But that wasn’t about to stop President Prop-aganda from turning them into a photo op.
At this afternoon’s joint presser with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, President Obama found himself getting annoyed by the rain. The solution? Send in the Marines — to hold his umbrella. Now, granted, he has a history of umbrella issues:
Why does a marine hold Obama’s umbrella? instagram.com/p/ZYV7OHxixK/ This is why: latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c6…
— AmishDude (@TheAmishDude) May 16, 2013
But let’s face it: ultimately, he’s far too busy and important to hold his own.
Marines now standing in the rain, at attention, holding umbrellas over Obama and Erdogan’s heads.
— Sunny (@sunnyright) May 16, 2013
RT @mviser: Obama asks Marines to come and hold umbrellas for him and Turkish PM. “You guys, I’m sorry about,” he says to press
— WhiteHousePressCorps (@whpresscorps) May 16, 2013
Umbrellas! POTUS to press: “You guys I’m sorry” twitter.com/StevenTDennis/…
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) May 16, 2013
“Why don’t we get a couple of Marines [to hold umbrellas]… they’re gonna look good next to us.” – Pres. Obama ~ twitter.com/adamsbaldwin/s…
— Adam Baldwin (@adamsbaldwin) May 16, 2013
Marines holding umbrellas instagram.com/p/ZYV7OHxixK/
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) May 16, 2013
POTUS deploys Marines for rain in Rose Garden with Turkish PM Erdogan. twitter.com/MajorCBS/statu…
— Major Garrett(@MajorCBS) May 16, 2013
Let’s go to the videotape (via The Weekly Standard):
Way to go, POTUS.
Not sequestered. RT @jeffreygoldberg: Not such a great use of Marines.
— Rick Klein (@rickklein) May 16, 2013
Oh, this is a good visual for him.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) May 16, 2013
Oh, the optics.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) May 16, 2013
Obama vehemently denies abusing government power, while telling a US Marine to hold his umbrella. #CantMakeThisShitUp
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) May 16, 2013
OK, Obama standing under an umbrella held by a military aide opens the metaphor floodgates for an administration in a downpour
— HowardKurtz (@HowardKurtz) May 16, 2013
Out: I support the troops. In: The troops support my umbrella.
“What’s your detail, Marine?” “Umbrella duty, sir.” “I can’t hear you!” “Umbrella duty, sir!!!”
— Josh Greenman (@joshgreenman) May 16, 2013
Dear @barackobama, Marines are NOT your personal cabana boys
— MirCat (@TRMirCat) May 16, 2013
The Few. The Proud. The guy who gets to hold the umbrella. Thanks Mr. President…
— Greg Pollowitz (@GPollowitz) May 16, 2013
RT @evanmcsan: on what day of Marine boot camp do you learn “hold umbrella over dignitary” stance?
— Melissa Clouthier (@MelissaTweets) May 16, 2013
Jeeves, peel me a grape.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) May 16, 2013
Isn’t there something in the Rifleman’s Creed about fruit?
Maybe he could stand on a Marine too.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) May 16, 2013
Hey, why not? Obama’s already metaphorically stepped on them.
Ouch RT @baseballcrank: At least Neville Chamberlain held his own umbrella.
— Rschrim (@Rschrim) May 16, 2013
Semper Umbrellis.
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) May 16, 2013
Marines don’t just fight wars for Obama. They also hold his umbrella. How humiliating and unacceptable.
— Hater Hating Haters (@DefendWallSt) May 16, 2013
The rain let up eventually, and, a sufficient number of photos taken, Obama gave his umbrella brigade the boot:
As rain fades, Pres Obama dismisses umbrella-bearing US Marines.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) May 16, 2013
Obama just spoke to the marines by saying “Alright guys” in order to get the umbrellas away. So much disrespect.
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) May 16, 2013
President Classy. And President Priorities:
Funny how quickly Obama got the Marines there when he was getting wet. Our men in Benghazi waited 8 hours for Obama to call in the Marines.
— Sunny (@sunnyright) May 16, 2013
There are more marines holding umbrellas for Obama than were protecting Ambassador Stevens. #Benghazi
— Andy Lancaster (@andylancaster) May 16, 2013
Obama calls in Marines to hold umbrellas over him in the rain… but not to save lives in #Benghazi NO RESPECT
— Conservative Artist (@_AmyMarsh) May 16, 2013
@dloesch Obama gets Marines to protect him from rain. But, Amb. Stevens doesn’t get Marines to protect him from bullets & mortars? #Benghazi
— Garrett Hall (@Garrett_R_Hall) May 16, 2013
#FACT There are more Marines holding umbrellas for POTUS than were guarding Amb. Stevens in #Benghazi
— Greg Pollowitz (@GPollowitz) May 16, 2013
If only it were raining in Libya, the ambassador could have applied for protection from the US Marines.
— Greg Pollowitz (@GPollowitz) May 16, 2013
What a disgrace.
***
Update:
RT @thefix: This exists: @umbrellamarine
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) May 16, 2013
