What talent or knowledge does Chris Sommers have that would prompt Obama to summon him to the White House, flying 860 miles?
Must be important, right? It must be a matter of great national importance.
Wrong.
From The Daily Mail:
When you're the president of the United States, only the best pizza will do - even if that means flying a chef 860 miles.
Chris Sommers, 33, jetted into Washington from St Louis, Missouri, on Thursday with a suitcase of dough, cheese and pans to to prepare food for the Obamas and their staff.
He had apparently been handpicked after the President had tasted his pizzas on the campaign trail last autumn.
'It's surreal, it's a huge honour,' said Mr Sommers, who owns Pi restaurant in St Louis.
'It will be a casual lunch and hopefully we'll have a chance to say hello to the president.'
Mr Somers was accompanied by his business partner Ryan Mangilardo who will help prepare the dinner for 140 this evening.
It will feature his signature dishes - ten deep dish and ten thin crust creations.
He is also planning a pizza especially for the president - the Hyde Park topped with chicken and hot sauce.
Unbelievable. Obama should be embarrassed to have Sommers travel to Washington so he can make pizza.
What a waste of energy! What's the carbon footprint on these pizzas?
The guy that tells us to keep our tires inflated properly to save fuel doesn't seem to mind blowing through a ton of jet fuel.
Politico has the story, but there is no criticism in its report, no mention of Obama's environmental hypocrisy.
Obama is not feeling anyone's pain.
Around lunchtime today lots of White House staffers were seen in the West Wing carrying the same food: pizza.
Turns out the pizza came all the way from St. Louis — or at least the guys who flew in to make it did.
People magazine reports that Chris Sommers, the owner of a pizza place in St. Louis, came to Washington to make 20 pizzas for Obama’s family and staff today. The arrangement was orchestrated by Obama’s personal aide, Reggie Love, who, like the president, became a fan of Sommers' pizza while campaigning in Missouri last fall.
Isn't that great? Anything to please Obama.
Rather than focusing on the inexcusable extravagance of flying a pizza chef all the way to Washington, Politico links to the Chicago Tribune story on the matter, emphasizing the disappointment of Obama slighting Chicago pizza makers.
"They were very excited," said Pi assistant manager Lindsey Tornetto, who gloated that Obama requested Pi's pizza after remembering it from a St. Louis campaign stop in October. "No hard feelings," Tornetto said. "I guess he likes the cornmeal [crust]."
No way, Chicago deep-dish aficionados insisted Thursday.
Marc Malnati, owner of 30 Lou Malnati's Pizzerias across the Chicago area, said he'd never heard of Pi and had to assume Obama's choice came from lack of experience.
"I like his economic policy—I think he's going to get us out of trouble. I like his foreign policy—he's making friends around the world. His pizza policy is going to have to change," Malnati said.
Isn't that cute? What a feel good story!
I agree with Malnati that Obama has a pathetic lack of experience.
Actually, the whole thing makes me nauseous.
Cornmeal crust. No one between the White House and St. Louis uses cornmeal? Aren't the White House chefs good enough to satisfy Obama?
Does the guy need his grapes peeled, too?
Come on.
Officials from the White House did not return requests seeking comment.
Gee, I wonder why.
White House officials probably didn't respond because it's such a profound embarrassment. Obama isn't acting like a public servant. He's acting like a king.
Obama's lines that we all have to sacrifice and we all have to cut back ring very, very hollow.
Apparently, Obama considers himself to be above We the People.
8 comments:
You have got to be efffing kidding me. Imagine if Bush had pulled something like this. The press would have been apoplectic for the remainder of his term.
Obama really does think he is the King. Or maybe he just sits around and has his party while Soros figures out what he wants Obama to say next.
What a disaster. What a bloody disaster.
Or you could go with the truth:
In fact, Chris Sommers flew commercial.
Not only that, he flew coach.
Not only that, he had already planned a business trip to DC, so the restaurant paid for his travel! [. . .]
Finally, Barack Obama isn't saddling the American taxpayer with the tab for this feast. He's picking up the tab, for local ingredients, out of his own pocket.
First, why was there absolutely no mention whatsoever of Sommers being on a DC business trip? Those details came up after the public learned of this extravagance.
Granted, it's not as bad as the White House telling the public that Obama didn't bow when he clearly did, but it's still suspect.
Second, whether it's commercial, whether he's in coach, whatever, it's travel that impacts the environment. Was the trip really necessary? It's not very green.
Third, I never said the taxpayer was footing the bill.
Fourth, why would Sommers pay to feed 140 people? That's weird.
Fifth, it's back peddling bullshite. One thing that is becoming very clear early on in the Obama presidency is that you cannot trust anything they say. Lies mean nothing to them.
Mary, you apparently did not bother to click my link or read what I wrote very carefully.
Sommers didn't pay for the pizza; the Obamas did. Also, note that Sommers and his restaurant are noted for their "green" and environmentally friendly policies:
John [Fitzgerald, restaurant manager] also told me that Chris Sommers is one of the most dedicated people he knows to the environmental cause.
In fact, his restaurant buys carbon credits from a wind farm in Colorado.
Not only that, they recycle about 75% of their waste.
Not only that, John himself is going into the green building business. You couldn't find a worse case for environmental hypocrisy.
I did click the link but I didn't read much. I commented on the portion you pasted.
Obviously, I misinterpreted the pronoun to refer to Sommers. I didn't read carefully.
My mistake.
Good for Sommers if he is environmentally conscious. However, I do think that buying carbon credits is a joke.
There has been a lot said about this, and most of it is wrong. Cutting and pasting select quotes from articles that are wrong to begin with is a funny way to spread news. If you watched Good Morning America (which flew pizza to NYC for the segment) you would have seen Sommers say that he was already going to DC on his own dime. He also said that Obama was paying for the pizzas. Retail, not with flight included as Sommers was already flying there.
Sommers prepared 20 pizzas for the president because it is an honor, and obviously great PR. Even if you disagree with his politics, you have to wonder about the pizza if it is so good, the president wanted more (When he has 4 chefs on staff at the White House as each president does to prepare ANYTHING he wants).
Mary, you obviously have your own agenda as each blogger does, but get your facts straight before you rant on and selectively cut and paste. That is why most of the stuff you read on the internet is such crap. Politically charged BS with little if any basis in fact.
I didn't "selectively cut and paste."
The articles I read said nothing about Sommers' claims that he was in DC on a business trip. They said nothing about who paid.
Note in my original post, I don't address that issue at all.
I commented on an article, clearly linked in my post. Readers can judge the source, read the material, etc.
There was no selective editing on my part.
I don't watch GMA. Do you have a link to the interview video or transcript?
My post is timestamped 1:08 AM, April 11, 2009. In effect, I wrote it Friday night.
When was the GMA interview?
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