Simon Says Obama gets "Street Cred" for Busted Lip

NPR, (No Penetrating Reporting), is really outdoing themselves over the Obama Smash Mouth incident. They're saying it might give Obama some "street cred" in dealing with foreign policy. First, Scott Simon starts by sounding like he is mocking Obama (and rightly so) for the number of stitches for such a small injury:

I'm not sure that Joe Frazier needed 12 stitches after the Thrilla in Manila, though the White House stressed that a smaller filament was used, which increases the number of stitches, but leaves a smaller scar.

Then he launches into an Onionesque imagining:

I wonder if having a larger scar wouldn't actually fortify President Obama's profile, as he contends with Kim Jong Il, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Vladimir Putin. Imagine a president with a gnarly, vivid scar telling the rulers of China, "Nice country ya' got here. I'd hate to see something happen to it if you didn't stop foolin' around with the value of your currency. Know what I mean?"

Please tell me this guy is kidding, right? Street cred off an amateur sports injury? This guy Simon must be smoking the good stuff!

I would say that it is exactly the opposite. Obama gets hit in the mouth and at the first sign of a little pain, he goes home. The street cred would have come in, had he kept playing through the pain.

This reminded me of what I have formulated as the

Three Reasons A Guy Goes to the Hospital

1.) Uncontrollable bleeding. It makes a mess and it's like oil...if you don't have a certain amount in the crankcase, something bad is going to happen.

2.) Bones protruding through skin. This may be accompanied by #1. Unsightly and usually painful

3.) Unexplained loss of consciousness. Technically, this isn't a reason you go, but a reason why your buddies might take you.

That's it. Only three reasons. Poor Obama's busted lip wasn't one of them.

Street cred would have said, "Suck it up, Mr. President". Not. "Ooh! Do you think that will leave a mark?"

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H/T memeorandum