President Obama really is a uniter, not a divider, in at least one way: he called Kanye West a "jackass" for the rap star's jaw-droppingly rude behavior at the Video Music Awards. I think he speaks for the nation here.
I'm tired of jackasses like Kanye West, Serena Williams and Joe Wilson, thinking their own sense of umbrage gives them the right to behave disgracefully in public. I'm tired of jackasses who think it's okay to call the President of the United States -- be he Bush or Obama -- a communist, or a Nazi. I'm tired of umbrage-taking jackasses who act like calling them on their jackassery is somehow an act of elitist condescension. I'm tired of talk radio jackasses, which is pretty much a redundancy. If it's true that what you permit, you encourage, we shouldn't be surprised at the surfeit of jackassery in our culture. David Brooks remembers a time before we valorized jackassery as a mode of authenticity:
When you look from today back to 1945, you are looking into a different cultural epoch, across a sort of narcissism line. Humility, the sense that nobody is that different from anybody else, was a large part of the culture then.But that humility came under attack in the ensuing decades. Self-effacement became identified with conformity and self-repression. A different ethos came to the fore, which the sociologists call "expressive individualism." Instead of being humble before God and history, moral salvation could be found through intimate contact with oneself and by exposing the beauty, the power and the divinity within.
Everything that starts out as a cultural revolution ends up as capitalist routine. Before long, self-exposure and self-love became ways to win shares in the competition for attention. Muhammad Ali would tell all cameras that he was the greatest of all time. Norman Mailer wrote a book called "Advertisements for Myself."
Everything that starts out as a cultural revolution ends up as capitalist routine. Truer words...
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"Jackass" is a great word. It's concise, pithy, and does not descend to the level of obscenity or profanity. Rabadash the Ridiculous is a great example for everyone in public life.
Confucius say: 'Reaganite in New York' think 'Kanye West' Mae's widower.
An entire generation, tried and tested to its limits, and past them, has nothing to prove to anybody. They know full well that their actions saved lives. But they also know that if they had tried a little harder, done a little more, maybe a few more men would have come home. They know from experience that they are not that strong, not that moral, not that brave. They see more clearly a way towards a life and a vocation well suited to their limits and liabilities.
Bragging and self-centeredness and posturing only underscores a person's deep seated insecurity. And our culture's insecurity. We have safety regulated our way into this problem. There just aren't that many opportunities to really risk and strive anymore. War is not the answer, it may have that effect in many cases, but it comes at an exceedingly great cost. But all these safety regulations, the litigation, the endless 24 hour litany of fear from "news" stations and politicians - we'll crumble from the inside if we keep it up.
at times, in private conversations, I have referred to BOTH Bush and Obama as jackasses...politically, of course. Yes, uncivil & outright rudeness are definitely jackass behaviors (hee-haw, look at me, I don't know how or when to keep my mouth shut)....
"He was apparently asked about it off the record by ABC's Terry Moran, who breached professional ethics by sending it out via Twitter. I don't think we can blame a politician when a reporter does what he's not supposed to do, and publicizes an off the record comment."
How about an artful dodge?!! If this was one incident, I wouldn't think anything of it. But take the Cambridge police business. Or--for that matter, his meeting with Catholic leaders a few months back. He went on talking about how he had worked with Cardinal Bernardin and how that prelate had worked on a variety of social issues. Then Obama starts musing about how he kinda preferred it when the sole focus among the bishops was not so sharply on abortion!
Okay--now, I'll preface this comment by saying that I've written on this blog and others that I don't care much for the hair trigger denials of communion to politicians or the micro-management of a person's conscience re: voting. That said, this type of thing is simply none of the business of the POTUS. When Bush organized the office of faith leaders (or whatever it's called), it was about finding ways that would pass constitutional muster for faith organizations to participate in public programs. Obama has apparently reorganized it to serve specific policy ends--reducing abortions being one of them. Again, why the hell should a president by channeling private, intermediate organizations in our culture to serve political policy ends, no matter how noble some of them may be?
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