Best headline in a month. Good jorb, subby!

Niiice

The world needs ditch diggers.

RobertBruce: The world needs ditch diggers too.



ftfy

Of course McCain is too old and would probably stroke out if he tried to do any kind of work.

I'm sure Obama worked his butt off. No chance that he posed for a couple photos then hopped back in his jet and left.

I'm having a vision. It's November, I see Iowa... and it is BLUE.

/+1 subby

ODDwhun: I'm having a vision. It's November, I see Iowa... and it is BLUE.

/+1 subby

A vision? You don't need a vision for that, it's basically a given at this point.

ScubaDude1960: I'm sure Obama worked his butt off. No chance that he posed for a couple photos then hopped back in his jet and left.

Did more than you.

ODDwhun: I'm having a vision. It's November, I see Iowa... and it is BLUE.

/+1 subby

The flood waters are actually more of a murky brown.

Atillathepun: ScubaDude1960: I'm sure Obama worked his butt off. No chance that he posed for a couple photos then hopped back in his jet and left.

Did more than you.

Maybe he doesn't have a jet. I know I don't.

Yanks_RSJ Maybe he doesn't have a jet. I know I don't


John McCain does.

flavor of the month: Yanks_RSJ Maybe he doesn't have a jet. I know I don't


John McCain does.

So, if McCain had flown in, moved around a few shovels full of dirt, then left, that would be something impressive?

The people impacted by the flooding need actual workers there helping fix things, not politicians there for photo-ops. This is a transparent move no matter which candidate was doing it.

Sounds like God knows what he's doing.

Yanks_RSJ The people impacted by the flooding need actual workers there helping fix things


Obama's filling sandbags and his campaign posted a list of places that need bottled water. McCain issued a press release, and Bush is having tea with the Queen. And your ire is reserved for Obama. You really got to the heart of the issue.

flavor of the month: Obama's filling sandbags and his campaign posted a list of places that need bottled water. McCain issued a press release, and Bush is having tea with the Queen. And your ire is reserved for Obama. You really got to the heart of the issue.

THIS.

Also, Obama dispatched legions of his young college volunteers to help with the relief efforts. I doubt McCain even has legions of young college volunteers to dispatch.

ScubaDude1960: I'm sure Obama worked his butt off. No chance that he posed for a couple photos then hopped back in his jet and left.

He filled "more than fifteen."

How much time does he need to put in before it counts? If he works an hour, well that's only an hour and others there are working around the clock. If he works a day, well isn't he lucky because he gets to get in his cushy jet and fly home at the end of the day while everyone else struggles to find a place to crash.

Be as cynical as you want, but the fact of the matter is Obama is showing up at a place where Americans need help. He's talking to them, and he's setting a good example for the rest of us. If Obama can find time out of his schedule to fill some sandbags, maybe the rest of us can be bothered to do something too. This is how I want a president to behave. It's a good thing.

RobertBruce: The world needs ditch diggers.

What did you call-...

OOoohhh. Ditch diggers. Nevermind.

Man, it's a shame Katrina didn't happen in an election year.

Yanks_RSJ: So, if McCain had flown in, moved around a few shovels full of dirt, then left, that would be something impressive?

For a man who can't even lift his arms over his head?

Yes. Yes it would.

ScubaDude1960: I'm sure Obama worked his butt off. No chance that he posed for a couple photos then hopped back in his jet and left.

Leaders lead by example, not by doing everything themselves. If filling a couple of sandbags helps bring national attention to the disaster (and maybe inspires people to pitch in and help out with whatever time they can spare) then he's done more than most.

speedballtucker: If Obama can find time out of his schedule to fill some sandbags, maybe the rest of us can be bothered to do something too.

Agreed.

I, for one, plan on writing a pithy letter to The New Yorker about this cad McCain and his moral shortcomings.

Funny headline.

It was Caesar himself who inspired and cultivated this spirit, this passion for distinction among his men. ... [H]e showed that there was no danger which he was not willing to face, no form of hard work from which he excused himself.

- Plutarch, on Julius Caesar in Gaul

Atillathepun: ScubaDude1960: I'm sure Obama worked his butt off. No chance that he posed for a couple photos then hopped back in his jet and left.

Did more than you.

How do you know?

Everything politicians do, especially during an election, is spin in some sense.

That said, Obama is showing the right spin. He's not dishing out platitudes ("Our prayers are with the family") or flying over the area in a jet.

This is what I've learned from Obama's "spin" of going to Iowa and shoveling sand:

1) He's in touch with the people directly affected. He's not meeting with the mayor or talking about the tragedy from a room somewhere. He's WITH the people, for however long that is. He's seeing and hearing things from THEIR standpoint.

2) He's asking people, not just government to help out. He has utilized the resources of his web site to mobilize volunteer efforts and Red Cross donations.

3) He's not afraid to do a little hard work. This isn't bush on his mountain bike with a bunch of handlers, he's out there doing grunt work because it needs to be done.

4) He knows how to look Presidential. Whether it's his or his adviser's advice to go shovel sand, it was the right move. Politics is all about appearances, and he knows how to behave like a leader. This is not a guy that is going to embarrass the U.S. when the cameras are on him.

I wonder if during the whole Katrina crisis, Bush got his feet wet even once.

January '09 can't come soon enough.

speedballtucker: ScubaDude1960: I'm sure Obama worked his butt off. No chance that he posed for a couple photos then hopped back in his jet and left.

He filled "more than fifteen."

How much time does he need to put in before it counts? If he works an hour, well that's only an hour and others there are working around the clock. If he works a day, well isn't he lucky because he gets to get in his cushy jet and fly home at the end of the day while everyone else struggles to find a place to crash.

Be as cynical as you want, but the fact of the matter is Obama is showing up at a place where Americans need help. He's talking to them, and he's setting a good example for the rest of us. If Obama can find time out of his schedule to fill some sandbags, maybe the rest of us can be bothered to do something too. This is how I want a president to behave. It's a good thing.

It doesn't matter if he drops out of the race to do disaster relief full-time... it's no reason to vote for him (or not vote for the candidate who doesn't).

/won't be voting for either of them.

speedballtucker: He filled "more than fifteen."

reading most of those comments makes me sad.

Great headline.

In before alt trolls send this thread straight to hell.

ScubaDude1960: /won't be voting for either of them.

Will you be voting at all this election?

ScubaDude1960: How do you know?

Because then you'd have better things to do than posting on Fark.

flavor of the month:

John McCain's wife does.

FTFY

+1, great job subby.

Having done some sandbag work of my own yesterday: 15 sandbags works out to a little over half a truckload. I got there fairly late in the process and that's about how much I ended up doing.

So, yeah, he did real, actual work.

ScubaDude1960: I'm sure Obama worked his butt off. No chance that he posed for a couple photos then hopped back in his jet and left.

i don't care if obama got down there and actually did the physical labor, considering his campaign was raising funds and bringing volunteers to help.

i'd say that probably is a lot more meaningful. he didn't have to get down there and actually help (no matter if he did a little or a lot) to be able to say he had a positive impact.

but you can keep looking for things to be negative about, don't worry, there is something you can find in any situation, even one where the net result is so very clearly a positive.

ScubaDude1960: I'm sure Obama worked his butt off. No chance that he posed for a couple photos then hopped back in his jet and left.

Actually spent about 4 hours filling sand bags in Illinois, inside an area that he currently represents as a legislator.

If I remember correctly Reagan did the same thing in the 80s didn't he? If I remember correctly it was seen at the time as him trying to keep in touch with middle America although afterwards it was seen as a cheap photo-op or something.

I'm not trying to compare the two but just surprised that no one appears to have mentioned it.

photoshop contest!

Oh man, that headline is kinda perfect! :)

I too am glad to see this. I know McCain can't do the physical work though. Also keep in mind that this was in Illinois, not Iowa...not too far from home.

/Obama08

You don't understand! Government doesn't work. Ever. By filling those sandbags, Obama has made the people of Iowa dependent on subsidized government sandbag fillers who probably charge $500 a bag to the American taxpayer. When Obama leaves, the poor Iowans won't have the drive to fill their own sandbags and will be left to the mercy of gay-hating storm fronts! Better to stay away and let them fill their own sandbags so that they can experience a sense of accomplishment that will get them through the next thunderstorm.

And Obama would not have been there if he didn't need votes.

/from Iowa

kleppe: And Obama would not have been there if he didn't need votes.

/from Iowa

Considering he lives in Illinois, and was donig this in Illinois, I'd say that's different.

who says Obama hates America? christ...anyway, good for him for getting out there and helping out the people. yeah...it's definitely a photo-op, but he's still out there helping. however, watching this video made me feel weird. I'm so used to seeing politicians "sending prayers" and "touring the disaster area", that it looked out of place to actually see one HELPING WITH RELIEF EFFORTS.

crazy.

Slick move on Obamas part

But damn, I hate photo ops - and the people who fall for them

/Plastic turkey...shoveling sand - same same

DeRosso: /Plastic turkey...shoveling sand - same same

You can't eat a plastic turkey.
A real sandbag can help hold back the water.

If a Republican filled sandbags, those bags would be filled with sand. But the Democrat Party is the opposite of that. Obama's bags are full of jihad. Liberal traitor. Socialist enema. Hazelnut coffee liberal latte. Commie tomatoe fling whale environmentalist take your guns away doghouse Judy Jew.

godiluvbeer: who says Obama hates America? christ...anyway, good for him for getting out there and helping out the people. yeah...it's definitely a photo-op, but he's still out there helping. however, watching this video made me feel weird. I'm so used to seeing politicians "sending prayers" and "touring the disaster area", that it looked out of place to actually see one HELPING WITH RELIEF EFFORTS.

crazy.

Why help with relief efforts when you can stand on a pile of rubble and shout words of revenge at those responsible for the disaster?



The megaphone is mightier than the sword...

DeRosso: Slick move on Obamas part

But damn, I hate photo ops - and the people who fall for them

/Plastic turkey...shoveling sand - same same

Yeah, Fark the entire NFL, MLB, and NBA for having their players work at soup kitchens on their one day off during the week for their "slick photo ops"

I think John McCain was busy trying to convince people he's not an elitist while fleeing a fundraiser hosted by an Oil CEO that said women being raped should "lay back and take it"

This is yet another example of Obama trying to use McCain's age against him. McCain is severely physically limited and is unable to sandbag due to his injuries as a POW when he was tortured for our nation. Obama does this only so people can remember how old Obama is. Obama hates America. Also, I'm sure those bags were filled with sand from some Islamo nation. Also, while filling those bags I heard he was listening to his iPod which had looping songs of his life mentor Rev. Jeremiah Wright saying God damn America and his wife yelling Whitey.

He is not fit to be president.