Good grief, Barack's getting greyer by the day

[Jackeens]

He'll be silver in four years!

[ellacott]

1. Yes he will

I 'm kinda sad to see that.

[onehandle]

2. Bet he won't color. nt

[ellacott]

3. I don't think he will either

[ben_meyers]

13. Bet he already was.

nt.

[Olney Blue]

4. Probably triggered when he talked to the blivet in the oval office

and realized how deep the hole was.

[Ozma]

40. What's a "blivet"? Oh wait, I know George must be one!!! LOL n/t

[Whalestoe]

5. He looks damn good with some grey in his hair.

[CitizenLeft]

6. I was watching the Larry King special the other night...

...and to see the image of Barack in Nov 2006 was a shock. Not only has his hair grayed, but the new lines on his face are striking if you put that image beside the one from the news conference last week. He has aged significantly, and yeah, it's sad. But a bottle of L'Oreal would cure at least the hair in an hour, if he were so inclined. The care lines, though, are only going to deepen.

[SharonRB]

11. I noticed the new lines in a recent photo the other day

He's getting an early start on the whole aging thing. Hasn't even taken office yet!

[ginnyinWI]

58. that was from the campaign and probably temporary.

Kerry looked like a wreck at the end of his campaign in '04 too, but after a few months he looked a lot better again. Regular meals and regular bedtimes help a lot!

Of course now Obama's going from the frying pan into the fire, so to speak, because he'll be the President--but at least he won't be on the road and can get some decent meals and sleep.

[catbyte]

16. It shows he's exceptional

If you see photos of presidents, the great ones seem to age extremely quickly, while the ones who are--how shall I say it?--less thoughtful, glide through relatively unscathed. I'm thinking FDR (I know, lots of other health issues, but still); and Reagan, that happy evil grinning clown. God, I loathed that man...ugh. :nuke:

Megwetch,

Diane

"Tales of the hunt will glorify the hunter until lions have their own historians."--African proverb

[arewenotdemo]

59. I felt the same way about Reagan. Surprised more DUers didn't.

[SharonRB]

7. I noticed that the other day.

He's definitely turned greyer since the beginning of the primaries.

Tammy Duckworth looks like Palin in that top pic with her hair over her face. :rofl: I couldn't figure out who it was until I saw the second picture.

[illuminaughty]

56. Glad I'm not the only one who jumped to that conclusion. n/t

[Eurobabe]

62. Me three, I thought WTF is he doing with Failin??

Then I saw the last photo. And I said, oh it is Tammy. DOH!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

8. The Presidency will do that to you

He's got less grey than I did at 47.

[Jackeens]

9. Well, he looks sublimely distinguished....but I want him to stay young forever! n/t

[Basement Beat]

25. Heh, don't we all...but look at Clinton!

He had aged tremendously after his 2nd term. But some years after he's been done...he seemed to regained his youth and ended up looking much better than he did in 99/2000. Same could happen to Obama.

[Lisa0825]

43. I saw Clinton recently up close, and thought he looked much older in person

than he has looked on TV.

He even looks much more robust in this picture from 2 weeks ago, than he looked in person. I was actually worried about him when I saw him, but he looks great in the pic. I am on the left of him (his right) in this pic.

[Beacool]

44. Thanks, nice pic.

You look very happy to be next to Bill.

Hiiillllaaary, where are you??? You better watch out, Lisa may be after your man.

}(

[Lisa0825]

46. LOL!

I have never knowingly been with anyone who was cheating, but we all know power is an aphrodisiac, so who knows if I could be tempted??? :rofl:

[Beacool]

47. Well, Bill is quite charming.

Anything can happen........

:evilgrin:

[backscatter712]

10. I think some of this was lighting wierdness in the pics...

But yeah, Obama has a few more grey hairs than he used to have when he started his run for President.

And he's likely to get some more - Presidents age in dog-years. It's like Dorian Grey in reverse.

[high density]

15. yeah, is there flash lighting up his scalp or something?

[CTyankee]

12. The toll of the campaign must be the reason. He worked so hard for this and for us.

He has sacrificed a lot already, just by being so steady and purposeful in his mission. I admire him more and more with each passing day...

[kestrel91316]

14. My BIL started out with dark brown hair, went somewhat gray starting several

years ago, and now at 54 is more salt than pepper. It happens to the best of us. I am noticing a lot more gray in my own hair this year.

[catbyte]

20. Tammy Duckworth for Veterans Afairs Secretary

I love those shots of him and Tammy Duckworth. I signed a VoteVets petition to nominate her for Veterans Affairs Secretary. I think she would be an awesome fit. :bounce:

Megwetch,

Diane

"Tales of the hunt will glorify the hunter until lions have their own historians."--African proverb

[wildflower]

29. Wow, that is an excellent idea

One that hadn't occurred to me. I'm glad you all thought of it.

[Arkansas Granny]

35. One of the advantages of being a natural blond is that you have to look

very closely to see my gray hairs and at 62 I have many. This is a good thing as I don't have the patience or inclination to color my hair to hide them. Unfortunately, the wrinkles don't camouflage as well, but I've earned every one of them.

[Clio the Leo]

17. That's just God's way of working on the "age and experience" issue. :-) NT

[nyccitizen]

18. It's what they told him in his national security briefing on Wednesday...

I'll bet that's some scary-ass sh*t.

[Zombie2]

19. Maybe he/they stopped using hair dye to cover up preexisting grey hairs...

....it is possible. You know, elections over, why bother.

[Beacool]

21. He joked in one speech recently that it was thanks to Hillary.

:7

Who is the woman with him?

:(

[roguevalley]

22. Tammy Duckworth, ran for congress and lost. Lost two legs in

Iraq. Wonderful, decent young woman.

[Beacool]

26. Oh geez, the poor thing.

How terrible!!!! She should try again, she might win next time.

;)

[illuminaughty]

57. Sounds like she would be a good choice

to replace him in the Senate, from what I've heard of her.

[secondwind]

23. I think he'll be salt-and-pepper by next summer.......comes with the job

[liberalpragmatist]

24. Look at this picture of him from '05

This is a pic from February of '05, at a White House meeting:

[Roon]

27. My 25-year-old cousin

is already showing some gray..I don't have a strand of gray at 40.

[CatWoman]

31. braggart!!!

:hi:

[Roon]

36. LOL!

I wizh there was more things about me than being grayless...like being 60lbs lighter....

[CatWoman]

37. same here, my friend

same here :)

[Roon]

42. >

:hi:

[DawgHouse]

39. Me neither! Thanks L'Oreal! n/t

[Norrin Radd]

28. His hair looks darker when it's cut shorter. No big deal.

[blogslut]

30. yep

Although he is graying gradually. But yeah, when he lets it get a wee bit long and the old man hairs really show.

I expect the time in office will age him exponentially as it has all other presidents. Just the same, his mane may not turn totally gray. Most folks who go completely white/silver usually start seeing an influx of de-pigmented hairs in their 20s.

[Pirate Smile]

52. There is a story out today that his barber had to give him a haircut at a friends house

because his barber shop has turned into a "tourist mecca".

I think a lot of that grey got cut off this afternoon.

[Touchdown]

32. It's not gray. It's Chrome!!!

:D

[DU GrovelBot]

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[4lbs]

34. He saw how much Dubya really f*cked up the country.

n/t

[black light poster]

38. Everybody is disregarding the other recent reason: Toot's death.

I once saw one colleague go from no gray to a lot of gray in just weeks when her mother died. And some people gray a very localized pattern when a loved one dies - a shock of sudden gray right in the front at the hairline is not uncommon. And I've even seen some sudden gray clear up somewhat after time passes and the person adjusts to the death.

Toot's death was huge in Barack's life

Barack had some issues with his mother; she sent him from Indonesia to Hawaii at age 10 for his own good, to attend better schools, realize his potential, learn better what it is to be an American. Still, this was a boy who's father walked out on him, and now here he was effectively losing his mother, too... she'd be an ocean away from him, and the biggest ocean away, at that.

Toot and Gramps filled that suddenly yawning gap in his life. From 10 to 18 they raised him while very far away Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro pursued her PhD.

Toot became the primary provider for the family. She had the willpower of iron. Gramps was a wonderful man, but he did not. So very much of what Barack is today, he got from Toot rather from Gramps, or his mother, or his biological or step fathers.

And Barack knows this.

She was also his last remaining parent or grandparent -- the last surviving human being to whom he owed his upbringing, and as of Nov. 3 none of them would be alive to witness its ultimate fulfillment.

This hit him very hard, her illness in the final weeks of the campaign and her death on the eve of the election. People are underappreciating the massive impact it has had on him of Toot becoming so gravely ill and progressively getting worse, the past couple of months, of all months.

My guess would be that subtract Toot's passing from the equation, and he'd be weathering the other recent stresses physically much, much better and you might not even be seeing that gray at all right now.

Super-impose her illness and death, though, on the other recent pressures, and the man has aged years in just the past 4 months.

[1Hippiechick]

41. It's more than grey hair. Look at pix of his face from 2 years ago. n/t

[ramapo]

45. Yes he is...

and the lines in his face are getting deeper. I'm watching a BookTV interview of Barack from a couple of years ago. You can definitely see how the two-year campaign has weighed upon him. I hope he holds up better than Bush did. Check out Bush before and after. He looks like shit now.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

48. He looks like he's aged quite a bit....

n/t

[FrenchieCat]

49. He's not as grey as those photos would suggest.......

because here he is the day before!

[bridgit]

50. he'll be silver in a year

[woodsprite]

51. My freeper coworkers say that he's doing it on purpose to look older and wiser. n/t

[Erin Elizabeth]

53. I think it would be totally badass if, two years into his first term,

he just shaved it off and went bald.

[vanderBeth]

54. rofl

President Shaft

[Posteritatis]

61. Now I'm picturing Obama with a Ben Sisko look and don't know if I should be horrified or not (nt)

[TheDonkey]

55. I kind of hope he starts to tastefully dye his hair. It is sort of unnerving to see someone go

that gray at that age! He doesn't need "jet black" but damn. White hair at 50? :scared:

[Withywindle]

60. Well, it was a cold wet day here in IL. Maybe it's frost!

Seriously, yeah, there is a lot more gray in his hair than there was just a year ago. What he's been doing is stressful, and also, as boyish as his smile is, he IS middle-aged. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

The Presidency ages you too. I'm glad we have a President-elect who is healthy and in good shape and can handle it. We WILL see it on his face, though. It just happens.

I think he'll wear the silver-fox look well when it comes upon him. :)