Posted on 07/04/2009 6:10:15 PM PDT by kcvl
Paul West paint the scene from the Obama's backyard bash in this pool report:
Shortly after 7 p.m., the president spoke for about 7 or 8 minutes. He thanked American servicemen and women for the job they do for the country, and paid special attention to the recent handover of security in Iraq's cities. "Because of what you did," he said, "a sovereign and united Iraq has taken control of its own destiny." Obama cautioned that there would be more violence ahead, which, he said, is why U.S. forces were still needed there, but he again made the point that Iraq "is in the hands of its own people."
Obama spoke, from a written text, at a podium set up on the State Floor balcony of the South Portico. His wife and daughters were at his side. Arrayed behind them were 21 servicemen and one woman, selected by their own branches of the Armed Forces and praised by the president as "heroes."
Obama took note of the special significance that July Fourth has for one member of his family, daughter Malia, who turned 11 today (and sported a bright American flag face-painting on her right cheek). Malia "is just thrilled that you are all here," her father said. "When she was young, I used to say that all these fireworks were for her. I'm not sure she buys that" any more. (The girls were on prominent display at the family-friendly event. At one point, the First Lady gently picked up Sasha's hand to encourage her to wave; after his remarks, Obama kissed the birthday girl on the head).
Obama compared his party to similar bashes in "backyards . . . all across America" and saluted what it means to be an American and the extraordinary effort it took to create the country 233 years ago. See the transcript.
As the Marine Band (which heralded Obama's arrival with a series of tunes, including Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever") cued up its medley of service anthems, a man in the crowd shouted, "You're the man, Mr. President." That brought a smile from Obama and a big round of applause and cheers from the audience.
After the Marine musicians marched off, Obama and the First Lady descended the steps and worked a rope line for almost 20 minutes, carefully skipping over your pool and ignoring shouted attempts at questions.
Faces spotted at random in the crowd included AG Eric Holder, White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, press secretary Robert Gibbs (gamboling with his son on the big West Wing play set), social secretary Desiree Rogers, Obama chums Martin Nesbitt and Dr. Eric Whitaker, and Mike Allen of Politico.
The All-American menu included hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon, potato salad, corn on the cob, garden salad with walnuts and cheese, ice cream, lemonade, Coke and Pepsi products, Sam Adams Light and Stoudts American Pale Ale (with a big American flag on the label) from the Adamstown, PA microbrewery.
The USO show, which followed after your pool was escorted out, featured the Foo Fighters, Michelle Branch and Jimmy Fallon. That part of the evening was strictly closed press. However, the White House streamed live video of the show on the White House website.
Why do you suppose she’s wearing a dishwasher’s apron?...;’}
What a punk. Slams Bush every chance he gets (including today in Russia). But won't give an iota of credit where credit is obviously due.
That infuriates me. Every time I took my kids to the fireworks I told them some of the story of the American Revolution, what our independence means and why we celebrate it. Never in my wildest imagination would I tell my kids the fireworks were for them! This just shows again what he thinks of America -- celebration of independence is just a way to boost his kids' ego and self esteem. Narcissism doesn't fall far from the tree.
And dresses get uglier and uglier — if that is even possible. Here’s another one cinched up below the bust.
Is this now a fashion trend sweeping the nation?
He is probably lying about that too!
He does it so often it’s hard to take anything he says at face value. Even Bill Clinton doesn’t hold a candle to Obama when it comes to lying!
So true. Those military members did not just say, "Hey, we've been attacked. Let's go kick some a**." They had to be ordered to do so.
All over America citizens wore patriotic colors today. The Obamas wore black, grey, tan . . . anything but the symbols of our liberty.
An empire dress is a classic. Nothing wrong with it, and for her figure, might just be the right choice for her. But, in this case, she should have had the colors reversed. White makes things look larger, black smaller. Ya know, I would be glad to have her hire a really good designer (even at tax payer expense), because she is representing the US. Most of what I have seen is embarrassing.
what the heck is that? Did she get up from the dinner table and take the table cloth with her?
Winnahh!
“When she was young, I used to say that all these fireworks were for her. I’m not sure she buys that” any more.”
Although he will never say it out loud, I imagine he is thinking the same thing about the Stimulus package, Cap & Trade, Universal Health coverage, Immigration “Reform”, etc.
rofl-mao
Going to Camp David is one of the cheapest and least disruptive things he can do. Camp David has a permanent staff and all the communications gear needed. They get there by helicopter from the WH grounds.
No big planes; no 30 car motorcades; and no SS security checks. And best of all, us ordinary schlubs don't have to cool our heels in traffic waiting for the procession to pass.
What is wrong with him staying at the WH and saving helicopter fuel? One night wouldn’t hurt him since he returned today.
Liar.
It wasn’t that cheap. Did you see the gaggle of relatives accompanying him? It was yet another one of his “extended family vacations on the US taxpayers dollar” extravaganzas.
I gather that the trip to Camp David was to celebrate, along with some of her friends and family, the eleventh birthday of daughter Malia.
Looks like she would at least have sense enough to know white emphasizes her hugeness- yet that seems to be a favorite color.
When Obama was running for president he said they didn’t celebrate birthdays and didn’t give birthday presents.
It’s a different story now. Always a different story.
I was comparing the cost to what else he might have done for Malia’s birthday. They sure wouldn’t have stayed in the WH - they have those parties every week.
This family is going to make all of chelsea’s spring vacations look like a real bargain. (I’ll bet they’ll even outdo the potty we built for hillary at the Great Wall of China)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.