President Obama and the Fly

by Dee Newman

During an interview for CNBC at the White House on Tuesday, a pesky and persistent little fly kept interrupting President Obama's conversation with correspondent John Harwood.

"Get out of here," the president calmly told the annoying little creature. Unfortunately, for the little fly, it continued its irritating maneuvers. When it didn't leave as told, the President waited for the fly to settle, raised his right hand and then smacked it dead.

"Now, where were we?" the President asked Harwood, adding. "That was pretty impressive, wasn't it? I got the sucker."



I hear that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is sending President Obama a humane bug catcher that will allow him to capture future annoying houseflies and then release them outside.

Like PETA I “support compassion even for the most curious, smallest and least sympathetic animals."

Back in the mid-eighties I almost died from Rocky-Mountain-spotted-fever that I got from a tic bite. And still, to this day, I do not kill tics. In fact, I pulled three of them off of me yesterday.

Like PETA I am very pleased with President Obama's past voting record in the Senate on behalf of animals. He has been an outspoken critic of those who abuse animals.

But, swatting a fly on national television did not demonstrate or reflect his compassion for all life.

None of us are perfect.

We all have unthinkingly released our frustrations in ways that do not portray us in an admirable light.