Barack Obama and the Bright Red Ping Pong Ball
When you claim that your biggest asset is your ability to reach people through the spoken word, it seems to me you should guard that asset with your life. If all you have is your word, what have you if you acquire the reputation of being a liar or a charlatan? Worse still, what have you if you seek to diminish the very meaning of words in the general sense? A man with only his word would likely want to make sure people believe that he says what he means and he means what he says, or it will not be long before he’s exposed for what he is.
Words Have Meaning Until They Don’t
Upon taking office, the Obama administration sought to distance itself from the unpopular Bush administration through the seemingly benign exercise of the altering of a few simple phrases. We were no longer fighting the “war on terror” but an “overseas contingency operation.” This presented a solution to a rather tricky predicament for Mr. Obama. How could one be anti-war while commanding one? Simple. Just say, “We’re not at war anymore”. *Poof* Have you ever seen an Anti-Overseas Contingency Operation Rally? Problem solved. And while we’re at it, the word “terrorism” sounds so Bushy. Can we try to make it sounds a little less ….terrifying? How about “man-made disaster”? Perfect.
My son used to have night man-made disasters when he was a toddler. He’d wake up screaming like he’d seen a ghost but once we stopped calling them night terrors, the wife and I didn’t feel so powerless to stop them. It didn’t do much for my boy, but 2 out of 3 ain’t bad results.
That Depends on What Your Definition of the Word Is Is
Asked if his health care plan’s requirement to buy coverage or else face a stiff penalty could be considered a tax, Barack Obama told George Stephanopoulos that “you can’t just make up that language and decide that that’s called a tax increase.”
Stephanopoulos hit back, “I don’t think I’m making it up. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary: Tax, “a charge, usually of money, imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes.”
Obama replied, “George, the fact that you looked up Merriam’s dictionary, the definition of tax increase, indicates to me that you’re stretching a little bit right now.” (via)
Why is the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary kryptonite to a supposed master of language?
The Emperor’s New Speech
Looking to head off sagging approval numbers for both himself and his health care plan, Barack Obama appeared on 5 different news programs this last Sunday, in sit-down interviews that the New York Times, not exactly a mortal enemy of the Obama White House, described as “highly choreographed”.
As new poll numbers trickled out, it became clear that the media blitz made little to no improvement.
One explanation for that might be that by doing five interviews in one day, the lead story of the day was that Obama gave five interviews in one day, instead of… you know… what he was actually talking about. The message was lost in the delivery. Ordinarilly, that would rank as one of the classic blunders behind getting into a land war in Asia and going up against a Sicilian when death is on the line. However, seeing as how Mr. Obama really didn’t share any new details of his plan to help to sell the idea, that may have been the idea all along. Maybe if we can impress people with the grand spectacle, they won’t realize we’re still trying to get them to buy a time-share property in New Jersey.
Expiration Dates
Obama didn’t have a lot of experience coming into office, but he won the trust of a lot of people that wouldn’t have voted for him otherwise by promising a new kind of government that did away with the politics of old. Jim Geraghty of National Review likes to quip, “Everything Obama says comes with an expiration date” and this morning he reminds us that “Obama’s pledge to close Guantanamo Bay by January is rapidly approaching its expiration date.”
I’m reminded of a passage in Steve Martin’s autobiography Born Standing Up, in which he recalls a story from his youth when he appeared in a Christmas play.
“My matronly teacher, who was probably twenty-two, explained that I would be dressed up as Rudolph and, this was the best part, I would wear a bright red nose made out of a ping pong ball. As showtime neared, my excitement built. I had the furry suit, the furry feet, and the cardboard antlers. Finally I asked, ‘Where’s the ping pong ball?’ She told me that the ping pong ball would be replaced with lipstick that would be smeared on my nose. What had been delivered as a casual aside, I had taken as a solemn promise. There had never been, I now realize, a serious intent to get a ping pong ball, even though this was my main reason for taking the gig.”
Obama is great at telling people what they want to hear, even if he has no real intention of following though. He seemingly made promises to every constituency during the election. Slowly but surely, the nation is waking up to find that there had never been a serious intent to get them their ping pong balls.
