Of Black Presidents, Funeral Etiquette & Selfies.

As we enter the 6th year of this Black President thing, it's clear many segments of America will never, ever, ever get over what happened on January 21st, 2009. While I'm a retired far from a Barack Obama Apologist nowadays, even the most ardent Conservative has gotta admit that the sheer volume of Obama Outrage has far outpaced that of Bush Derangement Syndrome, and much of it has been downright trivial. I mean, seriously, from the Mom Jeans, to the Nobel Prize, to the failed Oympics bid, to Common, to faux "czars", to Skip Gates, to indoctrination of schoolchildren, to Obama Civilian Military Corps, to American Flag lapel pins, to the Annual Vacation Outrage, it's been a relentless cavalcade or pointless sh*t. When the POTUS' detractors do have a somewhat valid issue (the IRS scandal, ObamaCare.com, the NSA) it's hard to take them so seriously. I believe there's an Aesop's fable that sorta describes this dynamic, but Conservatives have probably had Aesop's Fables removed from public libraries for some reason or another by now.

So yeah, add two incidents from the President's overnight trip to South Africa to that seemingly neverending list.

US President Barack Obama may have moved the masses attending Nelson Mandela's memorial service with his stirring eulogy, but it was his grinning "selfie" with the Danish and British premiers that set social networks abuzz.

In a candid moment captured by AFP photographer Roberto Schmidt, Denmark's Helle Thorning-Schmidt can be seen holding up her smartphone, with Obama lending a helping hand, as they pose for a picture with David Cameron, all three of them smiling broadly in their seats at Soweto's World Cup stadium.

First Lady Michelle Obama, sitting to the left of her husband, does not join in with the lightheartedness, keeping her eyes firmly trained on the podium where world leaders were paying tribute to South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Mandela, who died Thursday aged 95. The so-called selfie -- short for self-portrait -- was quickly picked up by major international news outlets and went viral on social media sites, with many questioning whether the moment of mirth was appropriate for the occasion.

"There should be a moratorium on 'selfies' during memorials and funerals, no?" tweeted @JeffryHalverson.

"Is This The Most Important Selfie Of 2013?" headlined the US-based social news website Buzzfeed, noting that Michelle Obama seemed "not amused" by the impromptu photoshoot.

A photo of the leaders photographing themselves was featured on the front pages of British media such as The Times, The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mirror.

In the United States, the Washington Post also ran the photo of the trio on its website in a story on that incident and Obama shaking hands at the service with Cuban leader Raul Castro. It was not on the front page but rather in the Politics section. It noted the viral trajectory of the photo.

"All of it serves as a reminder ? as if we needed one ? that even the best-laid plans of politicians tend to veer wildly off course in this age of social media," the Post story said.

Cameron's Downing Street office said it had "no comment" on the photo, while the White House also made no comment. There was no immediate reaction from Copenhagen. The act of taking selfies has become increasingly popular in recent years. The word itself was named word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries.

A selfie is defined as "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website". The AFP photographer who captured the leaders in their group shot said his picture showed the dignitaries in a rare unscripted moment.

"It was interesting to see politicians in a human light because usually when we see them it is in such a controlled environment. Maybe this would not be such an issue if we, as the press, would have more access to dignitaries and be able to show they are human as the rest of us," he said.

But Schmidt said he feared the photo's global impact could overshadow what was "a celebration for an obviously exceptional person".

"The AFP team worked hard to display the reaction that South African people had for the passing of someone they consider as a father. We moved about 500 pictures, trying to portray their true feelings, and this seemingly trivial image overshadowed everything else," he said. "I think it's a sad reflection on how sometimes we focus, as a society, on trivial everyday happenings."

Let's admit a couple of things first off: no, the optics of taking a selfie at a funeral aren't great. And no, the President wasn't the one actually taking the selfie. He seemed to be asked by the Danish Premier who sat next to him. So whatever, if you wanna turn this into something bigger than just that, go right ahead.[1]

One issue with all of this is that this wasn't your typical funeral. Not even remotely.



That's not a soccer game. That's a memorial service. Those people weren't exactly mourning. Those people were turnt the f*ck up.

So yeah, context sorta kinda matters here. This was a joyous occasion, one that seemingly everyone got into.


Of course, everyone's not Obama, but whatever.

Question: Is this more random Obama Outrage?

[1] What's up with Michelle tho?!?