Jane Austen in the White House

The American Thinker ^ | 10-8-14 | Rosslyn Smith

[afraidfortherepublic]

Some people seem to be just discovering the odd position Valerie Jarrett has held in this administration. They also seem to be struggling to find a metaphor for her role. I have seen her compared to Rasputin, but that doesn't fit the dynamics of the relationship. Barack Obama may be as detached from the threats of his day as Tsar Nicholas II was 100 years ago, but Rasputin was very much his and the Tsarina's social inferior. I suspect Jarrett considers herself at least the Obamas’ equal if not their superior.

When I consider Valerie Jarrett's role in things, I imagine that Jane Austen's Emma Woodhouse had gotten the idea in her head that she was a top-notch political adviser as well as matchmaker extraordinaire. For Valerie Jarrett is a Black American Princess version of Austen's spoiled heiress. She shares Emma's wildly misplaced confidence in her abilities, misreads what is going on under her own nose, and shares a penchant for encouraging those she sees as social inferiors to improve themselves. Unlike Emma, however, there doesn't seem to be any dawning self-awareness on the part of any of the characters.

To understand Valerie Jarrett's strange position with the Obamas one has to look at two spheres as insular and cliquish as those occupied by many of Austen's characters among the landed gentry of Regency England -- that of upper class Chicago blacks and that of the red diaper babies, the children of Americans on the radical left in mid 20th century America. Jarrett used her membership in one to get her hooks into Michelle and the other to make Barack feel she was indispensable.

[Iron Munro]

Some people seem to be just discovering the odd position Valerie Jarrett has held in this administration. They also seem to be struggling to find a metaphor for her role.

She is King Obola's Brain.

[Servant of the Cross]

[SMARTY]

[PLD]

Frank Marshall Davis mentored Barack Obama. The Canter family mentored David Axelrod, who got Obama elected president. Vernon Jarrett's daughter-in-law is Valerie Jarrett, and Robert Taylor was Valerie Jarrett's grandfather. Jarrett is Obama's top presidential adviser. In other words, Obama's political ancestor worked with the political ancestors of Axelrod and Jarrett. Oh, and they all called themselves progressives. Amazing, but true. You can't make this up. The ghosts of Chicago's political past are alive and well in Washington today. Today's political family at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue can be traced back to the political family of Chicago in the 1940s. It's all in the (political) family. http://spectator.org/articles/35070/all-political-family

[PLD]

http://spectator.org/articles/35070/all-political-family

[sphinx]

Bttt

[Paine in the Neck]

There is some psycho-sexual thing going on between the two. Some sort of Oedipus by proxy thing with Jarrett as Little Barry's mommy substitute.

[Red Badger]

Cardinal Richelieu comes to mind....................

[Verginius Rufus]

Or maybe Cardinal Mazarin.

Mazarin was a foreigner (Italian). His policies led to the Fronde uprisings of 1648-1653.

[AllAmericanGirl44]

“and shares a penchant for encouraging those she sees as social inferiors to improve themselves.”

Kind of lost me on that one, val is not at all interested in lifting others up, she prefers they remain beholden to their masters.

Charles Taylor is her godfather??? Now that is some fine mentoring I’m sure.

[CyberAnt]

Finally!!