Barack Obama turns 54: US President's best put downs to celebrate his birthday
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/barack-obama-turns-54-the-us-presidents-best-put-downs-to-celebrate-his-birthday-10436876.html
Tuesday 04 August 2015
Barack Obama turns 54 today, his penultimate birthday celebration while still in the White House.
With President No 44 having spent over six years in the Oval Office and with just over a year left until his successor is chosen, Mr Obama may have lost some of the popularity he once had when he was catapulted into office: the images of him addressing thousands in Berlin or his historic, soaring rhetoric in Chicago's Grant Park on winning the 2008 election seem a distant memory.
Yet Mr Obama, the man who is as at ease chatting with Angela Merkel as he is dancing with Ellen DeGeneres, has not lost any of the swagger that makes him the prize president of Democrats and the scourge of Republicans.
With President No 44 celebrating birthday number 54, here are some of the best Obama put downs during his political career:
It's a put down that riled Hillary's supporters but one that may still haunt those in camp Clinton that worry about her route to the White House becoming sidetracked once more like in 2008. Before the New Hampshire primary following Mr Obama's shock win in Iowa in 2008, the Illinois senator said that Hillary was "likeable enough." It was the ultimate sassy description, which forced Ms Clinton to mocking reply, "Thank you. I appreciate that."
Come 2011, some of the hoards of celebrities who had so enthusiastically campaigned for Mr Obama were beginning to grow disillusioned with the reality of Mr Obama really being able to bring the change he promised. Not that that left the President feeling at all hurt. When Matt Damon said he was "disappointed" in the Obama presidency, No 44 joked at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, "Well, Matt, I just saw The Adjustment Bureau...So right back at you, buddy."
Mr Trump's foray into politics has shown the real estate mogul to be unafraid of offending anyone and with a raft of ill-thought legislative ideas. Yet it was Mr Obama who first noted back in 2011 that Mr Trump had no experience in politics and would be a disaster with a brilliant line:
"We all know about your credentials and breadth of experience. For example, in an episode of Celebrity Apprentice, the men’s cooking team cooking did not impress the judges from Omaha Steaks. And there was a lot of blame to go around. But you, Mr. Trump, recognized that the real problem was a lack of leadership. And so ultimately, you didn’t blame Lil’ Jon or Meatloaf. You fired Gary Busey. And these are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night."
Barack Obama delivered his first State of the Union address in front of a Republican-controlled Congress in January 2015 - and made sure he got the upper hand with the ultimate presidential "burn".
Towards the end of the speech, the president delivered the line, "I have no more campaigns to run", eliciting at first silence in the chamber, before a smattering of sarcastic applause and jeering forced Obama to smirk at the Republicans in the room. With a straight face he ad-libbed, "I know because I won both of them"
Mr Obama has had his fair share of hecklers over the years but only recently did he perfect the best response to one.
Mr Obama was addressing guests in the East Room when a voice in the audience shouted "President Obama!". Mr Obama patiently replied: "Hold on, I was speaking." Undeterred, the heckler continued to interrupt, forcing Mr Obama to take a tougher approach. "Ok, you know what? No, no no, no, no, no. Listen you're in my house ... it's not respectful."
Some saw the nuclear between Iran and the West as an historic pact that would lead to a new era of Middle East peace. Others saw it completely differently, including CBS News' chief White House correspondent, Major Garrett.
He asked Mr Obama, "Can you tell the country, sir, why you are content, with all the fanfare around this deal, to leave the conscience of this nation, the strength of this nation, unaccounted for in relationship to these four Americans?"
Mr Obama replied, "I've got to give you credit, Major, for how you crafted those questions. The notion that I am 'content' as I 'celebrate' with American citizens languishing in Iranian jails? Major, that's nonsense and you should know better." Hear, hear.
Likable?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3DeCLPwxXI
President Obama Roasts Donald Trump At White House Correspondents' Dinner!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8TwRmX6zs4
Obama SEETHES at Reporter For Mentioning Abandoned Americans in Iran
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqdVAd25CHU