July 17, 2012

Obama's cookie controversy.

Asked by a girl to name his favorite Girl Scout cookie, Obama says "“I’ve gotta say that I’m pretty partial to those mint..." and somebody booed....
"I didn’t mean to create controversy here,” Obama responded. “Did you hear, there was somebody booing? What was your choice? Who was booing up there? He had a different opinion. What are you, oatmeal? Peanut butter is quite good too. But I’m going with the mint.”
But isn't it refreshing — as we fight about everything — to fight over something inconsequential? To play-fight. It's like sports and games. Keeps us from getting too frustrated and mean.

IN THE COMMENTS: rhhardin said:
He's lying about the mint. He lies about everything.
Imagine if he told the truth:
Cookies! I don't eat cookies. You see how skinny I am? I was a pudgy kid [like you], and I ate plenty of cookies in my day, especially in those days when I was chooming. But now I smoke the right stuff: good old tobacco cigarettes. The kind of cigarettes that don't make you want to eat. The kind that keep you thin. That's the secret.
I know, you expect me to say "Thin Mints," because that's the favorite Girl Scout cookie, but I'm not going to lie to you. It's ridiculous to use the word "thin" in the name of a cookie. Cookies make you fat. I am skinny. I don't eat cookies. I smoke cigarettes. It's a choice you make, and I decided a long while ago that it was worth the risk, the risk of lung cancer, to control my weight, because weight'll kill you too. Plus, it's hell on your political career. The fat Barack Obama would not be President Obama. That's just the way it is.
And by the way, if I did eat cookies, I'd eat better quality cookies. I mean, I've got an executive pastry chef in the White House. This guy used to be the pastry chef at Montrachet Restaurant in New York City. Can you picture the cookies I have access to?
But good for you, little Girl Scout, good for you trying to better yourself by getting some door-to-door sales experience selling cookies to the bitter small town folks who cling to their Do-si-dos and Tagalongs. As they say in the Girl Scouts: Thank U Berry Munch. Barry Munch... would've been a great nickname for me, back in my chubby, chooming youth.

81 comments:

rhhardin said...

He's lying about the mint. He lies about everything.

Lucien said...

Kind of reminds you why you might have voted for the guy in the first place, doesn't it? That spark of playfulness that seems to be ground out of every other politician who's made it to the heavyweight finals. You could imagine Christie doing the same thing, but not really Romney.

Anonymous said...

"...You could imagine Christie doing the same thing,.."

Christie wouldn't pick the mint; he's a caramel guy.

Tom Spaulding said...

He's reduced to being a blank slate for us to throw our Girl Scout cookie preferences upon. Perfect.

And here I was, hoping he'd be the guy to transition us from Thin Mints to Gay Oreos.

Lyle said...

I love mock booing people too. Always good for a laugh.

MadisonMan said...

I prefer the cookie I can afford to buy, which in this economy isn't many.

Darrell said...

Fucking weirdo!

john said...

Has anyone asked whether he wears boxer shorts yet?

Or dresses right?

Shouldn't we have vetted this guy 4 years ago on the really important questions, such as we did Bill Clinton?

Robert Cook said...

I go with the chocolate mint, too.

wyo sis said...

Woultn't it be funny if the people who were booing got gang saled/sold by a bunch of girl scouts? Right there at the speech.

wyo sis said...

John
He doesn't dress right. He wears mom jeans.

Darrell said...

He dresses left.

Bob Ellison said...

You mint people are maroons. Samoas are the best.

Paddy O said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MayBee said...

It obviously doesn't keep Obama from being too frustrated and mean.

Robert Cook said...

"Shouldn't we have vetted this guy 4years ago on the really important questions, such as we did Bill Clinton?"

I assume you're being snarky, or don't you recall that Clinton was hated as much by the opposition as Obama is today?

BarryD said...

Do they sell Girl Scout Cookies at Whole Foods now?

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
edutcher said...

Didn't Johnny Carson use the line, "A hint of mint*", as a euphemism for homosexuality?

* Initially copy in a TV commercial.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...

Well, you're doing it again, Ann.

There is NOTHING funny or cute about this man, or anything he does.

And you do a huge disservice when you think and act otherwise.

We will have to get very lucky indeed, and put in a tremendous amount of work and sacrifice, to undo, in our remaining lifetimes, the damage he and his ilk have done to all aspects of America, foreign and domestic.

It's not funny. HE'S not funny. And you are not either, for trying to soften feelings about him.

Please stop.

He has been a disaster.

Bill said...

No, not so refreshing. It's not the harmless playfulness of it, it's the bias. When Obama has a moment like that it gets plenty of exposure to show us how human and funny he is. When Romney has those moments (and you know he does) they're ignored, suppressed, or twisted into something sinister.

When some similar fluff anecdote about Romney makes the evening newscasts or makes its way into the MSM news cycle, THAT will be refreshing.

john said...

Cookie - you don't recall Clinton being asked about his underwear choice? As informed voters we needed to know that.

(And doesn't it bother you that you and that war criminal like the same kind of cookie?)

traditionalguy said...

The loving smile of a cool guy who connects with us us is back at least until November. Enjoy it while you can.

Meanwhile Mitt Romney is hiding out while he makes his final plans to buy the Girl Scouts and spin off their Cookie Sales Industry component. Mitt doesn't know what the cookies taste like, but he can smell the money made from cheap labor a mile off.

LilyBart said...

But isn't it refreshing — as we fight about everything — to fight over something inconsequential?

Oh, yes - so charming. This man, who denigrates and minimizes the contributions of our hardest working, risk taking, value crating business people, likes to ‘play fight’ about what Girl Scout Cookie tastes best. Just charming.

Robert Cook said...

"(And doesn't it bother you that you and that war criminal like the same kind of cookie?)"

No...Hitler loved Charlie Chaplin...uh, up until THE GREAT DICTATOR, I suppose. Even war criminals are human beings. They're bound to like some of the same things non-war criminals like.

rehajm said...

He was supposed to be the uniter, the great healer to bring us together. Instead he ignored his own great compromise in Simpson-Bowles. We got one party rule health insurance. He set the tone for the divisiveness. Even girl scout cookies. So suck it up...

Robert Cook said...

"This man, who denigrates and minimizes the contributions of our hardest working, risk taking, value crating (sic) business people...."

Who in the world are you talking about? The corporate heads to lay off thousand here at home and send the jobs overseas? The bankers who make themselves wealthy by committing fraud? I wish Obama were tough on the business class, but his critiques, so-called, are just for show, to keep his Democratic base mollified. Obama is a much a friend of business (to the detriment of working people) as Clinton ever was.

rehajm said...

“I’ve gotta say that I’m pretty partial to those mint.."

They have a name- Thin mints . He's out of touch with average Americans!

Tom Spaulding said...

Here's MY charming-yet-puerile observation, so refreshingly transitional in these troubled times. It's my dream to have the following comments analyzed for their Drudge juxtaposition potential :

He sucks.

The people who voted for him the first time suck.

Whoever votes for him again sucks.

edutcher said...

Robert Cook said...

This man, who denigrates and minimizes the contributions of our hardest working, risk taking, value crating (sic) business people....

Who in the world are you talking about? The corporate heads to lay off thousand here at home and send the jobs overseas?


And they do it because people like Cook blindly make war on business, all business, in name of Glorious World Socialist Workers' Revolution.

Where everybody lives in poverty.

Except the Rulers.

MayBee said...

It's true. That he couldn't come up with "Thin Mint" leads me to believe he does not actually buy or eat Girls Scout cookies.

Also, the oatmeal and peanut butter are one cookie, not two.

Anonymous said...

Doesn't BO get his hint of mint from smoking Kools?

LilyBart said...

Who in the world are you talking about? The corporate heads to lay off thousand here at home and send the jobs overseas? The bankers who make themselves wealthy by committing fraud?

My guess is that you just have a passing acquaintance with actual business people. You are at the mercy of the movie and TV portrayal of the business world to inform you.

There are some bad players in the business world, yes - but you would paint ALL business people as 'bad'. I work with business owners every day, and the vast majority of these are decent and hardworking people.

Layoffs are sometimes a necessary thing to keep a business viable (its better layoff some and have the business stay viable, than have the business fail and leave all the company’s workers unemployed). And as for sending jobs overseas, I would argue that our high business tax and regulatory environment makes it hard for larger businesses to operate solely in the US.

Brian Brown said...

Robert Cook said...


Who in the world are you talking about? The corporate heads to lay off thousand here at home and send the jobs overseas?


It is funny to watch you, a poor loser, blame your lot in life on these faceless "corporate heads"

I wonder if you've ever bothered yourself to know that the majority of businesess in America are not the size of GE? Nor do the majority of Americans work for such large companies.

Watching you try and talk economics is like watching an 14 month old baby eat breakfast.

Shanna said...

I prefer the cookie I can afford to buy, which in this economy isn't many.

Cute.

I have to agree on the Thin Mints (they keep in the freezer for ages), but is it girl scout cookie time already? Didn't that just happen?

yashu said...

When Obama has a moment like that it gets plenty of exposure to show us how human and funny he is. When Romney has those moments (and you know he does) they're ignored, suppressed, or twisted into something sinister.

This.

Robert Cook said...

You know, I really hate "This."

AllenS said...

But isn't it refreshing

Our deficit, just for the month of June was $60 billion. How refreshing does that sound to you?

Tank said...

Robert Cook said...
"Shouldn't we have vetted this guy 4years ago on the really important questions, such as we did Bill Clinton?"

I assume you're being snarky, or don't you recall that Clinton was hated as much by the opposition as Obama is today?


No, I hate Obama much more than Clinton. In fact, I didn't hate Clinton, just thought he was a mediocrity as President. I do hate Obama. I think a lot of people agree with me. That's because we're all racists [there I saved ... some idjit .... the trouble of saying that].

Ralph L said...

Of course he had to choose the black cookie.

(I buy the Keebler or Walmart version).

Ralph L said...

You know, I really hate "This."

Fail.

(I hate both).

Shanna said...

That he couldn't come up with "Thin Mint" leads me to believe he does not actually buy or eat Girls Scout cookies.

I did think that as well.

Obama's thought process 'don't a lot of people talk about some sort of mint something girl scout cookies? Yes? I'll go with those'

Christopher in MA said...

That spark of playfulness that seems to be ground out of every other politician who's made it to the heavyweight finals.

If you'd become president without ever having worked a real job in your life, then spent almost all your time golfing or standing before worshipful audiences, knowing that no matter how imbecilic you sound (people fainting at his rallies need a "paralegal"), your fluffers in the MFM would never hold you to it, you'd be 'playful,' too.

It's stories like this that make me want a second Obama term. This country deserves to be finished off when a worthless crackhead like him isn't laughed into well-deserved exile.

West Town said...

I used to like the lemon-flavored ones. What were they called?

yashu said...

Robert Cook, I don't really disagree, but what good laconic alternative do you suggest? "Ditto"? "Second"? "Aye"? "Mmm-hmmm"? Maybe I'll resort to "this" in different languages for variety.

john said...

Did you know there are 3 kinds of Trails End popcorn, and you can get them in a tin or a bag?

Or 4 kinds of microwaveable popcorn?

Including chocolate?

Or that the Cub Scouts sell pretzels?

No. That won't be a topic.

Curious George said...

At least he had some kind of answer. Obama, who professes to be a huge White Sox fan (even wearing a Sox cap when throwing out pitches at non-White Sox games) called their ballpark Cominskey Field(it's Comiskey Park, or was) and could name a single White Sox player.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcvbql_obama-can-t-name-any-chisox-players_sport

cubanbob said...

If the only thing there was to boo Obama about was his choice of cookies this country would be in paradise.

RC: I know its a stretch for you to consider but businesses are in business to make money. Those that do stay viable. Those that don't go under. They aren't charities and they don't exist for the purpose of giving jobs to those who are no longer economically viable.

john said...

If you want Boy Scouts popcorn, you have to buy it from them in front of the Safeway or Ace Hardware. If you want thin mints, the Girl Scouts come right to your door.

That's a big difference.

Cedarford said...

AllenS said...
But isn't it refreshing

Our deficit, just for the month of June was $60 billion. How refreshing does that sound to you?

================
Great comeback.
CNBC is now beginning focus on how the Eurocrisis and huge US deficit will trigger a credit collapse as nations in the West run out of the power to print money.
Triggering a true 2nd Great Depression that emerges from the Great Recession.

We could be about ready for the military, new strongman dictators to take over and fix rotten Western systems and a failure of Democracy once enough people found their vote could be a majority to get "free stuff" and special interests perfected the art of corrupting Democrats, Republicans, and Eurosocialists.

And while this is happening, no US budget approved in 3 years....Western jobs lost to Asia with the Richest 1% full connivance...
We want refreshing talk of thin mints and Michelles fashion ensemble for her Olympic trip that will only set taxpayers back 25 million??

yashu said...

Obama is running on his "personality," so naturally this kind of stuff will get MSM play.

MSM: "Obama has a great personality!" Red flag for a blind date, and a POTUS.

john said...

Cedarford -

Nations never run out of the power to print money. The problem is one of transportation, ie, a shortage of wheelbarrows.

bgates said...

You know, if the girl who asked him the question sold a lot of cookies - she didn't really sell them.

The federal government sold them.

Obama sold them.

Obama is the father, and the boyfriend, and the provider, and the dreamy black guy, and whatever else empty-headed, poorly educated bimbos need him to be. Refreshing!

Cedarford said...

Christopher in MA -

It's stories like this that make me want a second Obama term. This country deserves to be finished off when a worthless crackhead like him isn't laughed into well-deserved exile.

People in rapidly declining countries do not want to roll over and die along with their "finished off" country.
They want Revolution.
Old power structures dismantled, failed Constitutions burned. The rich's wealth achieved under the old rotten regime - gained fairly or not, redistributed to the people. Certain Elites killed, imprisoned, or cleansed out of the land.
All while the dangerously poor, the underclass mob, is brutally put down for the collective good of the People.

Cedarford said...

john said...
Cedarford -

Nations never run out of the power to print money. The problem is one of transportation, ie, a shortage of wheelbarrows.
-------------------
Effectively they do, when they reach that point in old times. The "wheelbarrow phase" can only last a few weeks before men with guns take over.
In modern times, we no longer have single nations with single currencies that can stop the contagion from spreading past their Borders. So when currency is devalued, global credit markets are threatened.
Times have changed too much for this to play out like Weimer Germany or the 1960s collapse of Ubangi Bucks in new post-colonial African lands.

AllenS said...

What other refreshing news is there for Obama? Well, there was the Olympic basketball game where Barry and Michelle were supposed to kiss, and they fucked that up or some other stupid shit on the giant screen.

For the year, our GDP went up 1%, and our deficits are at over 20%.

Feeling refreshed yet?

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Robert Cook,

I assume you're being snarky, or don't you recall that Clinton was hated as much by the opposition as Obama is today?

I think, you know, that that was a reference to Clinton appearing on MTV and being asked "Boxers or briefs?"

Christopher in MA said...

People in rapidly declining countries do not want to roll over and die with their "finished off" country. They want Revolution.

And if that revolution meant that scum like Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, Harry Reid and Trent Lott - along with Eric Holder, Al Sharpton, Tim Geithner, the NFA, the SEC, MF Global - hell, our entire corrupt political / pundit / loot the Treasury class were going to be dragged screaming to the guillotine, I'd be in the vanguard. But it won't happen. We will devolve into a soft police state or a complete totalitarian dictatorship.

And since 52% of the population are fine with that, then I want them to get it good and hard. If my life, my work and my future are going to be destroyed, then by God, I want the parasites who voted for this to be destroyed too.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Robert Cook,

You know, I really hate "This."

Do you? Why? To me it seems a quick and intelligible way of saying that someone else's comment was what you wished you'd written yourself, had you the time and the talent.

I do not see what's offensive about it. What do you prefer? "I agree with what X said" would do, I presume?

kimsch said...

@john,

When the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts sell at the Safeway, it's called a site sale. They still sell door to door. Girl Scouts also have site sales. The last time I bought some was outside a Walmart.

Popcorn sales will be from about September 22nd through October. You can go to Scouting.org and find a local Pack or Troop and contact them if you'd like to have them come to you. They'll be happy to.

You can also purchase popcorn from trails-end.com.

Robert Cook said...

"This" is mindless. In fact, not just mindless, like saying, "Me, too," but in its one-word assertiveness, it seems aggressively mindless. Why bother posting a comment at all if not to add one's own perspective, to elaborate even on a point with which one agrees.

At least find a more creative way to say "I agree."

Robert Cook said...

For the record, I also hate LOL, and virtually all such internet cliche abbreves, (ha!).

Robert Cook said...

"Robert Cook, I don't really disagree, but what good laconic alternative do you suggest? 'Ditto'? 'Second'? 'Aye'? "Mmm-hmmm'"?

"I agree with this" or "This is very well said" are perfectly fine and are acceptably laconic, if that is one's wish.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Robert Cook,

This" is mindless. In fact, not just mindless, like saying, "Me, too," but in its one-word assertiveness, it seems aggressively mindless. Why bother posting a comment at all if not to add one's own perspective, to elaborate even on a point with which one agrees.

At least find a more creative way to say "I agree."


You know, in my experience the people who post "This" generally do go on to elaborate on why they agree with "this."

You must bloody hate voting, by the way. Millions of people all saying "this." No creativity at all.

Robert Cook said...

"You must bloody hate voting, by the way."

No, because voting, by its nature, is mindless.

One assumes that persons osting opinions to blogs have something they wish to add to the discussion.

Darrell said...

At least find a more creative way to say "I agree.


Fucking A.

Robert Cook said...

"You know, in my experience the people who post "This" generally do go on to elaborate on why they agree with 'this.'"

Sometimes, but most often not.

If elaboration is provided, then "this" is redundant.

Robert Cook said...

"Fucking A."

Word.

Richard Dolan said...

Politics, politics, just everywhere. It's even invading the sanctum of GS Cookie-land. What's next, a cookie fatwa as O tries to win Virginia (thinking back to an old Althouse post about cupcakes here).

But there's always a nugget to chew on in an Althouse post. I liked this one: "I mean, I've got an executive pastry chef in the White House. This guy used to be the pastry chef at Montrachet Restaurant in New York City."

Montrachet was a wonderful place, much missed by those of us who frequented it. But it really wasn't known for cookies. Instead, it was the fabulous wine list, all those lovely Burgundy vintages and (even better) the great domestic pinots. Nice walk down memory lane. Thanks for the occasion.

Shanna said...

"This" is mindless. In fact, not just mindless, like saying, "Me, too," but in its one-word assertiveness, it seems aggressively mindless.

So you have no appreciation for brevity? More words to say the same thing is somehow laudable?

(I'll also agree that most people do elaborate so it's really more of a 'that sentence was so good it needed to be acknowledged' kind of comment. It's not mindless either. You thought about the original comment, at the very least).

Sigivald said...

Samoas. Obviously.

Kirk Parker said...

LilyBart,

"And as for sending jobs overseas, I would argue that our high business tax and regulatory environment makes it hard for larger businesses to operate solely in the US."

It's more than just that--what sort of despicable jingoistic super-patriot do you have to be, to not think that America should share some of its jobs with the rest of the world?

There you have it--Robert Cook, the face of mindless American Exceptionalism.

Mitch H. said...

I prefer the cookie I can afford to buy, which in this economy isn't many.

Which cookies can we afford these days, Hydrox?

I preferred Samoas, as you can tell by my spreading paunch.

yashu said...

Geez, Cook. First you boo my use of "this," and I respond light-heartedly like Obama here, but then you charge me with "aggressive mindlessness." How refreshing.

Here's my earnest humorless response. Blog comment threads are not just a series of debates or little essays, but also multiform casual conversations among a large group of people. In person such conversations are full of not just words and sentences but eye contact, facial expressions, nodding, laughs, etc. Things like "This" and "LOL" fulfill some of those functions online. Sometimes you don't have anything to add (or the time/ energy/ eloquence/ mood/ wit at that moment to add anything) to another's comment, but still have an impulse to express some acknowledgment-- like a laugh or enthusiastic nod-- and that's not nothing.

Just because there's a redundancy of propositional content doesn't mean there's a redundancy of speech acts. "This" and "LOL" are no more redundant than a nod, smile, or laugh in a conversation is.

In this case, as I read the thread I started to work out a reply in my mind to Lucien's comment. Before I got to the end of the thread, Bill made just the point I was going to make, that I was intending to write in the comment box. Hence the impulse, when I got to the end, to single out that remark of Bill's, point to it and say "this."

So there.

Thin mints it is.

Robert Cook said...

Ummm...Yashu. Perhaps you shouldn't take my personal irritation at "this" so much to heart. I wasn't directing my comments to you, personally, but merely expressing my general feeling about the use of the cliche. It would be a small annoyance if one person used it, but it seems to becoming often used. Consequently, it has the result for me as of nails scraping against a chalkboard; to others it may be verbal euphony.

MadisonMan said...

If elaboration is provided, then "this" is redundant.

This.

Robert Cook said...

"If elaboration is provided, then 'this' is redundant."

'This."


Lol. (I feel dirty.)

yashu said...

Heh Cook, I know it's not personal (though it smarted a smidge). And "this" also irks me as an overused cliche (though I still use it, because I find it useful).

I was just aiming to be "refreshing" like you in this thread-- continuing to "fight over something inconsequential."

Robert Cook said...

This.

karrde said...

Don't have much to comment about cookies. (My favorite is home-made chocolate chip cookies. Sounds boring, but so much better than any mass-produced, boxed cookies. Some grocery stores bake chocolate-chip cookies also; those tend to be decent.)

But I got to say: this guy reacted to booing. And booing over cookies. He didn't laugh and shrug it off. He didn't come back with a joke about being 'pro-choice' on the cookie front.

No, the answer looks defensive.

What happened to Mr. Cool? Why is he so thin-skinned?

Holmes said...

That was fun.