The White House released this photo,
If you go to the White House slideshow, the caption reads,
President Barack Obama and daughter Sasha swim at Alligator Point in Panama City Beach, Fla., Saturday, Aug.14, 2010. The President traveled to Panama City Beach with First Lady Michelle Obama and Sasha to meet with local business owners and officials and to encourage Americans to travel to the Gulf Coast beaches. August 14, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
The UK Independent’s Guy Adams asks,
President goes for a swim in the Gulf – or does he?
The official picture was intended to provide evidence that the region’s beaches are back to normal. Yet it soon emerged that the private beach on which it was taken, off Alligator Point in St Andrew Bay, north-west Florida, isn’t technically in the gulf.
It certainly is many miles away from the most affected areas off the Louisiana coast.
Michelle Malkin looks at how the media reported the swim,
Reuters: Obama swims in Gulf, says beaches open for business
AFP: Obama, daughter swim in Gulf in act of reassurance
CNN: Obama takes plunge, swims in Gulf
An Associated Press writer was one of the few to notice or care about the difference between the Gulf and the Bay:
The president’s dip happened away from the media. The White House released an official photo, but The Associated Press does not publish such handout images. According to the White House, the Obamas swam off Alligator Point, which is in Saint Andrew Bay, not the Gulf.
TOTUS went along and, as Michelle said, the Gulf was open for scripted rhetoric;
Obama read off the TOTUS,
I also want to point out that as a result of the cleanup effort, beaches all along the Gulf coast are clean, they are safe, and they are open for business.”
Especially private beaches in Alligator Point off Panama City.
But fret not, Emboldened by ‘Gulf Swim’, Obama Mulls Dip in Economy
And,
Yes, I mind very much when Presidents use their children for disingenuous photo ops.
I wonder what Jim has to say about swimming on Alligator Point, though.
