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Obama’s Fly-Swatting Abilities Weren’t Always So Great

  • 6/17/09 at 11:26 AM

The world is buzzing (ha-ha!) about a clip of President Obama swatting a pesky fly with ninjalike quickness and precision during an interview with CNBC's John Harwood. But far from demonstrating some kind of innate, superhuman abilities on Obama's part, the video shows that Obama's fly-swatting skills have actually improved over time, after what we can only assume were hours of tireless, devoted training.

Here's Obama killing that fly yesterday:

Impressive! But here's another video of Obama this past September being harassed by a fly during an interview in Elko, Nevada. Obama — his fly-killing abilities at this point woefully undeveloped — tries to simply ignore the pest, to no avail. He eventually gives up and blames the reporter for asking too many questions.


Perhaps it was after this incident that Obama privately vowed, "Never again."

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