President Obama on Friday was asked what kind of tree he would be, and other questions from the silly to the serious in a question-and-answer session with three popular YouTube hosts.
Destin Sandlin, a Defense Department worker by day and host of “Smarter Every Day” in his free time, asked Obama, “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?” He also got to ask Obama what characteristics would define the fictional element “Obamium.”
Obama laughed, acknowledged no one has ever asked him that before, and then offered a thoughtful answer demonstrating he has not forgotten all of his high school chemistry. He said he would want it to be “stable, a catalyst, but one that didn’t get too hot or too cold, and hopefully it would be one that was useful to humanity — one that we could actually use and not just a shiny object.”
Ingrid Nilsen, a self-proclaimed “lifestyle” guru who also discussed her recent announcement on YouTube that she is a lesbian, caught Obama slightly off guard by asking why “tampons” and sanitary products are “taxed as luxury goods in 40 states.”
He “confessed” that he didn’t know that was the case until Nilsen brought it to his attention but explained that reversing such decisions is up to state legislatures and governors. But he did offer that mostly men were probably in charge at the time the original classifications were made, then veered into the Affordable Health Care Act and explained that bringing parity to women’s healthcare was a driving goal behind it.
“Women can’t be charged more than men, pregnancy isn’t treated as an illness, contraception is part of a standard package of care,” he said.
YouTube host “Swoozie” asked Obama if he would institute a $500/hour minimum wage; which “Star Wars” movie was his favorite and which franchise character he would want to be; and showed the president a drawing of two different styles of “dog pants” and then asked which type he preferred.
Obama said he cannot raise the minimum wage that high. On “Star Wars,” he said his favorite was the original 1977 film, and that he most would want to be Han Solo. When it comes to dog pants, Obama chose the second style of doggy pant where only the hind legs are covered.
The interviews were the culmination of video “fireside chats” Obama instituted since taking office where he has gone online to answer questions Americans posed to him via YouTube and other social media channels.
