Obama and the Brandenburg Presumption

In the Deep South where I was born and not raised, there were many colorful, pithy aphorisms which neatly summed up that worst of all offenses against the Scots-Irish, white trash ethos: the putting on of airs. Thus, such phrases as "being educated beyond your intelligence" or, more apt for our immediate purposes, "getting above your raising" (you can drop the g's in the gerunds if you like, for more down-home authenticity).

Lately I have noticed a new style of attack against Barack Obama from certain Right Wing pundits that proceeds along just such lines. It is the presumption meme. His tentative plans to give a major address in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (since dropped) on his current Big Tour afforded an opportunity for another salvo. Take, for example, Charles Krauthammer's column in the Washington Post on Friday:

"Americans are beginning to notice Obama's elevated opinion of himself. There's nothing new about narcissism in politics. Every senator looks in the mirror and sees a president. Nonetheless, has there ever been a presidential nominee with a wider gap between his estimation of himself and the sum total of his lifetime achievements?"

Well, let me start by answering Mr. Krauthammer's question: Yes, I know of such a candidate. Ronald Reagan, your hero. His prior experience consisted of a career as a B-movie actor and of running California into the ground as its governor. His policies of deregulation and fiscal irresponsibility have brought the U.S. to the brink of economic disaster. But on to Krauthammer's ("cabbage kudgel?") true, snarky point: has Obama gotten above his raisin'? Or, what Charles really wants to ask but can't because he's a serious commentator: is Barack just one of them uppity n----r's?

First of all, how the hell does Charles Krauthammer know (a) what Americans are "beginning" to notice and (b) what Obama's "estimation of himself" actually is? His entire premise, therefore, rests on dubious assumptions. He literally doesn't know what he's talking about. Has there ever been a wider gap between a columnist's estimation of his comprehension of a situation and the shittiness of the column he produced for a major newspaper? Maybe. I'd have to look at some more of Krauthammer's columns. Anyway, a candidate has to meet Constitutional requirements to run for office. At least thirty-five years of age, native-born American citizen (criteria which John McCain does not meet). Beyond that, there is no requirement that a candidate meet the notional qualifications of the Washington Beltway class. Increasingly, those people are just in the way. What people have begun to notice is that Congress and the White House are lousy at getting anything done, and unlike Krauthammer, who bases his opinion on what another reactionary said at lunch, I base my idea on consistent national opinion polls which show Congress's approval ratings at figures consistently below 20%. The less acculturated a politician is in the utterly corrupt and inbred politics of Washington, the more "hope" there is for "change."

Then there's the always hapless, always wrong William Kristol of the New York Times, the true piñata of American letters. Needing a topic for one of his irrelevant columns and finding nothing, coming up empty because of the essential sterility of his political outlook (can we invade another Middle Eastern country or not?), he decided to dilate on that most crucial of all dilemmas facing Americans: should we wear flag lapel pins? Barack wasn't wearing one at the time and it bugged Bill Kristol to distraction because flag pins are neat, they mean you're patriotic and powerful, you're in the club of people who care, and nationalistic icons are always a good idea to cement solidarity, sort of like the Death's Head insignia worn by the cuddly Schutzstaffel. Plus, Kristol's always been nervous about how he's perceived by Americans whose fathers were not Trotskyists. (Just think: Billy came that close to being a Red Diaper baby.)

So Billy wrote a whole column about why Barack doesn't wear a flag lapel pin. People in the country are beginning to starve, tent cities are springing up, many workers can't afford to gas up and drive to work, the economy is hemorrhaging jobs, and when winter hits we will see many cases of death by hypothermia in those areas where Hugo Chavez does not provide free heating oil. Nevertheless, Kristol is fixated on that most crucial of all problems: to wear or not to wear a flag lapel pin? Look, he doesn't care so much whether Barack wears one or not; it's how he explained not wearing it:

"What’s striking is that Obama couldn’t resist a grandiose explanation. Obama’s unnecessary and imprudent statement impugns the sincerity or intelligence of those vulgar sorts who still choose to wear a flag pin. But moral vanity prevailed. He wanted to explain that he was too good — too patriotic! — to wear a flag pin on his chest."

There it is again. Grandiose. Vanity. Too good. See a pattern? He's talking about a guy wearing a decal, but he was "struck" by Obama's explanation because this stupid-ass issue means so much to Bill. Oh for crying out loud. If Obama hadn't explained it one way or another, if he'd said, "Because I don't feel like it," then Kristol and Krauthammer (they need one more "K" to form their own columnist brigade in that same old Deep South tradition) would write two columns each going on and on about Barack's disdain for the flag.

I realize this was bound to happen once a genuine minority ran for President. The effrontery. It's like an exchange student from Bangladesh running for student body president of Andover Academy. These clowns think they own the Establishment, and the idea of a pretender speaking in front of the hallowed shrine of Brandenburg Gate drives them nuts. Although, question for you, Chuck, Bill: hallowed shrine for whom? Reagan? Don't think so. It's not a movie set, really. Hitler's the one who used it most effectively for propaganda. It's a block from the old Reichstag building, built to honor the old Prussian emperors. Give it a rest and write another rave for the Sixth Beach Boy, singin' John McCain. No pretension there. Nothing else either, but that's what you guys like.