Obama’s disrespect for presidency hits new low

posted at 7:06 am on August 25, 2009 by Pundette
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G-Lo, that is. I wouldn’t have believed this if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. The sitting President of the United States of America has filmed a cheesy promo for a late-night talk show and thereby trivialized his office as well as his own phony vision. Click and watch the video of POTUS-as-shill. I’ll save you a minute of your life by telling you that our transcendent, intellectual, rara avis president appears only at the beginning of the commercial, which goes on to play on, and further cheapen, the hope-and-change theme.

Reaction from Peter Roff: Obama doesn’t know how to be president

So imagine my shock, surprise, and amazement the other night when I happened to catch the president of the United States, the leader of the free world, Barack H. Obama, playing second fiddle to a second-rate comedian in a TV spot promoting a new late-night television talk show—and on basic cable no less.The spot, which looked like it had been filmed inside the White House, was decidedly unfunny, which does not auger well for the talk show it was promoting. But more than that, having the president of the United States appear in a commercial, while still in office yet seemed, well, unseemly.

There are those in recent days who have written that Obama is, perhaps, overexposed, that he has become too accessible and, as a result, he is unable to persuade the nation that his vision for change in America is, after all, the right one. The idea that he has time to appear in commercials promoting new TV shows does not make him more presidential; it makes him smaller. It reduces the people’s opinion of him and therefore reduces his effectiveness as a leader.

David Axelrod and company may have designed a campaign to win the White House that presented Obama as more like a “rock star” or “pop idol” rather than as a candidate for public office. But now they’re in the big show, and they have to act like it.

That last sentence is precisely parallel to Robin Givhan’s bottom line on the first lady’s uber-casual exit from Air Force One last week:

She gets the fancy jet. She has to dress for the ride.

It’s all about respecting the office. That’s what’s so jarring about this photo:

Givhans understands what’s wrong here:

When the first couple disembarks from Air Force One, military personnel stand at attention, shutters click and minions scurry. It’s not as though they are climbing out of their own personal RV with their backpacks — like celebrities caught unawares by the paparazzi. Ultimately, the first lady can’t be — nor should she be — just like everyone else. Hers is a life of responsibilities and privileges.

It isn’t just that the first lady looks sloppy, is showing too much leg, or is wearing unflattering clothes, though all of these are true. It’s the stark contrast between our military on either side, respecting, by extension, the office of POTUS, and Mrs. Obama in the center, not respecting the office or those who have entrusted it to her husband.

The office of president is the honor that it is because the president was chosen by the people to be our representative. It should be intrinsically humbling, because who can truly be worthy of that trust? It’s the president’s responsibility to uphold the dignity of the office itself, which has been entrusted to him temporarily, on loan. It shouldn’t be viewed as a personal windfall, like hitting the Powerball number or winning American Idol. It’s not an opportunity to be used for self-promotion or the pursuit of expensive pleasures. We don’t want our president to be seen as crassly enjoying the perks too much or reveling in his celebrity status.

The Obamas don’t seem to get it. But what about their handlers? Do the Obamas refuse to take advice, or are their advisors clueless as well? It’s hard to understand how this promo could have been planned and filmed without anyone raising an objection.

h/t: Pundit, Jim Geraghty

Cross-posted here.

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