by Mark Silva
Shoo, fly.
It's a big day at the White House.
President Barack Obama plans to roll out new regulatory recommendations for the nation's shaken financial markets this afterrnoon. Early this evening, in the Oval Office, he will present a presidential memorandum extending rights to gay federal workers.
But this morning, the slug on one AP dispatch is Obama-dead fly.
The president was sitting for a TV interview with CNBC's John Harwood at the Executive Mansion on Tuesday whenObama took matters into his own hands. Annoyed by a persistent fly, the president ordered the bug: "Get out of here."
When it didn't flee, the president waited for the fly to settle, put his hand up and smacked the insect dead in one executive swat. Without missing a beat, Obama asked Harwood: "Now, where were we?"
"Nice,'' Harwood said.
But the president was soliciting yet more applause from his staff, adding: "That was pretty impressive, wasn't it?... I got the sucker."
"Very good,'' said Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.
See the whole show here:
Comments
Finally, a job he's qualified for.
Posted by: Paul | June 17, 2009 9:35 AM
full video about a fly without advertising here
Posted by: dan | June 17, 2009 9:43 AM
It is too bad he couldn't do that to those bums, on Wall Street, that have torpedoed our children's futures, with thievery, hypocrisy, and downright criminality !! Swat them suckers, back to jail, for some good time !! In the meantime, his focus on America's " Deathcare " problems and to regulate the thieves on Wall Street, is extremely encouraging !! President Obama is addressing those important promises that he made to America and at this point, his programs are beginning to show promise !! The Republicans, the Party of NO, is falling apart, before our very eyes. It is of their own doing. The Corporations, in that time, have prospered, to unthinkable examples of Corporate greed !! Does America want to be taken over by the Corporations ? Of course not !! So, let us get out there, talk to our friends and family and promote President Obama's initiatives against the present day version of Healthcare, that can be more accurately labeled, Deathcare !! Let us also remind our fellow citizens of the despicable behavior of those crooks on Wall Street, that severely damaged our economy. President Obama will address those scoundrels, today and I hope it is a return to those regulations, that had prevented the very greed, that caused all of the damage, to our economy !! Repudiate the Republicans' mantra, of; deregulate, deregulate, deregulate !! The mantra of the Party of NO, the Republican Party, some of whose members want to claim, that they aren't really conservatives, now that our nation has repudiated their ideology !! Come on, Republicans, Libertarian or Independents, or what ever label you may want to hide behind, today, join President Obama and the Democratic Party, in righting the wrongs of the last Republican administrations, who are greatly responsible for the present disappointing state of our economy !! That is the only way America will prosper, again, if all parties think of the nation first and their agenda second !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | June 17, 2009 10:10 AM
I was waiting for Limbaugh to declare that it was a conservative fly and demand an apology from Obama.
Posted by: walrus | June 17, 2009 11:25 AM
I was a little disappointed with the video because President Obama didn't take out his wallet to solve the problem.
Posted by: Derek | June 17, 2009 8:03 PM
It woulda been cool if BHO had killed the fly with a shot of dijon mustard. That would have given the right wing nut jobs something to really think about!
Posted by: Allajoke | June 17, 2009 9:27 PM
OK Don. The meltdown had nothing to do with Barney Fife, Chris Dodd, Waters, etc..etc...nor Clinton...nor Congress...nor Acorn...The Federal government's implied financial backing of risky loans and courts coercing banks to write unqualified loans certainly didn't have anything to do with the credit crisis...did it? Nah. It was Bush/Rove/Cheney/Limbaugh. Let's borrow and spend our way out of this! Never waste a good crisis! - Emanuel/H. Clinton
Posted by: Thepartyofowe | June 17, 2009 9:40 PM
North Korea, take note! Hey Kim Jong Il, you wanna wind up a carcass on the White House carpet?
Posted by: Kim | June 17, 2009 11:35 PM
Theparytofowe = Terry
I'll encourage you to revisit the last time I crushed you like a bug on this topic.
Blaming anything but mass deregulation on this financial crisis is ignorant at best, intellectually dishonest at worst.
Want the date, dumb dumb?
Posted by: Bubba ✔ | June 18, 2009 12:33 AM
this fly swat thing makes me like Obama even more. The guy has composure, which counts for a lot... or at least enough self-confidence to try something like that on a major TV show and pull it off; very cool
Posted by: bandit | June 18, 2009 2:29 AM
I really don't like Obama, but I do have to say that it was a really great fly swat. I'm surprised PETA was only disappointed and did not make a huge deal. Then again they probably support him, now if Bush had done that...
Posted by: Zach Vargo | June 18, 2009 10:00 AM
Maybe I am wrong here but doesn't this country have MUCH BIGGER matters to be concerned with than the President killing a fly. Thats just my opinion, "I could be wrong."
Posted by: WW | June 18, 2009 2:30 PM
It is unbelievable that PETA had to get their share of publicity regarding this action. And PETA has the audacity to criticize Obama for acting inhumanely toward a fly. Blows my mind when it has been clear for years that PETA is far from humane in their policies to euthanize everything they can. And they are proud of this stance. What a hypocritical organization and obviously far from transparency in their own agendas. PETA needs to do far more in a humanistic vein before they criticize anyone about a freaking fly.
Posted by: Carol Christie | June 18, 2009 9:44 PM
We all know what flies flock to.
I heard PETA has filed a formal protest on behalf of the fly.
Bubba,
The banking industry is one of the most regulated in the country. Who were two of the most highly regulated institutions? Fannies and Freddie - want to tell everyone how the GSE worked out?
Congress quit making laws on how the banks should make loans, problem could have been averted.
Posted by: Terry | June 18, 2009 10:45 PM
Trickle Down Retread,
Angelo Mozilo sends his love:
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/02/stimulus_job_created_in_washin.html#comments
Posted by: Bubba ✔ | June 18, 2009 11:54 PM
Trickle Dumb,
More good news from the unregulated greed department, probably just the result of too much government interference. Had to go overseas where things were more lenient:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/business/19stanford.html?_r=1&hp
Posted by: Bubba ✔ | June 19, 2009 1:24 AM
Bubba J,
Those posts from March do look like they were off the top of your head or from inside your head which doesn't have much there either
Stanford's little Ponzi scheme was caught by regulators - the SEC. This had nothing to do with mortgages being lent to people that could not afford to have one.
As they say in tennis - GAME, SET, MATCH.
When in a hole, put down the shovel.
Posted by: Terry | June 19, 2009 7:52 PM
Stanford is a reference to the greed issue you didn't understand in March, nor now.
Thanks for the game, I've enjoyed giving you a lesson.
Posted by: Bubba ✔ | June 19, 2009 10:08 PM
Bubba,
The only lesson I learned was that your parents wasted their money on your education.
Stanford's Ponzi scheme is small potatoes compared to the one the gov't runs. It's called Social Security.
Once again, put down the shovel.
Posted by: Terry | June 20, 2009 8:00 PM
It's all a conspiracy!
Watch this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oohYUwMuypc
This is the truth! Don't believe the official version!
Posted by: TheRealTruth | June 21, 2009 10:54 AM
Did you see how fast obama killed that fox news fly ?
Posted by: carlo etienne | June 21, 2009 10:40 PM