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The Boy in the Bubble

By: Victoria Coates (Diary)  |  December 28th, 2008 at 11:14 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

No, not David Vetter–Barack Obama. 

Apparently the President Elect is chafing at the bonds of his new position that brings with it, among other things like the awesome responsibility of leading the free world, 24/7 security and press coverage.  The press, in particular, rankles as they note down mundane details like what he eats for lunch and snap innumerable pictures of him at work and play.  Now Mr. Obama knows that these idiots have their uses–after all, they do tend to push the most flattering pictures of him to the fore, and even his mundane details have a certain glamour (he orders his sandwiches on 12-grain bread!).  But can’t they understand that while tracking his every move may be their bread and butter, they shouldn’t be so, well, so very eager?  Can’t they operate with the same insucient, effortless cool that Mr. Obama effects and observe the delicate rules of just-so-far-and-no-farther?

It seems they cannot.  I fear that when Mr. Obama discovers that, even for him, the real news is made when he stumbles rather than glides, it may be something of a shock to his system.

 

Bizarro Update (with thanks to Adamsweb): So Mr. Obama understands that pictures of him golfing in paradise might be a little grating to many Americans these days, but his solution is not to, you know, not play golf.  His solution is to try to get the press corps drunk so they’ll stop taking the pictures.  Charming.

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  • Kowalski

    While Barack Obama was in Hawaii, David Axelrod was on television talking about the size of the stimulus package:

    Regarding the new administration?s stimulus plan, Mr. Axelrod also said that the exact dollar amount Mr. Obama will seek has not yet been determined. ?We?ve talked about a package from $675 billion to $775 billion,? he said on CBS?s ?Face the Nation.?

    ?One thing I think everyone agrees on, economists from left to right, is that we have to do something very large,? he said.

    Now this is something completely different and much more radical than we’ve heard before. This is nearly a trillion dollars that Barack Obama and David Axelrod are thinking of spending, to put future taxpayers in debt.

    Forever, and ever and ever.

    As long as all of us will live, we will be working most of our lives to pay for entitlement programs, the already-existing bailout packages, and the trillion dollars in new spending that Barack Obama will add to the pile.

    Americans have sealed their fate, frankly: their children are all going to be Socialists. Marx really did win in the end.

    • Kowalski
  • johnt

    How long before Obama cracks and/or the media grubs lose their patience, their inherent majesty not honored sufficiently by the creature they invented.
    The Big O is already showing weakness and in a totally trivial area of a Presidency, can’t wait until O sits down with the Iranians for a pre-conditionless conference.
    God help us with this immature, self inflated, witless, community organizing, bag of hot air and brainless cliches.

  • janis

    It already seems like he’s been on the national scene for a decade by now. I look forward to, hopefully, Benjamin Netanyahu being elected in Israel and then watching either Obama or Hillary try to bully him into backing off Hamas or Iran.
    That should be rich.

  • Scope

    I really could care less about what Obama had for Christmas Dinner, or when he played golf or where or what kind of dog they are going to get. I do like the fact that the press and paparazzi won’t allow him to have a private moment for the rest of his life. Maybe then he will have to step down and check into the same place they drove poor Britney Spears to.

  • olsmithie

    Heavens to Betsy, MSM turning down free beer?!!

    Next they will try to tell us they are developing character….

    Regards

  • bobojake

    peeo hasn’t excepted it either. peeO go ahead and sit down with Hannity. no pre- conditions

  • peg_c

    That’s about all I have to say. I’m sick to death of this guy already. It feels like he’s been on the national stage for 100 years.

  • Kowalski

    I order my sandwiches on Wonder Bread, because it’s cheap and common. I don’t have the money for 12-grain bread, which is much more expensive. Why is Barack Obama my President?

  • Next93

    If that came to pass, then it wouldn’t be that big a logical stretch to say that Brittany would be as qualified to be president as Obama.

    I’m just hoping at this point that he doesn’t decide to take a night on the town without any underwear on.

  • Kowalski

    And I know I don’t have anything like what Caroline Kennedy eats at her luncheons with Al Sharpton. It’s an extraordinary thing, seeing this stuff.

    The barbecued ribs at Sylvia’s are $18.50, BTW.

    “I come at this as a mother, as a lawyer, as an author, as an education advocate and from a family that really has spent generations in public service,” Kennedy told reporters after lunch. “I feel this commitment, and this is a time when nobody can afford to sit out. And I hope that I have something to offer.”

    Anyone can read about how proud Al Sharpton was to share the table with Caroline Kennedy right here at this website.

    Ever since Caroline Kennedy announced that she’s seeking the United States Senate seat in New York vacated by Hillary Clinton, it seems like almost everyone’s had an opinion about it. Some argue that her work as an attorney and education advocate are credentials enough for the job, but others question whether just being the daughter of a former president makes her qualified to be a senator. Then there is the Reverend Al Sharpton, who last week met with Kennedy for a highly visible lunch at Sylvia’s, the famed soul food restaurant in Harlem. While he remains tight-lipped about supporting Kennedy, he told Essence.com his thoughts on their conversation, the real reason people are casting doubt on her, and why he’s tired of the idea that having a soul food lunch is pandering to Black folks.

    Oh my dear Lord no. Al Sharpton, pandering to Black folks? That has to be the strangest idea anyone ever had. In reality, it’s not pandering to Black folks, it’s pandering to Governor Paterson!

    ESSENCE.com: Why do you think she reached out to you in particular?
    Sharpton: At the lunch she made it clear that she came to me because Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer both came to me when they came to New York. Many people come to [the National Action Network] because we have a strong civil rights movement and presence. The other thing is, I’m the only Black that ever ran for senator in the history of the state. Both times I got an overwhelming majority of the Black vote so she knows about a lot of the communities I’m going to draw. The last thing ?and I’m speculating here ?she probably knows that Governor Paterson and I have a good relationship. He spoke at the National Action Network Conference, and he was the host of my birthday party. So if you’re trying to get the governor’s nod, you would naturally not only reach out to people with a standing with the public, but also a standing with the governor.

  • Kowalski

    Balloons Everywhere!

    Listen, when you’re trying to get the “governor’s nod” you want to find a guy who knows about where the balloons came from.

    That’s Harlem-speak for: don’t be like Bill Clinton.

    Cold Shoulders.

    ?You sold us down the river, Bill; you took us for granted,? said Darlene Sims, co-owner of an Internet cafe in Harlem. ?There?s a definite level of betrayal, of ?You done us wrong by marginalizing us.? ?

    Now, what does this have to do with Barack Obama?

    Well, it’s actually very important when you consider that he’s vacationing in Hawaii. Because once he leaves for Washington, he might not be welcomed back unless he pumps a huge sum of money in their direction.

  • Kowalski

    In another voice, this story and my own addenda to it are why I’m counseling Republicans to simply do a couple of things in this next year:

    1) Don’t be stupid
    2) Wait

    In terms of #1, I mean not doing silly and sophomoric things, and continue as a party to clean house. It will pay dividends a year from now.

    In temrs of #2, it’s a case of being able to pick your battles. Republicans don’t have to worry about the mistakes being made, because they’re a given. The only thing they have to worry about is being able to capitalize on them without being tarnished themselves, which should be easy if they follow #1.

    Earth to Republicans…Come In Republicans…your situation is less worse than you think it is. Therefore make sure you’re squeaky clean and wait to be there, bucket in hand, to clean up the messes.

  • jackmac190

    Red State editors might want to be a bit more sensitive about using the ‘boy’ when discussing an African-American, especially when that African-American is President-elect of the United States. This is 2008, not 1958.

  • mbecker908

    Nice account. Two months one (this one) comment.

  • Achance

    PC idiots have a very short life expectancy here; they never grow beyond “boy.”

  • JustLeaveMeAlone

    “The Boy in the Bubble” — haven’t you ever heard of that? It’s a saying, a colloquialism, with a well-known meaning. To dumb it down just because Obama had one African parent (perhaps you are forgetting his mother was white) would be insulting, not the other way around.

  • bs

    who will, in turn, laugh their butts off at you.

    Thank you for your concern.

  • Moe Lane

    I have better things to do than read your self-loathing.

  • Vladimir

    It’s gonna be a fun four years. I hope.

  • bc3

    The Boy in the Bubble was a movie about a boy kept in a bubble (and unable to lead a normal life) because of potential damage to his immune system. I see alot of similarities.

    Were you among those who considered Sarah Palin racist for accusing Obama of “palling around with (white) terrorists?”

  • jackmac190

    Oh boy. One comment and a sixth grader gets on mommy’s computer and tosses out an insult. You probably find “Barack the Magic Negro’ to be funny, too.

  • jackmac190

    … it sounds like the whole mindset of this site never gets much past junior high.

  • janis

    Where’ve you been all day? We don’t have much news to comment on right now and we could have used you for entertainment earlier. But I can already see that your value as a party favor is limited.

  • bs

    who only show up to piss on the rug.

  • gekster
  • janis

    It’s been a while since we had a really good one around these parts, and the thought crossed my mind that they all filled up on Twinkies after the election and just went to sleep in their basements. If that’s the case, hope we have an early spring.

  • mbecker908

    I don’t think it’s funny, but I also don’t really care about it. Read some other diaries and you’d have figured that one out whiz kid.

    And yeah, in case you’re interested, punk (because we do have contributors who are sticklers for the meanings of words) I mean punk in the fullest sense of the Attica Definition.

  • mbecker908
  • mbecker908

    janis will be upset. She’s been sick and she’s been waiting all day for him to show up so she could feel better.

    Darn. Crying 10

    And janis, don’t take it out on me. I didn’t send in a troll alert or anything like that Moe did it all on his own. Depressed

  • rbdwiggins

    Ehud Barak fears that exact same scenario. That’s one reason we’re witnessing the Israeli version of “Shock and Awe.”

  • janis

    and I knew if we were to have a chance at some prolonged troll-kicking, it was going to be this afternoon while we were all home alone. You did your best and I appreciate it. Now I must depart and find some industrial strength decongestants. Either that or sleep standing up tonight.

    You’ve all been good company today and I bid you a fond farewell. (I haven’t slept in three nights.)

  • janis

    It was hard squaring her support for what’s going on now with her stance in the quite recent past. Quite puckish of Chris Wallace to ask if politics were influencing what was going on now. I hope the populace is conservative enough there to really allow Netanyahu to take over the job. If ever there were a time that Israel needs a leader who believes in not backing down, it’s now.

  • bs

    I suspect the kiddies bad guys are off playing with their new video games in their mom’s basements. They haven’t jumped back online yet. It takes a few days to beat all those levels of Super Mario Kart.

  • bs

    That was the best retort of the bunch. I bow to your superior wit. :-)

  • mbecker908

    Zing

    Comment of the Day!

  • Finrod

    To abuse a baseball metaphor, we’re going to be getting some lazy fastballs over the heart of the plate, so we shouldn’t be chasing every pitch in possible reach and instead wait for the ones we can clobber out of the park.

  • Finrod

    …

  • rbdwiggins

    Maybe this will help you feel a little better:

    The Likud will have to win 36 seats on February 10 for party activist Moshe Feiglin to enter the next Knesset after the High Court of Justice overturned a lower court ruling that would have returned him No. 20 on its candidates list.

    The Tel Aviv District Court accepted an appeal on Saturday night from former MK Michael Ratzon, who had asked to return to the 24th slot that he initially won before the Likud election committee demoted him for technical reasons along with Feiglin and former MK Ehud Yatom.

    But the High Court ruled that the district court should not have interfered with an internal Likud matter, and therefore, Feiglin, Ratzon and Yatom will remain 36 to 38 on the list.

    The interference of the court must be limited to incidents of miscarriages of justice or breach of authority,” the justices wrote.

    “The district court ruled that the Likud institutions had overstepped their bounds, but we disagree. The court should not have intervened on the matter.”

    (Snip?)

    The Likud praised the ruling and said no evidence had been presented proving that its election committee’s decision to change the list had been made to harm Feiglin. “We’re especially excited that the fact that Feiglin is not in a realistic slot has ruined Kadima’s election strategy,” a source close to Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu said.

    (Emphasis mine)

  • Next93

    It must be nice to live in a country where the courts haven’t empowered themselves to re-write the law when it suits them, in order to reach the desireable legal and/or political outcome. Even if the price of admission is being surrounded by barbarians who want you and your family dead.

  • rbdwiggins

    If you must seek international precedent in order to guide your opinion, this is how it’s done.

    And about those repeated attempts by the Democrats to criminalize conservative politics…

    My advice:

    Construct an insurmountable wall of separation between law and policy.

    It’d send shockwaves throughout the US legal system.

    Arlen Specter might even take notice.