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June 12, 2009 4:53 PM

In Oval Office, A Spill Prompts A Presidential Quip

Posted by Mark Knoller
(AP)
A sound technician knocked over a glass of water on the president's desk in the oval office while entering for Obama's photo op with Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Obama heard something untoward as the press entered the room.

"Uh oh," he said. "What'd you all get there," he inquired.

"A water glass," came the reply from several in the press.

"Alright," he said with unmistakable dismay in his voice, adding sarcastically, "It's the Resolution Desk. It's only like a hundred years old."

Actually it's the Resolute Desk, made from the timbers of the HMS Resolute, a gift to President Rutherford B. Hayes from Queen Victoria in 1880.

(CBS)
Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here. You can also follow him on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/markknoller.
Tags:
Barack Obama ,
Water ,
Spill ,
Resolute Desk
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The Off Beat
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Add a Comment See all 14 Comments
by dr_taam June 15, 2009 11:34 AM EDT
it's a piece of furniture. we are letting ourselves be clouded by the same things organized religion has been clouded by: materialism. we need to step back and focus on the IDEAS of our amazing nation, and NOT get all upset about "historical" THINGS. our founding fathers would be ashamed at us getting our panties in a twist over some wood, when we have other more important worries confronting us. let's move on, please.
Reply to this comment
by wiwp June 15, 2009 9:18 AM EDT
Hello johndevinejr . If Obama "was at the top of his class", why hasn't he released a single college/law school transcript? Is it possible that he was NOT "at the top of his class".

In addition, it appears that he was only adjunct faculty and not "real" faculty at UofC.
Reply to this comment
by ToolMangler1 June 14, 2009 10:00 PM EDT
a sarcastic remark is not a 'quip' -- it's a sarcastic remark.
Posted by ccfsdca at 12:11 PM : Jun 13, 2009



correct!!!!
I don't blame him. The press has been in his face from day one, if they could find a reason that wouldn't get them sued into the poor house they would sneak a camera in the rest room to catch him on a potty break then put it in the evening news under the headline "The Nations first Black president, 'Cr@ps out'"
Reply to this comment
by actornaught June 14, 2009 12:58 PM EDT
...Bush on the other had was an idiot incapable of composing a complete sentence in the English Language.
Posted by johndevinejr at 7:37 AM : Jun 14, 2009

w got to be a cheerleader, tho'.

The mind reels...
Reply to this comment
by johndevinejr June 14, 2009 10:43 AM EDT
Good to see the religious extremists and gun worshippers are still at their computers this fine Sunday morning instead of clapping hands and wailing at their local Baptist Gospel Shacks.

You people amaze me ! Literate enough to own a computer but still mentally in the Stone Age.
Posted by ChicagoOldHead at 7:35 AM : Jun 14, 2009

They couldn't possibly have ideas from the Stone Age. The Stone Age did not occur. The earth is only 6500 years old. Men and plants and animals arrived on the earth at that time abruptly and fully formed.

Then they froliced with the dinasours on the flat earth which is still circled by the sun.
Reply to this comment
by johndevinejr June 14, 2009 10:37 AM EDT
You expect Obama to know about the Resolute Desk? He would have to actually know about American history. He is only concerned about degrading the history of this great nation and remaking things into some sort of Socialist utopia he has imagined in his head.
Posted by randomlybanned at 9:38 PM : Jun 12, 2009


Unlike Bush who violated the 1st 4th 5th and 8th Ammendments.

President Obama is a Constitutional scholar, who was at the top of his class.
Bush on the other had was an idiot incapable of composing a complete sentence in the English Language.
Reply to this comment
by johndevinejr June 14, 2009 10:34 AM EDT
the press aggravates the hell out of whitehouse staff and slows down daily business by three hours . 250 per month. 3000 hours per year, 120000 per term . Yes the press does cost the tax payers money and time that can not be replaced.
Posted by Dgunner at 7:13 AM : Jun 13, 2009


We need to have a free press. That is the only chance we have of getting information that those in power may seek to hide.

In the former USSR the press was entirely controlled by the government, as it is today in Iran

We certainly don't want that.
Reply to this comment
by johndevinejr June 14, 2009 10:32 AM EDT
a sarcastic remark is not a 'quip' -- it's a sarcastic remark.
Posted by ccfsdca at 12:11 PM : Jun 13, 2009





1quip
Pronunciation:\?kwip\
Function:noun
Etymology:earlier quippy, perhaps from Latin quippe indeed, to be sure (often ironic), from quid what ? more at quiddity
Date:1532
1 a: a clever usually taunting remark : gibe b: a witty or funny observation or response usually made on the spur of the moment
2: quibble, equivocation
3: something strange, droll, curious, or eccentric : oddity


To lazy to look up the word?


,
Reply to this comment
by ccfsdca June 13, 2009 3:11 PM EDT
a sarcastic remark is not a 'quip' -- it's a sarcastic remark.
Reply to this comment
by tincup356 June 13, 2009 3:09 PM EDT
Why should it surprise anyone that things are abused in Washington?....After all, look at the economy, the home mortgage situation, the wars, our DEBT,,,,,, the status of our country,,,,,,the state of our economy,,,,,,,the only ones that seem to be doing well these days?,,,,,,,,the ones in Washington, and the ones who paid them lobby dollars,,,,,,,sure looks like a conspiracy to me.
Reply to this comment
by Dgunner June 13, 2009 10:13 AM EDT
the press aggravates the hell out of whitehouse staff and slows down daily business by three hours . 250 per month. 3000 hours per year, 120000 per term . Yes the press does cost the tax payers money and time that can not be replaced.
Reply to this comment
by realnews12 June 13, 2009 7:55 AM EDT
What idiotic comments here. Why don't you people get a life, stop your hating, and do something positive to help your country?
Reply to this comment
by randomlybanned June 13, 2009 12:38 AM EDT
You expect Obama to know about the Resolute Desk? He would have to actually know about American history. He is only concerned about degrading the history of this great nation and remaking things into some sort of Socialist utopia he has imagined in his head.
Reply to this comment
by raybury June 12, 2009 7:37 PM EDT
Didn't Obama have his feet up on the desk, with his shoes on, just the other day while he was talking to Bibi?
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