Obama More Fit for Hollywood Boulevard than Pennsylvania Avenue

Modern Conservative ^ | November 01, 2008 | Gina L. Diorio

[thinkingIsPresuppositional]

by Gina L. Diorio

Barack Obama may deserve a new address, but it sure isn’t 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In fact, Beverly Hills would be more fitting, as his actions in recent days and weeks are more suggestive of an egotistical – and rather spoiled – Hollywood starlet than a man who would be president of the United States.

Take, for example, his confrontation yesterday with reporters while walking with his daughter in his Hyde Park neighborhood. When journalists approached the duo, an irritated Obama stated, “That’s enough. You’ve got a shot. Leave us alone…. Come on, guys. Get back on the bus.” He then turned and ran away from the reporters.

Now, this might be a natural and, indeed, perfectly understandable reaction by an average man walking with his young daughter – or even of a Hollywood heavyweight trying to go about his normal life. But privacy from photographers is not a luxury of the president of the United States, and running from reporters – literally—is hardly presidential behavior.

Of course, if this were Obama’s only blunder, the public could easily excuse it. There have, after all, been sitting presidents whose occasional frustrations with the media have been apparent. For Obama, though, it is only the latest in a series of questionable actions and reactions that are enough to make one wonder if he is running to secure a spot at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Take, for example, the sprawling “Temple of Obama” backdrop at the Democratic National Convention, the 30-minute "Ode to Self" which aired Wednesday night, and his lavish election-night gathering, predicted to carry a $2 million tab.

Still, perhaps each of these is technically defensible. After all, it is the campaign’s money to do with as it pleases (although I can’t help but wonder what Obama’s donors would think about these expenses – but I digress).

Unfortunately, there is more.

Obama has promised an open government yet has already shut out and sought to discredit those who dare dissent against – or even question – him. We all saw what happened to Joe the Plumber, an average American who vocalized what many average Americans have been thinking for months. What did Obama do? He openly mocked Joe the Plumber – and the entrepreneurial dreams of every Joe across America – by saying, “He’s [McCain’s] trying to suggest that a plumber is the guy he’s fighting for… How many plumbers you know that are making a quarter-million dollars a year?”

Then, there is Barbara West from WFTV in Orlando, Florida. She dared to ask a legitimate question that had been on the minds of many Americans, and after Joe Biden laughed at her, the Obama camp completely cut off WFTV from future pre-election interviews in a “non-negotiable” cancellation.

And still, there is more.

Just this week, the Obama campaign ousted three major newspapers from the campaign plane, citing lack of space and the desire to make room for other publications. Interestingly, the three papers losing their seats – the Washington Times, the New York Post and the Dallas Morning News – all endorsed John McCain. Coincidence? Perhaps. Suspicious? Given the Obama campaign’s pattern of dealing with opposition, definitely.

And eyebrows will especially rise considering a few facts. First, the Dallas Morning News, in its own words, is the “only Southern or Southwestern paper that’s been on board constantly through October, and if we get booted, there won’t be any outside of New York, LA, Chicago, Washington and Boston.” What’s more? Among the publications purportedly to be added are Ebony and Essence magazines, both of which are monthly publications that will hardly go to print in time to get any information out to voters before Election Day.

Ah, but even here, it doesn’t end.

Beyond mocking average Americans (not only Joe, but you’ll also remember those who bitterly “cling to guns or religion”), ostracizing dissenters, and lashing out at reporters, there is the not-so-little matter of the Obamessiah’s seeming willingness to accept messianic praise, despite numerous opportunities to negate it. As just one example, during Obama’s recent appearance on NBC’s “Today” show, interviewer Matt Lauer posed the question:

… People have called you “the Savior,” “The Messiah,” “The Messenger of Change.” The expectations have been raised to such a level. Some people say you’re partly responsible because of your confident attitude. If you are, as you just say, lucky enough to be elected the next president are you going to have to consciously manage expectations, during the first several months of your administration?

Obama’s response:

Yes. Even before I’m sworn in. Not in terms of what I think we can accomplish long term but I think it’s very important to understand that we’re not going to reverse all these problems overnight.

A mediocre sound byte – with no attempt to correct people’s misplaced messianic ascriptions.

Barack Obama could learn a lesson from John …the Baptist, that is. Long before teleprompters and talking points, that cultural icon knew enough to negate public assumptions that he was the Messiah.

Fast forward 2000 years, and candidate Obama has no comparable humility.

In a recent interview with USA Today, Obama stated, “Like any politician at this level, I’ve got a healthy ego.”

Not so, Senator Obama.

In his first inaugural address, George Washington spoke of the anxiety which filled him upon learning he had been selected president.

On the one hand, I was summoned by my Country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection…. On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my Country called me … could not but overwhelm with dispondence [sic], one, who, inheriting inferior endowments from nature and unpractised [sic] in the duties of civil administration, ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies.

Obama’s arrogance and elitism in his quest for the White House are a far cry from George Washington’s awe and humility. And whereas Washington’s modesty propelled him to greatness, Obama’s pride can only do the opposite.

Obama’s character is eerily reminiscent of James Cameron’s “I’m king of the world,” statement in his acceptance speech upon receiving the 1998 Oscar for Best Director.

What Obama does not seem to understand is Washington is not a movie set and the White House a prop. In fact, far from being a presidential mansion, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is actually the nation’s largest servants quarters.

Barack Obama, however, has hardly earned the right to serve there.

###

Gina L. Diorio is a full-time freelance writer. Please visit her website at www.LibertyWritingSolutions.com.