The King’s President’s Taster
When Obama had lunch with Republican Senators, he didn’t have lunch. You see, his taster wasn’t there.
Following President Obama’s lunch meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill, Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins described the food served and said the president was not able to eat since his “taster” was not present.
. . . .
“He looked longingly at it,” Collins continued. “He honestly did look longingly at it, but apparently he has to have essentially a taster, and I pointed out to him that we were all tasters for him, that if the food had been poisoned all of us would have keeled over so, but he did look longingly at it and he remarked that we have far better food than the Democrats do, and I said that was because I was hosting.”
It doesn’t really matter if a few Republicans die, but if the King dies, that’s very different.
This is from the Onion, right?
AZ Bob (c11d35) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:05 amHe actually has a taster and he won’t eat till he gets the go-ahead? I thought the story was an attempt to mock Teh Emperor’s haughtiness, but he must think he needs the protection.
Somehow, that makes me feel more secure.
ropelight (d850a8) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:06 amYes, Patterico, please tell me this is an Onion story.
nk (53646e) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:13 amI hadn’t heard of Presidential tasters, but I doubt – if the story is indeed real – they were hired just for Obama… which is why I doubt the story is real, can you imagine the MSM not giving Bush grief?
steve (369bc6) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:16 amSo… what was that again about him not being a dictator?
Another Anon (f43943) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:19 amAccording to http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2772/does-the-president-have-an-official-food-taster, presidents have had tasters since George HW Bush at the latest … meaning that it’s really somewhat unfair to hold this against Obama.
> What seems clear is that when the president eats somewhere other than 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., tasters — in the form of Secret Service agents or military personnel — are likely to be involved. According to a Washington Post article from July 1990, George H.W. Bush ate out at Washington restaurants a lot by presidential standards, about once a month, and when he did he brought along his own condiments, bottled water, and a taster. On at least one occasion the taster was seen to personally wash all of George and Barbara’s tableware before use and subsequently monitor its whereabouts, sample the food, supervise its service, and uncork and taste the first couple’s wine.
aphrael (4fdd37) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:32 amI thought that food tasters were only needed by evil tyrants hated by so many people that he can’t even trust his own staff.
scrubjay (a32db0) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:35 amThe story makes no sense. This isn’t the middle ages, there have to be better ways to tell if food is poisoned than a food taster. What if the poison is slow acting? Is the president going to wait a couple of hours or days to see if the taster gets sick before he eats?
Roscoe (15d927) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:37 amSee also this report about President Reagan’s taster, from a 1988 Cox News Service article:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1901&dat=19880126&id=K1ggAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ENMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4640,6378931
aphrael (4fdd37) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:37 amBubba hit the burger joints and Obama’s been taped for TV in all sorts of ice cream parlors and pizza palaces. Heck, he even got called out for stiffing a few of ’em, and not once has a taster ever been mentioned let alone be seen holding the chow hounds in check till the vittles had been verified.
ropelight (d850a8) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:43 amYeah, I smell something off about this story.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:44 amReligious reasons.
Rodney King's Spirit (951136) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:45 amSee also this report about President Reagan’s taster, from a 1988 Cox News Service article:
That’s good to know since I’d otherwise think the article about Obama was either satire or that it reflected a nation increasingly taking on the trappings of a corrupt Third-Worldish or Banana Republic-ish society. Barry Obama already has pushed us in that direction in a variety of ways, but in this one instance, he can’t be blamed for the whims of the Secret Service.
However, it does seem Banana Republic-ish that the security staff was so out of the loop, they weren’t able to sync their duties with the schedule of the president dining with Congressional leaders. But I do picture Obama not being able to enjoy lunch with the other adults as being similar to the child relegated to the kids’ table—and the image is somehow quite appropriate.
Mark (6ae95d) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:52 am> that it reflected a nation increasingly taking on the trappings of a corrupt Third-Worldish or Banana Republic-ish society
I can see that, but it seems to have been going on – on at least some scale – for decades.
aphrael (a57543) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:53 amBubba hit the burger joints
Speaking of which, I remember reading about how lower-level staffers at the White House (ie, housekeepers, etc) grumbled about the Clinton administration apparently being full of inconsiderate slobs, who caused the workload of such staffers to be greater than during the years of George Bush Sr. Knowing the attitude of self-entitlement and immaturity — the two-faced nature of “latte liberalism” — that pervades the modern-day left, I shouldn’t be surprised.
Mark (6ae95d) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:59 amI can see that, but it seems to have been going on – on at least some scale – for decades.
But as ropelight notes, Obama has schmoozed in public by eating food at places where the proletariat hangs out. So in one way the miscue at the lunch with Senate Republicans does have a tin-horn-dictator-ish, Banana-Republic-ish quality about it. In another way, so does this…
^ But with the US military and its political-correctness run amok (or liberalism run amok) leading to things like Nidal Hasan and the Fort Hood massacre, maybe it’s quite sensible if the Secret Service has grown increasingly paranoid. And quite ironic in this era of (supposed) greater do-gooder-ism and Hope and Change.
Mark (6ae95d) — 3/15/2013 @ 9:14 am@4 — “I hadn’t heard of Presidential tasters, …”
Bet you hadn’t heard of White House Calligraphers either, until last week. o_o
You can’t make this shit up….
gramps (bf1b3d) — 3/15/2013 @ 10:01 amActually, it wouldn’t surprise me if this was an overly anal reaction by the Secret Service rather than something His Majesty thought of. But the notion that he couldn’t eat at the function in question gets to the point of being ridiculous.
The amused Dana (3e4784) — 3/15/2013 @ 10:02 amThis. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Secret Service watched while his food was prepared, but the idea that he can’t eat without a “taster” seems preposterous.
Rob Crawford (6c262f) — 3/15/2013 @ 10:06 amI thought that food tasters were only needed by evil tyrants hated by so many people that he can’t even trust his own staff.
Our politics have become so ecumenical that “derangement syndrome” has become institutionalized.
Just another indicator that the size and scope of government HAS to be drastically down-sized.
“Bastille Day” is coming!….and so is July 14th.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 3/15/2013 @ 10:12 amComment by Mark (6ae95d) — 3/15/2013 @ 9:14 am
Everyone knows that meeting Republicans for lunch is much more dangerous than mingling with the hoi polloi,
askeptic (b8ab92) — 3/15/2013 @ 10:15 ambecause on-the-street, everyone loves The Lightworker.
Bread & Circuses do have that effect on the populace.
well, no one ever successfully argued that our SCOAMF was brave.
and i don’t believe that the MFM wouldn’t have made a big deal about Reagan or the Bush’s using tasters, given the level of hatred they had/have for them, so i have my doubts about those prior claims. the propaganda arm of the Demonrat Party have proven they aren’t honest, so this sudden “everyone else did it too!” news coverage/defense reeks of BS.
redc1c4 (403dff) — 3/15/2013 @ 10:20 amTeh King is dead…long eat teh King…
Colonel Haiku (2be9f6) — 3/15/2013 @ 10:51 amMakes sense… Muslims can’t eat shellfish.
Colonel Haiku (2be9f6) — 3/15/2013 @ 10:52 am23- Speaking of Muslims, it has been well noted that Brennan took his Oath-of-Office (DirCIA) on a copy of the U.S.Constitution (an early draft sans Bill of Rights, it should be noted), and there has been much speculation about his Islamic sympathies.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 3/15/2013 @ 11:07 amCould his choice for his Oath been due to the possibility of apostasy if he had sworn an oath on a Christian Bible?
Assuming that there have been Presidential tasters for some years, the next question is, who is the retard that didn’t think to bring the Official Taster (how does one get that gig?) to a lunch event?
Strabo (2c1248) — 3/15/2013 @ 11:17 amthe simple explanation for Brennan is, just like the idiot who appointed him, he’s a self-absorbed jerk who never misses a chance to do the wrong thing, because he can.
of course, he may be a closet moose slime, just like the First Failure, but that just supports what i said in the first sentence.
redc1c4 (403dff) — 3/15/2013 @ 12:02 pmI wonder if the real reason he cancelled White House tours is somebody (James Clapper? Tom Donilon?) said they shouldn’t be done for security reasons and he took advantage of this opportunity.
Otherwise, really, he should have backed down by now. Jerry Brown would have.
Otherwise you have to try to figure out what’s the matter with Obama.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 3/15/2013 @ 12:10 pmIt doesn’t really matter if a few Republicans die, but if the King dies, that’s very different.
J. Edgar Hoover used to donate unsolicited food to old age homes, or some other kinds of institutions. I don’t remember exactly what sortas of places, but I read this (without any specific names)
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 3/15/2013 @ 12:13 pmIsn’t Larry Sinclair known for tasting the Presidunce??
Gus (694db4) — 3/15/2013 @ 12:18 pmThis is more a problem with the Secret Service’s total-control fetish than with Obama. Maybe the taster was let go due to the sequester.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 3/15/2013 @ 12:18 pmThe President’s taster had said,
The Limerick Avenger (3e4784) — 3/15/2013 @ 12:31 pmThis is really good bread!
He gobbled it down
And then made a frown
And ten minutes later was dead.
Michelle said to Barack’s taster
The Limerick Avenger (3e4784) — 3/15/2013 @ 12:33 pmWatch out for the stuff in the baster
It’s full of fat
I don’t want that
To go to the President’s waster.
Our Prez, he is full of class
The Limerick Avenger (3e4784) — 3/15/2013 @ 12:37 pmSo he said as the taster went past
Watch what Michelle eats
She likes her treats
But it all goes straight to her ass.
The Prez amazed Senatrix Sue
The Limerick Avenger (3e4784) — 3/15/2013 @ 12:43 pmWho arranged for the food at her do,
His taster weren’t there
So he couldn’t share
Great food, which made the Prez blue.
Comment by Colonel Haiku (2be9f6) — 3/15/2013 @ 10:52 am
Makes sense… Muslims can’t eat shellfish.
???
I never heard anything like that. Only pork.
Shellfish (or lobster) is the other item common in the American diet that (religiously observant) Jews can’t eat.
Jews also can’t eat milk with meat or anything leavened or that could contain leaven on Passover.
Meat also must be properly slaughtered and also prepared in special ways to eliminate blood afterwards. (Moslems want their meat slaughtered too and can accept kosher slaughtering but the reverse is not the case)
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 3/15/2013 @ 12:43 pmBeen able to live
The Senryu Avenger (3e4784) — 3/15/2013 @ 12:45 pmAll this time without taster
But no one hates me
No one would poison
The Senryu Avenger (3e4784) — 3/15/2013 @ 12:48 pmBarack Hussein Obama
And stick us with Joe!
redc14 – one of my links is a scan of a physical newspaper printed in 1988.
so *either* you have to assume that someone created a fake newspaper, OR you have to concede that “this isn’t a new practice” is a reasonable claim.
I think that assuming someone went to the effort of concocting a fake newspaper and feeding it into google’s scan of newspapers, back whenever google actually did this scan, is preposterous.
aphrael (a57543) — 3/15/2013 @ 12:59 pmAlso: were I ever appointed to an office that required me to swear an oath, I would find something other than the Bible to swear on. I’m not Christian; a Bible doesn’t make an oath binding to me, and if my word isn’t enough (absent some symbolic binding which the Bible is in my case wrongly thought to provide), then we should find something which I actually value, and use that for the symbolic binding.
aphrael (a57543) — 3/15/2013 @ 1:00 pmThe President by Sue was pestered
The Limerick Avenger (3e4784) — 3/15/2013 @ 1:03 pm“My food’s good, it hasn’t festered,”
The Prez, he waxed wroth,
His taster laid off,
Seems that he had been sequestered!
Aphrael, you can’t swear on that!
The Dana ducking and running for cover (3e4784) — 3/15/2013 @ 1:06 pmAphrael wrote:
John Brennan, the new Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, swore his oath of office on an original draft of the Constitution. And after all of those years of Catholic schools . . . . 🙁
The Dana who's more serious this time (3e4784) — 3/15/2013 @ 1:08 pmPerhaps Director Brennan thought that if he swore on the Bible, it would offend his Muslim friends.
The Dana who's much more serious this time (3e4784) — 3/15/2013 @ 1:15 pmWe’ve known for a long time that Obama doesn’t have any taste.
Elephant Stone (d0f715) — 3/15/2013 @ 2:06 pmThis obviously because of a sequester cut and the fault of the evil Republicans.
Mattsky (7c21d0) — 3/15/2013 @ 2:08 pmDepends what kind of Moslems. Hanafi don’t allow them, but all the other Sunni schools do. Shi’ites allow some shellfish but not others.
Milhouse (15b6fd) — 3/15/2013 @ 2:08 pmBrennan needed George Stephanopoulos there to throw him a lifeline and remind him about “your Christian faith.”
Elephant Stone (d0f715) — 3/15/2013 @ 2:15 pmA taster?!?!
What the hell kind of country are we running here?
The Preezy ought to eschew Air Force One and tool around in one of these.
Beechcraft AT-6
Just him and the guy with the football.
What’s the worst that can happen? Is Putin gonna kidnap him if the Preezy drops into Moscow in one of those babies?
Actually the opposite would happen. Putin would tell whatever agency that inherited the KGB directorate’s job of guarding foreign VIPs to double up. Cuz this guy’s a freak.
Plus the Preezy could swing by A-stan and do a little close air support or battlefield air interdiction.
It would be good for American industry, too. Karzai doesn’t need jets.
He can have the Preezy’s taster though. If he buys enough Beechcraft AT-6s, we’ll throw the taster in.
What kind of pantywaist country have we turned into? Tasters!
Steve57 (60a887) — 3/15/2013 @ 2:23 pmI don’t know Shi’ite from shinola, milhouse…
Colonel Haiku (653d21) — 3/15/2013 @ 2:31 pmAvenger’s on a roll!
Colonel Haiku (653d21) — 3/15/2013 @ 2:32 pmDana – I’d find the Constitution to be much more useful a signifier than the Bible, for myself.
aphrael (a57543) — 3/15/2013 @ 2:33 pmThere once was a prez named Obama
Colonel Haiku (bec6ba) — 3/15/2013 @ 2:40 pmUnder His “leadership” nothin’ but drama
Governs like a mobster
Won’t eat teh damn lobster
mint jelly with rack of llama?
Did he have a taster when he ate dog?
JD (4bb5d1) — 3/15/2013 @ 2:48 pmwho was his taster with Reggie Love?
redc1c4 (403dff) — 3/15/2013 @ 2:57 pmI DOUBT COLLINS WOULD LIE ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT – IN THIS SICK WORLD IT’S PROBABLY BECOME A NECESSITY BUT THEY COULDN’T PAY ME ENOUGH TO DO IT!
DEBBIE DAMASCUS (ed424a) — 3/15/2013 @ 3:02 pmhow much to get you to turn off the CAPS LOCK?
redc1c4 (403dff) — 3/15/2013 @ 3:47 pmAphrael wrote:
I suppose that, if you aren’t Christian, it would have to be; taking an oath on a book you don’t believe pretty much signifies you have no respect for the oath.
Were I in my alter ego as the snarky Dana, I’d suggest that President Obama should have taken his oath of office on a picture of himself, signifying that which he loves most. 🙂
The Catholic Dana (af9ec3) — 3/15/2013 @ 3:49 pmColonel, all that you have to know is that they are full of shi’ite!
The disrespectful Dana (af9ec3) — 3/15/2013 @ 3:51 pmDear Susan Collins:
Nothing tells you just how much a man loves your cooking as to require a professional tester to sample it first.
Ann Landers (af9ec3) — 3/15/2013 @ 3:56 pmWere I in my alter ego as the snarky Dana, I’d suggest that President Obama should have taken his oath of office on a picture of himself, signifying that which he loves most.
Da Winnah!
Bill M (e0a4e5) — 3/15/2013 @ 4:05 pmI’m telling you, Lindsay, you fag you
Colonel Haiku (03e454) — 3/15/2013 @ 4:20 pmit’s not kosher to eat teh beef wagyu
Tell old man McCain
In my ass, he’s a pain
Pack your bags and get out
teh both you
Oaths are anti-Christian. Seriously. The Bible is pretty clear on that.
E.g., “But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:34-37)
The Constitution provides for oath or affirmation.
And, in any event, you’re gonna believe a politician when he promises something?
nk who has opened a Bible one time (53646e) — 3/15/2013 @ 4:38 pmWell he’s certainly forgotten where he came from. Tasted and swallowed according to those who knew Soetoro.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 3/15/2013 @ 6:23 pmOT x 3,
1) Wisconsin beat Michigan in Big 10 B-Ball tourney (no Flo, Badgers don’t hug)
2) We are deploying more missile defense in the pacific to protect against NK attacks??? That sounds like a rational national defense move, what gives?
3) As I came across this site years ago in regards to the schiavo case, I thought I would mention I heard of a memorial foundation run by her family of origin that supports others who are fighting on behalf of those with profound mental deficits/injury.
http://www.lifeandhope.com/
It is based outside of Philly, where her brother lives, i guess. they are having a functionj in a few weeks with palin speaking ($150/person tickets).
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 3/15/2013 @ 7:43 pmCan’t Obama just eat his waffle ?
Elephant Stone (b06c48) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:01 pmObama may not have eaten dinner that night, but there’s no question he drank the Kool-Aid.
Elephant Stone (b06c48) — 3/15/2013 @ 8:04 pmI guess it makes sense in this day and age but it is so hard to grasp since the average person doesn’t think twice about going out to eat.
carol (934216) — 3/15/2013 @ 9:28 pmMaybe they’d think twice about it if my crop duster looked like this.
http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/5/5/3/1541355.jpg
Pimp My Air Tractor!
Sorry. Just angling for a White House invite. ‘Scuse me.
Steve57 (60a887) — 3/15/2013 @ 10:01 pmReally. I’m very sorry. I’ve got lots of problems. But I have much in common (no pun intended for the recent “poet” Mooch had over) with frequent WH visitor Jay-Z as I may have 99 problems but a b***h ain’t one.
Steve57 (60a887) — 3/15/2013 @ 10:12 pmEveryone is assuming the poison was intended for Commandante Zero. To the contrary, the poison was put in the lunch to kill the Republicans. The Commandante supplied an excuse not to eat the treacherous lunch. We can expect the slow-acting poison to kill its intended targets any week now.
ErisGuy (76f8a7) — 3/16/2013 @ 4:46 amWhen POTUS accepts a lunch invitation with Senate Republicans wouldn’t you expect his WH staff would know food would be served and make sure the taster went along with the bodyguards and the other assorted minders in the entourage? He’s surrounded by partisans and bootlickers, not imbeciles.
The whole thing sounds like a petty spur-of-the-moment excuse so Obama could make a clean getaway and avoid breaking bread with his enemies.
ropelight (1d918b) — 3/16/2013 @ 7:21 amThat’s funny as hell. Like he’s having dinner with the Borgia’s. What a freekin’ coward. Even when Bush #1 was pukin’ all over the Japs nobody suggested he was poisoned. But wait….perhaps?
Hoagie (3259ab) — 3/16/2013 @ 7:36 amIs The Presidential Taster a civil service job? If so, we now have a perfect position for ALGORE. Or do we need to send in Seal Team Six to tast Bambi’s Jello?
Hoagie (3259ab) — 3/16/2013 @ 7:41 amHe should taste this:
Endocannabinoids A Video
There are more cannabinoid receptors in the body than any other receptor type.
The endocannabinoid system is a major regulator in the body implicated in almost all diseases including cancer.
M. Simon (1aa256) — 3/16/2013 @ 8:13 amWatch for the forthcoming memoir:
Icy (b7d4d9) — 3/16/2013 @ 11:25 am“Eight Years of Arugula — My Time in Hell”
by The Official White House Food Taster
Another unintended consequence of the sequester:
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 3/16/2013 @ 7:33 pmhttp://www.thedailyrash.com/sequester-cuts-force-obama-to-kick-mother-in-law-out
via:
http://www.imao.us/index.php/2013/03/link-of-the-day-satire-sequester-cuts-force-obama-to-kick-mother-in-law-out-of-white-house/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+imao%2FjNDB+%28IMAO%29