'And then I was like pew, pew, pew and I got bin Laden': Photo of Obama with his foot on the Oval Office's desk sparks outrage and ridicule online.

Why the outrage? Some say Obama's foot-on-the-desk style is too casual for the gravity of the office, and others suggest his display of masculinity is better suited to the basketball court

The latest official White House photograph showing President Barack Obama with his foot on his desk has created a mini-maelstrom of right-wing angst.
The desk in question was a gift from Britain's Queen Victoria in 1880, crafted from the timbers of the sunken Arctic Rescue Ship the HMS Resolute, and Obama has been snapped with his shoes atop its surface on several occasions.
So had President George W. Bush. But that hasn't stopped conservative partisans from venting their spleens in the direction of the Oval Office after Matt Drudge featured the photo at the top of his opinion-shaping digital real estate.

'Check out Drudge Report pic of the President with his foot on the desk,' Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs tweeted. 'The White House released it mistakenly thinking it's a cool image.'

National Review contributor Greg Pollowitz was willing to give Obama a pass, but only because his furniture abuse was less egregious than that of another Democratic president.

'I really don't think it's a big deal that Obama had his foot on the "Resolute" desk,' he wrote on Twitter, 'considering what Clinton did to it.'

But others made pure fun of the photo without drawing a political statement from it.

Some right-wingers have forgotten that scuffing up the Oval Office furniture is a bipartisan pastime

Lou Dobbs, the arbiter of all things cool in the business world, determined that the publication of White House photographer Pete Souza's pic would backfire

The Resolute Desk has seen every administration since Rutherford B. Hayes', but Clinton's extracurricular shenanigans might have been its most memorable moment

'Obama, speaking to Boehner, is simultaneously doing a Captain Morgan on the Roosevelt [sic] Desk and John Wayne draw,' tweeted a New York City lawyer.

Beckett Adams, a business writer for conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck's news website The Blaze, captioned the photo with an imaginary quote from the president.

'And then I was like, "Pew! Pew! Pew!" and I got Bin Laden,' he wrote.
Obama was talking to House Speaker John Boehner when White House photographer Pete Souza snapped the photo/
In April, a series of official White House photographs brought together by Vanity Fair showed the 'lean-back' nature of Barack Obama's presidency.

The pictures reveal that Obama often exhibits relaxed body language in stressful situations, with legs crossed and a knee raised, or his feet on his desk.

Obama showed a photographer the soles of his shoes while talking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone in 2009, offending many in Israel

One New York City lawyer tweeted that Obama had a little 'Captain' in him, and a bit of the Duke as well

A business writer at The Blaze focused on Obama's pointed finger as he discussed Syria with House Speaker John Boehner

Solemn proceedings: Obama hoofs up on the priceless Resolute desk while discussing matters of state with advisers Tom Donilon, Jack Lew, Denis McDonough in November 2012

In the pictures Obama can be seen discussing policy matters with his aides, none of whom is ever as relaxed – or reclined – as the commander-in-chief.

One such moment of relaxation provided some diplomatic tension during Obama's first year in office.

The president was photographed with his feet on his desk, soles pointing toward the camera, while he discussed a planned speech in Cairo with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in June 2009.

Obama had been carrying on tense negotiations with Netanyahu over the status of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and the soles of his feet were seen as an insult

'A photo released by the White House, which shows Obama talking on the phone with Netanyahu on Monday, speaks volumes,' read one editorial in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz


'The president is seen with his legs up on the table, his face stern and his fist clenched, as though he were dictating to Netanyahu. ... As an enthusiast of Muslim culture, Obama surely knows there is no greater insult in the Middle East than pointing the soles of one's shoes at another person. Indeed, photos of other presidential phone calls depict Obama leaning on his desk, with his feet on the floor.'

Sealed: Obama makes an agreement with his feet on the Resolute desk

Recline position: Obama leans back while meeting advisers on New Year's Day 2012

A plaque on the front of the presidential desk desk explains that the HMS Resolute was abandoned in the Arctic in 1852.
The vessel was then 'discovered and extricated' by American whaler Captain Buddington in September 1855.
Resolute was then refurbished and sent to Britain as a 'token of goodwill and friendship' from the president and people of the United States.
When the ship was later broken up, Queen Victoria sent a desk made out of its timbers back to the U.S. as a 'memorial of the courtesy and loving kindness which dictated the offer of the gift of the "Resolute"'

President Franklin D. Roosevelt had a door built in the desk to hide the sight of his leg braces. The Resolute was first moved into the Oval Office by Jackie Kennedy in 1961, where an iconic photo later caught JFK Jr. playing hide and seek underneath it.

Stretching out: Obama grins with his feet on the table

Good advice: Obama receives his counselors in the Oval Office