they try to slowly let the younguns know that the Leftist culture really is as corrupt, cynical and corrosive as we say it is, but it's OK to be corrupt and cynical. Very few of the american younguns become corrupted old Lefties, for obvious reasons. That's why DD is so cynical and sarcastic.

[Thomas Collins]

Is there a pattern I, in my naivete, am missing to the recent posts on oral sex, extended erections and nutrition?

[matt]

When the Euro was implemented I remember the shops in Germany simply changing the prices from DM's to Euros, which was an immediate 40% price increase as I recall. A lot of Europeans were very upset about the jolt in consumer prices at the time.

Suddenly, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, which were very reasonable in many price categories, went skyrocketing.

Long ago I learned that the only purchases to make in the UK were specialty items or books at Foyle's where one could not find them anywhere else. The prices were the same in dollars or in pounds. Something that cost $1 = 1 Pound Sterling.

Another factor that helped the European economy at the time was the hundreds of billions of Punts, Lira, Francs, DM's and other currencies came out of mattresses and went into real estate and other investments before the switch.

So from the outset there were serious market distortions. Spain had to borrow at @ 6.07% today and it was a victory only in that Spain could actually sell their bonds.

Conversation with colleagues in China last night and manufacturing there is down 30% this year. Sales of heavy equipment have fallen as well as industrial materials. Their solar industry is cratering. That's one reason the Central Bank cut rates.

But if demand isn't there there is no impetus to build more empty factories or apartment buildings. Eventually that whole supply-demand equation takes control.

The ECB and now Bernanke are teasing the markets, but there is no substance being given to the tease. Will they or won't they QE is no way to run a global economy especially when it's being funded by buying in either Russian Railway stock ca. 1918 rated European bank/sovereign debt or the Fed buying treasury debt.

Eventually the markets catch on to the fact that the ECB and Fed are holding great big empty sacks of nothing. Which brings me to Obama.

He has a history of crude gestures, whether it is the bird slyly flipped during a speech or his faux pas at the LBGT dinner last night. He is a puerile punk. Remember, this crowd revels in Ru Paul or Bette Midler crassness.

[NK]

Matt@1:01-- a tour de force. from currency merger distortions, to QE fallacies to Ru Paul all in one comment. I am in awe. Best part-- you nailed the bottom line-- 'Bam is a punk. He obviously always talked his way out of a well-deserved beating in the Ponahu schoolyard back in the day. Pity.

[NK]

matt-- one small quibble with your 1:01. there is no "solar industry" in China or anyhere else-- there are only solar subsidies and cronyism.

[lyle]

Michele doesn't "go all the way down," huh? How could she? Ins't there already a media person servicing the JEF pretty much 24/7?

[narciso]

What was it they used Cee lo Green at one of the fundraisers, right before he came on stage, who chose the unexpurgated version of
one of his songs, Sean 'Puff' Daddy, even took a slap at Sarah, saying there were no 'black people in Alaska' so how he could she relate. Of course, as I recently found out,
Anchorage has an even more ruthless chapters
of the Crips and Bloods.

[dublindave]

"At least dummydave inadvertently admits the effeminate, mom jeans wearing, throws-like-a-girl Barry has a yawning gender gap problem."

The President's a cold hearted mother fucker who arbitrarily murdered an entire terrorist organisation.Juxtapose that with Dubya's fear-filled eyes as he desperately clutched his copy of my pet goat on 9/11. Review the video,Georgie literally looks like he's pissing his pants.

We don't need to 'macho' Obama up,we just need to make him more relatable.

Less arugula,more brewski.

[NK]

The old Lefties need to practice their sarcasm-- they are gonna need it in 2013 when there is a conservative House/Senate, an accommodating POTUS signing the budget cut bills, and the EPA is reined in.

[dublindave]

"Michele doesn't "go all the way down," huh? How could she?"

Don't you think that she has a patriotic duty toward the President of the United States?.

I know it runs counter to her National campaign,but not everything you put in your mouth has to be nutritionally benificial.

[narciso]

And the million dollar contribution from Maher, that says it all.

[Captain Hate]

murdered an entire terrorist organisation

LOL

[matt]

some of the world's largest solar factories are in China. SunTech builds 1.2Gw/year in one factory, which is massive.

They were dependent upon subsidies, but now that most of those have run out and with the massive capacity increases in the expectation of continuing growth, these companies are all in deep doo doo, as is First Solar who built 300Mw in Malaysia that isn't able to produce a working module yet. The fallout is going to be huge.

[NK]

Keep it up DD. keep showing bratty Charly what the culture of the Left really is like. crude, unserious, misogynistic, sarcastic, hateful and ultimately self-destructive.

[NK]

Matt@1:32-- I agree; there are factories, massive ones, but there is no industry. Only subsidies, but now that the EU/USA Dems have run out of OPM, the fallout is here and now.

[narciso]

Or how about that manufacturer of electric car batteries, that the Russians just took over, after significant stimulus funds.

[Ann]

This isn't the first time Obama told a crude, coded going down joke, member this:

“What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? A pit bull is delicious!”

[narciso]

Now this is more disturbing

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/right-wing-extremists-cultivate-horthy-cult-in-hungary-a-836526.html

[Porchlight]

Ha, Ann!

[Captain Hate]

Btw, what fundraisers is Preznit Kardashian appearing at today?

[NK]

Fundraisers, how many?-- what's the over/under for today-- 5?

[narciso]

Ah, about that, they're complaining there's no Jennifer Brunner in Ohio, anymore;

http://thecypresstimes.com/2010/02/24/secretary-of-state-project/

[Ignatz]

--We don't need to 'macho' Obama up--

Even this one where he's 'murdering' terrorists vicariously;

What color is the sky in weeDavey world?

[NK]

Ig-- many thanks for those photos. Still laughing. BHO is really a softie-- to put it mildly.

[matt]

and I think the Village Person who dressed up as a cop is just as guilty! Standards must be upheld! Harrumph!

[Rick Ballard]

"The fallout is going to be huge."

We're just lucky Solyndra killed the SkyDragon here before the subsidies spread much beyond the rotting Blue Hells. I rather enjoy reading the amounts paid per kWh in the Blue Hells which dedicated themselves to Air Taxes.

Even after the majority of the electorate makes it crystal clear the morbid obesity of the government is electorally unsustainable the subjects in Blue Hells will be stuck with utility rates which reflect their childlike credulity. That's altogether fitting, IMO.

[boatbuilder]

Intersting, Dave. How did you feel when you found out about 9/11? And what was your immediate response plan--the within 20 seconds response plan? Were you as gleeful then as you are now?

[NK]

BTW-- in the bicycle photo, what is sticking out of the back of 'Bam's bike? I hope it's a trailer...

[NK]

Completely OT-- does 'Bam really want to win in 2012? I mean as bad as he wanted 2008? Right at the end of this year the debt limit is breached again. So the budget cut/taxes debate happens agains. Does 'Bam want to lower himself into that real governing issue again? I wonder.

[Rob Crawford]

What color is the sky in weeDavey world?

Have you considered that's what DuDa considers masculine?

[Stephanie]

Was he saying Ellen was disappointed Michelle didn't go down on her or on him? It can be read two ways.

Maybe we now know why Michelle was tasked with replacing the carpets in the WH.

[Rob Waters]

He made an oral sex joke about Palin at the WH Correspondents' dinner -- it caught Michelle by surprise so badly that she almost did a spit take.

[MarkO]

Iggy, the top picture is a tell.

[Ignatz]

--Was he saying Ellen was disappointed Michelle didn't go down on her or on him? It can be read two ways.--

Yeah, Steph, I read it the former way myself.

[Porchlight]

Iggy, the top picture is a tell.

I had forgotten all about that one. Thanks Iggy for the reminder. Sheesh.

[NK]

Ig-- OK thanks. now I have the visual if I want to spontaneously throw up in my mouth... thanks.

[NK]

that top photo.. oh boy.

[Ignatz]

--Iggy, the top picture is a tell.--

Of domestic abuse? Yeah, I could totally see Michelle going all Attica on Barry. Who wouldn't like to?

[Threadkiller]

Looking for a "tell?"

Who sits that close on a full size couch?

[NK]

the top photo-- Barry O' not only throws like a 9yo girl, he has the same bodylanguage. That is all.