A five-course meal at Honolulu's priciest restaurant after golf with his hooker-loving buddy... Obama faces another tough day in Hawaii

Maybe he should sleep in a tent and dig through garbage cans for food. You know because America is so broke now./s

You viners are a trip.

If he's gonna wine and dine like the 1%, then he should be discrete. To flaunt this in pubic is acting like like Queen Marie Antoinette who, when she found out the people had nothing to eat, said "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche" which we translate as "Let them eat cake." Since brioche was enriched, as opposed to normal bread, the quote reflects the Queen's obliviousness to the condition of the people.

I frankly have no reason to think Obama is in step with the average American. He talks that talk, as they say, but HE DOESN'T WALK THE WALK--NOT IN HIS POLICIES, AND NOT EVEN SYMBOLICALLY.

Sorry jade1 and JEFFINVA, as a Democrat who supported him big time, even here on the vine, I find him an utter embarrassment and a total disappointment.

Ahhh, it's good to be king of the American Empire and hanging out with the 1%, don't you think? Eh, Obama?

I don't see any problem at all with the number courses his meal has or how much he pays for it as long as it is him paying for it. I don't even see a problem with a vacation in Hawaii. I want the President to get a way and clear his mind for the next round of heavy decision making. I just wish he made good decisions.

If he's gonna wine and dine like the 1%, then he should be discrete.

Right...he should show more discretion like our previous Presidents and vaca at the "family compound"...take the yacht out for a spin...maybe go horseback riding on his 700-1600 acre ranch...or rent out an entire Caribbean island.

Now that's discrete!

I frankly have no reason to think Obama is in step with the average American.

Fair enough. Which of the other mulit-millionaires running for POTUS is more, "in step"...in your opinion?

Wow, I thought he went to dinner with GOPer Senator David Vitter...what a let down.

The president and Mrs. Obama have dinner with his sister (a school teacher) and several friends from back home at a fine restaurant during the holiday season. So, what's the big deal!

My friends and I used to do things like that all the time and none of us are anywhere near the 1%. We just appreciate good food with friends and I know a hell of lot of others just like us. . . and thanks to the 'vine, I know a hell of a lot of whiners who will take every opportunity to take shots at the Obamas, even if they have to make it up or go over the edge over nothing. This seed is just more anti-Obama BS.

He golfed at a public course with $89 greens fees and ate at a restaurant where the price per person is, according to Tripadvisor, is between $49 and $51 dollars.

a restaurant where the price per person is, according to Tripadvisor, is between $49 and $51 dollars.

He also orders out from Ben's Chili Bowl, one of the Cheap Eats greats in Washingtonian.

A five-course meal for $50?

Sounds like a @!$%#ing bargain.

I think he's making a statement that American men are thieves and whore mongers. I mean, since both men are American and male.

Yes, he should have bought a ranch where he could go and clear brush for photo ops.

You clearly don't get it, do you? That's what's sad.

No truthlover, neither jmorris nor I get it. Care to explain it to us.

We're not talking bitterness and hate. I'd like a president who both walked the talk. I'd like a president who didn't act like the 1% in public. I'd really like a president who led by example--actually, leading at all would be a huge plus.

Gandhi was a good example of how leaders can be. Obama is an example of how they are.

So he should have stayed home for the holidays and eaten at the Burger King down the street from the White House?

@!$%#ing pathetic.

I'd like a president who didn't act like the 1% in public

He wasn't in public. He had a private meal with family and friends after playing golf. Were there cameras in the restaurant? On the golf course? Just because it is reported does not mean it was done in public.

Gandhi? You want him making his own clothes? Getting salt from the sea? Walking everywhere? You cannot be serious with that inanity.

He doesn't dodge the bullet on being a 1%er he has often admitted that he makes and has a few million and has asked the House republicans to make him pay more and the republican congress whose own members have much more income than does the President and are in the 10% of the 1%ers run and hide from paying more.

It's too bad that people like "truthlover" try and make something out of the President that doesn't exist just so they can slam him.

I missed the Gandhi part...

@!$%#ing Gandhi?

Seriously?

Well, I guess then you could call him a dirty hippie too...

truth,

hmmm and you think that any one of the republican nominee's would do that? WOW!!!

NEWSFLASH:Hawaii IS part of the United States,so it wouldn't matter if he stayed there.

some people are still upset with the ending of slavery even though they were not around.

"Those people" who are still upset with the ending of slavery, would be, ( as those who were there), nothing but dirt-poor sharecroppers, who were also slaves, but of a different color.

I'm inclined to agree with you except for Ron Paul who at least is principled, as far as I can tell. He's under huge attack--the Republican Establishment won't let him get near the nomination. He's not a 1%er.

Obama is, which is a problem.

Riiiight...

Paul is just a "regular Joe", huh?

Try again

Would you really care to get into the "principled" bull@!$%# as well?

He's not a 1%er.

Really? From Opensecrets.org

http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/CIDsummary.php?CID=n00005906&year=2008:

• Net Worth:
  From $1,640,037 to $3,930,000
  Rank: 94th in House

• Assets:
  37 totaling $1,640,037 to $3,930,000

You don't think someone with a net worth of between 1.6 and 4 million is in the 1%?

i'd rather go to Leroy Choy's Asian Soul Food joint :)

What would you get there? Teriyaki ribs? Sounds yummy

wong tong chitlin soup. :)

MTH - the Dems and Repubs ARE the prostitutes

the question is, who got the best looking prostitutes? i would say DEMS.......easy!

More Than Happy, what is this guy getting done? He's had three years, two of which he had a Democratic House and Senate. Yet--caved in on the public option, caved in on tax increases for the rich, caved in on Afghanistan, is trying to take credit for getting us out of Iraq when he wanted us to say in--thankfully, the Iraqis gave us no choice. The guys spineless. A good campaigner, but, for me, a very disappointing president. And I, like many, voted for him. Not next time. I may vote for some minor candidate but I won't vote again for this bearer of Bush policies.

truthlover, if you're waiting for politics to take pity on you for being betrayed, you're gonna be waiting a while. Perhaps next time, don't allow yourself to be deceived so easily!

If you would take any list of Obama's accomplishments seriously, I might start with the new EPA rules for mercury emissions and such. Plus, he's holding fast while the GOP is destroying itself!

Boudicea, we gotta start somewhere. Show me a crooked politician, and I'll show you a majority of voters that elected them to office.

Dear truthlover - Either you do not wish to live up to your moniker or you are incredibly ignorant of facts.

Yet--caved in on the public option,

False. President Obama did not cave in on the public option. He said very early in the campaign that as much as he was for the public option that he knew that it would never pass through congress. It was a major point of difference between he and Hillary Clinton. And BTW - He was right. Ben Nelson would never have voted to defeat the filibuster on ACA if it were single payer.

caved in on tax increases for the rich,

That "cave in" got the repeal of Don't ask, don't tell, ratification of the START treaty, tax breaks on college tuition, extension of unemployment insurance (which goes directly into the economy), and the payroll tax extension for the middle class plus another half dozen lesser known things. It's call compromise. BTW - Lindsey Graham referred to it as Reid and Obama ". . . ate our lunch!"

caved in on Afghanistan,

Again, he stated during the campaign that he was going to take the war to where ther terrorists were, Afghanistan. You should have been paying attention.

is trying to take credit for getting us out of Iraq when he wanted us to say in--thankfully, the Iraqis gave us no choice.

The president and top military brass were willing to leave trainers in Iraq and that's all

The guys spineless. A good campaigner, but, for me, a very disappointing president. And I, like many, voted for him. Not next time. I may vote for some minor candidate but I won't vote again for this bearer of Bush policies.

Please tell me which of the above are "Bush policies".

DSKI, I'd LOVE to know all the kinky stuff the RNC delegates are into, though, dirty old men need lovin', too!

More Than Happy, you wrote the following:

if you're waiting for politics to take pity on you for being betrayed, you're gonna be waiting a while. Perhaps next time, don't allow yourself to be deceived so easily!

You're right, of course. Many of my progressive friends thought I was dumb at the start. After Obama appointed Geithner, overriding his own criteria for unblemished cabinet appointments, more of my friends told me to wake up. It took awhile--a full year almost--before I finally pulled my plug on the guy: Not in my name, Mr. Compromiser-in-chief, and never again. Even the late Howard Zinn saw Obama as being a very dangerous president because he was mediocre (the reference for this is private, sorry).

So to an extent we agree: I was a naive progressive. I'll tell you, there's a lot of us who simply won't for Obama again. We see him as a smoother talking Bush, which is true for many of his policies. (I'm not going to get lost in this debate but he's been much worse for example on drones and equally bad on supporting the banksters.)

If you would take any list of Obama's accomplishments seriously, I might start with the new EPA rules for mercury emissions and such. Plus, he's holding fast while the GOP is destroying itself!

I certainly agree that Obama has accomplished some positive things. Any president, though, accomplishes some positive things. Again, I'm not going to debate the details here. A bit off topic I think.

You also wrote:

Boudicea, we gotta start somewhere. Show me a crooked politician, and I'll show you a majority of voters that elected them to office.

I'll agree on that one. Propaganda, TV, money all drive the elite and their politicians. Too bad they can't have jackets with their main funders, or funding groups, on their backs. Obama would wear "Banksters" while Bush would have worn "Oil."

It would be a lot more truthful.

Thanks for the intelligent dialogue.

Ron Christman,

You and I have been through this discussion before. I've appreciated our earlier dialogues and know that you are a committed Obamite. You also know my serious complaints. I can answer each of your points as you know. I'll just talk about one, the public option.

Obama's great gift is campaigning oratory. He is a good speaker. He never went before the American people form the Oval Office and clearly explained, as the president, what the public option was and why it was so important. How much do insurance companies take of consumers medical spending--over 50% I think. He could have done this. The facts were on his side. Many in the public were on his side. He just didn't go to bat. If you recall, the unclarity the rightwing propaganda spewed on the public option was outrageous. He never countered it.

Now you might say, as you have, that it wouldn't have passed anyway. I don't know. If the public knew with clarity what this was about, there would have been tremendous pressure put on the House and Senate. If it didn't pass, well, you can't win everything.

My biggest complaint about Obama on this and other issues is that HE NEVER WENT TO BAT IN PUBLIC AND TOOK A FIRM POSITION WHICH HE EXPLAINED FROM THE OVAL OFFICE.

He was, as several commentators who support(ed) him have said, "MIA."

Ron Christman, you seem to know a lot about the details of Obama's night out. Are you on his staff?

truthlover, my general feeling about Obama is that he is doing everything within his power to contain a number of VERY big messes. He has never been a firebrand, he's a much stronger pragmatist and I really like that; if there's one thing I hate, it's hiding behind principles.

Despite the strongest nonsense that the GOP and the health insurance industry could throw at him, Obama got a major piece of legislation passed by Congress. Yes, it was heavily compromised, but the opposition would have much rather left us with nothing. I think the most important points are that nothing is over yet, the momentum has shifted because of the ACA, and it'll be easier to pass a single-payer health care bill in the future because of it.

I like the way Obama has handled the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He knows we can't simply withdraw because it would leave a big power-vacuum, but that we also can't stay for much longer. He's cultivated a lot of goodwill around the world towards the U.S., and he has handled the Arab Spring and Libyan civil war very well. I want to convince you and your friends that Obama is worthy of a second look!

Health care? Obama gave away the interests of the 99% under the illusion of "compromise." That's BS. What's your response to this, his capitulation on the public option:

Obama's great gift is campaigning oratory. He is a good speaker. He never went before the American people form the Oval Office and clearly explained, as the president, what the public option was and why it was so important. How much do insurance companies take of consumers medical spending--over 50% I think. He could have done this. The facts were on his side. Many in the public were on his side. He just didn't go to bat. If you recall, the unclarity the rightwing propaganda spewed on the public option was outrageous. He never countered it.

Now you might say, as you have, that it wouldn't have passed anyway. I don't know. If the public knew with clarity what this was about, there would have been tremendous pressure put on the House and Senate. If it didn't pass, well, you can't win everything.

I don't care if he wins each issue. My problem isn't that progressive bills fail to pass. My biggest complaint about Obama on the public option, the extension of unemployment insurance, and other issues is that OBAMA NEVER WENT TO BAT IN PUBLIC AND TOOK A FIRM POSITION WHICH HE EXPLAINED FROM THE OVAL OFFICE IN AN EVENING ADDRESS TO THE NATION.

He was, as several commentators who support(ed) him have said, "MIA."

As for Afghanistan, he escalated what was a hopeless conflict and now everyone wants out (smart of course).

He's been a 1%er the whole time--the proof is in the pudding. What group--the 1% or the 99%--has benefited the most from his THREE YEARS of being president. During TWO of those years he had a Democratic House and Senate.

These are issues. Whether he eats at a ten star restuarant is, in the end, only a symbolic error if even that.

I wouldn't be so quick with the "associations" thing. Have you seen the list of wacko Dominionists, outright bigots and hate groups the panderers riding the GOP Clown Car have been racking up? Hell most of them make Ayers look like a Patriot and Wright an American Saint!

Why change the topic of the seed?

Because that's what you are trying to do backroads.

No, don, I'm not. If you read carefully, the article is about a Barack associate. I could read it to you, if you like.

No backroads your comments have nothing to do with associations, other than the lies that have already been debunked several times that this article is about. It's about going to a restaurant nothing more. Even children could see through you and your attempt to derail.

Sorry, Don, but Barack's long-term relationship with Wright was never debunked, nor was his fling with Ayers. Let's be honest here. Barack shined a Wright pew for years and years.

Look, I realize Barack fans cannot tolerate any dissent or disagreement; their sensitivity is legend.

debunked in what way?

He met ayers just a few times, at community organization gatherings, Whoopty doo.

He attended wright's church, but there was no indication that he ever heard wright say what he did, again whoopty doo.

So, quite frankly, there is no bunk to be debunked.

backroads... it has been debunked by the voters of America. You know those voters who picked Pres Obama over McCain and Queen Quitter Palin.

backroads

Sorry but you've been debunked.

Why pick on Obama, Ken Lay was a friend of the Bush family. Now he wasn't all talk and hurt a lot of people!

Another hypocrisy! Remember the strip club row in the GOP that helped kick Michael Steele out as RNC chair.And we all know that DAVID VITTER is STILL in the Senate.

the problem with both of those is that steele was using campaign money on it, and vitter was using senate office budget money for their daliances.

And Obama spent his own money on dinner with a friend who did not use government funds for a hooker. Of course, these are heinous crimes while the GOPers using public funds to promote their dalliances is perfectly OK.

To all the right wingnutters: THIS IS YET ANOTHER NON-ISSUE. PLEASE GET BACK TO US WHEN YOU ACTUALLY HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY.

Grae, I agree this is not an issue except symbolically. I'm just commenting on the article. The issues, which are serious, are better captured in other threads. One of them I mention in 27.8. Any thoughts about this SERIOUS issue? To make it easy for you and other viners to respond:

the public option.

Obama's great gift is campaigning oratory. He is a good speaker. He never went before the American people form the Oval Office and clearly explained, as the president, what the public option was and why it was so important. How much do insurance companies take of consumers medical spending--over 50% I think. He could have done this. The facts were on his side. Many in the public were on his side. He just didn't go to bat. If you recall, the unclarity the rightwing propaganda spewed on the public option was outrageous. He never countered it.

Now you might say, as you have, that it wouldn't have passed anyway. I don't know. If the public knew with clarity what this was about, there would have been tremendous pressure put on the House and Senate. If it didn't pass, well, you can't win everything.

I don't care if he wins each issue. My problem isn't that progressive bills fail to pass. Instead:

My biggest complaint about Obama on this and other issues is that HE NEVER WENT TO BAT IN PUBLIC AND TOOK A FIRM POSITION WHICH HE EXPLAINED FROM THE OVAL OFFICE.

He was, as several commentators who support(ed) him have said, "MIA."

Symbolically?

Ken Lay and Jack Abramoff (let's not forget Duke Cunningham nor Cheney's stock ownership in Halliburton).