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Sideshow: Pres. Obama's APEC style

Pres. Obama and world leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Beijing don tunics that could have come straight out of a Star Trek episode.
Barack Obama Xi Jinping Peng Liyuan
U.S. President Barack Obama, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, prepare to watch a firework show during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ...
Hardball: Sideshow #Encore

Time now for the Sideshow!

President Obama and world leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Beijing donned tunics this week that could have come straight out of a Star Trek episode.  And the Twitter-sphere did not hesitate to react with it's fair share of humor:

It turns out those tunics are part of a tradition which began with President Bill Clinton in 1993.  The APEC host country provides an outfit for the attendees which is symbolic of that country.  Back when it was Clinton's turn, he went with bomber jackets.   

 

Bill Clinton, Morihiro Hosokawa,
U.S. President Bill Clinton offers his hand to Japan's Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa after the Tyee docked on Saturday, Nov. 20, 1993, in Seattle after a...

Next, while the President was in Asia, the Vice President was taking care of matters back in the U.S.  And at the top of his list was calling his youngest, cutest fan.  According to her family, three-year-old Avery Bral of Clive, IA, has always had a fascination with Joe Biden.  But when her grandmother posted a message about Avery's admiration for the veep on his website, she never expected to receive a phone call in return.

"He said, 'This is Joe Biden' and I said, 'Who the hell is this?’ And he said, 'This is Joe Biden,' and I said, 'I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry I said that to you,'" Becky Burke told affiliate KCCI.

The full (adorable) story is below:

And finally, history could have been intertwined between two political families if only one blind date went the right way.  In his new book, "41: A Portrait of My Father", George W. Bush writes about a blind date with Tricia Nixon back in the 1960s that fell drastically short of a love connection.

The former President writes:

"During dinner, I reached for some butter, knocked over a glass, and watched in horror as the stain of red wine crept across the table. Then I fired up a cigarette, prompting a polite suggestion from Tricia that I not smoke," he wrote. "The date came to an end when she asked me to take her back to the White House immediately after dinner. "'