Posted on 08/05/2014 2:20:51 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
This is really not the biggest deal in the world, but every year on August 4, I’m reminded of something kind of creepy in the Cult of Obama. That, my friends, is the obsession with his birthday.
I totally get that if you run a monarchy or are a dictator or if you’re a good president, your birthday might be cause for celebration. Oh, it’s the Queen’s birthday? Let’s celebrate. Oh, we’re going to be killed if we don’t pay honor to you, Kim Jong Un (not to be confused with his father who held the titles of “Dear Leader, who is a perfect incarnation of the appearance that a leader should have” and “Shining Star of Paektu Mountain” and “Ever-Victorious, Iron-Willed Commander” and “Bright Sun of Juche” and “Never rotting smiling corpse,” among many others)? Sure, let’s sing a song. Oh, you’re George “Opponents Beware” Washington? Yeah, we’ll celebrate that.
But that’s it. You have to be the Queen, a tyrannical dictator, or George Washington for the people in your country to get all celebratory about the occasion of your birth, mmm-kay?
I am willing to consider whether our celebration of birthdays should extend to other presidents. But wouldn’t that require, at a bare minimum, that the president not be cartoonishly bad at being president? I don’t feel like that’s too much to ask.
Which brings us to the Barack Obama Twitter feed and fundraising operation. Every time someone complains about the froshmoric (read: worse than sophomoric!) tweets coming from that @BarackObama handle, others say, “Hey, don’t forget that @BarackObama isn’t really @BarackObama but a political operation to advance @BarackObama unless it’s signed ‘bo’ in which case it is in fact actually @BarackObama.” Whatever. Let’s look at the Barack Obama political operation and fundraising operation’s tweets yesterday:
Barack Obama ✔ @BarackObama
Sign your name to OFA's birthday card and send a note of thanks to
President Obama. http://ofa.bo/i0NP
8:46 PM - 2 Aug 2014
2,099 Retweets 3,915 favorites
Barack Obama ✔ @BarackObama
Have a hard time picking a card? You're in luck: @OFA
wants you to pick your favorite for President Obama's
birthday: http://ofa.bo/q0Rp
9:26 AM - 3 Aug 2014
Pick the birthday card you want to send President Obama
You might not get a Facebook reminder about this birthday. OFA @OFA 388 Retweets 832 favorites
Barack Obama ✔ @BarackObama
Help put a smile on the President's face: Sign @OFA's birthday
card. http://ofa.bo/s0Ry
3:47 PM - 3 Aug 2014
2,443 Retweets 3,873 favorites
Barack Obama ✔ @BarackObama
Today is President Obama's birthday—make sure you sign OFA's
card: http://ofa.bo/e0S5
7:56 AM - 4 Aug 2014
1,729 Retweets 2,343 favorites
Barack Obama ✔ @BarackObama
Send President Obama some love for his birthday:
http://ofa.bo/f0Pf
11:36 AM - 4 Aug 2014
Choose a birthday card for the President
This year, OFA is celebrating the President's birthday by letting you pick your favorite card that's just right for him.
OFA @OFA 1,215 Retweets 1,947 favorites
The First Lady ✔ @FLOTUS
Happy Birthday to the man who always makes me proud. Thank you for your friendship, honesty and compassion. I will love you always. -mo
1:22 PM - 4 Aug 2014
3,150 Retweets 6,285 favorites
Jason Collins ✔ @jasoncollins34
Happy birthday President @BarackObama! Lmk if you ever need someone to set a screen & free you up for a shot in your pickup basketball game.
3:53 PM - 4 Aug 2014
274 Retweets 796 favorites
Wendell Pierce ✔ @WendellPierce
Happy Birthday, Mr. President @BarackObama
11:26 AM - 4 Aug 2014
517 Retweets 868 favorites
TODAY ✔ @TODAYshow
Happy Birthday, President Obama!
6:15 AM - 4 Aug 2014
3,558 Retweets 4,716 favorites
Vice President Biden ✔ @VP
Happy birthday to my good friend, President Obama.
2:10 PM - 4 Aug 2014
3,051 Retweets 5,587 favorites
Barack Obama ✔ @BarackObama
"Some people prefer cake. I like pie." —President Obama
http://ofa.bo/q0Sp
4:53 PM - 4 Aug 2014
It's President Obama's birthday, so don't forget to sign the card!
There's still time—but not much. OFA @OFA 2,030 Retweets 3,286 favorites
Barack Obama ✔ @BarackObama
Don't forget to leave a personal note for President
Obama's birthday today: http://ofa.bo/f0Q5
6:08 PM - 4 Aug 2014
Leave a note for President Obama
President Obama loves hearing from supporters, so send him a note for his birthday. OFA @OFA 631 Retweets 1,215 favorites
Barack Obama ✔ @BarackObama
LAST CHANCE: Sign OFA's birthday card for President Obama. http://ofa.bo/d0R2
7:37 PM - 4 Aug 2014
Choose a birthday card for the President
This year, OFA is celebrating the President's birthday by letting you pick your favorite card that's just right for him. OFA @OFA 410 Retweets 822 favorites
Hey, guys, I think it was President Obama’s birthday yesterday.
This is not to be encouraged for two main reasons.
One, it’s childish. Birthdays are for kids. And even for kids, they should be restrained. Yes, it’s another year to be thankful for God’s provisions. Great. Do that with family and friends. Don’t make a big production. Don’t put on a My Super Sweet 16 type thing. Be a man and also recognize that all of us who are blessed to survive our mother’s wombs (ooh, awkward, President “punished with a baby” Obama!) have birthdays.
Two, I can not improve on this Volokh rant from four years ago, when Jim Lofgren received one of the now-trademarked Obama birthday fundraising emails:
I find it hard to say precisely why I find this email a bit creepy. At one level this seems innocuous enough–and it is definitely not a big thing. At another level, asking millions of Americans to sign a birthday card for the President suggests a tone-deafness about the cult of personality. If we lived in a dictatorship, getting millions of subjects to celebrate the Dear Leader’s birthday would be routine, but in a free republic this appeal to get millions of citizens to celebrate a current president’s birthday strikes a discordant note to my ear. No, I am not saying we are in a dictatorship; I am saying that because we are not, we should not be emulating the trappings characteristic of that fundamentally different sort of regime. Nor do I think this is particularly ominous, just a very small step in the wrong direction.
Exactly. Grow up and don’t emulate dictators.
UPDATE: If you can believe it, it’s even creepier than I presented.
Today is August 5. My little toy fox terrier was born August 5, 1964. Lived to be 16 years old. Absolutely wonderful little dog. That’s a lot more important to me than August 4.
The Queer-in_Charge can kiss my grits!
As the Rabbi would say, “mazel Tov! He should be so lucky to see the next one!”
They also don’t seem to spend much precious free time with their father. He always seems to be off with his friends golfing. For Father’s Day, he spent it with his wife and ONE of his daughters. Such an odd family.
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