Posted by
Andrews on Sunday, March 22, 2009 2:37:18 PM
I know many are offended by Obama's comment about the Special Olympics, but I think in some ways that misses the big picture.
I wrote already that by focusing on such matters we are distracting ourselves form the important issues of the disastrous policies President Obama is promoting, but I want to go farther and say, if we must focus on the president's appearances on late night television, can we at least focus on the important question.
What is the president doing on late night television?
When I saw President Obama was going to appear on late night television, my first comment was "the president should never do that". I know he is not the first president to lower himself to the talk show circuit, but it still simply strikes me as wrong, and wrong for two reasons.
My first reaction, and probably the wrong reaction, was that the office of the presidency should be treated with more dignity. The president should not be appearing int he same context as the Octo-mom, Paris Hilton and the latest flash in the pan celebrity. I know the man himself was manufactured by Oprah, but that does not mean he should reduce the dignity of the office by pimping himself out on television.
My second reaction, and probably the better one is to imagine what the founders would have thought. They too would have probably thought the dignity of the office should be respected, but they would have had a slightly different take. (Maybe not all, but most of the founders.) They would have respected the dignity of the office, but would also have thought the raising of the president to the level of "celebrity" was too much like royalty. Not only should a president not seek celebrity because of the dignity of the office, but because it displays a lack of humility unfitting in a president. I cannot see Washington, who was relatively uncomfortable even with the formalities fo the oath of office, wanting to appear in a public setting, telling the entire nation about his personal life. I just can't see the founders seeking that sort of hollow celebrity, or accepting it if it were thrust upon them.
And that is my real problem. Not even that the president tarnished his office, but rather that he proved himself part of the juvenile cult of "fame" that infects our nation, that he is as desirous of his "fifteen minutes" as anyone. I know it may be unrealistic, but I would like to think the president has more self-control than Tila Tequila, and, having achieved the highest office in the land, has no need for more applause.
Sadly, President Obama proved me wrong in pandering to the crowd and doing the late night tv circuit. He sadly showed me that even the man holding our highest office is just as immature as the rest of the nation, valuing empty "fame" above all else.
And that is what is most disturbing. Not what he said, but that he was there at all.