No breaking away from Barack Obama's bicycle picture

LA Times ^ | 6/10/08 | staff

[blaquebyrd]

"Why would you need a helmet to go bike riding when he’s out for a little spin around the block with his daughter in tow (was she wearing a helmet). Just another example of the sissyfication of America."

Obviously you've never rode a bike on a military installation. Not only are helmets mandatory but you must wear a reflective device (belt or vest) at night. Are they sissies too?

[woollyone]

rear tire way low on air.
Seat is too low.
And who in the world wears JEANs to go biking, except folks who are
a-homeless
b-just stole the bike
c-use a bike for commuting to work?

staged photo scene...right down to the SS detail in the blue car running interference next to him.

[NathanR]

I doubt it. That is how the hitch is designed, with a knurled knob to detach it.

What I see is mostly something like this:

[retrokitten]

They look a little snug in the thighs, but that could just be because he’s pedaling.

From the lack of air in his back tire (which, IMO, is the most embarrassing thing in the picture) and having the kiddie attachment, he’s probably having to push hard.

[NathanR]

Maybe, he is pedaling it to the nearest gas station to get the tire filled.

[retrokitten]

... can he even dance??

Not really. He was on Ellen a while back and The Soup had a great time with his dancing. Or lack of.

He just radiates dorkiness and "I'm trying VERY HARD to be cool!" in this video. Obama Dancing on Ellen

[nikos1121]

“....will be a plus for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee because it “makes him look like a normal, nerdy American dad.”...

I’d say a big yes on the “nerdy”...

[Arrowhead1952]

at least he's not in that Spandex weenie-wear that John Kerry rode around in.

I'll never forget this picture of the dork.

[Bon mots]

The LA Times is a liberal rag. They are pretending to embarass Obama by publishing a perfectly acceptable photo of him riding a bike dressed like a white person and calling it embarassing.

This is calculated to improve his image.

Why don't they publish the pic of him puffing a fag?
This is designed to help Obama while pretending to be embarassing/critical.

[retrokitten]

Newsweek's Andrew Romano notes today that when the shot of Obama on the bike as part of an excursion with his family in Chicago "hit the wires, the heavily trafficked right-wing message boards of Free Republic went wild."

I just noticed this line. Does anyone have a link to the Freepers Gone Wild thread this tool is talking about? I was here an embarrassingly large amount of time over the weekend and never saw it.

[altura]

My husband told me that making fun of Obama on a bike is racist and forbidden.

[LYSandra]

I used to ride to school in the 70’s (college days) and when you wore jeans you had to rubber band cuff or got caught in chain remember?

[PjhCPA]

I agree. That could be me, except I don’t wear running shoes (they’d be hiking boots) and the socks would Smartwool.

[KarlInOhio]

I don’t get the “ill-fitting” jeans part. Aside from the fact that riding in jeans is not the regular fashion, those are far from “ill-fitting”.

I guess some salon owner is just bitching that they are $30-$40 jeans instead of $300 jeans.

In an article in today's New York Daily News, writer David Saltonstall shows no mercy, declaring: "It wasn't a pretty picture: ill-fitting jeans, a tucked-in golf shirt, black-and-white socks and a helmet that could make Michael Dukakis blush."

If I didn't know it was Obama, I would just say he's a normal guy out for a little bike ride. Since he's wearing jeans and a polo shirt I would assume that he's just going a couple of miles from one place to another. And bike helmets make anyone look like a dork, but you still should wear one because tipping a bike and having your head hit the pavement once is worse than looking like a dork a hundred times. I don't know if this was a photo op or a candid shot, but if it is the first they learned something from Kerry about how not to handle a bike ride.

[Gator113]

“I like seeing my politicians in goofy weekend attire.”

A monkey in a silk suit is still a monkey. I don’t care what costume they put on this guy, he’s still a black racist and a Marxist.

[Petronski]

...can he even dance??

Don't know because don't want to know.

[AQuietThinkingMan]

I find the snide remark about the "makes him look like a normal, nerdy American dad." most offensive.

Yet another denigrating crack at dads continues the anti-male undercurrent in reporting at LA Times and elsewhere... reference here and here.

[Gator113]

Then you must belong to the “goofy weekend attire” club. So do I. ;>)

Are you also clinging to your guns and a bible????

[gdani]

They are pretending to embarass Obama by publishing a perfectly acceptable photo of him riding a bike dressed like a white person

Crap - you mean I've been white my whole life & even I didn't know we had our own dress code?!?

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“Why don’t they publish the pic of him puffing a fag?”
He’s gay?