“tim” is talking about Obama’s debut on Leno in the comments of Brutally Honest says,
[I]s this just a case of Political Correctness? Can we not ask of our President to have some decorum? I thought him just appearing on Leno was rather beneath the office.
His whole attitude towards the pomp and circumstance is rather flippant and doesn’t speak well of his attitude in regards to respect for the position he holds. He no longer has the Hail to The Chief played but rather piano music, the dress code at the WH is relaxed, the way he handled the UK PM was disgusting, and on and on. So it’s his whole casual attitude that pisses me off. He acts like some community organizer instead of the friggin’ POTUS. (#)
I think this hits the nail on the head. Initially, I’m reluctant to get too excited about the President’s comments. Overall our society has become so hypersensitive, which in itself is counterproductive lots of the time. When it comes to “special” olympics or needs or exceptional abilities or whatever you want to call it, a sense of humor is where it’s at. Joe’s posted article seems like the perfect response: Oh yeah? I bowl a 300. Take that, Jack!
The real problem, is an interview on Leno isn’t the place for a President. In an interview like that irreverence is the name of the game and humour pushes the envelope…plop the President in there and you’re asking for trouble. If he DIDN’T make a few tacky remarks his interview would have come off dweebish and when he DOES he’s not exactly representing the country appropriately.
A strategic world leader would try to avoid situations where he had to reveal his inner dweeb over a point of principle. Just don’t go there.
Today’s culture loves a superstar. And Obama selflessly gives the people what they want even to the detriment of the title he holds. Do you see how this works, this life without sacrifice? You throw your grandma under the bus, you throw your preacher under the bus, next the special olympics and before you know it you realize the grand prize you coveted and won is under the bus. Filthy and cheapened in the quest to be coolio.
It is this lighthearted irreverence for the office that tempts politicians toward corruption…if the office isn’t that important how big a deal is it to fudge the odd little (or big) thing.
Anyway.
___
The Anchoress has an extensive roundup of links on the subject.
Yes: “Barack Obama is constitutionally incapable of self-deprecation, because self-deprecation requires sincere humility. And the Obamessiah — Lincoln/JFK/FDR/Reagan/Soul-Fixer/World Savior/Mighty Mouse rolled into one — doesn’t seem to have a molecule of sincere humility in his body. To laugh at yourself, you have to really be laughing at yourself, not engaging in coy self-aggrandizement.“
Morgan Freeburg: “I understand the temptation to make something of it. President Bush didn’t say anything like this; and President Bush wouldn’t have. I think those two men see the world around them differently, I think they see the office of the President differently, and when George W. Bush occupied it I think he saw himself as representing all Americans and not just some Americans. He was also liberated from the burden of staying hip and cool, so the benefits of telling such a joke wouldn’t have impressed him much.” …more
