At the Game of Thrones premiere event in Hollywood on Sunday, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss confirmed rumors that Barack Obama wanted – and will get – episodes of their ultra-secret show ahead of their debut on HBO….
“I think, for both of us, finding out the President wanted advanced copies of the episodes was an ‘ah-ha’ moment,” Weiss said. “That was a very strange moment.”
And did they say yes?
“Yes,” Weiss replied. “He’s the leader of the free world.”
Benioff added: “When the commander-in-chief says, ‘I want to see advanced episodes,’ what are you gonna do?”
This is fascinating on so many levels. For one thing, yes the president of the United States is indeed "the commander-in-chief"–of the U.S. military. As the Constitution says, "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States."
But it seems that for President "Ive Got a Pen and I've Got a Phone" Obama, "commander-in-chief" means "commander-in-chief" of everything.
So we've had this:
On Tuesday, the president announced a series of gun control actions in the form of “executive actions” during a lengthy press conference at the White House. Throughout, the president made it abundantly clear that restricting the rights of America’s law-abiding gun owners will remain his focus in the last year of his tenure.
We saw something very similar in January 2013, when Obama said he would not wait for Congress to act on gun control and unilaterally imposed 23 executive actions on guns, insisting they would help save lives.
and this:
In a speech last night, President Barack Obama announced a series of executive orders that will protect up to 5 million undocumented persons from deportation. "There are actions I have the legal authority to take as president – the same kinds of actions taken by Democratic and Republican presidents before me -– that will help make our immigration system more fair and more just," Obama said. Under the president's plan, certain undocumented persons – including those who have children who are U.S. citizens or legal residents – will have the opportunity to receive work documents. He did not extend protection from deportation to the parents of children who are benefiting from his earlier program aimed at so-called "Dreamers" (young people who were brought to the country illegally as children).
So why not let Obama have those episodes before anyone else in America–even if his demand will remind some people of a certain Game of Thrones character.
In addition, Obama's unusual (or maybe not-so-unusual) request cements his reputation as a binge-television-watcher who spends huge segments of his spare time glued to that oversize screen.
Which makes me wonder: When, exactly does he find time to sign all those executive orders?