There might be a right time and a place for everything, but during an economic meltdown, the President of the United States caught flack for partying.
Actor and comedian Chris Rock tweeted he was busy doing the electric slide at Barack Obama’s 50th birthday party while Wall Street stock prices on the electronic ticker boards were falling. Hosting a celeb-packed special event at the White House slated to be a private function for close personal family and friends, the president boogied the night away at what his Republican opponents are calling the Hip Hop BBQ.
While the stock market was facing record losses since the crash of 2008—losing a full 4% on the boards, thanks in part to the debt ceiling crisis—Obama was taking a break to mark the anniversary of his birthday.
Regardless of his birth place, the place to be on the day of his birth was definitely the capital. Washington, DC was abuzz with the news the first black president of the United States was turning 50-years-old.
Other star celebs his age include rocker Jon Bon Jovi and actor Michael J. Fox. All three iconic men turned 50 this year, along with funny actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
But beyond the age celebration and jokes about Barack Obama looking over the hill due to all the stress of the last few years, the talk about his birthday party and cavalier attitude about the economic conditions in the United States were what captured the most attention in the press.
When Chris Rock tweeted he had been at the Washingtonian party doing the electric slide, he conjured up visions of the president partying down while the DOW Jones average plummeted. Adversaries are now portraying the president dancing while people with 401k funds who lost substantial portions of their investments and retirement savings cried.
Was Barack Obama really doing the electric slide and playing party games with levity in his heart while the economy was ready to take yet another recession-based downward spiral? The White House staff are not talking.
What was confirmed about the night’s festivities was a partial guest list including Chris Rock, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton.
Too bad no one was able to sneak out a YouTube video. It would have been fun to see a literal rendition of the Washington hustle caught on webcam. The most unfortunate part of the story is that by celebrating when so many Americans were hurting, Obama may have inadvertently sent his formerly faithful constituents a negative message about change he could believe in… or so the political pundits have said about his partying at the Hip Hop BBQ with Chris Rock.
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