Opinion: ZZZZZZ! Obama speech so boring that kid falls asleep on national TV

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Hey, that kid who fell asleep while listening to President Obama‘s speech on Monday? He shouldn’t feel that bad.

These things are inevitable. As long as White House communications and advance staff continue to place people behind the president as human props these things are going to happen.

Why do they do it anyway? It looks good on video (usually). It’s a good shot. The president is surrounded by what looks like loving supporters who clap on queue.

No, not as excitedly as the over-caffeinated and eternally springy Nancy Pelosi or clap-happy Joe Biden (God love him). But it’s a good picture -- most of the time.

The human props are forewarned that they will be in the target of video cameras. So behave!

But think about it. These kids aren’t professionals. They forget they’re on camera. They’re kids. And even if it is the president, the thrill wears off.

After a while, Obama, to them sounds like an adult on Charlie Brown. Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.

And look at their view. They can’t see him. Well, they can see part of him. But it ain’t a great shot.

Even a frontal view of the president puts some people to sleep. Like his own staff. You’ll recall last year that White House National Economic Council Director Larry Summers zonked out on Obama while attending a meeting in the White House!

If anything, we should all be applauding the kid for trying hard. You’ll see that even though the kid was comfortably dozing he came to a few times like an awakened zombie and tried to put his hands together.

You gave it your best shot, kid. We salute you.

-- Jimmy Orr

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