Ercille I. Christmas

Barack Obama: Through the Lens of Citizen Ordinary
June 7, 2010
 

Barack Hussein Obama came to the presidency wearing the hope, trust, faith and fawning adoration of those voters who put him into office, like a royal robe of protection. He was going to make that feat of Jesus of walking on water, look like child’s play. For one woman, he was going to pay her mortgage and her utility bill. He was going to unite black, white, red, yellow, pink and purple at a virtual Kumbaya-singing campfire, to end all campfires.  It has not quite turned out that way.

As he began to prove that he cannot give sight to the blind, or erase an oil slick, the pundits came out with articles dissecting his character and his job performance. I began to read and collect articles to ascertain if I see Mr. President in the same way as the writers. "Strikingly unpresidential"  is how David Limbaugh described Mr. President.  Mr. Limbaugh’s opening paragraph laid out his case.

"President Barack Obama doesn't deserve the reputation he's had for his style and temperament and for being gracious, civil, bipartisan and post-racial. He is often ungracious, uncivil, hyper-partisan, race-oriented and vindictive. He mocks and ridicules almost for sport. More than any president in my memory, he often does not comport himself presidentially.”

I searched for a suitable rebuttal. I could not find one.  The visual that kept coming to mind is that of the venerable Dalai Lama being hustled out of the back door of the White House with bags of trash piled high in the photo. Was the front door "inaccessible”? The other image that came to mind is that of the Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel being left in a room in the White House, while the US President went off to have dinner.  Couldn’t the White House chef have rustled up another plate or two of mashed potatoes? Whatever happened to "mi casa, su casa”? Oh, that "my house is your house,” or Arizona is your state, is for the president of Mexico?

Well, the handling of the nation’s finances had to come up sooner or later. This article states:

"What we have in Barack Obama, is an American President pushing billion dollar financial policies that exhibit many of the same characteristics of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.”

If Mr. Madoff has access to this article, he is probably boasting that he is in good company. After all, he is being compared to the president of the US, or vice versa. The big difference appears to be in the housing situation. Mr. Madoff is in the Big House, while Mr. Obama is in the White House. Maybe the difference is in the color scheme. Whatever – I wish them both well in their respective domiciles.

How is the president in terms of relationships of 20 years or so? Well, the very Reverend Jeremiah Wright , had this to say: "I am 'radioactive,' Sir. When Obama threw me under the bus, he threw me under the bus literally!" I am quite relieved that although there was a literal throwing under the bus, that the Reverend does not appear to have any physical injuries. It must be hard on the psyche though, to become persona non grata, after a relationship that lasted longer than a lot of marriages. If the president is going to do this walk on water emulation of Jesus, he should be aware that Jesus instructed "Love one another.” Nowhere did He say "Throw one another under the bus.”

Since that relationship with Pastor Wright is now "water under the bridge,” with Pastor Wright occupying his place under the bus, let’s take a look at Mr. President’s relationship with other constituents. This Washington Times article does not paint to flattering a picture, as it accuses the president of "fomenting a race war because he said the following:

"It will be up to each of you to make sure that the young people, African-Americans, Latinos and women, who powered our victory in 2008, stand together once again.”

Which groups, gender and colors are omitted? It’s coming to me. It appears that white males have joined Rev. Wright under that bus. What size bus is this?

Hold that bus! More passengers are on the way! When Senator Obama announced his candidacy, and subsequently, the press went gaga, with tingles up legs, declaring him to be "kind of like Christ,” and on and on. Then he began to govern in a style to which they were unaccustomed. He began shutting them out. Obama vs the press – in this corner, we have the president, and in the opposing corner, the press. The tingle in the leg is gone, I guess.

The members of the press have to understand that maybe they were shut out from the nuclear summit, because the president did not want them to see his forehead touching the shoes of Putin & Medvedev as he bowed , scraped, and gave away US nuclear superiority! I hope that he gets treatment for his "bow-it is” affliction.  Jules Crittenden is one journalist who has remained unimpressed. He gave a triple blah to this speech. Is that the same as two thumbs down?

Then the oil mess came through and further spoiled "the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal,” and made Mr. President look like a dipstick. It is the competence thing.  Some pundits and citizens weighed in when the president skipped Arlington. I agreed with him. The troops who gave their lives should not be used as a photo op. According to the feelings of some, even God got into the act as Mr. President’s speech got rained out in Chicago.

We have heard from the pundits. What about Joe and Josephine Ordinary (citizens)? Citizen Annie weighed in with her comments, sent via e-mail to her friends:

"It's very timely to me, personally, cerro, that you chose to post this now.  Just on Saturday, my husband and I decided to take a drive, get out of the "big city" for awhile . . . we were gone the entire day!  We drove in some very beautiful areas, traveled through some little towns and communities, stopping here and there, and the day was perfect weather.  I was so struck by the beauty of nature around us, by the beauty of our country, and by the kindness and decency of the simple people we encountered today . . . all just good, decent Americans . . . that a realization suddenly struck me, and I said to my husband:  "I can tell you that the feelings about this country which you and I and the people we are seeing today in 'small town America' hold in our hearts ARE NOT the same feelings that Obama has!  His heart is NOT LIKE OURS!  He doesn't have the heart we do for this country!"

What can I say? Annie wrote back to ask if she had an epiphany. She did. There have been quite a number of epiphanies since the president began his rule. I have had my own epiphany. On May 16, I had an epiphany of my own. I woke up muttering that "Obama has turned hope into despair.” Other than that pronouncement from my subconscious mind, how do I see the president?  I see this president in terms of a playlist of songs. When I catch a glimpse of him, the song "Big Spender,” begins spinning around in my head.

The minute you walked in the joint,
I could see you were a man of distinction,
A real big spender,
Good looking, so refined.
Say, wouldn't you like to know 
What's going on in my mind?

What’s going on in my mind is that I did not realize that Mr. President was going to be such a big spender...of the people’s money!

Another song that comes to mind is "You’re So Vain.”

You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you... 
But you gave away the things you loved and one of them was me...

The president does appear to be a very vain man – some describe this vanity as narcissism. He lashes out at the slightest criticism. He has never dismissed talks about being a "messiah.” So, in a way this song is about him. Yet, I see him as a very insecure man, who when he looks at the "Man in the Mirror,” probably feels inadequate. There is probably a feeling buried deep,  that knows that he does not deserve nor is qualified for his position.

"You gave away the things you loved and one of them was me,” does not apply to him, if we consider that one of the things that he should love, would be this country.  He gives a great impression of one who does not like this country. He is trying to give it away to President Calderon, for example? He does go out of his way to denigrate this country and its citizens on that famous "Apology Tour.” It resembles a "never ending story” of the type of behavior that gives validity to Annie’s fears.

Which song can I use to adequately explain the relationship between the president and his Teleprompter? Here it is: "Inseparable.” Yep, man and machine have a bond that no other president has had with that Teleprompter thingie.

Inseparable, That's how we'll always be
Inseparable, Just you and me
It's so wonderful to know you'll always be around me


For an overall assessment of his presidency, an entire musical is warranted!  Tada...Chicago! In Washington, things are being done "the Chicago way,” allegedly. Chicago, the musical, has the right mixture of living on the edge and offering jobs for "courageous restraint" from running for office?

Sheila, another e-mail pal sent the following source of quotes from Mr. President. For a fleeting moment, I saw myself as Moses receiving the word, but through an intermediary, instead of through the big man himself. Then I read the words, and my stomach felt queasy and "malleable.”

Barack Hussein Obama

"For in the end laws are just words on a page- words that are sometimes malleable, opaque, as dependent on context and trust as they are in a story or poem or promise to someone, words whose meanings are subject to erosion, sometimes collapsing in the blink of an eye.”

After reading the words of the "master,” the first thought that came to mind was, would the words of the US Constitution also be vulnerable to "sometimes collapsing in the blink of an eye”?  Is that why actions are being taken, laws being signed (think healthcare), that give every indication of "collapsing” the Constitution "in the blink of an eye”?

Fellow citizens, next time you get that "hope & change itch,”  get some Gold Bond. Or better yet – grow up. Not too many politicians deliver what is promised. To do so would require honesty and decency. Both are in short supply. Folks are running around about saving the environment? They should concentrate on fumigating the toxic political environment in DC.

How is that done? Keep your eyes on the hands of the politicians and what those hands do, such as laws that are passed, instead of focusing on the lips as they move. Remember the joke that is quite prescient. How do you tell when a politician is lying? Yep, his or her lips are moving. By the way, for all of you folks out there, who saw a "second coming,” had your version of a messiah been able to walk on water, that oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, would have been dissipated by now. Here is one version  of suggested action by Mr. President from a fan in the Media.

As for this Citizen Ordinary, she wants a strong Commander-in-chief, one with worldwide respect, one who is feared by tin horn dictators, and one who recognizes that the enemy is not "we the people.” She does not want to feel as if the boot of the C-I-C is lodged on her neck, as he goes around the world apologizing for her "sin” of being an American citizen. Mr. President had better clean up his act before he cements in stone or in the history books, an impression of him as a finger-wagging, didactic, ineffectual, Teleprompter toting, Peter Principle poster child. By the way, this USA is still a Christian nation.