Obama Plunders the Public

Writing this blog helps me keep my finger on the pulse of society, albeit just a tiny segment. There's a page of statistics that shows me how many readers are clicking which posts, and where they live. Yesterday's post about celebrity cook Paula Deen and her racist heritage was the least-read in the entire five years I have been tracking such things here at the offices of The Daily Droid, which means my dining room table. I wondered what could this mean: Are people turned off by tubby, diabetic, gray-haired, Southern ladies who use the N-word and make millions of dollars baking pecan pies with whipped cream and buttery biscuits and plenty of gravy? Is it because of the whole racism thing or is it just plain old Paula Deen?

The post that has gotten the most readers, and continues to every day, is entitled "Fear of Fat Trumps Fear of Death," and is about just that very fact. It is the clear chart-topper by a huge margin, with four times the readers as the next in popularity, "Slap on a Smiley Face." Third is "Jodi and the Pope," and of course who doesn't like that kooky twosome? I am mystified why some of my favorites have attracted little readership despite being what I consider either wildly funny or particularly pithy.

What I do know is that Mr. and Mrs. Obama are touring Africa, and how this helps me personally is another mystery. “The reason I came to Africa is because Africa is rising,” Mr. Obama said. “And it is in the United States’ interests — not simply in Africa’s interests — that the United States don’t miss the opportunity to deepen and broaden the partnerships and potential here.” Oh please. The week-long trip is costing us, the taxpayers, an estimated $100 million. Just sit quietly for a minute and think about that, then remember how hard it was to write that check for your taxes this year, and the sacrifices you make every day to feed your family and pay your bills. Let's see how many clicks this post gets.