"I Have Become a Symbol"
Hilarious: President Obama Continues Hectic Victory Tour.
No, it's not The Onion. It's Dana Milbank, writing in the Washington Post:
"Barack Obama has long been his party's presumptive nominee. Now he's becoming its presumptuous nominee.
"Fresh from his presidential-style world tour, during which foreign leaders and American generals lined up to show him affection, Obama settled down to some presidential-style business in Washington yesterday. He ordered up a teleconference with the (current president's) Treasury secretary, granted an audience to the Pakistani prime minister and had his staff arrange for the chairman of the Federal Reserve to give him a briefing. Then, he went up to Capitol Hill to be adored by House Democrats in a presidential-style pep rally.
"Along the way, he traveled in a bubble more insulating than the actual president's. Traffic was shut down for him as he zoomed about town in a long, presidential-style motorcade, while the public and most of the press were kept in the dark about his activities, which included a fundraiser at the Mayflower where donors paid $10,000 or more to have photos taken with him. His schedule for the day, announced Monday night, would have made Dick Cheney envious:
11:00 a.m.: En route TBA.
12:05 p.m.: En route TBA.
1:45 p.m.: En route TBA.
2:55 p.m.: En route TBA.
5:20 p.m.: En route TBA.
"The 5:20 TBA turned out to be his adoration session with lawmakers in the Cannon Caucus Room, where even committee chairmen arrived early, as if for the State of the Union. Capitol Police cleared the halls -- just as they do for the actual president. The Secret Service hustled him in through a side door -- just as they do for the actual president.
"Inside, according to a witness, he told the House members, 'This is the moment . . . that the world is waiting for', adding: 'I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.'"
Etc. Etc. Etc.
Well. It's not every day that one witnesses the Ascension of a mere mortal into the True World of the Platonic Forms.
I am reminded of Gimli the dwarf's words in I, Claudius:
"We are privileged to be living at the time of the most astonishing event. The emperor has undergone a transformation. A met - a - mor - pho - sis..."
--
God help the while, a bad world I say.
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References -
Now that's imperial.
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)"I have become a symbol"
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)//www.prints-n-ephemera.com/books/Vandercook.htm
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)Let's make it a link.
--God help the while, a bad world I say.
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| parent )"I'm not wearing pants."
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )"You should have seen what I did to the *last* person who mispronounced Nietzsche."
--I blame it all on the Internet
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| parent )We have a winner.
--Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.
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| parent )To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )If I weren't straight and if I weren't happily married (two really big "ifs") -- a guy who that looked like that would be utterly dismissive of me and I would thereafter live in the agony of unrequited love.
--Fence post turtles -- They don't get up there by themselves, some moron had to put 'em there.
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| parent )Not bad, but lacks asterisks.
I'll have to think on this one.
--Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.
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| parent )Along with Kenneth Roberts' 'Lydia Bailey'. Reread both several times--highly recommended.
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| parent )... so are we all going to have to take 'avatars' now?
--Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.
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| parent )...is a little obscure. I'm not sure whether an oldish photo of oneself counts, strictly speaking.
--God help the while, a bad world I say.
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| parent )try smiling. You're a handsome guy, but a smile would do wonders.
--I blame it all on the Internet
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| parent )I thought the term applied to any visual representation one used for oneself on the internet.
--Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.
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| parent )is an incarnation of God on Earth. I add, hastily, that I wouldn't dream of accusing vinteuil of wanting to be that.
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| parent )(rude snicker)
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| parent )Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.
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| parent )Anyone else detect a quivering lip and brimful eyes behind the article? But seriously, Obama better put the press on his knee and give them a sucker before they get the idea he's got the idea he's too good for them.
And the 'I have become a symbol' line is atrocious. Jesus gets to talk that way. Blindfolded guys in front of a firing squad. Maybe Muhammed Ali. But all the rest of us have to go ahead and wait for history to decide who's a symbol of what. Context aside, it's a terrible, because terribly misquotable, gaffe at just the moment where the GOP is bringing the ARROGANT TWIT stamp down hard on his campaign.
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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)When the quote-lifting is that egregious it's not safe to say anything.
--More Wagster!
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| parent )Jordan, that's just a *brilliant* summing up of where Dana Milbank seems to be coming from, here.
But you know what they say: "the smallest worm will turn, being trodden on."
--God help the while, a bad world I say.
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| parent )Judging from your title, I thought perhaps Bill Donahue had quoted you (again!) in one of his rambling tomes for the Catholic League of America. What a let down!!!
--I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine
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)...for remembering the pinnacle of my fame!
But I think it's most unlikely that the Catholic League of America will ever again notice my existence.
For better or worse.
--God help the while, a bad world I say.
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| parent )The election is Obama's to lose. Unless he's found in bed with a live boy or dead girl, he's being sworn in come 20 January 2009. It makes sense that he's simply acknowledging the fact.
There's a reason that none of McCain's challengers fought pretty hard, and the reason was that given an unpopular guerrilla war and a recession, whoever the Republican nominee was was pretty much going to be jumping on a grenade.
So yeah, it's great that McCain is trying, but it's not all that presumptuous of Obama to acknowledge what most folks already know.
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)and while I never put too much stock in polls, as close as the race is in wake of McCain’s absolutely dreadful and pathetic campaign, I more inclined to agree with Kierkegaard here. My 2 cents is this election will boil down to Obama’s acceptance by the white working class and I think they are still up in the air about it. I have no clue which way they will break because I’m still trying to figure out why they were so ga-ga over Hillary.
--"That Sam-I-am! That Sam-I-am! I do not like that Sam-I-am!"- Dr. Seuss
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| parent )Nine years of peace and prosperity? Seriously, I remember 2000, when getting a job was simply a matter of saying, "I think I'll get a job," when one could quit one's job with a reasonable degree of confidence that there was easily another one out there. I remember that, and I think a lot of the folks who haven't done well during the rather anemic economic growth of the past few years do.
There's also that they could identify, if not with Hillary, then with Bill. Bill came off as the good 'ol boy who understood you because he'd been there. Even though Barack Obama had some lean years in his childhood, he comes across as very much the candidate of upper-middle class white urbanites. And white working-class folks often find them... Well, off-putting.
A southern Bubba could promise to raise taxes on the Rich, and it felt authentic, like there was one working class guy working for other working class guys. Obama's different. With him, the white urbanites that can really put people off tend to be right out in the forefront.
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| parent )but both the peace and prosperity for those 9 years were false. The peace was predicated on us doing very little about fanatics who had declared war on all Americans and the prosperity was little more than Wall Street speculation during the tech bubble. However, for those inclined to live paycheck to paycheck and who do not reflect too deeply on events that don't have an immediate impact on their lives, they were good times and chasing after good times is largely what they are about.
--"That Sam-I-am! That Sam-I-am! I do not like that Sam-I-am!"- Dr. Seuss
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| parent )and only espoused by a political fringe
the prosperity was little more than Wall Street speculation during the tech bubble
Sulla!
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| parent )or right fringe?
--"That Sam-I-am! That Sam-I-am! I do not like that Sam-I-am!"- Dr. Seuss
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| parent )It is his to lose. However, there need not be a live boy or dead girl.
--“I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”
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| parent )of pigment should do the trick. Heartily disowned at the head of the ticket of course, goes without saying.
--GW Bush, leading contender for worst President ever.
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| parent )His race helps him, far more people will vote for him because he is black than will vote against him for the equally shallow reason.
--“I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”
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| parent )But
--I predict the GOP will trythere is evidence the McCain campaign is trying.GW Bush, leading contender for worst President ever.
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| parent )That crying "racism" can too easily backfire, and it looks like the blogsphere is gearing up to give McCain a bunch more free air time.
--“I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”
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| parent )the great seal of the Obamation.
--"That Sam-I-am! That Sam-I-am! I do not like that Sam-I-am!"- Dr. Seuss
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)I wonder whose closet that ended up in? Trunk of a car?
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )if they wanted to show a lighter side, and they could use the money from it to pay down a little of Hillary's debt.
--"That Sam-I-am! That Sam-I-am! I do not like that Sam-I-am!"- Dr. Seuss
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| parent )Tho' I'd wait until after the election. Either way, the value goes up!
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )"That Sam-I-am! That Sam-I-am! I do not like that Sam-I-am!"- Dr. Seuss
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| parent )Take a look at the Yglesias link -- and the *actual* quote, in context. Not the tin-can telephone gossip you excerpted here.
Thanks in advance.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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)And here's the full quote for those who don't follow links:
-- but I don't think he said that while pledging allegiance and wearing a suit made out of pages from the bible -- proving that he's an elitist, arrogant, America-hating Muslim.
--Steven Palmer Peterson
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| parent )When a man lies he murders some part of the world.
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| parent )But the distinction between "Obama said he's Jesus Christ" and "Obama was making a point about our reputation abroad" is likely lost already. That's the point of these nonsense drive-by smears. By the time the media gets its act together on a story, the time is past. The work is done. Obama is branded an elitist.
I really worry about America these days.
--Over here on E Street, we're proud to support Obama for President. - Bruce Springsteen
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| parent )Unless you're inclined to believe that McCain isn't 'a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.'
Anyone so inclined is already in the Obama camp, others might see the 'clarification' as being no better than truncated quote.
--“I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”
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| parent )At least not in the context in which Obama was speaking - his foreign trip. I think it would be fair to say that most Western Europeans have a pretty hefty contempt for everything GWB and associate him and the republican party (and thus, to some degree McCain) with all that is evil in the world and Democrats like Clinton (the bubba), JFK and more and more Obama with all that is fair and true and good.
Fair or not I think that would be an accurate assesment.
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| parent )I missed the part where Obama said that McCain wasn't 'a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.'
--Steven Palmer Peterson
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| parent )"I" was a singular pronoun, but maybe that 'living' vocabulary that Pres. Clinton was advocating *is* catching on.
--“I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”
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| parent )I take it by your line of reasoning then that when I say: "I'm a human being" that implies that I believe nobody else is a human being.
--Steven Palmer Peterson
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| parent ). . .that put the issue in doubt, the probable response of any listener would be "No s**t." On the other hand, most people don't claim to be a symbol of much of anything, and claiming it of themselves (or any other particular person) suggests a distinction being made between the person being identified as a symbol and everyone else who hasn't been notably designated as being a symbol for that principle/ideal/whatever (someone saying that Thurgood Marshall represents a symbol of breaking of color lines does not exclude Jackie Robinson as being a symbol of breaking color lines simply because he is not mentioned in the same sentence, because Jackie Robinson is a (virtually) universally recognized and unchallenged symbol of breaking color lines already).
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| parent )Obama's trying to downplay why he's drawing 200k crowds by saying they're coming because actually, people overseas rather like America or at least its core ideals -- they're coming to see him because he's a symbol of that.
Anyone who's worn a uniform knows and is repeatedly told that they're a symbol for America when they're overseas -- so act accordingly. Anyone who serves in congress or has a serious shot at the presidency certainly ought to understand that too.
--Steven Palmer Peterson
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| parent )I'd just think you were talking about yourself.
--“I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”
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| parent )You mean GOP partisans, of course. But as these are the same 'others' who tend to believe that Democrats and Republicans are equally to blame when it comes to negative campaign ads -- except, of course, for the campaign being discussed at the time -- I'm going to take that with a grain of salt. Expensive elitist pink salt from Tibet.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )When you don't have a pony in the race, you're bound to have a different view than those that are so into their own pony that the view can get dim. It's hard see to out sometimes.
--“I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”
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| parent )But the view from my pony suggests the comment, when viewed in its entirety, is not that galling. And I'm not sure your attempt to turn it around -- why isn't McCain a symbol, too, darn it! -- is a valid argument. Like it or not, Obama has become a symbol to a lotta folks. That's cut in his favor and it will cut against him. McCain is far too familiar to be a symbol for much of anything. He's just familiar. That'll cut both ways too.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )"That's cut in his favor and it will cut against him. McCain is far too familiar to be a symbol for much of anything. He's just familiar. That'll cut both ways too."
--“I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”
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| parent )- Login or register to post comments
| parent )The sense of Obama's words is in fact the EXACT OPPOSITE of what vinteuil said it was. I can hardly wait for the McCain attack ad that will take advantage of this 'unforced error.'
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )Ugly details of the GOP's latest faux outrage here. And yes, Millbank behaved like an idiot on this one and fully deserves to be castigated for it. No excusing the usual suspects though.
--GW Bush, leading contender for worst President ever.
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)