Obama Reflects On His Favorite Subject

This is a photo you see on the current White House Flickr page.

You've got to be kidding me.

Jan. 20, 2009
“President-elect Barack Obama was about to walk out to take the oath of office. Backstage at the U.S. Capitol, he took one last look at his appearance in the mirror.” (Official White House photo by Pete Souza

He probably stood there transfixed for an hour, mesmerized by the sheer awesomeness of himself. Now if this is from last year, why on earth is it up there now? It's not as if there's any shortage of photos of this narcissist floating around.

H/T Cuffy Meigs.

Meanwhile, the megalomaniac again demostrates he's beyond all hope.

“I’ve been doing that with this White House, and they just don’t seem to give it any credibility at all,” Berry said. “They just kept telling us how good it was going to be. The president himself, when that was brought up in one group, said, ‘Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.’ We’re going to see how much difference that makes now.”

When the Democrats are crushed come November he'll just blame Bush anyway. Definitely won't blame the man in the mirror.

Raging Narcissist Grades Himself a B+

Frankly, I'm surprised the megalomaniac didn't give himself an A+. Must be that famed humility of his preventing him from doing that.

President Obama told Oprah Winfrey on Sunday night he gives himself a "good, solid B-plus" for his first 11 months in the Oval Office.

On what was billed as Oprah's "White House Christmas Special," Obama credited his administration with getting the economy on track, winding down the Iraq war and making the right call for a temporary surge in Afghanistan.

He also said America has "reset" its prestige in the world and made progress toward halting development of nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea.

Passage of health care reform would boost his grade to an A-, he said. Until Americans get back to work, he said, "I can't give myself the grade I'd like."

Considering his ratings are in freefall, grading himself anything above a C is more than generous. But look who we're dealing with.

"It was inevitable," he said. "We have 10% unemployment. I told Michelle when we got here that in six months my poll numbers will start crashing, so we can't play to the polls. I'm concerned with where we'll be in two to three years."

We have 10% unemployment yet he grades himself as doing a good job on the economy.

Please.

As to "halting progress" on North Korea and Iran, does he even have the slightest clue what's going on?

Confidential intelligence documents obtained by The Times show that Iran is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb.

The notes, from Iran’s most sensitive military nuclear project, describe a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the component of a nuclear bomb that triggers an explosion. Foreign intelligence agencies date them to early 2007, four years after Iran was thought to have suspended its weapons programme.

Some progress.

'You Guys Make a Pretty Good Photo Op'

It's bad enough the top success of the Obama Asian trip was his photo op at the Great Wall, but this is incredibly narcissistic, even for Obama.

Obama arrived on the base 3:19 p.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) and received a rousing welcome from 1,500 troops in camouflage uniforms, many holding cameras or pointing cellphones to snap pictures.

"You guys make a pretty good photo op," the president said.

Standing on a riser wearing a blue suit and red tie, with a cluster of troops and a large American flag behind him, Obama expressed "the gratitude of the American public" and said his meetings in four countries over eight days in Asia will help deliver a "safer, more prosperous world for all of us."

He got a huge cheer when he told them he was increasing military pay. "That's what you call an applause line," he said, before boarding his jet and taking off at 4:11 p.m.

Nothing like exploiting the military.

He's getting destroyed in the comments at the WaPo. One sample:

"You guys make a pretty good photo op," the president said.

As a soldier, I'm offended by that remark. Were we also a good photo op when he was at Dover AFB a few weeks ago saluting the caskets of fallen soldiers coming home?

Ouch.

Narcissistic Paranoid Or Merely Delusional?

The mayor and residents of a small town in Italy are experiencing the Wrath of George.

Clooney objects to $15m town plan
George Clooney is leading a residents' revolt against the mayor of a small town in northern Italy.

The star, who owns a villa in Laglio on the shores of Lake Como, is urging his neighbours to sign a petition against further development of the town.

The mayor wants to spend $15m (£7.5m) building parking spaces and a pontoon bridge which would pass right in front of the Hollywood heart-throb's villa.

Mr Clooney is threatening to quit the town if the plans go ahead.

Po' baby! Don't forget your bottle, Pampers; and be sure to stomp your feet and slam the door, too.

In the past strict planning laws have curbed development around the lake, leaving small, unspoilt towns along its shores.

The rich and famous have always considered Lake Como the perfect spot for mountain air, spectacular views and seclusion.

So desirable are the villas that on the rare occasion one comes up for sale, the owner can usually name their price.

Mr Clooney bought the 15-bedroom Villa Oleandra for $10m (£5m) in 2002. The houses close by have almost tripled in value.

But since he arrived in Laglio, things have begun to change. The star of Ocean's 13 says the town, which has a population of 900, is being reshaped in concrete.

The mayor's current plans include a car park, lifts and a floating walkway, which would lead from the centre of town to a platform right in front of Mr Clooney's villa.

The small public beach next to his villa - which he tried without success to buy two years ago to ensure his privacy - would be paved over to form a piazza, under the plans.

Mr Clooney took the unusual step of attending a meeting of the Laglio protest committee this week to add his voice to the chorus of neighbourhood objection.

How nice, mingling with the little people.

But he denied that it was simply a nimby (not-in-my-backyard) protest.

"It's got to stop," said the actor-turned-civic protester. "I don't want my presence here affecting the local population. The building work is only being done because I live here. And unless it stops I'm going to have to move."

Move to Fwance, George! There's a proposal to put a cap on personal income tax -- a piddling 47% maximum. You could consider it your proud contribution to 'free' healthcare.

The actor has now added his name to the petition to stop the work.

The mayor's definitely going to lose sleep over that.

Manuela Nuti, head of the residents' committee, who described the plans as "invasive for our town, and our lives," said the committee has high hopes for the impact of Clooney's support.

Seems to have the appropriate last name.

She said: "We have over a thousand signatures, but with a signature from George Clooney himself - that has got to be worth another hundred!"

No further confirmation needed.