Keith Olbermann interviews Wizard's fan who talked trash with Obama at the game

[Wetzelbill]

Run time: 05:13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3oBL7jorlg   Posted on YouTube: March 07, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: March 08, 2009 By DU Member: Wetzelbill Views on DU: 3538

 

[HughMoran]

1. That's cool - I had a big ol' grin on my face watching that

What a treat having a real "regular guy" as President.

[Wetzelbill]

2. he pretty much is a regular guy

He's smart and well-educated, but he came from humble roots and is a pure meritocrat. He doesn't have to create a false image and traipse around with a chainsaw etc, he's just a good guy.

[spamlet2002]

27. the kind of guy you can have a beer with... "as it were"

where have we heard that before? after fisa, telco immunity, i'll keep my eyes on the prize. i praise obama when he does the right things for this country.

[HughMoran]

34. The man has a similar background to me

...and he is my age and so I can relate to almost every word and expression that he uses. If that's not "regular guy", I don't know what is! :)

[spamlet2002]

39. and i went to school where he taught those law classes

and those legal/intellectual principles that he talked up during the campaign, but has failed to defend. see fisa, telco immunity, recent yoo immunity ruling. the man who stood up for those principles is the man that i--as well as many in the u of c community--became taken with... we thought he had similar intellectual and ethical principles.

however, after these particular reversals, on matters that he taught and spoke with such passion about, has taught/reminded us to trust actions. and with all due respect, actions such as scripting press conferences with pre-approved questions and rahm's very own hagiography-for-access deal do NOT inspire faith in his promise of change. he's already shown himself to be capable of this on the pr level.

so i have a healthy skepticism. i have no idea whether he is a regular guy, but i do care that he follows through on his promises.

[HughMoran]

43. Spamleting the board again

You're a jerk and won't be making any friends here.

[spamlet2002]

44. sorry if i hurt your feelings

perhaps you'd like some more time on your fainting couch, lol.

grow up

[WorseBeforeBetter]

3. $285 a game? Did I hear that correctly?!

That one pic of Obama shrugging is hilarious.

[RollWithIt]

7. NBA front court seats, full season, $285 a game is actually cheap.....

Have to keep in mind that a front row seat to see a half dozen teams could easily equal 2,000 for a pair of seats. So 1k for his seat and 1k for the other seat he pays for. I'm sure he has 2. I would gladly pay at least 500 to see LeBron James play right in front of me. Our lives are short, we only get a few chances to see greatness.

[Wetzelbill]

9. yes I thought that was cheap too

[WorseBeforeBetter]

21. When you put it like that...

The last pro basketball game I went to was the Bullets at the Capital Centre, which is no longer standing. And that was f-r-e-e since I worked there in high school! I'm definitely out of it as far as ticket prices...

[yodermon]

23. That's why i got small-town Davidson College season tickets this year

I got to see Stephen Curry play every home game this year. cha-ching!

[Berry Cool]

37. Guess I'm lucky then. I got to see LeBron play for free once.

Won the tickets a few years ago. Sadly they were nosebleed seats, but I'm not going to turn up my nose at free seats with a face value of $75 apiece.

[bc3000]

11. courtside seat aren't cheap

[spamlet2002]

4. come on, guys

this is totally a pr stunt. we're talking about someone who has handlers like rahm, known for planting these kinds of feel-good stories.

would not be surprised to hear this was set up. everything obama does is very very calculated.

still, it's nice to have a leader who doesn't get booed at public forums, lol

[Wetzelbill]

5. yes, Obama knew decades ago that he would be president one day

and attend a Bulls-Wizards game, so he got together with this guy's Wizards fan image and last week, it all came into fruition. Brilliant.

[spamlet2002]

16. and of course all these factors

are necessary for what i've described. get a grip, lol

[Wetzelbill]

17. no it's just that what you said was ridiculous nt

[spamlet2002]

18. and somehow you need to puff up scenarios

but again, i support your right to remain unpersuaded, lol

[Wetzelbill]

19. not puff up

Just joke about it because it's that ridiculous.

[spamlet2002]

20. i'm laughing alright, lol

n/t

[spamlet2002]

24. spontaneously arriving at game with a potus shirt

for some spontaneous trash-talk with, oh my gosh look who showed?!

[bjobotts]

29. They wear them at all kinds of public events including sports You're too used to Bush's crap.

[spamlet2002]

30. a potus t-shirt at a sports event

let me get this straight. a fan wearing a potus t-shirt. no, i'm not used to w's crap at all. are you even listening to yourself? read my other posts

[Wetzelbill]

32. ok

Obama is a known basketball fan, especially the the Chicago Bulls. The other guy is a rabid Wizards fan who is known by the team, the crowd, and even the ushers to be vocal, and yes he's a trash talker. The guy knows Obama was going, he's going to games before, and was told Obama would be there. So he is vocal just like he always is. What's a set up in that? Do you think Rahm Emanuel called up that guy the night before and told him to talk trash to the president, so the president could talk it back and everybody would get some good PR out of it?

No, he didn't. Obama went to the game to enjoy it, like everybody knew he was going to do, and one of the people who was sitting in the vicinity just did what he always has done. There was no big public relations set up.

[spamlet2002]

33. fair enough

what does the fan being known have anything to do with it? he's a local personality who shows up in a potus t-shirt to exchange some good banter with the president; nothing but good pr there. you make it sound like rahm would do nothing of the sort; perhaps you should look into his recent hagiography-for-access deal with ryan lizza.

and you also make this sound like obama would never do anything of the sort. in his very first press conference--i.e. his very first opportunity as president--obama demonstrated himself perfectly capable of holding scripted press conferences, despite his call for transparency and openness. this is fact, and given the precedent, there's good reason to be skeptical.

[glowing]

35. I wear my Obama stuff on normal days.. Its not unusual to see Obama

shirts on a given day while shopping or walking down the street. Obama is a great Pres, and the t's and hats and other merchandise hawked is pretty neat. No biggie.

[av8rdave]

6. I find it hard to believe an interaction like that was staged

Of course, after "mission accomplished," plastic turkeys in Iraq, fabricated stories about airline pilots seeing Air Force One on the way to Iraq, staged press events, etc., etc., an event like this is rather refreshing.

Rove/Bush inc. were the master staged fake pr events people.

[Wetzelbill]

8. I think obviously going to the game is good PR

Sipping on a beer doesn't hurt either. However Obama is a basketball fan and people drink beer at games. Plus almost any where you sit in the good seats you have some hardcore chattering fans, it's a given, so getting into a little trash talk exchange is almost expected. I don't think it was all meticulously planned or anything, I'm sure Obama wanted to go check the Bulls out in the first place.

[BeyondGeography]

10. Look who took timeout from Rush to join us

Enjoy your stay. :hi:

[av8rdave]

12. Methinks pizza time is coming

[IntravenousDemilo]

14. Oh, fer chrissakes... n/m

[spamlet2002]

42. truly an indispensable contribution

care to attach a thought to your blustering?

[spamlet2002]

15. face it

lol, whatever helps you deal with the dissonance, lol.

face it, obama's very first presser was conducted with pre-selected reporters with pre-approved questions. with all due respect, if that precedent isn't enough to warrant skepticism, and if your response is still the same, then more power to you, lol

[Laurab]

25. I think you forgot which board you were posting on.

THIS is the one that LIKES Obama - it's your other one that you post that silly shit on....

It must be difficult for you to see a President that can go out amongst people, and be in touch with reality, and stuff like that, but really, it's only been eight years since we had one who wasn't in a bubble all the time. Try to get used to it - I think you'll be seeing him do other "regular" things, too - it's just the kind of guy he is.

[spamlet2002]

26. lol, you're assuming quite a lot,

so you get this oldie: you know what happens when you assume.

this is the board that likes democracy, and to the extent that politicians advocate those same principles, we support them. "the obama board," lol, get a grip

now don't get hysterical, but the fact that w did those things doesn't at all temper my criticism of obama's scripted press conferences (ahem, transparency!), or this wonderful story where a fan spontaneously attends a game with a potus shirt, and then gets to trash-talk with... you'll never guess who showed up! the mind must do strange things to protect itself.

if obama is willing to hold press conferences with pre-selected questions/reporters--HARDLY democratic--then i think it's perfectly reasonable to be skeptical about his other appearances. regardless of how misguided and misplaced your little rant may now appear, i hope you learned something here. you're welcome.

[Laurab]

36. I'm not sure...what could I have learned?

That you like to type "lol" a lot in posts? My "little rant" wasn't a rant at all, but I must say for someone who doesn't like assuming, you're assuming an awful lot about Obama's simple trip to a basketball game. It's a known fact that he's a huge basketball fan, and another that he doesn't want to live in the bubble the last occupant of the WH lived in.

I think you're mistaken, but that's just my opinion - you're too used to our last pResident. Even if you're not mistaken, I think we'll be seeing the Obama family doing a lot of "normal" things, and the main reason it will be newsworthy is that the last occupant was so out of touch with the real world.

Really, I don't want to spend much time or thought on the fact that the POS attended a basketball game - (should I "lol" here?) It's just as perfectly reasonable for me to think the way I think - in fact, I think it's a little more reasonable, and a little less paranoid, but really I don't care to argue about it, especially with a lol'er like you - it's like typing to a 5 year old.

[spamlet2002]

38. i fully support your right to remain unpersuaded

the inclusion of "lol" = typing like a 5 yr old? are you even listening to yourself?

"normal things" that are newsworthy, like throwing out pitches, riding segways, you know, just hanging out. it's precisely because obama is willing--and has been shown to be willing--to deploy the same pr/spin control tactics as the last administration that i am skeptical. do try to keep up, lol

[spamlet2002]

40. if he's already shown himself to be capable/willing to script something

like press conferences--replete with pre-approved questions and pre-selected journalists--then what makes you think he wouldn't be willing to extend that same management of events else where. what's at stake here is genuine access to pose questions about policy.

you speak of being reasonable: yes, he rightly criticized the previous administration for the same tactics, and yet he's willing to take up those same tactics in order to preserve the illusion of an open dialogue. and that was at his very first opportunity to demonstrate such change, at his very first press conference. this is fact, and quite telling at that.

given these precedents, you think it's paranoid to be skeptical of such news stories?

i'm not following your logic about my critique and somehow "being used to" w's antics. the fact that the previous administration routinely engaged in pr stunts to make w appear like the everyman is PRECISELY why i am skeptical, ESPECIALLY when on matters of perception management, obama has most certainly NOT broken with w. see the lesson here?

let's be clear, you claim you were not ranting and yet only ONE of us has conducted this discussion without cursing. and as i mentioned before, you don't and haven't addressed any of these salient points, but i nonetheless support your right to remain thoroughly unpersuaded, lol.

but for others reading, i leave this explanation as a rationale for guarded optimism.

[HughMoran]

13. Oh, dear

pizza anyone?

;)

[spamlet2002]

41. oh, i get it

that's supposed to mean to disapprove?

[flvegan]

22. Obama's flying monkey army is quite the asset.

[bjobotts]

28. Oh NO...was that a homeless girl taking a picture with a "cell Phone"??

[spamlet2002]

31. the mind must do strange things to protect itself, lol

read my other posts before you accuse someone of being a bush supporter. love how any criticism of obama turns into knee-jerk accusations, but hey, i fully support your right to have that thought, lol