Two celebrities appeared at the Asheville Regional Airport this morning. I’m sure the vast majority of the estimated 2,000 attendees were there to see the President, hear his speech on the American Jobs Act, snap a photo, and (for a lucky few) shake his hand.
However, quite a few folks in the crowd asked to take a picture of my t-shirt too!
I received numerous comments along the lines “that settles it” and “they [the birthers] are crazy.” Everybody liked the shirt.
I couldn’t get enough elevation to take a photo of more than a fraction of the crowd. This photo of people stretching as far as the eye can see is some of the people who walked over a mile back to the parking area rather than take the fleet of air conditioned buses.
Signs were not permitted on the airport tarmac (which is wonderful for folks like me trying to snap photos); however, a group of 3 protesters did show up and stationed themselves about half a mile from the airport where folks returning to the parking area could see them. One carried a sign about Herman Cain and his “999” plan (I told the guy he had his sign upside down) and another’s said “My dog has created more shovel ready jobs than Obama!”
Following his appearance at the airport, Obama boarded Greyhound 1 for a bus tour through North Carolina and Virginia.
Update:
I learned something interesting about the President. In the photo above, you can see that Obama is wearing a chronograph wrist watch. Here’s the detail from that photo of the watch:
The watch shows the time as about 11:12 AM. The time stamp on the photo (compensating for the fact that my camera’s clock was 2 minutes ahead) shows it was taken at 11:02 AM. The President sets his watch 10 minutes fast.
Update 2:
The official White House photo of the event from the White House web site is reproduced below, with me circled 😉 I’m wearing a ball cap turned around to serve the dual function of letting me use the camera, and keeping the sun off my neck.
Excellent story, photos, Doc!
In comments today Senator John McCain called the President’s swing through North Carolina and Virginia a tax-payer funded campaign trip. While it would be naive to deny the political benefits of such a trip, the speech was limited to the the American Jobs Act.
When someone in the crowd shouted “4 more years” the President said something like, “4 more years would be nice but right now I’m concerned about the next 13 months” and that job creation can’t wait until the next election.
I recorded the speech, but the quality is not that good.
NPR said that the speech was warmly received in Asheville. That’s an understatement. That crowd applauded the security snipers on a nearby roof and the installation of the presidential seal on the podium.
got to give it to him, the dog sign is pretty funny.
My, my, what cute dimples you have Doc…
Incidentally, a new CNN/ORC poll has Obama’s job approval rating up to 46%.
“My dog has created more shovel ready jobs than Obama!”
Three men are sitting around a pool.
A surgeon says, “my dog is so smart, he can count.” He says to his dog, “Bones, go in the house and fetch two biscuits. The dog comes back with 2 biscuits.
An accountant says, “my dog is so smart, he can count in fractions.” He says, “Ledger, go in the house and fetch 2 biscuits. The dog comes back with 2 biscuits.
A lawyer says, “my dog is smartest of all.” He says to his dog, “Torts, eat those 2 biscuits, and screw those two dogs.”
Oops. I’m loaded with Xanax, from a severe asthma episode this afternoon:
“My dog has created more shovel ready jobs than Obama!”
Three men are sitting around a pool.
A surgeon says, “my dog is so smart, he can count.” He says to his dog, “Bones, go in the house and fetch two biscuits.” The dog comes back with 2 biscuits.
An accountant says, “my dog is so smart, he can count in fractions.” He says, “Ledger, go in the house and fetch 2 biscuits.” The dog comes back with 2 biscuits.
A lawyer says, “my dog is smartest of all.” He says to his dog, “Torts, eat those 4 biscuits, and screw those two dogs.”
He obviously does not leash his dog, because, he had been leaving shovel ready packages all over my commute to the train station. I bet flaggers are wonderful people, but I have seen them quite enough, thank you.
People have been saying that for years. In truth, it is a scar from a golfing injury I got as a child.
Ditto here.
Local news coverage showed pictures of another protest sign at a nearby shopping mall. It was a tow truck with the lettering TOWBAMA. The offer was that if Obama would get back on the plane and fly back to DC, they would tow the bus back for free.
Great article Doc. Where can I get one of those Tshirts with the birth certificate on the back? It would really freak out the birthers I work with!!
I can’t quite make out the first word of the sign on the left. Anyone know?
I’m guessing it says “Commemorating 1000 days of President Zero”?
I’d like to hear more about the golfing accident. I can’t figure it without a broken club.
Nice pics and story, Doc. Did you and the President coordinate your baby blue button-downs?
Thank you so much for sharing about this event! Your pics and report are tremendously encouraging to this loyal Obama supporter. It is refreshing to learn that so many turned out in support of the President and that he was so enthusiastically received.
When will the Repubs learn that Obama is just too damn smart for their stupid little soundbites? They end up with pie on their face every single time.
Oh, and I love the shirt. LOVE IT!
Yes, I think that’s what the sign said. No, Obama didn’t coordinate shirts with me, although they were very close — the pattern is different.
Basically I was hit in the face by the face of the club. It didn’t puncture the skin but it did some internal damage so that the skin puckers when I smile.
Here’s a video of the event for anyone interested…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TmnJKwxOcw
Wile E
Please see update at the end of this article.
“The President sets his watch 10 minutes fast.”
I’m on Jewish Standard Time. ‘I’ll be there at 6; 6:30 the latest.’
Thanks for the heads-up on the update & the additional coverage/pics. Interesting about his watch…and also your “backwards baseball cap”…LOL.
So, you were hit in the face with a golf club and decided to become an unflinching Democrat.
Hmmmm.
Who ironed your T-shirt?
Republicans shoot people in the face. See Dick Cheney.
Well, I guess I’ve always been a Democrat. It’s just that I and the Democrats have both changed a lot over the decades.
As for the t-shirt, it was new and has never been ironed. If it had been ironed, I would have done it. In my household, everyone does their own laundry.
Cain thinks it must be your fault if you don’t have someone to iron your shirt for you.
I agree.
I’ve never been allowed to blame others for my inability to hire and fire staff. I like Cain because he consistently reminds me I must succeed on my own without the benefit of passing on responsibility for failure to others.
On the other hand, success is an opiate and all mine.
Never been allowed? By whom? Your masters? Did they punish you severely if you disobeyed? How strangely pathetic and odd.
“I like Cain because he consistently reminds me I must succeed on my own without the benefit of passing on responsibility for failure to others.”
And when will that happen?
“On the other hand, success is an opiate and all mine.”
It sounds like you need an intervention and drug counseling. Cash only, of course.
One has to laugh at Mr. Landrum’s assertion about hiring and firing staff. Landrum’s a drone in a multi-level marketer outfit hawking overpriced “nutritional suppliments,” and his so-called “staff” consists of desperate part-timers who have fallen for the false promise of a pyramid scheme.
Not surpisingly, his tweets are chock-a-block with the malicious ravings of a demented tea-bagger/birther.
I didn’t think this sad story could get more odd and unfortunate. I was mistaken.
Unfortunately, his attitude, that “all successes that I achieve are due to me, me , me” is all too prevalent, even among more “rational” members of society. Apparently nothing else in the world matters. No successful person owes anything to:
parents
teachers
mentors
co-workers
a community that enabled success
genetic endowment
sheer luck
That’s not to say that hard work isn’t an essential ingredient in success. Of course it is. But all over the world there are billions of people and hundreds of millions in the US who work very hard and have little to show for it.
Agreed.
Those tweets are for Kim Kardashian, moron. What can I say … I like Armenian-American women.
Tell the Old Man I want a face-to-face meeting. I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse. And Arthur, it would be helpful if you pounded your fist on the desk when you tell the Old Man I want a meeting.
Let alone a socialist Post Office, a socialist Highway department, a socialist Railway system, a socialist Sea Port system, a socialist Police department, a socialist … you get the picture.
The Old Man is dead.
A note to the handful of sad and angry birther bigots who are still squeaking and squawking the same inane lies:
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Søren Kierkegaard
You too can have a watch like the President’s (without the Secret Service insignia)
http://www.watchco.com/jorg-gray-watches/commemorative-edition/jg6500-31.html