"The president is the president 24 hours a day. I don't think he should drink on the job."That's the opinion of Louisiana woman, after seeing pictures of President Obama enjoying a cold one while court side at a basketball game.
"People are losing 5, 10, 20 thousand dollars a day in the stock market," another woman complained, "and he's sitting there drinking a beer!"
Thanks to WWL down in New Orleans for these zingers.
As for Obama and his beer? Good for him, I say. For the last eight years, we've had a teetotal moralist in the White House and look how that turned out.
It just goes to show, however, that people's morality is deeply screwed up. We're in the midst of a global recession, American troops are dying in foriegn deserts and we're chocking the world with greenhouse gases... Yet it's Obama's beer that sparks distress and condemnation.
Just trying to get my head around that makes me want a beer myself.
10 comments:
Oh please, like Bush (or any other president for that matter) never had a drink while "on the job."I don't think even politicians could get through a night in a room filled with politicians totally sober. ha.
And RYC: Well, thank you, sir! Of course, the cost of inspiration means I get to see said short story.
Wow. That was a lot of unintentional alliteration. I'm done now. :)
OK let me say I understand your point, however I also understand the bigger point. When Bill Clinton had his issues, oral sex among young people went through the roof.
I do fear that in today's, cameras everywhere world, that a president drinking an unimportant beer would have bigger repercussions. Though honestly I have more issues with his smoking habit.
I don't understand why there is so much expected from a president. He cannot be perfect. If he seems to be, then obviously he is hiding a lot, and everybody knows it. What should be asked of him, as of any human being, is to do his job well and be loving to his family. All the rest is of no importance to anybody else but himself.
And not only because it's recession and there are bigger issues to think about, but simply because we should understand a tiny bit about human nature, because we are not children who still believe in super-heroes. I think.
I wish he hadn't had the beer, because it's like a giant commercial for beer, and remember they outlawed drinking beer in beer commercials, so that bothered me -- but I can live with it. I have a much bigger issue with people who complained that he was at the game in the first place. For one thing, let's please remember that the sports industry is huge and it gives a lot of people jobs and it trickles out into the economy big time. So, supporting sports events is a good thing. So is going to the movies. Hollywood revenues are up, incidentally, so what's wrong with that? He's supporting and promoting the things that work, things that America is known for, things we're good at! How can that be bad?
Hey, CK and Claude,
I can see your point - God knows kids DO get influenced by what they see on TV, and their role models doing.
However, the only way to avoid that is to ruthlessly censor and control everything that any public figure does.
Obama drinking one beer responsibly sets a GOOD example. Beer is not evil (it's a magnificent American industry.) It's abusing it which is wrong.
And I know you hate me bringing him up, but the fact that President Bush was a recovered alcoholic who had such a self-destructive relationship with alcohol that he couldn't drink it kind of sets a WORSE example.
Heavy sigh...
First of all, someone who has had an alcohol problem/addiction who openly acknowledges it, gets past it and no longer drinks is not a bad example. Good Lord Roland. How can you believe that is a worse example? For that matter... what does Obama having a beer at a basketball game have to do with Bush not drinking at all?
Secondly, people are always complaining about different things the Presidents do. Don't you remember the stuff about Clinton and his love of McDonalds? George H. Bush and his hatred of broccoli and how people thought he wasn't setting a good example for children?
Do I care that Obama had a beer at a basketball game? No. Do I care that he smokes? No. However, I am concerned with the message some might take from that (mainly children). Not to the point that I think the President should be told he cannot have a drink or smoke in public... but, he might want to take his influence into consideration when deciding where to indulge in those type of things.
Some of the stuff I hear comparing Bush to Obama is so childish.
Hey Coffee Bean - you're right about the Bush thing. Silly thing to write. It just frustrates me, though - his stance as 'moral guardian' that seems to ignore his VERY sordid past. We're all human. We all make mistakes. They don't define us - but we need to acknowledge them.
The whole issue with the beer is that beer isn't a bad thing. In moderation, it's good for you. It's also delicious. The people who are attacking Obama for having a beer and the same sort of people who spend their time bleating about how OTHER people should live their lives without looking at how they live theirs.
Kids and adults do get influenced by their role model's behavior, but decreeing that role models shouldn't smoke/drink/eat McDonalds just blames them for other people's behavior, instead of that behavior being a matter of personal responsibility.
It's like TV. I can't stand how American TV has no sex or nudity on it (but plenty of violence) because it might be seen by kids.
You know what? If parents didn't stick their kids in front of TV, maybe that wouldn't be a problem.
In england, we have the 'watershed' at 9pm. After than, kids aren't supposed to be watching, so we put more adult material on and if kids see it, that's their parents faults - not the TV company.
All this moralising about Obama's beer is further proof that America's a society that's abandoning the concept of freedom (to eat/drink what you want) and personal responsibility and embracing total control of people's lives (banning smoking/trans fat in New York) and relieving people of responsibility for their actions (it's not my fault I drank and drove, my bartender 'overserved' me.)
I've made a couple of screw-ups in my life and I had to accept responsibility and pay the consequences. I think it's time the people complaining about Obama downing a cold one 'manned up' and did the same. This is America, not Disneyland.
You really need to take off your, Bush sucks, glasses.
The fact that a person has a sordid past and becomes president is to be honored, not talked down on. Look at fatherless Obama.
It shows that your past doesn't have to define your future. Not really sure why you are so down on Bush being an idiot as a young man...
You're absolutely right, CK. Coffee Bean's comment made me think that. I've done some BLOODY stupid things in my past. but I've grown from those experiences and become a better person because of them.
So I retract my comment about Bush.
Please, he may be the president, but he's a human being first and foremost. He's at a basketball game and having a good time just like everyone else there.
I don't care that he has a beer. I don't care that he smokes.
I do care that he does his job to the best of his abilities and serves our nation with the citizens best interests at hand.
I'm glad to see that he can attend a game and have a pint and be a regular human being.
Oh, and the Pope never has wine with dinner! HA!
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