What if Obama Were Held to the Same Standard as Sarah Palin?

"O" claims to be a White Sox fan yet can't name one player and goofs the name of the ball park!

And they call Sarah Palin an idiot?

Obama swings and misses at Sox lore
John Kass
Chicago Tribune
April 7, 2010

What's happening to President Barack Obama, America's No. 1 White Sox fan, is just absolutely terrible.

OK, sure, the poor guy committed a grievous baseball sin. But now he's taking a beating, the kind Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano would give his own catcher, or maybe his manager.

It almost reminds me of the time CBS' Katie Couric sweetly asked Sarah Palin what she liked to read. Palin drew a blank and reporters never let her live it down.

But I say, let's leave the poor president alone. After all, he's a White Sox fan, isn't he?

Obama's troubles started Monday after he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals home opener.

He threw lefty and missed the plate, which wasn't surprising. What was surprising is what happened after he joined announcer Rob Dibble in the booth for some happy talk.

Dibble commented on Obama's hat — a nicely faded black Sox cap — which the president proudly wore on the mound reminding all of us once again of the heroic team from Chicago that has actually won a World Series in the past 100 years.

Dibble asked the fateful question, one so easy that Hawk Harrelson would have called it a "can of corn."

Dibble: "Who was one of your favorite White Sox players growing up?"

Obama: "You know … uh … I thought that … you know … the truth is, that a lot of the Cubs I liked too."

Ouch. The silence between the stammers was excruciating. America's No. 1 Sox fan couldn't name one Sox player.

Not former players like Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk or future Hall of Famer Frank Thomas or manager Ozzie Guillen. The least he could have done was mention a current player, say grizzled veteran Paul Konerko or our spunky new leadoff man, the fleet-footed Slappy McPopup.
...
You wouldn't expect Obama to name Slappy. But you would expect a Sox fan to know the name of the ballpark.

"When I moved to Chicago," Obama babbled to Dibble, "I was living close to what was then Cominskey Park and went to a couple of games and just fell in love with it."

What's that? Come-in-ski? Is that how Obama invites the Russian foreign minister into the Oval Office during a diplomatic crisis?

Clearly, there was no teleprompter upon which White House media wizard David Axelrod could type the words "Pudge = Carlton Fisk" or "Big Hurt = Frank Thomas."

A panicked Obama tried to escape by using an old standby I've used myself, ripping on Cubs fans for delicately "sipping their wine" at ivy-covered Wrigley. Then it got worse.

"I did not become a Sox fan until I moved to Chicago," said Obama. "Because, you know, I was growing up in Hawaii, so I ended up being an Oakland A's fan."

The Oakland A's?

Back when Obama was learning the Chicago Way of politics in the late '80s and early '90s — and becoming a true White Sox fan — there were two teams hated by Sox fans.

One was the insufferable Yankees. The other was the insufferable Oakland A's. Their colors were putrid, and they had the obnoxious Roid Brothers, and that pitcher — not the drunk with the ridiculous mullet but the intimidating yet squeaky-voiced Dave Stewart.
...
"I'm a South Side kid," Obama told Dibble. "I've got to make sure that (Sox chairman) Jerry Reinsdorf doesn't get too angry with me."

Don't worry, Mr. President. This will blow over. Just look how quickly the media stopped twisting the knife into Sarah Palin.

So keep wearing that Sox hat, big guy.

We know what's in your heart. It's about proud South Side black and silver.

See you at Cominskey sometime, sir.

What a shame there's never a teleprompter around when you need one. Obama is as phony as a three dollar bill!