With so many issues facing our country today, it is a shame that President Obama has to take time out of his day to meet for “happy hour” with Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and police Sergeant James Crowley. It is a shame that racial tension still exists in this country to the extent that it has fueled such major controversy in recent weeks. Racism is an issue we should all be concerned with. What beer Barack Obama drinks, however, is not.
Two years ago it would have been unfathomable for a mainstream news source such as CNN or MSNBC to make a story out of Obama’s beer choice; but they have. They 
have because this is a new time and this is a new president. This is a president who has Twitter, and a Youtube channel. This is a president that gets on television to sell every idea he has to the American public and to tell us every time he changes his socks.
To an extent president Obama did this to himself. His experience as a community organizer gave him the skills he needed to win the election using every possible means to connect with voters. But when does it end? When do we say enough is enough? When do we step back and realize that we are facing major issues and that what matters here is the presidents policies, not his personal preferences or personal life.
I don’t care what church he goes to, what beer he drinks, how he works out, what school his kids are going to, what his middle name is, what his wife wears, what color his skin is, or where his dad was born. I only care that he wants what is best for this country and that he’s doing everything he can to make it happen.
The past decade has torn our country apart. Things got pretty brutal during the election, and nobody has seemed to snap out of it. Not the media, not the public, not even the president. The election is over. Obama won.
To the President. Mr. President, stop campaigning! Stop telling us what you’re doing every minute of every day and DO IT. Not everybody is going to like you and not everybody is going to agree with every policy you make or propose. That’s why we have an election in the first place. You won. I appreciate you trying to bring everyone together, but your approval rating is dropping. I think it’s time to switch game plans. Just do what you do and if it works, nobody will have anything to say about it.
To the bigots. I’m disgusted that I share the same sky as you. No matter what news article I’m reading or video I’m watching, you never fail to leave a comment that single-handedly sets our country back 150 years. If you don’t like Obama’s policies, I can certainly respect that. I don’t like some of his ideas either. To make the issue about race though and to say the types of things that I see every single day being said is not OK. It’s beyond freedom of speech. It’s hate speech. You are not a true American and your beliefs are not the beliefs that this country was founded on. You make me sick.
To the “Birthers” and to the king of the birthers, Lou Dobbs; Get a life. How many times do your questions have to be answered and your theories disproven before you shut up and crawl back into whatever hole you came from? Even Bill O’Reilly and Ann Coulter have stepped up and said how ridiculous of an accusation this is. Obama is a natural-born American citizen with a legitimate Hawaiian birth certificate. He was born in 1961, two years after Hawaii entered the Union. It’s indisputable fact. If you really need to stoop this low for ratings Lou, I feel truly sorry for you. You and your “birthers” are sorely mistaken and misinformed at best and ignorant sore losers at worst. I’m going with the latter.
To the Obama-Maniacs. Chill out. I know that you’re excited, but we have a lot of work to do. I get almost as frustrated as I do with the racists when I see people walking around in Obama apparel who probably couldn’t break down Obama’s stance on a single substantial issue. I can’t even walk through the mall these days without seeing concession stands filled with Obama merchandise.
My biggest concern is that we’re treating the President less like a politician then like a celebrity, and everyone knows how American’s treat their celebrities. We are notorious for building people up and tearing them down. While this is never a good habit, doing so has much less of an impact on the world when the target is Britney Spears. The president is getting it from all sides. Those who hate him will always hate him, but those who love him may do just as much or more damage. We need to back off him a bit and give him the time and the opportunity to be the President of the United States and to do his job.
In case you’re wondering, Barack Obama “likes Bud-Light”. Did we really expect Obama, who lives in the media, to be stupid enough to say his beer of choice was Heineken or Sapporo?
thequintessentialgeneralist.wordpress.com 
I agree that Obama can’t refuse a photo op, but let’s compare him to another camera friendly president, Bill Clinton. Obama has appeared on a late night talk show. Bill Clinton has appeared on a late night talk show, playing a saxophone. And Obama’s beer preference pales in comparison to Clinton’s response to “briefs or boxers?” A lot of presidents are hams, but this quality doesn’t necessarily undermine their effectiveness.
Obama is an amazing person. I know that he was left an “American Mess” and that now, the messy Republicans are outrageously trying to mess up everything he does. Its right there in the news…read it again. Obama is doing the very best he can without having or wanting to satisfy and “special interests” or “political debts”. The man is clean, astute, considerate, diplomatic, a gentleman and a leader…get behind him and we can make history.
Great post. Could not have said it better myself.
Excellent post. As a foreigner I am amazed at the obsession the media has with every detail of Obama’s life. Yet he and his supporters seem to encourage this even as they too express amazement. Most events associated with this President has an almost surreal quality.
Some can’t get enough of him and some can’t stand a bone in him and so his every movement, comment, observation, viewpoint is analyzed to the nth degree resulting in passionate feelings either way.
If the Dems hope to keep him in the White House they and he should focus on keeping his nose to the grindstone. If the economy rebounds Obama’s reputation will receive a well needed fillip so too if he reforms health care.
Of course with what we here overseas see as the craziness of the GOP gaining traction with their descent into apparent lunacy (birthers? accusations of racism etc.) we can only continue to watch these same media houses who no doubt will continue to fan the flames of passion. Hopefully flames will remain a metaphor.
America, the world needs you to be sane.
Dee, thank you so much for reading and for such a great comment. The value of your insight and perspective as a foreigner is beyond measure.
An added filip: I get e-mails from Barack Obama on occasion and almost daily from his political organization. These people are busy! They don’t leave a stone unturned as they ask everyone on their list to get behind Obama, call their senators and congressmen, send money, go door-to-door, attend local meetings, send letters etc… Obama is boiund determined to make positive change in America. He will go down in history as the finest president the country ever had. This man is dedicated to his country.
We all really know how Obama won this election. He honestly ran a great campaign, with door to door, e-mail, facebook and other online tools that sparked an intrest in the election. He got people to the polls to vote for him who had no idea what he was about or what his agenda was. I commend him on a great campaign, but am proud to say I am not in any way an Obama supporter even as he is our president. Every day its something new with him, his vactions, his wifes spending habits, his this, his that. Frankly I am sick of hearing about his personally life and all the things he does with his spare time. The people of this country just sit there and watch the media on him like it is some kind of soap opera. Owlafaye really “the finest president the country ever had” I highly doubt that, just the finest campaign anyone in the world has ever seen. Not to mention all the supporters he looses daily. I just find it funny that his whole basis of campaign was health care reform, and it almost seems as if no one actually thinks that it is a good idea anymore. You blind people need to realize that health care is a BUSINESS! Just like any good business it is there to make money. You can’t change something like that, this is what healthcare has become. Maybe making it more affordable for people is the answer, having it mandatory for employers to provide it is insane! As bad as the economy is you think having businesses spend even more money to provide health insurance is going to help? I don’t know maybe I’m wrong, either way I think the American people are blinded in every way shape and form by the media. Wake up you sheep and actually think for your self instead of sub-concious thoughts that the media implants in your minds. Get off the Obama train it is heading no where fast….
Great comment. I think it is far too early to tell what legacy Obama will leave behind. If he pulls the economy out of the dumps, gets troops home safely from Iraq in a timely manner, and reforms health care, he could be one of the most successful presidents in history. Obviously with all he has on his plate, there is also always the potential for him to blow it.
With regard to health care reform, the fact that it has become a big-money business doesn’t mean that it’s ok and we should just let it go on that way. Some things are just better left non-profit. There is no question that the health care and pharmaceutical industry is one of the most corrupt industries out there. Just because it may be tough to break through doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. That mentality is the reason it’s taken us this long to take a crack at it in the first place.
The American people are definitely blinded by the media and the mainstream media is another one of the most corrupt industries we have. I’m going to be writing a few posts in the coming weeks about the media, so I hope you check back.
Well, the media focus on Obama and family minutae is the price one pays for being admired, successful and dynamic. There is NOTHING your complaint will change. I am sure it is disconcerting to Obama, Tiger Woods, Madonna and the ghost of Elvis also. Essentially, you are in sympathy with Obama with your complaint…thanks. As to health care? At least Obama is doing something…you had 8 years of a do nothing Bush and nopw that a mover and shaker comes along, you complain at every little nuance sorta like the media jumping on every little Obama thing…gee, you are your complaint. Look in a mirror and get your head straightened up.
I see a contradiction in your blog. Please clarify.
In “To the President” you state, “I appreciate you trying to bring everyone together, but your approval rating is dropping. I think it’s time to switch game plans.”
Then in “To the Obama-Maniacs” you state, “We need to back off him a bit and give him the time and the opportunity to be the President of the United States and to do his job.”
So it’s fine for the, ahem, “QG” to give the President advice but not the Obama-Maniacs? Make up your mind.
BTW, just because you reversed the letters from GQ magazine for your logo doesn’t mean you haven’t infringed their trademark. Your cease and desist letter is in the mail…
I’m telling the public to stop worrying about every move Obama makes and telling the President to stop worrying about justifying every move he makes. How is that a contradiction? The President of the United States is put in place because the people of this country voted for him to be there. We need to know what the President is doing, but we don’t need to micromanage every aspect of his presidency and personal life.
With regard to the logo, you’re really clever to be able to figure that out… (sarcasm). They’re only one of the largest magazine’s and one of the most recognizable logo’s in the world. I bet you were really proud of yourself.
Look. Isn’t it a little crazy that you can get a “cease and desist” letter from GQ for using two letters in the English language with the font based off of a circle. Really original… Honestly, If this early on, my blog is getting enough readers for GQ Magazine to worry about my logo then have them give me a call. I’d love to talk to Jim Nelson anyway.
Come back anytime Rusty. Can never have too many wiseguys around.
The contradiction is that you tell Obama-Maniacs to stop worrying about every move he makes, then you imply that you are worrying about his moves by suggesting he change game plans. You don’t see that??
You are also implying that the President should react to approval ratings. If every President changed game plans based off of approval ratings, we’d be in worse shape than we are now.
The general public has no clue or interest in what it takes to run this country. It’s easy to sit back and be an armchair QB.
P.S. GQ called. They said to pick up that name you dropped and give them their logo back(literal).
I didn’t name drop. Jim Nelson is the Editor-in-Chief of GQ, not someone I know or claim to know. He’s a big name.
I’d been wanting to change the logo but was prioritizing. I took care of it today though. The font is called “Whoop Ass”. What do you think?
Heyyyy QG! You make sense, seem rational, speak of things logically…I like you. Keep it up…my one criticism: Don’t give these whack jobs toooo much of your time…lots of laughter.
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