PrintFebruary 7, 2009
The (Peripatetic) One
Does the following remind you of anyone you have come to know?
"And not a news cycle rolled around, not an edition went to bed, not a talk show went on the air without President Me getting in his two, or two thousand, cents. He talked and talked. He never stopped talking."
The above was written by the late, great Michael Kelly in early 2001 describing Bill Clinton and contrasting President Clinton's need for the spotlight with President George W. Bush's reserve. Now we have a new president who is apparently determined to bring back the worst of everything about the Clinton Administration, including the ubiquity of the chief executive. Since November 8, it has been all Obama all the time.
There he was right out of the gate offending Nancy Reagan; there he was again discussing a college football playoff; nearly every day between the election and inauguration, there he was behind the placard of the newly-created Office of the President-Elect. The days leading up to the inauguration were an Obamarathon, the exhaustive coverage of his reenactment of Lincoln's train ride into the capital - complete with radar-like tracking of his movements along the eastern seaboard; the speech at the Lincoln Memorial in the loving embrace of musicians and assorted other fellow celebrities. On and on it went. Obama tries to portray himself as the hip fella-from-the-block president, but he apparently is not aware of or chooses to ignore the sage of advice of RUN-DMC's classic rap "You Talk Too Much." It seems the only thing about which President Obama does not wish to speak is our freezing countrymen in Kentucky.
Even sports fans this past Super Bowl Sunday were unable to escape the ridiculousness of what passes for the political scene. Live on the screen appeared the president, attempting to look casually cool with Matt Lauer of "Today" -- or is it now "Entertainment Tonight"? -- chortling over gossip rag cover appearances and demonstrating more knowledge of a fading pop star's weight than the tax fraud installed at Treasury.
Speaking of the Obama Tax Cheat Rehabilitation Program, the president lamely attempted to quickly restore his now-tarnished star by immediately popping up to declare that he "screwed up." No doubt Obama's brain trust calculated -- correctly -- that his acolytes in the mainstream media would hail him for the welcome change of a president admitting mistakes unlike his stubborn/arrogant/choose-your-own-pejorative predecessor. However, Obama admitting he erred regarding simple vetting and/or assuming that the masses would wink and nod at the Chicago Way is not as effective as when President Kennedy took the heat for the Bay of Pigs.
As his administration began to crumble around him, the President seemed to be feeling a bit cornered. After not even two weeks in the White House, a place where every whim of the president and his family is met, the President needed out. Rather than take some time to catch his breath at Camp David or avoid public appearances for a day, President Obama made... a public appearance. While Americans freeze, the president couldn't stand even the heat of his 78-degree office for a fortnight.
President Obama's panic is understandable. Imagine having a legislative career propped up by a longtime state legislator (Emil Jones of Illinois), and walking onto the floor of the United States Senate fewer than 200 times before finding yourself the most powerful man on the planet. That is to say nothing of the confusion the President must be feeling in general; here is a man whose every career and personal move seemed to be calculated to reach the next-highest step, job performance and competence on the current gig irrelevant. When there is no next-highest step, one might be forgiven for feeling out of sorts. Until the United Nations creates the Office of President of the World, Mr. Obama will just have to wait it out in the prison called the White House.
Loath as he must be to do so, President Obama needs to take a cue from his predecessor and make himself a bit scarce for a few hours, maybe even a couple of days. In explaining his fleeing the White House earlier this week, the President of the United States actually said he and his wife were "tired " of being there. If the president cannot temper his inclination on weighing in every day on every issue, he will soon find that many of those he somehow convinced to vote for him feel the same.
Matthew May welcomes comments at matthewtmay@yahoo.com
