HONOLULU — Reports that Barack Obama had lost power Friday night spread across the Internet faster than beach photos of Jennifer Aniston, sending millions of Democrats into a panic.
"He lost power? Didn't he just gain power?" asked a commenter on a liberal website.
"I didn't think he would have power until Jan. 20? What the (bleep) is going on?" wrote another commenter.
The news didn't seem to surprise Joe Robinson, an African-American blogger. "I knew they wouldn't give a black man power," he wrote. "I knew they would find a way to take it away from him!"
A CNN blogger made a few phone calls, then tried to relieve some of the Democratic fears with a post titled: "Obama has no power, but Biden does!"
Other headlines around the Internet included "No power for Obama," "Obama rendered powerless," and "Obama stripped of power while vacationing." The words "Obama stripped" soon became the most searched phrase on Google.
Democratic worries were allayed within a few hours when Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann announced that Obama had a limited amount of power. "We're working hard to restore complete power to him," Hannemann said.
Power was fully restored to Obama at 6 a.m. the next morning. He had been without power for 11 hours.
"Thank God the ordeal is over!" said the Rev. James Walsh of Chicago United Methodist Church. "Now we can all stop praying and get some sleep."
Headlines around the Internet included "Obama back in power," "Power restored to Obama," and "U.S. coup attempt fails."
