My Obama Encounter...

[nutzbuster 7]

So off we go to one of our favorite restaurant last Saturday night.We take a short section of freeway, that leads to a back road way to get up to Scottsdale from Ahwatukee. It also happens to go right past the airport.Right on top of a very long bridge a DPS motorcycle Cop hauls ass past me gets in front of our turnoff, starts wailing his lights and sirens, starts driving around in circles and brings ours and 4 other cars to a complete stop. then he just sits there watching us as the rest of the minimal traffic begins to back up behind us.And we wait...and wait...and wait. Sly and I speculating about what it is, accident, etc., then we remember the anointed one is coming to Arizona for some photo ops, speeches, and dragging the family to the Grand Canyon. This half hour delay has to have something to do with it.Finally we are released to continue...and then summarily hit road block after road block all the way to Scottsdale. Every street I know to take to get around the mess just seems to get us deeper and deeper into delays.What we observe is both impressive and amazing. Along the main drags, EVERY driveway, parking lot and strip mall is empty of cars. Any cars parked along the road have been towed! All the entrances and driveways have been blocked by thousands of traffic cones. This literally goes on for miles. And there are also more cops then I have ever seen in my life, parked at approx every 500 feet. bikes, trucks, SUV's, cars, etc. Helicopters above. Seeing such a thing in my own backyard is as surreal as it gets.Turns out the route I had picked in my head was the exact same one his motorcade took just minutes before. I have heard that they intentionally pick 2 or 3 routes to throw off would be assassins, well we happened to pick the right one by chance. Obama ended up at the Phoenician, a 5 star extravaganza next to a beautiful mountain. Nice digs.We never actually saw his Limo and eventually wiggled our way out of the mess and arrived at the restaurant over an hour late....and too late for the Prime Rib I was craving!!!Suffice it to say, I was stimulated. A martini calmed me down and I had some fabulous ribs instead.We also reflected on how awesome the office of US president is, regardless of who it is. We have seen several presidential motorcades over the years, many in CHicago when the Clintons would go there, and most recently in Vegas just a few months ago. It still blows me away how this office, this one person, just a person, can wield so much power. It is very awesome indeed. The most powerful man on the planet...it's actually very very cool.Gobama. You owe me a Prime Rib sir.

[vbnautilus 48]

We also reflected on how awesome the office of US president is, regardless of who it is. We have seen several presidential motorcades over the years, many in CHicago when the Clintons would go there, and most recently in Vegas just a few months ago. It still blows me away how this office, this one person, just a person, can wield so much power. It is very awesome indeed. The most powerful man on the planet...it's actually very very cool.

It is really amazing, you feel the power of it just from being in its wake. Imagine what it must be like to have the world clear out such a path for you.

[Balloon guy 158]

It is really amazing, you feel the power of it just from being in its wake. Imagine what it must be like to have the world clear out such a path for you.

Join my country club...Oh wait...nevermind

[ahosang 0]

...

[nutzbuster 7]

Join my country club...Oh wait...nevermind

Well, maybe if you are hob nobbing with Ben Stein

[James D 0]

Your post shows, about as clearly as possible, the difference between the attitudes towards our countries' elected leaders.Obama blocks every road for miles, causing everyone to be delayed, have their cars towed and have their access denied and gets lauded for it.If Gordon Brown did anything like this everyone would just be saying how utterly ridiculous it is and get mad that they've been put out of their way at the taxpayers expense.

[Avaron 0]

Your post shows, about as clearly as possible, the difference between the attitudes towards our countries' elected leaders.Obama blocks every road for miles, causing everyone to be delayed, have their cars towed and have their access denied and gets lauded for it.If Gordon Brown did anything like this everyone would just be saying how utterly ridiculous it is and get mad that they've been put out of their way at the taxpayers expense.

so right. same here. when bush and later obama went to germany they basically blocked whole cities, keeping everyone inside their homes for days. save to say the people weren't amused. no politician in germany could do this. we even go after our health minister, just because she used her official car with driver during holidays in spain and didn't properly billed it.

[Sal Paradise 57]

well to be fair, there aren't thousands of people throughout the world trying to kill your leaders any chance they can get. so there's that.

[DonkSlayer 1]

well to be fair, there aren't thousands of people throughout the world trying to kill your leaders any chance they can get. so there's that.

You haven't seen the Al Qaeda videos condemning Gordon Brown to death or burning an effigy of the German health minister? You just haven't been paying attention....But seriously folks, nutz, did you get a thrill up your leg when it was all happening?

[Sal Paradise 57]

You haven't seen the Al Qaeda videos condemning Gordon Brown to death or burning an effigy of the German health minister? You just haven't been paying attention.

ok, well then they don't care about their leaders getting killed as much as we do I suppose.

[hblask 1]

Your post shows, about as clearly as possible, the difference between the attitudes towards our countries' elected leaders.Obama blocks every road for miles, causing everyone to be delayed, have their cars towed and have their access denied and gets lauded for it.If Gordon Brown did anything like this everyone would just be saying how utterly ridiculous it is and get mad that they've been put out of their way at the taxpayers expense.

Once upon a time people felt like this about the president, too -- someone who deserves respect but no special treatment. That's why, when asked, Washington wanted to be called "Mr. President".I find the imperial presidency appalling. They want to screw up our country, live with the consequences. You're in charge of federal highway dollars, bub, so you can sit in traffic with the rest of us that you shafted.It's just another way politicians make themselves immune to the consequences of their mistakes.

[Avaron 0]

You haven't seen the Al Qaeda videos condemning Gordon Brown to death or burning an effigy of the German health minister? You just haven't been paying attention.

to be fair, Brown might be more in danger than our health minister, since a lot of germans probably heard her name for the first time because of this stupid affair^^to be serious: was obama on a private trip there? because non of our politician would get away with something like this if they weren't at least on their way to something important like g8 summit or something else.but then again, it's something different with your potus and especially obama, i guess...

[nutzbuster 7]

To be clear, this delay had me seriously steaming. I was pissed.We also talked about the amount of money this must have cost and how opportunistic it would have been if you were a criminal just a few miles away. There were no cops anywhere else in the City. Criminals had it made for about an hour.Actually, the whole LETS GO SEE ALL THE NATIONAL PARKS KIDS! swing is horse shit, almost as laughable as Obama making sure that the Hollywood wardrobe handlers insist that he be seen as a guy working hard by literally 'rolling up his sleeves'. Still...the specatcle is awesome just the same.

[CaneBrain 95]

Actually, the whole LETS GO SEE ALL THE NATIONAL PARKS KIDS! swing is horse shit, almost as laughable as Obama making sure that the Hollywood wardrobe handlers insist that he be seen as a guy working hard by literally 'rolling up his sleeves'.

You mean like when a richie rich Yalie from Kennebunkport would go pretend to be a cowboy for weeks at a time?

[CaneBrain 95]

so right. same here. when bush and later obama went to germany they basically blocked whole cities, keeping everyone inside their homes for days. save to say the people weren't amused. no politician in germany could do this. we even go after our health minister, just because she used her official car with driver during holidays in spain and didn't properly billed it.

actually, if you follow the gov. sanford nonsense over here you know that we come down hard on "most" politicians for wasting taxpayer dollars on personal trips. Palin was dogged by those accusations for months.We just let the President be special for whatever reason.

[Balloon guy 158]

You mean like when a richie rich Yalie from Kennebunkport would go pretend to be a cowboy for weeks at a time?

I heard they shut down both stop signs in the Crawford everytime he went to the Piggly Wiggly.Totally the same as going to Times Square for a show.Eventually you are going to have to find new material, Palin and Bush won't work as misdirections forever.Trust me, we tried it with Clinton and it dried up after only 2 years.

[CaneBrain 95]

I heard they shut down both stop signs in the Crawford everytime he went to the Piggly Wiggly.Totally the same as going to Times Square for a show.Eventually you are going to have to find new material, Palin and Bush won't work as misdirections forever.Trust me, we tried it with Clinton and it dried up after only 2 years.

so I have 1.5 years. These are important things. I was commenting on the "dog and pony show" aspect of his cowboy escapades not the impact on Crawford, TX. You knew that but whatever.

[Balloon guy 158]

so I have 1.5 years. These are important things. I was commenting on the "dog and pony show" aspect of his cowboy escapades not the impact on Crawford, TX. You knew that but whatever.

But I twisted it because Bush was very respectful of his impact on others which shows by his using an out of the way town that allowed his security staff and himself to relax, which is 1000% in opposition to the current administration who loves the adoration and could care less how many people's lives are disrupted in order to receive the praise he feels he deserves.But you knew that too, so whatever.and wasn't it Reagen who liked the horses?

[CaneBrain 95]

But I twisted it because Bush was very respectful of his impact on others which shows by his using an out of the way town that allowed his security staff and himself to relax, which is 1000% in opposition to the current administration who loves the adoration and could care less how many people's lives are disrupted in order to receive the praise he feels he deserves.But you knew that too, so whatever.and wasn't it Reagen who liked the horses?

I am honestly too young to remember much of anything about the Reagan years. I am sure in the beginning Bush would go places (other than his ranch) and his security staff would have to disrupt people's lives. That is mostly secret service protocols and not done for adoration (bad logic by the way-----screwing with people's traffic does not earn you adoration). Of course, the last few years in office Bush was so wildly unpopular that he basically hid under his desk reading Superfudge to pass the time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL9wUtyucOs So, there was nothing to disrupt.

[Jeepster80125 0]

It is really amazing, you feel the power of it just from being in its wake. Imagine what it must be like to have the world clear out such a path for you.

http://jalopnik.com/5134488/presidential-g...w-cadillac-limo

[El Guapo 8]

One of my local congressman and I were talking a couple years ago, he was in the midst of a re-election campaign and the other side was doing a smear campaign on him for using public money to take vacation.He actually rented a motor home for himself and family (with federal money) and went to a dozen or so state parks that he was scheduled to visit. He used his own money to buy food for the trip and it took about 3 weeks. He was publicly vilified for doing so, and it ended up costing him the election. Even though he was scheduled to fly in a private jet to each local airport and have to rent a vehicle for the day or more. He estimated that he saved the tax payers around 50K by doing this, and it cost him his job.We say one thing as a society, but really want another.

[Avaron 0]

We say one thing as a society, but really want another.

taht's so true. everytime something like this comes up and the press and everybody starts: "zomg, he/she wasted money, he/she must be corrupt, how can he/she do this, that's so arrogant" and so on, i think: "shut the hell up. everybody would do the same, if he were in the position to do so!" it's the same with managers milions in bonuses or compüensations. everybody hates them, especially since the crisis, but then nobody would turn it down, if they were in the same position. and since i already used one chris jericho quote, here's another: people are hippocrites!^^

[timwakefield 68]

Secret service are goddam awesome. That's what I was saying in my JFK thread - there were so many "mistakes" and unsecured areas on that day, and coming from what is otherwise the most careful security organization on the planet, it was either the most terrible and unnecessary failure in their history or it was a set-up. I mean, their job is to protect the President and his path, and on that day they simply didn't even try to do their job completely - a job where lack of completion means a risk to the President's life.

[nutzbuster 7]

You mean like when a richie rich Yalie from Kennebunkport would go pretend to be a cowboy for weeks at a time?

lol. touche~ (and getting old)Point was, Obama has not stopped campaigning since the campaign. He's been to AZ like 4 times now....

[vbnautilus 48]

to be serious: was obama on a private trip there? because non of our politician would get away with something like this if they weren't at least on their way to something important like g8 summit or something else.but then again, it's something different with your potus and especially obama, i guess...

Obama didn't "get away with this", it is standard security procedure for any U.S. President. We kind of have a history of assassinations and attempted assassinations, so as a result have put quite a bit of effort into securing the president. Obama did not invent this procedure, the Secret Service did.