First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
You know that awkward moment when someone asks you if you've read a certain book or seen a certain movie and you reflexively say "yes," even though it's not true? And then, when there's a follow-up question, you cop out with something like "Well, it was a long time ago. I don't remember it very well."? Yeah. Your president, ladies and gentlemen:
Barack Obama has a well-documented history of shooting, but until now his target list has been confined to election night "hoops" with his basketball buddies, the odd frame of eight-ball pool, and a record number of rounds of golf at Andrews Air Force base.
When Mr. Obama added clay-pigeon shooting to that list in a bid to reassure American gun owners he would not interfere with their hunting, there were those who wondered if the President might be trying just a little too hard.
"Up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time," Mr Obama breezed to The New Republic magazine, adding he had "a profound respect for the traditions of hunting".
Quick thought at intermission: Barack Obama's relationship with the word "profound" is identical to Joe Biden's relationship with the word "literally." Carrying on:
The White House press corps were soon firing ... questions at Jay Carney, the Obama administration press secretary. "Are there photographs?" the reporters probed, forcing Mr Carney to admit there were none - visibly scrambling to add: "Because when he goes to Camp David, he goes to spend time with his family and friends and relax, not to produce photographs."
Seasoned correspondents could not help observing that the White House photographer, Pete Souza, has taken pictures of Mr Obama engaged in most other known leisure activities – golfing, basketball, ten-pin bowling in the White House alley, even shooting a water-pistol with his girls at Camp David – but not, it seemed, shooting.
"Um, yeah. I don't know. I saw it a long time ago."
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Aug '11
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
Marsha Blackburn has reportedly challenged the President to a skeet-shooting match.
Dear God, I don't ask for much, but please let this happen, and please let it all be captured on video for posterity.
Mar '11
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
"Did I say skeet? I meant skee-ball."
Oct '11
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
Lie about Benghazi, the media collectively yawns.
Lie about skeet shooting...
Nov '10
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
best dollar and eighty I ever spent...
Jan '11
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
Seriously, is this the guy you want with a rifle in his hand?
Mar '11
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
This is interesting not so much because the President's claim is no doubt entirely fictionally but because it illustrates so well how deceit is simply a part of his character, honest conduct is simply foreign to him.
Consider the claim:
It is so completely unnecessary. Would even a single voter have their views on his gun control policies changed because of this statement? The likelihood of any political benefit accruing to him is infinitesimal. The lie comes across not as some calculated deceit but simply habit, this is the type of man he is.
Oct '10
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
This sounded a lot like "some of my best friends are gay" to me. It's not just what he is saying but the guilty tone of it.
Apr '11
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
Troy, I'm skeptical too. I wish the reporter had asked the president some specifics about the guns and ammo he usually uses. That could have been fun.
Even if he does shoot skeet, though, so what? I know people -- Democrats, of course -- who own (or are married to someone who owns) long guns and think that the models of guns they use are fine. But they want a ban on pistols "because they're only used for killing people." Having used a gun doesn't prove that you respect my rights. Ralph Nader and Michael Moore have ridden in cars, that doesn't mean that they don't hate them.
Dec '10
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
Randy Weivoda: Troy, I'm skeptical too. I wish the reporter had asked the president some specifics about the guns and ammo he usually uses. That could have been fun.
Even if he does shoot skeet, though, so what? I know people -- Democrats, of course -- who own (or are married to someone who owns) long guns and think that the models of guns they use are fine. But they want a ban on pistols "because they're only used for killing people." Having used a gun doesn't prove that you respect my rights. Ralph Nader and Michael Moore have ridden in cars, that doesn't mean that they don't hate them.
Let's be fair. They don't hate their cars. They hate our cars, cluttering up their roads!
May '10
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
I want somebody to ask him what model of shotgun he uses, what gauge, and what kind of shells he buys (length and shot size). Anybody who shoots "all the time" knows this stuff off the top of his head and can talk about it without thinking too hard.'
In fact, just ask him to name any shotgun, any shell length, and any shot size reasonable for clay target shooting.
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
DrewInWisconsin: Marsha Blackburn has reportedly challenged the President to a skeet-shooting match.
Dear God, I don't ask for much, but please let this happen, and please let it all be captured on video for posterity.· 1 hour ago
Marsha is the rep for my district in Tennessee. I may have to switch my registration back from California (hell of a lot of good it's doing me here anyway) just to reward the moxy at work here.
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
To Roberto and Randy's point, I also thought that this was just as pointless as it was risible. Is it going to move public opinion one iota that Obama has actually pulled a trigger at some point in his life?
It always irritates me a little that so many people seem to think biography adds gravity to policy opinions (Exhibit A: Chuck Hagel). In fact, I know several people who don't have guns (and don't want them), yet are big Second Amendment supporters. It's more important to understand an issue than to have some relatively meaningless "experience." Lincoln, after all, didn't have the biography of someone you'd expect to be a superb Commander-in-Chief of the military, but he managed to do all right for himself.
By the way, this is still not the most thumbless pander of recent years. That would go to Bill Richardson for claiming to be both a Yankees and a Red Sox fan.
Aug '11
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
Troy Senik, Ed.
Marsha is the rep for my district in Tennessee. I may have to switch my registration back from California (hell of a lot of good it's doing me here anyway) just to reward the moxy at work here. · 42 minutes ago
Here's a news article about that, by the way.
Apr '11
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
Reminds me of the scene in Back to School when Rodney Dangerfield learns his son is neither a brother at the frat nor a member of the diving team. His son says he can explain, when invited to he says "I lied". That is why the press doesn't follow up on such items, the explanation.
Oct '10
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
How much would you bet that Obama later will say that he never said he actually shoots. Kinda like he never said it was the video.
Does anyone remember a candidate caught on the radio lying about being a baseball fan? My memory says that it was a woman who claimed to be a Red Sox fan and the hosts were asking her simple questions about that she could not answer. They weren't trying to trip her up but it showed that she was faking it.
Aug '11
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
The only time Obama sounds like he enjoys talking to people is when he's talking about sports. At all other times he sounds like he'd rather be talking about sports.
May '10
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
Bereket Kelile:
Does anyone remember a candidate caught on the radio lying about being a baseball fan? My memory says that it was a woman who claimed to be a Red Sox fan and the hosts were asking her simple questions about that she could not answer. They weren't trying to trip her up but it showed that she was faking it.
Obama, explaining why he wore a White Sox cap to throw out the first pitch at a Nats game: “I’m a Southside kid, I gotta make sure (White Sox owner) Jerry Reinsdorf doesn’t get to angry with me.”
Sportscaster: “Having played with the White Sox for a short time, I know how the Cubs fans and White Sox fans go back and forth. Who was one of your favorite White Sox players growing up?”
Obama: “You know uh ….. I … I thought that … uh …. you know … the truth is a lot of the Cubs I like too! But, uh … I did not become a Sox fan until I moved to Chicago. Because I uh …. I was growing up in Hawaii so I ended up actually being an Oakland A’s fan.”
Here's the video.
Edited on January 31, 2013 at 2:17amMar '11
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
Mark Wilson
Obama, explaining why he wore a White Sox cap to throw out the first pitch at a Nats game: “I’m a Southside kid, I gotta make sure (White Sox owner) Jerry Reinsdorf doesn’t get to angry with me.”
Sportscaster: “Having played with the White Sox for a short time, I know how the Cubs fans and White Sox fans go back and forth. Who was one of your favorite White Sox players growing up?”
Obama: “You know uh ….. I … I thought that … uh …. you know … the truth is a lot of the Cubs I like too! But, uh … I did not become a Sox fan until I moved to Chicago. Because I uh …. I was growing up in Hawaii so I ended up actually being an Oakland A’s fan.”
Here's the video.
Painful even to read that. See what it proves though, the President's deceits are laughably transparent. So much so that some sportscaster speaking off the cuff manages more investigative reporting in that brief segment than the Washington press corp has managed in the past four years.
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
Bereket Kelile:
Does anyone remember a candidate caught on the radio lying about being a baseball fan? My memory says that it was a woman who claimed to be a Red Sox fan and the hosts were asking her simple questions about that she could not answer. They weren't trying to trip her up but it showed that she was faking it. · 2 hours ago
It sounds like you're thinking of Martha Coakley in the special election for the Massachusetts senate seat after Ted Kennedy died. This was when she famously called Curt Schilling a Yankees fan and mocked Scott Brown for glad-handing outside of Fenway. More here.
There's no good market in America for a politician to bollox local sports knowledge. But there's probably no worse one than Boston.
Oct '10
Re: First President to Let Jay-Z in the White House Somehow Not an Expert on Guns
Troy Senik, Ed.
It sounds like you're thinking of Martha Coakley in the special election for the Massachusetts senate seat after Ted Kennedy died. This was when she famously called Curt Schilling a Yankees fan and mocked Scott Brown for glad-handing outside of Fenway. More here.
Yes, thank you Troy. The host's reaction to that was priceless.
Mark Wilson
Obama: “You know uh ….. I … I thought that … uh …. you know … the truth is a lot of the Cubs I like too! But, uh … I did not become a Sox fan until I moved to Chicago. Because I uh …. I was growing up in Hawaii so I ended up actually being an Oakland A’s fan.”
That's just another great example of Obama as man of the people. And is it any wonder why people don't feel a connection to him?