Posted on 07/14/2014 2:55:14 PM PDT by mojito
President Obama had just disembarked from Air Force One and was still on the tarmac in Rome when he turned to his host, John R. Phillips, the American ambassador to Italy, with an unexpected request: How about a dinner party tomorrow night?
Over the next 24 hours, the startled Mr. Phillips and his wife, the former Obama aide Linda Douglass, scrambled to gather some of Italy’s intellettuali.
The architect Renzo Piano flew in from Genoa. The particle physicist Fabiola Gianotti arrived from Geneva. John Elkann, the chairman of Fiat and the owner of the Italian soccer club Juventus, came too, as did his sister, Ginevra, a film director. Over a 2006 Brunello, grilled rib-eye and three pastas — cacio e pepe, arrabbiata and bolognese — at Villa Taverna, the 15th-century manor that serves as the ambassador’s residence, the group talked until close to midnight about “the importance of understanding science, the future of the universe, how sports brings people together, and many other things,” Ms. Douglass said. In a summer when the president is traveling across the country meeting with “ordinary Americans” under highly choreographed conditions, the Rome dinner shows another side of Mr. Obama. As one of an increasing number of late-night dinners in his second term, it offers a glimpse into a president who prefers intellectuals to politicians, and into the rarefied company Mr. Obama may keep after he leaves the White House.
Sometimes stretching into the small hours of the morning, the dinners reflect a restless president weary of the obligations of the White House and less concerned about the appearance of partying with the rich and celebrated. Freewheeling, with conversation touching on art, architecture and literature, the gatherings are a world away from the stilted meals Mr. Obama had last year with Senate Republican leaders
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
If only he had an accent, maybe I'd believe it.
I’m more concerned about Russians in the Ukraine, Al Qaeda in New Caliphate, and illegal Central Americans overwhelming our Southern border collapsing our immigration system as per the Honduran newspaper La Prensa. ( lahttp://www.laprensa.hn/inicio/729125-96/el-colapso-del-sistema-migratorio-permitirá-a-muchos-niños-seguir-en-eua) than I am about Obama’s deep intellectual discussions with architects and nuclear particle physicists over booze and pasta.
I'm sure that was Obama's contribution to the evening, as he discussed the complete disaster of his March Madness bracket with particle physicist Fabiola Gianotti.
Can you imagine if GOP President do this Media be all over his butt
They probably make W Texas cowboy
While Reagan be Rick from Casblanca
That good casting idea
So, once again, Obama rewards loyal underlings who lie for him. Douglass' husband gets a choice ambassadorship in Italy. Wow. Remember Linda Douglass?
“Art, literature and architecture...”?!?! I call bullshit.
I promise you this jerk can discuss sports, t.v. shows and how stupid hick conservatives are. His obedient media is still tying to portray him as something he’s not.
Laughable. Provide a written transcript NYT or it’s a lie.
P-BO is in over his head, and he knows it. So, he obfuscates, and changes the subject and schedule.
He really does not like the real-world decision making that come with the job. He does like to party and talk a lot, especially when he can gossip negatively about anyone and everyone with whom he disagrees.
Notice how little time he spends in Washington DC and the WH. This brings up another observation - are he and Michelle estranged or something? They do not seem to be together very often.
Linda Douglass worked for the CBS News as their Washington correspondent, then jumped to ABC News as their Washington correspondent, then took a job as senior strategist and senior campaign spokesbabe for the Obama campaign in 2008. Then, for her fine job of lying on behalf of The Won, awarded the title of Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services and then Communications Director for the White House’s Health Reform Office. She then is set up as Vice President at The Atlantic/National Journal in 2010.
Then, in August of 2013 her husband, John Phillips, was named U.S. Ambassador to Italy as the final reward for being a good Socialist.
How nice.
Funny how the American people, Congress, and his job all bore him. We don’t deserve him! He is too good for us all!
Agreed. The one reality coming out of this president is that he is an intellectual slouch. He cannot speak a coherent sentence. He cannot get 2 premises deep into a logical discussion. He knows nothing about philosophy other than a very simplified and nieve version of Leninism. It is in reality his stupidity that causes the media to fawn over him. To do otherwise would be to expose the idiot as, well, an idiot.
My favorite part of this breathy piece is that, just to appeal to the snobbery of Slimes readers - the story specifies that the wine was a 2006 Brunello - a very expensive Italian red wine.
We hicks are content to wash our vittles down with Coors light, but then again, we don't have great thoughts to think.
the rarefied company Mr. Obama may keep after he leaves the White House.
Something that can’t happen soon enough.
I’m sure there are lots of intellectuals in Prison,
well at least Obama’s peers anyway.
Barry has to make sure it is at night because of Ramalamadingdong.
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