Like many others, The Daily Oklahoman is not amused.  An editorial there questioned why in a time of out-of-control federal spending, is our opportunistic president burning up thousands of gallons of jet fuel and spending millions of taxpayer dollars for nothing more than phony photo ops to further his re-election campaign. Actually, the photo ops proved to be unbelievably phony. No? You decide.

Check out this series of pics, taken in Southeast New Mexico. Gee, is that a pump jack there just behind The Petro President? Could that be an oil tanker trailer in the background, freshly painted bright red so even the most obtuse, except for color-blind, voters won't miss the subtle message? Oh, and is that a flagpole topped by Old Glory next to the pump jack? Having spent many years in and around the oil patch, I assure you that the only things less likely to be seen in that oilfield than flagpoles or bright red tanker trailers is dunes sagebrush lizards; or, well, maybe liberal Democrats.

The prez owes somebody big time for rounding up that crowd in the foreground. Seeing's how there aren't that many people living in or around Maljamar, NM, and knowing that Obama and his minions aren't the most popular folks in the county, I'd guess the audience to be either bussed-in SEIU union members or the entire Democratic Party of Lea County. Of course they could be ordinary locals which would explain why we only see their backs. If locals, they probably all have their tongues sticking out prominently, blowing raspberries of disbelief at Beloved Leader.

So let's do some cost calculations: in 2010, the Air force said it cost about $180,000 per hour to operate Air Force 1. Considering the Obama Petro Premiums we're all now paying, that's easily over $200,000 today. AF1, the military equivalent of a Boeing 747, cruises at 575 mph, making the 1600 miles from Andrews AFB to Roswell, NM about a three hour trip. And that's assuming The Won didn't divert to Chicago for a won-on-won with Bill Ayres for instructions on how he should handle this highly flammable situation. But for the straight leg version figure $600,000 for AF1. But as we know from coverage of other Obama jaunts, at least one additional large aircraft is needed to transport the helicopters, SUV's and security personnel necessary to ensure presidential safety. Let's assume that second plane is a bit less costly to fly, say $500,000 for that leg. We're now talking $1,100,000 each way for a campaign photo op, and a laughably ineffective one at that.

There are pump jacks in the much closer Pennsylvania and any fool's tanker can be hastily painted red. Flagpoles are portable. Know what I think it was? The name, Maljamar; it sounds exotic and  Hispanic, although it's not, which would be another great check-off on the list of liberal photo op clichés. The first thought in the minds of many of those few New Mexicans who even knew where it is, when they heard of the messiah's coming, was, "Maljamar? Why the hell a wide spot in the road like Maljamar?" There are hundreds of oilfields in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas, all as prettily photogenic as the one selected and much closer to civilization; so it has to be that name.

Perhaps we're being too nit-picky critical. After all, when the prez flew out again, this time to the less exotically named, Cushing, Oklahoma, it was for a somewhat more cost effective (probably no more than $2,000,000 of taxpayer money) and an even more amazingly subtle photo op like this one. Can't you just picture David Axelrod rubbing his hands together and cackling, "No one in America will ever see through this!"

Trust us, Dave; when even TIME calls you on your wasteful, phony photo ops, you're busted, dude.