TELEPROMPETER ARUGULA DIJON TEABAG SPOCK SPOCK SPOCK

I'll give them points for this. That's a pretty funny PS.

That said, the rest is complete whargaarbl. He's a Trekkie. He's the president. His house has a freaking screening room (that I bet is pretty biatching). Is it particularly unreasonable to ask for that? fark, if I had a fraction of the resources and influence I'd try to fenagle that.

Also.. um.. "Ubermensch-in-Chief?" What the fark?

They were even shooting down the people who tried to bring in a sense of perspective on the issue; then they tried to frame it in "ZOMG He leaked it to the press!!!!111"

Now that's what I call entertainment!

I could tell just from the 'shop what way the article was going to go and clicked X.

Let the man watch a movie already! Geeze, he needs a little down time every once in a while. Besides, can the Secret Service really do their job in a dark theater? Night vision glasses and all, but still...

Yeah, because schlepping down to the local DC cineplex with 50-odd USSS agents in tow, practically shutting the whole joint down for security purposes, running a motorcade there and back, etc. is more cost-effective than asking the studio to FedEx you a copy.

Riiiight.

Requesting first run movies has been a long standing White House tradition going back many years. President Truman loved westerns and had a standing request that the studios send him the latest releases. How is this any different? It's not like President Obama can readily attend a showing at a public theater without a lot of kerfluffle. Movie studios/Hollywood has done this for years.

from Wiki:

President Ronald Reagan referred to [Back to the Future] in his 1986 State of the Union Address when he said, "Never has there been a more exciting time to be alive, a time of rousing wonder and heroic achievement. As they said in the film Back to the Future, 'Where we're going, we don't need roads.'" When he first saw the joke about him being president, he made the projectionist of the theater stop the reel, roll it back, and run it again.

Somehow, I doubt that I could get the projectionist at my local theater to replay my favorite scene in the middle of a movie, no matter how nicely I asked.

Considering the White House has its own movie theater, you'd think that Paramount would merely need to burn another copy of a studio screener and FedEx it to the White House.

Bathia_Mapes: How is this any different?

Because they didn't know this, or they are hoping the American public doesn't know this. Still, fake outrage is fake.

You know who else could have used a private screening? That's right..

No, they're right. He just should have made the Secret Service take over an entire movie theater.

No WAY these same guys would have complained about that.

/rolls eyes

These guys really think this small ball is going to bring them back to power? Spicy mustard and Star Trek, that's the ticket!

sirgrim: You know who else could have used a private screening? That's right..

NICE. I loled heartily.

All the Presidents do this.

But I'm glad that Obama is picking the sci-fi movies. NERD!

/I say this with love
//being a nerd myself, obviously
///haven't seen the Star Trek though... I'm not a sci-fi nerd

The first film shown in the white house was in 1915

Link (new window)

They're going to get so crazy that there will be one person left on the Right screaming DARKSIDED! That will constitute the republican base.

....because Presidents and theaters historically don't. mix.

Wow in power for less than 3 months and he has already had time to have a theatre put in. Now I am impressed.

Hypocrites.

http://www.presidentialufo.com/reagan_spielberg.htm (copy&pasta)

Probably it won't hurt the President for the Republicans to remind everyone that he watched the most popular movie at the box office this weekend, just like everybody else.

Actually, it directly contradicts the "OMG! ELITIST! GREY POUPON!" narrative they've been trying to establish. Idiots.

"ELITIST! POPULAR ACTION MOVIE-WATCHING ELITIST!"

It could possibly dovetail with what they're trying to do if he requested something by Jean-Luc Godard. Instead they've just established that the President likes burgers and action movies, just like 99% of all Americans.

Rainbowtyedye: Besides, can the Secret Service really do their job in a dark theater? Night vision glasses and all, but still...



Not very well. We had one of the newer models of NODs in Iraq (the PVS-14s), and they are not the magical gadgets that Hollywood make them out to be.

That's a pretty good simulation of what things actually look like. It's like looking through a green-lit toilet paper tube. Your peripheral vision and depth perception are shot completely to hell, and you'll notice how blurry the .50 caliber machinegun is in the foreground compared to the buildings in the background. The Depth of Field is VERY limited, and you're constantly fiddling with the manual focus.

Plus, everything is hazy and grainy. It's not optimal conditions for picking out someone trying to discretely draw a weapon.

Occam's Chainsaw: Yeah, because schlepping down to the local DC cineplex with 50-odd USSS agents in tow, practically shutting the whole joint down for security purposes, running a motorcade there and back, etc. is more cost-effective than asking the studio to FedEx you a copy.

Riiiight.

This.

The only way he'd watch a movie in peace would be without other people in the building. Security, excitable fans, commotion, no, its better to give a president, any president, even Bush, privacy, when they go to a movie.

What flavor of outrage would you like today?

Just because Bush Jr. was happy (giddy, actually) to watch The Little Mermaid on DVD over and over as if he'd never seen it before doesn't mean that other presidents wouldn't like to see an actual theatrical release ;)

FTFA: I suppose if I was the ruler of the free world, I'd want it too.

I couldn't read past the first sentence. He would do it too? What is the problem. (Maybe I should try to get past that one sentence.)

They do realize that their claims of FASCISTO-SOCIALISM would have a bit more heft if they didn't get just as upset over teleprompters, spicy mustard, a round of golf, arugala, flag pins, beer at a basketball game, Star Trek, and not wearing a jacket in the Oval Office, right?

Oh, that's right...that means the GOP would have to actually think critically about an issue for once.

I guess Obama read the article that they're Socialist now.

Whenever you read stories about Caesars Tiberius, Nero or Caligula, remember this article. Try to imagine what people would think 2,000 years from now if only someone's political enemies wrote the history.

That's all this is. It doesn't matter that it's utter nonsense. Repeat it enough times with enough outrage in your voice, and some part of the population will buy it and repeat the stories - preferably adding outrageous details along the way, as people tend to do. Hundreds of years from now, it will be common knowledge that he demanded the cast appear to act the scenes out for him, and greeted them dressed as Uhura.

Imagine the movie company execs thinking:

"An immensely popular President requests a private screening of a film based on a TV series usually associated with Geeks, not attractive political superstars? Send him two copies, with a ll the extras and director commentary!"

Sgt Otter: from Wiki:

President Ronald Reagan referred to [Back to the Future] in his 1986 State of the Union Address when he said, "Never has there been a more exciting time to be alive, a time of rousing wonder and heroic achievement. As they said in the film Back to the Future, 'Where we're going, we don't need roads.'" When he first saw the joke about him being president, he made the projectionist of the theater stop the reel, roll it back, and run it again.

Somehow, I doubt that I could get the projectionist at my local theater to replay my favorite scene in the middle of a movie, no matter how nicely I asked.

Considering the White House has its own movie theater, you'd think that Paramount would merely need to burn another copy of a studio screener and FedEx it to the White House.

I thought the better joke in that scene was, "Who's the First Lady, Jane Wyman?" Nice subtle joke, still cracks me up.

crab66
What flavor of outrage would you like today?

Heroin

In the fantasy world of conservatives, presidents are good ol' boys who just hop in the car anytime they please and head out to go bowling or see a movie or stop by the local pub for a burger with ketchup. They don't worry about security and act like pussy liberals by having the Secret Service follow them everywhere.

If John McCain was president he'd just hop in the Model T with his wife and drive on over to the local cinema if he wanted to see a moving picture show. A real leader doesn't need security details because everyone loves him.

Bathia_Mapes: Requesting first run movies has been a long standing White House tradition going back many years. President Truman loved westerns and had a standing request that the studios send him the latest releases. How is this any different?

Obama is one of them there Negroes. Conservatives don't like Negroes. Conservatives have to pretend they don't like Obama for reasons other than his skin color so they constantly point out how he acts all uppity like he's thinks he's better than you. Dijon.

i know i'm wasting valuable keystrokes here...

but where was the faux gop outrage when bush spent a third of his first year in office on vacation?

rhetorical question.

Homero_G: crab66
What flavor of outrage would you like today?

Heroin



Hell I wish more wingnuts were strung out on some shiat. Maybe they would shut the fark up for 10 minutes.

that article was a parody, right?

I think it's telling that he chose to spend his time going out to eat and putting his feet up to watch a movie. The econimy is bad and he should be try motivate instead.

yem_tex: These guys really think this small ball is going to bring them back to power? Spicy mustard and Star Trek, that's the ticket!

A great big THIS. Tell me, boys and girls, since Obama's already had his "Katrina" moment (mere days after being sworn in), where does this fall on the outrage scale?

Jesus Christ. I know it sucked being slammed on everything stupid Bush did wrong, but, guess what? Bush spent several years and an enormous amount of political capital, not to mention trillions of dollars, American lives and goodwill, etc, to deserve and encourage that. I mean, haven't you people ever read "The Boy who Cried Wolf"? All you're doing is ensuring that if Obama does screw up, nobody will take you seriously.

And since you spend so much time on your short game- obsessively slamming Obama for dijon mustard and Star Trek at every turn- when are you going to focus on telling us why you deserve to be back in power, and what you're going to do to fix our nation's problems?

Occam's Chainsaw: Yeah, because schlepping down to the local DC cineplex with 50-odd USSS agents in tow, practically shutting the whole joint down for security purposes, running a motorcade there and back, etc. is more cost-effective than asking the studio to FedEx you a copy.

Riiiight.

Yeh, this. Stay the fark out of the theaters and more importantly DONT CLOSE MY GOD DAMN ROADS, give Obama his movies (he probably deserves them) caus shutting down 395, 495, 95, and/or 66 makes DC a living hell.

Weaver95: that article was a parody, right?

A lot of them sure do seem that way these days, don't they ;)

-good lord ^

Bloody William: I'll give them points for this. That's a pretty funny PS.

It is, but I don't think even a Pon Farr-enraged Mr. Spock was ever that emotional.

Ed Willy: Imagine the movie company execs thinking:

"An immensely popular President requests a private screening of a film based on a TV series usually associated with Geeks, not attractive political superstars? Send him two copies, with a ll the extras and director commentary!"

My favorite part is the guy in the comments section who thinks it would be a great PR move if Paramount decided to release a statement saying Obama could learn a thing or two about leadership from the movies. It's like they live in a completely different reality.

SpinStopper: Weaver95: that article was a parody, right?

A lot of them sure do seem that way these days, don't they ;)

nobody could possibly take this sort of thing seriously. ranting about the sad and sorry state of the economy - ok, I can see a reason for that discussion.

But a private screening of star trek? c'mon...seriously....wtf?

Scroll down, farkers

Even RedState posters are leaning toward the 'non-issue' side

except bobojake who wants everyone to know that
I'm am sick of obama foney fraud ways presented ... by his thugs every day. Kinds of reminds how the Communists ran their government.
obama is an inconsiderate incompetent marxist LIAR.

bobojake seems very independent

Notabunny: bobojake seems very independent

Probably had to correct himself when he originally spelled it 'thugz' too.

We all know what would happen to Obama if he saw it at the theatre.

IF this article was a joke it would be funny. As it stands now it's just stupid and laughable. There are a million and one things I do not like about Obama, but getting a private screening for any movie I doubt will ever be one of them. You know they have to pay people to run it for him! That's a good thing!

bobbette: Probably it won't hurt the President for the Republicans to remind everyone that he watched the most popular movie at the box office this weekend, just like everybody else.

Actually, it directly contradicts the "OMG! ELITIST! GREY POUPON!" narrative they've been trying to establish. Idiots.

"ELITIST! POPULAR ACTION MOVIE-WATCHING ELITIST!"

It could possibly dovetail with what they're trying to do if he requested something by Jean-Luc Godard. Instead they've just established that the President likes burgers and action movies, just like 99% of all Americans.

That's the point. If you read the comments in TFA, the shifting argument becomes "oh, he's just trying to show us that he's just a regular guy who likes movies, yeah right! a regular guy who demands first run movies be brought to him!!1!"

Good lord! Let the man see the flick. It's a damn good movie and as Mel Brookes so eloquently put it....

"It's good to be da King"

/And I'll bet good money if he's getting a Beejer, it won't be from an intern.
//Seriously, President is a Shiatty job and private screenings are a simple perk I don't mind giving any one sitting in that chair.

I hate Chevy: I think it's telling that he chose to spend his time going out to eat and putting his feet up to watch a movie. The econimy is bad and he should be try motivate instead.

And also make more edukashun