Following a nine-day, eight-country tour that carried the ambition and stagecraft of a presidential state visit, Obama has found himself in an unusual position: the butt of jokes.Jon Stewart teased that the presumptive Democratic nominee traveled to Israel to visit his birthplace at Bethlehem’s Manger Square. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd amplified the McCain campaign’s private nickname for Obama (“The One”).
And the snickers about Obama’s perceived smugness may have a very real political impact as McCain's camp launched its most forceful effort yet to define him negatively. It released a TV ad Wednesday describing Obama as the “biggest celebrity in the world,” comparable to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, stars who are famous for attitude rather than accomplishments.
The harsher treatment from comedians and columnists — coupled with the shift by McCain from attacking on policy to character issues — underscores the fine line that Obama is walking between confident and cocky. Once at pains to present himself as presidential, Obama now faces criticism for doing it too well.
“I was puzzled by this notion that somehow what we were doing was in any way different from what Sen. McCain or a lot of presidential candidates have done in the past,” Obama said Sunday, speaking about his trip at a conference of minority journalists. “Now, I admit we did it really well. But that shouldn't be a strike against me.”
Several points:
1. Jon Stewart has been calling President Bush everything but Chimpy McFuckstick for at least five years now, yet we do not have a trend story currently illustrating that the President is, in fact, a lower primate who wields a stick for fucking with.
2. Maureen Dowd is an idiot, and is a bellwether only for other bellwethers, which is to say, she has no problems you could pay me to care about.
3. Oh my fucking GOD. Look. I am not in the mood for this. It's hot and humid. I am incapable of bullshit right now. How many of you out there would like a president who has trouble finding his own ass without a map, who trips over the names of foreign dignitaries and is met the world over with every sign of creative rage and derision absent an actual Longcat? I'm serious, how many want somebody who sucks at the meager qualification of "seeming presidential?" How many want someone who seems kind of tentative about the job, who's embarrassed by his own skills, and would like to crawl in a hole and die for having the eternal effrontery to ask for you votes? How many of you want a president like that? Raise your hands.
Okay, you, you're in the wrong room. McCain campaign is thataway.
Jesus tits.
A.
Wasn't Nixon The One? ("Nixon's The One" was his campaign slogan).
Posted by: Kaleberg | July 31, 2008 at 11:41
as if mcinsain isn't all vanity. a comb over??? A COMBOVER. even cheeney admits he's bald.
Posted by: pansypoo | July 31, 2008 at 12:02
If you think Jon Stewart is going to lay off of Prez Obama you're wrong. His stock in trade is comedy. Like it or not.
Posted by: pwapvt | July 31, 2008 at 12:05
The more Jon Stewart makes comedy about Obama the better. But, that hardly excuses the press for assigning Stewart's comedy a gravity more fitting to Supreme Court decisions.
I hope this current press exercise will finally put to bed any question about whether or not the MSM is solidly on the side of Republicans, any Republican, including the public sex loving ones, the indicted ones, the outright criminal ones, all of them. When the press can show their obvious bias for McCain, the senile, in everything they write or speak, any comments about a "liberal" media are asinine.
Posted by: hoppy | July 31, 2008 at 12:38
How many of you out there would like a president who has trouble finding his own ass without a map,
Come on, now, that's not fair. Chimpy McFuckstick can always find his ass: all he has to do is open his eyes and it's all around him.
(A riddle: Chimpy McF lives in a house with all-rectal exposure. A bear walks past the window. What color is the bear?)
Posted by: Dorothy | July 31, 2008 at 12:50
Dorothy - "Jimmy-Jeff Beige"?
;)
Elspeth
Posted by: Elspeth R | July 31, 2008 at 13:32
So why don't they just admit they find him to be an "uppity Negro" and get it over with. Then maybe we could have some substantive discussions. Or maybe not.
God I hate the media.
Posted by: MizGenealogist | July 31, 2008 at 13:43
Dorothy has already said it: "How many of you out there would like a president who has trouble finding his own ass without a map" Are you talking about Chimpy or McCain in your third point ?
OTOH - I've got to admit, Obama does seem to be some kind of wunderkind and that is fair game for commedians. Personally, even though there is no question on who I'd vote for in a choice between McCain and Obama, I loved the JibJab strip on the time to campaign - with Obama running across a 1960s rainbow and flowers field.
Posted by: MapleStreet | July 31, 2008 at 14:59
Speaking of Jon Stewart and Daily Show spinoffs, did you watch Root Of All Evil last night? I change the channel when that show is on, but had to watch it when they pitted Ultimate Fighting against Bloggers.
Bloggers won as the root of all evil because blogging is nothing more than "FIRST DRAFT brain leakage" and it takes "one of the most essential human activities – communicating - and degrades it to nothing more than electronic poo-flinging."
FIRST DRAFT, bitchez! Awww yeah.
Posted by: Maitri | July 31, 2008 at 17:21
OMG!! Longcat is loooooonnnnnggggg!!!
Posted by: BlakNo1 | July 31, 2008 at 17:42
i LOVE you A. love you love you love you!
your posts make my heart fly.
Posted by: tlsintx | July 31, 2008 at 17:55
The only way the Republicans can win is to make everything people think they want in a president seem somehow...icky.
That's all they have, folks. It's like we're in Aliens, and we have a choice between being led by Ripley and being led by Burke. And we're being told that being smart, capable, determined, honorable and effing badass is BAD, so vote for the short-sighted, self-serving, backstabbing, whiny bastard.
Christ in a sidecar! The worst part is that people actually fall for this! "I dunno, Bob, she *seems* smart, but did you notice those tiny boobs? I think she's gay. I'm voting for the guy."
Posted by: BuggyQ | July 31, 2008 at 18:17
BuggyQ. I really like your analogy!
Two days I ago I listened to Sean Hannity just go on the air and lie about what happened to Obama in Germany and the deal with the wounded soldiers. Just an out and out falsehood. And on the introduction of they say they bring you new and comprehensive elections coverage. NOT, inaccurate opinion with no basis in fact.
I went through this entire thought process with my local hate radio station when I realized that nothing gets them to stop lying because there are no consequences for lying. They don't need credibility. All they have to do is say, "It's entertainment!" and they are off the hook. Yet this entertainment is a vast 527 that supports Republicans and conservatives.
The radio hosts are sitting there and looking at events and thinking. "How can we use this to attack Obama?" Hannity admits that he is part of the Stop Obama express. We will just keep throwing stuff up, including blatant lies, and stuff will stick for people looking for an excuse.
Posted by: spocko | July 31, 2008 at 18:38
jjob #1 in 09'. take down the gnews.
Posted by: pansypoo | July 31, 2008 at 21:16
Want to keep in touch with Obama's response to the lies, low blows and desperate crap that McCain and his minions are putting out?
Notice stuff like this in NY Times Editorials??? :
Visit McCain's Low Road Express and arm yourself for the dirty street fight that the Old Man is starting to wage!
Under The LobsterScope
Posted by: btchakir | July 31, 2008 at 23:11
It's amazing to watch these people (especially those at the FNC) who have been having such trouble trying to find a way to attack him without getting slapped with the racist tag. They've been trying to find the best possible way to say, "Look, we hate this guy. He might be smart and helpful and, God forbid, give some of our oil money to poor people by taxing the shit out of us. Unfortunately, he's black, so we can't openly beat the shit out of him. We can't get some guys who served with him in Vietnam to say evil shit against him. We can't even get some secretary who looks like her face caught fire and someone put it out with a track shoe to say the guy was playing grab ass with her. We're totally screwed." So they're working to find an euphemism like when you call a hooker a "lady of the evening" or when you call shitty wuss songs by rock bands "power ballads." I guess we've kind of found the way to call him an uppity negro... See? Decades of preparing for this in Teh GOP BunKKKah and multi-billions of dollars got them a thesaurus!
Posted by: Doc | July 31, 2008 at 23:49
And I might add a disturbing detail: for the second day in a row, the New York Times has a headline on its front page, above the fold, about the McCain campaign's efforts to brand Obama. No articles on the front page about Obama's policies or anything, just articles about McCain's attacks on Obama.
Nothing like being in the bag, huh? Yeah, I read the NYT editorial about McCain's low road, but on the front page they're still shilling for him.
Posted by: Nora | August 01, 2008 at 09:06
We are doing all we can to enlighten the left wing in America. We get hundreds of E-mails a day saying how www.StopObamaExpress.com has open the eyes of Obama supporters, by listen to Obama in his own words at www.StopObamaExpress.com . If we all work together we can save our great nation from the liberals. ALL ABOARD! The Stop Obama Express. A great site for Anti-Obama Fun, videos, pictures, quotes and more. Check it out at www.StopObamaExpress.com
Posted by: jeff | September 11, 2008 at 20:27