Obama loses the Left: suddenly, it's cool to bash Barack

Obama loses the Left: suddenly, it's cool to bash Barack

Toby Harnden
Telegraph.uk.co
5 Jun 2010

Well, at least he's still got Sir Paul McCartney. At the White House last week, the 67-year-old crooner was gushing in much the same manner as his own groupies did at Shea Stadium in 1965. "I'm a big fan, he's a great guy," McCartney told American critics of President Barack Obama. "So lay off him, he's doing great."

Later, McCartney serenaded the First Lady with a rendition of Michelle and, receiving a prize from the Library of Congress, took a cheap shot at President George W Bush that was as unfunny as it was unoriginal. “After the last eight years, it’s great to have a president who knows what a library is.” Bush. Doesn’t read books. Stupid. Geddit?

The problem for the President is that even if the former Beatle does speak for billions, the overwhelming majority of those are overseas. Polls show that around 10 per cent of those who voted for Obama in 2008 now disapprove of his performance and the heavy turnout of young people and black voters among the 69 million who back him will not be repeated again.

McCartney's banalities were an example of a transatlantic dissonance that is all too apparent these days. Whereas Europe is stuck in November 2008 and still hopelessly in love with Obama, Americans have got over the historic symbolism of it all and are now moving on as they live with the reality.

That reality has now begun to dawn on some of Obama's natural constituency - Hollywood and the Left. The "no drama Obama" demeanour that served him so well on the campaign trail is now becoming a liability.

Bemoaning Obama's passivity after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the director Spike Lee thundered: "He's very calm, cool, collected. But, one time, go off! If there's any one time to go off, this is it, because this is a disaster."

This is the same Spike Lee who once described Obama's election as a "seismic" change that represented "a better day not only for the United States but for the world".

The ladies of The View, the liberal-dominated morning talk show moderated by Whoopi Goldberg, spent a lot of time last week sympathising with Mrs Obama about how difficult it must be to argue with a husband who never shows any fire or emotion.

Even the liberal chattering classes are deserting Obama. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times jeered that his "Yes we can" slogan had been downgraded to "Will we ever?", while fellow colunnist Frank Rich blasted his "recurrent tardiness in defining exactly what he wants done".

Perhaps Obama's toughest critic over the BP oil slick has been James "Rajin' Cajun" Carville, the mastermind of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and one of those Democrats who represents the beating heart of the party. He blasted Obama's "political stupidity" and "hands off" attitude, concluding: "It seems the President is madder at his critics than he is at BP."

His point was proved when Robert Gibbs, Obama's hyper-aggressive spokesman, responded: "I don't think James understands all of what we're doing. I don't think James understood the facts." Carville is a Louisiana native who had spent more time viewing the oil-soaked coastal wetlands than anyone in the White House.

It is an irony of Obama's presidency - which came into being because he was the unBush - that it shares some of the worst traits of his predecessor's administration. Among these are insularity and a blinkered arrogance.

The young Texans who seemed genetically incapable of viewing any criticism of George W Bush as less than treason may have gone but a similar cult has replaced them. The Obamatrons who now populate Washington have iPads under their arms and greet each other with fist bumps. Earnest, geeky types, they look upon anyone who does not worship Obama with pity – such a being must be too stupid or bigoted to know better.

Obama has never been wracked by self-doubt and he is unusually self-contained for a politician. He seems not to need people or reassurance. In office, this is dangerous – he sometimes seems to be living in a cocoon.

The White House's attempts to deal criticisms of Obama's detachment have been comical. First there was Obama's own cringeworthy (and doubtless bogus) anecdote about his 11-year-old daughter Malia asking: "Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?" Then there was Gibbs illustrating Obama's passionate concern for the people of the Gulf by relating that he had said "damn" and exhibited a "clenched jaw".

Perhaps their biggest problem is that it was not just McCartney's dyed hair and 1960s songs that seemed so retro. His adulation of Obama struck the wrong chord because few outside the White House bubble are in that place any more. It is now permissible – even fashionable – to have a go at the man once hailed as the Messiah.

TexasBlue wrote:Well, at least he's still got Sir Paul McCartney.

Obama deserves our deepest sympathy for this affliction

Seriously, I'm not sure anybody over here really gives a sh!t what Paul McCartney has to say about anything.

TexasBlue wrote:Whereas Europe is stuck in November 2008 and still hopelessly in love with Obama, Americans have got over the historic symbolism of it all and are now moving on as they live with the reality.

I disagree. I'm not sure anybody in Europe ever really "loved" him. Well, not the average person, though politicians might arguably be trying to emulate him still.

What's the average Brit's opinion of Paul? Not good? I like his music but i think he's a very far left guy. He's one of those animal rights crazies and doesn't eat meat. His band has to be vegetarian. so, yeah, i'm of the thought of his being a ideological nut.

Paul saying what he said about Bush (library) was a low blow, imo, and unnecessary. People like him have to realize that they're on the public stage and since he's a musician (and well sought after) that his opinion can really hurt him with his fans that see the opposite of his opinion.

As far as Bama goes, i think the perception here about Europe loving him is that Europe hated Bush. A bit far fetched since Bama has bungled numerous visits by dignitaries here and abroad. Obama isn't a statesman like we think a prez should be.

Overall, the man is a dismal failure. Time will tell. I base my opinion on his handling of various issues and non-action on those issues. His lackeys in congress are controlled by his party and has handed him everything under the sun. Hence, they've ruined the name of the Dem party here. Deniers of that will find out in November when mid-term congressional elections are decided.

TexasBlue wrote:What's the average Brit's opinion of Paul? Not good? I like his music but i think he's a very far left guy. He's one of those animal rights crazies and doesn't eat meat. His band has to be vegetarian. so, yeah, i'm of the thought of his being a ideological nut.

I don't think many people care about what he says, even Greenpeace loving veggies don't care much for what he says.

I'm all for animal welfare and I buy ethically produced meat, free range eggs and chicken, British pork (because of our high pig welfare standards). I like to think that the animals I eat have had a good life and haven't suffered, but that is where I draw the line. Animal testing for medical purposes is a necessary evil. Have I been influenced in my opinion by any celebrities? Absolutely not. You know me, I like to think I'm swayed by reasonable argument, never by appeals to emotion and guilt.

TexasBlue wrote:Paul saying what he said about Bush (library) was a low blow, imo, and unnecessary.

What did he say? Remind me, I might have forgotten or just never heard it.

TexasBlue wrote:People like him have to realize that they're on the public stage and since he's a musician (and well sought after) that his opinion can really hurt him with his fans that see the opposite of his opinion.

Absolutely. But I think we are generally more cynical of celebs blurting out their opinions over here. I'm not sure anybody ever chose a position because a certain popular celebrity holds that opinion... at least, nobody over the age of 16.

TexasBlue wrote:As far as Bama goes, i think the perception here about Europe loving him is that Europe hated Bush.

I can't speak for the rest of Europe but over here, Bush was a figure to be mocked. I don't know that he was hated, but he certainly wasn't trusted. There is a lot of ill feeling because of the Iraq War (not so much with Afghanistan) and how evidence was fabricated. But in that respect, Blair is blamed as much as Bush, perhaps even more so.

TexasBlue wrote:A bit far fetched since Bama has bungled numerous visits by dignitaries here and abroad. Obama isn't a statesman like we think a prez should be.

No he isn't, but I don't care much for this so-called "special relationship" we are supposed to have. I find it ludicrous because we are so different. The US certainly isn't our oldest ally, because that would be France.

TexasBlue wrote:Overall, the man is a dismal failure. Time will tell. I base my opinion on his handling of various issues and non-action on those issues. His lackeys in congress are controlled by his party and has handed him everything under the sun. Hence, they've ruined the name of the Dem party here. Deniers of that will find out in November when mid-term congressional elections are decided.

And if it goes the other way?