One day after playing with tar balls on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, Barack Obama started his Saturday by shooting some hoops with First Dawg Reggie Love in the gym located at the University of Chicago Lab School.

While he was hanging with Reggie, working on his jump shot, his pre-recorded lip service to our Armed Forces and the Memorial Day Holiday played on televisions and radios throughout the land.

At 4 p.m., he and his family left their Chicago home to attend a barbeque and watch the Blackhawks game at a buddy’s house.

An interesting stand-off happened while Scooter was partyin’ down, between followers of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan on one side and members of the press and the U.S. Secret Service guarding the president on the other.

Not far from Obama’s home in the Kenwood/Hyde Park neighborhood, Obama’s long-time friend Marty Nesbitt lives across the street from the ornate yellow-gold home where “Calypso Louie” Farrakhan lives.

When Obama has brought his family over to Nesbitt’s home the last two years, the press pool bus parks near Farrakhan’s house. This usually does not cause a problem, but Saturday night, there was almost a throwdown on Woodlawn Avenue.

As a dozen reporters and photographers following Obama stood on the sidewalk in front of Farrakhan’s home, someone’s foot touched the publicly owned curbside grass.

Like a flash, a polite man in jeans and T-Shirt came out of the compound to ask the press to stay off the grass.   He began pacing and talking on his cell phone.  He went inside the mansion’s black wrought iron fence, crossed the well-landscaped yard, lifted a water bucket behind rose bushes and retrieved a walkie-talkie. The reporters heard him referring to “the CIA.”  Evidently, this paranoid genius did not realize that the Secret Service guards the president, not the CIA.

He then went to the secret service agent watching the press and asked him to move the van and its occupants.

“How is this a security breach?” the agent asked. He asked if the house was government property.  Since Obama ascended to the throne, err, presidency, neighbors all over Hyde Park and Kenwood have become accustomed to dealing with streets being blocked off and having to show ID to approach their own homes .

The Fruit of Islam member said something else and at that point the agent stuck out his hand to shake hands and introduced himself as Secret Service. He added, “Sir, I can assure you that we will do nothing to interfere with whatever is going on in there.”

The Farrakhan guard paced again and talked on his cell phone, walkie-talkie in the other hand.  Three more men in T-Shirts reading “Wide or Die!’’ joined the man from the Nation of Islam.  A reporter asked one of the men if this was Farrakhan’s house. The man just glared back.  Asked again, he said, “I don’t have no comment.”

Eventually, a dozen Fruit of Islam members made the scene.   As each casually dressed man arrived, he exchanged elaborate handshake/hug/double air-kisses with others. Two of them walked by a reporter, chanting “Islam.”

The men filmed and photographed the reporters, the van and its license plates with their cell phones.

One of the guards came and stood close to reporters and the secret service agent.  The secret service agent asked if he could help him.  The man did not answer the agent. He politely asked  him again.  The guard said, “No.”  The agent said, “Secret Service, please move away from this group of people.”

The Fruit of Islam member complied.

The Secret Service agent asked the reporters to go back into the press bus, and they did.

Before they did, some of them asked the Nation of Islam crowd if they could use the rest room in Farrakahn’s home.

They were met with silence.

A Baptist minister from Detroit named Rev. Gary Hunter, who writes and blogs for the Detroit Times, told reporter Jackie Calmes of the New York Times that he personally called Calypso Louie and his son and asked them to have their Private Army(the Fruit) stand down: “I told him you were good people . . . He said he didn’t know you all were just waiting for the president.’’

Yeah, right.  You had better believe Farrakhan knew exactly what was going on.

The Blackhawks won the game around 10 p.m., and Obama and his family were driven home at 10:43 p.m., the press bus following behind them, ending the stand-off.

Today, Obama is scheduled to make remarks at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.  He will miss the usual tradition of presidents speaking at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day and laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Instead,  he’s sent Vice President Biden and his wife to handle those duties,  The Bidens will also host a breakfast for Gold Star families, families whose loved ones died in military service, at the White House earlier that day.

According to The Washington Post. Obama excuses this ill-timed vacation as addressing one of the great broken promises of his administration: his early pledge to return home to Chicago every six weeks or so.

Presidents Reagan, Bush 41, and Bush 43 also missed the ceremony during their time in office.  But, there was not the wide-spread public perception of anti-American leanings hanging like a cloud over their presidencies, like there is over Obama’s. 

This president has gone out of his way to apologize for America to world leaders and to disrespect the military by floating a trial balloon suggesting they pay for their medical benefits.  And that’s not even mentioning the yet-to-be realized repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.

Mr. President, with all due respect, sir, I wish you possessed the courage, conviction, faith, and patriotism of our Best and Brightest, America’s Armed Forces.  These brave men and women sacrifice themselves on a daily basis to protect and defend our sacred land.  We honor them, their families, and the legacy they have given us on this special day.   As the following video reminds us, Freedom is not Free.

John 15:13:

   ¹³Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

UPDATE:  President Obama’s appearance at the small cemetary today was cut short because of a thunderstorm.  He was not able to speak, just deliver a wreath.  God is good.  All the time.

 Sources:  drudgereport.com, suntimes.com, newsmax.com, youtube.com