No, Really — Why Does He Do That?
by Stephen Cox | Posted August 18, 2011
Have you ever noticed that President Obama runs whenever he sees a set of stairs?
He always (check this out, and you’ll find I am right) runs up and down the steps to his plane. If there are steps to the platform where he’s going to speak, he runs up and down those steps. I mean, even when he’s speaking in the White House, where he lives, he thinks he needs to run the two steps to his podium.
Now he’s touring the Midwest on a gargantuan bus that is supposed to make him look like a normal Midwesterner. Good luck. But the vehicle has the usual three steps between the ground and the body of the thing. So after every speaking engagement, Obama hauls off and runs up the steps of the bus. He runs up three steps.
I don’t mean that he walks fast. I mean that he runs like a junior high school kid doing his first competitive sprints. And he doesn’t just run the steps, he takes off from ten feet away, as if he needed to win third place at the Kalamazoo County JV meet and knew that you’ve gotta show your hustle if you wanta win. His arms are pumping, his legs are striving to please the coach, and his demeanor is like, “I can do it! I can run up these steps.”
For God’s sake, what kind of person is this?
Stephen Cox is editor of Liberty, and a professor of literature at the University of California San Diego. His recent books include "The Big House: Image and Reality of the American Prison" and "The New Testament and Literature."
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Comments
Language man
I just watched the president run down the stairs of Air Force 1 onto the grounds of Thailand and I wondered if the question Why does the President run up and down stairs? And I googled it and of course the question was asked but I didn't get the answer. I was thinking he would look more presidential if he walked then run down like a school kid. Well I guess Iwill never come up with an original thought.
Sun, 2012-11-18 07:19
Rodney C.
Mr. Cox,
This was not your most elaborate work published here, nor the most original, but this thing he does is bugging the $&*% out of everybody.
Thank you
Sat, 2011-08-20 13:32
Jim Henshaw
Of all the many, many things that one can despise about Obama, this has to rank really low on the list. The constant lying, the pandering, the utter ignorance of economics, the spendthrift carelessness with taxes -- and you focus on him working some extra exercise into his routine?
Sat, 2011-08-20 05:12
MKA
I think the man is just in a big hurry. He only has four years to apologize to every person on planet earth for 235 years of American history. I think he is slipping a little behind schedule though, may need to kick it up to a sprint to be sure every nation gets their apology.
Sat, 2011-08-20 04:42
J Eyon
don't read too much into that - when i was young and (too) energetic - i couldnt help but ran up stairs too - if he still doing that 10 years from now - it will be just for show
Fri, 2011-08-19 11:53
MKA
No disrespect J Eyon, but a fifty year old smoker isn't exactly a spring chicken or the running 'type'. No matter, if Michelle has her way they will take all elevators out of schools and government buildings so our fat ass kids will have to start jogging up stairs like her skinny man!
Sat, 2011-08-20 04:56
J Eyon
sad to say - people who dislike a person will find fault using subjective interpretations - you imply that he his running like that is not natural - is this based on empirical evidence - or are you - like other posters here - reading something negative into these little behavior moments you want to find
like i say - i was the same as Obama - ALWAYS running up stairs - even at 50 i could run pretty well - even tho i hadn't kept in shape as Obama has
unless you're a 50 year old who spent a lifetime scurrying up stairs - you won't know if Obamas mounts and dismounts are natural - or driven by ego
it must be difficult being libertarian and worrying about elevators being removed from public schools and buildings - since their installation was probably government mandated in the first place - oh - the irony
Fri, 2011-08-26 01:03
MKA
It's not so difficult being a libertarian as you might think. We have a built in sense of self- deprecating humor that allows us to appreciate tongue and cheek humor. Besides if I was truly guilty of over analyzing a persons little tics, I might wonder what psychology drives them not to use punctuation marks...but I don't so I won't.
Sun, 2011-08-28 05:12
Visitor
i'll take the fact that you didn't respond to any point i made as either a concession - or sly humor - and go ahead - ask me why i write this way - i might humor you
Wed, 2011-09-07 15:03