I was driving into Chicago yesterday listening to local radio and caught the tail end of the hottest news of the day in town. Obama made a stop in Chicago in order to vote early. WLS-AM played several cuts of Obama, most were him making jokes but his most germane comment was “it was really convenient”.

Convenient? He diverted AF One for 3 hours, shutting down O’Hare Airport; took a helicopter downtown closing more airspace; closed Lake Shore drive while his convoy headed to the near south side; voted and then reversed the process. All just to vote? He did nothing else while in town. Convenient for him? Hardly, but it shows just how narcissistic the man is. He more than inconvenienced tens of thousands in order to vote early.

What would have been convenient would have been a stamp on an absentee ballot, or voting on November 6th since he’ll be back in town anyway. The man is clueless.

The man is the President of the United States. What the hell do you think he's going to do? Ride a bike to Chicago?

...you would NOT be bitching.

...it seems the only time right wing hacks like this bitch about wasting fuel is when President Obama is using it to perform his duties as President.  

I seem to recall Dubya wasting a shit ton more jet fuel running around the country like a little chicken shit on 9/11, trying to hide from bin Laden.

Well, at least that's not gonna happen again. SOMEBODY blew bin Laden's head off.

I do not begrudge Obama's mode of travel. The point is he didn't need to be there just to vote.

It wasn't a campaign stop. All he did was vote. It literally cost tens of thousands of dollars just for him to vote early, WHEN IT WASN'T NECESSARY.

The man is running for re-election for the highest office in the land. I THINK he's gonna be pretty fucking busy on election day.

This is pretty rich. Every President in the history of the country (at least to my knowledge) has voted. It's always a friendly little photo-op to remind everyone to vote. Every goddamned President going all the way back to Moses has done it, but for some reason this one time, you gotta piss and moan about it.

Ruta, I have a question I just have to ask. Could it be that maybe, just maybe, the reason why this one instance of a President voting bothers you so damn much is because

.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......

....wait for it.....

.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......
.......

......is it because President Obama is black?

The world will be such a better place for it.

Obama just spent 1,000 times more energy and money to vote than all the previous Presidents COMBINED.

I've respected your intellect for quite some time. (Your honesty in some situations has been a different matter.)

Your'e turning into the thing you ignore.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
laffy.

How in the blue hell did he do that? By voting early?

I'm just trying to figure out why it's such a big deal why the President voted. If every President's done it, and the one black guy does it and this makes you irrate....I'm at a lost what your reasons would be to get so upset about this.

Is it because he's skinny?

How did it go from 1,000 times to 100,000 times in the last half hour? I swear we have a lower inflation rate than that.

One post was comparing Obama to other Presidents. This one was comparing an individual's normal voting expenditure to a typical President. 100X is actually low. I should have stated something closer to 10 million times.

Most Presidents travel to their home town after whatever politicking they do for election day. Then they vote and go to their headquarters for the evening.

Talk to me after November 6th. Obama will be in Chicago that afternoon. He could have voted then like everyone else.

up that Boeing VC-25 anytime he fuckin' wants.

Justified or not for Obama, what he did yesterday, JUST TO VOTE, was NOT CONVENIENT as he stated.

Christ, it's impossible for you to focus. We should start posting pictures of shiny objects just to keep your attention.

his magic underwear protects his asshole.

He would be labeld a Muslim.

USN! USN! USN! USN! = United States of Narccistica.  We need a leader damn it!

So this really is you griping about jet fuel costs, isn't it?

Well, shit, the next time Boehner wants to fly home so his do-nothing Congress can take yet another vacation, I suggest you buy yourself enough sugar to fill a pair of plane wings, and make him take a greyhound bus.

doesn't this violate some fundamental law of the space time continuum?

You're reading too much laffy.

The incremental aviation fuel cost was a small portion of the total. The cost of a slight diversion to Chicago and the extra landing and takeoff were far overshadowed by all the other direct and indirect costs after he landed.

And in response to your earlier quip about all Presidents vote, this was different than any other President voting. It was the first time a President voted early.

While it seems he's getting more than his share of the early votes I'm sure Obama's motivation is to get his supporters to vote before they realize they're making a huge mistake.

...Obama, by voting early, is encouraging others to vote early. This will mean that it will be harder for the GOP to turn away eligible voters from the polls.

Everyone in that room voted for Obama. No doubt about that.

-- Modified on 10/27/2012 8:27:55 AM

The reason given is that you can vote at any early voting poll, whereas election day voting requires you go to your home precinct.