Presidential Appearance

There's been a lot of coverage of President Obama's "selfie" activity in South Africa.  I really think that is pointless. Not because I approve of his doing that but because I think the emphasis is on the act and shouldn't be. My problem with his behavior is that he represents us on these state visits. Regardless of whether many South Africans danced and sang and celebrated Mandela's life, Obama's behavior was not the behavior one might associate with presidential stature.

The president of the USA does not go to other countries to "go native", he goes there as the primary representative of his country. The essence of the United States. Even so, I see no reason to make a fuss about it and I do not understand the furor over it. In my opinion, he made a social gaffe over which Americans may feel a twinge of embarrassment for some time to come and perhaps associate a minor embarrassment with South Africa. I do not think that South Africans will look down on us over it, I don't think they would consider his behavior out of line. It is possibly only Americans who might feel that.

It's a bit like the guy who gets excessively drunk at a party. If you were the one who invited him, or brought him along, you might feel embarrassment about his behavior even if the host, and the other party goers, had no problem with it.

Please, I did not mean to even imply that Obama's behavior had anything to do with alcohol consumption.