[ETWolverine]

From the Boston Globe.

Is your president this cool?

By Alex Beam, Globe Staff | November 14, 2008

For the first time in eight years, we have a president who is cool. It starts with the Ray-Bans. Ray-Bans are the ultimate cool sunglass brand, evoking memories of the John F. Kennedy presidency, of sunny cruises off Cape Cod on his sloop Victura, with the tame photographers from Life magazine in tow.

Obama wears cool suits, too: plain blue, wool, two-button affairs from Hartmarx. Even the $1,500 price point is cool. It doesn't say, "I'm in the pocket of insurance pirates AIG" - those are $5,000 suits. But it doesn't say "Men's Wearhouse" either. Why pretend? Who wants a Ford Focus president? Make mine a Lincoln.

Like a lot of American politicians, Obama has plenty of dough. But unlike Legacy Boy Bush, Obama earned his stash. He's made $5 million in book royalties, plus or minus. A friend points out that Obama is the first president since Woodrow Wilson to have a prose style, and the first president since Ulysses S. Grant to have a good prose style. Pretty cool.
The list goes on. Unlike Bush, who labors on the exercise machines for a desultory hour each day, Obama plays basketball. His brother-in-law coached basketball at modish Brown University. Too cool! Obama dines at cool restaurants with names like Spiaggia and Topolobampo, and during a particularly boring moment in the campaign he sampled a rap song, Jay-Z's foul-mouthed "Dirt Off Your Shoulder." Writing in the New Republic, novelist Paul Beatty opined that "I bet dude knows how many chambers there are in the Wu-Tang."
Of course you picked up the reference to the Wu-Tang Clan album "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)."

But is Obama the coolest head of state in the world? For instance, is he as cool as.. .

.. . Vladimir Putin?

Putin used to work for the KGB, which was a veritable ice pack full of chilling customers back in the day. He and Obama and France's Nicolas Sarkozy have one thing in common: They are the only world leaders willing to be photographed with their shirts off. Putin is one buff fella; a few keystrokes on YouTube will take you to his recently released martial arts video, "Let's Learn Judo With Vladimir Putin." Obama may be draining the treys, but Putin is president of his local dojo. Cool that.

Did I mention that he's married to a flight attendant? And that he supposedly subdued a rare Siberian tiger with a tranquilizer gun? Alas, the incident was not captured on film.
In the voice-over to his video, Putin calls judo "a lesson in collaboration and cooperation." He is all about collaboration. The day after Obama's win, the Russian czar let slip that he was thinking of stationing short-range missiles about four seconds away from Obama's new allies in Poland. That's sort of a cool - nay, Cold War - way of saying: Welcome to the neighborhood, Barack.

.. . Nicolas Sarkozy?

Sarkozy first achieved prominence in 1993, when, as mayor of the posh Paris suburb of Neuilly, he entered a nursery school alone to negotiate with a hostage-taking lunatic who called himself the Human Bomb. The Bomb had strapped explosives to his torso. Sarkozy emerged from the school surrounded by kids and the French police subsequently defused M. Bomb, by killing him.

Even Putin isn't that cool.

The rest is history. Sarko edged out the World's Most Beautiful Socialist, Segolene Royal, to win the French presidency last year, then promptly dispatched his gorgeous ("darkly beautiful" - The New Yorker) and accomplished wife Cecilia to Libya, to handle a delicate negotiation with the mercurial Muammar Qaddafi. The negotiation succeeded, but the marriage failed.

Sarko quickly drafted a gorgeous and accomplished replacement, the Italian-born siren-singer-songwriter Carla Bruni. Ms. Bruni needs no introduction here. Michelle Obama is cool, but Bruni, who has dated reprobates Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger, takes the thermometer down several more degrees. And Bruni digs fellow cool cat Obama. This week she trashed Italian prime minister/vulgarian-at-large Silvio Berlusconi for "joking" about Obama's "suntan."

.. . Daniel Craig?

Not a head of state, you say? Perhaps not, but Bond boy Craig is permanent ambassador to the sovereign republic of Chillaxin' (capital = Ice Station Zebra). Nobody is as cool as Craig. But Obama comes darned close.

Alex Beam is a Globe columnist. His e-dress is [email protected]

I had no idea that being cool was a requirement for the Presidency. I had no idea that the "COOL FACTOR" was such an important factor in national politics. And here I thought that a President was supposed to be a leader, a decision-maker, and was supposed to promote the well-being of the nation he leads. I had no idea that coolness was a part of that.

Silly me.

Elliot

[Curlyben]

Well you got to sell them some how.
Something similar was attempted several years back with Tony Blair and Cool Britania, but it was a abject failure as his fake smile kept getting in the way of the spin..

[twinkiedooter]

I really think Alex Beam needs to change the air in his head quick. Is this man serious or is he just typing to fill up empty space?

Obama is about as cool as watching my dog take a dump. And believe me, she's much more cool and/or entertaining and/or smart and/or charming and/or vivacious and/or eloquent any day.

Mr. Putin actually cares about the Russian people and their welfare. I could type volumes about how he's improved his country in a lot of ways. One way in particular was to put a lot of the salacious sex clubs out of business and change the locations into family restaurants. Mr. Putin does not spend money the government does not have. He does not print more when he runs low either unlike someone else we know who does just that.

[speechlesstx]

Gag me with a spoon. I can't believe the media is this shamelessly in the tank for Obama. They've obviously forgotten their adversarial role.

[galveston]

Maybe we should ask ourselves at this point, just WHO owns the liberal news media? Are the owners all part of some society bent on ruling the world? Is there a hidden conspiracy here?

Sure beats the conspiracy idea that Bush had the twin towers mined with explosives, huh?

[ovruigo]

Alex Beam has yet to impress me with his school girl style "crush" with Obama. Its quite pathetic that many deam these attributes as credible qualifications for being the President of The United States.

Sad state of affairs...

[speechlesstx]

At least one love affair is is on the rocks...

[inthebox]

Obama is about as cool as watching my dog take a dump.

Oh my :D - that is classic!






G&P

[Dare81]

I really think Alex Beam needs to change the air in his head quick. Is this man serious or is he just typing to fill up empty space?

Obama is about as cool as watching my dog take a dump. And believe me, she's much more cool and/or entertaining and/or smart and/or charming and/or vivacious and/or eloquent any day.

Mr. Putin actualy cares about the Russian people and their welfare. I could type volumes about how he's improved his country in a lot of ways. One way in particular was to put a lot of the salacious sex clubs out of business and change the locations into family restaurants. Mr. Putin does not spend money the government does not have. He does not print more when he runs low either unlike someone else we know who does just that.

Mr puting cares about his country lol hahahahha.Oh my god. And hitler loved jews .Lol hahahha

In July 2007, Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal wrote: "Russia has become, in the precise sense of the word, a fascist state. It does not matter here, as the Kremlin's apologists are so fond of pointing out, that Mr. Putin is wildly popular in Russia: Popularity is what competent despots get when they destroy independent media, stoke nationalistic fervor with military buildups and the cunning exploitation of the Church, and ride a wave of petrodollars to pay off the civil service and balance their budgets. Nor does it matter that Mr. Putin hasn't re-nationalized the "means of production" outright; corporatism was at the heart of Hitler's economic policy, too."



N its January 2008 World Report, Human Rights Watch wrote in the section devoted to Russia: "As parliamentary and presidential elections in late 2007 and early 2008 approached, the administration headed by President Vladimir Putin cracked down on civil society and freedom of assembly. Reconstruction in Chechnya did not mask grave human rights abuses including torture, abductions, and unlawful detentions. International criticism of Russia’s human rights record remains muted, with the European Union failing to challenge Russia on its human rights record in a consistent and sustained manner."[246] The organization called President Putin a "repressive" and "brutal" leader on par with the leaders of Zimbabwe and Pakistan.

[tomder55]

Putin is a Czar with all the things the title implies. He could give a rat's @ss about the people .

[excon]

Hello:

I think he's cool. Of course, you dodo's who thought the dufus was cool aren't going to understand... But, I'm used to that.

excon

[speechlesstx]

Hello:

I think he's cool. Of course, you dodo's who thought the dufus was cool aren't going to understand... But, I'm used to that.

I thought you just said he sucks? Is it a cool kind of sucky? By the way, I know cool, and Obama is not cool. Bush wasn't cool either. I can't think of a single politician that is cool.

[excon]

I thought you just said he sucks?

Hello steve:

What?? You want consistency?

excon

[galveston]

Hello steve:

What??? You want consistency?

excon

Yer a natcheral born agitator, Ex.:D

[excon]

Hello again,

In fact, I AM consistent. Cool doesn't necessarily mean good. I'm cool, but I absolutely ain't good.

And, speaking of consistency - as soon as the cool pres starts being consistent with his campaign promises, I'll start thinking he's good again.

It IS déjà vu all over again, for me, though. I turned on Bill Clinton when he changed his mind over gays in the military, and Obama is doing exactly the same thing at the same time in his presidency.

He sucks, but he looks cool doing it.

excon

[twinkiedooter]

A wink is worth a thousand words

[twinkiedooter]

I think Putin is in much better shape considering the man is 56 years old. He does hunt, fish and likes the outdoors.

[Dare81]

I think Putin is in much better shape considering the man is 56 years old. He does hunt, fish and likes the outdoors.

And he enjoys the occasional geneocide on the weekends.lol

[twinkiedooter]

and he enjoys the occasional geneocide on the weekends.lol

Putin is Prime Minister and not President of Russia. The Alex Beam article was written back in November 2008.

Say what you want about Putin. He does have more common sense and patience with America considering some of the madmen that have held the office of POTUS. He could have easily invaded America since our standing Army and most, if not all of our military equipment is out of the country. Think about that for a minute. Or how about any other country that has a large military with appropriate equipment? They could happily come and invade us with very little resistance on the part of the US citizens. Well, at least we still do have the right to own guns.:D:D

And Putin does have sexy 6 pack ABS. Something Obama clearly does not possess.

[Dare81]

Putin is Prime Minister and not President of Russia. The Alex Beam article was written back in November 2008.

Say what you want about Putin. He does have more common sense and patience with America considering some of the madmen that have held the office of POTUS. He could have easily invaded America since our standing Army and most, if not all of our military equipment is out of the country. Think about that for a minute. Or how about any other country that has a large military with appropriate equipment? They could happily come and invade us with very little resistance on the part of the US citizens. Well, at least we still do have the right to own guns.:D:D

And Putin does have sexy 6 pack ABS. Something Obama clearly does not posess.

What have you been smoking?