Obama coming to Asheville — but no public events ***Updated 5:10 p.m.***

After two days of swirling rumors, it’s official: President Barack Obama and his family will visit Asheville next weekend. There will be no public events.

“On Friday, April 23, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will travel to Asheville, North Carolina where they will spend the weekend,” the official announcement from the White House reads. “There will be no public events.”

Yesterday, Democratic Party officials said they’d heard rumors that Obama is coming to town — depending on who was telling the story — to visit an ailing Rev. Billy Graham, take a vacation, attend tomorrow’s local party convention or all of the above. One noted that if the President were to drop by the area when it wasn’t a presidential election year, this weekend, with a hotly-contested political season would be the moment. Others swore that the President would visit this weekend, which neatly coincides with the county Democratic convention this Saturday.

But apparently the visit is next weekend, and no political appearances are forthcoming..

Obama last visited the city in October 2008, while preparing for the presidential debates against Sen. John McCain. Obama also held a rally and visited 12 Bones barbecue for lunch.

— David Forbes, senior reporter

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53 thoughts on “Obama coming to Asheville — but no public events ***Updated 5:10 p.m.***

  1. jeana

    He needs to stay in DC and stop vacationing on the taxpayer’s bill! WORST PRESIDENT EVEVR!!!!

  2. Ocean of Wisdom

    PLEEZE PLEEZE PLEEZE let Gordon Smith have lunch with the Presidunce…

  3. Ken Hanke

    He’s coming to my house for soup

    Yeah, well, I heard a rumor that he’s gonna split a cheese log with Chad Nesbitt.

  4. Piffy!

    [b]he’s gonna split a cheese log with Chad Nesbitt. [/b]

    Euphemistically, i trust.

  5. artart

    He coming to meet with the tax and spend socialist city council to see how they get away with ignoring the will of the majority of the tax paying residents of Asheville and yet continue to get socialist anti-capitalists elected. Is there an active ACORN affiliate in town?

  6. J

    Let’s just be honest with ourselves, he’s clearly coming to get advice from Cecil and Gordon.

  7. dpewen

    Nice one J … those two could provide some great advice! I voted for them all!

  8. Larry Harwood

    I heard that he was coming to pitch clean coal, clean nuclear power and clean offshore drilling.

  9. travelah

    He’s gonna tell the ‘tards how much he cut the taxes they don’t pay in the first place.

  10. Piffy!

    [b]Let’s make sure that we do not post anything which is remotely meaningful! [/b]

    You always do, Willard.

  11. Chad Nesbitt

    <>Yeah, well, I heard a rumor that he’s gonna split a cheese log with Chad Nesbitt<>

    No, no, no, no…that’s a Obamalog. That’s where you order a Obamalog to eat and pff pays for it.

  12. Piffy!

    [b]That’s where you order a Obamalog to eat and pff pays for it. [/b]

    Oh, you mean like Bush’s Iraq war that we know have to figure out how to pay for.

    I guess you call it an “Obamalog” because it’s the turd the Republicans didn’t flush that Obama has to deal with.

    Typical.

    Congrats on the new position, Chad. I hope you are as successful as Ms Palin in her journey to make millions of the rubes with hokey, down home sentimentalism mixed with just the right amount of fear, hyperbole, and Nationalism.

    You should write a book, like Michael Steele!

  13. mtndow

    When did “Cheezy Nitwit” change his avatar and start hiding behind The Flag? Go get you own President, boy, if you can.
    Please don’t put anything meaningful on this thread.

  14. UNaffiliated Voter

    Will Obama take the girls and Michelle on a tour of our fine federal public housing projects? How about a picnic at the PVA community garden? Shouldnt the 1st daughters be exposed to the REAL WORLD in Asheville, instead of all GPI/Biltmore?

  15. UNaffiliated Voter

    I mean that Michelle is all into gardening, right?

    Think of the boost she could give to community garden self reliance concepts. And the girls need to learn how to dig in the dirt anyway…

  16. travelah

    Too many pfftscticks in spheres of influence … time to knock the bloated thing down and reform it

  17. We are honored that the President of the US is coming here, just because he was smitten during his campaign visit. For anyone who isn’t politically biased against our President, this is a good thing for Asheville.

  18. chickenfried

    Someone needs to tell him Tiger’s course isn’t even close to being completed. I hear there’s a nice 9 hole course in Old Fort.

  19. Diana

    I am politically biased against our President, but I still think it’s a good thing for Asheville.

  20. Sage

    I would like to think that regardless of political bent most people would have the respect to leave a man alone on his vacation with his family.

    FWIW, I was nearby Bush when he used to vacation in ME and despite my political disagreements I never joined in or wanted to participate in ruining a POTUS’s downtime. Not that they are ever really not on the job. But everyone deserves a nice break.

  21. Piffy!

    [b]time to knock the bloated thing down and reform it [/b]

    In your own image, i’;m sure.

  22. local independent

    There is a clearly passionate group of folks here, that have very strong feelings for President Obama. Although i doubt the accusation of worst president ever has any possible relevance, considering the previous administrations mob job, that left the country crippled when Obama took over.
    If you live in Asheville or the Asheville area, despite your political leanings, you should at least be happy that his presence here as a vacation, will only have a positive effect on our tourism economy. Save the hate for the tea party conventions and the klan rallies, be thankful the city will receive a boost in revenue ad exposure.

  23. entopticon

    Since traveliar chooses to represent himself with Barry Goldwater’s image, I guess that means an ardently pro abortion rights, pro gay rights President who was absolutely horrified at seeing the right wing hijacked by organized religion. Goldwater was essentially the anti-Palin. Considering traveliar’s views, especially his little freakout about gay preachers being allowed in by the Episcopalian church, that is especially ironic.

    Maybe someday Planned Parenthood will name a special award after traveliar, just like they did for Goldwater. The Mallet award for reproductive choice has a nice ring to it actually.

  24. Carrie

    I think entopticon & travelah should go to the Grove Park, sit down with Obama, and have a beer! Maybe it will help:)

  25. travelah

    entopticon couldn’t get through a security background check to get that close to the President but then again, neither could Obama in a sane world. Besides, I couldn’t stand the smell of his stinking marlboros.

  26. Piffy!

    [b]but then again, neither could Obama in a sane world.[/b]

    Oh right, cuz hes not really a citizen.

    i’ll remember that for future debate when you try and distance yourself from it.

  27. travelah

    poor pffssctick … who mentioned anythng about Obie being a non-citizen except yourself? Remember that for your future mental masturbations with whoever you think you are debating.

  28. Piffy!

    its telling that you cant even stand behind your slimy insinuations, lil mallet.

  29. entopticon

    Yeah, traveliar didn’t actually say that Obama wasn’t really a citizen, he only implied it. And that makes such a big difference (said with complete sarcasm).

    Clearly traveliar meant that it would be insane to let someone with Obama’s background near the President because Obama is a Marxist/gay/black nationalist Kenyan that is in Islamic mole out to destroy the American way of life. Thank goodness we have brave right wing extremists such as traveliar who know how to put enough layers on their anti-pinko tinfoil helmets to protect them from the leftist brainwashing rays coming from a special computer constructed from the bones of Lenin’s skull that Michelle Obama has buried beneath the arugula in the White House garden.

  30. Piffy!

    Remember these are the useful, insightful posts that make it THROUGH moderation.

    Just imagine the stuff travelah tries to post that never make sit through!

    travelah couldn’t get through a security background check to get that close to a young boy but then again, the catholic church has gotten away with sodomy for decades

    Besides, I couldn’t stand the smell of his stinking religion.

  31. travelah

    I do not think I’ve ever had a post that was stopped by a moderator. How about you, pffsctick? No need to ask entopticon. His reply probably will take a day or two to show up.

    Do you think Obie will take as much action to address the nasty habit of smoking marlboros as he is with chefs using salt?

  32. entopticon

    What does that even mean no need to ask me and that my reply might take a day or two to show up? My reply will show up the moment that I send it.

    As for you traveliar, I seem to recall you being reprimanded for some of your more offensive posts, like referring to young black men as “towel heads” and your race baiting about “black thugs” etc.

    I guess at least you have graduated from referring to the Pres as “Oba Mao” because of his great communist conspiracy to destroy the American way of life, to just plain “Obie.”

    What is it with the unrelenting obsession that you right wing extremist fundamentalist evangelicals have with the fact the President has a cigarette once in a while to unwind? It really does say a lot about the complete vacuum of legitimate arguments that you have to offer. He’s been trying to quit with nicotine gum, and maybe he will succeed, maybe he will fail, but whatever; he is just a regular person with strengths and flaws. The fact that he has a cigarette once in a while is certainly not a rational thing to obsess over. You don’t know anybody who has a cigarette once in a while to relax? You seriously expect us to believe that you would be obsessing over the fact that he has a cigarette once in a while if he was a right wing extremist evangelical like you? Of course not. All hot air. Or a smokescreen as the case may be.

  33. Piffy!

    [b]I do not think I’ve ever had a post that was stopped by a moderator. [/b]

    I know, that’s the problem.

    Any religious zealot can insinuate that the President is a terrorist and they will still post it, but point out the idiocy of such a statement, and you get a tut-tut.

    [b]Do you think Obie will take as much action to address the nasty habit of smoking marlboros as he is with chefs using salt?[/b]

    No.

    Do you think you will take as much action to address the corruption of your beloved GOP as you do towards making petty, snide, hypocritically-partisan accusation you cant even stand behind?

  34. Piffy!

    [b]You seriously expect us to believe that you would be obsessing over the fact that he has a cigarette once in a while if he was a right wing extremist evangelical like you? Of course not. All hot air. Or a smokescreen as the case may be. [/b]

    Like lil’ mallet has anything of substance to critique Obama’s policies with. He prefers to call people terrorists. Pedophiles are known for making such accusations.

  35. FYI

    You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.
    You didn’t get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy.
    You didn’t get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.
    You didn’t get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.
    You didn’t get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.
    You didn’t get mad when we spent over 600 billion(and counting) on said illegal war.
    You didn’t get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.
    You didn’t get mad when you saw the Abu Grahib photos.
    You didn’t get mad when you found out we were torturing people.
    You didn’t get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.
    You didn’t get mad when we didn’t catch Bin Laden.
    You didn’t get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.
    You didn’t get mad when we let a major US city drown.
    You didn’t get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark.
    You finally got mad when.. when… wait for it… when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all ok with you but helping other Americans… well **** that. That about right?

  36. FYI

    Here are some Reagan facts for you righties:

    Criminal:
    * Iran-Contra treason.
    * Lied about it.
    * Likely encouraged Iran to keep US Embassy hostages until he was into office.
    Fiscal:
    * Supply-side economics.
    * National debt tripled.
    * $12 billion trade surplus –> $100+ billion trade deficit.
    * Deregulated savings and loans, precipitated huge economic crisis.
    * Tax raiser.
    * Taxed the poor, cut taxes for the rich.
    * SDI “Star Wars” boondoggle.
    * Military spending increased to match imaginary spending in USSR.
    * Deregulation caused oil bust.
    * Broke air traffic control union.
    Social:
    * Gutted social welfare.
    * Dismantled the mental healthcare system.
    * Release of mental patients without recourse, homeless population up.
    * Ignored AIDS crisis.
    * Abstinence-only sex education.
    * Strengthened ATF, banned automatic weapons, blamed Democrats for it.
    * Privatized the prison industry and made incarceration a profitable industry.
    * Increased spending for War on Drugs.
    * National drinking age of 21.
    * Underfunded NEA.
    * EPA Superfund grants manipulated to help Republicans in local elections.
    * Deregulated kids’ tv, initiated 22 minute toy ads.
    * Killed energy programs.
    * Crack in the ghettos. (? Due to support for Contras and Noriega?)
    Foreign:
    * Wars all over Central America, incl Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras.
    * Promoted Iran-Iraq war.
    * Sent Marines into Beirut, abandoned mission after terrorist bombing.
    * Broke detente with USSR until Gorbachev personally made things better.
    * Backed Contras in drug running schemes.
    * Supported right-wing dictators and movements everywhere, including:
    * Apartheid regime in SA.
    * Marcos regime in Phillipines.
    * Saddam Hussein and Baathist regime in Iraq, even after Kurds gassed.
    * Taliban in Afghanistan.
    * Manuel Noriega in Panama.
    * Augusto Pinochet in Chile.
    Concepts:
    * Welfare queens.
    * Trees cause pollution.
    * Ketchup as a vegetable.
    Appointments:
    * 30+ convicted appointees.
    * Ed Meese at Justice, porn freak.
    * James Watt at Interior, idiot, corrupt.
    * William Casey at CIA, religious nut, strikes into Uzbekistan.
    * HUD a corrupt mess in general.
    * Politicised CIA.
    * Robert Bork to SCOTUS (failed), segregationist and @#$%.
    * Antonin Scalia, same but he got in.
    Personal:
    * Unfit to serve due to Alzheimer’s disease by term’s end.
    * Horrible excuse for a human being in general.
    * McCarthyite.
    * Backed Moral Majority.
    * Pardoned Robert Walker, who went on to kill his wife.
    * Started presidential campaign at racist murder crime scene in Philadelphia, MS.
    * Laid wreath and made speech at SS cemetery in Germany.
    * Vietnam War a “noble cause.”
    * Helped start right-wing noise machine. (? By promoting myth of liberal media?)
    * Hated sex, made Ron Jr. feel like a sissy and quit ballet.
    * Believed in astrology and used it to run government.
    * Innovated “talking points” cue cards.
    * “I don’t recall” to weasel out of press questions.
    * Confused movies with reality.
    * Outlawed Russia forever, started bombing in five minutes.

  37. “What a complete bunch of idiotic crap. “

    I’m sure you wish it was…but it ain’t crap….it’s what happened before our very eyes. Deal with it!

  38. travelah

    Easy to deal with … I’ll just start with the first of each one of this dogpkile lists …

    You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.

    The Supreme Court ruled on an appeal of the Florida Supreme Court ruling allowing the Democrat Party to ignore the “safe harbor” requirements associated with certifying the election results. That decision forced the Democrat Party to comply with stated Florida election law. Later statistical analysis had Bush winning Florida in any event. The Supreme Court decision did not appoint Bush President.

    Next first on the list …

    Criminal:
    * Iran-Contra treason.
    * Lied about it.
    * Likely encouraged Iran to keep US Embassy hostages until he was into office.

    There is no testimony or evidence that Reagan participated in or was aware of any criminal activity related to Iran-Contra scandal. There are no demonstrable lies you can present out f Reaqgan’s lips. There is absolutely no evidence that Reagan had any involvement with Jimmy Carter’s Iranian fiasco.

    Like I stated … a complete bunch of idiotic crap.

  39. You sure did skip over lot of the points above, to make your imperious declaration of “total crapola.” Why is that?

  40. entopticon

    “There is no testimony or evidence that Reagan participated in or was aware of any criminal activity related to Iran-Contra scandal.”

    Hmmmm…. and why is that, since only an absolute imbecile would seriously believe that Reagan wasn’t directly involved with a project that was completely inconceivable to have happened without his blessing? Golly, could it be that he used intimidation and executive privilege to get away with his crimes?

    Ironically, Reagan raised taxes six times, including the largest tax increase in US history adjusting for inflation. And even more ironically, he would be ostracized or even thrown out of today’s whack-job right wing extremist GOP for many of the positions that he held.

  41. Piffy!

    poor trav. facts be damned, he will fight against

    I heard Obama was going to be at the Blue Ridge Roller Girls event tonight #avlpotus #avlobama #avlsocialistnazicommiekenyansuperherojesus

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