Shadies Who Lunch

Wash Post 12:30p Tuesday: The television news anchors sit down to lunch with Obama at the White House, continuing a long-standing tradition. Obama says "Slumdog Millionaire," the India-based film that cleaned up at the Oscars, reminds him of the years he spent in Indonesia. In another revelation, the president discloses that he has napped briefly on the Oval Office sofa.They dine in the family dining room over lobster bisque with beignets, seared Virginia bass with leeks and potatoes, pound cake with fruit compote and lemon sorbet.

The above traditional State Of The Union lunch with fawning TV talking heads is supposed to be on background. Meaning the news anchors can't use anything the prez says.

It was more like like Seared Virginia Bass With Leaks... The anchors blabbed anyway. Oooh, Brian Williams got to sit NEXT TO THE PRESIDENT he writes in his blog. Did Bri get a thrill up his leg?

A breathless Katie Couric on her blog: "The White House, he feels, is a very nice place to live, especially because he can have dinner almost every night with his family. The Obamas play a game called roses and thorns, where the girls talk about the good things that happened to them that day and the bad things – a device that gets them to "open up." (I need to try that tactic at my dinner table!) One night, Malia, after hearing about some of her father's challenges, remarked that he had a "very thorny job!" Meanwhile, all the baubles – perks like Camp David, helicopters, etc. – still make it hard to live in a bubble, it seems, because the President can’t go to the corner drugstore, run on the National Mall, or sit in a diner and soak in the mood or overhear conversations. He said he wishes he could do the job anonymously. At that point, his senior adviser said: “Then you’d be Dick Cheney." That got a big laugh."

I'll bet. Obama and his henchmen are mastering that roses and thorns game with Congress.

What's worse? Breaking bread with Obama or caving to the background thing? Michael Calderone Politico