Was Obama really taking a selfie at the Memorial Service?

[Mr.Bill]

Or was he just participating in one that someone else was taking?

The blonde woman next to him appears to have two hands on the phone while Obama just has one hand on it near the end of it, like he is trying to steady it to get a better look. I think she is the one taking the picture with her phone. Obama has said numerous times the Secret Service won't let him have a cell phone because of security concerns.

Either way, much ado about nothing.

[CJCRANE]

1. It was a memorial service that included music and dancing

more like a celebration of Mandela's life.

The funeral hasn't happened yet. Mandela is currently lying in state.

[Mr.Bill]

2. Oops

My mistake. Proper term is memorial service, I suppose.

[Tarheel_Dem]

3. If, as you say, it's "much ado about nothing", then why yet another thread about it?

[StarrGazerr]

7. Thats the point

It's the fact that for the ten thousandth time the Right Wing Media is trying to create a delusional "scandal" that's relevant, not the taking of the photo itself. They will take ANYTHING no matter how trivial and try to attack the President with it. He gets Syria to abandon its chemical weapons and they criticize him for it. He tracks down Osama bin Laden and they not only refuse to give him credit but try to give credit to the guy who spent seven years doing everything in his power to AVOID capturing him, George W. Bush. A Marine holds an umbrella for the President and they're ready to start impeachment proceedings. I swear some of them actually blame the President for the rain.

[Mr.Bill]

10. Exactly.

Whenever I hear a wingnut talk about crap like this I tell them Obama must be the greatest president in history if this is how far they have to reach to find something to criticize him for.

[PoliticAverse]

4. Apparently it was the Danish Prime Minister's picture...

See:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/nelson-mandela/10511954/Nelson-Mandela-Helle-Thorning-Schmidt-defends-David-Cameron-selfie.html

http://blogs.afp.com/correspondent/?post/Selfie

[kelliekat44]

5. It really is much RW-FOX ado about nothing. nt

[StarrGazerr]

6. No the Danish Prime Minister took the photo.

From what I've read so far, it seems it was the Danish Prime Minister that asked to take the photo with Mr. Cameron and the President and it was her camera. You're right that the President does not carry a cell phone. It could not have been him that was taking the picture. The nonsense some have tried to stir up about the First Lady is also silly and unfounded. Earlier Mrs. Obama had been sitting next to the PM, with the President sitting to her (Mrs. Obama's) left. Apparently, when the PM decided to take the picture, she asked the Obamas about it and the First Lady graciously changed seats with the President. They of course found one photo that appears to show Mrs. Obama angry, but in reality the situation was nothing of the kind. There are other photos taken around the same time that show her smiling.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/11/obama-selfie-photographer-michelle-obama_n_4425001.html

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/10/the_medias_michelle_obama_problem_what_a_selfie_says_about_our_biases/

[jberryhill]

8. Not enough Ex-Lax in the world could make me give a shit over this one

[Boom Sound 416]

9. Ha

[HipChick]

11. Obama has a cellphone...

a heavily encrypted one...but he and/or his closet aide carries a 'Red' phone

[Mr.Bill]

12. What is your source for this information?

And even if he does, several links in this thread indicate the one in question was not his. That was my main point.