Obama: I'm Annoyed By The "Shine Police"

WASHINGTON — Now it can be told: President Obama says one of the best-kept secrets at the White House is the pastry chef's to-die-for pie.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Obama was asked to reveal a White House secret, and he dished about the pie.

Obama says the pastry chef makes "the best pie I have ever tasted, and that has caused big problems with Michelle and I."

The president said he and the first lady are "having to figure out how to resist ordering pie every night."

Obama also came clean about one of his pet peeves _ the "shine police." The president says that before his interviews, aides "constantly want to powder my nose and forehead, and it's never enough."

He finds that _ in his words _ "quite irritating."

Comments

[eleanorhawking]

To heck with makeup - where's the story where Helen Thomas tore the O administration a new rear for their manipulation of the media?

[LoveGuv]

You just told it. Yet no one cares. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[t iessa]

They don't want to talk about that! They want to feed us these idiotic, banal stories to keep our little brains occupied so we'll ignore the important ones. What's sad is that it works!

[anothervoice]

You are certainly occupied with it, are you not?

[lpbj]

At least you recognized your deficiency.

[eleanorhawking]

I never forget! There are a couple of others who need to wake up and smell the coffee.

[Jillian547]

Exactly! It's about time the media started to question Obama's policies! I find it very interesting reading the posts on Huff. Alot of people that voted for Obama are starting to see the light. Hopefully, it won't be too late....

[verycold]

it seems the kitchen gets rave reviews from all presidents. I guess they all share that same delight.

I would HATE anybody powdering my nose or forehead. I agree on that issue.

[MorpheusXNYC]

Yeah, but Barack's got one shiny nose... We're talking Rudolph levels here..
Blacks tend to have oilier skin, hence the reason they look younger as they age (I'm half Black myself, so I know of what I speak), but the drawback the preternatural gleam on noses and foreheads occasionally.

[iceage7]

hmm. i did not know that having oily skin makes you look younger than your age. Coz i got oily skin but never look my age. I learnt something new.

[kesiac]

Its the melani in our skin, not the oil that keeps us looking young. As a half black yourself, you should know that.

[LoveGuv]

"causing problems for Michelle and I" is wrong because, in this case, I is the object of the preposition not the subject.

You wouldn't say "causing problems for I" would you? Just like you wouldn't say "me is causing problems with the pie."

When in doubt, write the sentence while leaving out the other person's name and you won't go wrong.

[CitizenKane16]

I have an idea, why don't you get a life?

[LoveGuv]

OK. Should I get one like yours where you have time to comment on posts made by people you believe have no life?

[LoveGuv]

This is a run-on sentence. Please rewrite to read "I have an idea. Why don't you get a life?" OK.

[EmeraldWorld]

The fact that you found this so important to point out and lecture amazes me.

[LoveGuv]

Not nearly as amazed as I am that you decided to lecture me about lecturing.

[suec03]

Many of us saw that grammatical stumble, but refrained from pointing it out. He could have said "for me and Michelle," and would have been using the objective case. Instead, he was intent on placing his wife's name before his own pronoun, and there he stumbled.

[janeslife]

Alas, there aren't many people left who care about grammar. I noticed it, too, and was surprised that our usually well-spoken president made such a common error. I'm sure he knows better.

[LoveGuv]

I was surprised, too. I'm sure he just stumbled while speaking and knows better.

I posted this because some here are arguing that this "Michelle and I" is always grammatically correct.

[NomadicView]

Duly noted, Luv Guy. I was an English teacher so I appreciate your explanation. Perfect grammar is an ideal to aim for and in interviews, there is quite a bit more flexibility about the rules. I think you would agree.
Having said that, after Bush- fumbling lines any 6 year old could read- and Palin's faux folksiness- Obama's minor grammatical errors seem like nothing. Nowadays in most reputable newspapers and magazines, the amount of errors increases every year. Personally I consider a grammatical error important to mention only when it affects communication of the speaker's idea. The rest of them, while not to held up as a model, are best left to the anal retentive types. Obama, in my opinion, rates as one of our finest public speakers, since Kennedy.

[iceage7]

Why dont you email chuck todd and ask him to bring it up in the next presser.

[Ohioan730]

Well, Mr. President, nobody ever said being the potus was easy. :D

Mr. President
Mr. President
Mr. President

Thank you, Mr. First Black President of the United States. Oh, how you enrage the mouthbreathers with every little insignificant thing you do. The way you force people to take off their phony masks and reveal their true selves is superb. I can never repay you for that. Whoever makes the documentary to end all documentaries about this time in history will have a treasure trove of silliness and dog whistle racism to illustrate the atmosphere of what its like to live right now and hear the ridiculous petty outbursts of the 20% opposition. In the future we'll say "You cant explain it, you just had to be there". :D

[Coolcat101]

ITA. I can't wait to real his tell all book about his thoughts on things during this period and during the campaign. People have really lost their minds with his rise to power. LOL.

[factotem]

So you believe that Obama can do no wrong that someone might note; and you think the opposition is irritatable. You're the Obama version of one of Limbaugh's ditto-heads.

[anothervoice]

Tightly wound, are we?

[anothervoice]

Excellent.

[3Dubyadot]

Lighten up barry.

[MaximMaximus]

Shut up i.diot! Try President Barack Hussein Obama.

[Pavane]

Michael Jackon lightened up ... and it didn't do him any good.

[anothervoice]

Lol. MORE Excellent!

[anothervoice]

...or at least, even out...

[db08]

you are in the wrong place...look for barry manilow elsewhere....there are times when he takes himself too seriously....perhaps like some commenters....

[Chloe33]

Oh, that's why Michelle has been wearing such dowdy, baggy outfits lately........to much PIE.

[Weirdwriter]

Why not tell Ms. Bachmann to get a belt?

[Strega]

Zing!

[NomadicView]

She already has the Bible belt. N'yuk n'yuk.

[anothervoice]

..over her mouth.

[TaurusRose]

a sanitary belt

[puffthedragon]

It is' too' much pie not "to" much pie.. Guess one can tell that you haven't had too much education.

[Strega]

double Zing!

[skunky93]

paying attention to every little detail huh? stalker.

[MaximMaximus]

Just shut your piehole!

[anothervoice]

Lol. Told you.

[Pavane]

That's too ... too much pie. He he.

[YewNeekId]

No president has spent more time in front of the camera and less time behind the desk than this guy. He should be on very good times with the shine police by now.


Do some work Obama - remember, there's a job involved here - not just free rides on the big plane

[Lurker50]

sigh...

[bayblues]

right. and Bush was working really really hard all the time right? say so - and your disconnect from facts will at least be consistent on both ends. ugh.

[method]

You mean like Bush.

[teron678]

fold up

[myjs]

You mean staying in touch with the public?

[farseer]

Obama knows better than to say "with Michelle and I." Give I a break! One of the many pleasing things about Sotomayor, is that she got this business right, in her WH statement before the cameras when she was introduced by BHO.

[white mende man]

Can't understand if you are trying to make a joke or not but "with Michelle and I" is perfectly correct. If you are implying that he should have said "Michelle and me" that would have been incorrect.
Forgive me though if I have stepped into a joke.

[HereComesMegaCorp]

It's no joke.

"Michelle and I" is in fact WRONG, in this sentence.

"Michelle and I want more pie" works, because "I want more pie" works.

"This is causing problems for Michelle and I" does not work, because "This is causing problems for I" does not work.

Always look to see how the clause would read for the speaker, if she were not including additional humans in her statement. That's how you work this out. But me won't hold it against you.

[anothervoice]

Oh Lord, you pi$$ed off the grammarians again... Please follow the thread before you jump in.

[1088]

He said Michelle and myself in the interview!

[t iessa]

That's no better.

[sjones66]

"with michelle and myself" is correct. Myself is a reflexive pronoun, and as the object of the verb, myself is correct.

the chef's pie is causing problems with Michelle and myself. the pie is doing something to the objects of the sentence.

the POTUS is correct.

[tsktsktsk]

I love POTUS but his grammar is not the best. He likes to say "X person and myself." Should be x person and me" or "x person and I" E.g. "It's causing problems between Michelle and me." "Michelle and I can't agree on what to eat."

He also rarely uses "an" in front of a word that begins with a vowel. Actually, I notice a lot of people are now doing that.

Nevertheless, I still love me some POTUS. :-)

[CUL8R]

Ditto! LOL One of my pet peeves, but I love me some POTUS! (Bad grammar intended!)

[sjones66]

considering we just stepped off the W train of epic grammar errors...well, the man couldn't speak, could he? he literally couldn't string a sentence together.

I'll take Obama with any slight grammatical errors he makes -- though I'd have to hear him say this to believe it. A lot of times, I've noticed reporters misquote people in minor ways such as this.

PIE. Yum:-)

[skunky93]

uh ...and the clown that left the office a few months ago barely spoke intelligible words.

[suec03]

Conversational speech is learned by ear. If you grew up hearing relatives or friends repeatedly and routinely use a phrase containing a grammatical error, it may require focus on that phrase, rather than on the others in the conversation, to avoid the ingrained grammar slip. If you observe President Obama when he uses "a" in place of "an," you can see that he is thinking in concepts and isn't focusing on each individual noun. Then the proper article becomes an afterthought that can't keep up with the speed of his thinking. It would be interesting to find out from any speakers of Bahasa Indonesia whether that language uses articles that do not change dependent on the initial letter of the noun. If President Obama spend key years of language development speaking Bahasa with his schoolmates, he may not have trained his ear for English article-noun agreement at the age that we did, no matter how much he practiced English with his mother and the correspondence lessons (written English) she provided him. It just seems the president is much more focused on the next several concepts he intends to get across, and choosing articles just doesn't keep up.

[rubygreen]

I just made a fresh peach, blueberry, and threw in a few cranberries, crumble. Easy as pie and delicious with a drizzle of heavy cream.

[method]

Who cares?

[zardowur]

hahahaha

[TigersEye]

I do, and she's making me hungry! ;)

[Pavane]

I do. I want that fresh fruit crumble. I want it. I do.

[kev1000]

Anyone who replied to rubygreen's post. Don't be so boorish.

[db08]

enjoy rubygreen....

[davesf]

Bring it by, sounds great! You and I can share! (Not...you and ME can share...'cause "me can share wouldn't work...)...

[t iessa]

"'...that has caused big problems with Michelle and I.""

Puhleeze...the man has a degree from Harvard and he doesn't know he should say "...that has caused big problems with Michelle and me?" Geez.

[lavvender]

Are you sure about that?

http://wvde.state.wv.us/tt/2002/grammartips/grammartip0041.html

[t iessa]

Positive.

Would you say, "that has caused big problems with I?" No.

Michelle and I are both objects of the preposition "with."

Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. Get an education instead.

[swan1]

t iessa, me , myself, and I , who gives a flip? Pie is the subject, grammar goes out the door.

[db08]

agreed

[zardowur]

What?! You either have a heckuva sarcastic sense of humor or your English is simply bad and you're too ignorant to even realize it. "Michelle and I" is in fact the correct usage.

[birchtree3]

Nope, it's not, but who really cares? At least he speaks in coherent sentences.

[davesf]

It really, really, isn't correct. This is a common misuse. Again, think about it, would you say "this has caused big problems for I"? Of course not....

[Knowitall]

Bush had a Harvard MBA and he managed to leave the worst economy in history. And he couldn't talk AT ALL!

[ItHadToBeSaid]

Funny how she left that out, isn't it??

[iceage7]

He could not speak english

[suec03]

He was speaking, not writing! It is easy to trip one's self up with "I" and "me" when concentrating on other matters in the conversation. It was a simple mistake, often made when a sentence in conversation gets cluttered with too many clauses strung together with conjunctions and with prepositions thrown in. It is easy to overlook the preposition and make a slip. Had the president been writing out a speech, I expect he would have caught the error. I'm sure he "knows" better. He just got his thoughts out ahead of his spoken response.

[SouthernWisdom]

Wouldn't it be more appropriate for the FF to promote healthy eating habits?

[t iessa]

Yes but I don't think that is going to happen.

[rubygreen]

They promote healthy eating all the time. On the campaign trail President Obama ate salmon and salad almost daily. Organic garden at the WH. Promoting healthy eating for kids.

You are entitled to pie, ice cream, a burger every now and then. .

[db08]

there is the problem of some people's thinking or lack there of.....oops....grammar police siren....

[anothervoice]

Shouldn't there be a comma after "Yes"? Just askin'.

[chittychitty]

first he is ridiculed about the arugula comment and now for not promoting eating healthy?

He said the pie is a temptation that they are trying to enjoy in moderation, not every night.

It must be hard, having such slim pickings - not very much to kvetch about the Obamas. Let's see, you have a possible grammatical error and a comment about liking pie.

[Knowitall]

Don't forget the mustard!

[Pavane]

I like pie. Obama is good too .... even if you can't eat him.

[anothervoice]

Not when it comes to pie. Have you ever eaten pie? You should try it.

[GoodNews]

Okay, in my never-ending quest for the perfect powder/foundation, I yet to try Laura Mercier...until now. I'm heading to Saks tomorrow!

[Katie5]

May the force be with you.Goodluck

[provgrays]

It's better than the pie police.

[AlexFTW]

Am I really the only person in the world who likes banana cream pie?

[Weirdwriter]

Surely you jest?

[fcsakes]

No. I want 7 or 8 of them right now and if I had em, I'd eat em.

[ItHadToBeSaid]

1. Sweet Potato Pie
2. Chess Pie
3. Pecan Pie

Life is sweet . . .

[HOPEFOCUSED]

Absolutely not . . . I would pick any pie over any kind of cake on any given day . . . and Banana Cream PIe . . . Just get out of the way!

[kev1000]

Not as far as I'm concerned! I lived in Korea for a year and really began to miss that dish!