You know what's fun? When the president threatens to kick some ass.

President Obama's highly visible comments on national TV are garnering many video and Google searches worldwide, as everybody pitches in on exactly how Obama can kick some ass down there in the Gulf of Mexico, where BP has turned an entire ocean into a toxic waste dump.

One version of the ass-kicking threat can be seen below:

Now, can Obama actually kick somebody's ass? Debatable. But certainly this is a historic moment for the president. When we reached deep into our archives (i.e., many Google searches), though, we did find evidence of other presidents kicking ass. For example, George H.W. Bush (Bush I), said he kicked some ass in a vice presidential debate.

Don't you love the way that Apple dominates the news? Steve Jobs could put out a press release saying he's going to have his teeth cleaned and it would dominate the news flow on Financial TV. Oh really? Who's the dentist? Will this delay a product release?

Yesterday, of course was the release of the new iPhone 4, which had every tech pundit and their cousin covering every angle. For that reason, I'll keep this post short, giving you a few links to coverage and a few thoughts for what it means for Apple.

The main points of iPhone 4:

• It's slimmer, .37 inches vs. .45 inches for the prior iPhone (PC World review)
• It's got video calling (mirror.co.uk).
• It's got a sharper screen. And a Gyroscope (CNN)
• Actually, they are calling the screen a "retina display," because its density of 326 pixels per square inche allegedly rivals the human retina. Yeah, right Apple (Tom's Guide).
• IOS 4, which includes support for multitasking, iBooks, and other stuff (Mashable).

Okay, so what's it all mean? What's interesting to me is the statement that Apple has made with its last two releases: iPad and the iPhone 4. Have you noticed that Apple and Steve Jobs in particular claim to be "driving industries forward." For example, the message of the iPad as that it will enable the publishing industry to function in the digital world.

But rather than focus on whether or not the iPhone is driving some industries forward I can't help but think how it's driving the telecommunications industry backward. What do I mean by that? It is becoming more evident that the iFranchise is making the telecommunications provider increasingly commoditized and irrelevant.

What's AT&T's role in the iPhone franchise other than to connect the thing to a mobile network and then disappoint users. is AT&T adding any other value at all?

If all of the innovation is coming from Apple, what value are the service providers adding? What does this mean for the future of the mobile telecommunications industyr? Check out the videoconferencing component of iPhone which uses a WiFi connection and could certainly accelerate the trend of Internet communications platforms cannibalizing service provider networks.

Think about that, AT&T: Just look at what's happened to Apple's shareprice when compared to yours. Clearly they are the innovator and you are now the commoditized service provider.

Now, who has derived the most value out of the iPhone franchise?